PRIME MINJISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P. J. KEATING MP
PRESS CONFERENCE, HYATT HOTEL, JAKARTA, TUESDAY, 28 JUNE
1994 E& OE PROOF COPY
PMV: You wanted some details and impressions of the meeting I had this
morning with President Soeharto and I'm very happy to give you an
opening stateme-nt -and I'll take questions.
Well, as you may know I had a meeting this morning with President
Soeharto which lasted two hours which was all business, a very
productive discussion, from my point of view, I think, I could safely say
from the President's point of view as well. We both remarked how
relations between Australia and Indonesia ' had improved very
dramatically in the last few years. This was evidenced by a constant
flow of ministers back and forth, by a greater confluence of our
business interests, the traffic of business people from both countries
one to the other, by the increasing tourism between Australia and
Indonesia, and underpinning that a better understanding of our
respective cultures and the* role that each of us are playing in the
region. I'm giving you a short hand version of these things, they were much
more extensive, of course.
The President and I then discussed the very great progress which had
been made at APEC, -both in Seattle and post Seattle and pre Bogor.
That is, the work of the special assistance led by Mr Bintoro and him
having been joined by the special assistance of other countries to, if
you like, develop further the decisions that were made by the leaders
at Blake Island in Seattle so that they could be brought to a point of
adoption and advancement at the meeting in Bogor. Both of us agreed
on the need for freer trade consistent with GATT and the President
said that he was looking forward to the GATT agreements being
consumnated before January 1995 so that we could see the GATT
agreement coming into force, which would itself be an important thing
the whole GATT regime having been agreed in the lead up to the
Bogor meeting.
Our discussion moved on then to relations between Australia and
ASEAN, indeed between Australia-New Zealand and ASEAN and
there I intimated to the President that the Government of Thailand had
raised with Australia the desirability of Australasia joining AFTA and
that I was interested in the President's view of how he saw AFTA
developing and what role he thought Australia and New Zealand might
be able to play. We had quite a long discussion about this and, I think,
the response that I received on this issue was a very encouraging one
from the President where he thought the developments that have
already taken place, within ASEAN in respect of freer trade, were very
encouraging and what we had done as a country was very
encouraging in terms of reducing our tariffs and, in a sense, there was
a sort of developing natural confluence at any rate of the relations
between our two countries. That is, in trade, remarking as he did, that
two way trade had already reached $ 3 billion.
The President and I spent quite a lot of the time on those two subjects
APEC, AFTA and 9ER. and the bilateral relationship in general. I told
the President that Australia had been very heartened by the initiatives
taken by him and his Government over the last year towards greater
openness including today's reports about further deregulation of * their
product markets and the adoption of an inves-tment -package, a
deregulatory package for greater foreign investment freedoms within
the Indonesian economy. I said, infhe context of that opening up of
Indonesia, that the Government of Australia and I have therefore been
disappointed at recent events with the press closures which appear to
conflict or at least contrast with the openness which had generally
occurred in the Indonesian economy. The President took the
opportunity to explain his perspective on the closures saying that it was
very important that national stability and national unity at this time of
great economic growth and transformation that these things were to be
taken as given in this society and that the journals in question had put
some of things, that is national unity and stability, at risk.
The discussion then ranged back over the forthcoming meeting in
November and the fact that as this will probably be the second, of
maybe a series of meetings, there will be very heavy international
attention on the meeting, perhaps even more than there was in Seattle.
The need therefore for the Special Assistance Groups and he as the
Chair of the meeting to try to draw the strands and the best possible
result from the second leaders meeting towards a set of outcomes for
Bogor which advance the whole cause of the Asia-Pacific and its
trading relations.
So, I'll leave my opening remarks at that and I'll be glad to take
questions.
J: Ian MoPhedran, Canberra Times. Mr Keating, a report due out
tomorrow by the Department of Foreign Affairs warns that East Timor
is the issue most likely to cause difficulties in the bilateral relationship.
Did you discuss East Timor?
PM: It came up in the discussion, but we didn't discuss it in detail.
J: In what context Prime Minister, did it come up in the discussion?
PM: Just talking about how in the past this issue had caused difficulties
between relations between Indonesia and Australia and Indonesia and
the United States. The President being very aware of the problems
which it had caused.
J: Phillip Williams, ABC TV. How would you characterize the response
from the President to your concern regarding the press clamp down?
PM: I said last week that I think I've developed a good constructive working
relationship with the President and in such a relationship one is able to
express oneself in terms of issues of concern and this was a matter I'd
said that was a matter of disappointment to the Australian Government
and to me. I think, he took that seriously and sought then to explain
the decision where he had come from, what he had thought the role
of these journals have been in their societal debate juxtaposed against
the need to keep a singular focus on Indonesia's development and
growth at this particular time.
J: Did you accept that explanation?
PM: I listened to what the President had said. I'd raised and said what I
wished to say and he responded.
J: Geoff Kitney, Sydney Morning Herald. Mr Keating, did President
Soeharto indicate how this issue may be resolved to you?
PM: No, he didn't. No.
J: So, he didn't offer any view about whether these newspapers may
return at some point?
PM: No, he didn't.
J: Indonesian journalist. Prime Minster, did President Soeharto discuss
his visit to Australia because he has been invited?
PM: He has been invited by me a number of times. I didn't reiterate the
invitation today, I didn't need to. But it wasn't discussed. I know the
President has said to a number of people including, I think, some of
our own people here that he would like to go to Australia. But again,
arrangements have just have been inconvenient or they have not been
put into place. He knows there is a general standing invitation, it is a
matter for him to take it up if he chooses.
J: Indonesian journalist. When is the proper time according to your
assessment for President Soeharto to visit?
PM: I think that is for his assessment, rather than mine. You see, it's not for
me to say when he should visit Australia. Governments very kindly
provide general invitations to heads of state and heads of government
to visit and it's up to their discretion and their convenience to take it up.
J: Indonesian journalist. If President Soeharto visited Australia this year,
can you guarantee no demonstrations?
PM: Well, he has not given me any indication that he's coming to Australia
this year.
J: Malcolm Farr, Telegraph Mirror. Prime Minister, has President
Soeharto given any indication at all of his personal timetable for
staying in the leadership or perhaps leaving?
PM: No, he didn't raise it and nor did I.
J: Is that a matter of concern, not concern, but certainly to the
Government? How long he stays in the job.
PM: The Australian Government?
J: Yes.
PM: It is a matter solely for him and the people of Indonesia and I didn't
presume to raise the issue or to put any view. Not that we have a view
about it.
J: Indonesian journalist. You were asked a question on President
Soeharto was he happy or not?
PM: Well, I'm not here to give you I can give you a sense of the
meetings. I'm not here to give you an, if you like, the body language of
the meeting. I said at the start it was a very convivial meeting and
conducted in a relaxed and sincere atmosphere.
J: Mark Baker, Melbourne Age. Mr Keating, on the subject of APEC did
President Soeharto express any concerns about directions of the body
particularly to the extent that he feels perhaps that it is being
dominated by developed nations..
PM: He did say that he thought it was important that APEC develop for all
the countries of the region and that the developed countries should
understand the aspirations of developing countries and consider
developing countries when they think about APEC's charter. Now, I
couldn't agree more with that. I think that is spot on. In fact, one of the
things Australia has always said is that we see the interests of
developing countries and developed countries being well and truly able
to be catered for in such a structure. Now, we did have a discussion
about the World Trade Organisation and about worker rights and what
that may mean in the future. I indicated to the President that we were
very concerned in Australia about the rights of workers. We had award
minimums and we had award standards to protect the work force. He
made similar points about Indonesia, but made the obvious point that
the capacity to pay people in Indonesia depended on the prosperity of
the Indonesian economy and that capacity is going to rise over time.
But, I think, he was well aware as I am that there can be some room to
misconstrue concerns about worker rights in terms of maybe quasi
protectionist devices against developing countries and he is alert to
that. I told him of my discussions of this in Europe and I gave him the
full account of those.
J: Phillip Williams, ABC TV. Prime Minister, part of your mission, I
believe, is to boost business ties between the two countries. Did you
discuss ways that could be done and why do you think Australia and
Indonesia's business relationship hasn't been good in the past?
PM: I think these things flow from general political and strategic
relationships, you know, trading relationships and Australia's is better
now than it has been, I think, probably in the last couple of decades
with Indonesia. As a consequence we are seeing a much better flow
of business interests and the exhibition here, the largest Australia has
ever mounted is, I think, proof positive that we see the relationship
seriously and we want to invest in this country and vice versa.
J: Ian McPhedran, Canberra Times. Did President Soeharto undertake
to take your aspirations for CER and AFTA to ASEAN and did you give
him an indication of your time frame?
PM: No. This is a proposal put to Australia by a member of ASEAN
Thailand. It is not a proposal put by Australia to ASEAN. But, I agreed
at the behest of Thai ministers, Prime Minister Chuan and Deputy
Prime Minister Supachai to raise it with other ASEAN leaders and in so
doing I raised it when I had the opportunity here today.
J: Indonesian journalist. Do Australia and Indonesia have the common
push for the APEC summit?
PM: No, I think any commonality in terms of the APEC summit will emerge
from the special assistance gatherings. And, I think, under the
chairmanship of Mr Bintoro this is proceeding quite well.
J: Wally Brown, Courier Mail. Prime Minister, did you refer to the
republican issue?
PM: No.
J: Geoff Kitney, Sydney Morning Herald. Mr Keating, is it your view that
the matter of the closure of the magazines is essentially a domestic
matter or did you express a view to President Soeharto about how
Australia would prefer to see that issue resolved?
PM: No, it is obviously a domestic matter, but that doesn't preclude us from
expressing our view about it, which I did. Particularly in the context of
the opening up of this economy and society which has been occurring
under his Government. Most obviously again today in a substantial
announcement about further deregulation of their product markets and
the freeing up of foreign investment controls. I pointed to the apparent
tension in that, inconsistency in that, and that led the President to give
me an indication, at least, where he was coming from.
J: So, is Australia's view that we would like to see those magazines get
their licenses back?
PM: I think Australia's view is that the opening up of an economy brings
with it a chance, an opportunity, for the transmission of information
which is best accomplished in a plural media. Therefore, it follows that
as the Indonesian economy opens up and its society opens up, its
media should have the chance to reflect those changes.
J: Mark Baker. Did President Soeharto elaborate in any way on how he
saw these publications threatening, putting at risk the stability..
PM: No, he said that he thought I mean, Indonesia is, again, still growing
quite strongly and it's playing a role in the world, in APEC most
obviously, in the non-aligned movement amongst other things and that
this was, he thought, a time for a clear unity of purpose and not the
nagging away at divisions. Now, that is his view and obviously
juxtaposed against his long history as President of this country.
J: Indonesian journalist. Indonesia would like to have Australia's help in
strengthening ASEAN influence within the structure of APEC.
4 PM: I think, ASEAN has already had Australia's support in seeking a full
place for it within the APEC structure and for member countries. The
fact that the first summit was successful, that's the summit or the
leaders meeting in Seattle, I think, demonstrates that ASEAN had no
trouble finding its place in the organisation, most obviously
demonstrated by the fact that President Soeharto, a leading member of
ASEAN is the chair and Indonesia is the host of the second meeting.
Thank you.
ends
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