PRIME MINISTER:
It's good to be here in Brisbane with Premier Campbell Newman, with the State Treasurer, with the Brisbane Lord Mayor, with the local Member Teresa Gambaro, to celebrate the fact that today is the beginning of Australia's G20 presidency.
From today until the 1st of December next year, Australia is the President of the G20. The G20 is probably the world's premier economic forum. The G20 brings together the leaders of 85 per cent of the world's GDP, 75 per cent of the world's trade, 65 per cent of the world's population and the G20 leaders meeting to take place here in Brisbane in November of next year will almost certainly be the most important gathering of leaders ever to take place in Australia.
The G20 is a good opportunity to contribute to the economic leadership of the world. It is a splendid opportunity to showcase our country and in particular, to showcase the great City of Brisbane, but it is very important that we draw the right results from our G20 presidency, that it isn't just a meeting but it is a year in which to show practical leadership to build stronger economies around the world and ultimately, to build a stronger economy and a better Australia.
Our focus, as G20 president, will be on strong private sector led economic growth. We will be dealing with trade, with banking, with the governance of international bodies. We are determined to ensure that we, as far as we can, improve the world's international taxation arrangements so that we don't have the kind of leakage that we've had in recent times through transfer pricing.
The principle here is that you should pay tax in the country where you earn the revenue and we'll be talking to our G20 partners about ensuring that this is the case. We want international organisations, such as the IMF, to better reflect modern economic realities. We want to ensure that our big banks right around the world are as safe as possible and we want to be promoting freer trade, not just trying to avoid new bouts of protectionism.
Importantly, Australia will be leading by example. The new Government is determined to have private sector led growth here in Australia. That means getting tax down, getting regulation down, getting productivity up and importantly, it means governments living within your means. The G20 came into its current prominence as a result of the GFC and one of the lessons of the GFC and its aftermath is that you don't deal with international problems caused by debt and deficit with yet more debt and deficit.
Australia will be exercising the host's right to invite some other countries. We will be inviting Singapore because Singapore is a key member of the global economic system. We'll also be inviting New Zealand. New Zealand is Australia's closest friend and we ought to give New Zealand this opportunity to stand proud and tall on the world stage.
As well as the leaders meeting here in Brisbane, there will be five Finance Ministers' meetings in the course of the year, two of which will be in Australia, one in Cairns later in the year, the first in February in Sydney. There will be a Trade Ministers' meeting in the middle of the year and in the first half of the year, there will be an Employment Ministers' meeting.
I feel honoured and privileged to be able to lead our country in this important year, but I am determined to make the most of it. As one of the 20 largest economies in the world, as a country with much regional influence but some global reach, we do have an opportunity here to show leadership in word and in deed and I'm determined to make the most of it.
I'm thrilled to be here with Campbell Newman, first as Lord Mayor and now as Premier, Campbell has helped to turn Brisbane into a global city and I now ask him to support these remarks.
PREMIER NEWMAN:
Thanks very much Prime Minister. Ladies and gentlemen it is great to be here with the PM, with the Treasurer and Minister for Trade Tim Nicholls, the Lord Mayor Graham Quirk and Teresa Gambaro, the Member for Brisbane. Ladies and gentlemen, there have been a number of events over the last 30 years that have been seen to be very important in taking Queensland and Brisbane forward. I'm referring of course to the Commonwealth Games in 1982, to expo in 1988 and then the goodwill games in 2000 and I believe G20 in 2014 will be the next world-class event that will take Queensland forward.
We're very excited about the G20 coming to this State and to this city, because we intend to showcase Queensland to the globe. It is a great opportunity to continue the Government's agenda to build our economy, particularly our four pillar economy to promote Queensland for investment, the creation of jobs, and it's also a matter of fact that we will be working very closely with the Commonwealth but also with the Lord Mayor Graham Quirk's administration to actually make sure we get the maximum benefits from the event.
There will be some inconvenience over the few days of the event, but I assure Queenslanders and citizens of Brisbane that the minor inconvenience ultimately will be worthwhile because a lot of very big benefits will be coming because of the international interest in our State. So it's great to be here today with the Prime Minister as we see Australia take the G20 leadership for the next 12 months.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks, Campbell. Do we have any questions? If we could take G20 questions first and if there are other issues we'll deal with them afterwards.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, in the papers yesterday there was more details from the Snowden leaks saying that the Canadian spy agency allowed the NSA to monitor leaders in the Toronto summit and also the Russians have been accused of spying on delegates at the St Petersburg summit. As a good host, can you promise leaders of the world that Australia will not be spying on them at the G20?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I can promise leaders around the world who are visiting Australia that I'm going to be absolutely candid with them. I won't be saying anything in private that I don't say in public. That's my commitment to the leaders of the world and I want to build the best possible G20. Apart from that, I don't comment on intelligence matters, never have, never will.
QUESTION:
You say that low taxes is an example that Australia will be giving to the other G20 leaders in terms of economic stability in the world. Countries like Greece, Spain, where they’ve got the economic crisis going on, they're actually raising taxes. How does that match with what you're saying?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm proposing, obviously, to put our point of view forward and we won't just be talking about doing what we believe is the right thing. We will be demonstrating what we believe is sound economic policy. In the end, what each country does is a matter for it, but I am very confident that all countries will do better through talking together and through learning from experience and certainly our experience here in Australia - if you look at the Hawke Government, if you look at the Keating Government, if you look at the Howard Government - our experience here in Australia is that getting taxes down, getting regulation down, getting productivity up and ensuring that government lives within its means, is the best way forward economically.
QUESTION:
Have you given any thought to the colour of the shirts that the leaders will be wearing? Pink at the moment is very popular in Queensland. Would that be under consideration?
PRIME MINISTER:
There are a range of practices associated with different international gatherings and things like APEC; the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting typically has an APEC uniform and the East-Asia Summit typically has the uniform, but I'm not going to be focused on what people are wearing. I'm going to be focused on what people are saying and doing and bringing the best possible lessons and the best possible policy out of this G20 meeting.
QUESTION:
Premier, in the long-term what would you like to see G20 do for Brisbane and Queensland?
CAMPBELL NEWMAN:
Particularly, it is the economic benefits that we want to see come into this State. We are doing everything we can to super charge the Queensland economy and that means being the lowest taxed state. We already are and also having the minimal amount of red tape and regulations. So it is an opportunity to promote this State. We're already starting to pull ahead of all other states in terms of economic growth, job creation, improvement of business confidence, housing starts, housing finance, it's all starting to come together in this State. So the opportunity to talk to international business and showcase the great opportunities here in agriculture, in resources and energy and tourism, I think is something we really want to see happening.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, you mentioned that you want Australia to lead by example in terms of combating protectionism. Is that a mixed message given the Government's knocking back of the GrainCorp bid yesterday?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I accept that some people have been anxious about that. Two points – we are one of the world's most open economies and I doubt that there would be any other G20 economy where a large foreign business would have been able to purchase an effective monopoly of a major industry here in Australia. So while I accept that there were arguments on both sides of this issue, I think the Treasurer has very much made the right decision. He showed a lot of character in coming to this particular decision and I think yet again, along with Minister Pyne, the Treasurer has demonstrated that this is a Government which is not shirking the difficult decisions, is not shirking the hard arguments just because you don't get universal agreement. The other point I'd make is that Treasurer Hockey has decided 131 foreign investment applications and 130 of them have been approvals. Not only that, but Minister Hunt has given environmental approvals for some $160 billion worth of new investments including many major new investments here in Queensland. So this is absolutely a country which is under new management and open for business. Have we finished G20 stuff, have we? Finished with G20? Ok.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister what's the bottom line figure for the cost it will be to the taxpayers to host this event?
PRIME MINISTER:
The cost to the Commonwealth is in the order of $400 million. That's comparable with the costs to the Commonwealth of hosting the APEC meeting in 2007. Obviously, some other jurisdictions will incur some costs, particularly Queensland, but we believe that the benefits of hosting a gathering like this, which in Queensland alone will involve for the Leaders' Meeting 4,000 international delegates, 3,000 international media people being here for the Leaders' meeting, we think that the benefits of hosting an event like this far outweigh the costs. Did you want to add to that Campbell?
CAMPBELL NEWMAN:
Look Prime Minister, that's exactly the case. The biggest cost to Queensland has been the roll-out and fast-tracking of the secure digital radio network for the police and emergency services. I'm very appreciative that the Commonwealth is providing significant financial support to that roll-out. So that was one of our biggest costs. If you're after specific figures, ladies and gentlemen, I'd want to give you a precise number and I don't have that to hand.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, just in laymen's terms I’ve asked a few people in the street what was the G20 and some thought it was a phone, some thought it was something else. Could you just explain really simply for the people in the street what G20 is and what it actually does?
PRIME MINISTER:
It is… G20 refers to the 20 countries with the largest economies in the world – the 20 largest economies in the world in terms of GDP and it started out back in the late 90s as a Finance Ministers' Meeting and in 2008, to deal with the Global Financial Crisis. It became a Leaders' Meeting and since then, the G20 round, if you like, has involved an annual Leaders' Meeting and several Finance Ministers' meetings and the importance of this is that it gives the major economies in the world a structured opportunity to address global economic problems and to try to coordinate a response.
QUESTION:
Premier, right now we're seeing 2,000 people protesting the anti-bikie laws. Are we worried that this may happen in G20 and as well as that, do you think they've got a leg to stand on?
PREMIER NEWMAN:
Well firstly in relation to the protest today, anybody who is a law abiding motorcycle enthusiast really would probably have a better Sunday if they went for just a fun ride around one of the scenic attractions of South-East Queensland. I'm sorry that somebody seems to be trying to whip them up unnecessarily. These laws are against criminal gangs, gangs that manufacture drugs and sell them to kids, gangs that result in a whole lot of human misery in our society. That's what they're there to do. Nobody who is a law abiding motorcycle enthusiast has to worry about these laws. I make this point very strongly today ladies and gentlemen. These laws were not only put through Parliament by my Government, but they were supported by the Australian Labor Party in the Parliament. The Hansard records demonstrate that. So if anybody from the other side is saying anything about them today ask them why they voted in Parliament for these laws. They are tough but they're appropriate and they respond to the terrible scenes we saw on the 27th of September. They respond to the things like the shooting of an innocent lady Kathy Devitt in the Robina shopping centre last year. Minding her own business on a weekend she was shot with a bullet lodged in her pelvis for all time, for the rest of her life. That's why these laws have been put in place. They have got nothing to do with people who love motorbikes and getting out on the road.
QUESTION:
But they have the potential to make any of us criminals?
PREMIER NEWMAN:
That's completely untrue. It is false and untrue and again I say to you, if they're so bad why is it the Australian Labor Party in Parliament supported both tranches of laws that have gone through? Frankly, anybody saying otherwise at the moment is playing political games.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, what's your take been on the bikie crackdown here in Queensland?
PRIME MINISTER:
I fully support what Campbell Newman is doing. Minister Keenan has been here in Queensland to talk about how the Commonwealth can cooperate with the State Government here and potentially State Governments elsewhere on this kind of crackdown, because as the Premier has just said, we're not talking here about motorcycle enthusiasts. We're talking here about hardened criminals engaging in what, to put it bluntly, is a giant criminal conspiracy against the public.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, are you embarrassed by Andrew Laming’s personal critique of the average Australian woman?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not familiar with it. It is a matter for that particular Member of Parliament. I obviously want to promote good health, but you've got to do it in ways which bring people with you.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, in relation to the Gonski issue and comment you’ve made about promises, how would the public have got this so wrong, what you were actually were promising?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think the public well understand what we committed to doing and that was to spend the same amount over the forward estimates period as the Labor Party had committed to and let's not forget that just a few weeks before the election, in a sneak attack on schools funding, the Labor Party ripped $1.2 billion dollars out of future spending. So we're going to do a little bit better than that. We're going to put $230 million back in. The reason why we're so keen to do this is because we want to be fair to the States that didn't sign up to the flawed agreements that the former government was pedalling, including the great State of Queensland and what you'll get from us is a Government which keeps its commitments and a Government which delivers a school funding system which is both fair and national and that means a better deal for the schools of Queensland.
PREMIER NEWMAN:
Can I just jump in. I'm delighted that we're getting $130 million next year which Gillard, Rudd and others were not going to give the State of Queensland and importantly, our kids. We will now work cooperatively with the Commonwealth to arrange the funding over the other three years of the forward estimates. So we're very happy and frankly, the screams and yowls of other State Premiers are just that. They are people who are prepared to sell the sovereignty of the States down the river. They wouldn't stand up and get a better deal and that's why this State and WA actually held out because we wanted a proper deal that respected the laws and the Constitution of this nation and we're delighted that the new Government is putting the money on the table that was going to be withheld from Queensland for political purposes by the Labor Party.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, an Indian national by the name of Puneet Puneet was charged and has since fled to India but Australian authorities have been looking for him since 2009. He’s been found. Will the Government be providing any assistance to get him extradited?
PRIME MINISTER:
We’ll be just adopting the standard procedures in these cases. Obviously, it is good that someone who was apparently involved in criminal activity here in Australia has been located and can now be dealt with.
QUESTION:
Mr Newman, one of the reasons why they’re protesting today – the recreational bikers are protesting today is because they are sick of being pulled over by police. You asked for leniency to start with but it's been a couple of months now. Would you say that police need to kind of have a bit more education?
PREMIER NEWMAN:
I say this, every morning myself and the Police Minister get a report on police activities over the 24 hour period. Every morning somewhere between four and ten criminal gang members have been arrested somewhere in Queensland for drugs, for assault, for carrying weapons, for having tainted money. These policing efforts are very important to shut down these gangs. That's what we're doing. What I'd say is, again, as I have before, people are pulled over every day of the week in Queensland for random breath testing. We're used to that and we all expect that. Every day of the week in Queensland thousands and thousands of people have to go through security screening in our airports. We all respect that. I'm simply asking people who love their motorbikes to understand that right now we're trying to shut down gangs who manufacture drugs, who sell them to kids, who are infiltrating all manners of the economy and are right now pretending they're just wonderful lovable outlaw types. They're not. They're vicious gangs who belt people up, who actually intimidate business owners and have caused scenes of mayhem on a number of occasions in recent times in Queensland. That's what we're about. Nothing more. That's what we're about and I make the point again today these laws were supported by both sides of politics and there's also a three-year sunset clause or review clause, I should say, on the legislation, so that will be happening as well. You can't be fairer than that.
Today, by the way, ladies and gentlemen, I'm announcing that the parliamentary legal affairs committee will in late February and early March next year commence a series of hearings around Queensland, a proper inquiry into crime into this State. It will give all Queenslanders the opportunity to talk about what we need to do next to protect our community. It will give Queenslanders - everyday men and women - the opportunity to talk about the way the courts are working, the way that the police and the CMC are operating and the laws that the Parliament has put in place. There will be a great opportunity for people to be heard, to tell their stories just as we're seeing right now with the Royal Commission into child abuse. Queenslanders need to have their say and this committee will be operating across the state for several months next year headed by the chair, Ian Berry, one of the members for Ipswich.
QUESTION:
Why are you doing it now? Could you not have done it before you started this bikie crackdown?
PREMIER NEWMAN:
Well this Government over the last 20 months has introduced a number of new laws – tough laws against sex offenders and recalcitrant paedophiles, tougher laws against concealed handguns and sawn off shotguns, tougher laws to deal with criminal gangs. What we need to do now though is give Queenslanders the opportunity to look at what should happen next and particularly the operation of the legal and criminal justice system as a whole. That's what we're going to do with this inquiry.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, did you ask for some of your speeches to be pulled off the internet?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I didn't and I'm sure that anyone who wants to find them can find them through the Parliamentary Library and elsewhere, but when someone becomes Prime Minister, you establish a Prime Ministerial site and the Prime Ministerial site has Prime Ministerial speeches. The previous site had Opposition Leader speeches and frontbencher speeches and even backbencher speeches on it but I think anyone who knows how to use the internet will be able to find them readily enough and I've got to say they're good speeches. So I encourage people to do whatever research they feel necessary.
QUESTION:
Just quickly back on the G20. Is it true that Schoolies Week has been pushed back a week due to accommodation purposes, accommodation on the Gold Coast?
PRIME MINISTER:
Campbell.
PREMIER NEWMAN:
That's news to me. We'll let you know. I'd hate to disappoint the kids. I know they'll want to go there.
PRIME MINISTER:
If we're running out of questions, can I just offer a couple of observations on other things. The Parliament is coming back this week for the last fortnight of the national Parliament this year and this is a very important week in the life of the Parliament. First, the Labor Party will have the chance to shun the change of government denial syndrome that it's got. They have been in denial about the change of government. They have been change of government deniers, pretending that the public did not vote against the carbon tax. Well the public did vote against the carbon tax and now the Labor Party in the Senate has a chance to acknowledge that and give the people of Australia the best Christmas present they can give. A $550 a year benefit to the households of Australia – every single household in Australia. Another issue that will be coming before the Senate this week is a Greens motion to disallow the new Government's reinstatement of temporary protection visas for people who have arrived illegally in this country by boat. Now again, I call on the Labor Party to accept that it lost the election and it should respect the mandate of the new government. For the last four years we have been promoting temporary protection visas and it was the policy of the Howard Government for 10 years before that. So the Labor Party can decide are they in denial, do they want to be the junior party to the Greens in all of this, or do they want to stand up for stronger borders and Australia's national interest?
The final point I want to make is that the Labor Party under Mr Shorten will never ever be able to accuse this Government credibly of breaking commitments if it stands in the way of us making the most important commitment of all, the commitment to abolish the carbon tax. That's what they're doing. At the moment, by all this bluster that they want to keep the carbon tax, they are preventing this Government from honouring its commitments to the Australian people. I just think this is a subject that decent Labor members, whether they are for or against a carbon tax, are a little embarrassed and ashamed about, because in the end, whether you're a Liberal member, a Labor member, a national member, an LNP member, you have got to respect the Australian people. They voted against the carbon tax and now the Parliament should too.
QUESTION:
Premier, Clive Palmer has his maiden speech tomorrow and he says he was going to bring you down – you know, bye Campbell bye. Have you got any nerves?
PREMIER NEWMAN:
I just say this, ladies and gentlemen, isn't it time that he was put under some scrutiny. I could go for half an hour about the flip flops, the changed statements about Mr Palmer. We have written, this is not new, okay, this isn't news, we have written to the CMC some time ago saying Mr Palmer keeps on talking about some sort of improper practice by this Government. We've asked them to get him in to talk about those things and investigate us. Clearly he has nothing, in my view. I'll say this. There are three matters that Mr Palmer is upset about this Government on and that is why he has done a lot of things. The first one is he has millions of litres of toxic water in holding dams at Townsville, adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef. He sought to discharge those toxic waters into the waters of the Great Barrier Reef and we said no. He also made a commitment to put $1 billion into the Townsville refinery and employ 500 people. We haven't seen it. Instead what we hear are grave concerns about the future of that business. We have said that we'll do everything we can to support him to actually see that employment and see that investment. The second issue is that he inappropriately wanted an Act of Parliament created just for him for the Galilee basin and we said no. The third thing is that he sought to build a resort on land owned by the people of Queensland at Coolum on the Sunshine Coast on the sand dunes, very tall buildings, and we said that that wasn't something that could happen. That's why Mr Palmer has done a lot of things and said a lot of the things that he's said. Frankly, you cannot believe what Mr Palmer says from one day to the next because he changes his mind from one day to the next.
QUESTION:
You're not worried what he could say under Parliamentary privilege?
PREMIER NEWMAN:
I'm not at all concerned because I've heard the nonsense, the rants, the name calling, the baloney, the flip flops for many, many, many months. Ladies and gentlemen, it is time really that this sad sick political joke is exposed for what it is and that's the Palmer United Party. It is about the ego of one man and it is about him and his business interests, not about the people of his electorate nor the people of Australia.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks so much.
[ends]