PRIME MINISTER:
It’s good to be here in Beijing for the APEC summit. I really see this meeting and the G20 as two parts of the one whole. Really, both of these meetings are about trying to ensure that the world economy continues to grow, in fact grows more strongly in the future than it has in the recent past; grows more strongly in the future than it might otherwise because of sensible policies to be put in place by major governments.
The theme of the G20 is going to be growth and jobs, and we get growth and jobs with freer trade, with better infrastructure, with structural reform, with fiscal consolidation, and more resilient financial institutions. I can't think of a better preparation for the G20 than this APEC meeting here in Beijing because this meeting has very similar themes thanks to the leadership that China has given to APEC over the last 12 months.
The key to the G20 this year is not only the usual statements in favour of higher growth, but the fact that every one of the G20 economies has been prepared to spell out the particular policies that it will pursue to bring about higher growth and submit those policies to peer review, and once the G20 meeting is over next weekend all of that work will be published.
So, there will be specific programmes that different countries will be committed to and, obviously, as part of the ongoing G20 process, countries can be held to progress against the policies that they've put forward to boost growth.
QUESTION:
Mr Abbott, was it provocative of the US to establish these TPP talks this morning on the eve of the China summit where they have a different trade focus and the TPP excludes China?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think that everyone wants to see freer trade in the Asia-Pacific region and my understanding is that once the TPP has been concluded, other countries are welcome to accede to it. Also, a kind of a parallel process is the closer economic partnership negotiations, which have been led by China and Australia and many other TPP members are in that too. So, I think that all of us are going forward together to try to boost freer trade, whether we’re doing it bilaterally, plurilaterally, multilaterally or indeed unilaterally, we are all trying to boost freer trade. China, the United States, Japan, Australia, we are all trying to get freer trade.
QUESTION:
Do you accept there is political strategic rivalry underpinning a lot of this trade and economic talk?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. Look, the point I keep making and I suppose I first started to make it very strongly when I was in North Asia in April is that it is in each country's best interests that all of the other countries advance. I think the phrase I used was, "we’ll all advance together or none of us will advance at all." So, the rise of China is good for Australia because we now do $150 billion worth of business, trade business, with China every year. The rise of China has been good for Japan because China is Japan's biggest customer. The rise of China’s been good for the United States. I think in many respects they’re each other's biggest customers as well. So, I don't see this in negative terms; I see it very much in positive terms.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, on the rise of China, do you believe that you’ll have a free trade agreement ready to sign with President Xi when he is in Canberra next week?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I very much hope so. This is a negotiation which has been going on now for a very, very long time. I think it was almost a decade ago when it was first started by the Howard government. It meandered a little under the former government, but thanks to a lot of focus from Australia and from China over the last 12 months, I think it is very much on track for success in the next few days. Still a few things to finalise, but I think very much on track for success in the next few days. I want to thank in particular Premier Li who in a widely noted statement earlier in the year committed China to accelerating this particular free trade agreement and I think that Premier Li's words have been well borne out.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, on President Putin, when do you expect to meet the President and what will you be saying to him?
PRIME MINISTER:
Now, do we have any other economic or trade questions and then I might deal with this one?
QUESTION:
What are the sticking points in the Australia-China agreement?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't want to dwell on difficulties; I want to look optimistically to the future. I'm very confident that we can do this. There’s just one or two i’s to be dotted and t’s to be crossed. I don't want to dwell on them. I just want to say that it is very much in both our countries' interests that we get this done because trade means jobs – trade means jobs. It means better quality products for Chinese consumers; it means more opportunities for Australian exporters. Trade means jobs; trade is good for everyone.
QUESTION:
The China-South Korean free trade agreement includes a carve out completely of rice. Can you guarantee that there won't be a major exclusion under a China-Australia free trade agreement?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I can't guarantee that any agreement will cover all subjects in exactly the way we might like – I can't guarantee that. But the metaphor which has been used about this is we’re trying to build a house, let's build the first storey and then in a year or two we can build the second storey and maybe even a third storey. But let's get things done and I very much hope that we will be able to say that we have got things done within a few days.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, does this mean now that we’re getting down close to the wire that Australia will be making more concessions than perhaps would have been the case?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't see this in terms of concessions. I see this is terms of win-win outcomes and as I said, if we get more opportunity to export, that's good for Chinese consumers. If China gets more opportunities to export, that's good for Australian consumers and these agreements today are not just about trade, they're also about services and there are tremendous opportunities for Australian law firms, accounting firms, educational providers and others to make more of this great market and, likewise, there are opportunities for Chinese people in Australia.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, your focus on the economic seems to be a little out of kilter with, for example, President Obama who is finding, if you like, political oxygen to talk about climate, Ebola and other issues. Has your focus on the economic been at the expense of other important issues?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I certainly don't think so, and as it happens, I'm having a bilateral with the President this afternoon and I'm sure we'll cover lots and lots of different subjects, but as you know, Australia's partnership with the United States is broad and deep. I imagine that we will be discussing security, particularly the situation in the Middle East where Australia and the United States are the closest possible partners. We are focused on getting our Special Forces into Iraq because it is absolutely vital that the world sees and sees quickly that the ISIL death cult can be beaten and that's what we're on about. We're on about disrupting and degrading the ISIL death cult and we’re very happy to be working with the United States on this important global concern.
QUESTION:
Vladimir Putin Prime Minister, what are you going to say to him?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, sure. The first point to make is that there is a big agenda here and conversations with the Russian President on a very important subject are only part, and by no means the biggest part, of the agenda that Australia is following here in Beijing and subsequently in Brisbane. But as is well-known, 38 Australians were murdered when flight MH17 was brought down. It wasn't a tragedy; it was an atrocity, it was a crime and Russia has said that it will do everything to bring the perpetrators to justice. Good on Russia for saying that and I will just be looking for an assurance from the President that what they said then, they meant, and what they said then is still what they say now.
Thank you.
[ends]