PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning. I’m here with the Minister for Justice to announce that based on advice from our intelligence and security agencies, with whom we have been in close discussion today - as we have every day over the last week - the advice we have, is that the threat to aviation from the plot that was uncovered to bring down a plane has been disrupted and contained, thanks to the hard work of our security and intelligence agencies.
Consequent on that, the Director-General of ASIO has advised that the threat to aviation will be restored to the level it was a week ago. It was raised as you know, last week following the discovery of this plot, but it has now been restored to the level it was before.
Now, what will happen at the airports is that there will be continued enhanced security measures. Some of them will be obvious to travelers. Some will not. We have outstanding security measures at our airports. But they are going to continue to be enhanced, but they will be modified in a way that will cause less delays to the travelling public. I want to thank Australians for their forbearance in having to have faced delays and having to arrive at the airport earlier than they normally would.
Now, the people should continue to arrive for their flights in accordance with the directions of their airlines, which currently at the moment are to arrive two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international flights. In other words, an hour earlier than you normally would. We expect those arrival times to be altered by the airlines, to be restored to the ones that have been in place before these changes were made, consequent on discovery of the plot.
But please, follow the advice of your airline. That advice will follow from the airlines over the next 24 hours and subsequently. But remember, different airlines have different arrangements in terms of how long you have to be there before your flight leaves. So, check with your airline.
This has been a very successful exercise by the police and the intelligence services. We have to give them credit. They are the best in the world. They've uncovered this plot, they have disrupted it and they have contained it.
We will be always vigilant in protecting the safety of Australians. There is no place for ‘set and forget’. Every day, my Government and our agencies are focused on keeping Australians safe. We are constantly doing that, constantly seeking to improve the protection we can offer.
Now in terms of the investigation that is continuing, as you know. The police have uncovered very substantial evidence. The Commissioner, the Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin, has advised me that the investigation efforts are proceeding very successfully in terms of the gathering of evidence, and that I should expect and Australians should expect, charges to be laid in due course. But that is, of course, a matter for the police.
So, I'll ask Michael to make a few remarks and then we're happy to take some questions.
THE HON. MICHAEL KEENAN - MINISTER FOR JUSTICE:
Thank you, Prime Minister. It's good to be with you here in Perth and as you said in your remarks, we are very lucky in Australia to be protected by excellent agencies, both law enforcement and intelligence, who have again disrupted something from happening here on Australian soil.
This is the 13th time in the past three years that our agencies have done this. The reason that they have been so successful, part of the reason that they have been so successful, is they have been backed 110 per cent by this Government.
We've worked with them to work out what they need to deal with the way the terrorism threat has evolved in Australia.
We've worked with them to make sure that they have new powers so they can act earlier, because you need to police terrorism in a different way than you police other crime types.
We've worked with them to give them the resources, enormous investments in the capability of all of our agencies; the Australian Federal Police, ASIO, the ACIC, AUSTRAC, all of our agencies have received significant extra investments to make sure that they have what they need to keep the Australian people safe.
Now, we will continue to work with them. Obviously every time we disrupt an operation like this, we learn lessons. We will continue to work with our agencies to ensure that they have the powers and the resources that they need to do this job. The Government's laser-like focus will remain on ensuring that Australia is as well-equipped as anywhere in the world to deal with the significantly deteriorating security environment that we find ourselves in.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, there have been calls for domestic ID checks and also for greater screening of staff at airports. Do you believe that any of those additional measures are necessary?
PRIME MINISTER:
We have all of the measures of security at our airports and right through our nation, constantly under review. As I said, there is no place for ‘set and forget’. We have very strong security measures at our airports, both in terms of airport staff and of course in terms of checking baggage, both baggage that goes into the hold and baggage that is carry-on baggage. Those measures are very strong. They will be, they have been enhanced and they will continue to be enhanced. But we are very focused too on ensuring that we look after, respect as well, respect the convenience of the travelling public as well.
So, there will be continuing enhanced measures at the airport. As I said, some of them will be obvious, some of them not so obvious to travelers. In terms of the time before a flight, which is obviously a very important point for people to know - how soon do I have to get to the airport before the flight? - continue for the time being to arrive two hours before a domestic flight, three hours before an international flight. But you should expect that requirement will be moving back to the arrangements that were in place a week ago by the airlines. But take advice from the airlines.
JOURNALIST:
How do you have enhanced security measures and reduce the waiting, you know, the delays? How can you have both?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, through technology and good management and good practice.
JOURNALIST:
Will people still be, I mean, for example, will more people be pulled aside?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not going to go into -
JOURNALIST:
To have that sort of, explosive screening?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah I know, thank you for that. Again, that's a good question but you'll understand that we are not going to go into the details of the enhanced security measures. But Australians can be reassured that we have very strong security measures at our airports. We have had for a very long time. But we are always improving them.
That's the point that Michael and I have made, is there is no place for ‘set and forget’. We are constantly seeking to improve the measures at our airports and everywhere, you know, in terms of detecting, disrupting, preventing, prosecuting people who seek to do us harm.
JOURNALIST:
What can be said of a terror threat where suddenly the terrorist realises that the meat grinder was too heavy for hand luggage?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I'm not going to comment on operational -
JOURNALIST:
Well they sound like a bunch of dills.
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm not going to be drawn into commentary like that.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister you said you were expecting new charges. You've got a week, is that right? Under AFP legislation to hold them and then beyond that? Do you expect special ASIO powers?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I won't go into any more detail than I have given you on the matter of the investigation, which is obviously not a great deal. But you will understand from a public safety point of view, from a law enforcement point of view, Michael and I have to be circumspect. We see a lot of speculation in the press but we're not going to comment on it.
JOURNALIST:
But you do expect charges, though?
PRIME MINISTER:
As I said - I will repeat what I said - the Commissioner, Andrew Colvin, has told me that the investigations have proceeded very well in terms of uncovering evidence and they've got very strong evidence. I should expect charges to be laid in due course. That's what I can say to you.
JOURNALIST:
Okay and travelers, the delays will subside?
PRIME MINISTER:
You should expect, travelers should expect to receive advice from their airlines within the next 24 hours, that the time, arrival times - that's to say arriving at the airport before a flight - will be restored to those that previously applied, which was an hour for domestic, two hours for international.
But some airlines differ. It’s very important to recognise this is ultimately a matter for the airlines but that the threat level to the aviation sector has been restored by ASIO to the level it was prior to last week. That is because the plot has been disrupted and it has been contained.
JOURNALIST:
So, it was higher than probable, was it?
PRIME MINISTER:
No, no. The threat level to aviation - the terrorist threat level across Australia is ‘probable’, you're right. For aviation, it had been prior to last week, at ‘possible’. It was raised last week to ‘probable’ and has now been restored to the previous level.
But look, can I say to you, there is no room for complacency in this area at all. No room for ‘set and forget’ at all.
You know, one of the reasons my Government is constantly improving the way in which we operate in terms of providing protection for Australians - whether it is ensuring that the ADF is able better to support counter-terrorism operations, whether it is providing the additional legislative powers that enable police to conduct these investigations, whether it is providing the additional resources we did in the Budget to the AFP to support their work - at every level, every day, we are focused on keeping Australians safe.
Australians should be reassured that everything we can do to improve the protection we give Australians, we will do. We are constantly focused on that.
We have the finest security, intelligence, police, defence forces in the world. We provide them every support so they can always be able to do their job even better. That's our commitment.
We're always determined to give them the resources they need, the legal resources, the financial resources, bringing the key domestic security intelligence agencies into the one Department. Everything we can do to enhance cooperation, integration, engagement, the safety of Australians, we're committed to.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, I know you can't go into operational details, but can you tell us how you feel personally reading stories of this group of people potentially wanting to use an unwitting suicide bomber to blow up a plane? How does that make you feel as leader of the country?
PRIME MINISTER:
As the leader of our nation, as Prime Minister of Australia, my first duty is to keep Australians safe. That is the fundamental obligation, the fundamental responsibility of government. There are no guarantees in a dangerous world. We all understand that. But we are focused, always, on protecting Australians.
We feel it keenly.
It is a task that, as Michael said, on which we have a laser-like focus. We are relentless.
We are proud of our successes. We are proud that 13 plots have been disrupted. We're proud of that.
Our agencies are outstanding and we congratulate them and we thank them for their service.
But the threat is constant. It becomes more sophisticated, more challenging, all the time.
So that is why there is no place for ‘set and forget’. That is why we are always focused on ensuring we do the job better.
JOURNALIST:
Minister Keenan, 13 terror plots have been disrupted and there will probably be a 14th. That they have been disrupted by existing agencies in the form that they're in, does this say anything about whether we need a Homeland Security Office or whether we don't need a Homeland Security office?
THE HON. MICHAEL KEENAN – MINISTER FOR JUSTICE:
Well Geoff, every member of the Government has constantly reinforced that we have very good arrangements in Australia. But the whole point of what we've done over the past three years with the emergence of ISIL, essentially we’ve got a supercharged, this radical Islamic ideology, is that we've constantly looked for ways we can improve. That is an ongoing process. We will be doing that next year, the year after that. We will always look to find ways to continue to improve our arrangements.
I think that's what the Australian people would expect from us. That's what we're looking at with the new Home Affairs arrangements; making sure that everyone is joined up and is as coordinated as probable. That's not a criticism of the way we've done things previously, it's just an acknowledgement we've got to constantly find ways that we can improve.
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, the threat of Islamist terrorism is a global one. As I've said many times, nowhere is far away from anywhere else in the age of the internet. Our enemies, those terrorists, those Islamist terrorist organisations are global and they are connected.
We have to be thoroughly connected - as we are - both domestically, working with federal and state agencies together, as you have been seeing happening in Sydney with this investigation and as it happens right around Australia.
We also have to be more tightly connected and engaged with all of our international partners as well. That's why I made this issue, ensured this issue was a key priority at the G20 in Hamburg.
We have to work, we have to be thoroughly united and connected as we fight and defeat Islamist terrorism, because it is a global threat. It is a global threat to those who love freedom, Australians and like-minded nations around the world.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, you're going to Broome this afternoon.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes.
JOURNALIST:
On a completely different topic, the West Australian Coroner is in the Kimberley today and she's investigating the deaths of 13 young Aboriginal people. Her predecessor did the same thing ten years ago. Do you think that anything can change in that regard or is this something we just have to accept will continue?
PRIME MINISTER:
We never accept, never accept. We never accept young people taking their own lives, like we never accept the abuse of women and children. We never accept substance abuse destroying families and communities and we'll always be working to protect families, to help communities rebuild.
One of the subjects I discussed in the very constructive discussions I had with the Premier last night was how we can work or how our agencies can work more closely together on these challenges. So, I can assure you that we never accept outcomes like that.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, I’ll ask you about the Premier after this. On same-sex marriage, what do you make of Warren Entsch's call that the issue be discussed in the Liberal Party Room, not the Joint Party Room? Because he claims he was ambushed two years ago by Tony Abbott?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, these issues can be discussed, any issue can be discussed in the Liberal Party Room and the Joint Party Room.
JOURNALIST:
He wants it to be specifically though in the Liberal Party Room because he thinks that he got done over last time.
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, we have many discussions in our respective party rooms, in the National Party Room, the Liberal Party Room. But of course, ultimately Coalition policy is determined in the Coalition Party Room.
JOURNALIST:
Just in regards to you meeting last night with the Premier, can we get your thoughts on that? On whether he was putting on a front for the cameras, in relation to his many attacks on you, in relation to the GST issue?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, the meeting was cordial and constructive. It was a very, very friendly, courteous discussion.
JOURNALIST:
He wasn’t belligerent?
PRIME MINISTER:
We had a very courteous discussion, as I predicted we would. It was a very constructive one too.
Look, can I just say to you before we wrap up, just on the issue of the GST. As I said on the first public meeting I attended here in Western Australia on this visit, in the Mindarie Pub, where the GST was raised with me by a number of people, it is a very keen issue in Western Australia, I understand that. My colleagues from Western Australia raise it within the Government all the time.
As I said in the Mindarie Pub, WA's share of the GST does not pass the pub test. It didn't pass the test in that pub either, as you'd expect. So, we understand that and we are working. I'm the first Prime Minister working to find a solution, a better, fairer formula that will pass the pub test not just in the Mindarie Pub, or in any other pub in Western Australia, but right around the nation.
So, it's an issue of vital and keen importance to Western Australians. I've discussed it with many Western Australians in the course of my travels here this week, from the Mindarie Pub to, you know, community meetings in Busselton and Albany, to even on the train to Mandurah. So, I've had plenty of discussions about it, and, of course, with the Premier and my colleagues. But we have a number of steps in train, as you know. The Productivity Commission's analysis of the formula and the process of allocating the GST is very important.
So, it's a big issue, a keen issue. I'm very aware of it and I just want to thank Western Australians for the very warm welcome they've given me here, while I have been here. I look forward to meeting more people in Broome later today and tomorrow.
We've had a very warm Western Australian welcome and I'm delighted with the constructive discussions I’ve had with the Premier.
Thanks very much.
[ENDS]