David Penberthy, Host: The Foreign Minister Penny Wong joins us on FIVE AA Breakfast. Minister, good morning to you.
Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Good morning Will, good morning, Penbo. Good to be with you.
Penberthy: Thanks so much for joining us, Penny. So, Minister, as um, our country, what is Australia's view of what America did? Do we support what the US did with this targeted strike against Iran?
Foreign Minister: Well, Penbo, the world has long agreed around can't be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, so yes, we support action to prevent that and that's what this is. And let's remember what has been the subject of strikes, these are specific sites, central to Iran's nuclear program. And we know that the head of the UN nuclear watchdog has said that Iran is accumulating highly enriched uranium at almost military level, enough for the manufacturing of several nuclear weapons.
Penberthy: Have we had any sort of briefing now that it's happened from the US? Or are you expecting one about, I mean clearly they've now publicly released the details of what they, what they have done. But is it something now where you'll sit down with your US counterparts and be sort of walked through the intent but more importantly, I guess where to from here, what the next steps will be?
Foreign Minister: Well look, first, the US has made clear that this was a unilateral US action. The second point though, the one you raised, which is what next, is really the focus of the Australian Government and most of the world. Because what happens now matters greatly. We're obviously at a very precarious and dangerous moment. We don't want to see escalation and a full scale war and that's why Australia, alongside with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom and European leaders, have called for dialogue, diplomacy and de-escalation. We don't want to see a full-scale conflict in the Middle East, with all of that means for the people of the region and for global instability.
Penberthy: What's the status of the Australian citizens who are over there still? I know was it, is it correct that yesterday, that in terms of Australian citizens who are in Israel, that DFAT has had to suspend the attempts to get them out because there's fears that DFAT officials could end up in the line of fire with the Iranian missile attacks?
Foreign Minister: Look we were not able, because of the strikes, to continue with the land border crossings out of Israel, which is what we had been seeking to do. We had, we have done some not as many as I would like, but obviously the situation is very fluid. Look we've got about 1300 Australians and their families registered with us, who want to depart Israel. We have about 2900 Australians and their families registered wanting to depart Iran. Obviously in relation to Iran, the situation is very difficult, the airspace is closed. We no longer have Australian officials in country. We made a difficult decision to close our embassy and asked them to leave, because of the risk. Including the risk, particularly to diplomats, that we know does exist historically in Iran in times of unrest. We have deployed people to the Azerbaijani border, so that if Australians do get to that border, there are officials there to assist them. In relation to Israel, there are reports that the airspace may open for a window today. We are seeking to try and, if possible utilise that we're we have contracted people on the ground but obviously the situation changes very quickly, and the risk is high. So, we have to take that at one step at a time.
Penberthy: So just further to that question on aviation, Foreign Minister, this might be a peculiar one, and maybe not best directed to you. But I note that some of the International Airlines, British Airways, Singapore Airlines have cancelled or adjusted flights to the Gulf region. Does Qantas rely on advice from your department, or does it make decisions on its own about whether it's flying to that part of the world?
Foreign Minister: Well, first, you know, we obviously, I have asked my department to consider whether or not we need to update, or there's any changes required to travel advice. So, we will look very closely at that in relation to airlines, obviously they make decisions based on their assessment including what government is saying. We would just encourage travellers to make sure that they liaise with their airlines about any closures. There's obviously airspace closures in that region, so you can understand why some carriers have made that decision for a range of reasons.
Penberthy: And Minister just finally, how close is Australia, how close is the Prime Minister, to getting the vaunted sit down with Donald Trump, it seems to be a bit of a work in progress still?
Foreign Minister: Obviously the Prime Minister was looking forward to building on his three very constructive phone calls to the President, by, with a meeting at the G7. Obviously, the President had to depart early because of events in the Middle East, and we were amongst a number of countries whose bilateral meeting was cancelled. We look, the Prime Minister is looking forward to the meeting being rearranged and we would look forward to that occurring.
Penberthy: Penny Wong, the Foreign Minister, thanks very much for joining us this morning.
Foreign Minister: Great to speak with you, bye.