Rudd pushes for Asia Pacific Community

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd believes there's still life in APEC but he maintains the
need for a specific forum to deal with regional security.

As leaders gathered for the 17th annual Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC)
leaders' summit on Saturday, Mr Rudd argued there was still a place for the regional
forum that some consider little more than a talkfest.
"I believe APEC has a strong, continuing role," Mr Rudd told reporters.
Mr Rudd, however, continues to push the case for another avenue to discuss
political, security and economic co-operation in the region, such as his proposed
Asia Pacific Community (APC).
"But we should not diminish the scorecard of APEC so far - it has been real and
tangible," he said.
The prime minister used a speech to a business conference on the sidelines of APEC
to spruik his APC plan ahead of a meeting in Sydney to further the initiative next
month.
The Asia Pacific region shouldn't assume peace and security would be maintained by
"deterministic means".
Asia could learn from Europe, which only ended centuries of conflict with its
formalised union.
"I do not advocate a European Union model for countries of the Asia Pacific region,"
Mr Rudd said.
"But I believe we can learn from that example.
"We in Australia are entirely relaxed and patient about how long this might take."
Mr Rudd joined APEC leaders for lunch on Saturday for the start of the two-day summit.
US President Barack Obama arrives from Japan later on Saturday.
On the sidelines of the summit, Mr Rudd was meeting the leaders of Mexico, South
Korea, Canada and Malaysia for formal bilateral meetings.
He also intends to catch up with Mr Obama over the course of the weekend.
An expected bilateral meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has
not yet been scheduled.
APEC leaders went into retreat at Istana, the official resident of Singapore's
president, with climate change expected to be high on their agenda.
On Sunday they'll turn their attention to trade and are expected to again argue the
need to finalise the Doha round of world trade talks.
Mr Rudd said the meeting was another opportunity to work towards a successful
conclusion to Doha.
"If we do not then frankly we are denying ourselves globally another one trillion
dollars in economic activity," he said.
Some APEC nations fear there is a lack of US will to get a Doha deal.
"President Obama is facing severe political constraints that run counter to free
trade," Mexican President Felipe Calderon told the business conference.
Australia is encouraged by a US involvement in a trans-Pacific trade pact, which
Australia is considering joining.
During a speech in Japan, Mr Obama said the US would engage in the expansion of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a pact involving Chile, Brunei, Singapore and New
Zealand.
Trade Minister Simon Crean told AAP it could be an important building block.
"It has the real potential to be a good quality FTA (free trade agreement) in the
region," he said.
"It can be a building block ... to develop a broader critical mass with the view of
attracting others to join."