Subjects: Terrorist threat.
E&OE...........
MUNRO:
Prime Minister thanks for your time. What is your simple message to Australians?
PRIME MINISTER:
We are living in a world of potential terrorist attack on our country. I don';t want to over alarm people but I';ve got to be honest and say it could happen here. We did receive some credible information which made it necessary to issue the warning. Having said all of that I don';t want people to stop living. You';re damned if you do, and you';re damned if you don';t. If we don';t say anything we';re letting people down, we';re not telling them what we know. But in saying things I don';t want to alarm people, I don';t want to frighten them. But they have to be more careful. It is a more dangerous world. Nobody is immune.
MUNRO:
How accurate and reliable is the threat?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we wouldn';t have made the announcement if we didn';t believe it credible. I can';t talk about the source, you understand why, but it is credible. I';m asking people to be more careful, I';m asking people - for example - if you see somebody leaving a parcel and taking off, that';s a bit suspicious. If you see an abandoned car outside a public building, that';s something. If you';re in a position to notice unusual purchases of fertiliser or explosives or something, not many people are in that position, but if you are, that';s the sort of thing you want to report to the police straight away. Don';t try and do something about it yourself.
MUNRO:
Call the police.
PRIME MINISTER:
Call the police.
MUNRO:
The New South Wales Premier Bob Carr has said that he believes Sydney must be a prime target. Do you agree?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Sydney is the best known and biggest city in Australia and it has the most iconic man-made structures, but you can';t assume that it';s just Sydney. And equally I don';t want to alarm the good people of Sydney either.
MUNRO:
Law enforcement agencies we can be assured are now out there trying to find more information about ...
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes they are. All of them are. The Federal ones and the State ones. We are working together. We';re in this together, no politics, in this you';ve got to work together. And they';re trying to do that, and as I say I still want people to go about their daily lives. I mean I certainly still intend to.
MUNRO:
Did you ever think it would come to this?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I didn';t and I';m sad that it has. But the Americans have been living with this for a while now, the British lived for years with the threat of IRA attacks in pubs. Many countries are like that. I hate it. We all hate it, but we';ve got to fight it. You can';t give in. If you stop living they';ve won. And that';s something we';ve got to keep in mind.
MUNRO:
Do you think had we not been quite as strident or outspoken about action against Iraq that perhaps we may not be such a prime target now?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I don';t and I noticed last night Bob Carr said exactly the same thing. The real message out of this is that there are fanatical extreme Islamic groups that hate what we, in the Western world, represent. They hate our culture, they hate our freedom, they hate our openness, they hate the fact that we give equality to women – a whole lot of things that we stand for, and that';s got nothing to do with Iraq. I mean we would be that whether Iraq existed or not. That';s what they despise and one of the things that Bin Laden identified in his broadcast was the intervention in East Timor and he';s mentioned that twice. Ninety per cent of Australians supported that. That was the only decent thing to do.
MUNRO:
How have you and your family personally reacted with this?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think all of my family are affected by what happened in Bali. Every Australian is heartbroken by that and we';re all affected by it emotionally. But you still live your normal life. I mean we';ve got a bit more security. We';ve done all of the security checks. Obviously I think about my family, I don';t really think about myself. I';ve been around long enough – you sort of take your chances, but your kids you think about a bit – a lot. But you know this is a very random thing and I hope it never happens.
MUNRO:
The world has certainly changed, hasn';t it?
PRIME MINISTER:
It has changed and it';s very sad but if you let it beat you, if you let it get you down, if you come introspective, you turn in upon each other rather than reach out to each other…
MUNRO:
They';ve won.
PRIME MINISTER:
They have won and I don';t want that to happen and I don';t think any Australian wants that to happen either.
MUNRO:
Good luck in the coming days ahead.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[ends]