(Inaudible) How would you assess the performance in the last three years?

Well, in the last three years we’ve learned a lot about how we can further improve our cooperation with other countries and their agencies. And in those three years we’ve also been able to work out much better the logistics in terms of running a fair size.

So there’s a lot that we don’t know and we still have to learn but we’re further able to improve our … not only our sea interdiction but our air interdiction capabilities as a result of the PSI.

The most important thing with the PSI is that as many countries who choose to be involved are involved and the countries, even if they’re hesitant are prepared to send a service to it, because we all learn from one another and we don’t have to dispose to other countries information or capabilities that we don’t wish.

Minister, what do you want to get out of this exercise today?

The most important thing to learn from this exercise is that if we were to be in a situation where we had an aircraft coming to … in this case, to Australia, that we would know how we could work with other countries to peacefully intercept that and divert that aircraft.

The most important thing about the PSI is about nation to nation, people to people and military to military cooperation. It’s about appreciating that if you’ve got the precursors for weapons of mass destruction going through your own country what you can actually do to stop it from arriving in another.

(Inaudible question)

Well, we fully respect the decision by the Indonesian Government not to be involved in the Proliferation Security Initiative. We would hope that in the long term that all countries, including Indonesia, might be (inaudible) benefit, not only to Indonesia but to our region.

Australia has enjoyed and continues to enjoy a very close cooperative relationship with the Indonesian Government, including Indonesian military. At the moment our relationship is under some strain because of the decision by the Australian Department of Immigration to issue visas to forty-three Papuans who arrived in Australia.

I think the most important thing from us in Australia is we respect the Indonesian Government, respect the decisions that it makes on behalf of Indonesia and we’re also hopeful that … before too long we’ll be able to sit down and talk with Indonesia about continuing a very close cooperation. It’s in the interests of Indonesians and in the interest of Australia and our region that Australia and Indonesia cooperate with one another in every way that we possibly can.

Only very recently I had a very, very good meeting with the chief of the Indonesian Navy. We discussed a range of cooperative measures, where we can work with one another, and I must say to Indonesia that I remain very committed for with… I must say to Indonesia that I remain very committed to having the Royal Australian Navy, if it were able to, conduct joint and coordinated patrols with the Indonesian Navy, and let’s hope that we’ll be able to develop those and other cooperative initiatives, sooner rather than later.

(Inaudible question)

It has absolutely nothing to do with it. Australia has laws, and we are also supportive of international conventions. There are normal processes that work when people arrive in our country, and claim asylum. The Department of Immigration provided the temporary protection visas to these people. The decision in relation to cooperation with the PSI or not, is one taken by the Indonesian government, and it has its own reasons for doing that. We respect those reasons and under no circumstances would I be critical of them.

Have Australian authorities been involved in any of those real events you mentioned?

I think it’s best that I not disclose whether Australia has been actively been involved in any of these events. I can … what I will say, however, is that the interdiction exercise, Pacific Protector 06 is something that is a very real prospect for Australia. Australians need to appreciate that we are well prepared for an incident like this, should it occur.

What information do you have about the six Papuans reported to have been on their way to Australia, being taken back to PNG?

Well, at this stage, the only information we have is that we do have reports that six Papuans may have been attempting to leave Papua, but they possibly may have gone into PNG, but they are not currently in Australia. There isn’t any more that I’m unfortunately aware of. There seems to be a lot of media reporting of things that are just not supported by the intelligence which we actually have.

So is the search warrant being called off?

I can assure you that the Australia authorities are constantly searching for and conducting surveillance of our northern waters. And should these or any other people seek to cross into Australia’s Economic Exclusion Zone, then we will be aware of it.

(Indistinct) reports about these reports that Indonesia’s now sending more warships to Papua?

Well, that’s a matter for the Indonesian Government. As I have said, Australia would be quite interested in conducting joint (indistinct) navy patrols in this part of the world with the Indonesian navy; but if Indonesia chooses to deploy its own (inaudible) and/or military forces to any part of its own country, then that’s its right. And we would not, under any circumstances, wish to criticise it.

(Inaudible question)

Well, there’s only … there was only one that I’m prepared to speak about, and that was the interdiction of the BBC China in 2003 by the Italians, Germans and the Americans. As far as the specifics of those are concerned, these interdiction exercises have been conducted successfully; and the reason why it’s not helpful to significantly set out what was done, where it was done and how is because we obviously don’t want to make it clear to those people throughout the world who do want to move here, that (indistinct) of WMD exactly what we might do and how we do it.

I’m not prepared to comment.

(Inaudible question)

It’s very real. There are … the reality is that there are people throughout the world who are committed to inflicting as much harm on innocent people as they possibly can. Weapons of mass destruction; biological, nuclear, or chemical and radiological are very effective ways of doing that. And this is a very real threat. I mean, you’ve got to say to yourself, would you really have more than thirty countries sending their highest level military and civilian enforcement agencies from Australia for an exercise like this if it were not a real threat.

And if someone, for example, said a decade ago that someone might fly a plane, for example, into the twin towers or the Pentagon, I’d expect there wouldn’t have been too many to take that seriously. I mean, the fact is that our future is going to be moulded and shaken up by the things we know, but the things we don’t. We have to not expect the unexpected; we’ve got to be prepared for the unexpected; and the most important thing, we’ve got to appreciate that what we need is one another; that Australia, and any country in our region, has a limited capacity to do it alone. The most effective force that we can use against these people is cooperation across our orders.

And it’s not about, in any way, infringing on the nationalistic rights of individual countries. If anything, it’s about strengthening them. These are very real threats. We are living, unfortunately, in a dangerous world; and we all have responsibility, as (indistinct) to make sure we are prepared for every contingency. And I can assure you that we are.

(Inaudible question)

Well, look, I mean, it’s the … the most important thing about the PSI is it’s not about stopping individual countries from doing things which those countries believe that they should. There are other mechanisms, particularly through the United Nations, to deal with such activity.

What it’s about is about making sure that we can stop the transfer, sometimes, from one country to another, but more often from rogue terrorist organisations across the world, through the air, or indeed across the sea. So it’s about making sure that once, for example, the precursors for nuclear enrichments that were on the BBC China in 2003, that once that ship is out to sea, how do we stop it, who stops it, and one of the things that has come out of one of the PSI exercises was of course whether or not we should be suggesting to the International Maritime Organisation that the covenant for suppression of unlawful acts against maritime sea navigation are actually strengthened, so that we actually have better international laws for stopping ships that are at sea that have WMD onboard, or precursors for them, and indeed making sure we’ve got good protocols for the boarding of such vessels.

Now, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in the Asia Pacific region or in Europe or North America, we’ve all got an interest in making sure we’ve got good international laws that deal with that. Some of those, and other issues, are the kinds of things we’re exposed to the PSI (indistinct).

Do you think the terrorists and rogue states will be watching (indistinct)?

Yes. Yes, there is no doubt that we should … one of the reasons why it’s not responsible to be explicit about specific exercises that have been conducted in a real sense, but there is no question that there is nowhere in the world to hide from evil, from terrorism, and from those who want to perpetrate injustices onto innocent people.

That’s why Australia is actively involved in the PSI, and a whole range of things, not only in our region but across the world. Because it doesn’t matter which part of the globe we’re in, we are all at risk and we all have a responsibility to see that we live in a secure world.