PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it is good to be here with my Parliamentary colleagues, more or less on the border of Banks and Barton with Nick Varvaris, with David Coleman at Corporate and Sportswear. This is one of the thousands and thousands of Australian small businesses that will do it easier under the Free Trade Agreements that we've negotiated. Free Trade Agreements are good for exporters because it gives them more markets. It gives them a competitive advantage in those markets. Free Trade Agreements are good for consumers because it means that prices in our shops are lower. But Free Trade Agreements are also good for importers, and this is a business which imports clothing from overseas and then it adds value. As you can see, there are businesses, there are sporting clubs, there are schools, all of which are having value added by this business but because the imports will be less expensive, the ultimate price to the consumer will be lower and the ability of this business to meet the demands of the community will be greater than it otherwise would be.
So, Free Trade Agreements are good right across the economy; for exporters, for importers and above all else for consumers, and that's why this Government is so committed to them.
This is a Government which said on election night that Australia was once more open for business and we really mean that because small business in particular is the engine room of our economy. Small business is where our creativity most flourishes. Small business is where jobs creation gets going strongest and quickest. So, we are determined to do the right thing by small business, not just with the Free Trade Agreements; the abolition of the carbon tax was obviously very good for businesses like this because they use a lot of power. We have a number of policy packages that will be coming up in the year before the Budget and at the heart of our small business and jobs package will be a tax cut for small business.
So, this is a Government which is doing the right thing by the people of Australia. It's doing the right thing by small business in particular and I'm delighted to be here with my parliamentary colleagues today to celebrate the achievement of so many small businesses right around our country but particularly this one.
I will ask Nick and then David to say a few words because they are proud of what's happening in and around their electorates.
NICK VARVARIS:
Thank you, Prime Minister. Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for being here this morning. I’d like to thank Michael Sivris of Corporate and Sportswear for hosting the Prime Minister, Mrs Abbott, myself and my colleague David Coleman in the St George area.
Corporate and Sportswear is very typical of most businesses in the St George area which work extremely hard to provide goods and services, extremely good goods and services to their customers and it's great to have us being out here today and seeing the great work that they've done.
I would like to confirm that the Coalition is committed to supporting small businesses like Corporate and Sportswear and providing the support that they need to be able to thrive and once again, thank you, Prime Minister, for coming out here today.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks, Nick. David?
DAVID COLEMAN:
Thanks, Prime Minister. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the St George area and especially to the Carlton Allawah area which is really the industrial heart of this part of St George.
I just want to congratulate Michael and all the team at Corporate and Sportswear. This is a fantastic business. We saw earlier this morning the value added work that they're doing as the Prime Minister said, creating local jobs, and really putting their best foot forward and taking a risk and building businesses, which of course is something that we as a Government so very strongly encourage.
So, welcome all again and congratulations to Corporate and Sportswear.
PRIME MINISTER:
Do we have any questions?
A very interesting day when there are few questions. Perhaps I should do a Kevin Rudd and ask myself some questions!
QUESTION:
Can we ask you some questions on some other issues?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, look, I’ll gladly take some questions on small business, but if you'd like to ask me questions about other issues ...
QUESTION:
On small business, I suppose, there'd be a lot of manufacturers in Australia who've gone out of business who would challenge your assertion that these free trade deals are good for everybody across-the-board. What would you say to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, you know, increasingly, products are made not just in one country but they're made in the world. While they might be finished in a country like ours, there are elements of the product that come from all over the world. So, we saw earlier this morning caps that were being specially created for the Multiple Birth Association. The cap is purchased in China, and then the value adding work is done here in Australia. If we couldn't do the value adding work here in Australia that would be an important service that either wouldn't be provided to our community or it would be much more expensive and much less convenient.
So, if we're going to have effective manufacturing in this country, we need to have access to the world's products as well as to our own and that's what will be made so much easier by these Free Trade Agreements.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, this morning reports that judges in the Bali Nine case were willing to take bribes in exchange for a lesser sentence. What's your thoughts on that?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not going to comment on legal argument. What I am going to reiterate is Australia's absolute opposition to the death penalty and the determination of my Government to do everything we humanly can, even at the eleventh hour, to try to ensure that these young Australians do not face death in a foreign jail. Indonesia is a friend. Indonesia is a country that we respect. Indonesia is a country which often makes the most strenuous representations on behalf of its citizens on death row abroad and if it's good for countries to respond positively to Indonesia's representations, it's good for Indonesia to respond positively to our representations.
These young Australians have done the wrong thing, no doubt about that. They should be punished. But they shouldn't face death and that's the representation that we are making constantly to the Indonesian Government right now.
QUESTION:
What is the government doing at this eleventh hour that you mention?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I have made a further personal representation to President Widodo. We are, obviously, wanting to leave no stone unturned here. Like millions of Australians, I feel sick in the pit of my stomach when I think about what is quite possibly happening to these youngsters and, like every parent, I want to try to ensure that nothing terrible happens to people.
So, we are constantly making representations. We are constantly trying to appeal to Indonesia's sense of itself as a stable democracy under the rule of law and that's what our latest representations are all about.
QUESTION:
[Inaudible] a phone call or what exactly does that mean?
PRIME MINISTER:
What I don't want to do is turn this into some kind of test of strength, because if we do turn this into a test of strength, I think we are much more likely to back the Indonesians into a corner than to get the result we want.
QUESTION:
How optimistic are you that their lives could be spared?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't want to peddle false hope but I do want everyone to understand that everything we can possibly do, we are doing. We are straining every fibre to try to help these people in a very, very difficult position.
QUESTION:
I can understand your reluctance, Prime Minister, to get involved with any legal argument given these claims of bribery that have emerged overnight, but does that provide some hope of at least perhaps a delay? Does that help you in this 11th hour appeal in any way?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, what we understand is that there are still legal options available to these two Australians and their legal teams. We certainly appreciate that the Indonesian government doesn't normally go ahead with executions of this type while there are legal options still available. And that's what we're saying to the Indonesian government, given that there are legal options that apparently are still there, let's not do this dreadful, final, irrevocable thing any time soon.
QUESTION:
Will Australia be pressuring Indonesia to investigate these claims about potential bribery?
PRIME MINISTER:
We'll be trying to ensure that all legal options are exhausted before something dreadful, final and irrevocable takes place.
QUESTION:
On national security, Prime Minister, what changes are you going to make and will they lead to more legislation coming out of Parliament?
PRIME MINISTER:
I want to assure the people of Australia that the police and the security agencies are constantly vigilant in their interests. I want to assure the people of Australia that the Government is doing everything we humanly can to keep you safe, and what you saw last week was excellent work by the New South Wales Police, assisted by Australian Federal Police and our security agencies, to prevent what seems to have been an imminent terrorist attack inspired by the Islamist death cult in the Middle East. So, what you are seeing right now are our security agencies and our police hard at work to protect the community. We have the best and the most professional police and security agencies in the world and 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 or 66 days a year, they are working for us.
QUESTION:
Will you push ahead with a reduction in the indexation of pensions and raise the retirement age to 70?
PRIME MINISTER:
What we want to do is look after the Australian people in ways which are consistent with our overall economic responsibilities. Now, we all know that the pension age was first set back in the early 1900s when life expectancy at birth was well under 60. Today, life expectancy at birth is well over 80 and it's increasing all the time and healthy life expectancy is getting better all the time too. So, we do want to encourage people to extend their working lives. We think that this is good for people's finances; we think this is good for people's health, physical and mental. We do want to encourage people to consider an extended working life and a very modest rise in the pension age, we think, is a significant part of that.
We also think it's important for the system to be sustainable, and we have a plan to make the system sustainable. We have a plan to ensure that over the years, a generous social security net can be maintained and unfortunately, all we have from our opponents is a constant chorus of complaint. But I think the Australian people are better than that. I think the Australian people understand that the former government put us into a difficult financial position, and it's this Government's responsibility to fix the mess.
QUESTION:
If we could return to national security for a moment, Prime Minister – the tougher laws that you're talking about on residency, welfare, applying for citizenship, how are they going to work?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not going to pre-empt the statement that I will be making next Monday. But if you look for argument's sake at the history of the Martin Place murderer, at every step of the way, our system gave him the benefit of the doubt. This was someone who really did bring nothing but discredit to himself and to our country. He frankly is a disgrace to everybody who came into contact with him. And we need to ensure that the system is at least as focused on Australia's national interests as it is on the interests of people from overseas who seek to come here.
QUESTION:
Mr Abbott, could I ask you just briefly about Mr Ruddock? He starts this week out of a job, reportedly for his failure to be in touch with the backbench disquiet. Doesn't a failure to heed those matters reflect poorly on the Prime Minister as well?
PRIME MINISTER:
I just don't accept that anyone is out of a job because the job of being a Member of Parliament is an incredibly important job – a very, very important job. But what I did before Christmas was renew the Ministry. What I did late last week was renew the whips team and that's what governments do from time to time. They renew themselves so that they can focus more and better on the interests of the Australian people and that's what this Government is doing now. Yes, we had a bit of excitement in Canberra last week. We've put that behind us. We're getting on with the job, doing what the Australian people elected us to do: to build a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia. Let me just unpack that for a moment. A strong economy means if you're a worker, it means a business that can keep you employed and which can expand its employment. If you're a business person, it means better markets for you to expand into. If you're a consumer, it means better ability to buy a wider range of goods in our shops and if you're a young person, a strong and prosperous economy means a better hope of being able to buy your own home. So, this is what the Government is doing every day. We did it pretty effectively for 16 months last year. We had a bit of a hiccup last week but we're back on the job at hand and that's what we're doing.
Thank you.
[ends]