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PRIME MINISTER
TpM OF NEWS CsmFMU ABC RADIO STUDIOS, P S
F-BmZY 1990
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JOURNALIST: What's your response to the employment figures
today, 6.2% for January?
PF: Oh, I'm reasonably satisfied with the outcome. I think
it's broadly in line with what we expected and still further
rise in employment, but the increase in the participation
rate has meant a slight increase in the unemployment rate.
And in total it brings the creation of jobs under this
Government to over 1.6 million, an average annual rate of
growth of about 3 An important thing to remember for
people as they are coming up towards an election at some
stage in the first part of this year, if they want to think
about employment, just understand this basic fact, that
those figures show that under my Government in 7 years we've
created jobs in this country five times faster than the
conservatives did in their 7 years, that's the important
point. JOURNALIST: Would you support a Royal Comlssion into WA
Inc.?
PK: That* s not my decision. That's a matter for the State
Government and I don't intervene in the affairs of States.
JOURNALIST: Would you welcome this.
PN: I would say that's a quite hypothetical matter. It's
for the State Government to decide these things.
JOURNALIST: Are you going to be meeting with Mr Dowding at
all today?
PN: Well, I haven't got any plans to meet with Peter. I
don't know whether he wanted to see m but I've got a full
program of federal campaigning.
JOURNALIST: ill you be seeing Carmen Lawrence before you
go? I
PN: Not that I know of.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, in Melbourne today there's supposed
to be details being worked out for the compensation to be
paid to the airlines by the pilots. Will you still be
pushing the airlines to waive that compensation payment?
PM: Yes, my position is quite clear and unchanged from what
I said before. They needed to take the action they did
because of the position of the pilots and the total
isrepresentation of the pilots about what was in issue.
But I don't believe in them collecting damages against the
pilots. I said that before, I believe it still.
JOOURALZST: Mr Hawke, the Pacific Highway inquiry the
Coroner has said some fairly nasty things about the Highway
itself. Is that going to become a political issue on the
Bast Coast, the upgrading of that Highway?
PM: Well, I suppose its a political issue already to some
extent. I think that the State and the Federal Governments
together need to look at these issues. we have already, as
you know, brought in a package of $ 110 million which we will
offer to the States and that's to look at what we call the
black spots where there has been a concentration of
accidents. And the availability of that very substantial
amount of money is dependent upon the States picking up
proposals which would give national standards of road safety
and I hope that the states will, in the light of all the
evidence that's becoming available, respond to that so that
this very substantial increase in funding fro us can take
place. Whether more needs to be done in particular areas is
a matter that we ought to have serious and I think nonpartisan
discussion about with the relevant State
Governments. JOAW LIST: Prime Minister what's your reaction to the High
Court decision on the companies legislation?
PM: eWll, Peter, I haven't had the opportunity of being
briefed on that. I'm told that there's a 6-1 decision I
think against the Commonwealth on that and I've asked for
briefing to be supplied to me. But until I get that I can't
really make a useful comment.
JOURNALIST: Thanks very much.
PU: Good on you.