JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, John Anderson and AWB, there have been claims from the Cole inquiry today that on the 1st June he was briefed directly by Brendan Stewart and Matt Trewin?
PRIME MINISTER:
1st of June? Which year?
JOURNALIST:
Last year.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look I haven't heard any of this but all I can say is last year the Volcker Inquiry was well underway and at the beginning of last year as I have already told you, I made it very clear that there had to be maximum cooperation with the Volcker Inquiry and I made it very clear that AWB should be written to in the strongest possible terms by Mr Vaile, which they were, saying there had to be total cooperation. So there's nothing particularly startling about the fact that by last year, 2005, we were hearing allegations about AWB which they continued to deny.
JOURNALIST:
But on May 31st your former adviser Paul O'Sullivan was briefed that there were likely to be adverse findings against AWB...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that is completely consistent with what I've said all along. Look, I said several weeks ago that at the beginning of last year, namely February of last year, certain matters were raised with me which involved, in essence, a complaint from the Volcker Inquiry and they made certain observations and I made it very clear that there had to be full cooperation and all of that material has been with the Volcker Inquiry for a long time.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) telling the Government that it had done nothing wrong?
PRIME MINISTER:
AWB kept saying that they had done nothing wrong up until the Volcker Report came out and they still, at a director level, say they have done nothing wrong. Now what ultimately comes out of this inquiry in relation to AWB is a matter for Mr Cole. But let there be no misunderstanding, from the beginning of last year there were obviously strong concerns being raised with Mr Volcker and he himself had strong concerns about AWB and I, when I became aware of that, said that AWB had to be told that they had to cooperate fully with Mr Volcker's inquiry. So there's nothing new or startling about that.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, does that indicate some sort of insider knowledge from Mr Anderson...
PRIME MINISTER:
Insider knowledge?
JOURNALIST:
In selling his shares later on.
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I don't think for a moment Mr Anderson has behaved improperly. The Labor Party apparently doesn't think so either because they didn't pursue the matter last week remember. They, how shall I put it, road-tested it over the weekend with a journo and then when it sort of didn't grip, they decided to ride in another car.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) meeting's evidence from the Cole inquiry is a different issue?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I haven't heard, look fair go, I haven't heard a lot because I'm here and that's there, but all I can tell you from the beginning of last year obviously there was a stream of concern about AWB and we've always said that. We really got concerned about it, I did, from the beginning of last year.
JOURNALIST:
There's been a lot of reaction to your uranium comments overnight. Can you give any more clarity...
PRIME MINISTER:
A lot of reaction? What kind of reaction?
JOURNALIST:
Reaction in Australia to those comments which are being seen as a change of policy. Can you give any more clarity as to whether there is a change of policy in....
PRIME MINISTER:
No, there is no change of policy Michelle. I have said, Mr Downer has said, that we have, for 30 years, had a policy of not selling uranium to countries that do not adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. And we have both said, he last Friday and me yesterday, that there is no current intention to change that policy. We are, however, interested in what the Americans and the Indians have agreed to. There's a lot of good things about that agreement, including in particular for the first time, India's civilian nuclear facilities will come under international inspections. But the Indian-American agreement, of itself, is no reason for us to change our policy and I have said that, Mr Downer has said it, but we will listen to what the Indians have said and those of you who were present at the brief news conference that the Indian Prime Minister and I had this morning will be aware of the Indian interest and you will also be aware of my reply in his presence when I said those discussions, that's this afternoon's discussions, will take place against a background of the needs of both countries and the longstanding policies of both countries.
JOURNALIST:
Is there much to talk about though? You say you will talk about uranium with the Indian Prime Minister. If there is no change of policy, if it's as it was for 30 years, what's to talk about? The Indian Prime Minister is saying we would like to buy Australian uranium.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well you always talk to good friends and you hear what they've got to say.
JOURNALIST:
Last night you said if the safeguards were met and the rules were adhered to, you'd like to sell.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the rules adhered to include obviously the concept of signing a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. I wasn't saying anything different last night from what I've said before. Let me repeat it again. We have a policy of only selling to countries that adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and we have no current intention of changing that policy. And Mr Downer said that last Friday and I said it yesterday and am repeating it today. But that doesn't mean that you don't take note of what's happened between the Americans and the Indians, you don't listen to what the Indians are going to put to us. India is a very friendly country towards Australia and I intend to listen to what the Indian Prime Minister will say to me this afternoon.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, on another issue, Sheik Hilali today has literally wrapped himself in the Australian flag and is saying that he will personally report any Imams who are proposing radical ideas and have them deported. What's your response to those comments?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I am encouraged if he is now setting himself against extremism. If he is an ally within the Islamic community of the cause of moderate Islam, if he is prepared to argue against radical Islamic thought, I welcome that very warmly.
JOURNALIST:
He's talking about setting up a separate group as well to try and put....
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there is only one group that the Government will consult and that is the group that we have begun to consult, which incidentally includes him. He didn't come to the first meeting. I'm not saying he didn't have a good reason, but he is part of it. But we'll deal with the group that we have set up and obviously from time to time if other people want to put views, well they can put them but I believe the group that I met some weeks ago, before Christmas, is a very representative group of Islamic opinion and I don't for a moment intend to put and take from that group just because Sheik Hilali has some difficulty with it.
JOURNALIST:
Do we put any special emphasis on the word current?
PRIME MINISTER:
You have a very good knowledge of the English language Michelle. I've learnt that over the years. You use very, very good clear English and you know exactly what that word means.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, can you envisage a scenario where Australia could...
PRIME MINISTER:
I am not going to hypothesise Mr Lewis.
JOURNALIST:
If India provided sufficient safeguards without signing....
PRIME MINISTER:
I am not going to hypothesise. I have stated our position and I don't intend to add to or subtract from what I have said. Two more questions and then we'd better go, including one from Louise. Could we have Louise first?
JOURNALIST:
I just wondered what your views were, what your thoughts were when you threw the flowers on Ghandi's tomb?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well he was a very great man and I certainly, like most Australians of my generation and other generations as well, I know a lot about his life. I thought of the, I remarked about this to my wife at the time, the terrible tragedy that befell India at the time of partition, the terrible bloodshed as millions of people were uprooted and some going to Pakistan, some to India. The fact that Ghandi, the founder of India was assassinated, the fact that Jinnah died not long after the independence of Pakistan and the other Pakistan leaders like Liaquat Ali Khan were assassinated not long after. So it's been pretty hazardous business being a political figure in this part of the world and it's because it's not restricted to India. It's extended to Pakistan and the Bangladesh, but also tragically to Sri Lanka. For a man of peace, he met a very tragic death. But out of all of that, India has become a great democracy, the biggest in the world and I am impressed and the world should be impressed.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, Martin Ferguson from the Opposition said that you shouldn't even contemplate selling uranium to India without it signing the NPT. Are you contemplating it?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think Martin Ferguson is contemplating something else at the moment.
[ends]