PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P. J. KEATING MP
DOORSTOP, JAKARTA CONVENTION CENTRE, 14 NOVEMBER 1994
E& OE PROOF COPY
PM: Well, I'll just give you a couple of minutes and a few impressions. During
this APEC meeting we have the opportunity of bilateral discussions and
today I have already had bilateral discussions with Prime Minister
Mahathir, President Jiang Zemin, yesterday Prime Minister Chretien. I will
be seeing President Clinton for lunch. I am seeing Mr Chuan from
Thailand and I will be seeing other leaders through the afternoon.
President Soeharto's draft declaration is, of course, a document of great
moment and because It Implies Important national commitments by
countries as people contemplate those commitments, they are pressing to
see what everyone else is doing and to see what it means for them, what
they secure from It and as one would expect with something of such huge
moment, it is not being thoughtlessly agreed. There Is a lot of discussion
about what this means for people and whether than can accommodate It.
So far the discussions have gone well. So far, I think, there is gathering
support for the dedcaration and I think Leaders are having a chance to
discuss amongst themselves what It means, what other people believe it
all means and who we will proceed from here in the case of it being*
adopted. Now, this Is the sort of discussion I thought there would be today, but I am
happy to report at this point, it Is moving positively and 1 think well.
J: Did Dr Mahathir indicate he would come on board this APEC process?
PM: Well, itIs not a matter of coming on board. He is already on board.
Malaysia Is a. member of APEC and I think they are also offering to host
the 1998 meetings. These are matters yet to be decded, but all the
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nuances here are by degree and it is a matter of seeing whether all of the
degrees add up to. if you like, a circle.
J: How did you get on with him?
PM: Very good, very well, but I always have whenever I've meet him in the
past and as I did in Cyprus a year or so ago and on this occasion we had
a good meeting about our bilateral relationship, about the growth In our
trade, about the exchange of people, about the students in Australia,
about out capacity to do things together in third markets. It was, I
thought, a very positive discussion.
J; So, he is no longer recalcitrant?
PM: Well, it was a discussion about there were two features to It the
bilateral discussion, that is the things Australia and Malaysia are doing
together end our role In the larger game of APEC. I thought It was a
valuable and frank discussion.
J: Will he support target liberalisation?
PM: 1 think you will find out exactly what people support, probably this evening
and tomorrow. People are trying to, at this stage I think, feel out
everybody else to see what all these words really mean In the minds of
the major players. But, I think, Malaysia certainly sees advantages in the
developed countries committing themselves to an earlier date for
liberalisation. I think, that is a very large matter with the developing
countries.
J: Mr Keating substantial change to the draft in the next 24 hours?
PM: I think President Soeharto has taken the view that we have now had a
year to put this together.. There has been a tremendous amount of
discussion across that year, feeling people out to see what should go Into
a draft declaration and, I think, the judgement has to be made then Is
this basically likely to accommodate most peoples aspirations? I would
think the President thinks it does. and his inclination, I haven't seen him
yet I will be seeing him this afternoon of course, his inclination is that it
does and that he should stick by it.
J: Are the Chinese ready to support a timetable?
PM: . I think China understands.. Australia did some economic modelling of
APEC benefit versus Uruguay Round benefits and they far outstripped the
Uruguay Round benefits for China. In fact, . China Is probably the largest J
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beneficiary of the APEC change and in my meeting with President Jiang
Zemin a few moments ago I gave him some of that material. I think, what
it in fact does Is confirm China's own view that APEC provides
tremendous economic opportunities for China and as well as that in the
draft declaration it will have the United States In agreeing to the
declaration to also do so with the words In there which say that all APEC
members should be members of the World Trade Organisation which
means also China. So, I think, China would see that as a fairly clear
benefit for them.
J: the protests on streets of Dili today, there is still at the US embassy.
To what extent do you think East Timor may, at least, partly overshadow
what's going on here at APEC?
PM: Well, let me assure you, this is always an issue and has been an Issue for
years, I have raised it mapy times with the President, and It is an Issue,
I'm sure, for many countries here, but it Is not overshadowing what Is
happening here. You get no sense of that speaking to any of the
Leaders. So, this may be a media view, It Is not a view here in reality.
That Is not to say the Issue isn't important or that it is not something that
we shouldn't work on and you know in Australia's case we are doing
something material and tangible in seeking to develop East Timor and
that whole province. To try and make economic opportunities,
employment and living standards better in that part of Indonesia. So, I
think, as these things progress and there Is also, I think, Indonesia Itself
manages this region perhaps better In the future than it has in the past,
that it will be better at managing this problem.
J: ( further question on Timor and demonstrations)
PM: You're aware of the demonstrations and I am by news, but not by
moment. I mean, I don't think it is fair to present a picture to Australian
viewers or anyone else, that somehow the meetings are being set in a
climate of these demonstrations going, because this is not the climate
here. Now, there is no doubt with the world in town those who want to
make a point about Timor will seek to make It But, the point, I think, we
should understand is that if there is any moment of history here, It is the
fact that this meeting would In any other decade have occurred In
Washington or the United States or Western Europe, this Is occurring In
Asia and it is occurring here in Indonesia and the United States President
has come to Indonesia to conclude this business on behalf of his country.
I think that point of significance shouldn't be lost on any of us.
ends