E&OE
4 July 2008
Joint media conference with Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama
Smith: Minister, thank you very much. Can I say how pleased I am to be in Thailand for my first ministerial visit to Thailand. It’s the first bilateral visit by an Australian Minister since the restoration of democracy to Thailand and can I say how much Australia warmly welcomes that restoration of democracy. We’ve had very productive talks today. Australia’s relationship with Thailand is of long standing, it’s very warm and friendly and very productive.
The people to people exchanges between our two countries are significant. 650,000 Australians came to Thailand last year as tourists. Nearly 90,000 Thais went to Australia last year as tourists and nearly 20,000 young Thai students study in Australia. So, our people to people exchanges are significant.
From a trade and investment point of view, we have a Free Trade Agreement. Thailand is Australia’s eighth largest trading partner. But we believe we can do more and we’ve agreed to pursue under the Free Trade Agreement the so called inbuilt agenda, particularly in services and in investment. We’ve also agreed to pursue jointly the Australia-New Zealand-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, negotiations of which are currently underway.
We also cooperate very well in defence and military and police and security and counter-terrorism measures. We’ve agreed to examine the Memorandum of Understanding that we have for counter-terrorism measures to see if there’s more we can do in these areas.
This morning I had the pleasure of examining the Police Bomb Data Centre which shows the cooperation between the Australian Federal Police and the Royal Thai police in forensic areas. And we’re examining whether there’s more that we can do to enhance even further the cooperation in our security and defence and military and police matters.
Finally, can I say how much we look forward to Thailand chairing ASEAN. At the conclusion of the ASEAN and ASEAN-related meetings in Singapore at the end of this month, Thailand becomes the Chair of ASEAN for a significant period of 18 months. We look forward very much to working closely with Thailand as it Chairs ASEAN.
One of the policy approaches of the new Australian Government is to engage even further with Asia and with ASEAN countries. So Australia and Thailand are looking forward very much to working closely together in ASEAN-related forums.
Minister, can I say how much I’ve enjoyed our meeting and how productive it’s been. Thank you very much for the warm hospitality you’ve shown to the Australian delegation, particularly over lunch. Can I confess publicly how much my delegation enjoys Thai food. There are many fine Thai restaurants in Australia but we have been spoilt with the lunches and the dinners you have afforded us over the last two days.
Relations between Thailand and Australia have always been good. But we think that the potential for the future is great and we look forward to working productively and warmly with you to enhance the mutual interests of our two nations.
Noppadon: Thank you Excellency. Ladies and Gentlemen, Thailand is glad and honoured that Foreign Minister Stephen Smith chose Thailand as his first country to visit since the assumption of his prestigious office in Australia. We have discussed several bilateral issues and regional issues. I requested His Excellency Smith to consider revising certain measures regarding cooked shrimp or cooked prawn because we understand that Australians enjoy “Tom Yam Goong”. So they need more shrimp or prawn from Thailand and the alleviations or relaxation of certain rules or regulations regarding import of shrimp would be beneficial to Thai farmers.
We are talking about collaboration or cooperation regarding security, counter-terrorism and also education because more and more Thai students are going to study in Australia because of the quality of education and the expenses and tell they are very reasonable. At least 20,000 Thai students are studying in Australia. We hope that by having further or broader cooperation, Thai people will get a better education there.
We are talking about the benefit of TAFTA. Thailand benefits a great deal from this arrangement and we hope that we can discuss the inbuilt agenda related to TAFTA by the end of the year. I proposed to Minister Stephen Smith about a joint plan of action between Thailand and Australia. We are going to have a meeting of the Joint Commission, we call “JC”, in Perth by the end of the year so we can cooperate and discuss more on various issues of mutual interest. We hope to welcome Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to Thailand by the end of the year during the ASEAN Summit from 15 to 18 of December this year that Thailand will assume chairmanship of ASEAN. I assured Excellency Mr Stephen Smith, Foreign Minister of Australia that Thailand as the new Chairman of ASEAN will do our best. We are going to make ASEAN stronger – a people-centred ASEAN. And as the chairman of ASEAN we can cooperate more with Australia.
We are talking about the Hmong issue, Myanmar issue, and also several other issues which we are going to discuss further. The last point that I would like to make is that we hope to explore the potential for further cooperation at bilateral and also at regional level, particularly the Asia-Pacific Community, the idea floated or idea promoted by Australian Prime Minister regarding the new community, the Asia-Pacific Community which will focus on security and strategies in the region. Thailand is going to explore this matter more fully and more deeply.
Last issue regarding Work & Holiday visa, I request Australia to increase the number of Work & Holiday visas for Thai students. They have already increased from 200 to 500. We hope that by having more Work & Holiday visa, Thai students can go to Australia and work and study at the same time. That would be beneficial to Thailand.
Do you have any questions, please.
Journalist: Just a couple of things. I noted Khun Noppadon talking about this Asia Pacific Community. One academic out of Singapore has called it ‘dead in the water’ because there has been little reaction or little interest from regional leaders. How much have you been pursuing this and what do you say about the concept that it’s dead in the water?
Mr Smith: Well, it’s a bit hard to contemplate that description when the whole basis of the suggestion by the Prime Minister was to look at the future of our regional architecture for the year 2020.
The Prime Minister and I have made this point in the last few months: when you look at the current regional architecture it’s very effective for what it does, it’s very useful, it ensures that nation-states in Asia are talking to each other. But when you look at the architecture, it does have some deficiencies. There’s no one piece of architecture where all the interested parties can be in the same room at the same time and speak about economic, investment and trade issues and also speak about strategic or security issues. On the one hand for example, India is not a member of APEC. On the other hand, the US plays no role in the East Asia Summit.
When you look at this century, which was why the Prime Minister spoke in terms of 2020, all the hallmarks so far indicate that in the course of this century, economic and strategic influence will move to the Asia Pacific. And if economic and strategic influence to the Asia Pacific because of, in the last decade and a half, the increased economic horsepower of the ASEAN nation-states, the ongoing economic and strategic strength of the US, the rise of China and the rise of India, then we need to ensure that the architecture meets that shift in strategic and economic influence.
Whether a piece of architecture emerges from some of the existing architecture or whether there’s a new piece of architecture to Australia is not important. What is important is that we start a conversation with interested parties, with our neighbours in the Asia Pacific about the state of the architecture.
I’ve seen that comment. Can I say, the Prime Minister initiating the idea has been the subject of a lot of commentary from interested parties. That’s precisely what we wanted and I’m fully expecting that when I go to the ASEAN-related forums in Singapore towards the end of this month, it will be the subject of conversation between me and my foreign ministerial colleagues.
And I’m sure when the Prime Minister comes here in December for the East Asia Summit, it will be the subject of conversation between him and his prime ministerial colleagues. These conversations will be an unambiguously good thing for Australia and for the region. New architecture we expect over the period will emerge. As I say, whether it’s an adaptation of existing architecture or a new piece of architecture, time will tell but it’s our response to the changing economic and strategic weight of our region.
Journalist: Two questions. One to Khun Noppadon: so we can take that you’re endorsing Mr Rudd’s project and you want him to press on with that; and secondly to both gentlemen regarding Burma, in terms of your talks there, are there still ongoing concerns regarding the relief efforts. What was the core of that?
Noppadon: Can I answer. Well, as I told my counterpart, I’m a man who is excited about ideas and ideals. I think we shouldn’t reject anything out of hand. We should consider the matter or the concept before we can have a more thorough conclusion of all the issues. I think the idea is worth looking at, worth studying, worth exploring. Thailand will…hasn’t read a concept paper. So we cannot reject the idea before even giving it serious thought. We are going to look at it if any idea that can bring about peace or stability in the region, we can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t study or deliberate the issue.
Regarding Myanmar, Thailand is quite happy with the work conducted by Dr Surin Pitsuwan, the tri-partite core group and the ASEAN task force. We think more relief supplies have been transported or have been delivered to those people who badly need it. We have to talk to ASEAN Secretary General late this month when I’m going to meet him in Singapore. As the new chairman of ASEAN, we are going to ensure that relief supplies or the rehabilitation reconstruction process of Myanmar is going well.
Smith: Thank you Minister. On the Asia Pacific Community, may I also make the point that Prime Minster announced that his special envoy, former Ambassador Woolcott will of course be doing consultations throughout the region and discussions with our neighbours.
On Burma, our conversation was on two levels. Firstly, I welcomed and complimented the Minister on ASEAN’s role in conjunction with the United Nations in persuading the Burmese regime to accept some international assistance. I think this was a good role for ASEAN to play. And it was a conversation I had yesterday with Dr Surin, the new Secretary General of ASEAN.
I do think, if I could digress slightly, as Thailand takes the Chair of ASEAN towards the end of this month, the fact that it coincides with a new Secretary General of ASEAN who is a respected former Foreign Minister of Thailand, I think this works in Thailand’s and Australia’s advantage as well.
The effectiveness of the ASEAN/UN work with the Burmese regime in response to the cyclone will be the subject of assessment and consideration in Singapore towards the end of the month.
The second aspect of the conversation on Burma was, of course, me indicating to the Foreign Minister Australia’s longstanding position so far as Burma itself is concerned. We believe that Burma should move to a democratic state. We believe that Burma should respect human rights and we believe that Burma should engage in a political process which has the support of the international community, where the political participation of all parties, including Aang San Suu Kyi is effected on the basis of full, free and fair participation.
They were the two aspects of our conversation on Burma and I fully expect that the first aspect, the ASEAN role in getting humanitarian assistance into Burma in conjunction with the UN will be the subject of assessment at the ASEAN-related meetings in Singapore towards the end of this month.
Journalist: I have one question on the Hmongs. You mention about the Hmong refugees, those groups who are waiting for some resettlement plan in Thailand. Can you please give some more detail what you have this time and particularly for Australia, is it possible for Australia to take some of them for resettlement?
Mr Smith: The conversation we had about the Laos-Hmong people was that the UN has assessed a small number of the Hmong people as being eligible for humanitarian protection or refugee status in Australia. I indicated to the Foreign Minister that Australia was ready to receive those. I think it’s about 20 Hmong people who have been assessed as eligible for refugee or humanitarian protection status. I indicated that we were ready, willing and able to receive those.
There is a difficulty with the Laotian Government who is insisting that those people be returned to Laos before going to a third-country. Our view is that we would like to have access to those people and we would like them to go to Australia in accordance with our undertakings to the UNHCR.
I was very pleased that the Minister indicated that Thailand does not support and will not condone any forced repatriations to Laos of the Hmong people assessed as being eligible for refugee or humanitarian protection. I welcome that very much. Australia, consistent with its international obligations and consistent with its longstanding cooperative work with the UNHCR, stands ready, willing and able to take the small number of Hmong people assessed as being eligible for protection in Australia.
Journalist: [Inaudible]
Mr Smith: Well, they’re the ones who’ve been assessed by the UNHCR as being eligible for refugee or protection status in Australia. We’ve indicated to the UNHCR that we will take Australia’s fair share of those people who are assessed as being eligible for refugee or humanitarian protection status.
Noppadon: I would like to add Thailand’s position regarding Laotian Hmongs. Actually today we discussed both “monk” and “Hmong”. Monk is about the temple but I won’t go into that. Regarding Laotian Hmongs, we will not engage in any forced repatriation. That’s the assurance I gave to His Excellency Smith. And I’m very glad to hear that Australia is prepared to receive about 22 Hmongs or even more from Thailand.
We are going to talk to the Laotian Foreign Minister regarding the willingness of Australia to receive Hmongs there. And I assured His Excellency Stephen Smith regarding our screening process to screen those whether they are genuine refugees or economic refugees. But whatever we are going to do, we will take humanitarian consideration very seriously.
And regarding the displaced people along the Thai-Burmese or Thai-Myanmese border, Thailand has been requested by His Excellency to look at the welfare of those in what you call camps or shelters along the Thai-Burmese border.
Anything else? I think we should be released. Thank you so much.
Media Inquiries: Foreign Minister's office (02) 6277 7500