Extended interview with Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith

Updated June 29, 2010 14:04:30

Australia's Foreign minister Stephen Smith has kept his job in Prime Minister Julia Gillard's ministry.

In this extended interview, Stephen Smith tells Radio Australia that integration with the Asia Pacific region will be a continuing priority. Mr Smith also rejects suggestions that Australia's foreign policy is coming out from under the shadow of the very involved former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Presenter: Linda Mottram
Speakers: Stephen Smith, Australia's Foreign minister

MOTTRAM: Stephen Smith, Julia Gillard says that she'll seek foreign policy advice from her Foreign Minister, so what are the priorities that you'll be suggesting to her?

SMITH: Well our fundamentals remain the same in terms of foreign policy; our need to continue to very strongly integrate in our region and the Asia Pacific. Our ongoing alliance with the United States, which continues to form the bedrock of our defence, security and strategic arrangements, and our engagement internationally through the international institutions, but in particular through the United Nations. Any prime minister of course brings different emphasises of style and nuances, so there may be changes in the future, but the fundamentals, which are very important, will continue and continue very strongly.

MOTTRAM: What about the issue of an Asia Pacific community that was so dear to Mr Rudd's heart? Will you continue pursuing that?

SMITH: We are we think very close to achieving the objectives that we set when prime minister Rudd launched the Asia Pacific community a couple of years ago. What we wanted to do was to ensure that our regional arrangements were set and correct for the Asia Pacific century as strategic and economic influenced moves in our direction; the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the ASEAN economies combined. And the real breakthrough came with the recent ASEAN leaders meeting in Hanoi, where leaders expressly requested the United States and Russia to become more formally integrated within the regional arrangements. And the ASEAN group is now having a conversation about whether the best way to effect that is by expanding the East Asia Summit by those two countries, or having a new group called ASEAN Plus 8. When that emerges, which we're confident it will, then we'll have all of the players sitting around the table at the same place, at the same time able to have a conversation, not just about peace and security, but also about prosperity. So we think we are not too far away from achieving a very good practical outcome which meets our objectives.

MOTTRAM: But there was a regional discussion of some of these issues going on before and there was criticism that Kevin Rudd put the idea out there without consulting, which seems to be a bit of a theme of his prime ministership. Are you in fact overstating the importance of Australia's role?

SMITH: No absolutely not, I think when Prime Minister Rudd put out his proposal he said we need to have a conversation about where the region will be in 20 years time, in 2020-25. It was a long term view, and I detected in the course of the last nine months or so a significant appreciation within the region that we did need to have a conversation about the so-called regional architecture. There are a number of factors in that; the emergence of the G20 as the premier international economic institution was one factor, the overlap between the G20 and APEC, an APEC anniversary year last year where people reflected upon the emergence over less than a quarter of a century of APEC from essentially not being in existence to the premier regional economic, investment, trade and prosperity institution, and the need to concentrate on these matters. So by the end of last year there was very much an appreciation in the region that we had to have the conversation, and we've seen in the course of this year, particularly with the visit to Australia of the Indonesian President of SBY, other countries; Indonesia, Singapore, ASEAN countries, taking up these issues, as well as of course the Japanese proposal for a so-called East Asia community.

MOTTRAM: Ok turning to China, you know the big agenda item for everybody these days; has Australia's approach with China been a bit too personal in a sense, that Kevin Rudd was expected to achieve massive things because of his diplomatic background and being a Mandarin speaker. I mean do you need to come out from under the shadow of that?

SMITH: Well I wouldn't share that analysis. We have a longstanding relationship with China and it has grown substantially over the last couple of years, both in its depth and in its breadth. Our modern relationship with China of course started with our very early recognition of China in 1972 by the Whitlam Labor government. Our relationship originally was almost exclusively an economic relationship, but in the course of the last couple of years, that has grown in its breadth. For example I conducted with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang, the first two strategic dialogues between Australia and China recently in addition to visits by the two vice presidents; Vice President Lee and Vice President Xi, we've also seen a visit to Australia of General Guo, who is the vice chair of the Chinese Military Commission, having strategic and defence discussions with Defence Minister Faulkner. So the breadth of the relationship now is comprehensive not just economic, and of course the economic relationship has gone from strength to strength in the last couple of years.

MOTTRAM: Just turning to Afghanistan, Julia Gillard's of course indicated her support to the US for their strategy, but like the US Australia is starting to signal a likely earlier departure if all tasks are complete so to speak. But is this not now really a matter of the Taliban just waiting for the date to tick over when everybody pulls out and they move back in. I mean is this not a mire out of which we really should get now?

SMITH: Well we haven't set a timetable and we won't set a timetable and our comments on that matter as have been the United States and President Obama's comments as have, for example been new United Kingdom Prime Minister Cameron, have been conditions-based. We need to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan.

MOTTRAM: You've already got a massive portfolio, you've just had trade added to it, Simon Crean your colleague was a tireless advocate on Australia's free trade agenda. Are you going to have time to be as vociferous as he has been?

SMITH: Well there is a good symmetry and a good complementarity and I've been left a good shop by Simon, who was inexhaustible in his efforts on the Doha Round, trying to bring a multilateral trade agreement to conclusion and we welcome very much that the G20 meeting over the weekend has tried to breathe new life back into getting a positive outcome so far as Doha is concerned. But also on the regional front, there's a good complementarity, the two ministers in the past have been served by one department, now one minister will be served by one department. And Simon and I over the last two and a half years of course there's been a complementary nature about the issues we've raised in our representation. In the past as Foreign Minister generally you see trade agreements strategically, now of course I'll have to immerse myself in the detail, but I'm looking forward very much to that. But it's a good fit in our view and I'm looking very much forward to it.

MOTTRAM: Stephen Smith thanks for you time.

SMITH: Thanks very much.