PRIME MINISTER
V F ROOFONLY
TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE,.. TAHIRA PALACE, CAIRO
iF_ EUARY 1987
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, are you worried about the way the
America's Cup-is-going?-
-Yes. I--hope I get home in-time; to-turn-it ar6und...
JOURNALIST: Have you spoken to anybody at home at about
PM: About the America's Cup. No, I haven't. I made one phone
call to see how it was going. But I haven't issued any
instructions.
JOURNALIST: Do you still think we will win?
PM: I hope so.
JOURNALIST: Have you bought Mr Reagan's hat yet?
PM: I am not by nature a pessimist, you know that Gregory.
JOURNALIST: Do you think your presence back home will have a
significant effect on Australia-s chances?
PM: I hope I will be there in time for . it to be relevant.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, have you raised in your talks with
the Prime Minister here, your brief that the Israel and the PLO
should PM: I alluded to it today Peter. But I will be having detailed
discussions tomorrow with Dr Meguid, the Foreign Minister, who
was there today and with President Mubarak and I will go into
more detail then. But I did go to it briefly today.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned in the speech that you are giving
tonight that you encountered an emerging and important view that
the confederation of Jordan was the most likely outcome. Where
have you encountered that emerging and important view and does
that include
PM: The language of that section is deliberate I t says, as I
recall, in some of the talks I have had, that refers to the talks
I had in Jordan and the talks I had in Israel with some of the
Palestinians. Bringing all those talks together, there was that
view. And I must say that in the brief-discussions I have had
today, I mean I have had discussions for three hours, but they
were reasonably brief on this aspect, and I got the impression
that same view was shared here.
JOURNALIST: What is your personal view about that sort of
outcome? pm: my view is, first, that it's for the outcome to arise from
the discussions between the parties. It's what the parties
arrive at is the agreement which I regard as the most
appropriate. Looking at it from the outside, as not a party
principal, it seems to me that something-like that is theappropriate
outcome because I share the judgement that is made by
the people who have expressed that view to me, that there is novt-
ab-le-a it e-rn-a-tiye-i n-pot-i-t-i-c a c onomi-c-t-e-r-m-s. z-
JOURNALIST: Have your Egyptian counterparts filled you in at all
on the reported-improv-ed -relati-bnsihig-bLt etl Egytandrdthe-r-est
-of the Ara-b world?
PM: There was a brief reference to that. I repeat but just let
me make it clear we had three hour discussions this afternoon.
Firstly, myself and the Prime Minister for something like three
quarters of an hour. And then we went into the meeting where he
had many of his ministers and so the day's discussions weren't
dominated by the regional issues. There was discussion about it
and I'll develop that more in the discussions tomorrow with the
Foreign Minister and with the President. But to the extent that
we did discuss it, there was-satisfaction on the part of my
Egyptian friends at the fact that they were involved once again
in the Arab Summit, and satisfaction with the significant role
that was played-by. President-Mubar And there -was. a judgement
expressed to me that it was a positive summit. And particularly
they expressed with me their concern about the Iran-Iraq war and
the hope that out of the Kuwait Summit there may be, as a result
of a declaration made on this issue there, some moves towards a
resolution of this issue.-
JOURNALIST: What was the dominant theme of the talks with the
theme? PM: The order of events in the major meeting was the Israel-Arab
dispute and the peace processes. That was the first thing that
was talked about. Then there was reference to the Iran-Iraq war,
reference to terrorism and the commitment of Egypt to do
everything it can, not only itself but in within an international
context, to try and stamp out terrorism. And then there was-also
reference to the co-operation between Australia in the
non-proliferation field. They particularly referred, with
gratitude, to the stance of Australia on aparthei And then
from those matters we moved to bilateral issues arnd we spent a
good deal of time on those. There was the view expressed by the
Prime Minister and his Ministers and to which I totally acceded
that we should do all that-we can between Us to build the level
of relationships, not only in the economic field. But I will go
to that first. They referred to the very significant imbalance
in trade between us and it is a gross imbalance in our favour.
And I said that we would do everything we could to increase the
opportunity for Egypt to expand its exports to Australia. We
already finance exhibitions in our trade centres in Melbourne and
Sydney. We will attempt to do more in that regard. I made the
point that it would-be-my-hope that the expansion of economic
relationships between us should as far as possible be directed to
trying to see how we from Australia could assist Egypt in meeting
the enormous challenges that they face in economic and social
development in this country. Within that framework we agreed
that we should look at the possibilities of establishing an
overall joint committee between Egypt and Australia which would
supervise developments in economic relations between us but also
in the area of scientific-and technological co-operation and in
cultural and educational exchanges. In particular also, there
was the suggestion made that we could see-whether there could be
e-stab-lished--a--joint--Aus-t-r al-i-a-n---ypt-b sine-ss-ot-su-1-t-a-t-ive
council. I believe that that's a good idea. And there has
already been some preliminary discussions with the Confederation
of Australian In-db try abdutth-a t6ibiity.---And-weal stalked
about the possible involvement of Egypt-in thebicentenary.
So you can See that there was dlsciussion about-a-_
wide range of matters. But perhaps I should also mention in the
broad economic area the interest of Egypt in getting a greater
degree of Australian involvement in the area of dry land farming
and irrigation. And I indicated that we would certainly be
prepared to seek to increase our involvement with them there.
There was also some discussion about the possibility of an
Australian initiative in the idea of building and supplying a
coal-fired power station here at Zafarana, and they asked for
some Australian involvement in the preparation of specifications
for that project, which will have to be considered by the World
Bank. And I would hope that as a result of the discussions that
I have had, that when that process is d. eveloped that an
Australian tender would have a good opportunity of being
successful. But as they pointed out they would be required to
call for international tenders that is correct. But as I say, I
hope that with initial Australian involvement we would have a
very good opportunity of being successful in that area.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, did you get the impression that Australian
wheat sales to Egypt are secure from the US/ EC trade war in that
area? PM: Let me say this, that they expressed satisfaction with the
relations between us on that. They referred to the recent
signing of an agreement for 2 million tonnes of wheat. They
expressed their gratitude also for the increase from 40,000 to
50,000 tonnes in the wheat aid supplied plus the agreement by us
to build wheat silos in Egypt. So it is very clear that they
have an excellent relationship with us and with our authorities
in the area of wheat sales. we didn't go to the question of
subsidised sales by other countries, but I formed the distinct
impression that they like the relationship they have got with us
in this area.
JOURNALIST: On the confederation, are you satisfied that there
is a majority of support amongst the Palestinians
PM: I can't say on the basis of any poll that I have done or
that has been done. All I can do, Mike, is to listen to a fairly
wide range of people who have much closer associations with the
Palestinians than I do. And the judgements, impressions I have
formed are from people who obviously do have very close
associations with them.
JOURNALIST: confederation do you see, for example, a
power-sharing arrangement between the Palestinians and King
Hussein.. PM: It is far too early for me to try and put myself into aposition
which at this stage, for instance, His Majesty hasn'-t
moved into. He hasn't gone -to the detail. You have gtto
handle these things in stages. You move from concept to
ne got iatio fie nht~ oi details. TWTt--w6ii7I-d be pr esump tuou fr-xto
purport to lay down some detailed concept of the mechanics of
confdeWratito'. s imprtat t saat_ this stage is that
those that I have spoken to who are di rectliy-involved see thatconcept
as the most-likely -outcome of-thq-proZesses of---
negotiation. JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, in one of your interviews last night
you said that you had undertaken to make personal representations
to the Government of China about the position in the Middle East.
Can you elaborate on that?
PM: I don't want to go into all the details, but I can give you
a general outline. What was put is that if the concept of the
five permanent members of the Security Council's idea for a
conference is to be pursued then that involves China. And it
would be sensible to acquaint China with the thinking of those
involved on this subject. And I -am more than happy--to-conve-ythat
thinking to the Government of China.
JOURNALIST: Do they want China to re-open diplomatic relations?
PM: Israel would like to see diplomatic relations, yes.
JOURNALIST: But was it a specific request by the Israelis..
PM: Yes they wanted me to put the position to China, yes.
JOURNALIST: If China were to re-open diplomatic relations
PM: You are not quite sure who would follow who, are you?
JOURNALIST: Has the visit of Mr-Sheverdnadze been confirmed-yet?
PM: No, not to my knowledge.
JOURNALIST: Would you be raising that with..
PM: Of course I would raise the question with him.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you encouraged by the recent
apparent thaw in relations between Israel and the Soviet Union
evidenced by the meeting in Washington between the Soviet and
Israeli ambassadors?
PM: Yes I am. Any development in the relations between the
Soviet Union and Israel is t o be welcomed because it seems to me
so obvious that if there were a resumption o-f diplomatic-
relations, and particularly in a context where there was an
improvement in the treatment by the Soviet of Soviet Jewry, must
be a plus not only for the relations between Israel and the
Soviet Union but for the region, and not only for the region
because any improvement in the stability and the processes
towards peace in this region are a plus for the whole world.
JOURNALIST: Does that committee that you mentioned economic
relations a ministerial committee
JOURNALIST: What is the value of the pwrventure?__
PM: What is the value.,_ the-dollar-value?
JOURNALIST: Yes.
PM: There hasn't been any figure-
JOURNALIST: The magnitude?
PM: The magnitude of the generation is they are talking about
2,400 megawatts. So you can see from that you are talking about
a considerable operation. I also add,-Michelle, that it's-not
only the question of the construction of and supply of coal for
that very substantial station but there could be also the
question of the construction. aof -associated-port. f acili-ties.-I
don't want to leave the impression that we have done a deal on
this. All I am saying is that there's been an Australian
interest, there has been discussions and visits about this. And
there was a quite extensive discussion between us today and very
frank and direct in the sense tIhat they wanted Australian
co-operation in the initial stages of,. developing the
specifications but pointed out that under the requirements of the
world Bank which they hope would be involved in the financing of
the project, under those processes, there i. s properly a
requirement for international tendering. So there will be people
other than Australia who will would be interested. I am simply
saying that I think as a result of these things there are some
chance for Australia. Firstly, the undoubted competence that
Australia has in the area of the construction of coal fired power
stations, the competence we have in the development of port
facilities. And secondly, the obvious cordial relations that
already exist between our two countries which I have no doubt are
going to be strengthened as a result of this visit. Now in the
end, Australia will have to win our honest merits but I believe
those merits are considerable.
JOURNALIST: Which Australian companies are involved?
PM: There is a group, the name I don't know, I haven't been told
at this stage what particular companies are involved in it. So I
can't convey it to you because I don't know what specific
companies are involved. I could probably find out.
JOUNALST: Prime minister, could I ask you how you have had
confirmed that the PLO, however reluctantly, has come to the
6
conclusion that Israel is here to stay?
PM: I guess one obvious part of the answer to that is that the
year long process that occurred between King Hussein and Mr
Arafat. That year long discussion, going from February 85 to
February 86, was clearly based upon that assumption. I mean
there was no argument about the reality-of Israel and the
continued reality in Israel.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke, what difference of did you find in
your talks today
PM: A very considerable identity.--Let me-make-this point,-tha-t
the Foreign Minister said that it was not realistic to expect
that Jord-an -could g_. into the di. rectneg-otiati. onswithsrael by
itself. That is precisely the point that King Hussein has made
to me. There is an identity on the question of the need as they
saw it for an international conference. An identity on the view
that such an international conference would not impose solutions
but would provide a framework within which there would be direct
negotiations between the parties involved. On all these
fundamental issues what I saw is a virtual identity of view.
JOURNALIST: Would Syria be involved in these talks?
PM: In the processes of direct negotiations within the framework
of an international conference of course Syria would be involved.
Without the presence of Syria-you-couldn't-have a total
conclusion of the peace processes.
JOURNALIST: But it appears that Syria is very hostile to the
idea?
PM: You would have to deal with ther, sorts of things step by
step. If you look at the past what has happened is you have got
part of the problem resolved as a result of the 1978 Camp David
Accord and the 1979 Peace Agreement which involved Egypt and
Israel. The emphasis at this time is upon Jordan how Jordan is
going to be involved in the processes. Now quite clearly at some
stage if you are going to have a total resolution of this matter
there is going to have to be a situation in which Syria is also
at the table. But I don't speak with confidence in that area at
this stage. I have not had the opportunity of discussions in
that area and I don't seek to complicate it as far as I am
concerned by addressing myself to an aspect of the issue which as
I say I don't have a particular confidence.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke did the Egyptians give you any indication
that they thought the inernal politics of Jordan were stable
enough to cope with King Hussein doing a-deal with Israel
PM: There was no indication to me of any doubt on their part on
this point.
JOURNALIST: Did you glean anything from your discussions today
to suggest that the PLO might resume some sort of discussions
with Jordan.
A. 7
PM: With Jordan? There was nothing in the discussion today
which lead me to believe the Egyptians saw that as a great
obstacle. Mr Arafat was at the Kuwait Conference and there was
reference to the fact that the King and Mr Arafat spoke, so there
was-nothing said in the discussions today which put that as a
problem, as an obstacle.
JOURNALIST: Can you give us any indication as to how the
Iran-Iraq war is actually going?
PM: All I can say on that is that in the discussions that I
have had today there is no discussion in detail about how the war
_._ was going other-. than i-t wasput as a matter of very serious
concern both in terms of the size of the casualties and seemingly
endless nature of the conflict. And there was some perception on
the part of Egypt as on the part of Jordan as to the dangers that
would be involved in the hypothetical situation if Iran were to
win that conflict. But no discussion as to actual progress of
the war. It may be that in the discussions that I have tomorrow
the Foreign Minister and the President that there may be some
aggression of that issue.
JOURNALIST: were the Egyptians pleased with the outcome of
the Kuwait conference and
PM: Yes, to the first part of the question that they were
pleased with the conference. They said they regarded it as
positive conference.----And while they didn't directly comment
upon the second point about building their position it was quite
clear that they were pleased to be back in the conference part of
the Summit. I made the observation that I believe that it was
appropriate that they were back and they agreed with that. And
that was the extent to the coverage of that point.
ends I