PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
Good morning everyone. First of all can I issue a very warm welcome to Prime Minister John Howard of Australia here in Downing Street and pay tribute to his real leadership over the past few months. Australia has been under his leadership an immensely staunch ally for Britain, for the United States of America, for all the members of the coalition. And if I could pay a special tribute to the Australian forces who have distinguished themselves by their bravery, and their professionalism and their dedication. And many thanks from us John, to you and to everyone in Australia for your support. It has been immensely valued.
We have obviously been discussing issues to do with Iraq and the post-conflict situation in Iraq, where we have agreed that the important thing is to try and make sure that Iraq becomes a stable and prosperous country, run by the Iraqi people, at peace both with itself and with its neighbours, and a force for greater stability in that region and in the wider world. We have agreed also that it is important that we try and work together with the international community and the United Nations to make a success of Iraq, and we have agreed also on the importance obviously of the immediate post-conflict reconstruction phase where it is important that we try and develop the services and the infrastructure that the people in Iraq want to see. So Iraq obviously, as you would anticipate, formed a major part of our discussion.
We also of course discussed the situation in Zimbabwe, which remains a very serious situation indeed. There has not been real progress there at all in our view, and we continue to have not merely a situation where there is a lack of proper democracy and proper adherence to human rights, but also an appalling humanitarian situation there that is being exacerbated by the political situation, and we will work together and do everything we possibly can in order to try and bring relief to people in Zimbabwe who are suffering so much, both in a political sense but also of course because of the humanitarian crisis that has been allowed to develop.
And finally on our bilateral relations, not just in the past few months have we been working and co-operating very strongly together, I think the bilateral relations between Britain and Australia, for all sorts of obvious reasons, but also for present reasons also, is immensely strong. And once again, John, I am delighted to welcome you here and many thanks indeed for your support over these past weeks and months.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank the Prime Minister for his warm hospitality. The past few months have been very important moments for both our countries, alongside the United States, and what was achieved by the coalition is something of which the peoples and the governments of our two countries can be immensely proud. If I may say so, I want to pay a particular tribute to the Prime Minister because both of us faced domestically, as is proper and natural in a democracy, questioning and scepticism from our respective publics. In addition as a political leader in a Westminster system of government, I understood the other difficulties that the Prime Minister faced and the way in which he gave leadership not only to his own party, but also to his nation, was greatly admired and deeply impressive and something that I know did not go unnoticed across the political divide within Australia itself.
The bravery and professionalism of the British forces has won very wide admiration in Australia and I extend on behalf of the Australian people condolences to the families of British servicemen and women who died in conflict in Iraq. The outcome in military terms has been quite remarkable. What now lies ahead of course is to consolidate and win the peace, and an important element of that will be to push ahead with trying to achieve some progress towards a peace settlement in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinians. I believe very strongly that the American administration is committed to doing all it can, and in that regard I know the British government has long been committed, as we have, consistent with the right of Israel to exist behind secure and defensible boundaries - which has always been Australian policy - we nonetheless recognise the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians for an independent state. And I am hopeful that we can place great emphasis on that issue because it is of lasting importance to any kind of permanent peace and stability in that part of the world.
On Zimbabwe, I share all of the concerns that Tony Blair has expressed. The situation is truly appalling. Until a serious attempt at returning to democratic rule is made there can be no question of Zimbabwe in our view being readmitted to the councils of the Commonwealth. But even more importantly than that, the suffering of the people, both black and white, in Zimbabwe is not only distressing but inexcusable and appalling and a terrible indictment of somebody who has lost any pretence of governing for the welfare of the people of that country.
Finally can I endorse what the Prime Minister said about the state of the bilateral relationship. It is rich and diverse. It is in very good shape. Once again Australian and British forces have fought together in a just cause which has brought freedom and liberty to an oppressed people, and that is something of which the two nations should always be very proud.
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
Right. I think we'll do three of each. John, you'll choose the Australian ones.
JOURNALIST:
John Craig from Sky News. Mr Blair, we have just heard Mr Howard say that Britain and Australia share similar parliamentary style democracies. I don't know if you have had the chance to ask him for any advice about health reform in Australia. However, how do you propose, and how confident are you to win over those Labour Members of Parliament, including members of the Select Committee, who are saying that your plans for foundation hospitals will lead to a quote "a downward spiral of poor performance". How are you going to convince them between now and 7.00 tonight?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
I hope people listen to the arguments and realise that we have asked our public to put a large sum of money from their taxes into the National Health Service. It is absolutely vital that we make the changes and reforms that make that money work, and that these reforms are supported by all the people within the Health Service that want to make sure that they have got the local freedom and ability to deliver a better service for their patients, and that is what it is all about, making sure that we have a National Health Service that is true to its principles, but properly modernised for the world in which we live.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Nigel.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, in light of the controversy at home over the Governor General, what is your response to Simon Crean's call for you to in this case ask the permission of the Queen to make public your discussions with her yesterday, in line with the precedent set by your predecessor in 1993?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
I don't normally follow automatically what my predecessors have done. I think that is a purely political call by Simon Crean and it will be dealt with as political calls should be dealt with.
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
How about a question on Iraq chaps, hey?
JOURNALIST:
You talked about how strong your relationship is between Australia and Great Britain, but what about the relationships that are in tatters with some of your European partners?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
Well I don't recognise the description in tatters actually. I mean, there has been a disagreement over Iraq within the United Nations, that is very clear and everyone knows that. However, the fact is many countries in Europe, indeed if you take into account the countries coming into the European Union, the accession countries, then a majority of European countries actually supported our position. It is important to realise that. However, it is true that other countries didn't, but we are now working with them to try and make sure that in the post-conflict phase we put the past behind us, we try and cooperate to get a proper UN set of resolutions through, or resolution through, which enables us to try and do our best for the people of Iraq. And these are disagreements, we have had those disagreements. I think if there is the right goodwill we can put those to one side and work together for the future. But it is always important that people don't get the idea that the whole of the rest of Europe was against what we did in Iraq. That is simply not correct. As I say, if you include in the accession countries, the majority of countries were actually with us.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, do you have full confidence in the Governor General? And when you return to Australia will you be expressing to the Australian people your position on the Governor General in light of several opinion polls which find that the public want him sacked?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
I have already said that there is nothing in his conduct as Governor General that would warrant or support a recommendation from me to the Queen that his appointment be terminated. Beyond that I don't have anything to add.
JOURNALIST:
You have just mentioned Zimbabwe, Mr Blair and Mr Howard, given your concerns particularly about the situation there, how do you both feel about the fact that Zimbabwe are now embarking on a cricket tour in this country?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
I think in relation to sport, we set out the position many, many times, but nothing that happens in relation to that should take anything away from our total condemnation of the way that Robert Mugabe is making the plight of the people in Zimbabwe terrible. Now whatever issues there are to do with sport, you can put those to one side for a moment, the issue is how do we make sure that we put the maximum pressure on Robert Mugabe's regime in order that we change the situation in Zimbabwe and change it for the better politically, but also in humanitarian terms as well. And I totally agree with what Prime Minister John Howard was saying just a moment or two ago. There are no grounds, so far as we can see, for saying that there has been any significant progress at all, indeed if anything the situation has got worse, and that means that we have got to keep up maximum international pressure upon the regime.
JOURNALIST:
My question is to both Prime Ministers. You are not ideological bedfellows, you are not from the same side of the political fence, but you have obviously worked very closely over the issues of Iraq and Afghanistan. I am wondering how your personal relationship has changed since those issues have come to the fore, and whether this relationship extends to other policy areas, like do you discuss health policy, do you discuss other issues, and if there are any plans for Mr Blair to visit Australia?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Health policy is not only debated in Britain, health policy is debated in Australia. Well as it happens this morning we didn't talk about health policy, but when you are Prime Ministers of two countries that share such a rich and close history, you obviously seek to know each other well, irrespective of where you come from on the political divide. In the end what matters to me as Prime Minister of Australia is good relations between my country and countries that are important to us, and I can very happily and readily say that I like Tony Blair, I have enjoyed working with him. I think we have made a difference to the bilateral relationship. He was very strong and he was absolutely correct about Iraq, and generally in the war against terror.
And in the 21st century we don't get too hung up about historical ideological divides. They are interesting and they can be the subject matter of relaxed discussion between political leaders, irrespective of their backgrounds. I had that, it so happens, in the ideological stream George Bush and I are broadly from the one tradition, but that hasn't affected his relationship in any way with Mr Blair, any more than the fact that the Labour Party tradition in Britain, which of course has a lot of similarity with the Labor Party tradition in Australia, has affected my relationship with him. One of the interesting things I have observed about linkages between the leaders of countries that are close to each other, that sometimes when you come from the same political side you don't get on as well. I think of some of the relationships between Australian and New Zealand Prime Ministers, Bob Hawke and David Lange, and Malcolm Fraser and Robert Muldoon are a couple of examples. But I enjoy working with Tony, I respect the job he has done. We each of course have obligations to our own political traditions. He quite properly keeps in touch with the Labor Party in Australia, as I do with the Conservative Party in this country. But the relationship between our two nations and as individuals between the two of us transcends those things, and it ought to, because that is the obligation we have to the people who elected us, and if we allow petty party divides to in any way contaminate a strong relationship then we are failing in our duties.
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
I would go along with that entirely, as you would expect, and would just say first of all as you know I am a huge fan of Australia and the relations between our two countries are fantastically important. But it is true to say also, particularly over the past few weeks and months, we have been involved together in what has been an immensely difficult undertaking, but one in which we both believed. We thought it was a just cause, we thought it was the right thing to do. And in some of those very difficult times, you come to judge whether you can depend on a fellow leader or not, and I did depend on John Howard and he didn't let us down. So that is a mark of the strength of the relationship not just between our two countries, but also between ourselves. And as the Prime Minister was just saying to you a moment or two ago, of course we come from different political traditions, but there are some things that are sufficiently important that they overcome whatever differences there are in that sense.
[Ends]