Interview with David Koch and Melissa Doyle, Sunrise, Channel 7

Subjects: Wikileaks, Julian Assange

Transcript, E&OE, proof only

8 December 2010

DAVID KOCH: Kevin Rudd, good morning to you. Were you an abrasive...

KEVIN RUDD: Good morning, Kochie, how are you...

DAVID KOCH: ...control freak?

KEVIN RUDD: ...this morning?

DAVID KOCH: Oh, good. Were you an abrasive control freak, as painted in these US cables?

KEVIN RUDD: Well, you know something, Kochie, our policy, I think, from day one, as far as WikiLeaks is concerned, is we just don't talk about the content of the unauthorised release of diplomatic communications whether they are nice about us, whether they are nasty about us, and we apply that to any cable about any politician at home or abroad.

DAVID KOCH: Okay, but...

KEVIN RUDD: On the general question of - on the general question of diplomatic reporting, though, can I just say, Kochie, I'm sure much worse has been written about me in the past and probably much worse will be written about me in the future but frankly, mate, I don't care. My job's just to act in Australia's national interest as Australia's Foreign Minister.

DAVID KOCH: Okay. Are you offended by the descriptions by the US diplomats though? You know, you go on the cocktail circuit with the US Ambassador...

KEVIN RUDD: Not faintly, Kochie, not faintly.

DAVID KOCH: ...and he's writing about you.

KEVIN RUDD: Can I just say, Kochie, diplomats do this around the world. I mean, you know, journalists write things which are pretty - pretty interesting from time to time. Guess what, diplomats do as well and so I don't, frankly, give a damn about this sort of thing. You just get on with it.

I mean, are we waiting for a diplomatic cable which says Kevin Rudd is a, you know, witty, charming, relaxed, down home sort of guy who is constantly cracking jokes and does everything we want him to do? Well, of course not. Things are of a different - different type when it comes to diplomatic reporting so, frankly, mate, it's water off a duck's back. These things get said all the time but, as I said, these are general remarks about the general nature of diplomatic reporting. We don't go to the detail of any particular purported claim in a purported cable.

DAVID KOCH: What do you think of WikiLeaks, though? Do you think they are a threat to - to diplomacy? Are they - are they a threat to national security? Or is it just telling us what we should know? If it came through a normal media channel we'd see it as a great scoop.

KEVIN RUDD: I think the bottom line is - I was asked this question the other day in the Middle East where you've got foreign ministers and heads of government, by the way, being asked these questions all over the world, as we speak, because there's a quarter of a million of these cables kicking around the world at the moment.

As I said it over there, when someone asked me in a conference about this, I said, look, the important thing is just to get on with the job because the real challenges of diplomacy are here today as they were yesterday: maintaining peace in the Middle East, dealing with the challenges we face. I think, frankly, we should just take it like water off a duck's back.

But there is a serious point here and that is about Mr Assange's legal rights. I'm the Foreign Minister of Australia and I'm responsible for the consular wellbeing of all Australians and, therefore, I just want to make it absolutely clear that, first of all, Mr Assange has contacted the Australian Consul-General in London and asked for consular support. We have confirmed that we'll provide that, as we'd do for all Australian citizens.

Secondly, consular officials attended his appearance in court yesterday and, thirdly, we'll be providing him with a letter soon which indicates we'll be prepared to provide consular visits and any other level of consular support concerning his wellbeing and his legal rights. That is the proper thing to do for any Australian citizen.

DAVID KOCH: Okay, so you're really supporting him?

KEVIN RUDD: Absolutely. He's an Australian citizen. He's obviously been the subject of legal action in the United Kingdom and from the Kingdom of Sweden but what we do with Australians in strife anywhere in the world is that we take the view that our responsibility is to ensure the consular rights and legal rights of all Australians abroad are protected and that includes Mr Assange...

DAVID KOCH: Okay.

KEVIN RUDD: ...and that's what we'd apply to your son or any other...

DAVID KOCH: Yep.

KEVIN RUDD: Any other person abroad.

DAVID KOCH: So - so you're happy with the fact that he actually did surrender to Scotland Yard overnight, he's done the right thing?

KEVIN RUDD: Well, he'd be acting on the basis of his lawyers. That's a matter for him. All I'm saying is that our job, which we'll continue to provide and to offer, through the consular services of Australia's diplomatic missions abroad, is to make sure that his wellbeing is guaranteed, to make sure that he has consular visits from Australian consular officials and what we normally do also is to make sure that he has proper legal representation and we do that with any Australian abroad, and Mr Assange is no different.

DAVID KOCH: Okay. Kevin Rudd, thanks for joining us. Good to see you.

KEVIN RUDD: Thanks, Kochie.

END

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