Subjects: European Commission meeting; Australian economy; visit to Europe; meetings with business leaders; Telstra; asylum seekers; border protection
E&OE...........
PRIME MINISTER:
Well ladies and gentlemen, I'll be seeing the Belgian Prime Minister this afternoon and that will complete my visit. I'll just say a couple of things about it. This is the first occasion since I was elected Prime Minister that I've visited Brussels and talked to the European Commission. It's also the first occasion that I've conducted bi-lateral visits to Germany, Italy, Greece and the Vatican. Those visits are very necessary on a reasonably regular basis by Australian Prime Ministers given the importance of maintaining at a head of government level strong bi-lateral relations with those countries and with the Vatican and in each case I found the calls very valuable. You're aware of a number of individual initiatives that have been announced, but collectively it has been an opportunity to remind the Europeans of just how successful the Australian economy has been, what a valuable partner Australia is on a basis of proper respect for our capacities and it's also been an opportunity to put our case very strongly for trade, particularly in the agricultural area and trade reform.
You'd be aware of the announcement made yesterday by the Agricultural Commissioner who I saw this morning. He is optimistic about the prospects of his package being endorsed by the Member States. I indicated yesterday that if over a period of time such reform if accepted by the Member States, if over a period of time that does result in smaller surpluses and therefore a lessened resort to export subsidies then that would be very good for Australia but a number of things have to happen before we can start talking about a solid element of change. There's no doubt that the cumulative arguments that have been put over the years by the Cairns group and by others in favour of reform have had some influence. I don't want to exaggerate the influence, equally I don't want to play it down. People are conscious that we have to make an effort in this next World Trade Round. We are certainly very committed to doing that and I had the impression from Mr Fischler this morning that the European Union understands that a genuine effort has to be made at this next round. Whether it can be brought off and what comes out of it. We have a long way to go.
Yesterday was a good sign, I can't put it any more strongly than that, and it will need all of the things I've outlined to happen before I can say there's going to be a definite benefit for Australia but at least it can be said that if you decoupled payments from production over time you are less likely to have large surpluses and therefore you are less likely to have subsidised exports into third markets which have proved to be so damaging to Australia over the years. We seek, of course, not only reform in that area, but also reform in the area of access.
Any questions?
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard two questions if I may. One is you've made it very clear what Australia expects from the European Trade Round, has the European Union made it clear to you what they expect of Australia in terms of things that are important to them (inaudible) Competition Policy or other issues like that? And also what have you achieved from your various business meetings, what do you think are the great achievements are for the people (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, look on the question of what Europe wants. I don't recall competition policy, or foreign investment policy, actually being raised at any stage. I don't think either of those issues were raised.
JOURNALIST:
Quarantine Mr Howard?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'm coming to that. And there's a good reason for that, Australia is very open to foreign investment and there's been the odd proposal knocked back but by and large we have a very open policy. Quarantine has been raised. Yes. And we've pointed out that we're quite happy to have full transparency. We're not in the business of using quarantine as some kind of phoney protective device. We rely on the science. We are resolute in upholding the science. If science says something's a risk, then it's a risk as far as Australia is concerned and it will remain a risk until science says it's not a risk and we don't beat about the bush on that and I made that very plain. But I also made it very plain that we're quite happy to have the, if people want to look at the transparency of the processes, we're perfectly happy to engage on that. My sense is that this is raised more as, as a - how shall one put it? - as a negotiating counter poise rather than a deeply held view of sustained, Antipodean outrage.
JOURNALIST:
On business?
PRIME MINISTER:
Business? I think what has been very useful is a reminder to the business communities in Europe of two things. Firstly the robustness of the Australian economy. The, and also the fact that Australia is not just a recipient of foreign investment. We are a major foreign investor ourselves. Now in, certainly the United Kingdom, and also increasingly in countries such as Germany as well of course a being a major investor now in the United States, I think also there was a little domestic reminder at the breakfast this morning, I think you may have gone, but I was asked by a man from Nestle's about the tax laws as they apply to overseas CEOs. I pointed out that we are trying to effect a reform there and he regarded that as very welcome but I said we were, we're encountering some static in the Senate. So I would say to, through the good offices of your organisations, I would say to those parties that are trying to hold that up in the Senate, it's pretty short-sighted domestic political point scoring. The fact is that if you want unrestricted desirable flows of foreign investment into Australia, part and parcel of that is to be able to have conditions where highly paid Chief Executives who come with a foreign investment have the incentive to do so, and not are really chased back prematurely because of restrictive Capital Gains tax laws for example, which is something we announced we were going to change in the Budget and I understand the Labor Party and the Democrats are trying to block it. I think that's short-sighted and I hope they change their mind. I mean you can score a domestic political point on something like that but it does damage the longer-term national interest that we're all meant to be committed to.
JOURNALIST:
In the case of damaging the national interest, is it time to address Senate reform?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well this came up a couple of months ago at the Liberal Party Federal Council. Senate reform. you know, that's constitutional change and you know how hard that is.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, as you're aware during the week Telstra has increased line charges. Are you concerned at all that taking a step of this kind at this moment will stunt progress towards your ultimate goal of the full sale of Telstra?
PRIME MINISTER:
I wouldn't have thought so because nobody likes increases in anything, particularly if you're paying for it. You don't. But you can't have a situation where every time there's an increase in anything, that that's sort of seen as a major impediment to a longer term change. I mean the argument for full privatisation of Telstra has not been altered by this. We will go further when conditions in the bush are up to scratch. And nothing is going to alter my view on that. Clearly conditions in the bush have got better and the facilities are better, clearly. But we still have a distance to go and I'm not into the business of premature haste but it is an issue that will be addressed.
JOURNALIST:
Given the opposition in the Senate, public support is probably the only way that you're going to get. change the hearts and minds of the Senate as it were. Doesn't a step like this reduce public support rather than increase it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Once again Jim, nobody likes increases but people get increases on both sides. They incur increases and receive increases on both sides of the ledger over a period of time. I don't think it's going to cripple the policy direction.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, in your talks with European leaders, did they give you the sense that they feel the war against terror is being won in any sense, or that they're really concerned with it. Was it top of mind in your discussions with the leaders?
PRIME MINISTER:
They are all very seized of the importance of it. They probably felt that our understanding of it was pretty detailed already because of our close partnership with the United States. They felt perhaps it was not an area where Australia could learn a great deal more in addition to what we already knew, particularly given the fact that they would have known that I'd only just been in the United States. And the fact that I'd only been in the United States was very much in their mind. It was certainly in the mind of one or two of the Prime Ministers.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, you've been overseas for two weeks. You're spoken to four foreign leaders, a couple of them that have been around as long as you - the Opposition Leaders, the Pope, Head of the European Commission. After this trip, how do you feel [inaudible] just short of your 63rd birthday?
PRIME MINISTER:
I feel very fit Michael.
JOURNALIST:
And about your approach to politics?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I certainly retain all of the enthusiasm I've always had for the political life. There are so many issues, both domestically - I naturally will be focussing heavily as I always do on domestic issues, but there's also an international dimension. And Australia is. I said at the breakfast this morning, we have to keep that balance between those three economic constellations - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific. We never want to get swept away by the allure or attraction of one to the detriment of either of the other two. And you've got to keep them in balance. That's been one of my goals as Prime Minister and I believe that this European visit has reinforced the value to Australia of Europe. I mean the connections, the historic and emotional connections, are obvious as all of you would have experienced. But we've got to keep that balance and I certainly haven't lost any enthusiasm for keeping that balance. Certainly not.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, did you discuss with other leaders the general move to the centre right?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, depended which leader. I did with some. I sort of did a side-step, a rugby side-step with the others.
JOURNALIST:
As a student of European history, do you feel that we are seeing a sea change in political.
PRIME MINISTER:
I think you have to be a little bit careful of over-generalising from things like that. Politics now is a bit less ideological than it used to be, where as I do think under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, it was possible for many countries to be seen as part of a movement in a particular direction. There is some evidence of a movement to the centre right now, but we have to sort of keep it in perspective and there is certainly there is some evidence of a movement to the centre right because of heightened concern about security and border protection issues. But once again, I don't want to get too much of an emphasis on a sea change. I know we always seek generic rationalisations for these things but sometimes they are the accumulation of a set of unrelated individual national circumstances that end up at the same door.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, going back to Telstra, when do you think you might be in a position to make a decision about whether you'd have an independent inquiry or some other benchmark [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm going to talk to the Deputy Prime Minister and one or two other people about that issue some time in the next few weeks.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, how do you believe a visit like this has been perceived back home? And do you rate it as a success, the last two weeks?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I certainly rate it as a success. I know there will always be some people who will criticise overseas visits no matter who carries them out or for what purpose. I'm always attentive and careful to those criticisms. I don't believe they're in any way justified because in this day and age, an Australian Prime Minister must engage with these different economic constellations as I call them. And I would have thought given the heritage of Australia, a visit to countries such as Greece and Italy and Germany and to the European Commission, it being the first visit by me in six and a half years, could hardly be regarded as unreasonable. Unless of course you take the view that an Australian Prime Minister should never go overseas. And some people do take that view. But I don't. But I haven't been somebody who has rushed to go abroad at the first opportunity. It's happened that this year for a combination of reasons has required me to be out of the country more than on any other previous occasion. There just. I think when you throw in those two unexpected visits for ad hoc reasons to London, you take those out I think you've sort of got a busy year, but that's how it goes. I think it's the right balance but you'll always get some people who will criticise it and try and sort of make a little point about this or that.
JOURNALIST:
And what is your key issue on the domestic agenda when you get home?
PRIME MINISTER:
There's no one key issue, but certainly I'm very keen to make progress in those areas that I identified before the election. The work and family balance - barbecue stopper as I call it, the ageing of the population and the sustainable development environmental issues. And they are very important issues and you'll see further progress being made certainly in one or two of those fronts before the end of the year.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, you were clearly emotional at the Menin Gate yesterday. What was your feeling, particularly in comparison to the Anzac 2000 visit you made?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think the emotional effect of both of them. probably the Anzac one was perhaps even greater in a way. But I mean I don't sort of sit down and try and compare them. I mean it is just staggering when you think of the losses that our country suffered, and you can't help but feel upset about it and quite emotional about it. And I was. Because you know, we had 2.5 million male population and we sent 360,000 volunteers, and we lost 6,400 in one month - in October. And it's terrible. And they were all young. They were the age of your kids and mine. You know, it's very upsetting even though it's a long time ago. I mean that sort of waste of young lives is always upsetting no matter where you are. It's just that the concentration of it in France and Flanders and Gallipoli is so enormous given our size. I mean we lost 13,000 at Ypres.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, did your father's and grandfather's participation there make it.
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh well obviously it does have an effect but I mean I'm not trying to particularly personalise it. I mean it's something that you would feel wherever you were, whoever you were, any Australian would feel. And any English Prime Minister would feel that way. I mean their losses were equally horrific.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, you discussed border protection in most of the places you've been. What's been more.
PRIME MINISTER:
Not a lot. I've got to tell you nobody. the impression that I had was that they understood what we had done. Nobody apart from that one person who asked a question, and I mean you know it's a free country, people can ask what they like. but I didn't get any political interrogation about the issue at all. I mean it came up. It certainly was discussed for a period of time in my meeting with the Italian Prime Minister. And it's an issue. And the German Prime Minister mentioned it, and the German Opposition Leader mentioned it. But it wasn't. I mean anybody who thinks that at a political level there's barely concealed seething anger in Europe about what we've done in relation to border protection, is so far away from the mark that I can't describe it.
JOURNALIST:
What about advice in terms of how Australia dealt with a populist anti-immigration politician, given that that's a similar situation.
PRIME MINISTER:
You mean Hanson visa vie Le Pen, or something? Well it didn't come up. That was not. I think the other point I make about immigration is that on a couple of occasions I've found people mildly surprised at the size of our legal immigration programme. I think one of the countries, 60 or 70,000 they had, and their population was two or three times ours. So when I pointed out what our migration legal programme was and also the humanitarian refugee programme, they were surprised, some of them at the size of it. And also the mix of the Australian population is not as well known. I found when I pointed out that Mandarin and dialects of Chinese were the most widely spoken foreign language in Sydney, many of my interlocutors were interested and you know, obviously have not been aware of that. Anything else?
JOURNALIST:
Thank you Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you very much.