Subject:
Indonesian aircraft disaster
E&OE...
KELLY:
Well the Prime Minister, John Howard joins us now, Prime Minister good morning.
PRIME MINISTER
Good Morning Fran.
KELLY:
Prime Minister as we have just heard, Sydney Morning Herald journalist Cynthia Banham has been airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital and she is clearly in a serious but they say stable condition at this point, what about other Australians who have survived this crash, have they been airlifted out too?
PRIME MINISTER
Well one of them, the businessman, Mr Tallboys has gone to Singapore and the others, the nature of their injuries has not required that to happen and if it did then the resources and facilities are there, but the important thing is that the two Australian survivors that we know of and namely Cynthia and Mr Tallboys have been airlifted and the Sydney Morning Herald journalist Cynthia Banham who we all know of course will receive very good treatment in Perth, but it's important that everybody who has been injured in this receive good treatment and that is why I indicated from the outset that if it would help we would airlift any of the Indonesians to better medical treatment in Australia if that was assessed necessary on the ground by the doctors.
KELLY:
And that is why we have a team of medical experts there now?
PRIME MINISTER
That is why we have a team and we have all of the resources either on the ground or on the way and one of the people who is on the way and she should be there fairly soon is Dr Fiona Wood, who is a world renowned burns expert from Western Australia from the very hospital I imagine that Cynthia Banham has gone to and a former Australian of the Year, you couldn't get a better person on the spot to assist and she readily agreed to go and that is a measure of the person.
KELLY:
Absolutely, Prime Minister, five other Australians are still unaccounted for, are they confirmed dead?
PRIME MINISTER
No they are not confirmed dead, although as each hour goes by we must recognise that the prospects are diminishing, they are unaccounted for and until their deaths are confirmed, there is always the possibility that that may not be the case and we are as confirmed to me last night by the Foreign Minister when I spoke to him we are checking very carefully all of the hospitals in Yogyakarta to make certain that somebody was not taken there that we are not aware of, but it's not looking good to say the least in relation to those people and they are a variety and they represent a mix of people who were on that aircraft and they were all people who in different ways and in the case of the two policemen they were serving their country as members of the Federal Police and the case of the two very fine Foreign Affairs people, both of them I know and have met, they were doing wonderful work for Australia and have done wonderful work and of course also a very reputable and respected journalist as well, so it's a very sad catalogue of people who in different ways work for Australia and they are bound together when things like overseas visits take place, they all come together and they are all part of it and it is a very sad thing.
KELLY:
And Prime Minister what happens for, what is the process for the families and loved ones of these people still unaccounted for? Is the Government assisting...
PRIME MINISTER
Well all the assistance that is needed is being provided and obviously from the very beginning, they were contacted and told and of course each individual agency within the Government has a support mechanism for their own people. The Federal Police obviously will be supporting and caring for the families of those within the Federal Police who are missing and the same will apply to the Department of Foreign Affairs and I know within the Fairfax media organisation there will be concern and support if it's needed in relation to their journalists, but there won't be any lack of support, but at a time like this all the support in the world doesn't replace the sense of grief and loss.
KELLY:
Prime Minister apart from the medical teams that have been sent over and I think we are also sending some aviation investigative people.
PRIME MINISTER
Well we have offered to help with the investigation and the Indonesians if they take up that offer and I mean we have to respect the fact that it's an Indonesian investigation and the accident occurred in Indonesia and we can offer and the Indonesians can decide to pick up that offer if they wish and I think they will. The cooperation between the Australian Federal Police and the Indonesian police in particular and they will be part of the investigation along with their aviation authority, is very close and out of the tragedy of the first Bali attack in 2002 a very close bond formed between the Australian Federal Police and the Indonesian police at a personal level through our Police Commissioner and theirs and that process has gone on and we do have a very trusting relationship and at a time like this, that is very helpful and it means that offers of assistance can be considered and taken without any sense that it reflects poorly on the Indonesian capacity.
KELLY:
And just on that we heard from an international aviation specialist earlier in the program who said that Indonesia's air safety regime is weak, does our trusting relationship allow us to put any pressure or more pressure on Indonesia to invest more and pay more attention to air safety?
PRIME MINISTER
Well Fran, I don't think this is the time for me to be talking about that and I think that is the sort of thing that a little down the track when we know a little bit more about the exact circumstances of the accident, but bear in mind that many Indonesian lives have been lost in this tragedy and both Australian and Indonesian lives have been lost and I think the most valuable thing that I can do at the moment is to make sure that all possible help is being offered, not to make rushed judgements to understand that countries that are not as well developed as Australia obviously have greater difficulty with infrastructure in these areas and once things have settled down and moved on a bit, the sort of matter that you mentioned is the sort of matter that then would be time to possibly raise.
KELLY:
And PM just before we move on from this, can you absolutely rule out any evil intent here?
PRIME MINISTER
I can't rule out anything, I don't know the cause of the accident, but I can say that there is no evidence that I am aware of suggesting it was sabotage or a terrorist attack, but it's impossible for me to rule out anything. I mean I am in no position, you must know that, I am in no position to rule anything out and there will be a full investigation and it will be carried out by the Indonesian aviation authorities, by their law enforcement agencies and if they want any help from Australia it will be provided, but at this stage there is no evidence of which I am aware, suggesting that it was a terrorist related accident or it was in any way some form of sabotage.
KELLY:
Prime Minister, can I just touch on a couple of other issues now?
PRIME MINISTER
Ah yes.
KELLY:
I was just talking to Michelle Grattan about the police investigation into several of your backbenchers from Queensland and especially the position of MP for Bowman, Andrew Laming, is there any or can you shed any light on this? Where this is heading? Are you yourself satisfied yourself that there has been no improper use of printing allowances here?
PRIME MINISTER
Fran I can't say anything more than there is a police investigation going on and that the people involved are co-operating to the full with that investigation and while that investigation is going on, I am obviously not going to conduct a parallel investigation and that would be quite improper and I think people should just wait and see the outcome of the investigation. I am not going to make judgements and needless to say I would have zero tolerance for anybody who deliberately misuses their entitlements and that is just a statement of principle, that is not a judgement on this particularly case and I am not suggesting that that has happened and I don't know the full circumstances, but really Fran there is a police investigation and I am not going to conduct a parallel investigation, that is ludicrous.
KELLY:
So you haven't spoken to Andrew Laming or the others?
PRIME MINISTER
I have not personally spoken to any of them.
KELLY:
Prime Minister can I ask you briefly now about the economies strong growth figures yesterday, are there danger signs in those strong growth figures?
PRIME MINISTER
Yes, danger signs well Fran...
KELLY:
I am asking you.....
PRIME MINISTER
Fran, Fran we have had a magnificent figure, that we have got to find a danger sign? I mean these figures are very, very good, um they are stronger than many people expected and they show a lift in productivity. They don't show particularly inflationary pressures and when you think that we have had a huge drought, the biggest in 100 years and you have seen a fall of close to 23 per cent in farm income over the year, but we have still got non-farm GDP growth of 1 per cent, that is a very good outcome and it's a great tribute to the economic management of the Treasurer over the last 11 years.
KELLY:
I suppose, I wondered whether danger signs might have included the strong household consumption, but also you mentioned the drought, the impact of the drought on the growth, is it a corollary, that is if it rains, can we assume even stronger growth which is likely to mean the Reserve Bank moving to lift interest rates again?.....
PRIME MINISTER
Well if it rains, my first thought will be hallelujah for the farmers, not the Reserve Bank. Fran, let's get a sense of, let us try on occasions to look to the positive. I mean if it rains, won't that be wonderful?
KELLY:
It will indeed.
PRIME MINISTER
Yeah and won't it be terrific that at long last our sore pressed farmers have been given some relief and I hope and pray that it does rain and we all do, because this drought has been terrible and even if it rained cats and dogs all over the country tomorrow, it would take quite a while for that to flow through in farm incomes, because pending on the time of the season and the crops and all of that, you have to plant them and you have got to let them grow and then you have to harvest them and it takes time.
KELLY:
Well indeed we do pray for rain and for the farmers and we also pray, our prayers are also with those in Indonesia. Prime Minister, thank you very much for your time this morning.
PRIME MINISTER
Thank you.
[ends]