Prime Minister
PRIME MINISTER: Well, good morning, everyone. It's tremendous to be here in Perth on such an absolutely gorgeous day. It's great to be here with Premier McGowan as well together, and particularly to welcome him back after part of his iso. I know plenty about that, having gone through it probably more than any other Prime Minister almost anywhere around the world. And we were just chatting about that.
But it's great to be here with our ministers as well. And Michaelia Cash as well, who's the most senior member of our Government here in Western Australia, and Ben Morton.
Why, what we're acknowledging here today is what I think has been a very practical, strong partnership to deliver for Western Australia. The Premier and I have both got significant responsibilities when it comes to delivering for the people of Western Australia. And it's always been our approach to just focus on the things that need to get done. And the City Deal, and together with the projects we're talking about here, with the bridge project here on the Swan River. These are projects that we're committed to, and we're so committed to them that when we hit challenges with these projects, and particularly when we're dealing with rising costs caused by the pandemic and other issues, then we stick to our commitments to deliver on these projects.
And today we're committing further funds as part of both the the City Deal and for the Swan River Bridge here today, to ensure that these projects get done and they get delivered. I mean, these are transformational projects. The City Deal with the Western Australian State Government is a, just a $1.7 billion deal between our governments to deliver and have transforming projects for the city of Perth. Perth is a world-class city, and what this does is further add to Perth as a world-class city, providing amenity, connecting different parts of the city in a really exciting way. The cultural precincts, the recognition of Indigenous culture, which is such an important part of the life of this city, and it's told, I think, so beautifully with the design of the Swan River Bridge.
So it's about delivering through effective partnerships, and whether it's been working together through COVID, whether it's been working together through many infrastructure projects, working to to ensure that particularly the resources industry here in Western Australia, which we both share a great passion for, gets the support it needs.
And I particularly want to thank the Premier for his work working together with us on trying to crash through a lot of the regulation reform that is necessary, and we've greatly appreciated that support from the West Australian Premier and the Western Australian Government. We both know that to get big investment in big projects you've got to clear away that regulation at both a state and federal level. And there's been no state government in the country where we've had a more productive partnership in trying to deal with the regulation that can stymie investment. And so we are complete fellow travellers when it comes to ensuring we have those projects, and whether it's out at Henderson, where we announced the $4.3 billion for investment in that project, which is going to transform the shipbuilding capability of Western Australia. And, indeed, the announcements we made yesterday about critical minerals. I mean, critical minerals here in the West and rare earths, that sits at the heart of our Critical Minerals and Rare Earths Strategy. And I know the Western Australian Government strongly supports those initiatives, and in the same way they're leading when it comes to the development of our resources sector here in Western Australia. So today is about our partnership. Our day is about celebrating a partnership that’s delivering for the people of Western Australia.
But one other thing we're both passionate about is jobs, and these projects deliver jobs. And we've just had the news this morning that the unemployment rate has fallen to four per cent nationally. There are around 325,000 more jobs now than they were before the pandemic. The unemployment rate at four per cent is the lowest rate that we've seen in almost 50 years. I was five years old when we last had an unemployment rate this low, and I think that says something, and we've got the women's unemployment rate down below four per cent. That's the lowest level since 1973, and the participation rate continues to be at record levels for women. We've got more people in work today of working age than at any other time of records for jobs in this country.
So we are creating jobs and one of the way we're doing that is the partnerships that we have with our state governments, delivering important infrastructure and delivering on the deals that we make. We honour our deals together, the Premier and I, and we're honouring this deal by following through, by giving it the resources that’s needed to get the job done. And I'll hand you over to the Premier. Great to see you, Mark.
THE HON. MARK MCGOWAN MLA, PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Thanks very much, Prime Minister and welcome to, to Western Australia. Can I firstly say, great to see you all again. It's great to experience some vitamin D in my system, in my system once again. I haven't had vitamin D for a week or so. And, and as I said, welcome to the Prime Minister. I can't help but be, I can't help but feel partially responsible for his absence for the last two or three hundred, two or three hundred days.
Look, today's announcement is a Budget announcement by the State and Commonwealth Governments. This is about ensuring we can deliver the new Edith Cowan University campus in the city, which will bring WAAPA into the city. And we've got Steve Chapman here from ECU, and we've worked very cooperatively with ECU, the Commonwealth Government, the State Government to bring that amazing development into the heart of the city.
What that will mean is thousands of jobs in construction, around 7,500 jobs in construction and thousands of ongoing jobs, and then around 10,000 students in the heart of the city every day. So that'll be an amazing development for Perth. But it's obviously an expensive development. It’s around $850 million and with construction costs and those sorts of things, the price of steel is, you know, going up significantly. There has been an escalation in costs, which we are meeting here today in conjunction with the Commonwealth. So that's just a fact of life in the very, very strong labour market and very strong economy that we have here in Western Australia.
So the ECU WAAPA development in the heart of the city will be something in decades to come that will just provide new life, new opportunities for Western Australia, attract students from both here, interstate and around the world into the heart of the city.
The second thing is the bridge here, across the river from Victoria Park to the city. So, as you know, when you walk across the Causeway Bridge or you cycle across there, it's not the most pleasant of experiences. So what we're going to do is put in place a new bridge from here on Victoria Park to the city, for pedestrians and cyclists. It will be a beautiful looking structure, a beautiful structure, and it'll look significantly different to the Causeway Bridge, which is not, in my opinion, architecturally stunning, although I’ll probably now have a bunch of architects now say how dare I say that. But, in any event, I am not, I'm just, I think my tastes are very ordinary on these things. So, look, the new bridge will be stunning. It will mean pedestrians and cyclists can more easily get to the city in a safer way. It'll encourage walking and encourage cycling. It will remove traffic from our roads. It's just a amazing development.
But again, the costs of that have gone up, simply because of the heated labour and construction markets and the price of steel, which is obviously a double edged sword for Western Australia. Because the price of steel obviously means the price of iron ore is up, and we like the price of iron ore going up. But that has a knock on effect, which is the price of steel. So that will mean that this, we're injecting more money, in conjunction with the Commonwealth, as part of this Budget announcement into that important project.
The great thing about that project, it's going to be built here in Western Australia with West Australian workers, with Australian steel, right here in Henderson. It'll create many jobs and further develop our manufacturing capacity, which we put a lot of effort into. So this will be a great development for Western Australia, and we're very excited to release the plans today, and you'll see what it will look like in a couple of years from now.
So thank you very much. Thanks to the Prime Minister, thanks to the Commonwealth for their Budget commitment to these important projects. We’ve appreciated working well together on these projects. Thank you.
THE HON. PAUL FLETCHER MP, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS, URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE, CITIES AND THE ARTS: Well, as Commonwealth Urban Infrastructure and Cities Minister, I’m very pleased to be here with the Prime Minister, with the Premier, with other federal and state colleagues, including Michaelia Cash, and, of course, Rita Saffioti, the Minister for Transport and Planning here in WA, with whom I work very, very closely as Commonwealth Minister for Urban Infrastructure. I think this is my third occasion with Rita in the last three days. We were at the Stephenson Avenue extension, the Midland Station relocation.
These are all projects where the Commonwealth is working with the WA Government to deliver outcomes for the people of WA and the people of Perth. And certainly when it comes to the City Deal, that's very much what we are focused on. And as the Premier said, as it became obvious that what we needed to do was look at how we continue to support some of these projects. As the planning went on, the Commonwealth worked very closely with the State Government, with Edith Cowan University to identify the additional funding. That's why we're putting an additional $49 million for ECU, matched by the State, ECU themselves putting an additional $60 million. And, of course, on this extraordinary bridge, which is going to be such a fantastic active transport asset, bicycling and walking. It's going to increase the liveability and urban amenity of Perth, which is already an extraordinary, extraordinarily liveable city.
So, look, I'm delighted to be here and to be working closely with my counterpart, Minister Saffioti. The Commonwealth Government, the Morrison Government backing WA, backing Perth, to deliver the outcomes to make this great city even more liveable and well-known around Australia and around the world.
THE HON. RITA SAFFIOTI MLA, WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT, PLANNING AND PORTS: Thank you. Can I thank the Prime Minister, Thank you, Prime Minister. Thank you Premier. And thank you, Minister Fletcher. It is a great announcement today, the new gateway into the city. This new pedestrian bridge will be an absolute icon for WA and it's being made here in WA. So the same builders of the Matagarup Bridge will be building this new pedestrian and cycling bridge. Civmec are the successful contractors who have, who will be awarded the contract. And, as you can see, it is absolutely brilliant.
We've been working with the Matagarup Elder Group in relation to the design to make sure that we recognise the Aboriginal history in this area, and will be very much a tribute or an honour to the Aboriginal people of this area, but also a new pedestrian and cycling bridge. It'll be higher than the existing causeway as well, and we know where, that's caused some issues in the past. So it’ll be a higher bridge. So currently, for example, the existing Causeway Bridge is about 2.8 metres above the water level on this side, and now it's going to be five metres, this new bridge. As I said, there's over 3,000 cyclists and pedestrian who, pedestrians who use the existing bridge every day. It is narrow and it is not getting safe because of the volume of use. So this will be very, very much catered to all those people who cycle, e-scooter, pedestrians, and making a new connection into the city. I think it's going to create more opportunities in the eastern end of the city as well. So it really is a brilliant, brilliant project. And as I said, from the same constructors, the same group that built the Matagarup Bridge will be building this bridge.
Of course, also, very pleased to work with the Federal Government, and again acknowledge their contribution to both this bridge and also the new campus into the city. The ECU campus will bring a lot of people into the city every day, whether it be students, whether it be people in on, on staff, and there'll be visitors as well. So it's going to bring thousands of people into the city. It’s going to really, really change the face of the city through that City Link project, well connected by rail and buses. And so it really is another great initiative, and we're very keen to see that project go forward. Again, working with another well-known Western Australian builder in making that happen. Any questions on the bridge? Oh sorry.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you, and Mark’s going to join me for questions on this project. And of course, the minister's. Can I think Paul and Rita for the great way they’ve worked together in bringing this to fruition. Paul has been working with the, his ministerial counterparts all around the country, whether it's on the Darwin Deal or the Queensland Deal or the one here in Western Australia. But there really his has, I think, between Rita and Paul been a very productive working relationship.
So any questions on those matters. I'm sure you’ll want to ask me about other things and that's fine and we can do that, and happy to do that specifically. But let's just deal with the projects here first.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you talk about a 50-50 partnership on this project. Also on COVID. But you have previously accused WA of hiding in a cave. Mark McGowan's just out of isolation this morning. Was that an overreaction to the COVID threat, and do you still think WA has overreacted?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I was never referring to Western Australia on that, on that occasion.
JOURNALIST: You called them Croods.
PRIME MINISTER: No, I didn't, actually. I wasn't referring to Western Australia at all, at all. So I can only disagree with the presumption of your question.
JOURNALIST: Do you think WA has overreacted to the COVID threat?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't. I think Western Australia has has travelled its own path, and rightly, and the results speak for themselves. And as Mark knows, all throughout the discussions at National Cabinet, as recently as just the other week, Western Australia, because of its unique geography and its economy, has been able to travel a different path. And particularly as time went on from the initial phases of COVID, where there was very much a national view and similar measures being put in place all over the country, it became apparent that our states would have a different COVID experience. And as the Premier knows, I've been very supportive of the measures taken in Western Australia to go down that path. And I think that has been wise, and I think the results speak for themselves.
But, nationally, we've saved, we’ve saved 40,000 lives right across the country, and those lives were saved here in Western Australia as well. And now, as Western Australia is going through its peak of the Omicron variant, the challenge has been the same, minimise the impact on your hospital system, that's been achieved. Minimise the severe health impacts of COVID, that's being achieved, just as it has been achieved in other states and territories, who’ve had an even more severe experience of COVID. And, so as a country, we've come through together.
But it hasn't just been the saving of lives, it's been the strength of our economy. And what we've seen in today's unemployment figures is an exact proof of that. Unemployment is at four per cent. There are more people in work today and we've had greater employment growth in this country through the pandemic than any of the G7 countries, the most advanced economies in the world. And that is a testament to the way we have worked together as a team, around the National Cabinet table, to save lives and strengthen our economy.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned the unemployment figures. WA’s unemployment figure has actually gone up four points to 4.1 per cent today. So are you doing enough for jobs in WA? And what do you take from the fact that the Premier has done a public event with you today? He didn't do a public event with Anthony Albanese when he was in town. Does he think that you're going to win the election, rather than Anthony Albanese?
PRIME MINISTER: I don’t draw any of those conclusions whatsoever. What I draw from us being here today is on the many occasions we have been. We're meeting later today as we, as we often do when I'm in town to work through the usual issues as part of our partnership. I think you can simply say that we work together cooperatively in the public interest, in the national interest, and in the interest of Western Australians. We are both leaders of governments that have much to do, and for a long time now have worked out the best way to do that is to work together. And I mean, in Western Australia, I think we have a lot of commonality on the importance of having a strong economy, which supports everything else.
Just this week, $4.3 billion for the Henderson dry dock. It's a massive important commitment for the future of the Western Australian economy. More than $400 million directly coming into Western Australia in relation to the development of the critical minerals sector. And on top of that, probably the biggest partnership was working together to ensure that WA got their fair share of the GST. Now, that is something I know the Premier felt very strongly about and and it's something I feel very strongly about, Michaelia Cash, my entire Western Australian team. We took up the argument at a national interest level, and we just didn't talk about it here in Western Australia. You're not going to find anyone who disagrees with you in Western Australia, the GST deal was necessary for Western Australia. You had to be prepared to take on that argument and take on the case in the rest of the country. And I note even today that those in other states, other commentators are saying this isn't a fair deal. I disagree with them, and I know that because I constructed it, I delivered it, I legislated it. And what it means right now, as the Premier knows, is that it's $2.6 billion on average each year in additional GST for the next six years. That's $13 billion. And since we put the deal in place, it has meant $4.9 billion extra for the WA Budget. Now, that means more hospitals, it means more schools, it means health preparedness, it means all of those things. And on top of that, we put $14 billion directly in economic supports into the WA economy to support COVID. And just over $800 million to support the health response here. So that is a big investment in a big partnership, and a partnership which I think has been working well for the people of Western Australia.
JOURNALIST: Do you think our Premier's popularity over the past months damages your chances, though, here in Western Australia, come this election?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, one thing I know is after the next election, whoever you vote for, Premier McGowan’s still going to be the Premier. So this is about who's going to lead the country, and it's about federal Labor. It's not about state Labor. And there's quite a bit in common I've found working with the WA State Government when it comes to how we manage the economy, particularly on issues like deregulation and support for the resources industry and major projects, which we work well together on. And I think we've got, we’ve demonstrated that despite being from different political parties, that as professional leaders of governments, we get stuff done together for Western Australia.
JOURNALIST: What about the State Opposition? Why aren't you meeting with the State Opposition Leader? Have you spoken to her?
PRIME MINISTER: I did, I saw, yeah I have, I saw Dr Honey yesterday.
JOURNALIST: Dr Honey’s not the Opposition Leader.
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry?
JOURNALIST: Mia Davies is the State Opposition Leader.
PRIME MINISTER: I was just talking about the Liberal Leader. I meet with the Liberal Leader when I’m in, when I’m in town.
JOURNALIST: This project was actually first announced by Anthony Albanese in 2019. The Premier did not appear with Anthony Albanese when he was in Perth a couple of weeks ago, so you must be really chuffed that you're now appearing publicly alongside him, when he's so obviously snubbed the ALP Leader earlier this month?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not sort of buying in, nor is Mark, I think, to any of that commentary. You can make your own commentary. What I'm telling you is as a Prime Minister and as a Premier, we work together and we do things. And we do these things, we do lots of things together, and we have done lots of things together, and that's been to the great benefit of the people of Western Australia. But one thing I have to particularly thank Mark for and, Mark has always been a keen supporter of the National Cabinet. And I remember Mark, I think you were one of the first premiers to say, look we should get rid of this COVID thing, and we should just make this thing permanent. And we did, because it is a far more effective way, I think, for premiers, chief ministers and the Prime Minister to work together. The old system was bureaucrats and agendas being driven up from the bottom. And I, seriously, if you wanted something, some policy issue to just, you know, fade away, send it to COAG. It was certainly never going to come out of there. But with the National Cabinet, whether it's deregulation initiatives, whether it's additional investment into skills and training, whether it's the major changes we've made during COVID, sometimes in the matter of days. The reason that's worked is because premiers, the chief minister[s] and I have just sent the leaders’ level decision down into our governments and they've got the message and they've gone on with it. Now, that doesn't mean you agree with everything. Of course, that's never going to happen. I said the other day, I mean, how many of you, when you turn up to a family event means every single time you agree with everything everybody says around the table, particularly at Christmas? I mean, the federation, frankly, is not different to that. But what we have in common as Australians is far more important than the things that we have differences about. And I do thank the collaborative relationship we've had, particularly as we've dealt with the challenges of COVID and understanding the quite specific circumstances of Western Australia.
JOURNALIST: On Yuendumu, why should police be able.
PRIME MINISTER: I couldn't hear you, sorry.
JOURNALIST: Why should police be able to bring firearms into remote Aboriginal communities?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I'm going to leave those matters to the Home Affairs Minister to address. I mean, the terrible incidents that we've seen and the scenes there I know are deeply shocking and disturbing to the whole community. We have a justice system and that justice system has worked its way through, and I respect that, and I would encourage everybody to do the same. But as we sensitively handle these issues, Ken Wyatt has, I think, done an extraordinary job in managing the relations between Indigenous communities and law enforcement authorities in relation to these matters. And he will continue to.
When this incident first happened, I was spoken to Ken, he was already on a plane and he was already on his way up there to talk to leaders and to sit down and discuss these issues about how they were going to manage it through. So it's a very sensitive issue, including the matters that you raise. But ensuring that we have proper law enforcement and that people can be safe in communities, whether they're Indigenous or otherwise, is something that our Government is very committed to.
JOURNALIST: India's relatively silent on the issue of Ukraine and Russia. What do you make of that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we work closely with all of our Quad partners. I’ve already held meetings with the Quad leaders and, and India has its issues that it's addressing. But we also appreciate their calls to ensure a peaceful resolution to what's happening in Ukraine. And I note the strong feelings right across the country when it comes to Ukraine. I spoke to the Ukrainian Prime Minister yesterday. I'll be having a bit more to say in the next few days about additional support the Australian Government will be providing in this effort. The people of Ukraine have shown and their Government and their leadership, President Zelenskyy, have shown enormous grit and courage, and they're an inspiration.
And this is the second conversation I've had with the Prime Minister and also spoken to the President, and they are deeply grateful, deeply grateful for the support being provided by the Australian Government and by the Australian people, and in my own engagement with the Ukrainian organisations, including here in Western Australia just the other day, there is a deep sense of appreciation for the role that we're playing. This is, this is an, just a, an awful and illegal, unprovoked invasion by Russia into the Ukraine. And we must ensure that Russia pays the dearest price for doing this, not just to ensure justice for the Ukrainian people, but to ward off any others who want to go down that autocratic path and seek to threaten and coerce their neighbours. I can’t hear you, sorry.
JOURNALIST: Was the flood relief postponed because of your campaigning here in WA?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. It was late last, not last night but the night before, and over the course of that evening, that the request had come through from the New South Wales Government. The National Security Committee of Cabinet met for several hours yesterday. I was here in Perth and was at that meeting, as was the Attorney-General, and in working through the proposal that came forward. We've been able to finalise some arrangements today and the Minister for Emergency Management and Disaster Resilience will be making announcements further on those issues later today. That is the normal process. As I indicated to the Premier, we’ll be turning that around as quickly as possible.
The investments we've already made in New South Wales total over $1 billion, and most of that has already been directly paid. Let's not forget, I mean, today, with the Disaster Recovery Payment, we will have made payments to over a million people in response to the floods in Queensland and New South Wales, and those, those payments are heading towards a billion dollars alone. And that response has come swiftly with those payments to people who are affected, far more swiftly than we've seen before, as the Minister for Human Services will be making statements about later today when she's touring the flood-affected areas.
So we work closely with state governments, but when you're talking about the investments of hundreds of millions of dollars, and indeed billions now, then I think people would expect us to go through the proper assessment of the proposals, which we did yesterday at the National Security Committee of Cabinet. I'd advised the Premier that that's what we'd be doing, and, and then getting back to him as,as soon as possible.
But to him and Helen, I’d also, I’m sure the Premier will join me in wishing them all the best for the arrival of Celeste Grace. And that's a blessing for their seventh.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on Russia, on the sanctions, there’s reports that there were oligarchs with links to a Queensland Alumina refinery who weren't included in the initial round of sanctions. Were those.
PRIME MINISTER: We, we add the name, we add further names to the list every single day of of those with whom we're applying sanctions to, and there's a proper process for doing that. And Australia, which is a long way away from the Ukraine, but I can tell you, our support and our action has been on the leading edge of the world when it comes to standing up for Ukraine, applying those sanctions heavily.
Remember, though, the Autonomous Sanctions Act, which is effectively the Magnitsky Act, that was something we introduced as a Government to give effect and put us in a strong position to be able to respond so quickly. And so we will continue to take action on all of those to whom sanctions should be applied.
JOURNALIST: On the unemployment rate, WA’s was the lowest in the country that is up today, to 4.1 per cent. Do you attribute any of that to reputational damage as a result of the border, that at one point you did oppose in the High Court? And do you think there should be an end date to workplace vaccine mandates in WA that are the toughest in the country?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’ll leave those matters to the Premier because they’re entirely for his judgement. Because, at the end of the day, the WA Government runs the hospital system and they will assess what's best, in the best interests of protecting that hospital system. The Commonwealth provided over $800 million both on hospitals and other COVID support to the health system here in Western Australia. In terms of the economy, we saw in other states and territories when they went through their waves that that would have a short term impact on the economy. We saw it in the other states. And so that doesn't surprise me that that would have occurred in the short term here in WA. And I have no doubt that that will actually rebound quite quickly here in Western Australia. And why is that? Because we've continued to invest together in the very fabric of the Western Australian state economy, and it is very resilient. So I would consider what has occurred here in just, in that month as a very short-term impact. And I would certainly see the confidence and strength of the Western Australian state economy being able to push through and pass the Omicron wave that they’ve seen. I mean, that is just what we've seen every time around the country.
JOURNALIST: You did oppose the border at one point, though?
PRIME MINISTER: I was going to come to that. And you're right, at the start, in the early phases of the pandemic, one of the things that we learnt over the course of the pandemic is states all ended up having different experiences. And our decision, which was taken right at the start of the pandemic, followed the normal convention for engaging in any High Court action of that nature. The Premier raised his concerns with me about that and, and we ultimately agreed with him, and that's why we withdrew. And that was one of the lessons of the pandemic, that the normal things, that the normal rules that would apply, say on dealing with constitutional challenges, well, the pandemic changed all of that. And so that was an early lesson for me and my Government. And, and that's why we reversed our earlier position. And. and that was out of recognition for the very specific and appropriate pathway that Western Australia was on. So I stand absolutely. You're right to say, did the Premier convince me to change my mind? Yes, he did.
JOURNALIST: Do you plan on making any major announcements alongside Annastacia Palaszczuk or Dan Andrews ahead of the election?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let's see how, we've got, we’re doing a lot, as Paul, as Paul knows in particular. We’ll be, we'll be quite busy between now certainly and the election. We've got the Budget coming up in just just under a fortnight and, you know, I work closely with all the premiers and chief ministers. I've chaired 67 meetings of the National Cabinet. And you don't spend that much time together without, and we're not talking about, you know, 15 minute meetings, we're talking two, three hours, and in the early, it was about four hours on some occasions early on, Mark. We've spent a lot of time together, the premiers, the chief ministers and I, and we've got to know each other extremely well. And, and the overwhelming experience of that time has been one of trying to focus on, on the challenges in the national interest. And, you know, we deal with a lot of issues.
I mean, last Friday, a week, it was last Friday wasn’t it, I mean, we were dealing with, of course, the winter preparedness plan. We were dealing with the moving through the opening up of cruise shipping and all of those issues. Then we were dealing with Japanese encephalitis, and then we were dealing with lumpy skin disease in cattle in the Northern Territory. And that's just the start of it. So we work on many issues together, and I want to thank the Premier for his partnership. It's been a good partnership. It's been an honest partnership. It's been a candid partnership. Haven’t agreed on everything, but we've always been prepared to listen to each other and where, you know, I think I've had to change my view based on the Premier's representations, I certainly have. And we share one thing above all, and that is our commitment to Australia and our commitment to the people of Western Australia.
JOURNALIST: Do voters deserve to know who Labor’s Defence Minister would be after the election?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course they do. I can tell you who my Defence Minister’s going to be. It’s Peter Dutton. I can tell you who my Home Affairs Minister is going to be. It's Karen Andrews. These are two of the most important, these are the most important national security portfolios there are. And and if, you know, it's bad enough that the Australian people are not being told who the Leader of the Opposition is. But to not even know who their Defence Minister and their Home Affairs Minister is going to be, well, that's cause for pause, absolute cause for pause. But I’ll, I might leave it there because I'll leave it to the Premier, and I want to thank him again for being here today for this great announcement. Thanks a lot, Mark.