20 September 1999
E&OE………………………………………………………………………………………
Ladies and gentlemen, I’d just like to make a few remarks. The Defence Minister and I received a briefing this morning from General Cosgrove who, as you know, went to Dili yesterday. As we speak, forces are deploying in Dili and that process will go on through the day and subsequently. So far, things have gone as expected and as hoped for. Constructive contact was made yesterday by General Cosgrove with his Indonesian counterpart. It’s been the desire and the intention of the multi-national force in accordance with the mandate given to it by the United Nations to work in cooperation with the Indonesian forces to achieve the three elements of the mandate given. That is: establishing peaceful and orderly conditions, facilitating the provision of humanitarian aid and protecting and promoting the United Nations mission.
I understand that Mr Ian Martin, the head of the UNAMET mission and his colleagues will be re-establishing their presence in East Timor today. Of course, it has to be borne in mind, as always in this situation, that the goal of the deployment, the purpose of the mission, is to see to it that the wishes of the East Timorese people as expressed in the ballot conducted under the supervision of the United Nations is given effect to. And part of that, of course, is necessarily the re-establishment of a United Nations presence.
I take this opportunity to say again on behalf of the Australian Government how pleased we are to have the participation of so many other nations in the multi-national force. I had the opportunity of meeting General Songkitti From the Royal Thai Army this morning who is the Deputy Commander; Brigadier Richards, who is the Commander of the Ghurkhas attachment of the British Army; Colonel Dunn, I think it was, from New Zealand, and also officers from the Philippines, from the Republic of France and I particularly welcome them having recently arrived. And all of the other countries including one of the marine officers from the United States.
Their presence in Darwin underlines the fact that this is a very broadly based United Nations operation. And one message that I would send very strongly, particularly to the Australian people and to the Australian media is that any suggestion that in some way this is an operation that Australia is doing more or less alone in the region or in the world couldn’t be more misplaced. There is very strong support for it throughout the Asia-Pacific region and there have been very, very encouraging contributions made already and further commitments made from that area and also from around the world.
May I say, having had the benefit of spending a half an hour or so with him how tremendously impressed I am with General Cosgrove. The leadership that he will give to this mission will be very professional and he does, of course, inspire a great deal of professionalism and leadership and that’s very apparent on a meeting.
And finally, but most importantly, my wife and I and the Defence Minister accompanied by the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Australian Democrats had the opportunity in Townsville late yesterday afternoon of speaking to the forces who were about to go. And many of the people of whom we spoke to in Townsville last night are now in Dili and we had the opportunity here at Robertson Barracks a few moments ago to likewise thank and wish farewell to the men and women who are going into Dili from Darwin over the next few hours and over the next few days. They were all in good spirit, their morale was very high, they’re keen to get there. They are properly understanding of the potential dangers. There is, I guess, an air of anticipation mixed quite properly with some cautious anxiety and that is to be understood and perfectly natural. But they have been very well trained, they are very well led, their cause is just and the clear national interest not only to Australia but to other participating nations is there. That’s all I want to say, if you have any questions for Mr Moore and I we’d be happy to try and answer them but we don’t have too long.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, have you had any reports about the situation on the ground?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the only reports I have had are that the deployment is proceeding, as expected, as planned without incident.
JOURNALIST:
There was a report last night that ….[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
I can only confirm what I have said.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I think it’s fair of me to say right at the beginning that as the deployment has commenced that the UN forces, the UN supervised forces or sponsored forces I think is the right expression, the multi-national force, it has a mandate and it will do whatever is needed to implement that mandate. I am going to avoid altogether getting involved in commenting on what I would regard as operational matters. I don’t think it helps anybody for somebody in my position to do that. As far as the detailed questions about the operational side of it is concerned those things are better handled by the military. There is a clear mandate. That mandate is a threefold one, it’s to make sure that the point of the whole exercise is achieved and that is the expression of view by the East Timorese people is given effect to. We need to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid and we need to defend and promote the UN presence and we need to restore, keep, enforce, peace and order. The rules of engagement are such that whatever force is appropriate to achieve those goals will be used. As to just how you do that in given situations I am not going to comment on. Clearly, we want to establish a sense of the rule of law in the place and we want to get peace and order back but I don’t want to get into what that means in terms of this or that situation. I think that’s probably better left to those on the ground.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible] are there plans to have dialogue in the near future?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I haven’t spoken to the Indonesian President since before the decision was taken by the Indonesian Government to invite in or consent to the involvement of an international peacekeeping force.
Your question raises the broader issue of our relationship with Indonesia and I take the opportunity of saying again that we don’t have any quarrel with the people of that country. I remain of the view that Dr Habibie showed considerable courage in doing two things, in taking his country down the path of democracy. And it should never be lost sight of in all of what has happened that the fourth largest country in the world of
211 million people has embraced democracy. We would like that to find very fertile ground in that country. And it was a very important and courageous step. And the other, of course, was his decision to have the ballot to allow the people of East Timor to make up their minds as to whether they wanted to have autonomy within the Indonesian state or independence. Now, they’ve voted very strongly for independence and we all know what has happened subsequently and why, as a result, there’s a multinational peacekeeping force there. We seek good relations with not only the people of Indonesia but also the Government of Indonesia but we have certain values and we have certain attitudes on issues to defend. And that, of course, is why we’ve taken a stand. And our support for the East Timorese people is not to be seen as an instrument of us behaving in a negative way towards Indonesia, rather our desire to stand up for what we think is right. And that is why we’ve been able to galvanise such strong international support. It’s clearly in Australia’s interest not to have continued instability of the kind we’ve witnessed in this territory go on indefinitely. But, above all, it’s right that the people who voted almost 80 per cent to have independence shouldn’t have that snatched away from them. Now, that’s a fairly uncomplicated proposition and it shouldn’t be seen as an instrument of diplomatic or any other kind of aggression against Indonesia but merely our view that according to the values for which this country stands, a community that’s done that ought to have the fruits of what they voted for.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I think it’s always very important in situations like this that we use measured non-hyperbole – not too much hyperbole, let me put it that way, Australia has played an active role, I guess, if you like to say, a leading role in promoting the cause of a multinational force. We are doing what we should be doing in our region. We are behaving as Australia can behave and should behave in our region. We’re being a full participant in the region. We’re working with our partners and friends in the region. And I’ve been greatly encouraged over the last few days by the very strong support, for example, that has come from Thailand. I had a very constructive discussion with the Prime Minister of Thailand, Mr Chuan, a man I admire greatly for the leadership he’s given to his country and the readiness of his country to contribute for Deputy Commander in force elements is very encouraging. In President Kim Dae-Jung’s visit recently to Australia, he spoke very strongly of Korea’s feelings on this subject. So, we are doing what we should be doing in the region, working patiently and fully with our partners in the region, standing up for things that we believe are right and important, not trying to dominate but equally not being unwilling to take a lead or to make a contribution where we’re able to do so. And this is very much an expression of the special characteristics that Australia can bring. We are part of the region, we understand the region, yet we also have great associations with other parts of the world. And I think in all of the circumstances we are playing out the role that we ought to be. I don’t seek to put some kind of definitive label or title on it. I merely see it as Australia behaving as Australia should in this part of the world.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I felt a sense of great responsibility, a sense of anxiety for them, for their families, a confidence that what they were doing was right, a belief that their morale was high and they were superbly trained for the task, but nonetheless, like any other human being, an anxiety, a hope that all goes well and they all come back home safely. That’s what I felt. And it was quite a moving, touching experience because you’re dealing with people’s lives, you’re dealing with things to which this country stands. It’s a responsibility not to be avoided but is a responsibility to be fully understood and not lightly or carelessly discharged.
Thank you.
[ends]