Subjects: Medibank Private; medical indemnity insurance; South Australian unions; Telstra; free trade agreement; hand guns.
E&OE...........
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, who owns Medibank Private and should it be sold?
PRIME MINISTER:
You';re referring to that speculation this morning are you?
JOURNALIST:
There';s also been some speculation about untangling the ownership. Does the government wholly and solely own Medibank Private, [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m not going to respond to pre-budget speculation.
JOURNALIST:
Does the Government want to sell Medibank Private?
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m not going to respond to pre-budget speculation.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think it';s an appropriate time to start shaking up the health…?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that question is based on an assumption.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard are you closer to a lasting solution to the UMP problem?
PRIME MINISTER:
We';re making very good progress and I';m pleased that both the AMA and now some of the surgeons'; groups have indicated that they are satisfied with what the Government has said and they should be because we have stepped in and we have provided what I might call a bridging guarantee for a limited period of time and during that period of time everybody who has a responsibility has to work very hard to get a longer term solution.
It';s not an occasion for political point scoring. This problem has come upon the Australian community not through the particular fault of any level of government. It';s not the fault of the state government, it';s not the fault of the federal government. The community has become too litigious and some of the verdicts being awarded are very high and we have to all get together and try and find a longer term solution and we won';t achieve that by people throwing political missiles at each other and I would just ask that state health ministers and people representing different sections of the profession just understand that we';re serious. We want to get everybody together and to find a long term solution. That will involve curbing of community expectations. I have to say again we cannot go on imagining that you can sue at the drop of a hat yet complain if doctors are not readily available in every part of the community because they can';t afford to pay the increasing premiums in some of the specialty areas. Something has got to give and people have got to be part and parcel of trying to find the solutions.
JOURNALIST:
How do you see that longer term solution panning out? Could it involve the Commonwealth picking up the cost of some of the tail claims?
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m not going to get into speculation about further detail. What you';ve got to do is to recognise there';s a problem, provide a bridging guarantee to stabilise the situation, and that is what the federal government has done, and then working with the professional bodies both legal and medical, working with state governments, each contributing their own capacity and expertise and each undertaking to do what it can do within its jurisdiction. We can';t at a federal level change the law of negligence. That can only be changed at a state level and I';m not just talking here about medical indemnity. I';m talking here about the broader issue of public liability insurance because it';s really part and parcel of the same problem and the community expectations of which I';ve spoken are as evident in broader areas as they are in the areas of medical negligence.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, the Democrats have indicated that they would block the sale of Medibank Private. Do you think they';re jumping the gun a bit. Should they wait to see the details?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that';s speculating about how you might behave about speculation.
JOURNALIST:
….very strong housing figures, building figures this morning. What does this say about the economy?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it shows that the economy continues to go gangbusters. The Australian economy is performing very well. I have to say when I look back over the last six years for a targeted measure that helped, I don';t think anything quite beat the doubling of the home savings grant for new home buyers that was introduced last year. The combination of that plus low interest rates and we have very low interest rates, historically low interest rates has given the economy a real surge. The good thing of course is that it';s a low inflationary surge. Overall it';s a good outcome and I thank the home building industry of Australia for the contribution it';s made to strengthening the Australian economy.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, do you have a message for unions in South Australia and the difficulties that some component manufactures have been experiencing there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well what';s gone on is just crazy. We at a Federal level and the State government at a State level has just, we';ve just agreed to commit more money to the motor manufacturing industry to keep in this country. And I would have thought that';s a further reason why there should not be any unreasonable behaviour by unions and we have also, might I point out, significantly strengthened, significantly strengthened the safety net scheme available in relation to workers entitlements. So, and we have been far more generous in relation to that issue than State governments around Australia. So come on fellas if you';re interested in the future of the motor manufacturing industry in Australia let';s all be part of it.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, Mark Vaile this morning suggested that he';d like to see Telstra meet it';s Besley bench mark within the next two years. What do you think about that sort of timing?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I didn';t hear that but the government';s policy is that we won';t proceed to a further sale of any shares in Telstra until things in the bush have been fixed up.
JOURNALIST:
Would you like to see that within the next two years?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';m not going to put bench marks on it. The election position and the current position is exactly the same, we won';t proceed further until we';re satisfied that things in the bush are up to scratch.
JOURNALIST:
How encouraging are those American comments this morning about a free trade agreement?
PRIME MINISTER:
I was very interested in what the Ambassador had to say. The Ambassador is a superb representative of his country in Australia, he';s quite close to the President. A free trade agreement between Australia and the United States will take a while to sort through and there are a lot of difficulties ahead. I don';t want to say much more than that except to remark that when the Ambassador of the United States makes an observation like that, it at least demonstrates that there';s a very positive attitude towards the concept in the minds of the administration. We';ll continue to talk about it, we';ll continue to have contact with every level. It won';t be easy and there are a number of sensitive sectors but the golden rule in trade negotiations is to grab an advantage for your country when it presents itself no matter what form that might take, whether it';s a bilateral agreement or a multi-lateral negotiation. And the other golden, I suppose the other constant about trade is that it';s strong economies that can get the best bargains when it comes to trade negotiations and the strength of the Australian economy domestically bodes very well for the future.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, you were seeking some advice on restricting the importation of automatic hand guns. Any more thoughts on that particular issue?
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m getting, assembling advice on that. The problem is not simply as that question would imply, ease of importation. Part of the difficulty according to my advice in fact, a large part of the difficulty is that there is already within Australia a large available stock. It';s not so much that they';re flooding across the borders, that';s a bit of hyperbole coming from other political sources which is not really helping the debate. It';s a broader problem than that. I have spoken over the past few days to a number people at a Federal level and I';m getting some more work done it, and if there';s more that the Federal government can do to tackle this problem I';ll certainly be in the forefront of doing it. Thank you.
[Ends]