Radio Interview, 2SM

SUBJECTS: Changes to Ministry, AUKUS, Coalition’s Lack of Credibility, Two State Solution, PNG NRL Bid and Security in the Pacific. 

DAVE COCHRANE: Federal Member for Shortland is with me right now. Pat Conroy. Good morning to you, Pat.

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY PAT CONROY: Good morning. How are you?

DAVE COCHRANE: Well, firstly, congratulations on your appointment. How do you feel about that?

​MINISTER CONROY: Oh, I'm very chuffed. It's a huge privilege to be in Cabinet. It means more responsibility, but a bigger voice for our region in cabinet. I'm the first Hunter politician to enter Cabinet since 2013 with Joel Fitzgibbon, and I'm the first Central Coast politician to enter Cabinet since 1996 with Michael Lee. So, that means a stronger voice for our region, which is good for our region.

​DAVE COCHRANE: Is it a fair assessment to say that you've almost been in an apprentice role for this because you've been right across defence for at least two years now?

​MINISTER CONROY: Well, it's certainly assisted. And under Cabinet, there are subcommittees that deal with specific issues. So, you've got the Expenditure Review Committee, which really drives our, sort of our economic agenda. I've been a full and permanent member of the National Security Committee of Cabinet since we won the election, since we formed government, and so that is an excellent apprenticeship because obviously that's where all the key security decisions are made, is NSC. So, that's been a great apprenticeship and it's been really a joy to work with the Senior Ministers in the portfolio and Richard Marles in defence and Penny Wong in foreign affairs. So, we've been working very cooperatively together, supporting each other and that obviously means I can keep doing the same thing in Cabinet, which is awesome.

​DAVE COCHRANE: How do you see that role changing for you now that you're in Cabinet and you have the portfolio?

​MINISTER CONROY: Well, I think twofold. One in the portfolio, the added responsibility of capability delivery. So, on defence industry, which is obviously about maximising the jobs benefit from our very significant investment in defence. We've got about 100,000 people who work in the defence industry, so supporting them and growing them, including the thousands that are in our region. But secondly, capability delivery is about making sure that the Australian Defence Force gets the equipment they need on time and on budget. And we're spending $330 billion on equipment over the next ten years, so that's a critical role. And it also adds more support for the voices of Penny Wong and Richard Marles. And, as I said, we work really well together in NSC. And so to have another voice in defence and foreign affairs just means, particularly in defence, that there's even a stronger emphasis by the Albanese Government on defence in cabinet, with Richard and I working closely together.

​DAVE COCHRANE: Now, Pat, you've been in the mix, and you've been in the consultation when it comes to AUKUS and what's been organised there, can we talk about what's going to happen should Donald Trump get a second term as President, as President of the US, where that will leave AUKUS, where that will leave Australia and our relationships? What's your thoughts on that? Has there been pre-emptive discussions on this?

​MINISTER CONROY: I get asked about this a lot and it's a really reasonable question and my answer is really straightforward. The AUKUS pact between three countries will outlive changes of government in all three countries. We've already had changes of government in Australia and United Kingdom, and AUKUS has continued, if anything, has got stronger. So, this is a multi-decade pact that improves the security of all three countries. It's in all three countries' national interest, and that's why I'm very confident it will continue, no matter who is President in the United States. And to give you an example of how strongly supported it is there, I was in Washington in December for the congressional vote on the key AUKUS legislation, and it got an 80 per cent vote in the Senate over there and a 75 per cent vote --

​DAVE COCHRANE: But, Pat, we're talking about Trump. He's a wild card Pat, how do you factor that in?

​MINISTER CONROY: Well, what I'm trying to say is that in Congress, for example, in the House of Representatives, the Republicans are in a majority and 75 per cent voted yes to the AUKUS legislation. So, the Republican Party, of which Mister Trump is their presidential nominee, is fully behind AUKUS. And so, I'm very confident that it will continue because it's in the interests of all three countries. This is not about charity for Australia. This enhances the security of all three countries by expanding the ability to build nuclear powered, but conventionally armed submarines and invest in advanced technology like hypersonics and quantum computing. So, this is about improving the security of all three countries, as well as creating 20,000 well paid, high skilled jobs in Australia. So, I'm confident it will outlast governments of all persuasions in all three countries.

​DAVE COCHRANE: Pat, if we can just. If you don't mind just reflecting on the Prime Minister's reshuffle of the Cabinet on Sunday, can I put this to you? Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Sussan Ley. She made the statement, she believes Tony Burke's appointment to the portfolio of Immigration is a weak one and Andrew Giles moved to the portfolio Skills and Training is terrible. What's your reaction on that?

​MINISTER CONROY: Oh, well, she's got no credibility. I'm amazed she's, quite frankly, still in parliament after her embarrassing reaction to our stage three tax cuts, for example, she announced that she was opposed to them without having read them. She then said that they were going to roll them back and she immediately got rolled back by her own party. So, I don't take anything Sussan Ley says seriously. I think Tony Burke is a very experienced Minister. I think combining Home Affairs and Immigration is a very smart move by the Prime Minister. Tony's hit the ground running already heading over to Indonesia for discussions with them about border security. Obviously, they're a critical partner in border security and Andrew Giles, I think, will do a magnificent job in his new portfolio. And I think that people just need to calm down and reflect on the fact that we've been dealing with high court decisions that were very unusual, that reflect decisions made when Peter Dutton was the Minister and we've been dealing with it in a calm, rational, reasonable manner where the safety of Australians has always been the number one concern of --

​DAVE COCHRANE: But you've got to reflect, Pat, Andrew Giles was like a rabbit in the headlights. You know, he's not a strong person and he was in this situation here where you could see the man was almost out of his depth.

​MINISTER CONROY: Look, I reject that assertion completely. The Prime Minister made it very clear that those moves were a consequence of personal resignations by two Ministers and the reshuffle had natural flow on effects. I think elevating immigration into Cabinet, combining with Home Affairs and making long overdue reforms is critical because we inherited a basket case from when Peter Dutton was running the portfolio. Independent reviews found massive maladministration, a department that was not being supported by good administrative arrangements. And we've been like, in so many areas, cleaning up messes we've inherited from Peter Dutton. And we'll continue to do that in a --

​DAVE COCHRANE: But on Giles' watch, we had a man, well, a criminal out on the streets that broke into a house, allegedly broke into a house, pretending to be a police officer, tied up an elderly couple, you know, and then went on to assault them.

​MINISTER CONROY: Well, it's very important that I don't get into individual cases that are before the courts. But I make a couple of points --

​DAVE COCHRANE: That's just one. That's just one.

​MINISTER CONROY: That individual is only in this country because of decisions made by Peter Dutton when he was Home Affairs Minister --

​DAVE COCHRANE: Yeah, well, we don't, Australians have said they don't want people like that in this country, Pat. If that's how they're going to take to a life in Australia, we don't want that. We don't need people like that.

​MINISTER CONROY: Well, then that's a question should be directed at Peter Dutton, who made the decisions around this person's visa. Secondly, he was only released because of a High Court decision that caused his release. The counterfactual is suggesting that a Federal Government should ignore High Court decisions, that's frankly illegal and inappropriate. The safety of Australians is always our number one priority and we've put in place a system to protect Australians while we deal with these cases and Tony Burke is really focused on it, and we're just going to get on with cleaning up the mess we inherited from Peter Dutton.

​DAVE COCHRANE: Pat, some of our callers have asked me, can I put this question to you, please? NSW Labor has called on the Federal Government to recognise Palestine as a sovereign, an independent state and as a priority. What's your thoughts on that?

​MINISTER CONROY: Well, that resolution was consistent with what was passed at our national conference last year. Penny Wong, as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and I as her junior, when asked, have been very clear that we support a two-state solution. We've advanced that issue by saying that we think recognition of a Palestinian state should be part of the peace process rather than waiting until after the peace process, and that's important. We firmly support the right of Israelis and Palestinians to live in two states, securing their own borders. But Hamas can't be part of that. That's very important. Both states have to recognise the right of the other state to exist and to have secure and peaceful borders. We're calling for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire. We're calling for immediate return of the hostages and immediate humanitarian aid to flow to what is an awful situation in Gaza. And we do support a two-state solution, as does most countries around the world.

​DAVE COCHRANE: Pat, some of our listeners have said this is on the nose. They don't support this in a cost of living crisis for our government to want to commit $600 million over ten years for the establishment of a rugby league association and a team in Papua New Guinea. Your thoughts on that?

​MINISTER CONROY: Well, I'm not going to talk about exact figures because I'm still negotiating with the National Rugby League about how we can support the efforts to get our rugby league team from PNG. And I understand people's concern, but this is a security issue. This is about how do we be the best partner for the Pacific. I think everyone around the country was shocked when the Morrison government allowed a security pact between the Solomon Islands and China to be signed. I think people need to understand that our security now prosperity is dependent upon a secure and prosperous Pacific where we're the partner of choice. And part of that is using our soft power to support countries, whether it's rugby league in Papua New Guinea, rugby union in places like Samoa, soccer in Vanuatu. We will use our sporting links as well as our diaspora links because we've got hundreds of thousands of Pacific are living in Australia, as Australian citizens. We've got Pacific workers working all around the country. We've got strong support through foreign aid and strong policing cooperation. I and this government will use every tool available to be the best partner for the Pacific because our security depends --

​DAVE COCHRANE: Alright --

​MINISTER CONROY: -- upon their security and I think anyone who suggests that this is just a sort of a frolic through the sporting fields doesn't understand the geopolitical struggle in the Pacific --

​DAVE COCHRANE: Right, I'm running out of time. I got to go to the newsroom. But Pat, thank you so much. I look forward to talking to you again soon in the future and congratulations on your appointment.

​MINISTER CONROY: Thanks, John. Have a great.

​DAVE COCHRANE: There's Pat Conroy, Minister for Defence, Industry and Capability, Minister for International Development in the Pacific.

ENDS