Subjects: Return of Commonwealth Games athletes; Melbourne Commonwealth Games; bid for Soccer World Cup; Bledisloe Cup.
E&OE...........
PRICE:
The Prime Minister John Howard joins us from Melbourne. Good morning Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning Steve.
PRICE:
It';s not hard to be proud of that group of young people you just welcomed back home, is it?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, they';re pretty good. They';re not only good athletes, they';re great young people too. And I said to them, they not only represented Australia magnificently in their sports but by their general demeanour and bearing a fine advertisement for contemporary Australia.
PRICE:
I think you made a very good point, and it was something I then put to Grant Hackett. You don';t hear this team getting in trouble.
PRIME MINISTER:
No you don';t and I mean that';s not to say they don';t have a bit of fun and good luck to them. But you don';t, and I find when I talk to them that it';s very much in their minds that they';re representing the country and that the better known they are, the more successful they are, the more conscious they are of the responsibility they carry. When you think of how young they are, it';s pretty impressive. It makes you realise that there';s not a lot to be worried about as far as this country';s future is concerned.
PRICE:
Absolutely. You';re as big a sports nut as anyone in the country. How much time did you get to watch the Commonwealth Games.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look it came in fits and starts. Sometimes it was impossible, other times I could sit and watch a few things. I can';t confess I saw all of it. By definition you couldn';t . But I thought the performance in the women';s marathon was just extraordinary.
PRICE:
One, Two, Three. They were great.
PRIME MINISTER:
It was great. The other impressive thing was that we did well in some sports that we hadn';t previously featured in so much and that';s surprised people. They expected us to do well in swimming. They knew we';d do well in track and field. But boxing and some of the weight lifting, whatever – that surprised people. And that';s what made it such a comprehensive performance and it drew, quite rightly – it doesn';t always happen, it drew a lot of praise from the British and other press of other countries. Given the rivalry that does exist in those things, as we all know, that was another indication of the respect the team has won, not only through its performances but also its behaviour.
PRICE:
When you talk to Thorpey, do you get the feeling you';re talking to someone of greatness? We know your obsession with cricket, but I mean he is a superstar.
PRIME MINISTER:
There';s no doubt about that. He';s legitimately been compared to people like Mark Spitz. I don';t presume to know enough about the deep detail to offer a view on that, but plainly because he is being so compared, it indicates just how good he is and what respect there is for his ability around the world.
PRICE:
Does Melbourne still now have your full support for the Commonwealth Games, obviously in four years' time?
PRIME MINISTER:
It has our full support – always. Always had our full support. There is a difficulty in relation to the money for the upgrade of the Melbourne Cricket Ground because the Victorian Government refused to accept that it be spent in accordance with the industrial relations law of the Federal Government. And we took the view that if you';re spending Federal taxpayers' money, if I can put it that way, it ought to be spent in accordance with Federal law. It was the decision of the Victorian Government that the money not be made available, effectively because they wouldn';t come to the party and comply with the Federal law. But that was their decision. But in every way we';re very supportive of the Commonwealth Games. I was talking this morning to Ron Walker, the Chairman of the bid, Chairman of the Organising Committee, and we';ll give it our total support.
PRICE:
Are you cranky about the way Steve Bracks and Bob Carr have pulled this World Cup bid out of their back pocket?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look I';m not cranky about it. I just think it';s amateurish. A country bids for the right to host a Soccer World Cup and the bid is made in the name of the local soccer association, and everybody knows that there are a number of things that need to be done to put Soccer Australia';s house in order. And what I';ve said is let';s fix that and then let everybody sit down and talk together and work out the feasibility of mounting a bid. But I just would make the point that if you';re really serious about getting the event to Australia, you wouldn';t announce the bid without consulting the national government.
PRICE:
Bit of a surprise when you got up at Kirribilli on Sunday morning and opened the Sunday paper.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I thought, this is interesting. It was a PR stunt. There';s no doubt about that.
PRICE:
I think Bob Carr told Mike Carlton yesterday that you were joining in this… were Commonwealth officials joining this working party?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. I mean that was just too [inaudible].
PRICE:
Where did he get that from?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well somebody from his office rang my Chief of Staff and said, oh look we';d like to form this committee and they sent a draft letter and subsequently followed up with another letter. And I';ll reply to that letter but at no stage did we indicate a willingness to participate in the committee.
PRICE:
Just before I let you go, how good was the Bledisloe on Saturday night?
PRIME MINISTER:
A fantastic watch. A great game. A real heart-stopper. And yet again the Wallabies right on the death-knock… and they';re always kicking a goal after the full time whistle has gone.
PRICE:
You';re not going to throw your Vodafone jumper away now that those dopes did the streak, are you?
PRIME MINISTER:
It';s not a Vodafone jumper – it';s a Wallabies jumper.
PRICE:
Good on you. Thanks for talking to us.
PRIME MINISTER:
Okay.
[ends]