JOURNALIST:
Mr Costello, you have been with a lot of children here at the opening of your campaign today, do you have some comments on the events overnight in Russia?
TREASURER:
Well I think every parent will feel their heart go out to the parents who have lost children. I think every Australian's heart will go out to those children themselves who have been horribly killed in this siege. It is a reminder to all of us that terrorism is a problem throughout the world, no country is immune from terrorism, not even Russia. The terrorist mind is sick, the terrorist mind targets innocent children and believes that they can accomplish their political goals through killing. And I think today we should just all send our thoughts and our support to those that have suffered loss and renew our own determination not to give into terrorism. Terrorists have got to know that these sorts of things will not bring political results, they have got to know that violence is not a way for achieving political ends.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think there is a connection between the Chechen movement and Al Qaeda?
TREASURER:
Well, it does look as if there are people who have fought in Chechnya who also have been trained in Afghanistan and have fought in Afghanistan. It is quite obvious that there were people that were either trained in Afghanistan and sent to Chechnya, or recruited through Chechnya and sent to Afghanistan for training, it is quite obvious. When the allies were engaged in Afghanistan they found people who had been part of the Chechen terrorist groups, so there does appear to be some connections, yes.
JOURNALIST:
Are there any implications for Australia in this do you believe Mr Costello?
TREASURER:
Well, the only thing that I would say is this; that you know, there are some people that say if you don't antagonise terrorists, they will leave you alone. Russia was not a part of the 'Coalition of the Willing' in Iraq, but Russia is suffering from terrorism. The French were not part of the 'Coalition of the Willing' in Iraq, but there are French journalists that have been picked up by terrorists in Iraq. The thing about terrorists is that terrorists are not logical nice people, they are not the kind of people that say if you do 'a', we will do 'b'. Terrorists are killers, terrorists believe in accomplishing political goals through killing and the only thing you can do to terrorism is to stand up against it, to make it clear that it will not be successful because the moment the terrorist mind believes that they can be successful with these tactics, is the moment that they will re-double their efforts.
JOURNALIST:
First week of the campaign, how is it going?
TREASURER:
Look, I think it has been a wonderful campaign start in the sense that we are out, we are talking to people, it is great to get out of Canberra, it is great to talk to people in marginal seats to hear what they are concerned about. I love the campaign trail, I love being here in my own electorate, opening my own campaign, it is going to be a long run, it is a six week campaign and we are one week down so we have got five weeks to go, but I can promise you this, we will be arguing our case and out policy and our experience and our track record every day until polling day and we will be seeking to win the trust of the Australian people.
JOURNALIST:
The environment is shaping up to be a bit if a hot issue this week, Mr Latham is in Tasmania today and the Prime Minister has spoken about it yesterday, do you support an end to old growth logging in Tasmania's forests?
TREASURER:
Well, our Government has good credentials on the environment, we put together the Natural Heritage Trust, Australia's largest ever trust to re-build the environment, we have also announced a national action plan against salinity which is Australia's greatest environmental disaster. And I think that our credentials and our record on the environment are very strong.
JOURNALIST:
Some would say that Tasmania's, that the logging of Tasmania's old growth forests is probably even an even greater disaster waiting to happen, one that can be avoided, would you like to see it stopped?
TREASURER:
Look, we have had a policy in relation to Tasmania and its forests which protects high conservation, high value old growth forests. It also balances the rights of others in relation to the forests and I think over the years it has been pretty successful in doing that…
JOURNALIST:
Do you support the RFA?
TREASURER:
…but let me just say this, we believe that the greatest environmental issue in Australia is water and salinity and land. That is Australia's greatest environmental challenge and that is what we are determined to act on and that is why we have massive programs, financial programs to reinstate water flows and land. OK, thanks.