The raw prawn: Marty Natalegawa takes swipe at Tony Abbott over prawn spying claim
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Dr Natalegawa said he had come across a statement by the Australian government on the matter and the reference that Australia collects intelligence to save Australian lives, to save the lives of other people and to promote Australian values". Those are well understood
but
I find it a bit mind boggling, a little bit difficult, how I can connect or reconcile discussions about shrimps and how they impact on Australian security, Dr Natalegawa said.
His comment was a clear reference to Prime Minister Tony Abbott's statement on ABC Radio a few hours earlier, when he said: We don't collect intelligence for commercial purposes we collect intelligence to save Australian lives, to save the lives of other people, to promote Australian values, to promote the universal values of humanity and to help our friends and neighbours, including Indonesia."
Dr Natalegawa said the talks which had been the subject of spying had involved a very technical, bilateral, US-Indonesia issue. To suggest as if the future of shrimp exports by Indonesia to the United States has an impact on Australian security is a little bit much and begs some kind of serious question about what it's all about. He added, as Mr Kerry looked on, that neighbours such as Australia and Indonesia should be looking out for each other, not turning against one an other; we should be listening to each other, not listening in.
Mr Kerry, who has spent two days in Indonesia as part of a tour of Asia, said he understood completely and respected Dr Natalegawa's comments, adding the spying revelations of Edward Snowden and their effect on international relations were a challenge for all of us. We take this issue very seriously, which is why President Obama laid out a series of concrete and substantial reforms, Mr Kerry said. The United States doesn't collect intelligence for the competitive advantage of US companies, or US commercial sectors. New reforms enacted since the Snowden revelations should ensure transparency and accountability.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/the-raw-prawn-marty-natalegawa-takes-swipe-at-tony-abbott-over-prawn-spying-claim-20140217-32wgq.html
No comment. I await the release on the Trans-Pacific Treaty, the one forcing all of Asia to accept unlimited, non-ending intellectual property rights. It will be a doozy.
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)Hope he brings sanity to this spy-spy-spy-spy-endless-spying frenzy.
JoeyT
(6,785 posts)or US commercial sectors.
Wonder how long they'll let them keep saying that before they release a document showing them doing exactly that. There really ought to be a betting pool over this stuff. We all know it's coming sooner or later.