iiY
Channel 9 News. ( Acknowledgement is requested).
Interview with the Prime Minister.
Reeves; In general terms, how would you rate the governments
performance, over the last two years. Bet ter than you thought.
Whitlam; We have been a very active government. I think we have done
more legislatively and adminstratively in our two years
than our predecosors did in their last 20 years. Of course we have
had ourt frustrations. We would havu likud to havu donu more. But
nevertheless, we in fact are achiving a very great deal of what
we promised.
Reeves. Is there any area of personal satisfaction to you.
Whitlam,' I suppose I would be partocularly pleased at the different
standing that this country has in the world. We were embroiled still,
long after most countries had ceased to be, in this cold war
attitude. Secondly, we had been pointed into a corner in our
region, the same way that Souhh Africa has been in the continent of
Africa. We were seen as a racaist enclave. Now, we have rid ourselves
of those two objectionable situations, the cold war and the racist
attitude. But on top of that we have con ributed very postively to
new programs around the world, human rights, disarmament and trade.
This has given me vory much satisfaction naturally.
Reeves. Foreign affairs is still': obviously, avery great love
of yours.
Whitlam; Oh. yes. Naturally. I think Australia" as a somewhat
isolated country, and a very large trading coun ry, must always be
very much aware of relations between her and other countries.
Reeves. Have any of your Ministers ferformend particularly well
anyone you would like to single out.
Whitlam@' Thisz is always an intidious thhng to answer.
There are many Ministers who were well known before we beome a
government, and who were therefore expected to do well. And they
have. But there were several others who were not so well known
before we became a government. I suppose I could identify some
of them. Fred Daly, as leader of the House of Representatives,
has been suparb Lionel Bowen as the Minister asuisting me,
Ken Wredidt, as Minister for Agriculture and Rex Connor as Ministed
foi Minerals and Energy. All of these have done superbly''' People
were not aware of them two years ago, but they are very great and
effective public figures now.
Reeves. Perhaps an unfair question, but how do you think
you have pefformed as Prime Minister.
Whitlam. This is much more difficult for me to say, but
I would guess , hat most people would concede that I would be the
best available, shall I say.
Reeves. In terms of Prime Ministers over the years. How do you think
you would rate with people like Curtin and Menzies.
Whitlam. I would rather be compared with people like Deakin, by
way of achievements, and Curtin. Menzies, of course, was a superb
tactician and practitioner. But believe the Prime Ministers who
have been most effective in contiibuting to AustraLia has beer.
Deakin and Curtin.
Reeves. Looking to the future,
S 2.
Reeves. Looking to the future, what are your governments main aims
f% r the next 12 months.
Whitlam. We want to continue these programs, and I suppose our
programs fall into two principal categories. One is that there should
be equality of opportunity as far as goveilments can achieve that, and
adcondly, there should be a general enrichment of the quality of
life. What we have wanted to do is to see that what governments have
to do, should be available everywhere in Australia, irrespective of
what people do and irrespective of where they live. We want to see
that everybody shares in the benefits of those programs which
governments, these days, have to initiate and accomplish.
Reeves. o things like inflation and unemployment come as a shock
to you.
Whitlam. Yes, they have. There is no question that unemployment
and inflation are much worse in Australia than anybody expected.
They are throughout the western world. There is not a country with
which we deal that is not hit to a completely unexpected, and
unpredictable extent by these two problems, concurrent problems of
unemployment and inflation. Every country in Western Europe and
the United States, Canadau and Japan and New Zealand, all are suffering
it. We are all infecting each other. We happen to be the countries
whih are most developed in the world, which do most of the trade
in tthe world. We just cant insulate ourselves, none of us-
Reeves. Yesterday, the Party's Federal Secretary, David Coomb, said
that, looking towards the future, some members of the Party were
disullusioned and disinterested in the future of the Labor gover. ment.
Have you felt this as well.
Whitlam. I suppose some of the initial exhilaration has faded. But
I believe that qhen people, who are Labor supporters, Labor members,
come to relfect on what we have done, and the way we have overcome
difficulties at home and abroado and weze were dealing with some of
those abroad which have their inevitable effect on us, but also
domesticly we have been beset by difficulties that nobady previous
government has ever had. There has never been an. opposition which has
been so cantankerous and negative. There has never been a federal
gover ment which has come in for so much abuse,' constant abuse by
so many state governments' But when you looki, despite all this,
we have achieved immense things. Education. health, the facilities
in our citids, the capital and provincial cities, the overseas trade
agreements, we have made an immense improvement in the structure
within which governments have to operate in this country.
Reeves. Could I suggest that some of the abuse has come from members
of en your own Party' or members outside the Parliament.
Whitla. This would be so. I mean, you are a very skilled practitiioner
in the media, and you know if anybody in government says something, the
technique is to go aroun4 and solicit opinions from people who might
not ia be attracted to what it has done. Of course, you can always get
off the cuff criticisms from people. I am sure there are quite a lot
of favorable responses, but they are not publicised" So, it is a fair
enough tednique, but we are all familiar with it.
Reeves. Do you think there are too many nervous nellies belly aching
in the Party about things which the government has not done, or
which people think should have been done.
Whitlam: Yes, there is quite an amount of this. But this is
understandable in politics. The people to whom you so kindly and
gently refer are very often those who have sought office in the