TRANSCRIPT OF PRIME MINISTER INTERVIEWED BY ANNA MCKAHON ON
BRISBANE CHANNEL 10 22/ 03190.
E 0 Z Proof only.
AM$ The countdown has started, just forty-eight hours to go.
At that point history will be made Andrew Peacock will be
Australia's 17th Prime Minister or Bob Hawke will take the Labor
Party to a record fourth term, On Monday we spoke to Opposition
leader Andrew Peacock when the key issues confronting the
electorate were the environment and, of course, the M. FP. Today
it's back to the main underlying theme of the whole campaign, the
economy. Joining us now in Prime Minister Bob Hawke, thank you
very much for your time Prime Minister. First off on the
economy and the threat of recession we're hearing fromi a number
of economic pundits, the latest December figures you're happy
about them, your Treasurer's even described them as " beautiful"
but isn't the fact of the matter that the people that count, the
people in the electorate, they're just hurting too much?
PM: Well let's just look at the figures. There is no basis on
the figures for saying that we're in a recession because what has
happened, and what needed to happen, is that we've got the
community's consumption and production havo moved into balance,
Before we were just consuming much more than we were producing
and that was causing us problems externally. So, what the
banking industry is saylig now, Anna, is as a result of these
changes if we are returned on Saturday interest rates w4.11 fall
and the hurt that certainly has been experienced by a lot of your
viewers, that will be eased then with a tall in rates.
Aid: But you are admitting that a lot of people have been hurt
and they've been hurting badly haven't they?
PM: Anna I've never denied it. ' I maid it in my policy upeoch
in Brisbane that we had a situation.' where the economy was growing
that strongly and we were in fact importing that much that we
couldn't keep that. I had the responsibility an Prime Minister
5f1 this country of making a tough decision. I could have just
said oh let it go and it we had the whole economy would havo
collapsed completely as it did'before under the Liberals. I said
no we're going to have to have tight monetary policy for a while
but that's now done it's Job. No one, you know, worries more
than I do about the fact that it has hurt people but I would have
been irresponsible if I hadn't slowed the economy down somewhat.
AMS Prime Minister, you mightn't be talking about a recession
w 2
AM ( cont) but the fact of the matter is someO of our* leading
bankers and economists are, takce Nobby Clark for example, who
today certainly poured a lot of cold water on your interest rate
hope. PM: Yes, well I don't take any notice of nobby Clark as a
political commentator. As far as the market as a whole is
concerned, Anna, just let
AN: But the fact of the matter is he is still one of
Australia's leading bankers.
PM: And an identified Tory supporter. I mean he has no
independence when it comes to political judgments or political
9 bcaonmkmeernst. s . Lot Im'ell givreea dyo ut ow hayto uw, asi f on yotuh e wRaenutt, ercso msmcureenetsn , frAonmn a, th eI
mean here is, talking for the market as a whole, just let me
briefly read this, just two days * go: " Traders said credi. t
markets ended the day firmer in anticipation of a further easing
in monetary policy in the next few weeks, assuming" this is the
market " assuming the Hawke Labor Government is re-elected at
Saturday's Federal electiona. in other words, what the market is
saying is as a result of interest rates having done it's Job and
slowed the economy down, if we are returned then interest rates
will come off. That's what the market an a whole is saying.
Now Nobby Clark is throwing in his Attila the Hun comments, not
the language of an independent observer.
AM$ Prime Minister there's certainly been a lot of toeing and
freing over interest rates throughout this whole campaign....
PM: Not by us.,.
AM., Well by a lot of other people.
PH: YOR.
AM: Would it be fair to call you Mr Two Percent after your slip
earlier this week. is that figure reality?
PM1 Not, no I've made it quite clear. I mean this is an
e* ercise in history. What I said is that I got into a
parenthesis of comment by John Howard. I have said all through
the campaign and I had said the same day and I say today that
there are two things that are importantl one that we've got the
policies in place to bring about sustained reduction in interest
rates; and secondly, and more importantly, that the banking
industry is saying, as I have just read out to you some excerpts,
the banking industry is saying that in fact rates will come down
under my Government if we're re-elected. And that the extent of
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PM ( cont) I the fall will be a matter for decision by the
banking industry, But, against that, it LB certain that interest
rates would have to rise under the opposition because they would
have A a wages explosion, and B they would blow the budget
surplus that we've built up.
AM: For the first time in this election campaign the latest
opinion polls have put the Coalition ahead of the ALP do you
think you have been too tough on the electorate?
PM: Absolutely not right, I mean, with respect Anna# get your
facts right, that simply is not the case....
AX. They are the latest opinion polls released today.
PKI Yes and I'm saying that you're referring to the Morgan poll
which in terms of two-party preferred votes when the preferences
of the non-major parties are distributed, would have Labor
winning. That's what comes out of that poll. That is one poll.
All the other polls in fact show Labor in front on primary votes.
Now I'm not ther'efore saying, Anna, that I've got to be
complacent. On the contrary, I think it is a tight election,
I've Baid that right from day one of the election and, there's
not much time left but I'll be fighting hard right up until
tomorrow night.
All: In fact really it's the closest election in the history of
Australia isn't it
PM: Oh no, I mean it's very hard to say it's the closest
election in the history of Australia. in 1961 we had an election
which was decided on 92 commuunist preference votes in the seat of
Moreton in Queensland, I don't think it will be that tight.
9AM: Okay but it's certainly an exceedingly tight election.
PM1 Oh yea, it's a tight election....
AM: And It's going to be won or lost on preferenves isn't it?
PM: Well it will be on preferences, I don't think there is any
d~ ubt about that. See, one of the things that's happened in
political life in this country, and indeed around the world Anna,
Is that people have become very interested in environmental
issues, and I'm very glad they have. And if I can just make
this point Anna that a num~ ber of people in this country are so
concerned about the environment that they're going to asL their
first vote for either Democrats or Green candidates to show their
interest in the environment. Now all I'm saying to those people
well that of course is your right to do that, but if your real
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PM ( cant) concern is the environment then you must make sure
that your second preference goes to zabor because our record on
the environment, as the environment movement hasS said, is head
and shoulders above the Coalition.
AM: Mr Hawke still on the environment but if we could move on
to the local issue of Fraser island, what's your position?
Should logging continue or should it stop?
PM:. Our position is that we understand that the Queonsland
Government has set up the inquiry. We'll be making submissions
to that. my own disposition is when I look, at Fraser Island to,
you know not like the idea of logging, what we'll be doing is,
howcver, putting our position to the Inquiry and in the light of
what comes out of that the consideration will be undertaken
between us and the Queensland Government about world Heritage
values and what is the appropriate course of action.
AM: But personally you would like to see logging banned?
PM: It I think Fraser Island is a magnificent place, I don't
want to intrude, you know, a personal position and I think that
the Queensland Government has acted wisely in setting up the
Inquiry. They've got Mr Fitzgerald to do that and I'm sure that
the Inquiry will be very efficiently and impartially undertaken
and we will want to participate in putting positions before it.
I think Mr Goes hag acted wisely in this.
AM: Mr Hawke if I could move back to the campaign itself. How
tough has it been for you personally?
P14: Well, campaigns are always tough Anna, particularly when
you put yourself into it heart and soul as I do. But I would
have to say in one respect this campaign has been a little easier
than previous ones in that we haven't had the same large number
of fund-raising dinners at night. They can take a lot out of you
emotionally. I mean you have hundreds of people there and I
always make a point, Anna# of going,.; round and shaking hands with
everyone individually and there's a* lot of autograph signing.
That takes a fair bit of energy out of you. There haven't been
so many of those at night so in that respect, and In that respect
afo-ne, it's been an easier campaign than in the past but I've
been going f lat out and I'll certainly be glad when it comes to
an and. I hope the people of Australia will share a view I
expressed when I called the campaign that there is no way we
could have had the election in may. We would have, as I said,
gone collectively bonkers if we'd been in an election mode until
May. AM: Prime Minister will Queensland make the difference between
AM ( Cont) s you winning or losing?
PM1 I think the relevance of Queensland is this that, firstly,
Federally we hold a majority of the seats I think it's 13 out
of the 24 Queensland seats, we hold just a majority, I think we
have a possibility of winning additional seats i. n Queensland.
That's going to be important and, therefore, Queensland has that
significance.
AM: Mr Hawke, yesterday at the National Press conference you
said there wasn room to lift your game. You're coming into a
fourth term, what would you do differently that you've done the
last three times?
PM: Well I think that if a person is intelligent and he's got
integrity and he says I'm perfect I can't improve, then he's a
caue for, you know, for the psychiatrists. I mean i just beli. eve
that XI'm a wiser person now than I was when i became Prime
Minister. I'd be a bloody fool if I wasn't, I mean I've had the
opportunity of being exposed to an enormous amount of information
about Australia, about what's happening in the world. I work
very hard, I try and absorb all that information economic,
political, strategic and so just as I learn more I am able to
apply that accumulation of knowledge in an effective way I hope.
AM: Hr Hawke, thank you for your time.
MN It's been a pleasure Anna, thank you very much indeed.
Ends