ABC Radio

Subjects: Libya

Transcript, E&OE

02 September 2011

EMMA ALBERICI: Dr Emerson, what was achieved here today?

CRAIG EMERSON: Well, a great deal of support, obviously, was shown for the National Transitional Council. There is a very strong aspiration for a transition over time to a democracy, very strong support for a free Libya and great support for the Council itself. The sense of the meeting was that they had done so much to lock in a free Libya, but now there is a need for humanitarian assistance in the very short term. We were able to announce at the meeting, on behalf of Australia, that we would be giving $4.6 million dollars to the International Red Cross because the most urgent need is for support for water and for dealing with unexploded ordinance, the very urgent needs now that much of the fighting is finished. There was great solidarity amongst almost 60 countries. So it was a great meeting and a fantastic opportunity for Australia to come and reaffirm its commitment to the people of Libya given that we were very early in support of the establishment of a No-Fly-Zone. We've actually been the third largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Libya.

ALBERICI: Is there a role for Australia in the reconstruction of Libya?

EMERSON: There is a role for Australia. We will work through our officials to do everything we reasonably can to support the reconstruction. The $4.6 million dollars in humanitarian aid is urgently needed and that is where we are concentrating our efforts right now. We've also assured 650 Libyan students studying in Australia of support, so they can continue their studies. I had the opportunity to talk to Dr Jibril, and he was very appreciative of that. He said that this was very important because they are the future. I think that our support for these students means that we can look forward to them being ambassadors for Australia when they go back to Libya, because they will be very grateful. I know they were anxious about continuing their studies in Australia and we are going to provide some support to enable them to do that.

ALBERICI: So you got some one-on-one conversation time with Mr Jibril. How did he strike you? What did you discuss? How was the conversation?

EMERSON: Well, he's a humble man. I think history will judge him very kindly, as a great liberator of the people of Libya. It was an opportunity to have a talk to him and he was very grateful because Australia has been the third largest donor of humanitarian assistance. We are a small country, and far away, but we realised that we needed to get in and help the people of Libya in their urgent needs. He was especially grateful for the support that we've been able to provide to the 600 Libyan students and their dependants who are in Australia.

ALBERICI: Also because many of the countries represented here are bankrupt or virtually bankrupt, particularly those in Europe and the United States, having a lot of financial difficulty. Did you feel therefore as the representative here for Australia that we had a big role to play because we are a rich country at the moment?

EMERSON: I think the reality is that there are lots of Libyan assets that are being unfrozen. So in their own ways, they will be providing very substantial support through the unfreezing of those assets. But because we don't have any assets to be unfrozen, our support has been right up-front when it's been needed: for water; for dealing with unexploded ordinance; for urgent healthcare; all those very urgent humanitarian needs, that is what we are providing. We think we have a responsibility to countries like Libya, who have fought for freedom, to get in early. That is the priority we have placed on it.

ALBERICI: Was a new UN resolution discussed at this conference?

EMERSON: It was really more about that Gaddafi should now quit.

ALBERICI: That's hardly new…

EMERSON: Yes I know, but I'm just saying that it was more about shorter-term assistance and the medium-term rebuilding, the reconstruction of Libya and the fact that countries from right through the continent of Europe, of Africa etc, have pledged their ongoing support to the people of Libya. So I think the National Transitional Council would take great heart from this support. This meeting was, I think, originally conceived as a meeting of the Libya Contact Group, Australia is a member of that, but in fact 60 delegations turned up. So it became a very large meeting very quickly. The National Transitional Council can take heart that there are so many more countries now coming and pledging their support to a free Libya.

ALBERICI: Will Australian companies have a role in the reconstruction? Did you talk about that?

EMERSON: No I didn't. The reason why I didn't talk about Australian companies having a role at this meeting is that I think it is best to support Libya's humanitarian needs. I don't want to be part of a scramble for our companies to get in, when the fighting is not even over. Of course our companies will have a lot to offer there. We will ensure through DFAT and Austrade that we give Australian companies every opportunity, but I deliberately didn't speak about that. I didn't think that was appropriate given where we are in the history of free Libya. But of course at the right time we will make those representations.

ALBERICI: What was said about the deadline given to pro-Gaddafi forces to give themselves up in Sirte and around that stronghold?

EMERSON: There wasn't any detailed discussion about that. But obviously everyone wants Gaddafi to surrender and for those forces to lay down their arms. There was a very strong feeling that there has been so much unnecessary bloodshed and we really don't need any more. He should surrender and tell his remaining supporters to lay down their arms.

ALBERICI: There was no conversation about what happens if they don't?

EMERSON: No, not in this meeting tonight. There might have been references to it, but it wasn't a topic of the meeting tonight.

ALBERICI: And a UN Resolution about unfreezing money, or something like that, was not discussed?

EMERSON: Well, we were talking very much about unfreezing money, but people are getting on with it. Countries were actually announcing that they are unfreezing money; that there are assets that they are unfreezing. What we are saying is that we don't have any assets to unfreeze — we've had a look — so we've stepped in with $4.6 million dollars to the Red Cross. The Red Cross knows a lot about delivering humanitarian relief. The money will be in good hands and go to people in desperate need.

ALBERICI: Did you offer anything in the way of military peace-keepers if that were required?

EMERSON: No, and that didn't come up. There was no discussion of that sort. And we weren't asked to, and we didn't make any such commitment.

ALBERICI: Are you concerned that as the international community you are backing the right horse? That these people will do the right thing by their country, considering they don't want peacekeepers, they don't want UN observers?

EMERSON: No, we are not too concerned about that. Everyone knows that there is a lot of work to be done, to make the transition to a democracy. This is not something that happens in a fortnight, or even in six months. But there is a sense of optimism that this group, the National Transitional Council, has got the right values. They absolutely have sacrificed an enormous amount - the rebels - for the freedom of Libya. The National Transitional Council is absolutely committed to a free Libya and to a democratic Libya, but of course that transition will take some time.

ALBERICI: One more question, when will NATO have finished its mission?

EMERSON: Again, we didn't have a discussion about that, but that will be determined in due course. I think there is a date of the 27th of September. The head of NATO said that they don't want to be involved one day longer than is necessary, but that they will be there for as long as necessary.

ALBERICI: The 27th of September was a date given by NATO?

EMERSON: Well I think it was, but don't hold me to that.

ALBERICI: Ok thank you very much. All the best.

EMERSON: Thank you.

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