Subjects: Heffernan; Michael Yabsley; Government achievements; Zimbabwe - cricket & commonwealth
E&OE...........
GRIMSHAW:
The Senator Heffernan affair continues to roll along and there are now voices raised from within the Liberal Party, most notably today Liberal Millennium Forum Chairman Michael Yabsley, saying he should resign from the Senate. Do you think that he should resign?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, no I don't.
GRIMSHAW:
Why?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think he's paid a very heavy and deserved penalty for the mistake he made. He's no longer a Parliamentary Secretary, he's no longer the Secretary to Cabinet. He has suffered an enormous public humiliation. I don't believe the grounds exist for him to resign from the Senate. The question of his political future is obviously a matter for him and a matter for the Liberal Party in terms of his pre-selection for any future election, but I certainly don't believe he should resign and I would not think the overwhelming majority of members of the Liberal Party think he should resign. What you have to do in a situation like this is to compare and contrast his obviously big mistake on this issue, a very serious mistake, and one that's embarrassed him and others and been very damaging to another individual, against the great contribution that he's made to the Liberal Party over long years and you've got to look at the whole person and the whole contribution when you're making assessments like this. But ultimately these are matters for him to think about, but I certainly don't think he should resign.
GRIMSHAW:
Prime Minister, your former driver Wayne Patterson has identified himself as a source of the documentation to Senator Heffernan in this affair, although he says he certainly didn't fabricate that documentation. When did you know that Wayne Patterson was Senator Heffernan's source?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, just very recently. I can't remember exactly when. But can I say of Wayne - no, let me finish - can I say of Wayne, he was my driver. I don't disguise that. He was a very good driver, and he's all round a pretty decent bloke. As to the circumstances between him and… I'm sorry, I'm getting interference the whole time. People are butting in with comments. I'm sorry, there must be something wrong with the line.
GRIMSHAW:
I apologise to you. I'm not getting those comments. We will try to sort that out.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I am. I'm getting people saying Nicole Stevenson, CNN and so forth.
GRIMSHAW:
Alright, I'm thinking you're getting some interference from our control room. If you're happy to continue if we think we can stop that…
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes I am, quite a lot actually.
GRIMSHAW:
Alright, go on. Okay, let me just see, we might take a break Prime Minister because I don't want to do this while you're at a difficulty.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no. I had the static in the first question too.
GRIMSHAW:
Okay, I'm sorry, we've sorted out the problem. If you can continue now.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah, I can.
GRIMSHAW:
Okay, go ahead.
PRIME MINISTER:
You were asking me about Mr Patterson. Look, as to what transpired between him and Senator Heffernan, that is a matter for them and I understand he's talked to the Australian Federal Police. I can't shed any light on that.
GRIMSHAW:
Prime Minister, you would have to agree that this has not been a successful year for the Government so far. It would seem the Government has lurched from crisis to crisis - the children overboard, the Governor-General remains under a cloud, and now this situation with Senator Heffernan. There has even been some speculation that you may face a leadership challenge. What can you say about that, and what are you going to do to correct the course?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I don't accept that the Government has gone from crisis to crisis. It's not a crisis when you've presided over creating 950,000 new jobs. We have the fastest growing economy in the industrialised world. Our economic performance is the envy of the world. It is certainly the envy of people I've spoken to here in Britain over the last few days. I think - no, I'm sorry - I just completely reject any suggestion that the Government has gone from crisis to crisis. We've had a number of difficult issues…
GRIMSHAW:
The children overboard have not been a crisis, the Governor-General has not been a crisis…
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I don't…
GRIMSHAW:
Senator Heffernan has not been a crisis…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, when you say, you're talking about the Governor-General. I think the Governor-General was subjected to a completely unfair witch-hunt and a lot of double standards have been demonstrated and displayed in relation to the Governor-General, and I don't shirk from my position in relation to the Governor-General and I don't believe that if I'd had my time over again, I would have handled that any differently.
GRIMSHAW:
Okay, last question before we move on to other issues. You're not concerned about a leadership challenge from Peter Costello perhaps?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I'm not really. Tracy, I've been Prime Minister for six years. I'm the second-longest serving Leader of the Liberal Party. I don't believe I'll face any leadership challenge, but quite frankly if people want to speculate about that, they can go ahead and do so, but it really doesn't concern me in the slightest.
GRIMSHAW:
Okay, on to the issue…
PRIME MINISTER:
Not in the slightest.
GRIMSHAW:
Alright then, on to the issue of Zimbabwe. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is saying that Australians shouldn't travel to Zimbabwe. Do you believe that the safety of the Australian cricket team can be guaranteed if they go?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Tracy, I understand that Alexander Downer has, as it were, opened the batting on that issue with the Australian Cricket Board, and perhaps it's better that I leave him to discuss the issue with the Board and not get involved in it myself. He's across the detail back home and it's better that he handle it.
GRIMSHAW:
I guess, but you understand the situation in Zimbabwe more intimately than anybody at the moment, and I guess I'm wondering about your perspective on whether or not Australian's safety can be guaranteed?
PRIME MINISTER:
Alexander Downer is speaking for the Government on that issue. He's handling it, and I don't have anything to add to what he's said.
GRIMSHAW:
Alright, just on another matter with Zimbabwe. The decision that you took on Zimbabwe does not bar the country from competing in the Commonwealth Games. Should it be barred?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, under the rules that we're operating under, we didn't have the capacity to prevent Zimbabwe competing. That's a matter for the Commonwealth Games Federation. I can understand why some people would want the Federation to exclude them, but in the end that's a matter for the Federation to determine. We don't have the power to stop them, we don't…
GRIMSHAW:
Would you prefer them not to be competing…
PRIME MINISTER:
The Commonwealth itself doesn't any more than… the decisions on who participates in the Commonwealth Games are a matter for the Commonwealth Games Federation…
GRIMSHAW:
Do you have a preference?
PRIME MINISTER:
… just as the decisions in relation to Olympic Games are for the International Olympic Committee. I think it's a question of just working our way through these issues one at a time, and we've taken a decision about suspension from the councils of the Commonwealth. The question of the future involvement of Zimbabwe in other activities is a matter, I think, that can be addressed a little further down the track.
GRIMSHAW:
Okay, Prime Minister we'll have to leave it there. Sincere apologies for that interference you suffered at the beginning of this interview.
PRIME MINISTER:
Okay.
[ends]