LIEBMANN:
Prime Minister, good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning, Steve.
LIEBMANN:
Prime Minister, this really is in many ways a big leap into the unknown, isn't it? I mean, the fundamentals are pretty shaky to say the least.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, but it's a step forward and it is a demonstration that the Iraqi people have faith in a democratic future and that is very important. We must not only wish them well, but the rest of the world must to everything it can to help their democratic experiment succeed. If Iraq can become the first democratic Arab state that will be a very historic event and it will over time alter the dynamics of the Middle East for the better. On the other hand, if this experiment fails, if the terrorists win, the cost of that in the Middle East will be very severe indeed and the costs around the world, the boost that it will give to terrorism around the world will be quite incalculable.
LIEBMANN:
Prime Minister, how hard do you think it's going to be for the new government to rally support from the people and is there a risk, a risk that we could end up seeing just another dictatorship in power?
PRIME MINISTER:
It's going to be hard, there's no doubt about that because a transition to a democratic system when you have been used to arbitrary rule and brutality and cruelty and torture of the most appalling kind is a very difficult process. But there is really no alternative other then to try and what we have to try and do as friends of the Iraqi people is to help that experiment succeed. I have no doubt that it is the wish of the majority of the Iraqis to live in freedom and to have a democratic future. But there are plenty of people both inside Iraq and elsewhere who are trying to stop that happening and therefore we have to do everything we can to help.
LIEBMANN:
On that, can you now tell us who now controls the foreign troops in the country and does this redefine the role our troops are going to play in Iraq?
PRIME MINISTER:
It doesn't in practice alter what foreign troops, including Australians, do. They will continue to man the airport, they'll continue to help train the Iraqi army. Sovereignty has passed to the Iraqi government, but on the ground operational control naturally remains with the troops. And there's not an incompatibility between that. If the Iraqi government were to say to all of the foreign troops we want you to go home then they would go home. They're not there as an occupier anymore, they are there with the consent of the new Iraqi government and that has been sanctioned by a resolution of the Security Council of the United Nations. But obviously on the ground command remains with the individual forces. But they are there collectively at the pleasure and the will of the Iraqi people.
LIEBMANN:
But in the meantime, what would happen for example if there was a disagreement over say a major security operation? Who calls the shots?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I think what will happen in practice is that that will just be worked out on the ground and I'm sure it will. They really have no alternative but to do that. Commonsense will prevail in situations such as that but obviously if you have a long accumulation of disagreements then you might get a change of attitude from the Government. But I have no doubt that the Iraqi government will want the Americans and the other foreign forces to stay and as a consequence, there will be resolution on the ground of any practical differences of opinion.
LIEBMANN:
Has all of this, the events of the past 24-48 hours prompted you in any way to rethink our commitment, to reassess how long Australian service personnel are going to remain in Iraq?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, Steve, it hasn't. I remain of the view that we should keep our forces there until their respective roles have been discharged and their job has been completed. If anything, the events of the past few days have reinforced my view that they should stay. I've not had any real doubt about that, but certainly as a result of the past few days I haven't changed my view, I haven't weakened my view, I haven't altered my view.
LIEBMANN:
Jim Waley has just told us in that live report from Baghdad that the view over there is the Americans might be there for ten years, is that how long we might be there?
PRIME MINISTER:
I can't put any time on it. It's too early to start speculating about years. All I can say is that we're passing through a very difficult, a very critical stage and it's critical for the reasons I outlined a few moments ago that the coalition effort not be defeated and it's critical that the Iraqi experiment in embracing democracy be supported and hopefully that it will succeed. Beyond that, it is pointless, because I really don't know, to try and speculate in terms of months or whatever or a year or two years or whatever, I just don't know and it's impossible to do other then to respond in the way that I do.
LIEBMANN:
Prime Minister, I want to move on in just a moment to your plans that you're going to announce today to reduce childhood obesity, but in another development overnight the US Supreme Court has ruled that prisoners in Guantanamo Bay Cuba can now fight their detention in court. Until now, it would seem you've never had a problem with the likes of Hicks and Habib being held in Cuba. In light of this decision, with hindsight, should our government have done more for them?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I don't believe so. I haven't been fully briefed on that Supreme Court decision, and I'm running off the news reports in what I'm about to say, but my understanding is that the American Supreme Court has ruled that the detention has been lawful, they've ruled that the detention has been lawful and that it's lawful not only in relation to American citizens but also in relation to foreigners, but the court has additionally ruled that people detained can appeal within the American legal system. So if that is correct then that doesn't really alter the stance that the Government has taken.
LIEBMANN:
Alright, later today you're going to announce plans for a multi million dollar scheme to reduce rising rates of childhood obesity. Who's it pitched at? Is it infants, primary or high school students?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's pitched primarily but not exclusively at children of school age, about one in four Australian children under the age of 18 is overweight; 40 per cent don't do regular exercise. And the aim of this programme is fourfold, we want to get children after school hours engaged in physical activity through the help of sporting and community bodies and we hope to involve about 140,000 children around Australia; we want them eating better; we want more exercise during school hours and we're going to have a broad public education campaign, and one element of this policy I'm launching today will be to give small grants to local bodies like parents and citizens associations to encourage those bodies to promote healthier and better eating habits because it's a combination, this obesity thing, it's a combination of getting people to exercise more and also to eat better.
LIEBMANN:
Okay, I assume you're expecting bipartisan support for this. Last question - know the answer - you got an election date yet?
LIEBMANN:
Haven't made up my mind, Steve, I really haven't. I know people keep asking this and they have this curious idea that I've made up my mind and I've put it away in a draw in the Lodge. I haven't. I really don't know. The election, the three years is not up until November so, and three years by world standards is a very short period of time and this is only the end of June, so obviously it's not unreasonable that I haven't made up my mind.
LIEBMANN:
Okay, thanks for your time this morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks Steve.
[ends]