TRANSCRIPT OF NEWS CONFERENCE, ILLAWARRA STEELERS CLUB,
WOLLONGONG, 27 SEPTEMBER 1990
E OE PROOF ONLY
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke can we get the Balance of Payments
figures out of the way first? They've been described
generally as being within market expectations. What do you
have to say about it?
PM: Well they seem to be in about the middle of the market
expectations, 1.8 billion. There was over $ 300 million of
Qantas imports in that and importantly the downward trend in
imports which has been apparent for many months has
continued. So we are on line with the Budget expectations
and importantly the Government policies which have been
aimed at two things. That's firstly dealing with the
current account deficit and secondly with inflation. They
are on target. Of course when I say that about inflation
you have to have one question mark there which has been
acknowledged as to what the impact of oil prices will be but
as far as these figures are concerned on the important
question of the current account deficit the Budget forecasts
seem to be on track.
JOURNALIST: Still, Prime Minister, a look at the breakdown
in exports. The rural sector is still performing very
badly. PM: Well wool of course is very bad. Now we see in this
morning's paper an indication that perhaps the Soviet Union
is going to come back into the market and of course if they
do that that will be a good thing. But wool there ' s
nothing Gove: cnment can do about that other than exhortation.
We're sending Minister Kerin overseas with a mission to the
Soviet Union and other countries to try and revive the
overseas interest in the wool market. I think that will
come. JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, any chance of ta:: relief as a
result of the windfall from the oil price rise?
PM: No. The question of t~ x relief is not on the agenda.
You'll appreciate that in January there will be significant
tax cuts coming up which have already been legislated for.
JOURNALIST: rural lobby groups today called for
some sort of crisis meeting with the Government about the
situation facing the rural sector. Is that something that's
on the cards?
PM: I'm always prepared to meet representatives of the
rural industry in the 7 years we've been in Government I've
frequently me~ t with them. Of course the basic problem of
the rural industry is, as it's been in the past in times of
crisis, is the fall in their commodity prices. The only
thing basically that Government can do on the prices receive
side is what I have been, myself and had my Ministers
working hard on, and that is in the Uruguay Round to try and
ensure that we get a reasonable outcome on agriculture out
of the Uruguay Round. Because what's been an enormously
devastating thing for Australian rural producers, who are
the most efficient producers in the world, is that they are
denied access; to the large markets. I mean in Europe, North
America, but as bad as that is what's been even worse is the
export subsid~ isation by those trading blocs of their rural
producers which has meant that our more efficient producers
have been losing markets or suffering significantly reduced
prices in markets. Where if there were free competition we
would be doing very very much better.
JOURNALIST: South East forests. You've granted an extra
week for discussions before any decisions are made.
Obviously the people on the South coast are extremely
concerned that this has been an ongoing problem. Will the
Government have a final solution by October the 8th?
PM: I hate -the phrase final solution. The Federal
Government responded to a request from the New South Wales
Government for more time but we've made it quite clear that
the final decisions as far as we're concerned will be made
by the 8th of October. This is an area where I want to get
an outcome which will get the proper balance that is
necessary for the community. That is the protection of jobs
and the making available of adequate resources, the timber
industry, getting that balance with the responsibility that
we have for this and future generations of having
ecologically sustainable development, as we put it. I hope
and believe that we will get the balance right.
JOURNALIST: Jervis Bay is another environmental issue.
You ' ye ruled out the fleet base relocation what about
disarmaments depot?
PM: There is further consideration of that matter going on
and-. again I. hope that we'll-be.. able to find a location which
matches the needs of the navy with the proper consideration
that we must give to the environment. There's further work
going on on that. I hope we'll be able to come up with an
acceptable solution.
JOURNALIST: current account
PM: Just a minute the Current Account I'm back on here.
JOURNALIST: Financial markets believe that there is scope
with today's figure for an ease in interest rates by the
middle of next month and that would also help the rural and
the manufacturing sectors?
PM: When you. say the financial markets believe, what's the
financial markets. You mean certain people who purport to
speak for the! financial markets express a view. Well that
they express that view is not surprising.
JOURNALIST: You don't think there's any room for an easing
in interest rates?
PM: I think that I have the responsibility as Prime
Minister not to say anything which can influence the
movements in the markets because that's to no-one's
advantage. Let me say this, that in 1990 we've had four
discreet reductions in interest rates, four percentage
points in prime rates. That is proof of the fact that this
Government in co-operation with the Reserve Bank authorities
has been prepared to give effect to the commitment we made.
That is that when circumstances were appropriate and we
believe we could safely move to reductions in interest rate
levels we would. Now we've given proof of our capacity and
readiness to do that during this year and we will follow the
same process, that if the circumstances are adjudged
appropriate and that we can responsibly further reduce rates
then they will be.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, you've just spoken to the local
unions. Their concerns are mainly unemployment. Did you
make any conmitment to them, especially on relocation
the tax office
PM: They've raised a number of matters, including that one.
I have indicated, as I have before, that I have sympathy
with them. That's not just of words. I have sympathy
with them. I have more than that. I believe you know
something may develop in this area but I'm not prepared to
make a specific comment upon that now. Things are happening
in that area.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, an immigration issue, some of
the Cambodian boat people have been waiting up to nine
months. Is a decision on them forthcoming
PM: You say that some of the Cambodian people have been
waiting for nine months. I can tell you my friend that
there are people in the refugee camps in Asia who have been
waiting years and years and years and years. So get your
balance and priorities right.
JOURNALITIST: Prime Minister, yet again holiday makers' air
travel plans: have been interrupted through regrettable
circumstancets. Do you think this country's becoming more
sophisticate-d, is the union movement becoming more
sophisticatetd in its response to the problems that arise and
4.
seem to influence people like the airlines where it's
directly not even their problem?
PM: Well, obviously when you have a problem like this it is
disturbing and I wish that it hadn't happened. But you ask
whether the trade unions, plural, collectively are becoming
more sophistiLcated and responsible. If you were listening
to my brilliant address here today you would've heard one
part of it indicating that in the steel industry in this
region, in this year the level of industrial disputes is
five per cent of what that level was at the beginning of the
which would be proved positive I would suggest of the
increasing sophistication and sense of responsibility of the
trade union movement. If you want to reflect that on an
aggregate level for the whole of Australia there has been a
59% reduction in industrial disputes since 1983. So yes the
evidence is overwhelming that the trade unions of this
country have become both more sophisticated and more
0 arweasyp onfsriobml ew. a gesT hteoy ' vper ofaictcse ptwehdi cha hsahsi fta llionw enda tiao nvaelr yincome
substantial increase in investment. Which will mean that in
the longer term Australia is going to become more
diversified and more economically able to insulate itself
from the devastating effects of wide swings in commodity
prices. Now having said all that you're still in a free
democracy where there is the right of industrial action.
You're going to have some exercises of that freedom which do
appear to be irresponsible and I think in this case you can
categorise the stoppage in that way. I think it's
particularly unfortunate that it's occurred at a time which
inflicts problems on kids and their holiday period. I don't
like that and I hope that it's very quickly stopped.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, a year ago we had the pilots
strike, the planes were down and the Government was quite
vocal then about Yet the Government has been very very
quiet about this latest round I mean I believe your
comments just now are the first you've made.
PM: Yes well, if you just sit down and think about and
if you believe that there's an analogy between what the
pilots were trying to do there and this dispute well I think
you really do need to do a bit more thinking.
JOURNALIST: In The Age this morning Mr Willis was quoted as
saying that if oil prices remain high the Government must
look at some! form of tax relief. Is he speaking out of
turn? PM: Mr Willis never speaks out of turni.
JOURNALIST: So there is no lik'eiihood-of tax relief?
PM: That doesn't follow. You see, what you seem to forget,
I don't knowr why, is that we've been in office for seven and
a half years and we have shown in the whole of that period a
preparedness and a capacity to deal with changing economic
circumstance. s and make the decisions which are appropriate
to those chan~ ging circumstances. Nothing's new. If a
position arises where you needed to look at the level of
taxation because a new situation had arisen then the whole
of our record of seven and a half years shows that we'd be
prepared to do that. But I'm not going to speculate at this
point that the circumstances as they exist now require that
decision. JOURNALIST: Just to bring it down to a local level
PM: You pay taxes here too don't you.
JOURNALIST: You made a commitment today to look at the
report. Do you think we might get another commitment of
some dollars and cents in the short term?
PM: I don't know about the short term but I think I'm
entitled to look the citizens of Illawarra directly in the
eye and say well you look at Bob Hawke's record, has he got
a commitment to this region, does he take seriously the
proposals that are put up? I think the answer is yes. I
think this is a very good piece of work that has been done
and I will not only look at it closely myself but I will see
that it's examined by all relevant Ministers and
departments. I say this, if there are ways that we believe
that we can positively respond to proposals that have been
put and that we can responsibly do that then that will
happen. JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, have you made any commitment to the
South Coast Labour Council on approaching the Greiner
Government over building projects like Caloola Pass?
PM: I think any discussions I've had with the Labour
Council at least at this stage ought to remain confidential.
But I have certainly listened to a range of matters that
they've raised. I think that they have put up serious
questions for consideration and I've given them an
undertaking -that I will look at them. Obviously some of the
things that -they've raised are more within the area of State
Government responsibility. I'm prepared to raise them in
that context too. But my first reaction will be to go back
and talk with~ my Ministers who have a responsibility in the
areas where -the issues have been raised.
JOURNALIST: Millions and millions of dollars worth of
projects. I mean there was one for example out at Brandon
Park, they. said $ 600,000, way . too. much. You-haven't got
that sort of money. I mean we're talking about millions of
dollars here. Where's the money going to be coming from?
PM: Well the money that governments provide comes out uofthe
pockets of taxpayers. That's where the money comes
from. I haven't got a mint that I just create money. State
governments really haven't got it. Where the money comes
from is out of the pockets of taxpayers. The responsibility
of governments is to get a proper balance between what you
expect the taxpayers will pay and what you understand
taxpayers want expenditures outlaid on. That's what
government is about. You've got to try and get your
priorities right. I think that at the Federal Government
level we have. I'm not altogether sure as far as this
region is concerned that the State Government has.
JOURNALIST: So some of these would be pie in the sky?
PM: Well I don't think any of the things that have been
raised with me are pie in the sky.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Bob Hogg said the other day
that he thought that there should be more open forums and
would like in one way to address the leadership crisis, the
membership crisis
PM: He said, Bob Hogg certainly thinks there's no
leadership crisis. He's very happy with what he's got.
JOURNALIST: Do you agree with the idea for more open
forums?
PM: I'm always in favour of open forums. But I think
really that as far as the Labor Party is concerned if you
look at the political parties in Australia we're the open
forum party. I mean we couldn't be more open. We do it at
length. I would always support Hogg or any other operative
in the Party who was calling for more discussion. I don't
think you can ever have too much of discussion of issues.
This recent exercise that we've had was invigorating I think
in that at the industrial and political level the discussion
went on for a very considerable period. We refused to
pre-empt the discussion at the early stages by having a
Cabinet decision. We waited till the very end discharge
the responsibility we had of saying what the Government
position was. In the process I think the Party came through
it well. The important thing on that particular issue is
that we will go into the next election with an absolute
dichotomy between Labor and the conservatives because Labor
remains totally committed to a competitive
telecommunications system within which there is a fully
publicly-owned telecommunication facility operating
internationally and domestically. The others want to
dispose of that absolutely and to put it totally into the
hands of the private sector as I've indicated. That's a
debate. You talk about open forums. I'll be debating and
arguing that at the Tories for all the time between now and
the _ next. election.
ends