Campaign Transcript

TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER PRESS CONFERENCE PERTH 16 AUGUST 2013 E & O E PROOF ONLY _____________________________________________________________ Subjects: National Floating Systems Research Centre; Oil and Gas Innovation Partnership; Northern Australia; Tax Policy; Ord River; election campaign; preferences; Bob Katter _____________________________________________________________ PRIME MINISTER & KIM CARR PERTH ABC24 16 AUGUST 2013 KYM BILLS: My name is Kym Bills, and I'm CEO of the Western Australian Energy Research Alliance, which next month will celebrate 10 months of working collaboratively between the CSIRO, Curtin and the University of Western Australia. Most of our work is linked to the upstream oil and gas industry and trying to make a real difference in terms of research, development and education. We've been built over that 10 years with the support of Western Australian and Commonwealth Government funding. Quite recently, last year in September, Minister Evans announced $48.4 million in Commonwealth Education Investment Fund support to establish a national geo-sequestration laboratory based here, which is responsible for the science around keeping carbon dioxide underground for a thousand-plus years and therefore taking it out of the atmosphere where it's obviously a greenhouse gas of concern. Only last week, Minister Car announced for our partners two major things in relation to the Pawsey Supercomputer Centre just slightly up the hill there and also funding in terms of the Science and Industry Endowment Fund for the advanced resources characterisation facility. On behalf of the WA:ERA joint venture and its collaborators. I'm delighted that the Prime Minister and senior ministers are here today to make further important announcements and invite him to do so. PM: Thanks, Kym. It's great to be back in Perth and great to be back here at this fantastic facility, and to see Kym Bills again, who I have known for many, many years in different capacities.

In fact, if you want the real oil on what I was like as a junior diplomat back in 1981, we joined the Foreign Service together. He went on to pursue a very predictable, stable and successful career. I've taken the roller-coaster called political life. Wise man, Kym. It's great to be back in WA which is the centre of Australia's economic dynamism. Also here at the Australian Resources Research Centre, which is itself a centre of extraordinary innovative research. It's always exciting to be around this place to see what we're doing new for the future - new industries - new jobs. Also good to be hear, of course, with my ministerial colleagues, Kim Carr and Gary Gray, and John Bisset, our candidate for Swan, and Senator Mark Bishop as well who's with us too. And other distinguished guests I want to acknowledge here today, Peter Robertson from Shell, Shannon O'Rourke from Woodside, Stedman Ellis from APPEA, John DAgostino from Shell as well, also the Vice-Chancellor of the UWA, Deputy ViceChancellor of John Curtin University, Stephen Rogers from AIMS and of course our friends from CSIRO as well. This is a fantastic facility for Australias future. And what I've been talking about since I returned to the Prime Ministership awhile ago is about how we transition Australia into the future. How do we deal with the great challenges which arise from the ending of the China mining boom and build the new industries and new jobs of the future. That's the core economic challenge for the future. You can pretend to ignore it. I don't think that gets you very far. Or you can anticipate it and do things about it. That's what we're on about it. We manage the great transitions in Australia's economic history - we've done it in the past and now we must do it again. So far in the last week, those of you who every been traveling with me, will know I've been outlining how we will be building the new industries, jobs and skills of the future. I've spoken about how we pre-position and position our young people to have the skills necessary to enter into formal vocational education and training. I have been speaking about how we acquire the new manufacturing skills of the future. Ive been speaking about how we acquire new industries and jobs in agribusiness such as the expansion of the Ord into its third stage. Ive been talking about how we develop further Northern Australia and the Northern Territory by ensuring that weve got the most beneficial business conditions possible, including how we provide appropriate tax support for companies being headquartered in the Northern Territory, and also the possibility of doing something similar with zonal tax rebates in WA and in Queensland as well. Northern Australia, critical to the future. On top of that, we have of course now been talking about skills and the formation of our future work force through a network of 500 apprenticeship training centres right across Australia's school system. So we are doing practical things from across the industry

sectors, across the skill sectors, to anticipate, respond to and get ahead of the transition which is necessary from the end of the China mining boom. Of course, as we build our infrastructure for the future, there is a different script offered by our political opponents - which is as we build for the future, their response is to cut, cut and cut. Let me just give you a a couple of examples which are highly relevant here in Perth. If I look across Perth and WA we're building the National Broadband Network. Mr Abbott says he will cut the National Broadband Network and throw people back onto clapped-out copper instead. We're in the business of building the schools of the future through the Better Schools Plan. And I know in Gary's electorate and in the electorate of Swan, this means a huge investment in local schools. And Mr Abbott says he's going to cut billions out of that. For the families going to schools, we're building the support systems for them necessary through practical things like the Schoolkids Bonus. But what instead we have in response is cutting the Schoolkids Bonus to zero, so that a family is therefore effectively over time $15,000 worse off. We're building the health and hospital systems of the future. We're building Medicare Locals, including in this part of Perth as well, 50 front-line health workers but Mr Abbott's response is that he will cut that to zero, as he will abolish the entire Medicare Local network. So you see, when it comes to building for the future, including the fairness of our workplaces through the Fair Work Act, we believe that's the right balance. Mr Abbotts response - he wants to cut penalty rate and overtime when he talks about changing the Fair Work Act back to what he describes as the centre. Thats whats at stake in this election. We build for the future, they cut, cut and cut to the bone. Now here in this great facility in Perth we're talking about how we build this as a new great centre for the future economy of WA and Australia. We're talking about how we take the great skills in the mining services sector and the oil and gas services sector and turn those into whole new industries and with new jobs which service the global mining industry, not just the physicality of extraction here or offshore, but selling the services through the mining services industry right across the world. And what is so exciting here is that you see some of the extraordinary technological skills which are on offer and being sold already. Today I announce that we are going to be investing some $30 million to establish the National Floating Systems Research Centre here in Perth.

We believe that this is going to be a huge potential export platform for services for the future. Led by CSIRO and the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the focus will be here on applying new technologies to lift productivity in the sector. If you looked with me before at what they are doing with basic analysis of rocks mechanics rocks structure and how they respond to different pressures - that's about how you most productively locate the best way of accessing an oil and gas reserve with least cost to the company concerned. That service is now beginning to be sold around the world from here. Thank you to our rock mechanic over there, he was a terrific exponent of what he does. Big rocks, little rocks, hard rocks, soft rocks - it was great. That equals new jobs. That equals new industries. That equals new opportunities for young people. And I think it's terrifically exciting. Also, Australia's on track to be one of the first nations in the world to deploy floating LNG technologies, building industries and jobs for the future as well. So, I'm proud of what we are doing to partner here with this extraordinary group including from industry, including from the research institutes to build a new industry with new jobs for the future. No. 2 - a new oil and gas innovation partnership will be located in Perth. We're investing $16 million in this to drive innovation, to lift competitiveness and create a world class innovation precinct. This is so important because Gary, in particular, as our Resources and Energy Minister knows, and is a great exponent for the industry here in the west and nationwide - the oil and gas industry is investing $200 billion over five years and creating 100,000 jobs. By 2025, this will add even further as well as providing a further base for tax revenue for the nation, so, this has potential to create even 150,000 jobs in the future. And where the real future does lie, beyond physical extraction and sale of the resource itself and the energy itself, is the services industries which grow up around it involving such bright folks that we are here to assist and co-invest with today. The partnership brings together 35 big names in the oil and gas business, including Woodside, Shell, Santos, UWA, Curtin University and of course the CSIRO itself. Small and medium enterprises will be involved, and nodes will be connected - Brisbane, Darwin, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. So in summary on this, I'm about building the new industries and jobs of the future in the oil and gas services industry, rather than simply cut, cut, cutting and cutting to the bone. I will ask my ministerial colleagues to add briefly, I will conclude with a few general remarks then we'll go to questions. MINISTER CARR: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. This is two great initiatives whereby we give meaning to that concept of bringing white coat together with bluecollar.

We have the leaders of the resource sector working with the leaders of the research community, providing opportunities for Australians to participate in the new waves of industry that are coming across the globe - for us to be world leaders in that regard, so with access to 150,000 extra jobs. Now, in contrast we have the policies of our opponents which would take money from research, take money from universities, take money from the $500 million precincts program on which this program is based. So they have a policy of actually cutting back. They can't do any of these things because they won't have the money, because of the cuts that they are making. MINISTER GRAY: Thanks Prime Minister. Thanks Kim. This is an exciting set of announcements. This announcement helps takes Western Australia to the next level in hydro-carbons and off-shore technologies. What it does is it takes the fundamental concept that we all as Australians must be aware of, and that is that in our marketplaces in northern Asia we're under stress and under pressure from competing resources from other parts of the globe. And what this technological investment does, is it allows us to shift a generation, a step gear, in how we produce our export energy commodities. It's about productivity. It's about efficiency. It's about jobs. And it's about service exports. It's about the future for a broadly-based industry that is the future of our nation and of our state. PM: Thanks very much Gary. Just to conclude on a few broader points then Ill be happy to take your questions. Of course were here with John Bisset, our candidate for Swan and Ive talked before about how we're building the nation up - the other mob are interested in cutting it into smaller pieces. That applies in local communities and I've said it in other parts of Australia and I will say it again here, how this works here locally in this part of Perth. What we're talking about here is building new job and new industries and new skills here in this part of Perth through this investment in this practical innovation partnership. Mr Abbott is committed to cutting this innovation partnership. They don't support it. If we're looking here in Perth and the electorate of Swan, we're in the business of investing in the 58 schools in the electorate of Swan through the Better Schools Plan. What Mr Abbott is saying, he will cut millions and millions and millions of dollars from that investment under the Better Schools Plan in the electorate of Swan. Schoolkids Bonus. Schoolkids Bonus for 5,900 families in the electorate of Swan we are helping to support, to build their families by providing a Schoolkids Bonus. Instead in the electorate of Swan, Mr Abbott says he will cut that to zero. Furthermore, health and hospitals. As I said before, we have built up the local Medicare Local in this area, and instead Mr Abbott will cut it and cut everyone who works there some 50 front-line medical staff.

And finally, you've got the NBN - National Broadband Network - which in this neck of the woods we already have 1,600 homes and premises connected. What Mr Abbott is saying, quite apart from the 64,000 who will be connected, is that they will be disconnected from the National Broadband Network. That's the end of that. And instead they will be thrown back to old fashioned copper. We're building the industries of the future. That's because we believe that's our responsibility for an economy in transition. Finally on Mr Abbott's cuts - I am quite taken today by the comments by Mr Abbotts Treasury spokesman. When asked a very simple question about $70 billion cuts to jobs, health and education, Mr Abbott's Treasury spokesman refused to guarantee that there would not be cuts to health and education. Point blank refused. Well, here we are, three weeks or so before an election, the Liberals are saying they have $70 billion worth of cuts, Mr Hockey's comment. We also have a statement today from their finance spokesman saying they have all the details of their cuts ready to go but they won't tell anybody. And then, the quite specific statement that the Treasury spokesman refuses to give any guarantee that there will not be cuts to health and education. So the bottom line is this: my guarantee is to build on our investments in health and education. Mr Abbott's Treasury spokesman's guarantee is that he will cut health and education. There's no other way of interpreting the statements made today. REPORTER: Mr Rudd, how widely did you consult with your senior ministers on the issue of the company tax cut for the Northern Territory? Bill Shorten said this morning on the radio he only found out yesterday. PM: The first thing I would say is we are proud as a government of doing the right thing by the Northern Territory. And we will not be taking a backward step on a policy which supports better business conditions for people to invest in the Territory. The ministers I've been working with most closely recently on this policy have been the Treasurer, the Finance Minister, and of course, our broader leadership group as well. You would expect that during an election campaign, that when the final product of a policy is put out, that the ministers are informed of that at that time. Your point about the consultation, though, Treasurer, Finance Minister on the detail for a long time, this policy has been worked on for the last six weeks. REPORTER: Do you acknowledge this now looks like policy on the run? PM: Not at all. Do you know why? It is a first-class policy for the Northern Territory's future. And if you think that it's about an internal debate about processes which I assume is where our political opponents would want to take it, I'm not going there. You know why? The Northern Territory wants their Territory developed and I'm standing 100%

behind the policy. The Treasurer stands 100% behind the policy. The Finance Minister stands be 100% behind the policy. If you want an internal process argument can I suggest there's one on offer at the moment? That is, what Mr Hockey and Mr Abbott are trying to do today to clean up their own problem concerning his clear-cut statement that there's no guarantees about cuts to education and health. Over to you. REPORTER: Mr Rudd, just to clarify, you're now talking about zonal taxation, just not tax breaks for the Northern Territory? PM: It was in the policy yesterday. REPORTER continued..: But for other parts of the country as well. What parts the country are you looking at for special tax status and have you costed that? PM: Let's go back to the questions of costing. No. 1, what we said yesterday is that the Northern Territory thats where we'd like to see special economic zones start first. The reason for that is constitutional reasons. It's a territory under s.99 of the constitution. Secondly we said in the States you could look in the northern parts of WA and the northern parts of Queensland at zonal tax rebates. In terms of northern Australia, that vast stretch north of the tropic of Capricorn is generally accepted as the definition. The other thing we said is that we would bring about in the case of the Territory a cut to the company tax rate to ensure that businesses were attracted there. That's the right thing to do. It's the positive thing to do. We also outlined the process by which we'd finalise the rate with local consultations with business and with the Territory Government. And we said we'd have in operation for the 2018 year. On the question of costings therefore, it's outside the forward estimates and therefore, as we finalise the policy next year if we return to government, that's when you'd have it. REPORTER: Have you got - you said you've been working with the Treasurer and Finance Minister on this for some time but youve got no ballpark figure on what a 10% reduction in the tax rate would cost. PM: There are two complications with all of that. One is whether you're looking at NT-based businesses whose operations lie either in the Territory or elsewhere, or businesses which are based in other capitals who have operations within the NT. The variations and permutations of that are significant. That is why we have outlined a clear policy direction that we're going to make it easier for businesses in the NT to locate there and stay there and have their operations there. I think our political opponents are concerned about this because they know in the Territory it's a winner. You know why? 'Cause people in the Territory are remote from the rest of Australia.

So you can have your process discussions if you want. Finance Minister, Treasurer, myself, we have been the core of the leadership group working on this because it goes to the question of public finance, and on the tax question, and it is the right policy for the future and more broadly could I say this: I am absolutely proud of the direction in which we are taking this northern development policy. Mr Abbott has said he will have a White Paper in the fullness of time. He's also talked about some form of concessions in that part of the world. And I've - I will leave it to you to pursue the detail associated with that. I'm proud of what we've put forward. It's providing a clear direction for the future. You can have as many process debates as you like. REPORTER: Can I please just get a gauge of the reaction from traditional owners and the community to the Ord River announcement? Was there any apprehension, as theres so much foreign investment over the Ord River. PM: I spoke at length yesterday afternoon with the local traditional owners and we had a good discussion. They talked to me about the process of working it through with the investors and the two and three levels of government for Ord Stage 2. They told me that had worked out well in the end. They asked me to make sure that the process of consultation with them on Ord Stage 3, because their peoples extend right across the border, between WA and the NT, would be of the same type. I said to them it would be. And that's the only way it can happen. They have said to me that they have benefited from the investments in Ord Stage 2 so far and they wish to be beneficiaries for Ord Stage 3. What I'm on about with the future of the Ord and WA is: how do you turn this into a new industry for the future - turn it into a place where we can sell our agribusiness into Asia and to make sure that we have a diversified economy in the future, such as mining services industry, agribusiness, and the other industries like manufacturing which in Kim's view and mine and the other ministers ain't an old industry, it's a new one. Over to you. REPORTER: The release coming from your campaign headquarters from workers (inaudible) and reports that your campaign Director George Wright has been frozen out. Is your campaign going off the rails in its early stages and what are you planning to do about it? PM: I have no intention of talking about campaign internals. Ask those questions of Mr Abbott and furthermore, what I would say is it's an odd remark given I spent most of the last two days with Mr Wright on the road. REPORTER: Are you concerned that polling is showing that both in the seats of Dobell and Robertson, that the Coalition is set to win and also the Coalition has announced that almost 32,000 asylum seekers that are already in Australia won't be

permanently settled here. And that they also won't have the right to appeal in the courts. What's your opinion of that? PM: On the latter question - I haven't seen the full detail of what Mr Abbott has put forward. And it's unclear. Mr Burke the Immigration Minister will be speaking on that, I understand, later today. On the first question - can I be very blunt with you all as I have from day one. We enter this election as the underdogs. It's just very plain. Its very simple. And we remain the underdogs in this campaign. We are faced with the political fight of our lives, but guess what? We have a positive plan for the country's future, positive plan for WA's future, and you can have as many chats as you like about internal processes on this, that and the other. I will tell you what the Australian people are interested in. Are they going to have a job tomorrow? Are they going to have a new industry to work in tomorrow? Are the kids going to be at the right school tomorrow? Is there be enough by way of a Schoolkids Bonus to buy the books and buy the uniforms? Will the Medicare Local still be open to make sure afterhours care is available? That's what they're concerned about, not internal process debates which may be the eternal fascination of those here. REPORTER: Tony Abbott has said that you are preparing to slide back into office on Green preferences. PM: Ha ha! (PM laughs) REPORTER continued..: Would you like to comment on that. PM: Can I refer to my answer to the previous question? (PM laughs) REPORTER continued..: -Also, would you like to comment on the fact that Labor's struck a deal with the Katter party in Queensland for preferences? And do you share any of their protectionist economic policies? PM: As we all know Bob's unique. And you've got to understand Queensland to understand Bob's uniqueness. I've made I think on the road many comments about this so far, which is Bob for reasons which many of you may find odd has been a long-standing friend of mine. Preference arrangements are sorted out through the National Executive of our party, the National Secretary of our party and other parties and I will leave all those decisions where they should be. REPORTER: When you talk about zonal taxation for Northern Australia and tax breaks there, does that then mean those major gas and mining companies will then get tax breaks in Northern Australia and do you agree with some of the comments of Colin Barnett today that says that it could put some WA businesses at a severe disadvantage?

PM: Can I just say this: what is the focus here? The focus is on how do we develop northern Australia. Everyone can bleat about it in the south as much as they like. I'm concerned about developing the north. It is our gateway to Asia. Therefore, let's put some positive policies forward and make it work. You can have a rolling academic seminar with a bunch of folks who would happily talk till they turn blue in the face and nothing happen. I'm on about getting new businesses and new jobs into northern Australia. I didn't go to the Ord yesterday for fun. It's because I believe it and we have a track record there. As Gary knows I was up there several years ago, third visit up there as Prime Minister was the one yesterday REPORTER: -The only Prime Minister to make three visits to there. PM: And there you go. There's another piece of history for you. You think a plaque up there ... (Laughter). The point is this: we've co-invested with Ord Stage 2, something in the vicinity of just under $200 million. I looked at the Kununurra Airport, that's there because of our investment. I looked at the port of Wyndham, and seen the photographs at the new facilities there at the jetty the high school, the transitional housing, to make Ord Stage 2 work. Can I just say to all of you, these major projects don't happen out of thin air. Theyre because governments take the lead in partnership with business and we make 'em happen and that's what we're on about with northern Australia. And the zonal arrangements for North Queensland and the northern part of WA, these will be worked through, through the processes I outlined yesterday but I'm not going to have people retreat into some narrow shell and say that somehow Australia will be built in the future by an incremental step here, an incremental step there and let's hide in our shell until 2020 and in the hope that someone else does the work for us. Having said all that, I'm about to zip! Thank you very much!

ENDS