Subject:
Iraq, Afghanistan, David Hicks; National Plan for Water Security
E&OE...
STEFANOVIC:
Good morning to you?
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning Karl.
STEFANOVIC:
PM, Dick Cheney is going to be here a little bit later in the week, what will your response be if he asks for more troops to be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan?
PRIME MINISTER:
I wouldn't expect there to be a specific request for more troops. But as far as Iraq is concerned, whilst I never rule things out categorically, I believe our current commitment of combat troops is about right and I would not expect Australia to increase, in any significant way, the number of combat troops that we have in Iraq. I wouldn't at the margin rule out some additional trainers because trainers are very important in helping get the Iraqi Army ready to do the job we all want it to be able to do and that is to look after the country's security. But as far as combat troops are concerned I think the current level is appropriate and I don't expect Australia to be increasing that and I don't expect a specific request from the Vice President. On Afghanistan, we continue to review our force level there. The situation in Afghanistan is not easy. We would like to see a greater commitment in the southern part of the country from a number of the non-NATO countries; and I don't, of course, include in that the United States, Britain or Canada, but we would like to see more from some of the other NATO countries, but we will keep our own force commitment in Afghanistan under constant review.
STEFANOVIC:
So possibly PM, what I'm hearing is, more training staff to Iraq and possibly more combat troops to Afghanistan?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well what I'm saying in relation to Afghanistan is that we keep it under constant review and I think it'd be foolish of people to speculate either way, but I do believe that it's something that should be kept under constant review. As far as Iraq is concerned, there is a case for a few more trainers because they're doing a very good job getting the Iraqi Army ready and that's what everybody wants. I mean everybody wants a situation where the Iraqis can look after themselves and one of the ways of doing that is for countries like Australia to help, but if we did do something in that area we're not talking about large numbers, we're talking about quite modest numbers. But on the combat troop front, I think the current level there is appropriate and I wouldn't expect there to be any change in that level, although as I say constantly with these things, I never categorically rule something out because there could be some dramatic change in circumstances of which we're not aware at the moment.
MURDOCH:
Okay, well Senator Hillary Clinton is calling for a 90 day deadline to start withdrawing troops from Iraq; do you stand by your comments that the terrorists would welcome a Democratic win?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I've said what I said in relation to Senator Obama, I'm not going to sort of go further into that. Our view is that if there is a precipitate coalition withdrawal then that will greatly embolden the terrorists, that's not only my view, it's the view of the American Administration, it's also the view of the latest national intelligence assessment, it's also the view of the Baker-Hamilton Report, this document that is frequently quoted by my critics, it actually says a precipitate withdrawal, and that is a withdrawal before the Iraqis are ready to look after themselves. Now as to the internal nuances of that, people can debate it, but speaking for Australia and speaking to Australia's interests, I do not want to see a precipitate coalition withdrawal because that would plunge the country into much greater bloodshed, it would embolden the terrorists, it would be an enormous humiliation for the United States and would damage Australia's security interests, particularly against terrorism in this part of the world.
STEFANOVIC:
PM, I know that you've got a fly that's bugging you this morning, it's something that is also.....
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes.....
STEFANOVIC:
Sorry about that....
PRIME MINISTER:
Is it gone now?
STEFANOVIC:
Yes it is gone now. Something that isn't going away....
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks Karl, you're an ever helpful bloke.
STEFANOVIC:
I knew that you wanted to blow it away. Anyway look, something that's not going away obviously is the David Hicks issue, when you meet with Mr Cheney will you be demanding that his trial happen immediately?
PRIME MINISTER:
I will be pressing the Vice President as strongly as the circumstances allow for the trial to take place without any further delay. Now we are very unhappy that it's taken this long, some of the delay has not been the fault of the Administration, but a lot of it, frankly, has been the process within the Pentagon and the Defense Department in the United States. Australians want him brought to trial and the truth or otherwise of the allegations, which are very serious allegations, tested before the Military Commission, that's what they want and that's what we want. He wasn't in Afghanistan on some kind of backpacking frolic. I mean let's get that out of the way. These are very serious allegations and they should be tested, but it's taken too long and I'll be making that point, as forcefully, as the circumstances allow when I see the Vice President.
MURDOCH:
Okay, well if it doesn't happen soon though will you bring him home nonetheless?
PRIME MINISTER:
Sarah, let's see what happens, I don't want to speculate about what might occur except to support the remark that was made by Mr Downer yesterday, and that is that if the trial does take place quickly, as we want, then either way he could be back on Australian soil later this year. If he's free, well he obviously comes back, he's an Australian citizen, if he is convicted, we have an arrangement with the Americans whereby he can serve out the remainder of his term in an Australian prison. So either way.....
STEFANOVIC:
Sorry Prime Minister just to clarify, if he's given life, he serves life here?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the residue of the term, I'm not going to speculate about what it is, except to rule out the death penalty because the Americans have already said that won't apply.
STEFANOVIC:
Alright. Prime Minister, just the Murray-Darling, it seems to be an ongoing issue for the state Premiers, Mr Costello said yesterday there would be no more money and today or late yesterday Premier Beattie was speculating that they might run a pipeline from Far North Queensland, it's getting murkier and murkier it seems?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well this is a visionary $10 billion plan to fix the problem of the Murray-Darling. This is $10 billion of extra Commonwealth money. We're not asking the states to put extra money in, we're putting it all in ourselves and what we're asking for is control of the river system because it's an interstate river system and the current arrangement has failed to work effectively, that's what we're asking for. In return, we're going to pick up the tab for fixing the irrigation channels, we're going to pick up the tab for fixing the over-allocation problem and I do hope that, because this is a Federal Election year, politics are not going to get in the way of a sensible resolution. I think the Australian public supports this plan, they see it as genuine attempt by the Federal Government to fix something that's been a bugbear for a long time. I'm happy to look at other proposals in an objective fashion but I don't want them to be seen as a reason or an excuse for not coming to a conclusion next Friday. And I look to next Friday's meeting in a spirit of cooperation. I want the essential elements of my plan retained. Obviously without the essential elements it won't work, but I just say to all of the Premiers, I know it's a Federal Election year but water is the biggest single conservation issue this country has, it's the great conservation and environmental challenge of our age. And everywhere I go in the country, whether it's here in Melbourne or I'm going to Perth later today, or in Sydney or in the bush, people are worried about water and here is something that can actually, in a practical way, I mean I'm talking about something practical; we're going to pipe the irrigation channels, we're going to line them so you don't lose so much water through evaporation and seepage and we're going to invest $3 billion in helping to, where necessary, buy back water allocations that will be needed to adjust the flows into the river and we're going to return half the water we save to the environment . I mean, this is a very practical plan, the sort of thing Australians want and I think it would be a tragedy if it got caught up in the fact that this is a Federal Election year and as a Liberal Prime Minister I'm dealing with a group of Labor Premiers. I'm sure, as they have in the past, they will see the national interest.
MURDOCH:
And just quickly Prime Minister before we go, more money for education today?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I'll be announcing in Perth another $181 million for this investing in our schools program, which has been going for two years and under it local P&C and parents and friends organisations come to us and say we would like an extra toilet block, we would like a small extra computer lab, we would like some extra shade in the school playground; they're little projects which have somehow or other fallen through the cracks of the state education system. And it's the local community that decides what they want and when this latest amount of money is expended we will have invested about $1.2 billion in this, and let me just finish by saying that in the 10 years that we have been in Government we've increased by 118 per cent the amount of money we give to government schools around the country, yet only a one per cent increase in enrolments has been the case in relation to those schools. But this program, of course, is available for the less well off, non-government schools as well as the government schools.
STEFANOVIC:
Alright PM, thank you very much for your time this morning, appreciate it.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[ends]