Canberra
PM: Can I thank everybody here at Kingsford Smith for having us in this great school today. We've had a great morning.
I'm joined by the Minister for Families and Community Services, by the Attorney-General, by the local member Andrew Leigh, the Member for Fraser, but most perhaps most importantly of all today I'm joined by our new National Children's Commissioner Megan Mitchell, and I thank her for being here this morning.
We are a Government committed to making sure that every young Australian gets an opportunity to grow up safe, healthy, happy and gets a great education.
We are very focussed on making sure that we change Australian schools so that our schools are in the top five in the world and every child in every school is getting a great education.
But of course we want to do more for children than that which is where the National Children's Commissioner comes in.
The National Children's Commissioner's job will be to ensure that the voices of young people are heard by Government; indeed those voices have been in putting this position together and its role and responsibilities.
That as Government gets on with doing tasks across a wide range of portfolios, that the National Children's Commissioner is there to make sure that the outlook of children and their needs is always being taken into account.
Around the country, state governments have children's commissioners but no comparable position at a national level.
We think it's an important step forward to create the National Children's Commissioner and I congratulate Ms Mitchell on her appointment.
I might just throw to her to say a word or two then we'll take any questions on today's announcement and then we'll move to issues of the day.
MEGAN MITCHELL: Thank you Prime Minister.
It is a great honour to be appointed as the first National Children's Commissioner, and I do want to congratulate the Government for establishing the position.
It is something that's been missing; that there is a voice for children at a national level; that looks at national laws and policies and systems and services for children, and that there is a focus on child rights at a national and international level in terms of Australia's obligations.
As I say I feel deeply honoured and I'm really very, very keen to ensure that children's voice is up there and heard by adults who are making decisions on behalf of and for children.
So thank you.
PM: If there are any questions on the Children's Commissioner we'll take them now. I'm conscious that the kids have done all the hard ones.
JOURNALIST: Are there any laws you've identified, I know you've only had the role for not very long, but is there anything that has come to your attention?
MEGAN MITCHELL: In fact I'm not even in the role yet.
I would like to say it's a little bit premature to be definitive about particular laws, but we're always reviewing laws and policies in this nation, whether state or federal and one of the roles of the Commissioner will be to be involved in that debate and to ensure that children's rights, interests and needs are privileged in those debates.
So at this stage I wouldn't say there's any one particular law that I'd single out. I just think there is a job to do more generally.
JOURNALIST: Is there a priority area that you have identified?
MEGAN MITCHELL: I think that's one of the first things I need to do, is to be identifying what the priority areas are and that'll involve a lot of talking with people who care for and work with children and talking to children themselves.
That will be a really important priority for me.
Personally and professionally I do have an interest in ensuring that we identify kids that are at risk of disengaging from education and social life as I think there are lots implications of that.
That's an area I have and personal and professional interest in that I'd like to look at the laws and policies of this nation and states and territories to make sure that we very early on pick up any risk factors for kids and act on that so that they can be safe.
JOURNALIST: What sort of role during or after the Royal Commission do you see yourself playing?
MEGAN MITCHELL: Well I see that the role would obviously have a relationship with the Royal Commission and I understand the Human Rights Commission has already offered to help.
Exactly what that looks like, I think it's a bit early to say, but I would want to stay very close to what's going on in that space, especially in order to identify additional system changes and reforms that can safeguard our children into the future.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what sort of extra resources is the Human Rights Commission getting to do this job properly?
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: There's $3.5 million of new money that's been allocated over the next four years for the establishment of this position.
As you've heard, the Children's Commissioner will be part of the Human Rights Commission, but I'd stress again it is $3.5 million new money for the position.
JOURNALIST: The Greens are already taking the responsibility for this. Why has it taken so long to have a National Children's Commissioner?
PM: I'm happy to say something about that, and then the Attorney-General and the Minister for Families may want to as well.
This is a proposal that has been pursued by the Labor Government for some period of time now and as you heard from Minister Macklin, very passionately by the former Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, who thought that it was a very important move for us to make.
Inevitably doing the set-up does take some time, making sure that you have the foundations right, the basis of legislation right.
So that has taken some work by us but I'm glad that we've got to this stage.
And really, standing here, it's about looking to the future and what difference this position can make for our nation's focus on children.
JOURNALIST: Do you think the states are playing politics by not supporting some of your key initiatives like Gonski, like the NDIS in an election year simply because they want to make you lose face in some ways?
PM: I've seen some of the reporting today about the attitude of the Victorian Government, the Queensland Government and indeed the Western Australian Government to change in Australian schools.
First and foremost, I'd remind everybody involved, we're the adults. We're the ones with the responsibility for change.
We're the ones with the responsibility for making sure that every child in every school get as great education. I'm determined to make sure that happens.
We've seen Victoria float a proposal after having taken $550 million out of schools in cuts, some of them cutbacks to the support of the most disadvantaged children in schools through the education maintenance allowance and now apparently Premier Baillieu is saying it's a grand initiative to put $400 million back.
That's not good enough and it's not going to give our kids the kind of opportunities they need to have a great education and an opportunity at a great life.
As I've said consistently since we launched the white paper in Australia's role in this century of change in our region, there is nothing automatic or preordained about us being a high-skill, high-wage economy in the future.
We will have to work for it and there that's no more important place to work for it than in Australia's schools, which is why I've set the national goal of putting us in the top five around the world.
Inevitably when you are bringing the biggest reform to education in 40 years, there will be some argy-bargy and some carry-on around it, but I am determined to push through all of that and to get this done.
JOURNALIST: There is a lot of mud-slinging at the moment between the states and the Federal Government.
Do you need to get an agreement at the April COAG meeting?
What steps are being taken between now and then and will this all be put to bed by budget time?
PM: We've been in intensive discussions with states and territories and indeed the Catholic and independent schools about this reform. We've been in those discussions for some period of time.
The discussions have recently been updated with data that only just became available arising out of the analysis that happens from the census. So that data was not available more early than this.
What that means is that there is intensive work going on behind the scenes between officials to look at these changed proposals.
But at the end of the day it will take political will to get this done. I've got the political will to do it and we will fight through to get it done.
Now I hope that that fight is concluded in April around the COAG table but if there are states that are still holding out from giving kids the best possible education then we will certainly fight on to secure that for those children.
JOURNALIST: Did you say the states were acting like children, you said that, ‘we are the adults'?
PM: We are the adults. We've got a responsibility to kids and we've got a responsibility to kids and we've got a responsibility to get on with the job.
JOURNALIST: Meaning the Federal Government or the states?
PM: Meaning everybody and we will certainly acquit our responsibility to get on with the job.
JOURNALIST: But Prime Minister, you've only got seven sitting weeks after this one to get legislated a reform that isn't negotiated yet. Haven't you run out of time and didn't you take too long to get the original plan to the states?
PM: Certainly not. We will get this done in the time available to us. The critical date here is the start of the 2014 school year and schools will be well aware of what have their financial resources will be from the start of the 2014 school year.
There have been just practical, common sense steps that needed to be taken here, like the availability of data flowing from an analysis of the census which was not available until recently and of course schools legitimately wanted to know how the model would work, what the possibilities within the modelling was, against the most recent data.
So we've been in a process where the most recent data is being used to generate a variety of models for consideration.
There is no one model that has got the tick yet, so anybody who's out there representing to you they know what is happening to an individual school isn't telling you the truth.
We've got the most up-to-date information being worked through a series of models to fuel a genuine discussion and it couldn't be done before that data became available.
There's been lots of discussion about the principles and mechanics of the things that were recommended by David Gonski and his team but we needed the most up-to-date information.
JOURNALIST: Are you (inaudible) self-harming and hunger strikes at Nauru?
PM: Any time we hear reports of people in our detention centres who are on hunger strike or anything like that, the first point to make is it doesn't get you anywhere.
Doesn't get you a changed outcome.
Unfortunately people do sometimes take that step, but I do want to be very clear. Having a hunger strike or anything like that does not change people's outcomes.
The only thing that happens for people in our asylum seeker facilities is there is a proper assessment of whether or not they are a genuine refugee.
We make sure that mental health support is available to asylum seekers.
JOURNALIST: Are you sick and tired of talk of a Rudd comeback and of disloyalty from your colleagues?
PM: I've dealt with all of that before.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you concerned, do you think the Murdoch companies have too much influence at Channel 10 and do you think these ownership issues need to be addressed by the new media laws?
PM: During the course of the last year we received the Convergence Review and the Finkelstein Review.
We said that we'll respond to them in due course and when we've got something to say about that we will.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PM: When we've got something to say about it, we will. We've received the reports and we're continuing to work through them.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PM: I read the newspapers too and then there's the things that happen in the real world. When we're in a position to respond to those reports, we will.
JOURNALIST: On Gonski, will you go it alone if you don't get all the states' cooperation? What's your Plan B if they don't all sign up in April?
PM: First and foremost I think premiers and chief ministers around the country would need to indicate to their schools and the children who rely on them for a great education why they don't want them to have a better one.
I believe that around the nation parents look at their child's school and they always want to see improvement, they always want to see their child getting the best education.
The best schools each and every day ask themselves the question, how can we do this better? We've got to match that will for improvement with the resources that are needed to get the job done.
That's what David Gonski's review was all about and we'll keep fighting and arguing for it. And let me assure you, I'm well and truly up for that fight.
I started us on this process of changing schools when we first came to government in 2007. Piece by piece, we've put a reform agenda into place.
More information than we've ever had before about Australian schools. You couldn't have a sensible discussion about further changes until you had that more information.
National partnerships that show you can make a difference.
A new world-class national curriculum.
The biggest single investment into school infrastructure in the nation's history.
The bringing of better equipment into Australian schools.
And now we've got to do the rest, we have to make sure that all of that combined with great quality teaching makes a difference to our kids and we're determined to do it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, your government has tightened the 457 system because of abuse and rorts. Where is the evidence of that?
PM: Minister O'Connor referred to the growth that we've seen in the use of 457s.
He referred to some concerns that have come to his attention about the use of 457s.
And each and every day we'll always put Australian jobs first, and that's what we've done in saying we would further crack down on inappropriate use of 457 visas.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) and whether there have been any requests for assistance?
PM: Thank you for that question.
Around New South Wales, people are doing it very tough. We've not only seen flooding, we've seen loss of life and now we've seen the devastating impact of these freak storms, the tornados, that have done so much damage.
As I said yesterday, we were prepared to do anything we could to assist New South Wales.
During the course of today arrangements under our natural disaster relief arrangements will be triggered in partnership with New South Wales.
They will be triggered in 11 local government areas including Kiama. People who want full details of that, details will become available during the course of the day in the normal way.
Unfortunately, we've got to put these kind of details out all too frequently because of the things that the weather does.
But the full information will be available through our Disaster Assist web site. And then there's the help line number which is 180 22 66.
That information will become available during the course of today, so if people can hold off calling or logging on just for a previous period of time and then the information will be up and available for people.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PM: I don't comment on polls. I take that to be a reference to a poll in today's papers.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) John Howard last night, who predicted a Kevin Rudd comeback?
PM: I didn't watch it.
JOURNALIST: Paul McClintock has raised questions about the COAG process. Do you think it's broken?
PM: I think COAG can do great work for the nation, and we've done some important work for the nation in areas like skills, indeed in health we've done great work for the nation.
What it then requires is people to honour the agreements and to show the care and concern for their populations that is about the hard graft of implementation rather than the cheap playing of politics.
When we see the cheap playing of politics we'll crack down on it the way we did in Victoria, where for the payments we're making now, we've sidelined Premier Baillieu and we are dealing direct with local hospital networks.
JOURNALIST: Are you worried about the constitutional validity of doing so?
PM: No I'm not. We obviously take careful advice. I brought the world's best lawyer with me, but I take that to be a reference to the Williams and Pate case and all the rest of it.
We always work through very carefully on these questions. But in terms of people talking about constitutionality, Premier Baillieu did raise that.
Is Premier Baillieu really saying he would take a court case to deny hospitals in Victoria more money? Is he really saying they'd spend all of that money on legal costs to stop money going to patients? Is that what he's really saying?
I think the people of Victoria would be a bit happier if he's got cash lying around for a legal case, maybe he might shift it to a hospital to help out.
JOURNALIST: When we talk about Gonski and how it's going to be paid for, obviously everyone is watching the upcoming May budget.
Can the public expect to see at least the Federal Government side of this fully funded for the forward estimates in this coming budget?
PM: I'd refer you to my Press Club speech at the start of the year.
Admittedly there was other news in that that that people focused on, but during the course of that I outlined the year to come and that we would be very clear with the Australian people about the funding for the National School Improvement Plan, the funding for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
It would be clear to people not only over the Government's area four year budget period that we would be outlining the long-term funding strategies for those major changes, and I was very upfront then.
It will require people to make some tough choices. We will be saying to the nation if we value these things then, we've got to make sure the resources are available.
Every promise has to be fully budgeted and fully accounted for and we will do that.
Thank you very much.