PRIME MINISTER:
Ladies and gentlemen I'd like to start by expressing my very warm regard for the presentation I've just seen. The company Think! OTS. Think Outside the Square has done an absolutely magnificent job, and the cultural presentation of course put on display one of Australia's famous dance companies, plus the Sydney Children's Choir and their counterparts from Japan - it was a wonderful performance and a terrific showcasing of contemporary Australia.
The only other comment I wanted to make was to express my great satisfaction with the discussions I had last night with the Japanese Prime Minister. We have embarked on a feasibility study for looking at free trade agreements. It's not going to be easy. I'm not declaring victory on a free trade agreement, far from it. But we have begun the process of looking at it seriously and as I've said to all of you before, even if we don't achieve it and I am determined that we can make progress on this front, we will still of course be left with a remarkably strong economic and trade relationship with Japan. The other thing that this visit has enabled me to do is to reaffirm the strategic partnership between Australia and Japan. Ours is not just an economic and trade relationship; it's not just about exporting minerals and beef. It is also a very close strategic partnership of which of course the tri-lateral security dialogue between Australia and the Untied States and Japan is a very important part.
JOURNALIST:
Can you have a free trade agreement with out agriculture Mr Howard?
PRIME MINISTER:
Michelle, it's too early to start talking about what into.. what extent the things are involved. Let me say that we will be looking at every aspect including agriculture in the feasibility study.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister Mr Koizumi says that you understand very well the difficulties. What difficulties has he briefed you on Prime Minister and just how great are they?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't need any fresh briefing on the difficulties - they're well known. Japan has a high level of agricultural protection, much higher than Australia, that's well known. And it's a sensitive sector, culturally and politically in this country, as of course it is in European countries and indeed the United States. One of the complaints of farmers in Australia is that if you compare the levels of agricultural protection in Australia with those in Japan, the United States and Europe, ours is right down at the bottom. And that's why every time I talk to Australian farmers they give me an earful about levels of protection in other countries and I understand why. Look I am a realist. I understand the political difficulties of beginning to unpick levels of protection that existed for a long time. We had those difficulties in Australia and both sides of politics have faced it. But nothing ventured, nothing gained and we have got to the first stage and that is a feasibility study and that is a huge step forward. Is it going to be hard? Yes, of course it is. Is it impossible? No, it's not impossible.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) seem to be reluctant to even call it a feasibility study, it's a movement to our further enhancement of our relations...?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well different countries have different nuances Malcolm.
JOURNALIST:
Is two years too long to wait for a feasibility study?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I don't think so, not when you already have a situation where Japan is our best customer. And Peter if we were starting from scratch and we didn't have a relationship then I would understand that two years is perhaps too long. But we already have a very strong relationship. I am an optimist and our relationship has come a long way over the past decades and I am sure it can go further forward.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) believe that the internal dynamics in Japan might change to make that, make it more easy....
PRIME MINISTER:
Lenore, I know enough of...the process of international negotiation not to start giving gratuitous commentary on the internal dynamics of the Japanese political scene.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Koizumi last night was full of praise for Australia (inaudible) Southern Iraq (inaudible) Japanese engineers. Overnight also the Australian Commander of that contingent (inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven't seen his exact words but nobody should pretend that there isn't danger. I've acknowledged that, I told the troops that when I saw them and talked to them for a couple of hours in Darwin. Of course there's a danger, nobody underestimates that. This is a safer part of Iraq than other parts but of course there's danger. The good news is that they are well trained and they're well prepared and Australians have a great capacity for getting out amongst the people and making friends with the locals. And we are, if I may say so, better at that than most and that will be one of the things that will help us enormously.
JOURNALIST:
In terms of equipment have they got everything that they (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
They have told me that, I've been told that by their commanding officer. I in fact spoke to their commanding officer and I had a one on one discussion and I said to him, Lieutenant Colonel if there is anything more you need will you tell me at any stage. Now obviously he will go through his chain of command and I'm not seeking to disrupt that but I have repeatedly asked the military, has enough been provided? I have been repeatedly assured, they are very happy with ASLAV upgrading, they are very happy with the kit that's been provided. A number of the individual men and women who I spoke to said that they were very pleased with the provisions. Now let me make it very plain and very public, that's what I have been told and let me also make it very plain and very public, that if anything more is required it will be made available and will be made available as quick as is humanly possible.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) comfortable without Australians (inaudible) support?
PRIME MINISTER:
They have not expressed any concern to me. They are very happy about the collateral arrangements that have been made with the British and the impression I got from talking to them, from their commanding officer down was that they were well pleased with their training, they were well pleased with their equipment and they were very keen to get there and to do the job. That's the impression I got and I've spent a lot of time with them.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard what would a free trade agreement deliver to Australia, what could it deliver?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that's the purpose of the feasibility study is to tell us that, that's the whole idea of a feasibility study.
JOURNALIST:
Have you had a pre-feasibility study...
PRIME MINISTER:
No we haven't had a pre-feasibility study. The purpose of a feasibility study is to analyse what is involved, what the impact will, the goings will be, what the losses will be and then when you have that in front of you, you then make a final judgement. Okay.