PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: Great to be here at the WACA. You can see that there's huge infrastructure investments that the Australian Government is investing to make sure we have an excellent facility for our community here in Perth in the future. You can see the towers are there for the waterslides that are going to go in. You can see the indoor practice rooms are all coming together. But the announcement that we're here to make today is actually about investing in sport, investing in cricket for women and girls. What we knew as an Australian Government last year was that too often we were seeing an underinvestment in sport for women and girls in Australia, and we wanted to shift the dial on that. So, during the Women's World Cup, we said we're going to put together a significant investment of $200 million, coordinated by Anika Wells, Minister for Sport, to make sure that we have facilities and the programs that we need to grow sport for the future. And what we're announcing here today is that we are going to do that for WA Cricket. The announcement we're making today is $712,000 invested into WA Cricket so that we can run programs to get more women and girls playing and continuing to play a sport that we love. I was talking to Jo Davies, who's leading this program here at the WACA and she has been talking about how they have been seeing women leave the sport as they get older and they don't necessarily want to go into hardball sport. We want to make sure that people can play the sport their way, to continue to enjoy it. We're also backing with coaching and backing in hiring. We making sure there's investment for those who want to make sure they can facilitate the sport, to expand it. And then there's a leadership program as well to make sure that we're helping women and girls step up into leadership roles in their local clubs across Western Australia. And for me, as the Federal Member for Perth, I'm really proud to back in this program. We need to get both facilities and the training and support in place so that the Under 16 Pathways Program participants who I've been talking to can continue to do what they want to do, which is just to play the sport that they love, play that sport well, and make sure they have as many opportunities as anyone else playing cricket here in the West. It's one of the more significant investments coming out of that Play Our Way Program. It's great to see here at the WACA we can build the infrastructure we need for our community, and also build all the supports and new programs for the future. I'll pass over to Jo, who's going to say a little bit more about what this means for cricket here in the West. Then happy to take questions.
JO DAVIES, GENERAL MANAGER OF COMMUNITY CRICKET AT WA CRICKET: Thanks very much. Here in WA, we have been really excited over the last five years to see the growth of cricket for women and girls. We now have more women and girls than ever before playing our game, and we have pathways right through from our five-year-olds playing our first cricket class through to the elite end of our game that we saw was showcased here yesterday with Australia playing India. But there's still certainly a lot of work to do, and we understand that it's really important that we stay the course and we keep working hard to make our game more inclusive and engaging for women and girls. And it's important that we continue to promote the sport and encourage more participation. So we're thrilled to be the beneficiaries of the Federal Government's Play Our Way funding. It's actually just going to be a real game changer for us. So we're focusing that funding on three streams. One is to increase participation of young girls in our game and and that'll particularly be through offering some new and exciting social formats where they feel comfortable and they can learn the game before they move on to the next level of the game for them. It's also about encouraging more women and girls to take up coaching and umpiring. We're seeing some that are starting to do that, but again, we want to make more women and girls feel confident to take that step. And lastly, encouraging more women to take on leadership roles in our clubs and associations across the state. We do have a lot of fantastic female leaders, but we think there's so much more to do, and we all know that having that gender diversity around our committee rooms is so beneficial and so healthy for for any sport or any organisation. Initially, this program will be rolled out in the metropolitan area and the South West. Later next year, we're excited to expand up in the North West, and then we're looking forward to sort of some flow ons to other parts of regional WA. So making our game, a sport for all continues to be an absolute priority for us. So the injection of this funding, alongside the work that our WA Cricket team does, the generous support of our WA Cricket Foundation does, and, of course, the work of our tireless volunteers right across the state. We're really excited about what we're going to be able to achieve in our game, making it an absolute gain for women and girls, no matter where they are, what their ability is, what their aspirations are - we want to be a leader for women and girls. Thank you.
GORMAN: Any questions on the program?
JOURNALIST: Does this mean funding going to the main facilities here that are being built?
GORMAN: This program funding? There's $30 million of Commonwealth money going into the WACA redevelopment as part of the Perth City Deal. I've championed that all the way back since 2019. I'm really proud that we're a partner of doing this huge rebuild that will welcome more people into the WACA, turning it into a real community facility, that is what we need to see in this end of East Perth, but also a facility that will be helping for the entire Western Australian community. We're continuing to invest. And it's great to see.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
GORMAN: We invested that significant $30 million. Where we've had additional money for sports we've chosen to put it into programs like the Play Our way Program, that's a $200 million program that's run on a competitive basis, that clubs have been able to apply for all across Australia. And to make sure we can do that, which is a $200 million program, which will mean that again, hopefully another 100,000 women and girls get into sports that are already loved by millions of Australians. We think that's the best way forward. But again, I'm really proud of the investments we have made here, and you can see making a huge difference. There's always going to be demands for more sporting infrastructure along with that, but $30 billion is where we are right now.
JOURNALIST: Why should Australian money go towards the PNG team [inaudible]?
GORMAN: I am really excited about welcoming Papua New Guinea into the NRL. This has been a discussion many years in the making, and it will really build on those already close bonds between Australia and Papua New Guinea, make them even closer. On the 50th anniversary of the independence of Papua New Guinea. It's a really exciting day. But I think it also sends a really strong message here in the West, which is that other teams are welcome in the NRL. Other teams are needed for the NRL. And that the National Rugby League will have great success, if they welcome other teams in, including the Western Bears. I have advocated - I've even been to Sydney, I've given speeches in Sydney, advocating to the people in Sydney, if they want to back their sport, they need to back the pitch for a WA team. When it comes to how we get all the resources together to do that, I know that there's not a sporting code in the country who don't have an idea of what else they can do with some additional Commonwealth support. But I think, Western Australia, at our best, we can put together teams that find a sustainable way to fund themselves, find a way to get the right amount of community support. I back the Western Bears pitch. I want to see WA in the NRL. We're hosting State of Origin here again next year. I'm looking forward to attending that. It's a great game. It'll be greater with a Western Australian team. I know it's going to happen. I think we all know that the momentum is inevitable. What year we get that team into the competition, how it finally comes together - but I think now that this deal is done, all of the NRL leadership can move on to making sure we get a Western Australian team into the NRL in the years ahead.
JOURNALIST: Should the Government, the WA Government, expect that it will have to put up something like in the order of 500, 600 million in order to secure a WA team?
GORMAN: Sometimes it's better to sort of focus on the fact that you've got a good idea. A good idea. Focus on building support for that good idea. And that's what Roger Cook's been doing. That's what I've been doing, that's what a number of my colleagues have been doing. Is backing, finding the way to get that broad community support and indeed corporate support as well. When it comes to how the final deal is done to get a Western Australian team into the NRL, I actually don't want to throw around numbers or specific figures. I think that would probably be unhelpful for Western Australia's negotiating position. But I think this proposal, which, again, now that the PNG team, which I welcome - I mean, this is great. It's great for our friends in Papua New Guinea. It's great for the sport, expands the audience of the sport, and it'll be great. I'm sure in the years ahead, we'll see that team and others come and do exhibition matches here in the West, as we've seen in the past. It will be great to get more players into the into the League. And again, it just reminds us that the NRL needs more teams. That means they need the Western Bears.
JOURNALIST: It's a bit of a slap in the face to Western Australians though? That they would take a PNG team before they would take a WA team?
GORMAN: I think those who follow the history of this closely know that Papua New Guinea have been pursuing this for a number of years, longer than the most recent proposal, which I back - the Western Bears. I think it's good thing for the sport. I think it will make it a more competitive sport. It will make it a sport that has a much bigger audience, and that's a good thing. And I'll just note the NRL has been doing the work, starting to bring those matches over here to the West. I went to the last one when we had the State of Origin here. We'll have it here again next year. Looking forward to that. And the announcement today gives me great confidence. That the WA team is closer, not further away.
JOURNALIST: Jewish groups are saying that Australia's vote in the UN overnight ignores the hostages and empowers Hamas. What do you say to those who are concerned about the vote?
GORMAN: I would say that I refer those who got those concerns to the statement that our Ambassador to the United Nations made in explaining Australia's position on this vote. We would have liked to see different language than the language that was there. We made a decision as an Australian Government to vote with like-minded partners, including the United Kingdom and New Zealand, recognising that we needed to express our view about the urgent need for a ceasefire. It's been a year in Australia, we've been calling for a ceasefire. We see that that's in the interests of everyone in the region. That's our view, that ending hostilities will make a difference. We have been calling since the atrocities of October 7, we've been calling for the release of hostages. What happened on that day, the single biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust was such an atrocity and I think about those hostages who are still held to this day, a year on. Like everyone in the Australian Government, I continue to call for the release of those hostages. And I hope that we do see that. What I would hope for is a negotiated ceasefire deal, because I would like to see those people return home.
JOURNALIST: But if, if there's a resolution that leaves Hezbollah in power in Gaza, is that something that the Federal Government's comfortable with?
GORMAN: I think it's Hamas that you're referring to.
JOURNALIST: Oh, sorry, Hamas.
GORMAN: We don't see that Hamas has a role in any future leadership of a future Palestinian state. They are a listed terrorist organisation here in Australia. They have been for a number of years. Hamas have committed horrible atrocities and have been an enemy of the needs and interests of Palestinian people. When it comes to the Australian Government's position, we recognise that a ceasefire is negotiated between parties to a conflict. Those parties will need to negotiate on a range of matters. I just hope they can get back to that discussion table, so we can see an end to the cycle of violence and conflict that has gone far too long. And more broadly, what I'd say to people here in Australia is for many, for a long time, our Government has been very strongly condemning some of the comments from local community organisations [inaudible]. There is no place in this country - this country that we are so lucky to live in - there is no place for antisemitism, not at any time, not in any location. It is so horrific, it is a form of hate that has such awful intentions, and what we've seen in recent days, which is potential terrorist actions designed to inflict the worst types of fear. That people in the Jewish faith would have fear for their life in Australia, when they see a synagogue being firebombed, there is absolutely no place for that. And absolutely no place for anyone spreading antisemitic views or antisemitic actions anywhere in Western Australia.
JOURNALIST: Can you explain Sam Lim's WhatsApp message blaming Israel and Netanyahu for the Melbourne synagogue attack?
GORMAN: The words in that message - I want to be really clear first - the words in that message are not true. They were not the words of anyone in the Australian Government. And I think when we're reporting on matters, particularly really serious matters that we have here in Australia, around making sure we have strong a united voice against antisemitism [inaudible]. Those words that were shared on WhatsApp were not the words of anyone from the Australian Government. When it comes to Sam Lim's, what he has said to the West Australian newspaper, what Sam Lim has said is that he did not share that and that as a result of being concerned about how that occurred he has deleted WhatsApp from his phone.
JOURNALIST: Do you buy his his claim that he was hacked, isn't that taking the public for fools?
GORMAN: I just spoke to Sam Lim this morning. I had a good conversation with him about these issues, but about more broadly, what is our shared objective, which is a welcoming, cohesive Australian society. And what I know about Sam, and I've known for a really long time, is that he is someone who has always worked to bring communities together. It's for that reason that Sam Lim in 2020 was awarded the WA Police Officer of the Year Award for his work in multicultural communities. We actually talked extensively about his visits that he's done the past to our Maurice Zeffert Home, which is the Jewish aged care facility here in Western Australia. We talked about work he'd done with some of the community security groups that operate here in WA, and that liaison role, a role that he used to have with WA Police. I think those of us who know Sam Lim know that Sam is a man that has love in his heart. He is someone who rejects any type of hatred or discrimination. He is -
JOURNALIST: Do you believe his claim though?
GORMAN: Sam has said that. He's said it to me, and he's a trusted colleague.
JOURNALIST: Is the Government taking steps then to review the security of WhatsApp, then if this sort of thing can [inaudible]?
GORMAN: I think what we all what we've been saying to the Australian public for a number of years now, is that there is a role for all of us whenever we see information online to assess that with a critical eye. We have said that time and time again. We say that when it comes to the worst forms of scams that are put out there, through to political communications, and we've been trying to pursue, through legislative measures, some efforts to reduce the impact of misinformation, disinformation when it comes to political communication. But my message to the Australian people is really simple; assess with a critical eye anything that you read online. That's our job as informed citizens. If something doesn't look right, maybe it's not. When it comes to the security of different messaging platforms, we see time and time again, cyber incidents happen. Here in Australia, we have the National Cyber Operations Centre that looks into those matters. I can't comment on much more detail than what I've read in the paper and what I have heard from Sam himself, but I think we will have to take our own cyber security seriously.
JOURNALIST: Is it a matter for the police then? Federal MPs' phones and WhatsApp accounts getting hacked. That's a pretty serious security breach.
GORMAN: He has outlined the steps that he has already taken.
JOURNALIST: Yeah, very quickly, Aboriginal flag stance - thoughts?
GORMAN: So we have seen today that Peter Dutton has come out and said that he wants to encourage the removal of the Aboriginal Flag from the Sydney Harbour Bridge. My message to Peter Dutton is, maybe wake up for just one day looking to bring people together rather than to divide them. I think the only thing that Peter Dutton says that he will do if he is Prime Minister, that he'll actually be able to deliver in his first term, is to move a flagpole. That is it. He's not going to be able to deliver his nuclear plan in his first term. He hasn't outlined many other plans. The only thing he has said he will actually deliver on is to move a flagpole in the Blue Room in Parliament House in Canberra, so it's not behind him when he's standing in front of a camera. I think the Australian people will have bigger concerns than that right now. But I'd also remind Mr. Dutton, that he's the Leader of the Liberal Party. Mr Dutton is the Leader of the Liberal Party, which has thousands and thousands of members across the country. Some of those members of the Liberal Party are officials of serious power, including the Lord Mayor of the City of which we stand right now, the Lord Mayor of the City of Perth. I note that when I drive past the City of Perth, they proudly fly the Aboriginal Flag, the Pride Flag, recognising that actually that's a way of showing that we're a welcoming and inclusive society. If this is Mr. Dutton's most important priority, maybe he can start by putting a phone call in to the Lord Mayor of the City of Perth, trying to convince him to remove the Aboriginal Flag. I think there's a reason Mr. Dutton won't do that, because even Basil Zempilas thinks it is a step too far. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Thank you, and happy birthday.