Prime Minister
Ms Nicolle Flint MP, Federal Member for Boothby: Well, good morning, I’m Nicolle Flint, Federal Member for Boothby, and I am so delighted to have Prime Minister Scott Morrison here this morning, the Minister for Finance Simon Birmingham, and of course the Liberal candidate for Boothby, Dr Rachel Swift.
We have visited Micro-X, which is one of our incredible manufacturing success stories here in South Australia. We've seen a lot of their products, which I'm sure the Prime Minister and Rachel will talk about. But what I'm really proud of is the $8 million we have delivered to Micro-X as part of the Stroke Alliance, which is going to develop a new HALO X-ray machine that will revolutionise the way that we diagnose and are then able to treat strokes. This will have a worldwide impact. Fifteen million people a year suffer a stroke. So the economic and health and personal outcomes that we will be able to deliver through this incredible technology will change lives worldwide, all here from South Australia. So I’m going to hand over to Dr Rachel Swift now, the Liberal candidate for Boothby, to say a few words. Rachel.
Dr Rachel Swift, Liberal Candidate for Boothby: Thanks, Nicolle. It's a real pleasure to be here this morning. As Nicolle just said, we've just done a tour of Micro-X and that technology is incredible. The opportunities it will offer us to be able to take health care to rural and remote communities in Australia, but also internationally through our humanitarian program, is incredible. But what was so energising when we were in there today was talking to so many of the people on the manufacturing side who had come from previous roles in places like Holden and have been able to reapply their skills to this great medical technology innovation.
It's really my pleasure today to welcome the Prime Minister Scott Morrison. This is the first non-sitting day that the South Australian borders have been open, and he's keen to be here and see the great work that we've been doing in South Australia, particularly around manufacturing, innovation and technology. So, I'll hand it over to the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Well, thank you very much, Rachel, and thank you Nicolle, and and to Minister Birmingham, to Simon, to Birmo, as we know him, it's great to be here with you, here in South Australia. I'm really excited to be here in South Australia. South Australia's open. Australians are wanting to holiday in Australia. That's going to be a great opportunity for South Australia as it’s, as it's opening up. The National Plan is being realised here in South Australia - living with the virus so we can live together with the virus. We're opening safely here in South Australia so we can remain safely open. And today there's, I’m going to give a big PM’s challenge to South Australia. I have no doubt that the most optimistic premier there is in Australia, Steven Marshall, would be joining me.
Today, the figures I have this morning is 79.5 per cent of South Australians are double vaccinated. Now, you’ve been getting along at about a half a per cent today. So, South Australians, the call is out. Go out there, if you haven't had your second dose of your vaccination today, go out and get it today so we can all wake up tomorrow and hear the news that South Australia is 80 per cent double vaccinated. That's a significant milestone in the National Plan, and those milestones mean that governments are able to step back so Australians can step forward, that businesses can step forward, that Australians can increasingly live together with this virus. And I want to congratulate South Australians and Premier Marshall on the great work that has been done keeping South Australians safe, so we can now open safely and remain safely open.
Australia has done amazingly well during the course of this pandemic. We have one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. We have one of the strongest economies coming through this pandemic of any advanced economy in the world. 350,000 jobs springing back in spring in our economy over the last five weeks. The Australian economy is springing back, and we knew that would be the case because of the underlying strength of this economy. And, of course, we have now one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. And I want to encourage everybody to go out there and get their boosters. Go and get those boosters. I had my booster last week with my good mate now, Jane Malysiak. And particularly for those who are elderly in our population, you were the first to get the jabs, and now it's important that you're the first to go and get those booster shots. You're due for them. If you've been through six months since your second dose, you can go and get that booster shot now, and I want to encourage you to do it. Because the pandemic’s not over, globally. Australia’s doing incredibly well and we now need to get those booster shots so we can go forward, so we can, importantly, secure the economic recovery.
Securing this economic recovery is now the big challenge we face. And to do that, we need to be investing in the industries that create the jobs. And I'm very excited to be here today at Micro-X and in this amazing facility. This facility, as I look up there at Flinders University and Zero-X [sic] and and the other companies that are here in what used to be Holden. This very place tells the story of the economic transformation of South Australia and where our manufacturing industries are going in the future. One in eight jobs in manufacturing were lost under Labor. We have got manufacturing employment in Australia back to more than a million Australians working in manufacturing. They've gone from making Holdens to now making x-ray machines and high tech brain scanners that can be moved to the most remote parts of the earth. That's the technology, but it's also the skills. The skills that have been built up here to make things in South Australia are being reapplied to new manufacturing tasks and ensuring that new businesses are forming.
We invested $8 million as a Federal Government Zero-X [sic] to develop this technology. That alone created 20 jobs, but it will create far more in the collaboration that has occurred between the entrepreneurs of Micro-X, the scientists and the graduates coming out of Flinders University, and the partnership that is here with both State and Federal Government to make this happen. This is how we secure our economic recovery - lower taxes, training people. There are 217,000 Australians right now in trade training in this country. That is the highest it has ever been on record. And those records go back to 1963. I wasn't even born then. And we have now got more people in trade training today, learning the skills that enables them to power up these companies, like Zero-X, Micro-X, I should say, who are ensuring that we can secure Australia's manufacturing future.
And, you know, in South Australia more broadly, Lot Fourteen, I always get excited about Lot Fourteen, in terms of the space industry, I’ve been there to the National Space Centre and seen what they're doing there. I get excited when I come to South Australia, where full cycle docking, happening here in South Australia. Last time I was here, and the many times before, you're always keen to know what we were going to do there. I said that we had to make another big decision before we made that full decision on full cycle docking. Well, we made that. We're going to make nuclear-powered submarines. And what we were able to put together - that landmark agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom - which will see Australia's defence capability boosted in a way that that few could have dreamed of. That technology only once shared before by the United States with the United Kingdom in 1958 and now Australia.
And full cycle docking, can tell you South Australians, your success in being able to turn around full cycle docking here in South Australia is the reason we decided to keep it here. You achieved. You put the work in. You demonstrated your performance when it came to that project. And that's why it's kept here. And I can tell you, it was a critical issue in gaining the confidence of the United States, that not only can we do that, but we can go ahead and do the things we want to do together in the development and making of nuclear-powered submarines. So, well done South Australia. That's why we're building the Hobart class frigates here. That's why we're doing the destroyers here. Sorry, the Hunter class frigates, I should say, and the Hobart class destroyers. And that's why we've been building the patrol boats here, the Arafura class. That's why we're doing full cycle docking here, because we believe in the manufacturing capabilities of this state and we're investing heavily in it. And that's where the jobs come from. And that's how you secure Australia's economic recovery. Happy to take some questions.
Journalist: So, you seem very fond of Steven Marshall. Why isn’t he here with you today [inaudible], the day that the borders open?
Prime Minister: I’m with him later today, we’re catching up today.
Journalist: Why isn’t he here publicly?
Prime Minister: Sorry?
Journalist: Why isn’t he here publicly … ?
Prime Minister: Oh, our schedules didn’t just align today. I can assure you there is no stronger relationship with any premier in this country than Steven Marshall and I. He is a dear and close friend, a dear, and he's doing an amazing job. Today we're here because we're talking about what the Federal Government is doing. State Government’s doing a terrific job here in South Australia. Today we're talking about what the Federal Government is doing.
Journalist: Are you concerned about what’s happening with his parliamentary party? I mean, he's lost his deputy, he's losing votes in Parliament.
Prime Minister: No, look, they’re matters for the State Parliamentary Party. I’m focused on my, the Federal Parliamentary Party I lead. Steven, you know, Steven’s Government here, the Marshall Government here, has been the inspiration to create this culture of transformation in South Australia that has brought back confidence. If there’s one thing I've seen more than anything else that Premier Marshall has achieved here in South Australia, is he's brought that pride back, he's brought that confidence back. He's brought that can do attitude where people who were previously working in industries that are no more, have had the confidence to go and move into new industries and create those. We've met those workers here today. And Steven Marshall has been the energy behind that transformation. And I could not speak highly enough about his inspiration to achieving that change here. No more phoney fights and carrying on with Canberra. He's just getting on with the job. All those phoney fights, they don't help anybody, and they certainly won't help in South Australia. He's turned all that around. And here we are working together, and look what's happening.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Sky News has been told there was a meeting between you and Bridget Archer in your office yesterday after she crossed the floor. What was the tone of that meeting?
Prime Minister: What was the...?
Journalist: What was the tone of that meeting?
Prime Minister: Very positive and very encouraging. Bridget and I are close colleagues and we have, we have a very good friendship. And I was pleased to be there with Senator Payne and Josh Frydenberg and to be there to support Bridget.
Journalist: Sky News has been told it was a frank exchange with Mrs Archer. Was it appropriate to be so frank?
Prime Minister: That’s not how I’d describe it at all. It was a very warm and friendly and supportive meeting. Bridget is a close friend and colleague, and I wanted to ensure that she was being supported.
Journalist: The Chinese vessel that was pushing the absolute limit in Australian waters.
Prime Minister: Yeah.
Journalist: In light of that, can we really wait until the end of next decade to receive nuclear submarines?
Prime Minister: Well, we’ll build them as quickly as we possibly can. And that's not the only thing we're doing, of course. But you're right to highlight the presence of the Chinese naval vessel in our economic zone. They have every right to be there under international maritime law, just like we have every right to be in the South China Sea, and other free liberal democratic countries have every right to be having freedom of movement in the South China Sea. Our movements in the South China Sea and those of other countries has been an issue of of challenge to Australia. And the fact that we’ve stood up for our right to be there is one of the reasons amongst many, like freedom of the press, freedom of of speech, ensuring that we're building up our own defence capability, including nuclear-powered submarines. All of these issues are things that the Chinese Government have taken great issue with, and and they that is the reason why we've had the difficulties that we've had.
But these are not issues that any self-respecting government like Australia’s, or indeed any self-respecting liberal democracy, would ever give ground on. And I think the presence of the Chinese Navy, which we were aware of, and they were keeping a close eye on us, and we were keeping a close eye on them. And the importance of that is to highlight to Australians that there is a very serious situation in the Indo-Pacific. I've been saying that for a long time. These things are true. And Australia has to be able to stand up, and that requires great strength. I've been criticised by many for the strong stand I've taken on this issue. But it's important that you stand up for Australia. You need strength to take Australia through a time like this. There is never a time for weakness when it comes to leading a Federal Government, particularly at a time when you're dealing with these very significant security issues and the economic challenges we have, and we're seeing that writ large in the South Pacific, even now in the Solomons, where we have our people on the ground now.
Journalist: So, have you or will you raise concerns with Chinese officials about this ship being in our…
Prime Minister: Well, no, look, they have every right to be where they are. We we knew they were there and they are, they are able to be there under international maritime law. But don't think for a second that we weren't keeping our eye on them, as they were seeking to keep an eye on us. What it demonstrates is now no one can be complacent about the situation in the Indo-Pacific. And while we have rightly, I can assure you, been very focused on our achievements during- achieving through the pandemic to ensure that we've got the lowest fatality rate, the strongest economy, and one of the highest vaccination rates, I can assure you that not for a second have I been distracted as a Prime Minister, and my Government, our Government has not been distracted, as Minister Birmingham knows as a member of the National Security Committee, that we remain laser-focused on ensuring that Australia's national security interests and defence interests have been absolute.
Journalist: Prime Minister, do you know if the Solomons have sought assistance from China?
Prime Minister: No, they have not, to my knowledge. I spoke to the Prime Minister Sogavare yesterday. The Solomon Islands came first to Australia and they have also had discussions with Papua New Guinea, and I spoke to Prime Minister Marape yesterday about that. We have those 23 AFP who arrived last night. Operations have commenced there in the Solomons this morning to ensure stability and to ensure that as quickly as we possibly can, hopefully resume a peaceful setting in the Solomon Islands. Later today, the detachments will go from Townsville. There has already been movements from Amberley this morning to facilitate that. There’ll be additional 15 AFP who will arrive over the course of today in the Solomon Islands, and I’m keeping, as you can imagine, a very close watch on the situation on the ground there.
We have Australians who are bravely going back to the Solomon Islands to support our Pacific family to ensure that we can have stability and peace so they can resolve issues internally. They are not issues that Australia involves ourselves in. I thank the Prime Minister of Fiji, Prime Minister Bainimarama, Prime Minister Ardern, Prime Minister Marape, for their strong support for the role that Australia has taken. It’s a positive role. It's there to support our family in the Pacific at a time when they need us.
Journalist: You’ve wasted no time coming into South Australia since our borders opened-
Prime Minister: Sorry?
Journalist: You've wasted no time coming into South Australia since our …
Prime Minister: I love South Australia.
Journalist: … borders opened Tuesday. How concerned are you about the seat of Boothby and the Liberal Party retaining that seat, and how many more times can we expect to see you here in the lead up to the election?
Prime Minister: Well, I'm looking forward to coming back on many, many occasions, and I'm really pleased to be here, and I’m particularly pleased to be here with Dr Swift and Nicolle. You know, one of the great things about the Liberal Party is we draw experience from so many walks of life. You know, we have bus drivers, we have medical scientists, you know, we’ve even got a few lawyers too, but you’ve got to throw a few of those in every now and then. We've got, you know, former police officers, we've got Defence Force veterans, we've got small business people, we've got technologists, we've got people from so many walks of life in our parliamentary ranks. And that makes our team strong. I mean, what I'm looking forward to with Rachel, Dr Swift, putting herself forward to be part of our team at this next election is that we add again further experience to our team.
Nicolle has been an outstanding champion for her local community and and she's taken her decision to retire at the next election and we wish her well and we thank you for the great job you've done, Nic. But what's great is when you get someone as fantastic as Nicolle, deciding to retire, you get someone equally as fantastic as Rachel stepping up and to come in and put herself forward for the Liberal Party in the seat of Boothby.
But if you want to see the jobs continue in South Australia, if you want to see the manufacturing continuing in South Australia, if you want to see us secure the economic recovery which your family depends on in South Australia, then supporting your Liberal candidate and Liberal Member here in South Australia is the best way to achieve that and secure your economic recovery so you can plan for your future with confidence.
Journalist: Have you spoken to the Premier about moving the state election?
Prime Minister: Sorry?
Journalist: Have you spoken to the Premier about moving the date of the state election?
Prime Minister: No.
Journalist: Prime Minister, there’s a new COVID strain in Africa, I believe. Is that concerning? Should Australians be concerned about that right now?
Prime Minister: Yeah, at present, that is a a variant, and there are many of these variants, I should stress. I’m advised that is under investigation and not as a variant of concern. But that can change. And we monitor all of these these variants and and we note the responses that are made by other countries and we consider those in real time. What is more important, though, is the best protection against any new variant, including and those that are present, is vaccination, and having those vaccinations. So, again, South Australians, let's hit 80 per cent. We can hit 80 per cent today here in South Australia. We’ve got half a per cent to go. So if you haven't had your second dose of the vaccination, let's go out and get that jab today, and tomorrow, let's make this an 80 per cent double dose vaccinated state.
Journalist: Have you had talks with the Solomon Islands … with the Solomon Islands Opposition Leaders, given you say this is an apolitical issue?
Prime Minister: Yeah, well, under the treaty, obviously the request comes from the Government, whoever the Government happens to be, and I respond to the Prime Minister under that treaty. Through our mission, as the Foreign Minister said yesterday, we are seeking to have those engagements, but our role, as I made very clear to the Prime Minister yesterday, was to support, crowd control and protection of key infrastructure - ports, airports, things of that nature - not parliamentary buildings, not providing close personal protection to government ministers or executive buildings of the Government. We are there to support the Solomon Islands Police, Royal Solomon Islands Police Force to quell any unrest that is there and hopefully see the situation return to some calm. Overnight, we have seen what started as a protest, we have seen some more indiscriminate looting and things of that nature, which is more general civil unrest behaviour, and we want to see that come under control. At present, that is, that is proceeding, I’d say, reasonably. But, you know, we're on, we're on alert, and that's why we're continuing to provide further support.
Journalist: Just on the Solomons, we understand that there's been targeting of Chinese buildings and Chinese people in Honiara. Do you condemn any targeting of Chinese?
Prime Minister: Well, of course, I condemn all the violence, including that, and there is a bit of a mixed story, the targeting of particular buildings in the Chinatown district, and we saw that during the serious unrest that occurred prior to the RAMSI initiative. There was also an opportunistic element to that in that that’s where they just happened to be. And so, you know, we await further information about what the cause of that particular violence was. But if if there is certainly any violence that is racially targeted, then that would obviously be abhorrent.
Journalist: And how long do you plan on committing Australian forces and police to this operation, bearing in mind the last peacekeeping mission was 14 years ago, or lasted 14 years, sorry?
Prime Minister: Yeah, the request is … Yeah, no, and I think that's a very good question, and this is something, you know, the Government considered in relation to the request made under the treaty. And the request is for weeks. That is what the request has been. And, so, that is our understanding of our commitment. And hopefully in the weeks that are ahead then the situation can return to some calm and the issues that are related to this internally can be resolved internally, in accordance with their Constitution.
Journalist: You said you’re yet to speak to Steven Marshall regarding the election date or whether ours may have to move ...
Prime Minister: Well, no, I just don’t, there’s no need for me to talk to him … The election date …
Journalist: If if the South Australian election has to move then …
Prime Minister: When we determine what an election date might be next year, I've always said it's going to be in 2022, so there's no secret there. It's due by about the third week in May, and we'll make, I’ll make a determination about when that is held … And if that requires that discussion, then I'll certainly have that discussion.
Journalist: So, you can’t tell South Australians now whether our election will be moved?
Prime Minister: Sorry?
Journalist: So, you can’t tell South Australians now? Ours, we have a fixed date ...
Prime Minister: Well, your election’s in March. That’s when it’s due.
Journalist: That’s right. Will it have to move?
Journalist: Prime Minister, when was the last time you spoke to Alex Antic, and are you confident he will support Government bills and motions next week?
Prime Minister: I spoke to Alex during the course of this past week, as I spoke to lots of colleagues.
Journalist: Will he, will he support Government bills and motions next week? Are you confident he’s going to do that?
Prime Minister: I think Alex has raised issues that are very important to him. And, you know, in the Liberal Party, we encourage our Members to be themselves. You know, I don’t lead a team of drones and warm bodies that I just move around in the Parliament. That's what the Labor Party does. That's how they treat their Members. You know, if you disagree in the Labor Party, they keep you out. That's what they think about freedom of thought and expression in in politics. We don't do that in the Liberal Party. And, so, from time to time, when Members might have a strong view on things, you know, I let my Party breathe. I don't seek to to to bind it up, claustrophobically. I want people in my team who speak their mind. I'm not afraid of that. I'm not afraid of Members raising issues with me and being strong advocates on behalf of their community. I actually think that makes our Government stronger. I like it that I have Members of my team that come from all walks of life and not drones coming out of, you know, the apprenticeship solely of the union movement and political offices. Now, there’s a place for people to come from all walks of life, even from unions and even from political offices. But I'm really pleased that I have a parliamentary team that speaks its mind, stands up for the things it believes in, even if from time to time that might not agree with my view, but I'm big enough to deal with that. My Party's big enough to deal with that. Australia’s big enough to deal with that. And that's the nature of the liberal democracy we are.
But I want to thank everybody here, particularly at Micro-X, for having us here. I want to congratulate you guys on the tremendous job you're doing here, creating jobs for South Australians. And we are, we are on lift off here, with Micro-X, and, you know, the Australian economy is springing back. And we're seeing that - 350,000 jobs coming back into the economy in five weeks. So, that's exciting, but we've got to secure our recovery. And today we've got to secure that 80 per cent double dose vax rate here in South Australia. So please, go out and get that vaccination. And if you've already had your second dose, please go and get your booster. Thanks very much, everyone.