JOURNALIST:
Are you happy with the outcome Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes I think it's a good outcome for the people of the Solomon Islands and it is a good outcome for the Pacific. There has been a strong reaffirmation of RAMSI and that is really very good for the Pacific because in the long-run the RAMSI way is the way of the future if other countries get into to similar difficulties.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister will this plan in any way cut Australia's involvement in RAMSI?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there's been no decision on any change. All that's been agreed is that there will be a review of the way it operates, I don't mind about that. I think any fair review will indicate that RAMSI's operating extremely well. We remain very committed to RAMSI but we obviously have said all along that a condition of our involvement is improved economic growth and improved governance and that's a goal that I think a lot of the countries in the Pacific share.
JOURNALIST:
Is the outcome today, Prime Minister, in any way a compromise solution in that the Pacific leaders decided to grant Mr Sogavare this review and this consultative mechanism to be put in place? Do you see it as a compromise solution?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it was a sensible solution and I never had any difficulty with the review because if you believe something is working well then you are quite happy for it to be examined. I think the key thing that came through to me today at the meeting was that the other leaders were very keen to keep RAMSI going. The idea that RAMSI might have been undermined or worse still terminated, was not something any of them wanted to countenance and I think you'll see in the communiqu‚ very strong language supporting RAMSI.
JOURNALIST:
What level of future commitment, Prime Minister, is Australia willing to give to RAMSI? Was that discussed in the forum, is it essentially open-ended?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well nothing is open-ended but we have a very strong commitment to RAMSI but it's conditional and the Australian people want their money spent wisely and we will continue to have that as a guiding principle in everything we do.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister did you manage to have a one-one-one chat with Prime Minister Sogavare?
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
JOURNALIST:
What happened to his five-point plan, was that discussed?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh yes, he presented it, and there were some things in it that were wrong and I pointed that out, but he's quite entitled to put any view he likes to the review as indeed other member countries are.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think this will take some of the heat out of the relations between Canberra and Honiara?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there are some bilateral issues, we'll see how they unfold, but they have to run according to the law.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister you say had no disagreements at all with the other Pacific leaders inside?
PRIME MINISTER:
I can't remember any.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, can I just ask you a question about climate change, the small island states raised concerns yesterday about global warming and rising sea-levels, was that discussed at the forum and what can Australia do to help these places?
PRIME MINISTER:
It was discussed briefly. The language on that in the communiqu‚ is similar to the language that's been used on earlier occasions. I think the climate change issue is one that is increasingly occupying people's minds, and in different ways it is being addressed, and this is probably not the time for me to give you a long soliloquy about climate change. I will at some point.
JOURNALIST:
Will this outcome today, do you think, stop Mr Sogavare from picking and sniping at RAMSI?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'd rather not answer that Ian. I hope that what comes out of today is a realisation by everybody of two things, firstly that it's in the interests of the people of the Solomon Islands, the people of the Solomon Islands, for RAMSI to be successful, and it's also in the interests of the Pacific as a whole that RAMSI continue. Thank you.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, can I ask you a question relation to Minister Sogavare, he fears that he'll be arrested when he returns home following this forum. What would be your reaction if that occurred?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look, heavens above that's an extraordinary question, and I am not going to give it an extraordinary answer. I am simply going to say that I know of nothing that the man has done that might cause that happen, but there are a lot of things I don't know, but I certainly haven't been told that. I'd be quite surprised if that occurred, in fact I'd be amazed.
[ends]