1 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Taoiseach if he will make a statement on his recent talks with the Australian Prime Minister, Mr. Paul Keating, outlining the matters discussed; if, in particular, the matter of Australian support for the Indonesian occupation of East Timor was raised; the views Mr. Keating put to him regarding GATT; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Following our meeting on 20 September 1993, Prime Minister Keating and I held a joint press conference at which we outlined the topics we had discussed. Our talks focused on GATT, the development of bilateral trade and investment, developments in the EC and Northern Ireland.
On GATT, I advised the Prime Minister of our concern about the Blair House Agreement on agricultural trade. The Prime Minister, in turn, counselled on the dangers inherent in not achieving agreement on the Uruguay Round by mid-December.
On East Timor, I referred to Irish concerns about human rights. The Prime Minister, in turn, described his policy of constructive engagement with the Indonesian Government, intended to influence the human rights situation positively.
I reiterated the Government's support for the United Nations policy of achieving resolution of the problem through the talks taking place under the aegis of the United Nations Secretary General.
Will the Taoiseach indicate whether he raised with the Prime Minister the contradiction between the statements he made in this House regarding the support for human rights and the supply by Australia of weapons to the Indonesian Government which are being used to oppress the people of East Timor, an oppression which has resulted in the death of 200,000 East Timorese since 1975?
The Deputy can be assured that I pointed out to the Prime Minister our continuous support for the United Nations position on East Timor and that we have done so consistently since the early 1980s. This calls for talks sponsored by the United Nations Secretary General with all the parties directly concerned to work out a comprehensive settlement. The talks are ongoing, the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia and Portugal, which is the United Nations administering power, met in New York within the past few weeks and we support the continuance of that process.
I appreciate the Government has adopted this stance from the 1980s although, it may have been noted, not from the mid-1970s when the invasion first took place. The Irish Government needs to exert much more pressure, not only on Australia but indeed on some of our Community partners, who also support and aid Indonesia in their oppression of this tiny island, which continues to result in the most appalling abuse of human rights and death.
I must dissuade the Member from making statements rather then putting questions.
We will continue to take action in the area, the basis of which I outlined, both with our Community partners and at the United Nations.
In relation to the world trade talks, did the Taoiseach take the opportunity to impress on the Prime Minister that the European Community is not the only body that has a protectionist attitude, that agriculture is not the only issue in the world trade talks and that the United States in particular is acutely protectionist on financial services, telecommunications, airlines and the powers of the multilateral trade organisation?
The Deputy can be assured I impressed that on the Prime Minister and I outlined quite clearly our position on agriculture. He expressed the fears of the Cairns Group and indeed Australia in relation to access to foreign markets such as Japan and Taiwan, which were the basis of what is known as the Andriessen Understanding. I said that even if access was to be allowed to the EC into those traditional markets I could not see what the Australians had to fear because the only two countries that had the facility to export to those two countries, due to their disease free status, were Denmark and Ireland. Consequently, as Denmark is not really an exporter of beef the presence of Irish beef on those markets would not affect the position there. In relation to the United States I pointed out many of the aspects that Deputy Bruton has properly outlined here and that he might also bear in mind that as far as the export of beef from Ireland to the United States was concerned, we were now exporting less than we were in the 1950s. Consequently, there appeared to be some misunderstanding as to the level of access to markets required by the EC to make adjustments. I also pointed out the many other areas of protectionism that exist in relation to the services and indeed in relation to the Multi-Fibre Agreement. There are various views in relation to certain aspects of that agreement, that some of the countries exporting heavily into the Community have their own markets closed. Therefore, there is a little more involved than agricultural trade talks, many other areas also require to be sorted out.
Did the Taoiseach make it clear to Prime Minister Keating that Ireland is opposed to the illegal occupation of East Timor by Indonesia?
I have already stated what I pointed out to Prime Minister Keating and our position in this regard. We continue to support the position we have taken with the United Nations in its efforts to make an impact on the situation there.
In relation to East Timor, does the Taoiseach see any merit in Ireland raising this issue at meetings between the European Community and ASEAN, the South East Asian group of which Indonesia forms part? Does he see merit in trying to have the question of East Timor included in the agenda for the next meeting between the EC and ASEAN so that we can express our views clearly and, I hope, bring pressure to bear in relation to the human rights issue there?
I would have thought that action at United Nations level, which has been taking place over the past few weeks as a result of meetings between the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia and Portugal, is probably a better way to approach the problem. We shall continue to do that but I shall bear Deputy Jim O'Keeffe's suggestion in mind.
