JEFFRIES:
Prime Minister, welcome to the coast.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it';s great to be back to do a number of things with my friend and colleague Jim Lloyd.
JEFFRIES:
Well, you';ve got a full agenda. He';s working you flat out, isn';t he?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, he';s a hard taskmaster, but there';s a lot going on and I';m looking forward to the big morning tea. I';ve got a very important community safety announcement to make. For the first time the Federal Government is going to fund grass roots crime prevention projects and we';re inviting local communities, sporting clubs, service clubs to put forward proposals of practical on the ground assistance to prevent crime. It will be a very welcome initiative and I';m sure it';ll have a lot of support.
JEFFRIES:
(inaudible) indictment in any way on the way the states are handling crime?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I don';t want to get into a negative criticism of the states, but I see a need in this area and what we will be doing is dealing directly with the local people. We won';t be involving the states, we';ll be going directly to local communities and if the sporting club or a service club has a proposal which for example improves the security for elderly people, then it';ll apply to the Federal Government for funding and if it';s a good project it';ll get the funding. And there';ll be#8230; there won';t be endless bureaucratic processes which only slow these things up.
JEFFRIES:
I know for the (inaudible) clubs will be breathing a sigh of relief on that one, I';m sure.
PRIME MINISTER:
I bet.
JEFFRIES:
You';re on to Terrigal Surf Life Saving Club for another announcement.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, we';ve got a couple of quite important community announcements to make there. The surf life saving movement of course is one of the great iconic movements that Australia';s had and the Terrigal Club';s been going for a long time and we';ve got some announcements to make there, which I know will be very welcome.
JEFFRIES:
Prime Minister, the Central Coast is in free fall when it comes to things like bulkbilling doctors. Is there something you can tell me about#8230;?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we have already begun to address that. The increases of $5 in the Medicare reimbursement to doctors if they bulkbill cardholders #8211; that';s concession card holders, pensioners and self funded retirees in the main and also children under 16 #8211; that increase came into effect a few months ago. It';s a little early yet to know the exact impact. But anecdotally, it appears to have led to quite a number of doctors resuming bulkbilling, but we won';t know definitely what the trend is for another few weeks. On top of that, we are bringing a lot more doctors and practice nurses into the system and that will over time assist areas such as the Central Coast. There is a shortage of doctors. We have to get more doctors into the area and we have to provide the doctors already there with a greater incentive to bulkbill. The combination of those two things will lead to a very significant improvement.
JEFFRIES:
Prime Minister, as you would know, the Central Coast is basically in hyperactive growth at the moment. We are absolutely going nuts, we';re growing north and south, we';d grow west if we could and east is out of the question#8230; our infrastructure, health and education. Is there an argument to say for places like the Central Coast there should be a fund set aside for places that outstrip the sort of potential growth that the Government expects?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I don';t know about a fund, but you do need to recognise that areas of high growth need extra help and that';s been reflected in a number of areas. I mean, there';s not many areas in Australia that for example receive direct Federal Government assistance for building a football stadium as we did with Grahame Park, it';s a recognition, that';s some years ago, but it';s an example of the sort of particular things that we respond to. And you';ll see the additional money, of course, that was committed before the last election in relation to the widening of the freeway, that';s largely now been#8230; that money';s been expended, the $86 million and the work has been done and, of course, there continues to be demands for all those sorts of things. I think what has to happen is that governments at both levels have got to respond to this growth. The growth, of course, is an example of how strong our economy is. You wouldn';t have this growth if the economy weren';t booming. And you know you';ll forgive me for saying that, but nothing is possible unless you have a strong economy. You can';t expand social services, you can';t give people more help unless you have a strong economy and the first essential is to have a Federal Government that manages the national economy well, if you get a Federal Government that believes in high interest rates and deficit spending you won';t have any money for anything.
JEFFRIES:
Prime Minister, I know that you';re a busy man. Sarah King, by the way, who';d normally be with me, was desperate to have a chat with you but she';s got the flu today.
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m very sorry. I hope she gets better soon.
JEFFRIES:
So what I';m going to do is have you promise that next time you';re here we make contact again so that Sarah can ask you some questions.
PRIME MINISTER:
I would be delighted to do that.
JEFFRIES:
You';re very kind, have a safe trip and we';ll look forward to seeing you here a bit later on.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks a lot. Bye bye.
[ends]