QUESTIONS. FROM TH. E. HOBART PRESS. CLUB LUNCHEON
22 SEPTEMBER 1975
Bowers Mr Fraser's been maindenishly coy about whether or not
he intended to catch you with your trousers down as he
so charmingly put it. Can you say with precision what
you'd do if the Opposition blocks Supply in the
Senate next month?
P. M. Well, there are various options and I wouldn't at this
stage specify which one I at this stage find most
attractive. But all I need to say is it's been
assumed that if an Upper House rejects a Budget or
refuses Supply, the head of the-Government -which of
course has a majority in the Lower House -must then
ask the Governor-General to dissolve the Lower House.
p There is no law which says that; there is no precedent
for it happening, and because nobody ever thought it
could ha~ pen, there has been no discussion about it.
There is no convention about it. Now one of the things
which one bears in mind is that the Senate now is
considerably different from the Senate which was
elected in May last year. I would recall that in May
last year at the Double Dissolution which I advised the
Governor-General at that time to grant because the two
Houses were unworiable there was a threat of refusal
of Supply but in fact there had been no refusal of Supply;
there was the situation where they could be a Double
Dissolution I advised the Governor-General to dissolve
both Houses and he did. And in the election for the House
of Representatives which was supposed to be elected for
three years nobody ever disputed that at the time; the
then Liberal Leader never suggested that the House of
Representatives being elected should not be elected for
three years at that time the candidates of my Party
got a very considerable majority of votes for the House
of Representatives and also of course a comfortable majority
of seats in the House of Representatives and the candidates for the
Senate got more votes than the candidates of all other
Parties contesting the Senate, including one Party which
is no longer there.
Since then there have been two Labor vacancies and
in an utterly unprecedented and, I believe, unprincipled
move, the Premiers of New South Wales and now Queensland
have substituted non-Labor people for the former Labor
Senators. It is possible, it's easier, therefore, for an
Opposition to get half the votes which is all you need;
you don't need a majority to reject these things: the Bill's
not passed unless it gets a majority so it is possible
maybe in these circumstances. But of course it's really for
Dir Fraser to make up his mind on this; he always says
himself that he thinks it's improper to do it; but he
tolerates a degree of speculation which is very unsettling
for business and administration and some people think it's
unsettling for the Government. Well my withers are unwrung ./ 2
on this business. We've been through it before and on this
matter we wouldn't be caught with our pants down or one leg in
and one leg out.
QUESTION Prime Minister, I'm sure that we're very thankful to your
government for the assistance towards the restoration of
the Bridge: at least our grandchildren are, anyway. I
noticed that you said that you were under no obligation to
do anything towards that Bridge. Would you not agree that
if one of your ships has knockea the bridge down you are
morally, if not legally, bound to restore the Bridge.
P. M. Well my views on what happened about the vessel concerned
are well known. But legally you would be liable for whatever
you can prove against the ship. And the law in this respect
is quite vague. But I would concede that the owner of the
ship and that happens to be, the Australian Government:
Tasmania would be in a pretty poor position but for Australian
Government ships that it should make the contribution.
But there's no legal or moral obligation for us to provide
a fifth lane. There is no legal or moral obligation for us
to provide another bridge, four lane, Dowsings Point.
S Whatever may be the legal or moral obligation there could
be no doubt that the Australian Government has been generous
and not just I don't know about your grandchildren I would
have thought you look admirably hale and hearty and you will
see it in very few years. But the transport across the
Derwent will be very much better than it has ever been
before. The City of Hobart will be very much better planned
and very much better equipped and serviced as a result of
my government's response and its initiatives and the tumbling
of the Bridge has had a golden lining and the taxpayers of
all Australia,.-thanks to the initiative of my Government,
are providing the lining.
QUESTION You mentioned the Antarctic research base being shifted to
Hobart. How soon are we likely to see it shifted to Hobart?
LP0O I wouldn't-. lay down a timetable in these matters because
neither Bridges nor scientific establishments are done in the
course of any one financial year. But there is that commitment.
And if you don't mind me making the political point too, it
will be noticed that our opponents' Shadow Minister or
spokesman for Science, objected to it leaving Melbourne.
Now whatever you do even some of the things I have said
about your ports will prod * uce adverse comments elsewhere.
Now my Government has made the decision that the Australian
Antarctic activities will be centred in Hobart. We think
there are very good reasons for doing it, for making that
commitment. I don't know how soon they'll come about;
there are of course buildings to be designed, there's also
certain notice which we aren't compelled to give, but which
we as a matter of factus do give to Government employees
concerning their movements because they have families and
of course they have to make arrangements for education and
accommodation and that sort of thing. But the commitment
has been made. / 3
QUESTION P. M.
QUE STI ON
P. M.
QUE ST ION During the Bass By-election campaign you mentioned that funds
were specifically being allocated for the Launceston Eastern
by-pass road. There seems a certain amount of uncertainty
amongst the State Labor Government whether these funds have
actually been allocated or whether they will be allocated.
Could you clarify this matter?
I've been asked this in Parliament quite recently, too, and
I said then, as I said during the by-election campaign, that
during the next triennium for which the funds are being
discussed by the Australian and all the State transport
Ministers this was announced, you know, that there would be
these triennial arrangements made when the legislation was
introduced in about September last year, I think. In those
discussions the arrangements will be made. As I said before,
the Australian Government, the Australian Parliament has
always had the responsibility before my Government had
ever exercised it to make roads to promote trade and
commerce with other countries and among the States and in
pursuance to that arrangement we have decided to finance
the road, the national highway, between Hobart to the outskirts
of Launceston over the Burnie and similarly from the
outskirts of Launceston up to Bell Bay. And the by-pass
you mentioned is to connect the national road and the export
roads concerned and that will be discussed I think it has
already been discussed in the context of the next triennium,
that is, the next program of allocations which the Australian
Government will finance directly itself and by grants to the
States.
One very general question on the Harradine affair, if I could.
No you can't.
I'm just wondering if you will answer the question, do you
think the A. L. P. has overreacted, was a bit oversensitive
to Mr Harradine's comments in the past?
No. I/ rn not answering the question.
* STION Ycorui tmiecnitsimo niend otah elri ttpllea cewsh ilfeo r agsoo met haotf tyhoeu tehxipnegcst edy ous o'myee
said today, particularly your reference to the ports.
Reading the speech it appears that we have arrived at a
situation where by the take-, over of the railways in Tasmania
you set Tasmania's port system's future quite considerably
in advance of the report of the Nimmo Commission which you
expect to get. In fact has Mr Nimmo now been wasting his
time because it looks as if you have decided in advance
that there will be one major port and in fact you have lined
it up with the railways?
P. M. Well, of course, Mr Nimrno is not wasting his time. Mr Nimmo
is securing information and seeking information which has
never been collected or sought before. The Australian Government
and the Tasmanian Government will be very much better informed
as a result of Mr Nimmo's report than they could otherwise
have been. If we'd had the Interstate Commission over all these
years that information would have been available to people.
As it is the Tasmanian Government, I think ' it was the previous
one, the Bingham one, got the report from the Pak Poy people
and of course, we have had to get the information from the
ANL. And the advice that both have given is that there needs
to be some port which can take a bulk ship, and there isn't
in Tasmania at the moment. There are probably more ports
per head of population in Tasmania than in any other State
but I hope I don't give any impression that I am preempting Mr
Nimmo's report; I don't know what' he will advise in this
respect and if, of course, he advised something else I would
probably heed what he said rather than what I've ventured to say
at the moment. But there is a suitably sited port at Bell Bay,
there is industry at Bell Bay and there has been by agreement
with Tasmanian Governments successive governments and it
couldn't have been done without their consent there has
been a largely Australian Government-financed railway up to
Bell Bay. That's been completed, it's the best track in the
State. Some people say it's the only really good track in the
State. Now in those circumstances it does seem reasonable
to bring together tije road, , the rail the export road I
was describing the new rail and bulk port facilities at
Bell Bay. But the port facilities are not primarily a federal'
responsibility. It may be that an Australian Government could
build a port or wharves, because obviously a port one way or
anot~ her relates to trade and commerce with other countries
and among the States. But there has been no arrangement to
this stage about that port. But we're obviously committed
to the road, we have been overwhelmingly committed to the railway
and we do need a new ship for the wheat trade for Tasmania.
So we ought, in the next few months be able to make some plans
for that purpose, but I want to discount immediately the
suggestion that comes from the Mercury that chap looked
more like Jupiter than Mercury that Mr Nimmo is wasting
his time. He's doing a job that ought to have been done years ago.
QAKES Prime Minister, a question on the controversial and crucial
issue of metric pronunciation. I noticed in your speech
you referred again to kilometres.
P. M. Of course.
QA. KES Can I ask you are you not inclined to accept the advice of
your minister for Science that the word should be pronounced
kilometres, and in view of this serious disagreement, do you
think a Cabinet and Caucus decision is required?
P. M. Well, as a matter of fact, I was drafting a response to him
this morning during some of the lulls. I've always said
myself kilometre or centimetre or millimetre or those sort
of things and I don't want to pre-empt the letter which
I'm sending to the Minister fo; Science whose qualifications
of course were of my ordaining: I gave him his scientific
qualifications. But since this is, of course, a very serious
enquiry, I would point out that all scientific terms are
Vaccented in that way. You have thermometers and barometers
and altimeters and spectrophotometers and for those people
that can go the distance required, speedometers or for
earth-bound people you have pedometers and the versifiers among
you have always used pentameters and tetrameters. And
you've got a pretty fair diameter and perimeter yourself.
I believe that Mr Cameron has been influenced by his
departmental advisers and they thought they were being
very gallic. Ever since these urban guerillas in Paris
190 years ago brought in the metric system, they thought
it would sound nicer if you said kilometre or kilometre.
But the migrants who come to Australia usually put it
back where we would orginarily put it, that is the Italians
all say kilometre; the Spaniards, the people from Timor,
all say kilometre. It's easier to say kilometre. I mean
the technical ones among you, the people from the Mercury
would know ABC too possibly, the older ones that you
only put the accent on the second last syllable if it's
a long syllable and the words ending in metre all come from
a Greek word where there's a short it's epsilon not
0 eta; it's metron not metron. ABC please follow.