JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, you must be as shocked as anyone at this tragedy that has befallen the Kearns' family?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I think all Australians, all parents in particular will feel for Phil and his wife and just hope and pray that the little girl recovers. We send our good wishes and our thoughts and our prayers.
JOURNALIST:
Regarding Hurricane Wilma, latest reports are that six Australians in an underground car park with 200 others while the tail of the storm passes through. Can you update us on what assistance the Government may be giving Australians?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm certain that the embassy in the United States and also the consulate will be doing everything it possibly can. When something like this strikes everybody who is there is affected and whilst I can't add anything to what's already been said, I do know that the embassy and the consulate will do everything it can.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister on the counter-terrorism laws, do you expect to have control orders in place by Christmas and suspects in custody?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I'm not going to get into any of that speculation. There's been an extraordinary amount of speculation about numbers of people, the identity of them, it is all speculation. The law is yet to be passed by Parliament - I hope it will be passed by Parliament before Christmas. It would be in the national interest if it were. The question then of whether control orders are put in place is a matter for the process laid down, and that involves an application to a magistrate or a judge and it's subject to all of the provisions and all of the safeguards that are contained in the legislation. This legislation is not aimed at any section of the community, by racial or religious classification. It is aimed at people who could be a danger to the community, irrespective of their racial or religious background. There's nothing in it that can be regarded as targeting a section of the community. There's everything in it which is designed to protect the community. These laws are needed because we live in a different age than the pre-terrorism age and I'm confident that the legislation has the right balances and the right protections and the right safeguards.
JOURNALIST:
Are you hopeful that police and ASIO can use them as soon as they are passed through Parliament?
PRIME MINISTER:
I have every reason to believe that they will be used appropriately, but it is not for me to speculate about numbers or timings or anything of that kind, it depends entirely on how the laws operate.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, Labor's calling for more money for public hospitals to deal with potential outbreaks of bird flu. Is that something that you would consider?
PRIME MINISTER:
If there were a need for it, but there's no demonstration that there is a need at the present time. We have put a lot of things in preparation already and there's been a lot of cooperation between the Commonwealth and the states. And at the end of November, running over a period of two days, there will be an operation called Operation Eleusis, which is designed to test the response capacity of the public health authorities, the hospital system and everything else that might be needed to be put into action if there were an outbreak. So if that operation were to disclose inadequacies, then obviously in our respective spheres of responsibility, both the Commonwealth and the States would have to provide the additional resources. But at present there's no demonstrated need, but this operation will test whether that belief is well based.
JOURNALIST:
On another health matter Prime Minister, in the election you said you would disband the national cancer control institute and other related bodies and replace them with a single peak body responsible for research and funding. Labor this morning is asking what has happened to that plan.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well money for it was provided in the Budget and Mr Abbott the Health Minister will be making a specific announcement in the next two or three weeks.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister there are some protests today over the planned execution of an Australian man in Singapore. Is there any hope?
PRIME MINISTER:
I am very sorry to say I don't think there is. We have tried everything at a political and diplomatic level. I made representations to both the Prime Minister and the President, I spoke to them personally about it, I didn't just write. The Governor-General petitioned for clemency to the President. The Foreign Minister has raised the matter with the President, the Foreign Minister of Singapore and the Prime Minister, and the answer came back on Friday that the execution would go ahead. Singapore has a very tough, uncompromising attitude on capital offences when it comes to drugs - that's been made known. When I raised the matter with the Singaporean Prime Minister earlier this year he did not hold out much hope. He said publicly then what a tough line Singapore took and I'm very sorry to say that I don't think the prospects of anything changing are realistic.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister do you see that there could possibly be any circumstances that would cause the Government to make another representation to Singapore for clemency on this man's behalf?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well obviously something that we weren't aware of that bore on his guilt or otherwise were to come up, then that could be the subject. But I don't think that's the issue. He has not contested his guilt and I'm just very sorry to say that the answer from the Singaporeans is no. I'm sorry about that, I feel for this man's family, I feel for his mother, in particular, she came here from tragic circumstances and it's a terrible thing, but the Singaporeans have always taken a tough line and it just underlines again just how careful any Australian has to be. Any idea that you can expect much mercy or clemency if you commit a drug offence in Asia should be forever dispelled from the minds of even the most foolhardy of Australians.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, Steve Waugh, whose autobiography you've launched today, was courted by the Australian Labor Party as a potential candidate. Have you ever tried to get him on your side of politics?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, look, look, forget it. How great sportsmen vote is their own business, as far as I'm concerned whatever his beliefs are about different political things is entirely a matter for him. He's a fine Australian and a great cricketer and I have never looked at Steve any more than I do other sportsmen and women through the prism of their political beliefs.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard just on speculation (inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
Speculation?
JOURNALIST:
Speculation surrounding the anti-terrorism legislation. Any hint that the shoot-to-kill provisions in the legislation might be wound back.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well shoot-to-kill is a misnomer, a furphy, a diversion, whatever you like to say. There's nothing in this legislation that is not already in other pieces of legislation. But I will be talking to the Premiers about the furphy. I'm sure we can get that organised.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister on industrial relations. Why would the Government not be holding... running a family impact statement on the IR laws?
PRIME MINISTER:
We've already issued a statement, quite a detailed statement, as part of the document I released two weeks ago.
JOURNALIST:
Kevin Andrews said this morning the Government will not be issuing a family impact statement?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I saw that interview. I thought that the answer he gave is the same as the answer I have just given.
JOURNALIST:
Labor also conceded this morning that families wouldn't be immediately affected by....
PRIME MINISTER:
The families will be better off because we'll have a stronger economy. The guarantor of improvements for families is a stronger economy. You can have all the protections legislated under the sun, but if the economy goes over, people lose their jobs and their wages don't rise and the great value of this policy will be that it will strengthen the economy, and that's the best message I can give to Australian families.
Thank you.
[ends]