JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, first of all...(inaudible)...?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well perhaps I should say that this is a one day visit; I'm going to Auckland this morning and we'll have a one day meeting of the Pacific Forum, Pacific Islands Forum to talk about the eminent persons group report which will be a landmark along the path to a more cohesive Pacific area. Australia has a very strong view that we need to energise the Forum, we need more reform, more collaboration, more pooling of regional resources. We had a very good response to that at the last meeting and this is another chapter in this new unfolding story and I'm very optimistic that we're going to see greater co-operation and greater progress in so many areas in the Pacific.
JOURNALIST:
... polls being released, Mr Latham's honeymoon appears to be over according to Newspoll, satisfaction rating down 14 per cent. Your response?
PRIME MINISTER:
Mr Latham was wrong about troop withdrawal from Iraq. He would be wrong whether the polls had gone up or down for him, we are still behind and it's going to be a very tough fight for us to win the next election.
JOURNALIST:
On that, Gareth Evans is quoted this morning as supporting your stance on troops in Iraq, what do you think that says about Labor's stance?
PRIME MINISTER:
It just emphasises the fact that the Labor Party was wrong and opportunistic about its position on Iraq. There's no way that this was a considered policy, it was made up on a radio programme, reinforced as the days went by last week, so that the Labor Party is now locked in to a fundamentally wrong position and that is that our troops come out come what may at the end of the year if Labor were to win. This will apply whether the United Nations asks us, the Iraqi people ask us, or our allies ask it. It is a fundamentally flawed, opportunistic and wrong policy and that was my view before opinion polls came out, and it will remain my view. It's a wrong policy and what Gareth Evans has said has reinforced the ill wisdom of the stance that he's taken.
JOURNALIST:
... Americans are making such heavy and massive troops moves into Western Iraq right now, your thoughts about that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'm following it very closely, it's obviously a very difficult situation that reinforces the view that this is not a time to cut and run, it's quite the reverse. And this is obviously been the case. I mean this is not a question of adjusting a policy according to a poll. I had the view I'm expressing now before there were any polls and I've always felt that the right thing to do was for Australia to see it through.
JOURNALIST:
Does it concern you that the same poll (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven't seen the details of all of that.
JOURNALIST:
Is the Carr Government mini-budget nothing more than a political stunt?
PRIME MINISTER:
The Carr Government is in financial trouble because it has mismanaged the finances of New South Wales. This pathetic attempt to blame the Federal Government, Bob Carr likes to strut the stage when it comes to asserting his rights but when it comes to accepting his responsibilities he tries to blame others. We have increased funding for New South Wales, the financial mess in this state is Bob Carr's fault, not the Federal Government's fault.
JOURNALIST:
Just quickly back on Iraq too Prime Minister, to your knowledge any Australian troops involved in any of these operations in the last 24 hours.
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
Thank you.
[ends]