Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Thanks very much for being here. I'm at the Crisis Centre at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and behind me are a lot of people from DFAT, Foreign Affairs, but also other departments who are working to support Australians through this current crisis in the Middle East. And I want to first say, I understand how concerned, how distressed many Australians are about what is occurring. I understand, particularly those who are in the Middle East, in Israel or Iran, how worrying this situation is, how frightening it is. And I also recognise, for families of people who are in the region, this is a distressing time. What I would say is, at the moment, airspace is closed, this means that governments have closed down airspace because of the risk of strikes on civilian aircraft. So obviously we have to wait until airspace is open before we can try to get people out by air. The people here at the crisis centre are working on a range of plans, including a plan for assisted departures when airspace is open and when it is safe to do so. So obviously, this is a very distressing time for so many people in Australia and in the Middle East. Happy to take questions.
Journalist: Do you have an update in terms of how many Australians have registered that they are with, in Israel and Iran, with DFAT?
Foreign Minister: What I can tell you is who has registered and is seeking assistance with departure, which is the figure that I look at, we look at, and it's around 300 in Israel - 350 in Iran, and 300 in Israel. What I would say is, I'm sure that that will change. It's morning at the moment in Tel Aviv and Tehran. So obviously, we're likely to see more registrations through the day.
Journalist: In terms of assisted departures, is that repatriation flights possibly operated by Defence, given the challenges in an area?
Foreign Minister: Well, last time we looked at a range of options, including some charter options earlier because they were a flexible possibility. So we're certainly looking at all of those contingencies, but we are currently in the process of planning for assisted departures, in the event that it is safe to do so.
Journalist: And obviously very difficult to give a timeline on how long it can be. Are people over there expected to sort of stay in place for many weeks?
Foreign Minister: Well, first, the timeline is primarily dictated by safety, and as long as governments have closed down airspace because of the risk to civilian aircraft, obviously no one can fly, and we certainly can't fly. We say to Australians, please listen to the advice of local authorities. There are people here who work on Smartraveller who make sure that you get the most up to date information we can provide. Please keep aware of that, register with us and listen to the advice of local authorities. At the moment, the advice is to shelter in place. And obviously that's a very difficult thing to say to people, but that is the best advice we have.
Journalist: You've called several times since these attacks began, this tit for tat began, consistently calling for restraint, including your call with the Israeli Foreign Minister overnight. But Israel's ambassador to Australia made a thinly veiled swipe at the tone of some of those remarks yesterday. He said sceptical that words can stop warheads. Have you spoken with Israel's Ambassador to Australia in that time, and did Israel's Foreign Minister echo those views with you as well?
Foreign Minister: Well, look, I regularly speak to the Israeli Ambassador. I spoke to him in fact, I think the day before that the strikes began. And he was involved in making sure we arranged the call, the rescheduled call last night with Minister Sa'ar - so I appreciate his assistance on that. As I said yesterday, no one doubts the threat Iran poses. We have long been speaking about this as an international community. We have long put sanctions in place. We have, Australia has, been part of the pressure that has been applied to the Iranian regime in relation to their nuclear program and their non-proliferation obligations. So no one doubts that. The question is, what do you do about it? Is your response going to risk dire consequences of the region. Our call for diplomacy, for dialogue, for de-escalation, is the same call that is being made by the United Kingdom, by Canada, by France, by so many countries around the world, and it's consistent with what President Trump has said.
Journalist: Were the sanctions placed on two Israeli ministers raised in that call with the Foreign Minister overnight?
Foreign Minister: Look, we focused on the on the crisis at hand, as you would expect. Obviously, there's been casualties in Israel. I also spoke to him about some of our consular matters.
Journalist: In terms of the safety of consular staff, is there any consideration at this stage to reducing the numbers in Tehran and Tel Aviv?
Foreign Minister: Look well currently, obviously, our advice to people is to shelter in place. And Australian diplomats and personnel in the region are in a similar position to Australians who are travelling as for other reasons, which is air space is closed. We don't have the capacity for people to leave.
Journalist: Your reaction, finally, Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that regime change could be a result of Israel's actions. Your reaction to those remarks?
Foreign Minister: Well, I think there's also been, there have also been statements about the importance of damaging Iran's nuclear capability, and that is certainly consistent with the way in which the international community has looked at this. What I would say is ultimately, we don't want to see escalation - an escalation which leads to worse outcomes in the longer term - we don't want to see escalation that leads to dire consequences for the people of the region. Thank you.