Subjects: Middle East; Zimbabwe; visit to China.
E&OE...........
PRIME MINISTER:
Well ladies and gentlemen I';d like before departing to say how very strongly the Australian Government supports the efforts of President Bush to restore some sanity and hope to the very difficult situation in the Middle East. It is a tragic turn of events. It is a consequence of the breakdown of the peace process some time ago. It remains a terrible tragedy that the offer made almost two years ago now by the then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was not accepted by the Palestinians. It was inevitable that the acts of terror committed against Israel would produce the response. I said last week and I repeat now I believe there has been an over-reaction by Israel, but it was an understandable over-reaction given the character of the terrorist attacks visited upon the cities and the people of Israel.
The Australian Government remains very strongly of the view that the only basis of a settlement must by the Oslo Accords. The Oslo Accords recognise the right of Israel to exist behind secure defensible and internationally recognised boundaries. It also recognises the right of the people of Palestine to have a homeland. That can be the only basis of a lasting settlement, a recognition of Israel';s right to exist but also a recognition that the people of Palestine are entitled to have a homeland. And as someone who has followed the situation in the Middle East very closely for many years I can only express my sense of despair and sadness about what has happened. I strongly support the efforts being taken by President Bush.
I ask that the differences of opinion in the Middle East not be brought onto the streets of Australia. There is a place in Australian society for lawful protests, for lawful demonstration of political views. There is no place for a violent expression of those views on the streets of Australia and I will condemn any side of the argument be it one side or the other that engages in that and I know that in condemning it I will speak for the overwhelming majority of Australians.
JOURNALIST:
So what';s your response to yesterday';s protests?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I condemn it. I know that the organisers of it have disassociated themselves but I join them in condemning those who were involved. There is no place for that, we do not want that. We recognise the right of people to protest lawfully. I understand the depth of feeling amongst Australians of Arab descent about what is happening and they have a perfect right to express their views in a lawful peaceful fashion just as people who feel a sense of identification with Israel have a right to express their views. But we do not want the struggles of other lands brought onto the streets of Australia.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard the (inaudible) been called muted in its response (inaudible) into the West Bank particularly. What has Australia been doing, if anything, to put pressure on the United States to in turn –
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don';t think there';s any need to put pressure on the United States, I mean we have to have a sense of perspective. Australia is an influential country but we do not of course have the same influence as the United States. What the United States is now doing is appropriate and I can only repeat what I said earlier, I think there has been an over-reaction by Israel but the over-reaction is understandable given the nature of the attacks that were launched on Israel.
JOURNALIST:
And that over-reaction is continuing now despite the US call, are you particularly concerned about that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look I can only repeat that I think the call made by President Bush is right. And I support it. That is a call, I mean bear in mind that he';s not seeking to apportion blame to one side or the other, he';s seeking to bring about cessation of hostilities and a return to some kind of status quo ante which could be the basis of the two sides coming together.
JOURNALIST:
Is an international peacekeeping force the only likely –
PRIME MINISTER:
Well you don';t have international peacekeeping forces without the permission of the territories, the governments of the territories where the peacekeepers are to go in. And we';re a long way from that. I don';t think the question of international peacekeeping forces arises at the present time. The most important thing is to try and end the current outbreak of violence and also to understand why it occurred.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard (inaudible) direct representation to Israel or the Israeli consul out here?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the implication in that question is that it';s all Israel';s fault, I don';t take that view. I don';t take that view, I think it misreads what';s occurred. I mean you have to look at the total situation and this is not a situation for Australia seeking to blame one side or the other, it';s a question of Australia associating herself with efforts and I would now publicly say to both sides that the basis of a lasting settlement in the Middle East has to be the Oslo Accords, it has to be a recognition of the right of Israel to exist without incursion, without terror attacks and also the right of the people of Palestine to have a home land and that';s got to be recognised by both sides and of course in all of these disputes there';s blame on both sides and it would be wrong to assume that all fault lies on one side, it doesn';t.
JOURNALIST:
Has America been too slow to act?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I don';t believe so.
JOURNALIST:
Will you get a chance to discuss this (inaudible) in Britain?
PRIME MINISTER:
With who?
JOURNALIST:
With either Mr Blair or anyone else?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';ll no doubt be talking to Mr Blair at some stage and I';ll no doubt have an opportunity of doing that and also with the Prime Ministers of other Commonwealth countries such as the Canadian Prime Minister and the New Zealand Prime Minister.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says if the US acts against Iraq Australia couldn';t afford to support it.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that is a completely hypothetical issue. There';s no proposal and I';m not going to answer a hypothetical question, particularly of such a sensitive kind as that.
JOURNALIST:
Do you intend raising the issue of Zimbabwe with other leaders?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes I will talk to Helen Clark and Jean Chrtien and other Commonwealth Prime Ministers who may be there, I know both of them will be there, about Zimbabwe, yes.
JOURNALIST:
But there';ll be no further moves from what you';ve already –
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the only authority we had from the Commonwealth conference was to take the sort of steps that we did take. Beyond that we don';t have any authority but I';ve said before that I believe the pressure for Zimbabwe not to participate in the Commonwealth Games will continue to grow.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister I believe you';re planning a trip to China at the end of the year. Can you tell us a bit about that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I would expect to go to China in the second half of May. And there';ll be two reasons for that visit. The first will be to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Australia and China in 1972. And also for me to pursue on behalf of the relevant companies Australia';s interest in securing long term LNG contracts with Chinese utilities and the Chinese authorities. The Chinese will be making a decision on this issue within the next couple of months. It';s a very very important opportunity for Australia. We face some very stiff competition and I take the view that there should be representation at the highest political level to the relevant Chinese authorities in relation to the capacity of Australia to a reliable, long term, competitive supplier of natural gas.
Thank you.
[ends]