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PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT, MORNING EXTRa, SYDNEY
26 APRIL 1984
E. O. E. -PROOF ONLY
it's very hard to make any comments upon Dr Caldicott's
own comments because they are so emotional and many of them
false. Obviously Dr Caldicott received some different advice
after her initial outburst because she was reported as saying
quite different things at the rally subsequently about myself
and what I could do and so on. I think that the subject is such
anl important one that it warrants rational discussion and not;
emotional falsehoods and that's why I am rather pleased at the nature
of the debate that has developed actually within the Labor Party
which had previously tended to be highly emotional and has now
reached a more senisible level.
QUESTITON: A quarter of a million, or approximately a quarter
of a million Australians marching on the issue must mean something
then, Well, what does it mean to you?
QUESTION: Well, how do you look at it electorally?
Well, a quarter of a million marching what's the Australian
voting population?
QUESTION: But do you discount that then?
It's not a question of discounting, I simply try to be
rational and calm about these things. If I find-. that there
are a quarter of a million people or 200,000 or 150,000 whatever
the number is and there are great varieties in the estimate.
You've got to put that in the context of alot of people who
werbenht marching. If you talk about that particular issue
uranium mining, it seems to me to be much more rational to look
at the latest scientific poll that we've done on it. And that
shows a very, very clear majority of Australians in favour of the
policy ' of the Government not only a majority of Australians,
a majority of Labor voters. Now.. ask me the question about -that,
what's the significance of that for the election. Is that the
more significant thing to look at that than number of people
marching? QUESTION But does it...
Look, are we here to have a debete about uranium and the
Government's policies on it?
J" Aft
QUESTION: Well, we are looking at the uranium question,
Yee. The ABC has tackled this question once already, in a
way in which it put its line. Now, if we are going to be here
in a situation of you putting the anti-uranium line then that's
O. K. with me, but I didn't think thats what this is about.
QUESTION: Well, we are here to discuss many issues
with Labor Party policy
Good, well let's get on with it then.
QUESTION: This is one of the latest issues that~ has come up,, and
uranium has concerned alot of people, enough people to march
250,000 people to march.
Look, let's be quite clear about this. We've handled that
you talked about it, you put the argument about 250,000 people.
I put the proposition to you about a poll.. Now, you want to
keep coming back and saying there is something that is significant
and decisive about a number of people that marched. Now I've put
the overall poll figure to you. Nlow, if you want to keep
arguing the anti-uranium case and implications of marching -do so
and it will be another example of the way in which on this program,
this institution is going to push a particular line.
QUESTION: Mr Hawke, ABC biased questions, you've mentioned th~ e
ABC. In recent weeks you've criticised the ABC for bias against
the Federal Government, and the Labor Party. Can you give us
specific examples of that line?
Again, it's a pity you couldn't get your facts straight..
I wasn't talking about bias against the Labor Party. I talked.
about bias I am certainly not going to engage in a discussion
with you about bias on the ABC. I believe that Mr Whitehead may
be meeting with me. If he wants to raise the question, I'll
talk about it with him if he wants to.
QUESTION: You asked the ABC . to approach you to talk about the
question of bias?
No, I didn't.
QUESTION: How did the proposed meeting you just mentioned
come about then, or the possibility of
I think that's a matter for the management of the ABC
and myself. It's not a matter for discussion on your program.
QUESTION: You said that we ' didn't get our facts right concerning
bias, you mentioned biAs on the ABC, then what were the facts?
I am not here to discuss the issue of ABC bias with you.
If Mr Whitehead wants to discuss the matter with me, that's where
I'll discuss it. I'm not going to discuss it on your program.
QUESTION: You don't think the ABC is biased or you do think it's
biased?*
I don't know whether you want tolachieve a situation
similar to something that occurred before it seems as though
you want to. I'm not going to satisfy your desire in that
regard. I have answered your question on this twice, do you
want me to answer it again or are we going to occupy the time
between now and 10.45 with you asking the same question and
me answering it. isn't twice enough?
QUESTION: Perhaps you'd prefer somne calls Mr Hawke.