PRIINMISET E
TRANSCRIPT OF NEWS CONFERENCE, CAULVIELD PARK, MELHOURNE,
18 MARCH 1990
E St 0 E PROOF ONLY
JOURNALIST: The Opposition's rejection of the MFP. Does
that reflect a racist overtone?
PM: Well, I think it's a very unfortunate development.
This proposal has been on the table now for a couple of
years. It's something that is about Australia's future.
Australia has to have a future in which it has the best
technology available to it. It is a tragedy that has
been deliberately and opportunistically misrepresented by
Mr Peacock as a Japanese enclave. Nothing could be
further from the truth. We have had discussions of
course, and close discussions, with our friends from
Japan, but the intention is that we shall attract to
Australia for Australia's future benefit, the best
technology, not only from Japan, but from Europe and from
the United States and that the great strength of well
trained Australian work men and women should be harnessed
with the best technology of the rest of the world. This
is something which is essential for Australia's future
and the lie, the absolute lie, for Hr Peacock's
opportunism is established by the attitude of his New
South Wales colleague, Premier Nick Greiner, who has said
the basic concept is good. It offers Australia, said
Nick Greiner, a chance to catch up, to accelerate our
technology base. This is what it's about to ensure that
we bring in the best from overseas, whether it be from
Japan, Europe or the United states. This is what
Australia needs for its future and in this last week, a
man who was given the opportunity on the 29th September
last year, will Bailey of the ANZ and all those
assoc iated with the project, on the 29th September last
year, offered Mr Peacock the opportunity of being fully
briefed on the Multi Function Polis concept. He rejected
that opportunity and now, just a few days from the poll,
he has opportunistically and very dangerously
misrepresented to the Australian community that this is a
proposal for a Japanese enclave. Mr Peacock knows
better. He knows that he is talking dangerous nonsense
and 10m indebted to Premier Nick Greiner for his
repudiation of the opportunism of Mr Peacock.
interestingly again, this is another issue on which you
have a clear conflict between Hr Peacock, the
opportunist, and Mr Howard, who, within the last week or
sot has indicated that this is a concept which should be
fully explored. I believe that Mr Peacock's dangerous
Opportunism, his adventurism, will be repudiated. He
can't even, in the process of doing this, get his facto
rigti, e ' tred o rye I believe, that this decision
was finalised late on Friday when in fact the decision
had been mades on Thursday and the fax had been sent
around, the faxes had been sent around Australia. The
man is a dangerous opportunist who fortunately, as I say,
has been completely repudiated by his own Party.
JOURNALIST: So Labor will definitely go ahead with it,
Will it Mr Hawke?
PM: What, what the Labor Government will do, as it has
been doing in association with the business community of
this country and with the States, will be to fully
investigate this proposal to see what's the best way in
which Australia can attract to this country the highest
technology from overseas. And that will certainly
include the beat technology from Japan.
JOURNALIST; Mr Hawke, is there a racist element in Mr
Peacock's decision?
PM: would really have to ask Mr Peacock that. The
facts are that he's had the opportunity right up until
now, five days before the campaign, to address this
issue. He had the opportunity of being fully briefed on
it, on the 29th September last year. He repudiated that
opportunity._ You're going to have to ask Mr Peacock why,
in the very dying stages of this campaign, in his
desperation, he has gone to this issue and, and has gone
to it in a way which is a total misrepresentation. Why
does he say this is a proposal to establish a Japanese
enclave in Australia? What sort of vein in Australian
politics is he, is he trying to tap with that lie?
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, is there an anti Japanese
sentiment showing up in Labor's research?
PM: Well, it's not a question of, of Labor's research.
If you, any research you will do you will find that there
will be some people in Australia who have an anti
Japanese sentiment. What leadership is about, what
leadership requires in this country is to look to
Austkalia's future. If there's one thing that is
essential for Australia's future, for the future of these
kids, it is that we attract the beat technology in this
country to harness to an increasingly well trained
Australian workforce. Unless we get the best technology,
then we will not be able to compete overseas and for any
political leader to look at some research and, and see
that he sees some sort of sentiment like that somewhere
and deliberately misrepresent this as a proposal for a
Japanese enclave, i mean, he's trying, he is trying to
tap into, he's trying to tap into the worst elements that
3
there must be in, in Australian thinking and it's, it' 5 a
desperate abuse of the obligations of political
leadership.
JOURNALIST: Have the Japanese voiced their concerns to
you yet?
PM: No, there's been no concern expressed to me and they
don't need to. I mean, what I'm about, as I have been
for seven years is to embrace proposals and thinking
which is calculated to make Australia a more competitive
country. In this country we have got to get the best
technology we possibly can if that's from Japan, it's
from Japan, if it's from the United States, it's from the
United States. We've got to bring the bost technology
here and if we can establish some sort of centre in which
the best technology from Japan, from the United States
and from Europe, can be brought in to combine with the,
the abilities and the increasing abilities of Australian
workers, that's what's absolutely essential for this
country's future and to think that five days before an
election you could have this gross misrepresentation by a
man who would be Prime minister of this country defies
belief. it is no wonder that Premier Greiner has
repudiated him, it is no wonder that Mr Howard has
repudiated him. I mean, these people will not play the
politics of opportunism and gamble Australia's future for
this desperate short-term opportunism of Hr Peacock.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, the Treasurer's talking about
falls in interest rates to be in the first week or two
weeks after the election. Is that reasonable?
PM Well, I've said much the same thing myself. I mean,
it's a case where, quite clearly, you've got every
economic commentator in this country saying that the
conditions that have been set in place by this Government
will produce a fall in interest rates after the election
as against the alternative because if the, if the
Peacock mob were to get in you'd have a wages explosion
and a dissolution of the budget surplus calculated to in
fact blow interest rates through the roof. There's no
doubt what the, what the
JOURNALIST; Mr Hawke, are you worried that there'll
be a squeeze on credit?
PH: If, that if interest rates fall there'll be a
squeeze on credit? No,-Ifm certainly not. I mean,
obviously if interest rates fall, credit will be easier.
JOURNALIST: But, but with Keating's timetable, do you
agree with that, the two weeks?
PM: I've just answered that question. I said I've said
much the same thing myself. But one thing that's very
interesting too, that hasn't been mentioned in the
developing Peacock desperation of the last week is now
4
that, in the area of tax, he's flip flopping in the area
of tax as to whether in fact the creation of the two
tiered tax scale that ha's promised within the life of
his government will be financed out of bracket creep or
not. Well that's an interesting question as to whether
hats going to further blow out the budget in that way,
but the most interesting thing about the Peacock proposal
for a two tiered system is this and I would suggest
that every member of the Australian public ought to think
very, very clearly about this what Mr Peacock is
proposing in his two tiered tax scale is that he, as
Prime Minister, Would get a tax cut of over $ 100 a week
held give himself a tax cut of over $ 100 a week but for
you, the ordinary Australian on average weekly earnings,
he'd give you a cut of $ 4.73 a week. $ 4.73 a week for
the ordinary taxpayer and give himself a tax cut of more
than $ 100 a week. That's the concept of Peacock about
equity in taxation and it's something which should be
absolutely repugnant to every reasonable Australian. OK?
Thank you very much.
ends