JOURNALIST: Just to start Minister, starting with the flooding in South-Eastern Queensland and also Northern New South Wales. What is the Federal government doing in relation to that?
JULIA GILLARD: Well obviously these are difficult times for many people in New South Wales, in Queensland and in the Northern Territory. Families are caught up in these events and our thoughts are with those families. And certainly I'd want to give my congratulations to all of the volunteers who are out there on the ground in difficult circumstances, helping people get through.
The Federal government is staying in very close contact with our State and Territory colleagues. We are monitoring the situation continuously and we're doing that so that if Federal government assistance is required, it can be delivered in a timely fashion.
JOURNALIST: What sort of assistance could the Commonwealth provide?
JULIA GILLARD: There are very clear guidelines and protocols under our arrangements for dealing with natural disasters. All of these have been agreed between the Federal government and the States and Territories. So we are working with our State and Territory colleagues. If it becomes appropriate under those guidelines for the Federal government to provide assistance, then we will.
JOURNALIST: There are - I think I remember from having grown up in that area - that in previous years in Queensland that the military was called in and various things like that. Is that the sort of thing you'd be looking at this time?
JULIA GILLARD: We are working with our State and Territory colleagues. Obviously we are talking to them about what is needed. They are managing the circumstances on the ground. Under the guidelines we of course are ready to assist if that assistance is required.
JOURNALIST: In Northern New South Wales several disaster zones have been declared. Is the Federal government looking to come to the table with any sort of funding, any sort of financial assistance, for the people that have been affected and their property destroyed, or something?
JULIA GILLARD: This is all a product of the guidelines which enable the government to assist in the circumstances of natural disaster. In the first instance of course, the New South Wales government is managing the emergency response and is very ably assisted by so many volunteers on the ground. We're staying in close contact with the New South Wales government, the Queensland government and the Northern Territory government. And should they require the Federal government's assistance, then we will be able to provide that assistance in a timely manner.
JOURNALIST: It's quite a time of year, I mean, you're right - you've got the cyclones forming in Darwin, you've got the storms in Queensland and New South Wales. It's quite a turbulent time weather-wise in Northern Australia now, isn't it?
JULIA GILLARD: Certainly, these weather events have been extreme and so many families are caught up in them. I think like all Australians, I've been watching the TV, watching the footage, watching some of the coverage, particularly from New South Wales and Queensland, the Northern Territory. So we are there, ready to assist, should that become appropriate under the guidelines for dealing with natural disasters. And I'm sure all Australians are sending their best wishes to those who are caught up in these circumstances.
JOURNALIST: Now, moving on to another issue. The front page of today's Herald-Sun talks about compensation for members of the stolen generation, with a figure of $1 billion being bandied about. Is Kevin Rudd, or when Kevin Rudd does apologise to members of the stolen generation, will there be compensation offered?
JULIA GILLARD: The Rudd Government's made it very clear we will not be having a national compensation fund. We will be apologising to the stolen generation. We believe that will build a bridge of respect and enable Australians to move forward. But our focus is on providing assistance to close the 17 year life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Our focus is therefore on health and education services and economic independence. There will be no national compensation fund.
JOURNALIST: Do you think closing that 17 year gap, health, education - do you think that's more meaningful than cash payouts?
JULIA GILLARD: I think all Australians would say they want a circumstance where any child born in this country - whether it's as an Indigenous child or a non-Indigenous child - can look forward to a long and happy life. And at the moment we know that if an Indigenous child is born today, on average that child will live 17 years less than a non-Indigenous baby born on the same day.
We don't want to see that in this country. We want to see the life expectancy gap closed. That's about health services, it's about education services and it's also about building economic independence and an economic future for Indigenous Australian families.
JOURNALIST: The head of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service - Michael Mansell, I think - has said that an apology without compensation is largely symbolic and an empty gesture. What do you make of that comment?
JULIA GILLARD: The Rudd Labor Government has made its views very clear. There will be no national compensation fund. There will be a focus on limiting, indeed ending, the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. There will be an apology as a way of building a bridge of respect for the future.
JOURNALIST: You would say I suppose that that's a richer legacy than compensation per se?
JULIA GILLARD: Certainly our focus will be on the life expectancy gap. We want to make sure that all Australians, no matter where they're born - whether to Indigenous parents or to non-Indigenous parents - know that their child's got the best possible chance of a long and happy and healthy life.
JOURNALIST: OK. Now something else that's been recorded today is that your government is having public servants go through the books and basically seeing what the Coalition, which of the previous, prior government's promises, can be abandoned to keep the budget in the black. Is that correct?
JULIA GILLARD: Obviously our focus is on making sure that we are prudent with taxpayers' money. We want to keep maximum downwards pressure on interest rates and inflation by delivering a prudent budget. We of course will be delivering our election commitments. We are working through the rest of the Commonwealth public sector. We have always said we would. We believe there are savings there to be had. And if there are savings there, if there is waste, then of course we will cut it out.
And to give just one example: we know the former government wasted tens of millions of dollars on government advertising, party political propaganda which was all about the election. We made it very clear we're cutting that out. We want to be spending precious taxpayers' dollars where it matters, on things like computers for secondary school students in my own portfolio, on our health initiatives and on our vital promises across the board.
JOURNALIST: Will you be fulfilling all of the previous government's election promises?
JULIA GILLARD: We made it very clear in the run-up to the election campaign where we differed from the former government. We've made our own election promises. We will be delivering Labor's election promises.
JOURNALIST: Are you under any sort of obligation, do you think, to actually provide for the promises - for what the Howard Government said?
JULIA GILLARD: Our obligation is to do exactly what we promised - and we will.
ends