E&OE..............................................
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a marvellous day for jobs in Australia.
There are two first class pieces of news which are directly beneficial
to current and future job growth in our country.
The outcome of the Climate Change Conference in Kyoto represents
a splendid result and if, as I anticipate, the plenary session approves
what has been agreed a short while ago, then it will be a win for
the world environment and it will be a particularly gratifying result
for Australia.
I take the opportunity of congratulating and thanking Senator Robert
Hill, my Environment Minister, and all the other members of the
Australian delegation, for the really superb negotiating effort
that they have conducted on behalf of our country. It is a result
that Australia joins in very enthusiastically.
For the first time we have an agreement amongst the developed countries
to bring about a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. It is on
a sensible basis that allows Australia to participate in circumstances,
where, although there will still be an 8 per cent increase between
1990 levels and levels in the year 2010, Australia will, relatively
speaking, make a greater contribution in reductions in greenhouse
gas emissions against business as usual amongst the developed countries.
Our actual reductions against business as usual will be in the order
of 36 per cent, against a developed country average of 30 per cent.
And when you bear in mind Australia's faster population growth
there is in fact a 4 per cent per head reduction on the part of
Australia.
We argued all along that we could not accept uniform mandatory targets.
We said that the course proposed originally by the Europeans would
have been ruinous for the Australian economy. We fought for Australian
jobs every inch of the way and the outcome vindicates the Government's
stance. It is an outcome that will protect tens of thousands of
Australian jobs and it is also, importantly, an outcome that will
put the world on a firmer path towards controlling greenhouse gas
emissions.
So I do very warmly welcome the outcome. It has not been an easy
campaign for Australia but it's been a campaign at every stage
directed towards the national interest. We put our case to the leaders
of the world and finally, in Kyoto, skilfully led by Robert Hill,
we have achieved a really first class outcome.
The other piece of extremely good news for Australia today is of
course the jobs figures. We had a rise of 71 000 in employment and
over the past three months we've seen a rise of 145 000 jobs
in Australia. That is the best quarterly rise in employment in Australia
for two and a half years. That has been fuelled by the burgeoning
confidence in the strength of Australia's domestic economy.
Consumers are spending big this Christmas. Business men and women
are investing. More staff are being recruited and despite the inevitable
impact to some degree of the turn down in parts of Asia, there is
a sense of hope and optimism around in the Australian economy that
we haven't seen for some time.
That is a direct result of the policies we put in place in March
of last year. Always policies that are for the longer term take
a period of time to bear fruit but the fruit is now beginning to
appear through stronger growth, continued low inflation, much lower
interest rates, and most importantly and most welcome of all, a
sign that we've begun to turn the corner on the jobs front.
The prospects are for a slow but sustained fall in unemployment
into next year. It won't be an easy thing to achieve but we
have begun to see the beginnings of a new period, a better outlook
for employment, and I am personally delighted that on the eve of
Christmas we can talk about jobs growth of 145 000 in a period of
three months because at the end of the day, providing Australians
with jobs and providing Australian families with hope and optimism
for the future is the most important responsibility that any government
in Australia has.
The other piece of news which is important, be it in a smaller sense,
or on a smaller scale for jobs in Australia, is that China, or the
Chinese Government has announced that from now on Australia will
be an official tourist destination for Chinese citizens and that
will unlock the capacity for tens of thousands of Chinese citizens
to visit Australia without having to get and make special passport
arrangements.
Ladies and gentlemen, can I again say, that this is a red letter
day for jobs in this country. A great result, a splendid result
in Kyoto for the environment, for Australia, for Australian jobs,
and a continuation of the signs that emerged a couple of months
ago that the labour market was strengthening with the news of 71
000 additional Australian jobs.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister in Kyoto land clearing played a very important part.
What can your Government do to ensure that in Queensland land clearing
is slowed further?
PRIME MINISTER:
There has already been a slowing and I am quite certain that there
will be a desire - given the first class outcome - there will be
a desire on the part of everybody to co-operate but this is a, given
what's been agreed on on tradeable credits and given what's
been agreed on land clearance, that 8% is a very achievable outcome.
It's consistent with the advice that we've received from
ABARE and other organisations. We of course announced some measures
a couple of weeks ago that brought about a very big reduction in
what would have been the expansion of greenhouse gases on a business
as usual basis, and because of credits and because of land use decisions,
we are very able to sign up to the 8 percent.
JOURNALIST:
Do you need though to seek assurances from the Queensland Government
that they will play a part?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, there are a lot of areas of the community where assurances
and so forth are needed but I am very confident there will be co-operation.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what if the United States Congress doesn't
accept this arrangement? What will you do then? Where will it leave
the agreement?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we will be arguing of course for the United States Congress
to do so, that, ultimately of course, is a responsibility for the
American Government to deal with.
JOURNALIST:
But if they don't accept it then you have no agreement at all
do you?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, that is a problem for the American Government.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, is our approval conditional on the US Congress endorsing
the US position?
PRIME MINISTER:
You never do that in negotiations with the US.
JOURNALIST:
PM, do you plan to ratify this treaty as soon as possible?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, whatever constitutional processes are needed, yes.
JOURNALIST:
How much pain is this really going to cause us given that emissions
appear to have stabilised with our 1990 levels as it is, if you
take into account land clearing, that this really enables us to
increase our emissions by that without doing anything?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I don't think people who are going to be affected by
the measures that I announced a couple of weeks ago would regard
that as doing nothing, but what is important to me in areas like
this is getting an outcome that is good for our country, and that's
what I've done, and that's been my objective all along.
No country wishes to inflict gratuitous pain on itself and I certainly
don't want to inflict any gratuitous pain on the people of
Australia. We had put forward a very sensible, balanced position.
We have argued our case consistently. I raised the issue with President
Clinton when he was here more than a year ago. I raised it with
the Japanese Prime Minister, the German Chancellor, the British
Prime Minister twice and we've continued to do it, and of course
Robert Hill led the team splendidly in Kyoto.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think that the rate of land clearing in Queensland, up until
now, has been excessive?
PRIME MINISTER:
I am not going to start putting qualitative words of that kind when
you've got an outcome that is good. Let's not spoil that.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, on another subject, is it true the Government has
no intention of apologising to the stolen generation as part of
its response to the report to be announced...
PRIME MINISTER:
We are discussing that with the indigenous representatives at the
present time and when we are in a position to make a statement,
we will, but I can tell you the statement will be generous.
JOURNALIST:
Is it true that you had legal advice that said that you should not
apologise?
PRIME MINISTER:
I am not going to canvass the legal advice that we have had. We
are discussing the issue with the indigenous community. We took
an in-principle decision about 10 days ago and Senator Herron and
Dr Wooldridge have been authorised to talk to the leaders of the
indigenous people. I will be meeting some of their representatives
tomorrow, here in Canberra, and when and where we are ready to make
a statement we will. I can only reiterate that the statement will
be generous and will respond in a very practical way to the continued
trauma and the feelings of the Aboriginal community and the health
needs, in particular, of that community.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, before Kyoto you talked about 90,000 Australian jobs
being at risk, you are now talking about tens of thousands of jobs
being secured here, can we say that up to 90,000 jobs have been
secured by this agreement?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well certainly any threat to those 90,000 has been utterly removed.
JOURNALIST:
Back to the Stolen Generation, the expectation today is that the
Government is not going to apologise, are you suggesting that is
still an open question and you could....
PRIME MINISTER:
What I am saying is that when we have finished our discussions we
will make an announcement, that's what I am saying. I am not
saying anything more or less than that.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, on the tax, if you level out the indirect tax as
10 per cent, as the business community seems to want, does that
take away any flexibility you have delivering indirect income tax
cuts.
PRIME MINISTER:
Splendid try.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, just on jobs Prime Minister, you said that we have
turned the corner and you have also set a target for growth...
PRIME MINISTER:
There are signs that we have turned the corner. I think that is
what I said.
JOURNALIST:
And you have set a target for growth, why would you not now set
a target for unemployment?
PRIME MINISTER:
Because growth governs employment, employment doesn't govern
growth. It is a question of cause and effect. You can't have
rising employment and falling unemployment without strong growth,
so what you do is you secure the growth and the employment dividend
follows automatically.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, just following up Barry's question, what do
you think of the ACOSS view which says that you should not use tax
reform to change the tax mix?
PRIME MINISTER:
We are in regular discussion with ACOSS and as indeed we are with
representatives of the business community and I don't intend
to give a running commentary on each newspaper or television or
radio story about the alleged attitude of those sectors of the community
in advance of our policy being brought down. You know as well as
I do that we are addressing this in a very comprehensive, professional
way and I have absolutely no intention of giving bits and pieces
out as we go along or responding seriatim to every question
that is undoubtedly being asked and will be asked between now and
when we make our policy announcement sometime next year.
JOURNALIST:
But you are still committed, presumably, to delivering substantial
income tax cuts as part of your reform process?
PRIME MINISTER:
We are committed to delivering within the framework of the statement
I made in August, was it, when I announced that we were really deadly
serious about tax reform. That remains the framework and I really
don't have anything to add or take away from that.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, why won't you give a guarantee that your Government
is not involved in the Dubai fiasco?
PRIME MINISTER:
What fiasco are you talking about?
JOURNALIST:
Well it is certainly causing a lot of controversy in Australia.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the people who seem to be getting most worked up about it are
people like Mr Coombs and Mr Tanner. I suggest everybody go and
take a cold shower. Our situation is very simple and that is that
we are against violence of any kind where ever it occurs. The only
industrial violence I can remember in the last couple of years followed
a meeting addressed by Bill Kelty, Kim Beazley and Jenny George,
when people tried to bash their way into this building. That's
the only violence I can remember in the last couple of years. So,
I think, when it comes to industrial violence, the leaders of the
trade union movement of Australia have a great deal to answer for.
We will never countenance as a Government in any breach of the law,
any thuggery or any violent behaviour anywhere in Australia. That
is not part of the Australian way.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, you launched a multi-cultural issues paper this morning.
A member of your Parliament, Graeme Campbell is getting press coverage
in Asia, at the moment, on his social good-will visit. Is he going
to spread the word that Australians are concerned about Asian migration?
Are you doing anything to counteract any damage that he might be
causing?
PRIME MINISTER:
I have not seen or heard any reports of that and until I do I am
not going to comment on your question.
JOURNALIST:
What do you feel about, Prime Minister, some of your Government
staffers joining a union to negotiate better wages and conditions?
PRIME MINISTER:
People can join any thing they like. You see the thing that a lot
of people all around don't understand about our industrial
relations policy is that people are perfectly free to join or not
to join. I don't mind if people bargain individually, or bargain
collectively, we don't mind. It is a free country for all of
us. And the big difference is that under Labor you couldn't
bargain individually, that's the difference. We give people
freedom of choice.
JOURNALIST:
Have they got a case for a pay rise?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't know. I haven't looked at the detail of it.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, does your good jobs news today make you inclined
to bring the election forward?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I am enjoying the sunshine and I am not inclined to bring anything
forward. I think we are going to have a good Christmas. I think
we are going to have a very, very interesting first six months and
the only reason that there has been talk of an election is that
the Labor Party and others have refused to pass our Native Title
Legislation. So if they want to get talk of that right out of the
way all they have got to do in three month's time is let our
eminently fair legislation go through and then you can all forget
talking about elections until it is due, which is any event of by
March or April of next year.
JOURNALIST:
What do you think of Michael Costello's suggestion of an outside
mediator for native title?
PRIME MINISTER:
Parliaments, Prime Ministers and Governments are elected to solve
problems, not outsiders.
Thank you.
[Ends]