JIM CHALMERS:
This is a really proud day for Logan City. This investment that we're talking about today is all about better, quicker healthcare closer to home. And I'm really proud of the $33 million that the Albanese government is kicking in to make this health centre a reality here in Meadowbrook. This will mean an urgent injury and illness clinic. There will be gynaecology and antenatal services, pathology, X‑ray, 78 car parks, 150 construction jobs, 60 health jobs ‑ the benefits of this investment will be absolutely immense. And what it means is that together, working with all of the people represented here today, we can take some of the pressure off Logan Hospital at the same time as we provide the sorts of health services that local people here in Logan City need and deserve. So I'm incredibly proud of the investment that we're making today. Construction begins this month, as you can probably tell, and it will open next year. And when it does, it will make a really important contribution to health care in our local community. Meadowbrook is an incredibly special place here in Logan City.
As the Mayor knows, and other people from this part of Logan City understand, we're trying to make Meadowbrook into this magnificent centre of health care and education in South East Queensland. We've got the health centre here now, we've got Logan Hospital, Logan TAFE, Logan University, the train station, the high school, all of it coming together in Meadowbrook. This is the collective vision that we have for this part of our community, to be an epicentre of the kinds of health care that local people, especially local women need and deserve. This is a fast growing area. It's a young part of South East Queensland, and we want to make sure ‑ particularly when it comes to women's health, but more broadly as well ‑ when it comes to urgent care and minor injury and illness, that we've got somewhere where people can be treated, that isn't adding to the already substantial demand on the emergency centre over there. And so I wanted to acknowledge and welcome the contribution, the help the assistance, the cooperation and collaboration from all of the relevant health bodies, all of the relevant private sector players, but especially the state government, and the local council as well. You can do amazing things when you work together. And what this shows today is just what we can do with Commonwealth money coming into our community, working closely with other partners, as well. This is a special part of Logan City, and it will be even better when we build this amazing, urgent care clinic here.
In addition to that I might just say a couple of things about the Productivity Commission review, which will be released very shortly, and then happy to take your questions about that or any other matters as well. Every 5 years, the Productivity Commission releases a 5‑yearly review, report, inquiry into Australia's productivity performance. Productivity in Australia has been flatlining in recent times, and in the last decade especially so. We want to put the wasted decade behind us when it comes to growing our economy the right way. And so what this report will do, is it will feed and fuel a big national debate about how we strengthen our economy and make our economy more productive. The Albanese Labor government has already made our priorities very clear. You get productivity by investing in people, by investing in technology and by fixing our broken energy markets, so we get cleaner and cheaper, more reliable, increasingly renewable energy into our system ‑ those are our priorities. Now this report that is released today is almost a thousand pages, there are 9 volumes, 5 themes, 29 reform directions, and 71 different recommendations. The Albanese Labor government is already acting on each of the 5 themes, and on something like two thirds of the reform directions proposed by the Productivity Commission today in their report. Obviously, no government picks up and runs with every single recommendation, and that will be the case once again. Our predecessors fully implemented precisely none of the recommendations of the last PC review. We are working on around two thirds of the reform directions, each of the 5 themes, and I will obviously consult with state colleagues and others about the specific recommendations. I'm releasing this PC review early, I'm not obligated to do it until after the Budget in May. But having been through it, I think it's important that we release it today so that other people can grapple with the same kinds of choices that the government is making. But again, our priorities are clear ‑ we don't think you get productivity growth in our economy or in our country, by hacking away at people's job security, or their industrial relations conditions. We don't believe you get productivity by hacking away at clean energy programs. We think the best way to get productivity growth in this country is to invest in people and their capacity, to fix our broken energy markets, and to make sure that technological change works for us, and not against us. And so that's the approach that we will take to the Productivity Commission report, which is being released today.
JOURNALIST:
You said that Australia's productivity has been flatlining, the report is going to show it's at its lowest level in decades. Are you daunted by the task ahead to repair Australia's economic landscape?
CHALMERS:
Of course not, but it's a big challenge. Productivity is not about people working harder and longer for less, productivity is about strengthening our economy so we can lift incomes, and lift wages, and create more opportunities for more people in more parts of our country. That's the productivity challenge before us. We've just been through a wasted decade of missed opportunities and messed up priorities, and as a consequence of that, our productivity performance has flatlined, and Australians are paying a hefty price for those failures. And so we've got a lot of work to do, there are no quick fixes here. This is not a time for whack‑a‑mole policies or to diminish the financial security or job security of Australians. It's time to invest in people genuinely, in ways that we've proposed with early childhood education, health care as well, but also right across the board ‑ skills and training and technology and cybersecurity. These are all the parts of the report today that we look forward to advancing in collaboration with all of our partners.
JOURNALIST:
You don't have plans to implement all the recommendations, how seriously do you take the Productivity Commission, if you're not going to action what they're recommending that you do?
CHALMERS:
First of all, our predecessors fully implemented precisely none of the recommendations of the last one, and so that's the first thing. The second thing is there are 71 recommendations, I think something like 36 are either completely or partly state responsibilities, and so I will talk with the state treasurers at our meeting in June about that. And there's a number of recommendations where there is common ground, but there are some where there aren't, and where those recommendations are inconsistent with our government's values and priorities and policies, then obviously there will be some that we don't pick up and run with. I think that's to be expected. No government implements all of the recommendations of these PC reviews, the last one fully implemented none of them. We'll work our way through it methodically. But I wanted to be up‑front with people from the very beginning and say, there will be some recommendations in this PC report that are inconsistent with our values and priorities as the government, and there is no use pretending otherwise.
JOURNALIST:
While we're yet to see the report, you have read it, what's a key recommendation that you would like to implement?
CHALMERS:
There's important recommendations around cybersecurity, for example, and reform direction when it comes to skills and training. What I was able to do yesterday, thanks to the good people of CEDA, is to run through the really substantial agenda that we are already putting in place to boost productivity in our economy and in our country. And really, right across the board, our plans for early childhood education, Jobs and Skills Australia, the Universities Accord, and for Clare O'Neil's work on cybersecurity and the migration review, Katy Gallagher's work on a digital ID. There is a whole bunch of stuff that we are already doing, which is rightly identified in the PC report as important priorities for our economy which we are advancing, but there'll be some that we won't.
JOURNALIST:
How will the report influence the measures implemented in the May Budget?
CHALMERS:
Well, it's an important part of our thinking, particularly in some of those areas that I've mentioned, skills and training, investing in people, investing in technology, trying to get our migration settings right. One of the reasons I've released this months earlier than I was obligated to do, is because I did want it out in the public domain. And I want people to understand the things that we are interested in progressing and the things that we aren't interested in progressing. But I also wanted everybody else to grapple with the kinds of choices that the government is.
JOURNALIST:
So you will implement some of the things in the May Budget?
CHALMERS:
Some of it will be an important input into the things that we are contemplating in the lead up to the Budget, but more broadly as well.
JOURNALIST:
A recent parliamentary inquiry recommended a 4 day working week instead of 5. That might mean a lot of us wouldn't be here today. What do you think of that idea?
CHALMERS:
I'm pleased that you are here today, that's the first point. We want to make sure that people who put in effort at work get fairly rewarded for it. And our overriding ambition for this country and its economy is to strengthen the economy and make it more productive so that people who work hard earn more. We can lift living standards and lift incomes, in its broadest sense that's what productivity growth is all about. And you read headlines yesterday about people working longer for less and all of the rest of it, obviously that's the situation that we desperately need to avoid in this country. We want this country to be the type of place where people who work hard get rewarded for it, that they get a lift in their living standards, a lift in their incomes, and that's what making our economy stronger and more productive is all about.
JOURNALIST:
What contact has the government had with Latitude Financial, and has the company confirmed whether they've been asked to pay a ransom for the stolen data?
CHALMERS:
The Cybersecurity Centre is working closely with Latitude, given the issues that they are confronting, we take this very seriously. And from the Department of Home Affairs, and really right through the government, we coordinate our efforts when there's a substantial cyber breach like this one. The Cybersecurity Centre is working with the company, we are working with Clare O'Neil and the other relevant ministers to make sure we're going across what's happening here. Our advice to people is, obviously when it comes to your personal identifiers and your personal data, be as vigilant as you can. And if you want to look for more information and get more information ‑ cyber.gov.au.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think yesterday's strong unemployment figures will influence future rate rises?
CHALMERS:
I'm really pleased with yesterday's unemployment numbers. In the context of an economy with challenging inflation and rising interest rates, the fact that we've still got unemployment in the middle threes is a very welcome development from our point of view. We've got a lot coming at us from around the world, but we've got a lot going for us as well. We've got unemployment at three and a half per cent, we're getting great prices for our commodities on global markets, we're seeing the beginnings of wages growth. And that puts us in good stead as we confront all of the volatility and uncertainty, which is coming at us from around the world.
JOURNALIST:
But in terms of rate rises, does it concern you?
CHALMERS:
The Reserve Bank takes its decisions independently, and they take into consideration a whole range of factors ‑ not just the unemployment rate, but also what's happening in retail, what's happening around the world. And they combine all of that information and come up with a decision independently. I think it's a good thing, it's a sign of strength in our economy that we've got unemployment at three and a half per cent. In the life of this Albanese Labor government, 278,000 new jobs have been created already, and we haven't been in office for a year yet. That's a good thing. I'm optimistic about our country and about its economy. I'm realistic about what the next 12 to 18 months look like in our economy, and as we go into a period of substantial global uncertainty, and as our economy is expected to slow, it's a good thing that we begin from a position of strength.
JOURNALIST:
Student debt is set to soar by $4.5 billion this year [inaudible]? Will your government consider pausing or freezing HECS repayments?
CHALMERS:
It's not something that we've been considering. This indexation that happens around the middle of the year every year happens regardless of who's in office or all the other circumstances, and like a lot of other government programs, including payments, it's indexed. And the important thing to remember about student debt is that the repayments go up when your wages go up, when your salary goes up. That's what determines how much you pay back. And so I understand and obviously, listen respectfully when the student unions and others raise their concerns about this, but this is an ordinary indexation, and in terms of repayments and pressure on people, the repayments go up when your salary goes up, that's how the system works. Thanks very much.