Australian Prime Minister Press Conference – Canberra 5 May
Ready to go?
JOURNALIST: Born ready.
PRIME MINISTER: Someone was paying attention. It is great to have the honour of being back in the Prime Minister’s courtyard, and I do want to thank the Australian people for the very clear mandate that they’ve given my government. Today, we continue the work of continuing to build Australia’s future. I promise to be a Prime Minister for all Australians. Those who voted Labor, those who didn’t, and hope to earn the trust of the Australian people on an ongoing basis. We are deeply humbled by the result on Saturday, and we don’t take a second of it for granted. The hard work will continue today. My government has been an orderly government. We have worked hard, we’ve had effective ministers, but also an effective caucus. And we’ve engaged in a way that’s clear, that’s forward looking, that made not just a case that we had been a good government in getting inflation down, wages up, interest rates starting to fall, employment growing. We also had an effective offer going forward as well. That resonated with people, that we developed in consultation with people. I said before the last election that you needed more than one term as a Labor Government. And I sought from that first day, indeed, I became a Labor leader back in 2019, I want Labor to be the natural party of government. I think that given who we are representing, working people, but also effectively engaging with business and engaging with civil society, that we can make, what is the best country on earth, even better in the future. I am genuinely so optimistic that if we get this decade right, we can set Australia up for the many decades ahead. And that’s why I put forward such a positive agenda. Not just during the election campaign, but throughout my time as Labor leader.
I do want to thank, as well, the world leaders who have passed on their congratulations, both those who’ve done that through the various social media forums that exist these days, those who’ve texted me, but also past leaders as well. You know, friends like Tony Blair and Matteo Renzi, and others as well, who I’ve met and developed relationships with over the years. This morning and yesterday, I’ve spoken with a number of leaders. I’ve spoken with Prime Minister Marape, President Prabowo of Indonesia, President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Prime Minister Mark Carney, who invited me to attend the G7 in Canada in June and I have accepted that invitation, and President Donald Trump of the United States. I have meetings scheduled, or phone calls scheduled, this afternoon with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. Can I take the opportunity on behalf of Australia to congratulate Prime Minister Wong who was successfully re-elected with a substantial vote there in Singapore on Saturday. Lawrence Wong is a great friend of Australia. I’ve developed a good relationship with him not just since his rise to the Prime Ministership, but as Deputy Prime Minister he hosted me when Covid affected his predecessor when I attended the Shangri-la Dialogue, and had the honour of giving what is the most significant defence and foreign affairs speech in our region, but perhaps in the globe. Prime Minister Shinawatra of Thailand, we’ll have a chat scheduled tomorrow along with Prime Minister Modi, my friend from India. We’ll continue to schedule, that will be a bit of a focus over the next couple of days as well as receiving briefings on Prime Minister and Cabinet. I had a briefing from the Treasury Secretary during the election campaign about the state of the economy going forward, as well and I look forward to engaging. We’re going to try and slow the pace a little bit over coming days. I’ll consult with colleagues about forming a frontbench down the track. We obviously, there are a number of results that are unclear in electorates, but it’s very clear that we will have a substantial majority in the House of Representatives. And I’ll make this point. We had a majority last time in the House of Representatives. I treated people with respect. My door is open to members of any political party, or none, who are elected as members of the House of Representatives or the Senate. They all deserve to be treated with respect. If people have good ideas, we’re up for hearing them. But I said, here, on about 3422 occasions, that my objective was forming a majority government. That’s what we did and that is a good thing, I think, for the country. Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: PM, congratulations on your win.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Phil.
JOURNALIST: You said in your opening comments about having a very clear mandate. There’s already a sort of cavalcade today of various interests saying you should go beyond that mandate. What’s your message to that? And bearing in mind you’re much more likely to have a much friendlier Senate this time, probably just the Greens is all you’ll need. What do you say to those people saying to go beyond what you took to the election?
PRIME MINISTER: We’re not getting carried away. We’ve been an orderly government. We’ve been a reformed government. The thing that I reject is the idea that we haven’t been ambitious. Look at our agenda on the clean energy economy, on childcare, on gender equality, on education, where we went beyond where we said we would. I didn’t promise to deliver surpluses, we delivered two. We’re being an ambitious government. We’ll continue to be an ambitious government, but we won’t get carried away, and we’ll continue to engage. I will continue to respect people like – one of the conversations I’ve had is with Jacqui Lambie in Tasmania. Her result is still a little bit unclear, but she’s someone I respect. On vets’ affairs, I’ll talk to Jacqui Lambie every day of the week whether she’s in the Senate or not. That’s my style. I engage with people. I engage friendly with people. All of you here, I engage in spite of some, shall we say, interesting observations that are made from time to time. But, I treat people with respect.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the shape of your ministry, will the reshaping of caucus and the proportions of different states having more representatives now change the way the ministry’s formed? Particularly getting at when will WA get a second cabinet minister? And did you say you’ve spoken to Donald Trump and what can you tell us about that conversation?
PRIME MINISTER: On the first, because yeah we’re going to stick to the rules from day one here, and on the first I respect the caucus. I’ll engage with discussions with my colleagues, rather than at press conferences, with respect, and I’ll treat them with the respect that they deserve. We are overflowing with talent – that’s the truth. We have so many people who you could put forward. And I think it’s one of the things that the Australian people saw during this election campaign. Half of the shadow cabinet, you know, when I was sitting on the bus with you fine folk, or on the plane, I’d sometimes do a little trivia quiz of what is person X’s portfolio as a Shadow Minister, and none of you knew. You know we have an incredibly talented team on the front bench but also in the caucus. People are entitled to have ambitions. You know what my ambition is for? My ambition is for the country.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, your contact with Donald Trump was that a telephone conversation, what can you tell us about it?
PRIME MINISTER: I had a very warm and positive conversation with President Trump just a short while ago, when I was at The Lodge, and I thank him for his very warm message of congratulations. We talked about how AUKUS and tariffs, we’ll continue to engage. We will engage with each other on a face-to-face basis at some time in the future. But it was a very warm, and I thank him for reaching out in such a positive way as well.
JOURNALIST: Just back on the ministry, are we expecting relative continuity or is there a chance for a fair refresh and there’s been a rumour that Tanya Plibersek could go to the NDIS portfolio, can you confirm that that is being considered?
PRIME MINISTER: Well just nonsense as you were told yesterday, Greg. You know, people have got to stop, you know. The only person who knows is me. You were told by my office yesterday that was nonsense.
JOURNALIST: So that’s not happening?
PRIME MINISTER: The words are coming out, mate, with respect.
JOURNALIST: Are we expecting a fair bit of continuity?
PRIME MINISTER: No, look, I’ve said I respect the caucus. I respect the caucus. But I say to all of you, if you hear something, unless it comes out of my mouth, it is nonsense. And you know, you were told that yesterday.
JOURNALIST: Now that you have this second term, what are your top priorities for achievements that you were unable to pursue in the first term? And will nature positive be one of those?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look we, I said very clearly I want a federal EPA. That was something that was recommended by the review that the Coalition commissioned. I want a federal EPA that supports industry but also supports sustainability. I think that can be achieved. I think that can be achieved, and that’s my objective. We have other agenda that has been held up, some of it, on housing. We have an ambitious challenge to build housing. I note that both the Coalition and the Greens housing spokespeople won’t be in the Parliament. I think part of the reason why they’re not in the Parliament is that they held up public housing. They held up emergency housing for women and children escaping violence. They held up our Build to Rent scheme, they held up our Help to Buy scheme. And I say this message to the Senate and to members of the House of Representatives that, you know, we have a clear mandate to build more housing. The key is supply. The key is supply. You know, get out of the way and let the private sector build it. That is going to be one of my priorities.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, when will you visit the United States? Is June on the cards?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’ll wait and see. We’ll make appropriate announcements. My first international visit will be just like last time. My first bilateral was to Indonesia. That was something that President Prabowo and I had discussed before. It’s something that I intend to do. You know, our region is so important here. The relationships that we’ve built are so important.
JOURNALIST: Is June too soon?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’ll see. I’ll make an announcement when we make an announcement. Yeah, Claudia, who was outside there.
JOURNALIST: I’ve got my breath back after that, I hope you enjoyed your walk this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Good on you. Good running. Blame Riles for running so fast.
JOURNALIST: It was a race. Prime Minister, were there any promises from Donald Trump in your discussion this morning especially when it comes to tariffs?
PRIME MINISTER: No, look, it was a very warm discussion about the friendship between our two nations. That’s so important. I’ve had three conversations with the President. I won’t go into all of the personal comments that he made, but he was very generous in his personal warmth and praise towards myself. He was fully aware of the outcome and he expressed the desire to continue to work with me in the future.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, once you’ve sorted out the front bench and everyone’s been sworn in, when it comes to legislation and policy what is the first item on the agenda for you?
PRIME MINISTER: 20 per cent cut in student debt, as I promised.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you talk about the Government’s ambition. Given the size of the mandate that you just won from voters, are you tempted to consider things like changes to the tax or superannuation systems?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we’re not getting ahead of ourselves. I didn’t get ahead of myself in the last three years, we had a clear mandate to govern. We had a lot to turn around. Can I make this point. One of the things that will make this term, I think, satisfying and raises the prospect of further progress, rather than protest. Is the fact that the bureaucracy had been gutted. You know, the immigration system was just a mess. You know, Veterans’ Affairs, how is it the 42,000 people who had served our nation in uniform weren’t getting the entitlements that they had earned? You know, the Robodebt debacle, aged care, the crisis that we inherited. Summarised in one word, neglect. You know, we’ve done a lot of work, and I think, you know, we had a positive agenda that we were elected on. We had a positive agenda, we’ve been re-elected on. A forward offer, and I made that very clear. You know, this election was about three things. The Opposition Leader a few days ago continued to say it was about the past. Elections are never about the past. That’s an element, but what people want to know is what you’re going to do for the future. That is one of the lessons that I learnt in about 1983.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, one of the things that you mentioned is HECS debt change is the priority. What’s your thinking at this point about when Parliament would come back to make that happen? Do you need parliament before June 30, for instance? Because there’s obviously going to be a change in the Senate after that date.
PRIME MINISTER: No, I am very confident that we have a mandate for that. We can’t have been clearer. I think if the Senate gets in the way of that, then they’ll receive the same response that the housing spokespeople for the Liberal Party and the Greens got on Saturday.
JOURNALST: Prime Minister, thank you, just really quickly, did you mention New Zealand on your list of calls?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, sorry. I did speak to –
JOURNALIST: But that’s not my main question.
PRIME MINISTER: I did speak to – can I make this point now, I don’t want Christopher Luxon to think that I left him off. It was pretty early yesterday morning, I’ve got to say, that I spoke with Prime Minister Luxon. We have a very good relationship and I also received a very warm message from the Opposition Leader in New Zealand, but also from Jacinda Ardern, who’s a very good friend of mine as well.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask about the coming Parliament? I think you’d recognise as an institutionalist, oppositions matter for the nation. Would you ensure that if the Coalition was, for instance, to split for a spill, that they would retain the sort of resources they have now in terms of staff that an opposition normally gets?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it’s a different Parliament these days, so, I mean, we’ll consider all of that. But, you know, I’ve always treated both the Liberal Party and their leader and the National Party, and their leader, with respect. I went into this office here on day one, in 2019, the day that Parliament began. That was the last time I went in, until I went in as Prime Minister in 2022. I haven’t got a record of how many times Peter Dutton went into my office, but it would be probably in the order, certainly, you know, at least 20 to 30 times. David Littleproud, double digits as well. That’s how I respond. I treat people with respect, like it’s not, it’s not rhetoric, it’s real. And, you know, I would hope it’s up to them what they do. My job is to govern effectively. I’m proud, of course, of leading the Labor Party. That I make no pretence that I’m anything other than an absolute Labor loyalist. I came out of the womb Labor. I’ll go in the ground Labor when it’s all over. I’m loyal. But I also treat people with respect. And, you know, one of the reasons why, as leader of the House, I treated crossbenchers with respect. In the last Parliament, in the House of Reps, I didn’t have to meet, I mean, the frenzy that was there because I invited crossbenchers to The Lodge. With respect, like, frankly, get a bit of maturity about you, seriously. They’re entitled to be treated with respect. That’s what I did, that’s what I’ll continue to do. Thank you very much.
https://www.pm.gov.au/media/press-conference-canberra-23