ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's wonderful to be back here in Perth and here with the Premier, with Minister Rita Saffioti and with my Minister Catherine King, as well as the local MP here, Patrick Gorman. Rita Saffioti and I did a press conference way back in 2013 about this railway line in my capacity as the then Infrastructure Minister. So, this has been a long time coming, but this is such a significant project. A well-planned and accessible public transport system is the key to great cities, and here in Perth, the Cook Labor Government is leading the way in initiating and in funding and making sure that this expansion of the METRONET occurs around Perth. I'm very proud, as the federal Prime Minister, to be back some 11 years later, after I stood with Rita Saffioti talking about this project. It is indeed the biggest expansion of Perth’s public transport network in over 16 years. A well planned and accessible transport system is a game changer for local communities, and this is a growing city in a growing state that is driving the national economy, and I'm so pleased to partner with the WA Labor Government in so many areas – in public transport, in health, in support for public education, in the roll out of our Urgent Care Clinics as well. This investment will make an enormous difference, will enable people to get to work easier, but will also enable the visitors to this great global city to be able to get around as well. So I'm very pleased that that is occurring, and I'll now hand to the Premier.
ROGER COOK, PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Thank you, Prime Minister. Well, what a day for Western Australia. What a day for Perth. What a day for Ellenbrook. This is big. This is a great opportunity to celebrate investment in great transport infrastructure. When WA makes – WA Labor makes a promise, we deliver it, and we've delivered on the Ellenbrook rail line today, which is such a proud day for myself, such a proud day for Minister Saffioti. Today's METRONET Ellenbrook line opening cannot be understated in terms of how big it is as an achievement for our Government and for our community. 21 kilometres of rail, five new stations, the complete reinvention of the Bayswater station. Two new road bridges, almost 100,000 tons of ballast and 150,000 sleepers, more than 3,000 new parking bays and almost two hectares of new public open space. It's the biggest expansion of our rail network in over 16 years, and it's now complete. People of Ellenbrook, who would previously have to drive to the city over one and a half hours to get to work each day, can now commute in around 30 minutes. And the best news is, of course, that it will cost them under five bucks, and it's free on Sunday, and of course, it's free during our summer of free public transport. METRONET changes lives, and it will change the lives of the 100,000 people that are now part of this growing and important corridor in our community, and it's why we believe that this is such an important investment. WA Labor and my Government believe in public transport. We believe in what it does to transform communities, connect communities, allow young people to access education, jobs, opportunities which otherwise would be denied them. So it's not just a great way to connect, get around the city, it's not just a great way to connect. It's a great way to really transform the whole north eastern suburbs and change the lives of people who live in those areas. I want to thank the thousands of workers who have helped deliver this project over the past three years, this train line and the five stations along it will be a legacy that that those people will be able to tell their grandkids and their kids about what they achieved in building such an important piece of infrastructure. And finally, just – I just want to thank the Commonwealth Government important funding partners, but importantly, Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti, who's been working on this project for literally decades, and it must be a very proud day for her, and I want to congratulate her and her team, and particularly Peter Woronzow and all the team at the Department of Transport, and I'll hand you over to Catherine King.
CATHERINE KING, MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT: Thanks very much, Premier. And what a great day. This is a project that has been a long time in the making, and it is just fantastic to see now, to be able to stand here with the Prime Minister, with the Premier, but particularly my good friend Rita Saffioti, who I don't think can get the smile off her face. This is really, frankly, has got Rita all over it. This is an idea that she had working with the Prime Minister back in 2013 and what a difference it is going to make. 30 minutes commute, travel. But it's more than just about the train line, METRONET – the Commonwealth is putting in $4.8 billion into METRONET – it isn't just about train. So, this is actually about building new suburbs, new housing, opening up Perth for new residents to be able to have great places to live in, have great public transport, but also terrific amenities. This train line comes alongside the $105 million we announced just this week to build 28,000 new homes here in Perth. Over a thousand of them are on this Ellenbrook train line. Terrific housing well located next to public transport. This is a project the Commonwealth has been very, very proud to partner in. I too, want to just really recognise Rita's vision in bringing this to fruition. This is all she talks about when I ring her, she tells me everything that is happening about this project. I stood on this site about six months ago, and I really want to commend the construction workforce and your team, Rita, for bringing this to fruition. Six months ago, I thought, “oh, really, we're going to open before Christmas?” Look what they've done. What an amazing, amazing job. So, thank you to the over 6,000 workers who've been working on METRONET. And I hope every single person who travels on this line, who's been part of building this line, they should be very proud of themselves today. Thanks and I'm going to hand over to Rita.
RITA SAFFIOTI, DEPUTY PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA AND MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT: Thank you very much. This is indeed an exciting time, an exciting day for the tens of thousands of people in this corridor who have been waiting for this rail line. To the original residents of Ellenbrook – 30 years ago we committed a rail line, and now we're delivering and many of them will be on the train today. To all the new families moving into Brabham and Dayton, who will be connected to world class public transport, to the residents of Ballajura, Noranda and through to Morley, connected to world class public transport. This has been a key project for our Government. We gave a key commitment, and there was no way that we would let the people of Ellenbrook down. There was just no way we would not deliver this rail line. People said it couldn't be done. People said it shouldn't be done, and then people said it wouldn't be done. I'm so proud to be part of a Government that delivers on such key commitments. The Prime Minister's right. In 2013 we stood next to the shed that was the Bayswater train station. It was basically an old shed, and look at the new Bayswater station today, which is now fuelling new developments. We've got an upgraded Bayswater Hotel, and this, together with all the other precincts along the way, will be home to thousands of people, again, working with the Commonwealth Government, the announcements they've made over the past week about how we activate these sites to create affordable, accessible housing for Western Australians. People know the journey. People know that in 2008 we committed to a rail line. The then Premier, Colin Barnett, committed to a rail line. For eight and a half years, we outlined that they broke a promise. The community got behind us, and we're very angry that that promise was broken. In 2013 we committed to the rail line, of course we lost. In 2017 we committed. We walked into Government, there was nothing there. There was no plans, no approvals, no funding. We worked from scratch. Can I thank my entire team for the delivery of this rail line? This has been something that my whole team has got behind. Can I thank in particular Peter Woronzow and his team who made it happen. This required a commitment from not only me, but from my office and from an entire group of people, and the commitment they've shown to deliver this has been beyond expectations. So can I thank everyone for their work? This is truly a great day. This is something that I think I'll remember for the rest of my life, and to the people of the corridor, we delivered it. Any questions?
JOURNALIST: In 2017 it was meant to be finished 2022, and it was meant to cost about $860 million. Has the extra wait and the extra cost been worth it?
MINISTER SAFFIOTI: Absolutely. Look, we delivered this through COVID. We delivered this through international supply chain interruptions. We were just talking about this. This whole rail line costs, about one station that has been delivered in Sydney. The cost of this project, still, when you compare it to other projects delivered around the state, around the nation, is very – the price compared to other rail lines is still one of the cheapest in the nation. And look, people understand there's been cost increases. Whether you put an oven into your house, you put a pergola in, you buy a car, or you bought a house, there's been cost increases and – but, what was the alternative? Not to deliver it? There's just no way in this world we weren't going to deliver it.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned previously that one the aspects of the line is unlocking the land around the station, and that wasn't factored into the Infrastructure Australia assessment. Are you still confident that will happen?
MINISTER SAFFIOTI: Well, absolutely, and one of the great things is, because of the new funding rounds of housing that the Federal Government announced, they were looking for development ready sites where we can go and build affordable housing. And because we've delivered METRONET, we have a number of sites, whether they be in Ellenbrook, whether they be in Ballajura, Brabham, connecting to Whiteman Park station – across the whole area, we have development ready sites. So we can and will next year start on some of these projects. So this is an incredible outcome, affordable housing, brand new rail lines. As the Premier outlined, a two zone fare cap, affordable, accessible, world class public transport. The other key point is there's a lot of young people in this corridor. This is a corridor where you have thousands of families moving in. I mean, they're very, very young families, young children. I meet young children who will now be able to use this train line to connect to different high schools. I meet high school students who will be able to use this train line to connect to university, to TAFEs, to jobs, to opportunities that without this rail line they wouldn't be able to access. So this is about changing the lives of the people in this corridor. And to be honest, it's been an, it’s an incredible, incredible outcome for them.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) said they're annoyed because the bus routes are going to detour – going to Midland are going to detour now to Ellenbrook. They said they don’t want that to happen because they just want to go to Midland. Are you doing that because you're worried people aren't going to use the train line?
MINISTER SAFFIOTI: No, no. One of the key wants before we opened the rail line were people wanted connections into Ellenbrook, so both Ellenbrook and Midland will have services. Look, I understand that when we build rail lines, we have to change bus routes, and to be honest, it's always the most contentious issue of building rail lines, but when you build a rail line, there'll be different bus routes, but we'll continue to work with the community. We've sort of met them halfway with a compromise in relation to the bus routes, but we'll continue to work with them, and we've retained one Midland service together with the Ellenbrook services.
JOURNALIST: You've mentioned the history of it. Can you tell us about the toy piece of track that you've had hanging on your electorate office wall?
MINISTER SAFFIOTI: Yeah, as people would recall those that were around the 2013 election was a pretty harsh election to be fighting in WA. Labor was not very popular at all, and I had a seat that was a very marginal seat, about 2 per cent seat. So we – I identified ways to make sure that the people of Ellenbrook understood our commitment to a rail line. So we bought 200 train sets, sets of train tracks and delivered to over 2000 homes, a piece of IKEA train track with the message that only Rita Saffioti and WA Labor will deliver a rail line. That cut through. We held the seat. And without that 2013 work, I wouldn't be – wouldn’t have had a chance to be a Minister. So what I'm really happy is what we said on that piece of card, we dropped over to 2000 homes that day, that we've delivered.
JOURNALIST: Should the delivery of this now ensure that Swan Hills is secure?
MINISTER SAFFIOTI: Oh, look, we again take nothing for granted. This was something – that we have an election in March. We'll keep working every day. This is about delivering on our commitments. This is something that, like I said, WA Labor is very, very proud of. We weren't going to let the people down like the previous Government did.
JOURNALIST: Now that you’ve delivered this, are you perhaps more willing to let go of the transport portfolio?
MINISTER SAFFIOTI: Again, we take nothing for granted. Today is about celebrating the delivery of a commitment to the people of Ellenbrook, the people who've been waiting decades for this train line.
JOURNALIST: But your job's done now, isn't it, as Transport Minister? Like your mission’s accomplished?
MINISTER SAFFIOTI: As Transport and Infrastructure Ministers know, it's never done. There's always, there's always a growing population, a growing state, there's always more work to do. But I'm very, very proud that for the people of Ellenbrook and Brabham and Dayton and the whole corridor that we delivered such an incredible rail line.
JOURNALIST: There's a fair at every single station today. That must be an extraordinary cost. Are you willing to share that cost? And is that not just blatant electioneering?
MINISTER SAFFIOTI: This is a community celebration. Now, I'll provide those figures later, but to be honest, this is a day that people have been waiting for, for decades. This is something that the community own, and the community want to be a part of. I'm very happy to be joining the community in creating a celebration that their kids can remember for the rest of their lives. This is something that's generational. I'll provide those figures for you later, but this is something that I'm very, very proud of.
JOURNALIST: And the Mandurah line, I guess, is pretty closely associated with the former Labor Transport Minister Alannah MacTiernan. Do you hope that this line will be your legacy?
MINISTER SAFFIOTI: I'll let other people write about legacies, or talk about legacies. I'm proud that we delivered a commitment and that our Government, through both former Premier Mark McGowan and current Premier Roger Cook, facilitated the delivery of this and that as a Government, we were 100 per cent committed to. No other project have I seen such a whole of government commitment to and something that we're all very, very proud of. As I said, I’ll let other people define my you know, my role as a Minister in this Government, but I'm very, very proud. And you know, as I said, if I didn't deliver this project, there's no way I could have held my head up in the Ellenbrook town centre. I'm very proud that we delivered.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).
MINISTER SAFFIOTI: Well, I've got to say it's a very multicultural community. Suburbs like Ellenbrook, Brabham, here through Bayswater, through Morley so and you know, like, I've got a very strong Indian community in my electorate. They've been very, very excited. It gives people who come from other nations, who are very used to catching public transport all the time, the ability to catch world class PUBLIC transport. As I said, it's a connection to jobs, it's a connection to education, it's a connection to health services. This rail line gives people a connection across the community.
JOURNALIST: Are you happy that this project is over so that Rita stops knocking on your door asking for money?
MINISTER KING: I can tell you now, Rita will always be knocking on my door in the interests of Western Australia. In Premier Cook and in Rita Saffioti, you have amazing advocates for the West. I know Rita has already started focusing on the future and what is next, and she is already in my ear about that. But I am delighted that this project, this project, long in the making, but this will make such a huge difference. And as I said, no really, it is about public transport, but it is also more than that. All of the houses being built with the support of the Housing Support Program the Federal Government's funding, I think we're building an aquatic centre at Ellenbrook. Again, community facilities, so people can have great places to live and move around. And the Albanese Labor Government is very proud to partner with the Cook Government on this project. But I'm pretty sure Rita will be ringing me more and more into the future, as she should.
PRIME MINISTER: Can I make this point, that the Federal Government is contributing $5.5 billion dollars to METRONET. And I remember well the figure that the former Government, the Howard Government, made over 12 years to public transport because it was zero. Before the election of the Labor Government federally in 2007, the Commonwealth was not involved in public transport. There was a view that it was someone else's business, just states and territories. But you only build liveable and sustainable cities if you do invest in public transport, and that's why this is a proud day, not just for Rita and for Roger, but also for myself and Catherine and Patrick, because it is only Labor governments that get these big projects done. And that is what has happened here. A vision led by Rita, who's obviously very excited about today, and quite rightly so, because this is an amazing achievement that will make such a difference to the lives of people on this line.
JOURNALIST: Your Budget is not in such a strong position as the WA Budget. So, was there any contingency when you know the, these projects do blow out, and the WA Government does come knocking for more money?
PRIME MINISTER: We made a contribution, and we recognise that the supply chain issues that came with COVID, that long tail in global inflation, has had an impact. So we made sure that we contributed additional funding in our Budgets while delivering two budget surpluses. Again, easy to remember the number of budget surpluses under the former Government led by Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison – zero. They promised a surplus the first year and every year thereafter, and they didn't deliver one. So we've managed to make sure that we invest in cost of living measures. Made sure that we invest in people and communities and cities and regions at the same time as we have delivered two budget surpluses, and this as well, is a cost of living measure. People save money when they're catching public transport rather than in a private motor vehicle. Governments also, over a period of time, save money by investing that capital in public transport, because once you have the capital there, it is cheaper to run than the maintenance that occurs on our road networks – the health impacts on our public health system – public transport is good in so many areas in terms of improving the living standards of people here in this great city of Perth.
JOURNALIST: Your surplus is about to run out, though. I mean, are needy state governments one of the reasons we're on the precipice of a long run of deficits now?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've partnered with state governments. But bear in mind, when we were elected, it was anticipated in the 2022 Budget brought down in March, just two months before the election, a $78 billion deficit. Now we've turned two big Liberal deficits into two significant Labor surpluses. $22 billion and then $15 billion and we've done that through hard work, but also not by making sure that we cut funding for essential projects. We've continued to fulfil the obligations, and we partner with WA. We've got additional funding in the Urgent Care Clinics, additional funding for public transport, additional funding for housing to open up affordable housing. Additional money flowing through as a result of the public education deal done between the Commonwealth and WA, because we understand that WA deserves its fair share. That's why we've committed to WA getting its fair share at the GST as well. We want to make sure that this great state isn't punished for being successful, that they're rewarded and therefore even more successful into the future. That's the vision that we have partnering with Roger and his Government, and that's one will continue in the years ahead.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on other issues, Benjamin Netanyahu has labelled the synagogue attack in Melbourne – said that it’s at the feet of your government. Have you done enough to stamp out anti-Semitism?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll make a number of points there. Firstly is, today, I announce that we've received an application for around two of the Enhancing Security for Jewish Communities Program. This is a program of $25 million that we had that has just 5% of that funding has not been expended through the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. I spoke with Peter Wertheim this morning, and we will be having a round two of that program. It has been successful in providing support on the basis of the priorities established by the community itself. The second round will consist of $32.5 million over the next 18 months. That's just one of the measures that we have put in place. But on top of that, can I say that we've done a range of programs. We've had a landmark ban on the Nazi salute and hate symbols that came into effect in January of this year. We've appointed Jillian Segal as Australia's first ever Envoy on anti-Semitism. We have criminalised doxing in legislation that was passed just a week ago as part of our privacy laws. Legislation, I might say, that was opposed by the Liberal and National parties in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. We've had legislation to appoint Australia's first National Student Ombudsman, and we have consistently, whether it be on the Insiders program on October 8, at 9am, we were there unequivocally condemning the attacks on October 7. The following day, I called for the rally that was planned for the Sydney Opera House to not go ahead. We call out every action of anti-Semitism when we see it. There has been a worrying rise in anti-Semitism, but we call it out, and we call it out consistently, and we work with the community to work through these issues. Now, tomorrow, the Victorian Police and the Australian Federal Police will be having a meeting. There is a technical process that is agreed in the protocols for designating an event as a terrorist act. That meeting is taking place tomorrow. If you want my personal view, quite clearly, terrorism is something that is aimed at creating fear in the community, and the atrocities that occurred at the synagogue in Melbourne, clearly were designed to create fear in the community. And therefore, from my personal perspective, certainly fulfil that definition of terrorism. Can I say also that I was welcomed along with Patrick Gorman, into the synagogue in his electorate yesterday morning. It was, at a difficult time, a great celebration of culture as well. We happened to be there at a time of Bar Mitzvah, and it was a celebration as well of Jewish culture. People must be allowed to conduct their faith with peace and respect, and there is no place in Australia for anti-Semitism.
JOURNALIST: Does there need to be a national joint police task force to tackle anti-Semitism?
PRIME MINISTER: One of the things that's really important about these matters is the police be allowed to go about through their work. There is a joint Counter Terrorism Taskforce already, and that has been involved with VicPol on these issues.
JOURNALIST: Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments – (Inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that is a matter for Mr. Netanyahu, but can I make this point very clearly, that 157 countries supported the resolution that was passed by the United Nations. Of the Five Eyes partners, Australia's most important security partners, four of the five voted for that resolution – New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. In addition to that, our major partners, whether it be France, Japan, Germany, our ASEAN partners, overwhelmingly supported that resolution. And in Australia, we have had a long term support for a two state solution in the Middle East. Indeed, the Howard Government, on a number of occasions, voted for this exact same resolution that was put up in the United Nations. That's an annual vote that occurs. There's nothing out of step. We continue to call for the release of hostages. We continue to call for a ceasefire, along with the rest of the world. We continue to seek peace in the region, and we know that a two state solution has to be a part of that.
JOURNALIST: On the synagogue attack in Melbourne, are you labelling it as a terrorist attack?
PRIME MINISTER: I just answered that, which is my personal opinion, is yes, but there is a technical process. One that the Opposition should be aware of if they're not because it was established for some time. The protocols are that the state jurisdictions, who have the lead on this, through Victoria Police, will make an assessment and a recommendation. That's the formal process. But quite clearly this has been aimed at creating fear, and that is what terrorists seek to do.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister while you’re in WA and next to Roger Cook, the Premier a month ago, made it commitment on no new mining taxes or royalty increases. Will you guarantee the same for the resources industry in WA?
PRIME MINISTER: We back the WA resources industry, and just during this visit here, we've announced significant funding for the Iluka project in the North here, we continue to support – we don't want additional taxes. What we're after is Production Tax Credits to back in the industry. And it's a pity that the Coalition seem to be opposing this. Production tax credits will reward success. Production tax credits will – we’ve got a plan about – I'm not talking about what we're not doing. I'm talking about what we are doing. What we're going to do is to provide a tax incentive for investment of which WA will be the big beneficiary, but also Queensland. Now we've got to get on the train.