JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, you're visit Makin today, is there any conflict, do you feel there's any conflict between the voters of Makin and Trish Draper?
PRIME MINISTER:
The voters of Makin will deliver judgement when the election is held, just as voters of every electorate in Australia will deliver judgement. I would say to the people of Makin you couldn't have a more committed, dedicated, hardworking person than Trish Draper. Her work as a local member, as well as the fact that she's been part of a team that has delivered such economic and defence security to this country over the last eight and a half years is a very powerful reason for her to be re-elected. She's not just a member of my team but she's a very good local representative and I've visited Makin a lot over the years and I haven't seen anybody who has better identified with the local community, she lives and breaths the experiences of people in this community and I hope they re-elect her.
JOURNALIST:
She represents what do you think is important, you spoke about her being a good mother this morning. How come she's not standing here next to you at this moment?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there's no particular reason for that, I think we've been photographed together many times this morning.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, you spoke about the future of Australia yesterday, what about your own future? Will you be around...
PRIME MINISTER:
I will remain leader of the Liberal Party for so long as the party wants me to. Can I just say something about this bro-ha-ha that's arisen over the comments made by Mr Armitage, I find it an extraordinary double standard. Mr Latham says it's perfectly okay for him to call George Bush the most dangerous and incompetent President in living memory. And yet when a member of Bush's administration states what many people believe to be a fact, there's something wrong, there's something intrusive and there's something unacceptable about that. I think the other observation I'd make is that surely Australians are free-spirited, independent and strong enough to make their own judgements irrespective of what people might say. I don't think Armitage's comments will have any greater impact on the Australian election than Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. Quite honestly we're big enough and strong enough to make our own judgements about these things, irrespective of what people say.
JOURNALIST:
The Americans seem to be going out of their way, they have their go before about Labor's problems and their view of Mark Latham's decision to pull troops out by Christmas. Richard Armitage didn't need to say what he had to say.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that's a piece of commentary, it's not a question.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible), how do you respond to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I decided a long time ago not to respond to anything that Malcolm Fraser says.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
He is adopting a double standard. It's okay for him to say George Bush is the most dangerous and incompetent President in living memory, but dear me, if anybody says anything nasty about his party from the American side, they're wrong, they're interfering, they should butt out. I mean really, that is a double standard.
JOURNALIST:
Peter Garrett has been reported as saying that the close defence relationship between Australia and America is a decision that's been foisted upon us by officials in Washington, that there's been...
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven't seen those comments, I don't know. But let me say in relation to the joint training facilities proposal, I think that is very good, I think that's very good for the relevant parts of Australia, I think this country has its own interests involved in having a close defence association with the United States. And I thought that was the view of the Australian Labor Party but apparently it's not the view of the future Labor member for Kingsford Smith.
JOURNALIST:
... Liberal Party polling all three marginal seats here in Adelaide.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's going to be very tough Ross, you know that. They're all held by slender margins, as indeed are the Labor seats of Wakefield and Kingston. Adelaide has five seats within a tiny band, if there is a significant movement against the Liberal Party well obviously those seats are at risk, if there's not I mean we could hold them all and we might even give the Labor Party a run for their money in the other two seats. It's a very interesting contest here in Adelaide.
JOURNALIST:
Soccer player Craig Moore was sacked from a Scottish club and stripped of his captaincy because he wants to play for Australia in the Athens Olympics, what do you think of that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well without knowing too much about it, my initial reaction is one of disappointment, I never like to see people suffer because they want to play for Australia. But I don't know all the details of it.
JOURNALIST:
Are you concerned at a documentary planned to...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I have some concern about that, I'm not somebody who believes in too much censorship but some people will find it disturbing and distressing, although others will argue that it presents in a very graphic and confronting way what is involved in abortion. So there really are arguments for and against it I have to confess. I can see arguments for and against it, that's my view.
JOURNALIST:
What's your view on abortion Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
My view on abortion is that it's a non party political issue. I personally have a very conservative view but I'm not somebody who runs around the country foisting his views on others. But whenever its come before the Parliament in the past I've voted in a quite conservative fashion. But I don't see it becoming a party political issue in this country, if it ever were to come up in the future I would always want the Liberal Party to allow its members a free vote.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, is it your feeling that the electors of Makin has...
PRIME MINISTER:
I think the people of Makin recognise that she's a very hard working member and I hope that that proves to be decisive in the judgement they make and they'll also take into account the team of which she has been a very hardworking member and the quality of government given to this country. I think we'll have to end it now because I've got to go to another function.
Thank you.
[ends]