REBECCA WHITE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING: We know there are lots of Tasmanians who are looking to get into a trade, just like Jeriah, who's joining me today, who's an apprentice with Loreto Community Housing. But sometimes it can be a little bit intimidating to figure out how you do that and afford to pay for your other expenses. That's why the Labor Government has invested in the Apprenticeship Incentive program, which supports apprentices who are working in our housing trades to receive $10,000 over the course of their apprenticeship. This is paid in instalments, of $2500 each year, and it can be used very flexibly as support for payment of tools or for other items that might be necessary to support with the apprenticeship. Or in the case of Jeriah, he's saving it up so that he can buy a decent vehicle at the end, with a tray on the back where he can chuck his tools on there and go out and do his job.
We know that we have a big task ahead of us here in our country, to build the houses that are necessary to support the growing demand we see right across Australia. We have an ambitious plan to build 1.2 million homes. Here we are at a site where 56 homes have been built, funded through the Housing Australia Future Fund which is about making sure that Tasmanians who are looking for affordable housing can access that here at this site, and a beautiful location right on the Derwent River. This is a program that's supported by the Labor Government that is not supported by the Coalition, and these 56 houses would not be under construction, these apprentices would not be engaged here working if the Labor Government wasn’t supporting this program.
I'm really proud to see these houses come out of the ground. We've been here before and there's just been a paddock, so it's really exciting to see this progress occurring. But more exciting to see these young apprentices, here on the worksite, gaining great skills that will set them up for a life in a career where they were always be in demand. Here in Tasmania, we’ve seen 801 apprentices benefit from this incentive program of $10,000. For those people who are doing a carpentry apprenticeship, joinery, plumbing, tiling, electrical apprenticeship, they are all benefiting from this $10,000 incentive to support more apprentices become tradies and help us build more houses.
JERIAH WEBB, APPRENTICE: So I’m a second year joiner, I did the Build Up Tassie program which is- I think it was nearly three months where you learn new skills and get to go out onto sites and different companies as well and do work placement. So, I did two weeks work experience in the joinery shop which I loved, so I landed there and I was able to sign up for the key apprenticeship program, and yeah, I’ve just thrived since then, and it’s been really good.
JOURNALIST: What will you do with some of the money here?
WEBB: Yeah, so all of the instalments I'm trying to save up in a savings account that I've opened with my bank. I'm trying not to spend as little as I can so I can just spend it all on the vehicle, when I qualify at the end of the four years. But yeah, it's a lifesaver, because the apprenticeship salary, it's not a whole much, so the instalments definitely helped as well along the way.
JOURANLIST: That’s awesome. Thank you so much.
JOURNALIST: How many Tasmanians so far have signed up to the program?
WHITE: Here in Tasmania, we've had 801 people sign up to the apprenticeship scheme, which is great, because each of these apprentices are really important for us to build more houses, which we know is a really important task. And that includes a range of trades from carpentry, joinery, electrical and plumbing and tiling. And each of these trades are really vital for us to be able to get more houses out of the ground.
JOURNALIST: Is it just making life easier for people who are already going to go into apprenticeships, or do you know that some people actually sign up because they know that they'll have a bit more money while doing it?
WHITE: The Key Apprenticeship Program is about supporting the apprentices, so they can pay their way through their trade but it's also a payment for the employer, because we recognise that taking on an apprentice can sometimes be a bit of a hurdle. So there's a $10,000 payment for the apprentice and a $5,000 payment for the employer, over the course of the apprenticeship. And this is to make sure that things like tools can easily be paid for, and also some of those other costs that come up along the way. Because apprenticeship wages aren't a lot of money, and we need to be able to incentivise people to choose this pathway. Because we know once you get qualified, there's no shortage of demand for people in this work. They're certainly highly sought after, we need them to build houses right across the country. But getting your qualification It can take a bit of time, it can cost a bit of money, so this $10,000 incentive is just to help make that a little easier.
JOURNALIST: The state government has put in a formal request now. The feds have been, I guess- they haven't exactly ruled in or out whether or not you're going to financially supporting the smelter. I mean, are you going to be looking at that request?
WHITE: I haven't seen that request, I understand it would have gone to the Prime Minister. And no doubt at National Cabinet it will be a topic for discussion between the Premier and the Prime Minister, which is happening today. We're very determined to make sure that we help keep Bell Bay here in Tasmania. This is a really important project, not just for the northern economy but for the entire state. And I can assure you that myself, Jess Teesdale, the entire Labor team are working really hard to make sure that the Minister for Industry and the Prime Minister are aware of how important this is.
But at the end of the day, what we need is for Hydro and Bell Bay Aluminium to strike a deal - that is the key sticking point here. They haven’t got a price for energy that is regarded as reasonable, and that's why they haven't settled. That is the primary issue that has to be resolved.
JOURNALIST: Yes, but should the Federal Government, I guess, keep giving financially? Because if Hydro completely caves, that is taxpayer money – Tasmanian taxpayer money.
WHITE: We have a circumstance at the moment where you have a major industrial, Bell Bay Aluminium negotiating with Hydro for a power purchase agreement at terms that are suitable for both parties. They're in the middle of a negotiation and I think a lot of the time these things happen behind closed doors, so you don't hear about it but this happening very publicly, for good reason, because we want this industry to remain operational in Tasmania. It's important for our defence industries as well as being important for our sovereign manufacturing capability in this country.
So, there is a very good reason for the federal government to have an interest here, along with the state government. But the key priority is making sure that Hydro and Bell Bay can come to an agreement. I'm not sure what was in the correspondence between the Premier, when he wrote today to the Prime Minister, but I'm sure they'll have conversations about that when they are at National Cabinet today.
JOURNALIST: The Premier said yesterday that the Federal Government should be matching what Tasmanian’s put in through Hydro. Given, I guess, a significant contribution to Tomago is it reasonable to expect the Federal Government to contribute in some way.
WHITE: Those are matters for the Prime Minister and the Minister for Industry to consider but I can assure Tasmanians the Tasmanian team feels very strongly about making sure we keep Bell Bay operational in Tasmania. Ultimately, it is up to Bell Bay to strike a deal with Hydro and the only people who can direct Hydro are the Tasmanian Government. This will require all of us to cooperate here in the best interest of Tasmanians and I think people working in Bell Bay Aluminium, or who are employed in the northern part of Tassie, they really don't care whose responsibility it is, they want us to all get in a room and work it out. We are very determined to make sure we can do that, but I want to remind people that this does come down to Hydro and Bell Bay being able to agree to a power price agreement. The Federal Government can't intervene in those negotiations, because we are not a party to those negotiations. I understand we haven’t been asked to join those negotiations, that would be highly unusual, but we are very determined to make sure we keep Bell Bay operating in Tassie.
JOURNALIST: I know you don't know what's in the letter, but the Premier has at least indicated that more than covers the $60 million a year gap in the power deal agreement. Is that reasonable to ask the Feds to match even more than the disagreement between Hydro and Rio?
WHITE: I don't think anyone would be surprised to see Jeremy Rockcliff has his hand out to Canberra asking for assistance when you see the massive black hole they have in their budget, that's going to be his modus operandi. We've seen that happen for a long period of time now. What we need is a sensible discussion about how we can make sure that Bay stays in Tasmania. Ultimately, they need a power price agreement with Hydro that is fair and reasonable for the Tasmanian taxpayer, but also so that they can continue operating sustainably for the good of the northern economy here in Tassie. We are very determined to make sure we keep Bell Bay here, and from the Federal Government's point of view, we are raising this regularly with the Prime Minister and the Minister for Industry to make sure they understand how vital this is and we will keep doing that.
JOURNALIST: The Coalition have announced they will prohibit the Clean Energy Finance Corporation from providing funding to entities to acquire agricultural land for use in carbon credit schemes. What do you make of that policy?
WHITE: I haven't seen any details for that, sorry.
JOURNALIST: If there was a policy to change the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to prevent them funding those entities, would you accept that?
WHITE: I haven't seen the details of what the Opposition are suggesting they’d do. But I think, again, it is important to note that what the Clean Energy Finance Corporation has done when it comes to Rushy Lagoon, which I presume is the reason for them saying this, is they’ve become an equity investor. So this is the Australian taxpayer having a stake in a property that's been foreign owned for 30 years. So, for the very first time in 30 years, Australians own part of Rushy Lagoon, and any return of investment will go to the Australian taxpayer. I'm not sure what the Opposition are proposing, but the devil is always in the detail when it comes to these things. So, I think until we see some further information on how they propose to implement this, we should approach it with caution.
JOURNALIST: Do you understand the concern from some of Tasmania’s primary producers that if they were to have provided a competitive offer for Rushy Lagoon it would also remain in Australian hands and Australian ownership. They’re genuine concerns of the community.
WHITE: I spoke about this extensively on Friday. I think there's been a lot of misinformation out in the community. There's a couple of things that are important to know. This has been a property that's under foreign ownership for 30 years now. It's been on the market over the past 8 years on and off a number of times, including looking to split it up so that it could be sold in different parts and there was no interest. It has now sold. It's changed hands and there's no undoing that fact. It will remain an agricultural property as well as have conversion for some forestry activities, which will create jobs. There will be opportunities for new jobs as a consequence of this sale, and those will benefit the people in Tasmania.
These are all things that have transpired. We’re not going to be able to undo this sale, what we have to do now is to make sure that Gresham House is really transparent with the people in the northern part of Tasmania about when those jobs will come online and how people can take advantage of that opportunity.
JOURNALIST: Finally, what do you think of Luke Gosling's decision to stand down?
WHITE: Luke's recently made a statement, he said he's stepping down because of the media scrutiny, but he still maintains his innocence. I respect that there is a process underway here and I don't think it would be useful for me to add further comment.
JOURNALIST: Was it reasonable to lock in WA’s GST deal given you haven’t even seen the productivity report yet?
WHITE: There's a no worse off guarantee that was included in the 2018 deal that was originally struck, that remains in place as we speak today. As I understand from what the Prime Minister said, is that that will continue to be an effective part of any arrangement going forward - that West Australia will be guaranteed its share of GST. But every other state will also continue to benefit from the no worse off guarantee.