JOURNALIST:
What do you say to the RSL suggestion that it';s time for the Government to state their conditions for withdrawal of the troops from Iraq?
PRIME MINISTER:
Our position is that we will withdraw when each job has been done and it';s not possible to say in advance exactly when that will happen. For example, the air traffic controllers when they have finished their job they will come out. But I don';t know exactly when that will be.
JOURNALIST:
How are those jobs progressing?
PRIME MINISTER:
Quite well. They are training air traffic controllers,civilian ones, and they';re making progress. But it only stands to reason that you don';t pull them out until the job is done and least of all do you set an arbitrary date in the future and say come- what-may we pull them out. That is the wrong thing to be doing and it';s something that the Government will not do.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, is Iraq a better place now than it was before you went in?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes it is because it has a hope of a democratic future. Under Saddam Hussein it faced a bleak future of murder and torture and political suppression.
JOURNALIST:
The RSL [inaudible] national security. It';s suggesting that perhaps it';ll be good if the Government could to the extent possible take the Australian public a little more into its confidence. PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we are doing that by saying that we will withdraw forces when the particular job has been finished. But it is not possible for me to nominate a date when the training of the air traffic controllers will be completed. And it only stands to reason if you stop and think about it, if you say well it';s going to be on such and such a date and for some reason, over which we have no control, it';s not ready by then, what do you do? You are accused of breaking your commitment. That';s why it';s just not possible for me to say exactly when. What I can say is that our forces will stay there until they have done their job and that is what I believe the overwhelming majority of Australians want to be the case.
JOURNALIST:
Do you believe that the taking of hostages from Russia and China supports the argument that Australia';s not necessarily a greater target because of our role?
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m simply drawing attention to the fact that hostages from all different countries have been taken and that demonstrates that the hostage taking activity is directed against foreigners, that it is irrespective of the stance that countries like Russia and China took on the military operation in Iraq and it illustrates that people doing this are the enemies of the democratic future of Iraq. What is happening at the moment is a determined attempt to deny the people of Iraq a free democratic future. And we have an obligation to stay the distance, to do our part in delivering that democratic future for the people of Iraq.
JOURNALIST:
Will that change if there is an Australian taken hostage Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I deal in what has happened. I hope and pray that no Australian is taken hostage. That is my fervent wish and I know that is the wish of all Australians. But we have an obligation to do the job, to go the distance, to discharge our responsibilities and it';s an obligation that I think the majority of Australians very strongly support, even if they didn';t agree with the original decision to go into Iraq.
JOURNALIST:
[inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
I beg your pardon?
JOURNALIST:
What';s your advice to Australians in Iraq?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, obviously it may sound trite, be careful, stay in touch with the Australian office in Baghdad and take extreme care.
JOURNALIST:
Should they increase their own personal security?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, that is a matter for individual decision making. We provide, as a government, we provide security for our representative office. That';s one of the jobs that we';re doing in Iraq. I mean, people who say that we should bring our forces out by a particular date, who do they believe should guard the representative office in Iraq if it';s not safe to leave that office unguarded? If we were to say we';re going to pull those forces out by December come what may, what happens to the people working in the representative office? It means that we can no longer have them there because for security reasons we might have to bring them home. I mean, this underlines the foolishness and the rashness of the commitment the Opposition Leader has made about coming home by a particular date.
JOURNALIST:
We need our troops there [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we don';t… we have 52,000 troops in and around Australia. If you';re going to bring them back from Iraq to protect Australia then you by logical extension you';re bringing them back from the Solomon Islands and from East Timor to protect Australia. Now that is palpably absurd and only had to be stated for people to realise how ridiculous that proposition is.
JOURNALIST:
Would a ceasefire help the hostage situation?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think the hostage situation myself is, while it';s a product of a similar mindset to the insurgency, it is probably a separate element and in fact the hostage taking may be perpetrated by very different groups, they may not be acting in co-ordination although their objective is the same and their objective is to intimidate and bully foreign countries out of building a democratic future for Iraq. This is all about denying the Iraqi people a democratic future. Thank you.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, the Tugun bypass…
PRIME MINISTER:
I thought I dealt with that.
JOURNALIST:
Yeah, we';d like to just ask the Premier of Queensland obviously wants you to intervene and force the New South Wales Government to build it west of the airport. What will you do?
PRIME MINISTER:
I will say to Peter Beattie and Bob Carr get your act together and agree on where the bypass should go. We';ll contribute our share of the money. We';ve already nominated $120 million. But we don';t build roads. And, you know, states can';t have it both ways. I mean, what is the point of having state governments if they can';t do their job? What';s the point of having a state governments if they can';t agree between themselves? We don';t build roads. We only help pay for them. There';s no federal main roads department or federal highway authority. We contribute the money but it';s all built by state governments and if the state governments keep quarrelling amongst themselves, I mean, why don';t they go away for a Labor Party weekend, sort it out, tell us where it should go and let';s get on with it.
[ends]