Television Interview, ABC 730

SUBJECTS: Visit to Japan; Fuel Supply; Middle East Conflict. 

SARAH FERGUSON, HOST: Richard Marles is the Deputy Prime Minister and the Defence Minister. I spoke to him earlier. Richard Marles, welcome.

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

FERGUSON: You've just returned from Japan. Did you have any discussions at all about the supply of fuel to Australia or our supply of LNG to Japan?

MARLES: Well, we did touch on that. We're important energy partners, really. I mean, we're obviously a very significant supplier of both gas and coal to Japan and we made it clear that we will continue to be a reliable supplier of that energy to Japan and will fulfil all our contractual obligations. Equally, Japan is a not‑insignificant supplier of liquid fuels to Australia. About 4 per cent of the refined fuels that we use in Australia come from Japan. And we spoke about the importance of maintaining the partnership, particularly given the current environment.

FERGUSON: Did they give you reassurance that their supplies of refined fuels would continue under any circumstances?

MARLES: We feel very confident about our energy partnership with Japan, both in terms of their supplying Australia with liquid fuels and our continuing to supply Japan with both gas and coal.

FERGUSON: Is Israel jeopardising the ceasefire with its continued bombardments in Lebanon?

MARLES: Well, what's really important here is that the ceasefire should apply across the region. We expect that. The world expects that. And that applies to Israel. Because if it doesn't, it does risk jeopardising the ceasefire more generally and right now, while there is hope in the ceasefire being in place, it clearly is fragile. There's a lot of water to go under the bridge, but we need to see this ceasefire hold. We ultimately need to see this ceasefire become permanent and for the Straits of Hormuz to open. And so it is very important that this ceasefire applies across the region and that includes to Israel.

FERGUSON: Is there any pressure at all that Australia can exert on Israel? Because the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said in his address there are more objectives to complete. It doesn't sound like Israel is intending to stop its bombardments. What can Australia do?

MARLES: Well, we are making it clear what Australia expects, but we are one country across the world who is saying the same thing. It's so important that this ceasefire apply across the region, that Israel adheres to it. I mean, clearly Hizballah– we condemn Hizballah for its attacks on Israel, but it is really important that this ceasefire hold and that means holding across the region.

FERGUSON: What specific contributions is Australia considering in terms of a coalition to ensure that tankers can pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz? 

MARLES: Well, I'm not going to speculate about what contributions might be made other than to say, you know, we are speaking with the UK, with France. We signed on to their statement now almost two weeks ago around putting in place efforts, when conditions allow, to seeing the Straits of Hormuz be open. Clearly we have a very significant asset in the form of the E-7 Wedgetail in the region which is providing a really important role in the defence of the countries of the Gulf and particularly the United Arab Emirates. But we will continue to talk with both the UK, with France, and with the other countries that form part of that, around how we can best contribute when circumstances and conditions allow.

FERGUSON: Let me put this to you, the Chief of the ADF said today– this morning he told a briefing that we could, Australia could deploy a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. Which ship is he talking about?

MARLES: Well again, I'm just not going to speculate, Sarah, on what we may or may not do. I mean, it is a matter–

FERGUSON: I think if the Chief– sorry, if the Chief of the ADF says we can send a ship, then I would expect you would be in a position to at least say which ship he's talking about.

MARLES: Well, there's a difference between saying what capabilities we have and what we will do. And I'm not about to speculate on what we may or may not do. It is a function of the conversations that we have with the UK, with France, with those countries that form part of that coalition. It's a function of when conditions allow and what those conditions are, obviously, and we need to work through all of that. And the last thing I'm going to do is start speculating ahead of all of those conversations having been fully had. And they've not been fully had. I mean, they've begun, but they've not been fully had. And clearly they can't be conducted to their finalisation before we know what conditions actually persist.

FERGUSON: But it's obviously– it's either a Hobart class destroyer or a frigate. Does that mean that Australia, listening to what the Chief of the Defence Force says, it sounds like he's talking about the destroyer? 

MARLES: I'm just not going to walk down that path, Sarah. I mean, I think to be clear and to be fair to the Chief of the Defence Force, he is talking about what capabilities Australia has. That's a very different question to what we would or wouldn't commit in the context of this. And that is a discussion, really, yet to be had to its full extent. And right now we've got a fragile ceasefire in place. That is cause for hope, but there is a lot of water to go under the bridge here and we need to see this ceasefire become permanent.

FERGUSON: Now, Australian assets have already gone to the Gulf. As you mentioned before, the E-7 Wedgetail is there and I think the Prime Minister confirmed that its stay there will be extended. For how long will the E-7 Wedgetail remain in the Gulf?

MARLES: Look, we will keep it there for the time being, is how I would answer that. I'm not going to, again, put a time limit on it because it's really a function of how events play out. But it is playing a really important role in providing for the defence of the countries of the Gulf and particularly the UAE. We of course deployed this at the request of the UAE and it will continue to be there so long as it can continue to play that role. And that's really the commitment that we've made to the UAE, to the other countries of the Gulf, and we’ll follow through on that.

FERGUSON: So I understand from what you're saying, correct me if I'm wrong, when you say the other countries in the Gulf, that means they are accessing the data that that particular piece of military hardware is able to gather. Does that mean that the United States’ forces are also getting access to that same data?

MARLES: Well, to be really clear about this, and I've spoken about this before, the E‑7 Wedgetail is providing data to the Combined Air Operations Centre which operates out of Qatar. Within the Combined Air Operations Centre are the countries of the Gulf. That is how this information can be used to provide for the coordinated defence of the United Arab Emirates, but also the other countries of the Gulf. The United States also, of course, is a part of the Combined Air Operations Centre in Qatar. But the purpose of the E‑7 Wedgetail is there to provide for the defence of the UAE and the countries of the Gulf. And that is the job that it is doing.

FERGUSON: You said before that it was premature to talk about what assets we could send to the Gulf. Does Australia want to see a UN resolution about actions to protect vessels in the Gulf before it were to deploy anything, such as those resolutions that Bahrain has been pushing towards the Security Council? 

MARLES: Well, obviously we very much respect the role of the Security Council and Security Council resolutions have been fundamental to the way in which Australia has engaged. We also signed up to the statement that was led by the United Kingdom almost two weeks ago. We work through the United Nations, we will work with the UK, we will work with France. What we want to see– 

FERGUSON: But am I right in saying that Australia would not send military assets to a coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz without a resolution in the Security Council?

MARLES: Well, I think all of the countries that we are talking about respect the rules‑based order and respect the role of the UN Security Council. At its heart, we support the rules‑based order and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. We support freedom of navigation. We need to see the Straits of Hormuz open. We are working with the United Kingdom and with France around how we can best contribute to that. We are working with countries which have, at the centre of their system of values, support for the rules‑based order and at the heart of that is the United Nations Security Council.

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

MARLES: Thanks, Sarah.

ENDS