Ipswich
PM: It is great to be back in Ipswich. I have been a very frequent visitor here but I always love it when I come and I get the opportunity to spend some time with Shayne Neumann, our local member, the Member for Blair.
And we are joined today by Sharon as well our candidate for Wright, Sharon Murakami is here today.
They have introduced us to a number of local community members who have had to face the agony of being flooded and re-flooded and sometimes flooded again.
Businesses and homes hit by floodwaters here in Ipswich.
So today I am very pleased to be with my colleagues, the Minister for Emergency Management, Mark Dreyfus and Bill Shorten our Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and also with a special responsibility to deal with insurance and with flood issues, to make three important announcements about the future.
Put in summary, what we want to ensure is that we not only help people to recover from flood but we help them be protected for the future.
We don't just want to be on a cycle where people are flooded, get some assistance and then they're flooded again.
We want to help people recover but we also want to better protect them for the future.
So today I am very pleased to be able to make three announcements.
The first does go to recovery here in Queensland.
Already we have more than $120 million into people's bank accounts as a result of this year's floods. That's to help people through.
And already there are a range of grants and assistance measures available to help people as they recover from the most recent floods.
But today we are adding to that with a new $45 million package. The aim of this package is to better assist primary producers and small businesses.
It is to provide some resources into local communities, including resources to help people with counselling and the mental health issues and pressures that come from having faced up to floods.
One of the things we have just been talking about is it's not just the mental anguish that comes with dealing with the floodwaters, but whenever you hear heavy rain, everyone gets a sleepless night because they're worried about it happening again.
So we want to put some resources into communities to help with those issues.
We also want to put some resources into better protecting our environment. Floodwater hits homes and businesses, but it's also got consequences for the environment including great icons like the Great Barrier Reef and we are allocating some money to assist with reef recovery.
And we want to continue what has been a very successful trial of a day labour scheme.
So that's assisting local councils keep their day labourers, the people who routinely work for them, and get those people to do flood recovery work instead of going down the more expensive route of getting contractors in and often contractors come in from outside so they aren't assisting with local jobs.
Second, today we are here to announce too, a $40 million Federal Government contribution to a betterment fund, and we are calling on the Queensland Government to match this dollar for dollar.
This is a betterment fund to go to local councils to assist with the rebuilding of local roads and local community infrastructure. But to rebuild it - not at the same level that it was - but to rebuild it so that it is better for the future and can face floods in the future without sustaining damage.
We are hoping this fund can help us end some of the cycle where a local road is washed away or a local community facility is hit, money is put into repairing it, rebuilding it and then floods come 12 months later and it is damaged or flooded again.
We want local government to be able to have the extra resources so when they rebuild a section of road or they put a roundabout back or they put a community facility back, they can put it there at a standard that it won't be flooded again.
We have deliberately pitched this package at local government because it's local government that ends up often dealing with a lot of the damage, but they've got the least resources to do so, and they've got the least ability to add to their revenue.
That is, they don't want to put up the council rates at a time that people are recovering from flood and damage; they don't want to put that extra burden on their local community members.
Then thirdly and finally, I'm here today to announce a package which will make a difference around the nation but also here in Ipswich.
This is a new set of measures to assist with disaster resilience and insurance affordability.
We are now in a cycle where, because we've seen floods, insurance premiums skyrocket, people can't afford the insurance, and so next time they face a flood they do it uninsured.
We are trying to get us away from that cycle of flooding and then insurance premiums skyrocketing and people being priced out of the market.
This is a package that Minister Shorten has been working on and has worked on as well as making sure that we've got better insurance policies to deal with floods.
One of the big arguments following the floods in 2010 and 2011 here in Queensland was that people thought they were covered for flooding and found out that they weren't and they got into all of these difficult arguments about what's flooding and what's stormwater.
We've worked to try and end those disputes and get people a better deal from the insurance industry, and today we're here to announce a new approach to assist with funding flood mitigation measures so that insurance premiums don't have to sky rocket because some of the risks have been taken away.
This is a $100 million commitment, $10 million of which will be spent here locally in Ipswich to make a difference to this community, to this federal electorate of Blair, to the people I have just been talking to who have suffered so much.
Seven million dollars of this package will go to the Roma flood levee because we know that people in Roma have suffered a lot too.
And we are indicating that we are prepared to make a $50 million commitment in New South Wales to raising the level of the Warragamba dam because it too has caused problems in the past with flooding.
The New South Wales Government has over many years talked about, but done nothing to deal with flood resilience in that area, and so we are putting $50 million on the table to help get it done.
I will turn now to the Minister for Emergency Management and then to Minister Shorten.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Thanks very much Prime Minister. As the Prime Minister has just said, we are announcing today a $40 million contribution to betterment here in Queensland, and we've called on the Queensland Government to match that funding so that there will be an $80 million fund for betterment of works.
It is too build roads and bridges stronger and better so that next time there is a flood event, those roads and bridges and road works are better able to withstand the damage done by floods.
It is very important the Queensland Government step up and match that funding so that money is going to be available for in particular local councils to do those works.
As you have also heard, the Prime Minister has announced another special amount of $45 million, it has got a number of components, it's package to better assist Queensland communities recover from, as quickly as possible, the dreadful flood events that there have been across Queensland in many communities since around the middle of January so as to help people like those we have been hearing from today recover quicker from their lives having been turned upside down.
I take this opportunity to say also that we are still experiencing floods in parts of Queensland and other parts of the country. It is very important that people pay attention to flood warnings.
Very important that people stay out of floodwaters. We know the risk that that can bring. I'd also take this opportunity to thank our emergency service workers right across the country.
We've had floods and fires this summer in five out of six states. Our emergency service workers and the rest of the community has as usual risen to the occasion and I'd again thank them for their work.
MINISTER SHORTEN: Good morning everyone. I would first of all like to thank the residents, the small business people and the farmers of the Lower Somerset region and Ipswich who have told their story and made sure, as the Prime Minister's visit reflects, that they are not forgotten, that this is a Federal Government who is interested in supporting flood victims and making sure people can get back on their feet.
The part of the announcement today which goes to insurance and financial services is that the insurance industry since the very difficult floods in south-east Queensland in 2011 has been on notice to lift their game when it comes to having one definition of what a flood is across all policies and all companies.
We have seen good cooperative progress, so a lot of the distressing arguments which residents in Ipswich who had to be helped by Shayne Newman and the local member sort out, hopefully will be a thing of the past.
Flood insurance as part of home and content policies of Australians has gone from a very small proportion of Australians a few years ago to 83 per cent of all policies.
But the next piece of the puzzle is that in high risk areas, flood insurance is simply quite unaffordable.
Through negotiations with the insurance industry in Australia the Government is proposing to set up a national insurance affordability council which will work on better flood-mapping, flood mitigation policies and getting the priorities right so we can put downward pressure on people and small businesses' flood insurance policies.
Specifically today the Government, after consultation with the insurance industry, has identified a levee in Roma, flood works in Ipswich and significantly making up to $50 million available over the next two years to assist with plans to start increasing the flood protections of western Sydney.
The insurance industry have informed the Government over the last period of months that they regard - along with South East Queensland - one of the greatest economic risks to Australia is flooding in parts of the Hawkesbury-Nepean region.
And so this Government is moving on mitigation with the promise from the insurance industry that when governments at all levels fund mitigation, we expect insurance policies for householders to go down.
The insurance industry has indicated in a place such as Roma, insurance home and content policies should and could go down by as much as 70 per cent.
The Federal Government will do its bit supporting state and local councils and our private insurance sector to offer the best possible protections to all Australians, small business and home owners.
PM: Thanks very much, we are happy to take your questions. And can I just say a big thank you to everybody who has made us feel so welcome today. And thank you particularly to the people at the table who have told us their stories.
JOURNLAIST: The flood recovery minister in Queensland says we've been essentially left out in the cold in favour of western Sydney voters. What do you have to say about accusations?
PM: He is clearly wrong. We're here today announcing $45 million for recovery, a $40 million contribution to betterment and we're today announcing measures in this local community and in Roma to protect for the future.
That's on top of $120 million that has already hit people's bank accounts and on top of all the other natural disaster recovery arrangements we've already triggered.
JOURNALIST: How much of that $100 million over two years will actually be spent in Queensland?
PM: Well, today we are able to announce $10 million here locally into Ipswich and the surrounding region and $7 million into Roma for the levee, and then of course the balance of the funding is there for the consideration of proposals.
JOURNALIST: How will you make sure that insurance does go down?
PM: I will turn to the minister for a comment on that.
MINISTER SHORTEN: One of the parts of the charter which will set the national insurance affordability council is to monitor prices, is to work with the industry.
The industry has been up-front. When we have banged on the table and said listen, we can get you a common definition of flood but you are making flood insurance too expensive in some areas and we want you to better calibrate the risk to the cost, the industry said well we need to see more work on mitigation.
The Government's picked up that challenge. Industry will work with us.
The real-life case studies - towns in northern New South Wales and Queensland - who have flood mitigation works, have lower home and contents, small business flood insurance policies.
JOURNALIST: Do you expect premiums will actually reduce or will this just stop them spiralling out of control?
MINISTER SHORTEN: I think if you have got a flood levee in Roma, where there currently isn't one, yes I do expect it to reduce.
That's simple law of risk management. If you diminish the risk, the case for the higher premiums goes down, and we've seen that happen.
There are towns in Queensland which where they have the flood mitigation works, it is $1,200 versus an average cost of $3,000. So yes.
JOURNALIST: That $100 million that you mentioned [inaudible]?
PM: Let's go through it right from the start. We have spent in Queensland more than $6 billion following the huge floods in the summer between 2010 and 2011; $6 billion.
More than spent in any other state around the nation and for good reason because Queensland was harder any other state around the nation.
And that money went into supporting people. It went into infrastructure recovery following those floods. There were roads that needed to be rebuilt, bridges that need to be rebuilt, things like the river cats on the Brisbane River.
We've been working to make a difference to Queensland's recovery since the dreadful summer of 2010-2011 when we saw the cyclone as well.
Then we have seen more flooding and that's why the people here today can tell me about being flooded two or three times in recent years and we've responded to the most recent floods with more than $120 million already in people's bank accounts and a range of relief and recovery arrangements already triggered.
Then today, we're here announcing for Queensland $45 million extra in recovery, a $40 million contribution to betterment and some benefits from this new resilience pool.
So I would invite you to add it up. I'd invite you then to work out the per capita share in Queensland and you will see across what the Federal Government has done; more money spent here than any other part of the nation by an absolute country mile and that's been appropriate because Queensland has been the hardest hit.
JOURNALIST: Appreciate the money that's been spent to help recover and rebuild and I'm sure all they want is money to be spent for it to not happen again. And of that $100 million so far less than a fifth-
PM: And out of the $6 billion that was spent arising from the 2010-2011 floods, there was infrastructure restored including some considerations of betterment as we went.
We now want to get a sharper focus on betterment so that we get into this virtuous circle with insurance premiums that Minister Shorten talks about.
There is more funding available than has been announced today, and obviously further Queensland projects can come forward.
JOURNALIST: It is a bit late though now isn't it, to be funding to be starting to focus on betterment considering you have spent $6 billion. Has that been wisely invested?
PM: Well you would be making an error to think that betterment was not considered in infrastructure redevelopment.
It was part of the work we did with the $6 billion but we want to sharpen the focus now on a number of individual projects which we think can change the equation for insurance premiums.
JOURNALIST: In relation to the Warragamba dam, what implications are there for downstream residents?
PM: I'll get the minister to talk through that.
MINISTER SHORTEN: The western region councils of metropolitan Sydney - by answering this question about Sydney, I don't want to be interpreted as not talking about Queensland, but my question was on Sydney.
Councils, Infrastructure New South Wales last year have said it's a big risk and what the insurance industry also says when we sit down and talk to them, is they say what's your number one concern for a big cost and a big hit on the industry and households? And they say western Sydney just because of the sheer size of the population.
The Hawkesbury-Nepean flood plain area is probably the most densely developed in Australia. We understand $50 million doesn't buy you the whole heightened dam.
Traditionally though, local governments and states have been the ones who've had the province of mitigation.
We accept though there should be a down payment to make sure that we can at least provide certainty, provide opportunity to have lower house and content insurance fees.
Today's announcement, in terms of the national insurance affordability council, is plainly a good idea. To these questions about priorities, this will be inviting experts to give their view to the council about what is the priority.
One thing is for sure, the Commonwealth Government is saying that we think that flood mitigation is an issue and it builds upon our other reforms in terms of affordable home and contents insurance for consumers and for small business.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what about Gympie? It's flooded twice in one month, four times in a year; they want a temporary levee. They have been saying this for a year. Why were they not considered?
PM: We will be very happy to receive a proposal from Gympie. We are obviously working there in the recovery arrangements and it has been obviously all hands have been focussed on that in recent days and that's understandable.
When people are through that immediate urgent phase, we will be very happy to talk to Gympie about its long-term needs.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you called for a dollar-for-dollar betterment match by the State Government with your betterment fund, is that $40 million conditional on the State Government matching?
PM: We will make the $40 million contribution. Disaster mitigation is traditionally the province of state governments, and so in making this contribution we are prepared to say that as a Federal Government we will do even more than Federal Governments have done in the past.
And following the huge floods of 2010 and 2011, we have certainly taken the approach of doing more in Queensland, even when that has been politically opposed in the Parliament.
So we want to do more but we also want to see the State Government acquit their responsibilities so I would be calling on them to match our contribution dollar-for-dollar.
JOURNALIST: But if they don't match the contribution will the $40 million still be spent?
PM: We are prepared to make $40 million available, we will make $40 million available, but given this is extra resources from the Federal Government in an area that has traditionally been of State Government management and concern I would expect the $40 million to be matched by State Government money.
JOURNALIST: Will it be paid directly to local government?
PM: Well yes. What we want to do here with the betterment fund is it will go to local government for local infrastructure.
JOURNALIST: Directly?
PM: Yes, local government for local infrastructure.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, in regards to immigration policy, the Opposition's attacked the Government's 457 visa system. Do you have any response?
PM: This is a very simple question about whether or not you believe in putting Australian jobs first.
I believe in putting Australian jobs first. The Opposition has now got so negative; it doesn't want to put Aussie jobs first, it wants to put temporary foreign workers first in the queue for any jobs available.
JOURNALIST: Do you think the community should be made aware of asylum seekers being resettled in their areas?
PM: Look I've seen some coverage on this this morning and my understanding is the Opposition has got so negative on these questions that even members of the Opposition themselves are disgusted by it so they need to sort themselves out.
JOURNALIST: Are you dog whistling on 457 visas as Tony Abbott claims?
PM: We'll put Aussie jobs first and the Leader of the Opposition can use any terminology he wants to. I will always stand for putting Australian jobs first.
Unfortunately Mr Abbott is taking a different approach.
JOURNALIST: Do you agree with Dawn Fraser that swimmers caught using Stilnox should be banned for life?
PM: We let all of our sporting codes, whether it's swimming or any of the others, deal with these issues.
We have worked through the Crime Commission and the anti-doping agency, but what's appropriate for an individual swimmer isn't something that should be decided by me.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Joe Hockey says that under a Coalition Government wages would be kept high. Surely that's good news?
PM: Joe Hockey today is giving a speech in Brisbane where, when you strip it right down, he is saying he agrees with the Government's economic plan and that's because he doesn't have an alternative. He has got no plan for the nation's future.
Mr Hockey today - and it's been commented on in today's newspapers because he obviously released extracts of the speech - Mr Hockey today is endorsing the approach this Government has taken to creating a high-skill, high-wage future for our country.
Unfortunately every step of the way, Mr Hockey has opposed that approach that he is now claiming today somehow is his own.
This is all a masquerade for not having any policies. When you go across what is happening on the other side of politics today - Mr Hockey with no plan for the economy; Mr Abbott lecturing universities about teaching online when he wants to stop the roll-out of broadband.
I mean, run that by me again?
It is like saying a child should be studying at a desk with a lamp but you're not going to roll out the electricity grid so that they can turn the lamp on.
And then we've got Mr Abbott criticising the Government's approach to putting Australian jobs first.
JOURNALIST: Tony Abbott is rescheduling his diary so that he can be in western Sydney next week as well to campaign. What do you make of that?
PM: Oh, whatever.
JOURNALIST: Have you got him running scared now by going to western Sydney?
PM: Whatever.
JOURNALIST: Are you aware of when the last time was that western Sydney suffered major flooding?
PM: We have seen flooding in some parts of Sydney. Even with the tropical storms and heavy rain we saw some flood events in recent weeks.
Not at the scale that you've seen in Queensland, but because of the deluge that Sydney has got at various points there has been flooding events in Sydney as a result.
JOURNALIST: In western Sydney or the dam?
PM: I am not saying the dam flooded but residents were actually on clean-up, and water on properties, yes that's has happened in recent weeks as a result of huge rains, very intense rains in very short periods of time.
As you would recall, that weather system came across the country, came down from north to south, affected here, affected northern New South Wales and then had its effect in Sydney as well.
It was starting to lose power as it moved from north to south but there was still a lot of water dumped on parts of Sydney, and as result there were localised flooding events.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on your stay in western Sydney you said that you were going to base yourself because the commute would be too long between Sydney and western Sydney. Council is saying that you were getting a green light run to western Sydney so surely this commute would have been pretty short.
PM: Look, I have chosen to make myself available in western Sydney. People can make any comment they like but as Prime Minister what I do is I endeavour to get around the nation to make sure I'm talking to local communities about what matters to them.
I'm here in Ipswich today talking to the local community here, I have been a very frequent visitor to this part of the world and I've always learnt a lot on every visit including today getting to talk to some people hit by floods.
So that approach that I roll out around the country, that I've done when I've been to western Sydney in the past, I will do over a number of days in the coming week and it just suits logistically to base myself in western Sydney as I do it.
Thank you.