ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well look, it's fantastic to be here in Orange with the Mayor, the local Federal Member Andrew Gee, the local State Member Phil Donato, Senator Deborah O'Neill, the MLC Lawrence and other Councillors and former Councillors. But importantly as well, community leaders who are with us here today. Orange, we have lift off. A $33.5 million project that will transform this region. It will add to the other world class facilities that are right here in Orange, and create a precinct that's about arts, about entertainment, about learning, that will boost tourism and importantly, will create jobs in the construction over the next 18 months. We know that at least 60 jobs directly will be created on this site. And the reason why community infrastructure going through local government is a good idea, is because you get local procurement. You get that local multiplayer, you will get local jobs created because the Mayor here and the Council will ensure that that benefit flows through to local communities. So I want to acknowledge the leadership of the Council, but also the leadership of the local Federal Member Andrew Gee, who argued strongly for this funding. To Phil Donato, who argued for State funding as well. I was speaking with Chris Minns last night. This is a very exciting project, a conservatorium and planetarium that will be a 275 seat auditorium, a 65 seat planetarium auditorium, 40 practice studios and rehearsal areas. Here on the same block, as the Regional Gallery, the museum, the library, the Civic Theatre. This will complete Orange's cultural precinct, and will be a real encouragement for people not just to move here, but people to visit here as well. So, a significant economic benefit, but also the wonderful thing that comes from music, uplifting the character and culture of this wonderful city of Orange. This is a transformative project and it is a great honour for me to be here today. Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the International Court of Justice has ruled that South Africa's claim of Israel committing genocide against the Palestinian people is plausible. Do you welcome that?
PRIME MINISTER: This is a process of which Australia is not a party. We've made very clear our position, which is that every human life matters, whether it be Israeli or Palestinian.
JOURNALIST: Senator Pocock has called for surplus money from the tax cuts package to be put towards increased welfare payments. Would you rule out further income support for his vote?
PRIME MINISTER: There is no surplus money. One of the things that we have done is to make sure that the $106 billion package is now a $107 billion package. So we made sure that it was revenue neutral. This is a revenue neutral package that will provide more assistance to, particularly to, middle Australia. This is about doubling the benefit for average workers. And the significance of the benefit for regional Australia is there for all to see. We know that overwhelmingly, regional Australia will be a big beneficiary of this package. And that's why I welcome the fact that Senator Pocock has contacted me to congratulate the Government on the move that we have made. We know that low and middle income Australians are under financial pressure. It's a responsibility of the Government to do something about it. We're determined to do something about it. We have made the right decision for the right reasons and this will help, particularly middle Australia.
JOURNALIST: Would you rule out further income support though for his vote?
PRIME MINISTER: We stand by this package, which stands by itself as a good thing to do to ensure that every Australian gets a tax cut, not just some, and overwhelmingly the benefit goes to middle Australia.
JOURNALIST: So you're not ruling it out?
PRIME MINISTER: Every Budget, we give consideration. What we're not going to be doing here is trading. We have now as a result of the declarations of the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party two positions. The Senate and other Members will get to vote on it. One is a tax package that assists every Australian, where the benefits to middle Australians, people on average incomes, double. Where the benefit for the average working family with two people working earning $130,000, $2,600 compared with under half that. And we will argue that case. We'll continue to do, as we do, measures to assist people who are vulnerable Australians. The changes that I have announced on the Medicare Levy, for example, will assist 1.2 million Australians who are on low incomes. And that is a significant commitment. In addition to that, comes on top of, the previous support which we had given. The increases in JobSeeker, the increases for single parents, the increases that we've made on cheaper medicines that have cost $250 million. Overwhelmingly, the benefit of that to low income Australians. But what we have targeted here is middle Australia. Middle Australia who are doing it tough, those middle class working families who had done it tough because of rising inflation, the cost of living, this program is aimed directly and squarely at them.
JOURNALIST: Given the changes to tax cuts and bringing Caucus back early. Is this the start of your election campaign?
PRIME MINISTER: This is a response to Australians being under financial pressure. We know that the ongoing impact of the pandemic was supply chain issues. We know that inflation started to rise before the election, the March quarter of 2022, saw the highest quarterly increase in inflation, 2.1 per cent. We saw the first interest rate increase before the election. But what we've seen since then, is the persistence of inflation. We want the fight against inflation to be front and centre. Because the lower your income, the harder it hits you. And that's why inflation has had a disproportionate impact on regional Australia. And that's why this program is so important. That's why the Government has changed our decision. We're declaring why we have done that, it is for the right reasons, because of the persistence of inflation. So we've examined ways already, we've done cheaper childcare, cheaper medicines, Fee Free TAFE, the Energy Price Relief Plan. All of these measures were put in place to ensure that people got assistance with cost of living. But in particular, how do you give assistance on cost of living to middle class working families. The best way to do it is through the tax system. We had an anticipated cost to revenue. We've kept that cost at around about the same amount to ensure that we can provide this cost of living support to middle class working families without putting pressure on inflation.
JOURNALIST: When will the legislation be introduced to Parliament? Would you expect it would be before the Dunkely by-election?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll introduce the legislation in coming weeks when Parliament resumes.
JOURNALIST: The Greens are calling on your Government to sanction Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Cabinet and formally intervene in the ICJ proceedings. Will you consider this?
PRIME MINISTER: The Labor Party makes our foreign policy according to Australia's national interests. One of the things about the Greens political party during this debate, I think it's really important that people have an appropriate response, we put out an appropriate response. I issued a statement, together with the Canadian and New Zealand Prime Minister. And in the Parliament, we adopted overwhelmingly a position with the support of both major parties. That was an appropriate position, one that recognised the terrorist actions of Hamas on October 7, went on to say that we value every innocent life and that we need to protect every innocent life, whether that be Israeli or Palestinian. Last one.
JOURNALIST: For regional Australians, the Murray Darling Plan, you've already fallen short of one target. How can Australians put faith in this Government that they can meet the next target by 2027?
PRIME MINISTER: Because our target is based upon the science and our target's based upon the very clear plan that we put forward in legislation that was carried through the Parliament last year.
JOURNALIST: A quick question about what we saw yesterday in Sydney with the neo-Nazis. What was going through your mind when you saw those images? And what do you think about the police response as well?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I was horrified by those images. They have no role in Australia. I don't want to see people in balaclavas dressed in black from head to toe, who are engaged in neo-Nazi activity in this country. It has no place and it is rightly being condemned by all decent people. This was shocking, the numbers of people. And we have seen a rise in neo-Nazi activity, on extreme right wing activity. The Director General of ASIO has been warning of this for some time. And I congratulate the New South Wales Police Force. They took urgent and immediate action to dispel what could have been a very dangerous activity indeed. And on Australia Day, where we commemorate everything that is great about this country, we have a responsibility to look to what unites us, not what divides us. And I say again, I say again, that people have a responsibility to avoid some of the activity that we've seen in promoting hatred, in promoting division, because it is not the Australian way. And I congratulate the police on their actions. And I say to these people, quite frankly, have a good look at yourself. There is nothing to be got in this country through hatred. What we need is to embrace the wonderful multicultural community that we have here in Australia. That starts with the great privilege that we have of sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture on Earth, and continues through those people who've come to Australia whether it be past generations or current migrants, who've come here to enrich us with the diversity that makes us the greatest country on Earth. We need to look always for unity, for hope, for optimism, not hatred and fear. And that is something that will drive my political activity. Thanks very much.