E&OE...........
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, does Australia back the US penned resolution to the United Nations giving Iraq seven days to open up its sites to weapons inspectors?
PRIME MINISTER:
Australia very strongly supports the efforts of the United States and Britain to get a Security Council resolution. It has to be effective, it has to be time specific and I believe that is the way to go. And Australia very strongly supports the efforts of the Americans and the British to achieve a resolution of this matter through the United Nations Security Council.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think Australia could still be a strong ally of the US without backing any military action?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't deal in hypothetical situations. I deal in reality and the reality at the moment is that America and Britain correctly are trying to get support for a Security Council resolution. This is too serious an issue to hypothesise about. This is too serious an issue to say, maybe this, maybe that, if and in the event of something else. I deal in reality and the current reality is that we are trying to get United Nations Security Council support for a resolution. I'm aware of the broad terms of it and I think the thrust is correct and we'll just take each step at a time. But I'm not going to get into this ridiculous hypothetical game. It doesn';t serve Australian interests and I don't care what question I get asked, I don't intend to hypothesise.
JOURNALIST:
Richard Woolcott says that the United States is exaggerating the threat posed by Iraq.
PRIME MINISTER:
I can only repeat that we support what the American and the British are trying to achieve through the United Nations and I think some of the criticism in recent times of the United States has been unreasonable. People are quick to criticise the United States but always eager to have the United States' support when they want something done.
JOURNALIST:
Would it be fair to slug Australians a tax to pay for a war that many of them don't support?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, this talk about a war tax is ludicrous. We're not engaged in a war. We're engaged in a high level, important, diplomatic exercise to try and achieve an outcome which will avoid military conflict. Nobody wants military conflict. I want to make that very clear. I don't want it, George Bush doesn';t want it, Tony Blair doesn't want it. But this is an issue that will not go away just because we wish it to go away and it doesn't serve the interests of getting the resolution we want through the Security Council by speculating about what might happen if we don't. That is ludicrous and I don't intend to engage in that speculation.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, are you going to take any further action against Joe Hockey, the comments he's said to have made about Brigadier Jim Wallace?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I haven't spoken to Mr Hockey but I did see Brigadier Wallace on television this morning. It seemed the matter was resolved and explained in his mind. Look, let me make it clear for the record that people are entitled to engage in a willing debate on this issue. This is a democracy this country and you can have legitimate differences of opinion and still love Australia. So I want to make that perfectly clear and I'm sure that's the view of all Australians, whatever their politics are.
JOURNALIST:
Do you believe that the majority of Australians support your stance on…
PRIME MINISTER:
I think the majority of Australians want this matter resolved through the Security Council of the United Nations, yes, but we take it a step at a time. That';s my goal at the moment and I don't intend to hypothesise about anything else. Thanks a lot.
[Ends]