PRIME MINISTER:
I just wanted to say something before you asked me questions and that is earlier today I announced that I';ve convened, on the 23rd of July, in Canberra, a meeting of indigenous leaders and experts in the field to talk about the huge challenge of domestic violence and abuse of women and children in indigenous communities. We all must recognise that violence and abuse of this kind occurs in all sections of Australian community, but there is mounting evidence that it is a particular problem in indigenous communities. A number of indigenous leaders have spoken out about the problem, going back several years the former chairman of the Reconciliation Council, Evelyn Scott, has spoke of it, more recently others such as Noel Pearson and Mick Dodson have spoken about it and I believe that the right thing for me is to call indigenous leaders together and experts, to listen to what they have to say, and it';s important that this meeting take place before the meeting of the Council of Australian Governments at the end of August because the issue of abuse in indigenous communities is on the agenda for the COAG meeting. I see this as an opportunity for me to obtain the views of indigenous leaders, I don';t have a ready solution to the problem, it';s not easily solved but it is something that troubles the Government, I believe it troubles the Australian community and we need, at a national level to have a focus on it. Resources are important, but even more important than resources will be to help those people within indigenous communities who are trying to bring about cultural and behavioural changes that will lead to a reduction in the level of abuse and violence.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, what should happen to the two British terrorism suspects in Guantanamo Bay?
PRIME MINISTER:
I beg your pardon?
JOURNALIST:
The two British terrorism suspects in Guantanamo Bay, plead guilty and be jailed or executed if you';re found guilty.
PRIME MINISTER:
You';re talking about British?
JOURNALIST:
Yes.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well you';ll have to talk to the British Government about that, I don';t know about the British.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, you mentioned inside…
PRIME MINISTER:
Can';t hear you sorry.
JOURNALIST:
You mentioned inside it';s been a very tough year for Australians, the bushfires, the war, etc. How do you see awards like this helping…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think these awards are a fantastic opportunity for people in all walks of life in our country to focus on the Australian spirit, to focus on the positive contributions that people make and the new method that';s been adopted in nominating people has given the community far greater ownership and as a result the awards are more widely known, they';re more widely supported. That';s generated a lot more interest and the whole process will go from strength to strength.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, the taskforce on housing, the major recommendation in that is Australians could be able to sell some of the equity in their home, do you have any personal support for that or do you think that it';s got any chance of getting up?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the report has been released and I believe it';s something that should be debated and examined and of course like all of these things if there is support for it in the market it will happen and already I read that some banks and financial institutions are very much in favour of it, others are more wary, that';s the way the process works. I think anything that can make it achievable for Australians to own their own home is something that should be very carefully examined.
JOURNALIST:
On the issue of Iraq…
PRIME MINISTER:
I beg your pardon?
JOURNALIST:
On the issue of Iraq…
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, Iraq, yes.
JOURNALIST:
Did your government ever receive any information…
PRIME MINISTER:
No we didn';t receive that stuff attributed to that man Wilson, I';ve checked on that, I read that report in the paper this morning, in the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, we didn';t receive anything from Wilson, none of our agencies, and there was also talk about arguments between agencies in America about aluminium pipes, well I didn';t talk about aluminium pipes in my address to Parliament on the 4th of February or subsequently. The judgements that we formed were based on the intelligence reports that our agencies got and I stand by what I said.
JOURNALIST:
Simon Crean this morning has been saying that this whole measure, has likened it to the whole children overboard affair…
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I just can';t hear you I';m sorry.
JOURNALIST:
Sorry, Simon Crean this morning has likened this latest incident to the whole children overboard affair, what';s your response?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well he would say that wouldn';t he?
JOURNALIST:
They are calling from an inquiry…
PRIME MINISTER:
But they call for an inquiry on everything, I mean they just go on and on about inquiries, I mean oppositions do that but I…
JOURNALIST:
Would you be…
PRIME MINISTER:
There is an inquiry being conducted and I have already said that although there';s no obligation to do so legally that we will be making submissions, we don';t have anything to hide, I stand by what I said and I have absolutely no intention in any way of stepping back from what this country did in relation to Iraq, I believe it was the right thing, the intelligence assessments that were available to the Government at the time painted a very strong case and I believe we did absolutely the right thing and I stand by it totally and I reject any suggestion that the intelligence was massaged or altered or used in a duplicitous way.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, the Aboriginal domestic violence summit, which you announced for later this month, is it too early to say who will be attending from certain…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I have released a list of the people who';ve been invited and they include people such as Noel Pearson and Lowitja O';Donoghue and Mick Dodson and Jackie Huggins and others who are very interested in this field and have something to contribute. There';s about 14 or 15 people in all, at this stage most of them have indicated that they will be available to come along.
JOURNALIST:
Is Geoff Clark attending?
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, just one more question on housing sir, is there any chance of the Government revisiting or changing negative gearing as it now stands?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no the Labor Party';s the one that';s revisiting negative gearing, yeah but it';s the Labor Party, go and ask Mr Crean. According to Glenn Milne in the Australian this morning they did have it on the table. Well it';s a very, I mean Mr Crean ought to be asked whether that';s true.
JOURNALIST:
So the Government…
PRIME MINISTER:
No definitely not. This was tried by Mr Keating when he was Treasurer in 1986 and it sent rents in Sydney skyrocketing and rents all over Australian went up, not by quite as much. It would undercut a lot of the incentive for people to invest, I mean it';s one of these crazy ideas that people who don';t understand the economy played with, but if you take away negative gearing you will cut out a lot of money that goes into housing and that will make it dearer for poorer people. See it';s one of these crazy ideas the Labor Party is playing with which will actually make housing dearer for poor people. I can';t imagine anything more calculated to hurt the more vulnerable in our community.
Thank you.
[ends]