ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: There are three issues that I'll raise this morning. Firstly, today is International Women's Day and I'm very proud to lead the first Australian government ever made up of a majority of women. 54 women in our caucus of 103 members. And it's no accident that the government has already made significant reforms to advance the interests of women and therefore advance the interests of Australia. Paid Parental Leave legislation passed this week. The childcare reforms that will come in on July 1, boosting women's workforce participation, boosting productivity and taking pressure off family budgets. Ten days paid domestic and family violence leave - promised, legislated, in place from February. The other measures including the adoption of the recommendations of the Respect at Work report, increased community workers assisting those escaping domestic and family violence. Our Housing Australia Future Fund legislation that will reserve 4,000 out of the 30,000 places for women and children escaping domestic violence.
Today, I leave to go to India, where I will visit Ahmedabad, Mumbai and New Delhi. This is an important visit. It will be my fourth meeting with Prime Minister Modi. One of the first things I did as Prime Minister was travel to the Quad Leaders Meeting in Tokyo on May 24 of last year. Australia and India are important partners. We share common values. We are both vibrant democracies. We have an interest in improving our economic relations, and the Varghese Report provides a blueprint that hasn't been fulfilled enough. This visit will be accompanied by 25 senior business leaders, CEOs of major Australian corporations, leaders of universities, leaders of IT companies, resources, and other companies who want to improve the relationship with India. India is currently our sixth largest trading partner, but they can be much larger in the future. And here in Western Australia we see the importance of the Indian Ocean. The truth is that India, along with Indonesia, will grow to be the third and fourth largest economies in the world in coming years. That presents an incredible opportunity for Australia. And during this visit I will be giving at least seven speeches over the coming days, talking about the opportunities which are there, to have increased people-to-people relations, to educational transfers, increased two-way investment, increased engagement between our business communities. And I think it is an enormous opportunity for Australia. Lastly, I do want to say that after this visit I will be visiting the United States for a bilateral meeting with President Biden. I look forward to the continuing engagement that I have with the US Administration.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the security relationship with India is also important and later this year Australia is going to host the Malabar defence exercises with India, Japan, and the United States, and the rumour is that that's off the coast of Perth in August. Why are we deepening the strategic and defence relationship with India? And is it about China?
PRIME MINISTER: The relationship with India is multifaceted. It's one of people-to-people relations, the growing diaspora that is there in Australia is an asset for Australia, but also those people-to-people links are so important. It's also about our trade, but it's also about our security relationship. Operation Malabar will be hosted by Australia for the first time. It will be important, and those security relationships are also something that I will be having discussions with Prime Minister Modi on. I met with the Foreign Minister and hosted Foreign Minister Jaishankar in Kirribilli just two weeks ago. The relationships we have, because India is the host this year of the G20, means that we've already had visits to India from our Treasurer, our Education Minister, and other ministers will continue to have that engagement over the year, and I will of course attend the G20 Meeting when it's hosted in India. Before then, I will host the Quad Leaders Meeting of Prime Minister Modi, Prime Minister Kishida, and President Biden in Australia in the first half of this year.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you spoke yesterday of the growing importance of renewable energy in India. Australia also exports a lot of coal to India, how do you reconcile those two things when you talk to Prime Minister Modi about his concrete moves to reduce emissions? And you just said just then you're going to have a bilateral meeting in the US? Is there a trilateral element to that at all?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll be meeting with President Biden in the United States. We'll have further announcements about details soon about the arrangements that will be taking place. On India, it is important to recognise that Prime Minister Modi, like the other leaders of the G20, is a strong supporter of shifting the energy focus, including in India. That's important to lower emissions, but it's also important on issues like pollution in India as well. It's something I know Prime Minister Modi is very conscious of. We will be talking about the new industries and opportunities that Australia has, whether it be provision of lithium and other materials that are important for the shift to renewables. The growth of areas like green hydrogen present enormous opportunities. India is a driver of new technology and innovation. And there is a great scope for Australia and India to cooperate as we both transition for clean energy from an assist on trade.