ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Today is another very good day in relations between Australia and our Pacific family. This morning I spoke to the Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manele, and I'm pleased to announce that a new foundation for Australia's security relationship with the Solomon Islands has been advanced. We’ve worked tirelessly in the Pacific to improve relations upon coming to government and everyone knows – including people here in the Press Gallery – know that it was at a very low ebb in 2022. And part of that was just the alienation that our Pacific Island neighbours felt from Australia's policy on climate, our policy on foreign relations and the way that we dealt with our fellow members of the Pacific family. I started discussions with Prime Minister Manele during his first overseas visit as Prime Minister where he came to Australia. And my Government is proud to make a significant investment in the police force of the Solomon Islands to ensure that they can continue to take primary responsibility for security in the Solomons. It's also the case that today we reinforce Prime Minister Manele's comment that Australia is the security partner of choice. The Solomons have a three part policy. One is looking after their own police forces. Secondly is cooperation with their Melanesian neighbours. And thirdly is engagement with Pacific Island Forum members. And this is really important. This investment over four years will be guided by the Solomon Islands’ priorities. The package will improve funding, training and infrastructure, support to grow the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force in a sustainable manner. It includes budget, training and infrastructure, including a Police Training Centre in Honiara. And it follows the opening, just a couple of weeks ago, of the Pacific Policing Initiative Training Centre in Brisbane, in Pinkenba, that we announced at the Pacific Islands Forum. This partnership will strengthen the Solomon Islands’ domestic security, but it will also enhance its ability to contribute to regional stability. And it follows the other work that we've done in the Pacific. Indeed, the Pacific Policing Initiative is underway in Vanuatu, providing assistance to our friends in Vanuatu following the devastating quake that occurred there with a significant loss of life and infrastructure, just days ago. We have currently a Pacific Policing Initiative force there with police from Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands assisting out there. It also follows what's been a pretty busy year and a bit in engaging with the Pacific. And I just want to remind you of just a few of the things that we've achieved. The Falepili Union Treaty with Tuvalu, a world first. The treaty with Nauru that was signed here just a week or so ago. The signature and entry into force of the Australia-PNG Bilateral Security Agreement followed by the PNG NRL announcement last Thursday and of course the Pacific Policing Initiative. All of these measures are important for our region, but they're important in our national interests as well. Australia has an interest in good relations and having a secure region. The cost will be $190 million over four years to strengthen this relationship. And it is so important that I was able to have a very good discussion with the Prime Minister today, again further cementing that relationship. Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you running a fear campaign on nuclear when it comes to health concerns? And if that is the case, what should defence personnel think when they're operating on these AUKUS submarines?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll tell you what's scary, the failure of the Coalition to have any proper costings. So, it's now a week since they released their costings and it's been a shambles. Peter Dutton's been out there saying that they had a costing of consumers and how they would benefit. There's nothing in this costing to indicate that that is the case. Nothing. And it was backed up by the Shadow Treasurer. They're just making things up. What we know is that nuclear does not add up because it's too costly, it takes too long and it will not deliver the energy security that Australia needs. It will have an impact on all those who have solar panels on their roofs. There'll be an impact on rooftop solar. There'll be an impact in energy security because the idea that coal fired power stations can just be extended forever is simply not the case. We know that there's a reliability issue there just because of the ageing nature of coal fired power stations. And I remind you that three quarters of the power stations in Australia announced that they would close, that they would close under the Coalition's watch. And the Coalition during that period didn't come up with any of this nuclear fantasy. And it's no wonder that the private sector won't touch it with a barge poll because it doesn't add up.
(INTERJECTIONS)
PRIME MINISTER: Woah! I thought we got better this year, now we're just declining. It's almost Christmas. I do press conferences in Canberra, unlike the Leader of the Opposition and I take questions unlike the Leader of the Opposition. So, we'll go here.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, thank you. Just on the announcement today with Solomon Islands –
PRIME MINISTER: Which is why we went there because I knew you'd go to the announcement –
JOURNALIST: Predictable. Can I ask, there are still 14 Chinese police officers in Solomon Islands, essentially a permanent rotating presence. Has Australia sought any guarantee as part of this agreement with Solomon Islands to either cap or reduce the number of police officers from China on the ground or is that not in any way part of this arrangement?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have agreements with the Solomon Islands and part of that is making sure that Australia remains the security partner of choice.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just back on nuclear. Do you worry that this sort of – your expert versus their expert – kind of debate just leads to the public not trusting any experts? And how much do you think that this energy debate is going to shape or frame the election campaign next year?
PRIME MINISTER: There are no experts in the energy sector backing up the Coalition's costings here. What we have is the Australian Energy Market Operator, the people who actually run the system, we have the CSIRO versus Peter Dutton who hid from the costings. Announced it just before Christmas, announced it not in Canberra and before the National Press Gallery, but went up to Brisbane to announce it just before Christmas hoping that it would just disappear. Well, I'll tell you what's disappeared – the Coalition's credibility. Because every analysis says it will take too long, it will cost too much and it just doesn't add up for Australia. Doesn't add up for Australia. And all of the analysis shows that that's the case. And if you add it up, I tell you what you would have. People – they often say follow the money. Well, follow the money here. Why is it that for an energy sector, the Coalition are promising essentially a nationalised new industry to compete with private sector and with households indeed have invested themselves by putting rooftop solar in on the roofs of their homes. The fact is that the Coalition in the week it's been a shambles since their announcement. No wonder they hid it. They still do not have any assessment of costs. We know that economists have suggested that the cost will be $1200 more. But in addition to that there's the cost of opportunity lost. The opportunity-cost is devastating of this nuclear plan.
JOURNALIST: Do you share economists’ concerns about the state of the economy? One Aussie dollar is buying just 60 US cents.
PRIME MINISTER: Well the Australian economy what we know and the Treasurer and the Finance Minister of course released MYEFO just this week. If you look at where we're headed, if you want a comparison, across the ditch has just announced in the last 24 hours that they're in recession. We have kept the economy growing. We have created on our watch, more than a million jobs have been created. We have real wages that are growing. We have inflation has a two in front of it and is going down, as opposed to a six in front of it and was rising, that we inherited. We have ensured that we haven't simply left people behind. All of the measures that we have put in place to provide assistance to people on cost of living pressures, that we acknowledge are still there, we acknowledge that people are still doing it tough. Imagine how tough people would have been doing it without cheaper medicines, cheaper child care, energy bill relief, real wages increasing and without the support that we've put in place, including a tax cut for every single Australian taxpayer, something that the Coalition not only said they would oppose, then said they'd reverse, said we should have an election on it. We have at every single day and every meeting of my Cabinet or of the ERC or of the other committees of the Cabinet, been very focused on making sure that in these difficult global economic times, we do what we can to provide support for people while setting up the foundations for future growth with a Future Made in Australia, with Free TAFE and looking after skills, with looking after that future agenda. In these rocky seas, always keeping our eyes on that horizon and making sure that we deliver.
(INTERJECTIONS)
PRIME MINISTER: Hold on. If you yell, you don’t get to go next. So, we’ll go here.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned cost of living. If you announce new policies to relieve cost of living heading into the election, will that just add to inflation and also interest rate pressure that households are feeling now?
PRIME MINISTER: One of the things that we've done in the design of our cost of living measures – energy bill relief, has helped with cost of living and helped to lower inflation. Cheaper child care boosts productivity. The announcements that we made just a week ago, in Brisbane, of the next stage of our child care reform and moving towards universal provision are very supportive in that they boost the three Ps – Productivity, Population and Participation. They help all three. So, it's good for families’ budgets, it's good for gender equity and for women's participation in the workforce, but it's also good for our economy.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on nuclear. The earlier questions – you talked about the economic and the financial aspects. The earlier questions are about the health issues here. The story this morning in the papers points to a video on the Labor Party's social media pages of a doctor talking about – I think a study in a British medical journal talking about health impacts of living near a nuclear plant or working in a nuclear plant. Do you share those same concerns about the health safety issues around nuclear energy?
PRIME MINISTER: What I'm focused on is the economics of this issue and the economics of this issue are that it doesn't make any sense whatsoever for Australia to say, “stop what is happening, stop the investment that is occurring in our energy grid and wait till the 2040s in order to develop from nothing a nuclear industry.” It does not add up. It does not make sense. And that is my focus.
JOURNALIST: On the Solomon Islands. You mentioned the $190 million figure. Is there any figure for the police force about how that's going to scale up? I believe they want to reach 3,000. Is that possible by the end of this investment or will there need to be further?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what they are doing is increasing their capacity, the number of people in the police force. But most importantly as well, they are improving on what they can do. So, it's about not just numbers here, it's about the capacity of the police force to provide security. And what that does is reduce any need for outside support. So, they're very confident going forward.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, this morning – on the Bali 9 – why was it appropriate for armed police to escort the convicted drug smugglers all the way from the tarmac? It's an unusual move.
PRIME MINISTER: Look, police make their decisions.
JOURNALIST: Are you saying that you had no part in the decision making there?
PRIME MINISTER: What, you think that I was – that I manage these things, or what's the suggestion? Well, if you've got a suggestion, make it. But it's a rather strange one.
JOURNALIST: So, did you have no part in decision making this morning to have the armed police escort the Bali 9 from the tarmac?
PRIME MINISTER: That's a rather strange question. The idea that I look after, as Prime Minister of Australia, look after operational details is – I'm not sure what point you're making.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the Solomons deal, just – is there an undertaking or a guarantee that we will, or that you expect to see Chinese presence completely removed? Is there a timeline? What's the sort of, is there a quid pro quo there?
PRIME MINISTER: We expect that the Solomon Islands, of course, is a sovereign nation. They have some measures in place, and we expect that to continue. But we also expect that as a result of this agreement, what we've done is make sure that Australia remains a security partner of choice, as Prime Minister Manele has said.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how significant was the risk that China could have been the partner of choice for the Solomons?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, what we're focused on is just our relationship with the Pacific family. And I've consistently said as a member of the Pacific Islands Forum, that what we're about is making sure that the Pacific family look after our own security. And that is something that we've done through a range of bilateral agreements, but we've also done through our multilateral agreements with the Pacific Policing Initiative as well, that's been so well received.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the Solomons, US engagement in the Pacific and coordination with the US is also crucial to security. So, how concerned are you that the incoming Trump Administration will not show the same level of commitment to the Indo-Pacific security and that that could undermine your confidence building measures?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the US is, of course, a Pacific nation. And the US participate strongly in APEC and in other Pacific initiatives as well. And I'm confident that the US will continue to play an important role in global activities.
JOURNALIST: Some groups in the Pacific were voicing their displeasure this morning about the recent decision to approve some extensions for coal mines. Three in Queensland, one in New South Wales. Was that something you discussed about on the phone call today with the Solomon Islands Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: No. Everyone had a go?
JOURNALIST: Could we have one more for Christmas?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, is it about Santa?
JOURNALIST: It's not, but it's a good thing. What is your reaction to the remaining Bali 5 prisoners returning to their home states in time for Christmas? And do you think Scott Rush could be re-arrested in Queensland? We know in 2005 there was a warrant for his arrest for ripping off the CommBank.
PRIME MINISTER: No. It is time for the Bali Five to have come home. They committed a serious crime. They paid a serious price for that crime. For their families, including Scott Rush's mum and dad, I spoke with on Sunday, people would be aware of the history there as well. They had paid a significant price for the crime that they committed. We don't discount that or do anything other than to confirm that we respect Indonesia's laws. And it is a message as well, a reminder of people out there travelling that Australians are subject to the laws of countries they are in. And, you know, don't be stupid, essentially, don't take a risk like that. They paid with, for some of these people, they have spent more than half their lives in jail, more than half their lives. And not only did they pay a price, but I make this point as well, their mums, their dads, their brothers, their sisters, their friends all paid a price as well, each and every day that they were absent from Australia. And I think that it was time for them to come home. And I'm pleased that that has occurred. Tomorrow, I think, is Gravy Day. Australians speak about what it's like to have someone who's a loved one, they sing the great Paul Kelly song, in jail over Christmas, ‘who's going to make the gravy?’ Well, their families had their loved ones in jail for 20 Christmases and that was enough. And I thank again President Prabowo for his act of compassion and I thank him for delivering on what he said he would when we had dinner in the room just next to us here. Can I wish everyone a very merry Christmas. I note that I've now done the same number of press conferences in the Press Gallery in Canberra today as Peter Dutton has done in the last six months. I thank you for the work that you do in holding Government and Opposition to account, and I wish you a very peaceful and happy Christmas. And for those of you of faith, I wish you a holy Christmas as well, for those of the Christian faith. It's an important time for people in the Jewish community as well, Happy Hanukkah, is coming up. And I just tell everyone, regardless of whether you're of faith or of no faith or whatever faith you have, this is a time where the road toll goes up every year. So, please drive safely, enjoy the break.