Transcript: Bundaberg Port announcement 5 May 2019
EO&E
REPORTER:
So a pre-feasibility study being announced today as part of the Hinkler deal. Can you tell us a bit about that?
PITT:
Well, firstly, it's great to be here with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, at a Burnett Heads and it's a wonderful day. I've got to say, it's a great day up where we are announcing that the Federal Government will commit $750,000 dollars as part of the Hinkler regional deal to a pre-feasibility study here at Bundaberg Port. And what we know is that this is something which has been talked about, and talked about, and talked about, for decades. And we are actually taking real action to determine the cost and benefit of the potential outer harbor, here at the Bundaberg Port.
REPORTER::
Wonderful, so tell us, when will this actually begin, this pre-feasibility study?
PITT:
Oh, well, we'll commit the money as part of the regional deal, working with Gladstone Ports Corporation which have of course as part of a state government-owned entity. What we know is that the Queensland Labor government actually put down a state development area on the northern side of the port, and on the southern side some two years ago. And to be very, very frank, they've done nothing with it. And what we want to do, is we want to ensure that we can determine for investors, that this is a feasible proposition, an outer harbor which will allow much larger vessels to work from the Bundaberg area.
It will mean potentially many more jobs at our local port, particularly if there is an option for containers, and grain exports, and the like. We know we are limited with a river port, because of the size of the swing basin and the depth. We are going to determine once and for all, whether this is an option, and a feasible option.
REPORTER:
Given the State Government still hasn't signed on to the Hinkler deal, how can we say this is actually going to go ahead?
PITT:
Well, we've already provided $10 million dollars, we've announced under the regional deal for Gladstone Ports Corporation to build a multi-purpose conveyor, and we know that that has already resulted in an ASX announcement for a mine at Binjour, to export bauxite from this location. We know that everyone in this region wants more jobs at the port, is such a critical part of our local assets. The Queensland State Government I am sure, will not be knocking back grants of almost $11 million dollars from the Federal Government.
REPORTER:
Again, that mine at Binjour hasn't been given any state government approval yet. I don't think they've even done the environmental study. So, is this taking what ... Is this just assuming that everything's going to go ahead?
PITT:
Well, what we know is that they've advised the ASX of their intentions. What we know is that we have talked about an outer harbor for decades. And what we will determine is whether it is feasible, the cost-benefit, the impacts potentially on the environment, what needs to be done from an engineering viewpoint, and whether the oceanography will actually work. So we are about the facts, and the Queensland Labor government unfortunately, do not want to invest in this region. So we will pick it up, we will put our shoulders to the wheel, we will deliver for jobs in this region, and this pre-feasibility study will allow investors, particularly large international investors, to look at over $3 billion dollars of investment in this region for an offshore port.
REPORTER:
Given a similar, well, similar things can be shipped out of Gladstone currently, what's the point of having one here just a couple hours down the road?
PITT:
Well, what we know, is that everybody wants Australian projects. I've had in my previous portfolio discussions with potential investors, are looking for very large agricultural exports out of this region. We know we grow the best agriculture in the world. It is lean, it is green, it is safe, it is clean, and everyone wants it. Now, as a government, we are looking to have up to a hundred billion dollars worth of agricultural produce from this country. Clearly, it's not for our own consumption, and to do that, we need to have economical and well placed ports that utilize that infrastructure, so we can feed the world.
REPORTER:
Again, just lastly, it's a lot of money on a pre-feasibility study. How much is the actual feasibility study going to cost?
PITT:
Well, what we have to say is exactly what the project will cost, we have to ensure that investors have confidence that this will work. It is the reason that we are investing in the pre-feasibility study. We do need to look at the oceanography. We do need to determine whether any small dredging may be required. We do need to determine quite simply, whether you can park a Cape class type vessel offshore here in Bundaberg, and be successful. So we want confidence in the market, we want to expand into the future, we want to drive more jobs into our region, and it is the Coalition government that is doing that.
REPORTER:
Wonderful, thank you.
PITT:
And I'll ask the Deputy Prime Minister to make some remarks.
Michael McCormack, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and for Regional Development.
MCCORMACK:
And whilst the sand might be a little bit shifty here, so is Bill Shorten. He is very shifty, and we will make sure that we have development. We want to make sure that we have the right infrastructure in the right places, and Keith Pitt stands for more infrastructure. He stands for more regional development. If there's one saying I've heard Keith Pitt say a number of times, it's "Exports equals jobs, and more exports equals more jobs," and that's why this pre-feasibility study for the Bundaberg Port is so important. The $750,000 dollars to determine what we can do to go forward and make even more progress, more development, and more jobs, because we want more exports. We want to make sure that places like here at Bundaberg, are able to be their best selves, are able to realise their potential.
That's what Keith Pitt stands for. He wants to develop his area even further. He wants to make sure it maximizes its potential. So that's why this arrangement is part of the Hinkler deal, a Hinkler deal only made possible because of the hard work and effort of Keith Pitt, the member for Hinkler that's going to equal more jobs, more exports, and more opportunities for small businesses, and investment into this region. That's what he stands for, getting more investment, getting more jobs, and getting more opportunities, and more potential for local people.
REPORTER:
Again, the state Labor Government, they've never signed on to the deal. They've said they would, well, weren't intending on signing. There was issues obviously with when they said they weren't going to sign on to the deal. What do you say to that? They haven't actually agreed for these projects to go ahead.
MCCORMACK:
Well, I say to the state Labor government, get on board. It's not just a project like this. It's also the Inland Rail. It's also more water storage infrastructure. We've got a plan to build more dams. We've got a plan to develop regional Queensland. I say to the state Labor Government, get on board, because if you get on board with projects such as this, such as the coal mines, such as the agriculture projects that we're trying to put into place, and we are putting into place, make sure that you get on board, because we want to grow Queensland. Because when Queensland's strong, so too is Australia, and certainly when our regions are strong, you know, it just makes sense. It makes jobs. It creates opportunities. I say to state Labor, I plead to state Labor, get on board.
And I appreciate that they've been playing politics in recent weeks and months, because we've got a federal election, but if they want to grow Queensland, if they want Queensland to realise its potential, then they need to just show a little bit of bipartisanship.
REPORTER:
You've hammered Labor for not being upfront with voters, so, why won't you or the PM say what someone earning more than $180,000 dollars, would get under your tax plan?
MCCORMACK:
Well, we've got a tax plan that's fair for all Australians. We've got a tax plan that enables people to grow their incomes, to make sure that they have a job. That's first and foremost. We've enabled through our economic policies, 1.3 million jobs to be created in the last five years, and that's through the hard work of small family enterprises, medium-sized businesses, and big business too. We want business to be able to grow human capital. We want them to be able to employ that apprentice, that trainee for their first job. We want them to put their faith in their business, but in people. That's the first priority.
So if there's more opportunity for business, they'll put on more people. They'll invest in their best resource, and that is human capital. But we also want obviously, to grow people's wages, and through a good economic plan, which we have, that's only going to increase economic activity, and enable businesses to pay higher wages. But of course as we all know, you know, and Labor doesn't seem to realise this, that the Fair Work Commission also plays a role. Labor wants to upend everything that it put in place, when it was in power. And Labor wants to pretend as though somehow, that what the Fair Work Commission says and does, is somehow someone else's fault.
Well, Labor set up the Fair Work Commission. Labor set up the committee and appointed the Commissioners on the Fair Work Commission, and somehow they seem to think that the independent umpire is now not right.
REPORTER:
Bill Shorten has pledged a $1,500 dollar wage increase for workers. You have also promised to increase wages, but don't have a specific figure or time. Will voters punish you for that?
MCCORMACK:
Well again, I say the Fair Work Commission plays a role in this. So, Bill Shorten's saying a lot of things at the moment. Don't believe what Bill Shorten, Shifty Bill Shorten says. Believe what he does. He has a plan for higher taxes. He has a plan for Less jobs. That's the Shifty Bill Shorten way. I want to make sure that under the Coalition, under the Liberal Nationals, that we grow Australia. That we certainly grow the regions. That we grow jobs. And that we make sure that businesses pay less tax. They're already paying the least amount of tax, the least amount of tax in Australia since 1940. So small business taxes that are at a 79 year low. We want to increase that. We want to increase the opportunity for businesses, increase their opportunity to pay less tax.
So what we're doing as part of our overall economic plan, is driving tax down, small business tax to 25%. We want to increase the opportunities for small businesses, and when you increase opportunities for small business, you increase their capacity to employ more people. That in turn leads to more people being employed, and that in turn leads to more jobs, and higher wages.
REPORTER:
Brian Fisher says the Coalition has not acted transparently over secret modelling commissioned on the cost of climate action. And that even he hasn't seen the findings. Why won't you release the work?
MCCORMACK:
Well, why won't Bill Shorten, Shifty Bill Shorten release his cost to the economy of 45% emissions reduction? Why won't Shifty Bill Shorten release the findings and his economic plan of what's it's going to cost for 50% renewables? It is going to de-industrialise Australia. It is going to force farmers to de-stock. That's the Shifty Bill Shorten way. We want to make sure that farmers can realise their potential. We want to make sure that the $60 billion dollar agriculture sector grows to a hundred billion dollars.
Bill Shorten, wants to tell farmers what they can farm, where they can farm, how they can farm, why they can farm, and the future for farmers, which is going to be bleak under a Bill Shorten-led government. The fact is, Bill Shorten also wants to make sure there's a Just Transition Authority in Queensland to tell the people in the primary industry sector, particularly in the mining sector, that they can't have a job, that they need to turn into baristas. Well, we know that coal mining for instance, employs 55,000 people. We know that coal mining helps to produce 66% or two-thirds of our energy needs, and we know that coal mining produces $66 billion dollars of exports. So $66 billion dollars that state governments are able to spend on state health and state public schools.
We know that we're behind the resources sector. Bill Shorten isn't. He wants to transition. Transition all those mining workers into coffee makers. Well, we can't all be coffee makers. We can't all be people who are just layabouts, or don't have a job.
REPORTER:
Why won't you release the work that the government's done?
MCCORMACK:
Well, fact is, we've got an economic plan for this country, and the fact is, we've been very transparent about what we're doing, and how we're doing it. We're meeting our international climate arrangements. We're making sure that we reduce emissions in a responsible way, meeting our Kyoto targets, meeting the targets that we set, and the world's set. We've signed up to them, we're agreeing to them. What we also want to do is make sure that when pensioners need to be able, and families and businesses flick the switch on, that power comes on. What we want to make sure is that's done in an affordable way, and what we want to do is make sure that if you're an aluminium smelter, or a cement maker, in Gladstone, Bundaberg, or anywhere else.
The fact that you can have more affordable power, that's the Coalition way. That's the Liberal National's way. That's the Keith Pitt way. We want to make sure that there's affordable power, and we also want to make sure that agriculture and that industry is its best self, and that's why investments such as the $750,000 for the pre-feasibility study in the Port of Bundaberg, that's why those sorts of infrastructure and business case and announcements and arrangements, are so important.
REPORTER:
Why are we holding another set of modelling by Cadence economics? Do you not like the findings?
MCCORMACK:
Well, the fact is we've been very transparent, and the fact remains that the only person who isn't being transparent about their policies and their costings, are Shifty Bill Shorten. Now, I know he's going to have his campaign launched in Brisbane today. Fact is, he's actually, probably on his feet as I speak. Now, how many times in that campaign launch, that Bill Shorten's doing today, will he use the F word? A four letter F word. Farm. How many times will he talk about regional Australia? How many times will he come and make a sentence, say a sentence about how much his economic policies are going to cost, and how much his climate change announcements are going to cost the economy, and the average person in the street? He won't do that. He won't do that, because he knows he can't do that, because if he does, fact is, nobody will vote Labor. They'll understand that the future looks very bleak under a Bill Shorten-led government.
REPORTER:
On Labor today, they've announced half a billion dollars for an injection into emergency departments. Can you afford to match that?
MCCORMACK:
Oh, well, hallelujah. I mean, here we go. Here's another announcement about hospitals and health. Fact is, Kevin Rudd said he was going to fix up health. He said, "Trust me, I'll do it." Well, you know, he didn't do it. Bill Shorten won't do it. We're pumping a record 60% more into health than anything previously. You know, we're pumping record money into schools, record money into hospitals. We're doing that because we've got a strong economy. We're doing that because we believe in supporting Australia and building a better future. You can only do that when you've got a strong economy. Bill Shorten stands for economy that is far less than what it is today. He stands for less jobs, he stands for higher taxes. Under the Coalition, we'll provide the services, and certainly, the drugs under a PBS system that Labor actually withheld.
When they were recommended to go on the PBS, Labor withheld because they couldn't afford them. Labor cannot manage money. Most of Labor members have never run a business, unless it was running it into the ground, unless it was picketing out the front of it. We can. We do. We're experienced in business. I'm standing beside a bloke who understand small business. I've run a small business myself, and I've run one successfully. We understand business, we understand how it is to manage money, and we'll go on doing that, should the voters decide that they want a Liberal National government, which stands for a stronger economy, or do they want to jeopardise all that, with Shifty Bill Shorten?
REPORTER:
Thank you.
MCCORMACK::
Thank you very much.