E&OE......................................................................................................
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I'll just give you a little report and then you might like
to ask me questions. Since arriving in Malaysia I've had bilateral
meetings with the New Zealand Prime Minister and just now with the
Malaysian Prime Minister. I indicated to Mrs Shipley that I hope to
visit New Zealand early next year and most of our discussion surrounded
our hopes and aspirations for the APEC meeting and we touched briefly
on the frigate issue and she indicated that that matter was still
under consideration by the New Zealand Government.
In my meeting with the Malaysian Prime Minister, which was quite a
lengthy and detailed meeting, we discussed a number of APEC issues.
I indicated to him that Australia would be advocating very strongly
action in relation to economic and financial governance. I'll
be advocating the establishment of a taskforce of experts preferably,
for understandable reasons led by the United States, to examine matters
relating to capital movements and the activities of hedge funds. And
also one that Australia would be willing to be involved in chairing
relating to crisis management and private sector involvement, and
that one would be more centred on APEC or possibly the G22.
I indicated to the Malaysian Prime Minister that I felt, although
domestic economic and financial activities had played a significant
role in the Asian economic downturn of the last year or so, in many
ways a number of the economies in Asia had suffered more than they
deserved as a result of the speed with which capital movements had
occurred. I said that it was important to reassert the goals that
were laid down at the Bogor meeting, despite the difficulties posed
by the Asian economic downturn.
We then moved to a number of bilateral matters, including a reaffirmation
from him of the importance to Malaysia of the Five Power Defence Agreement.
We also moved to the question of the charges against the former Deputy
Prime Minister of Malaysia. I indicated to him in very direct terms
the concerns entertained by the Australian Government and by the Australian
community regarding that issue. I also indicated that yesterday there
had been a private meeting between Wan Azizah and the Australian Foreign
Minister Mr Downer. That meeting had taken place at the High Commissioner's
residence. It was not attended by any particular publicity. We felt
that that was the appropriate thing to do in the circumstances.
He then explained his perspective of the events surrounding the Deputy
Prime Minister's arrest and the charges. We had quite a lengthy
discussion about that issue. It was an opportunity for me to put very
directly to him as befits a very close and important bilateral relationship,
the concerns that I entertained and the importance I felt the matter
represented in the international esteem of Malaysia. And I said to
him that I felt the relationship was of such importance that it was
better that concerns of that nature be transmitted in a very direct
and candid fashion, which they were. I felt it was an opportunity
for me to put very directly to him, as I said I would, the concerns
we had. It was also an opportunity for him to respond, putting the
issue into the perspective that he felt it should be put in. He did
indicate to me his strong commitment to the independence of the Malaysian
judicial system and I said in response to that that the independence
of that system would be seen as a very important benchmark so far
as international opinion was concerned.
I felt in all of the circumstances it was a very satisfactory, a very
important meeting. A meeting that underscored to me the fact that
this is a very important bilateral relationship to the Malaysians.
It was attended by the Trade Minister and the Foreign Minister, as
well as both the Prime Minister, that is the Malaysian Trade Minister
and Foreign Minister, as well as the Malaysian Prime Minister, and
I've come away from it feeling that it was certainly, in the
context of questions that were asked of me in Australia, and in the
context of comments that were made about me in Australia, it was certainly
the right thing by the relationship, the right thing for Australia
and the right thing for Malaysia that the meeting take place. And
it was a very constructive meeting, although there was obviously some
differences of emphasis and some differences of opinion. It was a
very constructive meeting and I don't believe for a moment that
the bilateral relationship, which is very important to us, always
has been, always will be, has been other than strengthened by the
candour of the exchanges that took place at the meeting.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister (inaudible). the fact that we had made contact with
Anwar's wife, how did the Malaysian Prime Minister react?
PRIME MINISTER:
I informed him of it and he did not make any specific comment on that.
I think he probably appreciated the fact that he'd heard it from
me rather than read about it, and no disrespect to those who write
about or report these things, but I think he did appreciate that and
he probably appreciated the fact that it was conducted in a diplomatic
and civilised fashion.
JOURNALIST:
Can you outline the concerns that you conveyed to Dr Mahathir about
the Anwar episode?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I think the very fact that somebody who's been Deputy Prime
Minister and has been arrested, I mean you're aware of the fact
Mr Middleton, that some of the concerns I've expressed already
are on record.
JOURNALIST:
No but I was wondering what were the concerns that you expressed directly
to Dr Mahathir?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I said the fact that he had been arrested and charged had caused
very great concern in Australia.
JOURNALIST:
Are you confident he'll get a fair trial?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I don't think I can make an observation on that beyond
repeating that I made, I said to the Prime Minister that it was very
important that he did. Very, very important, and I also said to the
Prime Minister that it was very important for Malaysia's reputation
that he did. And that the, I think I used the words, the transparency,
the impeccability and the integrity with which the trial would be
conducted, and the matter would be dealt with, would be the benchmark
by which judgements were formed of Malaysia in relation to this issue.
JOURNALIST:
Did you ask for Australian legal observers to be allowed to attend
the trial?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I didn't specifically raise that. It was a very long discussion
about various aspects of it and it was conducted against the background
of the Prime Minister saying on a number of occasions that he had
no control over what took place in the court room.
JOURNALIST:
Did he agree with your concerns that the transparency with which the
trial was conducted would be a benchmark on how the.(inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I thought it was interesting that he said that he remained,
and his government remained, and Malaysia remained, very strongly
committed to an independent judicial system. I thought that was a
very important comment by him.
JOURNALIST:
What did he have to say to allay your concerns?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think it was an opportunity for him to put his point of view,
and he did it in some detail, and I think that was very important.
I don't think at this stage I'll say any more.
JOURNALIST:
Does the fact that Mr Downer met with Anwar's wife indicate that
Australia supports Anwar regardless of the outcome of the trial?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, it doesn't mean that at all. It means that Australia is a
concerned friend. We are worried about the implications of this whole
issue for Malaysia's reputation. We are also a country that respects
other countries and their processes, but we're a country that
is not afraid to stand up for human rights and not afraid to stand
up for the values that we hold important. But we try to do it in a
courteous and non-hectoring fashion and there is a difficult balance
to be struck and I don't want to underestimate any aspect of
this issue. I think we have handled this matter frankly, with candour,
with tact. It's very obvious where Australia stands as far as
issues of principle are concerned and in fact Australia spoke on this
issue before any other country in the region.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, from your observation, what was Dr Mahathir's
response when you put to him that Malaysia is suffering internationally
from these events?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Dr Mahathir's response to me was that the circumstances
surrounding the issue are not fully understood and not fully appreciated.
He said it is an issue of the law being applied in an indiscriminate
fashion irrespective of the status in the land of the person involved.
Now that was the response in essence that he gave me. Now, as I say
I listened to what he had to say and I'm here as a guest in this
country and I had the opportunity of putting my concerns in a very
direct way and I appreciated the fact that he went to a great deal
of length in explaining his position. And I also note with considerable
significance that he said in his conversation that the Malaysian people
and the Malaysian Government remain very committed to an independent
judicial system. Now that's very important that a commitment
to an independent jucidial system should be made.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister did Dr Wan Azizah make any request to Mr Downer or
Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, from my recollection of the briefing I received from Mr Downer,
it was an opportunity for her to put her point of view. It was a meeting
that lasted for about an hour. It was a private meeting and I thought
it was the right thing for Mr Downer to do.
JOURNALIST:
Was there any discussion of the civil unrest that has been or could
be provoked by the trial?
PRIME MINISTER:
It was referred to in a glancing way.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard the Canadians and the Americans also met Wan Azizah but
did so in public. What logic has underpinned Australia doing this
in private?
PRIME MINISTER:
I might say what logic underpinned not doing it in private. I mean
I'm hardly keeping it secret.
JOURNALIST:
Madeleine Albright last night said that the reporting of the trial
had been a cause of concern in America. Do you have any concerns about
the way the trial has been (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
Do you mean the reporting? Well, I don't know precisely what
she said but look we made our position clear on this in advance of
just about any other country, so don't imply by any question
that Australia has been reluctant to state a view.
But Australia has a bilateral relationship with Malaysia which is
closer and more important than the bilateral relationship between
Malaysia and other countries and I am interested as Prime Minister
of Australia in the long-term viability of that bilateral relationship,
and that imposes an obligation of care and tact as well as candour
on me. And I think I've met those obligations in relation to
this issue to the full. I mean we've been very direct, we've
been candid, we've been very upfront. I made it clear in Australia
that I felt that it was important that I see the Prime Minister of
Malaysia. I didn't agree with the Canadian or the American response
in that respect. I think it is much better to talk directly to people
and to express your concerns. That's the Australian way.
Now, the Americans can do it their way, the Canadians can do it their
way, that's their business. But the Australian way is the way
that I handled this and that is to state the concern, to see the Prime
Minister, to talk to him in a very direct fashion and equally to hear
his response. Now, I mean let's keep a sense of perspective about
this. We have a bilateral relationship that's important and we
also have values that are important and I am trying to do justice
to both of those and I think, thus far we're keeping them in
proper perspective.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister did he raise with you (inaudible) about the APEC Ministerial
meeting so far? With reference to the WTO?
PRIME MINISTER:
Tim Fischer was right when he said it was second-best. However given
what's happened in the region in recent months, it was inevitable
that the APEC car would drop back to third gear in some respect as
a consequence of that downturn. But the important thing is that it's
still motoring ahead. And it hasn't gone off the road and it
won't go off the road and if some of the other initiatives of
which I've spoken are responded to then I think it can be back
in top gear fairly soon.
JOURNALIST:
Can you just expand a bit on the task force initiatives, and did you
raise the Malaysian (inaudible)..
PRIME MINISTER:
I'll be expanding in more detail on them this afternoon but the
idea is that there are two areas. There's the area of capital
movements including, but not restricted to, hedge fund activities
and we think a task group of experts chaired by the Americans, and
it would have to involve the British too because of London's
role as a financial centre. Now that's something that obviously
can't be done within the confines of APEC because the British
are not part of APEC.
Then the separate one is something that's more specific to the
APEC area and that is the whole question of crisis management and
private sector involvement in that and we think we could play a useful
role in relation to that. We would be willing to chair that and I'll
be saying some more about that at the ABAC meeting this afternoon
and I'll also be announcing, we'll be giving you a release
about it, the details of our proposal to fund a series of projects
which are designed to improve economic and financial governance in
different countries in the region.
JOURNALIST:
On trade liberalisation, is Australia's position unrealistic
to push for the position that we did given that it was inevitable
that the Asian car would drop back to third gear?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I don't think it was unrealistic at all. All we were pushing
for was an implementation of what was agreed at Vancouver. That's
what we were pushing for. I don't think that was unrealistic
at all. I used the metaphor about the car simply to make the point
Dennis that when you consider everything that's happened, it
would have been surprising if there hadn't been some kind of
drop back, but I use the metaphor very carefully because I think that
is an accurate description.
JOURNALIST:
Does this signal a change in what APEC's role should be, that
it should be sort of moving away from that free trade is there
but that it's been postponed but there are other issues that
APEC should start to become involved in?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I don't think so. I don't think it signifies a change.
It just signifies the fact that this region has gone through one of
the biggest economic upheavals that the world has seen in 30 or 40
years and it would be very surprising if you just sort of motored
on without any kind of change or any kind of response to that. That's
the point I'm making.
JOURNALIST:
How did Dr Mahathir respond to your two task force proposals and would
you expect the Leaders to be on your doorstep?
PRIME MINISTER:
He seemed sympathetic. As to the second question, I would hope so
but I don't put any greater store on that.
JOURNALIST:
Did he suggest that these proposals would in fact suffice or did he
say to you that he would like more done in relation to the international
financial system?
PRIME MINISTER:
He didn't specifically say that in response to my two proposals
but it was understood between the two of us that his view of the international
architecture and mine still remain quite different.
JOURNALIST:
Sir it's been reported in Australia that somebody associated
with the Liberal Party was somehow involved in hiring a private detective
to examine the affairs of your predecessor. Do you know anything about
that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, only what I've read about it in the newspapers. I certainly
knew nothing about it at the time. It sounded quite bizarre.
[Ends]