PRIME MINISTER:
The announcement I'd like to make this afternoon is that I have told my fellow forum leaders that Australia is committed in principle to forming an Australian technical college for the South Pacific. The idea being that we will establish this college headquartered in one of the more populous Pacific Island countries. It will offer Australian trade qualifications and thereby enable people who pass through the college not only to carry that qualification into occupations and activities in careers in their own countries but also of course it would greatly help them if they wished to fill any of the skilled vacancies of which there are quite a number in Australia. We're going to scope the concept over the next few months and when the results of that have been completed I'll be talking again to my fellow forum leaders. It will be funded out of the increases in the aid budget that I announced to the United Nations General Assembly. It's not surprising that we should put an emphasis on the Pacific with our aid effort. It's quite a significant initiative. I think it's one that will attract the support and enthusiasm of a lot of Australians who will want to be involved because it will bring to the Pacific Islands the availability of Australian trade qualifications which will not only be valuable of course in Australia but will be valuable all around the world. In a sense it's of even more practical assistance than the University of the South Pacific, valuable though that institution is. I would envisage that the technical college would have a number of campuses but we would have it headquartered in one of the more populous countries. We'll have to make a decision on that. I envisage that we could well, when we've finished the scoping study, be calling tenders for the establishment of the college in the way that we did with the Australian technical colleges at home. And I think it would make a very valuable contribution over the years ahead and it was greeted with a lot of interest and enthusiasm by my fellow leaders and it will certainly make a contribution in the area of labour mobility but that's not its principal purpose. Its principal purpose is to provide trade skills for young people, especially in these countries who do need skills. And skills are important to attracting investment and skills are important to developing careers.
JOURNALIST:
Is there a danger that it will drain skilled people, newly skilled people from the South Pacific?
PRIME MINISTER:
That is a great dilemma, but unless you break the cycle, then you are going to condemn many of these countries to permanent third world status. You can't have a growing economy; you can't aspire to be even a second world economy unless you have skills. And of course some of the people who are given the skills will find jobs outside of their own countries, although many of them who do find those jobs will make remittances back to their home countries. Some of them will only stay away for a period of time. But I'm told, for example, by our aid people that in Africa the experience with training doctors has been that a lot of them have gone elsewhere but not all of them have. And that the host countries for the training have been net beneficiaries of that training. You have to make a start somewhere. If you adopt the attitude that this will drain people who acquire the skills, so the way to stop the draining is not to give them the skills, that is a counsel of defeatism.
JOURNALIST:
Is this part of the process though to address the skill shortages in Australia to some extent?
PRIME MINISTER:
That's not a predominant issue no. I think it's designed to be an initiative for the Pacific.
JOURNALIST:
What's the cost you've budgeted for?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I haven't got a cost on it yet. I mean its obviously going to cost I'd say several tens of millions of dollars. Just how many, I can't tell you. We've got to have a scoping study done on that but there is a very significant increase in the aid budget that I announced. So it's not new money over and above that.
JOURNALIST:
And how many people are you looking at?
PRIME MINISTER:
Too early to say at this stage yes.
JOURNALIST:
Was there disappointment from your counterparts on Australia's refusal to participate in seasonal workers and short term visas for Pacific Islanders?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that issue was raised and I addressed that very directly, I explained very carefully and in some detail the basis of the Australian Government's position. I said it was an issue that always got looked at from time to time, but the current disposition was not to change. We last looked at it in April when we had a very lengthy Cabinet discussion and decided against a change of policy.
JOURNALIST:
What was the response from leaders to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
There was no particular response. They understood our position.
JOURNALIST:
They weren't disappointed?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well you'd have to ask them that. I don't seek to ascribe moods to my fellow leaders.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister was this an idea that you brought with you to this forum or is it something that's been conceived here in response to the pressure over the labour mobility concerns?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh it's been an idea that's been in a number of people's minds for a while.
JOURNALIST:
What's in simple language, the motivation for the announcement?
PRIME MINISTER:
It's a way of further helping the people of this area to acquire practical skills and to give skills and jobs to their young people.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, when you talk about the number of campuses outside of the headquarters, how many campuses are you talking about?
PRIME MINISTER:
I can't tell you that at this stage.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister was there any opportunity in your talks thus far in the Forum to reiterate your concerns and requirements in relation to governance and corruption in ...?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I've had opportunities in a number of discussions to do that.
JOURNALIST:
You say it's a small step forward with this college? Isn't it a much smaller step than say 10,000 workers....
PRIME MINISTER:
It's an entirely different thing. We're not comparing apples with apples.
JOURNALIST:
You're dealing with more numbers aren't you that way?
PRIME MINISTER:
But what is the purpose of the announcement. The purpose of the announcement is to provide more skills assistance and to provide a pathway to skills. I think to compare the two is to misunderstand the nature and the character of what's involved.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think that Port Moresby would be a good location?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not going to speculate at present as to where the location might be.
JOURNALIST:
Would assistance be given to students to actually travel to the central campus?
PRIME MINISTER:
That is something that has to be worked out. And there are a number of countries that do provide some kind of assistance with educational expenses out of their aid budgets, so what we would do as part of the scoping study would be to do an assessment of what countries do what and what capacity countries have in relation to that. Now we would obviously see ourselves as part of the offer ,as part of the proposal to assist. We wouldn't create a situation where it was financially impossible for students to come from a remote part of the Pacific to a major population centre. But equally we would not ignore the fact that in some of the countries there is provision made in their aid budgets for these sorts of things.
JOURNALIST:
Indonesian prison authorities have recommended a reprieve (inaudible) for Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.
PRIME MINISTER:
Who has?
JOURNALIST:
Indonesian prison authorities...
PRIME MINISTER:
Indonesian prison authorities? I haven't heard that. I won't comment until I get more information.
JOURNALIST:
Will you be releasing the Solicitor General's Advice on Counter Terrorism Laws Prime Minister which I understand has said there some question as to the legality of what you're proposing?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, not really no. It's not normal to release internal legal advice.
JOURNALIST:
Does it cause you concern?
PRIME MINISTER:
No there was nothing in the advice I got at the time that caused me any concern. I know its difficult to accept, but quite often when government's get legal advice, there's always some language of qualification. Lawyers normally do that. I know from past experience because you can never be absolutely certain. You only ever give advice on the overall balance of merits. There was nothing in the advice that I received which gave me serious cause to think that there is any problem of constitutionality and it was couched in language very similar to language that I have seen and absorbed in relation to many things the Government has done.
JOURNALIST:
They were qualifications, but ones that you didn't think were of concern?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well what I'm saying Dennis is that it was a piece of advice that employed the normal language of caution that lawyers use.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister did the leaders sign off on the Pacific Plan?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes they did.
JOURNALIST:
It's a difficult thing to explain. How do you explain to the people of Australia what gains there will be...
PRIME MINISTER:
I think the people of Australia see a lot of gains for them in a stable, better governed, more prosperous Pacific Forum area.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, on the technical colleges again, will this be free education? A lot of the people going there would be very poor for instance.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, well let me put it this way. We wouldn't be seeking to make in impossible by reason of means or distance for poor people to go to it.
JOURNALIST:
Was sports discussed at the meeting?
PRIME MINISTER:
I beg your pardon?
JOURNALIST:
Sports.
PRIME MINISTER:
Sport? Not yet. But we haven't got to the party.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) terror laws, Labor says that they will trample on rights Australia's trying to protect.
PRIME MINISTER:
Labor has said what?
JOURNALIST:
They will trample on the rights which Australia's tried to protect for so long for people.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that is not the view of elected Labor leaders in Australia. It's not the view of the State Premiers. I've spoken to all of the State Premiers, every one of them over the last 24 hours and they are all of one voice in saying that they will stick to the agreement that was made. Clearly when you are legislating in a cooperative way like this, you have a too-ing and fro-ing about the precise form of the legislation. But I can tell you that not one of the Labor Premiers I have spoken to is other than fully in support of the commitments they made at the COAG meeting. Now these are Labor leaders in government.
JOURNALIST:
Minus the shoot to kill powers presumably?
PRIME MINISTER:
The shoot to kill powers, so called, are merely a repetition of the powers and restrictions that apply to state police. And the purpose of that clause being put in the draft bill was that our advice said that somebody being taken into custody who was the subject of a preventive detention order, was not, legally speaking, being arrested. And therefore you needed to have some authorisation to have that person being taken in to custody and that's the reason.
JOURNALIST:
It's got nothing to do with protecting police from a situation like the Brazilian...
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no, no that was always - this whole shoot to kill thing has been a wonderful diversion for a number of people but at no stage was it designed to give the police extra protection. The advice we had was that the crimes act provisions of the various states and of the Commonwealth and the common law is only triggered in an arrest situation. Somebody who is subject to a preventive detention order is not in an arrest situation and if that person were to resist the implementation of the preventive detention order and some force were needed to take them into custody than that force would not automatically be covered by the crimes act provisions of the states without some reference. And that's the only reason that we decided to put this in. This had nothing to do with that poor man from Brazil. It had nothing to do with trying to bring something new. There's nothing insidious about this. I mean, it's been a convenient exercise in politics for some. I'm not saying the Premiers, but some. But I can assure you that at no stage was that the purpose. And the only reason that we put it in was to make sure if that somebody did resist the preventive detention order, the police had the authority to actually take them into custody.
JOURNALIST:
Has that clause been changed?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we're discussing it. I've said I'm quite happy to change it providing the situation is covered. I don't mind it being expressed in a different way, but this idea that in some way it's a new provision. I mean that will be said, and the Labor Party will run around and say that and they'll jump up and down and carry on about it. But that's the reason, that's the advice I had and that's the sole reason that it was put in in that form. Now if there's another way of achieving that objective, then I'm quite happy to agree to that. I'm relaxed about the final form of the legislation providing it delivers on the substance of our agreement. And that's been my position all along.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister have you considered delaying the introduction of the legislation beyond next week to give you...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Kieran, we're not committed to some immutable time table. The only reason that we've talked about getting it in as soon as possible and getting it passed is that because of the timetables for some of the State Parliaments unless it's dealt with with some despatch, it's implementation in the case, for example, South Australia, because they've got an election in March of next year could be delayed for some months. But I'm not fixated apart from wanting to have it passed by Christmas as to exactly when its introduced and exactly when its debated providing we can get it by Christmas I don't really mind.
JOURNALIST:
With regard to the technical colleges, will it continue to be an Australian funded institution or (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh it's intended to be Australian funded one. If other people want to contribute well that's well we'll take the dollars. But the whole idea is that we will fund it out of our aid budget. It will be designed to give people Australian trade qualifications, but if other people want to contribute; I don't know that they will, but if they do, we're will be very happy to take the donations.
JOURNALIST:
What is Australia's aid budget to the region?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well quite big. It's more than doubled since 2001 to the Pacific. It has, it's more than doubled. And I announced a major increase at the special UN meeting in New York in September and clearly a lot of the increase will go to the Pacific and this is one part of it because we have special responsibilities. This is our part of the world and we accept and we have always accepted special responsibilities.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister on student numbers and likely courses...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we would want to focus on what I might call the good bread and butter things. I mean nursing we would want to concentrate on. We want to focus on basic trade skills, carpentry, metals, things like that. But I don't want to wed myself to particular things at the moment because I want to get the scoping study completed.
JOURNALIST:
Through your eyes is this the centrepiece of the Pacific Plan?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. I think the centrepiece of the Pacific Plan is really a commitment to good governance and self help and co-operative pooling of resources. This is a special Australian initiative, designed to give hope to the young of the region and to give them trade qualifications which will benefit them in future life, either in their own country or in another country.
JOURNALIST:
Will Australia take more responsibility in assisting these countries...
PRIME MINISTER:
Australia take more what I'm sorry?
JOURNALIST:
With the Pacific Plan, will Australia take more responsibility in assisting with this?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we have taken a lot of additional responsibility over the last few years and we will continue to do so. Thank you.
[ends]