Television Interview, The 7.30 Report

SUBJECTS: Iranian women’s football team; Conflict in the Middle East

HOST, SARAH FERGUSON: Defence Minister Richard Marles joins me now. Richard Marles, welcome to the program.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: Good evening, Sarah.

FERGUSON: Are you concerned about possible repercussions for the women soccer players here, but also for their families in Iran?

MARLES: Well, obviously this is a sensitive matter and we've taken great care in walking through the steps up until this point. What we have done, obviously, has been done with great care and we've made it clear to other members of the team that if they want to have a conversation with our government, then we are willing to have that conversation with them. I think it doesn't serve for me to speculate beyond that, but this is obviously a very sensitive matter. That said, for the five women who have made this decision, we are very much welcoming them to our country.

FERGUSON: Do you know, did the football team travel to Australia, the Iranian football team travel to Australia with members of the, of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard or Guard Corps?

MARLES: Look, I'm not in a position to be able to answer that. Again, you know, we have been dealing with this in a very careful and sensitive way. And the position that we have at the moment in terms of being willing to speak to other members is one we continue to maintain.

FERGUSON: All right, let's go to the decision now to send Australian military assets to the Gulf. The Prime Minister said that the request came from the United Arab Emirates. Was the United States also part of that request?

MARLES: Well, the request that we've responded to is the UAE, I really want to be clear about that. And I spoke to my counterpart in the UAE over the course of the weekend and they were gratefully receiving the offer that we've made. A number of other countries, including the US have made requests which are centred on helping to provide for the defence of the Gulf countries. But the request that we were responding to in relation to the deployment of both the E-7, but also the provision of the AMRAAMS, the advanced medium range air-to-air missiles, is a request from the United Arab Emirates.

FERGUSON: And just to be clear, the United States Central Command was not part of the discussion or Washington were not involved in this request?

MARLES: Well, a number of countries have made requests to us in terms of support-

FERGUSON: Does that include the United States?

MARLES: It does. As I said, that does include the United States. And the thrust of that has been in respect of helping to provide for the defence of the Gulf states. But, you know, the person who I was speaking to was my counterpart, the Defence Minister of the UAE. It is that request that we are responding to. And in responding to them, our strategic intent here is to make our contribution to the defence of the UAE but also the defence of the other Gulf states who have been under a sustained attack from Iran since the moment this began. And they are of course, states which themselves have not been protagonists against Iran.

FERGUSON: So, you said the United States has been asking Australia. What were they asking Australia for specifically?

MARLES: I'm not going to go into the specifics of it. I mean, the thrust of their request and others has been fundamentally in respect of helping in the defence of the Gulf states. But as I say, the specific request that we have responded to is the request from the UAE- that is the request that we have worked through, that is the request that I have spoken to my counterpart in the UAE about, and that is the request that meets our strategic intent here, and that is to help provide for the defence of the UAE and the states of the Gulf. You know, firstly, they are countries which have been under sustained attack from Iran when they have not been protagonists themselves. But the other point to make here is that there are 24,000 Australians who live in the UAE. This is one of our largest expat populations in the world, and so, you know, we are very much focused on the security of tens of thousands of Australians.

FERGUSON: What specific rules of engagement will the 85 Australians who are going with the deployment of that particular aircraft to the Gulf, what will they be? What rules of engagement are they operating under?

MARLES: Well, firstly, they're operating under an Australian command. And so that's important to say – they are there to help provide for the defence of the UAE and the other Gulf states. That is their purpose, and they are the parameters of the way in which they will be engaging. And that's really important to understand. But this is, you know, not unprecedented or it's not our first time down this road. As I said this morning, the E‑7 is an exquisite airborne command and long‑range reconnaissance capability. We are one of the leading E‑7 operators in the world. And so this is a capability which has been in high demand. And our E‑7 has been deployed on a couple of occasions to Europe in support of Ukraine, first of all in Germany and then last year operating out of Poland. So, the work that will be being done in the Gulf is very similar to the work that has been done over the last couple of years in both of those deployments.

FERGUSON: And, of course, it comes after a number of US surveillance positions were struck in the Gulf, were destroyed in the Gulf last week. Is that why we're sending this asset now? Because US radar positions were hit?

MARLES: No, we're sending this because we've been requested by the UAE to do so. I mean, this is an exquisite capability. There aren't many countries, if any, that operate the E‑7 in the way and at the level that we do. We are responding to a request of the United Arab Emirates, and that is why we are sending this aircraft.

FERGUSON: Does it make Australia a target?

MARLES: Well, I mean, what we've got right now is a situation where the UAE has been under sustained attack by Iraq [Iran] since the moment that this conflict began, in circumstances where the UAE has not been a protagonist themselves against Iran, and where we've got tens of thousands of Australians living in the UAE. So, right now there are tens of thousands of Australians who are in harm's way living in the UAE.

FERGUSON: Does it? So, I guess the burden of the question, Richard Marles, is does it more broadly make Australia a target? Do these assets become a target? Do we become a target, more of a target?

MARLES: Well, right now, what we've got is Australians in the UAE who are in a country which is being targeted by Iran, and we are helping in providing for, in assisting, the defence of that country to provide for the safety of those Australians. And I think that far and away outweighs any of the aspects of the question you're asking in terms of any additional targeting of Australia. I fundamentally don't think that's the case. I think what seizes us right now is the fact that we've got one of our largest expat populations in the world in harm's way, and we want to provide help to them.

FERGUSON: Have you asked the Attorney‑General for advice on whether this U.S. Israeli war against Iran is legal?

MARLES: Well, obviously, we work very closely across government.

FERGUSON: Have you asked for that specific advice from the Attorney‑General?

MARLES: Well, we work with the Attorney‑General and it is the Attorney‑General's place to provide advice, but we're not about to go through that in public. But what I would make—

FERGUSON: Why couldn't you share with us whether or not the Attorney‑General determined whether this war was legal or not?

MARLES: Well, it's for the Attorney‑General to speak, but what I really want to say is this. Iran represented a risk to the world in terms of it acquiring a deployable nuclear weapon. The reason we support the United States in its actions against Iran is because this will prevent and is preventing Iran from being able to acquire that capability in flagrant violation of the non‑proliferation treaty. Now, ultimately, it is a matter in terms of the legalities of the war or the actions that are being engaged in by the United States and Israel for both of those countries to articulate that. But we are supporting that action, because for Iran to acquire that capability would be a catastrophe for the world.

FERGUSON: Richard Marles, thank you very much indeed for joining us.

MARLES: Thanks, Sarah.

ENDS