Transcript of doorstop interview

Subjects: Australian author in China, Regional Processing Centre; Libya

Perth

Transcript, E&OE, proof only

31 March 2011

KEVIN RUDD: Well, I've said what I have to say. Over to you guys.

QUESTION: Can you give us an update on the Australian writer in China?

KEVIN RUDD: Yes. This individual has been in contact with his family, as we're advised, and we'll continue to work carefully on this case in the days ahead. We've been following it very closely in recent times, and we've had quite extensive contact with the Chinese authorities.

QUESTION: Are there any concerns about his well-being, or is it simply a misunderstanding of some sort?

KEVIN RUDD: No, he's — as I said, my advice he's been in touch with his family. We continue to work on the case and we have taken this case seriously.

As I said, we've been in extensive contact through the Consulate-General in Guangzhou, with the Chinese authorities.

QUESTION: Have consular…

KEVIN RUDD: And we will continue to work on it.

QUESTION: Have consular officials actually seen him?

KEVIN RUDD: On the details of the consular case, I am reluctant to go into detail for reasons of consular privacy. We have particular provisions which we're required to adhere to in the privacy of individual cases, so I'm reluctant to elaborate further on details of the case, because I'm mindful of the obligations on me.

QUESTION: But is it right that Australia and China have an agreement to notify each other within three days if one of their citizens is arrested, and has that happened?

KEVIN RUDD: Well, the consular agreement between our two countries existed for a long time and that is why we have been in contact with the Chinese authorities over some period of time now.

But, as I said, we are advised that he has been in contact with his family, but we intend to continue to follow this case through.

QUESTION: What do you make of…

QUESTION: Could you confirm though whether or not you've been notified that he has been arrested?

KEVIN RUDD: As I said, we've been in contact with the Chinese authorities through our Consular-General in Guangzhou, and we are relieved at this report that he's been in contact with his family. I'm reluctant to enter into discussion of any further details concerning the case; mindful of the requirements of confidentiality.

QUESTION: What do you make of Michael Danby's comments? I think he said that he accused China of being provocative and contemptuous of, I suppose, our way of — our legal system? What would you make of those…

KEVIN RUDD: My job as Foreign Minister of Australia is to look after the interests of each and every individual Australian who gets in strife around the world. Any given day, there's a lot of them. And so what my responsibility to do is to work within the legal constraints of the country concerned.

In recent times, I've been getting people out of incarceration in Egypt, getting them out of Libya, getting them out of all sorts of strange parts of the world.

This is just another practical challenge. We'll work on it professionally, as we work on all the others.

QUESTION: But are they unhelpful comments [indistinct]?

KEVIN RUDD: My job as Foreign Minister is to attend to the practical task of helping Australians. Individual MPs are free to say that which they wish.

QUESTION: Does it stop the practical process of consular officials helping this man in China?

KEVIN RUDD: We'll continue to do our practical work. As I said, individual MPs can make whatever statements they wish. This is a free country.

But my job as Foreign Minister is to do everything possible to secure the safety of Australians, and let me tell you, the challenges can be complex. I have to tell you about how much time and effort I put into the Middle East to make sure that your colleagues got out of there in one piece.

QUESTION: The Prime Minister, this morning, said that Mr Yang [sic] was in hospital. Is that your understanding?

KEVIN RUDD: As I've said, beyond that which I have said, I'm reluctant to elaborate on further details concerning this consular case.

Yep.

QUESTION: Just on the case of the East Timor processing centre, there doesn't seem to be — even though there was a regional agreement agreed to in Bali, there doesn't seem to be any step forward on an actual concrete plan to go ahead.

KEVIN RUDD: First thing I'd say is that the International Office of Migration told us — that is, the assembled countries in Bali yesterday — that there are 15 regional groupings of countries around the world trying to develop, at this stage, a regional framework agreement for dealing with asylum seekers in their parts of the world.

The second point I'd make is the only region in the world which has forged an agreement on how to do that is our region. And that was what was achieved yesterday in the co-chairman statement in Bali, which I released together with the Foreign Minister of Indonesia.

Thirdly, the next step is this, as I indicated in my statements in Bali yesterday, that the framework agreement now provides the basis for individual states to cooperate with each other in harmonising processing arrangements of asylum seekers and possibly the development of regional centres, or a regional centre.

But you cannot do the latter without doing the former. And that is the practical task of work we had and we are the first region in the world to have such an agreement. Fourteen hours trying hard.

QUESTION: But East Timor's delegate, Alberto Carlos, doesn't seem to want a part of it.

KEVIN RUDD: Well, I think if you look carefully at what was said yesterday, the East Timorese Council of Ministers has yet to formally deliberate on this matter. In fact, the East Timorese Vice Foreign Minister said that to me directly.

And therefore we await the direct communications from the East Timorese Government following its Council of Ministers' deliberations.

And I assume, given this proposal was put forward by the Australian Prime Minister, that the East Timorese Prime Minister would then respond through the normal formal diplomatic channels.

QUESTION: In relation to Libya, you were a strong supporter of a no-fly zone.

There are now reports that the United States may be contemplating sending arms to the rebel forces in Libya. Is that something the Australian Government would consider doing?

KEVIN RUDD: We would have no plans to do that. I've noted carefully statements both by the British Foreign Secretary and by the United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on that subject. And I'm also very mindful of what the Secretary of State has said concerning the particular implications of UN Security Council Resolution 1973 on that matter.

Now, the bottom line is, the overall responsibility in Libya, which we the international community face, is how to protect Libyan civilians from being killed, murdered, maimed by the Libyan regime as this battle rages across the former battlefields of World War II in northern Africa between Tobruk at one end and across to Tripoli at the other.

Our responsibility as the international community is, under this Security Council resolution, is to protect those people.

Now, the practical definition of that and individual circumstances will be a matter for the participating states, but the remit given under the UN Security Council resolution to protect the Libyan people from the threat of attack by the Libyan regime is broad.

The other thing I'd say is this: what are we doing as Australia? Right now, across the entire global community, we are the third largest global contributors to the humanitarian effort to help refugees, to help the Libyan people themselves with food, medicine, water, emergency accommodation, and we are doing that through the International Office of Migration, the UNHCR, the World Food Programme, as well as the International Council of the Red Cross.

So the US is the first — is the largest contributor to the humanitarian cause, the EU is the second largest contributor, we're the third largest contributor worldwide.

That's where our contribution is focused.

QUESTION: But in your reading of that UN Security Council resolution, would it allow for the coalition to arm the rebels?

KEVIN RUDD: Well, again, I draw your attention to the statement by the Secretary of State and — or the UK Foreign Secretary, one or the other of them, based on my recent readings as reflected on that interpretation of Security Council 1973.

As I said, focus on what the Security Council resolution says. It says two operational things.

In operational paragraph eight, it says states — participating states are authorised to establish a no-fly zone. Tick.

Second, operational paragraph four says that states — participating states are authorised to employ all necessary measures to protect the Libyan people from threat of attack by the Libyan regime. That is a broad head of power.

I note also that the battle on the ground is intense. I notice that the opposition forces have suffered military setbacks again in the last 24 to 48 hours.

This is going to be a difficult and unpredictable war into the weeks ahead, and therefore the resolve of the international community must remain firm to stand behind the Libyan people, despite what's being thrown against them by one of the most brutal regimes in the world.

Folks, I've got to zip. Excuse me.

END

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