TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATINGMNP,
DOORSTOP, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, 3 DECEMBER 1992
E& OE PROOF COPY
J: Prime Minister, does Mr Kennett have the right to * sack any more public servants
down there in Victoria as a result of your increasing the power of the IRC?
PM: I heard John Howard today talk about the Kennett mandate. I think the important
thing to remember here is this Federal Labor Government went to an election with
_ Accord Mark VI constructed in the actual weeks of the election program, which
talked about minimum rates for Australians, and all the other commitments we'd
made in the past, the supplementary payments for low paid workers, with all of
that economic and social focus on those issues. By contrast, Mr Kennett had no
such declarations in his campaign, in fact he lead people up the garden path, not
only not seeking a mandate but trying to assuage their fears about what he might
introduce. There's only one mandate in industrial relations that's clear to the community, it's
the mandate enjoyed by this Government. And that's the mandate which will have
its way in Australia while ever I'm Prime Minister. So the States can do what they
like, those who want to break those sort of things. And of course not all do, you
won't see it in the Labor States. If Mr Kennett wants to go his wilful way with the
Liberal's ideological agenda, well let him, and no doubt he will still cause
industrial disruption in his own areas of administration by virtue of his own
attitude. But we are giving Victorian employees an opportunity now to register themselves
under the federal jurisdiction, thereby letting the Industrial Relations Commission
protect their conditions. Also for those people who might want to avail
themselves of coverage under federal jurisdiction, we're doing that under external
affairs power.
So it is the reasonable extension of the commitments we gave at an election, with
Accord Mark VI and all the tenets thereof, and we are think the only government
in Australia which has specifically gone to an election with very clear
commitments about industrial relations. Certainly the Kennett Government didn't
and they can't rely upon that now.
J: Do you take his threat seriously that he is going to renege on the financial deal
with the Commonwealth?
PM: Renege in what way?
J: ( inaudible)
PM: It's one thing for Mr Kennett to be talking about putting the industrial relations of
his State in jeopardy, it's another of him talking of exacerbating his financial
worries. He has got to make his own decisions about financial policy. We've
required him to do nothing other than to agree to a debt reconstruction plan. He
did agree to that and he agreed to that for us agreeing to the borrowings which
were disagreed with the former Government. As far as I'm concerned, that matter
is closed.
J: Prime Minister, how much extra funding will be given to _ SBS Radio to enable
them to set up this new network?
PM: That which is sufficient to do it. can't give the dollars and cents, but it's a very
important decision, I think, for multicultural Australia a second radio network
for the ethnic communities of this country so that they will have access to
programs in their own languages, which to a large extent is now, if not being
denied them, very much truncated by the growth in ethnic languages on the
existing network.
J: What are the practical factors that preclude a referendum at the next election?
PM: There are a number and I don't think now is the time to go into it.
J: You are being accused of vote-catching with this move for this second frequency,
aren't you?
PM: If we want to be accused of vote-catching we could have unveiled it during the
Wills bi-election. No, this is the right time to do it. As the number of ethnic
languages on the SBS Radio Network has expanded, there was a need for another
network, and think this meets the need.
ends