Subjects: Reserve Bank; Telstra; Australian market; child detainees; payed maternity leave; baby bonus.
E&OE...........
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, should the Reserve Bank be factoring in all the turbulence on world markets at the moment?
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m sure the Reserve Bank takes everything into account, but I';m not going to give the Bank any advice on how to do its job. I have a lot of confidence in the Reserve Bank of Australia. It';s played a big role in the economic stability that Australia';s enjoyed over the last six and a half years.
JOURNALIST:
Despite the apparent resilience of the Australian market compared to Wall Street, do you think prima facie there may be a threat to growth in this?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think it';s important to see what';s happening on Australian markets in the context of the markets having not zoomed up quite as much as they did in other parts of the world, particularly the United States. There';s a strength and resilience in the stability about the Australian economy, which is very important.
JOURNALIST:
…argument about the full privatisation of Telstra when the market is so volatile?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh yes Matt, but even if you were to start tomorrow, which we';re not as we';re not satisfied that the bush is up to scratch yet, it would be a long time before it was on the market.
JOURNALIST:
Singapore airlines are indicating it would like to make an entry into the Australian market, would you like to see them a third player?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, what people want to do in the market place is a matter for them. I leave it entirely up to individual companies.
JOURNALIST:
Is Federal intervention warranted in the Tasmanian branch of the Liberal Party?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think if you follow what Lynton Crosby';s been saying you';ll get a key to what we think. Clearly, it was a very bad result and I think everybody';s got to look at it very carefully. And the Federal organisation, particularly Lynton, is there to help and I';m quite certain it will help and I';m quite certain that assistance will be welcomed. I have a lot of confidence in the leader of the organisation, Doug Chipman, State President and I know that he';ll be working very hard in a very practical way to understand the reasons why it was such a bad result for the Liberal Party.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, will the Government reconsider its policy of detaining children?
PRIME MINISTER:
We don';t intend to alter the present policy we have. It';s not a policy that we like having to implement but in the face of attempts for people to come to this country illegally, there is really no alternative.
JOURNALIST:
Tony Abbott said today that he [inaudible] compulsory paid maternity leave over his dead body. Does the Government maintain an open mind in terms of a taxpayer funded model?
PRIME MINISTER:
I heard him this morning, I think all he was saying was that people shouldn';t be forced to pay it. That';s something Peter Costello';s said and I';ve said that, a lot of people have said that. The issue is part of the mix of the policies that are being looked at. We';re not ruling things in or ruling them out at this stage. We';re having a look as I';ve said a lot over the past week, I don';t have a one size fits all approach. You have to understand that different families make different arrangements and they therefore want different policies. And it';s wrong to see paid maternity leave as the magic solution and it';s particularly wrong to see some other kind of policy as the magic solution and we';ll look at what additional policies we can introduce. We';re already doing a lot and I think people have got to understand that through the family tax benefit and the baby bonus, at which incidentally is staying because it';s not only a good policy but it';s a policy that we';re were elected on.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think there';s a risk though to the baby bonus in that people didn';t understand Centrelink might rake some of their payments off to make up for a debt?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don';t think there';s anything unreasonable in something that is owed to the Government being retrieved as a set off to another payment. I don';t think that is the least bit unreasonable and I don';t think any person stopping for a moment and thinking about that would believe otherwise. Thank you.
[ends]