Prime Minister
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Eliza,
ELIZA GOETZE: Will you be meeting with the Mayor today?
PRIME MINISTER: We won't have the opportunity today, Ken Wyatt met with him five days after we met, after we received that letter up here in Alice Springs. So I really want to thank Matt for writing to us. And when Ken has come and he's already announced it's over $3 million of funding, which is supporting programs to address the very issues that the Mayor has raised. And I want to thank Matt that for the really constructive partnership he’s forming to address this issue. I'm going from here to see Ben Schaber this morning, who was one of the finalists in the Indigenous Business Awards to make the other announcement of the program we're doing for Indigenous business leadership. And then I have another very big announcement to make up further up the road up in Darwin today about defence project funding, which will have a massive impact here, also in central Australia, some $282 million in defence projects and works. But I'm looking forward to catching up with Matt. I think it's an incredibly important issue.
GOETZE: So do you have five minutes, you mean you don't have any time to squeeze him in at all?
PRIME MINISTER: I would love to if I could. I'll be leaving very early this morning after being at a couple of things this morning, but I'd love to talk to him. As I said, within five days of that letter being received, Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt was here talking to Matt and a program already in place, over $3 million on creating networks in the community, culture camps, bush cooking, giving youth inclusion in community decisions, mentorships. I mean, these are the things that need to be done. And so with these five days action from my Government and my Minister.
GOETZE: The reality is and the contents of that letter from Matt Patterson, residents in this town often don't feel safe to walk the streets at night. Just the other day, in broad daylight, a woman was assaulted while she was out running. People are having their homes and businesses broken into. They don't feel safe to go to sleep at night. Business owners are forking out often for security gear. The Gunner Government doesn't appear to be acting on law and order in the town of Alice Springs. You've announced culture camps, but is that enough? What more are you going to do to make Alice Springs a safer place?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I want to work with the Territory Government, as you say. I mean, we've poured significant resources into the Territory Government, and when I was Treasurer, we put in an extra $260 million to top up funding on GST to do exactly these sort of things to fund law and order in the territory. And so we're providing those resources that we want to support them to keep doing it. We've got $36 million invested over four years from 2019 to 2023 in youth sector programs through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy. So we're stepping up. And of course, Damien Ryan, a Mayor of Alice Springs for a very long time, understands these issues better than anyone, other than obviously the current Mayor who's dealing with them right now. And so with Damien Ryan, who's the CLP candidate for Lingiari, I think he has a pretty good handle on this, and I'll work really closely with him to address these law and order issues here in Alice Springs. I mean, I think coming up to Alice Springs for 30 years and I've seen how the town has changed over that period of time, back to my time when I was in tourism, I understand how important getting law and order under control in the Alice is not just important, obviously, for the safety of so many people living here in the Alice, it's important for the town and its economy and its future. So I get it.
GOETZE: So you'll be back here by the sounds to meet with Matt Patterson on crime, some stage?
PRIME MINISTER: I'd love to, but we'll arrange to talk further about this. No doubt about it. And I'm sure Damien's working closely with him as well. And that's why, you know, he's such a great pick for the CLP to be the right candidate for Lingiari, as the CLP candidate.
GOETZE: You're here today, Barnaby Joyce is expected here next week. It sounds like Lingiari is an important seat. What makes Damien Ryan a better candidate than Labor's Marion Scrymgour for the job?
PRIME MINISTER: He gets it. I mean, he's been here serving this Alice Springs community in particular for a long time, and he's got that reputation and he's got the track record. He understands the issues and he's got the performance to back it up. I mean, he's someone who knows how to get things done and he can get things done in a government. And you know, the Government has been delivering across so many programmes.
GOETZE: Marion’s also got decades of experience in government, and she's an Aboriginal woman. What makes Damien any better?
PRIME MINISTER: Service in government as a leader in this community and taking responsibility for the decisions you have to take.
GOETZE: She's also been in government.
PRIME MINISTER: Working in a town like this. I'm talking about a person has been the Mayor, someone who …
GOETZE: She's been in Territory Government.
PRIME MINISTER: I’m talking about somebody who the buck stops with someone in the town of Alice Springs.
GOETZE: She's been in local government, she's been at a high level. What makes him ready for that job more than her?
PRIME MINISTER: His experience and his commitment to this town in particular and his track record of performance and people understand that he gets it.
GOETZE: How much pressure are you feeling for Damien to win the seat of Lingiari? How important is this seat to you?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course every seat is important all across the country, but let me make this point. It isn't just Damien Ryan, it's actually our Government. I mean, if you, if you vote for Damien Ryan, you're not just getting a great candidate, you're getting an Australian Government who's been able to ensure that we come through this pandemic with one of the lowest fatality rates in the world, the strongest economies and highest vaccination rates. You've got a Government that's delivered 1.1 million jobs since the pandemic hit. We've got the highest number of trade apprentices trained ...
GOETZE: Sorry to interrupt.
PRIME MINISTER: If you just wouldn't mind me answering the question - 220,000 trade apprenticeships in trade training right now, that's the highest level since 1963. So people sitting here in Alice Springs and around Lingiari, they know they're going to have a better chance of a job, a more successful business, at the backing in on important issues of national security, law and order, because that's our form, that's what we do. And then you've got Damien on the ground, experienced local Mayor who can actually deal with the local problems that are on the ground here, and he has a track record of supporting it.
GOETZE: I just wanted to touch on there. The vaccination rates across our remote communities have actually been very low compared to the national average, and Lingiari, it's a massive seat covering pretty much the whole Territory outside Darwin. It's typically won out bush. How do you plan to win this seat? How do you win over those communities?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, I'd say, I mean, we've been working closely with the Gunner Government on Indigenous vaccinations. It's a challenging task. But Australia's vaccination rates, particularly for Indigenous populations, is also one of the highest in the world. When I was in the United States, I met with Vice-President Harris and we were talking about Indigenous vaccination rates in the United States and in Australia. You know what they were talking about, how good theirs was, and ours were the same and better. So it's challenging. It's hard. We've seen the same thing in western New South Wales and other parts of the country. We've got big challenges over in Western Australia as well, and you just got to go community by community. That's what we’ve been doing with the Gunner Government. And on top of that, we've been getting great support from Indigenous leaders. And Ken Wyatt has just been phenomenal, engaging directly with Indigenous leaders to work with the community to get this done. I mean, we are the Government who actually did the Closing the Gap agreement with Indigenous people. Not a top down approach. We actually got together with Pat Turner, the Coalition of Peaks. We completely rewrote the Closing the Gap agreement to put Indigenous people in a real partnership with my Government and to close that gap - not some pronouncement from Canberra. And we also got a territory and state governments enlisted in the Closing the Gap program because, as you would know and listeners would know, state and territory governments have an enormous role to play in closing the gap and they've been left on the sidelines by Labor under their Closing the Gap approach.
GOETZE: I wanted to ask you about Closing the Gap and what you will do to better the lives of people who are living out bush. How will the Defence investment in the Territory announced today by your Government, what would that mean to people who live out on the Utopia homelands or out of Papunya?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me point out two these figures for you. First of all, 23,000 Commonwealth contracts, that includes Defence contracts, have been given to Indigenous businesses just since I became Prime Minister - 23,000. Now companies like Ben’s or other companies here up in the Territory - meeting with another one today up and in Darwin - they're involved in these types of works and these programs, and they're deploying Indigenous young people. And the program I'm announcing today about Indigenous business leadership is about improving their capabilities from their staff to the businesses themselves, to the leaders and owners of those businesses, so they can take advantage of those opportunities. I was blown away. Jenny and I met him last Friday at the [Ethnic] Business Awards, where he was a finalist. And he's passionate. I mean, he's a guy, he changed his life when he got out of jail, got a job, got a trade, started a business, and now he's employing about a dozen people here in the Territory, including young Indigenous people. That's how you benefit. You create jobs and you support businesses and Indigenous business leaders. Now that's why we're putting over $20 million into supporting that imitative around the country. I need more Bens and Indigenous people need more Bens because that means more jobs for Indigenous Australians.
GOETZE: People from, say, Yuendumu, they just want a job that's meaningful and something that's not on the CDP. We're still experiencing fallout from the intervention, where control has been creeping back into the lives of Aboriginal people and especially people who live remote. What are you going to do to undo the damage by the intervention, noting that the legislation that underpinned a lot of that policy, the Stronger Futures legislation, some of that expires this year. So what are you going to do to wind that back? Some of it includes alcohol laws.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Eliza, I don't know, you mustn't have heard my last answer to my last question. I mean, a real job is the job at Ben's business. I mean, that's what's happening. I said 23,000 Commonwealth contracts have gone to Indigenous businesses. I mean, that's where the real jobs are. That's not CDP jobs. That's real jobs in real businesses run by Indigenous Australians. That's what changes. That's what closes the gap. What closes the gap is the empowerment of Indigenous Australians to get jobs, to get training, to get skills, to run businesses, to employ people in remote communities, which is what is happening exactly in Indigenous businesses. The winner of the Indigenous Business Awards is putting power into remote stations all across the Northern Territory, Western Australia and in Queensland. I mean, that's the answer - Indigenous Australians like Ben stepping up, creating businesses, changing their lives, getting support from programs like the one I'm announcing today.
GOETZE: But if I've grown up remotely, I don't speak or read English. It's not my first language. How will this $21.9 million you're announcing here benefit me in leadership?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I then referred to the fact that we've got 93 per cent of Indigenous children today enrolled in early childhood education. That's up from 77 per cent in 2016 because of the investments we've been putting into early childhood education. And that includes specific funding into early childhood education in remote places all across the country and particularly here in central Australia. Now the reason we do that is early childhood education is one of the biggest game changers for young Indigenous children. And the research that shows that absolutely it is generational changing stuff. So we've got a generation of very young Indigenous Australians at the moment growing up, getting early childhood education. Their parents didn't get it. The grandparents certainly didn't get it. And that's what's turning around. We've got to get kids in school. We've got to make sure they're safe in their communities and we've got to make sure they've got a job to go to and even better, a job in a business owned and run by an Indigenous Australian. That's what my Government's doing.
GOETZE: In Alice Springs you don't have to go far to see people living in third world conditions. Housing is inadequate. There's overcrowding, which has exacerbated the spread of COVID. Shouldn't you be spending money on the basics like housing and food and health before programs like this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have. We absolutely have. I mean, health funding in the Northern Territory itself has increased $212.9 million.
GOETZE: And where's that money being spent?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you better talk to Minister Gunner about it because he's the one we sent it to.
GOETZE: Do you think the Gunner Government's doing a good job?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, I'll let the Northern Territory people make those judgements. I'm working with the Gunner Government to address the pandemic, the challenges in remote Indigenous communities. I think Lia is an absolute superstar and I think people are really understanding the great contribution she can make as a leader in the Northern Territory, but that I'm not here to get involved in Northern Territory politics. I'm here to actually talk about the things we're doing to improve the lives of Territorians, keeping them safe and investing in the Defence projects which are driving their businesses and giving the massive opportunities into the future. I mean, the investments we're putting right across the country. Tindal Air Base was the last time I was up this way and we had major projects there, which is drawing jobs and opportunities and training and apprentices right across the territory. This is the positive stuff that's going on and it's really exciting to see it. That doesn't mean we haven't got problems. Of course we do. The Territory is a hard place. Of course it's a hard place, but people love it and I understand why they do, and that's why we're ensuring that we're getting the support. Another good example is the Reinsurance Pool - $10 billion Reinsurance Pool to make it easier for people to get insurances in the north of Australia. I mean, that is a cost of living that people living in the north actually have to face. That's our Government that's doing something about it. Plenty of other people have talked about it, but we're actually doing it.
GOETZE: You're on ABC Alice Springs. And you’re hearing from the Prime Minister Scott Morrison. I want to talk about roads, the Stuart Highway. It's a federal road. Just a couple of weeks ago, the supermarket shelves were bare for weeks in the Centre and across remote communities because that road was flooded. What are you going to do to mitigate that and stop that happening in the future?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, again, I mean, in every single Budget we announce significant funding for all roads. We've got $110 billion infrastructure program.
GOETZE: Is there anything specific for the Stuart?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll leave it for the Deputy Prime Minister when he's here next week to go into that more. I mean, he'll be here next week and he can take you through all of that.
GOETZE: We'll certainly ask him that.
PRIME MINISTER: I have no doubt you will Eliza. I've got no doubt about that at all. And look, I think these are great questions, and I think these are the real issues that people want to focus on. They want to focus on: can they get a job? What's the future of their business? What's the future of their health care? And how are we dealing with the pandemic? I mean, I do commend the partnership I've had with the Chief Minister Gunner on COVID. It's been a very tough situation. Northern Territory has had very different challenges to the rest of the country. That's why the Biosecurity Act changes extensions were made by the Health Minister. We've worked hand in glove and with the ACCHOs right across the Northern Territory as well, delivering those health services, giving them specific funding and support to help them with the vaccination programs.
GOETZE: Prime Minister, we're just a minute away from news. I'm sorry to interrupt you. I just want to get one more question in about the regeneration deal. It's $150 million for Alice Springs. It's got the backing of the Chief Minister. Do you support it? Will you sign that dotted line?
PRIME MINISTER: I will keep talking to them about and I'll be talking to Damien about what further announcements we’ll be making. But just before I go, we announced $147 million for the Northern Territory, including bring forward ...
GOETZE: Ok that was a yes or no question. We don't have much time before the news. I'm sorry, Prime Minister. The last question is from a listener, just how concerned are you for your job?
PRIME MINISTER: Eliza, let me answer your earlier question because you asked - $73.4 million for the ROSI Alice Springs to Darwin Corridor upgrade, $43.5 million for the ROSI Adelaide River to Wadeye Corridor upgrade. And $30 million in the Northern Territory's position on the Outback Way commitment. So that's what we're doing on roads. But the Deputy Prime Minister can outline more of that to you when you, when he's here next week.
GOETZE: Prime Minister, thank you.