CHRIS UHLMANN:
Tony Abbott, you were critical of Kevin Rudd’s ambitious plans on the world stage. You’ve told the UN Australia will lend a hand wherever it can. Do you run the risk of overreach?
PRIME MINISTER:
It’s very important that we do what is in our national interests. Obviously, it was in our national interest that we take a very strong position on MH17 a couple of months back and now it’s in our national interest that we play our part in the fight against the murderous death cult, ISIL, because this isn’t just something that’s happening in the Middle East, it’s something that’s reaching out to Australia.
As you know, there are at least 60 Australians that are currently fighting with ISIL and other terrorist groups, there’s at least 100 Australians supporting them, there’s well over 60 who have had their passports cancelled lest they go abroad to join ISIL. Unfortunately, this toxicity in the Middle East is reaching out to our country and it’s doing bad things at home. That’s why it’s important that this be done as part of our national security effort.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Are you prepared for this fight to last for years, as our own Chief of Army believes it will?
PRIME MINISTER:
We’ve been concerned about terrorism for well over a decade already as you know, Chris. I suppose the September the 11th atrocity alerted the world to the readiness of misguided people to kill in the name of God. I think that the latest explosion of fanaticism is alerting people all around the world, in all religions and in all cultures that it’s never right to kill in the name of God and mistreat people in the name of God, but that message will take some time to sink in.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
And surely the message to us, though, is if what we’ve been doing for the last decade hasn’t been working doing more of it may not work also?
PRIME MINISTER:
I can’t give an absolute categorical assurance that we will never see a successful terror incident in Australia, but I can give a categorical assurance, Chris, that we have very, very professional world-equalling police security and intelligence services and they are constantly vigilant.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
When will Australia’s fighter jets join the action in Iraq?
PRIME MINISTER:
The Government needs to make a final decision to commit them to combat operations over Iraq, this is a matter that will be considered in coming days. Obviously, we’ve deployed them to the Middle East along with Special Forces that can act as military advisers because we thought they might be necessary. It’s clear that more and more countries are committing to some form of military action to support the Iraqi Government to disrupt and degrade the ISIL movement. The Dutch Government has just agreed to commit up to eight of their F-16s and we saw five Middle Eastern countries join the United States in air strikes on ISIL targets in Syria just the other day.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
So, you deployed these troops, these fighter jets. Your intention is to commit them?
PRIME MINISTER:
We didn’t send them there for merely an exercise; we sent them there in readiness to deploy them, but obviously, it’s important to do so as part of a coalition. That coalition clearly is assembling and the Government will be making further decisions in coming days.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees are pouring across the Turkish border – 144,000 in six days – they’re coming out of Syria; that’s where the main fight is. Will you take Australia’s fight there?
PRIME MINISTER:
It’s not within our current intentions, Chris…
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Current intentions?
PRIME MINISTER:
…I certainly don’t rule it out. Morally, there’s little difference between ISIL – this death cult – on one side of the border to the other because it’s a border that ISIL doesn’t recognise. But legally – and the Australian Government must be conscious of these things because we are a law abiding country – legally, there’s a world of difference between operating inside in Iraq in support of and at the request of the Iraqi Government, and operating in Syria which is largely ungoverned space with a regime that Australia doesn’t actually recognise.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
And if you were going to win the fight in Syria the only viable partner there is the Government of Bashar al-Assad.
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I’m not in the business of disputing the statement you’ve just made, but, Chris, what we have in mind is combat operations in Iraq, not elsewhere. Obviously, what other countries do, what other governments do, is a matter for them. We are determined to do what we reasonably and prudently and proportionately can at home and abroad to combat this terror menace.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
At home, Prime Minister, what is your latest advice on what the threat is to Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
It’s High, we raised the terror threat level on the advice of our expert agencies a couple of weeks ago now. I hope it doesn’t go up, but obviously, we rely on expert advice and as I’ve said repeatedly, we will do what’s necessary to keep our community safe.
The other point I keep making is that we’ve got have a sense of perspective about all things, even things as alarming as this can be, and Australians need to just go about their business normally. We don’t want terrorists to frighten us out of being ourselves, because that would be to give the terrorists a victory.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Will there be more arrests?
PRIME MINISTER:
As you know, Chris, the big raids that were conducted last week did net a lot of evidence. That evidence is being sifted to see what it turns up. Let’s not pre-empt what happens, but anyone who is breaking Australian law will feel the weight of the law. That’s what people expect of government and that’s certainly what we intend to deliver.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Liberal senators Cory Bernardi and Dean Smith are pushing for changes to the Racial Discrimination Act and you decided not to go ahead with those because you feared it might inflame tensions with the Muslim community. What’s your message to them?
PRIME MINISTER:
Obviously, backbench Members of Parliament are entitled to promote private members legislation, but yes, I am determined to do everything I can to promote national unity and I’m also determined to do everything I reasonably can to crack down on the preachers of hate.
I don’t believe that the advocacy of terrorism is something that really has a place in our society and that’s one of the reasons why under today’s circumstances, which are not the circumstances of which we faced two or three years ago, I decided that it was best not to proceed with our earlier commitment on Section 18C.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Now, you’ve spoken to Egypt’s leader about Peter Greste, the journalist that’s been held there for such a long time now. Can you tell us about that conversation?
PRIME MINISTER:
In broad terms yes, Chris. I’m not going to go into the detail of who said what to whom, but I think I can say that President el-Sisi is a reluctant jailer here. He wasn’t the President when Peter Greste and his colleagues were arrested. He does have to allow Egyptian legal process to run its course, but the impression I have of him is that he is a decent man of good values who appreciates that free, or at least free-ish speech, is very important even in Egypt. I think he will do his best to be helpful.
CHRIS UHLMANN:
Prime Minister, thank you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you so much.
[ends]