Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. What is the government’s response to reports that the Australian High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands has been declared persona non grata by Prime Minister Sogavare?

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question and the interest that she shows in this issue. I can confirm that the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands has written to the Prime Minister to advise that he wants Patrick Cole, who is our High Commissioner in Honiara, to be declared persona non grata—that is, to expel him from the Solomon Islands. Quite frankly, this decision by the Solomon Islands government is both eccentric and outrageous. The Australian government fully supports Patrick Cole and the work that he has done. He has been an excellent High Commissioner. He is an Australian public servant of long standing who has worked for both sides of politics as a public servant in a number of government departments—in particular, my department and the Prime Minister’s department.

In his discussion with our Prime Minister, the Solomon Islands Prime Minister said that Mr Cole had apparently been talking too much to the opposition in the Solomon Islands. It is the practice of our ambassadors and high commissioners around the world to keep in contact with opposition politicians and parties. In fact, it would be a long time since an Australian ambassador or a high commissioner was barred from talking to the opposition. That sort of thing happened in the days of the old Soviet Union, but it is pretty unusual these days. In this country, the ambassadors and high commissioners frequently talk with our opposition. This is just normal practice, even if they do not think that they are going to get much out of the conversation—which they do not, I believe.

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You could not resist being a four-year old.

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, I cannot resist having a crack at you socialists.

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You could not resist.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Melbourne is warned!

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You are all the same, you lefties. The second allegation made against Patrick Cole is that the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands objected to Patrick Cole’s opposition to the establishment of a commission of inquiry and in particular to some aspects of that commission of inquiry——and he quite rightly opposed that on behalf of the Australian government.

I would have thought most members of this parliament would be sensible enough to know that this commission of inquiry is not the right thing. It is an endeavour to try to clear the names of Messrs Ne’e and Dausabea in particular, who are facing charges in relation to the riots in April. These two men were both made ministers when Mr Sogavare became the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands. Frankly, this has been a matter of very great concern to the Australian government, and it should be. We should be objecting to this. Frankly, to declare Mr Cole persona non grata is completely and utterly inappropriate.

Let me make two final points. The first is this: we will continue our work with the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands because that regional assistance mission, a Pacific-wide mission led by Australia, is providing enormous benefits to the ordinary people of the Solomon Islands. There may be some people in Solomon Islands politics who object to RAMSI standing between them and the honey pot, but there is no doubt that as far as the ordinary people of the Solomon Islands are concerned RAMSI is a great thing. Finally let me say: we really do appreciate in this incident the strong support we are getting from our partners from other countries in the region and beyond. I think this is a time when all of us should show our solidarity with Patrick Cole, who has been treated abominably. He is a good and decent Australian, a hard-working public servant and he should not have been treated in this shabby way.