Television Interview, ABC News Breakfast

SUBJECTS: Middle East Conflict; G7; AUKUS.  

JAMES GLENDAY, HOST: All right, we are going to bring in the acting Prime Minister Richard Marles, who is in Sydney this morning. Richard, welcome back to News Breakfast for the second time this week.

RICHARD MARLES, ACTING PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, James, how are you?

GLENDAY: Oh, it's lovely to have your company. There is a bit going on in the world. I just wanted to start with what's happening in Iran. Do you have any insight into what Donald Trump is trying to achieve?

MARLES: Well, I mean, we are watching events play out in Iran and Israel, and what we are calling for is de-escalation. We want to see diplomacy and dialogue being pursued here and we are worried about the prospect of matters escalating in Iran. Now, in saying that, we obviously recognise Israel's right to defend itself, as we also recognise the threat that is posed to the region and the world through Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programme.

GLENDAY: Sure, when the US president says, ‘oh, we're not going to kill Iran's leader, but we know where he is’, I mean, that sounds relatively threatening. Does that concern you? That doesn't sound like de-escalation.

MARLES: Well, I'm obviously not a spokesperson for the United States. Our position is that we want to see de-escalation, and we do. We are calling, and we're one of a number of countries around the world that are doing the same thing, calling for dialogue and diplomacy, because we are worried about the prospect of this escalating and that's really our concern. We understand the threats that are posed by Iran and we definitely understand Israel's right to defend itself, but we are concerned about the prospects for escalation here, which is why we're exercising our voice in the way that we are.

GLENDAY: Yeah, we're seeing some pretty extraordinary pictures over the past few days and including again overnight. How close is Australia to putting on repatriation flights for people in Iran, but also for those who want them in Israel?

MARLES: Yeah, well, we are, we're working very hard on providing for assisted departures. The real problem right now, of course, is that airspace over both Iran and Israel is closed. And so that is making matters difficult. But we are working on being able to move as soon as there is an opportunity to do so. We've also got our lines open and there have been a number of people in both Iran and Israel who indicated that they would want to take the opportunity of an assisted departure. So, this is very much a focus of our activity right now.

GLENDAY: Do you know how many people want to get out of Iran specifically?

MARLES: Look, the last advice I had, which was last night and these numbers get updated pretty quickly, was about 650 people were interested in an assisted departure out of Iran and about 600 out of Israel. But as I say those, those numbers are moving as you would expect in this moment. There are actually thousands of Australians in both Iran and Israel. So, we are really preparing for numbers of that order and we're expecting those numbers to rise. And so a lot of work is being done to put ourselves in a position to do assisted departures. But as I say the fundamental issue right now is that airspace over both countries is closed.

GLENDAY: Now, of course, Donald Trump left the G7 meeting in Canada yesterday without meeting Anthony Albanese. He did meet some other world leaders. Is that a sign of where Australia sits on the US President's priorities at the moment?

MARLES: No, it's not. It's just a function of the day on which we had the meeting scheduled. And there were other world leaders who had their meetings scheduled on the same day as us who didn't have their meetings with the President because he had to return to DC and I think if we all take a step back, given what's playing out in the Middle East, given the fact that the American President's attention gets occupied the by events of this kind, we can absolutely understand why the American President needed to go back to Washington DC to deal with these issues. So, we totally understand it, we get it, and we are working very closely with the United States on all the equities in our relationship. And I'm sure that in the not too distant future we'll have a face to face meeting between our two leaders.

GLENDAY: Is that one pencilled in? I mean, is there going to be one when the PM heads to America later this year?

MARLES: Look, I'm sure in the not too distant future we are going to see a face to face meeting between our two leaders. I make the point that there's already been a number of phone calls between the Prime Minister and the President. And our relationship is conducted at so many levels. Our officials talk literally all the time. I've met with my counterpart a couple of times. The Foreign Minister has met with hers, the Trade Minister has met with his. You know, we engage with the United States in a full way, dealing with all the issues around national security, around the economy that we have in play with our alliance partner.

GLENDAY: There's been a lot of speculation about AUKUS. I mean, we spoke about it literally two days ago right here on this program. A lot is being made of the UK Prime Minister's comments about it, which he made alongside the US President. Did that give you any heart or would you have preferred to see Donald Trump come out and say, yeah, AUKUS is really important to the United States? He hasn't done that yet.

MARLES: Look, in all the meetings that I've had with my counterpart, there's been very positive comments and discussion about the way in which AUKUS benefits both Australia and the United States and of course the United Kingdom as well. I mean, it really is in the strategic interests of both countries. I mean, we understand that there's a lot of breathless commentary about all of this and that's going to happen that. But in the meantime, what we're doing is working each day on pursuing AUKUS, on moving down the path of us acquiring a nuclear-powered submarine capability, but also moving down the path of upping the production and sustainment rates of Virginia class submarines for the United States Navy, working on the establishment of the Submarine Rotation Force-West at HMAS Stirling, south of Perth, which is a really important opportunity for the US in so many ways. AUKUS is to the strategic benefit of the United States. They get that and that is affirmed literally every time we talk.

GLENDAY: All right, we'll wait and see if the President talks about it. But Richard Marles, we appreciate you coming back on News Breakfast.

MARLES: Thanks, James.

ENDS