E&OE...............................................
Ladies and gentlemen, I have called this news conference with the
Minister, Mr Somlyay, and the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory,
Shane Stone, to announce the formation of a $10 million Katherine
region redevelopment programme. A third of that will be contributed
by the Federal Government, a third by the Northern Territory Government
and the other third will be sought from the community. Tax deductibility
for contributions will be available. The money from both the Federal
and Territorial Governments is available forthwith and the fund is
in operation as from this afternoon.
So far the Federal Government has contributed through the natural
disaster relief arrangements $31 million to the Katherine region.
The Northern Territory Government has contributed $11 million. I would
also like to pay particular tribute to the co-operative and generous
response of the banks to requests made by the people of Katherine
and by the two Governments. In a variety of ways the banks have been
particularly helpful and understanding and I would like on behalf
of the Commonwealth Government to record my appreciation for the contribution
that the banks have made in this very difficult situation.
I once again record with some pleasure the cooperative manner in which
the community has pulled together in this particularly distressing
situation. The role of the Australian Defence Forces deserves unstinted
praise. The men and women of the Defence Force, both the Army and
the Air Force, have worked in very difficult situations and they have
demonstrated again the intense public spirited character of the Australian
Defence Forces. All of the emergency services have worked well. And
I also want to record the appreciation of my Government to the work
of the Northern Territory Police and also, may I say, the excellent
working relationship between my Government and the government of the
Northern Territory. The Chief Minister and I have not only been in
regular contact about this disaster from the moment it happened but
at other levels and with the cooperation of Alex Somlyay, the Minister
responsible, it has been a very cooperative effort.
It has been a very serious flood and the damage is long-lasting. And
the size of the contribution by the Federal Government, both under
the Natural Disaster Relief arrangements and under some special measures,
the size of that response is entirely appropriate and the sort of
response that a generous Federal Government and a generous nation
is willing to make.
I commend to all Australians contributions to the Red Cross Appeal
which are tax deductible. There have already been some very significant
corporate contributions to that appeal and I hope that they are matched
by others throughout the Australian community.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, do you believe that $10 million will be enough?
PRIME MINISTER:
When you add to the $10 million the $31 million and of course there
is no cap on that, in the sense that there are fundamental arrangements
that come into operation, we think that represents a very generous
response, obviously we keep it under review. In a situation like this
somebody in my position is loathed to say that a particular figure
is enough. On the other hand nobody should underestimate the scale
of the contribution.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, will any of this money go directly to individuals or will
it be used for general rebuilding?
PRIME MINISTER:
It will be discretional. In other words, under the Natural Disaster
Relief arrangements certain money goes to individuals and then the
$10 million can be used in a discretionary fashion. So the answer
is it could, yes.
JOURNALIST:
So the funds won't be used necessarily for particular infrastructure
projects, Mr Howard?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it could be a combination Laura. We don't want to limit
ourselves. We want to have a flexible approach.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, should Justice Callinan have stood aside on the Hindmarsh
Island Bridge case?
PRIME MINISTER:
It is quite inappropriate for me, the Leader of the Opposition or
indeed anybody else to comment on that. It involves a matter before
the High Court, the hearing has commenced. It is quite wrong of anybody
in holding public office to make comment on that. It was his decision,
it is a matter for him and his brother and sister judges on the court
and it should be left at that.
JOURNALIST:
Are you concerned that lawyers are now considering asking the full
bench to decide whether he should be able to make a judgement?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't have a comment because it is not proper.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Beazley argues that you create the perceptions of bias?
PRIME MINISTER:
Mr Beazley is not behaving according to the high standards that are
expected of Opposition Leaders in these matters. He knows that it
is wrong of him to be weighing into this. The court has commenced
hearing something - the status of a judge. The way in which those
proceedings are conducted is not something on which Mr Beazley should
comment, nor is it something on which I should comment.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, is it possible that if there is a free vote on the republican
convention, that if the matter came to a referendum, the Government
wouldn't actually have a formal position, one way or another,
in a referendum campaign?
PRIME MINISTER:
Let us deal with things sequentially. We are in the middle of a very
interesting convention and if, as I hope, a clear view emerges from
the convention in accordance with the undertaking I gave before the
last election and repeated on Monday, that will be put to the Australian
people. The question of how the Government handles the matter, and
different views and so-forth, is something which will be apparent
at the time of the referendum but you should look carefully at what
I said in my speech. The speech represented a clear and unambiguous
statement of how the Government would handle the matter and where
I stood on the issue.
JOURNALIST:
If the clear view does emerge will you support it in a referendum
campaign?
PRIME MINISTER:
I am not going to talk about the attitude I am taking in the referendum
campaign until that is upon us.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what steps will the Australian Government take to
offset the US push into Indonesia that you talked about at your press
conference earlier this week?
PRIME MINISTER:
We are still assessing that we are gathering evidence of the behaviour
of the Americans, about which I complained yesterday, and when we
have that we will consider what our response ought to be. What I wanted
to do yesterday was to flag the concern of my Government about what
had happened.
JOURNALIST:
Might the WTO be an avenue for the...
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't rule anything out. The Americans have not been reluctant
to take us to the World Trade Organisation. The Americans played hard-ball
over Howe Leather and the Australian Government's first responsibility
is to protect the interests of Australian jobs and Australian exporters.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, has the Government come to view yet on whether it
believes that the GSM programmes conform to WTO rules or they don't
conform?
PRIME MINISTER:
If the what, I am sorry?
JOURNALIST:
The US Trade credit support programmes, the loans, does the Federal
Government believe that they are illegal or legal under the WTO rules?
PRIME MINISTER:
What, the ones we are proposing?
JOURNALIST:
No, the ones that the US Government is actually offering now?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh well, that is something that we are assessing at the present time.
JOURNALIST:
You can't say whether they are legal or illegal as yet?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I am not going to pre-empt an examination that's only just
started.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, do you think, given the history of failure of constitutional
reform in this country, that a referendum for a republic can succeed
unless the Prime Minister lends his weight to the yes case?
PRIME MINISTER:
Can I just make it clear, I gave an answer on that generic issue a
few moments ago and I am not going to be persuaded to give a different
answer.
JOURNALIST:
Well Mr Stone, do you have a view about that, I mean, can a case...
PRIME MINISTER:
I have a view about a lot of things but I am telling you that our
position on the referendum will be made known when the referendum
is upon us but you should look at it against the background of what
I said in my speech.
JOURNALIST:
I read your speech very carefully and it was a good speech but you
didn't rule out supporting the McGarvie model.
PRIME MINISTER:
Rule out supporting, no, well I don't think you did read it.
JOURNALIST:
You didn't rule out supporting the...
PRIME MINISTER:
No, you didn't read it. At the Convention, yeah, you clearly
didn't read it or you went to the wrong school...
JOURNALIST:
Are you saying you don't support the McGarvie model?
PRIME MINISTER:
I am saying that of the alternatives to the status quo that McGarvie
is the best.
JOURNALIST:
You didn't rule that out did you? Rule out support for that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, I think it does. Go and read it. Look my position at the Convention
is very simple and that is that I support the status quo for the reasons
I explained in my speech. But, of the alternatives on offer, McGarvie
is better than the other two. It is the least worst option.
JOURNALIST:
Doesn't that rule out any possible support for a referendum?
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister will you also be accepting an invitation to attend
a meeting in Washington to discuss Asia?
PRIME MINISTER:
When is the meeting taking place?
JOURNALIST:
US Treasury has just said that they have sent out the invitations
to countries...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I haven't got the invitation yet. Sounds like a letter
addressed to the Prime Minister from the Leader of the Opposition.
It gets to the press before it gets to the Prime Minister.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, do you believe the Hindmarsh Island Bridge Case could have
a bearing on the Wik Legislation, have an impact on your Wik Legislation?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't want to say anything about the Hindmarsh Bridge Case. It has
started before the High Court and I am not going to say anything about
it, in any colour shape or form. None what-so-ever.
[Ends]