PRIME MINISTER:
Well ladies and gentlemen, the value of a gathering like this is that it has enabled people affected by this terrible drought to put their views directly to the Deputy Prime Minister and to me and to their local member, their very hard working local member John Cobb, and it is a listening exercise. We've done a lot of things and I hope our visit, the things that we have done together, communicate very clearly to people in the bush that we feel for them, we care for them, we will go on supporting them and the nation can afford to help its farmers in their hour of need. This is a wealthy, successful country and at times like this those who through no fault of their own are doing it hard, are entitled to look to their fellow Australians for assistance through their hour of need and that is what we are prepared to do.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, this issue that some of the gentlemen here have raised today of massive replanting crops costs once the rains come, is there something more the Government can do on that front?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that is an issue that a lot of people have raised and I understand that. It's one of the many things that have been put to us that we will consider and we'll think about. I obviously don't make commitments on the run, we gather information, we hear views, we think about it and then we make announcements. And it is, in responding to the drought, what we have done to date, is a work-in-progress, but it's very significant work and there is no doubt that the interest rate subsidies, they've been liberalised, the Exceptional Circumstances assistance has given great hope. Person after person said to me a few moments ago that what was important was, sure, the quantum of the help but what it demonstrated as a gesture of the nation and the Government's willingness to assist people at this very difficult time.
JOURNALIST:
What about assistance for contractors and for farm-hands and shearers, those sort of issues were raised?
PRIME MINISTER:
That is really the other category of issues that was raised that we need to think about. There is already in existence a sub-set, if I can put it that way, of the Job Network called Drought Force where special rules apply to people who have been laid off because of the drought and there may be ways, I've already had a discussion with Sharman Stone, the Minister for Workforce Participation, there may be a way in which we can tweak that with something that we will have a talk about to improve its operation because I understand the point that with the pull factor of the mining industry in Western Australia, particularly young men who don't have any family ties, the attraction, if a job disappears in the bush, of going west young man is perhaps greater than ever before in our history. While it's great if you want to go west, it's not necessarily great for people who need their farm-hands in the bush.
JOURNALIST:
On a related but maybe separate issue, can I just ask on the minimum wage, the Fair Pay Commission awarded $27.36 a week. It's substantially higher that what the industry group was looking for, $14...
PRIME MINISTER:
It is substantially higher than what the Labor Party said would be the case. I think the Fair Pay Commission has been true to its title. It's been fair in the payments for the low-income people in this country, and you know, this is the third of the trilogy of dishonest criticisms in the Labor Party's attack on our industrial relations laws. It was meant to increase unemployment, there were meant to be mass sackings and instead there have been mass hirings. We were meant to have mass industrial disputes, instead there's been a record low in industrial disputes, and it was meant to drive down wages and hurt the low-income people. Quite the reverse has happened. I think the Labor Party and the unions should hang their head in shame for the dishonest response that they have delivered to our new laws. They were always designed to be fair, and I think the Fair Pay Commission has done a good, fair job. The low paid are being looked after, but there's some incentive for additional enterprise bargaining having the two levels, the one, the $27 up to $700 and then the $22 above that. I think it's a very sensible outcome and I think it just is another nail in the coffin of the Labor Party's attack on this legislation.
JOURNALIST:
The Australian Commander in Iraq, Brigadier Moon, has agreed with the US view that 12 to 18 months is an achievable timeframe to be handing over to Iraq, to be taking control of its own affairs. Do you think that's a reasonable timeframe?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I don't or won't commit the Government to a particular time. I think what Brigadier Moon was doing, was saying that he thought that maybe in 18 months time, the Iraqis would be able to look after themselves. I hope that they are able to look after themselves, but I am not going to nominate a time. I think he was making a very important point, and I, I don't have any argument that talking in this way about the future in his position, I think he was making the point that the critical test of whether you go is the Iraqis being able to look after themselves. That is why to go now would be disastrous, and that is why Mr Beazley is wrong and we are right because if we go now the Iraqis will not be able to look after themselves, the terrorists will win, they'll get a boost in the Middle East and they'll get a boost all around the world including in Indonesia.
JOURNALIST:
Are you aware of Sheik al-Hilali's reported comments?
PRIME MINSITER:
Yes I am aware.
JOURNALIST:
What was your response when you first saw them?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well my response is that they are appalling and reprehensible comments. They are quite out of touch with contemporary values in Australia. The idea that women are to blame for rapes is preposterous, it's an appalling concept and quite plainly, if the translation is correct, he was relating his comments to a particular and particularly appalling rape trial in Sydney. The reference to 65 years was unmistakably a reference to a particular trial and I not only reject the remarks, I condemn them unconditionally.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think he will hold his position, or do you believe that he should leave in light of his comments?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that is a matter for his flock. When you talk about the separation of church and the state in Australia you must respect the processes of the church or the mosque or the synagogue when it comes to the appointment of people in pastoral positions. It's not for me to say what position he should hold within the Islamic faith, but it is for me as Prime Minister to say that I totally reject the notion that the way in which women dress, the way in which women deport themselves can in any way be used as a semblance of a justification for rape.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, interest rates are expected to rise next month and there's also been a rate rise slated in for next year.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I didn't know that any rate rises have been slated in for next year. I mean, let's just...there is speculation in the light of the inflation figure that there could be an increase in interest rates. That will be a matter for the Reserve Bank to decide. The only comment I would make is that the Reserve Bank's major responsibility is to make sure that inflation is kept well contained.
JOURNALIST:
But do you think your re-election chances have been dimmed because...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'm not going to start talking about my re-election chances. I'm interested in the future of the Australian people. I'll leave my re-election chances to the Australian people as always.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think the minimum wage outcome could be inflationary?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I don't because it has that nice balance between looking after the very low paid but also providing an extra incentive for enterprise bargaining once you get above $700 a week. That's what I think is the genius of the decision. I think it's a very clever decision, a very fair decision, but it's also a very clever decision economically.
JOURNALIST:
A lot of the irrigators here are concerned about getting bills for water fees for water they're not getting. What is your message to the State Government?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well my message to the State Government is to get its hand out of the pockets of these irrigators. I mean, the idea that you should charge irrigators for water you won't give them is preposterous. There is one bloke, Mr Kennedy I think his name is, he got a bill for $75,000, he got an interest rate subsidy from the Federal Government of $100,000 and he had to fork over $75,000 of that to the State Government. I mean, they are outraged and I call on Mr Iemma to at the very least suspend these charges, these rate bills during the drought. It's the very least he can do. The Federal Government pays 95 percent of Exceptional Circumstances funding and this idea that it's shared between the Federal Government and the states is ludicrous, it's not. We pay virtually all of it, they pay a minuscule amount of the interest rate subsidy, the rest is carried by us and I would simply say to Morris Iemma, move on from Carl Scully, suspend those bills, at least for the duration of the drought.
JOURNALIST:
On those interest rate subsidies, there are concerns with local farmers that that money is going straight back to the banks in Sydney and not being flowed through to local rural communities. What's your reaction there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well obviously if we provide a subsidy it means that money that would otherwise have to be found by the farmers, is spent on something else.
JOURNALIST:
How damaging would another interest rate rise be to the people...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think that people who are getting very big subsidies, I mean bear in mind it's 50 per cent in the first year and it's 80 per cent in the second and subsequent years, that is a very, very big subsidy. Thank you, oh yes one more.
JOURANLIST:
Just on the drought, we've heard from, over the last 10 days or so about $910 million worth of extension of drought, you've heard more issues raised today, how much more do you think realistically it's going to cost?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I'm not going to put a figure on it. That's not to say anything is open-ended, I mean let me make that sure, make that clear and not every proposal is one that we can or will respond to, but this country can afford to help its farmers in their hour of need, that's the point I'm making, and the purpose of my coming here and Mark coming here is to say directly to these people, we will support you, we will help you through, because it's not your fault and that's a very important message, but I'm not going to get into the business of putting a figure on it, that's silly.
[ends]