PRIME MINISTER:
Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to say a couple of things about the meeting I had with indigenous leaders concerning violence and child abuse. It was a very good meeting and I was grateful that so many representatives and people in the indigenous community with a knowledge of these matters came. I listened. They did all the talking. I asked a few questions and then at the end of the meeting I endeavoured to summarise the major messages that have been conveyed to me and they were, apart from the evident concern across indigenous Australia about the level of violence, there did seem to be a particular belief that in responding to the problems you couldn't adopt a one-size-fits-all approach and the different approaches would work in different communities and governments had to have policies that allowed that kind of local option, if I can put it that way, to operate.
There was a desire for a greater coordination of programme delivery between different levels of government. That's not an unusual request made of all areas of government. There was, very clearly conveyed to me, a strong belief of the direct link between the level of violence and the abuse of alcohol and other drugs and it's been my view for some time, confirmed by what I learnt today, that that does lie at the heart of so much of the difficulties being experienced in this area by indigenous communities. Might I say, it is a challenge that is not confined to indigenous communities and the evidence emerging from that inquiry commissioned after the incident at Waverley College last year is a sober - and I know you might think that's an unfortunate choice of words but I nonetheless choose it - sober reminder to Australian parents generally in the entire Australian community of the responsibilities they carry regarding the potential abuse of alcohol by their children. And this is a responsibility that should be fairly and squarely accepted by parents and whilst governments and schools have a role to play they should not be a role that is in substitution of the role of parents.
But returning to the other issue, it was in every way a very valuable meeting. It brought home to me the great importance of enhancing the leadership role of women within indigenous communities. I'm very pleased to note that probably half, if not more, of those attending were women and their very strong views on this issue are now being more widely heard and recognised and that is long overdue.
To follow-up I've invited the group to suggest four representatives or four of their number who will join a small group from the Government to progress in different ways the issues that have come out of the discussion. I will very carefully and faithfully report to the COAG meeting, which is being held at the end of next month, on what was discussed and in different ways endeavour to carry forward the views that have been put forward. I certainly don't rule out the possibility of calling the group together again or even a wider group but I thought it was a very valuable and important initiative. I thank all of those participating for coming forward and I thank them very much for the views that they've put up to me.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, there was somebody from ATSIC there, an ATSIC Commissioner.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I don't have anything to say about that today.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, no, it wasn't an occasion for that. I mean, resources are important but it's an attitude and it's a broad direction of the emphasis of how you should try and respond to the issue. It wasn';t something where you just came along with a shopping list, and that wasn';t the purpose of the meeting, and can I say nobody there adopted that approach, they all participated in the spirit in which the meeting was called and as best I could glean at the end they went away feeling that it had been a very positive and very fruitful exercise.
JOURNALIST:
… Mr Howard to be solved.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think within the indigenous communities violence is a hugely important issue because it is destroying communities.
JOURNALIST:
Is it the most important issue…?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I do, I don';t think there';s any doubt about that, it is the most important issue facing the community and that is not my view, well it is my view, but it is primarily the view of indigenous leaders and it's been the view incidentally of female leaders within the indigenous community for quite a long time. I think it';s taken a while for there to be a greater acceptance amongst men in the indigenous community that the problem merits the attention that it is now receiving and I congratulate those that are responsible for bring it forward.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what do you think of the idea of community led shaming for those offenders…?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well if you';re talking about the Hermansberg experiment, it sounded very good. I mean I think these are the sorts of local initiatives that people should be encouraged to undertake and there has got to be a certain amount of boldness in trying things that work. And that was described to me by one of the people who was there, she came from the area and she was very heavily involved, she described how successful it had been and the reason she said it had been successful was that the whole community, to use her words, held up a mirror to itself and came to the conclusion that it had to deal with this problem. I think those sorts of things have got to be tried and if they work in some communities they should be perpetuated, if they don';t they should be discarded. It is not a one size fits all approach and this is my view about alcohol, if communities want to ban alcohol good luck to them, if that is what they think will work in their communities.
JOURNALIST:
Lowitja O';Donoghue on her way in said she had high expectations about the meeting, do you think you';ll meet them?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well you';ll have to ask her that, all I can say is she contributed in a very positive way and she was very pleased to be there and she seemed satisfied, but that is a matter for her, I don';t seek to put words in other people';s mouths.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, there seems to be a consensus that the COAG pilot programmes on partnership between government and community are achieving some results.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes.
JOURNALIST:
I';m wondering whether you would like violence to be, reducing violence to be one of the benchmarks of success of those trials.
PRIME MINISTER:
I will have a look at that Michael, yes.
JOURNALIST:
And would you, if…
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven';t had much time since the meeting finished to sort of make a decision on that, but it sounds a good idea.
JOURNALIST:
And as for expanding the number of communities involved in the trial, could that…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well let me have a look at that too.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think ATSIC';s been a bit slow to recognise this problem of domestic violence in communities?
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven';t called the meeting to have a go at ATSIC, we';ll just put that aside for the moment.
JOURNALIST:
There has been a lot of talk in recent years, what…
PRIME MINISTER:
A lot of talk? Well life is full of talk.
JOURNALIST:
We';ve had roundtables and other…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well this is the sort of one I';ve convened on the issue in indigenous communities.
JOURNALIST:
My question was what confidence can indigenous people have that this roundtable is going to produce some results on the ground?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the this is the first one that I have been involved in. so they will obviously make a judgement and we';ll see what happens.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what';s your reaction to the Australian soldier being seriously injured in Iraq?
PRIME MINISTER:
You mean the Australian serving with the American army? Well I am naturally concerned and sorry and I wish him a very speedy recovery. It';s a reminder of the difficulties continuing to be faced by the United States and British forces and it also is a reminder to Australia that although we have fewer than 800 people there in different roles and not very many of them in kind of quasi-combat role that it is still a dangerous place, although I believe in overall expectation terms a less dangerous place as a result of the news of the apparent deaths of Saddam Hussein';s two sons who were part of the group of grizzly leaders who terrorised Iraq for so long.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard you mentioned (inaudible), there';s been some speculation that John Anderson might retire from the leadership sometime soon after that meeting. Do you think that';s right, have you talked to him about it or do you expect to…
PRIME MINISTER:
Michelle, if you want to get a comment on John Anderson';s future you go and talk to John Anderson. All I can say is that he';s a wonderful deputy Prime Minister, about the most inherently decent person I';ve encountered in politics and I enjoy my association with him.
JOURNALIST:
Will he go to the next election with you?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look Michelle, that is something you have to talk to him about. You';ve shifted from me to other people now have you?
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what sort of message will you be taking to the troops heading off on departure?
PRIME MINISTER:
I will be taking a message of pride and gratitude on behalf of the Australian community, that they are doing very important work for this country in providing a more stable, secure, predictable and peaceful neighbour. The code name of Helpem Fren, which is or course pidgin for helping friend, is very apt because we are helping a friend. We';re helping a neighbour, we';re stabilising conditions on our own patch and that is what we should do, not only in our interests but also in the interests of the people of the Pacific.
JOURNALIST:
… any discussion about land rights, reconciliation, treaties?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. There was no,… I mean there was a very passing reference to the fact that there was debate about those issues, but there was absolutely no focus on those issues at all.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, (inaudible) injury, do you have any further information on the soldier or the woman who was injured?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well my understanding in relation to the woman is she is being treated and is recovering. I don';t have further information because I';ve only just been informed as I';ve been at the meeting in relation to the soldier. But I understand he';s a serving member of the United States army, I don';t have direct information beyond that.
JOURNALIST:
In terms of Saddam';s sons what do you think the implication will be?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think the implications are that a lot of Iraqis will feel an immense sense of relief because when you';ve been living under such an horrific regime for so long and you know that at the apex of the structure of terror and intimidation are these two thugs and then you know that you think they';re still alive that all just adds to the awful feeling that they might come back and now that they';ve gone, apparently, then clearly that will be a point of great relief for the people of Iraq, I mean it';s not going to alter the situation overnight, but it is going to add to a sense that they can finally move on, and obviously the capture or death of Saddam Hussein would close the book almost entirely on that feeling, but the removal of the two sons is quite significant because…
JOURNALIST:
… resistance at the moment?
PRIME MINISTER:
Beg your pardon?
JOURNALIST:
Do you think it would change the level of resistance?
PRIME MINISTER:
It';s too early to know, I think that psychologically it would be of great help and I';m very pleased.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, at this morning';s meeting was there any discussion about radical proposals to change…
PRIME MINISTER:
About what?
JOURNALIST:
About radical proposals to change welfare payments into indigenous communities, ie the idea of paying communities as a whole rather than individuals?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Mr Pearson has presented a detailed document to the meeting which obviously encapsulates some of his views. Now you have to talk to him about that but we didn';t go into, we didn';t talk in detail about that issue.
JOURNALIST:
Was there any contribution in particular that convinced you (inaudible) immediate convincing of the gravity of the problem, that bought it home to you, the impact on communities obviously?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think most of them did, I mean I had read quite a bit and I';m certainly very familiar with the statistics, but the presentations from quite a number of the women certainly highlighted and dramatised the dimension of the problem.
JOURNALIST:
And aside from the (inaudible) example is there another local solution that really captured your imagination?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that was the one that we went into in detail.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, do you know where the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands is and did Australia have any involvement in helping him leave?
PRIME MINISTER:
The Prime Minister of the…
JOURNALIST:
The Solomon Islands.
PRIME MINISTER:
What about him?
JOURNALIST:
He';s left the country this morning, until the peacekeepers arrive.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don';t have any further comment to make about that.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, given Australia';s strong support of PNG, does it concern you about reports that guns might have been smuggled from there to the Solomons?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well any reports of smuggling concern me. Okay?
JOURNALIST:
… Labor Party released their tertiary education policy this morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, Dr Nelson has dealt with it.
Thank you.
[ends]