RUSSELL MATHESON:
Good morning, everybody. It’s great to be here this morning with the Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
Tony’s no stranger to the Macarthur region and he’s no stranger to Carrington.
So, it’s good to see him here in the region once again.
It just goes to show investments occurring in aged care out in the Macarthur region and the dynamics that are occurring. The economic growth that’s occurring in relation to infrastructure, investment and the job growth that's occurring in Macarthur is outstanding.
I'd like to thank the Prime Minister for being here, but also facilitating that investment in infrastructure in the region.
Thank you very much, Prime Minister – it's great to see you here again.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks, Russell and it is great to be here at this facility and the fact that $35 million is being invested here in what really is a state-of-the-art facility, a nation-leading facility, is a sign of what happens when good government is working with good people in the community to get the best possible outcomes.
As far as I'm concerned, every day this Government is working to recognise and acknowledge people in our community who are having a go. We want to recognise and reward people who are having a go, because that's the best way to ensure that every Australian gets the fair go. That is very much at the heart of our national psyche, it's very much at the heart of the Australian dream.
This region is a very important part of our country. For too long, it's been neglected, but we are investing massively in this area, particularly we're investing massively in the better roads and better infrastructure that this part of Western Sydney needs. Obviously, the flagship of what we're doing in this part of Sydney is the new Western Sydney airport. But we're not going to make the mistake which is so often made with major new facilities of putting it in without the supporting infrastructure. So, it's roads before runways, because when the airport is going, it needs to add to the amenity of the area, not detract from it.
Every day, this is a Government which is working hard for you. That's what we're doing, every day. All of our policies are designed to bring out the best in the Australian people. The best thing we can do for the Australian people is to produce a strong and prosperous economy, because that will help to make our country safer and more secure into the future.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, just looking at some of the other stories around at the moment, one being reports of an asylum seeker boat being sent back to Vietnam. What can you tell us about that?
PRIME MINISTER:
It's been the settled practice of this Government not to comment on operational matters on the water. One of the reasons why this Government has succeeded where the former government so lamentably failed is because we haven't felt the need to talk about ourselves. We haven't felt the need to broadcast what government is doing on a moment by moment basis. We haven't felt the need to big-note ourselves. That was what the former government did. It talked about itself. It didn't actually get on with the job of securing our borders.
What we saw over the weekend was a Labor Party which is dangerously divided when it comes to border security. It's dangerously divided and in many respects almost unrecognisable from the Greens. Frankly, Australia cannot afford to go back to a government which is hopelessly divided when it comes to border security. Listening to snippets of the Labor Party conference, reading about it over the weekend, it seems to me that if there was to be another Labor government, it would essentially be a rerun of Kevin Rudd who, as you know, promised to turn back boats but in fact more than 800 illegal boats arrived on Labor's watch. We had 50,000 illegal arrivals by boat on Labor's watch. Tragically, we had more than 1,000 deaths at sea on Labor's watch. You just can't trust the Labor Party when it comes to border security.
QUESTION:
But are you able to say have there been any discussions with Vietnamese authorities? Was there actually a boat in the waters? Whilst you say you don't want to discuss it, are you able to give any details or even if there is any risk international law could be broken?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, again, I just want to say that this Government will do what we have always done and that is to act in accordance with Australia's national interests and not to run a shipping news service for people smugglers. Unfortunately, what the Labor Party did on the weekend is not conducive to confidence, that any future Labor government would maintain the strong border protection policies that have been put in place.
QUESTION:
Labor could argue, though, that they've now got a position firmly set on that, despite some of the discussions at the conference?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, they'd argue many things, most of all they'd argue amongst themselves because that's what we saw – a ferocious argument amongst a dangerously divided Labor Party where you've got the Leader voting one way and you've got the Deputy Leader, the Leader in the Senate, the person who was the people's choice for Labor Leader voting a different way.
So, this is a dangerously divided Labor Party, almost indistinguishable from the Greens when it comes to border protection policies.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, reports in the Fairfax papers today about a potential conflict of interest with donations to Kevin Andrews. Are you confident everything was above board there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I am. Obviously, Clubs New South Wales has made donations to both political parties. I notice that quite a large donation was made to the Labor Party shortly before the former Labor Government reneged on the deal that it had done on poker machines with Andrew Wilkie. So, look, I'm confident that the Coalition, in particular, has handled these sorts of donations well and in accordance with the rules. From time to time, the media, for understandable reasons, like to make issues of donations – and that's fair enough – but the bottom line is that over the last few years, the Labor Party has received $25 million from the union movement. If there is an issue with donations in this country, with political donations in this country, frankly, the big issue is the fact that the alternative government of this country, the Labor Party, is still owned and operated by the trade union movement.
QUESTION:
Are you comfortable and is it justifiable for Kevin Andrews to accept donations from the gambling lobby out of New South Wales?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, as I said, a number of donations were made, a very large donation was made from that particular body to the former Labor government just before it made a significant change in policy. Our policy, by contrast, had been well settled long before any donation.
QUESTION:
Backbencher Sarah Henderson is pushing for you to reverse the decision to stop the CEFC investing in wind farms and household solar. Will you reconsider or re-look at that?
PRIME MINISTER:
I am very pleased that we've been able to give certainty to the renewable sector. Renewables do have an important part to play in our power system. But frankly, at 23 per cent, that's more than enough. One of the truly bizarre decisions coming out of the Labor conference of the weekend was this move to increase the proportion of renewables in our system to some 50 per cent. Now, this constitutes a massive, absolutely massive hit on consumers and on jobs. To move to 50 per cent renewables by 2030 will mean a massive bill, perhaps $60 billion or more, that will have to be carried by the consumers of Australia. So, you've got two big hits on families, two big hits on consumers, coming out of the Labor conference on the weekend. First of all, you've got their renewed commitment to an electricity tax. In fact, the ETS that Labor keeps talking about might as well be called an electricity tax scam, because that's what it is, an electricity tax scam that will be scamming the consumers of Australia for years and years and decades and decades if it was to be put in place. Then you've got this massive and unnecessary commitment to renewables which will cause a massive overbuild of wind farms, all of which has to be paid for by the consumers.
QUESTION:
In regards to the Speaker, should Mrs Bishop repay the money she spent to go to Sophie Mirabella's wedding as you did?
PRIME MINISTER:
There's been a lot of talk about this over the last couple of weeks. The fact is that the Speaker has accepted that it was an error of judgment, what she did. This is I think something that is being quite properly looked at by the Department of Finance. I'm confident that in the wake of this particular issue, everyone in public life, certainly every Member of Parliament, well and truly understands that our dedication has got to be constantly to the people of Australia. Our service has got to be constantly for the people of Australia, and if there's any suggestion whatsoever that people are looking after themselves rather than the public, obviously that will be severely marked down.
[ends]