TRANSCRIPT OF NEWS CONFERENCE, KIRRIBILLI HOUSE, SYDNEY
3 DECEMBER 1989
E OE PROOF ONLY
JOURNALIST: How are you Sir?
PM: I'm very very well indeed thank you. I'd obviously
like to take this first opportunity of extending my sincere
congratulations to Wayne Goss and his team there for their
historic victory in restoring Labor to government in
Queensland for the first time in 32 years. They ran a
magnificent campaign which Wayne Goss led with singular
success. He was able, properly, to persuade the people of
Queensland that that election was about restoring integrity
to government in Queensland, to provide what Queenslanders
increasingly wanted to achieve the elimination of
corruption and its replacement by clean and efficient
government. And what Queenslanders saw was that the only
way that could be done was by Goss and Labor. The
alternative was a continuation of the coalition of
inefficient and corrupt forces which have darkened
Queensland politics for more than a generation. I look
forward to working in close cooperation with an outstanding
leader and a new, good, clean, efficient government in
Queensland. JOURNALIST: Some Queenslanders are saying they now know how
the East Berliners must feel.
PM: I saw the analogies that were drawn. That may be
overdrawing the situation. But there is no doubt that there
has been a darkness in politics in Queensland. We've seen
the dark side of politics and it's come from the
conservative forces. I think it's not just for Queensland
but I think for all of us in Australia it's going to be a
lifting of a dark veil in that very very important part of
Australia, because Queensland is a very very important part
of Australia despite the attempts by some of the
conservative leaders to try and give an impression that
they're not part of Australia.
JOURNALIST: Do you think it will do much for Labor Party
morale around Australia.
PM: I think a simple question would you rather from the
Labor Party point of view see us win up there or lose?
Answer simple you'd rather win. I don't want to overdraw
the situation because we've said that the issues were state
issues and they predominantly were. The only respect in
which people may project the election of the campaign and
the result in Queensland in some sense federally is on the
question of the unity of purpose of the competing parties
and of leadership. Up there you had a united Labor Party
and you had bickering, incompatible conservatives. That
situation that characterised the Queensland election is true
of the federal picture.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, do you believe you can take any
credit for Labor's win
41 PM: No, not essentially. The overall picture in Queensland
in the election was State issues. I said that from the
beginning. I'm not going to be a hypocrite afterwards and
having said that they were State issues turn around and say
' no, heap the praise on me'.
JOURNALIST: Do you think it will lead to recriminations
within the federal coalition?
PM: I think at the end of this last week in federal
politics they had so much that they had to worry about, a
leader who simply doesn't understand his own policies,
understands no economics, is incapable of handling a press
conference and responding to any questions which have any
economic implications at all. That's set in train its own
set of problems. But added to that you will have some
difficulties created by the Queensland result because the
intensity of the hatreds in Queensland between the Liberals
and Nationals were perhaps best indicated by that ferocious
attack that Innes made on Sir Robert Sparkes of the National
Party in his last speech there at the end of last week.
They hate John Moore. That's heartily reciprocated. So
that must have some federal implications.
JOURNALIST: Is it going to mean anything in terms of
federal elections?
PM: No. I repeat the point I made that this was
essentially about Queensland issues. As I say, I'm not
going to be hypocritical and switch around and say now this
is for us. But clearly in the post-election situation it
has advantages for us in that to have a decent, clean,
efficient administration up there which is concerned about
issues rather than political point scoring means that we're
going to be able to have a much more effective cooperation
between the Federal and State Government. Now that must be
an advantage for the people of Queensland and then in a
sense that must be an advantage for us politically. But
most importantly that advantage comes to us because the
people are going to be better off.
JOURNALIST: Do you expect a positive spin-off in a federal
election? PM: I would think it's much better to be campaigning in the
State up there with a friendly, cooperative State Labor
government than the alternative, yes. It means that the
base will be stronger and there will be a greater sense of
purpose I think and of positive thinking on the part of the
whole Labor organisation up there. It must in that sense be
a plus.
JOURNALIST: It's been stated that the National Party lost
in Queensland because it wasn't listening to its electorate
on issues that concerned the electorate. The same thing has
been said about the Federal Labor Government, that it is not
listening to the electorate with respect to interest rates
and other economic-related
PM: Well it's totally wrong. I can assure you I'm
listening very much to the electorate and I'm talking very
much to the electorate. I'll just make the simple point
again, which I think is increasingly being understood, that
Hawke is an intelligent Prime Minister, hasn't got interest
rates up there because he's a masochist wanting to hurt
himself or a sadist wanting to hurt the people. I will have
interest rates down as soon as I responsibly can do it. But
we have had to have them up there, high, to try and level
off the tempo of economic activity so that we can get a
sustainable level of imports. I think increasingly people
are coming to understand that. Also it's important to say
that we are now starting to see some signs which give us the
confidence that we will be able to do that. But I repeat,
we won't be doing it a day earlier than is economically
responsible. Nor will they be kept on a day longer than is
necessary. JOURNALIST: Any idea when we'll be going to a federal
election as yet?
PM: I have some idea but I didn't think that this beautiful
Sunday morning on the steps of Kirribilli was the time to
announce it.
JOURNALIST: Do you think last night's result will have any
bearing on when that election is called?
PM: No.
ends