Subject:
Visit to Japan; Free Trade Agreement; Labor MPs.
E&OE...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well ladies and gentlemen I have arrived for what is a very important visit, marking as it does the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Commerce Agreement between Australia and Japan way back in 1957. A great tribute I might say to the foresight of John McEwen who was then the Trade Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. And over the years the relationship between Australia and Japan has been a remarkable illustration of the capacity of two nations once at war to move on and not be constrained by the past, whilst of course never forgetting what may have occurred in the past. And the great thing about this relationship is that it's developed in so many ways. Japan is still our best customer. It's important to remember that. Despite the rise of China as an important customer for Australia, Japan remains our best customer.
And Japan of course is a great Pacific democracy and one of the things that I expect will come out of this visit is the signing of a declaration on security matters, which will mean that Japan's security relationship with Australia will be closer than any country other than of course the United States. And this is an illustration of how far the relationship has come. We of course provided a security environment for the Japanese engineers in the Al Muthanna Province in southern Iraq and I recall when I made the Australian commitment in relation to that a couple of years ago it was seen in the Australian community as a positive that we were in fact working in partnership with the Japanese.
So I do look forward to this visit. I have got to know Mr Abe well. We have met on a number of occasions at regional forums and we'll be seeing the commencement in April of the detailed negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement. They will be long and complex negotiations but it's fair to say that even without starting a free trade negotiation, Australia and Japan have a very close economic relationship. In fact, our trade balance with Japan is the envy of most government leaders to whom I speak around the world.
Any questions?
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, why are the Chinese worried about this security agreement and what has your Government been doing to assuage them?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't believe they are too worried. I don't. Every nation makes arrangements in relation to these things according to its national interest and it's very important as we go forward in our relations with countries in this region that we take a broad approach and we don't have too narrow a focus in relation to our links with other countries.
China has tended to dominate the news because of her extraordinary growth and Australia has benefited enormously and I said the other night at the Global Foundation Dinner in Melbourne that the most remarkable achievement of foreign policy under my Government has been the simultaneous development of ever closer relations with the United States while at the same time developing a very close relationship with China. Now we are going to continue to do that, and in our approach to China, we do not take exactly the same attitude as the United States. There are, from time to time, some differences. They're not just nuanced differences, there is a different perspective and that to my mind adds to the strength of the relationship with China.
But having said all of that we shouldn't neglect and fail to take opportunities to further bolster our relationship with Japan.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, do you think that enough time has passed that it would be acceptable to Australians that Japanese troops exercise with Australian troops on Australian soil as was mentioned by the Foreign Minister Alexander Downer not so long ago?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes I do. I think we have of course seen the passage of many decades since World War II. It's important to the future that Japan assume a greater security role in the region. It's important for the future. And as I say, you don't forget the past and you learn lessons from the past, but if we are to have a future together in this region, then we must work together and recognise the need to do so.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, is that code for containment of China?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, it's not code. I think you shouldn't look for hidden meanings. I mean we have a transparent interest in nurturing a close relationship with Japan. We have a transparent interest in working with Japan and China and the United States to solve problems. I mean the Six Party Talks, which have led to something of a breakthrough with North Korea have involved China and Japan and South Korea and the United States. So there are a lot of issues that can only be solved if we try and find some common ground.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, the South Koreans now say your Government needs to be transparent with this security agreement and fully brief them and others on the detail and implications of the agreement as you see it. Does it surprise you that they have expressed that concern and will you be briefing them and other countries on the details?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no, no it doesn't. That's the normal thing that is said on occasions like this, and given the history between Korea and Japan, I understand that. And we will of course be very transparent; there will be nothing secret about this Agreement. There won't be any secret protocols. And it's a declaration, it's not a treaty. It won't be a full treaty. It might ultimately lead to that, but what we have in mind is a security declaration and it will enunciate some principles concerning our security relationship. And I think it's a very sensible step forward. Bear in mind we have a Trilateral Security Dialogue with Japan and the United States and we are, the three of us, great Pacific democracies and we therefore have an enormous amount in common.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, what kind of joint operations do you envisage once this declaration is signed?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh it's too early to start speculating about that. The declaration is not designed to be some kind of formal validation of a training arrangement we've already agreed upon. I am sure that in time we'll have something to say about that, but let's wait and see.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, do you believe that the voters are all that interested in the argument over character between senior Ministers in the Government and frontbenchers in the Labor Party?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think the voters are interested in the totality of the ways in which the two sides of politics might seek to govern the country and they obviously involve assessments they make of individuals.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think that Kelvin Thomson is a grubby sort of character?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think Kelvin Thomson showed very bad judgement.
JOURNALIST:
But do you think Alexander Downer should have called him a grub today?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh look, Alexander Downer is a big boy, he can look after himself. He's an outstanding Foreign Minister and I don't think we should get into the business of trying to tabulate who said what, because there are quite a few remarks I can recall from the other side, including about my character and personality, including from the Leader of the Opposition. So let's get off that.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think that Mr Rudd has been milking the misfortunes of his past?
PRIME MINISTER:
I beg your pardon?
JOURNALIST:
Do you think that Kevin Rudd has been milking the misfortunes of his past, in particular in relationship to being tossed off the farm?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that is an obvious reference to an article in the newspaper, the Sun Herald I think this morning. I don't know anything of the circumstances of that and therefore I don't intend to comment on it.
JOURNALIST:
The specific situation aside Mr Howard, are you worried still perhaps more than six months out from an election at the level of mudslinging? There seems to be a lot of mud flying doesn't there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I am not going to become a commentator Tim.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, the issue of comfort women has been raised in relation to Japan over the last couple of weeks. Does Japan's ruling party position on this make it a difficult thing for you to sell the idea of closer military ties with Japan?
PRIME MINISTER:
I understand that today the Prime Minister has reaffirmed the 1993 apology. Now that's good because there can in my mind be absolutely no doubt as to the circumstances of what occurred. It was an appalling issue, incident, facet of a tragic period. I have read testimony given by the Australian lady to the congressional investigation and it's quite harrowing. My view on that matter is quite clear.
JOURNALIST:
Will you be raising it in your discussions with Mr Abe?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh well I don't pre-empt what comes up, but I think it's fair to say that the Prime Minister, Japanese Prime Minister has today reaffirmed the 1993 apology.
JOURNALIST:
But he's also said it's okay for his party to have an investigation of that apology. Do you think that that's acceptable?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think that when you are dealing with a head of government who enunciates government policy, you take as valid and as good for a statement of the position of a government what the head of the government says. But as to what I am going to talk about in my meeting, well I don't normally pre-empt that. So we'll just wait and see. But my position on the issue should be clear from what I have said.
JOURNALIST:
Agriculture, Prime Minister as always is a sore point in relations between Australia and Japan. It's going to be a particular sticking point in terms of negotiating an FTA. What mechanisms do you envisage to enable this hurdle to be surmounted?
PRIME MINISTER:
Too early to say Jim. Let the negotiations begin. It's going to be very hard because it's a sensitive issue here, but from our point of view, we want to make some progress. We don't do too badly in relation to things like beef at the moment into Japan, we do very well. But we'd like to do even better because it's a high quality product.
[ends]