Subjects: Commonwealth Games; social security; Democrats; family payments; Telstra; asylum seekers; safety in Australia; Telstra
E&OE...........
JOURNALIST:
Are you happy with the way Australia';s doing at the Commonwealth Games?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh brilliantly. I hesitate to say that it';s beyond our expectations but it really is fantastic and you do run out of superlatives in describing what people such as Ian Thorpe has done. But it';s been very widely spread and I think the first, second and third women in that race is just fantastic.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think the day will come when New South Wales could compete on their own?
PRIME MINISTER:
I hope it never does come. I';m an Australian. I';m an Australian first, second and third and I get excited in cheering for the green and gold, I';m not somebody who has any particular passion for one state against the other, I';m an Australian and I';m only interested in Australia competing internationally, not individual states, we';ve moved way beyond that.
JOURNALIST:
Kay Patterson';s advising people to steer clear of doctors who are charging a special fee at the moment, they are upping their fees in order to cover medical indemnity. Are you aware of the practice?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';m sure what Kay is doing is right.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard could you elaborate inaudible) for changes to social security in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that report was not particularly accurate.
JOURNALIST:
What was inaccurate about it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well what we discussed yesterday was the long term strategy of the Government during the remainder of this term. The welfare reforms of the Government were outlined in the Budget before last and what we aim to do is to encourage people to move from welfare to work. Separately from that we are looking at a range of options to provide further choice to parents in balancing their work and family responsibilities. We';ve already done a great deal in that area, we';ve introduced family tax benefits, we';ve introduced the baby bonus, we';ve enhanced those benefits, particularly the family tax benefits and we';re looking at some other options as well, including, but not only, the issue of paid maternity leave. It';s one of a number of things, you can';t expect any early announcement on initiatives, further initiatives in this area but it is a very important priority of the Government over the longer term.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, is the system too complex, that';s been a criticism.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well all systems have a degree of inevitable complexity in them because different families have different situations. What';s been in the news recently is the fact that in some cases people have been overpaid benefits and all that';s happening is that those overpayments are being recovered as an offset against other entitlements that those people have. Now we work very hard to prevent overpayments but where they occur, it';s not unreasonable that some arrangement be made for them to be repaid. I think most people find the new system better than the one it replaced because it';s more generous and it';s particularly generous for low income families and not least sole parent families. So it';s a very fair system and it';s a more generous system. There are always some complexities and we';d like to eliminate them but you never get rid of them alltogether.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, how do you feel about Meg Lees'; comment on ABC radio this morning that she';s willing to work with the Government? And will you be trying to work with her as an independent (inaudible) PBS system?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';m happy at any time to talk to any of the independent Senators or any of the Senators in the minor parties to try and secure the passage of Government legislation. Senator Lees has always taken a more constructive attitude than some of the other people who were until recently her fellow Democrats. And I think the Australian public wants the minor parties to co-operate, not give in, I don';t expect people to give in in relation to things they don';t believe in, but I do expect a measure of co-operation and I have to say that over the last few months I can';t think of anything where the Democrats have supported what the Government has done. On the law of averages, even in their eyes, we can';t be that bad. I think they';re being a bit negative. And the difference between Senator Lees and Senator Murray is that they see their role as a constructive one whereas I';m afraid their former Democrat colleagues, in the case of Senator Lees, see their role as a very negative one and they tend to vote with the Labor Party most of the time and I can';t think of an occasion where they';ve agreed with anything we';ve done.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)tey and embrace Meg Lees (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look she';s not going to join the Coalition. I respect the fact that she sees herself as still I guess at heart an Australian Democrat, certainly at present an independent. There are a lot of things that we stand for that she could never support, and I understand and I respect that. I think it';s important in these situations to respect people, to respect the fact that they differ with you on a lot of things but on other things they might agree with you and my attitude to all of them is where we can find points of agreement let's do so and move forward for the benefit of the country. But let's not assume that because she's left the Democrats she's going to embrace the Liberal Party. There's no way she's going to do that and I';m not looking for that to occur and I respect the fact that she still feels at heart a Democrat.
JOURNALIST:
Back on the issue of [inaudible] payments. [inaudible] attitude to payback the payments in instalments, now [inaudible] refund. Why the change?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the circumstances of that were explained some months ago and I just simply state the proposition that if there has been inadvertently an overpayment it's not unreasonable that that repayment…..that the overpayment be recovered. I think that's just a simple principle and most people would agree with that.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, how does the Government feel about the Pacific Solution seeing refugees coming back to Australia ultimately?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well what's happened is what I said would happen a year ago. On the 3rd of September last year which is now almost a year ago I said that Australia would take her fair share of people found to be genuine refugees and that's what's beginning to occur. I noticed in one newspaper this morning the suggestion that what had happened was completely contrary to what I said a year ago. I said on the 3rd of September 2001 after we announced the Pacific Solution that Australia would take her fair share of people found to be refugees. That's the critical thing. We will always take our fair share of people who are found to be genuine refugees. What we will not take are people who seek to enter this country illegally. Now that is the difference and that is the principle that we have upheld for the last year, and it is the principle that we will continue to uphold.
JOURNALIST:
Is it worth the half billion dollar costs though….?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the costs are not only related to the people who've been determined as refugees but also in relation to the people that haven't been. See what you've got to remember is that the people who have not been found to be refugees will not be allowed to come to Australia from their offshore locations. What will happen is what I said a year ago would happen and that is that where people are found to be refugees and the people who have come from Manus are people who have been found to be refugees. And we're perfectly happy to take our fair share of those. We are a generous country to refugees. We are not going to have people come here illegally. That is the difference, that's always been the difference, and it will remain the difference.
JOURNALIST:
Are you embarrassed so many of of these people have turned out to be genuine….
PRIME MINISTER:
No the numbers are not embarrassing at all. In fact the assessment made in relation to the bulk of the people who have been held in the various offshore locations is not in anyway embarrassing to us. It's about what we expected.
JOURNALIST:
What do you think, in the UK overnight (inaudible) TV show ….that Adelaide is the world's capital for murder and Australia is an unsafe place to visit? What do you think of those suggestions?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that's absurd. Australia is a very safe place to visit. Every country from time to time has horrific murders take place. There are horrific murders in European countries. Sadly Australians who have been holiday making in other parts of the world have died on occasions. We all know that. And I think people overseas who take cheap shots at this country and it's security are themselves cheap and to be condemned.
JOURNALIST:
I just wanted to ask you about Telstra. Did you feel encouraged yesterday by the comments by the Telstra chief that upgrades in the bush would continue even after a sale? Does that bring the government one step closer and would….
PRIME MINISTER:
I was not encouraged. I was reassured because that's the policy and that will be what happens. Upgrades will continue. But we're a while off yet. We will check to see if services in the bush are up to scratch and….
JOURNALIST:
[inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there'll be a further inquiry and when that inquiry reports we'll consider when we take the next step but our position remains that we're not going to sell it until we're satisfied circumstances in the bush are up to scratch and we haven't so determined that and until we do there's really nothing more I can say.
[Ends]