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Topic: Maintenance of Armidale Class Patrol Boats BEN FORDHAM Kevin Andrews, good afternoon. MINISTER ANDREWS Good afternoon Ben. BEN FORDHAM Thank you for taking the time to talk to us about it. You can understand why John would be upset about this and his workers would be annoyed about this because they were told they had the job. MINISTER ANDREWS

FRAN KELLY: Well Cyclone Debbie may have calmed down, but the devastation wrought by the cyclone is far from over. Now the central Queensland city of Rockhampton is bracing for major flooding when the Fitzroy River peaks tomorrow. And as the scale of the disaster worsens by the day the Australian Defence Force has rolled in to help clear roads, restore critical infrastructure and to provide emergency food, water and shelter. More than 1600 Army personnel have been deployed, supported by the HMAS Choules which has now arrived in the Whitsundays.

Minister Andrews:

THE HON CHRISTOPHER PYNE, HOST: I think the first thing that I’d like to kick off on is why are the nuclear-powered submarine more military capable than any other submarine on the globe?

MINISTER Prime Minister, parliamentary colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, Chief of Air Force Leo Davies and Marillyn Hewson from Lockheed Martin. There’s nothing like landing two JSFs in Australia to make a Defence Minister’s day. It is a very, very important step in the development of Australian Air Force capability and the engagement of Australian industry in that process. This is an acquisition which has been fifteen years in the making. It started in 2002 and it will make a truly game changing difference to Air Force capability.

Let me begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet this morning and by thanking Uncle Brian and Aunty Violet very much for their very warm welcome to country. Air Marshal Shepherd, Chairman of the Airshow, Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews, Air Marshal Leo Davies, Chief of Air Force, Doctor Kathy Alexander from the City of Geelong, Your Excellencies many, our wonderful RAAF Band and the Navy Bungaree Dance Troupe – I think you can see why we’re so proud of them – special guests all.

MARISE PAYNE 

JOURNALIST: How does the Growler stand up at the moment to any potential adversary? How would it go jamming a modern warship for instance? What are its vulnerabilities there – what needs to be done to quote-unquote future proof it? MINISTER: I think I am going to leave that to Chief of Air Force.

MINISTER:

MARISE PAYNE: It’s a great pleasure to be here this afternoon in Airlie Beach in Queensland with my colleague Michael Keenan, the Minister for Justice; with Senator Ian Macdonald; George Christensen, the Member for Dawson, and Jason Costigan from the State Parliament as well.

US SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, LLOYD J. AUSTIN III: Deputy Prime Minister Marles and Secretary Wallace thank you for coming to Washington for our first AUKUS Defence Ministerial. Yesterday at our annual US-Australia Ministerial Meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Marles and I spoke about our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region where all countries are free to choose their futures and where international rules are respected.

Minister Andrews: Good morning. I’m very pleased to be here this morning and be joined by the Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Tim Barrett and the Acting CEO of the Defence Material Organisation, Mr Harry Dunstall. The first responsibility of a national Government is the safety and security of its people. In our case the safety and security of all Australians, and everything that is done through the Defence portfolio must be seen through this prism.

SUBJECTS: Saluting Their Service Commemorative Grants; Defence Recruitment; Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

KIM LANDERS: Well the Defence Minister is Marise Payne. She's in Japan with the Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, for high-level security talks which will focus on the heightened tensions over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs. She joins me on the line from Tokyo.  Minister, good morning. MARISE PAYNE: Good morning, Kim. KIM LANDERS: Let's start with this suspected Islamic State group chemical attack in Iraq. Were the Australian advisors with the Iraqi unit on the streets of West Mosul when this happened? MARISE PAYNE:

Topics: 2016 Defence White Paper, Australia-Indonesia relations, South China Sea GENERAL RYAMIZARD [translated from Indonesian]: Bilateral discussions went well. I have already sent a White Paper to Australia. The bilateral went well. We agree in what we are doing and we also agree with what they are doing. We discussed other issues, particularly with regards to training and discussions about terrorism.

Topics: 2016 Defence White Paper, Australia-Malaysia relations, counter-Daesh campaign MINISTER HISHAMMUDDIN: Good day to everyone.  First and foremost, I would like to welcome Senator Marise Payne and thank you for being able to be with us here. I just want to report to the press that we had a very good meeting. One of which is that Senator Marise Payne actually briefed me on the latest Defence White Paper that had been tabled in Australia. I am really appreciative of your decision to do that and that is something that I really appreciate as we move forward bilaterally.

CHARLIE MCKILLOP: The much anticipated master plan for the expansion of military bases in Central and North Queensland will be released today. Landholders are seeking reassurance it will deliver on the Government's promise to overturn plans for forced buybacks, as the Department of Defence forges ahead with a $2.2 billion joint training agreement with the Singaporean Government. Marise Payne is the Minister for Defence. She's with us on the Queensland Country Hour today. Good afternoon, minister. MARISE PAYNE: Good afternoon, Charlie, how are you?

PATRICIA KARVELAS: The Trump campaign was certainly muscular on Foreign Policy and Defence. It remains to be seen how much the President-elect will follow through on this and what effect, of course, it has on Australia and our strategic interests. Marise Payne is the Minister for Defence and I spoke to her a very short time ago. Marise Payne, welcome to RN Drive. MINISTER: Good afternoon, Patricia. PATRICIA KARVELAS:

MEMBER FOR GILMORE, ANN SUDMALIS MP: Welcome to the beautiful HMAS Albatross and a beautiful day – it’s not raining. I am not going to spend a lot of time but this is a very, very fine colleague of mine, this is Marise Payne, Minister for Defence and doing a phenomenally wonderful job, well respected in all aspects of the Defence force because I talk to other people – they all say how wonderful you are. So I’d like to welcome her to this particular space.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Thank you very much, Ian, it’s a great pleasure to be here at the Chief of Army’s exercises for 2016. I would like to acknowledge my parliamentary colleagues, Anthony Roberts, the Minister for Industry from New South Wales, Senator David Fawcett, the new Chairman of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee - the joint committee of the two parliaments - my parliamentary colleague Richard Marles, who is the Shadow Minister for Defence and Mike Kelly, who is recently return to parliament in the Seat of Eden-Monaro.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Right, well thank you very much for coming to this press conference here at the Land Forces 2016 Conference. I’m very happy to be here with Steven Marshall, the Liberal Leader in South Australia, the Leader of the Opposition. This is a fabulous conference for Adelaide, and in fact many of the other cities are now- are talking to the organisers about trying to get it in their cities in the future. 4000 participants a day; 22 countries have sent delegations to the Land Forces 2016 Conference.

BARRIE CASSIDY: Now next up, our program guest this morning to discuss the latest developments in Syria. We’re joined by the Defence Minister Marise Payne. Good morning, welcome.   MARISE PAYNE: Good morning. Good morning, Barrie.   BARRIE CASSIDY: What do you think motivated Donald Trump to abandon much of his campaign rhetoric and to launch this missile attack?  

KIERAN GILBERT: With me now, the Defence Minister Marise Payne. Minister, thanks so much for your time. A lot to talk about, including we saw the major Sea Power Conference in Sydney this week, and one of the lingering concerns around the massive submarine project, the $50 billion project, is that it could be outpaced by our regional rivals by the time they come online. Is that a concern for you and Defence planners, that the whole project could be redundant by the time we get them?  

SUBJECTS: 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, Hercules acquisition, Robodebt

Subjects: Multi-Ammunition Soft-Kill System, increased protection from missile attack for navy vessels, defence jobs, Defence Strategic Review, Pacific budget speculation, Vanuatu security agreement, infantry fighting vehicles, missile types, exports, local manufacturing

SUBJECTS: Defence; Defence spending; Training of Ukrainian recruits in the UK. GERARD HENDERSON, HOST: Would it be fair to interpret what you’ve said tonight, into the long-term – when you’re talking about the medium to long-term – the downgrading of Army and an upgrading of naval and air defence forces?

 

THE Australian War Memorial will become home to the AP-3C Orion aircraft with tail number A09-659, preserving the heritage of this significant aircraft. Minister for Defence Personnel Darren Chester today presented the AP-3C Orion aircraft to Director of the Australian War Memorial Dr Brendan Nelson AO at the Australian International Airshow 2019 at Avalon. Mr Chester said the aircraft’s missions included long-range maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface unit warfare and search and survivor supply.

A new advisory body will be established to enhance Australian Defence Force (ADF) capability. The existing Defence Reserves Support Council (DRSC), which has provided strong support to employers and reservists for the past 42 years, will be dissolved at the end of 2019, making way for a new phase in the management of ADF Reserves by providing links to industry and employers, as well as advice and recommendations to the Chief of the Defence Force.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, will travel to Belgium and Germany this week. In Brussels, the Deputy Prime Minister will attend the 33rd Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting, co-chaired by the United Kingdom and Germany.The Ukraine Defence Contact Group comprises more than 50 nations and coordinates the delivery of military aid to Ukraine.The Deputy Prime Minister will then travel to Germany to attend the Munich Security Conference, the premier foreign affairs and security forum in Europe.