PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF NEWS CONFERENCE, RAAF BASE FAIRBAIRN, 21
SEPTEMBER 1990
E 0 E PROOF ONLY
JOURNALIST: Mr Keating's attack on Nobby Clark?
PM: I haven't really caught up with all that. I've been
away doing other things.
JOURNALIST: call the NAB insolvent and then
corrected himself yesterday.
PM: I'm sure he's looked after himself well. I haven't
had a chance to read it all but I don't think that's the
most important thing that's happened this week.
JOURNALIST: Are you confident that special conference
will accept Cabinet resolutions on Monday?
PM: I think it's shaping up pretty well, thanks.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, is it good for public confidence
in our financial sector for the Treasurer to be calling
one of our major banks insolvent?
PM: I haven't seen the financial system collapse as a
result. JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, Mr McLean the other day described
the Government as diseased and said on Monday it needed a
good dose of medicine. Are you confident he can't
persuade centre left to that view?
PM: I would think that would be the case, yes.
JOURNALIST: What's your reaction to the claim that there
was an assassination plot against you in 1988?
PM: I didn't lose a moments sleep. I think there was a
little bit of hyperbole going on there.
JOURNALIST: Are you confident you'll get ACTU support
this afternoon for the resolutions?
PM: I'm fairly confident about the outcome on Monday and
all that will lead up to it.
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JOURNALIST: Will you be participating in those talks
with the ACTU this afternoon?
PM: Well I don't know. I'm available if necessary.
JOURNALIST: The Service Station Association has
predicted that petrol could be $ 1.00 at the end of the
year and they've asked to reduce the fuel excise. Is
that something the Government would consider?
PM: I'll have a look at all these things when I get
back. I just don't speculate on a speculation.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, did you telephone special
conference delegates and suggest that if they didn't
accept this resolution the Government would be in
trouble? PM: I've had a number of telephone conversations both
before I left and there was some talk on the phone while
I was away. I've covered a range of issues in those
conversations, all of which are calculated to get the
right outcome on Monday.
JOURNALIST: Would the Government be in trouble if the
Caucus doesn't accept the resolution?
PM: I don't, you know, I don't contemplate our position
not being accepted.
JOURNALIST: Mr Tuckey, the person who's been responsible
for insulting a lot of your Members, has yesterday broken
down in Parliament himself. Your reaction to that?
PM: I hadn't heard that and if he has I'm sorry to hear
it. Politics is a tough game and very, very tough and if
any Member has been hurt to a point where it has that
impact, I don't get any pleasure out of that.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, are you concerned that you may
have upset South East Asian nations by calling on Japan
to play a more strategic role in the region?
PM: I wouldn't have upset South East Asian nations. I
believe I have very good relations with all of them and
they would understand exactly the whole context of the
observations I've made.
JOURNALIST: Is it the case though that you'd like to
kind of play a super powers role in
PM: No, no, no, no. What I've said is that one of the
facts which distinguishes the end of the 20th century
from the immediate post-war period is that Japan is an
economic giant, an economic super power and it is
inevitable and appropriate that in the political world
there should be some reflection of that and that is a
view which I notice is shared by Europeans and others and
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it's inevitable that there will be some adjustments. I
haven't attempted in any way to prescribe what those
adjustments should be. But I know that just as sure as
we are of any fact in life is that will happen and it's
appropriate that it be done in a way which the members of
the United Nations are happy with and in a way which
involves a considerable amount of discussion. But it
will happen, ok.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, just on the Raiders.
PM: Last one, yes. You look as though you were there
right from when I left.
JOURNALIST: Who's going to win tomorrow in Sydney?
PM: The Raiders.
JOURNALIST: The Raiders?
PM: On Sunday. I mean they haven't changed it, have
they? JOURNALIST: By how many points?
PM: Well I've got to about 6, about 6.
JOURNALIST: Don't you think it would be nice to see the
Panther's win for the first time though?
PM: Well I understand yes, it would be nice for them.
It would bee good for the region and it's a great region
that they're representing. But you know, I'm a fairly
strong supporter of the Raiders and all my friends in
Penrith will understand that. I just hope that it's a
good, tough game and I'm sure it will be. Thanks.
ends