Subjects: Mitsubishi facelift; Whaling; Pacific Islands Forum; Japan economy; regional security; Indonesia visit; Kyoto; Industrial Action; whaling; Athletics team;
E&OE................................
PRIME MINISTER:
Ladies and gentlemen, I can inform you so that far my visit to Tokyo has been very productive and very satisfying. The highlight, of course, has been my meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Koizumi.
We've reaffirmed the great importance of the association between our two countries, he informed me in some detail of his reform plans for the Japanese economy. I assured him of the ongoing interest and support of the Australian government.
We discussed at some length also, climate change issues where the positions of Australia and Japan, while not being identical, are very close and we both agreed that a comprehensive agreement would be difficult to be seen as feasible unless it included the United States and the developing countries. I was able to brief him on the state of the Australian economy, the benefits that had been derived from successive implementation of reforms and the benefits in the longer term that accrue to any economy from a reform process.
We both agreed on the desirability of achieving, if possible, a new world trade round coming out of the next WTO meeting.
We both also understood and agreed upon the need for regional stability and I reported to him on my exchanges with the United States Secretary of State Colin Powell and the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, who had of course visited Japan - Mr Powell had - just before they both came to Australia.
I congratulated him on his outstanding victory in the Upper House elections here in Japan last weekend and we both agreed that that result bode well for his reform programme.
I also had the opportunity this morning of meeting Mr Rolf Eckrodt, Mr Tom Phillips, the Adelaide based Managing Director of Mitsubishi in Australia and others from that company and we discussed Mitsubishi's operations in Australia and I was delighted to be informed by them that the company was going to invest some $70 million in what's called in the trade the 'facelift' or the model upgrade and that is a very significant contribution to Mitsubishi's operation in Australia.
I outlined to him the benefits of the company's longer-term commitment to our country and the strong Australian economy, a very competitive exchange rate and all the other benefits that flowed from the Government's motor manufacturing policy. I have to say I regard that announcement as being extremely good news, most of all for the workers of Mitsubishi in Adelaide. It is very good news for the Mitsubishi workers. There is no reason on the basis of that investment that there shouldn't be continuity of employment until at least about 2005.
And can I finally report that I met the MITI Minister, had the opportunity to meet the Japan-Australian Diet League Members' Group and the Japan Australia Business Council over lunch and all of those meetings covered broadly similar ground and have confirmed in my mind the very deep and continuous commitment of the political leadership and the business community of Japan to our very close bilateral relationship.
Any questions?
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, Louise Yaxley ABC News. Can you tell us whether you've offered any more incentives to Mitsubishi to gain their decision that was announced today? Can you tell us when you knew this was going to be the outcome and give us an indication of how long, you said perhaps until 2005, the company will be continuing its Adelaide operation?
PRIME MINISTER:
There were no incentives offered for this particular announcement. The longer term position of Mitsubishi is under active consideration as part of the overall assessment of their global operations but I have to say that to have this kind of contribution with the implications it has for activity and employment levels over the next few years is extremely encouraging.
JOURNALIST:
Andrew Cornell, from the Australian Financial Review. Can you just clarify in regard to Mitsubishi : is it a commitment to ongoing production up through to 2005 as you understand it or is it something less than full-scale production?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's what is contained in the announcement. I mean I think it's always the right thing with something like that to speak to the person or the company that's making the investment. But I think the announcement is quite transparent.
JOURNALIST:
I wonder if you can expand on the regional security discussions that you had with Mr Koizumi? Did you take the discussions Mr Downer had last week any further in any substantial way?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. We didn't take it any further. I think its important to see those discussions in the context in . [break for interpreter] . The answer, in relation to the regional security, the answer is no we did not take it any further but it was part of the discussion.
JOURNALIST:
My name is Oenaka from Ji Ji Press. I understand that you will be visiting Indonesia. What kind of relationship are you looking forward to build with that country?
PRIME MINISTER:
I will visit Jakarta on the 12 August to see President Megawati. I welcome the fact that we are to have such an early meeting in her term as President. That is a sign to me that some of the difficulties at a political level arising out of our role in East Timor are now being put behind us. Indonesia's relationship with Australia is very important and I will work hard to keep that relationship on a strong basis in the future.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, Mark Simkin Australian Broadcasting Corporation, did Mr Eckrodt make any reference this morning to the industrial dispute in Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
It came up but I mentioned it in the context of pointing out to him that in fact over the last few years and particularly under the industrial relations policy of the present government the number of industrial disputes in Australia has fallen sharply. In fact, the number of man-hours lost per thousand workers in Australia in recent times is 83 per thousand, which is below the OECD average of 110 per thousand and in fact is slightly below the level here in Japan. That doesn't mean to say that I withdraw any of the remarks I have made about the current industrial dispute. You have to have these things in proper context. The fact is that from an industrial relations point of view the laws that have been in operation over the last five years have contributed to a period of great industrial stability.
JOURNALIST:
My name is Kurakata from the Fisheries Associated Newspaper. I have a question on whaling. In the context of ICC it has been proven scientifically that the population of Minke [?] whale has been adequate enough for whaling purpose but Australia has been constantly opposing to any catch on her whales. Do you wish to continue with this opposition for a number of years? How long are you going to oppose?
PRIME MINISTER:
We maintain our position on whaling and we will continue to put it and we'll put it again at the next conference. There are differences between Australia and Japan on that issue. We won't be changing our position. We think it's soundly based.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, Jim Hanna from Australian Associated Press. What concerns did Mr Eckrodt express to you about continuing their plant in Australia? What assurances were you able to give him to convince him to come to the.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it wasn't a discussion that called for expressions of concern or assurances. It was a discussion about a whole lot of things. It included advice about the investment that I mentioned a few moments ago and in the context of the remarks I made about the active consideration of the long-term position. So there's nothing really more I have to add to that. I think you really have to talk to the company. Companies make investments and they make investments based on expected returns and long term economic conditions and I think its always a good idea if people want to know what companies' positions are to talk to them. But I can only repeat that it's very encouraging to have an investment of this magnitude with the implications for activity and jobs that goes with it.
JOURNALIST:
My name is Kitazumi from .. Shinbun. Now in your remarks you did not make any reference to TIFA. Does that mean you didn't discuss about TIFA at all in the series of meeting you have so far? What is the ideal model of investment agreement for Australia to Japan?
PRIME MINISTER:
I mentioned TIFA in every meeting. And I will mention it again when I see the Foreign Minister and the Agriculture Minister and also the Former Prime Minister who I am seeing just before I leave.
JOURNALIST:
My name is Narikabo from Kyoto Press. Now in relation to East Timor, did you talk about dispatching self-defence force of Japan personnel to East Timor when you discussed matters with Prime Minister Koizumi. And my second question concerns the official visit by the Prime Minister Yasukuni Shrine. There's been a complaint from China and South Korea. Your position, the Australian position is quite close to these two countries, but what is your reaction?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well in relation to the second issue, that's the visit to the shrine, that matter did not come up in our discussions. My position is that this is a matter for the Prime Minister to make a decision on. There are inevitably sensitivities. I'm sure everybody's aware of that. Beyond that I don't have any comment. As to the first issue, East Timor came up in our discussions and I thanked Japan for her contribution generally in relation to East Timor. That was the extent of the discussion.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard. Dennis Shanahan from the Australian. You've mentioned the World Trade Organisation a couple of times. Did you discuss with the Japanese Prime Minister the coming APEC meeting and were there any attempts to try and revive the APEC system?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think its fair to say that the discussion about trade liberalisation and globalisation was in the context of the World Trade Organisation but I guess it's understood between us that the similar considerations apply to APEC.
JOURNALIST:
My name is Georgio from Plas Tokyo. I understand Japan Australia trade a lot of commodity, natural resources, and I just want to ask you whether there was any talk from the Minister this morning about natural resources including crude oil, liquefied natural gas or the minerals.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes there was and I said that even though our trade was already very large in those areas it could become much larger. LNG and also our capacity to help Japan with her clean energy push.
JOURNALIST:
Stephen Lunn from the Australian. I'm sorry to hark back to Mr Eckrodt again, and I understand your position that its for the company to flesh out the detail of the policy but I'm interested in your view as a Prime Minister whether you were able to put in front of Mr Eckrodt whether he committed to maintaining all of the existing jobs or jobs at the same level for the next five years?
PRIME MINISTER:
I thought I had answered that but let me say it again or put it in a slightly different way. My understanding, my view as Prime Minister, my view and understanding is that as a consequence of this investment there's no reason why the current level of activity and employment should not be maintained until about 2005 on that decision alone.
JOURNALIST:
My name is Noazawa from Agriculture Cooperative Newspaper. I have a question on WTO agricultural negotiations. The Japanese government has already submitted a Japanese proposal for agricultural negotiation. Could you give us your assessment or evaluation of the Japanese proposal?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think it's fair to say that there are some differences between Australia and Japan on agriculture. We are a country that has very low levels of protection and assistance for a very efficient agricultural industry and we would actually like the levels of assistance and protection for the agricultural industries of other countries to be brought much closer to Australia's.
JOURNALIST:
Ian McPhedran from News Limited. Prime Minister, just on the question of economic reform, there were some concerns expressed this morning by the Japanese side about Australia's economic outlook and performance. Were those concerns echoed at all during the rest of your discussions? And secondly, Mr Abbott described the union action on the motor industry at the moment as "treason". Do you agree with that?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think you're referring Ian to the remark that was made at the breakfast. That remark of course was not technically accurate and there was no repetition of that during the day and certainly in all the discussions I've had nobody expressed the view other than that they thought the Australian economy was growing very strongly.
JOURNALIST:
And Mr Abbott?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh yes. Sorry. Look I haven't seen the total context of those remarks but clearly everybody has their own way of expressing these things. I think the strike in Australia at this particular time is extraordinarily unhelpful and I'm amazed that the Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition haven't condemned it. I'm over here, I think we're all interested in saving and protecting and promoting and securing the jobs of Australian workers and that kind of behaviour is doing the exact opposite.
JOURNALIST:
There seems to be some flak back home about your decision not to attend the South Pacific Forum. I'm just wondering how you respond to criticism that you're ignoring that part of the region.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'm not ignoring it. The simple reality is that as I'm going to Indonesia it just poses a logistically impossible situation given my other commitments in Australia. If I weren't going to Jakarta then the situation could well have been different but subsequently to my deciding to go to the pacific islands meeting, the opportunity of coming to Tokyo arrived and also the opportunity and the invitation to go to Jakarta. I do have some other responsibilities as well and I just calculated that it was imposing too great a burden on me in relation to those other responsibilities. I don't think anybody can accuse me of ignoring the region as a whole. Particularly with the emphasis I've put on getting to Jakarta at an early date. I'm sorry that I can't go, I did go last year and I did intend to go. But for the circumstances I've outlined I can't.
JOURNALIST:
You mentioned about Japan and Australia's position on Kyoto being close but not identical. I just wanted to make sure, just confirm what would Australia do if Japan goes ahead and ratifies without the US? Would Australia follow Japan or just. not ratify it? The second question is did you discuss whaling with Mr Koizumi?
PRIME MINISTER:
The answer to the second question is no. The answer to the first question is that it's based on a hypothesis and somebody in my position doesn't answer such questions. I would merely add though that whatever decision we take will not be based on following one country or another. It would be based upon what we regard as being the best interest of Australia and in our view it remains the case that you need the Americans and the developing countries in to have an effective agreement.
JOURNALIST:
What do you think of Athletics Australia wanting to name their team members the 'Diggers'?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't think it's appropriate. I would ask the athletics organisation to reconsider it. That expression has effectively a sacred status in Australia and I don't think it should be used other than in relation to the people and the deeds of the people who put their lives on the line for our country. Thank you.