Hello everyone and welcome, particularly to the Premier of Western Australia, Roger Cook, for what is our third Cabinet meeting here in WA since our election in less than two years ago. I promised to bring Cabinet here twice, so we’ve exceeded that with two meetings here in Perth and one of course up in Port Hedland. And this is my 18th visit to Western Australia, I’ve been to Perth and Port Hedland, Karratha, Kalgoorlie, Albany, Bunbury, Fitzroy Crossing, and other places as well in this great state of WA. So I should be entitled to vote in your election next year. But, we very much appreciate the role that Western Australia plays in our national economy. You are a driving force for our economy, not just in ways that are often spoken about, in terms of minerals and resources, but in value adding in manufacturing, in defence, in service delivery and in the leadership that you provide as well in areas like tourism and employment and Indigenous affairs. And we have a very close relationship with the WA Government. At the National Cabinet last year, we cemented in December, not just fixing up the other States, because we have the long term commitment to WA getting your fair share of the GST in recognition of the role that you play in our national economy. But for other States, as well, we resolved those issues going forward. But in addition to that, we had important reforms, particularly in health, where we came to an agreement not for one five year agreement, but four two five year agreements, lifting the Commonwealth’s share, up to 45 per cent over that period. In addition to that the reform of the National Disability Insurance Scheme to make sure that it’s sustainable into the future in terms that of service delivery. And we look forward very much to continuing to work with you. Ministers have been out and about, I think Minister Bowen was up in Karratha with the hydrogen project, a great example of how WA is positioned to benefit from the global economic changes that we are seeing. You have a range of resources that will be in demand. And we need to make sure in areas like nickel, where I visited the nickel refinery with the then Premier Mark McGowan and the Prime Minister of Japan, Kishida, during his bilateral visit here, not that long ago. We need to make sure that industries like that, which have an important role to play in our future, continue, but also that we have newer industries like hydrogen continue as well. I’m really excited about the prospects for Australia during this decade, that can set us up for the decades ahead and no state is better positioned to continue to grow than the great state of Western Australia. So, welcome Premier.
ROGER COOK, PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER: We’ve had a long, close relationship going back many decades. And it’s a privilege to be able to work together in the positions that we now hold.
PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Thank you very much, Prime Minister, and I’d say welcome back, but it’s almost as if you haven’t been away. It’s wonderful to have you and the Cabinet back in Western Australia. And as we’re often prone to say, welcome to the engine room of the nation’s economy. And we are very excited to have you all to be able to continue to see the great potential for Western Australia. This is an exciting place to be at the moment, as we continue to capitalise on our traditional resource base, but also looked to the future and how we can continue to diversify our economy, but particularly for the energy transition. And as you observed, the energy transition represents the opportunity to really transform our economy. And from that perspective, your leadership and your support in relation to that journey is greatly appreciated. I think we also need to acknowledge that not only in addition to great work that you’ve done in health, unfortunately the Education Minister isn’t here but I was going to make the observation
PRIME MINISTER: Storms in Sydney.
PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: I’m a little jealous of their rain. We’ve also just recently announced the full funding for what we call full Gonski in relation to our public education. And that is an extraordinary achievement and one in which we’re very proud to be working with your Government to make sure that we got across the line. So, right across all our policy areas, I just want to thank you for the great working relationship we have with your Government, and look forward to continuing to work with you for some more success into the future.
