Media Releases
Veterans Recognised In Civilian Life
7 October 2021
Joint Media Release
The Hon. Scott Morrison MP
Prime Minister
The Hon. Andrew Gee MP
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs
Minister for Defence Personnel
The 2021 Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Awards have recognised the outstanding contributions made by veterans in the civilian workforce and the organisations that support them and their families.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this year’s eight Awards recipients highlighted the exceptional contribution of veteran employees, employers and entrepreneurs to the business world, after they transition out of the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
“Veterans have so much to offer the businesses of our country,” the Prime Minister said.
“In the ADF, our service men and women demonstrate skill, loyalty, dedication, perseverance, service and sacrifice. They understand mission, are trained problem solvers, deal with stress, and always have a go.
“You won’t find a better employee than the highly-skilled men and women who have served in the ADF, and the Veterans’ Employment Awards celebrate that path into the civilian workforce.
“I congratulate all the nominees and winners of this year’s Awards for their leadership in demonstrating the value and contribution that our veterans continue to provide to the workforce.
“I would like to particularly acknowledge the winner of the Veteran Employee of the Year Award, Ben Davoren, for his contribution post-service as Business Development Manager at TacMed Australia.
“Ben deployed on combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and has shared his ADF knowledge and experience to train our first responders, positively impacting the lives of many.”
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Andrew Gee said the Royal Australian Navy veteran and proprietor of Meru Foods, Chris de Bono, was a natural fit for Veterans’ Entrepreneur of the Year.
“Mr de Bono has successfully transitioned skills he gained during his 14 years in the Navy and the Reserves to start an innovative food company that is now servicing domestic and international restaurant markets. Meru Foods has been specialising in producing fermented soy products in Tasmania since 2017. Mr de Bono is an outstanding example of an entrepreneurial and dedicated individual who is leading the way in private business,” Minister Gee said.
“Our nation’s veterans are some of the most capable operators in business. They are leaders, critical thinkers and problem solvers. Quite simply our veterans are a national asset.
“The qualifications and skills of veterans can be applied to any workplace, and Australian businesses recognise that our defence force personnel are among the most highly-skilled in the world.
“We know that the men and women who serve in uniform are our nation’s best, and it’s an honour to celebrate the achievements of all our veterans in civilian life.”
Each year around 5,500 Australian men and women transition from service into civilian life. The annual Awards are part of the Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Program and are an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate veterans and the organisations who employ and support them and their families.
Further information about the Awards and the 2021 winners can be found on the Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Program website, and images and other materials are available on Dropbox.
The full list of winners is below.
CATEGORY WINNER
Veteran Employee of the Year Ben Davoren, TacMed Australia
Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year Chris de Bono, Meru Foods
Veterans’ Employer of the Year – Large BAE Systems Australia
Veterans’ Employer of the Year – Medium HENSOLDT Australia
Veterans’ Employer of the Year – Small Australian Expedition Vehicles
Excellence in Supporting Veteran Employment Working Spirit
Excellence in Supporting Partner Employment Alison Bannister Career Coaching
Public Sector Excellence in Supporting Veteran Employment NSW Government Veterans Employment Program
Interview with Gareth Parker, 6PR
5 October 2021
Gareth Parker: Mr Scott Morrison joins me on 6PR Breakfast. Prime Minister, good morning.
Prime Minister: Good morning, Gareth. Great to be with you.
Parker: Thank you very much for your time. A new treatment for COVID-19 today. Still experimental. Is that correct?
Prime Minister: Yeah, it is. It's still a couple more months in the US for the trials that they're having, but they're very, very promising. It's a new drug. It's called molnupiravir. Don't try and spell it. It's like all of these drugs it would be great if they came up with some easy names, I've got to tell you, but it's a tablet form. It's 10, a course of 10 tablets. We've got 300,000 of those courses on order. And to put that in perspective, you know, there's been about 113,000 Australians who have contracted COVID in the last two years. So it's a significant order that should definitely deal with the challenges that we have. And that's on top of the existing treatments, which is sotrovimab and remdesivir, which you get in hospital. These treatments with tablets means you'll be able to have them at home, be able to get them in a prescribed form with the prescription from your pharmacist, which means you won't have, hopefully won't have to go to hospital. That's what it should reduce significantly. But I stress it's no substitute for the vaccine. The vaccine is what you need because that's what will reduce your likelihood of ending up in ICU by 86 per cent. So get vaccinated. But in the cases where people may contract COVID in the future, this will be an important treatment which will reduce the severity of that illness and the impact on our hospitals.
Parker: So is it fair to call this another line of defence?
Prime Minister: Oh, absolutely. Just like the two treatments that we have now, but it's an even more effective one because it can get out and about right out into the community. You know, we don't have the issues of refrigeration, cold chain storage, all of that that was, you know, originally present with the Pfizer vaccine. So this really does spread our ability to to reduce the impact of COVID where people contract it. But the best way to ensure that's the case is that people get vaccinated, but that becomes another line of defence and both on our hospital system. But of course, ensuring that people don't suffer serious illness and it all adds up to one thing - living with COVID. This is what living with COVID looks like.
Parker: Right. I just want to ask you about the point about getting vaccinated because it is just a fact. It is a fact that in this state, we are the slowest to get vaccinated in the nation. 48 and a half per cent fully vaccinated, 66 per cent first dose, both significantly behind the national averages. Does that concern you?
Prime Minister: Well, it does, but I think the primary reason for it though Gareth, is that there's been so little COVID in WA. I mean, where the vaccination rates are highest like in New South Wales, that's where they're in lockdown. And so, you know, people obviously want to get out of lockdown, and so there's a big incentive to go and get vaccinated. And so it's important that there are these clear, you know, encouragements that people can see them getting their lives back from getting vaccinated. That's an important part of the incentive and living with COVID and being able to travel again, not just overseas, but indeed around the country. And I know that's what everybody would like to see happen ultimately in Western Australia. But they also don't want to go through the process of lockdowns and other things like that, should COVID become, get into the community in Western Australia. So the Western Australian situation, I think, is quite different to the rest of the country. I acknowledge that. Something I acknowledge with the Premier all the time. But the ultimate goal where I think we both want to get to is a place where you know, people can get their lives back, and that means being able to connect with the rest of the country and the rest of the world.
Parker: So should the Premier here, Mark McGowan, set a date to say, look, this is the date that we're working towards to reopen borders as something to drive that vaccination rate? Get it happening sooner?
Prime Minister: Well, the national plan sets out that when you hit 80 per cent, these things are possible and that's what should be the focus. Getting to a level of vaccination, I mean, there's no magic in a date, but there is real medical support for achieving an 80 per cent vaccination rate.
Parker: You might never get there though, the dynamic I think, is correct in that there's no COVID. So people are, you know, they're not in a rush to go and get jabbed because there's no COVID and becomes a circular argument.
Prime Minister: Well, we are seeing the vaccination rates rise in WA, not as quickly as in other states, but I think we will see them continue to rise and we want to do whatever we can do to support the state government and in the work they're doing. We're, of course, doing the work directly ourselves as well in WA, and we want to see those vaccination rates keep lifting. But it is true, until you can get to 80 per cent, the risks involved of opening up to international travel and all of those sorts of things, you know, will be real. It's true that people in Sydney and quite possibly Melbourne will be travelling to Bali by Christmas. But no one in WA.
Parker: Has Mark McGowan ever given you any indication about the capacity of the West Australian hospital system to live with COVID once it is circulating in the community, have you had those discussions with him?
Prime Minister: Yeah, we have them, we have them all the time and in particular at national cabinet. But this has been one of the most important items, if not the most, on our agenda for many, many, many months …
Parker: And so is he giving you any indication that he's worried about our ability to cope?
Prime Minister: Well, of course there are concerns, but that's why you do the planning, and that's why all states have been doing that. I mean, New South Wales will be going into their peak period very, very soon, and they're coping well. Victoria, the same. All states need to prepare and plan for it. It does put pressure on the system for a period, and then it peaks and then it moves, it moves away. We've pumped a lot of money into the Western Australian hospital system. We've increased our funding to WA hospitals by 72.8 per cent over the course of our government. Now that compares to an increase from the WA Government by around 18.4 per cent. And you also know that we've through the GST deal, which I can assure you as Prime Minister, it's the deal I did. It's the deal I put together, both as Treasurer and Prime Minister. And it's a deal that sticks and that's pumped almost $5 billion extra into the WA budget to ensure that they can deal with these priority issues. So I have no doubt that the Premier will direct it to those priorities and ensure that his hospital system will stack up.
Parker: Dominic Perrottet could be well, Premier of New South Wales today. Does that mean that the GST issue is back on the table? He'd like it to be.
Prime Minister: No. The deal is done. It's ended. It's not something I'm revisiting. I mean, I was serious. I believe WA wasn't getting their fair share of the GST. I was absolutely convinced by that argument when I was Treasurer and set about fixing it. And as Prime Minister, I ensured that it happened. And WA is almost $5 billion so far better off because of that decision. And the one person you can trust to keep a deal is the one who did the deal, and that's me.
Parker: Is Gladys Berejiklian going to find a home in the federal parliament, do you think, even though she's under this ICAC cloud?
Prime Minister: Well, those issues obviously are the priority to work through, and it's terribly devastating that she took that decision. I think people in New South Wales would very much like her to be continuing on in the role that she was doing. And sadly, that process led to that outcome. And but she's got a lot left more to contribute. Absolutely no doubt. And I know Gladys very well. We've known each other for a very long time and she's very dedicated to public service and I know that she'll want to keep serving. And so if there's an opportunity to do that, then I'm quite sure she'd want to find a way to provide that service. Doesn't necessarily need to be in an elected office or something like that. But if that's what she'd like to do, then I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunities.
Parker: There's an election due sometime between now and May, are you expecting to be able to campaign on the ground here in Western Australia?
Prime Minister: Well, it's not really up to me, is it? That's up to the WA Premier as to whether he opens the borders or not, to anyone from the eastern states and their decisions that he'll take in WA's interests. And I understand that. I know what the powers are, they’re his, but I also know that we want to be able to bring the country together and open up safely and stay safely open. That's what the national plan is about. The situation in WA is quite different to the rest of the country, and I've always got that about WA. I mean, it's very different to all the other states and territories. And that's why I think the Premier and I've, you know, in almost all cases have worked very well together. You know, we come from different sides of politics, but we've always managed to be able to get stuff done.
Parker: Prime Minister, thank you very much for your time this morning.
Prime Minister: Thanks a lot, Gareth. Good to talk to you.
Australia secures access to additional COVID-19 treatment
5 October 2021
Prime Minister, Minister for Health and Aged Care
Australia will have access to an additional COVID-19 treatment following the Morrison Government’s deal to purchase 300,000 courses of the promising oral COVID-19 treatment Molnupiravir.
Molnupiravir is an oral antiviral that is being developed for the first-line treatment of COVID-19 in adult patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms.
Treatment with Molnupiravir has been shown to stop people with COVID-19 developing serious symptoms, keeping them out of hospital and preventing serious illness and death.
Whilst Molnupiravir is in late stage clinical trials, the agreement between Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) is for supply to Australia should it be approved by the Therapeutic Good Administration (TGA), which could occur in early 2022.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government was ensuring Australians had access not only to COVID-19 vaccines, but also promising treatments.
“Vaccines and new treatments like this will boost our National Plan to safely reopen Australia and keep Australia safely open,” the Prime Minister said.
“Throughout this pandemic we’ve been closely watching developments for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments and Molnupiravir will be ready to go in Australia should it be approved by the TGA.
“While our vaccination rate continues to climb, we’ve been investing in and closely monitoring research into COVID-19 treatments and we are securing supply of promising treatments.
“If the medical experts at the TGA approve this treatment for use, it will join other COVID-19 treatments such as sotrovimab and remdesivir which are already available to Australian doctors to help treat those with COVID-19.”
Molnupiravir is a capsule that is taken twice a day for 5 days by adult patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms and does not need to be refrigerated, allowing it to be used in the community or as a targeted intervention at high-risk locations and in rural areas.
The makers of Molnupiravir, MSD and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, have recently announced that Molnupiravir reduced the risk of hospitalisation or death from COVID-19 by 50 per cent at a planned interim analysis of the Phase 3 trial.
Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt added that these positive results added to the ongoing analysis the TGA has been undertaking into Molnupiravir.
“All COVID-19 treatment assessment processes are being treated with the greatest priority as part of the Government’s response to the pandemic,” Minister Hunt said.
“The TGA is allowing data on the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 treatments to be provided as it is available to allow for an early approval for use in Australia without skipping any steps.
“Vaccination remains the most important and safest way for Australians to protect themselves and their loved ones from COVID-19 – and almost 80 per cent of Australians aged 16 and over have now had their first dose.
“In addition to this, our Government will continue to seek access to further treatments which will assist with Australians living with COVID-19.
On 9 August 2021 the TGA granted provisional determination to MSD in relation to Molnupiravir which means MSD is now eligible to apply for provisional registration for Molnupiravir in Australia. Provisional determination is the first step in the process and it is anticipated that MSD will submit a final application for provisional registration shortly.
The TGA’s consideration of Molnupiravir will occur in late 2021 and a TGA approval and delivery of the treatment to the National Medical Stockpile would occur in early 2022.
In addition to Molnupiravir, Australia has secured two dedicated COVID-19 treatments, remdesivir and sotrovimab, which are already being used to treat patients with COVID-19 across the country.
Interview with Neil Breen, 4BC
5 October 2021
Neil Breen: Good morning to you, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: G’day, Neil.
Breen: So, we bought 300,000 doses of this. It doesn't seem many, but I suppose we're waiting for the TGA to give it the tick.
Prime Minister: Well, when you think that only 113,000 people in Australia have actually contracted COVID in the last two years, 300,000 doses - that's courses, I should say, because there’s 10 tablets in a course.
Breen: Oh, ok.
Prime Minister: Almost triple the number of people who've contracted COVID in the past two years. And that's in addition to Sotrovimab and Remdesivir, which are the current treatments that are used, and they're done in the hospitals. There’s about, over 30,000 courses of that, for Sotrovimab, and then more for Remdesivir. But, the new drug, Molnupiravir, as you say, it’s a tablet, so you don't have to go to hospital for it. You can get it from the pharmacist, if it's prescribed. You can have it at home. It stops you developing that serious illness that can put you in an ICU. But, what I want to stress is, though, the best protection against COVID is the vaccine. That is the first, that is the first way to ensure that you're protected, and that will reduce your chance of ending up in an ICU by 86 per cent, and 90 per cent on fatalities. So, the vaccine is number one. But, for those who do contract it, that means it will reduce the pressure on hospital systems for those who actually can still contract the virus into the future. It still has a couple of months of clinical trials to go in the United States, but the results have been very positive. And, as you say, because it's a tablet and you don't have the cold chain storage refrigeration issues, any of that, it just shows how the medical science is moving very quickly to help us live with this virus. And, so, it's important that we get on and live with the virus because, you know, we've got to move on as a country. The National Plan enables us to achieve that, once we particularly hit 80 per cent. New South Wales is doing very well, and we'd love to see Queensland and other states see those vaccination rates increase.
Breen: Well, I think, when you talk about vaccination rates, Prime Minister, you copped a lot of heat about the rollout of vaccinations, but the story today in Australia truly is astonishing. Ninety five per cent of over 70s had a first dose, 95 per cent. Almost 80 per cent have had a second dose. That's the most vulnerable - over 70s. Then 90 per cent of over 50s have had a first dose. I doubted that we’d get to 80. We're going to sail past 80 in Australia.
Prime Minister: Well, I think we will get above 80 per cent and it'll keep growing. And I think Australia will end up having one of the, one of the higher vaccination rates anywhere in the world, eventually. And, look, we had to overcome some challenges. There's no doubt about that. Early on, those doses didn't turn up from overseas. Then we had those who were, you know, talking down AstraZeneca, and even some suggesting that people shouldn’t even take it, which was really devastating for vaccination rates. But, we turned that around. And, you know, I take responsibility for the challenges we had, and I said that at the time. I said I'd get it fixed, and we have got it fixed, because we're basically back now where we hoped to have been, pretty much, by this time of the year when we started the vaccination program. And today we'll go past, we expect, 80 per cent first dose vaccinations right around the country. And, of course, you know, in New South Wales, they're up at almost 90 per cent now, on first doses. So, people are really responding and I really want to encourage people right across Brisbane, right across south east Queensland and the whole state, to keep going and get those vaccinations, because we want to see the country open up. We want to reunite people with their family. We want people to be able to travel overseas. I mean, next month, New South Wales, Australians and residents, will be able to travel overseas and return. People who are overseas, Australians and residents, they'll be able to fly back into Sydney next month. I'd love to see that happening in Queensland, and I'd love people to be able to take a holiday in Queensland and before they can take one overseas. But, it would seem that they’ll get the chance in Fiji or Bali before they will in Queensland at the moment.
Breen: Well, the crazy situation is, Prime Minister, that people in New South Wales will be able to travel overseas and back. Yet Queenslanders who are interstate, and we’ve brought many stories here to 4BC Breakfast, and the media in Queensland has, about Queenslanders who lost loved ones interstate, who are stuck interstate, are not able to return to their own state. As Prime Minister, how do you feel about the fact that people can't even go back to their home in this country at the moment?
Prime Minister: Well, I'm devastated by it. I mean, we've worked hard to save lives, over 30,000 lives saved. We've worked hard to save livelihoods. A million people have been able to get back into work since COVID started. But, I want people to have their lives back. That's what I want, and that's what the National Plan is designed to achieve. That's what getting to 80 per cent vaccination rates and a soft opening at 70 per cent is designed to achieve. That's the deal, and I'm going to keep my side of the deal with Australians on this, and it's important that we’re able to move forward. Sure, that comes with, you know, that comes with some changes, and yes, there will be additional pressure in, particularly in the short term, as we move through that. But, we have to move through it and we will get through it. The Chief Health Officer in Queensland made that very clear, that their system can cope. And, you know, we've increased our funding to hospitals up in Queensland significantly, ever since we came to Government. We've increased our funding to hospitals in Queensland, since we came to Government, by 99.2 per cent.
Breen: But, our Premier still wants more money. She’s saying that it's up to you to give her more money.
Prime Minister: Well, we're not going to respond to shakedowns in a pandemic. And, you know, what we've done is we've showered the states in money, whether it's in JobKeeper and economic support payments. The Federal Government, and not to mention partnering on the Olympics 50-50, the infrastructure funding. We've been stepping up. Now, we’re living up to our responsibilities. I said we've increased hospital funding by 99.3 per cent, 99.2 per cent. Over the same period, the State Government has increased it by 55.3 per cent. Now, they’ve had 18 months, two years to get ready for this. I welcome the comments by the Chief Health Officer there that says they’re ready. The work that we've seen shows that the Queensland hospital system can deal with this, but it's important that we move forward, because we've got to bring the country together. There's the opportunity to do that. Vaccination is the path. Queenslanders are getting on with that and I'm just encouraging them to keep doing it, and they've got to have the encouragement which says, okay, we get vaccinated, that should mean we're able to do the things we used to do.
Breen: Yeah, because the messages have been conflicting. The Premier says we're not ready. The Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the hospitals are ready. Jeannette Young, as you said, were that we're ready. The AMA Queensland’s holding crisis meetings today about the ramping in in Queensland hospitals. They're saying we're not ready. So, whenever these problems are around, everyone turns to you in Canberra and says, you fix it, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Well, public hospitals are the responsibility of the Queensland Government, and what was it, Queensland hospitals are for Queenslanders, I think the Premier said. And, but, you know, they're funded, you know, jointly by Federal and state governments. But, look, I have confidence that they can deal with this, and they've got to obviously set their priorities and make sure that they're providing support needed in the hospitals. And, if they, you know, they need to increase funding there, from their own resources, I mean, they're in the same position to borrow money as the Federal Government, if that's what they believe they need to do. But, we've provided considerable support right across the pandemic, which I'm sure Queenslanders understand, because they, you know, they received JobKeeper, they received the economic supports. And we just announced some more supports most recently with the Queensland Government, supporting into the tourism sector, particularly down into that, in that Gold Coast region, where they've been so hit by the borders. So, we've been stepping up and look, I believe that Queensland will be able to deal with those pressures based on what, as you say, what Jeannette has said. And I think we've got to get on with it and move forward, but we can't allow, sort of, shakedowns to occur on funding. That's politics. What needs to be done is just getting on with the job, and we're certainly doing that and we've provided, you know, considerable, incredible support over a long period of time.
Breen: Politics plays with climate change as well. It's a big issue for you. The Glasgow Climate Summit is coming up. Are you going to attend?
Prime Minister: Well, we haven't made a final decision on that. Australia will, of course, be represented at that Summit. I note that the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is also not attending. She's going to make her contribution in other ways. I mean, she's got things to deal with back in New Zealand - the APEC Summit, they’re still dealing with COVID. I mean, it's going to be a very important time, and the point I'd make to Australians is this: the first people I need to explain what we're doing on this issue is to Australians, not people overseas. I need to explain to Australians our plan for how we can go forward to this new energy economy, the risks that are there that we're trying to deal with, and make sure that we will remain competitive over the next generation and more. I mean, the world is changing, and we've got to ensure that we put Australia in the strongest possible position to keep our jobs, to keep our industries, and to ensure our regions, in particular, are able to be brought through what is a global change that's occurring. So, the people I'm most interested in aren't overseas when it comes to this issue, it’s people in Australia, and I want to ensure that I'm in a position to be able to explain to them about how our plans work. And, on top of that, at that time of year, we'll be dealing with opening up, issues around COVID, international travel starting, bringing people home, students. There’ll be a lot on here. So, I've already been out of the country a few times this year. I’ve, in the last 12 months I've spent about 50 days in quarantine, and I've got another week to go now. So, you know, we've got to prioritise where's the best place for me to be. But, Australia will definitely be represented at a very senior level. It's an important conference, but equally, you know, we've got to make the judgements about where my responsibilities are first and foremost, and that’s to the Australian people.
Breen: Maybe you can quarantine at home for seven days with a negative test. That's where we're heading, aren’t we?
Prime Minister: Well, yeah, home quarantine is what's going to enable international travel to start, because you can do that at scale. I mean, hotel quarantine has a use by date on it and, unless you're unvaccinated, that will continue. That will continue in New South Wales, by the way, for those Australian residents or citizens. They'll be caps still on unvaccinated returns to Australia, but very soon in New South Wales - love to see this happen in Queensland, I think it’ll happen in Victoria second - there will be the lifting of caps for people to return to Australia, as Australians, if they're, if they're vaccinated. And I'm looking forward to that, because it's very hard to get people home under these circumstances and a lot of them want to come home, particularly for Christmas. I'd love it if they could fly into Brisbane for Christmas. But, really, that's up to getting to those vaccination rates up to 80 per cent, and having a home quarantine model in place and working in Queensland.
Breen: Prime Minister Scott Morrison, thanks for your time this Morning on 4BC Breakfast.
Prime Minister: Thanks a lot, Neil. All the best.
Interview with Karl Stefanovic, Today Show
5 October 2021
Karl Stefanovic: Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Canberra. PM, good morning to you. Nice to have your company this morning.
Prime Minister: G'day Karl, from quarantine again.
Stefanovic: Yeah, you loving it?
Prime Minister: 50 days in quarantine in the past year, but you know, that's what's necessary, and we're all going to push through. Whether it's in New South Wales, Victoria, ACT, we're pushing through.
Stefanovic: I take it you're not loving it. Look, have you spoken to Dominic Perrottet this morning at all?
Prime Minister: No, not today, I mean, I spoke to Dom over the weekend. We actually speak pretty regularly, actually, I mean, $10 billion of support into New South Wales over the last few months through the lockdown, you know, been working closely as we have right through the pandemic as you'd expect us to. So, but that's a decision for the New South Wales parliamentary party room today, and they'll make their call. But what's most important is they keep going in the direction that they've been going in, and I have no doubt that will be the case.
Stefanovic: I heard last time you spoke it was on like Donkey Kong. Is that true?
Prime Minister: Well, you know, we've got a good, robust relationship, we've known each other a long time. It's a real relationship. So when we disagree, we disagree and the next day we're straight back into it. That's how people who get on well together, work together. Occasionally, you have the odd disagreement, and that's real. But Australians know that. And Dom and I, you know, we've got a long term relationship working together, and we share very, very sound beliefs.
Stefanovic: By all reports, you described him as painful to deal with. Is that true?
Prime Minister: No, no. I wouldn't say that. Not at all. I mean, he puts his case strongly. I put my case strongly. Why would you have it any other way? He stands up for New South Wales. I look after the national interest. I mean, you know, we can't kid ourselves. I mean, politicians are real people. Every now and then we disagree and we will take it up with each other. I mean, why would you pretend it to be anything different?
Stefanovic: Let's move on to more important matters. The Queensland Premier has delivered you an ultimatum last Friday. Spend more on hospitals or they just won't open up. They clearly have dramas with people being turned away from hospitals now. How do you expect them to cope and will you come to the party with more money for Queensland?
Prime Minister: Well, I'm not going to respond to shakedown politics in a pandemic. I mean, Queensland needs to run their hospital system. Since we came to government, we've increased funding for public hospitals in Queensland by almost 100 per cent, 99 per cent. The Queensland Government have increased it by just over 50 per cent, so they need to sort their problems in Queensland. The Chief Health Officer in Queensland says they can cope with the surge that will come from COVID. She seems to be at odds with the Premier. So look, I'm just not going to play politics with hospital funding.
We have been showering the states with money over the course of COVID, whether it's been in JobKeeper or economic supports, including in Queensland, where they haven't had lockdowns, but we've still been providing business support for those affected by their border closure. You know, we've got a 50/50 funding deal on the Olympics, so we cannot be accused of not coming to the support of Queenslanders. We have done that consistently in floods, in fires, in COVID. And so they need to get on and run their public hospital system and not shift- seek to make excuses about it, get on and do their job. They’re responsible for it.
Stefanovic: So Annastacia Palaszczuk says alright that's fine, I just won't open up.
Prime Minister: Well, she's got to take that up with the Queensland people then. I mean, to go down this point and say, well, you know, I'm going to hold the federal government to ransom and to seek to extort from them money on the basis of COVID, I just don't think is the right way to go. We've been working with them constructively. We've supported them time and time and time again in joint funding initiatives. We've shared 50/50 the costs of COVID on the health system, more than $30 billion around the country, we've pumped into health support right around the country. So we've been doing our bit. Of course there are challenges, but as a state government, they've got to be responsible for their state health system. New South Wales is getting on with it. Victoria is getting on with it. The ACT is getting on with it. So Queensland need to get on with it.
Stefanovic: Ok, just said then extorting money. Obviously, relationship's not going that well then.
Prime Minister: Well, I'm just calling it as I see it, Karl. I mean to suggest that they're not going to open the borders unless I send them cash. How else would you like me to call it?
Stefanovic: Calling it for what it is.
Prime Minister: That's exactly right. I mean, you know, we are supporting the Queensland Government and have been consistently. Queenslanders know that, you know, when I was able to travel to Queensland, the number of businesses I went into, they said thank you for JobKeeper, that saved my business, that saved my employees. The funds we put into sharing the costs in the hospital system to date, you know, over $6 billion I think it is in total that we've injected straight into the hospital systems and health systems of state governments to get us through COVID. We've been doing the heavy lifting when it comes to economic support. You know, we're all responsible for things as governments, state governments are responsible for their things and they need to make sure that they are covering them off.
Stefanovic: You've been very conciliatory with all the state premiers, including the Queensland Premier, that clearly stops today.
Prime Minister: No, it doesn't stop. We'll continue to work with all the state governments, but we're not going to respond to those sort of, you know, ‘give me the money or else’ type demands and that's what this is. It's playing politics with COVID. The Chief Health Officer of the Queensland Government has said that their hospital system can deal with this. So, you know, I'm quoting their own health advice.
Stefanovic: Ok, tell me about the government's new antiviral COVID pill. You've invested in it. How does it work and when will it arrive?
Prime Minister: Well, there's still a couple of months to go on trials in the United States, but this new drug is a tablet. It's a course of 10. So what it means is you won't have to go into hospital to get it. But the first thing you need to do is get vaccinated. It's not a substitute for a vaccine. But there are 300,000 courses of this, of this antiviral pill, a course of pills. And what it means is, is that it reduces seriously reduces the chances of you getting severe symptoms if you actually get COVID. But don't forget, almost you reduce your chance of ending up in an ICU from the vaccine by almost 90 per cent. I think it's 86 per cent. So vaccine first, but these treatments means that we're going to be able to live with the virus. So even in the unfortunate situation, if you do contract the virus, then we'll have the treatments to ensure that we can lessen these symptoms, reduce the chance of you ending up on ICU, which can put pressure on the hospital systems. Again, federal government investing in treatments which will reduce pressure on the hospital system.
Stefanovic: Ok, a couple of quick ones. Have you managed to talk to Emmanuel Macron yet. Has he returned your calls?
Prime Minister: Not yet, but we'll be patient on that. We understand, you know, the challenges are there for the moment. Spoken to a lot of other European leaders, and everybody's keen for us to move on and ensure that we work together, particularly in our part of the world, which is very dynamic. And there are a lot of uncertainties in our part of the world. And France has a big place here in the Indo-Pacific, and we look forward to continuing that work together as soon as possible. So much of it continues now, I've got to say, Karl.
Stefanovic: You really ticked him off that, didn't you?
Prime Minister: Well, you know, of course, there was no easy way to discontinue a contract of that scale. Of course, that was going to be disappointing, but I've got to make decisions in Australia's national interest, not France's. And it was in Australia's national interest to ensure we didn't proceed with that, and we have the nuclear submarine programme in place, which is the best way to protect and defend Australia.
Stefanovic: Ok, you going to Glasgow?
Prime Minister: Haven't made that decision yet, Karl, like the New Zealand Prime Minister, she won't be attending, she's indicated. Will face another 14 days, but in quarantine, if I do go there. We will be represented at a very senior level. But my first responsibility once we agree our plan for technology and the plan that will see us reduce emissions over the long term, my first responsibility is to explain that to Australians, not to people overseas, at overseas conferences. It's an important conference, but the people I need to talk to most about our plan to reduce emissions and transition our economy over the next 30 years is to Australians, people in the Hunter Valley, people up there in Queensland, people in Victoria, in the west. They need to understand and I want the opportunity to explain directly to them what our plan means for them because our plan is for them. It's about them, it's about their jobs and their future, and they are the people who need to hear from me first.
Stefanovic: You've also got, you know, a little bit of chat to have with your own party, with the Nats, I mean, has a bit to sort out.
Prime Minister: Well, difficult decisions, that's what's involved with them, Karl. I mean, it's a bit like we were talking earlier in the conversation. We can't avoid these difficult questions, and it does require a lot of debate internally to work it through together. But what I'm doing is working to bring the government together on a clear plan to reduce emissions. Transition to this new economy, which is coming and make sure that Australia is not left in an uncompetitive position. I want to keep those jobs in rural and regional Australia. We're going to get there through technology, not higher taxes. That can absolutely be achieved and we can do the right thing by future generations. But we don't have to, you know, turn the Australian economy off to achieve that. And that's certainly not our plan. Our plan will set out how we'll get there, not just why we'll get there and when we get there, it's the how that matters, because it's the how that determines what the costs are, how we protect jobs, how we ensure that the Australian economy remains strong into the future.
Stefanovic: Good to talk to you, PM. Best of luck with it. There's a bit on.
Prime Minister: Thanks a lot, Karl.
Interview with David Koch, Sunrise
5 October 2021
David Koch: The Prime Minister joins us now from quarantine at the Lodge, live and first. Prime Minister, morning to you.
Prime Minister: Good morning, David.
Koch: Gee, a bit happening in politics in New South Wales. What do you think of Dominic Perrottet? There's talk that you've clashed with him in the past, that you dropped the f bomb during a phone call with him.
Prime Minister: Well, Dom and I have been working together for years and we've known each other for a long time and we've got an honest relationship and we've got a lot done together. In New South Wales, we've worked together to deliver over $6 billion in support to individuals going through this latest crisis. There was the work we're doing last year as well of bringing New South Wales economy through the very difficult challenges we've had with COVID. We've got an honest relationship. When we disagree, we disagree. But the next day we get back to work. I mean, that's how normal people get on with each other when they know each other well. And we do.
Koch: The State's in shock after Gladys Berejiklian stood down. She has enormous support for the way that she steered the state through COVID. Any chance of you offering her a job in federal parliament, would you like to see a run for the seat of Warringah?
Prime Minister: Well, let me first say I totally am grateful for the work that Gladys has done as Premier. I've worked very closely with Gladys over a very long period of time, back when she was Treasurer, and even before that, and I think she's done an enormous service to the people of New South Wales, and I join with the many thousands, if not millions, of people from New South Wales who are very sad that she's had to step down and she has a lot more to contribute. I know that. But they are really issues for Gladys to work through when she's ready to do that. Right now, she's going to deal with the issues before her, but I know she's got a lot more to contribute and there are many ways that I'm sure she can do that. And when she's worked through those issues, I'm sure she'll set out what she would like to do next. But I'm quite certain that the people of New South Wales would love to see her contributing in one way or another.
Koch: Oh, ok. So when she's ready, you'll have a chat and say, why don't you think of Canberra?
Prime Minister: Well, look again that that really is up to Gladys about what she wants to do next. And, you know, we have a proper selection process in our party, and there are many different ways that she could serve, they don't necessarily need to be in the parliament. But I respect, you know, Gladys taking the time in what has been a very difficult, very difficult period for her. And I just want to wish her all the best and she should know that she has tremendous support both in the Liberal Party and I think right across New South Wales for the fantastic job that she's done. But I know that work will continue with the next Premier. I mean, they've worked together, they've got a great plan to bring New South Wales out of these lockdowns that backs in the national plan, which we've put together. Their vaccination rates, highest in the country, will soon be at those 70 per cent double dose rates. Here in Australia across the country, it's likely today will hit those 80 per cent first doses around the country, which is welcome news. And so the vaccination programme is pushing ahead and pushing strongly and nowhere, nowhere more strongly than New South Wales.
Koch: I want to get on to the new medications you're going to bring in, in a tick, but one last question on New South Wales. It's put a lot of focus from the general public on ICAC, who are thinking, who the hell are they and who are they responsible to? Who reviews them? Does ICAC need to be reformed?
Prime Minister: Oh, look, it's certainly not a model that we ever consider at a federal level, and I think that's been on display for some time. And you know, you've got to have processes that assume people are innocent before thought to be guilty and that is a real problem. So it's not a model that we've ever contemplated going at a federal level. And, you know, we have a set of arrangements at a federal level that can be built upon, but certainly not going down that path in New South Wales. And I'm sure there are millions of people who've seen what's happened to Gladys Berejiklian, they'll understand that's a pretty good call not to follow that model.
Koch: See, I think most of us thought that they were all the same, but anyhow, we've been proved wrong on that. Let's get on to COVID issues now. You've signed a deal to purchase 300,000 anti-viral pills to treat COVID. Is that going to be enough and have you learnt from the shortcomings of the vaccine rollout?
Prime Minister: Well, again, vaccine rollout is now hitting, we think, 80 per cent first dose today, and we dealt with the earlier problems we've had. We've turned that around and Australia's vaccination programme is running very strongly. Molnupiravir, the new treatment, it's a tablet treatment, unlike its predecessors, sotrovimab and remdesivir, where you have to go to hospital. We've had about just over 110,000 cases in Australia of COVID in total, in total, over the last almost two years. This is 300,000 courses. That's on top of the other two treatments as well. What it does, David, is ensure that you do not develop a serious illness. So it means you can take it at home. You won't have to go to an ICU or go to hospital. So that puts takes pressure off the hospital system. It still has several months in clinical trials in the United States to go. So we still have about 30,000, bit more than that, of sotrovimab courses that's provided in the hospitals. So this will be another example of just how the technology and the medical advances are ensuring that we can live with this virus. So when we get to 70 and 80 per cent vaccination, then we will have also treatments in place into the future so we can ensure the pressure comes off the hospitals. We can live with the virus. We can ensure Australians can take their lives back. We've saved lives, saved livelihoods. I want to see Australians now take their lives back.
Koch: And when we get to 80 per cent in individual states, overseas travel is back on the cards. And who can travel? Is it vaccinated Australians travelling? Can vaccinated tourists come in or double vaccinated family members of Australian citizens? Can they come and visit for Christmas?
Prime Minister: Well, the first cab off the rank is Australians. Australian citizens and Australian residents who are vaccinated, they will be able to, in New South Wales, be able to travel overseas and return. And if you are double vaccinated overseas and you're an Australian resident, are an Australian citizen, you’re immediate family, you'll be able to travel under those arrangements. But we need to get those home quarantine facilities or procedures in place. New South Wales will have those in place next month and for the other states and territories, and I've spoken to Dan Andrews about this. We're getting trials in place there as well. Once that home quarantine model is up and running at scale, then this will enable that to happen. The next priorities are skilled migrants that are very important for the country and who are double vaccinated, as well as students who are coming and returning to Australia for their studies. They're another important priority, and we will get to international visitors as well, I believe next year. The priority is Australians, we're ready for takeoff.
Koch: Yeah, definition of immediate family doesn't include parents, should it?
Prime Minister: Well, no, not at this point, but we will look at that next year. And I think once we get into next year, we'll be able to look at the broader groups. But look, David, I'm not ruling anything out at this point, and we'll work closely with the states and territories. We've always had a very flexible approach and tried to deal with situations as they presented through COVID. That's what's enabled us to get through. But immediate family, well, the definition is, of course, your partner, your children, but you know where there are other cases that are involved, well, we'll look at those in due course.
Koch: Ok. Prime Minister, appreciate your time. Thanks for joining us.
Prime Minister: Thanks a lot, David.
https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43600
30th Anniversary of Key Antarctic Agreement
4 October 2021
The Hon. Scott Morrison MP
Prime Minister
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Women
The Hon. Sussan Ley MP
Minister for the Environment
Our Government was pleased to join leaders from other Antarctic Treaty nations to mark the 30th anniversary of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, also known as the Madrid Protocol, hosted virtually by Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez.
Australia played a leading role in initiating development of the Madrid Protocol, which was adopted on 4 October 1991, at the conclusion of the Special Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting held in Madrid, Spain. It is a historic pact to protect the Antarctic wilderness.
Australia’s commitment to the study and conservation of Antarctica is long-standing, including our early history of exploration, world-class scientific research today, permanent presence in the Australian Antarctic Territory, and Hobart’s important role as a key gateway to the continent.
Antarctica and the Southern Ocean now face unprecedented challenges including the impacts of climate change, illegal fishing and marine pollution.
By meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and continually improving the world’s environmental practices to protect Antarctica’s cherished biodiversity and marine environment, we are determined to do our part to meet these challenges.
Australia has been a leader in Antarctic preservation efforts since the expedition of one of our greatest national heroes, Sir Douglas Mawson, and his companions over a century ago.
We will continue to work closely with our fellow Antarctic Treaty parties in support of peace, science and environmental protection in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
We commend Prime Minister Sánchez for marking this momentous occasion.
Next Steps to Reopen to the World
1 October 2021
Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Women, Minister for Health and Aged Care, Minister for Trade, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business
Australia is ready to take its next steps to safely reopen to the world, with changes coming to the international border.
Our government is setting out the framework for how international travel will look in coming months.
With first dose vaccination rates at over 78 per cent and double dose rates nationwide at 55 per cent and on track to reach 70 per cent in some jurisdictions over the next week, our government has been finalising plans so Australian families can be reunited, Australian workers can travel in and out of our country, and we can work towards welcoming tourists back to our shores.
Within weeks, large parts of the country will be moving to Phase B and then to Phase C of the National Plan to safely reopen Australia and to stay safely open. Under Phase C, international travel is on track to reopen safely to fully vaccinated Australian travellers. Many countries around the world have now safely reopened to international travel and it will shortly be time for Australia to take the next step.
To enable fully vaccinated Australians to travel, our government is finalising new arrangements.
Following completion of home quarantine pilots in New South Wales and South Australia, it is anticipated that states and territories that are ready to do so will roll out:
Seven day home quarantine for Australian citizens and permanent residents fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved for use in Australia or ‘recognised’ by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
14-day managed quarantine for anyone not vaccinated or vaccinated with a vaccine not approved or recognised by the TGA.
Australian citizens and permanent residents who cannot be vaccinated - for example if they are under 12 or have a medical condition - will be treated as vaccinated for the purposes of their travel.
States and territories will begin this program at different times given their varying vaccination rates but we expect the system to commence in November.
Under Phase B and C of the National Plan, 14-day managed quarantine caps apply to unvaccinated arrivals. These will return to previous levels at Phase B of the National Plan. We will work with states and territories to remove all travel caps on vaccinated Australians.
In line with the National Plan, our government is balancing the need to minimise the risk that the spread of COVID-19 presents, with the need to live with the virus.
The Government’s intention is that once changes are made in November, the current overseas travel restrictions related to COVID-19 will be removed and Australians will be able to travel subject to any other travel advice and limits, as long as they are fully vaccinated and those countries’ border settings allow. Border settings and quarantine requirements in other countries continue to change and we strongly encourage all Australians to closely monitor DFAT travel advice, available on smartraveller.gov.au.
These changes mean there will be no travel restrictions if you are a vaccinated Australian entering or leaving our shores.
We will also work towards completely quarantine-free travel for certain countries, such as New Zealand, when it is safe to do so.
Testing is expected to continue to be a requirement of international travel, but subject to further medical advice, Rapid Antigen Tests may be used.
Australians who want to travel overseas once restrictions are removed will be able to access an internationally recognised proof of vaccination document in the coming weeks to prove their vaccination status abroad. The proof of vaccination for international travel will include a QR code that is readable globally, and will comply with the standards set out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. Engagement with commercial airlines and foreign governments has already begun to ensure they are familiar with the system.
We know it has been an extraordinarily difficult 18 months for Australians overseas trying to come home and for Australians with family and friends overseas.
To maximise the number of Australians who can return, our government is also offering facilitated flights into any state or territory that agrees to commence seven day home quarantine trials for returning Australians.
More than 680,000 Australians have returned since the Government recommended people reconsider the need to travel abroad in March last year. The Government stands ready to assist more people to return with the cooperation of states and territories.
Australian citizens and permanent residents who have been vaccinated with a TGA-approved vaccine overseas can already visit their GP or local pharmacist in Australia to have their COVID-19 vaccination status updated in the Australian Immunisation Register, to be able to show proof of vaccination in Australia.
In coming weeks the government will finalise the processes for people to be able to show their vaccination status if they have had a TGA ‘recognised vaccine’. People who have received vaccines not recognised by the TGA, or who are unvaccinated, will be required to undertake 14 days of managed quarantine on arrival.
In addition to the four COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved and registered for use by the TGA - Pfizer (Comirnaty), AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria), Moderna (Spikevax) and COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen - the TGA has also been reviewing other vaccines in widespread use around the world for the purposes of determining ‘recognised vaccines’.
We need to ensure that we keep Australians safe without creating unnecessary obstacles to people who have been fully vaccinated overseas from coming to our country.
Today, the TGA has published its initial assessment of the data on the protection offered by the Coronavac (Sinovac) and Covishield (AstraZeneca/Serum Institute of India) vaccines and has advised that these vaccines should be considered as ‘recognised vaccines’ for the purpose of determining incoming international travellers as being appropriately vaccinated.
Declaring certain COVID-19 vaccines as ‘recognised vaccines’ is separate to a regulatory decision on whether they are approved for use for vaccination in Australia, which has not been made by the TGA.
The recognition of these two additional vaccines is a major milestone towards more Australians vaccinated overseas getting home sooner.
The TGA will continue its assessment of other vaccines for the purpose of determining ‘recognised vaccines’ based on the available data and data that is provided.
In coming weeks the Minister for Health will consider updates to the Biosecurity Act Emergency determinations to facilitate some of these changes for fully vaccinated Australian travellers as we move forward on the National Plan to get Australia back to normal and reopen our country safely.
National Cabinet Statement
1 October 2021
National Cabinet met today to discuss Australia’s COVID-19 response, recent outbreaks of COVID-19 and the Australian COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy.
National Cabinet expressed its gratitude to outgoing New South Wales Premier, the Hon Gladys Berejiklian. As a founding member of National Cabinet, the Premier has made a significant contribution to the national pandemic response and been a driving force to lead New South Wales through the pandemic, saving lives and livelihoods.
National Cabinet continues to work together to address issues and find solutions for the health and economic consequences of COVID-19.
Since the beginning of the pandemic there have been 107,171 confirmed cases in Australia and, sadly, 1,307 people have died. More than 38 million tests have been undertaken, with 1,350,083 tests reported in the past 7 days.
Globally there have been over 233.6 million cases and sadly over 4.7 million deaths, with 486,746 new cases and 9,002 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge in many countries around the world.
Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine roll out continues to expand. To date, over 28 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Australia, including 341,129 in the previous 24 hours.
In the previous 7 days, more than 1.9 million vaccines have been administered in Australia. More than 78.4 per cent of the Australian population aged 16 years and over have now had a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including over 89.4 per cent of over 50 year olds and more than 94.8 per cent of over 70 year olds.
More than 55 per cent of Australians aged 16 years and over are now fully vaccinated, including almost 72 per cent of over 50 year olds and more than 79 per cent of Australians over 70 years of age.
Today, Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly provided an update on current outbreaks of COVID-19. The Chief Medical Officer noted the outbreaks in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.
All leaders reiterated the importance of Australians, especially those in vulnerable groups, to get two doses of a COVID-19 vaccination.
Professor Brendan Murphy, Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Health, provided an update on the work being done by the Commonwealth and all states and territories looking at health system capacity for managing COVID-19 cases during Phases B and C of the National Plan, and the Chief Medical Officer provided an update on the Test, Trace, Isolate and Quarantine (TTIQ) work underway through Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC).
National Cabinet received a briefing from Lieutenant General John Frewen, DSC, AM, Coordinator General of the National COVID Vaccine Taskforce (Operation COVID Shield). Specific workstreams are underway to support a higher level of vaccination uptake amongst Indigenous Australians and the disability sector. mRNA vaccines are now available for Australians aged 60 years and above across the majority of Australia, including all primary care settings.
National Cabinet agreed to meet next on Friday, 5 November 2021.
Vaccine Rollout
Lieutenant General John Frewen, DSC, AM provided a detailed update to National Cabinet on plans to increase vaccination rates amongst disabled and Indigenous Australians. With sufficient supplies available in October to vaccinate all Australians, and with around 10,000 vaccination sites, additional measures are being enacted to support uptake and reduce hesitancy.
National Cabinet noted the preliminary advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) on booster doses, published on 23 September 2021. ATAGI will provide further advice on third dose requirements for specified individuals to complete their primary course vaccination in October. The Commonwealth will provide an update on boosters and third dose vaccinations following advice from ATAGI, with significant planning underway with states and territories to commence a booster/third shot program in late 2021, subject to ATAGI advice.
National Cabinet noted the AHPPC statements on schools, mandatory vaccinations of health care workers, ventilation and visitation in aged care, which recommend increased visitation for families of people in residential aged care facilities and actions to support schools to remain open.
Health System Capacity
National Cabinet received advice from the Health System Capacity Cross Jurisdictional Working Group on surge planning and that all states and territories confirmed that effective systems were in place at a state and territory level. National Cabinet requested further analysis of regional reports of the Local Health Network (LHN)/Primary Health Network (PHN) collaborative care pathways.
National Plan to Transition Australia’s COVID-19 Response
National Cabinet received an update from Professor Jodie McVernon from the Doherty Institute. National Cabinet noted but did not yet endorse the interim analysis showing that TTIQ measures continue to contribute to controlling transmission of the Delta variant, and that case-initiated contact tracing, as has been used in the recent NSW Delta outbreak, can effectively assist health responses in outbreaks involving high case numbers to deliver an effective partial TTIQ impact. National Cabinet further noted the interim update on 7-day home quarantine for vaccinated arrivals and infection risk. To assist with further planning for possible future 7-day quarantine arrangements, all states and territories committed to providing more detailed data on COVID cases recorded in their hotel quarantine systems.
National Cabinet noted the Commonwealth’s updated progress to adjust border settings to allow for safe and secure international travel by vaccinated Australians.
International travel for fully vaccinated
The Commonwealth will introduce an International COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate for outbound travellers to present at foreign borders and at the Australian border. This certificate has been designed to meet the new standards specified by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and endorsed by the World Health Organization.
The international certificate will display a Visible Digital Seal (VDS), as specified by the ICAO standard. A VDS is a QR code that’s as secure as a passport chip, using the same highly secure e-passport technology. VDS is compatible with existing passport control systems around the world and with COVID-19 travel apps such as the IATA Travel Pass that many airlines are using.
The new international certificates will become available for Australians by the end of October, both digitally and in printable form, through a simple process in myGov.
TGA ‘recognition’ of two new vaccines
The TGA has provided advice that Coronavac (Sinovac) and Covishield (AstraZeneca/Serum Institute of India) vaccines be considered ‘recognised vaccines’ for incoming international travellers to be regarded as appropriately vaccinated. This is in addition to the four vaccines approved for use in Australia - Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
This advice follows detailed assessments by the TGA to determine the protection against infection and serious illness offered by vaccines not registered for use in Australia.
‘Recognition’ status does not constitute Australian regulatory approval, as regulatory approval would enable a company to provide that vaccine for administration within Australia.
Recognition of these vaccines supports Australians to be able to return who have had these vaccinations overseas, and will enable reopening to other groups such as international students who have been vaccinated with these vaccines in countries such as Indonesia, India and China.
Facilitated Commercial Flights
The Commonwealth outlined its offer of assistance to source and coordinate suitable cohorts of returning Australians for a home quarantine trial.
Implementation of the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements
National Cabinet received an update on progress with the implementation of the recommendations from the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements. National Cabinet noted that while delivery of many of the recommendations were underway, more needed to be done to be prepared for the coming high risk weather season.
National Cabinet agreed that jurisdictions would focus on urgently delivering the seven priority areas identified by the National Federation Reform Council. Emergency Management Ministers have been asked to identify additional actions for immediate delivery before the end of the year.
At the next meeting, National Cabinet will receive a briefing on the 2021-22 high risk weather season.
Energy - National Cabinet Reform Committee
National Cabinet endorsed the final package of reforms for the post-2025 National Electricity Market, as agreed by the Energy National Cabinet Reform Committee.
The proposed reforms act on the recommendations of the Energy Security Board (ESB), following two years of widespread consultation and in-depth analysis.
The full suite of reforms set out immediate, initial and long-term changes to deliver a fit-for-purpose electricity market into the future. This includes further work and design principles for a potential capacity mechanism to deliver investment in an efficient mix of capacity that meets reliability at lowest cost. The ESB will also continue further work on a congestion management model.
This outcome demonstrates the shared commitment across all National Energy Market jurisdictions to deliver affordable, reliable electricity to consumers.
Media Statement
1 October 2021
Australia continues to successfully plot a path out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On both the health and economic fronts, Australia has fared better than most countries in dealing with COVID-19.
Together we have saved lives and saved livelihoods, and while Australia has been doing it tough – and the recent lockdowns are having a significant impact – our economy is resilient.
While my Ministry reflects the need for continuity across key portfolios as we continue Australia’s recovery out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is my intention to advise the Governor-General of a number of proposed changes to the Ministry.
These changes reinforce some of the key issues the Government is progressing, and the challenges we face moving forward: strengthening our sovereign capabilities in the new energy economy, emissions reduction, and promoting a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific through our AUKUS arrangement and Quad relationship with regional partners.
Angus Taylor will assume the Industry portfolio and will become the Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction, signalling the Government’s clear focus on preserving and strengthening our sovereign industrial base, including in manufacturing, as we reduce emissions and grasp the opportunities of the new energy economy.
This is a significant step on the road to securing our economy and sovereign capability in a rapidly changing world, at the same time that Australia plays its part in tackling climate change.
As part of this work, I have asked Minister Taylor to focus on the critical supply chain initiatives from the recent Quad and the unique role Australia can play based on our national strengths in areas such as critical minerals, working with the Minister for Resources.
To bring added Cabinet-level focus to the connection between economic security and national security, the Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price will assume additional responsibilities as Minister for Science and Technology. This is a timely appointment, especially in light of the considerable body of scientific and technological work our nation now has to bring forward under AUKUS as part of the nuclear submarine project.
The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migration Services and Multicultural Affairs Alex Hawke will come into Cabinet. Minister Hawke has dealt deftly with the challenges COVID-19 has brought to this portfolio and worked around the clock in recent times helping to secure visa and other arrangements for the departure and settlement of thousands of people from Afghanistan.
Ben Morton will come into the Ministry as Special Minister of State, Minister for the Public Service and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister and Cabinet. He will continue to play a lead role in strengthening the capability of the Australian Public Service for the challenges of today and tomorrow. As Special Minister of State, he will continue to be responsible for electoral matters and will now support the critical work being led by Simon Birmingham on our parliamentary workplace, ahead of the final report of the review being conducted by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins.
Tim Wilson will become Assistant Minister to the Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction. He will bring focus and passion to ensuring that Australia continues to meet and beat our climate change commitments, as we transition to the new energy economy.
Indian Media Online Briefing
30 September 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Well, can I thank all of you for joining me this morning, and Rosa, thank you for helping us bring this together, but also to Alex Hawke, Minister Hawke, who’s joining us as well this morning. It's good to be here with him joining with you today to talk about what is one of Australia's most important relationships, our relationship with India.
It was my great pleasure to be able to meet with Prime Minister Modi last week when we were in Washington together for the Quad, and what was a very lengthy bilateral meeting. There's always plenty for Narendra and I to be discussing in what is a very warm friendship that we've been able to build up over several years now. And, that builds, of course, on the relationship that I think that Prime Minister Abbott first established. And I was very pleased that he was able to join Prime Minister Modi early this year in August as my Special Envoy in pursuing many of the issues.
It's been difficult, as we've tried on many occasions, the Prime Minister and I were joking about this, that on many occasions we've both tried to get together in person, particularly in New Delhi, and there's been a standing invitation, one that I've been quite keen to take up. And we've been frustrated by COVID on too many occasions and other other events. But we are looking forward to turning that around next year, when I'm very much looking forward to going to, to New Delhi in person. And to, that will be particularly important because it marks a, the significant milestone of India's 75th year of independence. And so, Australia would very much want to be there to mark such an important milestone for such a dear and close friend.
While we were together in Washington, we agreed a number of initiatives and took forward other, other matters that we've been working on for some time. The most significant, I think was our agreement to go forward with a low emissions technology partnership. Australia's approach to the new energy economy, an economy that will be transitioning to net zero over the next 30 years. We want to work with our partners. We want to ensure that the technology that enables us to achieve this, but while enabling economies to continue to grow and develop and create jobs and make things, grow things, all of this, incredibly important. And that's the vision we have about how the new energy economy works, and we want that to be inclusive. This is not supposed to be just about something for advanced economies. This is supposed to be for the whole world. And the ability to take up technology at scale that is commercial is the key to successfully transitioning to the new energy economy. And India understands that. And India is going through a remarkable transformation of its own economy, and looking to actually transition its own energy economy into the future. But, to do that in a way that is patient, which is sensible, which is practical, and so, working together on technologies, I think, is one of the, one of the key partnerships that you can have to ensure that both of our countries are able to go through this transition period. But, more than that, demonstrate that this is how you do it, that this isn't just about setting targets and doing these things. It's the how that matters.
As I stressed at the Quad meeting last week, there is a great deal of enthusiasm all around the world, I have no doubt, for trying to move our economies into this, this new energy economy, to move it into an economy that understands the impacts of carbon emissions. That's fine. But, if you don't work out how to do it, it all gets a bit academic. And, so, that's what the Prime Minister and I are very committed to achieving, a practical energy technology partnership that enables zero carbon energy technologies and even sub-zero carbon technologies and transition technologies, that actually enable us all to get there, and we actually can achieve this. This can be done. It's been done many, many times in world history. And we share a passion on the practical when it comes to transitioning our economies. And the low emissions technology partnership will particularly look at ultra low cost solar and hydrogen supply chains linking into India. And we see that as a big opportunity for both countries.
Australia has long been an energy exporter to India and that will continue, both with our traditional resource relationships, that will continue. But, in addition to that, a whole new line will open up now, we believe, in these new energy technologies and new fuel sources. Our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is further, is becoming more ambitious, and our trade ministers will be meeting, I understand next week, is our, is the current schedule. And that will see us, we have both tasked our ministers to be ambitious about where we can get to. And I think we'll be able to get a lot further in a bilateral sense with India and Australia together. And the Prime Minister and I share that objective.
And, but, this has always been a challenge. And we understand the challenges in India and the challenges in Australia in ensuring that we can get the right deal. We want the right deal for both countries. And, so we'll continue to be patient about it and take the gains where we can take them and see this as a road that we're on and we will just keep adding and adding and adding I think to the strength of that Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement that we're seeking. And this all builds off the India Economic, India Economic Strategy update that will also identify new opportunities.
Our military cooperation continues to go ahead. We engaged in joint exercises off Guam in the Bay of Bengal as part of the Exercise Malabar back in, in August of this year. I think that is a very important cooperation and shows how countries in the region are working together. We're committed to an open, a secure and resilient Indo-Pacific, and advancing our cooperation right across the Indian Ocean.
Another key matter which is, is, is very large on the global agenda is the matter of critical and emerging technologies. This will also continue to be a key part of our partnership, 5G, 6G, cybersecurity, critical minerals, space, which will deliver future security, prosperity and resilience.
The reason we were all in Washington was for the, the Quad Leaders’ Summit. And the Quad has moved into a new and I think, much more ambitious chapter. The Quad is a positive initiative. The Quad is about like-minded democracies, together with Japan and the United States, coming together to demonstrate that such democracies and economies can deal with the world's biggest challenges and make a positive difference, whether that be on our response to COVID, whether that be on ensuring the development and accessibility of new and critical technologies, whether that be in addressing the global challenge of climate change or indeed dealing constructively with the regional security issues that present within our region and cooperating together as like-minded democracies.
This is not an alliance. It's, it is a practical partnership of like-minded, scaled democracies and economies that can actually bring stability and growth and prosperity to our region. All four of us live here. All four of us have our future here. All four of us understand the challenges and the changing strategic environment in which we're living in the Indo-Pacific. And, so, we've come together at a leaders’ level. And I commend President Biden for doing that as, as Prime Minister Modi has also and former Prime Minister Suga. And we look forward to Prime Minister Kishida be coming, once installed by the Diet, for him taking up his chair within the Quad partnership.
It is a dynamic and free flowing partnership. The dialogue and the discussion we had in Washington, very similar to the one we had earlier this year in our virtual, first virtual meeting. A lot of understanding and a lot of commitment that is backing up what we're doing. We want the Quad to be a very practical partnership, not just a gathering. And the fact that we're providing and delivering significantly, 1.2 billion safe and effective vaccines, I think, is testament to that. And I particularly want to acknowledge the role that India is playing in providing and producing and making those vaccines available. Critical in that is also ensuring that our medical teams and logistics experts are helping, particularly developing countries in the region, ensure that the vaccine can get in the arm. One thing to get the doses, but you've got to be able to ensure that you're helping with the distribution system, the cold storage, the training and support of the, of the medical professionals and health workers that are administering the vaccines, the logistical support and planning. Australia is doing a great deal in this area, particularly in the Pacific, work we're doing up in Papua New Guinea especially, supporting in Indonesia, as well as over Fiji. In Fiji, they're well over 90 per cent vaccinated. And all four of the Quad partners, particularly Australia, have played a massive role in delivering that vaccine program, which has effectively saved their fortunes there in Fiji. And I know Prime Minister Bainimarama is incredibly, incredibly thankful for the support that he's received, both from Australia and from India.
The Quad is also going deeper into critical and emerging technologies, and particularly rare earths, and the supply chain for rare earths and critical minerals that runs right across to the end, to the end user. And the manufacturing capabilities that exist within India, combined with the resource strengths of Australia in this field, provide a natural partnership. And when you link that with the advanced economies in the United States and Japan, it is a natural, a very natural partnership that is seeking to create more secure, more reliable, and more competitive supply chains in the rare earths space, through to end user products. And so, we do see this as one of the core elements of the work that the Quad is doing.
On climate, the work that needed to be done on a Quad Clean Energy Hydrogen Partnership. We're looking forward to hosting a Clean Energy Summit in Australia next year, out of what we discussed in Washington last week. And that's all about ensuring that we bring together, across the Quad countries, our scientists, our industrialists, our entrepreneurs, our our professors, our manufacturers, our miners, our resources operators, our our energy economists, and putting them together and being able to map out that technology pathway over the, over the, over the decades ahead, and ensure that we are linking up our supply chains across the Quad partners, and linking in more from the Indo-Pacific region, particularly through ASEAN. We see ASEAN as as central to our Indo-Pacific vision within the Quad. And so, the Quad complements these many other partnerships, just as AUKUS indeed complements, rather than takes away, from what we're doing in those other partnerships, particularly the Quad.
So, ASEAN is central to our view when it comes to the Indo-Pacific, and I was greatly encouraged by the very free flowing and very easy and warm discussion that exists between the Quad partners. We all get it, in terms of what the challenges are in the Indo-Pacific region. We totally get it. And we know that as like-minded democracies, those who believe in freedom, that it's very important to ensure that we have a free and open Indo-Pacific for all of us not just the Quad partners but for the independence and sovereignty of all all countries, because that's what we believe is in the interests of all, right across the region that Australia and India calls home. And, with that I'm happy to move to questions.
HOST: Thank you, PM. I'd like to invite Mr Raj Natarajan from Oz Indian Media to ask the first question, please.
JOURNALIST: Good morning, Prime Minister. This is with regard to, especially with regard to, the defence military cooperation. Recently, some of the senior Chinese officials have made statements to the effect that they see Quad grouping as a means of countering the growing Chinese influence in the region. Given such statements, how do you balance the relationship between the Quad countries, especially India and China?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't think India and Australia consider it as something that needs to be balanced in relation to China. That's not the objective. Our objective working together is to ensure that we promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, and everybody who wants to participate in that, including China, is is a welcome partner in that cause. I, we we don't really want to see the region in such binary terms. That's not how the Quad is approaching the challenges that we see in the region. Of course, we want to deter any type of behaviour that threatens peace and security in the region, that threatens the development and prosperity of countries in the region, or in any way seeks to limit their sovereignty or what their access to the freedoms that exist under international law. Of course, we want that. That's what the basis of a free and open Indo-Pacific is. And, so, we seek that goal. And I would hope and expect and think that that's what I would hope China would be seeking for the Indo-Pacific. See, certainly from Australia's perspective and I, I would be so bold to assume, you know, in my own discussions that I, this would be India's view, too, is we're not seeking in any way to constrain China's growth. Never have. We’re not in the containment club when it comes to China. We have greatly benefited from their economic development, and and they have been very successful indeed, as India has, in taking millions, hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. It's quite a remarkable economic success. This is good. We welcome that. We think that's great. But, it's important that as countries develop and as they grow, that they continue to be a positive and supportive influence in the region for peace and stability, and that the respect is there for all other countries in the Indo-Pacific, for their own sovereignty.
That, so, I suppose in the way you’ve framed the question, that's not really, I think, how we see it. I think we see our role is to be positive, very positive, in how we engage in positive programs within the region that we think underpins that, that freedom, that peace, and that stability that is necessary, I think, for all the Indo-Pacific to realise their own ambitions for their own countries. Not all the countries in the region share different, the same political systems and outlooks. There are many countries with many different systems of government. That, that's no, that's of no matter to Australia. They’re matters for their own countries, about how they organise themselves. I mean, we have an outstanding relationship with Vietnam, for example. You couldn't imagine a more different system of government to Vietnam, to Australia. But, that, that is not an issue in our relationship at all. We have a very positive and constructive and supportive relationship with Vietnam. We want to see them succeed. Australian businesses, investors, are in Vietnam as we speak, doing positive things, as I'm sure they are from India, as well. So, we have an inclusive, a very inclusive, not an exclusive. We have a very multilateral view of the Indo-Pacific, not a binary one.
JOURNALIST: Thank you.
HOST: The next question is from Srihari Kommineni from ME TV Melbourne. Go ahead, Srihari.
JOURNALIST: Good morning, Prime Minister. I would like to ask what is the plan with tourism after COVID to attract more Indians to Australia? And also, with education, which is the most important thing which Australia is looking after, when so many other countries like US or Canada have opened up with so many flexible visa options to attract the students, so what are your plans with this, please?
PRIME MINISTER: Vaccinate Australia is the first step, because once we've done that, then all of these options open up. Now, I know Alex is on the call here, and he might want to add further to what I have to say. I mean, Australia has made our Australian way through this COVID response. In taking that path, more than 30,000 Australian lives have been saved. Sadly, we've witnessed in so many other countries around the world, and it's been heartbreaking to see what has happened in India where we've seen the virus devastate. It's been a calamity of global proportions, the likes of which we have not seen in a century. And Australia has come through this with one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. When I was in the United States they asked me about this, and I said we've lost 1,200 people to COVID. That’s about half the number the United States lose in a day, and that's over the entire pandemic. And, so, Australia has taken a cautious approach during the pandemic. It has saved lives. And the truth is that our economy has actually been one of the economies that has performed best through the COVID pandemic. So our plan has been to ensure that we have a strong health system, highly resilient, practical measures to suppress the virus until we're able to vaccinate our population.
Now, our vaccination rates are going gangbusters. Our vaccination rates now on a daily basis per capita are better than what the United States and the United Kingdom achieved on their best day over the course of their vaccination programs. And indeed, our first dose vaccinations will exceed the United States within days. The same will be true within weeks when it comes to the G7 and Europe. So our vaccination program has caught up all the ground. We had some early problems and I said, I take responsibility for the problems, but I also take responsibility for fixing them and we've fixed them. And we are now hitting where we hoped to hit in terms of the vaccination of our population by about this time of the year. So having a vaccinated population, particularly when we hit 80 per cent, that means Australia will be able to open up, begin opening up to international travel again. And there are three priorities.
The first one is, of course, for Australians around the world to be able to come home if they're vaccinated and not be subject to any caps at our airports. Now, I have no doubt that New South Wales, given where they are, will be the first to move through that. That also means Australians can travel overseas if they're vaccinated and return, because they're vaccinated.
The second one is in relation to skilled migrants. Now one of the big challenges we've had with our economy over the last 18 months or so, over the pandemic, is Australia does depend on a positive skilled migration program, both from a temporary and a permanent basis. And India is our biggest, I'm pretty sure Alex, it still is prior to the pandemic, our biggest, if not the second biggest, it sort of moved between two countries, but our biggest source of skilled migrants. And we want to see that open up again, and we want to see that happening again. And so the ability for skilled migrants who are coming through the right channels, who are vaccinated and the ability to restore that entry back into Australia is very important to our economy. And particularly in a lot of our sectors that we're seeking to develop in our manufacturing sector, our high tech sector, our clean energy sector. These are all important areas that we want to see develop. And we see migrant, skilled migration from India very important to that door. So we have a keen vested interest in opening that up as soon as we can. Now of course, there'll be different quarantine arrangements from the ones we've been going through up until now. The need to, I mean, hotel quarantine has a use by date on it and it'll move to a more I think, a more scaled version which will enable more people to come in.
And the third area is of course, students. We want to see the students return. And the arrangements that have been put in place even now by state governments working with ourselves on how those quarantine arrangements could work for vaccinated students coming into Australia, I think will see us be in a much stronger position for the next year and hopefully even before the end of this year, but certainly for next year, I would hope that we'd be able to be having those students back and it'll be one of the key changes that we will see. So a very positive program. Alex, was that anything you wanted to say on that? I don't know if we got him linked up. Anyway, hopefully, that addresses the question.
HOST: Sorry, Minister Hawke, I think we're having some sound issues. I'll go to the next question. Pawan Luthra from Indian Link. Go ahead, Pawan.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, thank you for your time. Now, my question is that while Australia and Japan are both US allies, India has traditionally been non-aligned and the only Quad member to share a long and at times disputed border with China. The Quad is an ad hoc group and at any time any member can walk away. Is that the weakness of the Quad? And what is the safeguard to ensure the long term alliance of the Quad is maintained, including change of governments in any of the Quad countries, especially Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, the Quad is not an alliance, it's not a formal alliance, it's not designed to be an alliance.
JOURNALIST: Is that a problem, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't think it is. I think it's actually a strength, because what brings us together is a very practical understanding of the challenges in the region. And what brings us together is the fact that we're liberal democracies that are in the region. We live here. This is not some remote prospect that we're dealing with. And there are many others who are further away from where we are. So our discussions have an acute focus to it. As you say, you have borders, we are dealing with our challenges, Japan the same and the United States. And the strategic competition which has emerged in recent times, that can be uncomfortable. But we have to deal with it. And we have to deal with it in a positive way. And so we have a shared interest, as like-minded democracies, to do just that. I would stress that, yes, while there's no formal alliance in this partnership, it's not new. It has been in place for many years now, but just not ascended to the leadership level. The first Foreign Ministers meeting was held in the Quad just a few years ago. And so it has been building to this point over a long time. And it has now sort of realised this new dimension through the leaders-level dialogue, which I think is very exciting. What keeps us together is our shared interests and our shared values and our shared challenge. And so I think that provides a very strong basis for cooperation.
What also ties us together, that each of the countries have their own direct, bilateral, strong relationships. I think what was on display when we were in the Quad from Australia's point of view, that it was I think, very clear to all participants the deep relationship Australia has with India directly. And clearly a personal relationship between the Prime Minister and I, but that is a positive thing. But that goes, the relationship between India and Australia goes way deeper than that. And that's what actually sustains these relationships. Similarly, the relationship Australia has with Japan, incredibly deep. And likewise with the United States. And I'd say the same thing for the United States, with Japan, of course, and India. And again, Japan and India. So there is a web of very strong bilateral ties which are now pulled together in the Quad. And so the reason it'll keep being successful will be because it keeps being effective. And that keeps our agenda very focussed. We had a discussion, should the Quad be larger, should the Quad deal with more issues and our view was very different. Our view was no, we should keep it simple, keep it focussed and get on with the job. This is a core set of relationships within the region. It's not exclusive. We are and want to work more with ASEAN. We do and want to work more with Europe. The Quad is not intended to exclude. It is intended to provide a better basis for partnering with more and more. In the Indo-Pacific there is an increasing web of these partnerships and alliances and that only builds greater regional stability and security. It doesn't escalate anything. In my view it reduces, it reduces the risks by ensuring that it is providing a positive outcome or a positive effect in the region that deters behaviour that would be counter to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, quickly, as a follow up. As good friends, it's been about seven years since your very good friend Prime Minister Modi visited Australia. Is there any indication of him to come over in the next 12 months or did he kind of whisper in your ear?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, I need to go there. That was our understanding. I think there's no impediment to him wanting to come back to Australia. He loves Australia, and he loves seeing the Indian diaspora here in Australia. He's so fond of the great support he has here. And he remembers his last visit to Australia very, very fondly, which was the first time I actually met Narendra. I sat next to him at a dinner down in Melbourne at the MCG, I'm sure some of you were there that night with Prime Minister Abbott. And we spoke at length that night and have maintained the relationship since. So now, as Prime Minister, I think this has only helped that relationship more. But I hope to see him here in Australia again. It'd be wonderful to see him next year in the 75th anniversary. But at this point, our priority is for me to get to India. And he's very keen for Jenny to come too. He'd like me to bring the whole family. I don't know if I could get the kids there, but I know Jenny would be very keen to go and we hopefully will be able to do that next year.
JOURNALIST: Thank you, Prime Minister. Last quick question for Minister Hawke. Minister Hawke, tell us, when can we expect to see our family and friends again. We've spoken about students coming over, we've spoken about skilled migrants, but Indian Australians haven't seen the family for two years. Once we're at 90 per cent vaccination, would you allow international travel of family and friends from India to Australia?
THE HON. ALEX HAWKE MP, MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION, CITIZENSHIP, MIGRANT SERVICES AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS: Hi Pawan, hopefully you can hear me? Well, that's good, now you're going to get an answer. Thanks, Prime Minister, also for the invitation, I might address your question. I think that's your third question Pawan, but you've asked about students as well so it's pretty important that I answer that issue. I know that's an issue for a lot of the diaspora here in Australia. As the Prime Minister said, we're working closely with states about what that will look like. From a visa perspective, very conscious of the offerings that are being made by countries like Canada and the UK. But at the moment, students are studying online. That experience is is going well. We've enabled that idea, there in those tutorials, there in those lectures, the Education Minister and myself regularly assess these things. There's still great demand for the Australian education product, and we want to make sure that that is taken up again as soon as possible. Some of the products that have been offered offshore have been varying in experience. One of the things people like about Australia is the safety, the good employment circumstances, the opportunities for their children to come and study here. So the work that you would expect to be being done is being done behind the scenes to be ready to enable international students to return. We miss them. And we're finding our businesses miss them, our education facilities are missing them, obviously. That exchange is vital as well for our country. So India, Australia. So that work is being done. I'm working very closely with the Education Minister. We have several proposals that will continue to roll out. I know it's frustrating sometimes these things take a little bit longer than people would like, but the community's been very patient. Some people offshore are very impatient.
But if you look at what the Government's done throughout the pandemic, we've been flexible, we've been responsible from a visa perspective. We've made sure that we err on the side of not penalising people for things that have happened to them because of the pandemic. So we'll continue to do that from a visa perspective. But we are working closely with the sector, with the universities, with the private education sector to make sure that we've got the right mix of incentives and visa conditions to take up the opportunities post the pandemic. And we're very conscious of that. We want to be an attractive market. Demand is there though, and we've still got incredible demand for Australia. So we need you guys to communicate with the community, and thank you for all you have been doing in that regard. In relation to travel, you know, this is the big question. As the Prime Minister said, we'll obviously be focussing on returning Australians. Once we get through that phase it is a huge priority for people to be travelling back to countries because, as you know, almost everyone here in Australia has lost sometimes two, three or four family members back in India because of the Delta variant. And we're very conscious of that. They haven't been able to have their last funeral rites, their faith traditions. It's a big psychological issue for the Australian diaspora. We're very conscious of it and we're working, as you'd expect. We've got big tenders out about how we do our digital processes so we can recognise, and that's why the Prime Minister's negotiating with Prime Minister Modi about all of these issues, how people will be able to travel safely with their passports to get in and out of countries. And we know there is huge demand and, you know, a great need for people to go and see their families in India when this has come to an end after the great tragedy that's happened in the last year.
And while I'm here, I'll just say a big thank you to all of you for being very responsible during that very difficult phase that we had, you know, in terms of the Delta outbreak in India and the travel issues. I think Australia handled that really well. The media, you handled that really well as well. I know we spoke a lot at that time, but I just thank you while I've got the opportunity and we're all here to say, the community, I think, here in Australia was helped by the fact that we were very responsible in the way we spoke about those issues because it was such a difficult time. And it still remains a difficult time for people that lost so many relatives back home. So look, we'll keep working together. We'll have a lot more announcements. They're coming. But the work that you'd expect government to do, the Prime Minister's got us all working very, very hard to be ready, so we're ready to open those borders and ready for these travel arrangements to be announced. I know you'll be hearing about it first, Pawan.
JOURNALIST: Thanks Alex.
PRIME MINISTER: Can I add to that. As I said earlier, my intention is for Australian citizens, residents who are vaccinated in a state that has gone into Phase C, ie. 80 per cent vaccination, that they will be able to, so you'll be able to travel to India and return. And I hope to see that this year. I believe that'll happen in New South Wales, for Australian residents and citizens who are vaccinated. And I'm working for that to happen this year in states where, who achieve those vaccination rates. Now, that will certainly happen I think in New South Wales. Whether it will happen in Victoria or not, that will then depend on whether those states are going to impose, what restrictions they're going to impose on people. If they're going to insist on hotel quarantine well, that is not a scalable option. And those states will then be preventing Australians who are vaccinated actually going and seeing their family overseas and returning. And so, I mean, the National Plan provides for you to be able to, if you're vaccinated go and come back and have a modified form of quarantine. And the home quarantine trials that are underway now is the scalable, safe way of achieving that. For those who, I think your question Pawan is about those who are not Australian residents and citizens and whether they can visit Australia. I don't envisage that happening this year. I think we have to work through the priorities of Australian residents and citizens, skilled migration and students. I think they're our priorities. And then next year, I think we'll be able to move to that. And I hope we can. But we've just got to take this one step at a time. The vaccination rates in India are very encouraging and they've got a very, very good vaccine, which is also great. So I think that gives us a lot of opportunities going into next year. But I can tell you there is another flight arriving from India today. There are another four flights planned in October, these are for residents. We have so far facilitated 65 flights from India specifically. That's more than a third of all the facilitated flights that the Australian Government has put in place to get Australian citizens and residents home. 26,500 Australians registered with DFAT in India have returned since March of last year. So India has been our biggest area of activity when it has come to getting Australians home. And it's been challenging, particularly with the issues we had some months ago. And I want to echo Alex's point about appreciating the community's practical understanding of what we were facing. I thought the Indian community showed a lot of wisdom, patience and judgement, and I'm very grateful for that. We moved through that phase pretty quickly and I'm looking forward to the next phase where everybody can get connected again. I don't want to be the only one who's going to New Delhi next year, in fact, I want to see people going there before the end of this year. Or Mumbai, I'm not picking favourites.
HOST: The next question is from Rajesh Sharma, Indus Aage. Go ahead, Rajesh.
JOURNALIST: Thank you Rosa. Quad grouping is a diamond of democracy in Indo-Pacific. The group first came together I think in 2007, only to be disbanded within months because of China. India, Australia, Japan and US are stepping up defence ties again. But could the strategic differences hinder the effort to counter China's growing might?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't think so, and I love how you describe it as a democracy diamond. I think that's a very good way to put it. I think that's exactly what it is. And our government has spent eight years seeking to rehabilitate the Quad. And the way it fell away last time, for the reasons that you said that is with great regret and I can assure you of my government's absolute commitment to this and our partnership with India. And now a lot has changed in the last five years, let alone the last 10 in the Indo-Pacific. And as I said, I want to stress this is not about containing the economic growth of any country in the Indo-Pacific. In fact, it's quite the opposite. We just want to see that occur in a way that is inclusive and doesn't place burdens on other countries in the Indo-Pacific, which is only reasonable, only reasonable. And I think the combined partnership of the four nations of the Quad, I think really does help guarantee that and help keep the Indo-Pacific on the right path. And where all countries, including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, we're all different. The Philippines, Korea, Japan, all of us have these aspirations. And I think the Quad just provides a steadying influence for that, for that purpose. And I'm personally extremely committed to it. I know Joe Biden is as well. And Japan is and I have no doubt about Narednra’s commitment to it. And so this is a bit of a sweet spot, if you like, in the relationship between our four countries. And we're really trying to channel it for the positive of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask one more question? India's Covishield vaccine has been accepted in the UK and majority of the EU countries. Will Australia accept Covishield as a travel vaccine, approved travel vaccine for Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well ultimately, that's a decision for the Therapeutic Goods Administration, as you know, those decisions aren't made by politicians and nor should they be. And in most of the countries you mentioned, if not all that is the same process that they have followed. Australia is well advanced in that process. Covishield is a excellent vaccine. It's based, well it is the same vaccine as we're manufacturing here effectively in Australia, the AstraZeneca vaccine. So I think there, it makes a very strong case on, I'm not, I'm not a scientist and not at least in that area. I have a Bachelor of Science, but not in the approval of therapeutic medicines or vaccines. That's why we have Professor Skerritt to make those decisions. But we note those other approvals and understand their basis. And I think that therefore lends itself very well to the application that is being made to the TGA.
HOST: Thank you. The next question is from Ram Mohan, India News. Go ahead, Ram.
JOURNALIST: Good morning, Prime Minister. India presents growing opportunities for Australia's critical minerals, especially the nation, looks to India, looks to build its manufacturing sector, defence and space capabilities. How do we see that unfolding in the next few years? And what is the immediate potential? Can we see our lithium or minerals into our Indian cars or our Indian autos and Indian scooters and stuff like that using the critical mineral resources from Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, is my wholehearted answer. Yes, yes and yes. And that is exactly what the partnership that we're forging is designed to do. But we're practically, we're realistic about it. And you have to have a supply chain here that can enable that and links up. Narendra has a great phrase, which I quoted at the Quad. That supply chains today are not just about cost, they're about trust. This changes how liberal market economies, I think, need to think about supply chains, and we've learnt that during COVID, we've learnt that the least cost supply chain has fragilities. It has vulnerabilities that have previously not been priced in. And it's important that supply chains are not monopolised and Australia has an opportunity to work with, particularly India and the manufacturing capability and all of the technologies you're talking about, to actually provide that secure and trusted supply chain. And that's what we're, it's not going to happen overnight. This is a very complicated economic task that just doesn't involve the work between governments, it involves the work between businesses and industries. And Indian manufacturers aren't going to just all of a sudden pay over the odds to do what they're going to do. They're not. We get that's not a criticism. That's just that's a reality. And so we need to have a supply chain that is competitive. So it's a it's a good, positive commercial choice for Indian manufacturers to be able to access what they need in this space on rare earths and critical minerals from Australia. And the same is true in the United States and in Japan.
Now, Japan is already well down this path in the work that is done with Lynas and that is an important part of their supply chain. Now, this can equally be true with India. The processing of rare earths and critical minerals also brings with it some very difficult environmental challenges. And so there's a whole range of technology that needs to be able to be commercially implemented at scale in India to that end as well. And so while the answer is yes, it's not easy yes, it's a yes that's going to require a lot of work to realise that. And that's why I said at the Quad and others said, look, we've got three things we're focused on here. The COVID response. The climate response. And the rare earth and critical minerals, critical technology supply chains. And of course, we have a regional security discussion as well. And we discussed the situation in Afghanistan at length. And Prime Minister Modi, of course, raised the very serious concerns that he has about security most directly on India's borders. So we want to keep that really simple. And I think if we do that Ram, then I think we'll make a lot more progress. The great risk of these groupings is they just do too much and they just end up becoming talkfests and the practical initiatives tend to fall by the wayside. So all four of us are very keen for this to be successful and we're quite jealous of its agenda and keeping it focused on the things that matter most. So the answer is yes, but it's going to take a lot of work, I think, to practically achieve it. So the manufacturer sitting in Mumbai says, yep, that works for me. I'm going with them for the next 10 years and I'm going to sign a take off agreement to that end because that's good for my business and makes me competitive. That's the goal.
I want to finish on another point, because it's important we want India to be a powerhouse in the manufacture of the new energy economy consumables. We really do, making solar panels, making wind turbines, making the components that go into electric vehicles. We want India to be a powerhouse in that in that space. We want Australia to be playing our role in the supply chains of that and being very successful as well. But make no mistake, but we know that India has the potential to really lift its strength in that area in the global market. And we think strategically that is a very good outcome for Australia.
HOST: Thanks PM. Conscious, we've gone to time, are you OK for one more question, please?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm in quarantine in Canberra. I thank you for your company.
HOST: We'll go ahead. The next question is Avneet Arora, SBS Panjabi program. Go ahead.
JOURNALIST: My question is for Minister Hawke and Prime Minister. Just about the topics of all the international travel, international students and also skilled migrants. But my question is, a lot of people were stranded offshore, especially the skilled migrants or temporary graduate visa holders. Now, they’ve run out of visas and they feel that they do not have another pathway to come back. Can we expect some announcements, some concessions.
PRIME MINISTER: Alex, I think you should cover that one, mate.
THE HON. ALEX HAWKE MP, MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION, CITIZENSHIP, MIGRANT SERVICES AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS: Thanks Avneet. Sorry I missed the question because there was a bit of static, was it the low risk country question?
JOURNALIST: My question is, can we expect some concessions for temporary visa holders who have run out of the visas and are still offshore?
THE HON. ALEX HAWKE MP, MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION, CITIZENSHIP, MIGRANT SERVICES AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS: Yes Avneet, I have spoken about this a few times, so there will be announcements coming in the very near future. We're very conscious of this issue. We do thank some of those students for their patience offshore, there has been a lot of issues to think about, about this, how it would work, what we can do for people who've been offshore and been disadvantaged. And, yes, we'll make some announcements in the very near future. And, you know, I'd expect those to be, as I've said in the beginning of the pandemic, every visa announcement we've made has sought to give people leniency, to give them flexibility and to give them opportunities to take advantage of what has happened to them. So, you know, sometimes for a person offshore, they may want a refund, may suit them. For some people offshore, they might want an extension of their visa. Some people might change their plans. We're working on how to make sure we accommodate everything that's happened to people through no fault of their own. And that is coming very shortly. I know there's a lot of people waiting on this announcement, but it won't be too long. I'm working very closely with the Education Minister, as I said earlier. We've got a strong instinct to have flexibility for people to continue. And frankly, you know, the temporary graduate visa holders do a lot of good in Australia and we're very conscious of that. We just have to be careful about the quarantine arrangements. Still, that doesn't mean other people will be able to travel as a priority. We still got to get through the phases that the Prime Minister has described. But what we can do is offer some certainty for them going forward and we'll make those announcements in coming weeks. It won't be too long, I think.
PRIME MINISTER: We want to keep the links. Alex and I are very conscious of the fact that there's been a great disruptive impact to the sort of migration linkages that we've had with India. And we see those migration linkages with India as incredibly important, not just to Australian society. Alex and I, you've heard us both talk many times about the wonderful contribution that Indian nationals have become Australians have made to Australian society. That goes without saying, the shared values. It's such an easy translation from India to Australia and the entrepreneurial spirit that that brings and the family values just, it's obvious, but it is an important part of our economic plan is the resumption, the reconnection of our migration links with India, not just in students, but I mean, particularly in terms of skilled migration. This is a big and important part of our plan. And so that's why I want to assure you that we have a very high motivation to see this result. There are lots of issues and there are still complicated, COVID is incredibly complex in terms of making your way through, but we are very clear about what our goal is. Alex has done an extraordinary job just working through painstakingly all of these issues because the regulatory processes get disrupted, the connections with individuals that have been applying get disrupted, and we've got to try and connect all that up again. And so I ask for your patience on that, because I know I've got a Minister who is all over it and is just really trying to connect that up again as best as effectively as we can. I know that will be the ambition of the Australian Indian community as well.
HOST: Thanks, PM, and thanks Minister Hawke for your time this morning. PM, would you like to make any closing remarks before you sign off?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, sure, one topic that didn't come out, which I just want to reassure everybody about, and it applies equally to Japan as it does to India. But there was a very warm embrace of the AUKUS announcement by our Quad partners. Narendra and Yoshi totally understood and supported what we were seeking to achieve there. And they totally were positive about how it complemented the Quad. It wasn't in place, because the AUKUS partnership is a security and defence partnership. We have direct bilateral partnerships with the United States, the United Kingdom and the United States. We are formal allies. So what was great in the Quad when I spoke to both prime ministers before the announcement, the day before, they were pretty much there at hello. They totally understood it, understand its strategic significance, the direction, how it was going to help and add to what we're all doing. And I thought that was very positive. I think that just showed the instinctive nature of that Quad partnership. We sort of all know where we're each going and how we're operating. And so we're quite synchronised. And I think one of the goals that India and Australia have and Japan have is to continue to encourage the United States and indeed Europe for greater economic engagement within the Indo-Pacific, and I would say particularly not only with ourselves and India, Japan, Korea, but I would say also with ASEAN and particularly in places like Indonesia. Indonesia's success will be all of our success, I believe. And so encouraging investment into that country as well from all of our countries, I think will have a very positive impact on the region. Other than that, I'm just grateful for the opportunity to spend time with you today. I hope I've been able to address many of your questions. I am very much looking forward to a visit to India together with Prime Minister Modi next year. And I think that will be another significant milestone in our partnership, particularly in India's seventy fifth anniversary year. But I am hoping to welcome him to Australia. I promised him after I won the last election, I was up in Cloncurry of all places, and he rang to congratulate me. And on that night I promised I'd cook him a great meal if I could ever get him to Australia. I've been able to learn much more now about his preferences, so entree will be ScoMosas as I jokingly call them, and that will be followed by a Kirribilli Dahl, I think. And dessert, I'm open to suggestions.
HOST: Thank you very much, Prime Minister.
Backing Australia's Critical Minerals Sector
28 September 2021
Prime Minister, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Minister for Resources and Water
The Morrison Government will establish a $2 billion loan facility for Australian critical minerals projects to help secure the vital supplies of resources needed to drive the new energy economy and support the resources jobs of the future.
Australia has among the world’s largest recoverable reserves of the critical minerals used in advanced technologies, such as renewable energy, aerospace, defence, automotive and electric vehicles in particular, telecommunications and agri-tech.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the fund would effectively help fill finance gaps in critical minerals resources developments to get them off the ground.
“The commercial dimensions of the critical minerals market mean it is a difficult place to get established. We want to ensure that Australia’s resources producers do get established to they can link up with others in our supply chains in a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the Prime Minister said.
“Critical minerals are a strategic area for governments too because they are fundamental to the future energy economy.
“These projects also mean jobs in construction, infrastructure development and ongoing roles for the mining sector.”
Global demand for critical minerals needed for clean technology applications, like high powered magnets and batteries, are expected to grow exponentially over the coming decades.
Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan said Australia was well placed to become a reliable supplier of critical minerals to ensure supply in our region and support jobs and businesses in Australia.
“The global growth in demand for critical minerals to be used in the production of the latest technologies represents an incredible opportunity for Australia to utilise its natural resources and world-leading mining know how to become a leader in the extraction, processing and supply of critical minerals,” Minister Tehan said.
“Australian critical minerals will help other countries in the Indo-Pacific and beyond to accelerate their industrial reforms and transition to low-carbon technologies and that benefits Australia and our partners.”
Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt said the Coalition Government’s new $2 billion Critical Minerals Facility would ensure Australia remains at the forefront of emerging new opportunities in the global resources sector.
“Australia is already among the world’s top suppliers of some of the world’s most sought-after critical minerals and we know there is enormous potential through our untapped reserves,” Minister Pitt said.
“The lithium industry alone, which is essential to develop new battery technology, is forecast to be worth $400 billion globally by 2030 and initiatives like this will mean Australia is well placed to grab its share of the market.
“The new facility comes on top of other initiatives like the Government’s $225 million Exploring for the Future Fund to support new resources exploration across the country.”
This investment in critical minerals will make Australia a world-leader in the mining and downstream processing of in-demand resources, supporting jobs and communities, particularly in regional Australia.
Australia is a leader in sustainable, ethical mining practices, and this investment will ensure we are providing the rare earths and other critical minerals that are essential to the supply chains of the new energy economy.
The $2 billion Critical Minerals Facility will be managed by Export Finance Australia and report to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan. It will operate on the National Interest Account for 10 years or until finance equivalent to $2 billion has been provided. The new facility will be an important pillar of the Government’s overarching Critical Minerals Strategy being led by the Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt.
Interview with Margaret Brennan, Face the Nation, CBS News
26 September 2021
Margaret Brennan: Mr Prime Minister, thank you for joining us.
Prime Minister: Thank you. It's great to be here.
Brennan: It's good to have you in studio. I want to ask you, big picture. Both President Biden and President Xi Jinping of China have said that they want to avoid conflict. But then you have the U.N. Secretary General saying the relationship is completely dysfunctional and we need to avoid a Cold War. Do you see us heading towards conflict with China?
Prime Minister: I don't think that's inevitable at all. I think what's in everybody's interest is a happy coexistence. But a happy co-existence that depends upon free nations like Australia, countries throughout the Indo-Pacific region living in a free and open Indo-Pacific. And that should be all of our objectives. And I welcome the moves that President Biden is making to connect with President Xi and seek to find that place where we can respect our differences, focus on the things we can work together on. But at all times we have to be a sovereign nation to stand up for the values and beliefs that we hold. I think that's a prerequisite to a happy coexistence.
Brennan: A happy coexistence in diplomatic terms because things don't seem so happy right now in the region. We have Biden Administration officials saying Australia is subject to coercion by China right now. I mean, do you think China's strategy is to try to crack Australia as a way to get at the Western Alliance and the United States?
Prime Minister: Well, if that is the case, Australia will always be resilient and stand firm on the things that we hold dear. The United States is no different in any liberal democracy, is not going to compromise on issues of a free press and a free parliament.
Brennan: Are they trying to coerce you, as the US says?
Prime Minister: We've experienced some difficulties in the relationship, which China have set out. The issues that they've raised with us is things like our free press, about the way that we make sovereign decisions about who can invest in Australia and the fact that we stand up on issues like human rights and issues like Xinjiang. And of course, when it comes to Hong Kong, which is, we have a large Chinese Australian population, many who have come from Hong Kong and so of course, we're going to have views about this. We respect that every country has its own sovereign right to run its country the way it sees fit. And we recognise the many achievements that China have made over the years. But at the same time, Australians will always be Australians. We will always stand up for our values and the way we run a liberal democratic country, just as I'm sure the United States always will, our great friend and partners.
Brennan: Well, here in the United States, the FBI Director said this week that every 12 hours, the US opens a counterintelligence investigation into China. That's how they're targeting the US. What are you seeing in Australia? What is the biggest threat you see from China?
Prime Minister: Well, we're resilient to foreign interference. We're resilient to whether there are attacks that come from cyber or other forms of foreign interference. Any sovereign country would be. But the way we prefer to look.
Brennan: They're trying to squeeze you economically.
Prime Minister: The way we prefer to look at it though, is diversify our economy, ensure we are resilient in our own manufacturing settings, in our resources and our agricultural sectors. We find new markets. We live practically within the Indo-Pacific. There are many different countries with many different outlooks. And in Australia we live in the Indo-Pacific, this is not a theoretical concept. This is where we live and we want to live with the countries in our region in a positive way. And the way to do that is where there are differences, well you hold your ground on your differences. Of course you do. And you try and find a positive way to work with others in the region and you work with your partners and your allies. And that's why we've been able to come to this historic, new level of partnership called AUKUS, with Australia and the United Kingdom. The Quad, which is why I'm here.
Brennan: This is the meeting at the White House.
Prime Minister: That's right. India and Japan and Australia and the United States.
Brennan: Isn't that an anti-China alliance?
Prime Minister: No. It's a positive alliance. It's a positive partnership, even more technically correct for contribution in the Indo-Pacific. The Indo-Pacific, those of us who live there, want a peaceful, free and open Indo-Pacific. So it's not about being against something, it's about being for something. That's how we look at it.
Brennan: So why do you need US-made nuclear submarines?
Prime Minister: Because Australia's defences depend on having a long reach. I mean, Australia is a long way from everywhere. And in order to ensure that our security interests are best protected, we need to have a long reach and a long range.
Brennan: But you needed them faster than what the French were delivering you? That's what led to this big diplomatic blow up with the French, you switched to nuclear-powered submarines that reach police distances. We're talking about in China's backyard. That’s not friendly coexistence, you need some military support here, no?
Prime Minister: We're talking about the international waters of the South China Sea, a free and open Indo-Pacific. I mean, international waters means exactly that. And whether it's ourselves, the Germans, the French, the British and our partners throughout the region and Japan and India and all of us, these are international waters. The international law of the sea should matter. And it does to us and it does to all the countries of the region. And so the ability to be able to operate where all countries should be able to operate, I think is very important. But the key reason for our change, is conventional submarines can no longer meet that need with the changed strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific. And that's why we were unable to proceed with that contract, because it no longer was going to be able to do the job that we needed these boats to do.
Brennan: And we'll get to that because everyone's heard about the very strong language the French have voiced in their opposition to it. But big picture, you're buying these nuclear submarines. Are you looking at an arms race with China? Because that is what the Chinese have warned, that that is what this is a signal of.
Prime Minister: No. What we're doing is, we'll be moving from our existing conventional fleet of submarines, our Collins Class submarines. And over time, to be able to replace that with a fleet of nuclear submarines…
Brennan: Because China has built up its military.
Prime Minister: …with higher capability, there's been an increased militarisation of the Indo-Pacific for many, many years. And we've seen that escalating for some time. And so the escalation predates our decision.
Brennan: When do you actually get these submarines?
Prime Minister: Well, that's what we're working through over the next 12 to 18 months. And that's what AUKUS provides for.
Brennan: Do you need them before 10 years?
Prime Minister: That's not a possible timeframe. We're talking about nuclear submarines, which carry a very high level of responsibility for nuclear stewardship. Now, these aren't nuclear armed submarines, they're conventionally armed submarines. But the stewardship that is required for a nuclear submarine fleet is of the highest order. This is technology that the United States has only ever shared once, with the United Kingdom in 1958. So this is a significant, a significant decision by the United States to give us access to that technology. Now, that means we have to build the capability to steward that in the most responsible way. We take our non-proliferation responsibilities extremely seriously, being from a Pacific nation we are aware of the deep sensitivities, nuclear issues in the Pacific. And so that's why we are particularly sensitive to those issues. And we'll build that capability and it will complement the many other areas of defence cooperation we have with the United States and our many other partners.
Brennan: But are you concerned that this could be read by China as a reason to feel more threatened? Do you think this puts a target on your back?
Prime Minister: Well, I don't believe it should be, and that's really our point. Australia has every right to take decisions in our sovereign interests to provide for our defences, to work with our partners, to create a more stable region, to ensure that there is an effective balance in the region of interest, which means that all countries can trade and engage with each other and lift the prosperity of their own people.
Brennan: Do you expect retaliation for this?
Prime Minister: I see no reason why there should be.
Brennan: You haven't spoken to the Chinese President in well over a year. Things are not very friendly.
Prime Minister: Well, the phones are always open at our end. The doors already are always open at our end. There is no Australian obstacle to direct dialogue at a political level between Australia and China. But that opportunity of the China side have not shown an interest in. But, they're always welcome when they wish to.
Brennan: Would he take your call?
Prime Minister: Whose?
Brennan: Have you tried to call the Chinese President?
Prime Minister: Those opportunities have been available for years, but that's not something they're interested in at the moment. That's their choice.
Brennan: He doesn't want to take a call right now.
Prime Minister: No.
Brennan: So how real, big picture, how real is the threat of a hot war, a military conflict in your region of the world? You have the two Presidents of the most powerful countries in the world, the US and China saying we don't want a conflict. Do you see one as potential in the next 5 to 10 years?
Prime Minister: As I said before, I certainly don't see it as inevitable. And I think it's all completely avoidable. And those issues, though, are going to be resolved principally between the United States and China, they are not issues that are going to be resolved directly by Australia. What Australia has to do is understanding the environment, we have to take decisions in our national interest to ensure we have adequate defences and an adequate way of providing stability in the region, not just for Australia, but all of our friends in the region, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, all countries we work closely with, in the region, ASEAN countries and in addition to that, working with Japan and India, of course, who are Quad partners, the Republic of Korea, we are all working together to have a more stable, free and open ended Indo-Pacific.
Brennan: Is Taiwan the biggest area of potential miscalculation?
Prime Minister: Well, the risk in any tense environment is miscalculation. That is always the great risk and history teaches us that. And so that's why I think all countries have to show caution. But in Australia's case, I think we certainly have done that. But at the same time, we'll always stand up for what we believe in and we'll always hold our ground on the things that we know matter.
Brennan: So, the French Government made clear, they were not happy they lost this contract for submarines. And the US and Australia, UK as well, have [inaudible]. A defence contractor in France says it's sending you a bill for $66 billion. Do you intend to pay that?
Prime Minister: I think that's a rather extraordinary claim. It's simple…
Brennan: Do you think there's any wrongdoing?
Prime Minister: No. We had a contract for procuring submarines that had gates in the contract, which gave us the option, if we didn't believe that we should continue, then for any number of reasons, in our case, what the submarines could do no longer met the strategic need that Australia had. So we've exercised our option under the contract not to proceed. Had we proceeded, then as Prime Minister, I would have been negligent because I would have been going forward with a massive and very costly contract that would not have done the job that Australia needed to be done.
Brennan: Do you regret not being more transparent or direct with, Australians are known for being direct?
Prime Minister: We are.
Brennan: Why aren’t you direct with the French President?
Prime Minister: Well, you should be assuming I was, and I have been. We were very clear that we had deep concerns that conventional submarines would no longer do the job. We had discussions about that, and at the end of the day, we didn't see the situation the same. The French, obviously, thought their submarine could still do the job. We didn't believe that was the case. And, as a result, we decided not to proceed.
Now, I'm absolutely not surprised that that would come as a deep disappointment. Of course, it will. It was a very significant contract. And I, and in particular, French President Macron, who I know well, had made great efforts to ensure this contract could be successful, and we appreciate that. But, at the end of the day, Australia has to make decisions in its national interest. We had sought, we had communicated that. And, unfortunately, that contract was not going to be able to proceed because the submarine was not going to do the job we needed. It’s a, it’s an outstanding submarine, if you're looking for a conventional submarine. We were no longer looking for that capability. We needed a more supreme capability and we went down that path. So, I understand the disappointment. Of course, they would be disappointed. But, this is a contractual matter, and it will be resolved, I believe, amicably.
Brennan: I want to ask about COVID.
Prime Minister: Sure.
Brennan: Australia is one of the few western democracies that has really put in place some very, very strict COVID protocols. You shut down your borders 18 months ago…
Prime Minister: Saved over-, sorry.
Brennan: When will they reopen? Are you going to have vaccine passports? When will Australians be able to leave?
Prime Minister: We will see our international borders, particularly for Australians to leave and return and Australians who are overseas and have been vaccinated to return, and that will occur before the end of the year. It could happen well before that. I mean, right now we have reached a point where half of our adult population, aged over 16, has been double vaccinated. Three quarters of them have had their first vaccination. In our older population, those rates are already much higher, over ninety per cent. And, so, with the vaccines, that is improving our resilience, and we'll be able to open up those borders.
But, I'll tell you what shutting those borders did, it saved over 30,000 lives in Australia. Almost, it’s around about 1,200 Australians have lost their lives to COVID. That is what is lost in a day here in the United States. And if we had the same rate of fatality of just the OECD nations, on average, more than 30,000 Australians additionally would have, would have passed away. And, so, we took action to save lives. We also took action to save livelihoods. And our economy has come back strongly, even with the restrictions we have in place now. As they lift, then we will see our economy come back strongly. There's nothing wrong with our economy. The only thing that's holding back is obviously restrictions that are helping save lives.
Brennan: So, you talk about the difference in the death toll the New York Times said more people died in Florida of COVID this week than in all of Australia during the entirety of the pandemic.
Prime Minister: Correct.
Brennan: But, then, culturally, there's this huge difference. You talk about shutting your borders. You will go into quarantine when you return home to Australia.
Prime Minister: Correct.
Brennan: Do you think less liberty is medically necessary? We had a huge argument over that in this country. Why did you think it was worth it in Australia?
Prime Minister: Thirty thousand lives is the simple answer.
Brennan: People in this country won't wear masks.
Prime Minister: That's a matter for the United States.
Brennan: But, what do you attribute that difference, culturally, to?
Prime Minister: Well, I, look, we’re different societies. I think we are different societies. I mean, we're great friends and we share beliefs and values that we hold dear. And that's why our alliance, 70 years now since we had the ANZUS alliance that commenced, more than 100 years standing shoulder to shoulder with the United States in pretty much every conflict you can imagine. Those who have gone, those that have gone well, those that have not gone so well. But, on every occasion, Australia has always been there with the United States.
That said, we're still different societies. And, in Australia, when it comes to public health, we're a very pragmatic nation. And I can tell you, the virus doesn't care what you believe. The virus cares about how it can come and take your life. And, in Australia, we've introduced what we believe are practical controls that have saved tens of thousands of lives. And I think the proof of those decisions is in the results.
Brennan: The Delta variant is really challenging.
Prime Minister: Yes.
Brennan: Some of the record, though. I mean, Sydney, again, in lockdown …
Prime Minister: Yeah. True.
Brennan: In Melbourne this week, you did have some protests against mandates. So, is there just sort of an exhaustion level here politically that makes it difficult for you to try to control the virus?
Prime Minister: The Delta variant is the game changer, and when that started hitting around the world from about mid this year of course, it's had a devastating effect here in the United States. We have had a lot of success with COVID in managing the virus pre-Delta, where we didn't have to go into lockdowns, we could manage it through the testing and tracing, isolation, borders, quarantine, all of that. It was very effective. But, when Delta hit, it was, it changed everything. And, so, regrettably, we've had lockdowns in our two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, now for many months, and we're looking forward to the end of that. And those restrictions are already starting to ease. And the vaccination program, which has been running successfully, our rates of vaccination on a daily basis per capita have even exceeded those that were achieved in the United States and the United Kingdom at their peak. And, so that is getting us to a place where we'll be able to open again.
Brennan: Very early on in this pandemic, Australia was really the only country that stood with the Trump administration, at the time, in demanding a real investigation into the origins of COVID.
Prime Minister: Yes.
Brennan: The Biden administration’s intelligence officials came forward and said they just don't have clarity. Do your agencies have any clarity into the origins?
Prime Minister: Well, Australia and the United States shares, share information on these issues.
Brennan: You’re one of the five countries.
Prime Minister: Yeah, well, it's part of the closeness of that relationship which, you know, led to the AUKUS partnership we have now. What matters is the World Health Organization should know, and the World Health Organization should be able to go and find out. That isn’t a political issue. It's not an ideological issue. I mean, where it originated from, that's a matter that needs to be determined. Now, I have no theories on that, that's not my job, but it is my job as a leader.
Brennan: But, you’ve seen the intelligence.
Prime Minister: I've seen a range of reports, but there's none of those that can lead me at least to come to any finite conclusion. But, I would like the medical experts to know, because this could happen again, this could happen, if it occurred in a wildlife wet market, we need to know, because there are many of those. If it occurred in some other setting, or how it transferred, you know, into the human population, this is important for public health. That's the only thing that matters. And, so, Australia just asked the honest question, ‘Hey, how did this start?’ It's pretty important we know, and we think the World Health Organization needs to have the ability to ensure that they know the answer to that question, because, let's face it, COVID-19 has had a devastating impact.
Brennan: Do you think they failed in doing that though?
Prime Minister: I’m very, I think I'm one of many who have been frustrated that we haven't been able, as yet, to get those answers, and we need to persist with those answers. And I welcome the fact that, you know, we were part of a process that saw over 60 countries come together and say, we need to know, we need a process to actually make sure we find out what happened here. That's important. And they need to get on and complete that job.
Brennan: Before I let you go, I do want to ask you about climate change.
Prime Minister: Sure.
Brennan: In April you said Australia was on a path to net zero emissions. You haven’t really given a timeline of what you need to deliver on that.
Prime Minister: Not yet.
Brennan: Anything to update us on in terms of what you plan to come to agreement with the United States on in these meetings? Because so far, the Biden administration has failed in its attempts to broker a major climate deal with China. Is there anything you can do or tell us about movement on the climate front?
Prime Minister: Well, for Australia, performance matters, and at the start of this year I said Australia wants to achieve net zero as soon as possible, and preferably by 2050. That's what Australia's position is. And our track record on this is strong. We've already reduced emissions in Australia by over 20 per cent since 2005. We committed to Kyoto. We met that target and we beat that target. We're going to meet and beat our Paris target as well.
Brennan: You will meet and beat it?
Prime Minister: We will meet it and we will beat it.
Brennan: No country is actually delivering on that.
Prime Minister: This- see this is what Australians think: See, it's one thing to have a commitment, but in Australia, you're not taken seriously unless you've got a plan to achieve the commitment. And how we do this, in Australia's view, is incredibly important.
Brennan: Well, a plan to achieve is different from actually doing it, and no country in the world has actually lived up to Paris Climate Change Accord.
Prime Minister: Well, we have, and we are already at 20 per cent down on our emissions from 2005. Australia has the highest rate of rooftop solar in the world. Australia has one of the highest rates of increase in renewable investment. We're spending $20 billion to develop things like hydrogen technologies and so many others that are part of the new energy economy that actually gets you to net zero. See, the issue we have is it's about how, not just by when, and the if question has already been passed. It's how we do this. And not just advanced economies like Australia. It needs to be transformational in developing economies. We want to ensure that countries in our region, like Indonesia and Vietnam and India, I met, I’ve been meeting with Prime Minister Modi over this very issue, and a technology partnership which sees us working together to ensure we get low cost solar, as well as hydrogen, part of their energy supply chains. That's what gets you to net zero, because unless we can put developing countries and developed countries on the path to net zero, well, the world just gets hotter. And we're a very practical people and we need a plan that's going to work, not just for countries like Australia and the United States, where our emissions actually, reductions exceed countries like the United States, New Zealand, Canada, and so many. We're getting on with it in Australia and we're going to keep getting on with it.
Brennan: Mr Prime Minister, thank you for joining us.
Prime Minister: Thanks very much for your time. Good to be here.
Interview with Mark Riley, Weekend Sunrise
26 September 2021
MARK RILEY: Prime Minister, welcome to Weekend Sunrise.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Mark, great to be with you.
RILEY: Extraordinary few days, you've really repositioned Australia in the global world order. We're now firmly in the middle of this democratic line across the Indo-Pacific. But you did say in this clash, definitional clash, between the US and China, we didn't need to pick sides, but we have now, haven't we? We are firmly all the way with USA.
PRIME MINISTER: Australia has a great reputation, particularly with our friends, and we have that reputation built on standing up for who we are and our values. And we'll always do that. And with countries that share a view on the world, whether it be Japan or India and of course the United States, the Quad countries, which is why we're here, for the meeting of the Quad, which is like minded democracies who live in the Indo-Pacific. That part of the world is defining the future. And we need to ensure that we can keep Australians safe and secure in what is a rapidly changing part of the world.
RILEY: Common objectives, peace and security.
PRIME MINISTER: That's it.
RILEY: But we've picked our team.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've always been with the United States as friends and partners. We've always been loyal to those who shared the principles and beliefs and liberties and democracy. That's not new. And what we don't want to choose, though, is a future in the Indo-Pacific, which is binary. We don't want to choose that. There shouldn't be sides. What there should be is a free and open Indo-Pacific. And that's what Australia is seeking to do. That's what United States is seeking to do. That's why we're working together. We want the world and particularly the part of the world we live in, to be safe and secure for everybody, free of coercion, free of all of these things. And that's our goal.
RILEY: OK. Joe Biden, very different character to the last President you met here. [inaudible]. His detractors say he's sleepy and some people suggest that he's a bit dottery, almost senile. But you saw a very different person?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh no, he's sharp on the issues. And he understands the part of the world we live in. And he has a deep appreciation of Australians. He's a Democratic President, I'm a Liberal Prime Minister. But that's the nature of our partnership, our friendship with the United States. There's no politics, there's no partisanship. There's no red or blue team in our partnership. What there is, is two partners who just are all about helping each other, standing by each other for the beliefs and values that we share. But no, he understands that. He's got a lot of experience in this town in particular, and he gets, I believe, the real challenges in where we live.
RILEY: Climate change. The other big issue at the Quad. 14 years since John Howard promised an ETS, here we are at a moment where perhaps Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister, might negotiate a sustainable climate policy, finally net zero by 2050. Is that going to happen?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, as I already said at the start of the year, we said we need to get to net zero, and we've been working on a plan of how we can achieve that. What I've been working to do is to bring my government together to get a plan that we can take to the Australian people and show to the Australian people, to say we can deal with this, we can do this, but we can do it without having to tax people. We can do it without having to shut down our industries and regions. My task has been to bring my government together on this issue and to focus on how we can get it done.
RILEY: Are you close now?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I think we ...
RILEY: The Nationals are saying the right things.
PRIME MINISTER: I think the whole team is focused on the goal and how we can achieve it. So I'm not going to get ahead of that discussion, I don't get of these things, Mark. I'm a patient person when it comes to getting things right. And the same was true on AUKUS. I mean, this took a long time, but you've got to just work on bringing people together, agreeing the goal. I've listened carefully, I've been in the parliament some time now. I came into the parliament in 2007. And this has been an issue that has been in Australian politics for a long time.
RILEY: And it's knocked off six prime ministers.
PRIME MINISTER: And I'm keen to ensure that I bring people together on this, so Australians can have confidence we're dealing with climate change, that we care deeply about their concerns about what the change means for them.
RILEY: OK. Being here. It's pretty open, people are going about their lives reasonably normally. Must be encouraging, this is what life is like beyond lockdown. There's no lockdown here. Is this what Australians can look forward to?
PRIME MINISTER: I think so and more, actually, because Australia will go into living with the virus when we hit those 70 and 80 per cent vaccination rates. Even though I know we've had those high case numbers in Sydney and Melbourne - compared to here, I mean, sadly, here in the United States, more lives have been lost in one day than we have had over our entire experience on the pandemic. When I say that here in the United States, people can barely believe it. And so we've been very successful saving lives, but we've also got to give people their lives back. And I think that's what Australians want. We have that arrangement with them, get yourself vaccinated and we can ensure that Australia can go forward and not be held back by the strong controls we've had to live with. But they've got a used by date on them.
RILEY: So on that, this is the second Christmas we're going into, where you've promised that Australian families would be together. It seems like the Premier of Queensland and Western Australia might have different plans.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, once you get to 80 per cent of your population that's vaccinated, well, it's very clear. I can't see any reason why Australians should be kept from each other. And so that puts a heavy, heavy responsibility on those who would seek to prevent that from happening. The federal government can do what it can do. We've been getting people vaccinated, you know, by the middle of next month and perhaps earlier, we will have ensured there is enough vaccines that everybody who wanted to have it, can have it. Now, it'll still keep rising over October and November. But, you know, you get to that point. If you've chosen not to get vaccinated, that's your choice. That's fair enough. But should that choice hold back the rest of the country from going forward engaging with those who are overseas, family members that are in India and other places who just want to come home?
RILEY: Those people who are not vaccinated once we open up, you're on your own?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, once we get to 80 per cent and the fact is that everybody has had the chance to get vaccinated by that point. Well, you know, we each have a personal responsibility for looking after our own health. And so it's important that we do move forward. We can't stay in second gear. We've got to get to top gear in living with the virus. And that's where we need to be. We've done remarkably well with our economy through the pandemic and saving people's lives. But we must go into the next chapter.
RILEY: But if we're in any gear and we can't go across the border into Queensland and see our family, what's the point?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think that puts the big challenge on the premiers. I mean, they've had the power to do what they've been doing. They're not new powers. They've always had them. But there comes a time when you've got to honour the arrangement you've made with the Australian people, and that is when you get to 80 per cent vaccination, it's very clear that you can start opening up. It means, it's not carte blanche. Of course, there are sensible, common sense things we'll still need to do to live with the virus, just like people are here. There's not no controls. Of course, there is common sense things that we will do, there'll be the QR code log ins and all that sort of stuff, wearing masks perhaps occasionally in particular settings. But, you know, comes a time when you just got to move on and get on with it.
RILEY: So what's your message to Premiers Palaszczuk and to Premier McGowan? Is it just let people open up, open your borders and let families reunite?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, my message is more to Australians that what I'd like them to have for Christmas is their lives back. And that's within the gift of governments. And that's a gift I'd like to see us give them.
RILEY: Prime Minister, thanks for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Mark.
Interview with Anna Henderson, SBS World News
25 September 2021
ANNA HENDERSON: Thanks so much for joining SBS World News.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Anna, good to be here.
HENDERSON: For the people sitting at home on their couches, all these high level diplomatic talks and discussions, what does it actually means for someone at home watching this right now?
PRIME MINISTER: Keeping them safe and secure. It is that straight forward. We live in a part of the world that is changing dramatically. It is the focus of world attention. What's happening in what we call the Indo-Pacific, that arc that goes all the way up from North Korea down through Japan, of course taking in China, Indonesia, the Pacific Islands, Australia, right around through to India. This is a part of the world that is just changing how everything is happening all around the world and its future is going to determine all our futures. And so making sure that Australia and Australians can be safe and secure in a rapidly changing environment is incredibly important. It's the most important responsibility a prime minister has.
HENDERSON: What do you say to the critics out there who see this is overblown rhetoric to make people feel insecure and then you create the political answer to that question, that you are the Prime Minister that keeps them secure? Are you making more of this than it really is right now?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it's a very cynical view. I mean, Australia has always, through prime ministers over generations, been right here in this city and many cities like it around the world, forming partnerships that keeps Australians safe. I mean, in particular if you go back, it was John Curtin who looked towards the United States during the Second World War. This was followed up by the Menzies government that put in place ANZUS 70 years ago. And here we are today in a whole new chapter, bringing the United Kingdom into our defence partnership. I mean, these are the things that are necessary to keep Australians safe. They go well beyond politics. And that is a responsibility that governments have, I think all parliamentarians have and as a prime minister, there's none more important.
HENDERSON: We don't have boots on the ground, but are we effectively in some kind of proxy war with China already?
PRIME MINISTER: No, of course not. A lot of what our new arrangement addresses is areas of scientific cooperation and technology. I mean, later today, we will be meeting with the Quad, a great initiative by President Biden to get the leaders of the Quad, which is India, Japan, Australia and the United States. And we're focused on a very positive agenda. See, to create peace and stability in our region and security in our region. It's just not about security cooperation. It's also about things like getting COVID vaccines to developing countries. It's about creating what we call clean energy supply chains to ensure that the developing countries of our region can get access to the new technologies that is going to drive the world economy over the next 30-50 years. And Australia wants to be very much part of that. See, when you can encourage prosperity in the region, when you have stability that does that, then everyone’s safe.
HENDERSON: Everyone's hanging on the actual detail of your technology not taxes approach. Did your meeting with Dr Daniel Yergin create more fodder for thought for you? What is the technology that you're going to rely on to do our part in the globe?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Dan Yergin is a highly respected academic here in the United States. He's advised many administrations on both sides of politics here in the United States. And he has a very simple proposition. And that is if you look over world history, what are the big changes that actually drive geopolitics and the cost of energy? Well, it's technology. It's technology. Each and every time. If we want to address climate change, then we need the scale of change that only technology can bring. See where we are now, it's not about if, it's about how. There's a lot of talk about what people want to do. But we need to take the conversation to how are we going to do it? Not just Australia, not just the United States or countries in Europe, big advanced economies that have access to the technology that can achieve this big change that needs to happen over the next 30 years. But in countries like India, in Vietnam and Indonesia. And see, they want jobs, they want industries, they want prosperity like the advanced countries have had. And we need to ensure that they can achieve that with these new energy technologies and to ensure that that's sustainable in the future. And the more successful they are, the more prosperous all of us are.
HENDERSON: OK, so what fossil fuel industries are you prepared to immediately wipe down and switch to a technology approach to meet that agenda?
PRIME MINISTER: None of them. And we don't have to because that change will take place over time. What's important, though, is we are working on the transition technologies and fuels and the ultimate technologies that will be there over the next 20, 30 years that can get us to net zero. I mean, this doesn't happen overnight. And the suggestion that it can, I don't think matches history. What you need to do is build the capability, the technology, the understanding that's got to be at scale, the right cost, it’s got to work all over the world. And that's what the partnership should be. We need better partnerships on technology, better partnerships on science, all of these things. Yesterday, we agreed, Prime Minister Modi and I, that we would enter into a similar partnership that we have already with Germany and Singapore and countries like that to ensure these new clean energy technologies have a good supply chain and can be rolled out and make the difference in the world that we want to make. Technology is what's going to get us there. That's what is actually going to cause the change we all want.
HENDERSON: Are you detecting a shift in the mood in the Nationals Party Room towards your way of thinking here? I'm hearing as few as four members of the Nationals are currently rusted on to the sort of Matt Canavan approach. Do you think that you now have the backing of the majority of the Nationals to go forward with this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's not about my view. It's about what I think Australians are clearly looking for. And what they're looking for is not just the action to get us to dealing with climate change. I mean, we've been, in Australian politics, we've been going through this issue for many years and there've been many approaches, but what we have to do ...
HENDERSON: Many political careers ruined as well.
PRIME MINISTER: Sure. But what my job is to bring my government together to focus on the plan that can achieve it. And the thing about a plan is this; a plan says to Australians, whether they're up in the Hunter, or down in Bell Bay, or up in Gladstone or up in the Pilbara, it says this is how we achieve net zero emissions in the future. This is what it means. Our view is that we can achieve that by keeping the costs low, keeping people in industries, ensuring we're using transition fuels that take us from one place to the next, and we take people on the journey. Plenty of people like to make commitments, a lot of people making commitments, but not enough people are making plans and we're making a plan. And that plan, I believe, will address the concerns that Australians have about such a big type of change. Change can be concerning. And I want to give them a plan that enables them to go, OK, that's what they're going to do. I can work with that. I can see my future in that. I can see the future of my town, my region in that. And that's the assurance that prime ministers, deputy prime ministers, governments want to give. And that's the way through.
HENDERSON: And will that happen before Glasgow? The plan, the unveiling of the plan?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll be returning from here and be working through that with my colleagues. But my approach is always just to keep working, just keep working with people, stay focused on the goal, bring people together. I'd like to get there as soon as I can and ultimately as to what the ultimate plan will be. But in government, you've got to work with everyone in the government and take everybody in the one direction. And over the last three years, we've been able to achieve an incredible unity within our government. That's been a big change and that is enabling us now to deal with these, I think, very challenging global issues and do things that are necessary. But we're going to do them together.
HENDERSON: Can I take you to the French relationship? How important is it to you that the French Ambassador is back in Canberra? Is that an important diplomatic goal for you to repair the relationship so that he does return?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what's important is that we get back to a normal relationship with France and we get on with the work we were doing before because the submarine contract was only one element of our relationship. France and Australia enjoy a unique perspective on the Pacific. We've been here a long time. We have, France is literally in the Pacific and France are a great partner in the Pacific. France are a great partner amongst liberal democracies. We share values, we share an outlook and we want to be partners with France. Now, we have had a contract. It's a contract that we couldn't continue with. It's a contract that had we done that, it would have been terribly against Australia's interests. And so, of course, I couldn't continue with that. And of course, when you make a tough decision like that, it's not going to be welcomed by the other party to the contract. I understand that. But we're just going to have to persist through it, engage more. And I believe we'll get there because ultimately we share the same principles, we share the same beliefs and we share the same goals.
HENDERSON: Sources close to the French Government have accused you and your government of stealing military and intelligence secrets in this process because you've been privy since 2016 to their military approach and the capability. What do you say to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think it's nonsense. I think it's nonsense. I mean, we were working in good faith in a contract, working together, paying our bills, too, by the way. And over the course of paying our bills in that contract and working, a lot of our people developed great skills. That's great for Australia.
HENDERSON: You're going to get fresh bills from Naval Group in the coming weeks, I read today. So how big do you expect them to be?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll work through those issues and we'll do that in accordance with our contract. We've been very clear in our understanding of what our obligations are here and we're acting in accordance with those. Let me just be really clear. The suggestion that some seem to be making, that Australia should have gone ahead with a contract costing taxpayers in Australia tens of billions of dollars to build a boat that was not going to meet our needs, would have been negligent. So I had to make the tough decision and I understood in doing that, it was going to cause some upset and disappointment with our friend and partner, France. But at the end of the day. I'm always going to put Australia's national interests first. And I know the French, our good friends, would do the same thing if it was in their national interest. And at this level, we all understand that as leaders, we all understand that all nations will act in accordance with their national interests and our job, whether here in Washington this week with the Quad coming together, or the many other forums with ASEAN that we worked with in particular, it's all about trying to align our thinking as much as possible. But there will be times when we have a different view. And at those times I can assure you what's foremost in my mind is what's best for Australia and keeping Australians safe.
HENDERSON: The evacuation from Kabul has come up a number of times this week during various talks. How many of the 3,000 places at least that you've set aside in humanitarian visas have been filled at this stage?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're still working that through because we took 4,100 people out of Kabul. And it's been a good opportunity here in Washington to say thank you to the United States because it was their troops that were on that tarmac that enabled us to be able to get those desperate people out of that city. And 13 of those soldiers lost their lives in a terrorist attack. And for me, be able to say thank you to the President for the sacrifice that enabled Australians and those who were seeking to get out of Kabul. We thank the Americans for that as we thank the British troops who are there also. At this stage, we've had a lot of discussions over this past week and we'll have more today, which is about pathways that we can get more people out of Afghanistan. And that's still not very clear. It's still very early days. It's on the Taliban to be good to what they've pledged to enable people to leave if they wish to. And out of that process, that would provide us with the opportunity to settle people here in Australia. But there's still a lot of work to do. We've already had around 100, at least, that have already come to Australia under that programme that I said was there. And if it needs to be bigger, it will be bigger.
HENDERSON: What's the cap?
PRIME MINISTER: I haven't put a cap on. We did about 3,000 people in one year when we were doing the special intake from Syria and there was more that came, but in that first year there was only about 3,000. And so that's what we based our intake out of Afghanistan. It's been difficult to take people under our humanitarian programme during COVID for obvious reasons. And so that means there's already quite a lot of room in the programme to take people immediately. But if we need to take more, then we will.
HENDERSON: Just in relation to the Taliban. We've seen brutal beatings. We've seen reports of killings, women not being allowed to attend educational institutions. I think it was Julia Gillard, our former Prime Minister, who recently suggested sanctions could come onto the table at some stage. Is that under discussion by your government?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't want to be premature about any of those things. I mean, these things and these reports are obviously terribly concerning and very distressing. The Taliban have made a whole range of statements and commitments to the United States and others. Well, they've also got form. So Australia will take a lot of convincing and there’ll need to be a lot of demonstrated performance from the Taliban before Australia starts moving in a direction that will give them any sort of legitimacy.
HENDERSON: Would you accept a Taliban representative at an embassy in Canberra? Would you be happy to see that occur?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think that is something that is not in contemplation.
HENDERSON: As we walk around the streets of Washington and people aren't wearing masks, people aren't using QR codes and people are out having dinner sitting down in restaurants, which is an absolute revelation to many in lockdown. Why is Australia not in the same position?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're coming from different places. As you know, here in the United States and particularly here in Washington, if you head down to where the memorials are, you'll see the white markers there.
HENDERSON: Yeah, very moving.
PRIME MINISTER: It's very moving. And it's a reminder that in Australia that didn't happen. In Australia, we’ve saved well over 30,000 lives. If we'd had the same fatality rate of COVID, whether it's here in the United States or across the OECD, more than 30,000 Australians would have perished. So here the virus ravaged their society and their community, and so their path has been different to ours. For much of our country, there has been little COVID, particularly what we call now the non-COVID states, outside of New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria. And so we will go into living with the virus in a different way to here. But we need to. And at 80 per cent you can. And we know we can. And it's important that we do do that. And my message to Australians is that is something the Commonwealth Government absolutely supports and we don't believe it should be denied.
HENDERSON: Do you sympathise with people who feel like they're living in an authoritarian state? Who don't feel that they had the freedoms that they expected under a democratic government in Australia right now?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, public health and viruses, they don't take any account of anybody's beliefs. They can just kill you. They can just cause you to be very, very sick. And that's why as countries, what we've done, I was talking to Prime Minister Suga about this this morning, is just ensure that our vaccination rates are where they are, we're over 50 per cent double dose, over 75 per cent single dose. We're getting there. By the middle of next month, perhaps even sooner, everyone in Australia who wanted to have a vaccine, there will have been enough vaccines for them to have had one. So once you've done that, you know, Australians have voted with their arms to be able to open up and to get those vaccination rates that we clearly set out. And they should get what they voted for by getting that vaccination in their arm.
HENDERSON: And if all this goes well, you return to Canberra, the vaccination drive is successful. Is an election on the cards in the next few months?
PRIME MINISTER: No. Why would there be? I've never said there would be.
HENDERSON: Things can change.
PRIME MINISTER: The election is next year. There's been nothing that has happened that would require an election like that this year. I mean, I've got work to do. We've been at work here this week keeping Australians safe. What we've seen, we've been able to bring together here, has taken many, many months, almost two years in some respects, to bring together. The work of government requires you to put those hours in and we've been putting them in, and we've been getting the results. Keeping Australia strong, keeping Australians safe and bringing them together on important issues like climate change.
HENDERSON: What were the intelligence agency representatives doing here in Washington this week, from Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Working with their colleagues and counterparts, part of our important partnerships.
HENDERSON: Were they taking part in meetings that you were having with other political leaders?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they were there when we were discussing security intelligence issues. That's fairly normal. They're the officials who look after those things.
HENDERSON: Well, thank you so much for your time, Prime Minister. We appreciate it.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much.
Doorstop - Washington DC, USA
24 September 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. It's been a very busy week for Australia, over the course from New York here to Washington. Having the Quad meeting today and I want to thank President Biden for bringing the Quad leaders together here in Washington. The Quad is a great partnership, making a very positive contribution, a very practical contribution to the region that we call home, the Indo-Pacific. Quad partners, India, Prime Minister Modi, I had the opportunity to speak with him directly yesterday. And of course, Prime Minister Suga, my dear friend, this will be the last time we meet together here with him as Prime Minister. But he's on a promise to come out to Sydney and visit Jenny and I hopefully in the future. He's been a tremendous leader of his country, seeing his country through the Olympics and the Paralympics, an extraordinary achievement for Japan to press on in the middle of a pandemic and give the world great hope. He joked with me today that they won a lot more judo gold medals than the Australians did. But the Australians didn't do too badly either. There's no doubt about that. So to you, Prime Minister Suga, thank you very much for your leadership and your great friendship to Australia and to your great strength within the Quad.
The Quad meeting today. It's a very practical group. We're focused on demonstrating how democracies get things done and get things done in the region in which we live. And so with practical initiatives focusing on 1.2 billion vaccines, but it's not just about getting the vaccines. It's about getting them in arms and the programmes we're running together are helping those vaccines being distributed, being administered, the training and planning, the support that's needed to get, particularly in developing countries, these vaccines in arms. You know, a great example from our own region is all four of the Quad partners supporting the vaccination in Fiji and, a small island in the Pacific, but the Quad can see to that need and delivering those vaccines in Fiji has really turned that country around and they'll be opening up soon. And I'm sure welcoming visitors. I'm sure Frank Bainimarama would love me to say, welcoming visitors from all across the Quad nations. So vaccines are an important set of outcomes today for COVID.
On critical minerals, Australia is one of the biggest producers, but we believe we can play a bigger role in a critical supply chain that is supporting the technologies of the future and further initiatives there today being led by Australia, but connecting up with the manufacturing and processing capabilities and end users in the United States and India and in Japan, as well.
Our discussions around security began in Afghanistan and particularly focusing on how we can continue to help people who wish to leave Afghanistan and become part of our humanitarian programmes and holding the Taliban to account to ensure that they can leave safely. And we've got, and ensuring that we keep the pressure on the Taliban in Afghanistan to live up to the commitments that they've made. There are already concerning reports and those who want to leave Afghanistan and come part of our humanitarian programmes that particularly Australia is involved in, we want to be able to facilitate that.
The broader security environment in the Indo-Pacific is is well known to all of us because we live with it each and every day. Australia has taken significant steps throughout our most recent partnership, the AUKUS partnership. But that builds on our direct arrangements both with India and Japan in bilateral arrangements, training exercise, reciprocal access agreements with Japan.
More broadly when it comes to climate. Today, there was a real sense of resolve and not just about the if question, of course, is the answer to that question, but the how and how we could support the particular developing countries within the Indo-Pacific to get access to the clean energy technology that enables them to transition their economies, just like Australia is seeking to transition our economy. An important initiative for a clean energy supply chain summit to be held next year in Australia to put together a road map over the next 12 months that could see how we can combine the best scientific knowledge, industry knowledge and academics coming together to ensure we can transfer our energy technology, clean energy technology, supply chains that support it to transform the economies of our region. So it was a very busy day. The Quad is a very practical initiative, bringing together partners who care about the future of the region in which we live. Positive contributions. We agreed that we've got to keep it simple, keep it focused and keep getting the job done.
So, again, I want to thank President Biden and Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Suga for our partnership that we believe is going to achieve a great deal. After six months, it's already got off to a great start. Just finally, there was the opportunity to speak to the Vice President and we had a very positive discussion about the region in particular from Australia's perspective. I was very pleased to learn about some of the programmes being run in indigenous communities here in the United States regarding the vaccine programme here and the lessons that can be learnt for Australia back home. But I was very pleased to hear about the Vice President's recent trip into the region, to Singapore and to Vietnam, and to share our own experience, the challenges in the region and particularly our relationship with Indonesia in trying to attract more investment capital into the region for private industry, not just in the United States and Australia, but further afield. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: On critical minerals, was there a commitment today from any of the Quad partner countries to buy more of Australia's critical minerals and just on the Clean Energy Summit, sorry Prime Minister, do you, would you like to see President Biden come to Australia for that summit next year?
PRIME MINISTER: It wouldn't be a leaders summit for that and the summit that we're talking about next year is practitioners. People who are involved in the research and the technology and the commercialisation, in the engineering and the scaling up of the application. This is an applied summit, which is about putting together a very clear work program as to how clean energy supply chains can be built up in the Indo-Pacific. So we'll be looking forward as Quad leaders to seeing that plan come forward to us. And so that is the purpose of that summit. There was a deep appreciation from all the Quad leaders today about the role that Australia can play in providing critical minerals into the region, because that is a necessary supply for the many industries and processing works that they operate themselves, whether it's in the defence industry. Lots of discussions today about semiconductors and their role in the future. And this is an ecosystem we want to create and we want to do that as like mindeds in the region. And we want to create that so we can provide those supplies throughout the Indo-Pacific because remember, the Quad is all about positively contributing to the economic development, the prosperity and the stability of the region and very practical discussion on those items. We're really good at digging stuff up in Australia and making sure it can fuel the rest of the world when it comes to the new energy economy.
JOURNALIST: Welcome back to Washington. About two years ago, you were here at the White House for a state dinner hosted by former President Trump. How would you describe your relationship with President Biden versus your relationship with President Trump? And secondly, are you and President Biden on the same page as it relates to your approach to China?
PRIME MINISTER: We are on the same page. We're allies and partners, and, you know, the great thing about the alliance between Australia and the United States is that it has been our alliance stewarded by 15 Australian Prime Ministers and 14 US Presidents. We've come from both sides of politics. And I can assure you, when you put all those names on a list, you're going to find a lot of differences in people on that list. But one thing we're all committed to is the stewardship of this very important alliance, whoever serves in our roles. We have the absolute privilege of stewarding this great relationship, and I've enjoyed both great relationships with both the presidents I've worked with. I appreciated it my relationship with President Trump. I greatly appreciate my relationship with President Biden and the relationship, as you've seen through the AUKUS arrangement and the AUKUS partnership, which President Biden has agreed to and lent his great support to, together with Prime Minister Johnson. This is taking our relationship to a whole other level. It was an opportunity to talk to the Vice President about that day. And as you know, I was pretty busy up on the Hill this week where we have had overwhelming support it on a bipartisan basis here in the United States for AUKUS.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said you support a free and open Indo-Pacific, sir, you said you do not support coercion in the region. What is the message you want China to take from the meetings that you had today? And from the statements that you have made and I also have a question on vaccine delivery under the Quad initiative, when are they likely to start.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they're already flowing now, they're already flowing now on vaccines and they're going to continue to flow. But I do want to stress again, because President Biden and I were both making this point today, it's one thing to get the vaccines. The thing you've got to do is be able to deliver on the ground the cold chain of distribution networks. I mean, you think about the countries right across our region, think about Australia, it's a big country, there's a lot of distance, there's a lot of terrain. And think about countries like Indonesia an archipelago, hundreds and hundreds of islands and moving through the region. How you get the vaccines into the arms, the medical professionals, the health professionals that are needed, the PPE and all of those things that are necessary. Vaccination programmes are more than just the doses, it is everything that goes into it, and there was a lot of focus on that element today and on the first?
JOURNALIST: On China, sir, what what is the message you want China to take from the meetings you had today?
PRIME MINISTER: The Quad is a partner. The Quad is a partner, whether it be for China or it be any other country that is in the Indo-Pacific region. We're there to make the region stronger, more prosperous, more stable. It's a positive initiative designed to lift the wellbeing of the people of the Indo-Pacific.
JOURNALIST: We know the Quad are all about trying to counter Chinese aggression and, but for some reason you won't mention China. You won't talk about that. Can you please tell us, what were you discussing in the Quad with the other leaders about China's belligerence in the region? You said all of us have experienced it. You have talked about coercion and bullying, basically of China, of Australia and its other neighbours.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we talked about today is how we achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific. The way you do that is that countries like Australia and India and the United States and Japan will stand up for the values that we believe in. And and we resist any any suggestion or any pressure that would come on any of us to be anything different to what we are, and we want that opportunity for all countries in the Indo-Pacific. Whoever they are, they value their sovereignty, they value their independence. And that should be a shared project by all countries in the Indo-Pacific.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] South Korean [inaudible], because right now you only have four countries participating in this meeting, so would you support [inaudible] for the other allies?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you for the question. The Quad will remain a Quad. We discussed that today. Keep it simple, keep it focused and keep getting the job done. That's what the Quad is doing and that's our mantra. But the Quad will continue to reach out and connect and work with other countries in the region, particularly with Korea. President Moon was recently at the G7 plus and many of the, all of the countries of the Quad were there at the G7 plus and I know seeking to connect and work with Korea for the good of the region. We're also reaching out to the European countries as well. There's much more interest from Europe in the Indo-Pacific and a keenness to be involved in promoting stability and prosperity of the region. And so we want to reach out to all those countries. The Quad is not an exclusive idea, it's an inclusive idea. It's an initiative to engage and do positive things in the region and work with other partners who want to do the same thing.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, forty five thousand Australians are registered with DFAT as wanting to come home, they've been locked out of the country for over 18 months. The Sydney Morning Herald's now reporting that there are no commercial flights left to get those Australians home by Christmas. What are you going to do to get those Australians home?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've already been running a lot of facilitated commercial flights and if we need to do more than we will. But ...
JOURNALIST: If you need to do more? There's 45,000 Australians.
PRIME MINISTER: But once we hit 80 per cent vaccinations, once we hit 80 per cent vaccinations, then that means Australians will be able to travel in in those states that are opening up. They'll be able to get on planes and go overseas and come home. And that means Australians who are overseas who are vaccinated with the vaccines that are recognised in Australia, will be able to get on planes and come to Australia. The caps at the airports for vaccinated Australians to return will be lifted, and that means there'll be the commercial demand for those flights to be put on. I don't think Qantas will have to be encouraged to start running those flights and putting people on seats. And I'm looking forward to them getting on with that job because that's the business they're in.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] reaction to your AUKUS deal. How would you interpret their reaction to that and also just in terms, you met the World Bank and IMF managers last night, did anything in those conversations talk about China's economic influence in the Indo-Pacific?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me, sorry, the first one again? It's been a long day. A longer day for you.
JOURNALIST: AUKUS, from Japan.
PRIME MINISTER: I had the opportunity to speak to both Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Suga before we made the announcement about the AUKUS arrangement and where we were proceeding with nuclear submarines, that was on the eve, in the afternoon before I did that, as Quad partners and our special relationship with both of those countries. And it was warmly received then and it's even more warmly received now. It was a subject of the bilateral discussions I had with Prime Minister Suga this morning and Prime Minister Modi yesterday. They understand what this partnership means for the Indo-Pacific and also the way it's going to better enable ourselves, the United States and the United Kingdom, connect more with them and the work that they're doing.
Yesterday, though, I did have a very interesting meeting with both the IMF and the World Bank. In both cases, as you know, or you may know, Australia is a very forward leaning supporter to countries in our region, particularly countries like Papua New Guinea, where we've been involved in providing financial support to help them through the COVID pandemic and IMF and others have been involved. And so it's an important opportunity for us to swap notes with them and understand some of the financial pressures on countries in our region and how Australia can provide a supportive role, together with the IMF. And with David Malpass at the World Bank. I was particularly focused on talking to him about how the World Bank could be working with Quad countries to support clean energy financing in these supply chains that we're discussing and help countries in our region with their transition to this new energy economy. And the role the World Bank can play in their financing of projects that can actually accelerate. There are a lot of countries out there putting debt on other countries, that is causing a lot of, a lot of stress and a lot of strain, and it's important that countries do not get in over their head with projects that at the end of the day don't really add value. But what will add value, are projects that build up the clean energy capacity, and the energy transition of these economies.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: The two are completely complementary. And they're not exclusive at all. AUKUS and the Quad support each other. They're mutually reinforcing, and that's the whole point of the Quad and AUKUS. They're not there to replace anything, but to add and I want to stress this very clearly, that the work that we are doing as a Quad particularly recognises and respects ASEAN. ASEAN is a huge committed relationship that we each have individually and we really do see, and seek to see the world and particularly the region, through the ASEAN vision and so we look forward to continuing to work with those partners. Thank you very much.
Quad Leaders' Summit Communique
24 September 2021
We, the leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, convened today in person as “the Quad” for the first time. On this historic occasion we recommit to our partnership, and to a region that is a bedrock of our shared security and prosperity—a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is also inclusive and resilient. Just six months have passed since our last meeting. Since March, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused continued global suffering; the climate crisis has accelerated; and regional security has become ever-more complex, testing all of our countries individually and together. Our cooperation, however, remains unflinching.
The occasion of the Quad summit is an opportunity to refocus ourselves and the world on the Indo-Pacific and on our vision for what we hope to achieve. Together, we recommit to promoting the free, open, rules-based order, rooted in international law and undaunted by coercion, to bolster security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. We stand for the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful resolution of disputes, democratic values, and territorial integrity of states. We commit to work together and with a range of partners. We reaffirm our strong support for ASEAN’s unity and centrality and for ASEAN’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, and we underscore our dedication towards working with ASEAN and its member states—the heart of the Indo-Pacific region—in practical and inclusive ways. We also welcome the September 2021 EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
Since our first meeting, we have made considerable progress in tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and critical and emerging technologies.
Our partnership on COVID-19 response and relief marks an historic new focus for the Quad. We launched the Quad Vaccine Experts Group, comprised of top experts from our respective governments, charged with building strong ties and better aligning our plans to support Indo-Pacific health security and COVID-19 response. In doing so, we have shared assessments of the state of the pandemic and aligned our efforts to combat it, reinforced shared diplomatic principles for mitigating COVID-19 in the region, and actively improved coordination of our efforts to support safe, effective, quality-assured vaccine production and equitable access, in close collaborations with multilateral efforts including the COVAX Facility. In addition to doses financed through COVAX, Australia, India, Japan, and the United States have pledged to donate more than 1.2 billion doses globally of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines. And to date, we have delivered nearly 79 million safe, effective, and quality-assured vaccine doses to countries in the Indo-Pacific as part of those commitments.
Thanks to the Quad Vaccine Partnership’s financing of increased manufacturing capacity at Biological E LTD, additional production in India will come on line later this year. In line with our March announcement, and recognizing the continuing global supply gap, we will ensure this expanded manufacturing is exported for the Indo-Pacific and the world, and we will coordinate with key multilateral initiatives, such as the COVAX Facility, to procure proven safe, effective and quality-assured COVID-19 vaccines for low- and middle-income countries. We also recognize the importance of open and secure supply chains for vaccine production.
We have accomplished much to date despite months of pandemic hardship throughout the region and world. The Quad leaders welcome Biological E LTD’s production, including through our Quad investments, of at least one billion safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2022. Today, we are proud to announce an initial step towards that supply that will immediately help the Indo-Pacific and the world to end the pandemic. The Quad also welcomes India’s announcement to resume exports of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, including to COVAX, beginning in October 2021. Japan will continue to help regional partners purchase vaccines through $3.3 billion of COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan. Australia will deliver $212 million in grant aid to purchase vaccines for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In addition, Australia will allocate $219 million to support last-mile vaccine rollouts and lead in coordinating the Quad’s last-mile delivery efforts in those regions.
We will also strengthen our Science and Technology (S&T) cooperation in the areas of clinical trials and genomic surveillance so that we can accelerate our efforts to end this pandemic and build better health security. We are committed to align around shared global targets to help vaccinate the world, save lives now, and build back better, including by strengthening global health security financing and political leadership. Our countries will also conduct a joint pandemic-preparedness tabletop or exercise in 2022.
We have joined forces to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the urgency it demands. Quad countries will work together to keep the Paris-aligned temperature limits within reach and will pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. To this end, Quad countries intend to update or communicate ambitious NDCs by COP26 and welcome those who have already done so. Quad countries will also coordinate their diplomacy to raise global ambition, including reaching out to key stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific region. Our work is organized across three thematic areas: climate ambition, clean-energy innovation and deployment, and climate adaptation, resilience and preparedness, with the intent to pursue enhanced actions during the 2020s, contributing to the aim of achieving global net-zero emissions preferably by 2050, and taking into account national circumstances. We are pursuing nationally appropriate sectoral decarbonization efforts, including those aimed at decarbonizing shipping and port operations and the deployment of clean-hydrogen technology. We will cooperate to establish responsible and resilient clean-energy supply chains, and will strengthen the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and climate information systems. Quad countries will work together for successful outcomes at the COP26 and G20 that uphold the level of climate ambition and innovation that this moment requires.
We have established cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, to ensure the way in which technology is designed, developed, governed, and used is shaped by our shared values and respect for universal human rights. In partnership with industry, we are advancing the deployment of secure, open, and transparent 5G and beyond-5G networks, and working with a range of partners to foster innovation and promote trustworthy vendors and approaches such as Open-RAN. Acknowledging the role of governments in fostering an enabling environment for 5G diversification, we will work together to facilitate public-private cooperation and demonstrate in 2022 the scalability and cybersecurity of open, standards-based technology. With respect to the development of technical standards, we will establish sector-specific contact groups to promote an open, inclusive, private-sector-led, multi-stakeholder, and consensus-based approach. We will also coordinate and cooperate in multilateral standardization organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union. We are mapping the supply chain of critical technologies and materials, including semiconductors, and affirm our positive commitment to resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains of critical technologies, recognizing the importance of government support measures and policies that are transparent and market-oriented. We are monitoring trends in the critical and emerging technologies of the future, beginning with biotechnology, and identifying related opportunities for cooperation. We are also launching today Quad Principles on Technology Design, Development, Governance, and Use that we hope will guide not only the region but the world towards responsible, open, high-standards innovation.
Going forward, we will not only deepen our cooperation in these critical areas, but we will broaden it to new ones. Building upon each of our regional infrastructure efforts, separately and together, we are launching a new Quad infrastructure partnership. As a Quad, we will meet regularly to coordinate our efforts, map the region’s infrastructure needs, and coordinate on regional needs and opportunities. We will cooperate to provide technical assistance, empowering regional partners with evaluative tools, and will promote sustainable infrastructure development. We support the G7’s infrastructure efforts, and look forward to cooperating with like-minded partners, including with the EU. We reconfirm the G20 Quality Infrastructure Investment Principles and will reenergize our efforts to provide high-standards infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific. We reaffirm our interest in continuing our engagement with the Blue Dot Network. We emphasize the importance of supporting open, fair, and transparent lending practices in line with international rules and standards for major creditor countries, including on debt sustainability and accountability, and call on all creditors to adhere to these rules and standards.
Today, we begin new cooperation in cyber space and pledge to work together to combat cyber threats, promote resilience, and secure our critical infrastructure. In space we will identify new collaboration opportunities and share satellite data for peaceful purposes such as monitoring climate change, disaster response and preparedness, sustainable uses of oceans and marine resources, and on responding to challenges in shared domains. We will also consult on rules, norms, guidelines and principles for ensuring the sustainable use of outer space.
We are proud to begin a new chapter of educational and people-to-people cooperation as we inaugurate the Quad Fellowship. Stewarded by Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative, and with generous support from Accenture, Blackstone, Boeing, Google, Mastercard, and Western Digital this pilot fellowship program will provide 100 graduate fellowships to leading science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduate students across our four countries. Through the Quad Fellowship, our next generation of STEM talent will be prepared to lead the Quad and other like-minded partners towards the innovations that will shape our shared future.
In South Asia, we will closely coordinate our diplomatic, economic, and human-rights policies towards Afghanistan and will deepen our counter-terrorism and humanitarian cooperation in the months ahead in accordance with UNSCR 2593. We reaffirm that Afghan territory should not be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist acts, and reiterate the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan. We denounce the use of terrorist proxies and emphasized the importance of denying any logistical, financial or military support to terrorist groups which could be used to launch or plan terror attacks, including cross-border attacks. We stand together in support of Afghan nationals, and call on the Taliban to provide safe passage to any person wishing to leave Afghanistan, and to ensure that the human rights of all Afghans, including women, children, and minorities are respected.
We also recognize that our shared futures will be written in the Indo-Pacific, and we will redouble our efforts to ensure that the Quad is a force for regional peace, stability, security, and prosperity. Towards that end, we will continue to champion adherence to international law, particularly as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to meet challenges to the maritime rules-based order, including in the East and South China Seas. We affirm our support to small island states, especially those in the Pacific, to enhance their economic and environmental resilience. We will continue our assistance with Pacific Island countries on responses to the health and economic impacts of COVID-19 and on quality, sustainable infrastructure, as well as partner to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, which poses especially serious challenges for the Pacific.
We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions, and also confirm the necessity of immediate resolution of the issue of Japanese abductees. We urge North Korea to abide by its UN obligations, refrain from provocations. We also call on North Korea to engage in substantive dialogue. We are committed to building democratic resilience in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. We continue to call for the end to violence in Myanmar, the release of all political detainees, including foreigners, engagement in constructive dialogue, and for the early restoration of democracy. We further call for the urgent implementation of the ASEAN Five Point Consensus. We will deepen our cooperation in multilateral institutions, including at the United Nations, where reinforcing our shared priorities enhances the resilience of the multilateral system itself. Individually and together, we will respond to the challenges of our time, ensuring that the region remains inclusive, open, and governed by universal rules and norms.
We will continue to build habits of cooperation; our leaders and foreign ministers will meet annually and our senior officials will meet regularly. Our working groups will continue their steady tempo to produce the cooperation necessary to build a stronger region.
At a time that tests us all, our commitment to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific is firm, and our vision for this partnership remains ambitious and far-reaching. With steadfast cooperation, we rise to meet this moment, together.
Passing of Mr John Elliott
24 September 2021
John Elliott was a forthright man who said what he meant and meant what he said.
He lived a big life. It was an authentic Australian life.
John Elliott seemed to embody much of the ambitious outward looking 1980s. He was a proud Victorian, he took Fosters to the world, led his football Club with a passion that won’t ever be forgotten, and loyally supported the Liberal Party through what were lean times.
Big lives always have their critics, make their fair share of mistakes, but mostly, there is something about them that capture their times. Such people are leaders. John Elliott was such a leader.
On behalf of the Liberal Party, I extend my condolences to John’s family in their time of grief.
Doorstop - Washington DC, USA
23 September 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. Good morning, back in Australia soon. It’s, the reason we came here was to take part in the first ever leaders’ meeting, face to face leaders’ meeting of the Quad. The Quad brings together India, Japan, Australia and the United States, and President Biden, on his initiative, has brought us all together at this very important time. As the world faces great challenges, new partnerships amongst old friends continue to be forged. And the Quad partnership is very much of that order - a positive partnership seeking to make strong contributions on the big issues that make a big difference in our region. Issues such as how we produce clean energy into the future, how we're delivering on the COVID vaccine challenge for our region, how we're establishing the new supply chains that fuel and support the new energy economy that's so critical to the economic prosperity of all of our countries, not just those within our partnership, but those well beyond.
A key part of the Quad is continue to reinforce that the reason we're coming together is to make a positive and constructive contribution in the region, a contribution that supports the peace and stability across the region, and so individual nations can realise their own ambitions. And, so, I'm looking forward very much to the Quad gathering tomorrow.
I've just come from a meeting with one of my Quad partners, Prime Minister Modi, a dear friend and great friend of Australia. We've been working together for some years now. Today, at our meeting, we were able to agree some important new initiatives. At our meeting today we agreed to go forward with a low emissions technology partnership, a partnership that will focus on hydrogen development, ultra low cost solar programs, to support their energy transition. One of the key points we continue to make about addressing climate change is to ensure that we get the technology transfer from developed to developing economies. If we want to address climate change, then we need to address the change that is necessary in developing economies, so they can grow their economies, build their industries, make the things the world needs. And, to do that, you need an energy economy that supports those objectives. And so, we'll work together closely with our good friends in India, to work with the comparative advantages that Australia has, particularly in the area of hydrogen, and working together with their manufacturing capabilities so they can realise that in their own country.
The key point I made at the G7-plus when we were talking about addressing climate change, unless we can get the technology transformation occurring in developing countries, then I fear that the ambitions that so many have for addressing climate change will be frustrated. If we want to make a difference on climate change, we’ve got to make a difference everywhere, not just in advanced economies. Australia will certainly do our bit, and the bit we're doing in particular is to meet and beat the commitments that we've made, and to ensure that we’re, we're working with our partner countries around the region to secure that transfer of technology and the transition that is necessary for them to make, together with ourselves.
In addition to that, we had a very good discussion about our defence partnerships. That was particularly progressed at the most recent 2+2 meeting. It was a very positive discussion on critical minerals supply chains. I’ll have a bit more to say about that tomorrow when we meet further with the Quad.
In addition, both Ministers Tehan and Goyal will be meeting in New Delhi next week. And we have both, Prime Minister Modi and I, tasked our teams to be ambitious when they sit down next week to look at our trade opportunities, particularly in the area of digital trade arrangements. And, so, it was a very wide ranging meeting.
Of course, we had the opportunity to discuss the recent announcement on the AUKUS agreement and our program to put in place a nuclear-powered fleet of submarines. Keen interest in that from our partners in India, and well received. And looking forward to see how that continues to progress. Of course, I spoke to Prime Minister Modi the night before we made the announcement in Australia last week.
Now, the Quad meeting tomorrow will, of course, focus on the issues of clean energy and critical minerals. It’ll deal with how are we going to work together, sitting down with leaders, friends working together for peace and stability in our region, friends working together to secure the health and economic recovery from COVID-19, friends working together to develop new clean energy technology partnerships, stronger action on climate change, and ensuring that we continue to meet and beat the commitments that we've set for ourselves. Friends working together to secure our future, and a future for the Indo-Pacific.
On the vaccines, I note, as you’re probably aware, more than two million doses have now been delivered in the last seven days. That's another major milestone achieved, as the vaccination program continues to ramp up. When I was speaking to Jay Powell earlier today, there was keen interest in how that was progressing. We know that as the vaccination program hits these marks, it just gets us closer and closer to being able to open up more parts of the country, and seeing the economic recovery follow soon after. We're now round about 75 per cent first doses and 50 per cent second dose. It's going to make a big difference as we continue to surge towards those necessary targets of 70 and 80 per cent, that’ll open Australia up. As at midnight, the key stats, we had 25,782,517 doses administered and I said, over two million doses in a week. And with that, happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on critical minerals, will what you discussed with Prime Minister Modi, will that translate into more jobs for Australians? And, your meeting with Jerome Powell, what did he say on China?
PRIME MINISTER: Well on, firstly on the issue of does pursuing critical mineral supply chains mean more jobs for Australians, of course it does, of course it does, but it does more than that. Because critical minerals supply chains means that the partners we work with around the world also have access to trusted supply chains on critical minerals. I mean, these are the things that will power up our, our economies in the new energy economy. And critical minerals and rare earths, of which Australia is already very active in producing in these areas, we want to ensure that we're connecting that up right through the supply chain, through production, through to end users, and Prime Minister Modi and I share a passion around that project, because they are also involved in that supply chain at various different points, and it's important that we have the choice that exists in world markets around these issues. We want to play a stronger role here. But, to do that, of course for us to develop those critical minerals and rare earths opportunities, then we need to ensure that the downstream users are caught in a very productive and trusted supply chain.
JOURNALIST: On, sorry, on Jerome Powell as well, on Jerome Powell?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, of course, we discussed the global economy, we discussed the domestic economy here in the United States. I was able to talk about what has been a pretty remarkable economic performance for Australia, which, which the Fed Chair agreed with. Made particular note of the fact that Australia's economy has grown above, well above where we left off as we went into the pandemic, and was able to point out Australia as a real standout performer when it comes to its, our economic performance through the course of COVID, and using many similar tools that our economic interventions, he agreed, had proved to be highly effective. But, I got to tell you, the figures that really struck home was that the fatality rate from COVID in Australia. In the United States, they will see, sadly, as many people die from COVID in a day that we have seen throughout the entire COVID pandemic. The fact that more than 30,000 lives have been saved in Australia, compared to the experience of OECD countries, is a figure that is quite staggering here in the United States. And it's something that back home we shouldn't be taking for granted. Of course, we’ve got our challenges. But, at the end of the day, Australia has saved lives and saved livelihoods like almost no other country in the world.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can you confirm that you personally called …
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry?
JOURNALIST: Can you confirm that you personally called French President Emmanuel Macron to tell him that the submarine contract had been cancelled, and exactly when did that phone call happen?
PRIME MINISTER: What I said was, is that I made direct contact with him. It was about 8.35. We had sought to have a call that night. We'd been seeking that for some time. He did not take that call, to seek for it to be arranged, and so I directly messaged him Australia's decision in a, in a personal correspondence.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the question of climate, your remarks here today, coupled with a speech that Josh Frydenberg’s going to deliver to the business community about transitioning in line with the rest of the world. Are we to take it, in aggregate from these comments, that your Government has, in fact, already settled on a net zero timeline before or up to 2050, if it is to transition in line with the rest of the world?
PRIME MINISTER: No, if Australia had made such a decision, I would have announced it. Australia has not made any final decision on that matter, and we’re still, and we’ll be considering further when I return to Australia the plan that we believe can help us achieve our ambition in this area. I've already said at the start of this that it’s Australia's ambition to move towards and to achieve net zero as soon as possible, and preferably by 2050. That’s been my consistent statement since the beginning of this year, and over the course of this year Minister Taylor has been working very hard to put the plan together to achieve that. And that plan is consistent with what the Treasurer is saying today in his address. That plan recognises that the world is transitioning to a new energy economy in order to respond to climate change. That is the global reality. And, Australia, as a major energy producer now of long standing, will seek to be as an effective economic champion in that area, as we have been in the past. And we recognise the changes that are taking place, and we intend to be well positioned in the future to be successful with our industries in a new energy economy.
JOURNALIST: PM, can we just get some more detail about today's agreement with India. So, some detail around what Australia would provide into that sort of partnership, any costs that you’re starting to think about, that they, that the Government would have to bear for that? And, also, just a follow up question on, on the meeting with Jerome, did you get any sense from him he's got any concerns about what's happening in China? I mean, it’s having quite a massive effect on financial markets, their property [inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all. I mean, the partnership with India for low emissions technologies, that will now be reduced to quite finite arrangements, but as I said before, it will deal from our perspective on two principle issues. One is on hydrogen and our supply of hydrogen into India. And secondly, ultra low cost solar. They are the two specific areas of focus where we think we can make some real ground. I want to stress this has been work has been led up to, especially led by Dr Alan Finkel, who has been championing all of our energy partnerships, low emissions energy partnerships around the world. This is another significant one, because this is really dealing between, to be able to do hydrogen at this scale and to do this ultra low cost solar at scale, and to do it with a partner which has a very scaled manufacturing capability. So this is really a very exciting partnership in this area and this will help us build, I think, the opportunities that we'd like to take much more further afield. We spoke a bit about, frankly, the way that this has already occurred in places like Japan and there has been keen interest in their success here, and hopefully we'll be able to replicate it in India.
On the other matter, look, when it comes to Evergrande, this is principally an issue in China, and that addresses their financial stability. The broader exposures, our assessment, that's been provided to me and I was able to discuss today, are largely, substantively limits its effect to China. These things can have confidence impacts in the global marketplace, but those who follow the markets, we've seen particularly here, that impact, I wouldn't say it has been realised. And so it's a serious issue because it's a very large company, but China is seeking to manage the impact of debt in companies such as this. They've set out their red line processes, the three red lines as it’s referred to. And they're seeking to manage the level of debt within their economy, particularly in companies such as this. Obviously a very large one. But our expectation is that China will address that issue and seek to contain its impact.
JOURNALIST: What's the message you’re sending to China, you and the other leaders are sending to China, with this display of the Quad over the next 24 hours?
PRIME MINISTER: That we all want to work together to create a free and open Indo-Pacific and everybody benefits from that. We're looking for an Indo-Pacific where there's a happy coexistence, where the opportunities are realised, the growth potential is there to lift the living standards of all those in the Indo-Pacific. I mean, China's economic success has brought more people out of poverty than any other nation in the world's history. It's a remarkable achievement. It's a tremendous achievement. And the many other economies of the Indo-Pacific want to achieve exactly the same thing. And Australia wants to be very much part of that, as does India, as Japan, as does the United States. The Quad is a positive initiative designed to encourage freedom of the Indo-Pacific, the independence of the Indo-Pacific and seeing us lift living standards together in the Indo-Pacific.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the French have accused your government of treason and the rhetoric coming out of France is that Australia has been effectively a cheating partner in a marriage. You said you understand their disappointment, but do you understand that kind of language and do you think they're now overreacting?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't agree with that assessment.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what impact do you think the AUKUS deal will have on the dynamic in the room tomorrow at the Quad? It's a historic summit, much anticipated and now you have a new security alliance at play. How will that perhaps change or influence discussions?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it adds greatly, I think, to the Quad partnership. And that's what it's intended to do. I mean, Australia is engaged in partnerships with many countries, and we see the Quad and the trilateral partnership of AUKUS as being completely complementary, and that's the discussion that Narendra Modi and I have just had. He certainly sees it in that way, as does Yoshi Suga, when I spoke to him last week and I'll see him tomorrow morning. The Quad partners understand the need for positive contributions to regional stability and the AUKUS partnership is all about making that sort of contribution. Everybody gains from a stable Indo-Pacific, everybody gains, including whether it's in China, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, we all benefit from a stable Indo-Pacific.
JOURNALIST: There are horrendous videos coming out of Melbourne of police brutality and they're going viral in America. Americans are talking about Australia, and they've been doing this for some months, as an authoritarian dystopia, what do you say to them about Australia? Are you running an authoritarian dystopia, a gulag?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course not. Australia is a country that has seen over 30,000 lives saved, through COVID successfully. That has seen our economy come through COVID, arguably better than almost any other developed country in the world. We've worked together to produce these outcomes for the benefit of Australians. And the scenes and what we've seen in Melbourne over these last few days, I remarked on them last night when we came together, there's been some disgraceful scenes in Melbourne, particularly at the Shrine. Deeply disturbing and deeply upsetting and deeply offensive. It's important that we all respect each other and we respect freedom of speech, but equally there are things we must deeply respect and the desecration of the Shrine of Remembrance is truly sickening.
JOURNALIST: But what about Daniel Andrews? Don't you have anything to say to him about not being so, cracking down on his people so hard?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I work with all the premiers, all the chief ministers, to ensure that we are each responsible for our actions, and where premiers take actions in their own states where they impose restrictions, I'm quite certain that they know they're accountable for those actions.
JOURNALIST: In terms of the strictly Australia-US element of your trip draws to a close, did you get any sense of when a US Ambassador to Australia will be announced or arriving?
PRIME MINISTER: It hasn't been a topic of our conversations, I know there are wheels in motion there and I look forward to them further progressing.
JOURNALIST: Or a visit from the President, a visit from Joe Biden to Australia, did you discuss that?
PRIME MINISTER: That's a standing invitation from our first conversation, in fact. And the President's travel schedule is a work in progress, as you'd expect for the many issues he's dealing with. And of course, the COVID arrangements only complicate that further. But our standing invitation is always there.
JOURNALIST: Just in terms of the AUKUS agreement, Prime Minister, is there some form of public text that is going to be available for everyone to read of that agreement?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JOURNALIST: And then secondly, there's much speculation in the US about the start of tapering ...
PRIME MINISTER: The start of what, sorry?
JOURNALIST: The start of tapering, the end of quantitative easing in the US.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah.
JOURNALIST: That could put pressure on Australian interest rates. Does that worry you at all, concern you at all?
PRIME MINISTER: The, I suppose, the aftershocks that come from going through a global pandemic, the impact of the many rather unusual fiscal and monetary measures that have had to be. used through this crisis to keep our economy stable and keep growing, have been quite extraordinary. And so I have great confidence in the work that's being done by our own Secretary, by Phil Lowe and the team, to ensure that we've been able to minimise any of these sort of ripple effects that come from these other policy tools that have been deployed around the world.
What was a very interesting part of the discussion today, was that in both the United States and Australia, there is the similar dynamic of there being some rather strong balance sheets that have been made stronger by the significant economic interventions that both countries have taken. Through the income support that's been available, business support that has been available. What we haven't, thankfully, seen is the significant business stress that might have otherwise occurred, because their balance sheets have been supported through those economic programmes, which means that once we hit these vaccination rates, once we open Australia out, then we will see a strong economic response and they'll be expecting that here. In the United States, there are clearly as a result of many issues, but we share this problem, there are supply constraints. And that's why we have to work to remove some of these supply bottlenecks, because obviously when you don't do that, then that has inflationary pressures and Australia needs to achieve that also, when it comes to our labour market. We are, both countries, I think, pleased, but at the same time, it does create pressures that our labour market is getting very tight even in these pandemic circumstances. So, that's why it's important to get our borders open again. It's important to start getting those those flows of people being able to come, particularly in those particular skill areas you need to build bridges and build gas fired power stations and build nuclear submarines.
JOURNALIST: You're going to be meeting Vice President Kamala Harris tomorrow, I understand, are going to be meeting her tomorrow? So what are you going to be saying to her about what you're doing in your own parliament, about improving the treatment of women?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll be able to give a very positive report, about the changes that we've been able to make and particularly the process that we're going through now with Kate Jenkins, but before the Jenkins review even lands, we've already been able to put in place the supports and arrangements that I think is necessary in a modern parliament. The changes that we have been able to actually already introduce, I think have already made a very, very big difference. As they should. The training arrangements that have been able to be brought forward. I've participated in them myself. I think these are positive developments. And if she would like to know more about those things, I would be only too happy to share.
JOURNALIST: Will you give the Vice President any advice on your success with securing the border? And obviously the Biden Administration has a serious problem on their southern border. What advice would you give them?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I would only give advice that was solicited.
JOURNALIST: And what would it be if they solicited it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, if it’s solicited, then I can share it with them, but we're here to join together with our Quad partners and promote the issues that I've talked about. We're here particularly to mark the fact that it’s the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS alliance, and to really focus on the AUKUS partnership that we've been able to bring together. I don't come here seeking to provide advice to the United States about how they should be dealing issues, with issues in their country. That's not something I tend to do. I tend to respect my hosts, and if they make polite enquiries, I'd be only too happy to respond.
JOURNALIST: When will we see the writing of the AUKUS alliance agreement?
PRIME MINISTER: Not too long away. Thank you.
MIKTA Leaders' Statement
22 September 2021
We, the leaders of Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Turkey and Australia (‘MIKTA’), restate our belief in and commitment to open societies, democratic values and multilateralism. As leaders of geographically, culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse nations – our commitment to democracy and working collaboratively in the multilateral system is significant.
MIKTA was established as a cross‑regional grouping of G20 member nations in 2013, with the idea that – working together – we could bridge divides between developed and developing nations and build consensus on issues which would be relevant to all regions. Arguably, this role has never been more important than it is now, in a world challenged by increasing geopolitical competition and strained by a global pandemic.
We are deeply saddened by the loss of lives and the ongoing suffering caused by the COVID‑19 pandemic, which is the most serious global health crisis of modern times—and a powerful reminder of the imperative for a strong, responsive and effective multilateral system, in which our institutions are adequately authorised and resourced to fulfil their mandates. We reiterate that challenges are interconnected and can only be addressed through reinvigorated multilateralism.
This is only the second time MIKTA leaders are making a joint statement – with the first time being on the occasion of the high‑level meeting to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, in 2020. Much has changed in the world since 2020, and MIKTA will continue efforts to promote and support a multilateral system – with the United Nations at its core – that is effective, open and transparent and accountable to member states.
The Hon Scott Morrison MP, Prime Minister, Australia (MIKTA Chair)
HE Ir H Joko Widodo, President, Indonesia
HE Mr Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President, Mexico
HE Mr Moon Jae-in, President, Republic of Korea
HE Mr Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President, Turkey