Transcript E&OE
12 June 2009
Joint Press Conference with Moses Wetang'ula, Kenyan Minister for Foreign Affairs
Subjects: Australia Kenya Bilateral meeting; Attacks on Indian students; UNSC sanctions on North Korea; rumored Chinese Government sanctions on Rio and BHP; Australia-Chinese bilateral relations; imprisonment of Damir Dokic; Chinalco-Rio proposal; settlement of the Uighur people; Nasrah Al Shamery.
STEPHEN SMITH: Can I officially welcome Kenya's Foreign Minister, Moses Wetang'ula, and Kenya's Mineral Resources and Environment Minister, John Michuki, to Australia and to Perth. And, Moses, we're very pleased to see you here.
MOSES WETANG'ULA: Thank you.
STEPHEN SMITH: We've of course met before at Addis Ababa. This is not the Foreign Minister's first visit to Australia. He's been to Australia before but it is his first visit to Australia as Foreign Minister and it's the first official bi-lateral visit by a Kenyan Foreign Minister to Australia. And so we certainly welcome that. And I suspect it's also the first official visit by a Kenyan Foreign Minister to Perth. So I'm very pleased to welcome you to my hometown of Perth.
Australia and Kenya have a longstanding warm and friendly relationship and part of that is as a consequence of our shared membership of the Commonwealth but in more recent years it is also because of a growth in the people to people contact between Australia and Kenya.
We now have some 1500 Kenyan students in Australia, and many of them in Perth itself, and our trade and investment has grown.
But one of the things that the Foreign Minister and I have very strongly agreed today is that we think we can do much more.
We think there is lots of potential to take the relationship between Australia and Kenya to a new and higher level and we think there are a range of areas where that is possible, firstly in education.
When I spoke to the Executive Council of the African Union in Addis Ababa in January, at the meeting of Foreign Ministers, I committed Australia to substantially increasing the number of scholarships that it gave to Africa.
And next year the number of scholarships available to Kenya will increase to 14 and that's before the new program comes into play. And what I've indicated today to the Foreign Minister is that we want to make available to Kenya not just post graduate scholarships but also undergraduate scholarships particularly in the minerals and petroleum resources area, more particularly the minerals resources area. And here we think there is great potential to enhance the economic relationship between Australia and Kenya.
Earlier this morning, the Foreign Minister met with the Premier of Western Australia and spoke about enhancing the links between Western Australia and Kenya in the minerals resources area. And so one of the projects we've set ourselves is to see if it's possible to enhance the assistance, the investment, the contacts so far as mineral resources is concerned.
The third area we spoke about is peace and security, particularly regional peace and security and the shared concerns we have about piracy in Somalia.
We both strongly agree that the cause of piracy in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia is the fact that Somalia itself is a failed state and has been a failed state for nearly 20 years. And I advised the Foreign Minister of a couple of initiatives which Australia is making to make its contribution to the anti-piracy measures being taken by the international community off the coast of Somalia.
We've recently announced the deployment of HMAS Toowoomba as part of the international maritime force to be available for anti-piracy purposes in the area. And today I've announced half a million dollars to the joint United Nations European anti-piracy program to assist the Kenyan authorities and UN and European Union officers who are involved in anti-piracy measures based in Nairobi in Kenya.
But we both have very keen interests in peacekeeping and security. And one of the areas where we think Australia and Kenya can work more closely together is in our shared peacekeeping experiences. Australia of course being part of United Nations and regional peacekeeping measures for about 60 years. And as the African Union and Kenya begins to play a much more active regional role in formal peacekeeping, regional based peacekeeping operations, we think there's shared experienced and expertise we can play here.
We've also spoken about some of the difficulties in Africa and in the region. Somalia I've referred to, Sudan as well. The difficulties in Somalia and Sudan have placed pressure on Kenya, particularly with displaced people from Somalia and the Sudan.
In the past, Australia has given humanitarian assistance to Kenya and the relevant United Nations agencies, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and also the World Food Programme. And today I'm announcing that Australia will make a further contribution of $4 million - $2.5 million dollars to the World Food Programme, $1.5 million dollars to the UNHCR to assist the people in the displaced people's camps in Kenya. This is to assist those people who, as a result of conflict and instability in Sudan and Somalia, have been forced across the border, and we hope this is of assistance to that very difficult problem.
Well, Moses, it's been great to have you here. The Foreign Minister is not just visiting Perth but also Melbourne and Canberra so I'll see him again in Canberra next week. John is staying in Perth to continue his discussions with the minerals and resources industry. And later today, the three of us will visit the CSIRO's research centre in the minerals and petroleum resources industries at its complex and precinct at Curtin University.
And I'm also told that Moses will, in Melbourne, see the West Coast Eagles play Richmond, and we've commented upon how increasing popular Australian Rules football is becoming in Africa.
So we're very pleased to have you here. It reflects the Australian Government's very strong desire to enhance our engagement with the continent of Africa and the countries of Africa.
As I said to you earlier today, Australia is a continent and a country of 20 million people, Africa is a continent of over 50 countries but nearly a billion people. And so this is an opportunity for Australia in terms of economic and trade and investment but also in terms of our development assistance partnerships that Australia thinks we can really take to a new level.
So we're very pleased to see both of you here. And, Minister, if you could make some opening remarks, we'll then do our best to respond to questions from our journalists.
MOSES WETANG'ULA: Thank you Steve.
Good morning - is it afternoon? Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the press. Steve, thank you very much for those kind remarks.
I'm happy to be here in your great country and the importance of this visit is underpinned by the high level accompaniment that I have with my colleague from the Minister of Environment, all the senior Kenyans sitting here and the High Commissioner.
We indeed have had a very wonderful bilateral with your Foreign Minister. We've discussed many issues that he has mentioned. These stem back from our meeting in Addis Ababa in January this year when Minister Smith came to address the AU council of ministers and laid out very elaborately the new attitude and foreign policy of Australia towards Africa.
Africa shares the dream that your new government in Australia has towards it and we believe, and rightly so, that we are the continent that is now ripe and very attractive for investment. A continent that is ready for engagement with other developed partners to see that Africa comes out of the long cycle of violence, conflicts and takes up the path of development.
Kenya and Australia are members of the Commonwealth. We're also members of a small organisation called Indian Ocean Rim where we share a lot of commonalities and the long history that we've enjoyed between the two countries is underpinned by this very critical visit. And before this visit, your Governor-General was in Kenya where she held very fruitful discussions with our President and she met many of us where she again pronounced herself very clearly on Australia's wish and need to deepen a relationship with Africa in particular.
And we as Kenya want to cash in on this. I'm here to not only discuss issues that my brother has mentioned, but we've gone even further and discussed very deeply matters of mining, how to prospect minerals, how to exploit those minerals and what expertise we can draw from your many, many years of experience in this field.
My colleague, the Minister for Environment has left here I think quite happy because our meeting with the Premier and with Steve have shown clearly that we can benefit immensely in our two relationships.
We also want to pay tribute to Australia for continuing to house and host Kenyan students who have been growing in numbers. And like many places where our students go, we have not have any incidences of molestation or violence meted against our students. They are absolutely at home here and they are quite productive when they come back home, which means the quality of education is a very high calibre.
And we'll continue encouraging our students to come to Australia. I've noted with satisfaction that one of your universities, is it called AUSI, has opened a campus in Nairobi and is taking in students for the first two years, then they come to complete their studies here.
We have discussed at length issues of regional peace and security in the Horn of Africa and East African region. You know we face many challenges in the Sudan, in Somalia.
In Sudan, you know we have a problem in Darfur. We've had a problem between the north and the south but that has been handled through the signing of the CPA in Nairobi. We have exchanged our views on the warrant of arrest issued against the President of the Sudan and voiced ourselves of the need to look at issues of peace, security, justice and stability in a wholesome manner. And we do believe that the UN Security Council can deal with the issues of the warrants against President Bashir in among that the AU has recommended.
We have voiced ourselves on the need to redouble the efforts of the international community on the fight against piracy, piracy that has affected the economies of the regions of east and central Africa because it has made it very difficult to navigate through the waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean along the East African coastline. And to this end, we welcome Australia's decision to deploy a naval vessel in the area.
Kenya will offer our facilities and the port of Mombasa for their naval vessel to operate from there and to join other maritime nations that are operating in the region.
Statistics show that the piracy has dropped by about 30 per cent in the last six months, but that's not good enough. We want piracy to be confined to history so that those who use the navigational routes along the East African coastline are not molested by these pirates.
We welcome the generous offer from the government of Australia [indistinct] the piracy unit in Nairobi which has been expanded by the United Nations to be one of the major centres for not only the war against piracy but also research in combating piracy elsewhere.
We also welcome the support towards the refugees. Kenya has been home to thousands and thousands of refugees. The particular unit that the generous offer has come in support is a camp called Dadaab on the Kenya Somali border which was built to host 50,000 refugees. Now it has 300,000 refugees overflowing the camp. We hope that this offer will assist in trying to expand the camp, and also offer better facilities.
Overall, as a country that is a friend to your country, I am happy to tell you that we are satisfied with the level and the warmth of friendship between our two countries. We continue playing critical roles not just in the Commonwealth but also in the UN, where Australia and Kenya always vote on the same side.
And on the request of your Foreign Minister, Kenya is supporting fully the bid by Australia to rejoin the Security Council from the year 2013-'14. And we hope that the presence of Australia in the Security Council will be part of the enhancement of the interests of Kenya in particular, and Africa in general, because we look back to the good old days when Australia fought side by side with Africa in liberating our continent.
In Kenya, we have very fond memories of your Prime Minister called Malcolm Fraser, who partnered with Julius Nyerere and other progressive African presidents to fight for the liberation of Africa. And I do hope that these historical linkages will endure to the future.
We leave here to other areas of visiting your country knowing that it has been a wonderful start, knowing that we are all reading from the same page, that we are all focused to ensure that the people of Kenya and the people of Australia enjoy the cordiality of this relationship to the full.
And we invite Australians to visit Kenya. We have some of the most beautiful and attractive tourist sites. The famous Masai Mara is the best in Kenya, is one of the wonders of the world in terms of tourism. So I will start by inviting my colleague.
And I want him to urge you, the journalists, to accompany him so that you will come back and write a lot more about Kenya from...
[Laughter]
... a position of knowledge and experience, and attract your people to visit our country. Thank you. Steve.
STEPHEN SMITH: Thanks Moses. Thanks very much. All right, any questions? And if there are any questions on domestic matters, I'm happy to do that at the end.
QUESTION:
You mentioned that no Kenyan students have been attacked or had any violence towards them. There has been quite a big discussion in Australia about race-based attacks on foreign students. Are you aware of that and is that something you think would deter people from coming and studying here?
MOSES WETANG'ULA: I'm aware of what I have read about the attacks, particularly on students from India. I noted this when I saw a report from the Prime Minister of India, who indicated displeasure.
Kenyan students have not recorded any such threats to themselves or any apprehensions. I have a son who is studying here in Melbourne and is quite happy to be here. Our Vice President's sons are studying in Melbourne. About four or five of our ministers have their children studying in this country.
And we do believe that the attacks on the Indian students is something that your government can take up very quickly and stop so that it doesn't escalate to students from other countries.
QUESTION: Just while we're on that, Mr Smith, where is the task force at the moment? Have you had any word from the chairman [indistinct] and just what's happening...
STEPHEN SMITH: Well, the task force that we established that's chaired by the National Security Adviser has now met on three occasions. The last occasion was yesterday or Wednesday, one or the other. The last occasion that it met, it had input from all of the states and the territories.
And in recent days we've seen the Victorian Government announce an array of substantial measures aimed at enhancing community protection and law and order measures in the areas where attacks on Indian students have occurred.
Today my colleague, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, is meeting with State Education Ministers, I think in Tasmania, for one of the regular Commonwealth and State Education Ministers meeting, where these matters are also being discussed.
The Prime Minister and I, in recent days, have both made the point that we think the time has now come for some calm and restraint, and enable all of the relevant authorities to get on and do their job. And this point has indeed, in my view, been echoed by recent remarks by Prime Minister Singh in the Indian Parliament, and also by my Indian counterpart, External Affairs Minister Krishna.
So we of course continue to condemn absolutely the terrible attacks that have occurred. We continue to want to see the relevant state authorities ensure that the culprits are brought to justice.
And we continue to work very closely with the Indian Government, both through its High Commission in Australia, but also through our High Commissioner in India, work very closely with the Indian Government on the new and revised arrangements that have been put in place at a range of levels; not just information to students who are here, but also information to prospective students.
And the universities themselves are doing likewise, both when students arrive here and also with their points of contact and information in India itself. So we hope the culprits are brought to justice, and we continue together with the states and the territories to do everything we can to ensure that occurs.
QUESTION: Has the task force pinpointed any reason for the attacks?
STEPHEN SMITH:
As I've said previously, we've seen suggestions that some attacks have been racially motivated; other attacks perhaps not. From my own point of view, I think that is best left to the investigating authorities. And when people are brought to justice, that will become clear.
Australia is, as the Foreign Minister has said, generally regarded as a safe location for international visitors, not just international students. So what has occurred in Melbourne in Sydney in recent times, we regard very much as out of the ordinary.
We want Australia to continue to be an attractive place for overseas students, just as we want Australia to be an attractive place for visitors of whatever category from wherever they come; which is why we've taken this matter very, very seriously and have worked very closely not just with the states but also with the Indian Government.
QUESTION: Also, the situation in North Korea with the United Nations Security Council moving to expand the sanctions there. Have you got anything to say about that?
STEPHEN SMITH:
I'll preface my remarks by saying we'll of course wait until the resolution, or a resolution, is adopted by the Security Council. Australia has very strongly condemned North Korea's actions, both its underground tests but also testing of short and longer range missiles.
We have made the point to all members of the Security Council - both the permanent members and the temporary members of the Security Council - that we think a strong and robust response is required, including reaffirmation of existing sanctions under Resolution 1718, but also new and additional sanctions.
So we welcome the draft that is being circulated, and we look forward to the Security Council adopting a resolution. And in recent days and the last couple of weeks, I've spoken to a number of my foreign ministerial colleagues to make this point.
And our Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, who is also credentialed to North Korea, is currently in North Korea itself making these same points to the North Korean Government.
QUESTION: There are reports from Beijing today that the Chinese Government may impose sanctions on Rio and BHP over the merger deal. Have you been informed?
STEPHEN SMITH: I've seen those media reports, and frankly I wouldn't put them as high as to say they're suggestions from the Chinese Government. That's the first point.
Secondly, what Rio has done is entirely a matter for Rio to do on the basis of making a commercial or an investment decision. Rio's original decision to pursue a joint venture with Chinalco was a commercial decision that was subject to regulatory approval and decision making.
In the event, Rio decided not to go down that path but to embark upon a commercial decision with BHP Billiton, which is now also the subject of regulatory approval and regulatory decision making.
Again, that's a commercial matter for BHP Billiton and Rio. And I'm sure that both Chinese industry and Chinese Government understand all too well that these are commercial decisions made in the marketplace.
QUESTION:
How is the mood at the moment in Chinese bilateral relations?
STEPHEN SMITH: Very strong. I was recently in China, where I conducted with Foreign Minister Yang the second of our Strategic Dialogues. We've a very strong relationship with China, both economic and broader.
I've spoken to Foreign Minister Yang on a number of occasions this year, in addition to the formal bilateral meeting we had in Beijing. Our relationship with China is a very strong one.
And commercial decisions made by individual companies come and go, but we very strongly believe that the strength and depth of our relationship with China is very good and will continue to be enhanced.
QUESTION: Can I just ask about Damir Dokic? Are you relieved that he's facing 15 months jail for the bomb threat he made earlier this year?
STEPHEN SMITH:
I don't like to see anyone sentenced to a term of imprisonment. That generally means that something has gone awry somewhere. But he was charged with very serious offences under Serbian law. He was convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
I understand that his lawyer has indicated that there will be an appeal against the severity of that sentence, so it would obviously be inappropriate for me to comment too much or at all on his sentence.
Suffice to say that that will now clearly be an ongoing matter of Serbian legal and criminal justice administration. Because Mr Dokic is an Australian citizen, when he was charged I made the point that if he wanted consular assistance that would be made available to him.
Initially, the offer of consular assistance was not taken up. But I'm advised by officials that from time to time members of his family have asked for consular assistance, and that has been granted. Consular assistance of course is qualitatively different from legal advice.
We helped ensure that he was legally represented, and he now takes his legal advice from his lawyer. And we await simply the outcome now of the proposed appeal against the severity of his sentence.
QUESTION: So the criticism that Australian Foreign Affairs officials didn't get involved was invalid, was it? It just was not right?
STEPHEN SMITH:
Well, it had no basis to it. He was offered consular assistance because he's an Australian citizen. Any Australian who gets into difficulty overseas, we always do our best to offer and render consular assistance. Initially, the offer of consular assistance was refused.
Consular assistance in these circumstances of course relates to making sure for his welfare, making sure that he has access to legal advice, and assisting family members who may well be in the relevant country - on this occasion Serbia - or back home in Australia.
But in the end - and this is a point I've made in the past - when an Australian citizen is charged with offences and is subject to the legal and criminal and judicial processes of another country, there is a limit to what the Australian Government can do on their behalf.
QUESTION: So, just on Chinalco, you've said that the Government's clear that - in their position it's a commercial arrangement between the parties. But what exactly is the Government doing diplomatically to placate any concerns that the Chinese Government has about the process?
STEPHEN SMITH:
As I say, I've seen a suggestion or a report in today's paper, or one of today's papers, which I don't take as being in any way a representation on or behalf of the Chinese authorities.
We are simply making the point publicly, this is not a conversation I've had with my Chinese counterpart, and don't see the need to. We're making the point, as we always do, that of course Australia welcomes overseas foreign investment; of course we welcome Chinese foreign investment.
But investment, any foreign investment, is subject to the foreign investment legislative requirements of Australia, and the Chinalco-Rio proposal was subject to those requirements.
In the event, it was not necessary for the Treasurer to make a decision or a judgement about those matters because a commercial proposal was not taken forward.
So our view is quite simple and straightforward. We welcome Chinese investment in Australia. We welcome overseas or foreign investment generally.
One of the things that has made Australia a prosperous country has been being a great trading nation, but also being an attractive place for overseas capital investment, and that continues.
But when companies make commercial decisions, they make commercial decisions. When companies propose commercial arrangements that are subject to our foreign investment requirements, they are subject to a national interest test.
On this occasion the application of that test was not required because the commercial venture was not taken forward.
QUESTION: And it's your view that the Chinese Government is the same opinion, that this is an entirely commercial...
STEPHEN SMITH: They know the Australian public policy position. I've articulated it to them myself previously, as has the Treasurer, as has the Prime Minister. This is not a surprise to anyone. This is long-standing Australia Government and Australian policy.
QUESTION: And you're satisfied with their explanation of while they own the companies, they don't necessarily run them?
STEPHEN SMITH:
The Treasurer, Mr Swan, has published from memory, January of last year, all of the factors that he takes into account when making decisions about foreign investment, including whether a company has links to a state or a nation.
And he has outlined the principles or set out the principles he takes into account. I don't need to add to those.
QUESTION: Is it absolutely settled that Australia won't be accepting any of the Uighur people?
STEPHEN SMITH:
No, this is a matter or a judgement or a decision which is still afoot. I've seen reports that Palau has undertaken to accept a number of Uighurs. I haven't seen or had that confirmed by officials.
I've seen reports that Bermuda has agreed to take four Uighurs from the United States. And my understanding from officials is that that has been confirmed by officials both from United States State Department and from Bermuda itself.
So far as the request we received a few weeks ago to consider up to 10 Uighurs, we made it clear to the United States that we would consider that request or those requests on a case-by-case basis. And those individual assessments are still being effected.
So we're proceeding on the basis that the request we received a few weeks ago remains afoot. And we will, in due course, make individual decisions about the individual Uighurs concerned.
And as I've indicated repeatedly, when those decisions are made we will let the public know what our decisions are.
QUESTION: Does China have any legitimate claim in asking that they be returned back to China?
STEPHEN SMITH: The Chinese authorities have expressed a view to Australia both publicly and privately. And they've expressed that same view today in the face of Bermuda indicating it would take four Uighurs. They've expressed that view publicly.
So the view of China, the view of the Chinese authorities is well-known to Australia. But I make the point, as I have in the past, when Australia comes to make decisions about the settlement of people in Australia, we make those decisions consistent with our domestic and international immigration obligations, our domestic and international legal obligations, and we also make them consistent with our national security requirements.
I haven't in the past and I don't propose now to of course go through any of those individual circumstances in individual cases. But we will make our judgements individually of the request that has been of us by the United States.
Our criteria will be our domestic and international legal obligations so far as immigration laws are concerned and our obligation to our national security requirements. When we've made those decisions, we'll let them be known publicly.
QUESTION: What's the Government's view on China's position on the return of them?
STEPHEN SMITH: We understand the Chinese authority's position and we make our decisions on individual cases in the manner in which I've outlined.
QUESTION: There are reports that people travelling to the US are falling for scam sites and they're paying for immigration services that are actually free. Can the Government do more to protect people from this?
STEPHEN SMITH: I'm sorry, I haven't seen those reports. And in any event, Senator Evans as Immigration Minister would be much better placed than me to deal with the detail of that.
QUESTION:
Are you aware of the reports that Nasrah Al Shamery is to be returned to Australia?
STEPHEN SMITH: Not just reports. Our officials have confirmed that the Kuwaiti authorities have indicated that it is proposed that she be deported. Again, we welcome her imminent return to Australia and her being reunited with her family.
It's been a very distressing time for her and her family. Again our officials, both in Kuwait and in Australia have rendered the family as much consular assistance as we have been able to.
But again in her case, she was charged with criminal offences under Kuwaiti law, was convicted under Kuwaiti law and sentenced to imprisonment.
We're pleased that the Kuwaiti system and the Kuwaiti authorities have determined to deport her rather than see her spend that time in imprisonment in Kuwait. And it's a great relief for the family and we welcome that very much.
Thanks very much.
[Ends]
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