Prime Minister
PRIME MINISTER: It's great to be here in New Zealand because this is an incredibly important partnership for Australia, for our Annual Leaders Dialogue. The last time we met face to face was in Sydney at the outset of what was then the COVID pandemic. And here we are, two countries - some 18 months later - two countries that have weathered the storm of COVID arguably better than any two countries anywhere else in the world, both from saving lives as well as saving livelihoods. And so the opportunity to come here over the course of this next 24 hours and to work through the many lessons of that experience but also the partnership, that it can continue to reinforce our mutual success combating COVID and the economic response to COVID as well I think, is a very good opportunity.
More broadly than that, though, it happens in the context of what we're seeing at home in Victoria right now. And our thoughts are very much there in Victoria as they are going through what is yet another difficult challenge, but one they will overcome, just as other states and territories have since the end of JobKeeper. We've also seen Queensland and Western Australia go through similar experiences and come through. So our focus is very much working with the Victorian Government to ensure that we open up Victoria again as soon as possible and we get back on that road to recovery.
More broadly, our partnership here with New Zealand, will focus on key issues like regional security and important topics like biosecurity. COVID-19 has highlighted very significantly the human biosecurity risk that exists. But there are many others as well that we haven't taken our eye off, and indeed were the key focus of this year's Budget. On top of that, of course, there are the regional security issues for a free and open Indo-Pacific. We’re Five Eyes partners, I mean, we're part of ANZUS. We are and have been alongside each other in favouring a world that favours freedom, freedom for a very long time. And so we'll have the opportunity to talk through those issues and how we can each reinforce our joint efforts to ensure a free and independent Indo-Pacific.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is the reason you're here because New Zealand's soft approach to China is splintering our relationship?
PRIME MINISTER: No, this is an Annual Leaders Dialogue. And we meet every year and we work through the issues that are part of that very successful partnership, particularly whether it's the economic partnership or the security partnership. And we work closely on all of those issues, and this is another opportunity to reinforce our commitment to the security interests of the region, the security interests of our bilateral partnership, and to advance our economic cooperation for our mutual prosperity and for jobs.
JOURNALIST: Will there be a Trans-Pacific bubble? Are you discussing opening up to islands like Vanuatu, for example?
PRIME MINISTER: We've had a number of those discussions and the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and I, we speak quite regularly about these issues, and particularly about the issues in the Pacific. Together, we're putting some 7,500,000 vaccine doses into the region. The Pacific is our family. It’s whanau here in New Zealand, as they describe it, or vuvale over in Fiji. We are very focused on supporting our Pacific family, and the idea of a bubble that goes beyond New Zealand and Australia is a real possibility. I only was speaking to our colleagues in the region just last week. Fiji's going through a difficult time at the moment and we're supporting them to come through that. But whether it's Vanuatu or the Solomon Islands or Fiji or Tonga or any of these places, and even supporting up in Timor-Leste. Now, these are all challenges to overcome, but when it comes to people who are coming and working in Australia, the seasonal workers programme which is so important to our agricultural sector, or the broader partnership that we have across the Pacific for other purposes. This is why we get together every year.
JOURNALIST: And just finally on Melbourne, the Acting Premier says it's a disgrace that the Federal Government hasn't offered support for businesses forced to close during this lockdown. What's your response to that?
PRIME MINISTER: The Commonwealth Government has put $45 billion directly into Victoria to support. And we will continue to support Victoria through the pandemic leave payment, through the emergency cash assistance, through the social security system supported by JobSeeker. I mean, that is every day's work for the Commonwealth Government to support people going through hardship. I note that the Queensland Government and the Western Australian Governments, when they were in similar circumstances, took on those responsibilities, having decided to go into those lockdowns, and they took on those responsibilities, and I commend them for that. We will continue to support Victoria to get Victoria open and to do everything we can to ensure that Victoria does not close itself again. And that's where I'm quite sure that people across Victoria want us to focus. We’ll continue to provide great support, as we always have, and ensure that we get Victoria open as soon as possible. That's our sole focus.