PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning, thank you.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what have you got planned for the day?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, just a quiet day at home and dinner with my family tonight.
JOURNALIST:
No meetings with the Governor General?
PRIME MINISTER:
He's in Canberra, I think.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, Peter Costello mentioned last week that he thinks 65 is retirement age.
PRIME MINISTER:
I didn't see that. But look, what's your next question?
JOURNALIST:
Are you still going strong, though?
PRIME MINISTER:
I reckon so. Look, I don't think the Australian public care about somebody's age, it's what they've done, what they can do and what stand for that matters to the Australian public in politics. That's the real difference between me and my opponent.
JOURNALIST:
The latest... well the terrorist threat in the last 48 hours, Prime Minister, what do you make of the rhetoric?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we're still investigating the authenticity and the relevance of the body, but we will not take any notice of threats of that kind, we won't parlay and negotiate with terrorists and I believe the overwhelming majority of the Australian public would agree with us.
JOURNALIST:
And the protesters outside there on Kyoto....
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, it's good to see Greenpeace getting some exercise.
JOURNALIST:
Will you change the route of your morning walk...?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, completely untroubled by that. They were harmless. I don't mind, that is good to see them out so early getting some exercise.
JOURNALIST:
Will you be listening to their message?
PRIME MINISTER:
Their message is wrong: ratifying Kyoto would mean the loss of industries from Australia to countries like China and Indonesia that do not have the same restrictions under Kyoto that Australia would have and Greenpeace and the Labor Party seem to miss this point. If I adopted their policy, I would export thousands of Australian jobs. If I adopted Labor's policy I would do the same thing.
JOURNALIST:
Speaking of Labor policy, Labor finds itself in a difficult sort of position with the free trade.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it's time that he stopped dithering and made up his mind. Look, over the last five months since the Free Trade Agreement was signed the Labor Party hasn't been assessing the Australian national interest, they've been assessing the Labor Party's political interest. And if in the end Labor does support the agreement it won't be because it's concerned about our national interest, it will be have been a political decision and it will be the political interest of the Labor Party that will determine their attitude and whatever that attitude is I think that's pathetic. Thank you.
[ends]