: This election there will be a very clear choice, between Labor providing assistance on cost of living and building Australia's future and a Coalition Government or Coalition Opposition led by Peter Dutton seeking government, so they can take Australia backwards, so they can have Australians to pay more. Families and businesses deserve high speed internet at an affordable price. Labor created the National Broadband Network and only Labor will finish the NBN and importantly keep the NBN in public hands. Imagine what Covid would have been like if we didn't have a National Broadband Network. Then take yourselves back just a little while, where the last time the Coalition were seeking government they said that they would stop the rollout of fibre, keep a copper based NBN, because it was all about, according to Tony Abbott and Coalition leaders, all about just downloading videos and movies. They didn't understand that the NBN is about productivity, it's about driving the economy, it's about creating jobs, it's about how we live our life, it's about telehealth, it's about education services. It's absolutely critical to the way that a modern economy and a modern society functions. And that's why we want to not only complete the rollout of a fibre based NBN but importantly as well, we want to keep it in public hands. Now last year in the House of Representatives we had a vote in the Parliament to keep the NBN in public hands and Peter Dutton and the Coalition opposed that vote. When the Senate sits again next time they will have a choice of whether they do support the NBN staying in public hands or whether they will again vote to allow for the NBN to be flogged off to private interests. We know that private interests are interested and have obligations to be interested in private profit. And we know that what happened when Telstra was privatised. We know that for those people in regional communities in particular, that they would suffer if the NBN was sold off to the highest bidder. But when you look at our commitment, our commitment isn't just to the NBN existing, it's to it existing at an affordable price. Because we regard the National Broadband Network as essential national infrastructure. It's an important part of building Australia's future as well as the day to day activities that occur. When Australians own their NBN, high speed internet remains affordable for all Australians and only Labor will deliver this. Today we're announcing an equity injection of $3 billion into the NBN. NBN Co will contribute more than $800 million to this project. I'll ask Minister Rowland and Minister Gallagher, the shareholders of the NBN to make some comments and then we'll hear from the NBN CEO Ellie Sweeney.
MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Thanks, Prime Minister. Of course, Labor founded the NBN for the purpose of providing fast, reliable and affordable broadband to all Australians. It is essential economic infrastructure and we are delivering on that Labor vision of having a world class fibre network with this announcement today. We want to make Australia the most connected continent and to make the most of the economic gains that come from high speed broadband. We know that reliable high speed broadband is essential economic infrastructure and it provides productivity benefits to both businesses and to consumers. Completing the NBN fibre upgrades will provide more businesses and more consumers with equitable access to world class connectivity, to take advantage of cloud computing, of artificial intelligence and making sure that that data driven decision making is supported by the highest quality infrastructure. It supports Labor's vision of a Future Made in Australia. We know that individual households can save more than 100 hours and some $2,500 every year simply by having access to high quality broadband. We're providing - as a government - families with better connection to education, to telehealth, to government services online regardless of where you live. And communities across Australia are going to see this economic uplift and they expect world class connectivity right across the country to unlock the full potential of this investment. Now, history shows that only Labor Governments can be relied on to make these kinds of decisions in the national interest and to see them through. And that's why today we are announcing that the Albanese Government is committed to finishing what we started when it comes to the National Broadband Network. We're upgrading the NBN fibre to the node network and providing an additional 622,000 fibre access connections right across Australia, with more than half of those being in rural and regional Australia. It's going to provide access to more reliable broadband speeds and faster speeds. Now we've worked very closely with NBN management and its board over a long period of time to develop this proposal and to hit the ground running. Modelling has shown that the Government's expanded upgrade will deliver over $10 billion in cumulative uplift in GDP over the next decade. This long term investment is part of Labor's economic plan for building a better future for our suburbs, our peri-urban areas and our regions. These investments would not be made by a privatised NBN. And that's why Peter Dutton is such a risk to Australia's future. In 2020, the Coalition Government at that time declared that the NBN was fully built and operational. Meanwhile, some two million homes remained stranded on outdated copper connections. Let's be clear, the copper network is degrading. The performance is getting worse by an estimated four per cent each year and it needs to be dealt with. Copper's not even standing still, it's going backwards, which is precisely what Peter Dutton would do if he ever got the opportunity. The Coalition has never been committed to the NBN. And while we know that some 95 per cent of these 622,000 premises can be updated through full fibre, it will commence detailed design work and fully complete these updates by 2030. As the Prime Minister said, only a Labor Government, with a publicly owned NBN will finish the job of establishing a full fibre network for Australians to ensure that we maximise those economic benefits of the digital economy and have a Future Made in Australia. I'll hand over to the Finance Minister.
KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: Thanks very much, PM. And it's great to be here with the PM, with Minister Rowland and with the head of NBN Co as part of this really big announcement today, as outlined by the PM and Minister Rowland, to finish the job of a fibre National Broadband Network with high speed broadband, with making sure all of those that have been enduring, I think the copper network that was the former Liberal Government put in place can have improved access to high speed, reliable and affordable broadband in this country. As Michelle said, it's an important part of our economic infrastructure. It's an important productivity piece to drive access for households. We know they rely on it. We know it's not just about movies. It's much more than that now. And finishing this job is so important, as is keeping it in public ownership. And we'll have obviously a test for those in the Senate when that bill comes for voting about whether or not they do support NBN as an important piece of public infrastructure. Can I just briefly touch on the fact that Canberra, being a local Senator here, gets an incredibly great outcome with this, this announcement today of up to $3 billion, 622,000 homes or premises. Almost 100,000 of those will be here in the ACT, where we've been enduring the copper network for too long. That will get 94 per cent of households or premises connected to high speed fibre broadband. And it's a great outcome. I know a lot of people have raised it with me, probably all of you who live here, sick of the dropout, sick of the low speeds. This will actually address that for the people of the ACT. I acknowledge NBN and Minister Rowland for working with us to get this excellent outcome for people in the ACT.
ELLIE SWEENEY, NCN CO CEO: I think it's still good morning, so, good morning everyone. I'd like to start by thanking the Prime Minister, Minister Rowland and Minister Gallagher for the announcement today and also the Government's investment in NBN's network. I want to let you know that we sincerely welcome that investment. I'm Ellie Sweeney, I'm the new CEO of NBN and I am delighted to be talking with you today about this critical infrastructure, critical investment in Australia's digital infrastructure and in NBN. So, what does this announcement mean? I'm conscious that often when we talk about NBN, there are a lot of acronyms that we are using. So, so let me maybe just give some context here. In October of 2022, the Government and NBN announced an upgrade for close to 1.5 million homes and businesses on the fibre to the node technology. Now that is the copper network and that was an upgrade to provide those 1.5 homes and businesses to a full fibre network. I'm delighted to let you know that today NBN is on track to deliver that upgraded roadmap by the end of December 2025. And that's going to be on time and on budget and it meets our commitment of being able to deliver 90 per cent of homes and businesses with access to one gigabit services. The announcement today is about providing an upgrade path for those remaining 622,000 homes and businesses across Australia that are still served by the fibre to the node technology. And we aim to complete that by the end of 2030. This is the final piece in the puzzle if you will around the fibre to the node network upgrade and we're going to be upgrading across 2,400 suburbs and towns in Australia. So, what does this deliver for Australians? These collective upgrades, including today's announcement, investment announcement, will mean access to faster and more reliable internet for millions of Australians. We're delivering a pathway to next generation high speed, high capacity, low latency, resilient and secure broadband services. So, whether Australians are working from home, whether Australians are running businesses, whether they're learning online, whether they're accessing telehealth, whether they're gaming, or whether they are simply streaming or downloading their favourite shows, faster speeds will mean an improvement to the internet service you enjoy today. So, why does it matter? Look, pretty obviously Australians are consuming more data than ever before. This investment is not just in faster and more reliable investment, or more reliable internet, it's about making our NBN network future ready to meet the growing demands in the digital age. And the Minister's already referenced some of them. What we're seeing in terms of the rise of Gen AI, the explosion in data, virtual reality, augmented reality, streaming in 4K and 8K, more connected devices and data hungry apps. A decade ago the average Australian home had something like seven connected devices and we consumed about 40 gigabytes of data on average every month as the average Australian home. Today the average household consumes more than 10 times that amount and we have something like 22 connected devices on average. Within the next decade we expect that number will go to 40 internet connected devices and over 1,100 gigabytes of data being consumed in the average home per month. So, with something like 20 million Australians using NBN's network every day, having a robust and reliable future ready internet connection is more important than ever. The nation relies on NBN and we carry more than 80 per cent of internet traffic today. So, let me close out by this. We are absolutely committed to delivering the best possible internet experience for all Australians. We are absolutely committed to lifting the digital capability of Australia. We are committed to elevating digital and social inclusion and the productivity benefits this investment will bring. And I really only look forward to seeing the positive impact this investment will have on Australian communities, I think on Australian businesses and Australian lives now and in the years to come. Thank you, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Terrific. Thank you very much. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: You use the key phrase, at an affordable price. A lot of households in Australia at the moment looking at their broadband services, they'd have the NBN, they'd have 5G. At the moment they could get similar service from 5G cheaper. So, and I heard faster and I heard more reliable and future ready. I didn't hear cheaper or more affordable. How will this make the NBN more affordable?
MINISTER ROWLAND: Well let's be clear on two things. Firstly, fibre is the one future proof technology that provides the capacity and capability to ensure that all Australians have access to the highest quality broadband. Now, it is the case that many Australians are choosing to use 5G networks and that is their choice. But the absolute truth is this, that fibre is regarded across the world and certainly by NBN Co, as the standard when it comes to ensuring the highest quality broadband services. And that is because nothing is faster than the speed of light. And whilst mobile services are complementary to fixed services, such as those delivered through fibre, the laws of physics mean that they simply cannot deliver the same capabilities because mobile services are dependent on the number of users on a network at any given time. So, let's put to bed this notion that somehow 5G can be in all cases a substitute for fibre when it comes to infrastructure. But let's also be clear about something else. Under this Government, we ensured that a special access undertaking approved by the ACCC was entered into, which means that NBN Co's prices are actually set by regulatory standard and that means that they are set to inflation. In contrast, when the previous Government left office, they had a proposal on the table for price increases for NBN services of CPI plus up to 3 per cent on some products. So, clearly the choice is there. The choice between a Labor Government which ensures more affordable services and a Coalition which would have seen prices increase compared to Labor's special access undertaking on just about every measure. And the final point is this. I will not be lectured and this Government won't be lectured when it comes to cost of the NBN. Peter Dutton was a senior Minister in a Government for nearly a decade which said they would complete the NBN for $29 billion. It blew out to $58 billion and in the meantime they reverted from fibre to copper and wasted tens of billions of dollars of taxpayers' money. In contrast, our announcement today demonstrates that we are making the necessary investments in the future to ensure that all Australians can benefit from high speed broadband.
JOURNALIST: Minister Rowland, can I clarify? Once this rollout is complete, will all Australian households or premises be connected to fibre? Was the money, has it already been accounted for in the Budget. and Prime Minister, just on a different issue -
PRIME MINISTER: Could we just stick to this at this stage?
JOURNALIST: OK, and then I'll follow up
MINISTER ROWLAND: Well, firstly, it's always been as Labor envisaged to have the majority of premises in Australia covered by fibre. So, as I said, it will mean that some 95 per cent of those 622,000 remaining premises will have access to fibre connections. There will be some cases, and NBN Co will undertake the detailed mapping study of this, where due to heritage or other high costs, it won't be possible to deliver fibre accessibility to them. However, we do know that the vast majority of that 622,000 premises which are currently stranded on copper will have the capacity to access fibre.
JOURNALIST: Minister is this $2.43 billion completely new money on top of the $2.4 billion injection from 2022?
MINISTER ROWLAND: That is correct.
JOURNALIST: And if so, so that takes the total equity injection from the government over the years to $35 billion. When Kevin Rudd came out with the NBN, he said it would earn a commercial rate of return, it would be self-sustaining. Why does the Government need to keep putting money into it?
MINISTER ROWLAND: Well, there's two points there. The first is that we came to office to finish the job of completing the NBN. We made that commitment to have those upgrades as we announced going into the 2022 election and we are delivering them on time and on budget. And let's be clear again about the legacy that we were left when we came to office. An incompetent Coalition government at the time which said it would finish the NBN for $29 billion and it blew out to $58 billion. So, we are dealing with what we have been bequeathed by the previous Government. But we also want to take this forward. We want to complete the job that the NBN set out to do in the first place, which was to ensure that the vast majority of Australians, wherever they live or work, have access to the highest broadband speeds and quality.
PRIME MINISTER: Can I make this point as someone who was Communications Minister in 2013. As I said then during that campaign, when the Coalition was saying that they'd stop the rollout of fibre and go to a copper based network, that the important task was to do it right, do it once and do it with fibre. That if you went to copper you would inevitably increase costs and the previous government bought enough copper to go around the world not once but twice. An absurdity given what was known by every single expert in the communications area. We said there would be wastage. There indeed has, and that is why this Minister has had to clean up the mess that she inherited, like so many other areas. Further questions on this?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can I just ask about Peter Dutton today? He's committed to -
PRIME MINISTER: Can we just ask about this first and then I'm happy to go to other things?
JOURNALIST: A question on the NBN. One of the virtues you point to is this will allow more people to work from home. Is that the right message at the moment when a lot of business wants people back in the office, to be encouraging work from home?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it can be both. It's a matter of what's right. A whole lot of small business operators or sole traders operate completely from home. That is how they function, that boosts productivity and can make an enormous difference. In addition to that, a range of workplaces have benefited substantially by having people who aren't located where the head offices are, are able to work from the regions, from wherever it is that they live because of the changing nature of work. More and more work patterns are not someone working for a single employee starting at 9, finishing at 5. The changing nature of our economy means that flexibility is important. And one of the things that this does is to enable that flexibility to boost productivity as well. In addition to that, if someone is undertaking a task for an hour, but it might take them two hours to go to or from the location, it makes a lot of sense to do the job in an hour rather than five. And there are a whole range of productivity benefits from this, and companies, whether they be blue collar companies as well, the sort of access and work that the NBN can do, for example, in improving productivity in agriculture, in water usage, in energy usage, in so many areas of manufacturing. When you go to some of the advanced manufacturing that you see around with 3D printing, with the sort of new technologies which are boosting productivity in our economy, this has got to be a part of how we compete in the 21st century. And that is what I was referring to. Of course businesses, I think there are other advantages in people working face to face, including in my office. There's a lot of face to face activity because you need that social interaction. So it's a matter of getting the balance right. But there's no question that access to high speed broadband is a part of our modern economy.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said that the Senate would have a chance to vote on the NBN when it sits. Confirming that will that be in February? And can I ask on Donald Trump, when do you anticipate your first meeting to be with Mr. Trump?
PRIME MINISTER: Nice segue, but I'm doing the NBN questions first and then we'll go to other things. That's two attempts. Well, the Senate will meet when it meets. I get asked all the time - you've got the schedule, you can keep asking, you'll get the same answers. I reckon it's, you know, pretty dull to ask the same questions every day, but you can ask it. The schedule's there. I'll be here. Hopefully you will be too.
JOURNALIST: What about Donald Trump?
PRIME MINISTER: Can we just get questions on this first, and then -
JOURNALIST: You've repeatedly criticised Peter Dutton for wanting to build government owned power stations. Isn't that a bit inconsistent given you're saying that telecommunications wholesaler should remain in public hands? Why when it comes to telecommunications has to remain in government hands, but when it comes to energy, happy to leave it up to the market?
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks for the question. The NBN and communications, we know what happens if you leave it to a for-profit business. A for profit business. There will be lots of people, if the NBN was put up for sale tomorrow - the obvious bidders are there and you know who they are. Just like when Telstra was sold, there were obviously interest in it. Why? Because you can make a profit out of it. The problem with Peter Dutton's nuclear plan is that it doesn't stack up economically, which is why there are no investors willing to put their hand up and buy and invest. Not one. There's not one investor out there saying, I really want to invest in a nuclear reactor that will operate sometime in the 2040s, let alone all the other practical problems to overcome, like the fact that one of them is in the Hunter Valley that he envisages, happens to be a bit of an earthquake zone. The other issues with regard to the fact that no one supports it. He hasn't got the support of David Crisafulli as the Queensland Premier, hasn't got the support of the Northern Territory Chief Minister, can't even get support from the new right wing leader of the Liberal Party in Victoria. Hasn't got the support of Mark Speakman in NSW. This is friendless. It's friendless in markets and it's friendless in his own party because it just doesn't add up for Australia. And in the meantime what will happen is that those people who want to invest in new energy, in renewables, will be of course put off by the uncertainty which is there. What we've created in Australia, in a press conference held here with the Business Council of Australia, Australian Industry Group, ACCI, Australian Conservation Foundation, the ACTU and others, is certainty. That's what we've provided through the mechanisms that we've established and that has been important for that certainty, that investment certainty going forward.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just yesterday Peter Dutton spoke a lot about government spending and today you're announcing a $3 billion injection into the NBN publicly owned infrastructure network. I can foresee a future in which this is also criticised as potential public spending. Do you think that this is the vision for the election going forward - big public spending on one side and cuts to public spending on the other?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is an investment. This is an investment that will produce a return as opposed to what Peter Dutton says, which is yesterday and again this morning he was speaking about cost of living relief as being a sugar hit. Well we make no apologies for the fact that we haven't left people behind. That's why we ensured that his tax cuts were turned into tax cuts for every taxpayer, energy bill relief, cheaper child care, cheaper medicines, fee free TAFE. And that's why we're pleased that real wages have increased four quarters in a row. You can't argue that people are under cost of living pressure and then oppose every single cost of living measure. And yesterday Peter Dutton had an opportunity to announce a new policy. Any policy would do. I mean, there was a big build up last week and nothing. It was like a balloon with a pin in it. Nothing. Just air floated out and produced nothing at the end except, you know, a bit of rubber on the ground. It was the biggest damp squib done by any political leader to begin a political year in an election year that I've ever seen. Not one new announcement, just out there opposing, opposing providing support. This is investment. It's investment in Australia's future and we need to make sure that we do that. That's how you build Australia's future, by being prepared to invest. In an investment like this as well, the investment in a public NBN creates private sector activity and private sector investment that allows the economy to grow. That is an important precondition going forward.
JOURNALIST: Can I just ask Minister Rowland, just on this, the NBN announcement, it's about $6,000 on average a connection, I think. What you've announced today, is there any cost recovery element to that? And if I missed it, was this money in the Budget already or is this only going to be there if you win the election? And is this the last equity injection you expect to see in the NBN or should we expect more taxpayer dollars having to go into it to finish it?
MINISTER ROWLAND: Well to break that down, firstly, this is a long term investment. These are some 622,000 premises that have been stranded on copper. And the reality is that that copper network needs to be dealt with. It is costing more in terms of faults, in terms of maintenance, it's not even going forward, it's actually costing more and taking Australia backwards. So it's an area that needs to be dealt with which was done no favours by the previous government which simply invested in more copper with taxpayers' money and then did a backflip and determined that fibre should replace it. So, the up to $3 billion in equity that we are announcing today is one that we have provisioned for and it is one that we are confident, working with NBN Co, will ensure that this job gets finished.
JOURNALIST: Any last minute injections or anything recoverable from customers?
MINISTER ROWLAND: Well we are confident that this will finish the job. And in terms of cost recovery from customers, this is precisely what it is designed to do. It's designed to ensure that more people have access to high quality broadband that they choose because they are capable of taking up higher speeds and ensuring that this is a long term investment that produces long term returns.
JOURNALIST: I have a question about fires actually -
PRIME MINISTER: Okay, well we'll go to others but that's okay. We can -
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned that the increased risk of climate change is creating for bushfires, and the LA fires tragically have shown us that there's limited international capacity for sharing aerial water bombing fleets around the globe - a big risk for Australia experts say. Are you considering any moves to get more aerial water bombing craft into Australia to hold them here so we don't have to lease in from around the world?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I've said very clearly that you cannot point to any single event and say that's because of climate change. What you can do is look at the science. The scientists told us recently that we've just experienced the hottest year on record and that consistently over the years, if you look at all of the data, that has continued to be the case. We are seeing a rise in temperatures and we're also seeing a rise in the number of extreme weather events and the intensity of them. So the first thing to say about the fires in Los Angeles is to express condolences of Australia for the loss of life, which has been significant. It's been a very significant loss of property as well. And Australia remains willing to provide whatever support we can. The NEMA have been in contact with the authorities in the United States. When I was in the United States, I visited personally the NEMA equivalent there in the US in DC to discuss the cooperation that occurs between our agencies. Look, we constantly look at what we need to do. We have increased our assets substantially. And in the bushfires that I visited in the Grampians just a couple of weeks ago, the cooperation that was there with the, we had our major assets on the ground there, but also the cooperation from other states - Queensland, NSW, Tasmania, South Australia, as well as, of course, Victorian locals was in play there. Can I send our deepest condolences to the family of Rory Sykes. This is a tragedy that an Australian has lost his life. DFAT is in close contact with his family. We're providing consular assistance through this devastating time.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can I ask a bit about Peter Dutton's commitment today around councils holding citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day. He says if he's elected, he would force councils to hold it on January 26th, not on the three days either side which is currently allowed. In your view, is there any good reason why a council shouldn't hold it on Australia Day?
PRIME MINISTER: My council holds them on Australia Day, and on Australia Day I'll be here in Canberra at the national event. I encourage Peter Dutton to come to the national event. I always did when I was Opposition Leader. It's a great event on the foreshores of Lake Burley Griffin here, and I think it's appropriate that the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition both be there. I ensured I was there every year that I was Leader of the Opposition, as well as every year as Prime Minister. And I'd also encourage Mr. Dutton to attend the Australia Day Awards. It's a celebration of the best of Australia. The Volunteer of the Year, the Young Australian of the Year, the Senior Australian of the Year and the Australian of the Year. It's fantastic that that occurs. The first year I wasn't invited as Leader of the Opposition, I requested an invite and I've been there every year since. And I hope that there's a bipartisan show of support then.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, looking to the year ahead, please. It's been 18 months since Peta Murphy's 'You win some, you lose more' report. I am very aware of all the things government's done on issues like BetStop and so forth, but specifically on gambling advertising. Will the Government, will you take any initiatives, new policies to the election to limit gambling advertising further than what it currently is or has that initiative been sidelined?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll continue to work through the issues as we have. We've been rolling out a range of reforms. I make this point, we've done more reforms when it comes to gambling than any government in Australia's history and we will continue to work through these issues.
JOURNALIST: What advertising specifically though (inaudible) -
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I answered the question.
JOURNALIST: Can I please ask the Finance Minister a question?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, sure.
MINISTER GALLAGHER: Only because you asked nicely.
JOURNALIST: Is a third budget surplus in reach?
MINISTER GALLAGHER: Well, we released MYEFO in, when was it? December. And the next update will be in March, on March the 25th. And you'll be able to see there, you'll have the forward estimates laid out for all to see. You'll see that the work we've done in putting the Budget in better shape. We've delivered two surpluses, we've halved the deficits going forward, we found savings, we've returned money where we've had it into the budget, we've lowered the debt, we've lowered the interest rate, or the interest bill on the debt to the order of $70 billion. We've cleaned up the mess of the former government. So the Budget bottom line is in much better shape than the one that we inherited and we'll keep working away at that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can I ask for a third time -
PRIME MINISTER: You can.
JOURNALIST: When do you anticipate your first face to face with Donald Trump? Is there a summit coming up that you might be attending or do you expect it to be before the election?
PRIME MINISTER: There is a summit this year which will be the Quad Summit. I note that all the Quad Foreign Ministers will be visiting President Trump's inauguration on January 20, including Penny Wong representing Australia. When I had the discussion with the incoming president, we discussed the Quad. We've discussed as well with the Indian authorities, with Prime Minister Modi last year when we met. He'll be hosting the Quad and indeed I had a discussion with the High Commissioner on January 1 when he visited Kirribilli House with the Indian cricket team. We had a discussion there about those details. But they occur diplomatically and we will get that organised appropriately.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Bill Shorten will resign at the end of this month to start his new career. Can we expect a Cabinet reshuffle to occur at that time? And if there is to be a reshuffle, will it be a sort of temporary arrangements to get you through to the next election, or will it be setting up the team that you intend to govern with if you get a second term?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we, after elections, if we're fortunate enough to receive the support of the Australian people, we'll have a Caucus meeting and a process. There's some people who've been here for a long while, have watched that. That will happen after the election if I'm fortunate enough to receive the support for a second term. Bill Shorten announced right here, transparently, that he would go. Obviously, we will allocate those portfolio positions as appropriate. I don't envisage major changes, but that will occur at an appropriate time in January.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, and for the Public Service Minister, the Coalition - you've been pushing back on the Coalition's messaging that your increases to the Public Service are wasteful and Canberra centric. Do you think that's a conversation you can have successfully nationally? Are you able to get voters to back you up on an issue that's that many would consider quite Canberra centric?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll make one point before the Finance Minister does. If the Coalition is saying that Labor employing additional people in the Department of Veterans Affairs to make sure that the circumstance whereby people were dying - veterans who had served our nation in uniform - before their legitimate applications of support that they had earned and that they deserved, is something that shouldn't have happened, I think there's 500 we put in from memory, to fix up that backlog. That is what we had to do. And the second issue I make the point of is the billions of dollars that were spent on consultancies by the Coalition. They seem to want to go back to consultancies rather than actually employ people who have that area of expertise. And I tell you what, the people who put in the bills from those companies, they are a lot higher than a permanent public servant.
MINISTER GALLAGHER: Yes. So, I think the PM's answered it with that answer. I mean, the Public Service is essential public infrastructure. I mean, it provides services to veterans, to families, to those on payments, but it also does important work in approvals and regulatory work. It touches every Australian's life one way or another. And Peter Dutton and his team want to go back to the era of Robodebt. Now, like, let's not forget the Public Service that they had reduced to was going around hunting down Australian citizens for money that they didn't earn - that they didn't owe the country. That's the infrastructure, that's the Public Service that we had under Peter Dutton when he was a senior Minister. We have fixed shortfalls in Defence, in Veterans Affairs, in NDIS, in Centrelink, in Services Australia. Two thirds of the jobs are outside of the ACT. They are in regional and remote parts of Australia providing essential services. We had 52,000 people on the books as a shadow workforce that weren't reported through the normal channels. And that's exactly what they would do again. They have learnt nothing about how expensive it was, how services were reduced, how people waited too long, how some veterans died waiting for their applications to be considered. They don't care about any of that because they just want to wander around pretending that they can sack public servants and deliver services. It's ridiculous. Yes, we will be campaigning on this and yes, we will be holding him to account for this. I mean, it's a fairy tale what he's out talking about. It's absolutely ridiculous. And I think most Australians, including all of those that rely on the Australian Government to provide services, will understand that.
PRIME MINISTER: We've got a couple more here, and then here.
JOURNALIST: The Coalition this morning presented themselves as the party of law and order and said that crime figures had gone up under Labor. What's your response to that?
PRIME MINISTER: The Coalition are negative about absolutely everything. You know, I haven't seen any specifics, but Peter Dutton will continue, as he did yesterday, to look for areas of division, to look for areas in which he can try to promote fear in the community. That's something he's done his entire political life. And what we will do is continue to work with authorities appropriately, including, of course, primarily law and order issues are, of course, the responsibility of state and territory governments and I think Australians understand that.
JOURNALIST: Just on calls for a National Cabinet to address antisemitism. Do you support those calls and do you think there needs to be a look at mandatory sentencing on that issue?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I've seen some of some of those comments from Mr. Leeser. I make this point that state and territory governments, again, we have a federation in Australia. State and territory governments are responsible primarily for those issues. What we have established is Operation Avalite to make sure that the Australian Federal Police work cooperatively with state and territory governments and work as well with the security agencies. Now I'm in regular contact, including in recent days, with Chris Minns, the Premier of New South Wales, and with Premier Allan as well, in Victoria. We'll continue to work cooperatively, but primarily the people who've attended these events are, of course, state police. And I certainly joined with Premier Minns in calling for the people whose identity - some people out there must be able to have a look at the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald and the other outlets that have publicised that photo of the person or two people. But the male is very easily identifiable, I would have thought. People should come forward. There is no place for antisemitism in Australia. It is abhorrent. There's no place for it anywhere and antisemitism and the acts that we saw with the swastikas put - it's in Tanya Plibersek's electorate but it's pretty close to my hood in Newtown - are shocking. That's not what we're about as a multicultural, tolerant nation that has respect for people of different faith. It's a crime and the people responsible for that crime should face the full force of the law and I would say to people, if you know who those people are, the perpetrators, pick up the phone and report that to police because action does need to be taken. Thanks very much.
