Doorstop - Bankstown

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Happy New Year, everybody. I hope everyone had a great Chrissie and got to spend the last few days with family and with friends. And to everybody that's had to work over the Christmas period, doctors and nurses and ambos and truckies and hospitality workers, journalists and cameramen and women, thank you so much for everything that you do. Today is the last day of the year and this year we've cut taxes, we've cut the cost of childcare, we've cut the cost of medicine, we've cut HECs as well. We've rolled out free TAFE courses across the country, and there's more to do. We know that Australians are doing it tough. We know that they're struggling with the cost of living. And that's why, from tomorrow, we'll roll out another hundred thousand free TAFE courses. 340,000 Australians who work in aged care will get a well-earned pay rise. A million Australians will see an increase in their payments. For the first time in 25 years, the cost of medicine won't go up in line with inflation. And that will save Australians about half a billion dollars over the next few years. That's real help for a lot of Australians with the cost of living. And in my own portfolio, if we win the next election, we'll cut the cost of HECs by a further 20 per cent. They're just a couple of real practical examples about how we're helping Australians the cost of living. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Well just on a [indistinct].

CLARE: For a lot of Australians who live on a limited income, making sure that we keep the cost of medicine down is going to make a world of difference for them. This is the first time in a quarter of a century that the cost of medicine that you get from the pharmacy with a script won't go up in line with inflation. That's going to save half a billion dollars for Aussies across the country over the next few years. It's going to make a really big difference for a lot of Australians right across the country.

JOURNALIST: [Indistinct] the importance of decriminalisation, of purposefully underpaying workers. Can you tell us a bit about that?

CLARE: From tomorrow, wage theft becomes illegal. From tomorrow, wage theft becomes a criminal act. And you can go to jail for up to 10 years or cop a fine of up to $8 million. This is serious. For companies who deliberately underpay their workers, who steal money off their workers, and now what you're doing is a crime and you'll have to pay for it.

JOURNALIST: And how about the changes to ATMs and poker machines [indistinct]?

CLARE: I'll take that on notice and come back to you on that one. One of the other things that is happening from tomorrow is the banning of the importation of engineered stone. This is the stuff used to make kitchen benchtops that kills people, that causes silicosis, this is modern day asbestosis. It's killing Australian workers and that's why we're stopping the importation of it from tomorrow.

JOURNALIST: Just got a question about these social media posts from Victorian Labor. Do you think it was appropriate that they sort of incorporated the Peter Dutton's wife into the social media post?

CLARE: No, I think it was stupid and it was wrong and I'm glad it's been taken down. A family should be off limits. We're on the ballot paper, not our partners. And that's why when the Prime Minister saw it, he demanded that it be ripped down. And I'm glad it has.

JOURNALIST: Obviously we're going into an election year. I guess, is there a promise that there'll be sort of a fair sort of battle as we go into that election?

CLARE: Elections are about a choice and at this election Australians are going to have a stark choice between a government that's working hard, that's focused on the things that Australians are focused on, like the cost of living, or an Opposition which, to be frank, is just a bunch of lazy Scott Morrison leftovers that don't have any ideas. And we'll call out the fact that the Liberal Party under Peter Dutton has no ideas, except for this idea of building nuclear reactors that are just going to jack up the cost of everybody's electricity bill, about 1200 bucks and cost jobs in the energy sector right around the country. It's fair to call that out and we'll call it out every single day.

JOURNALIST: And while I've got you, I'll just ask something about you in your portfolio area. Some universities have criticised Ministerial Direction 111 being introduced so close to the end of the year, saying they've already budgeted for the full indicative cap provided months ago. What is your justification for priority visa processing ending when they hit 80 per cent of that allocation?

CLARE: I make no apologies for getting migration levels in Australia back to pre-pandemic levels. And the work we're doing with international education numbers is about that. Peter Dutton blew up the student cap legislation in the Parliament and in the process blew up his own credibility. But I want to make sure that our international student education system is better and fairer than it is at the moment. I want to make sure that it's not just the big metro universities that benefit from this, but regional universities as well. And that's what this Ministerial Direction is all about.

JOURNALIST: Thanks. I'll hand over to the others now.

CLARE: No worries.

JOURNALIST: Minister, there's a bit of anger from Australians about the cost of renewing passports that's going up next year. Why is the charge justified? Why should Australians pay more to get a new passport?

CLARE: That happens automatically, in line with the legislation that sets those fees. What we're doing as of tomorrow is making sure that the cost of medicine doesn't go up for millions of Australians and that will cut the cost of medicine for Australians by about half a billion dollars over the next few years. That's focused on the sort of things that are going to help a lot of Australians right across the country.

JOURNALIST: And just a final one on the social media post by the Victorian ALP. Are you satisfied with the actions of the Prime Minister and should any further action be taken against whoever approved the social media post?

CLARE: I'll refer you to my previous answer.

JOURNALIST: Minister, it's Lucy Gray here from Ten, just back on passports. Even though you say it's a regular increase, we're still going to have some of the most expensive in the world. Is the government ripping people off?

CLARE: We're focused on making sure that we help Australians with the things that affect them every single day. Making sure that the cost of medicine doesn't go up is going to help millions of Australians. Giving a pay rise to aged care workers is going to help hundreds of thousands of Australians. And rolling out free TAFE courses across the country is going to help an extra hundred thousand Australians next year and every year after that. They're the sorts of things that we're focused on to help Australians with the cost of living. 
I think there's good reason to be optimistic about the year ahead. We've broken the back of the inflation dragon. We're now seeing wages going up in real terms for the first time in a long time and unemployment is really low. So, that's a good thing. But we know Aussies are still doing it tough and that's why the sort of things that start tomorrow are important. In particular, making sure that the cost of medicine doesn't go up.

JOURNALIST: And just we know, obviously we know there's a bit of money that's been set aside that we saw in MYEFO for measures decided on but not yet announced. Can we expect further cost of living relief in the new year?

CLARE: I won't pre-empt any announcements that the Prime Minister or the Treasurer might make over the course of the next few months.

JOURNALIST: And just one more on a separate topic from Queensland. Scott Rush has been sentenced by a Queensland court on historical charges. Do you welcome the fact that he can now get on with his life after so long?

CLARE: As I said, a couple of weeks ago, Scott Rush and the other members of the Bali Nine committed a very serious crime and they paid a very serious price. In the case of Scott Rush, he spent the best part of two decades in an Indonesian prison. The case of two other individuals, they paid for that crime with their life. They were executed by a firing squad. That sends a message to all Australians that if you commit a serious crime like drug trafficking, that you can end up in jail for two decades or you could lose your life. The court has now sentenced Mr Rush for offences that were committed, I think, over two decades ago. And I think that the decision that the court has made is appropriate.

JOURNALIST: Did the Federal Government provide any assistance to him to get in before a magistrate this week?

CLARE: I'm sorry, Lucy, I missed that question.

JOURNALIST: Did the Federal Government provide any assistance to him to get him before a magistrate this week?

CLARE: Not that I'm aware of.

JOURNALIST: That's all from me. Thank you.

CLARE: All right, we're all done. Happy New Year.