WOOLEY:
Good day Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning Charles, how is it all going?
WOOLEY:
It's all going very well and much better since I last saw you thank you PM.
PRIME MINISTER:
Don't worry, I understand all of that, I am very pleased to hear it, I wish you well.
WOOLEY:
Thank you very much, we both know what it was like to be 'Mr 18 per cent' for a while there. Prime Minister there is lots to talk about, but will we start with the State elections?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, certainly.
WOOLEY:
There doesn't seem to be an impingement much of national issues on these state polls?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no that's true, it is a State election, the Australian public always distinguishes between the two and it will be decided on state issues.
WOOLEY:
And very much in the Howard model too I think of federal power, electoral power, the notion that more and more, these people are scrabbling for the middle-ground.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Australians don't like extremes. They don't like people who have radical, revolutionary ideas in mind, they like a bit of courage to change something that needs changing but they don't like extremes. That is certainly true of politics throughout the country and I don't blame them.
WOOLEY:
The outcome for you scarcely matters since anyone who governs Australia for as long as you have realises the vagaries of our Constitution and how you can usually be in power federally, but be completely on the nose in every state. I mean that's not unusual is it?
PRIME MINISTER:
It's unusual to the degree that it is at the moment. I can't remember a prolonged period of time when you had Liberal or Coalition governments in office in every state with Labor in power federally. It may have happened briefly for a few months (inaudible) because we were in power federally in the 1950s. It is a very unusual situation and I would like to see it change. You say it doesn't matter to me, well it does, I like to see Liberal governments. I would like to see Rene Hidding win tomorrow. I would, I'd like to see him win in his own right.
WOOLEY:
I reckon that would be a long shot that you'd be punting on Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I have seen a lot of things happen and if I can make one central observation about this State election campaign and it's this: that the Tasmanian economy is in good shape, it's in good shape because it's part of the Australian economy, and the Australian economy is in good shape largely because of Federal Government policies over the last 10 years.
WOOLEY:
Yes, well try telling that to the states, I mean I have that political cynicism myself, that largely what they're crowing about in South Australia and in Tasmania is their splendid record, it's actually the fairly good job that you and the Treasurer have done over the last 10 years. But you know state governments want to take credit when there's something to take credit for, and blame when there is nothing to take credit for.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well they all do that and they all do that whether they are Labor or Liberal. They all happen to be Labor at the present time, but I can remember over the last 10 years when we have had some Liberal state governments who claimed all the credit for economic strength. Now I am not suggesting that state governments can't do certain things at the margin, they can, to make a difference. But let me just remind your listeners that, who live in Tasmania, and I know you have many who live all over the country...
WOOLEY:
We have Tasmanian and South Australians, so they will be all ears.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well just let me just say in relation to the Tasmanians, 60 per cent of the entire Tasmanian budget, revenue-wise, comes from the Federal Government. Now of all the money that the Tasmanian Government spends, 60 per cent of it in different ways, GST and specific-purpose payments, comes from the Federal Government. Now I am not complaining about that and we should provide that money to Tasmania, but it does therefore sound a bit rich when I hear Mr Lennon getting up and saying we've got the fastest growing economy in Australia and aren't we good. I am happy that the Tasmanian economy is strong, I am happy that young people are returning from the mainland, I am happy that there's been growth in the forest industries, there has been growth in the tourist industry. I have seen a lot of happy faces in Tasmania over the last few years because things are doing better but please give credit where it is due; it is a reflection of the national economic health.
WOOLEY:
Can I move on to some other things Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Sure.
WOOLEY:
Very briefly, because I think, I don't want to bore our listeners with it too much. It seems extraordinary these AWB disclosures, I mean they just go on and on and on. Are you aware of them, even before they happen? I mean now we learn that our spies knew that this was going on eight years ago.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well certainly I didn't know anything about this eight years ago and indeed...
WOOLEY:
No but I mean do you know a couple of days before it comes out that it's coming out.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there is some indication given of the sort of material, yes of course, of course I do.
WOOLEY:
And are you horrified when you find this?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well can I make the point that we established this inquiry. If it hadn't have been for the Government, this inquiry would not have unearthed all of this material. So all of those people who criticise me and the Government, let me remind them that it was my Government that established this inquiry. I think people should wait until the inquiry has completed all of its investigations and Mr Cole has brought down his findings. But in relation specifically to the material, the 15 intelligence reports out of 750,000; none of them in the view of the intelligence agencies provided any evidence that kickbacks were being paid by AWB to the former Iraqi regime. None of the documents specifies the wheat trade except with one exception, one of the documents talks about the wheat trade and that was a November 2003 report which suggested that most large companies had refused to pay Iraqi imposed surcharges and it cited as an example wheat imports from Australia. So one out of the 15 that made a particular reference to the wheat trade, the reference was, in the benefit of hindsight, the reference was a very positive one because it said that a lot of companies refused to pay the kickbacks and it cited as an example, wheat imports from Australia. So I think you have to remember with all of these things that hindsight is wonderful.
WOOLEY:
Sure, sure.
PRIME MINISTER:
That you have to make an assessment according to the context and the knowledge of people at the time.
WOOLEY:
Can I just get a brief answer from you to finish the AWB question I have and that is, can we in the short term return to good trade standing in that country?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh yes, very definitely, and that has been demonstrated by the success of Mark Vaile's mission. The Iraqis have agreed to include us, providing AWB is not involved, in the latest wheat tender.
WOOLEY:
How important is Condoleezza Rice's, the Secretary of State to the United States, her visit, how important is it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, very important. I will be having a private discussion with her in about 20 minutes time. She is a remarkably talented person, she is proving to be a very successful Secretary of State, she has an extraordinary grasp of foreign policy issues covering the whole gamut.
WOOLEY:
Is she just going through the motions when she expresses her gratitude for our commitment in Iraq?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, she's not going through the motions. A group of us had dinner with her last night at Kirribilli House and this is a person who is extremely intelligent, absolutely dedicated and not going through the motions at all. She is somebody who will argue the toss on an issue and we don't agree with her or her Government on everything. We have nuance differences on a number of issues, that's always been the case because we come at things from a different perspective.
WOOLEY:
PM does she have the goods do you think to be a President of the United States?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think she could fill any senior position in the United States, but whether she ever aspires to that office is a matter for her. But do I think she would have the qualities? Yes.
WOOLEY:
Right. Can we talk about Westpac for a moment, I know that you are as horrified as anyone else, as the average punter when things like this happen, but you probably have no control except to give them a nod or a wink or a disagreeing look.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we certainly don't, I can tell you, haven't given them any nods or winks. These are individual commercial decisions and the best antidote for these is to have as much competition in the banking system as possible. Now I have seen this story this morning, it is the first I knew of that particular decision, I will get some advice on how accurate the report is, some of them are accurate, some of them are not. It certainly, from what I have seen in The Daily Telegraph this morning, it is a fairly colourful report and it's written in a very extravagant way. On the face of it, it sounds, well, I can understand why it's written in the way it is, let me say that.
WOOLEY:
Are you saying that if the figures are right then you would disapprove?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I want to get some more information, it's terribly easy to overreact to a headline. I'd like some more information on it and I'd like to know the background of it. But I think the most important thing that should happen in a situation like this Charles is that you should get the public relations spokesman for Westpac on the line and ask him to justify it.
WOOLEY:
Thank you for your executive producorial input there Prime Minister. Just before you go, the Queen, this week you and of course you've met, you've spent time with her, but this week you said that we would remain a monarchy for as long as she was on the throne, after that you said you couldn't say. Republicans took some hope from that.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes I have seen all of that. They really are over-analysing what I say, I am flattered I suppose.
WOOLEY:
They hang on your every word Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
They take a lot of notice of everything I say on this issue. I have said things like that before and I've in fact done a bit of research on the subject and I did an interview in November of 2003 and I said then that the Queen was a very respected figure in our country even amongst people who are republicans and what occurs in the future of course will be entirely a matter for the Australian people.
WOOLEY:
Okay Prime Minister, you've got to go and see Condoleezza Rice right now but just before you go, what's your advice to Beazley having been there at 18 per cent yourself?
PRIME MINISTER:
I would never presume to give advice to the Opposition Leader. I bear no personal malice towards him, but it's self-serving of me to even try and give him advice. You know that.
WOOLEY:
But you know how lonely it felt to be down there?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't have any comment on Mr Beazley's position.
WOOLEY:
Okay that's a good place to go. Thank you Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
WOOLEY:
Enjoy your cup of tea with Condoleezza Rice.
PRIME MINISTER:
I will, thank you.
WOOLEY:
Thank you.
[ends]