E&OE...............................................
JOURNALIST:
How far advanced is your tax package
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we've done a lot of work on it and it will be a fair go
for all Australians. It will remove the unfairness and the inequity
of the present system and there will be, of course, significant personal
tax cuts. And it will be a pro-business tax policy that will boost
the export performance of Australian business.
JOURNALIST:
How far before the election will you release the details?
PRIME MINISTER:
Adequately.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think an election campaign is the right time to be discussing
a serious and complicated subject like taxation?
PRIME MINISTER:
We will release it adequately before the next election.
JOURNALIST:
With exports and jobs threatened, is it time for the Government to
step in and settle this issue?
PRIME MINISTER:
The threat to exports and jobs is coming from the behaviour of the
MUA now as it has come from the behaviour from the MUA in the past.
This issue is all about boosting jobs and exports by removing uncompetitive
practices from the waterfront. If the MUA had cooperated to do that,
this whole thing would not have arisen.
JOURNALIST:
Do you have any plans for tackling the loss of jobs in the Upper Hunter
mining and power generating industries?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it would help if the New South Wales Government got off its tail
and helped in relation to Redbank, I've made Commonwealth money
available. One thousand jobs can be created and I call on Mr Carr
to do something in relation to the electricity authority to ensure
that Redbank can go ahead.
JOURNALIST:
With (inaudible) backing Malaysia's vote of Australia, is it
time to reassess our relationship with Indonesia?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, it's not a time to reassess the relationship but I make no
bones about the fact that it's a relationship that's (inaudible)
on mutual respect and if Indonesia does something that I don't
approve of, well, I make it known. I ought to make it clear though
that membership of ASEM is not the most important pebble on the foreign
policy beach. It'd be nice to be part of it but we are not going
to lose any sleep if we don't (inaudible), but we had a view
to put and now that that view has become public, I certainly don't
walk away from it.
JOURNALIST:
Jeff Kennett says hundreds and thousands of jobs might go if the waterfront
dispute continues? Do you think that's a possibility?
PRIME MINISTER:
Who said that?
JOURNALIST:
Jeff Kennett.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well certainly the MUA by continuing to deny the release of produce
that has been landed in Australia is overriding the situation. I mean
those people of Toyota, if they're stood down, that will be the
direct result of behaviour in the MUA.
JOURNALIST:
On tax, Prime Minister, will you be accepting (inaudible) as a fait
accompli?
PRIME MINISTER:
We will be releasing a tax policy in accordance with the principles
I laid down in August of last year.
JOURNALIST:
Does it concern you that MUA protestors seem to be following you around?
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
JOURNALIST:
What can you offer the people of the Hunter leading into the next
election?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I can remind them, I can offer them a continuation of the low
interest rates that my Government has delivered. And we've delivered
the lowest interest rates in 30 years and I can tell them the truth
and that is that if Kim Beazley becomes Prime Minister, interest rates
will go up again because Kim Beazley is a big spender.
JOURNALIST:
Can you tell us what your plans are for a GST?
PRIME MINISTER:
We'll be releasing our tax policy in accordance with the principles
I laid down in August of last year.
JOURNALIST:
With cargo stranded on the wharves, is it time to get the troops (inaudible)
in this dispute?
PRIME MINISTER:
The only two governments in Australia's history that have used
troops in an industrial dispute have been Labor governments. It is
not a precedent I desire to follow.