PRIME MINISTER:
Well I have made a speech, was there any questions you want to ask me?
JOURNALIST:
What do you think about the State Government's choice of where the ring road is going to finish in Waurn Ponds?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't agree with it. There should be a review by Mr Bracks of that decision.
JOURNALIST:
You're coming up to your 67th birthday, how do you feel?
PRIME MINISTER:
I feel very well. Of course I feel well.
JOURNALIST:
Why do you two want to stay on?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh look let's move onto something else.
JOURNALIST:
You were saying in there about how happy you were that the Geelong Gallery had acquired Eugene von Gu‚rard's view of Geelong. Do you have any idea when that's going to be arriving?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I haven't, Mr McArthur may know. But when it will be arriving? I can't tell you when it will be arriving. We don't run the gallery.
McARTHUR:
In about three weeks time.
PRIME MINISTER:
In about three weeks time. We don't run the gallery, we just provided a lot of money. But it is really a great outcome for the local community. It would have been a great shame if the gallery here in Geelong had not been able to get this painting, which is an iconic one, not only for this area in Victoria but Australia generally.
JOURNALIST:
My Howard you must be pleased to see Australians arriving home safe from Lebanon?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I am very pleased. We now have 3700 Australians who've been brought out of Lebanon and I do urge people to take advantage of the evacuation facilities while they last. It's unlikely that they will be available beyond the 25th of July and I reinforce everything that Mr Downer and the Ambassador Mrs Sachs has said about this. Can I say what a great job I think she's done in incredibly difficult circumstances. I think she and her staff have done wonderful things and the whole Government and the country should be grateful because it's not easy, it's dangerous. They are still there. They've got 3700 people out and a lot of them are now back in Australia and most of the rest of them will be arriving over the next few days. But the Ambassador and her staff are still there exposed to danger in Beirut and people here who criticised them last week should bear that in mind. They are still putting their lives on the line to help people get back to Australia and they do not deserve the criticism that was levelled at them.
JOURNALIST:
Would Australia play a part in a peacekeeping force over there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's hypothetical at the present time. Obviously we'd consider a request, but at this stage there has been no request made, but we would obviously want to see a long term solution to the problem. It's no good having a half-baked solution to this problem that will unravel within a short period of time. There will not be a solution to this conflict until every part of the Arab world accepts the right of Israel to exist, unconditionally, and there will not be a lasting solution until everybody unites behind the two state concept. A free, independent, secure Israel behind defensible boundaries and also the emergence of a Palestinian state. Now until everybody in the Arab world accepts that we're going to have conflict.
JOURNALIST:
About the Census coming up. Do you think that your Government's policies have been instrumental in getting people to have more children?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well let me put it this way, we have pursued for 10 years pro-family policies. We were elected with a family tax initiative that was designed to help families. We have massively increased the amount of support for children generally. We have provided the better option for people to either have a parent at home when children are young as many parents want to do. Many parents regard that as the best form of childcare of the lot, and we've given them the option of that to a much greater extent. The Baby Bonus has been very attractive. Now you put all of these things together and you have a look at the figures. Our fertility rate has risen a little. Some people are predicting it's going to go up quite a bit more, we'll wait and see. But I think our policies have had some impact, some impact and I'm very pleased about that because the best possible investment any Government can make in this country is in the future of children. And the nation's future is very heavily dependent on a higher fertility rate. If we can buck the trend of western nations, then we will really achieved a lot. But I think it's too early to over-claim. You have to be sensible about this, but certainly our policies have helped.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, what about the ACT Government's anti-terror laws? Jon Stanhope says that the Federal laws contravene the UN right's of the child.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the state Labor Government's all around Australia don't think that. Mr Stanhope is not only out of step with the Federal Liberal Government, he's also out of step with all of his state Labor colleagues because all of them have, take or leave tiny variations, have adopted the same law, which is the law we wanted. And I would hope that through negotiation, we can persuade the ACT Government to bring its laws into line with the rest of the country. So he is the one person out of seven in the parade, not the other way around.
JOURNALIST:
Is the ACT more of a target because of their laws?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well obviously if you are to have effective laws, they should be the same throughout the whole country. It's no good having one section of the country with a gaping hole and we should have the same laws all over the country. But these laws were supported by Mr Bracks, Mr Iemma, Mr Beattie, Mr Carpenter, Mr Rann and Mr Lennon, as well as me. He's the bloke who's out of step in the regiment, not the rest of us.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, have you got anything to say about the Victoria Cross which was won in Gallipoli, which is being offered for auction and the possibility that it may go to an overseas buyer?
PRIME MINISTER:
I would not want it to go to an overseas buyer and I am cautiously hopeful that that won't occur. In fact, I believe that it won't occur but let's wait and see how it all works out. I think all Australians would want this Victoria Cross to stay in our country and preferably at the War Memorial. Thank you.
[ends]