Press Conference, Toronto, NSW

SUBJECTS: Toronto Men’s Shed visit; G7; Middle East Conflict; Tomago Aluminium Smelter; Men’s Health. 

DAVID HELMERS, AUSTRALIAN MEN’S SHED ASSOCIATION: On behalf of the Australian Men's Shed Association and Toronto Men's Shed, I'd like to welcome you all here today, and a special welcome to the Acting Prime Minister to be here with us Richard Marles, it's a privilege to have you in a Men's Shed and also a very special welcome as I hand over to Dan now, who's also the Special Envoy for Men’s Health.

DAN REPACHOLI, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR MEN’S HEALTH: Thank you, Dave. And welcome everyone to the beautiful Men's Shed in Toronto. It's a pleasure to be here with Dave, with Glenn, with John Paul Young himself as well. Don't hide over there, John, and also the Acting Prime Minister, Richard Marles. So it's a pleasure to be here with everyone and we know how important Men's Sheds are. They are so important to everybody in this community. Everybody that has a Men's Shed in their community, there is so many men that go to these areas, go to these sheds and do such amazing things. And as Special Envoy for Men's Health, it is important that men are getting out there and talking about their issues, and that's what these blokes here are doing today, and they do every Tuesday and Thursday. And if you want to join the Toronto Men's Shed, get in touch with them, because they'd love to have you, as would any Men's Shed around the country. And how many Men’s Sheds are there? 1370 around the country. And this has been mirrored in other countries all over the world. So this has been franchised pretty much by this amazing man here, so it's fantastic and good to see. We need to keep this up. We need to get men speaking about men's issues, and that's what these are all about. And remember, if you are having any issues, please reach out to your GP, please have a chat with them, and please make sure that you go and just have a conversation with your GP and go get a blood test done. Most men will not go see their doctor unless there's something wrong, and they'll wait over a week to do that. And then around one in three men will wait over four weeks to go see their GP about something they're having an issue with. So please, blokes, get out there, talk to your GPs, talk to your friends, talk to your partners, and please make sure you have those conversations. I'll now hand over to Richard, and he'll have a few good things to say about the Men's Shed as well. Cheers, Richard.

RICHARD MARLES, ACTING PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you. And it's really a delight to be here at the Toronto Men's Shed today and to be here with Dan Repacholi our Special Envoy for Men's Health. And it's great to be here with Dave and Glen and John and seeing the incredible work which is being done here at the Toronto Men's Shed. During the election we committed to an additional $32 million for men's mental health, and that included a more than $8 million contribution to the Australian Men's Shed Association to help the work of the Association for another two years. The more than 1300 men sheds around the country are providing such an invaluable service for literally hundreds of 1000s of Australian men, predominantly in regional Australia. They promote community men getting together, they really deal a lot with the challenges of isolation, particularly that men feel in retirement, and when you listen to the stories of those here at the Toronto Men's Shed of how people are looking after each other, providing camaraderie, doing really good things for the community, but keeping their own mental health in good stead. You realise how important this Men's Shed is, particularly here, but how incredible the movement is across Australia. As Dan said, this is now a model which is being shared around the world. It is, in fact, a great Australian story, and we really owe Dave and the Men's Shed Association a debt of gratitude for what they are doing for men's health around Australia, but not just around Australia, around the world. As a government, we will look forward to continuing to work with the Australian Men's Shed Association. I've got a number of Men's Sheds in my electorate based in Geelong. We see them all around the country, and the great work which they are doing is being put on display here in Toronto, and we look forward to working with the Men's Shed Association going into the future.

JOURNALIST: What has Trump's early departure of Canada mean for AUKUS and (inaudible) tarrifs? 

MARLES: Well, I think the starting point in answering that question is that the whole world is looking with concern at what's playing out in the Middle East. We have expressed our concern about the potential for escalation in the Middle East, and obviously we continue to urge the parties to engage in diplomacy and dialogue. But given that it's completely understandable that the US President would be returning to Washington DC to deal with that, we shouldn't be reading more into it than that. This is essentially the American President needing to deal with what is obviously playing out in the world today. We have seen our Prime Minister and the President have a number of phone calls to date, they are building a rapport. We've been able to deal with our issues with the United States. I'm sure that in the not too distant future, they will meet face to face, to face, but I think it's completely understandable, given what's playing out in the Middle East, that President Trump is returning to Washington DC. 

JOURNALIST: Are you disappointed at this stage that the Prime Minister won't get that meeting with Trump? 

MARLES: Look, I think we all understand the circumstances that are going on in the world today and why the President is returning to Washington DC, so we get it. There have been a number of calls now between the Prime Minister and the President where we've been able to deal with the issues within the relationship, and we will continue to do that, not just at a Prime Minister to President level but across the board. I've been with my counterpart a couple of times, and be it AUKUS or be it tariffs we will continue to press Australia's interests in terms of the relationship, but we feel very confident about where the relationship is going with the Trump Administration. We understand the circumstances at this moment, and I'm sure that in the not too distant future, you'll see a meeting between the two leaders.

JOURNALIST: What would it take for Australia to be involved in the conflict in the Middle East? 

MARLES: Well, we're not involved in the conflict in the Middle East. And as I've said, we very much understand the risk that is represented by Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program to global peace and security. It's important to make that point, but in those circumstances, we are urging the parties to engage in dialogue and diplomacy. We are concerned about the risks of escalation of what's happening in the Middle East to being a broader conflict, and that's why we are making the call that we are. 

JOURNALIST: When did you find out about the change in plans in Canada? 

MARLES: Well, this has been only made public in the last few hours, but we've been watching obviously what's been playing out, and at the least it's not a surprise. We get it and we understand why the President will be returning to Washington DC. 

JOURNALIST: Are there any plans for a meeting in Washington?

MARLES: Look, the Prime Minister is going to continue his program at the G7, it's a significant invitation to be participating in the events around the G7 and that's what he'll be doing. And in doing it representing Australia's national interest. 

JOURNALIST: In terms of the review ordered by the Trump Administration into AUKUS, is this expected to impact things like missile manufacturing here in the Hunter?

MARLES: What we are doing in relation to the establishment of the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise GWEO, which will see missile manufacture in Australia. And as you say, here in the Hunter, sits separately from AUKUS we are very excited about what we are doing in terms of the establishment of GWEO and what it means for Australian capability, first and foremost. But what it means as an industrial opportunity to engage in high tech manufacturing, which will really provide very high skilled, high wage jobs here in the Hunter Valley and other parts of Australia, as I say, sit separately to AUKUS. In relation to the review of AUKUS, it's a completely natural thing for an incoming government to do. It's what the incoming government in the United Kingdom did. They've completed their own review of AUKUS and reported very positively about it. It’s really what we did when we came to power back in May of 2022 when we instituted the Defence Strategic Review, which, amongst other things did look at AUKUS and again, reported positively about its place in Australia's defence posture. And so we'll work with the US government as they go about this review and we see it as a positive step forward. 

JOURNALIST: What about the future of places like the Tomago Aluminium Smelter? Are you confident in its future? 

MARLES: Well, I mean, I would perhaps the Tomago Aluminium Smelter is a matter for those companies. It plays a very important economic role in this community. And I guess I wouldn't say more than that. 

JOURNALIST: Dan, obviously, you're about what, a month or two into your role in men's health. What has been some of the things that you've seen that have particularly kind of jumped out to you as something that needs to be addressed, that you'll be bringing up with the Deputy Prime Minister and the Prime Minister. 

REPACHOLI: The biggest thing is communication, just getting blokes to talk. That is seriously been the biggest thing that I've noticed in going around and talking to the many of the groups I have spoken with. It's just because blokes struggle to talk to other blokes about their issues, and that's where we need to get better with men. We owe it to our lovely partners, our kids, our grandkids and our friends to do that. So for me, the big thing is, is getting those conversations started, going and listen to groups like the Men’s Shed, like the Black Dog Institute, like Movember, and hearing what their issues are on the ground as well, and then going back and reporting that to the Health Minister and to these guys as well.

JOURNALIST: Do you have a goal of potentially, in your tenure in this Envoy position, to maybe get some big policies over the line, big funding commitments to address some of those issues?

REPACHOLI: We'll work on big funding commitments and things like that in the future. The big thing for me right now is getting at least one of these males here, one of these blokes here today, to actually go in and book in to the doctor, to their GP and go get a blood test. If they haven't had a blood test in the last 12 months, they should be going to get one. That's one of the biggest things for me, is getting blokes to go and talk about their issues with their GP because then we can try and fix issues that arise from that, because there's so many silent killers out there that us as blokes don't even know about, which is high blood pressure, which is high levels of cholesterol that we just don't know about, that are the silent killers that are killing so many men unnecessarily. It doesn't matter whether you're 20 or whether you're 80. It's affecting everyone in between as well. So we need to get out there and talk to our GPs. 

JOURNALIST: What are some of the biggest gaps in services at the moment in terms of supporting men? 

REPACHOLI: So communication, the biggest gap is us as men, is actually making that step and having those communication barriers broken down. Because we think we have to be strong. It's not weak to speak as we know and as we say about all the time and but seeing men actually do that, that is something that doesn't happen enough. So we need to actually get on top of that. And people say it is hard to get to the doctors, and sometimes it's hard to get in their GPs, and we're working on that to make that better. But you know what? There's always a spot available at a GP. You just put a ring up and book. It might be in two months’ time. It might be in two days’ time. It might be in two hours’ time, but to ring up that day and thinking getting straight away to see your GP. The reason why it's hard to get in sometimes to see your GP is because there's many other people that want to see your GP because they're so good. So we need to be a little bit flexible in what we're doing as well, to be able to make sure that we book and we plan to go in and do that. And if we are going in and getting a 12 month check-up while you're there, book in for the next 12 month one. They send you reminders. They send you messages along the way. And we're very sophisticated these days. We're getting messages to our phones telling us we have a GP appointment coming up. So let's actually get out there. Let's book the GPs. Let's go and have those conversations. 

JOURNALIST: What's the government doing about say, referrals for specialists, because that's an issue you hear a lot about. You get your referral see a cardiologist, but there's a long wait time. There's not that many in Newcastle sometimes. What is government doing to sort of rectify that? 

REPACHOLI: So we'll continue to work with the specialists to see what we could do around this area to make this better. Some of the things we've done around here in the Hunter, especially for mental health, is we've got to walk in Medicare Mental Health Centres. There's one in Cessnock, and there's one up in Muswellbrook as well. They're big things that have really been helping there. We've got the Medicare Urgent Care Clinics as well, which is getting in to see the people that we need help with straight away as well. So we'll continue to work with that. We'll continue to open more clinics along the way, and we'll continue to work with the specialist to see what we can do to help them out. 

JOURNALIST: Just another question for the Deputy Prime Minister, the Category D funding issue for farmers and landholders affected by flooding, where are we up to with approving that?

MARLES: Well, that will be worked through in the normal course, obviously, in relation to what flooding has occurred. I mean, the process will be playing out in a way which seeks to deal with this as quickly as we can. But obviously, you know, we are very mindful of the impact of flooding that has occurred, and we're obviously mindful of making sure that the appropriate support is provided as quickly as possible. 

JOURNALIST: Richard, what does Dan bring to this role as a Special Envoy for Men’s Health. Why do you think he was chosen for this role? 

MARLES: Well I think you have just seen it to be honest on display. I mean first and foremost Dan is a fantastic bloke. He's an incredible representative of his community. When you look around at the skills that politicians bring to bear in terms of being able to advocate on behalf of those they represent and being able to communicate, Dan is really right at the top of the class. But Dan, as we've seen, is an incredible ambassador for men's health and for the idea of men being able to be more forthcoming in talking about difficult issues. I don't think you get a better person than Dan Repacholi in being able to speak to that message. And when Dan answers your questions today and says the biggest issue is communication, is men ourselves. I think he's speaking in a way which resonates with men in relation to this. And certainly, as I hear that, I think the Prime Minister has made a very good decision in having Dan Repacholi as our Special Envoy for Men’s Health. 

ENDS