20 August 1999
E&OE…………………………………………………………………………………
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, Treasurer Egan has…
PRIME MINISTER:
Who?
JOURNALIST:
Treasurer Egan in New South Wales…
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, yeah, sorry.
JOURNALIST:
That’s all right.
PRIME MINISTER:
I thought I was in Tasmania. Treasurer Egan, I thought you were going to say Crean.
JOURNALIST:
No – has written to Minister Minchin requesting that the Magnesite mine be built in New South Wales and no federal funding would be required. What’s your attitude to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I don’t know anything about it and until I’ve got some advice on it I’m not going to comment. I didn’t know he’d written to Nick Minchin. We’re looking at that whole issue. I know the views of the Tasmanian Government and we’re getting an assessment made of the whole thing and we’ll be taking a sensible attitude.
JOURNALIST:
What is your response to the request…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I haven’t formulated one yet because I haven’t had it properly analysed and until I do that I’m not going to answer that.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, have you got a personal opinion on it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I form opinions based on proper assessments and not outside Parliaments on Friday afternoons.
JOURNALIST:
Tasmania’s asking for that infrastructure funding money along the lines that it could be a use for the GBF funding money that we’re owed. Could you see that that would be an alternative use for it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the question of how much money is owed is a matter that has to be properly assessed. I know that the Tasmanian Government would like some assistance. We’ll look at the Tasmanian Government’s proposal. But I think one of the things that’s got to be faced by the present Tasmanian Government is that it has a long-term debt problem and until it gets real about getting rid of that debt and adopts a realistic policy about privatisation of the Hydro the long-term debt problem of this State is going to continue.
JOURNALIST:
Given that other States have been given money from major projects would you look favourably on Tasmania’s situation?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Tasmania has been very generously treated in relation to the Telstra money. I have, in fact, had a constant stream of complaints from other State Premiers that Tasmania has received more than her fair share of Telstra money. I think Tasmania has been justly treated in relation to the Telstra money given the particular problems of this State. But the long-term debt problem of Tasmania cannot be avoided and this government has to face, meaning the current Tasmanian Government, has to face that reality. And I will continue to remind whoever is the Premier of Tasmania of the need to bite the bullet on debt and until that bullet is bitten this State will continue to have long-term economic problems.
JOURNALIST:
So shouldn’t we be selling the Hydro before we can start going to Canberra, cap in hand, again?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I have said before that I believe the long-term solution of the debt problem is the most pressing economic challenge of this State. I said that during the State election campaign. I repeated it to Mr Bacon when he came to see me. I’ll continue to deal fairly with Tasmania as I did in relation to proceeds of the Telstra sale – very fairly indeed, even to the point of incurring a lot of criticism from people like Mr Court and Mr Olsen who said I’d been over-generous to Tasmania. But I will also remind the government of this State it’s got to do something about debt. It’s got to bite the bullet on the Hydro and until it does it’s not playing real.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, what is the Commonwealth doing about the detention of Gabriel Lafitte?
PRIME MINISTER:
I’m not aware of the details of that and I can’t answer that question.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, as the weeks pass the Kosovar refugees, more and more of them, are expressing a wish to stay in Australia and particularly in Tasmania…
PRIME MINISTER:
I can understand that.
JOURNALIST:
Is the Federal Government looking more sympathetically on those requests?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we’ve been generally very sympathetic, that’s why we took 4,000 on a safe haven basis. But they were brought here on a safe haven basis and not on the basis of becoming permanent citizens. The problem with giving in and saying, well, you can stay, is that it’s very unfair to the people elsewhere in the world who want to come to Australia and are waiting their turn.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, are you still mates with Paul Barratt?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don’t have any comment to make about Mr Barratt.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, your comments on debt and the Hydro, does that throw any kind of dampener on Tasmania’s request for infrastructure funding? I’m trying to interpret what you’re saying.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it’s very easy to interpret, I just meant what I said. I mean, that is reality. And there’s no point in people pretending that the long-term debt problem of this State can be ignored. The debt of this State as a proportion of gross product is four times the State average in Australia. That can’t be ignored forever. And that was the attitude that I took months ago and it’s the attitude I retain because it’s reality.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible] throw a dampener at all on Tasmania’s request for infrastructure for the…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I think the inability of the government to face the problem throws a dampener on the future economic prospects of the State. If people are worried about dampeners they should do something about the dampener that debt represents. At a Federal level, if we can get the rest of Telstra sold we will be free of net Commonwealth debt by the year 2002. South Australia has got the sale of ETSA through the Parliament. Victoria has liquidated an enormous amount of debt. Tasmania must help itself by doing the same thing.
JOURNALIST:
Would you then agree with Michael Egan’s comment that Tasmania doesn’t deserve any more handouts?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I’m not going to take sides with Michael Egan against Tasmania. I’d never do that.
JOURNALIST:
Could you explain from the Government’s perspective what you’ve done with books in the GST?
PRIME MINISTER:
What we’ve done is provide the most generous book assistance programme this country has ever seen. A programme of $240 million over four years. It was negotiated between myself and Senator Lees and the announcement was made today of the details of it. It represents subsidies for educational books. It represents money for authors’ schemes and it represents money to all primary schools around Australia for their libraries. It will bring books to the libraries of Australia, to the children of Australia. I think it’s a wonderful investment in books which are the foutain of knowledge and the way in which children, in particular, have their eyes opened to the world in which they grow up. I think it’s a wonderful scheme.
JOURNALIST:
The Federal Opposition says it’s inadequate compensation [inaudible]…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it’s "inadequately" $240 million more than they ever did.
JOURNALIST:
Was it put together after the original deal with the Democrats on the…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the broad outlines of it were agreed with Senator Lees during our discussions and then we undertook to negotiate further detail. And the announcement is the result of all of that and I think I might terminate the press conference now. It’s getting a bit chilly. Thank you very much.
[ends]