PM: I'd like to say something about the announced retirement of the AFP Police Commissioner. Mick Keelty has provided enormous service to Australia and to the Australian Federal Police.
I would like to publicly acknowledge the work that he did in response to the Bali Bombings where we lost nearly 100 of our own, Australians who were murdered in that horrific event.
The work which he in leading the Australian Federal Police team did in response to the Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta and also the work which the Australian Federal Police have done in so many other disasters which have confronted our country including the Canberra bushfires and other natural disasters.
And a lot of the work of the AFP will never be known because it's all undercover and this is an important part of the Federal Police's operations as well.
So what I would like to say to Mick on behalf of a grateful nation is well done and the nation owes you a debt of gratitude for the service you have rendered governments of all political persuasions, in ensuring that Australians have maximum public safety in a time of great threat to their security.
JOURNALIST: Has he told you why he decided to leave?
PM: I had a chat with Mick recently about these things. He's been in the saddle for a long, long time and after a certain period of time, from memory I think it is about seven or eight years or more, he wants to hang up his spurs and do something else so I think he is, I would have been delighted if he had chosen to stay on but he has made up his mind and when people reach a stage where they have decided they need a break and something new and fresh to do, it is, you can't really stand in their way.
JOURNALIST: So it's entirely been his decision to move on?
PM: Oh entirely. As I said to him, the Government would have welcomed him continuing in that position. He has done a first class job for Australia, a first class job for the Australian Federal Police, we would have welcomed him continuing in that position as well.
JOURNALIST: Did Haneef affair affect his decision?
PM: In my conversations with Mick, no, it's just the length of service.
Senior policing roles like this are very demanding and most of it is invisible to the Australian public. There are constant operational decisions to be made in the fight against terrorism, the fight against organised crime, in the international liaison work.
If I could add to my earlier remarks about his contribution, the fact that he has put in such a huge effort and with great success in building a strong professional relationship with the Indonesian National Police is a tribute to his personal diplomacy.
If you were to go back in history and find a time when the Australian police authorities had a comparable relationship of working with their Indonesian counterparts on the big challenges that we face, whether it's in terrorism or in other fields, this has been good work on his part.
And so as I said before, the nation owes him a debt of gratitude. The Australian Government owes him a debt of gratitude and I believe I would speak for Governments of both political persuasions on that score.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on another matter, (inaudible) surplus Budget (inaudible)
PM: Can I just say on the question of debt and deficit, I welcome a debate on this and the reason I welcome the debate on debt and deficit is because it is a debate being had in every advanced economy in the world in response to a global economic recession, the worst that we've had in three quarters of a century.
Australia's net debt will be the lowest of any major advanced economy in the world for the next decade. It is responsible for us to have embraced such a strategy to deal with the challenges presented to us and other economies with the global recession, and to do so within that responsible framework.
Here is the challenge today, why I welcome this debate - I notice Mr Turnbull is addressing the National Press Club today as we lead up to the Budget next week.
Here are the two core questions which Mr Turnbull and the Liberals must answer on their debt and deficit strategy for the future. They have, Mr Turnbull and the Liberals have already reluctantly admitted to $177 billion debt and deficit strategy of their own.
What are the two core questions which arise from that?
The first, will Mr Turnbull and the Liberals admit to borrowing for the $200 billion collapse in Commonwealth tax revenues, an amount equivalent to total Commonwealth payments on public hospitals to the States, or will he abolish Commonwealth payments to the States for hospitals? It is that equivalent amount of money.
Second question - Mr Turnbull and the Liberals have said they would also borrow for economic stimulus. How much?
They are the two core questions and unless Mr Turnbull and the Liberals come clean on those two core questions, then he's not advancing an alternative budget, in fact he should be out there selling steak knives. That is how simple it is.