E & OE.......
... tape begins.
PRIME MINISTER:
... It's the first responsibility of the Governments of the whole of Australia. You've got to, your first responsibility is to do everything you can to deliver a safer community. Now the states have the front line responsibility and rightly so. I take the opportunity of saying that I have great admiration for the work that the men and women of our police services do. They cop a lot of bucketing from time to time but let me put my hand up for the boys and girls in blue. I think they do a terrific job, they deserve our support and our understanding in the very difficult situations in which they are often placed and sometimes there's not enough said from positions of authority and leadership in this country about the tremendous job they do do, and what we're doing today is offering the hand of co-operation and co-ordination, not domination by the Federal Government. We're offering to work with the states to emphasise crime prevention. We're working with the states to educate the public how better to protect themselves against incidences of crime. Later on in the year we will be having a very strong focus on domestic violence which is part of the problem but it has another dimension to it and all of this in fulfilment of commitments we made at the time of the last election.
JRNLST:
Prime Minister, the point has been made, sir, that you know, when you're cutting back customs' budgets, when you're cutting back police budgets, how is this going to make Australia a safer place?
PRIME MINISTER:
What this will do is to better focus the resources available and I don't think any of the cutbacks that have occurred have in any way compromised the Campaign Against Crime and Violence. Indeed the programmes of this Government have enhanced that campaign and made them more co-ordinated and more effective.
Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER:
.... on Territory Governments on both sides of the political fence. I have never denied the value and the support that Mr Beazley and Senator Kernot afforded me on that occasion and on those sort of great national crises, when parties work together you can deliver a fine outcome for the whole community. Thanks a lot.
PRIME MINISTER:
.... I wish Mark and the team all the very best. There will be millions of Australians wishing them on and good fortune in the great battle against the traditional enemy. There's nothing quite like a clash on the cricket field between England and Australia and it stirs the Australian blood like no other sporting contest.
JRNLST:
Where will you be watching the game, Mr Howard?
PRIME MINISTER:
I will be listening to the first part of it and then I will be watching the next part of it.