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TRANSCRIPT OF NEWS CONFERENCE, PARIS AIR SHOW, 17 JUNE 1989
K 0 E PROOF ONLY
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister do you believe you'll get the
French Government's support for your position on the
Antarctic? PH: It's too early to say but there's some indications that
they are sympathetic to our position. I'l~ l be talking with
the Prime Minister on Monday and I think some of the
officials might be talking before then. But there's
certainly some indications that they are sympathetic.
They've had some progress of course since we've made the
decision. The Indian Government has indicated they are going
to support us and that's I think very important so it's not
as hopeless as I think some people thought it might be at the
beginning. JOURNALIST: So you hope to get some support for a World
Environment Park down in the Antarctic on this trip?
PM: Yes I certainly believe that we've got a good chance of
support here in France. Obviously the position of the United
Kingdom and the United States is more hostile to the concept
but I want to take the opportunity of explaining our position
to them. I'll be meeting with Jacques Cousteau in the
morning and I think it will be useful to be able to listen to
what he has to say and I think he'll provide a fair bit of
support obviously, for our concept. He's certainly
recommending to the French Government that they should
support our position.
JOURNALIST: Have you any indication that the French would be
swayed by what he might have to say?
PM: He's obviously an influential figure here and I can't
draw any conclusions until I've seen them.
JOURNALIST: Two Australian's bashed in Bougainville. Have
you been briefed on that?
PM: Yes I've read the cables on that and I've asked our
people to ensure that the appropriate protests are made and I
believe they have been. This Is an unacceptable sort of
situation. This is not an attack upon Australians by the
rebels but by the armed forces there that are supposed to be
responsible for maintaining law and order. So we will
register the very strong protest to the authorities about
this. JOURNALIST: Mr Hawke do you think that the UK and the US are
exerting a certain amount of influence on France to get It to
sign the Treaty?
PM: I've got no evidence of that although it would be
surprising if, given what I understand to be the strength of
their position, that hadn't been conveyed to other countries
including France. But I don't think on Its record France is
likely to be pushed Into a position by either the United
States or the United Kingdom. I would think in terms of the
pitch, my pitch would be as good as the Americans and the
British.
O JOURNALIST: What is your pitch going to be? What arguments
are you going to use?
PM: Well basically straight forward. This is the last
pristine continent. It is obviously extremely fragile and I
think that what the nations who have spent some years now in
trying to prepare the Mining Convention have got to
understand Is that we're living in a different period now at
the e~ nd nf thp iqAnw than wo TanIo cowal yaW ag4 IJ... Libw
work started on the Convention. We have more evidence now of
the fragility of this type of environment. We have the Exon
disaster in the Arctic region up there in Alaska and so it's
quite clear that you can't really protect this sort of
environment absolutely, you can't have absolute confidence of
being able to protect It. I think further now there is a
greater consciousness right around the world about the
responsibility we have to protecting the environment for the
future. So my view would be that the nations would be
responsive to the proposition that we should have an Arctic
wilderness constructed within the Antarctic Treaty system.
This will enable appropriate scientific work to proceed but
In an environment where there should be no mining because
it's no good really saying, as has been said before, ' well
you can have a-Minerals Convention with a veto in it upon
mining'. I mean it seems to me to be a, when you come to
think of it, the wrong way around it and we certainly won't
be prepared to accept the situation which said, ' well yes you
will sign the Convention and you can have a reservation which
Savs however, we would veto any mininq'. It's much more
straight forward to say there is to be no mining. Let's
( PM cont) construct a comprehensive environmental protection
framework and within that try and advance the concept of the
Wilderness Park. So I think It's going to be a much more
receptive world environment for that than there would have
been even two years ago.
JOURNALIST: Will you be raising the issue of the nuclear
testing in the South Pacific during this visit to France, Mr
Hawke and is there some irony in the French perhaps
supporting our position on environmentalism In the Antarctic
and still testing in the South Pacific?
PM: We'll make clear again our opposition to testing. It's
well known, It doesn't need a great deal of repitition. But
the point will be made. I suppose some people could say
there Is a paradox that there is their conduct of nuclear
testing in the South Pacific but that they are obviously
extremely conscious of environmental Issues in other ways.
But be that as It may I think what we'd do Is to make our
position clear as to opposition to the nuclear testing in the
South Pacific but welcome the support of France in other
areas where they are, in my judgement, taking a positive and
realistic environmental position.
JOURN~ ALIST: In Australia there's been some renewed
speculation on the possibility of a half-Senate election
separate from a House of Representatives election. Are you
in any way attracted to that proposition?
PM: Well I know I've seen the speculation. I've got nothing
more to say on that at all, nothing more.
JOURNALIST: Are you ruling It out?
PM: I just haven't got anything to say about It. I mean
JOURNALIST: It rules it in, doesn't it?
PM: Well I suppose you can say it rules It in, rules it out.
I mean you people will write your story whatever I say about
it. I mean I haven't said anything about an early election
for six months but that hasn't stopped you writing about
early elections. I've not said anything about early
elections, not anything about it.
JOURNALIST: Can you see any circumstances under which half
the Senate will go to an election seperate from the House of
Representatives? PM: I've got nothing to say about the question of elections
because as soon as I say something about It you start
furiously scribbling. So I've really got nothing to say
about it. We'll Just go on governing and let others
speculate on this matter.
JOUt1IST: When you said there'd be no election this year
are you talking about just the House of Representatives or
were you Including
PM: That was the question I was asked. I always answer the
question I'm asked.
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JOURNALIST: Would there be any advantages In having a
half-Senate election this year?
PM: For whom?
JOURNALIST: The Government.
PM: I don't know really. I'm not thinking about elections
over here. I mean why would you be thinking about elections
here in this beautiful environmnent.
JOURNALIST: Does your earlier statement ruling out an
election apply to the half-Senate election?
PM: I said before what I had to say about it Michelle. I
really haven't got anything more to say about elections now,
nothing more to say about elections, nothing more to say
about elections.
JOURNALIST: Just a question on France. How would you
describe the state of Australia's relations with France at
the moment and will they change because of this trip?
PM: I think one should say they are improving-and they'll be
better as a result of this trip. I mean with this Government
as compared with its predecessor we are In a very, very much
warmer and more constructive, cooperative position. I mean
you take the area of the South Pacific In general and New
Caledonia in particular. The Rocard Government has
transformed the situation there. We welcome the Matignon
Accord and it's very refreshing to see the results of the
election the other day. There was a very significant
participation rate despite the frank attempt to boycott.
The participation rate was as high as It had been before
about 69% and they are tackling what is the fundamental
question there of providing accelerated training for the
Kanak population so that by the time 1998 comes there will be
a solid core of trained people professionally, academically,
bureaucratically, technically, to be able to fill the
positions and to be able to cover whatever position is
decided upon at that t-ime. So we welcome those moves. We
want to cooperate with them, assist them in the area of
economic cooperation. There are moves for greater
cooperation generally. The French Government was remarkably
generous in its contribution to the bicentennial, very, very
generous. ' We are ourselves being Involved In now their
bicentennial celebrations, the Revolution. So I would say
that the relations now are very, very much better than
they've been for a long time and I'm sure that as a result of
this visit they'll be further improved as they will be
( PM cont) further improved after the visit by Michel Rocard
to Australia In August.
JOURNALIST: Mr Hawks do you expect Mr Bush to be more
sympathetic to the plight of Australian farmers than Mr
Quayle was on his visit?
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PM: Well I just don't know. We've got a position I think
where we'll make-it clear that we believe that there has been
damage to Australia. There may be argument that they want to
push about the extent of this. But as I said Just before I
got on the aircraft to come overseas, I'm not going to allow
that issue to dominate the discussions we will have In the
United States. We've got so many areas of profound
agreement. Some of the issues that we need to talk about
that I'm not going to allow this important visit to be
derailed by an over emphasis on that issue. I think the
important thing there Is that we should work together in the
environment of the MTN negotiations of the Uruguay Round to
press for the elimination of subsidies in this area of
subsidy on production and exports so that we can get a freed
up international trading system in agriculture. That's the
important thing.
ends