Fed: Howard says preference exchanges irrelevant

AAP General News (Australia)
02-19-2001
Fed: Howard says preference exchanges irrelevant

CANBERRA, Feb 19 AAP - The exchange of preferences between One Nation and the National
or Liberal parties was irrelevant because major party preferences would not be distributed,
Prime Minister John Howard said today.

Mr Howard said the row over allocation of preferences which surfaced in the leadup
to the Queensland election at the weekend was nothing new.

He said everybody had forgotten that were preference exchanges between quite a number
of National Party members and One Nation particularly in Queensland in the last federal
election there.

"There is nothing new about it," he said on ABC radio.

"This obsession of where our and National Party preferences go is really in the end
a bit irrelevant. Our preferences don't get distributed."

Mr Howard said what did matter was minor party preferences which did get distributed.

"In the end it is that, that could well determine the outcome of the next federal election,"

he said.

"That is how minor party people decide between on the one hand the strength and stability
offered by the coalition and potential of 17 per cent interest rates, 11 per cent unemployment
and back to the $80-90 billion of national government debt which were hallmarks of the
last time Kim Beazley was in federal government."

Mr Howard said the issue of preferences would be decided separately by the two coalition
parties with the Liberal Party most unlikely to do any deals with One Nation.

"We are in coalition but we are both separate parties," he said.

"The Liberal Party's position is as I have stated and nothing has changed.

"In the end the preferences are decided by the state divisions.

"I would expect the position they took last time to be exactly the position it is taking
this time."

AAP mb/maur

KEYWORD: NATION HOWARD

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