E&OE
21 February 2009
Interview - Doorstop
Subjects: Harry Nicolaides, Cornelia Rau
STEPHEN SMITH: I welcome very much the fact that Harry Nicolaides has returned to Australia. We're very pleased about that. And we're very pleased for him and his family. This has been a deeply distressing time for Harry and his family, particularly for his mother and father.
So we warmly welcome the fact that he was granted a pardon by the King of Thailand. And we welcome very much, and we're very grateful to the Thai authorities, for quickly processing his return to Australia.
And I welcome the fact that so soon after his pardon he's returned to his family in Australia.
I'd like to thank our Ambassador and our officials in Thailand for their good work. And our consular officials in Australia, all of whom who have been working very hard to get this outcome. And I'm also grateful to my Thai counterparts who I've spoken to on a number of occasions who are very pleased with the outcome. And we wish Harry and his family all the best for the future, particularly his mother who recently has become quite unwell.
REPORTER: But could the Australian Government have hastened this? There were criticisms over the Australian Government not doing enough.
STEPHEN SMITH: Well we believe that we did everything that we could. He was convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment on the 19th of January. And effectively a month later his pardon has been granted and he's returned home.
We strongly supported his pardon once he had gone through the Thai judicial and legal and criminal system. So we very warmly welcome the fact that he's got back to Australia.
It has been a deeply distressing time for him, and for his family, and for his mother and father. His family have stood stoicly by him, supporting him, urging the outcome that we've seen today. So we welcome the fact he's returned home and we're very pleased about it.
REPORTER: So you're saying the Government has done everything they could?
STEPHEN SMITH: Well, our Ambassador in Thailand and our officials in Thailand, our officials here, and other representatives have made representations to the Thai authorities from day one, rendering consular assistance to Harry and his family. So we believe that we did everything we could. As I say, he was sentenced on the 19th of January, that completed the Thai judicial and legal processes. And about a month later he's been granted a pardon and returned to Australia, and we're grateful to the Thai authorities for cooperating in that respect.
REPORTER: Has it soured relationships between the Thai authorities?
STEPHEN SMITH: No, on the contrary. I think it is a measure of the good relationship between Australia and Thailand that the pardon was granted by the King of Thailand on Wednesday, the paperwork was completed on Friday and less than a day later, with the assistance of the Thai authorities, he's returned to Australia.
REPORTER: And on another matter, Cornelia Rau. It seems she's stuck in a Jordan prison.
STEPHEN SMITH: Yes. Well she's, as I understand it, detained in Amman in Jordan. She was detained on Wednesday. Australian officials in Amman offered her consular assistance. She's refused that. She's a joint Australian-German citizen. I understand that she's requested and is receiving assistance from German consular officials, and her detention and her future arrangements is currently the matter of discussion between German officials and Jordanian officials. But Australian officials stand ready, willing and able to render assistance if requested. But to date she has refused any offer of assistance by Australian officials.
REPORTER: But she has a mental illness. She might not necessarily have the capacity to be able to understand what she's refusing.
STEPHEN SMITH: Well, she is a joint Australian-German citizen. She's refused the offer of assistance by Australian officials. She's sought and is receiving assistance by German officials. We can offer assistance to an Australian overseas but we can't force or compel them to take it.
REPORTER: And what about the fact that she was able to leave the country. There are concerns that perhaps she shouldn't have been able to have left the country anyway.
STEPHEN SMITH: Well that's a matter for her, her family and her legal guardian, which is a state-based South Australian guardian authority. So her travel arrangements are a matter for her, her family and her legal guardian.
REPORTER: So it's South Australian authorities' fault?
STEPHEN SMITH: No, her legal guardian is a South Australian guardianship authority. Her travel and her arrangements is a matter for them, Cornelia Rau and her family.
REPORTER: So at this stage, unless she actually asks for assistance - what if her family asks for assistance? Is that enough?
STEPHEN SMITH: Well, we're happy to provide assistance to her family. And to provide them with the information we have. But we're not in the position to provide her with consular assistance unless and until she requests it. We've offered her that assistance and she's refused. Indeed, when she was speaking with Australian officials, she refused to speak in English, she spoke to them in German. She's made it clear she doesn't want our assistance. She's receiving the assistance of German officials.
If she requests our assistance, as I say, Australian officials are ready, willing, able to deliver that assistance.
[Ends]
Media inquiries
Foreign Minister's office (02) 6277 7500