TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP
TELEVISION INTERVIEW WITH LISA MILLAR,
STATELINE, ABC
2 March 2001
LISA MILLAR: John Howard, welcome to Stateline.
PRIME MINISTER: Good to be with you Lisa.
LISA MILLAR: Did you detect any changing voter sentiments while you were campaigning in Ryan today?
PRIME MINISTER: No, all the people that turned up at my meeting where naturally friendly, it was a Liberal Party launch. Ryan’s going to be pretty hard for us because there’s a bit of a climate of protest around, it’s a by-election. So we’re really up against it.
LISA MILLAR: Is it going to be harder yet to convince people not to be cynical about your change in policy on petrol yesterday?
PRIME MINISTER: I think people, well actually look at the substance of the decision rather than what led up to it, and they will welcome an attempt by the Government to do what it can to cut the price of petrol. And they’ll also like getting rid of this automatic tax rise every six months. What I announced yesterday was quite a large tax cut over the next four years and people will support that, and I intend to look at what I delivered rather than what went before.
LISA MILLAR: Probably someone who hasn’t be filled with joy over it is your Treasurer, who this morning didn’t sound particularly pleased at the task ahead of him, and he’s got quite a tough budget to deliver now.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh I know that, and I told all of my colleagues before we took the final decision, I warned them that it would make the budget assembly task in May harder, so the Treasurer and I are as one as on that. But we’ll have a surplus, we’ve had surpluses now for four years and we don’t intend to change. And it’ll just be a little harder. And Peter and I are as one in making sure that we get there with a good surplus.
LISA MILLAR: I suspect he’s looking to you for support. This morning on AM while he was saying that it was going to be a very tight budget he said that he would be looking for the support of all his colleagues, including the Prime Minister, to ensure that he could continue to deliver a low tax budget. That’s being interpreted as something of a warning to…
PRIME MINISTER: It’s not a warning, I mean the reality is that I told the Cabinet before we took the decision, I think I used words to the effect that this has implications for the expenditure review committee process, so both of us are of the same view. I wouldn’t interpret that as a warning.
LISA MILLAR: What’s your message to nervous financial markets to a concern about what this means for the economic credibility of the Howard Government?
PRIME MINISTER: Well they shouldn’t be concerned, they should look at the record. They should look at the fact that when we came to Government we had an accumulated Federal Government debt of about $85 billion and we’ve reduced that by $50 billion. And now we have, I know it sounds jargon, but it’s important jargon, a national debt to GPD ratio of 6.4% against an OECD average 45%. We have a fantastic record as far as Government debt is concerned and we’ll continue to deliver budget surpluses.
LISA MILLAR: What impact do you expect it to have on interest rates?
PRIME MINISTER: I wouldn’t expect any.
LISA MILLAR: You don’t think that…
PRIME MINISTER: No I don’t.
LISA MILLAR: …a cut in interests rates will be put on…
PRIME MINISTER: No I don’t.
LISA MILLAR: And what about a possible sell off of the Australian dollar.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I don’t.
LISA MILLAR: You’re quite happy that the financial markets won’t misinterpret what you’re…
PRIME MINISTER: Well they shouldn’t, and I don’t believe they will.
LISA MILLAR: What about Telstra now? What is the current stance on Telstra? I ask because it’s another issue that obviously pulls outpouring of feelings from the community.
PRIME MINISTER: Well our policy for the last couple of years has been that the ultimate sale of the rest of Telstra is conditional on getting adequate services arranged, adequate proposals for them to in place in the bush. I mean we’ve always said that, that’s why we had the Besley inquiry. That really hasn’t changed. Now I have no doubt that we’ll be able to meet that condition, but it has to be met before we proceed to ultimate sale, and I’ve said that repeatedly and I repeat it again tonight. And I also point out that there are a lot of benefits flowing to rural Australia as a result of the earlier sales of bits of Telstra, of the untimed local call facility that’s reaching 40,000 Australians in the most remote areas. That’s come straight out of the sale of Telstra 2. The continuous mobile phone coverage of some of our national highways, that’s come straight out of ‘Networking the Nation’ out of Telstra 2. So there’re a lot of benefits are flowing as a result of earlier sales. But the assurance is there, the ultimate sale is conditional on us first making sure arrangements are in place to deliver proper services to the bush, we’ve always said that and we just won’t walk from that. But that’s always been our policy.
LISA MILLAR: Do you anticipate a further sale will happen in a third term if you’re successful?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I think what we have to do is get things in the bush fixed. Then we start talking about timetables.
LISA MILLAR: Because there has been questions, obviously everyone’s looking of the budget now, and some have asked if a Telstra sale is not going to happen, why that’s still included in the estimates for the budget?
PRIME MINISTER: Well very simply because the assumption is made by the Finance department and the Treasury that the condition will be met. In other words we will deliver better services to the bush, and they are right. We will.
LISA MILLAR: So you are anticipating a sale then?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m anticipating a process whereby you first get the bush fixed.
LISA MILLAR: Well the bush reacted quite seriously during the Queensland state election, and the National Party suffered for it. Obviously One Nation caused problems as well. Are you concerned that John Anderson is now facing the same kind of problems that Rob Borbidge did.
PRIME MINISTER: Well I think the situations different, and I don’t want to be critical of Mr Borbidge. I think the dispute between himself and his party organisation in the middle of the election campaign is terrible. Those things have got to be managed differently. But what the National Party does with its preferences is a matter for the National Party. We may be in Coalition but we’re two separate parties. It’s not unusual for the National Party or its predecessor to have different preference arrangements from the Liberal Party. Years ago when Menzies was Prime Minister and McEwen was Deputy Prime Minister the Nationals, the Country Party then, preferenced the Labor Party, I think in Western Australia, ahead of the Liberals. It didn’t break the Coalition and it didn’t sort of turn any hairs then. I mean you just have to be realistic. And at the last federal election quite a number of National Party members had a different preference arrangement from their leader. I mean we have a position in the Liberal Party, the National Party it’s a matter for them, I don’t give gratuitous advice to the National Party about preference arrangements. In any event Lisa, the distribution of our preferences is really a bit academic. I’m more interested in addressing the issues that people are concerned about that cause them to be attracted to the simplistic solutions of minor parties.
LISA MILLAR: How concerned are you about the Liberal Party organisation in Queensland’s ability to help deliver those marginal seats you need if you are going to win a third term?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the first requirement in those marginal seats is to have good hardworking local members and in every area I’m extremely well served. As far as the organisation is concerned, obviously arising out of the state election there are some discussions going on between the federal organisation and the state division and …
LISA MILLAR: Reinforcements being sent in?
PRIME MINISTER: Well look we work together, we don’t throw our weight around.
LISA MILLAR: But they need help don’t they?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, federally we’ve done very well in this state, both in 1996 and 1998 and I expect the same to happen in 2001.
LISA MILLAR: But you look at a state parliament that currently has got just three Liberal members. That must sound alarm bells for you.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we haven’t been overstaffed or overstocked with Liberal State members for quite some time but federally things are quite different.
LISA MILLAR: John Howard, thanks very much.
PRIME MINISTER: It’s a pleasure.
END
