Transcript E&OE
15 June 2009
Sky News Australia AM Agenda with Keiran Gilbert
Subjects: NSW Government budget; Israel-Palestinian conflict, Iranian election
KIERAN GILBERT: Buy Australian made, that's the message to government departments and agencies from the New South Wales Government ahead of its Budget tomorrow. The newspaper headline is 'a ban on Chinese products', but is it really? Joining me this morning on AM Agenda to discuss this and the other issues of the day is the Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith. Mr Smith, thanks for your time.
STEPHEN SMITH: Morning.
KIERAN GILBERT: We're seeing this story, buy Australian made, a message from the New South Wales Government, the headline in The Daily Telegraph is 'a ban on China'. Is this the sort of message we want to send and is it distorting the free trade message that Australia has been sending?
STEPHEN SMITH: Well, I think we should wait until we see the New South Wales Budget tomorrow. As I understand it this is a proposal which will emerge in tomorrow's Budget. So, I'd much prefer to see the Budget measure than to judge it on the headline.
Having said that, any local procurement policy, of course, has to be consistent with our World Trade Organisation obligations and also consistent with any free trade agreement obligations we might have struck with another individual nation. What we can't do is to focus, in a discriminatory way, on one particular nation, whatever that nation or whoever that nation might be. So, this might just be a newspaper headline. Let's wait until we see the careful detail of the New South Wales proposal tomorrow.
KIERAN GILBERT: But the bottom line is the states can't run off on their own and contradict agreements that the Government is - has made?
STEPHEN SMITH: The bottom line is, Australia very strongly believes that the way to get through difficult economic times is by promoting access to each other's markets, not by retreating to protectionism; that any proposal, a policy proposal, which either the Australian Government or a state government wants to pursue, has to be consistent with our World Trade Organisation obligations.
And so, one needs to be very careful in assuming that what might be in the detail tomorrow is appropriately or adequately reflected by the headline that we've seen. This is...
KIERAN GILBERT: So this could be - it could be just a popular stunt, as well, from a government that's struggling?
STEPHEN SMITH: I don't know because I haven't seen the detail. And like everyone else I won't see the detail of that until tomorrow. But this is not the time for Australia to retreat to protectionism. It's not the time for the international community to retreat to protectionism.
Australia has done better than any other nation. We've kept our economy in the positive, albeit very narrowly, we've been working very hard to do that. And our overriding ambition in that has been the protection of jobs. But the way to protect jobs is by growing economies, both our own, our region's and internationally, and you don't do that by retreating to protectionism.
KIERAN GILBERT: Mr Smith, I want to look at a couple of issues in your portfolio area.
STEPHEN SMITH: Sure.
KIERAN GILBERT: We've seen, overnight, a landmark speech from the Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu. He says for the first time that he's willing to look at a two state solution, but only with a demilitarised Palestinian state. Will the Palestinian's accept this? Is it a viable proposal from him?
STEPHEN SMITH: I think the real strength and the key take-out from the speech is for the first time we've seen from Prime Minister Netanyahu and his Government an acknowledgement that the only way forward, the only way to secure a just and an enduring peace in the Middle East, is predicated on the basis of a two state solution. So, we welcome that very much.
Any of the so called conditions or other parts of the speech, there are a couple of things. Firstly, one needs to go through it very carefully, and that'll be done over the next period. But also, now that we've got the United States new Administration through President Obama, the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Government saying it's a two state solution that has to be the basis. What should now occur is that negotiations should now start. People should now get back to the peace process in earnest.
And whilst not commenting on the direct notion of a demilitarised Palestinian Authority, of course in that context we have to always bear in mind that one of the key issues here is not just a state for the Palestinian people, but it is a state for Israel in the context of peace and security. Israel as a nation state is entitled to live in an atmosphere of peace and security.
KIERAN GILBERT: So, you're open to that idea? You think it might be realistic?
STEPHEN SMITH: No, as I say, I'm not going to be drawn on any of the detail of the speech. I think, like the rest of the international community, in this area every word is a bullet. So, I want to look at it very carefully.
But the key and essential part of the speech is for the first time Prime Minister Netanyahu saying a two state solution. We welcome that. That is the only basis on which enduring and just peace can be found in the Middle East. That reflects the Australian Government's very strong view and reflects the view of not just the US Administration, but the international community generally.
KIERAN GILBERT: Okay. The Iranian election has been contested by opposition leaders. The main opposition leader says it's been rigged. And a couple of leading figures in the opposition movement have been arrested in the last couple of days. How worried are you? Was this vote, this result, legitimate?
STEPHEN SMITH: We certainly hope that the will of the Iranian people is reflected by the results published by the Iranian Election Commission. We of course note that Mr Mousavi has said he's proposing to challenge the outcome, so we will obviously watch that with interest. But we also welcome the fact that it appears as though anywhere up to 85 per cent of the Iranian people have taken part in the election.
But whether it was President Ahmedinejad who was re-elected or Mr Mousavi who was elected, the key thing from Australia's perspective is that Iran has to change its policy, particular on its nuclear front. Iran has to abide by the conditions set down by the United Nations Security Council, abide...
KIERAN GILBERT: Yeah. But when you see these people protesting in the streets, does it look to you like their democratic rights have been stymied in this?
STEPHEN SMITH: Well, we have also expressed our concern, not just about Iran's nuclear program, but also about human rights and the freedom of expression in Iran. And whilst, of course, we welcome the fact that there has been an election, an election in which some Australians were also eligible to vote, some Iranian-Australians eligible to vote, we welcome the fact there was the holding of an election.
We've seen and we are concerned by some of the violence in the aftermath of the election. And also reports of arrests of a number of people who supported Mr Mousavi as the candidate. But the key thing for the international community is Iran must change its approach on its nuclear program. We also urge upon it changes to its approach to human rights and we urge it to respond positively to the overtures of dialogue that the Obama Administration have put out to it.
KIERAN GILBERT: Foreign Minister, as always, appreciate your time. Thank you.
STEPHEN SMITH: Thanks very much.
[Ends]
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