ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks for joining us. It's good to be here with the Premier, Steven Miles, with my Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, my Minister, Murray Watt, the Queensland Treasurer, Cameron Dick, and Nikki Boyd, the state Minister for Fire and Disaster Recovery, and also the Mayor of the Gold Coast, Tom Tate, who will speak after the Premier. We're here today to give a big shout out to everyone who is helping with the recovery, making a big difference, whether they be Australian Defence Force personnel, whether they be volunteers from Disaster Recovery Australia, whether they be people from police and emergency services, from the National Emergency Management Agency, people from around the board being coordinated, federal, state and local in helping this community to recover from the disaster. We know how tough it's been for people here in South East Queensland and we know that there's more to do and we're determined to do it in a cooperative way across the three levels of government, but also working with those civil society organisations who are once again giving us a practical demonstration that at the most difficult of times, we see the best of the Australian character. People pitching in to help their fellow Australians to make a difference, and that is what we are seeing here with this extraordinary centre which is making a difference. Today we're announcing an additional over $20 million for South East Queensland and we'll have more to say later in the day, and tomorrow we're in Far North Queensland about recovery support. We will be delivering additional support for primary producers who will now be able to access up to $75,000 in grants and affected small businesses and nonprofits able to access $50,000 in grants. On top of that, the Local Recovery and Resilience grants of $1 million will be provided to the City of Gold Coast, Logan City Council and the Scenic Rim Regional Council. This on top of the additional support that we've already provided of some $64 million for tourism, primary producers and small businesses for Queenslanders. In addition to that, can I say that the individual payments that have occurred in South East Queensland, some $10.5 million dollars had been funded by Sunday to assist almost 60,000 people. That comes on top of the $4.5 million dollars that's been paid out to almost 26,000 people in Far North Queensland. We know that there is more to do, and we're here to say that we're putting our shoulder to the wheel to make sure that can be done. And I just want to thank all those helping at this recovery centre and helping on the ground here in South East Queensland for making an enormous difference to people's lives. It's been a very difficult period, particularly coming as it did around Christmas and New Year. A time when people look forward to celebrating the relationships they have with family and friends, not going through the tough time that they have. So, my heart goes out to all those who've been directly affected and I say that governments, federal, state and local, will be here with you. But importantly as well, your fellow Australians thoughts are with you. Just as our thoughts are with the people of central Victoria at the moment who are dealing with flood issues. I will travel to Victoria tomorrow afternoon directly from Far North Queensland. I know that for communities like Rochester that I visited with then Premier Andrews just a relatively short period of time ago, that town was very much underwater. We flew over Rochester at that time and it's terrible to think that a short time later, towns like Rochester and Seymour are very vulnerable there in Victoria. All of this is a reminder that the science told us that climate change would mean there would be more extreme weather events and they would be more intense. And unfortunately, we are seeing that play out with the number of events that we're having to deal with right around Australia, where over this period we've had events in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia that have been severe events.
STEVEN MILES, PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND: Thank you, Prime Minister, and welcome to Queensland again. It's great to have you here supporting our local efforts at disaster recovery. The sheer scale of the cleanup job here on the Gold Coast and in the Scenic Rim and Logan is massive. And now that we have largely addressed access, now that we have the power connected to everybody's homes and businesses, now the focus of the Albanese government, the Queensland government and our local governments is to do that cleanup work. And that's what today's assistance package is all about, funding that cleanup effort. The sheer number of trees on footpaths, in parks, in schools and in people's backyards that need to be cut up, hauled to a location, mulched up and reused, that's a massive job. And with this funding, standing alongside Gold Coast City Council, Logan and Scenic Rim we can get that cleanup done. We're also funding small business grants with this package which is really important particularly here on the Gold Coast, but across the three local affected areas small business really is the engine room of these economies. And those businesses that have been affected, directly impacted can access these grants of up to $50,000. We're just now getting a sense of the scale of the energy reconnection effort. We know that we got everyone reconnected by Sunday and now Energex has been analysing the data on what those work crews did. They reconnected power to 130,000 homes. But it's the lightning strikes that tell the story of this storm of these storms. Over a similar period last year we had 38,000 lightning strikes over that period, this year we had 3.5 million and they took down nearly 1000 power lines. It took 80,000 work hours to get them reconnected, 120 kilometres of wires, 150 poles had to be replaced and 500 broken cross arms. The Prime Minister mentioned the hardship payments and as I've said this is the largest number of grant applications we've ever received and processed. We've also had more than 2000 people reach out for mental health first aid, 2165 giving a sense of the impact that these weather events are having on people's lives. I can also confirm that the Bureau has now cancelled that severe weather warning that was in place earlier this morning. We've seen some small amounts of flash flooding. Springfield Lakes in particular saw an incredible amount of rain, 130 millilitres in just 3 hours from 4am to 7am. The SES had seventeen call outs in Logan, nine in Ipswich and five on the Gold Coast. I'll turn to the Mayor.
TOM TATE, GOLD COAST MAYOR: Well what a wonderful day, not just in gesture for the Prime Minister and the Premier to visit our Disaster Management Centre here. First up, Prime Minister and Premier, this is an excellent example of a City Deal where all three tiers of government funded this centre to the level of category five. And at the time people think well that's a few years ago when are you going to use it? And now today it shows that all three tiers of government were looking forward to get it ready. And from our part of it is that disaster is not over just because the rains and the wind stop. It's when the recovery commences. People are still traumatised and hurting out there, so it's still part of the disaster the recovery part. And I'm so heartened that additional funding has been found, another $20 million in various forms, some for businesses as well. And it just makes you feel that the Queensland Government and the Australian Government's got our back when we're really down on the canvas and the message will be out there. From the city part, we've got temporary hubs out in our city and for people out there listening is that, yes, there's more grants and that, instead of trying to work out how you can apply and access to it, come to the Recovery Hub. We'll have officers there, bring your ID and we'll help you fill the forms and access these funds so that it can from the announcement get to you as early, as quickly as possible so that you can get your life back together. But I'd say in other circumstance, when we caught up it'll always be a bit cheerful and an event to sit down and joke. But this time around, it's helping us Aussies who are really suffering and it means so much more to us, Prime Minister and Premier, and what we'll do, we roll up our sleeve and get on with the cleanup, with all the volunteers, and we will get there. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Can I thank you, Tom, and all your local council workers who are pitching in and making such a difference on the ground. So, thank you. Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is there any funding package to assist tourism businesses that have suffered through what's normally the height of their season, but have either been unable to open or have seen a major downturn as a result of the storm?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, what we're looking at is support for tourism businesses on top of what we've already contributed. There's funding there for small businesses, but we're continuing to engage as well. And one of the reasons for this visit and the engagement with the Premier is to make sure that people aren't left behind at this difficult time.
JOURNALIST: Did the Bureau of Meteorology get it wrong when they called an El Nino last year?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I might turn to the Minister.
MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Thanks, Prime Minister. Short answer is no. The Bureau of Meteorology's forecast that we were heading into an El Nino was correct and remains correct. The issue is that just because you have an El Nino doesn't mean that you don't get heavy rain in the meantime. It is not at all unusual to see heavy rain in some parts of the country during an El Nino cycle and unfortunately, that's what we're seeing happen right now.
JOURNALIST: There's a few residents in Jimboomba that are saying that they still don't have their power reconnected, does the government know anything about that?
PREMIER MILES: We've largely reconnected the power to those 130,000 homes. There may be some homes where they still require certification by an electrical contractor that their home can be reconnected. So, the power is connected in their street, but may not yet be connected to their household because they're awaiting that certification. I might just see if Nikki has anything to add.
NIKKI BOYD, QUEENSLAND MINISTER FOR FIRE AND DISASTER RECOVERY: Thanks Premier. In addition to what the Premier has said, if there are pensioners, if there are people who are uninsured, if there's sporting groups and not for profits who are looking to reconnect their home and they need that certification, there's Operation Energise that has hit the ground today and it will be operating in the areas of Scenic Rim, Logan and the Gold Coast for a period of time where folks can actually contact Operation Energise and can get that certification that they need to be able to get the power back on in their homes. Thanks.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you anticipate there needs to be any future funding? We know this cleanup is going to take quite a while. Is there anything on the horizon for additional funding on top of today's announcement?
PRIME MINISTER: One of the things that we do is examine things as they come in. Applications from Queensland are always given consideration. The applications that we receive from Queensland over recent days have been fulfilled, I think in record time, were signed off yesterday immediately to make sure that that support flows. So, we'll continue to examine, just as after any natural disaster, there's always an assessment of how things have gone, how we can improve. That's one of the reasons why you have this disaster centre here is as a result of recommendations that have occurred in the past. Unfortunately, there's a lot of experience with dealing with natural disasters, but we'll continue to examine things on the basis of need.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, we've got storms in Victoria, consecutive disasters here in Queensland. How much is this expected to cost the budget, and can anything be done to avoid the compounding effects of these disasters?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll hand over to the Treasurer there, but we're going to make sure that people aren't left behind. We know there have been a range of disasters and I have had to sign off authorisation in Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria will be coming as well. But my government is determined to not leave people behind.
JIM CHALMERS, TREASURER: Our primary focus is on the human cost of these natural disasters and the cost to local communities. But of course, there'll be an economic cost and a budget cost as well, and that will become clearer in the coming weeks and months. Australians are there for each other when times are tough and all three levels of government will be there for people as well as they contemplate this recovery and this rebuilding effort. This is what cooperation looks like. This is government of all three levels at its best, working closely together, supporting these quite remarkable people here who are backing people who are doing it tough. There will be a cost to that, we understand that, we will do whatever we can to fund people through difficult times, but also when it comes to rebuilding these really important communities and local economies. As the Prime Minister said, we don't want to leave people behind and we will be there for people as they are there for each other.
JOURNALIST: Just in relation to that very quickly. We've heard of a Barramundi farm in Far North Queensland that's struggling to get an insurance payout following the disaster because insurers are labelling it a flood, not a cyclone, and they wouldn't cover him for flooding. What do you think of the response from insurers thus far following these weather events?
TREASURER: I'll get Murray to add to this in a minute, but our message from all three levels of government to the insurers is very clear - do the right thing by your customers. People have been through hell in some of these communities, hosing out homes, throwing away a lifetime of belongings, being in physical danger. The last thing that people need is insurance companies stuffing them around. And so that is very clearly, I think, the message from all of us is do the right thing by your customers. I'll ask Murray to add to that.
MINISTER WATT: Yeah, really, just to echo Jim's remarks, as he said, it's important right now that insurers do the right thing by Queenslanders and all Australians who are going through these disasters. Overall I have to say, I think insurers have improved their performance and their responsiveness to consumers in recent years. But the last thing that people want to see happen right now is to be duded by an insurance company through finding some kind of a loophole. So, we've got all governments standing together, we've got entire communities standing together. We need to see the corporate sector stand with Australians in their hour of need as well.
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll take a couple more.
JOURNALIST: State and federal governments, these disaster relief payments, are they indexed to CPI? How often do they get reviewed? Because I know the complaint from a lot of people was particularly the state grant, $180 doesn't go very far.
MINISTER WATT: So, as you're probably aware, there's a couple of different types of grants that are available to people both in South East Queensland and Far North Queensland. The initial round was what are called the financial hardship assistance grants, and there's various different categories of that. But if you work your way through the different types of grants available, it's quite conceivable that a family would be able to be eligible for $3000 or $4000 in support. Those who are uninsured and have incurred structural damage to their homes could actually be receiving a grant of up to $50,000 to assist with home repairs. So, there are various different types of grants available. And that's in addition, of course, to the federal grants that we announced in this very room on Sunday as well.
JOURNALIST: Has there been consideration given to streamlining the process for disasters like this so people can apply for both state and federal government assistance through the one application?
MINISTER WATT: Yeah, that's something that we are working on at the moment. There actually have been some improvements made to the systems, even over the last 18 months. Some of the really burdensome requirements around providing evidence and documentation, we've been able to streamline in recognition that very often people lose those types of documents in a disaster. So, we are working with the State Government on how we can streamline this further, as we are with every state government. But the simplest thing for people to do, as the mayor said, is to go to one of those community recovery centres or to hop onto the Queensland Government website, the disaster help website, where it's all very simply set out.
JOURNALIST: To the Prime Minister, will you consider extending the price cap on coal as a way of keeping energy prices down due to expire in the middle of 2024?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think the Treasurer answered this yesterday. He can give the same answer today, if you like.
TREASURER: Thanks PM, and thanks for the question. As you know, we intervened quite decisively, working closely with state governments here and in New South Wales to ensure that we could work together to take some of the sting out of these electricity prices, which were putting a lot of pressure on people around the country. What we know from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is the combination of the coal price caps, the gas price caps and the electricity rebates that I work closely with Cameron and others to deliver here in Queensland, and they've gone a bit further as well, and I commend them for that. We know from the ABS that electricity prices would have been much higher were it not for our combined efforts. The ABS has made it very clear that the rebates and the caps took some of the sting off these price rises, which were putting a lot of pressure on people. Fundamentally, the gas caps are a responsibility of the Federal Government. We've got a new regime with the code of conduct underway. We've worked with state governments on the coal caps. There hasn't been a decision taken to extend those beyond the middle of the year. But we welcome the ABS making it crystal clear to Australians that if the Federal Liberals and Nationals had had their way when they voted against our energy relief plan, electricity prices would have been much higher. If the Liberals and Nationals had had their way. We've been able to take some of the sting out of these price rises and that's been a good thing.
JOURNALIST: On interest rates, they are not predicted to come down until the second half of 2024. What will you do to help struggle households?
TREASURER: Well, first of all, I don't make predictions or forecasts about the future trajectory of interest rates. That's the preserve of the independent Reserve Bank. We acknowledge and cherish that independence. We take responsibility for what we can do responsibly to put downward pressure on inflation. We are doing three things in that regard overwhelmingly. First of all, rolling out billions of dollars in cost of living relief in ways that take some of the edge off inflation rather than add to it. Again, I acknowledge the partnership we have with the Queensland Government on that front when it comes to electricity and in other areas, the ABS has said childcare, electricity, rent and in other ways we are putting downward pressure on inflation. Secondly, we're investing in the supply side of the economy in areas like housing and skills and the energy transformation. And thirdly, we're getting the Budget in much better nick. We've already delivered the first surplus in 15 years. We've got another one in prospect in the next Budget, and that means we're taking pressure off inflation as well. And that's been acknowledged. So, we are doing everything that we can to put downward pressure on inflation. Australians are under extreme cost of living pressure, we understand that. This is one of the big economic challenges that we confront together at the start of 2024. Tomorrow we’ll get the monthly inflation data for November. These monthly figures can be notoriously volatile, they bounce around. We’ve seen in Europe, where inflation is actually accelerating again, that even though inflation is coming down overall often it doesn’t come down in a straight line. We will see what those numbers say tomorrow but very clearly and partly because of our efforts as a Government we have seen inflation moderate substantially since it peaked in 2022. It actually peaked in quarterly terms before the election in 2022. It peaked under our predecessors. It peaked annually around Christmas of 2022. We’re making some welcome and encouraging progress in the fight against inflation but that fight is not over yet.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on rents. Is it acceptable that rents went up 11.5 per cent in a year, and do you anticipate any immediate housing relief in the upcoming Budget?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have a comprehensive housing plan. We've worked very closely with state and territory governments and it's a multifaceted plan. It's a plan about supply. There's no easy solution, you need to build supply. And that's why we're investing in public housing again, opposed by the Coalition. That's why we have the incentive that's there for private build to rent that was included in our Budget of last May. And that's why we'll continue to work with the private sector as well. You're seeing state and territory governments committed to improving planning so that we get appropriate development with appropriate density where possible. All of these measures are aimed at increasing supply. In addition to that, of course, we're taking action on some of the abuse that's occurred in terms of the migration program, you've seen that crackdown on those people who were training providers, not providing appropriate training and being delivering the sort of services that give credit to Australia. We're cracking down on all of that with our comprehensive plan that's been released at the end of last year. So, we're determined to make a difference and we're working across the board, using all levers at our disposal to do that. Maybe last one.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is Queensland Labor a better chance of winning the election with Steven Miles as Premier as opposed to Annastacia Palaszczuk? And also, is it politically wise to be proceeding on the path to treaty given the emphatic rejection to the Voice?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, Annastacia Palaszczuk was a very good Premier of Queensland. She's a friend of mine. She won three elections in a row. She's a Labor hero. This bloke here is going to be a Labor hero when he wins the next election held later this year. The truth is that governments transition and the transition in Queensland, I'm pleased to say, from as the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party Leader, has been smooth, has been clear. And I think that Steven Miles has shown in the short time that he has had the privilege of occupying the position of Premier, why he was chosen unanimously by the Queensland Labor Party caucus, and why he will be an outstanding Premier for this great state of Queensland. And I look forward to working with him for many years ahead. Thanks very much. Thank you.