TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH NEVILLE OLIVER, ABC RADIO,
AUCKLAND 1 FEBRUARY 1990
E OE PROOF ONLY
OLIVER: just joined us in our Commonwealth Games
studio here in Auckland, the Prime Minister of Australia,
Bob Hawke. Welcome Prime Minister.
PM: Thanks Neville. Can I just say at the outset,
congratulations for your coverage. I mean it's been
fantastic. So very well received in Australia I can tell
you. OLIVER: Thank you very much. How has the Australian
performance been received in Australia?
PM: Everyone's very very proud. You know we started off
before the Games started and there was a bit of adverse
publicity about, y'know, a little bit of behaviour. A
lot of headlines about that. But I was very confident
once the business end of the proceedings started that our
people would get down to it. And they have. Australians
are tremendously proud of them.
OLIVER: What's been your special moment of the Games?
PM: Special moment? Well I suppose one of our
competitors that I felt very very pleased for was
Clarkey. I mean he really has been, over a long period
of time, a battler. He's always been on the edge of,
y'know, a medal. I was very pleased for him in the 400
metres. It was
OLIVER: And of course then there's young Hayley Lewis.
I mean Australia has always had an expectation of having
good swimmers.
PM: Yes, well tremendous performance. And I must say
one of the things that was a highlight for me at the
Australian end was I was up in Brisbane last week, I was
out in Caboolture, and someone said to me ' you know young
van Wirdum's dad might be around out here'. And I said
oh is that right. I got out there to Caboolture and
there was this little bloke, old pair of shorts, old
shirt, and you've never seen anyone so proud as he was.
He was a lovely bloke. He was just bursting with pride
about Karen's performance. He said ' I'm a single parent,
brought her up myself'. That was very touching. I
suppose if I had to have sort of one moment in terms of
what it meant for a family I just saw that very proud
dad, Bob van Wirdum. He'd brought this kid up himself.
OLIVER: Fantastic.
PM: Great.
OLIVER: That's what it's all about really isn't it.
PM: Isn't it. Yes.
OLIVER: The AIS. I've been taking particular notice of
their performances. I can remember when it was set up
after the disaster of.' 76. The AIS as an initiative
what are your views on it now?
PM: I think it's marvellous. I mean there's been a lot
of sort of navel-gazing about it by a lot of people. As
you know you're in the media a lot of the media tends
to want to look just at the down side of things and not
be terribly constructive and positive. But what we're
seeing here with that national anthem of ours being
played 43 times in these Games is the reflection of that
good investment in the Australian Institute of Sport.
And it's not only at the level of athletics. But you
know we've got the cricket aspect of it with the cricket
academy in Adelaide. In that match that I had yesterday,
the Prime Minsiter's XI against Pakistan, there was about
five or six of my side, young blokes, coming through the
academy. You can see it now, the standard of Australian
cricket. That pool of talent we've got there is better
than anything we've had before I think.
OLIVER: What about the relevance of the Commonwealth
Games? Edinburgh was an absolute disaster in terms of
the black African boycott. If the black Africans turn
up, it is a meaningful event, is it not?
PM: Very meaningful. I mean you look at the sort of
standards that are being achieved here. You've got to
remember the Commonwealth covers such a representative of
the nations of the world. A third of the population,
approximately a third of the population I think. It
ranges from the second largest in India, 800 million
people, down to the tiniest. All colours, creeds. It is
a very very representative, if you like, body of nations
of the world with very special characteristics. I think
it's a very worthwhile institution.
OLIVER: Could I ask you Prime Minister if Hazel elbowed
you out of the way to present Lisa with a gold medal?
Lisa Martin. That happened just a little while ago
folks. I was just wondering whether she pulled rank on
you.
3
PM: No she didn't. They'd asked me and it just occurred
to someone ' well what about Hazel?'. I never stand in
Hazel's road in these things. She does a tremendous job
for Australia here and overseas and I thought it was just
beaut that she did it.
OLIVER: Are you going to have time with all your other
engagements to fit a bit of golf in?
PM: The major event of the Games is on Saturday morning
at nine o'clock. A head-on between Australia and New
Zealand.
OLIVER: What's the form like?
PM: Well I'm playing him off the stick. They tell me
he's spent a lot of time, Geoffrey, over the
Christmas/ New Year break practising. But I just had a
couple of games myself. The head to head contest stands
two-one Australian favour at the moment.
OLIVER: Good. With the way we've gone in the Games
you've got a bit of tradition to uphold now.
PM: Bloody oath.
OLIVER: Can I just be cheeky enough before we go. We've
just heard the news from Australia about the balance of
payments. Is that a gold medal performance?
PM: Is that a-
OLIVER: Am I allowed to ask you that?
PM: Is that a sporting question? Oh well, broadly
defined a sporting question. It was very good. It came
in on the low side of expectations. It confirms what we
had been hoping to see. Things are slowing down a bit
while still having growth. But slowing down to a
sustainable level and it validates the action that was
taken, beginning to take in the area of monetary
policy. OLIVER: So 43 gold medals and I'll award the Government
one for that eh.
PM: Thanks mate.
OLIVER: Good to have you in Prime Minister.
PM: And could I say again congratulations to you all.
You've done Australia proud.
OLIVER: Thank you very much. It's terrific that you're
so accessible to us. Thanks for dropping in.
ends