PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
DOORSTOP, CENTRAL QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY, ROCKHAMPTON, QLD
7 APRIL 1995
E& OE PROOF COPY
PM: I'm happy to take the odd question from you.
J: Mr Keating, there still seems to be some student anger at your recent
comments?
PM: Not very much, I don't think, because they now know that I wasn't
addressing an unemployed person, I was addressing a University student
who didn't wan to pay the HECS fee. And, I made the obvious point if
you don't want to pay your HECS fee, give your place to somebody who
does. And, as a consequence, it means that the nation is investing fourfifths
of the cost of every University course in a young person who can
then go out in the top deciles of wage and salary earners. So they have to
repay the Commonwealth for one-fifth of the cost of their education after
they start work. So, it is eminently fair, and of course, we have put all that
money back into University places. so roughly one-third of all the students
in this campus wouldn't be here without HECS.
J. Do you regret the comment in the first place, though?
PM: Well, the comment was directed to some person who wanted us to pay for
their fees exclusively, and of course that would just take us back to the old
system where only the wealthy had places in universities.
J: The High Court has handed down a decision today which means that State
public servants can switch to the federal award do you feel vindicated?
PM: Well, I think we have extended as the States have adopted obscurantist
laws and policies we have extended the Federal industrial relations
jurisdiction. And, we have left it to employees and unions to decide
whether they want to be Federally registered, and of course, they have
voted with their feet in seeking to be so registered. And, so, I think this
decision is probably a vindication of the Commonwealth's position.
J, Mr Howard on the Noel Crichton-Browne affair earlier this week you said
that he should show some strong leadership, and today he has come out
and said that you can do that with a softly-softly approach do you feel the
same way?
PM: If Mr Crichton-Browne leaves his Senate place, it will obviously have
nothing to do with Mr Howard's leadership it will just be sheer attrition.
And, therefore, it proves the point that it is not thoughtfulness... .1 mean Mr
Howard he is a real wordsmith. He is out there now trying to say, " Well,
it's thoughtful I'm taking a thoughtful, conservative approach to this".
What he has taken is a weak and indecisive approach to it, and if the
Liberal Party insist that Mr Crichton-Browne give up his Senate place, it
will have nought to do with Mr Howard's leadership.
J: And child care you made that promise in 1993
PM: I'm not going through Budget things here. The whole of the outlay system
is under review. This Government has extended child care as no other
Government before when we became the Governiment, there were
45,000 childcare places. We are well on our way now when we are getting
to the point when all the childcare places on demand in this country will be
met.
J: But will you be breaking that election promise?
PM: I just said I'm not going through outlays discussions anything else?
J: What message do you have for the Central Queensland home-owners
struggling with the interest rate hikes?
PM: I am just saying that we have still got relatively low interest rates by
Australian standards it is just that they got to be so low that they were
probably unsustainable. They have now come up a bit but only by a
couple of percent and now the Government is working flat out on the
Budget, and a good Budget will make further increases to the interest
rates far less likely. And, I think that's what most people are worried about
they are worried about the prospect of future interest rates, rather than
what has happened. And, last week we had some national accounts data
-zhnwinn the eoanory slowing a the Govemnmont wntohod it would and
which has proved that the earlier interest rate adjustments are working,
and that coupled with a good Budget means that interest rates rising in
the future will be less likely, and that must be good news for home owners.
Thank you.
J: And just lastly on the drought?
PM: On the drought I will give you a comment the Government has already
acknowledged the difficulties of the drought, and when I came here with
Marjorie Henzell in the later part of last year, we made quite revolutionary
changes to income support. And, as a consequence, we have removed
the farm assets test for the receiving of Social Security support. We now
have 10,000 farm families getting that support. But, nothing can support
them like rain, and so we are hoping that there is now some reasonable
follow up rains to the January rains. Thank you.
ends.