PM: This is good news for Australian families. It's good news for our country overall, and employees and employers can register for the scheme now.
Registrations have been open from 1 October. Families can register so that instead of doing the paperwork at the time of the birth of their child, they can do the paperwork in advance, and of course employers can register. They are centrally involved in this scheme because paid parental leave is about helping mums and dads at the time of the birth of a new child, but it's also about keeping a connection between mums and dads who take leave and their employer.
We know that it's in the interest of Australian employers to see their highly skilled staff, particularly their highly skilled female staff, come back to work after they've taken time off for the birth of their child, so our message today is register now.
Today we've launched a Government information campaign to make sure that mums, dads and employers get all the information they need about how to register.
I'll turn now to Jenny Macklin for some comments, too.
MINISTER MACKLIN: Thanks very much, Prime Minister.
This is a very exciting time for Australia. Finally, we catch up with the rest of the developed world and have our first national paid parental leave scheme.
It will start on the 1st of January next year. It will be paid for 18 weeks at the federal minimum wage, which is around $570 a week.
It's all about making sure that mums and dads have got more time at home when their new baby arrives.
Finally, we'll make sure that that right is there for mothers and fathers in Australia, and it will be so important to the casual workers, the part-time workers, the self-employed, the contractors, who haven't had access to paid parental leave before.
If you're pregnant now and expecting your baby in the new year, you can get online or you can go to your local Centrelink office, get the paper work done before your baby arrives. If you're an employer, and you have a mother who's about to deliver in the new year, you too can start to register, get your paperwork done, so that employers are ready to do their part to deliver paid parental leave for Australians.
PM: Thank you.
Can I say a big thanks to Holden for having us here today? We've enjoyed meeting a number of Holden staff who have either taken the benefit of having Holden's paid parental leave scheme or who are expecting a baby and will benefit from both the new Government-paid parental leave scheme and Holden's scheme, and thank you to Michael Danby as well - we're in his local electorate.
Happy to take any questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how do you expect the scheme to cost taxpayers every year or over the life of the scheme?
PM: The paid parental leave scheme? Paid parental leave over a four-year Budget period is around a billion dollars.
JOURNALIST: Can the country afford it?
PM: Yes - it's in our Budget, fully factored in with the Budget coming back to surplus in 2012-13. We worked long and hard to make sure that this scheme was affordable for Government. We worked long and hard to make sure that the Budget will come back to surplus in 2012-13 with the costs of paid parental leave factored in.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister the Auditor-General's report into the insulation situation was put down today. Why was Greg Combet not put forward to speak on the matter and instead a parliamentary secretary spoke?
PM: Mark Dreyfus has responsibility for the Home Insulation Program now, and consequently he was available to speak to the media today about the Auditor-General's report, and of course I'm happy to take any questions.
JOURNALIST: Seemingly, he was unable to answer the question in relation to deficiencies in the 90,000 homes examined. Should he not know that information?
PM: Well, I think Mark Dreyfus today has answered questions about the Auditor-General's report. Of course, the Government's been frank and very up-front about the problems with the Home Insulation Program. I publically acknowledged, as Prime Minister, on a number of occasions that this scheme did become a mess and that's why we brought the scheme to an end, and, of course, Greg Combet, then as the relevant Minister, worked through on compensation arrangements.
We welcome today the Auditor-General's report. I note that it makes no recommendations because the Government acted to bring this scheme to an end. We did, of course, receive an earlier review in the form of the Hawke report.
JOURNALIST: Do you think Peter Garrett (inaudible)
PM: Well, the Auditor-General report today makes no findings against Minister Garrett. I note that.
The Auditor-General obviously makes a number of comments about the performance of the Department here and the management of risk.
JOURNALIST: So what confidence can you have things are fixed (inaudible)
PM: Well, we've taken steps to address the Home Insulation Program. We brought the Scheme to an end at the start of this year. We've structured compensation arrangements. Of course, we had the Hawke review, and all of that means that we as a Government, and I think those, too, in the public service, have worked through to learn the lessons here, and I welcome the Auditor-General's report because that will also assist both Government and the public service to learn from this example and to avoid these kind of risks in the future.
JOURNALIST: So given that Minister Combet called for an inquiry into a situation, why was he not available today?
PM: Well, very simply Mark Dreyfus as Parliamentary Secretary now has responsibility for this program.
JOURNALIST: As Greg Hunt says, the Auditor-General's prevented from examining Cabinet documents which showed the Government knew about the programs flaws and he wants a judicial inquiry (inaudible)
PM: Well, this is a wrong claim by Mr Hunt. The Auditor-General is entitled to access to any Cabinet document that the Auditor-General wants access to. The Auditor-General is the independent watchdog. He sets his own terms of reference. He structures his enquiry as he chooses and he is entitled to all Cabinet documents.
In making comments like this Mr Hunt is in fact casting aspersions over the work of the Auditor-General. Of course the independent Auditor-General went about this inquiry as the Auditor-General saw fit, with all of the powers that the Auditor-General has, including access to Cabinet documents.
JOURNALIST: So what about his call for a judicial inquiry?
PM: I've had experience before where the Opposition calls, in the first instance, for an Auditor-General report and then when they don't get the kind of findings that they would like they then start a call for a judicial enquiry. Well, the Auditor-General in the independent watchdog for the Commonwealth Government. The Auditor-General's delivered his findings today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just in relation to the national schools curriculum, are you disappointed at the number of submissions and the criticism of that? Some criticism are content heavy, too crowded, inflexible and tight?
PM: I always expected when we started on the creation of the national curriculum that it would the subject of debate and I think that that's a good thing.
We are talking about a very big reform for the country's future. It would be more than two decades now that people have called for a national curriculum. It's better for the around 80,000 students that move interstate each year. It's better for the teachers who move interstate each year, and of course we want to know as a nation that children in every school in every part of the country are studying a high-quality curriculum.
Now, obviously the Australian Curriculum Assessment Reporting Authority has gone about this in a highly consultative way. I think that's appropriate. We need to keep working through and getting the national curriculum out and being taught in schools.
JOURNALIST: Are you expecting that at the beginning of next year?
PM: The Ministerial Council will be dealing with these questions but the roll-out of the national curriculum is due to start from 2011 on. It will be a phased roll-out, but it's very important we get this reform done.
We want kids studying a high-quality curriculum right around the country, and if kids move school interstate, it's already all of the stresses that come with that - new school, new suburb, making new friends - we want them to go into classrooms and recognised the curriculum that's being taught.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the subject of the Murray-Darling water authority, are you still committed, without qualification, to implementing the final recommendations of the Murray-Darling Authority?
PM: Look, got to be clear about Government decision making here - the Murray-Darling Basin Authority is an independent authority. It's produced a guide. That guide is the subject of consultation.
It will lead to a draft plan, then there will be more consultation leading to a plan and Government will make its decisions, and as a Government we obviously will be listening to community views. Minister Burke is doing that, Minister Crean is doing that, and of course Minister Crean has asked the Parliamentary Committee, headed by Tony Windsor, to also engage in consultation.
JOURNALIST: What are you going to do to take the heat out of the debate?
PM: I'd ask people to recognise that the Murray-Darling Basin Authority is independent. It's published a guide. The guide is the subject of consultation. It will then publish a draft plan which will be the subject of further consultation.
So, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority will have those processes. There will also be the Parliamentary Committee, commissioned by Minister Simon Crean and led by Tony Windsor, that will be seeking community views.
Everyone will have an opportunity to have their say.
JOURNALIST: And would you like to see that Government decision on the final recommendation finalised in this term of Government?
PM: Let's work through the process. The Parliamentary Committee, commissioned by Minister Crean, will be working through 'til April next year. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority is on a timetable with consultation around the plan and then the production of the draft plan.
We obviously want to get all of those community views in, but addressing the problems of the Murray-Darling is something that whether you're a farmer, whether you live in a big city, wherever as an Australian you live and work you've got an interest in. This is our major river system. The health of this river system matters to all Australians - it matters to farmers, it matters to regional communities, it matters to Australians who live in metropolitan Australia, so we do need to work together to make sure that the river system is healthy. That's the objective and we have these processes to work through and listen to community views.
JOURNALIST: Ray Hadley has criticised Tony Burke for not being at the Meringo (inaudible) this week?
PM: Well, Ray Hadley simply doesn't understand the structures of what's going on here. Let's be clear, I hope Ray Hadley would be able to understand the processes here: Murray-Darling Basin Authority is an independent authority. It has outlined its own consultation process. It's of course appropriate for the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to have its own consultation processes and it's doing that.
Minister Burke is obviously available to speak to communities, to listen to community views, as is Minister Simon Crean, and he has been doing that, speaking to community representatives this week and there will be the Parliamentary Committee, commissioned by Minister Crean and led by Tony Windsor to hear community views, so this is a highly consultative process, but the Murray-Darling Basin Authority is an independent authority doing its work.
OK, thank you.