11 September 1999
E&OE…………………………………………………………………………………….
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, thanks very much for your time this morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Pleasure.
JOURNALIST:
Now, we’ve had more horror stories of ethnic cleansing and there’s been more evacuations, more atrocities. When is Australia and the world actually going to be able to take some real action in Indonesia and against Indonesia?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we are working very, very hard on that. Last night in Auckland I had a further discussion with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and I took another call from President Clinton who was refueling in Honolulu and rang me to, as it were, catch up on and discuss further developments. The situation…
JOURNALIST:
So what were they both saying?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the situation on the ground in Dili has got worse and the UN is giving consideration to whether it completely evacuates the Mission. That would, of course, be the ultimate demonstration to the world that Indonesia has not kept its part of the bargain and maintained the right conditions for the UN to carry on what it was meant to carry on and which Indonesia agreed it should carry on under the agreement made with Portugal and the United Nations in May of this year.
JOURNALIST:
Wouldn’t it also demonstrate though, Mr Howard, that the UN have failed to secure East Timor and particularly Dili, that the UN have let the East Timorese down?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I am not going to start making declarations like that because my aim is to try and achieve an outcome. And in a situation like this it’s very easy sitting on the sidelines to say, this or that group has failed or this or that nation has failed. As you know, Australia has been taking the lead in trying to do two things - to bring international pressure to bear on Indonesia to do the right thing in East Timor and in default of that to stand aside and allow an international peacekeeping force to go in. Australia has made a very big contribution to that peacekeeping force. I am confident that if a peacekeeping force is allowed in then it will be quite broadly based. It is likely to be led to be Australia because that’s the invitation of the United Nations and I am quite satisfied to date of the response that the United Nations has had to the assembly of that peacekeeping force. Now, at the moment the next decision to be taken is what happens to the UN Mission in Dili. The Secretary-General, I understand, after discussion with his own advisers and other countries will take a decision about that later on today. If a decision were taken to close it down that, I believe, would dramatically increase the pressure on Indonesia because Indonesia has said all along that it can look after the situation. Now, if the UN Mission is withdrawn then that’s a demonstration that Indonesia has not been able to look after the situation.
JOURNALIST:
Is Kofi Annan going to wait for whatever report the Security Council delegation to Dili that’s going in today whatever they say?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. My understanding is that he’ll take a decision earlier than that. I mean, the decision may be to keep the Mission open for a bit longer and then take a decision about its long-term position in a day or two’s time. On the other hand, that a situation decision may be to close it sooner than that. It’s apparent that after sum stabilisation of the situation over the past 24 hours it has got worse. The attack on the Mission, on the compound, was very serious and those who…
JOURNALIST:
…attack the UN cars?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, yes. Well, there are all sorts of reports about what happened Helen. I mean, you have got them as well as I have, you know what I’m talking about and that’s quite a serious development. Now, to get back to basics and that is that if the Indonesians can’t provide the protection that’s needed then the Indonesians should stand aside. And the only way…
JOURNALIST:
What point is that going to happen?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Helen, I don’t know that. I mean, that is a ridiculous question to ask me because if I knew the answer to that we’d know the answer to the whole, sort of, situation. Clearly, Indonesia…
JOURNALIST:
That’s what the whole of Australia wants.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I understand that and so do I. I mean, I would like the situation solved tomorrow but I have the responsibility of trying to get a solution to it. And we have made a lot of progress but in the end if the Indonesians refuse to allow troops on their soil the only way those troops can go there is by military invasion. Now, it is as stark as that. Now, nobody is seriously or responsibly advocating at this stage that such action be contemplated and I think it’s very important that people remain a little calmer than some have been. I understand the anguish. I know about the atrocities and the misdeeds, I understand all of that…
JOURNALIST:
How do you feel about all that? I mean, obviously you are dealing on a diplomatic level, how do you feel when you see those pictures and hear those eyewitness reports?
PRIME MINISTER:
Like any other human being I am appalled by them but I have a responsibility as well as being appalled. I have got to do more than that, I have got to try patiently and painstakingly to do what I can as the Prime Minister of Australia, a medium power but a country having a direct and very significant responsibility in our part of the world. I have got to try and achieve through international diplomacy talking to world leaders on a regular basis. I have got to try and build a situation whereby we can persuade the Indonesians to behave differently. That is still our best shot. It is far better to try and get international pressure to bear on Indonesia to bring about a change of conduct. It’s easy for people…
JOURNALIST:
But how strong is that pressure? Have you said to the Indonesians that perhaps our monetary aid is on the table?
PRIME MINISTER:
I have said that on at least half a dozen occasions, at least half a dozen occasions. But the pressure that is likely to be effective, and I can’t be certain it will be effective nobody can, the pressure that is likely to be effective is the pressure that is being exerted at the present time. The Americans have significantly increased their pressure, that was clear from the discussion I had with President Clinton last night. They have certainly got far more engaged and far more active on the issue. And that is very welcome because in all of these difficult situations the active participation, diplomatically as well as in other ways of the United States is quite crucial because the United States remains, as we all know, by far the most powerful nation on earth. And if you have got them actively involved that exerts a psychological pressure as well as other forms of pressure that no other country or no other group of countries can exert. And that is a welcome development.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, how confident are you that the Americans will actually commit ground troops to a peacekeeping force because the head of their Defence Forces seems to say that there’s no way that’s going to happen.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it’s apparent to me that the Americans are becoming more positive, more active and I am getting more confident that there’ll be a very effective American participation. The precise form of that they have not made a decision on.
JOURNALIST:
So are you backing away from asking them [inaudible] ground troops…
PRIME MINISTER:
I am not backing away from anything Helen. I would like American troops to be involved. I have put that view to the President. That remains our position. They have yet to take a decision on that although it is obvious from the language that has been used in the conversations that the Americans are getting more active and are looking at different ways in which they can contribute. But the final form of their contribution has not been determined. That is ultimately a matter for them. In the end they will decide what they do with their troops as we decide what we do with our troops.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think a peacekeeping force, a multinational one, can actually effectively combat the Indonesian troops on the ground without American troops?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, if they are not allowed in the with the acquiescence of the Indonesians, Helen, it’s not a peacekeeping force it’s an invasion force.
JOURNALIST:
Yes. No, I mean the peacekeeping force. If they’re allowed in is Indonesia going to finally say, yes come in? Do you think it can be an effective force to regain control without American troops?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, on the assumption that they would not meet military resistance from the Indonesian armed forces I believe on the military advice available to me that a peacekeeping force of in the order of 7,000 to 8,000 or 6,000 to 8,000 would, in the short-term anyway, be able to do the job. Now, how that is comprised, what from countries and what combination, well, that is still being resolved. But it is the size of the force and the nature of the task that really matters. Clearly, the more involvement there is by the United States all the better.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, thanks very much for your time.
PRIME MINISTER:
You’re welcome.
[ends]