E&OE............
Well, anything you want to ask me before I go off to this beautiful mountain
retreat, or it's not a mountain retreat, it's a beautiful country retreat.
JOURNALIST:
How has the CHOGM sessions been going this morning, Sir? Any developments?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, largely a focus this morning on the international economic outlook,
the importance of making certain that globalisation takes people along with
it. There's a general recognition that globalisation is a fact of life but
there's an understandable concern on the part of the less developed countries
that the benefits of globalisation are not going to be spread around evenly.
And that is something that all of us have got to be sensitive towards. Our
view very strongly is that the Seattle World Trade Round must go ahead to
produce a comprehensive further relaxation particularly in the area of agriculture.
But I can understand and sympathise with the concern of the less developed
countries that the benefits of globalisation are not always apparent. And
that puts an obligation on all of those more developed countries and very
developed countries such as Australia to cooperate in the processes of explaining
and understanding the benefits. And that's one of the reasons why we launched
an initiative at the Edinburgh conference two years ago. And I'll be making
a couple of announcements tomorrow at the final session that will underline
our desire to help the less developed countries improve their governance
and generally to have a better understanding of the benefits of more liberalised
trade not only for them but for the whole world.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think that that concern by the less developed countries about the
impact of globalisation will hinder your chances of getting some sort of
clear statement from CHOGM about the need for a new trade round?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, I don't think there will be any doubt that there will be a statement
of general support for the new trade round. A grouping as diverse as the
Commonwealth is bound to produce a range of views on how far you should
go in particular directions but I am sure there'll be a general support
for a successful outcome out of the World Trade Organisation. We really
don't have any option. Globalisation is with us, it's a fact of life. Nobody
has an option of saying, well, I won't take globalisation, I'll take something
else because there isn't anything else. It's the paradigm under which the
world operates now and we can't avoid it. It's a question of understanding
it and it's a question of every community in its own way making certain
that it's citizens understand and that where we can we even out the bumps
and we soften the blow whilst continuing to go forward.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, is it beneficial for Australia that the new secretary-general
is from our part of the world?
PRIME MINISTER:
Is that..
JOURNALIST:
Mr McKinnon.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, but what was the first bit you said?
JOURNALIST:
Well, is it beneficial to Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, look, I know Don McKinnon well, I think he'll do a very good job. But
I don't look at these things in terms of regional prejudice. He was the
person who Australia supported. I think Chief Anyaoku has done a wonderful
job. He, of course, defeated an Australian for the job 10 years ago but
I think he has done an excellent job and I think Mr McKinnon will. I don't
think it matters where the person comes from. As I said last night, one
of the great advantages of the Commonwealth from our point of view is that
it gives us an engagement with Africa and this part of the world, the whole
African continent, and that we wouldn't otherwise have because absent some
of the sporting links, and they are limited largely but not totally to South
Africa, we don't have a lot of links with this part of the world. And I
have found the window into the African mind that this conference has provided
is one of the more important and one of the more beneficial aspects of the
meeting.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, on trade, do you think that it is now harder to make progress
on liberalising trade than it was a few years ago and did you make your
full contribution on trade today in the debate or is that still to come?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, my greater contribution on that will be at the retreat. I think that's
the time for the less set piece contributions and the more important exchanges.
Do I think it's harder now? I think it's always hard because communities
are, by nature, more protectionist than they are open trade because there's
a natural human belief that if you put up a barrier you protect what you
have without realising that what you have can disappear in other ways unless
you make yourself more competitive. It's always difficult to sell the benefits
of trade liberalisation but I would say to the Australian public that one
the reasons why our economy is so strong now is that it is more open. If
we had not been as competitive and as efficient over the last couple of
years we would have succumbed to the Asian economic downturn. It was the
opening up of our economy through a succession of measures by governments
on both sides of politics and especially the measures we've taken over the
last few years that have gave us the strength to withstand the tide.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what will your priorities be and what do you hope to achieve
out of the retreat?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, an emphasis on the human values part of the Commonwealth. I mean,
the Commonwealth has proved itself to be quite a protector of the common
values system of a democratic approach to life. I think it's played a significant
role. I mean, years ago in relation to South Africa, more recently in relation
to Nigeria and now in relation to Pakistan, of asserting the importance
of the democratic process for all citizens irrespective of their colour
and I think that's important. I think the other value of the retreat is
to talk perhaps in a more relaxed, direct, pragmatic fashion about some
of the trade challenges and perhaps to assuage some of those who are more
sceptical about the value of a more open trading system.
JOURNALIST:
Do you have any bilateral meetings with anybody in particular..
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I expect to have a number of bilaterals. I have had a number of bilateral
meetings already. I mean, the nature of these conferences you suddenly find
yourself having a bilateral meeting over dinner or over a cup of tea and
I had a very lengthy discussion last night about politics and so forth with
Mr Blair and I've had some with Mr Chretien. And I am having a formal meeting
with the Indian Prime Minister this afternoon and I'll be having a formal
bilateral meeting with the President of South Africa who I hope will visit
Australia in the next couple of years. I'll be renewing an invitation to
him to do so next year. He did come as Vice-President in 1995 but he'd be
very welcome in our country. And I had a bilateral meeting yesterday with
Mr Goh Chok Tong, the Prime Minister of Singapore and I expect to accumulate
even more bilaterals as the day wears on.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, has CHOGM talked about what to do about Pakistan or are you expecting
that to be..
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, yes. We had quite a lengthy discussion about Pakistan. I think people
would like to see an acceptance within Pakistan and the need to return to
democracy. I don't think people want to do anything of precipitate but there
are naturally great concerns about what has occurred and the pressure of
Commonwealth opinion will play some part in conditioning the attitude of
people within Pakistan.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible] some parts of the Commonwealth to apply sanctions? You told
us yesterday you were.
PRIME MINISTER:
Not at the moment, there's no really strong push to apply economic sanctions,
no.
JOURNALIST:
So is the suspension likely to continue?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the suspension continues, yes.
JOURNALIST:
You mentioned the democratic issue proposed at George..
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes.
JOURNALIST:
Yesterday you seemed to be quite cautious about applying.giving new powers
to the Council of Ministers to pursue these issues, are you moving towards.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I am just always.you have to understand that one of the traditions of
the Commonwealth is that it doesn't seek in a supranational way to impose
its decisions on individual members, it seeks to use persuasion and example
and cajolery but it doesn't set itself up as a supranational body.
[ends]