





LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

TRANSCRIPT OF DOORSTOP - MELBOURNE, 12 JANUARY 2003

E & OE - PROOF ONLY



Subjects:    North Korea, Iraq, Bali Bombing

CREAN:  The situation in North Korea is very serious indeed and it  requires much more urgent attention from the Australian Government.  The  Government has got it’s priorities wrong. Just as the Government announced the  sending of 1500 troops to the Gulf in anticipation of a war in Iraq, all it’s doing is  sending three diplomats, three public servants, to North Korea to deal with a  crisis associated with nuclear proliferation.

The Government has to reverse its priorities.  It has to demonstrate a much  more serious commitment to addressing the security of our region.  It’s got to  re-establish the Canberra Commission.  In 1995 the Labor Government took the  threat of nuclear proliferation and the development of nuclear capacity very  seriously indeed. It established a Canberra Commission to identify the priorities  and the strategy for the region.  It was a report that wasn’t acted on by the  current Government but it was acted on by other governments in the region.   Australia is one of the few countries that still has diplomatic relations with North  Korea.  It should be using that capacity and showing leadership to address this  very serious crisis indeed. It requires more than three public servants.

JOURNALIST:  If the Canberra Commission was enacted how would that  differ… [inaudible]?

CREAN:   Well it would have to give an update to what it did in ‘95.  In  ‘95 the Canberra Commission identified the problems and the threats within the  region and devised a strategy.  That has to be done again.  We can’t ignore any  longer the potential threat in the region when we’ve got North Korea having now  said it’s going to pull out of the International Atomic Energy Agency and told it’s  going to embark on a program of nuclear capacity.  We need to get North Korea

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back into the International Agency and that’s not going to happen unless  Australia plays a leading role.

JOURNALIST:  [inaudible]

CREAN:  Well, the Government has got its priorities wrong. It should be  diverting attention and alleviating the level of tension.  The Minister himself  should be taking charge of it.  The Minister himself should be re-establishing the  Canberra Commission and it should be looking at a strategic approach in terms  of the region and the strategic role that Australia can play in that regard. There  is concern by all our neighbours in the region about what’s happening in North  Korea.  There is a preparedness to use diplomatic efforts to try and resolve it.   Australia has to play a much more active role than it’s demonstrated it’s prepared  to do to date.

JOURNALIST:  [inaudible]

CREAN:   Well it’s a threat that is posed to the region.  If we’ve got a  country pulling out of the Nuclear Non-proliferation commitment, if we’ve got a  country pulling out of the International Atomic Energy Agency - this is a serious  threat to peace and stability in the region and that will impact upon Australia.  That’s why Australia has to take a leading role, we have to secure peace and  security within our region that’s got to be our priority, that’s where the effort, the  emphasis, the thrust, the emphasis has to be directed.

JOURNALIST:  …[inaudible]… why has it gone this way because it has  become a little too friendly with the US?

CREAN:   It is because it is preoccupied with a war on Iraq. It has been  announced, the Prime Minister announced on Friday, that he was committing  young Australian men and women to a potential war in the Gulf, and that war  can be avoided through processes already established in the United Nations.  That commitment of troops should not be made ahead of the decision taken by  the United Nations. It is an inappropriate response by the Government and what  is also inappropriate is the lacklustre and low-powered emphasis on the new  threat posed by North Korea.

JOURNALIST:  … [inaudible] … North Korea than Iraq?

CREAN:  Well, it involves nuclear weaponry. It’s certainly not less  serious. It’s as serious or more serious. But the point is that the position in Iraq  is already being attended to by the United Nations and diplomatic channels.  What we haven’t got is the Australia Government putting enough emphasis on a

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diplomatic solution for North Korea - getting it back into the International Atomic  Energy Agency. It will not happen simply by sending bureaucrats to it.   The Government has to take a leadership role. That means the Foreign Minister,  the Prime Minister getting themselves involved.

JOURNALIST:  On Iraq, there are reports of growing dissent in the  party…[inaudible]…the Government?

CREAN:  Look, the Government’s got its priorities wrong on this. The  Government says it’s prepared to allow the United Nations process to run it’s  course. If it’s prepared to allow that, why is it committing the deployment of  troops to the region? It should not be committing the deployment that the Prime  Minister announced the other day. It should be waiting for the decision and the  processes of the United Nations.

JOURNALIST:  Do you think they’re uneasy with the Government over the  policy?

CREAN:  I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t people in the  Government concerned about the decision the Government’s taken. Certainly,  there are people in the community concerned about it. But I’ve indicated I don’t  agree with the approach the Government has taken, we’ve got to pursue the  diplomatic course. We’ve got to play it through the United Nations and they  should not be committing any troops or any commitment ahead of the United  Nations decision.

JOURNALIST:  The Weapons Inspectors have indicated they are yet to find  the smoking gun, but obviously there’s a lot of scepticism about what is actually  forthcoming, what Iraq is actually putting up to the Inspectors. Do you share  that scepticism?

CREAN:  Well I do, because there was going to be the capacity in terms  of chemical and biological weapons back in the late 90’s. And I agree with  Richard Butler that there is an obligation on the part of Iraq to demonstrate what  was … [inaudible] … then, has been dismantled. But that is part of the Weapons  Inspectors set of activities, that’s what the team has to do. And we should …  [inaudible] .. to that task, and it needs to be given every support in achieving  that task. We need to be committing resources to the Weapons Inspectors not to  the build up of military capacity in the region.

JOURNALIST:  What about the deadline in … [inaudible] … the deadline?  Should they be given longer to look around?

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CREAN:  Well, if they need longer then they should be given longer.  That’s a matter for the UN Weapons Inspectorate. It would be part of their  report. But I …

JOURNALIST:  … the US over there pushing, you know…

CREAN:  I think it’s appropriate to set deadlines, but if the team that  has been sent in to work to that deadline is of the view that it needs further  time, it should be given it. It’s about establishing the facts. It’s been given a  task, it’s got to be allowed the opportunity to complete that task. And no action,  no military build up should occur ahead of that.



JOURNALIST:  It’s three months since the Bali Bombing today, is there  anything you would like to say about that, and the way the country has dealt  with it?



CREAN:  Well, I think that the three months since that tragic event has  demonstrated to all in Australia the threat of terrorism is closer to us at home.  And that’s why the priority for Australia has to be securing the peace and  stability within our region. That’s why we have to take greater steps in relation to  North Korea, for example. But I think the other thing that needs to happen as a  result of it is to recognise we can’t solve this threat of terrorism alone. It has to

be done through the international bodies. And that’s why it is entirely  appropriate for the UN to be given the opportunity to resolve the circumstance in  Iraq. It’s why we as a nation, as strong as our commitment is to the US Alliance,  has to be mindful, and supportive and proactive in ensuring the international  bodies fulfill their role.

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