30 July 2008

Interview - ABC AM Program

STEPHANIE KENNEDY: Given you've been at these talks for nine or 10 days, what's the mood now that the talks have collapsed?

SIMON CREAN: I think there's a lot of, what would be the term, despondency, I suppose. Frustration, despondency, realisation of opportunity missed. The overwhelming majority wanted an outcome, I've got no doubt about that. That trouble is it's not sufficient to get a majority vote. You need unanimity. We weren't able to get unanimity on one crucial issue and that had the impact of essentially closing the negotiations down.

KENNEDY: Were India and China the two countries that bailed out in the end?

CREAN: No, I don't think that can be said and I don't want to apportion blame anywhere in particular. The fact is this was a complicated set of negotiations. I know that there was a solution because everyone accepts that we were so close to that solution. But it did require key players to make the extra effort. They weren't prepared to do it for their own domestic reasons and the round as a whole suffers as a consequence. As I think the question of development suffers, the question of a new impetus of global economic movement forward. These are the things that have been passed up and it's a great, great pity that that's the case.

KENNEDY: The talks failed at Cancun, Hong Kong and now Geneva. The talks have been going on since 2001. Is this now the end of the Doha round of trade talks?

CREAN: Probably too strong to say it's the end but it's a huge setback. You can never say they'll never be revived nor can you say it's the end. But the fact is we were confronted with a raft of differences and technicalities, et cetera. On reflection, I hope they do reflect, not just deeply but they understand what we've given up this time round. I hope that dynamic makes those that weren't prepared to make the extra effort say - was this a smart decision? I think in retrospect they'll find it wasn't. But can we quickly adapt from that? Reconvene? I doubt it. But, you know, I live in hope.

ENDS

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