Community Forums, Reading to Children, Fairer Societies, Iraq, East Timor, Election Issues Mark Latham - Leader of the Opposition

Radio Interview with Fred And Lisa

Transcript - Mix 94.5 FM, Perth - 13 April 2004

FRED: The Leader of the Opposition, Mark Latham has joined us. Good morning and thanks for coming in.

LATHAM: It is a pleasure to be here, absolutely.

FRED: Now, you have been doing a bit of a world-wind tour around Perth and WA – I think you are going to Mandurah later today.

LATHAM: Yes, we have got a community forum at Mandurah where anyone who wants to, can come along and have their say. I call it politics in the raw where it is not staged managed or orchestrated for the media, it is just a chance for people to put their views across and we do that face to face and make a response. I have been doing that right around the country. I think it is good to get back to that old style Town Hall meetings in politics instead of just doing every TV news.

FRED: Definitely. Because so often when people get into power they lose touch with talking to people in the street - apart from the set up shots that you often see, yes.

LISA: Are people shy – is this working well in terms of people coming forward and saying what they think?

LATHAM: We have had meetings of 500 people and we can normally take about 30 questions. And there are probably another 100 people who would like to have their say so there is not much shyness. People have a lot of issues and concerns and it is good for me to stay in touch and know what the public are saying about the issues. It also helps with making good Labor policy because you need to be able to respond and hear what people are worried about.

FRED: Apart from actual policies what gets you going about being in politics? What is it that you really like to do?

LATHAM: Well, community service is really the ethic. This has been lost a bit, I suppose - the idea of getting involved in local politics and serving your local community. I first got involved in local government in South West Sydney and served the community where I had grown up. But then as you come through the ranks, and I got into national politics, it was a chance to do things on a bigger scale but it is the same principle: you really want to add some good to the country and try to help people where you can. I think that is the thing that drives people (inaudible) different policies along the way. But that ethic of community service, we have probably lost a bit of sight of that in recent times. In politics it is still the thing that drives people. I hope that is the case.

LISA: There must be a bit of a calling because you are not in it for the money or the love or the fame of that sort. You would have to be quite driven, I think.

LATHAM: You have to be determined. Yes, it is not the money or the fact that you travel a bit. I mean the travel means you are right around the country all of the time.

LISA: Not the cushy hours, either?

LATHAM: No, no. the hours are long and the work is hard but there are always plenty of people who want to do it so you can't complain (inaudible) There are always plenty of people who run at election time and say they can do a better job. That is the good thing about it from my position.

FRED: How do you relax when you get a little bit of spare time to yourself?

LATHAM: Well, I have got two little boys – three and one so my release of frustration is wrestling and playing, and playing different games, reading books, talking to them and nurturing them as best I can. So with my wife - anyone who has toddlers knows that it is a full-time job in its own right. It is relaxation in that it is not politics, and it is the great love of my life. They keep you busy, the little ones, especially the three-year-old. He is a tearaway.

LISA: And the whole book thing is important thing to you isn't it?

LATHAM: Absolutely.

LISA: One of your main issues, I think.

LATHAM: I think it is fundamentally to promote reading to our infant children. I was at a primary school principal's conference a few weeks ago and they told me about a study that looked at professional families and welfare dependant families and the vocabulary of the three-year-old child in the professional family was the equal of the vocabulary of the parent and the poor family so there is this three-year old who knew as many words and as much language as the parents in the families where there had been long-term unemployed. So doing something about reading is going to make a better society. If we all read books to our infant children they will be reading themselves by the time they go to school at age five.

LISA: I think our standards of literacy are atrocious at the moment and I think that is certainly a place to start and getting kids to read again.

LATHAM: Yes, you can't start early enough. You know it is sort of a myth that kids start learning when they go to school at age five: they actually start learning when they are born.

LISA: And reading the guide to getting on to the Internet is not sufficient really!

FRED: Mark, what inspired you as a younger man thinking about politics – any particular political or other things?

LATHAM: Really, trying to make a fairer society. I grew up in a public housing estate where we didn't have a lot. I thought well maybe if you can get stuck in and do something that it is better to be on the field having a go than a spectator in the grandstand. From about age 14 or 15 I wanted to do something about the inequality and ensure that all Australians got decent services and facilities and a chance. If they work hard, and you do have to work hard, and you have got good government services, you can climb the ladder and you can be better in the future and that is what I have always believed in.

FRED: It can be tough, though. You have made it to the front page even though you are visiting – we have got the sex romp with David Beckham, prisoners playing footy (inaudible)

LATHAM: It is all happening in Perth! Even with David Beckham, there is a link to a lass from Perth, so you are the centre of the world's press at the moment.

FRED: Yes, they are coming from everywhere at the moment.
We are very proud.

LATHAM: I saw the news last night when it first happened and the first three stories were about sport – the Beckham affair (inaudible), the training – and I think these allegations about unnamed AFL players. So plenty of sporting news around.

FRED: Yes, well it is an Australian thing isn't it? Mark Latham, Leader of the Opposition, is with us in Perth for a few days. The situation with the troops in Iraq – do you still feel strongly about getting them out of there by the end of the year?

LATHAM: Yes, we need an exit strategy because what has happened is that it is similar to the situation in Vietnam, where the military occupation becomes more of problem than the solution. You need a strategy to return Iraq to the Iraqi people. The fact that there has been an uprising against the military occupation tells you that you need an exit strategy in place and the Labor Party thinks that can be achieved by Christmas. Staying there forever is not the answer. This is what Mr Howard is saying. He got Australia into this mess and he doesn't know how to get us out. We have got to face the reality that a lot of people said winning the war would be one thing but finding the peace will be a lot harder. Now it is twelve months after the actual war ended. The fact that there is an uprising against the military occupation tells you that you need a sensible exit strategy and, Australia, as an occupying power, needs to be part of that.

FRED: That is it, isn't it? It is all very well to say there is a job to be done but you know who made the mess? That is the thing. It is a tough one and I am glad you are taking a stand like that, personally. I think it is an unjust situation when other people's country has been taken over.

LATHAM: It is like Vietnam: they said there is a job to be done but the job never ended and in this case Mr Howard cannot tell us what the job is. Originally the job was to find weapons of mass destruction, and we now know that they didn't exist. Then the job was to get rid of Saddam and liberate the Shi'ites. Well the Shi'ite's are now rising up. I don't look and say they are too liberated. In the circumstances, obviously it is to manage Iraq and all of these ethnic and nationalistic tensions. Well, that is going to be best done by the Iraqi people so we need to recognise those realities and Mr Howard needs to acknowledge the mistake he made in the first place in going to war and the mistake of staying there forever. That would be a huge mistake learning nothing from history and to committing Australia to something that we do not need to be involved in. We can have an exit strategy and we can be part of the transition to the Government by the Iraqi people where they can settle things down and get on with their business. But having a military occupation there obviously the world can see this from the recent tragic violence that has become more the problem than the solution.

FRED: It would be pretty tough for a politician to admit a mistake like that? It doesn't happen very often.

LATHAM: Well that is where you need leadership and I am afraid Mr Howard is losing his judgment. A lot of people told him this is what was going to happen and he decided to go in there. It is a situation similar to the Vietnam war and he needs to learn from history and admit the mistake and have the good judgment and common sense to have an exit strategy.

FRED: What about East Timor situation. Are the troops there different as far as you are concerned?

LATHAM: Well, for Australia it is on our doorstep so we have obviously got responsibility and you haven't got an uprising have you? You haven't got the sort of terrible violence that we have seen in recent times where a whole range of groups are rising up to say that they want an end to the military occupation. So I think when it gets to that level, and this is predicted in Iraq, you have to recognise reality and respond accordingly. Saying that you are going to be there forever is not the answer and Mr Howard has got to admit to the mistake that was made and join with others in developing an exit strategy and hopefully be part of a sensible solution.

FRED: Do you have any idea on what the main issues will be about when the federal election comes around?

LATHAM: I think health and education services are very important to the Australian people. We have seen a running down of bulk-billing and lots of concerns about the hospital system and right through the education system, from early childhood development to universities parents say to me that they are worried about quality and access. There are big issues of balance of work and family – we spoke about it earlier on with the lot of a politician but you have got a life for most people how can they do their job and find time to see their kids - it is all to do with the balance of work and family. It is absolutely crucial.

FRED: Mark Latham Leader of the Opposition is with us this morning.

FRED: Robbie Williams (inaudible) a term that has been used for a lot of reports around the world lately

LATHAM: It is in the currency isn't it – the language.

FRED: It always astounds me they use a word like that that the sticks. A fair bit of David Beckham. It will keep them occupied for a while those people – especially with the Perth connection as far as we are concerned. Mark Latham it has been great to see you. Thanks for coming in. Good luck for the future.

LATHAM: Thank you. Thanks for having me and good luck with the show.