PM: Before I say a few words about the book that we launched today, I've some sad news to report. We have today received confirmation from the British authorities on the ground in Haiti that a British Australian dual national has been killed in the terrible events that have occurred there. This is another sobering reminder of the vast human toll of the horrific events that we've seen in Haiti.
The man was working for the United Nations and was a resident of the United Kingdom. The Department of Foreign Affairs has spoken to the man's next of kin, who are in the United Kingdom, to pass on our condolences.
British authorities are providing consular assistance to the man's family in the UK, and of course, Australian authorities are standing by to provide any other assistance which may be necessary.
This is obviously a very, very sad day for this man's family, his loved ones, and his friends, and I'm sure I speak on behalf of all Australians when I say that our thoughts and our prayers go out to his family and his loved ones on this tragic occasion.
Haiti, of course, reminds us of the tragedy which is being felt by tens of thousands of families around that country, and, of course, more widely in the international community.
Let me talk about the book that we launched today and why we have done it.
Firstly, it's been good to have collaborated with Rhys and with Carla here on this publication. A lot of people have asked 'well, why did you do it?' The first answer is if you know Rhys Muldoon and he badgers you and badgers you and badgers you, it's very hard to say no. In fact, until you say yes he just keeps badgering you.
But actually, there are three reasons for this. One is, it's a very practical measure to encourage literacy with the youngest Australians, and whatever we can do to encourage little ones to read and whatever we can do to encourage Mums and Dads and Grandmums, Granddads and carers to read to little ones, frankly, that is a good thing for the country and a good thing for them. If we don't get the basics right when it comes to a little one's education then, frankly, the problems get bigger and bigger later on. Getting the basics right, getting reading right, is really important for these little Australians' future.
There's a second reason, of course, and that is that the proceeds of this book - can I have the book? - Jasper and Abby and the Great Australia Day Kerfuffle, the proceeds will go to the Centre for Community and Child Health here at this hospital. Work on children's health is a hard specialist discipline, it requires a lot of work and a lot of detailed brain power in that work, so if in a small way, we can contribute the proceeds of this book, to the excellent work undertaken by this Centre, dedicated explicitly to the health and wellbeing of the youngest Australians, then this, frankly is an effort worth engaging in.
Now, I had a third reason for engaging in this book as well, and that is I like animals and whatever we can do to encourage the love of pets, cats and dogs and other pets and other animals, I think that's a good thing as well, encouraging our young ones to have a responsible attitude to looking after furry creatures is, I think, a really good thing. Also, my experience is that little ones who've had experience at looking after pets, it actually encourages gentleness in those kids as well over time.
So, they are my three reasons, apart from just keeping Rhys happy at the end of the day. Could I thank Rhys for doing the bulk of the work, Carla for actually providing the serious side of this enterprise, which is the drawings and the illustrations here. Despite the strength of our prose, Rhys, frankly, it would be -
MULDOON: - A little but thin.
PM: It would be very, very thin if it were not for the excellent illustrations, so I think Carla for that and Allen and Unwin, of course, for assisting us with the publication. I have to break the news now to Jasper and Abby that they will not be receiving any royalties as a result of the release of this book and that they'll be getting extra rations this week as a special benefit.
Now, did you guys want to add anything on the book?
MULDOON: Well, obviously it's been very enjoyable doing it and all of the things that Kevin just said about the reasons, sort of, why we wrote the book, obviously Kevin and I were going to originally do an album of Nick Cave cover versions, it was going to be a record, but then we went 'no, let's actually make the book', and obviously Jasper and Abby are a couple of superstars and the stars just rose to the top and there they are on the cover.
PM: Carla, care to add something?
ZAPEL: No, that's great (inaudible)
PM: What I'd like to say particularly about Carla is the ability to draw animals is actually quite hard and she's put a lot of effort into capturing the essence of said Golden Retriever Abby, which she's got perfectly. Abby is a delightful, perfect neighbour - that is, always kind, friendly, welcoming and the worst guard dog ever known to man. Jasper, as you can see, is the brains of the operation and is clever, cunning and calculating and I think in your illustrations you've captured both their personalities really well. Well done, folks.
Now, over to you for any other questions that you've got to ask.
JOURNALIST: And how do you think you come off in this book, PM?
PM: I've got no idea, it's a book-
JOURNALIST: -Pictures of you in there?
PM: The stars of this story are Jasper and Abby and the little dog, as well as Lottie.
MULDOON: Indeed.
PM: So hopefully it just encourages kids to really look after their pets.
JOURNALIST: There's been a lot of talk recently about (inaudible)
MULDOON: Oh, great.
PM: This is called a segue. Did you work on your segue for me?
JOURNALIST: Yeah, they need work. Regulatory and financial structures for financial services industry. A lot of talk about whether that needs to be loosened and wondering how that-
MULDOON: -Do you want me to take this one, Kevin? I can.
PM: Yeah. Yeah, I have seen the report and this was commissioned by the Australian Government because we want to turn Australia into a financial services hub for the region. We have the fourth largest funds management industry in the world, but the total number of, shall we say, products and services for export is still a thin slice of the Australian industry as it exists primarily on the back of the very large compulsory superannuation scheme we've got in Australia, so you'll see in the report a whole series of recommendations to government about what we should and could do about it.
It's a report we commissioned. We'll now be working with the Minister for Financial Services, Chris Bowen, on our response to it but I have a very strong view that Australia, for its long-term economic future, has to broaden its economic base. We've got a fantastic resources sector, we've got a strong agricultural sector, we've got good manufacturing, but when it comes to the export of the services side of our economy and particularly the financial services side of the economy, we need to lift our national game.
That's what that report's all about, and we'll spend some time now responding to its detailed recommendations.
JOURNALIST: It's a lighter touch though, compared to (inaudible) about the GFC and your well-publicised views about what caused it.
PM: I think when it comes to each of the detailed recommendations we've got to be mindful of how you boost the financial services sector in Australia and promote Australia as a financial services hub to the wider region, but at the same time maintaining the strong regulatory controls we've got in Australia.
Why do we do well, in part, through the global financial crisis? Because of the individual quality of our regulators. They've been very good and very strong, so no-one's suggesting you throw out the baby with the bathwater with those, but what you can do, however, through a series of other measures, is promote the intrinsic strengths of the Australian financial services sector and export more of those services to the region at large, including the funds management industry and more widely across the financial services sector. This is a huge slice of the Australian economy.
However, if we're casting our minds forward for the next 20 or 30 years, we should be exporting more by way of financial services as well. How do you do that? That goes to the details of the recommendations contained in this report.
JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd, some South Australian schools are charging parents for their students to take home computers that were provided to the school under your education revolution. Are you scared that those parents are essentially paying twice for these computers?
PM: I've seen those reports this morning and I haven't been able to verify them yet, but let me just make a comment about our views on the provision of computers services to kids and schools. We make no apology whatsoever for the Government's approach of maximising the provision of computers to schools. This is a $2 billion Australian Government initiative. Let me say this: when we're providing that level of support to schools for computers in schools I don't see any basis for any school then subsequently charging a parent for its use.
Let's look at the detail of what actually is occurring within these schools in particular. Remember we're talking about two and a half thousand secondary schools right across the country. We're talking about a $2 billion project. I'm sure if you were to select a school here and a school there then the odd thing may be happening. Let's get the details of that straight, but let me go back to three core points.
One, we're proud of this policy. It's the right thing to do because we want the next generation of Australians to be comprehensively computer literate. Two, that can only happen when you've got the widespread provision of computers in our secondary schools. That's why we're doing the program. And three, we believe that this is a policy worth preserving for the future.
I note that Mr Abbott and the Liberals, including their education spokesman, Mr Pyne, are committed to the abolition of the program altogether. I think it's a very clear contrast.
JOURNALIST: There's a study out today that has found that Australians don't believe high-income earners are paying enough tax. In light of that, do you expect the Henry Review to recommend a more equitable tax (inaudible)?
PM: On the independent tax review, I haven't read it yet. I'm back to work today. Probably tomorrow or by this evening I'll start wearing a tie and we'll work our way through it. There is, I'm sure there's going to be stacks of recommendations in the Henry Review, some of which I'm sure the Government will embrace, some of which I'm sure the Government will reject. That's just why you commission independent reviews, but on the detail of it I have nothing further to comment.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) public schools are getting short changed under the current federal funding model. Is that correct, and is there (inaudible)
PM: I think what's important to say is that the Government, through the Australian Education Agreement, has lifted overall investment in education by 50 percent compared with our predecessors. This is a 50 percent increase in the Australian Government's investment in schools, both government and non-government. That's the first thing.
Secondly, whether it's through the digital education revolution, whether it's through the building of trades training centres in secondary schools, whether it's through the largest school modernisation program in the country's history, which is what we've got currently underway through the building the education revolution program, all of these programs are benefitting government and non-government schools, depending on their level of enrolment.
The other thing I'd say is that when it comes to the quality of our schools, whether it's improving teacher quality, literacy and numeracy programs and through our programs specifically targeting disadvantaged local schools, these again are going to children on the basis of enrolments in schools, targeted often on those with particular needs, but we make no ideological distinction between government schools and non-government schools.
The overall challenge for Australia is how do we have about ourselves a vision for the country's future, which is this: making Australia into the best educated, best trained, best skilled workforce anywhere in the world, and the reality is we've got a whole bunch of kids out there enrolled in government schools. I've been one of those. A whole bunch of kids out there enrolled at Catholic schools, at Christian schools, independent schools. That's terrific. Everyone's got choice. We're in the business of supporting both, and that's what I believe Australian parents want for the future as well.
JOURNALIST: When will the Government release the Henry Review? There's been a string of ad-hoc leaks at the moment. Is that a satisfactory way (inaudible)
PM: I think the first response, of course, was to have an independent tax review examine the totality of the Australian tax system for the first time in decades. Secondly, that was a call made to us by the Australian business community at the 2020 Summit in March of 2008. We then commissioned that study and it has now just provided its report to the Government. We'll work our way through its detail over time. In terms of the accuracy or inaccuracy of the leaks to which you refer, you and I will both be privy to that once we've both read it. I haven't read it yet. I'm sure you'll read it in due course. It'll take a little while.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will you be meeting Prince William during his visit this week?
PM: Yes, the Prince and I are attending are visiting a youth homeless centre together later this week. I look forward to having a conversation with him.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, we had, you probably heard, five young people die in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. What can we do to prevent tragedies like this (inaudible)?
PM: This is an unspeakable tragedy for the families and for the community concerned, such a gut-wrenching loss of life in a single accident. Spare a thought for the families of the young people involved. This is just horrible, horrible beyond description.
On the question of what can be done for the future, the Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, at the next meeting of the Australian Transport Ministers, will be open to any further practical recommendations from the state and territory governments as to how we improve road safety in general and road safety for young drivers in particular.
Can I just indicate two or three things that we have done so far as a Government?
The first thing that we have done is increase significantly our investment in fixing dangerous black spots on local roads, installing boom gates at high-risk level crossings and building additional rest stops for truck drivers.
We've also brought in new regulations requiring electronic stability control, ESC, be fitted to all new models of passenger vehicles from November 2011. The third thing is, what that technology, we're advised, has the potential to reduce motorists chances of being involved in a fatal accident by 25 percent. That technology comes in, in 2011 through Government regulation.
Also, launching 'Keys to Drive' a new, innovative road safety program which will provide more than 200,000 free driving lessons to learner drivers and their parents.
These are steps that we've taken. None of these steps have prevented the tragic loss of life we've seen most recently on Victorian roads, and that's why, as I said in the earlier response to your question, Transport Minister Albanese is open to any further practical recommendations from state and territory ministers on how we improve road safety in general.
JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd, $10 million, the Australian Government announced $10 million for aid to Haiti. Are we being generous enough?
PM: We are continuing, through the Foreign Minister, to monitor all the requests from the individual agencies about the situation in Haiti, and it is one where we remain open to making further contributions as is necessary. When it comes to the contributions we've made so far, we've provided that through to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the World Food Program, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, Australian non-government organisations, and we remain open to providing further assistance as is necessary.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) would you contribute more, then?
PM: This is an unspeakable human tragedy, human disaster of an order of magnitude which I think leaves most of us speechless. Therefore, we are ready to act further as we are requested and as we are required. As you all know from the public reporting which has occurred out of Haiti, the current problem often consists of purely the logistical delivery of the aid effort on the ground. What I also know from other human disasters and tragedies is that a second challenge lies in the weeks and months and years which follow, in rebuilding.
If I could draw on the analogy of our contribution to the tsunami in Indonesia and elsewhere, a huge part of the challenge lay in standing shoulder to shoulder with our Indonesian friends over weeks, months and years to rebuild communities and that is where I'm sure Australia will have a further role to play.
Australians are a generous people. This Government will respond to any further requests from the international aid organisations as appropriate in dealing with what is an appalling human tragedy.
Having said that, folks, I really should zip. Thank you.