TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW, ROYAL CANBERRA GOLF CLUB
3 April 2001
JOURNALIST:
What do you make of reports of conflicting notes on that post Queensland election meeting?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh I don’t make anything other than to say what I said last night that three months ago there was unhappiness within the party about the Government’s handling of a number of things and I recognise that. And if people were critical of the Government’s handling of issues, I’m not the least bit surprised if that criticism extended to and included me. I think we have to be a little bit adult about all of this. The Government went through a bad patch a few months ago. People, in the public, in the community were cranky with the Government about a number of things and when the public is cranky with you, you don’t turn your back on that criticism, you face it, you cop it and you try and respond to their concerns. And that is exactly what many of …my colleagues were saying at party meetings. As to what was exactly said at that meeting in Brisbane, I wasn’t there, but let me say this that if there was criticism of me that wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest because I am the head of the government and if there’s criticism of the government, that criticism must by definition include the head of the government.
JOURNALIST:
[inaudible] impact on Mr Costello. This appeared to be a clear attack on you personally.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I don’t think … I think you fellows are just salivating and getting into a lather and missing the point. Three months ago the Government was subject to a lot of criticism in the community about its handling of the Business Activity Statement, fuel prices, there were concerns about other things, now I accept that and I want the Australian people to know that I accepted and understood their concerns. I mean what matters to me is not what was written in such and such a memo, what matters to me is what the Australian people think. And the Australian people were pretty cranky with us over a number of things a few months ago and I have tried, and the Government and the Treasurer and I together have tried to respond to those things over the past three months. Now what’s in a memo, who wrote it, who said what etc is of secondary importance to me. What matters to me as Prime Minister is understanding the concerns of the Australian public and I think your listeners, your viewers, are more interested in outcomes and what we do and how we react to their concerns then they are in the Canberra-centric nuances of who wrote what memorandum, with what particular purpose.
JOURNALIST:
Have you talked to Mr Costello today?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh of course I have.
JOURNALIST:
And did he express any concern to you?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I talk to Mr Costello on numerous occasions, and of course I’ve spoken to him, about his visit and of course I’ve spoken to him about this matter but I’m not going to go into the details of a private conversation with the Deputy Leader of my Party.
JOURNALIST:
Are you upset about this Mr Howard? Are you personally upset about what’s happened?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look my concern is to get it right for the Australian public.
JOURNALIST:
[inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
No, my concern is to get it right for the Australian public and I listen to what the Australian public says. They did have concerns a few months ago. My colleagues in the parliamentary party were expressing those concerns at Party meetings. There’s nothing new about many of the things that were canvassed at that meeting in Queensland. They were things that had been raised at Party meetings. People were expressing irritation about the Business Activity Statement. The Treasurer and I reacted to that and we fixed many of the things that people had expressed concerns about. They were worried about fuel prices. We cut fuel excise by one and a half cents. We’ve responded across a whole range of areas. In a sense we’re dealing now with ancient history. These were concerns that people had a few months ago. But look, when something happens and the Government gets criticised, that criticism always includes more than anybody else the Leader because I’m the head of the Government and I more than anybody else must accept responsibilities for things that go wrong and I’m not the least bit indifferent to criticism. When people have concerns, let them express them to me. It doesn’t upset me. It goes with the territory and if people did have concerns, and it wouldn’t have surprised me in the least if they expressed criticisms of me. People express criticisms to me to my face in the Party meetings. It happens quite frequently, I don’t know what everybody’s so amazed about. No Prime Minister who leads a reformist Government goes through life without being criticised. So I’m now going to go and have a drink.
Thank you.
END
