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Media Release

05 November 2009

The Prime Minister issued a joint press release to announce the contract signing for a GP Super Clinic for Brisbane southside

Prime Minister

Minister for Health

Member for Moreton - Member for Forde - Member for Rankin

Brisbane southside GP Super Clinic contract signed

The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, today signed a funding agreement with the University of Queensland that will see the people of the Brisbane Southside region benefit from a $7.5 million GP Super Clinic.

The University of Queensland in collaboration with Mater Health Services and Medihealth Meadowbrook will establish the GP Super Clinic under a hub and spoke model.

Two Super Clinic hubs will be established at Annerley and Logan with two complementary satellite sites still being negotiated for the broader Brisbane Southside region.

The Brisbane Southside GP Super Clinic will provide integrated, team-based health care tailored to the needs of the local community. Both Super Clinic hubs will provide three distinct streams:

• A chronic disease management service;
• A mental health service; and
• A musculoskeletal pain and palliative care service.

Services will be bulk billed for concession card holders, children under 16 and those over 65.

The GP Super Clinic will have a strong focus on supporting the future primary care workforce. It is anticipated that student clinics will be incorporated as the GP Super Clinic develops, as part of educating future health professionals.

The signing of the funding agreement occurred at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane, where the Prime Minister and the Minister for Health and Aging Nicola Roxon met with local medical practitioners to hear their local priorities to improve the health system and discuss the recommendations of the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission.

The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report made recommendations for system-wide changes to Australian health care.

As part of the Government's health reforms to date, $275 million has been allocated over five years, from 2007-08, to establish 36 GP Super Clinics around the nation.

The first operational GP Super Clinic commenced at Ballan, Victoria, in mid-September and early services have commenced at five locations (Southern Lake Macquarie-Morisset, Palmerston, Devonport, Blue Mountains and Warnervale).

All Australians are also invited to contribute to the national debate on our health system via the yourHealth.gov.au website - and full copies of the reports can be found there.
 

2009-11-06

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Clean energy revolution

2009-11-19

Media Release

The Prime Minister and the Assistant Treasurer, Senator Nick Sherry, today announced that the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has been approved to conduct the 16th national Census on 9 August 2011.

Census 2011 will be the largest data collection ever undertaken by the ABS which has been allocated a total of $440 million over seven years to conduct the survey.

With the first national Census having taken place in 1911, Census 2011 will also mark 100 years of national census-taking in Australia.

Involving every household in the nation, the conduct of the Census is logistically the single largest peacetime operation conducted by the Australian Government.

Importantly, the national Census will also have a positive impact on jobs and the economy. A temporary workforce of 40,000 will be employed at its peak, across Australia in a range of roles including Census field operations. For example, the processing of Census forms in Melbourne will involve about 900 temporary staff from August 2011.

Recruitment of field staff will commence from early 2011 and positions will run until the completion of data processing late in 2012.

The Census provides a statistical snapshot of the nation and in doing so delivers a comprehensive picture of the society in which we live. Census information is used by all sections of the community, from the Federal Government and State and Territory Governments to local governments, town planners, community groups, students and business.

The Census provides a wealth of information for informed decision-making throughout the community. Information from the Census is critical in developing policy and in planning the delivery of services to the community, such as health and human services, and facilitates a better understanding of vulnerable sections of the population.

Census data are used to:

• estimate the population of each State, Territory and local government area;
• determine electoral boundaries and calculate the number of members to be elected to the House of Representatives from each State and Territory;
• determine the distribution of Federal Government funds to the States;
• show characteristics of Australia's people and their housing within small geographic areas and for small population groups;
• help plan basic services such as housing, social security, transport, education, industry, shops and hospitals;
• give governments and others information they can use to support planning, administration, policy development and evaluation activities;
• assist the private sector in key business planning decisions.

Census 2011 will build on the successful deployment of internet technologies to assist in the completion of Census forms with householders able to complete their Census form easily and securely online via the use of eCensus, in addition to the traditional paper Census form.

The ABS has also developed a wide range of strategies to considerably improve the engagement and involvement of remote, rural, regional and Indigenous communities in the Census. Importantly this will assist in ensuring all such communities are properly counted, which will in turn ensure accurate resourcing and funding decisions are made into the future.

Primary and secondary students will also have the opportunity to boost their understanding of the Census process and to prepare for Census 2011 by taking part in the innovative CensusAtSchool, a world-leading student and teacher engagement, data collection, numerical literacy and statistics analysis project also run by the ABS.

A detailed Information Paper on Census 2011, including topics to be included in the Census, will also be tabled in Parliament today and will be available at www.abs.gov.au.

2009-11-19

www.yourhealth.gov.au

2009-11-19

Media Release

The largest wind farm in NSW - Capital Wind Farm - has been officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, NSW Premier Nathan Rees and Minister for Climate Change, Senator Penny Wong today.

The Capital Wind Farm, owned by Infigen Energy, will boost the nation's wind power capacity by more than 10 per cent.

The Farm comprises 67 wind turbines capable of supplying electricity to around 60,000 homes and is almost five times the size of any other wind farm in NSW.

Around 50 wind farms are currently in operation around the nation.

Renewable energy is a critical component of the Rudd Government's commitment to take concrete, practical steps to tackle the threat of climate change.

Under the Government's Renewable Energy Target, 20 per cent of Australia's electricity will come from renewable sources by 2020.

This means that in ten years' time, the amount of electricity coming from sources like wind, wave, solar and geothermal energy will be about equal to Australia's current household electricity use.

The project demonstrates the importance of clean energy industries in creating the high-skilled apprenticeships and jobs of the future - providing employment and economic growth for regional communities.

For example, Australia's first wind farm apprentices are employed at Capital Wind Farm, learning the work of electro technology and wind turbines.

Australian companies, including Victoria's Keppel Prince Engineering and Queensland's RPG, contributed key components to the Capital Wind Farm in partnership with Suzlon Energy Australia, part of the global Suzlon Energy group.

The project provided employment opportunities for over 120 people during the construction phase and will provide ongoing employment in the local community.

The Government is supporting Australia's clean energy industries through the Renewable Energy Target, the Clean Energy Initiative and the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

As business leaders have said in recent days, the passage of the CPRS through the Senate is critically important to driving investment in the industries that will lead Australia's transformation to a low carbon, clean energy future.

 

2009-11-18

Media Release

The Government today announced a new initiative - the Australia Awards - to maximise the benefit to Australia of its extensive scholarship programs, and to support enduring ties between Australia and our neighbours.

The Government currently invests $200 million each year in scholarship programs which, at any time, support around 5,000 international students to study in Australia.

The Australia Awards will bring together these Australian scholarship programs under a single recognisable brand. Rather than dilute Australia's scholarship effort through a group of uncoordinated programs, the Australia Awards initiative will ensure that Australian scholarships are consolidated, better branded, and delivered to support Australia's long term interests.

Just as the Colombo Plan delivered Australian education to the region as a coordinated and recognised brand a generation ago, the Australia Awards initiative will enhance the awareness and value placed on Australia's contemporary scholarship programs.

The Australia Awards initiative will, over time, build a new generation of leadership with strong links to Australia.

The Australia Awards will comprise two streams: a leadership stream that will target the best and brightest scholars to come to Australia; and a development stream that will build capacity in developing countries.

The Australia Awards initiative will:

• encourage Australia Award recipients to maintain their links to Australia through a strong alumni plan
• consolidate Australian Government scholarships programs together under a single powerful brand
• support the Australia Awards brand through a robust marketing strategy
• ensure that the beneficiaries of Australian scholarships have a better experience of Australia during their period of study though enhanced student services
• establish a high profile board that will provide expert advice and strategic direction on how the scholarship program can meet Australia's long-term interests, and can compete with other world class scholarship programs. Board members will be drawn from the government, corporate and academic sectors.

Speaking in Singapore, the Prime Minister announced the first phase of the initiative - the Australia Asia Awards.

The first Australia Asia Awards scholars will take up their awards in 2010. Comparable programs for other regions will be rolled out in subsequent years.

Addressing an audience at the National University of Singapore, the Prime Minister announced that the Australia Asia Awards will be supported by new funding of $18 million.

The Australia Awards will also showcase Australia's cutting-edge capabilities in the education sector, which includes eight of the world's top 100 universities, and demonstrate Australia's ongoing commitment to building closer and enduring ties with our region and beyond.

2009-11-16

Media Release

The Governments of India and Australia have committed to a Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation that will strengthen cooperation in a wide range of security and related areas including counter-terrorism, defence, disarmament and non-proliferation and maritime security

The Prime Ministers of India and Australia,

Affirming that the strategic partnership between India and Australia is based on a shared desire to promote, regional and global security, as well as their common commitment to democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law;

Affirming their deep respect for each other's contribution to promoting peace, stability and development in Asia and beyond;

Affirming their common purpose in working together, and with other countries including through such regional fora as the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum to achieve the objective of a prosperous, open and secure Asia, and recognising that strengthened bilateral security cooperation will make a significant contribution in this context;

Recognising that India and Australia are partners with a mutual stake in each other's progress and prosperity;

Recognising that India and Australia share a common interest in maritime security;

Affirming their common commitment to fight terrorism and recognising that counter-terrorism efforts by India and Australia constitute an important part of the international community's effort to eradicate terrorism;

Affirming their common commitment to fight transnational and organised crime;

Reiterating their common commitment to global, complete and universal disarmament and non-proliferation and seeking a peaceful world free of nuclear weapons;

Have decided to create a comprehensive framework for the enhancement of security cooperation between the two countries.

Elements of Cooperation

Security cooperation between India and Australia will include the following elements:

1. Information exchange and policy coordination on regional affairs in the Asia region and on long-term strategic and global issues;
2. Bilateral cooperation within multilateral frameworks in Asia, in particular the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum;
3. Defence dialogue and cooperation within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation signed in March 2006;
4. Efforts to combat terrorism;
5. Cooperation to combat transnational organised crime;
6. Disaster management;
7. Maritime and aviation security; and
8. Police and law enforcement cooperation.

Mechanisms of Cooperation

The following mechanisms will carry forward the above mentioned cooperation between the two countries:

1. Exchange of visits at high levels, including by foreign ministers;
2. Defence cooperation, which includes:
a. Defence policy talks (Senior Officials level);
b. Staff talks and service-to-service exchanges, including participation in exercises as agreed.
3. Consultations between the National Security Advisors of Australia and India.
4. Bilateral consultation to promote counter-terrorism cooperation through such means as the Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism.
5. Sharing knowledge and experience in disaster prevention and preparedness and relevant capacity building.

Implementation

Australia and India will work towards developing an action plan with specific measures to advance security cooperation.
 

2009-11-16

Media Release

India and Australia are two countries with shared interests and shared values. We are both pluralist democracies. We are both global in our outlook, but also closely integrated into the Asian region. Our economic relationship is expanding rapidly. We have a shared desire to enhance and maintain peace, stability and prosperity in Asia. We both value multilateral institutions and recognise the need to reform and renovate them. Our people-to-people links are broad-based and growing.

To give expression to the expansion and dynamism of our bilateral ties, we have agreed to take the relationship to the level of a strategic partnership.

Bilateral cooperation

In line with this strategic partnership, the two Prime Ministers affirmed their desire to intensify their contacts with each other. Dr Singh said he looked forward to visiting Australia at a mutually convenient date.

As two countries committed to political pluralism and parliamentary democracy, the Prime Ministers emphasised the need to reinvigorate bilateral parliamentary exchanges. Aware of the critical role that the young people of today will play in meeting the challenges and taking forward the initiatives of the 21st century, the two leaders welcomed the proposal to establish a new young political leaders program. A familiarisation visit of Australian young political leaders to India is likely to take place in 2010 to work out the modalities.

International and Regional Cooperation

Dr Singh and Mr Rudd reaffirmed the strong security and defence ties between India and Australia and welcomed a Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation that will see the two countries intensify their efforts to maintain peace, stability and prosperity.

Regional and multilateral cooperation is an important strand of the India - Australia relationship. The two leaders reaffirmed the key role being played in the Asian region by bodies such as the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum and the Asia Europe Meeting. The Prime Ministers welcomed the outcomes of the Fourth East Asia Summit (EAS) held in Hua Hin on 25 October, and agreed that the agenda of the EAS should continue to be strengthened. In particular, they welcomed the agreement reached by EAS leaders to convene an EAS Finance Ministers' meeting and to have officials consider a Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia. Mr Rudd reaffirmed Australia's firm support for India's membership of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation grouping when the membership moratorium ends next year.

The Prime Ministers welcomed ongoing discussion about how the institutional architecture of the region could evolve over time. Dr Singh welcomed Mr Rudd's intention to convene a 1.5 track conference in Sydney in December 2009 to consider further Australia's Asia Pacific community initiative.

The Prime Ministers reconfirmed their support for reform of the United Nations to ensure it reflects the realities of the 21st century, including by modernising the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). In this context, Mr Rudd reiterated Australia's support for a permanent seat for India on the UNSC.

Mr Rudd and Dr Singh welcomed the decision to make the G20 the premier forum for international economic cooperation. Both countries stressed the need to increase agency-level cooperation in areas of mutual interest such as terrorism. Dr Singh and Mr Rudd reaffirmed their shared vision of a world free of nuclear weapons and agreed to work together in a spirit of partnership on global disarmament and non-proliferation.

Expanding Economic Links

The bilateral economic relationship continues to expand rapidly to mutual benefit and there is significant untapped potential for even stronger trade and investment links. The Prime Ministers noted that the Joint Study Group Report on the feasibility of Free Trade Agreement between the two countries will be submitted shortly and agreed to consider its recommendations expeditiously with a view to taking further action.

The Prime Ministers agreed to constitute an India-Australia CEOs Forum which would involve prominent companies from each country across the spectrum of key economic sectors.

Energy, climate change and water cooperation

Energy security and climate change are serious challenges facing the international community. The Prime Ministers reiterated that Australia and India believe that a comprehensive outcome at the Copenhagen Conference, in accordance with the principles and provisions of the UNFCCC and the Bali Action Plan, is critical to meeting the challenge of climate change. Mr. Rudd noted India's plans to meet its future energy requirements by exploring and developing all sources of energy, including nuclear, renewable and non-conventional resources.

Both sides recognized the benefits of enhancing bilateral commercial exchanges of renewable and non-renewable energy resources. The two Prime Ministers agreed that energy security concerns are best met by reconciling the long-term interests of both energy producing and energy consuming countries through a truly open and competitive energy market. Both sides also expressed their willingness to join efforts which promote a cooperative response to any global energy crisis, noting the important role of open and transparent energy trade and investment markets.

The Prime Ministers agreed that meaningful progress in the areas of energy security and climate change should be made through national, bilateral and multilateral efforts in a manner that does not limit the possibilities of accelerated economic and social development. The leaders agreed to work to address these global challenges.

Both leaders stressed the determination of Australia and India to work together to achieve a comprehensive, fair and effective outcome at Copenhagen, with the involvement of all countries in line with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

In developing a global response to climate change, the leaders agreed to engage constructively with each other, and with other countries, including under the UNFCCC and in other multilateral fora such as the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP).

Practical collaboration by Indian and Australian agencies is continuing to meet the challenge of climate change, including under the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. The Australian Government will provide A$1 million (4.315 crore rupees) to support a joint solar cooling and mini-grids project being undertaken by India's The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The Prime Ministers noted the positive contribution being made by the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI). An International Advisory Panel, which includes a TERI representative, will play a key role in guiding the work of the GCCSI.

India and Australia are faced by the imperative of managing scarce water resources. Dr Singh and Mr Rudd welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in the Field of Water Resource Management. Mr Rudd also announced Australia would devote A$20 million in funding over five years under the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research for joint research in dry-land agriculture in India.

A knowledge partnership

India and Australia are building a broad knowledge partnership, ranging from developing collaborative projects in education from primary school up to university, to conducting joint research in many fields. Science and technology cooperation is a critical part of this partnership.

Both Prime Ministers acknowledged the important role science plays in the bilateral relationship and the potential to work more closely in this area of shared strength. Building on the success of the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund, Australia will increase its commitment to bilateral research efforts to A$10 million per year for the next five years, which will be matched by India.

The expanded fund will introduce a new 'grand challenge' component, which will support large-scale research projects designed to deliver practical solutions to some of the major challenges shared by both countries. The areas of focus will be "energy", "food and water security", "health" and "the environment". The expanded fund will also introduce a substantial new fellowship program, comprising exchanges for early-career researchers from both countries and short-term visits by senior scientists. Both governments will continue to support leading-edge research in areas, including in information and communication technology, micro-electronic devices and materials, earth sciences, nanotechnology, astronomy and biotechnology.

The two Prime Ministers welcomed the recent agreement that India and Australia would hold an annual ministerial dialogue on education, which would include representatives from education institutions and industry. Mr Rudd welcomed India's proposal to revive Nalanda University.

Dr. Singh conveyed the high priority that the Government of India attaches to the safety, security and well-being of the Indian community in Australia. Mr Rudd reiterated that Australia had a zero tolerance approach to violence and was committed to taking all possible measures to protect the safety and welfare of all international students including Indian students. He provided Dr Singh with an update on the efforts of the Australian Government and its state government counterparts to enhance law enforcement, extend student welfare measures, re-register all education providers, audit vocational education and training institutions, and strengthen the integrity of the visa system.

Culture and Sport

Cultural ties between Australia and India are vibrant and expanding. The Prime Ministers agreed that strengthening these enduring people-to-people links to enhance mutual understanding is vital to the future of the relationship. In 2010, India will host a 'Days of India' cultural event in seven Australian cities. The Australia International Cultural Council has selected India as the focus country for a major year-long cultural program in 2012. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the decision to launch negotiations on a film co-production agreement covering a wide range of audio visual formats.

Sport has long occupied an important place in the India-Australia relationship. Australia is looking forward to participating in the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games and is supporting the preparations. The Australian Sports Outreach Program will be boosted to deliver more grass-roots sports-based activities to India's youth, women and people with a disability, in collaboration with Indian partners.
 

2009-11-16

Speech

Today, the Government of Australia will move the following motion of apology in the Parliament of Australia.

We come together today to deal with an ugly chapter in our nation's history.

And we come together today to offer our nation's apology.

To say to you, the Forgotten Australians, and those who were sent to our shores as children without your consent, that we are sorry.

Sorry - that as children you were taken from your families and placed in institutions where so often you were abused.

Sorry - for the physical suffering, the emotional starvation and the cold absence of love, of tenderness, of care.

Sorry - for the tragedy, the absolute tragedy, of childhoods lost,- childhoods spent instead in austere and authoritarian places, where names were replaced by numbers, spontaneous play by regimented routine, the joy of learning by the repetitive drudgery of menial work.

Sorry - for all these injustices to you, as children, who were placed in our care.

As a nation, we must now reflect on those who did not receive proper care.

We look back with shame that many of you were left cold, hungry and alone and with nowhere to hide and nobody to whom to turn.

We look back with shame that so many of you were left cold, hungry and alone and with nowhere to hide and with nobody, absolutely nobody, to whom to turn.

We look back with shame that many these little ones who were entrusted to institutions and foster homes instead, were abused physically, humiliated cruelly, violated sexually.

And we look back with shame at how those with power were allowed to abuse those who had none.

And how then, as if this was not injury enough, you were left ill-prepared for life outside - left to fend for yourselves; often unable to read or write; to struggle alone with no friends and no family.

For these failures to offer proper care to the powerless, the voiceless and the most vulnerable, we say sorry.

We reflect too today on the families who were ripped apart simply because they had fallen on hard times.

Hard times brought about by illness, by death and by poverty.

Some simply left destitute when fathers damaged by war could no longer cope.

Again, we say sorry for the extended families you never knew.

We acknowledge the particular pain of children shipped to Australia as child migrants - robbed of your families, robbed of your homeland, regarded not as innocent children but regarded instead as a source of child labour.

To those of you who were told you were orphans, brought here without your parents' knowledge or consent, we acknowledge the lies you were told, the lies told to your mothers and fathers, and the pain these lies have caused for a lifetime.

To those of you separated on the dockside from your brothers and sisters; taken alone and unprotected to the most remote parts of a foreign land - we acknowledge today that the laws of our nation failed you.

And for this we are deeply sorry.

We think also today of all the families of these Forgotten Australians and former child migrants who are still grieving, families who were never reunited, families who were never reconciled, families who were lost to one another forever.

We reflect too on the burden that is still carried by our own children, your own children, your grandchildren, your husbands, your wives, your partners and your friends - and we thank them for the faith, the love and the depth of commitment that has helped see you through the valley of tears that was not of your own making.

And we reflect with you as well, in sad remembrance, on those who simply could not cope and who took their own lives in absolute despair.

We recognise the pain you have suffered.

Pain is so very, very personal.

Pain is so profoundly disabling.

So, let us together, as a nation, allow this apology to begin to heal this pain.

Healing the pain felt by so many of the half a million of our fellow Australians who were children in care - children in our care.

And let us also resolve this day that this national apology becomes a turning point in our nation's story.

A turning point for shattered lives.

A turning point for governments at all levels and of every political hue and colour to do all in our power to never let this happen again.

For the protection of children is the sacred duty of us all.

This is the motion that later this day this Government will commend to the Parliament of Australia.

Care leavers from around Australia and abroad;

Representatives of the Care Leavers of Australia Network;

the Child Migrants Trust;

the Alliance for Forgotten Australians;

the Leader of the Opposition;

my ministerial and parliamentary colleagues;

representatives of the state governments of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria;

Her Excellency the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom;

His Excellency the Ambassador of Ireland;

His Excellency High Commissioner for Malta;

ladies and gentlemen;

friends, one and all;

Our purpose today in this Great Hall of this great Australian Parliament is to begin to put right a very great wrong.

To acknowledge the great wrong that has been done to so many of our children.

And as a nation, to apologise for this great wrong.

And, as a nation, to resolve that such systematic abuse should never happen again.

The truth is this is an ugly story.

And its ugliness must be told without fear or favour if we are to confront fully the demons of our past.

And in so doing, animate, once again, the better angels of our human nature.

I believe we do a disservice to those who have been the victims of abuse if in any way we seek to gloss things over.
Because the truth is great evil has been done.

And therefore hard things must be said about how this was all possible in this country of the fair go.

Unless we are now transparent about what has been done in our nation's name, our apology can never be complete.

Because let us be clear - these children, both from home and abroad, were placed in care under the auspices of the state, validated by the laws of the land.

It is estimated that more than 500,000 children were placed in care under various arrangements over the course of the last century.

This is no small number.

Let us imagine that more than half of the city of Adelaide was drawn from children who had been placed in institutional or foster care.

This is no small number.

In recent weeks, it has been my privilege to meet some of these children, most of them now middle-aged.
And some perhaps a little older again.

And I take the intervention from the floor - some younger than that again.

Here is something of their stories as told to me.

Last week I sat down with Garry for a cup of tea at his home here in Canberra.

Garry told me he had five brothers and sisters.

His father was an ex-serviceman who, in Gary's words, drank himself to death.

When Garry was four or five, he remembers being taken to the steps of the local police station with his brothers and sisters and told to wait until his mum returned, who had promised ice creams for all.

She never returned.

As Garry recalls, "I never got my ice-cream".

A fortnight later, he was committed as a ward of the state.

He told me his twin brothers had been fostered to a good family in Wollongong.

But he was taken to an institution and separated from his sisters, who were placed elsewhere.

All this, at the age of four or five.

Alone, absolutely alone, devastatingly alone in the world.

He told me that, at the age of six or seven, he tried to hang himself from the swings because he wanted to be with his brothers.

He was later placed in a rural home for older boys where he remained until the age of 13.

He remembers being picked up from the train station on a freezing night in a big red truck with a row of numbered seats. He was told to sit in seat number 3.

He was given, a number.

As Garry said, "my number was always three, it sticks in your head".

The culture of this home, as Garry described it, was one of institutional violence as boys were made to beat each other, to beat other boys to the ground, in front of their peers.

At 13, he was transferred to an institution where he remembers a kindly cook taking him under her wing.

But it was during this time Garry says, he suffered sexual abuse from other men.

Garry later got into drugs to help escape the psychological torture he suffered through years of what was so-called institutional care.

Garry has led a tough life.

But Garry is a survivor.

He proudly introduced me to his seven beautiful children - all doing well at school and the older ones already planning for their future.

And showed me with pride the carpenter's trade certificate he earned through study in 2005.

When asked by CLAN (a community organisation established to help survivors of institutional abuse, and known to so many of you here today) when asked by CLAN to write down his story Garry said, "what am I going to write down, you can't put tears on paper".

It has also been my privilege to sit down with twins Robyn and Judy last Monday when I was in Bathurst.

They told me too, that their mother left home when they too were barely five years old. They were then placed in a church home.

Judy remembers the day they were first taken to the home and her sister Robyn bolted from the gate and ran away.

They later found her and dragged her back.

Robyn and Judy remember that they kept waiting and waiting for just someone, someone to come and pick them up - but no-one, no-one ever came.

They recall being hit with belt buckles and bamboo.

They said the place they grew up in was utterly, utterly loveless.

They said it always made them feel like second-class citizens.

At the local school, they were described as "Home Girls".

They looked with envy as other children were picked up by their parents after school.

Robyn told me that, 40 years later, "it stays with you, I still dream about it".

But you know something? Both Robyn and Judy too are fighters.

While emotionally scarred by their experience, they too have beautiful children and partners who care for them. But the wounds run deep. They run very deep.

And then there was Gus.

I spoke to Gus on the phone, he is from Queensland.

Brought out to Australia from Ireland, again at the age of four or five, in the 1950s - as a child apparently born out of wedlock, having earlier spent time in a Catholic institution in Ireland.

Gus' story was truly horrific. His was a tale of physical and sexual abuse over more than a decade. In Gus' words, "that did me terrible mental damage".

He finally tracked down his mum, 10 years ago.

She had gone to the United States. But he then discovered she had passed away.

Gus had limited educational opportunities and has been in and out of gaol a number of times during his life.
Gus, reflecting back across the years, and in the great tradition of Australian understatement, said he had led a 'colourful life'.

Gus too, is a fighter and survivor.

Whether it is Garry or Gus or Robyn or Judy, there is an eerie similarity to so many of the stories. Stories of physical, emotional or sexual abuse.

Stories of the lack of love. Experiences which stay with them to this day.

Each told me that such was the trauma they experienced in institutional care that they suffered such things as bed-wetting for many, many years - while in care.

This, of course, is deeply personal. Deeply, deeply personal.

But each wanted me to share this part of their story too because it underlined the trauma they had gone through.

But trauma with an ugly double-twist because each time this happened, they were publicly humiliated and publicly punished by those supposedly responsible for their care.

In the conversations I was privileged to have with these great Australian survivors, for each of them this apology today was important.

And for countless thousands and tens of thousands besides, this apology is important.

Important because it does not seek to hide that which they experienced.

An apology that acknowledges the very personal pain that has been caused.

An apology which, it is hoped, will bring some healing balm to wounded souls.

And not just to the handful that I have been so honoured to meet.

But to all those whose cases are reflected in the Senate reports over many, many years. And to those also whose stories will remain forever untold.

There are tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of these stories, each as important as the other, each with its own hurts, its own humiliations its own traumas - and each united by the experience of a childhood without love, of childhood alone.

For some, this has become a very public journey of healing. For others, it remains intensely private - not even to be discussed with closest family and friends even today.

And such privacy must of course, be respected.

Whatever your journey today, and whether you are here in Parliament House in Canberra with us or watching or listening across the country or across the world, my hope today is to reach out to you all on behalf of this nation, Australia, and to speak what has so often been unspoken.

And to offer you this profound apology.

To apologise for the pain that has been caused.

To apologise for the failure to offer proper care.

To apologise for those who have gone before us and ignored your cries for help.

Because children, it seems, were not to be believed.

Only those in authority, it seems, were the ones to be believed.

To apologise for denying you basic life opportunities; including so often a decent education.

To apologise also, for just how long it has taken for the Australian Government to say sorry - so many Senate reports, nearly a decade of deliberation, and a unanimous recommendation that the Commonwealth apologise.

And finally we do so today.

Today is also a day for all those who have refused to remain silent.

The champions of this day.

Those driven by sheer tenacity.

By an unswerving sense of justice.

Those who kept the flame of hope alight.

People like Margaret Humphreys, people like Harold Haig, people like Leonie Sheedy and Joanna Penglase, people like Bonnie Djuric, and People like Walter Tusyn who campaigned tirelessly for this day as Tasmanian representative of the Alliance for Forgotten Australians, only to pass away on the 30th of last month.

And people like former Senator Andrew Murray, because Andrew Murray's work has simply been extraordinary.
I rang Andrew recently and asked him about the importance of this apology.

His response was succinct when he wrote in reply:

"the Senate (and others) have carefully examined these matters and rightly and unanimously recommended an official Commonwealth apology. As a result, the states and the main churches, charities and agencies have apologised (although some are better apologies than others...),

Andrew Murray continued "it is time for the Commonwealth to complete the circle."

It is also important today to honour the advocacy groups who have stood by you through thick and thin - advocacy groups such as: Care Leavers of Australia Network (CLAN); groups like The Child Migrants Trust, advocacy groups such as the Alliance for Forgotten Australians - and many, many others.

But beyond these individuals and organisations stand an army of people who have quietly gone about their business over the last decade or more to take this story of sustained institutional and personal abuse from the margins of government deliberation to the very centre of Government consideration.

For all victims of abuse, today, you are all owed a profound debt of gratitude for having stood by them with such solidarity and strength.

So what then is to be done?

The Australian Government has assembled a comprehensive response to recommendations contained in the two Senate reports - "Lost Innocence" and "Forgotten Australians revisited".

This response will be tabled in the Parliament in the coming days.

The overwhelming message I have received and Minister Macklin has been receiving has been the need to be heard, the need to be acknowledged and the need for the nation to apologise.

It is important however, that this not be regarded as a single point in history. Our view is that it would be helpful for the nation, however painful, to properly record your experiences, where you deem that to be appropriate.

This can assist the nation to learn from your experiences.

As a result, the Australian Government is supporting projects with both the National Library and the National Museum which will provide future generations with a solemn reminder of the past.

To ensure not only that your experiences are heard, but also that they will never ever be forgotten.

And in doing so we must always remember the advice of the sages - that a nation that forgets its past is condemned to relive it.

Second, we also know that you are deeply concerned about practical support to help survivors and their families negotiate what can still so often be damaged lives.

For example, I know many of you are concerned about living in aged care facilities as you grow older and the need for access to proper aged care.

The Government will identify care leavers as a special-needs group for aged-case purposes, to ensure that providers are assisted to provide care that is appropriate and responsive, and provide a range of further counselling and support services.

Third, many Forgotten Australians and child migrants continue to need help in tracing their families. That is why we'll be providing a National Find and Connect Service that will provide Australia-wide coordinated family tracing and support services for care leavers to locate personal and family history files and the reunite with members of their families, where that is possible.

The service will provide a national database that will collate and index existing state identified records into a national searchable data base, accessible to state and other care leaver services and also directly to care leavers themselves.

Fourth, to make sure you are well represented, we have provided and continue to provide funding to advocacy groups such as the Child Migrant Trust, the Alliance for Forgotten Australians and Care Leavers of Australia Network, as these organisations continue to work hard to put your concerns front and centre.

Finally, governments must continue to commit to the systematic auditing, inspection and quality assurance of the child protection services they administer today.

Some 28,000 - 30,000 children are currently in the care of State and Territory Governments around Australia. Governments must put in place every protection possible to reduce the risk of mistreatment in the future.

And, as Andrew Murray reminded me recently,"if you hurt a child, a harmed adult will often result...aggregate those adults who were harmed in care and the social, the economic, the personal cost is huge".

In Andrew's words, we must do everything possible to break the cycle.

I recognise this is a difficult, complex and sensitive area of policy. But the nation must continue to lift its game in doing whatever practicably can be done to provide for the proper protection of little ones, of children.

Let us, therefore today in this Great Hall of this great Australian Parliament, seize this day and see this national apology to our Forgotten Australians and our Child Migrants as a turning point for the future.

For child migrants, for many of you, your mothers and fathers were alive and were made to relinquish their right to be your parents and to watch you grow into adulthood.

Some of you have said you would like to place the apology on the graves of your mothers and fathers back in England and on their graves here in this country as well. Today we dedicate this apology to them as well.
For the Australian-born care leavers, or 'Homies' or 'State Wards' or the 'Foster kids', the Senate named you the 'Forgotten Australians'.

Today, and from this day forward, it is my hope that you will be called the 'Remembered Australians'.

However, whatever I might say today, the truth is, I cannot give you back your childhood. I cannot rewind the clock on your suffering. Nor can I erase the past.

But what I can do with you is celebrate the spirit that has lived within you over the decades. A spirit that has stubbornly refused to be beaten.

A spirit that has turned you into the survivors that you are. The spirit that has enabled you to serve your country in times of war, even if you had been deserted by your country.

The spirit that enabled you to bring up families, despite the broken families from which you came. The spirit that enabled you to work and to make your own contribution to this, our land Australia.

And the spirit that caused you to hold fast that one day you would be heard, one day you would be believed, one day you would be acknowledged.

And that, one day, Australia's sense of a fair-go would finally prevail. That our fair go would be extended to you, and that the nation would offer you the public apology that you deserve.

My message to you today is that that day has finally come.

Let me also say this.

You were in no way to blame for what happened to you because it was the nation who failed you.

The institutions the nation created for your care, failed you.

To all of you here today in this Great Hall. To all of you watching around the nation.

Today is your day. Today is your special day. Today is your achievement.

This morning, I spoke to a 98 year old lady in my electorate in Brisbane.

Her name is Vera. If Vera is watching, 'hi Vera'.

I'm sorry that Vera can't be with us in Canberra today.

She said that the pain that she suffered having spent five years in a Queensland orphanage was pain suffered a lifetime ago.

But her hope that today, as a 98-year-old lady is that finally this day could herald a closing of the book on the past.
Today is for people just like Vera.

And today let us now go forward together, go forward with confidence, go forward with confidence into the future - as equal, as valued and as precious members of this one great family that we call Australia.

 

2009-11-16

National Apology

2009-11-16

Speech

It is indeed a great honour to be here in Delhi and to have the opportunity to address such a distinguished audience on the future of Australia's relationship with India.

It is also an honour that I speak to you today as a guest of the Indian Council of World Affairs which has such a rich tradition of nurturing international relations since its inception in 1943.

And further to speak to you in this building whose foundation stone was laid by India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1950.

Walking into Sapru House you feel immediately immersed in the sense of purpose of this great institution.
An institution that over the decades has hosted so many critical meetings that have demonstrated India's long-standing desire for international understanding, engagement and the development of a peaceful and prosperous international order.

I am delighted that today the annual Australia India Roundtable, co-hosted by the Lowy Institute and the Indian Council of World Affairs, is taking place in the room next door.

There is much to be had in the exchange of ideas because ideas have so much power to shape how we see the world, how we act in the world - and how we shape our world's future together.

30 years ago, as a student at the Australian National University, I became fascinated by the study of Asia.
I became fascinated by the conceptualisations of Asia from the continent itself.

I became fascinated by the vision of Asia's future as captured 30 years earlier by Prime Minister Nehru and the newly emerging modern India.

With the benefit of the hindsight of more than 60 years, Nehru's vision expressed at the Asia Relations Conference he convened in Delhi in April 1947 on the eve of India's independence is remarkable.

As Nehru observed:

"We stand at the end of an era and on the threshold of a new period of history. Standing on this watershed which divides two epochs of human history and endeavour, we can look back on our long past and look forward to the future that is taking shape before our eyes. Asia ... has suddenly become important again in world affairs. If we view the millennia of history, this continent of Asia ... has played a mighty role in the evolution of humanity. It was there that civilisation began and man started on his unending adventure of life. Here the mind of man searched unceasingly for truth and the spirit of man shone out like a beacon which lightened up the whole world."

Reflecting on the international conference which he audaciously convened some months before India's independence, Nehru continued:

"Today this isolation (of Asia) is breaking down because of many reasons, political and other. The imperialisms are fading away.... This Conference itself is significant as an expression of that deeper urge to the mind and spirit of Asia which has persisted in spite of the isolationism which grew up during the years of European domination. As that domination goes, the walls that surrounded us fall down and we look at each other again and meet as old friends long parted. In this Conference and in this work there are no leaders and no followers. All countries of Asia have to meet together on an equal basis in a common task and endeavour."

Speaking a decade before I was even born, Nehru saw already what we have now witnessed: the rise of Asia following centuries of European colonialism to become the centre of global strategic and economic gravity that beckons for the century ahead.

I am a graduate in Asian Studies at the Australian National University.

A great university that brought together the systematic study of the high civilisations of East Asia (my own specialisation), South Asia, Central Asia and South-East Asia.

It was during my undergraduate days that I had the great privilege studying from time to time at the feet of the great professor Arthur Basham.

His enduring masterpiece The Wonder That Was India became required reading.

When I say required, it was not that we were forced to read it.

It was that Basham's passion for Indian civilisation was infectious.

This seminal book was recently re-issued here in India - suggesting that Basham's judgments have stood the test of time.

Basham sitting in his study patiently introduced me to the impact of India on China through the arrival of waves of Indian Buddhist missionaries from the Han to the Tang - bringing with them entirely different notions of the role of the state to that which had already become entrenched through China's Confucianism.

Basham, in my memory of him, was a great scholar, a patient teacher, and an extraordinary Anglo-Australian exponent of Indian civilisation and her great influence around the world over the centuries - whether in religion, philosophy, culture, science, commerce or politics.

Including through the 13th century centre of Buddhist learning, Nalanda University, that helped to spread Indian thought across Asia.

And can I say that Australia is pleased to support Prime Minister Singh's intention to revive this great regional centre of learning.

Of course, India's contribution to the world is both ancient and modern.

Ancient through the power of its civilisation.

Modern through its great example as the world's biggest democracy.

Modern through the impact of its economy, its science and its technology.

Modern also in India's engagement in the institutions of global and regional governance and the great challenges of our time.

It is here where India and Australia have a common history and a common future.

Our bilateral and broader regional engagement extends back to the first days of independence.

I referred earlier to Nehru's 1947 initiative in convening the first pan-Asian conference in New Delhi.

What is important to note here is that Australia also attended that conference as an observer - at Nehru's invitation.
As Nehru observed in his opening remarks:

"We welcome also observers from Australia and New Zealand because we have many problems in common, especially in the Pacific and in the Southeast region of Asia, and we have to co-operate together to find solutions."

Nehru's insights on Australia's common destiny with India and our wider region were shared on the Australian side, under Australia's Labor Government of Prime Minister Chifley.

As Chifley's foreign minister Herbert Vere ("Doc") Evatt said on the occasion of India's independence in 1947:

"Our geographical proximity and our common interest in the affairs of the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia naturally throw our lots closely together."

Australia has therefore long recognised that India's strategic importance to us extends well beyond the Indian Ocean.

In a publication by the Indian Council of World Affairs on regional security in 1948, Foreign Minister Evatt also wrote:

"In any approach to the problem of organising security in the Pacific, Australia naturally recognises the special position of India."

For his part, Nehru not only recognised Australia's role in Asia, he welcomed it.

Speaking at the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955, Nehru sent his greetings to us, saying, and I quote:

"Australia and New Zealand are almost in our region. They certainly do not belong to Europe, much less to America. They are next to us and I should like Australia and New Zealand to come nearer to Asia."

Since Nehru spoke those words, Australia over the decades has become an integral part of the region.

My central message to you today is that the Australian Government sees the strengthening of the Australia-India relationship as a natural extension of Nehru's original vision.

Furthermore, it is time we simply both got on with it.

And here I would like to become a blunt Australian, if you will forgive me.

For too long there has been a waxing and a waning interest between our two countries.

We keep rediscovering each other, only to then lose our way.

When Australian Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, addressed the Indian Council of World Affairs in September last year, he described our relationship like this, and I quote:

"Australia's past approach to India has been like a 20/20 cricket match: short bursts of enthusiasm followed by lengthy periods of inactivity."

But as the Foreign Minister also said, that 'period of fits and starts is over'.

This relationship is bigger, much bigger, than the classical "three c's" of cricket, the Commonwealth and a common language.

And the time has well and truly come to lift our vision.

To broaden our engagement.

And more than half a century later, to realise the ambitions of our political forebears.

Because together, there is much we can do for each other - and for the peace and prosperity of the region and the world.

As Prime Minister of Australia, my objective is to build a comprehensive, enduring strategic partnership between Australia and India that will not result in yet another false dawn.

The important economic and strategic links between Australia and India that our predecessors identified over half a century ago only continue to grow, making it never more opportune than now to cement a significant and lasting partnership for the 21st century.

It is on this that I would like to focus the remainder of my remarks:

• First, I would like to give you a brief sense of how I see Australia's place in the world in the context of India's changing place in the world;
• Second, I will summarise the scope I see for strengthening the bilateral relationship; and
• Third, I will outline where changing global and regional dynamics present even further scope for Australia and India to work together for mutual benefit.

Australia and India are no longer the countries of the 1940s.

We have both changed.

And with this change, our interests have come ever closer together.

I describe Australia as a middle power committed to the principles of creative middle-power diplomacy.

Meaning that we both have global and regional interests, and the resources, capabilities and outlook to prosecute these interests and to protect them.

Australia is the 14th largest economy in the world.

And the fourth largest in Asia after Japan, China and India.

We have the fourth largest pool of funds under management globally.

Our stock exchange is the second-largest in the region after Japan.

And we have a dynamic and resilient economy.

Australia was the only member of the 33-member OECD so far not to go into recession - but in fact grew - in the face of the Global Economic Crisis.

Of the world's nine remaining AA+ rated banks, four are Australian.

We have the lowest debt of all major advanced economies, and the second-lowest unemployment rate.

Australia has the 13th largest military budget worldwide, the fifth largest in Asia.

We are among the top 10 military contributors in Afghanistan, and the largest non-NATO contributor.

We have forces serving in 13 countries around the world.

Australia is now fundamentally enmeshed in Asia.

Seven of our top 10 export markets are in Asia.

Over 60 per cent of our exports go to Asian markets.

And last year close to 300,000 students from Asia came to study in Australia.

Australia is spearheading efforts in the Pacific region to secure stability and security for small island states, including our leading role in supporting the establishment of newly independent East Timor, stabilising the Solomon Islands and pressing for an early return to democracy in Fiji.

We are also a recognised and active player in confronting global challenges:

• first, through our membership - along with India - of the G20, we are members of the premier institution of global economic governance;
• second, through Australia playing a leading role in addressing the pressing global challenge of climate change, and
• third, through Australia's establishment - with Japan - of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament - which will deliver its seminal report in the months ahead.

Australia's society is also changing as our engagement with our region deepens.

Over the past few decades, Australia has transformed from a predominantly Anglo-Celtic society to a vibrant, multicultural community.

Our people speak more than 300 languages, with nearly one-third of our people having migrated to Australia since 1945.

Today close to half - 43 percent - of the Australian population was born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas.

So in summary, the Australia of the 21st Century is a modern, democratic, diverse and prosperous nation with both global and regional interests and pursuing an activist policy of international engagement in the prosecution of those interests.

For India's future, this audience is more familiar with the complexity of this narrative than any visiting Australian Prime Minister, but please allow me to present an Australian perspective.

India is emerging as a significant global power.

India is also a critical country in the region to which the centre of global strategic and economic weight for the century ahead is now shifting.

By 2030, India is projected to overtake China as having the world's largest population.

Economically, India looks set for steady, robust growth - with India's economy last year exceeding US$1 trillion.

Some forecast India will be the world's third-largest economy by 2025.

This comes from sustained economic reform, sound macro-economic management and rapidly growing international trade and investment - policies pioneered by your prime minister in the early 90s, which have dramatically lowered rates of poverty in India over the last 15 years.

India is also expanding its strategic reach and capabilities.

It is forging closer links with the United States and leaving a larger footprint across the Indian Ocean.
The Indian Navy is the fifth-largest in the world.

Globally, India is increasingly engaging in and exerting influence through the multilateral system - whether in the UN, G20, the East Asia Summit or beyond.

India is a confident, outward-looking power intent on securing its rightful place in the world through an active foreign policy firmly anchored in her national interests.

In short, India is going to play a more prominent role in shaping global and regional security and prosperity.
India is a democracy.

India's priority is economic growth.

India has deep and abiding commitment to regional peace.

As the balance of power in Asia shifts and evolves, these attributes will become even more important.

Australia seeks a region where the peace and prosperity of the last several decades continues into the future.

It is crucial that the shifts in economic power from west to east do not open the door to instability and conflict.

History teaches us that times of change in the distribution of global power can be potentially dangerous.

And this is why an India which is economically strong, an India anchored in the principles of pluralism and political democracy, an India deeply committed to the building of the global and regional institutions of cooperation is so important.

I strongly believe that Australia and India, as never before, are in a place where we have a great deal to offer each other.

And that it is in our mutual interests to maximise the opportunities this presents for our mutual advantage.

I envisage a strategic partnership with India where we can build a long-term comprehensive and integrated relationship that covers the economic, political, security and cultural spectrum.

I believe both our governments now recognise this potential.

If senior level visits are any guide, we have had a record 10 Indian Ministers visit Australia since early 2008.
Nine Australian Ministers have visited India in the same period.

I make up the 10 to equal the score.

So both our teams on the field of play are well deployed.

On the economic front, India is now Australia's fifth largest export market for goods and services, and is rapidly moving to become our third largest export market.

It is our fastest growing major merchandise export market.

This is built on a strong foundation of mineral and petroleum resources and energy.

But India is also now the sixth largest market for Australia's services, such as information and communications technology, education, tourism, finance, mining, construction and software development.

From India's point of view - as the world's fifth largest energy consumer - there is a real and growing interest in Australia as a reliable, cost-competitive and long-term supplier of energy.

I would like to see us forge a strong energy partnership.

We have made a strong start.

We are working together under five Action Plans in the areas of mines, coal, new and renewable energy, petroleum and natural gas and power.

Indian companies are also making significant investments in Australia.

In August, India's Petronet LNG signed a US$20 billion deal with Exxon-Mobil for the new Gorgon project in Western Australia.

This was the first long-term gas contract between our two nations.

I appreciate that there is one aspect of the energy relationship which remains unresolved: Australia's long-standing position on the export of uranium to countries that are not party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

This is not a policy directed at India.

It applies globally and it has since 1978 under different Australian Governments.

We have not sought to isolate India on critical nuclear policy concerns.

In fact the reverse is true.

Australia was an active supporter in the Nuclear Suppliers Group of lifting the nuclear moratorium against India following the US-India nuclear deal.

This reflected Australia's appreciation of India's non-proliferation record.

The government understands that India looks to the day when its ambitious civil nuclear energy program can include Australian uranium.

The strength of the India-Australia relationship is reflected in the capacity of both governments to work beyond this different policy approach.

And it still leaves plenty of room to build an enduring energy partnership at a time when growing competition for energy and energy resources places a premium on such a partnership.

On the broader trade and investment relationship, I welcome the imminent conclusion of the joint feasibility study on a prospective Free Trade Agreement between Australia and India.

I expect the study to recommend in favour of a bilateral FTA and look forward to launching negotiations soon after.
I look forward to building an open trade and investment relationship with India - as we pursue similar FTAs with the other major economies of the region including Japan, China and Korea.

This includes intensification of our collaboration in science and technology.

Today Australia and India will launch a $100 million collaboration project on science and technology.

Both our countries have strong traditions in the physical and life sciences and related technologies and I believe the potential in these fields is vast.

Whether related to strategic change in East Asia; combating terrorism (including in Afghanistan); ensuring maritime security; acting on transnational crimes including people smuggling; or working together on new security challenges such as natural disasters - there is great scope for security cooperation between our two countries to broaden further.

Our defence forces are intensifying cooperation, with over 50 activities last year including joint exercises, and in particular maritime exercises.

This year we also inaugurated regular defence talks between the chiefs of our defence forces, and strengthened intelligence and counter-terrorism cooperation.

I am committed to seeing this security cooperation strengthen between our two countries.

I believe this is in both our interests and the interest of long-term regional stability.

Another area of increasingly tapped potential is our people-to-people links.

Around 250,000 people of Indian heritage live in Australia, and we value the contribution they bring to our society, our economy, our nation.

Last year 115,000 Indian citizens visited Australia.

We also have close to 100,000 Indian students studying in our country, with India recently overtaking China to become the largest source of overseas students in Australia.

On current estimates, there is a shortfall of 1.6 million university places in India and this gap is increasing, making our partnership in this area increasingly important to meet the education needs of Indian students.

As you all probably know, there has been recent controversy over a series of attacks on Indian students in Australia.

As Prime Minister of Australia, I am deeply disturbed and disgusted by attacks of violence against any foreign students studying in our country as our guests.

They have been criminal attacks targeting Indian students for the little money they earn to support their studies.

These attacks will not be tolerated.

They will be dealt with by the full force of the Australian law enforcement and criminal justice systems.

The Australian Government is working with all our state governments to make sure everything is done to protect overseas students and make their experience in Australia a positive one.

The Australian Government is committed to doing its utmost to guarantee that the sons and daughters Indian parents entrust to the care of the Australian community remain safe and come home with a valuable education and wonderful memories.

No government can guarantee that no acts of violence will occur.

But let us calmly work together to deal with future challenges as they arise.

I would like to end today by focusing on what I see as the growing scope for Australia and India to work together on global and regional challenges.

We are now less than 30 days away from the 15th Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen.

This meeting is an historic opportunity to tackle perhaps the greatest environmental challenge of our time.

This is not a challenge that any country can meet alone.

Leadership from major emerging countries - especially India - will be essential if we are to see a global deal on climate change in Copenhagen in December.

Already India has made significant domestic commitments through its National Action Plan on Climate Change.

The plan is an ambitious set of actions across energy efficiency, solar power and forestry.

The world was encouraged and inspired by Prime Minister Singh's statement made at the New York UN Summit that India is willing to quantify its emission reductions and contribute to the global goal of reducing emissions.

And today I am looking forward to building on our bilateral climate change cooperation between, including through the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute and the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP).

The global economy of today is more inter-connected, complex and interdependent than ever before.

There is no better illustration of this fact than the way in which the recent financial crisis in the US quickly spread to the UK, Europe and then the rest of the world, causing the global economic crisis and the first contraction in the global economy since IMF records began.

The lesson of this crisis has been that in our inter-connected world, cooperation is vital.

One of the most important challenges for Australia this year has been working with India and others in the G20 to frame and implement a global policy response to the gravest economic crisis we have confronted since the great depression.

The G20 brings together economies representing:

• around 90 per cent of global market capitalisation;
• around 85 per cent of global GDP;
• around 80 per cent of global trade; and
• more than two-thirds of the world's population.

The G20 also draws together:

• five countries from the Americas;
• five from Asia;
• five from Europe; and
• five from elsewhere, including South Africa, Russia and Australia.

Critically it includes India and China which, between them, will shape the pattern of history in the 21st century.

In this, you are seeing a rebalancing of global architecture to reflect new global economic and strategic realities.

This is something that Australia strongly supports, and we played a key role in pressing for this rebalancing, including through leading G20 work on IMF reform, to better reflect the growing economic weight of emerging economies such as India.

Throughout this year, we in the G20 have taken decisions on:

• global financial stimulus;
• a global framework for toxic asset management within banks;
• the resourcing of the IMF to deal with any future institutional collapses;
• the implementation of extensive financial sector reforms; and
• measures against trade protectionism.

The IMF has estimated that actions stemming from the London G20 Summit in March this year actually cushioned the global economy which had been in virtual freefall since the preceding September.

At the G20 Pittsburgh Summit in September, we agreed on a series of measures to shore up sustained and balanced global economic growth into the future, and to entrench the G20 as the world's premier economic forum.

In all this, Australia and India are working together as never before on matters that affect the wellbeing of literally everyone on this planet.

I look forward to working with India on this great global endeavour.

Finally, Australia and India should be natural partners in the Asia-Pacific.

We both have long-established, significant and growing interests in this region.

We have a shared vision in seeing habits of cooperation - and not conflict - develop, as the centre of economic and strategic gravity shifts to this region over coming decades.

This is why we so strongly support Indian participation in all the key regional forums.

Such as the East Asia Summit.

Such as the ASEAN Regional Forum.

And that is why we support India's membership of APEC.

It is also why I see India as central to Australia's proposal for an Asia-Pacific Community by 2020.

In proposing this initiative I am guided by a simple but deep conviction.

That we can act to shape a future that we want to have.

Or be passive as the future shapes us in ways we wish it never had.

The challenge of the Asia-Pacific is to manage the inevitable stresses and strains of shifting economic and strategic contours.

The Asia Pacific is where the big power relationships most closely intersect.

It is the crucible where the relationships among the US, India, China, Japan and Russia are forged.

It is here also that the template for the US-China relationship will emerge and where the complementary and competitive interests of the major powers will need to be managed, harmonised and reconciled.

We need strong regional engagement and a strong regional mechanism to ensure that strategic cooperation rather than friction - or worse, strategic polarisation - prevails.

Nobody wants a strategic fault line through Asia.

Nor should anybody see such a fault line as inevitable.

We also need a strong mechanism to deal with the host of other pressures that will come to bear in the Asia-Pacific such as:

• increasing potential for regional strategic and territorial competition;
• competition for scarce resources;
• the challenges of pollution, energy security, counter-terrorism, people smuggling and climate change; and
• the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

There is also the continued challenge of strengthening regional economic integration in increasingly interdependent regional economies.

I would like to see an Asia Pacific Community evolve with the ability to address this spectrum of economic, political and security challenges.

At present, none of the current regional institutions do this.

There is growing regional recognition of this fact.

And there is growing interest in discussing the creation of the right mechanism to help manage what will be an increasingly crowded strategic landscape.

This discussion will continue at a conference Australia is hosting in early December in Sydney, and I look forward to strong Indian participation.

Australia and India are heavily engaged on many levels across the economic, political, security and other spheres.
We are both pluralist democracies.

We are both significant economies.

We are both globally engaged.

We both seek to forge our national wealth through open economies.

And we both want to see the stability of Asia underpinned by principles of open regionalism, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and the creation of multilateral institutions that engender strategic confidence and transparency.

Ours is a relationship growing fast but with much room to grow further.

We should seize the opportunities that our converging interests create.

Now is the time to broaden and deepen this relationship.

To develop the structural linkages across our economies which will serve us well in the long term.

To build our shared strategic interests in Asia and the Indian Ocean.

To reinvigorate the way we work together in multilateral forums.

And to use the ties of migration, education, cultural exchange and tourism to broaden the engagement between our two societies.

This is why I want to see us be ambitious in the relationship.

To forge a genuine strategic partnership underpinned by strong economic, energy and security frameworks that deliver lasting mutual benefits for our peoples and for the peoples of this great region of the 21st century - Asia.
To conclude, where I began, with Prime Minister Nehru who concluded his remarks at that 1947 conference on Asia's future as follows:

"We meet here not to discuss our past history and contacts but to forge links for the future.

...

"There is a new vitality and powerful creative impulse in all the peoples of Asia...Strong winds are blowing all over Asia. Let us not be afraid of them but rather welcome them for only with their help can we build the new Asia of our dreams."

Somewhat less profoundly perhaps, Prime Minister Nehru reflected elsewhere his view that:

"Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will".

This perhaps has a particular resonance for our two great nations as together we seek to shape our region's future.

Australia and India have been dealt highly complementary hands.

And now we have the choice to make the best of them.

And I believe we shall.
 

2009-11-15

Interview

PM: Good morning everybody, I will make few remarks about Afghanistan and India then throw open to you if that is ok. Yesterday I visited Afghanistan. This was my third visit to Afghanistan as Prime Minister. It was both a privilege and an honour to spend time with the Australia troops on the ground and to spend some with time with them overnight as well. I thanked them on behalf of the Government and the Australian people for their service to the country, in what is a very difficult and dangerous operating environment.

Australia owes all our troops on the ground a debt of gratitude. Every day they are fighting to ensure that Afghanistan has a future, a future based on stability, a future based on that county's ability to provide security to its people and also to fight to ensure that that country does not become again a safe haven for terrorists such as those who undertook terrorist attacks in September 2001.

I was also in Afghanistan for Remembrance Day. Remembrance Day is a solemn day for all Australians. It is a solemn day in many countries around the world. It is particularly solemn when you are participating in Remembrance Day ceremonies in a theatre of war in which Australia is engaged. It takes on a special significance, particularly given the number of Australians who have lost their lives in Australia's service in that country.

While I was in Tarin Kowt, I also had the opportunity of spending several hours with General McChrystal, who is the commander of all ICAT forces in Afghanistan.

General McChrystal was able to brief me on the overall strategic situation in Afghanistan, the challenges of providing security, building governance as well as delivering development assistance in the face of what is a growing insurgency threat, particularly in the south of the country.

General McChrystal and I discussed with the Australian Defence minister, Senator Faulkner the particular importance of Oruzgan Province in that context. General McChrystal had nothing but praise for the performance of Australian troops in the field. He particularly had praise also for our embedded officers working in his command headquarters in Kabul, and for our Australians working in command headquarters of General Rodriguez, the joint operational command in Kabul, as well as those who are within the command operations in Kandahar in the south.

General McChrystal and others commented to me, that the training function being performed by Australian troops on the ground for the Afghan National Army is absolutely first class, and represents the way in which this training should be done. That is, training with the ANA, Afghan National Army, in the field, on active operations. This is a model for the way in which training, well broadly, needs to be undertaken for the Afghan National Army in the future.

I also received briefings from Major General Mark Kelly on the specific activities of our mentoring program of the Afghan National Army, in country, the reconstruction efforts being undertaken by the reconstruction task force as well as the particular operation with our special forces.

I also met with representatives of the civilian component of our commitment led by our Ambassador in Kabul and the governor of Oruzgan Province and the Minister for (inaudible) and rehabilitation and development. I also had the opportunity to speak directly on the telephone with President Karzai concerning our future cooperation with his government on the development task and the security task within his country.

Our forces on the ground have achieved real success since the last time I visited there at the end of last year. Specifically our forces have significantly disrupted insurgent networks in Oruzgan. The perimeter within which they operate has now expanded compared with where we were twelve months ago and this of course has not been achieved without sacrifice.

Also, the increased training now being provided by Afghan battalions as part of the raising of the fourth brigade of the Afghan National Army is proceeding and training has began of the third Afghan kandak, that is, an Afghan battalion as part of the fourth brigade.

On the infrastructure front, we have completed important infrastructure projects including the rebuilding of schools, of medical centres, of roads, of bridges as well as barracks for Afghan troops. Also through the activity of the trades training centre at the base at Tarin Kowt, we are also providing active training for hundreds of trades people who are now out there working on projects which have been delivered by Australia and other forms of national development assistance. In other words, those who are trained with skills are now out there working as contractors, obtaining work to build projects. So it is not just the construction of projects it's also the employment opportunities which have arisen as a result.

Our mission in Afghanistan remains difficult and it remains very dangerous. I would not wish to underestimate the challenges which lie ahead particularly given the challenges arising from the deepening and growing insurgency threat on the part of the Taliban in the southern part of the country.

I've made it clear on many occasions that Australia is in Afghanistan for the long haul. I reiterated that statement when I was in Afghanistan. I reiterated that statement also in my discussions with General McChrystal.

Turning to India, today in India I'll be meeting with President Patil, Vice President Ansari, the Minister for the Environment, the President of the Congress Party, Sonia Gandhi as well as spending discussions this evening, and dinner this evening, with Prime Minister Singh and other Indian Government Ministers.
 

India is a fundamentally important relationship for Australia. It is so strategically, it is so economically. India already is Australia's fourth largest trading partner. Our exports here, grew 65 per cent in 2008 -09 over the previous year. India is also expected to be the world's third largest economy by 2030. Therefore we are dealing with a major regional and global economic powerhouse of the future. Our challenge is to deepen and broaden our relationship and engagement with India for the long term.

This visit of mine to India comes on top of recent visits by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Immigration Minister and the Trade Minister. There have been, in the period that the Government has been in office, some ten Indian ministerial visits to Australia. There have been nine from Australia to India, this marks the tenth in our direction. This represents a deepening intensity of the two-way relationship.

Australia's and India's interests are converging. Our economies are increasingly complimentary. This country also represents a model in terms of how democracies operate in the developing world. Representing, as it does, the world's largest democracy. We also work with India, not just bi-laterally, but regionally and globally. Regionally of course, with the East-Asian summit, globally through the G20 and through the United Nations.

We're also working closely with India both through the United Nations and the G20 deliberations on climate change. We're also working actively of course, with the Indians on the whole challenge of global economic response to the global financial crisis. This has been an important and growing general relationship at the global and regional level.

Finally, we have also, together with our friends in India, indicated that we'll be expanding in particular, overall cooperation when it comes to science and technology. We the Australian Government will be investing some $50 million over five years of increased funding for the Australia/ India strategic research fund. India will be replicating that funding from its own direction as well.

These research projects will concentrate on a range of priority areas including renewable energy, agricultural research and vaccines. In addition Australia is investing in $1 million in a joint solar cooling project and increasing our existing investment to $20 million over five years for research in to dry-land farming through the Australian centre for international agriculture research. In so many areas India and Australia are natural partners.

I conclude by saying this - in many respects the Australia/ India relationship in previous decades has been something of stop-start. There has been something in the Australia/ India relationship of on-again, off-again. This is of no particular responsibility to any Australian government that preceded the one that I lead or is it the responsibility of the previous Indian government. It's a reflection of the facts. Therefore our challenge for the future, given we are engaging such a strategically important country as India and an economy of such regional and global weight as India. To turn this stop-start relationship in the past into one which is on a deeper, broader, comprehensive, strategic basis for the future.

In my private discussions with Mr Singh, that has been our common resolve and we have reflected on this in many discussions in G20 and other meetings around the world over the last year or two. The purpose of this visit to India today is to consolidate that and take the relationship forward on a comprehensive, sustainable and strategic level for the future across all fields.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, it is now our eighth year in Afghanistan, you talk of a (inaudible) for the long haul (inaudible) twice as long as the Second World War. You've just written another blank cheque haven't you?

PM: No. I've simply reiterated what I've said already to the Australian public at home. Which is we are in Afghanistan for the long haul. Secondly, I've reiterated to General McChrystal and of course our partners in Afghanistan, our mission statement. What's our mission statement? To help train the Afghan National Army and specifically the battalion constituent parts of the fourth brigade of the Afghan National Army so in time we can transfer security for the province of Oruzgan to the Afghan National Army.

Secondly, supplementing that, with intense training efforts now being undertaken by the Australian Federal Police and others in Tarin Kowt at the Afghan national police force. Already our training officers from the AFP have graduated more than 450 Afghan national police trainers from the police training college located within our base there.

The third element is of course, providing a viable economic future for the province itself and in my discussions yesterday with the Governor of the province, the Governor of Oruzgan. We will be deepening our development assistance relationship with Afghanistan and province in terms of building that third leg of our engagement.

What is our mission? Our mission is to transfer responsibility for the security, for the policing and the civilian administration of that province to the Afghan people, at the conclusion of our mission. That will take time. I've been upfront with the Australian people at home about this and said it will require us being there for the long haul and what I said yesterday reiterated that.

JOUNALIST: Prime Minister (inaudible) in light of the imminent withdrawal of the Dutch (inaudible) And seeing we are in India, do you think it's time that these emerging regional powerhouses like India and China stepped up to the plate and started to contribute to the major security concerns in the region and put some boots on the ground in Afghanistan?

PM: Let me take the first part of your question which concerns the future of, sorry I got distracted, what's the first part of your question about security?

JOURNALIST: The Dutch.

PM: The Dutch. That's right. There is a complex debate underway in The Hague at the moment, concerning the Dutch parliament and concerning the Dutch coalition government. I last night spoke with Prime Minister Balkenende of the Netherlands about that. This is a difficult debate in his country and of course we in Australia and our American allies would want to see the Netherlands have a longer term role.

Secondly, we appreciate the fact that we have worked closely with the Dutch up until now and they have been great partners. In fact the last time I travelled to Afghanistan, because of weather conditions, Dutch apache helicopters transported us from Kandahar into Tarin Kowt and their support with so many of our operations has been very good.

Thirdly, obviously there are real problems with the rising Taliban insurgency in the south of the country. What does the south of the country mean? Provinces like Kandahar, provinces (inaudible) provinces like also the northern periphery of those provinces, Oruzgan. I wish to be very frank about the depth of the challenge which lies ahead, but equally frank about the importance of reflecting a common resolve on the part of the allies of the United States and the partners of the Afghanistan government that we will not leave that country in the lurch. That we will be with that country for the long haul.

It is in Australia's national interest that we don't not surrender it again to be a training ground for terrorists. Let us reflect on the fact that it has not been one since the Afghanistan war of 2001-02.

On the second part which is about China and India. My understanding from previous discussions with the Afghanistan government is that China is now running a development assistance program with the Afghanistan government. India, I understand is also enhancing its diplomatic and development assistance profile in that country.

On the question of which countries contribute what by way of military effort, of course that's a call for those individual countries. My concern, as Prime Minister of Australia, is to work effectively with the assets we have on the ground with our allies and partners in that country and very closely of course with the United States.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you (inaudible) the warmest spirit of the Hawke and Keating governments economic reforms. What does it say about your stomach for reform, that you've been unable to cut through the vested interests of the publishing industry to deliver cheaper books for Australia?

PM: It means that the 27 of areas of micro-economic reform which we've agreed through the Council Australian of Governments proceed apace. Including for the first time, reforms such as, a common approach to occupational health and safety across all governments. A reform which all previous Australian governments have regarded as too hard, too difficult to even touch. We're embracing that and we've made significant progress on it and in other areas.
On the question of the book industry, obviously it's a controversial debate in Australia and once which actually also goes to the heart of Australian culture as well. Difficult decision, I fully support the decision of the Australian Cabinet. Furthermore can I say, when it comes to our micro-economic reform agenda, it is vast, it is comprehensive. It's across the entire regulatory agenda of the Commonwealth and the states. It is proceeding at pace.

If you speak to those who follow these debates closely, including the Business Council of Australia, they cannot point to a previous time in Australian economic history when there has not been a more intensive effort across so many regulatory reform measures between the Australian and state governments.

Remember, the call us at the 2020 Summit by the Australian business community was to create a seamless national economy, to undertake fundamental review and reform of the Australian taxation system, the first in a quarter of a century, in order to produce a tax system which is suits our designs in the 21st century. Our reform agenda proceeds apace.

(inaudible)

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister do you think the issue of uranium (inaudible) Prime Minister Singh (inaudible)

PM: On this question, remember that Australia worked very closely with the Government of India and the Government of the United States in obtaining the support of the nuclear suppliers group so that India could obtain, shall I say, the supply of inputs to its own nuclear program from around the world. We worked actively and constructively with New Delhi on that. We did so, I've got say, in close concert with the then Bush administration. We also worked in close concert with other countries around the world, some of whom had reservations about that action.

On the question of bilateral uranium sales, can I say that our policy remains governed by the provisions of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. That has been the case in the past. The Non-Proliferation Treaty and our policy in relation to it, as underpinning our attitude to uranium sales is not targeted at any individual country. It has been long-standing Australian Government policy.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible)

PM: The relationship which we have with the Indonesian Government is a very, very good relationship, and together with President Yudhoyono and others, we work through a range of difficult security challenges every day of the week, most of which never make it to the front pages of any newspaper in the world, or in Australia. And these go to the whole breadth of counter-terrorism and go to the whole breadth of people smuggling, the whole breadth of all the other international criminal activities in which we're engaged, quite apart from our expanding border security cooperation.

In relation to this specific vessel, can I just say this, consistent with what I've said in Australia, no protests, no threats of protest, no threats of hunger strikes, no hunger strikes, will cause the Australian Government to change its policy on border protection. Can I say in addition to that that we, therefore, will work through this, as we have done with other challenges in the past and will do so in the future - calmly, methodically, and we're doing so in close cooperation with our Indonesian partners.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you say you want (inaudible) Isn't that saying that NATO (inaudible) south of the country, and following on from that, your meeting with General McChrystal, do you share not only his view that (inaudible) more troops, but without naming a number (inaudible)?

PM: Firstly, given the density of the security challenge in Afghanistan, including the mounting Taliban insurgency in the south of the country, it follows that General McChrystal has made certain recommendations about enhancing the global military effort in Afghanistan, including recommendations to his own Government. How President Obama responds to the McChrystal report is a matter for the Government of the United States of America. I think it is important for all countries around the world to reflect on their contributions to Afghanistan.

Remember, what this Government did in March of this year was increase our own troop commitment by some 40 percent. We are now actively taking on broad training responsibilities for raising an Afghan army brigade. That is necessary to fulfil our mission. It's a necessary precondition also for Australia exiting that country.

Secondly, you ask the question about the intensity of the insurgency threat in the south.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible)

PM: Can I just say this: I want to be blunt with the Australian people about the depth of the challenge we face. I see no point at all about gilding the lily and just saying that this is going to be some walkover. It will not be. However, the task of all countries, including ours, is to not leave our friends and partners in the lurch. It is to stay for the long haul.

Plainly, there has been a mounting insurgency in the south of the country. That is true. We simply however, have two alternatives in response to that fact. One is to turn tail and run. The second is to confront the challenge. Australia is on the side of those who confront the challenge.

JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd, can you elaborate on the conversation with your Dutch counterpart. Did you actually put a request in for the Dutch to stay (inaudible) The Traveston Dam decision, is that a rebuff to Anna Bligh?

PM: I can't see the connection between your two questions, but I'll work one up (inaudible). I flew over some dams recently in Afghanistan. Extraordinary landscape, that country.

Can I just add one, sort of, end to that question which you've raised before I go to the two that you had put. You know, there's a lot of hard things happening out there in Afghanistan, really hard things, but each time you speak to our troops coming back from operations, it's pretty inspiring, what they are actually achieving on the ground. I mean, genuinely inspiring stuff. Lots of basic courage, lots of real heroism, and making real changes on the ground.

Our achievements in Oruzgan Province have been, frankly, against Afghan national standards, quite outstanding. And there are bits of good news which emerge as well. I mean, to be able to sit down yesterday and with General McChrystal have an active conversation with Sabi the dog, this is Trooper Donaldson's dog, who is, I don't know if you're across this story, but it's just quite remarkable.

This dog has been missing for 14 months, since the incident in which Trooper Donaldson was subsequently awarded his Victoria Cross, and then Sabi, as I'm advised, then was taken by the other side, and then Americans subsequently found Sabi and Sabi has been returned to Tarin Kowt. And now it'll be working with AQIS and others to ensure Sabi's eventual return to Australia. I fear AQIS may be the greatest challenge.

Can I just say, things like that, they may seem small, but in fact the symbolism is quite strong. The symbolism of it is us, out there, doing a job. We haven't awarded any Australian a Victoria Cross for 40 years. Trooper Donaldson stands out there as an Australian hero, and now his dog, Sabi, back home in one piece. A genuinely nice pooch as well.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible)

PM: (inaudible) interpretation for General McChrystal. Now, back to your points about the Dutch, well, I'd better conclude soon, and Traveston.

Look, I had a good conversation with Jan Peter Balkenende last night. We know each other well, we're good friends. But as you would expect, in any diplomatic conversation, I don't go to its content. We have stated in the past that we would our friends in the Netherlands to remain with us in some form or another for the long term, with us in Afghanistan. There's nothing new in that, but I won't go to the detail of the conversation with Prime Minister Balkenende last night.

On the question of Traveston, I have said consistently, for a long, long time, that Minister Garrett, as he's required under the EPBC Act, would make an independent, unfettered decision based on the environmental merits of the matter put before him. He's already provided as I'm advised, in his statement an indication of his decision. I understand that there's a formal requirement of the Act that there be a further process which ensues. Therefore I don't wish to comment on the substance of his decision, other than I have every confidence, as I've said in the past, that the Minister is properly discharging his functions under the Act.

I'm actually late for something, so can I just take one here, and one there, but it's got to be quick, OK?

JOURNALIST: The ABC (inaudible)

PM: Can I just say on that I would really prefer to be further briefed. I've been actively engaged on a few other matters in recent times, so I'd actually rather get fully briefed before answering that one, if that's OK.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) back to the Oceanic Viking issue, and (inaudible) offering settlement processing in a month. Now, that's actually much better than people who get on Christmas Island. Why would (inaudible)

PM: Can I say firstly, on the contents of the document you refer to, I am not fully briefed. I got in here late last night. Secondly, normal resettlement processes, consistent with the UNHCR would apply. In terms of timeframes, my understanding, in various circumstances around the world, those timeframes vary between shorter and longer. The specifics concerning this particular exchange with those on board I am not familiar with. I'm confident they'd be consistent with overall UNHCR processes.

Folks, having said that, I've really got to zip (inaudible)
 

2009-11-15

Speech

I am delighted to be here today in New Delhi.

I would have been equally delighted to have been in Mumbai last night at the DY Patel Stadium.

But alas the weather gods intervened.

India shares many passions with Australia, one of them being our collective celebration of cricket.

We share a passion for the game.

But in my case, there has never been a correlation between passion on the one hand and ability on the other.

You will be surprised to learn however that I have played against India before.

At least as a member of the Australian embassy team in Peking against the Indian embassy team.

My highest score was 11 not out.

We Australians always feared the Indian quicks and we feared that the reason India regularly beat us at the Temple of Heaven Ground was out belief that on the eve of each of the games, Indian MEA would fly in its best talent from Delhi.

At least that's my excuse for failure on the field - 11 not out.

But, as someone who can recognise great talent when I see it, I congratulate Sachin Tendulkar on achieving the outstanding milestone of 17,000 One-Day International runs.

From one cricket mad nation to another, we salute the 'Little Master'.

I'm advised his young teammate Yuvraj Singh has started calling the 36 year old 'grandfather' (where that places 52 year old like me, I'm not sure).

And may I say on behalf of all Australian cricket fans that if Sachin does decide it is time to retire, we would support him wholeheartedly.

Of course there is more to life than cricket.

Another of our shared passions is exploring new opportunities for business collaboration.

Looking out to this diverse audience - business leaders, senior officials and commentators from all corners of the private and public sectors - I am struck by the extent of common Australian and Indian commercial interests.

I am also reminded of the central role business will play in elevating our countries' bilateral partnership.

Our venue today - The Taj Mahal Hotel - is a testament to this.

I am told this hotel is owned by the renowned Tata Group.

It takes shrewd leadership to preserve and build a business group from one generation to the next.

But it takes remarkable ability to sustain such a business over not one but five generations.

This is exactly what the Tata family has achieved over the past 140 years, making it a pillar of the Indian business community - and also 32 years older than the Australian constitution!

It is a great compliment to Australian business that the Tata Group has decided to partner with Australian companies in fields as diverse as coated steel production, long-haul logistics and retail electronics.

These partnerships demonstrate the power of entrepreneurialism: when we join commercial vision with complementary capacity, the possibilities are endless.

The same is true of the Australian-Indian economic relationship as a whole.

In the past 18 months, business men and women around the world have together faced the worst financial collapse in three quarters of a century.

We all know the figures - the global economy is forecast to contract by 1.1 per cent in 2009 - the first contraction since IMF records began.

This is the deepest global recession in three-quarters of a century and very few countries have escaped the downturn.

From this crisis, one startling fact has become apparent: our economies are more interconnected and interdependent now than ever before.

The economic crisis is, at its core, a crisis of globally interconnected credit markets.

While it started in the US, UK and Europe, the financial and trade impacts quickly spread to the rest of the world.

No nation was immune to the downturn.

But while our interdependence exposes us to great risk, it also creates great potential.

Our coordinated response to the global economic crisis - driven by the G20 in which Australia and India are active- has highlighted the benefits of cooperation.

It reminds us that global solutions to crises are through collective determination and action rather than insular policies.
It has provided the strongest signal yet that the global economy has entered a new - though fragile - phase of recovery.

But Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned that the early recovery won't be robust enough to prevent the unemployment rate — now at a 26-year high of 10.2 per cent — continuing to rise in the months ahead.

So while there is tentative talk of recovery, it is still a long way off.

The recovery will be slow and complex.

IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard, writing in the IMF's magazine, warned that this recession is not normal.

Sustaining any recovery will require delicate rebalancing acts, both within and across countries.

As he rightly observes, and I quote:

".... the world is not in a run-of-the mill recession. The turnaround will not be simple. The crisis has left deep scars, which will affect both supply and demand for many years to come."

Global economic activity, driven by the strong performance of Asian economies such as India and China, still remains below pre-crisis levels.

Private consumption and investment are needed to sustain this recovery.

This requires a smooth transition from government-supported demand to private-led demand.

We also need to unwind the global imbalances that led us into this crisis.

And this is why forums such as this are critical for progressing the conversation between governments and with businesses on how we can build long-term, sustainable growth for the future.

My message to the global community is simple: we're all in this together, and we're all in this for the long haul.

So what does Australia have to bring to the table?

• Strong fundamentals;
• A stable, prosperous economy; and
• An ongoing economic policy reform agenda.

Like India, the Australian economy has weathered the global recession better than most:

• our economy grew in the June quarter at 0.6 per cent, making it the fastest-growing advanced economy in the past year and the only advanced economy to have reported positive through-the-year growth to June 2009; and
• while every Major Advanced Economy has fallen into recession, Australia so far has not.
• But still, as the slight rise in our unemployment rate to 5.8 per cent today underlines, Australia is by no means out of the woods, yet - as we still face such a fundamentally uncertain global economic outlook.

Australia is a significant economy.

We are the 14th largest economy in the world.

By market exchange rates, Australia is the fourth largest economy in Asia - after Japan, China and India, and the fourteenth largest in the world.

We have the second lowest unemployment rate when compared with the Major Advanced Economies.

Our public finances are sound, with Standard and Poor's reaffirming our AAA sovereign rating.

According to the OECD, Australia is projected to have a lower deficit in 2010 than any of the Major Advanced Economies.

We also have the lowest debt of all the Major Advanced Economies, with government net debt projected to peak at 10 per cent of GDP in 2013.

Australia is globally acknowledged for our resilient banking system and strong prudential and regulatory regimes:

• Of the world's nine remaining AA plus rated banks, four are Australian; and
• The percentage of nonperforming bank-to-bank loans in Australia is among the lowest in the world.

The strength of our banking system reflects a strong set of regulatory arrangements and a smart industry model.

Most significantly, Australia prides itself as a good place to do business.

In its 2009 survey, IMD rated Australia as one of the four most resilient economies globally, and the strongest in our region.

The World Bank ranked Australia as one of the most business-friendly economies in the world, offering a business environment that is both stable and flexible.

And our corporate governance environment has also been ranked first by - based on measures like:

• The transparency of our business and regulatory culture;
• The power and rights our shareholders enjoy; and
• The interaction between Government and business.

When coupled with a deep, mature financial sector, Australian Government reforms to drive productivity growth and low debt and deficit levels by any global standards, Australia offers a safe and rewarding environment to conduct 21st century business.

Economic reform has set Australia on a path of sustainable growth, as have the reforms set in train in India back in 1991.

The impacts of these reforms are palpable.

India's strategic weight and the structure of its economy have seen it withstand the impacts of the global economic crisis better than most.

India has managed an impressive six per cent growth at a time when few other economies have managed any growth at all.

India has truly emerged as a central pillar of regional and global economic strength and significance.

In 2010 almost 90 per cent of global growth will come from emerging economies; and

By 2014 the IMF projects that emerging Asian economies will contribute to half of world GDP growth, of which 10 per cent will come from India.

But the great upswing in India's growth does not end there.

By 2030, India will have the world's largest population and be the third largest economy.

When combined with advances in technology, education, services, resources and security, all of this equates to one thing - opportunity.

Opportunities for Indian citizens domestically and abroad.

Opportunities for stronger regional growth and cooperation.

And opportunities for stronger commercial links between Australia and India.

When it comes to encouraging greater commercial cooperation with India, the Australian Government means business.

India is already Australia's fastest growing major two-way trading partner - trade in goods was worth nearly $18 billion in 2008-09.

Our services exports to India are growing - $2.9 billion in 2008.

As is our foreign direct investment relationship, albeit off a low base.

One important part of our relationship is of course the large number of Indian students who come to Australia - nearly one-fifth of the half a million students who come to our country.

These students represent the future of Indian and Australian business - and those who study together, stick together.

And the Australian Government is committed to doing all that is physically responsible to ensure all international students in Australia have a safe and rewarding experience during their time as welcome guests in our nation.

Indian students are welcome guests in our country and we have an obligation to extend the hand of friendship and support to all our Indian visitors.

When we look at the wider economic relationship between our two countries, I am firmly of the view that we can do more.

India is a dynamic and diversified economy with an acknowledged infrastructure deficit and challenges in meeting the growing food and energy needs of its burgeoning population.

Australia is a resource-rich country with a relatively small domestic market but a number of compelling comparative advantages, particularly in energy and resources.

India is itself richly endowed with many mineral and energy resources.

And so there is significant potential for reciprocal investment in our resource sectors.

Mining exports are already the largest component of our bilateral trade.

Some of Australia's biggest companies - Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton - have strong and enduring bonds with India.

Meanwhile, Indian investors in Australia such as NRE Coke are helping Australian resources reach Indian markets.
In August this year, India's Petronet LNG signed a 20-year agreement with Exxon Mobil Australia, securing the supply of 1.5 million tonnes of LNG per annum from Australia's Gorgon field.

This is the first of what I hope will be many strategic energy deals.

Likewise in the agricultural sector, Australia and India have much to gain from each other.

Australia can meet domestic shortfalls in Indian production.

And there are opportunities for two-way trade in seasonal items on a counter-seasonal basis.

One area of cooperation that I am particularly excited about is the prospect of new technologies to support green growth.

New and renewable energy is critical to our broader efforts to address climate change.

India is a founding member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute established by Australia to advance commercialisation of important climate technologies.

The Australia-India Strategic Research Fund - Australia's largest bilateral science fund - has also strengthened the ties between our best and brightest scientists.

Together, we can work to develop and trial commercially viable sources of renewable energy and low-carbon growth.

Of course, the commercial opportunities I have outlined today would be greatly strengthened through an Australia-India Free Trade Agreement.

An FTA which is truly liberalising across all sectors, and consistent with our multilateral trading objectives, would enhance our trading relationship.

Experience has shown us that greater ambition in an FTA means greater rewards.

I firmly believe that a comprehensive, commercially-meaningful FTA between Australia and India could deliver substantial new market access for exporters and investors, and open up job opportunities in both countries.

And this is good news for us all.

The feasibility study into an FTA between our two countries is nearly complete, and I expect it to recommend in favour of commencing FTA negotiations soon - something I strongly support.

Our growing commercial links are already being reinforced through greater cooperation between Australia and India on the world stage.

The designation of the G20 as the premier forum for global economic cooperation was an historic occasion for India and Australia.

It also endorses the success of G20 in coordinating a global response to the economic crisis.

And it reaffirms the central role of key emerging economies - particularly India - as the engine of global growth.

But complacency is not an option.

The ultimate success of the G20 forum rests in implementation of its important agenda.

G20 leaders recognised that a strong, stable and balanced global economy relies on:

1. strengthened financial regulation;
2. representative, legitimate and well-resourced international financial institutions;
3. an open trading system;
4. strong labour markets; and
5. support for those most in need.

And I am pleased to say that Australia and India are working together to address these five key challenges.

I firmly believe the G20 is the right forum for the future.

We know what the global economic challenges are.

And these impact on our countries and our region.

The challenge going forward is how we ensure our region is playing its part in the global economic agenda.

I welcome the recognition by EAS Leaders at their October Summit of the need to initiate an EAS Finance Ministers' process.

This is an important step towards greater economic cooperation in the region.

We must learn from the past.

As Bob Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group, said in September, and I quote:

"Today's upheaval did not occur from nowhere. The seeds were planted earlier."

And we must look to the future.

We have the economic potential and commercial creativity to build on our existing commercial links.

Governments have a responsibility in unlocking this economic potential, and this is one of the key challenges I will be discussing with Prime Minister Singh.

But that's only part of the story.

Business leaders have an important role in recognising commercial opportunities and pursuing them - whether they are in Mumbai or Melbourne.

That's why I'm delighted that our Trade and Commerce Ministers have agreed to establish a CEO forum to bring together the business elites of our two countries to discuss opportunities and impediments to greater economic cooperation.

And I look forward to reading their recommendations in 2010 on what governments can do.

After all, enhancing commercial cooperation between our two countries is a central pillar of the Australia-India strategic partnership and an opportunity to bring our countries closer together.

This is an opportunity we just can't pass up.

2009-11-15

Interview

MITCHELL: Prime Minister, Mr Rudd, good morning.

PM: Good morning, Neil. I'd go for Clint Eastwood.

MITCHELL: Would you?

PM: Yeah, I'm just an old fan.

MITCHELL: You a Clint Eastwood fan, are you?

PM: I've watched most of the dreadful Westerns that Clint Eastwood's been in, so, no, I think he'd pull a crowd.

MITCHELL: What was your favourite?

PM: Oh, don't ask me. I just think he's been a lot of fun out there in Western land for a long period of time. He's come to be the cowboy from central casting.

MITCHELL: Now, serious business - in Delhi, I know you've been raising the question of the attacks on Indian students in Australia. The local media in Delhi has been critical that you haven't apologised. I mean, do you apologise for the attacks on those students?

PM: Well, what I said here, bluntly, Neil, last night, is that as Prime Minister of the country I accept responsibility for the enforcement of our law enforcement system, but frankly I don't think these debates about apology take you anywhere, one way or the other, and so I'm concerned about practical action on the ground.

Remember, we've got acts of violence which occur every day, regrettably, on our streets across Australia. Foreigners and Australians become the targets of those attacks, so foreign students in Australia, unfortunately, become also part and parcel of the, you know, criminal statistics of Australia in terms of what's going on in our streets. I don't think it actually aids the debate or, more practically, aids the action, if we end up in a fairly arid debate about apologies or non-apologies.

The bottom line is I take responsibility for the system, and we're bringing in some practical changes, and I've discussed that of course with various of the State governments.

MITCHELL: Some of the Indian commentators do seem to believe that they're broadly racial attacks. Do you believe they are, or are they opportunistic street crimes?

PM: No, my view, and I've put it here, consistently again yesterday is that I do not believe that racism is at work in Australia on these matters at all. I believe that what you're looking at is the fact that is if you've half a million foreign students in Australia in any given year, and this has been growing over many years now, 100,000 of whom come from India, that's one fifth, then simply if you look at the criminal statistics, that is, the number of homicides in a given day in Australia, the number of assaults in Australia in a given day as a proportion of the population, if you've got half a million students it follows that they are going to end up as part of those statistics. It's unfortunate - it's really unfortunate - that that is the case.

So, I think what you have with foreign students is opportunistic attacks, you have people carrying a little bit of money they earn late at night, back home on the train, and opportunistic attacks could be launched against a foreign student, an Indian student, a Chinese student, or an Australian student, particularly if you're on the trains late at night.

MITCHELL: There was an Indian student who fled this country after pleading guilty to a particularly horrendous case of culpable driving, drunk and speeding and unlicensed. Julie Gillard did say she would raise this when she was in the country. I don't know that she did. Is that an issue you have raised with the Indian officials?

PM: It's something I spoke directly with our High Commissioner about here, and they are directly engaged with the Indian Home Office that is effectively the Indian ministry responsible for tracking people down within their law enforcement system. That is on track at the moment. It's being worked on. I got assurances on that when I arrived here, and so therefore we expect that the Indian Government will be responding in due course to our request. The details concerning this case, as you know, from the Gold Coast, I believe, are quite horrendous.

MITCHELL: Yeah, the victim of the Gold Coast, happened in Melbourne. So you don't raise-

PM: No, the person from the Gold Coast.

MITCHELL: Person, that's right. You don't raise it directly with the Indian officials. It's done through the High Commission.

PM: It is, it's done through the High Commission, and I actually sought assurances that all the proper processes had been enforced at that level, but let me tell you, if there is continued delay on this then we will be raising it at further levels, but the assurances I've received from the High Commission is that this is being dealt with through all the proper channels now and with the level of importance which we in Australia attach to the resolution of this case.

MITCHELL: Just before we leave the students, I read some confused reports that you were launching a 'home for dinner' - Australian families taking Indian students home to dinner. Is that right?

PM: Rotary in Australia, who I think are a fantastic organisation, have put together this proposal. We're just backing them in. It's the right thing for them to do. I think sometime today in Australia, Rotary International will be launching this. We just want to back them in.

What's the bottom line? We've got a whole lot of students in Australia, foreign students. I think it's great that you've got organisations like Rotary working at community level to make these folk feel welcome at home and welcome while they are in Australia, so full marks to Rotary. As I understand it they are going to be putting all that out later today.

MITCHELL: OK, Prime Minister, on the asylum seekers, we're told there could be 20 people, as many as 20 people from the Oceanic Viking who agree to go ashore today following the offer from the Australian Government. However, that offer's pretty generous. Alexander Downer has said this looks like giving people incentive to try to come to Australia. Why is that offer, which is housing, jobs, English lessons, resettled within a month, isn't that giving in to what is effectively blackmail from these people?

PM: Well, first of all, can I just say about Mr Downer, who's provided the commentary, that in his period in office we had some 250 boats come to this country, bringing about 15,000 individuals. They issued something in excess of 10,000 temporary protection visas, 90 percent of whom ended up permanently resettled in Australia, so let's put all that into context.

Secondly, on the details concerning this individual vessel and those who are on board it, the key thing is to make it absolutely plain, absolutely clear cut, that the Australian Government will not be responding to any protest activity on their part or any threats on their part in terms of any change to our border protection policy.

MITCHELL: But they've got exactly what they wanted.

PM: Hang on, well, let me go to that. What you refer to there is the engagements between Australian and international officials and the individuals who are on board this vessel concerning the processing of whether or not they have refugee status. Secondly, what it indicates is that when it comes to anyone who is successfully processed, it goes then to the sorts of conditions which would apply, but it does not go to the question of where the resettlement country in question would be. There are 16 resettlement countries around the world. Australia is one of them. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, working with us and working with the other resettlement countries, could send these individuals to any particular country, and we do not know where that would occur at this stage. So when you talk about what conditions would apply, they could be applying to individuals on this vessel who end up in Canada, or end up in Scandinavia, or end up elsewhere, but that's yet to be determined because the status of each individual hasn't been determined yet.

MITCHELL: So they haven't been promised a position in Australia? They haven't been promised settlement in Australia within a month?

PM: What we've said here, let me just go to the document concerned. It says that procedures will differ slightly depending on your circumstances. If UNHCR has found you to be a refugee, Australian officials will assist you to be resettled within four to six weeks from the time you disembark the vessel, and that refers to UNHCR processing and resettlement wherever in the world.

It goes on to say if you have already registered with the UNHCR, Australian officials will assist with your UNHCR processing. If you are found to be a refugee you will be resettled within 12 weeks from the time you disembark from the vessel. Again, resettled wherever that happens to occur around the world.

MITCHELL: But we're also offering English lessons and welfare payments. How can we offer that on behalf of other countries?

PM: Well, what we do with the International Organisation of Migration, and also with UNHCR, is that we provide a whole range of services, as we have done in years past, to asylum seekers in detention centres in Indonesia. That's been done for a long, long time in the past, including when Mr Downer was foreign minister. It is normal operating procedure, and it will be the case in the future.

The key thing is to send an absolutely clear cut message that these are the processes to go through, this is the way in which individual cases are handled, and any view on the part of any of those on this vessel that if you engage in protest activity, threats of violence, threats of self harm, that that is going to change our policy on border protection, then they are dead set wrong.

MITCHELL: But they've been offered resettlement within four to six weeks. That's much faster than otherwise would be available.

PM: Well, the amount of time it takes to process individuals really does vary. For example, in Christmas Island, if you are taken to Christmas Island then the overall timeframe would vary depending on the individual concerned. It really does depend on the availability of UNHCR staff, it depends on the overall complexity of the individual case, but as I said, if there is a view on the part of any on this vessel that this is the way to ensure that our border protection policy will be changed, that is wrong, and furthermore, the processes outlined here go to resettlement around the world, but let me go on.

If they are found not to be refugees, then none of these processes apply. The problem is at this stage of the process the individual status of those concerned has not been determined.

MITCHELL: Are you denying that these people are getting special treatment?

PM: When I look at what's been provided here, it is consistent with UNHCR processing, both in Indonesia and elsewhere around the world. The time for processing, on average, will just vary with each individual case, depending on its complexity.

I go back to the point here, Neil, that is any assumption that any individual so processed will automatically end up in Australia, is wrong. The resettlement processes apply here to all sixteen resettlement countries around the world. Who does the sorting of all this? The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

MITCHELL: But the bottom line, are these people on the Oceanic Viking getting special treatment?

PM: Absolutely not. This is consistent with the overall approach we adopt to processing of individuals at any centre around the world. But what we're doing is using the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and then in partnership with resettlement countries around the world, and this goes on all the time, individuals will be sent where you know, opportunities or where possibilities or where vacancies exist around the world.

We have done this, including under the previous Australian Government for many, many years. That's how it works with resettlement countries. But I'll just again reiterate the bottom line here, that anyone who thinks that by engaging in rolling protest activity, rolling threats of violence, rolling threats of self harm, that that's going to in any way advance their individual case, they are dead wrong. Our border protection policy won't be changed.

MITCHELL: Prime Minister I know it's very early, just quickly, the Opposition Leader released his policy today and said he would return to a temporary visa situation for three years. After three years people would be returned to their country, if it was safe, if not they could stay in Australia. What's your response to that?

PM: I've just been handed this press statement from Mr Turnbull. What stuns me is after two years we don't get a policy, we get four dot points of principle. I'm all for a policy debate on what to do with border protection policy but this is a press release with four dot points of principle. What does he say in it? One, we will once again secure our borders. Well that's the policy which had 250 boats arrived under them with nearly 15,000 people. Two, he says all processing offshore. Well they didn't do that when they were in government either. We had about ten per cent of those boats coming to Australia who reached the mainland. In the case of this Government we have had, it think, out of 44 vessels, one which has so far reached the mainland. So that's the second point.

Another point he says is that they'll adopt a compassionate and fair refugee and humanitarian program. Well, hold the phone, that's what governments around Australia have been committed to in one form or another for a long, long time. Then fourthly, the point he's actually been saying through his spokesman for months, and there's nothing new in this at all, is describe a new non-permanent visa for unauthorised arrivals which he describes as a 'safe-haven visa'.

Well this, depending on the release and subsequent detailed policy statement, represents the return to a Howard government temporary protection visa. That's the one which saw, after it was introduced in 1999, some 9,000 irregular arrivals come to Australia on nearly 100 boats.

Secondly, by the time we got to mid-2007 nearly 10,000 had been granted temporary protection visas. But here's the clincher, nearly 90 per cent of those people granted temporary protection visas under the Howard government were subsequently granted a permanent visa to stay in Australia. So let's just be very clear about all this.

MITCHELL: Prime Minister, just quickly on another issue, you were in Afghanistan for Remembrance Day which is very important. The Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard didn't go to any Remembrance Day service. I would have thought she'd go to the War Memorial. Isn't that perhaps an oversight?

PM: I haven't seen what Julia's program was that day. The critical thing, I believe, for Australia and attending this important Remembrance Day event is that representing Australia, I was with our troops in the field demonstrating the Government's, the nation's absolute support for what our brave men and women are doing in uniform, on the battle front. And secondly, on that occasion, with our American ally reflecting our honour of all those who have put their lives on the line for Australia.

MITCHELL: You'd be a bit surprised Julia Gillard wasn't at the War Memorial wouldn't you?

PM: Well, my understanding is that around that particular day that Julia was already committed to a nation conference with 161 principals from schools, also the Assistant Defence Minister Greg Combet represented both myself and Julia.

The key thing is, there's an event in Australia or around the world which is attended by the Prime Minister of Australia. That event in this case, was attended by myself in Afghanistan at Tarin Kowt with hundreds of our men and women in uniform in attendance. That reflected on behalf of the Government and the nation, our commitment to them and all those who have preceded them, wearing proudly the uniform of Australia.

MITCHELL: I got the impression from what you said that we're not actually winning in Afghanistan are we?

PM: Neil, I just believe in being blunt. That is, the insurgency led by the Taliban in the southern parts of the country is intensifying. That this is a real problem in provinces like Kandahar and Helmand which lie to the south of Oruzgan where the Australian troops are.

So it means that we need a national strategy in Afghanistan which is adjusted to the new realities. That's what General McChrystal, who is the supreme commander of the international assistance force in Afghanistan, discussed with me when we were in Tarin Kowt. We spent several hours discussing it. The Obama Administration will provide their response to that in due course. Plainly, nationally, a new strategy is needed. What we are doing within our province is to give effect to the training mission we established, which is to raise up a fourth Afghan National Army Brigade to take on security functions in the province.

MITCHELL: Thank you very much for your time, I know it's early morning. You'll be please to know Sabi the wonder dog will, I've spoken to the head of quarantine, she could be back in Australia within six months and then in quarantine for 30 days.

PM: Well actually Neil , you've given me news. Thank you for that because my next level of anxiety was what's going to happen with AQIS in getting Sabi back.

MITCHELL: Well Sabi apparently can go and live in the Australian base in Kuwait for six months while they monitor her. If she's OK and doesn't show anything she goes into quarantine here for 30 days and then she moves into The Lodge.

PM: I've got to talk to Abbey about that but anything's possible. Sabi the wonder dog, I think, it's just such a great story and, you know, there's a lot of hard things happening in Afghanistan but these are important symbols of getting our way through and I know all of our blokes and our women in uniform think it's just a fantastic outcome so, thank you, for that good news that AQIS is properly processing this matter.

MITCHELL: Thank you very much for your time.

 

2009-11-15

Community Cabinet

2009-11-13

PM to announce major education initiative

2009-11-12

Interview

PM: Let me just start by making some remarks about the floods in New South Wales on the mid-north coast.

Hundreds of households in northern New South Wales have been affected by heavy rain and flooding that began on the 5th of November. The New South Wales Government has declared four regions natural disaster zones on 7 November - Coffs, Bellingen, Kempsey and Nambucca. The Federal Minister for Families, Jenny Macklin, has announced that the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment will be provided to eligible people adversely affected by the 5 November floods on the mid-North Coast and the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales.

The Commonwealth also, through Emergency Management Australia, remains in close and constant contact with the New South Wales authorities and we stand ready to assist in whatever way we can.

The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment will be provided to eligible people adversely affected by these floods in the mid-North Coast and Northern Rivers district, and, of course, we'll be thinking of all of our fellow Australians in those difficult circumstances as a result of that flooding activity.

It's good to be here in Bathurst today with the local member, Bob Debus, but also with the Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, because we're here to talk about the future of health and hospitals nationwide. We're here also to talk about what that means for local communities like this one, and this morning we spent time at the Bathurst Base Hospital. We were able to talk to quite a number of the local staff there, as well as some patients, about the delivery of health services in this part of Australia.

These health and hospital consultations are important for us nationwide. It's the 19th I've participated in myself personally since we began this process back in July, and of course the Health Minister has been party to a lot more than that - in fact, a total combined number among us all of some 70 nationwide out of the 750 public hospitals across Australia.

This is an important hospital for this region, and of course that's why we are also seeking to support it by investing, for example, an additional $156,000 from the Government to purchase new surgical equipment as part of the Stage 2 of the Government's $600 million nationwide plan to assist with elective surgery waiting lists. That also forms part of a $50.6 million investment into New South Wales hospitals more broadly to assist with elective surgery.

In addition, here in Bathurst the city will share in $10 million for construction and ongoing cost for a rural clinical school under the auspices of the University of Western Sydney, and furthermore, women diagnosed with breast cancer and their families will now have support through a nurse provided through the Australian Government-funded McGrath Breastcare Nurses Program here at Daffodil Cottage.

These are just practical illustrations of the sort of investment that we have sought to make as an Australian Government in to local healthcare needs, but on top of that it's not just what is necessary in the here and now to support the needs of this health and hospital community, it's what's necessary over the next quarter of a century, and I would like to thank all those who participated in the forum here in Bathurst today on their views, road-testing the recommendations of the National Hospital Reform Commission's report on the future of the overall system.

The contributions from the floor, from GPs, from the specialists, from other health professionals, was first class and it was good to get their direct feedback on the impact of those recommendations on rural and regional communities and this community in particular. All those contributions to the discussion and the debate, will be fed into our national decision-making process.

Finally, of course, the other reason for being in Bathurst today, and I think this is my third visit in recent years, is to participate in Community Cabinet here this evening in order to hear first hand from the wider community about their needs and priorities for the future as well. Both Bob and Nicola and other Ministers will be keen to hear first-hand what the local community has to say about jobs and the economy, about the delivery of education services, the delivery of health services, as well the whole range of activities where the Federal Government is engaged here in this important community.

Over to you, folks.

JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd, on the Oceanic Viking (inaudible) does it involve guarantees of resettlement, possibly in Australia, and also possibly community housing rather than an Indonesian detention centre?

PM: Well, you know, as Indonesia said recently, they have infinite patience on this matter. Australia has infinite patience on this matter. Also, when it comes to Australia's border protection policy, let me be absolutely clear that that policy of ours, in the Australian national interest, will not be changed in response to any protests, any threats, any threats of harm, any threats of self harm. We will take as long as it takes to resolve this matter and any other matters into the future.

JOURNALIST: PM, how much of the (inaudible) was this morning's Neilson Poll, don't you feel that you now have more patience to deal with the Viking situation and people in detention in Indonesia?

PM: The job of being Prime Minister is to take decisions in the national interest, some of which may be popular, others of which are not, and in the case of border protection policy, there will be those who criticise what we do from the far Right, saying that we should throw kids back behind razor wire. We'll we're not going to be doing that. There'll be those who criticise what we're doing from the far Left, who say there should be no border protection policy at all. Guess what? We're not going to be doing that.

Our job is to take responsible decisions in the national interest, popular or otherwise, and that's what we will continue to do.

Our policy is clear cut. Can I say there is no alternative Coalition policy on border protection -a lot of criticism, no policy. Therefore, I find it interesting that even on the handling of this individual vessel, the Coalition today appears to be split right up the middle.

JOURNALIST: Does the infinite patience of the Oceanic Viking situation run out if the Oceanic Viking is needed back where it normally is, in the Southern Ocean?

PM: We, as I said, together with Indonesia, have great patience in dealing with this matter, but I want to be absolutely clear, absolutely clear, that our border protection policy will not change in response to any threats from anybody, any protests, any threats of harm or self-harm, into the future, and that's because this policy is in the national interest. It won't be changed. It will be implemented into the future and we will take as long as is necessary to resolve this matter and other matters, each of which has its own complexity.

JOURNALIST: You say you've got infinite patience, though, but doesn't (inaudible) the boat's licence to be there run out later this week? Will this thing go on further, past Friday?

PM: Every matter concerning border protection is complex, but our policy will not change. We will continue to implement it, and let me be absolutely clear: the policy will not be changed as a consequence of any threat or any protest from anybody at any time. It's the right policy and responsible policy in the national interest, whether it's popular or not, and we will therefore be implementing it into the future, and resolve this matter in whatever timeframe it takes, as we'll resolve any other matter in whatever timeframe it takes. Border protection policy is a complex business. We have currently engaged, for example, in a whole range of matters concerning border protection policy right across the waters to our north, the archipelago to our North, across the Indian Ocean, each of which is intrinsically complex.

We will work our way through each of these. That's what people expect of their elected government. We're implementing a responsible policy, border protection policy, in the national interest, and we'll continue to do so.

JOURNALIST: Do you think today's Nielsen poll shows that you over-reacted or panicked in response to last week's Newspoll?

PM: The business of government, the business of being Prime Minister, is to make hard decisions in the national interest based on the merits of each case, and we have done so in relation to this matter and other matters and will continue to do so in the future. As I said, this policy is a responsible course of action. I contrast it with those who flee - the Coalition - when asked this simple question: What is their alternative policy? I note on even this matter, concerning this particular vessel, they are split right down the middle about how it should be handled.

Our policy is clear cut. We'll continue to implement it. It's the right policy for Australia, and it will be complex and difficult in the future, but let me tell you, and be absolutely clear, we will not change this Australian Government border protection policy in response to any threats, any protests, any threats of harm or self-harm or anything like that because we intend to act in the national interest.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) Stephen Smith telling Sri Lanka? Are you going to offer the Government there money to stop the boats?

PM: We have been cooperating with the Government of Sri Lanka for a long, long period of time, and therefore we'll be working with them on the humanitarian challenges within that country.

Let us also put this debate in Australia within its proper context. What has happened worldwide in the last three years? You have seen a global upsurge in the outflow of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, from Afghanistan and from Iraq because the security circumstances in all those countries has got worse and progressively worse. That's what's happened around the world.

You've had, in the case of Sri Lanka, some 260,000 people who have been relocated within Sri Lanka. We already had 130,000 go across the waters to India. We've had tens of thousands move their way to other parts of the world, in Europe and in North America, and we've had something like 1,000 plus arrive in our own waters here - a global problem requiring a global solution.

In the case of Sri Lanka, then, of course we will work with the World Bank and other international institutions on dealing with the immediate humanitarian challenge. If you're dealing effectively with the humanitarian challenge at home and helping those 260,000 people to be effectively resettled, you're dealing also with a large part of the push factors which are operating worldwide, and that's what we're doing: responsible policy dealing with the global factors, with the push factors; responsible policy on regional cooperation, dealing with Indonesia and Malaysia; responsible policy in terms of the large-scale additional investment we've had running for the better part of the year now, a 25 percent increase in our aerial and sea surveillance in the waters and air space to our north.

This is the integrated approach to a responsible border protection policy which we are implementing. That's our policy. We took it to the last election. That is what we've been implementing since the last election, and I contrast it to our opponents, who first of all, after the Government was elected, backed each and every change that the Government made. Secondly, today when asked 'what would they do different?', run a million miles an hour.

JOURNALIST: PM, can you bring down grocery prices as you promised before the election?

PM: On the question of grocery prices, we have a very simple principle at work, which is if you maximise competition in the grocery industry, you therefore put downward pressures on prices. We came into Government with absolutely no Australian Government policy before seeking to boost competition in the grocery sector, and therefore this virtual duopoly was left unchallenged.

What have we done since then? In September, the Government's competition watchdog has ended restrictive agreements in leases between shopping centres and Coles and Woolworths which restricted rivals from setting up in those shopping centres. This, of course, now opens shopping centres for space for competitors like Aldi, like Franklins, like Foodworks and like IGA.

Also, we're working with State and Territory governments to ensure that planning laws do not unjustifiably restrict competition in grocery retailing, and furthermore, we changed the foreign investment rules and the timeframe for the development of vacant commercial space to allow foreign-owned supermarkets like Aldi and CostCo to open more stores in Australia.

The bottom line is this: together with the introduction of unit pricing, which becomes operational as of December, these are all concrete, practical measures that boost competition in the grocery sector when we've had too much control of the market from Coles and Woolies. These are measures which we have taken. Under the previous government, no measures were taken at all.

JOURNALIST: But you need to do more, because it's not flowing through.

PM: The decision by the competition watchdog was taken in September this year. The flow-through of that in terms of the ability for other food retailers to have better access to leases in supermarkets will flow from that. Unit pricing we've already introduced and takes effect as of December.

I contrast all these measures with those who might talk about prices for groceries out there in the community, like the Coalition, as opposed to the Government, which has acted in these competition-enhancing measures. That's our plan, that's what we've done. We believe that is better than the alternative which was, frankly, sit on your hands and doing nothing.

JOURNALIST: Are Community Cabinets working, and if so, can you point to scenarios in policy (inaudible) in places that show they are feeding through (inaudible)?

PM: First of all, in the response we have to 18 Community Cabinets so far, and 19 including this one in Bathurst, the community, in our experience, want the opportunity to directly engage those who are elected to govern Australia and to do so face-to-face, and therefore it is a good opportunity to hear from them and for our public servants to hear from them what is working and what is not within a given local area.

Secondly, and I will turn to Nicola for one example in a minute about, you know, how you respond and translate into policy.

I still remember full well a Community Cabinet in Western Sydney, I think it was at Penrith, where a lady stood up and asked me at some length about what we were going to do about supported accommodation for adult children with significant disabilities, and as a consequence of that we discussed it at length internally within Government and in the budget of 2008, I believe, it may have been the 2009 budget, we provided investment for that precise category of accommodation.

It was a very graphic presentation. It had an affect on the policy makers. We analysed it afterwards and then we took the decisions we took.

Do you want to add to that?

MINISTER: I was just going to add two other examples. I think very early on, at one of our consultations in Longman, a young boy asked a question. He had diabetes, I think he might have even been asking for his sibling. He stood up on a chair and said 'Prime Minister, you know, can you do something to help? We want an insulin pump but we can't afford it and can you support more research?'

We put in the budget last year funding for insulin pumps for children under 18 and there is a scale for, you know, incomes that they are on, but that was an issue raised directly by a young child to the Prime Minster that has been acted on.

And another one that we have been able to fund since: a number of women at different consultations have raised PCOS, a syndrome that is affecting a growing number of women and limits their fertility. They were asking for clinical guidelines to be put in place and some research money and we have just funded nearly a million dollars to the Jean Hales Foundation, directly following from that.

So they go from the quite large, feeding in to our deliberations on health reform or other things, to the very small and specific but important to people, important enough that they come and again to put their hand up and ask a question to the Prime Minister, so I think that gives you a good indication that it is working.

DEBUS: Can I just say that I have watched while the Prime Minister and the Minister for Health spent nearly two hours speaking to 100 or so health professionals and citizens from the Central West about the future needs of the health system, and they can hardly believe that two people of such eminence should have spent so long speaking so intelligently about that matter. I think their impact has been enormous.

JOURNALIST: So, Prime Minster, there will be some sort of action from issues raised tonight like water security for the wider region and an expressway to Sydney, which are probably the two major issues that you're going to hear about (inaudible)?

PM: I think the virtue of all these gatherings is that it is not just, frankly, open forum where people put the concerns of their community, but also in the separate sessions we have with individuals here and they represent community organisations or Chambers of Commerce, who then, frankly, go out and see every Minister under the sun.

On the specifics in terms of water security or the road links to Sydney, and I am relatively familiar with both of those challenges in this region, we will continue to work our way through those things and we will see what the community and the organisations have to say about it tonight and we are working closely with Bob on those challenges as well.

But the purpose of forums like tonight is to hear directly what it is on the communities' mind, to say what we can do, to say what we can't do, to say what we can continue to work on. I believe it is very important just to be frank with people.

The other thing is, we are talking here today and I think right now we must have a dozen or so Ministers working their way around this region in one form or another, including the Infrastructure Minister, and I am sure he has been engaged on matters such as that, matters such as Mount Panorama and others, and that is the right thing to do and that is how we seek to do it.

JOURNALIST: Doctors are protesting in Sydney today, I think they've got concerns about the GP super clinics, the lack of concentrated care and possibly loss of the family doctor. Are their concerns valid?

PM: Well, we've got doctors protesting in Sydney today about us expanding GP services around the country. I understand we have protests in Brisbane today from midwives about our reforms to the delivery of midwifery services which the Minister has been working on and I'll ask her to speak to it in a minute.

Look, if you're going to be in the business of bringing about significant national reforms it follows that not all of them are going to be universally popular at a particular time. What are we concerned about? How do you expand the range of midwifery services available out there in the community by providing a better funded role for midwives and that hinges off a significant addition to funding which the Minister has committed through the budget for those purposes.

Secondly on GPs, we went to the people last election and said that we're going to go out there and roll out thirty six GP super clinics across the country. People in most communities across the country say, that's terrific, you're bringing together GPs and a whole series of related services. You tailor it to the particular GP needs of a particular locality but obviously it won't always be completely smooth sailing, but, our job is to govern in the national interest. That means implementing what we've said before the election in these critical reform areas. Getting on with it, and obviously listening to people when they protest and raise concerns. But we intend to implement that which we said we would do. On the protests in Brisbane you might wish to add, and the other one.

ROXON: Look the family doctor is alive and well, and the proposals that the government has been implementing and others that are on the table as part of Health Reform Commission's work are actually to further support and enhance and strengthen the role of GPs in our community. And you don't have to just take my word for this, because it has been a policy that people have had issues with but now we see the AMA, the divisions of general practice, the College of GPs, the doctors in training, all putting a proposal to us about how we expand this exact type of infrastructure funding to more practices so that they can turn their own practices into GP super clinics. So this is an idea that we took to the last election, those 31 communities have welcomed the commitments to the super clinics. We've announced five since the election, and we now have GP organisations knocking on the door, asking us to expand the program, so that their existing practices can take up this opportunity of working in multidisciplinary teams, of offering extended hours, of providing more comprehensive care in partnership with other health professionals. So not everyone's going to agree with it. But that's a pretty good measure, those organisations don't always agree with any type of Government health reforms, and they're all now knocking on our door for this sort of infrastructure support.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there's an inquest (inaudible) into the death of a young man who (inaudible). The inquest's findings found that there was a lack of mental health beds in that (inaudible) region contributed to his death. What's the Commonwealth going to do reverse that, and increase the number of beds available (inaudible)

PM: On the details of the findings, obviously I have not read the report and I'm not in a position to comment. I'll ask Nicola to respond more broadly to the delivery of mental health services on behalf of the Australian Government. Can I say this, however, more broadly on the question of mental health and gaps in the currently delivery nationwide. The figures that I was presented with this morning and delivered as part of my presentation had the effect of something like, two thirds of the 2.8 million Australians who are diagnosed with one mental health condition or another, go untreated. Two thirds. I'm right on that number?

ROXON: For adolescents.

PM: Yes, we're talking about adolescents here. Young people. So this is a real, real problem, and it's a problem across the country. So when we embrace the challenge of national health and hospital reform, what we are determined to do, is not simply allow the mental health challenge to fall off the edge and not to be part of how we deliver long term integrated health reform to the nation.

Primary health care is really important, through our GPs and GP-related services. Improved services in our acute hospitals is important. Preventative health is important. Aged care is important. But within that, dealing effectively and in an integrated way with the mental health challenges of young people and for the community at large is, frankly, an area of much unmet demand and we need, as a nation, to lift our game.

JOUNALIST: (inaudible)

PM: I'm just going to ask Nicola to add to that.

ROXON: Thank you, well, similar to the Prime Minister, with this report just being release we haven't had been able to look at all of the details but I also want to pass on our condolences to the family and the region because, I've think, two years on, the release of these coroners reports still open up a lot of, still fresh, wounds for people.

We are very conscious that this report has just come down. It's been handed to the New South Wales Government and of course the recommendations about extra acute beds I am sure and would expect will be considered closely, but we as a Government have been investing more in our public hospital services. That extra 50 percent increase in funding that we negotiated last year, started flowing from the first of July. We know that the Commonwealth, the previous Commonwealth Government pulled money out of public hospitals and that put a lot of pressure on the system.

We've turned that around. But we've also had very clearly, from our 70 consultations, the view put to us that mental health services, both in the community and in hospitals and the way that they are integrated needs to be part of what we're considering for the health reform process. We are doing that and I think getting the mix of the acute services that are needed for patients, but also early intervention for young people, for example, in Wagga the headspace service has been operating very well, the division of GPs runs that service. That will be appropriate for many young people, but we still need intensive services to be available in our hospitals and they're the sorts of ideas that have been put forward by the commission that we're considering carefully.

PM: Having said that folks we've got to zip. Thank you.
 

2009-11-09

Media Release

Bathurst Base Hospital has benefited from $156,000 from the Rudd Government to purchase new surgical equipment.

The funding is part of Stage Two of the Rudd Government's $600 million Elective Surgery Waiting List Plan.

Stage Two of the Plan is providing $50.6 million to NSW hospitals, and $150 million across Australia, to support the construction of new operating theatres, upgrade existing elective surgery facilities and purchase new surgical equipment to improve elective surgery performance.

In addition, Bathurst will share in $10 million for construction and ongoing costs for a Rural Clinical School, under the auspices of the University of Western Sydney.

Women diagnosed with breast cancer, their families and carers in the Bathurst district are also benefitting from a Rudd Government funded McGrath Breast Care nurse, located at Daffodil Cottage.

During the 2007 election, the Rudd Government committed $12 million to assist the McGrath Foundation to recruit, train and place 44 breast care nurses in communities across Australia. Rachel Gorrell is one of those 44, all of whom are now providing vital information, care and practical and emotional support to women throughout the country diagnosed with breast cancer.

The Prime Minister, the Minister for Health and Ageing and the Member for Macquarie, Bob Debus, were in Bathurst today for Community Cabinet and to hear first hand from health professionals on the future of the health system.

The Bathurst health consultation is the 70th across the country to road-test the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission's proposed reforms. This evening will also be the 18th Community Cabinet.

Copies of the NHHRC report are on the website, along with the two other reports presented to the Australian Government - the draft of the National Primary Health Care Strategy and the report of the National Preventative Health Taskforce, which also made recommendations in their areas of expertise.
 

2009-11-09

Interview

FAINE: Kevin Rudd, good morning.

PM: Good morning Jon. I'm talking to people on the airwaves because I'll be overseas next week and I won't be talking to people on the airwaves. There you go.

FAINE: The opinion polls though, and your sudden availability for the media. Surely the two are linked. 8 percent drop in the polls. What do you think has happened?

PM: Well on the first point Jon. I talk to the media as of when my timetable permits and I've certainly been talking to the media a lot prior to the publication you referred to earlier this week. On the second point is that, in my job as Prime Minister, is to govern in the national interest. That means making difficult decisions. Whether that's in relation to the economy or whether it's in relation to border protection, I'll continue to do so in the national interest. As far as decisions taken in recent times, I fully accept the fact that some of these are not going to be terribly popular with people but my job is not to be in the popularity stakes, it's simply to get on and make the right decisions and we will continue to do so.

FAINE: On the Oceanic Viking and the standoff off the coast of Indonesia. The costs are soaring and you said we have infinite patience. Will these people still be there in a week? A month? A year? for how long?

PM: I've always said we have infinite patience, as the Indonesians have said. Each of these vessels is dealt with in terms of its own individual circumstances. Some are more complex than others. You simply deal with each challenge as it arises. Remember also that in the last 12 months we've had something like, I think, 81 interruptions of vessels coming to Australia. We've had, of course we're dealing with the consequences which flow from the civil war in Sri Lanka 260,000 people displaced. Tens of thousands going to Europe and to North America and on top of that, you also have of course a number, more than a thousand or so, who've made their way into Australian waters as well-

FAINE: -Is there no deadline-

PM: (inaudible) challenges on their merits as well

FAINE: Is there no deadline to this standoff Prime Minister? Surely you can't-

PM: Well we'll continue to work through each of the details with this as you would expect as we do with every vessel. We've dealt with-

FAINE: -it doesn't seem to be working.

PM: We've dealt with different circumstances recently arising from the tragic sinking of a vessel off Cocos Island. That's required a different response. This vessel requires a different response. That is actually part and parcel of the daily business of government in dealing with the difficult challenges of border protection. Remember in the past these have confronted Australian governments for the last 30 years and they will be around into the future as well and there is no neat, easy, one-size-fits-all response to each individual vessel. We just take it on its merits and the circumstances which pertain to this and, this of course, the vessel that you're talking about, came about as a result of a search and rescue operation conducted in Indonesia's search and rescue zone and at Indonesia's request.

FAINE: But you're not appealing to anybody if you had taken these people onto Christmas Island, you would at least have satisfied those who think we should have a more open compassionate approach. If you simply refused to have anything to do with them you would have satisfied those who say we should shut the borders. This way you're not pleasing anyone.

PM: My job, can I say Jon, is to act in the national interest and you're going to have people who attack government decisions when it relates to border protection from the far Right, who presumably are arguing that we should return children to behind razor wire and people from the far Left who presumably argue that we shouldn't have an orderly migration program at all, or no border protection regime at all.

Our job is to conduct a tough, responsible, fair policy. Hardline on people smugglers, humane on asylum seekers. That's what we've been doing since we formed government. That was the policy we took to the previous election. We've implemented each of the elements of that policy since the election. We've done so in relation to each of the challenges of border protection which have arisen over the last couple of years and we'll continue to do so into the future.

FAINE: Can you call in more favours from the Indonesians? The way you did at the beginning of this standoff.

PM: Well, can I say, Jon, the right thing to do, because this is a global and regional problem, is to continue to obtain the cooperation of the Malaysians, the Indonesians, where possible the Sri Lankans and other regional governments. That's why for some years now, in fact four or five years, we've had a process underway called the Bali process which provides for a region wide cooperation. Specifically with Indonesia, cooperation on people smuggling is outlined in the terms of the Lombok treaty. These are perfectly normal sets of consultations which go on between governments on the difficult challenge of people smuggling and as far as people smugglers themselves are concerned, what we've had in the last 12 months is some 15 people smugglers convicted in Australian courts. Since last September some 43 people charged with these offenses currently being prosecuted.

FAINE: And that's all good, but there's nothing normal about one of our biggest ships, the Oceanic Viking, full of asylum seekers literally marooned offshore from Indonesia in a standoff. That's not normal.

PM: Can I just say, in times past and times in the future there will be, as I said, unique sets of challenges and we will continue to work our way through each of these as they present themselves. Any government of this country, acting in the national interest, taking difficult decisions on border protection will be doing this on a continuing basis. We are wrestling with challenges here which governments around the world are wrestling with as well. If you've got a quarter of a million people in Sri Lanka displaced from a violent civil war, tens of thousands heading out to, as I said, Germany, France, Canada, the United States and South-East Asia and we're wrestling with one thousand or so plus who've made it to Australian waters. Our challenge is to deal with each on its merits and each according to its circumstances and the boat that you talk about, of course arose, because of the circumstances of a search and rescue operation in the Indonesian search and rescue zone. So our, we're working very closely with the Indonesians as you would expect and the international office of migration and the UNHCR officials are working with the individuals on the vessel.

FAINE: All right-

PM: As I've said we will work though it patiently and calmly as people would expect of any Australian Government.

FAINE: Well we will all wait to see if there is any breakthrough. To turn to Fiji Prime Minister. How does it help the situation to kick out the Fijian representative in Canberra in retaliation for our representative being kicked out of Suva?

PM: The bottom line is, Jon, you cannot send anything less than a clear cut message to the people of Fiji, the Fijian regime and more widely the people of the South Pacific that the Governments of Australia and New Zealand will not simply stand idly by while this Fijian regime fundamentally breaches its democratic principles. This is a military coup which occurred in Fiji, you have the suspension, in effect, of a constitution. A refusal on the part of Bainimarama to hold fresh elections. You have the wholesale sacking of the judiciary at one point in this process. You also have extraordinary bans on press freedom. Anyone who thinks you can deal with such a regime on a normal basis is, I don't think, in touch with basic democratic principles. What's out broader concern here? To make sure that what's occurred in Fiji, with this military regime, is not in any way seen as normal across the many other island states of the South Pacific and as chairman of the Pacific Island forum I take that responsibility seriously.

FAINE: And what do you do next in the event that sending this message seems to have no effect?

PM: Well, at the end of the day, Jon, the question about the future political shape of Fiji is a matter for the Fijian people themselves. But we simply are not going to stand idly by and convey a sense of normality about a regime which is on the slippery slope towards the incremental abolition of all forms of press freedom for example. The attacks which have occurred in terms of the basic freedoms of journalists and the press in Fiji. What's happened most recently with this ANU professor who apparently has been given his marching orders from Fiji. You cannot simply assume that you can normalise relations with such a regime because it is important and, fundamentally important, that as a family of democracies in the South Pacific we stand up for these basic principles. This regime does not. Therefore there are not normal dealings with it.

FAINE: Kevin Rudd, you've appointed Peter Costello to be a trustee of the future fund and within 24 hours he and some long standing friends have announced the creation of a new merchant bank called BKK partners that's come out of Goldman Sachs JBWere. It seems you've resurrected his corporate prospects by appointing him to the future fund.

PM: Well I'm sure Mr Costello would have been proceeding and prosecuting his own commercial negotiations with colleagues in the private sector for some time. That's a matter for him.

FAINE: But as soon as you appoint him to the Fund he's useful again in corporate life. Is that the way it works? You do favours for people in parliament-

PM: Can I just say, Jon, first of all, as far as terms of appointments of the future fund are concerned, I'm advised that the various members of the future fund board of guardians, quite a large number of them from times past, have also had other direct commercial involvement in the financial sector. There's nothing unusual about that, in fact it's the sort of expertise that you harness.

FAINE: But you've been critical in the past about politicians immediately upon leaving parliament using their connections, their networks and their knowledge of their own portfolio to further their own post-parliamentary career and now you're pretty much assisting Mr Costello to do the same thing.

PM: With respect Jon I think that's drawing a very long bow. We have been the government for two years, it's been two years since Mr Costello was Treasurer. Far be it for me to go out there and defend each and every one of his individual commercial decisions from this point but I think, you know, it's been two years since he occupied the Treasury benches and every individual has a right to pursue their own career.

FAINE: You vigorously criticised his management of the economy when he was Treasurer. Now you're saying he's one of the ideal people to look after the biggest taxpayer-owned fund in the country.

PM: Well Jon, the bottom line is this: the view in Australian politics that we are permanently divided between two irreconcilable tribes, I think, results in us losing a whole lot of talent particularly in post-political life to the overall long-term needs of the nation.

People put on their political boxing gloves throughout their active political career and they do as we're expected to do which is to engage in the hard fight for political ideas for the nation's future. When they choose to retire from that, whether it's Kim Beazley, whether it's Brendan Nelson, whether it's Peter Costello, the judgement I take as Prime Minister is that we should be harnessing all the talents that are available for the nation in terms of our nations long term needs. I've done it in the past, will continue to do so in the future, and I think it's time we actually got over the period where we thought everyone on the other side of politics and post political life are sons and daughters of the antichrist. I mean life's a bit more complex than that. Let's get beyond it.

FAINE: There are people in the Labor party though who think, in fact, that what you're doing is rewarding your enemies in a way they would never reward you or anyone else in the Labor movement.

PM: We'll there will always be criticism of these sorts of appointments. I go back to the response to an earlier question in this interviewer today, Jon, which is my job is to, as Prime Minister, is to govern in the national interest and if there attacks on decisions which come from the ranks of the Left of Australian politics, well so be it. But my job is to take decisions in the long term national interest and as far as Mr Costello's concerned, he's had some considerable experience obviously when he was Treasurer over 12 years. Obviously there were great disagreements between us and him and his management of the economy but you cannot therefore, as a result of that, conclude that he has no talents or ability to provide - and what we're talking about is people being able to act in national, in service of the nation, in their post political life.

I don't intent to, as Prime Minister, return to the days of 1996 to 2008 or 2007 when it seemed a rule of thumb on the part of my predecessor Mr Howard, that anyone who had previously worked with the Australian Labor Government should somehow be permanently persona non grata for work on behalf of the Australian nation. As I said I think we have to get beyond all that.

FAINE: Well we'll see if they return the favour when next they are in office. Just finally-

PM: (laughs) that's entirely a matter for them. My job is to act as Prime Minister now for however long that happens to be.

FAINE: Understood. Understood. Finally, Kevin Rudd, tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the defeat of the referendum for Australia to become a republic. Do you intend to go to the people at the next election with a promise of reviving the process?

PM: Well first of all I think with the challenges of the global economic crisis, and we are not out of the woods yet at all on that score, and you would have seen yesterday's retail data for Australia indicating that we still have a long, long way to go. First priority which people expect me to attach my energies to is to manage the crisis and to manage Australia's longer term recovery.

Then there are a whole range of other priorities some of which we've been speaking of this morning. I said prior to the last election that on the question of the republic it would not be a priority for any first term that we occupied in office. It would be something that we attended to later if the government is re-elected and that's very much the position I still have.

FAINE: I'm grateful to you for your time which we've used to its full extent. Thank you this morning.

PM: Thanks very much Jon.

(ENDS)
 

2009-11-09