PRIME MINISTER:
Well ladies and gentlemen I apologise for keeping you waiting, lunch went a bit longer than I expected. The Prime Minister and I and our wives, advisers, just had lunch at Chequers. Mr Blair and I had a very lengthy discussion about a range of issues but there was heavy concentration on Iraq. Both of us, through our press statement, have re-expressed our joint determination to go the distance, our absolute rejection of any suggestion of premature withdrawal. We both recognise that the past few weeks, indeed the past two months, have been difficult both in Iraq and in the politics of Iraq particularly arising out the prisoner abuse issue. But equally we believe that with the establishment of the interim Government, the selection of a Prime Minister, a President and other members of that government, marks the turning of a page and is an opportunity for some of the positives in relation to Iraq to feature more prominently.
We both believe that the more spokesmen and women inside the new Iraqi government can come to the fore to speak on behalf of their country and I notice already the Foreign Minister of Iraq has made it very plain to the Security Council that any premature withdrawal would be disastrous and would risk chaos and considerable dislocation and has expressed the view that Coalition forces should remain until their tasks are completed.
Beyond Iraq, we had a brief discussion about the respective conditions of our two economies. We both agree that the re-admission of Pakistan to the Commonwealth was a very welcome development and well deserved given the progress towards a democratic government in that country.
We continued to lament the deteriorating situation inside Zimbabwe where inflation has hit 622 per cent and my advice is that unemployment is close to 70 per cent and that continues to be a matter of concern to many people who thought Zimbabwe might be something of an example in Africa.
I also indicated to the Prime Minister that Australia would contribute a sum of $10 million towards the G8 Global Partnership on WMD proliferation. This is an initiative of the G8 countries designed to deal with potential proliferation issues.
Do you have any questions?
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister Mr Blair has signalled that he would be sending more troops to Iraq. Was this discussed and was there any suggestion that perhaps Australia too could bear more of the burden?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. No.
JOURNALIST:
Does the reference to the absolute rejection of premature withdrawal is that an implicit or an explicit reference to the Labor policy?
PRIME MINISTER:
In this news statement?
JOURNALIST:
You just said that the pair of you had a joint determination to go the distance and an absolute determination.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's just a statement in positive terms of our view.
JOURNALIST:
Did you discuss the Labor policy?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Mr Blair and I are good friends and when you are good friends with people, even across a political divide, you talk about each others situations, but Mr Blair is a loyal Labor man as I am a loyal centre-rightist.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister given that would you think it would be a disaster if Mr Blair wasn't re-elected as Prime Minister given his strong support to the Coalition (inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
I think, I think to follow any policy other than the policy that is being followed in Iraq by Mr Blair's government, by my government, and President Bush would be a disaster. I should point out to you Geoffrey that when British forces joined the coalition of the willing, they had the support of the British Opposition and it's an interesting assembly now. You have Mr Blair, you have Mr Michael Howard, you have President Bush, you have Senator Kerry, you have the new Iraqi government, and you have the Australian government. All of one point of view and it is something that crosses the political divide.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister having now discussed Iraq with President Bush and Prime Minister Blair, will you consider additional resources from Australia towards the rebuilding of Iraq, not just talking military but other sorts of (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
We would not rule that out.
JOURNALIST:
Was their specific requests made in either of the two meetings or do you have particular areas in mind?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, there were no specific requests, but I've said before that it is possible that there will be some marginal augmentation, I could put it that way, of our commitment, but we don't at this stage have any proposals. The question of increased aid of other kinds well it's always open and bear in mind that we've just committed ourselves to a write off of a very large amount of Iraqi debt and that represents a very significant contribution by Australia towards rebuilding Iraq.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard did you discuss the impact of Iraq, you talked about, you discussed the difficulties from the prisoner abuse (inaudible). Did you discuss how that's affecting your respective domestic political situations?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, look we talked about a whole lot of things. Look we've known each other for a long time and I'm not going to go into the detail of those discussions, but we get on well. I have a great respect for Mr Blair. I think he's been very gutsy. As you know, my political affinities traditionally would lie with the British Conservative Party and that just as his would traditionally lie with the Australian Labor Party and I understand that and everybody knows he has close friendships with a number of significant Labor figures in Australia , but it's, once you are in a head of government position those differences do tend to fall away and particularly if you are engaged in common cause on something that you feel strongly about and he feels very strongly, as I do. I mean both of us are very much of the view that it would be and this word disaster has been used a bit, it would be a disaster for the cause of the Coalition if the terrorists in Iraq were seen to or in reality achieved a victory and there can be absolutely no doubting our resolve and that of the United States and also of many other countries in the coalition, of what 35. We keep forgetting. Many of those countries in our own region that have made contributions to the post-combat phase of operations in Iraq.
PRIME MINISTER:
Prime Minister hasn't the Coalition really achieved what it set out to be, set out, there are no weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein has gone?
PRIME MINISTER:
But we need to lay the ground work for the emergence of a democratic Iraq. If a democratic Iraq can emerge that would have a profound and lasting effect on the Arab world and I think that is a very, very important objective, and it is because of that that the terrorists are so determined that our enterprise will fail and we are equally determined that it won't.
JOURNALIST:
So what will our markers be for that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I can't describe them in advance, but you know when a country is emerging from a non-democratic state to a democratic one, obviously the first step is the 30th of June, the next very important step is the holding of elections at the beginning of 2005, the drawing up of the permanent constitution and all the other steps that have been laid out and the stabilisation of the place, but there is a very simple choice, you either go the distance and make certain as best you can that a democratic Iraq is going to emerge or you give it away and I think that for it to be given away and those who advocate that Australia should give it away are in effect advocating that other countries should give it away because the principles involved are the same.
JOURNALIST:
What's the latest on the charging of David Hicks? You were expecting that, I understood, within 24 hours and it doesn't seem to have happened.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I hope to be able to confirm something on that tomorrow.
JOURNALIST:
President Bush and Mr Blair are both close allies, not only on Iraq but on a range of other (inaudible) you've just seen them both on a range of themes but they do come from very different political and cultural traditions. What do you see as the main differences and similarities when you're actually dealing with them?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't think the differences are quite as marked as you suggest. I mean they are both profound believers in democracy. Both of them are thoroughly decent men. Both of them have a very strong commitment to the place of the family in society, the free enterprise system - obviously Mr Blair's political discipline is a little more interventionist than President Bush's, because he is a member of the British Labour Party. I think sometimes we can overdo the differences. I would rather focus on the things they have in common. But what appeals to me about both of them is that they are very resolute and they are very committed to particular objectives. Not everybody agrees with them. Mr Blair has displayed conspicuous political courage in, I suppose, confronting a large section of his own party that strongly disagreed with his position on Iraq. And in a domestic political sense of the three of us, he faced the biggest challenge, because of the nature of his party, and I respect him for that.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, this weekend is obviously an important commemorative weekend with D-Day. Is it appropriate to compare the campaign in World War II with the current military campaign in Iraq, given the lack of support there is in many countries for the Iraq campaign?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well obviously, the historical circumstances are different Fran. I know what you are coming to. Everybody chooses their own language and their own way of arguing a case. I think the greatest single lesson that we should be reminded of on the eve of the 60th Anniversary of the Commemoration of the Normandy Landing is the enormous debt that the nations of Europe owe to the United States.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
Fair point Laurie. Touch‚. Certainly the liberated nations of Europe - well there are many Germans who for a long time after the end of World War II felt they owed quite a bit to the United States too.
JOURNALIST:
Shouldl Chancellor Schroeder be there tomorrow?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, the host is Monsieur Chirac and I have been brought up to accept that if somebody invites you to something it is bad manners to question his or her judgment as to who your fellow guests might be.
JOURNALIST:
Are you comfortable with it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I am very comfortable. I know Chancellor Schroeder very well and I think it will be a very significant gathering. It's obviously of enormous historic significance to Europe. But as I reminded my American audience yesterday, the Second World War started in 1939.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, did you discuss with Mr Blair today the French position on the (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, we discussed everything to do with Iraq. And I am not going to sort of... of course we discussed everything to do with it because it is a topic we have discussed a lot before. What we have to now do is try and garner the maximum amount of cooperation and the greatest unity of purpose and goodwill in helping to rebuild Iraq and all contributions are welcome.
JOURNALIST:
Are you going to be raising any of that kind of lobbying or (inaudible) over this next twenty-four hours (inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
I think tomorrow will be - I will see what opportunities arise Fran.
JOURNALIST:
Do you have any more sense, Mr Howard, (inaudible) the draft UN Security Council Resolution, or has the wording of the ...
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I think we we'll end up with a pretty good resolution. I had the opportunity just before I left Washington of seeing Mr Armitage and he and I had a long discussion about the situation and I am fairly optimistic that we are going to get a good outcome.
JOURNALIST:
Has that draft changed (inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look I am not as up to speed on that because I am not one of the drafters. Australia is not a member of the Security Council. But I think the language that will ultimately emerge will be very acceptable.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what is your response to the Pope's somewhat strident remarks to President Bush both about prisoner abuse and the overall Iraqi situation.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I haven't read the full text of His Holiness's remarks. I haven't to be quite honest. I was traveling overnight and I have been having lunch with Mr Blair and I have been talking to you good folk. I frankly haven't seen what His Holiness has had to say but I am sure he would be expressing views that he holds strongly as he always does. As far as the prisoner abuse issue is concerned, it is very easy for the people who are critical - I don't of course include the Pope in this - critical of the United States to seize on this issue, but at least the Americans are doing something about it and it is not in my view characteristic of the behaviour of the American forces and I was satisfied from the numerous discussions I had in Washington that there was very strong revulsion amongst the people with whom I spoke about what had occurred and a determination to see the people who were responsible were appropriately punished.
JOURNALIST:
The acting Human Rights Commissioner has called for - issued a report in the last 24 hours - calling for an ombudsman or an independent commissioner on human rights (inaudible) criticise US troops for mistreating ordinary Iraqis separate to prisoners. Would that be a good idea?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I am in favour of all sensible things that protect human rights and that was one of the arguments that were advanced by a number of countries for the removal of Saddam Hussein. I mean we have got to preserve a sense of proportion about human rights abuses in Iraq. I just had the opportunity on the plane of finishing reading William Shawcross's book, "Allies", and he describes in rather graphic details some of the human rights abuses that occurred, and I am not excusing in any way the deplorable behaviour which has been alleged against some American troops but I think we have just got to keep a sense of perspective about this. I mean there has been an extraordinary and understandable focus on this issue and with greater venom it seems to me and ferocity from some people than was exhibited against the agregious continuing and decades long human rights abuses of a much worse order that occurred under Saddam Hussein.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, underpinning the...
PRIME MINISTER:
This must be the last.
JOURNALIST:
...observation of the D-Day landings there seems to be a strong sense of reconciliation. Australian servicemen in the Second World War fought in different theatres and a different war in a sense. Do you sense there's a strong sense of reconciliation between Australian servicemen and perhaps the Japanese?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I do. I am impressed - well that is the wrong word, it sounds wrong - I am heartened, I am pleased. There is such a great sense of reconciliation. I felt that at the time of the Australia Remembers Ceremonies in 1995. Despite the terrible abuses inflicted on Australian prisoners of war by the Japanese, our relationship has come a long way. I think Australia has done a good job in that area, starting of course at a government level way back in 1957. John McEwan put together the first Trade Agreement between Australia and Japan in the post-war period and I think that's continued. And the fact that Japanese is the most widely taught foreign language, is it not, in our education system, I think that's good, I think that speaks volumes for the generosity of the Australian spirit and I see Japan now as a country that is a close friend and a close ally. I don't expect the people who suffered at their hands to forget. They can't be asked to and of course we suffered more at the hands of the Japanese than we did at the hands of the Germans in prisoner of war circumstances. But I think reconciliation has been first rate and commendable.
[ends]