JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you comfortable that this young man at the centre of the Skype scandal has been able to continue his studies and six mates (inaudible)?
PM: I certainly believe the Minister for Defence, Stephen Smith, has handled this matter appropriately. I welcome the reviews and inquiries that he announced yesterday; these reviews and inquiries have the full support of the Chief of Defence Angus Houston and our Service Chiefs. I think they are the right way to deal with this matter and its ramifications more broadly.
JOURNALIST: But on the question itself, are you comfortable with these men staying, pursuing their studies when the Commander of the Academy's been moved off, when the woman is on compassionate leave. What is the justification for leaving them in place?
PM: Look I am comfortable and supportive of the decisions that have been taken by the Minister for Defence, working with the Chief of the Defence Force and the Service Chiefs.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, did Angus Houston threaten to resign on the weekend?
PM: You will see that in today's media that suggestion is put and it's expressly denied by the Chief of the Defence Force Angus Houston, expressly denied. So I think it's a little bit disappointing that these false claims are still circulating in the media.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you're putting out a new trade policy today, how important is that to your process of economic reform and what's wrong with the old approach?
PM: Trade equals jobs. We are a great free trading country. Free trade is good for Australia, it equals Australian jobs. I intend working with the Trade Minister Craig Emerson to pursue the free trade policy that we've outlined today. It comes from the reforming tradition of the Hawke and Keating Governments; it's about Australian prosperity and Australian jobs.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, medical researchers are protesting today about the proposed cuts to medical research funding. What's your message to them and so where does medical research funding lie in your funding priorities?
PM: It's budget speculation season, it's April, I don't know whether budget speculation season has a formal opening date, but it has a formal closing date and that's when the budget is delivered by the Treasurer on budget night.
Inevitably we will see rounds of speculation about what will be in the budget, I'm not going to engage in budget speculation, I'm not going to play any rule in rule out games. But I will say this about the forthcoming budget; this will be a tough budget for the right reasons. We have an economy that is strong - yes, we've has to face natural disasters, not only here, but the impact of natural disasters overseas, like in Japan. And yes we do have circumstances where the growth of the resources sector, the high Australian dollar, has got implications for other sectors of the economy, like manufacturing, tourism and international education. But our economy is strong and the right thing to do with an economy that is moving towards full capacity and full strength is to deliver a budget surplus, that's actually the best way we can help Australian families with cost of living pressures, to help manage inflationary pressures, that's best for Australians and their families, that's what the budget is going to do.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on women in combat, do you have a view on as a seasoned shock trooper yourself?
PM: Look, I do have a view, I have a view that men and women are equal. A few years ago I heard Peter Cosgrove say that men and women should have an equal right to fight and die for their country, I think he's right about that and I think it's a good turn of phrase. It puts the choice very starkly, there are many Australian women who love their country, they want to be in the Defence Force, of course physical capability and intellectual capability has to be judged for every job, but if a woman has the physical capability and intellectual capability to do a particular job, then I do not believe it should be denied her on the basis of gender.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: We don't talk about Cabinet discussions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, if do you move to rein in middle class welfare in the budget, or at any time would you expect support from the opposition, given their rhetoric on the need for spending cuts?
PM: Well, that's a very good question, but one that shouldn't be put to me. I'm not going to engage in budget speculation, but I would say this about Tony Abbott and the Opposition he leads - on budget reply night he should have the decency to present to the Australian people a budget work that adds up. Mr Abbott has never as Leader of the Liberal Party presented a piece of economic work to the Australian people that adds up. In the campaign, $11 billion black hole, in response to our flood package to assist Queensland and rebuild around the nation, a package full of black holes which simply didn't add up and which he had to get inspiration from a One Nation email in order to put together. So Mr Abbott faces a big test on budget reply night - can he, for the first time ever as Leader of the Opposition, present a budget package that adds up. You can't run this country if you can't manage its budget, Mr Abbott has never shown the capability to manage its budget yet.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you intend to become involved in negotiations in order to secure gambling reforms, given that Andrew Wilkie's made it clear the fate of the Government rests on them and where do you see a compromise emerging between the clubs and other interest groups and the Parliament in relation to this issue?
PM: The responsible Minister, Jenny Macklin, is doing a very good job on problem gambling, working with the stakeholders and obviously I will work with her as necessary, but Jenny is the one engaging in direct consultations and I thank her for her work, it's high quality work and it will continue.
On problem gambling, can I just say this - I come from a part of Melbourne, my electorate is in a part of Melbourne where we know what it's like to see people who put so much money into poker machines that they break the family budget, they can't feed the kids, they end up with their houses being repossessed by the bank. Now that kind of problem gambling causes human misery, I don't think we want to see anybody profiting on human misery. People like to have a bet, of course people like to have a bet, but I don't think they like to see their fellow Australians suffer. So it's the right thing to do, to have an appropriate package to tackle problem gambling and Jenny Macklin, working with Andrew Wilkie and others keenly interested in this issue, I am sure will generate the right package.
JOURNALIST: If we would put these suite of Defence reviews aside, aside from that, do you have, as Prime Minister, concerns about the culture in the Defence Force?
PM: Look, I'm not going to be drawn on this matter further. I made some statements about the individual alleged incident last week, I'm obviously choosing my words carefully here, there's an Australian Federal Police investigation, so in those circumstances I don't want to speculate. I believe all of these investigations and inquiries have to work through, I did last week make very well known my view about any conduct - and I'm not centring on this incident, because I don't want to make a statement about it - but I did last week make very well known my view about any incident that robs a woman of her dignity and breaches her trust.
JOURNALIST: Why did it take a scandal to get equal opportunity for women in military though?
PM: The announcement yesterday was made by the Minister for Defence, obviously this is a matter that has been thought about and worked on for a period of time. I actually referred to a statement from Peter Cosgrove, so that's quite some time ago. But I promised you the last question.
JOURNALIST: Do you think it's fair, Andrew Wilkie's threatened to withdraw his support for you, even if despite your best efforts you fail to get these reforms through the Parliament. Do you think that's a fair threat to make (inaudible)?
PM: I've made an agreement with Mr Wilkie and I intend to honour that agreement. I'm also the Prime Minister of a Government that's been engaged with the problem gambling issue for quite some time. In the last Parliament we asked the Productivity Commission to inquire and report on the best way of dealing with problem gambling, so the Government's been engaged with this for a long period of time.Mr Wilkie's passionate about it, others in the Parliament are passionate about it, and we will work with Mr Wilkie and this Parliament to address problem gambling. I don't want to see people putting the money that would have been used to feed the kids through a poker machine and I don't think Australians want to see that either.
Thanks very much.