PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P. J. KEATING MP
INTERVIEW WITH JOHN LAWS, RADIO 2UE, 20 OCTOBER 1994
E& OE PROOF COPY
PM: the rain is pouring down.
JL: Well, that's terrific news because I just had a call from somebody in
Yarrawonga, it's raining there and I rang the valley this morning, it's
raining there, they had some thunderstorms in Brisbane last night and
maybe some more today. So, perhaps the rain has returned, Prime
Minister.
PM: Well, I just hope it is widespread. That's the main thing, John.
JL: Yes, pretty important. So is Creative Nation, creative Australia. It
seems to have been pretty well received. There are a few knockers
there. Some saying it was an electoral bribe, I suppose there has to
be elements of that in anything don't there?
PM: Well, I think the arts are so central to where Australia is going to not
just the formation of our identity, but the expression of it and that so
much of the transmission of what Australia is in film and in other things
we do, dance, theatre, that this was the right time to give a new
direction to the arts and to support it.
JL: Yes, I agree with that and it is something, of course, that we should
always be looking to. Somebody has got to have a view of Australia,
not everybody might like your particular view, but at least you have a
view. We have got to have a vision for our country and we need a
cultural vision for our country as well and that is why it should have
been well received.
PM: This is not simply my view of Australia, John, by funding the various
agencies of the arts whether it is the Australia Council or the major
institutions or film and television or multi media or what have you it is
then up to individual creative people to then manage their interests, to
define their own view of Australia and their own view of particular
elements of the arts. So, in a sense, all the Government can be here
and all the Government should be here, is a facilitator.
JL: Yes, why the emphasis on the information super highway as it's called.
Is that tremendously important to Australia's future?
PM: It will be John because I think we are moving into an information age. I
think that we are going to see very refined product of very high value
transmitted around the world and at this point in time a very large
preponderance of the product is English speaking. We are an English
speaking country with a tremendous capacity to develop software and
as you know we have a sophisticated film and television industry
JL: Yes, we do.
PM: And a very high standard education system. So, it seems to me we
are really well set up if we take the advantage, take the option, of
actually producing product for international dissemination on the fibre
optic highway and satellite.
JL: It all amounts to an awful lot of money, but I suppose money shouldn't
be taken into consideration at this time except that you are going to
have the knockers and they are there, who will say and, I suppose, to
a degree correctly, it might have been unfortunate timing because of
the drought, but maybe today's rain puts pay to that criticism.
PM: I think you can do more than one thing at a time.
JL: Well, that's what you and I have talked about before. I mean, it is a
strange sort of government that can't handle more than one thing at a
time, but people quite often want it not to be that way if it doesn't suit
them, but governments must be able to, obviously, all governments at
all levels have got to be able to handle more than one thing at a time.
PM: I met the banks yesterday about the drought and the banks were
saying that they think the structural policy is right, following that
package that I announced on behalf of the Government about three
weeks ago. Now, in respect of the arts we have got a $ 250 million
policy over four years which is roughly $ 60 million a year. Well, the
budget is $ 110,000 million so $ 60 million is not going to break the
bank. But, what it does for the arts is to encourage them, give them
direction and the financial support that, I think, things like, for instance,
John, let me just run through a few of the things: We are establishing
a production fund with the networks and independent producers to
produce higher quality mini-series type, higher quality in television
products for Australian television. Now, I think, that is a thing worth
doing. It is going to create work for our creative people, our
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producers, directors, actors, writers, in the same way we're doing the
same for SBS. In the Australia Council we're picking up a major
organisation's board to pick up bodies such as the Australian Chamber
Orchestra, the Bell Shakespeare Company, perhaps, the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra...
JL: Who is complaining the loudest?
PK: As you well know, once you do anything with the arts there is always
some criticism but, really, the criticism has been very mooted. There
has been tremendous support for this statement. I am delighted with it
and I'm glad that we were able to do it.
JL Yes, well, I think it is tremendously important. Just back to the banks,
quickly, what was their reaction when you asked them to go gently with
the farmers?
PK: Well, they have been, generally, going gently with the farmers. That is,
from... JL I tell you what, a lot of farmers out there would not agree with that.
PK: No, but if all the farms who could not meet their way, meet their
obligations, had their properties tipped into the market, you would
have a collapse in farm values. Now, the banks, sensibly, have not
done that. And, I think that given the fact that under the exceptional
circumstances arrangements that I announced a couple of weeks ago,
we are meeting up to 100 per cent of the interest cost on borrowings.
And, under the non exceptional circumstances RAS that's the Rural
Adjustment Scheme we're meeting partial interest payments. That's
keeping the banks going, that's keeping them in the game, and it is
keeping the weight off a lot of farmers.
JL: Yes, well, let's hope that today's rain perhaps might be the beginning
of the end of the drought, at least in some areas. Just before we leave
each other, back to the Creative Nation statement, are there changes
in the pipeline for the cross media ownership rules?
PK: No. There are no changes in the pipeline. But, what I was saying the
other night is we're going to see a time not far away, John, when the
cable that comes under your fence is going to be an optic fibre cable
or a coaxial cable which hangs from it. And, that will give you the
capacity for somewhere between fifty and a couple of hundred
channels of product. And, when that goes in, one of the products is
going to be telephones. So, you're going to have telephones and pay
television and other kinds of interactive products on the one line. The
expression for that is convergence. And, as we get convergence the
separation we now have between radio, television, print and telephony
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is going to change. That was my point. The technology and, of
course, above all of that, the satellites.
JL: So, there are not going to be any changes in the regulations for.., the
reason I'm asking the question is it is a question being asked by a
few what does Rupert Murdoch want in return for setting up the big
film studio?
PK: Well, he has asked for nothing. I have got to say that, I think, what he
would procure from this is because he has the Star Satellite now
transmitting from the Middle East to the Russian Far East and down to
Queensland, and that huge part of Asia, a lot of it will be not all of it,
obviously English speaking product. And, Australia is standing in
that part of the world, the unique nature of our film and television
industry means the system is hungry for product. I think he sees it
as a great opportunity to take, if you like, non American, English
speaking product out of Australia and put it on, basically, that
international system.
JL: OK. Well, thank you very much for your time, let's keep our fingers
crossed about the rain for the sake of the farmers. Is it raining heavily
in Canberra?
PK: Yes, we've got thunder here and it's coming down in sheets.
JL: OK. Well, let's hope it spreads all over Australia and thanks for your
time.
PK: Good, John.
ends.