Sky News AM Agenda with Kieran Gilbert

Wednesday, 10 March 2010

Subjects: President Yudhoyono’s visit to Australia; Australia-Indonesia relations; paid parental leave.

 

E&OE…

 

KIERAN GILBERT    Welcome back to AM Agenda. Joining me now the Shadow Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. Ms Bishop thanks for your time.

 

JULIE BISHOP    Good morning Kieran.

 

KIERAN GILBERT    You’ve just had talks with the Indonesian President along with your Leader Mr Abbott, what was discussed?

 

JULIE BISHOP    Well it was very cordial meeting with the President of Indonesia. Obviously it reflects the strength of the relationship that goes back some time now and President Yudhoyono has personally played quite a significant role in strengthening the relationship between Australia and Indonesia and we will continue to work closely with Indonesia as it assumes more of a leadership role as a democratic nation in the region.

 

KIERAN GILBERT    So beyond the people smuggling issue, which is something that we always talk about, what do you see as the key challenges it enhancing that relationship beyond the successes in counter terrorism?

 

JULIE BISHOP    There is so much potential there between the two countries, the two economies particularly. Indonesia is a growing economy and we hope that there will be an opportunity for the Free Trade Agreement talks to get back on track. A comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the two countries would bring significant benefits for example.

 

KIERAN GILBERT    Okay well we saw on the counter terrorism issue, we saw another development yesterday it seems with a top JI operative killed by the Indonesian counter terrorism police. They’ve certainly have made a lot of progress there haven’t they against JI?

 

JULIE BISHOP    They have. We applaud them for their efforts in counter terrorism. They have had a number of results, they are clearly committed to it and also working in cooperation with other countries in the region to stop not only terrorism but also people smuggling and other criminal activities in the region. And Indonesia does deserve congratulations for its efforts in that regard.

 

KIERAN GILBERT    And this latest development as well with this person who was apparently involved in the first Bali bomb.

 

JULIE BISHOP    Well I think that is right. They obviously have been assiduous in pursuing both those responsible for the Bali bombings and we do congratulate them for their efforts in this raid over night.

 

KIERAN GILBERT    Okay just on another issue relating to the bilateral relationship. Why isn’t there a greater awareness, in terms of people-to-people links, that Australian, Indonesians generally don’t have a great awareness of the other country?

 

JULIE BISHOP    That is an interesting perspective. The government-to-government relationships are strong. They were strong under Prime Minister Howard, they remain strong. The Parliament-to-Parliament links are strong, but there isn’t the same level of interaction at the business-to-business or people-to-people level. Now I think that can be addressed in a number of ways. The Free Trade Agreement would obviously assist in terms of our economic cooperation, but also business investment in Indonesia and also more exchanges, student exchanges, business exchanges, cultural exchanges are very important. The President’s son in fact spent a number of years in Perth in Western Australia. He’s just been elected to the Indonesian Parliament. So I think that is a very good example of how a greater understanding, of how our countries through exchanges will assist in the long term relationship.

 

KIERAN GILBERT    Okay just quickly on domestic politics, I will let you respond to Jason Clare’s assertion before the break. He said you told the partyroom that the parental leave scheme had been motived due to internal polling showing a drop in support from young women.

 

JULIE BISHOP    Absolutely not true. I did not mention internal polling at all. What I did talk about was NewsPoll, obviously public polling, that showed that women obviously thought we weren’t listening to them, that we hadn’t taken into account their concerns and that one issue, that women raised with me on a very frequent basis, is paid parental leave. And of course if Australia is to increase participation rates, increase productivity we need to ensure that women can be supported to get back into the workforce if they choose to do so after having children.

 

KIERAN GILBERT    Julie Bishop, as always, appreciate your time.

 

JULIE BISHOP    Thank you Kieran.