Good morning, Nigel Scullion and I have been honoured to be in the company of the men and women who defended Darwin 75 years ago when the war came to Australia, when the people of this city, the servicemen and women of Australia and the United States stood firm against the onslaught. And we were there with the leaders of Australia, the territory and the city honouring their sacrifice and their service, remembering that strong Alliance too between Australia and the United States which stood firm in those dark days and stands firm today.
JOURNALIST
Prime Minister, first of all, I guess just reflecting on the day, we are here looking back at a time when war came to Australia’s shores. There are some concerns that the unpredictable nature of the new US President and his desire to increase the US’s military presence in the Asia-Pacific might draw Australia into some future potential conflict in the region. Is that something you have some concern about?
PRIME MINISTER:
The United States has been a force of peace and stability in our region ever since those days of the Second World War. The prosperity of billions of people right through our region has depended upon that foundation of stability and security that the United States has provided. We have a strong ally in Washington and the United States’ continuing strong presence in our region which President Trump has committed to is of vital importance for all of us.
JOURNALIST:
In regards to President Trump, do you think there will be any changes regarding the US Marine presence in Darwin?
PRIME MINISTER:
I expect based on the discussions I have had with the President that the United States presence region will remain strong and is more likely to be enhanced in fact.
As you have seen, General Mattis, the new Defense Secretary has been travelling through the region providing very strong reassurance to America’s allies and friends in our region.
JOURNALIST:
You said you would you consider any requests from the US in regards to boots on the ground. Are you saying that you are open to special forces being on the ground [inaudible] or are you more talking about behind the lines?
PRIME MINISTER:
What I am saying is that we will consider any requests for further support in the Middle East on its merits. We are already the, if not the largest foreign - that is to say international member of the Coalition after the United States - are very close to being the largest. For a long time, we were in fact - had more forces committed there than any other international partner in that Coalition to defend Iraq other than the United States.
JOURNALIST:
And what about the request for more boots on the ground?
PRIME MINISTER:
We will assess all and any requests on their merits.
JOURNALIST:
What does it say about Australia-Japanese relationships that at a time when we are commemorating the bombing of this town in the Second World War that in fact we are going to be supplying their country with a large amount of gas for the next 40 years at a plant across the harbour?
PRIME MINISTER:
You know, it is a remarkable tribute to the generation that fought in the war. They were my parent’s generations, others of you, your grandparent’s generation. But they fought that war against overwhelming odds so bravely. They saved our nation. They secured our freedoms. And then after the war they made peace. They were ferocious in combat and then forgiving. It’s a remarkable generation.
In 1957, you had the Commerce Treaty between Japan and Australia, which 12 years after the war was over we had already the foundations of that economic relationship.
We have a very strong partnership with Japan at every level and it is a very important one and the fleets of LNG carriers that will be heading north to Japan are just another part of that very strong partnership with Japan.
It was good to see there today the Japanese Ambassador and of course the representative of the American Embassy there, the Charge d’Affaires – both there recognising after that war, that shocking war, nonetheless we’ve been able to come to peace and work together so constructively.
JOURNALIST:
Gladys Berejiklian is open to a discussion on tax changes to help housing affordability. Are you?
PRIME MINISTER:
There is a very lively debate about housing affordability. I saw part of Gladys’ interview – I didn’t see all of it. But Gladys Berejiklian, the Premier I should say, made the point which I have and which is undoubtedly correct, that the way to deal with housing affordability, the remedy that is needed is more supply – it is more dwellings. It is essentially a supply and demand problem.
Supply, particularly in Sydney has not kept up with demand for a long time which, and Gladys, I heard her make the point, that Bob Carr had said notoriously Sydney is full. Basically what happened was the city continued to grow and there wasn’t the new supply of dwellings.
It is a complex issue but the solution lies in building more dwellings. In other words, supply catching up with demand.
JOURNALIST:
Can you confirm whether you’ll be reviewing the salaries of department heads?
PRIME MINISTER:
In terms of chief executives of government-owned businesses, as you know, I expressed my concern about the, what I regard and what most Australians regard is the excessive and high remuneration of the chief executive of Australia Post, Ahmed Fahour.
We have written to all of the chairmen of the government-owned businesses and reminded them that Australians expect the remunerations of their executives and particularly their chief executives to be reasonable, to be in line with community standards.
Of course these are big jobs and important jobs and they are well paid as they are and they would be in the private sector. But it is critically important at a time when we are seeking to address the deficit and Australians are battling with cost of living, when Australians are battling with higher energy prices because the Labor Party’s infatuation with a political approach to energy policy rather than actually focusing on achieving energy security, energy affordability and of course meeting our emissions reductions targets. So Australians, many Australian households, families are doing it tough and in times like this it is important that government businesses and government enterprises lead by example. So boards should be setting salaries that reflect those community standards.
JOURNALIST:
Do you want to see onshore gas developed in the Northern Territory? There was a big discovery announced last week.
PRIME MINISTER:
We need to have more gas developed all across Australia.
Let me tell you, we have a huge amount of gas in Australia but the price of gas is very very high and the availability of gas in some of our markets and particularly in the South East of Australia is much more limited than it used to be.
And again, this is where you get the Labor Party ideology. If the Labor Party wants to go around chasing Green votes and preventing the access to gas resources, then that has one obvious consequence – it makes gas more expensive and less available. And that undermines families, it makes energy more expensive. It undermines business because they don’t have the energy they need. It deprives us of a fuel that is actually a lower emission fuel.
I mean, if you look at all of these, the energy modelling, you will see over the years’ part of it assumes that we will burn less coal and burn more gas. And - if I just – it will burn less coal and more gas and yet gas, the price of gas has gone through the roof.
And it has gone through roof in large part because of Labor’s policies on gas and of course restraining access to a big resource like that here is clearly going to deprive Territorians of having access to a very rich resource and the prosperity that comes from it and it is also going to again put upward pressure on energy costs in Australia and hit households and businesses hard.
JOURNALIST:
Did you welcome the ANZ’s move -
PRIME MINISTER:
Sorry - you asked a question - you had first a question about the ANZ?
JOURNALIST:
Yeah, did you welcome ANZ’s move on credit card interest rates and do you think the banks are starting to get worried about a potential royal commission?
PRIME MINISTER:
Of course I welcome the ANZ’s announcement to reduce their credit card interest rate.
And I just want to note that this was an issue that the House of Representatives Economics Committee, when Scott Buchholz was chairman, has raised. It has been raised again under the chairmanship of David Coleman.
This is an example of the way in which the Economics Committee of the Parliament, our representatives in the national Parliament are doing their job.
As you know I am bringing the banks regularly before the House Economics Committee and they are being held to account for their actions. And you’re seeing real results. And that is one of them. This was something that Mr Buchholz raised expressly.
We challenged the banks on this and they’ve obviously reflected on that and they’re responding that is very welcome.
Now on that note, we must love you and leave you.
Thanks very much.
[ENDS]