PRIME MINISTER

19 January 2014

TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MP REMARKS PRIOR TO THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, CANBERRA
E&OE. Its good to be back on deck again after a period of family leave. I want to thank Warren Truss for his work as Acting Prime Minister over the last week or so and obviously hes now got a few more days as Acting Prime Minister while Im out of the country. First point I want to make is that obviously weve had another taste of the perils of an Australian summer with the fires in several States and property losses in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and now it seems New South Wales. On behalf of the Government, I express my sympathy to the communities that have suffered and the communities that are under threat and obviously the Australian Disaster Recover Payments will be made available to those that have been seriously impacted by these bushfires. Tonight, I am off to the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland. This is an annual gathering of policymakers and business leaders from around the world and its my intention to showcase Australia, to argue for the policies of the new Government and do my best to ensure that Australia is seen as an attractive place to invest and do business. Its also my opportunity at Davos to explain to business leaders and Heads of Government our agenda for the G20 year the year of Australias G20 Presidency. The G20 is probably the worlds premier economic grouping and its important that this year the G20 is more than just a talkfest. Its important that what we see from the G20 this year is not just sound economic theory, but practi cal action to build stronger national, and a stronger global economy. Thats what the citizens to whom we owe our duty expect. They expect concrete, practical results and thats exactly what Australia wants to deliver as the G20 Presidency.

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On trade, on tax, on infrastructure, investment and financing, on banking and on employment; we want to see specific actions that promote freer trade, that try to ensure we have less leaky national taxation systems, that explore innovative ways of financing investment in infrastructure, that try to ensure that our banking systems right around the world are proof against any future economic shocks and to ensure that the benefits of development are evenly shared through private sector led employment growth. So thats my agenda for the next few days and Im confident that Australia will give a good account of itself. [ends]

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