MITCHELL:
First in our Canberra studio is the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning, Neil.
MITCHELL:
Prime Minister, all this violence in Iraq, are our troops, our people in Baghdad in danger?
PRIME MINISTER:
There';s always a risk that one of them could be caught up in the violence and could be killed or injured. Whilst they are not carrying out a peacekeeping role, anybody involved in certain areas of Iraq is in some danger. The so-called Sunni triangle appears to be the danger area and that includes Baghdad and Tikrit and Fallujah and areas around there, that is the placing in Iraq where most of the attacks have occurred. And I want to frankly say that there is the possibility that some of our personnel could be caught up, we are making regular checks, we discussed this matter at the National Security Committee meeting yesterday and we are, of course, taking all the necessary precautions that can be taken and we are confident that everything that should be done is being done, but the risk remains high.
MITCHELL:
I';m surprised, I was talking to Baghdad earlier today and they were telling me the Australian headquarters that they are actually out in the streets doing patrols, body armour, weapons, the whole lot.
PRIME MINISTER:
They are indeed. It is dangerous. On the other hand, side by side with that, progress is being made, the schools are operating, the hospitals are operating, there';s been a significant increase in the availability of clean water and power and side by side with the terrorist attacks, which are claiming more Islamic lives and the lives of more Iraqis than anybody else at the present time, I mean any life claimed is a tragedy, I';m not saying there';s any gradation in the loss of life, I';m simply making the observation that these attacks are as much directed at Iraqis who want to establish a democratic future for their country as they are at Americans.
MITCHELL:
How long will we have to keep our personnel there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I can';t put an end date on it. We will keep our personnel there for so long as is needed to do the job. We indicated very early in the piece that we wouldn';t supply large numbers of peacekeepers because we just don';t have those resources and that was understood. And incidentally, the issue of us supplying more personnel was not raised when President Bush was in Canberra last week. They';ve always understood our position on that because I was very upfront about it right at the beginning.
MITCHELL:
It does look like a long haul though, doesn';t it?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think it will be a considerable period of time, I';m not going to raise expectations. And we are doing everything we can to protect them, we have been incredibly fortunate to date because we haven';t taken any casualties and I hope and pray that that continues. But I have to be honest with people and say there is a danger.
MITCHELL:
What are the implications if the United Nations pulls out?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think that will give very great heart to the terrorists. One of the perplexing things, Neil, is that in the case of both the United Nations and the Red Cross, my understanding is that they did not have very elaborate security. The reasoning being, particularly in relation to the Red Cross, that people generally respected them. And, in the past, and in even in the most grim of conflicts, the Red Cross were respected. Now, this just shows how indiscriminate and how vicious and vile the people we';re dealing with are.
MITCHELL:
It just struck me, we';ve almost forgotten about the… I know you haven';t, but I wonder if the public';s almost forgotten about the people still serving in Iraq? I mean, with all the attention during the war, but we';ve still got 1200…
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no, no, it';s around 900.
MITCHELL:
Oh is it? 900?
PRIME MINISTER:
900 and it';s likely to remain at that level. Now that includes 250-300 on one of the naval vessels. But we have air traffic controllers running Baghdad Airport, we have people in the headquarters attached to the coalition provisional authority, we have some people involved as weapons inspectors and there are commando and other detachments providing them with security. So it is a significant number.
MITCHELL:
We should remember them, that';s all.
PRIME MINISTER:
We certainly should and I think it';s very important that they be brought up. I certainly haven';t forgotten them and, as I say, we spent a large part of yesterday';s meeting talking about this issue because naturally we are concerned about their safety and I want to assure the public that everything that should be done is being done. But there is a danger and nobody should assume that because we don';t have large numbers of peacekeepers that in some way that makes our people completely immune.
MITCHELL:
We will take calls for the Prime Minister 96961278 if you';d like to speak to the Prime Minister. Something closer to home, Mr Howard, I see that the Treasurer';s suggesting we lift the rate at which the top tax rates cut in, perhaps higher than $75,000. Do you agree?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I agree that the top rate comes in at too low a level of income, I';ve said this before. And there';s nothing new in the argument that it would be a good idea as people';s incomes rise that the rates, the top ceiling which is now $62,500 be lifted. We tried to do that remember with the original tax package.
MITCHELL:
Can we afford it now?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the question of what we do is precisely is something that will have to be decided when we know what we have to spend on necessary commitments. The philosophy of the Government is that you, after you';ve allocated money for those things, that you regard as requiring expenditure and necessary expenditure, there';s always a debate about that. Whatever is left over we believe should be returned through tax relief, rather than spent on things that don';t have as high a priority. Now we';re in the process, obviously, at looking at a number of areas. We clearly are reviewing our Medicare package and in the light of the reaction of the public, the medical profession and others to the original announcement, and there will be changes made there, I';m not in a position to indicate what they are, we';re still assessing the situation. But we are determined to maintain strength in Medicare – I want to make that absolutely certain. There is no way that we';re going to weaken Medicare. And we';re absolutely determined, unlike the Labor Party and the latest evidence of the Labor Party';s view on this was in the Senate committee report, we';re going to maintain the full private health insurance rebate.
MITCHELL:
Are you going to increase it? It was recommended.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, we can';t afford to do that, nice idea if you had unlimited money but we don';t have unlimited money, that would cost another $800 million a year. We think 30 per cent is the right level and we';re absolutely committed to maintaining it, unlike the Labor Party which will clearly get rid of it or at least heavily qualify it if it were to win the next election. But we can';t afford to increase it, if we have that sort of additional money to spend on changes in the health area, it should be, in my opinion and the Government';s opinion, allocated in other areas.
MITCHELL:
Okay, health is still an issue. 9696 1278, I have more questions on it but Alan go ahead please.
CALLER:
Good morning Mr Howard.
PRIME MINISTER:
Hello Alan.
CALLER:
Look I';m a committed a Liberal Party supporter, I make no excuses about and I';d just like to give you some advice on perhaps how to win the next election.
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m all ears.
CALLER:
Well I think really, I';m quite concerned about Medicare, about bulk billing. I know that the Liberal Party has reservations, I've discussed it with various members of the Liberal Party. I understand that you are afraid that so much of the money, if you increase the scheduled fee a lot of money will be paid to doctors who are not asking for an increase. But my opinion is you should increase the scheduled fee, you can afford to increase it through an amount of something like $35, we have the money, don';t give tax refunds, put it into Medicare, and get yourself re-elected. That';s what I want, I want to see you re-elected.
MITCHELL:
Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well thank you. I don';t have a problem with bulk billing, I don';t know where anybody got the idea that I had a problem with bulk billing.
MITCHELL:
No, but the gap is a little large.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the levels of bulk billing have come down, although they';re still quite high, they';re about 68 per cent of all consultations which is still very high. It';s very interesting when you read, which I have, the Labor dominated Senate report on Medicare and the Government';s health proposals and even though it is a Labor dominated committee, the committee members acknowledge that shortage of doctors is as much as cause of the decline in bulk billing is as the level of the rebate. Now that';s a very interesting admission and significantly our fairer Medicare package placed a very great emphasis on increasing the supply of doctors. I believe myself that the biggest single driver of the decline in bulk billing has been the shortage of the supply of doctors in certain areas of the country because large parts of Australia have very high levels of bulk billing.
MITCHELL:
Prime Minister, we';ve still got troubles with hospitals.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well hang on, I just wanted to make that point Neil, I';m sorry, I won';t go on, that sure the rebate is relevant, I accept that, I';m not saying it';s irrelevant but I do think that bringing in measures to increase the supply of medical practitioners in areas of workforce shortage, such as outer-metropolitan areas and rural areas is very important.
MITCHELL:
The other thing I was going to ask about hospitals, the Victorian hospitals have reported a combined deficit of around $60 million which is a pretty serious problem I would have thought. Any chance of you helping bail them out?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I mean Mr Bracks has a lot of money, I mean Mr Bracks inherited a very healthy budget situation from the former government and you and I have had this discussion before, I';m prepared to look after our areas of responsibility, we do give the states a lot of money for hospitals, although we don';t control them, I mean I don';t know whether that deficit is due to bad management or what, I don';t know, I have no control over the Victorian hospitals and I';m always prepared to accept responsibility and blame for things that I control but when we supply more money for public hospitals than the states do but have no control over their operation, it';s I think only reasonable of me to say well if there';s a problem shouldn';t you first cross examine the states and find out how they';re administrating the hospitals.
MITCHELL:
We';ll do that but first we';ll take a break and come back with more questions, more calls for the Prime Minister in our Canberra studio.
[commercial break]
MITCHELL:
It is thirteen to nine, the Prime Minister is in our Canberra studio taking calls which is a practice, I must say, which intrigued the American President. Mr Bush thought this was a fascinating part of Australian democracy – did he not Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, he did. It is in fact one of the very big differences between Australian democracy and both American and British. I was amazed also when I spoke to the now former Conservative leader Iain Duncan-Smith about travails of Opposition of which I';ve experienced much in my past career. And talkback radio does not have anywhere near the role in Britain either as it does in this country, I think talk back radio bulks larger in Australia as way of communication than any other comparable country, certainly an American President would not do this on a regular basis and I don't think a British Prime Minister does either.
MITCHELL:
And we';ll take a call. Maria, go ahead.
CALLER:
Yes, good morning. Thank you Neil and good morning Prime Minister. I';d like to thank you firstly for making yourself available, I think we';re very lucky to be able to have this opportunity. So, yes we do live in a democracy. Secondly, what I';d like to talk to you about is that in the media we';ve heard information about what';s happening with the money that';s been collected for Ansett workers and I must say I';m not an Ansett worker, but I';d like to ask you Prime Minister - there has been a lot of money collected but money doesn';t appear to be flowing through to these people and I know from close friends who are suffering and my husband flies weekly, has been doing so for the past year. So we';ve been paying a lot of money towards this, which we do without any complaint.
MITCHELL:
So where';s it going?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah, well the money- Maria';s raised a fair question. Can I just remind you what the government guaranteed a couple of years ago was that the workers would not go without their long service leave, their unpaid holiday pay and up to eight weeks of their redundancy payments, that was the guarantee that we made. Now, many Ansett employees had much larger redundancy payments but we said two years ago, we couldn';t guarantee the amount over the eight weeks and we have collected the money through the levy and we have paid I think, without holding me to the exact figure more than $300 million to the trustees, to the administrators and I understand that a lot of that has been paid out. But I understand what hasn';t been paid out is the surplus redundancy payments over and above the eight weeks.
MITCHELL:
So when can the levy some off?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the levy';s been suspended.
MITCHELL:
Has it? OK.
PRIME MINISTER:
And the rest of the money is held up, the payment of it is held up, so I understand, because there is a court case over which I don';t have any control and is taking, I';ve got to acknowledge, a very long period of time.
MITCHELL:
Prime Minister, what do you know about this French man who was deported, Willie Brigitte, is it not fair to say the French let us down in this case?
PRIME MINISTER:
That';s not my information. ASIO claim that the French were very helpful.
MITCHELL:
He came into Australia on his own name and his own passport.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, but I am told my ASIO that the French did not know until quite recently of the Australian connection, that';s the advice they';ve given me.
MITCHELL:
But they knew who he was?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I assume they knew who he was.
MITCHELL:
Why didn';t they tell us, why wasn';t there an alarm system ringing when he came into the country?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I';ve asked this question of ASIO and ASIO claims that the French did not become aware of the implications of this fellow until quite late in the piece and as soon as they did, they told us and we had then acted very quickly.
MITCHELL:
How significant was what he was doing here? Is it possible he was planning an attack on Australian soil?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don';t want to say that because I don';t think there';s evidence to support that. But as in so many of these things you never know all of the story immediately and it';s always important to try and get more information and be careful about the language you use. The one thing I can certainly say is, that once we were alerted by the French our authorities acted very quickly and very effectively.
MITCHELL:
Well, do you believe that we have thwarted some sort of scheme whether it be in Australia or in South East Asia?
PRIME MINISTER:
I can';t cay that.
MITCHELL:
OK. Another issue, the Muslim Cleric Sheik Mohamed Omran has describe holy war as acceptable, but not in Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I don';t regard any violence in pursuit of a religious belief as acceptable by anybody.
MITCHELL:
I suppose we have to accept that he can say these things.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, you have this incredible tension always in a society between free speech and public interest. And we will argue forever and a day about where you draw the line. I';m expressing my view very candidly, I don';t think extremism in pursuit of a religious belief is acceptable, I';m not an extremist, I have great respect for religion, I have great respect for Islam';s values but I don';t accept any prostitution of Islam though violence any more than people should accept the prostitution of Christianity through violence.
MITCHELL:
A couple of other quick things, have you seen the reports about the Swiss bank accounts Rene Rivkin…
PRIME MINISTER:
I have indeed.
MITCHELL:
… Graham Richardson, Trevor Kennedy, have they got questions to answer to the tax office?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I wouldn';t add anything to what Peter Costello said yesterday, he indicated that there was an ASIC investigation, he also indicated that the tax office is looking at it, I don';t want to jump to any conclusions, they are newspaper reports, they';re obviously very detailed reports, I have no doubt that ASIC and the ATO will have a very careful look at them but I';m not going to jump in and make exaggerated claims at this time, I';ll just wait and see what unfolds.
MITCHELL:
Is it relevant in another area, and maybe it isn';t because he';s no longer in the Parliament, but Senator Richardson was a Minister, was in the Parliament, if he did have Swiss bank accounts and didn';t declare them is that a problem?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think we better wait and see what unfolds, I';m not going to take a shot at him simply because he';s on the other side, I think there is a due process needed, they appear to be quite important, substantial allegations, I have no doubt they';ll be investigated and I have no doubt that if a problem is revealed and something should be said it will be said, but until that happens I don';t really think there';s anything to be gained by just jumping on some kind of opportunistic bandwagon.
MITCHELL:
Senate has again rejected Telstra';s sale, what will you do?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we';ll put it back again in three months time and see what happens.
MITCHELL:
Is it worth going to an election over it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';m not going to talk about what';s worth going to an election over, as things stand at the moment we';ll have an election in the second half of next year.
MITCHELL:
Dr Mahathir';s last day today, is there a farewell message.
PRIME MINISTER:
I think I was asked that in Bangkok a week before last and I don';t have any comments to make expect to re-emphasise the fact that the links between Australia and Malaysia are very long, they';re very deep, almost 200,000 Malaysians were educated in Australian universities, and that is the soundest possible basis in a way for any relationship between two societies of people to people links, those links will be more productive and more enduring than the contribution made by heads of government, be they Malaysian or Australian.
MITCHELL:
Prime Minister, did you apologise to George Bush about Bob Brown';s behaviour?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I didn';t. What I did do was I warned him in advance, I in fact said to him in Bangkok that I expected some stunt from the Greens, I told him that I thought that would occur.
MITCHELL:
You don';t think it did any damage?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I don';t, I don';t think, I think he was the most unfazed of all people about it, look I think it was boorish behaviour, and I think most Australians take that view and I think it was opportunistic. It was all of those things, but it was always going to happen and I mean people who carry on like that will always get publicity because we are a free society and I though Bush';s response was spot on but I think most people would think that Brown did behaviour in an ill mannered fashion but as for apologising for it, it is a democracy, I warned him in advance, I mean we talked about it very briefly but he just said look, I can';t remember exactly what words we exchanged because he expected it and I said well, you know, with a shrug of a shoulder he said oh well that';s life kind of thing, it didn';t bother him and I remember after he met everybody in the Parliament, well not everybody but a lot of them, and we walked out and met some other people before coming to the Lodge he was really quite sort of pumped up, as the Americans say, about the whole occasion.
MITCHELL:
Thank you very much for your time, are you coming down for the Cup?
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m coming down for the rugby union tomorrow night but unfortunately I have to attend the sitting of the national parliament when the Melbourne Cup is being run. We will suspend Question Time for the running of the Cup, but Parliament will be sitting next week and I therefore can';t be in Melbourne but I will come down to Melbourne on the weekend to watch the rugby match between Australia and Ireland.
MITCHELL:
Thank you very much for your time. In our Canberra studio, the Prime Minister John Howard.
[ends]