Prime Minister
BEN FORDHAM: The Prime Minister Scott Morrison is on the line this morning. PM, good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER: G'day Ben.
FORDHAM: Labor says the only language that matters is the language of love.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they would say that. I mean, Ben I used to be an Immigration Minister, as people know. And English is Australia's first language. And for people to get into jobs, for people to be able to be protected in our society, for people to have access to government services and function in the community, having a basic level of English is actually really important. Now the way we're doing this test is as you said, people can still come to Australia. They're on a provisional visa while they're here. They don't have to pass the tests before they come into Australia. But once they get here, they have to make a reasonable effort to learn the language at a basic level. And we don't think that's unreasonable. So it's not stopping anyone from coming. It's saying that once you're here that we will actually support you through the English language classes we already provide to migrants when they come to Australia. And you've gotta have a crack, you've got to have a go to learn English. Now, I know I know that in many communities and that a lack of English language for, particularly for wives well, you know, we know that that can lead to women being put in very vulnerable positions in the workplace, even in the home and domestic situations. Now, that's that's an unhappy fact, but it's a reality. And this is designed to help people be more involved in Australia when they come to Australia and to have those English language skills so they can maximise and fulfil their life in Australia. So I think it's pro migrant, but it's also pro Australia, even more importantly.
FORDHAM: Let's talk about coronavirus. We have three mystery cases in Sydney and we're worried now that Queensland is going to reset the clock as far as travel to Queensland. What would you say to the Queensland premier on that one?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, is she for jobs or not. That's what I'd say as simple as that, she's saying she's all for jobs. Well, you know, being for jobs means you've got to balance the risks that you face, like New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian is. And they're managing to basically keep cases to an incredibly low level. They are doing a great job with their testing and tracing regime and everything they're doing here, dealing with outbreaks, getting New South Wales open, Queensland can do the same thing. I want to see people back in jobs and to give you an example of this. I mean, the number of people have come back into jobs in New South Wales since we hit the tip of that type of recession, a 70 per cent increase. In Queensland, it's 44 per cent. So we need Queenslanders back in jobs. I want to see Queenslanders back in jobs. That's why we've done the hiring credit and that's why we've put the incentive for investment. That's why we bringing forward tax cuts. That's why we're bringing forward infrastructure projects. I want to get Queenslanders and jobs just like I want to get New South Wales people in jobs. But for that, we've got to be open.
FORDHAM: The W.A. Premier Mark McGowan can't escape criticism here because West Australians will be locked out if they live on the East Coast for 12 months, possibly by the time they get in. I spoke to a friend last night called Jess and she's got a baby boy, Frank. Frank hasn't met his grandparents. You've got others missing births, deaths and marriages. And meanwhile, the W.A. Premier, Mark McGowan, was cracking jokes online yesterday about Santa Claus getting a special exemption. Well, what about everyone else who's from Western Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I understand those concerns. Absolutely. My position on these things has been very consistent. While I respect the premiers, I mean, these arrangements had only been in place for health reasons only. And the health reasons have to be clearly stated and they have to be reasonable. And it's up to the premiers to justify those things now. I worked with the Premier of New South Wales and Victoria and South Australia on the New South Wales/Victoria border. I think people understand why that has been there and they've been liberalising that now for some weeks. And we hope to go further in the weeks ahead. But it's all about health. West Australian Premier the other day, I was disappointed to hear him say, that the border seems to be there is some form of economic protectionism to lock Western Australians in so they spend their money there and they don't spend it elsewhere in the country. Well, that's no, that's not a health reason to have a border. I haven't been overly critical of the Western Australian Premier. They will make the decisions to try and deal with how they manage the COVID-19 and they've had a lot of success there. But at the same time, you know, economic protectionism, locking people in the state so they won't spend money in other parts of this country. Well, that's that's not the Australian way.
FORDHAM: We're going to look at this research firm in Brisbane, Ellume, that says it's developed a 15 minute COVID test. They've got $40 million from America but says at the moment they haven't had any bites here.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the medical expert panel is looking at that and many other things. We've seen, you know, quite a lot of false dawns around the world on, you know, miracle tests which enable people to go and do whatever they like. And we've got to be very careful about this Ben. We look at every, we, if this is a viable proposition our medical experts will, of course, look at that with all seriousness and pursue the ones that we believe can make a big difference. So, you know, we're open to all of these things. But at the same time, we've got to be careful. You can't have a drug put out there or a test put out there in the community. It would give people a false sense of security. And we're back where we started. So we'll be careful about it. But we're very open to all of these things. But we've got to do it right.
FORDHAM: Quick one. I know you don't often get asked about bikini's and probably for good reason, but we shared this story yesterday, that's now on the front page of the paper today about a girl called Christy who was in an apartment block swimming pool that she lives in and she's having a swim. A security guard said, no, sorry, you can't go wearing that kind of swimwear. Here was a normal bikini. Now, are we going to head back to the days of the 1950s where inspectors are walking around with measuring tapes? Should Aussie women be allowed to wear what they want within reason when they're having a swim?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course, I thought they always could. I wasn't aware that any of that had been constricted. So yeah Ben I'm not aware of this story you're talking about. It's not one that sort of came to my attention that you wouldn't be surprised to learn. I'm surprised that even applies, I tell you what though. I mean, as a father of daughters, I can assure you as they get older, I might apply some dress standards and conditions but that's for families to sort out.
FORDHAM: Oh yeah do tell, do tell.
PRIME MINISTER: They're a bit young yet. It's all good.
FORDHAM: We'll leave that for another day. Thanks so much for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Ben.