PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF DOORSTOP, CANBERRA RACECOURSE, 7 MAY 1989
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JOURNALIST: Prime Minister would you encourage moves by the
Labor Party to not run a candidate against Mr Macphee if he
ran as an independent?
PM: It's purely hypothetical. Mr Macphee is yet to make a
statement about what he's going to do. I don't see any
benefit for me or Mr Macphee in speculating about what will
happen. The only certain thing is of course that the
Liberal Party has demonstrated conclusively its lurch to the
extreme right. Now how that develops to Mr Macphee's
advantage or ours is a matter that will be worked out in the
future.
JOURNALIST: What should he do then, Sir?
PM: It's not a matter for me to tell Mr Macphee what to
do. I wouldn't presume to tell Mr Macphee what he should
do. That's his business.
JOURNALIST: Will this whole incident rebound on Mr Howari?
PM: Yes. It already has.
JOURNALIST: Do you think this will be the turning point as
to whether they'll win or lose the election?
PM: That point was passed a long time ago. They were never
going to win it.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke what about the possibility of an Aci'
Liberal/ Labor coalition?
PM: Well it conjures up some remarkable pictures doesn't
it. I really haven't been involved in that.
JOURNALIST: Would you support it?
PM: Again, if the Party here were to work out that that's
the only way in which there could be a sensible governing
position arrived at, well then I guess we could live with
that. JOURNALIST: Is it important for the ACT Labor Party
PM: Let me say that if it happens here there is no chance
of it happening anywhere else at a state or a federal level.
JOURNALIST: Well if it did happen would it be embarrassing
to the federal sphere?
PM: No it wouldn't be embarrassing to-me. I think the
embarrassment would perhaps be for the Liberal Party to some
extent. But I mean they have now got a system here which
has sown up some very strange results and some people might
regard this as sort of a crowning of achievement in an
episode of rather bizarre developments.
JOURNALIST: What about the fact that your Labor Party's
been talking with the No Self Government Party with a
possibility of a coalition.
PM: I've run out of interest in this subject my friend.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke do you think now that people who are
against Mr Howard might see it as a good time to challenge
him for the leadership at all?
PM: There's been a serious undercurrent against Mr Howard
now for over a year, very intense and the only reason he's
there is that they can't discover anyone who they think's
got any qualities of leadership to replace him. But I think
the councils of desperation may be accelerating a bit now.
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