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Date: Friday, March 23, 2007
Prime Minister's Interview with Neil Mitchell. Radio 3AW, Melbourne
Interview Transcript: * Subject: Tyler Fishlock.
(*other subjects not relevant to Georgette’s Campaign have been removed)
MITCHELL:
On the line, in our Canberra studio, the Prime Minister. Mr Howard, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning Neil.
MITCHELL:
Before we get down to the other issues Prime Minister, this is of great importance to our audience, Tyler Fishlock's mum Georgette and her campaign for improved carers' allowances, she tells me she had a call this morning from the Minister. What's happening?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well what's happening is two things. Firstly I am going to get an expert group to give the Government advice as to how we might reassess the guidelines that currently operate in relation to this payment, and importantly, in relation to Mrs Fishlock, we're going to make an ex-gratia payment to her of $10,000 to cover a period through to when the results of any review of the policy are going to be available.
So it can be said that as a result of this heart wrenching incident, and I am not suggesting for a moment that this family is the only family in this situation, I think and the Minister thinks, that the guidelines should be looked at and we're going to get some extra people to tell us.
These things are very hard because you have got to have a cut off point somewhere and whenever you are arguing over degrees of disability and degrees of anguish for parents, degrees of strain on people caring for somebody who has a profound disability; it's always very hard where to draw the line, but that is what we are going to do.
MITCHELL:
Okay, so that $10,000 is just to the Fishlock family?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah well obviously other people who might feel; I mean it's an ex-gratia payment for their circumstances but there could well be other people in a similar situation, but we would have to deal with that on a case by case basis.
MITCHELL:
And how long would you expect the review to take?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, not long but I want to get some people who are really expert in this field to have a look at it. That's not being critical of the department; I mean they have got a hard job. They're given a certain amount of money and they have to have rules and regulations, you've got to have that.
But the infinite variety of human circumstances, Neil, is such that it's always very difficult to draw lines on these things but there has to be a line drawn somewhere.
But it just seems to both Mal Brough and myself that the line is drawn a little too low on the page, if I could put it that way, in the case of this particular payment.
MITCHELL:
Okay, well thank you for that. That's what she wanted. She wanted the broader examination.
PRIME MINISTER:
I appreciate that and well, thank you for raising it and I think it's something that we do want to change, but want to change in a sensible fashion, and in the meantime we'll give her a bit of help along the way.
MITCHELL:
9690 0693 if you'd like to speak to the Prime Minister
* Parts of Interview removed not relevant to Georgette etc.
MITCHELL:
9690 0693 it is nineteen minutes to nine. Hello Martin. Go ahead Martin.
CALLER: (Martin)
Yeah, hi Neil, hi Mr Howard. Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you.
Just hearing that announcement Mr Howard, I don't know quite how I feel.
My wife and I, we're the parents of a little boy who has autism and some years ago we actually had to sell our house to fund treatment and at that stage we approached all the Government agencies, the only thing that was available to us was carers' allowance and that's now $43 a week.
I feel really happy for the Fishlock family to get that one off payment, but you know, there are so many other families that are in this situation that need this type of money that just hasn't been available and I'm glad you're getting somebody to review this because really honestly, $43 a week to look after, full time, these kids, it's really an insult.
MITCHELL:
Did you say you sold your house?
CALLER: (Martin)
We sold our house to fund an early intervention program for my son. It cost us $120,000 over two years.
MITCHELL:
Did it help?
CALLER: (Martin)
Enormously.
MITCHELL:
Well that's good.
CALLER: (Martin)
And we'd do it again if we had to, but the Government doesn't, wasn't even willing to recognise this form of treatment called ABA or Applied Behaviour Analysis...
MITCHELL:
Yes, I'm heard of that. Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Martin, I obviously try to understand how you feel and it is important that we look again at these guidelines as I've indicated and I am aware of that particular early intervention approach in relation to autism.
I don't know enough about the technical details of these things to try and predict whether that's going to be part of the review or not, I don't know, but at least we have embarked on a process of having a look at these things.
I suspect that what will come out of this review is a recommendation for certain changes and I also, regrettably, predict that for some people those changes will not go far enough. We're just trying in good faith to grapple with this, recognising that a country like Australia, which is well off, does have an obligation to help parents who are in your situation as best it can.
MITCHELL:
We'll take a break, comeback with more from the Prime Minister in our Canberra studio. 9690 0693
[commercial break]
MITCHELL:
Now we did say at the top at the beginning of the program about a payment to the Fishlock family, Tyler Fishlock's family and a broader inquiry into the carers' allowance, the Prime Minister announced on the program. Georgette Fishlock has called in, hello Georgette, are you happy with this?
CALLER: GEORGETTE FISHLOCK
No I'm not.
MITCHELL:
Why?
CALLER: GEORGETTE FISHLOCK
I'm actually quite disappointed. My understanding of it was that this is going to benefit others in the same situation and similar situation. The reason I came out and I exposed my dirty linen to everybody to hear was I knew there was other families exactly the same as ours in different.....
MITCHELL:
But hang on you spoke to the Minister this morning.
CALLER: GEORGETTE FISHLOCK
I did. I was under the impression that it was going to be available for other families in the same position as ours.
MITCHELL:
What, the $10 000?
CALLER: GEORGETTE FISHLOCK
Yes, if I'd known it was just for me, I would have said thank you very much but I'll keep fighting.
MITCHELL:
Well you say you wouldn't take the money?
CALLER: GEORGETTE FISHLOCK
No....look, the money....it was a wonderful thing to wake up this morning and hear that the Government was going to do this.
But I honestly thought it was going to affect other people's lives, there are so many kids out there and families in the same situation as ours. We are far from being the worst family.
I am lucky I've got my son and my son has only got the blindness.
There are other kids out there that have no quality of life and the parents don't either as well and they're in the same situation as us and I was trying to fight on behalf of those families as well as my own.
MITCHELL:
Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think there is a misunderstanding. The decision the Government's taken is to have the investigation and as I indicated to Martin, if there are other people who feel they are in the same situation as Mrs Fishlock, we'll deal with that on a case by case basis.
But until the investigation recommends, and the Government accepts a new set of rules, all we can do is to deal on a case by case basis with people who think they are in a similar situation to the Fishlock family.
So, it's not right of her to say that this will only be available for her, but until the rules are established, the new rules are established, we can only deal with other cases on a case by case basis. I mean there is no other...
MITCHELL:
So people who are carers will be able to apply for $10,000 one off?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well people who think they are in the same situation, but it will have to be determined on a case by case basis, I said that in reply to what Martin said.
MITCHELL:
By whom, will that be done by Centrelink?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it has to be done by the Department, by Centrelink. There is no other way of doing it, I mean I am damned if I do and I am damned if I don't. I mean we are trying to assist here.
As a result of the Fishlock case we have established a review of the eligibility criteria for this payment.
We've said in the meantime because that situation we regard as necessitous and it's produced the review, we are going to make ex-gratia payment of $10,000, in reply to what Martin asked me a moment ago on your program, I said that if other people felt they were in a similar situation they should apply.
MITCHELL:
Georgette what do you think of that?
CALLER: GEORGETTE FISHLOCK
I am happy with that if they can actually apply for that same...
PRIME MINISTER:
But the question of whether they get it has to be assessed on a case by case basis because we have not established the new rules; I don't know how else we could...I mean we have tried very, very, hard to help here.
I've spent a lot of time, Mal Brough's spent a lot of time, we are genuinely sympathetic, but we have to sort of have some order in it and I think what we are doing is fair.
MITCHELL:
Georgette, we'll have a further talk to you off-air about that.
MITCHELL:
The Prime Minister in our Canberra studios.
[ends]
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