It's exciting this morning to be here at our beautiful State Library Station. And I'm joined by Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese and a number of our very proud Federal and State Labor colleagues. I have my state ministerial colleagues, Gabrielle Williams, who, of course, is the Minister responsible for the delivery of the Metro Tunnel project, Harriet Shing, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, strong, proud local members of Parliament in Sheena Watt, Sarah Connolly, Natalie Suleyman. And I've done that. I've got all of the State Labor team. Acknowledging our Federal Labor colleagues - our proud Member for Melbourne, Sarah Witty, and of course, Daniel Mulino, the Member for Fraser, as well. And we're here today as a strong, proud Labor team to mark an historic day for Melbourne and Victoria. A day where we can confirm that the Metro Tunnel will be opening early. It'll be opening on November 30. Not only is that earlier than we initially planned, it's a full year ahead of schedule. And this is such an important project for the future of our great city and state. And we can announce today the opening of the - confirm - what I know has been really looked forward to news by so many in our community. We can make this announcement today because we have received the confirmation and the sign off from the National Rail Safety Regulator around the compliance and safety requirements for this project. So it's ready to go, and over the next couple of weeks, the final touches will be put to that, to the timetable and the tunnel as we open the Metro Tunnel on November 30, with hundreds of additional services from November 30 that will be servicing communities across our city and state and of course, that will be running over the summer period as part of our summer start, before we make the big switch on the 1st of February, where 1,000 additional services will be added to our train timetable here in Victoria, a massive overhaul, an addition to our train timetable, because we've delivered the Metro Tunnel a full year ahead of schedule. And November 30 will be an historic day for another reason, it'll be the chance that Victorians will get the opportunity for the first time to come and experience for themselves as passengers the Metro Tunnel, not just the tunnel and the train ride, as the PM and I have just had - the experience of also too coming and seeing for themselves these beautiful, brand new train stations that have been constructed here in the city and the heart of the CBD of Melbourne, at Arden, Parkville, here at State Library, Town Hall Station and ANZAC, five new underground stations. They are architecturally beautiful, but they represent so much more than that. They represent vital connections for Victorians to go to work, to connect to universities, to go and visit people in hospitals, or indeed, work there as a nurse or as a cleaner. Importantly, this tunnel and these stations represent jobs and opportunities and connections. They represent the future of our great city and state. Now, of course, as we celebrate the opening here today, Victorians also won't forget that it was the Liberal Party here in Victoria who described this project as a hoax. Said it was a project that would divide our great city, and worse than that, they were cheering on while their Federal Liberal colleagues in Canberra ripped money out of this project, ripping money out of Victoria. Well, those funds that were taken away from Victoria had been delivered by Minister Anthony Albanese, and that's why I'm so proud to join with the Prime Minister here today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, to mark the completion and the opening of Metro Tunnel. This has taken a decade of vision and determination to deliver this project. It's also taken the skills and expertise of more than 7,000 workers, who we thank for that, but it's also taken a commitment by Labor Governments to get on and get these vital projects built. And in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Victoria has a true partner, someone who's equally committed to building the transport infrastructure our city and state needs to set us up for the future. We've got a great partner in Prime Minister Albanese in the Airport Rail project and the Sunshine Station project, where we've just departed from. So important for the future growth of train services to the Airport and to the western suburbs. The North East Link project, which is powering ahead in partnership with Anthony Albanese, and also the Suburban Rail Loop. So, PM I'm so thrilled that you could accept my invitation to join us here today. I know this project means a lot to you as well, given your commitment from the get-go to seeing this project delivered. I can't tell you the number of reports I've had to provide to the Prime Minister along the way. He's watched this project develop very closely, and I'm so thrilled that we can share with you today the opening of the Metro Tunnel, the marking of it starting on November 30th. And thank you for your partnership and commitment to Victoria.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks very much, Jacinta, and thank you to my friend, the Premier of Victoria, who if there have ever been two leaders of respectively a state and a nation who are infrastructure nerds, you are looking at us right here. This is a project which we have spoken about for more than a decade. And of course, the Federal Government, of which I was the Infrastructure Minister, we put $3 billion in the Budget for our support for the Melbourne Metro project because this was the key to unplugging the system. This was the key to growth. You couldn't do other things with the network unless you fixed this central congestion which was here. That is what the Metro will do. It opens up the opportunity for further investment, further expansion and the key to people getting around major cities around the world is always public transport, including this great city here of Melbourne. Since I've been Prime Minister, we are back in the game of working with Victoria rather than against Victoria. Tony Abbott ripped that $3 billion out of the Budget in 2014. It is a fact that we actually had the Assistant Secretary of my Department as a member of the Board of the Melbourne Metro project. That's how advanced it was. That the Commonwealth withdrew funding from this project, from Brisbane's Cross River Rail, from these rail projects around the country. And what that meant was a delay. This will be fantastic on November 30th, but it would have been opened years earlier had the money not been ripped out. This is such an exciting game changer. As we travelled in from Sunshine, speaking about Parkville, Arden, these new stations which will provide for as well an uplift in housing, housing for essential workers who work in the health precinct, who work or study at university here close to RMIT. The stop before close to Melbourne Uni there at Parkville. All of it meaning it is easier and more efficient to get around this great city of Melbourne as we go forward. And similarly, of course, the work that we're doing in partnership with Victoria on Suburban Rail Loop. We of course already have $9.2 billion invested. The Airport Link part of that project, $5 billion. $2 billion for the upgrade of Sunshine Railway Station, and $2.2 billion for ongoing work, the early works there on the Eastern section of the Suburban Rail Loop. And I can confirm today that there will be additional funding in our Budget in May for Suburban Rail Loop so that we can partner with Victoria. This is what we need in this great city of Melbourne in order to make sure that we allow people to get around this city easier as well, so that we can have affordable housing and increased housing density around rail stations. It's a part of our vision not just for transport, working with Victoria, but also for housing and how we deal with increased housing supply around public transport in particular. So that will be a fantastic thing that we will be able to work with Victoria. We've already been engaged considerably in looking at the works and the works that have been provided through Infrastructure Australia to make sure that we work in partnership with Victoria, as we have on so many projects, rail as well as road projects, as well as the work that we're doing in addressing housing supply right here in this great state of Victoria.
PREMIER ALLAN: Thanks, PM. Well thank you. And as I ask my ministerial colleague Gabrielle Williams, just to round out the discussions about the opening of the Metro Tunnel. Can I thank the PM for being here today. Thank him for that confirmation and commitment to the Suburban Rail Loop. We're here today marking the completion of a project that's taken a decade to deliver but sets us up for the future. And here we are already talking about continuing to build for the future because it's what Victorians want and expect to see from their Federal and State Governments working together, delivering the projects that are about jobs and opportunities for our communities into the future.
GABRIELLE WILLIAMS, VICTORIAN MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE: Thank you Premier, and thank you, Prime Minister. So wonderful to be here with such an incredible announcement about an early opening of the Metro Tunnel project. But to be here with a team of people who believed in this project from the beginning, who didn't think it was a hoax, who didn't doubt that we could open it this year. And here we are with accreditation from our National Rail Safety Regulator to open on November 30th. I've had pause to reflect at these before on how significant this project is. The reality is the City Loop is full. She has carried our community for a very long time and served the Victorian community very well. But she now has a sister in the Metro Tunnel to help her carry the load for the next 40 years, and we know how significant that is. As our community grows and changes to have the three busiest lines taken out of the City Loop and given their own dedicated tunnel means that we can continue to add services across our network for generations to come. These projects aren't easy, but this government has never shied away from a challenge. And even though when you start a project at this scale, knowing how long it's going to take, you know that you probably won't be the ones to get to cut the ribbon on it, you do it anyway because it's the right thing to do. Because if you don't invest in projects like this, you are opting to send your community backwards. And that was never on the cards for this Labor Government. So, I'm so proud that we are here with a very firm date of November 30th that we get to celebrate with Victorian community, with free public transport on weekends from the summer start on November 30th, to the big switch on the 1st of February. Encouraging all Victorians to get out there, explore this brand new piece of infrastructure. Check out the five brand new underground stations, learn what it means for your journey and of course, while we've been busy building these projects that secure our state's future for many generations to come, we've also been working hard to make sure that access to our public transport system is affordable. Delivering free public transport for kids under the age of 18 from January 1st, free public transport for seniors on weekends anywhere in the state, as well as, of course, that bonus and that thank you to the Victorian community for bearing with us over the summer period with free weekend travel. This is so exciting, this project and the importance of it should never be underestimated and only Labor builds those projects and looks to the future, keeping in mind not only what we need right here and now, but what future generations will need. And it's such a point of pride to be able to switch this project on early.
PRIME MINISTER: Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely. We've been working through these issues with Infrastructure Australia. I'm confirming that there will be additional funding in the Budget because Victoria needs that certainty going forward. We see that in order to have investment, you need certainty. And that's why the Coalition's ongoing talking to each other about the net zero abolition that is now their policy is an example of what happens when you don't have certainty, when you don't have a plan, when you just squabble. That's what happens. We build things, whether it be infrastructure in public transport or whether it be energy.
JOURNALIST: Are you prepared to say how much additional funding?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you'll have to wait and see for the Budget. We have Budgets for a reason, but we're working in partnership. We have had a range of discussions between the Premier and myself, but also between our Infrastructure Minister, Catherine King, a proud Victorian, and her counterparts. You know, when I was a minister, we got Regional Rail Link funded, now opened, made a difference. We had funding here for the Metro. I must say the National Rail Safety Regulator was also something that we did that the Coalition Government could never do, bringing together that efficiency in a single unit. And Infrastructure Australia, of course, is also a proud Labor creation. That is what Labor Governments do. And Labor Governments at their best work collaboratively with state and national governments in the interests of our people.
JOURNALIST: Are you able to confirm the rough funding split or whether you've agreed to a funding split?
PRIME MINISTER: We can confirm that there'll be additional money in the Budget in May of 2026.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is the Federal Government committed to the Airport Rail? And if yes, how soon would you like to see it completed?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes. And we've got $5 billion committed to that as part of SRL. SRL, importantly, will benefit the entire network and the entire city of Melbourne. This very much is a part of well, as well, of opening up the possibilities of expansion. If you didn't do Metro, then the system was going to continue to be congested, which is why it was absolutely essential and all three eastern capitals had the same issue, had congestion in their inner areas that had been ignored for a long period of time. We've done work in each of the cities to make sure that that was dealt with in Sydney. Credit where credit's due, the Liberal Government in New South Wales did invest and did substantial work on, on the Metro. Unfortunately, in Victoria and Queensland, we saw the combination of funds being ripped out that were allocated by the former Labor Government of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, and that led ;to a delay. They should have been up and open much earlier. It's great that it will be though on November 30th.
JOURNALIST: Do you feel a sense of obligation to be funding Airport Rail and SRL because we were dudded so badly on Metro?
PRIME MINISTER: I feel a sense of obligation to do the right thing by Victorians, as I feel an obligation to be Prime Minister for the whole country, not just for Sydney. I think that's one of the issues. I've been to Victoria now more than 70 times as Prime Minister in three and a half years. I'm a regular visitor here. I'll be here today. Here tomorrow. I'm a regular visitor to the regions in Victoria as well. I see my obligation as supporting good government across the board. I do that regardless of the politics of issues. We're working with the Tasmanian Government and Victoria, for example, on Marinus Link. That will be really exciting bringing renewable energy to Victoria and expanding the clean energy agenda that we have in partnership with Jacinta's Government and the Rockliff Government.
JOURNALIST: Just on that additional funding, is it for SRL East, not SRL Airport?
PRIME MINISTER: We have already allocated in the Budget, as I said, $9.2 billion for SRL already. This is additional funding. So we have $5 billion for the Airport section, $2 billion for Sunshine Station, the upgrade there, something that Daniel Mulino was particularly pleased about. And $2.2 billion for the early work in the Eastern section.
JOURNALIST: There's been commentary that hosting the COP Summit next year would cost more than $2 billion. Is that accurate? And if not, how much will it cost?
PRIME MINISTER: No well commentary is commentary. You know, people plucking figures, you know, from who?
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, yeah. Sorry. But you know, we are putting in a bid. We have bid for COP to host it. We see that there would be in partnership with the Pacific. Climate change is a real issue. The science of climate change is real. The natural disasters in Australia, we've always had them, but the science told us they would occur ;more often, and they'd be more intense. And it's exactly what has been happening here in Australia. We see it whether it be bushfires, floods, tropical cyclones in non-tropical areas. We see the impact which is there and you know, in Australia at the moment you still have areas of the south in drought at the same time as we've had substantial flooding that we had to deal with on the Mid North Coast and other places in New South Wales and in Queensland, we see the algal bloom issue in South Australia. We see a range of events. As I said, Australia has always had extreme weather events. What we have had though in recent times is precisely what the science would tell us. Now we need to act for countries such as Indonesia, for example, I was with President Prabowo just this week. They are doing work, early work on the potential for having to do essentially a seawall around Jakarta because of rising sea levels. It is real. Countries such as Kiribati and Tuvalu in our Pacific family are under threat, their very existence. And so, we need to be a part of acting on climate change. We need also to make sure that we act domestically, but we also engage globally as well.
JOURNALIST: You've spoken about the need to unlock more gas in Australia. Victoria's trying to do that at the moment. Do you welcome that? And I guess what's holding back unlocking more gas? Do banks need to be cautious about investing?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I do welcome that because we know that the cheapest form of new energy is renewables. But backed with firming capacity of gas as well as batteries. We now have for example, 125,000 households since July 1, have taken up the opportunity of the support from the Federal Government to install batteries so that the solar energy captured on their roofs is stored, making a difference for them, permanently reducing their power bills. But importantly as well, taking pressure off the grid and therefore benefiting everyone in the country. Now that is an example of where Australians know that it makes economic sense for them to undertake that action with renewables, just as it makes sense for individual Australians, it makes sense for our economy as a whole as well to take this action. What will lead to an increase in pressure on power prices is the Coalition's uncertainty. We know that they were in office for a decade. They've been in office for most of this century and during that time there haven't been coal fired power stations opening. They have been closing. And on their watch, when they were last in government, 24 out of 28 either announced their closure or brought forward the closure dates. And it wasn't replaced by any new energy because they couldn't get their act together to have a policy. Now, if anyone thinks that the policy of Paris that was signed up to under the Abbott Government, the net zero commitment that was signed up to by Scott Morrison as Prime Minister and Angus Taylor as the Energy Minister, supported by the Cabinet Ministers including Sussan Ley and her team as part of that. If anyone thinks that there is certainty in the Coalition going forward, then they're not paying any attention to the rabble and clown show that the Coalition have become when it comes to energy policy and climate policy. And uncertainty might be something that people are watching as they go from meeting to meeting, to another meeting this week to try to say something and pretend that they have a common position. The real problem is that that kills off investment certainty, that kills off investment, and less investment means higher power prices. And that is what happened on their watch during their decade in office. And they have learnt nothing and they're just going back, they're just going back to where they were before. And Australians shouldn't pay the price of Coalition chaos, because that is what we are dealing with now - is their failure to put in place any energy policy. They announced 23 when they were in government and didn't land one. We have one policy. We're delivering it. The Net Zero by 2050, 43 per cent reduction by 2030, the rollout of renewables backed by gas, backed by batteries, the Safeguard Mechanism, which was devised by the former Coalition Government as well, driving the emissions down from the big emitters as well as the Capacity Investment Scheme encouraging investment forward, as well as the actions supporting individual households such as our batteries program.
JOURNALIST: Donald Trump is saying he's scrapping tariffs on Australia's beef. How important is it that he goes through with that policy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we welcome the decision by the United States. It is something that we've continued to advocate for. We continue to advocate for genuine reciprocal tariffs, which would be zero. Australia does not have tariffs on US goods or services. We believe very firmly and will continue to advocate for us to have zero tariffs. The decision on beef and some other agricultural products is welcomed and is a direct result of the strong advocacy of Don Farrell as the Trade Minister, of the other Australian ministers, and indeed my meetings with President Trump where we've had three meetings over the last month. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: What are your thoughts on the Victorian State Government's crime policies to deal with crime ramping up?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Australians want to be safe. State governments determine their own policy, but Australians do want to be safe. So, I certainly understand that the Premier has made this decision which is consistent with her commitment to keeping Victorians safe. Thank you.
