JOURNALIST:
Foreign policy has played a key role in your 10 years in office. Do you believe Australia is now more confident about its place in the world?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I think most Australians were always confident about our place in the world, we went through a period of having a perpetual seminar about our identity and whether we were European or Western or Asian or whatever; we've always been identifiably Australian. What I've tried to do has been in no way to downgrade our relations with Asia, rather to further improve them, but to bring back into proper perspective, our relations with the United States, Britain, other European countries, because Australia is in every sense of the word a citizen of the world and it's very important that we remember that.
JOURNALIST:
Under your leadership Australia seems more willing to take part in military activities, further from home with forces in Iraq in Afghanistan, why does Australia want to be part of these missions?
PRIME MINISTER:
We haven't set out to be involved in military operations for their own sake, certainly not. This is not a militaristic country, quite the reverse but circumstances have arisen that have required countries to take a stand; East Timor, the Solomon Islands and of course after the attack on the World Trade Centre and on the Pentagon on the 11th of September, as a close ally of the United States we joined the US and many other countries in Afghanistan. Iraq, there were fewer of us but we had a view that action had to be taken. So if you look at the circumstances it's not a country running around looking for the opportunity to be involved militarily, we are a peace-loving country and we've never sought to impose our will onto other people, we've only thought to uphold things that we believe in.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think the war on terror will ever truly be won?
PRIME MINISTER:
It will take a long time but that doesn't reduce in any way the need to fight it.
JOURNALIST:
And Australian troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, how long do you think they will be there for?
PRIME MINISTER:
I am not going to try and put a date on it, they'll be there until their job is finished.
JOURNALIST:
In your speech to the Lowy Institute last year you said the Pacific Rim would be history's biggest stadium this century, can you explain how you see Australia playing a role in this strategic environment, and do our ties, our strong links with the United States make this more difficult?
PRIME MINISTER:
No on the contrary, I think our strong ties with the United States make it easier, it adds value to the Australian involvement. Australia is unique in a way, we are an outcrop of western civilisation, we are geographically in the Asia Pacific region, we have very close links with North America. You asked me what we can do, we can be a full participant, a good friend, a dependable regional mate as we've demonstrated with our response to the tsunami. No country, given its size, gave more generously in response to the tsunami than Australia. So we will be a good and full partner and friend in the region, that's what we will do.
JOURNALIST:
With the sort of close ties that we do have with the United States, does that give Australia the opportunity to play a role as a perhaps an intermediary of countries like say China, and Indonesia perhaps?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I don't see us being an intermediary, that's presumptuous. If China and the United States have issues then it's for them to sort those issues out. We will have a close relationship with many countries in the region. We've developed a very close relationship with China, we've revived a very close relationship with Indonesia and in a few days time I will be going off to India to further build on that relationship. I see Australia's best approach to be one of working in good faith with countries in the region and being dependable and straight forward, not imagining that it has some special role. I think that's a mistake.
JOURNALIST:
Well turning to India Prime Minister, you're taking a business delegation with you, do you expect this trip to open up more trade opportunities?
PRIME MINISTER:
It will lay the foundation for them. I don't expect to sign a multitude of deals, it is not intended to do that, in the end they are matters for commercial negotiation but India is a powerful economy already, it will become more powerful as the years go by. There is a lot that we can build on in the relationship and I want to make a contribution.
JOURNALIST:
Some of the delegation are people like BHP, Rio Tinto and a lot of our exports to India at the moment are resources. Are there other areas where Australia can open up new areas of exports or new areas of expertise which we can export?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think there are a lot of complementarities in the resource sector, in information technology, clearly the service sector and generally over time with a growing Indian middle class, tourism. There are a lot of opportunities.
JOURNALIST:
Do you see India as surpassing China in coming years as a global engine room of growth?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that is really a matter for the future, I don't sort of try and act as a race caller on that, I think it is a matter for the future. What is important to Australia is to build a close relationship with both of these countries, clearly they will both be of enormous additional significance in the affairs of the region and the affairs of the world because of their sheer size and the centre of gravity of the world's middle class is in effect shifting to our part of the world.
JOURNALIST:
India and the United States have just signed a nuclear cooperation agreement but does this open opportunities for Australia to sell uranium to India?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we have a settled policy. We are willing to sell uranium to countries with a nuclear non-proliferation treaty, if they're part of that process. Nothing automatically follows from the agreement between the United States and India. That's a matter for those two countries, we will make our own judgement about what we do. We will obviously consider any request for uranium exports which are consistent with our policy and our policy is that there are certain safeguards and there is a requirement in relation to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty but having said that we quite welcome the development between the United States and India, and we welcome the intention of India to separate out it's civilian from nuclear, it's civilian from military nuclear focus and put the former under the gaze of the IAEA. That's all very positive but naturally we will make our own decisions against the background of our own policy.
JOURNALIST:
Could you envisage Australia pursuing a similar agreement in your individual arrangement with India where even if they didn't sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty that we were still able to come up with something, an arrangement where we could export uranium under the contract.
PRIME MINISTER:
I wouldn't be wanting to speculate about that. What we will do is learn a little more about the substance of the agreement between the United States and India. We will make our own judgement about that according to our own policy, nothing automatically flows in relation to Australia from the fact that the United States has made an agreement with India, that's a matter between those two countries, we will make our judgement.
JOURNALIST:
But you wouldn't rule out for instance...
PRIME MINISTER:
Well those sort of questions, when you rule something out, when I don't, you say that means he is going to do it. Look, what I am simply saying is America and India have made an agreement, that's a matter for America and India. If Australia is asked what she will do well we will act in accordance with our existing policy and our existing policy requires the membership of the, or adherence to the nuclear non-proliferation agreement.
JOURNALIST:
Will this come up with discussions with the Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it may, it's not something that I've got at the top of my list, but it may come up.
JOURNALIST:
What issues are at the top of your list?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the main thing is to obviously have the opportunity over a period of time to talk to the Indian Prime Minister and his senior Ministers and the Opposition Leader and others about the existing state of the bilateral relationship, about the region and I am taking a very big business delegation with me and that will give me an opportunity of further linking the two countries economically.
JOURNALIST:
You are also I think taking some time out to visit the, I think is it the Dennis Lillee Cricket Academy.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, why not?
JOURNALIST:
Indeed. In a way that underscores that there any common links between the two countries.
PRIME MINISTER:
We are two countries who have a great deal in common, we have quite a bit of common history through past associations and current associations, with Britain and the Commonwealth. We speak the English language, we have similar legal systems in many respects, we are both federations and of course we both play cricket.
JOURNALIST:
Can I just ask on a separate area Prime Minister you talked yesterday in your speech about five new areas outlining the future one of which was social cohesion. Some of the ministers or your ministers have spoken recently about radical Islamic beliefs and the impact they have, I mean do see that as a threat to Australia's social cohesion and unity going forward?
PRIME MINISTER:
No I don't see it as a threat, but it is an issue to be dealt with. I don't think anything will shake the fundamental cohesion and unity of our country. I think what the people are saying is that there is a small section of the Islamic population which identifies with some of the more extremist views associated with support of terrorism and that is not something that any country can ignore but I say to all the Islamic Australians, you're part of country and you have as much right to enjoy the benefits of our country, including tolerance and respect, as any other citizen.
JOURNALIST:
And on a separate issue again, if you don't mind, uranium, there's been some suggestion that with a new Premier of Western Australia there may be more sympathy to uranium mining. You've said you've got an open mind to Australia having a nuclear industry, a future, do you see inevitably that that's something that may one day be part of Australia's energy mix?
PRIME MINISTER:
What I have said is that if it becomes economically feasible and commercially sustainable, then I would have no other objection provided the development was in accordance with our safeguard arrangements and any exports were subject to all of those arrangements. Now we've got a clear policy in relation to that, I have not introduced some kind of blanket ban, I have not embraced this idea that some uranium mines are good and some are bad, that's a silly policy. But if there's an economic case for it, if it becomes feasible commercially, then we should do it.
JOURNALIST:
And just lastly, you've had 10 years as Prime Minister, four election wins, are you focussed on leading the party to the next election?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well when I am asked that, and I am from time to time, I indicate what is the case and that is I will continue in this position for so long as my party wants me to and it's in the party's best interests that I do.
[ends]