CANBERRA, ACT, March 20 -- The Prime Minister of Australia issued the following media release:
EDDIE HUGHES, STATE MEMBER FOR GILES:It's great to have the Prime Minister here in Whyalla today at the Steelworks. Just over a year ago, there was a massive intervention here in Whyalla to rescue the Steelworks, to provide a future for Whyalla and to provide a future for sovereign steel manufacturing in our nation. As a measure of what has happened and the confidence in the future, there are now 76 apprentices working throughout the facility here in Whyalla. So, that is great news. Over a year ago, unprecedented intervention has made a massive difference. So, an incredibly warm welcome for the Prime Minister and what he achieved, along with the Premier Peter Malinauskas, and a whole heap of other people doing the right thing by this community. So, congratulations there, Prime Minister. Over to you.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER:Well, thanks very much, Eddie, and it's fantastic to be back here in Whyalla at the Steelworks and to be here with Minister Tim Ayres and back here with Eddie. A year ago, I stood here with Mali, the Premier of South Australia. And we committed to saving the Steelworks, saving jobs and saving this town. This Steelworks is the centre of this community when it comes to the economy, when it comes to everything that it contributes. But it's also such an important piece of national infrastructure that contributes to our national economy. A year ago, this was a vulnerable community, but we have ensured now that this is not only continuing to exist, it's having record steel making in recent times, but has a very bright future. There were a range of bidders to take over the Steelworks here and we've narrowed those down. And in coming months we'll work through to make sure that we get the right fit, the first time, and to make sure that this Steelworks has the future which it deserves, because we need to make more things here in Australia. If there's a lesson once again, we're being reminded of by what is happening with the Middle East conflict and the pressures that are on the global economy, is that we need an Australian economy that's more resilient. We need an Australian economy in which we make more things here. We need an Australian economy in which we train and skill up Australians for the jobs that are available here, and the jobs of the future. This Steelworks here had five apprentices when we were here a year ago. Today it has 76. It has a major contribution as well for the contractors who depend upon this, not just the directly employed workforce, but for all the services that come out of this Steelworks for the local community as well.
The Steelworks is safer and stronger because of the intervention and it's taken two Labor Government to do that, the Federal Labor Government working with the Malinauskas Labor Government in South Australia, making sure that we are delivering for working people, delivering by saving the Steelworks, but also delivering through the other measures that we've taken: making sure that people get a fair crack, the tax cuts that we've delivered for every worker who is here, the Free TAFE which is benefiting and encouraging people to undertake those apprenticeships, the $10,000 incentives for electrical and construction which is making a difference as well. All of these measures are contributing to this local economy here in regional South Australia, but importantly as well, contributing to our national security. That is why locally made steel is absolutely essential. And we were determined to not just sit back and watch things happen through markets that simply don't work. We were determined to intervene and to make sure that governments looked after people. And that's why tomorrow I certainly hope that Peter Malinauskas gets the result that he deserves, because he deserves to be re-elected as Premier of South Australia with people like Eddie as an important part of his team as we go forward. I'll hand over to Tim Ayres and then we'll take some questions.
TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY & INNOVATION:Really, I just want to say three things. Firstly, the Prime Minister is absolutely right. It's only because Labor Government., the Labor government of Peter Malinauskas here in South Australia and the Labor Government led by the most pro-manufacturing Prime Minister Australia has ever had, intervened here to secure Australia's sovereign steel making that we are all here today. I remember what it was like. I remember how tough it was. I spoke to Max's Services earlier on. He had a draw full of redundancy notices that kept him up at night in the weeks leading up to this decision. Now, he has a draw full of employment notifications, buying new plants and equipment. So, confidence not just here, but confidence in the supply chain and in the contractors right through this community. The second thing I wanted to say was thank you to all of you. This is a historic intervention in Australia steel making that was made 12 months ago. But it's you all - workers, apprentices, suppliers, contractors, trade unions, management, working together to secure the Steelworks, to make them safer, to make them more productive and to make them stronger for the future, that gives the two governments a platform to work upon here. And finally, I wanted to say thanks to Eddie for the advocacy and the work that he did in the lead up, in the lead up to this intervention. It's work of local members like Eddie Hughes that has real consequence. It's only a Labor local member fighting for his community, working With a Labor State Government and a Labor Albanese Federal Government that delivers the results here. Forgive me for a partisan message, but back this bloke and back him hard tomorrow because he deserves your support and he will keep on fighting for you. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER:Thanks very much. Just before I take some questions, I want to make some brief comments about Cyclone Narelle which has crossed the Queensland coast north of Cooktown in Far North Queensland. This is a category 4 cyclone as it crosses the coast. That means 250 kilometre winds which, when I spoke with Premier David Crisafulli this morning, had not caused up to that point any damage or any houses to be lost. There have been some sheds and facilities that have been damaged and lost. We say again to people affected in this zone, please listen to authorities. If you're asked to leave and you go somewhere to be safe, follow the advice of those authorities. It's bringing with it massive amounts of rain.We've seen just in the Archer River in six hours at the spot where a bridge was recently built over that river, the waters rise from 5 metres to 13 metres in just six hours. That will give you some indication of how much water is coming down in those communities. So, if it's flooded, forget it. That is where we've seen a lot of loss of life and tragedies in the past. So, please be ready if you're in that region to reenact your emergency plans. I of course offered, as we always do, our support to the Queensland government. We'll work together across the three levels of government to support those communities who are doing it tough. It's expected that over the coming period, it'll cross the west coast into the Gulf of Carpentaria there, and this is a really difficult period as we go forward. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Last month when Peter Malinauskas was here, he said that the 12 bidders have dwindled to five. Can you confirm that that number has lowered or that it's dwindling further?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, we can confirm that there are five bidders, all of them are very serious, that it's been whittled down to. It says something about how good this product is, how good the workers are here and the skills that they bring to their day-to-day work, that you have five consortiums putting forward very serious bids because they want to run this operation.
JOURNALIST: BlueScope Steel has confirmed that they're still at table to take over the steelworks. How is the Government negotiating issues of sovereign capability with market compensation?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're making sure that we get this process right. Sovereign capability is absolutely critical. But we want to make sure that we get the right result out of this, that we do it just once, and that any successful bidder has to show that they plan for the long-term future of this amazing national asset. Anyone coming in here, and I think one of the reasons why there are these five serious bids, as I went around here this morning, I think some people who've worked here for more than a couple of decades, people who've been in this community their whole life, or people who've travelled from Australia or other parts of the world offering their skills and making a difference here. You have a ready-made, effective workforce here. You have good management, you have a real plan and a community as well that cherishes this as an asset. And so, this is a great investment which is why we have so much interest.
JOURNALIST: Overnight, key allies issued a joint statement expressing readiness to contribute appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Is Australia now out of step with key allies?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. We want to see the Strait of Hormuz open. We're offering support, have support on the ground in the region, including an E7 aircraft, including the AMRAAMs that we've supplied to the United Arab Emirates. And we're working with our allies, including once again calling for the Iranian regime to allow freedom of navigation. This is essential for international trade, and we again reiterate that call.
JOURNALIST: Could Australia be part of an insurance pool with other allies to get ships moving through the Straits?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll examine whatever we can do to provide assistance, but we are providing assistance in the region. We think this is absolutely critical. And again, we reiterate our calls for Iran to do the right thing and to allow for international passage to occur. Freedom of navigation is a fundamental principle, and we again call for a de-escalation.
JOURNALIST: Tomorrow, South Australians head to the polls. Would One Nation success in South Australia set off alarm bells for the major parties in Canberra? Will it pick up speed tomorrow?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I want to see is Eddie Hughes re-elected as Member for Giles. One of the things that we see here is the difference that government has made. Independents and fringe parties actually aren't parties of government. What they can do is wait for decisions to be made and then decide whether they support them or not. They can't actually lead and make decisions, and that's the difference. Peter Malinauskas leads a government that has truly led, that has saved the jobs, that has saved the steelworks, that's made a difference in South Australia across so many areas. That's building infrastructure right throughout the state that's protecting jobs, that's building homes, that's building hospitals and health facilities, that's working cooperatively. And that's why, if people want to make a difference tomorrow, they need to vote for a Labor government, a Labor government that's deserving of being re-elected. Led by someone who's a South Australian, not led by someone from Queensland who wants to tap into grievance but doesn't provide any solutions.
JOURNALIST: And we've heard this morning that you were at Lakemba. There was some heckling that went on there. What's your response to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh look, I've seen some of those reports and they're just simply not accurate. There were 30,000 people plus at Lakemba this morning. Overwhelmingly, the reception was incredibly positive. I walked through the crowd to the mosque and not a single person heckled. There were a couple of hecklers inside. They were dealt with. Contrary to what's been suggested, no one was rushed out. We just sat there. It was dealt with. It was dealt with by the community themselves because overwhelmingly they did not want that to occur. And I thank very much them for the invitation. It was about respect for a very important day, Eid, for the Muslim community there. I thanked them for the very warm reception that was occurred. Yes, there were a couple of people who are heckling. Some people don't like the fact that we've outlawed extremist organisations like this Hizb ut-Tahrir and that brought a response from a couple of people. But if you got a couple of people heckling in a crowd of 30,000, that should be put in that perspective.
JOURNALIST: Thank you and apologies, I'm going to circle back to Whyalla. Just on the issue of sovereign capability and market concentration, does one come above the other?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll assess all of those things in the proper way between us and the South Australian government and we're very confident that we will have a fantastic outcome.
JOURNALIST: Those are all my questions, thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: I can announce that next Tuesday, the head of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, a good friend of Australia, will be visiting Australia, visiting Canberra, and she will address the Parliament next Tuesday. That will be important because of our relationship with the European Union. Such an important market for Australian projects, whether it be manufactured goods or whether it be in agriculture or other issues as well. It will be an important opportunity. We are finalising trade negotiations at the moment. And with the uncertainty that's there in the global community, it says a lot that just a couple of weeks ago, we had the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney. Now we'll have the leader of Europe, Ursula von der Leyen addressing a joint sitting of Parliament next Tuesday. I very much look forward to meeting with Ursula von der Leyen. We have a great relationship, and next Tuesday will be a good day in the interest of Australia, but also in the interest of our friends in Europe, I think.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
