Mr McMULLAN —My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to comments made recently by the chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mark Patterson, to the Northern Territory Industrial Relations Society about your so-called rock-solid guarantee that no worker would be worse off. I am advised he said this:

You have to remember that the statement was said in the context of a political campaign. It was just a casual comment. It was an ideal, not a commitment.

Do you accept Mr Patterson's frank assessment of the worth of your rock-solid guarantee?

Mr HOWARD —The answer is no.