GRIMSHAW:
Well, joining us now from our Canberra studios is Prime Minister, John Howard. Prime Minister, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning, Tracey.
GRIMSHAW:
If Peter Costello is not going to challenge for leadership, shouldn';t he just come out and say so?
PRIME MINISTER:
Tracey, I thought what he said the other day was completely unexceptionable. I would have given exactly the same response. Of course, Mark Latham has a political interest in running lines, but I';m not going to be driven by him or, indeed, any commentator. My position last June, when I indicated that I would continue as Party Leader, was that I would remain Leader of the Liberal Party for so long as the Party wanted me to and while it remained in the Party';s interest that I should. Now that was my position last June, it';s my position now, it will be my position when the election campaign starts, it';ll be my position on election day and I don';t intend to alter in any way that because it';s the truth. That is how I feel and that is how I intend to act and Mark Latham and everybody else under the sun can say whatever they like. I';m not changing…
GRIMSHAW:
Alright.
PRIME MINISTER:
And I know that my colleagues understand that. And, in the end, it';s the Australian people who will be my judges and I put myself before them, not before commentators, or opposition leaders, or anybody else. I have stated my position and it won';t be changing.
GRIMSHAW:
Alright. Well, Prime Minister, you have stated your position and you seem quite unequivocal about it. But, with respect, the Treasurer seems not to have stated his position. He is ruling nothing in nor out. If he';s not going to challenge, shouldn';t he just say so?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no. I don';t think he should at all. I think this is ridiculous game playing, which we see from time to time. I have absolutely no problem at all with Peter';s response. It';s the response I would have given in exactly the same situation. And I just want you to understand and your viewers to understand that other people may be getting excited and hyperactive about it, but I';m certainly not.
GRIMSHAW:
Have you talked with Mr Costello about the transition of leadership and any timetable for it?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. Look, Peter and I have had lots of discussions about the issue generally. But I just repeat what I said earlier that my position is as I outlined it. There';s not a syllable difference in my explanation of that position and it hasn';t changed and nothing that I';ve done since I said that in the middle of last year alters that fact.
GRIMSHAW:
How would you have lots of discussions generally about it without talking about a schedule for a hand over?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we talked about the issue, as I';ve indicated and Peter';s indicated last year, we haven';t talked about it recently, why would we? Because there';s nothing to talk about.
GRIMSHAW:
Alright.
PRIME MINISTER:
But, look, Tracey, I don';t mind you asking me these questions and I';m happy to answer them with anybody, but nothing';s going to alter the position. And, look, I understand there';s an interest in it and you get a new opposition leader and he gets a good run at the beginning and people think – oh, the dynamics of everything are changing. Well, politics is always changing and the dynamics of politics are always a bit different, but people should understand through all of that my position and that I';m not going to adjust my responses because the Leader of the Opposition, or some commentator in a newspaper says I ought to do so. That is my position and nothing is going to change it.
GRIMSHAW:
How likely is then that you would serve a full term if you won the next election?
PRIME MINISTER:
Tracey, don';t waste… I mean, please. Good try.
GRIMSHAW:
Prime Minister, these are the questions people want to know the answers to right now. Parliamentary Secretary, Chris Pyne, said last week that you would hand over the leadership after the next election. And I guess Australians want to know who they';re voting for at the next Federal poll.
PRIME MINISTER:
I have just spent two of the last three days travelling around Australia, talking to hundreds of people on the Central Coast of New South Wales and then in the cane country of far north Queensland. Tracey, nobody asked me that question. I mean, these are real people, these are the people who will decide whether they want to risk Labor and have nine Labor governments with their ruinous industrial relations policy throughout Australia with no checks and balances, whether they want that or they want to keep at the helm myself and Peter Costello, the people who more than any, with the help from our colleagues of course, have delivered the economic strength and prosperity of the last eight years. I mean, that is what people are interested in. They don';t ask me these questions. You might, and I';m not being disrespectful, never, and commentators might and Mark Latham might hope that I';ll use a different formula of words. But nothing has changed…
PRIME MINISTER:
Alright.
PRIME MINISTER:
And nothing I have said or done since the middle of last year would justify any other interpretation being placed on my intentions.
GRIMSHAW:
Okay, so I';d guess that we';d have to say that you are neither ruling in nor out that you would complete a full term if you were to win the next election.
PRIME MINISTER:
Tracey, I';m saying that I';ll remain Leader of the Liberal Party for so long as the Party wants me to.
GRIMSHAW:
Alright.
PRIME MINISTER:
And it';s in the best interests of the Party that I do so.
GRIMSHAW:
Prime Minister, just another matter quickly before we have to leave you – the crisis in the NRL seems to lurch on. How much damage is it doing to the code? And do you think it';s being handled correctly?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I think it';s, as a follower of Rugby League, I think it';s very sad. But I can';t comment on the individual allegations and people accused of crimes are entitled to a presumption of innocence. But I do want to say on behalf of a game I love a lot that I feel sorry for the thousands, hundreds of thousands of fans and people involved in it who see their game being battered. But I say to them there';s a positive side, you know, the overwhelming bulk of people I';ve met in league are decent people, they care about their sport, they care about their families and they care about their country. And I just want to say to them and to all of the people who are trying to lead the game at the present time, that I support them. But having said that, if people have committed crimes they should be punished like anybody else who';s committed a crime and there should be no special arrangements, and I';m sure there won';t be. If people have broken the law, if people have been violent and broken the law in relation to women or, indeed, anybody else, they deserve to be punished. But the law has got to be allowed to take its course and there can';t be, sort of, constant generalised calls on the league to do this or to do that. How can they…
GRIMSHAW:
Alright.
PRIME MINISTER:
… when a police investigation is going on?
GRIMSHAW:
Alright. Thank you for your time this morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Pleasure.
[ends]