23 September 2002
E&OE……………………………
SARA:
Prime Minister, to start off with, what’s the reason that you’ve been given that President Mugabe’s not coming to this meeting?
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven’t been given any reason. There’s been some suggestion in the ether that he didn’t think the invitation was appropriate. It was a perfectly normal and formal and courteous invitation.
SARA:
How does it change things the fact that he’s not here?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think it reinforces the fact that he’s indifferent to the views of Australia and South Africa and Nigeria and that’s relevant in our considerations, but more importantly he seems to be indifferent to the three of us as representatives of the Commonwealth. We are here doing Commonwealth business. We are delegates of the Commonwealth on this issue, and his unwillingness to accept an invitation issued in good faith shows a level of indifference on his part to the views of the Commonwealth.
SARA:
What do you hope to achieve with this meeting?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don’t want to pre-empt a discussion I’m going to have later today with the two presidents. We have to review what has occurred and consider what attitude is appropriate. But beyond that I’m not going to pre-empt what we’re going to talk about later today.
SARA:
How much of a balancing act will this be to, if you’re coming up with some action and outcome from this meeting to target that action at the government or the people you’re looking to target but not to harm the people of Zimbabwe who are already in difficult circumstances at the moment?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don’t want to hurt the people of Zimbabwe, nobody does. It’s because we are concerned about the processes of elections inside Zimbabwe which have affected the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe that we are on this mission. You’ve got to remember what this all goes back to. It goes back to a rorted election and that’s what people are concerned about.
SARA:
Since that election in your view how’s the situation become worse in Zimbabwe in political, economic and humanitarian terms?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I’ve got to separate out what our particular responsibility is which is in relation to the Commonwealth Observer Group’s report and the Marlborough House Declaration and many of those other things. Clearly Zimbabwe is a deeply troubled and weakened and sad country. There’s no doubt about that. But I have particular focus in relation to my responsibilities for the Commonwealth and I just want to stay on that for the time being.
SARA:
The fact that President Mugabe has decided not to attend the talks, what sort of view does that put in your mind about his willingness to respond with what you come up with at this meeting?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think I’ll content myself with repeating what I said before that his refusal to come shows an indifference to the views of the Commonwealth.
SARA:
The issue of Sharia Law here in Nigeria, there have been calls in Australia from Carmen Lawrence from the ALP urging you to raise this issue with President Obasanjo. Have you raised the issue?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I had already raised it in a letter and I raised it personally in my discussion with President Obasanjo last night. We discussed it for quite a while. He is deeply unhappy with this particular decision but Nigeria has a federal structure and there’s a fine balance between the different religious groups that make up the country. But he expressed to me the belief that as a result of the application of the processes of the country that he didn’t believe it was going to be carried out.
SARA:
And just before we finish up just to go back to the issue of the meeting itself, Jonathan Moyer who’s the Information Minister in Zimbabwe has said that this meeting is a monumental waste of time. Do you share that view?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I don’t share that view but perhaps because he said is an indication of an attitude of mind by his government.
SARA:
Could you have worded this letter in a better way. Would it have been better to have written a softer letter and at least have President Mugabe here to hear first hand what’s going on?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it’ wasn’t a hard letter and I don’t think a slightly differently phrased letter would have made the slightest bit of difference.
SARA:
What do you mean?
PRIME MINISTER:
If people decide to come or not to come according to the placement of commas and words in a letter then I think there’s a deeper