Interview - ABC Radio AM

Subject: Aust pledges $250 million to Afghanistan

TONY EASTLEY: While a lot of the political spotlight has focused on Kevin Rudd's visit to Japan and the money promised to Toyota, Australia has been busy on another diplomatic front, Afghanistan, where it's promised an extra $250 million in assistance.

The Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has been to Iraq and Afghanistan and he's now in Paris for the International Support Conference for Afghanistan.

The conference will be opened tomorrow by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai.

Stephen Smith told Alexandra Kirk Australia's quarter of a billion dollar pledge underlines Australia's long-term commitment to Afghanistan.

STEPHEN SMITH: Well what we want the $250 million to be used for is to help build Afghanistan's capacity to govern its own affairs and to build its capacity to look after its own people.

Agricultural scholarships is one thing, police training another, also humanitarian assistance, food, clearance of land mines - the array of things needed to get Afghanistan into a position where it can manage its own affairs and provide decent services for its own people.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: Now you've just returned from a visit to Iraq and Afghanistan. What's your assessment of the war against terrorism in Afghanistan and the strength of the Taliban?

SMITH: Well all of the reports I've got are consistent with what you've been seeing recently, publicly, that everyone is proceeding on the basis that things have improved. Yes, off a low base and no-one is under any illusions that this is going to be a long hard struggle, there's no doubt.

The international community, just as Australia does, wants to see progress. We want to see progress in governance issues, we want to see progress against narcotics, and we want to see progress in terms of capacity of the Afghan Government to deliver basic services for its people.

KIRK: The US air strike in the tribal region there has killed Pakistani troops. It's been condemned by Pakistan and Pakistan's army says it was completely unprovoked and cowardly. What's your view? How damaging do you think this incident has been?

SMITH: Well obviously it's a matter of concern. There are conflicting factual reports. The United States has for example publicly indicated a different factual basis to that analysis, so I think we just need to stand back and very calmly have a look at what's occurred in terms of the actual facts, not the immediate commentary.

What we do know is of course is that there are very significant difficulties on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and that's particularly significant for Australia and Australians because the nearly 1100 troops that we have in Afghanistan are in southern Afghanistan, in Oruzgan Province. The difficulties that they encounter when we see border crossings, makes the very dangerous circumstances that they are in even more deleterious.

So we are very concerned about adverse consequences in Pakistan effectively leaching across Afghanistan and making life even more difficult for our troops there.

KIRK: The Government is willing to send more aid to Afghanistan, much more aid. Will that be complemented by more Australian troops?

SMITH: No, we've made it clear consistently that we've got nearly 1100 troops there. We're not proposing to increase that level of military or combat contribution.

KIRK: Australia is withdrawing troops from Iraq, as Labor promised. The other part of the promise was then to bolster Australia's commitment to Afghanistan. So why not put more Australian boots on the ground there?

SMITH: Well, because the work they're currently doing is very effective and we think that being the largest non-NATO contributor with nearly 1100 troops that is an appropriate contribution for us to make. Tomorrow, formally at the conference, I'll announce a $250 million contribution so far as capacity building is concerned. That's a significant contribution for Australia and Australians to make.

KIRK: And that's for the next three years; does the Government's cheque book remain open?

SMITH: Well, in three years' time we'll review it. But we very strongly believe that it's in our national interest and in the international community's interest for both of these issues to be seized in Afghanistan.

There's no doubt that it's currently where the hot-bed of terrorism is. There's no doubt that that terrorism is mobile; it can just as easily move to the north and the east into Europe as it can to the south and the east, into south-east Asia and our backyard.

EASTLEY: The Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith, speaking there from Paris with Alexandra Kirk.

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