PM: It's great to be here with my good friend President Nasheed of the Maldives. President Nasheed and I have become good friends during our period of collaboration on a whole range of challenges in recent times. He's a strong leader for his nation. He's a champion of human rights, a champion of democracy and a champion, globally, on the great challenge of climate change. I wish to pay tribute to President Nasheed's leadership, most particularly at the Copenhagen conference on climate change, and that conference and his continued advocacy underlines the fundamental importance of continued global and national action on climate change.
This is the first state visit to Australia by a democratically elected President of the Maldives. It reflects the closeness of the relationship between our two countries. We are both members of the Commonwealth. We are both democracies. We are both countries of the Indian Ocean, and therefore deeply committed to a range of regional and global challenges together.
We also have strong bilateral cooperation. We have today confirmed further assistance to the Maldives to assist in dealing with the practical impacts of climate change on the ground. Our cooperation with the Maldives goes beyond this, however, and President Nasheed has been keen during his visit to Australia to promote the further economic development of his country as well.
Australia has a long history of supporting scholarships for people in the Maldives, going back to the days of the Colombo plan, and today Australia will also be providing a further 25 such scholarships - Australia Awards - to the good people of the Maldives. These scholarships will provide opportunities for people to come to Australia to study in areas of priority to the Maldives, including education, the environment, science, health, governance and public administration. We will also continue to provide assistance to Australian volunteers to health with teacher training in the Maldives.
This is about helping the Maldives build a better future for itself. Although a small country, 300,000 people, they are a part of the family of democracies around the world, and we stand shoulder to shoulder with them as a fellow democracy.
The third area where we've increased our cooperation is in the security field. The Maldives has not been immune from the spread of terrorist propaganda and terrorist activity, which has afflicted many parts of south Asia. International terrorism is a threat to us all. Australia will work with the Maldives, as it does with other countries of the region, to build capacity to deal with these challenges. In particular, the Maldives will be participating in a number of training programs with the Australian police and the Australian police, through the WA police in particular, are assisting with programs on the ground in the Maldives.
We are also working with the Maldives to build a legislative framework for addressing transnational crime. President Nasheed has shown great leadership in his country, nationally and internationally, and I value his friendship and his cooperation around the world.
Can I just say, as I turn to the President for his own opening remarks before taking questions from yourselves, that he has been a strong friend of Australia, a strong collaborator with Australia in the lead up to Copenhagen and at Copenhagen on practical global action on climate change, and I would salute his leadership on that.
Also, he has championed the consolidation of democracy within his country. Democracy has not always been the prevailing political condition within the Maldives. He has shown courageous leadership in ensuring that democracy remains entrenched within his country, and we work with him in continuing to consolidate the democratic project there.
So, President Nasheed, you come to Australia as a friend; you come to Australia, indeed, as a partner as we tackle the common challenges of our region and the world.
I turn to you for your opening remarks.
PRESIDENT NASHEED: Well, thank you very much and good morning.
As the Prime Minister pointed out, Maldives and Australia, our relations go back many, many years. We became an independent country in the 1960s but Australian assistance to the Maldives goes way back to the 1950s. Maldives has been fortunate to become graduated from a least-developed country to a developing country now, very much because of a lot of Australian capacity-building assistance to the Maldives all throughout the years, so, therefore, we value our friendship and our closeness with Australia.
I met the Prime Minister first in the Commonwealth summit and since then we've worked in three international summits together. I have seen the Prime Minister working and I believe Kevin Rudd has one the most important voices and is one of the most intelligent people working in this field, and if not I would say for a lot of very good work done by the Prime Minister in Copenhagen, we would have come out from Copenhagen without anything. We are fortunate that we have an Accord, and I know, we all know, that it's not the best. We could have got much more and we wished more from it, but what was available was got because, in a lot, in very many ways, because of the Prime Minister's engagement and how he was able to lobby and get a number of states along, to come out with an agreement or some form of an understanding in Copenhagen.
So, I thank the Prime Minister for that, because for the Maldives climate change is not an issue in the future. It is something that is happening right now, and for us it is very important that we find an agreement, we find an understanding on how we may deal with this issue. Even in the future, and even now, we will only be able to go along with this agenda, go along with climate change issues, when we have Prime Minister along with us, going along with us, and when the Prime Minister is able to go along with us.
It is, in my mind, very unfortunate that the Prime Minister had to go to Copenhagen empty handed, in a sense. The Australian parliament was unable to come up with the necessary legislations prior to Copenhagen summit, but even with that handicap the Prime Minister was able to fashion things together and come out working very hard.
I value Prime Minister's leadership and I also thank him for bringing me out into the international arena and to the climate change issues. Although we do not share a similar political platform, we share a conservative platforms, but the Prime Minister is of Labor Party - he is the leader of the Labor Party - so in my mind climate change and many issues such as this are not really political, and they should not be political. The fact that we share similar ideologies in this issue means that it doesn't really cut across political divides as much as other issues might.
Australia is an Indian Ocean country. Australia is an island country as well, so we share a lot of similarities and we would like to work closer and I'm sure that relationship can benefit both our countries and the globe at large.
We would like to, I wouldn't want to go on and on and on, but would welcome your questions.
PM: Normal convention here Mr President is we'll take four questions, usually one to you, one to me, one to you and one to me, so is there a question first for the President of the Maldives?
JOURNALIST: Are you disappointed that the Prime Minister has delayed the ETS and do you think, Mr President, that it reflects a loss of resolve from Mr Rudd who you say played a key role in Copenhagen?
PRESIDENT NASHEED: It's difficult for me to believe, I do not believe that Mr Rudd has less resolve in climate change now. I do not also believe that the Prime Minister has back tracked on his promises or on his legislations that he wants to get through the Parliament. It's very difficult for me to understand why the Prime Minister should be blamed on this. It's not, as I understand it, and I'm finding it very difficult to understand why the Prime Minister here is trying to defend himself for this. I really don't see the issue at all.
It's very, very difficult for me to understand, when all the legislations that the Prime Minister wanted to pass through the Parliament were not passed, not because of the Prime Minister but because of the Opposition. So I would like to understand why the Prime Minister should be blamed for this.
I'm not saying these things just simply because I am standing next to the Prime Minister, but I'm saying this, I'm not a person, I've spent half my adult life in gaol, and I'm not a person to say things that I do not believe in. And it's very difficult in this moment for me to actually, just simply because I'm more of a conservative thinker, to go along with that line of thinking. No, I'm not disappointed with the Prime Minister, I hope the Prime Minister remains as he is, and I hope that he's able to deliver the legislations that he's thinking it through.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister can we get your reaction to Xstrata's announcement that it's now postponing about $600 million worth of investment around Mt Isa, and also do you think the coal and other minerals companies are making true statements about their intentions, and if not will you have them investigated under the Corporations Act?
PM: First point I'd make, this is a question for me.
PRESIDENT NASHEED: This is supposed to be our press conference-
PM: Nasheed, this is called an Australian press conference
PRESIDENT NASHEED: This is supposed to be our press conference.
PM: It'll rock and roll in many different directions.
PRESIDENT NASHEED: I'm sure there should be enough respect on (inaudible) as well, this is supposed to be our press conference.
PM: It's ok, I'll handle this question, and then we'll throw one back to you. I'm always respectful of President Nasheed given his personal tribulations in life, he's a courageous man, and very attentive to his advice.
Now on the question of Xstrata. I said at the very beginning of this debate on the future of the Resource Super Profits Tax, there'd be claims by mining companies, statements by mining companies, there'd be threats of project closures, there would be projects also threatened to be frozen or frozen. This is part and parcel of what will be the normal argy bargy of a very tense debate between parts of the mining industry and the Australian Government.
Secondly, no mining company I've met so far has whacked up their hand and said they'd like to pay more tax, I wait for that response from them. Therefore, mining companies are going to be fighting tooth and nail not to pay more tax; that's just the truth of it.
On the last part of your statement, or your question I should say Mark, I would much rather look at the text of what is released by the company later today in the question of any matter of probity. I am, however, of the view that we are just going to have a lot of sharp exchanges between the Government and mining companies about the impact as they would see it of the RSPT on them.
One final thing on the RSPT is this.
When people look at statements like this from Xstrata, also cast your mind back to history and the events of the mid 80s when we brought in the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax and everyone predicting gloom, doom and despair at that time.
The second point is this, under the proposed RSPT, marginal projects are in fact advantaged under that tax scheme because it is a profits tax, it is not a production tax, that is its key advantage, it actually assists in bringing projects on in their early states rather than the reverse where they are hit with a very flat production based tax in the early stages.
But Mark, there's going to be claim and counterclaim, there'll be a lot of heat and there'll be a lot of acrimony in this public debate, the Government's determined to prosecute tax reform.
Now another question for the President of the Maldives.
JOURNALIST: Mr President, notwithstanding your last answer, Australia says it will only attempt to legislate an ETS in the future if there is significant international progress. Do you believe that's the correct approach or do countries need to do what they can regardless of the international environment?
PRESIDENT NASHEED: Because we live in an interconnected world, it's always difficult for countries to come up with, especially in an issue such as climate change and the environment, countries unilaterally to come up with legislation, it's always difficult and in many ways it doesn't really quite make sense either. Australia is having to delay its legislation not because the Prime Minister or the Government wants it to delay, wants to delay these legislations, but because the Parliament has decided that they're not going to work along with these lines and therefore this is the only thing that is possible. That you have to wait a long, when you live in democracies (inaudible) you have to listen to these people, you have to listen to the people and you have to get the people to come out backing these legislations.
I hope that this election could bring more progress of ideas in climate change to the light, to the limelight, and therefore I hope that soon after the election you will be able to come up with proper legislations.
PM: Another question.
JOURNALIST: Back on the RSPT if you will, Rod Eddington, has made some interesting comments, I mean he's effectively calling on you to start the consultation again. Can you rule that out or are we just going to be dealing with the model that you've taken out of the Henry Tax Review?
PM: Well as I said I think yesterday, I think I was here with you yesterday or was it the day before? I can't remember. Our approach to this hasn't changed, I said the day before yesterday as I've said since the beginning of this debate on the RSPT, that we're looking for fundamental tax reform consistent with the framework that the Treasurer announced on the 2nd of May.
Secondly we also announced a consultation process associated with that, which as I indicated a couple of days ago has a long, long, long way to go yet, and I certainly welcome Rod's remarks in terms of the underlying importance of consultation. He's a good man, known him for a long time, and these consultations will be of fundamental importance between the Government and the industry, but there's a long way to go yet.
Just as we conclude can I just come back again on the question of climate change, which you posed to two questions to President Nasheed on. The bottom line is this: global action on climate change is absolutely necessary, national action on climate change is absolutely necessary, this Government remains committed to an emissions trading scheme, we need to make sure that the Senate becomes, shall I say, positioned in a manner which is able to deliver that change to Australia's domestic laws.
The other point I'd underline is this. It'd be very good if we started to see a little bit more pressure from Mr Turnbull within the ranks of the Liberal Party on this question. As I understand, Mr Turnbull is increasingly active on many fronts.
Thank you very much.