ANDREW LANCASTER, ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA CEO: Good morning, and welcome to the Bruce Gordon Centre, the newly launched Bruce Gordon Centre. It’s great to be here today, and it's great to have the Dragons, the St. George Illawarra Dragons finally pulled together under one roof. One club, one very strong club under one roof, for the first time in our club's history. Nice to have the ability here today to celebrate the heritage and the history of St George and the Illawarra rugby league region and bring them all together under the Bruce Gordon Centre. The Bruce Gordon Centre gives us an opportunity to show what the Dragons can be. It's a reflection of the future of the St George Illawarra Dragons as we continue to develop our local juniors, our pathways, our players, our programs, and our community connection. So, thank you for being here today.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks very much, Andrew. And I'm very pleased to be here for the opening of what is the best Rugby League Centre of Excellence in Australia. This is world-class facilities for a club that deserves it, for a region here in the Illawarra that deserves this investment as well. The connection with the university means that it will go from junior rugby league for boys and girls, right up through men and women, right up through the first grade team down to local junior rugby league and community facilities as well. A meeting place, a place that will bring the Illawarra together and will inspire the next generation of young people here in Wollongong. We want to make sure that young people get off their devices and onto the footy fields or netball courts or other facilities. That is precisely what this facility is an investment in. It's an investment in the future, and I congratulate the Dragons, Andrew in particular. It's fantastic that it's named after Bruce in honour of his contribution over such a long period of time. This makes an enormous difference for the Dragons, and today the next chapter of what is a very proud story of the Dragons begins and I'm sure it's one that will be very successful as we go forward.
ANIKA WELLS, MINISTER FOR SPORT: Good morning, everyone. As the Prime Minister has already spoken about this morning, a pillar of the Albanese Government is about getting kids off devices and back onto the field at facilities like this that we're opening today is exactly how we do it. We know about the dangers of social media, that's why the Prime Minister has acted with world-leading online safety laws that have now been followed by more than a dozen countries world over. But we also know about the benefits of sport, and that's why we're so happy to be here today to open a facility that is going to give those opportunities to kids and to women and to men across the Illawarra. We know that social media can impact your mental health, but sport builds it back up. Sport teaches our kids resilience. it teaches you that no matter how you're travelling, there's always people that will have your back. It teaches women to trust their bodies. It teaches people to make real-time decisions, to live with the consequences, and to move on. That is the power of sport, and that's why we are so committed to getting kids off their devices and back into sport. We expect 6000 more women here in the Illawarra to be able to participate in sport as a result of the facility that has been advocated so powerfully for by their local members, Alison and Carol. I'm so pleased to be here today to open it. On a separate matter, in my other portfolio of Communications. Yesterday X was issued a fine for $650,000 for failure to comply with a transparency notice by the eSafety Commission. This sends a really powerful message to big tech that if you want to conduct business on Australian shores, you must comply with Australia's world leading online safety laws. I am glad the Federal Court has held X accountable for failing to be transparent about the ways that it detects, prevents, and removes child exploitation and abuse material online. The Albanese Government will always stand up for Australian parents and Australian kids, and we will always fight on these matters.
PRIME MINISTER: Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: In order for Australia to take submarines by 2040 under AUKUS, a decision on the location of where the base should be probably should have been made already. So, when will you be telling the public whether Port Kembla or Brisbane or Newcastle is that location? And many in Port Kembla here locally simply don't want it in their backyards. So, how will you convince them that the deal is a good one?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there is no deal. This is something that will be considered in the 2030s. What we're concentrating on now very much is the work that's taking place at Stirling in Perth. That's where the visitations will occur from throughout this decade, and so that decision we've made clear, is some time off. There'll be appropriate consultation and work done. I do note some obscure story about something about a report from the former New South Wales Government. Now I don't know what Dominic Perrottet did with that report, but I know that it's not a Commonwealth report or something that we were engaged with.
JOURNALIST: Should centres like this be the standard for clubs to be developing female players?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is world class standard. This is best practice because it will bring opportunities for girls and women, as well as boys and men, and that's a great thing. Anyone who watched the State of Origin games will be inspired by the skill and tenacity and courage and determination of both teams in New South Wales and Queensland, and that's something that's been a transformation during, certainly during my lifetime. When I played rugby league at a very junior level, you know, you played, it was just boys, there was no concept even of girls playing rugby league and now they are world class. And what this will do as well is make sure that they have facilities that are just as good, the same access as the boys and men do, and I congratulate the Dragons on that, it's a fantastic thing.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) particularly being under the same roof. What's the big factor that has on not just female players, but I guess the culture of the whole club, and the whole (inaudible).
LANCASTER: That's a great question, and to the Prime Minister's point, over a million viewers watched the first State of Origin game, which is a great thing to see. State of Origin, women's sport, women's rugby league is incredibly strong. Part of the focus here at the Dragons is to ensure not that we built just a world-class facility, but we built a world-class facility that would cater equally to women's rugby league and men's rugby league. It’s an absolute priority in the future, you will see the game develop (inaudible) you will see a lot of investment in women’s rugby league over the next period.
JOURNALIST: For the Prime Minister, what concerns do you have about ASIO reducing funding on counter-terror to pre 9/11 levels?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, ASIO have had increased funding, increased funding, as have all of our national security agencies. Every single one of them has received more funding than they had when we came to office. And I have every faith in our national security agencies and the work that they do each and every day.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, reports this morning that you're considering a carve out for testamentary trusts. What would this look like, and is this the only thing that you're planning to carve out?
PRIME MINISTER: Let's be very clear that we've said, when it comes to some of the misreporting that's there, we're not interested and there's no measures in there that are going to hurt inheritances. So we'll work through the legislation, we've said will be introduced in the second half of the year. On trusts, there'll be a consultation period about that, and we made that clear on Budget night.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask about the PNG Chiefs. It’s been 18 months since you announced the team. What have you made of their initial signings? And given the strategic, sort of, reasons you backed the team, what would your message be to clubs who are worried that it's an unfair advantage to against existing teams?
PRIME MINISTER: That the Chiefs are not just a good thing in terms of sport, bringing rugby league at the highest level to our nearest neighbour. When you look at Saibai Island, if you're standing there, you can see PNG, you can swim if there weren't crocs in the water. And that is why this is so important for rugby league. I had the honour of walking the Kokoda Track with Prime Minister Marape a couple of years ago, and to be at the Isurava Memorial on Anzac Day. You are walking through the thickest jungle that could possibly be imagined, and just thinking in awe about those servicemen who defended our country in World War II. And you get to a spot where there's a clearing and a village, and there's kids wearing Dragons jumpers, wearing Rabbitohs jumpers, wearing Queensland State of Origin jumpers, and all they want to do is to kick a footy with you. This is the most passionate country in the world when it comes to rugby league. There's not a second sport, it is the sport. It is the passion. This is a country of 400 languages. This will bring the country together to support the Chiefs, and it will be a great thing for the relationship between Australia and PNG. It is very much a part of, as well, lifting up economic opportunity in that nation. In order, if you want to play rugby league, you've got to go to school, you've got to go to school, you've got to learn, you've got to do all those things. And I just think it's fantastic. I've spoken to Prime Minister Marape, and you know the signings that have occurred already, AJ, it will be an enormous asset for them, a great way to end his career. Jarome Luai, I thought he spoke very well about why he's going - not just about money, it's about contribution and making a difference, and it will make a fantastic difference. And I think it is a very positive thing, and I thank all the clubs, essentially, who have got behind the whole concept.
JOURNALIST: They get tax free money, of course, to offer players more money. The club should be concerned with the greater good rather than worried about their players being picked off. What would your message be to them?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you're talking about, the second signing of someone who I dearly love as a human being, as well as a player, in Alex Johnson, is a great fellow. This is someone who was Dux of his school, someone who got 99 point something in the HSC, someone who could have been a doctor, or you know, nuclear physicist, and chose to be a winger for Souths. He writes books for kids. This is a great role model, and I don't feel any anything other than happiness for him. And the truth is, they're going over there, they’ll live in a compound. There does need to be an incentive for that. That's a decision that PNG have made, because it's so important for them. And when you think about aid, this is, I can't think of any aid and assistance in our region in the Pacific, and we're part of the Pacific family, that will be more important than support for the PNG Chiefs. Thanks very much.