Alexander Downer on the Poll

August 20, 2010

By Anthony Fensom

‘Japan has a sense that it’s been downgraded—the government would obviously deny that, but the perspective that they have is important and that certainly would be their perspective.

‘…And India, well the [Rudd] government made the decision to cancel our policy of selling uranium to India, and that has taken away from the relationship what would otherwise be a key feature of it. In any relationship, for it to be really successful the two sides have to bring things to the table, and what we would have brought to the table that India wanted was a secure supply of uranium for its peaceful energy needs.’

Asked whether the current foreign minister, Stephen Smith, would remain in his post or make way for Rudd as speculated, Downer said there was little reason for Labor to change its top envoy.

‘I think Stephen Smith has done a workmanlike job, and I can’t see any reason why the Labor Party would move to sack him at this stage, but we’ll see,’ he said.

Downer said Labor had created its own electoral problems in removing Rudd, while Abbott had done an ‘amazingly good job’ in putting the Coalition in a position to win government in Saturday’s poll.

‘It’s quite possible the Liberals could win this time and that’s an extraordinary thing, and great credit to them. They’ve made a massive effort and they’re in it to win it,’ he said.

In the meantime, Downer said he would continue his work with the UN on resolving the Cyprus conflict, denying reports he was considering running for the Adelaide lord mayoral poll in November.

‘The next lord mayoral election [for Adelaide] is in November and I won’t have come close to finishing my UN job by then,’ he said.

‘Some people will say that as [the Cyprus conflict] has been going on at least for 36 years unresolved, to come in there and just fix it is not very realistic, but I’m working on making sure the UN makes a really good contribution to the process. In the end, the success or failure of this will depend on the leaders in Cyprus, not the UN.’

Downer said Labor would likely ‘just scrape in’ in the August 21 election, while raising the possibility of a hung Parliament. Whether Gillard’s East Timor solution evolves back to the Pacific Solution will be a key test for a re-elected Labor government, with Abbott pledging a return to the past.