Transcript of press conference

DFAT Sydney Office

Subjects: Detention of teenager in Bali.

Transcript E&OE

7 October 2011

KEVIN RUDD: Good afternoon everybody. Let me make some remarks about the current state of this consular case that we are following in Bali.

A child in detention is of deep concern to all Australians.

Any of us who are parents will share the thoughts and the anguish of any parents for their child, particularly in these circumstances.

That's why as minister I have put all practical efforts into this case.

I've spoken in the last 24 hours with our Ambassador, Greg Moriarty, in Jakarta and our Consul-General in Bali, Brett Farmer. In fact I've spoken now, just in the last hour or so, on a couple of occasions with the Consul-General as well to be updated on where this case now stands.

I've made it clear to our diplomatic and consular representatives in Indonesia that the government expects them to spare no efforts in achieving our objective which is to get this young lad home as soon as we possibly can. It's to be their top priority.

The Consul-General met with the family again this morning, at 12 noon Australian time, and has met also with the authorities in Bali, the head of investigations and also with this lad's father who also attended the meeting.

I've instructed our Ambassador, Ambassador Moriarty to travel to Bali tomorrow morning to directly engage also with the Indonesian authorities in Bali, as well as to be there for direct contact and support for the family as well. We're expecting him in Denpasar first thing tomorrow morning.

Of course the Ambassador will be meeting with the parents as soon as he arrives.

I also myself just spoke with this young lad's father and had a long conversation with him about how things stand.

I've informed him that we, the Government, are throwing our resources at this case as we would with other consular cases involving minors around the world. This lad's father expressed his appreciation for that fact.

This is a very tough time for the boy’s parents and I think anyone who has teenage kids, or kids of any age would instinctively, intuitively understand that.

We also need to ensure that we do everything possible to preserve the family's privacy and the lad's privacy in particular, bearing in mind that we are dealing with a 14 year old boy.

I'm advised by our Consul-General that the lad is sleeping in his own cell. I'm further advised that the police authorities have made it possible for his dad to sleep in an office immediately adjacent to his cell; I'd like to thank the Indonesian authorities for that.

His parents, I'm advised, have been able to provide him with food on a continuing basis and the lad is eating well and I'm advised we at present have no basis for concern for his health or his welfare.

As I said before, the primary objective for the Government is to see that we get this lad home as soon as possible.

The Australian Consul-General has made representations to ensure that he is not being held with other detainees, and furthermore that his parents maintain access to him. Our consular officers have also sought assurances that he is being afforded due legal process under Indonesian law as a minor, as a 14 year old.

Indonesia has legal provisions, I'm advised, that allow his youth to be taken into consideration. Consular officers will continue to press for appropriate care for him while he remains under detention, and for his early release.

At this stage, as I said before, we therefore do not have concerns for his health or his welfare, though of course we monitor this very, very closely.

I need to make clear to our friends in the media and to the Australian public at large, that this is a complex matter, and it may take quite a while to resolve and everyone just needs to adjust to that reality.

We are dealing with another country's legal system and we must respect the legal systems in which we operate and therefore we must not be in the business of expecting some immediate resolution. Therefore, we must all be patient and work within Indonesian legal processes; that is what is occurring right now as we speak.

I conclude simply by saying all of our thoughts and our prayers are with the family at this time, on an occasion where I think the hearts of all Australian parents will go out to them at a difficult time like this and we will continue to make every effort, over to you folks.

QUESTION: How would you characterise the father's mood when you spoke to him?

KEVIN RUDD:I don't want to go to the content of private conversations with Australians who are in difficult circumstances abroad, but I had a good and long conversation with him where he was able to describe to me circumstances in which they find themselves and in which their lad is now coping. And his dad, in my estimation, from the telephone conversation, is handling this very well. It's a difficult time, a very difficult time.

QUESTION: What have you been told about the charges the boy faces and the process for laying those charges?

KEVIN RUDD: On the question of legal process, again I'll leave that for the Indonesian authorities and our consular officials to comment on at the appropriate time and in the appropriate detail.

As I've indicated just before, our consular officials have sought assurances that he is being afforded due legal process under Indonesian law as a minor and our advice is that Indonesia has legal provisions for that to be taken to account.

You would also expect that our consular officials are dealing very closely with the legal representation which the boy's family has engaged; we are doing that. As I said before there was an initial meeting between our consular officials and of course the Balinese authorities, the head of investigations, this morning. Discussions with other relevant Indonesian government officials in Bali are also occurring.

QUESTION: At what point would you travel to Bali to represent the family.

KEVIN RUDD: The key thing here is securing this young boy's early and secure return to Australia. That's our first objective, that's my first objective as minister. And so therefore I have full confidence in our diplomatic and consular officials to do the right thing and the effective thing on the ground in dealing respectfully with the Indonesian legal system.

As for any engagement on my part directly, then we simply follow these cases hour by hour, day by day, and we intervene when we judge it to be effective to intervene and not before.

I said before this is a time for calm heads, cool hearts and careful, careful engagement with the relevant officials.

The objective is the lad's wellbeing, not any form of, shall I say, political performance.

QUESTION: Are you looking into claims that perhaps the boy was set-up?

KEVIN RUDD: I don't want to go to the detail of the investigation and what the Indonesian authorities have by way of evidence or the status of that evidence or the extent to which it is contested. I'll leave that in the hands of the respective legal teams.

Our job is to ensure to the greatest extent possible this lad's health and wellbeing, to make sure he has proper legal representation and to ensure on top of that also that our Indonesian friends are aware of the importance we attach to the case as we would do in any country in the world to ensure that the proper legal rights of a minor are being observed.

QUESTION: Did you speak with the boy's father about previous drugs charges of Australians in Bali, some very high profile ones, and the media attention that they received and if that was good or bad news for individuals.

KEVIN RUDD: I didn't speak with this boy's dad about other cases, which I think all of you in this room are familiar with over a long period of time. And nor the role of media in each of those cases and how they've been handled.

But as I've said before in my opening remark, it's pretty important we do everything we can to observe the privacy of the family. And I think you would pick up from the tone and tenor of my remarks the importance for us all to proceed prudently and wisely and carefully and cautiously in dealing with this because the objective here is to get this lad home as soon as we can.

As I said this will be difficult and nobody should assume that this is going to occur overnight, as I've said earlier today in Northern New South Wales we have no guarantee of any outcome here. We are going to work very carefully within Indonesian processes.

QUESTION: Based on DFAT's discussions with Indonesian authorities, what's the minimum time this boy is going to remain in custody for anything that takes place?

KEVIN RUDD: I cannot give you a direct answer to that, I'd just like to be very blunt about it. We are simply working within the processes which present themselves to us and I am thankful for what I said before which is that the Indonesian authorities, mindful of the child's age, have made arrangements for his accommodation and for his dad's accommodation and for regular contact with his parents, consistent with his age.

But in terms of minimum times for due process I'd rather not comment on that. I would leave that to the representatives of the legal team who currently are acting on behalf of the family.

QUESTION: And does the Ambassador's trip to Bali tomorrow represent a breakdown in communications between Indonesian authorities, have we failed up to this point and have to bring in the bigger guns?

KEVIN RUDD: Absolutely not. When we have had complex consular cases in the past we from time to time rely on, exclusively, our consular staff in the post concerned, or we add our diplomatic staff including the Ambassador, it's just horses for courses.

Our Consul-General in Bali, Brett Farmer, is exceptionally experienced. He is a person who handles these cases very well. It's always useful however in my experience to have a few other hands on deck, that's why that Ambassador is heading there and I think that's the right thing to do.

QUESTION: You've said it's a very complex situation though, could it take weeks to resolve do you think?

KEVIN RUDD: I'm not putting any time limits on this. It would be irresponsible of me to do so either at a minimum or at a maximum.

As I said we've simply got to be patient and work our way through Indonesian legal processes.

As I said earlier today on any given day we have about a million Australians offshore, each day — and many of them do find themselves in difficulty with local legal systems which are completely foreign to our experience here, almost by definition. So we have to sensitively and effectively work within that. We do so in Indonesia. Indonesia is a sovereign country with whom we have a good relationship.

QUESTION: You say that's horses for courses — sorry — you say the Ambassador's arrival is horses for courses but what makes this case so unique is — in your experience have you dealt with something of this nature [indistinct] variables before?

KEVIN RUDD: As I said each case is unique and we're always — as we would be in this country — attentive to the interests of a minor. We are therefore interested in the wellbeing of a minor abroad as well.

This is complex work, and therefore I have great confidence in the professionalism of the staff of my department at both the consular and diplomatic level to handle this as effectively as possible. They are experienced people.

The Ambassador is a very good Indonesian speaker; I've been with him many times in Jakarta and in Bali on previous occasions.

As I said it's useful to have all hands on deck when you're dealing with complex cases like this.

Yes?

QUESTION: Can you tell us about any other members of the family who are away on this trip or is it just the mother and father and the boy?

KEVIN RUDD: I'm unaware of other members of family but I stand to be corrected if I'm wrong on that. I've been focusing on the lad who has some problems and mum and dad, frankly, and their wellbeing as well.

QUESTION: There've been some rumours that you've been working the numbers for a leadership challenge, is there any truth to that?

KEVIN RUDD:I have responded to those questions earlier today and given we're dealing with the most recent information on this case, I think I'll just leave my remarks from earlier today stand.

Thanks very much.

ENDS

Media enquiries