Press conference at Parliament House

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. This has been a big week in parliament. Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the Digital Duty of Care legislation. It is vital that this get the support of the Senate. It does two things essentially, the first is it makes big tech accountable. Just as the media organisations represented here are accountable for what’s on their platforms, they should be held to account for the role that they play and what appears on their platforms and which therefore then get circulated right around Australia. 

The second thing that it does, which is related, which is rather than internationally based companies determining through algorithms what Australians receive, it empowers people themselves to determine what you receive on your devices, so that you should have that control. This isn't about government having a greater role, it's about people having a greater role. Having more control themselves. And it's deserving of support of this Parliament. Following the ban which we put in place for under 16s on social media accounts. This is again Australia leading the world. And the truth is that these new technologies are having a major impact on our economy, on the way that we work, but more importantly just on society. And it's important that society, through Parliament, have a legitimate role and debate in what impact do we want this to have on the way that society functions? And that's what this legislation is about. 

Secondly, today we have tax bills that will be dealt with in the Parliament. Labor has promoted tax reform. Tax reform is always difficult. But we know as well that the Opposition stand for higher taxes. They went to the last election standing for higher taxes. They went for the last election, first of all voting against it and then saying they would repeal the tax legislation that we put before the Parliament. So, whilst we expect support and hope to receive support from across the Parliament on Digital Duty of Care, we expect that they will once again stand against tax reform. 

Thirdly, today, domestic gas reservation will be debated and voted on in the House of Representatives. And I'm joined today by the Minister for Resources, the Minister for Industry and the Minister for Energy, because this is critical legislation for Australia. What this will do is to allow for the reserve of up to 20 per cent of exports for Australian domestic use. That will do two things. Firstly, it's about increasing supply and that's particularly important for Australian manufacturing. The second thing that it will do is put downward pressure on prices. Both of those objectives very important as we go forward. Not debated this week in terms of votes, but certainly front and centre for the government is the European Free Trade Agreement. This is a good deal for Australia. This will make Australian exports of goods and services 98 per cent tariff free to a market that is 450 million strong. This will boost our economy by $10 billion. This will have major benefit for critical minerals, for a range of services, including the defence industry, our manufactured goods. But for areas, particularly fruit and vegetables and those products, to go into Europe tariff free will be a major benefit for Australia. As well as for the wine industry. As well as for, it must be said, the issues that have been raised when it comes to beef meat and sheep meat. Fun fact - Australia's beef exports have doubled since we came to office in 2022. It's not by accident, it’s because we've gone out there and done these deals. It’s because we had the South East Asia Economic Strategy to 2040. It's because we did the deal with the UAE which has opened up the markets of the Middle East. It's because of the coming into force of the UK Free Trade Agreement. And the European Free Trade Agreement will allow for a significant increase in our exports of beef meat to that market as well as a significant increase in sheep meat. 

The counterfactual is this - that those nations that have done deals with the European Union that haven't come into force yet, including New Zealand for example, will receive, if we shut ourselves out of this, will then have a comparative advantage compared with Australia. Compare that for an area like critical minerals, where we will have a comparative advantage of exports into Europe compared with other countries that produce critical minerals. This needs to be passed. And I find it astonishing that at a time where free and fair trade is under threat around the world, where that's a big debate in global politics and in the global economy, that this somehow is being questioned here in Australia. This is very much in our national interest to engage internationally. And that's one of the reasons why I'm going to CHOGM next week at the invitation of His Majesty King Charles. But as well, what we're doing in ASEAN, what we're doing in our own region, what we're doing with the European Free Trade Agreement. I'll be having discussions there with Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Burnham of Canada and the UK. They're critical countries for Australia, as well as of course the Pacific Nations. Most of which are represented as part of CHOGM - Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Nauru. These countries will all be there as well as of course taking the opportunity to push Australia's case for a seat on the UN Security Council with African nations as we go forward. So, it's been a busy period and we’re a government that has a big agenda and I'd ask the Ministers to talk about the gas reservation and why it's important and then we'll take questions.

MADELEINE KING, MINISTER FOR RESOURCES AND NORTHERN AUSTRALIA: Thank you very much, Prime Minister and good morning to everybody. Today, members of the House of Representatives will have an opportunity to vote on our Gas Reservation Package. And it's an opportunity for all Members of the House to support these landmark reforms which will secure more Australian gas for Australian households, for Australian businesses and for Australia's manufacturers. Australia has abundant gas resources and Australia should benefit from that through being able to access more of that gas at reasonable and affordable prices. So, these landmark reforms that everyone, every single Member of the House of Representatives had a chance to vote on today will establish an enduring domestic gas reservation scheme providing greater certainty for Australian consumers, Australian industry, but really importantly the gas industry itself. And this is about setting up a long term framework for the industry, the gas industry as well as everyone else that needs to use gas, for whether it be processing in critical minerals, for advanced manufacturing, as well as consumers right around the country. I'll hand over to Minister Ayres.

TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE: Thanks, Madeleine. Well, reserving Australian gas for Australian industry and for Australians is a landmark Labor economic reform that goes to our future industrial competitiveness. Making sure that we secure heavy industrial jobs in our outer suburbs and our regions and that we deliver low cost gas as a future source of Australian industrial competitiveness. This is a piece of legislation that should be supported by the whole Parliament. It is a piece of legislation that will drive growth in industrial Australia. A vote against the Albanese Government's Gas Reservation Plan would be a vote for higher gas prices and less manufacturing jobs. This is a crucial piece of economic reform that will deliver industrial competitiveness and assist Australian industrial communities to lift their competitiveness and lift their productivity.

CHRIS BOWEN, MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY: When the Gas Reservation Bill passes the House of Representatives today, it will be a good day for Australia. About 20 years overdue. It will be a day in which Australian gas under Australian soil and Australian water is reserved for Australian use. This is fundamental reform which will put Australian industry on a better a competitive foot and will ensure that the gas which belongs to all Australians is used by Australians first and foremost. Australia is the last country with a gas industry in the world without an effective reservation policy - that will be fixed under the Albanese Government, it will pass the House of Representatives today. We call on all parties to pass it through the Senate because it's what Australia needs.

JOURNALIST: You’ve got other bills to pass today, they include the budget bills, the CGT trusts and other stuff. There's a lot of pushback still on unintended consequences, but your position seems to be fairly set for now. But if in a year or two years’ time some of these warnings come to pass, is the government flexible enough to be prepared to revisit some of these things, such as the R&D tax concession, the impact of the CGT changes, the SMSF investment ban?

PRIME MINISTER: Look what we're doing, and we've shown through the consultation process as well, there have been a number of adjustments made and that's appropriate. That is the way that tax reform has occurred historically. As you're aware, the bills on the GST had, I think there were 18 bills or pieces of legislation. What we've done is stick to the principle that we're looking for here, is to better align income from work with income from assets. Better align. Because if you don't have reform, increasingly the burden goes upon pay as you go taxpayers. Ordinary working people who don't have access to the sort of assets that people engage legitimately to engage to build up their own wealth. But that's why we need to look at these reforms. We think that we've got the measures right. But for example, one of the issues that's raised today, I know in one of the newspapers, is over the impact on Olympic athletes. And that's been the subject of negotiations and discussions between the government and the AOC and we're very confident will find a resolution to that.

JOURNALIST: On the Free Trade Agreement, you say that you are astonished at the opposition that's being put forward here. The coalition's criticism seems to be that A, it's a bad deal, and B, that it somehow legitimises the existence of climate change, which the nationals don't seem to like. Could you address those criticisms and do you think, what's your read on whether this issue is divisive within the Coalition given the Liberals historic support for free trade?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I note Alex Hawke's comments in a Liberal Party meeting where he questioned why it is that Matt Canavan is making determinations without any process in their party room or their shadow cabinet. It's very clear that for people who say they belong to a political party that supports markets and supports free and fair trade, that will be completely undermined and shredded unless they support this legislation. When it comes to is it a fair deal? It is a fair deal. When we had discussions firstly with the European Union, we determined that it wasn't good enough. After that we went back to them and we got a better deal. And that is what this does. For example, the sheep meat and beef meat exports, which have been subject of some criticism, respectively, will lead to four and eight times the amount of exports going into Europe as currently occur. That's a pretty big increase, with a five year review of that and the potential to increase it even further. This is a good deal. It's a good deal over things such as naming as well, those issues that we dealt with. You know, whether you could name Feta that was produced here, for example. 

It's also a good deal for Australian consumers because cheaper imports put downward pressure on prices. Trade is a good thing. I thought this was resolved in the 1980s under the Hawke and Keating governments and that since then there was support across this parliament and across the mainstream political parties, the parties of government agreed that trade was a good thing. At a time where it is under challenge, where the US Government have implemented tariffs that have increased inflation in the United States, that have been the subject, as we've been very clear, about standing up for Australia's national interests. You know, when we gather with President Xi and President Trump at APEC in a month's time, Australia wants to be the country that we're for free and fair trade unequivocally. And when it comes to climate provisions, there's nothing special about this. There's a reference to the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement that was signed up to by Tony Abbott, that was supported by the Coalition. There are climate references in the UK FTA, in the US FTA, in the China FTA as well. So, this is just an excuse for going down the road of protectionist and nativist politics. Nativist politics is not in Australia's national interest. We are a trading nation. We are an island continent in which economic growth and productivity is boosted by engaging with the world.

JOURNALIST: How concerned are you about perceptions at household kitchen tables that the government is not able to wrangle inflation? And I note yesterday a member of your own caucus proposed price controls on household staples, grocery items that everybody relies on.

PRIME MINISTER: We understand very much and we're very much focused on the issue of inflation. And there are two things, as I said in Parliament yesterday that the government is doing. The first is continuing to focus on savings measures and getting the budget in better shape. We produced two budget surpluses in a row. We've produced lower deficits, we've produced about $180 billion of savings. We have lowered debt substantially by over $200 billion on what was predicted in the 2022 Outlook when we were elected. And that has resulted in significantly less interest payments being made. The second thing we've done is to ensure that any cost of living measures are ones that not just address providing help for people today, but building a stronger tomorrow. So, free TAFE helps people, but it also builds up the skills base. Cheaper medicines help people, but it reduces the future impact on the health budget. Investing in Medicare Mental Health Clinics, Urgent Care Clinics, tripling the bulk billing incentive makes it cheaper to see a doctor, but it also impacts on the health of the nation. So all of these things, that is our approach. 

Global inflation is a fact. Central banks in the United States, Japan, Europe have all increased their cash rates over the recent period. And so we know that it's real. But we continue to be focused each and every day on how do we deal with these immediate challenges, some of which arise, of course, from oil prices, have an impact on that flows through the economy. It's not just the price at the petrol pump, it's the fact that goods are more expensive because they get to the supermarket by truck. It has a flow on impact right throughout the economy. It's one of the reasons why our Cheaper Home Batteries Program, which has been such a success, makes a difference to people's bills, but helps to shield the Australian economy from future rises.

JOURNALIST: Will you, will you listen to Fatima Payman and grant her a further staff member? And secondly on your thoughts, do you think it's appropriate that you're the arbiter, the sole person who decides staffing arrangements?

PRIME MINISTER: Fatima Payman has the same numbers of staff now as she had when she was elected as a Labor Senator, indeed one more, because we granted an additional staffer to all senators and all members of the House of Representatives.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Australians are staring down possibly their fifth rate hike of the year. The Treasurer has talked about savings in the mid-year update. Will they be net savings and which areas of expenditure is the government looking at cutting back?

PRIME MINISTER: We'll continue to have those discussions in a small room in there in the cabinet in the ERC. That's what we do. We're a proper cabinet government. ERC, I can confirm, continues to meet. We will continue to meet over coming weeks as well, as we do consistently, looking for, making sure that appropriate savings are made. What we won't do is rip tens of billions of dollars out of health and education. That's what happened last time when the Coalition came into office. We're not looking at that. We're not looking at cutting funding for hospitals and schools and essential services because we're a Labor Government that understand that people are under pressure. But that's one of the reasons as well, why that's part of the debate that we're having about, whether it be some of the tax measures that we're putting in place, or whether it be the private health insurance changes. Now, a 64-year-old, when they turn 65, is it legitimate for them to get a higher rebate from the government compared to them living next door to each other, 64-year-old and 65-year-old? Now, we know that's a tough decision. That's a tough decision which for those impacted by it, but it's the right decision. And for the Coalition, can't continue to say they support savings and come into the Parliament and vote against all of them because that is what they have been doing. And for The Greens political party that say they are opposed to any subsidies for private health insurance – I don't know if Senator Shoebridge was asked this at the Press Club yesterday, but how can you have as part of your platform no subsidies at all and then vote against this sensible savings measure?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, thank you. Given some of the steps you've already taken on the cost of living, the things that you're thinking about, there still seems to be a bit of pain ahead potentially with rate rises. Can you give Australians a sense of when their lives are going to get easier and not harder?

PRIME MINISTER: One of the things I've said is that these challenges won't be solved overnight. These are pressures that we have a role in, in Australia domestically. But some of these pressures are global which is why we're seeing that global uplift in inflation. And we're not immune from that impact. That is one of the reasons why we have continued to call for a de-escalation in conflict in the Middle East, because it is having an impact here. But we've been straight with people, this is a challenge. Whilst there are these global increases in oil prices that will have an impact here in Australia, something that the Reserve Bank Governor stated in her opening statement just this week.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, in your opening statement you talked about critical minerals. Can I ask you about the case of Northern Minerals, which as you know is this plot of land in the middle of nowhere in WA that has got very high grade dysprosium, terbium, stuff that the western world needs, yet it's been fouled up by Chinese investors. The Australian Government has asked it to kick, asked the Chinese investors to be kicked off the share registry. It's been fined. Nothing's, nothing's worked. FIRB has been found wanting. What does your government plan to do to ensure that this project gets up?

PRIME MINISTER: Minister.

MINISTER KING: Thanks, Prime Minister. Thanks, Andrew. This is a very important project. It's a really important deposit of the elements you just mentioned. It is, to put it quite frankly, it's not right and unacceptable that any order of any court in this country is disregarded by foreign shareholders, particularly by anyone at all. So, the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Treasurer, we're very seriously looking at how we deal with the Northern Minerals problem. It is a very important feedstock into another very important asset of the country, the Iluka Rare Earths refinery in Eneabba in Western Australia. But it is difficult and we are working on this all the time. As the Prime Minister said, we work on this through the rooms here behind us and we're diligently going through it, because it is, as you say, a really important deposit that will make an important difference to the supply of rare earths into the global supply chain.

JOURNALIST: Minister, what are you actually doing about it other than looking into it?

MINISTER KING: Well, we have to work through these things because it is, international interests are involved. There have been court cases, as you've heard, there have been decisions of a Supreme Court, and as I said, that those decisions have been disregarded is a serious matter. So, there are options. We have to look at this carefully. I'm not going to take you through everything we're discussing. That would be inappropriate. But we are working on it. Well, you shake your head, but we know this has to be, this is a deposit that should be developed. It's an Australian asset. It sits within our country and we're working on measures within the Government's remit to make sure that that will happen.

JOURNALIST: The Minister said a few weeks ago that she was open to nationalisation of Northern Minerals. What's your view on that?

PRIME MINISTER: That we're working these issues through and that we recognise that this is important. We have enormous resources under the ground. We need to not just dig them up and export them as well, one of the things that today is about is to make sure that we maximise value from it for our national interest. That is what the Gas Reservation Plan is about as well.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the International Criminal Court has said that it's incumbent on member nations to surrender Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits. Would Australia surrender Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to Australia to face war crimes?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm not aware of any visits that are planned.

JOURNALIST: PM, Governor Bullock in her statement yesterday referenced the AI build out, oil and also excess domestic demand, and she noted State and Federal Government spending. Do you concede that government spending is too high, is contributing to inflation and have you told your Ministers to find a new suite of savings as part of MYEFO?

PRIME MINISTER: No, well, aggregate demand consists of public and private. What we've seen as well, and the Reserve Bank Governor has confirmed this, is the increase in private demand is, has been much greater than what was anticipated. My Ministers are all not told, they understand and work together collectively. We understand pressures that are there on the Budget, which is why we've produced responsible budgets with considerable savings in not just our budgets, but in each of the economic statements that we've made. And while we're working through with MYEFO, isn't, yeah, it isn't, it's just a Budget update, but there will be like there have been in others, savings included there as well.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you have spoken about the global inflation challenge. The US Fed Reserve overnight has kept interest rates on hold, you know, Australians are facing down the barrel of another interest rate rise next week. The Reserve Bank has also noted that inflation was already a problem in Australia, interest rates were already going up before the Middle East war. So, why is it that the Australian economy doesn't seem to be able to absorb these shocks like its peers?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the fact is, what you didn't say was that the US increased its rates in September, as did Japan, as did Europe, as did the –

JOURNALIST: They haven’t had five –

PRIME MINISTER: As did the advanced economies around the world. When we came to office, inflation had a six in front of it. Had a six in front of it. And so this has been an ongoing challenge that we have. We have a challenge of making sure that we lift productivity, we want to boost the economy. We also – what you might like to look at, if you look at international comparisons that your question goes to, we have as a government, the lowest unemployment rate of any government in 50 years. But we have employment growth that's stronger than all or almost all of the G7. Unlike most of the advanced economies in recent years, including the time in which we've been in office, we haven't had a single negative quarter of growth. So, what we want to manage is getting inflation down. We don't want people to hurt on the way through, but we continue to engage constructively across the full suite of economic policies. But if you look at where we're positioned, whether it is workforce participation, employment, employment growth, economic growth, you know, we stack up very well with our competitors in, be they in the G7, with other major advanced economies. We continue to deal with the inflation challenge, but it is a challenge that has risen right around the world as a direct result of the issues in the Strait of Hormuz and in the Middle East.

JOURNALIST: Peter Costello, he has described our nation's economic problem as self-inflicted. He's pointed to government spending and regulation. Do you agree with that assessment? And are there any more tools you could be using to bring down our persistent inflation?

PRIME MINISTER: Has John Howard been critical of our government as well? I mean, seriously. You know, Peter Costello is a partisan participant. He's not an observer, he's not a commentator. I quite like Peter. I get on quite well with him, but I fully expect him, just as you know, there's breathtaking things – I'll make this prediction, when the election's on in 2028, there'll be a splash in a broadsheet which is, ‘Howard condemns Albanese Government’. Wait for it. Thanks very much.