Marles: The PM's message was clear, 'business as usual'

Well, in a rare address to the nation, the Prime Minister has warned Australians of

tough months ahead as the country grapples with fuel supply issues caused by the conflict

in the Middle East.

In moment, I'll be speaking with the Defence Minister Richard Miles, but national

addresses over the years have marked significant moments in Australian history.

Let's take a quick listen.

Hello Australians, it is my millingly duty to inform you officially that in consequence

of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war

upon her, and that as a result, Australia is also at war.

Men and women of Australia, we are at war with Japan.

Good evening.

The global financial crisis is affecting financial markets right around the world, including

Australia.

Good evening Australia.

Tonight, I want to talk to you about the global coronavirus, what it means for you and

your family, and what the government is doing to see Australia through.

You should go about your business and your life as normal, enjoy your Easter, and if you're

hitting the road, don't take more fuel than you need, just fill up like you normally would.

Think of others in your community, in the bush, and in critical industries, and overcoming

weeks, if you can switch to catching the train or bus or tram to work, do so.

That's the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, and his national address last night, who

that address comes ahead of the government announcing today that interest-free loans

will be provided for some struggling, freight fuel, and fertiliser companies that Richard

Miles is the deputy prime minister, and the minister for Defence, and joins me in our

studio in Parliament House this morning, a minister welcome back to breakfast.

Did the Prime Minister owe Australians more details and more substance last night?

Well, it was an important address last night.

Australians are understandably feeling anxious about what is going on, a sense of uncertainty

about the future, and that too is understandable, because the future is uncertain, and we've

seen the biggest shock to petrol and diesel prices ever.

It's in that context that the Prime Minister rightly wanted to speak directly to the Australian

people about what they're experiencing, what's coming down the track, but importantly,

what the government is doing, and what Australians themselves can do, and that's what he explained

last night.

If the key message was business as usual, why do that in a national address?

Well, I think people are trying to come to terms with what all of this means and what

they should be doing in this moment.

I think that's particularly the case as we head into the Easter weekend.

The Prime Minister was clear about the fact that you should go about business as usual.

You should take those trips and visit family, but in the coming weeks, if there are options

to take public transport, for example, and that's not available to everyone, but if it is

available to some, then you should do that.

That's where we're at.

On Monday at National Cabinet, we released the National Field Security Plan, and really

what that was trying to do was to say against an uncertain future, there are a range of steps

that we may take.

We necessarily have to work that out as we go along, but in terms of looking at how we

might deal with questions of demand and distribution, they are all on the table.

But right now, where we're at is to take prudent steps where you can to not use fuel, and

at the same time, governments are obviously working to secure supply, which we are, and

to getting that distribution out to where it's needed.

Let's have a look at the situation in the Middle East.

Over night, US President Donald Trump demanded that Iran stop blocking the strait of

farmers, or the US would bomb Iran quite back to the Stone Age.

A day earlier, he said the US wouldn't have anything to do with ensuring the security

of ships passing through the strait.

What do you take from this mixed messaging?

Well, I mean, what obviously you're not going to do is run in commentary on what the

President says, and we obviously do a very mindful of what the President is saying, and

we'll all be awaiting his address later today.

What we need to do is understand the uncertainty that exists, make decisions in respect of

Australia's national interest in respect of the war, and that's what we have been doing.

That has led us to take some steps in terms of having our E7 wedge-tile in the region supporting

the defence of the countries at the Gulf, and particularly the UAE, and then managing

the situation as it unfolds at home, and what that means is doing everything we can to

continue the supply of fuel to the country, which is what we are doing, but also making

sure that we are readying ourselves for whatever possibility comes down the road in the coming

months.

So we can confirm whether Australia is attending the UK summit on the strait of Hormuz, and

what we're expecting to come out of that.

Yeah, we will be participating in that.

It'll be a virtual meeting as I understand the next 24 hours in the Foreign Minister

will be representing Australia at that meeting, and it follows on from Australia signing up

to the UK-led statement more than a week ago in respect of the Straits of Hormuz.

I mean, that statement gives a sense of where we're at.

Obviously, all of those countries, and very much Australia, have an interest in staying

in the Straits of Hormuz open as soon as possible.

We will look to what Australia can do when conditions...

What sort of things could we do?

Well, firstly, this depends on when conditions allow, and that's not the circumstance that

we're in right now.

I'm reluctant to speculate in detail about all of that, other than to say, our E7 wedge-tile

is in the region right now, and it's providing or doing important work in terms of contributing

to the defence of the countries of the Gulf, in particular, the UAE.

As a middle power, if other middle power nations are sending assets to reopen and or secure

the strait, is that something we would consider?

Well, as I say, we've got an asset in the region right now, which is...

I'm talking about helping the straits stay, I don't know, with naval assets, perhaps.

Well, we will work through with our friends and our eyes about how we can usefully contribute.

Obviously, we have an interest in the Straits of Hormuz being open, and that's why we sign

on to the statement more than a week ago, and that's why we'll be participating in this meeting.

So, is Australia keeping an open mind in that regard?

You're not ruling out further assets going to the region?

Well, we will work constructively with our friends and partners in this meeting that's coming

up. We've countries like the UK and France, and we'll look at how we can constructively

contribute here, and you can see that that's what we've done up until now, which is why we do

have a significant asset in the region providing for the defence of the countries of the Gulf,

in particular, the UAE.

More broadly, given what we've seen, does Australia have faith that the US would honour its

ANSIS obligations if Australia were threatened?

Oh, I mean, the alliance... I mean, our question is yes, that the alliance is as important

today as it has ever been, and it has stood the test of time from, well, the moment ANSIS was signed

in 1951, but really predating that, going back to the Second World War, and even earlier.

So, our relationship and our alliance with America is enduring, and we have absolutely faith in that.

On a different matter in your own portfolio, the Senate yesterday passed a motion to reinstate

the annual report from the audit office into Defence Major projects. It's one of the key sources

of transparency about defence spending, which is large, but a Labor-led audit committee

had moved to shelvert. Should it continue to be published in your view?

Well, look, we seek to be as transparent as we can be, and that has been our record since we've

been in government. We take into account the security situations that we find ourselves in,

and what information can be provided, and obviously, wherever the parliament ends up being at,

is what we will do. But our fundamental position here is that we want to be a transparent government,

and that's what we're being in respect of Defence. So, you're happy if it's reinstated?

Well, I mean, we will obviously work with the Senate, and the parliament, no matter what happens.

Would Labor be getting behind the motion to reinstate it?

Well, we've taken the position that we have. Is that transparency, really?

It is absolutely transparency, and we live in a world where there are different

and issues in respect of what information is provided, and the national security that goes

around that, and we need to manage all of that, which is driving the positions that we're taking,

but ultimately, we work with the Senate. Richard Miles, so thank you for joining me in this

studio this morning. Thanks, Heather.