JOURNALIST:
First in our Canberra studio today, the Prime Minister Mr Howard, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, will you commit Australian troops to Iraq for another year?
PRIME MINISTER:
What I have said is that while the Japanese are there over the next year, we will stay and provide protection. What the Japanese Government announced last night was that the authority of the Government for the deployment had been renewed for another year. That doesn't mean automatically that the Japanese unit will stay there the entire 12 months, they could well stay, they will certainly stay until May and could well stay beyond May.
JOURNALIST:
So is May the earliest we could be out?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, but I think it is unlikely that we will be out by May, I think it's far more likely that-this will depend a great deal on how things unfold-that we will be there for a longer period. I've always said this, this is nothing new. I see no point given the commitment that's been made in Iraq, I see no point in flagging withdrawal at the very time when the Government and the people of Iraq need reassurances of support. There is a delicate balance involved here. The elections are coming up in a week's time. If that milestone can be passed and if after the inevitable weeks or several months of political negotiation, a new and stronger Iraqi Government can emerge, then that's a very hopeful development, although terrorism will go on and there will continue unfortunately to be attacks that will largely claim the lives of civilians and Muslims but over time if democracy can be further introduced and begin to be consolidated and the local security forces continue to be enhanced then you can then start looking at some kind of wind down of foreign forces. I don't want our forces to stay any longer than necessary.
JOURNALIST:
So would you hope to have them back by Christmas next year?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look I am not going to commit myself.
JOURNALIST:
Okay but...
PRIME MINISTER:
No, well I am not, I mean I know it's a fair question for you to ask but because I do not know precisely when, I am not going to just guess at something, because that makes me a hostage to all sorts of things and it can be very misleading. We don't have an unlimited commitment, no government makes an unlimited commitment but we are making progress, but it is still difficult and it is crucially dependent on the capacity of the Iraqis to look after their own security. Now every month brings an improvement on that front, every month brings more people training in the Iraqi security forces, they are better now than they were six months ago and they'll be better in six months time than they are now and all of those things bring us closer to the time when there can begin to be a draw down of foreign forces. Bear in mind that the Americans have 160,000 in Iraq which is exactly 20 times greater than the next largest force in Iraq which is the British so it gives you an idea of the dimension of the American commitment.
JOURNALIST:
Obviously the longer we are there, the greater the risk. You'd accept that?
PRIME MINISTER:
I do accept that. I have never disguised the fact that military deployments involve risk, I have never guilded the lily on that and it's something that weighs very heavily with me, very much so.
JOURNALIST:
Are our resources being stretched?
PRIME MINISTER:
No they're not, I've heard that suggested, but the suggestion when made specific talks about facing the terrorist challenge nearer to home, well we have some forces in Afghanistan which we are easily managing. I visited them only a couple of weeks ago There is no suggestion that we send military forces anywhere else at the present time, so I don't quite know what people are talking about.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister at this time of year, with the people, with the troops away and that danger that we've just discussed obviously there would be a lot of families with the situation in their mind, I mean what as Prime Minister, what do you say to them?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I feel for them, I understand their anxiety, we will continue to do everything we can to look after them while there loved ones are away. We will continue to take decisions which provide the maximum protection that can provided for our forces. The first question I asked the men and women I saw both in Iraq and Afghanistan, my Iraq visit being in July, my Afghanistan visit being a few weeks ago was - have you got all you need and I am very pleased to say that they said yes, their protective gear, their night-fighting capacity, the vehicles they move around in, all of them they claim are high grade, we owe that to them, we are very careful about making sure that all the protection we can provide and also will be provided. But we are also taking care to ensure that consistent with the reality that in any conflict situation there's danger, that that danger is minimised.
JOURNALIST:
Okay well we might even swamp them with emails by the end of the day...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think that would be a terrific thing to do. As I have done on earlier occasions, I will be sending a message, a video message to our troops, along of course with the CDF and Governor General, and there will be a lot of messages from all of us but of course messages they want most are from their families. It's a hard time of the year for the families of soldiers, a very hard time of the year. We do feel for them very very much.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister in the United States, an air Marshall shot dead a man yesterday, is it the policy of our air Marshals to shoot to kill?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's our policy to take whatever action is necessary to protect the flying public and that could possibly involve that.
JOURNALIST:
It is reported today that our air Marshals mostly travel with VIP's rather than the public. Why is that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's news to me.
JOURNALIST:
Well does it concern you?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I would not think that's appropriate. I think a certain amount of VIP protection is appropriate because they are high targets and more at risk but that surprises me. I'll investigate that. That is certainly not the result of any directive of which I am aware.
JOURNALIST:
So you'd say the public is as (inaudible) a priority?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I travel on an air force plane, obviously I have security detail, I am not aware of that and there may be circumstances in which security advice suggests that particular travel by particular people attracts a greater risk and the protection might follow the risk, but I am not aware of any directive which says that there is a grade of importance.
JOURNALIST:
What chance tax cuts next year?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well no different from yesterday. I noticed some reports in the paper this morning. Dear oh me, whenever I talk about this subject, it gets a different interpretation. All I said yesterday Neil was two things. I said as you heard Peter Costello and I say ad nauseam after we've paid for the necessaries, we've got a good surplus, if there is any left over, that should be returned to the public by way of tax relief because it's their money and in returning it to the public, we don't just focus on a small section of the public, we try and focus as far as possible on everybody, now that's all I said, that remains our philosophy, our position, I don't know at this stage what room there will be in the Budget, we haven't begun the process. We'll have a bit of a look, preliminary look at things before Christmas, very preliminary and then we'll get in earnest into the process next year but clearly any government in its right mind, if it's got the capacity to do so, wants to continue to give tax relief, there will be further tax relief in the next financial year, irrespective of what we do in the next Budget because the thresholds get lifted again automatically on the 1st July so that after the 1st July next year more than 80% of Australian taxpayers will be on a top rate of no more than 30 cents in the dollar and only 3% of the tax paying workforce in this country will be on the top rate of 47 cents in the dollar.
JOURNALIST:
Are you and Peter Costello at one on this, he seems a little more reluctant?
PRIME MINISTER:
No we really are.
JOURNALIST:
This all invented this tension with Peter Costello is it?
PRIME MINISTER:
The tension what, over tax?
JOURNALIST:
Well tax and leadership and all that...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I tell you what is invented, any suggestion that our professional and personal relationship has broken down, it never has, I have always had a good professional relationship with Peter and - always. I like him as an individual and I respect him a lot as a man. I want to make that very, very plain. I mean obviously like any other person he has ambition and ambition is no a bad thing. It is something I never decry in man or woman.
JOURNALIST:
But was his statement on his future this week, was that important?
PRIME MINISTER:
No look I am not going to talk about it.
JOURNALIST:
Did you talk to him about that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I talk to Peter a lot but look can I just leave, I mean I have not desire to talk about that issue at all. Peter (inaudible). If that's what Peter wants to say off his own bat, he is very much his own man, anybody who knows him will know and respect that fact. I have nothing to add to what I have earlier said on that subject. I continue to give this job my 200% effort.
JOURNALIST:
There is a perception as you know around the country, that there has been tension and that your future is under consideration, is that incorrect?
PRIME MINISTER:
Neil, however, I answer that question will be misinterpreted. I point to what I said in the middle of 2003 about my future intentions and nothing's changed from that.
JOURNALIST:
When I am on holidays I usually reflect on the year ahead and consider the year ahead and my future. Do you that?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'll reflect on a lot of things. I'll enjoy having a bit of a break, I hope Australians do the same.
JOURNALIST:
The email address Prime Minister, messages to the troops at defence.gov.au, that gets through to them, just run them together, messages to the troops at defence.gov.au, we'll promote that through the morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Excellent.
JOURNALIST:
We'll come back with more from the Prime Minister in a moment.
MITCHELL:
It's thirteen to nine, Prime Minister's in our Canberra studio. Mr Howard I've heard suggestions the security cost of the Commonwealth Games could be as high as $600 million, is that accurate do you know?
PRIME MINISTER:
That sounds a bit high to me. Depends a bit on what you include in any such calculation - sounds rather high to me.
MITCHELL:
Any idea what it will be?
PRIME MINISTER:
Not off hand, I'd have to get advice on that.
MITCHELL:
Will the Federal Government be helping to pay for them?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we're providing a lot of the resources and we've reached a very amicable agreement with the Victorian Government, and we've put a lot of money into the Games and obviously a lot of our own assets and resources that we bring, we provide financial coverage so we...the answer in short is yes - we're providing a lot of things but clearly the provision of police by Victoria is a matter for the Victorian Government.
MITCHELL:
Prime Minister it seems that the economy got a belt round the ears from petrol over the past three months. Can you compensate us yet?
PRIME MINISTER:
In what way?
MITCHELL:
For the petrol prices.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well you can't compensate for...
MITCHELL:
What tax cuts...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it goes back to what we said earlier. Clearly the economy's performance has been dampened a little by the high petrol prices, they've retreated a bit, they're still much higher than they were a year ago.
MITCHELL:
Are they there for the next year do you think at this time?
PRIME MINISTER:
What at the current level?
MITCHELL:
Yeh.
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh very possibly.
MITCHELL:
What does that do to the economy next year?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think it probably means that it will not grow at quite the rate it might have otherwise have grown, however there is a capacity for the consumers always to adjust to higher prices. And I think what happens with something like petrol is that when the price goes up dramatically, that has quite an effect on what people do, then after a while they get use to it and they start spending in other areas again and if that is accompanied by some retreat in the increase then things recover. But they never totally recover because there's only a limit to how much money you have available but as time goes by, as their wage increases and of course each year we provide family... one off family payments as well as the fortnightly family tax benefit payments. So it's all a question of size and degree and amount but self evidently... because petrol prices are higher now people have less money to spend on other things.
MITCHELL:
We'll take a call for the Prime Minister, Louie go ahead please.
CALLER:
Good morning Prime Minster, good morning Neil. I was would like to know why isn't there funding for genetical testing, the same as there is for blood tests...
MITCHELL:
Why Louie, what's happened?
CALLER:
Basically my wife passed away a couple of years ago and we had to get her genetical testing to find exactly what was going wrong.
MITCHELL: You've got to pay for it, yes..
CALLER:
And basically the initial consultation was $2000 and then when we found out what the problem was we had to work out from the kids which one had it, which ones didn't have it (inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
And the suspicion obviously being that the disease that claimed your wife's life...
CALLER:
It was, it definitely was, I wanted confirmation, that was a suspicion and we had to confirm to it to work out...
PRIME MINISTER:
And see what remedial, what might be the risk of exposure to the children.
CALLER:
And the kids (inaudible) but basically the money wasn't so much the issue, it's more of when I went to the Royal Children's Hospital, they were all complaining about no funding, no funding, no funding.
MITCHELL:
For genetic testing you mean?
CALLER:
That's correct.
MITCHELL:
Okay, I was aware of that actually.
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't have an immediate answer to that. Can I... Louie is it?
MITCHELL:
Yes.
PRIME MINISTER:
Could I get some information and if you could leave your address, telephone number with the station, I'll try and provide you with information. I don't know the ins and outs of it. Obviously the Royal Children's Hospital is run by the Victorian Government but let me see if I can find out some information. I don't know it off hand; I won't waste your time by rambling on.
MITCHELL:
Hold on Louie, we'll get your number off air. Ron, go ahead please Ron.
CALLER:
Mr Howard you mentioned petrol pricing before and prior to that you were talking about tax cuts. As you said the families are hurting, the petrol pricing at this time of the year, with so many of them having to curtail holiday plans because they can no longer afford to take the kids away in car and what have you. How about just a little gesture to them over the Christmas period, say from the 20th of January... 20th of December til the end of January, removing all tax from petrol, from fuel and make sure the oil companies pass it on to them. Wouldn't that be a lovely gesture for the families?
MITCHELL:
Sounds like Santa on the line there Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it sounds a nice idea and I understand the motivation, but you'd have to pass a special law to lift the excise. The excise itself of course has not increased with the price of petrol because federal excise is on the fuel content, it's not on the price.
MITCHELL:
So it can't be done because you'd need new laws.
PRIME MINISTER:
You'd need a new law and in any event if we were to do it come the 20th of January, people would say well this is a fantastic idea, why don't you extend it for another three months.
MITCHELL:
Prime Minister you had a party meeting last night on the student unionism thing. Why are you pushing this so hard? I mean you've had an extraordinary few weeks, but why pushing the student unionism so hard?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's been a longstanding policy and the bill was introduced into the House of Representatives months ago. It's not as if it's something that we've just introduced in the last couple of weeks. We'll continue to discuss it in the Senate today, it's not looking likely that we'll get it through this year but it's something that we'll continue to pursue. It shouldn't be assumed that we're just going to let it drop because a lot of people believe in it. And political parties are made up of groups of people and a lot of people in the Liberal Party fought very hard, campaigned very hard against compulsory student unionism and I sympathise with them, and we're very committed. And it is a bill that was overwhelmingly supported at several joint party meetings - it's not right to suggest that it's been forced on us by some kind of fanatical minority - that would be incorrect. But we'll continue to talk about it and if it is not passed this year, well the issue will be returned to next you - I can assure you of that.
MITCHELL:
Prime Minister do you recognise this. The new day hung in rising diaphanous mists in the eastern sky and slowly revealed a limpid Aegean. Danna Vale.
PRIME MINISTER:
Ah yes.
MITCHELL:
Official report. You were there, did you see any mist?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't recall it but then maybe I was...
MITCHELL:
I think the wind was too strong.
PRIME MINISTER:
It was very cold. But maybe Danna's been there on another occasion.
MITCHELL:
Oh yeh. The Turkish Prime Minister, you've had talks with him. Gallipoli discussed or the protection of it?
PRIME MINISTER:
It was. They're continuing to have this discussion. They're continuing to have this review and while this review's going on the roadworks have been suspended. We've also had a fairly useful discussion about this proposal of ours to list the Gallipoli peninsular as an historical site, a site of special significance, and we clearly want the approval of the Turkish Government to do that - although to do it in Australia you don't strictly need their approval but as a matter of courtesy we do. And we're making some progress on that. It's an issue where both countries have very legitimate interests and previous and sacred though the place clearly is to all Australians, we must recognise that it is Turkish territory and you must always be respectful of Turkish sovereignty.
MITCHELL:
Will Singapore Airlines be allowed to compete with Qantas on the American route?
PRIME MINISTER:
We haven't made a decision on that and I don't think we'll take a decision on it before Christmas .I think we're more likely to look at it early in the New Year. There are arguments fore and against. One of the arguments people put against it is that whereas Qantas is operating as a fully independent, freestanding company without any Government support or subsidy, that is not always the case with foreign airlines - including Singapore Airlines. I've said on this programme before that I think in the near to longer...both the near and longer term the two companies should think about getting together - but that's a matter commercially for them.
MITCHELL:
Robert Doyle, you support him as leader of Victorian Liberals?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes I do.
MITCHELL:
It's been a bit messy down here hasn't it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there've been some very unfortunate headlines but my philosophy as federal leader is very simple - whoever the state parliamentary party has its leader has my total support.
MITCHELL:
The year's wrapping up, some people are saying this is your most successful year in politics, do you agree?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I tend to look at years in terms of what it's meant for the people of the nation. It's been a good year for Australia, unemployment fell to a 30 year low, real wages have continued to rise, we were able to provide tax cuts in the last budget and interest rates have remained very low, and we've been able to make some significant improvements in social policy as well. So it's been a very, very good year for the people of Australia. As to how I rate politically, well I guess the best year I've had in my time as Prime Minister was 1996 -if you want to look at in crude political terms. But it's the impact of the year on the Australian people that matters most to me.
MITCHELL:
Greatest disappointment for the year?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I suppose, speaking very personally the loss of the Ashes.
MITCHELL:
What about for the country?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think the saddest thing for the country without doubt was the... it really touched me very, very, much was the Sea King Helicopter disaster. It's always something very gut-wrenching about people who lose their lives doing good things in the name of all of us.
MITCHELL:
You're... I noticed Amanda Vanstone's providing Vitamin B injections for her staff. Are you going to do that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Heavens no. They're energetic enough.
MITCHELL:
Abstemious, presumably, are they?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't know. I don't ask them.
MITCHELL:
Prime Minister one last silly question. Do you have a mobile phone?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes I do, I haven't got it with me at the moment.
MITCHELL:
What's the ring tone?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't know actually. Just an ordinary one, no it's just an ordinary one, I don't have a sort of a special....
MITCHELL:
It's not (inaudible). Prime Minister thank you for your time.
PRIME MINISTER:
And Merry Christmas Neil and to all of your listeners.
MITCHELL:
Thank you very much.
[ends]