Doorstop interview
E&OE
MINISTER MORRISON:
It is great to be here today to announce once again the $63.4 million provided in this year’s Budget to support microfinance and lending programmes such as the NILS [No Interest Loans Scheme] and StepUP programmes. It is a five year level of funding to give certainty to organisations like Good Shepherd and others supported by the NAB who are doing great work in transforming the lives of very low income people to give them the choices they want for their future and empowering them. The Sisters of Good Shepherd many years ago started this programme using their own funds and its tremendous success commends itself more so in the lives of those who have been affected by these and many like programmes. The government has been very, very pleased to support the ongoing operation of these programmes because we understand that it is financial distress that can lead to even worse social outcomes and family breakdown and issues of family and domestic violence. All of these things are interconnected. The government has a high priority on the issue of family and domestic violence and this is yet another way of addressing the many issues that go into this chronic and difficult problem I think there is broad based support for the government to address – both at a federal level as well as through to the states and local government. That involves a partnership with the community and a partnership with organisations like Good Shepherd and others to provide the services that people need. So we are very pleased to provide that support in this year’s Budget. It is a fair go for those who have a go Budget and microfinance I think is very much in accordance with those values and principles and we will continue to provide these organisations with this much needed support.
QUESTION:
Thank you. Mr Morrison your colleague Joe Hockey the other day said…
MINISTER MORRISON:
Any questions on the microfinance first?
QUESTION:
Could you just elaborate a little bit on the Centrepay thing you mentioned inside on your speech?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Sure. Minister Payne has conducted an independent review of how these arrangements were working and it was discovered there were some arrangements that frankly do not measure up and they have been excluded from the Centrepay arrangements. I think that is an important change. Wherever those arrangements are put in place they have to be for the type of products and payments that are fair and that give people a fair go and are in no way exploitative. So this provides another level of protection for those who want to use the convenience of the Centrepay option. The whole point of Centrepay was to enable people to be able to meet regular bills that were important to supporting their cost of living and to ensure those bills got paid. At the same time we do not want to see those arrangements abused for commercial purposes. They are there to help the people who are making the payments, not those who are receiving the payments. I think that is the thrust of the changes we are making. As further changes are necessary then they will be implemented.
QUESTION:
In terms of payments, your colleague Mr Hockey the other day said if you want to buy a house, if first time home buyers want to buy a house they should get better jobs. I wondered what your advice to first home buyers looking to buy a house in Sydney might be and do you still have confidence in the Treasurer?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well of course I have confidence in the Treasurer. He brought down a Budget that gives a fair go to those who want to have a go. Part of having a go is trying to get into the housing market and buy a home. We want to do whatever we can to support people in that process. It is important, and I made some comments on this issue yesterday and I will refer you to those comments I made yesterday, but we understand it is tough to get into the housing market, particularly in Sydney. It is tough. Many of us have gone through those similar experiences and can identify with that. It requires all sorts of sacrifices. Families and others will help out, sometimes people will use negative gearing to buy a first property to give them a leg up into the market, particularly in a market like Sydney. There is no one way to achieve that vision that rightly many Australians have. We want to continue to encourage them in that. The issues that go to the movements in housing prices are many and varied. I think we need to look at these issues in a broader context. There has been a very significant escalation in housing prices, particularly in Sydney over the last 12 months and in more recent months. But the data I have seen and you take this over a longer period, over the last ten years Sydney house prices I think have moved by around 4.5% and pitches it to the upper middle of Australia’s capital city markets. Markets tend to be cyclical. We have seen a very significant increase in recent times and that is going to put a lot of pressure on people who are trying to get into the market. But the fundamentals I think remain the same – we want to encourage people into work, we want to encourage people into having their choices realised that they want realised. That’s why we have invested in Jobs for Families. It is hard to service a mortgage on one income. This Jobs for Families package will help families have two incomes where they want to do that by making the cost of child care more affordable.
QUESTION:
Can I ask Mr Morrison do you still, unlike George Brandis, do you still have faith in the Human Rights Commissioner?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Again I have already made some remarks on this. I think the great disappointment with Gillian Triggs is I don’t think the institution which she serves has been elevated as a result of her tenure. I think that is a disappointment for the institution, particularly when people engage in such a partisan way, sadly that is the inevitable outcome. I think it rubs off on the standing of the institution. I think that is unfortunate but the issues I have engaged with Professor Triggs on in the past have been dealt with. The boats have stopped. She opposed those policies and history will be the judge of those things. I think Australians were very pleased we were able to stop the deaths at sea and stop the number of people pouring into the country illegally which was occurring and that matter I am pleased has been set to rest. But we are still dealing with the significant consequences of the border protection policy failures of the previous government. One of the things I was most pleased about when I was the Minister for Immigration is that we were able to dramatically reduce the number of children who were in held detention. That was a goal we had and it was a goal we achieved.