E&OE....................................................
PRIME MINISTER:
Any questions?
JOURNALIST:
Mr Prime Minister, should banks look at lowering fixed home loan
rates now the financial markets have come back from their ....(inaudible)...?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't talk about the future level of interest rates. I merely
observe that interest rates now for homebuyers and small business
are lower than they have been for 30 years. But as for what happens
about he future level of interest rates, well, that is something
that is determined by markets and I am not going to speculate about
future levels in either direction.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what's your message to people of North Sydney
who feel somewhat let down by the fact that Government's LTOP
targets have not been reached?
PRIME MINISTER:
My message to them is they are infinitely better off than they were
under the former Government. We are driving towards those targets
and any suggestion from press reports this morning that we are abandoning
those targets or that we are not committed to them is completely
wrong. I have made no such admission and I found that report in
the Sydney Morning Herald extraordinary. I've made no such
admission.
JOURNALIST:
Tony Abbott says that the Liberal Party should put One Nation last
on preferences.....(inaudible)...?
PRIME MINISTER:
That is a matter for the party organisations to decide. I think
everybody should just exercise a little bit of self-control on this
issue. There is a process going on, the Victorian division and the
South Australian division has already announced that in those States
One Nation will be last. There is quite a vigorous process of consultation
going on within the New South Wales division between the party organisation
and the Federal Members. The same thing is occurring in Queensland
and Western Australia and that process is producing interesting
reactions and I think you ought to, to use the modern jargon, you
should be willing to listen to the views of the members involved.
I might have something further to say about this issue over the
weekend but the process is going on. But I will have something further
to say about this issue over the weekend.
JOURNALIST:
.... Mr Howard, it's fairly straightforward given that without
the support of the Coalition, One Nation would have only won one
seat in Queensland.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, what about your own seat in Bennelong? Can you give us
a pledge now that you'll put One....?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I've discussed, I've expressed a view to the party
organisation about that. Look, I'll say something further over
the weekend.
JOURNALIST:
Can you tell us now will you put them last in Bennelong?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I have discussed that matter with the party organisation.
They know my view and my senior colleagues know my view, but I think
it's a bit rich if a leader says that other people should exercise
a bit of discipline and hold his peace and allow the proper processes
to work and then he breaks that rule himself. But I think it's
very important, I think it is very important that the processes
of the Party be allowed to work. The Liberal Party is different
from the Labor Party. We don't, from on high, lay down directives
on certain things, we consult people and we produce a result.
And what matters on this issue is to get the right results and not
for people to break out and express their own personal views. I
think the process of consultation should go on. My own view has
been, in relation to what you ask, has been known for some time
by senior colleagues and by senior people in the organisation, but
I respect the process of the Party. I think other people should
respect the process of the Party and as I say I can tell you that
that process has been now going on for some time and it's working
very well and it's producing some very interesting reactions
and I say I'll have something further to say about it at the
weekend and I don't intend to answer any further questions
on that subject.
JOURNALIST:
...One Nation's ... League of Rights. What's your reaction
to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well my reaction is that the Liberal Party should identify and pursue
the dangerous policies to Australia's future, of the One Nation
Party. There is no doubt that for a long time on the Australian
political scene there have been some very odd views on economics
being espoused by the League of Rights and other organisations.
I think what is interesting is that the head of the League of Rights,
I understand, expressed a preference for Mr Campbell's party
in the Queensland election and that party received the preferences
of the Australian Labor Party in 12 of the 89 seats in Queensland
so you might like to ask Mr Beattie and the Labor Party why it was
that they gave preferences to a party which, according to Mr Eric
Butler, has views that are closer to the views of the League of
Rights than the views of One Nation. I mean we've had a lot
of lectures from the Australian Labor Party about preference arrangements
in Queensland. What happened in Queensland was that Mr Beattie's
party gave preferences to Mr Campbell's party and Mr Butler
of the League of Rights is now saying that Mr Campbell's party
is closer to the League of Rights than One Nation.
JOURNALIST:
...(inaudible)...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that's a matter for him. I don't think it aids the
political process for people to be giving gratuitous advice to Premiers,
gratuitous advice to party leaders in other parts of the country.
So far as the Federal Parliamentary Party is concerned and the Federal
organisation is concerned, we have a process for resolving preference
issues. That process is working very effectively. I think, collectively
speaking, people should keep their shirts on for a while and sort
of exercise a bit of collective discipline on this issue and allow
that process to work. And at the end of the day what really matters
is that we get the right result and you'll only get the right
result if you allow that process to work and it's working very
effectively.
JOURNALIST:
Should Mr Abbott then be disciplined?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh look, I'm not talking about that....Tony's an exuberant
soul, he always has been. He likes writing too. He writes on many
subjects and he is a very good friend of mine and I think he makes
a terrific Parliamentary Secretary and he makes a great contribution.
But like all exuberant characters, occasionally they should be a
little more restrained.
JOURNALIST:
Are you lobbying behind the scenes Mr Howard, that One Nation be
put last?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I don't talk publicly about the discussions I have with
the party organisations. I have said repeatedly, and can I say it
again, that there is a process. It's different from the Labor
Party. You don't get results in the Liberal Party on organisational
matters by shouting from the rooftops. What you do is you respect
the processes of the Party and you allow them to work.
JOURNALIST:
But aren't the Australian people crying out for you to show
leadership, isn't that one of the main criticisms?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think the Australian public is crying out for major political
parties, all political parties and political leaders, to focus on
policy issues. I think they are fed up with the trivia of politics.
They are fed up with the lack of focus on policy. They are fed up
with the confrontational nature of Australian politics. I think
one of the messages that came out of Queensland is that many people,
many decent Australians, don't like the style of Australian
politics. They want a change in style, they want less emphasis on
personalities, less emphasis on trivia, less emphasis on the morning
headline and a bit more emphasis on the long-term future of our
country. And I think any political leader who ignores that message
out of Queensland, and that has nothing to do with extremism, it's
got everything to do with a feeling on the part of many ordinary,
decent Australians that we need a change of pace and we need a change
of style and a greater emphasis on issues that are important for
the future of our country - less emphasis on trivia, less emphasis
on personal encounters and personal confrontation. I'll take
one more question.
JOURNALIST:
Malcolm Fraser says One Nation should be put last on the ticket
unquestionably right across the board....(inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven't commented on Malcolm Fraser's comments for some
years. Thank you.