TRANSCRIPT OF? COMENTS, NORTH SYDNEY, 3 APRIL 1987
E 0 E PROOF ONLY
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, how do you feel about the Opposition
and the Democrats finally combining and rejecting the Australian
Card? PM:. T was saying on-the media this morning that there was
a great comment by Richard lrindley Sheridan, the playwright,
who was also a Whig politician lie used to occasionally
criticise his own party. They . brought in some legislation
once with which he disagreed and he said he had often heard
of people hitting their head against a brick wall but this
was the first time he thought, in the whole of history, where
someone had built a wall expressly for that purpose. On
this occasion, it is the Libs and the Ndtional Party and
tho Democrats have not themselves~ by a piece of legislation,
built a wall that they are going to hit their head against
but by the rejection of this legislation they will, in fact,
inflict an enormous amount of injury upon themselves because
it is increasingly clear that the Australian people approve
of the Australia Card. And they approve of it for a very
fundamental reason and that is they k~ now that this card is
a necessary instrument for attacking Lax cheats and welfare
frauds. That when it is implemented it will bring to the
public revenue over $ 800m and the absence of that $ 800m~ which
would come from the tax cheats and the welfare frauds, the
absence of that means that there is a greater burden upon
the vast majority of honest Australians. The Liberals and
the Nationals and the Democrats have Said that is their position.
They will hear about thatL from me from every day botween
now and the next election. And they will be judged harshly
by the Australian electorate.
JOURNALIST: nr Hawke, you say when It is implemented. How,
now, will you implement it?
PM: After we win the next election.
JOURNALIST: Would you consider re-it* roducing it with the
amendment foreshadowed by Dr BleweLt earlier this year?
PM: TIhey have made it clear, I think, what their position
is. We will have to consider the position in the Cabinet
and I am not foreshadowing that. What is clear is aftcr
the next election, at any rate, with the clear and decisive
majority that we will get and with the election being, in
part~ 1on the Australia Card, the Australian people will give
us a mandate, which I think, will be one which no opposition
party will be able to avoid.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, whaL principles should the ( Government
be guided by when considering privatisation?
PM: The GovernmenL will take the3 clear view as to whether
the nse of the Public ecqnoliic Capacity is. in terms of all
the Priorities we have tor'bcount of, best utilised in that
way. But T am not going into any details about this. These
considerations ar-e before the Expenditure Review COrnxittee
and I don't think it is appropriate for me, by any sort of
sPeculation, to interfere with the work they have got to
do. Once they havo had a look at it, their decisions will
come up to Cabinet and that is where the matter will be decided.
JOURNALIST: Is this one Issue the Opposition and the Government
agree on privatisation?
PM: What a silly question. I have said quite clearly in
the Parliament that there will. remain a vast gulf between
this GOVOr-ruuont and the Opposition parties. They have a
blind ideological fixation about public ownership being
inLrinsically bad. That is an absurdity. When you talk
about the Opposition you have got to understand you are talking
at least three Oppositions. They are riot united on this.
The Liberal Party believe that you should get rid of Telecom.
The Nationdl Party won't have a bar of that because they
still, to some extent, limited extentL, represent rural int~ erests.
And Lte great sufferers of the privatisation of Telecom would
be the people in nion-metropolitan Australia. So there is
no unity in the Opposition ranks on this. We take the view
that it would be preposterous to privatise Telecom, prepostorous
to privatise Australia P'ost. So there is a very, very
considerable gulf between us and the Opposition ont these
mattars. ENDS