PRIME MINISTER:
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to announce that Australia will send some additional security forces to the Solomon Islands following a written request from the new Prime Minister and the caretaker Prime Minister which I received this morning.
Starting at about 2.30pm this afternoon from Townsville 110 soldiers of a unit that has been in readiness for just this eventuality will go to the Solomon Islands. They will go in four C130 transports and most of them, or all of them will be there by later this evening. They will be joined by some 70 additional Australian Federal Police officers and that will represent an immediate and a needed injection of additional security forces to the Solomon Islands. I am very pleased that we have had people in readiness so that they have been able to respond immediately to this request from the Government of the Solomon Islands.
This has become necessary because of the local unrest in the wake of the election of a new Prime Minister that followed the elections. Some 17 Australian Federal Police officers have so far been injured, I am sorry some 17 Australian police officers who are a combination of Australian Federal Police officers and serving officers from the state police forces. Two of the injuries are sufficiently serious to require medical evacuation to Australia, although neither of the officers in both cases have suffered life threatening injuries. I have no doubt that the sending of these forces will not only provide much needed support to those who are already there, but will send a very strong message to those who are engaging in unlawful behaviour that Australia and other partners in the Regional Assistance Mission in the Solomon Islands, RAMSI for short, are very committed to the long-term stability of the Solomon Islands.
We want to see the development of a stable, democratic, corruption-free Solomon Islands. Some commitment of nations was made in 2003, a very strong commitment, and the willingness of Australia to act so quickly sends a message to those who are trying to undo the democratic process, that we will not stand idly by and allow that to happen. We have longstanding friendships with the people of the Solomon Islands and we are as a nation and as a partnership with our friends in the Pacific region, very committed indeed to the stability of the Solomon Islands.
I have spoken to the Foreign Minister this morning, he is in Port Vila and he has been in regular contact, as has my office, with the High Commissioner in Honiara. Mr Downer has spoken to the Police Commissioner and it was the assessment of not only the Government but also the Police Commissioner that this augmentation of security forces was needed. I believe both the size and the swiftness of the response will send a very strong message that we are serious about supporting the democratic process in that country.
JOURNALIST:
Do you believe that Australia has let down its guard by letting it get to this point?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no certainly not. You have got to remember that this is a sovereign country. It is not part of Australia. We can only send these forces because we were asked to. There is no way we would have been asked to send forces before the election. The Solomon Islands would certainly not have done that. I don't think anybody has let their guard down. We have to respond to requests from an independent country. If we had sent forces there without being asked we would have been invading that country and we are not in the business of doing that.
JOURNALIST:
How concerned are you that the situation over there could deteriorate further?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't believe it will deteriorate further now that we are sending these forces. I think this will send a very strong signal. I can't guarantee there won't continue to be some unlawful acts but I believe the dispatch of these forces, their arrival, their presence, the reinforcement they will give to the local police who are already there; the message they will send by their very presence and the size of the force will act as very much a stabiliser and bring a lot of security to the current situation.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister when will the Federal Police Officers leave?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well some of them have already left and they are going in various stages today.
JOURNALIST:
Are you prepared to send more people?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes if it were necessary, but it is not assessed at the moment that more are required and obviously there are some offers being made by other countries in the region and I will be talking to the Prime Minister of New Zealand this afternoon.
JOURNALIST:
What do you think of the suitability of the new Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that is not for me. The suitability of the Prime Minister of foreign countries is determined by the citizens of foreign countries.
JOURNALIST:
Well they're in riot.
PRIME MINISTER:
He was elected by democratic process and I'm certainly not going to presume to give lectures to a foreign country about who they should choose as Prime Minister.
JOURNALIST:
Had Australian intelligence alerted you to the fact that this uprising was coming?
PRIME MINISTER:
Let me put it this way, it is not my custom to comment on intelligence assessments that are given to the Government. We have never said that the Solomon Islands had returned to a permanent state of stability and security, but I think it is very important to note that we have been able to respond so quickly.
These additional forces will all be in the Solomon Islands by this evening and I think that is a pretty remarkably fast response and it shows a degree of planning consistent with the fact that we have to respect the sovereignty and the independence of a small country in our region
JOURNALIST:
Had we had too few forces there?
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
[ends]