TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
INTERVIEW WITH SALLY BEGBIE, 7.30 REPORT
9 MARCH 1992
E OE PROOF COPY
He belives himself as passionate, thinks the recession was
unfortunate and sees the arts spiritually uplifting. You
might be forgiven for confusing the identity of this person,
it's Prime Minister Paul Keating. And this is the line he
is now adopting. And our arts reporter, Sally Begby, talked
with Paul Keating during his visit to the Adelaide Arts
Festival. PM: A few of the troops back home, back in Canberra query
the wisdom of coming among arty types. Well, I have
done it before. And they said, ' are you sure you know
the protocols, make sure you put your arm around
everyone'. So I decided to risk it, I decided that one
cannot stay forever in the conformity of the
Parliamentary burrow.
' The result is that by 5 to 4 majority, they have
awarded the 1991-92 Archibald Prize to Brian
Westwood for his portrait entitled, The Prime
Minister'.
He prefers the sound of the classics to the thard of leather
on willow. Less than 3 months into office, the Bankstown
boy with a VFL ticket is tailoring his image on the Arts
wicket. PM: I think that the Arts always gives any society that
chance to push out the boundaries of the temperal,
grasping for the spiritual and it's important for our
souls, it is important for our inner being. So the
Arts not only helped define who you are and what you
are, but they also spiritually uplift you, and I think
it is terribly important for a country to, and for
Governments of countries to sort of understand that.
J: The Arts are also about passion. Do you see yourself
as a passionate man?
PM: I absolutely run on passion. That's why makes me tick.
That's what makes me tick. Absolutely, I mean, if you
are not passionate about things, I don't think you can
enjoy life to the fullest. And I am very passionate
about things.
J: Keating's affair with the Arts has been long-standing.
As Treasurer he implemented the most lucrative Arts
awards in the country, possibly in the world. The
creative fellowships, affectionately known as ' The
Keatings', give established artists between $ 150
$ 200,000 over a three to four year period to pursue
their ideas.
J: Will the Arts get a higher priority in your Governent?
PM: Well, I thought about taking the Arts portfolio myself
actually. But the problem you have with it is that
then every element of the Arts believes they should
have access to the Minister and be able talk to him or
her, as the case may be. And in the job I am doing,
you don't really have the time to do that. So it has
to be with another Minister, I think. But I am keeping
an interest in it and I am now thinking about what, in
the longer run, what our Arts policy should be.
J: Do you think that as we move towards a republic that
the place for the Arts will have increasing importance
and therefore deserve more funding?
PM: Well, the Arts are part of the reason why people are
even thinking about it, I think. So it's a case of the
chicken and the egg. I think, the Arts will be first,
and if there is further political change in this
country, it will be part due to the sort of ambiLence in
the national psyche of the national debate that's come
from, in part, the Arts.
J: The Australia Council, the major body for the Arts, has
seen it's funding cut by $ 20 million since 1974.
During the last decade of Labor it has had no increase
in real -terms. Still, Paul Keating is promising, only,
to look at funding levels.
PM: It's how you spend it, and whether the policy of
thinning the' butter on to the bread or dropping it on
in dollops or lumps. Whether you actually make one
area of -the Arts more significantly funded, better, or
whether you spread the joy widely, I think that's a
question, a teal question for policy.
J: Do you think it's a bit dangerous for you hanging your
hat on the Arts banner and moving away maybe from the
sports banner? I mean, Mr Hawke was seen at yacht
races and you are seen at writers festivals.
PM: I used to sail an 18-footer in Sydney Harbour and I
will stay up for a good fight, or a good tennis match,
so it is not as if I am sort of one or the other. I am
interested in sport and I think sport is very good.
But I am also interested in the Arts, I think the Arts
are terribly important and the crowds that now come to
the Adelaide Arts Festival or the major galleries and
museums, theatre, dance, speaks for itself I think,
does it not?
J: It's ironic that Paul Keating who loves the music of
Mahler and the art of Turner, finds himself leading a
land a hemisphere away from Europe, a country he
stopped short of saying, is pushing towards a republic.
PM: Well, it's changing and it's part of that. I think the
political system has had the sense to let that change
percolate through the nation over time. And that is a
sensible position to take.
J: But you -have enjoyed a great momentum on this debate in
the last couple of weeks. Do you think that we will
be...
PM: I think one is entitled to say that we have an identity
of our own and ought to be confident about ourselves
and independent of people who wish to keep us tiLed to
another Apoc. You can say those things and be entitled
to say them. It is entirely another matter to be
saying, now we ought to move therefore from this point
to that, in sort of constitutional terms.
J: But do you see that perhaps we will have a referendum
before the turn of the century?
PM: I don't know, I don't know. It just depends how this
debate goes. It is a feeling, it is not a debate is
it? It is a feeling.
J: But it is a growing feeling Prime Minister?
PM: I think it is.
J: Paul Keating denies that his tilt towards republicanism
as John Rewson describes it, is just the reaction of an
Irish Catholic larrikin.
PM: Be clear about the fact that not only can we do it, but
we will do it, will be doing it, will be controlling
our own affairs, will be making our own place in the
world and saying, here we are, we are Australians, take
us as we are, we are different, we are from certainly a
country with European origins, but we are not European,
we're Australian. And I think if the country feels
that, we will make the economic change more quickly and
better. We've had the misfortune of the recession but
it will be simply a period and a longer run, I think,
period of success and change. And I know that change
is occur: cing. I know that cultural change is in, in
commence and in trade, and I think it is in in societal
terms as well. So I think one has every reason to be
confident about Australia.
J: Where do youlget your confidence from? You are talking
that it's important for Australia to have confidence.
Where have you gained your confidence? Some people
said you got off to a shaky start as Prime Minister,
you're clearly confident now?
PM: No, but I always like the sort of, I was reconnoitring
for a couple of weeks, you see.
J: Did you have a good look around?
PM: working out where all the bits were. And once I
worked that out, away we went.
J: Just two months ago he was Mr 25 per cent, but there
were moments in Adelaide where you could sense that
even an undertaker can find a heartland.
I
Do you think that there will be more votes for you if
you fixed up the Australian Cricket Team than if you
fixed up funding to the Arts in Australia?
PM: Well, I don't know. One does not think in those terms.
I know that this may come as a great shock and
surprise, but there is still some substantial altruism
in a way in which a Government functions. And to do
what is right and best is what's important, and I think
it is important to get the Arts right, to get the
policy about the Arts right.
ENDS