ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: Good morning. Can I start with reminding people that from today, people will be able to get their fourth booster shot. And those who are eligible, those above 50, are certainly very much encouraged to do so. Those above 30 should consider doing so as well. And this will be important in terms of providing a protection for people. We know that people who are immunised have less of age pact on their health if they do contract COVID.
Can I say that Australia, during COVID, of course, faced a once in a generation challenge. But it opens up as well a once in a generation opportunity for how we grow back stronger from the COVID pandemic. During the election campaign, I put forward two principles consistently - that we wanted no-one left behind, and no-one held back. Part of what we announced as well in terms of specific policies was aimed at that. We argued successfully that the Fair Work Commission shouldn't have a cut in the real wages of those people who are on the minimum wage. And I note that the Fair Work Commission clearly considered our submission when they made the decision that they did.
But, we also spoke during the campaign about how. Bringing Australians together in order to secure that better future. And I foreshadowed at the National Press Club some time ago that we would hold a jobs and skills summit. And today, I announced that that jobs and skills summit will be held here at Parliament House in Canberra on September 1 and 2.
We intend to bring together business, unions, civil society groups, other levels of government, to discuss how, as we move forward, we can maximise, not just the benefit for the economy that comes with new industries, that comes with good jobs, how we make sure that Australians can fulfil those jobs of the future. We, of course, will be creating Jobs and Skills Australia to drive those changes in the labour market and make sure that there's better coordination and planning of development of skills so that Australians can fill those jobs. But we also need to have some real discussions about productivity and how we move it forward, whether that be large businesses or small. We know that the way that you boost growth without putting pressure on inflation is to ensure that productivity is the real focus. That's a way to boost profits and boost wages whilst boosting the economy. And that productivity has been a forgotten element over recent years. We intend to work with business, unions and others, of good will. And part of that process will be the summit to be held here in September. Arising out of that as well, there will be a White Paper developed by Treasury. But I think that it will be a very successful meeting. And I say in advance, there's a lot of good will and a real enthusiasm from business groups such as the BCA, ACCI and the Australian Industry Group as well as from the ACTU, to ensure that we do have successful discussion and dialogue going forward. I've said before that people have conflict fatigue. People want less argument and they want more solutions. My Government is determined to deliver that.
JIM CHALMERS, TREASURER: Thank you very much, PM. The challenges in the economy right now are pretty thick on the ground, but so are the opportunities and so are the possibilities. This job summit is all about bringing people together around our big economic challenges and opportunities into the future. If there's one thing that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Government will be known for, it will be about trying to find that common ground so that we can all succeed together. And that's what this jobs and skills summit is all about. It's about picking the brains of people around Australia including at the summit to make sure that we all have ideas together. The Government changed hands at a time of high and rising inflation, falling real wage, labour shortage and all of the challenges that come with that. And so, we owe it to the Australian people to try and find that common ground so that we can reach the common objectives together. That's what the summit will be about. Our goal is to build a better, better trained workforce, boost incomes and living standards, and try to create more opportunities for more people in more parts of Australia. And that's what the summit will be about as well.
As Anthony said, it will be at the beginning of September here in Canberra. We hope to release an agenda towards the end of this month. We will issue invites, most likely at the start of August, as well as discussion papers to help guide the discussion that will be had at the forum itself, at the summit itself. Now, this work will involve the whole Government, the whole Caucus. But individual Ministers will be asked to lead particular work streams. So, of course, it will be led by the Prime Minister and myself. Minister Gallagher will coordinate work on the women's labour market experiences. Tony Burke will coordinate job security and wages. Clare O'Neil on migration. Amanda Rishworth will coordinate work on workforce participation and barriers to employment. Brendan O'Connor will coordinate work on skills and training. And Ed Husic will focus on renewables, digital and manufacturing as well as the other industries where we have big opportunities before us.
Look, we believe by bringing people together to solve our big economic challenges in the near-term, that's the best way to grab the opportunities in our economy in the medium term as well. This will be a terrific opportunity to show that the Australian community is as practical and pragmatic and inclusive and collaborative that the Government that they've just elected to serve them is as well.
PRIME MINISTER: Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: With Paul Keating in the early '80s, and tax reform out of that. I noticed in the Treasurer's list, that there wasn’t a mention of tax. Is tax going to be a part of that discussion?
PRIME MINISTER: It's not a tax summit. I was here during that period in the Old Parliament House. And that was a tax summit. This is a jobs and skills summit which is very much focused on the need to have secure employment that's focused on skills, that's focused on future economic growth.
JOURNALIST: The changes to the migration act that the Government is considering, is it just long-term migration that you think is going to be the best, as in lifting the cap for the permanent migration? Or do we need to consider in the skills shortages, look at increasing temporary migration? And is that just done through fixing the backlogs of visas? Or is it actually doing more to entice people here for shorter periods?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Government has inherited, along its list of problems we've inherited, a massive backlog in visas. It is absurd at a time of skills shortages, there are people who have been waiting for such a long period of time. So, that's one issue that the Government is just dealing with. We don't need a summit to tell us that that is the case. But we'll also look at areas like the mix. We do have some short-term skills shortages that will always need to be filled by temporary migration. That will continue to play a role. But one of the things that we can consider, that I've spoken about, is how is that for some particular professions, that have been short of supply for such a long period of time, we continue to rely on temporary migration rather than more permanent forms? And allowing that would make a significant difference. I was speaking to one of the Premiers over the weekend who has recently gone overseas, in part looking for workers to come to Australia. And one of the people that they we were going to meet with was in Australia trying to get Australian to go to their country. We have a global labour market. We need to acknowledge that. And we need to make sure that we have better pathways as well to a permanent presence in Australia for people to give us the skills that they need.
JOURNALIST: Just on China, they've come out on the weekend and given a list of demands to improve Beijing-Canberra relations. What is your response to the demands?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, Australia doesn't respond to demands. We respond to our own national interest. I'll say this. We will cooperate with China where we can. I want to build good relations with all countries. But we will stand up for Australia's interests when we must.
JOURNALIST: Chinese media are saying that Penny Wong and her Chinese counterpart agreed to remove obstacles to get the China-Australia relationship back on track. What obstacles has the Foreign Minister agreed to move?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m not in a position to respond to what the Chinese media says. I'll listen to what Penny Wong says about the meeting. It was a constructive meeting. It was just a step forward. Australia has not changed our position on any issues. We'll continue to be constructive.
JOURNALIST: On that, are you concerned that China is hijacking the Pacific Islands Forum that you'll be heading to this week with the departure of one nation already and suggestions that another is making things difficult?
PRIME MINISTER: We are engaging in the lead-up to the Pacific island forum, and indeed, Ministers Wong and Conroy are leaving for the Pacific Islands Forum today. This is an important meeting. We know that Australia hadn't, in my view, we said it very publicly, it’s obvious that we had dropped the ball. The deal that occurred with Solomon Islands represents Australia not so much as having a step up in the Pacific, as a stuff-up in the Pacific. We're determined to put the relationship back on track. We will be participating at ministerial level, and myself as Prime Minister, having bilaterals with a range of countries there on Wednesday and Thursday. Can I say this? The Fijian Prime Minister has done a wonderful job in trying to bring the Pacific Islands Forum together. There had been some division in the past from time to time. That will occur. It's unfortunate, the decision that Kiribati has made. But we'll continue to work constructively and we'll have a concentration on both national security issue, but also our renewed commitment on climate change has meant that we'll be received far better than if that had not occurred.
JOURNALIST: On the skills summit, how long do you foresee the implementation of the outcomes of that summit? Would you like to see it in your Budget next year? Is it more long-term than that? Or do you expect a mix? And just on the question of skills, looking at the programs that were put in place during the pandemic, we saw examples of say $16 million going to companies that effectively just trained or forced staff into certificates despite studying other things. Do you think that is an appropriate use of money and should these programs be reviewed to make sure that we were used properly?
TREASURER: Every program in every part of the Budget needs to get maximum bang for buck. You know, we inherited a Budget that is heaving with $1 trillion in Liberal debt and we need to be conscious of that. So, every dollar that is spent on taxpayers’ behalf invested on their behalf needs to get maximum bang for buck. So, part of the effort that Katy and I are putting in is to make sure that that is the case. On the timing and the outcomes of the summit, we've deliberately chosen to put this jobs and skills summit on before the October Budget that we'll be handing down, because there may be steps proposed and agreed at the summit which could be implemented quickly. When don't want to pre-empt that. But equally, the whole reason that we've got a summit in September, a Budget in October, another one in May, the White Paper we'll report most probably in about 12 months, is because we see the task of boosting incomes and solving labour shortages and making the economy more productive and making everybody better off, this is not just the task of one or two days in September, this is the task of every single day that we are in office. And so, we've chosen the timing deliberately. We don't want to pre-empt what may come out of it. But it is possible that if there is common ground found and agreement found at the summit, if we can move quickly, we will. I also say one final point. We have a comprehensive economic plan already which is about training more people for these skills shortages. It's about making it easier for newer parents to go back to work and to work more hours if they want to. It's about cleaner and cheaper energy. A future made in Australia. Boosting our infrastructure, including our digital infrastructure. So, the foundations are there. If there are other suggestions that people want to put forward and seek agreement across The Australian community, then clearly, we will listen to those too.
JOURNALIST: Will you try to work a deal at the summit between unions and businesses that will be there regarding improving enterprise bargaining. Are you concerned about how the system is currently working?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, in a word. Quite clearly, it's not working as effective as it could, and both employers and unions are saying that. So, where we can get cooperation, that's a good thing. There was some progress made by the process that was set up by the former Government, and then legislation appeared that didn't reflect the discussions that had taken place. So, we want, wherever possible, employers and unions to work together. They have a common interest and it's called the national interest.
JOURNALIST: Both you and the Treasurer mentioned the importance of productivity and renewed focus on that. To what extent does manufacturing make up that issue? How much of a challenge is it, given the relative inexpense of much cheaper labour markets in developing countries within the region?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, manufacturing is very much a part of where we want Australia to go. We want a future made in Australia, more things to be made right here. That's one of the lessons of the pandemic is that we will remain vulnerable as long as we are at the end of the supply chains. Because we've seen across so many areas, even the war between Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it's having an impact on supply chains. We're vulnerable.
Now, one of the things about new technology and its ubiquitous nature, is that the proportion of the costs of production that comes from labour is less now than it used to be. So, whilst a production process might result in less employment per unit, that's because of productivity benefits that are available. So, one of the things that is happening, and what makes our future, I believe, very bright, if we just seize the opportunity, is that clean energy is cheap energy. We have access, better than anywhere in the world. We are the best country in the world for solar. We're one of the best for wind. We are developing areas like green hydrogen. We can make more things here, driven by that, with high value, high-skilled jobs being created. That's part of the objective here. It's one of the themes that we had in the election campaign and one we'll continue with.
JOURNALIST: Do you envisage, hundreds, thousands of people coming to the summit? Will the heads of big companies be invited, the banks? Can you give us an idea of who?
TREASURER: We'll finalise the invitation list over the next few weeks. We anticipate approximately 100 attendees at the jobs and skills summit. That will be difficult because there is an appetite right across the Australian community to come together around our big economic challenges so we will try and get that list to around 100, give or take. But regardless of whether people are invited to the jobs and skills summit or not, we want to tap this appetite that exists right around Australia to come together after a wasted decade of missed opportunities to solve these big economic challenges and to deliver the better future that everyone in Australia wants to see. We want to tap that appetite. The 100 people or so in the room will obviously be central to that. But right around Australia, this is the opportunity for Australians to come together in a difficult period to grasp the opportunities that the Prime Minister is talking about. And if we want to seize this opportunity, if we want to seize this moment for our country and our economy, the only way to do it is to come together to find common ground and common purpose. That's what the summit will be all about.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much. Thank you.