PRIME MINISTER:
Ladies and gentlemen, the policy announced yesterday by Mr Beazley to abolish AWAs will attack and reduce the living standards of hundreds of thousands of Australians, aspirational Australians, who want the flexibility of Australian Workplace Agreements to earn more and to better blend their work and family lives. This used not to be Mr Beazley's policy, only a few months ago he acknowledged the unrealism of trying to get rid of AWAs. He is clearly being bullied into this policy by the unions, particularly the unions in New South Wales. His industrial relations policy will take us back to a set of industrial laws that obtained when this country had more than a million people of out work.
It's worth recalling that when this Government began reforming industrial relations 10 years ago, the Labor Party forecast that the sky would fall in. The only thing that's fallen over the last 10 years is our unemployment rate. It's now down to a 30-year low and for the first time since 1976 we have unemployment with a four in front of it. This policy declaration by Mr Beazley is union-devised, union-driven, the result of weak-kneed behaviour by him in the face of union bullying. It neglects the longer term interests of Australia and it completely misunderstands the need for this country to have a flexible industrial relations system to take full advantage of the globalisation of which Australia is permanently part.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, presumably Mr Beazley thinks he is going to get some traction from voters on this, do you think that voters will notice it if under AWAs penalty rates, public holidays, rest breaks and shift loadings are signed away?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think that voters respond to a strong economy and the test of any industrial relations policy, Brad, is the contribution it makes to the strengthening of the economy. There is no doubt that we have a stronger economy now than we had 10 years ago and there is no doubt that the industrial relations reforms to date have played a part in that, not the only explanation, but they have played a part in it.
And the real test is the strength of the economy. In 1990, we had all the alleged protections under the sun in industrial relations but it didn't stop people being thrown out of work and it didn't stop their wages being cut. You can't hold up wages if the firm is not earning any money. You either sack people if you are not earning any money or you reduce the wages of the people you've retained. And the reality that Mr Beazley must face is that by the policy that he announced yesterday he is saying to people who want to better themselves, 'I won't let you do so.' And I think that is wrong.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, aren't you overstating the case, Labor is saying...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's a growing number and it's in to the hundreds of thousands. Why shouldn't those people have the right to better themselves. I mean what kind of country are we going to build where you say to people who can better themselves by working hard that we are not going to let you do so. And that is the essence of Mr Beazley's policy: Don't trust people, do what the unions tell you.
JOURNALIST:
Considering the relationship between Labor and the unions, are you surprised...
PRIME MINISTER:
I am surprised that he's caved into the unions on this because a few months ago he was beginning to talk a bit of commonsense by saying that you can't take up to a million people off AWAs. He was recognising the reality that in some industries like the mining industry AWAs account for 27 per cent of employment arrangements and that's an area of the economy which even the Labor Party acknowledges is underpinning quite a lot of our current wealth. So it's flying in the face of modern day reality to take us back to a system that is going to be union dominated when fewer than 20 per cent of workers employed in the private sector belong to a union. It makes no sense. It's old-fashioned. It's very backward-looking.
JOURNALIST:
Well Mr Beazley is saying he hasn't caved into unions but (inaudible) average families...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the average family is better off under this Government than it was under Labor. The average family's children have a better chance of getting a job. The average family is getting a higher wage. I mean we've heard all of this before from Mr Beazley. We have heard it for 10 years. He started saying it in 1996 and he was proved wrong. And I just remind him to look at the employment statistics last week. That is the product of 10 years of economic management by this Government.
JOURNALIST:
What about the value of those conditions that have been lost though, shown by the Office of the Employment Advocate?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well you really have to look beneath the figures and get some information about what the wage increases have been. Trading off penalty rates for higher wages is not something that arrived with Workchoices, people have done that before.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard is that one of the problems with those statistics, that we actually don't know what pay rises have been granted to trade off penalty rates, shift loadings and alike?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well these arrangements are first and foremost the information of the individuals who are involved in the arrangements. I'm not saying whether it's a problem with the statistics or not. I'm simply making the point that people should not jump to a conclusion that because a particular condition is not in an arrangement, it doesn't mean there hasn't been compensation for that condition.
JOURNALIST:
The Labor Party's still pointing to this Spotlight case of conditions traded off for 2c an hour, are you happy with that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well one of the features of Spotlight is that 38 out of 40 newly employed people in Mt Druitt have been on the dole and they're $350 a week better off.
JOURNALIST:
Can I ask you about tomorrow's asylum seekers legislation (inaudible) are you confident it will get up (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
We'll be going ahead with it and I believe it will pass. The legislation is necessary. It's important that we continue to convey a consistent message in relation to people who seek to come to Australia unlawfully.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard do you have any concerns about the welfare of prisoner David Hicks (inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I've been told that he received a consular visit about two weeks ago and the report from that Consular visit was positive.
JOURNALIST:
Former PMs, Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser have asked for the date of Queen's Birthday Honours to be moved, do you agree with that?
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
I've heard so many figures and so many polls they never surprise me. But we make our decisions on these things based on good policy, not on reading the latest opinion poll. If that's the way people govern they don't provide much leadership or good government of a country. The policy that we have adopted is the right policy and I think it's fair to say that over a lengthy period of time it's received quite strong support from the Australian community.
JOURNALIST:
What about though the backbench though, (inaudible) have you had any talks or will you have any talks with...
PRIME MINISTER:
I talk to my colleagues all the time about everything.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
I talk to all of my colleagues about everything.
JOURNALIST:
Back to Labor's industrial relations policy, do you have any concerns that Labor's campaign about cuts to conditions might be starting to bite with voters? And I say that because after all you've called a press conference here today on a public holiday about...
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh I enjoy...I enjoy meeting the Sydney media. I miss the opportunity during the week when I'm in Canberra and you've turned up Brad so you're obviously interested.
JOURNALIST:
I enjoy being here too, but do you have any concerns that Labor's campaign on alleged conditions may be starting to bite after all you've called a press conference about the Labor Party adhering to its party policy?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well actually what Mr Beazley announced yesterday was a change on what he'd said before, but let's leave that aside. The reason I've called this news conference is that I think the policy he has announced is a very bad policy. I think it's bad for Australian workers. I think it blunts the aspirations of a growing number of Australians to better themselves and that's an important public policy issue. Do I take the Labor Party lightly as an opponent? No, never. You won't find anything that I've ever said over the years that suggests that I'm a complacent political leader.
And I think the Labor Party's wrong about this and I think the weakness of their position, the damage it could do to Australians, the threat it poses to aspirational Australians, those growing number of people who might have started with a union or blue collar background, but they work very, very hard and they...many of them become small businessmen, and they're the sort of people who will be damaged and disadvantaged if Labor's policy is implemented. And I think somebody's got to speak up for them and that's what I'm doing today.
JOURNALIST:
It's one of the biggest points of difference on policy for a while though. Are you worried that maybe you're wrong on this?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well in the end it's not a question of what I think or Mr Beazley thinks, it's what the Australian people think. And I am, as always, their servant. Thank you.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, will you be sitting in front of the television tonight with a cold drink to watch what the rest of Australia will be watching...
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, well I would like to wish the Socceroos well. I think there will be millions of our fellow countrymen and women watching them and cheering them on. I hope they can take some inspiration from the wonderful victory the Wallabies had last night against England, which was a great game. But to the Socceroos, it's a terrific moment for them, the first time since 1974. They've been wonderfully well trained for it, they're very professional, they're very dedicated and I wish them well and I'll be watching and I hope they win.
JOURNALIST:
Can I ask you one question, (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't intend at this stage to say anything about the substance of that article. The only thing I would say about my father and grandfather is that everything I knew of them indicated that they were decent, honest, hardworking, patriotic Australians who were very committed to their country, they worked very hard in a small business and they were very dedicated to their families, and in the case of my father, to his four children. Beyond that at this stage I don't have anything to say about the contents of that article.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes I do intend to meet that delegation tomorrow and I welcome the fact that the Indonesian Ambassador is returning to Australia. The relationship between Australia and Indonesia's very important, it's also a difficult relationship and there'll be difficulties about it in the future. I don't think we should think that as each issue is dealt with, other difficult issues won't arise in the future. We are very different countries, but we're countries thrown together by history. And we must learn to respect each others ways of doing things, that applies to us, but it also applies to Indonesia. And in the case of the asylum seekers, they were dealt with in accordance with Australian law. Now we are always going to defend the application of Australian law and just as I asked Australians to accept the operation of Indonesian law in relation to the Schapelle Corby case, I have to ask the Indonesians to accept the operation of our law in relation to the refugees.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think West Papua will be on the agenda (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I will talk about anything that the delegation raises with me. But our position on Papua is very clear, we see it as part of Indonesia.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
Well his release from jail is not really something that this particular delegation has control over.
Thank you.
[ends]