Subjects: Scoresby Freeway; petrol inquiry; nursing homes; ACTU; Timor Gap
E&OE................................
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I want to say something first then I'll be very happy to take questions. Well ladies and gentlemen I've come back here which is really the site of the announcement I made some weeks ago of the Coalition Government's commitment to the construction of the Scoresby freeway to say that of the major candidates in this by-election Chris Pearce is the only one that along with his party is unequivocally committed in government to constructing the Scoresby Freeway. We've had no commitment from Mr Beazley that if he becomes Prime Minister he will support the construction of the Scoresby Freeway and make the funds available. And we have scoured the literature and the pamphlets and the direct mail of the Labor candidate and can find interestingly enough no commitment. And I warn the people of Aston that if Labor wins this by-election they will take it as a signal that they can get away without making a firm commitment to the construction of the Scoresby Freeway. We've put our money on the line, we've made the commitment, it's unequivocal, it's not been matched by Labor at a federal level. Any questions?
JOURNALIST:
.constructing the entire freeway.
PRIME MINISTER:
We are committed to joining the Victorian Government in constructing the freeway, we've nominated, put on the table an amount of $220 million, we've told the Victorian Government that we will enter into negotiations and arrangements which can be achieved with the private sector to achieve the construction of the entire freeway.
JOURNALIST:
So you're challenging the Labor Party to commit?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm reminding the people of Aston that so far, ten days out from the by-election there's no firm commitment from Federal Labor to do it. They're trying to slither through on this and I'm warning the people of Aston that the only guarantee you have that it will be built is to reject Labor and support us.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
I hadn't made any arrangement to go there.
JOURNALIST:
.the petrol price inquiry, when will you be announcing the terms of reference for that?
PRIME MINISTER:
In the next day or two.
JOURNALIST:
Why have you chosen to widen the inquiry ?
PRIME MINISTER:
Why have we chosen to widen it? I think it's in the public interest to have a wide inquiry. But I would remind you that ultimately the price of petrol is more heavily influenced by the world price of crude oil than anything else. This is an inquiry that I think over time will make a contribution to us having perhaps a better set of arrangements in relation to petrol taxation and related matters. But in the end it's the world price that dominates things and I might also remind you that as a result of a decision that government took, next month there won't be an automatic increase in the tax on petrol. This was a policy that was introduced by the Hawke Labor Government and it continued until a few months ago and we've abolished automatic indexation.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm sorry I couldn't hear you.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
Beg your pardon.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
The building inquiry?
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that's been talked about but we don't have any, I don't have anything to say on that today. I'm sorry I just can't hear you I'm sorry.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we don't have different plans for different ministers, we have a Government policy and if we have anything to announce on that we will.
JOURNALIST:
The Green alliance down here are very anti the Scoresby Freeway, are you concerned that their preference won't go to the Liberals?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well in the end preferences are allocated by voters, they're not allocated by political parties. We're not going to trade away the interests of the people of Aston who want the Scoresby Freeway, for preferences. We can't do that. You have to take a stand on what you think is good for the electorate and there's no doubt that the people of Aston want the Scoresby Freeway and I mean the very fact that the Greens are saying that indicates, or is one of the reasons probably why Mr Beazley is being equivocal because what's he's really doing is saying to potential Green voters wink wink nod nod if I get in I won't necessarily build the freeway.
JOURNALIST:
But what if their preferences are crucial to the Liberal's taking the seat?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well like any other political leader I have to accept the verdict of the people. I can but state along with my candidate Chris Pearce what is good for the people of this electorate and leave it to them to make a judgment. This is a very tough by-election but you cannot trade away the interests of the people of Aston who need this freeway, in order to buy the preferences of the Greens. Mr Beazley may want to do that but I'm not willing to do that.
JOURNALIST:
You believe the outcome will come down to preferences?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I don't know. It's very tough and when I said the other day that we were behind and you better believe it I meant it. And I wouldn't be coming back on two or three more occasions if you know I was sort of supremely confident. I don't take anything for granted. We are behind, it is very tough, it's easy in a by-election for people to think that they can give a government a kick. But if you, can I say if people do that to us that will be taken by the Labor Party as a signal that they don't have to build the Scoresby freeway. I mean there is no firm commitment from Mr Beazley, I think it's significant that his candidate has made no reference to the freeway in all of the literature he's put out. And I think that signals that they're trying to sort of sneak through on this one and if they pull off the by-election then they'll say okay we don't have to commit to the construction of the Scoresby Freeway.
JOURNALIST:
Have you been speaking to the Greens?
PRIME MINISTER:
I beg your pardon?
JOURNALIST:
There's been a lot of publicity in Victoria recently about a dangerous shortage of nurses in nursing homes.(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh look we showed a concern about nursing generally in the last budget when we provided a lot more resources for practice nurses in rural areas. I mean in the end the recruitment of nurses is overwhelmingly a state matter. I mean you say am I interested in it? Of course, I'm interested in everything that effects the welfare of the Australian people. But I also believe that in a federal system of Government there have to be streams of accountability and there comes a time when State Governments which want to throw their weight around on all manner of issues have to accept responsibilities as well.
JOURNALIST:
So Mr Howard just down the road there's a nursing home where nurses are now charging $200 an hour, agency nurses. The managers are saying they're in crisis. What can the Federal Government do to help.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's not accurate to say that when expenditure on nursing homes has been increased over the last four or five years from about $2.6 billion to about $3.9 billion by the Federal Government, it is just not accurate to say that nursing homes are in crisis. There are hundreds of nursing homes around Australia, we have an accreditation system which is widely applauded in the sector. It's not right to say that nursing homes generally are in crisis.
JOURNALIST:
. pressure on Mr Beazley from unions for tax cuts?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think it was very interesting what was said yesterday by Sharon Burrows. And Sharon Burrows said that she had a commitment from Mr Beazley to rollback the GST on household items, household utilities and also to give tax cuts. Well I'm calling on Mr Beazley to reveal the secret deal he's made with Sharon Burrows about rollback. And he's not only got to tell us what he's privately promised the ACTU but also how he's going to pay for it. I mean this is not something that is the privileged and should remain within the privileged knowledge of the ACTU. We're all entitled to know what promises he's made on rollback. And we're all entitled to know how he's going to pay for it. I thought Sharon Burrows statement last night on the PM Programme was very revealing. She said she'd received assurances from Mr Beazley about rollback. Well that's news to me and it's news to the Australian people. I mean we ought to know. I mean the Labor Party cannot make a secret deal with the ACTU on rollback without disclosing it to the Australian public. If he has promised them that it will be rolled back on utilities he should tell us now what the promise was, how he's going to fund it, why did he make it with the ACTU and not with the Australian public. We don't make secret deals with anybody. If I've got a policy I tell all of the Australian people, I don't tell my political masters, I don't have any. My political masters are the Australian people.
JOURNALIST:
What about Wayne Swan (inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look once again Mr Beazley has got to recognise that this is the consequence of not having an attitude on anything. People run riot. I mean you've got to have attitude in this business and he's all over the shop and you can't simultaneously fund his amorphous Knowledge Nation concept which will run to billions of dollars a year, have tax credits, have rollback, keep the budget in surplus, keep the states happy, spend more money on health and education. I mean something's got to give but most importantly today he ought to tell us what was in the secret deal with Sharon Burrows. I want to know that and I think there are millions of Australians who want to know, I mean if that is their policy let us know and let us have the costs of it. You take the GST off utilities, that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Where's that money coming from?
JOURNALIST:
. are you disappointed that one of the Timorese Cabinet Ministers is refusing to attend that signing?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't want to get into a comment about who turns up to the meeting. I think the more important thing is that this is a very good outcome for the future of the people of East Timor and I'm very pleased for them. East Timor will be a struggling poor country, it will need revenue, it will need a lot of help and this arrangement is a good and generous arrangement for them and I'm proud of the negotiation that was carried out by Alexander Downer and Nick Minchin.
JOURNALIST:
Would Mr Abbott make a good deputy to Mr Costello?
PRIME MINISTER:
The position's not vacant.
JOURNALIST:
He has publicly expressed his ambitions though what do you think about that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Life's full of ambition.
[ends]