Subjects: bilateral discussion; $1 million flood relief; MOU on terrorism
E&OE...........
PRESIDENT MEGAWATI:
Ladies and gentlemen, we have just concluded the bilateral talk between Indonesia and Australia. In fulfillment of my invitation the Honourable John Howard Prime Minister of Australia pays an official visit starting from today and will last until February 8, 2002, and I am happy that he can make this official visit. And I also congratulated him on his re-election as Prime Minister of Australia.
There are a lot of issues that we have been discussing in this bilateral talk which covered the political and security issues, the relationship between Australia and Indonesia, and also the issue of [inaudible] ties. We also discussed about trade, agriculture, technology and research. I believe that we are convinced that the relations between Indonesia and Australia should be more realistic and rational in the future.
In this bilateral talk we have also discussed on the terrorism. We believe that this is not only the problem of Indonesia and Australia but many countries should be involved in combating terrorism. I would like now to invite the Honourable Prime Minister John Howard. PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you very much Madam President. I have very much, and so has my wife Janette, welcomed this opportunity to once again be in your country. This is my fifth visit to Indonesia as Prime Minister and I appreciate very much that you have been able to receive us so graciously at a time of considerable difficulty particularly for the Jakarta region as a result of the recent floods.
In relation to the floods Australia will provide a sum of A$1 million to aid the flood relief effort. We will discuss at an official level the most effective and speedy way in which this assistance can be provided. We have in mind providing some of it to the Indonesian Red Cross and some of it to the World Food Program. But we will certainly look at different ways of getting the help as quickly as possible.
In our discussions the President and I have covered major areas of the bilateral relationship between our two countries. As the President rightly said the relationship must be based on realism, it must recognise that we are near neighbours, there will be areas on which we will agree more readily than others. I told the President that Australia strongly supported the territorial integrity and the unity of the Indonesian nation and we understand the challenges of a vast country. We respect very much the autonomy packages that have been developed to deal with particular regional issues, but Australia supports the maintenance of the unity of the Indonesian nation and it is a very significant element of the bilateral understanding between our two governments and our two countries.
Australia and Indonesia have cooperated to jointly convene a regional forum on the issue of people smuggling which will take place in Bali at the end of this month. The acceptances from countries in the region to this meeting have been very encouraging. We recognise that although there are bilateral issues between Australia and Indonesia it is nonetheless an issue that must be tackled on a regional basis because many countries and people from different countries are involved.
I';ve indicated to the President that Australia will provide five small boats for Indonesian agencies. I think they';re called, in our language, police run-arounds is the description. They';re small craft and five of them will be made available. We also look forward to the meeting between Australia, Indonesia and East Timor which is to take place immediately before the people smuggling forum in Bali on the 25th of this month. This is another important example of the cooperation between our two countries and importantly in this case between Australia, Indonesia and East Timor.
I agreed very much with the remarks that the President made regarding the common threat of terrorism in our region. All countries, and Australia and Indonesia are no exceptions, have responsibilities in this area and in this regard the Indonesian Government has proposed the possibility of a memorandum of understanding being entered into between Australia and Indonesia to counter international terrorism and there are discussions going on between our respective governments regarding this at the present time. I and my Government are very favourably disposed towards this and if agreement can be reached then it may well be possible for that memorandum of understanding to be signed while I';m here in Jakarta on this particular visit. But this understanding, if it is reached, will send a very strong signal to other countries in the region that Indonesia and Australia are serious about this challenge and about this difficulty and I want to say to you Madam President that Australia welcomes very much the Indonesian proposal.
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