Transcript
3 September 2009
Interview with James Lush, 720 ABC Perth, Morning Program
SUBJECTS: Indonesia Earthquake, Bali Peace Park, Schapelle Corby, Indian students, Africa DownUnder Conference.
JAMES LUSH: Now prior to the Foreign Minister heading off on another engagement here in Perth, we've managed to secure five minutes with him to discuss a few issues of interest. Good morning Foreign Minister. Thanks for coming in.
STEPHEN SMITH: Good morning. Pleasure.
JAMES LUSH: Firstly, I wanted to start with the earthquake in Indonesia yesterday. At last 35 reported dead in towns in West Java province, just around about 200 kilometres south of Jakarta. Can you give us the latest on that?
STEPHEN SMITH: The latest we have from Indonesian authorities is that they fear the toll is 40 and rising, so I think a bit more time yet before we see the magnitude of the fatalities. We've of course expressed our condolences to them. And I do that publicly. We've also indicated that we stand ready, willing, and able to assist, if that's required. Currently, we haven't as yet had a request for assistance. But if we and other members of the international community get that request, then obviously, we will help in any way that we can. But our fear of course is that the death toll will rise…
JAMES LUSH: Quite a few [indistinct].
STEPHEN SMITH: … potentially, and considerably. We've got no information or advice at this stage that any Australians are caught up with it. But obviously we're in close contact with the Indonesians and we'll continue to work to watch it very closely.
JAMES LUSH: Quite an experience for those in Jakarta, apparently - the buildings rocking and the windows breaking.
STEPHEN SMITH: It's a significant quake. And…
JAMES LUSH: Seven is quite significant.
STEPHEN SMITH: It is significant.
JAMES LUSH: Not as high as the nine of which was a few years ago, of course, which caused the tsunami.
STEPHEN SMITH: That's right. It's a significant quake, and we fear the toll will rise, so we'll be in discussion with the Indonesian authorities in the course of the day, and monitor it very closely. So we fear the toll will rise, but as I say at this stage, no indication of any Australians being caught up with it. But obviously, we'll watch that very closely.
JAMES LUSH: Okay, and you… and we can spring into action if requested…
STEPHEN SMITH: If requested, we will do whatever we can to assist, but this stage we've had no request for assistance.
JAMES LUSH: Let's move to Bali. Our reports that the area of the land where the Bali bomb went off, [indistinct], the new nightclub, Bali Peace Park Association here in Perth are wanting the land to remain a special place that gives people a sense of peace. What are you hearing on this?
STEPHEN SMITH: We've been watching this very closely. Our Consul General in Bali has been in direct contact with the relevant Balinese authorities. They've assured him that they won't give approval to any development on the site unless it is sensitive. We've had approaches from the Bali Peace Park Association. Their chairman is based in Perth and I've received a request recently to see him, and I'm very happy to do that. Another issue, which you may have seen publicly, is there's a request by the Peace Park Association to get charitable tax status, and that's currently under consideration by the Treasurer. But we don't want anything to occur on that site which would be insensitive to the memories of the people whose lives were lost there because it's just a tragic reminder to the families. So we've made sure that our Consul General in Bali is in very close contact with the authorities.
JAMES LUSH: And do we have any power? I mean, if they want to…
STEPHEN SMITH: In the end it's, of course, it's a matter for the Balinese authorities to approve or not approve, as the case may be. But we've made our view very clear to them about the sensitivity of the site, and the response that the Consul General has received, is that they understand that sensitivity. But we're watching that very closely. And I'm very happy to be in discussions with the Bali Peace Park Association. As I say, their chairman's based here locally, and I'm happy to see him at some stage in the near future.
JAMES LUSH: Okay. Schapelle Corby, again in the news. Her psychiatrist has said she won't survive her sentence if she remains in Bali. Is there any chance that she could be brought back to Australia to complete her sentence?
STEPHEN SMITH: Again, our Consul General in Bali is in close contact with her and her family and giving her consular assistance on an ongoing basis. The difficulty, of course, is that she's been sentenced in Indonesia, and she's in a Balinese prison. The only way she can return to Australia is if we effect a international transfer of prisoner agreement between Australia and Indonesia. I've had discussions with my Indonesian counterpart, Foreign Minister Wirajuda, on that on a number of occasions. And we continue to press the Indonesians on that. They don't have an international transfer of prisoners agreement with any other country, but we continue to have discussions with them. We'd like to effect a transfer agreement to open up the prospect of Australians who are sentencing to prison in Indonesia of having the opportunity…
JAMES LUSH: And if that is opened up, are you saying that she could be considered for a transfer?
STEPHEN SMITH: Again I don't like dealing in hypotheticals. But if we were able to effect an international transfer of prisoner agreement with Indonesia, that would open up the prospect that any Australian who was sentenced to a term of imprisonment in Indonesia would be eligible to apply for that. Ultimate decisions would of course occur on a case by case basis.
JAMES LUSH: There's been such a high profile case would certainly play a part, I would have thought.
STEPHEN SMITH: Because it's a high profile case doesn't mean that it's the only case. We have from memory about 260 Australians who are currently imprisoned in Indonesia [and around the world]. So it opens up the prospect of Australians who are imprisoned overseas returning back home. That would be done on a case by case basis. But I'm not, and I've never suggested or pretended, that this is something that's going to occur overnight or next week. It'll be a process of sitting down, as we have been doing, painstakingly with the Indonesians seeking to persuade them that this is a good thing to do.
JAMES LUSH: Just talk about Julia Gillard. She's in India, apparently, soothing concerns over attacks on students here in Australia. She managed to assure authorities that Australia is still the place to be educated?
STEPHEN SMITH: We've been working very hard with the Indians. From afar, Julia's trip is looking as though it's been very successful, and the reports I've had internally are that it is. I'll obviously have a conversation with her when she gets back and we go back to Canberra next week for the Parliament. There's no point beating around the bush. We have a big repair job to do with our standing in India as a result of the adverse publicity that we got. I think many Australians would think that publicity was very unfair, but from our perspective, whether it was fair or unfair, we have to deal with it. So we've got a job to do in terms of re-establishing our profile and our standing in India, and we're working very hard to do that.
JAMES LUSH: Now finally, you're opening the Africa DownUnder conference this morning - mining and exploration focus conference. Not enough happening here in Australia for us?
STEPHEN SMITH: I wouldn't say that. I mean, just as we've come to office a year and a half ago saying that we need to enhance our relationship with India, and that's one of the reasons Julia is there at the moment and I'll be there next month. We also need to enhance our engagement with Africa. We've become a prosperous and well-developed nation because we're a great trading nation, and as a consequence, we can't ignore a continent of nearly 1 billion people with over 50 countries. And that's Africa. And when we came to office, what we discovered was that the people to people contacts, and the commercial contacts, particularly in the mining industry or the minerals resources industry, had gotten way ahead of Government to Government contacts. So we've embarked upon a program of enhancing our engagement with Africa. We need to do that for long-term economic reasons. There's a very important conference for Western Australia and Australia, but again, it's part of our effort to enhance our engagement with Africa. It's also obviously strategically important, given we've got more than 50 countries in Africa.
JAMES LUSH: Of course. Hope you have a great day. Thanks for coming to talk to us.
[ENDS]
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