Radio Interview, ABC RN Breakfast

SUBJECTS: Anzac Day; White House Correspondents’ dinner; ISIS Foreign Fighters’ Wives; Investment in Bushmasters and Bendigo; Foreign Minister’s Asia visit

SALLY SARA, HOST: Sally Sara with you for breakfast. Well, the Federal Government says 268 new Bushmaster military vehicles will be built in Bendigo in regional Victoria at a cost of $750 million. The new vehicles are part of a $1.2 billion spend that will also see Defence Force trucks and other vehicles, used to transport personnel in hostile environments, upgraded. A fleet of Bushmasters has also been sold to the Netherlands. Richard Marles is the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, and joins me now. Minister, welcome back to Breakfast.

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Sally. How are you?

SARA: Very well, thank you. Before we talk about these latest defence announcements, at the weekend, there was booing and heckling during several welcome to country speeches at Anzac dawn services in some parts of the country. What's your message to Australians about what took place?

MARLES: Well, I think it's disgraceful is the obvious point to make. Welcome to Country is just a respectful thing to do. It's respectful at public events and it's respectful on Anzac Day. And Anzac Day is a day on which we show respect, and to have booing in the face of that is profoundly disrespectful and, in my mind, goes against all that Anzac Day stands for. Another point to make is that, you know, we have a very proud history of Indigenous Australians contributing to our Defence Force. We commemorate that on Anzac Day as well. Indeed, this year is the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Kapyong- at that battle we had Captain Reg Saunders, who was Australia's first Indigenous officer, who acted with enormous distinction. All of that should be acknowledged and celebrated on Anzac Day. And this booing has no place.

SARA: What do you think about the argument that it's people exercising their freedom of speech?

MARLES: Well, I'm exercising my freedom of speech to speak against what they did in favour of respect for Indigenous Australians and very much about the way in which Indigenous Australians have contributed to our Defence Force. And I think on, on this day, respect is the word and a Welcome to Country is a deeply respectful act. And to boo it, is completely the opposite.

SARA: Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral in the Royal Australian Navy, Justin Jones had this to say on Sky News:

[Excerpt]

JUSTIN JONES: Well, one of the things that we in the Defence Force are defending, as I've said, is our democracy and freedom of expression. So, whilst that might be disappointing, those are exactly the principles that the Australian Defence Force is designed to defend.

[End of excerpt]

SARA: Is he right?

MARLES: Well, the principle of freedom of speech can be exercised by all of us. And let me say I'm exercising my freedom of speech right now to make it absolutely clear that the booing that occurred on Anzac Day was a disgrace, and that's the only way in which it ought to be characterised. And, you know, we should be taking Anzac Day as a moment to show respect, and that's what a Welcome to Country is. And Indigenous Australians deserve that respect. Those who - Indigenous Australians - who served in our Defence Force deserve that respect. And that's what we should be thinking about when we are responding to really, the disgraceful acts of booing on Anzac Day.

SARA: Is it appropriate for a senior, very senior member of the ADF, such as Vice Admiral Justin Jones, to be articulating those views, that it's more about freedom of expression?

MARLES: Well, I mean, I'm making it clear where the government stands on this and let there'd be no mistake about it. What occurred on Anzac Day was a disgrace in terms of that booing, and it should be condemned in the strongest possible terms, and that's what I'm doing.

SARA: Opposition Leader Angus Taylor condemned the booing, but also said that he thinks that Welcomes to Country are overused. What's your view?

MARLES: I don't agree with that. I mean, Welcomes to Country are fundamentally an act of respect, and I don't think they are overused, and I don't think Australians think they're overused. I mean, the overwhelming response of Australians on Anzac Day to the booing was one of outrage. And, you know, Australians around the country in different contexts engage in welcome to countries, and that's a good thing.

SARA: On other issues, what's your response to the shooting at the White House Correspondents' dinner in Washington D.C. yesterday?

MARLES: Look, well, firstly, there's no place for political violence, and so clearly we condemn that. But we're also very grateful that everyone is safe. We're particularly thinking of the Secret Service agent who was shot in this incident, and I understand that he's doing ok, and so that is obviously good. And that the security services did their job here, which was very important, and we should be thankful to them, as we should be, that no one was, that the government did not hurt anyone seriously.

SARA: On another issue, we now know that the Australian Families - group of Australian families - with links to ISIS fighters, have left a Syrian refugee camp with plans to return to Australia. What does the government know about these latest developments?

MARLES: Well, I mean, the fundamental point to make here is the government is not involved in the repatriation of these people. We're not providing any assistance for these people to come back to Australia. Now, our intelligence agencies and we, very much support the way in which our intelligence agencies operate. And we have complete faith and confidence in them, monitor the situation in respect of everyone who is coming into the country and where there are security concerns. And don't go into these cases specifically, but obviously our intelligence agencies are on the job.

SARA: Returning to your portfolio, you've announced that a fleet of Bushmasters has been sold to the Netherlands. The additional Bushmasters that will be built between now and 2033. What's the priority here? The production of those going to the Netherlands or those assigned to the ADF?

MARLES: Well, firstly, the number that we're building exceeds by multiples the number that we are providing to the Netherlands. But out of respect to the Netherlands, we're not releasing the number that we are sending to them. What this is, is a major reinvestment in Australia's own protected mobility fleet and Bushmasters is at the heart of that. But in your introduction, we're also upgrading our Hawkeis and the battle going trucks. But the heart of this spend is what we're doing in Bendigo in the production of an additional 268 Bushmasters. And the vast majority of them are destined for the Australian Army. But this is the biggest, well, the biggest investment in that plant, in Bendigo since the Bushmasters were, the run on them started. So, this is a commitment to continue manufacturing Bushmasters in Bendigo for the next seven years. And that's a real vote of confidence in their work.

SARA: Just finally and briefly, the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong will travel to meet counterparts in Japan, China, South Korea this week, with the government saying it wants to strengthen Australia's relationships and energy security. What does the government hope that this trip will achieve?

MARLES: Well, as you've seen from the trips that have been undertaken by the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister will be seeking to work with these countries around securing fuel supplies to Australia, and that's across all types. But I think particularly jet fuel and diesel, which are the fuel types that are most under pressure. We've done a good job up until now in terms of being able to secure supply to Australia, but we're very cognisant of what may play out going forward. And we need to be vigilant about seeking to continue the work of getting supplies to Australia, and that's what Penny Wong will be doing.

SARA: Richard Marles, thank you very much.

MARLES: Thanks, Sally.

ENDS