E&OE

SUBJECTS: Watt Review/Stuart Robert, NSW election, housing and safeguard mechanism legislation in Parliament this week, the Voice, poverty in Australia, China relations, TikTok.

MINISTER FOR THE NDIS AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES, BILL SHORTEN: So on Friday, a damning report was released by Services Australia and the NDIA into previous contracts under the last government. The agencies of Service Australia and the NDIA commissioned Dr Ian Watt AC to review the procurement and contractual arrangements of 95 contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars under the last government.

Following media stories, talking about de facto lobbying and controversial matters of the last government, this report has revealed that of the 95 contracts that were reviewed, 19 are very questionable. Nineteen create issues about very poor procurement practice, one in five contracts. The 19 contracts, which are now controversial, are worth $374 million of taxpayer money. I believe the report has revealed, are far lower standards than are acceptable, according to the public service procurement practices, across hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts of taxpayer money.

It appears that some of these contracts, the controversial contracts, the ones which have failed to meet what is regarded as the proper standard of the Australian Public Service procurement guidelines, are involved with a network of political contacts of the former government at the centre of the allocation of these contracts. The former minister Stuart Robert certainly has questions to answer because the bulk of these contracts and literally hundreds of millions of dollars involved in these contracts occurred on his watch. He will need to explain, in my opinion, how come there were so many deficient procurement standards in these contracts. Happy to take any questions.

JOURNALIST: Okay, Minister, this highlights the danger of conflicts of interest can you just expand on that?

SHORTEN: There is a legitimate and well known assumption that where there is a conflict of interest or a possible conflict of interest in the allocation of the contract, it has to be declared. Dr Watt's report reveals that an a range of these contracts, perceived conflicts of interest, were simply not disclosed. More needs to be done to find out what was the basis of the allocation of $374 million worth of taxpayer money under the previous government. Why weren't the basic standards met? It is completely unacceptable. This is taxpayer money. People pay their taxes in good faith to Canberra. They do not expect to have substandard procurement arrangements with and no conflicts of interest declared or disclosed.

JOURNALIST: Minister, in terms of the review called for further investigation into these concerns about conflict of interest from a federal government perspective, what's the next step now?

SHORTEN: Well, the Federal Government's got to consider Dr Watt's report, but I think the previous minister needs to explain why the failure to have proper probity and standards in contracts didn't occur. I think that's one thing that needs to happen. Furthermore, we're going to need to now further drill down into who who knew what when. Who were the personalities involved in these contracts? Is this smoke or is there in fact, fire here? We need more detail now. The problem with for us is that some of these investigations can only be really fully satisfied when we're able to compel financial data from parties beyond the federal government to understand what's gone on here, we need to follow the money.

JOURNALIST: Well, I guess I'll just ask you about the New South Wales election result first. Probably a fairly predictable question, but what's the implications of this for Federal Labor?

SHORTEN: I think it's an outstanding result. I think Chris Minns and the Labor team campaigned incredibly well. There are many state issues at play here, but clearly the fact that the Opposition Leader, Mr Dutton, was invisible in the New South Wales state campaign shows that voters are not buying what he's selling. Mr Dutton's relentless negativity and opposition to everything doesn't sit well with the Australian people. So no good news for the Liberal Party here federally, although I acknowledge that many of the issues in New South Wales were state based. I think it also reflects the strength of Mr Albanese's appeal in New South Wales.

JOURNALIST: And just coming up to the last parliamentary sitting week before the Budget, two of your central election commitments, the safeguard mechanism and the social housing fund are hanging in the balance. Are you confident the Government will reach an agreement with the Greens on those issues?

SHORTEN: The reason why all of us are elected to Parliament is to serve the Australian people. I hope that the Greens political party doesn't stand in the way of us providing better housing options to literally tens of thousands of Australian families who need social and affordable housing. In terms of the safeguard mechanisms, we cannot afford another repeat of 2009, where both the Greens and the Liberals oppose taking any action on climate change because they disagreed with features of it. The Australian people want action on climate. That's what we're providing. The Australian people want action on affordable social housing for people who desperately need it, including the 4000 houses which will be built for women fleeing abusive domestic violence relationships. So let's hope that by the end of the week we've got good news for the Australian people.

JOURNALIST: And just a last one from me. If the Coalition doesn't support the voice to Parliament legislation, do you believe a referendum could succeed without bipartisan support?

SHORTEN: It's a tough mountain to climb when the Liberals won't support it. The history of referendums is that you need both major parties to support it. But I think the time has come in this country to include our first Australians on the nation's birth certificate. If Mr Dutton and the others choose to oppose it, it'll make the road harder and tougher. But surely after 235 years, it's long overdue to give our First Nations people in the Constitution a commitment of recognition and a commitment to consultation.

JOURNALIST: The rising cost of living is seeing those people on government payments being further and further into poverty. There's about 70% can’t afford to have to out. Will there be any cost of living relief in the budget for these people and will you increase jobseeker?

SHORTEN: Well, we're going to have to wait to see what until budget night. I won't steal Treasurer Chalmers thunder, but the cost of living is a giant issue, a rising rate of mortgage giant issue. But I do remind people that late last year, because of Labor's actions, the rate of increase of gas and energy prices could have been a lot worse. But for the action we took, we are seeing wages moving modestly more than they were doing so under the Liberals. We're certainly providing childcare relief from the 1st of July. So there are measures in place. The other thing which is contributing, of course, to cost of living pressure, some of that's outside our control, the war and the illegal war, criminal war by Russia against Ukraine, the supply chain issues coming out of China. But we are now trying to fix our energy grid. We are now taking the first steps to provide fee free TAFE places so we can provide more skilled workers into the Australian economy. So it's difficult, but I know that Federal Labor every morning when we get up, this is what we think about how can we put downward pressure on cost of living at a very tough time for Australian families and Australian people.

JOURNALIST: There are some three million Australians estimated living below the poverty line. I mean that's that's not acceptable for a first world country, is it?

SHORTEN: There's no question that people are doing it incredibly tough, not just the people in work, but people below the poverty line. It's one of the reasons why, as the Minister for Services Australia, we're providing as much resource as we can to assist people plug into the system that we don't forget anyone.

JOURNALIST: One more for me on Tik Tock. Is the Government likely to ban TikTok on federal government devices?

SHORTEN: There's no doubt there's issues with TikTok. There's no doubt that the issues of the extent to which the Chinese government has access into TikTok is an issue which nations around the world are grappling with. We encourage our young people to explore the world. We encourage them to take the benefits of the modern digital age. But we've also got to make sure that their data is not being monetised or used by anyone else. So I think it's a legitimate debate to have in the community.

JOURNALIST: A couple of questions just on China. Did Andrew's government make you aware that Andrews will be travelling to China?

SHORTEN: I think it's a positive thing that Premier Andrews is travelling to China. The Federal Government's position on China is very clear. We should cooperate where we can, we should disagree where we have to, but we should always engage in the national interest. If Premier Andrews is able to gain a deeper and further trade ties with China, that's in everyone's interests.

JOURNALIST: Okay. And are you concerned about trade initiatives like the Belt and Road within visiting?

SHORTEN: Oh, I think that Premier Andrews is working for the interests of Victorians. We, of course, federally will always maintain the national priorities, national security above all else. But I think it's a good development where we're engaging with China. As I say, cooperate where we can disagree where we must, but always engage in the national interest first and foremost.