[Ocker]

PM rejects sheriff and
puppet tags
By Steve Lewis and Dennis Shanahan
October 18, 2003

Australia was a friend rather than a sheriff - and not a "derivative" of the US - John Howard said yesterday, as he sought to defuse a sensitive diplomatic issue on the eve of his visit to Asia.

Ahead of flying to Thailand today to attend the annual APEC meeting, the Prime Minister downplayed comments earlier in the week by US President George W.Bush about Australia's enforcement role in the Asia-Pacific region.

In an interview with regional press, Mr Bush said he saw Australia as a "sheriff" in the region, a remark that prompted a swift response from Malaysia, which accused Canberra of being a puppet of the US.

But Mr Howard used an interview with The Weekend Australian to reject the suggestion that this country sought to play a regional enforcement role in concert with Washington.

"Australia behaves in the region as Australia," Mr Howard said.

"We are not derivative of anybody and we don't seek to imitate anybody.

"I have always thought Australians should comport themselves as Australians and nothing else.

"In the time of being Prime Minister, I have tried to project the unique combination of values that attaches to this country."

Mr Howard said he saw Australia's role in the region as the same as that in "our operation in the Solomon Islands - Helpem Fren, which is Pidgin for helping your friends".

Many regional leaders were angered four years ago when it was reported that Australia saw its role as that of a "deputy sheriff" to the US across the Asian region.

Those comments, which were not made by Mr Howard, strained relations with some of Australia's most important neighbours, including Indonesia.

Mr Howard will leave Sydney this morning, arriving in Bangkok tonight ahead of the APEC meeting, which will be dominated by discussion over regional security and trade issues.

Among those attending APEC is retiring Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.It was Dr Mahathir who this week accused Australia of being a puppet of the US.

The leader of the predominantly Muslim country also has provoked widespread protests after some inflammatory remarks about the Jewish community.

Inciting the world's Muslim community to take up arms against the Jews, he accused the Jewish community of ruling the world "by proxy".

Mr Howard labelled Dr Mahathir's comments as "offensive", adding that "any indication of rivalry between Jews and Muslims is very unhelpful".

But Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said Mr Howard should have gone further and that his response was inadequate.

"Dr Mahathir is beginning to sound more like Osama bin Laden than a respected international statesman," Mr Rudd said.

"His remarks about the Jewish population are not only offensive, they are dangerous. They need to be directly condemned as such by Prime Minister Howard."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/co ... 01,00.html

[Efrem Da King]

For once I agree with labour the gov should have been more adament.

To be fair, the statements bush made were in the context of him being asked if australia was a deputy sheriff to america and bush said no, austrlia is fully fledged sheriff, very badly worded but unfarily taken out of context.