Interview with Kim Landers, ABC AM - 5 June 2017

KIM LANDERS:                     

Well, terrorism and North Korea are expected to dominate when Australia's Defence Minister Marise Payne and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop host their US counterparts for talks in Sydney today.

The Defence Minister, Marise Payne, joins me now. Minister, good morning.

MARISE PAYNE:                   

Good morning, Kim.

KIM LANDERS:                     

Let's begin with the London attacks. The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, is going to review the UK's counter-terrorism strategy. She says there's, quote: far too much tolerance of extremism in her country. Do you think the same applies in Australia?

MARISE PAYNE:                   

Kim, we have put a lot of effort in in recent years, and even in the last 12 months, in our legislative responses on our counter-terrorism strategy. We have a very strong focus on prevention as our first line of defence, as we have to. We work to reduce the lure of those violent extremist ideologies that Prime Minister May has referred to. We work with law enforcement agencies and counter-terrorism platforms across the country to stop Australians from choosing violence to express their views. And we obviously work in the international context and today's meeting of the AUSMIN is an example of that in part, in terms of shaping the global environment to counter terrorism. And then, most importantly, we work very hard to disrupt terrorist activity within Australia. We're…

KIM LANDERS:                     

[Interrupts] Your fellow Liberal- sorry, your fellow Liberal MP, the former SAS commander Andrew Hastie says that there is a sense in the Australian community that we're not being strong enough on some groups, like Hizb ut-Tahrir for example.

MARISE PAYNE:                   

That is a discussion which occurs around the nation, that's true, and it is something that the Government is very focused on. We take our advice from the law enforcement and intelligence agencies on activities of these groups and consider that advice very seriously. Obviously an event such as this in London means that we continue our constant review of our levels of preparation. But Kim, we have to be very clear. We work extremely hard on this, but as my counterpart colleagues have said on more than one occasion: We have to be lucky all of the time. Those who we seek to prevent from these sorts of actions need to be lucky only once. So that focus and that effort at prevention is very front-of-mind for us.

KIM LANDERS:                     

Along with the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop you're about to host the US Secretaries of Defense and State - James Mattis and Rex Tillerson. How much will this London attack shape or influence those talks?

MARISE PAYNE:                   

Well, Kim, it would certainly be a topic of conversation today. We have a program which includes our efforts to counter terrorism in the global context, as I mentioned. That is our work with the international coalition led by the United States in Iraq and Syria, for example. And I know the number of men and women that we have deployed in the region in the Middle East at the moment who are serving Australia and serving the international coalition are front line in that effort with the Iraqi security forces. So that is certainly going to be part of our discussions.

But we have a range of other issues including the broader strategic and security issues in our region. Whether it is discussions around North Korea or the importance of our rules-based order which, as I said in Shangri-La just last weekend with Secretary Mattis and Prime Minister Turnbull, it has historically been the cornerstone of our equity, our stability and transparent decision-making in this region and we have to work hard at it.

KIM LANDERS:                     

Well, if I could pick up on a couple of those points. You talked about US strategy in the Middle East. The US is reviewing its strategy towards Afghanistan, possibly looking at sending more troops. Has Secretary Mattis given you any indication of which way that's going?

MARISE PAYNE:                   

Not at this point no, Kim. We made an announcement last week that, in response to the NATO request, we would increase our deployment by 30 troops in the train, advise and assist mission that we currently have in Afghanistan. And that preparation is underway in consultation with NATO. But expect that to be a subject for discussion today.

KIM LANDERS:                     

On North Korea, Secretary Mattis says that North Korea is, quote: a clear and present danger. How much longer do we have to stop North Korea developing nuclear weapons?

MARISE PAYNE:                   

Well, it's not a question of how much longer we have. It's a question of how the efforts that we are making now to work in the international context - the United Nations and with counterpart nations such as China in particular - to ensure that we are sending a message to North Korea that their belligerent activity is completely unacceptable. That is a focus of our talks today and I'm sure we'll have more to say on that afterwards.

KIM LANDERS:                     

On another topic, a joint Four Corners-Fairfax investigation has been detailing the campaign of control and influence being waged by the Chinese Communist Party inside Australia. How would you describe the level of influence China's Communist Party is having here in Australia?

MARISE PAYNE:                   

Kim, I understand there is some investigative reporting which is being presented at the moment. We are obviously very concerned that Australians make their own decisions about their own affairs, not subject to the influence of external actions such as those that may be presented in the media. I will review the information that's provided in these commentaries…

KIM LANDERS:                     

[Interrupts] But what's your sense - I mean, it's something that your outgoing department head had raised concerns about. What's your sense about – is China threatening Australia's sovereignty?

MARISE PAYNE:                   

No, I don't believe there is a threat to Australia's sovereignty in that way, I don't. But we are very conscious of the efforts of external actors around the world and we've seen other examples of this in recent times. We have our security agencies and our intelligence agencies with a posture that is very aware of that, very attuned to that. And we work to counter any efforts which may be made in that regard all the time.

KIM LANDERS:                     

All right, Marise Payne, thank you very much for speaking with AM.

MARISE PAYNE:                   

Thanks Kim.

KIM LANDERS:                     

That is the Defence Minister, Marise Payne.