TRANSCRIPT: PRESS CONFERENCE - Ganmain NSW, 28 March 2019

E&OE

Subjects: Projects in Ganmain; Newell Highway funding; Federal Budget; supporting small business; road funding; federal election; NSW election; Building Better Regions Fund; One Nation.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

This is an exciting day for Ganmain, for the Coolamon Shire - $48,500 worth of money from the Community Investment Stream of the Building Better Regions Fund has gone to a modular pump track, which is a skateboard track which is going to help the kids from Ganmain but also be used at Matong and Ardlethan and Marrar. Coolamon Shire is investing in its community. It's investing in its future.

This announcement today from the Federal Government, also complemented by funding from Steph Cooke with the State Government and of course Coolamon Shire, builds community capacity for Coolamon Shire and particularly here today for Ganmain. And I know the children from Ganmain Public and Saint Brendan's primary schools are absolutely delighted. They've already put the facility to good use. Of course, the Patterson family, they were synonymous with basketball here. They started basketball many, many years ago in this community, and of course, the basketball courts provide the home ground, as it were, for this pump track, for this facility. And I know the Patterson family, Jean and Allan, both have put a lot of work into this Ganmain community, as has Guy Purcell from the Advancement Committee, and I know that Barry Logan has too - people who are very, very well-known at Ganmain but whilst their perhaps sporting glory and sporting fame is well behind them, they want to make sure that there's facilities and amenities for the children to make sure that there is a future for Ganmain.

And this is what the Federal Government does – we're investing in these communities. We're investing in regional communities in particular because when the regions are strong, so too is the state, so too is the nation. So, I'm particularly delighted. My mother, Eileen, came from Ganmain just over there at Ford Street is where she grew up. It's a very special community to me and I know that this facility is going to be used for generations to come.

QUESTION:

Do you have an announcement about the Newell Highway also?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Yes. The [inaudible] a funding initiative by the Federal Government which is going to put more than half a billion dollars towards roads - secondary roads, not necessarily national highways and byways. But the New South Wales component of that – $300 million - is going to feeder roads into the Newell Highway. The Newell Highway is part of the road between Goondiwindi and Tocumwal in New South Wales but this corridor, this half a billion dollars, is going to be invested all the way from Toowoomba through to Seymour in Victoria. So Queensland to Victoria, but the New South Wales component is going to be the Newell Highway, making sure that $300 million goes into feeder roads into the Newell Highway. So, those secondary roads, those important grain routes, those important beef roads, those important tourism roads that feed into the Newell Highway, feed into that more than 1000 kilometre corridor of commerce - it's one of the busiest freight corridors in New South Wales. It’s certainly the longest highway in New South Wales. It's going to be the beneficiary of these feeder roads, because when you've got good feeder roads the rest of it largely takes care of itself because of course we've got funding streams for our national highways and byways as part of the $75 billion overall investment, overall infrastructure fund. That's a record amount of money.

I’m looking forward to next week's Budget, because not only is it going to be a surplus Budget, but I’m looking forward to seeing even more investments, particularly in rural roads and particularly in roads such as the Newell. But certainly this announcement today, the Roads Of Strategic Importance - $300 million for those secondary roads feeding into the Newell Highway - is going to be welcomed, particularly here in the Riverina and Central West by Bland Shire, by Parkes and Forbes Shires. I know for them, they have many, many roads that feed into the Newell. I know for them, for their farmers, they want to get product onto the roads to the ports, and of course to their export markets quicker.

People want to get up and down these sorts of roads, whether they're secondary roads or indeed the Newell Highway, sooner and safer. That's why we're investing in road safety. That's why we're investing in better roads. So this announcement is very timely and very appropriate.

QUESTION:

How’s the Budget looking for the Riverina? Any big ticket items that you can tell us about?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Oh, I'm not going to take away all the fun for the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. I know he rang me very, very early this morning to talk about just a few final things in the Budget. Of course, as the Deputy Prime Minister, I play a key role in making sure that the regions don't miss out. I play a key role in making sure that my local electorate, the Riverina, doesn't miss out. And of course, this Budget is going to be the first surplus Budget for 12 years. Labor hasn't produced a surplus Budget since the 1980s; that's the difference.

QUESTION:

[Technical issues] Sorry, can we just get the last bit of that then?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Sure. Well, I spoke to Josh Frydenberg very early this morning. In fact, we've had quite a number of conversations today about the Budget. He's putting the final touches on the Budget. It is going to be a surplus Budget; first surplus Budget for the Commonwealth for 12 years. Labor has not produced a surplus Budget since the 1980s; that's the difference. We know how to run the economy. We know how to balance the books. We know how to make sure that the regions figure prominently in the Budget. And that's what will happen next Tuesday. I’m delighted about the fact that the regions are going to certainly figure (interruption)

QUESTION:

Will voters in the Riverina be happy with the Budget?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

I believe they will. The voters in the Riverina, particularly if they're running small businesses, already know that they're paying the lowest tax rate since 1940. They already know that the instant asset write-off has been extended to $25,000. They already know that they've got the confidence and investment certainty that they can employ more people. That’s what the Budget will also do.

Drought notwithstanding, it's going to be a very, very good Budget. We can't make it rain and the fact is I know these communities are really hurting with the drought. I know that these communities really need it to rain, whether they're in the Riverina or Central West, indeed right throughout Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland - our hearts go out to them. They're doing it tough at the moment. We continue to stand side by side with farmers. We've already put $7.2 billion on the table for drought relief measures. We will, we can and we must do more.

And of course, it's not just about the farmers, it's about also those small businesses whether they're in Coolamon or Ganmain, right where I am today. You know they're hurting as well, and this is largely an agricultural community. This relies on agriculture to do well. And when it doesn't rain, agriculture hurts. And when agriculture and our farmers hurt, so do these little communities.

But we'll be with them. We'll make sure that we support them through initiatives such as this. And whether you're building basketball courts and these types of things, it does provide jobs, it does provide employment during the construction phase but also ongoing employment. We want to make sure that our local government councils are also doing well, and that's why just recently I announced money for both Weddin and Cowra councils on the back of providing a million dollars for Bland, for Parkes and Forbes previously, to help them through this. And obviously as the onset of the drought, if it does continue – it could rain tonight and could rain for 40 days and 40 nights; it's not going to take away the effects of the drought. So obviously we'll continue to monitor it. We'll continue to work alongside our local governments and state governments to make sure that we're providing the right relief.

QUESTION:

You mentioned roads will be featured heavily in the Budget. I mean, local councils across the Riverina are crying out for more funding to fix the backlog of roads. Is there any way that that could be returned, council income returned, to the one per cent of Federal Government revenue?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Well look, we're all always looking at those. We're also always talking with ALGA and other organisations. The fact is we have tripled the Roads to Recovery, Black Spot funding and all those important measures. We've obviously reverted the Financial Assistance Grants to councils to what they were prior to us coming into Government. I mean, what Labor did in the six years was nothing short of disgraceful. They broke the bank, they spent the future fund, and they basically bankrupted Australia.

And so what we had to do when we took back over Government is we had to find some money to unfortunately cut the cloth to suit the tailor. So we had to get the economy back strong; we had to make sure that the books were coming back to balance - and when you actually have a figure at the bottom of your Budget Paper which is in black ink, not red, then you can do these sorts of things. You can help local councils. And pretty much the Roads of Strategic Importance feeds into that narrative of roads to recovery because they are secondary roads. They are roads which in some cases would not have asphalt on them; some cases we will be putting bitumen where there has not been bitumen before. Only recently in Parkes Shire, we completed a 70 kilometre stretch of road that the people there, the farmers there, the community there thought that they’d never see asphalt on it.

So we’re getting in and we’re doing that and the Roads of Strategic Importance announcement today makes sure those secondary roads that are governed by councils, are paid for by councils and obviously ratepayers - we’re getting on with the job and making sure we that put bitumen on that. I know that that announcement is going to be very, very well received by those councils along the Newell Highway – Bland, Parkes, and Forbes, and that’s just to name the Riverina and Central West, let alone the other councils along that 1000 kilometre stretch of road that goes from the top to the bottom of New South Wales.

And so that half a billion dollar commitment from Toowoomba to Seymour, the $300 million component of it is just for those feeder roads into the Newell Highway. So this is an important announcement. For those councils, that’s important. With Wagga Wagga and other councils throughout the region - and I represent plenty of them - I know how important it is to put bitumen down and I know how important it is to continue maintenance. That's why we are spending so much money on Black Spot funding, so much money on Roads to Recovery funding, and we will continue to do it.

But rest assured if Bill Shorten and Labor gets in it, all these road type, all these infrastructure funding programs will go, because Labor doesn't believe in the regions. Labor never has. They don't now and they won’t into the future. We believe in the regions and that's why Community Investment Stream funding such as this here today as part of the Building Better Regions Fund is so important.

QUESTION:

With the surplus Budget, could we see that Federal Government revenue figure return to one per cent for local councils?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:  

Well, again I say that would be a matter for Cabinet. And we're always talking with ALGA; I constantly talk with ALGA officials and obviously council Mayors throughout my local region. I have plenty of them, and I know John Seymour only spoke to me yesterday about what we could do as far as the drought and what we could do with more infrastructure for Coolamon Shire - that's a good Mayor; he’s a fantastic Mayor and he understands his local community, as do I.

So we want to be there side by side, shoulder to shoulder with our local council Mayors and with our local governments. And I do that each and every day - there's not a week goes by that I don't talk to people from local councils to make sure that we're in tune and in touch with what their needs and wants are.

People around here - whether it's Coolamon Shire, Wagga Wagga or elsewhere - deserve the very best and that's why we’re in there, investing in their communities. That's why I was so proud to announce the new multi-purpose stadium for Wagga Wagga - that's an important facility; that's creating jobs in the construction phase, it’s finished now, but obviously ongoing jobs. That’s not just for Wagga Wagga City Council but indeed it will grow healthy outcomes for the people of Wagga Wagga and indeed it will create more jobs for Wagga Wagga and that's what we're all about.

QUESTION:

Anyone But the Nats has launched a campaign against [indistinct] during the federal election. Are they a worry in the lead up to the polls for you and the party?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:  

Well, they're just so negative. I mean, they don't put up candidates, they just say anybody but Nats. They don't have any policies, they don't have any ideas going forward; they just want people not to vote for the Nats. I mean, that's just so negative.

I want to talk about positive things and that's why I'm here in Ganmain talking about the latest funding announcement by the Nationals in Government, because that's what I do. As the Leader of the Nationals, I make sure that the regions don't miss out. Anyone But Nats, they just scream from the fringes and throw rocks at everything, at the tent. I'm inside the tent making the decisions on funding and boosting and being positive for my communities, and that's what I'll go on doing.

I don't deal in the negative; I don't deal in negativity. They can be negative all they like.

Steph Cooke showed with a hard work ethic and with delivery and outcomes, what you can achieve – Steph Cooke, I take my hat off to her - she's an outstanding Member and she will go on being an outstanding Member in an outstanding Government.

When you are in Government and you can quarantine $4.2 billion of Snowy Hydro money just for the regions, just for infrastructure - not for Sydney, not for Newcastle, not for Wollongong but everything west of the Great Divide: That provides outcomes for regional communities. I mean, what are Put the Nats Last going to provide? Just shouting negativity from the sidelines.

QUESTION:

Could that anti-Nat thought carry forward, though, into the federal election given the results we just saw in seats like Wagga and Orange and Barwon as well?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:  

Mackenna Powell did an outstanding job for the Nationals in Wagga Wagga from a small base and Mackenna, I'm sure she's set her mind now to the next election in four years’ time. She did a very, very good job and anyone who met Mackenna liked her, anyone who heard her story liked what they heard; they liked what they saw: she had a vision for Wagga Wagga. Good on Joe McGirr for winning the seat again and when the community invested in Joe McGirr at the by-election, fact is it was always going to be tough to stop him in the general election. So, I look forward to him now delivering for Wagga Wagga. I look forward to the fact that he now needs to stump up and deliver for Wagga Wagga, just like the Coalition has for Wagga Wagga over many, many years.

When you look at Wagga and you look at the new hospital, you look at the new police station, new ambulance station, fire station, the fact is we’ve got on and we’ve delivered for Wagga Wagga. I’m out there all the time spruiking Wagga Wagga from the rooftops. Wagga Wagga gets a great national name thanks to the fact that they’ve got the Deputy Prime Minister from there. I will continue to go on serving my hometown as long as my hometown wants me and as long as the wider Riverina votes; I will continue to deliver facilities such as this at Ganmain. But not just Ganmain - we’ve just heard about the Roads of Strategic Importance feeding into the Newell Highway. That doesn’t happen by chance. It doesn’t come by coincidence. It comes because you’ve got a strong, hardworking local member, such as myself, working with Steph Cooke to make sure that we deliver outcomes for the people we serve, and we’ll go on doing that.

QUESTION:

Can we expect to see funding for the PCYC in Wagga in the federal Budget?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Well, the PCYC applied for funding under the Building Better Regions Fund. They applied for, I think it was $7 million the first time around. They missed out. They've applied a second time. I look forward to working with them, just seeing what we can do. But the fact is there was only one $10 million commitment given throughout all of Australia for that particular fund – the latest round of Building Better Regions Fund. I mean, $10 million in that particular round was a big ask and there was only one particular $10 million funding. There were more than 900 applications for funding and $1.2 billion, so that’s 1.2 thousand million dollars’ worth of applications for funding in that particular round. There's only $200 million, so you can do the maths. You can't put $1.2 billion into $200 million.

There are some outstanding construction facilities all around Australia, amenities that are needed, jobs that can be created through building things such as multipurpose sports stadiums and we've already got one thanks to the Federal Government and thanks to me. We've already delivered $200 million as part of this latest round and the Riverina didn’t miss out - Temora got an airport worth $5.3 million, a new runway, new taxiways, and it needed it. Now, that shire really needed that, not only just for safety but also for tourism.

The fact is there are other announcements. Cowra got a new roof over its Japanese gardens and it needed it. The shingles were coming off the roof and it sorely needed that funding. And as far as that's concerned, Forbes also got a new main street upgrade. So those communities deserved it as much as any other communities right across Australia.

I look forward to working with the PCYC to see what we can do. I appreciate that’s a good initiative too but I urged and encouraged them to apply again. I know there's been many, many applications right across Australia - because I run the program - that have previously applied two and three and four times and got it the next time round. So I look forward to PCYC reapplying and we'll see what happens in the future.

QUESTION:

Do you stand by Scott Morrison's decision to preference Labor over One Nation?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Well, that's a decision for Scott Morrison and the Liberal Party. The fact is, I have always put the Greens last on my How-To-Vote cards. I will continue to do that because I believe that they provide the greatest danger to our regional communities. They want to tell our farmers not to farm. They want to tell our farmers how to farm, where to farm, and why to farm.

They stand for things that I believe will really hurt regional communities. They've got an emissions reduction target which would quite frankly make electricity bills go through the roof; through their policies, petrol bills would go through the roof as well. Our farmers would be paying way too much for fuel, way too much for power. Our small businesses could not sustain that. Our families could not sustain that. They don’t represent regional communities and that's why I will be putting them last, and I'm sure most of my colleagues will as well.

QUESTION:

Do you think about the Prime Minister’s decision could, I guess, come back to hurt the Coalition in states like Queensland where they may be needing those preferences from One Nation?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

That's a matter for the Prime Minister and the Liberal Party. The fact is, National Party will decide our preferences seat by seat. That’s what we've always done. We are a different Party than the Liberal Party. The National Party and the Liberal Party, yes, we are in a coalition Government, we are in an arrangement to ensure good Government for Australia, but the fact is we are a different Party so we will decide where our preferences go.

I know the media gets all caught up about preferences. In most if not all of those seats, the National Party preferences won't be distributed because when you finish either first or second, your preferences don't get distributed; it’s just sometimes, those Independents and those minor Parties, their preferences get distributed - that's part of the Westminster system. I'm not hoping that our preferences are going to be distributed, so it won't actually matter. And I know the media makes a great play of it, but what I would urge and encourage people to do is when they are looking at where they're going to preference, start by putting a ‘one’ beside the National Party candidate. That would be a really good start. And then from there, work your way down, number every box, but make sure you put a one beside the National Party candidate because that's what's going to get you delivery for your regional community. It's going to get delivery for your families, for your businesses, and for your future. It’s really important: Vote One, National Party. Think Local, Vote National.

QUESTION:

What do you make of Pauline Hanson’s comments about conspiracy in the Port Arthur incident?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Well, quite frankly, I've heard conspiracies that Harold Holt’s still alive, Elvis Presley is still performing somewhere in the world, JFK - there's all sorts of conspiracies going around. I mean this is nuts. Quite frankly, this is nonsense. The Port Arthur massacre, the Port Arthur tragedy was absolutely abhorrent. We changed our gun laws as a result, as we needed to do. I commend what is happening in New Zealand at the moment, with Jacinda Ardern changing their gun laws, not before time. We can't afford to have tragedies such as this. We've got tight gun laws in Australia thanks to the wonderful work, the absolute humanitarian work of Tim Fischer working in conjunction with John Howard. That saw the Nationals and the Liberals working together, as they should, as they always do for and on behalf of a safer community, a safer Australia. They did that then. It was pretty tough at the time, I must acknowledge. There are lots of people who said that they would walk away from The Nationals, lots of people who said we were deserting our country communities then because we were tightening up the gun laws. But you know what, it has worked and served us well. The fact is, we've got the right gun laws in Australia and it's a safer community because of it. New Zealand is now tightening up their gun laws as well and that's commendable. If Pauline Hanson wants to run around and cause mayhem and confusion about what happened at Port Arthur, well be that on her head. I mean the fact is Port Arthur was a tragedy; it was then, it remains so today. More people lost their lives that day than should have. No one deserves to lose their life in such a way and that has caused such heartache. Walter Mikac - he lost his family in that tragedy; I mean imagine how he's feeling today when he hears those words coming out of Pauline Hanson's mouth. She should know better. And honestly, anybody who says those sorts of things about those sorts of tragedies, when they're in the public eye, when they've got a say in the national debate, well they should think long and hard about what they say and how they say it because it hurts people's feelings and it’s just plain bloody wrong.

QUESTION:

Tim Fischer’s been airing his concerns about the possibility of weakening gun laws. Is this a possibility? Could we see this? Do you share those concerns?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Our gun laws are right the way they are, and I’m sure if you and ask anybody up and down the Cowabbie Street, Coolamon, or Ford Street, Ganmain, or any other of our regional communities, I'm sure they'll say the same thing as well. Our gun laws are right. We do not need to weaken our gun laws. And for anybody from One Nation to go across overseas and get on the drink, and then think that they can sell our gun laws, well, they've got another thing coming for them. They shouldn't first of all even be in the national debate. For a staff member to spruik that he can change gun laws and change the way our nation is running and the safety aspects of our nation - well, they shouldn't be in the national political discourse, quite frankly. The fact is we've got the right gun laws. The fact is, that’s thanks to Tim Fischer, very, very brave man. What a wonderful Australian Tim Fischer was then, is now, and will continue to be. Tim Fischer put his political career on the line to make sure that we got the right outcomes on gun laws. And you know what, it saved a lot of people their lives. It saved a lot of heartache in this nation. I commended him then, I commend him now. And Tim - when he hears things, those words of hatred that are spouted by people about what happened in New Zealand the other day - how must he feel when he hears those sorts of things knowing what he put on the line to make sure that we had a safe Australia.

Thank you very much.

Shane Manning