PRIME MINISTER HARPER:
Welcome Prime Minister, I know this is not your first time visiting Canada as we met here back when I was leader of the opposition almost a decade ago, but this is your first time here as Prime Minister. So let me say on behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians congratulation. I’m looking forward to the work that we will be doing together in the future years, more particularly, the meeting of the directors of the G20. The G20 meeting in Brisbane will be my third trip to your country, something I’m looking forward to after my trips across the Pacific in 2006 and 2011.
Let me also take this opportunity to commend you, Prime Minister, and also your Treasurer, Joe Hockey – now that’s a great name, isn’t it? Are you sure he isn’t Canadian with a name like that? Let me commend you and he for the leadership and focus you have shown throughout your time as chair of the G20. You have used this international platform to encourage our counterparts in the major economies and beyond to boost economic growth, to lower taxes when possible and to eliminate harmful ones, most notably the job killing carbon tax, and of course you continue to advocate for balanced budgets.
Prime Minister, you and I both know that budgets do not balance themselves. That is something that most people – most families – also know. We also know that a balanced budget is a structural anchor that is fundamentally important to a country’s long-term prosperity. I’m pleased to note that both Canada and Australia are steadily moving our respective budgets back to balance – something that we will achieve in the very near future.
In 2013, bilateral merchandise trade between us was an estimated $3.5 billion and two-way investment totalled more than $30 billion. The Prime Minister and I today discussed ways to boost this trade and investment, notably – most notably – through the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.
Of course Canada and Australia share more than a commitment to trade and strong fiscal fundamentals – we also share a Westminster parliamentary tradition adapted to a large federal state. We also share people – hundreds of thousands of Canadian and Australian tourists and students trade the Rocky Mountains for the Great Barrier Reef and vice versa each year. We also share fundamental values – freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law. Time and again, Canadians and Australians have worked together to defend and promote these values and to serve as a force for positive change in our wider and often troubled world. This tradition of standing side by side has been exercised from the days of the Boer War, through two world wars and Korea and of course most recently, in Afghanistan.
Let me close with this, Prime Minister. In a recent address to the Australian Canadian Economic Leadership Forum, you said, and I quote, “Let us make more of the friendship between Australia and Canada for our own good and for the good of the wider world”. Let us use your visit here to renew the bonds of friendship and to recommit to work together for a better Canada, a better Australia and a better world. Again, we’re delighted that you’ve come and I look forward to many more equally productive meetings in the months and years ahead. I wish you an excellent stay in Canada.
PRIME MINISTER ABBOTT:
Thank you, Prime Minister. It is fantastic to be here, it really is good to be here. It’s an honour to be in the Canadian Parliament. It’s a thrill to be with you again, Stephen. We’ve had many meetings, first in opposition and now in government. We met most recently in Normandy, just a few days ago, to honour the joint efforts of our armed forces in the liberation of Europe and in the securing of freedom for the post-war world. On D-Day some 30,000 Canadians stormed the shore at Juno Beach and they were protected and supported by some 3,500 Australians, mostly in the air and on the sea, in our units and in British units. It was yet another example of Australia and Canada working together for our own good and the good of the wider world to promote what we regard as universal human values, the universal decencies of humanity.
I was reminded again of that, Prime Minister, when the following day I visited the Western Front where Australians and Canadians shed blood as never before or since in a common cause and in a great cause. I’m very conscious of the fact that our forces were the shock troops of the British Empire, our forces worked together time and time again in that horrific war, particularly at the Battle of Amiens which was also the black day of the German army. Subsequently, we’ve worked together in East Timor, we’ve worked together in Afghanistan and I pay particular tribute to Canada’s role in Afghanistan and I honour the 158 Canadian service personnel who died in that terrible conflict.
We have a lot of history in common, but we have a lot in common in the here and now. We are multicultural resource driven federations. No two countries on earth are so similar. No two countries on earth are more like-minded. That means that we can tend to take each other for granted, but I am determined that that will never happen while I am Prime Minister of Australia. I think we can be a significant force for good in the wider world, because Australia and Canada are both countries that have many admirers and few critics. Our values, our aspirations and our history makes us countries that others are prepared to listen to with a degree of respect and an absence of rancour and malice.
Let me say that I am very pleased to be here, accompanied by a significant commercial delegation. Our economic links are strong and they’re growing. Our trade is significant and growing, but our investment is more significant and is growing faster, as you’d expect, from economies which are comparable rather than complimentary. I want to see more Canadian investment in Australia. I know that the Canadian Pension Funds are keen to invest overseas where there are stable, long-term investment opportunities with the reasonable confidence of secure returns and I believe that there are infrastructure investments in Australia now. There will be more infrastructure investments in Australia in the future that I believe Canada could well take advantage of.
We have a strong and deep security and intelligence relationship as members of the Five Eyes family. The Five Eyes partnership is a partnership for the good of the world, not simply for the benefit of its members. Let us never forget just how important the American-led alliances have been for the security and the prosperity of the post-war world in which Australia and Canada have played a significant part.
I should also say to you, Stephen, how much of a guide you have been to centre-right political parties and to centre-right political leaders over the last eight years or so. I cherish our first meeting back in late 2005 when you were an opposition leader, not expected to win an election, but you certainly impressed me on that day and you’ve impressed not only Canadians but a generally admiring world in the months and years since that time. I’m happy to call you an exemplar of centre-right leadership, much for us to learn, much to me to learn, from the work you’ve done.
I should also observe that I was lucky enough to be accompanied on my morning bike ride today by two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who turned out to be much fitter and faster than myself. It was an honour to be with them, and on that note I should express my condolences to Canada and to the Mounties for the tragic loss of three policemen at Moncton on Friday. This is yet another demonstration that people in uniform bear very significant risks for our sake, so the condolences of Australia at this time.
Finally, Stephen, let me just say again how much I’ve enjoyed working with you. I look forward to a continued strong partnership. I look forward to us being able, together, as countries and perhaps as leaders, to provide good counsel, good example and from time to time, some inspiration for the wider world.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister Harper, you and your Justice Minister have basically said that any regime that decriminalises or legalises sex work will not work for the betterment of sex workers or society as a whole. Prime Minister Abbott over here, of course his country has legalised sex work to varying degrees and to some success. Why have you been so dogmatic in going towards the Nordic model and why has your government not entertained the idea of decriminalising or legalising sex work?
PRIME MINISTER HARPER:
Actually, we have consulted very widely on the legislation that is before Parliament. I think the evidence is it’s very widely supported by Canadians. In particular, as you know, we will continue to clearly criminalise the activities of pimps and johns. The legalisation of their activities is unacceptable to Canadians and unacceptable to our government and I would just say that I think we understand, as most Canadians understand this fundamental truth: that the activities around prostitution are illegal because they are bad and harmful for women and for society more broadly. They are not harmful because they are illegal; they are illegal because they are harmful.
QUESTION:
Andrew Probyn, West Australian newspaper. To both leaders, do you believe that Barak Obama’s plan to reduce emissions puts you under any pressure to rethink your own plans on tackling climate change? And Mr Harper, you returned from D-Day commemorations where Canada’s war effort was recognised under the unmistakable flag – the maple leaf flag. In your experience, does changing your flag diminish the sacrifice of those who fought under a previous flag?
PRIME MINISTER ABBOTT:
Well, Andrew, as you know, the Australian Government believes in strong action to deal with climate change. We think that climate change is a significant problem. It’s not the only or even the most important problem that the world faces, but it is a significant problem and it’s important that every country should take the action that it thinks is best to reduce emissions, because we should rest lightly on the planet.
I am encouraged that President Obama is taking what I would regard as direct action measures to reduce emissions. This is very similar to the actions that my Government proposes to take in Australia. We should do what we reasonably can to limit emissions and avoid climate change – man-made climate change – but we shouldn’t clobber the economy. That’s why I’ve always been against a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme because it harms our economy without necessarily helping the environment.
PRIME MINISTER HARPER:
On that question, look, I don’t feel any additional pressure other than the pressure we all feel to make the progress on this important issue. I think it’s important to lay out the facts here and certainly our officials can give you more of the facts. The measures outlined by President Obama, as important as they are, do not go nearly as far in the electricity sector as the actions Canada has already taken ahead of the United States in that particular sector.
Now that particular sector and the effects of climate change regulations in that particular sector in the United States are obviously more sensitive to the overall American economy than they are in Canada. The reason I mention these things is just to make the point that, as I think Tony has also made, that it’s not that we don’t seek to deal with climate change, but we seek to deal with it in a way that will protect and enhance our ability to create jobs and growth, not destroy jobs and growth in our countries. And frankly, every single country in the world, this is their position. No country is going to undertake actions in climate change, no matter what they say, no country is going to take actions that are going to deliberately destroy jobs and growth in their country. We are just a little more frank about that, but that is the approach that every country’s taking.
Oh and the flag, you asked me about the flag. Let me just say this: I don’t know if there’s a flag debate in Australia, I know there’s one in New Zealand. We had that debate in the mid-1960s. Canada never had an official flag – we had an unofficial Canadian red ensign and I remember in the 1960s, I’ve actually spoken about this. It was a very emotional, very divisive debate. My own family was for change but it was a debate that totally polarised our society, including our veterans, and although the outcome of that debate has been embraced by Canadians, it’s not necessarily the kind of debate I would advise other countries to undertake if they have other important challenges ahead of them.
PRIME MINISTER ABBOTT:
And the interesting thing, Andrew, if I may is that the Canadians buried in the Commonwealth war graves in France – Canadians of the First World War or the Second World War – tend to be buried under the maple leaf symbol, so it has quite a long history.
QUESTION:
Good morning, Mr Harper. The National Assembly has just adopted the bill of dying in dignity now as a force of law. I’d like to know what your government intends to do, either to challenge this before the courts, to provide support to a group that will be challenging it or ask for an opinion of the Supreme Court?
PRIME MINISTER HARPER:
On this particular law, we expect that there will be court cases around it – in fact, I’m aware there’s already one court case that’s been commenced. The government will obviously consult with its lawyers, its legal advisers, and we will take whatever action in court they advise.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister Harper, you’ve been a strong critic of Vladimir Putin. Would you feel comfortable sitting next to him at the G20 meeting in Australia later this year and should there be reconsideration about his attendance? And Mr Abbott, what’s your view?
PRIME MINISTER HAPRER:
Just very quickly on that, I think we all recognise, whether it’s desirable or not, there’s not going to be any inclination, certainly no unanimity, around any idea of expelling Russia from the G20. Unlike the G7, the G20 is not a forum of like-minded nations committed to democracy, development and a more peaceful world; the G20 is simply all of the major economies on the planet who get together to obviously discuss how we keep this global economy on track, particularly coming out of the great recession of 2008-2009. Russia’s obviously present for that reason because it is a major economy and I will modulate my own interaction – our government’s interaction – with Mr Putin’s government accordingly.
PRIME MINISTER ABBOTT:
Plainly Russia has behaved badly, very badly indeed over Ukraine, but the G20 I still some five months away and let’s hope Russia behaves better in the intervening period. Yes, the G20 is essentially an economic gathering. It’s a gathering which is designed to ensure, over time, more effective financial governance. It would be a pity not to have all of the significant economies there, but as Prime Minister Harper has just pointed out, it’s not a gathering of nations which are like-minded on questions of alliance, on matters of democracy, on the treatment of human rights and the rule of law, it’s not like that at all, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t capable of doing very good work. It is capable of doing very good work and the challenge that I have, the challenge that Joe Hockey has, is trying to find the things that do unite us rather than dwell on the things that might divide us, to find the things that do unite us and to build a better world based on those principles.
Thank you so much.
PRIME MINISTER HARPER:
Thank you.
[ends]