ATA LI 1
PRIME MINOSTER
E. 0. E. Proof Only
TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE, ORIENTAL HOTEL, BANGKOK,
AFTER MEETING WITH THAI PRIME MINISTER AND FOREIGN MINISTER,
.21 NOVEMBER 1983
PM: Well Bill and I have had extremely useful and constructive
morning with the Prime Minister and the Foreign
Minister together and then lunch with the Foreign Minister.
We could not,' I believe, be more satisfied than we are with
the talks that have taken place. May I just go through
generally the country that we've covered and then if you'd
like to ask us any questions.
I repeated the Australian Government's condemnation of the
invasion by Vietnam of Cambodia and the continued occupation of
that country. What I emphasised is repeated because what Bill
Hayden and I will have to say here, of course we've said before.
I added again in the same sense that there should be a phased
withdrawal leading to total withdrawal of the Vietnamese
troops from Cambodia and that there should be an act of
self-determination for the Cambodian people and that conditions
should be established which would permit the return of displaced
Cambodians to their country and for normnal relations to be
resumed between Vietnam, China, the ASEAN countries and the
international community at large.
I indicated that Australia attached importance to ending
Vietnam's present political and economic isolation and growing
reliance on the Soviet Union which was entrenching the great
power rivalry in the region.
I indicated that Australia intended offering disaster relief
assistance to Vietnam, but that we had taken no decision in
practical terms to resume development assistance to Vietnam.
I pointed out that while Australian aid was continuing to be
directed to displaced Cambodians in the Thai/ Cambodia border
area, I indicated that we continued to consider that meeting
the humanitarian aid needs of the internees and others inside
Cambodia was necessary.
We emphasised as strongly as we Could the great concern of
Australia at any nossible return of p: ower of the regime as
brutal as the Khmer Rouge. 12.
As the Prime Minister of Thailand, General Prem, and I
agreed, our discussions had been very useful in clarifying
misunderstandings which had recently arisen. We both agreed
that the Cambodian situation carried disturbing implications
for peaceful relations among all the countries of the SE ASian
region. On the main issues of principle that is the withdrawal of
Vietnamese troops and the need for acts of self-determination
by the Cambodian people there was fundamental agreement
between Australia and the Thai position.
General Prem and myself, while noting that there was some
room for difference of emphasis and approach in the manner in
which each of our countries sought to give effect to the agreed
principles, we each accepted that our countries each of themwas
directing its efforts towards objectives shared by the
other and we agreed that Australia ' n and Thailand intended to
work in the closest contact, with communication on these
matters of mutual interest in the future.
Now, that covers the central features of our discussion i n
regard to the Cambodian/ ASEAN position. We, of course, have
quite detailed discussions on a number of bilateral issues
concerning Australia and Thailand and I would indicate that
just following the luncheon Bill Hayden and Foreign Minister
Siddhi have just co-signed the geiieral co-financing agreement
covering Thailand and World Bank Australia development
co-operation which I think is a fairly clear indication of
the position that has been reached as a result of our
discussions today.
JOURNALIST: Was there any discussions about talks at the
officials level between Australia and the ASEAN nations and
did we get any indication that these might be re-commenced
after the suspension?
PM: Well, of course, we are talking with one leader of ASEAN
who will ( inaudible) in January and, as I said before,
I haven't felt'that there will not be a resumption of the
dialogue between ASEAN and Australia and I am confident that
that will take place.
JOURNALIST: Did we get any positive sign or negative sign
today, one way or the other? I
PM: It's not for Bill or I to ask of Thailand or for Thailand
to be able to act on behalf of the rest of the ASEAN cou-ntries.
That is not the way it operates. We have conveyed our position
to Thailand. They understand it and they will be having
their discussions. I think I can say on behalf of Bill and
myself that we feel relaxed about what the outcome will be.
/ 3
JOURNALIST: Sir, the matter was not discussed at all?
PM: It's not appropriate. We didn't come here to plead with
Thailand to act as an emissary for us. It's not their
function and it's not our intention. We came here as
previously scheduled and obviously took the opportunity of
clarifying our position on these matters. Now, that's
been done. in my judgement no need for any concern
about the futdre course of relations between Australia and
ASEAN. JOURNALIST: Could I just clarify the situation on aid to
Vietnam we have already been giving some disaster relief
have we or not, or is that a new position.
PM: There has been some relief in the past, but what we're
faced with now is Bill might be able to give more detail
on this, but I understand that in this year there has been
a concentrated impact of disaster in the area and through
the United Nations agency there has been a request to
member nations for assistance and we will, as we have
indicated, respond to that.
JOURNALIST: Would that be the first aid we have put into
Vietnam at all?
HAYDEN: It's the first we've put into Vietnam, but I'm not
real sure. I think disaster aid probably went in before.
However we discussed with the ASEAN countries before we made
this announcement today and there was no opposition to the
proposition not necessarily that that would stop us, but
there is none. It's million and it covers a substantial
quantity of rice I think over a thousand tons of rice.
Richard Brinowski is our man in Hanoi. Do you recall
what the dimensions of the disaster are the number of lives
lost I think about 300 was it.
BRINOWSKI: Loss of lives is nearly 500, plus a lot more
missing. That's the figure that has been confirmed from
various sources.
HAYDEN: Other figures that you got from that. They may be
interested.
BRINOWSKI: Many thousands of homes have been destroyed . The
main damage is in the central provinces schools, fishing
boats. It's very extensive.
JOURNALIST: Are the ASEAN nations themselves putting in any
aid? HAYDEN: Wouldn't know.
JOURNALIST: When was this discussed with the ASEAN nations?
HAYDEN: Two or three weeks ago we started discussing it. / 4
JOURNALIST: Did they put any qualification on Australia
putting any aid in at all?
PM: On disaster aid, no. They've always said that disaster
ai1d that is in the wake of a natural disaster, was
something that they could never quibble about.
JOURNALIST: After we enunciated our position on general
aid to Vietnaru development aid was that taken up at all
by the Thai leaders?
PM: We expressed our position again which was not something
w; hich we just said here. Both of us had made that position
clear before. That was understood by the Thai leaders.
There was nothing which was new about that. It was an
affirmation of what we had said. They were interested and
I think pleased to hear the exposition from us.
JOURNALIST: Does this disaster aid go to you said it came
as a response to a request from the UN agency?
HAYDEN: Disaster relief organisation.
JOURNALIST: It's not bilateral?
HAYDEN: That's four times I've said that.
JOURNALIST: Did the Malaysian proposal come up at all over
lunch. PM: No.
JOURNALIST: Has it been discussed at all?
PM: No, you haven't had anything?
HAYDEN: No.
JOURNALIST: On another note, Prime Minister, I was wondering
if you could tell me your reaction to a story that's
floating out of Delhi today that Sonny Ramphal steps down,
Malcolm Fraser will step in.
PM: Well, I found myself a little surprised. I would have
thought if there was any substance in it we may have heard
something before this.
JOURNALIST: I understand that Alan Griffith, Labor Member
in Victoria is writing to both yourself and the Foreign Minister
about this matter saying that it shouldn't
PM: Well, we'll be waiting with baited breath for the letter.
JOURNALIST: If it became a serious proposition would you
support Mr. Fraser in seeking selection for the Secretary-
Generalship? PM: ( inaudible) this chase of hypotheses is no wonder
you're all looking so fi t, o0U' rc' alIways chasini-hypotheses.
JOURNALIST: It was one of our esteemed colleagues, Mr. Lombard.
PM: Oh.
JOURNALIST: Was there any discussion at all with the Thais
about what Mr. Dhanabalan has been saying or any discussion
about the Singaporean view expressed over the last couple of
weeks? PM: We didn't need to go to individuals. We explained our
position in general terms. We, of course, recognised that
there had been some problems created by statements of recent
times, but the way to deal with that is not to go in an
ad sense but to deal with the issues and that is what we
did. JOURNALIST: Was there any discussion about possible Australian
involvement in Kampuchea with the event of a Vietnamese
withdrawal? PM: No, I've answered that question. That didn't the matter
wasn't raised by the Thai leaders and obviously there wasn't
any point in us going to it. The thing is to talk about
the present situation and try and get to an improvement from
where we are. If that has some possible substance in it, it
will emerge at the appropriate time.
JOURNALIST: Didn't the Malaysian Foreign Minister and Prime
Minister put this in terms of the present situation in terms
of one way that the Vietnamese might be induced to look at
withdrawal terms?
PM: reports that we saw in the paper, but what I've been
trying to say to you for some time, the right way to conduct
your affairs in regard to some domestic political situation
or international, you don't hear something said by someone
that is maybe down the track and then go down there after
that. If you want to guarantee inefficiency in conducting
your affairs, that is it. You deal with. the position as it is
and if that develops into something that has been hypothecated
and becomes relevant, then you address yourself to it.
Otherwise it's a guarantee of inefficiency and potential
insanity.
JOURNALIST: When we enunciated our position, did we
specifically indicate our reservations about the coalition
because of the participation and the prominent military role
in it of the Khmer Rough
PM: Yes, we said here what we have said both of us in
Australia that we praise the integrity and the commitment
of Son Sann and Prince Sihanouk and their forces and reiterated
our for Po1 Pot the coalition and in that respect 1
don't think there is any significant divergence betwen ourselves
and the Thais. / 6
6.
JOURNALIST: Mr. Ghazali said in his interview with Michael
Richardson that ASEAN Foreign Ministers in January
would be looking at a series of options regarding the
withdrawal of Vietnam from Kampuchea. Did the Thais give
you any indication of the sorts of options that the ASEAN
Foreign Ministers would be looking at?
PM: No, they have a working party looking at these sorts
of things. We have no indication of what specifics they
may be coming up with.