It is my pleasure to welcome you all today and to stand up here alongside some very special guests. Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, Minister Catherine King, the Member for Solomon, Luke Gosling. Welcome. And also here with my esteemed friend and State Member for the Kimberley, Divina D'Anna. And Tony Chafer, Deputy Shire President.
My name's Karen Wheatland. And I'm proud to stand here as the Labor candidate for Durack. I'm running as a candidate for Durack because Durack is a part of who I am. Born and bred in Geraldton, I've fished the entire coastline of Durack, and including a stint in the Kimberley in Broome as a pearl diver in the 90s, I spent a lot of time here. You know, I'm proud to be a part of a team that cares about regional Australia. Labor governments care about people and that's another reason why I decided to run.
So, without further ado, these announcements today will go a long way to support regional communities. And I'm really proud to be here as a part of this announcement. So, thank you. Now, I'll introduce Divina.
DIVINA D'ANNA, STATE MEMBER FOR KIMBERLEY: Good morning. It's wonderful to be here on Miriwoong Country. I welcome my colleagues, obviously, the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, Minister King. Old mate Luke Gosling here, looks good. And my friend and candidate for Durack, Karen Wheatland. And of course, old mate here, Deputy Shire President of Wyndham-East Kimberley, Tony Chafer.
It's exciting to be here, to have such a big presence and to bring welcoming news. We're all hoping that we're going to have some awesome news for this region in particular. I do know that the Albanese Government does care a lot about the regions. And to come all this way to share this good news is such a huge effort. So, I thank you before we even hear what's coming. Putting a lot of pressure to make sure it's really, really good news. So, thank you all for coming out and making him feel welcome.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks very much, Divina, and to Karen. Can I say that I want to thank everyone who's come out here this morning and who came and said g'day last night as well in the pub, everyone from the Port, from the Chamber of Commerce, from local businesses, local educators, local community organisation representatives, everyone was there last night, so I got to meet, I feel as though I've got to meet the whole of Kununurra last night and that was a great event. And this is a welcoming town. This is my fourth visit to Kununurra, but my first as Prime Minister.
I'm very proud to be here in this beautiful part of Western Australia to make what is a very significant announcement indeed. I welcome the other old mates who are here as well, which is what we'll call them forever. And Catherine King will go through some of the detail of this announcement.
But this week we've been travelling across Australia talking about building Australia's future. Now, when we talk about building Australia's future, it's not just bricks and mortar. It's Medicare, it's aged care, it's child care, it's education, it's looking after people as well is part of what will build Australia's future. Because as beautiful as this landscape is, our greatest asset is our people. Which is why we need to invest in it.
And today's announcement of $200 million for housing and community infrastructure in regional Western Australia and entry changes to three critical ports here in the West is about doing just that. It is about building Australia's future. And at the next election this year, Australians will have a choice between a Government that's committed to providing support for people during tough times - cost of living relief whilst building Australia's future, and an Opposition just committed to negativity, going backwards. Even in their slogan refers to 'back', says it all. And simply not delivering, not delivering, and costing Australians more through their nuclear fantasy that they've put forward.
These announcements today will help right throughout Western Australia to provide for important community infrastructure projects, but also to provide for the infrastructure to build additional housing to meet our Homes for Australia plan. That's a plan which envisages and supports investment in more social housing, in more private rentals, as well as supporting home ownership through our Help to Buy scheme. A scheme that is unashamedly modelled on the successful scheme that has operated here in Western Australia for many decades.
All of these measures, like all of our cost of living measures, were opposed by Peter Dutton and the Coalition. And indeed, when Peter Dutton made a so-called housing announcement, all he did was make an announcement about infrastructure to help housing being built. There's a program already in place. And today we're announcing the second round of our program. Not done with a political map, done with a map of helping Australians.
Can I say, as a former Infrastructure Minister who visited Wyndham, who put in place as Regional Development Minister, the East Kimberley Economic Development Plan that led to so much growth over the last 15 years since it was adopted first in 2009 and then the next step came up in 2012, that the decision which we have made to green-light the Port of Wyndham is the biggest change that will occur in this region. It will allow for direct entry of imports, but importantly, as well, a massive expansion of exports. And it's an example of how we can have that economic development in what is Australia's, by far, Australia's largest state. And make sure that we understand that it's not just about Perth, it's about the regions and the capacity that they have to deliver economic development, to deliver jobs, to develop growth not just for Western Australia, but to help drive the entire nation. And this decision to have first port of entry not just to Wyndham, but also to Ashburton and Dampier ports will make an enormous difference.
We know that with these changes, we expect the Port of Ashburton to export more than 13 million tonnes of iron ore and rare earth concentrates per year by the year 2030. And in this region here with the Ord Scheme and everything that is happening here with economic development, the changing of the Port of Wyndham to be truly an international port will make such an enormous difference.
So, I'm really proud about what we are doing here. This is about boosting business, it's about boosting productivity as well, making sure that goods don't have to go to Hedland or to one of the southern ports in order to be able to be exported for the country. We know that Western Australia is an engine room of the Australian economy. We respect that and we support that. And we're working very closely with the Cook Labor Government here in Western Australia. I spoke with the Premier yesterday about this announcement and he certainly welcomed it. And I'll be with him this afternoon to have a chat about more of the measures that we're putting in place, hand in hand, to make sure that we continue to have that jobs and economic growth powered here in Western Australia. I'll ask Minister King to make some comments and then we'll hear from the Shire Deputy President.
CATHERINE KING, MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT: Thanks so much, Prime Minister. And I'll go through some of the detail of the announcement today as well. But first, can I start with the first port of entry to the three ports we're announcing today. This, of course, comes on the back of the first port of entry designation for Broome. Again, a game changer for Broome. And this will be the same for Wyndham. This first port of entry, allowing the possibility of having the border controls there to allow for import and export, particularly for export of your fantastic cotton that is grown and being grown out of this district, but also for Ashburton and Dampier as well. Can I particularly acknowledge Karen's representations on this as the Labor candidate for Durack, she wants to see this region thrive. She wants to see the investments here. And this really is the story of the Albanese Labor Government. We are governing for all Australians. And these announcements that we are making today really are focused on making sure that our regions, people who live in our regions, have every opportunity to have great jobs, have great careers, great education, great child care, but also great facilities.
The announcements we are making today in terms of housing and in community infrastructure, they are part of Housing Support Program, the Growing Regions Program and the Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program. I'm proud that here in Kununurra, $1.9 million for the riverbank development, being able to provide more opportunities for recreation. There's a cheer there. For recreation, but again, you know, for people to be able to come together and really celebrate what is great about this community. We're also providing $19.6 million to the Wyndham Multi-purpose Community Hub, a possibility for everybody again to come together. Sport, recreation, but also to operate as an evacuation hub for the community. We're also announcing $13.2 million for the Wyndham Community Boat Launching Facility. Now, this is a project a long time ago, back, I think, in 2009, the Prime Minister started this project in Wyndham as part of the Kimberley package, and we are continuing with that significant investment.
There is more projects across the whole of the West. We thought we'd just concentrate on the ones that are here, but there's also a significant package of funding for Carnarvon as well, which will come out as part of the list today. The housing package in particular across the West is going to be supporting some 1,400 new homes across the region. Whether it's in the Wheatbelt region, whether it's in Karratha or Lockyer, these investments are unlocking, building that infrastructure, which will really unlock the capacity to build more houses in our regions. I am very proud to be part of a Government that wants to invest here in Durack but particularly wants to invest in our regions and the whole of Western Australia, backing in what the Cook Labor Government has been saying - we want more people to get to the regions in the West. Thanks.
TONY CHAFER, DEPUTY SHIRE PRESIDENT OF WYNDHAM-EAST KIMBERLEY: Thank you, Prime Minister and Minister. And look, on behalf of our community, I'd really like to give you our sincere appreciation for the significant investment you're making with all of those announcements, particularly in Wyndham. Wyndham is often referred to as struggle town in our community. You know, it's got a long and proud history, but there's not much economy over there at the moment. But it's the town that keeps on keeping on. And look, on particular, I'd like to express our appreciation for the FPOE status for the Wyndham Port. It is a real game changer, as you both said. It's the gateway for the Ord irrigation area and a lot of our mining projects to Southeast Asia. And it really does underpin the significant investment already made by a number of governments in the Ord irrigation area. Something over $600 million in the cotton industry. So, this will allow our cotton to get to market. To export cotton, you actually need to import empty containers. Without FPOE status, we can't do that. So, this is a real game changer. Thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Wyndham certainly had been lobbying for this for some time. The State Government had been lobbying for point of entry status for a couple of years. What got it across the line now?
PRIME MINISTER: A Labor Government. A Labor Government that gets things done. That doesn't just issue press releases, that actually builds infrastructure, that makes decisions in the national interest. This has been through an assessment process. It was recommended by the Department. I'm very familiar with, I've been to Wyndham, I'm familiar with the issue there. As the Minister said, back in 2009 we funded a boat ramp that has made a difference there in that community. This is a logical next step. My Government's determined to make sure that we deal with an increase of exports, that we seize the opportunities which are there. Cotton's an industry that can grow here, but it can only grow if it has the capacity for export. And in order to do that, you need to have the customs facilities so that you can have a seamless export process which boosts productivity. What infrastructure is about is that, boosting productivity. And the difference that we've made in regional Western Australia is substantial. My last visit to regional WA was with Karen Wheatland there in her hometown of Geraldton. Now, on Christmas Day, the first export of lobsters left Australia on its way to China. As of a couple of days ago, there had been 565,000 kilograms of live lobster exported into China, representing more than 760 separate consignments. That's about jobs. I met with the workers there at the co-op at Geraldton and they were very excited, to say the least. Because what that does is bring security. And I know that Premier Cook has spoken about more people moving to the regions in WA, and I certainly back that. We need to take pressure off our capital cities. But in order to achieve that, you need to do a few things. You need to make sure that there's jobs and economic activity there. You need to make sure that there's housing there. And that's what this housing infrastructure support is about. And you need community infrastructure, you need a quality of life as well. We're delivering on all of it.
JOURNALIST: Given all of that and the huge projected increases in export volumes, how will local economies cope when the median rent in Kununurra right now is double median rents in Perth with the 500 houses as part of this announcement won't fix that quickly enough?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's why you need to increase supply. You know, you can't solve a decade of neglect from the Commonwealth in a week or a month. The Coalition held up every piece of our legislation. They held up the Housing Australia Future Fund along with the Greens. They held up Help to Buy scheme for home ownership. And they held up the Build to Rent scheme for increased private rentals. We have 25 votes out of 76 in the Senate. So, we need to rely upon the Senate, occasionally, to see good sense. And fortunately, enough of the crossbenchers saw good sense in the last week of December. But that's why we're being committed and that's why we say that the key is housing supply. That's why we have in place this housing infrastructure fund. And the second round of announcements today will make a difference as well.
JOURNALIST: And can you please clarify the number of houses being built in Karratha. So, 591 houses in Karratha and $22.1 million, which equates to $37,000 per house, which is less than four per cent of the cost of building in Karratha. So, how many houses will this actually unlock?
PRIME MINISTER: No, to be clear this isn't building the houses. This is unlocking, whether it be social housing or private capital, to build houses. This is for the infrastructure. So, it's for things like connecting electricity, connecting water supply. So, in a range of areas, what we had was feedback, including, to give credit where credit's due, Helen Haines came to see myself and Catherine King. Lobbied really strongly, the independent Member who represents Wodonga, a regional community in Victoria. She had an example of a site that just needed cleaning up in order to be converted into housing, but there wasn't the money to do it. So, in so many ways, that's why this is a smart investment. For a relatively small amount of money, what you can do is change the picture and make it so that the investment, and we want to see more private investment. Government can't. There's a debate about government expenditure. We agree that you need to mobilise private capital wherever possible. That is what this is about. As well as facilitating increased social housing. It's very much about what are the impediments to more homes being built. How do you unlock that?
JOURNALIST: Just on the pictures coming out of Los Angeles with those fires, keen for a reaction. Are you considering support, financial, physical support from Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, these are devastating photos. And I say to people as well that they'll be triggering for many Australians who've been through the 2019 fires in southeast Australia and indeed in WA. They'll be triggering for people who've been through bushfires, including still continuing around the Grampians in Victoria. And so I say to people, if you need assistance, reach out. It's strong to put your hand up and say, I need help. And our American friends, we are always available to help our American friends. This is, of course, our peak season and it says something that this is coming into their winter. So, this is not a normal event. But more and more we are seeing a pattern where there is a new normal of more extreme weather events and more intensity to them. It is tragic that there has already been a significant loss of life in the United States on the west coast. And all Australians express our support. And myself, as Prime Minister, have sent a message to the President of the United States expressing our support at what is a difficult time.
JOURNALIST: You've spoken to him?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I've sent a message.
JOURNALIST: Via DFAT?
PRIME MINISTER: Directly. I have a direct line.
JOURNALIST: Can I also just ask you about the bushwalker in Kosciuszko National Park, your reaction to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, just fantastic news. Hadi Nazari, how he was found after such a long period of time with just a couple of muesli bars. Relying upon his knowledge as a medical student, I suspect helped, eating berries and eating the right ones. It is remarkable. And I just think that everyone will have jumped for joy, the whole nation, at this news. And I look forward to reading more about the story, perhaps seeing the movie, the documentary, the other info that will come out of this. It is quite remarkable. I've walked - as possibly you have as a Canberran - I've walked the Snowy around there during summer months where it's not quite as warm as it is here, I might add. It's a lovely thing to do during the summer and it's difficult terrain. And a big shout out as well to all those volunteers and emergency service workers who've helped to find this young man, Hadi. At the worst of times, we always see the best of the Australian character and that's been on full display here, whether it be the emergency service workers, the volunteers, the police who helped find Hadi or Hadi himself, showing the resilience that is part of the Australian spirit.
JOURNALIST: On the contrary, Prime Minister, can I get your reaction now that we know more about the Rottnest plane crash? Three confirmed to have died, four injured. And does it put a question mark over seaplane tourism that's used across Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it is a tragedy and firstly, my heart goes out to the family and friends of those who've lost their lives. I'll ask Minister King, who has responsibility for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. There will be, when an incident like this occurs, an inquiry is automatically triggered and there will be here, if any lessons can be learnt from it, then they certainly will be and will be put in place by the Government in the form of any new regulations that are required. But seaplanes can be an important part of our tourism industry, whether it's in Western Australia or in my old home state of Sydney. The seaplane that goes from Rose Bay to Newcastle is a very effective way of business people and tourists alike travelling through destinations. Seaplanes can be a really important part of the destination here up in the Kimberley as well, it's a way of getting around what is a vast, rugged country where it is difficult to get around by road. So, we need to make sure, though, that it's kept as safe as possible. I'll just ask Minister King to respond as well.
MINISTER KING: Thanks. Well, it's great, Angus Mitchell, the head of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, is on the ground yesterday with his investigators. He'll be working through that investigation. They do take some time because there's a lot of information and a lot of variables that happen when we've had such a tragic incident as this. My heart goes out. You know, obviously we've lost a local in the pilot and obviously we've lost some people who were here on a holiday, seeing this amazing part of the world. And we really do say to them and to their families, we're so sorry that this has happened. The ATSB do an amazing job and they will really go thoroughly through all of this. What their job will be to do is to find out what happened in this instance, but also to find out if there is any systemic issues that need to be put in place for regulations at CASA, our Civil Aviation Safety Agency, to then see whether there is anything further to do. But we need to let that investigation take its time. There's obviously been a lot of footage taken from the public, and what I would really put the shout out for is, if people do have any footage from the incident at all, please provide that to the ATSB or the local police at the earliest opportunity, because that will be really important as part of the investigation.
JOURNALIST: Minister, is there any cause to ground seaplanes while the investigation is carried out?
MINISTER KING: There's no indication of that at this stage, but we'll take the advice of the experts and the authority in terms of that. But there's no advice about that at this stage.
JOURNALIST: And because there was footage of that very plane taken four days ago showing difficulty on takeoff, does that raise a big concern?
MINISTER KING: Well, again, we'll let the experts and the investigators do their job. In general aviation, people are flying all over the country in aircraft like this all the time. We have very few safety incidents in this country because we do have such a strong Civil Aviation Safety Agency and some of the best regulations in the world. But really, let's let the investigators do their job. If there is anything to be learnt by this or any advice they give us, then we will act on that immediately.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he'll match the $9.2 billion -sorry, $7.2 billion - in Bruce Highway funding, but has a condition that the CFMEU not be involved in any of that work. Is that a reasonable condition? Is it something the state Premier, I'm told, is also on board with?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Bruce Highway announcement is about saving lives. It's taken four days for the No-alition to actually come out with a position after Angus Taylor initially refused to support this announcement. And again, they've made it all about themselves. This isn't about unions, this is about saving lives and infrastructure on the Bruce Highway. And Peter Dutton would know that it's the Queensland Government that are actually responsible for projects, not the Commonwealth. So, this, again is an example where Peter Dutton had an opportunity to put his hand up to not play politics. In his home state of Queensland, he was a senior Minister in a Government that never did this, didn't do it for almost a decade, failed to invest in the Bruce. He could have just once refused to play politics and said, "Yes, I agree," without putting caveats on it, which is all about himself and nothing about the substance.
JOURNALIST: Do you think you travelling up here in the North, campaigning in places that are not necessarily politically friendly to you, you don't hold seats in some of these places we've visited. Think you're getting under his skin by doing it in this week? In January, when everyone's on holiday?
PRIME MINISTER: I've campaigned every January and I work hard for the national interest. And I've been - when it comes to the regions of WA - this is my 27th visit to Western Australia as Prime Minister. I've visited here now Port Hedland, Karratha, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Albany, Bunbury. All of these places I have visited because, as Prime Minister, I want to represent the entire country and we want to make sure that every country - every part of our country - is as good as it can be. And that's why we've made, I think, a substantial difference with the announcements that we've made today. We don't make decisions based upon colour coded maps. There's been some question about our Bruce Highway commitments, for example. There were 41 deaths last year. It's Australia's worst road in terms of fatalities. Something needed to be done. We did a lot of work last time we were in government. Like so many issues, we had to clean up what we inherited and the Infrastructure Minister has done that, which is why we've been able to create the space to make this significant investment.
And Peter Dutton, I'll let him continue to be negative, continue to say 'no' to everything, but he's got to be held to account. And I noticed that he is having a rally on the weekend. What he has to do, is explain why it is that his so called energy plan sometime in the 2040s says that there'll be 40 per cent less energy use by 2050 than what the Australian Energy Market Operator, through its Integrated Systems Plan, its ISP, says would be needed. Does that mean - of course it means - less jobs, it means less activity, less manufacturing, less energy use can only be because there's less activity.
Now, my vision is for an Australia that is bigger, an Australia that is optimistic, an Australia that seizes the opportunities in every capital city, in every regional city and in every region and indeed remote community as well. I ran last time on no one being left behind. We ensured that that was the case by investing during the cost of living issues that arose due to global inflation. But no one held back. That's about seizing opportunities. That's about improving child care, that's about strengthening Medicare. That's about making sure that every Australian has the opportunity for a job and a fulfilling life. And that's the commitment that we'll make. That's what we're about - building Australia's future. Peter Dutton on Sunday will continue to talk about his slogan, the first word of which is 'back.' I think that's appropriate given that this bloke wants to take the country backwards and cost it more. Thanks a lot.
