Aussies keen to foster partnerships: Rudd
AUSTRALIA will longer dictate to its Pacific neighbours, but work with them as partners, Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd said yesterday.
“In the past, Australia dictated terms. We want to move away from that. We believe in partnership, a partnership based on mutual respect,” Mr Rudd said at Government House, where he met Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane.
Mr Rudd paid Sir Paulias a courtesy call soon after arriving in Port Moresby for his two-days State visit.
He said his government had developed a Pacific Development Partnership arrangement that will work closely with Pacific Island countries on issues affecting them.
Mr Rudd said that as neighbors, both PNG and Australia must spend more time with each other and form extensive bilateral relations based on partnership and high level cooperation as well as personal political relationships.
“We must have a decent high level co-operation between our countries. We have so much in common. We must also have personal political contact so we can jump
on the phone whenever there’s a need to,”
Mr. Rudd said.
Sir Paulias thanked Mr Rudd for accepting Sir Michael’s invitation to visit PNG.
“This is the first country in the South Pacific that you are visiting. I can only see good things coming out from this visit between our two countries,” Sir Paulias said.
Following his meeting with Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare later in Parliament, Mr Rudd released a declaration titled the Port Moresby Declaration, which underlines his commitment to a new era of cooperation with PNG and other Pacific Island countries.
The 20-point declaration outlines Australia’s plans for economic growth across the Pacific and progress towards the United Nation’s Millennium Goals, pursue Pacific partnership for development, work together on climate change and contribute to education and training.
Prime Minister Sir Michael welcomed the declaration, saying the past difficulties which caused relationship to sour should be forgiven.
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