-Jj AU TrRALI A. 1. 1
PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIP? OF ITERVIEW WITH MARIO D'ORAZIO, 6WF, 28 Janutry 1986
E 0 E PROOF ONLY
D'ORAZIO: Good morning Mr. Hawke.
PM: Good morning Mario.
D'ORAZIO: Well, bow do you feel the election campaign
is shapiriK up for Brian Burke
PM: Very Well. That's as it should be because
a number of reasons. Firstly, his performance has been
outstanding. Last three years Australia has been
turned right around from recession into the most
rapidly growing economy in the Western World. This
has been again recogni., sed internationally,
and within that overall Australian performance
the West Australian performance has been quite
outstanding, above the national average. If I
can use the current Jargon, has the runs very much
on the board. And he is going to the people with
constructive policies for a continuation of that
outstanding success. Against that, what the people
of Western Australia are offered total negativism
and smeaur-campaigns. I don't believe they are
uoffering a serious alternative and of course they
are faction ridden, divided against themselves.
They. Mr. Hassell, Mr. Howard are at odds on
basic issues like interest rates, privatisation.
The Liberals haven't won an election in mainland
Australia since 1980, and they're not going to
break their duck here in WA in 1986.
D'ORAZIO: So you think the Burke government will be
returned, despite the liabil-ity that land rights
poses for you
PM: Well, I'm not sure that it does pose a liability.
I believe that he's made the position and I believe
his position Is understood and accepted by the majority
of Western Australians.
D'ORAZIO: I would have thought the liability for him
waG the fact that there's a lot of pressure in your
gov. rn,( ejt to introduce uniform land rights.
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PM: Well, you see Mario, one of the things that
fascinates me about Australiani politics i3 how*
commentators, like yourself, get well paid Lo talk
about affairs, but don't seem to understand your
basic facts. What we have sald is Lhat we were,
the first situation, where the States handled this
matter themselves. Holding has made iL clear that
we have looked at this generally, general ideas about
it. We have talked and he's talking Lo the States
and various interested bodies to try and get a
situation where the States will handle this matter
in accordance with those general principles. And
he's in the process of having discussions around
Australia with various State Governmuents, interest
troups and Mr. Burke has made his positioit clear.
I understand that. And I believe that we're going
to be able to resolve this matter in a way which iG
acceptable and we'll recognise the rights of WA.
I would also make this point-I find it rather
annoying that when people are talking about what
governments are going to do for Aboriginal people.
They talk about land rights and forgeL that there
is so much that has to be done in Lhe areas of
health and education and those sorLs of things
which in many senses is much more important to
Aboriginals than the question of land rights.
D'ORAZIO: The mining community is very concerned
about the question of land rights. Another maLtcr
that they are also very worried about is, which
featured very prominently in advertisements in today's
press, is the gold tax. What's the latesL situation
there, will you be introducing one
PM: Well, what we've done is to set up an indvpendent
inquiry, in the person of Gerry Gutman. And he will be
investigating this issue of course, asud taking
submissions from interest parties, which include
particularly the gold mining industry In WA and the
WA Govt. And I was able to indicate yesterday Mario
that I understand that MR. Mr'-4 is prepared to
extend the period of inquiry, including the periodM. T. C.
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for the taking of submissions. . And that means that
it is certain that the WA private secLur and Government
will have a full opportunity Lu prepare and present
their case and I made it clear to Mr. Burke LhaL they
will be given particular consideratiuon, because it's
a most important issue for Western Australia. They'll
have full opportunity to devv. lop, prepare and put their
case when Mr. Gutman reports we'll consider thaL report.
D'. ORAZIO: What's your inclination though.-Do you feel
there's a strong case to exempt Western Australia from
that sort of a tax.
PM: Well, I think there's a strung case to examine
whether there should be a tax and I would think' that
the WA industry itself would accept there's a strong
case for investigating it. They think there's an even
stronger case for having investigated it, that there
shouldn't be one. But I don't think thuL anyone would
argue that we have a situation where you have one
industry which is exempted from the tax, and the
economics of the environment within that was donehas
changed, they wouldn't, so there shouldn'L be & n
examination of that. But, well, as to whether, after
that examination we do or do not depends on that report.
It is independent. I have no idea what will come out
of Mr. Gutman's examination.
D'ORAZIO: So the gold tax is by no means definite.
PM: Well, you can't say it's-definiLe when you've
established an independent inquiry into it.
D'ORAZIO: One of the other issues that's troubling
the State Government at the moment has been the
question of interest rates. And most people have
agreed that the State Government is fairly powerless
to do anything about that and they point to oversean
factors and the way the Federal Giovernment has handled
that. Can you see any respite fur people who'vc
got mortgages
PM: Well, certainly here in Western Australia as a
result of the decision taken by the WA Government, there
has been a protection of their position. As far as
the movement in interest rates it concerned, M. T. C.
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Mr. Burke has pointed to the fact that the range
of independent economic coiiiuicntators suggested
that the iaterest rates had peaked and will come
down and it's appropriate for him to point to
those assessments. But all I can say is that I'm
not going to, myself, enter Into that in any further
detail, because I du'L think that's appropriate.
I just want to make Lhe more general point, which is
the relevant on-e, that Australians, I think
they are very sophisticated now in their analysis
of the econoumy and what's happening. And they
understand that there's no point in looking just
at interest rates, but look at the whole of the
GovernmentiL's economic policy. I think that
they Lake very considerable pride in the fact that
we in Australia, which has again been recognised
this week internationally, the top of the international
performance board for the economic management of
this country.
D'ORAZIO: Well, if your economic policies seem
to be working surely we can express some confidence
about uinterest rates levelling off in the next
Six months or so.
PM: Well I think it's appropriate that people
should analyse what's happening. Look at the
latest indicaLtors. Look at the strengthening of
the dollar and what's happeni'ng in money supply
terms, reduction in the growth and rate of money
supply, and appropriatec for them 0to be drawing
their conclusions. All I'm saying Mario is that
I don't want at this point to be coming out ahead
of tlhose developments. I am happy with the way
things are going-leLt me put it that way.
D'ORAZIO: Two issues that concern the rural electorates
in WA are transport in petrol prices and, of course,
the pihosphate issue. I read a report that suggested
that perhaps the drop in fuel prices would not be
cvumpletely passed on. Why was that
PM: I siniply said that the government will be
looking at this issue In it's normal review, There M. T. C.
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has to be a decision from the 1st March. An4 when you,
the Government, look at that, look at what's happened
to international fuel prices, because they've fallen
very substantially and in the regiment, if you like,
that we take account of, is mixture 80-20 of spot
price and official price, so you've got to look at
what's happening on the spot market and the
official price of Saudi Arabian light crude. So LhaL's
one factor, what's happening to crude prices
internationally. The second is what's happening
to the exchange rate. Now at this stage, what's
happening on the international crude market, that
would suggest, you know, reductions. I simply sounded
the note of caution if you like. But with the sortu
of very massive reductions in crude prices that
people were predicting for this period up until
March, those sorts of reductions, if just automatically
passed on, would mean very, very signaifiLcant losses
of revenue for the government from its application
of policy which has beeoon bipartisan. I mean, this
was Introduced by our predecessuors, import parlty
pricing policy. Now the government will have to
take all those factors into account. That's all I've
said. D'ORAZIO: Can we expect any sort of discounts at
all PM: What happens In discount'ing at the pump is basically
a question for decision by the oil companies. That's
a matter for decision by them. Discounting is not
a result of
D'ORAZIO: What I meant was if you were to pass on
your savings, can we expect to see azny cut in the take
of the Federal Govertnment
PM: I'm simply saying to you that we will be
undertaking the review of this policy, well, not a
review of this policy, a review of the pricing according
to the requirements we Imposed upon ourselves and
looking at this each two months. That's the sixt
decision, due for the 1st March. All the factors
I've referred to will be taken into account and we
will, ag in all areas of policy, be making M. T. C.
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the decision best calculated to be of benefit to
Australian consumers in all aspects.
D'ORAZIO: Mr. Hawke. About two or three weeks. ago
the Premier returned to WA to headlines of great
victory to WA farmers. And this was over the
phosphate question. It seems that some commentatrs
believe that the decision that you made then might
be overturned over the next year or so.
PM: Oh well. As 1 say I'm fascinated by the
commentators in this area. They, most of them,
speak from a vast reservoir of ignorance.
It is always fascinating to see what comes out of
that sort of basis. The facts are very simple.
Under legislation, anti-dumping legislation which
has been imposed for many, many years now and has
been acted upon by both sides In government, dhdiœ
that legislation a decision was made to impose an
anti-dumping duty and that was appropriate under the
legislation. Now, Mr. Burke, in an electoral context,
he had a problem. No one can hide that and he
came to see me In a situatlon where Cabinet was not
meeting again until 20Lh January and I had the
two relevant Ministers there. Andl said well we've
got this issue put before us, I think we need to do
something because we didn't wanL to have a situation
where, as a result of the decision that was required
under the legislation, farmers were particularly
adversely hurt. Now we simply'had the WA situation
put before us. I made, in consultation with my
colleagues, a decision to give that relief and did
it in the clear statement and Intention that the
position as whole would be considered by Cabinet
when it resumed on the 20th January. We considered
it then and we will move to give rvlief t farmers
generally. And we've spoken to the National F4ariaers
Federation and they've agreed in that sort of
context where we've indicated we'd give that relief,
to look at the whole question of the super phosphate
industry In this country and the Natiuztul Farmers
Federation are going to be involved with us in that
review. M. T. C.
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D'ORAZIO: A lot of people would have said that
perhaps you may not have extended that relief
had there not been such an outcry from other
statA. PM: Well, some people might say that, but some
people wuuld be wrong.
D'ORAZIO: Mr. Prime Minister thank you for talking
to us this morning.
PM: O. K. Mario, it's been a pleasure. Thank you
very much.
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