PM: I wanted to briefly go through what I consider to be the key outcomes of the meeting that I've just had with the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. Obviously, the Prime Minister of Malaysia is unwell, and our best wishes go to him for a speedy recovery. Can I say I think the key outcomes of this meeting are as follows.
We discussed the free trade agreement, and we have agreed to continue the dialogue on that with a view to bringing the free trade agreement to conclusion next year. So I am very pleased to see that agreement arising from today's meeting. Malaysia is a substantial trading partner for Australia. Freer trade between the two countries is in everybody's economic interest, and I was pleased to see discussion leading to that conclusion today.
Second, I am pleased to see that we have agreed to a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia focussed on vocational education and training, and furthering our cooperation in higher education. We have been working with the Malaysian Government, providing technical expertise about our vocational education and training structures, which of course we're very proud of. The Malaysian Government would like to take that dialogue further, and we've agreed to do that today.
Third, I was very pleased with our discussion about Afghanistan. Malaysia is playing a special role there. They are particularly playing a special role on the aid and development agenda. Malaysia is uniquely positioned to do things like provide female Islamic doctors to Afghanistan. I congratulated the Deputy Prime Minister on that work by Malaysia. We have been partnering in a master teacher program that is training people from Afghanistan to be master teachers who can go back and train more teachers.
The number of kids in school in Afghanistan is growing. The number of girls in school is growing. That's a good thing for the future of the country, but as that growth happens teachers are required and we have agreed we will continue to collaborate on that training, which has already seen 60 master teachers trained, including a number of women.
Fourthly, I was pleased to see from today's discussion our talks on security matters. The Malaysian Government has created a new transnational crime centre and I offered Australia's cooperation on that. Obviously, creating such a centre is a recognition that many crimes now have a transnational flavour, and they require a transnational effort, so I offered Australia's cooperation on that.
As one key transnational crime, we discussed the issue of people smuggling and human trafficking. The Deputy Prime Minister raised this issue with me, and I was very pleased that he raised it. Of course, he raised it against the backdrop of Minister Bowen, the Immigration Minister, having come here to provide some preliminary advice and engage in preliminary discussions about Australia's proposals.
The Deputy Prime Minister and I agreed that this is a complex problem. Indeed, I made that point when I first outlined Australia's policies and plans at the Lowy Institute. We also agreed that regional approaches are necessary to what is a regional problem, that no one country through its domestic laws can address this problem, and individual countries acting may displace the problem to another country but not solve it, so it requires regional cooperation to be solved, and the Deputy Prime Minister and I agreed on that.
We agreed, following our discussion, to share information and continue to work through on our proposal for a regional protection framework and a regional processing centre. I welcome that agreement and we obviously will continue to build on today's discussions by sharing information and working through Australia's proposals.
Can I conclude by saying I came to Malaysia for my first stand-alone bilateral visit very deliberately. We are two countries that have had a long history of cooperation. To take just the example of people smuggling, though there are so many more, we've got a great history of cooperation. I congratulated the Deputy Prime Minister on work that's being done here disrupting people smuggling and human trafficking. The work that's being done here in Malaysia joins work happening across our region, where we've seen around 240 disruptions, 200 arrests, and several thousand people movements stopped as a result of this work, so I certainly offered my congratulations on Malaysia's part in that.
I very much welcome the fact that Malaysia has legislated to make people smuggling a crime. This is one example of cooperation across a broad range of areas - economic, defence, development, strategic and political questions. I believe Australia and Malaysia have a good relationship, but I chose to make my first stand-alone bilateral visit here because I want to see us take this relationship to the limit of its full potential, and believe today's talks have contributed to that.
We'll come across the front.
JOURNALIST: Did the Deputy Prime Minister express or raise any specific concerns about the East Timor plan with you?
PM: What I've said encapsulates what was talked about in the meeting. We agreed to share further information on it, and we agreed to keep working on it together.
JOURNALIST: He did raise some questions about how it would in practice. Would Malaysia have to contribute money to make this regional processing centre work?
PM: There's no mystery, I think, that people would want to look at this in detail and from every angle. I've obviously said that this is a complex problem, put forward the regional protection framework and regional processing centre as a way of developing a regional solution. We always expected- and from the very first day I spoke about this- we always expected it would take time and dialogue.
What has been indicated today, of course, by the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister, is that he wants to be involved and have Malaysia involved in that dialogue. In terms of questions of costs, obviously they would be worked through and worked through from Australia's perspective as well, but the main question here is to agree on the framework and principles and the foundation stone of this, the absolute foundation stone, is that you cannot solve a transnational crime by stand-alone domestic action.
Any efforts you make in one country for a transnational crime means that the crime mutates and moves but it is not solved, so countries acting alone cannot solve this problem. It's about working together, the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister was certainly directly on the same page on that.
JOURNALIST: On transnational crime, drug smuggling's obviously another huge issue for the region. There's a major bust, obviously, in Sydney. What are your thoughts on that? Is drugs a bigger problem than people smuggling, or the other way around?
PM: Look, transnational crime is a problem in all of its manifestations and mutations - people smuggling, human trafficking, drug smuggling. Obviously, in terms of our defence ties with Malaysia we talk about those transnational crimes; we work together on counter-terrorism matters; we work on traditional defence arrangements, including joint exercises. These are all important things.
On the major drugs bust in Australia today, I'd offer my congratulations to the Australian Federal Police on such a sizable haul, and obviously now the investigation work will be completed and I understand that charges are being laid.
Sorry, I'll go to Matthew next. I'll go down here. I'm discriminating against you. I don't mean to be.
JOURNALIST: Sorry, Prime Minister. The Deputy Prime Minister said there are a few outstanding issues that need to be addressed on the East Timor question. What are those few outstanding issues?
PM: Well, I think what the Deputy Prime Minister was saying is he wanted to keep working through. We've had Minister Bowen here having initial talks. I was very pleased that the Deputy Prime Minister today said that he wanted to keep working through, sharing information, continuing the dialogue. Obviously, the individual matters about which more information is sought will be part of those discussions and dialogue, but it's very pleasing that he wants to keep working through and sharing information on this.
I want to be very frank with people about it. I said on the very first day that I announced that this would be my approach as Prime Minister, which was before the election at the Lowy Institute, that this was a complex problem that would require detailed working through; it would take time. I've never tried to create artificial expectations in Australia about the amount of time that would be needed, but if we are to find a solution to a transnational crime and problem, it requires regional work, detailed work, not sloganeering, and that's the approach I'm taking.
JOURNALIST: But if, you know, you're trying to get a solution, if you're trying to find that solution and he's saying there are a few outstanding issues, surely they would have been canvassed today, those issues? Aren't you trying to get to the bottom of what those issues are?
PM: Well, look, certainly, we're trying to, we're sharing information, we're working through and that will be across any area of information or further dialogue that Malaysia raises.
JOURNALIST: But did he indicate what those few issues are?
PM: Well, I don't want to be seen to be putting words in the Deputy Prime Minister's mouth. Our agreement is to further share information and to continue the dialogue on Australia's proposals for addressing a complex transnational crime problem.
JOURNALIST: He said- he said there would be implications. And firstly, can you tell us whether he said what those implications would be? And secondly, if you're giving us the clear impression that, well, as I sit here it's dawning upon me that for your proposal to go ahead requires policy changes in governments all around the region, because, as he says, there are implications, and you've just said you can't, one nation acting alone can't do this. Have you bitten off more than you can chew?
PM: The implications are, in that sense, if I can answer your question, are quite clear. The foundation stone of this proposal is that when people make a asylum claims that they would face the same processing arrangements, potentially in a regional processing centre, that's what we've talked about, so my vision here - regional protection framework, a regional processing centre - people would face the same processing arrangements and outcomes. Consequently, there would be no advantage in continuing to move from country to country trying to seek different processing regimes because you would find yourself returned to the one area, under the one processing regime. That's the foundation stone of the proposal, so obviously that has implications for each nation because it means the processing of asylum seeker claims would happen that way.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) basically it becomes a regional policy, then? A big thing you're trying to do.
PM: The correct language is the language I've used, a regional protection framework. Let's remember the underpinning here is provided by a convention of long standing, of well understood terminology, with many countries in our region signatory to it, and it defines what a refugee is - that is, someone who is fleeing a legitimate fear of persecution, fleeing as a result of a legitimate fear of persecution, so, you know, we've got a long standing convention; understood and agreed definition about who are refugees under that convention; we've got UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration that throughout the region do processing work now, so this is about building on those foundation stones with a regional protection framework and regional processing centre.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) East Timorese Government has said again that it would like to see a three-way discussion with yourself, Indonesia and East Timor about this. Is that something that you're willing to try and facilitate in your discussions tomorrow, and more broadly, what's the priority for you in Indonesia tomorrow?
PM: Well, can I say first and foremost the reason I have travelled out of Australia at all, my first visit to the region, is as Prime Minister to engage in dialogue across our full range of interests in the region in which we live - our economic interests, trade liberalisation, for making sure we've got investment cooperation, our defence interests of long standing in the region in which we live, our political and strategic dialogue, our development dialogue, our human rights dialogue, and then of course I have, in the course of my travels, also been discussing Australia's proposals for a regional protection framework and regional processing centre.
When I travel to Indonesia tomorrow at the invitation of the Indonesian Government to meet for discussions there I will be talking across that full range of dialogue. Indonesia is an incredibly important neighbour for us. Our relations with Indonesia are pivotal to our economic interests, our national security interests, our people-to-people links, we've got a substantial aid and development agenda in Indonesia. I will be talking about the full breadth of that relationship.
One component will be discussion of regional protection framework and regional processing centre, but we will be talking across the full range - economic, defence, strategic, political, civil aid and development, transnational crime, counter-terrorism, drugs, people smuggling, the whole breadth of our relationships, so that's what I will seek to be working through tomorrow in the formal talks.
On the question of East Timor's proposal, we will continue in a dialogue with East Timor. Of course, East Timor is a nation where we share history. We share a recent history, particularly with our Defence personnel having done remarkable jobs there and continuing an involvement there. We share a substantial aid and development agenda. We share substantial dialogue about economic development for that country, and of course we are talking to them about the regional processing centre.
On the question of three-way talks, if there is a proposal about three-way talks that's facilitated, we would be happy to engage in it, but our direct relationship with East Timor is a very, very strong one, as is our direct relationship with Indonesia.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on Indonesia, what would you say about Schapelle Corby and the Bali Nine?
PM: Look, I will talk about those things when we get to Indonesia.
Thanks very much.