ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. This week was a very busy week last week in Parliament. We of course responded to the High Court decision with the comprehensive response to ensure Australians can be safe. We responded as well through the National Cabinet process with an immediate plan to strengthen Medicare, with our plan now for health and hospital funding, and an agreement for the next two five-year agreements, going right up to 2035. We produced the agreement on national firearms registry. We agreed with the states and territories on a path forward to reform NDIS so that it's sustainable. We did a National Security Agreement that is legally binding with our friends in Papua New Guinea. We also put in place environmental legislation, including our Nature Repair Bill, and with that a water trigger, and an agreement on the Murray-Darling Basin. That's what my Government has achieved in just one week. And next week we will hand down MYEFO, and an important part of the midyear economic forecast will be the projections in migration numbers. We have a plan to fix migration by ensuring Australia can get the skilled workers that Australia needs, but putting an end to any abuse and any rorts. Treasury forecasts show that migration is expected to decline substantially over the coming financial year. The new Migration Strategy we'll announce this week will bring migration back to sustainable levels. There was always going to be a jump post-COVID in our migration numbers, and the net figures for population are, of course, lower than that was projected to be in place by now, before the global pandemic ensured that our borders were shut. But what we know is that we need to have a migration system that enables Australia to get the skills that we need, but make sure the system is working in the interests of all Australians. We had a once-in-a-generation review of the migration system by Dr Martin Parkinson, the former head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. And it found that it was a deliberate decision to neglect the system and that it was so badly broken, according to Mr Parkinson, it required a ten-year rebuild. Well, we are determined to fix this. We have a plan for increased housing and we saw this week in New South Wales here a significant announcement around Rosehill. An example of state governments taking action to increase housing supply. We also have the plan for $120 billion of infrastructure rollout as well. But we do need to have our migration levels brought to a sustainable level, and we will be releasing the details of that this week. Can I just conclude as well by saying that today in Sydney, and in other parts of the east coast, it's a reminder that there just might be something in this climate change stuff. We have experienced 2023 as the hottest year on record. We continue to break these records, and that's why my Government's determined to act on climate change. Today, with the high heat levels, I do say that it's a time to ensure that we look after each other and stay safe. Climate change is a threat to people's health as well as to our environment and we need to acknowledge there's a need for a comprehensive response. Now my minister, Chris Bowen, is at the Conference of the Parties meeting in Dubai. I note that ten members of the Coalition have registered to attend that conference in Dubai over coming days, for those who aren't already there. But my Government now has a place at the table because we're taking climate change seriously, and that's the entry ticket to engagement with our neighbours and with the world. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on migration, I know you're not announcing the full plan today, but are you able to give an indication of how much reducing the intake of overseas students will factor as part of that? And we know that the overseas net migration figure this year is expected to top 500,000 - what would you like it to be at as you implement this change?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you'll see some figures coming in future days, and some of those figures will be included in the midyear economic forecast. What we know is that for areas such as students, the education industry is so important. It's important for the experience that people coming from countries like India, in our region, Indonesia, continue to be able to get access to high-quality courses that make a difference to them but also produce income for Australia. But what we have seen in the Parkinson Review and other reviews of migration indicated this. Is that in some cases, the system has been abused. People are coming here, enrolling in courses that don't really add substantially to either their skills base or to the national interest here. So, it's not in the interests of our neighbours, nor is it in the interests of Australia, that there not be a crackdown on this. We're determined to do that. And you'll see some detail on that this week, prior to MYEFO.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you think you'll make a significant impact by just reducing the number of students coming in? Is this going to really make a dent?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's one element. Because one of the things that's happening is that people are using the visa system to apply for a student visa, and then when we get here, remember there were more than 100,000 asylum seekers claiming protection on Peter Dutton's watch. And that can occur so that they stay here for a period of time whilst coming in on a student visa. So, we want to make sure that the system is fit-for-purpose. And we've done a lot of work on this. There's been substantial reviews of our migration system by both Dr Parkinson as well as Christine Nixon's very important review and work that she's done as well. We think that we can make a substantial difference in ensuring that. Our education system provides opportunities and it is world-class. And I note also one of the things that is happening through the leadership of Jason Clare and also Penny Wong is the establishment of university campuses offshore so Australian presence, so that for example, the first overseas campus has been established by Deakin University in India - first-ever. The second will be Wollongong University being established as well. What that provides is an opportunity for people to study in two places as well, and for Australians to study through those processes as well. In addition to that, the establishment of university campuses in Indonesia is a very important asset. As well as building on the historic benefit that RMIT's presence in Vietnam has had, who will now establish campuses not just in Hanoi but also in Ho Chi Minh City. So, there are ways in which we can ensure that Australia still benefits our education sector. Our higher ed sector, is one of the best in the world, we have world-class universities. We want to make sure that global citizens are benefitting from that, particularly in our region. But we want to also make sure that the system is not being abused through some of the other courses, which are essentially just a way for people to get into the system.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the latest Bureau of Statistics figures show that 46 million people could call Australia home in 2071. How worried are you about that figure, given that's a seventy per cent gain in population?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've got to make sure that our population is sustainable. And that's why we're having this comprehensive approach, that's why we did the proper reviews. Good governments do proper analysis and then have responses to the analysis. In this case the response to the Parkinson Review, the response to the work that Christine Nixon's done, is what you'll see this week.
JOURNALIST: Is the goal to bring it back to pre-pandemic levels? This would involve halving our current intake. Is it even possible?
PRIME MINISTER: You'll see the work that's happened this week that will feed into MYEFO. But the Government has done a lot of work on this and we believe that it's certainly not just possible but desirable and necessary that we ensure these levels are sustainable.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what's your ultimate goal when it comes to the migration overhaul? Like, what's your ideal net figures that you'd like to see?
PRIME MINISTER: What I want to see is a system that works for Australia. A system in which we're able to access the skills that we need. We have a global labour market now, so in a range of areas one of the things that you'll see in the review take engineers. It makes no sense for Australia to advocate to have temporary migrations with temporary visas for engineers. If we can get an engineer with skills and give them a path to permanency so that they contribute here in areas that we know have had skills shortages over such a long period of time, then that is critical. The second thing that we're doing, which is important to fill the skills gap, is we now have 300,000 Australians have benefited from fee-free TAFE this year. 300,000 new places available from next year. Our first task is, whether it's in the care sector, aged care, early childhood, whether it be in your traditional trades like carpentry, plumbing, electricians, we know in new energy apprenticeships we have a particular program for, as renewables grow, we will need increased skills in that area. We're going to train up Australians for those jobs. That's our first priority. And that's what we're doing. And we are very pleased our target for this year on fee-free TAFE was 180,000. It is remarkable that we're very close to hitting that 300,000 figure. What that shows is not only is that good for the economy, it's good for the people who are enrolling as well. Whether they be young people post-school, or whether they'd be people retraining for the jobs of the future as our economy transitions and changes. Because what they get is secure, well-paid jobs and career paths. So we see that as being very critical as well. And that's one of the reasons why we've created Jobs and Skills Australia, to identify, to work with the private sector on what are the skills that Australia will need in one year, five years, ten years' time? How do we train Australians for those jobs? Where there are gaps, how do we attract skilled migrants for those gaps? But our first priority is always, of course, to get Australians into jobs. And I'm very proud that in our first eighteen months you've had over 620,000 new jobs created on our watch, more than any first-term government in Australian history and we're only halfway through.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is this a response to housing pressures, political concerns, or even other sectors?
PRIME MINISTER: This is a response to the fact the system is broken, and Martin Parkinson identified that. That is a direct quote from Martin Parkinson, "A deliberate decision to neglect the system." He said, "It was so badly broken," Martin Parkinson, someone appointed by the former government to head the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, as well as a former, well, senior public servant, who's served governments of both persuasions over a long period of time.
JOURNALIST: Do you think the decision will help housing pressures, for instance - two birds with one stone?
PRIME MINISTER: And in addition to that, as well as the additional investment that we are putting into housing, of course, that is part of the context of what we're dealing with here.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the High Court situation, we've got a sixth released detainee being arrested yesterday, I believe. You must have a figure at this point of how many people you expect to be making applications in the court to re-detain them. How many of them, who obviously pose an unacceptable risk to the community?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the whole point of the legislation was to establish a process whereby courts will make those decisions. And we will not risk any legal consequences by trying to pre-empt those processes. I make this point, the High Court made the decision. We had to respond to what was the law because governments should not break the law. The former government broke the law when it came to Robodebt, with disastrous consequences. We offered a legal briefing for the Coalition leadership, the Home Affairs Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the Shadow Attorney-General, to all see the legal advice that's very clear and explicit about, that the Government has received. We made that available from last Sunday, at the same time as we made the legislation available. The Coalition didn't see it on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - it's now Saturday. They have not been prepared to walk twenty metres into a room and read the legal advice. Lawyers from the head of the Attorney-General's Department, were available. The other senior people, including from the AFP, the ABF, available. The head of Australian Border Force and head of the Australian Federal Police briefed the, or the acting head of ABF, briefed the National Cabinet on Wednesday. But I find it remarkable that the Coalition have not bothered to access that legal advice. And that says to me that, people will draw their own conclusions as to whether they're actually interested in fixing problems or interested in politics. We've been focused on fixing problems, not playing politics. Last one.
JOURNALIST: What will the pathways for, what will the new pathways for permanent settlers look like? And will they extend to parents of visa holders?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you'll see that, but we have on, with the review one of the things that we have been very keen on doing, including with the measures that we did for Kiwis, our Kiwi friends, was to make sure that there's an emphasis, a much greater emphasis, on permanency and security rather than temporary visa use. Now, there will still be a role, an important role, for temporary visas. There will be short-term skills that are required and Australia needs to have a flexible system to be able to do that. But you'll see in the change in emphasis that we have this week, that we're very much being consistent from the time where I stood here at this very podium with Jacinda Ardern, the former New Zealand prime minister, for example, and spoke about that permanency and why that's important for security. Have a great day, everyone.