PRIME MINISTER:
Ladies and gentlemen before I say several things about national matters, I again express my admiration to the local community, to the Mayor of the Johnstone Shire Neil Clarke, for the wonderful leadership that he has given to the community, to General Peter Cosgrove who has added to his past service to the Australian nation, a very distinguished period as the co-ordinator of the rescue operation here in Innisfail. This has been a wonderful example of inter-governmental cooperation. The Australian people are impatient with buck passing and blame shifting when something happens between different levels of government. That has not happened here in Innisfail, all levels of government have worked together very, very closely and to my thanks I add those in relation to both Bob Katter, the local federal member, and also Senator Ron Boswell the Leader of the National Party in the Senate.
Can I, moving to other matters, say that I share the sense of distress that so many people must feel about the loss of civilian lives and indeed the loss of life generally on both sides of the conflict in the Middle East. You are aware of the views I've expressed about the cause of this current conflict and those views have not changed. The action of Hezbollah, which remains in the Government's view a terrorist organisation, of going into Israel was provocative and is the immediate cause of the conflict. I believe, along with many others, that there would be enormous value if an international stabilisation force could be inserted into the area, but that force must meet a number of conditions for it to be profitable and successful. The first view is that it must be a large force, anything less than about 10 to 15,000 troops would not be enough. It should have a very strong mandate and that mandate must include, in Australia's view, the disarmament of Hezbollah. If it doesn't contain that then the problem is bound to re-occur in the very near future. From Australia's point of view, I have it made clear and Mr Downer has made it clear that we would not be in a position to make other than what could be loosely called a niche contribution and that is the view being brought to the discussions in New York where Australia is represented by General Ken Gillespie, the Deputy Chief of, the Vice Chief of the Defence Force and David Richie, the Deputy Security at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and I want to make it clear that we would not even be willing to contribute a niche force unless the overall force had the sort of mandate of which I have spoken. There is no point in mincing words about the challenge ahead of the world in the Middle East and some kind of patch-up solution, which is bound to bring about a repetition of the current disaster at some time in the not-to-distant future, is no solution at all.
Finally, can I just quickly confirm in person what I communicated to my federal parliamentary Liberal Party colleagues today and that is that I have taken very extensive soundings within the Party about the leadership issue. It is the very strong view of the Liberal Party, indeed the overwhelming view of the Liberal Party, that the current leadership team, with me as leader and Peter Costello as deputy leader should remain in place through to the next election. I commit myself with enthusiasm and vigour to responding to the wishes of my colleagues. Can I say that Peter Costello has made a wonderful contribution to the Government, and it's crucial to our prospects at the next election that he continue, not only as deputy leader but also as Treasurer where his work has been so important to our efforts over the past 10 years. The Government faces quite a task winning the next election, some people find that hard to believe, I don't. Australian politics always produces a competitive contest federally, and the next election will be no exception. And we need the best people in the right places and the Party has said very clearly it wants me where I am and Peter Costello where he is and I know that they would be very, very pleased indeed if that continues to be the case. Thank you.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, if you win the next election will you give an undertaking to stay on the full term?
PRIME MINISTER:
Let us, let us get to the election. I'm not giving any undertakings beyond what I have previously said and that is that I'll continue to serve as Leader of the Liberal Party for so long as my Party wants me to and it's in the Party's best interests that I do so. And I don't think you can expect any different response from me from now to eternity.
JOURNALIST:
Have you spoken to Mr Costello about your decision at all?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh yes, I spoke to him yesterday before I spoke to anybody else.
JOURNALIST:
And is he comfortable with that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Peter has done a news conference in Melbourne and indicated what his position is. It's a very positive one, and I thank him for that. And I know that the attitude that he has taken will be warmly supported and applauded by all of his colleagues.
JOURNALIST:
Do you see this as the first day of the 2007 campaign?
PRIME MINISTER:
I never stop campaigning.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, will you agree to a smooth transition...
PRIME MINISTER:
I beg your pardon?
JOURNALIST:
Will you agree to a smooth transition?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, what's the next question, please?
JOURNALIST:
Can the party unite before the next election?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think the Party has remained very united. I think there's not much doubt that we deal with these matters in a professional and positive fashion.
JOURNALIST:
Do you have Robert Menzies' record in your sights?
PRIME MINISTER:
I have no presumptions to ever compare myself to the greatest Prime Minister Australia has ever had, and that's Bob Menzies.
JOURNALIST:
You've got rising fuel prices, you've got concerns about the IR laws, are you concerned that perhaps you could be gambling on your legacy a bit?
PRIME MINISTER:
No political contest is ever easy and I think the next election will be hard. Fuel prices are high, although the Australian public understands that that's not due to domestic factors, it's overwhelming due to the world price of crude oil. It's in part due to a natural disaster called Katrina. It's a reminder that natural disasters anywhere in the world can cast a long economic shadow. It's not the only reason but it's part of the reason. I think we face challenges, yes, but the Australian economy is fundamentally very strong and I don't see that altering over the next few years. But there will continue to be challenges from month to month. The IR laws are necessary because they are the round that reform today that will give us greater prosperity tomorrow. And you're not worth your candle in politics unless you're prepared to push ahead with reform proposals which you know might be difficult when first brought in, but as they are better understood, people see their value and I have no doubt that by the time of the next election the value of these reforms will be more widely seen. So far from them being an encumbrance to the Government, I think they might turn out to be a liability for the Labor Party.
JOURNALIST:
On cyclone assistance is any consideration being given to the extension of the application period for farmers and small businesses?
PRIME MINISTER:
That has been put to me and I said I would consider it in the next couple of days. But can I point out that the Federal Government has already contributed $237 million, that's almost a quarter of a billion dollars, in cyclone relief. I mean it's an unprecedentedly large amount. It's necessary, it's deserved, the nation can afford it, but we have to take into account our obligations to Australians in other parts of this country. But I said I would consider that and I'll give a response in the next couple of days.
JOURNALIST:
Does that include the wage subsidy programme as well?
PRIME MINISTER:
The proposition that was put to me was in relation to an extension of the wage subsidy scheme and there was one other matter put to me in relation to the cut off point for applications for small business and related assistance, and I will give responses to both of those things in the next couple of days.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, are you offering extra assistance for the diary industry? At an industry recovery meeting the other day most of the industries here in Far North Queensland seem to be fairly appreciative of the assistance that's come from the Government, but the one industry that is still struggling is the dairy industry.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there weren't particular proposals put to me today, I did have a discussion with some dairy industry people, and we'll keep their position under review. I don't think I can say more than that at the present stage and I don't think we should forget our other fellow Australians who are affected further up the country (inaudible).
Thank you.
[ends]