JOURNALIST:
What did you think of the penalty handed down to Jack Roche? What sort of message does that send to...
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't have anything to add to what Mr Ruddock has said on that. He's spoken for the Government and I don't have anything to add to what he's said.
JOURNALIST:
But it's a very serious matter?
PRIME MINISTER:
Mr Ruddock has spoken for the Government on the subject.
JOURNALIST:
On the matter of the performance of Defence on these briefings, is it appropriate for disciplinary action to be taken against any....
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'm sure that both Senator Hill and the head of the Department of Defence will be, in the wake of what's occurred, they will be carefully examining what went wrong and what can be done in the future to prevent it occurring.
JOURNALIST:
Are you unhappy with the performances?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I was very unhappy at the fact that Ministers were misled and this suggestion that there's been some kind of cover-up is absurd, we have nothing to cover up, it was a plain case of very bad communications. Now Senator Hill is going to make a detailed statement to the Senate and that will address the chronology and who knew what when etc, etc. We don't have anything to hide about it, I mean of course no Australians have been involved in the mistreatment of prisoners but I am concerned and disturbed that there was such a breakdown in communications and I'm quite certain that Senator Hill feels the same way as does Ric Smith.
JOURNALIST:
Did Mr Smith and Cosgrove do you, or the Government a disservice by not correcting the record as soon as they could until waiting until Tuesday...
PRIME MINISTER:
Michael, I've expressed my view, I don't have anything further to add.
JOURNALIST:
Will heads roll Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't have anything to add.
JOURNALIST:
On the question of the substance of applying Geneva protocols...
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I'm not going to give a further treatise on that.
JOURNALIST:
In terms of your meeting with Governor Schwarzenegger tomorrow, are you hopeful that BHP can secure...
PRIME MINISTER:
I wouldn't expect to get an answer tomorrow, the purpose of tomorrow's meeting is to plead BHP's case. I understand a decision is likely towards the end of the year, perhaps a bit earlier, I'm not entirely certain when. But this is a very important opportunity, California has enormous energy requirements, Australia has extraordinary supplies of LNG and we're very efficient and we're very safe, we haven't had accidents, we have great technology, we have built a great relationship with the Chinese and of course America and Australia are close reliable partners and we have a similar legal system and therefore we're able to promise stability and deliverability and all of those things.
JOURNALIST:
You've also said that Australia's America's best friend, does that put us in a sort of...
PRIME MINISTER:
I think all of these things, there's a little bit of dough as well as sentiment in these things, you know you mix the two and I'm quite sure that it won't be governed entirely by sentiment, if I were making a decision about the best deal for Australia and if there was a better bid you obviously take it, that's human nature.
JOURNALIST:
What guarantee is there that Australian LNG would supply the terminal if it is in fact gets the go ahead?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm sorry?
JOURNALIST:
What guarantee is there that Australia...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the BHP, well the proposal, I mean I'm pleading the BHP proposition, the BHP is that they would draw the natural gas from Australian fields?
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, have you bought a gift for Governor Schwarzenegger and what will you be presenting to him?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I think I'm going to give him some RM Williams which is a pretty good Australian gift.
JOURNALIST:
They've been made especially?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, but I think they're very suitable.
JOURNALIST:
Have you seen his boots?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes. Quite a few of them actually.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, is there a chance that local environmental concerns about the off-shore platform might hamper...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I can't imagine that California's any different from the rest of the world where you always have a competition between the energy and resource needs of an area and the environmental considerations. Could I just before we finish say one thing about the announcement that's come out of the Baghdad concerning the provisional government, I welcome the progress that's now been made, the naming not only of the Prime Minister but the President and other members of the interim government, this is a very important step along the road to a democratic Iraq. It's very important that this transition go ahead, that the date be adhered to and it's a further sign that Iraqis are coming up to the crease and are taking control of their own future.
JOURNALIST:
Was it important to have the spread of...
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, it's very good that you have a Sunni as President and a Shiite as Prime Minister, the leader of, the Kurdish leader, who I met in Baghdad when I was there on Anzac Day, he will be part of it and that's very important to the future stability of Iraq.
JOURNALIST:
Are you hopeful that it could suggest a shift in the US emphasis, as its been suggested here, from combat operations towards supporting the new government...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there is a big change when the provisional government takes over and assumes sovereignty, and that is obviously a big change and the important thing is to keep the momentum going forward and to support the progress towards a democratic Iraq, remembering that the terrorists and others will do everything they can to stop that happening.
See you later.
[ends]