ANDREW HASTIE:
Good afternoon, everyone. It’s been great to have the Prime Minister down here at the Port Bouvard Surf Life Saving Club. It’s especially great to hear the announcement the Commonwealth Government is going to fund the club, and looking forward to serving the people of Canning over the next month, learning about them and I will now hand over to the Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you so much, Andrew. It’s great to be here at the Port Bouvard Surf Life Saving Club with Andrew Hastie – the new candidate for Canning.
This is a great local institution. I’ve been here before. I know something about the surf lifesaving movement as a patrolling member of the Queenscliff Club back in Sydney. I know the work that the members of this club do to keep people safe every summer and I know the contribution that clubs like this make to our social fabric more generally.
This is a Government which is totally committed to jobs, growth and community safety and obviously the surf lifesaving movement makes a significant contribution to community safety.
Prior to the last election, we committed to the establishment of a community grants fund and there will be $1 million go from the community grants fund to this club. It will enable the club to be significantly expanded to cope with the membership growth that it's had over the last few years.
It will, I have to say, also be, in a way, a tribute to the work that Don Randall did. He was a great local Member, he was a great bloke. He was a crusty character, but he was a terrific servant of the people of Canning and I know that Andrew Hastie is the sort of candidate that Don Randall would be proud to hand the baton to. He's precisely the kind of person who Don would want to go on representing the people of Canning in the national Parliament.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, do you concede the Canning by-election is a test of your leadership?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, there's a sense in which everything's a test. Every day the national Government, the Prime Minister, every Minister is being put to the test. We've been put to the test every day since we won back in September 2013. The test of could we get the carbon tax repealed, we passed. The test of could we get the mining tax repealed, we passed. The test of could we stop the boats, no one thought it could be done, we did it. The test of could we get the Free Trade Agreements passed, we did. So, look, we've passed all the tests up until now and I'm confident we'll pass the next one.
QUESTION:
Given the margin that Don Randall held the seat by though, if you don't win this by-election is your Prime Ministership untenable?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I'm confident, not complacent. We've picked an outstanding candidate, someone who has real potential to be not just a fine Member for Canning, but a great contributor to leadership at the national level. We've picked a fine candidate because we're not taking anything for granted here – we are not taking anything for granted. When Don Randall first won the seat back in 2001 it was by a few hundred votes. Yes, because of the remarkable person that he was, he increased his margin in every election but one and the one election where his margin dropped back a little bit the Labor Party threw everything at him. But look, his are big shoes to fill – his are big shoes to fill – but I am confident that we've got just the person and just the record to ensure that we win.
QUESTION:
Did Mr Hastie declare the Afghanistan investigation before he was endorsed?
PRIME MINISTER:
The short answer is, I was certainly aware of it. But I just want to say that I listened to Andrew Hastie's speech at the State Council this morning, he dealt with that matter in great detail – in great detail – and I have every confidence that this is a man who has served our country with distinction.
QUESTION:
So he explained – the matters that he explained at the conference today he outlined to you before the endorsement and you were ok going ahead with that?
PRIME MINISTER:
I was aware of the matter and I was aware that there was no blemish, no stain, on the conduct of this exemplary officer.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, will the post-election same-sex marriage vote be a plebiscite as it’s been reported?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it will go to the people because this should be a people's decision, not a politician's decision. As I've said on numerous occasions over the last 10 days or so, I was very proud of the Coalition Party Room. The week before this we had a very long and at times heartfelt discussion in the Liberal National Party Room. We came to a very strong position. We would maintain the position we took to the election for this term of Parliament, but in the next term of Parliament it would go to the people so that whether we were to change the definition of marriage, which has stood since time immemorial, or whether we would preserve it, it would be a question for the people, not for the politicians.
QUESTION:
Your own Attorney-General has rejected the idea of a referendum. Can I ask if it’s still a viable option?
PRIME MINISTER:
Again, I don't want to get into precisely how and precisely when and under precisely what circumstances because I will be taking a proposal to the Cabinet and the Party Room in the next few weeks. But it will go to the people – that's the point. It will go to the people. The Coalition thinks that a matter as personal and as heartfelt as this should be decided by the people. Labor seems to think that it should be decided by the politicians.
QUESTION:
Are you unhappy there's a motion effectively against recognising Aboriginal people in the constitution at this Liberal State Conference?
PRIME MINISTER:
I had a long chat with Ken Wyatt this morning. Ken is the first indigenous Member of the House of Representatives and I'm very proud to say that just as the first indigenous member of the Senate was a Liberal, the first indigenous Member of the House of Reps is a Liberal. I've had a long chat to Ken about this and I am confident that we are very strong when it comes to this issue of constitutional recognition. John Howard proposed it in 2007 – it's been our policy since then. I am determined that there will be a series of community conferences that will start in the next couple of months and continue through to the middle of next year and my hope is that we can come to a consensus as a people about how we best move forward here because we are, plainly, a nation that has an indigenous heritage, a British foundation and a multicultural character and I believe that should be enshrined. That reality, that fragrant uplifting reality, should be enshrined in our constitution.
QUESTION:
This week has seen the leak of the Cabinet agenda and talking points on three separate occasions. Will you take action against the people in you Cabinet doing this?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, you know, I think it's fantastic that our talking points are getting better known – I really do. I love the fact that our talking points are being taken seriously! I'm so thrilled that these documents that we want to see widely publicised, courtesy of the media, are in fact being widely publicised – so thank you for that.
QUESTION:
Just on Andrew Hastie’s campaign – are you concerned that Labor is effectively playing up the local part, that their candidate – Matt Keogh – at least has some sort of connection to the electorate and Andrew Hastie doesn’t?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Andrew Hastie is over the weekend, as I understand it, moving into the electorate and so he's going to be as local as anyone from Monday. And, you know, what prouder West Australian institution than the Special Air Service Regiment? What more of a Perth thing to do than serve in the SAS? So, look, I am very confident that it's not someone's past that matters, it's their present and their future that matters and this is a guy who has made a great contribution to our country – a really, really impressive contribution to our country – in the army. Now he wants to make a great contribution to our country in the Parliament for the people of Canning and I know that Andrew will serve the people of Canning with the same level of commitment and professionalism and pride that he has served the people of Australia in the Special Air Service Regiment.
Thank you so much.
[ends]