PRIME MINISTER:
Well ladies and gentlemen, since arriving I';ve and bilateral meetings with the President of Chile, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Prime Minister of Singapore and also the President of Indonesia. Each of them of course focused particularly on the bilateral relationships which of course vary according to the circumstances of the two countries. The meeting with the President of Indonesia was our first opportunity since he was elected for us to get into some of the detail of the bilateral relationship and I can certainly report that there is a determined view from both of us that relations between the two countries will be strengthened, he is very anxious to reinvigorate the ministerial forum, as I am. I';ve renewed my invitation for him to visit Australia. We talked about co-operation in counter-terrorism, we also talked about the importance of economic development and growth to Indonesia';s future and ways in which Australia realistically can help in relation to that. I saw his views on the development of ASEAN and the emphasis that ASEAN as a body should have. All in all it was a very useful meeting. We';ll have an opportunity of course of seeing each other over the next two days and of interacting again when we meet at the ASEAN meeting in Laos next week. We stressed of course the importance of the educational and people to people links between our two countries and as many of you know that is personified in his case by the attendance of his son as a student at Curtin University. One of his Ministers in fact attended primary school at Telopea Park in Canberra, her father was I think an academic at the Australian National University. So it';s an indication of the headstart that we have when it comes to those person to person links between our two countries. But it was a very encouraging meeting and it built on the good will that was obviously there and which I sought to communicate by my attendance at his inauguration.
The meeting with the Prime Minister of New Zealand is always welcome, bilateral relations between our two countries of course are very close and Helen Clark and I have made a point of meeting on a very regular basis. I will visit New Zealand in February of next year as part of the normal pattern of visits on an annual basis between Australian and New Zealand Prime Ministers.
I also met for the first time in a formal way the new Prime Minister of Singapore and it was an opportunity to emphasise our very close relations, it';s a very tidy close bilateral relationship #8211; that between Australia and Singapore. And my meeting with President Lagos was very enjoyable, I know President Lagos well, this is a country with a very interesting history #8211; both recent and past. And it';s a county, though the economic growth of which is amongst the most impressive in Latin America and the bilateral links between Australia and Chile, although not as extensive as we have with other countries in the APEC region, they';re nonetheless growing, there';s a very heavy investment, particularly in the mining industry in this country and as a token of the importance attached by some Australian companies BHP Billiton recently shifted its Americans hemispheric headquarters from Houston in Texas to Santiago in Chile, I mean obviously there were practical advantages for BHP Billiton in that but it does symbolise the significance and the relevance in its own right of the industry in Chile.
Are there any questions?
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, in your discussions with President Yudhoyono, how far did you get on talking about (inaudible) security treaty?
PRIME MINISTER:
We didn';t discuss it, no. I didn';t initiate it. I';ve said before Geoffrey that although it';s something that may emerge I do not see the relationship as being in any way benchmarked by that treaty, or the re-emergence of that treaty. And I think we';ll get the whole relationship, or the commentary on the relationship, lopsided, out of whack, skewed, however you want to describe it. If we sort of inquire every time there';s a meeting did you discuss the treaty, how far you';ve gone on it, frankly if it doesn';t emerge we';ll still have a very close relationship, if it';s something that re-emerges that';s fine but I certainly don';t regard and the Government does not regard it in any way as the be all and end all of the relationship.
JOURNALIST:
President Yudhoyono will meet, I understand, with President Bush and he';s indicated that he';d like to renew the military links that they severed back in 1999. Is that something that you';d support.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that';s a matter for Indonesia and the United States. It';s a matter for them to work out, it';s not for me to say in advance what the links should be between those two countries. But as far as Australia and Indonesia are concerned we have renewed quite a number of the military ties, in fact a lot of them were never severed, there were some that perhaps haven';t been renewed. But they';re things that will be caught up in the ongoing bilateral discussions between our two countries. But I generally speaking would naturally welcome a close relationship between the United States and Indonesia, but the form that relationship takes is something for the two countries to work out themselves.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, on your way in last night you indicated that (inaudible) free trade area for (inaudible). What are your comments on the (inaudible) trade ministers?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think that';s a terrific idea, to have a scoping study. I';m just saying that I think it';s a big ask in the near future.
JOURNALIST:
Can you outline what you think Australia';s (inaudible) achieving?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well a scoping study is a scoping study, it';s not something that lays out what you do, it sort of looks at the feasibility of something, that';s a what a scoping study';s about#8230;
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, not necessarily, it depends. Look, I just think we';ve got to be realistic and we can';t in these relationships become process driven, it';s the substance of a relationship that matters. I mean you take our relationship with China, I mean if at the end of the day we have some kind of Free Trade Agreement well that will be great. But if at the end of the day we don';t have it but we still trade an enormous amount with each and have lots of Chinese students coming to Australia and have a very strong bilateral relationship, well it';ll be the substance of that relationship and not the legal process that will be the more important. That';s the only point I';d make.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, can you tell us about your discussion on counter-terrorism co-operation with Indonesia and also perhaps the Singaporeans, did you talk about the shipping #8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we didn';t get to that degree of specificity Tom, no. I mean bear in mind that this is a half hour meeting between two heads of government covering a whole range of issues, that is why the ministerial level discussions are so important. But in both cases we, I can assure you, in both cases the need for continued close co-operation in fighting terrorism and close co-operation between our agencies was emphasised and this is a point that President Yudhoyono returned to on two occasions during our discussions.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, back onto trade, would you say that bilateral relationships, and they are manifested in FTAs and RTAs, is that more relevant to trade liberalisation than the APEC goals?
PRIME MINISTER:
Everything is. I mean I am very, very eclectic when it comes to trade relationships, you take what you can, get for the benefit of your country. If there';s a bilateral agreement that';s good for Australia well I will take it. Equally though you should try, and Australia has an interest in achieving multilateral trade outcomes and you certainly put APEC in that context. But also Doha and one of the beauties of a meeting like this is that it focuses the mind again on the importance of trying to achieve some progress on the WTO process and that of course rests very much in the court of not only countries such as Australia but also the Europeans, the Japanese and the United States.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, two things, was Mr Vaile';s recommendation to you to support the scoping studies, not necessarily on FTA and APEC, just the FTA? And do you now see that there';s potential for an ASEAN FTA block, more significant than what you can achieve through APEC these days?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I mean I';m in favour of scoping studies, I mean I';m in favour of, to borrow a famous Chinese political expression, I';m in favour of letting a thousand flowers bloom when it comes to these scoping studies and what kind of arrangement you can have. But in the end it';s the substance that matters, you can have all the agreements and communiqu‚s and expressions and frameworks and so forth, they';re all very valuable, but it';s actually the tonnages you ship, it';s the goods you sell, the services you provide, the education places that you can make available, the tourists you can welcome that matters. And if you look at our relationship with the countries of APEC over the last few years and with the ASEAN countries, and many of the countries of course have common membership, although some don';t but many do, you can see an enormous growth and that is what I';m interested in and I will find and seek whatever devices and frameworks and understandings that can further promote it. But I think once again we';ve got to be very careful to not cloud our understanding of the substance of our relationships by just getting too caught up with whether something is APEC specific or ASEAN specific, it';s a question of whether it delivers a good trade outcome for Australia and whether it promotes the overall cause of freer world trade. I mean I';m a believer in freer world trade, not only because it is in Australia';s national interests, but I also believe in freer world trade because it';s the great long term hope of the really poor countries of the world, the really struggling countries that haven';t been able to lift their living standards, particularly many of the countries in Africa. Freer trade, especially in agriculture is so very important for them.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, did you discuss East Timor and in particular East Timor gas deals, with your, in your discussions with President Yudhoyono#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
No.
JOURNALIST:
How would you characterise the meeting that you had and the future with his election now with Australia and Indonesia relations?
PRIME MINISTER:
How would I characterise#8230;
JOURNALIST:
The meeting and#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
Well very positive, very friendly, very positive. I said to him at the meeting that it was a very important relationship, that there was great goodwill towards him and great goodwill towards his country in Australia, that we were different countries, that we had to be realistic about the relationship, we had to focus on the things that we had in common and put aside those areas where we differed, except to the extent that it was unrealistic to do so. But if you focus on the things you have in common with countries you have a far more productive relationship.
JOURNALIST:
You said earlier that you invited the President to come to Australia, what was his reaction?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look he wants to come, but you know the man';s only just been elected?
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
Look really, come on, process please, let';s not get hung up with process.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, when you spoke with President Yudhoyono about counter-terrorism (inaudible) Australian and Indonesian relations (inaudible) are you and the President satisfied with the current level of co-operation or do you think there';s more that could work#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh you can never do enough, but I mean both of us would be very pleased with the level of co-operation but both of us believe that the agencies should be encouraged to increased the co-operation where that';s possible.
JOURNALIST:
In today';s Age newspaper you';re quoted as saying you';ll give no blank cheque to the US (inaudible) future. Can you outline what you#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I thought was a statement of the obvious in our relationship with any country. I was asked a question by one of your very distinguished colleagues and I answered it in the way that I did and I thought it was a fair report of what I said #8211; that of course you don';t say in advance well of course we will join in some kind of military activity, irrespective of the circumstances, I mean no country does that and that';s not a statement of particularly revolutionary principle, it';s a statement of foreign affairs common sense.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) reluctance#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
No it signals nothing other than I hope a very commonsense approach to this country';s national interest, it doesn';t connote any diminution in the friendship between Australia and the United States, is that';s what you may be getting at. But it is a reaffirmation of the fact that we make decisions regarding military deployments and foreign affairs based on our assessment of Australia';s national interests.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
Greg.
JOURNALIST:
Thank you. In the context of free trade and business facilitation, I wonder if you saw recently the remarks of David Morgan, the CEO of Westpac Bank, criticising the four pillars regime and suggesting#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes I did.
JOURNALIST:
#8230; ought to address that in the same way that may or may not (inaudible) cross media ownership. Do you support that view, do you have a view about whether#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
Well no, the Government';s policy on that was reaffirmed by the Treasurer a short while ago and the Treasurer was speaking for the Government in what he said.
JOURNALIST:
Are we witnessing a new era of closer co-operation, even closer co-operation, with Indonesia?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';ve always wanted a close relationship with Indonesia, as you remember Michael the first country I visited after becoming Prime Minister was Indonesia and I';ve always seen it as very important, we have to realistic about the limits of the relationship but we also should always remember that Indonesia is our nearest neighbour, it is a country of 220 million people, it is the largest Islamic country in the world, it is a country whose independence was in part achieved through support by Australia way back in 1946. So there';s a lot of history in the relationship.
JOURNALIST:
Is it fair to say that President Yudhoyono is keen for a closer relationship than his predecessor?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I find, well I don';t want to talk, I don';t want to compare, that';s not constructive. But I have found that he is well disposed towards Australia, our meetings have been positive and certainly on his part there is a keenly expressed and well articulated desire to improve the relationship and he will be more than met half way on that subject by me.
JOURNALIST:
So do you think the atmospherics have improved since he was elected President?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well he';s very good and positive, I';m not going to say that the atmospherics were bad before, I';m not going to get into comparisons.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister there';s been an understandable focus here at the forum recently on counter-terrorism, I wonder if you could (inaudible) any willingness to consider more broadly regional security architecture (inaudible) forums like this and maybe at ASEAN given the general (inaudible) in the region, you know just beyond the counter-terrorism#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
There hasn';t been to date, that may emerge. The original driving forces behind APEC were economic rather than security, that has changed somewhat because of the advent of international terrorism and particularly its appearance in the APEC area. I mean it';s got to be remembered that the two terrorist attacks that most effected Australia, I mean everybody';s effected by the attack in the United States, and then the Bali attack of course affected us very profoundly. Our country was effected more than just about any other country in the region, I mean obviously Australia and Indonesia together were most affected by that. I think we have to be very careful that we don';t overload APEC. If you, to vary an old phrase, if you spread the butter too thinly it';ll disappear. And the original goal of APEC was to drive economic growth through achieving certain free trade goals and if it becomes a mini, you know, a mini sort of general assembly that goal will become harder to achieve.
JOURNALIST:
So beyond trade, what do you think APEC can achieve this year?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think there will be some propositions put forward about corruption by the United States which we will support very strongly. I think good governance is the key to the economic liberation of many very poor countries and unless you have good governance then a lot of aid is wasted. This applies in many parts of the world, it applies very much in parts of Africa and has applied in parts of the Pacific.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, sorry to jump around, just go back to Indonesia #8211; the Foreign Minister yesterday said that President Yudhoyono';s election represented a watershed moment in the relationship with Indonesia from Australia';s (inaudible). How would you describe the opportunity#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I thought I';d been spending about the last half an hour doing that. Well look#8230;
JOURNALIST:
Do you share his excitement#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look everybody expresses these things differently. I mean I went to his inauguration, I';ve always had a great respect for the man, he';s now been elected President of Indonesia, we';ve had an extremely good bilateral relationship. But it is very important that we be realistic, I think we have a great opportunity because there';s a lot of goodwill, there';s an understanding of Australia, there';s an acceptance that we have nothing but goodwill towards Indonesia, I think that';s very important. But we have to also be realistic about what can be achieved and I think we have to avoid the premature benchmarking of a relationship. Two more questions.
JOURNALIST:
You talked about that if Indonesia wanted economic assistance or to improve its economy Australia might play a role in that, how might that#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
Well for example there is an infrastructure conference being held in Jakarta in the middle of January. And a large number of Australian companies are going to be invited to that meeting and I';m going to write to each of those companies and encourage them to send representatives. Now the question of whether they get involved in investment of infrastructure in Indonesia is a matter for those companies and we';re certainly not going to heavy companies in relation to commercial decisions, they';ve got to make their own commercial decisions. But as an earnest of our desire to help in different ways we want to do that and at a government level we';ve indicated if there are structures in our government that could be of benefit to Indonesia then any advice we can offer will be available. And the head of my Department has already been in touch with his counterpart in the Indonesian government. There are all manner of ways in which we can show to the Indonesians that we are in the business of providing constructive, friendly assistance, recognising that they have their own way of doing things and we';re not in the business of telling other countries how to run their affairs. But we are in the business of being friendly, helpful and I hope constructive neighbours.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) question, did President Yudhoyono express a view on whether Australia should have a regular presence at ASEAN meetings?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh no, he just said it was good that we were coming.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, on domestic issues, if I could just ask you about Tony Windsor#8230;
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I know what';s happened.
JOURNALIST:
And what';s your response to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I'm not surprised that John Anderson';s version of events has been supported. I believe John Anderson all along, I do think he';s owed an apology by Mr Windsor, whether it be forthcoming is another matter. But I never thought for a moment that John Anderson would propose something that was improper.
JOURNALIST:
And Tony Windsor';s future?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that';s a matter for him and the people of his electorate, I';m not going to give gratuitous advice in relation to that. I think he does owe John an apology, he really does. I mean it';s a pretty serious thing to have done. And it was all hearsay, I mean it';s not as if he was alleging that somebody had directly approached him, it was all hearsay. And it was wrong, I mean it was inaccurate hearsay.
Thank you.
[ends]