Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Can I first say what an honour it was to last night welcome Prime Minister Takaichi to Australia. Japan is Australia's Special Strategic Partner. This is a very important visit and we are very honoured to host her in Australia.
Journalist: What exactly is Australia doing in efforts in the Strait of Hormuz to be able to open it up?
Foreign Minister:We have been engaging diplomatically with the United Kingdom, France, and also the United States. Obviously, we all want the Strait open.
Journalist: What does that look like, though, those efforts?
Foreign Minister:I saw the President's message this morning. Obviously, more details will emerge over the coming days. As a matter of principle, we all want the Strait open, Australian consumers want the Strait open, and the global economy needs the Strait open.
Journalist: Is it mainly sort of diplomatic conversations that are going on at this stage though?
Foreign Minister:You would anticipate, as I've said for some time now, we are engaging very closely with our partners in relation to the Strait.
Journalist: But don't Australians deserve to have a better understanding about what we're involved in?
Foreign Minister:Well, we already have outlined very clearly the defensive capability that we have provided.
Journalist: On the Japanese Prime Minister's visit, there's a story today about potentially Australia looking to lease submarines from Japan. Is that something that's being seriously considered?
Foreign Minister:Look, no, we're focused on AUKUS. AUKUS provides the capability Australia needs. I've explained to Australians why it matters. Deterrence matters. It matters for peace because it underpins stability in the region. This is the submarine capability Australia needs and we're focused on delivering it.
Journalist: How much does gas play a role in today's discussions?
Foreign Minister:Well, gas plays a role in all our discussions because it fundamentally underpins the shared energy security between our countries. It certainly was a big part of my discussions when I was in Japan, as well as in Korea and China. And I made the very important point, that we receive diesel, we receive jet fuel, we receive obviously fertiliser and petrol, and those imports enable us to export to the world, LNG, coal, iron ore, but also food to the region.
Journalist: Did the Japanese Prime Minister, did she put pressure on the Australian Government not to put an export tax on gas, given what you've just said?
Foreign Minister:The position that our export partners have always put to us is they want reliability. And as the Prime Minister explained in a speech whilst I was away, our reliability is an asset.
Journalist: Is that a factor in Australia not moving forward with a gas tax?
Foreign Minister:We make decisions in Australia's interests and focusing on how it is we can ensure the best outcome for Australians, both in terms of the return on all of our exports, but also on our reliability, which enables us to also seek reliability at this time.
Journalist: Just on critical minerals. Obviously, Australia is talking to Japan and the United States previously as well. Is this a message to China?
Foreign Minister:It's a message about resilience. We want to make sure that we're resilient in a time where we see a lot of economic and global disruption and that critical minerals are necessary for our economy.
Journalist: Sorry, I was just going to say last one. Are there any more trips that either yourself or the Prime Minister will be going on to Southeast Asian neighbours to try and secure more deals?
Foreign Minister:Well, we'll continue to engage very closely, and you've already seen us in the region. I've been in North Asia last week and then obviously the Prime Minister and I were in Southeast Asia a couple of weeks before that. We're very focused on assuring more fuel for Australians at this time. Thank you.