TRANSCRIPT OV TIM PEIME MNISTER1THE HON P J KEFAT[ NG, N~ W
MEETINCTWITH PRESIDENT OF NAUJRU
9 AUQUST1993
MEF PROOF COPY
BEV: Fint ofalI would kc to akets opportunity to say how very proud and
honoured Nauru is to havc the Prime Minister of Australia, Paul Keatg
visiting Nauru. TIs is tho first visit by an Australia PK~ and Governncut, and
dhe people of Nauru arc really grateful for this opportunity. I am also pleased to
a& nounce that Australia and Nauru reached an agreement to se th de case
before the 1Ci. Mr Keating and myself will be sigifts a compact of sculeinet
agreement tomorrow afternoont, at about 5pM and Natmu looks forward very
much to the exciting future with the cooperation and asaistcc which our
people, our nadcm~ i will be receiving from the Govemmint and the people of
Auwalia. Onc4 aan 1 take this oppottunty to thank most sincerely Paul
Keatin& and his Mitnister, Gordon Bilncy, for the cooperative spirt in wich
t" i setllcmcut has bee rcwc&
Well, could I thank the President for Wis introductory rernwka. ThI% is, I t& ink.
an important " ement for the people of Nauni, and it is an inpovant
actfimtnnt and agreement for the peoples of Atatrafia and Namrn. D. aume we
arc doin~ g simply more thcen a settlement, which-I rnight say is being negottd
principally by my oolicaguc the Minister for Deveopment Co-operatiem and
Pacific Island Affairs, Gordon Bilney, and I would l~ ke to complimnent 0ordon
for the achievemnrt of this settlemntz as I do Presidenrt Dowiyogo. The
compct of bettlemeint essentiAly involven a setilement of $ 107 million die bulk
uf it paid by the end or Augut 1994, so in die next 12 nmths.
And then there is a Ovram of pa) Tmcnts which run over the next twenty years,
which will bc a form of stable inicome by way of " bi settlement to the Nauru
budget and economny.
As well as tis, we have concluded a treaty-level commitment by NaWUr to
withdraw its ICJ ows and munce fujture claims arisng out of Ausi'
administration of Nauru.
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Alp* we have agreed a joint declaration of principles guiding future relatonA
between AustraWi and Nauru. Now this is quite uique in Australian ternis, we
don't havc such a declaaion of principles guiding thc rclatits with any other
countries. We have an atecrent with Papau New Guinea but not a declaration
of principles of treaty status, and I think this will be important to our relations in
the fluture. It will be important to the people of Nsuzai so tt they hav a
doctunztt to rely upon in thuir relations with Australia. Thar why I think the
President hAs correctly called this a compact of setlement It is not simply a
legal settlement elaimsv for damages, but as well as that an aprecnent, a treaty,
abou how we reooone another in the future. So thawhen Nauugetsto
the point where the revenues which it has had from phosphate miniing and the
reat expie, and it has to rebas its economy thmr is something solid upon which
that robasement can occur. So for thoue reasons I think we amc opening up a
new phase of Australis-Naurd relations, and I am quite sare that this is a
important compact in Nauru's history and certainly in its history of its rc~ atons
with Australia.
3: Is $ 107 million cnouOh to oomplete the rehabilitation of a third of the Wsand?
PM: The tems of the aillayncit and the functions and uses of the settlement monies
is a matter for Prvaident Dowiyogo and his Governmnent. It's for the
Governmcnt to map out 3 1ong, term policy for the Wsand, because obviously
when phosph= t ning revcnucs ceasc, apart from the income from its other
invcstmnts, othcr industries like tourism for which now the Government has
improved facilitics, infrastructure these sorts of industries will, be important in
the 14ture. Therefote the use of settlement funds bears upon these questions.
So it may not be simply a Straight reClaMalion, but other developments as well.
BD: Mfay I add to that; the commission of inquiry which lookod into the
rehabilitation of the worked-out photphatc, came out with a f%= ur of about $ 72
million. So this S 107 million on the figurcs is quite generous.
J1: So you are pleased with the agreement?
BD: More Owa pleased. And 1 am very proud to have reached this settlement with
1Prime Ministcr, Paul Keatin.
J: What areas would a joint declaration coVer?
PM: Well it covers really most of the things about we will let you have these
tomorrow, but it refers to our history and it goes into such things as access for
education and cooperation in such thing s, finAncial services, aviatimn, other
transpoft, other service, fisheries, surveillance, health and medical cooperation,
rohabilitation and envirornent Coomeation, developmient cooperation,
comimunication and travel, et cetera.
J: How much will the tiovW paymcufls be worth? A rTJ 1' 4U V I I. V4 V
PM: Well they are worth about S50 million owr twenty years. Now the Government
can obviously recetve that payment intcrmincntly over the period as maintained
in real terms. It is about $ 2.5 million a year over twenty years maintained in
real terms, or they could of course assign it to a financial institution and take it
at its net present value now, or at some point in the fature. It does give them, I
think, flexibility and that is a good thing.
BD: Ifl may also add to that, the very valuable point of this treaty is that after twenty
years Nauru and Australia can continuc to discuss other forms of cooperation.
J: Mr Keatin& what contribution will you be seeking from New Zealand in terms
of th; s agreement?
PM: Well Nauru will be assigning its claims to the other former mcmbers of the
British Phosphate Commission to Australia. So Australia will be seeking some
payments from both New Zealand and Britain in reaching this agreement and
settlement as the claims which would otherwise be made by Nauru will have be
assigned to Australia as past of the tenrm of the settlement
J: Are you able to put a ball park figure on what you miht be looking for from
New Zealand?
PM: No.
J: Will you be approaching Mr Bolger here at the forum on that?
PM: I will simply mention, I think the President tomorrow will mention, that we have
reached an agreement, so Mr Dolger will have known that. And then when I
see him, as I will be, I will mention that.
J: Mr President how long do you think it will take to get the iland back to the
state you would like it in? Do you have a timetable?
BD: Well we hope to start very soon. This morning during the discussions with the
Prime Minister and our officials, there were some ideas, some proposals which
can be started immediately. One of the priorities is to set contract housing for
our peoplc, and we have discussed about assistance from Australia in terms of
town planners and experts to come up and help to establish that project. That is
an urgent one for us and then we will look at the rest of the projects afterwards.
There is no doubt that the island can be rehabilitated. I suppose you have been
up to Topside, and you have seen some parts of the island where the pinnacle
rocks have been taken out and levelled. And we also hope to set up a sports
stadium up there, and a water reservoir, but in October this year we will be
commissioning our desalination plant, so we will be looking at things. We hope
to commence very soon.
J; How long do you think the whole thing will take?
DB: It won't bc done overnight. It will take a generation, ten, twenty years, and we
will aee from there.
ENDS