TRANSCRIPT: WAGGA WAGGA PRESS CONFERENCE, 4 June 2020
E&OE
Subjects: HomeBuilder, Coronavirus, Aviation, Eden-Monaro by-election;
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
Well, good afternoon and welcome, I welcome Wayne Carter, a long-time friend of mine and a long-time friend of Wagga Wagga's and Wayne, of course, has his own building firm and he knows just how important, under the JobMaker scheme, the HomeBuilder announcement that we've made today is going to be for local people, local couples who may earn up to $200,000. Local individuals who may earn up to $125,000. They can now receive $25,000 towards their new – home or indeed, that money towards a renovation up to $750,000, minimum of $150,000 as far as a reno is concerned. But Wayne, whether he's doing a reno or whether he's in fact doing a new – home or indeed all the builders and tradies right around Wagga Wagga, right around the Riverina and Central West can take advantage of this HomeBuilder Scheme, a home buyer and renovation scheme that is going to make such a difference. It's going to be a tradie-led recovery indeed, as we work through the back-end of COVID-19 and we do hope that it is the back end because it has been a very trying time with people self-isolating, people being forced to work from home, people changing their lifestyle, not the way they used to live and indeed one of the hardest-hit sectors has been the building and trade sector.
So we want to have a tradie-led recovery and I've just got off the phone from Tony Balding who is the Chairman of the Housing Industry Association here in Wagga Wagga, he's delighted. I know that builders such as Wayne Carter and right across the economy are going to be very, very pleased because they want people to be picking up the phone, making the inquiries to build their home, making the inquiry about a renovation. We want to see a tradie-led recovery. We want to see building sites with lots of people in high-viz, lots of hammers and all that type of activity happening. The building sector is one of the ways that Wagga Wagga, indeed the Riverina, indeed the nation, can recover from COVID-19.
It has been very, very difficult. It will go on being very, very difficult and we will of course make sure that we listen to the expert medical advice. We will, of course, make sure that we listen to Professor Brendan Murphy, the Chief Medical Officer, head of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee and the other Chief Medical Officers from the States and Territories, follow their advice.
So, so pleased that so many Australians, of course, have downloaded the COVIDsafe app, that is important and if you haven't already done so, make sure you do so because what we want to do is see those restrictions eased. Appreciating, of course, that through the National Cabinet process some State borders are still closed, others are open so there are different rules in different States. But, by and large, we've been very good as Australians, we've got through this process together, we've been able to keep the case rates down low, we've been able to, perhaps more importantly, keep the death rates very low. Only 102 and of course our sympathies and our condolences go to those families who've lost loved ones. Make no mistake, they are feeling the hurt from COVID-19 but our rates are the envy of the world as far as cases and mortalities are concerned. Nowhere else in the world has got an economy like ours with the population like ours, with a nation like ours, been able to do so well and our thanks go out, as a Government, to people for doing the right thing, by abiding by the restrictions, by doing what the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy and others have asked them to do.
So today, the important thing is another announcement along the lines of all the other measures that we've put in place to cushion the effects of COVID-19, to help the economy, to make sure that we've got jobs as part of the JobMaker process. We are a job-creating Government, always have been. But it's small business that leads the way. I've always said that. It's not always about government creating jobs, it's actually small business people like Wayne Carter who take the risks, who make sure they back themselves, who employ young people and some not so young. Somebody looking for a new trade or a new employment endeavour, they're the sort of people that we want to back. It's the Wayne Carters of the world that we want to back and we're doing it today with HomeBuilder. Any questions?
JOURNALIST
That won't be retrospective at all, will it? It will be for contracts signed from today until December?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
Yeah, contracts from today for the next seven months. So, it's a demand-driven, temporary program but we want to see it being a tradie-led recovery and we'll do just that.
JOURNALIST
Some of the homeowners that I've been speaking to say that the ceiling is quite prohibitively high especially for just renovations and things like that.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
Well, renovations are from $150,000 to $750,000 and so those renovations could include a bathroom, they could include a kitchen, a new bedroom. I think what we've done is we've modelled it based on what home associations, the stakeholders in the industry have told us and tradies like people who work for Wayne and indeed, small business owners just like Wayne Carter. We've taken their advice, we've modelled it based on what we thought would give us the most bang for buck over the next six or seven months to get tradies back into employment and to give people, the potential new home buyers, those people who are looking to do a reno, the best possible chance to do just that with that $25,000 grant and of course, we would welcome States coming on board too. There's already a lot in this space but States have also shown an inclination from the negotiations that we've had to tap into this as well. So, it could be $25,000 from the Commonwealth and who knows from the States. So, they could also come on board for this so it's an exciting time for those people looking to buy a home, those people looking to do a reno.
JOURNALIST
Does the modelling provide any estimate of how many people might be eligible for this?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
About 27,000 applications, we believe. It would be well over a half a billion dollars that we're going to invest into the economy and that's going to be a great shot in the arm to the building trade.
JOURNALIST
What about locally, do you expect there to be a big uptake?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
I'm sure there will be a pick-up rate and I'm sure when you ask Wayne in a minute, I'm sure that his phone will be running hot, if it's not already, in his pocket. I'm sure he's probably getting calls already about it. I know Tony Balding said he's already received inquiries about what it entails, where local people can tap into it and I urge and encourage them to go to the treasury.gov.au website to see their eligibility and to take advantage of it.
JOURNALIST
Just to be clear on that, it's only for dwellings in terms of renovations? You can't be renovating an investment property or –
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
No, it's for the principal place of residence and it can't be things like pools or saunas or those sorts of things. It needs to be a proper home reno; a kitchen, a bedroom, those sorts of things. A bathroom, they cost a bit of money. But they employ tradies and you know, we've got any number of tradies around town who have been looking for work, who have been looking just for this sort of incentive and investment, indeed, into their local trades and JobKeeper has helped a lot of tradies stay attached to their firm, to their small business. This is going to give the whole sector that much needed shot in the arm it deserves.
JOURNALIST
I just wanted to get your response from the proposal from the Australian Chamber of Commerce about potentially opening up a trans-Tasman bubble with New Zealand. Is that a possibility for July, to see that happen?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
Indeed, we could well do that. Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand Prime Minister, has been in regular discussions with the Prime Minister. New Zealand MPs, I've been speaking to them recently. We want our aviation sector to get back as quickly as it can. Of course, we'll take the advice of Professor Brendan Murphy, we'll take advice from the AHPPC and we'll make sure that if we can resume those international flights somewhere to the stage where they used to be, then New Zealand will be the first port of call. There have been very, very fruitful and productive discussions across the Tasman about a trans-Tasman bubble. I know that the borders of New South Wales are very much open to that. Of course, it would need to take the proper expert health medical advice. We'll do that. But if we can indeed open up a trans-Tasman bubble then we will and certainly we'll be doing it as soon as we can because we need to get those planes back in the air. We need to get the aviation sector back off the ground, where it needs to be, making sure it employs people, making sure that we've got those flights. We've done a lot of work in aviation. We've provided a lot of assistance. $1.28 billion to help the Australian aviation sector through this crisis, through this virus and we'll indeed be looking at all of those options to make sure that if in fact we can start up a network between New Zealand and Australia, then we'll do it.
JOURNALIST
On domestic flights, is the Government considering extending the underwriting of domestic flights beyond the initial eight-week period?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
Well, everything's on the table and we're reviewing those things at the moment with the airline sector, of course with my Department. I've been in regular discussions with key stakeholders. Pleasingly, Qantas bookings reported to me today are up. So, people are looking to get back and to fly and that's important. Of course, we want not only a domestic aviation network, the essential and minimal network doing what it needs to do, but we also need those regional flights. But of course it will be largely demand-driven, it will also be contingent of course, on the best medical advice available.
JOURNALIST
Are Australian airlines in a position yet to stand on their own two feet?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
Well, that's difficult because of course, with so many countries having closed their borders and whilst the situation in Australia might be okay, we're not out of the woods either yet. We're still getting a few cases here and there each day. We still don't want to see, obviously, a second wave, a second outbreak. This is what happened 100 years ago. Complacency set in. Everybody thought that everything would be okay and of course that's when the majority of the 12,000 deaths from the Spanish flu of 1918 occurred in 1920 and '21. We don't want to see a repeat of that and of course history has a bad habit of repeating itself. So, what we want to do is make sure that we continue to take the best advice of Professor Murphy and the AHPPC. We'll do that. We need our planes, of course, flying again and I'm working very closely with the industry to make sure that we do it.
JOURNALIST
Qantas has announced an extended flight schedule today but it still says some routes are unviable. Will the Government be forced to step in to support those?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
Well, of course it is demand-driven but we are providing assistance already, both on the domestic minimal essential network and the regional assistance and I appreciate that QantasLink are taking advantage of that option. We are providing a lot of assistance, it is demand-driven, a lot of people, of course, can't or won't fly and we'll continue to monitor the situation. Flying is one of the safest forms of transport, as we know but of course, with social distancing and those sorts of things, people are still a bit nervous and of course, there's still some borders which are shut. We've got Queensland and Western Australia with very different border restriction movements at the moment than other States and so we need to continue to monitor that, continue to work through the National Cabinet process and make sure that we continue to provide the assistance, as we have done very successfully with the aviation sector. Sector-wide assistance, providing the necessary networks, providing the minimal flights to those 138 regional centres which would otherwise not be receiving too much, if any, service at all and that of course, has provided front-line medical personnel, masks, personal protective equipment, the delivery thereof to those centres and of course the domestic trunk routes which have been so successful.
JOURNALIST
When would you be in a position to make a decision or announcement on extending underwriting of domestic flights because presumably that funding runs out in a few days?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
I'll just say soon. Look, we continue to monitor this, not by day but by hour. It is difficult and I appreciate that aviation has been hit very hard. But, we continue to look at the minimal network, continue to look at the services that we've provided. It's $1.28 billion but the Prime Minister always said that this was going to be a six-month COVID-19 situation. We've done pretty well. Yes, it's taken a couple of months, it's taken two or three months but we're still a long way from getting through it. No vaccine has yet been discovered and of course, we want to make sure that as the flu season hits, of course, we've got the respiratory centre, the first set up in New South Wales here in Wagga Wagga, of course that's been very well utilised but we need to continue to do all the sorts of things, as Australians, to protect each other and particularly our vulnerable elderly. We need to continue to practise social distancing, the four-square metre rule, download the COVIDSafe app and do all those sorts of things as if the crisis was at its zenith. We need to continue to do that. Take the advice, the best possible medical advice and we'll get through this together.
JOURNALIST
Last one from me, is there any likelihood that support will be able to be withdrawn while State border closures remain?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
Look, it's very much a hypothetical question. As I say, I'm talking to the airlines, I'm talking to the industry each and every hour almost of each and every day. It's taking up a lot of my time, as you can imagine, as the Federal Transport Minister. I want to see aviation through this crisis and making sure that we've still got two commercially viable airlines and of course, a very vibrant regional network. I want to make sure that people know that when the restrictions are eased that it's going to be something that they can confidently do, go back into those planes and fly as they used to but it is going to be different. I understand that. Certainly, internationally, we don't know what the situation is going to be and that's why this summer it's going to be a very good place to holiday, that's Australia and certainly regionally and I think a lot more people will discover Australia before they venture overseas because the flights probably just won't be there. The demand won't be there and indeed, many of those countries may well still have very strict border controls in place and they won't be taking the Australian holiday-makers as they have done in the past and so regional destinations and tourism is going to be the thing to do this summer, when hopefully we are out of this COVID crisis.
JOURNALIST
So I just have a question about the Eden-Monaro election, so, you know, with four Nationals candidates running –
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
Yes, we've got two women, two men. We've got Trevor Hicks, Michael Green, Mareeta Grundy and Fleur Flanery. Very different backgrounds. All locals. We've had a few meetings with them. They've got to put their application forward and of course go through the normal process. I've always said that the local branches need to decide this and indeed they will, this Saturday, albeit in a rather different process. It will be a preselection process which we're still just finalising but essentially it will be a telepresence type of preselection which is fine, we're probably one of the first parties to do a telepresence preselection just like we were the first party to do a community preselection. So, it's not anything unusual for The Nationals to be a little bit progressive in this regard. But given the circumstances, that's obviously what we need to do and we always take the time to make sure that local branches have their say in the candidates and as the leader of the party that's what I've said from the outset, through this whole by-election process, that the local branches have to be the ones to determine their preferred candidate.
So we've got four candidates in the mix, like I say they come from different backgrounds. All good people. A couple of them have phoned me up for a bit of a chat which is good but, you know, I'm looking forward to the process on Saturday and then campaigning with them in the coming weeks.
JOURNALIST
Yeah, that's right. Looking forward to it. It will be exciting. With so many candidates, do you think that will harm or help The Nationals' chances of getting in?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
Well, The National Party have contested the seat of Eden-Monaro 12 times. Of course, we're up to the 46th Parliament and this is a by-election so you don't need to be a genius to do the maths in that regard. There's been 47 opportunities for a candidate, so the Country Party and National Party, they only ever contested the seat 12 times and we've never held the seat. But we're giving choice, we're giving choice to the voters. If they want a National Party candidate then they will have one to put a number one beside on the ballot paper. Of course, they needn't fill in every box as part of the Federal ballot but we're giving them choice and I know the Liberal candidate. I stood beside her on a few occasions prior to the May 18 election last year. She put her best efforts forward and you know, she will be a formidable candidate this time. I know the Bega Mayor, Kristy McBain, the Labor candidate. We'll have a candidate and I think, you know, our candidate, whilst they're starting with only a month to go, you know, they'll give it their best shot and we'll support them as best we can and we always do.