PRIME MINISTER:
It’s good to be here at Yirrkala for a service to acknowledge the work of Norforce starting in 1942 and subsequently to acknowledge the commitment of indigenous service personnel in the armed forces of our Commonwealth for at least the last hundred years. Indigenous people served in the First World War, they served in the Second World War, they've served in all subsequent conflicts, they're serving in strength with the Australian Army and our other services now. The interesting thing is that long before we ever acknowledged indigenous people they'd acknowledged our country in the most practical possible way, by serving in the armed forces of the Commonwealth of Australia.
I'll shortly be heading south and east to help farewell our air elements to the Middle East. They are an important part of the force that Australia is dispatching to the Middle East. We're deploying them to the United Arab Emirates at this stage but obviously we have in mind subsequent decisions that will lead to combat operations inside Iraq in support of the Iraqi Government, in support of the Peshmerga. They will be essentially humanitarian in their overall objective, but in order to protect people, both there and here, against the murderous rage of ISIL, it will be necessary to have the capacity to disrupt and degrade ISIL operations.
As many of you know, there has been a major anti-terror operation in Sydney and elsewhere early this morning. Last night I was briefed that this was imminent. It seems to have gone ahead very smoothly and professionally from the early hours of this morning. I thank the AFP, the New South Wales police and everyone else involved in this operation. I commend them on their professionalism. The highest priority of Government is the safety of our community and it's good to see that our police and security forces are one step ahead of those who would do us harm.
QUESTION:
People have been asked to remain calm but how can they when there is news that there are people willing to conduct public beheadings in Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
That's the intelligence we received. The exhortations, quite direct exhortations were coming from an Australian who is apparently quite senior in ISIL to networks of support back in Australia to conduct demonstration killings here in this country. So, this is not just suspicion, this is intent and that's why the police and security agencies decided to act in the way they have.
QUESTION:
Have you received any evidence or intelligence that Australia is more likely to be the subject of a home-grown attack than any other country?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, I haven't received any warning to that effect. What I have been receiving with increasing urgency over months and more recently is that we are at serious risk from a terrorist attack and obviously a week or so back we lifted the level of the terror threat; the level of the terror threat had shortly before that been lifted in the United Kingdom as well.
There are at least 60 Australians that we know of who are serving with ISIL and other terror groups in the Middle East. There's at least 100 Australians we know of that are supporting them. There are, I regret to say, networks of people here in this country who, despite living here, despite enjoying the Australian way of life, would do us harm and it's very important that our police and security organisations be one step ahead of them and I think this morning they were.
QUESTION:
Was there intelligence about this morning's raids which led to the increasing of the terror threat alert last week?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, as the outgoing Director-General of ASIO made clear last week, the scale and the tempo of anti-terror investigations had been increasing for many, many months. So, the decision that was made a week ago to raise the terror threat level was something that was many, many weeks, even months, in the making.
Obviously, the events this morning were based on specific intelligence that people weren't just preparing an attack but had the intention to mount one.
QUESTION:
Is there any evidence, Prime Minister, that the Muslim community within Australia is actually now assisting ASIO and the AFP, actually providing the sort of intelligence you've been calling for?
PRIME MINISTER:
The overwhelming majority of Australians find the kind of thing that we have seen abroad, and which has been threatened now here, absolutely and utterly abhorrent and I was delighted to see quite a large gathering, mostly Muslims, in Sydney last weekend to celebrate our way of life, to celebrate our country, to demonstrate in a very practical way that as far as they're concerned there's one Team Australia and everyone can and should be a member of it.
QUESTION:
What do you say to one of your own backbenchers, Cory Bernardi, talking about bans on the burqa again this morning?
PRIME MINISTER:
This isn't about people's religion, it's not about what people wear, it's about potential terror attacks here in Australia and that's what we've got to guard against. We have got to guard against potential terror attacks here in Australia. We shouldn't fret about people's faith. We shouldn't fret about what people wear. We should guard against crime. We should protect ourselves against potential terror and that's exactly what our police and security forces have done today.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, what would you say to anyone who's worried that our involvement in Iraq may increase the risk of this kind of attack that we’re talking about this morning happening?
PRIME MINISTER:
I understand that some people will claim that and I understand that some people will fear that, but let's remember that Australians were subject to a terror attack in Bali long before there was any talk of Australian involvement in Iraq. The United States was subject to the infamous September the 11th atrocity long before President Bush ever envisaged any American movements in the Middle East. These people, I regret to say, do not hate us for what we do, they hate us for who we are and how we live. That's what makes us a target; the fact that we are different from their view of what an ideal society should look like, the fact that we are free, we are pluralist, we are tolerant, we are welcoming, we are accepting. All of these, in their eyes, are wrong and that's what makes us a target and that's something that should never change about us. We should always be a free, a fair, an open and tolerant country.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, when will you return to East Arnhem Land, and in light of what's happened overnight and the fact we are in the middle of a critical deployment to the Middle East, should you be returning to East Arnhem Land at all?
PRIME MINISTER:
That's a fair question. The ordinary business of government must go on, notwithstanding dramatic developments, but on the other hand it is important to respond appropriately to these developments.
So today, I'll be going to our air bases in the east to farewell the Royal Australian Air Force elements that are on their way to the Middle East. I'll then be going to Sydney for briefings on what happened today. My movements tomorrow are as yet undetermined. I would like to come back. I would like to come back, but at this point it would be wrong of me to make a specific commitment.
QUESTION:
Are you going to Amberley base today?
PRIME MINISTER:
Again, I'll be going to airbases in the east to farewell Royal Australian Air Force elements that are on their way to the Middle East.
QUESTION:
If you don’t come back Prime Minister, whatever happens, is there any firm resolutions that you've seen out of this that have struck you?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, it's been terrific to be here and in a place like East Arnhem Land you see much that's positive as well as some things that remain difficult when it comes to indigenous Australia and the way indigenous Australians live. There's enormous pride in Yolngu culture, as there should be. There's a fierce determination to preserve that culture, as there should be. There's a deep commitment to acknowledgment of the place of Aboriginal people in modern Australia and that's right too.
There are various specific things that have happened over the course of the last few days. Obviously, we are now close to setting a timetable for the indigenous recognition referendum. There are a few things that need to be done before that can be finalised, but the time is close for that to be finalised. I would like to see a township lease here at Yirrkala happen as quickly as possible. Again, there are some things that need to happen first, but having been in discussions with people over the last few days, I see no reason why that can't happen. This is quite a big settlement. It doesn't have a resident police presence and I think it should. I think all of the larger remote townships should have a resident police presence and the Commonwealth is more than happy to work with the states and territories to ensure that that happens as soon as possible.
So, there are things that will happen. Jamie Briggs confirmed various infrastructure commitments to the people of East Arnhem Land, so there are various things that will happen, both national and local, as a result of this visit.
QUESTION:
You've now been briefed on Noel Pearson's proposal for constitutional recognition, a new proposal, has that got legs?
PRIME MINISTER:
The important thing is to set a timetable so that the debate can crystallise. And my role at the moment is not to be embracing one proposal or the other, my role at the moment is to ensure that as far as is humanly possible, the necessary debate is conducted in a good spirit, that we don't leap to conclusions, that we don't dig trenches and leap into them prematurely because this is worth doing but it has to be done in a bipartisan spirit. It has to be done in a way which brings Australia together. The 1967 referendum was a great unifying moment. I think this can be an even more significant unifying moment, but it's not going to be a unifying moment if people suddenly start raising one standard and criticising another standard. What we've got to do is carefully consider all of the various proposals that will come forward and at the moment my job is to finalise a timetable and then let's see where the debate goes.
Thank you.
[ends]