MINISTER THE HON MARK ARBIB  Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development  Minister for Sport  Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness





TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE COMMON GROUND OPENING  CAMPERDOWN, SYDNEY  15 November, 2011

E & OE PROOF ONLY

ISSUES: Common Ground Project Opening, Uranium sale to India, Same-Sex Marriage

For too long governments in this country have tried to manage homelessness. What the  Federal Government is working towards is ending homelessness. Today is about  assisting 52 homeless Australians - giving them a roof over their heads, but at the same  time the support services they need, wrapping the support around them, providing them  with the counselling, the drug and alcohol advice, the medical support but also the  relationships that come from living in a building with tenants - tenants who are both from  the private rental market but also tenants who have been chronically homeless.



The Government at the moment is spending, with the states, $1.1 billion in its fight  against homelessness. Across the country when you put together all of the government’s  building programs it comes to almost 80,000 new homes. And on top of that through the  Stimulus we have upgraded and provided repairs and maintenance to another 80,000.  So we are taking the fight up to homelessness, making sure Australians can get a roof  over their heads, and can make something even greater of their lives.

JOURNALIST: Could you comment also on the services that come along with the  housing here? We’re in a room where there are cooking appliances and teaching and  things like this. What sort of services do come with the housing?

MINISTER ARBIB: Well homelessness is a very complex phenomenon and it’s not just  about putting a roof over someone’s head. At the same time as that you need to deal  with the reasons someone is homeless. In many cases it could be about mental health, it  could be about domestic breakdown, and what this premises provides is also the support  structures. It provides services in terms of drug and alcohol counselling, it provides  medical support, it provides mental health support and then it provides the basics - how  to cook, how to get on with other tenants, how to manage a home and maintain your  own tenancy. These are important things that most of us take for granted, but people  living on the streets don’t get the chance to undertake those processes.

JOURNALIST: In the scheme of future housing projects, is this the line that we’ll be  moving down now, as opposed to just building a building. Will these services be  something we keep in mind for future projects as well?

MINISTER ARBIB: There’s 11 Common Grounds being built across the country - we’ve  got Elizabeth St in Melbourne that is open. It is providing some great results and we are  learning as a government and as a country from that facility. The Common Ground here

in Camperdown will be a model for future homelessness programs. What we have learnt  so far is it’s not just about putting a roof over someone’s head, you also need to provide  the services and wrap them around the tenants to make sure they can stay in the  housing for as long as possible, they can move towards training, they can move towards  employment, eventually get a job and they can then move into the private rental market.  It is possible, it is happening, it is working. That’s what the Federal Government is doing  day in, day out.

JOURNALIST: Moving on to another topic now, just wondering what your view is on Ms  Gillard’s apparent change of heart on uranium sales to India?

MINISTER ARBIB: In relation to uranium sales I support the Prime Minister’s position.  India is a very close friend and a very close trading partner, a very important trading  partner of this country. When the United States changed its policy in terms of exports of  uranium to India that therefore has consequences for our own position, for our own  policy here. It makes our policy out of date. I think it’s an important decision and one that  I’d ask the conference to support.

JOURNALIST: There are indications that there may be a Party showdown over this  issue. Are there concerns that the Party could be heavily divided over this issue?

MINISTER ARBIB: The Prime Minister flagged today that there will be a strong debate  about this issue, there will be differing views, but at the same time as that I believe the  Prime Minister has got the balance right. There needs to be safeguards. The Prime  Minister is saying there will have to be bilateral safeguards in place, but also India will  have to abide by some of the international protocols around atomic energy and providing  a separation between its civilian and its military nuclear programs.

JOURNALIST: Just also on the topic of a conscience vote, now looking at gay marriage,  I’m just wondering what your view is on that move?

MINISTER ARBIB: I think it’s well known that I am a supporter of same-sex marriage. I  believe that the Marriage Act should be changed to allow for same-sex relationships. I  believe in marriage equality. When I advocated that position I also advocated that  Members of Parliament should be granted a conscience vote. So I welcome the Prime  Minister’s announcement today that that is her position, supporting a conscience vote.  Across the Labor Party, across society, there are very strongly held beliefs and people  have deep views and convictions on the issue of same-sex marriage, such as myself - I  support it. I believe, and I think the Prime Minister has got it right, that Members of  Parliament deserve the right to be able to walk into the Parliament and freely vote their  conscience on this issue.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) members of both parties have spoken out about this in the  past. Are you fearful having the views that you do that this is something that will be  rejected?

MINISTER ARBIB: It’s going to be a strong debate at the Conference, there is no doubt  about it. There are strongly held views supporting same-sex marriage and there are  strongly held views opposing it. And I believe at the Conference the Prime Minister has  put forward a plan that allows delegates on both sides to actually advance their cause. I  will be speaking at the Conference in support of same-sex marriage, but at the same

time as that I will be supporting a conscience vote for Members of Parliament. I believe it  is the best way for Members to be able to go into the Parliament and vote according to  their conscience, according to their deeply-held convictions.

JOURNALIST: Do you think it will pass?

MINISTER ARBIB: In the Conference, I think that’s a matter for the delegates. Always  with a debate that’s this strong and has this many varied views it is impossible to tell.  The Conference is a strange beast. There have been plenty of resolutions that I thought  would get up and haven’t and plenty that I thought wouldn’t that have, so we’ll have to  wait to the Conference. But I think the Prime Minister providing this sort of leadership  allows delegates a good pathway for the future.

JOURNALIST: We have seen the polls show support from the community around the  country in support of gay marriage. Do you think if it doesn’t get passed, if it’s rejected,  that it isn’t what Australia as a whole wants?

MINISTER ARBIB: I think the Labor Party reflects what’s happening in society. There  are deeply held views on both sides of the debate. There are people who strongly  support same-sex marriage, there are those that strongly oppose it. In the Labor Party  we’ve got the same debate that is happening. The best way to resolve it from the Labor  Party’s point of view, the best way to resolve it from my point of view, I mean remember  this is something I’ve advocated in the past, is a conscience vote so that Members of  Parliament can walk freely into the Parliament and vote according to their convictions,  according to their own personal view points.

ENDS.



