SIMONE MCGURK, MEMBER FOR SWAN: Thank you. I'm very happy today, very proud to have the Prime Minister here at South Metropolitan TAFE, the Bentley campus. I'm here with Skills and Training Minister, Brendan O'Connor, and local members, Zaneta Mascarenhas and Hannah Beazley. We've been meeting students involved in the hospitality and cookery courses that have benefited from a huge investment by the Federal Government, which we're very grateful for, for fee-free TAFE. Fee-free and 23 has been a huge success. And we've seen the benefits of some of that investment here this morning. Young people, people of all stages of life, who are either entering the workforce and their training efforts or who are currently operating small businesses, and they're taking the time because, fee-free to take the time to increase their formal skills, so that their businesses will be more successful. So, I'm very grateful to have the Prime Minister and the Federal Minister for Skills and Training here in Western Australia. There's no doubt that we have a big skills demand here in Western Australia and the investment by the Federal Government in cooperation with the Cook Labor Government to invest in training our local people is absolutely our priority. And we are starting to see record numbers involved in our TAFE system and our vocational system, generally, as a result of that investment. What's even more pleasing is that we're seeing the fee-free training, that has that has been committed to by the State and Federal Governments, resulting in enrolments in the care sector, for instance, aged and disability care, early childhood education and care, hospitality, as we've seen here today. But also pleasingly, those areas of the workforce that we really want to see are coming into the workforce, two thirds of the fee-free training effort has been picked up by women, which we're really pleased to see. And a huge number of young people as well. So, all the areas ticking a whole lot of boxes, we’re smashing the numbers out of the park, and I'm so pleased to be part of that joint commitment to training Western Australians between the Federal and Cook Labor Governments.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Simone. Can I begin on another topic, just by giving a shout out, my thanks, to the staff of the Royal Darwin Hospital, but also to all those who've assisted with the rescue efforts and caring for the American Defence Force personnel who were injured in the crash on Melville Island yesterday. My heart goes out, and the heart of all Australians, to the American families of the personnel, the three who lost their lives in this tragic incident. And at a time like this, we reach out to our American brothers and sisters in order to express our condolences to them, to express our commitment to continue to work with them. This is difficult time for the families and friends and indeed, all of the US Defence personnel, particularly those who are present in the Northern Territory and around Australia. They are good friends. We have no closer allies than the United States. And this incident is indeed tragic. But once again, Australian emergency personnel as well as our Defence forces, as well as those people in the medical sector at the Royal Darwin Hospital have shown the best of the Australian character in looking after our American friends.
Can I say that it is wonderful to be back here at Bentley TAFE. I visited here during the election campaign and to be back here with Minister O'Connor and Minister McGurk but also Zaneta Mascarenhas, now the Member for Swan, who was then the candidate for Swan, and Hannah Beazley the local state MP as well. It's been great to be able to talk to these students who are making sure that they will have fulfilling careers and indeed a very positive life going forward. Chefs, and the other tasks that are undertaken here in fee-free TAFE, all tasks in which are a skill shortages, they are careers that will provide for a good solid income and employment for life. And that's why fee-free TAFE is so important. When we announced, after the Jobs and Skills Summit, the 180,000 fee-free TAFE places we thought, and some said, that that was ambitious. Well, I can report today that that has been more than fulfilled, 214,300 enrolments this year so far. Meaning that in Western Australia, the target was some 19,000. There has in fact been 34,500 enrolments here in WA. That is young people and people retraining for good careers, being able to contribute to the WA economy, but also leading fulfilling lives undertaking work in which they can see the product of their work, whether it be blue collar jobs of apprenticeships, or whether it be the sort of jobs in hospitality and catering, and in chefs that we've seen just this morning. This is a great result. And it is consistent with our commitment to deal with skill shortages. We want to make sure that skill shortages are dealt with by training Australians, but also, of course, the migration system has an important role to play as well. We're aware that as an economy, there are so many areas in which skill shortages are there. In part, that is because of the unemployment rate of 3.7% is certainly a positive one. Given what is happening in the global economy. We regard the creation of 500,000 jobs in the time in which we've been in office, just over a year, and has been a great success. But we also know that we need to train Australians for the jobs of today as well as the jobs of tomorrow. And fee-free TAFE will be a major component of that, 300,000 additional places will be created from next year. And the good news about the 214,000 positions that have been created is that has all been done within the budget that we have set. Meaning more boilermakers, more fitter and turners, more chefs, more aged care workers, more childcare workers, more people with the skills that they need, but also the skills that our economy needs as well. This has been an enormous success. And I’ll ask Brendan O'Connor, who has done such an extraordinary job as our Minister with responsibility for skills and training to make such a positive difference in our first year in office.
BRENDAN O'CONNOR, MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND TRAINING: Thanks, Prime Minister. As the Prime Minister indicated, we have been focused on supplying the skills to our economy. In fact, the first announcement arising out of the Jobs and Skills Summit was the 180,000 fee-free TAFE places. And as the Prime Minister has indicated, we've not only met that target well before time, but we've done so by exceeding the courses to the point where there's now 214,000 courses, which allows Australians to acquire the skills that they need to have good jobs, to have decent career progression, employment security. They're the sort of things we're looking to ensure. We're also wanting to make sure that businesses that are crying out for skills in demand are getting that supply of skills. That's why when we dedicated the investment in working with state and territory governments, we did so to ensure that the investment would be in areas of demand. So not only were people entering, enrolling in these courses, they knew that if they acquired the skills arising from those courses, that they would find employment very likely. And that's clearly been the case today. Now, as the Prime Minister said, we've got more work to be to do. And last Friday, at the Skills Ministerial Council, we spoke about the additional fee-free TAFE and VET places from 2024. I've written to every Skills Minister of each state and territory government to assure them that we want to get on with this as soon as practicable. There's already an indication that those deed of agreements will be signed very, very soon, which will mean that we provide certainty for the sector to have, again, to remove cost barriers for students who are wanting to enrol in these courses. It's also the case that employers benefit from fee-free TAFE. I spoke to employer recently who said that he was employing 27 apprentices and he was paying the fees of those apprentices that were enrolled in courses. Because the courses were in fee-free places, he employed 35 apprentices. So, this is also increasing the likelihood of more apprenticeships by employers as a result of removing the cost barriers, as I say, for students, and for employers. More work to be done negotiating a National Skills Agreement, a five year agreement with state and territory governments, it really does come down to collaboration. And really, it was the Jobs and Skills Summit that set the tone, where we work closely with state and territory governments, work closely with businesses and unions, work closely with the VET sector in higher education to make sure we continue to deliver on our promise. And so, I look forward to further engagement with my counterpart ministers, in particular, today at least, Minister McGurk, who has been working very hard on this issue. But we really believe we can continue to provide the investment needed to skill up Australians to ensure that they have skills that are necessary for our economy, and that it's great for them, it's great for their family, their communities, and certainly critical for this country.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much Brendan, and this afternoon, we'll be taking off on another commitment that I made in the lead up to the election, which was to hold two Cabinet meetings in WA. The first of course, we held in Port Hedland, a very successful visit. And the second meeting of my full Cabinet will be here this afternoon. And we'll be having Premier Cook along as well to talk with my Cabinet. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, polls on the Voice suggests forty per cent of voters are undecided. Will you and your ministers be calling out villains, that's the word used by the Yes campaigns talking points, and does that include mining billionaires?
PRIME MINISTER: What we'll be doing is campaigning positively for a Yes vote. Because this is a positive campaign. This is about recognising First Nations people in our founding document, our Constitution. And it's about listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people so as to get better results. That is all this is about. An advisory group that won't be binding, that doesn't have a right of veto, so that we can listen. Why don't we do that? Because we know that when you listen to people who are directly affected, you get better outcomes, whether it's in Indigenous Affairs or others but in Indigenous Affairs, we know through areas like the Rangers Program, Community Health Program, Justice Reinvestment, the successful programs have been ones that have engaged people.
JOURNALIST: Peter Dutton has said this morning that the sheer volume of ads he anticipates from the Yes campaign will bully Australians into voting Yes.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Peter Dutton, I tried to get support from, I met with him on seven occasions. I'm very pleased that Premier Rockcliffe in Tasmania is supporting the Yes campaign, that Mark Speakman is supporting the Yes campaign and that the handpicked Shadow Attorney General and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Julian Leeser, who was handpicked by Peter Dutton to take on those roles in the full knowledge that there was going to be a referendum this term, I took that as a really positive sign. And the Yes campaign and certainly the comments that I make will continue to be positive, will be about what the campaign is about, what this change, this modest change is about and not what it isn't about. To me, you have the campaign for No undermined by the fact that Peter Dutton says that he supports Constitutional recognition, he says that he supports legislating a Voice, that's the Liberal Party policy. Well, so do we. The only difference is that we don't think it should be able to be abolished with the stroke of a pen. Its composition and its procedures are very clearly up to the Parliament. We agree on that. So, in spite of all the noise here, there is not a big gap between the positions. What there's a gap between is what some in the No campaign say this is about and it's no different from, prior to marriage equality, people were told that heterosexual marriages would be under threat and that it would change a whole lot of the way that things worked. Guess what? We now have marriage equality. The fear campaigns have not been realised, just as the fear campaigns on the Apology, the Stolen Generations, have also not been realised. This is all upside, no downside.
JOURNALIST: The Australian newspaper has obtained a document giving instructions to Yes case volunteers. They're provided with resume examples on how to affirm, set and redirect. Is the Yes case afraid of detail being discussed?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I haven’t seen any document. What I'm doing is campaigning, very simply, about what this is about. The words are there for everyone, they there for people to read. The question begins, ‘In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Australia's first peoples’, that's what it says. That's what people have been asked for, for recognition. And then there's three points. One says, ‘There shall be a body, the Voice.’ The second says ‘It may give advice on matters affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.’ Once again, so the what, then what it will do. And then the third is ‘The Parliament shall make laws, subject to the Constitution, about the composition functions, procedures of the Voice’. It's very clear what it's about. And what I will be doing is doing what Noel Pearson does, and others, they go around with the words on a little sheet of what this referendum is about. And when people look at that, and when I have discussions with people, as I have yesterday in Karratha, this morning here in Perth, people are very positive when they see what it's about. And so, the door knocking campaign will be just about that.
JOURNALIST: Yes campaigner, Thomas Mayo has put out saying that forty per cent of Australians are undecided on the Voice. Does that match with your assessment and are you concerned about that?
PRIME MINISTER: I see figures every day in papers about this or that, how many are voting, I see interpretations, which are, frankly, pretty wild, some of them when they put to me. Look, Australians will vote. I'll be announcing the date on Wednesday. They will vote. Everyone in this room has the same vote as me as Prime Minister. I have to write Yes or No on the on the ballot paper. And Australians will focus when it comes to the weeks leading up to it. I've said the whole way along here, I, to be frank, we're not spending a whole lot of Labor Party money doing polling months out from a referendum when we know, of course, that people are focused on other things. I'm here today talking about TAFE and skills. Yesterday I was talking about the resources sector in Karratha. We'll continue to do a whole range of things. But Australians in the lead up to this will have the opportunity to say Yes, that's what they have the opportunity to do. And that's why in spite of all of the commentary, the pages of articles that have been written, for example, about timetables, or would the question being put off. I've made it very clear, a year ago, I set out a timetable. I said, we'd have legislation introduced in March, I said we'd have a committee process. I said that would go through the Parliament in June. And then by law, the poll has to be called between late September and December. And we'll be doing that. I've narrowed down the timeframe. It won't be on Grand Final day, that's a big tip. But we, with lots of notice, will be giving people the notice on Wednesday and I just encourage people to read the question. Don't look at commentary if you don't want to from either Yes or No, but be informed and make the decision yourself. The decision of the Australian people will be respected. But I don't pay any credence either to people saying, ‘Don't find out, just make the decision based upon not knowing’. What we need to do is for people to be informed to inform themselves. The question will be clear, it'll all be there.
JOURNALIST: How important is the role of State Premiers in campaigning for the Voice and what would you like to see them do?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, every State Premier and Chief Minister supports a Yes vote across the political spectrums. And when Dominic Perrottet was the Premier of New South Wales who was a strong supporter, as well of a Yes vote. This, in my view, should not be party political. This is something that has a support of crossbenches, some members of the Liberal Party, some members of the National Party, members of the Greens political party, Independents, minor parties, and people will go out there and will continue to put their view. I think that State Premiers of course, will have other jobs to do, as well. And they'll continue to do those tasks. But Premier Cook, I look forward to meeting with him this afternoon and we have a very good relationship. We've known each other for a very long period of time, as I have known Simone, and Brendan and I were kicking around a long time ago, we won't expose our ages by telling you how long ago it was. But it's people who we’re familiar with and this is something that has been, this isn't something that's come up as a new idea. This is something that developed over years. The Howard Government promised recognition. And part of the message that I will give is, if not now, when? When are we going to get this done? Because this is just about respect, but it's also about who we are, whether we will express pride in sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture on Earth and also about the way that Australia is seen, quite clearly as well. People will be watching this outcome.
JOURNALIST: At the G20 next month, we'll be raising concerns about the health of detained Australian Yang Hengjun when you meet with China's President Xi Jinping?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, we always raise issues of Australian citizens when either myself or my Ministers meet with our international counterparts, including China.
JOURNALIST: Are you still planning to travel to China this year or are there conditions that need to be met?
PRIME MINISTER: You’re not from the Canberra Gallery. Katina will explain, we get one.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there has been some suggestion that the Albanese Government is running a protection racket for Qantas, how would you characterise your relationship with Alan Joyce?
PRIME MINISTER: Alan Joyce is a retiring CEO of Qantas, he'll go on to another career. I wish the incoming CEO all the best. It's an important Australian company.
JOURNALIST: On skills, perhaps for Minister McGurk, the people who are taking up needs to take positions now, there'll be a couple of years before they're qualified, what would you like to see? What's the answer to filling the skills gap right now that the businesses are crying out for workers, right now?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I might say as well, nationally, we're focused on fulfilling the need of skill shortages across the board. So with all of the above, so we need to fix the migration system. We inherited a system that had a million people waiting, who'd applied for visas. A million people. People who'd been waiting for years and years. So you had this so called, you know, statements about what was going to happen. And then it not happening and out of frustration, we're in a global labour market, we need to make sure that the migration system is redirected. This is another thing that came out of the Jobs and Skills Summit. You need to have a migration system that is working in the Australian national interests. That means one in which Australia is able to fill the areas of skill shortage and attract migrants to Australia, in a global labour market where there's competition for skilled labour in the areas that we need. And so we've done a range of things that we've done there already. We've done the changes to the New Zealand eligibility. We are also reorienting the system and we've had Clare O'Neil give a major speech at the National Press Club just a month ago about what we're doing to make sure that we're able to have a system that's orderly, a system in which Australia is able to fulfil its needs right across the country. In addition to that, we're working constructively with state and territory governments, we will continue to do that. But we are also training Australians for the jobs that are needed now and into the future. And we're doing that as well, by the creation of Jobs and Skills Australia, another body that was promised during my first visit here to WA as Labor leader. And that's a body that will identify, ‘okay, what are the skills that Australia will need in one year, five years, ten years time? How are we training through universities, through TAFE, through the school system as well? How are we making sure that the whole education system is working towards not finding ourselves in the situation which we have inherited from the former government?’
MCGURK: Can I kind of reiterate the gratitude of this government, the Cook Labor Government, to the cooperation we have with the Federal Government on training efforts and also their effort to make the migration system more responsive to applicants, so to make it easier and speedier, so we appreciate that. But it is also the case that we have our skills demands right now, while we're training local people, we do have a demand now and that's nowhere more the case, then in the construction of housing, which we know is a key enabler out there in the metropolitan area and in the regions to get people in to fill the other jobs that we need done. So I really do also appreciate that the Prime Minister and his full Cabinet are here in Western Australia to listen to those concerns of Western Australians, and businesses, West Australian Government who are saying we need the skills now. And we want to make sure that our migration settings are appropriate to meet those skill demands right now.
JOURNALIST: Minister, are you satisfied by the Prime Minister's explanation yesterday about the reduction in WA skilled migrant intake?
MCGURK: I was able to raise, because the Prime Minister is here, I was able to raise these issues with him, just briefly, to explain that one of the things about the skilled migration system, the nominated list, is that it's really appropriate for small and medium sized businesses, for instance, where you have an employer nominated intake, that's really for medium and large businesses. So as I've said, the Prime Minister's here, the Cabinet's here, we want to have a constructive relationship, where they understand what our needs are from West Australians point of view, we need those skills, skilled labour now, we need that skilled labour now. And we all want to also want to send a consistent messages to our overseas markets, that if people over there have skills and they're thinking about moving, they couldn't think of a better place than Western Australia.
JOURNALIST: But were you satisfied by his explanation? Yes or no?
MCGURK: Oh, look, I understand that the overall numbers are significant from the Federal Government and that they're doing everything they can to improve the processing of overseas migrants into Western Australia, particularly skilled migrants. So, I'd certainly appreciate that.