Natalie Barr, Host: Returning now to our top story this morning as we go to air, a fragile cease fire in the Middle East is holding on by a thread, with conflicting reports coming from the US, Israel and Iran. To break it down, we want to bring in Foreign Minister, Penny Wong. Good morning to you, Minister. So, the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire. The Strait of Hormuz was being reopened, then Israel attacked Lebanon. Everything was derailed. Is Benjamin Netanyahu calling the shots here?
Penny Wong, Foreign Minister:Well, good morning. Good to be with you. And really, that introduction confirms why I said last night that the ceasefire has to apply to Lebanon because if Israel and Hizballah don't observe the ceasefire, it risks the ceasefire across the region. So, we called early for that ceasefire to apply to Lebanon. We've been joined overnight by many countries in a joint statement released, calling on all parties to observe the ceasefire, including Lebanon. As you said, it's a fragile ceasefire, but it is one the world needs to hold.
Barr: Have you read Iran's ten point plan?
Foreign Minister: I've seen reporting of it. However, we're obviously not a party to the negotiations and I know from reports that the US is engaging with Iran, brokered primarily by Pakistan. I have spoken to two of the other countries who have been involved in trying to facilitate these negotiations, Egypt and Türkiye. And we all understand we need a ceasefire and we need the Strait to open because we want fuel to flow. We know what this has meant for Australians. It's been a very tough time with fuel prices where they are, with concerns about supply. We've seen concerns about fertiliser. We want diesel, petrol and fertiliser to come into Australia unhindered, and that means we need the Strait open.
Barr: Yeah, because like, as you know, we're at the end of the line down here on the island. So, Donald Trump says we have received a plan from Iran that is workable. Several of those points that we understand, that Iran can have nuclear, they can have their nukes and they can enrich them. That the UN nuclear watchdog stands down, that the UN Security Council stands down, that the US gets all their troops out and that all the damage from the war is paid for by all the ships going through the Strait of Hormuz. Do you think that that is a workable plan?
Foreign Minister: I doubt that what Iran has put out is going to demonstrate what the final plan will be. This is a negotiation. We're obviously not party to that. All I can speak to is what we want. We want the ceasefire to hold, including in Lebanon. We want the Strait opened and we want the world to work to restore stability to energy markets and fuel markets. And we want Australians to not be punished at the bowser for the ceasefire not holding.
Barr. So, Australians are waking up and they've got headlines like this, oh look, you know, fuel relief is in sight. It doesn't seem like it though, Penny, because we've got Iran saying the Strait is closed. We've got the US saying, no, that's fake news the Strait is open. The two players can't even agree on that this morning.
Foreign Minister: What I'd say on fuel relief in sight is what I said last night. We've got a long way to go. Not only is the ceasefire fragile and it has to hold, even if we see a successful negotiation we've still got a lot of disruption in the system. We've got the gap in supply, and then we have from the Strait being closed, and then we have the damage to infrastructure in the region, which is obviously affecting supply. So we've got a long way to go. It's why the Government has been so focused on assuring supply. It's why the Prime Minister is in Singapore, our largest supplier of petrol. It's why I've been engaging with Singapore, with Korea, with Malaysia, with Japan, who I spoke to last night. The Government's very focused on what we can do to assure more supply. And you might recall, we also gave Export Finance Australia the capacity to help private fuel supplies obtain more fuel.
Barr: Ok, Penny Wong, thank you for your time.
Foreign Minister: Great to be with you.