Doorstop Interview, Tokyo

STEPHEN SMITH: Thanks very much for turning up. Just some comments firstly on Fiji and then on Burma and then I am happy to answer your questions.

Firstly, the Australian Government is very, very concerned and we are treating very seriously the anonymous threat to our High Commissioner and our High Commission in Fiji.

We have taken steps to ensure that firstly this anonymous threat has been made known to the Fiji Government at Ministerial level and also made sure that the relevant police authorities have been alerted. And we are very pleased that we’re receiving the cooperation of the Fiji Police who are investigating the matter and treating it very seriously.

We have, of course, instituted additional security arrangements for our people in Fiji. And we are treating this very, very seriously. We are always concerned for the safety and welfare of Australian people overseas - for Australian diplomats overseas - and when there are outrageous anonymous threats, we respond accordingly.

I make this final point. If, for some reason, this threat is an effort to intimidate the Australian Government about its policy on Fiji or an attempt to intimidate our High Commissioner, it won’t have any effect, whatsoever.

Secondly, on Burma, we are becoming increasingly concerned about the potential for very grave loss of life. The reports that are coming in point to an increasingly large number of deaths and whilst the Australian Government has responded with a three million dollar emergency relief package, we are increasingly concerned that the Burmese authorities are not allowing the required international access.

And this is quite straightforward. You can’t put the shutters up when the lives of women and children are at stake. And so we urge the Burmese authorities to allow the international expertise, to allow the international agencies in immediately to the affected areas so that the lives of women and children can be saved.

I am happy to respond to your questions.

INTERVIEWER: Regarding Fiji, how concerned are you for the security of the diplomatic mission in Fiji as a result of this threat?

SMITH: We are very concerned. And that’s why, immediately upon receiving the threat, our Mission reported it, not just to the Australian Government, but to the relevant Fiji authorities and to the Fiji government itself. And, as I say, we have instituted additional security arrangements to safeguard our officials in Fiji and we will take whatever steps are required to ensure that.

But we are very pleased at the response of the Fijian Police authorities who have quickly undertaken an investigation and who have indicated their full cooperation in such an investigation. So we’re pleased that the relevant Fiji police authorities are doing the right thing.

INTERVIEWER: When you say that there may be an attempt to intimidate Australia, are you referring there to the Fijian Government, perhaps, being behind this?

SMITH: No, there is no indication of that, whatsoever. But Australia’s view, so far as the Fiji interim Government is concerned, is well known. We very strongly believe that the Fiji Government should meet the faithful undertaking it gave to the Pacific Island Forum leaders in Tonga in 2007, that they would hold an election by the end of March next year. We have been very critical about their lack of progress towards that and publicly very sceptical about their desire to meet that undertaking.

So, if someone out there thinks that somehow this threat, this intimidation, might cause the Australian Government or the High Commissioner to move away from the policy we have adopted, then they are just wrong.

But we take the anonymous threat very seriously and we are pleased that the Fiji police authorities are cooperating and investigating.

INTERVIEWER: Who would have an interest in intimidating Australia?

SMITH: Well, it is an anonymous threat and generally anonymous threats are made for the purposes of anonymity. But one thing we do know is that police authorities are investigating it and we hope that they come to a successful conclusion so far as their investigations are concerned.

INTERVIEWER: Regarding Burma, Japan is a country that has, perhaps, a better relationship with the regime than a lot of other countries. Do you see a role for Japan, perhaps, to influence the regime regarding aid?

SMITH: Japan, like Australia, was one of the first countries to volunteer additional emergency assistance. So Australia is very pleased about that as a very good response from Japan. And I assume that Japan, like a lot of the international community, will be urging the Burmese regime to just understand that now is not the time to put the shutters up. Now is not the time for Burmese regime bureaucracy to [inaudible] Now is the time to save lives. And the best way to save those lives is to accept the expert assistance that can come from the UN agencies and the international non-government agencies who have got the world’s best expertise in dealing with such tragedies on this enormous scale.

INTERVIEWER: What will you be saying to your Japanese counterpart about the prospect of Australia taking legal action over whaling?

SMITH: I’ll tell my counterpart what I told him when we met earlier this year, which was whilst whaling may be an issue that we currently agree to disagree about, Australia would like to see a diplomatic solution to this issue and we’ll pursue diplomatic means, whether they are bilateral means or multilateral means, through the International Whaling Commission. We’ll pursue diplomatic means to try and bring this matter to a successful conclusion, but as I indicated when I was here in January, we are looking at the possibility of international legal action. We are considering that as one of our options.

But again, I’ll reaffirm the undertaking that I gave Mr Koumura, which is we won’t announce or initiate or undertake legal action without letting the Japanese Government know that that is the conclusion we have come to. But we’ll make a decision about the need for legal action in due course at a time of our own choosing, but we are very keen to exhaust diplomatic measures to try and bring this matter to a conclusion.

INTERVIEWER: Does this signal from New Zealand that it won’t pursue legal action; does that undermine Australia’s position?

SMITH: Well, I am not sure that’s New Zealand’s position. I know that it’s been reported in that way, but my understanding of the New Zealand position is that the New Zealand Government reserves the right to pursue legal options if diplomatic means fail. So I’ve seen reports to that affect, but I am not sure that accurately reflects the complete New Zealand position.

But, in any event, Australia makes its own decisions; New Zealand makes its own decisions. Australia and New Zealand have the same policy view, which is we’d like Japan to cease whaling in the Great Southern Ocean. Our preference is that that is achieved by diplomatic means, and so Australia and New Zealand work very closely bilaterally, but also in the International Whaling Commission, to try and achieve this outcome.

INTERVIEWER: Just very briefly back to Fiji, will you or will Mr Rudd be making an attempt to speak directly to Fiji’s government about this threat?

SMITH: Well, so far the advice has been relayed to the interim Fiji government by our High Commissioner at Ministerial level and we regard that as appropriate at this stage. But because of the history of the military regime, and because there seems to be a reluctance to move towards democracy, and because we are very sceptical that the interim government will actually honour the faithful undertaking it gave Pacific leaders at the Forum in Tonga, we are not in the business generally of having conversations with the interim Prime Minister.

But no one should be under any illusions that when the safety and the welfare and the security of Australians overseas, including Australian diplomats, when that is at issue, Australia will leave no stone unturned to ensure the safety and welfare of our representatives.

INTERVIEWER: Do you believe there is any link between this threat and the action that has been taken against media personnel, editors of newspapers?

SMITH: I have nothing to base that on because it is an anonymous threat. The Australian Government’s response and position on the expulsion of the two newspaper publishers is well known. We articulated that view forcibly, and on the most recent occasion, we saw the interim Fiji Government deporting without good cause Mr Hannah, effecting that deportation in the face of a court injunction to restrain it and then denying in an outrageous and reprehensible way consular access to Australian officials for the benefit of Mr Hannah. So their conduct on that occasion was reprehensible. But this is an anonymous threat to the welfare and security of an Australian officer overseas and we’ve taken extra steps to do our best to safeguard his welfare.

INTERVIEWER: Minister, thank you.

SMITH: Thank you.

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