PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you all very much, four Prime Minister’s discussing the importance of absolute solidarity in the face of those who threaten the rule of law. I want to thank Prime Minister Theresa May for bringing us together here at the Cyber Security Centre to discuss the way in which we can work more closely than ever in this connected world.
As we need to ensure that the rule of law is maintained. We've shown total solidarity with The United Kingdom in its defiance of the shocking nerve agent attack in Salisbury and we've provided real support and endorsement of the calibrated, proportionate and responsible response to the shocking chemical attack in Syria.
It is vitally important that we work more closely together than ever. No countries work more closely together in intelligence and security matters than the Five Eyes and of course four of the Five Eyes are members of the Commonwealth.
So, we're all here this week with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Again, a group that is bound together by shared values. An international organisation which has been led by Her Majesty the Queen for so many decades and we thank her for that remarkable leadership that she has shown over all those years.
We have a lot to fight for and to defend. You know, Australian jobs, Australian prosperity, depends on trade. It depends on the maintenance of the rule of law. It is the maintenance of that rules-based system that was the driver behind the securing of agreement to the Trans-Pacific Partnership of the TPP-11. So, obviously we were disappointed when the US dropped out, but we stuck with it because we kept fighting for Australian jobs. Maintaining the rule of law, maintaining the prosperity on which it is built that delivers the jobs that Australians deserve the opportunities they deserve.
So, we're talking today about security but we're also talking about the economy. All of these things are linked and in the final analysis what they deliver for Australians is security, prosperity and of course jobs.
JOURNALIST:
Speaking of those jobs, what do you make of the comments this morning from the Chinese Ambassador to Australia? He says we’ve seen systematic and negative remarks in the media in regards to China.
PRIME MINISTER:
I think he must have been talking about the media, did you take it personally? No, seriously we have a very strong economic relationship with China. It is, in fact, strengthening all the time. We are committed to a stronger relationship. From time-to-time there are differences in the relationship but if there are ups and downs then it's from a very, very high base.
Trade has never been higher in any respect whether it is tourism, whether it's international education, whether it's the export of the finest food and commodities that Australia can produce.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Turnbull you met Pacific leaders today as well, Chinese influence was part of those talks, you left those meetings reassured about Vanuatu's reliance on Australia as a security and regional partner?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the Prime Minister of Vanuatu has made it very clear, quite unequivocally, the media reports about Chinese interest in establishing a military base in Vanuatu have no basis in fact so he has said those reports are absolutely untrue, that's what he said.
JOURNALIST:
Nonetheless you felt the need to talk to the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands as well and reassure him about the cable. There is a sensitivity there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Phil if you're asking me about building a cable, yes we are building a fibre optic cable which will connect both the Solomons and Papua New Guinea to Australia and hence to the internet. And that is going to deliver enormous benefits to both countries. Particularly the Solomon Islands and significantly reduce the cost of telecommunications there and so that was again one of the topics that I discussed with Prime Minister Hou of the Solomon Islands.
JOURNALIST:
The UK and the US have warned that Russia is stepping up cyber attacks against those countries. Do you have any reason to believe that Australian companies should be wary about their own circumstances at the moment, do you have any evidence there's a problem?
PRIME MINISTER:
I have plenty of evidence and I think we all have that cyber threats abound. It is an area where all of us need to take greater care. There is considerable vulnerability we’ve talked about in the meeting that we've just concluded with Prime Ministers of the UK, New Zealand, Canada and myself.
It is vitally important that business pays closer attention to cyber security as well as governments. As I said, in a connected world everyone has to work more closely together. What we're seeing over here the UK Cyber Security Centre is the type of engagement with the business world, with the private sector that we are undertaking through our Cyber Security Centre in Australia.
It's really important that we work more closely together and understand the vulnerabilities of the network systems and adopt a higher standard of cybersecurity. Getting down to basic issues like passwords, making sure you know who your system administrator is and frankly so many cyber breaches are because of inadvertence or poor practices or sloppiness so it's important to raise the level.
JOURNALIST:
How much of that did you talk about? You mentioned countries have got it going on. How much of the threat to be able to respond to is deliberate activity by Russia?
PRIME MINISTER:
Russia engages on cyber attacks, cyber activity extensively and both in terms of covert activities, like the NotPetya virus was one that was accounted for and attributed to Russia and of course the big disinformation campaigns that we see, that are open but are designed to use the facility of the internet to spread false information and designed to impact and influence political processes at elections.
That is why we are taking every step that we can with our foreign interference legislation to ensure that Australians, and Australians only, are the ones who influence Australian political processes. We make no apologies for and will not take a backward step from standing up for Australians right to determine their political processes, who's elected to their parliament, how laws are debated and resolved. It is critically important that we do that and that is the right and indeed the duty of every sovereign state.
Now perhaps one more.
JOURNALIST:
Has there been an increase in attacks, on the cyber front, since the bombings in Syria? Have you got intelligence in that space?
PRIME MINISTER:
I can't comment on a specific, if you're asking me about Australia, I can't provide you with updated information on that. Can I just say to you, the level of cyber attacks is so high at any given time that it is always present.
What the internet has done is connected us all and it is an enormous blessing to humanity. But what it has also done is enable people with bad intentions, whether they are state sponsored or not, to be able to by ingenuity or taking advantage of flaws or failures on the part of others to get access to systems, industrial systems, databases and so forth connected to the internet.
So it is a time of heightened vulnerability and you cannot ever imagine that there is any time to drop your guard, know what I mean? Constant attention has to be paid to the vulnerability from cyber attacks.
JOURNALIST:
Just on CHOGM, who should be the next head of the Commonwealth, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the head of the Commonwealth is Her Majesty the Queen and the next head of the Commonwealth should be her successor who will be Prince Charles when he succeeds Her Majesty. So, in other words, our policy the Australian Government's position, is that the head of the Commonwealth should continue to be the King or Queen of the United Kingdom. Thank you all very much. Thank you.
[ENDS]