OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER
CANBERRA u k LISCIARV
Attached is a transcript of an interview with
the Prime Minister by Richard Colville for the%
Channel 10 programme, " Sunday Report".
The interview covers the Premiers' Conference,
the Budget, and Afghanistan.
Alister Drysdale
29 June 1980 Z I fS0? a r/ c-3i
PRESS OFFICE TRANMSCRTPT SNA UN 918
INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD COLVIL1LE
Question: The Premiers have been somewhat critical of the deliberations
of the Loan Council rather than what went on with the Premiers'
conference. Why have loan approvals been kept Co what must
be I suppose the barest acceptable minimum?
Prime Minister:
They have been kept tight because there have been substantial
other funds available. The tax reimbursement funds are rising
quite considerably by an average of something a little over
11% it varies a little from State to State.
A couple of years ago, we began with the States a major
new programme of national development to underpin the growth
and progress of Australia in the 1980s major resource projects,
opening new mines, coal mines or whatever it might be, providing
the power which is needed for indust-ry, for the expansion of the
aluminium industry and aluminium smelters. It is all vastly
expensive and because of the pace of development projects
in Australia, new efforts, new initiatives are needed by
governments. Six months ago I wrote to the States and asked them to bring
forward new electricity generation projects for electricity
based on coal. We have good supplies of coal and by world
standards, we can produce cheap electricity. That would enable
us to at-tract more industries for processing, for manufacturing
and it will help to employ more Australians.
Now the States put forward a large number of projects.
They put forward projects in relation to rail electrification
and very, very large sums of money are involved in this.
The ~ total programme is now running between $ 4 and $ 5 billion
over several years they're ' approvals. So.. this is a new area
of funds available to the States. Again, in -the total funds
available to the States around 10 or 11 percent in the circumstance
it is not unreasonable for one or two of the States major
resource States the funds are a good deal higher than that.
But it is becaus3-of these new programmnes-for national
development, access to funds, the States borrowing overseas,
that the other demands of government have been kept very tight
because there has to be an overall. limitation on ahat the
Government can assume and what governments demand from the
economy.
Question: A couple of Premiers or State leaders, Mr Ferguson and Mr Hamer
in particular, have said that they will probably have to put
up State charges because of what happened here today. How do
you react to Chat? SUNDAY JUNE 29 1980
-2
Prime Minister:
Premiers will always go away, anld i~ f they have an unpalatable
thing to do, they will -blame the Co-' monwealth or blame the
Premiers' Conference, the Loan Council meeting. That is
the way I think it will always be. But I only ask you to look
at-what a number of Premiers not. all, a numberhave
said year after year about Premiers' Conferences. The dire
predictions of calamity after the Premiers' Conference a year
ago, but as a ' result of that Premiers' Conference, and a
result of our economic policies, there has been stronger econo-ic
growth than the Treasurer foreshadowed at the time of the last
budget. We are in a much, much better Dosition* than many countkies
overseas with lower rates of inflation here than America or
3ritain where it is double ours, more than double. There is a
degree of tradition in what the Premiers say, but obviously,
if there is inflation which nobody likes, State charges are
going to have to go up because the ' State bodies-whether it is
for water supplies or sewerage or for electricity generation
while they borrow funds for some of their capital works, they
also need to generate funds internally. Any normal business
operates in that way. Therefore,. costs are going up and
charges for those kind of State services, are inevitably
going to go up from time to time. I don't think it is real
life to say that those things are going up because of the
Premiers' Conference and the Loan Council as such. They are
basically going up because the States want more revenue.
I am not criticising that, but I would say that they should
take responsibil. ity for their own decisions and not try and
suggest that it is something, somebody else has done.
Question: Speaking of raising revenue, you are now working on your
next budget the pre election budget. What can we look
forward to there?
Prime Minister:
I am afraid you will have to wait and see. The only thing that
I have said about that budget as I have said about others, is
that it will be a responsible budget. Against the philosophy of
what we have done, it will be against what we believe to be
right for Australia to embark on the path of trying to buy votes
in the pre-election budget, and we are not going to do it.
It would be a wrong thing, I believe if the government
takes that path it is adopting a somewhat cynical attitude
towHards the people of A_' ustralia, because I have always believed
the average Australian can judge for himself whether a government
is acting in his best interest or not. And that average Australian
also knows that a government which is going to do what is right
for the country can't always do what is popular. Obviously,
we would prefer to if we can, but there are some times as
we have shown over the last five years when awkward decisions
have been necessary. Now, I don't want anyone to conclude from
that that there will be awkward decisions in the next budget.
The only word I would apply to it is responsible. ./ 3
3
Question: And not a vote buying buciet?
Prime Minister:
Not in the sense in which it is meant to be, no. In the common
ja'rgon, no, most certainly not.
Question: Turning to foreign affairs. Over the last couple of weeks
there has been a change to the Russian status in Afghanistan,
or a promise of a change. The Russians have said
that they will withdraw some troops. What is your reaction
to this? Do you think it is at least something of a success for
your stand over Afghanistan?
Prime Minister:
I have seen reports to the nature of troops that are likely
to be withdrawn, and I don't think they are ones that are
much use in battling with the insurgency the rebels, the
freedom fighters in Afghanistan. SO, in. a sense, I think it
is a phony withdrawal. On our advice, it is a withdrawal
to the border or just over where there are about 40,000 other
troops waiting to reinforce units in Afghanistan if that should
be necessary, and reinforce at short notice.
So, I don't place much store on that. But there is a point
that is interesting. The Soviets have shown over what they
said about that withdrawal -however phony or false it might
be -that they are to an extent, responsive to world opinion.
They have shown that they are concerned to an extent with the
odium which has been cast at them and the slur upon the
Soviet name as a result of their invasion, and oppression
and suppression of Afghanistan.
Again, to an extent-and all of this has real qualifications
on it -that is a sign that does have some encouragement in it.
Because if world opinion, and those who make it all the countries
o2 tCe world, large, small, third world, Islamic countries,
countries lik. Australia can know that speaking with a conmon
voice and in this case a common voice of condemnation, and taking
some actions which give strength to that condemnation, if they
can know that it is going to have an impact on Soviet policies,
well then that gives us a capacity and a hope for being able
to build a better and safer world. I don't overstate it, but
it is something to think about.