Subjects: Lismore flood recovery; Jobs and Skills Summit 

E&OE

KEVIN HOGAN: 
Look it's wonderful to have today here in Lismore, two of my colleagues, Sussan Ley, who's the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, but also the Shadow Minister for Small Business and Industry. And also my friend and colleague, Angus Taylor, who is the Shadow Treasurer. Now I asked them both to come to Lismore a number of weeks ago, and as we've been saying in our community for six months now that this process of our recovery from this natural disaster and we know we don't call it a flood anymore, we call this and now know it is Australia's second biggest natural disaster and I wanted them to come in their shadow roles to view to look at what we're dealing with in the recovery that we need to take. So I'm very happy that they're here today. We've obviously had a walk around town and have spoken to some small businesses who aren't back in their businesses yet and are going to be weeks if not months away from getting back into their small businesses. And we've been speaking obviously to people who are not back in their homes yet, and are going to be months before they get back in their homes. And what I've been stressing to them today, and they will talk to this as well, is that we know this is going to take a long time. We know that there's a lot of things that have to happen before we get back to where we were. But this is about maintaining the sense of urgency that both state and federal governments need to do to get us back on our feet as quickly as possible. And you all know about one or two weeks ago, I expressed my extreme disappointment that five and a half months after this disaster, both federal and state government said oh, we'll start looking and talking about and looking at criteria and how we may fund or how may we may look at who does or doesn't qualify for things like land swaps, house buybacks or house raising so I wanted Sussan and Angus to view this. I want them to look at it. I want them to get a real sense of reality and emotional connection to where we are as a community. Because we know that not only physically are we challenged at the moment, we are challenged on an emotional level as well. This community we were directly or vicariously traumatised by this event over six months ago, our recovery is going to take a long time, and we need every part of assistance that we can get. And I'm glad that Angus and Sussan are here today in their shadow roles and so they see this so that we can keep hassling and pressuring by state and federal government's to assist us in our recovery. And on that I'd like to hand over Sussan.
 
SUSSAN LEY: 
Thank you very much, Kevin. I just want to thank you for your strong representation of the people of the Page electorate and in particular, your communities that have suffered through this floods was very important for both Angus and I to come here today at your invitation to see, to feel, to hear and most importantly to listen. We've just been through a home that's an empty shell and that represents one of so very many houses and I completely hear you Kevin when you say this community is waiting, waiting for information, whether it be for them about a buyback or relocation or their house being raised. There's a feeling of numbness and you know, it's extraordinarily affective to walk into it and to know that we will leave but everyone here will be left with what was a crisis and continues to be exactly that. This is a real challenge not just for this community, not just for New South Wales but for the country as a whole and it is so important, Kevin, as you say that governments respond with the actions and the financing, and Angus as Shadow Treasurer understands deeply how you need to bring real money to this recovery, how that needs to happen. And I can't help reflecting that in Canberra in various windowless committee rooms, there's a Jobs and Skills Summit happening today and the Prime Minister is talking about a lot of big picture issues, a cookie cutter approach, a lot of grand plans for the future. There's going to be a white paper that will take the bureaucracy another 12 months to write and there's been a lot of carefully choreographed announcements but right here on the ground, in this flood affected community, people are waiting, they don't want another talk fest. They want something done. And your strong representation as the local member are incredible. And I believe it's incumbent on every single politician, this isn’t about one side of the Parliament. This is about Australian representatives knowing what we need to do to make a change and make people feel better. And I want to thank the people we met this morning who really, really have stepped up and bought their businesses back to life. They are probably not making any money from them. But they're there for when the citizens walk down the street to be a friendly face and a smile and somewhere to walk in that has reception. That tells us you are still one community, the spirit of the people of this town is so strong, but I just know it's not easy. So thank you, Kevin for having us. We will go away and we commit to working hard for all of your people and this flood recovery because as you so accurately put it to me this morning, it's actually isn't just a flood. It's been a natural disaster. And that really has hit home.
 
ANGUS TAYLOR: 
Thanks, Sussan. And good to be with you, Kevin, and thank you for the extraordinary work you've been doing as a local member in this area. We're all regional MPs and I think we all understand how devastating these sorts of events can be. I've seen devastating floods and fires in my own electorate in recent months and years but nothing could have prepared me for the devastation I've seen today. And whether it's the local businesses, or the households, this has been an extraordinary event. There's no doubt about that. And the work that Kevin has been doing is just so important to get this region back up on its feet. Now what was particularly striking for me and the discussions today, is the extent to which the uncertainty is crippling. The uncertainty is crippling. It is hurting this region and it means that decisions that need to be made cannot be made whilst that uncertainty remains. What we need is tangible action from the Government to deal with that uncertainty as quickly as possible. And then people can get on with the investments and get on with their lives in the way that they need to. Part of that is making sure that there is absolute certainty about the funding being available for whatever solutions are brought forward region, area by area and certainly from our point of view, there will be the support for that. But we need to see that from the Government. It's all well and good to have conferences in Canberra, to have get gab fests, about issues that are of importance to the country, but the tangible action is what we need. That's what Australians want, and that's what this region wants. And I've heard that loud and clear today.
 
JOURNALIST:
You talked about the Jobs Summit. I know that your colleague who is with you here today is of the opinion that you should have a representative and you would be the logical person to be there. So I guess the obvious question is Why aren't you at the Jobs Summit?
 
SUSSAN LEY: 
So a lot of people are attending the Jobs Summit in good faith and so they should. My issue is that the Government is not there in good faith. What the Government has done is choreograph a series of announcements that have already gone through their own expenditure review processes. We've seen many of them already. And what the Government has done is give 25 per cent of the seats at the table at the Jobs Summit to the unions. Now of course, the unions have a valid point of view, but they are calling the shots at this jobs summit. The unions are calling the shots at the Jobs Summit, and they have played Anthony Albanese off a break here. They are getting what they want. And this is not what we need to recover our economy, particularly in a flood affected area like Lismore. We as the Opposition have come forward with ideas that make sense and could have been implemented weeks ago. So our proposal to allow pensioners and veterans to double the hours they work without having their income effect. It was made in the first Shadow Cabinet meeting, and Anthony Albanese could have picked it up then and implemented it, and it would help in businesses that are struggling to get workers, and I suspect it may well come out of the Jobs Summit. Why didn't it happen weeks ago? So that's an example of something that's a talk fest that's all about image and not enough about the substance
 
JOURNALIST:
Is this Jobs Summit just a stunt? 
 
SUSSAN LEY: 
Well aspects of this Jobs Summit look very much like a stunt to me. I've seen announcements made that were clearly worked out beforehand. Now people have gone there in good faith, and I hope they get the results that they seek. The point is that business and particularly small business needs help now. It doesn't need a process that takes yet more weeks and months. Let alone a year for a white paper that comes out of this Jobs Summit. There are measures that can be implemented now and the Opposition has talked about these, the measure that we've set for pensioners and veterans to receive more income, the congestion busting for skilled visas coming into this country. We've heard a lot of talk about it. Well, how about implementing it? And the training task, which I know the Prime Minister has referenced this morning, but hasn't referenced to the important role that private training providers could undertake. When you have industry-led training you get the best training and the best results.
 
JOURNALIST:
What do you believe you’re achieving today that couldn’t have been achieved at the Jobs Summit?  
 
SUSSAN LEY: 
Well is the Jobs Summit talking about jobs in Lismore? Is the Jobs Summit talking about flood recovery natural disaster recovery? Does anyone at the Jobs Summit understand the real pain that households are going through six months after a flood and still no information about their futures and we see businesses that are going in alone because they feel that the government has let them down. I don't think those discussions are being had anywhere at the Jobs Summit and I want to make another point. Anthony Albanese has not been to Lismore since he became Prime Minister. He used the effect of the disaster many times in the election campaign and I don't want to go there. I don't want to talk about the politics of the flood recovery. I want to talk about the reality. Anthony Albanese needs to come and look at this for himself. Because when you see it for yourself, you immediately understand what's needed. And he has the power. He is in government to bring that help to this community right away. 
 
JOURNALIST:
Why isn’t the Liberal Leader here today?
 
SUSSAN LEY: 
Well, Angus Tayor and I are here. And we're all as a shadow ministry working together. We were together in the Macedon Ranges talking about small businesses and jobs there. We're out across the country doing what I think we do best at the moment, which is listening, understanding and responding to the needs of communities. 
 
JOURNALIST:
Sussan, you mentioned action and finance. How come when the Liberal Party was in power, they were heavily criticised about the distribution of emergency funding immediately after the flood. Even Catherine Cusack resigned over that. We have to say about that.
 
SUSSAN LEY: 
Look, I understand those criticisms, and I understand the heartache and I always listen closely to Kevin as a local member, and he expressed his frustrations and I appreciate them. We've actually gone beyond that crisis into a recovery phase. So the flood waters have receded. But the damage has certainly not and the restoration that needs to happen needs to happen soon. So that's the actions that need to be brought to bear right now for the community.
 
JOURNALIST:
Wouldn’t you find it ironic, though, that a government that was heavily criticised for not funding flood relief is now taking potshots at the Government for not funding the flood relief?
 
SUSSAN LEY: 
When we were in government, we visited the regions many times those that were experiencing natural disasters. My point is that the Prime Minister has not been to this region once since becoming Prime Minister. He's found time to go overseas. He's found time to go on holidays. No one's saying that he shouldn't do that. He's found time to travel to the Torres Strait and talk about issues relating to the Voice and that's important, of course, and he's found time to have a two day Jobs Summit talk fest in Canberra. Why hasn't he had time to come here? To see what we've seen to listen directly to local medevac headed over who understands this community better than anyone else?
 
JOURNALIST:
There's an agreement today to fund 180,000 Free TAFE places do you support that?
 
SUSSAN LEY:
I see that as yet another announcement that has little detail. Now, unless that announcement can tell me that the TAFEs will be able to open their classrooms to students that right now can't actually get into TAFE because the training places are filled up. How is it going to work in every single TAFE across the country? Is it just going to be another payment to state governments. This is what we saw with TAFE announcements with Gillard Government. The money went straight to the state governments and didn't filter down to the classroom. The other aspect of that announcement is the private training providers, which is industry-led training that's done by organisations that actually have trainers that are on the tools right now that understand the building industry, the motor trades industry, the construction industry, retail, because they live and work in it every day. So we need both. Once again, we've got Anthony Albanese ignoring a huge sector of the economy that could work hard to bring skills back to life. 
 
JOURNALIST:
There is a lot of speculation that the migration will be expanding. Would you support that in your thoughts on that issue?
 
SUSSAN LEY:
Well, yes, we would. And we know that urgently business needs a workforce and much of that workforce semi-skilled as skill needs to come from overseas. But why are we waiting 100 days plus into this new government to make that announcement and actually get some action. So yes, I'm sure something will come out of the Jobs Summit, but it could have been announced weeks ago. We could already have a campaign to attract those workers who by the way, have got other options, they don't have to come to Australia. They can go to the US they can go to Canada, they can go to New Zealand. We want them to come here. The Government could already have had that campaign in place to bring these workers here and no one understands us better than regional MPs.
 
JOURNALIST:
The Nationals Leader David Littleproud is attending, there is a perception that it's almost petulant, that you and your opposition are not there and that despite what you said, today, you are playing politics on the issue. You're talking about Anthony Albanese isn't here. Well, you didn't have to choose today to come to Lismore if you know what I mean.
 
SUSSAN LEY:
We're here at Kevin Hogan's invitation. I do not have one single regret about not attending the Jobs Summit. It is a talk fest. It is a stunt and most of the announcements have been worked out already. And it isn't learning, listening, understanding and acting to many of the problems that real Australians face in their businesses today. A lot of people are going there in good faith. And I understand that. The issue is that the government is not there in good faith. 
 
KEVIN HOGAN:
Look, I spoke to David about this and look good on him he thought it was very important because he didn't really feel the regional Australia I mean, to make a distinction here he when he went there as a regional representative, he didn't feel regions we're gonna have a say at all the Jobs Summit. But look, he's going there with very low expectations about real results. To give you one example about this. So and I know Dave has been very loud about this issue is we when the Government started to roll out and the Ag visa now, and what is the Ag visa, the Ag visa is having countries within Southeast Asia be able to come over here on an agricultural visa and help our farmers basically help pick fruit pick vegetables. Now the Labor Government have knocked that on the head. So now they're talking about job shortages. If this if this is what they are talking about at the Jobs Summit, then why would they not support the agricultural visa and extending the agricultural visa beyond Vietnam? Because that's what they said they won't do. So if they're really committed to improving some of the job shortages we have in regional Australia. They were supported that again months ago.