!, AUSTXIALIA L
PRIME MINISTER
E. O. E. PROOF ONLY
TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE FOR AUSTRALIAN MEDIA, CHOGM
CONFERENCE CENTRE, NEW DELHI, 29 NOVEMBER 1983
PM: before the end of the day Mr. Ramphal has in mind
that we should have a preliminary brief meeting to work out
what the future course of action should be. I expect that
to happen before I leave tonight.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you expecting to see President
Reagan, or how are you going to convey the message that
Australia rejects linkage on
PM: No, that Australian position has been known. It has been
conveyed before. We have said that in the relevant
international forums, so what I ha. e said here is not
something new and it is a position which the United States is
aware of. If I'm having any further discussions or when I'm
having further discussions with the President I, of course in
the appropriate context, would remind him of it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, in Goa you mentioned that you
hoped to have the first meeting here on the Cyprus group.
I gather that hasn't happened yet.
PM: No, I just answered that. I said that before the end of
this day we are scheduled to leave about 8 o'clock tonight
before we leave we will be having a meeting of the heads of
government of those five nations.
JOURNALIST: Just a short summing up overall comment on your
experiences in CHOGM.
PM: Worthwhile for these reasonfs. Firstly, it has given me
the opportunity to mneet a wide range of leaders of the
Commonwealth covering aligned, non-aligned countries, countries
at all stages of economic development and from all geographical
areas. Now, that has been useful. It will mean on my part a
greater capacity to conduct effective relations with these
countries because I know the leaders personally. Secondly, it
has been an occasion in which some specifically useful things
have been done. Two in particular Cyprus the creation of
the five nation working group to operate alongside the United
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Nations Secretary de Cuellar. I think it adds to the possibility
of resolving that matter. I'm glad that Australia is one of
those five nations. Secondly, in regard to Grenada that was
indeed significant to get an agreed position on that and I think
the communique reflects the growth of understanding that took
place here amongst the lot of us because it doesn't involve any
recriminations about the past. It emphasises the need to
accelerate the return to constitutional government. I think
that was important. It was indeed a remarkable achievement.
JOURNALIST: You were surprised at the achievement of that?
PM: Yes, because when you listened to the debate on Thursday, the
initial debate, the differences were so wide and deep that it
seemed to me a fairly difficult task to get an agreed position,
but that was achieved.
JOURNALIST: Do you think there has been an anti-American bias
here, Prime Minister?
PM: It is true that some countries I don't go into names
tend to view most international issues with an element of anti-US
bias. I think that is true, but it doesn't dominate.
JOURNALIST: that anti-American bias at this meeting?
PM: People are entitled to express a view. I think what you've
got to, at the end, test, Paul, is what is said and what is
done and if you take, for instance, the Grenada resolution, the
United States doesn't get a mention in the resolution, so people
might in the course of debate express some views and give some
emphases, but in the end they weren't indulging directly in an
attack upon the United States. They were concentrating upon the
future. So I think one understands those things.
JOURNALIST: They certainly were in South Africa, though weren't
they. PM: They were what?
JOURNALIST: They were indulging in that sort of attack on the US.
PM: Yes, to some extent. Their concern is that the linkage by
the United States between the wit ' hdrawal of Cuban troops from
Angola and the settlement there. They certainly reject that
linkage and think that it is unhelpful, counter-productive.
But, at the end there has got to be an understanding in the
economic area of the vast importance of the United States to the
welfare of, not only these countries but the rest of the world.
It is very sensible, in my judgement, that adverse judgements
that countries might want to make about the United States on
particular issues should not be allowed to cloud their
understanding that it is in the interests of the rest of the
world to try and have as constructive relations with the United
States as possible and to try and see that the United States plays
as larcge a role as it can in the international. community becauLse
it obviously has the capacity to determine to a very large
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measure the rate of growth in trade in the world. And also
it has the capacity, more than anyone else, to participate
in constructive assistance to those countries of the world
which most need it. And I'm conscious of that and I think
they all should be. That doesn't mean that you have to endorse
everything that the United States does or says, but it does
suggest that one ought to be conscious of the importance and
the relevance of the United States. It is rather difficult
it seems to me, on the one hand totally to condemn the
United States in terms of international politics and on the
other side not to recognise its primary importance in the
economic and development area.