Press Conference, Australia House, London

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The Hon Pat Conroy MP

Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery

Minister for International Development and the Pacific

Media contact

media@defence.gov.au

(02) 6277 7840

General enquiries

minister.conroy@dfat.gov.au

Release content

17 October 2024

SUBJECTS: Australian Government support for Ukraine; Housing.

 

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY PAT CONROY: Ladies and gentlemen, Australia's relationship with the United Kingdom is our oldest relationship and one of our closest partnerships. I'm here in London to work with the UK government on the issues that matter the most to us. We stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression. Let me repeat that - we stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression.

And as I speak to you today, Australian troops are here in the United Kingdom training armed forces of Ukraine personnel to defend their homeland. Today the Australian government is announcing that we will gift our existing fleet of M1 Abrams to Ukraine. Let me repeat that. Today the Australian government is announcing we will gift our fleet of M1 Abrams to the Ukraine. I'm going to do that one again out of sensitivity. Today, Australia is announcing we are gifting our fleet of M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. This involves 49 M1A1 Abrams. These tanks will deliver more firepower and mobility to the Ukrainian armed forces and complement the support provided by our partners for Ukraine's armoured brigades. This announcement is evaluated at $245 million Australian. This brings the total value of Australia's military assistance to Ukraine to $1.3 billion and our total assistance to $1.5 billion. 

Australia has been steadfast in our support for Ukraine. We will continue prioritising Ukraine as a recipient of Australian Defence Force materiel, and we'll keep working with Ukraine to make sure this assistance we provide is safe, usable and making a difference. To support the transition to the M1A2 tanks in Australia, the Australian Army will retain a small number of M1 tanks to support the introduction of the new capability. With its illegal invasion, Russia is trying to take us back to a world where spheres of interest reign, where only great powers are truly sovereign, and their actions are above the law. This is not a world where the people of Australia or the people of the United Kingdom would thrive. That is why we are so committed to supporting Ukraine to end the conflict on its terms, and to working with the United Kingdom to train Ukrainian troops and support Ukraine's most critical military needs. And we face a challenging geo-strategic environment. It's important that we continue to work together with our partners around the world to deter aggression and coercion and protect the global rules-based order.

After meeting my Ministerial counterparts in the United Kingdom, I will travel to Belgium and the United States. Today I met with Secretary Healey and informed him of Australia's decision. In Brussels, I will represent the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles at sessions of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's NATO Defence Ministers Meeting. And in the United States, I'll work with our alliance partners on Defence industrial-based collaboration to create opportunities for Australian Defence exporters and buttress the resilience of our supply chain. I'll also hold talks on progressing our cooperation on development and in the Pacific.

So, in summary, ladies and gentlemen, today the Australian government is announcing we are gifting our existing fleet of M1 Abram tanks to Ukraine. And this is the latest instalment in our steadfast support for the people and government of Ukraine in their valiant struggle against the aggression and illegal invasion of their country by Vladimir Putin. Happy to take some questions.

JOURNALIST: Why has this taken so long? The Ukrainians have been asking for these tanks for a year now.

MINISTER CONROY: The reason for this timing is we've begun to receive the M1A2 Abram tanks. So, this is the logical time to make a decision to transfer the M1A1s to Ukraine.

JOURNALIST: What sort of reaction is the government expecting from Russia in regards to this?

MINISTER CONROY: Far be it for me to be a spokesperson for Russia, but I expect them to continue to break the international rules-based order as they continue their illegal invasion of Ukraine, and we're proud to displease them. We're proud to be part of a global effort to say no to their illegal invasion and to stand with the people of Ukraine in a valiant struggle. So, quite frankly, this is a good day for the people of Ukraine and it's a bad day for Vladimir Putin.

JOURNALIST. So, why don't you reopen the Embassy?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, again, the safety of Australian personnel is incredibly important. The Ambassador to Ukraine is working very effectively out of Warsaw. He visits Kyiv regularly. He was there recently for a recent Crimea meeting. But we do have legal obligations, and the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been very clear that we have to honour those occupational safety, occupational health and safety concerns.

JOURNALIST: But why are the rules different for us and not all the other countries operating already in Kyiv?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, again, that's a question best directed to the Secretary of the Department –

JOURNALIST: - But you're the government?

MINISTER CONROY: She has been very clear about her specific legislative obligations that apply to Australian diplomatic personnel. Your question about different systems is best directed to them.

JOURNALIST: Have you or any other members of government directly communicated this to Volodymyr Zelenskyy? And what's President Zelenskyy's response to this decision?

MINISTER CONROY: We have informed the Ukrainian government of this. This answers, as suggested in the question, a request from the Ukrainian government. I'm looking forward to catching up with Ukrainian Ministerial counterparts at the NATO Defence Minister's meeting in Belgium tomorrow.

JOURNALIST: Can I ask about the process in transferring the tanks, what sort of permissions did you have to seek from the US, and will we be able to send them directly to Ukraine or will they have to go via the US?

MINISTER CONROY: Again, for operational reasons, I won't get into the details of what's the next steps. That's long-running practice in terms of transfer of material to Ukraine. We do not want to give information that can be exploited, but this did require permission from the United States as this is materiel bound by ITAR's regulations and other legislative requirements.

JOURNALIST: Will there be any restrictions on their use? Would the Australian government be comfortable if these tanks are used in Russia's Kursk region for example where Ukraine has launched an offensive there?

MINISTER CONROY: As a matter of principle for all our materiel, we place no restrictions on the use by the Ukrainian armed forces as long as it's consistent with International Humanitarian Law. We don't place restrictions on whether I can use that that's a matter for the valiant Ukrainian military to deploy them to best effect to counter the illegal invasion of their territory.

JOURNALIST: Will there be Australians who will accompany these tanks into Ukraine?

MINISTER CONROY: This is an announcement around materiel only.

JOURNALIST: So, there's no troops going in in terms of maintenance and being there -

MINISTER CONROY: - Again, the announcement is for the handover of materiel only.

JOURNALIST: Does this decision demonstrate that the Albanese Government has learnt from its previously controversial decision to strip and bury the Taipan fleet that Ukraine had requested?

MINISTER CONROY: Well again, I'll just refer you to the comments from the Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia. It was time to move on from that decision. What I'm announcing today is the gifting of our M1 Abrams fleet, our existing M1 Abrams fleet to Ukraine. This brings our total military assistance to $1.3 billion. According to the Kiel Institute, we're the greatest non-NATO contributor of military assistance to Ukraine. That's a position that we feel very privileged to hold and will continue to respond to requests from the Ukrainian government about what they need to fight Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion of their country.

JOURNALIST: Minister, can you break down the costs for us? You've said the package is $245 million. How much of that is - what component of that is the tanks themselves? Beyond the tanks, is there additional costs to Australia in transporting them? Can you break down the cost?

MINISTER CONROY: Yeah, I'm advised that that figure is purely the cost of the tanks - the value of the tanks. Obviously, costs around transportation will be additional to that.

JOURNALIST: What were these tanks doing before they were being sent –

MINISTER CONROY: Well, they were the backbone of the Australian Army. They were the armoured fist of the Australian Army, and they did excellent service in Australia, and they'll do excellent service in Ukraine. And obviously, we're in the process of replacing them with M1A2 Abrams. So, it's the logical time to hand them over, as part of our support for the armoured brigades of Ukraine as they fight a very intense war against Russia.

JOURNALIST: Will 49 of them go at once or will they be sent in lots? And do you know what the timeline is?

MINISTER CONROY: On timeline, again, our longstanding principle is that we won't comment on that for operational security reasons. In terms of how we'll deliver them, we'll engage with the Ukrainian government about how they'd like to receive them and in the matter of that, and ultimately, we'll be guided by what will be most effective for the brave people of Ukraine.

JOURNALIST: We've also been helping the French with ammunition in Ukraine. How's that going?

MINISTER CONROY: My latest advice is that's gone well, and that ammunition has been provided. We've provided, obviously, direct ammunition support to Ukraine. We've gifted Bushmasters, M113s, M777s, artillery drones and made financial contributions. I visited SYPAQ – an excellent, innovative Australian company producing drones in Melbourne very recently, and saw the work they were doing supporting the brave people of Ukraine and how they were receiving feedback about how their drones were performing, and that was then leading to improvements in those drones.

JOURNALIST: We've also been assisting with the training of Ukrainians. Is that going to continue?

MINISTER CONROY: The Budget did have details of how that will continue, and I think the latest figure for support was around - we've trained – sorry. Yeah. Funding in the 23-24 MYEFO takes into account the announcements. And we will expand at last year's MYEFO, rather, we expanded the ADF deployment for Operation Kudu over two years to deliver additional support. And I think the latest figure was around 3000 Ukrainian personnel have been trained through that process.

JOURNALIST: Minister, do you think that the PM's decision to acquire a Central Coast beach house is his Hawaii moment?

MINISTER CONROY: Again, the decision on property purchases was a question, is a question for the Prime Minister. What I'm doing today is focused on this really important announcement and what the Australian government is focused on is supporting Australians through the cost-of-living pressures that we face right now. In the Senate, the Greens and the Coalition are blocking laws that will make it easier for Australians to get into new homes. That's what I'm really interested in talking about. That is what we're trying to do. And almost every single cost-of-living relief that we've announced, every single housing measure that we've announced, the Opposition, Mr. Dutton has blocked. And so, we're focused on helping Australians each and every day, as well as helping the people of Ukraine. Thank you very much.

ENDS

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