PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P. J KEATING MP
DOORSTOP, PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA, SUNDAY,
7 NOVEMBER 1993
E& OIE PROOF COPY
PM. I just want to give you some comments on Dr Hewson's performance
with Laurie Oakes on the ' Sunday show this morning. It is the weakest
and most helpless performance that I have seen a parliamentary
leader put in in my 24 years in the House of Representatives in public
office. Dr Hewson made clear that he does not have any policy on
Mabo despite the fact that he has released policy documents that
native title is at the core of Coalition policy, upholding the High Court
decision is at the core of Coalition policy, he said. Now that policy has
no status, it hasn't been through the Shadow Cabinet, it means nothing
and even when questioned about It being a set of principles he
demurred saying It was really for anyone to say what they thought of it.
Now, all this means, I think, is that Dr Hewson is so weakened, he
can't now put down as he should, Ian McLachlan for walking away from
what has been the Coalition's stated position now since June. I think
that is because Dr Hewson is relying on Western Australian
parliamentary Liberals. The related theme through this is of course,
that Richard Court is contemplating the most unconscionable
extinguishment of private land titles in this country's history. This is
the party that believes in the rule of law, In private property. It has now
said that the High Court should be chastised, that the High Court
should be reformed, that the High Court is a social experimentation
place and on private property they are prepared to rush in and use the
powers of the West Australian parliament for the most blatant
extinguishment of private property ever. Dr Hewson should, as a
position of principle, come out and say he would have no bar of that,
that he would protect the centrality of the High Court's judgement
about terra nullius, but today he made clear that while he could
understand native title applying to the Merian Islands, he couldn't see;
he said he had reservations about how it would apply to the mainland
of Australia, God help us after all this time. He then went on to say
2
that Mabo was a major issue facing this country well, of course it is Dr
Hewson, that is why It requires a principled policy position, that is why
the Government has spent the better part of a year on it to give effect
to and build a body of administrative law for the hearing, awarding and
protection of native title and not to see it squandered or worse, to
connive In Its extinguishment with an unprincipled government in
Western Australia.
All of this means that Dr l-ewson can't deal with his leadership; he
can't discipline Mr McLachlan who is way out of court with the Federal
Parliamentary Liberal party; Dr Hewson would know that the great
body of the Federal Parliamentary Liberal party does believe the High
Court did as every other similar group of jurors around the world have
done and that Is found that these concepts such as terra nullius are
void and that, of course, a native title has existed in the common law
and having had the decision made should join with the Government in
seeing it protected. He hides behind this ruse that the he hasn't seen
the Government's Bill, but he has seen the High Court decision since
June 1992. He has had now all that time to make a decision about the
core principle, which you don't need the Government's Bill to establish
and that is, whether native title should be protected or not.
The fact Is here there are big issues here for the Liberal party. This
view that you can't give Aboriginal people In this country inherent right,
only a conferred right, that if you have the chance you should lunge
out and try and extinguish their rights to private property of course,
never for a moment considering that every other Australian should say,
well, how sacred are my rights to private property If any Liberal
government believes It could extinguish any category of persons
private property in this country. And yet, Dr H-ewson won't draw the
principal threads together and state his position, stand McLachlan
down, put Reith in his place and adopt a position of principle In the
Parliament on this important question of native title. Dr Hewson is
running the same line, essentially he ran weeks ago that is, that
everybody In the Liberal party Is entitled to carry the leaders baton in
the knapsack and that virtually the more contestants there are the
merrier, but in his case he is all right. But the fact is, of course, it has
lead him to be completely powerless and helpless. He is now like a
cork bobbing around in the ocean, pushed and shoved by any force,
any Influence which comes from this week to that and particularly not
In any way being able to cope with the big issues of principle facing
Australia and not showing any leadership whatsoever.
J: But do you think his leadership is seriously under threat?
PM: I think, any parliamentary Liberal looking at that program this morning
would despair they know his leadership is finished.
J: Where is the threat coming from?
PM: it is coming everywhere. It comes most particularly from him, because
he won't display any leadership.
J: But who will take over, will Bronwyn Bishop?
PM: Fortunately, that is not for me to worry about.
J: I presume Mr Keating, that you are not going to put him out of his
misery by bringing on the Mabo legislation as soon as possible?
PM: The Mabo legislation will be introduced when we have the Bill written
as accurately and as securely as we can we will then introduce it.
J: You don't have a date yet for the introduction?
PM: No, It will probably be around the 16th or 17th of November as I said.
J: Was the legal advice received from Atorney-General's that Richard
Court's legislation could be valid?
PM: I am not basically here to debate the whys and wherefores of Richard
Court's legislation. Simply to say this, that what the Court Government
is doing is unconscionably seeking to extinguish a proprietary right for
an unspecified, undesignated so-called set of native title rights, only to
be expressed whenever there is a dispute and when they are wiped
out, Aboriginal people have a year to argue for compensation, but how
would they argue for compensation when they could never know
wh~ ether they were in fact the native title owners in the first place.
J: How can the Commonwealth's legislation be Imposed In West
Australia, Mr Court's legislation is valid, don't you have a problem on
that front?
PM: The Commonwealth has primacy in this area and it will assert It without
fear or favour. And can I say, that also as an aside here, the mining
industry has got to stand up here and decide what it wants. It was
telling us, remember all the Wik carry on about how titles before 1975
had to be validated, there is no such validation in the West Australian
legislation whatsoever for any titles before 1975, yet they are saying
in their press release that yes, they think this Bill fits the bill with the
mining industry. It would provide absolute chaos in Western Australia,
total uncertainty and the one thing which the mining industry has
always said was its first requirement, that is, to be able to validate the
titles. Look, the core matter here Is this, this is a matter as Dr Hewson said
this morning a major issue and principle for the country. The
Opposition is now without a policy, after all this time Dr Hewson has
told us this morning that the policy that he announced in June which
said the Coalition accepts that the High Court has determined that
native title exits he Is now running away from saying it has no
status, that it has not been through the Shadow Cabinet and it has no
party room support. Right at this moment, the Coalition of the country,
the conservative parties have no position on the question of native title
or its preservation that is just an appalling disgrace.
J: Is this the issue that is going to bring down Dr Hewson do you think?
PM: It they are big enough they are too hot for Dr Hewson to touch.
Wherever he goes, if It Is on Issues like the republic he meets on the
right Mr Howard, if it is on Mabo he runs into the West Australian
Liberals in the likes of Mr McLachlan. He won't make a stand
anywhere and the thing about leadership it is all about making a
stand around principle something that Dr Hewson doesn't
understand, that his leadership flows from his own strength and that he
hasn't displayed any. Thank you.
ends