Subjects: Zimbabwe; Iraq
E&OE...........
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well ladies and gentlemen the Foreign Secretary and I have had a very good discussion. We've naturally talked about Iraq and we've also talked about the Abuja meeting on Zimbabwe. In relation to Zimbabwe I gave him an account of what was for me a profoundly disappointing meeting, the unwillingness of South Africa and Nigeria to support what I regarded as a entirely appropriate response to Zimbabwe's indifference to the Marlborough House statement. It was a disappointment. We'll continue to try and engage Zimbabwe but the reality is that there was a rorted election earlier this year and that was the finding not of Australia and Britain, it was the finding of a Commonwealth observer group led by a former Nigerian President. So there can be no argument as to the rights and wrongs of that. In relation to Iraq let me say that the position that I and the Australian government has on this issue is very close to that of the British government. Obviously each country formulates their own position. We support very strongly the efforts of Britain and the United States to craft a Security Council resolution. I want to say that the dossier produced by the British government and tabled in the Commons yesterday is an excellent document and I think it has made a significant impact not only here but also in Australia. It's a further coherently argued document which pinpoints the dimension of the threat that Iraq poses if the issue is left unaddressed. I said yesterday after I met Mr Blair that nobody wants military conflict. I don't, the British don't, the Americans don't, none of us want military conflict and if that can be avoided we'll all be delirious with joy but you cannot leave this issue unaddressed and that's happened in the past and it can't be allowed to happen indefinitely in the future.
SECRETARY STRAW:
I'll just make a brief statement just to say that I am very grateful indeed to Prime Minister Howard for the lunch and for our meeting and I know that Prime Minister Blair greatly enjoyed the meeting that he had with Prime Minister Howard yesterday. As you've heard we discussed Zimbabwe and I'd like to repeat publicly what the Prime Minister and I have said privately which is to express our very great appreciation to Prime Minister Howard for his tireless work to ensure that the injustice of the Mugabe regime does not go unnoticed across the world and there are consequences for the abuse and violation of the key founding principles and guiding principles of the Commonwealth which happened very ironically to be called the Harare principles. I think Prime Minister Howard's trip to Abuja will rank in history as one well beyond the call of duty if I may put it that way, but nonetheless important in that the Commonwealth is able to see that the current leader of the Commonwealth is taking a firm stand on this and I'm as disappointed as Prime Minister Howard has been in the response that was received by the Presidents of Nigeria and of South Africa. And the sadness, the double sadness is that the greatest harm from Zimbabwe aside from that caused to Zimbabweans is to Africans and to Africa. So far as Iraq is concerned I haven't got a great deal to add to the position as of last night in the House of Commons and that which I've said this morning on the radio and television, except to say that discussions with the United States Administration continue over an appropriate draft text which will then be circulated to our colleagues in the permanent five of the United Nations Security Council - France, Russia and China - then after that to the other non-permanent ten. Any questions please.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Straw can you tell me, perhaps both, can you tell me about the possible discussions you'd had involving military cooperation between Australia and Britain should there be need for such with Iraq?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
We didn't get into that. We're about trying to find a diplomatic solution to it. Now obviously the Americans have been involved in a lot of military planning and as I've indicated repeatedly in Australia we've had people inside the American military complex and they're very much across all of that as you would expect with a very close alliance. But the focus we have is trying to get this issue driven down the United Nations path and hopefully achieving however difficult it may seem a peaceful diplomatic solution. That will involve a lot of change of behaviour on the part of the Iraqis but we're very strongly committed to trying to achieve that outcome if we can.
JOURNALIST:
What specific diplomatic role then can Australia play in this?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well we've already played a strong diplomatic role. We have articulated our view on it. We have of course a very close alliance with both the United Kingdom and the United States. We have a very close intelligence sharing arrangement. It's unique in the degree of confidentiality and trust that exists between the intelligence services of our three nations and there are other ways in which Australia can diplomatically support the efforts that the Americans and the British are now undertaking in the UN to try and get a resolution together. I mean there is a lot of work going on. It's a very difficult balancing act that's required and I think there's an enormous amount of good faith being demonstrated by President Bush. I think his speech to the United Nations brought all of the elements of this very difficult issue together very nicely and we support very strongly what both Washington and London are trying to do together to achieve an outcome that I think is in the long term interests of both of their societies and also our own.
JOURNALIST:
Are you going to be able to draft a resolution that will be acceptable to all the members of the Security Council?
SECRETARY STRAW:
Well we hope so but you can never tell until you get to the point where there is agreement. But obviously that is our intention. And the purpose of this just to emphasise something that Prime Minister Howard has said is to secure a peaceful disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and that's the position Mr Howard has just explained to the Australian government, it's the position of the British government, it's also the position of the American government. But all of us know that to have any chance of achieving a peaceful outcome we have to be very very firm and tough about the nature of the alternative.
JOURNALIST:
I mean how important is it that that draft resolution actually includes what the weapons inspectors should be doing and how long that they've got? Reports from New York last night were suggesting that the British were trying to push that on the Americans but the Americans were much more keen on talking about what happens afterwards when Saddam doesn't comply.
SECRETARY STRAW:
I'm sorry but I'm not going to lift the veil over negotiations which are taking place except to say that we and the United States and the rest of the international community are completely united about what Saddam has to do. Thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Thank you.
[Ends]