Press conference, Bundaberg, Queensland

JACK DEMPSEY:

What a fantastic day for the Bundaberg region in Queensland – jobs growth and particularly investment in regional Queensland – and here at the beautiful Port of Bundaberg. We're very thankful to have the Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Senator Anthony Chisholm here with Chris Peters from Pacific Tug and the Pacific Tug family, on what is a multimillion dollar project to create jobs, create wealth, but also to be able to showcase this region as a place that can serve as not just Queensland, its coastline, but the wider South Pacific. So with those few words, I want to just pass straight to Chris Peters. Thanks very much.

CHRIS PETERS:

Thank you very much, everyone. Thank you for coming today and thank you for being part of the opening of Pacific Tug's Pacific Marine Base here in Bundaberg. Pacific Tug have been long term supporters of Bundaberg, we're very passionate about the region. We've been very fortunate to benefit from Commonwealth support in this facility. We hope this is the first part of a large undertaking here in Bundaberg and that we can become a key part of the renewables drive within Queensland and in Australia more broadly. And thank you again for your time here today.

ANTHONY CHISHOLM:

It's great to be here today with Chris from Pacific Tug and Mayor Jack Dempsey and also my friend, the Treasurer Jim Chalmers. We've been out and about across Queensland over the last couple of days and it's good to finish our trip here in Bundaberg and see this exciting development being opened here today. We really think that this is a model for what the future economic opportunity in regional Queensland should look like – a business that's invested in the region that sees jobs and economic opportunity through trade and more diversity in the local economy. The government of the day providing some support to get that project off the ground. We think that is a model that will work for regional Queensland, it will create jobs, it will create economic opportunity, it will bring more business to the area. But it will also ensure that this area remains a great place to live, work and raise a family at the same time. So congratulations to Pacific Tug for their vision and drive and also the work of the local government with Mayor Jack Dempsey, to provide that support to get this project off the ground. And as part of the Federal Government, we're just proud that we could play our part to ensure that this project was a successful one. I'll now hand over to Jim.

JIM CHALMERS:

Anthony Chisholm has been a real champion for this project. I'm really pleased to be here with him today on such an exciting day. I acknowledge Mayor Jack Dempsey as well, a wonderful mayor here in this part of the world, and Chris and his family – the Peters family – for the integral role in this local economy. This is a $5.7 million vote of confidence in the people and industries of Bundaberg and regional Queensland. This is a demonstration of our belief in the people and the industries of regional Queensland and regional Australia. The region's make such a massive contribution to our national economy, we want to turbocharge that. And that's why the regions are such a big focus of the Employment White Paper that the Albanese Government released this week as well. And what we will see here is more economic activity and more jobs and more opportunities for more people in this beautiful part of our country. We are big believers in this project because we are big believers in Bundy, and that's what today is all about as well. We've spent a bit of time here around this precinct over the years, and we understand just how important it is that we build these facilities so that we can create more economic activity. And so we're really proud to be a part of it – a $5.7 million investment from the Albanese Government, in addition to all of the money that the local industry is pouring into this project. We want our national economy to be strong and inclusive and dynamic, and that means regional economies need this kind of investment that we are proud to be providing. The Employment White Paper and the investment that we're making in these communities is really all about making sure that workers can find great jobs, and employers can find great workers and then we can prosper together. That – at its core – is what the Employment White Paper and this investment is all about. You couldn't have bigger believers in the local economies of regional Queensland and regional Australia than the Albanese Cabinet, and that's why we are so delighted to see this very welcome progress here. We also believe that you get more done and you generate more economic growth and more jobs and opportunities when you work with people on the ground in local communities. And so to the family, to Jack, to everyone involved – Pacific Tug – the whole show here really is getting cracking on a really important development which will deliver in spades for this generation and the generations that follow. Happy to take your questions.

JOURNALIST:

We're hearing from Chris Peters about the need for funding for stage two that will actually allow for even bigger ships and particularly along the renewables line. Is that potentially on your agenda down the track?

CHALMERS:

Today is primarily about stage one – the progress that we're making on stage one, working together. Chris has raised before, as has Jack and others, have raised possible subsequent stages with us. We will do what we always do, which is judge these proposals on their merits. And if we can afford to kick in additional investment down the track, obviously, we'll consider that when the time comes. But this today is a really important development. We're very proud to have kicked in that $5.7 million, and to partner with Pacific Tug and the local government to get this progress made. As always, we will consider any future investments when the time comes.

JOURNALIST:

Going forward with these developments, if we continue on to more stages, what will this do for regional economies?

CHALMERS:

This is all about turbocharging regional economies. We understand that if we want our economy nationally to be strong, we need the regions to be strong. Regional Australia and regional Queensland makes a disproportionately positive contribution to the success of our national economy. Regional Queensland and regional Australia is absolutely crucial to our national prosperity, and that's why it's front and centre in our Employment White Paper and when it comes to important investments like these. The Albanese Labor Government is all about governing for the whole country, not just the cities, not just the suburbs, not just the safe electorates. We want to govern for the whole place and that means recognising and investing in the vast industrial and employment opportunities of regions like this one, and wonderful towns like Bundaberg. Senator Chisholm mentioned a moment ago that we'd spent the best part of this week in regional Queensland out west – Winton and Longreach, we've been to Rocky and here in Bundy as well. And in every one of these towns, our message is the same – that is we believe in you, we want to partner with you, we understand the contribution that you make, we understand that these towns and regional centres have got a proud history, we want it to have a working future as well and that means investments like this one.

JOURNALIST:

So, you've been travelling around – on the Voice, what's the consensus in the community? What are you hearing?

CHALMERS:

Well, we've still got a couple of weeks to go until this really important referendum on the 14th of October. I think people understand that this is a generational opportunity to get better outcomes by listening to our First Nations people. And even for those people who haven't made up their mind yet, including here in regional Queensland, I think it comes down to this – if you think that we can do things better and that the best place to begin is by listening better, then we need to recognise our First Nations people in the Constitution through a Voice. I haven't met anyone who thinks that the way that we're investing this money, the way that we've gone about things, even with all of this goodwill – nobody thinks that things are happening perfectly, that we're getting the kind of outcomes and the kind of progress that we need. And so in any other line of work, if you're not getting the outcomes you want and not making the progress you want, you do things differently and you do things better – and that starts with listening. And there's a real similarity between what we're talking about here and what we're talking about in the Voice. We believe that you make better progress if you make policy with people rather than make policy for people. We want to partner with communities and make progress together. That's what the Voice is all about. We're under no illusions about how hard it is to change the Constitution. It's been hard historically to change the Constitution, but it will be worth it. This is a generational opportunity to listen better and to get better outcomes and I hope that people of Queensland and indeed the people of Australia, grasp that generational opportunity.

JOURNALIST:

We are hearing from local contacts, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, that they feel like there's not enough information about what this change means and a bit of concern around that and just feeling a bit in the dark. What's your response to that?

CHALMERS:

Well, this is an important change but it's a very simple proposition. And I say to people who are still making up their mind and still getting their head around the issues, this boils down to a couple of very simple things – listening better, getting better outcomes, by building a constitutional basis for the Voice. The Voice will not have veto power over policies, the parliament will still be making policies but this gives us an opportunity to do things differently and to do things better. The 'No' campaign want to confuse people. There's a fog of – kind of misinformation – out there at the moment. They want to spend a lot of time talking about what this isn't about and that's because they know that this is about something really simple and really profound, which I think strikes a chord with the Australian people – and that is, if you want to get better outcomes, you listen better. We need to get better outcomes here, we've got an opportunity to do something for First Nations people in a way that lifts all of us up and we should grasp it.

JOURNALIST:

The Albanese Government is investing $66.9 million into regional hubs for universities around Australia. Can you speak a bit about this?

CHALMERS:

Yeah, I'll say a few words and then I'll ask ‘Chis’ to add to that. These are really important initiatives. These hubs are all about our belief in the people of regional communities and trying to make it easier for them to access the opportunities that higher education provides. And it is harder in the bush, particularly in remote areas but also in regional centres, for people to access the kind of education that people in the cities and suburbs take for granted. I pay tribute to Anthony and Jason Clare for putting in place this investment in these hubs. We want more access for more people so that they get more opportunities, whether it's in education, or whether it's in work. A really central focus of the Employment White Paper this week has been – how do we train up and teach people for the opportunities of the economy of the future. And those opportunities have got to be available to people in the regions, not just people in the cities, and that's what those hubs are all about. I'll ask Anthony to add a few things about that.

CHISHOLM:

Thanks, Jim. And a really exciting announcement today that the first 10 of the 20 Regional University Study Hubs are now open. It's a great opportunity for many parts of regional Australia to apply and get one of these new centres opened in their town. The most exciting thing for me is that the next nurse or the next teacher in a regional community, can study at one of these hubs. And we know the shortage that we're facing in education and in health, this is a really exciting opportunity so that we can help fix that local workforce by giving young people an opportunity to stay and study in their local community. That's a fantastic outcome and I think that this will be a tremendous success, right across the country.

JOURNALIST:

Does the application have to come from the community as a whole or is that as key individuals? How does that process work?

CHISHOLM:

What I know from experience, and I've been to a number of hubs around the 34 that are already operating around the country, is that they're best when they're community driven, when they've got that groundswell of support from locals who want to create a better opportunity for young people in their community. So we think the best model is where you've got the community partnering with local government, and ensuring that they are speaking for their whole community to create this opportunity, so that young people can have that opportunity to stay and study in their local communities.

JOURNALIST:

With the hubs that are already existing, we're seeing great results. Going forward, are we going to look to expand [inaudible]?

CHISHOLM:

Yeah, so what we've done as part of the University Accord Interim Report, is we said we'd expand it to 20 regional locations and we'd also have an additional number in outer suburban areas as well. So we think that this is a good model, I've been lucky enough to visit some of the existing centres and what they are doing is providing a great opportunity for young people, but also mature age students who want to retrain and get back into the workforce, to stay and study locally. We know that the cost of moving to a capital city to study would be quite restrictive at the moment. So being able to stay and study locally and get that opportunity is really going to benefit these local communities into the future. Thanks, everyone.