Interview following the official opening of the Australian Embassy to the Holy See

Transcript, E&OE

Rome

16 October 2010

JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd, you explained some of the reasons why having an embassy here is a good thing, but there is a debate in Australia about what Australia gets out of the investment in its embassy here...is there...is it justified?

FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, I think it's entirely justified and I know it has bi-partisan support in Australia, and furthermore as I said before, there are four or five areas of great consequence to the people of Australia where we work with the Holy See.

Religious freedom around the world - I know people think in Australia in terms of their own religious views, I think they have a view that everyone in the world should have the freedom to have a religious belief, or not have one.

That's not always the case around the world, so we work very closely with the Vatican on that.

Also, interfaith dialogue - in our part of the world, living next door to the largest Muslim country in the world, we have a great store in interfaith dialogue, so that people of Islam, people of Christianity, people of other faiths can sit down and talk with one another about their common view of faith. And the Holy See, by definition, is into that in a big way, as are we in Australia.

The other area is this, we work very closely with the Holy See on the question of food security, though the FAO and through the WFP and when you have one to two billion people around the world living below the poverty line where food security is a fundamental issue, the Holy See is very plugged-in in parts of the world with some 130 diplomatic missions of its own, in some of the most far flung and forgotten parts of the world. It's always very useful to check with them where the need is greatest.

So there are three reasons, practical reasons, why we work with the Holy See and I think it's entirely worth the investment which we as the Government made.

JOURNALIST: Geoffrey Robertson believes that the Vatican statehood is a chimera it shouldn't exist, I mean how would you respond to that?

FOREIGN MINISTER: I think Mr Robertson is wrong. I think it reflects a poor study of history, and I think Geoffrey's always in pursuit of a good headline.

JOURNALIST: Ok.

JOURNALIST: Ms Bishop, can we ask you the same question? Do you think it's a worthwhile investment to have an embassy in the Holy See?

JULIE BISHOP The fulltime embassy does have bi-partisan support. We certainly supported the appointment of Tim Fischer as the Ambassador to the Holy See. A former Deputy Prime Minister, he has made a wonderful contribution in this role.

But as Kevin points out, the Holy See has diplomatic missions around the world, it's represented at the United Nations, it's entirely appropriate that Australia should have bilateral relations with the Vatican. The reach, the extent of the work of the Vatican around the world, the representation in Australia, the number of Catholic Australians in this, in our country and the connections that we have and are developing, I think means that a fulltime mission is warranted, and particularly this year as it has been such a focus on the canonisation, it underscores how important it can be, and I'm sure there will be many other opportunities yet to be explored with the embassy now here, with a full-time Ambassador and with somebody with the energy of Tim Fischer, certainly making it work.

FOREIGN MINISTER: And one footnote on this, given that Australian often does need a bit of international context on these questions, in these sorts of debates.

Question: how many countries around the world have resident embassies here in the Holy See? The answer is 77.

How many major countries around the world, who are members of the G20, have resident embassies to the Holy See? All of them, except Australia in 2008.

So let's just put this into a bit of context. I mean it's just fair dinkum, let's just understand where this stands in relation to what all of the countries do around the world. It's nothing remarkable, it's nothing unique, in fact we are later by a country mile than most.

JOURNALIST: And finally, can we expect more Australian saints as a result of having a presence here?

FOREIGN MINISTER: You're asking me that? Not from politics...

JULIE BISHOP I'm sure that the focus on Mary MacKillop within Australia has been a wonderful thing, and if she is the inspiration for people, well then it has been a marvellous outcome, hasn't it?

Such a person of such courage and dignity and dedication and humility to be a role model for so many others. And her work continues through the legacy of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, so...

FOREIGN MINISTER: If Mary MacKillop took 85 years, I'm sure the next one will be a breeze. That was a joke, by the way...

JULIE BISHOP Are you allowed to make jokes?

FOREIGN MINISTER: No, it's a...I was going to say it's a matter for the church.

JOURNALIST: Can we, just on that, you would have seen reports of Sister Irene McCormack, who was murdered in Peru in '91. There are, there's a bit of grassroot support in Peru itself, to have her, to get the ball rolling on getting that sainthood process underway. What's your view on that?

FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, the story of Sister Irene McCormack is an extraordinary story of courage, and in what she did. And her murder by the 'Shining Path', so called, guerrillas was just an atrocity, an absolute atrocity, and cold blooded murder.

On the question of recognition by the Church, that's entirely within the province of the Church.

Here is one simple fact again to put all of this into wider context, to people who are sceptical about the role of the Church today.

There are some 30 to 31 priests, sisters and religious people killed violently each year around the world in one form or another of Christian service. This is often difficult work in various parts of the world, and we need to be very respectful of the role which these folk play, often in the service of the poorest of the poor, and then often paying the ultimate price.

JOURNALIST: Thank you very much.

END

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