TRANSCRIPT: M1 GOLD COAST PRESSER, 16 July 2019
E&OE
Subjects: Gold Coast infrastructure; CSIRO, Adani; light rail; employment; water infrastructure
ANGIE BELL:
Well it’s great to be here this morning on the M1 and having a look here at infrastructure on the Gold Coast. It’s the most important thing to our city, to make sure that families on the Gold Coast have more time together rather than more time on the M1. So, wonderful to be here with the Minister for Infrastructure Michael McCormack, who’s here to help us celebrate and make this announcement today that we’re widening the M1 so that you can be home earlier. Fantastic.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Indeed, and thank you, Angie. It is fantastic to be here with the new Member for Moncrieff who, every time we’ve talked, she has said to me we need to bust through congestion on the Gold Coast. Every time we’ve spoken, she’s talked about building more infrastructure here on the Gold Coast. We know that the Gold Coast is such a haven for tourism. We know that the Gold Coast is such a haven for visitors. And we want to make sure, whether it’s the airport, whether it’s the M1, whether it’s building a better Gold Coast, that the Federal Government is backing the people here all the way. And Angie is backing the people here all the way, and it’s delightful to come here this morning to check on the progress, to know that we’re developing the M1 motorway for this 5.7-kilometre section from four lanes to six lanes. And having driven here, and knowing that the one thing that Gold Coast residents don’t want to have to spend all day doing is actually being stuck in traffic – looking at the brake lights in front of them. They want to get to work sooner and safer. They want to get home to loved ones and families sooner and safe after a hard day at work, and we want to back them all the way.
We want to make sure that we bust through that congestion. Looking forward to the next section being built. Looking forward to making sure that this widening of the M1 continues right up and down this particular busy section of the Gold Coast Highway. This is such a game changer, so transformational in our infrastructure piece. And of course, we all know that right across the nation, we’re spending $100 billion, a record amount over the next decade on infrastructure, on pieces such as this highway, on dams, on building a better Queensland. Building a better regional Queensland. Building a better Gold Coast. Building a better nation. That what’s it’s all about. We’re getting in there, we’re spending the money, it’s people like Angie who are making sure that having been elected to the Parliament, that they’re not going to rest easy. They’re not going to rest on their laurels. They’ve been elected, and they’re going to do a hard job, a fine job, and an outstanding job making sure that we build the infrastructure for the Gold Coast and indeed, right around Queensland, right around the nation. I commend Angie for the job that she’s doing, and I know that she’s got a direct line to me, because she uses it often. We’re always on the phone talking about what we can do to make sure that we ease the congestion burden more. What we can do to build better infrastructure, and I commend her, firstly for her election, and secondly for her advocacy to this wonderful part of Australia.
Any questions?
JOURNALIST:
Are upgrades to the M1 happening fast enough? Considering the rapid population growth from the south east, is this just a Band-Aid solution?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
We are getting on with the job and we’re making sure that we do it on budget and on time. And of course, I’m working with the Queensland Government. And I work with any governments, any political persuasion, to build better infrastructure. And I’ve, in recent times, had discussions with not just the Premier but also the Infrastructure, Roads and Transport Minister here, Mark Bailey, to see what else we can do. And of course on the weekend, I spoke very, very at length with Deb Frecklington, and I know she is committed to building a better Queensland. I’m committed to building a better Queensland, and we, of course, we do this as a staged process. There’s already hundreds of jobs being created here in the construction, and that will continue. That will continue right along the way, making sure that we do it in that right stage process and making sure that we do it on time and on budget.
JOURNALIST:
Have there been any more discussions with the Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey about light rail, Deputy Prime Minister?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Indeed. And look, I know the Queensland Government is looking at light rail just at the moment, and I’m happy to take on board their plans when they are presented to the Federal Government. We’ve got a record of delivery as it comes to light rail. Indeed, heavy rail, all types of rail, whether we’re moving passengers or whether we’re moving freight. We want to make sure that we have better rail right across the nation. Right across regional Queensland, right across the Gold Coast, right across Metropolitan Queensland. We want to make sure that we move passengers, whether they’re being ferried by rail, whether they’re being ferried by car, truck, whatever the case might be, we want to make sure people get home sooner and safer. We want to increase those freight supply chains. We want to increase productivity and efficiency. It’s so important. It’s critical that we bust through congestion and we’re doing just that.
JOURNALIST:
Have there been any further discussions though about the funding issue?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
I’ve had a chat with Mark Bailey just last week, and looking forward to getting the plans and the proposals, and I’ll look at those when we receive them.
JOURNALIST:
State Government’s concerned asset sales are back on the agenda and we won’t get our fair share of M1 funding, up the M1 at those exits that need upgrading, until we sell assets, and they’re saying they won’t. Is that what’s happening? Are we not going to see our fair share?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Again, I say, I work with Minister Mark Bailey in good faith. And we want to ensure that Queensland gets its fair share. But we have to work with governments, and governments also need to look at how they can best finance their infrastructure projects. So, I’m working well, in good faith, with the minister at the moment. I’ll continue to do that, I’ll continue to work with all state and territory governments to build better infrastructure. We’ve got a $100 billion on the table for infrastructure over the next 10 years. And its local members like Angie who want to get in there and make sure that the residents they serve, the people they serve, the people who’ve put them in parliament, are being well-served with infrastructure. Angie is doing that, and I urge and encourage the Queensland Government to get on board and make sure they put their proposals forward so that we can work with them to build more infrastructure and better infrastructure.
JOURNALIST:
Minister, just on international matters, the Russian Ambassador has said he’d welcome the PM to Russia for the first time in decades. Do you welcome that move for Scott Morrison to go to Russia?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, that would be a matter for Scott Morrison. I’m sure Russia is a country which we want to also, obviously, have better relations with, along with all other international partners, particularly our trade partners. And when Scott goes overseas, I look forward to being the acting Prime Minister and getting around the nation and talking to members just like Angie, about how we can even build better infrastructure, more infrastructure.
JOURNALIST:
As an influential middle power, do we have a responsibility to go to Russia and help liaise between other countries?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well look, we have good relations with all countries and I know Scott has been welcomed on the world stage, whether it's at G20, whether it's importantly for our Pacific neighbours. I know the Step Up campaign has been such a winner for those Pacific Island nations. And I know wherever Scott goes he's being welcomed, and he's being welcomed as somebody who wants to build a better world. Not just a better Australia, but he wants to make sure that the world is a more peaceful place, that there are better trade relations between all countries. And, when it comes to the international stage, I know Scott Morrison is going to do Australia proud.
JOURNALIST:
Deputy Prime Minister, do you believe people should be paid for the hours they work?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well people should be paid for the hours they work, of course, and that's why the Fair Work Commission ensures that's possible and that takes place.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible] will pay companies about $1,000 for people who work 25 hours per week but under Newstart they only get [inaudible]…
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well Newstart is a provision for people who have, are transitioning from not work into work. The best form of welfare is a job and that's why I've been proud to be part of government which is, through small business and through other businesses, have helped create the economic conditions by which business has backed itself and employed 1.4 million Australians. And, over the next term, we look forward to redoubling our efforts as far as employment is concerned, as far as our providing the right economic conditions are concerned, so that small business and other business besides can have the confidence to employ another million Australians. That's why we're putting in place those measures. But the best form of welfare is a job. And the best form of making sure that people are able to have a job is giving small business the tax cuts that they need, and I'm delighted that we've been able to do that, to provide the impetus, the economic impetus to actually employ more Australians. We want Australians in work. That's why it's so great to come to these sorts of projects and see hundreds of people in high-vis vests working hard, gaining employment, gaining money to build their better lives. I mean that's what it's all about.
JOURNALIST:
These people are working an extra 20, I’m sorry, another 25 hours a week, is $100 enough?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well I say again, Newstart is there for people as a stopgap measure in between work, to actually find a job and the best form of welfare is work. The most meaningful thing we can do as a government is to provide the conditions under which business has the confidence to employ more people. And in Australia, if you want a job there is a job there for you. Sometimes people have to travel to find that work.
But I do urge and encourage people to look for work, and not always necessarily in a metropolitan area. There are plenty of jobs in regional Australia, and good jobs, and well-paid jobs. So I saw a story on the front page of The West Australian in Perth the other day, where a young lady simply said she couldn't find work. Well she'd only have to go to Geraldton, or to Esperance, or indeed to Kalgoorlie, there would be plenty of jobs for that young lady to occupy. Now it mightn't be the world's best job that she wants right at that particular point in time but it's going to give her the experience and the wherewithal to possibly then go back to Perth and find a job that she wants.
And sometimes you have to travel for work. We need a mobile workforce and we need people to have the ability and the confidence to back themselves to take that job and then to use that job to leverage to get a better job if that's in fact what they want.
JOURNALIST:
Mr McCormack a report into the Earle Haven Nursing Home was due yesterday. Where is that report and when can we expect it?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well look, I know Angie’s been working very hard with the Aged Care Minister, Richard Colbeck, to sort this situation out. Look it's a difficult situation for all concerned, not least of whom of course are the residents. So there is temporary accommodation. I know that the government is investigating it very closely and monitoring the situation. I know there will be meetings held later this week and I know Angie and I have also discussed that this morning. I know that there's been a hotline set up not just for the residents but for their loved ones, and their carers, and their families to avail themselves of the latest information. And I appreciate that we've got an Aged Care Royal Commission at the moment as well, looking into just the sorts of circumstances that are really difficult for people in this situation at this point in time.
JOURNALIST:
[Indistinct] the royal commission be tasked with looking at the specifics of [indistinct].
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well the Royal Commission will be looking into a lot of matters and of course, we'll take on board the learnings from the meetings later this week, and of course how this situation unfolds. But I'm sure that the Royal Commission will investigate all these sorts of matters and others besides.
JOURNALIST:
Do you have any updates on the health of some of the individuals involved?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Maybe I might ask Angie to. Was it the health was it or [indistinct]?
JOURNALIST:
[Indistinct] the health. I’ve got a few questions from our Canberra bureau…
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
All right, that’s okay.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible].
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
So do you want me to continue to take your other questions or…?
JOURNALIST:
Yeah if I can. I’ve got a [indistinct].
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Yeah, sure.
JOURNALIST:
Do you believe Adani’s demands for the names of the CSIRO and Geoscience scientists [indistinct] designed to intimidate [indistinct].
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well Adani has had more hoops to jump through, particularly involving groundwater and other measures, than any other project in the past. And I appreciate that the Carmichael proponents didn't want to have perhaps people who, quite frankly, were just wanting to stop the project through any means. They wanted to make sure that the people who were making allegations about the mine, and issuing concerns about the proposal, that they were fair dinkum.
Now no one doubts the sincerity or the independence of the CSIRO, and I regard the CSIRO as one of Australia's finest organisations. But it's understandable, having had to jump through so many hoops with so many people from so far away making comments and, quite frankly, sometimes some unfounded comments about Adani, that when more and more came in whilst Adani was trying to tick off all the necessary boxes, that they wanted to see exactly who was saying what about the project. Because, as I say, a lot of people were saying a lot of things about Adani that quite frankly just weren't true. They didn't ring true then, they don't ring true now. Adani is going to provide hundreds of jobs. Indeed, 1500 jobs in the construction phase alone for the mine and the rail. The fact is it's going to provide many hundreds of jobs when it's operational. And I can understand that having invested so much time and effort and particularly money in this project that the Carmichael proponents wanted to make sure that everything was as it should be in the lead up to the right approvals being given.
JOURNALIST:
Do you believe that CSIRO and Geoscience are independent?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Yes.
JOURNALIST:
To the drought, there are currently seven projects under construction from the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund. Which of these projects will make sure that [indistinct] rather than just benefiting agricultural [indistinct]?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, I'm hoping a number of them. Rookwood Weir, Emu Swamp Dam, Wyangala Dam in New South Wales – they’re all projects which are not just there for irrigation but they're also there for water supply. And I go right across the country, whether it’s Scottsdale and Forth in Tasmania, Myalup-Wellington in Western Australia, we've got the Hughenden Irrigation Scheme, we've got Big Rocks, we've got Hell’s Gate in Northern Queensland, we want to make sure that these projects are building better agricultural prospects. But we also want to make sure that where and when possible, these projects also mitigate against flood but also supply, where necessary, provision of water for dry times, for drinking water and other domestic purposes.
JOURNALIST:
You announced the National Water Grid during the election campaign. We don’t really know anything more than it will be a statutory authority to provide advice to the Government, something which Infrastructure Australia already does. When will you provide more detail?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, we're working through those details right as we speak and in coming weeks, indeed, if not the next couple of months, we’ll announce plans for the National Water Grid to take the petty politics out of building water infrastructure. I want to work with the states, but where the states are stalling and where we can't find common ground, then I want to use the best available science and local stakeholders as well to build projects such as the Emu Swamp Dam. Now, just in recent weeks, I've had discussions over the phone and indeed, face to face with Anthony Lynham, the Water Minister here in Queensland. I want to make sure that whether it's Queensland, New South Wales, whatever state or territory it is, that where we've got willing partners – certainly the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund, we've got $1.3 billion topped up with another half a billion dollars late last year, I want to make sure that we build the right water infrastructures. Because wherever I go, when I mention dams, and whether it's a metropolitan area, they cheer. Whether it's a regional area, they do the same. But where we can't reach common ground, well, the National Water Grid will certainly make sure that we build those dams.
JOURNALIST:
Will that water grid be made up of scientists picked to assist Coalition’s agenda to build big dams?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, I hope that scientists are looking forward to the Coalition's pitch to build more dams. It's not just the Coalition's pitch, it's the nation's pitch. The nation wants more dams and when you get people like Bob Brown who wants to stop everything, when you get Labor who vote against such things as a Future Drought Fund, when you get the Greens who are against everything, they've got the Banana Republic philosophy – build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything, that's B-A-N-A-N-A, that's the Greens. The fact is we want to get on and build a better Australia and we will do it.
JOURNALIST:
Why does it take an emergency like severe drought for the Government to respond to towns needing better water infrastructure?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, the fact is we've had this money on the table for the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund for some time but we have to have the states cooperating. And that's why if states aren't going to be cooperative or if they're not going to reach common ground and are going to use bureaucracy to hold things up, well, that's where the National Water Grid will come into play.
JOURNALIST:
One last question from Canberra. The Prime Minister described President Trump on the weekend as a strong leader. Do President Trump’s comments about four Democrats telling them to go back to their own countries if they don’t like the US, does that constitute strong leadership?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, the fact is you’re not going to agree with absolutely everything everybody says. Overall, President Trump is a strong leader, as the Prime Minister says, and there’s no greater friends of Australia than the Americans. We trade with them; we work with them militarily. They’ve got a
strong presence here in Queensland through military bases. They've got a strong presence, of course, in the Top End. We are very reliant on America as being strong friends. They are reliant on us as being strong friends and I'm sure that's going to continue.
JOURNALIST:
Mr McCormack, did any of your acquaintances or former employees get a government appointment prior to the election?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Did any of my acquaintances or friends …?
JOURNALIST:
Well, former employees, sorry, get a government appointment prior to the election?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
I don't believe so. I mean, I've got many friends. I've got many acquaintances and of course, government appointments always go through Cabinet. They always pass the proper, independent processes. I'm not quite sure of the premise of your question but I know a lot of people. Obviously, I'm the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, so if you're going to then throw up a name at me after this interview that perhaps somebody who I knew in a previous life or somebody I've met through parliamentary circles and then they've got an appointment to a government board, well, they'd get- they’d have had that position given to them because- or allocated to them or indeed, they've earned that position because of their experience and the fact that they're going to do a very good job. Yes, I may have known them. I'm not quite sure of exactly who you’re referring to. But there's many people I know who've got positions, I suppose, to government boards. I'm not quite sure exactly where you're going with that question.
JOURNALIST:
Regarding the M1 upgrade…
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
The mine upgrade?
JOURNALIST:
Sorry, the M1 upgrade.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
[Talks over] Oh, M1 upgrade, sorry. We’re back on the M1. Good. Excellent. Back where we started. We’ve gone full circle.
JOURNALIST:
How many jobs have been created and when is it due to be finished?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, there’s 300 jobs actually engaged on this particular 5.7-kilometre section at the moment. So, indeed, that could well be 300 jobs that weren't there before and I know from experience that when you actually have a project such as this, often those jobs are actually created from nothing. Often, it's not just people being transferred from one side to another. Often, those jobs are new jobs, new people with new skills being trained up to do everything from stop-go work with a stop-go sign, right up to really intricate engineering work, who may not actually have been engaged in building roads previously. So, they’re new positions. Hundreds of jobs have been created on just this 5.7-kilometre section where they've widened it from four lanes to six, so that's going to be very, very good for residents and commuters using this road. And I know that when we start on the section south of here in the not too distant future that that will create many more hundreds of jobs.
JOURNALIST:
When will this current upgrade be finished?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
I believe it's mid-2020. Mid-2020. I'm getting the nod. Yes, mid-2020. On time, on budget.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER:
Thanks everyone.