E&OE TRANSCRIPT

SUBJECTS: Launch of Kangaroo Paw II, the fourth mobile Services Australia office; 2 million downloads of the MyGov app; disaster support readiness

BILL SHORTEN, MINISTER FOR THE NDIS AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES: I'm pleased to announce that my Department, Services Australia, has now got its fourth mobile service centre on the roads. Behind me is Kangaroo Paw II. This is a game changer in terms of giving people in regional and remote Australia the opportunity to access high quality government services very quickly. This is the latest of the mobile service centres and it's got all of the latest technological parts and pieces that we need to provide services to people in remote Australia. We currently have three mobile service centres; this will be the fourth. But the three mobile service centres that we have, have already covered 46,000km this financial year. They helped 7800 Australians who live in remote Australia be able to access government services. Its purpose built, and it was a real game changer. And Kangaroo Paw II is named after the floral emblem of Western Australia. The fact that it's number two, we've copied the Navy of all things. There's been a Kangaroo Paw I and that's now out of service. So, when we have a new Kangaroo Paw, we upgrade the number of it.

I'm very grateful to Services Australia. The other thing, which is very good news today is that we've had now 2 million downloads of the Services Australia app. From December of last year without any fanfare, without big advertising budget, the Albanese government has helped digitise government services and make them easier to use for the Australian people. So, 2 million people now have downloaded the app, that makes it one of, if not the most downloaded free app you can get from the Google or the Apple shop. So, it does show that the Albanese government is just getting on with business. I might ask Minister Murray Watt, who of course has been leading the Albanese government’s emergency responses in the last 12 months, talk a little bit further how this is a game changer to help Australians in distress.

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Thanks very much, Bill, and it's been a pleasure to work cooperatively with you and your team throughout a very intense disaster season that Australia has seen over the last 12 months. Since the Albanese Government was elected about 12 months ago. We've been working very hard to make sure that Australia is much better prepared for natural disasters and responds much more quickly than what we saw in the past and the work that Bill and his team have done in mobilizing these kinds of services is absolutely critical to that effort to make sure that we respond much more quickly.

I've had the pleasure of seeing these vehicles in the field in some very distressing situations for Australian people. As Bill was saying, there are obviously a range of ways that people can access disaster payments in a disaster situation, particularly online. But we know that sometimes telecommunications systems goes down or there are other barriers for people to access those payments, and being able to send these kind of vehicles with highly trained staff into disaster zones shortly after they hit provides people with not just the financial relief that they need, but the real comfort that they know that their government is standing with them in those times of recovery.

So, congratulations to Bill and his team for the terrific work that they've been doing, all of those Services Australia staff, including Steve, who we met, who's one of the drivers of these vehicles, they play a vital role in helping people get back on their feet. And it's another example of us making sure that we're working together across government to provide good disaster relief for people. We're happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Minister, just an example of how some of these vehicles have been used over the past 12 months, is this the sort of thing people will be seeing in, I guess, disaster areas and for Minister Shorten, why is there a need for these mobile vehicles? Is this to sort of, I guess take the place of a brick-and-mortar Services Australia shopfront?

SHORTEN: Every Australia has got a right to access government services. And the government delivers services in a whole range of ways. We have 318 Service Australia offices all over Australia, but they can't have an office at every town. So, these mobile service centres are an enabler. They have visited many country towns and they are provide them with, there's notice given, people can come in and sort out everything from their age pension to youth allowance, any aspect of needing to deal with government, you can come into this centre and in a matter of seconds we've got you connected and part of the system. Not everyone can come into an office, not everyone can do it online, in the big city. Not everyone is able to travel long distances. So, what this is about is making sure that every Australian has an opportunity to access their minimum rights and entitlements as part of the safety net. And it just shows yet again our expansion of this system is the Albanese Government's commitment to rural Australians.

JOURNALIST: Minister Watt, is there an example in the last 12 months of these being used in the wake of a natural disaster, or is that something people can look forward to?

WATT: Well, as I say, I've seen these sorts of vehicles in a number of different flood zones - New South Wales, Victoria, really pretty much across the country over the last few months. But having another vehicle on the road will up the service that we can provide to a much more remote parts of the country. They have often been the biggest victims of these kind of natural disasters and yet don't necessarily have shopfronts there. So, this mobile service is a way of making sure, as Bill says, that everyone in Australia gets good quality services from their federal government no matter where they live.

JOURNALIST: We've seen some difficulties getting some trucks and supplies into places like the central west New South Wales and the top end of Australia and we've had some heavy rainfall and flooding. Will this truck be able to navigate some of those conditions?

SHORTEN: At the end of the day, trucks are still limited by the ground that they're on. So, when you've got a real deluge and inundation, then it's not possible until waters recede, until there's a solid surface for it. But this vehicle, Kangaroo Paw II, will be pre-positioned in Western Australia. The beauty now having four of these resources is that we can pre-position them now in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, rather than have to have longer waiting times. But there's no doubt there's always logistical hassles getting into some of the communities that are flooded that are very remote. So, this has two functions. This will do a lot of business in a lot of towns when the roads are open. And also, it allows once floodwaters recede, and you've got the capacity to provide additional service. This truck’s $1.2 million, built in Queensland. The people who crew it do a roster of two weeks on, two weeks off. It is really making a difference in terms of just allowing people in remote Australia to be able to sort out their pensions without it being a traumatic anxiety, frustrating affair.

JOURNALIST: It's being launched today, but it's going to hit the road pretty much straight away?

SHORTEN: Yeah, it's going to Wagga, and it'll be then heading to South Australia, and it'll be, as I said, pre-positioned in Western Australia to service the communities of the wheatbelt, southwest Western Australia. But as I say, for the East Coasters, there's already three other vehicles doing. This is just the most modern of the fleet.

JOURNALIST: Do you think you’ll need another, a bigger fleet. Given the rising concerns around natural disasters?

SHORTEN: I like your thinking. And maybe when we talk to our expenditure review committee, I might get you in to help me with that. But I'm grateful that we got this one. It is an improvement. It is remarkable how many people have been assisted by these vehicles already, and the number of towns that have been visited by the other three vehicles. So, just as Defence wants to improve its capital capability, this is about civil Australia improving its capability to help Australians benefit from the safety net, which all Australians should be able to enjoy regardless of where they live.

JOURNALIST: Do you know how many people will be assisted by the service?

SHORTEN: Okay. A lot. And I'll give you the precise number. It stretches well into the hundreds of thousands.