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IAi
PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF NEWS CONFERENCE, FAIRBAIRN RAAF BASE
16 JUNE 1989
E OE PROOF ONLY
JOURNALIST: what do you expect the reaction will be to your
decision to extend visas to Chinese nationals?
PM: I hope that it will be understood as a compassionate
and responsible decision. We understand that it would be
intolerable to have a situation in this country where any of
these students here or people from China face the prospect
of repression or punishment on their return. So we've madethis
extension of stay and we will have a considered Cabinet
submission which looks at all the implications of what needs
to be done now to ensure that the interests of these people
are properly catered for.
JOURNALIST:* Is it possible we may have to boost our refugee
quota Mr Hawke?
PM: That could be the case. Just what sort of categories
all these people would come into, how it will be handled, it
is obviously part of the consideration I want in the Cabinet
submission. The important immediate thing is to give these
people the confidence that they need that they are not going
to be under any pressure whatsoever. Because it is
intolerable in light of what's happening in China that they
should be subject to any fear of being returned to that
situation at risk.
JOURNALIST: Do you expect some sort of coordinated response
from the Western leaders that you're meeting?
PM: Obviously this matter is going to be one that will be
high on the agenda of my discussions in France, the United
Kingdom, the United States and Germany. Whether we get a
coordinated response I think there has been, without any
discussion between us, we've had a common sort of response
of condemnation of what's happened. I would think that
there would emerge a common sort of approach simply because
we would be motivated by the same sorts of considerations.
JOURNALIST: Mr Buschmann eventually gets back to
Sweden?
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PM: We can only make the strong representations that have
been made by the Government to the United States that we
believe that the decision having been made here that he
should return to Sweden, he ought to be able to do that.
JOURNALIST: Are you confident of a better response from the
US Administration on their trade policies this time around?
PM: When you talk about their trade policies, in the broad
area of trade policies, particularly within the
JOURNALIST: The EEP.
PM: I'll come to that. Particularly within the Uruaguay
Round we have a very similar, in fact a common position as
to what needs to be done. Now on the question of the EEP,
this will be something that will be discussed. But I'm not
going to allow the matter of the EEP to dominate the
discussions because the relationship between the United
States and Australia is one where we have very, very, very
much more in common both in our bilateral and our regional
and our global stance.
JOURNALIST: Your reaction to Mr Gorbachev's suggestion the
Berlin Wall could go down and there could be reunification
between East and West Germany.
PM: I would think that in the longer term everyone would
hope that you could get a normalcy in the relationships
between the two Germanys. As far as the Berlin Wall is
concerned that of course has been an obscenity for a very
long time. I think again it would be in everyone's interest
that it should come down.
ends
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