TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP
PRESS CONFERENCE, SYDNEY
2 September 2001
Ladies and gentlemen, I can announce that an agreement has been reached with the Government of Papua New Guinea for the trans-shipment of the people from the Tampa through Port Moresby and then via aircraft to both Nauru and New Zealand. The proposal is that the people should be transferred from the Tampa to the amphibious troop ship Manoora which is a very large vessel capable of travelling six thousand kilometres. It’s a large troop ship that has extensive medical facilities on board including I understand two operating theatres. Troops remain on this ship for weeks on end. It is within the inevitable constraints of any vessel quite comfortable and it can adequately accommodate all of the people who will be taken from the Tampa.
I am told by the Chief of the Defence Force through the Defence Minister that as I speak the Manoora is ready to take people on board. The Manoora is now ready to take people on board. The idea is that they should be transferred to the Manoora then the Manoora will sail to Port Moresby and then they will be transferred to aircraft that will take them to Nauru and to New Zealand. I can also inform you that a party comprising representatives from the Department of Immigration and other relevant Federal Government departments are on the way to Nauru with a view to putting in hand preparations for the construction of temporary accommodation by way of a tent facility for the people to be received on that island.
So in quite a real sense the arrangements are now in place. We have achieved an humanitarian outcome. All of the people can be properly cared for. They will on my advice be far more comfortable on the Manoora than they are on the Tampa. I repeat that the Manoora is now ready to take people on board. It could begin to take people on board today and complete that process tomorrow. So I want it to be understood that all the arrangements that were necessary to put in place the execution of the arrangement that I negotiated with the governments of New Zealand and Nauru yesterday, all of the things that are necessary to give effect to that are now in place. And from our point of view the government is ready, the Defence Forces are ready, the Immigration authorities are ready to give effect to that plan. I want to record my deep appreciation to the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Sir Mekere Morauta, for the cooperation and the willingness of the government of that coun! try to cooperate with Australia in relation to this issue. This is a truly Pacific solution to a problem which involved the governments of Australia, New Zealand, Nauru and Papua New Guinea and they have all worked together and I again express on behalf of the Government and the Australian people our thanks to the governments and the people of those three countries for their willingness to cooperate. I believe that the humanitarian consideration and the best welfare of the people now on the vessel will be better met if they can be transferred as soon as possible to the Manoora where the conditions are obviously more comfortable than what they are on the Tampa.
JOURNALIST:
Will you wait for the outcome of the Federal Court hearing before any movement of people…..?
PRIME MINISTER:
There is a rule of law in this country.
JOURNALIST:
But you are waiting until the hearing……?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don’t want to talk about the court proceedings. We have a very strong view about the action that’s being brought but that view is being put in the Federal Court by the Commonwealth counsel and it’s not appropriate that I add to it.
JOURNALIST:
What time are you expecting to be able to start moving people onto the Menoora?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well we are ready but there is a court action going on.
JOURNALIST:
So the court action is delaying it?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well self evidently if there is a court order that people can’t be shifted we have to take account of that and that is my understanding. But I want it to be known and the court is being informed that the Manoora is now ready to take people.
JOURNALIST:
What are the terms of the financial arrangements with Nauru?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I have said that we will underwrite the total cost of this, total cost. There’ll be no expense at all borne by Nauru. None what so ever.
JOURNALIST:
What do you expect that to be?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don’t know but I should point out that there’s a broad cost of $50,000 a head for each person who comes here and seeks refugee status. So I mean if you’re looking at expense if the whole 460 had been accepted and processed and everything you’re looking at about $22 million. I think people have got to bear that in mind in trying to assess the cost of this. But the cost is important but there are other considerations as well. Cost is not the only issue. But in the long run a rising tide of illegal immigration to this country is very expensive for us, very expensive indeed. So I don’t think anybody should think that what we’re proposing in relation to Nauru and all the other arrangements we’re making are going to be vastly more costly than if we had simply accepted the people in here because accepting them in is quite expensive too. But that is not the dominant consideration. The dominant consideration is to regain control of the integrity of our borders and to make it plai! n that this country is not a country of easy destination for people smuggling and for illegal immigration.
JOURNALIST:
How does Nauru benefit from this arrangement?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it was an act of involvement by Nauru in solving a problem involving the area. I mean I’m very grateful, very grateful indeed.
JOURNALIST:
How significant is it that it’s a Pacific solution rather than an Asian solution?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I think it just indicates that there’s a good feeling and there’s a comity amongst the nations of the Pacific and that we have good relations with those countries. But look, I haven’t sort of sat and tried to weigh it on the scale. It just is a very satisfactory outcome and I’m very pleased with the countries of the Pacific. I thank New Zealand, I thank Nauru, and I thank Papua New Guinea.
JOURNALIST:
How do you think the world views our handling of the situation?
PRIME MINISTER:
People who think will understand why we’ve done it and certainly those people who think about will support what we’ve done.
JOURNALIST:
There are suggestions that one of the asylum seekers on board the Tampa has died…..
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven’t heard anything about that. I haven’t heard anything to that effect.
JOURNALIST:
Regarding the enhanced patrol, you said five aircraft….
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I said five vessels and 4 P3 Orion aircraft.
JOURNALIST:
Can you say which …..?
PRIME MINISTER:
No. I'll have to check on that but….
JOURNALIST:
Do we know which, obviously it involves Indonesia, do you know….
PRIME MINISTER:
When you say involves Indonesia, I didn’t say that.
JOURNALIST:
Well it’s between Indonesia and…
PRIME MINISTER:
No it’s in international waters between the Indonesian archipelago and Australia. The surveillance will take place in international waters, the international waters that lie between the Indonesian archipelago and Australia. Indonesia has been informed. Indonesia was informed on Friday. Indonesia thanks us for informing them and they have offered refuelling facilities and home porting facilities.
JOURNALIST:
[inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look, I’m sorry, I don’t know yet. You’d have to ask the defence authorities that. I don’t carry that around in my head I’m sorry.
JOURNALIST:
The US State Department says the increase in [inaudible] illegal asylum seekers coming from Indonesia is a demonstration….make it easy for terrorists to infiltrate the region. Is there any information to suggest that there maybe…..?
PRIME MINISTER:
I haven’t seen that statement but obviously there is a potential when you have an increased flow of illegal immigrants. Of course there is a potential. Mr Ruddock has talked about that on numerous occasions. I mean there are a whole host of reasons relating to that and other reasons why we have to use every means at our disposal consistent with the law and consistent with the decency of Australia as a humane nation to slow and hopefully stop the flow of illegal immigrants now. What we have done we hope and we believe will have a deterrent effect, I can’t guarantee or promise that it is going to stop it altogether. I am not doing that. I want to make that very clear but what I am saying is that we have sent a very strong signal in relation to the Tampa and by the increased surveillance and I hope that will act as a very powerful deterrent. But it is a very difficult issue and we do need a Memorandum of Understanding with Indonesia. We have been endeavouring to negotiate that now for months. Any suggestion that we haven’t been trying to do that is wrong. There are three ministers going to Jakarta next week. I raised the matter when I was in Jakarta with senior ministers of the Indonesian government. Our proposal was that we will fully fund construction of a detention centre in Indonesia through the International Organisation of Migration. That remains our position. So we are doing all we can but we need the cooperation of other countries.
JOURNALIST:
What exactly are our vessels going to do when they come across boatpeople?
PRIME MINISTER:
I have been asked that question on a number of occasions. They will act both lawfully and decently but as to the rest of it, I am not going to go into that.
JOURNALIST:
Are you reviewing policies for refugees?
PRIME MINISTER:
No we are not reviewing our longstanding willingness to take refugees. We continue to be a country that will shoulder our share of the refugee burden. We are the second most generous country in the world after Canada on a per capita basis and that will remain. This incident will not diminish our willingness to take refugees properly assessed in the normal way by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. That is what we are endeavouring to do. We are endeavouring to establish the integrity of the international refugee assessment process, that’s what we want. That will happen in relation to these people. If they are taken to those third countries they will be assessed out of Australia. Those judged to be refugees will then be treated in accordance with the proper refugee process. Now that is what we want. And if these people some of them can establish a refugee entitlement well they have a right like other refugees to be given an opportunity of settling in ano! ther country and Australia will continue to take her share. But what is happening with illegal migration is undermining the whole process of refugee assessment and that is what we are fighting to restore, the integrity of the process. We are not trying to stop countries taking refugees, we want countries to take refugees, we want to take refugees but we are not going to accept people who haven’t established a refugee claim before they come to this country.
Thank you.
END
