Subjects: Visit to the electorate of Macarthur; ethanol; Iraq; Max Moore-Wilton; soccer World Cup; High Court decision
E&OE...........
JOURNALIST:
Can I first of all say how delighted I am to be at Pat Farmer's electorate here in Campbelltown, in the electorate of Macarthur. Amongst other things today I'll be announcing grants totalling $750,000 for the Macarthur area out of the Government's Stronger Families and Communities programme. Some of this money will go to the society of St Vincent de Paul to continue very positive programmes it's been running, Some will go to Burnside Uniting, some to the Woodbine Centre and some to the University Associated Centre of Excellence. They're all programmes designed to strengthen leadership in local communities. And somebody who really epitomises leadership in this local community is, of course, Pat Farmer. And as we come to the end of this year I am particularly pleased to be in the presence of one of my colleagues who won this seat at the last election and has represented the people of Macarthur, of all political persuasions, with such enormous energy and commitment over the last year.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, is the Government going to place a cap on the level of ethanol in petrol?
PRIME MINISTER:
The evidence, the scientific evidence on that issue is still unclear, we';re still studying it and when we get further material and further advise we';ll consider it further. In the meantime we encourage the states to provide more information to consumers to label, to require labelling and further advice to be given to consumers. I hear that the New South Wales Minister says they can';t do it, well I suggest he ring Peter Beattie, Peter Beattie will tell him in a couple of seconds what he has to do. There';s absolutely no reason why what I';ve suggested can';t be done by the New South Wales Government and indeed by other governments, it';s already been done in Queensland, that';s the point. When we get more evidence then we';ll consider it further, the evidence is not sufficiently compelling at present to lead to a 10 per cent cap, it might be in the future and if it is we';ll act in that direction but you';ve got to do these things according to science, not according to the urgings of people who feel strongly about it but may not be basing their urgings entirely on scientific data.
JOURNALIST:
Can you clear up some of the speculation that we're going to war with Iraq in March?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the position in relation to Iraq remains that the United Nations process is working. Australia would like to see the issue resolved through the United Nations. Using military force is always a last resort and no decision has been taken by the Australian Government to commit military forces to Iraq or, indeed, anywhere else other than what the Australian public is aware of in relation to our peacekeeping operations. Obviously, as I've indicated earlier, the defence force has to make contingency arrangements, but in terms of any political decision, government decision, none has been taken. And the reason for that is that we remain hopeful, although there are certainly a lot of indications from past behaviour that that hope may not be realised. We remain hopeful that Iraq will comply in full with the demands of the United Nations and that military force will not be necessary. And that remains our position, nothing has fundamentally altered from that. We hope that military conflict can be avoided, but in the end if Iraq does not comply then a decision will have to be taken on the best assessment the Government will make of Australia's national interests. Australia's national interests indicate that we can't pretend that the problem will just solve itself if we walk away from it. On the other hand, we must try, and we have very hard, to try and have the issue resolved through the United Nations. But that remains the position.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, in regards to the appointment of John Dyson Heydon to the High Court. Are you concerned at all - it's a two part question - for the fact that there are no women in the High Court? And secondly, the predominance of NSW [inaudible] High Court?
PRIME MINISTER:
What you do with something like this is you choose the best person for the job and that is what we have done. John Dyson Heydon is an outstanding jurist and I've listened around this morning and I've read people's comments. Nobody has criticised his appointment on merit. And that ultimately is the test, the idea that you choose people according to some strict gender or geographical basis when you're dealing with the highest court in the country is quite unrealistic. The correct thing to do is to choose the best person for the job. From time to time, the geography of people will be different, but in the end that's not really how you do it. How you do it is according to the best person. We had a very long discussion, very long discussion about it, and we came to the conclusion that he was the most suitable appointment. The fact that he is a man and the fact that he comes from NSW in the end, is far less relevant than the fact that in our view he's the best person for the job, that's why we appointed him and that is how we will approach all such appointments. We have in the past and we will in the future and that is what the Australian people want. They want a Government to appoint High Court judges purely on merit and no other considerations.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible] Australian soccer team today?
PRIME MINISTER:
Wonderful news. A real shot in the arm for Australian soccer. It's taken a lot of knocks, it has, well, some debate about its administration, let me put it that way, which I won't go into. But fundamentally, it is a great popular sport in this country. There are more young people playing soccer than any other code of football. And it's a tragedy that hitherto where it's not been well organised at a national level people haven't of course been able to get their act together. The Federal Government's funding examination of the administration and my message to the administration of Australian soccer is - get your act together, stop squabbling, understand that there are millions of Australians who love this code of football and they want to get behind it, they want to support it and they want to see the green and gold in there with the rest when it comes to the World Cup. And we got a bit of help from FIFA today on Oceania's access. Let that be an encouragement to the administrators of soccer at a State level as well as a Federal level. There's too much State bickering in soccer and forget that, we're talking about Australia, not parochial State interests. So, if they can all get their act together, there's a very bright future for the code. Thank you.
JOURNALIST:
Have you changed your view regarding the 2004 world cup bid, at all?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I haven't changed my view from last time. The Opposition …. it's just too early. We've got to sort out, get our own house in order, then start looking at that.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, is there any idea who will be replacing Max Moore Wilton? And can you put some sort of a timeline?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I'm obviously giving thought to it. I'm quite certain that the person to take the position will be the person who will, in my view, is the best suited for the job.
JOURNALIST:
Is his resignation an indication that you're closer to retiring yourself?
PRIME MINISTER:
It has absolutely no bearing on the personal plans of any other individual at any other level of Government, particularly at the highest level of Government.
JOURNALIST:
In the meantime, how will it affect you?
PRIME MINISTER:
It doesn't affect me at all. I'm sorry to lose Max. Max was a great departmental secretary, he was very bright, very energetic, got things done, argued his case and when a decision's been taken he went out and made sure it happened. Now, that's terrific, that's how a public servant should run his department. But I wish him well, I'm sure that he'll give great satisfaction to whatever job he's going to. But I wish him Merry Christmas and indeed to all of you, thanks a lot.
[ends]