Subjects: cricket; Ryan by-election; dollar; economy.
E&OE................................
GARDNER:
Mr Howard good morning and welcome to Sunrise.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning Georgie.
GARDNER:
Before we get to Ryan, we want to deal with the big story of today, that loss in the cricket, I know you're passionate about cricket. Do you think that winning streak had to come to an end eventually?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I did watch the game last night, I do commiserate with the Australian team. They are and they remain a magnificent team and I wish them luck for the final test. I congratulate the Indians, particularly Laxman and Dravid for a wonderful partnership. It was a great game of cricket. Always sorry to see Australia lose, always. But congratulations and full credit to the Indians for a really gutsy fightback. I think only once in, only the third occasion in about 1,500 test matches that a team has followed on and come back to win. Great match.
GARDNER:
It was indeed. Do you think we can still take the series?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh yes, I've got every confidence. Steve Waugh is a tremendously resilient captain and the blokes will be more determined than ever and good luck to them.
GARDNER:
All right, well down to business, to a contest of a different kind now - the polls say the Liberal Party's Bob Tucker will have problems winning Ryan. How do you see it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we're in there with a really strong chance and I am appealing to people in Ryan not to reward the negativity of the Labor Party and we've seen it on display in the wake of the recent economic news. Mr Beazley's talking down the Australian economy, you can almost see him smiling as he uses the words "possible recession". Now he shouldn't be doing that, he should be talking up our economy. He should be pointing to its strengths. He's part of the public face of Australia overseas and instead of trying to kick the Australian economy with cheap, opportunistic point-scoring he should be talking it up. And I am asking the people of Ryan to rebuke him for that and not to reward and to give a vote of confidence to that kind of negative behaviour.
GARDNER:
How do you deal with opinion polls? It must surely be frustrating when the Coalition's behind, another won out this morning, the Coalition behind?
PRIME MINISTER:
I remind you Georgie that governments are elected by general elections not by opinion polls. Of course I look at them. All politicians look at them. But you just keep on arguing your case and tomorrow the people of Ryan should not reward negativity.
GARDNER:
Do you mind ..
PRIME MINISTER:
I believe that we have an excellent candidate, Bob Tucker is the authentic local in this election campaign and I am asking people not to reward Labor's negativity.
GARDNER:
Does it worry you that you're not the preferred prime minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
What worries me is good government and in the end I will be judged by the Australian people like every other prime minister. What concerns me about the Ryan by-election tomorrow is that if Labor is given a tick then what they are really being told is they can go on talking down the Australian economy. I think it's quite disgraceful that Mr Beazley has even entertained the thought or the suggestion of a recession. He knows quite well that the fundamentals of the Australian economy are strong. He knows our interest rates are low. We have low levels of government debt. We have a low inflation rate. We have a very competitive economy. He knows all of that but for his own political advantage he's denigrating the Australian economy and I think that's wrong and it should not be rewarded.
BARETTA:
Mr Howard, Mark Baretta here. You've written to the 87,000 voters urging them not to lodge a protest vote. If they have a message for you, how should they send it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I've received quite a lot of messages over the past few months. I got a very strong message on petrol pricing and I did something about it. I said I would change the Business Activity Statement if there were problems and I've done that. I listen a great deal. Politics is very much about both listening and leading. Sometimes you need to adjust your policies because of concerns created, but what I'm concerned about in Ryan tomorrow is that if the Labor Party were to win, they would take it as an endorsement to go on talking down the Australian economy. I mean we are dealing with a confidence issue at present, confidence in Australia's economic future and there is a responsibility on the shoulders of every person who can influence public opinion in this country to choose their words very carefully and not to even flirt with the notion of recession when they know in their hearts that's not true.
BARETTA:
Do you accept though that there has been, or there does appear to be a general mood swing against the Coalition?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look Mark I've been in politics a long time and things come and go. I've seen governments do badly in opinion polls and then go onto win. That was the experience of Bob Hawke in the 1980s. It happened in the early 1990s. The next federal election is some months off and I am determined to win it and I believe I will.
BARETTA:
When you first realised that there was that mood swing though, how does that make you feel?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I am not getting into a piece, you know of personal psycho-analysis, that's of no concern to the Australian people. They're concerned about what I am doing for them and what I'm doing for them is to go on delivering what is fundamentally a very strong economy. The low dollar is not warranted by the current state of the Australian economy, it ought not to stay there. The fundamentals of the economy do not justify a dollar at that level.
GARDNER:
Mr Howard what do you say to Bob Tucker at this late stage? I mean he was endorsed in the safest of Liberal seats and now he seems to be carrying the can for the Government?
PRIME MINISTER:
Bob Tucker is a magnificent candidate. No candidate could have done more and he will go on doing it right up until the close of the polling booths tomorrow. I think he's an outstanding candidate and I want him in my team in Canberra.
GARDNER:
All right, well you and Kim Beazley have both spent time in Ryan. It's become more than just a by-election. Does this contest have much broader ramifications for your Government do you think?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well ultimately that is a matter for the Australian people. It's important, there's a lot of focus on it. But it is only a by-election.
BARETTA:
Now there's been talk Prime Minister of leadership challenges if the Liberals lose Ryan. Do you think that's a possibility?
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
BARETTA:
Did it surprise you when you first heard talk of leadership challenge?
PRIME MINISTER:
Nothing ever surprises me in politics.
BARETTA:
Will Peter Costello ..
PRIME MINISTER:
But the answer is, the answer is still no.
BARETTA:
Is Peter Costello your likely successor?
PRIME MINISTER:
That's a matter for the Liberal Party when I am no longer there, which is a long time into the future. But, he's very good and he's very able.
GARDNER:
Mr Howard we want to ask you also obviously about the economy - the dollar still hasn't been able to climb back over 50 US. Do you think it is stuck where it is for the time being?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not going to start talking about, you know what level it ought to be, cent by cent. And there's nothing particularly magical about 50 cents. But the strength of the Australian economy warrants a higher dollar over the medium to longer term. It certainly does. And the reason that it's jumping around is that there's a lot of financial turbulence on world markets and a small currency like Australia's gets buffeted in the process. People get a bit nervous and they put their money into the big currencies like the American dollar. The American dollar acts as a magnet to world capital at a time of international financial turbulence and we can't control that. This has got nothing to do with domestic factors in Australia. I mean Mr Beazley's running around blaming the GST, well the GST hasn't sent the Dow Jones down. It hasn't sent the NASDAQ down. It hasn't undermined the banks in Japan. I mean give us a break.
This is a world financial storm and it's affecting Australia in a way that we can't directly control except to keep our inflation low, our interest rates low and our government debt low.
GARDNER:
All right, well Shadow Treasurer Simon Crean obviously, predictably says the dollar's a reflection of the country's economic weakness, add to that the latest rise in unemployment, he's right isn't he?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the unemployment figures were actually quite good because they showed that for the third month in a row there was a rise in employment. Those employment figures yesterday were quite good. The unemployment number was up because the number of people looking for work rose which is an interesting indication that job seekers have a lot more confidence than Mr Crean and Mr Beazley would like them to have.
BARETTA:
Mr Howard have these past few weeks been some of your toughest?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look eveything's tough when you're in this job. I've been through a lot of tough times and it is tough at the present time. But I am going to lead the party with great determination to the next election and I'm relishing the months ahead. I like a political contest and there's certainly going to be a big one over the next few months.
GARDNER:
How do you rate Kim Beazley as an opponent, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I never take any opponents lightly or for granted. But he stands for nothing. He's had five years as opposition leader and I haven't the faintest idea of what he believes in except himself in the Lodge.
BARETTA:
All right Prime Minister John Howard, thank you very much for your time this morning, we appreciate it and we hope to see you back on Sunrise again soon.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[ends]