Subjects: First Home Buyers' Allowance; Papua New Guinea; .
E&OE ................................
JOURNALIST:
Is Geoff Gallop denying the people of West Australia the full benefit of the First Home Buyers' Allowance?
PRIME MINISTER:
I am told there's a bit of a problem but that would be outrageous if he were delaying by one day the benefit to homebuyers. I haven't got all the details, I've heard there's a bit of a problem at his end and I would hope that he removes it at his end and I would hope that he removes it immediately. I would expect that West Australian homebuyers would want the full amount immediately.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard are you concerned at all about the military situation in Papua New Guinea?
PRIME MINISTER:
Our position is very simple that we support the constitutionally elected government of Papua New Guinea. I've been in contact with the prime minister and he'll continue to have our very strong support. Obviously it's a matter to deal with, he's the prime minister of Papua New Guinea but the maintenance of the constitutional authority of the duly elected parliament is paramount and it's very important that the people of Papua New Guinea understand that people around the world would want and expect the constitutional authority of the democratically elected government to be respected and maintained.
JOURNALIST:
Do have a feeling it will work then?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look it's not appropriate for me to give a running commentary, I've stated the principle and I have a lot of respect for Sir Mekere Morauta. He's handling a very difficult situation and he has my good will and my full confidence.
JOURNALIST:
Channel 7 have announced it's about to shut down Australia Television. Is that a concern?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'm sorry to hear it but it's a commercial decision that Channel 7 has taken. I understand that the network has been losing money on it for some months and has in fact kept it open longer than immediate commercial pressure might have suggested. We'll look at other options, we would like to see some sort of service maintained. We'll look at other options and have discussions with people who may be interested but the decision that the networks taken is a purely commercial decision and we can't stop it.
JOURNALIST:
What does it do to the perception of Australia in Asia?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't know immediately that it is other, seen as other than a commercial decision.
JOURNALIST:
So is one of the options that the ABC should take it up again?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that would be a matter for the ABC.
JOURNALIST:
How was the mood of today's Cabinet meeting following the Ryan by-election result?
PRIME MINISTER:
I thought it was very realistic. We're obviously aware that we copped a big swing. We don't have any false illusions that people are unhappy with the Government from certain points of view but equally we have a positive view about the future. And we know that come the election they'll have a choice between us and a government, a Labor Government that delivered $85 billion government debt, 17% interest rates and 11% unemployment. That will be the choice that the Australian people will be presented with at the end of the year.
JOURNALIST:
What was the feedback like at the community luncheon today?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, I think people appreciated the opportunity to have a talk to us and that's good because we are a government that has made a regular habit of those community luncheons. We didn't conjure that up in the wake of the Ryan by-election, that's probably about the 20th such community lunch that I've attended as prime minister in different parts of Australia. That's something we've been doing for a very long time and it's something we'll go on doing.
Thank you.
[ends]