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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, November 07, 2002

Australian Government Defends Asia Policy

The Australian government defended Thursday its Asia policy describing an Opposition front bencher's statement on Prime Minister John Howard being disliking Asia as "foolish."


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The Australian government defended Thursday its Asia policy describing an Opposition front bencher's statement on Prime Minister John Howard being disliking Asia as "foolish."

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock was quoted by the Australian Associated Press as saying "I think they were very foolish comments. If you look at the reaction, people want to pull together today. They are not wanting to see politicians making cheap points which are demonstrably untrue on these sorts of matters."

Opposition trade spokesman Craig Emerson said Wednesday that Howard's unwillingness to deal with Asia was one reason behind thegovernment's strong push for a free trade deal with the United States. He said Howard had condemned multiculturalism on many occasions and spoken out against the level of Asian immigration tothis country.

Trade Minister Mark Vaile said, "I think that 20 million Australians would disagree with Dr. Emerson on that."

The minister said Australia could pursue multiple trade deals at the same time. "We're in the middle of a negotiation with China at the same time we're pursuing our ambitions with the United States and leading the way in terms of the multilateral scene," he said.

He challenged the Labor Party's leader by saying, "Labor Opposition Leader Simon Crean needs to show leadership and sack opposition trade spokesman Craig Emerson."


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