Subjects: Jobs for Redcliffe; politicians’ expenses; good government; Waltzing Matilda; Vegemite; the Speaker
E&OE……………………….……………………………………………………………
LUKE HOWARTH:
Well good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I’m Luke Howarth, the Federal Member for Petrie. It’s really wonderful to have all of you here today – and the Prime Minister of course – for this Redcliffe Dolphins home match here in the Electorate of Petrie.
The Prime Minister has got an important announcement today that the people of Petrie, the people that are in the crowd here today, have written to me about and have been lobbying me to try and get some support from the Federal Government. And it’s great news that he’ll announce shortly at half time – not just for the Redcliffe Dolphins Club here and the players, the juniors that are involved in sport and keeping fit, and the club as a whole, but through this whole community because one of the big issues here in the Petrie electorate of course is jobs and there will be a number of jobs that come through this project but also infrastructure as well which is very important in this particular area here in Redcliffe.
So jobs, infrastructure, it’s great for small business and tourism, with about 10 per cent of jobs here locally employed in the tourism sector. So really, Prime Minister, thank you for coming up and we look forward to your announcement today. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Luke, it’s great to be here in Redcliffe, it’s great to be here at the Dolphins Rugby League ground to make this announcement with my friend and colleague Luke Howarth, the Member for Petrie. This is a very important local and regional facility and the expansion and the upgrade of this particular ground is being strongly backed both by the Dolphins Club and by the local council. The club has put in $3 million, the council has put in $3 million, the State Government as yet hasn’t made contribution but I am pleased to say that the Commonwealth Government will put $4 million towards the cost of the upgrade of this oval. This, as Luke has said, is important for the regional and local economy. The upgraded oval will create about 200 jobs in construction, it will create about 150 ongoing jobs, it will be an important hub for sport and for everything that goes with sport in our country.
So this is of a piece with everything that this Government is doing. All of our announcements, big or small, all of our policy decisions, big or small, are about growth and jobs. And this announcement today will help the Moreton Bay area to grow – it will certainly help to create jobs here in Redcliffe – and that’s why I’m so pleased to be with Luke Howarth and local people to make this announcement on this beautiful Sunday afternoon here in Greater Brisbane.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister would you like to see business class flights for family members scrapped or the family reunion entitlement scrapped altogether?
PRIME MINISTER:
This is something that will be looked at by the root and branch reform of the whole expenses system. This Government made some important changes early in our term. We scrapped the employment of family members in MP’s offices, we stopped politicians going overseas in first class, we’ve significantly restricted family travel, both inside and outside Australia, now we’ve got this root and branch reform of politicians expenses underway and that will look at this. But as a general principle, certainly the sorts of expenses which are fair and reasonable for politicians are the sorts of expenses that will be fair and reasonable for business to pay for executives or managers of the business doing a particular activity which is business related.
QUESTION:
New polling has shown that you have been hurt by the expenses, are you worried about that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, it’s never about me if I may say so. Everything that this Government does is about the long-term good of the people of Australia and while you have good days and better days in a job like this, as far as I’m concerned, every day should be about doing the right by the people of Australia. I’m particularly proud of the Budget, which was the biggest ever boost for small business, there was also a multi-billion dollar boost for families through a much better childcare system and that’s what we’re on about every day – doing the right thing by the people of Australia. And this week, as well as this important local announcement to help boost this stadium, we had a very, very historic announcement about a permanent Naval shipbuilding industry in Australia, centred in Adelaide – and of course we got the good news during the week that we’ve had more than 330,000 more jobs created in in our economy since the election.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister six months ago you said good government starts today. Given the context of the entitlements scandal and other controversies, how would you assess the performance of your Government since then?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I think every day since the election has been a day of good government. Occasionally there are distractions. There was a little distraction six months ago. Over the last couple of weeks there’s been another distraction but the important thing is not to allow the distractions to stop you from getting on with the job of governing – and as I say, this week we made a truly historic announcement about an ongoing Naval shipbuilding industry here in Australia; not just shipbuilding but fleet-building here in Australia and that’s going to be very good for jobs, as well as very good for national security. And here today I’m doing something wonderful for the people of Redcliffe, for the people of the Moreton Bay area, with Luke Howarth who has been fighting very hard to get this commitment by the Commonwealth to this important local and regional facility and I hope the State Government might be prepared to open its wallet, given that not just the Commonwealth but the council and the club are heavily involved.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, the people Winton are locked in something of a stoush over the rights to Waltzing Matilda. Do you believe that anyone should be able to hold a trademark or do you think it should be free for all Australians and available to use?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I’m afraid this is a very important local matter but it’s not one that I’m caught up with and so I’m probably best not to express an opinion other than the fact that we all love to sing the song.
QUESTION:
You held the seat of Petrie by just 870 votes at the last election, is your coming here today a sign that the next campaign has begun?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it’s a sign that we take this electorate, we take Brisbane, we take Queensland, we take every electorate seriously. Good government is about delivering for the people of Australia and that means for the people of local areas like this but you can only deliver for the people of places like this if you are actually getting the Budget back under control and that’s exactly what this Government is doing. As you know you inherited a debt and deficit disaster from the former Labor government but thanks to the very significant savings that we established in last year’s Budget, we are now able to make these sorts of practical investments that are good for jobs, good for growth and good for local areas.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister what’s your understanding of how widespread the problem of Vegemite being used for home brew in Indigenous communities?
PRIME MINISTER:
It’s not something that I’m deeply familiar with, although obviously in many remote communities there is an issue of substance abuse more generally and one of the reasons why I am so pleased that this week we were able to announce the beginning of the Centrelink Debit Card in a selected number of trial sites is that it will help to address this problem of substance abuse in remote places. So the particular issue is something that I would probably best leave to others but we are determined as a government, we should be determined as a nation, to address these issues because if we are going to see real progress for the Aboriginal people of our country, and that should be very close to everyone’s objectives, we need the kids at school, the adults at work and communities safe – and that’s what this Centrelink Debit Card is all about.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister should shopkeepers be helping to monitor how many, you know, jars of Vegemite are being sold to people?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, you know this is a deregulatory Government and the last thing I want to do is to have a Vegemite watch, I really do, the last thing it want to see is a Vegemite watch going on because Vegemite, quite properly, is for most people a reasonably nutritious spread on your morning toast or on your sandwiches. What’s important is that we ensure that remote communities, all communities, are being properly policed and one of the measures that this Government is cracking on with is the very important introduction of the Centrelink Debit Card so that people who are largely reliant on social security for their income will be spending the vast bulk of their income on things that are actually good for them and their families. So it’s a very important initiative that this Government is committed to and it’s starting soon.
QUESTION:
Should the next Speaker be less partisan and withdraw from the Party Room?
PRIME MINISTER:
Whether the Speaker is a participant in the Party Room will be a matter for the Speaker. I think the important thing is that we have a Speaker who can command the Chamber and who can command respect from both sides of politics. Now, we’ve got some good candidates who as I understand it are going to be nominating for the Speakership in the Liberal Party Room tomorrow morning. The best candidate will be the candidate who can best command the Parliament and in particular who can best command respect on both sides of the Chamber.
QUESTION:
Do you have a preference for who it is?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, as I said, there are a number of people who have indicated they’re likely to run, all of them are my friends and my colleagues, all of them have my respect. I’m not going to indicate a preference because I’m just one vote in the Party Room tomorrow – that’s all I am, just one vote in the Party Room tomorrow and, as I said, the best candidate will be the one who is most able to command the Chamber and most able to command respect from both sides of the Chamber. Thank you.
[ends]