Subject:
overseas trained doctors; 457 visas; mortgage repayments; security; welfare.
E&OE...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I've made a speech, made a local announcement. Have you got any other questions you want to ask me?
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, just on the doctor shortage. Why does Australia have to import so many foreign doctors and shouldn't we be training up more home grown doctors?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't think you'll ever have enough locally to meet all the needs. There are occasions when you have to bring people in from abroad, but we will never have a situation where you'll never import local doctors. We've brought doctors in from overseas for many years; and it is not a new thing. The number now may be higher, but we have had foreign doctors in this country for decades. Foreign doctors came to this country long before terrorism was an issue, so I think we have to be careful not to jump to too many conclusions.
JOURNALIST:
Is there any need though to more closely vet their applications?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we have to wait and see. It's very important to bear in mind that this man has not been charged with any offence and we have to just calmly enforce the law, and if, as a result of things that we learn from this incident, there is a need to change any of our procedures we should change them. The good news is that because of the close collaboration between the British and Australian police this man has been apprehended and if, and I stress if, there turns out to be anything malign in his behaviour, well we can thank the police of both Australia and Britain for their close collaboration and their good work. But he is entitled like anybody else in this situation to a presumption of innocence. It is possible as the Federal Police Commissioner said that he may not be held for a long period of time, he may be let go, there may be no charges brought against him. We have to allow for all of those possibilities and nonetheless be very grateful that our police have done such a very good job.
JOURNALIST:
Are you investigating more broadly the issue of 457 visas and any other lessons that may have been learned from this incident?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we have to get more information to see whether this incident has exposed any flaws because nothing has been established. I mean I know there's an anxiety to jump onto the next thing, but before you start examining things, you have to be satisfied that there is a flaw in the existing procedure. And nothing has been established against this man. And you've also got to remember that; and putting him to one side, there are other people who are complete cleanskins when they have their first involvement with terrorism, they've had no previous association with terrorism. And no matter what checks and balances, no matter what checks and procedures you have, if a person has had no previous known association with a terrorist activity, the first time he is involved in a terrorist act, then the authorities don't have any history against which to judge his conduct.
JOURNALIST:
Are there any more foreign doctors at the moment under investigation as part of this?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no, I am not aware. No certainly not.
JOURNALIST:
The Magistrate overnight extended his detention for 48 hours. Would you expect that to happen again or do you think he...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that is a matter for the police. I don't give operational advice to the police. I leave that to them. I have every confidence in the Australian Federal Police. They're doing an excellent job. It was their decision. If they think it is necessary to apply again they will, but they won't be getting any instruction from me. I will respect and trust their advice.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, some documents released under Freedom of Information seem to show that the housing squeeze really is hurting people.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, well can I tell you, the Labor Party has totally misrepresented that document. What that document shows is that the repayment burden for a new homebuyer now is lower than what it was in 1989. Lower, not higher, lower. The Labor Party has completely misrepresented it. What they have grabbed hold of is the total interest bill payment which includes a large number of older people who've paid off their homes and then borrowed again because they have huge equity in their homes and used that borrowing to buy an investment property or to help their children buy a property. Now having said all of that I recognise that buying a home for the first time is a big challenge and I am not pretending for a moment that it's easy for young people, but I am not going to have the Labor Party deliberately misrepresent a Treasury document because that same document clearly states that the mortgage repayment burden for a new homebuyer, a new homebuyer, is lower than what it was in 1989. Now we still should examine their position and I am not pretending it is easy, but Mr Swan should not be allowed to get away with that sort of distortion and misrepresentation.
JOURNALIST:
But doesn't it also say that increased land sales and cuts to capital gains tax wouldn't necessarily be the answer to making housing more affordable?
PRIME MINISTER:
No the document acknowledges that, if you read it carefully, the document acknowledges that land releases would help, it certainly does that. And the document also confirms the advice of the Productivity Commission to the effect that there would also be an increase in affordability if stamp duty were released.
JOURNALIST:
Germaine Greer has made some comments about the indigenous issue. She's saying that it's a...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I always thought I was right, but I am even more convinced now.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, just in terms of your own personal security, there was an incident just over there earlier. Obviously your security detail sprung into action, but do you have concerns?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I never have concerns. I don't have any concerns. Look I go around this country, incidents happen, they never trouble me. I mean I will never stop wandering around this country with as much freedom as it is possible for somebody to do. I like mixing with people, I go to events and I will keep on going to events and my security blokes do a good job.
JOURNALIST:
On the welfare discussions in Cabinet yesterday, did you reach any conclusions?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes we did, and there will be a more detailed statement made about it, but the general principle that Cabinet endorsed yesterday was that if parents neglect their children or there is evidence that children are being abused, then we are going to change the law so that their family benefit and other payments can be quarantined, not taken away, but quarantined so that the benefit of those payments is directed towards the welfare of the children and we're not going to discriminate between different groups of Australians in the application of that policy.
JOURNALIST:
Will you have food stamps Mr Howard? Is that one thing you're looking at?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well something you could loosely call that. I think there are more sophisticated techniques and different descriptions now with EFTPOS, but the principle is the same; that the money is dedicated towards something which is guaranteed to help the child that is meant to be cared for. Now this is justified because parents receive this money on trust in a way for their children and if they're not doing their job, the community is entitled to say well we're going to stand in your place and see that the money is directed to the children. Thank you.
[ends]