PRIME MINISTER
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E 0 9 PROOF ONILY
JOURNALIST:-Mr Hawks, are you concerned about your chances
in Kingston.
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Government will be returned and he'll be returned with it.
You see just because I go into an electorate, it doesn't
mean that we're worried about it. I mean, since-I've been
Prime Minister, which is over 6 years now, I think there's
probably no Prime Minister who has travelled around the
country more than I have. I mean I go into electorates
where we have margins of 301, T go into electorates where vs
have margins of 20, 10, 5 and there's about 51 here. The
fact that I'm here doesn't mean that we've got any
partioular worry about this seat.
JOURNALIST: Janine Raines seems to be polling quite well.
Are you concerned about the threat.
PH: Well, I mean she says she is. I would have thought
that the evidence of the Democrat's polling in the last two
elections that have been on in Queensland and Tasmania would
be leading inevitably to the conclusion that we are seeing
the end of the Democrats In the Australian Senate and they
won't keep themselven & live uLn the flsuw. of flopwoontativoo.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawkep what are going to say to the electors
here in Kingston about high interest rates and going higher
and high bank profit. and going higher. What are you going
to say in the mortgage belt about that.
PX: Well, it's not just what I'll say In the mortgage belt.
I don't have one umasage for the mortgage belt and one for
another. JOURNALIST: But they would be..
PM: Well, now look are we having a debate or you've asked a
question and you want the answer, 01? Good. Now, the facts
are very simple. We have said that we would keep monetary
policy tight for as long as it's necessary to protect the
Australian economy from the bringing in of a level of
imports that we can't sustain. The simple fact is that the
Australian economy is grawing too strongly. The -I don't
want to burden you with a whole lot of statistics but
there's one simple one which shows what is happening. In
the last year our demand grew by 81, our production by 41,
so we had to bring in half of that Increase in demand
overseas. We are not earning enough to pay f or those
imports and so if we are going to protect our future we have
to lover the level of demand and the only way to do that at
the moment is by having pretty tight monetary policy. The
simple fact is that the interest, not only of people in the
mortgage belt but all over Australia, would be much more
poorly served, their interest would be deveutatedt if we
didn't take steps now to restrain demand because then the
Australian dollar would collapse and interest rates would go
through the roof and the economy would collapse. And I'm
not prepared to do that, even if it would appear at the
moment to be the politically popular thing to do. We have
never dodged taking the tou~ h economic decisions and we
won't now and ultimately we 11 be respected by the electors,
not only of Xingston, but around the country. Now the other
part of your question was about bank profits. Now the
question of what we do is to set general economic policy
including monetary policy and the question of banks and
their profits and rates that they charge is a matter between
banks and their customers.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you accept that you can't
win an election while interest rates remain high.
PM: Well, how do you think we'd go in an election now
we'd increase our majority.
0 JOURNALIST; That's not what the polls are saying.
PM: ani the contrary, you wait and see on the poll, the
latest poll, after the election of Mr Peacock, the latest
Morgan poll, vs would have been elected on Democrat
preferences. And that, say I say, that poll was taken last
Friday before the latest gory round of bloodletting.
JCURNAIST: PM: Now why don't you ask your question a little bit loe
belligerently I can hear you if you put it softly.
JOURNALIST: I was Just trying to get over the top of..
PK: No, well, you don't need to shout* that's all I'm
saying.
JOURlNALIST: Alright, I'm just going to ask you quietly,
when do you think interest rates will come down.
PH: I an not predicting the future of interest rate. In any
immediate sense because the very moment the Prime Minister
or the Treasurer makes such a prediction that of itself can
have an impact on what happens in the market I don't do
that. JOUJRNALIST: Prime Minister, what would you say to people
who wonder how high interest rates and high mortgage
payments are going to stop businesses and big corporations
borrowing capital overseas.
PM: Well, let me make these points about borrowing. What
we've done as a government, and now we've been joined by the
State governments following yesterday, is to reduce very
substantially the demands by government upon savings. What
we did yesterday, in conjunction with a 360 million dollars
reduction of our outlays announced in April, is to have a
three billion dollar cut in the demand by the public sector
upon the community savings. That is, the over one billion
dollars of f our own authorities we'ye cut their borrowing
by over a billion and one billion off the State government
authorities and the one billion reduction in our own area.
Now, with the State government grants and our own cuts, nov
that's three billion dollars cut in the demand by the public
sector. Now that will, in terms of the overall context of
monetary policy, mean that there will be more room for a
call by the private sector upon the Australian savings.
There'll be less need to call upon saving. overseas. Now
that JOtJRNnIST:.. PM: Now wait a minute that's what government can do to in
fact produce the sort of context in which there is more room
for the private sector and for private individuals. And
0 that's what we've got to do reduce demand. We don't want
to create a situation in which there is going to be an
explosion of demand, we've got to have demand at a lower
level than it is now.
JOURNALIST: Will you decide to call an election because of
the disarray in the Liberal Party.
PH: Not at all. The only talk about an early election, as
I said at a press conference yesterday, was by the deposed
leader of the Liberal Party. When he saw that we were going
to be delivering, on the promise that I'd made twelve months
ago, for substantial tax cuts and that was what I'd
promised more than twelve months ago and what I was
delivering he then tried to divert attention from that and
say well, all I was doing was having some sort of i mme diate
pre-election gimmick, well, I was delivering on the promise
PM: ( cont'd) that I'd made. I didn't talk about an early
election and Mr Howard did. For that reason also to divert
attention from the pressures upon his own leadership. So
there's never been any talk from me about an early election.
So I'm not in a situation where I'm abandoning some plan and
an I said yesterday, wben you talk about temptation, I now
have a long history of resisting temptation, and I'm doing
it again.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, Janine Haines' somewhat cheeky
billboard up at Reynella what did you think of that and do
you agree with the premise of that, that the only reason
you're down here is because you're fearful that you'll lose
PH: Well, that means that I've really never been In
Kingston before, when there's been no Janaine Haines. How
many times have I been in this electorate before?
( I think you've been here four tines.)
PM: four times.
JOURNALIST: Have you ever been here for three days before.
PH: Well, I'm not here for three days..
JOURNALIST: You're in South Australia for three days..
electioneering, is that what..
PM: Why don't you sort of get your questionsB a little bit
less belligerently and get them based upon fact. I an not
here for three days..
JOURNALIST: It's very hard to got questions with such long
answers PM: Well, that's your last on.
0 JOiUNALIST: But what did YOU think of the billboard
somewhat cheeky?
PM: No0, while Janine Haine. is putting up billboards we're
putting up child care centres and we're raising the
employment profile. we're creating 1.4 million new jobs
that's what we're building that's what we're putting up
and that's the contrast between the Labor Government
creating a growing economy, growing employment, reduciny
unemployment. Those are the things we put up and I don t
mind, we'll she can put up as many billboards as she
like. JOURNALIST: the more attention we draw to Kingston, the
better your record will look.
PM: The better that's right.
JOURNALIST: Do you support the uprising in China.
PM: Do I support-the uprising? Well, I don't know that
it's to be called properly an uprising. Let ms say that I
believe that the authorities in China are to be complimented
upon the way they are dealing with what is obviously a
massive expression of concern for more political reform.
The students who are being, obviously being supported by a
wider cross-sect ion of people, are taking the opportunity of
the new developments in China to express, peaceably, their
views and quite obviously the authorities are dealing with
this in a rational and peaceable manner and it seems to sop
from the fairly considerable knowledge I have of China and
the leadership and what's happening there, that this is
a sensible thing that they are doing and that it's
likely to lead to further opportunities for Involvement by
more people in the political processes.
JOUJRNALIST: But Mr Hawks, could the instability flowing
from this effect Australia detrimentally.
PM: No, I don't think there's any question of a detrimental
effect on Australia and I can only see as far as the
situation In China is concerned an improvement in the
sense that I think any sort of movement which is going
to open up the political processes to give more opportunity
for an expression of view is a good thing and provided that
the authorities can continue to cope with this in the
peaceful way that they are, I think that must be good for
China and people should understand the benefit
( Tape break]
fourthly, we ' vs had a very significant increase in real
benefits for those most In need. For example# if you take
in the area of children, there will in this coming year
be spent over two billion dollars under the Family
Assistance and Family Allowance Supplements Scheme to lift
the real levels of income of those lower income families in
the community most In need. Fourthly, to show the
improvement we would refer to what's happened In the area of
education. When we came to office only 361 of the kids
were staying on In school now 561. Going to other end of
the age spectrum to the aged. Under our predecessors, in
particular under the time of Mr Howard -a 41 reduction in
the real value of penzions. Under us;-a real increase of
over So these are the sorts of things which show the
real improvement in conditions for the Australian people and
obviously now wait a minute..
JOURNALIST: haven't got a grasp of the facts..
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawks, the Liberals are saying that in this
imminent major statement you're making on the environment
you should really address the issue of the Murray and
especially, because of the importance to South Australia, do
you think that will be looked at in what you're saying.
PN: Yes# the whole question of soil degredation and water
conservation to going to be one of the areas that will be
involved in the statement and of course we've had very
significant co-operation, as you will appreciate, between
the Commonwealth, New South Wales and Victoria and South
Australia on the question of the River Murray. We've all
spent a fair bit of money and there will be reference to
these issues in the comprehensive statement that we'll be
making. JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, will you be coming back to Kingston
before the next election.
PX: I would think that I'll be back before the next
election it's a fair way off and I'll certainly be in
South Australia and I can't imagine that Mr Dilney won't
grab ms for something in that period. It's always good to
be back here.
-sN
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