25 Jun 2003

Australian Labour Party gives qualified support to Solomons intervention plan

6:15 pm on 25 June 2003

The Australian Labour Party says it would support a government decision to send Australian troops to the Solomons but only if it was a minor military presence

The opposition foreign spokesman Kevin Rudd says Labour wants police, rather than military peacekeepers, to be sent to the Pacific island nation to restore law and order.

He says labour would have some profound reservations about any Australian presence in the Solomon Islands which involves any substantial military presence.

And Mr Rudd says Australia needs to be absolutely confident the approval of the Solomon Islands government has been obtained.