ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: It's great to be back in my electorate, my hood, here at Hawke’s Brewery, here in Marrickville. I came here when this site was under construction. And since then, what we've seen is that this is a centre of community activity. People come here, it's a convivial atmosphere. It employs local people, it drives the local economy, and it makes a difference.
And that's why we're backing small business. We're backing local hotels, clubs and outlets by freezing the excise on beer for two years. This will come into effect from the next increase, which is due in August 2025. So, for two years, they can plan with that certainty going forward. This is good for small businesses, good for cost of living, and it's good for employment as well. We want people to get out and about.
We all remember what COVID was like when people weren't able to engage socially. It had a real impact on people, and this announcement today will make a difference. It comes on top of the announcement that we made just last Saturday, which was to lift the level in which excise comes in from $350,000 to $400,000, an increase of some $50,000. What that means for 1,500 small brewers or distillers, 3,000 small wine makers, is that’s $50,000 to their bottom line. Simple as that, making an enormous difference. But this is a win for beer drinkers. It's a win for brewers and it's a win for hospitality businesses that are so important as part of Australian cultural life. Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, it’s your birthday tomorrow. Is this a birthday present to yourself?
PRIME MINISTER: It is my birthday tomorrow. And I think that this is the sort of facility here where people come – I came with the family last year, privately, quietly, people left us alone to enjoy the time that we had together. And when people go to their local pub or their local club, that's a part of who we are as Australians, engaging. And this will make a difference. It is a positive announcement. As I said, good for beer drinkers, good for pubs and clubs, good for cost of living pressures.
JOURNALIST: This change though, it’s not going to bring down the price of an average mid strength beer. Is it going to make any difference to your average beer drinker?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, everything makes a difference, and this is something that has been requested for a long time, by the hoteliers, by clubs and by small operations like this. The great thing about these operations is that they employ local people and they boost the local economy and they also – one of the things about this place here, is that people really enjoy coming here. Like they enjoy coming to – there's about 18 craft brewers that you can walk to, if you fit, from right where we're standing now. All of them will also benefit from the change that we made last week the increase by $50,000. So these two measures combined will make a difference.
JOURNALIST: Are you considering any other measures, like reducing the excise?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're making this announcement today, and it's been welcomed today as well. I've spoken with Stephen Ferguson from the Australian Hotels Association, he's wrapped with this change as this is what hotels and clubs have been asking for. It will make a difference.
JOURNALIST: Aren’t the pubs having a lend of the excise, though? If it goes up that one cent per schooner, they put their prices up by 50 cents a schooner and blame it on the Government.
PRIME MINISTER: The Government gets, from time to time, some comments from across the spectrum that we don't agree with. What this does, very clearly as well, is it send a message to beer drinkers that for two years there's a freeze on excise.
JOURNALIST: So we won’t see the schooner price go up for two years?
PRIME MINISTER: If it does, then no one can blame the Government, because we're freezing that cost for two years.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there’s been an extraordinary exchange between President Zelenskyy and President Trump overnight. Will you commit and reassure people of your commitment to Ukraine and helping Ukraine?
PRIME MINISTER: We stand with Ukraine. I've had meetings with President Zelenskyy on multiple occasions, including, of course, in Kyiv in Ukraine, where I travelled very early on in my Prime Ministership. And this year, we've seen that land war in Europe go on for three years. The people of Ukraine are fighting not just for their own national sovereignty. They are fighting for the international Rule of Law. Australia has committed some $1.5 billion to help Ukraine defend itself. More than $1.3 billion of that is military support. We will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, because this is the struggle of a democratic nation versus an authoritarian regime led by Vladimir Putin, who clearly has imperialistic designs, not just on Ukraine, but throughout that region.
JOURNALIST: Do you have any concerns about Ukraine’s ability to fight on for a just ceasefire without US support?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we of course want to see peace in Ukraine, and that's what the Ukrainian people want as well. But I tell you how you get peace in Ukraine really quickly, which is Russia stopping its illegal and immoral invasion, and Russia stopping the attacks on civilians, on civil infrastructure, engaging in this act of aggression that they have engaged in now for three years, and of course, in the past, in the very recent past as well, the attack that they had on Crimea.
JOURNALIST: The exchange between Donald Trump and President Zelenskyy was quite extraordinary. Did you expect that from Donald Trump to behave like that in that meeting?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I am responsible for Australia's foreign policy. Australia's foreign policy is determined by Australia, and we stand unequivocally with Ukraine in their struggle, because we regard that as a struggle for the upholding of international law.
JOURNALIST: But when you see a US President acting in that way with another world leader, surely that changes the game for any other world leaders who are looking to interact with him, when you see this unprecedented sort of behaviour?
PRIME MINISTER: What we'll do is determine Australia's position. And Australia stands with Ukraine. And there are many, of course, in the Ukrainian community here as well that I've engaged with for a long period of time now. They're going through – including people who have fled the conflict. The people of Ukraine have suffered greatly in defence of their nation and their national sovereignty. And Russia has acted like a bully. A big country seeking to invade and to take over territory from another sovereign nation, in this case, Ukraine. And like the rest of, overwhelmingly, countries around the world, we have stood with Ukraine. And we will continue to do so.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned that term ‘bully.’ From my perspective, watching that interaction, JD Vance and Donald Trump, it felt like they were almost bullying or pressuring Zelenskyy. As the leader of a country, when you see that interaction, does it change the way that you might go about interacting with the President of
the US?
PRIME MINISTER: What we will do is always stand up for Australia's national interest. And Australia has an interest in the international Rule of Law being upheld. And that is what the people of Ukraine are fighting for. Thanks very much.