E&OE
21 July 2008
Press Conference
Subjects: Visit to Singapore; Peter Lloyd; Ambassador to the Holy See; Zimbabwe; Visit of US Secretary of State; High Commissioner to the UK
STEPHEN SMITH: Well, thanks very much for turning up, sorry I am a bit late. Later this afternoon I'll be leaving for Singapore where there'll be a series this week of important ASEAN-related meetings. The 15th ASEAN Regional Forum, the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Australian Post-Ministerial Dialogue, and the Southwest Pacific Dialogue. These are all important ASEAN and ASEAN-related meetings which underpin Australia's engagement in the Asia-Pacific and underpin and reinforce the Australian Government's commitment to engagement with the Asia-Pacific. This of course is one of the three pillars of the Australian government's foreign policy approach.
And in that context can I welcome the statement by ASEAN foreign ministers expressing their very grave concern and their very great disappointment at the continuing detention of Aung San Suu Kyi. Burma of course will be one of the items for discussion, both an assessment of the humanitarian assistance into Burma following the cyclone, but I am very pleased to welcome the statement by ASEAN foreign ministers criticising her continuing detention.
These series of meetings will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Singapore. And on Thursday lunchtime, early Thursday afternoon Singapore time, I'll be departing Singapore to return to Australia for the purpose of welcoming US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for her visit to Perth Thursday night and Friday.
Can I also indicate that when I am in Singapore I will of course raise with the Australian High Commissioner and officials the condition and welfare of Peter Lloyd. As you know, Mr Lloyd was arrested and subsequently charged with drug offences which I've previously detailed. Our officials are seeking access to him in the usual way again today. Mr Lloyd is now in the hospital section of a prison and in accordance with the usual processes, our officials will again seek access to him today to continue to monitor his welfare, in particular his medical condition. As you know he's suffering from a serious eye infection.
I understand that Mr Lloyd is in discussion with Singapore authorities in respect of his bail. And as I indicated over the weekend, his next court hearing will be on Friday of this week. Mr Lloyd has given consular approval for departmental officials to discuss this matter with the ABC and I note that his employers are sending senior officers of the ABC to Singapore to render Mr Lloyd assistance.
Can I make the point that I am very satisfied with the access that has been provided by the Singapore authorities to Australian officials. This has occurred in accordance with all the usual processes and procedures and I remain very satisfied with access to date and the most recent advice I have from officials is that Mr Lloyd continues to be satisfactorily cared for so far as his medical condition is concerned and all of the usual advice being rendered to him.
Can I also, on a separate matter today, just say how pleased I am that today the Government has been able to announce, for the first occasion, the appointment of an Australian ambassador in resident to the Holy See. In 1973 the then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam established diplomatic relations with the Vatican and I am pleased that today the Prime Minister and the Government is able to announce for the first occasion, the appointment of an Australian ambassador in residence to the Vatican and the Holy See. Since the establishment of diplomatic relationships, the ambassadorial role has generally been conducted by an ambassador appointed to another state, most often that has been the Australian Ambassador to Ireland.
I am also pleased to note that our recommendation of the Governor-General for the ambassador will be former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer. I've spoken to Mr Fischer this morning, he's very pleased with his nomination and the Government is of course very pleased to nominate an Australian who's so well regarded by the Australian public , and a person who is very experienced and can bring a lot to bear as far as this ambassadorial role in concerned.
I must say how much the Australian Government thought that the Pope's visit to Australia and World Youth Day was a tremendous success. Personally I was very pleased to have the opportunity to briefly meet his holiness in Sydney on Friday at Notre Dame University and this followed upon early last month my visit to the Vatican where I met with and spoke to Vatican officials.
We believe that the appointment of an ambassador in residence to the Vatican the Holy See is very important. There is a lot that Australian can discuss with the Vatican generally and in my own discussions with officials at the Vatican, we traversed human rights, climate change, Australia's efforts in East Timor and the Pacific, food security, to the raft of issues where the Vatican has a view which it expresses throughout the world. We also had a conversation in an area where the Vatican has keen interests, the millennium development goals and their achievements and attainments.
Just finally on one point, can I just indicate how pleased the Australian Government is that the United States authorities have granted extradition approval for Mr Patel. This included Secretary of State Rice so we're pleased that the extradition process has gone well and very pleased with the cooperation of US authorities including Dr Rice and her deputy. I am happy to respond to questions on those or other matters.
QUESTION: Mr Smith can I just go to another matter and that relates to Zimbabwe, and the report this morning is that we agreed to have talks between the President and the Opposition Leader in Zimbabwe and just your comment on that. You've been pressing for something like that.
SMITH: Well I've seen reports overnight and early reports that Mr Tsvangirai party, the MDC, are proposing to enter dialogue with Mr Mugabe's party, ZANU-PF. The Australian Government's position has been clear and vocal. We don't believe that Mr Mugabe has any electoral or democratic legitimacy and frankly our preferred result is for Mr Mugabe to exit the stage. He's showing no inclination to do that and the African Union and Southern African Development Community states have been pressing both Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai for those two to engage in a political dialogue. If that political dialogue arrives at an outcome where the will of the Zimbabwe people is respected at least in part then that would be an outcome that the Australian Government would welcome. But our very much preferred position of course is that the brutal Mugabe regime ends and Mr Mugabe exists the stage.
QUESTION: So at the very least, what the Australian Government would like to see some power sharing role, some role of the Opposition?
SMITH: Well, if you remember the recent historical circumstances, Mr Tsvangirai and his party received a majority of the parliamentary votes in the March parliamentary elections. Mr Tsvangirai received a majority of the presidential votes in the first round of the presidential election and this was despite all of the suggestions and allegations of vote rorting and rorting of the count.
And that's why the Australian Government's view is that Mr Mugabe has no electoral or democratic legitimacy. But if all that can be achieved is a political dialogue between Mr Tsvangirai and his party and Mr Mugabe and his party and that results in a shared arrangement then that would at least be some, off a very low base, some progress.
QUESTION: What would be Dr Rice's itinerary [inaudible] both officially and informally?
SMITH: Well, I am not proposing to detail her itinerary. That of course will be entirely a matter for her and she'll no doubt release that much closer to the event. There are also, of course, the obvious security arrangements that go to announcing well in advance what her program might be. But can I make this general point, I was very pleased that Dr Rice accepted my invitation, the invitation I issued to her was an invitation to visit Perth, my home town. I first issued the invitation when I met her in Washington in January for the first of our formal discussions, and it won't surprise you that I repeated that invitation when I met her subsequently in Rome, Paris and Kyoto, and very pleased that she has accepted.
She describes it as a home town visit. She's never been to Perth before and she wants to see the delights of Perth and we will do our best to accommodate that, showing her part of the delights and the beauty of Perth, of which you'd expect I am very proud, and I am. And I hope to show her some parts of my electorate. But in a more general point, the visit underlines the very strong relationship between Australia and the Untied States. One of the points I've made to Dr Rice is that we have an alliance between Australia and the United States. This alliance was forged by John Curtin, a Prime Minister based in Western Australia, so there is the historical development or the historical beginning of the Australia-US alliance from Western Australia in any event.
QUESTION: So there's no official business [inaudible] while she's here?
SMITH: We will be conducting official business as well, but Dr Rice will take the opportunity, as will I, to show her some of the delights of Perth. But also I'll be making the point to her of the significant economic and social contribution that Perth and Western Australia has made and are making to Australia. And the skyline itself, the modern Perth skyline, shows the economic horsepower of Perth. I'll also indicate to her the strength of the minerals and petroleum resources industry, a large part of it focused in Perth and Western Australia. So there'll be serious business to attend to, but she also wants to see some of the beauty of Perth and that's as it should be.
QUESTION: What parts of Perth are you intending to show her?
SMITH: All the best bits. All the best bits, most of which I have to say, are in my electorate.
QUESTION: On the resource issue, Mr Smith, do you hope that the [inaudible] some of the - the oil and gas, I mean, Woodside want to get a toehold in the United States, and that sort of thing? And BHP Billiton as well?
SMITH: Well, can I say that pretty much everywhere I go in our region, I do make the point that Australia is a very stable and secure supplier of minerals and petroleum resources, whether it's liquefied natural gas now or emerging clean coal technology and the like. So one of the great strengths that Australia has is the capacity to make the contribution to energy security, and to do that in a way which is responsive to the climate change difficulties that the world is now facing.
QUESTION: Will any of your business in Singapore involve issues surrounding [inaudible]?
SMITH: Well, as I've indicated, I'll be proposing to raise that personally with the Australian high commissioner and officials in Singapore. I'm perfectly satisfied by the conversations I've had with the High Commissioner and the reports I've received, that everything we can do for Mr Lloyd is being done, that we have been accorded all of the usual access to Mr Lloyd, that he is receiving appropriate medical treatment and that he is receiving all the usual advice so far as access to legal advice is concerned.
I would only raise this issue with the Singapore authorities or at a higher level, if I thought there was anything that we needed to be concerned about so far as access was concerned. I'm entirely satisfied that all of the access we've received is appropriate.
Can I also make this point, we are potentially at the beginning of a long process, and we will obviously, the Australian Government will obviously monitor this very carefully. We have an Australian national overseas who's been charged with very serious offences which are subject to very serious penalty. So obviously, we will be very diligent in monitoring his welfare, as we do with any Australian citizen who finds himself or herself in trouble overseas.
QUESTION: Well, do you know if he'll be required to enter a plea on Friday?
SMITH: I don't. All I know is that the next hearing, or his next return date is 25 July. I would be surprised if that was required, but that's best left to Mr Lloyd and his legal advisers.
QUESTION: Can you tell us which prison he's actually in?
SMITH: My understanding is that he is in the hospital ward of the Changi General Prison.
QUESTION: Have you had any contact from his family [inaudible]
SMITH: No, our officials have been in contact both with his family, including his former wife, and also with his employer, the ABC, and our contact with both family and the ABC have been in accordance with his wishes, and in accordance with our usual practices.
QUESTION: Mr Smith, the Tim Fischer appointment. The Vatican, a fairly small state. How do you justify that as a full time position now?
SMITH: Well, a very small state but with significant influence throughout the world. The Catholic Church of course has views which it articulates and very many of those views traverse the array of foreign policy and public policy issues.
The Prime Minister and I came to the conclusion in the run up to World Youth Day that having established diplomatic relations in 1973, that given there were another 69 countries who have an ambassador in residence, given the raft of issues that the world is facing, that it was appropriate for us to become the 70th nation to appoint am ambassador in residence.
The Vatican has an interest in a whole range of the emerging international issues: millennium development goals; food security; climate change; human rights; the development of fragile or developing nations in the Asia-Pacific; an interest for example, in East Timor. It has significant interest and significant influence. And so size is not often the best qualitative judge of the influence that a particular state or a particular interest might bring to bear.
QUESTION: Could you have….we'll have two ambassadors in the one city. Why would we sort of [inaudible] to the Italian job?
SMITH: Well because firstly, the Vatican don't accept the Ambassador to Italy as an Ambassador to the Vatican. They are separate states in that sense. That's the first point. Secondly, our Ambassador in Rome has plenty of work to do with our Italian relations. We came to the conclusion that it was appropriate at this point in the cycle, to have a fully fledged ambassador in residence, to signify or reflect that important - importance with the initial appointment of the former deputy prime minister, Mr Fischer. And I should just note in passing that we expect that Mr Fischer will be able to take up his appointment in early next year.
QUESTION: But what [inaudible]
SMITH: Well firstly, he brings a lot of experience. Secondly, he brings I think, the respect, regard, and affection of the Australian people, but also those from overseas who have come in contact with him either in his former role as Minister for Trade or in his former role as Deputy Prime Minister. Tim's a person who can strike up a conversation with anyone,and I think that's a particular attribute and asset that he'll bring to bear. But he is very well regarded, held in affection. Most importantly, he is respected for his capacity. So we're very pleased that he has accepted our nomination and we're very confident that he'll do a very good job.
QUESTION: How does the appointment fit with the Government's state view [inaudible] would rather have less politicians appointed to such positions?
SMITH: Well, to date, our appointments to diplomatic posts have come from the professional service. Neither the Prime Minister nor I have ever ruled out someone from other walks of life being appointed as a high commissioner or as an ambassador. Just because someone has once been a member of parliament or a minister, does not disqualify him or her from serving his or her nation.
And so from time to time, we may well make appointments which don't come from the professional foreign service. And we're happy to stand or fall on the capacities of the individual whom we appoint. I don't think there'd be anyone who would doubt that Tim Fischer is an appropriate person to represent his country.
QUESTION: That being a very topical issue, Mr Smith, about appointments from sort of, professional side or the political side. But he's also from the other side of politics. That's fairly unusual in itself. So does that mean that there was no one on the sort of Labor side or a former Labor minister [inaudible] that you thought could do the job?
SMITH: Well, in the Government's view, just because someone has previously been a member of the Coalition doesn't disqualify him or her from serving Australia. We believe Mr Fischer is an eminently appropriate candidate for nomination to the position. And whatever Tim's views of domestic politics in the past may have been that won't interfere with his prosecuting Australia's interests at the international level in the Vatican, in a first class way.
QUESTION: Regarding the Condoleezza Rice visit, are you able to tell us any of the other particular business things that you might raise with her?
SMITH: Well, I'm sure in the course of the time that we might spend together in Singapore, because she will be at Singapore for part of the ASEAN related meetings, together with our time here, we will traverse the array of issues that are of interest to Australia and the United States. Every time I've had a conversation with her, whether that's been in Washington or Kyoto most recently, or in Paris, where I met her in the course of the Afghan Donors' Conference, we've had conversations which have traversed the array of interests between Australia and United States. I'm confident that will occur again on this occasion. But we'll also take the opportunity of showing her some of the delights of Perth and I think she'll enjoy that very much.
QUESTION: [inaudible] how much longer is it going to take to fill the High Commissioner to Britain position?
SMITH: Well, we will make an appointment of a High Commissioner to the United Kingdom at a time of our choosing. We have a very competent Acting High Commissioner, our Deputy Head of Mission there. Our Acting High Commissioner has seen a very successful visit by the Prime Minister, a very successful visit by the Treasurer, and if I say so myself, a very successful visit by me. So we're entirely happy with the work that she is doing, and we will make an appointment of a High Commissioner in London at a time of our choosing.
[Ends]
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