LIEBMANN:
Prime Minister, good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning Steve.
LIEBMANN:
Do you agree that what we're seeing now is the most serious situation we have seen in Iraq?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh it's certainly more difficult than at any time over the last year, but it must be seen in perspective. There is still a lot of progress being made towards the handover. The ceasefire in Fallujah, where the most bitter fighting took place, appears to be holding. The most worrying development is the indiscriminate taking of hostages, and this is occurring irrespective of the citizenry of the people being taken hostage. There are Russians and Chinese, two countries that were not involved in the coalition that took military action against Iraq, but also the citizens of countries that were, so there is a completely indiscriminate element about the hostage taking.
LIEBMANN:
What about Australian civilians? Private contractors in Iraq? Are they at risk? Should they get out?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well everybody is at some degree of risk and we are in contact through our office as best we can with the I think 60 to 80 Australian contractors who are doing different things there. I'm not asking them to get out. I would act on advice. In matters relating to this, I take the advice of our people in Iraq, I take the advice of our security people. They are in the best position to know. Obviously the whole situation is more difficult, but it is certainly not a situation where there can be any weakening of the resolve of countries involved. We must see it through. Any suggestion that we get out now in the face of this will just award victory to the terrorists, award victory to hostage takers, award victory to people I know the great majority of Australians don't want to appear victorious.
LIEBMANN:
Prime Minister, the Americans and the British today are talking of increasing their troop numbers in Iraq. Spain is pulling its troops out. Thailand is thinking about pulling them out. You've got Iraqi police who can't police and Iraqi troops who won't fight. It's a mess.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Steve it is difficult, but that is all the more reason why we don't turn our backs on it. You don't cut and run in the face of growing difficulty. You stay the course. You do it in a calm and sensible manner. We maintain the presence we have. It's very effective. We continue to do our job of training the air traffic controllers at Baghdad Airport. We continue to persevere with the training of the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police force. And I know that over time, the situation will improve. This is the worst time in the world to turn your back on a difficult situation. It couldn't send worse signals, not only to those who would destroy and terrorise, but also to our friends. At a time like this, you need to display strong friendship, not fly by night friendship.
LIEBMANN:
But the Americans are displaying extreme toughness. Do you think the gamble on toughness might have failed and do you think the time might have come to give the United Nations a bigger role in the country?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look the United Nations had the opportunity a year ago. The United Nations is really... has a greater opportunity if countries like France and Russia take a different view. People keep talking about the United Nations as if it was some separate entity of its own. It is not. It is ultimately the expression of the five major powers on the Security Council, and it was the negativity of the Russians and the French that prevented a further United Nations resolution more than a year ago, and any...
LIEBMANN:
But that was a year ago. What about now?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the Americans are perfectly happy to see a greater involvement by the United Nations and so are we, but the reluctance appears to be on the part of other countries that are not willing to play a greater role in the reconstruction process. It's got to be remembered for all the criticism that is being heaped on the Americans by many, and there is no shortage of those critics, they are carrying the greatest burden of all and at a time like this, even people who may have opposed the original military action see the merit of sticking together and seeing it through.
LIEBMANN:
Have you spoken to Washington in the last day or so?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I haven't.
LIEBMANN:
Have you spoken to the President?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, there has been no need to Steve because the situation is understood. If there is a particular need, I will do so, but at the present time there is no particular need to do so. We have certain obligations and we're going to see those obligations through. I get regular reports about the welfare of our own people and I'll continue to do that. They are my prime concern. But in concert with our friends and allies, we have to remember that if there is a weakening now, it will be an enormous victory for terrorists and hostage takers and an enormous blow to the authority of not only those countries, but also the values that we hold very dear as a nation.
LIEBMANN:
But our commitment to the coalition remains open-ended. Is that what you're saying?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, what I'm saying is that our commitment is to see the job through. Now you're saying to me when will that be? I can't tell you. I mean it's an impossible question to answer. You can't say exactly when you may be in a position to say that the job is completed. I think people apply a lot of commonsense to this. I don't think they are saying he's got to name a date. What the Australian public wants is for us to see it through in a sensible way and to take all proper precautions to look after our own people while they're doing this very difficult job. That's what the Australian community wants. If you're saying to me when will they come home, I can't give you a date.
LIEBMANN:
No I'm not saying that, but I guess what I'm...
PRIME MINISTER:
It's impossible. You say to me is it open-ended? Well I mean it's a question... I prefer to express it in terms of completing the job.
LIEBMANN:
Okay, so they will stay in Iraq for the full rebuilding of the country.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, they will stay until the purpose for which they are sent is no longer... no longer requires their presence. I mean you have to look at each individual element of our forces. We have people training air traffic controllers. We have people training Iraqi police and Iraqi army. We have people in naval units... in a naval unit. And we have people involved with C130 transports and P3's, and we have some people involved in the Iraqi Survey Group and we have security people guarding our Mission in Baghdad. Now what I'm saying is that for so long as those people are required for those tasks, they will stay. As to when that requirement ends is a judgement you have to make from time to time according to the circumstances. Now I can't be more explicit than that, and that is our commitment. You call that open-ended. I choose to call it doing the job and finishing the job and not pulling out until the job has been done.
LIEBMANN:
Well you stick with that. I think it's open-ended. Thank you for your time.
PRIME MINISTER:
Okay then.
[ends]