Prime Minister John Howard has refused to be drawn on the details of a security pact expected to be signed with US President George W Bush this week. The deal is believed to provide the Australian military with access to top-secret American weapons systems.Mr Howard says he will be discussing a range of security issues with Mr Bush when they meet for APEC. "I'm not going to expand anymore, except to say a lot of issues will be discussed by the President and me, including defence issues and we have a very close relationship with the United States in those matters," he said. "And that relationship can always in a practical way be made closer."
Also, Mr Howard says there is still considerable work ahead for the Australian battle group in southern Iraq. Mr Howard will be discussing the security situation in Iraq with Mr Bush during his APEC visit and says he is not surprised by the British pullback.
But he says Australian soldiers will be staying put. "There is an on the ground Iraqi-specific reason why we keep our forces there," he said. "There is also a strong ally, good friend reason.
"Some people enjoy the fact that the Americans are under pressure and I think that it's important for the long-term value of the alliance that when a good friend is under pressure, if it's not against your national interest to do so, you should stand by them, rather than partially walk away from them."
In addition, Mr Howard hopes this week's APEC summit will lead to some progress in the current Doha round of trade talks. The long-running negotiations have been bogged down for months, but Mr Howard says he is still optimistic of achieving success. Mr Howard says the APEC forum is unlikely to make significant inroads in world trade, but any progress will be a step forward.
"I doubt that we will lay down a strict timetable, but APEC is a marvellous forum for the world trading community to be reminded of the importance of the Doha round," he said. "Doha is still the best general hope in the world for trading matter and APEC is a good opportunity to put the bunsen burner under the process."