James Glenday, Host: The Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, joins us now. Minister, you had a very, very late night last night in the Senate. Thanks for being up so early to chat with us this morning.
Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Good to be with you, and yes, we saw the Government's national security package pass the Parliament last night. You know, as the Prime Minister said, the Bondi attackers had hate in their minds and guns in their hands and the package that was passed deals with both. Unfortunately, we also saw the Coalition, at a time we all want unity, divided on this package of laws with Coalition Senators voting on both sides of the Chamber last night. But we're pleased it's passed, it's important for the country.
Glenday: It will be interesting to see what happens and whether Shadow Cabinet solidarity means as much as it used to. I do want to take you to this issue of Greenland. I mean, what do you think of Donald Trump's latest attempts to acquire it?
Foreign Minister: Australia's position is very clear and the Prime Minister has articulated it, and I have made the same point. We believe that the future for Greenland is a matter for the people of Greenland, and the people of Denmark.
Glenday: I appreciate this is a pretty difficult issue for you to weigh in on, but some of our closest allies are being threatened with escalating tariffs because they won't just agree to Donald Trump's demands. Do we stand with our allies like the United Kingdom and France?
Foreign Minister: Well, we stand for Australia's national interest. And at a time where you know, there is a lot of dispute in the world and differences of views and contestation, our focus has to be very much on what is the right thing for Australia. The right thing for Australia is to continue to argue for stability. To continue to argue for international law. And that means that we don't support tariffs. We don't support tariffs which are imposed on us and on other countries. We see a benefit in fair and open trade, and that's always been in Australia's interest.
Glenday: Just on stability, I mean you will have seen this. This week, President Trump texted the Prime Minister of Norway saying that because he was overlooked for the Nobel Peace Prize, he no longer felt an obligation purely to think of peace. Is there a risk he's giving Russia and China exactly what they want and a potential fragmentation of the western alliances that have upheld the rules-based order for a very long time now?
Foreign Minister: Well, if I can just focus on the last part of the question, because I think that that is the nub of the issue. If we go back to Australia's national interest, our interest is in stability globally. As you point out, a central feature of the stability and peace that the word has known, since the end of World War II, has been cooperation, has been management of differences, has been mutual alliances between the United States and Europe. So you know, we will always continue to advocate for that stability and those alliances to be maintained.
Glenday: Given Mr Trump's comments about peace, will Australia be joining Mr Trump's so-called Board of Peace to oversee Gaza?
Foreign Minister: Well, we have received an invitation to join the Board of Peace, and we are engaging with the United States, and with partners to understand the proposal more fully, given that it is a much broader proposal than Gaza. So obviously, we'll consider it and we'll work through this with the US and with our partners.
Glenday: The Democratic Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, essentially criticised European leaders for their response to Donald Trump, saying that at some point they need to stand up for themselves. Is it going to reach a point where like-minded countries like the UK, France and Australia, are going to have to band together and say, hey, this Greenland situation is not tenable, you need to stop it?
Foreign Minister: Well, I don't know if it is helpful to Australia for me to be commenting on Mr Newsom's comments. But as a matter of principle, we should adhere to what we believe and what is in our interest. And that is that one, the stability of NATO and the US-European relationship matters to the world. It matters to Australia. And two, that the future of Greenland is a matter, as I said, for Denmark and for Greenland.
Glenday: Just on an adjacent issue, what are your key considerations for appointing a successor to Kevin Rudd as US Ambassador? Are you looking for someone with conventional diplomatic skills? Or are you open to considering someone who might have a personal relationship with Donald Trump?
Foreign Minister: Look, we will appoint somebody who we believe has the right skills for this position at this time and who will work with the Prime Minister, myself and the Government to press for Australia's interests in the United States, which is what Kevin Rudd has done.
Glenday: You very skilfully avoided answering my question but that's probably fair enough.
Foreign Minister: With respect –
Glenday: That's probably fair enough. Can I bring things right back to where we began, and domestic politics and this week, we saw a big surge in the vote for One Nation in a couple of opinion polls, and then overnight, we saw the Nationals cross the floor in the Senate. I just wonder if you think that those two things are linked? And what you think a rise in support for One Nation might mean for political debate in this country?
Foreign Minister: First, I would say that One Nation are not a serious political party. One Nation voted against laws that would ensure a Minister could cancel or suspend visas for people who come here to preach hate. So they say they're against hate speech, but they have voted against laws that seek to crack down on hate speech. But the second point I make is about the Coalition's division. We did see last night at a time Australians do want unity, where they want our politicians to come together, to work together, to bring the country together and to not push their own agendas. We saw the Coalition divided on the floor of the Parliament. This is what Ms Ley has delivered. Coalition Senators voting for the bill and voting against the bill.
Glenday: It will be interesting to see what is done about that, if anything. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, thanks for your time this morning.
Foreign Minister: Good to speak with you.