LIEBMANN:
With us in Canberra, Prime Minister, John Howard. Prime Minister,
good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning and first of all can I congratulate France on its
magnificent World Cup win.
LIEBMANN:
You certainly can.
PRIME MINISTER:
And that win is about as good as you can get in soccer.
LIEBMANN:
It is. You didn't get a win of that proportion in the Senate
though at the weekend.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, would that if I could win by 3-0 in the Senate. No, I didn't.
LIEBMANN:
What do you do now?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we put it back again because it's good policy. It's
good policy because if we can sell the rest of Telstra we can start
the 21st century virtually free of our national debt
and we can also have some extra money to pay for some much needed
additional communications services in rural Australia.
LIEBMANN:
There's a risk in putting it back, is there not, to the Senate?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we have to try again and again with every piece of important
legislation. We've had one hand tied behind our back through
not having a majority in the Senate since the day we were elected
and we are used to initial disappointment with legislation. We tried
three times before we got Wik. We had months and months of negotiation
on the Industrial Relations Bill. We've tried again and again
in relation to other legislation, some of which we have got, some
of which we haven't. And people must understand that this is
one of the breaks on the Government they elected. But there's
nothing we can do about it except cheerfully persevere, which we
intend to do.
LIEBMANN:
Are you surprised Senator Colston voted the legislation down?
PRIME MINISTER:
I thought he might support us but he didn't tell us in advance
he was going to do so and I can't suggest for a moment that
he misled us. He kept his own counsel which he is entitled to do
as an Independent Senator and I have watched the gyrations of the
Senate for so long Steve that nothing entirely surprises me.
LIEBMANN:
We spoke to Senator Colston last night and asked him whether he
might change his mind. Have a look at this, this was his response.
[Taped Interview]
LIEBMANN:
Well Prime Minister, do you think you can persuade him to change
his mind or have you given up on him?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, we haven't given up, we'll keep trying. He said on
Saturday evening that he at this stage wouldn't support it.
We'll continue to address those concerns that he raised and
keep trying but it's not new for us to be in this situation
and we just don't intend to give up because this is a very
good policy for Australia and that's why we are pursuing it.
LIEBMANN:
Your alternative, of course, would be to go to the people at an
election, at a time of your calling and say to them: well now, if
you return us this is what we'll do, give us a mandate to do
it or don't give us a mandate.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Steve, that is the case if the legislation is not passed before
the election. And I want to make it clear that we will go to the
next election seeking the support of the public for the sale of
Telstra. It won't be the most important issue in the campaign,
I think taxation will be. And if we win the election we will put
the legislation back yet again and we'll ask the Senate to
pass it on the basis of the mandate the public has given us. We
don't intend to give up on this legislation because we want
Australia to have a debt-free 21st Century and we want
some additional funds to provide some improvements in telecommunications
for the bush.
LIEBMANN:
And in the meantime those initiatives you have already announced,
they're on the backburner?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well one of them is not on the backburner at all, that's the
one about the new digital mobile phone service because that's
being funded by Telstra. The other commitment in relation to untimed
local calls is in no different position than our commitment before
the last election to establish the Natural Heritage Trust out of
the sale of one-third of Telstra. So this thing still has a long
way to go. This was only round one. We're sorry we lost it
but we're use to this with the Senate because we don't
have the numbers.
LIEBMANN:
So Prime Minister, where does this leave your re-election plans
and where does it leave the financing of the tax package?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it hasn't made any difference to the re-election plan
and it was always an error for people to believe that the sale of
the rest of Telstra was fundamental to the tax package. I don't
know where people got that idea from anymore than I know where,
do I know where people got the idea that we had a $5 billion fund
for the election campaign. I've never mentioned a figure of
$5 billion.
LIEBMANN:
But do you agree, in terms of re-election plans, if you're
going to put it back to the Senate there's no chance of an
election before October.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Steve, I haven't made up my mind when the election is.
Therefore the suggestion that Saturday night has altered our election
plan, there's no election plan to alter. We'll go to the
public at the right time. We don't have to go to the public
until after next year, but it's open to go earlier. Obviously
we'll release the tax package soon and that will of course
become the focus of enormous debate.
LIEBMANN:
On the question of the tax package, are you weakening on the question
of tax reform? I notice one suggestion for example in the Sydney
Morning Herald implies you are, certainly as far as the rate of
GST is concerned and the form.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't know what rate I'm meant to be weakening
from but I can tell you Steve......
LIEBMANN:
Well there's a suggestion you might be more inclined towards
about 8.5%.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I have no intention whatever, of backing away from reforming
the tax system because I believe in Australia's interests,
for the good of Australia we need a fairer, and a better, and a
new taxation system. Now the Labor Party will oppose it, just as
they've been negative in the Senate, they'll be negative
about tax. I want to be positive. I think the Australian public
wants activity; it wants a bit of hope; it wants a road map for
the future; and one of the areas where that's desperately needed
is taxation reform.
LIEBMANN:
Okay, but if your plan at the moment is to resubmit the Telstra
legislation to the Senate and the Senate's not going to come
back until late August, does that then mean you're going to
delay releasing the detail in the tax reform package?
PRIME MINISTER:
Steve, what's happened in the Senate will make no material
impact on the timing of the release of the tax package. I'm
not saying what that is but I can....
LIEBMANN:
John Fahey says it's imminent.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, well you can say imminent, quite soon, fairly soon, not too
long.
LIEBMANN:
Well you tell, when?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, because I haven't finally decided.
LIEBMANN:
Okay.
PRIME MINISTER:
I mean what you do with something like this is you get it all completely
in apple pie order, and we're quite close to that, and then
you decide when you're going to release it. It won't be
too long but I think people have wrongly reacted to the defeat of
the legislation on Saturday night. A setback, a disappointment,
but certainly not a disaster and something that we'll try again
because it's good policy for Australia. That's why we're
going to try again.
LIEBMANN:
And you've resumed talks with Senator Colsten?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Senator Alston will talk to him and I hope that he may
be able to respond to his concerns.
LIEBMANN:
Okay. Prime Minister thanks for your time. Good seeing you again.
PRIME MINISTER:
It's a great pleasure.