Doorstop Interview, RAAF Base Darwin

SUBJECTS: Exercise Pitch Black; Global rules-based order; AUKUS; Lebanon travel advice; US-Australia Alliance; Closing the Gap. 

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Well, it’s great to be here at RAAF Base Darwin and I'm here with Air Vice-Marshal Glen Braz who is the Australian Air Commander, and we are gathered on the last day of Exercise Pitch Black. Pitch Black’s been going for 21 days. It is the largest defence exercise that will be done by the Australian Defence Force this year and this year's iteration of Exercise Pitch Black is the biggest iteration of this exercise in its history. This is one of the most complex, one of the most significant air exercises which occurs anywhere in the world. There have been 4,000 participants from 20 different nations, that's included 1,500 Australians, we've had four new nations participate in Pitch Black; Italy, Spain, Philippines, and PNG. Later today, I'll be going aboard the Italian aircraft carrier. There have been 600 Italians who have participated in Exercise Pitch Black. But we've also had Papua New Guinea participate for the first time. Now PNG has a very (inaudible) air transport wing, which has three light transport aircraft. Two of those aircraft participating in Exercise Pitch Black and yesterday I had the real honour of being flown in one of those aircraft from Tindal to Darwin. So across the board, we are seeing nations increasingly participate in this exercise. It's fundamentally important in terms of certifying the capability of the Royal Australian Air Force, but this is high end, complex warfighting, which enables us to have a unique experience in terms of managing so many different personnel across so many different nations. But the point I finally want to make about it is that to have 20 countries working so closely together, demonstrating this combined capability has its own deterrent effect. And in that sense, Exercise Pitch Black is making its own contribution to global peace, and in that sense it is a very important exercise, indeed. I also just want to mention that this morning we had a remarkable event with the finishing of the Bravery Trek, which is undertaken by Bravery Trust, an organisation which supports Australian veterans. Over the course of last night, about 130 participants ran collectively 4,200 kilometers, which someone said is about the distance from here to Adelaide. It was a remarkable achievement, but a whole lot of those participating in it were from countries around the world who are participating in Exercise Pitch Black. And it says to me that, you know, those who are engaged in air force duties, obviously, are very focused on the task at hand, but this is also a community which is very keen to look after each other and what we saw yesterday was a perfect demonstration of that. 

AIR VICE-MARSHAL GLEN BRAZ, AIR COMMANDER AUSTRALIA: Thank you, Deputy Prime Minister. It’s been a real privilege for the Royal Australian Air Force to host so many wonderful friends and partners in the region for what is not only world class training, in world class airspace facilities here in the Northern Territory, but also an opportunity to connect at a human level and build friendship and trust with those nations. We've enjoyed the time. It's been outstanding training. We've flown over 1,700 sorties during the execution of Exercise Pitch Black this year, the largest ever that we've tallied. And that's with a 93 per cent mission success rate. So the achievements (PAUSE FOR NOISE). As I was saying, thank you. And this very successful Pitch Black, the largest one ever, I was talking about 1,700 sorties flown with about a 93 per cent success rate across all of the nations which is outstanding achievement, and including the wonderful contribution of those first time nations that we're so proud to welcome here. And I would like to say I'm especially proud of our Papua New Guinea friends and partners, seeing the joy and the pride in that contingent has been a wonderful experience, and they have made a really lasting and valuable contribution to the exercise. We look forward to welcoming them back in the future. 

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) partnerships, alliances, working with likeminded countries. Two other countries who aren’t (inaudible). 

MARLES: Well, we are seeing a greater level of cooperation between China and Russia and obviously we have expressed our concern about that, particularly in the context of what is playing out in Ukraine. I think, for all of us, when we saw a no limits agreement signed between Russia and China on the eve of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, that was a moment where that relationship became very front and centre, and where a conflict in Eastern Europe suddenly became highly relevant to us in the Indo-Pacific. But I think what we are seeing here at Exercise Pitch Black and in the other exercises and operations that we engage in, is just a high degree of cooperation and coordination between likeminded countries. It's what I said earlier, we are learning how to work with each other, we are building our interoperability, but the decision of 20 nations to engage in an exercise of this kind has its own deterrent effect and it is a very, very important contribution to global peace.

JOURNALIST: So this is as much about interoperability as it is about telling potential adversaries ‘mess with us and this is, sort of, what you'll be faced with’? 

MARLES: Well, first and foremost, Exercise Pitch Black, as all our exercises are, is about certifying the capability of the Australian Defence Force, in this instance, certifying the capability of the Royal Australian Air Force. That's why we do exercises. But it is the case that in working with our friends and our allies, getting to understand each other's operations and procedures better so that we can work more closely together has its own deterrent effect. That is the case very much here at Exercise Pitch Black. It's been the case last year with Exercise Talisman Sabre. And I think it does demonstrate in the world that we are willing to work together to uphold the global rules-based order. That is its own contribution to global peace.

JOURNALIST: Penny Wong has told Australians in Lebanon to get out now, worried about potential attacks, I suppose you would say the same?

MARLES: Look, it's really important that those in Lebanon who are seeking to leave do so now. Those Australians in Lebanon who are seeking to leave, they should do so now. Obviously, the environment in the Middle East and Lebanon is very unpredictable. We clearly are thinking through contingencies here, but we have a significant population of Australians who are in Lebanon, and if you are seeking to leave, you should be doing so right now.

JOURNALIST: Luke Gosling recently suggested that AUKUS subs could operate in several Indonesian straits. Have the Indonesian’s been spoken to about that?

MARLES: Well, we have a very close relationship with Indonesia. In fact the military to military relationship with Indonesia has never been stronger and never been tighter, and I work very closely with Prabowo, my counterpart in Indonesia. We very much welcome the comments that have been made by him and the Indonesian government in relation to Australia moving down the path of acquiring a nuclear-powered submarine capability under the banner of AUKUS. So we're very comfortable with that relationship and there is a high degree of trust in it. 

JOURNALIST: Given the investments and the close relationship with the US, does Australia risk being seen as America's lapdog by other countries in the region? 

MARLES: I think that's a term which exists in the past, to be frank. You know what we're doing is becoming a much more capable country and working much more closely with our friends and partners in our region, including within ASEAN and very much including Indonesia, as an example. I come back to the point that if you look at the history of our relationship with Indonesia, but our defence to defence relationship with Indonesia, it has never been tighter or closer than what it has been on this day. We're very excited about what we have to say and announce in respect to that relationship in the not too distant future, in a defence sense. And that's just an example. If you look at what we're doing with the Philippines, you know the first time we've had joint sails with the Philippines, if you look at what we're doing with Singapore, we saw some of their plates literally take off during this press conference, Singapore have a growing footprint on the Australian continent. All of this speaks to the fact that we are building our relationships with the countries of our region. And yes, the Alliance with the United States has never been more important and it is at the cornerstone of our national security, it’s the cornerstone of (inaudible) policy. But it is a platform from which we deeply engaged with our region.

JOURNALIST: Do you know when B-52s will start their deployments from Tindal?

MARLES: Look, I'm not about to go into those details. Again, we are working very closely with our American partners, there is a significant force posture initiative that's being undertaken between ourselves and the United States, which I might say is seeing enormous American investment in our northern bases here at Darwin and Tindal, but across the north, that a huge advantage for our country. And so we will continue to work very closely with the United States, but actually, that is a basis and a platform upon which we can engage more deeply with our countries in the region and that's what we’re doing.

JOURNALIST: You might not have to go into any detail, but are you personally aware of when the deployment will start?

MARLES: We have a very close and detailed relationship with the United States we have full knowledge and concurrence. 

JOURNALIST: You're going to go on this Italian aircraft carrier, talk us through what you're hoping to see, learn going out there?

MARLES: Well, firstly, it's fantastic that Italy have brought an aircraft carrier to Exercise Pitch Black. That we've got more than 600 Italian personnel, both Navy and Air Force participating in Exercise Pitch Black, is a really significant statement by Italy to their engagement with Australia, but to our region. I'm really looking forward to seeing the capability of the Italian aircraft carrier, I’m particularly excited about seeing the B-variant of the F-35s and so that’s going to be a thrill. But we really are very grateful for the contribution Italy’s made to Exercise Pitch Black. 

JOURNALIST: The Italian Navy, they mentioned that (inaudible) Timor Sea for Pitch Black in the future. Have you been in discussions to have a Royal Navy or French Carrier Strike Group come to (inaudible)?

MARLES: Well, we – again, without into the specifics, we have an ongoing dialogue with both France and the United Kingdom about their engagement in exercises and specifically the bringing of aircraft carriers to our region. The UK has quite extensive plans about bringing a carrier to this part of the world next year. We'll be talking with them about how that can best be done. In fact, we already have been speaking about that when I met my counterpart John Healey, the new Secretary of Defence in the new UK government, we spoke specifically about the UK bringing their carrier strike group to the Indo-Pacific next year and how we can best maximize the effect of that. So we’re working very closely with them. 

JOURNALIST: I've just got a question for you on another topic. So, the Productivity Commission say only five of 19 Closing the Gap measures are on track. What are you changing to change the trend?

MARLES: Well, he gap has been stubbornly persistent. We're all aware of that. And it continues to be a cause of national effort and endeavour to try and change this, but this is a very, very difficult problem that has become manifest. Our new minister, Malarndirri McCarthy is completely committed to working across Indigenous groups, but across the Australian community in general, to do everything we can to really make a shift in the gap and make real progress here. But since the referendum last year, we've seen a $4 billion agreement signed with the Territory government in relation to housing and particularly overcrowded housing in remote areas of the Northern Territory. We've seen an end to the (inaudible) program which really wasn't having a significant impact, and in replacement of that we’ve put in place measures which are going to create genuine opportunities for Indigenous people to obtain employment. And we've also seen improvements to community health facilities. So we are working at a granular level over the last few months to try and address the gap, but the gap is persistent, it remains unfinished business for our nation and the Albanese Government, the new minister Malarndirri McCarthy is absolutely committed to doing everything we can to making meaningful change in relation to this.

ENDS