Doorstop interview
E&OE
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well I’m very pleased to be here at the ReCHARGE conference in homelessness and prevention week and I’m particularly pleased to be here with my state colleague, Brad Hazzard, the NSW minister. In this year’s Budget we allocated $230 million for the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness. Some one in five homeless Australians are young people and in announcing that funding earlier this year, we wanted the focus to be on the top priorities, in our view, of homelessness related to young people and homelessness related to domestic family violence and sadly as we know these two issues are highly connected. I’m very pleased that all states and territories – but sadly bar one – have now signed up to that agreement. I welcome the sign up of the South Australian state government and I appeal to the Queensland government – it is now August and we made our announcement in March that this funding would be available – to sign the agreement and get on board and ensure that almost $60 million in state and federal funds will be available in the state of Queensland to support homelessness projects, frontline projects and in particular projects that are addressing homelessness related to young people and domestic family violence.
We’re working through the project plans now, through all the other states and territories and I look forward to those funds hitting those projects on the ground as soon as possible. It is an incredibly important part of what the government does; the previous government had actually ceased the funding going forward for the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness. This government put new funding into that agreement and will work together with the states and territories through the Federation Review process to get an even better arrangement as to how we address housing issues.
If young people don’t have stable housing, it’s harder for them to actually find themselves into a job and that’s why it’s important but it’s also important for the obvious social reasons of making sure young people are safe.
QUESTION:
On the issue of young people and getting a job, do you have any evidence that the full month wait period for the dole rule will prompt people to get jobs? There is a department official who concedes that there is no direct evidence.
MINISTER MORRISON:
Well I can only point to the New Zealand experience where they have introduced a similar measure and 40% of those who entered that four week waiting period in New Zealand didn’t end up going onto benefits. Now that strikes me as a pretty good success rate and what we’re saying is, we don’t want for job ready young people, for the message to be that you go from the school gate to the Centrelink front door. Now the Labor party and the Greens and others think that’s the right answer, that we should be sending the message to young people that you walk out the school gates and you walk into the Centrelink front door and you treat the Centrelink catalogue like it’s an Ikea catalogue. That’s not what we should be doing. In New Zealand they have the runs on the board. Forty per cent of those entering that four week waiting period end up not going on the dole, but going into work and not being dependent on welfare benefits. I think that’s a project worth pursuing, that has results, and I think can provide a way forward.
The initiative that we have before the Senate does not apply to vulnerable youth, it does not apply to youth who can’t go home for very good reasons, often related to family and domestic violence, it doesn’t relate to those in very vulnerable situations or those with disabilities or things of that nature. They are just the scare campaigns of those who want to preserve a welfare mindset for young people. We don’t want to have a welfare mindset amongst young people. We want young people to be aspirational, to be positive, and to be out there on the front foot and we know that that’s what they want to do and we want to encourage them in that process.
QUESTION:
Now you’ve backed down from six months to four weeks for the wait for youth to access unemployment benefits, this however appears unlikely to pass through the Senate. Will you keep pushing it?
MINISTER MORRISON:
I will keep pushing it and we listened to the Australian people and we listened to the parliament and the six month measure has been converted to a four week measure and not only that, but we listened about the need to have programmes to support young people getting into jobs. In this Budget we allocated over $330 million to programmes that will help young people get into work and get ready to be in work and address many of the challenges that could be preventing them from being in work. For example, issues relating to mental illness, issues regarding vulnerability particularly for migrant and ethnic youth and refugee youth. Those who are having difficulties in transitioning into work and have to work on a number of skills to help get in that place – over $330 million. So if the Senate believe that spending more on getting employment programmes in place for young people and changing our initial measure from six months down to four weeks is not enough of a compromise well it is starting to strike me that their opposition to this may be ideological rather than practical. We have listened, we have amended the measure, we have put more money into this than it is actually saving us because we believe the right message for young people is that you don’t go to the Centrelink front door from the school gate, you go and seek to find a job and we want to help you do that because in a job you will find the best form of welfare, not on a benefit.
QUESTION:
And what feedback are you getting from crossbenchers about this?
MINISTER MORRISON:
We are still working that through but the government remains absolutely committed to this measure we will pursue this measure. It is one we will be very resolved on.
QUESTION:
Since the wreckage was found on Reunion Island, the world has been waiting to find out if it is indeed from MH370. As a Minister have you been told definitely that it is?
MINISTER MORRISON:
No look I am not in the National Security Committee of Cabinet that might otherwise sometimes deal with these matters. They are appropriately being dealt with by Minister Truss and the Prime Minister so I am not in a position to confirm any of those things. But it is a significant development clearly and I can only look at the public reports that are available and the commentary that has been made. When we see these things I think of the families and for them this is a reminder of what occurred on that terrible night but also for the families of MH17 and I know there would be many families affected by this and this will be bringing up some bad memories as well and our thoughts are with them today.
QUESTION:
On entitlements, do you think that charging taxpayers for family travel is within those entitlements?
MINISTER MORRISON:
Members of Parliament spend a lot of time away from their family. I am not in a habit of commentating on other people’s use of entitlements. That is a matter for every single member to be accountable for so I am not going to get into those sorts of discussions. The Prime Minister has put in place I think a very worthy project with Messrs Tune and Conde. I think it is important that the regulations and rules are consistent with community expectations and that all members abide by those. That is the most constructive way forward. I am not about to be offering advice to other members. I think I have to advise myself on these things and ensure I do things as properly as I can.
QUESTION:
Should we expect to see further slightly dodgy expense claims leak out to the press or do you want to call truce on Labor on the matter?
MINISTER MORRISON:
It is not my practice or habit to be commentating on the conduct of other members on these issues. Others have chosen to do that in recent times and Mr Burke clearly has. That is a matter for him. But I think the important thing here is that the Prime Minister’s initiative of addressing the system and ensuring that system is consistent with community expectations is really important. Members frankly and particularly Ministers just want to get on with the job of the important work we are doing for the Australian people. You just want to get about that task. That is what I am doing, that is what I am doing here today and I will leave it to Messrs Conde and Tune who have a very good knowledge of these matters and I am sure will come back with some important improvements. There have been many changes to the system over the years. When I came into the Parliament it wasn’t under the old superannuation scheme. That was rightly changed consistent with community expectations. There have been many other changes and I am sure there will be more and members will comply with those as they should.
QUESTION:
Fairly impressive spread in Women’s Weekly, are we seeing a future PM here?
MINISTER MORRISON:
I have good looking daughters and a lovely wife. She is very tolerating. I think any father in my situation would be very proud of their beautiful family, their wonderful girls and my wife is just an incredible person. They have been so supportive of me. I think they are the real heroes of that story and they put up, like all of our families, as the Prime Minister says they are conscripts to this service, we are willing volunteers. I think it is often a good thing for people to have an understanding of the broader role families play in politics and they give me tremendous support and I love them dearly. I think they are the real stars.
Thank you.