Subjects: visit to New York and Indonesia; asylum seekers; Ansett; Zimbabwe; advertising; Sydney airport; Australia Day; Woomera Detention Centre.
E&OE...........
PRIME MINISTER:
Well ladies and gentlemen, as you know I am leaving for New York shortly. Amongst other things I';ll participate in the World Economic Forum, normally held at Davos at this time of the year but as a gesture of solidarity to the people of America it';s being held this time in New York. I';ll be taking part in a forum alongside the American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, the Secretary General of NATO, Lord Robertson and also the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw and others. It will be an opportunity for me to meet a number of business leaders in the United States, also to address a session of the Security Council which coincidentally will be on East Timor and I will be speaking in a session along with Ramos-Horta and Sergio de Mello the United Nations Administrator of East Timor. I expect also to have a meeting with the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Mr O';Neill, to meet a number of the heads of New York banks and investment houses and it will also be an opportunity to pay my respects at the former site of the World Trade Centre.
After the visit to New York I will go to Indonesia for an official visit and to have further discussions with President Megawati and I am looking forward very much to that visit. It';s an important further opportunity to reinforce the importance Australia places on the bilateral relationship with Indonesia, it';s a very important relationship, one that would benefit from this meeting between the two of us, it will be our second meeting since she became President. It will of course come before the people smuggling summit which is being held in Bali at the end of February and will be jointly chaired by Australia and Indonesia.
As well as visiting Jakarta I will also visit Yogyakarta which is an important city culturally for the people of Indonesia and it will be an opportunity to emphasise the breadth of the relationship and the importance that Australia places on that relationship.
Any questions?
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard after what happened on your last trip to the US, do you have any qualms about returning?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I don';t. I always like going to New York. New York is a magnificent city and I look forward very much to taking part in these discussions and as always there is plenty to do in New York and I am looking forward to being back in the United States.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard what do you think about Mr Crean';s suggestion to get an independent group in to broker a peace in the detention centres?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well can I say a couple of things about Mr Crean';s alternatives. The first comment I make is that much of what he said in relation to the handling of children in the detention centres is already being done. In fact, for the past six months the Government has been trialing an arrangement whereby minors and their mothers go out into the community. The information I have is that the demand for this is not as great as might have been expected because some people, for very understandable reasons, are reluctant to see families divided. I think Mr Crean';s other suggestion is more designed to, how shall I put it, find an excuse for saying something about the issue rather than making any serious contribution towards solving it. We already have an advisory group chaired by a former Liberal Immigration Minister, Mr Hodges, but it also includes in its membership, and I don';t know whether he';s been involved in the most recent visits, a former Labor Minister for Immigration so its not in any way a stacked deck as far as its membership is concerned and its quite a diverse group so I think we already have quite a number of independent groups if you like and that particular group has been working very hard. Its unfortunate that having made an arrangement in relation to the resumption of processing that group then encountered some renewed and increased demands which had not previously been put forward.
JOURNALIST:
Are you concerned about the coverage that it';s getting overseas on Woomera issue, in the UK?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it';s a, this is an open society and people can cover things in any way they think fit. I wish this hunger strike were not taking place but the alternative is not to give in.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, (inaudible) from the Australian Red Cross and the Australian (inaudible) concern of the situation in detention centres. Are you (inaudible) views of groups like that?
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m very interested in their views. I';ve discussed this matter at some length with senior prelates in the Catholic Church. I';ve had quite, I had quite a lengthy discussion last week with a very senior figure in the Catholic Church. I am always interested in the views of the Catholic Church and indeed the views of all of the Christian churches and I respect their views, I don';t always agree with them, but I certainly listen to them and I pay very considerable regard to what they have to say. I read the advertisement from the Red Cross in the Australian. I didn';t think, and I read it carefully, I thought that was saying more about the reaction of people to any potential type casting of the behaviour of those in the camps. I thought the, in the detention centres, I thought the advertisement from the Red Cross conspicuously fell short of expressing a view on the veracity or otherwise of the policy. But there are a variety of views in the Australian community on this issue, I mean I noted in the Australian newspaper today a former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia very strongly supporting the Governments policy and denouncing as absurd any suggestion that the policy was based on racial considerations.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister given that the Ansett administrator (inaudible) all the worker entitlements will be covered (inaudible). What will happen to the levy and what will happen to the money already collected by…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we have to make our own judgement. We can';t automatically accept what the Ansett administrators tell us and no disrespect to them but we have to make our own judgements. I think its important particularly in the airline industry that Governments reserve the right to make their own judgements. We don';t seek to make a profit out of the levy, let me put it that way, but we certainly don';t intend to create a situation where the full extent of the Commonwealth';s exposure under the guarantee that we have given is not covered and that';s the principle that';s going to guide us and I think I';ve said before that if there';s any potential overpayment then it will be returned in different ways and with an emphasis on helping the tourist industry that';s what I said four or five months ago and that remains the case today. But we have to make our own independent judgement and we make the judgement that we will keep the levy on for so long as is necessary to make absolutely certain that it covers the full extent of the Commonwealth';s exposure.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, Tony Blair is making further moves towards sanctions on Zimbabwe, are they moves that you support?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we are very concerned about what is happening in Zimbabwe and Mr Downer is, I think as I speak, on his way to London, or he may have already arrived, to take part in the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting and Zimbabwe is on the agenda. What is happening in Zimbabwe is undemocratic, its contrary to the Harare Principles and I would hope that there is a view that a strong Commonwealth response is necessary. I don';t want, as the meeting is about to take place, get into any more detail than that but I deplore the violence, I deplore the undemocratic behaviour, the interference with the rule of law, the interference with press freedom and all of those things that are currently taking place in Zimbabwe.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, John Faulkner says that your Government has spent $100 per person on advertising, is that correct and do you need to curb your spending on advertising?
PRIME MINISTER:
What Mr Faulkner, Senator Faulkner is talking about is something which is essentially ancient history. There were a lot of one-off additional expenses over the last term associated amongst other with the introduction of the new tax system and if you take them out of it and you project forward you';re going to see a significant fall in the level of Government advertising expenses, a significant fall. So he';s really, you know he sort of, its yesterday';s news, its an old agenda, I mean this is the new Labor thrust. Its not very impressive.
JOURNALIST:
Are you concerned about the Indonesian Foreign Affairs committee suggesting your visit should be postponed there, concern about the level of political opposition to your visit…
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister just on the Ansett levy, the tourism industry says it really is hurting the recovery of the tourism industry. Is there any possibility of a suspension until the financial situation (inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I am not, I';d suggest, you know, you have to make your own independent judgments about this. There are a number of signals coming out of the tourist industry, I mean one of the interesting things is that the compensation package that we put up in relation to the cancellation of travel packages following the Ansett collapse, that';s been under-utilised, although we were told at the time that that was absolutely essential to avoid many in the tourist industry going broke. Now I';m not playing down the difficulties in the tourist industry but you have to look at statements like that against the background of our responsibility to make our own independent judgment. I mean we';re going to keep the levy until we are completely satisfied that the Commonwealth';s exposure under the guarantee is fully covered. But I repeat, we are not going to make a profit out of the levy and if we over-collect well there';s going to be some return, a return, and with an emphasis on the tourist industry. So, we';re very sensitive to the needs of the tourist industry and that';s why we put a number of these packages in place. Interestingly enough one or two of them haven';t been fully picked up.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, do you have any concerns about leaving the country at a time when (inaudible) send a very serious (inaudible) in the detention centres?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I don';t, I';m quite certain that Mr Costello this week and Mr Anderson next week as Acting Prime Ministers will be able to handle the situation, very very effectively. Look it';s a difficult situation in the detention centres but if one examines some of the statements that have been made by lawyers and others representing, well purporting to represent the people in the detention centres, there is an element of political advocacy in what is being said. And the Australian public has to, and I know the Australian public will understand that. There are differing views in the Australian community on mandatory detention, we';ve thought about it very carefully, we don';t like having to do it. We wish there were an effective alternative to it but there is not in the considered view of the Government, an effective alternative. Those in the detention centres are well fed, they are properly housed given the circumstances, and clothed. There is very high quality medical attention available to them and in those circumstances we are clearly discharging our humanitarian obligations and any suggestion that we are not, those suggestions are wrong and we are respecting the human rights of the people concerned but we simply cannot walk away from this policy without paying regard to what the consequences of that will be. And if we were to walk away from this policy in present circumstances the consequence would be to send a signal to the rest of the world that it was relatively easy to come to Australia and to ultimately gain acceptance into the Australian community, irrespective of whether your entitlement to do so had been properly vouched for and established. Now my responsibility to the Australian people and the Government';s is such that we cannot allow that to happen. We don';t like it but we have no alternative and I want to make it perfectly clear that the Government will not be altering its current policy.
JOURNALIST:
How do you respond to the suicide threats that the…
PRIME MINISTER:
I beg your pardon?
JOURNALIST:
How do you respond to the suicide…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well people in circumstances, in particular circumstances often make threats and I think it';s important that people in my position understand that.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think the policy';s working?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it depends what particular aspect of it you were referring to. So is the policy working, the policy of making it plain that Australia is not an easy touch in relation to illegal immigration, I think it has had some success, yes I do.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think we have a moral obligation having been in the coalition that bombed Afghanistan to actually be taking refugees?
PRIME MINISTER:
When you say the coalition that bombed Afghanistan, I would phrase it differently. I think it';s the coalition that fought terrorism, your description if pejorative rather than accurate.
JOURNALIST:
But that';s what happened isn';t it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, but it was in response to terrorism. And in any event the great bulk of the people, in fact all of these people, if my quick (inaudible) is correct would have come to Australia just about all of them before the 11th of September.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister on the sale of Sydney airport, when do you anticipate (inaudible)…
PRIME MINISTER:
I don';t have any more precise information on that than to say probably some time this year but I can';t be more precise than that.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
I beg your pardon?
JOURNALIST:
Is there pressure for that to happen sooner rather than later?
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m not feeling any pressure of any kind either way. I think it';s something that we will take in our stride, I don';t think there';s any particularly pressure to do anything about it.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, should today be a public holiday for Australia Day on Saturday?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it';s been a public holiday for a long time, I mean I grew up in Sydney and there was always a public holiday associated with Australia Day and I';m sufficient of a realist and sufficiently sensitive to public sentiment not to argue that it should be taken away. Can I just say something more generally about the observance. You will never get total agreement on what is an appropriate national day. The idea of having it on the first of January is not an idea I support. The first of January is New Years Day and nothing in our culture is going to alter that. We are part of a culture all around the world that observes New Years Day and more relevantly observes New Years Eve and therefore New Years Day in many cases is about recovering from New Years Eve and the idea that you would then turn that into Australia Day because that was the anniversary of federation, if I can put it another way, it';s too late to do that. No matter what you do with the day, people have objections. I have a great reverence, as many Australians do, for ANZAC Day, but some people would not want the special significance of that to be diluted by the intrusion of a more general national observance. Some would argue that that would detract in some way from the special regard we have for those who gave their lives to give us the freedom we now have. So you can find any objection to any day and you know we will have this endless naval gazing while everybody in this room is on this earth and subsequent generations. It will go on forever. But you';ll never get total unanimity. For my money I will stick with the 26th of January, I think there is more interest in Australia Day than there was a generation ago. I think people have got far more caught up with it, there is far more interest, there are far more celebrations, the citizenship ceremonies, thousands of them held around the nation. I think they';re great. And in our own Australian way we do celebrate it quite warmly and -but quite honestly I don';t think you';re going to get any greater unanimity of opinion and I';m not in favour of getting rid of the public holiday, I think we ought to have a public holiday and I just think things should continue as they are, I think it';s a pretty good arrangement.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, how do you feel that most Australians prefer, or think Christmas Day and ANZAC Day are more….
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';m pleased that Christmas Day still wins, that doesn';t surprise me in the slightest. But that poll as I understand it, they asked what was the most significant day. Well that';s not the question. I mean what you';re asked me about is what do I think should be Australia';s national day. They weren';t asked that. The 22 per cent of people who voted for Christmas Day were not saying it ought to be our national day, they were just saying it was more significant. Well that doesn';t surprise me at all, I think it probably is the most significant day of the year. I would have been amongst that 22 per cent, so there you are. But I';m in favour of the 26th of January. I mean it depends on what question you ask, the pollsters oldest trick.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, how do you…
PRIME MINISTER:
This is the last one.
JOURNALIST:
How do you respond to claims of media censorship';s with the change to the rules of taking pictures in the gallery.
PRIME MINISTER:
Who is?
JOURNALIST:
Change of legislation to remove photographers from the gallery in the chamber and the removal of the press from the Woomera detention centre on the weekend.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, what';s this first one - removing what? Legislation, there';s no legislation.
JOURNALIST:
So photographers are allowed to take photos of…
PRIME MINISTER:
That';s entirely a matter for the Speaker.
JOURNALIST:
You were talking about an open society earlier…
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah are you having a debate with me or are you asking a question?
JOURNALIST:
I';m asking you a question.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah, what is it?
JOURNALIST:
What is your response to the removal of journalists from the Woomera Detention Centre?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';ve got two responses to that, the first is that it wasn';t at the direction of the Government.
JOURNALIST:
Right.
PRIME MINISTER:
The second response is that it';s an operational matter on which I';m not going to comment. I';m subject to the law, journalists are subject to the law, everybody';s subject to the law, everybody';s treated equally in a free and open society and as far as I';m concerned the press have total freedom in this country and people who pretend that because of what happened in Woomera yesterday that there';s some restriction on press freedom, there';s some attempt being made by the Government to cover up what is occurring in detention centres, I mean that is just ridiculous.
JOURNALIST:
Well are the press going to be allowed into the detention centres?
PRIME MINISTER:
The matter will be dealt with in the appropriate way but it';s an operational matter and it';s far better that people in my position don';t comment on operational matters, I';m not really there and I';m quite sure that the whole thing will be handled in accordance with the long tradition of this country being an open and free society. Where the fourth estate is one of the great guarantors of liberty in Australia.
Thank you.
[ends]