Topics: Vanuatu earthquake disaster; Reopening embassy ends embarrassment; Varghese review; EVs; Fiji incident;
11:55AM AEDT
19 December 2024
Simon Birmingham: Thank you very much for coming along today. I want to touch on a couple of issues at the top, but firstly, to the people of Vanuatu, to whom our hearts go out at this terribly troubling time for Vanuatu following the recent earthquakes. Our thoughts are with them. Our hopes for a swift recovery [inaudible] and our full bipartisan support is with every effort that the Australian Government can give to support the people of Vanuatu at this time. My colleague Michael McCormack, the Shadow Minister for the Pacific and International Development, has been briefed by the government in relation to the situation in Vanuatu and the efforts that are being made. We wish to see all Australians who need support in evacuating from Vanuatu to receive that support and to be able to get home safe and sound as quickly as possible. We wish to see medical and evacuation assistance flow to ensure that all the people of Vanuatu get as much assistance as they can to get through the immediate crisis at hand. And we wish to see support for the rebuild of Vanuatu. And to all Australians who have had plans or made plans or were considering plans to travel to Vanuatu now and in the months and years ahead. I say firstly, of course, read and follow the travel advisory, but know that Vanuatu is an incredible and special place, one of our most valued friends across our Pacific family. If you can support the people of Vanuatu through continuing with travel plans in the future, or indeed through donations and support at this time, then every little thing helps for a beautiful people in a beautiful country, in a beautiful part of the world who are going through tough times at this point.
Secondly, I want to touch on the announcement overnight by the Foreign Minister about the reopening of Australia’s embassy in Kyiv the Australian embassy to Ukraine. This is a long overdue announcement, and it’s incredible that it’s taken the Albanese Government more than two years, longer than more than 70 other countries around the world to get to this point. The Australian embassy was closed right at the point at the initial invasion at a time of immense uncertainty. But other countries were able, in the months that followed, to put in place arrangements to reopen their embassies. So why has it taken the Albanese Government more than two years longer than all of our other international partners, more than two years longer than Canada, with whom we share an embassy building, more than two years longer than countries ranging from Ireland to Indonesia to get in place their arrangements and have their ambassadors on the ground.
You have to question whether it was intransigence or ineptitude on the part of the Albanese government as to why they couldn’t make this happen sooner. And indeed, Penny Wong herself seems unable to explain why it took so long, or what it is that has changed to enable the decision to be made now. I was pleased and proud to be able to travel to Kyiv in August of this year, to meet with Ukrainian government officials, and to see and understand firsthand how important it is for Australia to have our representatives on the ground to get that firsthand intelligence briefing and information. Australia has been missing out for more than two years of an important global conflict. On getting first-hand briefings, intelligence and information. Our ambassadors, our staff have no doubt worked hard during that time to try to convey the best they can, but they’ve done so with their hands tied behind their backs because the Albanese Government has refused to let them locate in Kyiv. So, this is a very welcome decision. But it is such an overdue decision, such a late decision and such an inexplicable decision from the Albanese Government to only come to the party now.
We will continue to give full bipartisan support to everything that can and should be done in Ukraine, but to urge the Albanese Government to always look at what else can be done. And I hope that in having the embassy reopened, they are in a position to receive more timely intelligence, more timely information and to deliver more timely support to the people of Ukraine. I do want to thank and acknowledge all of those who have campaigned to see that Ukrainian embassy reopened by the Australian government, especially the Ukrainian community in Australia, who have been so resilient in their support of their courageous and brave countrymen and women in Ukraine.
Journalist: Question. Some questions from Canberra from ABC. The Varghese review of the particularly search funding appears to have targeted ASPI, which has been critical of Beijing. Do you believe the Australian government has capitulated to Beijing’s demands?
Simon Birmingham: This is deeply troubling, to see, potentially, that the Albanese Government would act to constrain thorough, independent intelligence assessment and advice in Australia. The work of ASPI has been of value to multiple different governments and supported continuously by governments of all persuasions, and the Albanese Government should be ruling out any funding cuts to ASPI and guaranteeing its independence and support going forward.
Journalist: Was it a mistake by then defence minister Peter Dutton to appoint veteran Liberal Party staffer Justin Bassi to run ASPI and allow him to hire mainly fellow Liberal Party staff to work at the organisation?
Simon Birmingham: I think we have continued to see ASPI present a balanced and considered and independent and impartial approach in all of its analysis and work. ASPI has criticised governments of both persuasions. They have presented independent advice to governments of both persuasions. Their regular analysis of things like the defence budget has provided a spotlight, independence and really integral analysis that I think is beneficial to the entire Parliament and to governments of all persuasions. And that’s why the Albanese Government should be guaranteeing its support for ASPI going forward. Certainly, the Coalition remains committed to having an independent, well-resourced body like ASPI able to not just inform governments, but inform the Australian community.
Journalist: You’ll be retiring from politics at the next election. Of course, many people were sad to see you go, but do you know who will be replacing you as Foreign Affairs Shadow Minister? And if not, have you been providing some advice on who you think would be good for that role?
Simon Birmingham: All good letting the plane go by.
Journalist: That’s good.
Simon Birmingham: Thank you and now we’ve got some of the sirens as well. It’s a nice quiet day in the park here in Adelaide.
Journalist: We just need a Harley.
Simon Birmingham: So, it’ll be up to Peter Dutton to announce his new frontbench team. I have no doubt that one of many different capable people will be chosen to replace me as the shadow foreign minister, and I look forward to working closely with them and to helping them build, particularly on the support we’ve been proud to provide to the Ukrainian community, to Israel, and to the Jewish community, to our specific family and friends and across the region in terms of relations with South East Asia and all of our key regional trading partners, as well as, of course, the fundamental importance of delivering security through deterrence, which requires the continued pursuit of relationships and partnerships such as the AUKUS partnership and all of our critical defence and intelligence arrangements. There’s clearly much to be done and to be confronted in what is a challenging and troubled world. But I have confidence in Peter and colleagues who will be going on, and my advice is always to any is to be true to your values, true to yourself and that will help to guide you through whatever political challenges or global challenges you face.
Journalist: The US has released the Bali Bombing gofers released from Guantanamo Bay and returned to Malaysia. Does this plea deal concern you?
Simon Birmingham: I understand the feelings that many Australians may well have, and particularly, of course, those who suffered tragic losses in the Bali bombings. They are scars that will never leave the Australian families who lost loved ones who suffered injuries or who continue to face emotional challenges. I think all would want to understand that appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure that any individual associated with the undertaking of those bombings will continue to be monitored and will be under the type of circumstances that can ensure they never again undertake any such heinous action or play a role in any such atrocities.
Journalist: The government is offering new low interest loans for people to buy EVs. Do you support making EVs more accessible for people to buy?
Simon Birmingham: We support EVs, but we also support the market, and we have seen enormous change in the automobile market in recent years and to make EVs more accessible as more brands come to the market, often cheaper brands coming to the market. And whilst I wish to see people have the opportunity to lower their own personal emissions footprint to address their cost-of-living pressures, potentially by reducing the cost of running their cars. There’s also a reality at present, which is that the Albanese government keeps spending money. And as yesterday’s budget update demonstrated, Labor’s spending is creating serious long-term structural problems for the budget and for all Australians. And so it may sound nice for Labor to want to give more money away, but ultimately taxpayers pay the cost of that. And that is why we will be looking carefully at any and all areas of Labor government spending ahead of the next election to make sure that what we can rein in, we do rein in.
Journalist: Just back on the embassy. It came out in Senate estimates earlier this year that we’re paying about $250,000 a year to keep the office space. So, by the time the doors reopen, that would probably be about $750,000 we’ve spent on keeping this space. Is that a good use of taxpayers money, do you think?
Simon Birmingham: Well, this has been this has been an incredibly wasteful exercise by the Albanese government, paying for separate embassy accommodation and ultimately incurring significant costs every time the Australian ambassador to Ukraine had to go back into Kyiv on temporary costs and arrangements. But the bigger issue here is not just the wasted money or costs. It, of course, is the lost intelligence, analysis and time that came from not having somebody on the ground throughout this war. And I am confident that had the government had better advice throughout with firsthand analysis from hard-working ambassador in place, then they wouldn’t have made perhaps some of the mistakes, such as burying the Taipan helicopters rather than offering them to Ukraine or dragging their heels in making other financial commitments. We welcome the fact that since the Senate inquiry into Australian support for Ukraine, which called for a real escalation in what the government could do, including in looking at tanks and other such things, we welcome the fact that there have been new and additional commitments. And indeed, this announcement follows that Senate inquiry as well. But it just shows how much pressure had to be brought to bear on the Albanese Government to do the right thing, rather than them recognising it in the first place. And indeed, that could have been helped had they had an ambassador there.
Journalist: And just done something else. It came out yesterday the incident in Fiji, they found there was no methanol in the cocktails and the DFAT advice Smartraveller continues to alert people to the risks around drink spiking. Do you think DFAT should amend that travel warning?
Simon Birmingham: Clearly uncertainty continues about what caused the hospitalisation of those Australians, and it’s important that if Australia can help Fijian authorities to get to the bottom of that, then that’s crucial. Firstly, to ensure that it can be prevented in the future, whatever it was in relation to those drinks, and secondly, to really give confidence back to people so they can go ahead with their Fijian holidays where so many thousands of Australians have such a wonderful time and again tourism is around 40% of Fiji’s economy. Very much dependent upon Australian visitors and we want to make sure as part of those close Pacific relations, Australians have confidence to go there and DFAT needs to make sure in terms of the travel advice that it is providing the appropriate warnings to Australians. But nor should it elevate risks in any way that are unjustified or unnecessary, because it’s so important to our Pacific family that Australians have that confidence to travel. Thank you. Merry Christmas.
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