JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, you told Australians in the lead up to the election that you wanted to see greater protection of old growth forests, an end to clear feeling in old growth forests, you haven't done that and there will be more harvesting in new areas with new (inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I have delivered on what I said I would.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, have you had a chance to have a look at the problem in Papua New Guinea and is there a solution being worked out?
PRIME MINISTER:
I've discussed it with the Foreign Minister. It's a setback and we have to study the implications of the court's decision. Clearly we want to continue to help Papua New Guinea in the way that was outlined and the way that it was expressed by the police going there. And we'll continue to have discussions with the PNG Government. The initial reaction of that Government has been somewhat encouraging. It may be that I'll have some discussion with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea in due course, but Mr Downer and I are studying ways of dealing with it. We don't want to expose our police to the possibility of prosecution; we think the immunity is justified and necessary. We have to work our way through it. It is a setback but we remain very committed to helping Papua New Guinea and it's in the long term interests of that country that the cooperative arrangement be maintained.
JOURNALIST:
What's the immediate future for our police and other personnel there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well they're stood down at the moment...
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that may be involved but I've got to have some further discussions with my ministerial colleagues. At the moment they've been stood down, and I do not want to see them exposed to any unreasonable danger of prosecution.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, in your presentation today you didn't miss the opportunity to have a go at environmentalists and the Greens...
PRIME MINISTER:
No, the extreme greens. Everybody is an environmentalist Geof, but it seems that in this country the extreme greens, represented by people like Bob Brown, assume some kind of undeserved monopoly of concern about the environment and if you don't match what they demand then you don't care about the environment. Well I'm sick of that point of view and so are a lot of Australians who vote for my party and also a lot of Australians who vote for the Labor Party.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think this will go some way to capturing back the agenda from them?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well my goal Geof is to have balanced outcomes. I want to protect the environment and 87 per cent of the Tarkine is massive protection of the environment. But I'm not going to do it at the expense of the jobs of hardworking Australian men and women. I said that before the election and this agreement gives expression to that philosophy.
JOURNALIST:
On the environment...on a related issue, the Japanese apparently are very keen to increase their whale take including the humpback whales. Australia's opposed to that isn't it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I expressed some concerns about this when I was in Japan, but as to the latest issue Senator Campbell will be saying something on behalf of the Government about it later today, so I'll leave it to him.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, the Timor oil treaty... Do you think that will go some way to stemming the criticism received around ANZAC Day?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well you can never guarantee that unreasonable criticism will stop when you have a fair outcome. All I can say is that we haven't behaved unfairly to East Timor, we've been very generous to East Timor and I hope the matter is fully resolved in a way that is fair and satisfactory to both sides. But as to the criticism, well criticism goes on whether you have a fair outcome or not because some people make unreasonable criticism. It's a bit like the agreement I signed yesterday; it's a fair agreement and most reasonable people support it but there'll still some people saying it's not enough.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, drought, it's a...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the drought is a huge worry Geof. It has gone on longer and in a wider area than all of us would have hoped. There was some good rain in parts of Queensland last week and that's very welcome, but there are parts of western New South Wales that are in real crisis situations and we can only hope and pray that it rains.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
It will have an impact on the economy, I think I'll leave it at that.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, the Tasmanian farmers have expressed some concerns with (inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I've had some discussion with them about that and I've agreed with the Premier that we would establish as task group of people from the Federal Government, the State Government and the farmers organisations to work through some of these things.
JOURNALIST:
The National Association of Forest Industries also raised concerns that some of the saw millers and other companies that (inaudible) that under this agreement that (inaudible) will be sustained and the quality that they need and they're worried that their profits could drop by 20 to 30 per cent.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that's not a view they've communicated to me, all the mail I have, and it's evidence by the people in the industry here today that the industry is very happy with the agreement.
Thank you.