PM: It's good to be back here in the United States- it's good to be back here in Washington. I've just spent time this morning with President Obama, with Secretary of State Clinton, and also the Secretary of the Treasury, Tim Geithner, and other officials who I've been able to exchange views with today. Firstly on climate change- with eighteen days left to go to Copenhagen, it is fundamentally important that we get a good, robust outcome on climate change for the planet, for the economy, for jobs, for our kids, and for our grandkids.
What the President and I discussed today was the challenges which lie ahead in these remaining 18 days. I took the opportunity to brief him on the outcome of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting just recently concluded in Trinidad. The resolve of the communiqué from the Commonwealth Heads of Government to support the leaders-driven process of Prime Minister Rasmussen of Denmark, and further, the support of the small island states and others for the proposed special start fund, the fast-start fund, for developing countries, in particular, the funding stream for small island states.
The challenges, however, between now and Copenhagen remain formidable. The President, of course, has indicated he'll be visiting Copenhagen himself on the 9th of December, in order to lend his personal support to the momentum that is still necessary to reach a robust agreement in Copenhagen. Australia fully supports the President in undertaking that visit, and fully supports the United States' continued full engagement in this Copenhagen process.
This is a job for all countries- not just the largest, but also, other countries around the world as well. Whether it's Commonwealth countries, the United States, China, India, our friends in Europe, as well as across the developing world. Climate change does not respect national boundaries. It is a challenge for the planet. It is a challenge for the global economy. It is a challenge for all our peoples. And we'll be working very closely with the United States between now and Copenhagen to produce a robust Copenhagen agreement for the future.
Secondly, the President and I also spent a considerable amount of time discussing Afghanistan, and the challenges of the future which lie there. The President has consulted me closely, other allies closely, on the McChrystal Report. I believe that what President Obama has developed is a credible strategy designed to achieve success in Afghanistan. A key element, which Australia fully supports, is an integrated civilian-military approach, designed to deliver security to the Afghan population, as well as better governance for the Afghan people.
It also places an emphasis on training and transferring responsibility over time to Afghan security forces, and to civilian authorities. This approach, outlined by President Obama, is one which Australia fully, I repeat, fully, supports for the future.
Also today I had an opportunity to meet with Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner. Of course, we discussed the current state of the global economy. We discussed also the future operation of the G20, and the proposed two summits to be held in 2010, in advancing the work already agreed upon at Pittsburgh and London on financial sector reform, as well as the other outstanding items from the Pittsburgh agenda, including the global framework for sustainable economic growth for the future.
With the Secretary of State, we again spent time running through the climate change agenda. We also spent time running through a range of other regional security policy challenges as well. I'm happy to take your questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, did the President ask for (inaudible)
PM: The President fully accepts that following our last meeting here in Washington, Australia has been in the process of increasing its troop and training commitment to Afghanistan by forty percent. That process is nearly complete. And that will result in Australia having something like 1550 troops in Afghanistan. We also have engaged in an enhanced training effort. We have also become, I think, the single largest contributor to the Afghan Army trust fund. In the future, we'll be increasing our police training effort in Oruzgan province, and also at national command level in Kabul. We'll also be increasing our civilian aid effort in Oruzgan province as well.
Our overall mission is to reflect, within Oruzgan, the province for which we have joint responsibility, a properly integrated military, civilian and police effort. And this is a process which is underway now. And I'd say this- the enhanced troop commitment that we agreed with the administration following my previous meeting with President Obama, will make Australia one of the top ten military contributors to Afghanistan, and I believe all US allies should fully support the approach being outlined by the United States.
JOURNALIST: Can I just clarify that, because you didn't actually say (inaudible)
PM: I just said, in direct response to your question, that the President fully accepts the fact that following our last meeting, that we have increased our troop and training commitment by some forty percent. That process of enhancement to that number is almost complete. And that places Australia within the top ten military contributors. We believe that is the right approach. It is also consistent with the strategic direction the President is taking, a strategic direction to develop an integrated military, civilian and police strategy for the future, and this has also been the subject of discussions I've had in the field recently with General McChrystal, in Oruzgan province.
JOURNALIST: Can I just clarify with you, you said an increased police and civilian effort in Oruzgan- is that included, is that already covered by the 1500, or are we talking more?
PM: No, the 1550 commitment is a military commitment. What I am talking about is an additional effort on the police front, what I am talking about is a further additional effort on the civilian aid front in Oruzgan, and also nationally in Kabul.
JOURNALIST: Are you in agreement with the President that this is a war of necessity, and not a war of choice? If you are in agreement with him that this is indeed a war of necessity, why wouldn't Australia increase its commitment of combat troops beyond the 1550 already committed?
PM: Well Australia fully agrees with the President of the United States that this is a war, a military campaign, a military fight, which we need to engage in- because it arose over an attack, here in the United States, including in this city, Washington, on our American ally, on the metropolitan territory of the United States. And the cause in which we are engaged is never to allow Afghanistan again to be a training base, a safe haven for the operation of global terrorists. That is why we have been engaged with the Americans for a long time past. That is why we will be with America in Afghanistan for the long haul, into the future.
As to the second part of your question, following my last visit here to Washington, and subsequent to that, we agreed with the administration that we would engage in a process of increasing our military commitment by some 40%. That process continues. It is nearly complete. And what I'm also foreshadowing is that we will be increasing, in addition to that, our police training effort in Afghanistan, which is a core second pillar of the future strategy to stabilise Afghanistan and to transfer responsibility to the Afghan administration. And the third pillar of that is an enhanced civilian effort, by which we mean the overall task of economic construction.
JOURNALIST: Could you put numbers on the police and civilian contribution?
PM: No, we're working through that at the moment, through the National Security Committee of the Cabinet. And we have requested work to be done by our agencies on that. It comes directly out of discussions I've had in the field recently with General McChrystal in Tarin Kowt. More needs to be done here. If you look at the overall needs of the Afghan people, and the need to stabilise Afghanistan, as a country, as a whole, we have to lift our collective game on the training of police. It is a core part of the overall security equation.
And people talk about the Afghan security forces, they mean two component parts. The formal military, the Afghan National Army, and remember, we are in the process of raising a brigade, the fourth brigade, comprised of six battalions. But we also need to be raising appropriately numbered and trained police units to provide the furtherance of security for the local people. And the third pillar is to increase our civilian economic reconstruction effort. It's part of what President Obama has outlined, nationally, as the need for a new, integrated civilian-military strategy for the country as a whole. It's a strategy which Australia fully supports.
JOURNALIST: How soon would you be able to increase that police training contingent, and that civilian reconstruction contingent?
PM: When I return to Australia, we'll be taking submissions from our respective agencies. We want to make sure that it is properly prepared on the ground, properly executed on the ground, and properly therefore implemented on the ground. Therefore, it will be done as rapidly as possible, but we've requested detailed work to be done by our agencies on this, given that we have been consulting with the Americans on this for some time, a lot of that work is being developed as we speak. I hope to bring that to conclusion as soon as possible.
JOURNALIST: I'd just like to ask a follow-up question to Kevin's. There's a danger here that it might be seen as a process of mission creep in Afghanistan.
PM: The core mission for Australia in Afghanistan is very clear. It is to create, in the province of Oruzgan, the capacity to transfer security responsibility to the Afghan security forces. That's why we are- one, raising a fourth brigade of the Afghan National Army, comprised of six battalions. The security assessment is that a force of that size is needed to stabilise the province for the long term. And secondly, to raise an appropriate number of police as well, to provide security, particularly in the larger metropolitan centres of Oruzgan.
Thirdly, to do what we can to enhance the civilian capacity and the construction capability of the Oruzgan provincial Government, so that we reach a point where we can therefore transfer responsibility back to the Afghans on both fronts. That's our mission. It's clear-cut. We're therefore in Afghanistan and in Oruzgan for the long haul, to execute that mission, and that is what is necessary for us then to see our troops back home.
JOURNALIST: Did the President indicate when he might visit Australia?
PM: We had a chat at the end of our conversation about his desire to visit Down Under. I told him he'd be always welcome. And we're looking at the possibility of him visiting Australia during the course of 2010. That'd be terrific. I'm sure all Australians would make the President and Michelle and the family if they happen to be with them, really welcome. We tend to be good at that. We're a welcoming mob down there.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can you give us a rough idea (inaudible) how many people are going to be involved in police training?
PM: Well we're working our way through that.
JOURNALIST: Rough idea?
PM: We're working our way through it, because there are, at present, shared police training responsibilities within Oruzgan province between Australia, and from memory, two other countries. We need to ensure that that is properly integrated with the work of the police training academy, which is currently based within the perimeter of our operating base in Tarin Kowt. The coordination therefore with the other countries is really necessary to get everything in proper sequence before that deployment. On the civilian aid front, that means of course that we will have additional civilian aid officials working both in Tarin Kowt, and I imagine in Kabul as well, to make sure that we are properly ensuring a proper direction of central Government assistance from Kabul to the province itself- obviously recognising the sovereignty of the Afghan Government.
But secondly, ensuring that this is being rolled out effectively on the ground, so the people of Oruzgan province, the people of its major population centres and the rural areas, when areas have been cleared and secured in terms of the military operation, reinforced by a police presence, then se the benefits of a civilian Government at work. At a provincial level, by rolling out schools, by rolling out health facilities, by rolling out transport infrastructure. These should be seamless parts of an overall strategy. And that's why we're taking a little further time to conclude the elements of that.
As I said, we'll be in Oruzgan, we'll be in Afghanistan, for the long haul, and we'll be doing so on all fronts- military, police, and civilian.
JOURNALIST: The people who are being trained to, will be called upon to be trainers and civilian assistants, will they be called upon from the Australian military, police agencies for example, the Federal Police?
PM: Well obviously the vehicle through which we deliver police assistance is through the Australian Federal Police. When I was in Afghanistan recently, and from memory we have a number, currently in Tarin Kowt themselves, and they are a fine bunch of men and women. Also, we have a number in Kabul. That number needs to be enhanced, but also, properly coordinated with the other police training countries within Oruzgan, and properly coordinated with what will be a new, national police training effort across the entire nation of Afghanistan.
On the civilian aid effort, obviously we would draw such civilians from the Australian development assistance agency, AusAID. They are the two major agencies. Our men and women in uniform, the proud men and women of the Australian Defence Force, are first-class professionals, and their hands are full. We need to step up our efforts in these other two areas to ensure that we're delivering a comprehensive effort, and a comprehensive strategy, which is comprehensively implemented on the ground in Oruzgan, and do so in close partnership with our friend and ally, the United States.
And having said that, I've got to zip.
JOURNALIST: Who would make a good leader of the Liberal party?
PM: The internal deliberations of the Liberal party should be left to the Liberal party themselves. I have-
JOURNALIST: Would Joe Hockey be a formidable opponent?
PM: The internal deliberations of the Liberal party should be left to the Liberal party themselves. The only thing I would say is, that the bipartisan agreement that we have reached on climate change is a bipartisan agreement in the national interest, which should be passed through the Parliament in the national interest. I would urge all Parliamentarians today in Australia- whatever their political party- to vote in the national interest, and to vote for action on climate change. Let's just be very blunt about it.
After ten years of delay on climate change, further delay equals denial on climate change. Delay on climate change equals denial on climate change. And it's time, instead, we voted in support of this bipartisan Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, because to do so votes to act. A failure to vote, or shall I say a vote to delay on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, is a vote to deny the climate change science. A vote to delay this bipartisan Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is also to deny Australia's ability to act on climate change.
Got to run.