Emerald ‘grills’ the PM

By Melissa Grant
INTEREST rates, unemployment and deployment of Australia’s troops were the issues which locals pressed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd about when he touched down in Emerald on Tuesday last week.
About 400 people flocked to Emerald Secondary College for a community cabinet meeting, with a small selection getting the chance to ask direct questions to Mr Rudd and his ministry.
The global recession featured highly during the forum and was the crux of the PM’s opening address.
Mr Rudd spoke about the importance of global, national and local action during the economic downturn.
He said local projects played a pivotal role in curbing the unemployment rate.
“If we have local communities engaged in putting forward projects which work, ideas which are worth supporting here at a local community level it also makes a difference to reduce the level of unemployment that would otherwise be,” he said.
Mary Farrow, chairwoman of Emerald Community House, offered a practical idea to keep residents employed and engaged in training.
She said State Government funding allowed them to be opened for 35 hours a week, but needed to be available to the public for another five hours to ‘keep the doors open’.
“We are turning out people to get jobs, providing education for adults and childcare while they are going to work and meditation when they think they can’t handle any more,” she said.
Emerald resident and 3MDR presenter Peter Haddo asked Mr Rudd why the banks were quick to put up interest rates when the Reserve Bank increased them, but were slow to put them down and not pass on full interest-rate cuts.
Mr Rudd said he accepted there was a gap between Reserve Bank cuts and those passed on to borrowers. “I don’t accept the bank’s reason for not closing it,” he said. “While we have said, both the treasurer Wayne Swan and myself, directly to the banks is that we expect for there to be full pass through as rapidly as possible and we continue to engage in direct dialogue with the banks on that missing part.”
Cockatoo RSL president Bob Simmonds took the opportunity to plead for the return of Australian troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“When are we going to pull our troops out of Afghan (sic) and those places like that in a senseless war?” the World War II digger asked. They’re getting nowhere fast – I think we should take them home again.”
Mr Rudd said the government had begun withdrawing troops from Iraq and would eventually from Afghanistan.
“I appreciate your remark, particularly because, obviously, you’re a war veteran,” he said. “As you know, we’re committed to removing our troops from Iraq.”
“Our decision recently to provide more training in Afghanistan has one objective which is to train sufficient Afghan national army troops in the province we are responsible for – in order to hand over security to them so we can bring our troops home.”
After the meeting closed, some locals had one-on-one meetings with Federal Government ministers before heading home.