Well, good morning. It's an absolute joy to be here this morning at the opening of the Kennedy Community Centre, and to be joined once again, by the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, who we have that shared passion and commitment for infrastructure, not necessarily the Hawthorne Football Club, I will confess, but definitely for infrastructure. And it's always great to have the Prime Minister backing the projects that the Victorian and Melbourne community need for our future. We're also joined this morning, and I should thank and acknowledge Andy Gowers as the President of the Hawthorn Footy Club. Andy, to you and your entire team, who have worked so incredibly hard. Whilst the fans cheer you on field for the men and the women's game, we know that all this work that's gone on behind the scenes to realise this dream of establishing your new home here at Dingley Village. And also too, to acknowledge the support of the AFL and Andrew Dillon and Richard Goyder and your teams as well. We've got a great partnership here in Victoria with the AFL, investing in both the men and women's game, but also at the grassroots level as well, which what this facility so powerfully represents. And also too on that point about supporting local communities, I'd like to acknowledge the Mayor of the City of Kingston, Georgina Oxley, as well, because this is a partnership between three levels of government, between the great Hawthorn Footy Club that is delivering a project that is supporting the opportunities for kids of the future to follow their dreams, to participate in sport, and continue to grow the game we love here in Victoria. Victoria is the home of Aussie Rules Football, and Victoria will continue to build on that home and build on that strength, which is why I'm so proud that our government has made a contribution to this partnership in the construction of the Kennedy Community Centre that is about providing opportunities for people to continue to participate in sport, for the fans to cheer their beloved Hawks on, and to continue to see our state grow into the future. And on that point, I'd like to welcome the Prime Minister, who's a big backer of Melbourne and Victoria. Thank you.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks so much Jacinta and to everyone associated with this amazing facility - Congratulations. This has been a product of vision, a product of hard work, and is a great example of a senior sporting organisation, the Hawthorn Football Club, being connected in with a local community, and that's why the three levels of government have all supported this project. I'm joined today by Clare O'Neil and Mark Dreyfus from my team, and the team at Hawthorn here are doing something really special, because this isn't just about the elite level of football, as much as the facility here will be of great benefit to James and the team and the women's team down at the oval down there. It will also be a great product for the community, and will be a centre of community activity. It will give this growing region of Melbourne and Victoria world class facilities. This is quite extraordinary. I was at the Hawthorn Social Club for brekkie way back in 1991 before the one grand final, versus West Coast at Waverley, that was not quite a comparison with this facility here, it's fair to say. And this facility, this growth, is enormous. We need to make sure that we encourage the sense of community and the sense of involvement, but we also need to make sure that we give young people the opportunity to participate, particularly in team sport because of what young people get from it. This is Good for physical health, but also good for mental health. It's good for learning - how to win, how to lose, that resilience that comes from it. learning to be part of a team as well. We have a social media ban coming in on December 10. What we want is for young people to be kids. We want kids to be kids engaging with each other, on the footy fields, on the netball courts, swimming pools, whatever sport they want to interact in is a good thing. They learn all those life skills as well, not just improving their physical and mental health. So to everyone involved with this facility, congratulations. It will be a source of pride in this local community, this growing community here in this really important part of Melbourne and the Commonwealth Government is pleased, there was bipartisan support for this project across the board, I want to acknowledge that. And that's been really important in realising what is a vision that everyone associated with can be really proud. And lastly, but certainly not least, I acknowledge the people who actually built this facility. The workers here, there's been jobs created, and they every time they either come here or drive past or see it on the TV, they can be proud of what they've built here today as well.
ANDY GOWERS, PRESIDENT OF HAWTHORN FOOTBALL CLUB: Thanks, Prime Minister. While I'm on the subject of thank yous, I'd like to thank the federal government for their contribution here, the state government, the local government, and, of course, the AFL into what is an historic day for our Club. I think if you look back over the history of our club, we were formally established in 1902 and we joined the then VFL in 1925 so this is our 100th year since joining the big competition of the VFL, now the AFL. And today is one of those pivotal moments in our history. I'm sure we'll look back with great pride in the future of the day that we opened the Kennedy Community Centre. And as a club, we go from strength to strength. But as both the Premier, Jacinta Allan and the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese have said, this is more than just for our club, this is also for the community. So we also look forward to embracing the community and using our facilities here and them improving their lives. And one of the most significant attributes of the Kennedy Community Centre is the fact that we have completely equal facilities for men and women. So the equity there is a statement in itself, and we look forward to hopefully more premiership success out of this fantastic home. But my main message is the gratitude from our club to all levels of government and the AFL for their financial support. And I'd now like to call on the Mayor of Kingston, Georgina Oxley.
GEORGINA OXLEY, MAYOR OF KINGSTON: Thank you, and what an exciting day it is to welcome Hawthorn to the City of Kingston. This really is a very exciting opportunity that the City of Kingston has partnered with all levels of government and Hawthorn to deliver a really community facility with community pavilion, a community oval that is really going to connect everyone in our community. We see young people out there very soon dreaming of being the next AFL or AFLW star. They have dreams to chase because of what is such a wonderful community connection. So I'd just like to thank everyone that's been involved in bringing this partnership together. It really has been a pleasure and a big thank you to everyone.
PRIME MINISTER: I think we're all happy to take questions
JOURNALIST: Just on knife crime here in Victoria, I might ask you as well Prime Minister if that's okay. How are you actually trying to ensure that people are sentenced correctly by the court, to ensure that not only they're receiving those sentences for other crimes, but also additionally knife crime?
PREMIER ALLAN: Well, this is making it absolutely clear that the sort of crimes that are causing, not just such harm to our community, but concern to our community, these brazen violent offending that we are seeing that there will be consequences. There will be consequences for people who engage in these brazen violent offending. Which is why, in addition to the introduction of adult time for violent crime, which we announced last week, we are going further. We are going to add to the, and make these knife crimes, these violent, brazen knife crimes a specific standalone offence under the Crimes Act. Which means, if you are in a in a fight, in a brawl, and you're also using a knife, you will be charged and can be sentenced for both offences. So this strengthens and toughens the consequences for people who engage in this brazen and violent offending. And it comes as a result of listening very clearly to too many victims of crime who have said there needs to be more consequences, that there's not enough consequences. Which is why we'll be bringing legislation to the Parliament before the end of this parliamentary sitting year, not only to introduce adult time for violent crime, but also to strengthen. Strengthen the sentencing around these knife crimes.
JOURNALIST: Do you need these laws because the courts have failed?
PREMIER ALLAN: We need these laws because victims of crime have said very clearly that there's not enough consequences for this brazen, violent offending that is causing both harm and concern in the community.
JOURNALIST: Two youth offenders have been flown Gold Coast to go to theme parks as part of their community correction order. Does that pass the pub test?
PREMIER ALLAN: I want to be clear that in this matter that has been reported today, that there has been, I'm advised that there has been no youth justice officials involved in accompanying these young people. And given that this was a decision that has been taken through the corrections process, I'm not in a position to comment in the circumstances that led to this decision.
JOURNALIST: Do you think it's appropriate for youth offenders to be flown interstate as part of their Inaudible.
PREMIER ALLAN: I want to make it really clear the youth justice system is not funding these sorts of trips or engagement. What we're focused on here in Victoria is making it very clear that there is consequences for offending. Also too, understanding not only does there have to be more serious consequences, that victims of crime have told us that there's not enough consequences. We also know that there needs to be more to be done to support young kids to get away from this behaviour in the first place. This is what Victoria police are telling us, that this is a new kind of offending that constantly requires new interventions. Which is why, alongside the strengthening of the consequences, whether it's the knife crime that we're announcing today, the Adult Time for Violent Crime, we'll also be having more to say about further work that needs to be done on the interventions, building on what we already do, around connecting kids to jobs, to families, to schools and communities. We know from the work that Victoria police leads, we know from the work of listening to victims, but also listening to former young people who have been in the system, that we need to look at new interventions, and we'll be having more to say about those interventions to support young people from getting into this behaviour in the first place.
JOURNALIST: Are you happy with the current level of federal funding for health aged care? And what would you like to see in the upcoming negotiations?
PREMIER ALLAN: Well look, what we're seeing with the negotiations that are going on right now is important, constructive, detailed work that is going on between federal and state governments to work through what the future agreements look like where we have a shared investment in our health system. And it's vitally important that we work through this in a careful way because we know that alongside the growing demand that is on our hospital system, that the work, whether it's the work that we've done here in Victoria through introducing new ways of treating patients, like the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department. The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department is now the biggest and busiest emergency department in our system. So we know that technology can play a role in being able to treat more patients. We also know with partnerships like with the Federal Government in the Urgent Care Centres, taking pressure off our emergency departments through the investments that the Federal Government is making in our primary care system, coming after a decade of neglect of a primary care system, you want to know why states are up and about supporting our hospital system? It's because for a decade we had a Federal Government that didn't do their role in investing in the primary care system. Well, we have that now. We have investments that are being made by the Federal Albanese Government in the primary care system that is making a difference. And it's from that basis that we are having these negotiations. And with all due respect, I think the Prime Minister and I and our Health Ministers will have those negotiations in the way that I think Australians would expect their political leaders to do. Responsibly, focused on understanding that building a healthcare system for the future needs that partnership approach.
JOURNALIST: We have a social media ban coming in for 16 year olds. And yet in Victoria, children as young as 14 can get life in prison. Which is the right way to go?
PREMIER ALLAN: The right way to go is, from my perspective as Premier of Victoria, is from listening to victims of crime and understanding that there are not, they've said very clearly there's not enough consequences for, yes, children engaging in this brazen, violent offending. And it comes from listening to victims of crime, from working with Victoria Police, where we need to look at constant and new interventions. But this isn't the only part of the work that we are doing here in Victoria. And I've just taken you through the work we're already doing in making sure that there are opportunities for more young kids to get access to TAFE through free TAFE, keeping them connected to schools and families through interventions that we make in those settings. We know there is more to be done around looking at new interventions to support kids, and part of that is making sure that they remain connected to their community. When we announced last week the increased penalties for those evil gang leaders, organised crime leaders who recruit kids, actively target kids and recruit them to a life of crime, police tell us, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission tells us that they're using technology. They're using the social media platforms to engage with these kids, that kids are more accessible in ways they've never been before. This is why the social media ban is so important. It's about getting kids to be connected again to their families and their communities, to be focused on their schoolwork, to have the opportunity to come and enjoy in any number of great sporting activities. That's why the social media ban is so important. And not only do I support it as Premier, I support it as a parent. Every family, every parent is working through the challenges with your kids - the negotiations, the arguments that go on with your kids about how to manage social media in the home. Well now the Prime Minister is backing parents and families, but making it really clear that there's got to be boundaries around how kids engage with social media, which is why the social media ban is so, so important.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, if I can just ask you on the state of crime here in Victoria. It's obviously not just an issue here, it's an issue right across many parts of the country. How do you think it needs to be resolved and how do you think crime needs to be tackled? And are you happy with the state of crime here in the state?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm happy that the Premier is doing an excellent job and that the Premier is responding to an issue with strong action. And the Premier knows that part of state governments will respond differently across different jurisdictions. There's six of them. My job is to run the Commonwealth Government. State Premiers, part of their job is community safety, and the Premier is taking action.
JOURNALIST: Do you think it's appropriate that children 14 years and over could be locked up for life?
PRIME MINISTER: The Premier's taking action. I support the Premier taking action to keep Victorians safe and to make sure that messages are sent as well. When it comes to violence in the community, people have a right to be safe. State governments are responsible for law and order issues. There's different issues in six jurisdictions and I'll allow them to do their job, and we'll do our job.
JOURNALIST: Did the Federal Government provide any funding to allow two youth offenders to fly to Queensland to go to these theme parks?
PRIME MINISTER: It is the first that I've heard of it. I have a job as the Commonwealth Prime Minister, so if you ask me about Kingston Council, I'll refer it to the Mayor as well.
JOURNALIST: Inaudible said the funding came from the NDIS.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not aware of the issue that you raise.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you willing to co-host COP to get a resolution? Where's that Inaudible
PRIME MINISTER: No, we won't be co-hosting because co-hosting isn't provided for under the rules of the UNFCCC. So, that's not an option and people are aware that that's not an option which is why it's been ruled out.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, have you made a decision yet on whether you will find any funding for the Suburban Rail Loop?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes we have, and there will be additional funding in the Budget next year for Suburban Rail Loop on top of the $9.2 billion we've already submitted. $2.2 for the early works on the eastern section, $2 billion for the upgrade around Sunshine Station and $5 billion for the Airport Rail Link. In addition to that $9.2 billion there will be further investment. My government partners with Victoria. My government knows where Victoria is, unlike the three previous Prime Ministers from NSW who didn't seem to know that it was possible for the national government to cross the Murray
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you prided yourself on running an accountable government, one with integrity. A Federal Court Judge and a Western Australian Supreme Court Judge found claims by Brittany Higgins of a political cover up of an alleged rape were not just false, but dishonest. Linda Reynolds and Fiona Brown were wrongly accused by your own Ministers. Do Penny Wong and Katy Gallagher owe both women an apology for their central role in conflating an alleged rape with a false story of a political cover up that has damaged so many people and cost the country millions?
PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you for reading that question. A judge found the issue on Brittany Higgins are very different from the way that you characterise it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, if the country is able to deport outlaw bikies to New Zealand, should we be able to deport neo-Nazi New Zealand born citizens like Thomas Sewell?
PRIME MINISTER: Those issues are the responsibility of the responsible Minister. I'll say this, there is no place in Australia for the sort of behaviour that we've seen, whether it be in Sydney most recently outside NSW Parliament House or on other occasions in Adelaide, here, for neo-Nazis to parade and to spread hatred, to spread anti-Semitism, to promote violence, to engage in training activities. This is un-Australian. My government is taking action to outlaw neo Nazi or Nazi symbols, to outlaw hatred in that way and we'll continue to take action.
JOURNALIST: What do you make of the Coalition's Net Zero policy position at the moment?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's difficult to work it out, isn't it? I mean, the coalition can't work out their Net Zero policy themselves. You've had Anne Ruston say that the policy that was presented on Sunday isn't the same as the one that was presented and agreed to by the Liberal Party Shadow Ministry that was held on Thursday. And it's again different from what was decided on Wednesday. This is a rolling, a word comes to mind, but it is certainly, I hope that the Hawks are more disciplined at a training run than this mob are as the alternative government of the country. I mean, are coal fired power stations going to be taxpayer funded? We know that one of the things that my government is dealing with is that for 10 years they had 23 policy announcements on energy and they didn't land one of them. And now we've had multiple different announcements over the last week. They say that they want to stay in Paris, but Paris is about the road to net zero and you can't backslide, as Andrew Bragg said on Sky on Friday afternoon. And yet his leader is out there saying that's precisely what they're going to do to get rid of the 2030 target, which is in our nationally determined contribution that we have made to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 2035 target that we've also put in. Now to stay in Paris it's very clear that they can only go forward, that is it can only be increased, not decreased or got rid of. So it's a nonsensical policy, all designed just to try and keep people who fundamentally disagree with each other from people who say that the science is completely wrong and climate change does not exist. To try and get a policy consensus between that and people who understand the science and say that we do support, we do need to move to net zero. And instead they've got this blancmange, this mess. And so it doesn't make sense, it doesn't add up. And what that means, the tragedy of that is, is that we know what that means. It means higher power prices because you will have less investment because there's no certainty under the Coalition going forward. My government has one policy - we have net zero and we have paths to get there through the Safeguard Mechanism that was established by the former government and through the Capacity Investment Scheme and through other programs designed to assist households. 125,000 Australians have put batteries in their yards in order to capture the energy that they have produced by the solar panels on their roofs just since July. Australians know the cheapest form of new energy is renewables. That's why the Liberals Coalition policy is friendless. There isn't an energy expert in Australia coming out and saying this, whatever it is, will work. It is just a policy to try and get the Leader of the Opposition through to Christmas as the leader, in spite of the fact she is being undermined each and every day by her own colleagues who were doing, I mean, what was the Angus Taylor double page spread about in the Telegraph on Saturday and Sunday? And Andrew Hastie is out there parading around as an alternative leader as well. And then you have other people like Melissa McIntosh and others all out there putting themselves forward. There's no discipline. And the problem isn't that that's academic, the problem is there are consequences behind that uncertainty. Which is why the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Industry Group, all of the energy experts say that it is a mess. And then they had the policy about the Australian Energy Market Operator that somehow they're going to get them to be funding or supporting coal fired power stations. AEMO have been very clear about what the cheapest form of new energy is in report after report after report. That's what the Capacity Investment Scheme is all based upon. Renewables backed by gas, backed by storage, backed by hydro. Thank you.
