Subjects: Holden plant in Victoria; ministerial resfhuffle; President-Elect Bush’s Administration.
E&OE……………………………………………………………………………………
McKEW:
Well I've been joined now in the studio by the Prime Minister. Thanks for joining us.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good to be back.
McKEW:
Good. Prime Minister, just before we do go to the changes you've made today, could I ask you to refer to Alan Kohler's opening piece there. Can you clear up the mystery of this Holden deal?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there's no mystery, there's a . . .
McKEW:
What is the level of the Commonwealth assistance?
PRIME MINISTER:
There's a formula for providing the amount and I don't know what that works out to in Holden's case because it will depend a bit on how many bits and pieces are brought in and so forth and ultimately of course Holden will be able to say so. But I guess it will argue that that is a matter of commercial-in-confidence. We're quiet open. We do have an assistance scheme for the motor car industry.
McKEW:
One would have to say why after 20 years?
PRIME MINISTER:
Why? Well, I think if you didn't have it you wouldn't have a motor car industry in Australia.
McKEW:
We've got other exporters doing it on their own.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't think many people in this country want to see Australia left without a motor manufacturing industry. And the protection we give them now is lower than it was 10 years ago and lower than it was 20 years ago. And the share of the motor car industry in Australia held by imports is higher now than what it was 10 or 20 years ago. So if you are to retain some kind of manufacturing base in Australia, and it is important in states like South Australia and Victoria, you do have to provide some Government help. Now, in an ideal world, I would rather have none at all, but I would hate to see an Australia without a motor car manufacturing industry and, if we're not prepared to provide some help, then we'll just get rolled over and squashed as a country supporting manufacturing, by countries such as Canada and the United States and Mexico and so forth.
McKEW:
But the question is how much? I mean 'The Australian' quoted today almost $300,000 per job.
PRIME MINISTER:
It's our estimate that that is greatly exaggerated.
McKEW:
Well what, by half? Is it half that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Greatly exaggerated. I can't tell you the exact amount because I don't know the extent to which Holden will trigger. I mean there's a formula and the exact cost of applying that formula depends upon the volume of imports.
McKEW:
But it does raise the question of much greater transparency, doesn't it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Nick Minchin . . .
McKEW:
Is he going to raise this with the industry ministers?
PRIME MINISTER:
Nick Minchin in that same piece said that he was going to talk about the question of transparency, and I think . . .
McKEW:
It's desirable, surely?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think it is desirable, very desirable. I also think it's desirable that people understand that you can't hope in this globalised world to have a motor manufacturing capacity of any size unless you are prepared to try and attract some of the business into this country. I mean, we can't have it both ways. We can't bewail the loss of manufacturing jobs, which programmes like yours quite properly do on occasion, and then say, but hang on . . .
McKEW:
But also bemoan the bidding wars between say South Australia and Victoria, as we've seen this year.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the competition, I don't care who wins as long as it's Australia. I made it very clear to Mr Bracks and Mr Olsen that I wouldn't be playing favourites between Victoria and South Australia, and we never have and we never will. They're all Australians. But I am interested in this country having its share of manufacturing and I think this is a justifiable way of maintaining a capacity in Australia.
McKEW:
Could we talk about the ministry today, Prime Minister? Nick Minchin keeps his job, Senator John Herron is out. There's some suggestion that he's a reluctant departee among the line-up.
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh look, John - nobody's been sacked. John is a person who's given an enormous amount and I'm quite sure that in the fullness of time there will be other things that he'll be doing which will be very well supported by his great intelligence and energy. I think he's done a fantastic job. I also believe that in all of these things some generational change and renewal is always desirable and it's a question of getting the right balance and I think we've got a very good balance and we've got new some younger people in. We've also retained some experienced people and we've moved a few other people around and it's a very strong team and I'm very lucky that I've got such a depth of talent to draw on.
McKEW:
You weren't tempted to go for something more ambitious, I mean with the departure of three ministers? I mean it's a limited reshuffle, wouldn't you say?
PRIME MINISTER:
A limited reshuffle? Most of the journalists will be writing tomorrow I think that it's bigger than they expected. It was not limited. Look, you don't just reshuffle for the sake thereof. You have three people departing, all of them very senior. I bring in three new people and I make four or five other changes. I mean I don't believe in shifting people just for the sake of change. I mean there is no case for shifting, say, Alexander Downer out of Foreign Affairs, Peter Costello out of Treasury, John Fahey out of Finance, David Kemp out of Education. I could go through the list, Philip Ruddock out of Immigration. I mean, they're all doing a first-class job. You don't just reshuffle for the sake of creating excitement for the fourth estate.
McKEW:
Okay, well let me ask you about the elevations, then. Tony Abbott, I mean obviously he has a big job ahead of him moving into the Workplace Relations job. Why do you think he is up to the challenge of that job?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, he's very articulate, he's intelligent and he has a good philosophical commitment to the sort of things the Government believes in. I think he's an excellent choice. I think he's been a standout junior minister, and that's why I've promoted him.
McKEW:
And Peter Reith to Defence? What was your thinking there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Peter Reith is a very good Minister. He's had a tough time over the Telecard affair -- it's taken some skin off him, he understands that. But, it will be forever to his credit that he reformed the waterfront. We now have 25 movements, crane rate per hour, something people said was impossible. Now, it was Peter Reith who bore the heat and burden of that more than anybody else. And I think it's time for him to move to another job and I can't think of a better position for him than Defence. He'll apply his great energy and intelligence and managerial skills to Defence and I think he'll be an excellent person to implement what's in the white paper.
McKEW:
You don't think he has to tackle that job from the point of view, as you mentioned there, the Telecard affair, he's certainly been cleared by the Federal police, but surely he has some diminished authority in the eyes of some?
PRIME MINISTER:
It was a tough thing for him. And we've been over it all and I've explained why I stuck by him. I have great faith in his policy and management skills and I believe very resolutely that he'll be a very good Defence Minister.
McKEW:
Phil Ruddock, Prime Minister, he now takes on this big combined portfolio --
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, they're two separate portfolios, they'll be running in parallel.
McKEW:
It is a big job, isn't it?
PRIME MINISTER:
It is a big job, but..
McKEW:
Reconciliation, Aboriginal Affairs and his existing portfolio of Immigration.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I'm really adding to him the indigenous affairs responsibility. He's already got reconciliation, assisting me in reconciliation. So he's really been doing one-and-a-half of the two jobs. And I'm going to give him a specially designated parliamentary secretary to help in relation to the indigenous affairs side. But this is putting reconciliation and indigenous policy in the Cabinet, fully, totally, for the first time ever.
McKEW:
Alright. Prime Minister, if I can just turn to one final matter. And that is, President-elect Bush has, as you know, has made two critical appointments this week, Condoleezza Rice as National Security Adviser and Colin Powell as Secretary of State. Now, I imagine Australia is not even near their agenda this week. But, I mean, from Australia's point of view, do you see it as a compatible partnership for Australia in terms of views about the region?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, um, it's a good start as far as I'm concerned. I know Colin Powell well, he's been to Australia. I met him when he came here and I have seen him on my subsequent visits to the United States. He has a very favourable impression of this country. I don't know Condoleezza Rice, except by reputation. Both of them seem to be very broad people as far as their understanding of world affairs is concerned. They will bring a different perspective from the current administration. I hope it will be a little less Eurocentric. We'll have to wait and see. You don't really know until it actually happens. But both of them do have a worldview -- it'll be different and so it should be from the current administration because it's a different side of politics. And I'm looking forward to working with both of them and I'm quite sure I'll see them in the course of the next year.
McKEW:
Are you planning a trip?
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven't made up my mind myself about visits but one way or another I hope that might be possible for me to meet one or other or both of them over the course of the next year. I mean, I haven't planned my itinerary for next year, it’s a bit early to start. I've got a few things to do at home, Maxine.
McKEW:
Alright. Well just one final question, let me go back to domestic matters. And when you say planning next year, obviously a by-election in Queensland in the first quarter of the year, perhaps close to the Queensland state election that Peter Beattie will have to call. Does that . . .
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, well. If John Moore resigns, as I think he will from the Parliament, there will be a by-election.
McKEW:
Pretty busy first part of the year.
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, yes. But I expect to spend a lot of time in Queensland anyway.
McKEW:
That's interesting, Prime Minister. Well, thank you indeed. It's probably the last time we'll see you before the new year. Have a happy Christmas.
PRIME MINISTER:
Merry Christmas to you and all your listeners.
[ends]