LAWS:
On the line, the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard. Good morning, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning, John.
LAWS:
Are you exhausted?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. It';s tiring and there';s a lot on but they';re two very important days for Australia.
LAWS:
Sure.
PRIME MINISTER:
And that certainly keeps me going.
LAWS:
Yeah, well, when it';s all over, I imagine the tiredness will cut in because… and I wonder about the President of the United States. I mean, his schedule must be extraordinary with all the travel included.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, we were talking about this last night before he left. He';s very fit, he';s very disciplined, he exercises a lot, he';s a tee totaller. I can';t confess to being that. But I try and keep myself fit. But he';s got a very strong constitution and he works to a very disciplined schedule. He';s a person who I think looks after himself and you really need to in this sort of life.
LAWS:
Of course you do. Did you inwardly groan when you saw Bob Brown stand up?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, yes and no John because I expected him to do it and I warned the President that it would happen, something like this could happen and he was pretty well prepared for it. I suppose it';s something of an embarrassment to the country when an invited guest is treated like that. But on the other hand, we are a democracy, Bob Brown did it quite deliberately. It was a political contrived stunt. There is a section of the Australian population that would very strongly approve of what Brown did. The rest of us would think it was bad manners. But he';s only really interested in servicing his niche in the Australian political market and that is what he did yesterday. Any suggestion that it was a spontaneous expression of his genuine outrage, well of course…
LAWS:
That';s rubbish.
PRIME MINISTER:
… is rubbish. But in the end, he';s accountable to your listeners, as I am, and they will make a judgement about his conduct. Most of us in the Parliament, even those who strongly disagreed with President Bush';s policies on the Labor side, and there were plenty of them, would have regarded what he did as inappropriate.
LAWS:
I thought Simon Crean';s speech was very good. I imagine you did too.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well he had a difficult…
LAWS:
Very.
PRIME MINISTER:
… line to walk. His party was very critical the Americans, very critical of President Bush. Although interestingly enough, strangely silent in relation to any criticism of Tony Blair, although Tony Blair';s position on Iraq was exactly the same as George Bush';s, but then Tony Blair';s Labor and George Bush';s centre-right. But they obviously through their leader had to say what their position was. It would had been hypocritical if they hadn';t have and that was ultimately what he had to do.
LAWS:
Just back to the Greens. And you see this is the problem, why am I going back to the Greens? Why is everybody talking about what Bob Brown did? I suppose he achieved what he wanted to achieve, a bit of notoriety, like the group cutting the ribbon the Harbour Bridge.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah, it is like that, that';s true. But in a democracy, you can never prevent that happening and you have to make a judgement that you… do you have events like this and run the risk of them being partially hijacked by that sort of behaviour, or do you alternatively don';t do it because these things might happen? Well, obviously, you can';t allow that situation to develop. And I think most people would see what happened yesterday in its broader national context. It is very significant for Australia that we have the President of the United States and the President of China visiting us on successive days. It does demonstrate very strongly that our relationship with America has never been better and it remains as important as ever before and will get more important. But we';ve been able to do all of that without making it difficult with our relationships with countries in Asia. And I certainly the development of a close practical partnership with China as being one of the foreign policy successes of the Government over the last seven and a half years.
LAWS:
I think it';s been terrific and will become more and more important to Australia. These people who have been banned from Parliament seem determined to attend the President';s address today. Will they be stopped?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that';s a matter for the Speaker and the President. I don';t control the Parliament. In our tradition, the control of the Parliament and the disciplining of the Parliament is a matter for the Presiding Officers and I am as subject to their authority as any other Member.
LAWS:
You';re getting a bit of criticism about Simon Crean not having been invited to the barbecue. Do you believe he should have been invited?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it';s not normal. There';s no sort of normal practice for something like that. When I was Opposition Leader, I don';t recall getting a flood of invitations to attend things at the Lodge. It wasn';t a parliamentary occasion. I think people missed that point, that when you have a parliamentary luncheon, the Leader of the Opposition has a role in the Parliament, he';s the opposite number to the Prime Minister and he has a full role. I extend courtesies to the Opposition Leader that weren';t extended to me as an Opposition Leader. I mean for example, when military forces go overseas, I don';t recall ever having been asked to address them when I was Opposition Leader by former Prime Ministers. And I brought in that practice when I became Prime Minister. I invited Mr Beazley to speak, and I';ve tried to preserve that kind of thing, even where there is a disagreement as to whether they should go overseas or not. But when it comes to functions at the Prime Minister';s Lodge, there is no longstanding convention that you invite automatically the Opposition Leader.
LAWS:
Can you tell me what the nature of this gas deal is with China?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes I can.
LAWS:
How are we going to get the gas there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that';s not certain. We have to win the contract, but the fact that the Chinese company is willing to sign an agreement saying that if the contract is awarded to the Australian supplier, it will take a stake in the whole deal, indicates that whilst we can';t be certain of getting it, our prospects of getting it are very strong.
LAWS:
Okay. But I imagine if that develops further, that would be a tremendously important thing.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it would be even bigger in dollar value than the deal that was signed last year – even bigger.
LAWS:
Okay. Do you get the weekend off? I suppose not.
PRIME MINISTER:
I do actually. I do intend to have a bit of a break at the weekend and I won';t mind taking it because it has been about as hectic a couple of weeks as I';ve had, with the commemoration in Bali and then the visit to the APEC meeting and now these two visits. But they';re all very important things and I will be saying today that the significance of the two visits back to back is really very long-term. It reminds of us of the realities of the world we live in. It reminds us of the ongoing importance of the United States, but also of a different order and a different character of relationship – the growing importance of China.
LAWS:
Okay Prime Minister. Thank you very much for your time. I do hope you have a relaxing weekend.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks John.
LAWS:
Nice to talk to you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Bye bye.
[ends]