FIONA SCOTT:
It’s great to be here at Panthers today with the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, and Minister for Small Business, Bruce Billson.
Today we’ve been talking about the Free Trade Agreements and what that’s going to mean for the people of Western Sydney. Western Sydney is an emerging economy that’s really getting to its feet. We have so much potential in this community, potential to lead the world in regard to innovation and technology. But this has only been possible because of the Free Trade Agreements that this Abbott Government has signed.
It’s also made possible by the $3.6 billion worth of infrastructure that’s enabling our city to start moving, linking the business parks of the future and the schools and the education that we’re also looking into through our university sectors to ensure that we have the best and brightest that are going to fill these business parks. One business park alone – the Sydney Science Park – 12,200 jobs that were going to be smart jobs – smart jobs for our future. Future jobs that is going to provide services and the products that we can export to the world. This is only possible because of the Free Trade Agreements, the infrastructure, to get our cities moving. And for that, I am so honoured and happy to have the Prime Minister here with us today.
Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, thanks Fiona. Thank you so much. It is great to be here at Panthers. It's good to be with Fiona Scott, the Member for Lindsay and with Bruce Billson, the Minister for Small Business.
As you all know, this Government's objective is to create a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia. There are many elements to a strong and prosperous economy: lower taxes, less regulation, better infrastructure and we're certainly getting on with all of those things. The carbon tax has gone, the mining tax has gone, we've just had the biggest cut to small business taxes in Australia's history.
We've given the businesses of Australia a $2 billion reduction in their red tape costs. And as Fiona's just pointed out, as well as the massive WestConnex development, as well as the coming airport for Western Sydney, we've got a $3.6 billion road package for this part of Sydney, which has been neglected for too long.
But a very, very important part of building a strong and prosperous economy is freer trade and that's what I'm really pleased to be here to talk about this morning with Bruce Billson, our absolutely indefatigable Minister for Small Business who's been going right around our country to promote the virtues of these Free Trade Agreements with our major trading partners.
This is just one of many, many of these free trade seminars that we're having, because it gives us an opportunity to talk to the businesses of our country, to talk to the people of our country and to give them the essential message that trade means jobs. More trade means more jobs and freer trade means more trade.
So, that's the message that I have for the people of Western Sydney and for the people of Australia today. This is a Government which is looking after your interests. We're looking after your interest in a whole host of ways, but right up there near the top are these three Free Trade Agreements that we've negotiated with our major trading partners.
Negotiations started a long, long time ago under the Howard government. They languished for many years under the former government, but in the first full year of this Government, thanks to the extraordinary work of Andrew Robb our Trade and Investment Minister, these Free Trade Agreements have been finalised.
Two of them are already in operation and we've already seen a very significant boost to our exports to Korea and to Japan as a result of these agreements.
Again, I want to pay tribute to the work of Bruce Billson. Bruce has been extraordinary in the commitment that he's brought, the fervour, that he's brought to this job and Bruce is someone who doesn't just represent small business in the Cabinet, he lives and breathes small business and the enthusiasm for him wherever he goes around Australia testifies to the faith that the small businesses of our country have in this Minister who has delivered the best Budget ever for small business.
SMALL BUSINESS MINISTER:
Well, thanks, Prime Minister. The mood in the room is really electric. The positivity that's amongst the SMEs of Western Sydney – you can taste it, because they know the Government is getting the policy settings right to support their enterprise. Not only by removing unnecessary cost burdens like the carbon tax, not only about unshackling their entrepreneurship with more than $2.5 billion of red tape reductions, but also the jobs and small business package.
This is rocket fuel in the engine room of our economy – the small business men and women driving enterprises right across our continent, family and farming enterprises. And our story and our work today is to help those businesses recognise that there are hundreds of millions of prospective customers to whom the door has been opened by this Government and Andrew Robb through the trade agreements with Japan, with Korea and with China.
We excel in so many fields of endeavour. Internationally, we're recognised and valued as world-class. This is about enabling our local SMEs to see those customers as a delicious world of opportunities that they can reach out to and delight and through their work and their enterprise and these trade agreements grow the economy, grow jobs, improve incomes for our nation.
We are sharing the how-to at these seminars. What the agreements are about, what the away game the Commonwealth Government brings to the table – Austrade, Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, the Export Market Development Grant Programme – all of the ways in which we facilitate access to those new customers and then share the know-how of people who've already made that journey, the path finders, to share their knowledge and wisdom so more small businesses embed in their plans for the future export opportunities made possible, made more attractive, by these trade agreements and that's why there's a great air of optimism and positivity in this room today.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks, Bruce. OK, do we have any questions?
QUESTION:
Mr Abbott, speaking with foreign relations – our ambassador’s returned to Jakarta – what plans does Government plan to take to improve relations with Indonesia?
PRIME MINISTER:
Our relations with Indonesia are strong and getting stronger. Obviously, there was some stress as a result of the execution of two of our citizens and obviously we made the strongest possible representations at the time. We thought that those executions were unnecessary and counterproductive, but we also made it crystal clear at the time that we weren't going to let this permanently damage what is a very good friendship and a very important relationship.
I made it clear that the ambassador would be withdrawn for a time because of the depth of Australia's feeling. In response to those executions, we took what was a pretty unprecedented step. But he's been out of there for about 40 days and I think now is an appropriate time for him to go back.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, do home buyers need to be realistic about how much they need to save to get into the housing market and what they can afford to buy?
PRIME MINISTER:
I certainly encourage the home buyers of Australia or the would-be home buyers of Australia to be ambitious, but it is important not to overextend yourself and I think that was the message that Joe Hockey had for people yesterday and he's spoken very strongly about this again today, as is right and proper. But I just want to stress what this Government is doing. We are strengthening our economy, we are creating more jobs, we are doing what we can to keep interest rates low and stable and we are working with the states to try to ensure that there is more land available for housing, there is a greater housing stock.
The other point I should make is that we are trying to ensure that local home buyers get a fair go by finally enforcing the rules against foreigners purchasing existing residential land. These rules have been in place for a long time, but in six years of Labor government not a single prosecution was launched and as we are increasingly discovering, the rules have been breached many, many times. But the people who have breached the rules know that there is now a serious Government which will enforce the rules and that's going to be good news for Australian home buyers.
QUESTION:
Do you think that Joe Hockey's comments that first home buyers should get a better job if they want to buy in Sydney – do you think those were insensitive?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I'm just not going to get into running a commentary on things. I'm just going to stress the fact that Joe has done the best possible thing by the home buyers of Australia through bringing down a Budget that will be good for jobs, that will be good for business, that will be good for confidence, because that's what we want. We want a strong economy with strong jobs growth where people can have a go and get ahead. That's what we want – a strong economy where people can have a go and get ahead. Joe has certainly been talking at length today about all the things that we are doing to help the home buyers of our country.
QUESTION:
The Treasurer has given us his tip. What's your tip, if you're a teacher or a nurse in Sydney or Melbourne trying to buy a house – how do you do it?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't for a second underestimate just how hard it is for a lot of people. I'm someone who has over the years felt a bit of mortgage stress, even as a Cabinet Minister sometimes it's hard to pay a Sydney mortgage and I know that over the years I've earned a lot more than the average person. So, the Abbott family certainly understands what it's like to have a mortgage. We still have a mortgage. We still have a mortgage – like so many Australians. I've got three daughters, all of whom at some point soon either are getting into the housing market or are looking to get into the housing market. So, I know what it's like and again the job of government is to try to ensure that the fundamentals are right. That means a strong economy with plenty of jobs, with low and stable interest rates, with good infrastructure, with a growing housing stock and that's exactly what this Government is seeking to deliver.
QUESTION:
Do you still have confidence that your Treasurer is in touch with mainstream Australians?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't think anyone listening to Joe on the radio today would be in any doubt. This is a Treasurer who is striving every day to do the right thing by the people of Australia and the Budget that Joe has just brought down, the biggest boost for small business in our history, it's been good for confidence and that's certainly going to be good for people who are looking to do better, to have a go and get ahead.
QUESTION:
How many more gaffes are you going to put up with from the Treasurer?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't accept the characterisation that you're putting on yesterday's discussion. This is a government which every day is trying to do the right thing by the people of Australia. We are trying to ensure that people have more opportunities to have a go and get ahead and obviously one of the best ways that we can get ahead in the medium and long-term is to go out there and invest in our own home – and buying your own home, it's a part of the Australian dream and as far as this government is concerned, it should always be part of the Australian dream.
QUESTION:
With respect, your answer today on the subject seemed quite sensitive, he's being accused, Joe Hockey – your Treasurer – of being insensitive yesterday. Is he stumbling when trying to get a message across?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, again I just don't accept that characterisation. This Government, in this respect, led by Joe, has just brought down a very, very good Budget – an outstandingly good Budget and we saw yesterday the NAB, National Australia Bank business confidence index go from positive 3 to positive 7 compared to a miserable positive 0.5 on average over the life of the former government.
So, confidence is strong and growing and it's strong and growing in large measure because of the Budget that the Treasurer brought down just a few weeks ago. The best Budget ever for small business. As well as bringing down a good Budget we've been cutting taxes, we've been cutting regulation, we've been establishing free trade regimes with our most important trading partners – all of which is giving more opportunity for business, more opportunity for workers. You want to talk about the Treasurer, there are all sorts of people with questions to answer today, in particular the Leader of the Opposition who keeps running away from questions about whether – when he was the leader of the Australian Workers' Union – deals were done which ripped off the workers to advantage the union and in particular, to advance the political ambitions of some of the union's officials.
QUESTION:
Do you think Mr Shorten has more explaining to do on that front?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, clearly he does. Essentially he's refused to answer questions here. For a long, long time he was the leader of the Australian Workers' Union. He's very familiar with the union business model and what we've learnt from the Royal Commission over the last few days is that the AWU in particular was guilty of ripping off workers to advance its own political position. Now, I think this is a very serious revelation about how the unions are betraying their members, how the unions are letting down the workers in order to promote their position inside the Labor Party. We've seen Mr Shorten's successor at the AWU in Victoria forced to resign from his positions in the Victorian Parliament. Of course Mr Shorten has questions to answer and it's just not good enough for him to stonewall in the face of perfectly reasonable questions about whether these sorts of sweetheart deals were done in his time as a union leader.
QUESTION:
Mr Abbott, two surveys out today just on confidence, both Westpac and ANZ saying consumer sentiment has stalled, is that of concern to you?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, again, we can focus on today's surveys or we can look at the range of recent data and by far the most significant piece of data out over the last few days was the National Australia Bank business confidence survey, which shows that business confidence is strong and getting stronger. Over the last month it went from positive 3 to positive 7, compared with a miserable 0.5 under the life of the former government. So, what's happened is that you've now got a Government in power in Canberra which is not only open for business, but is open to business and because we are open to business, because we're listening to business, because we're trying to respond intelligently and creatively to what business needs, business is more confident. If you've got more confidence you'll have more jobs, you'll have more prosperity and you'll have progress for our country as a whole and that's what this Government's trying to do.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, just on Indigenous constitutional recognition, we saw this week that one of your key Indigenous advisers Warren Mundine called Noel Pearson's alternative plan for recognising Indigenous people in the Constitution, he called that ‘dangerous and radical’. Do you agree with his views?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not going to get into some kind of a name calling contest. That's the last thing that I would ever want to do. Obviously, I have a lot of respect for both of them. Warren, as you say, is the chairman of my Indigenous Advisory Council. Noel has been a friend and indeed a mentor of mine for many, many years. What I'm pleased to see is a strong debate about the best way forward. I am committed to Indigenous recognition, but it's got to be a form of recognition that the whole country can embrace. I think it was Noel's understanding of that, that led to the initiative that he has brought forward. Now, people are entitled to say there are better ways of doing it and obviously that's Warren's position, but what we need to do is go forward together as a country. What we need to do is find a form of recognition which is genuinely a completion of our Constitution rather than a substantial change to it. I'm confident that we can get there. As you know, I'm having a discussion along with the Leader of the Opposition in a few weeks' time with some of our significant Indigenous leaders. But I stress for this to work, it has to be a unifying moment not just for Indigenous people, but for every Australian and I think we have it in us to be our best selves on this and that's what I'm working towards.
[ends]