Subjects: Ryan by-election; Opposition; Democrats.
E&OE................................
VAN EXTEL:
Prime Minister you've described this election result as bad, although the polling before hand indicated that the swing would be far greater. Are you a relieved man?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's a big swing and I've got to be realistic to acknowledge that. It was a smaller swing than the polls suggested and everybody expected, that was due to very heavy campaigning by us in the last week. I believe we did claw things back during the past few days and I'm very grateful for that. I don't know what the final outcome as I speak. Bob Tucker did all he could and if we do end up losing it's not his fault, he was an outstanding candidate.
VAN EXTEL:
What do you attribute that claw back to in the last few days?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think the tactic I used of directly pointing out to people the consequences of a protest vote. The way in which that would appear to reward Mr Beazley talking down the economy for his own political advantage which he plainly did in the wake of the bad December quarter national account figures. He has responsibilities, as do I. He's the alternative Prime Minister and he has a duty to behave in a responsible fashion and I would like to think that drawing peoples attention to that may have had the effect of persuading people not to lodge a protest vote.
VAN EXTEL:
In the end though we have seen protest votes lodged against the Liberal Party, what lessons are you taking from this result?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well you take a number of lessons, one of them is that we have to ensure that as we continue with the reform process, and reform in the end is designed to generate jobs and increase living standards, we have to be certain that the vulnerable are fully protected and that we communicate the benefits of reform and change. Sometimes Government's are not very good at that.
VAN EXTEL:
Is it a concession then that the vulnerable haven't been protected enough in the past?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's an acknowledgment that some people think that may be the case, I don't necessarily accept that it's the case but people think that. And as I'm so often reminded by interviewers and others perceptions are very important. Look, no Government who's been in office for five years shouldn't imagine that it hasn't offended some people. But equally we have a great record over that last five years, we have made Australia much stronger economically and we have put more people in work and we have lower interest rates and we have expanding opportunities for jobs. So we have a very positive story to tell and we have to redouble our efforts to tell it more effectively.
VAN EXTEL:
What we hear constantly coming from the electorate is a criticism towards politicians that they don't listen. We hear from yourself and other politicians that you are listening. There obviously is a communication problem. How do you change that message, how do you convince people that you do hear?
PRIME MINISTER:
I should add thirdly that we constantly hear from commentators that we should listen and when we do we are accused of backflips. You have to juggle the two. We certainly listened to peoples' concerns about the BAS, I said before Christmas that if people were worried about that we would make some changes. I certainly acknowledged that I had misread peoples' feelings about petrol pricing when I announced the 1.5 cent cut in excise and the end of automatic indexation. It's always a question of balancing. As a leader you have to lead but you also must listen. Sometimes you hear what people say and you feel that in the national interest you can't act on it, on other occasions you feel you can. You have to get the right balance and that's what is the constant challenge for any Prime Minister.
VAN EXTEL:
So when you talk about the lesson that you've learnt from this by-election being that you need to better communicate to the electorate. Do we then read from that that we'll hear a different language from the Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's not only communication but it's also ensuring that the reality as well as the perception of any adverse impact on the vulnerable in relation to change is addressed. There are two things, it's not just a question of communication. I can't be what I'm not, I can't use language that I'm uncomfortable with, I can only speak as I feel and if you try and remake your language you sound ridiculous and you won't be hearing different language in that sense. You'll perhaps hear different arguments and explanations as to why particular policies are desirable. We're not going to alter our fundamental direction but any sensible Government facing a 10% swing has to take note, and I hope that the public will understand that and we certainly do intend to take note. It's a lesser swing than everybody expected, I thought the swing would be bigger, the polls said the swing would be bigger, the Labor Party hoped the swing would be bigger and just about every commentator in the country had written us off entirely. Now we may still end up losing the seat, the odds would have to slightly favour Labor because they were ahead at the booths but we don't know yet.
VAN EXTEL:
You also mentioned in regards to the Ryan by-election that the Liberal Government went into the poll with a series of circumstances that made the situation very difficult. Do you feel then that the Government was a victim of circumstance?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it wouldn't matter whether I did or I didn't. In politics you have to deal with circumstances, I was simply making the point that you couldn't have had a by-election at a worse time. We'd had this carpet bombing impact of a whole series of events that worked against us. Now I'm not asking for any sympathy and I wouldn't get it anyway, I'm simply making the point as a piece of political analysis that the by-election was held at a very unpropitious time, as it turned out. You weren't to know that when the reshuffle took place.
VAN EXTEL:
There of course has been a lot of focus on the decision to go ahead with the by-election so soon before a general election. Do you stand by that decision?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well of course. At the time I took it it was a reasoned risk. I had two alternatives, I could have a broader reshuffle with a by-election or a much narrower reshuffle with no by-election. And I thought the interests of the Government were well served by having a broader reshuffle and we even did some research in the electorate and it was certainly clear to us on the basis of that in November that the prospects in the by-election were very strong.
VAN EXTEL:
Has this result pushed you towards a closer decision on an election date?
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
VAN EXTEL:
Can you give us an indication when you're prepared to go to the polls?
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
VAN EXTEL:
How tough has this campaign been for you?
PRIME MINISTER:
It's been tough but I've had a lot of tough campaigns and I've got a very tough one ahead of me.
VAN EXTEL:
In terms of leadership there was speculation in the lead up to the Ryan by-election, do you expect that we'll see continuing speculation?
PRIME MINISTER:
There'd be no grounds for it.
VAN EXTEL:
The Democrats are in the process of addressing their leadership. If we see a change, we see Natasha Stott Despoja become leader, how would that change relations between the Government and the Democrats, would it make the process more difficult for you in the lead up to a general campaign?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't want to buy into that, it's a matter for the Democrats. I've spoken already of my respect for Meg Lees' personal integrity, beyond that I don't want to make any comment.
VAN EXTEL:
In the result in Ryan we also saw the Democrats fall back and the Greens pick up ground. Can we expect to see perhaps changes in the Senate in the future, are we seeing a shift towards the Greens again?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think it's too early to make that judgement and of course there were no other candidates of prominent third parties in Ryan.
VAN EXTEL:
What can we read from this result then for the coming general election?
PRIME MINISTER:
It's going to be, as I always thought it would be, very tough. But it does not indicate that we are inevitably doomed as many people believed, if it were like Bass or Canberra, would be the case. It is no Bass or Canberra, it's very like some of the by-election swings against the Hawke Government in the late 1980's. Remember Labor stayed in office for 8 years after those swings. Now I'm not making any bold predictions about the next election but we're in there with a good show and nobody should for a moment suggest that the next election is inevitably going to produce a change of Government, it is not. And I think that all of my colleagues will be united with me in making sure that it doesn't happen.
VAN EXTEL:
Following the result in Ryan what is your message to the backbenchers, in particular to National Party members?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's essentially the message I've had before and that is that we will maximise our prospects of winning if we work together very closely, we remain very unified. That of course puts obligations on the leadership as well as on the backbench. The backbench must work together but the leadership must listen, so it's a two way process.
[ends]