The new Australian Government was elected at the end of last year. We were elected on a platform of ending the blame game between Canberra and the States and Territories. And in the six or seven months since then, in the three meetings of the Council of Australian Governments that have been held since then, we have sort through practical actions to give effect to that.
Prior to our election we undertook to end the blame game. Through the work of COAG, we’ve sort to implement that commitment for the country.
And the reason for it is simple. The overall challenges facing the nation’s economy, the overall challenges facing the nation’s households demand that we as Governments work together.
The Australian people, rightly, are fed up to the back teeth with politicians at different levels blaming each other for problems which actually have practical solutions available to them.
And that’s what we have sought to do through this gathering.
Today we have made practical decisions for the future, when it comes to the economy, when it comes to water, when it comes to health, when it comes to indigenous affairs and when it comes, also, to child protection.
These are challenges which require practical responses, and we’ve sought to do that through this meeting today.
Firstly on the economy.
Out of the 2020 Summit, we have a strong call from the nation’s business community to establish in Australia a seamless national economy, a seamless national market. And there’s much work been underway since then through the relevant COAG working group, chaired by my colleague the Minister for Small Business, Craig Emerson. And I would thank him and the various State and Territory officials who have worked with him on putting together a report for us today.
What we’ve agreed today, as Governments, is to achieve uniform nation systems in 14 areas, including uniform laws in occupational health and safety, a national system of trade licensing, and a new national approach to the registering of business names. These are practical measures. Practical measures which mean a lot to those operating in the business community today.
We’ve had a long, long time – more than a decade – where these things were talked about from time to time but nothing happened. What we now have is an agreement to establish uniform systems in each of these areas.
Occupational health and safety, a huge challenge for business operating in different jurisdictions, similarly for trades licensing, and similarly for the simple process of registering a business name. In my discussions with business, frankly, the very practical question which is often put to us as an upfront compliance cost for operating a business across state boundaries in Australia is why do I have to pay and go through the hassle of multiple registration of business names across state boundaries.
This, and the other two that I’ve mentioned, represent three practical measures of 14 sets of measures which have been agreed on by Heads of Government today. And I thank them for their cooperation.
Secondly, we’ve also made progress in the area of water. Today we’ve signed an intergovernmental agreement on Murray-Darling Basin reform. This takes the historic agreement which we reached in Adelaide at the last COAG meeting to the next stage. And this agreement is what myself and the other Heads of Government have just signed in front of you just now.
This intergovernmental agree creates the vehicle for the long term reform of the much challenged Murray-Darling Basin system.
It represents a lot of work between our Governments given the different demands placed on this system by the peoples of our different states. And I would thank the Premiers of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia for their strong collaborative approach in bringing together what has been a difficult agreement.
Secondly, at the immediate and practical level, the Government, the Federal Government, has committed to projects worth $3.7 billion across the Murray-Darling system. These represent significant water projects for the nation. At a time when so many parts of Australia are water challenged and water scarce, this represents a very practical way forward. It builds on the agreements that we reached in part with the Government of Victoria in Adelaide. And we now have similar commitments made to the other states. And the Premiers will speak separately on those and the Chief Ministers, as they choose.
Therefore, what you have on the water front is an intergovernmental agreement which many people said we’d never reach – we’ve done that.
And secondly, what we now have also is practical action on $3.7 billion worth of water projects. I’ve got to say, that’s also where people want to see practical projects happening on the ground.
Third area is in health. Today, on behalf of the Commonwealth, I reported to the states the progress that we’ve made in the critical area of organ and tissue donation and transplants. This effects thousands of Australians. Right now, we have nearly 2,000 Australians that are formally on transplant waiting lists across Australia. And many more besides who can’t make it to the waiting list.
So as both States and Territories and the Commonwealth we have been working through the Chief Medical Officer, and the Secretary of the Department of Health in recent times to make sure that we could achieve a breakthrough on this question.
Again, the 2020 Summit said to the nation, very simply, will you stop stuffing around on this and do something. We’ve done that. And it’s been, I’ve got to say, a lot of work between our jurisdictions to get it done.
The $136 million worth of new funding commitments from the Commonwealth goes to the provision of $67 million worth of support for additional doctors, medical staff and nursing staff, exclusively tasked with this complex, challenging and sensitive task in our hospitals in order to achieve organ donation.
Another large tranche of money within that towards the establishment for the first time of a national organ transplant authority. And on top of that again, funding for other infrastructure support within hospitals and a public education campaign to ensure that those who currently need organ and tissue donation in order to survive are better served by our national system than is currently the case.
It is a good, practical measure designed to help people currently facing real challenges in this area.
Fourth area, Indigenous early childhood education. Today we agreed to sustained engagement with one another in the critical task of achieving the mission we set for ourselves in closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
In particular, we’ve looked at Indigenous early childhood development. And it is in this area that we’ve now agreed a national partnership between us involving some joint funding of $547 million over six years to address the needs of Indigenous children in their early years.
This includes evidence based child and maternal health services to assist with ante-natal care. And new child and family centres to provide early learning, parenting education, health and family support.
If we are serious about closing the gap on mortality, life expectancy between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, for children under the age of five as well as lifting literacy, numeracy and wider educational outcomes and wider health outcomes for indigenous Australians, it must begin with little children.
That’s why this program has now been agreed among us, involving significant contributions from the states in order to achieve real progress in this area.
Presenting a national apology to indigenous Australians is one thing. Taking practical steps aimed over time at closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians is what is now required. And we’ve now made progress on that.
Finally, in the important area of child protection, the Council of Australian Government’s has agreed to a new national child protection framework to be completed by December, primarily to improve information sharing between Governments, to better protect children moving between jurisdictions, and to better coordinate prevention and early intervention for families and children most at risk.
Given recent developments, this is particularly important. It has long been important. And I thank States and Territories for working with us on how we can improve inter jurisdictional cooperation in this critical area concerning the protection of the most vulnerable among us.
To conclude, I would thank again the States, the Territories and the Australian Local Government Association for being constructive, positive participants in what I believe to be a new way of governing. Rather than just taking pot shots at each other for the political fun of it, to get on with the hard business of hopping into these big challenges, and very practical challenges, and achieving real progress.
Real progress on economic reform in the microeconomic reform agenda, business deregulation. Real reform when it comes to water, the intergovernmental agreement, as well as the $3.7 billion of water projects I referred to before. Real progress when it comes to practical areas like health, organ donation and transplants. Similarly with Indigenous early childhood development, as well as the critical area for the future child protection.
If I could turn to Morris, who is our host, and then to John, who is the Chairman of the Council of the Australian Federation, to add to my remarks, invite any other colleagues if they wish to, and then throw it open to you. Morris.
IEMMA: Thank you Prime Minister, and I endorse those comments. Constructive and successful meeting. And another meeting in which we’ve made big progress on the big issues that confront the nation.
We’ve reached an agreement on Murray-Darling, the Murray-Darling Basin, an intergovernmental agreement. And that will involve, as the Prime Minister has mentioned, a $3.7 billion investment in infrastructure, in better metering in water savings measures for a sustainable future, for the families in the Murray-Darling Basin.
New South Wales has received its fair share of the funding of the infrastructure that will be flowing as a result of today’s agreement. And, we will now have an independent authority that will determine a Basin wide cap.
The other key issue that New South Wales has wanted addressed has been the transfer of risk, and the management of risk, when it comes to liabilities, and any future change in liabilities as a result of a nation wide cap, and the determination of those levels.
So, the two issues that have been outstanding from New South Wales’ perspective have been addressed, I’m very pleased to say, successfully addressed, at today’s meeting and we’re in a position to sign the agreement. An historic agreement for the families in the Murray-Darling Basin for a sustainable and secure future.
In the area of health, more progress in health reform. I’ll come to the issue of indigenous health in a second, but one area in health that we reached agreement and we made progress on today which hasn’t received attention is that the first instalment of the Commonwealth’s 50,000 vocational health training places roll out. And they start rolling out as at the end of this month. And the first instalment is 4,500 places across the nation.
What we will be doing after today is working with the Commonwealth on the distribution of those. But they are in crucial areas of health. In aged care, for example, for trainee enrolled nurses. Nurses to assist the elderly in our hospitals as well as in nursing homes. Also vocational training places in therapy, occupational therapy. And these are key areas of health professionals there is a shortage of. And more training places in the first tranche of those training places funded by the Commonwealth and rolling out immediately will provide real relief to our hospitals, provide better care in our nursing homes.
And obviously also, provide job opportunities for young Australians. So, this is a particularly pleasing part of today’s meeting and the agreement that we have reached.
The six year, $550 million indigenous program of early childhood development. I will just stress one part of this program. It was one that was established in New South Wales just over three years ago. And it is the Aboriginal maternal and infant health strategy.
And this has been a program to target Aboriginal mums who are pregnant, provide them with pre-birth and post-birth support. It has proved very successful in reducing the death rate for Aboriginal babies. And as part of this historic agreement, that kind of program gets rolled out nationally. And in our Budget brought down just over a month ago, we extended it across New South Wales. And the most pleasing part of this early childhood development program is a program nationally targeted towards Aboriginal infant and maternal health.
It saves lives. It’s proved successful in New South Wales in dropping the death rate, in saving babies, and this is a key area of reducing indigenous disadvantage and reducing death rates in Aboriginal communities among young children.
It is a fundamental reform and it is pleasing that the Prime Minister and the Commonwealth have shown leadership in this area and that we have been able to, as part of this key reform, coming from this meeting, now a national six year program, of $550 million.
In the area of business regulation, the Prime Minister has outlined three key areas, but there are ten areas that we have agreed on. There are approximately another nine that will be subject to further work. But the first ten - occupational health and safety, uniform laws on trade registration and for the registration of business names.
This will save business, particularly their national scheme of registration, tens of millions of dollars. I want to stress in the area of occupational health and safety, it is explicit in the agreement, that there is no reduction of safety in the workplace for workers.
PM: Thanks very much Morris and if I can ask John as chairman of CAF.
BRUMBY: Thank you Prime Minister. Well I thought today was again an extraordinarily positive COAG meeting in terms of the outcomes that we were able to achieve by working together. And as we’ll recall, we had the first historic COAG meeting in Melbourne last December.
We set in place then a number of arrangements that would cement this relationship of governments working together and I believe there is further powerful evidence of that today.
And all of this is about building a stronger, fairer and more sustainable Australia. I want to particularly comment if I can on the issue of business regulation reform, a seamless national economy. I think we are all aware that if you look around the world, the world economy has some challenges at the moment, it is a more difficult economic environment over the next six months than we have seen in previous years.
And for many businesses it will be a more difficult environment. And so the more that we can do as governments to remove unnecessary regulation to make it a seamless national approach is going to help business and it is going to help them compete in both the national and international economy.
And you know the Prime Minister a few moments ago indicated that it is decades since we have seen this sort of reform and it is decades since we have seen this sort of sweeping reform to business regulation.
It is something that has been very strongly supported by our state. We believe very passionately that if we want to have competitive global businesses, you have got to remove some of the red tape that holds them back. And so today really is an historic agreement in that regard.
Water, we all remember I think the historic agreement that we reached in Adelaide, an historic memorandum of understanding on the Murray Darling Basin and the challenge of course has been to convert that into the intergovernmental agreement.
And we did that today, we have done that with every party on board and I think what we have achieved is a very positive and very sensible outcome. It is an outcome which I think will be good for our state of Victoria, good for irrigators, good for the Murray Darling Basin community. But in the longer term it will also be a very good outcome in terms of the big environmental issues and challenges that we face.
For our part, I am delighted that we have achieved a significant additional funding again, $103 million for irrigation projects in the Sunraysia area. Overall as the PM mentioned, $3.7 billion worth of projects and all of this is about new investment in water saving infrastructure.
And what you can guarantee from these investments is there will be water saving. Those savings are available to irrigator communities, they are also available for the environment and so this today was really and agreement which is good for irrigators, good for rural communities but also in the longer term, a very good outcome I believe for the environment.
And finally can I say on the issue of health and governments working together. Again, I really reiterate what the PM has said about ending the blame game and just a bit of evidence about how successfully our governments are working together.
The first COAG meeting we had in Melbourne, the Prime Minister announced additional funding to tackle elective surgery waiting lists around Australia. I am pleased to report and reported to the COAG meeting today that in our state of Victoria, we have been able to treat this year, already close to an additional 3,500 elective surgery patients.
It is the biggest backlog, if you like, that we have tackled in elective surgery since we have been in government and we have been able to do it because of the partnership approach that we have got with the Federal Government.
And I think it is a great example of Governments working together to make a practical difference to the lives of Australians. So I though today built on that, I thought it was again a very, very positive and historic COAG and the test of it of course is that it will build a stronger, a fairer and more sustainable Australia.
