Perth
E & O E - PROOF ONLY
PM: I am delighted to be here today with the member for Perth, Stephen Smith, and also with Senator Louise Pratt and of course Stephen Smith is also the Minister for Defence.
I would like to say a very big thank you to everybody who has made us so welcome here today and shown us around this amazing project and you can hear the sounds of public transport, people moving around.
But this City Link project is going to change the face of Perth.
It is going to change the face of this city connecting up the CBD and Northbridge.
It is an incredible change for this city opening up new spaces for use, changing the way that people can flow through the city and into Northbridge and back again.
I am very pleased that what is happening here is part of our $6.9 billion worth of investment into transport infrastructure in Western Australia.
In the recent Budget we outlined our plans for transport here in Western Australia, including putting on the table half a billion dollars for public transport.
As a Federal Government, we believe you have to invest in the future and you have to invest in public transport as well as roads and so half a billion on the table to improve public transport in Perth.
We have also put money on the table for the Swan Valley Bypass, for the Tonkin Highway, for the Great Northern Highway, we want to see these investments for the people of Western Australia.
This is just one way we are investing in the future of this great state.
Today the monthly unemployment numbers came out and showed once again the resilience of the Australian economy, the unemployment rate staying steady and here in Western Australia actually falling to 4.9 per cent.
As a Government, we have always put jobs first.
We did that during the global financial crisis.
We are continuing to do that now by investing in the future including investing in much needed public transport and transport infrastructure.
Jobs are valuable for families. You can't make a life for yourself and your family without access to a good job opportunity.
So I am particularly concerned today, on the day that we got our new unemployment numbers and showed yet again that compared to nations around the world we've come through the global financial crisis strong and resilient.
I am concerned today to see threats from the Liberal Party to 2000 car making jobs in South Australia.
Our nation can't afford to be throwing those kinds of jobs away and for the Leader of the Opposition to be contemplating throwing those jobs away just isn't smart.
It isn't a smart way for our nation to approach the future.
I have just been advised that here in Western Australia, Premier Barnett has announced 1200 jobs will be lost here in WA from the public sector.
Once again, I am very concerned about what that means for those working people and their families.
It follows a pattern right around the country where State Liberal Governments have cut jobs.
We take a different approach. We want to see jobs around our nation, we will continue to focus on economic growth and jobs and we will focus too on the wise investments for the future.
I have been here in Western Australia focussing on the future of this great state.
That future is being made today in the classrooms in Western Australia.
The future of this state can't be better than the quality of the education that children are getting in those classrooms.
I want to see them get a great education and that's why I want to see an additional $2.8 billion invested in Western Australian schools over the next six years.
That is a smart investment in the future and I'm calling on Premier Barnett to work with me to deliver that for the children of Western Australia.
I will turn now to Stephen Smith, the Member for Perth, for some comments.
SMITH: Thanks, Prime Minister.
I am pleased to welcome the Prime Minister to Perth and particularly to welcome her to my electorate and to one of the very important infrastructure projects in the electorate and the city of Perth.
This project strongly supported by the Commonwealth, over $230 million.
Without the contribution from the Commonwealth this project would not have gone ahead.
This project will transform Perth transport and will also join Northbridge to the city for the first time.
So this is a terrific project and I am very pleased that the Prime Minister has inspected it today and we're seeing very good progress.
This is just one of a number of important infrastructure projects, important to my electorate but also to the city of Perth and Perth generally.
This comes in addition to of course the Gateway project where we're seeing a billion dollar project to transform the road network around the airport and to make transport from the airport to the city much better.
It follows upon the transformation of Great Eastern Highway as a gateway to the city itself and with important direct benefits for my electorate - the transformation of Tonkin Highway with the great separation in Tonkin Highway and also down the track the Swan Valley bypass.
All of these strongly supported by the Commonwealth, strongly supported by the Prime Minister and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese.
When you look at the sweep of contributions that this Government has made, we have made about double the contribution to infrastructure investment in Western Australia that the Howard Government did over half the period.
So Tony Abbott was a Minister for 11 years in the Howard Government and in 6 years, less than 6 years, we have seen double the investment in Western Australian infrastructure over half the time.
We have also put on the table in the recent Budget a half a billion dollars for public transport, whether that's light rail or other forms of public transport.
Despite all of the promises from the Barnett Government in the course of the recent state election campaign, not one cent on the table for that from the State Government.
So when you look at the contrast, substantial investment by the Commonwealth Government into infrastructure in Perth, whether it is transforming the railway system and Northbridge or Tonkin Highway or the gateway to the airport; substantial investments just about double the per capita contribution to Western Australia.
Of course infrastructure investment brings with it opportunities and jobs and I join with the Prime Minister in expressing great concern over the announcement today by Colin Barnett, the Premier, that some 1200 jobs will potentially go from Western Australian public servants.
We heard nothing of this in the election.
Plenty of promises about public transport which haven't been met but nothing about cuts, nothing about job losses.
This is precisely what you can expect from Tony Abbott if he is elected as Prime Minister.
You'll hear nothing from Tony Abbott in the run-up to the middle of September about cuts to jobs, cuts to employment, cuts to services, cuts to health and education, no investment in infrastructure.
He will be silent on that but we have seen from Colin Barnett, we've seen in Queensland from the Queensland Liberal National government.
We've seen elsewhere that when they are elected the promises go out the door and the cuts to services and the cuts to jobs come in in full bore.
I join the Prime Minister in expressing great concern about that announcement today, none of which we heard in the run-up to recent the state election.
PM: Thank you. We'll take some questions.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: Well you are referring to a story on the front of the newspaper today.
A little bit earlier this week I talked about the rumour and speculation that shouldn't people - people shouldn't waste their breath on.
I won't be wasting my breath on any of that rumour and speculation.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: The remuneration for members of Parliament is set entirely independently of government and of members of Parliament and I think that is appropriate that we don't have a political process, we have a non-political process.
But if I could pick you up on the wording of your question, I think you've got me confused with the Leader of the Opposition.
It is him that is preaching austerity.
We are the government that wants to keep supporting families by supporting jobs and supporting families costs of living.
For example, through the schoolkids bonus, the money that helps you get the kids to school and pay for all the things they need, cutting that out in the name of austerity is the Leader of the Opposition's plan.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: It is set independently for good reason.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: Well, I stand by absolutely everything I said yesterday and it seems to me that there are dozens and dozens and dozens of questions for Mal Brough to still answer.
Yesterday Mal Brough said he had seen this menu, he acknowledged that he had seen it.
Today we're hearing quite a different version. Well it's for Mal Brough to answer every question about that.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: Mal Brough yesterday said he'd seen the menu and he offered an apology. Today we get a completely different version. It's for Mr Brough to explain that.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: It was deeply offensive, deeply offensive. No other description should be used.
It was a tawdry document and it was a document that Mal Brough yesterday said that he saw.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: It hasn't distracted me from doing anything I normally do as Prime Minister.
I mean I've been through this cycle before; seeing for example the Leader of the Opposition standing next to sexist and offensive signs.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: Let's be very clear, we're getting a different version today than the version we got yesterday. It is for Mal Brough to explain how that possibly adds up.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: Once again rumour and speculation, I'm not dealing with it.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: Rumour and speculation you have got out of the newspapers and as I said earlier this week, don't waste your breath, I'm not wasting mine.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: No, he did not. Did not raise the matter.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: Well, I think this is a very difficult day for the people of Western Australia and certainly a very difficult day for people who are now worrying about their jobs.
What has happened here is if you vote Liberal then you get job cutbacks.
If you vote Liberal you get job cutbacks that you weren't told about.
We have seen it around the country. We have seen it in other Liberal States.
Now we are seeing it here in Western Australia.
The last thing the people of Australia can afford is to add Mr Abbott's plans for cuts to the bone on top of these job cutbacks.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: Look, I stand by everything that I've said about that this week and I refer you to the entirety of my speech.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: Yes, I do. I had a conversation with Ben Elton about that yesterday and I'd actually refer you to that conversation.
I was obviously making a reference to the fact that the Leader of the Opposition as a result of focus groups or the political handlers that he has, as a result of that now only appears in a white shirt and a blue tie.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: That was a reference to what life would look like if Mr Abbott was elected Prime Minister.
You would see Mr Abbott as Prime Minister.
If he went on leave you would see Warren Truss acting as Prime Minister.
What I went through in my speech and let me go through it, you'd see Tony Abbott as Prime Minister, if he went on leave or went overseas, you'd see Warren Truss as Prime Minister.
On budget night you'd see Joe Hockey deliver the budget.
On budget night and the days following you'd see Andrew Robb as Finance Minister helping explain the budget.
Our team is different.
You see me as Prime Minister. You see Wayne Swan if I'm away overseas.
You see Wayne Swan deliver the budget and you see Penny Wong who's working as Finance Minister there with Wayne Swan at the core of budget preparations.
That's the point I was making.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: I was pleased to meet Governor Schwarzenegger this morning because what we talked about was tackling climate change and pricing carbon.
Governor Schwarzenegger of course has been the Governor of California.
He's from the other side of politics. He's a republican.
If he was an Australian, then he would be a member of the Liberal Party.
But Governor Schwarzenegger, despite being a conservative politician, has reached out to seize the future by putting a price on carbon, and when a policy was under threat in California he defended it and California is still seizing a clean energy future as a result.
I am pleased that the people of California are tackling climate change in the way in which Australia is tackling climate change, putting a price on carbon.
What this is telling you is if people from both sides of politics, from the progressive side and the conservative side can come together and say let's tackle climate change the best way we know how and that's putting a price on carbon.
Why is Mr Abbott holding himself out to the extremes when that's the mainstream consensus from politicians, including conservatives like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: You will have to see us down there.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: Oh of course, issues about women are there right throughout our world.
Of course that's true, I mean its obvious common sense, isn't it? You never thought any different to that.
But the reason for my meeting with Arnold Schwarzenegger today was to talk about climate change and putting a price on carbon.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: You will have to speak a little bit louder.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PM: No, absolutely not.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
SMITH: I'm proposing to make some announcements about Defence tomorrow and my advice to you is turn up.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
SMITH: And you should let the Chief of Army make his announcement.
I will be out tomorrow at HMAS Stirling welcoming one of our ships back.
I will be making a range of announcements and I will very happily speak about the Chief of Armies announcements tomorrow.
You should let the Chief of Army make his announcement.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
SMITH: Well I'm in a 6 per cent seat. When I first became the member for Perth it was a 5 per cent seat.
This election is going to be a tough election.
I have seen references to opinion polling. I'm not sure that is right. I'm not sure that is right.
What you do know though is this is going to be a tough election.
It will be a tough election for me in my seat of Perth. It will be a tough election for Gary Gray in his seat of Brand and it will be a tough election for Melissa Parke in her seat of Fremantle.
But I have been of the view all along that Labor will hang onto those three seats, will hold those three seats.
If you transpose the state election results, which is an imperfect science, Labor holds all of those seats and will hold those seats because by the time we get to September, when the community in Western Australia see the whites of Tony Abbott's eyes.
When they start to focus on choice and contrast.
When they start to focus on the investment that we've made in Western Australia in terms of infrastructure.
When they focus on the strength of the economy as a result of the work we did to avoid the recession in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
When they focus on what Liberals do, Colin Barnett slashing jobs without telling people in the run-up to an election.
Tony Abbott cutting services to their core, slashing jobs without telling people, when they make that choice, when they see that contrast, I have always been confident that we will hang onto the seats that we've got here.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
Smith: As I said, the Chief of Army is making an announcement later today.
He is obviously briefed me on those matters.
You should let the Chief of Army make his announcement and after he's made his announcement, I am very happy to make public comment.
PM: Thank you very much and with the sounds of building and construction behind us, thank you.
Thanks very much.