Good morning everyone. Here in Nowra, at the New South Wales Labor Country Conference, I’m delighted to be here today with Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia, coming to my hometown here, and delivering a wonderful address to members here at Country Conference. I’m thrilled to have Anthony here. It’s been a huge couple of weeks in Parliament, particularly around tax cuts, where we know that 87% of taxpayers in Gilmore will be getting a bigger tax cut under Labor. So thrilled to hear the reception here today. I’ve had wonderful feedback from people in the community, just coming up to me and saying what a difference this is going to make to people’s lives. So they’re really, really happy for this change, and just to provide that cost of living relief that they so desperately need, so I’ll hand over to Anthony.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well thanks very much, Fiona. It is great to be here in Nowra. Yesterday, I was in Newcastle. One of the things that characterises regional Australia is that they’re welcoming communities. They’re engaged. And they know that this Labor Government is determined to make a difference to them. Our cost of living tax cuts will give every single Australian taxpayer a tax cut. All 13.6 million of them, not just some. And people in regional Australia will particularly benefit from these cost of living tax cuts. The Coalition, first they said they’d fight them and oppose them, then they said they’d roll them back, then they continued to criticise them, before they voted for them. Well, we have made this decision because it’s the right decision, it’s the right decision that will see those workers who are getting those tax cuts spend money creating jobs in the small businesses here in Nowra, and around their local communities. They will see those tax cuts taking pressure off the cost of living, because Labor wants people to earn more and to keep more of what they earn. The Coalition want Australians to work longer for less. That is the great divide in Australian politics. And we’ve seen that with their stated opposition to the tax cuts before they voted for them. The amendment they moved to remove the words ‘cost of living’ from the title of the legislation, and their opposition to right-to-disconnect – they want workers to have to be on call 24 hours a day, regardless of the circumstances which are there between workers and employers. The National Party have abandoned the interests of regional New South Wales and regional Australia, as have the Liberal Party. We saw on Nemesis the rolling, internal fights that characterised the last Abbott-Turnbull and Morrison Governments. They weren’t concerned about people here in Nowra, or in regional New South Wales. What they were concerned about was themselves, just their internal fights and chaos and dysfunction. You had over that four and a half hours of that documentary, no mention of the needs of the Australian people, no moving forward on issues including workplace relations, dealing with the environment, and the challenge of climate change, dealing with all of these issues. They were just focused on themselves, which is why they’re unworthy. And all of those people are still sitting on Peter Dutton’s depleted, that must be said, frontbench. So dysfunctional are they still, that there have been vacancies on Peter Dutton’s front bench for a year now that he hasn’t been able to fill, because in order to do that, there would be internal fighting within the Liberal and National Party. Well, we’re focused on the needs of the people of Gilmore here, through Fiona Phillips, our fantastic local member who celebrates her birthday today, and for the people throughout regional New South Wales and regional Australia. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, I just have some questions from our Canberra colleagues – regarding the boat arrivals in WA, how many foreign nationals have been detained in WA?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Operation Sovereign Borders is being implemented. We’ll have more to say on that shortly. But I do note the comments of the Commander of Operation Sovereign Borders who has made very strong comments about the need for politics – politicians – to not politicise national security. Peter Dutton is someone who is showing, with his overblown rhetoric and with his overreach on this issue, showing that he’s not interested in outcomes or in the Australian national interest. As usual, he’s just interested in politics.
JOURNALIST: Are authorities confident that all foreign nationals have been found now?
PRIME MINISTER: Operation Sovereign Borders is underway. We won’t comment on those operational matters. You’ll see a response shortly from the Operation Sovereign Borders Command about what has occurred there over the last 24 hours. But we’re very confident that Operation Sovereign Borders remains in place. We are implementing the policies that we said we would before the election. And this is just the latest demonstration of it.
JOURNALIST: Can you confirm they’ve been flown to Nauru?
PRIME MINISTER: There will be an announcement about operational matters very soon. And that, quite rightly, will be made by Operation Sovereign Borders Command. And that is why the Commander there who I spoke with again this morning, will appropriately make those comments, but he’s also made very strong comments about the responsibility that people have in public life to not send the wrong message to the people smugglers. Now, Peter Dutton needs to think very carefully about the role that he is playing. And I think it’s there for all to see, whether he’s interested in the national interest or interested in just playing politics.
JOURNALIST: Sky News is reporting that Nationals Deputy Leader, Perin Davey, has admitted to drinking alcohol before appearing before a Parliamentary Committee. Have you gone back to the Chamber or completed work activities in Parliament after having a drink?
PRIME MINISTER: I behave responsibly, as should all members of Parliament. And, I think, when you’re at work, your job is to work, and – like any other Australian workplace – people will look at that footage, or other footage that went around recently, and make up their own mind. I think that politicians have a responsibility to think about the great honour that we have of representing our electorates.
JOURNALIST: Should drinking be banned in Parliament?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I was asked a question about this this week. And I think people are accountable for their actions. They’re up for election every three years. And I think that the constituents, whether it be in the House of Representatives or the Senate, will make up their own mind based on a range of factors including personal behaviour. But I think that when you are a Member of Parliament, you’re by definition an adult. You’re someone who has a great deal of responsibility, and it’s important that we show respect for the people that sent us to Parliament.
JOURNALIST: To Dunkley, Peter Dutton is at the Liberal Party Dunkley campaign launch. Are the Liberals at all a threat to Labor in retaining that seat?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Peter Dutton, of course, is trying to run a campaign once again just based upon fear, based upon scare campaigns, based upon misinformation, because the people of Dunkley know that the Liberal Party have nothing positive to offer the Australian people. They’ve opposed every cost of living measure, including that in health – Dunkley has an Urgent Care Clinic, you have Frankston Hospital being rebuilt, an extraordinary effort by Labor there to do that. You have the changes that have been made to cheaper childcare, you have our energy price relief plan, you have in addition fee free TAFE, with 300,000 TAFE places being done fee free, including at Chisholm TAFE. But importantly as well, the people of Dunkley know that Labor has ensured that every taxpayer in Dunkley will get a tax cut. That’s something that the Liberal Party would never have thought of. They would have just left people behind. And that’s why someone like Jodie Belyea, is an outstanding candidate. She was recruited to the Labor Party by the late Peta Murphy. Peta Murphy is someone who is dearly missed by the Labor Party, by her Parliamentary colleagues I believe across the spectrum, but certainly by her electorate, whether that be at Carrum Downs, whether it be in Frankston, and around those communities. She was an outstanding Local Member, because she fought for that local community. Jodie Belyea will do exactly the same, carry on that work. And it stands in stark contrast with the bloke, once again, that the Liberal Party have selected, who, as Mayor has supported three rate increases, has never missed an opportunity to make cost of living pressures worse on the people of Dunkley. Jodie Belyea will make things better, will be a voice in Government, the Liberal Party have chosen this bloke who’s never missed an opportunity to increase costs by increasing rates to the maximum amount that he could, there in Dunkley.
JOURNALIST: To housing, the Greens say that your Help-to-Buy scheme “screws over” the vast majority of people. Will you negotiate to ensure the policy passes the Parliament?
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll be putting our legislation to the Parliament. The Greens can vote for it, or they can vote against it. If they vote against it, they’ll be voting against helping Australians into home ownership. It’s as simple as that. I think people are seeing through the Greens, where they offer nothing positive. They pretend to take credit whenever Government does something positive. And on this issue, on Help-to-Buy, we’ll literally help Australians into homeownership by having a shared equity scheme that works successfully, in WA, in Victoria, here in New South Wales, our Commonwealth scheme will allow for up to 40% of shared equity being taken by the Commonwealth. That means instead of paying for 100%, effectively upfront, through your deposit and your loan to buy a home, you only need 60%. And then, at some time in the future, under shared equity schemes, you can get a greater share of that equity. It’s good policy, it helps people in home ownership, it’s been successful as well, in ensuring that that capital, that investment, by the Commonwealth will be retained over a period of time so taxpayers’ interests are protected. This is a scheme that will work. And I noticed that the Greens won’t talk about this particular legislation. They’ll talk about something else, well, just like they held up support for increased investment in social homes, in public housing, and affordable housing, now they’re saying they’re going to hold up increased home ownership. Well, the key to dealing with housing is supply, the Greens have no answer on supply. We’re working on a comprehensive plan – increased investment in public housing, increased home ownership, support for private build-to-rent through tax incentives for the private sector to build to rent, increase rent assistance, that largest increase in 30 years. We have a comprehensive plan through our national housing accord – 1.2 million additional homes. We have a comprehensive plan for housing, they just have slogans, which is why they’re a party of slogans. We’re a party of Government that’s interested in making a difference.
JOURNALIST: Do you have any reaction to the pre-selection loss for sitting Liberal MP Ian Goodenough in WA?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is just the latest example flowing on from Nemesis, on the ABC, of a political party that is focused just on itself. Here you have a sitting Member, the only sitting Member in that northern area of Perth. I’ll be visiting Perth later today. Ian Goodenough has represented that electorate for 10 years, and now he’s been thrown out by his own political party from endorsement, for a bloke who ran against him in pre-selection last time, wasn’t successful, so shopped around for a seat. He shopped around and ran for another seat, which was a marginal Labor seat that he turned into a safe Labor seat. And they’ve rewarded him for getting a 9% swing to the Labor Party by endorsing him over the top of a sitting member who’s done nothing wrong, who’s done nothing wrong. There’s no suggestion he’s done anything wrong, Mr Goodenough. Mr Goodenough is well known to me, and for him to be discarded and treated with no respect the way that he has, he’s been a loyalist of the Liberal Party for a long period of time. Well, Labor will be running a strong campaign in Moore, because we know that the Liberal Party are too busy fighting each other to fight for the interests of the people of Moore. We will have a strong candidate and I believe that that is an electorate that deserves proper representation, deserves not to be represented by a bloke, who was a member for Stirling, tried to run for the electorate of Moore, then ran for the electorate of Cowan, and now is shopping himself back for the electorate of Moore again. Politics is something that isn’t just – you go to a shop and you pick off a variety, and the Tim Tams aren’t available so you go for the Chocolate Montes. That’s the way they’re treating the people of Moore. This woman here, has lived in this community her whole life, part of a dairy farming family. She represents this community. I represent the inner west of Sydney where I’ve lived my whole life. I didn’t shop around for an electorate. This bloke, I think the treatment of Mr Goodenough is a disgrace, and it’s typical of the Liberal Party who are just obsessed by themselves. Thanks.
