Transcript of interview, ABC News 24

Transcript, E&OE, proof only

Subjects: Japanese earthquake

15 March 2011

MICHAEL ROWLAND: The Federal Government is still trying to confirm the safety of Australians believed to be in the areas worst hit by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

The Attorney-General Robert McClelland says the Government has real concerns for 140 Australians who are registered in affected areas but are still unaccounted for. Consular officials have been busily visiting hospitals and evacuation centres to try to track them down.

For now we're joined by the Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd from Canberra. Mr Rudd good morning and thanks for your time.

KEVIN RUDD: Thanks for having me on the program.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: What's the latest information you have about those Australians who are still unaccounted for?

KEVIN RUDD: Well there is a very methodical process we go through with natural disasters. Firstly we've had as of five o'clock this morning some 7600-plus calls in from the Australian public. Based on the information I have to hand we have now confirmed the whereabouts of 2610 of those. People should not be alarmed by that gap. It takes us time to work through each of these cases individually.

In the disaster affected areas we now have some 306 registered Australians who we know to have been in disaster affected areas.

So far we've confirmed the whereabouts of 128 and their safety.

So we'll continue to work through the list and that's why we have consular teams on the ground in the disaster affected areas.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Equally should we read much into that gap between the 306 and the 128 of those Australians in the worst affected areas?

KEVIN RUDD: The Australian Government remains concerned about the wellbeing of all Australians caught up in natural disasters like this and that's why we dedicate a large number of our consular resources to sorting out the detail of each.

Let me give you an example. We now have consular teams who are in Sendai itself, which as you know has been massively affected by both the earthquake and the associated tsunami.

This team has been very active on the ground there. We further dispatched a team from Sendai further north of there to a location if you'll allow me to consult my notes which is called Ishinomaki which is a city north of Sendai and yesterday we were able to confirm the safety and wellbeing of a further eight Australians.

Elsewhere in the country our consular team has identified another four Australians who are safe and well in disaster affected areas in and around Iwate prefecture, Iwate. These were Australians who were participating in the Australian Japan Exchange and Teaching Program called JET.

So we are doing this on the ground, going from hospital to hospital, emergency shelter to emergency shelter to track down Australians and match them against the registration details which have been provided by Australians back home.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Are you considering sending more consular officials for instance to beef up those efforts?

KEVIN RUDD: Yes we're continuing to roll in consular support from both Australia and from surrounding diplomatic posts in Northeast Asia. Based on my discussion with the Secretary of my department yesterday, we will keep this under continuing review.

We've already sent in I think one group of 10 consular officials. Another group of five, six or seven have gone in from surrounding posts. The key criteria here is to make sure they're all Japanese language proficient so that when we're on the ground dealing with prefectural authorities and local search and rescue authorities as well as local public health authorities, that we don't have a language problem, and that's what we're doing and we'll continue to send in more as is necessary.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Mr Rudd are you completely satisfied with the information we're getting from Japanese authorities about how they're dealing with the situation at the Fukushima nuclear power plant?

KEVIN RUDD: Well as you know I raised this matter with the Japanese Foreign Minister a couple of nights ago to ensure that ourselves and the rest of the international community were receiving a full flow of technical information from the Japanese nuclear authorities, both to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its national affiliates and in our case, in Australia's case, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Authority.

Having been briefed by that authority yesterday the acronym is ARPANSA, ARPANSA advise us that they are now in a process and have been now for some days assessing all the technical data coming out of Japan through the IAEA. That process together with the work been done by other authorities around the world is being done at a highly proficient and technical level. And we have further offered to the Japanese additional staff support from ARPANSA to go to Japan if they need it. That offer as yet has not been taken up.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: And given what we're witnessing at Fukushima and perhaps another couple of power plants in Japan, does this give you pause for thought about the option of Australia ever pursing nuclear power on its own?

KEVIN RUDD: Look I think that's a debate for another occasion. You know what well and established and long standing Australian Government policy is on that matter and we don't see any change happening on that score. But I think our immediate challenge right now in Japan is (1) to ensure that we are working as closely as possible with the Japanese authorities concerning both Fukushima and the various units within that nuclear plant, units one, two and three which have experienced some difficulties in recent days as well as other nuclear reactors as well.

The most recent advice I have from ARPANSA on that - if you don't mind me again consulting my notes, is that according to ARPANSA we have concerns that all three units at the Fukushima site, that's at Daiichi, are at risk of continued hydrogen generation, particularly resulting in further explosions. The current information suggests however that the containment is still intact at Fukushima site number one, that's at units one, two and three within Fukushima site number one. And we continue to monitor closely what is happening with each of these facilities and other Japanese nuclear facilities.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Mr Rudd if we could just touch on a couple of other issues before we wrap up. Julian Assange on the ABC's Q&A program last night alleged that the Australian Government was exchanging information with other countries about Australians working for the WikiLeaks website. Is the Australian Government doing it?

KEVIN RUDD: Well first thing I'd say is I've been completely pre-occupied with Japan as well as what's been going on in the Middle East and Libya in the last 24 hours including overnight.

On this matter however and before coming on air this morning I checked with the Secretary of my department. I'm unaware of any such so-called exchange going on. The Secretary of my department is unaware of any such exchange going on. I also checked with the office of the Attorney-General, his office is unaware of any such exchange going on and that is the current status of our knowledge on this.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: And before we came to you we played a clip from the British Prime Minister David Cameron in full voice calling for strong international action on Libya, as you know the G8 foreign ministers meeting in Paris is getting underway with strong calls for a no-fly zone, do you see that now as increasingly inevitable, a no-fly zone being post over Libya?

KEVIN RUDD: Let's be very clear about the military situation on the ground. This is a very, very difficult, critical military environment in which opposition forces are facing the military machine of Qaddafi's regime. Qaddafi has been using air assets of one form or another. He's been making use of reconnaissance aircraft in order to assist his ground operations, which as you know from the public reporting has achieved some success in the west of the country and now to the east as well.

On the question of international reactions we are appreciative of the position taken by the Arab League in Cairo on Saturday and having spoken to a number of the foreign ministers involved in that meeting, prior to it and subsequent to it, this is an important decision by the Arab League. It sends a very clear message to the UN Security Council in New York that the regional body, the Arab League has a singular mind on this, although the Syrians have parted company in part I'm advised.

The bottom line is this: it now lies within the purview of the UN Security Council. Our position as an Australian government is that the UN Security Council should consider this matter and furthermore it should respond positively to the position which has been put by the Arab League and its deliberations on Saturday.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: And pursue a no-fly zone?

KEVIN RUDD: Absolutely, I'm sorry that's the reference of my remarks.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Now but do you fear though that given all the reports coming out of Libya about pro-Qaddafi forces being well and truly on the march and moving into rebel held towns, by the time we get to any possible UN Security Council vote on a no-fly zone it may be simply too late?

KEVIN RUDD: Well as you know I've been concerned about this for more than two weeks. The Australian Government put out this position on 25 February, it's quite a time ago and since then we've seen a deterioration in the military environment within Libya from the point of view of opposition forces.

Obviously the international diplomacy on this has been torturous. Our position has been clear throughout. The meeting of the Arab League though is the principle regional body on this has been important. It now lies within the purview of the UN Security Council.

My most recent advice is that overnight in New York the Council has met informally both on this and a range of other elements of the Libyan scenario and it is in my view important that the Security Council respond positively to the position which has been taken by the Arab League.

Let's be very frank about this, it's a very difficult dangerous military environment on the ground and a no-fly zone is one part of the response to this. On the ground however, let's be fully recognising of the fact that Qaddafi's military assets are formidable within his possession and therefore we've got to continue to provide whatever international support we can to opposition forces.

It's one of the reasons also why the Australian Government has been at the forefront of providing international humanitarian assistance through agencies such as the Red Cross, such as the High Commissioner for Refugees, such as the World Food Program, to deal with the emerging humanitarian crisis on both borders, as well as through the Red Cross to the extent possible providing humanitarian assistance within the country as well.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Okay Kevin Rudd, thank you very much for your time this morning.

KEVIN RUDD: Thanks for having me on the program.

END

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