PRIME MINISTER:
It’s good to be here at the Joint Operations Command Centre to say thank you to the men and women of the Australian Defence Force and others who have been helping to coordinate our operations overseas.
As you know, I’ve spent most of the last week overseas in connection with various operations. My week began in the Netherlands where I was saying thank you to the 200 or so Australian Federal Police and the 250 or so Australian Defence Force personnel who were deployed to Europe as part of Operation Bring Them Home.
Then, I went to London where I spoke to the UK Foreign and Defence Secretaries. I had briefings on security and intelligence, and the focus of those discussions was on the ongoing threat to countries like Australia and Britain that has been exacerbated by recent developments in the Middle East – the declaration of a caliphate and the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the extraordinary advances that have been made by ISIL in the last few weeks.
Then, of course, on the way back, I stopped at Al Minhad Airbase which was the point of departure for our humanitarian airdrops in Mount Sinjar. We didn't just deploy a C-130 Hercules aircraft, but we also had a very large team – a support team – that made that humanitarian work possible. The fact that this team was assembled from many parts of Australia and deployed to the Middle East within about 72 hours is a sign of the capability of our armed forces at need.
The situation in Mount Sinjar itself has somewhat eased, but the overall security situation in Iraq remains perilous and while I certainly don't envisage Australian combat troops in Iraq, we are consulting with our allies and partners on what Australia can usefully contribute to try to ensure that the situation in the Middle East improves rather than deteriorates. I also had the opportunity while at Al Minhad to have discussions with the Crown Prince Mohammed, who has been a good friend of Australia, and obviously appreciates our presence in the UAE.
Finally, before coming back to Australia late last night, I was able to catch up with Prime Minister Lee of Singapore. Singapore is an important economic partner of Australia. Our links with Singapore are close and getting closer all the time and I certainly would like to see, as an important part of the work of this Government, ever closer integration of Australia and Singapore, given the many things that we have in common.
Above all else today, I want to salute and pay tribute to the work done here at this Joint Operations Command Centre. You cannot effectively deploy military forces without close coordination. This is state-of-the-art, world-class coordination, and I salute everyone involved in it.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, do you welcome the fact that the first two Australians on board MH17 have been formerly identified?
PRIME MINISTER:
The Dutch have done a splendid job. As we have watched this situation over the days and weeks since the atrocity, there's been an extraordinary contrast between what happened in the early days and what's happened once the bodies have been returned to the Netherlands. No one could fail to have been moved and reassured by the extraordinary dignity and solemnity with which the Dutch received our dead, and their own, and the dead of other countries. What's happened since then has been done at the highest possible standard and I want to reassure all of the Australian families that everything is being done to ensure that remains are being treated with respect and people are being identified as quickly as possible.
QUESTION:
Have your consultations with allies on Iraq included or canvassed further military involvement by Australia and if so, what kind?
PRIME MINISTER:
All of us are looking at what needs to be done to counter the ISIL menace – and it is a menace. It's not just a menace abroad, I regret to say, that it is potentially a menace at home, because as we’ve seen on our own screens and in our own newspapers, there are Australians born and bred operating with this terrorist army, engaging in atrocities of the most hideous kind and it's important that we protect ourselves against the threat that is posed by this organisation, not just in the Middle East, but here, should the people who have been radicalised, militarised, and brutalised by experience with ISIL, seek to return to Australia.
QUESTION:
How can this organisation actually been defeated in Iraq, Prime Minister? How can it be defeated?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, this is a matter that we are discussing with our friends and partners and allies. Obviously, a key part of any eclipse is a better political dispensation in Iraq. The formation of a new government under a new prime minister is very encouraging, and the challenge for the new prime minister will be to form a broadly-based government which treats all Iraqis equally, and avoids the kind of sect against sect business which happened under his predecessor.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, are you concerned that it appears another suspected jihadist has managed to leave the country for the Middle East on a relative's passport?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, plainly I'm not happy about this, although I am pleased that the individual in question did arouse concerns on departing Australia. Those concerns were subsequently confirmed and the individual in question was arrested in the UAE. So, while this person did get out of Australia he wasn't able to make his way to the ISIL battlefront. So, that's a little bit better than the previous occasion, but it's not good enough, and that's why we’re investing some $630 million over the next four years in strengthening our security services and an important element of that will be biometric screening at airports so that this kind of identity issue can be dealt with much more effectively in the months and years to come. The former government talked a lot. This Government is acting. Our borders will be secure and biometric screening is an important element in that.
QUESTION:
If there were concerns, how was he allowed to leave?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, concerns were raised, but at that stage there was insufficient certainty as to his identity to detain him. But further work was done once the concerns had been raised and he was detained on arrival in the UAE. So, while I'm not happy that he left, I am pleased that he's now in detention.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, do you agree with the Treasurer that the poorest people would be less affected by the fuel tax excise?
PRIME MINISTER:
Let's finish dealing with security issues and then we’ll come on to that one.
QUESTION:
In your discussions with security officials and the briefings you've had and with world leaders, is there a view that a step short of combat boots on the ground is the use of air power and that's already proved decisive in helping rescue these people?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think there’s little doubt that the US air strikes have, for the moment at least, checked the ISIL advance. As you know, not only was ISIL terrorising the hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Iraq who weren't part of ISIL's conception of what people should be. So the murderous rage of the ISIL advance was checked, the advance of ISIL into the Kurdish areas appears for the moment to have been checked. So, while air power is obviously not the only answer to the threat of an operation like ISIL, it does have its place and, from the beginning, the Australian Government supported President Obama's decision to deploy American air power against the ISIL advance, and I certainly think it's important to have that option available should the ISIL advance resume.
QUESTION:
Might we help?
PRIME MINISTER:
As I said, I don't envisage the deployment of Australian combat troops into Northern Iraq. We are continuing to consult with our allies and partners about what is the best way to deal with this threat. All responsible elements in the Middle East are concerned about what's been happening in Northern Iraq and Eastern Syria over the last few months, as my discussions with Sheikh Mohammed in Al Minhad made absolutely crystal clear.
The challenge of extremism, the challenge of terrorism, is great throughout the Middle East, and all responsible elements – not just countries like the United States, Britain and Australia – are deeply concerned. There is an enormous amount of cooperation and coordination going on throughout the Middle East right now in an attempt to deal with it as best we can.
QUESTION:
So would you expect the air drops to end sooner than expected with the easing of things at Mount Sinjar?
PRIME MINISTER:
My understanding is that there has been a pause in the air drops because the humanitarian situation on Mount Sinjar is not as acute as it was, but Australia certainly stands ready to assist people in trouble wherever we reasonably can. We are geared up now to make further humanitarian air drops in this area if required.
QUESTION:
Have you spoken to President Obama about the operation going forward?
PRIME MINISTER:
As you know, we had the AUSMIN consultations here in Australia just earlier this week, so there's been the closest consultation between Australia and the United States on this, as on so many areas, as you'd expect.
QUESTION:
PM, you said you don't envisage troops for a combat role. Do you envisage, or do you rule out, troops for a much more limited humanitarian mission, if a further crisis should arise?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well David, look, obviously Australia will act in support of our interests, our citizens, and our values. We will act as a good partner and ally in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world. I'm not going to get into the business of ruling this in or ruling that out. I don't envisage the use of combat troops on the ground, but certainly, I want Australian operations to be effective in terms of supporting our humanitarian ideals and, obviously, our humanitarian ideals have been deeply at risk in recent weeks because of the murderous advance of ISIL forces in northern Iraq and elsewhere.
QUESTION:
Regarding Treasurer Joe Hockey, do you agree with his comments that poorer Australians are less likely to be affected by an increase in fuel taxes because they don't drive as much? Do you agree with that assertion?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, plainly, I wouldn't say that, but I do want to make it clear that the best thing we can do for all Australians, rich and poor alike, is get the Budget back under control so that the Government can continue to deliver, effectively, in the medium and long-term, the services that every Australian needs, but particularly low income people. That's the challenge: to get our economy stronger so that everyone can be better off, particularly lower income people can be better off. That's the challenge.
Whatever people may think about the way Joe expressed himself in a particular radio interview, he has a plan to ensure that all Australians are better off in the long-term. It's the only plan that is currently before the Australian people, and that's why it's so important that the Labor Party, which has been obstructing this plan at every turn, which caused the problem, the debt and deficit disaster which the Government is seeking to address, should accept that it got it wrong and should stop trying to obstruct the only solution on offer.
QUESTION:
Does the Treasurer continue to have your full support then in his ability to sell this Budget?
PRIME MINISTER:
Of course. I don't say for a second that all elements of the Budget are popular. It is not easy to address a debt and deficit disaster. It is not easy to say to the Australian people, look, benefits that you were told you could have are not affordable, they were never affordable, the former government was pulling the wool over your eyes, the former government was spending money that it just didn't have, and couldn't afford, and couldn't sustain. It's not easy to do that, but the Australian people are good, decent, sensible people. I believe that
Australians understand that, in the end, government – like families, like businesses – has to live within its means and that's what we will do. We will live within our means because that is the only way to deliver a better life to the Australian people in the medium and long-term.
QUESTION:
Are your Cabinet ministers out of touch with every day Australians, and can you give us examples of that being otherwise?
PRIME MINISTER:
You know, one of the reasons that we were so determined to get rid of the carbon tax is because we know that a lot of people are doing it tough. A lot of Australians are doing it tough right now and the carbon tax was a gratuitous assault on their standard of living. It was a gratuitous assault on their hip pocket and thanks to the repeal of the carbon tax, the average Australian family is $550 a year better off. At every step of the way we have been opposed by Labor Party and the first thing that the Labor Party would do if it ever gets back into government would be to hit you again with a carbon tax.
QUESTION:
Does the Treasurer have an image problem when he keeps saying things that suggest he is out of touch?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm very proud of the Budget that the Treasurer and I have brought down, that the Government has brought down. I am very proud of that. I want to focus on the fundamental challenges facing our country. The fundamental challenge that the Treasurer and I are totally focused on is how do we manage Labor's debt and deficit disaster? How do we get our Budget back under control so we can make our economy stronger, so that every Australian can be better off? That's the challenge that we are focused on.
Right now, we are still borrowing $1 billion every single month just to pay the interest on Labor's debt. This is a completely unacceptable, unsustainable situation. That's the challenge that we have thanks to six years of utter incompetence and that is the challenge that we are determined to deal with.
Thank you.
[ends]