PM RUDD: Well, it's been good this evening to meet again with John Key, the new Prime Minister of New Zealand.
I congratulated John in the person to person for his election win recently in New Zealand.
This is the second time we have met, we had an opportunity to get to know each other in Auckland before the election and it's going to be a good partnership between us.
The thing about the Australia-New Zealand relationship is that it really does transcend the party political divide. And the reason for that is that our people have so much in common. In fact, if you look around the world you can't find two peoples that have more in common than the people of Australia and the people of New Zealand.
Our values are the same, our interests coincide practically everywhere around the world, and we are therefore good partners when it comes to doing good things in the world.
Therefore, the challenge we have ahead is to take our existing relationship to new heights.
The challenges we face in terms of the global financial crisis and the impact which that has on the real economy in Australia and New Zealand are going to make that task even more important. We are going to have to work even more closely together through institutions such as APEC, more closely together through the international financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF, and other international agencies, in the overall response to the global financial crisis.
The global financial crisis, as I said in my remarks today at the APEC Business Leaders Conference, is non-discriminating - it affects us all, it doesn't matter where the national boundaries lie.
The real economy, real businesses, real jobs affected around the world and on both sides of the Tasman.
Our challenge as governments is to work effectively and in a coordinated fashion together to reduce the impact of this crisis on our businesses and on our people and on jobs and we intend to do that.
Our discussions which will continue later this evening will cover the range of other interests that Australia and New Zealand have in common. Interests, of course, in the Pacific. And New Zealand's strong and good contribution to what we have done over a long period of time now both in the Solomon's and in East Timor. And again I publicly thank the government and the people of New Zealand for their continued support there.
Beyond that, we have of course a range of other matters on the bilateral front which we will continue to work our way through. But I will simply make the point - this is a good relationship, and I believe we have got off to a good start, and I'm absolutely confident that Australia will win in the Rugby League tonight in Brisbane. But we'll see what happens in the cricket.
PM KEY: Look, Prime Minister, thank you.
The fact that Kevin Rudd was the first leader to ring me as I virtually left the stage on election night, I think it's a sign of the relationship. And Prime Minister Rudd, your commitment to the relationship, I want to thank him for that. We work very hard to make sure that it is a good relationship between New Zealand and Australia. There is more work to be done, and I look forward to looking at that very closely. And I wish the New Zealand rugby league team all the very best. They may need it.
JOURNALIST: In what practical way what can you do to work more closely together in the future?
PM KEY: I think there are a number of factors from our point of view. (Inaudible) we were very supportive of the view that the G20 should get together in Washington last weekend. Here at APEC we will be pushing very strongly, I made comments this morning and I think the Prime Minister would agree, that we need to advance Doha and make sure that that's a successful round that comes off the back burner where it is currently parked.
You know, there is a number of (inaudible) trans-pacific partnership that Australia has indicated it will be joining the P4 along with Peru and the United States. (inaudible)
PM RUDD: To turn to that question from an Australian point of view.
We have been participating in the G20 most recently held in Washington as the next stage of that there will be a further meeting of the G20 in March-April next year, and that's to confirm implementation of the measures announced that it would consider further measures for the future.
We'll be working very closely with our friends in Wellington about where that agenda goes for the future.
Secondly, within APEC itself our challenge of the next 36 hours is to make sure that the clear cut commitments to those core sets of agreements in Washington are reaffirmed by the major economies of the Asia-Pacific region.
This is an opportunity to extend the G20 mandate to a wider net of nations in terms of the actions which need to be taken on stabilising financial markets now, stabilising financial markets into the long term, adding to economic growth through appropriate fiscal and monetary policy stimulus. And, as John has just said, a clear cut commitment to doing everything humanly possible to get a decent outcome on Doha. And that's where Australia and New Zealand have worked so effectively in the past. But in the critical month ahead we are going to have to work even more closely to try and make Doha a success. That will be a huge shot in the arm for the global economy and to confidence if we get it right.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) Doha round (inaudible)
PM RUDD: I think, as John described to me before, that if the G20 dropped the ball on this it would represent a failure of political leadership. That is exactly the sort of remarks I was making last weekend in Washington. That's my view.
The world expects political leaders to act, not simply to describe events. There is now a substantially advanced boutique industry called gloom and doom - it's all about describing what is going on and telling everybody how bad it is and how much worse it is going to get. That's terrific, that's called commentary.
So you can either be part and parcel of that process, or you can take up the mantle of leadership and do something about it.
That mantle has fallen to the G20 at present, and that process began through the decision to convene that meeting in Washington last weekend. But, the test will be where we have got to by March-April next year. The resolutions contained in that communiqué are good. But the test will lie in their implementation. And, one of those implementation points will lie in the future of Doha.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask both Prime Ministers to articulate their view on monetary unions between Australia and New Zealand?
PM KEY: Well, I think where that debate is within New Zealand, it is understands the adoption of the Australian dollar. In reality, given the proportional size of the two economies. I don't think it's something that is on the agenda in the short term. I do think there is more we can do to enhance our economies, and there has been work occurring beyond (inaudible) trade deals into the services sector and capital markets. But at this stage I wouldn't (inaudible)
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) medium term?
PM KEY: No. I don't see it as being an issue. At this point there are a lot of other things we can do to enhance the single economic market.
PM RUDD: I think from an Australian perspective we would have a similar view. Currency union is not on the table. What is on the table is further practical steps to be taken in making the single economic market more of a reality. We still have some more practical work to do there. Our officials have been hard at work. And I'm sure, given John's nature and mine, we will be cracking the whip to make sure it happens.
JOURNALIST: Is a common emissions trading scheme a possibility (inaudible) ?
PM RUDD: Well, John and I just had a discussion about our respective approaches to emissions trading. I don't wish to characterise the New Zealand position, other than to say that New Zealand of course will make its own decisions about how it responds in terms of the climate change challenge.
In Australia, our position is clear in terms of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, and we have a White Paper to produce before too much longer.
Of course, within our future arrangements for a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, we will leave open the principle of international connectedness generally with other compatible emissions trading schemes in the future. But we are still at the design phase in terms of other schemes around the world.
We in Australia are trying to get ours right, now.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PM KEY: Well from a New Zealand perspective, I intend to make sure that New Zealand plays its part when it comes to climate change. As you are aware, we are going through the high level review on whether there will be a reworked emissions trading scheme (inaudible). If it is a reworked emissions trading scheme, then I think the compatibility with Australia is something that we would have to very closely consider. I don't think we can rule out an Australasian market for that.
JOURNALIST: Do you still think Mr Key that an emissions trading scheme can be achieved in a year (inaudible) ?
PM KEY: In my view yes. A lot of the work has been done. So this is the point to make sure that we take those submissions, give it the due reference that it deserves. There are a number of issues to consider there, but that's still the likely outcome (inaudible)
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister Rudd, in your speech back home before you left and your speech today you talked about your Asia Pacific Community proposal. (inaudible) ASEAN at the core of that. How much of that (inaudible)?
PM RUDD: I think ASEAN featured, from recollection, quite prominently in my initial speech at the Asia Society in Sydney in the middle of the year. And it's always for me been pretty basic - that ASEAN is a great success story in our own region, bringing together historically communist Indo-China with non-communist rest of South East Asia, and then deciding one day to cooperate, and look what happened 40 years later.
Therefore, it's simply common sense that ASEAN would constitute the core of what might subsequently unfold to be an Asia Pacific Community.
Secondly, I spoke with Dick Woolcott, our special envoy in Canberra just before I left to come here whatever day that was, it was in recent living memory, and Dick has been around a lot of the region. I understand Prime Minister you haven't spoken to him yet because New Zealand has been preoccupied with matters political in recent times and we can all understand why. But Dick's recent round has been pretty good. But, we are up for a long term discussion and I, as I said in my remarks today to the APEC business leaders, fully anticipate that there will be points of agreement and disagreement on the way through - that's normal and natural. But we are determined to be consultative about this.
The end point - an Asia Pacific Community by 2020, is about bringing together the great powers and the great economies of this region which will be at the fulcrum of the 21st century, the Asia Pacific Region.
The United States, China, Japan, India, Indonesia and others, into a body which can have on its collective agenda political security and economic matters. We don't have such a body now.
At minimum what is occurring now is a discussion about the region's long term future, and that's what I've sought to encourage at minimum through this proposal.
But, Dick has still got some work to do, and then we'll take it to the next stage.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask what your view is Prime Minister Key of a new grouping, do you think it is valuable?
PM KEY: Well I haven't been fully briefed on that yet. But two things, one, I think it is always good to have a goal. And the second thing is that over the next decade or two I don't think there is any doubt that the fastest growing region will be Asia. The fact that Prime Minister Rudd has shown leadership in that area is something to be welcomed. And, I think we should just let it run its course and see whether it builds behind it a constituency of support.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PM RUDD: Well, as I said in my remarks today to the APEC Business Leaders Forum, our challenge as leaders is to work at both levels, the immediate and the long term. The immediate challenge we are all familiar with in this room and that's the global financial crisis turning into a crisis for the real economy, businesses and jobs. And, prospectively, a large impact on employment around the world.
We are all focussed on that. It's tough, it's hard, it's difficult. And both of our governments are spending a lot of time and effort working our way through the best leadership responses.
Over here, the continuing long term agenda doesn't change. And that is one of which we have just discussed - how do you shape the future of the Asia Pacific Region, and the Asia Pacific Community being one possibility.
Climate change doesn't disappear, and Australia's domestic circumstances, nor does water, as a major concern for us for the future. Getting our productivity agenda right for the future and building long term productivity growth. In the case of Australia, dealing with the challenges of our federation.
So what I am saying to you is that for us these two sets of challenges have to be prosecuted simultaneously.
When it comes to APEC, climate change will form part of my contribution to the discussion. Part of my contribution to this discussion over the next 36 hours will be about climate change and the fact that it has to remain on the global agenda.
And as I said again today, to be real long term we need both the United States and China on board consistent with the principles already agreed on the common differentiated responsibilities.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned cricket earlier. We understand that you have dumped ‘The Don' from the citizenship test. Is that right?
PM RUDD: Do you know something - when Mr Howard was Prime Minister ‘The Don' was contained within the booklet, and guess what, under the Rudd Government, ‘The Don' is contained in the booklet. And guess what? ‘The Don' wasn't contained in the questions set under Mr Howard and ‘The Don' is not in the questions set under me.
Nothing has changed. ‘The Don' is as preserved as ‘The Don' has been in the past.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PM RUDD: Can I just suggest that question in terms of the detail of it, that's why we have Chris Evans back home.
PM KEY: If it's Donald Bradman, rest assured that he as well known in New Zealand as he is in Australia. So, we understand our cricket. If we could borrow a few of your players (inaudible)
PM RUDD: ‘The Don' has retired, and he's gone to a higher place.
I think John is absolutely right. ‘The Don' is revered by us all. And actually, in terms of the booklets for our citizenship test, it is part of the rolling Australian narrative. That's why he's there. It's important. All of us grew up with tales of ‘The Don'.
JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd, you're about to celebrate your first anniversary in Government. Do you have any advice for Mr Key about the realities of government and the difference to the expectations?
PM RUDD: It would not cross my mind to provide gratuitous advice to a colleague about how to conduct their own government.
John has a huge challenge ahead of him in terms of what we now face in Australia, which is the roll on implications of the financial and economic crisis. This will be very tough. And, the practical point of your question is, are we going to work with each other and learn from each other on things that need to be done. And I think, yes, as I said in my initial remarks.
JOURNALIST: Mr Key do you have any idea how long this recession is going to last?
PM KEY: I don't think anyone knows the answer to that. But, what we do know is that (inaudible) improving at the moment. I think there is some (inaudible) with the global financial crisis. I mean, it's the movement into the real economy now which is the bigger challenge. But, what we do know is that if we are proactive, if we can resolve things like the Doha Round, countries ensure that they don't put up protectionist barriers, and if we stay committed to stimulus packages that both New Zealand and Australia have committed to, then the world can come out of it more quickly that (inaudible).
PM RUDD: Thanks very much, folks.
[ends]