PM Transcripts

Subjects: Defence Personnel policy; costs of deployment
PRIME MINISTER:
Well ladies and gentleman in the early remarks I made because they were addressed to the men and women in the context of their going to East Timor I didn';t think it appropriate because that is a bipartisan commitment as is the commitment for the fight against terrorism I didn';t think it appropriate to refer to the Coalition';s election policy in relation to defence personnel. But I would like to address a few remarks and the document will be made available to you.
The principal elements of this policy are of course firstly to build on the significantly better and enhanced support arrangements that were provided for families in the context of the East Timor deployment. And they included the establishment of a family support fund to provide immediate welfare relief and support to families while ADF members are on deployment or absent from their normal place of residence. And through the defence community organisation which was set up by the Coalition Government, ADF families are provided with a 24 hour point of contact to support them while ADF members are deployed and this assistance provided also includes such things as how to contact the serving member, local support groups, family crisis support, counselling support, local referrals for specific problems, access to emergency financial assistance and post-deployment programmes to reassimilate families.
You';ll all be aware that the Coalition';s white paper on defence identifies the challenge that lies in attracting, recruiting and retaining the right people with the right skills. The white paper commits an additional $4.l billion in personnel funding over the next decade and as part of this white paper funding commitment the Coalition has allocated $100 million a year for specific additional personnel initiatives which will total $500 million over the next five years. And they include the introduction of a modern, flexible remuneration system for ADF personnel along with enhanced family support measures, the development of a new housing scheme to give single ADF members greater choice over where they live and the type of accommodation they occupy, and ensuring ADF families continue to have priority access to DHA housing given their family needs. A reduction in posting turbulence by introducing additional specialist career streams for ADF members. An extension of the spouse employment assistance programme. A major extension of the defence child care programme. Improved superannuation arrangements and greater flexibility in leave arrangements and the establishment of a new stand alone military specific compensation scheme.
We are going to retain the defence force remuneration tribunal as the independent pay fixing body for the ADF with defence pursuing a more informal rather than adversarial process for proceedings before the tribunal.
We have in the preparation of this policy consulted and listened to defence families, just as we consulted and listened to the community in the preparation of the defence white paper. As part of the white paper process the Coalition initiated a review of ADF remuneration arrangements headed by Major-General Barry Nunn. The review was handed to the Government at the end of August and is publicly available. We did make clear because of their strong support and popularity that the family housing arrangements were not going to be altered because defence personnel were very strongly of the view that they should be retained. And we';ve also indicated that in relation to single personnel we';re going to allow a cashing out of their allowances which will provide them with a great deal more flexibility so far as their accommodation arrangements are concerned.
As to the rest of the Nunn review we';ve asked the CDF and the service chiefs to widely consult the defence community before we respond to its recommendations. The Coalition accepts that the three simple principles outlined within the Nunn review should underpin conditions of service for the ADF. Combat operations are unique to the ADF and should be recognised with specific remuneration policies. These policies should reflect the special characteristics of military service and these policies should be consistent to the extent practical with those in the wider community. The Coalition';s plan does acknowledge the special nature of military life and recognises that being part of the ADF is more than just a job, we see our defence personnel and their families as being an integral, indeed the integral part of the defence network of this country.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard you said yesterday the cost of the deployment of 1500 would be significant. Given your government';s commitment to keep the budget in surplus is there a possibility down the track that this could lead to some type of levy?
PRIME MINISTER:
We don';t expect so, no.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard Peter Costello this morning said Australia was probably about number four on the terrorist hit list and that if you can get Anthrax or crash a plane in America then it would be easy to do in Australia. Were those words too strong?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don';t think it';s too strong for people to recognise that we could be in the firing line, no. Look we are dealing with a group of people who by their actions in the United States indicated a callous disregard for any kind of human life including their own. And whilst we don';t want to, and none of us are and Mr Costello didn';t, exaggerate anything it';s also important we be realistic.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister what';s the daily cost of this deployment, what will it be for Afghanistan? Will it be $5 million as people are suggesting?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look the costing of it has been included in the budget. And as to further details of it, as they become available then we';ll make them available. But there';s no reason to believe that the costing of this for a period into the future can';t be properly absorbed within the budget. I mean I know people are running around wanting to say this is going to break the budget, it';s not going to break the budget. It will be expensive but it has been factored in.
JOURNALIST:
… in Townsville…
PRIME MINISTER:
My advice is that that will not be the case no.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard what about the cost of it that you';ve announced today, has that come out of the existing budget or are you providing more money?
PRIME MINISTER:
What I have announced today, those amounts are, I';m sorry, the defence personnel…
JOURNALIST:
The defence personnel, $500 million over five years…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well they will be within the budget.
JOURNALIST:
So this is reannouncing something that was in the budget?
PRIME MINISTER:
No but when you have an aggregate amount and you don';t have specific details of the individuals things you have to announce them.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister who';s going to replace Peter Reith as defence minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
If the Coalition wins, somebody very good. But I don';t talk about who';s going to be what after the election.
JOURNALIST:
But don';t you think…
PRIME MINISTER:
No I don';t think, I think Prime Ministers or party leaders who start naming their cabinets display hubris towards the electorate. I don';t take the election for granted, I think it';s going to be very hard for us to win and I';m working to earn the respect of the Australian people.
JOURNALIST:
Would Mr Reith stay on for a few months?
PRIME MINISTER:
Mr Reith will stay on until the new defence minister is sworn in, he won';t stay on any longer than that. Could I also make the obvious point that I';ve been as Prime Minister chairman of the National Security Committee and I can assure you that I have taken a very keen interest in all defence matters and all defence personnel matters and there really is without any disrespect to the people who';ve served in defence, you';ve had a situation where the Prime Minister has been very much on the watch in relation to defence matters and that will continue to be the situation if the Government is re-elected. But I don';t presume to predict the outcome of the election. If we are fortunate enough to be returned I will of course appoint a ministry in the normal fashion and I';ve no doubt that the person I appoint to defence that that person will be of a very high calibre.
JOURNALIST:
Has the cost of you dealing with the boat people crisis now $148 million this year so far?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the figure that was in the …. it was in the mid-year economic review. I mean I don';t carry every single figure around in my head but I can assure you that the mid-year economic review made adequate provision for anticipated costs. Now that';s all you can do. It';s been done in the normal way. There is a smaller surplus and there';s a smaller surplus firstly because economic growth is slower and there';s also a smaller surplus because we have spent money on necessary things.
And I want to issue a challenge to Mr Beazley and to Mr Crean right here and now that if they think we have spent too much will they nominate the areas that we shouldn';t have spend money on and will they commit to rolling that expenditure back if they win the election?
You cannot have this both ways, you can';t run around saying - I mean this is the $96 billion Federal Government debt man - Mr Beazley';s running around saying they';ve wrecked the budget but they';re not courageous enough to say well if we';d been in Government we wouldn';t have spent money on this. Are they going to roll back defence expenditure? Are they going to reimpose automatic indexation of petrol excise? Are they going to rollback roads expenditure? Are they going to rollback environmental and salinity expenditure? Are they really going to do that? I mean if they choose to criticise us for investing money in those things they have a political and moral obligation to tell the Australian people which of those programmes they would not have implemented and which of those programmes they will rollback if they win the election.
JOURNALIST:
This morning Mr Costello said that, he implied that your lack of commitment to a full term was just words. On 3AW he said that when asked about will you haven';t made the commitment he said well they';re just words. What do you make of that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I didn't hear and haven't seen the exact words he used and I';m not going to comment on that. You know what I';ve said on that issue and I don';t have anything to add to it.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)…how much new money will you be spending in this election campaign from the next financial year, given the surplus in yesterday';s……
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Ian in relation to all of those things whenever a policy is released if there is a new financial commitment we indicate what it is.
JOURNALIST:
…one of the most marginal, what are your concerns for it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well my concern of course falls into two categories. My political concern is to see that it continues to enjoy its magnificent representation by Peter Lindsay who';s been a great Federal Member over the last five and a half years. That';s the first concern I have, or that';s a concern I have. Another concern I have is to meet the diverse needs of this community. There is probably no community in Australia that will benefit more from the increased defence expenditure. Now if I can go back to the point I was making earlier, if Mr Beazley visits this electorate and complains about the government having spent money will he tell the people of Herbert that he wouldn';t have spend as much money on defence? Because that afterall is part and parcel of the additional, part and the parcel of the additional resources that have been committed in this budget.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard do you have any further advice on when Australian troops in the war against terror will actually be deployed? Have you spoken to Mr Bush again or do you have any…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I haven';t spoken to Mr Bush again. The question of the detail of the dates of the deployment would be something that would be discussed at a defence leadership level. I hope over the next day or so to provide some more information about that. I also hope tomorrow in Brisbane to be able to announce the remuneration conditions that will apply to the people who are going. I';m getting advice on that at the present time and I';ll be talking to the defence minister about it this afternoon. The only reason I can';t give you exact dates at the moment is that on the advice I have those dates are moving around and, not significantly and nothing I've been told alters the point I made earlier, that is yesterday, that I would expect the great bulk of them to be deployed by mid-November.
JOURNALIST:
… the phone call from President Bush, was that the first inkling you had of the actual nature of what was required in this deployment? … landing rights been asked for in the United Arab Emirates for the FA-18';s (inaudible) people on troops carriers have all been told to get ready to roll.
PRIME MINISTER:
Before you get too excited about that I might remind you that I indicated last week that there would be a commitment and a commitment was, well the request was increased and there were some discussions about the possibility of that and these things never, you know, come up immediately in the middle of a conversation, there is always some prior discussion but sometimes with these things there are suggestions made at a military level that do not come to fruition at a political level. That is the nature of government in a democratic community, you formulate plans at a military level by until a political request and a political decision has been made it doesn';t represent a request and therefore the crucial element was of course the discussion that the President and I had on Tuesday night. Clearly there have been discussions between our military and the American military. I made that clear probably four weeks ago and during the course of those discussions I';m quite certain that a whole range of options were kicked around. But that all has now crystallised, you';ve had the telephone discussion and there have been formal communications between the United States Government at an administrative level through the United Stated Ambassador and the Australian Government and it';s all been done in the way in which these things are done. But if you';re asking me were there various options discussed at a defence chief level I';m sure there were. That is perfectly normal and that is something I think I foreshadowed after I';d spoken to President Bush a few weeks ago.
I think I must make this the last one.
JOURNALIST:
US security experts are predicting that Osama bin Laden will be captured dead or alive within the next 30 days. Is Osama bin Laden a dead man walking?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I';m not going to engage in that kind of thing. It is a serious commitment by the country, we have a clear objective and he is central to that objective and I';m not going to sort of respond to that. I think you understand why.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard the Townsville tourism industry has been really struggling since the collapse of Ansett. Do you have any plans for any relief packages or…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we of course are working very hard within the limits of responsibility to help Ansett mark II and we remain hopeful that in the medium to longer term something will emerge, something more durable will emerge in relation to Ansett mark II. I hope to say something about this general issue at the Chamber of Commerce lunch today. Thank you.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) ground troops are required from Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
The commitment we have made is within our capability and that statement is based on the professional advice I have from the service chiefs. As I';ve said before I am not a soldier, I rely on advice about capability from the service chiefs and the service chiefs have assured me that this capability is well within the capacity of the Australian Defence Force.
Thank you.
[ends]