Subjects: Drought, visit to Cobar & Gunnedah.
E&OE...........
COLEMAN:
Prime Minister, thanks for joining us.
PRIME MINISTER:
Very nice to talk to you Chris.
COLEMAN:
First and obvious question – what are you doing in Cobar and Gunnedah today?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';m first hand talking to people who have now been badly affected by this drought for some time. I';m listening to what they';ve got to say and that will be part of the ongoing understanding the Government has of how to respond to the drought. We';ve already done a lot of things. There is little doubt that the declaration of many parts of Australia for Exceptional Circumstances is going to provide much needed support and we estimate that this year and next year you';re probably looking about about $360 million on a conservative basis for that. And fortunately the Farm Management Deposits scheme that we put in place as a result of John Anderson';s advocacy some time ago, means that people who had some good years and put some money away can now pull it out in a tax advantageous way to help them through the more difficult years. But there will be other things that the Government will need to do and part of why I';m here and why John Anderson has been visiting these areas very regularly, along with the local Member for Parkes John Cobb, is because they';re providing ongoing information to the Government.
COLEMAN:
But is this your first visit as Prime Minister to drought-affected areas in western and northern New South Wales?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well this is the first time I';ve come this year, yes. As Prime Minister, I';ve been to drought-affected areas of Australia on a number of occasions over the past six and a half years. But if you';re asking me the question this year – that';s the answer. But of course John Anderson, as Deputy Prime Minister, and Warren Truss visit it on a regular basis and I';ve been kept fully abreast of what has been occurring.
COLEMAN:
So why then has it taken you personally so long to get out here, given that some areas have been in drought for nearly 12 months and really a personal appearance of the Prime Minister would do so much for morale?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I take the view that when you';ve got a Deputy Prime Minister who is not only the Deputy Prime Minister but also the person, the most senior person in the Government representing a rural constituency – he';s been doing a first class job on behalf of the Government.
COLEMAN:
You can';t make it rain.
PRIME MINISTER:
No I can';t make it rain.
COLEMAN:
But what can the Government do about the drought?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well what the Government can do is help people through the economic consequences of the drought and where it';s sensible to do so, provide measures and encouragement for them when the drought ends to get back into economic production. Nobody can make it rain. I think what people want is a set of policies that give them help. We have that with the Exceptional Circumstances, the Farm Management Deposits I mentioned earlier, and there are other policies that have been in place for a long time – the Farm Help scheme which of course is available irrespective of drought conditions, for people who are doing very badly and are basically in a last resort situation as far as farming is concerned. But the most important thing that we can do is to provide people with basic assistance as they cope with the consequences of the drought, and then take care to ensure that when the drought does end they have an opportunity of recovering. And the other thing can I tell you that we can do is to keep interest rates low so that the process of recovery is easier. On earlier occasions when this country has had drought, people coming out of that drought have had to cope with the awesome task of borrowing large amounts of money to replant or restock, and paying astronomical rates of interest on the money they have borrowed.
COLEMAN:
Interest rates aren';t likely to be higher this time around though, are they?
PRIME MINISTER:
Interest rates are going to be much, much lower as a result of Government policies and that';s one of the reasons why coming out of this drought will be easier than it has been on some other occasions. Don';t underestimate for a moment the significance of low interest rates.
COLEMAN:
Mr Howard if we can backtrack just a moment. You mentioned Exceptional Circumstances. What about the complaints from farmers who say the Exceptional Circumstance funding is taking too long to reach through. I mean there have been huge delays in some cases where the money was meant to be in their pockets by September.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well as soon as we get an application – the Federal Government, the way the system works at the moment, we';ve got to wait on applications from State Governments. As soon as we get them, we make a very quick assessment as to whether there is a prima facie case established and if there is, welfare support begins to flow and then if the full application is demonstrated, then the other assistance kicks in. So from our point of view, there aren';t delays. Where there are ways in which the system can be made to operate even more speedily, it will. I mean I';ll be indicating today some changes to the administrative arrangements to ensure that if there are any applications put in over the Christmas/New Year period, they';re dealt with immediately and there is no delay at an administrative level. But as soon as we get applications now, as a result of an announcement Warren Truss made in September, once it';s demonstrated that it';s on the face of it a proper application, then the welfare assistance is available immediately and you don';t have to wait as you used to for some months in order to start getting benefits.
COLEMAN:
So there shouldn';t be any more cases of people waiting for up to three months for EC funding to come through?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we react immediately we get the application. But the way the system works is that the State Governments have got to put in the applications, but when we get the applications we deal with them quickly.
COLEMAN:
Mr Howard you mentioned the figure of $360 million I think it was earlier. Is the Government willing to go higher if necessary?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it will automatically go higher. That';s the conservative estimate of what funding of Exceptional Circumstances is going to cost. That';s not a capped amount that we';ve made available for drought relief. I';m just indicating that on the basis of the applications we have received…
COLEMAN:
Is there a concrete figure as to how much money you';re willing to commit or the Government is willing to commit?
PRIME MINISTER:
Can I please finish? Can I go back again and answer your question? The amount of $360 million is our estimate of what it will cost to fund the Exceptional Circumstances applications if approved as we now have and we conservatively expect to receive. Now if we receive more applications, then the amount will be more than $360 million. We are not putting a cap. That is just an estimate of what the application of the existing Exceptional Circumstances policy is going to involve.
COLEMAN:
Mr Howard as we';ve mentioned, you arrived in Cobar earlier this morning. What have been your impressions of the area today?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';m overwhelmed by the tremendous stoicism and resilience of the people. They';re going through a very difficult time. As always, they';re friendly, they';ve got a lot of optimism, they have a capacity to never say die. We all hope it will rain. It amazes me just what tremendous resilience and determination they have.
COLEMAN:
Have you met many of the farmers, given that you';re only in town for a couple of hours?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I have met a number of farmers already, yes. I have. And I';ll be meeting more.
COLEMAN:
And what have they had to say to you personally?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we talked about the circumstances. They';ve thanked me for coming. They';ve talked about the circumstances. They';ve made quite a number of practical suggestions. They';re hoping for a miracle, and namely that it will start raining tonight and keep raining for as long as is necessary to well and truly break the drought. But they realise that there are some things Governments can do and some things Governments can';t do. And I have found their reaction on every occasion to be realistic, sensible and they';re certainly not daunted and overwhelmed by the difficult circumstances in which they find themselves. In other words I';m tremendously impressed by them.
COLEMAN:
Given that this is your first visit to drought-affected areas of New South Wales this year, why are you only spending a couple of hours in town and not say a full day?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';m going to another town. You know, there are a lot of towns in New South Wales.
COLEMAN:
True.
PRIME MINISTER:
So come on, what';s the next question.
COLEMAN:
I was just wondering why you';re only spending a couple of hours out west as opposed to… I know Gunnedah is another drought-affected area but…
PRIME MINISTER:
Of course it is.
COLEMAN:
You were also saying earlier about John Anderson representing the drought-affected areas. That';s from his electorate. Surely that';s the area he';s going to be closest to.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look, this isn';t the only visit I';m going to be paying to drought-affected areas. Okay?
COLEMAN:
Okay. So we';ll be able to talk to you again some time when you';re in another drought-affected area soon?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I can';t promise to come back to Cobar again in the next few months but there are a lot of drought affected areas in Australia and obviously this won';t be the only area I';m visiting.
COLEMAN:
So when do you think you might be back in regional New South Wales again?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';m not going to commit myself on the run to that. Australia is a big country. There are other regional parts of New South Wales. There are parts of the electorate of Farrer that are very badly affected, there are parts of the Mallee that are badly affected, there are parts of Queensland that have been affected, so I have responsibilities to the whole of Australia – not just to New South Wales.
COLEMAN:
Okay. What else are you planning to do over the remainder of your trip Mr Howard?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';m going to be talking to some small businessmen and women and I';ll be doing one or two more interviews as well. And then I';ll be going off to Gunnedah and talking to people there, and then talking to people that includes small business people as well as farmers and also people on the Shire.
COLEMAN:
Prime Minister John Howard, thanks for joining us on ABC afternoon today.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[ends]