E&OE
7 April 2009
Interview - Sky News
Subjects: Italian earthquake, Afghanistan, North Korea, trial of Garuda airlines pilot
COMPERE: Foreign Minister, good morning.
STEPHEN SMITH: Good morning.
COMPERE: Do you have any information about Australians being caught up in this devastating earthquake?
SMITH: Well firstly, can I just on behalf of the Government express our condolences to the Italian people and the families concerned. It's a terrible earthquake.
My most recent advice is that the Italian disaster management authority have indicated at this stage an official toll of 27, although of course we fear it'll be much higher than that.
No foreigners are as yet involved and we haven't had any information which would suggest that Australians have been caught up in it. But, there's a way to go.
I think the real point will be there's such people to people and historical contact between Australia and Italy that there are certainly bound to be Italian families caught up in this who are known to Australians. But to date, fortunately no indications of any Australians caught up in it.
But, it's a terrible tragic event and we express our condolences to Italy and the families of the deceased.
COMPERE: Later today you're heading to Washington for the annual AUSMIN talks. You've said you believe Australia is likely to soon receive a request from the US to send more Australian troops to Afghanistan.
In the past when we've spoken about this you've said that Australia was waiting for first America to complete its strategic review into operations in the country. Now that's happened.
Secondly, you said the government wanted to wait to make a decision about this to see a boost in the contribution from other countries around the world.
Well over the weekend we saw NATO announce that it will boost combat troops by 5,000.
So what's Australia waiting for now, in terms of making a decision about where our contribution is heading?
SMITH: Well obviously this has been an issue that we have known that we're going to have to confront for some time. So we've been working very carefully on what the options or the possibilities might be.
We haven't come to any decision yet. And clearly the conversations that Joel Fitzgibbon and I have with our counterparts, Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of Defence Gates, will also add to our deliberations.
The NATO summit, which met in Strasbourg recently, saw some further contributions from Europe. They were from NATO countries and in the main they were involved or associated with either training which we welcome or temporary assistance for election purposes, with an election in August. And that's also one of the things we are looking to, which is can we provide some further assistance for the election purposes.
As I've made clear in the past, very importantly, things like training, building the capacity of the Afghan army and police is something that we have uppermost in our consideration.
COMPERE: Does Australia though need to actually wait for a request from the US to boost our troop numbers or is this a decision the Government can make on its own?
SMITH: Well, I think one of the important features that came from the conference I attended in The Hague recently, was this is a international mission which is mandated, sponsored, supported by the United Nations. But it's clear that the United States has the lead military role. So obviously we want to have our conversations with our ally.
The point of the AUSMIN meeting of course is that it underpins, if you like, the management of our alliance between Australia and United States which remains indispensable to our strategic security and defence arrangements.
So obviously we want to have conversations with the United States.
But, in some respects, and you're quite right to make the point, we've moved beyond the issue of a formal invitation. We will expect that in the near future. It's now a matter for us to carefully work through what we regard as being in Australia's national interest. Are we able to make a further contribution?
In that respect, as the review of the strategy in Afghanistan makes it clear, we're looking not just to the possibility of a military contribution or a further security contribution for election purposes, but also the capacity building and training. And of course it's also clear from deliberations we've seen in NATO and in The Hague at the conference I went to – that the Afghanistan Government are also now looking in the future to the prospect of a political dialogue, a political reconciliation process amongst the Afghan political leadership.
COMPERE: North Korea's rocket launch will no doubt be also on the agenda for the AUSMIN talks.
What sort of punishment do you think the international community should deliver over this incident?
SMITH: I think the Security Council has to strongly support the relevant Security Council Resolution, which is Resolution 1718.
The North Koreans are clearly in breach of that in firing whether it's a satellite or a ballistic missile, they're clearly, in our view, in breach of it.
When you combine the potential for a delivery system with their nuclear program it's very deeply and gravely concerning.
And that's why yesterday when I spoke to my South Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Yu, and when I spoke to my Japanese counterpart, Foreign Minister Nakasone, we strongly supported their efforts to have the Security Council be seized of this issue and to have a robust resolution which reflects international community's concern. And those discussions before the Security Council are ongoing.
COMPERE: What sort of resolution though? What, what practically needs to happen?
SMITH: I think in the first instance there needs to be a very strong reaffirmation of Security Council Resolution 1718, which of course was supported by all of the permanent members of the Security Council.
So, we have to have a very strong and robust reminder of that.
Then, as the Japanese and the South Koreans are saying publicly, we do need to look at what further can be done in terms of sanctions.
In terms of sanctions, Australia has fully implemented the sanctions envisages under Security Council Resolution 1718, with bans on luxury goods and the like. There are a range of other countries, a range of members in the international community who could go further to fully implement that Security Council Resolution sanctions, and we've been urging them to do so.
COMPERE: Just finally, the families of Australians killed in the 2007 Garuda crash in Yogyakarta have expressed their disappointment after the pilot blamed for the crash received a two year jail sentence.
Can you understand their, their anger and frustration over this verdict?
SMITH: It's a terrible reminder, just the trial process, whether it was the conviction or the sentencing in the first instance, is a terrible reminder to all the families.
We had 21 people killed - five Australians, 16 Indonesians. So, you know, we mourned for and with those families.
There is now an appeal process. It's open both to the prosecution and to the convicted pilot to appeal the sentence. And it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the actual sentence while that judicial and legal process is underway.
But, it's a terrible reminder to the families, and it's been a terrible tragedy for them, and we grieve and mourn with them today.
COMPERE: Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, thanks for your time.
SMITH: Thank you.
[ENDS]
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