PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this news conference. The Prime Minister and I have just completed some one-on-one discussions, and also a meeting with the full Australian Cabinet. I want to repeat my very warm welcome to Tony Blair, it's been a great visit, his address to the Parliament yesterday was an outstanding exposition of the challenges of modern democratic societies such as Australia; the worldwide challenge of terrorism, the fundamental importance to defend values that are not just British and Australian values, but they are values of all humanity and values that we all hold dear. The bilateral relationship is in very good shape and one of the things we did agree today was to explore the possibility of establishing between Australia and the United Kingdom something akin to the regular AUSMIN talks that take place between Australia and the United States. I think what has happened with our relationship is that we have seen it resurgent in recent years, the fact that Britain has deep and abiding interests in Europe and the fact that Australia has deep and abiding interests in Asia doesn't in any way diminish the strength of the historical relationship, but it also in a sense provides an impetus to the relevance of the relationship in a global context and the common assault on our values represented by, the assault on our common values represented by worldwide terrorism gives relevance to that. On a personal note Tony it is wonderful to have you in Canberra and I have greatly admired your contribution to world politics and on a professional level to work with you and your colleagues is a great delight and it's tremendous to have you here.
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
Thanks very much John. Can I first of all thank you and all your colleagues for the warmth of our welcome here, we've had an amazing, really good time here in Australia and it shows the strength of the relationship as you rightly say and I think the fact that we share common values and a common approach to world issues is of immense importance to both our countries and I welcome very much the prospect of a similar arrangement to the one that you enjoy with the United States, between Britain and Australia. I also think that you are absolutely right in saying that just as we have our relationship with Europe that is important, you have yours with Asia and in fact this can help us both. I mean you and I were discussing Asia for some time before we went in to meet the Cabinet together and I think the fact that we were able then to gain from each others experience, yours with Asia, ours with Europe is also important for our countries. So it's been a real pleasure to be here and I would also like again to thank both Houses of Parliament for giving me the honour of addressing them and I hope very much that in all of these issues in the time to come whether it's fighting global terrorism, building strong relations with America, making sure that we get the right results on world trade, global poverty, climate change, all of these issues are issues where Britain and Australia have much in common and much to be gained from working together.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Alright we'll start with the British press.
JOURNALIST:
I would like both your thoughts on the comments in The Australian this morning that it is now easier to defend staying in Iraq than having gone to war there in the first place and secondly, since you are both experts on this and the Prime Minister's been talking about expiry dates for premiers, how you calculate this, how come you both reached different conclusions as to going on or not going on?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well let me start by saying I find it easy to defend both. I am happy to continue to defend the original decision to be involved in Iraq and I certainly can defend with some passion, a decision or a continuation of our presence. I can't think of anything worse at the present time in the light of what is happening in Iraq, I can't think of anything worse than a signal to the Iraqi people, who have braved their all to embrace democracy. I can't think of anything more calculated to break their spirit than for countries like Australia and Britain to be talking about pulling out. As to other matters I have what my Australian media friends call a boring response on that subject and I mean I can give it to you for the benefit of the British media, but everybody knows about it and that's my response. As to what happens in the United Kingdom, that is of course is a matter for the people of the United Kingdom.
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
Yes, I think enough aired on that one. In respect of Iraq, like the Prime Minister, I strongly defend both decisions. I just pose this question, would the world be safer today if Saddam Hussein was still in power? I can't believe the answer to that is yes. It seems to me very clear that whatever the problems in Iraq, the most exciting and hopeful thing is that the people there want democracy and want to work together. The remarkable thing about what is happening is that the Sunni, Kurdish and Shia parties are all trying to form a unity government. Now that is something we were told was impossible, they never want to work together and what you've got, true it's a very, very difficult security situation for all the reasons that we know, but what you've got on the political side is really something quite inspiring about people coming out to vote and wanting to form a government that allows them the same type of freedoms that we have here and for all the difficulties that's why I think it's important that we see it through.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Australian press.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Blair can I ask you a question about your comments on climate change yesterday, you talked about the need to forge a new global accord, you also talked about the need for this to be, to have measurable outcomes, the so-called AP6 and Australia particularly does not agree that there should be measurable outcomes in terms of climate change, in terms of greenhouse emissions. How much of an impediment is that to forging this global accord if countries like Australia won't agree to cut greenhouse emissions by a certain target by a certain date?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
I think what we've got to do is get a real dose of realism into this debate. Countries are going to be very worried about external targets being imposed on their economic growth. On the other hand for reasons of energy security and for reasons of climate change, countries know we've got to change the way we grow; to grow more sustainably and to grow in a more environmentally clean way. Now I think at the moment we are in a situation where there are a whole lot of different initiatives that all tend in the same direction and I think for the moment that is something we need to harness and then develop at a later stage. So I think that the, I never thought that the Asia Pacific partnership was aimed at our position on climate change, on the contrary, rather like I did for the G8-plus-five dialogue at Gleneagles, I think the very fact that you've now got a forum in which you've got the US and China and India talking together alongside countries like Australia, is a very important positive sign. Now at some stage then, further down the line, we're going to have to see what is the framework that is going to incentivise business and industry and countries to develop the science and technology to allow us to grow in a clean way. So for example clean coal technologies, carbon sequestration, renewable energy, the new generation of nuclear power, all of these things I think are going to be part of the mix that we use for our future energy requirements. Will it be possible to get an agreement from such a framework? I don't think you can tell at the moment. Do we need one? In my view, ultimately yes, we are going to need a framework that allows us to move forward in a disciplined way. But I think the fact that you've got these initiatives at the moment, all tending in the same direction, is actually a positive sign, it's not a negative one, and we don't see that as aimed at us in any shape or form.
JOURNALIST:
(Inaudible) is that whether Australia supports this view, post Kyoto global accord?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well I think you do have to see the two things as complementary. You can't resolve the climate change issue without the involvement of the United States and China. Our environment Minister gave us a stunning statistic in there a moment ago, he said that if in 10 months, if Australia stopped all emissions it would take China 10 months to sort of make up for it. I mean that is a measure of just how unreal it is to have an arrangement that doesn't involve the major polluters and that doesn't obviously involve the United States. And I think there is the bones of a common framework if you like that can emerge out of Kyoto and we support the Kyoto target for Australia. We are not prepared to accept the disciplines of it because it would destroy Australian jobs and export Australian industries to countries that aren't bound by the same constraints that we're bound by. So there's a very clear national interest case for Australia. But why don't we focus on trying to get them into the tent and the way to get them into the tent, if I can mix my metaphors, is the bridge of the Asia Pacific partnership. I mean that involves America and China and Australia, and I think there is a way forward. An English question.
JOURNALIST:
BBC News. Prime Minister your government's climate change review comes out today, wouldn't any review say that at home we've slipped back from our targets and internationally you can't even persuade your friends to sign up to climate change targets? And if I may, Prime Minister Howard, have you tried to persuade him of the benefits of a fourth term? And has he told you, or indeed anybody else? Prime Minister, have you told anybody the departure date that we're told that you've set for yourself?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
Right. On the climate change review, well first of all Britain will meet its Kyoto targets, we're one of the very few European countries that will do that. We want to go further, which is why we've announced more measures on the climate change levy, more measures in, for example, building regulations to improve energy efficiency and we'll carry on working out on that all the way. The only thing that's important is for us not to kid ourselves. Britain is not going to be the country whose future determines the future of the planet and the climate. It's going to be, and this is why we've got to get to an international arrangement that involves all the key players, it's going to be about China, India and America as well as of course the Europeans and Japan and other countries like Australia. But the point the Prime Minister was just making, I mean is an extraordinary, I mean I was very struck by what your Minister said. I mean literally if Australia shut down so it was emitting nothing the growth rate in China is such, that within 10 months it would've made up for the entirety of the Australian emissions. That is why it is just, as I say, a completely unrealistic debate to say that you could have a climate change agreement that doesn't involve China and then America obviously, and of course India which is also a country of over a billion people growing at a vast rate. Now we're not at the stage yet, I mean you're right we haven't reached a new agreement post Kyoto, but I think it is possible to build out of the initiatives that are happening today a more realistic framework that gives us a real chance of being able to reduce emissions, which is what we need to do, and protect the climate. And I think the fact that so many countries are worried about energy security today, gives us additional hope for that.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well you're not really comparing apples with apples when you talk about British and Australian political terms. Yours are five years out, ours are only three, so naturally that issue doesn't arise.
JOURNALIST:
I asked the Prime Minister about a departure date, whether he'd told anybody else what it was?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
I really think, Nick, we've had enough of this one, if you don't mind.
JOURNALIST:
I don't think we have.
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
You're right there.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Mr Middleton.
JOURNALIST:
Uranium sales to China, how close are you to reaching agreement with the Chinese on that? Will something be signed next week? And do you think that if we do reach agreement with the Chinese on uranium sales it increases the pressure to come to terms with the Indians? And for Mr Blair, if Australia were to consider going down the US route and coming to some kind of agreement to sell uranium to India, would you encourage or discourage it?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Jim the discussions with the Chinese have been going on for some time. They started at the beginning of last year. We have made very good progress. There's quite a lot of speculation in the papers this morning, I would encourage people to see some of that as just speculation. But we're making good progress. It's possible that the discussions could be satisfactorily concluded so that something could be said or signed when the Chinese Premier visits Australia next week. It's possible, I don't want to say that will happen, but it is quite possible. We are negotiating of course on the basis that China is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and in that respect China is different from India. As to what happens in relation to India, well I've already said that there's going to be no policy change, we're not contemplating, let me put it that way, the policy change in relation to India. We are sending a delegation of officials to New Delhi in the next few weeks, sometime in April, I don't know when but soon, to talk to the Indians about the form and the substance of the agreement with the Americans and that group will then go on to Washington to talk to the Americans about it.
The next stage in the Indian process, if I can put it like that, is the meeting of the users group and Australia obviously is a major player in that because we have close to 40 per cent of the world's uranium reserves. We think the American agreement with the Indians is good because it's going to put India's domestic nuclear capacity under international inspections and that is a huge step forward. And whilst India is not a signatory to the treaty, everybody knows that, her behaviour since exploding a device in 1974 has been impeccable and I think that is something that people have to bear in mind. But you should not think there's going to be an immediate change of Government policy in relation to India. I think we take one step at a time. We've been talking in good faith with the Chinese, made very good progress. The Premier's coming next week, I'm not promising anything but it's possible the discussions could be completed by then.
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
Obviously what Australia does in respect of India is up to...
JOURNALIST:
I mean given that India's not part of the official nuclear club, that it has exploded a nuclear device, that the United States is now negotiating with India about selling uranium or about supporting uranium development for peaceful purposes, would you, both as Britain and also as a member of Security Council, be concerned if Australia were to continue, go down the same route as the United States with India?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
I really think that's a matter for Australia obviously but we support the American agreement with India. And what it underlines incidentally is two things. First of all, the emergence and development of India yet again as a power that is extremely important but also benign because it's the world's largest democracy. It can be very, very proud of that. But also of course it underlines, I mean the reason behind it is the issues to do with energy and clean energy that we were debating some time ago. And I think what is interesting to me in different parts of the world is that the issue of nuclear power is back on the agenda and that's a major part of the discussion that we're having in our own country, around the rest of Europe, around the rest of the world. And you know, we talk about China in this context because of the massive economic growth, but the economic growth of course of India is vast as well and over the years to come is going to be again a country who we want to see develop, but develop in an environmentally sustainable way.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
On more from each.
JOURNALIST:
To both Prime Ministers. Gentlemen, do you believe it will be yourselves or your successors who will supervise the final withdrawal of your contingents from Iraq?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well let me say in relation to that that those are matters ultimately determined by the people, as far as I'm concerned, by the people of Australia.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, can I ask you or both Prime Minister's your reaction to the apparent change of heart in Afghanistan in the case of the Christian convert Mr Abdul Rahman, how confident are you that that kind of thing wont happen again and what are you seeking from Afghanistan such as a constitutional change to make sure it doesn't?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
As you all know I was very concerned about the possibility this man could be executed because of his religious beliefs. I did write in very strong terms to the President. I did have something to say publicly about that in Melbourne on Sunday and the strength of my feelings would have been apparent. I welcome what's happened and I know the British Government and the British Prime Minister has shared my concern and made similarly strong well-known views. And how confident I am about the future, well I hope that the strength of international reaction has sent a very clear signal. And as far as I am concerned it would just be quite unacceptable to the Australian people or Australian soldiers to be having their lives on the line to defend, in any way, a practice that involved people being persecuted because of their religious belief.
JOURNALIST:
So do you want them to change their constitution to make sure that doesn't happen?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
Well I think they just need to realise that, as the Prime Minister says, it would be completely unacceptable for people to be persecuted because of their religious beliefs and also, and I'm sure that this is the clearly understood view of the President of Afghanistan, that what we are struggling for in Afghanistan and around the world are societies in which people are free to practice their religious faith in which they show tolerance and respect for others of different religious faiths. And you know, that is a tremendous message for the whole of the world and I think one of the things that we've got to do as countries that believe in this is to empower those moderate and modernising forces within the world of Islam and the Arab and Muslim world and say look, we want to create a situation in which there are those freedoms for everybody to enjoy. And that's what it's all about for us because in each situation there are people within these countries who are striving to be free. And, you know, one of the other most shocking things that has happened in Afghanistan recently is when a teacher was taken out and shot by the Taliban for teaching girls in school. Now this is, so you have this reactionary force that is there, but what is important I think sometimes to understand, is there's also a modernising force that is there in these countries and we've got to be empowering those people the whole time because, you know, I am sure, as is very, very obvious, when the majority of people are given the chance to express themselves properly that's the type of world we want.
Thank you.
[ends]