Transcript of doorstop interview

Subjects: ADF, domestic politics, Australian war history, Australia's relations with the Pacific

Transcript, E&OE, proof only

Australian War Memorial, Canberra

11 April 2011

QUESTION: [inaudible]

KEVIN RUDD: The Minister has handled this matter entirely appropriately. This is always a difficult call for any Defence Minister.

Stephen Smith has handled this matter, in my view, with great professionalism and with great compassion for those who have been involved in this incident.

And I think it's taken strong leadership on his part to deal with what is a very difficult instance of that matter.

QUESTION: Mr Rudd, with [indistinct] Q and A, it just seems [indistinct] popular than ever, especially on your street walks in Sydney last week. Are you planning a comeback as Labor leader?

KEVIN RUDD: No, what I'm planning to do is to fly to Vietnam tomorrow. Then, following that, I'll be flying to Berlin for a NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting on our future commitments in Afghanistan. On my return, I will be in Dubai.

And why do I say all that? Because I have my hands well and truly full being Foreign Minister of Australia. The challenges we face right across the region are vast.

[Doorstop is interrupted and then resumes]

KEVIN RUDD: Hi folks, we're all back at it again.

QUESTION: I've got one for you, Mr Rudd.

KEVIN RUDD: Yeah.

QUESTION: Do you agree with Professor Horner that Australia's at risk [inaudible] ADF need an official historian to make sure that doesn't happen?

KEVIN RUDD: Well, first of all, the Minister responsible for this is the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, because it's through him that the formal submissions are made to Government concerning the official history of Australia at war.

So, let's wait for what submission comes forward and what the Government's response will be.

Speaking as an individual, what I'd say is, the history of our international engagement - military, diplomatic - must be recorded. It's a history of which we should be proud, but also one which should actually inspire the next generation of Australians as well. And the proper keeping of records is fundamental to that.

QUESTION: And Mr Rudd, are you taking your...

QUESTION: Do you think the professor was [indistinct] to describe the lack of that knowledge among the Australian public as a national disgrace though?

KEVIN RUDD: Well, the official historian will speak in his own terms. And he's an historian, and he's a professional historian.

I'm not. So, the beginning of wisdom know - lies in knowing what you don't know, and so you're outside my province of expertise.

But as a professional historian, he'll speak up for his craft and as professional historians should.

The key thing is to make sure that records across agencies are properly kept and the history is properly written.

QUESTION: And Mr Rudd, one for Radio Australia please.

KEVIN RUDD: Hello Radio Australia, how are you?

QUESTION: [Laughs] Well, not me personally, but that's my orders.

KEVIN RUDD: Really?

QUESTION: Have you taken your eye off the Pacific?

KEVIN RUDD: Well, we are, I think, one of the first governments in a long, long time to have a Parliamentary Secretary whose full time is dedicated to Pacific Island countries.

Richard Marles has been doing an exceptional job. He has visited in the first six months of his responsibilities every Pacific Island country, many on multiple occasions, and he has developed an exceptionally strong network of friendships and professional relationships with Pacific Island leaders right across Melanesia, right across Polynesia, right across Micronesia.

I think the other thing I'd say is this, what we have done is always taken the Pacific Island Forum exceptionally seriously.

As Prime Minister, I always attended. I noticed that Mr Howard in his period attended maybe two-thirds of the Pacific Island Forums.

So, we take the region seriously. Over the next several weeks, of course, I'll be in Moresby catching up with Michael Somare. It's an important relationship for us.

We've increased our development assistance cooperation with the Pacific by, I think, it's 40 per cent over the last three years. We now run at something like - in the vicinity, about a billion dollars.

We've reviewed and redrafted each of the aid relationships with the Pacific Island countries through new Pacific Partnerships for Development. And each of these has a series of measures. Like, what is now changing as a result of our investment and other development partners in education outcomes, in health outcomes, in employment outcomes, and the most basic measures of these countries' development across - let's call them the Millennium Development Goal measures.

So, if I was to answer your question by saying, one, we've been active in the early - from the earliest days of this government in re-framing our development assistance relationships with each of these countries to make them performance measurable against the investments made on behalf of Australian taxpayers.

Two, we have had a 40 per cent increase in the overall development assistance budget to these countries, because we've got to lift them from where they were, because they were lagging against the Millennium Development Goals globally.

Three, the Parliamentary Secretary, Richard Marles, has been exceptionally active in each capital across the region, and that's why that's his full-time job.

And finally, in my time as Prime Minister, you're looking at someone who I think had a 100 per cent turn up record for the Pacific Island Forum, my predecessor did not.

So, there's always much more to be doing and I'll be looking forward to doing more when I spend some time with Michael Somare in the course of next month.

Thank you.

ENDS

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