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PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF DOORSTOP, BEAUFORT HOTEL, DARWIN,
OCTOBE 1990
3 & a 03 PROOF ONLY
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke are you aware of reports that the
Malaysian Prime Minister has ordered the Australian
Ambassador In to be carpeted over the Australian series
Embassy? PM4: Yes I've seen the report and I Just want to say
these things, about It. Firstly, I haven't had the
opportunity of, at this stage, talking with my people.
I'll do that, in the near future. Secondly, I want to say
that, of course, the ABC is a totally independent
Organisation of the Government. We don't control the
ABC, in fact, you might have noticed that at times the
ABC has ever, been critical of me. Thirdly, I can assure
my friend, Dr Mahatir, that no offence would ever have
been intended towards himself, his Government, or the
people of Malaysia but I will get a full report on it-
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, there's a report in this morning's
press that Abu Nidal was somehow responsible for the
sailors being told not to wear their uniforms. Is that
correct? PM: You'll appreciate that I never have and never can
comment on secret intelligence matters and I don't intend
to on this occasion.
3OURNALIST: Is there any evidence that they're operating
at all in Australia?
PM: You heard my answer.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, since you last expressed your
optimism about the economy there's been a report from
your own Government that the figures are showing the
worst bankruptcies, consumer and business bankruptcies,
in five years. Have you any comment to make on those
figures? PM: I'll simply repeat what I've said in the Parliament
which Is indisputably the fact. Firstly, that while
there is pain in the community, which I regret has been
necessary, the tact is that this country is not anywhere
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near in as bad a recession shape as it was in 1982-3 when
we ca ms to office and rescued this country from the worst
recession in 50 years. Doesn't matter what statiStiC you
look at.* Whether It's employment, you'd had five
quarters of negative employment growth then. Now you
haven' t got negative employment growth. Whether you look
at investment, whatever statistics you look at it was
much worse then. We've had to slow the economy down
because we were bringing in at pre-existing levels of
activity an unsustainably high level of imports.
Fortunately, it seems now that the Impact of the tight
policies that we've had to impose have had sufficient an
effect. As I've said with the easing of monetary policy
now I think we will. see as we go into 91 the sort of
recovery in the economy that we want to see.
JOURNALIST: Is there a danger of the property market
Ooverheating after yesterday's drop in home loan interest
rates?
PH: Not overheating. It had dropped very considerably,
as you know. Therem will be some recovery I think. The
easing of monetary policy was necessary because we'd gone
as far as was nece13sary to slow the economy generally but
as I say I think there will be some recovery in property
prices. JOURNALIST: Is there more short term relief on the way
for home owners?
PM: We are not making any commitments about further
movements. I thinkI we've shown in 1990 with the five
drops we've had now in rates since January that we have
been prepared to be flexible in the conduct of monetary
policy. We mustn't be irresponsible. We can't afford a
Osituation where you drop rates that low that you run the
risk of turning the economy to such a high level of
activity that we'd have the same current account deficit
problems that we had to deal with before.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke
PM: Just a minute. There are a number of other people.
You've had three. Yes.
JOURNALIST: Are the banks being flexible enough?
PH: There was some evidence, as you know, that the banks
perhaps weren't as quickly as we thought they should have
been translating the falls in official rates through to
rates to their customers. That they may have been trying
to adjust the significant book losses they'd had from
some of their corporate decisions. As my friend and
colleague, Paul Keating, has said the evidence now does
seem to suggest that they are getting now back to more
appropriate procedures. We certainly hope that that's
the case.
JOURNALIST: Do you think next week's airline
deregulation weill result in real competition?
PM: It has already. You could see that there have been
significant cuts in airfares round Australia as they are
getting ready for that deregulated environment. That's
what we expect~ ed would happen. It's a remarkable thing
about AustraliLan politics and it's relevant to say it
here in this electoral context here. The great hypocrisy
of Australian politics is that the conservative parties
whatever name they happen to go under. They change their
names as frequently, and you know about that up here, as
other people change their clothes. The conservative
parties are the parties In Australian politics who have
talked about competition, free competition, creating free
competition, getting the market going. They presided in
this country over the throttling policy of a two airline
policy which mesant that there was no competition. It
took my Goverarment to bring that two airline policy to an
end and as a result the people of Australia are going to
be the beneficiaries of that.
JOURNALIST: There are complaints that some of the budget
airfares advertised aren't available.
PM: Well I don't run the airlines. What I do is to
create the environment within which without any doubt
there are now occurring round Australia significant falls
In airf ares.
JOURNALIST: In relation to the Territory election.
Mr Hawke. Do you think it's legitimate for Marshall
Perron to have used the forthcoming Premiers' Conference
in Brisbane as what he calls the catalyst for this
election? PM: There've been many pieces of hypocrisy of which
conservative politicians in the Northern Territory have
been guilty. Marshall Perron with this one just about
takes the cake. He says he's called the election to seek
a mandate going to the Premiers' Conference. This is an
absolute nonsense. In fact, if anything, he's reduced
the effectiveness with which a Government of the Northern
Territory can go to the Conference cause it may be that
the result of the election wouldn't be known by the time
we go into the Conference. Although I think it will be
and that Terry and the Labor Party will be forming the
Government. But that runs that considerable risk. Now
he's created a quite false set of expectations as to what
the Premiers' Conference is about. That he's going to
come there an~ d talk about Aboriginal affairs, about
ATSIC. Those Sort of things aren't on the agenda. It's
important to note that every other Premier and Chief
Minister is taking this Special Premiers' Conference
very, very seriously indeed. In saying that I refer not
merely to my Labor Party colleagues but I particularly
and Specifically include Nick Greiner, the Liberal
Premier of New South Wales. None of them are playing
politics with this. They're going in there, we've had
significant discussions. we're going in there to try and
ensure that constructively and cooperatively together we
can deal with issues where there is overlap of functions.
Deal with questions of microeconomic reform and so onl.
Now not one leader in Australia has attempted to play
politics with this except Marshall Perron. The people of
the Northern Territory, I think, ought to be disgusted
with the way in which in regard to this historic move,
this Special Premiers' Conference, so regarded by my
political colleagues and my political opponents, a very,
very important move. All this man here can do is to play
politics with it and in so doing, to some extent,
PreJudice the interests of the people of the Northern
Territory. A thoroughly despicable move.
O JpOrUeRpNaArLeIdS Tt: o aMdrd rHeaswsk et, h e whiislseue yoouf ' rteh e hBearer unwgoau lds tyaotue mebnet
painting? PM: I've already done that. I've had the communication
from those concerned. They've said it's appropriate that
it should be kepot in Canberra.
JOURNALIST: Mr Perron has called for a relief to petrol
Pticas in the Northern Territory.
PM: When does t: his man stop playing politics. I mean he
just happens to have an election coming up. So he sends
me off a letter which everyone who knows anything about
the situation knows is a stack of nonsense. We have a
position where t: he price of crude oil is thoroughly
volatile. It moved frqm US$ 20 per barrel before the Gulf
crisis went up to over 40 now it's back down in the
O of volatile Yporui cdeosn ' tl ikceo ndtuhcatt. ecTohneo mmiucc hp omloircey osne nstihbe lebasis
approach to that is what has been adopted by my friend
and ministerial colleague, Bob Collins. After
consultation with his friends here in the Northern
Territory to say well look there may be some questions
about petrol pricing across the north of Australia
generally would we be prepared to look at that. We have.
We've got a comnittee there that he's now establishing of
parliamentary representatives. All of them, of course,
Labor Party because we represent the north of Australia.
We'll look forward as a Government to the work of that
committee to sea if there are some things that we may be
able to do to fine tune policy in regard to petrol policy
and help. That's the way to do it. Sensibly like that
and not to play ridiculous politics like Marshall Perron
is now.
JOURNALIST: Mr Smith says he's calling, if elected,
he'll call on the Federal Government to help support a
railway from Alice Springs to Darwin.
PM: If they want to approach us on that. We will always
listen to what the Government of the Northern Territory
hiR Mn say. There have been approaches before. At the
time when we were approached before it didn't, on the
basis of the approach that was made to us, look to be
viable. But there may have been some changes since then
that Terry waints to put to us after assuming Government.
I would always listen to what he had to say. For
Instance, also, he's got some ideas about reducing the
impact of electricity charges here in the Northern
Territory. Perhaps by charging me and the Coummonwealth a
bit more and his own Government facilities so that that
could then bek hypothecated to reducing electricity.
charges to domestic consumers. Now these sort of things
together, may I say, with the idea of the form of the
Treasury operations, which he's suggesting, shows an
imaginative and vital approach to government for the
Northern Territory. In regard to the Treasury
Corporation Idea there what Terry is saying is that there
are ways in which you can get significant savings over
and above what's done now. Where each utility or
facility goes about the business of working out it's own
fundraising and then doing it through private merchant
banks or the like. Now the Idea he has in mind Is
imaginative and more in line with what's been done in New
South Wales and Queensland. Where it would be done
centrally and the Treasury Corporation would itself do
the operation of raising those funds. In that way it
could be a significant saving to the Territory. So all
these sorts of things show that Terry and those around
him have approached this question very seriously. You've
got the great: contrast between Terry Smith and Labor.
They're not trying to play politics in this election.
They are saying you've had a long period of conservative
Government here and it really has degenerated into a
Pathetic sort: of Government over the years here. Against
O tphoalti tiacnsd. wheIrnet rdoeduscpienrga terlayc e thienyt o ariet btyr yicnogm pltoe tepllyay
misrepresenting the nature of ATSIC saying that ATSIC is
the fourth tier of government. There's not a
conservative politician round Australia who's said that.
In fact, I pay credit to the other conservative parties
around AustrEalia who have responded positively to my call
to say let's be bipartisan in the approach to this
fundamentally important issue of how constructively we
deal with our Aboriginal friends. How we try and get a
decent constructive effective relationship. But again In
the whole political spectrum there's one man and one
party that stands out. That's Marshall Perron and those
around him here who've introduced this nasty element of
racism into the election. For which they have properly
received the rebuke of a wide range of unpolitical people
in this country. Now that's the sort of choice you've
got. A man and a party who are about issues how are you
going to Improve the conditions of the people in the
Territory andi those who are desperately, whether it be In
regard to the Premiers' Conference, ATSIC, petrol prices,
just treating Northern Territorians as though they were
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JOURNALIST: Mr Elawke just on a lighter note. Who would
you* be backing in the Caulfield Cup?
PM: Very, very difficult. I'll tell you what I think
the chances are. Then if you force me to I'll try and
pick one. The chances I think are Sydeston, I think
Sh~ zohra, Solar Circle and there's one down the list.
It'l11 come to me in a minute.
JOURNALIST: You know that you can bet on the Territory
election at the races here today?
PMO: No I don't bet I just help to get the result. I
think Terry's a good bet. I confine my betting to the
gallops.
O hJeOrMeR AtLoI STTe: r ryW ewliln. n ihnogw tihmlpe oretlaenctt iodon ? you see your visit
PM: I don't want to overstate it. They've been kind
enough to say that it could be of some assistance. I
hope it will be. Essentially what the people of the
Northern Territory have got is a very clear choice
between a tired Government. Proof of it's tiredness and
laec of policies is, as I say, these red herrings. The
introduction of race, the complete misrepresentation
about the Special Premiers' Conference, the nonsense
about petrol pricings. Those are the signs of a tired,
irrelevant Government. Against that you've got a
vibrant, imaginative group of people led by Terry who
really are about wanting to deal with real issues. If in
any way I can assist in getting those issues somewhat
clearer in the miLnds of~ yoters well I'll be happy.
ends