Tony Abbott Doorstop Mackay - Paid parental leave, Afghanistan, Marine protection areas

27/07/10

Subjects: Marine protection areas; a ring road for Mackay; the Coalition’s paid parental leave scheme; Afghanistan; MPs briefing journalists; comment on Government’s suicide prevention announcement.

E&OE

TONY ABBOTT:

I’m very pleased to be here on the Mackay waterfront, one of the major fish wholesalers and retailers. I’m here with the Shadow Minister for Agriculture John Cobb and the Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries Richard Colbeck. I’m also here with George Christensen, who is our candidate for Dawson. Mackay is obviously the biggest centre in Dawson. I have two announcements to make today, one of national significance, one of regional and perhaps national significance.

But the first announcement I make is that the Coalition in government will immediately suspend the marine protection area process, which is threatening the livelihoods of many people in the fishing industry, many people in the tourism industry, and which is threatening to lock up our oceans. Now, all of us want to see appropriate environmental protection, but man and nature have to live together. And it’s very important that we don’t do anything as a government that unreasonably threatens the livelihood of the fishing industries and the tourism industries upon which so much of Australia depends.

Under the Government’s marine protection area process the whole of Australia’s coastal waters, right around our continent from the three mile limit to the edge of the 200 mile economic zone, are potentially subject to these marine protection area orders. And they can range right up to a no-take zone, which obviously would be extremely damaging for our fishing and tourism industries which rely on these waters being reasonably open and available. This process did begin under the Coalition. Under the Coalition the south-eastern fishing zone was declared, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was declared. But environmental protection under the Coalition was achieved without damaging the livelihood of these very important industries.

So we would immediately suspend the process, we would open serious consultation with the affected people and industries. We would not make any marine protection area declarations without proper consultation with all the affected parties, and without ensuring that all the affected parties could reasonably continue to enjoy their livelihoods. This is a very important issue right around Australia. It’s not been much in the major metropolitan media, but certainly this is an issue which is deeply troubling regional Australia, and it’s deeply troubling a whole lot of people who enjoy fishing. And they deserve a fair go from government, and that’s what they will get from an incoming Coalition government.

I’m going to ask John Cobb and then Richard Colbeck to say a few words on this issue.

JOHN COBB:

Thank you, Tony. Basically, Peter Garrett and the Labor Government decided they wanted to put in marine parks, and then they thought of reasons and excuses why they should do that. Our approach is the opposite, make sure that the science is good, that the process is good, and only do what is sustainable for the Australian fishing industry and the whole, be it professional or recreational, that depends on it. Richard Colbeck is the person with the detail, and I’ll ask Richard to put that to you.

RICHARD COLBECK:

Thanks John, thanks Tony. The fundamental focus of this policy is to put recreational and commercial fishermen back in the frame as far as the consultation process is concerned. They have been completely and utterly disenfranchised under the process that Peter Garrett has been running. Only last week I heard that there are already lines on maps that that have been drawn within the areas for further assessment, and that the displacement policy’s effectively been decided and being held over until after the election. This is not a fair process, so what we are going to do is put fisherman back into the game, along with the environment. We, as Tony said, started the marine protected area process while we were in government back in the 90s, and established the first parks in the south-east in 2005 and 2006.

So what we’ll be doing is we’ll be establishing discussion groups in each of the four zones that are being considered, and so those bi-regional panels will consider all the advice. We’ll be putting all the science on the table, so everybody has access to the science. And at the end of the process we’ll have a joint process where the minister for the environment and the minister for fisheries has the opportunity for the final sign-off. So that the fishing sector actually has someone advocating on their behalf as part of this process. I think it’s important to remember that we have very, very sustainable fisheries in this country. We have some of the best managed fisheries in the world. And that process needs to be overlaid with the marine planning process. It’s not being considered at the moment, and it should be, and so all of those things need to be considered as part of this overall process.

TONY ABBOTT:

Ok, thanks. Now, I have another announcement to make. An incoming Coalition government would put $30 million towards the beginning of the construction of the Mackay bypass. Mackay is not just a great regional city, it is the gateway to one of our most important mining areas. So the infrastructure of Mackay is important, not just for local people, it’s important for our export industries as well. At the moment some 1,500 heavy trucks trundle through Mackay every day. This bypass will take the trucks off the road. It will also give them more efficient access to the port, and from the port back to the great mining areas of the hinterland. This is not a review, this is a decision to start the construction process. $30 million will be spent on design, preliminary engineering works, and land acquisition. Mackay will get its bypass. It will start in the coming financial year, $30 million will be spent over the following three years. George Christensen, the local candidate and a member of Mackay City Council, has obviously been a strong advocate, along with just about everyone else in Mackay, for this bypass. And I’m happy to say that the Coalition has heeded the pleas of the people of Mackay, and they will get their bypass under a Coalition government. George.

GEORGE CHRISTENSEN:

Yes, thanks very much Tony. That is such a welcome announcement. It is something that is desperately needed for this community. The ring road is something that we’ve been talking about for ages and ages, with all the money and wealth that’s been coming out of this region, we just have not seen that fair share by the Government back. This is a commitment to do the ring road, to actually start the works to get it to the point where bitumen can be poured on the ground and that is so welcome, Tony, I’ve got to say that the people on our northern beaches will be particularly happy because this will be basically a congestion buster. When this is done, the traffic jams will cease in Mackay and mate, I got to thank you very much for that.

TONY ABBOTT:

Thanks so much George. Ok, now just a couple of other brief observations before I take questions. It’s pretty obvious that the Government knew all along that its policies were making Australia a magnet for boat people. So the Government has been fundamentally dishonest with the Australian people. The Government received official advice that its policies were attracting boat people to our country, all along, denying that this was in fact that case. Now, I say to the Prime Minister, if she is fair dinkum about stopping the boats, you’ve got to have offshore processing in a third country. Pick up the phone to the President of Nauru. Both sides of politics in Nauru want the Australian-built taxpayer-funded detention centre re-opened. We can have offshore processing in a third country within a matter of weeks if the Prime Minister would pick up the phone to the President of Nauru, and I call upon her to do so.

The other point I want to make is about paid parental leave. Look, the Coalition’s paid parental leave scheme is good for our economy. Labor’s great big new taxes are bad for our economy. Simple as that. The Coalition’s paid parental leave scheme will put money in the pockets of struggling families. Labor’s great big new taxes will still take money out of the pockets of struggling families. And I’ve got to say, listening to Labor’s attack over the last 24 hours, they don’t take the needs of Australian families seriously.

QUESTION:

[inaudible] …that you have strode up to this lectern, you wouldn’t tell us anything about your policies until you started speaking. You wouldn’t give us a copy of this. Are you afraid that we’ll find out more information about it? What’s the problem?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, I’m very happy with the policy that I’ve announced today and I’m happy to take questions on it.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, you’ve got your daughter Louise with you here today, campaigning with you in Mackay. This is the fourth day in a row that you’ve had a family member campaigning with you. Do you think that your family is the secret to your success? Do you think that campaigning with female members of your family will make a difference to voters?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, I’m just really pleased to have Louise with me today. It’s great to have her on the campaign trail. She won’t be on the campaign trail all the time, but I’m just so thrilled to have her with me today.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, why have you changed your PPL policy, originally it was just on the primary carer’s, the principal carer’s pay but now it’s got to be on a woman’s pay. Why have you done that?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, we haven’t changed our policy and let me just make it very clear. Our policy is a fair dinkum paid parental leave scheme that gives mothers their full wage, up to $150,000 a year, for six months. So if you want fair dinkum paid parental leave, the Coalition is the only side of politics that are offering it and the beauty of paid parental leave is that it’s very good for mothers, it’s very good for women, it’s very good for families and ultimately, it’s very good for our economy as well.

QUESTION:

What about fathers though? Shouldn’t they, if they’re earning more, shouldn’t they be get, whatever is owed to them?

TONY ABBOTT:

Under our scheme, fathers would get two weeks at their wage. If they want to take more time off, they can, but it would be at the mother’s wage, because this is fundamentally designed to allow women time to bond with their newborns. All of the expert advice is that it is best if mothers spend at least six months with their newborns. Now, I know in some families, it’s better for the father to do it, for a whole range of reasons, but what we are fundamentally trying to do is to establish the right conditions, the best conditions, for happy families that aren’t under financial pressure.

QUESTION:

So it is backflipping though. I mean, there’s so many comments saying that, from the Coalition, saying that it was going to be on the principal carer’s wage, not on the mother’s wage. So it is backflipping.

TONY ABBOTT:

No, this policy, this is the policy that we’ve always had in mind and as I said, our intention is to do the right thing by Australian families, the right thing by Australian women and ultimately, the best thing for the Australian economy.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, can I ask two questions please. Completely unrelated. The first is, at the start of the campaign you said that this would be a fair and clean fight from your side. Why are there senior Liberals briefing journalists about Julia Gillard’s childless and unmarried state and that that might be a negative for her. My second question relates to what we’ve seen regarding the leaking of the documents in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Do we now need to reassess our strategy in Afghanistan and what we’re doing there, given that?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, let me make it very clear that I totally support the Australian military effort in Afghanistan. It is vital to our country’s security that Afghanistan not become a safe haven for terrorism. Afghanistan was the training base for some of the Bali bombers. It was the training base for most of the September 11 bombers. We have got to ensure that Afghanistan does not become a safe haven for terrorism. I fully support the Australian troop commitment in Afghanistan.

On the other issue, I think that people should be judged in this election on their policies and on their competence. They are the only considerations that should be at stake. Family status shouldn’t be at stake. Gender shouldn’t be at stake. It’s simply the policies and the competence which are the issues in this campaign.

QUESTION:

So who is instructing the Liberal MP briefing journalists about that?

TONY ABBOTT:

I just want to make it absolutely crystal clear. That as far as I am concerned, the only issues in this campaign are the competing policies of the Government and the Coalition, and the competing competence of the Prime Minister and her team, and me and my team.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, your candidate there spoke about returning some of the wealth of this area to the area itself, it’s very reminiscent of the sales pitch of the Government on the mining tax. If that mining tax were to survive, you say you will rescind that tax. Wouldn’t areas like Mackay get much more money for ring roads and also for infrastructure?

TONY ABBOTT:

The mining tax is gouging the mining areas, it’s not returning money to the mining areas. I mean, the mining tax is singling out Australia’s most successful industry for penalty treatment. It’s punishing Australia’s most successful industry in a way which will ultimately be bad for all Australians because if we want more investment and more jobs in the mining industry, we can’t impose on our mining industry the highest tax rates in the world, and even the Government’s revised mining tax will still give Australia the highest mining tax rates in the world which is why many miners are very unhappy with what they think was a sneaky, deceptive, dishonourable deal that the Government cooked up, in panic, at the last minute with just three big companies. This issue has not been fixed.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, can you lay out a clear economic argument why your tax on big companies won’t push up grocery prices and therefore won’t fuel inflation?

TONY ABBOTT:

My paid parental leave scheme is going to be good for the economy. Labor’s great big new tax on everything will be bad for the economy. My scheme will put money into people’s pockets. Their scheme will rip money out of people’s pockets.

QUESTION:

[inaudible] affect inflation and grocery prices?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, the point I make is that just a few weeks ago, the Government itself was telling us that profits-based taxes do not impact on prices, so I just refer people to the arguments that Wayne Swan and Ken Henry were making just a few weeks ago.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, on the bypass funding, if the money’s for construction, how will the route be determined and how will nearby landholders be consulted?

TONY ABBOTT:

My understanding, and I’ll ask George for more on this, but my understanding is that we accept, in broad terms, the plan which has been put together by Mackay City Council. Now, they’ve done an enormous amount of work on this. They estimate that stage one of the construction process will cost $27 million. That’s why we’ve allocated $30 million to the process, to cover stage one and to make a modest allowance for inflation. If you have anything to add to that George?

GEORGE CHRISTENSEN:

I think that most of that work in terms of the detailed design, and where the route will actually go will be determined by Main Roads, basically, but there is a preferred alignment, I suppose and Main Roads will do all of that other work that needs to be done as these things normally go like that.

QUESTION:

Mr Abbott, Labor says that paying for paid parental leave will push prices up by 50 cents for every $100 spent on groceries. Is that correct?

TONY ABBOTT:

As I said, paid parental leave will be good for our economy. Labor’s great big new taxes on everything will be bad for our economy. Paid parental leave puts money into families’ pockets. Labor’s great big new taxes on everything rip money out of families’ pockets.

QUESTION:

[inaudible] from Western Australia were going to adopt a child, would the primary carer get 26 weeks’ pay?

TONY ABBOTT:

As I said, our paid parental leave scheme is designed to give women a fair go, give families a fair go and to give the economy the best possible go.

QUESTION:

[inaudible] the question, Mr Abbott, on whether you agree with that modelling. Will it put grocery prices up by that much?

TONY ABBOTT:

I haven’t seen the modelling and not having seen the modelling, obviously I can’t possibly comment on it.

QUESTION:

[inaudible] What would the gay couple, what would the gay couple in WA, what would they receive under your paid parental leave scheme?

TONY ABBOTT:

Adoption is a matter of state law and my understanding is that the scenario that you’re putting to me can’t normally happen under state law.

QUESTION:

[inaudible] on your PPL policy. So if the mother is the higher wage earner, is it still set at her wage?

TONY ABBOTT:

That’s right.

QUESTION:

Can we get your reaction to Julia Gillard’s suicide prevention announcement?

TONY ABBOTT:

Look, thanks for asking me about that. It’s a very important issue and obviously, in broad terms, I’m pleased to see the Government doing more in this area. I obviously would want to see the detail of their announcement before I make any specific comment. But I do think that the Government still has a lot to do in the area of mental health and I regret to say that it seems that yet again, the Government has been meeting with mental health experts but not actually acting on their concerns. Kevin Rudd spent a lot of time talking to mental health experts but didn’t deliver for them, and it seems that Julia Gillard, like Kevin Rudd, she talks but she doesn’t deliver. Thank you.