Subjects: Zimbabwe
E&OE...........
REPORTER:
[tape starts]..being committed now, what steps you wanted to see taken against Zimbabwe?
PRIME MINISTER:
I was arguing that the Troika, that's the President of South Africa and Nigeria and myself discharging the mandate we were given at the Coolum meeting earlier this year, that we should move immediately to fully suspend Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth because of the failure of Zimbabwe to show any sensitivity at all to Commonwealth opinion arising out of the observer group finding on the election. That group with near unanimity found that the election, to put the gentlest on it, was seriously flawed. In other words it wasn't fair. And Zimbabwe has shown a complete indifference to Commonwealth opinion on that and I'm concerned that if we just remain mute and indifferent on that subject that democratic governance which is an essential Commonwealth value, will just go by the board.
REPORTER:
The leaders of Nigeria and South Africa chose to remain as you put it mute and indifferent which leaves us in the very dangerous position doesn't it of having a split along racial lines on the Commonwealth committee, on indeed the Commonwealth itself?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't speak of racial lines. I speak of lines..the differences are what should be done. I don't believe in a situation like this that you should just have the lowest common denominator of agreement. There's a clear issue of principle involved. It was a rorted election and in those circumstances if democratic values are to mean anything to the Commonwealth then we simply can't accept that.
REPORTER:
But the fact is that we do have division between members of the Commonwealth in Africa and those in the wider world don't we?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think there is widespread resentment around the Commonwealth about how Zimbabwe behaved. I pointed out to my colleagues from Nigeria and South Africa that at the recent Pacific Islands Forum in Suva attended by 13 Commonwealth countries there was a unanimous statement agreed to amongst those 13 countries condemning what had gone on in Zimbabwe and I also reminded them that when Fiji departed from democracy the Commonwealth book was thrown at it.
REPORTER:
Are you planning to take your own steps in terms of sanctions, Australia going it alone or joining the European Union, and the United States on this?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we'll have a look at that when I return to Australia. We'll take our own decision on that. That's a matter for individual governments. I talked to the British Prime Minister about this and other matters yesterday but in the end we take our own decisions on that. But the most important thing we need to do as a Commonwealth is to be absolutely consistent and steadfast in defending the democratic principle because if the Commonwealth is to mean anything, and is to commit itself to any values, the most important value is that of democratic governance and that's clearly been violated by Zimbabwe. There's no argument about that. The evidence is overwhelming.
REPORTER:
Prime Minister, thank you very much indeed.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[Ends]