PRIME MINISTER:
Well ladies and gentlemen we're here today to announce that the very first Solar City trial, which was promised as part of the Energy White Paper two years ago and further refined with a promise that the first one would be in Adelaide.
And the reason that we've chosen Adelaide is threefold; the patterns of electricity consumption, the above-average cost of electricity, combined with the abundance of sunshine and we thought it would appropriate that the very first of these trials, of which there will be a number around Australia, should be held here in Adelaide. And I'm delighted to welcome two of my colleagues to this news conference, David Fawcett, who is the Member for Wakefield and Senator Grant Chapman and the reason for the interest of the Member for Wakefield will be apparent in a moment when I announce there could only be one Solar City trial in Adelaide and there were two consortia who competed very enthusiastically and the winning consortium is the Adelaide Solar City consortium and its led by Origin Energy.
It includes BP Solar, the ANZ Bank, Big Switch, the City of Salisbury and the Mawson Lakes Development, which is a partnership between Delfin and Lend Lease and the Land Management Corporation. Now this consortium, and I congratulate it on winning the bid, this consortium will receive some $15 million of Federal Government funding and that will leverage about $38 million from the private sector and from the local council. And I want to welcome Karen Moses of Origin Energy, Gerry Hueston, the President of BP Australasia, Bob Edgar of the ANZ Bank, Gavin Gilchrist of Big Switch, Roger Farquar of Delfin and Tony Zappia I think is here is he? Yes, Tony, welcome, the Mayor of Salisbury.
Now this initiative I think is a real trail blazer and I do want to thank Paul Daunton, the architect for this wonderful Christie Walk project, for taking me over it and explaining it's intricacies to me and it's marvels. I thought that roof garden, particularly the amount of earth there was incredible, and he explained to me the insulation advantages of that which, when they're explained, like so many of these things, when they're explained to you, you think of course they make such commonsense, but you need an expert, which he is, to explain some of those things to me.
What the consortium will do is utilise the government resources and our own resources to recruit the involvement, and there'll be incentives including discounted loans for residents to become involved, and they have in mind the installation of 1700 solar voltaic, photovoltaic panels that'll double Adelaide's photovoltaic capacity.
They're going to recruit five of the iconic buildings of Adelaide and they're going to be involved in showcasing solar panels and showcasing the advantages of this scheme. I'm very pleased to say that the solar panels will be made at BP's establishment in Homebush in Sydney and the new SLIVER cell technology will come from Origin Energy's Adelaide plant. There'll be 7000 smart meters installed as part of the trial, there'll be 40,000 energy efficiency and information packages and it's estimated by the consortium that if residents take advantage of all of the offerings made then there'll be a saving of some $200 a year in the average electricity bill.
Now the bottom line of do you save something is always at the heart of these things and the belief of both the Government and obviously the belief of the consortium is that not only can we conserve energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce energy consumption and do it in a more intelligent and commonsense manner, but the net result can also be, because of those reductions, the net result can be lower power bills.
And in a time, at a time and in an age where people are very conscious of energy costs, whether it's petrol or electricity or water or any of those things, they're all, in a sense, they're all the same, where we're grappling perhaps for the first time for any Australian generation, we're grappling with the reality that a lot of these things are no longer limitlessly available at a modest cost. That time is a changing very, very rapidly and one of the ways in which we can help is to have a trial like this.
I do want to thank the consortium for the energy and commitment they've brought to it. I'm glad representatives of the consortium are here today because they can answer some of the technical questions that might be beyond my mind in relation to some of these things.
But the Government is very enthusiastic about it and I'm delighted that it does involve the Federal Government, the local council and also local enterprises and I think that is the essence of how we tackle these things. I wish it well. There'll be announcements made in other parts of Australia, but this is the first and I'm sure it will be very enthusiastically embraced if what I've seen this morning of this little environmental cluster here in Christie Walk is any guide, it'll be successful and it could well provide a benchmark, an example, a lead for other parts of Australia. Any questions?
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister is the fourth reason Adelaide was chosen the abundance of marginal seats.
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
JOURNALIST:
Can you talk a bit about this pilot programme that's being offered, you know $5000 incentive for people.
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh for people who are living in high areas of high unemployment to go to other parts of Australia, yes. It makes sense. We do have a skills shortage in this country. That is a product of prosperity. You don't have a skills shortage when the economy is in a hole, you only have a skills shortage when the economy is doing well, and what happens when the economy does well is that there is a rise in demand for workers, particularly workers with skills.
And what we have in mind is offering people incentives on a pilot basis. There are still some pockets of high unemployment in Australia and the incentives would be for people to go to areas where there are a shortage of workers. It won't be compulsory, but I do think people who are genuinely looking for work and can't get it, particularly those who don't have such strong family ties, should consider taking up these incentives, and the Minister for Workforce Participation will be having something more to say about this over coming days.
But the principle is a very simple one, that in any economy that is booming, and our economy is booming at the present time, particularly in parts of Western Australia and Queensland, there will be a shortage of labour in the areas of intense economic activity, there will still be some pockets of unemployment, but if we can persuade with incentives and assistance some hundreds of people to go from areas of high unemployment to areas where there is demand, there will obviously in some cases be a need for augmentation with training and skills preparation and instruction; we can look at what might be available from existing resources in relation to that, but the principle makes a great deal of sense.
And I think it's a very good idea, and I think most Australians will see the sense of it. It's always been the case that people at various stages in the history of this country have moved from one part of the country to another to get a job. There's nothing new or revolutionary or terrible or draconian about that, particularly if an incentive is offered.
JOURNALIST:
Can you give us some examples of where in Australia there are some areas of need for workers?
PRIME MINISTER:
Large parts of Western Australia, parts of Queensland, there are some parts of South Australia where there is a shortage. Could I tell you, everywhere I go in the country and I talk to employers, all they are talking about is getting enough workers. And can I say again, this is the product of prosperity, it is not the despair of depression. And so it's a, in a sense, it's an interesting challenge to have.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think this is a band aid solution though, given the fact that you are moving people who are in a high unemployment area to...if they don't have the skills in the first place?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't think it's a band aid solution when you have 4.8 per cent unemployment. I mean the starting point of all of this discussion is that we have the lowest unemployment in 30 years, and whenever you have a demand for more workers, you are going to have skills shortages. By definition you never have all the skilled tradesmen you need in times of peak economic activity because that is the nature of how an economy works.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, Adelaide's abundance of marginal seats was mentioned earlier, you hold three of them, the Liberal Party holds three of them. Do you think you can win back Adelaide and Hindmarsh next year or is it...
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh look I haven't come here, Paul, with great respect, I haven't come here to, sort of, give a commentary on the next election, that's a long way off and in any event as you know, I don't give commentaries. The Australian people give the commentary and you journalists give the commentary, I try and offer solutions and good policy for the Australian people all over the country.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Beazley was at a meeting this morning where AWA's were ripped up and thrown in the bin, what's your reaction to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think that is rather, how shall I put it, rather theatrical and AWA's produce better wages and better conditions for people who have them. And if Mr Beazley thinks by the time of the next election, a million people who have got AWA's and are earning higher wages and enjoying better conditions are going to enjoy him ripping them up, then I think he's got another thing coming.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard in relation to the summit that you are holding next week with all Liberal leaders, what are you actually going to tell them there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think I might pay them the courtesy of letting them know first, and it's a meeting organised by the Menzies Research Centre, where me as the Federal Parliamentary, or I as the Federal Parliamentary (inaudible) will share with them my perspectives, and they will discuss some of their challenges and problems. Obviously you share information. We have this situation in Australia where the Federal Government is Coalition one and the state governments are Labor, and obviously both parties are probably interested in that situation from slightly different perspectives. And I am quite sure the Labor Party shares its successes and challenges just as much as we do.
JOURNALIST:
Do you bear any responsibility for the fact that we now have Labor Governments across the states?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well as the Leader of the Opposition in Queensland recently put it so well, state elections in this country are fought on state issues, and federal elections on federal issues, and state parties tend to be the masters of their own houses and their own destinies, just as we are ours. But that doesn't mean to say we don't help each other and we don't cooperate.
JOURNALIST:
What is the impact on the Liberal brand-name, for want of a better term, of having all Labor state governments and no Liberal state governments?
PRIME MINISTER:
You're inviting me to engage in commentary. I might well say, rhetorically ask well what is the impact on the Labor brand name of them having been out of office federally now for more than a decade. I mean everybody will have their own take on that, and will have their versions, and give their own commentary.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister what do you make of Sandra Kanck's intention today to record details of euthanasia methods in state parliament's hansard?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think that's irresponsible and I think it is against the collective expression of public opinion on this issue, through the decision of the national parliament some years ago to vote against the euthanasia bill, but they are issues on which people have different moral positions. I have a different perspective from her, I don't think it's responsible to encourage suicide, I never have and I never will. That's my view and I am not going to change it.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what's your reaction to today's report about AWB (inaudible) is it an embarrassment to the Government?
PRIME MINISTER:
No it's all old news. That report in the Australian this morning, draws on some notes that were appended to a statutory declaration provided by Mr Quinn to the Cole inquiry in April.
JOURNALIST:
So is it a fishing expedition by Labor then?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't think that I'd even dignify it with that.
Thank you.
[ends]