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PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF NEWS CONFERENCE, TREASURY PLACE, MELBOURNE, 17
NOVEMBER 1989
G 0 -P. ROOF ONLY
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, what's the latest on the pilots
dispute? PM4: Latest on the pilots dispute? Well the situation is
quite clear. The airlines are significantly rebuilding their
capacity. We're taking the Air Force out in the middle of
December. International airlines will be out by the
beginining of January and airlines will be handling the
Christmas traffic and next year we will have what I've been
continuously promising, and that is a significantly more
efficient airlinme industry.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, your reaction to the
Pharmaceutical Benofits Remuneration Tribunal decision to
bring on its hearing on the chemists. Ara you happy with
that? PH: Yes, I Uielcome the decision of the Tribunal. We have
consistently sought to got a resolution of this issue which
meats the requirements, the legitimate requirements of the
pharmacy profession, of the consumers and of the taxpayer.
Those are our triple responsibilities. We were very close,
as you know, earlier this year to getting agreement with the
Guild, That slipped us by and so we had no alternative but
to go the the Tribunal under the legislation. We accepted
the umpire's decision. The elements of the pharmacy industry
have expressed unhappiness about elements of the decision.
about its data base, about its methodology atnd about its
outcome. Now under the announcement of Mr Jrustice Riordan,
heit. agread to open all these issues and he's saying to them,
' well if you've got concL-rns, I will listen to them and
listen to them in detail, whatever you've got to put.' lilt
prepared to visit the States and visit centres in the States,
in all States. We will co-operate with that and of course in
regard to some of the decisions that we've made, post the
2.
( P14 cont) decision, we'll continue that. For instance, the
essential pharmacy allowance, we're prepared to continue
that. As an indication of the total good faith of the
Government you will recall that one of the things that I said
in the package After the decision is that we would be.
prepared to contemplate adding to the Tribunal a person with
experience in the retail pharmacy industry. So I've
authorised the Minister, in his response that he'll be
releasing this afternoon to Mr Reardonts statement, an
indication that we would be prepared to add such a person for
this inquiry. So I trust that now any concerns that our
friends in the pharmacy industry have got, that they will
bring before the Tribunal take the opportunity to put every
piece of information that they want to. we don't want any
information witheld, we want a decision which is fair for
everybody. JOURNALIST: Did you askc the Tribunal to sit early?
PH4: No. This is an initiative of the Tribunal.
JOURNALIST: What happens to the $ 60M pack& qe now?
PM: Well as Mr Staples will indicate in his statement which
I've authorised, just how that will stand now. What we need
to do with all that is something that we will need to discuss
before the Tribunal when it meets. But I've said Just
moment ago that the essential pharmacy allowance for
instance, we think that should go ahead, that makes sense.
I've also said in regard to representation on the Tribunal,
if someone with experience in the retail pharmacy industry,
I'm prepared to go ahead with that so that can be part of the
now review. That would presumably give even more confidence
to pharmacists that their concerns will have been fully
understood and considered.
JOURNALIsT: Willsyou expect the pharmacists to stop
campaigning agains the Government now?
PM: I think you'll see in Mr Justice Riordan's statement
which I have only had the opportunity of reading briefly
because Xc have been in EPAC all day, but he refers to the
need of course if they are going to take this opportunity to
do so in a situation where there is no duress.
JOURNALIST: A Macquarie Bank report bas suggested the
Government's policies, economic policies are short sighted,
referring directly to monetary policy. Did that come out in
the EPAC conference today.
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P: No, it certainly did not. I think if you were going to
characterise the contributions at EPAC today of the
discussions on the economy, I think there was general
agreement as to the thrust of the Government's econonic
pol icies.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Opposition says that it's
preparing for an early election in the new year. What
chances? PM: I think this opposition is becoming an increasing joke,
isn't it. As a charitable man in politics, one of the most
charitable In the hittory of this c ountry, I Would say, I
would simply give this kind advice to the Opposition. Before
they contemp late getting into an election they ought to
conduct their first fight first, and their first light is to
get their own act in order. You have a situation where
people outside the Party, outside the Parliamentary Party,
are to a very large extent setting their agenda
JOURNA. LIST: You mean John Elliott?
PH: You said that, I didn't. You also have a situation
where there are the deepeat of divisions within the Liberal
Party, within the National Party and importantly between the
Liberal* s and the National Party. I would think that before
they think about tackling a strong and unified Government the
best thin? they could do would be to try and get their own
acts together.
JOURNALIST: Tony Eggleton says that he believes Labor, to
use his word, is panicking over the impact -of the
Opposition's family tax package and says again, to use his
own words, he believes that you'll offer a sop to families.
PM: Is that right? Well 10m very., very interested to hear
the observations of Tony Eggleton. over recent years he
hasn't got a very good track record. It's not going to be
improved next time rounds
JOURNALIST: Are you going to have anything more for families
between now and say the middle of next year?
PH: I would've thought that if I've got Something to
announce before we go to the election I would pick a somewhat
different localeand context and time and situation to
announce that than in this environment.
ends