SPEERS:
Well Prime Minister thanks for your time. If I can start with what have just been released, some job figures that are very impressive, 5.6 per cent. What's your initial reaction to what appear to be the lowest figures in more than 20 years?
PRIME MINISTER:
They're fantastic, they're lower than most people expected, 69,000 new jobs created in October. This is the human dividend, this is the human reward for good economic policy, good economic policy in the end should be about making people feel more secure, more contented, and giving them hope and aspiration in life and that is what we're doing, I am really proud of the fact that under this Government we've been able to drive unemployment down to this level and it could be even lower if the opposition parties in the Senate would get out of the way and let us pass those unfair dismissal laws that could create on independent assessments 50,000 to 80,000 more jobs in the small business sector. So we've come a long way, we could go further but this is a great day for the workers of Australia. I mean this is what it's all about, it's about giving people the opportunity of a job and giving people the opportunity of bettering their lives, it's not about arid statistics, it's about human opportunity.
SPEERS:
Is 5.6 per cent as low as we can expect to go?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't know, I'd like to have it lower, you always aim higher, I'm wary of setting particularly targets, but gee 5.6, you have to go back I think to 1981 to find a figure that's lower, and we have now in our time in government created almost 1.3 million new jobs, the youth unemployment rate for October is somewhere in the 20 per cent mark, that's for those who are seeking work, and ... those who are seeking work is much lower of the total age cohort's 20 per cent, that's about 14 per cent lower than what it was back in 1996.
SPEERS:
Well this good news comes after yesterday's rise in interest rates, now you said last night that there's no case for a significant rise in interest rates in the near future, what is a significant rise?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'm not going to tie myself to a particular figure but obviously a quarter of a percent is a small rise. The point I was making last night, and I'll make it again today, is that the economic fundamentals of the Australian economy are the best they have been for 30 or 40 years, and we shouldn't be frightened of success, we can run an economy now at a much higher level of economic growth than was the case 10 or 15 years ago because our fundamentals are stronger, we have a budget surplus, we have a very low level of government debt and because of that monetary policy that means high interest rates doesn't have to carry such a heavy load, in the bad old days when government's like Mr Keating's and Mr Hawke's ran budget deficits and year after year then monetary policy, high interest rates had to carry a heavier load. Now that we are running budget surpluses, high interest rates are not needed, now that doesn't mean that from time to time there won't be some adjustment at the margin but what I was talking of last night is that the fundamentals are now so strong, particularly on the fiscal side, that monetary policy doesn't have to carry so much weight.
SPEERS:
Are you really giving advice here to the Reserve Bank? Shouldn't they be allowed to operate independently?
PRIME MINISTER:
There's nothing in the understanding between the Government and the Reserve Bank that in any way impedes anybody, particularly the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, from expressing views on any aspect of economic policy. We opted to give the bank an independent role in relation to monetary policy in 1996, that's been supported so I understand by the Labor Party but there was nothing in that understanding that said that comments couldn't be made, I mean the idea that the Prime Minister and the Treasurer are in some way constrained in talking about the economic performance of the country is absurd.
SPEERS:
This was only a very small increase in interest rates, but most are expecting there will be one or two more to come over the coming months. There has been a huge increase in household debt over the past couple of years, do you think the Government can do more other than just warn people to ensure that they don't get trapped here taking advantage of low interest rates, borrowing a lot and then getting hit when rates go up?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well David there's been a very big increase in household assets, and the debt to asset ratio is something that you've got to keep in mind, you can't just look at one side of the coin. We do warn people not to over-commit themselves and we also warn people that they live in a market environment, but equally, I'll go back to my earlier point, we shouldn't be frightened of economic success, this country for too long was denied the opportunity at growing to its capacity, its economic capacity, because we had weaknesses in the taxation area, the industrial relations area, we kept running budget deficits and therefore whenever we got a spurt of growth we had to drag it back, often through very high interest rates to keep the economy under control. We don't have that problem now, because we've got the economy in better balance. Now that doesn't mean that from time to time you won't have some adjustments to interest rates but the case to clobber the economy with high interest rates simply doesn't exist.
SPEERS:
I guess what I'm getting at though, is there anything the Government planning to help, particularly those first home buyers...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we helped them a lot.
SPEERS:
But house prices have gone up a lot too.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well one of the reasons house prices have gone up is that interest rates remain very low, I mean the average loan in Australia, even if the latest increase is passed on, is $585 a month less in repayments than it was in 1996. And $585 a month less in repayments than back in 1996.
SPEERS:
But the average mortgage is a whole lot higher too isn't it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well of course is it, but so are wages, I mean one of the things that's happened under this Government is that wages have gone up, but we have been able to do that without seeing inflation spurt ahead.
SPEERS:
Can we just move onto another issue, the suspected asylum seekers that arrived here on Melville Island on Tuesday, where are they now and where will they be processed?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well for operational reasons I'm not going to go into the detail of that, I'm not going to too precise..
SPEARS:
Well for operational reasons. They, the vessel has been secured, a defence medical officer has checked the health of the people concerned, it's good, the people have been given water and provisions and they've obviously been interviewed and they are being properly cared for. Beyond that I'm not going to go into detail.
SPEERS:
The situation with boat people hasn't been a national secret in the past, I'm not sure why with these 14 asylum seekers it should be a mystery as to where they are or where they're being taken.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there are operational reasons at the present time why I choose not to go into further detail. It's not a secret that they arrived in the area and it's not a secret that we have excised those islands and it's not a secret that they've been given water and food, it's not a secret that the ADF and the Federal Police and Customs and Immigration have been involved, I think that in the past at this stage is about the extent of the information that's provided. We're not holding anything back but equally for operational reasons we're not going into all the detail of our thinking at the present time.
SPEERS:
Labor says that you've wound back Operation Relex, that is the number of boats, Navy boats and planes that are patrolling our borders, by 40 per cent, is that one of the reasons why this boat got through?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, it's not. I mean the idea that this got through because there was some of those changes you speak of is ridiculous, you're dealing with an enormous area and what we're saying is that that's one of the reasons why you should have these islands excised from the migration zone to provide yourself with that extra buffer. We tried to do this before and on three occasions the Labor Party and the Democrats combined to prevent us making it harder for illegal immigrants to get to Australia. Now on three occasions they've done that because they're soft on border protection.
SPEERS:
That political message that they're soft on border protection, you made that yesterday as well, as did the Foreign Minister, is this just a mini-Tampa as many are suggesting, that it's another opportunity for the Government to ramp up the politics of the boat people situation?
PRIME MINISTER:
David, mini-Tampa is your expression, that's not an expression I'm using. I'm just stating the facts. We tried on three occasions over the last 12 months to excise these islands and to give ourselves that extra legal buffer and the Labor Party and the Democrats voted it down in the Senate, and we've put out another regulation and I hope that regulation remains enforced. I mean we are doing everything we legally can to provide that buffer as well of course with Operation Relex, the coastal surveillance which has been effective. I mean prevention is better than cure, it's an old adage and the best message we can send to the rest of the world is that we don't accept illegal immigrants and every time the Labor Party and the Democrats vote against that they are trying to muddy that message, they're trying to qualify that message so that people think well maybe it is a bit easier. Now I say to the Labor Party that it's in Australia's interest to deter people from trying to come here in the first place and everything that we've endeavoured to do has been to that end and in relation to these regulations they've frustrated that on three occasions.
SPEERS:
Hanan Ashrawi is tonight being awarded the Sydney Peace Prize. Do you regard her as someone's who contributed to the peace process in the Middle East?
PRIME MINISTER:
There are others, in my view, on the Palestinian side over the last year or two who have contributed more, that's my view. I think for example Abu Mazen, the former Prime Minister of Palestine, or Palestinian Council, had contributed more. If I had been asked, I mean obviously it's not my call, I would have said that he'd contributed more over the last little while to the peace process than has Hanan Ashrawi.
SPEERS:
Do you regard her though as a deserving winner?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look I haven't sort of gone into all of that, I'm not called upon to sit down and make a finite judgement about all of these things, I simply say that on the scale of merit I certainly would have put Abu Mazen and perhaps some others well ahead of her.
SPEERS:
The decision though has sparked some very stark divisions on the issue of the Middle East, would you like to see a move towards more good will I guess from both sides?
PRIME MINISTER:
I strongly support the peace process, I strongly support the roadmap, I think it remains a terrible tragedy that Yassar Arafat didn't show the courage and leadership needed back at the time of Camp David when Ehud Barak, the former Israeli Prime Minister, promised the Palestinians 90 per cent of what they'd asked for and right at the end Arafat couldn't summon the leadership to seal that deal. But we've got to keep trying and I know how committed President Bush is to the roadmap and Australia is very committed, we have always defended the right of Israel to exist peacefully behind secure, defensible borders and recognised internationally but we also support the emergence of an independent Palestinian state and I deplore the suicide bombings that take place against the Israeli state, you can't ask the Israeli people to accept good will from the Palestinian side when the leadership, in their eyes legitimately I think, continued in some degree to turn a blind eye to those attacks.
SPEERS:
Now you're about to head to London for the dedication of the Australian war memorial there, this obviously underlines the strong military bond that we have between our two countries, and I guess that was most recently emphasised in Iraq, is that the reason for this war memorial being opened in Hyde Park?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, this comes out of a discussion that I had with Mr Blair back in 2000. Australia served alongside Britain from the very beginning of both World War I and World War II and with the exception of Vietnam, Australia and Britain have fought together in every significant military conflict over the last 100 years and we lost 102,000 Australians in military conflict, most of them, not all of them, but most of them in World War I and World War II. It's a long overdue memorial to the role that Australians played in the defence of freedom alongside Britain in both of those wars, it will remind Australians of the losses of 60,000 men in World War I, which was a staggering figure for a nation of four million people and again of course the terrible loses particularly in bomber command over Europe in World War II. It's a dedication in memory of those people who gave so much to achieve, with Britain, the defence of freedom.
SPEERS:
A number of Australian war veterans heading over there with you to be there for this dedication. For you personally will you also be thinking of your father, your grandfather, both of them fought in combat?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh yes, I'm like so many millions of Australians, I had relatives who fought, in their case in World War I, in many other cases in World War I or II, I mean it's part of the Australian story that every family just about has somebody who in different ways have played a part in those two gigantic conflicts but I think most of us will be hoping that that kind of sacrifice is never again required of the Australian people because the losses in those two wars were truly staggering.
SPEERS:
The other key part of this trip to London is the inaugural UK/Australia Leadership Dialogue which you'll be taking part in, government, business leaders. One of the issues no doubt will be reconstruction in Iraq that will be discussed there. Australia recently at the Madrid conference offered an extra $12 million to this, Britain on the other hand ₤540 million. Why is there such a difference when we were both part of the coalition of the willing?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well to start with Britain is a bigger country, three times the population. We have contributed $120 million, on top of that we made a very effective significant military contribution, we still have 800- 900 force personnel there. We have other commitments, as Britain does of course, we've made a judgment, I think we're about fifth or sixth in aggregate contributions which is very good and very impressive given our size. But the leadership dialogue David will be talking about matters other than the reconstruction of Iraq, important though that is, it's really meant more than anything else to emphasise the contemporary nature of the relationship between Britain and Australia. We have a rich history and we'll always be bound together by common values and common practices, but it's also a very contemporary relationship, not only on the sporting battlefield, but indeed elsewhere.
SPEERS:
You've also indicated you'll be discussing with Tony Blair the issue of returning indigenous remains. Now a report's just come out from a ministerial group in Britain recommending that museums and others institutions should be returning these remains to Australia. Is that the message you'll be delivering now, that all institutions should do that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I welcome that report, it's a real advance for Aboriginal Australians, this is something they've been pushing for and that report came out of an agreement I made with Mr Blair when I was there in 2000 that this issue should be examined and it's quite a breakthrough because a principle has been recognised about the interests and the rights, the legitimate rights of descendants, of people whose remains were taken to museums in Europe earlier on and I regard it as something of a breakthrough, I know to many Aboriginal leaders it's just but a first step but I think they acknowledge that we have made real progress and obviously I will want that process to continue.
SPEERS:
Well Prime Minister good luck with the trip and thanks for your time.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[ends]