Archived
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE
STEPHEN SMITH, MP
15 July 2010
TRANSCRIPTION: PROOF COPY E & OE
TRANSCRIPT: Joint Press Conference by Australia’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Stephen Smith and Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Marty Natalegawa, Jakarta
MAIN TOPICS: Australia-Indonesia relations,17 July bombing commemorations, 2000th school opening,asylum seekers, Montara oil spill, foreign policy continuity
MARTY NATALEGAWA : [Speaks in Indonesian]
Just very briefly, Stephen, if I may, to recap on what I have said, is to say how pleased we all are in welcoming you once again to Indonesia, to Jakarta. You informed me earlier that this is your sixth visit to Indonesia. Of course, this is the first time as Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as Trade and, therefore, you will be seeing my colleague, Minister Mari later on this afternoon.
Indonesia and Australia are good friends. We have strong friendship - robust relationship and it’s always great to welcome you here in Jakarta, Stephen, to promote our bilateral relations. I just now, during the course of our discussion, as I had referred to my Indonesian colleagues, we discussed bilateral issues - ways and means to follow up on the President’s visit to Canberra, which has been instrumental I think in promoting our bilateral relations. We discussed the modalities for deepening our relations. And also beyond bilateral relations, for which I thank you for submitting to us, presenting to us, the state of people-to-people contacts between our two sides.
We also discussed a number of issues including regional issues and certain themes such as the question of people smuggling, trafficking in persons and other challenges that we face; common challenges that we face. I don’t want to take up too much of our time, I would like to give you the floor, Stephen, to share some of your thoughts before we open the floor for some questions.
STEPHEN SMITH: Thanks Marty. Thank you very much. As you say this is my sixth visit to Indonesia as Minister for Foreign Affairs and my first visit as Minister for Trade and I’ll see Minister Mari Pangestu later this afternoon.
My last visit here was for the President’s inauguration and can I say, as you have Marty, how pleased we were with the success with the President’s visit to Australia. It really was a visit which captured the modern Australia–Indonesia relationship.
My last but one visit to Jakarta was not in such happy circumstances. It was of course in the aftermath of the terrible bombing on the Ritz Carlton and Marriott hotels. And the first anniversary of that terrible event occurs on Saturday. So I just wanted to take this opportunity of expressing our solidarity and our condolence to the families of those innocent victims who included three Australians. This will be a terrible time for them as they are reminded of that terrible atrocity.
Can I, in that context, just take the opportunity of indicating that Australia very much appreciates the close cooperation, and good work, that Australia and Indonesians do in the counter terrorism effort, and since that time, 17th July last year, I think some six Indonesian police officers have been killed in the course of their duties combating and fighting terrorism. So we express our gratitude and our condolence to Indonesia for that loss as well.
The loss of the Australian lives will be commemorated privately in a number of services over the next couple of days, sponsored by the Australian Embassy here in Jakarta.
I am very pleased, Marty, that we have had a productive talks today as we always do.
We have traversed the full array of the Australia-Indonesia bilateral relationship and the work that we do together in the region. We are very pleased that the strength of the Australia–Indonesia relationship has never been better and we value that very much.
We are very pleased with the progress we are making on some of the institutional arrangements in that relationship: our commitment to have a leaders meeting on an annual basis; our proposal to have so called two-plus-two meetings - Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers; our progressing a leadership, as we would put it, a leadership dialogue to get a better understanding about people-to-people links and wanting to progress our people-to-people links much better.
We have also taken the opportunity to discuss some of the work that we do together in the region, in particular, I think in the ASEAN related institutions and organisations but also what we do in the Bali process.
I was very pleased to be able to brief Marty on Prime Minister Gillard’s proposal for a regional framework so far as people smuggling and human trafficking is concerned, but also in particular our proposal for a regional processing centre and that can only be effective with regional support. It can only be effective with support from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It can only be effective with the support of settlement and resettlement countries throughout our region and internationally. And that’s why Prime Minister Gillard has indicated she has spoken to Commissioner Guterres, spoken to Prime Minister Key and also spoken to President Ramos Horta from East Timor.
In the last three days, our officials have met with officials in East Timor but also met with officials in Indonesia and those discussions will be ongoing. Foreign Minister Natalegawa and I have agreed that we will meet again in the margins of the ASEAN meetings in Hanoi next week.
We also have a more traditional trilateral meeting with East Timor, Australia and Indonesia. It’s proposed that we also meet in that context.
But I’ll also be meeting in Hanoi Zacarias da Costa, East Timor’s Foreign Minister, to progress these matters. We’re very pleased with the productive conversations on that front both between Marty and I but also between officials.
Marty , as ever, a productive and good meeting. There are a number of things that we will consider over lunch. But can I thank you for your very warm welcome and can I also thank you for meeting me at the school this morning. The 2000th school that Australia has built under our Australia Indonesia Basic Education Partnership. Of all of the things that we do on the people-to-people front, all of the things that we do on the bilateral front, trying to give young children the chance for a good education is one of the finest things we do. So we are very pleased with the success in that program. I’ve now had the joy of officially opening the 1000th school and 2000th school, and as I said at the school, god willing, we’ll be able to open the 3000th school at some stage in the future.
MARTY NATALEGAWA: Thank you very much Stephen for that presentation of some of the topics that we have discussed and I wanted especially, since I did not mention it in my own introduction, to express how very much we appreciate our collaboration on the building of the schools. As you have made reference to really the events such as this morning make all our efforts all the more worthwhile to see it in real concrete form, the way the collaboration between our two countries can really make a difference in terms of education.
We are somewhat behind in our time schedule but if you are alright Stephen we should give our colleagues from the media some opportunity for questions perhaps. And I was wondering whether there was any questions that someone would like to ask of us.
REPORTER: This question is to you Bapak Marty. As Mr Smith mentioned, Australia, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has proposed a regional refugee centre and nominated East Timor as a favoured location right across the border from Indonesia. What is Indonesia’s position about this idea? Is it an idea that you support, is it something for the Bali Process, or should it be, should the centre be somewhere else, such us in Australia or in Nauru?
MARTY NATALEGAWA: Well, conversations are still to be had, further conversations are still to be had on this issue. But I’d like to broaden the subject matter if I may. We are not simply focused on what you call the regional processing centre, but we should have, we are having a broader talk process there in terms of a regional framework. Because both the Indonesian Government and the Australian Government, we have been working very closely under the Bali Process. We are actually precisely trying to develop a regional framework, a regional approach in dealing with the whole issue of people smuggling and trafficking in persons.
Now, the idea of having a regional processing centre that the Prime Minister mentioned recently we see as being a potential component of such a regional framework. And I have been informed by Foreign Minister Smith just now about the rationale behind the proposal and the conversation he is having with colleagues in the region, and as he had just now with me. And I can understand the rationale behind them and I am sure that in the days and weeks to come as we further delve into it we will have a better appreciation of what the whole concept is all about.
But what I wanted to emphasise at this time is not to simply zero in on the processing centre per se and especially not to zero in on where the potential location of the centre could be, but look at the broader picture. Again origin, transit and destination. My understanding is that such a regional processing centre falls within that kind of prism of the Bali Process. And that’s why as Stephen said just now, we do plan to have a Ministerial-level meeting of the Bali process. This has been planned before. But I think now that we have this concept that Australia is introducing, it gives an additional element for us to be discussing the matter. But regional framework, regional approach of which possibly a regional processing centre could be a constituent part.
STEPHEN SMITH: Just to add to that, our policy rationale for asking the region to contemplate a regional processing centre within a regional framework is that we believe it will reduce the incentive for secondary movements for movements of asylum seekers. It removes the incentives to move from one country to another and very many of those movements are across the high seas in very dangerous circumstances. So we see it as reducing the incentives to people smugglers and human traffickers. That’s the first point.
And secondly, we are in conversation with East Timor. We do believe that it’s important that wherever a potential regional processing centre was located, that it would not work if it were a transit country or destination country. It would not work if it did not have the support of the region. And it would not work if it did not have the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. As Marty has correctly said, we have a regional institution that deals with these matters. We had previously agreed that as Co-chairs, Australia and Indonesia would convene a ministerial-level meeting of the Bali Process in the course of this year. And I think we are now both of the view that given this proposal and the need to discuss it throughout the region, we should do that sooner rather than later, and that is a good thing.
This won’t work without regional support. It won’t work without the support of the settlement and resettlement countries, and it won’t work without the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. And I am very pleased with the conversation I have had with Marty today which as Marty has said is a very initial stage. This is something that we will progress in the weeks ahead. And we’ll do that diligently and assiduously with all of our partners in the region.
REPORTER: [Speaks In Indonesian]
So the second question for Minister Smith. Is there a different policy between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd’s government, especially on foreign policy? Thank you.
MARTY NATALEGAWA: [Speaks in Indonesian]
I was just saying there was a quick reference to the incident of the oil spillage and I have just mentioned that we have basically the same outlook in wanting to present our respective claims so that the party concerned must bear the full responsibility for what has happened.
STEPHEN SMITH: Thank you Marty. I would just make a couple of remarks on the Montara matter. From pretty much the first moments after the incident, which was terrible incident, Australian and Indonesian officials were in contact, and that continues.
Our Minster for Resources, Martin Ferguson, commissioned an independent inquiry to assess the causes and to provide a way forward. That independent commission report has recently gone to him, and he is currently giving consideration as to how to progress that matter. He will obviously do that in close consultation with the Indonesian government and Indonesian officials.
On your question to me. Australian foreign policy in terms of its framework will not change. Let me make this important point that certainly the strength of the relationship between Australia and Indonesia - our strategic partnership, our comprehensive bilateral relationship, the importance of that - will not change.
Nor will the basic fundamentals and framework of our foreign policy approach, which includes our commitment to the United Nations and multilateralism, our commitment to engagement in the region and our alliance with the United States.
Every change of government or change of leader brings with it from time to time changes of style, changes of nuance, but the fundamental fabric will continue.
Importantly, and this was I know very much appreciated by Prime Minister Gillard, the President was one of the first international leaders to ring her to re-affirm the friendship and the relationship between Australia and Indonesia. That was very much appreciated by Prime Minister Gillard and this morning, on her behalf, I relayed as she had requested, her best wishes to Marty but also her best wishes to the President.
MARTY NATALEGAWA: Thank you very much Stephen for this and we’ll continue our discussions.
END