Subjects: Iraq; South Pacific Forum; Zimbabwe
E&OE...........
LIEBMAN:
The Prime Minister joins us from Suva. Prime Minister, thank you for joining us. It sounds like we';re copping some flak as the Forum begins. Do you think you';re going to have do some fence mending amongst our Pacific nation delegates.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, don';t believe so. I travelled over from Port Moresby with the new Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Michael Somare. I don';t expect any flak, as you call it. They';ll be some areas such as climate change, where there';s always been some difference of opinion. But Australia has very close relations with the countries of the Pacific area. We';ve played a major role in the restoration of a better governance approach in the Solomons. We';ve played a significant role in relation to Fiji';s return to democracy. I';m not concerned. There will be some areas where we differ, but overall the relations are good and there';s a lot of work to be done.
LIEBMAN:
So Prime Minister, you';re not expecting to take much heat from other forum nations on our so-called Pacific solution on asylum seekers and even Australia';s position Iraq?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I';d be very surprised in relation to the asylum seeker issue. The two countries that matter here are Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Now the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, only yesterday, said that he would honour the agreement made by the former Government. Nauru has indicated a continuation of the arrangement. I';ll talk to President Harris about it, but suggestions that there';s going to be a concerted attack or even a sporadic attack on Australia over this issue, I don';t see borne out in what I';ve been told. And certainly as far as Papua New Guinea was concerned, the response of the Prime Minister was that the agreement made would be honoured.
LIEBMAN:
Prime Minister on Iraq, the US Navy is moving more military hardware into the Persian Gulf region. Have you received any information in the last few days to suggest that an invasion of Iraq is nearer?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I have not. The situation with Iraq is that no decision has been taken by the United States, obviously the American military plans for a lot of contingencies - everyone knows that, that';s no secret. But no decision has been taken and I';ve said repeatedly, and I';ll say it again this morning, that what I have done in relation to this issue is to take the Australian public into my confidence, to tell them that I think there is a strong possibility of American action. That if that occurs, then Australia could well be asked to participate. But neither has happened and it really is a little premature to be talking about an American strike because no decision has been taken. But it is important that as Prime Minister I let the Australian public know the situation as I understand it to be. But I can inform you that I haven';t been informed and I wouldn';t think it at all likely that some kind of American strike is imminent.
LIEBMAN:
Prime Minister, in your absence the Greens have indicated they';re going to push for a full Senate inquiry into any Australian involvement in an Iraq conflict. The Democrats say they';re going to put forward a motion opposing a first strike. Do you acknowledge that going to war should have the people's support and we should have a say?
PRIME MINISTER:
People should remember that the current situation is that Iraq is in continuing breach of a resolution of the Security Council of the United Nations and this seems to be forgotten in the lather of rhetoric coming from the Greens and others about some hypothetical involvement by Australia.
LIEBMAN:
Well when you stand in front of a new memorial to mark 60 years since the Battle of Kokoda, honouring the Australian soldiers who gave their lives, as you did in Papua New Guinea yesterday, I guess you question the wisdom of sending Australian soldiers into another war on the other side of the world.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well can I just say, even hypothetically, to start comparing what happened in World War II with any possible hypothetical Australian military involvement in relation to Iraq, is a little disproportionate. I think this whole discussion has got to have a sense of proportion and a sense of perspective. We';re not dealing here with a potential world war. We';re dealing with concern, very legitimate concern, about the failure of a country to comply with Security Council resolutions.
LIEBMAN:
Prime Minister, you';ll be talking with New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark, during the Forum. She now, we understand, wants Zimbabwe expelled from the Commonwealth. What do you want to do?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I certainly want to talk to her and I would want to have another discussion with the President of South Africa and the President of Nigeria. We comprised a troika. I';m very unhappy with Zimbabwe';s essentially nil response to the concerns expressed by the Commonwealth. There';s been no serious attempt by the Mugabe Government to engage the Opposition, to take any notice of Commonwealth concerns. And I';ll have an open mind as to what other people in the Commonwealth wish to put to me. I haven';t been told by Helen Clark herself that that is her wish. So, I better wait until I talk to her shortly to find out precisely what New Zealand';s position is. But what is happening in Zimbabwe is out of step with the principles of the Commonwealth, there';s no doubt about that. And to date no serious attempt has been made, even to receive the Secretary General of the Commonwealth to convey concerns. Well if that is the view of the current Zimbabwean Government, then you can well understand other Commonwealth countries becoming concerned. But at this stage, it';s premature for me to talk about expulsion and I won';t do that.
LIEBMAN:
Mr Howard, thanks for your time today. Good talking with you again.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[ends]