PRIME MINISTER:
Well good afternoon, it’s great to be here at the TNT super hub with Paul Fletcher, the Minister for Urban Infrastructure and we’re talking about the jobs that are created by great investments by the Commonwealth in infrastructure.
We’ve seen today a new report from Ernst and Young, which shows that the Western Sydney Airport Project which we are building, is going to create even more jobs than we had previously estimated;
28,000 jobs, Paul, by 2031. That of course is on top of the jobs that are already being created in Western Sydney; 4,000 jobs being created by our Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan, building new roads, the arteries of commerce that enable a super hub like this to be built, that have drawn it here.
This and the airport, the roads, the rail, the airport, all of that is providing the economic opportunities in Western Sydney. We are committed to ensuring that Western Sydney has the jobs that it needs. Over a quarter of a million people leave Western Sydney every day to go to work. There need to be more jobs, more businesses located here in Western Sydney.
That’s why we talk about a 30 minute city. Now we’re not suggesting that someone will be able to get from, you know, one side of Greater Sydney to the other in 30 minutes, but the goal is to ensure that wherever you live, you will be within 30 minutes of good employment opportunities, educational opportunities, recreational opportunities and so forth. That’s why it’s vitally important that you have these big job-driving projects here in Western Sydney.
Now in addition to that I should say that we’re committed, as you know, to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The NDIS is a great national enterprise. We are committed to paying for it, to ensuring that we have the means to fund it.
Labor of course doesn’t want to do that, they said it was fully funded. It wasn’t. We are now going to increase the Medicare Levy by half a per cent, seeking the support of the Parliament to do that, to ensure it’s fully funded. A very important part of the NDIS is the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, so the overseeing of the system to ensure that people are getting services appropriately at the quality they need. We will be establishing that commission with about 150 jobs in Western Sydney as well. There will be in fact, an additional over 3000 new jobs over and above that, associated with the rollout of the NDIS in Western Sydney.
So whether it is with the NDIS, whether it’s with the airport, whether it’s with road and rail infrastructure, the funds we are putting into infrastructure in Western Sydney, is driving jobs and ensuring there are more opportunities for the people of this, the fastest growing part of Australia, to have greater opportunities closer to home to drive that economic activity.
Paul.
MINISTER FOR URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE:
Thank you Prime Minister and it’s great to be here with you at this TNT distribution facility here in Erskine Park. This facility opened a bit over two years ago and a key reason for locating it here in Erskine Park was being close to existing infrastructure; the M4, the M7, the M5 - A very good demonstration of the way that infrastructure attracts and generates economic activity. But also it’s been located here in anticipation of Western Sydney Airport.
It’s just one example of the way that Western Sydney Airport is going to attract and generate jobs.
Indeed the Ernst and Young report that the Prime Minister spoke about has gone into some detail on where the jobs are expected to come from. In particular the downstream jobs, the economic activity that will be stimulated by the airport and what that finds for example, is that by 2031, around 5,000 jobs expected to be in manufacturing, around 3,000 jobs in transport and logistics. The kinds of jobs that we’ve seen here at the TNT facility at Erskine Park.
So Western Sydney Airport is about delivering jobs and economic activity for Western Sydney, on track to open by 2026. Just last week we announced that the offices of the Western Sydney Airport Corporation, the government-owned company that will build the airport, will be at Scott Street in Liverpool. So there will be staff working there before the end of the year; an early demonstration of the way that Western Sydney Airport is bringing jobs to Western Sydney. They will be both direct jobs, but just as importantly - and as our visit here is all about understanding - indirect jobs. This new economic research released today shows just the impact and the magnitude of the jobs that we can expect for Western Sydney, from Western Sydney Airport.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister the report does also indicate a looming issue with vacancy potential out at Prospect, obviously needing skilled workers for some of these roles. Do we have a problem in New South Wales? A lot of building, a lot of construction going on, is that putting pressure on that particular issue?
PRIME MINISTER:
We certainly are committed to ensuring that those skill gaps are filled first by Australians. But we have the training, right through our system, we have the training to provide those people with the relevant qualifications. You've seen our new initiative from the Budget that is going to ensure that we're partnering with the states to make sure that training is provided. Paul, do you want to elaborate on that in respect of the airport in particular?
MINISTER FOR URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE:
Well look, certainly what we're very conscious of is that it's important to be creating jobs. It’s also important to make sure that the skills and capacity is available locally. I think the Ernst & Young report paints a very encouraging picture in terms of the amount of jobs that will be created and the local capacity to fill them, but of course we then need to work to enhance that capacity.
There’s been a lot of interest shown from major universities, Sydney University, Wollongong University, - which recently established a facility in Liverpool, for example, University of Western Sydney of course, as well as other TAFE and other educational institutions. So what we need to do – and we are doing - is creating that virtuous cycle; more jobs created at higher skill levels and the facilities and the capacity to help develop skills. Of course, there’s plenty of highly skilled people in Western Sydney, we’re seeing that for example with projects like the Sydney Science Park located near where the airport will be located, tapping into the skills level in Western Sydney.
So it’s about creating extra job opportunities to draw on those skills and a virtuous cycle with the institutions that can bring those skills. Of course, recently we saw the announcement that Northrup Grumman will be locating a facility near the airport. One of the factors they've looked at very closely is
the availability of skills in Western Sydney and the capacity to train people both in-house and working with TAFE and other institutions.
So it’s all part of a plan to deliver the jobs and to build the skill levels.
JOURNALIST:
Do workers need to be found interstate and perhaps overseas?
MINISTER FOR URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE:
What we expect is this is going to be a very, very significant construction project. In the construction phase, about 3,000 direct jobs. Including the indirect jobs, based upon the research that Ernst & Young has done, about 11,000 jobs in total. Certainly there will be an Australian Industry Participation Plan that Western Sydney Airport company will be developing, to ensure we have targets for local employment, Indigenous employment, people who have been out of the workforce. So there will be a clear plan to address those issues.
We do expect there will be very significant local employment generated from Western Sydney and we do expect there will be the capacity in Western Sydney, a very large area with a large population to meet those needs. If there are specific, additional skills, then there are proven ways in which on large infrastructure projects, you can use that opportunity to generate those skills. For example, there is a skills academy in relation to WestConnex which of course the Commonwealth is also involved in, which is a very good example of the kind of thing we might well be able to do with Western Sydney Airport.
JOURNALIST:
Just in relation to the Badgerys Creek rail line, that still isn’t - as I understand it - funded or committed to a start time. Can we have an update on whether we are going to see that? That is critical infrastructure.
MINISTER FOR URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE:
Well there’s a very detailed plan to provide first-rate ground transport connectivity, the $3.6 billion Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan. The new M12 will connect to the M7, the Northern Road being upgraded to at least 4 lanes all the way, 35km, from Narellan to Penrith. But of course we're also doing very detailed work, the Commonwealth Government and the New South Wales Government, we have a scoping study which is very well advanced. It’s looking at the question of what is the right rail route, when should it be built, how much will it cost, how should it be paid for? That will report to both governments shortly.
We’ll have more to say later in the year about the next steps once that report comes to government.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister will you make changes to marriage laws this term if the High Court quashes the same sex marriage survey?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well sorry, I’m not going to get into hypotheticals. We are confident the challenge to the postal vote on marriage, that that challenge will not be successful. So we're very confident the postal vote will go ahead. We encourage everyone to vote in the postal vote. I'm pleased that a large number of people have enrolled to vote. Lucy and I will be voting ‘yes’ and if the nation votes ‘yes’, then we will facilitate a private member's bill to make same-sex marriage legal before the end of the year.
JOURNALIST:
You’ve given your legal opinion previously on the case of Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash, what’s your opinion on Derryn Hinch’s eligibility to sit in Parliament.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I don't have the facts on Derryn's situation. It seems an unusual one, an unusual set of facts. But I'm sure he will get some good legal advice and let us know. He’s never been unforthcoming in his views.
JOURNALIST:
Does it seem absurd that access to a social security card [inaudible], is considered a right or privilege of a citizen?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well again, that begs the very question. So I think what Derryn will need to do is get some advice on that and form his own judgement as to what he should do. There are already a large number of citizenship cases going before the High Court.
I think the court is scheduled to hear them from the 10th of October and we look forward to the court's deliberations and conclusions. As I said, based on the advice we have from the Solicitor-General, we are confident that the three Ministers and Senators Canavan and Nash and the DPM Barnaby Joyce will be found to be qualified to sit in the Parliament.
JOURNALIST:
Given the number of MPs now falling foul of section 44 and in unusual ways, would it not be reasonable at this point to have an audit of all Members of Parliament to make sure that they can legitimately sit?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think now that we know the High Court is going to be deliberating on this, you know literally within weeks, I think we should await the High Court's deliberations. The law will undoubtedly be clarified after their decision.
JOURNALIST:
On North Korea, has the West and the United States in particular been paying extortion money to North Korea for 25 years, as President Trump has suggested? Do you agree with him that “talking is no longer the answer”?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Jim Mattis, the US Defense Secretary noted today - and I agree with him - that diplomatic options are always open, but the key priority now is for the global community resolutely to enforce the sanctions approved by the UN Security Council.
The economic sanctions have been ratcheted up by the Security Council. All the nations, everyone has agreed to start implementing them from next week. It is particularly important for China to do so. I want to stress again that I'm not suggesting that China is responsible for the North Korean regime. North Korea is not to China what East Germany was to the Soviet Union. It is not an obedient client state, quite the contrary.
Having said that, China has the greatest economic leverage over North Korea, by a very long way. So with the greatest leverage comes the greatest responsibility. We look forward to the global community, especially China, imposing those harsher sanctions on North Korea. The aim of the exercise is to bring the regime to its senses, so that Kim Jong-un understands that he will not be rewarded for his dangerous, reckless conduct, which we condemn.
JOURNALIST:
Apparently the constitutional expert George Williams says that Barnaby Joyce will fall foul of section 44. Are you concerned about your Government?
PRIME MINISTER:
We are confident, as I’ve said earlier, that the court will find that Barnaby and indeed Senators Nash and Canavan - and I expect Senator Xenophon as well, who is in essentially the same position - that they will all be found to be qualified to sit in the Parliament. So that's the advice we have and we're very confident in that position.
Okay, thank you all very much.
[ENDS]