E&OE................................................................................................
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well, ladies and gentlemen, the Australia Government has been very
pleased to welcome the Prime Minister of Singapore to this country.
He and I got to know each other very well when I was Treasurer and
he was the Finance Minister for Singapore. And I have been particularly
pleased since becoming Prime Minister to renew that friendship at
various international forums and now for the first time on a visit
to our country.
We have a very close bilateral relationship. The best feature of it,
of course, is the large number of people-to-people contacts exemplified
by the fact that Australia is still preferred as an education destination
by more Singaporeans than any other country. It's a proud fact
that four members of the Government of Singapore were educated in
Australia, the President of Singapore was educated in Australia and
those people-to-people links are very close. We have very strong trade
and investment links and we share a largely common view of the challenges
facing the region and the need to respond to those challenges in a
coordinated fashion.
We have had a very useful discussion both today and last night at
the Lodge where I was accompanied by three of my senior Ministers,
Mr Costello, Mr Reith and Mr Moore. We have discussed in great detail
regional issues, not the least of course Indonesia and Malaysia, circumstances
surrounding East Timor but very particularly the domestic challenges
facing Indonesia which are very important, of course, to both of our
countries.
So can I say, Prime Minister, that I am delighted that you were able
to come, you are very welcome, your country is warmly respected in
Australia. And as I say again the people-to-people links between our
two societies are very close indeed and they, of course, underpin
the relationship in a quite emphatic manner.
PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG:
Thank you. I was last here in 1994 when Prime Minister Paul Keating
invited me. I am happy to be back to discuss foreign matters with
Prime Minister John Howard. It's always a pleasure to come over
here because we never get out of this close bilateral issues. I mean,
there are just no bilateral problems between Singapore and Australia.
So what we have done is to see how we can advance our common interests
internationally. Our interests converge in many areas and we discussed
some strategies and tactics on how we can further advance our mutual
interests. In APEC in the discussion over this new international financial
architecture and also in terms of observing, with concern, developments
in the region and see how we can assist the region to recover. We
have common interests and we would like to work on how we can advance
our common interests in these three major areas in the coming months.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Any questions?
JOURNALIST:
Can I just ask you, in light of the concerns you have expressed in
Sydney the other night about civility in Indonesia. What sort of contribution
would Singapore [inaudible] consider making towards an international
effort to help East Timor through a transition?
PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG:
Well, I think East Timor as of now is part of Indonesia, is an issue
to be handled primarily by Indonesia then what comes after this is
a little premature. If East Timor is given independence by Indonesia
then at a point of time they can discuss what it can do. But at this
stage it seems to me to be rather premature to discuss a transition
in East Timor because it is still very much a matter, internal matter
for Indonesia to decide.
JOURNALIST:
If both Prime Ministers or either could comment on the five power
defence arrangements. I understand there ....[inaudible] exercise
in April and there were some doubt as to whether that would go ahead
[inaudible]. Do we have any resolution on that yet?
PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG:
Yes, the officials have met I think about one or two days ago. They
have agreed that there should be an exercise in April. In other words,
is to resume what they set out to do some months ago, the exercise
which was postponed. They are working on the details of the exercise.
The Malaysians wanted to modify, I think, some of the exercise format.
The officials are working that out but there will be an exercise.
It's whether they can get maximum professional value without
modifying the form of the exercise which is being discussed at the
moment.
JOURNALIST:
Are you generally satisfied that the arrangements are back on track
after a period of tension?
PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG:
At the moment it is back on track, yes.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Can I just add to that that this was one of the issues I raised with
Dr Mahathir when I saw him in Kuala Lumpur last year at the APEC meeting
and he undertook to revive activity on it and I am very pleased that
that has been carried out in accordance with what he said. And the
Prime Minister has indicated what is now likely to occur.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible] focus on election process in Indonesia [inaudible] because
it is not guaranteed that the democratic election will bring stability....
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well, what the Australian Government is doing is to be as it has in
the past a good and constructive friend towards Indonesia. We are
naturally anxious to see as free and open an election process as possible.
We are contributing something in the order of $10 to $15 million towards
it which is a significant amount of money. We are making officials
at the Australian Electoral Commission available and we will do everything
we can to ensure that the process is as transparent as possible. I
think it is very important from Indonesia's point of view, particularly
her economic future, that the rest of the world judge the election
in Indonesia to have been conducted in an open and transparent manner.
Because if the judgement is that it is then that will give far more
credibility internationally to the government that emerges from that
process. It's very important that economic stability be returned
to Indonesia as effectively as possible. Part of that process is political
credibility. The two are completely intertwined and the one effects
the other. There's just one other from the Singaporean group.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible] the best way to assist in the [inaudible] stability?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well, there was no specific decision taken in the sense that there
was a package of measures between the two countries but the Prime
Minister and I have been talking about Indonesia's difficulties
now for about two years not only in our bilateral meetings but we
have had frequent telephone discussions about the situation in Indonesia.
I think both of us believe that the broad direction taken by the IMF
has been correct. Australia, of course, has contributed very generously
to the Indonesian Rescue Package and as we have to the rescue packages
in Thailand and Korea. You won't get a lasting economic recovery
in Indonesia without an improvement in the transparency of its banking
system. You obviously have to restore a credibility in relation to
things like that and the broad direction of the IMF programme we think
is correct. We, of course, played a role in mitigating some of the
more unreasonable demands that were being made on Indonesia in the
first instance and I think Singapore had a similar view to Australia.
So our dialogue on the Indonesian economy is very much a continuum
and we have been talking about it an exchanging ideas on it and putting
views to other people now for a period of almost two years.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Goh, the Australian Prime Minister, Mr Howard, [inaudible]...Australia
the financial centre of Asia through into the next century to make
Australia...which essentially means taking on Singapore. Does Singapore
feel threatened by Australia's economic push to take over the
headquarters of the region or feel you will lose much business?
PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG:
We are a firm believer in market competition and we welcome this competition
from Australia and we wish Australia success.
If I may explain, this is not a pie of a fixed size. In the
nature of economics if there's two centres they're going
to find two centres trading with one another. And, of course, if Australia
continues to grow at five per cent per year, which I hope you will
for the next few years, and the region recovers you're going
to have the pie getting bigger and bigger and you're going to
see the existence of two centres. We will lose some business to Australia
just like they will lose some to us. But overall I think both of us
will be better off with both of us succeeding as financial centres.
JOURNALIST:
On Indonesia, [inaudible] what if the electoral judgement may meet
international approval but does not satisfy the Indonesian population's
aspirations. What is Australia's stand on that?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well, that is a very hypothetical question and I'm not going
to try...
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible] after the elections in Indonesia.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well, I'm not going to start canvassing how Australia might react
after the election, I'm telling you what we're going to
do to try and help the process and that is to be a very constructive
contributor to the electoral process. We'll naturally be urging
transparency. We'll be contributing resources. And that is the
appropriate thing for Australia to do at the moment.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister Goh, if I could just bring you back to the subject
of defence. The Australian Army has foreshadowed sending expeditionary
forces or having the ability to send expeditionary forces into the
region. Does that cause you some concern or do you welcome it, and
how do you think your other countries in the region would react to
that sort of a posture?
PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG:
Maybe you should explain what you mean by sending expeditionary forces...
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well, I think it's been rather, if I may say so, rather inelegantly
put. I mean, what they're really saying, as I understand it,
is they're altering the response capacity so that if the need
arises I don't think we're sort of unilaterally going
to send a whole lot of expeditionary forces for no reason.
JOURNALIST:
... ability to do so, though, do you think that that represents
an unhealthy shift in Australian policy in this regard?
PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG:
I don't think so because Australia is a member of the five power
defence arrangements. And when the situation warrants it the members
who consult, so of course they consult and there are decisions on
follow-up actions. We do hope that Australia has got a capacity to
send forces beyond its shores or do so under certain definite circumstances
when Australia would have to send forces to help the region under
the agents of the five power defence arrangements. It doesn't
worry us. It's a capacity which any country must have, the ability
to project forces and prevent yourself from being swamped by others.
JOURNALIST:
What extent does this new army doctrine put pressure on the defence
budget to increase the capability to take part in these high intensity
conflicts? Will you be increasing the...
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well, the Australian defence budget as you know has been quarantined,
at my insistence from the very day I became Prime Minister, from budget
cuts. And that will, of course, remain the situation. I don't
rule out at some stage in the future an increase in defence spending.
You never do and you have to adjust those things according to national
need. But it is important to make the point that defence has been
quarantined from expenditure cuts and we're obviously, as any
responsible government, concerned to ensure that the appropriate level
of resources is available and that means I don't rule out some
increase in the future.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible]...shared commitment to the as open a world economy
as possible, did you discuss any ways in which you might be able to
encourage Malaysia to reverse the position it's taken?
PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG:
Well, we did not discuss Malaysia in particular regarding the aspect
of opening up this economy. But we did discuss the importance of the
coming APEC meeting in September in New Zealand. And we'll be
working together with other like-minded countries to sustain this
momentum in getting the trading system open and if possible to have
another new round of negotiation under the WTO. So Malaysia's
cabinet control would, I'm sure, come into discussion if we do
have this discussion on how we can proceed with a new round for WTOs.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, you mentioned earlier Australia's growth rate.
Does it surprise you, and how important is it for your region?
PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG:
Oh, it surprised me to be very frank. When I was here five years ago
I would not have expected Australia to grow by four or five per cent
per year. Two or three per cent was more in the order of my reckoning.
Certainly it's going to help the region because whatever growth
there is in Australia, small as the economy is compared to Japan,
it is still helpful. For example, we are now buying more services
from Australia - education, some financial services, information technology
and so on, although we are buying but you're helping the economy
otherwise we would not be buying from Australia. That contributes
to the growth in Australia but that also makes our economy more competitive.
So we welcome that. We just hope Australia can sustain this for a
few more years.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister Goh, what's your assessment of the stability problems
that Indonesia is having and some of the comments that President Habibie
has been making specifically about Singapore, do you see Indonesia's
problems affecting, as an immunity, having some impact on regional
organisations?
PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG:
Neighbours sometimes behave like husband and wife. When the husband
is under stress because the husband might have lost his job, it's
the wife who gets the beating. Or, if it's the other way around,
the wife neglects the husband if she's under stress. So we accept
[inaudible]. What we hope to do in Singapore is to try and avoid being
a party in their own domestic elections. We would therefore say the
minimum to cause any provocations whatsoever from Indonesia. But certainly
the dire economic situation in Indonesia erode into its political
problems are affecting us, yes. Indonesia is a very important member
of ASEAN, the largest member. And if Indonesia is preoccupied with
its own domestic problems the [inaudible] to Indonesia is not able
to lead us in. And, of course, if you have this [inaudible] stresses
from time to time that will weaken us, yes.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, was Costello right to warn Australian republicans there'd
be no second chance after the referendum?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well, I think it was fair to say that there's a range of views
on this whole issue inside the Government because being a free, open,
progressive, forward-looking political party, we allow an open vote.
I think it is right that you don't have referendums every day
of the week in this country. But it is also the case that if this
referendum is defeated, there is nothing to stop the emergence of
pressure within the Australian community for another referendum on
the issue at some time in the future. And it's entirely a matter
for the Australian people but Mr Costello is a supporter of the model
being put up in November. A lot of people agree with him. A lot of
people don't. We'll wait and see and we'll let the
Australian people decide this thing. But ultimately these things are
in the hands of the Australian people, not in the hands of us. If
the Australian people vote yes in November, we'll become a republic
on the 1st of January the year 2001. If the Australian
people vote no in November then there's nothing to stop another
referendum emerging, although I wouldn't think you'd have
another referendum within 12 months. It might take somewhat longer
than that. But there's absolutely nothing to stop another referendum
being held in the future. Now, I don't say that in any way to
influence how people vote. I think that is a fair and flat and honest
statement of the position. Referendums don't happen every day
of the week but on an issue like this it could well be that there
will be several votes before there's a final resolution on it.
I don't know. I find it very hard to read. You should remember
that in the lead up to Federation we had a number of votes. And, in
fact, the history of this country on referenda is that we've
had quite a number of votes on the same question. I seem to remember
we've had several referendum votes on simultaneous elections.
I think we've had several referendum votes many years apart on
the transfer of prices on incomes powers to the Federal Government.
So if you look at the history of Australia, we are more referendum
than many other countries because unlike other countries we put into
our constitution this provision that you couldn't change the
basic document without...
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, when you say it could take several referendums before there's
a final resolution...
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
No, I didn't say that. I said that that could be the case, I'm
not saying it will be.
JOURNALIST:
So you're not suggesting then that eventually it's inevitable
that there will be a Constitutional change.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
No I'm not saying that. I mean you could...I'm allowing
the possibility that there could be several votes. I mean if this
referendum is defeated all I'm saying is that at some time in
the future a Government will come back with another proposal. And
that could be defeated. I don't know, that's all I'm
saying.
JOURNALIST:
Tax credits. Do you think that tax credits still have little merit
given the support that the Business Council seems to be giving to
them, ...?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
We have a view in relation to tax reform. It was put to the Australian
people at the last election and the Australian people voted for us
and we intend to implement that policy.
JOURNALIST:
Are you and Singapore concerned that the international community including
Australia maybe too preoccupied with the election process of Indonesia
rather than what happens after that?
PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG:
Well I think we are not, you know, overly occupied with the extra
process in Indonesia because that's a matter for the Indonesians.
But Prime Minister Howard has made an important point that the Indonesians
themselves must accept that the process is fair and clean otherwise
Indonesia will miss out on an opportunity for political stability,
because if there's no substance to the process then Indonesia
will reel into further problems. But beyond that I think we are concerned
with the general state of the region, politically as well as economically.
And of course the emphasis is on the economic side. Politics is beyond
us. It's the country's concern. On the economic side we
can discuss with international fora to see how we can help the region
to recover. So we are very seized with this economic crisis in the
region.