THE PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS CONFERENCE
AT PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA
TUESDAY, 6 MARCH 1973
PRIME MINISTER: This is very much more pleasant lighting and
accommodation. I might mention it's by favour of the President
that we are able to use this Committee Room.
Gentlemen, the Cabinet this morning made some appointments.
First of all, there were two vacancies on the Board of the
Commonwealth Trading Bank within the Commonwealth Banking
Corporation. One of ' the retiring men, Sir Brian Massy-Greene,
has been reappointed. The other position has been filled by
Mr Barnie Williams.
Four appointments have been made to help Professor Henderson
with his poverty inoufij. They are Professor Gates, the Professor
of Economics and Head of the Department of Economics within the
University of Queensland, Professor Sackville, one of the
Professors of Law within the University of New South Wales, the
Reverend George Martin, Superintendent of the Port Adelaide
Central Methodist Mission, and Mr R. T. Fitzgerald, the Chief
Research Officer of the Australian Council for Education Research
and Editor of the Quarterly Review of the Australian Education,
a member of the national Committee for Social Science Teaching.
Mr Hayden can give you the details of that inquiry and the
augmented terms of reference. A new administrator has beena'u. cd
to Christmas Island. It is Mr Francis Scott Evatt who has bcW
the Department of External Territories since November 1959 aiñ& hc*
been Acting Administrator since last July. The Governor-Genc-al.
mentioned in his speech that the Government proposed to estab.ñ ih
a Protection Commission to advise on assistance for both Priwiary
and Secondary Industries. You will remember that the general out'line
of the Protection Commission was announced about ten months a : o
and its relation to the functions being carried out by the old
Department of Trade and Secondary Industry and the Department of
Customs and Excise and of course relevant matters from the Dezi&::.-
ment of Primary Industry.
On the first of this month, I wrote to Sir John Crawford
inviting him to advise on the establishment of the Protecgtion
Commission. Yesterday Sir John replied agreeing to do so.
He is egn work on it. While Sir John is not going to con( uc
a public inquiry, he has indicated that he would be preparc: tLo
receive written submissions. Anybody wishing to take the opr; c
to put these forward should direct them to Sir John through the
Secretary of my Department by the end of next month.
There are several visitors coming this month, the first
half of next month, Mr PV" olichev, the U. S. S. R. Minister f or
Foreign Trade will be here betwecn 11 and 18 of this mont'h;
Tun Ismail, the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, will be c.
between the same dates; Mr G. W. S. Malecela, the Foreign iicc
of Tanzania, is arriving on the 9th for some ten days; Mr Bijecsic,
the Prime Minister of Yugozlavia, will be here on~ 20, 21 and 22.
He is making a visit to many countries in the region;
President Hammer de Roburt will be here from 3-5 April returning
the visit which the Special Minister, Senator Willesee made on
behalf of our new Government to celebrate the 5th anniversary of
Nauruan independence, and Mr Arnold Smith, the Commonwealth
Secretary-General, will be here from 3-16 April.
There were a very large number of decisions by the Cabinet
and I think if you want any further information on them, you can
ask me or ask my staff afterwards. We approved the drafting of
legislation to implement the Montreal Convention relating to
Protection of Aircraft, 1971; legislation to amend the Marriage
Act no consent required if you are 18 or more; legislation to
implement the 1966 International Convention on the elimination
of all forms of racial discrimination to which the Governor-General
made reference in his speech opening the Parliament; legislation
to change the terminology of magistrates to enable new Tasmanian
legislation to come into operation, the Companies act on the
Securities and Exchange Commission, Restrictive Trade Practices
Monopolies and Consumer Protection legislation those two items
are initial drafting to take advantage of the presence in Australia
for some months of two United States experts whom Senator Murphy
recruited, but the general framework has to go to the Economic
Committee of the Cabinet; legislation to incorporate the National
Gallery which was approved in principle in the Parliament before
last and not mentioned in the last Parliament; legislation for
further amendment of the Commonwealth Electoral Act, the principal
matter being to limit the variation from the quota of electors
from 20 per cent to 10 per cent. It will be remembered that in
1958 the Constitution Review Committee consisting of 6 Labor,
4 Liberal and 2 Country Party members unanimously said that
per cent was dufficient to cover all variations between censuses
and so we are implementing that recommendation and we will be
putting to the Parliament that the criteria for distribution should
virtually be restored to what they were until 1964-65, that is
one starts from the point of view of the quota; legislation to
cover the new Departments Appropriations legislation to cover
the Stevadoring Industry, to adopt amendments to the I. L. O.
Constitution, to introduce the general insurance legislation
which was tabled last Parliament; some further technical
amendments to the Income Tax Law. We'll be moving to reappoint
the Joint Committee on the A. C. T. We've approved amendments to the
Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisations Charter which were
approved at the Conference last year. We are establishing a
Commonwealth Occupational Health Service, grants to the States
for water projects, amendments to the National Regional and Urban
Development Authority Act it will be the Cities Commission
Act, acquisition of freehold land in Darwin, and at Oaks Estate
and Hall and Tharwa. The general principle of publication of
reports by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, the Bureau of
Transport Economics, Bureau of Roads, will be publishing all thosoc
reports. Amendments to the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporatio;
there are quite a number of them I haven't purported to give
the details of them. I have the submissions here.
Are there any questions?
Prime Minister, Mr Barnard is present with you at today's
Press Conference. Sir, is it proper to ask questions of him?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course.
S~ J.
Then, M r Barnard, if I might direct a question to you,
you tabled in the ' House of Representatives today a statement
by your Permanent Head, Sir Arthur Tange, concerning the matters;
relating to Mr Lloyd's reinto rmyour staff. Do you a cce-, pc-
Sir Arthur Tange's version of these affairs completely?
MR BARNARD: There are some reservations that I would want to
make. Generally the statement is his version of what occurred at
the time.
PRIME MINISTER: Next question.
Mr Whitlam, either to you or Mr Barnard, whichever you think
is more appropriate: on the question of overseas bases-, can you.
now explain to us why it would imperil the furth-e-ruse of thlese
bases to tell us the general purposes as you promised the Labor
Government would? Can you tell us how it would be conceivable
that joint control should be exercised by the Australian Government
over them, I mean does this mean we intercept American signals,
we have a hand on the switch to turn the power off, what does it
mean, and finally can you tell us something which was rather
obviously left out of Mr Barnard's statement to what extent
would these bases be targets should the Americans become involved
in a war which did not necessarily concern us but which was a
conflict with another nuclear power?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't intend to elaborate on the statement
which Mr Barnard made after Cabinet and Caucus consideration la~
Wednesday. I've quite satisfied myself that to state the gcne;-..ñ
purposes of the satellites related to Pine Gap near Alice Spring~ s
and Nurunga near Woomera would be to render the function quitce
futile. I don't propose to state the purposes of them. I've
satisfied myself as regards those two facilities and also I
imagine everybody is satisfied as regards the facilities at
Amberley and Alice Springs that they are not part of any weapo.
system. They can not be used -any of them to make war on any
other country. I don't know -nobody knows the full implicationis
of the North-West Cape Station for which legislation was passed
in 1963. There are to be negotiations on that matter.
Mr Hartley said the other night that the North-West Cape
Station should be subjected to political control by the Austraiian;
Government. Will that be discussed in negotiations with the
Americans?
PRIME MINISTER: The fact that this would be discussed has been
announced by the Minister.
But will that point
PRIME MINISTER: The Minister has stated what he will be discu.:, sinc,.
Mr Barnard, you said you had some reservations about
Sirr thr Tiies statement that was tabled today. Could you tELL
us what those reservations were?
MR BARNARD: You have the statement now and it does give
Sir Arthur Tange ' s version of what happened at the time. I quitL-e
frankly admitted this afternoon that I only learned last night and
this morning that there were some circumstances which apply to this
matter which were not previously known to me. But what I do want
to make clear and want to emphasize is that when the question of
the discussions were first raised with me I'm now referring to
the discussions which were to take place with Lord Carrington-
I sought advice from the Departmental Head about protocol, and
the information that was given to me was that it was not usual
because there may be some matters involving questions that were
the concern only of the two countries involved that it was not normal
for members of a Minister's staff to attend those discussions, and
at the time I accepted that advice. I subsequently thought about
it and believed it was in my own interests to have a member of my
staff present at the discussions and at that stage I advised
Sir Arthur Tange that there should be a member of my staff present
and I named Mr Woolner.
I named Mr Woolner because he was my research officer and he had
attended a number of the discussions with me. That is, on the
question of the rationalisation of thae aircraft industry, when
I have had discussions concerning the. Mr Woolner had
been with me and so I suggested that Mr Woolner should accompany me
to the discussions. Well, when I saw the report in the newspaper
the next day subsequent to Mr Lloyd's decision to resign, that
it was because he had not been invited, or had been told that he
should not attend the briefings between Lord Carrington and myself,
I immediately raised this question with Sir Arthur Tange. I said
' did you advise a member of my staff that he should not attend'
and the answer that I receivedi was ' no
Now it is quite clear that some matters have been made clear
to me which were not made clear to me at the time. All that I can
say to you further to this is that that position will be rectified.
No departmental head will advise any member of my staff abouil iLheir
duties and I want to make that perfectly clear. In the same way
I have also indicated that so far as decisions concerning the
policy of this Government are concerned I will make them. As a
result of the decisions of the Government, the Prime Ministe.,:
and the Government, I will make them not the Department. Now
I think this ought to be clearly understood.
Mr Prime Minister, do you consider that your statement
just now not to reveal the general purposes of the Pine Gap and
Woomera bases conflicts with Labor policy which states tiht
ge-neraf purposes shall be revealed?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course I don't. I don't think it conflicts
with anything in Labor policy.
Do you accept that the Labor policy does state this?
PRIME MINISTER: I haven't got the text here.
Sir, could I then end with this: Do you agree with
Mr Barnard's statement in the House today that when he says tW
the Government will make the decisions and that the Governmen* twill
give due consideration to the-Party's decisions, do you
consider this conflicts with the policy which states that the
Conference is the supreme body which binds Party members?
PRIME MINISTER: I put the Party's policy for this Parliamon,-
in my policy speech. That stands. If the Party changes its pol. icy
then the changed policy will be put to the people at the next
elections. Sir, what progress has the Government made towards beefing
up the A. I. D. C. in its role of reducing foreign ownership of
PRIME MINISTER: I'm sorry. We did do that this morning. I
haven't got the thing here. we approved a considerable number
of amendments to the A. I. D. C. Act to enable the drafting to
proceed. Some of them require final form after consultation
between Dr Cairns as the Minister for Secondary Industry and
the Treasurer and the Attorney-General. This is because there
are some matters of detail concerning the loan raising by the
A. I. D. C. which have to be considered in the context of the
financial agreement and the gentlemen's agreement which cover
loan raising by the Commonwealth on behalf of the States and
loan raising by semi-Government authorities with the approval
of the Loan Council. Also there are some details which have to
be carefully drafted in the light of the constitutionality of
them. For instance, the A. I. D. C. could no more carry on some
activities in its own right than the Commonwealth could carry
on those activities in any other form. But the Commonwealth can
carry on practically any activities if they're in the contexi.
of financial corporations as phrased in Section 51 of the
Constitution. But there are quite a number of amendments which
have been approved Dr Cairns can give you the details if you
like I suppose I can send for them now. They were in the Cabinet's
Economic Committee file which I didn't bring down.
Mine is on the question of the secrecy under which A. I. D. C.
operates. Is this being
PRIME ,' MINISTER: No, the amendments were ones to carry out
practically the full range of policies for the A. I. D. C. which
were mentioned in the policy speech. They are quite extensive
amendments, but you'll see the nature of them if you read~ th~ c
policy speech.
Mr Barnard if I may, I wonder if you could tell us, Sir,
on what grounds you yesterday offered a differing explanation...?
PRIME MINISTER: Gentlemen, I'm not going to have any more
of the Conference taken up on this. I'm not going to be party
to fomenting differences between the Minister and former members
of his staff or the Minister and the Head of his Department.
It can be done separately.
Sir, we were told by one paper today that the main event*-
in Cabinet was to be a go-woe contest between Mr Crean and
Dr Cairns on the subject of inflation or expansion. How did tChait
match finish?
PRIME MINISTER: Nothing in the Cabinet or the Economic Commitccc
of Cabinet bore any relationship to the forecast. I have mentio
I think, the subject of every matter which was debated in tL-he
Cabinet this morning.
Mr Barnard, has the U. S. Government cut down on the artoui-'
of information that it's supplying to Australian D~ efence experts
as alleg7ed5Mr Hartley and does this information also apply to
information also supplied by the British Government?
MR BARNARD: No.
Mr Whitlam, has the Yugoslav Government been notified of
what Senator Murphy is going to say in the Senate this week about
Croatian terrorists? If not, will it be notified, how and when?
And finally, will the Yugoslav Prime Minister be having talks
on this subject when he comes to Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it's very likely that the Yugoslav
Prime Minister will refer to the acts of political terrorism
which have occurred in Australia for many years past and the
outrages against Yugoslav diplomatic and consular premises in
Australia. We have been in touch with the Yugoslav authoritics,
our Ambassador in Belgrade, and their Ambassador here about the
movements of which we've been able to get some indication we
can't assess how many people of Yugoslav origin who have lived
in Australia have left in recent months on group tours for
Europe. There have been some reports that the number involved
we don't know the number involved -but that there have been
some such movements has come to our notice and we have conferred
in Belgrade and in Canberra about them. As I made plain in my
policy speech, we are determined to do all we can to stamp out
this political terrorism which has continued too long in Australia,
to the discredit of Australia.
I have this A. I. D. C. submission, but I think probably it'll
suit you if you get it from Dr Cairns. There were two
submissions and there are quite a number of recommendations, one
of them has three paragraphs and another has about 10 I think.
Sir, have you written to the Queensland Premier asking
Queensland to hand over Queensland's Aboriginal reserves to the
Federal Government? Has the Queensland Premier replied, and
refused? And if he has refused, what's the next step in view of
what you, through the Governor-Gdneral, said last week?
PRIME MINISTER: I have written about the reserves. I don'' C
think I put it quite so directly that they should be handed over.
I don't think a reply has come yet. However I will reassert what
the Governor-General said in his speech that the Goverrient i* s
determined to carry out the full range of responsibilities in.
respect to the Aboriginal people that were given to the
Australian Parliament in the 1967 Referendum. I mentioned thac'
the Cabinet had authorised the drafting of legislation to cerry
out the 1966 Racial Discrimination Convention. There is some
legislation of the Queensland Parliament which is contrary to
that Convention. I have written to the Premier of Queensland
about it. I think I wrote about it in December, but I don't
think he's replied.
Sir, you haven't spoken to the Queensland Premier since
you took office I don't think
PRIME MINISTER: No, he's the only missing Premier.
In view of the considerable conflict which has. beea
running is there any chance of you initiating talks with him
picking up the phone to talk to him?
PRIME MINISTER: There's been no difficulty in communication
each way with any other Premier or, in fact, with the DeputL-y-
Premier of Queensland when he has been acting Premier. For
instance I don't know whether this is characteristic of the cil~ y
and the last Country Party Premier in Australia, but last ~ iKy
for instance, there was a very fruitful, successful conferelicc
between the two Liberal Premiers, Sir Robert Askin and Mr h.~
and Mr Dunstan and me the first significant variation in ' the
River Murray Waters Agreement since it was first drawn up in
1915. We did that last Friday morning. No difficulty whatever.
I don't know what's wrong with Mr Bjelke-Petersen.
0 7.
Prime Minister, at the last public Press Conference, Sir,
we discussed the question of troops being retained in-Singapore
after the withdrawal of the batallion we used the figure
then of 500 to 600 troops you expected would be retained
PRIME MINISTER: I think in answer to questions I have said
that, yes. Subsequently, Sir, you were quoted as having said at the
background conference that these troops were being kept there
to cover the presence of the Australian Signals Unit. Since
the presence of the Australian Signals Unit is now of world
knowledge, do you still intend to keep 500 to 600 troops in
Singapore? PRIME MINISTER: I'm not going to fcrecast the number of
servicemen because it's not just soldiers involved in Singapore.
The two crucial items are well known. The batallion and the
battery will not be replaced when their terms expire which will
be in January. Furthermore, the Defence Signals Division Unit
which Australia operates in Singapore will be brought back as
soon as possible. the other numbers can emerge during this
year. There is no great urgency or panic about this question.
If there is no urgency or panic about the question of
the Defence Signals Unit, I'm not sure in my own mind why this
was an off-the-record briefing which you gave when it could have
been cleared up so simply and quickly by yourself, Sir, and
furthermore why some people, myself and my friend Jack Fingle'Co-n,
who is not perhaps a security risk and nor am I, were excluded
from it, Sir? before you answer that, because my question is
also along those lines
PRIME MINISTER: Go ahead.
I want to congratulate you on the number of Press conferencesthat
you have given. You've been extremely generous with -them.
Indeed I think it's true to say that already you've given more
than Sir Robert Menzies, Mr Holt, Mr Gorton and Mr McMahon in
twenty years. Sir Robert I might observe has done well. As my
colleague, Mr Harris says, a few weeks ago you cancelled your
usual Press conference and invited yourself or had invited for
you a special group of journalists who mostly represent the
three largest daily newspaper groups that almost monopolise th.-is
Press Gallery. Excluded: Mr Harris of the London Times,
myself, the A. B. C. and certain other people of news-gathering
media. Now does this mean that you yourself regard us as
untrustworthy, or possibly poor class journalists. As a Labor
Prime Minister, I'm sure you will recognise the important
industrial concept that's inherent in this. May we assume
that in future press conferences we'll be invited along with
the rest Mr Harris, myself and the A. B. C.?
PRIME MINISTER: I undertook at the Last time you invited mo to
the National Press Club that on any Tuesday when I was in
Canberra I would have a press conference. That I have done with
two exceptions. one was last Tuesday when I think it would be
conceded that it would have been impracticable on the day of the
Opening. The other occasion was two weeks before. On that occasion
the Cabinet sat all morning. It had to sit that afternoon. I had a
dinner engagement at which I was to speak in Melbourne that
night. I put to the Chairman of the Gallery do you want a briefing
today or a press conference later in the week. He chose the
briefing that day. It had to be in my office, the one which I
inherited the temporary office and it is impossible, as anybody'
who's been in the office would know, to have radio or. television
equipment in it and accordingly the Australian newspapers were
there. A record was taken and any of the other media who wanted
to have the text of the record were able to get it in the usual
way and many availed themselves of it.
Have you yet come to the conclusion that five _ portfolios_-
Defence, Army, Navy and Air Force and Supply, held individually
by five Ministers in past Governments, is not too much of a
burden for Mr Barnard or for any other Minister for that matter?
PRIME MINISTER: On the contrary, I am quite satisfied that the
holding of the five portfolios by one experienced senior man has
made for much more prompt and satisfactory decisions. There are
a host of instances that can be given of this. The Supply
Department for instance was very often unable to place orders
because the client Departments couldn't make up their mind. The
one Minister now makes the decision. It is promptly implemented.
I am satisfied that this is the best form of Defence organisat: o:
that the country has had and the Mooreshead Report very largely
recommended it. It will continue.
As the Minister to whom the Tariff Board reports, you wo-ud
be aware that the Board reported recently adversely on th3 prospocus
of performance of one of the A. I. D. C.' s projects Information
Electronics here. Will you have Sir John Crawford to investigate
the possibility of extending the Protection Commission's optio.
to cover the implicit subsidy in A. I. D. C. operations?
PRIME MINISTER: This will be open to him to consider. I hope
he does. Mr Whitlam, the 1971 Federal Conference passed a re: olu'ion
protesting at the Federal Government's refusal to reveal the
details and possible consequences of Pine Gap and Woomera...
PRIME MINISTER: general purposes and possible consequences
wasn't it? general purposes and possible consequences. Do you ta. kC
that protest to apply to any Federal Government regardless of i
political complexion and do you also now agree with the previouz
Federal Government's decision not to reveal those general pur DCpo
and possible consequences?
PRIME MINISTER: I have said that it is not possible to reve.-
any more of the purposes of Nurunga and Pine Gap than has be: en
disclosed without nulifying the purpose of the Unit the
facilities. I think Mr Chamberlain was next.
Mr Prime Minister, will you be spending Easter in Parif;?
PRIME MINISTER: I'd love to. But I was thinking Rome woulC. be..
more appropriate. You're referring to the fact that the Fren. wh u
suggested there should be consultations between France and
Australia about the nuclear tests. We replied that we agreed
with this and believed they should be at Ministerial level and
the French agreed to such discussions at Ministerial level in
Paris. Now our Parliament obviously the time which would suit
Ministers best to go to Paris would be in a week when the
Australian Parliament is not sitting. The first such week the
week after next is too soon for the French. The next weeks when
the Australian Parliament is not sitting are Holy Week and Easter
Week, those being the weeks before Easter Sunday and after Easter
Sunday. It would probably be in one of those weeks that a
minister or ministers will go to Paris. It may be that a Minister
or Ministers might go in one of the intervening sitting weeks.
That would be rather inconvenient for Australia but it is a
matter of great concern to Australia and if the French would
want to have the discussions earlier then we would be prepared
to have them earlier even if it was a sitting week.
There has been no discussion, still less decision as to who
should go. There has been suggestion that I might go. This is
by no means certain. I'd also like to say that there has been
speculation that I might not go as originally proposed to the
South Pacific Forum in Apia in Holy Week. I do intend to go to
the South Pacific Forum in Apia in Holy week.
I want to go back to the question that Wally Brown asked
about Party policy. Were you saying that if there are policyz
changes at-Surfers Paradise at the Conference that these would
not be binding on the Government until the next elections?
PRIME MINISTER: What I'm saying is that I would regard it as
inconceivable that the Federal Conference of the Australian
Labor Party would purport to change the Party's policy during the
currency of a Parliament on the election of which the policy
had been placed in the form which the Conference had endorsed
in 1971. I don't believe the Conference would purport to change
policy in the midst of a Parliament. Of course the Party could
change policy but the only proper time to do it would be for the
next Parliament. The advantage of the Labor Party's procedures
as far as the public is concerned, as far as the democratic
process is concerned, is that they are available in print for
everybody to read and we were elected on the basis of the
Platform which was framed at Launceston in June 1971 and
published in July or August 1971. That policy was put to the
people in November 1972. The people clearly endorsed it.
I don't believe that the Party Conference would purport to alter
the policy on which we were elected.
Given that you do not expect the Conference to change any
policy while you have a Labor Parliament in power, what would be
your position...
PRIME MINISTER: Wait a bit. I don't think they'll change Party
policy. What I did say is that I don't conceive the possibilitCy
that the Party would change the policy for a Parliament during
the lifetime of that Parliament. Now is that quite clear?
I don't think it's likely that the Party will change its policy
but if it does I can only conceive that it would change its
policy for presentation to the people at the next elections.
Given that, what if the Federal Conference orders you to
implement the policy as laid down by the 1971 Conference in
relation to...
PRIME MINISTER: PIR IMtEhMiINnIkT ERt; hat's a hyperthctical question.