PM Lee Hsien Loong at Joint Press Conference with PM Malcolm Turnbull in Canberra, Australia

Q: For both Prime Ministers. What do you have to give up to get the buy-in of all the bodies involved, whether the political parties or the ministries. And for Australia, what steps are the parties taking to ensure that strong bipartisan support will be sustained throughout the entire CSP?

PM Lee Hsien Loong: I think that when you have a negotiation like this, on a broad range of issues between two parties, it is never between only two parties. On each side, you have to form a con­­­sensus and an understanding on what is our interest and what we can do together. There will be sensitive issues for both sides, which we have to consider carefully. For example, if we are talking about armed forces training, there is a question of sovereig­­­nty and the arrangements that will be made specifically so that problems do not arise. When you are talking about the movements of professionals, questions about the terms and requirements, how do you make sure that established standards are compatible with one another? How do we make sure that there is sensitivities about foreign professionals, non-Singaporeans or in Australia, non-Australians will be addressed and people can be sure that this is on a win-win basis? Just as our people get advantages in Australia, so too Australians will correspondingly get advantages in Singapore. Partly, you have to make these trade-offs, but it is also partly a matter of re-casting our understanding of issues so that what we previously did not feel comfortable with, as you discuss the matter, as you understand how it can be done and you become willing to consider, to accept and to welcome what we are going to do together. I think that is the case with the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) improvements, defence cooperation, our innovation and R&D initiatives. That is what we would like to see more of, because these are win-win deals. The art of negotiation, you bargain hard but you bargain to win together.

PM Malcolm Turnbull: Very well-said and I adopt your answer. On bipartisanship in Australia, as the Prime Minister has acknowledged, these agreements do have bipartisan support. So profound was the bipartisanship yesterday, that the Leader of the Opposition and I attended the events wearing the same orange tie. So that shows it was almost subliminal, the spirit of harmony.

Q: This is mainly for Prime Minister Lee but Prime Minister Turnbull may wish to add to it.

Your country, like Australia has a direct interest in maintaining open, free and navigable waters, particularly in the South China Sea. You noted yesterday that the US’ presence in this part of the world is a benign one. It shows its disregard for the Chinese territorial claims on reefs and atolls by sailing within the 12 nautical mile limit. What is your attitude to that strategy? Would it be more effective if other like-minded countries did the same?

And just on an associated observation to do with your deepening defence and strategic ties with Australia. Why would Beijing not view this arrangement today as a bloc against it?

PM Lee: First of all, on the United States, I think what is important for the United States in Asia is not just specific tactical moves but its broad strategic direction. That it pays emphasis to Asia-Pacific as an important part of the world, that it engages the Asia-Pacific on a broad range of areas. Security is of course a major factor, but so is economic, so are the people-to-people relationships. And it is the intent of the US to participate actively and constructively in the region, cooperatively with the countries in the region which makes it a valuable and an important partner to us. From that point of view, if you asked me, is it important that there is a Seventh Fleet in the region, I think the answer is yes. That has been so since the war, and remains so. But it is also important that we have the TPP which Australia and Singapore are both members, parties to, and which we all hope US will ratify soon. It is also important that there are good relations between America and China, America and Japan, which enable them to discuss individual difficult issues like the South China Sea in the broader context, so that there are restraints on pushing difficult problems over the limit. At the same time, there is a possibility of seeing them within perspective and therefore managing them and preventing them from getting out of control. So I will put it that way, our interest as Singapore, as you say, freedom of navigation, international law, including UNCLOS, and the stability, the peace and security of the Southeast Asian region, and the relevance and the centrality of ASEAN. I think those have not changed.

As for our friendship with Australia, we have been friends for a very long time. I do not think Singapore and Australia together could possibly be seen as a bloc. We are good friends but we are not treaty allies, and neither are we oppose to any countries in the region. China is the biggest trading partner for Singapore. China is the biggest trading partner for Australia. You export coal, iron ore, all kinds of things to them. We do a lot of business with them. So this is part of a network of inter-relationships and cooperation in the region. Not everybody is in on every arrangement, but collectively, the arrangements add up to a constructive and a robust network of cooperation and architecture.

PM Turnbull: I will add to that my endorsement of the Prime Minister’s remarks about regional security and perhaps amplify what the Prime Minister said about the importance of the TPP. The importance of American engagement in our region cannot be overstated. It is of vital importance. It is of vital importance to the region, it is of vital importance to our countries. The presence of the United States in our region has underpinned the peace and the stability that has been the foundation for the prosperity of the last 40 years. That extraordinary growth, perhaps most of all in China has been underpinned by that foundation of peace. But it goes well beyond fleets and navies. The ratification of the TPP by the United States Congress would be of enormous importance to the region. Certainly we see it – both Prime Minister Lee and I see it, and the region sees it as a profoundly strategically important commitment. That is the argument that we have been making and some of you have heard me make it in Washington.

Q: Prime Ministers, just to come back to the CSP, it comes at a time where governments are increasingly looking inwards. I believe that Prime Minister Turnbull referenced that earlier. What is the key message here that Australia and Singapore can send to such governments? Also, bearing in mind the deep collaboration between the two countries, give us a sense of what lies ahead for the CSP, beyond the priorities that have already been laid out.

PM Lee: I think the signal to the world is that we are doing business, we found opportunities to cooperate together, we are very happy that we are making progress and we hope that you too will find it possible to make similar progress with us or with each other. Because in an open world, we will all be better off. The problems will be there, they will have to be managed but it is far better for us to cooperate together than we each close ourselves off in our own little corner. That leads to impoverishment, misunderstanding, it leads to trouble. As to what comes next, we just signed four pieces of agreement today, under the CSP, I think our next agenda will be to make those happen and there is a lot of work there to be done. Our offices will be kept quite busy for some time to come.

PM Turnbull: Again, we are in complete unity so far, we haven’t found anything to disagree on, but the Prime Minister is quite right, this has been a big step forward or four big steps forward, today, with the four agreements. But the relationship I believe, will continue to deepen, engagement will become more intense, our nations are growing more closely together and it is not simply because of a close political alignment, in terms of our view of the world. It is because of all of those, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people to people links, business to business connections. That is what drives the relationship. In terms of protectionism, generally, at a time of rapid change, unprecedented in all of human history, in its scale and pace. Inevitably, this will create anxiety, concern and indeed fear among people and sectors of communities, industries that are being disrupted and affected. And the critical role for us as leaders is to set out the facts clearly, reassure our communities and reassure and explain to them that turning your back on technology, turning your back on innovation, turning your back on this change, is only a road back to impoverishment, as Prime Minister Lee said. And you know, the world has seen that film before, so this is not a theoretical proposition. So the road is clear, we need to embrace the future, we need to assure that we proceed as both of us are committed to doing, with a cohesive and inclusive society, embracing change, embracing innovation because we know that that is the way we secure the jobs and the growth, not just for or generation, but for our children and our grandchildren.

Q: Prime Minister Lee, you will be chairing the ASEAN meeting in Australia in 2018, I was just wondering about your views on the words and actions of President Duterte from the Philippines, whether you see his embrace of China and his hostility towards the United States as a threat to the ASEAN’s position on regional security.

Secondly, I know that you are not responsible and children have minds of their own, but I was wondering about some of the criticisms on your government, by Prime Minister’s son on Facebook last night, about Indonesia and the plantations.

PM Lee: Philippines has a new government, they have a new President. I think the new President is setting a different direction for the Philippines and from President Aquino, I am not sure, whether he has settled on the final policy yet, I hope by the time the ASEAN-Australia Summit takes place in two years’ time, the position will be clearer.

PM Turnbull: I agree, that is my aspiration too. Clarity is highly desirable.