Misuse Of Intelligence Information, Coalition Employment Policies Wayne Swan - Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services

Doorstop Interview

Transcript - Brisbane - 20 July 2003

E & OE - PROOF ONLY

WAYNE SWAN: This morning Mr Downer confirmed the Howard Government has been playing political games with intelligence. We now know that they knew in January that there was grave doubt about the claims the Prime Minster made about sourcing uranium from Africa. Governments should never play games with intelligence – our national security depends on it. Intelligence should not be misused by Government for political purposes – our national security is too important. We have important issues on the agenda with North Korea. Now we know the Howard Government has been prepared to play games – political games with the most basic element of our security.

JOURNALIST: Given this information bungle how confident can we be on the information about North Korea?

WAYNE SWAN: The Howard Government has to assure the Australian people that it will no longer play political games with intelligence. The latest information from the United States shows the Government knew in January that there were doubts about the claims the Prime Minister made in February. We also now know that the US Government knew back as far as October that there were grave doubts about these claims. Mr Howard and Mr Downer continued to make these false claims right through until the end of June. We need the Government to treat intelligence information accurately and in a sober way. Our future security depends on it and so does the trust of the Australian people. We can't have people like Mr Downer taking the egg-beater to critical intelligence information upon which our national security depends. We really need some frank and direct reporting of that intelligence, not the egg-beater approach that Mr Howard and Mr Downer have engaged in.

JOURNALIST: What sort of changes need to be made to the way intelligence is reported?

WAYNE SWAN: We will need some assurance from the Government when it receives this information it is reported accurately. We now have a major issue on the horizon with North Korea. It is vital there is to be trust in the approach of the Government. The public need to be assured that the information they are being given is absolutely accurate.

JOURNALIST: Does this place a cloud over our possible interdiction of North Korean ships?

WAYNE SWAN: I think this latest information shows how important it is that Governments and politicians communicate intelligence information in a sober and responsible way. This morning we have seen proof that Mr Howard and Mr Downer were irresponsible in the way they treated critical intelligence information. If there is to be trust in the way that the Government handles national security we cannot have this approach continue.

JOURNALIST: Mr Howard says most Australians have moved on from this issue, do you think they still care?

WAYNE SWAN: Australians do care that their leaders don't play political games with intelligence information. Our national security depends on the accurate and sober use of intelligence information. We don't want politicians any longer taking the egg-beater to intelligence information as Mr Howard and Mr Downer did.

JOURNALIST: The situation with the death of David Kelly – do think the joint parliamentary inquiry will get to the bottom of this?

WAYNE SWAN: First we should extend our sympathies to the Kelly family. Tony Blair has announced an inquiry into these matters and I think we should wait and see what the outcome is?

JOURNALIST: Who do you think will come in front of the inquiry?

WAYNE SWAN: I do not know who will be participating in the inquiry in Great Britain. I think it is important that we wait and see the outcome of that inquiry.

To some other issues, this morning Mr Brough conceded the Howard Government's approach to assisting the unemployed move from benefits to work has been a complete failure. Mr Brough admitted that we now have 11 or 12 people who are unemployed competing for every vacancy on the national job search website. What that shows is how tough life is, particularly for the long-term unemployed. It also shows the appalling inadequacy of Mr Brough's handling of the Job Network. Last week the Government had to bail out the Job network with an injection of $30 million, we had inappropriate matches vacancies to unemployed people – we had a man who was referred to work with an escort service. Mr Brough could not guarantee the quality of jobs on the Government's job search website. He also confirmed the Government's failure to assist many long-term unemployed people from welfare to work. There has been an increase in the number of long-term unemployed in our community. It has also been a failure in providing value for money to the Australian taxpayer.

JOURANLIST: What changes would Labor make?

WAYNE SWAN: Firstly we need to ensure the long-term unemployed have access to essential skills and training programs – that is not there at the moment. Secondly the long-term unemployed need to have better incentives when they work casually or part-time. At the moment if you are unemployed and you work casually or part time the Howard Government taxes you 90 cents in every additional dollar you earn. We have got to fix that. If people are going to work they should be rewarded fro their efforts. What we know now after the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars there are more people stuck on benefits long-term and the Job Network cannot effectively assist those people to move from welfare to work. There needs to be a wholesale reform of the Government's welfare to work policies.

JOURNALIST: Mr Brough described them as teething problems; do you think that is fair enough?

WAYNE SWAN: No it is not fair enough – they are more than teething problems. The fact that they cannot get the unemployed in contact with the job network is a result of Mr Brough's incompetence. He has put in place an information technology system that simply doesn't work and as a result he has had to bail out the Job Network to the tune of $30 million. That is Mr Brough's fault not the fault of the unemployed. It is about time the Howard Government stopped blaming the unemployed and owned up to the fact that its Job Network has been incompetently put together and that it is disadvantaging tens of thousands of unemployed people.