ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well this is a fantastic announcement that is consistent with my Government and the Minns Government joint commitment to tackle climate change, but also to make sure that we do what we can to put that downward pressure on cost of living, whilst at the same time putting downward pressure on inflation. This is a commitment that will assist 30,000 households to get access to the cheaper energy that comes from clean renewable energy. And it's an exciting project for people living in social housing, in public housing and low income households. Thirty thousand households will benefit from this joint commitment, worth some $206 million. And it's a very good thing today to be here. We got to meet Rose upstairs, a local here at Northmead who will benefit directly through cheaper bills as a result of this initiative jointly sponsored by the Federal and State Governments, something that we're doing working out around the country. Working with State Governments and Territory Governments to make a difference, helping the transition to clean energy that we know is not only good for the environment, good for the climate, but it's also good for lowering energy prices.
CHRIS MINNS, PREMIER OF NEW SOUTH WALES: Thanks, PM. Yeah, Anthony's absolutely right. This is an example of the State and the Commonwealth working together to benefit the people of New South Wales. In relation to this announcement, it's $200 million from the State's perspective, for energy efficiency projects in social housing. And I think that that's an underappreciated part of our climate change solution in Australia and in New South Wales in particular. There are many houses throughout the state, particularly social housing stock, that are too hot in summer, too cold in winter, and as a result, energy prices and costs for the household skyrocket. As a result of this program, we’ll be able to fund solar panels, reverse cycle air conditioning, heat pumps, insulation to lower power bills for your average consumer. In many cases, it'll be up to $500 per household, which is a massive saving when you've got a cost of living challenge for many households right across New South Wales and this country. So, this is an example of the State and the Commonwealth working together to benefit the people of New South Wales. We're looking for more opportunities to step up, work with the Prime Minister and his team to deliver cost of living savings for the people of this state, as well as innovative solutions to the energy challenge facing not just governments, not just communities, but individual households every single day of the year.
CHRIS BOWEN, MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY: Well, thanks very much Prime Minister and Premier. We've been determined to make sure that no one is left behind in this revolution as we seek to help people reduce their bills, reduce their emissions and have a more comfortable lifestyle. Now, we know that across Australia, public housing and social housing is some of our oldest housing stock, built over 20 and 30 years ago, before new building standards came into place. And that means as summers get hotter and longer as people deal with winters as well, that they are not as comfortable as they deserve to be. And it means they're spending more on their electricity than they need to. And also, people want to reduce their emissions. So, we've known that this would require a partnership. That's why in the Budget we announced $300 million across the country for social and public housing. And we said we'd negotiate it state by state, territory by territory, and roll it out. And that's what we're doing here in New South Wales today for public and social housing, 24,000 dwellings will benefit. Just because you live in social housing or public housing, does not mean you should miss out on the benefits of renewable energy, of reverse cycle air conditioning and heat pumps and all the other things that are eligible today. So, we're delighted to partner with the Minns Government to roll this out through social and public housing. But there's also low income dwellers and others, renters, who aren't in public housing, and that's why we're implementing our solar banks policy in New South Wales as well. This will apply to 10,000 houses or apartments across New South Wales. People who might live in stratas or have difficulty, have had difficulty accessing renewable energy, they'll be able to go 50-50 with the Albanese Government to ensure that they have that access. And for those dwellings, which for whatever reason, aren't suitable for solar panels, maybe it's too shady, maybe the roof structure is not quite right, they'll be able to access solar gardens. They are solar panels somewhere else, which the strata or the landlords can sign up to. Now, this is an important step, we are not saying this solves every problem for renters across the board or for social housing dwellers right across Australia, but it's a big step forward. It's what we wanted to do to work in partnership with States. We thank the Minns Government, Ministers Sharpe and Jackson for their cooperation as well in making this a reality. It's a good day. Can I also say, as a Western Sydney MP, a representative of so many tenants, of so many public housing dwellers, it's a proud day for me as well, to say this is the Albanese Government delivering for you, for the people of Western Sydney. For the people just like the people of Western Sydney, right across New South Wales, wherever they live in public social housing, renters, low income dwellers, they have a right to cheaper, cleaner energy and we're giving them that right today.
JENNY MCALLISTER, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY: Thanks, everybody. Look, New South Wales is a state where houses have to do a lot of work to keep people comfortable. Last week, Sydney sweltered through the muggiest day on record. In places like Goulburn and other parts of the regions, there are as many days above 30 degrees as there are days below zero degrees. Housing has to do a lot of work, but unfortunately, a lot of it was built before minimum performance standards were in place and a lot of it isn't up to the job. And that insight forms the basis of the $1.7 billion package that was in our last budget to support households, to support small businesses, to support community organisations across the country to improve their energy performance. And today's announcement is part of that, making sure that those people in our community who have the most to gain, arguably, from improvements in energy performance, but are least able to afford the upfront costs, are able to gain access to these benefits. So, I'm really pleased to be here, pleased to be partnering with the New South Wales Government and pleased to know that properties around New South Wales, like this one here, will benefit from an energy performance revolution which we hope will rival the solar revolution that Australians have already embraced.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much. We're happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: For people living in an apartment in Sydney, how do they go about getting their apartment to take part of this program?
MINISTER BOWEN: Well, obviously that depends on their individual circumstances. If they're in public or social housing, obviously they talk to their local housing office or their social housing provider and the New South Wales Government will be rolling that out across the board. In relation to the solar banks policy and the solar gardens policy, again, we're grateful to the New South Wales Government for being our delivery partner. So, this is a Commonwealth funded program, but the New South Wales Government is helping us roll that out through their service delivery arrangements. So, they'll be up and running, we hope, by the middle of the year, where people will be able to apply through the New South Wales Department of Energy for this level of support.
JOURNALIST: So residents nominate their own apartment block?
MINISTER BOWEN: Yeah, we'd encourage strata to come together and make the decision and then work through the various, obviously, the landlords and the tenants arrangements and then to apply for support under this program.
JOURNALIST: Given the cost of living crisis and the rising rents across New South Wales, how many private renters do you genuinely expect to take this up?
MINISTER BOWEN: Well, in New South Wales it's 10,000 apartments, houses, dwellings through the solar banks policy. Across the country for the social housing element it's 60,000 apartments dwellers, 24,000 in New South Wales. So, what we're saying is this is a very good start. It's a very big step forward as we undertake what is a very complicated policy area to navigate. You've got the relationship between landlords and tenants, strata laws, it is quite difficult. Jenny and I have spoken to many renters and landlords and strata operators who say this is just quite difficult to navigate and quite difficult to make the financials stack up. So, that's why we're stepping in to make it that bit easier.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, we’ve seen reports this morning that the Navy is considering taking another two frigates out of the water. How can Australians have confidence that the military can protect this country when the Navy doesn't have enough staff?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they can have confidence in our defence arrangements by examining the Defence Strategic Review. One of the things that has occurred is that we inherited a range of programs that had been announced that were massively over budget and over time, and that is one of the things that was identified. And we're busy fixing up that mess by making sure that our investment, both in terms of recruiting personnel but also in our assets, is up to scratch. And that's what my Government has been working through methodically, through both Richard Marles and through Patrick Conroy.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, other leaders have visited southern Israel. Why hasn’t Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, a range of Foreign Ministers, the fact is, a range of Foreign Ministers, including the Foreign Minister of Canada and other countries, didn't visit the, I assume you're referring to the kibbutz’ when they visited Israel. Penny Wong is visiting Israel. She's speaking to the family and friends of the hostages, both those people who have been released, but also the families who quite rightly want people released. Australia reiterates our call for every single hostage to be released unconditionally and immediately. That is our position. It's a clear and unequivocal position that we have had from day one.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, when asked on Monday about the US led mission you said we’ve sent the help that is required, we have operational support at the headquarters in Bahrain. Do you acknowledge the support for the operation hasn't even arrived yet, and can confirm the support we are providing won't even be directly involved in those operations?
PRIME MINISTER: No, because that's just not true. We do have people there and the release from the United States made that very clear. The joint release that we were involved and participated. And the United States has expressed, and the UK have expressed their thanks to the countries that were engaged in the operation against the Houthis. The Defence Minister said there'd be additional personnel there this month. It's now the 16th of January. The personnel will be there this month as we promised.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister on the Aerotropolis, given the amount of Federal funding that's been pumped to the airport and the metro line out there, are you concerned that, given the lack of development we've seen so far, that there's not going to be enough action out there by 2026 to warrant those investments?
PRIME MINISTER: There'll be action on the ground and I'm confident that I'll work constructively with the Premier of New South Wales and with the private sector to make sure that the vision that is there for the Aerotropolis, one that I've been a long term advocate of, is delivered. One of the things about the Aerotropolis and the airport, just like the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal that is going gangbusters in southwestern Sydney, is that just as we're here in the electorate of Mitchell in northwestern Sydney, what those two projects are about is Sydney turning, instead of always turning towards the CBD in the east, it's about turning Sydney also to the west and making an enormous difference. They're exciting projects. I've been to the airport and seen the development that's there. The runways are there, not ready to take aircraft yet. But I tell you what, it's well underway. And the airport terminals, a lot of the work that occurs in a construction is under the ground, the baggage handling, all of that work is happening there. And it's like with any infrastructure project, if you have a look at it at the very beginning, it appears to be slower. Once it picks up, it picks up at a much faster rate. And I'll work with the Premier of New South Wales, I don't know if you want to add anything, Chris, very closely, because this is about jobs and economic activity in Western Sydney.
PREMIER MINNS: Sure. Thanks, Anthony. Yeah, look, I mean, we are committed to this project. If you look at State and Commonwealth funding for this region of Sydney, over $5 billion for the airport, over $10 billion for the metro, hundreds of millions of dollars for new road upgrades in that part of New South Wales. The Mamre Road industrial zone, or area, which will be a commercial manufacturing zone for Sydney, is located between the intermodal and the second airport. And our big message to firms in Australia and around the world is that we're open for business. We want you to invest in NSW. There are amazing opportunities, great sites, brand new infrastructure and world class labour as well.
JOURNALIST: Premier, how much harder does it make it to deliver that Aerotropolis though given the Federals have taken, the Federal Government's taken funding out of the M7 and M12?
PREMIER MINNS: No we can do it. And we're working with the Commonwealth Government on a whole range of funding agreements. The State and the Commonwealth are already in joint funding agreement on the metro, on the airport and a whole bunch of road and infrastructure projects. I don't expect that to be the limit of State-Commonwealth funding support. And together we are going to deliver a world class new region, not just for New South Wales, but for the entire country.
JOURNALIST: Premier, on energy you have a big decision to make this year or through this year or Eraring. How are negotiations progressing there? And how much, when are we going to know when it will, how long it will be extended for and how much it would cost taxpayers?
PREMIER MINNS: Yeah, look, we don't have an announcement in relation to that right now. And the reason for that is not because I'm trying to be coy or not tell the people of New South Wales where we are up to, but mainly because the previous Government privatised that asset, that electricity asset. It's now owned by a private company. And as a result of that, we have to negotiate with the private firm, and I refuse to do that in public because it's not my money, it's the taxpayers of New South Wales. We've said very clearly, however, we are not going to close the door on extending the lifespan of Eraring in order to keep the lights on and ensure as we progress the energy transition in New South Wales we can do that in a safe, reliable way while ensuring continuous power to the people of New South Wales. Now, that's a balancing act, because at the same time as we're encouraging billions of dollars’ worth of private investment in renewable energy, we're putting billions of dollars of enabling infrastructure money in, we also need to work with the private sector to ensure that the energy needs of the state are met.
JOURNALIST: Premier if someone to an audience and then posted that online in New South Wales said and I quote, ‘oh god, kill Zionists one by one and spare no one,’ what would be your reaction to that sort of rhetoric and should that sort of speech be outlawed?
PREMIER MINNS: Look, I just want to make this point. Obviously, I think you would appreciate it's difficult for me to offer a comment to a rhetoric that's out of context for me. And I think it's reasonable, as the Premier of New South Wales, to understand where and how that was said. With that as a pretext, I want to say that some of the commentary I have seen in relation to speeches from religious people in New South Wales has been terrible and it has been racist. It's designed to sow seeds of division in the community and I'm concerned about its impact on our cohesive society. So, I've made it clear that we are not averse to changing the laws around hate speech if I don't believe that they are capturing the kind of inflammatory and racist rhetoric that's designed to pull the people of New South Wales apart.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister on cost of living, the ACCC has come out today saying that they won't hesitate to go after the supermarkets if they are deemed to be doing the wrong thing in a legal sense. Do you think that the ACCC needs more powers considering everyone is battling with the cost of living at the moment?
PRIME MINISTER: If the ACCC asks for more powers, my Government's up for giving it to them. But the ACCC have some existing powers there. I note the comments of the head of the ACCC today saying that she would be prepared to exercise those powers. In addition to that, we have the review by Dr. Emerson looking at whether the existing voluntary code of conduct is good enough and whether there's a need for some mandating there. We are very concerned about the cost of living and that's why we're taking measures such as the one we are today. That's why we've had our energy price relief plan, cheaper medicine, cheaper child care. That's why we increased payments like rental assistance, paid parental leave. We took all of those measures. But it's why also we're saying that when prices go down, when they go to supermarkets and they're purchasing from farmers, that should result in cheaper prices for consumers. Now my Government is concerned about the price of what consumers pay at Coles and Woolies and other supermarkets. Our opponents seem to be obsessed by calling for boycotts of Woolworths, Kmart, I assume, and Aldi as well. Woolworths alone employ more than 200,000 Australians. I'm not quite sure how Mr. Dutton explains to the 200,000 employers of Woolworths that he thinks they shouldn't have a job because if people boycott Woolworths, if no one's buying the product, guess what? The jobs disappear. My Government is concerned with the fight against inflation. Peter Dutton's concerned about fighting culture wars. We're into making a difference each and every day, and that's what my Government's focused on. And you'll see in the lead up to the Budget, us continuing to make announcements like we are today that make a practical difference.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you considering any further measures to close the gap in Australia and is a legislated model for truth and treaty part of it?
PRIME MINISTER: We consider measures about closing the gap throughout, across portfolios. And recently, just this year alone, you've seen measures put forward, including measures to allow people to be able to purchase their home on the 99 year lease model, making those changes to housing so that you get that empowerment that comes with that. In the agreement that we did with New South Wales and other states and territories on skills, the first National Skills Agreement in a decade. The former Government didn't have one the entire time they were in office. We have a National Skills Agreement that has a First Nations component to it about how we ensure that Indigenous Australians get access to the opportunity that comes from having an apprenticeship, getting a trade and getting a skill. That's good for them, but it's also good for the communities in which they reside and come from and can contribute to as well. So that when, for example, we're dealing with remote housing and our commitments there, we want to see not just housing built in remote communities that provides a better quality of life. We want Indigenous Australians trained and to get the employment working on building those homes as well. So, we'll continue to examine right across the board, education, health, skills, all of these areas, ways in which we can assist people.
JOURNALIST: I can see an Aussie flag on the neighbouring house. Do you think Woolies should now be stocking?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you can see one on my car. You can see one on my car too.
JOURNALIST: Just on supermarket prices. You've vowed to do whatever necessary to bring them down. What practical options do you have to try and lower the prices?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have a practical option of mandating the grocery, the code of conduct, for example. And that's something that Dr. Emerson will consider.
JOURNALIST: the International court of Justice, Prime Minister If Israel is found formally to have committed genocide have you considered what actions Australia will take?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Australia isn't a party to that and indeed the ICJ process, something that is clear at the level that it is, the advice is, that indeed they're not asking for other countries to participate in it. And Australia's position tends to be when there are legal actions underway of which we are not a party, those processes take their course. Thanks.