Television Interview, ABC News - 7:30 Report

SUBJECTS: Middle East Conflict; G7; AUKUS.  

DAVID SPEERS, HOST: Welcome to the program. Tonight, a warning from the US President that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal when it had the chance. Also coming up, nearly five days after the Air India tragedy, families of the victims are still trying to piece together what went wrong. And we visit the mountainous cave hiding Ice Age artefacts dated back 20,000 years. First, to the situation in the Middle east, where fighting between Israel and Iran has entered its fifth day. This morning, US President Donald Trump warned everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran, a city of about 9 million people. He then left the G7 summit in Canada early to return to Washington. The President's departure means tomorrow's planned meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese won't go ahead. And as he left Canada, Donald Trump issued an ominous social media post. He says he's not working on a ceasefire in the Middle East, rather something much bigger. Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles, who's also Minister for Defence, joined me a short time ago. Richard Marles, welcome.

RICHARD MARLES, ACTING PRIME MINISTER: Good evening, David.

SPEERS: So, Donald Trump says everyone should evacuate Tehran. Australia's advice, however, is to shelter in place. Can I ask who should Australians be listening to? Should they shelter or should they get out?

MARLES: Well, the reality is that the airspace above Iran and Israel right now is closed. There are thousands of Australians across Iran and Israel. And so our advice is very much shelter in place and to look at the Smart Traveller website, the advice which is coming from there. We do have the consular emergency contact and people are registering with that right now. We've got about 650 people in Iran who are seeking an assisted departure and about 600 people in Israel. So, we will continue to work in preparation for being able to do an assisted departure. And as soon as the airspace opens in any form, we will start putting that into effect.

SPEERS: The advice for Australians is to continue sheltering, not join the traffic jam of people trying to drive out of Tehran?

MARLES: After Donald Trump's warning, our advice is to shelter in place, but again, first and foremost it is to follow the Smart Traveller website. I mean, this is a moving situation and so we continue to update that advice on that website.

SPEERS: What about the statement from President Trump that his return to Washington has nothing to do with a ceasefire? It's much bigger than that. Have you been briefed on what's coming?

MARLES: Well, I'm not about to go into what we know about the circumstances publicly. Obviously, we've been briefed from our own agencies and our agencies from the Americans as well. Our agencies talk across countries, so the information that we're being briefed about, you know, involves conversations with the United States. But I'm not in a position to start talking about that here. I think you can well understand that the circumstances in the Middle East are very much occupying the attention of President Trump, and so you can obviously understand his decision to go back to Washington DC.

SPEERS: Well, clearly one of the options being weighed would be whether the US now joins this conflict and uses its bunker buster bombs in Iran. What's Australia's position on this? You've been calling for de-escalation. That would seem to be the opposite of de-escalation.

MARLES: Well, we are very much calling for de-escalation. So, let me make that clear. I mean, we understand Israel's right to defend itself, and we also understand the threat that the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile program represents to the peace and stability of the region and in fact, the world. But it's for those reasons we are urging diplomacy and dialogue right now and to take steps to de-escalate.

SPEERS. So, would Australia actually support or oppose US involvement?

MARLES: Well, we are not a part of this conflict, and I'm not about to speculate on what the United States might do. I take the United States at face value, and if you look at the statements that have been made by the United States, they say that they are adopting a defensive posture and a defensive posture of their personality.

SPEERS: But if you're calling for de-escalation, surely that means not supporting a US engagement?

MARLES: What I'm not doing now, David, is speculating about what the US might do. I take the US at face value. I mean, they are saying they are adopting a defensive position. A defensive posture, I should say, and that is defensive of their people and their assets within the region.

SPEERS. So, you don't, you don't understand them to be considering an offensive role?

MARLES: Well, I take it at face value in terms of what the public comments of the United States has been. Our position is very clear. We are calling for a de-escalation in what is happening in the Middle East. We want to see a move towards diplomacy and dialogue. And I guess implied in that, obviously, is a very clear concern that we have about the opposite, about this escalating to some broader conflict.

SPEERS: Would Australia support in any way, militarily, US involvement in this conflict?

MARLES: Well, again, I'm not going to go down the path of speculating. But we're not a part of this conflict and our position.

SPEERS: But would you support the Americans if they were?

MARLES: Well, again, we're walking down a path of speculation here which I'm not going to go down. We are not a part of this conflict. We are calling for de-escalation. We've made that completely clear. What we seek here is a move to diplomacy and dialogue and our voice is being exercised with many other countries around the world.

SPEERS: Can I just clarify, is the US allowed to launch any missions from Australia's northern bases?

MARLES: Well, again, there's a whole lot of speculation in all of that.

SPEERS: No, that's a simple question about what permission the US has regardless of what's happening right now. Are they allowed to launch missions from Australia?

MARLES: Well, we have a system of full knowledge and concurrence in terms of the way in which any country operates from Australia and that includes the United States. And we are not a part of this conflict.

SPEERS: Ok, look, Israel, for its part has been targeting not just nuclear sites, but oil and gas facilities, an airport, and now a state television building. There's been no pushback from the US against Israel expanding its targets. Is Israel still abiding by international law and acting purely in self defence here?

MARLES: Well, again, I think this leads to the comment that I've made. I mean what we want to see is a de-escalation here. We are concerned.

SPEERS: Is that a de-escalation?

MARLES: Well, we are concerned that what is playing out in the Middle East is giving rise to the potential for escalation.

SPEERS: Is that what Israel is doing?

MARLES: Well, I repeat what I said. We are concerned about what is unfolding in the Middle East giving rise to escalation, escalation in terms of the breadth of the conflict, escalation in terms of giving rise to, you know, a conflict which is broader than what we're seeing now.

SPEERS: I think you're concerned that particularly if the US were to get involved, this could broaden, we could see retaliatory attacks.

MARLES: It is, we have made really clear, you know, our fundamental concern here is this escalating and that is we've been saying that from the outset. That's why we're calling for de-escalation. That's why our voice is very much in seeking diplomacy and dialogue. The starting proposition here is we are deeply concerned about this escalating into something broader and that's why we've taken the position we have, and I might say many other countries around the world are taking exactly the same position for exactly the same reason. 

SPEERS: Let me turn to the Prime Minister's meeting with President Trump. That's been called off. They were due to meet tomorrow. Was there a courtesy call to Anthony Albanese to cancel the meeting, or did Australia find out via a tweet?

MARLES: Look, I mean, I'm not on the ground with the Prime Minister in Canada, but I think we can all understand the circumstances here. I mean, what's playing out in the Middle East or the entire conversation we've just had is deeply serious.

SPEERS: Sure, but a call or a text message? I mean, you always say they're our closest partner and ally. Surely a close friend makes a call.

MARLES: Well, I'm not on the ground in Canada, so I don't know the specifics of what's happened there. But I think we all understand that this is going to occupy the attention of the President of the United States, and it's completely reasonable in those circumstances that he returns to Washington DC. 

SPEERS: Is Australia now seeking an urgent meeting at the earliest opportunity between the Prime Minister and President to deal with the tariff issues and the fate of AUKUS as well?

MARLES: Look, well, I think we just need to kind of take a step back and take a deep breath. Our relationship with the United States has always been in a good place. It is in a good place under this administration. The Prime Minister and the President have spoken on numerous occasions by phone.

SPEERS: Well, the last time, to be fair, they did that was May the 5th. That was before the US announced a review of AUKUS, before it doubled the tariffs on steel and aluminium. Surely there needs to be some urgency around getting a face to face.

MARLES: And there is a whole lot of other levels at which our two countries communicate. You know, I met with my counterpart, Pete Hegseth, in Singapore. We have officials engaging frequently. The Trade Minister has met with his counterpart. The Foreign Minister has met with her counterpart.

SPEERS: Is the government now seeking a meeting with the President?

MARLES: I am sure that we will see in the not too distant future a face to face meeting between our leaders. But let's be clear on the critical issues, you know, we have made our position clear in relation to tariffs and more broadly in respect of tariffs. We are at the lowest tariff rate that America has with countries around the world.

SPEERS: But on AUKUS.

MARLES: Well, on AUKUS, because, you know, there's kind of been a lot of breathless commentary here. The United States is doing a review. It's an incoming administration which is undertaking that. That's exactly what the UK government did when they were elected in July last year.

SPEERS: But have you spoken to Pete Hegseth since they announced the review just to make sure that the US support is guaranteed?

MARLES: Well, we've been aware of the review for some time. It's obviously been for the United States to announce so we've not spoken about it. 

SPEERS: Did you call him or?

MARLES: I've met Pete Hegseth.

SPEERS: This was before the review.

MARLES: I met Pete Hegseth in Singapore and we've known about the review for some time. Now, I'm not going to go into the details of the meeting I had with Pete Hegseth beyond what I've already said publicly, but, you know, it was a positive conversation in relation to the future of AUKUS. That America is engaging in a review is a perfectly natural thing for an incoming government to do. It is what we did, we, when we were, when we came to office back in May of 2022. We'll engage in that review as America engaged in ours, as we engaged with the United Kingdom.

SPEERS: Alright. Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles. Thank you.

MARLES: Thanks David. 

ENDS