HOST: Julia Gillard good morning.
PM: Good morning Deb.
HOST: First of all you're flying out this evening for the G20, you've already put your cards on the table regarding European debt and the likely impact on the world economy, now what position does Australia take to this meeting?
PM: The G20 is an important meeting, it's the biggest economies of the world coming together and for our economy and making sure that we're managing it the interests of working people, what happens in the global economy is significant. So I will go to this meeting with a number of messages, first and foremost on European debt, we've seen European leaders act, now we need the G20 to back that in and to ensure that there is implementation of the framework that European leaders have outlined.
Second I want to pursue an agenda on trade, we've reached gridlock effectively in the global trade talks, trade is good for Australia, it equals jobs and we need to push through with the trade discussions.
And then thirdly there will be a question of more resourcing for the International Monetary Fund as part of backing in the global economy, dealing with the problems like sovereign debt problems in Europe and getting us back on a global growth phase. And we want to see more balanced growth in the global economy, that means developed nations around the world need to do what we're doing, looking to new sources of growth like clean energy and the things that can come with new technology like the NBN, and developing nations need to take action like moving to market based currencies.
HOST: Now as with CHOGM though, overshadowing the G20 and indeed underpinning much of the debt and many of the economies of the G20 are China and Japan. Now to what extent is Australia able to leverage its long term and strengthening relationship with those two countries in meetings with Europe and indeed later with the US?
PM: I think when we go to the G20 we have a voice in our own right as a significant nation and I want Australia's voice to be heard in the councils of the world and so I will take our voice to the G20. We can also as we raise our voice be pointing to our region, we are in the region of the world that is still experiencing economic growth, so when you mention countries like Japan and China, they are very substantial trading partners for us, of course India will be there as well, another very significant nation in our region and important trading partner.
I've also made very clear our view on the US economy, we need the US economy to get back to growth, we want the US economy to be vibrant and solidly growing because that's good for the global economy, and therefore good for us, which means we need to see the US overcome the kind of political gridlock that has faced President Obama in his Congress.
HOST: Now President Obama has started to shift his gaze much more solidly towards the Asian region, recently signing a free trade agreement with South Korea, and there is a case to say that the US has been missing on the beat in Asia in recent times, distracted by many other worthy events to take their attention in the Middle East and elsewhere. It'll take a lot of skill though for them to finesse their position while China and Japan finesse theirs, while everybody makes room for India, while Indonesia gets credit for its growth. Exactly how do you anticipate this sort of phased series of meetings that you are on now having gone from CHOGM to the G20, but then coming back to the East Asia Summit and dealing with President Obama?
PM: Deb thanks for that question, I lost sound for the first couple of words but I understand your question and just explaining the series of meetings. Yes we've had Commonwealth leaders here in Perth, that's been pursuing the traditional Commonwealth agenda of democracy and the rule of law and human rights, the G20 is centrally focussed on what we need to do on the global economy now, though it will also talk about development questions and we've made a contribution on food security. Then I will go to APEC, APEC is a meeting of economies, it's an institution we are very proud of with both Prime Minister Hawke and Prime Minister Keating having played such a major role. The agenda in APEC is always freer trade and that's not just about trade deals in terms of tariffs and quotas, it's actually about the barriers that can be behind the borders that stop people getting their products in. And then the East Asia Summit is an important and expanding piece of regional architecture, this will be the first meeting where we've got the US at the table, President Obama there we'll have Russia at the table, China is there, the major countries of our region are there and we believe that that's got a full mandate across not just economic questions but into strategic questions too. And in the meantime between APEC and the East Asia Summit we'll have President Obama here in the sixtieth anniversary of our alliance with the United States.
HOST: Now can I take you to the question of the mining tax. You've struck the deal with the big miners in the shadow of the overthrow of Kevin Rudd, and clearly it was a top order priority for you personally, but those high profits and the long order books of the mining industry are now leading lots of people to say well they've got a lot more to give, there's 100 year investments that need to be made here in Australia at the moment in rail, new sources of energy, all of those things. It leads many to sort of back the inescapable logic that the miners actually need to pay more.
Now are you prepared to reopen those negotiations for more fine tuning?
PM: Deb it leads many to come to the conclusion that we should be better taxing the mining industry and using those profits and that source of taxation to balance up economic growth and to make sure that we've got opportunity for all. It leads many to that conclusion, unfortunately it doesn't lead the Leader of the Opposition to that conclusion who seems to be one of the few people in this country who doesn't understand that there's a patchwork economy and doesn't understand that there are some sections of our economy under pressure whilst the mining industry is turbocharged by the growth in our region-
HOST: (Inaudible) you will-
PM: Deb, let me answer your question, I do understand that, I struck the mining tax arrangements understanding that and we will deliver the agreement we made with the mining industry, so we will bring the legislation to Parliament this week, replicating the agreement that I made with Australia's miners. That means we will be better taxing mining, getting a better dividend for the Australian people from the mineral wealth in our ground and we'll be using that to bolster economic growth in other sections of the economy as well as investing in super, a great long term source of savings for individuals and our nation and in infrastructure, the infrastructure we need as a growing economy particularly a growing resource economy.
HOST: Now Tony Windsor, the country independent, has opened the batting on the coal seam gas question and about 35 per cent of Australia's black coal reserves are right here under the Sydney basin, so this feels pretty close to us because that is also inescapably where the coal seam gas is. Can the concerns of Tony Windsor be accommodated in the mining tax negotiation?
PM: Well first Deb let's just remind ourselves that when the legislation comes to Parliament the Government will be voting for it, Tony Abbott will be voting against it because he'd prefer to see big miners keep these profits than to have them shared by the Australian community. Tony Windsor has said consistently he's got concerns about land use questions and coal seam gas and mining in his area of the world, I know those concerns are shared by many. Predominantly this is a state government matter, to manage land use and resources, but of course we will discuss Tony Windsor's concerns with him.
HOST: Prime Minister to Afghanistan, the bodies of three young Australian soldiers will be home soon, now your own backbenchers are questioning Australia's engagement there, yesterday you used the word ‘bitter' to describe the way that Australians would take this news, now what if our presence in Afghanistan is fermenting bitterness there, are you sure you are right to keep Australia there?
PM: I am sure and I am determined that we see our mission through. When I assess what's happening in Afghanistan I have the special privilege and opportunity to effectively look at the situation through the eyes of Australian soldiers. I've spoken to a number of our soldiers who have been there on more than one occasion and they are able to tell me in the most personal, detailed and graphic terms about the progress that is being made in countering the insurgency and bringing greater stability to Afghanistan and the progress that's being made in training Afghan National Army soldiers and police. I did describe what happened as bitter because this was an Afghan soldier turning on Australian soldiers and causing such devastating loss of life and so many soldiers to be wounded. But I have asked the nation to remember that we are talking about an Afghan National Army that now has 300,000 people in it and they, the Afghans, reacted with shock and horror to what happened to our soldiers.
HOST: Prime Minister I wanted to touch on Qantas before going to a lighter subject, Qantas has been backed by many big business interests in its aggressive final act to precipitate the Fair Work Australia intervention in the dispute that it's engaged in with its union. How do you feel about the response of big business, does it infer to you that there'll be more of this?
PM: Well big business can put their own case and speak for themselves but I've got a very clear view, I believe the action that Qantas took on Saturday was extreme, Qantas on Friday was talking about continuing to negotiate this dispute, on Saturday it made the decision to strand tens of thousands of passengers around Australia and around the world and it needs to take responsibility publically for that decision to strand its passengers. For the Government's part we reacted immediately and effectively, we brought the matter to Fair Work Australia and the industrial umpire had the industrial action terminated by Monday morning so we reacted Saturday afternoon having been told by Qantas that it was grounding its planes and by Monday afternoon planes were getting back in the sky and stranded passengers were being returned home. Deb you and I would remember that there have been industrial disputes in this country that lasted weeks, that lasted months, lock-outs and that's what Qantas was doing, locking its staff out. We have seen lock-outs in the country that have lasted months, for this the industrial action to be resolved from Saturday when Qantas started it, by Monday with planes getting back in the sky shows that Fair Work Australia did the right thing following the Government's application to it.
HOST: Now Prime Minister it's Cup Day, and the question, do you intend to have a flutter and on what?
PM: I think I'll end up in some sweeps along the way and I'm going to back in Manighar which Damien Oliver is the jockey for, I've just spent some wonderful days in Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Perth, Western Australia did us proud as we welcomed these three thousand visitors to our shores and so on that basis I've gone very pro-WA and therefore pro-Damien.
HOST: Ok an omen bet, thank you very much Prime Minister.
PM: Thank you.