E&OE..........................................................................................................................
JOURNALIST:
The Opposition’s position on Wik, Michael Lavarch has been talking more about that today and seems to have contradicted what Richardson was saying.
PRIME MINISTER:
The Opposition is in a total state of confusion. One truth comes through and that is that our Bill is a fair compromise, a decent solution to what Beazley and what Richardson admitted yesterday was a mess.
JOURNALIST:
The amendments made by Senator Minchin will they be substantial?
PRIME MINISTER:
They won’t alter the 10-point plan in any way. We don’t intend to do that. We’ve always said that we would either make and/or be willing to accept amendments at the margin, at the periphery. Any sensible government will do that. But the essential principles of the Bill will remain unaltered.
JOURNALIST:
Are those amendments intended only to meet the concerns of the constitutional or legal committee of the Senate?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. They embrace a number of other things as well. They are all essentially procedural and technical in character. They are not things that go to the substance of the Bill.
JOURNALIST:
But they will be ruled out by...
PRIME MINISTER:
No. All of them, to my understanding, and subject to careful checking, are internally generated on the Government’s side.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, there is a report this morning of the state of nursing homes in Victoria that shows that only one in nine met the State Government’s standards for nursing homes. Will your reforms help that situation?
PRIME MINISTER:
Absolutely. What we have to do in the nursing home area is get more capital, more money into nursing homes. We are an ageing population and we want our older citizens to be cared for with dignity and in good conditions and we need more money into nursing homes and that is why some kind of system to get from those who could afford to pay a contribution to their care is absolutely essential. Even after these reforms, the general taxpayer will be paying 70 per cent of the cost of caring for somebody in a nursing home and it is only reasonable that we get more capital and those, like the Labor Party, who seek to destroy these reforms are ignoring the future and creating a greater problem for our children.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, does the new nursing home details....
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, they are being worked on at the present time. I’m not going to commit myself to a particular date, but it will be very soon.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, Premier Kennett said on radio this morning that the Constitutional Convention was likely to be a shambles and that people could not afford to take 10 days out to attend. Would you sort of shorten...
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no, no. I saw what Jeff said. Of course, there will be a lot of talk and I don’t think that is a bad thing because this is a difficult issue and I know Jeff doesn’t like spending 10 days in Canberra. He always says that.
JOURNALIST:
Is it too long though? Ten days?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. I think you have got to give everybody a go. There is a range of views. I mean there is a sort of a one to 10 scale of views on the Republican side and there is a few emerging on the other side as well. Not as many. So you’ve got to allow a lot of time.
JOURNALIST:
Are you confident the Convention will be able to come up with a Republican model given [inaudible]...
PRIME MINISTER:
I don’t know but I will be trying hard to get them to do that.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, what do you think of the proposal from your backbencher, Susan Jeanes, that the Parliament select, or put up, two or three nominations and have a popularly elected President from those numbers? Does that allay some of your concerns about an elected President?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. The problem with an elected presidency, no matter how popular it may be at the present time, is that it will create an alternative power centre to that of the prime minister and it will fundamentally change the nature of government in Australia and in the Australian adversarial political culture it will be a big mistake.
JOURNALIST:
But if both sides of politics have already agreed on those nominations that are put to the people, doesn’t that alter...
PRIME MINISTER:
No. Firstly, there is no guarantee that that would occur, no guarantee at all, and given the predilection of Oppositions, particularly the current one, to reject everything the Government puts up, I think it’s very likely it wouldn’t occur.
JOURNALIST:
There is a concern though that [inaudible] 78 per cent popularity [inaudible]...
PRIME MINISTER:
No, that doesn’t. One shouldn’t be poll driven in these matters.
JOURNALIST:
On the issue of nursing homes, will the annual fee be higher than $4,000?
PRIME MINISTER:
The average will be about $4,000. That’s what I said and that’s what the situation will be.
JOURNALIST:
Have you decided on a cap?
PRIME MINISTER:
There will be a cap and that cap will be announced by the Minister shortly.
JOURNALIST:
[inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Shortly. Come on. I think we’ve done very well. Thank you very much people.
[Ends]