TRANSCRIPT - PRESS CONFERENCE - 15 MAR TUESDAY

E & O E – PROOF ONLY

TRANSCRIPT

PRESS CONFERENCE

15 MARCH 2011

RE: REOPENING OF BUNNINGS STORES AT OXLEY AND ROCKLEA; COUNCIL DECISIONS REGARDING REBUILDING/RECONSTRUCTION; PETER SIMPSON; POLICE DISCIPLINE; PRINCE WILLIAM’S VISIT; US ARMY ASSISTANCE TO PROTECT ROCKHAMPTON AIRPORT FROM FUTURE FLOODS

PREMIER ANNA BLIGH: The reopening of the Bunnings stores at Oxley and Rocklea are powerful symbols of hope and rebuilding and recovery. I congratulate the team, they’ve done a mighty Bunnings effort to get these stores opened. But much more than that, the decision by Bunnings to invest more than $380 million in the next three years in 12 new Bunnings stores across Queensland is a great vote of confidence in a very bright future for our state. It’s the bright future that Queensland has ahead of it that encourages companies like Bunnings to invest more than $380 million. So a big vote of confidence in the Queensland economy with a company like Bunnings building 12 new stores right across the state; that’s more jobs, more investment and more prosperity for regional economies in every part of Queensland. So I just take my hat off to the staff of Bunnings. They’ve done an incredible job raising money for flood and disaster victims, they’ve been out there helping with the recovery even while their own workplaces have been so devastated. There are many, many stores and workplaces who have been devastated by these disasters and one-by-one they are getting back and getting back into business. These two big stores, that were almost wiped out, I hope are a powerful symbol of the recovery and the great Queensland spirit that is going to help us overcome these disasters. So thank you to John Gillam and his team. It’s great to have them here, working so hard, building the Queensland economy.

Did you want to say a few words?

JOHN GILLAM: Yes. Thank you Premier, thank you for your kind words. It’s a terrific day today. Firstly to the two teams at Rocklea and Oxley for the wonderful work they’ve done, with all the help they’ve had from right across our Queensland business in getting these recovered up and looking so well – bigger, brighter, better than ever before. And that’s what, that sort of effort that you see, the pride and the passion that comes through from the Bunnings team is what allows us to really get behind this state. And we’re very excited about the next decade and a half, or beyond. The $385 million investment that we’re announcing today is board-committed. These are secured sites. 12 new stores will be very, very exciting, pushing over 1,800 jobs. We’re really looking forward to being a bigger part of the Queensland economy for many years to come.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible)

GILLAM: Ah well our Booval store was down for a couple of days as well and our trades centre at Coopers Plains for a couple of days. So all up we lost somewhere in the 25 to 30 million dollars across the floods. And ah, but we managed to keep everyone employed, all our permanent team and our casual team, we didn’t lose any hours, we made sure we looked after them all. We’ve helped a lot of people and their families that have been impacted and we’re doing a lot of work in the community as well. With, we raised nearly, raised over $730 million for the Premier’s Fund and we’ve committed an additional $1million to help out with community projects across the balance of this year. So we know that there’s a lot of adversity. This has been tough for us as well but we’ve turned that adversity into our advantage I think and if you look at the stores today, they are fabulous and we’re so, so proud of what our store teams have done.

JOURNALIST: John…

PREMIER: John actually raised $730,000 for the fund.

GILLAM: Oh $730,000, sorry.

PREMIER: But you can raise $730 million any time you like.

GILLAM: I’ll give it a go.

JOURNALIST: John, the 12 new stores coincide Woolworths (inaudible) battleground for this new hardware (inaudible)

GILLAM: I think battleground is a word that maybe the media like to use. Woolworths have been looking at their joint-venture now since late 1998. So it’s been some time coming for them to get stores up and running but we are driven to have the best offer. That’s what we’re on about. We want to have the best offer, we want to have the best offer for home improvement and outdoor living anywhere that we operate. And our store team have done that in spades here in Oxley and Rocklea and we’ll continue to strive to do that. And we look forward to successful business operations by providing the best offer.

JOURNALIST: Premier, businesses like this on the flood plain, what future of they got if (inaudible)

PREMIER: We want Queensland to recover as quickly as possible and we’re encouraging homeowners and businesses, when you can get in and rebuild and get back into your premises, you should do so. Overtime, obviously, this company will make its own decisions based on the new City of Brisbane flood levels about whether its long-term future is in this site or not. We won’t be banning people from sites like this. That’ll be a decision made by companies and businesses and families. Any decision by local councils over time to move people out of any part of Queensland will be a local decision and the Queensland regional, sorry, the Queensland Reconstruction Authority will have the power then to back them in that.

JOURNALIST: Didn’t you say, when you announced the authority, that it will not ony made decisions about what people could build but where they could build? Now you’re saying (inaudible) to make the decisions themselves (inaudible)

PREMIER: No what we’ve said is we will be backing local decision making and where a council - and we are in discussions with some councils about this – where a council identifies an area which, in their view, in the long-term is not a place for people to have their homes or their businesses and want to have a process of relocation, we will back them with the legislative power to do that. That is, we will use the powers of the authority to resume and secure land, we will declare it as a reconstruction area, and fast –track the approvals to get it moving. We won’t be imposing that on communities but the power is there, where communities and the local governments make a decision that that’s the most sensible thing to do.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) passing the hard decisions to councils rather than this authority that’s actually been set up (inaudible) make the hard decisions?

PREMIER: It was always the case that this authority would work in partnerships with local government. Local governments are the closest level of government to local decisions and local people and they know their area at a much more intimate level. It is important that this does not become a political battleground. We need to do this cooperatively, as communities, together. That’s how you saw us respond to the emergency, that’s how you’ll see us recover from it. And none of these things can be achieved in a 12 month period. If there is a decision by a local council in the long-term to relocate either suburbs or townships that will be, in some cases, a ten-year proposition but they will need to legal power to do that and that’s where the state comes in.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) last night’s meeting (inaudible) it didn’t go ahead. What happened there?

PREMIER: Look, I wasn’t there. This is a matter for the Australian Labor Party. Frankly, my job is to get on with rebuilding Queensland and it’s days like today that give me a lot of encouragement when I see stores like this up and running and employing people. The Labor Party will make its own decisions about these matters. That’s the appropriate way for it to go. I understand they’re rescheduling a meeting and that’s their business.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) what happened there?

PREMIER: It’s customary for the Premier of the day to have somebody else attend on their behalf. It happens every meeting. I’m not going to get into argy-bargy with internal Labor Party fights. My job is to get on with the reconstruction task and that’s what I’m going to do.

JOURNALIST: Would you like to see Peter Simpson evicted from the Labor Party or (inaudible)

PREMIER: That’s a decision for the Australian Labor Party. This is an organisational matter, the party will deal with it. My job, as Premier, is to keep being out here rebuilding Queensland and that’s what I’m going to do.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible)

PREMIER: That’s a recommendation of the disputes tribunal. It’s now up to the party to make a decision about it. That is not a matter that I am going to be distracted by. My job is rebuilding Queensland and that’s what I’m going to do.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) suspension be enough, in your view?

PREMIER: I’m not going to speculate about internal Labor Party matters. That is a matter for the party to decide. What am I doing today? I’m out here getting on with the job of rebuilding Queensland and that’s what I’m going to do every day this year.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) police officer to just be disciplined by management. The CMC’s pretty irate about that. In future what can be done to close the loophole, but more importantly (inaudible)

PREMIER: What I want is a police discipline process that is rigorous and accountable and that the public can have confidence in, and that is fair to our police officers. That’s why I’ve established a review, chaired by a former judge, that will be looking at this issue. I think we can do it better and we need to make sure that happens.

JOURNALIST: And when will that review be completed?

PREMIER: The review panel have started their work. They’ve already written out to all of those who might have an interest in this, asking for submissions. I certainly hope that we’ll see something before the end of this year. Police discipline matters. People need to have confidence in their police service and police officers need to be treated fairly. I think we can do it better and that’s what this review is about.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) would have confidence today?

PREMIER: I think there are a lot of people who will be asking questions about the police discipline process as a result of this decision today. And I share their concerns. I want a better police disciplinary process. Not one that takes 6 years or 9 years, but one that responds to issues quickly and fairly, treats police officers fairly and is accountable to the public.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) too long?

PREMIER: I don’t think there’s any doubt that this matter has dragged on for too long. I think the family concerned, the public, the police themselves, the whole system would have wanted to see this dealt with faster and better. That’s why we are now reviewing the police disciplinary processes. We have a very senior team of people on the job, public submissions are invited and I think we can do better.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) today’s CMC (inaudible)

PREMIER: No, if you go and look at the statement it was done as a result of a recommendation from the CMC in a report that was tabled in the Parliament. The CMC doesn’t give advanced warnings to the government about when it’s going to table the report. So generally, as a matter of courtesy, we’re advised the day before.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) feeling snubbed today, with the Prince not coming to the likes of Rockhampton, Condamine, Theodore especially agitated there. What do you say to those communities?

PREMIER: I can understand that flooded and disaster struck communities across Queensland would all love the opportunity to meet Prince William. I hope people understand he only has 48 hours in Queensland and he has a very limited time in his itinerary. But he will be making himself available, quite unusually for a member of the royal family, to be part of a fundraising charity event, and the funds raised from that event will get to all parts of Queensland. So I thank the Prince for coming and I hope that people understand that in his limited two days he’s got an exhaustive program and he simply can’t be everywhere at once.

JOURNALIST: Was it the Palace that chose the itinerary or was it the Federal or State Government?

PREMIER: Between the Queensland State Government, the Federal Government and the palace, there was an itinerary put together. The Prince was keen to be in both Far North Queensland because of the cyclone, and somewhere in the South East, particularly the Lockyer Valley where we’ve seen so many deaths occur. He would have liked I think to have spent more time here and got to more places, but he also is going to Victoria. So we in fact I think in Queensland have more time, more of his time than anyone else and he simply can’t be everywhere. I think it’s a testament to the scale of our disaster that there are so many places that he will see and yet so many that he can’t get to.

JOURNALIST: Can you understand the disappointment particularly in Rockhampton?

PREMIER: Of course I can understand the disappointment. Everybody would have liked the opportunity I think, particularly those other communities that have been affected by disasters. But he is only one prince and he can only spread himself so thin.

JOURNALIST: Premier, just back on the (inaudible) announcement. Is managerial guidance too lenient?

PREMIER: This matter has now been resolved after countless considerations by both the Queensland Police Service and the Crime and Misconduct Commission. I think there’ll be a number of people today disappointed with the outcome of this process. That’s why I think we need to improve our police discipline system and that’s why I’ve set up this review. It’s important to get this right. This was a very serious situation and frankly I think it should have been dealt with better probably about nine years ago.

JOURNALIST: Now, the Rockhampton airport, the United States Army’s coming to the rescue. Can you just tell us a little bit about…

PREMIER: Today we’ll see a team of three US Army engineers at Rockhampton airport where they’ll be for the next couple of days doing a comprehensive survey of what, if anything, the US Army can contribute to future flood protection for this very important airport. The Rockhampton airport has a strategic place in the alliance between the United States and Australia. It is the staging ground for a number of joint exercises and has a long history in World War II. The US Army engineers are tasked with determining what options there might be to flood protect this airport and then determining what the US Army with its considerable engineering expertise might be able to bring to the table to assist. We’ve got a very big rebuilding task. We’ve got international partners wanting to help out. I’m very pleased to see the US Army coming and wanting to be part of the work at Rockhampton Airport.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)

PREMIER: Until the engineers determine what needs to be done and the cost of doing it, they won’t make any decisions. But this is a first step towards potential help from the US Army. You might recall during the floods President Obama indicated that America wanted to help out. They were very keen to help in an area that was key to their long-term partnership and a strategic alliance with Australia. The Rockhampton airport is part of that, and this is President Obama coming good on the commitment he made during the floods. I hope we see, a solution that can see the US Army out here helping with that work.

JOURNALIST: It’s a benefit to them as well, though, isn’t it? That’s the (inaudible)

PREMIER: Ultimately, the Rockhampton airport is very important to the US but it’s even more important to the people of Rockhampton. And if we can see the US Army bring their considerable expertise and resources to the job of providing protection against future floods, then that is a win-win and it’s a great outcome for Central Queensland.