Doorstop | Prime Minister of Australia
CHARLES NORTHCOTE, CEO, BLUECHP: It’s a proud day here to have the Prime Minister here at this beautiful building: 42 units, two bedroom units that we built and are housing people on the social housing list. Currently it’s nearly full, except for the room which we’re standing in and the one next door. And we have a great community. The youngest person here in this building is about five months, the oldest is 73. So we house a great variety of people. And it’s an honour, because I had the pleasure of the Prime Minister only two weeks ago, we were down in New South Wales, talking about how we’re going to build and develop more housing. And I’m going to head over to you, but welcome and thank you very much.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER:Thanks very much, Charles. And I particularly want to thank Simone who welcomed us here today and spoke about her personal experience. Simone is someone who has a son who was couch surfing and for a year was essentially locked out of the housing market, who now has the security of a roof over her head thanks to Blue CHP Community Housing, making an enormous difference for her and her son, who’s studying now at TAFE, giving that security that’s so essential for people to be able to advance in their education and in their health, in their living standards. A secure roof over your head is a precondition for a good quality of life. And that’s why my Government is determined to do everything that we can to advance our housing agenda. Now, we extended the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement by a year, with an additional $1.6 billion for this year. We have $2 billion for NHFIC through community housing. We put some $2 billion of additional investment to states and territories in June of this year, using some of the budget surplus that we have been able to produce to invest in social housing. And that will occur over the next two years. And, of course, we have our plan for private rentals as well. Our incentives in the Budget will make a difference. The Property Council suggests that between 150,000 and 250,000 additional private rental dwellings will be built as a result of that initiative that we put in the Budget this year. And in addition to that, we provided the largest increase in private rental assistance in 30 years.
But we also have our Housing Australia Future Fund. Now, this is something that Labor has a clear mandate for. It was the centrepiece of my second Budget Reply when I was Leader of the Opposition. We campaigned on it in the lead-up to the election for two years. And today we have everyone from charities to shelter to welfare organisations to builders to community housing providers – all saying that they want the Housing Australia Future Fund put in place. Now, Blue CHP, by itself, they had 3,000, they said, a few weeks ago, they’re now up to 3,500 dwellings that they have planned, ready to go if this bill is just passed through the Senate. And that’s why it is, in my mind, just extraordinary that even though there is such a need for dealing with housing supply, which is the key to making a difference, you have the Coalition, One Nation and the Greens in the new No-alition, a No-alition saying ‘no’ to additional public and social housing. Saying ‘No’ to improving housing affordability. Our plan for 30,000 additional social housing dwellings over just five years, but a permanent stream of income with at least $500 million being invested every year, is a practical one. 4,000 of those would be for women and children escaping domestic violence. It would, in addition, provide funding for remote housing for Indigenous communities, and as well, $30 million being reserved to assist housing veterans at risk or indeed experiencing homelessness in this country. We will reintroduce that bill in the House of Representatives next week, and it will be debated and passed through the House of Representatives in October because we want to see this legislation passed. It’s been deferred time and time again in the Senate.
The Coalition, of course, don’t really support public and social housing. They never have. They never have, and at least I guess they’re up-front about it. For the Greens Political Party, that say that they care about social housing, that they care about affordability, to be blocking this is quite absurd. And the arguments that are put forward about this – I heard them again this morning – saying, “This Housing Australia Future Fund will provide for speculation on the stock market.” I don’t know if the Greens realise what superannuation funds do as a centrepiece of our savings system in this country. But this provides for investment in a secure way going forward. It’s additional investment, it’s not the only thing that we’re doing. But it is the only thing that the Parliament is blocking at the moment. And I say to the Senate, they have an opportunity when they sit next week to bring on the debate of the Housing Australia Future Fund that sits in the Senate, sits there idle. They refuse to debate it, they refuse to have a vote on it. Bring it on, get this done. Because every day in which the Greens and the Coalition block this bill, they are blocking new social housing being built. Australia deserves better and they need to put aside the politics and put aside the posturing and pass this legislation.
JOURNALIST:Prime Minister, are you willing to use this legislation to trigger for a double-dissolution election?
PRIME MINISTER:Well, I don’t anticipate that there will be an election this year. But quite clearly we have a mandate for this. We want this to be passed. The way to ensure that this doesn’t provide a trigger is to pass the legislation. We don’t want to play politics with this. We want this to build additional social housing . That’s what we’re about, making a difference. We heard from Simone earlier today the difference that it’s made in her life. I know the difference that a secure roof over my head and my mum’s head made to my life. It is important that this bill be passed. And the fact that the Greens are saying that this is about politics, so that if the bill is passed then they won’t be able to door knock people in Labor-held seats, is actually what they have put in writing. Well, I say that Australia deserves better than that sort of posturing and they deserve better than the view, which is, ‘If we just keep people in poverty, then they’ll protest more’. We’re a better country than that. And people who are in positions of authority – and I say to Adam Bandt, he needs to exercise responsibility over his party and make sure that they vote for this bill and get this started.
JOURNALIST: In this bill in particular, you’re reintroducing it. Will it be the exact same as it was before the break? And if so, will we see the exact, same result?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it will be the same bill for the purpose of the requirements of our Constitution and advice, that it will be the same bill. But we will support the same amendments that we’ve indicated we would. We have been able to negotiate, through sensible amendments that have improved the bill with Jacqui Lambie, Tammy Tyrrell and David Pocock. I spoke to David yesterday and told him what we were doing. I’ve contacted Jacqui Lambie and she’s very passionate about this issue as well. I thank them for their support. I say to the Coalition as well that they have an opportunity. We have a clear mandate on this. They can’t continue to be so negative about everything. Peter Dutton has taken a leaf from the Tony Abbott playbook and he’s getting this advice from these people late at night on TV saying, ‘Just say no to everything, be Mr Negative’. Well, Australians are tired of that. They have conflict fatigue. This is a sensible reform that has the support of the housing industry, has the support of the building sector, has the support of community and social housing providers, has the support of ACOSS and the welfare sector. They should support this legislation as well. This, in my mind, is less controversial than anything else we have done in this Parliament. It should be a no-brainer and it should go through the Senate, and then we can get on allowing Charles and other housing providers to get on with what they want to do.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, overnight, 23 Senate Republicans said they don’t support the transfer of Virginia-class submarines to Australia unless President Biden massively increases investment in the American production line. Does this make you worry that Australia won’t ever get those submarines from America?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I’m very confident. And I spoke with their Defence Secretary, of course, Lloyd Austin, last night. I’ll be meeting with Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken today. I look forward to visiting the United States in coming months as a guest of state, and I’m sure that will be a good visit. Just like in Australia, there are not unanimous things through Parliament. But I tell you what, I met with Republicans and Democrats in Lithuania just a couple of weeks ago. And what struck me was their unanimous support for AUKUS, the unanimous support for the relationship between the Australia and United States. It’s never stronger.
JOURNALIST:Housing Ministers have been developing a proposal to take to National Cabinet around strengthening renters’ rights. Will a national rental cap be considered by National Cabinet?
PRIME MINISTER: No. What we’re not doing is abolishing the states, which is essentially what the Greens say: “We’ll vote for your bill as long as you abolish the states”, or in some cases, “abolish the private housing market”. We’re not doing that. What states and territories are doing is looking at their jurisdictions and we’ll have a discussion about renters’ rights and some themes there. But it won’t be a uniform system because each state, and indeed within some states as well, there’s different regional responses. Queensland isn’t the same as Northern Territory. It’s not the same at the ACT. It’s not the same as Tasmania. But I tell you what, every state Premier and Chief Minister has in common – and I spoke with Jeremy Rockliff yesterday – they want this bill passed. Labor, Liberal all want this bill passed. The ACT Government wants this bill passed as well. Because we know that it’s holding things up. What Charles told me at Jordan Springs, just a few weeks ago in the electorate of Lindsay, we’re in the electorate of Brisbane today, was that community housing providers – and it isn’t just Charles that’s said this to me – they’ve anticipated this bill being passed. This wasn’t seen to be a controversial measure. A safeguard mechanism and issues on climate change, we expected there to be a bit of argy-bargy on. But this bill was expected to sail through. It was expected to start in July 1. And what has happened is that housing providers have done their work, done their research, on the basis that this additional funding would be available.
NORTHCOTE:Thank you, Prime Minister. We have been working on this housing outcome for well over 18 months and we’ve built, over that period of time, a pipeline of DA-approved dwellings, which is now nearly 3,500, across four states. And we view that the passage of the bill is critical to be able to take those options that we have over those sites and then put them through into development. Without the bill passed, those options can lapse and we have to go back and we have to find more sites. So, I’m asking that everyone in the Senate gets behind this because this is actually really good for all Australians. It’s not only vulnerable Australians, but the fact is, you put someone in a house – like Simone, and her son is now getting his educational qualifications – in the long run, the taxpayer will not be paying so much because people get qualified to get jobs, they pay taxes. If they do not get these opportunities, they suffer and they struggle, and that’s a cost on all of us. And it’s a bit of an indictment on all of us if we don’t care for our least-well-off Australians. That, for me, is why I do this job. We make a difference to everybody’s life.
PRIME MINISTER:Can I make this point as well: One Nation is opposing this legislation. You hear from Pauline Hanson, talk about battlers all the time. Quite frankly, she needs to – as well as the other One Nation senator, Malcolm Roberts – you can’t talk about battlers and then oppose this bill. You need to actually be held to account. And this No-alition of the Greens, Liberal Party, National Party, and One Nation is a coalition coming together, playing politics from different perspectives but with one outcome, one outcome, which is less housing. And if you listen to Charles, just to really make the point, we’re talking here about DA-approvals having gone through. They have done the work. This is ready to go: 3,500 of them. And this is just one community housing provider. There’s other community housing providers here today, all wanting this legislation passed.
JOURNALIST:You didn’t rule out completely a double dissolution election. Can you rule it out now? Can you put the Australian public at rest that they won’t have to go to the polls?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they won’t be going to the polls this year. But we’re determined to get this legislation passed. We want it to be passed. The way in which you rule out having a double dissolution election is to have no triggers, that’s the way that you rule it out. I want this legislation to be passed. I can’t be more serious. I put this at the centrepiece of my second Budget Reply. There were stories written at the time, saying, ‘Why is the Commonwealth Government, or the alternative Commonwealth Government, putting housing at the centrepiece?’ Because we know that the lists have been growing. In states like New South Wales, there was less social housing at the end of the revolving-door government of the Coalition – from O’Farrell, through Baird, through Berejiklian, through Perrottet – than there was at the beginning of that period, when there is such a social need. And governments need to make sure that we increase supply. Everyone knows that the key is supply. Here, we’re talking about a supply mechanism that’s available right now that’s being denied. And that’s why it’s important.
JOURNALIST:Queensland has been the most anxious of the states to support the referendum. Why do you think that’s the case and how do you plan to change people’s minds, particularly in parts of regional Queensland?
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll continue to argue our case and people will have a look at what the question that is being asked is, and we’ll have a look at the positive nature of the Yes case that’s been put forward inwriting, and the negative case that’s been put forward by the No case. This is very clear, the proposition the Australian people will be voting on. This is about recognition and it’s about listening to people about matters that affect them in order to achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. If we keep doing things the same way, we can expect the same outcomes. And I note today, Jim Chalmers has a very good piece in The Australian, outlining as well the economic case, as the Productivity Commission did this week, that we need to do better. Youget better efficiency, you get better outcomes, when you listen to people who are directly affected. That’s why today we have Simone here, someone directly affected by housing issues, listening to her about what is needed. It’s a good idea, you get better outcomes, and that’s what this is about.
JOURNALIST: What are the impediments, from your point of view, to getting the China visit over the line? And what needs to be resolved first?
PRIME MINISTER: It’s a different question. There are a whole lot of assumptions in your question. I have said consistently that we will cooperate with China where we can. We will disagree where we must. And we will engage in our national interest. That’s my position. Engagement is a good idea. I expect to visit China. I expect to visit China this year. I haven’t said anything different. I’ve read various articles, no-one has spoken to me or my office and gotten a different answer other than that. So I expect that to happen. We will continue to talk at the bureaucratic level about dates. There’s a bit happening this year. I will be visiting the United States in coming months as well and we’re just finalising the dates of that visit. In addition, we have the ASEAN meeting and the G20 coming up as well.
JOURNALIST: Just the selection of Hanwha over Rheinmetall, what does that mean for the deal with the German Army? Have we lost the right to that deal?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. Rheinmetall will continue to play a vital role here in Queensland. They employ a thousand people and they do a fantastic job. They produce amazing product. And they’ll be exporting that product as well. We’ll continue to engage and develop a really constructive relationship with Germany. We make sure that, when you have tenders, you have more than one bidder and we act in the Australian interest. But those thousand jobs will continue to be employed. I met with the CEO of Rheinmetall when I was in Berlin just a couple of weeks ago and the relationship there will go from strength to strength.