Subjects: Today Show 20th anniversary
E&OE...........
LIEBMANN:
Well on that first program 20 years ago, a Federal Treasurer with reform on his mind was the first interview, let';s recall part of what he had to say.
[tape insert]
JOHN HOWARD, TREASURER:
You';ve got to remember that four years ago when I started making a lot of noise about tax avoidance, there were a lot of people around prepared to say that I was overreacting, being excessive, being obsessive and really getting worked up into a lather of sweat about something which after all was part of the great Australian prediliction to get into a rort.
LIEBMANN:
Oh boy. John Howard, Treasurer in the Fraser Government and 20 years later, Prime Minister of Australia in his third term. And we welcome him back to the program this morning. Prime Minister, good morning to you. I guess we had to get the embarrassment out of the way early, time has left its toll on both of us.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes. I think you';re doing somewhat better Steve, at least you';ve got hair.
LIEBMANN:
Prime Minister, I';m thinking it';s been quite a journey for both of us over these past two decades.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it has. A lot';s changed, a lot';s stayed the same. I think your program got in early in understanding that communications were changing so that programs like Today, now set the news pattern for the day in a way that they didn';t 20 years ago, but they have come over the last period of time to do. I';ve always thought early morning television was the thing of the future and it certainly became a fixture and it does have an enormous influence.
LIEBMANN:
Because you were one of the few politicians and public figures who was prepared to get up and appear on breakfast television in those days. Was it because you could see then the influence and the coverage that programs like Today was going to have?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I could. I';ve become a progressively early riser as I';ve got older so you';ve got no chance of getting rid of me, but I think that was one of the main reasons. I just felt then that if you could set the pattern - and the format and the style of breakfast television suits Australians, I';m not surprised that the program has proved to be very successful.
LIEBMANN:
What do you remember of 1982?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I remember Australia was a different country. In 1982, there was still a thing called a cold war. The biggest single change that';s come over the world in the last 20 years has been the collapse of soviet communism and the end of the old ideological fight between the so-called East and so-called West. We face new, and in some respects less certain and more perilous challenges, but that change has been quite enormous. I think that';s the biggest single thing, you thought of the world in those bipolar terms, you don';t any longer.
LIEBMANN:
I guess none of us knew what the future was going to bring. I mean in our case it was a struggle in the early days. For you, 1982 saw the beginning of 14 years, if you like, in the political wilderness. Did you really believe in those days that come 1996, you would be Prime Minister of Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I didn';t. I think everybody, if they';re honest, has ambitions to get to the top and there';s absolutely nothing dishonourable in that, it';s to be understood. But I wouldn';t have thought that in 1982, I don';t think I foresaw the defeat of the Fraser Government the following year, although as ‘82 wore on things became more difficult. And certainly those 13 years in Opposition were incredibly frustrating and I';ll never forget them.
LIEBMANN:
We';ve all changed. What about you, looks aside, how have you changed? Have you changed?
PRIME MINISTER:
Of course I have. I think I';ve mellowed. I think I';ve, while I';ve still got very fixed views about certain things as all of us have, you come to understand that there';s a lot of virtue and a lot of good in different points of view and different people. I think one of the important things in politics, while you should have fixed goals and objectives, you shouldn';t take yourself so seriously as not to allow for a range of views and to try to accommodate them.
LIEBMANN:
I';ve lost count of the number of times you';ve appeared on our program. You know you';re always welcome and thank you for joining us this morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
And good luck to all of you. And I think it';s made a great contribution to Australian journalism.
LIEBMANN:
Prime Minister, thanks for joining us.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[ends]