Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—Mr Speaker, last week I visited Pakistan, the first visit to that vitally important country by an Australian foreign minister for over a decade. My purpose was to enhance bilateral relations and to urge decisive action by Pakistan against terrorism and against extremists crossing the border into Afghanistan. I had detailed discussions with President Zardari, Prime Minister Gillani, Foreign Minister Qureshi and Chief of Army Staff General Kayani.

I also visited Peshawar and the Khyber Agency to receive briefings from local military commanders on the security situation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, including the North-West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Pakistan is one of the most strategically important countries in the world. Critically located at the intersection of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East, Pakistan has a direct effect on Australian security interests, as well as the security and stability of its immediate region and beyond.

As is well known, the acute problems in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area have adverse implications for Afghanistan, where nearly 1,100 Australian troops are part of the UN-mandated international effort to stabilise that country. Pakistan itself is also facing a number of other complex internal challenges. These range from the threat of extremism and terrorism, accommodating millions of Afghan refugees, and dealing with serious economic difficulties, both cyclical and structural. With a population of 170 million, Pakistan has the second largest Muslim population in the world, and on current projections will overtake the larger Muslim population of Indonesia by mid-century. Pakistan is also a nuclear armed state outside the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

Pakistan has recently returned to democracy after years of military rule. Recognising its importance and the challenges it faces, the Australian government is committed to a closer and enhanced engagement with the democratic government of Pakistan. Australia has had continual diplomatic representation in Pakistan since its inception. We also have affinities based on a common British colonial heritage and people to people contacts on which to build. There are, for example, about 5,000 Pakistani students studying in Australia. Both countries have, of course, a shared passion for cricket.

Australia also welcomes Pakistan’s readmission to the Commonwealth, a forum in which we look forward to cooperating on issues of mutual interest. Australia again thanks Pakistan for its support for Australia being granted observer status with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). These developments are positive, but overall Australia has not paid nearly enough attention to Pakistan. In part this is because trade between our two countries is relatively modest, reaching $644 million last year. But whatever historically might explain it, we cannot afford to neglect a country so strategically vital to international security.

Foreign Minister Qureshi and I agreed last week that Australia and Pakistan must look to build economic links. Australia cannot afford to ignore a market of 170 million people. We are now examining ways of boosting bilateral trade, including investment. Australia is an inaugural member of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan Group. I attended the first ministerial meeting of this group last September at the United Nations.

The Friends Group includes the United States, United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and Turkey. All of whom, like Australia, are committed to assisting a democratic Pakistan tackle its internal challenges. These challenges are economic and social ones as well as the issues of security and extremism which afflict Pakistan today.

In Pakistan last week I announced that Australia would substantially increase development assistance to Pakistan, focusing on health, education and governance. Australia will contribute an additional $5.2 million to support a new phase in the Fred Hollows Pakistan-Australia Eye Care Project.

Australia recognises the importance of democratic institutions, government accountability and transparency in Pakistan. I informed Foreign Minister Qureshi that Australia would contribute $2.9 million to build community participation through the Strengthening Participatory Organisations program.

Australia is also providing ongoing assistance on irrigation management in the mango and citrus and dairy sectors, through the Agriculture Sector Linkages Program. These programs will be extended until 2011. Our trade and investment relationship in the area of agribusiness will be boosted by a $100,000 project to deepen the agribusiness and science links between our two countries.

In expanding our development assistance partnership, Australia will look to boost aid to North-West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Australia will build on these initiatives over the coming months and years. Australia, as a friend of democratic Pakistan, stands with the government of Pakistan in its fight against terrorism and extremism. Australia will assist Pakistan as it deals with this challenge.

In that context, Foreign Minister Qureshi and I welcomed increased Defence cooperation between Australian and Pakistan, including forthcoming talks between Chiefs of our Defence Forces. This year, Australia will also increase fourfold to 40 training places in Australia offered to Pakistani security and defence personnel.

Australia’s Ambassador for Counter-terrorism, Bill Paterson, also visited Pakistan in the week beginning 9 February for discussions with key counterparts. Australia will assist Pakistan to counter terrorist financing through the provision of technical assistance and training to Pakistan’s Financial Intelligence Unit.

Mr Qureshi and I also signalled that Australia and Pakistan would finalise shortly MOUs on police cooperation and counter-narcotics. We also discussed the importance of Pakistan taking determined steps against extremist networks. We also discussed the steps Pakistan is taking to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attacks to justice. As I made clear publicly in Pakistan, Australia too has a vital interest in these investigations because two of our citizens were murdered in the Mumbai attacks.

We welcome Pakistan’s recent steps to provide further information to India and the arrests and actions it has taken to date. These are important and welcome steps but determined action must continue. It is crucial to regional stability in South Asia for Pakistan and India to have constructive relations. We hope that the composite dialogue can be resumed. Pakistan must take determined and transparent steps to bring the perpetrators to justice, to dismantle the terrorist networks, especially Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) and related groups, and to prevent further attacks on India. As I have mentioned, Pakistan is vital to the security and stability of Afghanistan. I have now seen for myself the challenges and complexities of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area.

From my visit, I developed a very good appreciation of the difficulty of the topography, the difficulty of the terrain of the border regions, and the ease with which insurgents can cross the border. Perhaps more importantly, I got a very good appreciation of the tribal history and the culture of the movements across that border. In that context, Australia welcomes improved relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. President Zardari has been instrumental in this recent improvement. President Zardari has also made clear that the threat of militancy in the border regions is not just a threat to Afghanistan but a danger to Pakistan itself, which threatens the existence of the Pakistani state.

Equally important will be continued coordination between Pakistani, Afghan and international security efforts in the border regions. International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations in Afghanistan will affect the Pakistan side of the border and vice versa. Much progress has been made, but with additional US forces deploying to Afghanistan it will be vital to ensure that ensuing gains in Afghanistan are complemented by decisive action in Pakistan. For the last 12 months the Australian government has been saying that there is an acute problem in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area that has adverse implications for Afghanistan. In the course of last year, we also started to say that we believed we had a serious problem in Pakistan itself which needed to be addressed. That is now acknowledged and appreciated by the international community, just as it is by Pakistan and its government.

That is one of the reasons, for example, why Ambassador Holbrooke was appointed by President Obama to be an envoy, not just for Afghanistan, but for Pakistan and Afghanistan. While taking into account their distinctive histories and circumstances, the challenges facing these two countries need to be treated together and at the same time. Australia welcomes Ambassador Holbrooke’s appointment. We also welcome his recent visit to Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. Mr Deputy Speaker, as you will be aware, the United States is undertaking a review into its Afghanistan strategy, coordinated by Bruce Riedel. Australia welcomes the participation of Afghanistan and Pakistan, through their respective foreign ministers, in that review.

As I have long made clear, three elements are required for success in Afghanistan. The first is military enforcement to defeat the extremists and create an environment in which peace, security and development can occur. The second is a civilian reconstruction effort to build the capacity of the Afghan government to manage its own affairs, from providing peace and security, to government services and infrastructure. In addition, at some stage, a political dialogue will be necessary. Such a dialogue in the first instance will be a matter for the Afghan government and its people. The Afghan government’s own conditions for political reconciliation include that those involved must stop supporting insurgents, lay down their arms and respect the Afghan constitution. It is clear that the current circumstances in Afghanistan do not yet allow such a dialogue, but a solution to the insurgency in Afghanistan will not come through military means alone.

In Pakistan, a similar combination of elements will be necessary to stabilise the border regions with Afghanistan. Members will be aware of media reports about a peace deal in the Swat Valley, Pakistan. Details of this agreement remain unclear, a point made publicly by me, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and others. I understand, in part, the deal is aimed at re-establishing the legal system at the local level which has essentially broken down. We respect Pakistan’s decision to pursue local level agreements as part of a strategy to stabilise the border regions. But we will need time before we can judge the impact of this deal on the ground. As I said in Pakistan itself last week, such agreements have not worked in the past. Rather they appear to have let the militants come back stronger than before. If this happened again we would obviously be very concerned. But we would hope this time for a more positive outcome. A key test of this will be the effect that the agreement has on the security situation, in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan. In agreeing to such arrangements, the Pakistani government needs also to ensure that its international human rights obligations are respected, including for women and children.

Australia recognises that Pakistan remains the first country of refuge for millions of Afghan refugees. Australia has and will continue to provide assistance to Pakistan to help manage this situation, which is widely recognised as having contributed to instability in Pakistan. In 2007-08 Australia provided $1.5 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for a registration information project in Pakistan. The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Evans, has today announced $1 million to assist a UNHCR project to facilitate the voluntary repatriation of Afghan refuges from Pakistan as well as $1.7 million in funding to CARE and the International Organisation for Migration to support the reintegration of Afghan refuges in their own country.

Lastly, I turn to counter-proliferation. In the past, Australia and many other countries have been concerned at the activities of Dr AQ Khan and others. Dr Khan’s recent release from house arrest has been widely reported. We continue to urge Pakistan to ensure that Dr Khan’s network is shut down. I made this point last week in Pakistan and underlined that the Australian government is committed to strengthening the international counter-proliferation regime: an issue of first-order importance for international security. I welcome the membership of former Pakistan armed forces chief General Karamat in the International Commission on Non-Proliferation and Nuclear Disarmament chaired by former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans and former Japanese foreign minister Kawaguchi. As on other difficult issues, close engagement with Pakistan on counter-proliferation is, in Australia’s view, the best way of making progress.

I return to this fundamental point. Pakistan is a country vital to a range of Australian interests. It faces a number of serious internal difficulties. Australia, like many countries around the world, is determined to assist the democratic government in Pakistan tackle these challenges in our own interests and in the interests of regional and global stability. I thank the House.

I ask leave of the House to move a motion to enable the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to speak for 14 minutes.

Leave granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent Ms J. Bishop (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) speaking for a period not exceeding 14 minutes.

Question agreed to.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The opposition welcomed the decision of the Minister for Foreign Affairs to visit Pakistan last week, and I thank the minister for his report to the House on that visit. The opposition commends the government on its efforts to further strengthen the bilateral relationship between our two countries, particularly at this time of heightened security concerns over terrorism, extremism and the ongoing military operations in neighbouring Afghanistan, and with the full economic and social impact of the global financial downturn yet to be realised in the developed and developing world.

The visit was timely. The last official visit to Pakistan by an Australian foreign minister was in February 1998 by then Minister Downer, who observed at the time that 1998 marked 50 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Pakistan. As a symbol of the growing significance of the bilateral relationship at that time, Minister Downer opened a new Australian high commission chancery building in Islamabad and an honorary consulate in Karachi, indicating the strong and growing need for greater official Australian representation in Pakistan. But it is worth noting that, soon after that visit, 11 years ago, relations did become strained, notably over the nuclear tests conducted by Pakistan in May 1998, when Australia suspended bilateral relations and took a series of steps in response—to make plain our condemnation of Pakistan’s actions and its failure, at that time, to embrace both the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty without condition and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

After the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, Pakistan took a key role in confronting terrorism and provided substantial support to the United Nations-mandated and NATO-led military operations in Afghanistan. In recognition of Pakistan’s efforts, in 2001 the Howard government re-established bilateral relations which had remained suspended since the 1998 nuclear tests. In 2005, we welcomed Pakistan’s foreign minister to Australia, the first visit by a foreign minister from Pakistan since 1959.

Australia has long held the view that democracy and rule of law are an essential part of achieving stability in Pakistan. However, Pakistan has faced a troubled path to democracy. Following the military coup in October 1999 and the subsequent events, culminating in the state of emergency which was declared in 2007—which essentially suspended basic freedoms of speech, association and movement and which removed the Supreme Court—the Commonwealth ministerial action group suspended Pakistan from the councils of the Commonwealth ‘pending the restoration of democracy and the rule of law’, a suspension that was lifted following the National Assembly and provincial parliamentary elections in February 2008.

We recognise that the ability of political parties to exist, the establishment of democratic institutions and a free media, and a strong and independent judiciary are all key elements for a thriving democracy. Establishing the rule of law throughout the country and instilling respect for these democratic institutions in Pakistan will be essential for Pakistan’s ongoing stability and its increasingly important role in regional and international affairs.

The opposition joins with the Australian government in supporting and encouraging Pakistan’s efforts on its path back to democracy. It is, however, deeply disturbing to read reports that, in their attempts to restore peace and security in the border regions, provincial governments may make concessions to Taliban militants which would see a return of sharia law. While we understand the need for the government of Pakistan to restore law and order over previously lawless parts of the country, we are deeply concerned to ensure that basic human rights not be traded away. Sharia law is at odds with fundamental principles of democracy and basic human rights for women—equality under law and the right to an education, for example.

No Australian government should ever be silent on fundamental issues of human rights. The Australian government should take the opportunity, particularly as a bilateral relationship deepens and matures, to express our deep concern in a straightforward and direct way. This issue also raises serious strategic concerns should it mean providing encouragement or safe haven to the very extremists who threaten not only the stability of Pakistan but also the immediate region—including Afghanistan. And concerns regarding extremist and terrorist elements on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border have deep implications for international security.

Australia has been working closely with Pakistan for a number of years on its domestic issues. We provided assistance following the devastation wreaked by the October 2005 earthquake, including deploying medical teams and giving about $74 million in relief and reconstruction assistance. Australia’s total development assistance program to Pakistan for 2007-08 is estimated to be in the order of $27 million. According to AusAID, Australia is increasing its support to Pakistan, focusing on basic health care and education. I particularly welcome the government’s support for education programs in Pakistan—this is a matter of deep interest to me.

During my time as Minister for Education, Science and Training, I convened an international education forum in Brisbane in 2006 which aimed to increase Australia’s engagement with countries in our region by strengthening educational ties, which we saw as a powerful form of diplomacy. The then Foreign Minister Downer and I also announced in 2006 that Australia would double the number of educational scholarships it offered in the Asia-Pacific region. The new program, titled Australian Scholarships, provided almost $1.4 billion in funding over five years for more than 19,000 scholarships—of course including students from Pakistan.

According to AusAID, Australia has, since 2006, provided support for 200,000 children to attend schools in earthquake affected regions around Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. Through the Australian Development Scholarships, 128 students have come to Australia for education, and I understand that around 5,000 students from Pakistan are estimated to be studying in Australia currently. Much more has been done and much more will continue to be done to assist Pakistan in these areas.

It is of vital importance to Australia that Pakistan’s government be successful in managing the challenges within its borders which impact on the security challenges in Afghanistan, for this is where our own forces—1,100 of them—are engaged in a difficult and dangerous struggle against extremism. The world has a profound strategic interest in ensuring Afghanistan does not again become a safe haven for the likes of al-Qaeda or other extremists. This is where Australia has a direct national interest in ensuring that Afghanistan does not again become a haven for terrorists and a base from which trained killers are sent out into the world to wreak devastation on those who do not share their beliefs. We must of course do all we can to prevent a repeat of the atrocities against innocents that we witnessed on 11 September 2001 and in Bali and in Mumbai.

The success of the NATO led efforts to confront and contain the menace of extremism in Afghanistan is linked inextricably to the success or otherwise of the efforts to deal with extremist strongholds and hideouts across the border in Pakistan. No-one should ever seek to downplay the threat that pockets of extremism in Pakistan represent to Pakistani society itself. We have seen the repeated terrorist attacks on Pakistan’s great cities, including the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. We watched in horror the attack on former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto—her life sacrificed during the return of her beloved country to democracy. It is heartening to see democracy fighting back in Pakistan.

It is heartening to hear President Zardari—the first democratically elected president in a decade—vow repeatedly to take up the challenge of confronting and quelling insurgents. We must continue to support the Pakistani authorities in their resolve. One of the most effective ways to do this is for Australia to speak up strongly and unreservedly for the values of democracy, pluralism and for the voices of moderation.