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MR SMITH: I’ve been in Europe this week, starting in Madrid for bilateral purposes. We have a growing relationship with Spain, but also Spain of course has the European Union Presidency and spoke about Australia’s European Union Partnership, which we struck up a couple of years ago and we’re very pleased with the progress of that Australian-European Union Partnership Framework.

Yesterday I was in Vienna, where I spoke with representatives of the Austrian Government, but also visited for the first time the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, one of the key European peace and security organisations.

We became an Asian Partner for Cooperation with the OSCE in December last year.

I also spent time in Vienna yesterday with the significant non-proliferation and disarmament institutions: the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, where I met with the new Director-General, Director-General Amano.

We spoke in particular about Iran, and Australia’s very serious concerns about Iran’s nuclearisation program. And I made the point to the Director-General that Australia believes that time is running out and we strongly support further United Nations Security Council sanctions and would also support autonomous sanctions if efforts at the Security Council are not successful.

I also met with the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation. Australia of course was the first country to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. We’ve now got over 150 ratifications, and we strongly support that Treaty coming into effect.

This morning I met with officers of the United Kingdom Government, I’ll be seeing later in the day the Commonwealth Secretary-General and also Foreign Secretary Miliband.

With the Commonwealth Secretary-General we’ll speak about Australia’s role on the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, on CMAG, and also very early planning for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Australia, in Perth, in October-November of next year, 2011.

We’ll also touch upon issues of interest and concern to the Commonwealth, in particular Fiji and Zimbabwe. And late this afternoon I’ll have a formal bilateral meeting with Foreign Secretary Miliband.

But the main feature and purpose of my visit to London on this occasion, of course, is to mark the centenary of Australian diplomatic representation in the United Kingdom.

This is a deeply significant, historical diplomatic event. It marks in February 1910 the arrival of Australia’s first High Commissioner.

London of course was the place where we commenced our overseas representation, so it’s deeply significant, and for Australians who visit London, who visit the United Kingdom, Australia House is an iconic place, an iconic centre, and a centre of great emotion for Australians.

When I was working and studying in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s, there was a time in my life when I walked past Australia House every day. So we’re very pleased that tonight Foreign Secretary Miliband and I will, together with Australia’s High Commissioner, host the reception to mark the centenary, and we’re of course very pleased that Her Majesty the Queen will be in attendance.

So I’m happy to respond on those issues, or any other issues of interest to you.

JOURNALIST: I imagine it’s not terribly easy to get an audience with the Queen, what is the significance of her attending, do you think?

MR SMITH: It’s very significant, and it underlines, firstly, the Queen as Head of State not just for the United Kingdom but also Head of State for Australia; the head of the Commonwealth, of which Australia and the United Kingdom are leading strong supporters and members.

But it also underlines the significance of the occasion: a hundred years of diplomatic representation from Australia to the United Kingdom. We can reflect upon the strength of the relationship in the modern day: this is not just an historical relationship, but in the modern day very strong economic, investment and people-to-people exchanges, but also very significant security, strategic and defence cooperation and understanding.

So it is one of Australia’s most significant relationships, and the presence of Her Majesty the Queen reflects and underlines that, and we’re very pleased that she will be in attendance.

JOURNALIST: The building itself: in light of the GFC, government cost-cutting, and I daresay be worth a lot more than the 374,000 pounds that it was when it was first opened, can you give any assurances that the Commission will stay in this building?

MR SMITH: Well, this is now the site, Australia House is the site of the longest continuous diplomatic representation from one site in the United Kingdom. So the building itself is now of deep historical significance.

When I was much younger and I was here as a student and working, they wouldn’t necessarily let me into the places that they let me into now in the building. It is an historic, deeply significant Australian site and I cannot envisage a time when Australia’s representation in the United Kingdom won’t be conducted from Australia House. This is very much a part of Australia.

JOURNALIST: What about the High Commissioner’s residence, is that an integral part of the presence here or could that potentially be capitalised?

MR SMITH: I think Stoke Lodge is a very important part of our ability to effectively represent Australian interests in the United Kingdom. My first meeting this morning was a breakfast that we held at Stoke Lodge, so it’s a very convenient and useful place from which to do business.

JOURNALIST: Have you seen the relationship change between Australia and the UK over the decades? It would be very different now to what it was when we first developed that relationship.

MR SMITH: Well when we saw the arrival of our first High Commissioner in 1910, you can argue that Australia was not fully engaged as an independent country. So over the hundred years we’ve seen the fighting of two world wars, the emergence of Australia as a genuinely independent nation-state, our move away from reliance upon the United Kingdom for security and strategic reasons to our alliance with the United States.

But through all of that, through all of those great changes, very many of them guided and progressed by respective High Commissioners, for through all of that we have remained very close.

The modern relationship is a deeply economic, cultural, people-to-people, defence, intelligence, security and strategic relationship.

It is in the top rank of our bilateral relationships, and of course the warmth between our two countries, the warmth between our two peoples, could not be stronger, could not be higher.

JOURNALIST: What about the future, where do you see that relationship heading?

MR SMITH: It will I believe always have that same level, both for historic reasons but also we are very like-minded. We are robust parliamentary democracies, we are respecters of the rule of law, we are respecters of adherence to international norms and working through regional and international institutions, particularly the United Nations, and we share the same values and virtues and characteristics. Apart from that, from time to time we give them a clip over the ear in cricket, and that’s a good thing too.

JOURNALIST: All relationships have their ups and downs, and when we’re reflecting on the history of that, can you, in your opinion what was the most testing time between the relationship between the UK and Australia?

MR SMITH: Well some actually might argue that the most testing time was the Bodyline Series, and there’s some validity in that. I think the most testing times historically came when Australia was emerging genuinely as a nation in its own right, when the time came to not rely and depend upon the ties to the Old Country and that in the course of the Second World War were very difficult but deeply significant events. And the High Commissioners of that era had very difficult jobs to do as Australia advanced not just formally but genuinely as an independent country.

JOURNALIST: Did they ever actually let you through the front doors when you were a student here?

MR SMITH: I certainly handed out plenty of how-to-vote cards in the margins.

JOURNALIST: But did you get inside?

MR SMITH: I think they let me into the public areas but I was never allowed upstairs as I am these days or on days like this.

JOURNALIST: Did you meet Sir James Plimsoll or Vic Garland?

MR SMITH: I met Vic Garland, and I know Vic as a West Australian very well, I saw him recently. He was a distinguished High Commissioner and made a substantial contribution to Australia-United Kingdom relations.

JOURNALIST: But you didn’t meet him when he was in the job here?

MR SMITH: No, he was always on the first floor.

JOURNALIST: Do you have any budget for this celebration of the centenary, its cost?

MR SMITH: I’m sorry I’d have to take it on notice and get the details.

JOURNALIST: You don’t have any idea what that book has cost?

MR SMITH: I’m happy to get that information to you on notice. But there are three things we’re doing: there’s the reception in the presence of Her Majesty; there’s the exhibition, which you can see behind me, and the publication related to the exhibition; and the book. And I regard all of those three things as very important, significant contributions to a very strong relationship, and we’re certainly getting in my view value for money for those contributions.

JOURNALIST: Just quickly Minister, in regards to the terror threats being levelled at Australian athletes, I know the cricket, the IPL, is worried, wants it to go to South Africa, we’ve got hockey players thinking about pulling out on Sunday. Are there any assurances about what Australia is doing?

MR SMITH: Well there are a number of significant sporting events in India in the course of this year. We have the Hockey World Cup in, literally in a few days’ time, there is a major shooting tournament and there is also of course the Commonwealth Games.

When I was in India last year I spoke to the Indian authorities about planning for the Commonwealth Games and the security arrangements for that. I was satisfied then and I am satisfied now that all the necessary coordination and consultation continues to occur. And of course, we are deeply interested in those arrangements.

I’ve spoken to my counterpart when I was in London last for the Afghanistan Conference about arrangements for the Hockey World Cup and the general approach to the Commonwealth Games is the same approach that we’re seeing on a smaller scale because of the size of the events for the Hockey World Cup and for the shooting tournament.

Our position, the Australian Government’s position, is very well understood by the sporting community. We make available to the sporting teams and the sporting associations all of our up-to-date travel and security advice and assessments.

We’re doing that with the Hockey Association, with the Commonwealth Games Association, and we do that with Cricket Australia so far as Australian touring cricket teams are concerned, and also through Cricket Australia with individual Australians playing in tournaments like the IPL.

So we make sure they have available and have access to all of our most recent security and threat assessments. Whether sporting teams or individuals take part is entirely a matter for them. We make sure that they have all the necessary information.

So far as arrangements for the Commonwealth Games are concerned, and for the Hockey World Cup are concerned, we are satisfied that all of the necessary consultations and coordination is occurring.

It is a very regrettable fact of the modern era that there are always risks, security risks, in major sporting events, whether they’re conducted in Australia - the Sydney Olympics or the Melbourne Commonwealth Games - or whether they’re conducted in India.

ENDS

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