ANTHONY CHISHOLM, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Thanks, Nick, for having us today. Really appreciate the opportunity to be in Central Queensland and hear directly from such a wide range of industry, local government and the important sectors to this local economy. We know that when we were elected we wanted to be a government for all of Australia, and the fact that the Treasurer is here in Rockhampton holding the first mini summit as we lead up to the national skills summit, it shows you the importance we put on regional Australia and regional Queensland.
Today was a really good opportunity to hear firsthand from those in the industry. And I think the encouraging thing is that there was a level of cooperation, but there is also saw a level of people wanting to be constructive. So talking about things that were working, but could work better, and putting ideas forward that would help us deal with those challenges that regional Australia are facing, but also more broadly, the Australian community you're facing at the same time. So, I think it was a great opportunity to start the Summit here in Rockhampton. I think we gained some valuable insights today into the challenges people are facing. And I think it will bode well, the level of construction and people wanting to make a contribution today to ensure that we get the Summit right in September, and that we can move forward as a nation and tackle some of these challenges as well. Thanks, Jim.
JIM CHALMERS, TREASURER:
I wanted to thank Nick and CQ University, the colleagues here and everybody who made time for us for what was really an incredibly constructive, very successful, very useful conversation. Also, obviously I want to thank my colleague Anthony Chisholm, Assistant Minister of Education and Regions. Our Government wants to bring people together. Our Government recognises that our economy faces substantial challenges. And we give ourselves the best chance to meet this moment if we work together. And so the defining instinct of the Albanese Labor Government is to bring people together. And that's the instinct that guides and drives the Job Summit, not just in Canberra in September, but all of the discussions that we will have in the lead up to that Summit. We want to bring people together, we want to genuinely address the economic challenges that we face in a collaborative and constructive way. Right around Australia, there is a real hunger for some real talk about our economic challenges, and there is some appetite, to work together to see what we can do to address them. So today, I'm really pleased and proud that we made Central Queensland and Rocky in particular, our first port of call as we engage in this consultation leading up to the Job Summit. There are businesses, unions, community groups, all levels of government right around Australia, and here in CQ, who are very keen to participate in a really constructive way. I'm very grateful for that.
Now, we extended an invitation to the Opposition, to Peter Dutton and the Opposition, to participate in good faith in the Job Summit - that has been knocked back. It's disappointing, but not particularly surprising to see Peter Dutton go down this path. I think the whole country and certainly the Albanese Government is trying to build consensus and Peter Dutton is trying to wreck it. He is a less constructive version of Tony Abbott, he is a less inclusive version than Scott Morrison. And so what we're seeing here is while the rest of Australia is trying to build a consensus and work together in a collaborative way, Peter Dutton once again, is trying to trash those efforts. That is disappointing, but it's not surprising to hear him talking in the way that he has been talking today. Australians won't miss this moment to deal with their economic challenges by bringing people together and working together. That's what the Job Summit is about, but it's also what the Albanese Labor Government is all about.
JOURNALIST:
Why did you provide the letter that you sent to Peter Dutton to the media? Doesn't that play into the Coalition's message that the Summit is a big stunt?
CHALMERS:
No, that's ridiculous. I mean, of course there are no secret invitations to a public forum. We flagged some days ago that we would be inviting the Leader of the Opposition. We invited him at some point after that, in the same way that we will make it clear down the track, who else has been invited and accepted. We will make that information publicly known. Peter Dutton is always looking for an excuse to trash consensus and to trash the collaborative efforts that everybody else is engaged in. The position that he's taken does not reflect the position of mainstream Australia. It doesn't reflect the position taken by the business community, by the union movement, by different levels of government, different political persuasions of state governments and local councils.
Once again, Peter Dutton is isolated. He is a destructive figure in a country that wants to collaborate and seek consensus. And so we are representing those efforts, we’re guiding and leading those efforts to work together at the same time as he's trying to wreck it. He will come up with all kinds of excuses why to knock back this invitation. The other thing that's important to remember is only a couple of weeks ago, the Opposition was demanding an invitation to this Job Summit. And now they're knocking it back. I think it speaks volumes about where they're coming from here. This is about people not about politics, we should be able to see beyond the politics of the day to work out what is the best kind of labour market we need, what is the best kind of economy that we can have. That's what we're working towards. Peter Dutton and his mob are isolated because they don't want that outcome.
JOURNALIST:
What risk does that bring having the Coalition not attend the Job Summit? Can you guarantee that there will be some policy changes out of the Job Summit and it won't just be a talk fest?
CHALMERS:
We'll proceed regardless, and as I said, it's disappointing, but not surprising that he's gone down this path. The success of the Jobs and Skills Summit, does not rely on his participation. We would prefer he participated in a constructive way. We're disappointed but not surprised to learn that he doesn't want to do that. We will proceed regardless, and not just us, the business community has been absolutely terrific, the union movement has been absolutely terrific. Different levels of government, community groups, there's a real appetite in this country to work together to meet this moment, to rise to this occasion, even if Peter Dutton wants to fall back into old habits. Of course, that's our intention, we want to come to a series of agreements around the direction that we need to take. Our expectation is that all the participants in the summit in Canberra, indeed, all of the conversations we're having around Australia, people come with ideas about what we could do better. And when there's a general consensus, not unanimity, but a general consensus around those directions, then, of course, we'll act on them. We will act on them immediately if we can, or in subsequent budgets or in the Employment White Paper. But our intention is for this to be much more than some kind of meaningless gathering, we want to have genuine, lasting improvements made to our labour market and our economy as a consequence of this important summit.
JOURNALIST:
Well, speaking of that, what were some of those discussions that you've had today, with the key industry players in the region, because that will obviously help structure the meeting in Canberra?
CHALMERS:
Well, the big challenge here is labour shortages and skills shortages. We see that in other parts of Australia as well, but the reason why Anthony Chisholm and I and colleagues in the cabinet in the party more broadly, are holding these consultations in advance of the Jobs Summit, because every region has got a different combination of issues. There are some things which are common but there is always some unique combination in communities like this one, and we want to hear from people. So labour and skills shortages are a big part of the story. Obviously, there's an issue around housing, obviously, we've got to get the mix right when it comes to migration, but making sure that that's not a substitute for training local people for local opportunities as well. So all of the issues which were raised today are very important to us, they will be discussed in one way or another at the Job Summit, and if there's meaningful action that we can take, we'll take it.
JOURNALIST:
The Government has said it will fund an increase to the pay of aged care workers, what measures or programs might you have to cut or delay to cover that increase?
CHALMERS:
First of all, it's incredibly important that Australian workers who are doing one of the most important jobs in our communities, looking after our seniors, are paid appropriately for that. For too long now, it's been possible to make more stop stacking shelves, then looking after older Australians, and we want to fix that. So that's why we support decent wages for aged care workers, which is an issue before the Fair Work Commission right now. Clearly whoever won the last election would have to fund the outcome of that decision. Part of the decision will be how those wage increases are staged over time, as well as the total amount of increases to wages for aged care workers. So we stand ready to work constructively following the decision of the Fair Work Commission. We recognise this as an area that needs our attention, and we will manage the budget more broadly to make sure that we can fund our priorities, and this is a priority.
JOURNALIST:
You've repeatedly stressed that there are budget constraints and you can't find every program you'd like, so something has to give to pay for Aged Care Workers wage rise, what will that be?
CHALMERS:
Well, we'll fund our priorities and one of our priorities is a decent payrise for aged care workers. We've already indicated whether it's action on multinational taxes, whether it's an increase to the foreign investment fees, whether it's cutting back on some of the rorts and waste, which defined the budgets for the best part of a decade. We've already indicated areas where we can responsibly improve the budget position and one of the reasons we want to do that is to make room for our priorities, and one of our priorities is decent pay for aged care workers.
JOURNALIST:
When you bring things back to Central Queensland, two of the biggest headlines we're seeing at the moment are Foot and Mouth Disease, and the transition to renewables. How do you see the future playing out here in Central Queensland given those are the big issues facing the country?
CHALMERS:
I'm really excited about the future for Central Queensland, incredibly excited about the prospect for the local economy but also the local community. What our modeling has shown when it comes to action on climate change is that the biggest beneficiaries of cleaner, cheaper, more reliable energy are the regions, and we want to create new jobs and new industries and new opportunities which leverage some of our areas of traditional strength in areas like Central Queensland, so I'm very excited about the prospects there. When it comes to Foot and Mouth Disease, clearly we have had to act decisively as a new government to do what we can to minimise the risk to one of our most crucial industries. I'm in the Beef Capital of Australia, and nobody needs reminding how important it is that we take whatever steps we can to minimise the risk of Foot and Mouth Disease. I want to pay tribute to Murray Watt, my colleague in the Cabinet, who has acted decisively whether it's at the Indonesian end, making sure we can support their efforts, or at this end when it comes to our airports. We recognise how absolutely crucial the beef industry is to this community and to our country more broadly, and we will do whatever is necessary to minimise the risk from Foot and Mouth.
JOURNALIST:
Why was Rockhampton chosen as the location [inaudible]?
CHALMERS:
We love coming here, and we like hanging out with Nick. And we knew that if we came here, we would get a frank assessment of the combination of issues in the local jobs market, whether it's labour shortages or issues around housing, access to health care, whether it's issues around migration, we knew we'd get a good mix of industries, resources, agriculture, and some of the other industries here as well. We know the mayors and respect the mayors here, and the state members. And so we knew if we made Rocky and Central Queensland a priority, then we would get a good sense of that combination of issues. I'll probably do half a dozen forums like the one we've done today, but I'm pleased that Rocky was the very first one, and I'm absolutely delighted with how the conversation went.
JOURNALIST:
Does this mean we will see more visits from yourself and the rest of the Cabinet in the months and years to come?
CHALMERS:
Absolutely. We take it, we take our responsibilities to regional Queensland and Central Queensland very seriously. You know, if we want the national economy to perform strongly, we need the economies of regional Queensland to be a bigger part of the story. And from a personal point of view, whether it's Anthony, myself, Murray Watt, Nita Green and other colleagues, we desperately want to be a government for all of Australia, and that means a government for regional Queensland. Now Labor federal representatives are not thick on the ground in regional Queensland unfortunately, despite our best efforts, and so we take our responsibilities to these communities very seriously, you will see us a lot and not just that, you will see what we learn here represented in the national policies of the Albanese Labor Government. One of the reasons why we are here, one of the reasons why we are in the roles that the Prime Minister gave us, is to make sure that regional Queensland has a big prominent voice in the Labor Cabinet and in the Labor Ministry. We want to bring people together, we want to be a government for the whole country, we want to end a decade of division, which has given us a wasted decade of missed opportunities and warped priorities. And in order to do those things and to meet all of our objectives, we want to make sure that Rocky and Central Queensland has got a big prominent voice in all of our efforts. Thanks very much.