PRIME MINISTER:
Well ladies and gentlemen, I think you're aware of the purpose of my visit. The discussions about the document are obviously making very heavy weather but even if those discussions were to breakdown it shouldn't discount for a moment the tremendous importance of the issues that will be discussed, and of course, with up to 150 heads of government in New York for this Summit meeting it's a great opportunity for me to see particularly those heads of government of countries with whom we have very close relations. And over the next few days I will have an opportunity of doing that as well as participating in quite a number of events associated with this Summit. I will be very happy to answer any questions.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister what can you tell us about this Al Qaeda video which purports to mention Melbourne?
PRIME MINISTER:
It's been reported in the media, it's being examined, it could well be authentic but it could also be the case that the person who has made these comments in the past has not, how shall I put it, demonstrated to have had the capacity to deliver through on those statements. Clearly our country has been a terrorist target long before the 11th of September 2001. Events such as this, whether the tape turns out to be genuine or not, only serves to remind us of the changed world in which we now live as a result of terrorist attacks. It underlines emphatically the need for a further strengthening of the domestic law in Australia to make certain that we have all of the tools available to do the best we can to protect our country against a terrorist attack. No government can credibly guarantee there will be no terrorist attack in his or her country. But we can commit ourselves as we have done to do everything we can to strengthen our domestic capacity to stop terrorist attacks occurring in the first place. Prevention is of course infinitely better than a cure or a response. Indeed there is no cure if a terrorist attack actually takes place.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, the tape apparently refers to an attack on Melbourne next year whilst the Commonwealth Games take place in Melbourne next year. Does that heighten concern about safety?
PRIME MINISTER:
Geof the best response to things like this is to re-double our protective efforts, which we are doing, but also to get on with life, which we are also doing. The Commonwealth Games will be a great event for Melbourne and I know that the people of Melbourne will support the Commonwealth Games with the enthusiasm that they normally do for any major sporting event. There is no more dedicated, loyal sporting crowd in the world than the people of Melbourne, and I have no doubt that they will display that typical commitment to sport, especially when Australia is participating.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister you're back here on September 11. A lot of the Americans are asking in the wake of Hurricane Katrina if they were as really well prepared as they thought after September 11. Are there any lessons here for us?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'm not going to make a comment on the domestic commentary about the response to the hurricane. Whenever there is a major catastrophe of this nature all democratic countries can learn something, but I'm not going to presume to sit in judgement about what has been done here. We have very carefully worked out and carefully organised disaster relief arrangements in Australia - they work well but let's keep a sense of perspective. This was on a scale and a magnitude that this country hasn't seen in my lifetime, that's America, and you're talking about the evacuation of a city of 500,000 people. You have to keep a sense of perspective before jumping to conclusions and drawing too many comparisons. But that is a matter that the American political process would deal with, it's not for me to pass judgement.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, if there is a failure to reach accord on the communiqu‚ this week, would that weaken the authority of the UN going forward and would it not reflect poorly on the global community - its capacity to pull together if you like at a time of global instability?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think it will illustrate weaknesses in the UN structure and that is very disappointing but we've got to once again keep our sense of perspective. Global institutions are not ends in themselves; they're only useful if they deliver the right outcomes. I have never believed that Australia should place all of her faith in multilateral arrangements, I have never believed that. My view about the UN has always been that there are many aspects of the UN, particularly specialised agencies, that have served humanity remarkably well in the time the UN's been in existence and we support them very strongly and we've been a very loyal faithful punctually paying member of the UN from the time we joined it, and we'll continue to be so. But one should never make the mistake of investing any multilateral organisation with so much faith and belief in its capacity to solve the world's problems that when it can't, we are left with no alternative. There will never be a substitute for nation states acting collectively, where they can do it through a multilateral organisation like the UN, all to the better. Be we should focus on outcomes and not architecture. We should focus on results, not process. That's my view about the Asian-Pacific region, it's also my view about the UN.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard the United States has been a less faithful and punctually paying member of the United Nations, how much do the US have to take responsibility if this (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I haven't come here to put blame on individual countries, I'm not going to do that, and after all the big focus of this meeting is about aid and in total volume of course, the United States is the biggest aid donor in the world, followed by Japan. And I can take this opportunity of saying publicly how much I welcome the victory of Mr Koizumi in the Japanese elections. He deserves the congratulations of everybody, he was courageous, he's a great reformer. I'm very, very pleased for him personally. I will endeavour to speak to him later this evening to congratulate him. He's a good friend of Australia and I admired the courage that he displayed. He believes as I do that the task of economic reform is never completed and perhaps he also sees it as a race towards an ever receding finishing line.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister's there's another crisis looming of course I'm sure you're well aware of?
PRIME MINISTER:
A crisis, what's that?
JOURNALIST:
The Ashes.
PRIME MINISTER:
The Ashes, yes. The news is not good, it's not good but I can only say that we hope that the gods don't send down anymore rain in England. We continue to pray for rain in Australia, everyday, and very religiously, but not in England thank you, for the next 24 or 48 hours.
JOURNALIST:
If it doesn't rain, do you think they can dig their way out of it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's a tough ask but they will perform well and don't underestimate Shane Warne's great abilities. But it is tough and the interruptions from the weather haven't helped. But equally we have to acknowledge that England has fielded on this occasion a much better side, but it's not over yet and we'll wait and see.
JOURNALIST:
When's the absolute deadline for the passing of the Telstra legislation? And do you have sympathy for Barnaby Joyce needing more time?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Barnaby Joyce will as I've said take his own counsel and he's entitled to do that and I don't make comment on each and every aspect of this. However this is an issue that has been debated inside the Government parties, it has been debated in the community, it's been reported into, it's been trawled over and analysed now for, what nine to ten years, and the time has come for the Parliament to make a decision. And that's our position and that is how it remains.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard fuel prices are set to be getting towards $1.45 a litre. I understand the NRMA has proposed a summit to consider the impact of fuel prices. Would encourage or support such a summit?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I only encourage and support those things if there is something useful to be achieved. I am very disturbed, I'm very worried and I'm painfully aware of the effects on ordinary people of fuel price increases - I want to make that very clear. This is very difficult for Australian motorists - I understand that but the cause is internationally driven. Everyone knows that the reason that petrol is dear in Australia now is that the world price of oil has gone up, and that's been aggravated by Hurricane Katrina. This is a problem all around the world, Australia is not the only country grappling with high oil prices. They're higher in parts of Europe, much higher than what they are in Australia. That doesn't make it any easier for us. If there's some outcome, some merit in those sorts of things, but if it is just a talkfest, and I fear that such a gathering would be precisely that, with no practical outcome, then there's no point in having that.
JOURNALIST:
PM doesn't [inaudible] you say it's the blame of world oil prices, but the oil companies themselves have been gouging out extra profits, [inaudible] price of fuel going out the refinery gate.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well one of the explanations that I've been give in relation to that, and look I don't hold any [inaudible] for the oil companies, and if there is reason for the ACCC to investigate anything an oil company in Australia has done, well it should do so. But the abnormal gap between the crude price and the refined price is due, so I'm advised to two factors. One of them is the shortage of fuel in China, and China has banned the export of fuel, temporarily, and also the impact of the hurricane. So that's caused a temporary spike in the margin between the refined price and the crude price. But if there's evidence of any wrong-doing in Australia, then it will be investigated. But I have to go back to my central premise, and that is that self-evidently this is due to the high price of crude oil around the world. It is affecting motorists all over the world. If there was some magic wand that could've been waved, I'm sure the American and Japanese and European governments would've done so. I would've done so and nobody likes this, and I'm painfully aware. Can I tell you of just how much it is concerning average motorists in Australia.
Thank you.
[ends]