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LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

TRANSCRIPT OF DOORSTOP - MELBOURNE, 21 NOVEMBER 2002

E & OE - PROOF ONLY

Subjects: Withdrawal of troops, Security alert, Iraq, North Korea, Coastguard, Coles Myer

CREAN: I welcome the decision by the Prime Minister in relation to the SAS troops coming home from Afghanistan.  They have served the country proud, and it is fantastic that they will be home with their families for Christmas.

I also welcome the fact that in this announcement, the Prime Minister is acknowledging what I have been saying since the Bali attack.  And that is, that the prioritisation in terms of our fight against the War on Terror has to come closer to home, to our country and to our region.

JOURNALIST: …[inaudible]…on Labor’s position?

CREAN: To support the United Nations.  It has always been the case and we will continue to do it.  And the United States is part of a unanimous resolution that requires the matter to go through the United Nations.  And that is where it should go.

JOURNALIST: What do you think then if Howard decides to send troops, will he be sending them without bipartisan support?

CREAN: John Howard can’t send troops without the UN first determining this matter further.  And that is where it should be.

JOURNALIST: Absolutely.  Are you confident that that is the best way to balance the demands on our scarce resources?

CREAN: We’ve got two issues here and they are two separate issues.  There is the fight on the War Against Terror, and what has demonstrated by the withdrawal of the troops from Afghanistan is that we can still continue to play an important and constructive role in the War Against Terror in Afghanistan.  The retention of our naval vessels, the provision of the P3 Orions, that is what has been requested, that is what has been advised by the Chief of Defence Forces and it is still a significant contribution by Australia.

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As for the continuation of the War on Terror, Bali and the heightened security alerts indicate that it is closer to home.  We have to prioritise our efforts closer to home and in our region.  But, so far as Iraq is concerned, no link has been made to the War on Terror.  Iraq is about the country disarming its Weapons of Mass Destruction in accordance with the United Nations resolution.  The United Nations has to enforce its own mandate.  And Australia should be fully supporting the United Nations doing that.

JOURNALIST: So what role do you see for these troops coming back in this fight closer to home against terror, as you put it?

CREAN: Well, on the basis of assessments and reassessment that we as a nation make, as to what the threat means here, advice from the Chief of Defence Forces, we’ve got to secure our nation, its citizens and we have got to play a more integrated role in our region.  Because that is where the bigger threat to us is now.  Bali has shown it, the heightened security alert has reinforced it, the prioritisation should be here.  But I have been calling for the prioritisation to come back to Australia and our region since the Bali bombings.  I welcome the fact that with the SAS troops coming home, it will give us a greater opportunity to make that assessment.

JOURNALIST: Mr Crean, do you think we should pay more attention to what happens to North Korea than what is going on in Iraq?

CREAN: I think the issue of North Korea is of concern.  There needs to be clarification as to what the statement involves, but again, the issue itself should be pursued diplomatically.  It should be pursued through the International Atomic Energy Agency going in there to establish whether or not they have, or are in breach of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Act.  These are all important steps that need to be taken through the international agencies.

JOURNALIST: There has been some criticism of that warning, that it’s too vague, and some people are saying that it is pointless.  Well what, you yesterday you endorsed the move of the terror warning that…

CREAN: This is the heightened security warning?

JOURNALIST: …[inaudible]

CREAN: I think that it is an appropriate warning.  I believe that the Australian public needs to be taken into confidence, they need to understand that there is a threat and we have got to be conscious of it.  It needs to be taken seriously.  The fact that there isn’t the detail to put out is not in itself the problem.  People are urged to go about their normal activities but to just be more conscious of this heightened alert.  It’s simply warning people, preparing them, but taking them into their confidence.

JOURNALIST: …[inaudible] does highlight how significant a terrorist threat that we are facing though?

CREAN: The terrorist threat that we face was heightened most dramatically and horrifically with the Bali bombing.  That brought home to all of us that the threat is on our doorstep.  The warning the other day has highlighted that Australia itself could be a target.  What we thought was a

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war by terrorists, an attack by terrorists and a fight against them was over there - we’ve now suddenly found is over here.  That is what raised the concerns.  That is why we have had respond to in the way in which we have, and it is why it requires a reassessment of our counter-terrorist capacity here in Australia and in our region.  That is something I have called for since the Bali bombings and I believe that the coming home of the SAS troops from Afghanistan gives us a much greater capacity to make that assessment in the national interest, as it should be.

JOURNALIST: Do you think there is a bit of confusion about the difference between Bali and Iraq and the different threats at play there?

CREAN: Well there shouldn’t be confusion.  And I think that people who want to confuse it are doing the public no great service.  Bali was clearly an extension of the War on Terror.  Iraq has not been linked to the War on Terror.  No evidence has been brought forward to link Saddam Hussein with the terrorist attacks.  Of course, if that evidence did come forward, that would change the circumstances pretty significantly.  But it hasn’t.  And we have called since April for that case to be made and it hasn’t been made.  There is a problem with Iraq and that is that it has weapons of mass destruction.  And it is in defiance of the United Nations Security Council solution carried unanimously.  We can’t allow the United Nations authority to be flouted.  That is why it has to be enforced, but it has to be enforced through the United Nations.

JOURNALIST: Is there anything else that you feel can be done at a local level to counter the latest threats?

CREAN: I believe so.  First we need a Coastguard, we need a Department of Homeland Security and third we really need to strengthen our relations with our neighbours.  We need to get better information sharing, get common agendas to fight this War Against Terror together.  It’s not as if Australia alone is being singled out.  All areas are threatened.  No one country can fight this war on its own.  It’s got to be done together.  And that is why to strengthen regional security is important.

But if we are to protect our borders, and I think that that is the prime concern that we have got to embrace, an Australian Coastguard makes a lot of sense. We don’t just need a Defence Force, we need a law enforcement authority.  A cop on the beat.  And it is essential that Australia has a Coastguard.  It is essential that Australia adopts a Department of Homeland Security to coordinate a nationally integrated approach to the nation’s security.  This has just been adopted in the US.  It should be adopted here, and Labor will be introducing such a department if it won government.

JOURNALIST: So do you have a comment on the turmoil at Australia’s biggest employer, Coles Myer?

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CREAN: I note that there was a very significant vote by ordinary shareholders against the board.  It is something the board can’t ignore.

(ends)

