TRANSCRIPT: PRESS CONFERENCE TUMUT, 13 JUNE 2020
E&OE
Subjects: Announcement of Round 1 of the Regional Airports Program, Eden-Monaro by-election, Relations with China, International students, Indigenous constitutional reform, COVID-19, Foreign worker visa arrangements, Regional funding, Protests, Bushfires.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, it's great to be here at the Tumut Airport to announce the Commonwealth Federal funding for right across Australia, $41.2 million as part of the regional airports upgrade program. Sixty regional airports are going to benefit from this money, including the Tumut Aerodrome where there's going to be $152,984 spent and I know how much this is going to mean for the Tumut community.
I'm here with The Nationals’ Candidate for Eden-Monaro, Trevor Hicks, who is just behind me. I'm here with the Mayor of Snowy Valleys Council, James Hayes and John Larter, who is also on the council. Jon Gregory, who is the district manager for the Rural Fire Service is also here and Craig Cullinger is here, he's the President of the Tumut Aero Club.
It's a big gathering and we're all excited about this money that is being spent at the Tumut Airport. This money that is going to go to improving the taxiway, improving the drainage, upgrading and maintaining the apron and perhaps even most importantly, also making sure that the fence is what it needs to be because in these rural communities, sometimes you get animals wandering onto the airfield and that's what we don't want when, of course, we've got the planes and helicopters landing and taking off.
This money is going to be so, so welcome right across Australia. We've got 60 regional airports that are going to benefit from it. The most money is going to Ballarat where they're getting $5 million. Merimbula Airport is also getting $4.5 million. So Eden-Monaro, certainly I know Trevor Hicks has been advocating for better services, better infrastructure for Eden-Monaro and that's certainly happening today.
But I know locally how important this announcement is for Tumut. I know, having been up here day after day, week after week during the bushfire season, how many of the Rural Fire Service aero bombers and water bombers landed here at Tumut and but for the Tumut Airport being where it is, Batlow, Tumbarumba and Adelong could have had far worse consequences in the fire than what they did. The Rural Fire Service, of course, was magnificent. It was only for the Tumut Airport and its location and the ability to get those water bombers in and out that saved those towns from even worse destruction. And I know how important it is that we build back better after the bushfire.
Of course, Tumut, like so many of these regional communities, have been so hard hit. Hard hit by drought, hard hit by fires and now, of course, COVID-19 has also taken its toll on these regional communities. But there's one thing Trevor Hicks knows, these regional communities are resilient. These regional communities, they do bounce back. They've got the optimism, they've got the hope and they've got the Federal Government, the Liberal-National Government backing them all the way with better infrastructure, with better services and making sure that we have a focus on jobs and as we come out of the back of COVID-19, that's what our focus is on. JobMaker, making sure that we've got the right infrastructure in place and I know James Hayes, the Mayor of Snowy Valleys, would have been very pleased with the bring forward of $1.3 billion overall right across the Commonwealth but certainly benefitting Snowy Valleys as well, as part of the financial assistance grants. And of course, the doubling of the Roads to Recovery funding.
Tumut and Tumbarumba, Batlow, all these towns in the Snowy Valleys Council will benefit from that money which creates local jobs, which creates local hope and which creates local procurement and certainly as part of the criteria for that local roads and community infrastructure program there is a local procurement factor in there because we want these local businesses to benefit.
Whether it's the cafe, whether it's the accommodation centre, motel, hotel, whatever the case might be, we want them to benefit from this program and I know that when we start upgrading this airport, that it will be creating local jobs. I know that local small businesses will also benefit from this.
So $152,984 for this aerodrome. It's going to make such a difference for the Tumut town and for the wider Snowy Valleys Council. I'll ask Trevor Hicks to add to my remarks. Jon Gregory from the Rural Fire Service might also like to say something and then I'm happy to take any questions. Trevor.
TREVOR HICKS:
Thank you, Michael. Yeah, we know that these airports are a key link for the regional communities and for the rest of Australia and the National Party is delivering $100 million towards securing the key infrastructure which is vital to the aviation network both now and after COVID-19. The National Party and if elected I will certainly not miss out on Tumut and make sure that it gets the funding from the Federal Government to make sure this airport is a viable thing in the future in case we have emergency services and increasing the ability to service the community down here and I look forward to increasing my presence here if I'm elected.
JOURNALIST:
So I was actually up here two weeks ago and Tumbarumba, so I'm just wondering what kind of makes you a bit different or how can you service this community?
TREVOR HICKS:
I'm here with Michael, with the National Party. The National Party's the only party that has been delivering for regional Australia. I've got a small business background, I've got a council background. I'm here for Tumut and with the times we've had with the fires, with the drought and certainly with COVID-19, it needs somebody to support Eden-Monaro. It's such a large electorate and we need someone to deliver and I'm the person.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Do you want to say something about the upgrade, Jon?
JON GREGORY:
Thank you, Deputy Prime Minister. I think it's a tremendous announcement today that this grant's been made available to the community of Snowy Valleys Council area, not only Tumut but the airport here is a very strategic asset for the fire fighters. Just in the recent fires that we've had here, we actually ran some of the bombers out of here that provided support into Canberra because there was congestion over Fyshwick. So I think it's just a tremendous opportunity to upgrade the facility here and provide much better service during times of natural disaster for the wider community.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Thanks, Jon. Across Australia, 6,000 aeromedical emergency lift-offs are done each and every year. 6,000 people have their lives potentially saved because of these regional airports and of course they're the gateway to these areas in many respects. We know that 45% of inbound international tourists come to a regional area and often they come via one of these wonderful airports and many, many jobs are created. 4,000 workers right across Australia benefit from actually working at a regional airport.
Now this isn't a large airport but The Nationals care about it, the Federal Government cares about it, we want to see it improved and we're doing just that.
JOURNALIST:
This whole area has been hit not only by fires but with COVID too, have you got any support for locals?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Oh, indeed we have and I was only speaking to the National Bushfire Recovery Agency Chief, Andrew Colvin, just the other day about what we do need to do as far as these areas and it's not just the Snowy Valleys. It's also, of course, Kangaroo Island, East Gippsland, the Northern Rivers area, the north coast of New South Wales and of course the fires started way back in October and in central Queensland around Rockhampton. So each and every one of those areas has different degrees of service and amenities that they need replacing, that they need to upgrade, but one thing that we are determined to do is to build back better and Minister David Littleproud and I are working on those approaches to these areas because what might be right for Tumut might not be something that is necessarily needed at Kangaroo Island and vice versa.
But we will make sure that we continue the community engagement. We will make sure that for those people, which there are many, I appreciate that, down on the south coast of New South Wales it's just so hard hit. Cobargo, many of those areas, which were so hard hit by the bushfires and I was there regularly and I know the pain that they are suffering. I know that so many people are still not back in their homes and indeed, I appreciate the debris clean-up has been good but for some it's still ongoing and the pain and suffering will also be ongoing but we'll be there to help them. We'll be doing it in conjunction with State Governments. We will continue that community engagement.
JOURNALIST:
Just got a couple of questions off topic a little bit. Regarding Eden-Monaro, according to reports this morning, The Nationals are preferencing Labor over the Liberals in the by-election. Is there a division in the Coalition?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
That is not true. Not true at all. The Liberal Candidate will be number two on our how-to-vote card as you would expect. We are in a Coalition with the Liberal Government. If there's one thing I can assure anybody watching, it is that the Liberal and Nationals Federal Government have delivered. We have been delivering since we were elected in 2013.
Labor, well, they forget the regions. They do not have regional policies which go to the heart of making sure that the infrastructure is there for country people. The Nationals do, the serving government, with the Liberal Party and we deliver for regional Australians. Always have, always will and one thing I can guarantee you is that a vote for Trevor Hicks is a vote for The Nationals and Trevor Hicks being elected to the Parliament will guarantee that the people of Eden-Monaro, the people of Tumut, the people of Snowy Valleys Council will get somebody who will not just fight hard but will be in Government and that's a big difference.
The Labor Candidate, she'll be in Opposition, she'll be a voice in the wilderness and the question is for Anthony Albanese today, all the pressure is on him. The Government hasn't won a by-election off an Opposition for 100 years and since federation there's been 158 by-elections and only one of those, in 1920, in Kalgoorlie, went to the Government from the Opposition and that involved a treason case.
But let me tell you this: a vote for Trevor Hicks gets somebody who is in Government, so somebody who has the ear to the person who holds the infrastructure portfolio, who holds the transport portfolio, who holds the water portfolio, who holds all the portfolios that really matter to country people and Trevor Hicks, I know, is a fighter. He's been a civil engineer, a farmer, a footballer, a father, a husband, but a devoted community person. He understands the issues and most importantly he understands country people and he will work very hard in Government for you.
JOURNALIST:
And off topic again, regarding China. This morning Anthony Albanese has criticised the Foreign Minister’s handling of the tensions with China, he says she’s becoming invisible. Should Marise Payne be doing more to fix this relationship?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
It's the Labor way to come out and criticise. They are so negative. They are so not playing on Team Australia. And at the moment we've got COVID-19. It is proving very, very hard, particularly for country communities. We've got Anthony Albanese and the bloke who wants his job in Jim Chalmers, out there trying to tear everything down, trying to tear down what the Government is trying to build up. I really back Marise Payne and her efforts to diplomatically, in a careful and considered way, deal with the really difficult issue that we are facing and when people come out and criticise trade relations and how we're coping with the relationship with China, what they're doing is they're telling that meat worker in a processing plant in Casino in northern New South Wales, “we don't want you to have your job.”
Now I appreciate that for them and for the farmers who are planting barley at the moment and making those decisions, it's pretty tough and they rely on the Government to make careful and considered and diplomatic decisions for and on behalf of them, for and on behalf of the meat worker in Casino, for and on behalf of the hard-working farmer in the Riverina in South West Slopes who is make decisions whether to grow barley or not. They don't want somebody running around and making stupid, careless statements about our relationship with China. A country where we do $149.7 billion worth of trade every year. So let's remember that.
And let's also remember that all of our language can upset international relations and I also say the message quite loudly and quite clearly that we are a very multicultural nation. We embrace Chinese students, we embrace people of all races and they're welcome to come in when the COVID restrictions are lifted. We want them to enjoy everything that is great about Australia. One of the best things that's great about Australia is the tourism, the picturesque places such as right where I am, right here, right now and that is Tumut. The Snowy Valleys, Kosciuszko Alps, they are absolutely magnificent to visit any time of year and I encourage anybody from anywhere in the world to do just that.
JOURNALIST:
Hi DPM. It’s Fi here from Nine. Just on international students, who will pay for them to come here and how will it be done?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
We'll do that in a careful and considered way. But, the taxpayers can't foot the bill for everyone to come to Australia and we want to welcome, of course, our Chinese students, students from anywhere in the world to come. But they've always done so and they've spent their own money to obviously get here, they've spent their own money to be accommodated here. They've taken advantage of some of the best universities in all of the world, both regionally and I come from Wagga Wagga where Charles Sturt University of course, has a space, but whether it's the University of New England, CQU in Queensland, La Trobe, no matter where it is, or any of the sandstone universities in our capital cities, we want our Chinese friends to come and when the COVID restrictions are lifted. Of course, the National Cabinet will work through the issues of isolation, self-isolation and those issues but of course the students are coming in and they do pay for the privilege to come to our great universities, they get a very good welcoming and they will get a great experience.
JOURNALIST:
How will you choose which unis get the first intake?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
That will be worked through and the universities, of course, will have some say in that and of course they will work with the Education Minister Dan Tehan as they always do and of course through the National Cabinet process with the Prime Minister, with the Premiers. Of course there are a lot of things on the table – trade, international students, there are so many things that are being considered at the moment but rest assured we'll do it in a careful and considered way, making the appropriate announcements at the right time.
JOURNALIST:
Are you concerned that China’s warning to its students not to come here could have an impact on student numbers?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, it's a bit of a moot point at the moment because there are no flights between Australia and China. But, as I said the other day, the warnings are incorrect based on false information. Chinese students have always been welcome here and have been very, very warmly welcomed with open arms by country people, by people in metropolitan areas and they always will be. They're very embracing, very multicultural nations and there's no better place on Earth to get your tertiary degree, no better place on Earth to come and study than Australia and that will remain the case.
JOURNALIST:
And just on Eden-Monaro, are you concerned that your recent stoush with John Barilaro will impact The Nationals’ chances in that by-election?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Not at all. You would have seen the love just last Saturday, as John and I warmly welcomed our newly preselected candidate Trevor Hicks and stood beside him, side by side. I mentioned John in Parliament this week when I was talking about the Dungowan Dam and together the New South Wales Nationals and the Federal Nationals are getting on and we're building dams. We're building water infrastructure. We're improving mobile phone communications. We're doing all the sort of things you would expect National Party members of Parliament to do.
Forget the personalities, we want to be there for the people and we are there for the people. We are putting people first, as you would always expect National Party members to do and if there's one thing I know, Trevor Hicks is going to be a fighter. He's a down-to-earth, plain-speaking, very good person. Very community-minded person and if he gets elected, I hope he gets elected on July 4, he will be in Government. He will have the ear of those important National Party ministerial portfolios, the ear of the ministers who are around that cabinet table making decisions for and on behalf of regional people. Kristy McBain won't. She won't. She'll be in Opposition.
She'll be a voice in the wilderness in an Opposition that is a rabble. An Opposition that can't decide from one day to the next what its policies are going to be on anything – foreign affairs, regional Australia doesn't have a policy and that's the very fact of the matter. We're there for regional people. Trevor Hicks is there for the people of Eden-Monaro, he has been for most of his life and he will continue to be fighting hard for better services, better delivery for the people of Tumut, for the people of Eden-Monaro.
JOURNALIST:
Deputy Prime Minister, its Brett from SBS. Just a quick one, do you believe a voice should be enshrined in the Constitution for First Nations Australians?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, what I do know is Ken Wyatt, the Indigenous Australians Minister, is working very closely with the peaks, with Aboriginal people right across the nation to make sure that we've got the right outcomes, to make sure that constitutional reform is done at the right time, in the right way and to ensure that all Australians are on board. We want to make sure that Indigenous Australians and all Australians have a fair say in the future of our country and we're doing just that.
JOURNALIST:
I've got a couple more. On the multicultural issue, Wentworth MP Dave Sharma has suggested bringing Russia into the fold at the G7 to help deal with China. Is that a good idea, do you think?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Dave Sharma's had his view in an op-ed this morning and I respect his views on this matter. What we want to make sure is we've got good diplomatic relations with all countries and I know the Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, is working hard to achieve that.
JOURNALIST:
Just one more. A federally funded taskforce has been set up at 14 hospitals around Australia to test patients for COVID who are undergoing surgery. Can you tell us why this is an important initiative?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Of course it's important and of course it's important to make sure that anybody who has got any symptoms of COVID – sore throat, cough, flu-like symptoms – that they do go and get tested and of course the Federal Government has been working very hard to address this global health pandemic. Of course we've been very active in making sure, we've spent more than $260 billion providing the economic assistance to cushion the economy from the impacts of COVID-19 and the fallout of this global health pandemic. What we're doing through JobSeeker, through JobKeeper, through JobMaker, is to make sure that people continue to have the prospect of getting work.
So if you're a parent and you're worried about your young person who might have lost their job, or might have not been engaged fully with the amount of casual hours, we want to make sure that they've got hope for the future. We want to make sure that there are jobs for all Australians of all ages and every policy that we're putting in place is to do just that.
But, of course, the first priority is the health pandemic and we are the envy of the world when it comes to that. Congratulations to the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, and the Regional Minister for Health, Mark Coulton, in the work that they have done right across the country to keep the number of deaths to just 102, the envy of the world and to keep the case rate low.
But we're not out of the woods yet. These people who want to go and protest, they ought to think long and hard about their actions. The courts say no, the Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy says no. Common sense would dictate to them that they should be staying home and that they should not be flouting social distancing rules. The cause may be important, but the important thing is that we don't have a second wave. That's what happened 100 years ago when we had the Spanish flu of 1918. People became complacent and started to go outdoors again and then we lost 12,000 lives.
Well, we don't want that. For those people who are being irresponsible, who are flouting the law, who are thumbing their nose at the police, they should think long and hard about their actions and how they are putting the lives at risk of Australians, both themselves, their loved ones and those of us who do not want to see a second wave of COVID.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think its okay (inaudible)? I notice in Tumbarumba they were using (inaudible).
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
We have extended the visa temporary arrangements for those visa holders who come in and do a valuable job at picking fruit and doing all the work that they do particularly in regional Australia. We have extended those visa arrangements because many have found it difficult, both financially and logistically, to get back home. But also, the work continues and the work certainly, in primary produce, continues despite COVID, despite the drought, despite the bushfires and fortunately there are a lot of farmers who are still actively needing people and we thank them for the job that they do to continue to grow the world's best food and fibre. They certainly do that around Tumut. They certainly do that around Tumbarumba and Batlow. We want to make sure that those farmers have a future, that they cannot only survive but, indeed, thrive and all of our policies are aimed at doing that, at helping these people through.
They don't want handouts, they want a hand up. Yes, they want assistance provided at every level of government – local government, State Government, Federal Government and I know James Hayes is making sure and John Larter as well, that they're doing everything that they can at a local level. I know I'm making sure that I do everything at a federal level and so will Trevor Hicks, too, if elected, be sure to engage with the community and to see what they need going forward and be there to provide it. Thank you very much.
JOURNALIST:
Thank you. I wanted to ask Mayor Hayes, are these airport upgrades (inaudible)?
JAMES HAYES:
Yes, they are.
JOURNALIST:
And so what's Council’s reaction?
JAMES HAYES:
We're delighted, it's a good start and there's quite a lot more. It's a great start.
JOURNALIST:
And this is stage one, what will stage two entail?
JAMES HAYES:
Extension of the runway, extension of the (inaudible).
JOURNALIST:
And are they what's needed, I guess, to equip the airport for future bushfire seasons?
JAMES HAYES:
Certainly. It would mean that we'd be able to have heavier aircraft take off and have a longer runway so they'd be able to have the full (inaudible).
JOURNALIST:
Mayor, are you happy with the Federal Government's response to the fires?
JAMES HAYES:
Look, I think it's been wonderful and I think particularly since the $75,000 that went to the farmers, particularly, that equated to about $16.5 million into our community. It was very quick to come and it was spent very quickly as well and it was spent locally as well so that was really, really important. That was a wonderful thing to do.
JOURNALIST:
Can more be done, do you think? Do you have any response from the community?
JAMES HAYES:
Look, as far as the council, we spent about $6.7 million on the fire. (Inaudible), so it would be nice to have as well. But, you know, we do have a lot of things that we've built, rebuilt, (inaudible) and we look for more funding to get a lot of those things done. We also have the issue of a lot of – 40% of our (inaudible) industries, (inaudible) plantations were destroyed. So in the future we're going to need quite a lot of assistance there because those – that industry will suffer into the future.
JOURNALIST:
Thank you.