Transcript - Press Conference, Brisbane

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: It's great to be here at the FIFA Fan Festival site in Brisbane. Tonight, of course, the Matildas will play against Sweden for the bronze medal in the Women's World Cup. It has been an extraordinary period for women's football, but for women's sport in general. The idea 20 years ago, if you could have predicted that women's team sport would be played in front of packed crowds with cheering Australians at live sites right around the country, it would have been seen as being optimistic. The truth is that the Matildas have inspired a nation. The Women's World Cup has changed sport in Australia forever. And it has also helped to change the country forever. Young girls and young boys have been flocking in their thousands to games and to live sites, and gathering around family TVs in lounge rooms, watching their heroes play. This program that we are announcing today will ensure that not only can young girls growing up see it, they can be it. And that is what this is aimed at. We are backing the talent, the hard work and aspiration that people are seeing played out with this $200 million Play Our Way program. It is about learning from women with real world experience, navigating community sport right up to the professional level, to make sure that we get this right. Which is why we are announcing today an expert panel to help design the Play Our Way program, and to ensure that it produces the most needed facilities at the most needed locations. I'm pleased to announce the expert panel will be Tal Karp who is with us today, a former Matilda and a Melbourne Victory captain; Lauren Jackson, former Olympian, four times Women's NBL MVP, and five times Women's NBL champion; Liz Ellis, former Diamonds captain, three times world champion and Commonwealth Games medallist; and Madison De Rosario, a four-time Olympian who collected two gold three silver and one bronze medal in Tokyo. This is about making sure that the next generation of Sam Kerrs and Mackenzie Arnolds get not just the applause as Mackenzie and Sam have, but they get the infrastructure and facilities that they need. We are going to see an explosion in participation in sport, and that is why this $200 million will make a difference, to not just recognise that this has been a moment of national inspiration, but to seize the opportunity for the next generation coming up to be able to fulfil the dreams that are being felt right around our nation. Today we are taking the next steps to make sure that major Australian sporting events are shown on free-to-air TV, by releasing a proposals paper to mitigate the risk of major events slipping behind paywalls. That is particularly important for women's sport and Michelle Rowland will say more about that because we want to make sure that women and girls can see it so that they can then be it. This is an important announcement so that women and girls everywhere in Australia can have the facilities and the support that they need to choose a sport that they love and to be able to participate. It is good for their health, but it's also good for their development into young adults, because what we know is that team sport teaches young girls and young boys how to win, how to lose, the importance of team work, the importance of getting on with each other, the fact that cooperation is so important as well. So it is a part of growing up that can teach those life skills, as well as being fun, and that's important as well.



ANIKA WELLS, MINISTER FOR SPORT: It is great to be here with you all this morning. The Matildas came very clear-eyed in their mission to this World Cup on home soil. It was to inspire the next generation, and they have more than delivered on that mission. They said that they themselves, for the most part, had been inspired by Cathy Freeman in the Sydney 2000 Olympics and they wanted to give their team and their country another Cathy Freeman moment. I reckon they've given us two Cathy Freeman moments. We can argue that toss until the game starts again tonight. They have more than delivered on their mission, so now it is time for us to do our part. The next generation is inspired and now we need to build them the safe and welcoming spaces in sport to facilitate their participation and success in the years to come. I want to pay tribute to Sarah Walsh who runs legacy at Football Australia and Alicia Ferguson who is Head of Delegation for the Matildas who are with us today. We have spent a lot of time together in recent months and we have spent a lot of time talking about football funding. A lot of people have given me their opinions, but the common thread about what the first cheque we needed to write was for grassroots and for the experience of girls as they come to play sport for the first time. Someone should be there to greet them when they turn up. There should be somewhere for them to change, to shower, to call home. They should get a pitch that is not out in the doldrums, and they should be offered training times that aren't just what's left over when the blokes run through. That's what Play Our Way is designed to do, to make safe and inclusive spaces in sport. And the second thing, as Sports Minister when we came to government, we promised to end the sports rorts and promised to bring trust back to the sporting ecosystem and sports funding. That is why as the Sports Minister, I will not be making the final decision when it comes to the Play Our Way program. Instead, we will have a panel of experts, iconic Australian athletes who have moved from the grassroots to the highest levels of elite sport - Tal Karp, Liz Ellis, Lauren Jackson and Madison De Rosario - who will make the decisions about where this money should go. As Sports Minister, I want to see a sporting ecosystem that is athlete-led, that puts athletes at the heart and that we listen to the athletes' voice and that's what we are doing with this program that we are announcing today.



MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: As the Prime Minister and Minister Wells have articulated, this has really been a step change for women's sport and sport overall in Australia. But one aspect that has failed to keep up is our regulatory scheme. We have an anti-siphoning list that is stuck in the analogue age. Over the last decade, as streaming services have emerged, as sports around the world have moved behind paywalls, we have not seen this aspect of regulation in Australia reviewed or updated to be fit for purpose. That is why at the last election we took a very clear policy to review and update the anti-siphoning regime to ensure that it is fit for purpose. I want to thank the industry and all the stakeholders whose have been involved in that consultation so far, including the sporting codes. And one thing is very clear: this scheme needs to be updated to bring itself into the digital age. Overall, it is serving a very important purpose where we have broadcasting as a stable, free and ubiquitous platform and while streaming services are available to many Australians, they are not available equitably. That is why we will be bringing streaming services into this regime to ensure that we maximise the opportunities for all Australians, irrespective of where they live or what they earn, to be able to have the best opportunity to access these iconic events of national significance. We will also be proposing to update the anti-siphoning scheme and list in respect of the number of sports that are under it. These include: increasing the amount of para sports, but also increasing women's sports. Some people may not be aware, but currently the anti-siphoning list specifies that it is in relation to a number of men's sports at a national level, and that includes the FIFA World Cup. We have a number of propositions as our preferred options in this latest round of consultation that says we need to expand that so that it does not specify it is only men's sports in this area. So we look forward to this next stage of consultation which the industry has requested. I look forward to the comments that will be given and also taking this forward to ensure that we have a regime that is fit for purpose and that fits so well with what the Albanese Government is prosecuting in terms of increasing access to women's sports around Australia.



TAL KARP: Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you, Ministers. When I was a kid, I didn't see women playing sport on TV. I didn't see women in my local stadium. I didn't see women or girls taking up space in my local fields. Making the decision to play the world game, football, was made because I saw men on TV. I watched the World Cup and I was obsessed by what I saw that men were my reference point. I wanted to be exactly like my brother, but I wasn't allowed to play the beautiful game that he had access to. Making the decision to play football meant going against the grain and being different. The World Cup, right here on our shores over the last month, has shown so many, so many of the up-and-coming generations that it is OK to be whoever you want to be, to play football or any sport regardless of your gender, regardless of your background, regardless of where you come from, and that to me is what sport is all about. The Matildas have taken us on an epic journey. We have been with them every step of the way. But it is not just what happened on the football field, it has to be about the legacy. It has to be about what we do next to make sure that kids, regardless of where they come from, can be that starry-eyed little kid like I was, but see women on TV like them, they can have the opportunities, the playing fields, the facilities that enable them to be at their best. It is an absolute privilege to have this opportunity to work alongside some amazing former athletes and I'm excited to see this changing the game when it comes to women in sport in this country.



PRIME MINISTER: Thanks so much, Tal. And I think that you can see why Tal has been chosen along with Maddie, Liz and Lauren - four extraordinary women who have all made an incredible contribution on the field or the court, on the oval. But now will be able to make it as well with their contribution to managing this fund going forward.



JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there are thousands of sporting clubs around this country. Is $200 million really enough to do what you want to do?



PRIME MINISTER: Well, $200 million is a significant injection and we think that it will make an enormous difference. Does this end the process? Of course not. The difference is, though, that we want to use the momentum to make that available. This is on top of existing funding commitments that have been made to improve facilities. For example, Henson Park in my electorate is getting facility upgrades to allow the AFLW teams, the Sydney Swans and the GWS Giants, to play there. There are a range of other programs. But we want to make sure that unlike what has been announced in the past, that it actually delivers facilities for women and girls. It's not given to clubs that don't have teams where women are playing, which is what happened with the sports rorts program, including the program that was supposed to be for women's sports upgrades that was done on the basis of an electoral map regardless of whether clubs actually had women's teams playing.



JOURNALIST: Obviously this is going to go through the expert panel, but how much of this is going to be coming to regional areas?



PRIME MINISTER: That will be up to the expert panel. But I'm sure, given the backgrounds that have been chosen - Lauren Jackson, as you're aware, is from a region, Liz Ellis has made an enormous contribution, Maddie. We have a geographical spread here across states, in terms of backgrounds, and across sports. We've ensured that there is a Paralympian representative as well, because this is about being inclusive going forward. And I think that if you compare it with what's happened in the past, this has been well thought through. This is something that Anika in particular, to give her credit as the Sports Minister, has been very passionate about. And my Government has been giving proper consideration to make sure that we get it right.



JOURNALIST: Community sport funding is one piece of the puzzle. We've heard from many current Matildas players that funding for the Women's A-League and other elite facilities isn't where it needs to be. We know that the Matildas, for the semi finals, had to borrow the Sydney Swans High Performance Centre to prepare. Is the Government working on a package for the next stage of this sport? 



PRIME MINISTER: We, of course, make announcements when we make them. But this is important at the grassroots level. And we have listened to the feedback that we have had, including the comments that the Matildas have made, the comments that you just heard, made here as well about the importance of facilities being grown. This will be eligible for local Government, community-based sporting clubs, to put in bids for funding as part of this $200 million program.



JOURNALIST: For Tal if I can. You're going to be on the expert body. What do you want to see the priorities be?



KARP: We haven't yet met as a panel, so it's going to be really important that we go through a process. And process is really important here to make sure that we hear diverse perspectives, that we're taking into account the evidence needed to make sure that we are matching resources where the need is at its greatest. So we won't pre-empt the process, which is really important. Just be assured that this is really, really important. We see this as such an opportunity, an important privilege. It's a huge responsibility and each of us will, no doubt, come to that with that very much in mind.



JOURNALIST: Tal, when you used to speak to people at FFA or broadcast partners, they'd always say 'Yeah, it would be great to give more funding but the key is getting bums on seats'. What is your message to people who didn't make the investments sooner?



KARP: Haven't we seen so many bums on seats of late. No-one, maybe, saw this in the way that was quite obvious. We've been saying forever, the evidence base has been there forever. In my mind it's a mindset shift and that's what we had over the last month. People have finally come to realise the spectacular product that is women playing sport, the most exceptional women from around the world showing feats of strength, of resilience. They've taken us on an absolute rollercoaster. It's a mindset shift, because the product was always there. It's now that it's in front of everybody. Everybody could see it. So if you don't jump on board, I think it's quite crazy.



JOURNALIST: Do you think that FFA had a lack of vision where the AFL was proactive?



KARP: I don't think that that is a question for me to answer right here, today. Now the message that the Prime Minister has been talking about right here today is to make sure that this isn't just an amazing sugar hit. For the last month, we have been absolutely captured by the most spectacular feats. But it's about the legacy. It's about what we do next. It's about making sure that each of us play our role in embedding a meaningful legacy for everybody, regardless of where they come from, so that they can have opportunities, so that they can build the pipeline that we are desperate for and so that they can continue to inspire us.



JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Prince William is next in line to be our Head of State. He's also the head of the English Football Association. What does it say to young women players that he's not travelling here to watch either the Matildas or England in the finals?



PRIME MINISTER: I'm not going to comment on Prince William and his activities. That is a matter for him. I will be here cheering the Matildas tonight.



JOURNALIST: The Labor conference passed a motion for progressive tax and taxing corporations to pay for social and affordable housing. Will that spur the Government to do anything additional beyond policies already announced?



PRIME MINISTER: We've announced our policies and we're implementing them. What we need is the Greens political party and the Coalition and One Nation who make up the No-alition in the Senate who say no to affordable housing and no to increased social housing, to support that legislation in the Senate. It's extraordinary that we have legislation that will see 30,000 additional social homes being built in coming years, 4,000 of which are reserved for women and children escaping domestic violence. There's funding there to fix up remote housing for Indigenous Australians. There's funding there for veterans at risk of homelessness. And for the minor parties, and indeed the alternative party of government, to be saying no to that - I just find extraordinary. We are working, as we have, with state and territory governments this week, with constructive changes, including the increased number, up to 1.2 million houses built by the end of this decade under the national accord. That is welcomed by industry. It's been welcomed by housing and homelessness groups. And it is a major step forward. People can be held to account now for whether they continue to block and continue to oppose social housing. But you can't say you're in favour of it and continue to vote against it.



JOURNALIST: On the anti-siphoning list, some sporting bodies have complained for a long time that it actually limits the revenue they can gain by selling their rights to broadcasters. By expanding the list is there a risk you could perversely limit the amount of money that could go into women's sports?



ROWLAND: Well, we have listened to the variety of views on this matter. And as you would anticipate, there are some highly lucrative aspects of this scheme as well. That's just a matter of fact. But we have taken what we believe is a balanced approach that is in keeping with the ultimate goal of this scheme and that is to maximise the opportunities for Australians to be able to view iconic Australian events and to have those be able to be free. So, we are balancing a number of those factors. But one of the key issues here is that for the last decade or so, as  multinational streaming companies have emerged and taken in other countries, a number of sports behind pay walls, we want to ensure that that does not happen in Australia. That we maximise the number of people who are able to see it. Now, as we have seen with the success of the Matildas, this is a franchise that people want to support. This is a franchise that Australians have gotten behind. So I think it's very clear that the more Australians are able to view and support their teams, then the greater the opportunity for everyone. But, again, this is a stage of  consultation. The industry asked us to put out a number of models. We have done that. We have stated what our preferred model is. And we look forward to comments that come back, precisely on that point.



JOURNALIST: Talking about changing the anti-siphoning laws and making them equitable, most of them will be on free-to-air channels. Isn't it time to give free-to-air prominence on digital TVs so they can be seen? If you've got a former Deputy Prime Minister watching the wrong game, something is clearly wrong.



PRIME MINISTER: It might be that there's something wrong with the former Deputy Prime Minister.



ROWLAND: We took a very clear policy to the election that we would legislate a prominence framework in Australia. We have been undertaking consultation on that and the sector itself has been very active in that regard. One of the key things here, again, is that Australian content needs to be capable of being found. That is the ultimate goal of a prominence framework. We've seen in the United Kingdom, a similar framework being under development, and we know that, again, these multinational companies that produce this hardware are able to charge rents for where this content appears on a screen. So we are committed, as part of our media reform priorities, to introducing a prominence framework into the Parliament before the end of the year, and that legislation will be forthcoming. And again, I'm grateful to the industry and to the future of broadcasting working group who has been looking at this very assiduously. It is novel, but at the same time, the principles are very clear - we want Australians to be able to find Australian content.



JOURNALIST: A lot of the speeches at the conference were about further policy change, for instance, on taxation. Now you've made commitments on tax at the last election that binds you in this term of Parliament, but given what some of the Labor delegates are saying about the need for bigger taxes on companies, are looking at housing and how taxes related to housing. Are you up for a debate before the next election or in the next term of Parliament where you give those Labor voices a go at future tax reform?



PRIME MINISTER: Well, I've said very clearly, I said before the last election, it was taken a bit out of context, where I said the the job of reform is is never done. We took policies to the election. What we have been doing since 2022, and I said this in my my address to delegates on day one of the conference, that we've been going through methodically in an orderly way, and delivering on our commitments. We're an orderly government that is implementing reform in a way that makes sure we take the Australian people with us, and that entrenches that reform as well. This policy here began with the debate from the Sports Minister over a considerable period of time, was ticked off through our processes. It might have been at the beginning of this World Cup but before we saw the incredible reaction, because we've been very conscious about the need that was there for women and girls' sporting facilities to be upgraded, to have a Play Our Way program, to make sure that we're inclusive. That's one of the characteristics of our government. We will continue to work through policies. But I think this conference has been an extraordinary success up to this point. I'll be going after this next question back to the conference. But I've been a delegate to every conference since 1986. I'm struck by the sense of unity that there is at this conference, the common sense of purpose that is there behind the government's agenda. And unlike other conferences, you don't have to put in your diary hold the date for three days of Liberal Party conferences, because it doesn't happen. You don't have to put in hold the date for the National Party, of course, who made their leader, not once but twice, Barnaby Joyce, the bloke who did watch the wrong Matildas game the other night. And you certainly don't have to worry about the Greens because they don't let you anywhere near them. Our conferences are broadcast live. We are not frightened of having debate and engaging in ideas. That's something that happened on conference floor yesterday. It will happen again today.



JOURNALIST: At the conference today, a lot of the focus will be on the referendum, somewhat of a reboot of the Yes campaign. What's going to be different this time around?



PRIME MINISTER: What we know is that Australians focus in the lead up to casting a vote at a Federal election. And there's no reason why a referendum question will be any different. Today is an opportunity is to mobilise the Labor Party rank and file, mobilise people who are watching the event to go out there and to have conversations on a one on one basis about what the question is before the Australian people. The AEC will be mailing out the Yes and No cases now that all the printing and everything has been done. That was a precondition for the vote being held, which will be in October or November. We'll make an announcement at an appropriate time after we've finished conversations, including with the AEC. And when Australians focus on what the question is, which is about recognition, and also about listening to Indigenous people about matters that affect them in order to get better results. That's what this question is about. There's been a whole lot of misinformation out there and things that have nothing to do with whether people put yes or no in the box. And that's one of the things we'll have to do, obviously, is to educate people as well about formal voting, so they're not taking or crossing, they are writing yes or no, in a box, which is the way that you change the Constitution in this country. I think this is a very gracious request of Indigenous Australians. And I'm very confident that Australia will vote Yes. And my confidence is based upon the Australian values that we see indirectly even with the issue were debating today. As Australia moves forward, there are some who want to romanticise the past. There's some who say 'the Labor Party isn't what it used to be'. And to them I say yes, we don't longer support the White Australia Policy. We support inclusiveness. And one of the things that's happening with the Matildas is a nation supporting gender equality is an aspect of what is going on in this country. We need also to support inclusiveness. And to close the gap - just as we shouldn't be able to identify, in my view, whether it's men's football or women's football, they should have the same prominence and young girls should have the same opportunity as young boys to aspire to be like their heroes, or just to have fun on the park on a weekend - we need to close the gap, wherever they are. And there is a massive gap: an eight year life expectancy gap, a greater chance of a young Indigenous male going to jailed than going to university, an increased chance of a young Indigenous woman dying in childbirth compared with the non-Indigenous woman. gaps in health, education, housing. We can't just do more of the same. That is why we need to do something better. This gracious offer is there from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Australians will have the opportunity to vote Yes, for a more inclusive Australia to make this greatest country on Earth just that little bit greater.