JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, security is going to be at the top of the agenda here. What is under discussion?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well clearly in this whole region, and it was brought home over the weekend by the arrest in Indonesia, that terrorism and security are still the number one issues and that will be at the top of the agenda in my discussions with the President tomorrow, and I hope that we have a number of positive outcomes in that context from those discussions. And we will be having a press conference after our meeting to talk about it. But it is a big issue. It';s a very big challenge in the Philippines and we have a memorandum of understanding, but we want to go further, and our Federal Police Commissioner is here at the moment having discussions with his counterparts in Manila. The Philippines has suffered from terrorism. Parts of it have suffered very severely and we';re very conscious of that, and we want in every way we possibly can to work together. And one of the good things that one can report is that over the last couple of years there has been tremendous cooperation between the agencies. The Australian Federal Police played a major role in helping the Indonesian police. I don';t want to take anything away from the Indonesian police. They have done a great job. The cooperation between the AFP and the Indonesian police has been first rate.
JOURNALIST:
What additional measures could Australia provide to the Philippines to try and curb terrorism in this country, or in the region?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there are a number of things that we can talk about, and we will tomorrow and perhaps we can treat the matter as part heard at the moment.
JOURNALIST:
In relation to Indonesia, any update on the explosives cache that was found there and the arrests?
PRIME MINISTER:
Operational things I';d rather leave for comment by the Commissioner. It was a very big event. Very big.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, the cooperation between the AFP and the Indonesian police bore terrific fruit, as we saw. Have you got anything along those lines in mind between the AFP and the Philippines?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the Commissioner Mick Keelty is here at the moment and they are talking about the next steps, so it may well be that something materialises on that front in a little while – a very little while.
JOURNALIST:
What is your understanding of the links, if any, between Abu Sayaf and JI, al Qaeda and so on? In other words, how do the Filipino groups fit into the wider network?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there is a deal of evidence that there are links between many of these organizations. They vary a bit and different agencies will have different views about the extent of those links.
JOURNALIST:
Have you seen convincing evidence that would suggest that the Bali bombers have connections to the MILF and to training camps here in the Philippines?
PRIME MINISTER:
That';s one of the issues that I will talk about over the next couple of days.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, you';re opening the new Embassy on Tuesday I think. Are you happy with the overall level of security, particularly considering those Australians working there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes. I';m told that the new arrangements have been significantly… represent a significant strengthening. It';s a difficult issue. We understand the proper sensitivities of the Filipino Government. We want to be as open and as cooperative as we can. On the other hand, we do have to discharge our first responsibility, which is to the safety and wellbeing of our own people.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, looking a little bit further down the track, there have been developments both positive and negative in relation to North Korea over the weekend. Have you had an opportunity to be brought up to date on either those talks or on the American intelligence about reprocessing?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I get a constant feed of advice from intelligence sources about what is happening in North Korea. Let me say that everybody is continuing to work very hard on it. The key lies in the effective aggregation of all of the diplomatic pressures from all of the relevant countries that can be brought to bear on North Korea.
JOURNALIST:
With regard to the role China might play or could play in resolving the escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, are you actively seeking a meeting sometime down the track with the new Chinese President?
PRIME MINISTER:
I would expect to see the new Chinese President at least once this year – perhaps more. I hope it might be possible for me to visit China before the year is out, perhaps in the not too distant future.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, on a personal note, given your recent milestone, have you heard from your former boss?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes. Malcolm Fraser did ring me on Saturday morning. It was very gracious, very gracious of him to do so, to sort of chat about what had occurred, and it was very nice to hear from him. I thought it was a very decent thing of him to do and I appreciated it a lot, and I thank him for it.
JOURNALIST:
Any tips for you?
PRIME MINISTER:
Any tips? No, we talked about a lot of family matters. I mean he has had a bit of experience with engaged and married daughters.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, are you suggesting you might tag Beijing onto the end of this trip?
PRIME MINISTER:
On the end of this trip? No.
[ends]