JOURNALIST:
And I'm joined in the studio by the Prime Minister, Mr Howard.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning, how are you Geoff?
JOURNALIST:
Very well, and yourself?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm very sad about the circumstances that have brought me
to Western Australia on this occasion.
JOURNALIST:
A very sombre service there this morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, it's just a very sad event and I feel very sorry, desperately
sorry for the Mums and Dads, fiances, and girlfriends, mates and
brothers and sisters, and hope that the gathering was of some comfort
to the people who've lost the people they loved.
JOURNALIST:
Some thousand mourners there, many in uniform. There is under Government
policy a big fleet based here, the fleet based West. They are big
family if you like, aren't they, which is really...
PRIME MINISTER:
The services are great families in their own right and that is
one of the great strengths of service life, and when there is a
tragedy like this there are a lot of people to gather around to
help them, that's of some comfort and some help to the people
who are left devastated but it's just a very sad thing.
JOURNALIST:
Let's push on to an issue which I guess you may or may not
agree with this is the biggest problem facing you at the moment,
and that's the waterfront. These allegations that yourself
and Peter Reith knew with some certainty, some of these developments
to send soldiers to Dubai before you're letting on? Did you?
PRIME MINISTER:
That's a joke. Peter Reith has dealt very comprehensively
with the allegations and I don't think it is a problem at all.
JOURNALIST:
Well, one of the connections is Dr Stephen Webster who works in
Peter Reith's department. Have you spoken to Dr Webster at
all?
PRIME MINISTER:
I know Dr Webster because he's on Peter Reith's staff,
just as Peter Reith knows people who are on my staff. I can't
remember having had a separate discussion with him about anything.
JOURNALIST:
And you are not interested in doing so?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, of course I'm not.
JOURNALIST:
Well, why would he say that he was on...
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I haven't ... anyway, he's denied that. He's
denied that. But Geoff...
JOURNALIST:
But the allegation he told Mike Wells, he was doing a special job
for the Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Before we waste your time, my time, and your listeners time with
a whole lot of, sort of, trivia, can I just say two things, and
then I'm going to leave it with that, because I'm getting
very bored with an insubstantial issue. The first thing is that
there is nothing intrinsically wrong with Australians being trained
overseas for a lawful purpose, nothing at all. And this idea that
there is something criminally sinister about people being trained
in Dubai or elsewhere, or that in some way, or something about passports
being expedited. There are 500 passports expedited each week, so
I am told. And as far as the Government is concerned, we have responded
again and again. Peter Reith did it again this morning about the
situation. If people have got any allegation of substance to make
let them make it, we'll deal with it. But no allegation of
substance has been made and indeed this morning I heard on the ABC
Mr Harris himself admit at the end of the interview that there was
really nothing to directly implicate Mr Reith.
JOURNALIST:
So what are we talking about? I understand your wish to dismiss
it...
PRIME MINISTER:
No no...
JOURNALIST:
... on the resumption of Parliament you will be pursued on it.
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I deal with reality and there has been first of all, there's
nothing wrong with people being trained overseas, Mr Reith has dealt
comprehensively with the allegations. There are no allegations of
any substance, of any wrong-doing of any kind established against
him, or against anybody in the Government, and quite frankly it
is becoming a bore.
JOURNALIST:
But there are allegations all the same for which you would be...
PRIME MINISTER:
...allegations. You're a journalist, you make allegations
the whole time, but look...
JOURNALIST:
Mike Wells was under the impression that Chris Corrigan was reporting
directly back to the Government.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, you can talk to Corrigan about that. Get Mr Wells on your
programme and talk to him about it.
JOURNALIST:
That's all you want to say?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, it is, because there's nothing more to say. The whole
thing is becoming a waste of time.
JOURNALIST:
Are you concerned that it will... you are bringing your Budget
down next week. Are you concerned that it's going to deflect
interest away from what you call an "A" report card?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, there's a lot to be said about the economy, and this
is something which is of interest to people. Yesterday we had the
best employment figures since 1990. They are the best employment
figures Australia has had since the recession we had to have at
a time when Mr Beazley, the current Opposition Leader, was the Minister
for Employment, and of course under his leadership in the Employment
portfolio, unemployment went to 11.2%. In the last two years, we
have created almost 140 000 full time jobs in Australia. In the
last six years of Labor they created barely 20 000 full time jobs.
Now, there is a long way to go on the employment front, I don't
deny that for a moment, but we have made very good progress. And
when you add that to the fact that we've cut interest rates
by the equivalent of $300 a month to the average home buyer, that's
the equivalent of a $100 a week pay rise to the average wage and
salary earner. We've got the lowest inflation rate in the industrialised
world. We've got high levels of business investment. We have
cut Mr Beazley's budget deficit of $10.5 billion a year such
that we believe we will be in a position to declare the country
is back in balance when Peter Costello brings the Budget down on
Tuesday night. Now, those things are monumental economic achievements
and they have given us the strongest economic foundations in 25
years, and it also meant that we've been able to weather the
storm from Asia far better from otherwise.
JOURNALIST:
Well all these good indicators, it obviously irritates you like
anything that all anyone ever wants to ask you about is what the
prospective involvement was of your Government in waterfront, with
Patricks and the training of the soldiers overseas.
PRIME MINISTER:
I think you might ask yourself whether it perhaps irritates your
listeners even more, because they regard that as being the flummery
and irrelevance of politics. They are interested in Prime Ministers
and Treasurers and Minister delivering good things for the bulk
of the Australian population. They are interested in Opposition
Leaders having alternative policies and not being negative and narky
the whole time, and they are interested in people who stand up to
the national interest and not the sectional interest. The thing
that comes through on this whole waterfront dispute is that my Government
has stood up for the national interest. What we have wanted all
the time is to have a more productive waterfront and to get rid
of compulsory unionism on the waterfront. By contrast, Mr Beazley
for example, has identified himself totally with the maritime union
of Australia. He has encouraged them to defy orders of the Supreme
Court. He's said that he doesn't believe in voluntary
unionism. I mean I find it extraordinary that the Leader of the
Opposition in 1998 should still support the closed shop and should
still support compulsory unionism on the Australian Waterfront.
So he is chained to the sectional interests. I am promoting the
national interest.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, you spoke about the ... you touched on the Budget briefly.
Can you give us any hint, any indication for...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it will be very much...
JOURNALIST:
.. you can keep your fingers crossed!
PRIME MINISTER:
It will continue the good work of the last two Budgets. I can't
talk about particular measures and I'm not going to talk about
figures. You understand that. However, it will be a budget that
will drive home the advantages that we have gained as a result of
the decisions we took in the first two Budgets. It's no accident
that unemployment is starting to look better. It's no accident
that interest rates are down. It's no accident that inflation
is down. It's a direct result of having done things, some of
them unpopular in the short term. It's very easy for an Opposition
or for interest groups in the community to run around saying "Howard's
done this or Howard's done that" but if the net effect,
if the total effect of what we've done is to deliver a stronger
better economy, it means more jobs, lower interest rates, more investment
and a better outlook for Australia. Now, that's our responsibility,
and the Budget on Tuesday night should be seen in the context of
that position. I mean, we did inherit a Budget deficit running at
an annual rate of $10.5 billion. The total accumulated debt was
around $95 - $100 billion when we came to office and we've
done an absolutely Herculean job, I think, a first class job in
reducing that and it's made us more respected and stronger
and better and most importantly it's delivered real gains into
the pockets of Australians.
JOURNALIST:
Will you find yourself in a position to perhaps do a little better
on the Medicare agreement,. You've still got the deal with
those recalcitrant Premiers who would suggest that you are in fact
the recalcitrant one, and yet you can't reach any agreement
on that $5.5 billion they say they need to get their hospitals out
of crisis.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well since the Premiers conference, one of the States whose Premier
walked out, namely Queensland, has signed up.
JOURNALIST:
He's got an election coming up.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, that's not how his Health Minister calls it. His Health
Minister said that on the basis of a fuller understanding of the
situation they felt that they had a much better deal and thought
it was a good deal for Queensland, and we have offered something
that represents a real increase of about 15% over five years. Now,
when you think that we've got zero inflation and we say to
the States, we are not just going to maintain the money in real
terms that we are giving you, but we are going to, over a period
of five years increase it by 15 per cent. That's a pretty good
deal, and in addition to that, as a result of the decision that
we took concerning the Gold Card for veterans, and that means giving,
in effect, across the board, free medical treatment for all World
War II veterans who saw active service but, at the moment, don't
have that benefit. So we are extending it to all of those additional
people and there's about 50,000 of them. As a result of that
we are delivering more dollars into the pockets of the States over
and above what we put on the table at the Premiers conference and
the reason for that is that in calculating the money we put on the
table, we made an allowance for the treatment of the veterans which
is now no longer going to be at a cost to the States because of
the Gold Card decision. But we are not asking for any kind of claw
back or replacement so they're just going to be able to pocket
that under the agreement. And, as far as we are concerned, we are
going to pay them the money whether they sign up or not.
JOURNALIST:
Yeah, but you are not paying the money that they want. I mean,
that's....and there are people in the hospitals.....
PRIME MINISTER:
The States always argue that we should give them more money and,
I mean, when you are giving a 15 per cent real increase, and when
you look.....I have to say in defence of the Commonwealth that over
the period of the Medicare agreement, which is about to expire,
there was a 30 per cent increase in Commonwealth spending in the
health area in Western Australia and that is against, I am sorry
to say, is against, according to our calculations, a reduction in-so-far
as the State spending is concerned. Now look, I have no vested interest
in, sort of, trading rhetoric with State colleagues any more than
State colleagues have a vested interest in trading rhetoric. I want
to do the right thing by the people of Western Australia and we
have done the right thing - a 15 per cent real increase. I say to
them that whether there is an agreement signed or not, what we have
put on the table, including the additional money coming out of the
veterans decision, that money will be paid to the States whether
they sign the agreement or not. I mean, we are not going to go back
on what we have put on the table and come what may on the 1st of
July, the increases will come into operation. It includes an allowance
of $83 million throughout Australia to cover any further decline
in the membership of private health insurance funds. So we are doing
our part. Now, I understand the position of the States but, equally,
we have responsibilities in relation to other aspects of health.
I mean our responsibility for health doesn't start and finish
in relation to the Medicare agreements. We have put a lot of resources
into private health insurance and if we hadn't have done that
there would be even fewer people in private health insurance now
than there are.
JOURNALIST:
Okay, can you stick around for a few more minutes? I'll just
clear these commitments and then we'll come back with the Prime
Minister of Australia, John Howard.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, just looking overseas, but not too far, we've seen
some disturbing scenes coming out of Indonesia. Are you worried?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Indonesia is going through a very difficult period of adjustment
because of the IMF programme and the need to make changes. Food
subsidies and fuel subsidies are being either reduced or removed
and that's causing a lot of pain and a lot of difficulty for
the population in Indonesia and I feel for the difficulty faced
by Indonesians. We are helping. We've been very generous with
our help and that's in our interests as well as Indonesia's.
JOURNALIST:
But we are seeing pictures now that we probably wouldn't have
seen weeks or months ago. Burning photographs of Suharto and uncontrolled
rioting. Are you concerned given the proximity to Australia and
what we are doing up there that the Indonesian Government might
overplay its hand?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't believe the Indonesian Government will overplay
its hand. It would certainly be our view that it should not. We
are a friend of Indonesia's. We don't necessarily agree
with everything the Indonesian Government does, let me make it clear.
We showed our friendship by supporting the rescue package and we
also showed our friendship by persuading the IMF to impose a more
realistic package. The original ideas, if they had been imposed
without alteration, would have been too severe and the pace of adjustment
too rapid and therefore the social dislocation that much more. We
were able to bring our influence to bear, not only on the American
Government but also on the IMF, and I am very pleased we did. We
have made it more acceptable but it's still very difficult.
I mean Indonesia has to make very big changes. They do have to make
their financial system more transparent. They do have to recognise
that unless they regain the respect of the international community
then they are not going to get out of their economic troubles. And
they do have to implement the elements of the IMF package although
it's one that we worked to have moderated a little. Nobody
should be in any doubt that we support the IMF package and we want
it implemented and adhered to by the Indonesians.
JOURNALIST:
But should Australians realise that there are implications and
there are consequences of civil unrest in our near neighbour?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well if there were widespread and continuing civil unrest, the
answer is that, of course, there are consequences - not in a threatening
sense - but we look on Indonesia as, quite rightly, our nearest
neighbour. It's the sixth largest country in the world. It's
got 3,000 islands in the archipelago and it's a very, very
important country in the international arrangement as far as we
are concerned. And we are trying to be a friend, we ar
are concerned. And we are trying to be a friend, we are tyring to
help, we are not an uncritical friend and we do say to the Indonesian
Government that balance, moderation, restraint, understanding in
dealing with the civilian population is what is required.
JOURNALIST:
John Howard, thanks for joining me this morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
A great pleasure.