Transcript – Joint Press Conference with the Hon Tony Abbott MHR and Ms Shannon Eeles – 7 May 2013

   THE HON TONY ABBOTT MHR
Leader of the Opposition

SENATOR MITCH FIFIELD
Shadow Minister for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector
Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate

MS SHANNON EELES
Little Learners Centre

TONY ABBOTT:

It’s terrific to be here at Little Learners. I want to thank Shannon Eeles, the youngsters and their parents for making myself and Mitch Fifield, the Shadow Minister for Disabilities so welcome today.

This is a great centre, a really great centre and it is offering hope and therapy to young kids who really need it. It is pretty obvious, talking and interacting with some of the youngsters at this centre that their lives are being transformed because of well-targeted evidence-based early intervention. I think all of us want to see centres like this supported through the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I respectfully say to the Prime Minister that Australia is ready for a National Disability Insurance Scheme but we want to go forward together towards a National Disability Insurance Scheme that we can all be proud of and that is a scheme which is fully funded and which appropriately covers the kinds of significant disabilities that are found in the Australian community. It must suitably cover early intervention and it must suitably cover serious functional impairment and these are the kind of details that I hope the Prime Minister will be candid about in the next few weeks as the parliament resumes and considers further legislation for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

From the beginning, the Coalition has been eager to work with the Government constructively on this. That will always be our position on the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Should we win the election, the bipartisan committee that we have been calling for from the beginning will be a reality because this is a scheme that has got to belong to the whole Australian people. This is a scheme which has got to be the product of the whole of the Australian parliament. It cannot, should not, must not be a trophy for one or other side of politics. It has got to be something that belongs to everyone and that is why I am so determined to work constructively with the Government here and why I do respectfully say to the Prime Minister she owes it to the Australian people, she owes it to the parliament to have a scheme which is fully funded and which is as clearly delineated as something like this can be.

I am going to ask Mitch to say a few words then Shannon may want to say something about the work of this centre and the success that it is having, then we will take questions on the NDIS and then I might let Shannon excuse herself if she wishes and Mitch and I will take questions on other subjects. Mitch over to you first and then Shannon.

MITCH FIFIELD:

Thanks Tony and thank you to Shannon and the staff at Little Learners for making Tony and myself so welcome here and thank you also to the parents of the kids here for taking the time to tell their stories about how they have identified the needs that their kids have and how they have set about trying to give their kids the best possible opportunities they can. I think Little Learners really encapsulates the need for the NDIS, particularly the need for early intervention. If you have appropriate early intervention, you give kids the best chance of a full life and you also through that investment, will save the taxpayer and parents money over time. The Coalition has been at pains to keep the NDIS beyond the partisan fray, we have supported each milestone along the road to the NDIS and we propose the establishment of a joint parliamentary committee chaired by both sides of politics to help lock in that bipartisanship but also to provide a forum where issues of design can be worked out.

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister hasn’t taken up that offer to date. I hope that she does. That would be a good and positive thing but in the absence of having had the opportunity to work alongside the government with the details, we rely on what the government have said publicly as to who will be eligible for the NDIS. The primary legislation which has passed the parliament does have a broad outline of the eligibility of the NDIS but the Government have yet, to date, released the full NDIS rules, the regulations, and the Government have yet to release the NDIS assessment tool. Now, assessment tools and rules aren’t a theoretical exercise, they’re not a theoretical mechanism if you’re a parent of a child with a disability or if you’re an adult with a disability. They are fundamental to determining the sort of support you have and also the sort of opportunities that you will have in your life. So, we do, with the greatest of respect and in a cooperative spirit, ask the Government to release those details now.

TONY ABBOTT:

Shannon?

SHANNON EELES:

Thank you, thank you everybody and I can speak about our centre and Autism and here the kids are achieving amazing, incredible things beyond possibly what most people think is possible for kids on the Autism spectrum. For every one child that we have here, there are many, many more that are missing out on intervention. Many of our kids will go on to mainstream school and beyond that, into jobs that they choose and I think the one thing about autism and the one thing you feel here is a great sense of hope and this Autism should be a diagnosis that is swimming in hope and unfortunately right now all many families get to experience is grief and loss and despair because their children don’t have access to the services that they so desperately need. So, an NDIS, great! We are incredibly excited about it, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity but what we really need to know is what does that mean for the kids that we work with, what does that mean for the families that we work with and is it going to give them more than they currently have? Because what they currently have is not enough.

TONY ABBOTT:

Thanks Shannon, thank you so much. Alright, do we have any questions on NDIS issues?

QUESTION:

How will you determine who will be eligible within the Autism range? 

TONY ABBOTT: 

Well, this is where we have to have appropriate tools for assessing who can benefit from early intervention and who has significant functional impairment. These are things that need serious expert consultation. I presume the Government has been doing this behind the scenes over the last two years since they had the Productivity Commission’s report. But I do think it is time for the Government to now take the Australian people, take the Australian Parliament into its confidence and share with us the outcome of the work that they have been doing with the experts over the last two years.

QUESTION:

How would you fund the NDIS?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, it has to be fully funded and in the end, the best way to ensure a sustainable National Disability Insurance Scheme is to have a strong economy. That is why I keep stressing that the sooner we get back to a position of strong surplus, the better for everyone. Less pressure on taxes, less pressure on borrowings, more money available for the services that Australians really need. In the short-term, of course we are prepared to support the levy but the levy is only necessary because of the difficult budgetary position that this Government has put us in.

QUESTION:

Would it be the same levy that the Government’s proposing?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, the Government is proposing a levy, the Coalition has invited the Government to bring the levy to the Parliament. Depending upon the legislation, we will be prepared to support that levy but what we need from the Government is a clear path back to surplus and more detail as to exactly what the National Disability Insurance Scheme is to going to cover and at the moment we have got a situation where the levy will cover about 40 per cent of the needed funding, that is great, but if you have only got half the funding, you only have got half the scheme. We would like to see where the additional funding is coming from to make the scheme work.

QUESTION:

Does that mean you are hedging your bets in terms of supporting the NDIS?

TONY ABBOTT:

No, it is not. It’s not. We are saying that it has got to be a fair dinkum NDIS. It can’t just be a ponied up NDIS to take to an election. It has got to be something which is a real achievement, that the Australian people can be proud of and, as I have said from the beginning where the NDIS is concerned, I want to work constructively with the Government. I don’t think anyone who has watched Mitch’s work or my work over the last few years, including just last week riding more than 1,000km for Carers Australia, could seriously doubt our commitment to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Ok well look, thank you Shannon, thank you so much. Ok, look if I could just have a little pause.

Now, just if I may before coming to questions, can I just make a couple of points about the Budget. This is a Government which is constantly getting it wrong when it comes to the Budget. Every other day now the Government is further estimating the extent of revenue losses and every other day the Government is rewriting commitments that were cast in stone just a few weeks or months ago. To take for instance last year’s Budget commitment to increase the Family Tax Benefit part A, what was then a rock solid commitment and a stick with which to beat the Opposition mercilessly has now been dropped. So it didn’t survive from one budget to the next, even though it was supposed to be the absolute product of the mining boom which no longer exists in quite the same form, thanks in part to the policies of this Government. The mining tax first of all was supposed to fund a cut in company tax, that never happened. Then it was supposed to fund an increase in family tax benefit, that is not going to happen. The basic problem here is that you simply can’t trust this Government. It is incompetent and untrustworthy, particularly when it comes to matters to do with the Federal Budget. Ok, are there any questions?

QUESTION:

On the paid parental leave scheme Alex Hawke says his Coalition colleagues want to discuss it further in the Party Room. Will you allow that?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, any member of the Coalition backbench is entitled to raise any subject at any time in the party room. But I do have to say that this is a policy commitment that we made more than three years ago. We took it to the last election. It’s been reiterated time and time again since then. Of course we will introduce it in a way which is prudent and responsible, given the state of the Budget but nevertheless, this is a scheme that we are fully committed to.

The other point I should make is that paid parental leave should be a workplace entitlement, not a welfare one. When a woman takes leave because she’s having a baby, she should be paid at her wage, just as if a bloke takes leave to go on holidays, he should be paid at his wage. If a bloke takes leave because he is sick, he should be paid at his wage. If a woman takes leave because she is having a baby, she should be paid at her wage. So, this is a question of wage justice. It is a question of justice for families. It is also a question of fairness in our economy because if we want to have a truly productive economy, we cannot afford not to make use of some of its most productive members and younger women are in the prime of life and they should be able not just to have kids but to have careers. Paid parental leave is the best way to ensure that the women of modern Australia, the families of modern Australia, can combine family with career and I say again to my own colleagues, as well as to the wider community, our fair dinkum paid parental leave scheme is a sign that the Coalition gets it when it comes to the reality for modern women and the reality for modern Australian families. We do not educate women to higher degree level to deny them a career. If we want women of that calibre to have families, and we should, we have got to give them a fair dinkum chance to do so. That is what this scheme of paid parental leave is all about. It is long overdue. I am proud that the Coalition has come swiftly into the 21^st century where this is concerned.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott do you have a timeline yet of when you will be able to introduce such a scheme, like an exact timeline?

TONY ABBOTT:

We will provide all of those details in good time before the next election. It will happen within the first term of an incoming Coalition government but it will happen in a way which is consistent with budget responsibility. Let’s remember that this scheme is not being paid for by the individual businesses because if it was that would disadvantage women in the work place. It would disadvantage, in particular, small businesses or businesses which have a preponderance of female employees. It is being paid for by a modest levy on large businesses. Only one in 200 businesses will pay the levy. We want to help them by introducing it with a concurrent company tax cut. We are looking at the figures because we know this is a difficult budgetary situation and we will do it in a way which is consistent with budget responsibility. We will certainly do it in a way which is consistent with budget responsibility but it will happen within the first term of an incoming Coalition government.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, will those businesses be able to claim franking credits?

TONY ABBOTT:

Sorry?

QUESTION:

Will those businesses that are paying that levy be eligible to claim franking credits?

TONY ABBOTT:

The normal tax system will continue.

QUESTION:

But there has been dissent in the Party on this plan. There are calls for the Coalition to dump it before the election so it’s a promise that you don’t have to take to the election. Why so much dissent on this issue?

TONY ABBOTT:

I don’t accept the basis of your question because, as I said, it has been fully discussed in the Party Room. We had a long, long discussion about this back in, I think, March of 2010. We took it to the 2010 election. I regard it as one of the signature policies, as I said, a sign that the Coalition gets it when it comes to the realities of the modern Australian woman and the modern Australian family which invariably needs more than one income to get by. We have taken it to an election and it has been to the Party Room, of course people are free to raise it again if they wish, but believe me, this is an important reform and it will be a signature reform of an incoming Coalition government.

QUESTION:

How are you going to get those MPs who are speaking out against it to sing from the same song sheet then if they are not campaigning for it come election time?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, they will be campaigning, all of them, for the election of a Coalition government because they understand that if you want honest and competent government in this country, there has to be a change. They understand if you want policies which boost productivity and participation and prosperity, there has got to be a change. They all understand that. Now, we are not a Stalinist party. We never have been. Members of the backbench are free from time to time to speak their mind and one or two of them have done that over the last couple of days but in the end, they all understand that we are a team and we’ll go to the election as a united team.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, just in response to Indonesia’s interest in buying cattle stations in Australia. I guess, do you have a view on that and would the Coalition if in government launch an investigation into that?

TONY ABBOTT:

What I want to do is have the strongest possible relationship with Indonesia, including the strongest possible economic relationship with Indonesia. One of the catastrophic blunders of the current government was the arbitrary suspension of the live cattle export trade in panic at a television programme which has done incalculable damage to our relationship with Indonesia as well as massive damage to agricultural exports in the beef industry right around the country. So, I want those live cattle exports booming again and I’m very happy to work with the Indonesians in whatever way I reasonably can to ensure that that happens.

QUESTION:

Do you think they are deliberately suppressing the price of the cattle stations in Australia so that they can buy them at the lowest possible price?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, I think that the Government’s catastrophic blunder in suspending the live cattle trade has certainly depressed the prices of cattle properties in northern Australia and if we can get the trade going again, that is obviously good for the prices of property.

QUESTION:

Can I ask about Gonski? Can you clarify what the Coalition will do with the arrangements that have been signed with NSW and other states if they have before the election?

TONY ABBOTT:

You say Gonski. Well, there is no national scheme. There is no national agreement. There is a deal which has been cobbled together behind closed doors with one state. No one knows the details. Show me the details, then we will be in a position to respond.

QUESTION:

So, if there are agreements for extra funding to flow to the states what would you do with them in government?

TONY ABBOTT:

In the end the whole thing has got to be sustainable and this Government needs to demonstrate exactly where the money is coming from. Our position is that in a perfect world, of course there’d be more money for schools but we live in the real world and in the real world there are lots of things that would improve schools that don’t involve massive new injections of money. We need better teachers, we need better teaching methods, we need more principle autonomy, we need more community involvement, we need higher standards and stronger curricular. These are the things that are really necessary in schools and an incoming Coalition government will be glad to work with the states to bring this about. What we won’t do is try to bully the states into signing up to agreements that haven’t been fully thought through.

QUESTION:

Can I just ask you just about the state Budget handed down today, it looks like a healthy surplus. What’s your response to some of the, they haven’t said all the detail yet but what’s your response to that?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, of course, I haven’t seen the detail but I am confident that it will be a good state Budget because I have confidence in Denis Napthine, Michael O’Brien and the team. I know they have had difficulties to grapple with, like the Gillard Government’s cuts to hospitals. Serious difficulties to grapple with but I am confident that Victoria’s state finances are in the best possible hands. I am also confident that the state Budget will give us a clear path forward for the East West Link which is the most important bit of infrastructure that Melbourne, in particular, but Victoria in general, needs right now.

Thank you.