PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'd like to start with a comment on the bomb outrage in Egypt. I want to join others in unreservedly condemning what is obviously another terrorist attack. It's indiscriminately claimed many lives, both of Egyptians, and also foreigners. I can inform you that three Australians were involved. Two of them have been injured, one of them suffered shock. The two that have been injured have been taken to Cairo. One has already undergone surgery and the other will if necessary. Consular contact has been made with the three people who were affected by this attack and I'm told that their relatives in Australia have been informed that they were caught up.
At this stage, my information is that there were only three Australians affected. Two as I say were injured; one of them suffered severe shock. The final death toll I'm not aware of and it will obviously, because of the large number of severe injuries that always occurs when there's a bomb attack, it will obviously be larger than the initial 21 or 23 that was reported on the network newses around lunchtime today. But it is plainly another inexcusable terrorist attack which deserves universal condemnation. It's a reminder to all of us, to nations Islamic and non-Islamic, all nations, that terrorism doesn't respect national identity. It doesn't respect religion, it doesn't respect national borders and it plainly doesn't respect human life. And the nature of the challenge remains immense.
The other domestic matter I would like to of course confirm is that the War Memorial and Anzac Parade will be placed on the National Heritage List. I think all Australians would strongly support this move. It's one of the great iconic buildings in our nation. The War Memorial is without peer around the world amongst war memorials. I never cease to be amazed by the number of visiting foreign heads of government, who, having been to the War Memorial then say how incredibly impressed they are with its scope and its detail and the concepts that lie behind it. It's something of which all Australians can be enormously proud.
JOURNALIST:
How seriously injured are the Australians?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I understand the injuries are not life threatening. Beyond that I do not know. I understand there were cuts to the face in the case of one person and probably cuts to other parts of the body as well. But I'm not, at this stage, informed of any more detail. I'm told that there were three involved, affected. One of them suffered severe shock, the other two suffered injuries. The two that were injured have been taken to Cairo where they are being treated. Our consular people have been in touch with the three of them and I'm told that the relatives of the three people affected have been informed.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, on the heritage listing, there's remaining spots still on Anzac Parade for other memorials. You've received, I believe, proposals to honour those who served on the Western Front and in The Battle for Australia. What's your view on the claims of those two groups for a memorial on the parade?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'm a person who would always sympathetically consider those things. I naturally would take the advice of the War Memorial Council and the RSL and the serving people in the defence forces. I think they are entitled to express their views and to have their views listened to, not necessarily to the exclusion of other views, but certainly to have their views listened to. I'm very conscious of the significance of both of those battles in terms of loss of life. The greatest loss of life suffered by Australia in war time was of course on the Western Front. Some 46,000 Australians died. Of course the battles to our near North were crucial battles to Australia's survival during World War Two. All of these battles are important. There's no hierarchy of importance in a sense. They're all important and they all deserve respect. They are proposals which should be seriously looked at but I'll go through the process of having them examined by the people and the bodies that I mentioned.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, you mentioned the attacks in Egypt as being terrorist attacks. Has anyone claimed responsibility and why do you think its terrorism related?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well because of the nature of them. What person other than a terrorist would let off a bomb in a market?
JOURNALIST:
Have you had any intelligence as to who may have done them?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. But I'm not likely to tell you if I do, which you'll understand.
JOURNALIST:
On the listing, will it change the operation of the War Memorial?
PRIME MINISTER:
No it won't. It's an important symbolic acknowledgement of the iconic status of the War Memorial in our national life.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, have you spoken with the head of Foreign Affairs since his mission to Indonesia, and if so, how do you now judge our relationship with Jakarta?
PRIME MINISTER:
I did speak to him just after he had the meetings and they were good meetings. They are part of a process. You start with the civilian head of Foreign Affairs, if I can put it that way, or perhaps not quite the right use. You start with the departmental head. He lays some of the groundwork. I expect there to be a meeting or meetings between Mr Downer and Doctor Wirayuda and I'm sure at some stage in the not too distant future, I'll have a discussion with the President.
This is the orderly way of doing it. I notice that Mr Beazley was saying that we were sending Mr L'Estrange instead of going ourselves. We're all part of this thing. The logical process is to start with the Head of Foreign Affairs. I think they were very good meetings. I remain confident that the relationship will be in good shape in the future, but it's a relationship that's complex and there will always be some challenges along the way because Australia and Indonesia are very different countries. What we have in common is geography and the future.
JOURNALIST:
And do you remain personally hopeful of visiting Indonesia in the next couple of months?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'm not going to commit myself to time or place. I do expect though to have a meeting with the Indonesian President at some time in the not too distant future. But I don't want to put a time on it, and I don't want to put a place on it.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, large crowds today for Anzac Day.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes.
JOURNALIST:
Does that reflect a sort of a growing sense that the younger people are embracing Australian history?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think it certainly does and this process has been gathering pace now for some years. It hasn't just suddenly come upon us. I think it's a wonderful thing that so many young Australians are interested in not only the war history of this country, but the history of this country. One of the explanations is that there are now no people left alive who witnessed the First World War, who served in World War One and we're reaching that stage where a lot of the historical events that shaped this country are events that nobody left alive participated in. And that does tend to pass events from memory into history and to give them a greater significance.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, in your press conference after giving evidence to the Cole Commission, you were strident in your criticism of AWB. There's now talk of contempt proceedings against your good self. What's your reaction to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
I have always been very respectful towards the Commission. I have not behaved in a contemptuous way towards the Commission.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, President Bush's asked the US Trade Commission to investigate possible illegal manipulation of petrol prices, petrol markets in the US. Do you think there's any justification for anything like that in Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we do that all the time. We had the ACCC have a look at that over Easter and the ACCC reported to the Government that movements in the price of petrol over Easter were consistent with movements in the world price of crude oil.
[ends]