PRIME MINISTER:
Well it’s a real honour to be flanked by the service chiefs this morning and obviously today’s announcement is about the transition to new leadership in the Australian Defence Force. As of July, General Hurley will be retiring, Air Marshal Binskin will be taking over as the Chief of the Defence Force, Admiral Griggs will be stepping up as the Vice Chief, Admiral Barrett will become Chief of Navy, General Morrison will continue for 12 months as Chief of Army, and Air Marshal Brown will continue for 12 months as Chief of Air Force.
I’ve only been the Prime Minister for a little over six months; in that time it’s been a great honour and a privilege to work very closely with the senior leadership of the Australian Defence Force. We have a small, but very capable, extremely professional and internationally respected Defence Force, which as all of you know, is constantly busy. At the moment, we’re obviously very deeply involved in the extraordinary search for ill-fated flight MH370, but we have ongoing major commitments to Operation Sovereign Borders; we have ongoing significant commitments in Afghanistan and elsewhere and I have to say that our Defence Force is discharging its duties with extraordinary diligence and professionalism.
So I am incredibly proud of our men and women in uniform. I do believe that they represent the best of our country and I am confident that in the years ahead our Defence Force will become more capable, more effective and more influential around the world. So with that, I just want to say congratulations to Air Chief Marshal to be Binskin on this very important promotion and thank you to General David Hurley for the work that he has done over the last three years as the Chief, but over the last 40 years as a member of our military.
General Hurley has done extraordinary work overseeing our operations in Afghanistan, in East Timor, in the Pacific but he was also on active service in Somalia as our force commander there. David, I hope you feel incredibly proud of the work that you've done because you have served our country – you've served Queen and country with extraordinary distinction and certainly I'm very proud to have had six months to work with you as Prime Minister. David.
DEFENCE MINISTER:
Thank you, Prime Minister.
May I say how delighted I am to congratulate Air Marshal Binskin, soon to be Air Chief Marshal Binskin as the successor to General Hurley. In my time in the Senate I've come to know Mark Binskin as someone who I not only deeply respect, but I also admire and I do sincerely congratulate him on achieving the culmination of his, obviously, lifetime ambitions to lead the Australian Defence Force, I think, is a wonderful achievement in one's life and I pause to again say congratulations, Mark.
There will be many opportunities into the future for us to thank and celebrate the contribution that General David Hurley has made to the Australian Defence Force and all of the good things he has done during his tenure as Chief of the Defence Force. He should rest assured that there will be many, many occasions when I will get up and extol his virtues and thank him profusely for the work that he's done. And the first thing I should say is, as a new Minister for Defence of some seven or eight months, I thank him for guiding me through what is always a difficult time transitioning from government to government, minister to minister. He has made the job a lot easier than it otherwise would have been.
But ladies and gentlemen, all the service chiefs, the continuing ones and their successors, I want to congratulate and say that I am very, very proud of them. They are doing a fabulous job for us. One only needs to see the esteem within which we are held by the Malaysian Prime Minister and all of the service personnel that have come from the five or six different countries that are in Pearce Air Base today, in the work we're doing trying to recover MH370. The Australian Defence Force is held in high esteem around our region and across the world and the people who bear responsibility for that are standing before you here today and I congratulate all of them and may I say I congratulate the Prime Minister on these appointments.
Thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER:
General Hurley.
GENERAL DAVID HURLEY:
Prime Minister, thank you.
First of all, thank you very much for your kind remarks and your support for the Australian Defence Force and its men and women. We really value that and we take it to heart. Could I also congratulate the new team that's been selected to take over the leadership of the Australian Defence Force into the future. I think you will note there's a mixture here of reposition, experience, new blood and continuity, particularly important at this time as we continue the challenges of addressing ADF cultural issues that need to be pursued – so the pathway to change. I think this team and this line up gives everybody assurance that we are deadly serious about taking on that issue and driving it forward.
I'd like to congratulate Mark in particular. He knows what he's taking on so he does not go into this job being blind-sided at all. I think he's represented me on so many occasions sometimes you'd think he owns my seat already. But Mark, congratulations and I wish you well into the future. And to Tim, congratulations as well as the new member of the team taking over from Ray. With the Navy today deployed very widely across the Indian Ocean into the Gulf, really in all four corners of the globe, at a very high tempo, Ray has driven the Navy very hard in terms of both the cultural issues it needed to address, but more importantly the sustainment of maintenance issues. He hands over the Navy heading in a very good direction; and Tim as being the fleet commander for the last year or so you're well across those issues so I look forward to you taking that on.
I wish you all well in the job. I do not intend to be a Nellie Melba. So Minister, one farewell will be sufficient, thank you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Mark.
AIR MARSHAL BINSKIN:
Thank you, Prime Minister, Minister for Defence, CDF, hopefully my voice will stay with me this morning for this. I have to say I'm extremely honoured and very proud to have been selected to take over as Chief of Defence Force in July this year. I know that I'll take command of the ADF at a time of military significance as we go into the Centenary of Anzac commemorations. It's a time of transformation for the ADF and it's a time for continued reform for the ADF, but I'm comfortable that I’ll be able to meet the challenges head on and be able to face those challenges with the team that I've got supporting and the senior command team that's been announced this morning is a great team. Ray Griggs, as the new Vice Chief brings a lot of experience to the job. It's good to see Tim Barrett, the second birdy in Navy to be promoted to the Chief of Navy position – as an ex-birdy I can say that – but brings a lot of experience to Navy; and also David Morrison and Geoff Brown, the experience they will carry on in their two roles as Chief of Army and Chief of Air Force means we've got that new blood in as General Hurley said plus we’ve got that experience and those wise hands as we continue to transition through.
So it will be a big challenge, I understand that, but ready for it. And I too would just like to take the chance, I know General Hurley will leave in July this year and there’ll be plenty of chances to say goodbye to him and farewell in that one big function that he wants, rather than those thousands of functions, but his leadership and dedication over the last couple of years as Vice Chief and then as CDF has been fundamental to where the ADF is today and I want to thank him for that. They're big shoes to fill, but I'm also cognisant of the fact that there’s two feet in those shoes between now and July so I’ll start talking a bit more about where I see the ADF going in July. So thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER:
Ok, I should also let you know that the White Paper process has begun. There's an expert group, headed by Peter Jennings, to assist the production of the White Paper. But the White Paper is all about trying to ensure that we have more and more capable armed forces as we move over the next decade to increase Defence spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product. Australia has small but outstanding Defence Forces. They are extremely professional, they are extremely well led and what you've seen this morning is change, but continuity in the leadership of our Australian Defence Force.
Are there any questions?
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, you're going to Japan shortly.
Your Government and members of the Defence Force have looked at Japanese technology that might be used or might help with our new submarine project, is that something you’ll discuss while you're there this time?
PRIME MINISTER:
We want to enhance defence cooperation with Japan. We've had defence cooperation with Japan for quite a long period of time. Most recently, of course, we worked together in Iraq. I'm looking to enhance and develop that and I'm very conscious of the fact that Japan has the largest and most capable conventional submarines in the world and we want to learn wherever possible from their experience as we develop the next generation of our own submarines.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, how is returning Defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP compatible with everything else that we're hearing about the state of the Budget?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the objective that the Government is pursuing is to develop a stronger, more robust and more prosperous economy. We aren't trying to get the Budget under control because we are Budget fetishists, we are trying to get the Budget under control because a stronger Budget means a stronger economy and a stronger economy means that we will be able to increase defence spending so that our nation is as secure as it possibly can be. So yes, in the short term we are facing very, very significant Budget challenges, but if we handle them the way I am sure we will, over time we will have a significantly stronger economy and significantly greater opportunities to spend on the real priorities of our nation.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, what's the thinking behind extending the Chief's role to four years? What's wrong with three?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, three years is a relatively short period of time. For instance, in government they say it takes 12 months to learn the ropes and then you've got 12 months to do something and then you've got 12 months thinking about the next election, and I guess with a three year term at the top of the Defence Force there are similar problems of short-termism.
It's a modest extension but I think it will help to promote good management and good governance inside our military.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, are you convinced of the need to embark on a serious overhaul of the AEC given what's occurred in WA?
PRIME MINISTER:
Perhaps we might deal with Defence issues and then I might say to the service chiefs that they can be excused while we deal with standard political stuff. So, any further questions on Defence issues?
QUESTION:
A 2 per cent increase, it's still a very big ask, isn't it? On today's figures it's about $5 billion more. One, can Defence absorb money, the increases that that's going to imply, and is it possible in a decade?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, yes to both. We have small but highly capable Defence Forces but there are many, many challenges. We live in an uncertain and at times dangerous world and while Australia is always looking for more friends rather than for new adversaries you just never know what's around the corner. In 1990 who would have predicted the East Timor operation? In 2000 who would have predicted the Afghanistan operation? In 1995 who would have predicted the Iraq campaigns?
Now, you just never know what is around the corner and we have to be ready for a wide range of contingencies in all sorts of different parts of the world and that's why it's important that over time we move to 2 per cent of GDP as our Defence spend.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, something that's worked its way through the last two White Papers that the previous government produced, a very comprehensive re-equipment program and it was never fully funded and this created a serious problem and it was possibly a crisis of expectations. Are there any of those things that were locked in in those two White Papers such as 100 Joint Strike Fighters, 12 submarines, a fairly massive re-equipment program for the Army in terms of vehicles, are they all locked in? Do you remain committed to those things, or might those numbers shift?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, in terms of the Joint Strike Fighters, yes we are committed. In terms of a significantly more capable submarine force, yes we are committed. I don't want to pre-empt the White Paper process but nevertheless, we want more capable, not less capable armed forces going forward and we need to get out of this White Paper a new Defence Capability Plan which is affordable but also funded. This was the big problem with the last two Defence White Papers; it was basically an equipment wish list rather than something that was affordable and funded.
QUESTION:
Are you close to a decision on JSF yet?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, the short answer is we're on track to be making decisions and ultimately acquiring aircraft at the right time.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, the Chief of the Defence Force's role is supposed to be politically neutral but obviously General Hurley hit the front page of the papers a lot for doing those joint press conferences on asylum seekers. Do you think it was a mistake to make the Chief of the Defence Force do something like that that's so politically sensitive?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think it's very important that we respect the professionalism of the Defence Forces. I think it's very important that we don't drag men and women in uniform into party political controversy, but it's also very important that at the right time and in the right place, senior Defence chiefs are there to provide information and that's what's happened under this Government.
From time to time we've had General Campbell there to provide information. His role in those Operation Sovereign Borders announcements has evolved, but nevertheless, I think it's perfectly appropriate for senior Defence chiefs to be offering information and at times explanations as to exactly what's happening.
Phil?
QUESTION:
Could we ask non-military questions?
PRIME MINISTER:
If they're Defence related, fine, and if they're not, well I'll excuse the service chiefs and we'll go onto other issues.
Ok, thank you so much.
Ok, so Phil, and then there was an AEC question.
QUESTION:
Can I just ask, you're heading off to Asia tomorrow on your trade mission – specifically with Japan, what is your realistic expectation on the trade deal with Japan by Monday night and also with China? At this stage how far do you think you're going to get on both of those?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think it would be unrealistic to expect anything like a concluded arrangement with China but nevertheless, hopefully some progress can be made on some of the contentious subjects.
With Japan, we are close to a deal but there's one or two sticking points and let's hope they can be dealt with over the next few days.
On the AEC, there was a question on AEC?
QUESTION:
As to whether or not you felt there was a need for a comprehensive overhaul of the AEC and what's occurred?
PRIME MINISTER:
Ok, well look, let me just make a couple of observations about the West Australian Senate by-election. The latest revelations about statements from various Labor candidates demonstrate that there is division and dysfunction at the heart of the West Australian Labor Senate team.
It's proof from deep within the Labor Party that the Labor Party is simply not up to the job of government and I'm hoping that the voters of Western Australia are sufficiently engaged to be paying attention to this because it is important what's happening on Saturday and the repeal of the carbon tax, the repeal of the mining tax – two fundamentally anti-Western Australian taxes – will be influenced obviously by the result on Saturday.
So I just want to say to people of Western Australia: your vote counts. This does matter. If you want a strong Western Australia, unburdened by the carbon tax, unburdened by the mining tax, it's important to vote for the Liberal ticket, it's important to vote for Coalition candidates and obviously it's important to, amongst others, return David Johnston to the Senate.
DEFENCE MINISTER:
Thank you, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Now on the Electoral Commission, we need a vote that we can have confidence in and the tragedy of the vote last time was that in the end, due to the ineptitude of the Australian Electoral Commission, we couldn't be confident in the results for the last two seats. Now, I think the Australian people are entitled to expect a much better performance from the Australian Electoral Commission this time.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, can you clarify what sort of a deal your Government's trying to negotiate with Cambodia? The Immigration Minister appeared there overnight. Are you trying to negotiate a deal where asylum seekers being held in detention overseas are resettled in Cambodia?
PRIME MINISTER:
We're always talking to our regional partners under the Bali Process. People smuggling is a serious regional problem and we like to stay in touch with all of our partners in the Bali process and that's what this is – it's a discussion between the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection with the Cambodians about what we can all usefully do under the Bali Process to crackdown on people smuggling.
Lenore?
QUESTION:
I might try two questions. The first one, will it be appropriate or feasible for asylum seekers to be resettled in Cambodia? And the second one, you said the result of the WA Senate election is important for the repeal of the carbon tax. Senators Madigan and Xenephon are voting for the repeal of the carbon tax so are you saying you're not sure how Palmer United Party Senators already elected would vote, or why do you think it’s so important for the repeal of the carbon tax?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well it's very important for the repeal of the carbon tax because the only people who you can absolutely count upon to vote to repeal the carbon tax are members of the Coalition – members of the Liberal and National Party. Now, until we actually see their votes on the floor of the Senate, you just can never be sure about anyone else when it comes to this issue. So if you want to see the carbon tax gone and the mining tax gone, the only way to be sure is to vote for the Liberal ticket, it's to vote for a Coalition candidate. So that's the fundamental point that I would like to leave with the electors of Western Australia as they go into this poll.
On Cambodia, look, whether Cambodia were to accept people is really a matter for Cambodia, but the point is people smuggling is a regional problem. It needs to be dealt with in a regional way and any support and cooperation that other countries can give to Australia is obviously very welcome.
We've been very pleased to have, over the years, strong support and cooperation from Indonesia in interdicting people smuggling operations on land. We're very pleased to have been getting the support from PNG and from Nauru that we've had and we look forward to further support from other countries in our region, including from Cambodia.
Thank you so much.
[ends]