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13 May 1997
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THlE HON. JOHN HOWARD MP
RADIO INTERVIEW WITH PAUL BE VAN ON
ABC RADIO 2NC, NEWCASTLE
E O E
( tape starts)
PRESENTER: . some programmes. Could you elaborate on that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes well what I also said in the Parliament was that we would match what the New South Wales
Government contributed.
( Tape break)
I don't think the proposal that Mr Carr has put up is the most efficient way ( inaudible) of the New
South Wales Government's money and $ 10 million of federal money and at least $ 5 million of BHP
money. There is a better way in our opinion of doing it and because thle full impact of the
retrenchments won't be felt for a little while yet, although some impact will be felt fairly soon, we
Ought to spend a few weeks working out the most intelligent way of dispersing the money but I want
to make it very clear to your listeners and to all of the people of the Newcastle area that we are very
concerned about the social and community impact of the BHP decision. I have to be honest and say
that I can't reverse it any more than Mr Carr can reverse it or any more than Mr Keating would have
been able to reverse it if he was still Prime Minister or Mr Beazley. We shouldn't pretend that
something like this can be reversed but we can help as governments to ease the impact, to help people
into other activities and to make programmes and resources available in that process.
Now that is what I am willing to do and I will say it again, we will commit the same resources as the
New South Wales Government. I want the people of Newcastle and the people of the Hunter region
to understand that. We just want to do it in a different way. I don't want to have a political fight with
Mr Carr. He's a Labor Premier, I'm a Liberal Prime Minister but the livelihood of Australians is at
stake here and we should really keep politics out of it.
PRESENTER: Even though you are from different sides of the fence, will you be working with...
PRIME MINISTER:
I will work with Mr Carr. I saw him last week and I genuinely don't believe that the proposals he's put
forward are the best way of spending the money and...
PRESENTER:
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What would you...
PRIME MINISTER:
One of the things that I am going to do is to get our, I've got a Major Projects Facilitator on my staff
and i'm going to get him to see what major projects might be brought forward to have some beneficial
effects in the area. There are some activities within the Department of Employment that could perhaps
receive additional resources. Now what you really have to do is to talk to the business people in the
region. You've got to talk to the unions, you've got to talk to the civic leaders and work out with the
limited resources available what is the most intelligent way to spend the money. Now I am quite happy
to do that in co-operation with Mr Carr. I am happy to nominate a Commonwealth representative on a
joint Commonwealth-State committee. I am quite happy to talk to and work with the unions. I can't
deliver miracles. I won't promise that but I just say again we are not the least bit reluctant about
making resources available. We will match dollar for dollar what the New South Wales Government is
committing. We just want to do it a little differently and I just ask Mr Carr not to politicise this. And
here we are on opposite sides of the political fence but we should work together on this particular
issue. PRESENTER:
When you are looking at programmes that you can put funding into to help with this sort of situation,
aren't you bound to a certain extent by the dismantling that's already gone on under the Coalition
Government? For instance, Skilshare has been reduced by
PRIME MINISTER:
But there are other programmes.
PRESENTER: Working Nation has been virtually, totally dismantled.
PRIME MINISTER:
Please, with respect, don't try and distort what I have said. I have said that our resources will be there.
I mean, you can't sort of get around that. We're going to make some resources available. There are
some progranmmes that exist and one in particular relates to regional unemployment, areas of particular
regional unemployment difficulty. It would be possible for example to supplement that particular
programme. There has been a very successful placement programme I understand operating in the area
in relation to the tourist industry. It would be possible perhaps to continue that. There are a number of
options. PRESENTER: An interesting point there is that these people... a couple of things... First off, the last round of
retrenchments at BHiP would have seen the shedding of their more skilled workers, no insult to the
people who are still there.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I understand.
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PRESENTER: You are going to have people who have been at the BHP for a longer period of time, less skills.
PRIME MINISTER:
I understand.
PRESENTER: They're not going to be getting jobs in tourism.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I'm not pretending.. look, the last thing anybody in my position or Mr Carr's position or Mr
Beazley's position should do is to sort of promise that the waving of the magic wand can achieve
miracles. It can't but what I'm saying to you and I'm saying to your listeners is that we are prepared
within limits to assist. I amn happy to work with the New South Wales Government, I am happy to
work with business men and women in the Hunter and with the unions to identify the most intelligent
way of using the limited resources that will be made available. There's no point in people yelling at
each other, there's no point in people trying to score political points. I am not blaming the unions, I am
not blaming the previous Government. I am not, I mean, the fact is that we have a difficult problem
that we have to come to terms with.
PRESENTER: You specifically did blame the previous government in Parliament today though and there was an
awful lot of political point scoring going on...
PRIME MINISTER:
If I am told by the Ministers in the former Government that this particular closure is my fault, when
you bear in mind that in the 13 years that thle former Government was in office, BHP's workforce
declined from 54000 to 23000, I repeat that, 54000 to 23000, you might expect me in the heat of a
Parliamentary exchange to defend myself
PRES ENT ER:
At that time the previous ALP Government injected $ 45 million in 1983 into the economy to try to
compensate. PRIME MINISTER:
Well I am just telling you that is the fact. Look, you bring up..
PRESENTER: You're saying $ 10 million.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, you bring up this question of blame. I don't want to get into political blame but if I am attacked
obviously I will defend myself and I will point out that under the previous Government BI-P's 3 f 606/ 30/ 1977: 37: 14
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workforce around Australia declined from 54000 to 23000.
PRESENTER: But they did work to try to compensate that.
PRIME MINISTER:
You say they worked, it obviously wasn't very effective. Now look, don't drag me into sort of a
political exchange oil this but if you force me to I will defend myself by quoting figures that are
uncomfortable for the former Labor Government. From the moment that BHP made its
announcement, Mr Beazley and Mr Crean have tried to sort of blame all of it on us. Now look, that is
ridiculous. We've been in office for 13 months. They were in office for 13 years and I don't think
people who were listening to this programme are really very interested in an exchange between you
and me about...
PRESENTER: You're quite right.
PRIME MINISTER:
You've started asking me, and I don't really want to go down that track but if..
PRESENTER: Neither do 1.
PRIME MINISTER:
If you take me down that track I'm going to defend myself because I'm not going to have the
reputation of my Government unfairly reduced but what Bob Carr and I have got to do is work
together. He's put forward $ 10 million. I have said we will match that. I think BHP should contribute
some more and I will talk to the company about that. I don't think what the Premier has put up is the
most intelligent way of spending the $ 25 or more million. I would like to talk to him about other ways
of doing it and I am quite happy in that process to talk to the business leaders and to talk to the
unions... PRESEN TElR:
This proposal that has been put to you is for a foreign trade zone at the Steel River site which BH-P
has made available, about a hundred hectares is zoned as standard land. The foreign trade zone will
allow various tax breaks to try to entice industry into this area. Will you be giving support to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we've had a look at that and there are two problems with it. The first problem is that under the
Constitution we're told, you can't discriminate in your tax measures between states or different parts of
states and it's highly dubious as to whether it would be constitutional because other state governments
would challenge us giving a tax advantage to a part of New South Wales.
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Although I understand a similar scheme exists in the Northern Territory at the moment.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thle Northern Territory has a different status because it's not a state. Now I haven't completely ruled
that out but that is the initial problem because you will get other depressed areas of Australia, you will
get, 1 mean there are areas of Tasmania for example that have a higher level of unemployment than
Newcastle and the Hunter Valley and they will come to me and say, can we have the same thing and
you will get other states that may not have those depressed areas saying, well we're not going to agree
and we're going to take it to the High Court. Now I am not ruling that out completely.
PRES ENTER:
I think they would have difficulty in justifying their position is as bad as ours though.
PRIME MINISTER:
I am talking about the law. I am not talking about the comparative economic position. I am just saying
to you that if thle Constitution says you can't tax one part of the country more heavily or more lightly
than another part of the country and then you go ahead and do it, the part of the country that doesn't
get the advantage will take you to the court. That's, I'm just stating a fact of life between governments
so I haven't completely ruled that Out, Paul but I am just saying that that is one of the threshold
difficulties. It is one of the things that we are prepared to look at but you asked me the question. That
is one of its sort of preliminary difficulties. Look, what I ask in this is that we have got, we haven't got
a lot of time but we've got some time to approach the thing in a calmer way and not try to apportion
political blame because that's not going to achieve anything. That's not going to save one job, it's not
going to reverse one corporate decision and if we're going to have a non aggression pact on political
blame I will be a willing signatory but if somebody has a go at me and tries to land all the blame for a
13 month old Government, particularly from a 13 year old Government, I will naturally try and defend
mny Government.
PRESENTER: Look to the future security and avoid the political cost of.. another thing, another vital role that the
Federal Government can play here is working with the BHP to ensure that it satisfies its commitments
to this area. Some of those will be what it can provide by way of mopping up afterwards in the
employment situation. Will you be working closely with BHP on those, on that obligation?
PRIME M[ NISTER:
Yes. PRESENTER: And cleaning up the site as well is another good question.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes well, I mean, there are, I can't give a tick to everything that people might want in that area but in
principle yes.
PRESENTER: 06/ 30/ 97 17: 37: 16
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Prime Minister, thank you very much for your time. I know it's a very busy night for you.
PRIME MINISTER:
And I certainly intend in the next little while to visit Newcastle and to talk first hand.
PRESENTER: Will you come in and join us here in 2NC studios?
PRIME MINISTER:
I will certainly try.
PRESENTER: The invitation is there, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you. I will certainly try and do that.
PRESENTER: Thank you very much for your time. John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia.
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