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PRIME MINISTER'-.
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING, MP
DOORSTOP, CANBERRA, APRIL 2 1992
E& OE PROOF COPY
PM: I'll. just start by making a Couple of points. In the
House this afternoon the Leader of the Opposition in a
motion which apparently the Opposition had planned this
morning and was not spontaneous, that was a censure of
the Speaker, in a premeditated, careful and deliberate
way tried to suggest and link me and my role in public
life with some_ crim-inal behavio -ur which is now part and
parcel of the-NSW prion _ system..
Dr Hewson promised to make our public life and elevate
the parliamentary debate when he became Leader. The
Opposition has not been travelling well in Parliament
House for a number of weeks. But there are ways for
them to remedy that, that's lift their game and not try
to suggest that the NSW Labor Party is a criminal
organ isation.
I rang Dr Hewson a moment or two ago and I said to him
that I was very disappointed that he should have
stooped to such a tactic. Very much more in sorrow
than in anger, I said to him that I thought he should
reconsider his position, that he should either make a
withdrawal of what he said or repeat it outside the
Parliament where it can be adjudicated upon in the
appropriate manner, of course in the courts. He said
' 1 heard what you said', iand I said in that case you'd
better go and think about it. So I've left him on that
point. But I simply say this, that the contest of the House of
Representatives should be as it's always been about
policy and occasionally, of course, in the heat of the
moment personal remarks are made. But premeditated
remarks which reflect and try to put a criminal slur on
the one branch of the Labor Party which more than any
other has been pivotal the Federal Labor Party's
federal success and suggesting that it's a mafia which
runs from the prison system to the Prime Ministership
is a deliberate slur, totally without foundation,
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unjustified and can do nothing but lower the esteem of
the Parliament in the eyes of the public.
J: Do you think Leo McLeay's performance might have lead
Dr Hewson to exasperation?
PM: No. Because the Opposition were considering this
morning moving a Censure of the Speaker and you notice
it was moved not after in a raucous part of the debate
or a raucous answer, it was moved as Question Time had
come to Its natural end. it was a premeditated
movement to attack the one person who is not able to
attack in the Parliament. They have attacked the one
person who can't fight back, I mean if he wished to
attack anybody he should attack me. But as you know
the Question Time didn't go well for the Opposition end
hasn't done for weeks and they've decided now that they
should attack the most defenceless person in the place
which is the Speaker.
J: Prime Minister, what about the performance of the
Speaker, what do you really think?
PM: I think all Speakers are put under pressure whenever
the contest of ideas is being fought out. We've got
now two packages, we've got the ' One Nation' Statement
and we've got the GST tax of the Opposition, the goods
and services tax, and the debate is willing as it
should be in the national interest. And I think it is
very unfair of the Opposition to try to make an assault
on the speaker. If they wish to attack anybody, let
them attack the Government and we can handle their
attacks with consummate ease.
J: Mr Keating, does the Speaker enjoy your unqualified
support?
PM: He does enjoy my unqualified support. But the point is
not movement of 8 motion against Mr McLeay can for one
second absolve the Leader of the Opposition from what I
think is a sort of detraction which was only last seen
in the Parliament when a former Opposition Leader, the
former Opposition Leader called the former Prime
Minister a ' little crook'. This is the last time the
Parliament has got down to these depths and I think Dr
Hewson should repair the position.
ENDS.