PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH HOWARD SATTLER, RADIO 6PR
28 NOVEMBER 1990
2 AND OE PROOF ONLY
SATTLER: Can you tell us what you told Mr Hand and Senator
Bolkus? PMi Essentially I am in for the long haul.
SATTLER: So you have put to rest the rumour., did you?
PMs When you talk about the rumours this was a media beatup
over there which had as much ( egisa the media were able to
give it, it had no substance as far as the party was
concerned. SATTLERt What started At
PMs Well with a quiet period you are always at risk in
_ politics ' when there is a couple of weeks break in the
parliament, you know Graham Richardson said the dogs start
barking a bit for no reason at all.
SATTLER They get a bit panicky a few of them, do they?
PM, ' Yes) and they had active imaginations. I mean I am not
often i the past been compared with Margaret, but somehow or
rather the Margaret Thatcher episode started to try and
create analogies in their mind which were not really there.
BATTLER: Do they talk to you about the opinion polls and how
you are going to get them back up again.
PMi What the two fellows who came to see to me?/
SATTLER Yes.
PMi No no no they were simply there to say you know a
thousand percenLt support.
2. SATTLERs Yet they are left winger.
PM: But lot 1me'say this that an far as my government is
concerned the level of the cabinet, the ministry, the
factional distinctions are not real. I mean you, the balance
from the Left are making excellent contributions, I mean
these two you mentioned Brian Hove without being exhaustive I
moan as a ministry and a cabinet this government doesn't work
in factional lines).
SATTLER: It's also being said that some party members want
you to make a definitive decision about how long you are in
for exactly by roundabout the middle of next year. Will you
be doing that?
PM. I have already made that decision and that announcement,
I will be taking the party into the next election.
SATTLERs And others are saying well if you are going to take
it into the next elections you should stay for a while after
that. You shouldn't just ask to be elected then go.
PMo Well you wouldn't go the next day would you but I mean
what I have made quite clear now f or quite a long period of
time in that after we win the next election I would think in
that next period it would be time to think about making way
for the successor then.
SATTLER: But you wouldn't go two more elections would you?
PM: No.
BATTLER: You would want to play more golf.
PM: Well one of my great-regrets about the quickness of this
trip Howard is that we are not able to fit a game in. I
would love to have had a game with you.
SATTLER: I bet you would, you have heard about my form of
late. PM: Mate only from you, you maid you are going out a bit but
I know you are izmnaculate with the truth but you might have
just been trying to set up a bet.
BATTLERs Well Margaret Thatcher is gone and I think a lot of
people would have thought that was unbelievable,, what about
you? PMa Well this is not being wise after the event because I
have had some discussion, with people after last April. I
met her of course an you know Howard when I went over to
Callipolli and I was struck then as I told my colleagues
afterwards in the conversation how almost, distraught is not
PM: ( cont'd) the right word but how despairing she was about
developmenti in Europe and her relationship to those
developments. She gave me the impression that thing. had got
away from her in regard to what was happening in EuropO and
she despaired, that there was anything that she could do about
it and when she adhered to her line on that against what wasn
clearly the emerging view within her own party, it's not
surprising to me that there came a showdown on that issue
because it's, an absolutely fundamental question in British
politics. Ia Britain going to be inside the movement and
working to shape the future of Europe, or is it going to be
as it where outside maying no no no# you can't have a more
fundamental question than that and quite clearly the great
majority of the Conservative Party had come to the conclusion
that the former was the way to go and so it couldn't have had
a more basic issue which I think in the end had to go to the
question of leadership.
BATTLERi What do you kcnow of her successor the British
Chancellor of the Exchequer John Major, apart from the fact
that you like: you he is a cricket fan and he could have
played for Surrey if he had not had a bad car accident.
PM. I met John Major at the Commonwealth Hfeads of Goverriment
meeting year in Malaysia. I didn't have a great opportunity
of dealing with him because of course at the prime minister
level I was basically dealing with Margaret but I you know
had a couple of conversations with him. I man it's too
early in a pursonal sense for me to make judgement about him
but obviously he has developed a pretty wide rang. of
experience in the period that he has been in of fice and I
believe that he will continue with what from Australia's
point of view, is very important that is the very strong line
that Margaret Thatcher took on the coimmon agricultural policy
which is so devastating for Australian farmers. I mean I
admired enormously the way she fought for our basic position
on that with her european colleagues and I certainly hope and
trust that John Major will continue to do that.
SATTLERs Does it worry you that as a 16 year old he couldn't
get a Job as a bus conductor because he couldn't add up.
PM: Well I guess all of us develop through lifea, there are
lots of us that couldn' t do certain things when we were 16
but become a ' bit adept to them later on.
BATTLERt: Well he has become the Chancellor of the Exchequer
so he must have learnt something and also I guess it shows
that treasurers can become leaders which for Mr Keating's
point of view in the longer term is good new.
PM: I don'tt' think Paul pins his chances of succession on
John Major arid I have made it quite clear and I think the
party accepts that when I do decide to stand down that it
will be Paul.
4. SATTLERs Nov on the local f ront the ACTU secretary Bill
Kelty is predicting a national unemployment level that will
through the 8% barrier, I think it's about what 7.4% now.
Do you agree with his prediction?
PKa Remember Howard he wasn't saying that it was going to be
there through, for long if it did-
BATTLERs No no he said short term but would you agree with
that? PM1 well it's possible it could I am not making any
predictions about it. The important thing from a point of
view of your listeners is that I remain convinced that the
economy is going to recover in 1991. 1 have been saying that
consistently and I think the evidence is there and I just
noticed in today's paper. the business investment figures are
up in a cheering sort of way so as your listeners know and I
think they know me pretty well we have said we had to slow
the economy down in the previous 12 months because we were
Just operating at too high a level with pulling in too many
imports. SATTLER: But you would agree there is still some short term
pain to come, we have got Ford Australia and International
Trucks Australia talking today about sacking another 1,000
workers before Christmas. Do you think there will be some
short term pain in the employment area?
PM: There may still be some more short term pain in the
employment area but the important thing is that when we go
into the recovery phase next year it's going to be on an
infinitely stronger basis than before.
BATTLER: But not a boom.
PM1 No as Australians we have got to avoid the boom and bust
mentality because the problem is that we have got to build a
situation where we can produce more in Australia to satisfy
the demand that developed in this country because when we
spill over from our domestic production into imports,
satisfying our demand with imports then that exposes the
unacceptable strains on our external account so we have got
to all of us, business, workers and government for its part
make sure that what we are doing is building up in this
Country a production capacity which is going to be able to
satisfy our own demands and build up our own external you
know export capacity. That's the great challenge that faces
this country Howard.
BATTLER. You are pretty happy about the wages tax trade off
last week aren't you?
PM: Yes I % no committed to that right f ram the beginning.
When Paul camie around to see me to talk about what we were
doing I said Paul you don't have to persuade me on this you
would have to persuade me against it, against doing it and we
were totally at one on that because it offers Australia
Howard the real possibility of cementing into place a
continued reduction in the inflation, in the basic inflation
rate. What Australians are now enjoying and what with good
management we can enjoy in the next year a situation where
our inflation rate is coming down and the rest of the world
basically is going up. That big gap that we have had Howard
between our inflation rate and the rest of the world is
narrowing enormously and that'sa to our advantage.
SATTLERs But what would you say then to our Trades and Labor
Council who have opposed the trade of f and they are saying
this morning the money should have come from the employers
not the surplus. How do you react to that?
PM: Well tho important thing is that their standards that
their disposable income, real disposable income be kept up.
Now you can have your real disposable income kept up by a
combination of what happen. to money wages, what happens to
taxes and what happens to prices. So if in fact by operating
through the tax side you can at least keep your disposable
income up and at a lover inflation level than in the
immediate and longer to= i that's much more to the advantage
of their zoembers.
BATTLERt And you don't send any more employers to the wall?
PM. Well that's right. The community in a sense through the
tax system is picking up that cost and that means you don't
feed it into the inflation structure. That means that your
competitive position, your capacity to employ people is
increased. SATTLER; Yee I think what they are upset about is that they
were not let in on the discussions before the agreement was
made. PM: And I can understand that concern but where you have
democratically elected leaders as the trade union movement
does and they were elected right through up to leadership of
the ACTU level, they have got to represent the trade union
movement and 3: think your people here would know that in Bill
Kelty and Martin Ferguson and the people there they have very
capable and committed people of integrity. They didn't make
this decision lightly.
BATTLERs Now this morning you are to go into what could be
termed a greenies den, the World Conservation union
conference. Are you comfortable with your government's
recent move, to encourage sustainable development in this
country or do you think that for a while there your
government gave the greenies too much latitude?
PM: It wasn never a question of giving the greenies too much
latitude I have never approached this thing on the basis do I
do this for then greens or do I no do this for the greens. I
mean inevitably Howard you will appreciate, I am sure your
listeners will that when you are confronted with a particular
decision about a development project or about putting a
particular area on the world heritage list it's going to be
interpreted and read is this for the green. or against the
greens. Now inevitably that's the way it will be interpreted
but what I always try and do with my colleagues is to say
well what is right for Australians today and what is right
for ou~ r kids and our grand kids.* Now wrhere we have come down
and made a decision which has been as it were pro
environmental I have made that decision with my colleagues
because I think that in best for Australia. There are other
decisions I have made where for the same reason what I think
is best for Australia the greenie. have come out and said
what's Hawkie done now. You know they didn't like it so I am
not the greenies man or the non gremnies man I am Australia's
man and that's what you have got to do.
SATTLERo Well I am sure you're aware the West Australian
government has decided to allow mineral exploration in three
of our national parks and three big ones at that, do you
think the greenies have got a case in criticising that?
PM: They will always criticise. I mean when you talk about
the greenie. you have got to recognise there is no monolithic
gree~ n M1Oveafent there are shades of opinion within it, shades
of green if you want to put it that way and they are not all
going to say about every decision the same thing.
SATTLERi No I looked at the list of them going to this
conference and there are about 20 or 30 different groups.
PM Yes well that's right I mean it's a very large group
some 3,000 people or something as I understand from all.
around the world at it. But in regard to the decision over
here I think what Carmen and the government ha. done is say
well I think it's three out of sixty parks isn't it in which
they'll allow mining.
SATTLER: That's right.
PM: And it will only in the end after exploration be allowed
after the most careful scrutiny of it and if it is then
allowed that particular part will be excised from the park so
that in the end the part this will remain inviolate.
SATTLERs Now West Australia to a degree embarrassed the
Labor movement in Australia, Labor governments with a so
called WA Incorporated and now at last a royal commission.
Was that greeted with come relief over in Canberra?
7.
PM Well let ma say two things about it Howard. The first
is this that the conduct of the af fairs of government of a
State are the responsibility of that state government and we
as a federal government recognising the lines of jurisdiction
that exist has sort either in regard to Western Australia or
any Other State to intervene and say how they should conduct
them. SATTLER; But politically it did impact on you didn't it?
PM Ye. that's the first thing it doe. but secondly yes
obviously Howard the dissatisfaction that existed over here
in regard to what's christened WA Inc spilled over for us. I
mean these sort& of issues know no boundaries between federal
and state I mean if a state government is going badly and
it's of our political prsuasion# yes we will be hurt by it,
in the same sense and let me fair about this if it's
perceived that we are not going too well at a particular
stage our statui colleagues will suffer. Now the second point
that leads into is this that having said all those things I
would say that the decision is a sensible one. While all the
concern was there and people were going on and there was
innuendo then it was a bit of a stinking dead cat which was
hanging around their necks and wasn't going to go away so I
would think that they have made the right decision but it was
their decision for them to make.
ENDS