PM: It's good to be here in Karratha and to have been up to the North West Shelf today with Martin Ferguson, the Minister for Resources and with Gary Gray, our Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia and Regional Development. The reason we're here today is to talk about infrastructure, and the critical role which we believe infrastructure plays in the nation's long term economic development.
Infrastructure is fundamental to ensuring that projects like this one behind me here, get going and keep going. Obviously our major corporations do most of the work - but there is a role for national government coordination when it comes to the provision of key infrastructure around the country. What we're seeking to do is to ensure there is a partnership on that basis, long term between the Australian Government, the State and Territory Government's and with the private sector.
That's why yesterday, in Perth, at our first Cabinet meeting for 2008 Cabinet we decided to establish Infrastructure Australia. A statutory advisory council, established to audit the nation's infrastructure stock, determine an infrastructure priority list by year's end and thirdly, to work with State and Territory Government's and with the private sector on how those projects can be implemented and how they should be funded. This is something which business has called out for, for a long time. We've listened to those calls, we've listened also to the calls from State and Territory Government's and we've acted by establishing this body.
When I look at the enormous economic significance of regions such as this, not just to West Australia but to the nation at large, it reinforces the absolute importance of infrastructure for the country's future.
Here in the North West Shelf, this is a massive investment by Woodside and the North West Shelf Venture. Out there, where we've been to the platforms today, we've seen Rankin, we've seen Goodwyn and we've seen Kossack. And the overall exports from this facility - if you put it all together - are something like 12 billion dollars a year. It's a huge percentage in itself of what this Nation sells to the rest of the world.
Keeping the economy strong, partnering with our major resource companies and ensuring the economic infrastructure of the country is properly laid out. This is core business for the new Australian Government. And what we'll be doing throughout 2008 is ensuring that the infrastructure of this country is properly planned in the future to make sure the Australian economy is strong.
Over to you folks.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the stock market has dropped another five per cent today, cause for alarm/concern?
PM: Well we've seen the impact of the US sub prime challenge now flowing through to stock markets across the world, with big movements today in the United Kingdom, in France, in Germany, in Japan, in Hong Kong and of course in Australia as well. It causes us of course to emphasise again the absolute strength of the fundamentals of the Australian economy. Secondly, the fact that economic management, responsible economic management is core business for the Australian Government and that's why the economy was the absolute central focus of the first Cabinet meeting of the Government, yesterday in Perth, when we established Infrastructure Australia.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) The initial impact will be felt with Super funds and mum and dad investors, what are your thoughts about what could be done or how people could react to that?
PM: Well the US sub prime crisis is working its way through stock markets around the world, we see movements in all of the major global stock exchanges in the last period of time and major movements within the last 12 to 24 hours.
It's important, though at times like this that we emphasise again the strength of the fundamentals of the Australian economy. Economic management, responsible economic management is core business for this Australian Government, that's why yesterday we said that it's time for the National Government to exercise restraint to ensure that those fundamentals of the Australian economy are in good shape in the future as well.
JOURNALIST: PM, what about skills, the staff here mentioned foreign workers as an idea, what do you think about that?
PM: Well, we believe that if we're going to lay out a strong foundation for the future growth of the Australian economy, foundation number one is to make sure that we maintain robust budget surpluses. We've announced our intention on that yesterday. The second is to make sure that we have proper skills planning in Australia. To be blunt, this hasn't been done well in recent years. We need to fix that up. Working with business and working with State and Territory Government's to plan long term for the skills needs of the country. That's why, parallel to Infrastructure Australia we've undertaken to establish Skills Australia - to take a long range road map of what the skills needs of Australia will be long term.
How do you respond to that? Greater investment in skills and training and of course calibrating the migration program as appropriate, to the skills needs of this economy and the national economy. The third pillar of our approach to the foundations of this economy long term, is to ensure that infrastructure is right as well.
Skills Australia, Infrastructure Australia, budget surpluses - core business for us.
JOURNALIST: PM, what infrastructure promises can you make to the people of the Pilbara in exchange for the contribution the region is making to the Australian economy.
PM: What we've already said is that when these large projects start coming on stream, by which I mean, Pluto and - depending on the private sector proponents - Gorgon in time, we've already indicated that a slice of the revenue which comes to Canberra from those projects, will be sent directly into a WA infrastructure fund. Now that's going to accumulate over time and provide a further specific resource for investment and key infrastructure in West Australia.
Beyond that however, with the work of Infrastructure Australia, let me tell you, here in the West where you contribute one third of this Nation's exports, here you invest so much in terms of this Nation's overall economic wellbeing, our belief as the Australian Government is that WA needs to get it's fair share.
That's why I'll be working closely with Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson and my Parliamentary Secretary here, Gary Gray and with Anthony Albanese, the Infrastructure Minister - to make sure WA is analysed thoroughly in the preparation of our first priority list. And that list will be concluded by year's end.
JOURNALIST: Having said that, housing is at a crisis level in the Pilbara. It's a State issue, but how can your Government help the region's housing crisis?
PM: Well, can I say that we have made one huge step forward as the new Australian Government. We've established a Department of Housing and a Minister of Housing. In the past, there was no Department of Housing and there was no Minister for Housing. So that's step number one. Step number two is, we already have four specific programs to assist with investment in housing, which we committed to prior to the election, concerning first home saver accounts, concerning affordable rental accommodation, concerning bringing down the infrastructure costs which local authorities often impose on new developments, and on top of that, the appropriate release of available Commonwealth land. These strategies have been put out by us prior to the election. We'll implement each and every one of them and people in this region, I believe, will be able to benefit from them as well.
JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd, Gordon Brown has suggested it is time to return to the honours system (inaudible) Knighthoods - in particular to acknowledge people like cricket stars (inaudible) what do you think about that sort of idea?
PM: I actually haven't seen that report at all. You're talking about the UK or ...
JOURNALIST: I think it could apply here if you were backing it, would you like to see someone like (inaudible)
PM: Sir Gary, Sir Martin? I don't think so, I don't think so. I don't think it's our way.
(Inaudible)
We've got to head to the plane - this gentleman hasn't asked one yet.
JOURNALIST: At a local level are Pilbara workers better off under a Rudd Government and a different Industrial Relations System?
PM: Well, you know, all through last year and particularly working closely with people like Gary, we were working to develop an alternative industrial relations system for Australia which would ensure that working families got a fair deal. And to ensure that these large companies which employ workers also get a balanced outcome in the workplace. You know what? Our industrial relations policy, Forward with Fairness gets that balance right - we consulted very closely with the major resource companies here in the West. As well as a range of other large companies as well.
We believe we got the balance right. Julia Gillard will be introducing that legislation early in the Parliament and we will of course be working very closely with industry and with the representatives of working families, to make sure that the implementation of that goes well.
I can say this, we believe that the balance is right - keeping the economy strong but making sure that working families get a fair shake as well.
ends