ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, today we remember the four Australian Defence Force personnel who lost their lives near Lindeman Island one year ago today. Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class 2 Joseph Philip Laycock, and Corporal Alexander Naggs from the 6th Aviation Regiment. Our thoughts are with their families, their loved ones, their friends and the entire Australian Defence force community. I had the great honour of meeting the families of these four great Australians at the memorial service that was held privately by the Defence Force, and I know that today will be a very difficult day for them and our thoughts are with them. We pay tribute to their commitment, their sacrifice and their service, and to the Australian army and to the Australian defence community. This is a broader family and I know that it will be felt today. So we honour them, we mourn them, and today we remember them as we will every day.
I also want to pay tribute to our incredible Australian athletes in Paris. We were so proud to see Australia at the top of the medal tally, snagging five medals. Some have suggested we should stop the games there while we're on top. Track Cyclist, Grace Brown winning our first medal in Paris in what were wet conditions. For those of us who try our best to just ride a bike around in a normal circumstance, the idea of riding around in the wet, trying to go as fast as you can, is an extraordinary achievement. Tassie's Ariarne Titmus defended her women's 400 metre Freestyle title to claim Gold - an extraordinary achievement. I watched in the early semifinal where she came second, and certainly she looked at that time as though she had a bit more in her and certainly she did. An extraordinary achievement. Elijah Whittington claiming Silver in the men's 400 metre Freestyle. And, of course, our women's 4x100 metre Freestyle relay team winning Gold yet again in a new Olympic record. Emma McKeon is now Australia's most successful Olympian, and might I add, the young Australian of the Year, which was awarded at the Australia Day awards. And she is a very fine young woman and does Australia a great deal of credit. And, of course, the men's team, the 4x100 metre freestyle relay team, also won Silver. We also saw some incredible team performances. The Boomers defeating Spain in the men's basketball, the Kookaburras defeating Argentina in the men's hockey and the Stingers defeating China in the women's water polo. Australia is a great sporting country. We punch way above our weight in per capita terms and Australians will all be cheering on the team tonight.
I'm also very proud of the strong team that I'm privileged to lead as your Prime Minister. A team that is united, a team that is ambitious, a team that is absolutely focused on continuing to deliver and work for Australia. We're helping to ease the cost of living without adding to inflation. We're determined to help Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn, which is why we've delivered tax cuts for every single taxpayer, why we're pleased that real wages are increasing again, why we're provided $300 of energy price relief, why we're strengthening Medicare and freezing the costs of PBS medicines, and why we are implementing our $32 billion Homes for Australia plan. And why we're making measures particularly aimed at gender equality, including an extra two weeks of government funded Paid Parental Leave and closing the gender pay gap to a record low. All of this has been delivered by an experienced and energetic Labor team. I'm very proud of the fact that we have gone now two years and two months with precisely the same team in place. When team members step down though, it does provide you with an opportunity for others to step up. And I do once again pay tribute to Brendan O'Connor and Linda Burney for their extraordinary contribution to our nation over a long period of time. I also want to thank Carol Brown. Carol Brown is stepping back as an Assistant Minister to prioritise her health, something that some of you would be aware of, the issues that she's been dealing with and she's made, I think, the right decision in order to do that. But she'll continue to serve Tasmania as a Senator and continue to be an outstanding representative for Tasmania. A passionate Tasmanian, the eighth child in a family of thirteen children, she certainly has always known what it's like to fight for a fair go and she has certainly done that. And in the infrastructure and transport portfolio, something of course I'm pretty familiar with, she has been a great advocate on issues, particularly road safety and the associated issues including design rules and has been responsible for all of those issues.
Good governments aim high, they work hard and they draw on a diversity of talent and that certainly is what drives me and that's what drives the changes I'm announcing today after that more than two years, the most stable period, might I say of government, in certainly, in living memory, if not forever. The Cabinet changes that will take place are as follows: Tony Burke will be the Minister for Home Affairs, the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Cyber Security, as well as continuing to be Minister for the Arts and Leader of the House. Tony, of course, is a senior Minister who's been focused on a range of portfolios, has done a great job in Employment and Workplace Relations. He has held similar portfolios in the past and he's someone who will bring that experience to what remains a challenging portfolio. Julie Collins, having done an outstanding job as the Housing Minister, will move to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, whilst retaining Minister for Small Business. Julie, this is a portfolio that she held in Opposition, has experience for it. Tasmania is of course, a great centre of agriculture, is one of the drivers of the Tasmanian economy, and Julie will bring a that experience to the portfolio. Clare O'Neil will be the Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness. Clare, of course, is a great communicator, she'll lead the delivery of our ambitious Homes for Australia Plan that has been established by Minister Collins and will be able to pursue the great challenge that we have of delivering the range of programs, all aimed at delivering further supply and making sure that the issue of housing is dealt with. Something that you can't deal with overnight, but something that requires a concerted approach, and Clare O'Neil will certainly bring that to the fore. Senator Murray Watt will be the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Murray will continue the important work in this portfolio, including the commitments that we spoke about yesterday at the state conference of the ALP about Same Job, Same Pay, and also will be the lead Minister in Cabinet, of course, responsible for Skills and Training. Senator Malarndirri McCarthy will take the position of Minister for Indigenous Australians. Malarndirri joins Cabinet, I've read a range of speculation over coming days about portfolios - that's one you all got right. Malarndirri was the obvious person to move into that portfolio, building on the legacy of Linda Burney while bringing her own lived experience and advocacy to the Cabinet table, as someone who's experienced, like Linda, former member in this case, of the Northern Territory government, but someone, of course, from a remote community in the Northern Territory to fulfil that role. Pat Conroy will move into the Cabinet as the Minister for Defence, Industry and Capability Delivery, Minister for International Development and the Pacific. Pat also, he goes into Cabinet, obviously AUKUS, both Pillar One and Pillar Two are critical. Pat's been an important member of our National Security Committee and I've made the decision that this area is such an important area of delivery, that it's worthy of two Cabinet Ministers. He will join Richard Marles, of course, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence as Cabinet Ministers. There are some ministry changes as well. Andrew Giles will be the Minister for Skills and Training. Half a million Australians have had access to fee free TAFE. Brendan O'Connor delivered the National Skills Agreement with states and territories, and we think that the issue of vocational education and training is just as important as a university degree. With the creation of Jobs and Skills Australia, it's also about workforce planning. And that will bring, will enable Andrew to bring the experience that he's had as well with the migration issue, to the issue of skills and training. Senator Jenny McAllister will be the Minister for Cities and the Minister for Emergency Management. So the Infrastructure portfolio will be Catherine King as the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, with Kristy McBain looking after the regional side of what is a very large portfolio of delivery, as well as local government, and Jenny looking after the urban side of that portfolio. And in addition, taking over from Murray Watt the important issue of the Minister for Emergency Management, looking after the EMA that we've established. Jenny's experience in climate change and energy, climate change issues, will enable her to bring that experience to the issue of resilience when it comes to emergency management. One of the things that we want to do where possible, is not to wait for the impact of disasters and then to work out how you recover, but where possible invest in advance as well, so that you mitigate some of the impact of the natural disasters that Australia is unfortunately having at a more frequent, but also more acute way. There are a range of assistant ministry changes as well. In the areas of Home Affairs and Immigration, assisting Tony Burke will be Matt Thistlethwaite as the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Julian Hill as the Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. Pat Gorman will, in addition to his role supporting myself and supporting the public service, will be Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General. Ged Kearney will have added to her title and work the Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health that was previously undertaken by now Minister McCarthy. Senator Anthony Chisholm will have added to his existing work in regional development, Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, which we think is a natural fit as well. Senator Tim Ayres will have a change to his title from Assistant Minister for Manufacturing to Assistant Minister for a Future Made in Australia, something that is at the centre of the government's agenda as we go forward. Kate Thwaites will be the Assistant Minister for Social Security, Assistant Minister for Ageing and Assistant Minister for Women, and Josh Wilson will be the Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, an area in which he is passionate, and an area previously undertaken by now Minister McAllister. In addition to that, I'll be appointing three additional Special Envoys. Peter Khalil will be the Special Envoy for Social Cohesion. We know that in today's climate, there is a great deal of concern about disharmony. Peter Khalil is someone who's worked with communities very much in his multicultural electorate and he will be a very strong advocate and will work with communities across the board on the issue of social cohesion. Luke Gosling, of course, is a veteran and will provide support as a Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans' Affairs and Northern Australia. We know as a result of the Defence Strategic Review, there is more and more happening in Australia's North. As the Member for Solomon and as a former veteran, we think that Luke is well positioned to be able to provide advice there. And Andrew Charlton will be the Special Envoy for Cyber Security and Digital Resilience. This will be a special task that I've discussed with Andrew, as well as with Tony Burke, the Minister for Cybersecurity, and with Michelle Rowland, the Minister for Communications, about where Australia, and indeed the world, is going on the range of issues with technology changing the way that we relate to each other, the way that our entire society functions. This is something that requires someone away from the day-to-day activity to give thought to how Australia positions ourselves to not only avoid some of the bad consequences which are there, but also sees the positive opportunities which are there as well. Andrew Charlton is a great thinker and he's someone who I wanted to step up in this role. These combined changes, I think, represent a significant move forward. I would expect that this is the team that I will take to the election when it is held sometime in the future. And it is a team, I think, that tomorrow, for people's information, the swearing in will take place. I'll recommend to her Excellency the Governor-General, that the swearing in take place at 9am tomorrow. And then there'll be a full meeting of the new ministry at eleven o’clock just about 100 metres from here. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, your opponent, Peter Dutton, will no doubt claim victory here and claim the scalps of Andrew Giles and also Clare O'Neil and say this is evidence they both failed in their portfolios. Is it?
PRIME MINISTER: Peter Dutton will be negative. I'll give you that big tip. He'll be destructive, he'll attack people, he'll engage in the sort of vilification which is his specialty. His team keep telling him to smile more, but I've seen no evidence that any of that is working. What I see is his relentless negativity. And the fact is that Peter Dutton left a mess in the portfolios in which he held. Peter Dutton was one of the people in the former government who presided over the dysfunction that's been identified through the reviews that have taken place, there’s been three of them, including by Dennis Richardson, including by the former head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and as well by Christine Nixon, that identified a dysfunctional department. What Clare O'Neil and Andrew Giles have had to do is to repair the damage which has been done.
JOURNALIST: Doesn't the fact, Prime Minister, that you moved them on show that you yourself thought there were too many mistakes being made? And under this, can you confirm the functions of the Department of Home Affairs will remain the same?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we will have some, there is one change to the Department of Home Affairs, which is that ASIO will move to the Attorney-General's Department. So it will be there with the Australian Federal Police. That's something I've discussed with the Director General of ASIO.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, then why did you move Andrew Giles from the portfolio?
PRIME MINISTER: Because there's a reshuffle. What we had to -
JOURNALIST: You didn’t move everybody, sorry to interrupt –
PRIME MINISTER: What we had to do, what you do when there's a reshuffle is that there is a change that then has a knock-on effect. The fact is that we have been a very stable government. I have noted some of the comments. I mean, again, Peter Dutton recently has been pretending there wasn't a High Court decision. That was a High Court decision, notwithstanding some of the commentary that's been made, which would have taken place regardless of who was in government and would have, because there is a separation of powers in this country between the High Court, the judiciary and the political system, it would have had to have been put in place. If people want to say that that can be dismissed, then we know where that leads. But it doesn't lead in a good place in a democracy such as ours.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what's the rationale for giving both Home Affairs and Immigration to Tony Burke, considering the complexities of running not only that Department, but the multitude of issues that are facing that system at the moment? Isn't it a case of a bit of overload there for your Leader of the House?
PRIME MINISTER: No, he's certainly up for it. And what it means is that in terms of a Department, there will be one person who will be responsible for it. I gave a lot of thought to the appropriate structure. I mean, that's one of the reasons for the structure which is there. One Minister and then two junior assistants to them is, I think, the right structure.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, when Home Affairs was created, it had all or most of the key domestic security agencies - AUSTRAC, AFP, ASIO. Now it has none of those. Are you slowly dismantling, kind of, what, the reason why home affairs was created?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, if you can, you're making some assumptions there about the reason why Home Affairs was created, and there's been a number of interesting articles about why Home Affairs was created and some consequences of it. What I'm doing is putting in place what I think are the appropriate structures for good governance. And no one who looks at the way that Home Affairs and Immigration has functioned over many years, and there have been three reviews looking at it, whether by Richardson, Parkinson or Nixon, three reviews, all of which have been incredibly critical at the structures that were put in place and the performance under the previous government. So, we are responding in an appropriate way. Tony Burke, I think, will be an outstanding Minister in this role and that's why we have structured it in this way.
JOURNALIST: Can I just follow up to that, why specifically move ASIO to AGS? What's the logic behind that?
PRIME MINISTER: To put it in the same place as the Australian Federal Police.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there's still only one WA Minister in Cabinet. How do you continue to justify that, given the importance of the state to the national economy and also the importance of the state to your fortunes at the next election?
PRIME MINISTER: We've actually just promoted additional WA representation. We've just promoted additional WA representation on our Frontbench today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, unless I'm wrong, it looks like you've axed the republic as a portfolio. Why have you done that and is that an admission that that was a bit of an indulgence and not realistic?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the portfolio was appointed first under the previous Labor Leader, it's something that I inherited. I said at the beginning of, I said before I was elected Prime Minister, I intended to have one referendum, it's the only thing I committed to. Previously the Labor party went to elections committing to multiple referendums. At the moment the only person who's committed to another referendum during the next term if he's elected is Peter Dutton.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what will the scope for Peter Khalil’s role be? What resources will he have and have you announced or do you have someone in mind for the Islamophobia Envoy?
PRIME MINISTER: We do have someone in mind and that announcement will take place at an appropriate time. Peter Khalil will have the resources across government, both of the Department of Home Affairs, Immigration area, Multicultural Affairs, but also of Prime Minister and Cabinet. I want him reporting directly to me about social cohesion and its important. Peter is a deep thinker and he’s someone who has a broad range of experience, both here and internationally, and he'll bring that to the role.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, with the, was the referendum vote against the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and with your new Minister will the government consider going to the election, you know, promising measures such as a legislated voice and a Makarrata Commission for that to finally be established?
PRIME MINISTER: The referendum was about the question that was put to the Australian people.
JOURNALIST: Will you go to the election, but the Voice and the Makarrata commission, are they on the table?
PRIME MINISTER: Phil?
JOURNALIST: You said you spoke to Mike Burgess. Was he amenable to the shift?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can I just ask why Skills got dropped out of Cabinet, please?
PRIME MINISTER: It hasn't. There is, Murray Watt is Employment, Workplace relations across those areas. And Andrew Giles will have responsibility for Skills and Training, specifically for delivering.
JOURNALIST: Just on Clare O’Neil, you referenced her as a good communicator. I'm interested when you talk about the move of her into Housing and Andrew Giles out of Immigration, if there's a recognition that as good as your message can be, it doesn't matter if the messenger isn't right.
PRIME MINISTER: No, it matters. Issues in that portfolio, such as High Court decisions, as I said, are not ones that have been made by government. They are issues that go back to when the former government was in office, the High Court decision would have had to have been responded to by whoever was in government and whoever was the Minister.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, following on, polls often put the Coalition ahead in the mind of voters. When you ask them who's a better manager of issues relating to immigration. Why do you think that is and how much of that is down to the performance of your Ministers?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not a commentator, that's your job. What my job is to do is to make sure that we implement good policy. That's what we've done, in spite of the rhetoric which is there from the former government. The truth is that we've maintained border security. The resources that have been allocated have never been higher than they are today. We have made sure that we've put in place, Operations Sovereign Borders continues today. And what we've done as well is put in place a measure to reduce the migration numbers going forward. There was always going to be, of course, an uplift in numbers after the pandemic, after the borders that were shut were reopened. You, of course, have both Australians coming home, as well as the reintroduction of students. But the numbers, of course, are less than was projected under the former government prior to the pandemic taking place.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, given the election, sort of, around the corner. How much of this ministerial -
PRIME MINISTER: Not quite around the corner, although I keep reading August 31, which means I need to go see the G-G this afternoon, if that's the case.
JOURNALIST: You’re ruling that out though I take it?
PRIME MINISTER: Not necessarily. Watch the car, mate. See where it goes. It's the one with the flag on the front.
JOURNALIST: Very good. How much of this ministry, particularly your senior players, some of whom have been around for quite a while, do you imagine you'll be taking into your second term should you win? Like how much change, were you tempted to go bigger on the change?
PRIME MINISTER: I should imagine I'll take all the senior players in. What you need is experience. One of the things that my government has benefited from is the fact that we have been the most experienced incoming Labor government in history. What that means as well is that we're not distracted by the day to day issues that will be raised and we are considered, things are orderly, policy processes are right. And it compares with the last time there was a change of government. Last time there was a change of government in this country Tony Abbott didn't make it to two years. Ministers were going in and out the door. There were changes all the time and no one knew what was, we've had talk about departmental changes. People have written about, indeed there was rather good statements in first person about the creation of some of these structures in government, exposed in Nine Newspapers over a period of time. So you know, that's not the way to run a good government. My government is a good government. It's orderly, we have proper cabinet processes, we have now had an opportunity as well for some refresh going forward with some entry of some new talent. And I've got to say that we're blessed there are a range of people who could have been promoted. I think, that we could produce, say, a second or third Cabinet that would be stronger than the shadow Cabinet that we face. I mean, there's a bunch of people, if anyone here knows what portfolio Jason Wood has got, I don't know, but he sits in the front, so I assume he's got something. The Member for Petrie, I don't know what his portfolio is. And Angus Taylor, who’s Shadow Treasurer, is silent for most of the time. I have an outstanding team, I'm very proud of it.
JOURNALIST: Speaking of the creation of structure as it just were. What's the difference between being an Assistant Minister and being a Special Envoy? It does look like you've kind of given a special title to some people who could do with a few extra resources. What is the difference between the two?
PRIME MINISTER: An Assistant Minister is someone who's making decisions, I mean, they're in the executive. What I've done with the Envoy positions is put in place people who can give thought to things that mightn't lead to an immediate policy decision or they're certainly not funding any programs. So in areas like social cohesion, in areas like how we deal with digital resilience, in these challenging areas. As well as the implications for what happens with the Defence Force, having some focus on Australia's North and what the implications are for Northern Australia there. They're things that I think require some, taking advantage of, the fact that I have a range of people with extraordinary capacity, which is there. Previously of course, Patrick Dodson was someone who fulfilled that role, in the Reconciliation area. Again, an area that's not about, ‘Ok, here's the answer’. These areas require a great deal of thought and long term change. Perhaps one more. Phil?
JOURNALIST: Just on ASIO, that leaves Home Affairs pretty much just Border Force and Emergency Management. Did you think about putting Cybersecurity across as well to AG’s and just renaming Home Affairs, Immigration?
PRIME MINISTER: No, Cybersecurity stays there. And there are other things as well that are in Home Affairs, other structures, all of our international structures as well, are there as well. The, Home Affairs will continue to play an important role, but it makes sense to have ASIO and the AFP in the one place and that is why it has been done, as I said, in consultation. I talked with the Director General about that issue and it's something that I took the opportunity today to make that change along with making changes to personnel. Thank you. Thank you very much. Keep writing. I read in The Aus, it’s August 31, so it must be true. Thank you very much.