MICHAEL SUKKAR:
Firstly, I want to welcome the Prime Minister and Minister for Small Business for coming out here to the Deakin electorate to Café Emjay and I also want to thank Bill and Mary Buchanan for hosting us here this morning. They are a fantastic local business, two people who have started up a café from scratch and it is now one of the marquee cafes in the area. I want to particularly welcome the announcement that the Minister for Small Business will make which is all about making life easier for small business owners. We have over 10,000 small businesses here. The Deakin electorate employs literally thousands of people so anything we can do to make life easier for small businesses will be an economic boon for the Deakin electorate. So, again, thank you Prime Minister for being in the Deakin electorate and to the Minister for Small Business thank you also.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Michael it is so good to be here in your electorate. It is great to be in Café Emjay. Like you I want to thank Bill and Mary Buchanan, their staff and their customers for making myself and the Minister for Small Business so welcome this morning. This is a Government which is absolutely committed to doing the right thing by the small businesses of Australia. Small business is the engine room of our economy, small business is the lifeblood and creativity in our economy and so when we do the right thing by small business we are calling it for Australia. That is what we are doing; we are doing the right thing by our country when we do the right thing by small business because of the prosperity and the jobs that small business creates every day.
We have scrapped the carbon tax, that has been very good for small business whose power bills have gone down when the carbon tax was scrapped. We are cutting red tape all the time and that's obviously very good for small business. As a result of the initiatives announced in the Parliament this week we have saved the businesses of Australia, particularly the small businesses of Australia, some $2.5 billion in red tape costs every year. And today, along with the Minister for Small business, I am very pleased to announce that we are proceeding on an election commitment to extend to small business the same kind of protections against unfair contracts that consumers have long enjoyed.
Now, this is an election commitment that we made. This is an additional protection and help for small business. I should add that it's a commitment that the former government made but never delivered upon. It's a commitment that we made and are now delivering upon because this is a government which keeps its commitments.
We said we'd scrap the carbon tax – we have. We said we'd stop the boats – we have. We said we'd build infrastructure and we are – and we remain committed to the East West Link which is so important for the people of this part of Melbourne and Geelong because everyone who needs to get around and through this great city needs the East West Link.
We said we would get the Budget back under control and as the Intergenerational Report showed just a couple of weeks ago, thanks to the measures that this Government has put in place Labor's debt and deficit has been halved. So we've made a very, very good start on the task of Budget repair. We've given ourselves an excellent foundation on which to bring down this year's Budget.
I do want to stress the commitment of this Government to small business. It's very important that we give small business protection against unfair contracts that can be varied at will by big business, it's very important that we have a level playing field for big business and small business to operate on and I want, finally, before I ask him to speak to this announcement, I want finally to thank the Minister for Small Business, Bruce Billson.
Bruce is an absolutely passionate advocate for small business. He's evangelical in support of the small businesses of Australia. He was a small businessman himself before coming into the Parliament. Small business has a true friend and ally and advocate in Bruce Billson.
SMALL BUSINESS MINISTER:
Well, Prime Minister, thank you, and Michael, thank you for having us in the east of the great city of Melbourne. I want to particularly add my thanks to Bill and Mary and their team, what a great example of enterprising Australians creating economic opportunities and liveability and vibrancy in our communities right across the country. And just as an example, Bill and Mary's daughter and granddaughter are here – more entrepreneurship coming forward. This is great and it's worth celebrating.
Our goal is to make sure our country and our economy is the best place to start and grow a business. We know we've got a lot of work to do; small business was hit very hard under the previous Labor government. Our election commitments are being implemented, they are being achieved as we promised and this is another example of this today.
Unfair contract terms protections are crucial for small businesses that are foisted on them a take it or leave it contract by a bigger, more powerful business that has in those contracts terms that are completely unfair, unnecessary, that don't have any purpose in protecting a legitimate interest of the stronger party or seek to only strengthen their powerful position at the expense of small business.
We made a commitment that we'd extend those protections currently available to consumers to small businesses and that's exactly what we are doing today; giving unfair contract term protections, familiar to consumers, not previously available to small business, now available to small business. We've put to the states and territories our plan. We hope to hear by the middle of next month that all of them are on board and I urge them to get behind this important initiative.
This follows other actions designed to make sure that efficient businesses, big and small, can thrive and prosper in our economy. We've seen the work we've done on strengthening the franchise code and making it more effective. The food and grocery code, another great commitment that we've implemented and we've delivered. We've also made the right to repair arrangements fair to smaller motor mechanics, consumers wanting to have a choice about where to get their vehicle serviced and attended to. And today unfair contract terms and protections, we are energising enterprise because we know small businesses and family enterprises are the engine room of the economy. These policy settings ensure that small businesses can invest, can grow, can employ. We're about making sure we put that momentum and that support into the job creation and economic engine room that is small businesses and that's why this is such a terrific day and I'm very excited another policy commitment delivered by the Abbott Coalition Government.
PRIME MINISTER:
Ok, do we have any questions?
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, how did your discussions go this morning with the Premier Daniel Andrews about East West Link?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I made it crystal clear that the Commonwealth Government wants the East West Link to go ahead and frankly the people of Melbourne desperately need East West Link to go ahead. Now, the Premier made some election commitments and I respect the commitments that he made, although I respectfully disagree with them. So, we're going to continue to talk about ways of properly addressing the transport problems, the traffic problems of Melbourne because plainly there is a massive choke point at the end of the Eastern Freeway, there's another massive choke point on the Westgate Bridge. People coming from suburbs like Ringwood going to the city have got a real problem when they get to the end of the Eastern Freeway and that needs to be addressed. People coming from Geelong into the city have got a real problem when they hit the Westgate Bridge. That needs to be addressed.
The Commonwealth way to address this was through East West Link. Now, let's talk to the Victorian Government and see what can be done but I won't rest, I won't rest until I am absolutely convinced that these major traffic problems that are holding the great city of Melbourne back are addressed. And frankly, Melbourne is a city, it's not a village – and a city needs a proper transport system. It needs proper arterial roads and right now the missing link, the missing link between east and west is the East West Link and let's talk to the Government about what can be done to fix this problem.
QUESTION:
So money that was going to go to that project would have to go to another road? Or would you entertain the possibility of public transport or rail?
PRIME MINISTER:
I've made it clear that Commonwealth infrastructure funding does not go for urban rail because commuter rail is wholly and solely the responsibility of the state governments. State governments own them, build them, run them. There is, of course, asset recycling which is available to the state governments for their own purposes but if we're talking about a Commonwealth infrastructure grant, that goes for roads of national significance or for freight rail because those historically, and rightly, have been the responsibility of the Commonwealth.
QUESTION:
You came into Victoria during the election and declared it a referendum on the East West Link. Are you ignoring your own claim?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I made the federal election a referendum on the East West Link and we won the federal election. We won seats on the east of Melbourne, we won seats on the west of Melbourne in large measure because people wanted the East West Link built. Now, I accept that there was a different result in the state election. The only way to address the traffic bottlenecks of Melbourne is to have some kind of new crossing of the city. Now, East West Link fairly and squarely addresses this and that's why the Commonwealth Government committed to it.
QUESTION:
So, are you urging Daniel Andrews to break his election promise?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm going to talk to the Premier in a reasonable and constructive way about what we can do to address this issue and as I've said time and time again, it doesn't make sense to spend almost as much money to stop a road as to build it. It doesn’t make sense. Now, this is an issue for the Premier to wrestle with because there are legal obligations the Victorian Government has and as Federal Labor used to say, Labor doesn't break contracts. Let's see what the Victorian Government does here but together we need to address the fundamental problem bedevilling Melbourne which is the choke point at the Westgate, the choke point on the Eastern Expressway, East West Link fixed the problem and that's why the Commonwealth is committed to it.
QUESTION:
Your office sent out a long list of previous quotes by Labor MPs to do with Nazi Germany. Are these sorts of insults just tic for tac?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, it was a pretty willing exchange in the Parliament yesterday. I went a little too far and I withdrew and I apologised but I'm not the only one. A lot of people have used those sorts of references over the years starting with Bert Evatt talking about Bob Menzies and continuing with Paul Keating and Stephen Conroy and Wayne Swan and Mark Dreyfus. Now, the Parliament is a willing place. Occasionally things get heated. When any of us go over the top we should withdrew and apologise and that's what happened yesterday.
QUESTION:
Shouldn't people, like people in this café, expect higher standards from politicians?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's interesting, people get passionate. When people are talking about things that matter to them they get passionate and I am passionate about doing the right thing by Australia and the right thing by Australia is stopping the boats, getting taxes and regulation down, getting the Budget under control. It's not an easy job. It is not an easy job, it's a particularly difficult job. And the Labor Party that created the problem refuses to take any responsibility for fixing it, but every day my colleagues and I will do the right thing by our country because we do need to get the Budget under control. A problem that was unmanageable under Labor is now manageable under us as the Intergenerational Report showed.
QUESTION:
Fairfax says since you came to office the Budget bottom line is $80 billion worse off over four years. Why are you planning a dull Budget?
PRIME MINISTER:
What we saw on coming to office was that the Labor Party had not been up-front with people about the scale of debt and deficit going forward. The Labor Party going into the last election claimed that the deficit for that financial year would be $18 billion. It turned out to be $48 billion. That's a $30 billion budget black hole that the Labor Party should have known about and should have been up-front about. So, the measures that we took to restructure the Budget and the fiscal situation going forward in last year's Budget were necessary. Now, obviously, not all of them have got through the Senate but even the measures that have got through the Parliament have halved Labor’s debt and deficit going forward. That is why I say this Government has made a very strong start. We’ve got a good foundation on which to build this year’s Budget.
QUESTION:
Has the National Security Committee decided to sign up to the China-led infrastructure bank?
PRIME MINISTER:
No final decision has been made but obviously we have a huge infrastructure deficit, not just in this country but across our region and it is important to do what we reasonably can to address that. If it is possible to have a new multilateral institution with transparency and good governance arrangements, obviously, Australia would support that and I hope most other countries would as well.
QUESTION:
Back to your meeting with the Premier this morning were there any other projects that appealed to you that might attract federal funding?
PRIME MINISTER:
There are always a whole host of issues that premiers and prime ministers can discuss and have a mutual interest in taking forward. What I want to do is address the fundamental transport problems of Melbourne; the traffic choke points which are clogging and sometimes paralysing this great city. East West Link would do that, the Premier wants to keep talking about how we can address these issues and I am happy to keep talking.
QUESTION:
[Inaudible] $3 billion for the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, after a number of Budget measures that haven’t passed the Senate. Is that really a necessary step?
PRIME MINISTER:
We have made no final decision to join the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank although obviously we are considering it. We have been considering it in one way or another for quite a few months now and the point I make is that this is a Government which takes infrastructure seriously. We take infrastructure seriously in this state and in this country and we appreciate that other countries take infrastructure seriously and we want to be a good international citizen when it comes to helping, not just our country be prosperous, but helping the world be prosperous. A more prosperous world means a more prosperous Australia. So, that is what we are on about. What we are considering in terms of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank is absolutely consistent with what we are doing domestically. We want to build infrastructure, we want to reduce tax, we want to get red tape down, we want to unleash the creativity of our people and today is another step towards unleashing the creativity of our people by extending to small business the kind of protections against unfair contracts which consumers have long enjoyed.
Thank you so much.
[ends]