Radio Interview, ABC Perth Drive

SUBJECTS:AUKUS; Submarine Rotational Force-West; AUKMIN; Middle East Conflict; Fuel Excise; World Cup

OLIVER PETERSON, HOST: Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles joins me on Drive, good afternoon.

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, Ollie. How are you?

PETERSON: I'm very well, thank you. Deputy Prime Minister, just on this public inquiry first into AUKUS because it's backed by Labor veterans. Its key concern is that proper scrutiny has never been applied to this multi-billion dollar defence plan. Do they have a point?

MARLES: Well, firstly, we really welcome further community discussion about AUKUS. I think the more that people are talking about this and the more that people are learning about AUKUS, the better. Actually, I think AUKUS has had an enormous amount of discussion about it from the outset, and that's certainly as I've been going around speaking with members of the community. Also, for what it's worth, within the Labor movement itself, this has been an issue which has been discussed widely, but we're keen for it to continue to be discussed, because it is a massive issue for the nation.

PETERSON: Are Australians getting our money's worth now that we won't be receiving a new Virginia class submarine?

MARLES: Well, just to be clear on that, what was originally agreed was that the first two of the three Virginia class submarines would be in-service submarines. The third would be new. What we're now talking about is that third submarine will go from being a new submarine to an in-service submarine. So, we're only talking about one submarine which is being changed in its nature, and actually that's of benefit to us, because what it means is that we will be operating a consistent type of submarine across the Virginia classes that come into our service, and I guess against a backdrop of what is a very complex program, the more simplicity that we can find, the better. I mean, this will make it, much easier in terms of the maintenance and sustainment of it that you can have a common set of people across the range of submarines working on them. Obviously, it provides consistency in terms of the submariners who are actually operating the submarines. So, we're really happy with this, and we see this as actually something which is very much to the advantage of Australia. I mean, it will be financially better off as a result of it, but really it's the simplicity that we see as being the great advantage to this relatively small change in what had already been agreed.

PETERSON: When will the bulk of the US personnel commence rotational deployment deployments here in WA? Are we talking weeks? Are we talking months?

MARLES: In terms of the bulk, we're probably really talking years, but the Submarine Rotational Force-West starts at the end of next year, and that's when you will start to see people come in significant numbers, but what we did agree with the United States at the AUKUS Defence Ministers meeting just over two weeks ago was that they are now going through the administrative procedures in the US to assign people to this role, and so there are Americans right now being chosen to be part of the Submarine Rotational Force-West in Perth, and in smaller numbers you will see a few come sooner as we get ready for the establishment of the Submarine Rotational Force-West, but the significant numbers really ramp up from the end of next year.

PETERSON: I want to come to that meeting in a moment but how's that progress going on housing to accommodate those US forces and their families, Minister?

MARLES: Oh, good is the answer to that question. So, I mean, we are through Defence Housing Australia, we are building the houses for the people who will be coming here, and that's important for people to understand that we're actually contributing to the housing stock, both in terms of accommodation on base, but actually building houses for families off base, and already we've seen hundreds of houses off base and north of 100 room accommodation suites on base be put in place right now before anyone comes, so we're ahead of the game there. Housing clearly is going to be an important part of this, but we're really confident that we will have the housing well and truly in place before we see the personnel come here.

PETERSON: Alright. On our other AUKUS partner, it's clear that your UK counterpart, John Healey, lost faith in the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer. Was it awkward for him to quit while you were there mid-visit?

MARLES: Well, obviously this was a matter for John, and the answer to that question is no. I mean, we'd had a really good meeting with Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, and John Healey, who's the Defence Secretary, and myself, and Penny Wong. I've been working with John really well over the last couple of years, and AUKUS is on track and proceeding really well, both in terms of what we're doing in Australia, but very much that part of it which is the partnership with the United Kingdom. This was really a decision that John made, but I'm very grateful for the time that I was able to work with John, but we keep moving forward, and we have every confidence that the UK will be in a position to meet all that it needs to in terms of delivery of AUKUS.

PETERSON: Well that's good because part of his resignation was in part about a lack of defence funding. So, should we be nervous about their commitment to AUKUS?

MARLES: No, and I think, I mean, if you look at his letter, and it's really for him to describe all of that, but actually he's talking about defence funding more broadly. AUKUS is a part of that. He has actually mentioned AUKUS in his letter, so we're confident that the partnership that we have with the UK as part of the trilateral arrangement that we have with them and the United States is in good shape, and we are very much on track here in Australia, but for example, as we were seeking briefings about the design and progress of the HMAS AUKUS, that is the submarine that we will build in Australia, which will be jointly operated by Australia and the UK, that is to say that we will both operate the same class of submarine. I mean, that design is coming along on track, on schedule. People are really pleased with how that's going, and the industrial base which exists in the UK, which we need to play a part here, is doing everything that it should be. So, actually, we feel pretty confident about how that's all proceeding.

PETERSON: And Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles is my guest on 102.5 ABC Perth. This is Drive with Oliver Peterson. If you'd like to join the conversation, 1300221025. Deputy Prime Minister, this much heralded peace deal between Donald Trump and Iran, how confident are you that it is going to stick?

MARLES: Well, certainly we welcome it. I mean, we've been calling now for some time for a de-escalation of events in the Middle East to see a restoration of the global fuel supply chain, and what that means is an opening of the Strait of Hormuz. It's really important that all the parties commit to this and adhere to it. We're very hopeful that that will occur, but this is really important, not only for the Middle East but the world, and we've seen the impact here in Australia, but it's been felt throughout the world, of the Strait of Hormuz being closed and the broader conflict ensuing, and so having a peace deal in place, so that we can see a return to normality as soon as possible, is very positive.

PETERSON: Normality weeks away, months away. What do you anticipate?

MARLES: It's a good question. I think it's more than weeks in terms of getting the normality of the global fuel supply chain back to where it had been. I mean, it is going, and even if we have an ongoing peace from this moment, there's quite a bit of work to do in clearing the strait and getting that shipping returning to normal, and we're working with partners in the multinational maritime mission around that, and around how Australia can contribute. That's a mission which is being led by the UK and France, but I think it is going to take a little bit of time to get that back to normality, but we really need to have peace as a precondition to starting that work, and hopefully that's what we've now got in place as of this moment.

PETERSON: So, do you imagine Australia's Wedgetail would remain in the region to protect those Gulf nations for a little longer?

MARLES: Again, a good question. So, the Wedgetail will stay there for as long as it's providing a useful role, which it has been in terms of protecting the nation to the Gulf, from particularly the UAE. We've also said that we would commit the Wedgetail to playing a role in an ongoing sense in respect of the multinational maritime mission, so that's a commitment we've already made, and we'll continue to talk with the UK and France about how best we can make our contribution to that mission, but that will be a really important mission in terms of not just opening up the Strait of Hormuz, but keeping it open in an enduring sense.

PETERSON: Alright. Do you and the Prime Minister believe America starting this war with Iran was a mistake? Has anything been materially achieved here by President Trump?

MARLES: Well, look, I mean, ultimately this was a decision that was made by the United States and Israel, and it's fundamentally for them to answer that question. What we said at the outset was that, you know, we supported a strategic objective of denying Iran a deployable nuclear weapon. In terms of what America has publicly said, their ability to do that has been significantly degraded throughout this conflict. We take them at face value in what they have said there. I think from here, though, what matters is that we need to see peace, so that we can see a restoration of that global fuel supply chain and opening at the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible.

PETERSON: Well, given the peace deal and that decision of the RBA yesterday to keep rates on hold, do you feel there's room for the government now to end the fuel excise cuts?

MARLES: Well, I mean, we'll have more to say about that. Obviously, the Energy Minister has been speaking on this as well. It was always imagined that this would be a temporary measure as part of dealing with the circumstance at the moment, but exactly how that all plays out is a process that we're going through.

PETERSON: Are you open to a multi staged approach? For example, could you discontinue the cut in metro areas but continue it in the regions to provide some relief for farmers and remote communities? Is that even possible?

MARLES: Well, look, I mean, again, I think the detail of how we move forward here is something that we're working through, and we really need to go through that process, and that's probably difficult for me to answer more than that.

PETERSON: Finally, Minister, not quite sure if you're aware of this, but somebody's probably brought this to your attention. An enterprising Aussie has now edited Wikipedia this week, it's renamed the Socceroos Captain Harry Suter, as Australia's official Minister for Defence, are you happy to share this title, Richard Marles?

MARLES: I've been there before during the Women's World Cup. Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, we saw some incredible defensive work going on in that game against Turkey, and over the course of the next month, very happy to relinquish the title if what it means is that the soccer is progress.

PETERSON: Well, that's it. Big game again against the USA later this week. 

MARLES: Cannot wait.

PETERSON: It'll be fantastic. Richard Marles, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

MARLES: Thanks, Ollie.