Subjects: Major investment at RAAF Base Williamtown; Budget 2015; Inauguration of the Australian Border Force; Daesh death cult; Bill Shorten’s plan to raid your superannuation; Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
E&OE……………………….……………………………………………………………
BOB BALDWIN MP:
Prime Minister, it is fantastic to have you at Williamtown RAAF Base. This is the premier RAAF Base in Australia. It’s home of our most skilled pilots where the training occurs that keeps our nation very, very safe. I appreciate your efforts, as Prime Minister, in making sure the investments flow into this RAAF Base which creates jobs locally and encourages further investment in off-base activity to create even further jobs.
Ladies and gentlemen, my friend, the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you so much, Bob.
It is good to be here at Williamtown at the RAAF Base here. It is great to be with Air Marshal Geoff Brown as he concludes his term as Chief of Air Force. I want to thank him for everything he has done over a 40 year career with the Royal Australian Air Force to keep our country safe.
I can announce today that we will be spending an additional $250-odd million upgrading this particular Base. That brings to $1.2 billion the investment that the Government is making into RAAF Base Williamtown in order to make it a first-class base, a next-generation base, for the next-generation Strike Aircraft of the Royal Australian Air Force – the Joint Strike Fighter.
It's very important that government do everything it can to maintain our defences. It's at the heart of what government does, the first priority of any government is the safety of the community and obviously a first-class fighting force supported by first-class facilities is an important part of that. That's what this $1.2 billion investment in RAAF Base Williamtown will do.
Of course, the Base here is not just a defence asset – it's an economic asset. About 3,000 people work here, so a strong RAAF base helps to contribute to a strong Hunter economy.
Today is 1 July and that means it's the day when the small business tax cuts come into operation. Earlier today, I inaugurated the Australian Border Force. Also today, the new jobactive programme of employment services starts, the new pharmacy agreement comes into force and new drugs are listed on the PBS – new life-saving anti-cancer drugs are listed on the PBS.
So, this is a Government which is getting on with the job of doing the right thing by the people of Australia, building a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia. Everything we do is directed to that fundamental objective.
Now, I'm going to take some questions starting with Defence and security matters and then we'll move on to other things.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, has Bill Shorten been briefed on how Border Force will work?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, obviously, he’s someone who we do regularly brief on national security matters. This is one thing that I am determined to do to, as far as is humanly possible, keep the Opposition in the national security loop and I have to say that there has been a measure of bipartisanship on national security issues and I'm grateful for that. As for Border Force, the Labor Party voted for the legislation and I expect them to be familiar with it.
QUESTION:
Can you confirm reports a 23-year-old Gold Coast man has been killed fighting with the Kurds against Islamic State?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not really in a position to confirm those reports although obviously we'll do our best to find out whether it's true. I do have a very simple message to people – if you are thinking of going to fight in the Middle East – think again. Obviously, there's a moral difference between fighting for the Islamist death cult and fighting for those who are doing their best to defend Iraq and the Kurdish areas from the death cult but nevertheless this is a very dangerous place and Australians shouldn't go there. So, as far as the Government is concerned, we are doing our best to stop people leaving this country to fight for terrorist armies in the Middle East. If people do leave the country to fight for terrorist armies in the Middle East, we don't want them back. If they do come back, we want to lock them up for as long as is needed to keep our community safe.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, there are Forgacs workers rallying out the front. Are you committed to ship building in the Hunter?
PRIME MINISTER:
We’re absolutely committed to a sustainable, long-term naval ship building industry in Australia. We are absolutely committed to that. We’ll have more to say in the next few weeks about a continuous build of major surface warships in Australia. In terms of Forgacs, Forgacs is losing work because the former Labor Government failed to make decisions in its term. The former Labor Government did not place a single naval ship building order with an Australian yard. The work that Forgacs is doing and has been doing springs from decisions that the Howard Government made in its time and obviously this Government wants to be in a position to soon be making more announcements, because it is important that we do whatever we humanly can to try to maintain a sustainable and viable naval ship building industry here.
QUESTION:
Mr Abbott, the unions are saying that there are contracts that the Federal Government could be announcing now, that there is certainty that could be provided to those ship builders. What are your thoughts on that?
PRIME MINISTER:
We will have more to say about this in coming weeks, but the problem at Forgacs is that the former Labor Government failed to make decisions. Not a single naval order was placed with an Australian shipyard throughout the life of the former government. Not a single naval order for a new ship was placed with an Australian shipyard during the life of the former Labor government and the work being done by Forgacs is the result of decisions made by the Howard Government.
QUESTION:
So doesn’t that delay under Labor behove the Government all the more to speed things up as much as possible?
PRIME MINISTER:
And that’s why we will have more to say in coming weeks. We will have more to say in coming weeks because what we want to ensure is that we have a viable, sustainable naval ship building industry here in Australia.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, FOI documents indicate the Government had considered increasing the tax on super. Did you and if so why did you did you back away from that?
PRIME MINISTER:
We made a very clear commitment prior to the last election that there would be no adverse changes in superannuation under this Government in this Parliament and we have made a very clear decision that we aren't ever going to increase the taxes on super, we aren't ever going to increase the restrictions on super, because super belongs to the people. It's your money. It's not a piggy bank to be raided by Government whenever it's short. That's the trouble with Labor: Labor always treats your money as their cash reserve and that’s a big problem for our country and it’s one of the reasons why you can’t trust Labor governments with your money.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, how important is the acquisition of the Joint Strike Fighter in turning this into a premier base in terms of national security?
PRIME MINISTER:
The Joint Strike Fighter is the next-generation strike aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force. It will enable us to maintain our performance edge. It will enable us to continue to be interoperable with the United States and our other major allies. It’s a very important next-generation aircraft and, as I said, you need a next-generation base to deal with a next-generation aircraft and that’s why the spending announced today, that’s why the $1.2 billion in total spending is very important to take our Air Force, as well as this base and the Hunter Region, into the future.
QUESTION:
Given the delays on that plane and controversies in the States about its abilities, are you confident that we’re buying the right plane?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, absolutely. We are absolutely buying the right plane. This is the fighter of the future and it’s good that it will be in active service with our Air Force.
QUESTION:
Is that additional funding earmarked for something in particular or just the overall plan?
PRIME MINISTER:
Previous announcements were operational announcements. They were about what was strictly necessary for the Joint Strike Fighter. Today’s money is about upgrading the base more generally – so it will be new buildings, better utilities, water, sewage, power, that kind of thing – so that this can remain not just a base for the Joint Strike Fighter, but a first-class Base for everyone who works here.
QUESTION:
Is it provocative for the Head of your Department, Michael Thawley, to say that China doesn’t have the will or ability to play a global leadership role?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, it’s not. My understanding is that he was part of a broad-ranging discussion about issues in our world and in our region and, obviously, what we want to do is encourage China to assume a role commensurate with its strength and that’s why under the right conditions, which we were able to obtain, we were so keen to be involved in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a good illustration of the role that China can have within a rules-based international order.
Thank you.
[ends]