E&OE...........
LAWS:
On the line we have the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard. Prime Minister, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning, John.
LAWS:
It's not a good morning, is it?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, it's a very sad morning for all of us. The saddest morning I can recall in years.
LAWS:
I watched you yesterday when you made your speech. It was a very very touching speech and obviously this incident has affected you very deeply as the leader of our country?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it has. I was yesterday and I remain moved and upset by what's been done to Australians in such a wicked and indiscriminate and evil fashion. It is just so wrong that people who are doing nothing other than letting off a bit of steam in a holiday resort, in many cases after a long football season, that these evil, despicable people should destroy the lives of some, and maim others, and burn them, and oh it's just awful.
LAWS:
It';s so cowardly.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it is cowardly and it's indiscriminate. You've got to remember that there are many Balinese people have died as well and other westerners. It's indifferent to religious belief, it does have an anti-western flavour, there's not much doubt about that. And I'm in no doubt that this is part of a pattern of terrorist attacks in different parts of the world and I think we have to realise that. That French tanker was clearly a terrorist attack.
LAWS:
Obviously.
PRIME MINISTER:
The attack on the Americans in Kuwait, the others, all of things are part of the pattern. The good thing, if there can be anything good about the last 48 hours, is that the crisis services in Australia really reacted very well. And I expect within the next 24 hours to 36 hours, all of the serious and critically injured Australians would have been brought to Australia. And that really is a remarkable effort by the Airforce, and the Defence people, and the Department of Foreign Affairs, and I do want to record my thanks to all of those groups that have worked so very hard. But we don't know the full death toll yet. The latest formal advice I have is 13 Australians so far identified amongst the dead, one Australian has died in transit from Denpasar…
LAWS:
Isn't that tragic?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, it's terrible.
LAWS:
It's just awful. I mean, dying on the aeroplane…
PRIME MINISTER:
And we've got… there were 113 Australians hospitalised prior to their evacuation. There are still 220 Australians unaccounted for, but we shouldn't automatically assume that all of those are potential fatalities. But I just, at the moment, I don't know. We do believe that the death toll, the final death toll, might emerge in the next couple of days, that's the best I can say. I can only say to people who are still waiting to hear, you can only begin to imagine what they're going through.
LAWS:
Terrible, just terrible. There's very little doubt that Australia was a target in this attack.
PRIME MINISTER:
I think it's certain that western… it was an attack on a western symbol. I mean, a nightclub is a symbol what some radicals would see as western conduct. Bear also in mind that Bali is a predominantly a Hindu country, a Hindu province…
LAWS:
That's right.
PRIME MINISTER:
…Indonesia, therefore there is…there could sadly be a significance in that. I think it's…there is a clear anti-western pattern to this as to whether there was an additional anti-Australian dimension to it is impossible to say. Certainly, we have suffered very very severely and that is recognised and just what the final numbers will be, as I say, I don't know. But there is clearly an anti-western pattern to this and potential an anti-Australian one. I mean, there are reasons why some groups in Indonesia have been hostile to Australia. I mean, a lot of them still remain hostile to what we did in relation to East Timor.
LAWS:
Certainly. I was mentioning that earlier…
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not saying that's the reason. I mean, I'm…John, there's no point in my…other than being completely open with people, there are some things about this I know and I will tell the Australian public everything I know about, which I can, the subject of protecting security sources, but there are other things about it that I don't know and I'm still in the process of finding out. I do believe it was a terrorist act. I do believe it's part of the pattern. It drives home to us that everybody is at risk from terrorism. Anybody in Australia who prior to yesterday entertained the view that it can't happen here, I hope they will reassess that because it can and it's happened to our own on our doorstep in a absolutely unforgivable fashion.
LAWS:
Do you think our obvious, and I believe necessary, support of the United States has something to do with the attitude of some of these extreme groups against Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I'm quite certain that terrorist organisations are hostile to Australia and to all democratic societies. I would counsel those people who might be running that argument to have a look at what has happened to French and German civilians that have been killed. I mean, there were a group of 15 to 20 German tourists killed in Tunisia. The German Chancellor ran very strong the critical line of the Americans in the last German election in relation to Iraq, that didn't and that attitude didn't buy any immunity for his citizens. I mean, the murder of them I think occurred before the election, but the reality is the French and German Governments have taken a neutral position in relation to some of these issues, but it hasn't spared their citizens.
LAWS:
But it hasn't.
PRIME MINISTER:
And there was a car bomb outside the Philippine Consulate in Indonesia. The Philippines has been in no way involved diplomatically or publicly. Now, the point of all of that is to say that terrorism with an anti-western flavour strikes indiscriminately at people and countries irrespective of the stance they take on particular issues because it is the practice of democracy, and the ideals of freedom, and the character of our societies that they despise, rather than our stance on particular issues.
LAWS:
So Prime Minister, what';s next? Where do you go from here?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';m having a meeting of our National Security Committee in a few moments and we will assess everything we know about what';s happened in Bali, what we can do. There is a very heavy onus now on the Indonesian government to pursue these people. We';re willing to help. The Americans are willing to help. I had a half an hour conversation with President Bush this morning. He rang me about eight o';clock and he not only of course expressed his sorrow and concern about what had happened but he offered any American intelligence and other assistance that could be utilised and I know that he will be putting a very strong view to the Indonesian government about its responsibilities. I had a similar call from Tony Blair last night. The British and the Americans already have some security people in Indonesia and are anxious and willing to help as is the New Zealand government. Helen Clark spoke to me last night as well. There will have been I believe some New Zealand and British citizens and at least one American citizen who died in the nightclub. So they are directly affected. We will meet this morning as the National Security Committee, we';ll have a motion before Parliament, to be spoken to by myself and the Leader of the Opposition and the leader of the National Party. Then I';ll be proposing that Parliament adjourn until tomorrow. It will take quite a while for the full impact of this to be absorbed and assimilated by the Australian people, we will respond strongly but we';ll respond sensibly, but gee we';re going to respond with a deep sense of anger and outrage….
LAWS:
Yes understandably.
PRIME MINISTER:
….what had been done to our people in this way.
LAWS:
Yes it';s the cowardly way in which this sort of thing is done, and indiscriminate.
PRIME MINISTER:
Indiscriminate. I mean these people were just innocent civilians having fun and as there were innocent people in the World Trade Centre going about their normal lives. They weren';t out there trying to pick a fight with anybody.
LAWS:
No they weren';t.
PRIME MINISTER:
They were just trying to have a bit of fun and it is just unforgivable and evil in the fullest extent of those expressions.
LAWS:
Okay. Prime Minister, thank you very much for your time. We';ll look forward to hearing further reports from you and from your office during the morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks John.
[Ends]