: Well, it’s great to welcome the Prime Minister here to Thornlie TAFE, the largest TAFE campus in the South Metro, and a really important facility here, providing Fee-Free TAFE courses across my local community here in Burt in the south east suburbs of Perth. We’ve got over 10,000, 14,000 people that work in trades, technical skills, often on the mines. We’ve got over 11,000 people working in personal support roles, whether it’s NDIS, in our hospitals, aged care facilities, supporting people and kids in early childhood education. And TAFEs like this one are so vitally important to providing that opportunity for people to get the skills they need for the jobs of today and the jobs of the future. And that’s just what we’ve been looking at right now with the Prime Minister, and Simone McGurk, the State Minister as well, and Chris Tallentire, our local State Member. Giving the opportunity of these Fee-Free TAFE courses is life changing, not just for the individuals, but as so many of those industries know, whether it’s mining, early childhood, so many different areas, we need to get people into those roles. And getting these students who we’ve just been talking to today into these roles, giving them that opportunity, filling those areas where we’re seeing skills crisis and a lack of people coming in, we’re fixing that right here in our local community and across Western Australia with TAFEs just like this. And it’s so great to have the Prime Minister here to see the great work that we’re doing. Over to you, PM.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks very much, Matt. And it’s great to be here with you and with Simone. And I thank TAFE for having us here at this wonderful facility. This is a facility that’s about opportunity. It’s about an opportunity for people to earn more through good jobs. It’s about training Australians for the jobs of the future in skills that we need. And that’s why we committed to during the election campaign and after the Jobs and Skills Summit, we upped that to 180,000 Fee-Free TAFE places. We didn’t just deliver it, we smashed it. 300,000 Fee-Free TAFE places put in place last year. And starting from this year, another 300,000 Fee-Free TAFE places in areas such as the skills that we met today in electrical, in engineering, in computers and technology, but also in the care sector, in aged care, in child care, all of those skills that Australians need. What this is doing is preparing some young people straight out of school for their first job, but it’s doing something else as well. We met people today who are being retrained, who found out about Fee-Free TAFE and said, ‘I know I’m going to have a crack at a job in the mining sector through electrical work’, and that is such a good thing. Good for them, but good for the economy as well. The other good news, of course, is that for those people, like a couple of the TAFE students we met today, they’ve already got jobs. So they’re studying through TAFE with Fee-Free and they’re starting to work on a part-time basis as part of their entry into their new careers. Guess what? They’re going to get a tax cut as well. Yesterday, I met with retail workers, many of whom are under $45,000 a year. Every taxpayer will get a tax cut and average workers will get double the tax cut they were going to get. We want Australians and West Australians to earn more and to keep more of what they earn. Peter Dutton wants people to work longer for less. He wants people to be on call 24 hours a day, regardless of whether there are appropriate arrangements in place or not. Well, we in the Labor Party stand for looking after middle Australia and that’s where our tax cuts are firmly aimed. It’s part of our cost of living measures, along with Fee-Free TAFE, along with cheaper child care, along with our energy price relief plan, along with the measures, including the tripling of the bulk billing incentive, the opening of Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, all of these measures are making a difference. Cheaper medicines have seen Australians save over quarter of a billion dollars over the last year. We have a comprehensive plan for a strong economy. It’s about training Australians for the jobs of the future. It’s about people earning more with wages rising. It’s about taking pressure off people as well, with lower taxes for every taxpayer. It’s about making sure as well that we can do all of that because of our fiscal responsibility. The first Budget surplus in 15 years. All of these measures are really positive. And what makes it even better is that we’re working with State and Territory Governments, including with Roger Cook’s Government here. We’re working very closely with the WA Government to make sure that Australians can all benefit from the measures that we’re putting in place. A cooperative approach, rather than looking for fights, looking for solutions, which is what we have done with Western Australia. Under first Mark McGowan and now under Roger Cook’s Government.
SIMON MCGURK, WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MINISTER FOR TRAINING AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT: Thank you Prime Minister. There’s no better and clearer message that we could send the West Australian community that we want them to train than to be offering Fee Free TAFE. And we’ve met some fantastic examples of that this morning. Reece, Chad, Carol, students who made the decision to go into technology, to go into the disciplines of automotion, both operations and programming, as a result of our Fee-Free courses. And those courses are also a result of excellent cooperation between the Federal Government, we’re very grateful, Prime Minister, for the work that your Government has done to work with the State Government, to be able to offer free courses. And to offer a significant investment in our vocational training sector, both in heavily discounted courses for the State Government, putting huge infrastructure upgrades throughout our TAFEs, nearly quarter of a billion dollars in infrastructure upgrades, all sending the message that we want people to train, we want West Australians to train, to fill the skills that we need. We met students who had not made the decision before about what they would do. They heard about Fee-Free courses and they decided to give it a go. And now, as a result of the Fee-Free, for instance, in the Cert II and Cert IV, in automation, in operations and programming, we’ve got over 200 students in the metropolitan area alone doing this work. These are skills vital for our mining sector. We know that operations, remote operations, are now a critical part of our mining sector. They’re crucial for our energy sector. They’re crucial for a whole range of different industries across the state. We want our industries to be competitive. We want them to be able to find the employees that they need who have got the right skills. And we’re working at every level, through our local TAFE colleges, to work with industry, to understand what those skills are and then to offer the courses that are available. I thank the Federal Government for their investment and for their level of cooperation, which can only benefit West Australians for the future.
PRIME MINISTER: Great. Thanks very much. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Should the Nationals be reprimanding Perin Davey for her appearance in Parliament the other day?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I will leave that to the National Party to deal with. I think that all Parliamentarians have a responsibility to act in a way that shows respect for the people who send us to Parliament.
JOURNALIST: Does Parliament have a booze culture problem? And should alcohol be banned, at least during sitting hours?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there is no alcohol in my office. Tim Gartrell put that in place a long time ago as my Chief of Staff. I think that there are events in Parliament House. A bit of common sense should apply. People are adults and they should behave responsibly like any adult should.
JOURNALIST: Do you accept that there is some uneasiness from WA about the GST share. And will you sign the West’s front page pledge to deliver the GST share in full?
PRIME MINISTER: On the first, no I don’t. I think that, congratulations on getting a front page, but we actually have put in place not just the definition for WA, the certainty that’s there, we even provided the last National Cabinet, every State and Territory, with their no worse off GST guarantee funding. That was worked through. So, I don’t know if people paid attention to that, but it occurred at that time. I’d be happy, I reckon you should get a tat and get a signature on the tat. I’d be happy to sign your arm, if you like. Happy to sign. No, if you’re going to take it seriously and if we’re going to have a stunt, let’s do a good one. Let’s go to a tattoo parlour. We can get it tattooed on. Or if you like, I can do it by Texta, whatever you would like. I’m offering you something better. I’m offering you something much better. I’ve got pens. Here you go. Here you go. Give us your arm. Come on.
JOURNALIST: But you won’t sign the pledge.
PRIME MINISTER: I’m happy to do whatever. You got a real one there. Get a tat. Get it. Serious. You want something permanent, let’s get serious. I’m worried about your lack of commitment here, that you won’t go and get a tat, but anyway, the offers are available.
JOURNALIST: In all seriousness, is it frustrating that your amendments to stage three have inevitable cast aversion on your word on the GST?
PRIME MINISTER: But they haven’t, because it’s very clear. And what’s clear as well, you might have noticed this, is that the Liberal Party and Peter Dutton voted for our changes to tax last week. That went through the Parliament, completely, unanimously went through the House of Representatives. Even One nation are supporting the changes that we put in place. And we put those changes in place because of cost of living pressures on people here in WA. We put those measures in place so that every low income earner, earning $45,000 a year, would get a tax cut. We put it in place so every average worker would get double the tax cut that they were going to get. This was not an easy decision. It was the right decision, done for the right reasons, at the right time. And what West Australians can trust and Australians can trust me to do as Prime Minister is not to just do the easy stuff, not to be like my opponent, where he just complains and gets aggressive and he’s so angry about so many things, Peter Dutton, in life, so angry. Everything is overblown. There is no issue too big for him to not show how small he is and the lack of vision which is there. He’s always aggressive, always negative and nothing positive to say. So, he’ll run a series of scare campaigns over the next year because that is all he’s got. He has not put forward a single positive notion. I went to the National Press Club and said, I have changed my mind for economic policy reasons about the tax cuts. Peter Dutton changed his mind because of political reasons. He then continues to criticise, but then voted for it. Peter Dutton has not been to the National Press Club. I’ve been nine times as Labor Leader. Peter Dutton has not given a serious policy speech on any area, on any area, in any forum, any lecture. I’ve done the Whitlam Lecture, I’ve done serious speeches around the country, made myself available. He has not. We saw when he did one interview on 7:30 and it was a train wreck because it wasn’t just sympathetic journalists bowling up full tosses and him saying, ‘Yes, I agree with you’. This is not an alternative Government. This is just someone who is showing every day that he’s actually not up to putting forward any positive vision for the future.
JOURNALIST: You’ve cited changing economic circumstances for that change to the stage three tax cuts, what would need to happen economically for you to decide to tinker with that GST deal?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, none. It won’t.
JOURNALIST: You’re ruling out any changes?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JOURNALIST: That seems absurd.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it’s a pretty clear answer for you.
JOURNALIST: Why won’t you be more transparent on the border protection and did the boats get through undetected because there is a resourcing issue?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. Complete nonsense once again here from Peter Dutton. No responsibility. And indeed the head of Operation Sovereign Borders has been very clear in his comments over the weekend in calling out behaviour which would draw into question and do nothing, can’t be seen as anything other than encouraging people smuggling operations. What we did was we went to an election saying those measures would be put in place. During the election campaign, the then Government said that we wouldn’t do that, said we would dismantle it. None of that has occurred. Those measures are all in place. The people who were unauthorised arrivals into Western Australia just days ago now find themselves on Nauru and they will not be settled here in Australia. We have clear positions in place. We’ll continue to do so. Petter Dutton will continue to be a cheer squad for things that actually undermine our borders. And last week, of course, there was a report by Dennis Richardson that outlined his period as Minister for Home Affairs, where hundreds of millions of dollars went to people of very shady character with an extraordinary waste of government resources. What we have done is to have to clean up the mess that Peter Dutton left, who always talked big, always talked aggressively, but didn’t put in place appropriate care for where Australian taxpayer’s funds were going.
JOURNALIST: What did you say to Peter Dutton’s argument that you’ve closed down an important pillar to Operations Sovereign Borders by abolishing temporary protection visas?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it just shows the absurdity of his argument. Are these people on temporary protection visas? No, they’re on Nauru. They’re on Nauru. People who arrive, people who arrive by boat get sent offshore. That’s the measures we’re put in place together with boat turnbacks, redepositing people back in other places. Those measures are all in place. And by definition, Peter Dutton’s arguments are absurd because they don’t match what’s actually happened.
JOURNALIST: It appears, though, that people smuggler tactics have changed. Is there a need for Australia to change the way it monitors the coastline?
PRIME MINISTER: They will always change. People smugglers are part of an evil trade. They’re trading in people. And they are prepared to see people risk their lives in order for them to make a profit. They will constantly try to change. What we will do is constantly be vigilant and ensure that the message is very firmly sent, as we have on this occasion. We won’t comment on the operational matters that are in place. But now that these people clearly have been sent to Nauru, then that sends a very clear message that the way to get to Australia is not by boat in an unauthorised fashion. It will simply lead people to see people smugglers get profits, but no gain.
JOURNALIST: On nickel, Prime Minister, can you confirm that you are looking at tax credits for nickel miners and do you have any kind of update on the timeline?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’re looking. I won’t comment on the specifics because they’ll be part of discussions. But what we’re looking for is smart, targeted and time limited support for the nickel industry. We know this is a short-term issue that’s arisen because Indonesia has increased its share of the global nickel market by more than ten times. And that’s had an impact on the market which the Government and industry needs to respond to. I’ve had a couple of discussions with the Premier here over the last week. He’ll be coming to our Cabinet meeting this afternoon. We’ll continue to discuss with industry. Madeleine King is a great Resources Minister, a great West Australian, is all over this, making sure that we have an appropriate response, and we’ll work those issues through.
JOURNALIST: Mines are closing down now, jobs are at risk now. How far off are you on announcing a package? Will it occur on your trip to Perth?
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll make appropriate responses at an appropriate time. Working through with industry, working through a response that ensures that Australia needs to have an ongoing industry in nickel as one of the resources that will be so important for the 21st century, along with cobalt and lithium and vanadium and copper and these resources that Australia has, that puts us in a very strong position going forward.
JOURNALIST: How is it a short-term issue? How will Australia remain competitive sustainably with markets like Indonesia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they’re the issues that we’re working through with industry. What we don’t need is a response that lasts a day or two. We do need a response, though, that gets through these issues. Can I say that one big advantage that industry has here is that our nickel production processes are far less emissions intensive than Indonesia, so we have a competitive advantage there. These are all factors that need to be considered going forward when we decide in the way in which we’ll support Australian industry.
JOURNALIST: Have you spoken to the new Indonesian President since his election and if not, would you raise the nickel industry?
PRIME MINISTER: I was the first person to speak to the Indonesian President elect. He doesn’t take office until October, and they’re still counting the ballot in Indonesia. We have a good relationship with Indonesia. My Industry Minister was up in Indonesia very recently.
JOURNALIST: Did you raise with nickel with him?
PRIME MINISTER: Again, we’ve had this in other contexts. What I don’t do when I talk to world leaders is go to a media conference and discuss all of the details of it. We have readouts of the formal meetings that are held, when we have private conversations, that is how you have a successful diplomatic relationship. And it compares with what occurred under my predecessor, where we’ve been busy repairing relations with countries going forward. The President of Indonesia is President Widodo, and he will be the President until October.
JOURNALIST: Will WA’s ship building industry be a winner of the imminent naval review? And is China a target of that review?
PRIME MINISTER: That review is about Australia’s national interest, not about any other individual nation. We’ll be making a response later this week, and WA will certainly be a big beneficiary of what we are doing across the board at Henderson and other places.
JOURNALIST: Just back on nickel, would your Government consider imposing any kind of tariffs on vehicle manufacturing?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve said we’ll consider, we’re giving policy consideration to this, I won’t go into specifics. We’ll come up with the position and then we’ll announce it. And then you’ll, if it’s done at an appropriate time. If not, you can do online, question us at an appropriate time. But we’re working through these issues. This is something, as people would be aware, that has emerged. I attended the refinery there at Kwinana not long ago with the Japanese Prime Minister as Prime Minister. Then it wasn’t envisaged these issues at that time. So, we’ll respond appropriately.
JOURNALIST: The Opposition claim the reason why the boat got through was because surveillance flights have been reduced. Is that the case?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Opposition are just full of nonsense and they should stop being a cheer squad for people, encouraging people smuggling. What we have in place is Operation Sovereign Borders is there. And they’ve had a different line every few hours, so I’ll wait for the next one. But the thing that they have in common is that they have undermined, as the head of Operation Sovereign Borders has said, undermined the message that goes out to the world. Now, I saw Peter Dutton give comments saying that people smugglers have a look at what the Government is saying. That’s true. What the Government is saying is Operation Sovereign Borders is in place and no one who’s an unauthorised arrival will be allowed to settle here. But I tell you, the other thing they do is that they market comments from someone like Peter Dutton, who’s a former Minister, who knows exactly what the impact of these comments are and yet he’s so irresponsible that he’s prepared to do it. Peter Dutton needs to stop acting in such an irresponsible, opportunistic way in trying to seize some short-term political advantage in a way that just does not promote Australia’s national interest. For all of his rhetoric over the weekend, yesterday every single one of these people was disembarked in Nauru in accordance with the Government’s policy, in quite a great deal of contradiction from what Mr Dutton was saying yesterday and on Saturday. Now, if people smugglers want to take those grabs from Mr Dutton and show them to people, that’s called a marketing tool. Peter Dutton knows he’s part of a marketing tool for those people. I won’t be a part of that, nor should he. Thanks very much.
