E&OE
4 March 2009
Press conference
Subjects: attack on Sri Lankan cricket team, Bali process, Pakistan, Afghanistan, aid funding
STEPHEN SMITH: Just make some remarks about the attack on the Sri Lankan touring cricket team in Lahore, and then some remarks about the Bali process. Then I'm happy to respond to your questions.
Firstly, can I again condemn the attack on the Sri Lankan touring cricket team in Pakistan yesterday. This is an atrocious attack.
Can I express how pleased I am that the Australians associated with the Sri Lankan touring party are all uninjured.
Two of those, the reserve umpires Steve Davis and Steve Tauffel, left Pakistan yesterday and flew to the United Arab Emirates, where they were met by consular officials.
The Australians associated with the coaching staff, as we speak, are scheduled to arrive in Colombo, together with the Sri Lankan cricket team, on a Sri Lankan Government jet.
All of those Australians are unharmed. And whilst they're obviously shocked and shaken, they are physically uninjured.
Yesterday there were reports that one of them may have been injured in a minor way. Fortunately that hasn't occurred.
The Australians arriving in Colombo will again be met by consular officials and offered any assistance.
I spoke to our High Commissioner in Islamabad late last night Canberra time, to confirm all of those arrangements.
I also spoke late last night to Pakistan Foreign Minister Qureshi and I firstly expressed to him the condolences of the Government and the Australian people for the death of seven Pakistanis, six police officers and one bus driver.
I indicated to him that if it was of any assistance, the resources of the Australian Federal Police would be available for investigative and forensic purposes.
Foreign Minister Qureshi was grateful to receive that offer and that will be considered.
I indicated to Foreign Minister Qureshi that as I had been in Pakistan two weeks previously, I again made the point that Australia stood shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan at a very difficult time for Pakistan, both economically and in terms of security.
Can I make this point: when the Australian Cricket Board, when Cricket Australia decided last year not to tour Pakistan, some public comment was that this was not the correct decision because cricket was somehow immune from terrorist activity.
This makes the point that irrespective of what position you occupy, irrespective of what pursuit you follow, you are not immune from terrorist activity. And that is why Australia and the international community need to stare down the terrorist threat that we see in this region.
I made the point when I returned from Pakistan that the very clear impression I was left with when I had my conversations with President Zardari and Foreign Minister Qureshi and chief of the armed services Kayani, that Pakistan now understood that what it was dealing with was not just a problem associated with the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, which had implications for Afghanistan, but this was very much an existentialist threat to Pakistan itself.
Australia very strongly supports Pakistan in this difficult time. We are one of the original members of the Friends of a Democratic Pakistan and it's quite clear that the international community needs to offer Pakistan a great deal of assistance at this time.
Foreign Minister Qureshi indicated to me that no stone will be left unturned to bring the perpetrators to justice. There are no early indications as to who may be responsible. No one, on my recent advice, has claimed responsibility.
Can I thank Foreign Minister Qureshi. It was quite clear from my conversations with him that he was very well aware that Australians were associated with the travelling party, and he had been at pains to ensure knowledge of their safety and wellbeing.
Can I make some remarks about the Bali process, then I'm happy to respond to your questions.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda and I will co-chair a Ministerial meeting of the Bali Process in Bali on Tuesday the 14th and Wednesday the 15th of April.
This is the first meeting of the Bali Process at Ministerial level since 2003. The Bali Process of course is the premier regional organisation associated with combating illegal people movement, people trafficking and people smuggling.
And the question, as Foreign Minister Wirajuda and I made clear when Foreign Minister Wirajuda was in Sydney recently, the questions of the Rohingyas from Burma and Bangladesh will be part of that conversation.
In that respect can I announce that the Australian Government will today provide further assistance to the Rohingya people of Bangladesh and Burma. The Rohingyas come from, historically, the Rakhine state of Burma and we find very many of the Rohingya people either in Burma or in Bangladesh.
And I am announcing today that the Australian Government will provide a further $2.5 million to the UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to assist the Rohingya people in Burma and in Bangladesh.
This follows on from a comparable amount announced by my colleague, the Minster for Immigration, Senator Evans, when the High Commissioner Guterres was in Australia recently. This is a comparable amount to assist displaced Rohingya people in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia.
So I'm very pleased to indicate that that formal Ministerial meeting will occur in Bali on the 14th and 15th. This follows on from a senior officials meeting in Brisbane late last month.
I'm happy to respond to your questions on those and other matters.
QUESTION: Mr Smith, what does this attack in Pakistan mean for cricketers touring in the sub-continent more generally? Will it make cricketers going to India think twice do you think?
SMITH: Well, we've always, since we've been in office, left those matters to Cricket Australia when it comes to Australian cricketing teams.
And in the course of last year when the issue of a Pakistan tour was in question, we provided to Cricket Australia all of our most up to date travel advisory, security and threat assessments. Cricket Australia came to a conclusion that it should not tour Pakistan and subsequent arrangements have been made for games to be played against Pakistan at neutral venues in the United Arab Emirates.
So far as future tours by Australian teams are concerned, or future tours by other teams are concerned, clearly, this attack will send shock waves through the cricketing community, will send shock waves through the ICC.
And the ICC, Cricket Australia, and other cricketing authorities will need to bear and weigh these events very heavily in mind when they come to contemplate tours to Pakistan.
Whether the proposed World Cup in 2011 takes place under the current formulation will be a matter for the ICC. I understand they're meeting as early as next month to contemplate those arrangements.
But these terrible events will need to be borne uppermost in mind, not just by Australian cricketing authorities but by the international authorities.
QUESTION: Minister, the conflict between Pakistan and India over Kashmir is often seen as one of the root causes for extremists in Pakistan. How satisfied is the Australian Government with efforts to resolve that issue?
SMITH: Well, we very much want to see confidence building measures between Pakistan and India.
When I was in Pakistan a fortnight ago, one of the things I made very clear was that the Pakistan authorities had a responsibility to respond to Indian requests for assistance and information on the Mumbai attacks.
In the course of my arrival there, the Pakistani authorities responded.
So far as Kashmir is concerned, we very much would want to see the constructive dialogue between India and Pakistan resumed.
It's very important for stability and security in South Asia that Pakistan and India have a good relationship. That relationship has been jeopardised by terrible terrorist activity, whether that is terrorist activity as a result of the assassination of Mrs Bhutto, the attack on the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan, or Mumbai itself. And now these terrible events in Lahore yesterday.
As Foreign Minister Qureshi has said on a number of occasions, the enemy is not India or Pakistan, the enemy is terrorism. And we want to see confidence building measures between India and Pakistan, so that that constructive dialogue can be resumed.
QUESTION: Minister, what are your agencies telling you as to who is most likely behind this attack?
SMITH: Well at this stage there's no information or advice to that respect. When I spoke to Foreign Minister Qureshi last night, as I say, there was no claim of responsibility, and there were no early indications as to whom might be responsible.
I regard any attack of this nature on innocent cricketers as automatically defining itself as an extremist or a terrorist attack. There's no question that this is also a symbolic attack.
Very many people have argued in south Asia or in Australia that somehow because of its status as a game in the subcontinent that cricket was somehow immune from these matters.
Well, that is clearly not the case.
QUESTION: Minister, can I just ask you, do you think the boldness of this attack might have any repercussions, further, even in Afghanistan?
SMITH: Let me go back a step. Once we satisfied ourselves that the Australians exposed to risk and danger were safe - and that was our highest priority yesterday - we immediately moved to more general considerations.
One of the fundamental reasons why Australia continues to have a presence in Afghanistan is because we regard the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, the border area, as the current hot bed of international terrorism. And I strongly believe it's in Australia's national interests to play its part in staring that back down.
And that's why we have a contribution in Afghanistan. That's why the Australian Government very strongly supports the current reviews being undertaken by the new US Administration, including the Riedel Review, and why we strongly believe that the answer to these problems in both Afghanistan and Pakistan is not just a military or an enforcement response, it's also a nation building, or civil reconstruction response. And it also requires, at some stage, a political dialogue.
But to me, this very much underlines the reasons why Australia plays its part in the international community in seeking to stare down and defeat terrorist and extremist activity.
Sometimes we think that we are far away from these measures. Well, as events in Bali have shown us in the last decade and as these events have shown us yesterday, that is not the case.
QUESTION: Given the circumstances of what's going on in Pakistan and this attack, do you think there's any capacity for the NATO Leaders summit to more broadly consider Pakistan as well as Afghanistan when the leaders meet?
SMITH: Well I make the point very strongly that for some time Pakistan was viewed in the context of the border with Afghanistan. Having now been to that border area, the topography, the terrain, shows you just how porous a border is.
For a long time people viewed Pakistan as simply being part of the difficulty in the Afghanistan border area.
We have to start viewing, as an international community, Pakistan in its own right. Pakistan is a very important strategic country. It is the second largest Muslim populated country in the world and on current population projections will overtake Indonesia in the course of the first half of this century. It is strategically, very importantly, located within south Asia, close to Asia, close to the Middle East. It is strategically very important.
It is quite clear that Pakistan faces very severe economic and security challenges and it needs the assistance of the international community and it needs to be viewed in that light.
That's the very strong point that the Australian Government has been making for some time. And it's also a point that we are making to not just the United States Administration but to our international colleagues.
So far as NATO is concerned, NATO of course has the ISAF force in Afghanistan and we are one of the non-NATO contributors to that, one of the largest non-NATO contributors.
I think there's a growing appreciation in the international community - and this was certainly the case when I was last in Brussels late last year where I met with the NATO Secretary General and the NATO Ambassadors - there was a growing appreciation that Pakistan has its own very severe and acute security issues. They have to be confronted and Pakistan needs the assistance of the international community in that respect.
QUESTION: You said before there had been a belief that cricket was a no-go target for terrorists in Pakistan. I mean, surely, if that threshold's now been breached, it must make it riskier for cricket in India, as well, therefore, for Australian cricketers in India.
SMITH: Well, again, that will be a matter for Cricket Australia, for the Australian cricket authorities.
There was, as you'd be well aware, there was recently a tour by the Australian cricket team to India. I am, off the top of my head, unsure when the next scheduled tour of India is.
But since that tour of India, we've seen the attack in Mumbai, and now we've seen this attack in Lahore on the Sri Lankan cricket team.
As I said earlier, cricketing authorities, not just Australia, will have to bear this terrible incident in mind when they come to contemplate the safety and welfare and security of any touring team.
So that'll be a matter for Cricket Australia. But just as we did with the proposed tour of Pakistan, we will ensure, at the appropriate time, that all of the advice we have - security, threat assessment, travel advice - is made readily available to Cricket Australia to enable them to make decisions.
Can I make this point about Cricket Australia.
I've had a number of conversations with Cricket Australia, with the officers and also from time to time with the players. One thing I say about Cricket Australia is when they come to make these decisions I'm absolutely of the view that what they bear uppermost in mind is the safety, security, and welfare of the players and the members of the travelling party.
QUESTION: Minister, to what extent do you believe that the attack in Lahore is related to events in Sri Lanka themselves?
SMITH: Well I think it's too early to draw any connection. I see some people have said, in terms of the style of the attack, there was some similarities. I think it's way too early to draw any connection other than the more general point that we have seen, in the course of the last 12 months, terrible terrorist attacks against the people and the Government of India and against the people and the Government of Pakistan.
And I very strongly agree with Foreign Minister Qureshi of Pakistan that what these illustrate is not that the danger or the enemy is India or Pakistan, the danger and the enemy is terrorism itself.
QUESTION: Mr Smith, just on another issue, the Greens are going to move an amendment in the Senate to overturn a ban on Australian foreign aid funding on abortion advice overseas. Will the government support that, and if you won't, why won't you?
SMITH: Well this is a matter that the Government has had under consideration for some time. I've made it clear in the recent past that we're very close to bringing our consultations to a conclusion. So I expect we'll be in a position to make an announcement in the very near future.
This is, of course, a matter effectively for Ministerial discretion, so I'm unsure what Senate resolutions may or may not have so far as an impact on that is concerned.
As I've made clear, I regard this as an issue where there are strong views, firmly held, on either side. I haven't indicated a personal view or a personal preference. I'll announce mine and the Government's decision in the very very near future.
But the various views that are expressed, I think, ought to be - given the nature of what we're dealing with - respected, irrespective of whether or not you agree with them.
QUESTION: Just on the original question, Mr Smith, what would the government's attitude be to this senate…
SMITH: Well the Government's attitude is that the Government will make a decision, and that will be announced in the very near future. And because it is purely a matter for Ministerial discretion, I'm not quite sure what relevance a Senate resolution has or doesn't have.
QUESTION: [Inaudible]
SMITH: Well, I'm not sure if it's relevant. Our position is crystal clear. We've just about finished our consultations. And I expect to be able to make an announcement in the very near future.
QUESTION: Mr Smith, the announcement's been imminent for quite a while. I mean, can you give us an exact sort of time for when it will be announced?
SMITH: In the very near future at a time, at a time of my choosing.
QUESTION: Are you able to give us an indication of your personal feelings on this issue?
SMITH: Well, my personal views will be inextricably interwoven with the decision I make as a Minister. Which is why I have assiduously avoided indicating what my personal view may or may not be.
QUESTION: [Inaudible question]
SMITH: Because we regard this as a difficult issue where we have both wanted to and seen the need for extensive consultations where there are strong views firmly held.
And irrespective of the view, whether people disagree or agree with the view, I think those views ought to be respected and we will make, as I say, our judgement and our announcement in the very near future.
QUESTION: But [indistinct] the government faces many, many complex matters on which it makes decisions in a [indistinct]…
SMITH: I would rather make a decision, Michelle, that I thought was right then to make a decision at the request of other people's perceived timetables.
QUESTION: What would you say to claims that the Government is reluctant to overturn this ban because it's [indistinct] Steve Fielding in the Senate?
SMITH: Well, I say simply this, which is what I've always said: we regard this as a difficult issue where there are strong views firmly held on both sides.
Unlike some, I don't make pejorative remarks about people who hold views in this area that I might happen to personally disagree with.
We respect people's views. Whatever decision is made, some people will agree with it, some people will be unhappy with it, some people will express their support for it and some people will express their opposition to it.
In the end, people in the community will make their own judgement in their own way given this is very much an issue that goes to personal belief and personal consciousness.
QUESTION: [Indistinct] policy in opposition?
SMITH: Well, this is always an area where, effectively, it's a matter for personal individual conscience or choice.
QUESTION: So, Labor did not have a policy?
SMITH: No.
QUESTION: Has Archbishop Pell spoken to you about this?
SMITH: I haven't heard a…
QUESTION: Has Archbishop Pell spoken to you about this?
STEPHEN SMITH: I haven't had a conversation with His Eminence about this matter, but I’ve certainly had plenty of conversations with others who have a range of views, very many of them diametrically opposed.
QUESTION: Have you met Senator Fielding on this matter?
STEPHEN SMITH: Yes, I have. In the course of last year; I’m happy to search the records and give you the timing of that. But yes, I had a meeting with Senator Fielding about this matter; as I’ve had meetings either individually or collectively with a range of members and Senators.
[Ends]
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