STEVEN CIOBO:
Good morning. Can I just welcome the Prime Minister back to the Gold Coast. It’s terrific to have the Prime Minister back in Australia’s sixth largest and fastest growing city. I made the point today that we’re the small business capital of Australia, we’ve got the highest concentration of small businesses per head of population than any other part of the country and in that sense, I was particularly pleased that the most recent federal Budget made small business front and centre – the number one priority for the Government to drive confidence, to drive investment, to drive employment. These are all the key measures that the Federal Government is looking at.
To have the Prime Minister back on the Gold Coast to be able to mix and mingle with local small business people, with the local community, to see the vibrancy of our city, the investment that’s taking place in terms of new construction projects as well as, of course, our very vibrant tourism industry. These are all the most important aspects of our great and unique city. It was terrific to have the Prime Minister here to hear the message about the Gold Coast’s future, to look at the work that’s been taking place with respect to the Federal Government’s investment in the Commonwealth Games, to be able to meet with some of the local developers that are pushing ahead with major tourism infrastructure projects. On each of these measures, I think the Coalition’s done an outstanding job and so I was very pleased the Prime Minister was able to be here.
Thank you, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Steve, it is great to be here. It’s terrific to be at this breakfast for the Southport School Foundation, an extraordinarily well-attended breakfast which is a great credit to the school and its standing in the local community.
Of course, so many of the people here this morning are small business people. There are 34,000 small businesses on the Gold Coast that will be able to take advantage of the small business budget boost. Every day, this is a Government which is doing what it can to build a stronger and more prosperous economy because that's what will give us a safer and more secure society in the long run.
I was really pleased to see in the jobs figures released yesterday that we've created almost 300,000 new jobs since the election – there are almost 300,000 more jobs since the election – and this is a sign that despite the headwinds overseas, the policies that the Government has put in place to lower taxes, to cut regulation, to boost productivity, to boost confidence do seem to be working.
Last year we had a Budget for savings, this year we've had a Budget for confidence, and together we are making a difference. We are helping our country, we are helping this great city to come closer to being all that we can be and that's got to be at the heart of all good government: to empower the citizens of our country to come closer to being all that we can be, to grasp the potential that is there for us.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, the Agriculture Minister says that his complaints about the Shenhua mine have been made as Agriculture Minister and not as the Local Member. Should he be disciplined or should he resign from Cabinet?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I really respect Barnaby's passion and commitment. I really do respect his passion and commitment, both as a Local Member and as a Minister, but as he himself has pointed out, the federal Environment Minister's approval is step fifteen in a seventeen-step process. So far there are fourteen steps that were outside of the remit of the Commonwealth Government and one step that is and there’s a couple more steps to go. So, let's see what happens from here, but look, agriculture and mining have long been able to co-exist in this country. I certainly want them to continue to co-exist because we need both a dynamic agriculture sector and we need a dynamic resources sector if we are to have the jobs and the prosperity that everyone wants.
QUESTION:
But his behaviour in particular, is it appropriate for him to be speaking out against the Government on matters as a Cabinet Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think he is expressing some disappointment – some disappointment – but look, as I said, this was step fifteen in a long and at times torturous seventeen-step process. I believe that we can have, with the right environmental regulation, a strong agricultural sector which can co-exist with a strong resources sector.
QUESTION:
Have you spoken to him and said, ‘Pull your head in, Barnaby. This is not the united front to be presenting for the Government’?
PRIME MINISTER:
I've had a lot of conversations with all my Ministers – that’s what a good Prime Minister does. A good Prime Minister is always talking to his ministers and that's what I expect to continue to do.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, there are two big pieces of infrastructure that the Gold Coast is currently debating. One of them is the light rail and one of them is the Instrument Landing System for the airport. Will the Government provide funding for the light rail extension and what's your position on the ILS?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it’s interesting you should raise the light rail because urban public transport has always been a question for state and local government – always been a question for state and local government. Yes, there were a few exceptions made under the Rudd-Gillard Government, but the Rudd-Gillard Government was the most monumentally incompetent government in our history. It spent money that it just didn’t have, it made commitments that, frankly, were utterly unsustainable and the last thing that this Government is going to do is go down the path that the former Government so regrettably blazed.
So, we are not in the business of funding urban public transport other than through asset recycling, and if the state Government is so keen to have a federal Government contribution to the light rail here on the Gold Coast they can do what the ACT Labor Government did, which was to sell off some assets to trigger asset recycling and that Commonwealth money is being provided towards a light rail system in the ACT. So, there’s a very clear and obvious way that the state Government can secure a federal contribution if it wishes.
A couple of other points I should make, though. The first point is that we are providing an additional $6 billion over the forward estimates for roads in Queensland above and beyond what was going to be the case under the former Government. That's $6 billion more for roads in Queensland. That means that the state Government won't have to spend quite so much, so that means that there’s more state Government money available if they want to see the light rail system extended quickly.
The other point I make, it was reported yesterday that the operators of the light rail believe they can fund the thing on an entirely private basis. All they need is additional permissions and additional franchising from the state government. Now, if the state Government doesn't have the money, despite all the extra money that the Commonwealth is spending on roads in Queensland, there is a no-cost-to-the-public sector option that the state Government could consider.
QUESTION:
Are you in favour of that option, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
It’s a matter for the state Government.
QUESTION:
What about the ILS, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, this is something which is currently under consideration. No decision has been made. It’s simply a matter which is being looked at. I believe there are a range of alternatives that are also being looked at and let's wait and see where this process goes.
QUESTION:
Has Bill Shorten's leadership of the Labor Party become untenable after the Royal Commission?
PRIME MINISTER:
Again, I'm just not going to give a running commentary on the Royal Commission. Obviously, the Royal Commission has exposed the underbelly, if you like, of dodgy unionism in this country and rather than dwell on what any particular person has said or any particular issue or incident, I'd rather look at the solution. The Government does have legislation before the Parliament for a Registered Organisations Commission which will bring the same standard of governance to unions that we've long had for companies. The Government also has legislation before the Parliament for an Australian Building and Construction Commission which will restore the rule of law on building sites and, frankly, I hope that the Labor Party, rather than naval gaze which they are at the moment, would actually get on with the job of parliamentary approval for these important pieces of legislation because if we're serious about honest unions and looking after decent, honest workers, we need good governance and that's what this legislation will provide.
QUESTION:
Should Bill Shorten quit after the Royal Commission?
PRIME MINISTER:
Again, I'm not in the business of giving public advice to other political parties. I’m in the business of trying to ensure that our country is as well-governed as possible and we’ve got two pieces of legislation before the Parliament – the Registered Organisations Commission Bill which will give union governance the same integrity that we’ve long had in corporate governance, we’ve got the Australian Building and Construction Commission Bill which will restore the rule of law on our major construction sites – and if the Labor Party wants to get its act together, wants to ensure that we never have this kind of problem again, it should get cracking and help the Government to pass this legislation.
QUESTION:
In terms of MP declarations though, do you think that the process of them being enforced needs to be looked at?
PRIME MINISTER:
My understanding is that there is a disclosure process which is monitored and enforced by the Australian Electoral Commission.
QUESTION:
But it didn’t in this case if Bill Shorten’s able to get away with it for eight years and not declare it.
PRIME MINISTER:
As I said, this is a matter for the Australian Electoral Commission.
QUESTION:
Is Bill Shorten fit to be the alternative prime minister of Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
Again, I’m not in the business of running sort of a character assessment of people in other political parties. I mean, obviously, I have a lot of arguments with Bill Shorten. Every day we do battle in the Parliament and my problem with the Labor Party is that it doesn’t often enough support good policy. That’s my problem with the Labor Party and right now, there is good policy before the Parliament that will address the problems that this Royal Commission is dealing with. So, if anyone in the Labor Party wants to redeem themselves, they can get behind the Registered Organisations Commission Bill and help ensure that unions have the same high standards of governance which we’ve long had with companies.
QUESTION:
You’ve now put three Labor leaders before a Royal Commission in just under a year. Are people right to see that as a bit of a political stitch-up?
PRIME MINISTER:
Let’s understand why these royal commissions are in place and then let’s understand how royal commissions work. The Home Insulation Programme Royal Commission was put in place because four people died. Four people died and hundreds of homes caught fire because of one of the most incompetent and botched policies in Commonwealth Government history and the families of those who died wanted to get to the bottom of it and to keep faith with the families, the Government established that particular Royal Commission. Now if you look at the union corruption Royal Commission, this has been called for by senior people in the labour movement including Fair Work Commissioner Cambridge, a very, very senior former member of the Australian Workers Union.
So, both these royal commissions were addressing very serious public policy challenges, both of these royal commissions, as is quite proper and appropriate for a royal commission, have been casting a spotlight into some of the darker corners of our national life. That’s what royal commissions are there for: to cast a spotlight into some of the darker corners of our national life and people get called before royal commissions because royal commissioners decide that their evidence is necessary and that’s why we’ve seen the people that we have appearing before the Royal Commission.
QUESTION:
Do you have concerns about the Commissioner’s objectivity?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. This is a Royal Commission headed up by a very, very distinguished former judge of the High Court of Australia. There is no more distinguished person in the legal profession than Justice Dyson Heydon and he is conducting this Royal Commission in accordance with the usual cannons of fairness and exactitude and he is doing exactly what royal commissioners should do.
Thank you.
[ends]