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MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS  HON ALEXANDER DOWNER, MP

TRANSCRIPTION: PROOF COPY E & OE

DATE:   17 October, 2007

TITLE:   Doorstop - Pacific Islands Forum, Fiji, RAMSI, Antarctica Treaty, India nuclear  agreement, Solomon Islands.



MR DOWNER: Look I just want to say very briefly, I haven’t got much time, but I’ve  been truly delighted with this forum. It has gone exceptionally well from our point of view. I  think a very good outcome on Fiji. We are really showing the relevance of the forum in taking  the agenda forward. There was unanimity that the election should be held by the end of the  first quarter of 2009. The Fiji Commander accepted that. He has accepted the road map the  needs to be consistent with the Fiji Constitution and it needs to be legal therefore and the  engagement, the mechanisms for engagement that the Forum has put in place with Fiji, I think  are very constructive. So I think this the best imagineable outcome, certainly from Australia’s  point of view the best imaginable outcome we could have got on Fiji, a very good outcome on  the Solomon Islands as well with an endorsement of the review that has taken place of  RAMSI and mechanism again for engagement between the Forum and the Solomon Islands  Government in relation to some concerns that they have raised. We need to have that  mechanism so I think that is a very good outcome too. Also it was a very felicitous meeting, a  very constructive meeting. We didn’t agree, I suppose, with each other on everything but we  agreed on most things and I don’t know - I haven’t been to too many of the Leaders’  Meetings of course over the years, I’ve been to one or two, but I’ve been to many foreign  ministers’ meetings and other forum meetings of one kind or another - and this is as good a  forum meeting as I’ve known. The atmosphere here was really excellent and I’m glad we  were able to play such a constructive role.



JOURNALIST: Can you explain how the mechanism that you referred  to with RAMSI  will operate?

MR DOWNER: Yes. I mean the review that we’ve been very happy with, the review  recommended the establishment of a foreign ministers committee which would include what’s  called the troiker, that is the former chair of, foreign minister who’s the chair of the forum, the  present chair which is obviously Tonga and the next chair will be N’ua, that’s the troiker, plus  Australia and the Solomon Islands itself to establish this ministerial committee and in this  particular case, this ministerial committee will now engage with the Solomon Islands  Government in relation to any concerns they may have about RAMSI. But there’s tremendous  support here for RAMSI and I think all of the participants at this forum who all make a  contribution to RAMSI are very proud of what RAMSI has done and what it is achieving.



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Do you trust the Commodore to stick to his word?

MR DOWNER: I think we’ll just have to wait and see. I mean implementation is, we  haven’t got to that stage, we’ll have to just wait and see. I think we’ve got a very, very good  outcome here. This isn’t just Australia and New Zealand, obviously we’ve been key players in  all of this, but it’s the forum as a whole. I pay, by the way, particular tribute to Sir Michael  Somare who’s been very helpful in all of this and also to the Prime Minister of Samoa,  Tualepa, who’s done a very good job on this issue as well. So they’ve all worked together and  we’ve all worked together, obviously Australia and New Zealand especially, and we’ve got a  very, very good outcome here. Implementation, we’ll have to just wait and see.

JOURNALIST: Just off the Forum for a moment Minister, any response to Britain’s  new claims on Antarctica?

MR DOWNER: I just had a look at the report. Britain is a claimant state. To understand  the 1959 Antarctic Treaty - look all I’ve done is read a very brief media reports there so this is  my take of it - to understand the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, it is important to understand that  there are claimant states who’s claims are not accepted by many, many parties to that treaty.  My recollection is that Britain claims a slither of Antarctica - nothing like as big a percentage  of Antarctica that Australia claims by the way, it claims a smaller part of Antarctica - and  therefore consistent with it being a claimant state, it will needless to say lay claim to an EEZ.  That is what you would expect.



JOURNALIST: Minister, just on another question outside of the forum - will Australia  grant a visa to the man, the Iraqi man, who Douglas Wood said saved him from his captors?

MR DOWNER: Well as I understand it - I’ve checked this but this is subject to any  further checking that may occur - but as I understand it, he hasn’t made an application for  protection and if he does, that will obviously be considered on its merits. But I don’t think.  I’m not sure that anyone’s ever said to him you can’t make an application - of course he can  make an application - but as I understand it he hasn’t made an application. So look, all of  these things have to be dealt with through due process. We shouldn’t bypass due process.  There are procedures for making applications for protection in Australia and people do, of  course, all the time. Brigadier Mohammed, I gather his name is, Brigadier Mohammed is  perfectly welcome to make an application.



JOURNALIST: Mr Downer, just in relation to Australian uranium sales to India - keep  it off the Forum for a little bit longer…

MR DOWNER: You seem to have lost interest in the Forum, all three of you.

JOURNALIST: What is the progress with that? There were reports today that…

MR DOWNER: The Indians and the Americans are obviously having discussions about  where they are at with what’s called the 1-2-3 agreement. I can make this clear. There will be  no Australian uranium sales to India unless certain conditions are met and I’ve made this  point before. First of all, the 1-2-3 agreement has to be concluded. Secondly that has to be



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accepted by the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Thirdly the International Atomic Energy Agency  has to set up its monitoring system in relation to those nuclear facilities that are covered by  the IAEA under the 1-2-3 agreement and finally, we would have to successfully negotiated a  nuclear safeguards agreement with India. So all of those conditions have to be met and if the  1-2-3 agreement is never concluded, then we won’t be in a position to negotiate a nuclear  safeguards agreement with India. It is as simple as that.

JOURNALIST: So even if America doesn’t sign an agreement with India, Australia  could still go ahead and sign one?

MR DOWNER: Well you see the thing, obviously in theory but obviously in practice,  that’s not really feasible because India would have to - the point isn’t the agreement with  America per say, the point is the fact that India nuclear facilities would be subject to UN  supervision. They would be subject to IAEA supervision and inspections. That’s the point and  that’s not going to happen without the 1-2-3 agreement being concluded. All of these things,  one leads into the other, so that’s why the 1-2-3 agreement is so important because under the  1-2-3 agreement many Indian nuclear facilities would be subject to IAEA regulations and  inspections and so on. Without the 1-2-3 agreement, that’s not going to happen and then on  that basis, we can’t have a nuclear safeguards agreement with India. It’s of course a point  we’ve always made.

JOURNALIST: Mr Downer, could…

MR DOWNER: Could this be about the Forum or is this.

JOURNALIST: It was going to be about the Forum, yes.

MR DOWNER: I’ve spent the last two days at the Forum.

JOURNALIST: The Solomon Islands boycotted the Leaders’ Retreat. What happens if  they don’t agree to what’s been decided here today?

MR DOWNER: Well I think they will quite clearly agree to consult with the Forum. I  mean the Forum after all is the body which has put in place RAMSI. It is the overarching  organisation of RAMSI - not the Australian Government as is sometimes claimed, I mean  obviously Australia is the main contributor by far, Australia has contributed around $850

million to RAMSI during the life of RAMSI since 2003 when it was set up - but having said  that, bearing in mind that the regional nature of RAMSI, the fact that it is a product of the  Pacific Islands Forum, I think it is inevitable that the Solomon Islands Government will want  to consult with the Forum. I don’t think there is any doubt about that.

JOURNALIST:  (inaudible) committed widespread human rights abuses, is that  something you’ve agreed with?

MR DOWNER: Well we’ve obvsiously had a lot of concerns about human rights abuses  in Fiji in recent times. They have a human rights commission which makes these claims as



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well as Commodore Bainimarama but the information we’re getting is rather at variance with  that.



[Ends]

