E&OE...........
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, first of all our deep sympathies to your nation at this dreadful time of grief and loss. Can you describe to us in more detail the latest information you have on the extent of the tragedy to Australia, how many casualties, Australian casualties have been confirmed?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Veronica, there are 180 confirmed dead, of which at this stage 14 are confirmed to be Australians, but we fear because there are many Australians unaccounted for, we fear that over the next little while the Australian death toll will climb very significantly from that figure of 14. This will almost certainly be the largest peacetime loss of Australian lives anywhere in the world. And it is a very sad and tragic occasion for our country.
JOURNALIST:
If I may ask a slightly metaphysical question, what does an event like this do you think do to a nation';s psyche? To Australian people?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the Australian people are very tough, they';re very resilient, they will be angry, they will be determined and they will want every effort taken by their government in co-operation with the Indonesian Government to find the people who did this and bring them to justice. Most of the people who';ve died are young people on holidays in a resort that is very familiar to Australians, this is terrorism right on our doorstop, taking the lives of our own people and there will be a very deep sense of burning anger in my country about what has happened.
JOURNALIST:
Can you provide any more information as to who then might be responsible for this act? Your Foreign Minister earlier today said that it is likely to be a terrorist attack.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the evidence is clearly that it was a terrorist attack, just who we don';t know. Obviously some groups come under suspicion but I';m not going to canvass them at the moment because we don';t really know. The view that it';s the work of terrorists is the view not only of the Australian security authorities but it';s also the view of the Indonesians. I spoke yesterday to President Megawati of Indonesia and she had the same advice as I did and that is why I';ve sent my two Ministers to Jakarta along with a number of intelligence and police advisers. We want to work closely with Indonesia. This murder has occurred, these murders have occurred of course on Indonesian soil and we must co-operate with the Indonesian authorities in order to have any real prospect of catching the people who have been responsible.
JOURNALIST:
Yes indeed, you';re sending of the Ministers and of Federal Police and ASIO officials is unprecedented I believe in Australian history. I wonder if this signals your belief that this was an attack specifically targeting Australians.
PRIME MINISTER:
I wouldn';t be claiming that it was an attack specifically targeting Australians, I would say though that there is a pattern of anti-western behaviour in so many of the terrorist attacks that have occurred and they do fit a pattern and if you look back over the last few weeks you';ve seen the attack on the French tanker, you';ve had the explosion in the synagogue in Tunisia that killed German citizens, you';ve had the explosions that killed French citizens in Karachi and of course going back several years you had that terrible attack on the American embassy in Kenya, let alone of course the worst of all, the attack on the World Trade Centre. There is an anti-western pattern, it';s not possible to say with any certainty that this was a particularly anti-Australian attack but it is sadly the case for my country that a great bulk of the foreign victims of this attack appear sadly to be Australians.
JOURNALIST:
You spoke earlier about your Ministers having discussions with the Indonesian Government to co-operate, to pursue those who';ve been responsible for this outrage. Do you intend to actively pursue those responsible and how, how can Australia do that without a potential backlash within Indonesian given the ambivalent attitude of some people in Indonesia toward Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we';re dealing here with a mass murder of the citizens of Australia and I have an obligation to the people of Australia, I have an obligation to the relatives of those people who';ve lost their lives to try as best we can to see the people responsible brought to justice. Obviously we have to work through co-operation with the Indonesian authorities and I know that they are anxious to do what they can to see that these people are bought to justice.
JOURNALIST:
Many thanks to you.
[ends]