A
TRANSCRIPT OF ' NEWS CONFERENCE, BURSWOOD HOTEL, PERT,
28 NOVMBER 1990
9 s0 9-PROO: F ONLY
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, with regard to the election
Of John Major, the Prime Minister-elect of Great Britain,
what's your response to that?
PM* Well I can't speak from any great knowledge of John
Major. I did have the opportunity of meeting him at the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malaysia last
Year and he is obviously a man of considerable ability.
I have already written to him and congratulated him,
wishing him well because Australia has a very
considerable interest in who is leading and the nature of
their leadership in Britain because Margaret Thatcher,
with whom of course I had some arguments on South Africa,
but she was a very great supporter of British-Australian
relationships 4nd particularly she was a great friend to
Australia in terms of her attack upon the common
agricultural policy in the European Community. I'm
certainly hoping that Mr Major will continue that very
strong support.,
JOURNALIST: Do you think you'd get on better with Mr
Major than Margaret Thatcher?
PM: In regard to Margaret Thatcher, we had our arguments
and they were pretty considerable, robust arguments in
regard to South Africa. But apart from that, we were
able to cooperate on a large number of matters within the
Commonwealth and as I say, particularly in regard to
developments in Europe she was at one with us in wanting
to see a very considerable modification of the common
agricultural policy. We couldn't have had a better
supporter in Europe on that matter than we had in
Margaret Thatcher.
JOURNALIST: The Morgan Poll has you down 33%, your
lowest ever. XE know it's a long way to the next election
but how do you feel about that?
PM: Well I am feeling quite composed about it. As you
say rightly, it:' s a long way to the last election, I've
just won my fourth one and by the time we go to the next
we'll be ready to win that.
JOURNALIST: What about your own leadership, Mr Hawke?
There's speculation still running. What are you going to
do?
2
PM: I'm going to do absolutely nothing. I mean as
Graham Richardson rightly put it, he said his dog wakes
up in the morning at times and barks for no reason at
all. It's a quiet inter-Parliamentary period and a few
of the people in the Gallery have got nothing better to
do. It has no basis.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, Mr Major was the Treasurer who
became Prime Minister. Does that forebode anything for
Mr Keating?
PM: Oh, my God. You see what I mean about, you know,
the media? Mr Major warn the Treasurer, he has become
Prime Minister, does that mean anything for Mr Keating?
That's a measure of the quality of the discussion on this
Issue. JOURNALIST: With regard to the next election, you said
you were going to lead the Labor Party into the next
election but not the next one after that.
PH: Well I wouldn't think so. I mean there comes a time
when you have to say well that's it. Now I have In
saying that this morning I said nothing new, nothing
different. I've said that on several occasions before.
JOURNALIST: Some time after the next election you'll be
pulling the pin?
P34: I think that would be right. I think that would be
close. JOURNALIST: Are you confident on Antarctica, Sir?
PM: Well I think the best way of putting it Is that I'm
extremely hopeful. Let's analyse this. When I took the
initiative on this a year ago not only within my own
Government did I have cynics and sceptics but
internationally they said you've got no chance. Now that
was almost a universal view. But there has been a
massive change as I expected there would be because I
don't think people generally have understood the force of
movement around the world on global environmental issues
and the Antarctic is an environmentally important thing
from an international point of view. Now governments
have been subject to pressures not only from other
governments like my own and the French Government have
been pushing thi. s case, but substantial environmental
interests in all the countries around the world have also
been saying to governments that the Australian initiative
Is something that ought to be supported. Now I'm hopeful
therefore that Chile will see the first steps towards the
achievement of the position which will ensure that there
will never be mining in the Antarctic.
JOURNALIST: And if the initiative doesn't get up?
PM: You ought to know me by now. I don't sort of answer
these hypotheticals if it doesn't get up. I think it
will. Whether you get it In its totality is one step,
I'm not sure but I think now that there is a very, very
considerable body of opinion that there ought to be at
least a finite ban on mining in the Antarctic and we'll
got that, at leasnt, for the first step and I think that
then the move towards a permanent ban is the next step.
JOURNALIST: In foreshadowing an expansion of the marine
reserve system around Australia, what areas do you have
in mind?
PM4: Well this is something that we've just been thinking
about and we haven't made any pre-emptive decisions about
it because as you will appreciate by definition this is
something which involves very much Cooperation with the
States and we're just flagging that we think that this is
something we ought to move to. Now what we'll be talking
about with the State. is what they think about it and
I think we're fortunate in having a model, I think, in
the Great Barrier Reef arrangement that we have with
Oueensland. Sc' those discussions will commence very
shortly with the States.
JOURNALIST: Cape Yfork space base is back in the news
this morning. I wonder can the environmentalists be
absolutely assured that the joint land use study will be
started and finished before any decision on whether to
allow that
PM: We won't be making any decisions in regard to Cape
York without having the benefit of the advice and the
work that comes out of that land use study.
JOURNALIST: Would you envisage that under this national
network of marine parks, should it come to that between
the Government and the States, that it will eventually
get world heritage listing for those parks?
PM: Well that's something that could be a logical step.
But let's take it stage by stage. You'll appreciate that
what I've initiated in Australia just very recently is, I
think, a new era in Commonwealth/ State relations and this
is something which Is very much involving the cooperation
with the States and the decisions that we will make will
not just be the decision of the Commonwealth but
decisions taken in cooperation with the States. If
that's the sort of way they want to move with us well
then that's I think you ought to know it.
JOURNALIST: The reports this morning that the Labor
Party is moving to distance itself from the union
movement, how do feel about that?
PM: I feel about that like I feel about most reports in
the media on things like this. I don't take them
terribly seriously. The relationship between the Labor
4
Party and the unhions is one which is nlow of a century's
duration. During that period there have been different
strease and strains but the relationship's endured and
in the period of my Government of course the relationship
with the trade union movement, reflected particularly in
the accord, has been one of very close cooperation. Now
We've shown an adaptability of the things that need to
change in the relationship, well they will come but It
will come as a result of serious discussion between the
two parts of the labour movement. We've shown a great
adaptability and capacity for considering how we should
best develop the relationship in changing times. I mean
you look at the accord, we've adapted that quite
remarkably and I think that's the way we work.
JOURNALIST: inaudible
PM: This is you know, there's an old Let's make it
clear what the Prime Minister has said. I've said
nothing more on this than that the technical definition
of a recession by the economists, God bless their hearts,
in that if you have two successive quarters of negative
growth then that is technically a recession. That could
emerge out of the figures tomorrow. But I've also said
the word recession doesn't I mean I'm not running away
from the word. Obviously there has been a lowered level
of activity and there's been pain in the community. But
what I'm saying and I'll repeat here is that the economy
will go into, I think, considerable recovery in 1991 and
an you will have seen from today's Press, there is very
confirmatory evidence of that in the business Investment
expenditure. So yes, the figures could show that
tomorrow but the important thing is have we got the
essential elements of economic policy which is going to
ensure firstly, that we have recovery and that It's
sustainable and is it a policy which means that we're
tackling the fundamental issues of inflation and the
current account deficit? All the evidence shows that we
are. If you look at inflation first, let's make the
point that all Australians should be very, very proud of
now and take great comfort from and that is that w'ye
got a significant downward movement in our inflation rate
an against what's happening in most of the rest of the
world with inflation going up so that that gap which has
been large in the past is significantly narrowing.
That's good for the future of this country and we'll be
able to cement that position to a very considerable
extent because of the latest wage/ tax deal. Arnd
secondly, in regard to the current account situation,
we're obviously improving there. What we've got to do as
a community is to make sure that we keep having larger
increases in production than we do in consumption.
That's the essence of the challenge.
JOURNALIST: Bob Hogg said last night that Mr Keating
should clarify his leadership intentions. Do you have
any comment on that?
Vr PM: No. Paul and I are very relaxed about this
situation. I wish everyone was as relaxed as we are.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawks, a homegrown issue. The principle
of the State Government giving a land endowment to a
private university. Do you see any dangers there?
PM: I see the headlines in today's West Australian. I
Mean I would like not to get into comments on particular
issues if I'm riot across them. I've done no more than
read quickly the story on the front of the West
Australian. I would want to have discussions with
Western Australia and with my Minister on this before I
made any comment.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, on a similar subject. Mining in
national parks State Government. Do you find that
some sort of an embarrassment today?
PM: Not an embarrassment. Again, I've had a letter on
that from Premier Lawrence and it's been pointed out that
what's been dorte is that in allowing prospecting and the
Possible move t~ o mining in three of the sixty of the
national parks fifty seven are not affected and that
there would only be a decision which would actually allow
mining after a consideration by the Parliament and if it
got to that point then those particular areas would be
excised from the national parks. This is a decision
which the Government has taken here in the light of their
consideration of all the issues. It seems to have been
one which has been carefully taken and which will ensure,
as I say, that overwhelming national parks will
remain free from mining.
ends