Subjects: federal election; tax effective schemes; drugs in sport; GST.
E&OE................................
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, Kim Beazley has asked for an end to the phoney war and is calling for an election now.
PRIME MINISTER:
What has he run out of puff already? Can't he go the distance. We don't have an election until the end of the year. That's when it's due. Is he frightened he might be asked to produce a policy. Heaven's sake. He thinks this is an election campaign, this is just normal pace for me.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, when would you expect the opinion polls to start swinging back your way?
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven't the faintest idea.
JOURNALIST:
What hope to you hold out for those investors who spoke to you this morning about that tax scheme?
PRIME MINISTER:
That's a very hard issue. There's an enormous number of people who've gone into these schemes. I think something like 60,000 and the amount of revenue involved is huge. It really is very big. I feel very sorry for those people. The ones I saw this morning, they were just genuine decent people. It looked attractive, I mean it was obviously an attractive thing for people to go into. I don't think we can pretend it wasn't and I'll consider what they've put to me. It is very hard. I don't have an answer at the present time except to say that I am very sympathetic. I do appreciate that they're not people who you could call tax cheats. I'm not calling them that. And the Tax Office is sending some people out in a few weeks time to sit down and work through some of the difficulties. But I'll consider what they've put to me and I'll talk to the Treasurer about it. But as you know Peter we can't get into a position where the Prime Minister and the government are running the administration of the Tax Office. We have to leave that to the Tax Commissioner. The key question seems to be whether at any time they were led to believe by the Tax Office that these schemes were okay. That seems to be the key issue. Now I haven't had any evidence given to me in writing that that was the case, although people are alleging that they had telephone conversations. I'll just work through it and examine what they've put to me, but it is a very difficult issue because there is the interest of the ordinary tax payer involved in this because if the assessments were to be wiped you could be looking at potentially several billion dollars.
JOURNALIST:
What are some of the special cases Mr Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I can't say that. I mean I'm not across each individual case. All I know is this that there are a lot of people who are very distressed by it. The people who I spoke to this morning were very genuine, they are Australians bringing up children and worried about their financial security and I'm sympathetic to people in that position. I also have to consider the impact on other people of cancelling tax liabilities because in the end these schemes were all designed to reduce tax. I mean everybody who went into them knew that one of the impacts would be that they'd pay less tax. I mean we shouldn't lose sight of that fact. We all want to pay less tax but I've got to balance it and it's very difficult.
JOURNALIST:
Do you agree that these people are not tax dodgers?
PRIME MINISTER:
I've just said that they were not people who I would regard as tax cheats, no.
JOURNALIST:
What responsibility do the promoters of the scheme have ?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh enormous. I mean they seem to have done better out of it than anybody else.
JOURNALIST:
Should they be prosecuted?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I hope they're hit with the full rigour of the law.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard are you suggesting Kim Beazley doesn't have the stamina required to be the nation's leader?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I'm expressing my amusement and bemusement that after a few weeks of what is not an election campaign he's saying please stop it and let's have a vote. I mean that is crazy. We don't have elections too infrequently in this country. We have three year terms and the next election is due in the latter half of the year and I've been saying for a long time that I see no reason why the election should be held earlier than when it is due and what I'm saying is he seems to have run out of steam very early. This is not an election campaign. As far as I'm concerned what I've been doing for the last two or three months is normal.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, [inaudible] for regional WA, in particular Kalgoorlie-Boulder, has been hit by the closure of Centaur mining last month that the Mayor from Kalgoorlie-Boulder is calling for some help or some consideration for regional centres such as Kalgoorlie-Boulder. What hope can you offer regional centres like Kalgoorlie?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I know that Kalgoorlie's been hard hit by Centaur, it's been hit by some natural disasters as well. It's been affected by the up and down character of the gold mining industry. I listened to what was put to me today and I said I would consider it. I can't say any more at the present time.
JOURNALIST:
Do you agree that miners, regional miners should be given the same assistance and afforded the same help as regional farmers?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I agreed to have a look at what was put to me.
JOURNALIST:
[inaudible] in Kalgoorlie both the state and federal seats are held by Liberal. I mean do you feel there has been any sort of mood swing in the goldfields for you?
PRIME MINISTER:
Are you saying this is the first time I've been in Kalgoorlie?
JOURNALIST:
[inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well they're held because they're two very good members. Barry Haase is always on the job for Kalgoorlie. That's one of the reasons...Matt Birney too. I mean they're a good double act. They give quality representation.
JOURNALIST:
[inaudible] Labor heartland [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
[inaudible] people here are concerned about their long term future and they vote for hard working local members.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, a senior swimming coach has been stood down from the AIS over allegations of possession of anabolic steroids. Are you concerned without talking specifically about the case that this could cast some aspersions on Australia's drug clean record?
PRIME MINISTER:
I hope it doesn't. I can't comment about this case. I can reaffirm that we will continue to have a very strong line on drugs in sport. There is no place for them. That's an absolute position that we have. I should also make the point that there's been a lot of tests carried out on our athletes and they've all been very positive.
JOURNALIST:
How concerned would you be at the link though, to in this case involving the AIS.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I can't Peter wander into areas that involve this particular person. He's been charged. He's entitled to a presumption of innocence like everybody else and beyond talking generally about keeping drugs out of sport I don't want to make any linkages at all with this particular case.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard [inaudible] by the Reserve Bank Governor comments that the GST and a low dollar are good for the economy?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well he's absolutely right about the GST being good for the economy and the low dollar is something that I don't normally comment on, the actual, you know, the level from time to time, except to make the general observation that I think it's a little undervalued.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister on the GST a few of the local shop owners were commenting on it this morning. What's the response and were you surprised by that this morning?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. Some people said it was okay and others said it wasn't. That's exactly what I expect. We are going through the transitional phase. I always knew that there'd be some difficulties and challenges during the transitional phase but when you get out of the transitional phase it will be bedded down and the advantages of it will become more apparent. And we're going to have a 30 cent company tax rate on the 1st of July, we're going to lose the Financial Institutions Duty on the 1st of July. The long term benefits for our cheaper exports are starting to come through. I have no doubt that in the long run taxation reform will be good for Australia. I have no regrets about having brought it in. It was right for Australia and I think people will increasingly see it that way.
JOURNALIST:
Now Prime Minister the daughter of the Pakistani gentleman who took that drastic action outside Parliament last week will visit Australia. That's I guess a compassionate gesture by the government. Is it now time to reconsider whether his family should be allowed...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that is a matter for the Immigration Minister.
[Ends]