PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF NEWS CONFERENCE, PARLIAMENT HOUSE, 27 JULY
1989 E 0 E PROOF ONLY
PM: Well the time has come when a very specific question
has to be put to Mr Peacock, the Leader of the Opposition.
The question is simple, quite uncomplicated. Did he or did
he not say to a luncheon meeting of the executives of John
Fairfax that the Opposition would not be releasing all the
details of its proposed spending cuts before the election?
Most specifically, did he tell the luncheon that there would
be two lists of spending cuts, one which would be released
before the election and one which would be kept secret?
JOURNALIST: Do you think he did?
PM: I'd be entirely unsurprised if he did and that's the
question that's got to be put him. The allegation has been
made now that he said there'd be two lists. one which he
would bring out and say to the people of Australia, ' this is
the proposal of the alternative government, here's the
spending cuts'. He has said however, that that's the only
list that the public will be told about. They will not be
told about the list that's kept secret to be sprung after
the election if the people are ever silly enough to elect
him. Now of itself, I repeat this is enough to ensure that
they would never do that, here he is with his multi
millionaire President, John Elliott, who wouldn't know
anything, anything at all about the needs of the Australian
people, saying that you've got to slash expenditures.. So
the man that he's put in as Leader of the Opposition
because Peacock is Elliott's creation is playing the
Elliott game, here is Elliott puppeteering Peacock. He
said, ' now I'll put you in because you're going to slash the
welfare of Australians'. ' Yes, Mr President, Sir', says
Peacock, ' but can I do it in a sly way'? ' Yes that's
alright, we'll do it t-he sly way'. We'll tell the people,
' here's our little minimal list of what we'll hit you with'.
But he's told Fairfax there's a secret hit list and when we
get in the puppeteer of Elliott will smash the Australian
people with that secret hit list. That's the challenge that
faces Mr Peacock as he now goes on his phoney, in the true
sense of the word, his phoney election campaign next week.
JOURNALIST: Why would he tell a group of newspaper
executives? Surely he'd expect it to get out?
PM: Well I can't tell what happens when Mr Peacock, the
puppet of Mr Elliott, I mean he may have thought that he got
some guarantee via Mr Elliott that he could say these
things. He's acting as Elliott's puppet, it's quite clear
in these things and perhaps the puppeteer told the puppet
that it was alright to tell him these things.
JOURNALIST: Prime minister, logic dictates that if it is a
genuine secret list you can't publicly acknowledge it, can
he? PM: Well, he would say in answer to that very interesting
question that he didn't publicly acknowledge it. He thought
he was having a secret meeting about a secret list but
unfortunately for the puppet, whatever the puppeteer might
have done and got some assurance that he could talk like
this and tell them that it was a real secret list, it wasn't
a secret meeting about a secret list. I mean, I hope
everyone understands just the dimension of what's involved
here. What's happened in Australian politics this year is
that you had a leader of the Liberal Party who wasn't doing
any good, he was no good for some obvious reasons. So the
President of the Party arranged for Howard to be dumped.
You know I'm not talking after the event, because I told you
all and you weren't quick enough to pick it up but I told
you what was going on, the President of the Party had to get
a show-piece to run the Party. So he said alright, out you
go Mr Howard and in I put my puppet. So it's all unfolding
because he said, the President, the multi-millionaire
President, the man with his retreat on the Mediterranean,
the Cote d'Azure, there he is. He's right, he knows all
about the needs of the Australian people. So he's put his
puppet in. He's said ' now sure you can talk about some cuts
to the Australian people, but not too big. So we'll draw up
the secret smash hit list'. So the puppet is, he's gone
along to the meeting which he thought was alright and he
said ' now that's what I've been told to do, that's what I'm
going to do, there it is'. Do you understand the enormity
of what's happening in Australian politics? Quite
remarkable.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, yesterday in light of the CPI
increase, the Metal Workers Union called for workers to get
their pay increases more speedily. Do you think they have a
case? PM: The way in which the processes of the wage increases
should be applied is a matter to be dealt with through the
Arbitration Commission.
JOURNALIST: Do you accept now, along with the Treasurer,
that the wages outcome of 6.5 percent, that it will now be
somewhat higher for coming
PM: I think, as Paul said, that it may be minimally higher,
but what we're entitled to say when I say we, I'm talking
about the Government and in this respect the trade union
movement they are entitled as a trade union movement and
we as a Government in terms of running economic policy, are
entitled to be judged in terms of what's been achieved in
the six years. In that period very, very significant wage
restraint has been shown. Remember what the outcome of that
restraint has been. Very significant reductions in real
wages, an enormous increase in the competitive position of
Australian industry, a reduction in real unit labour costs
of the order of 10 percent. So that's been achieved by the
exercise of very considerable restraint and I don't believe
that the trade unions of this country and certainly the
Government of this country are not going to throw away the
benefits of all that restraint. Now I'm sorry, I've got to
get back to ERC
JOURNALIST: collapse of Hookers?
PM: Well, one doesn't like to see a significant company
collapse, but we live in a situation where, as far as this
Government is concerned, we deregulated the market, we've
got market forces operating and market forces have operated
here. One hopes that in the circumstances this is not going
to provide problems for people who are involved in purchases
of properties and nor for employees, but these results of
market forces, of decisions which are taken by companies and
that's the name of the game. It's got nothing to do with
the fundamental strength of the Australian economy.
ends