PRICE:
Thanks for your time Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
How are you Steve?
PRICE:
I';m well thank you. Did you enjoy Saturday night?
PRIME MINISTER:
I loved it, it';s a great experience, we had a wonderful time, we just had our family and our friends and I couldn';t be happier.
PRICE:
You looked like a very proud Dad.
PRIME MINISTER:
I am.
PRICE:
And she';s off on the honeymoon.
PRIME MINISTER:
All of that and we';re very happy, for both of them.
PRICE:
Now it';s the husband';s job to look after her.
PRIME MINISTER:
Indeed, but we';ll still be around to help too.
PRICE:
The reshuffle today, that did take people by surprise, it had not leaked. Had you been planning it for some time?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh I';ve been working on it for the last week or more and I';m very pleased that none of the details did leak out and that shows very good team work and very strong unity of purpose inside the Government. Obviously I had to talk to people about it but everybody did the right thing and kept their counsel and that is something that';s been a feature of the Government, it';s one of the things that helps make us an effective government, we do work together and we understand we have a common goal and a common obligation of doing our best by the Australian people.
PRICE:
Does the timing of it have any implication on when you might have an election?
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
PRICE:
So the reshuffle';s not about going fresh for an election, it';s about freshening up your Cabinet?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes it is, you have to be sensible and recognise that from time to time you do need to make some changes, we';ve had a number of people who';ve been in the same job for seven and a half years and there';s value, even though they';re performing well, in moving them. I wanted to get a greater emphasis on some aspects of national security, I also wanted to bring the particular skills that I believe Tony Abbott has to bear on what is an important portfolio of health. Tony is wrongly typecast as a headkicker, that is not right, he';s a highly intelligent person who has a very well developed sense of the importance of social policy and I think he';ll turn out to be a very good health minister and I';m…
PRICE:
Does that mean you weren';t happy with Kay Patterson?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think Kay has very good skills, I think they';ll be better employed in Family and Community Services. Any suggestion that that';s a sort of a demotion is a bit rich, she after all will be taking over a larger portfolio than the one she';s left and her background, both academic and professionally, will suit it very well for her.
PRICE:
The people interpreting these changes of course will say that you need Tony Abbott in health because the states, the Labor states, are giving you so much grief on health policy.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the Labor states are telling porkies about health policy, they';re saying that they';ve lost money when they';re getting 17 per cent more in real terms over the next five years and $10 billion extra. But there';s a big debate about health, we have a very strong commitment to Medicare, one of the things that Tony will be reinforcing is the very strong commitment we have to Medicare, we want to strengthen Medicare, not weaken it. The other big thing about policy on health, and this is where we are very different from Labor, is that we are absolutely committed to the private health insurance rebate. Labor, if it wins the election, will either abolish it or mutilate it and if you think that';s an exaggeration just look at the responses of Labor people every time they';re asked to a give a guarantee that they';ll keep the private health insurance rebate, they never give it, they know that there';s pressure on resources and if they want to fulfil some of their other promises they will certainly take an axe to the private health insurance rebate. But Tony will, amongst other things, reinforce those two pillars if you like of our approach to health policy. There is a problem in health with the supply of doctors in certain areas and that has a direct effect on the levels of bulk billing. If you go around the country you';ll find that the high levels of bulk billing are in those parts of the country, particularly metropolitan areas, where there are a lot of doctors. As you move into areas where there are fewer doctors the rates of bulk billing fall very sharply and it';s very much a supply challenge that we need to address.
PRICE:
Do you accept what Dr John Dwyer says, that we need a health summit?
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m not a great lover of summits, they provide opportunities for people to run their own agendas, now people are entitled to do that, I don';t deny their right to do it. I think what you need is a health system which is strongly built on the contributions of both the public sector and the private sector and that is very much what we believe in. I think we make the mistake in this country in running down the health system, and everybody';s a bit to blame for this, it';s got flaws and I don';t suggest for a moment to your listeners that it hasn';t, but it';s infinitely better than the health system of countries like Britain and America and Japan and the European countries, for all the criticism of it the quality of treatment in hospitals, the professionalism of our nurses and doctors, the relative ease of access for most people, for doctors, and the affordability is far in excess of what is the case in other countries. But there are gaps, there are flaws, there are weaknesses and they need to be addressed and I believe that very strongly and Tony will certainly be doing that.
PRICE:
Should the ABC be celebrating tonight Prime Minister with Richard Alston gone?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look the ABC will always have, how shall we put it, a competitive relationship with the Government, it';s an independent broadcaster, I don';t think it should either celebrate or commiserate.
PRICE:
The row over Wilson Tuckey';s son, did that have anything to do with Wilson Tuckey being dropped?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh look, I had a long discussion with Wilson about his future and he indicated to me that he did not expect to be included in the Ministry after the next election and as there was a reshuffle now, we both agreed it was not appropriate to re-include him. I think I';ll leave it at that.
PRICE:
You';re opponents obviously are saying that you';ve done this because they';ve been getting to you in the parliament?
PRIME MINISTER:
I suppose they have got to say something, they have got to say something. But that';s fair enough, I don';t express any surprise. I don';t think they';ve been getting to us in the parliament, but I do say this that I don';t take the next election for granted. We';ve now been in power for seven and half years and we have to work every day of every week to retain the support and the trust of the Australian public and I wouldn';t want any of your listeners to think that I';m other than a full on 24 hours a day, so to speak, seven days a week about being concerned about their interests and where I believe the Government can be strengthened, where I think we can have a better policy emphasis if it involves moving people then I';m ready to do so. This is a performance driven government and people have to perform, if they perform well that';s good. If they don';t, well the changes have to occur because in the end we';re there to look after the interests of the people who elected us not to serve our own interests.
PRICE:
You';ll be in Bali Saturday week, no change to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I';m going there. I';m going to the opening of the Rugby World Cup the night before and singing my…
PRICE:
Waltzing Matilda
PRIME MINISTER:
…Waltzing Matilda and then we';ll be going to Bali the next morning and…
PRICE:
But you';re obviously confident that security will be tightened?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, security will be tight but there are a lot of Australians going, I';m not the only one.
PRICE:
Me included.
PRIME MINISTER:
Indeed. And look, it';s one of those things where all of us together owe it to the people who lost so much, and their loved ones, to commemorate it and it';s appropriate that there be something in Bali and unless there';s some extraordinary security development the ceremony will go ahead.
PRICE:
And you will also be going to APEC?
PRIME MINISTER:
I';ve got to go to the APEC meeting in London, sorry Thailand, in Bangkok, yes…
PRICE:
Because there has been issues today about security there as well?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, yes, it';s an area where a lot of security issues arise. Obviously it will be very heavily surrounded and protected but you can not allow meetings of this order to be disrupted or put off because of security threats. You have to show a determination and to take whatever risks are involved because in the end if you don';t do that the terrorists become the winners.
PRICE:
Now finally, a great St George man like you, you have a very big decision to make at the weekend?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it is a very big decision. I';m still focussing. I thought the Panthers did very well to win yesterday. I thought that was an impressive performance. I would at this stage still predict that Eastern Suburbs, the Roosters as they call themselves now would win. I would predict that. You are right, emotionally of course when your own team is not there it';s…
PRICE:
It';s not quite the same.
PRIME MINISTER:
You look at it rather more reflectively and objectively but I felt that last week we might well end up with the same teams winning both the grand finals and certainly the Lions won very big time at the weekend.
PRICE:
Did they ever.
PRIME MINISTER:
I would think that the Roosters would win but the Penrith people must feel on a real high because that was a great performance and they have done so well this year.
PRICE:
Nice to talk to you. I look forward to trying to catch up with you when we';re in Bali on Saturday week.
PRIME MINISTER:
Okay, Steve. Thank you.
[Ends]