PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS CONFERENCE
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA,
TUESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER, 1973
PRIME MINISTER: Ladies and gentlemen, we were able to fit this
in this morning which, as you know, I try to do alternatively
if I can but House business usually prevents us being evenhanded
between the afternoon papers and the morning. You will be
interested in the report which I have just tabled in the House of
Representatives from Mr Terry Winter on the use that can be made
by the Australian Government of the powers which we are seeking at
the Referendum on 8 December. Mr Winter was a member of the
ACTU Executive for many years; he was appointed by the Menzies
Government to the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration
Commission. There have been several Cabinet Committee meetings
this week but only a short one of the Cabinet itself. The only
announcement that I can make now there will be some at the end
of the week is of the Defence Force Ombudsman. You will remember
that in my policy speech last November I undertook to appoint a
military ombudsman. Mr Barnard has actively pursued this undertaking
to the stage where legislation is being prepared and we expect that
it will be introduced in the autumn session next year. In
anticipation of the passage of the legislation, the Government has
decided to name the first defence force ombudsman. He will be
Mr David Hay, CBE, DSO, who, as you know, is the Permanent Head
of the Department of External Territories. He is a man of very
considerable accomplishments he is well versed in matters of
Government, had a distinguished war record with the.. 2nd AlE' from
1940-1946, anid has taken an active interest in community affairs. The
Government is confident that together with his military experience
Mr Hay wil~ l bring a very desirable blending of administrative
capacity anid balanced understanding of service life to the office.
There wil. 1 also be an Australian ombudsman whose appointment will
be announced later on. The Winter Report, that was the one I was
referring to there. To give the long title Power Over Prices
and Incomes Report to the Australian Government on Certain
Matters Relating to Power over Prices and Incomes. Mr Winter acted
as a Task Force in the same way as Dr Coombs did on the inherited
governmental commitments. Are there any questions.
QUESTION: Why was the Winter Committee kept seeing as
you are under criLticism during the referendum campaicn for not
spelling out what you will do with prices power. Why didn't you
announce that the committee was meeting and would come up with
some report?
PRIME MINISTER: It was intended all along that its report would
be published. I asked for it by the 23rd of this month, it came
to hand on that date, copies have been made, it has been tabled and
now released at the first opportunity.
QUESTION: Do you condemn the killing on the Syrian front in the
October war of 24 bound and gagged Isracd-i pf~ isoners?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't know any facts on this but obviously we
condemn any breaches of what should be accepted standards of the
treatment of prisoners of war.
QUESTION: The European countries and Japan have been pressured
by the Arab States into adopting a much harder line o'n Israel nd
in particular into demanding a complete withdrawal a unilateral
withdrawal to the 1967 borders without any guarantees as to the
future security of Israel without any guarantees of secure
borders. What is the Australian Government's position on this now?
Do we go along with the position as stated by the Europeans and
the Japanese?
PRIME MINISTER: I will not comment on your version of what the
western European countries and Japan have done on this subject. I
do not endorse your version of it; I don't refute your version
of it; I speak on behalf of the Australian Government. As I said
in answer to a question without notice this morning, the attitude
of the Australian Government is the same as that of preceding
Governments. We have supported the Gorton Government, the McMahon
Government, the present Government have all supported the proposals
made by the Security Council unanimously in 1967 in its Resolution
No. 242. The Australian Labor Party summarised that Resolution
and made it part of its Party Platform at the last Federal
Conference in Surfers Paradise in July. I will read it to you
again as I did in the House. " The situation in the Middle East
remains the greatest threat to the peace of the world. There can
be no peace until the Arab States respect and recognise Israel's
sovereignty and right to exist. Equally, there can be no peace
until Israeli forces have been withdrawn from occupied territories
to secure and recognise boundries and a just settlement of the
refugee problem is achieved".
QUESTION: How much longer can you afford the luxury of being
criticised by the Federal A. L. P. President, Mr Hawke, and in view
of his latest public criticism of you and your Government
particuldiriy on the Middle East, do you belier tjtosr stat,: rnents
are daind. ginj to the Governmen~ t's standing and do you propose to
take step,, s tc, h:,. ve him silenced by the Fec ral A. L. P. ExecW-ivr
PRIM-E MINISTPL ilt 1Ii,,-: ke i~ i tde it quite plain he has been
at pains to emphasis~ e, and I repeated this in th,-House in answer
to two questions without notice this morning, that on this subject
he is sztoaking as a private citizen. He is cxpressing personal
views. the Lcader of the Government I have to carry out the
governmen-t's policy. I have just read it to you, it happens to
be the sanie policy as our predecessors had. Australia's policy
on the M~ iddle East is bipartisan. it has been for a quarter of a
century.
QUESTION: Sir, do you honestly believe that a man in high public
office can -uddenly take off the mantle of that office and speak
for himself? Also, do you believe that foreign embassies based
i. n Canberra will accept that in their reports back to their home
offices, and do you accept the same right for yourself that you
-7ouldl speak privately?
I. RIME MINISTER: No. As head of Government'I can only speak in
av,-cordance with Government policy and it is my duty, which I try
to discharge without let up, to carry out that policy. I believe
that embassies and High Commissions in Canberra know what the
Government's policy is.
QUESTION: It was my understanding that uranium leases in the
Northern Territory would not be renewed until the report of the
Woodward Commission was finalised and that understanding was
confirmed when you said in the House on 18 October that: " I believe
we should wait for its further report so that any legislation which
the Government puts before the Parliament will be as invulnerable
as is possible to anticipate". I now understand that a Cabinet
committee meeting yesterday decided to renew the exploration permits
in the uranium province of the Northern Territory. Could you
explain that apparent change in policy?
PRIME MINISTER: There are two matters I should point out. One is,
there is some confusion you seem to suffer it too between
leases and licences. The second is that Cabinet committees may
meet on subjects, and they are meeting on this subject, but the
decisions are made by the Cabinet. The Cabinet has not considered
this matter.
QUESTION: Do you see any need to conserve or perhaps ration
Australia's fuel supplies at this stage?
PRIME MINISTER: No. Mr Connor answered a question without notice
on this yesterday.
QUJESTION: What's the situation today regarding the Government's
efforts to solve the TAiA standoff. If it continues for any length
of time, do you have any estimates on how soon TAA will have to
stand down other staff people who may not be able to withstand
a long stoppage as well as the pilots?
PRIME MINISTER: I haven't discussed this with my colleagues
since last night. I haven't discussed it for, I suppose, 14 hours
now. I would imagine that the pilots will be going back to their
duty and that they will observe safety standards without complaint
from now on.
QUESTION: Going back when?
PRIME MINISTER: I have no more information on this.
QUESTION: Could you Lcoll me what your attitude is towards the
announcemrenlt by the P~ cr t. IAt they will seek an increase of
a week in the national wage and an increase in the minimtum wage
from $ 60 to $ 702?
PRIME MINISTER: This matter has not been considered by the Government
yet, and I would make no comment until it was.
QUESTION: Having in mind that last week the Senate rejected the
motion of a joint sitting to decide where the new Parliament House
should be, has your Government made any fresh move on this?
PRIME MINISTER: We haven't discussed it.
QUESTION: Do you think it will be decided this year before the
Parliament rises?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it is most unlikely. I imagine that both
Houses will be debating other matters until they adjourn for
Christmas and I see no chance of the Government discussing this
matter with the agenda it has.
QUESTION: Have you accepted the resignation of Senator Cavanagh
as Minister in Charge of Government Business in the Senate, if not,.
do you intend to, and thirdly, so that the matter can be clarified,
who in fact is in charge of Government business?
PRIME MINISTER: I am sorry, I have no more to tell you on this.
QUESTION: Last week you were quoted as saying that you expected
that any minister who wished to challenge a decision in Cabinet
back in the Caucus would inform the Cabinet first and you
referred to two offenders. Have you done anything further about
this?
PRIME MINISTER: No. You are referring to an answer I gave to
Mr Laurie Oakes in an interview which was published in the Melbourne
Sun last Friday or Saturday. I have done no more since then.
QUESTION: Recently a staff memorandum circulated between some
departments, said that in view cf the Government's support for
the United Nations sanctions on Rhodesia that public servants and
ministers would not be able to travel to or through Rhodesia and
citizens would not be able to go to Rhodesia on official or
diplomatic passports. This has been interpreted as meaning that
public servants may not go to Rhodesia even in a private capacity,
and I understand the decision was taken when you were Foreign
Minister. I ask does this in fact mean that public servants may
not go on private visits to Rhodesia and if it does mean this, do
you think this in any way affects their civil rights as citizens?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't remember the details of this now, it
was some months ago. The general attitude would be that public
servants and military officers have responsibilities to the
Government which they advise or, in many cases, represent. They
cannot detach themselves from their official position.
QUESTION: Do you mean that they couldn't even get a private
passport, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: If you want anything further on this I will have
to give you a considered reply to it, but I don't remember the
details. Public servants or military officers are not entitled to
compromise a Government. Now if you want further information, qive
me a written question and I will give you a written reply.
QUESTION: The Arab oil producers have taken to ranking different
nations according to their friendliness and favourableness such
as the Dutch and the Japanese etc. Has the Australian Government
had any official communication about the standing of the Arab
oil producers?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't believe so. I haven't inquired, I haven't
been informed. There has been some speculation about why Mr Haig
visited the oil countries the Gulf States and so on. I will
take this opportunity to point out that he visited the area weeks
before the outbreak of the 18 day war and the arrangements for
his visit were made many weeks before that.
QUESTION: Are you concerned that some of your ministers are being
unnecessarily provocative at question time with the length of
their answers. I ask the question because of an aside from the
Speaker to you during Question Time in which he appeared to be
asking you to pull some of them into line and it also appeared
from the Press Gallery
PRIME MINISTER: When was this, today?
QUESTION: During Question Time. There was a comment which came
across the loud speakers, in which he said you ought to tell some
of your ministers
PRIME MINISTER: I don't remember him saying this. I didn't hear
him say this?
QUESTION: It came over the earphones.
PRIME MTNISTER: I didn't hear it, I am sorry.
QUESTION: Are you concerned at all?
PRIME MINISTER: I believe that ministers naturally enough. reply
-in a tendentious way sometimes to questions which are asked in a
tendentious way. Questions without notice transgress the Standing
Orders constantly. All you ladies and gentlemen would realise that
one would not be allowed to put on notice a question in the terms
which are constantly used in questions without notice. There are
some very offensive terms and implications used in questions without
notice, and there is no such offence given in the replies.
QUESTION: Mr Hawke said last night that he thought about 50 per cc'nt
of Caucus agreed with his point of view and he said that he would
also do his best he thought he had a duty to do his best to
influence people to his point of view. Do you think Mr Hawke has
a right to influence or perhaps try to organise Caucus to try and
change the Party's policy on the Middle East?
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PRIME MINISTER: Any person has the right to influence opinions
of Members of Parliament. The Australian Labor Party has declared
an attitude on this matter in the terms I have just read out to
you, and all of us are bound by that until the Federal Conference
alters it. It is, I reiterate, substantially the policy which
Governments have pursued for the last quarter of a century in
Australia Australia has a bipartisan policy, a policy of
neutrality in the Middle East, and the Australian Labor Party's
Platform on this matter is a summary of the United Nations Security
Council's unanimous Resolution of 1967 No. 242. ' That resolution
provides the basis of a settlement in the Middle East and the
various interests which have to be safeguarded Israel's existence,
the Arab territories, the rights of the Palestinians, can be best
asserted and vindicated if that unanimous Resolution of six years
ago goes into operation. It is very fortunate now that there is
going to be this meeting, these negotiations in Geneva next month.
QUESTION: You have set such a cracking legislative pace that
you have hospitalised some members and caused bad backs all round
the House.
PRIME MINISTER: Bad backs are not on our side.
QUESTION: I was wondering, Sir, apart from the damage done to the
inhabitants of Parliament House, do you think this cracking pace
is damaging your image with the public and perhaps confusing them?
PRIME MINISTER: I think the cracking pace may be confusing the
public in so far as there isn't the opportunity to explain the
purpose or the details of the legislation. This year there will
be about twice as many bills passed by the Parliament as there
has been in any previous year. But when you mention the cracking
pace, this is the cracking pace of legislation. I would point
out that th-e Parliament's hours are very much more civilised. While
we are sitting more hours in the day, for instance, we are sitting
on Tuesday and Wednesdays in the morning as well as in the afternoon
and night, and we are also quite often sitting on Monday afternoon
and night when it has been very rare indeed to sit on Mondays at
all in the past. While all that is true, we don't sit beyond
11 p. m. at night, and I would like to pay tribute to Fred Daly the
Leader of the House, the fact that we have kept reasonable hours
throughout this year. I think there has only been one case when
we have sat after 11 p. m. and that was by agreement just to get
something through in the extra 2 minutes which was required to get
it through. If you look back to what has happened in previous
years as far back as I can recall ( that would mean as far back
as any of you can recall) at this time in the Spring Session we
would always be sitting well after 11 p. m. and usually after
12 midnight. Now we are keeping proper hours long hours, many
days, but bad backs haven't been caused by late, late sittings.
And since I mention this which is not only a relief for members of
Parliament, for all the staff and for all of you ladies and
gentlemen who have to report theParliament, there is also the fact
that every opportunity has been given for Private Members to raise
matters. And if they raise them by way of a motion, a vote is
taken on that motion. In previous years whenever a Private Member
moved a motion on alternate Thursday mornings no vote was ever
taken. It remained on the Notice Paper until the Parliament was
clissolved. There is no such motion still on the Notice Paper in
the House of Representatives this year. Every Private Members'
-7-
motion has gone to debate and vote and on the intervening Thursday
mornings there has always been grievance day. So Private Members
are not being hustled or excluded. There is a terrific amount
of legislation, that's true. I-ow some of the legislation had to
be put through because Papua New Guinea is becoming self-governing
at the end of this week; some had to be put through because we
had obligations which we wanted to honour by the 25th anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the 10th of next
month, but most of it, the great bulk of the legislation, was in
the party platform and emphasised in my policy speech on behalf
of the party last November.
QUESTION: When do you expect to finish now, first week or second
wee k?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it is more likely to be the second week
but there is no definite decision made on this. You will see from
the Notice Papers that there is some substantial legislation which
ought to be got through. There again, perhaps I should say, that
there has never been under us any bill coming up for debate until
there has been an intervening Wednesday morning for the Opposition
parties to consider it and usually at least a week. Many of the
pieces of legislation have come on for debate many weeks after
they were introduced and given the minister's second reading
speech.
QUESTION: Will you guillotine the Health Bill, sir?
PRIME MINISTER: You mean the Universal Health Insurance one?
QUESTION: Mr Hayden's?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't know how long the debate will take. It
is a shorter bill., a simpler and clearer bill than the legislation
which it will replace. There has been ample opportunity for
Members of Parliament to understand it because you will remember
there was the White Paper by Messrs Deeble and Scott in the autumn
session; there was the amended White Paper, the definitive one,
which Mr Hayden brought in at the beginning of this month, and
there has been debate on the Estimates of the Department of Health
and th-e Department of Social Security; there has becen a Private
Member รต Motion which was debated and voted so I shouldn't believe
there is an excessive amount of time required. It won't be
debated until next week.
QUESTION: Do you see any dangers yet to the Australianr economy'
from the Lrab boycotts on our major trading partners, and woul. d
you agree that there is a possibility of a wor~ d-uide recessor,
next year?
PRIME MINISTER: There is obviously going to be somE: 1 effect. on
Australia's trade from the fact that our major triding partners
are being hit by the energy crisis and the energy crisis has been
made more severe by the prospect, in some cases the actuality,
of Arab reduction. There has been a great deal of speculation
by economists that there is going to be some recession among the
industrialised trading nations of the world. Australia would be
more happily situated, both as regards energy sources and also
as regards prcduction and trading patterns, than most of those other
countries.
QUESTION: Taking foreign policy apart, what do you think are
the three or four principal achievements of the Government at
the end of its first year in office?
PRIME MINISTER: The biggest one is the transformation we have
made in educational opportunities. I haven't thought out what
other ones I should mention. I would put next, I suppose, the
involvement, the direct relationship, already achieved in many
respects and now being sought to be extended, between the
national government and elected local government bodies. And
probably in that context also, I should mention the more rational
arrangements which are being made for the production and sale
of our primary products and the emphasis being taken in national
plans for urban matters in general, i. e. transport, housing,
environment, where most of the people live.
QUESTION: What do you see as your three or four biggest mistakes,
Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: You always get one of the very earliest questions,
and you were told that it was the last one.