Press Conference - Perth

PATRICK GORMAN, MEMBER FOR PERTH: As the local Member for Perth, it is wonderful to be joined by the Prime Minister, the Premier, the State and Federal ministers for Education for a very exciting announcement, not just for the 2,060 students here at Mount Lawley High School, but for students across Western Australia. My parents were both school teachers. I know the power of a good education. And I know that schools like Mount Lawley Senior High School give Australian students the best start in life. I want to say very special thank you to the school teachers and school staff here, led by Lesley Street, the school Principal. Thanks to school captains Josh and Amy for showing us through and thanks to the kids in the robotics lab for showing us how they're learning the technologies and opportunities of the future, to talk about how we secure a great future for Australian students and a great future for students here in Mount Lawley. And I hand over to the Prime Minister.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks very much, Patrick. On election night, I said that what Labor governments do is they widen the doors of opportunity. And that is what this announcement is about. Making sure that every single school in WA reaches the school resourcing standard by 2026. Making sure that every student is able to realise the potential that they have to get the best start in life. And that's what this commitment between the Commonwealth and the WA Government, led by Roger Cook, is achieving here today. It's been wonderful to see this public school, the work that they're doing, the students who are enthusiastic about robotics and about creating those opportunities or who are already thinking about their future careers. But the truth is that schools need the resources in order to deliver that, in order so that every student can realise their potential. And that's what this announcement is about. This total funding agreement of $785 million additional funding from the Commonwealth to WA from 2025 to 2029 will make an enormous difference, because it will also be at least matched by the WA Government. This is a great example of the Commonwealth and the Western Australian Government working together, hand in hand, to make a difference to the lives of Western Australians, and with this school being just one of them that will benefit from this increased funding. This is a really proud day. This is what Labor governments do. They make a difference to people's lives in a practical way. And there's nowhere, no area that's more important than education. So, my Government is investing, of course, in early learning. We're investing in school. We're investing in fee-free TAFE. After this, I'll be going to a fee-free TAFE there, looking at the difference that that's made as well. And of course, we have our Universities Accord. Right through, we understand that education is a key to creating opportunity for Australians. And here in the West, the first state to sign on to this national agreement, I do want to thank the Premier for the cooperative way in which we're working together to make a difference. And I'd ask the Premier to join me now.

ROGER COOK, PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Thank you, Prime Minister. We know that a good education is the foundation of any child's opportunity to take advantage of Western Australia's great expanding economy. And that's why I'm so pleased with today's announcement to conclude an agreement under the Better and Fairer Schools agreement to really make sure that every Western Australian student has the full resources that they need to take advantage of the economic opportunities that lie ahead of them. So, today's agreement will see $785 million from the Commonwealth matched with an equivalent amount from the Western Australian Government. So, that means over the next five years, an extra $1.6 billion will go into Western Australia's education system, making sure that our kids have the resources they need, and the teachers have the support they need to provide a fantastic education. What's a really important attribute of this agreement is that it also works around the partnership arrangement between the West Australian Government and the Commonwealth to really focus in on the areas that we need to focus on, to make sure kids get that opportunity, which means smaller and more closely focused tutorial opportunities. To make sure that those kids who are developing as fast as the others have that extra boost that they need. This is about making sure we have 20th century education for our 21st century kids. And we are going to continue to see it improve into the future. Every WA school student deserves the best possible opportunity in life. And this agreement will go a long way to making sure that they have everything they need to get a quality education. I'm really pleased to say, also today, that as part of our $1.5 billion capital works program, we've invested $15 million to expand the classrooms here at Mount Lawley Senior High School. This will provide for an extra 20 classrooms, meaning that the school's population can grow by another 500, take it from around 1700 to 2200 students. STEM classes, science-based classes, opportunities around robotics, really making sure that our classrooms are fit for purpose, to provide these kids with a 21st century education so they can take advantage of the opportunities of the jobs which will be there in the future when they come out of the school. Very proud with today's announcement. I want to thank the Federal Government for their partnership. It's a partnership based upon values. The value that we understand that education can provide for a young Western Australian to get the best possible start in life. We're very pleased with today's announcement, and look forward to continuing to work with the Albanese Government on other agreements as we continue the great work of continuing to build Western Australia. And I'll hand you over to the Federal Minister.

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Can I start by thanking you, Prime Minister, and you, Premier. This, in truth, wouldn't have happened without your leadership, the two blokes who in their bones understand the power of education to change lives. And that's exactly what this agreement will do. I also want to thank my good mate, Tony Buti, the fantastic Education Minister here in WA, a good friend, a good man, a great Education Minister, and it's been a privilege to work with you on this deal. This is a fantastic day for WA. And it's a game-changing day for public education here in WA. What this deal means is that Western Australia will be the first state in the country to get public schools to that full funding level, that level that David Gonski said all those years ago. We've talked about what the funding is, $1.6 billion all up invested in our schools to get to that Gonski level by the first of January 2026. But let me tell you what it's about, because this is not a blank cheque. This money will be tied to real, practical reforms to help our children who fall behind to catch up and to keep up and to finish school, things like a phonics check in year one, or a numeracy check in kindy or in year one to identify children who are falling behind and need extra help, and things like catch-up tutoring that help children who are falling behind to get the catch-up support that they need, bringing children out of a classroom of 25 or 30 into a classroom with two or three, with a teacher. We know when you do it right, that children who fall behind can learn as much in six months as they'd normally learn in 12 months. In other words, they catch up. We're also going to use this money to invest in things like mental health support. There's a real and obvious link between education and mental health. Children, young adults who suffer from mental health challenges, are more likely to not be at school and fall behind at school. So, support with counselling and psychologists is critical, and this money will go to that too, as well as funding supporting providing extra support for our most experienced teachers to work in the schools that need them the most. They're just some of the things that we're going to tie this funding to. They're going to help children who fall behind to catch up and keep up and finish school. So, it's a great day for public education in WA builds on the agreement we've done with the Northern Territory as well. We want to do a similar agreement with states right across the country.

TONY BUTI, WESTERN AUSTRALIA MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Well, thank you, Jason. Can I thank the Prime Minister and also Premier Cook and also Mount Lawley Senior High School. It's been an absolute privilege to work with Jason Clare, Federal Minister for Education. As soon as he took on this job, he made a commitment that we were going to close that five per cent gap in funding for public education in Australia. It was not acceptable that there was a gap in funding to reach the Gonski index. So, we, Federal and State colleagues worked very, very hard to reach this agreement, and I'm so proud to stand here as the West Australian Education Minister today to sign this agreement that by the end of 2026 all West Australian students will be funded to the Gonski index, to the schooling resource standard. So whether you're a student in Kardinya or Broome or Kalgoorlie or Esperance or Albany or Bunbury or Perth, you know by the end of 2026 that the education system in West Australia, the top education system in West Australia, will be fully funded as a result of the agreement reached between the Federal and State government to a tune of an additional $1.6 billion that would be going into an education system. And as Jason said, that is tied to much needed reforms in equity and excellence, in well-being of students and in properly resourcing our workforce. We are determined that our students in West Australia, Jason's determined for students all across Australia, that they'll receive a first-class education that will set them up for the future. So, it's a landmark day in West Australia. Thank you to everyone that's been involved, whether they're the bureaucrats or whether they're the politicians or whether they are the parents that have been advocating for this full funding. Jason, this is a legacy that you are going to leave in your term as Education Minister of Australia. You have pushed this. You have pushed the state ministers. And I'm so glad that we're the first state in Australia to sign the agreement. Think Jason and I are going to take some questions. And then we will hand back.

JOURNALIST: Will parents still have to dip into their own pockets for additional things like the uniforms and stationery and all that sort of stuff? Does any of this money go to that? Cost of living? 

MINISTER BUTI: Well, as you know, Geoff, the West Australian Government made a number of measures in reducing cost of living. We've increased the clothing allowance, we had the West Australian Student Assisted Payments. We've also made other payments to reduce cost of living pressures on families. So, this money is for providing a proper education for our students in Western Australia.

JOURNALIST: Other states are holding out at the moment on the same deal that you signed. Do you think they need to sharpen up and just take the deal?

MINISTER BUTI: I’ll let other states speak for themselves, all I know is that Western Australia's worked in a very cooperative manner with the Federal Government, and we reached this landmark decision today. It's a great position. The Federal Government has to be commended that they put $16 billion on the table for public education in Australia. We've certainly taken our portion.

JOURNALIST: Year one and kindy teachers would already be assessing literacy and numeracy. So what difference are these new checks actually going to make? 

MINISTER BUTI: Well, in regards to the numeracy, well, we have the phonics check. We're going to make sure that is consistent throughout Western Australia, and we're going to make sure that numeracy is checked in year one, because there is some of it that's done in pre-primary, and then it's not till year three. So there's a big gap there. So it's important that they're assessed in year one, so we know if they're falling behind.

JOURNALIST: Is it bringing NAPLAN style testing to the younger years?

MINISTER BUTI: No, not at all. It's all about trying to work out whether students need extra assistance. I'm sure everyone must agree with that.

JOURNALIST: Are those checks designed to address some issues that we had with our year threes? Their NAPLAN results, we saw that they were under under performing.

MINISTER BUTI: Well, these reforms were already being talked about prior to those NAPLAN results, those NAPLAN results are a concern. That's why we need to invest our public education system.

JOURNALIST: Why is the level of funding in this agreement, just signed, okay for the WA Government but other states don't think it’s enough? What's the difference in thinking?

MINISTER CLARE: Tony, you're doing all the heavy lifting. There's a couple of things I might cover there. As Tony pointed out, we put $16 billion of extra Commonwealth funding on the table, and if that's delivered and that's accepted, that'll be the biggest extra investment in public schools in this country by the Australian Government ever, ever. So that's $16 billion. I'm so glad that WA has signed up to this. I'm going to continue working with other states and territories to see them sign up as well. We've got the Northern Territory signed up as well, where we chip in, and the Northern Territory Government is chipping in as well. I've said many times, if the Northern Territory can chip in, then so can all the other states and territories. Just on, just on, let me bounce around a little bit, that numeracy check is not NAPLAN. It's a 10 minute test. It's short, simple, and if we do it early, can make all the difference for children's lives. It's one of the recommendations that Tony and I and other ministers got from the Lisa O'Brien report last year. We're told that children learn to read by the time they're eight, and after eight, they read to learn. And so if there are challenges in children's literacy and numeracy, we've got to find it early and intervene early. Here's the sort of statistics that keep me up at night. We know that one in 10 children are below the minimum standard in that third year NAPLAN test. And only one in five of those kids ever catch up by the time they're in year nine of high school. So in other words, most children who are behind when they're little are still behind when they're at high school. And so if we intervene early, if we identify children who are behind early, and use things like catch up tutoring that can help children to catch up faster and catch up earlier, and mean that more children finish high school. Here's the other thing that worries me. Over the last eight years, we've seen the number of children finishing high school drop. Not everywhere, not in private schools, but it's happening in public schools, and it's dropped from about 83 per cent eight years ago to 73 per cent now. So with money that we're investing here targeted at real practical reforms that help people who are falling behind to catch up, we can help to turn that around and fix that so more children, more students, finish high school and then go on to TAFE or university.

JOURNALIST: Are the positions those other states that haven't signed up significantly different to what's happening here in WA? Can you rule out further negotiations or movement of that level of funding from the Commonwealth? 

MINISTER CLARE: We've offered $16 billion to the states, and just like with WA, we've said, it's not a blank check. This money needs to be tied to the sort of things that are going to help the challenges we've got in education at the moment. I said there's one in 10 children who are below the minimum standard. It's one in three children from poor families, and it's one in three children from the bush and from the regions. Now we live in an age now where it's more important to finish high school than ever before. It's more important to finish high school today than it was when we were at high school. 80 per cent of the workforce by the middle of this century is going to require people who have got a TAFE qualification or a university degree, and at the moment, we're seeing the number of students in public schools finishing high school going backwards. So we need to fix the funding, and we need to fix this education gap. And that's what this agreement that we signed today is all about.

JOURNALIST: What will happen if WA has money coming out of its backside? Was there any consideration given to the fact, why is the Feds borrowing money to, having to borrow money to make up this shortfall when WA is probably in quite an strong economic position?

MINISTER CLARE: This is ultimately about fairness. Private schools, at the moment, are funded at the Gonski level, public schools, except in the ACT aren't. There's a 5 per cent gap. We need to fill that gap. And so that means the Commonwealth chipping in and the states chipping in. You would have seen today a lot of very excited students right around the school. They saw the Prime Minister, the first Prime Minister of this country to ever visit this school, and heard a lot of them say, “there's Albo, there's Albo.” They'll remember for the rest of their lives the day that Albo came to school. The truth is, what's even more important than us being here today to announce this, is what this agreement will do, not just for students in Year 12, not just for students at this school right now, but students in primary school, students, kids who aren't even born yet. Because if we target this investment in the right way for real, practical reforms, we can change the lives of the next generation of Australians. 

JOURNALIST: What is your message to other states holding out just because of the budget position?

MINISTER CLARE: You’ll have to ask that question of the states.

JOURNALIST: You’ve been dealing with them directly, are you noticing that they're being a bit stubborn on this? 

MINISTER CLARE: I think you could say that.

JOURNALIST: What is your message to them?

MINISTER CLARE: If the Commonwealth chips in and if the states chip in, then we can fix that funding gap, and we can close that education gap and make sure that we help build a better life for all Australians, whether they come from families that are rich or poor, whether they come from the city or the bush, whether they're black or white. We can use the most powerful cause for good in this country, education, to change the lives of the next generation of Australians.

JOURNALIST: The education union say that the agreement doesn't address the 4 per cent depreciation clause that allows state and territory governments to account for non-school costs. They say that this clause will leave WA state schools underfunded by more than a billion dollars. What's your response?

MINISTER CLARE: This enables the full funding of public schools here in WA based on the Gonski model. And Tony might add to this in terms of the 4 per cent but the fact is that that money gets used for things like school transport as well as kindy.

MINISTER BUTI: Thank you, Jason, that 4 per cent is used for education, it's used for transportation. It's used for kindy. Very, very little, a minute portion is for depreciation. So it's being used for education. When you have a kid at school, you've got to have the buildings and you've got to have all the other utilities, and also you do transportation for other educational pursuits outside the school grounds. We are really celebrating this decision today, and as Jason said, this is so important for the future of our students that go to public schools in Australia and for us in Western Australia.

JOURNALIST: What happens if the targets aren't met that have been set for 2030?

MINISTER CLARE: I've been asked this question a lot, and this gives me an opportunity just to reinforce this point, because some people have suggested, if a target’s not met, then the money gets ripped out. The answer to that is no. The last thing we should do, the worst thing that you could do is, if a target's not met, is if you rip the money out of a school like this. We want to make sure that we've got extra investment in our schools. There's a review clause in this agreement that, after five years, if we've got the targets wrong, or if we need new targets, if we want to change what the money is tied to, then we've got the potential to do that as well. But at the moment, we've got school completions going down. We want that to go back up. We've had attendance at schools over the last 10 years go down. We want to get that back up as well. We want fewer students in that lowest category of NAPLAN and more students in that highest category of NAPLAN. That's why we need targets, and that's why we need reforms and money tied to those targets to make sure that we get there. 

JOURNALIST: ECU's council has lost five members in a week. Are you concerned that something's wrong?

MINISTER BUTI: Well, obviously something must be wrong if five council members have resigned. I just plead with the university to get their act together. And they're mature intelligent human beings, and I would hope that they can work out the issues that have seen five members resign.

JOURNALIST: Do you know what’s behind it?

MINISTER BUTI: My office have been in contact with the university. I think there was issues about elections of new chancellors. But I don't really want to go into details until I’m briefed. But what I ask is the university to work this out. It shouldn't be that hard. 

JOURNALIST: Have you been briefed on the arrest of the principal of the Bold Park school?

MINISTER BUTI: It's very concerning. He's been sacked. Now it's a criminal matter. I'll leave it at that, in regards to that, but he can no longer teach in West Australia. He has been deregistered.

JOURNALIST: Do you agree with your Resources Minister that BHP is always running to the media and opposing Labor policies?

PRIME MINISTER: I have a great relationship with the resources sector, so does our Resources Minister. We engage, we engaged yesterday, the day before, and will continue to engage over the long period. We know that here in the great state of Western Australia, the resources sector has played such a critical role in our national economy. What we want to see going forward is wherever possible as well for the value add of our resources sector to be done here and more jobs created here. That's part of the future made in Australia agenda, and that's something we're working very constructive with the sector on. 

JOURNALIST: Given the sector is so important, and WA is so important to your Government, why is a senior Minister attacking a company like BHP which is such a big employer in WA?

PRIME MINISTER: Madeleine King has a great relationship with the resources sector. She's doing a fantastic job as a Cabinet Minister. She's a strong advocate for the sector, and is delivering for the sector as well.

JOURNALIST: Just lastly, sorry, just on mining, you flagged on this trip, you know, some changes to Nature Positive reforms. Are you going to extend that kind of attitude towards industrial relations reforms that the miners are also concerned about?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, industrial relations reforms are working. What we're seeing is that for the number of people who are employed now, we've added some 980,000 plus jobs. That has been extremely positive. When the legislation was going through the parliament, the Coalition said that this would lead to economic downturns. They're always prepared to have a scare campaign. The party of Work Choices has opposed decent wages and conditions for working people. I'm the leader of a Labor government. What Labor governments do is understand that working people need proper wages and conditions. But we also understand this, that employees have an interest in constructive and positive relationships with employers, and that overwhelmingly is what occurs. That's why we support enterprise bargaining because they have a common interest, and that's what we want to see. The Coalition, you know, speak about from time to time about cost of living. But what they want is to reduce people's wages and conditions. What they wanted was for a whole range of workers to miss out on tax cuts, to just give it to some, not to 13.6 million. What they wanted was to not have the Energy Price Relief Plan that, between us and the Cook government, are delivering $700 in energy relief for every household. What they opposed also is our cheaper medicines policy. They constantly just say no. They don't represent the interests of working Australians. What we do is work with business and work with unions and working people in the common interest.
 
JOURNALIST: The opposition says you should apologies to the ASIO boss on the process of Gaza visas. What’s your response?
 
PRIME MINISTER: The only person who's been critical of the ASIO Director-General is Peter Dutton. What we've done is support our security agencies, applaud the work that they do, because I know that their number one priority is keeping Australians safe. That's why I reappointed Mike Burgess as the Director-General of ASIO, and that's why I haven't undermined his authority. I've supported him and will continue to do so.
 
JOURNALIST: You’ve said that his comments were skewed, because that's what he said, his comments about the treatment of visa applications are skewed.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Mike Burgess is a big boy, he can speak for himself and he has. And he has, and his comments are there for all to see. Mike Burgess keeps Australians safe. He's not a political appointment. He was appointed by the former government, reappointed by my government. And it's extraordinary, frankly, that the Coalition went into Question Time day after day after day, and through their questioning, were questioning Mike Burgess' determination to keep Australians safe. Mike Burgess does a great job and people, including the Coalition, should back him in because our national security agencies, this isn't some political game of point scoring and that's what we saw with attempts to use, dissect every word that Mister Burgess has said. And I'm not surprised that Mister Burgess has responded because Mister Burgess does each and every day, wakes up and every waking minute before he goes to bed is about keeping Australians safe. And he has my total confidence and the Coalition should stop undermining that and should support the work that he does.
 
JOURNALIST: You've ruled out federal intervention as the solution to problems of youth justice across the country. If that's not the solution, what is?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, youth justice is one of the areas where we want to close the gap. And my Minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, visited the centre just yesterday to see firsthand issues which are there. We'll engage constructively with state and territory governments. I had a discussion with the Premier about this on Sunday night. Every Australian would be concerned about any death in the circumstances in which they have occurred. Now there's an investigation that must be allowed to take place. But what I say is to the call that was there for somehow the Commonwealth from Canberra to run juvenile justice in states and territories is not the way forward. States and territories, people closer to the ground are in a better position to deliver those services. But the Commonwealth, of course, will always play a constructive role.
 
JOURNALIST: With you visiting Collie, I think yesterday -
 
PRIME MINISTER: Sunday.
 
JOURNALIST: On Sunday.
 
PRIME MINISTER: I've been here a while.
 
JOURNALIST: Are you willing to commit to give, I suppose, a scheme for local businesses who want to contribute to the renewable change? Especially on the coal to renewable transition?  
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well local businesses are, that is what's happening. In Collie where I visited, I note that Peter Dutton, when he was here, said he would go up to Collie. If that's the case it's a long way right around the surface of the globe, to get to Collie. But I flew into Busselton. I travelled, I did travel up and across to Collie from Busselton on Sunday. And what I saw on the site there where the coal fired power station will shut in 2027, is up to 500 workers are on the site on Sunday, yesterday and today, building what will be one of the largest battery storage facilities for renewables built anywhere in the world, with enough capacity to power 860,000 homes. And just across the way, 5kms away, there's another private development that is doing something similar. Again taking advantage of the transmission lines which are there to make sure it can be connected up with the grid. The other thing that is happening there, and I spoke to businesses on the ground there, is that the contractors for that work are, by and large, local businesses. That's why Chris Bowen met with the Chambers of Commerce as well. There is a coordinating body, and I congratulate the Premier and the WA government on what they are doing. There are two things that you can do when it comes to the global transformation that is happening - you can either try and shape the future, or the future will shape you. Now the WA government has got on the front foot, is shaping the future of this great state to take advantage of the opportunities which are there from this transition. Continuing to export resources, but where possible as well, to transition out of coal fired power to promote renewables and the resources which are here to potentially use that for advanced manufacturing. And the Koreans were here this week as well, talking about their investment that they'll be making up in the Pilbara. There's enormous opportunities here, and it's opportunities for local and small businesses. What I met with in Collie was companies as well that are investing in graphite, making a difference there. A small company at this stage that's getting bigger by the day, enormous opportunity for value adding and for growth here in WA. And that's why I think that as much as WA has helped to drive our national economy over many decades, its future is even brighter going forward. Which is why on issues like Nature Positive reforms and these issues, I’ve said we want to get things done. I want jobs, I want economic activity, and WA is a key to that.
 
JOURNALIST: Crayfish produced in WA is still facing tariffs. Is it fair that this one sector is targeted, and what needs to be done to remove those China tariffs?  
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we've done is to remove, is to work for the removal of any impediments to trade one by one. And I've got to say we've been pretty successful. That is one that we continue to work with. Don Farrell has been here this week, and I've made it clear as well that we want to see that happen. I dined next to Premier Li and with the WA Premier just months ago when I brought the Premier of China here to WA and we dined indeed at the lunch on some fantastic crayfish. And that was an opportunity to very much make the point that people in China have an interest in the wonderful product that is produced here in WA, in South Australia, Tasmania, other parts of Australia as well. So we want to see that happen. But to put it in perspective, we have in this current year, I expect that the trade to China from goods that were the subject of impediments will be greater than $20 billion. And the big winners of that will particularly be here in WA. Our wine exports to China have bounced back to be higher than they were before there were any restrictions on the trade. Similarly, in barley, I spoke to someone from the grain growers in WA just last night about the benefit for WA that is in grain going to China, which has bounced back. They're getting good prices, good volumes as well. So we do want that to happen.
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the CFMEU donated around $2 million to Labor directly before the last election, and about $6 million around the country in the past few years to Labor. Do you expect other unions to step up and build that support for Labor ahead of the next election?
 
PRIME MINISTER: All of those matters aren't my focus. What my focus is, is getting things done like today.
 
JOURNALIST: That is a big financial hold for Labor –
 
PRIME MINISTER: That's my focus. Look, we’ve made, unlike what happens with the Coalition where they dance around issues, have no discipline, allow people like Senator Rennick’s finally left but was out there undermining their own, undermining common sense out there. They've got people in the Coalition who've stood up in the Senate and supported Vladimir Putin rather than the Ukrainians. They have people who questioned the science behind Covid and of course, question many of them, the science behind climate change and engage in a range of conspiracy theories. What we do is we are prepared to act. Within weeks of my becoming leader of the Labor Party, indeed, here in WA in Perth, I announced that we would be expelling John Setka from the Labor Party because his values weren't appropriate. And we have taken this strong action against the CFMEU. The administrators have been put in place. That means that there won't be donations. That's not our concern.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you think voters will respect that of your government that you’ve made that decision despite the fact it might cost Labor money?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we just make decisions based upon their merits. And what happened, I do note the range of quotes from Coalition Ministers or former Ministers like Peter Dutton saying, oh, this has been around for a long period of time. They've been involved for years and years. Well, they didn't do anything about it and the ABCC didn't do anything about these issues, didn't solve it. John Setka's power rose during the period of the coalition government. I'm about fixing it because decent trade unionists, decent trade unionists who work to improve the wages and conditions of their fellow members, people who give up their time because they're passionate about helping their fellow workers, they deserve our respect. And the legitimate role of the trade union movement is undermined wherever there is corruption. I make this point as well, you can't have a corrupt union official without having a corrupt employer. So we are cleaning up the industry and we make no apologies for it.
 
JOURNALIST: Just on cost of living, two years since you became Prime Minister, are you struggling to relate with families who are seeing cost of shopping going up, given you're probably not doing your own sort of grocery shopping at the moment?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I’m in, like other politicians, and dare I say it, like journalists, senior journalists are in a position of privilege. We accept that. I know what it’s like to do it tough. You know, I grew up in a household where every single dollar mattered, with a mum on an invalid pension struggling for every fortnight to pay. She managed to come through. I know what it's like to do it tough. Do Prime Ministers do it tough financially? The truth is, no, we don't. But I engage each and every day with Australians. I'm not someone who only engages in controlled situations. Earlier today, about three quarters of an hour ago, I was at a coffee shop on the corner of Mount Lawley. I engaged and talked with a whole range of people who were there, open to all about any issues that they wanted to raise. I walk through supermarkets, I walk through shopping centres, and that is part of the way that you keep in touch with the concerns which are there. And I know people are doing it tough. I also know that this isn't unique to Australia, that global inflation has had an impact, and in many parts of the world, including whether it be big economies like the UK or smaller economies in our region, like Palau, they hit double digit inflation. I know the interest rates in Canada, New Zealand, UK, in these countries were much higher, peaked higher than the 4.35 per cent that interest rates have risen to here.
 
JOURNALIST: Times are tougher now for a lot of families, than it was when you were a kid.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Let me say this, in the 1960s a lot of people were doing it pretty tough.
 
JOURNALIST: So it was tougher then than it is now?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not playing word games like that.
 
JOURNALIST: When do you think it was tougher?
 
PRIME MINISTER: That's a word game. People who are doing it tough are doing it tough, and they deserve respect. And they deserve respect rather than games. I get that people are doing it tough. I get that throughout our history, from time and time, there will be people in the community who do it really hard, and they have, my thoughts are with them, and I accept the politicians are privileged. At the moment with the cost of living pressures we've worked each and every day, we didn't make the easy decision to say we're going to take tax cuts off people at my end, and perhaps at your end too, of $4500 less in order to make sure that people who are doing it tough got a tax cut. That was pilloried by every tabloid newspaper in the country when we made that decision. But it was the right decision, and we did it for the right reasons, because we recognised that people needed assistance, and they needed assistance that was real and that meant extra dollars in people's pockets. Similarly, the cheaper medicines that were extended on the first of September, on Sunday, means extra dollars in people's pockets. The Energy Price Relief, $700 of support here in WA making a difference. Cheaper child care for 1.2 million families. The people who are enjoying fee free TAFE, who we will visit in a short while, are benefiting from that as well. Getting skills whilst taking the need to pay for their courses off the agenda. It's why we wiped $3 billion of student debt with this Minister here making that decision. We are very conscious each and every day about cost of living measures. Bit I make this point, the alternative government has not put up any cost of living proposals. They oppose the cost of living proposals that we’ve put up, and indeed when we changed the tax cuts, they said they'd oppose it before they saw it. Then they said they'd roll it back. Then they said we should have an election on it. And on the weekend, you had circumstances about two issues - one again raising tax cuts as part of they're going to, apparently, have some tax cuts. We don't know what they are. But they spoke about in the last week about restoring their model of Stage Three Tax Cuts that were about, the difference, of course, is for higher income earners rather than low and middle income earners. They also on the weekend, spoke about cutting the GST to Western Australia. There they were on TV, Andrew Bragg saying that they wanted to hit states where it hurts by cutting their GST. Now that means less money for services, for education, for health, for infrastructure here in WA and other states.
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister just on the CFMEU –
 
PRIME MINISTER: We have an order. I’m giving everyone a go, mate.
 
JOURNALIST: Just two quick ones, after the census controversy do you still have confidence in Andrew Leigh as the Minister in charge of the census? And on gambling reforms, what are you telling members of your Caucus who say that your Government isn't going far enough with those TV adverts?
 
PRIME MINISTER:  Well, yes to the first. And secondly, we have, we have not come to a conclusion, we're in discussions. I've seen reports that allege that they know what the position is. Well, they don't. What we've been doing is having a consultation to make sure that we get the reforms right. We know that problem gambling is an issue, and we want to deal with those issues in a constructive way. My government has already done more in the first two years on problem gambling, by having the register to stop people who are problem gamblers. By changing the use of credit cards for gambling. By changing the rules and the declarations that come after advertising. But we're continuing to engage with the media organisations, with sporting organisations, as well as the anti-gambling lobby. We're engaging constructively. That's what good governments do. They reach out and engage constructively.
 
JOURNALIST: Just on Ukraine, why is your government still against sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we make decisions in a considered way, upon advice of the Department of Defence and our Australian Defence Force. We've contributed a billion dollars of support for Ukraine. The struggle of the Ukrainians is an important one, because it's a struggle for international rule of law and for national sovereignty, and the Ukrainians will have our support for as long as necessary.
 
JOURNALIST: The CFMEU apparently has launched a legal action against your governments new laws in court in Queensland, they’ve just done it, apparently.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Surprise, surprise. John Sekta took our entire National Executive to court over him being expelled from the Labor Party. That's fully expected, and we will stand by our position, and the government's position will be defended. Thanks very much.

ENDS