ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: My first act as Prime Minister was, on the 23rd of May last year, to travel to Tokyo for the Quad Leaders meeting. I met with President Biden, Prime Minister Modi and we were hosted by Prime Minister Kishida. That was an important meeting for Australia to work with our very close partners in the region and it was a very positive way for me to begin my Prime Ministership. I am pleased today to announce that Sydney will be the host of the Quad Leaders meeting for 2023 and that meeting will be held here on 24 May 2023. Prior to that and around that there will be various events, the details with the three leaders that will be announced. But the hosting of this Quad Leaders meeting there at the Sydney Opera House, Australia's most recognisable building, will be a chance for us to work co-cooperatively with the United States, Japan and India but also will be an enormous opportunity to showcase this beautiful city in this wonderful country to the entire world. For the days before, during and after, there will be a world showcase on this city and on our nation of Australia. This, I regard as a real opportunity for us, which will have spin-offs. We will be discussing the global economic environment that we know is under pressure due to global inflationary pressures. We know that we live in a more insecure world with strategic competition in our region, with the ongoing impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But we also know that our friends are ones which we have such a strong relationship with. And during the hosting of the meeting at the Sydney Opera House, it will be an opportunity to discuss all of those issues and our common interests, our common interests as democracies, as vibrant economies, as countries who want to work with each other for our common interests in the Indo-Pacific region.
JOURNALIST: You came to power promising cheaper power prices, largely off the back of investment for renewable energy. Today your Government is talking about a gas price cap until 2025. This is pretty extreme market intervention, isn't it?
PRIME MINISTER: What we've have had is a global impact on energy prices that has occurred right around the world. It is one of the things that will be discussed at the Quad Leaders meeting. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to an enormous spike and it has led to every country in the world, every advanced economy, taking measures that could be seen as extraordinary because it is not business as usual. You have had these impacts, we are working cooperatively. And can I say this - the decisions that we took, both as a Commonwealth Government but in partnership with state and territory governments last December have had a very positive impact, have exceeded what the expectations were of placing that pressure downward on the increase in prices which was envisaged when the October Budget was handed down last year. We did the right thing. State governments did the right thing. We are continuing to work cooperatively with the industry and it is making a positive difference.
JOURNALIST: Why 2025, though? Why does it have to be that long a period for you to intervene in the market?
PRIME MINISTER: We are working through these issues, we will continue to do so. What we are doing today is launching the latest round of consultations. Perhaps you know what the end point is more so than the people who are directly involved in the government. But this is about consultation and I am very proud that my Government is one that consults. I have important meetings with a range of business leaders today who will continue to consult, as my Government has committed to do. One of the things I did say in the lead-up to the election, held last May, was that my Government would be one that consulted with business, consulted with unions, consulted and worked cooperatively with state and territory governments across the political spectrum. And that's what my Government is doing.
JOURNALIST: Talking to your backbench colleagues, some of them are calling for the JobSeeker rate to be increased. Do they have a point?
PRIME MINISTER: We will continue to engage with people in various sectors who are making their arguments of what they think should occur in the Budget. I won't be, over the next couple of weeks, speculating on what will be in the Budget. But I understand that people are under real pressure. I certainly understand that. I know what it is like to grow up in a household reliant upon a pension in my case, an invalid pensioner of my mother. And I know the pressure that can place people under. It is unsurprising that people in the Labor Party want to do more as all of us do. But what we will be doing in the Budget is balancing up the need to provide cost of living relief for people with making sure that we show restraint as well so we don't add to inflationary pressure in the Budget.
JOURNALIST: As the son of a single parent, it is fair to say you are going to reverse or at least partially release that Julia Gillard policy, in terms of the age of children for parents being eligible to get it. What is the argument between raising it to 12 and raising it to 16? Or is it just a revenue matter?
PRIME MINISTER: Those issues that are under consideration. Our Budget has not been finalised. There is a range of people out there making comments who think they know what is in it. I will give you a tip, the Expenditure Review Committee is meeting today, it is the second last meeting we will have of the ERC, I would expect. We are still finalising the Budget and that is business as usual. But what we are doing is working through issues methodically in a way that consults people. We will continue to do that. The Budget now is less than two weeks away, so you don't have long to wait. And I am very confident that will be a Budget that will serve Australia's national interests.
JOURNALIST: You have been criticised in the last couple of days over the Defence Strategic Review, the fact that there is no new money over the forward estimates and that has, in effect, commissioned a couple of other reviews. Rather than giving us the full answer it has asked a couple of questions. What do you say to that criticism?
PRIME MINISTER: I say this is the most comprehensive reassessment of Australia's Defence Force posture and strategy that has occurred since the Second World War. Overwhelmingly it has been welcomed. I am not surprised that the No-alition have decided that they are against things, that they will continue to just be critical, having presided over a range of announcements that led to nothing. The truth is that you can't make an announcement about changes of directions, for example increasing our capacity to build our own missiles, announce that on Wednesday and have that under construction by Friday. What we've done with this assessment, is provide substantial funding, $19 billion across the forward estimates. But we have also made sure that there is a proper assessment of what Australia's needs are and that we are ensuring that every dollar goes to make the appropriate difference. I am very proud of the Defence Strategic Review. I want to thank Sir Angus Houston and Stephen Smith for the work that they have put in and congratulate Richard Marles and all the members of the National Security Committee, we met on dozens of occasions over many months to make sure that we have this blueprint. We've released the unclassified version yesterday, so people can see the direction going forward. It is the right direction.
JOURNALIST: The no money is about preserving the Budget bottom line, surely?
PRIME MINISTER: It is about making sure that Australia is having the right expenditure. The problem with that analysis, or the thoughts behind that analysis, is that you should spend money on things that aren't the most appropriate or best way to invest and that that is an end outcome. The end outcome is Australia increasing our capability and the problem with the former Government is that they had a whole range of announcements that didn't appropriately look after the need to increase our capability. We make no apologies for saying we will invest in two things. We are investing in our capability going forward, including in the development of Australian made nuclear-powered submarines, but also in terms of support for our northern bases, support for our capacity in missiles and other areas of defence. But also we are investing in our relationships. That's what the Quad Leaders meeting is about, that's what my attendance at the Shangri-La Dialogue in June in Singapore is about, that's what our increased engagement in the Indo-Pacific is about, our increased engagement in ASEAN. It is that two-pronged strategy, making sure we are investing in our capability but also investing in our relationships.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned that President Biden will be here visiting in May. Given his age, what do you make of him announcing that he is running again?
PRIME MINISTER: President Biden, I regard as a friend. And he's certainly a friend of Australia. I don't comment on the internal politics of the United States. That is a matter for the people of the United States. Can I say this? President Biden will be a very welcome visitor here in Australia. We will have more to say about his activities while he is here, but I very much welcome him. I thank him for the warm welcome that I received in San Diego for the AUKUS announcements. I will be visiting the United States when President Biden hosts the APEC meeting in the second half of this year in San Francisco. And I have also been invited to the United States. We will finalise details for a bilateral visit for me to the US as well. President Biden has a great love for this country. Australia and the United States are the closest of friends. And I look forward to welcoming him here.
JOURNALIST: What is your reaction to the Greens housing policy? Does this make you think 'I'm probably not going to get this Housing Australia Future Fund through the Senate'?
PRIME MINISTER: It makes me wonder what the Greens Party's political and thought processes are. They are out there giving saying that they want more investment in social and affordable housing and their strategy to do that is to block $10 billion to create a fund for investment in social and affordable housing that is on top of the Commonwealth State Housing Agreements, on top of all the other investments that the Federal Government will be making in housing. This is completely illogical. If the Greens vote against the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund they are voting against $10 billion of investment into social and affordable housing. That is a decision for them to make but one for them to explain how that adds to additional investment by voting against investment. I understand that Peter Dutton and the No-alition will vote no because they vote no for everything. They sometimes vote no before they have seen any of the details, before they have seen the legislation. They voted no to manufacturing jobs in the National Reconstruction Fund. They voted no to action on climate change. They voted no to a billion and a half of energy price relief. They voted no even before the parliamentary committee process into Constitutional Recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. They said they wanted a parliamentary process, then they declared they would vote no before the process even begun. This is a mob that are addicted to voting no and the Greens position on this show that it is contagious. They have caught this bizarre disease of just saying no to everything without any rational explanation. I would say to the Greens political party, they're entitled to vote whatever way they want but they will be held to account for it and any of their rhetoric about housing issues will be regarded as just farcical if they vote against this fund.
JOURNALIST: Why is it important for the Government to help fund a stadium in Tasmania and an AFL team? Why is that important?
PRIME MINISTER: My Government have been engaging with the Tasmanian Government about urban redevelopment on the site of Macquarie Point. That shouldn't come as any surprise. In 2012, myself as Infrastructure Minister put $50 million into that site for its remediation. Bear in mind, this site will connect the City of Hobart with the Derwent River. Hobart is an extraordinarily beautiful city but at the moment, Mac Point sits there as an eyesore. It is completely underutilised. And what I have said is if we can use that site for recreational activity, for housing, for private sector investment, for urban redevelopment in order to improve economic activity in Tasmania, in order to create jobs but during construction but also, in the longer term, by having a centre that can bring jobs and events to Tasmania, then that would be a positive thing. So we are working through those issues with the Tasmanian Government. I will be having more discussions with all of the Premiers and Chief Ministers at the National Cabinet meeting that will be meeting in Brisbane on Friday. I look forward to seeing all of the Premiers and Chief Ministers, including Premier Chris Minns. This is the first meeting that he will have attended as the New South Wales Premier. Can I take the opportunity, in advance, I have had discussions with Premier Minns about the Quad Leaders meeting being hosted here in Sydney, but I also had a very positive discussion with his predecessor Premier Perrottet as well about the arrangements being held here in New South Wales. And I want to thank Dominic Perrottet for the work that his Government did in the lead-up to the election and since then that ongoing work. This will be a great event for Sydney. This will showcase this beautiful city to the world. And it will be so positive for Australia to host this event.