Subjects: APEC; bilaterals; travel advice; Iraq; Russia siege; terrorism.
E&OE...........
PRIME MINISTER:
Well ladies and gentlemen the first session of the APEC Leaders'; retreat took place this afternoon and then we had the dialogue with the business advisory group which was public. The Leaders'; group this afternoon almost entirely talked about terrorism and I thought one of the striking differences between this meeting and the meeting almost a year ago in Shanghai, which had come just after the 11th of September, was that the world was still coming to grips with what the 11th of September meant. Whereas today you had the sense that people were understanding just how worldwide was the reach of terror because we not only recall the 11th of September, we naturally talked extensively about Bali, we talked about what had happened in the Russian capital last night, we talked about what had happened over a period of time in the Philippines. One or two of South American colleagues reminded us of the heavy toll that terrorism had taken in their countries. And generally one had the sense that the countries were rather more soberly aware of just what a worldwide challenge this was.
I had something to say in detail about Australia';s position, I dealt with the issue of travel advice, made it very plain that regrettable though there might be the impact of less travel to countries, the first responsibility of the Australian Government was to protect its citizens and I made it very plain that our travel advice had to reflect our current assessment of the relevant risks of travelling to particular countries. I had this afternoon a brief discussion with President Bush, I expect to have a further more detailed discussion with him tomorrow. During that discussion he bought me up to date with what was occurring in relation to the resolution dealing with Iraq and the Security Council, the Americans remained determined, and they have our support which I indicated in the plenary session of the leaders to get a very strong and effective resolution.
As you know I had bilateral meetings this morning with the Prime Minister of Vietnam and the President of the Philippines. I hope to visit both of those countries in the first half of next year. Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations being established between Australia and Vietnam and of course the Philippines has a very strong and long standing relationship with Australia and a visit to that country would be appropriate.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, in light of what you said on travel warnings, do you find that President Megawati comment this morning when she said a host of these travel bans and limitations will soon be lifted. Is that being unhelpful to this process?
PRIME MINISTER:
I';m not going to use adjectives to describe the President';s response. She is concerned about the impact of dwindling tourism on her country';s economy, I understand that. But if the tourism dwindles it';s because of the terrorist attacks, it';s not because of the travel advice. I mean a government in our position has no alternative, it is unimaginable that a government in our position would do anything other than reflect current advice in travel warnings and issues. I mean can anybody seriously suggest that we can do other than to try to explain to people going overseas what the dangers are? Now I understand the dilemma, and I used that expression in my intervention, I understand the dilemma that is faced by all of us, and certainly by Indonesia, but the difficulty arises, the dilemma arises from the fact that there was a terrorist attack, not from the travel advice issued by the Australian Government and we will not resile from issuing travel advice which reflects the security assessment that we receive. I mean it is an elementary function of government, it';s an elementary responsibility of government.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister can I just take you up on that particular point about the cause and effect because President Megawati went on to say that heightened travel warnings would in fact encourage terrorist attacks.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Glenn, I';m going to argue the toss about this, with anybody. While ever we get security assessments which indicate there could be danger for Australians in travelling to particular parts of the world we will communicate that advice. We are not going to take risks with Australian lives.
JOURNALIST:
Is there a potential (inaudible) Prime Minister on the relationship (inaudible) the stronger relationship…
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we all have to be fairly responsible in the interpretations we put on these things. We';re dealing with a very serious issue, the first responsibility, just a moment, the first responsibility is for us to get advice to people which is important to their security. I understand the difficulty, but what is our alternative? I am not going to take risks with Australian lives and I don';t think anybody Australian would expect me to, and frankly I don';t think any leader of another country would expect me to do it. We have to work through this together, we';re anxious to work with the Indonesians. But right at the moment the travel advice we have issued reflects the assessments that we have received and I imagine that every Australian would want that to continue to be the case. We';re not banning people, we don';t ban people from travelling, we advise people about relative difficulties and relative risks. John?
JOURNALIST:
Given that President Megawati has this notion that business at usual, we should be back to business as usual pretty soon. How does that indicate that she understands how serious the terrorism issue is?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look it';s not helpful for me to give a public assessment of the response of the Indonesian Government in that kind of detached way. I';m dealing with the facts, the first fact is that we had a terrorist attack in Bali that has probably claimed between 90 and 100 Australian lives and in those circumstances my first responsibility, which I hope everybody would understand, is to continue in the travel advice we give people to reflect what we have been told and what our assessments are. I want to work with the Indonesians, I understand the difficulties the Indonesian Government faces, the Indonesian Government has been very helpful in relation to the police investigation and we';ve offered $10 million to assist in relation to the anti-terrorism infrastructure of that country.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, could you just enlarge on that part of your conversation with President Bush concerning Iraq. Did you simply confirm our support for the UN approach?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I certainly confirmed our, I confirmed our support separately from the conversation, I made it very plain in the plenary session that we supported the stance being taken by the United States in endeavouring to get a very strong Security Council resolution and I indicated that the problem of Iraq would not go away and I made it very plain what our position was in relation to what was being pursued by the United States.
JOURNALIST:
… talk about a fall back position if Iraq didn';t comply with UN resolutions?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think it';s for the United States to indicate what the United States might do.
JOURNALIST:
Has it (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we talked about how the resolution was going and at this stage I';ll leave it at that.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, does he think the resolution will be strong enough for what the United States wants?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well let me answer that question this way Mitch, he';s determined to get a strong resolution and I think he';s right to seek a strong resolution. There';s no good having a resolution that you can drive a horse and cart through.
JOURNALIST:
… earlier this morning mentioned how the aim of terrorists is to undermine the economy of countries such as her own and Indonesia. (inaudible) have they succeeded?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well you can';t make a long term judgement on the basis of short term experience. I can';t answer that question, I don';t know. They have certainly caused short term dislocation, there';s no doubt about that, and that';s their aim. I said that the day this attack occurred, on the 13th of October I said that the attack was both against western civilisation and westerners but it was also an attack designed to hurt Indonesia and to hurt the Indonesian Government. And certainly in the short term that has happened, but we each have to respond according to our responsibilities. Our responsibility first and foremost is for the safety of Australians and that will take precedence over everything else. Our next responsibility is to work as closely as possible with the Indonesians to try and find the people who did what occurred on the 12th of October and also to help as much as we can to build protection within Indonesia against this happening again. Now, in the end, as I said yesterday at lunchtime, what matters is what countries that have terrorist challenges domestically do within their own borders.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, there was a report in the Australian yesterday that the US administration had been sounding out Australia regarding the possibility of ground troops in and attack on Iraq. Is that true?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don';t have a comment on that report. We haven';t received any request from the administration because no decision has been taken to mount a military action against Iraq.
JOURNALIST:
… did the President (inaudible) support for the (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
Military issues between Australia and the United States were not discussed today. I want to make it clear, the Americans are focused very heavily on trying to get an effective UN resolution, the President does not want to invoke the military option, it is very much a last resort as far as the Americans are concerned. What he is saying on that you should believe.
JOURNALIST:
On the matter of Iraq Prime Minister, in the plenary session discussion today you indicated, you expressed (inaudible) support for the United States (inaudible) tough resolution. Was there any discord in the discussion by the leaders (inaudible) about what (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
Nobody verbalised it.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
Nobody verbalised it.
JOURNALIST:
What do you mean by verbalised it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well nobody said, nobody offered any criticism. I mean I can';t look in the minds of people, I';m just saying that nobody voiced any criticism. But you say was there any disquiet, I mean I don';t know. Alison?
JOURNALIST:
Thank you Prime Minister, will you be expecting the APEC Leaders'; tomorrow to come up with any tangible counter-terrorism measures or will it just be another feel good declaration from the APEC countries?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don';t think anybody feels very good, but in the end this really gets back to the point I made yesterday, it';s the sum total of individual actions that matters most. I mean we can work together, and we should work together, but it';s the sum total of individual actions within borders. And if we have a problem in Australia it';s what we do in Australia more than things we do in cooperation that count. Now things we do in cooperation are important, if for example I support very strongly the idea of having a memorandum of understanding on the terrorism matters with as many countries in region as possible. We have one with Indonesia, we could work towards having one with the Philippines and I raised that with the Philippines today. I mean they are the sorts of things we should be doing. We have one with Thailand, and that was mentioned with approval by the Thai Prime Minister during his intervention. I mean we will do all of those things and they are very important and helping the infrastructure to deal with terrorism is very important but each country has to deal specifically with the challenges it has. And I';ll have to go after the next question because I might be late and my wife is waiting for me.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I thought in all of the circumstances, sad though the outcome was, the Russians in essence what they did was on the only response possible and I';m obviously relieved that the news is that, the latest news I have is that the Australian citizen is safe, although he';s in hospital.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
Well a number of people, myself included, expressed the view that there was a common thread.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER:
Well certainly I think there';s evidence in Al Qaeda involvement in our immediate region. I must go, I';m sorry.
[ends]