Subject:
Albury Wodonga bypass; Brian Burke.
E&OE...
PRIME MINISTER:
Can I just say at the outset before taking your questions that this is a great day for regional Australia, this is the largest single investment of its kind ever in regional Australia and it's a huge boost to the communities of Albury Wodonga. It's another illustration that if you run a strong economy, you have the money to invest in the nation's future. If you don't run a strong economy you don't have that money, the two are connected, and it's something that should always be remembered. But I think this is a wonderful occasion and I want to congratulate Mark and his predecessors on the wonderful job they've done in the transport portfolio and, of course, under AusLink there are many more major projects that will not only proceed but also be subject to opening events such as today. Any questions?
JOURNALIST:
Just on a different topic Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd wants to bring on an election, do you consider doing that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Mr Rudd keeps avoiding, dare I say it, the inconvenient truth, and the inconvenient truth is that he hasn't told the truth in relation to his meeting with Mr Burke. Mr Rudd has lots of questions to answer. On television this morning Stephen Smith threw doubt on what Mr Rudd said at his press conference last Thursday when he denied vehemently that he ever went to Perth for the purpose of meeting Mr Burke. Mr Smith has disputed that and, of course, the versions that have come out about the dinner have also disputed what Mr Rudd has said. Mr Rudd has got to come clean with the Australian people, Mr Rudd has got to give a proper account of the way in which he appears to have put himself in debt to Mr Burke in relation to favour and influence. And the Australian people are looking to him to come clean and he owes the Australian people a full explanation.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard are you confident that there are no more Liberal MPs or Senators who need to come clean on having had contact with Mr Burke?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not aware and I don't believe there is anybody else in the Government who is in that category.
JOURNALIST:
Have you sacrificed Ian Campbell just so you can keep your attacks on Rudd?
PRIME MINISTER:
Ian Campbell resigned because of his error of judgement in relation to seeing Mr Burke. The circumstances in which he saw Mr Burke were very different from the circumstances in which Mr Rudd apparently saw Mr Burke. Senator Campbell was not seeking any preferment, he was not seeking to advance his own political career, what Senator Campbell should have done was to have indicated to the turf club that he was perfectly happy to see it, and to hear its submission, but it should not be accompanied by its lobbyist. Now that was an error of judgement. I think Senator Campbell has paid a very high price but I want to make it clear that his credibility and integrity remains intact. He's done the right thing, he's done the honourable thing, he's done the decent thing and now the full glare of this issue is on Mr Rudd. Mr Rudd has not come clean. Mr Rudd has pretended that this is an almost inadvertent, accidental, out of the blue meeting. It was nothing of the kind. You don't send out an email inviting people to come along to a dinner to meet a named person in the email and then have that person pretend he didn't know it was happening. I mean I have been to thousands of functions where I've been the guest of honour and I can assure you that I normally indicate in advance whether I'm happy to be the guest of honour or not. People don't normally send out invitations naming me as the guest of honour when I don't know about it.
JOURNALIST:
Given Senator Campbell's decency, is there a chance he might be reinstated if you win the next election and who would replace him in the meantime?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I haven't made any promises to Senator Campbell. I can't and I won't do that, but I have indicated publicly that there is no reason why he should not serve in a future Coalition Government. But there have been no promises made. I will name the new ministerial arrangements tomorrow.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, are your MPs banned from meeting him?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think all of my MPs will be sensible enough to stay well clear of him.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard do you think voters will be concerned about this or do you think they'll see it as the election stunt that it is?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think voters want their Prime Minister and their alternative Prime Minister to be candid. I mean Mr Rudd's real problem is that he's tried to conceal from the Australian public the true character of his encounter with Mr Burke, that's his real problem and the longer he delays fessing up the harder it gets. I mean that is his real problem. I mean he showed a huge error of judgement in seeing Brian Burke in the first place because he saw him in circumstances where he could owe him something whereas Ian Campbell didn't see Brian Burke in circumstances where he could owe him something. He saw him in the normal course of his portfolio. Now that was the first big mistake that Mr Rudd made and it showed inexperience and bad judgement. But the other big mistake he's made, he's not come clean about it, and he's only compounding it, and the longer he tries to put it off by bobbing and weaving and evasion the more suspicious the Australian people will become. Thank you.
[ends]