E&OE
3 September 2008
Interview - Sky News
Subjects: Thailand, Russia/Georgia, Flooding in India and Nepal
KIEREN GILBERT: Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, thank you very much for your time.
STEPHEN SMITH: Good morning.
GILBERT: Some good news, I suppose, relatively from Bangkok. The General there says he wants to use negotiation rather than force. You'd welcome that.
SMITH: Well, we are of course concerned about developments in Thailand from, if you like, a consular point of view. We've seen a couple of issues in the last few days, firstly the disruption to Australian travellers getting out of Phuket. That was inconvenient and caused a bit of disappointment but all the people who were disrupted there have now returned home in the last 24 - 36 hours. We've also seen the anti-government demonstrations joined by clashes with pro-government demonstrators and that's seen the issuing of an emergency decree where the military, the army can take control and take charge. The chief army General has indicated that he's not proposing to do anything other than restore order and that's a good thing because what we don't want to see in Thailand is a move away from democracy with a return back to the military.
GILBERT: He says he doesn't want to use force as well.
SMITH: We welcome that as well. It is important that restraint is used. We're very happy for people to indicate their view in a democracy by peaceful and lawful protest. But they have had very bad clashes, instances of violence, a regrettable death and so we're advising Australians to exercise a great deal of caution and if they are in Bangkok to keep away from demonstrations and we hope that the Thai political system will work its way through.
GILBERT: What's your sense of how this will unfold, are you confident it can resolve itself peacefully and...
SMITH: Well we certainly hope that it will resolve itself politically through the parliamentary and democratic institutions and the last thing we want to see is an intervention by the military. We welcome very much Thailand moving back to a democracy and that's why, as you correctly identify, the remarks of the General that he wants to seek to resolve things by negotiation rather than the use of force in the first instance. His own comments overnight that he doesn't in any way see the military having a role to resolve the political disputes is a good thing as well. So for the present, Australians, if they are in Bangkok, and we have over 600,000 Australians who visit Thailand every year, they should keep away from demonstrations, exercise caution and allow the Thai democratic processes to resolve these issues.
GILBERT: Okay, another part of the world, another problem. The Russian Georgian dispute continues to remain tense. The Georgians have ended any diplomatic representation with Russia. The EU has suspended trade talks with Russia, but no sanctions. Should they have gone a bit further?
SMITH: Well the EU position, the communiqué from the emergency summit overnight reflects very much the Australian Government's position, which is we want Russia to abide by the terms of the ceasefire. We want Russia to return to the positions that they occupied before these events started, on 6 August and 7 August. And in the meantime, it can't be, as the EU put it, it can't be business as usual. So the EU has suspended their partnership framework discussions with the Russians, pending a resolution and progress on the Georgia and South Ossetia and Abkhazia issue. Australia's position is very comparable to that.
GILBERT: Okay. Well if it's comparable to that, it can't be business as usual. Will we delay any deal on selling uranium to Russia?
SMITH: Well I've said that when it comes to the Australia Russia civil nuclear agreement that we'll do two things. We'll wait until we receive the report of the treaties committee, which will go to the merits of the agreement and the safeguards. We want to ensure the highest possible safeguards as we always do.
But I've also made it clear that when it comes to ratification of the treaty, we will bear in mind our bilateral relationship with Russia, but also recent events and progress, so far as Georgia is concerned.
That's, if you like, comparable to the EU suspension of the partnership agreement. And in the course of this week, I've had conversations with a number of my European counterparts, and indicated to them what Australia's doing, and there's pretty much a shared concern.
But I think it's important to make this point. We can't afford not to have a dialogue with Russia. That's the case so far as Australia's bilateral relationship is concerned.
It's also the case so far as the world is concerned. So we very much have to resolve these matters by having a dialogue with Russia. I think one of the mistakes that the world has made in the most recent period has been not reflecting well enough on the fact that Russia has re-emerged as an economic power house.
It wants to have a role and a place in the world. And I think we missed that to some extent, and I think a lot of what is occurring now is the Russians indicating they want to take a place in the world as a power and they want their view listened to.
GILBERT: Well they're certainly asserting themselves, and not just over there in Georgia, but here as well. The Russian Ambassador says any delay in ratification of our deal in uranium would be an obviously politically biased decision. And you said you want to wait until the treaties committee hands back its report. Your representative on that committee, the head of the committee, Kelvin Thomson, says he believes there should be a delay.
SMITH: Well two things. Firstly, I'm not proposing to enter into a public exchange of views with the Russian Ambassador. And he's perfectly entitled to represent his country's views, and he does that effectively as an Ambassador. And I had a conversation with him last week about our very strong view about Georgia. And my officials in the course of this week have relayed to him the Government's views so far as the nuclear agreement is concerned. And so far as the committee Chair is concerned, he's made it clear that they're his personal views, and what I'm going to do is wait until I receive the committee's report.
We'll have a look at the committee's report, satisfy ourselves that the agreement satisfies the highest possible standards so far as safeguards are concerned.
What it does do, of course, is it brings the Russian civil nuclear industry under the ambit of the international regulator, the International Atomic Energy Authority. But we want to do two things: firstly make sure we've got the highest possible standards; and secondly, as I've made clear in the course of this week, when it comes to ratification, we will bear in mind not just the merits of the safeguards agreement, but also our bilateral relationship with Russia, and what's occurring in Georgia.
GILBERT: Okay. Back to Asia, and the Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda has stood down. Another Prime Minister goes in Japan. Of course, it's one of our biggest trading partners. Are you concerned about the implications for the economic reform process in Japan, with the departure of another leader?
SMITH: Well Prime Minister Fukuda has indicated he will resign. His political party will engage in a replacement process. The major candidates to take his place have indicated they will continue his general program. One thing I'm certainly not concerned about is the relationship between Australia and Japan.
We have a longstanding very strong economic, strategic and security partnership with Japan. It's a bit like our relationship with the United States: administrations come and go, but the Alliance with the United States continues. With Japan, one of our strongest partnerships, prime ministers come and go in Japan, just as they come and go here. But our relationship with Japan is very strong on trade with an investment relationship of long standing. But also a very important strategic and security relationship that will continue as well.
GILBERT: Okay. There's a humanitarian disaster unfolding in India and Nepal. Hundreds of thousands in makeshift camps after flooding there. Are we offering any aid?
SMITH: No we're not. We've indicated to the Indian Governments, and to Indian officials, that if any assistance is required, obviously, we'll respond positively. But in the face of a terrible circumstance, the Indian Government has responded very quickly. It's done that in conjunction with some of the international agencies - the Red Cross and other international NGOs. And we've indicated that if there, for example, is an international appeal through the international agencies, the Red Cross, and the like, then obviously we will respond positively to that. But for the present, the Indian Government is indicating to us and to other governments that they don't need international assistance. It's of course a terrible tragedy. And if India indicates it does need some help, or if the international agencies launch an international appeal, then Australia will respond positively, as a good international citizen, as we always do in the face of these terrible humanitarian crisis, whether it's a cyclone in Burma, or an earthquake in China.
GILBERT: Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, as always, thanks for your time.
SMITH: Thank you.
[Ends]
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