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Doorstop Interview,
Tokio, 14.03.2007
PRIME MINISTER: Well ladies and gentlemen I have arrived for what is a very important visit, marking as it does the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Commerce Agreement between Australia and Japan way back in 1957. A great tribute I might say to the foresight of John McEwen who was then the Trade Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. And over the years the relationship between Australia and Japan has been a remarkable illustration of the capacity of two nations once at war to move on and not be constrained by the past, whilst of course never forgetting what may have occurred in the past. And the great thing about this relationship is that it's developed in so many ways. Japan is still our best customer. It's important to remember that. Despite the rise of China as an important customer for Australia, Japan remains our best customer. And Japan of course is a great Pacific democracy and one of the things that I expect will come out of this visit is the signing of a declaration on security matters, which will mean that Japan's security relationship with Australia will be closer than any country other than of course the United States. And this is an illustration of how far the relationship has come. We of course provided a security environment for the Japanese engineers in the Al Muthanna Province in southern Iraq and I recall when I made the Australian commitment in relation to that a couple of years ago it was seen in the Australian community as a positive that we were in fact working in partnership with the Japanese. So I do look forward to this visit. I have got to know Mr Abe well. We have met on a number of occasions at regional forums and we'll be seeing the commencement in April of the detailed negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement. They will be long and complex negotiations but it's fair to say that even without starting a free trade negotiation, Australia and Japan have a very close economic relationship. In fact, our trade balance with Japan is the envy of most government leaders to whom I speak around the world. odkaz na stránku
Since 1996, the Australian Government has eliminated more than $90 billion in government debt, restored Australia’s AAA credit rating and delivered more jobs, the lowest unemployment rates in 30 years, lower inflation, lower interest rates, a lower tax burden, higher wages, more productive workplaces, higher pensions, better living standards, more funding for health, education, defence and transport, more funds for state governments and an economic resilience that is the envy of the developed world. John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian politician and the Prime Minister of Australia. He is the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies. He previously served as Treasurer in Malcolm Fraser's government from 1977–1983 and was Leader of the Liberal Party from 1985–1989 through the 1987 election against Bob Hawke. Elected again as Leader in 1995, Howard became the 25th Prime Minister of Australia after defeating incumbent Paul Keating in the 1996 election. His government was re-elected in the 1998, 2001 and 2004 elections. After his victory in 2004, Howard's government gained control of both houses of the Parliament from July 2005. Wikipedia
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