Doorstop Interview – Port Hedland
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Welcome to the first ever Federal Cabinet meeting in the Pilbara. It’s a commitment that I made during the election campaign along with other commitments I’ve made here in Western Australia. And my Government is determined to deliver each and everyone of them. I said I’d visit the West 10 times a year. This is my 9th visit in nine months, so I have three month to go to make that one extra visit. I’ll be back here, by the way, in March and April. So, we’ll exceed that target. But it’s not just about making an appearance, it’s about engaging. So I’ve been to Albany, I’ve been to Kalgoorlie-Boulder, I’ve been to Broome, I’ve been to Fitzroy Crossing as well as right throughout the metropolitan area of Perth. And I’m working with the McGowan Government to deliver, to deliver based upon the strong economy that West Australia is the driver of. And here in Port Hedland, of course, we see something like four per cent of our GDP go through this port. It is a great wealth creator here in the Pilbara, and that’s why my Government is committing $565 million for upgrades to port infrastructure in the Pilbara. This will make an enormous difference. Common-user facilities will be important for making sure that there is access across the board to the export and import facilities here at the port. Today there will be about 20 Cabinet Ministers, including the Treasurer and the Trade Minister and the Resources Minister and the Infrastructure Minister. And I’m joined here by Catherine and Madeleine King from my team as well as Rita Saffioti from the Premier’s team. We’re determined to make a difference, not just though the days leading up to today but in following days as well. This afternoon, Catherine will travel with Rita to Fitzroy Crossing to look at the ongoing recovery there. We have Ministers spreading throughout Western Australia, visiting Karratha, visiting other communities. And this morning I had a meeting with Senator Pat Dodson, with the traditional owners throughout the Pilbara, and a really constructive engagement. After the Cabinet meeting we’ll be having a community reception with 150 people from the community sector, from the resources sector, from the business community, all wanting to engage with Cabinet Ministers. It is a good thing to bring the Cabinet out of Canberra. It’s a commitment that I made. We’ll also be having a Cabinet meeting in Perth later this year. My Government is determined to represent the whole of Australia, and I think I have visited the West now as Prime Minister more in nine months than the previous Prime Ministers did in nine years. But I am particularly pleased to be here, always working hand in hand with the McGowan Government. Yesterday we announced our new energy apprenticeships program on top of the 18,800 fee-free TAFE places. We’ll be providing $10,000 for up to 10,000 new energy apprentices to encourage them to go into industries of the future. We announced the National Broadband Network expansion of fibre while I was in Kalgoorlie at the School of the Air. It’s making a difference to that School of the Air, being able to provide education to those young students on their stations, some of them 1,200km away from Kalgoorlie. That is a part of the 180,000 premises which will upgrade. On top of that, we have our child care support that will make an enormous difference from 1 July, helping women’s workforce participation here in the West as well as the difference already that our cheaper medicines are having here in the cost of living issues. So it’s great to be here in the West. It’s great to be working with my friend the Premier, Mark McGowan.
MARK MCGOWAN, PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Can I thank the Prime Minister for bringing his entire Cabinet to the Pilbara. It’s just a terrific thing. It’s a historic thing that the Prime Minister of Australia, the full Cabinet, is going to have a meeting in the shipping control tower watching the port facilities whilst they’re engaging their Cabinet deliberations. What it does is it draws the attention of the whole country to Western Australia and to the resources industry of Western Australia and, most importantly, the people who work in it, who work hard, who do a great job in difficult and hot circumstances and work long hours and produce a lot of the wealth and success that Australia relies upon. Obviously the mining and resources industry of Western Australia is the strongest industry in the country, and it produces huge amounts of revenue that flow to Canberra and obviously go on to support services around the nation, all over the nation. It’s very important that it’s appreciated and understood, which I know the Prime Minister and his Cabinet do. But this demonstration of that support is very important for the entire country. Secondly, it’s terrific that we’re able to make this joint announcement here today. This is an important announcement for the future of the Pilbara and for Western Australia. The Lumsden Point project will mean we have common user facilities and berthing facilities so we can export, in particular, lithium and other minerals but also import important equipment and machinery, in particular wind turbines and equipment for renewable energy. That facility itself will expand the capacity here of the port and make sure that it can diversify into areas that will better support the economy here in the Pilbara and Western Australia. It’s a joint funding commitment by the Commonwealth and State, the Commonwealth very generously is putting in $560 million, the State is putting in around $100 million. It’s overall a $660 million project, which is massive boost for the West Australian economy and it shows that this visit to Port Hedland is about substance as well as about showing off to the country what the Pilbara and Western Australia has to offer. Can I thank the Commonwealth for this joint commitment. We have worked cooperatively on it and will certainly support and boost industry in Western Australia by the joint funding commitment by the Commonwealth and State.
JOURNALIST: PM, you met with Indigenous elders earlier. What concerns did they raise with you about youth crime in the area and other domestic violence issues, other social issues.
PRIME MINISTER: That didn’t come up. What did come up was issues of housing. They raised issues of, in general, youth having somewhere to go at night. They raised issues of school retention, and they raised a broad range of issues as well. They were supportive of the Constitutional change that will be proposed at the end of the year. It was a great opportunity, and can I thank the traditional owners and pay my respects to them for giving us, as well, the respect of coming and meeting with myself and Senator Dodson. It was a very humbling experience, frankly, to hear from people who have such real-world experience on the ground. It was very constructive.
JOURNALIST: Those issues they raised were obviously long-term, even inter-generational. Do you see the Voice as being a long-term solution to those?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they certainly saw the value in: one, having recognition in our Constitution. Our nation’s birth certificate currently doesn’t acknowledge the great privilege that we have of sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture on earth. Secondly, they want to be heard. This was an opportunity to listen to them, but a structural body, a Voice to Parliament, which is enshrined, will ensure that over a long-term, we can deal with issues that frankly, we we have tried other ways for 122 years now since Federation, decisions made in Canberra. What we need to do is to make sure that where matters affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people there’s a consultative body.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is there a disconnect between the ideals of the Voice being debated and what is happening in more remote parts of WA and Australia with the housing issues you referred to and the like? And how do you convince those elders, those families who are struggling be, that listening to the Voice will actually result in practical solutions?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we know that when you consult any group of people about matters that affect them, you will get better outcomes. And that is what the Voice is. We know, as well, from experience that where Indigenous Australians have been directly involved in the design of programs – justice reinvestment, park rangers programs, community health programs – then you get better outcomes.
JOURNALIST: But some say you haven’t listened to them on the Cashless Debit Card, for example. So, will what the Voice says be heard?
PRIME MINISTER: There will be a Voice which will be able to articulate the views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It’s not something that will give a right of veto, but it will ensure that where matters directly affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the questions will be asked, not just by us but by you about what the view of the national voice is on particular issues.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the latest report from the Australian Energy Market Operator is warning there’s an urgent need for investment in generation-long duration storage and transmission. It is clearly an issue, what more can be done?
PRIME MINISTER: We need to set up the investment certainty. That’s what is required here.The Australian Energy Market Operator have been talking about this for a long period of time. Their Integrated Systems Plan to bring the national grid into the 21st century has been available on their website for year after year after year. The former Government didn’t act on that at all. So we need to do that. We need to encourage new investment in generation. The truth is that four gigawatts left the system under the former Government and one gigawatt went in. If you’re having less investment in new energy, then you are in energy that’s leaving the system with the closure of coal-fired power plants, then you will have these issues, which is why my Government is absolutely determined to provide that certainty for investment through the safeguard mechanism. Now, the safeguard mechanism was established under legislation by the Abbott Government. It is one thing for the Coalition to oppose initiatives and commitments that Labor made in the lead-up to the last election. It’s absurd that they’re opposing their own policy, in spite of the fact that all of the energy market operators, all of industry, be it here in the West, Woodside, BHP, the Minerals Council, are all saying that the safeguard mechanism is the way to go forward. It’s been designed to make sure that we deal with these issues. The Coalition, that has become the No-alition, who have said no to everything, is standing in the way.
JOURNALIST: Is your Government acting quickly on this? The AEMO wouldn’t be issuing the report if it wasn’t concerned.
PRIME MINISTER: Well they are concerned. The No-alition can get out of the way and can vote for their own policy. If you don’t have investment certainty, what you’ll have is less investment. And that is what has occurred for a decade. We’ve had a decade of denial and delay, a decade in which the Coalition still can’t seem to agree that climate change is real and that there is a transition happening in our economy, and they seem determined to just say no. The price that is paid will be paid by Australian industry and by Australian consumers. The lack of investment has been one of the reasons why we were so exposed to international prices. Here in WA, thanks to the Carpenter Labor Government and the ongoing support of the McGowan Government, there was interventions to make a difference. Now, the Coalition have not been anywhere near any of those measures when they have been in Government. But we know investors are saying we want certainty, and that is why the safeguard mechanism legislation is very important. But the Coalition walking away means that the Greens are in a position of now trying to exert their influence with some of their propositions. They will not be entertained by the Government. The idea that you will say there will be no new investment as a dictate of the Government, rather than leaving things to the market is something that we will not entertain. We will, of course, have to talk to Senators in order to try to get legislation through that is consistent with our policy and consistent with the needs of Australians.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just picking up that point about now dealing with the Greens. We are in a mining community, what reassurances can you give to mining communities particularly goal and gas about their future? And also on the lifestyle around mines, do you think there has been a cultural change in the mining sector and dealing with sexual harassment?
PRIME MINISTER: The assurance that I can give is the actions of the Government. Here we are today announcing joint funding initiative with WA about expanding a port and expanding the opportunities of our trade. We are a trading nation. We do need more supply and I have made that very clear. We need more supply from renewables and storage but we also need to recognise the role of gas will play as businesses look to transform. We need to look at new processes like hydrogen which presents an enormous opportunity. And the great thing about Western Australia is that if you were designing a state to benefit from the last century then you would have had a lot of iron ore and a whole of other resources. Now that is going to continue for decades to come, but hitting the jackpot is lithium, nickel and these other resources that will continue to be of higher and higher value in the future. And so I think WA is particularly well positioned, particularly well positioned, as well, to take advantage of green hydrogen. Our vision is clean cheap energy powering high-value manufacturing, with value-adding occurring right here, building on the work that the McGowan Government is doing in rail manufacturing and other areas and training Australians for those jobs, skilling them up with the fee-free TAFE and new energy apprenticeships. It is a positive and optimistic future here in the West but right throughout Australia. Part of the driving force is right here.
JOURNALIST: Have you broken an election promise not to change superannuation tax breaks?
PRIME MINISTER: That’a a big call you have made. We have not made any announcements at all.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister do you have a warning for foreign power seeking to influence Australia’s democratic processes?
PRIME MINISTER: Back off. We have an important democracy here. Our democracy will entertain both short-term issues that we deal with.
The long-term issues of superannuation is something that we do need to deal with. My Government makes no apologies for pointing out what the future looks like in ten, twenty years time if there is no debate about change and we are engaged in that debate very clearly.
JOURNALIST: The United Nations Group that examines the treatment of incarcerated people in Australia has cancelled its visit. Is that a poor reflection on human rights in Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: I am not aware of that particular issue.
JOURNALIST: They weren’t granted access to sites in New South Wales and Queensland.
PRIME MINISTER: That is a decision for those state governments. I have a national Government to run along with my Cabinet colleagues and I will stick to answering federal issues.
JOURNALIST: The extradition of Rajwinder Singh from India appears to be progressing. Does that show that show co-operation between India and Australia on matters of justice?
PRIME MINISTER: We have good relations with India. I met with the Foreign Minister on Saturday. I hosted him and it was a very good discussion about a range of issues. When we look at this port here, Western Australia in particular stands to benefit from economic development between Australia and India. I will be visiting India from 8 March, and it will be an important visit. I will take CEOs with me from more than 25 major companies here in Australia, from the resources sector, the finance sector, university sectors, information technology, all across the board going there. Madeleine King, our Resource Minister will be travelling with me along with the Trade Minister. I have already had three meetings with Prime Minister Modhi and I look forward to hosting Prime Minister Modhi as well as President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida here in the first half of this year at the Quad Leaders Forum Meeting.