PM RUDD: First of all to begin by thanking the Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett for his hospitality and that of the Tasmanian Government in hosting myself and colleagues from the other States and Territories in Hobart today at this meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. The Premier today reminded us that it's 15 years since COAG met in Hobart. In fact I attended that meeting as an official. And it's good to be back in Tasmania and it's been too long since COAG was last here.
COAG, in the period since I've become Prime Minister, we have sought to make it a work horse for the Australian nation. In other words taking key policy challenges which face us, getting the heads of Government together, reaching resolve and then moving on with the great tasks ahead for the future of our nation. One of which of course has been a rolling program of microeconomic reform and we've done that in the past and we'll continue to do that in the future. Another is to make sure that we are advancing our practical cooperative arrangements in key service delivery areas like health and like education and services to Indigenous Australians. It was very much the feature of earlier Council of Australian Governments meetings in which we've engaged.
And of course the great challenge that we've been wrestling with today is our response to the impact of the global economic recession. This recession is no respecter of persons, it's no respecter of countries, it's no respecter of economies and it's no respecter of State jurisdictional arrangements. It affects all of us. It affects our revenues, it affects our ability to deliver services to the people who depend on us to so do and of course it affects unemployment in each of our jurisdictions as well.
That brings us to the first core item that we sought to address today and that is what do we do to provide real help, real support and real assistance to those Australians who through no fault of their own have lost their jobs, may lose their jobs or who can't find a job. And that is why today we have agreed as the Council of Australian Governments on a new Jobs and Training Compact for young Australians.
Specifically what we are seeking to do is to make sure that through this time of global recession and the recession as it affects directly Australia, that our young people have an opportunity to use this time to obtain new skills, take their existing skills and upgrade them, so that when the global economic recovery kicks in, those new skills can be deployed by themselves and by businesses in the economy at large to underpin our next phase of economic growth. This we regard as an important step forward in our response to the challenge of unemployment.
Specifically, what do we mean by this? Firstly, there is a provision whereby anyone under the age of 17 must be earning or learning. They must be in full time school, training or work. Secondly it means that if someone is under the age of 25 and they are not working, they are guaranteed a training place to ensure that they have the skills needed to be part of the recovery. Thirdly what we've also agreed today, for the first time is that our national target of 90 per cent year 12 equivalent retention should be brought forward from the year 2020 to the year 2015. These are three concrete agreements which we've reached as part of our national compact with young Australians.
The point of these measures is as follows: we don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past whereby young people who lose their job today become the long term unemployed of tomorrow. That's the key organising principle here. And this action that we have taken together today is aimed to help ensure that young Australians who lose their job in this recession are ready as the tradespeople and the professionals of tomorrow once the recovery comes. We cannot allow and we will not allow as governments, the skills and training needed by a growing modern economy to skip a generation because of the global recession.
This compact with young Australians will ensure that every Australian under the age of 25 will be entitled to an education or training place. This is an important undertaking to the nation, an important undertaking to mums and dads concerned out there about their kids, an important undertaking to young Australians themselves.
The other part of this initiative is that we've also strengthened conditionality in welfare payments. To support this new Compact, the Commonwealth Government will strengthen the conditions unemployed young people must pass to receive the youth allowance. Anyone under the age of 20 without a year 12 equivalent qualification must be in education or training in order to receive Youth Allowance. The same conditions must be met if parents of young people in the same circumstances wish to receive Family Tax Benefit A.
This therefore, taken together, the three principles I referred to before, underpinned by these changes in welfare arrangements are designed to not repeat the mistakes of the past, to provide the best possible opportunity for young people affected by this global recession to make the most of this time to obtain new skills, which they can deploy for the economy, their families and themselves once the recovery comes.
Secondly, in terms of our response to the global recession, we were briefed today by the Commonwealth Coordinator General on the progress of the implementation of the Commonwealth's Nation Building and Jobs plan. This is a $30 billion investment in jobs today and the infrastructure we need for tomorrow. A $30 billion investment, including the largest school modernisation program in the country's history, the largest single investment in social housing in the country's history and also a significant investment in energy efficiency within owner-occupied dwellings through the installation of ceiling insulation.
The Coordinator General reported that so far over 5,000 schools have been approved for essential repairs across the country; money flows from next week. We're also advised that around 140 houses are already being built by Defence housing and state housing agencies across the country. We're advised that road safety work is now being done across the country under the national Black Spots Program. This is an important monitoring process for us to make sure that what we've agreed in Canberra is being rolled out across the nation.
I say again what I've said before, our ambition unapologetically is to turn every primary school in the country into a construction site. To provide jobs for tradies here and now and build the best schools possible for the 21st Century.
We also today received a report from the Deputy National Security Adviser on the current of state of the swine influenza situation as it affects Australia and the world. What heads of Government agreed to today was to take all necessary measures to assist in preventing the introduction, the establishment or the spread of swine influenza in Australia.
Various measures as you would be aware have been initiated by the Commonwealth already. Information has been provided to emergency departments and GPs on the known characteristics and risk factors of the disease. Travel advice has also been updated. We have established a swine influenza hotline. Airports have had a clinical presence, with nurses available, and on the advice of the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer, the Government has included swine influenza to be a quarantinable disease.
Further to those measures, I am advised today that the Health Minister in Melbourne has announced new measures which will be undertaken to combat the outbreak of this disease. Firstly, upon receipt of advice from the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer, thermal scanners will be switched on progressively in eight Australian international airports - Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Cairns, Gold Coast, Darwin. Furthermore, from tomorrow evening, all international passengers will be asked to fill in health declaration cards to report any flu-like symptoms. These are two practical measures.
There is a third which the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer has asked myself and the Premiers and Chief Ministers to convey to the Australian nation today, a very practical measure, which is for all Australians to engage in the simple practice of washing their hands with soap on a regular basis as a very practical measure to reduce the spread of this disease if and when it comes to Australia. And I would urge that advice on all Australians.
Furthermore we were today as heads of Government, meeting as the Council of Australian Governments, also focused on the most recent natural disaster in our country, the bushfires in Victoria. To remind the nation, this was the single largest natural disaster in our country's history. What we've agreed today is to develop a national telephone emergency warning system. The Commonwealth will invest up to $15 million to assist the States and Territories to establish this national system. It will be operated on an ongoing basis by State and Territory authorities and will be developed following an pen tender process.
This represents consistent coordinated actions on behalf of our officials and we believe represents an important step forward for the future. This will not be a foolproof system for the future but it does represent an important step forward in providing the best possible emergency warning system in the case of future natural disasters.
If I could conclude on this: one other practical piece of work and I might ask the Queensland Premier to comment on this presently is our agreement today in a national framework for the protection of Australia's children. This has involved a lot of work between Commonwealth and State and Territory officials over a lot of time and we believe that this represents an important step forward in protecting the most vulnerable of our Australian family; our children.
The Australian Government is providing $61.6 million over four years to help protect Australia's vulnerable children from child abuse and neglect under this new national framework for protecting Australia's children. I would thank State and Territory colleagues for their cooperation in bringing this about. It's involved a considerable number of changes in the procedures which have operated up until now between the various levels of Government. We believe this represents an important step forward for the future.
That's enough from me, I might then turn to the Chairman of CAF, the Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, to add to those remarks.
PREMIER BLIGH: Thank-you Prime Minister. Today saw cooperative federalism take another step forward with a range of agreements in areas of critical importance to the nation. Not only in areas of immediate imperative such as actions between State and Federal Governments to deal with the prospect of a possible outbreak of swine flu in Australia but in those big areas of national challenge, namely dealing with the global financial crisis and its fallout and in addressing the long term impact of climate change.
In the area of addressing the economic issues, the Premiers are very, very pleased to be working with the Commonwealth to implement a new Youth Compact for the young people of Australia. The Youth Compact will ensure firstly nationally consistent arrangements for the first time for young people aged 15 to 17. There will now be nationally consistent requirements legislated that will require all young people aged 15 to 17 to be either in school, in work or in some form of training. Queensland legislated these requirements a number of years ago and we have seen very, very strong results, particularly in the training and apprenticeships field as a result.
In addition to young people in the 15 to 17 year group, Premiers have agreed with the Commonwealth to implement a guarantee or an entitlement for young people aged 19 to 24 who are not at work, who are able to access training places. So what we're looking to do is ensure that young people in these very difficult economic times can access training places. That will then stand all of us in good stead as the economy returns to prosperity with those skills ready to go forward and take advantage of new opportunities.
This decision for a Youth Compact reflects the determination of every State and Territory along with the Commonwealth to ensure that young people do not slip through the cracks of any of our systems as we confront the global financial crisis. Similarly, we have reached agreement on a new national licensing system that will see nationally consistent licensing arrangements for a range of trades and occupations. Again, streamlining the arrangements for businesses and for individuals as they move around as part of a nationally consistent model.
In relation to our determination to tackle climate change, States and Territories have agreed to the implementation of a 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target and agreed to put in place arrangements in their own states to facilitate the implementation of a Renewable Energy Target, as well as to begin the process of implementing more energy efficient building codes so that we can start to see much more efficient use of energy.
In relation to the Child Protection Framework that was agreed today, this is a very important of piece of protecting our children. Almost 10 years ago the States of Australia and the child protection systems in them agreed to a process to bring down and to remove any impediments to the sharing of information about children who are at risk or had been subject to abuse by their families so that if families who had been abusing their children moved out of States where they were being assessed and monitored by a jurisdiction could be picked up in other States.
Unfortunately, the Commonwealth Government had never been prepared to come to the party and lift similar impediments in relation to information held by organisations like Centrelink or Medicare that could assist in dealing with the protection of children in this circumstance.
The decision today in a national child protection framework for the first time brings the Commonwealth agencies into information sharing arrangements that in my view have the capacity not only to protect children generally, but importantly in very serious cases of child abuse, possibly save the life of a child.
So as someone who was involved in that process over a number of years, I'm very, very pleased to see the Commonwealth lift these barriers on confidential information sharing. I think it's the last piece of the jigsaw in terms of the best child protection network that we can provide, and it really does I think make measure a very positive step forward.
I thank the Prime Minister on behalf of the States for that particular initiative.
PM: Just before we take in your questions, if I could just turn briefly to our host David Bartlett for some comments, and then we'll open to questions.
PREMIER BARTLETT: Thank you Prime Minister, and can I just welcome my colleagues here as the Prime Minister has already mentioned the first time in 15 years that COAG has been held in Hobart. We also welcome, Tasmania welcomes the leadership that's been shown in provision of the various aspects of stimulus packages and of course, in the National Broadband Network in the rollout of optic fibre that will take place in Tasmania.
First in the coming months, the Prime Minister and I have taken the opportunity to further some discussions about the benefits of that program for Tasmania and for the rest of the nation.
Two great results here at COAG today that I just want to briefly mention are of course around the Jobs and Training Youth Compact, an area that each State and speaking for Tasmania, have invested much in, in terms of post year 10 reforms.
I welcome particularly the announcement by the Prime Minister of $100 million of reward payments to those States and Territories who can lift their retention rates, post year 10 retention rates to the very ambitious target, a great target to set, of 90 per cent by 2015.
Tasmania stands at the bottom of the pile, and therefore has the most work to do in this area, and welcomes therefore the reward that will come with those achievements.
Secondly, the acknowledgement today and agreement round the table of the re-introduction or introduction of the Renewable Energy Targets across Australia will have a massive and significant effect on the hundreds of millions of dollars of stalled projects, that were stalled by the short-sighted decision of the Howard Government to remove the Renewable Energy Target.
Hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in renewable energies. The State that of course provides and produces the most renewable energy in Australia now will benefit significantly from this with projects that are ready to go in the coming months being dusted off and providing significant investment not only in jobs right now, but of course in low emissions energy for the future.
PM RUDD: Over to you colleagues.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you seem to be -
PM RUDD: Matthew, go ahead.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM RUDD: Or does someone else want to go first? Okay, over to you Matthew.
JOURNALIST: Okay, so you seem to be saying that, can you guarantee that everyone who is not earning and wants to do training, that there is a space for everyone under 25 who wants that? How much is it going to cost? And where are you getting the money from?
And secondly, historically during recessions, training efforts have declined not increased. What would be the effect do you think in terms of empowering the nation for a recovery by having this level of training?
PM RUDD: This is for us a universal entitlement. And as described by one of my colleagues before, this is about earning or learning. And we don't want young Australians to be out there doing nothing. We want them to use this time of economic downturn to get new skills, to prepare themselves to re-engage in full-time employment or other levels of employment once the recovery kicks in. That's the organising principle here.
Secondly, let's go to the two component parts of it. One in relation to schools, the other in relation to post-school training opportunities.
As the Tasmanian Premier has just indicated, we've established a performance-based fund to provide direct financial incentives to those jurisdictions who will be moving from their current level of year 12 equivalent retention to the 90 per cent target we've set for 2015. Remember that's only six years away. And a lot of jurisdictions are a long way south of that. Some of them are much closer to it. But we're on about making a difference.
For the long term, using this time of adversity to turn it to opportunity because we know from the OECD data, the higher your level of year 12 equivalent retention in the economy, the higher the level of productivity that you'll generate in your economy. That's why we're doing it.
But also to provide real opportunities for those young people now. So the basis of payment is the incentive pool which I referred to just then.
In terms of those beyond year 12 equivalent, in terms of the age bracket through until they turn 25, the Commonwealth is already investing in a very, very large number of Productivity Training Places across the nation - some 711,000. These are relevant across a range of certificate levels. We would imagine that in exercising therefore the take-up of this universal training entitlement, that we'll draw significantly on those places and other training places which have been offered by the Commonwealth.
States and Territories will be in there matching effort with us on the way through. But you know something. We're determined to make a difference. We are seized by what's happened in earlier history. We are seized by what's gone wrong in the past. Let's make a difference this time, and this Compact with Young Australians is designed to do that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, would you also acknowledge that the Jobs Compact has a political element in that it takes young people out of the official unemployment figures?
PM RUDD: Well, if I was mum or dad out there and looking at my young person, son or daughter, I think I'd rather have them at school for in a registered training place than anywhere else if they can't get a full-time job.
That's where I'd rather have them. And that's important for families, it's important for self-esteem, it's important for long term economic productivity.
I think that's just good policy, and it's the right way to go.
It is an attempt by us as heads of governments, national, State and Territory, to make a difference compared with where we've gone in the past.
I think it's the right thing to do for the country.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on the National Broadband Network that's being rolled out first in Tasmania. Is there any more detail on when that will happen, what the cost is, how much cost will be borne by the Commonwealth, how much by the State, and whether those small towns of 1,000 people or less in Tasmania will receive the full 100 megabits per second.
PM RUDD: You want to name those towns by name?
JOURNALIST: 68 of them, I think. We could be here for a while.
JOURNALIST: But you would know the ones in the marginal electorates.
PM RUDD: You could name all 68. First of all, this is a very important exercise in nation building. This Government's response to this global recession is how do you make a difference? How do you reduce the impact?
One - short term stimulus in terms of the payments we have unapologetically made to pensioners, veterans and carers to boost stimulus here and now to support jobs in the retail sector and beyond.
Secondly, medium term stimulus. The investment in school modernisation, social housing, and in energy efficiency measures to make a difference now, but also build infrastructure and improve energy efficiency over time.
Thirdly, long term infrastructure. A National Broadband Network, rolled out over a seven year plus period, beginning here in the great State of Tasmania in the second half of the year.
I cannot give you the month nor the day. But it will be in the second half of the year. I do recall in my previous conversation with Premier Bartlett about the particular concentration of smaller settlements in Tasmania, smaller towns, and because of their concentration around particular transport arteries, then it will be feasible here to link up a whole bunch of quite small communities, which were they spread across you know the vastness of the Australian continent would not necessarily be possible.
Our national target remains 90 per cent provision of 100 megabits per second. We think it's the right way to go to present, to prepare this economy to participate in the information age of the 21st century and to turbo charge our businesses, but I'm optimistic you're going to see a more intense layout here in Tasmania, simply because it's one of the virtues of being geographically small and compact.
There you go.
JOURNALIST: The Centre for International Economics has said that any emissions trading scheme threatens the balance sheet of key industries. If the Greens policies and requests are unrealistic, is it time the government to compromise with the coalition in the Senate?
PM RUDD: I would like to simply point to the fact that Mr Turnbull has said up until now that he's been waiting for, first of all I think the Government Green Paper, then the White Paper, then our legislation, then their own piece of commissioned research before setting a target themselves for the future. I'm waiting to see the target.
We've simply crossed each one of those hurdles and what we've had from Mr Turnbull is a series of negative attacks, but not a positive policy on targets.
Each one of these studies have now been done and concluded. What's missing is the Coalition's policies.
So you say with whom should the Government cooperate? There is a complete vacuum in terms of Liberal Party policy nationally.
We believe we've got the balance right in this. We've worked and continue to work closely with stakeholders at the Federal and State level, with businesses and with others. This is tough policy, it is hard policy, it is difficult policy.
I fully accept that. And we are aiming to deal with two major realities. How do you negotiate your way through this global economic recession to provide maximum support for jobs and businesses on the way through? And how do you prepare Australia for a lower carbon economy, given the impact and the imperative of climate change?
Getting the balance right is really hard. We're determined, however, to prosecute a plan for the future. We've outlined our thinking. We've outlined our proposal. We continue to work with stakeholders. But it will be absolutely wrong for us simply to say, all too hard, push it in the too hard basket, and forget about it for the future.
Too many governments have done that in the past. We intend to get on with the business. I don't underestimate the degree of political difficulty.
Over there.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how will you get that carbon reduction scheme through the Senate when the Opposition today said it's deeply flawed and the Greens say it doesn't go far enough?
PM RUDD: Well if you are confronted with an Opposition in the Senate which says the Government's legislation is deeply flawed, that is not a unique statement on the part of the Opposition about everything we've put before the Senate so far. That's point one.
Point two, I noted carefully of course what the Greens and others have said about it. As we've approached the Senate in the past with important legislation, a whole bunch of things are said by people at different times. Our job is to try and punch this through. It's going to be tough, it's going to be hard, and we'll continue to work with stakeholders on the way through.
The alternative is to do nothing. For 12 years, for 12 years our predecessors did nothing. Let us put this very starkly in headlines. This reality of climate change, the economic cost of inaction being far greater than the economic cost of action, has been before the previous Australian Government for a long, long time. And they pushed it into the too hard basket.
We don't intend to do that. We're going to have a go. And it's going to be tough.
JOURNALIST: You don't seriously hold out the option of getting agreement with the Greens who want to close down the coal industry. Ask Anna Bligh what she thinks about that. You're not serious are you?
PM RUDD: No, no, you just verballed into a position. I said that, which is something you've never done before either Matthew, and that is we'll continue to push hard through the Senate.
I mean I think I'd appeal to all politicians in the Australian Parliament, the Upper House. This is serious stuff for the nation for the 21st century. No one is pretending it's easy. I'm not. Trying to get the balance right in understanding what we need to do nationally, what we need to be doing consistently internationally to get a good outcome at Copenhagen, in order to bring about a long term stabilisation of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. This is really tough stuff. It's really hard stuff. Let's not pretend that it's not.
But up until now and the election of this government, no-one nationally has tried. We're going to give it a damn good go.
JOURNALIST: Has there been any discussion today, bringing us closer to know which businesses and industries might be exempt from having to pay increased costs associated with a Renewable Energy Target?
PM RUDD: We discussed the overall desirability of the Renewable Energy Target in this particular respect. I go back to a phrase I used before.
The costs of inaction on climate change are far greater than the costs of action.
One of the employment generators for the future will be what happens in the renewable energy sector. Recently, the Australian Government put out for expressions of interest nationwide, our half billion dollar Renewable Energy Fund.
You'll be surprised at the very large number of proposals which have come in from the private sector, from every State and Territory in the Commonwealth virtually, and practically every sector of the renewable energy industry - wind, wave, solar, geothermal. All wanting to get out there and have a go. Make a difference, generate jobs, new business opportunities, and also contribute to the Renewable Energy Target.
This therefore is where a whole lot of activity is going to come from. And that's on the upside. In terms of adjustments of the economy on the way through, of course there will be and these have been canvassed in terms of the careful analysis done by the Australian Treasury prior to production of the Government's legislation.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister there's been some discussion today and even division I think between some States over bikie laws. In particular, concern that actions in one State in terms of legislation may force the problem into other States. Do you have a view, is it a time for the Commonwealth, maybe COAG to take a leadership role on this issue?
PM RUDD: Well Premier Mike Rann briefed us today on some of the actions that he's taken in South Australia. And I would draw attention to the fact that the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General considered this matter most recently.
They also agreed to work towards common legislative action, that is nationally consistent legislative action. That work today in relation to the work of SCAG - Standing Committee of Attorneys-General - is ongoing. It will report back to the Council of Australian Governments, both in relation to this and also organised crime more generally.
This is important for all jurisdictions. Obviously different States and Territories will have slightly different emphases but I draw your attention to the common resolve of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, and it will report back in due season to the Council of Australian Governments as well.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, I was just going to ask on the Jobs Compact. Do you intend to provide extra recurrent funding for the States and Territories to provide this extra training? Secondly, were you able to give the leaders a briefing on how badly their Budgets are likely to be affected by the global financial crisis?
PM RUDD: On the first question which goes to support for, as I've described before in my answer to Matthew, both elements of this Jobs and Training Compact with young Australians. For young people, broadly at school age and those beyond school age.
The funding we provided by way of incentive pool operates into the future. Secondly, the investment we've already outlined for productivity training places in other categories of training places also rolls out into the future. I cannot recall the precise timeframe but it is many years.
Therefore this is not just, in the case of those training places, some one-off sort of snapshot of funding. We're actually in this one for the long haul.
Second part of your question?
JOURNALIST: Was just whether or not you were able provide a briefing or an update to the leaders on the global financial crisis and their Budgets.
PM RUDD: Yes and bad.
JOURNALIST: Just one more question?
PM RUDD: He has called time and I've got to get to a plane, but off you go.
JOURNALIST: There were some hopes that there might be a breakthrough on water today at the meeting particularly -
PM RUDD: Actually it wasn't our agenda today. We've got a whole program of work unfolding in these areas. And we had a very full agenda. But that was not part of our discussions today.
Thanks very much guys. We're going to rock and roll.