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| Down Under |
| Howard prepared to send in more Troops to Solomon Islands |
| 2006-04-23 |
| JOHN Howard has declared he will send more than the 240 troops already deployed to Honiara if they are needed, saying Australia did not want failed states on its doorstep. But the Prime Minister stressed that long-term Australian aid to the Solomons would be conditional on the elimination of rampant corruption. "Corruption is an endemic problem in Melanesia, and we have made some progress but there is still a long way to go," he told Melbourne radio. "When you have an entrenched culture of patronage and corruption in a society, it takes a very long time to root it out." Mr Howard said the Government accepted it would have to shoulder a large part of the burden in assisting the long-term recovery of Solomon Islands. "The rest of the world will look at us and say, 'This is something for Australia to sort out', and it's also in our interests in the long term," he said. "We do not want failed states on our doorstep. Failed states create vacuums. Vacuums attract people with bad thoughts and not good intentions." As a further 110 Australian troops from the Sydney-based 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment arrived in Honiara yesterday, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer signalled he would take a firm line with the new Solomons Government led by Snyder Rini. "I hope to discuss at length with him what strategies his Government will adopt to address deep-seated tensions within Solomon Islands society," Mr Downer said on the eve of a one-day visit to the Solomons. "I will be encouraging him to commit his Government to move forward on crucial measures to improve good governance, address corruption and work towards economic prosperity for Solomon Islands." Mr Downer would not be drawn on allegations that Chinese business interests had bribed Solomons MPs to vote for Mr Rini in last Monday's parliamentary ballot. "I could only say you get these allegations in the Solomon islands a great deal and they would have to be tested in a court before we could establish whether they were true or not," he said. Mr Rini denied the corruption allegations, insisting he was elected according to the country's constitution. "My Government welcomes any moves to unseat me through the same democratic and parliamentary process," he said. "On the issue of allegations of corruption against my Government and that of my predecessor, I would like to challenge those who make these allegations to take them to the police or the Leadership Code Commission." Opposition Leader Kim Beazley backed the decision to send in more Australian military. "They go with our support, our blessings and the hope they have a successful tour of duty in what is a very difficult situation," Mr Beazley said. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |