Welcome everyone, and in particular can I just welcome the Prime Minister, the Infrastructure Minister, Catherine King. I'm joined here by colleagues Michelle Rowland and Steve Bali, and as always, terrific to welcome New South Wales Roads Minister, John Graham. You can see in this part of North Western Sydney, both Michelle and I are experiencing phenomenal growth in our communities with new homes being built to help set up new dreams for residents that are coming into our part of the world, but we need to make sure the infrastructure keeps pace with that growth. I have to say, if I can quickly before the Prime Minister announces the details, I just want to give a shout out to our Infrastructure Minister, Catherine King. Catherine has spent time in Opposition, visiting our part of the world, understanding the impact of this growth and the need for it to keep pace. Both she and John have done more in investment in infrastructure in our part of the world than conservative governments, Federal and State, have done in our memory. And I just want to say thank you for listening to our communities, for the infrastructure investments that are needed to meet that growth and also deal with the need for resilient infrastructure that can deal with the flooding that occurs in our area, cuts off roads, and has a big impact on our people. So, it's terrific to be here for an important investment in this area. And with that, I'd like to welcome the Prime Minister to give us details on this investment.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well thanks very much, Ed. And it's great to be with so many of my Federal colleagues, standing literally somewhere where there will be a road, where there will be infrastructure here. So, to Minister Catherine King, to Ed Husic and Michelle Rowland and Susan Templeman, who, of course, her electorate of Macquarie is so often affected by flooding, and this is about making sure that people aren't cut off as well. In addition to that, the local State Member, Stephen Bali, but also importantly, John Graham, the New South Wales Roads Minister. And I talked with the Premier, Chris Minns earlier today about how important this project was, and we look forward to New South Wales partnering with us on this project.
This is absolutely critical. This is an announcement of over half a billion dollars for two projects here in Western Sydney. Firstly, $345 million will be contributed by the Federal Government to upgrade stage one of Townson Road and Burdekin Road, upgrading 1.6km of Townson Road between Richmond Road and Jersey Road with two lanes in either direction, separated of course, by a raised median. Secondly, $235 million to deliver the early works and property acquisitions to support the upgrade of 3.2 kilometres of Garfield Road West between Richmond Road, Marsden Park and Denmark Road, Riverstone. This will include road widening and realignment, as well as the construction of new twin bridges over both Eastern Creek and Bells Creek.
Can I say what an important infrastructure project this is. This is what our agenda for building Australia's future looks like. Making sure that people have the infrastructure, the roads and other facilities that they need to improve their quality of life. Here, today's announcement is absolutely vital for this growing region. We are seeing more homes built in this region - the infrastructure needs to keep up. And after a decade of neglect, I'm proud that the Government that I lead is working with local Members of Parliament to deliver on projects that they have campaigned for, that they have been relentless in advocating for, with Ed, Michelle and Susan over a long period of time. And it's fantastic as well that state members, the locals here, have also been such strong advocates.
Today's announcement is $580 million from the Commonwealth in total to safeguard a region that is growing. To make sure that the roads and infrastructure keep up, and that is why it is so important. In addition to that, can I say the funding will be available straight away, and over the life of this project, more than one thousand jobs will be created whilst this upgrade is occurring. So good for jobs, good for the local economy, good for the lifestyles who live here in this wonderful part of Sydney. And on that note I'll turn to Catherine King, before we hear from some of the others, the State Minister firstly, John Graham, and then we'll hear from some of the other local members.
CATHERINE KING, MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. And it's terrific to be here to announce this $580 million investment into really significant projects here in the South West. And I do particularly want to acknowledge Ed, Susan and Michelle's advocacy for these projects. These are part of our Budget. They are part of the Mid-Year Economic Financial Outlook. These are budgeted announcements. The Government getting on with building Australia's future. Making sure that our infrastructure investments are providing the opportunity for where there are suburbs where there is significant growth, that people are able to connect into jobs, being able to connect into communities, but also to make sure that we're building that resilience in. We know that this is a very flood prone area, and that there are periods of time when the roads are cut off. This is really, again, partnering with the State Government to make sure that we're not only just building wider roads that can take more capacity, but that we're also building that resilience in. It builds on, half an hour down the road on Sunday, we were announcing the funding for Fifteenth Avenue. We are very serious about the investments we make as a Government in Sydney's West. We know the economic growth that is happening right the way through this region is phenomenal. What that brings from the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal, Western Sydney International Airport, but we also know that this growth is not just in one part of Western Sydney. It is across all of Western Sydney, and our investments have made sure that we're not just investing in one part of Western Sydney, that we're here investing in the South West as well.
I'll hand over to John Graham, who's been a terrific partner to work with on projects such as this, and we know that we'll only see Western Sydney continue to grow with that partnership. Thanks, John.
JOHN GRAHAM, NEW SOUTH WALES MINISTER FOR ROADS: Thanks, Catherine. On behalf of Steve and I, it's a delight to be able to welcome the PM, the Minister, the Federal team here to Sydney for this significant investment in the State's transport infrastructure. These are parts of Sydney that have had hundreds of millions of dollars of housing development and no transport infrastructure. Today, hundreds of millions of dollars of transport infrastructure flows as a result of these announcements. It's hugely welcome. It comes on top of the announcement the other day at Fifteenth Avenue, so two very big Commonwealth announcements here in New South Wales - really, really welcome. These are crucial projects. They'll make a real difference to the lives of community members around this area, dealing with some of the flooding issues, moving people around more quickly on the roads, but also increasing access to public transport. These are crucial projects that the state's identified as part of its long term infrastructure plans, but today they're made real with these announcements. We've seen $1.1 billion of Commonwealth funding announced in the last 48 hours into transport projects in Sydney. That's hugely welcome. These are in the Budget, these are already part of the Commonwealth commitments, again, that's very welcome from a state point of view. The State plan is clear, we're trying to change where development happens, re-balance that across Sydney, but also invest in infrastructure where developments already happen, and that is a real game changer for these parts of Sydney. So again, hugely welcome announcement. Really glad to be here for these significant projects.
MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: We know that North West Sydney is one of the fastest growing regions in all of New South Wales, and certainly throughout Australia. The most common complaint that we receive as local Members from our residents is that their quality of life is impacted by having to spend too much time on the roads and not enough time with their families. What this integrated package is going to do is alleviate and really set a pathway towards improving Bandon Road, Burdekin Road, Garfield Road and Richmond Road. This is part of a plan to make sure that North West Sydney residents spend less time in their cars, more time with the people that they love. So I want to thank the Prime Minister for making, not only this commitment, but actually delivering on this funding. And the Prime Minister said it all when he said it's about quality of life. This is about local residents who have moved to this area seeking a better quality of life for them and their families, and this investment will certainly help deliver that for them.
SUSAN TEMPLEMAN, MEMBER FOR MACQUARIE: My electorate sits just beyond this region, but everything that happens here affects the people who drive from the Hawkesbury to the rest of Sydney every day. They've seen huge population growth here, and for them that means there's been increased traffic delays. So I'm really supportive of this investment which will alleviate a whole lot of congestion for residents here, but importantly for me, will also make the drive for my commuters much easier. And in a disaster, if there's chaos here, that creates even greater chaos for people in the Hawkesbury. So I really welcome this significant investment, which adds to the $400 million federal investment for our North Richmond Bridge, the work of which is progressing really well. And that means there's going to be a four lane bridge going across the Richmond, from Richmond to North Richmond, across the Hawkesbury. This is something the Prime Minister and I kicked off 15 years ago, and it's wonderful to see our investment making that possible.
STEPHEN BALI, NEW SOUTH WALES MEMBER FOR BLACKTOWN: I'll be brief. I'm Steve Bali, the State Member for Blacktown. How great is it to have the Prime Minister, the Infrastructure Minister, out here with the Roads Minister of New South Wales, working together to deliver fabulous outcomes for our area. Everyone's talked about how fast growing this area is, but just to put a little bit into perspective - 30 people every day. So that's roughly 10 houses, if you look there, are created in this North West, or actually in the Blacktown and Box Hill area, which covers most of Michelle and Ed Husic's area. 30 people a day, 12,000 people a year. And under the previous liberal governments, both State and Federal, for 12 years we had 100,000 people come in here and neglected as far as building a bloody road to go somewhere. The traffic is in absolute chaos. So the beauty of having a Labor Government here working together with State and Federal to actually deliver a road that we can actually drive somewhere and not wait a half an hour to get out of here is great. So thank you very much for this much needed investment, and looking forward to the other investment announcements. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Good on you, Stephen. Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Just to clarify on this project that you've announced, are all phases funded now? And aren't contingent on you winning the next election?
PRIME MINISTER: The Commonwealth money is in the Budget. Now what we've seen in the past though, last time the Coalition came to office was they rip money out of the Budget. They rip money out of health, out of education, out of infrastructure. And so when you look at what Peter Dutton has said himself, he's spoken about waste. What he talks about waste is funding to help people to go to school, to help people to go to child care, energy bill relief, the tax cuts for all Australians - he regards that as waste. So it is certainly in our Budget. It's there, it is funded. The money is there to commence this year.
JOURNALIST: Do you know when it's going to commence?
PRIME MINISTER: This year. 2025, the work can start. Our funding is in the Budget from 2025-2026 financial year.
JOURNALIST: Are you able to confirm reports that you are looking to convene a National Cabinet on antisemitism?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, National Cabinet will convene on that, and there's a couple of other issues today.
JOURNALIST: Do you know what time and what you're expecting to cover in that aside from just antisemitism?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we'll discuss, the agenda, of course, comes through with the Premiers. The National Cabinet will meet at five o'clock this afternoon.
JOURNALIST: Why is it important to hold a National Cabinet meeting about this very topic?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, one of the things that is occurring, what is more important is action. And one of the things that we've seen today, we've outlined the arrests that have been made. The fact that here in New South Wales, I just have attended a press conference which included the New South Wales Premier and the Acting Police Commissioner, who outlined the range of arrests that have occurred. Operation Avalite has signalled its first arrest was made last Thursday. This afternoon, we'll hear from the AFP Commissioner, and it will be an opportunity for us to discuss collectively the responses that are being made by state and territory governments and the coordination with the Commonwealth.
JOURNALIST: Moving on to international matters. Have you received assurances from the new US President that his America First policy won't have an impact on Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I've done is had a constructive dialogue with President Trump. And can I say this, that I congratulate President Trump on his inauguration. It is a significant achievement to be elected President of the United States of America, not once, but twice now. And I look forward to having a constructive engagement with him. We certainly had a very warm conversation. And it's good that Penny Wong, our Foreign Minister, along with the foreign ministers from Quad nations, India and Japan, were invited guests to the inauguration.
JOURNALIST: When you say constructive dialogue, what does that cover?
PRIME MINISTER: It covers constructive dialogue.
JOURNALIST: Malcolm Turnbull worked to carve out Australia from Donald Trump's tariffs growing during his last term in office. Are you working as hard to do the same?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course we want to see the economic relationship between Australia and the United States continue to be strong - that's in the interests of both of our nations. I point out two facts, one is we have a free trade agreement with the United States that has bipartisan support. Secondly, as well, that the United States has a trade surplus with Australia. It's had one since the Truman presidency. So it's in the interests of the United States that this economic relationship and partnership continues. The United States is a major investor here in Australia, and we have significant relationships in economic terms, in defence and national security terms. And I look forward to working with the Trump administration.
JOURNALIST: Just on that trade, what would your message be for farmers, miners and businesses who rely on trade as Trump becomes President again?
PRIME MINISTER: What I just said. So we have an important economic relationship with the US, and I look forward to working constructively with the US Administration.
JOURNALIST: How will you address straddling that relationship between China and the US at this stage?
PRIME MINISTER: We represent Australia's national interests. We have a close alliance with the United States, but the relationship with China is a very important one for Australia. I've said we'll cooperate where we can, we'll disagree where we must, and we will engage in our national interest. And that approach has successfully led to more than $20 billion of annual trade exports being resumed to China. Just in the first fortnight after lobster exports to China were resumed, there was an enormous amount of lobster, more than 70 separate consignments in just that first fortnight. In the lead up to the Lunar New Year, this will be a revenue bonanza for those involved in the lobster industry in Western Australia, in South Australia, in Tasmania, Victoria - all of these regional communities will benefit. I was able to visit Geraldton, a fantastic community there. I visited the Co-Op, and they were very excited about the resumption of trade. Just as I visited Port Lincoln in South Australia, witnessed a ship full of Australian barley going off to China. Just as the wine industry is so pleased with the resumption of trade as well. And indeed just in the last week or so, I was at a cattle station in the Northern Territory where, of course, the meat exports, boxed meat exports to China, have now had all of the impediments removed. Now all of this is about Australian jobs, about the Australian national interest, and the Australian economy - that's a good thing. Thank you very much.
