PM Transcripts

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH PAUL BONGIORNO, RAAF BASE,
FAIRBAIRN, 26 JULY 1989
E 0 E PROOF ONLY
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what is the importance of
today's multicultural agenda?
P14: Well the importance for all Australians is that it will
do two things. It's about social justice. That is ensuring
that all Australians, irrespective of their background, they
shall have equal access to the resources of government and
equal opportunity to develop themselves within Australia.
But also it's important for all Australians whether they
are of recent or relatively recent arrival or not in that
it has a fundamental economic theme. We want to ensure that
we are able as a community to tap into the resources of all
Australians. For instance, we have suffered as a nation
very considerable loss over the years because of inadequate
recognition of skills, professional and trade skills, of
people who have come here. The national agenda will be
addressing specific proposals to ensure that we better tap
into those provisions.
JOURNALIST: What would you say to cynics who are suggesting
that it's another vote-grabbing exercise?
PM: Absolute bloody nonsense. I started this two years
ago, even before the last election. I was getting people
together to say that I wanted a national multicultural
agenda. I established, as I say, two years ago the
processes to produce this outcome in saying that I wanted
the agenda by the middle of 1989. So the processes were
started even before the last election. Cynicism gets a bit
boring you know.
ends