JOURNALIST:
You spoke of practical reconciliation in your speech today, local indigenous leaders say that Western Mining, WMC - today's sponsor, employs hardly any Aboriginal people.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the general experience throughout Australia is quite different from that assertion, I don't know whether that assertion is correct or not and I think you ought to check it with WMC. But if you go around the country you find numerous examples of very significant employment of indigenous people, not only by the mining industry but by many others.
JOURNALIST:
Will you give a commitment to serve the full term if you win the next election?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I've dealt with that before and my position is very clearly understood by the Australian people. I will remain Leader of the Liberal Party for so long as my colleagues want me to and it's in the best interests of the party that I do.
JOURNALIST:
Are you concerned that Mr Latham will make this an issue in the lead up to the election campaign?
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
JOURNALIST:
Mark Latham says it's not about someone's age but the age of the ideas. What's your response to that criticism?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think the Australian people will work all of that out.
JOURNALIST:
... of saying some of your policies are now stale, what's your reaction to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
That's new politics isn't it?
JOURNALIST:
Don't the Australian people deserve some sort of guarantee that you'll serve the full term?
PRIME MINISTER:
The Australian people deserve the candour that I've displayed and I've said repeatedly and I say it again that I will remain leader of my party for so long as my colleagues want me to and it's in the interests of the party to do so. That's what I said last June, that's what I say today, it's what I'll say in six months, it's what I'll say when the election campaign starts and it's what I'll say throughout the election campaign when I'm asked.
JOURNALIST:
So how long will Mr Costello have to wait?
PRIME MINISTER:
What is the next question?
JOURNALIST:
Has the trip west been a success?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that's for the people of Western Australia to decide, I have certainly found a couple of things that are very encouraging, I've found that there's a great sense of economic stability and prosperity in Western Australia, we certainly have in our marginal seats, speaking from a Liberal Party point of view, it's the seats we're hoping to win from Labor, we have in Paul Afkos and Stuart Henry and Andrew Murfin, we have three very capable but very different candidates, all of whom have special links with their communities and will bring a variety of skills. Each of them has something that I think is very important to national politics, and that is life's experience. We have to work hard to prevent the trend that I see developing of Parliament getting filled with people whose only experience has been in the political world or in the trade union movement, I think we need people with life's experience, people like Stuart and Paul and Andrew in many quite different ways have had that experience.
JOURNALIST:
Are you concerned that disunity in the WA Liberal Party will impact on these marginals seats here in WA when you run?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I think people draw a very sharp distinction, they always have, been state and political politics. Look at Queensland where you have the sort of very small numbers at a state level but federally it's virtually the other way around, New South Wales...
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) message...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't convey public messages to my state colleagues.
JOURNALIST:
Is it gone too far when even the deputy leader is...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I am not going to get drawn into that, that is the state Liberal Party, I have no comment at all to make on that.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, you haven't got to mix with the people though much have you, it's been mainly invited guests at the functions that you've attended.
PRIME MINISTER:
I wouldn't agree with that because many of the people invited are not supporters of the Liberal Party.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, you told the children this morning they should always look for the good in people, what's the good in Mark Latham?
PRIME MINISTER:
What's the good in him? Well he's you know trying.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
No, you put it that way. Look I don't have any personal hostility to him, I never had any personal hostility to Kim Beazley, I quite liked him, and I didn't have any hostility to Simon Crean. I disagree with them politically but I'm not a person who carries those sorts of grudges. I don't know him very well because we haven't mixed much, naturally, and he's not a person who's sought my company.
JOURNALIST:
On the topic of competition policy, in New South Wales they've been forced to deregulate liquor sales but Bob Carr says it's competition policy gone mad. How do you respond to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't think it's competition policy gone mad, I think competition policy has bought enormous benefits to this country and we have cheaper telephone calls, that's the result of competition policy. One of the reasons why interest rates are at record lows is that there's been greater competition in the provision of home buyer finance. So I think we have to be very careful before we take pot shots at competition policy. But in all of these things a sense of balance and a sense of steady measured progress is always the watchword.
JOURNALIST:
How about the Free Trade Agreement? Where are we up to with that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we're still negotiating hard, I think I said the other day we were at the pointy end, I think we're now at the very pointy end and it's getting sharper each day. We're getting very close to knowing whether it is going to come off, it's still quite difficult and I don't want to unduly raise people's expectations, in fact I haven't at any stage talked the prospects of it up. One more question and then I must go.
JOURNALIST:
There's been a lot of talk about flow through shares and tax zone rebates. You are in the gold fields today, can you give the people here some sort of commitment that your government is seriously looking at it and what you're going to do to address the issue surrounding it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we are certainly examining both of those propositions, I can't give any commitment that we're going to act on them. I can say that they will be considered in the preparation of this year's Budget, I can say to the people of the goldfields that their local Federal Member Barry Haase has been an indefatigable campaigner in relation to both of these issues, what the final outcome is I can't say but can I take this opportunity of saying that an announcement recently made by John Anderson to renew the Roads to Recovery programme for another four years, $1.2 billion, and then on top of that, on top of that, out of the proceeds of removing the fuel grants subsidy scheme which really hasn't worked, we're going to put another $800 million, $800 million on top of the $1.2 billion into regional and country transport, including roads. So Kalgoorlie will get a chunk of that, it will get its fair share and knowing Mr Haase probably more than its fair share of that.
JOURNALIST:
Will you be doing more marginal seats campaigns like this one leading up to the election?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh I travel around Australia on a regular basis, there's nothing new about this.
JOURNALIST:
Targeting marginal...
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I go everywhere, you know I love youse all and I go everywhere.
Thank you.
[ends]