Subjects: Quotas for indigenous Australians in parliament; Neville Bonner; reconciliation; Auditor General's report; Fiji; GST; industrial relations
E&OE...............................
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister what do you make of Aden Ridgeway's suggestion of two seats in each house allocated to indigenous MP's?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think it's probably better if we continue with a system where people are chosen not on any particular basis other than merit. Aden made it there on his own merit. The late Neville Bonner who we honoured last night made it there on his own merit. I'm sure that in the time ahead others will make it there on their own merit. And my guess is that a large number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders would rather see themselves going into Parliament as part of the Australian community rather than through some kind of special reservation of parliamentary seats.
JOURNALIST:
Should the parties then try to preselect more indigenous candidates?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh I think they should just as I think all political parties should ensure that their candidates and their members represent the cross section of the Australian community. We've already had an Aboriginal Senator in the Liberal Party. We've got an Aboriginal Senator in the Australian Democrats and I'm certain that in the next ten years you'll have indigenous representatives from other parties and from the Liberal Party and the Australian Democrats again. I think all political parties will look to the possibility on merit. We're not in favour of quotas in the Liberal Party. We don't favour quotas for women. That hasn't prevented us choosing a large number of women on merit and that process will go on and the same thing applies to indigenous people. There are members of the Liberal Party who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders just as there are members of the Labor Party and the Australian Democrats.
But my preference and I suspect the preference of most Australians would not be to adopt a sort of a specially reserved approach or quota approach but rather to encourage in different ways the promotion of indigenous people as candidates. They are part of the Australian community. Surely the aim of reconciliation is for all of us to be treated equally and the best way of that happening at a parliamentary level is through the normal processes of preselection for parties to choose indigenous candidates as the Liberal Party has done once and as the Australian Democrats have done once.
JOURNALIST:
How concerned are you about the Auditor General's report showing an almost $3 billion blow out in defence and also accounting irregularities for AusAid? I mean is the Government going to do something about the accounting and financial practises that have led to this blow out?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I've sought a briefing on the detail of that and I will when I've got that briefing have more to say.
JOURNALIST:
Has George Speight just been upping his demands each day as this crisis drags on in Fiji?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes he has and it just demonstrates what happens you parley and negotiate and concede and placate people who seize power at the barrel of a gun. It's a very difficult situation. I remain very concerned about the fate of the hostages and I hope it is resolved but in the long run our view is that Fiji must return to constitutional and democratic government. That is the only way forward and it should resist the temptation to adopt a racially based constitution. It must resist that temptation.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister the fact that you have to seek a briefing on the Auditor General's report doesn't that give some credence to some of the accusations that he's making in his report that in fact the Government has taken its eye of the ball?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I don't think it indicates that at all. You're not suggesting that I have read every report that is ever produced by any agency of government before it's released. No Prime Minister in the history of federation and I predict no Prime Minister in the next hundred years would be capable of that.
JOURNALIST:
Gerry Harvey says he'll be praying for retailers come the introduction of the GST. Is there reason for concern that frontline retailing staff are going to cop the brunt of any consumer.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'm sure that Gerry's prayers will be answered. Can I say to Gerry who I have a great admiration for and who's a great Australian retailer and a great Australian business man, you should pray Gerry - it's always good for all us - but I think your prayers are going to be answered and I think you will find that the customers that surge to his stores will be well satisfied with the introduction of the GST. They will find that some things go up, some things go down, some things remain the same and they'll all have a tax cut.
JOURNALIST:
Australian military personnel were reported on the TV news last night as being in Fiji. Is there any particular special effort being made there?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I would imagine that they were just the people who are attached to the High Commission. There's certainly been no instruction given by the Government for any particular activity.
But can I just take the opportunity of just saying one thing about the speech delivered last night by Mr Beazley on industrial relations? It confirms the Labor Party's capitulation to unions on industrial relations. He's going to destroy the choice available under the present system. Labor in government will hand back to the unions that now represent only a meagre 20% of workers in private business, 20%. Eighty percent of workers in the private sector spurn unions now yet Labor in government would hand back total control of the industrial relations system to the union movement. This is even a weaker, more pro-union policy than the one he took to the electorate in 1998. It sells out and capitulates totally to the Labor Party's union masters. It's a reminder that a Beazley Labor government would be union Labor. It wouldn't be new Labor or better Labor or true Labor- it will be union Labor. And Mr Beazley's speech last night was a pathetic insipid capitulation to the union domination of the Labor movement.
Thank you.
[ends]