ANDREW BROAD MP:
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s fantastic that the Prime Minister is in Horsham in the heart of the Wimmera in the electorate of Mallee. It’s just testimony that this Prime Minister has a heart for all Australians, for regional Australians, and concerns about their welfare. Today, he’s made some very good announcements, contributed some money out of his own pocket, and the people of the Wimmera and Mallee are very happy to have him here and I welcome the Prime Minister to say a few words.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you so much, Andrew. It is terrific to be here at Horsham. It’s great to be here at the hospital and to be part of this community event to fundraise for the Wimmera Cancer Centre.
As you all know, it’s a tough fiscal situation in Canberra, but where people are prepared to help themselves, the Commonwealth Government should be able to assist and that’s why I was pleased to make $1 million of Commonwealth funding available to supplement the $1 million of privately-raised money that will go towards making this a much better cancer centre for the people of this region.
Over the last few days, I’ve been travelling widely around Australia listening to people’s concerns and doing what I can as Prime Minister to assist, and it’s absolutely crystal clear that right around Australia that people want a stronger economy, people want more jobs, people want more prosperity. It’s good that the Commonwealth has been able to help by reducing taxes, by reducing regulation, by finalising three important Free Trade Agreements and, of course, in so many parts of Australia funding infrastructure because better infrastructure means more jobs – more jobs in the construction and more jobs will be sustained, because infrastructure boosts everything.
Later today I’ll be going to Melbourne and I am deeply concerned at the new Victorian Government’s cancellation of the East West Link project; not just the cancellation of the East West Link project but their apparent abrogation of people’s contractual rights. This really is unprecedented. It raises sovereign risk issues, not just for the state of Victoria but for our country more generally, and even at this late stage I call on the Victorian Government to think again – think again – before it doesn’t just cancel a vital project for Victoria, doesn’t just stop a project that will create 7,000 jobs directly and tens of thousands of jobs indirectly, but will put Victoria’s reputation as a safe place to do business and invest at serious risk.
This really is a problem for the new Victorian Government. It’s ultimately a problem for Australia as a whole, because the last thing we want to be saying is that we are tearing up contracts. That’s the last thing that people want to associate with our country: that new governments will go to the Parliament and literally abrogate people’s rights because that’s what it seems the Victorian Government is now set upon doing.
QUESTION:
Will you meet with Daniel Andrews while you’re in Melbourne?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I’m always happy to meet with the Premier but at the moment I have a very clear message for the Premier: don’t tear up this contract, don’t go into the Parliament to abrogate people’s rights because not only is that bad for infrastructure but it will do very serious damage to the reputation of this state and our country.
QUESTION:
You said that the state election was a referendum on the East West Link, though. Do you now regret making that call?
PRIME MINISTER:
The federal election was also a referendum on East West Link in Victoria, so we’ve got, if you like, mixed messages. But plainly – plainly – every expert that you talk to says that the most important road infrastructure project in Victoria, the biggest and most important road infrastructure project in Victoria, is the East West Link because that will benefit not just the people of Melbourne, but the people of Victoria and Australia because if Melbourne works better, the state works better, and the country works better.
QUESTION:
But the state election was more recent and you said that was the referendum, so is that not standing anymore?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, the point here today, if I may say so, is that by cancelling East West Link, hundreds of people have been sacked, thousands of people won’t be employed and the reputation of Victoria as a safe place to invest is put in jeopardy and if the Premier goes into the Parliament to actually abrogate the contractual rights of the successful East West Link tenderers, there is a serious sovereign risk issue that will apply to Victoria and, ultimately, to our country.
QUESTION:
Do you have any advice that a Melbourne teenager – Jake Bilardi – was involved in a suicide attack in Iraq this week?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, there are unconfirmed reports to this effect. This is a horrific situation – an absolutely horrific situation – and it shows the lure of this death cult to impressionable youngsters and it’s very, very important that we do everything we can to try to safeguard our young people against the lure of this shocking alien and extreme ideology.
QUESTION:
Western Victoria was built on the back of agriculture and we’re starting to see a lot of foreign investment coming into this part of the world. How do you ensure that that foreign investment continues to support regional economies and people in this part of the world?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we're all in favour of foreign investment. Foreign investment is a good thing, but it's got to be foreign investment that serves our national interest and not just the interests of the investor and that's why the Government recently moved to lower the screening threshold for foreign investment in agricultural land. I think this is very important, not to stop foreign investment particularly, but to give people confidence that the foreign investment in our country is in our national interests, as well as in the national interests of overseas investors.
QUESTION:
Tony, you've had a look at rural Australia over the last few days. What's your opinion of the rural economy as it stands now?
PRIME MINISTER:
That's a very good question, and I think there is quite a lot more confidence in country Australia today than there was just a couple of years ago. I know there are some places which are still badly affected by drought, particularly northern New South Wales and western Queensland, but where the seasons are ok, I think rural Australia is pretty optimistic, and one of the real grounds for optimism is the Free Trade Agreements that we've negotiated, because our beef, our lamb, our dairy, our seafood, our wines, are all going to get into places like China, Korea and Japan under much better circumstances in the future than in the recent past. So, that's all good. I guess low and stable interest rates, a much more competitive dollar, lower fuel prices as well as lower power prices: all of these things are helping to boost confidence in country Australia and that's obviously a very, very good thing.
QUESTION:
How are progressing on drought policy?
PRIME MINISTER:
As you know, we've got a white paper coming up – an agriculture white paper coming up – and that will be the right place to further advance ideas and issues in respect of drought policy.
QUESTION:
When do you expect to have the registry with the foreign investment?
PRIME MINISTER:
The threshold for screening has come down as of 1 March and we will have the register up and running as I seem to recall by the middle of the year.
QUESTION:
Just lastly on foreign investment, to use the phrase Team Australia, how do you make sure foreign investors continue to play for Team Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
This is why we've got the Foreign Investment Review Board to ensure that major foreign investment is in our national interests. Not only have we lowered the screening threshold for agricultural land and we're in the process of doing it for agribusiness as well.
But we've also cracked down on illegal foreign purchases of residential land, because this is a Government which is fairly and squarely focused on Australia's national interest. Now, the right foreign investment is absolutely in our national interest, but I stress it does have to be the right foreign investment and that's why we've got the Foreign Investment Review Board to look after that.
QUESTION:
Here in regional Victoria, we have a lot of large local government areas with a small rate base. What can you do to ensure the sustainability of local government?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, in the end this is a matter for the state government. Obviously, the Commonwealth provides a whole range of assistance for local government; there are direct grants, there's road funding and so on. But in the end, the size of local government and the organisation of local government is a matter for the states. But I've got to say, Andrew, it was good to meet so many of your local mayors here this morning. The fact that there were so many local mayors here this morning supporting this Wimmera Cancer Centre is a sign of the great cohesiveness of the people of this part of Victoria. It's so typical of country people to come out and support a good cause such as this.
Thank you so much.
[ends]