PM Transcripts

Subjects: deployment of Australian troops in fight against terrorism
PRIME MINISTER:
Well ladies and gentlemen, last night President Bush telephoned me to discuss the progress of the coalition campaign against terrorism arising out of the attacks on the United States on the 11th of September. And in the course of that discussion he indicated that the United States would like to activate the commitment that Australia had made to join the Coalition force. I indicated that Australia would respond. He then expressed his appreciation for the way in which Australia had responded, the readiness that we had displayed to join the campaign against terrorism. He requested us to make available in circumstances and at times to be agreed between the respective military authorities in Australia and the United States.
I now wish to announce that the Government has decided to make available to the coalition by deploying overseas the following military forces: two P3 long range maritime aircraft to augment coalition maritime patrol and reconnaissance capabilities; Australian special forces detachment to go to selected locations as decided by the Chief of the Defence Force in conjunction with coalition force commanders to conduct combined operations; two B707 tanker aircraft to support air to air refuelling operations.
In addition we will continue to maintain the presence of one guided missile frigate to support the multinational interception force implementing UN Security council resolutions. HMAS Anzac will be replaced by HMAS Sydney. It is possible that after consultation the tasks assigned to HMAS Sydney may extend beyond the current interdiction duties.
In addition to these forces I wish to announce the additional commitment of the following; a naval task group comprising one amphibious command ship with organic helicopter capabilities and a frigate as escort; four FA 18A aircraft to provide support for the air defence of coalition forces; and one frigate with embarked helicopter capability to assist in the coalition';s naval protection of shipping effort. The total number of deployed personnel will be about 1550 when all our forces have been committed.
The locations and possible deployment of these forces are being worked out between our respective military planners and the details will not be made available publicly for obvious operational reasons. It can however be said that it is not intended at this stage that the FA 18As will operate in Afghanistan. It is expected that the bulk of the forces will have gone overseas by the middle of November. The precise dates of departure are being worked out and will be advised accordingly. I hope as circumstances permit, it will be possible for both myself and the Leader of the Opposition on behalf of the Australian people to farewell our forces before they go overseas.
These deployments in addition to our current operations in East Timor and elsewhere will add to the operational tempo of the Australian Defence Force. But I';m quite satisfied on the advice of the Chief of the Defence Force that the deployments are within the capability of the ADF without jeopardising the capabilities required for other tasks.
I should advise you that after I spoke to President Bush last night and during the conversation we generally traversed the course of events since the 11th of September. It is the second time that I';ve spoken to him since then. We in fact recalled the extraordinary change that had come over the world and the challenges for both of us since that very positive day we spent together, or a large part of the day spent together indeed on the 10th of September when I spent some three hours with the President and met many senior members of his Administration having previously at the Ambassador';s residence entertained almost the entirety of the senior people within his administration. And both of us reflected rather sombrely just how much the world had changed since that, up until that point, that very positive and upbeat encounter between the leadership of the Australian Government and the leadership of the United States Government.
But he remains very very grateful. He made the remark during our conversation that the way in which the people of Australia and the people of the United States had interacted on this issue was something of a template for the behaviour of free peoples towards each other in the earlier years of the 21st century. There is no doubt that he feels greatly indebted to the Australian people and very warm towards the people of our country because of the spontaneity of the response that Australia has given and the willingness with which Australia has aligned herself with the cause of freedom and the fight against terrorism, seeing the attack on the American people as it is an attack also on Australia and the things for which our country stands as well.
After our conversation last night I personally telephoned the Leader of the Opposition who was in Perth. I briefed him of the discussion, about the discussion I had with President Bush. I indicated the military forces that would be involved and that I would be making an announcement. He indicated to me that he supported the Government';s intention to announce this commitment. He obviously will have his own news conference when he arrives in Melbourne later today. I rang him again this morning to discuss another aspect of it. I';ve also indicated that the Defence Minister and the Chief of the Defence Force, both of whom are with me this morning, are available to brief Mr Beazley on any other details relating to this issue.
Now this marks of course a significant further stage in the involvement of Australia, Australian military personnel and the Australian people in this war against terrorism. Our forces will be overseas fighting in our name within a very short period of time. They will go with our best wishes, our prayers for a safe return. It will not be an easy operation. The potential danger is much greater than turned out to be the case in East Timor. They will go against the background of very strong support from not only their loved ones in Australia but also their fellow Australians. They will go with the benefit of very extensive training. They will go in the best traditions of the Australian military forces which are held in high regard and esteem around the world.
It will be my intention, consistent with operational requirements to preserve security, to keep the Australian people fully informed, as will the Defence Minister, of developments. The exact dates of departure I can';t tell you now. They are still moving around a little. But as I said it is anticipated that the great bulk will be overseas by the middle of November. So we can expect a number to begin departing fairly soon. But as information is available and consistent with security considerations we';ll certainly make sure that people are kept fully informed and it will be my intention to keep the Opposition fully informed as well because this is an exercise on behalf of all of the Australian people and it';s something that expresses the will of the Australian people, the repugnance that the Australian people feel for the terrorist threat, and the determination of the Australian people to be part of the response of the free civilised world to this threat.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, did the President give you any indication when ground troops would be going into Afghanistan and when you mentioned a very short period of time is it now just a matter of days…?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the President and I were talking on an open line so he obviously wasn';t going to be very specific about the timing of troops going in. And that is something that most people would keep fairly close to their chest. What was the second question?
JOURNALIST:
And when you mentioned a very short period of time are we now saying it';s just a matter of days until Australians are deployed?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well some of the elements could be going within less than a week or two, yes.
JOURNALIST:
How long will the campaign last?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don';t know how long it will last. One of the things that the President and I agreed on last night was that this is not something that is going to be over quickly. He stressed that, he used the expression ‘people must be patient'; because it';s not going to be fixed overnight and he said, I';m - meaning President Bush - is constantly exhorting the American people to be patient and to realise that it could be a very long, drawn out campaign. And it';s also important to bear in mind that you';re not just dealing with terrorist cells and networks in Afghanistan, this was a point he made to me that their operations are spread far more widely than Afghanistan.
JOURNALIST:
Is it therefore an open ended commitment in terms of time?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes.
JOURNALIST:
Would you be expecting to visit troops in Townsville tonight or tomorrow?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I am going to Townsville tonight and…. but I';m not expecting that the people I will see there are going to be involved in this operation.
JOURNALIST:
How serious is the threat Prime Minister that Australian lives may be lost?
PRIME MINISTER:
Whenever you go into battle there is always a risk of casualties. I can';t pretend for a moment that there won';t be casualties. I hope there are not, I hope that if there are any they will be minimal but I would be less than honest and frank if I didn';t warn of the possibility of Australian casualties. It is a very dangerous operation, particularly any operation involving special forces on the ground. They are very highly trained men but they carry out incredibly risky, daring and dangerous tasks and in those circumstances the possibility of death, the possibility of casualties is quite high.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard who will command the Australian forces and will they take their orders from Australia or from the United States?
PRIME MINISTER:
There will be a separate Australian command under a brigadier and the person will of course be part of the overall coalition command but the Australian forces will be answerable to a separate national command.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister are you certain, your comments earlier on suggested that the action of the Australian troops involved in might be wider than just an action in Afghanistan. Might they be deployed to other places than just Afghanistan.
PRIME MINISTER:
My expectation at present is no but…. there may be a request to change that but my expectation at the moment is no.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister will the SAS be involved as they have been in the past in just rescue and retrieval or is it envisaged…
PRIME MINISTER:
A broader role than that.
JOURNALIST:
A broader role?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes.
JOURNALIST:
Can you give us some sort of idea…
PRIME MINISTER:
No I';m not, I';m simply going to say that it won';t be restricted to search and rescue.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard we';ve given an open ended commitment in terms of time, but are we also giving an open ended commitment in terms of resources. Is it likely that the Australian contribution will be larger than the 1500 personnel that you';ve announced today or could it be escalated if this conflict goes on for longer and there';s a request made by the United States for Australia to ….?
PRIME MINISTER:
I can';t predict Katherine whether at some in the future the Americans won';t ask for more, I would not expect that to be the case as I speak now. I would expect this to be the probable limit of what we';re asked to contribute but I can';t rule out the possibility that we would be asked to give more. We have said all along that we will contribute to the extent of our capability. Now this is a significant commitment. It is very manageable given our other responsibilities. Mr Reith and I and the CDF have carefully discussed that over the past few days and most particularly this morning and we are satisfied that we can readily do this but there has to be a limit to what we can contribute. We would be indicating that we think this is a very good and appropriate but nonetheless a sizeable contribution from Australia. A little larger than originally canvassed, there';s no doubt about that. So there';s nothing token about this contribution. This is a very significant and important contribution being made by Australia and it should be seen as such by the Australian people but I';m not thereby signalling that we can just make unlimited additional resources available. And I don';t expect the Americans will make those requests of us.
JOURNALIST:
… naval commitment is slightly larger than expected, how will this affect the Navy';s operation in relation to asylum seekers off the north coast, will we have to scale that back?
PRIME MINISTER:
We have discussed that and we believe that that can be handled.
JOURNALIST:
How will this deployment affect your approach to the rest of the election campaign?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I will deal with both the campaign and my responsibilities as Prime Minister as best I can. I';m not going to, I';m going to deal with this issue properly in the context of the election campaign. I will continue as I did last night to keep the Opposition Leader properly informed. I did say that I would talk to him about this matter after I';d heard from President Bush and I did, I rang him myself last night and I spoke to him again this morning and I';m making the Defence Minister and the CDF available to brief to him. Well that is as it should be in a situation like this. That won';t of course stop me launching rhetorically spirited attacks on the failed economic policies of the federal opposition during the course of the campaign.
But look it is a very serious issue this and I';ve got a responsibility and so has Mr Beazley to take seriously the commitment of Australian forces and therefore Australian lives overseas in defence of what this country stands for. I mean that';s what';s involved here and both of us have to understand that. And both of our parties have to understand it and everybody else involved in the election campaign has to understand. It is a very unusual situation and a set of circumstances that we all wish had never arisen. There wouldn';t be a person alive who wouldn';t want to turn back the clock to avoid the events of the 11th of September.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister are the Orion aircraft that are going to be deployed in this operation, have they been taken away from surveillance of ….boats on the boat people front?
PRIME MINISTER:
I understand not. They';re additional. They';re others.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister can you tell which other countries are involved in this apparent escalation of the conflict and are they committing troops as well?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I';m not at liberty to talk about what other countries are doing. I wouldn';t like the Prime Minister or President of another country to announce in another city that Australia was committing forces. If other countries are committing forces and self evidently British forces have already been involved alongside American forces, but beyond that it is really for the leaders of those countries to announce those things, not me.
JOURNALIST:
Was it you or President Bush who initiated contact last night?
PRIME MINISTER:
I beg your pardon?
JOURNALIST:
Was it you or President Bush who initiated the contact last night.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well he rang me.
JOURNALIST:
But you said I rang him myself that's why I ask.
PRIME MINISTER:
No, that was Mr Beazley. Mr Bush rang me.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard whose idea was it to extend the Australian military commitment, greater than we had originally anticipated?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well what happens with these things is sensible, sensibly what happens is that when there is a willingness and a commitment at a political level for Australian forces to be involved we then engage our defence leaders. You may remember when I last spoke to President Bush we agreed that the nature of Australian involvement should be the discussions, the result of discussions, between our military people. Admiral Barrie as you know went to the United States, he spent some time with the new chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Myers, and the former one and also the head of central command and also the SINPAC commander and arising out of those discussions it was obvious that the best way in which Australia could help within capability was what I outlined earlier. Then subsequently in discussions the possibility of the FA-18';s arose and in the fullness of time that became part of the consolidated American request. The amphibious platform which will be either the Kanimbla or the Manoora, that';s our idea, that';s going to be our command location, our command ship and we think it makes more sense as we have a separate national Australian command to have it on a platform like that. They';re very serviceable, they';re very useful, they';re very big, they can perform a lot of tasks. So that is how it has arisen. Now it is true that towards the end of the discussions there was an additional request that hadn';t been canvassed before which was of the additional frigate, that came I understand from the Americans. But we looked at it and we';re able to provide that additional assistance.
Now sensibly what you do with a situation like this is you first of all have to get a political signoff, there has to be political agreement that forces should be committed and then each side talks to its respective military and political people internally and then the military people get together. There are very good relations between the leadership of the Australian Defence Force and the United States Defence Forces and it';s emerged from that that these are the Australian forces that can make a contribution. We are satisfied that we can provide these forces and we';ll provide them.
JOURNALIST:
Does this have any implications for the APEC meeting and do you expect that';s still going to go ahead and what do you plan to do at APEC?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the APEC meeting will still go ahead, and it';s very important that it go ahead. The great value of the APEC meeting is that it will bring together a lot of people in our part of the world involved in the pacific who will want to talk about what they can do collectively in relation to terrorism. I think it is a good opportunity, particularly for President Bush to talk to the Russian President and the Chinese President about their attitudes towards terrorism. There are a range of views, obviously our views and those I guess of the Canadian Government and the government of perhaps of New Zealand and one or two others would be closest to the attitude of the United States but it';s also important to incorporate the support that';s been expressed by the Russians and by the Chinese and I';m very encouraged by that.
JOURNALIST:
Are you planning to speak with President Megawati there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well if President Megawati is there I will certainly seek to have a discussion with her. The APEC meeting is being held in a very short period of time and I';m for obvious reasons will sort of be going and doing what needs to be done and then leaving as soon as possible because I am required back here for various duties. But I';ll take the opportunity during the meeting of having a discussion with quite a number of people.
JOURNALIST:
Will that be formal bilateral or will that be…
PRIME MINISTER:
With whom? With her?
JOURNALIST:
President Megawati…
PRIME MINISTER:
I don';t know.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard is it envisaged that Australia will also contribute to the humanitarian end of this conflict…
PRIME MINISTER:
We have already done so. We have already contributed significant additional resources to the UNHCR to help with the resettlement of refugees in Pakistan.
JOURNALIST:
But beyond that $14 million commitment for example would Australia consider over time participating in a large scale resettlement…
PRIME MINISTER:
We will consider contributing more humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. Yes. And it';s very important that parallel with our taking the military action we are that we be ready to join others in humanitarian relief. That';s very important.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard you mentioned that the Australian forces will be under Australian national command. How would the relationship between that command and the US command work? How much autonomy will the Australians have and how much would they be under the authority of the US….
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I am no military expert but I think it would roughly work like this. The overall calling of the shots will obviously be in the hands of the Americans because it';s their operation and they have overall control but within that you have a separate national command, you have separate terms of engagement for the Australian forces and I think what happens is that sensible people talk to each other on the ground and you prevent any friction arising.
JOURNALIST:
… this was no token effort but from the American';s perspective do you think that the political significance of Australia being seen as standing shoulder to shoulder with America is greater than the military significance of Australia';s commitment?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that';s something you have to ask the Americans. I mean this is an expression of Australia';s strong commitment and strong desire to share with the American people a common defence of things we treasure together. Certain values are the same to us as they are to the Americans and it';s our desire to share in the defence of those values in a quite significant way militarily. It is also a very strong, unambiguous political message. Not only to America but to the world that we are one of those counties that is prepared to stand up for things we believe in. So that';s how I see it from an Australian point of view. I give proper weight to both elements, how it is seen from an American point of view is really something you will have to ask the Americans.
JOURNALIST:
Why did you ring Mr Beazley again?
PRIME MINISTER:
I just wanted to make sure I told him everything. I wouldn';t want there to be, this is serious business and I intend on this issue to play a straight bat as far as keeping the Opposition informed. I mean I will bowl plenty of bumpers on other things but I';m going to be playing a straight bat on this.
JOURNALIST:
What will be the key indicators, what will be the key indicators that the objectives of this deployment have been realised.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well they will emerge and it';s impossible for me at this stage to indicate when they will emerge or in what form they will emerge. I can';t foretell the exact course of this military operation, how long it will take. The indications so far, confirmed by the President last night is that it';s going very well.
JOURNALIST:
What is it designed to achieve?
PRIME MINISTER:
The capture and bringing to justice of bin Laden and all of those responsible for the terrorist attacks on the United States and also the broader extermination of people who would launch terror attacks on other people around the world.
JOURNALIST:
Will the SAS be directly involved in that, in hunting down the terrorists?
PRIME MINISTER:
There will be no operational restrictions on what the SAS do.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, could they be asked to kill members of the Taliban regime?
PRIME MINISTER:
There';ll be no restrictions, only restrictions of, you know, that come from the exigencies of safety and so forth in combat. Now I don';t know whether that';s the correct way to express it but you understand what I mean.
JOURNALIST:
Are you comfortable with that directive committing Australians…?
PRIME MINISTER:
I am very comfortable with committing the men of the SAS to do their job given the task that';s been assigned to all of those who are going to be involved. Nobody wished this situation to arise. We would all want to turn back the clock and will it away but it';s happened and we can';t walk away from our responsibility. I will think a great deal over the weeks and months ahead about the men who are going over there and I invite all Australians to spend a bit of time thinking about them as well because they are going over there on their behalf, on our behalf, for all of us and not on some kind of independent exercise of their own. They';re going to risk their lives. They';re young men. Some of them could be killed and some of them could be badly maimed. There';s always a possibility of that. I ask all Australians to think about that in the weeks and months ahead.
JOURNALIST:
What do you say to those Australians who think this is not our war to be sending troops into?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I say to them that I don';t agree with them. They have, and I will defend their right to express those views within lawful constraints, but I don';t believe that Australia can stand aside from this conflict and we can';t expect to have uninterrupted, calm, peaceful life in this country without some kind of contribution to the worldwide effort that';s needed to keep it that way.
JOURNALIST:
You mentioned that you were willing to increase humanitarian aid. There';s an expectation that there will be huge numbers of Afghani people displaced by this conflict and seeking refuge in other countries. How do you respond to that ….?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the best way to respond to the additional influx of refugees into countries like Pakistan is to give more help to Pakistan. It is not the answer to imagine that you can disperse them around the world. That really doesn';t work. Look at the example of Kosovo. That was the way you might give people temporary safe haven but then the idea is to return them from whence they came. But I think what we have to do is give a lot of support to Pakistan because she could come under enormous pressure.
JOURNALIST:
There';s been some criticism of the Americans, some accusations that they';ve been reckless and reports of civilian casualties. What are your views and concerns on that matter?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well sadly whenever you have a military operation no matter how carefully it';s carried out and no matter how discriminatory it is you do have unintended casualties. My belief is, all my advice is, that the Americans have tried as hard as possible to keep that to the absolute minimum. It';s easy to criticise. Perhaps you should criticise the people who made all of this necessary rather than the American military authorities.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, what about domestic security during the time of this operation? Will that be boosted considering Australia obviously having an engagement [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well a lot of that has already been done. We';re not starting from scratch today. We have in ways I';ve described before boosted security arrangements and we';ll continue to do so.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard are we still talking about 150 SAS troops?
PRIME MINISTER:
At this stage that';s the broad number, yes.
JOURNALIST:
And the cost of the deployment Mr Howard?
PRIME MINISTER:
I have not been able to calculate the cost at this stage. It will be significant.
JOURNALIST:
Do you need any Parliamentary approval or Parliament act to [inaudible] at this stage?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well there';s no parliament to call at the moment. It';s been dissolved. We don';t need any Parliamentary approval to deploy people overseas. Bear in mind that there was a resolution carried by both houses of Parliament which authorised the invocation of ANZUS. I see this as a deployment within the broad rubric of the ANZUS Treaty therefore I would not think any additional constitutional procedural benediction were needed for that to happen.
[ends]