PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
I'm delighted to welcome His Excellency Dr Jan Peter Balkenende, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of The Netherlands to Australia. It's his first visit to Australia and it's the first visit to Australia by a Dutch Prime Minister since 1997. There are a number of historical resonances in this visit. It marks of course 400 years since the first mapped European contact with Australia. And the Prime Minister and I will both be in Western Australia later this week to launch the replica of the Duyfken that will undertake a voyage around Australia. But it's not just a visit which is rooted in history and a shared experiences, it's also a visit that recognises the very close economic, and strategic, and defence ties between our two countries.
The Netherlands is the fourth largest source of foreign investment in Australia after the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan. And given the relative size of our two countries that speaks volumes for the closeness of the relationship and also for the contribution that many well known Dutch companies have made to the economic development of Australia. It's also timely because of the decision of our two governments to work together in Afghanistan. And as you all know Australia will partner through a Provincial Reconstruction Team, the Dutch in Uruzgan Province in Afghanistan.
The Dutch contribution is very significant, some 2000 troops, and we look forward very, very, much to working with our Dutch friends and the contact between the military of our respective countries has already been very close, and I'm sure it will be a very warm and effective relationship. I'm very pleased to indicate that we have reached agreement with the Government of The Netherlands for the co-location with the Dutch Embassy in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, of the Australian embassy. And it's another demonstration of how close and effectively we can work together.
And finally of course the people-to-people links between our two nations are immense. We tend to forget because of the seamless integration into Australian society, of just how many people of Dutch heritage there are in Australia, some 300,000, and I'm pleased to say that at least two of my parliamentary colleagues in the Liberal and National parties that I know of were born in The Netherlands, and of course in so many ways people from Holland have made a huge contribution to this country.
So it's in that spirit Prime Minister that I warmly welcome you and I hope you enjoy your stay. I know how much as a, we say in Australia, a bit of a petrol-head, how much you have enjoyed the Grand Prix in Victoria and I hope you take that away as a little taste of Australia. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER BALKENENDE:
Prime Minister thank you very much. I want to thank you for the invitation to be here in Australia, especially in this year. And after two days I really can say that I feel at home and it has to do with the people of Australia. Being here of course we think to our past. If you looked what happened 400 years ago there's the reason, the ship, the Duyfken, was the first ship that was here, the first Europeans who set foot on the ground here in Australia, it was great.
But also later, by example, you were in Second World War; we were working together, we're standing together in the fight against the Japanese and Australian troops helped to liberate The Netherlands. So we shared the responsibilities in those days and we will never forget it. Also what you did for us and afterwards, after the Second World War, a lot of Dutch people, immigrants, came to Australia to find a new life, to work on a new life, to work on perspective for their families. And during the last days I spoke a lot of them and they're proud to be here. They love this country and they contributed to Australia.
You already mentioned also the economic aspects. The Netherlands is the fourth investor. This week there's also a delegation of Dutch companies, and I'm very happy that they are here, and especially they're focussing on the issue of innovation and new technology because if you talk about the challenges and the economy is important to look to these issues, so therefore I am very happy that also that delegation is here.
Australia and Netherlands share the same values; freedom, liberty, human rights and therefore it is important that we work on counter-terrorism. Therefore it is important that we are working closely together now in Uruzgan. You have a very well skilled army and we are looking forward to work together. It's important that if you talk about international solidarity, if you talk about the prospects for the population of Afghanistan is important that we are active also in that country, so I'm looking forward.
You already mentioned an element of sport. I know that Australia is a really a country of sport; sport that's happening during the last months is impressive. The Australian Open, the Hobart Ocean race, the Commonwealth Games, the Grand Prix and of course The Netherlands, and it will be the same year in Australia, we are looking now to the world championship of football. And you can imagine you are very proud that there is a Dutch training for your soccer team, Guus Hiddink and you can be sure that the Dutch people will support the Australian, the Socceroos, til the moment that we are in the finals, than of course we will cheer for the Dutch. (inaudible) it will be a great event.
Prime Minister during 400 years we are good mates, Australians and the Dutch people. It's great to be here and I must say I admire the achievements of your country and the character of your people.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Thank you Prime Minister. Could we have the usual couple of questions from, first from the Dutch journalists?
JOURNALIST:
(Inaudible) immigration from your Australia experience, what can you use for Holland?
PRIME MINISTER BALKENENDE:
The important element in Australia is that if people are entering the country then you must be able to participate as a matter of knowing the language. It's also a matter of respecting the rules in that country. There's also a matter of mentality. If you have a plural society, it's important that there is mutual recognition, that there is a feeling of understanding and mentality of working together on the future of the country. That is what we discussed together and therefore it's very interesting to compare the situations in both our countries
JOURNALIST:
Mr Balkenende will be travelling to Jakarta after this, what message you like him to convey to President Yudhoyono?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well we talked about Indonesia and I naturally referred to the current difficulties that Australia and Indonesia are having regarding the decision of Australia in accordance with her long standing policies and having regard to her international obligations, concerning refugees, a decision to grant Temporary Protection Visas to 43 West Papuans. This obviously is a sensitive issue in Indonesia but I did indicate that I did not think that it would permanently contaminate or damage the relationship. That is my strong view. Indonesia and Australia are close and we have a lot at stake in our common partnership in this part of the world. Australia has demonstrated that she is a true and good friend of Indonesia at a time of adversity and difficulty. Australia greatly admires the transition to democracy that Indonesia has undertaken. I don't think the world gives Indonesia, and particularly President Yudhoyono enough credit for what's been achieved. And I have no doubt that we will eventually, well not eventually, but I think we will sail through fairly effectively and with relative speed, the current difficulty we have. But I don't want to play it down. I do understand Indonesia's sensitivity.
JOURNALIST:
The Indonesian President said yesterday there was a need for intense dialogue. Will you be trying to facilitate a meeting?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
You can rest assured that I took careful note of that comment.
JOURNALIST:
Australia and The Netherlands have different attitudes towards the Kyoto Protocol and greenhouse emissions. Did the two Prime Ministers discuss that and the future for climate change?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well the answer is that we did. We discussed it at some length and I made the point to my friend from The Netherlands that we do not see the Asia Pacific Partnership as a rival to Kyoto, that in fact the attitudes on these issues are getting closer together and that I did not believe and Australia did not believe that we could even begin to find a solution to the climate change issue for the whole world until the two largest polluters were part of that solution. And the two largest polluters are the United States and China. And I see the Asia Pacific Partnership as being a way of involving, recognising our differences, a way of involving China and the United States and other countries including Australia. I also recited the example I've given over the past few days of comparing the emission levels in Australia and in China to demonstrate how important it was to involve China.
JOURNALIST:
Question to the Dutch Prime Minister, you mentioned human rights issues before. Do you still have concerns about allegations of human rights violations in West Papua, and given the highly flawed nature of the vote in the 1960s, do you believe there's still a strong case for a new act of self-determination in West Papua?
PRIME MINISTER BALKENENDE:
You know, and as the Prime Minister said, it's a very sensitive issue and you also know about the link between The Netherlands and Indonesia. And if you talk about issue of New Guinea, then it leads to sometimes difficult reactions and we all know that it is not easy. (inaudible) places responsibility for the governments and authorities in Indonesia itself. Of course, you have these questions. I will not talk about it now because I have the meeting with the Indonesian President. But you can imagine that looking to the past, that of course we have interest in the developments over there and that's also the reason why we had the discussion this morning about developments over there. And you can see by example, what's happening now between Australia and Indonesia is underlining the fact that is a very sensitive issue. May I make a remark about the issue of energy because last year we met in New York and then we talked about millennium development goals, and it's good to underline that there is a clear link between energy, environment and poverty. And I know there are differences as far as the Kyoto Protocols are concerned, but we share the fact that we need a common strategy. If you talk about the difficulties we have internationally, if you look to air pollution and so on, we need each other. There's also the matter of investing in new technology, research activities and also that way we talked about it and we have the same feeling about it.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Thank you.
JOURNALIST:
Can I ask you a domestic question Mr Howard?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Yes one very quick one. You know I'm a sucker for one last question Mr Riley. Yes, what is it?
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, only one in four cancer sufferers in Australia who require radiotherapy treatment get it within the recommended time. Is that acceptable and what can governments such as yours do to improve access to radiotherapy services?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well if that is the case, and I would take the question on notice in terms of the accuracy of that claim, if that is the case, then it's not an acceptable situation and it's something that governments at both levels have a responsibility to address.
Thank you.
[ends]