Doorstop, HMS Prince of Wales

SUBJECTS: Exercise Talisman Sabre; Australia-UK Defence Relationship; Indo-Pacific; Australia’s Northern Bases; Middle East Conflict. 

JOHN HEALEY, UK DEFENCE SECRETARY: Thank you all for being here. I can’t tell you how proud I am to be standing here with Richard Marles on the hangar of the Prince of Wales, an aircraft carrier, alongside in Darwin, in the Indo-Pacific. The first British carrier to visit Australia since 1997 and the flagship for the Aussie-led Talisman Sabre Exercise, the biggest ever - 19 nations and 3,000 UK troops as part of that Exercise over the last few weeks. I’ve been here for three days alongside Richard; in Sydney, we’ve been to his hometown in Geelong, we’ve been to Melbourne to the MCG last night and whist we may be enduring rivals on the sports field, we are enduring partners in trade, in diplomacy and in defence. And I guess I’m here with three messages. The first is the security of the Indo-Pacific is indivisible from the security in the Euro-Atlantic. The second is that as threats are increasing, partnerships like the UK and Australia matter more than ever. The third is that as we develop our defence together, it will bring thousands of new jobs and economic growth to both our nations. And those three truths were at the heart of the new AUKUS treaty, the Geelong Treaty, Richard and I signed yesterday that signified an ever deepening and strengthening defence bond between us. 

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Thanks John. It is actually fantastic to be with you here, to be on board His Majesty’s Ship, the Prince of Wales. And we are here a day after signing the Geelong Treaty, which is the treaty between our two countries which will underpin our collaboration in delivering AUKUS. As we meet here on board the Prince of Wales we are about to enter the last week of Talisman Sabre, and as John said, it’s been a fantastic exercise, the biggest Talisman Sabre we have ever done. In fact, at its peak there has actually been more than 40,000 personnel involved across 19 nations. And for the first time, Talisman Sabre is going beyond Australia’s shores with a component which is about to happen this week in Papua New Guinea. We’ve seen the first live firing of Australia’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System – the HIMARS – which we did alongside Singaporean and American HIMARS units. We’ve seen a firing of the Korean Marines’ K91A, which is very similar to the Huntsman we are building in Geelong for the Australian Army, the self-propelled Howitzer. On Friday, we saw the first firing in Australia of the Precision Strike Missile; this is a really historic moment because what it means is it takes the range of the Australian Army from 40 kilometres right out to 500 kilometres. But of course we have seen the participation of the Carrier Strike Group as part of Talisman Sabre. And as John said, the Prince of Wales being here means that there are 3,000 UK personnel who have been participating in Talisman Sabre across all three services. It is the first time we’ve seen a UK carrier here since 1997. It’s the first time we’ve had a non-American carrier participate in Talisman Sabre. It has greatly increased the training value of Exercise Talisman Sabre by having the carrier as part of Talisman Sabre. But we should also note that what the Carrier Strike Group being here is part of is a longer four month deployment in the Indo-Pacific. And if you want to see an expression of the UK’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific, well we are aboard it right now and the significance of the Carrier Strike Group being here, all the training that it’s been able to do, the presence that is has bought has just been absolutely fantastic. I just finally want to say, today is the third day that John and I have spent together really as part of this year’s AUKMIN. It has been a wonderful three days. It speaks to a strategic and contemporary dimension to what is our oldest relationship. And it is a strategic and contemporary dimension which really means we are working as closely today as we ever have. But underpinning all of that is really very close personal relations, which both Penny and I feel in respect of David and John and it really- the trust that comes to bare as a result of that, the warmth that comes to bare just enables us to do so much more. And given the world in which we are living today, we value it so much John. So it’s fantastic to have you in Australia and it’s fantastic to be with you on the Prince of Wales. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, Chinese state media has expressed its frustration with European figures commentating on security concerns in the Indo-Pacific. Is it provocative having a UK aircraft carrier visiting Australia’s northern waters? And Secretary just to you, is the UK still a relevant force in the Indo-Pacific? Given the security challenges in Europe, why does the UK take an interest in what’s happening in this part of the world. 

MARLES: Talisman Sabre is an exercise involving 19 countries, which is about those 19 countries building interoperability with each other, increasing the complexity of the way in which we engage with each other, and fundamentally building our capability. That’s what it’s about. This is an exercise which is about, from an Australian national interest point of view, about building Australian capability. And we really appreciate the presence of the UK here, obviously the Prince of Wales being here. The UK is not the only European country that we engage with, and have engaged with over a long, long period of time. The world- and it goes to what John said in his opening remarks, we live in a much more connected world where what’s taking place in Europe has implications in terms of the Indo-Pacific and visa-versa. I guess what comes to mind in a sense is the words of President Macron recently where he was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue and he said there’s not rules based orders, there is one rules based order and it applies around the world. And all of us are engaged in upholding the rules based order. We live in a global community and in that sense, I think being able to have Britain here engaged in the way we are is firstly, perfectly natural, but secondly, very much in Australia’s national interest. 

HEALEY: I said earlier that the security in the Euro-Atlantic is indivisible with the Indo-Pacific and one of the things we’ve been able to discuss at the AUKMIN ministers’ meeting is the staunch support that Australia has given alongside the UK and other nations to the fight in Ukraine. Because it matters. It matters here just as it does in Europe. We’ve just published last month a strategic defence review that recognises that our approach is NATO first but it’s not NATO only. And so this carrier being alongside in Darwin, the Talisman Sabre Exercise, the AUKMIN visits that David Lammy and I have done are all part of demonstrating that. You asked the question why? Nearly 20 per cent of the UK’s trade is in the Indo-Pacific. We have a direct interest in the international rules, the freedom of the seas, freedom of navigation, and the stability and security of the Indo-Pacific region. We can play a part alongside along allies in trying to guarantee that and that’s what our exercise with the Australians, that’s what our deepening defence relationship as well as our AUKUS treaty is designed to guarantee for the long-term. 

JOURNALIST: Secretary, we’ve seen in the last couple of years a bit of a surge in UK military presence here - we’ve had the Royal Marines, RAF, now we’ve got the carrier. Can we expect continued British presence militarily here in the Top End?

HEALEY: You can expect a continued deepening of our relationship with Australia. That is part industrial, it’s part military, it’s part diplomatic. The carrier here will spend these four months in the Indo-Pacific out of the four years of its deployment. Its principle role is in the Euro-Atlantic and it will go back to the Euro-Atlantic better equipped, better exercised, better certified for some of the most advanced battlefield commands exercising because of the nature of the exercises we’ve been able to do here. 

JOURNALIST: Richard, you will have seen the reports in The Australian yesterday from the US think tank that was raising concerns that we need to strengthen our defence capabilities in northern Australia. Do you recognise that concern? Is that something that needs to be addressed by the government? 

MARLES: Well, the Defence Strategic Review articulated very clearly the significance of our northern bases, and it was one of the real focuses of the government's response to the Defence Strategic Review. So in that sense, we absolutely acknowledge how important our network of northern bases are. What our northern bases do is enable us to protect. And being able to engage in more impactful protection is really the thesis which is at the heart of the Defence Strategic Review, and it's why we committed $14 to $18 billion over the decade to increasing the capability of our northern bases, and actually where we are right now is a perfect example of it. I mean, if you look at HMAS Coonawarra, the naval base which we are at right here, historically, it's been able to berth offshore patrol vessels but this wharf, which we are alongside now, which is part of increasing the capability of our northern bases, is allowing ships of much greater size to be able to come to Darwin and come alongside at Coonawarra. And this is the biggest ship to have done so in the year since this wharf has now been in operation. And in fact, this wharf is a perfect example of the kind of investments that we are making in our northern bases. So we're really mindful of how significant our northern bases are. They're being heavily utilized in terms of Exercise Talisman Sabre and we will continue to roll out that investment and see the increase in capability across the north.

JOURNALIST: When can we expect some progress on the ownership of the Port of Darwin?

MARLES: Well, look, I mean, you know our position well, Matt. We never thought that the Port of Darwin should have had the long term lease in the first place and we've been working through a process since we've come to power of getting the Port of Darwin back into Australian hands, and we will continue to work at that. But what we want to see is ultimately the Port of Darwin in Australian hands.

JOURNALIST: Inaudible. 

HEALEY: Speaking in general terms, it’s I think a matter that underpins the sort of discussions that we've had over these three days; the AUKUS treaty that we signed, and the exercising the 19 nations as part of Talisman Sabre – that is essentially that we secure peace through strength, and we secure– our strength comes from our allies. And so we know that if we have to fight, as we have done in the past, Australia and the UK are nations that will fight together. So we exercise together. By exercising together and being more ready to fight, we deter better together. And the importance for both our nations and others is that disputes and differences across the world, and particularly in the Indo-Pacific are resolved peacefully, diplomatically, and we can retain the peace and the wider security in this region. The UK has an interest, it has a role to play, and in particular it has a role in deepening our relationship with such an important historic ally as Australia.

JOURNALIST: Just a question for both the Minister and the Secretary. Both Australia and the UK have been publicly discussing recognition of Palestine. What are the preconditions that would need to be met for recognition to take place on both fronts? 

MARLES: Well, we have long supported a two state solution. It has been a bipartisan position in Australian politics, literally for decades, to see the pursuit of a two state solution, because a two state solution is the only way you'll ultimately have an enduring peace in the Middle East. In acknowledging that we also acknowledge the legitimacy of the aspiration of the Palestinian people to statehood. So we've made really clear that we support a two state solution. We've also made clear the conditions about what that would be from an Australian point of view. Obviously, any Palestinian state can't have a role for Hamas within it, and the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister have made that clear. But I think what we want to see is both through the international community and through what's playing out of the Middle East, that events ultimately get to a place where we can see the two state solution realised, because that is what will provide for an enduring peace.

HEALEY: I won't repeat much of what Richard said, but just to say, we went into the election in the UK last year with a promise that we would consider recognising the state of Palestine as part of a process towards a long term peace and that two state arrangement for the future. That is the approach we will take. But our immediate concern is to step up pressure for a ceasefire, an end to the fighting. We're doing that publicly, we're doing that diplomatically, we're doing that privately, we're doing that with allies. Because we have to have an end to the fighting so that Gaza could be flooded with the aid that Palestinian civilians so desperately need, and there is a chance, then also, of freeing all the remaining hostages that Israel is so desperate to see. 

JOURNALIST: Inaudible. 

MARLES: Well, I think what I would say in relation to Taiwan is, obviously, there is an economic relationship with Taiwan, but fundamentally, the position of the Australian government has consistently been that we do not want to see any unilateral change to the status quo that lies across the Taiwan Strait, and that, again, is rooted in a desire to see peace and stability within our region and a maintenance of the status quo across the Taiwan Strait is what serves that best.