Jules Schiller, Host: Foreign Minister Penny Wong joins us this morning. Good morning, Minister.
Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Good morning. Good to be with you.
Schiller: Can we just first ask about the breaking news overnight in Saudi Arabia? We know that there has been some deaths, there has been some attacks in Riyadh, of course, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, that has affected the oil price already. What do you know of that situation and how concerning is it?
Foreign Minister: Well, this is very concerning and obviously we have reports. At this stage I don't have full confirmation of all of the details, but the reports, as you have indicated, are that there's been an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh – that it's been damaged. That a passenger aircraft there has been damaged and a number of airlines have announced suspension of flights. So, obviously this is very concerning, and we will likely see, if these reports are confirmed, pressure on, upward pressure on, the oil price, which obviously affects Australians at the bowser.
Sonya Feldhoff, Host: Yeah, and Minister, this comes within hours, I think, of a downgrading of the risk, the official risk, to places like Dubai and Doha. Does that give you pause for thought in terms of changing the risk for other Middle East countries?
Foreign Minister: It's always difficult, isn't it, with travel advice in a context where you know that there's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of uncertainty and things can stay very stable, but they can escalate quite quickly and it's very hard to predict. We did lower the smart travel advice for Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to Level 2, so, it's Exercise a High Degree of Caution. And we did that after a review by relevant Australian government agencies. So, it's very carefully considered. We always keep our travel advice under review. And we know that this region is very important for Australians because so many Australians use particularly, Qatar and the UAE, Doha and Dubai to transit, and we're very conscious of that. But at the same time, we have to look at what the best security and diplomatic advice is.
Schiller: And what's your understanding of the state of the Iran war? I mean, obviously you'd be getting updates. There doesn't seem to be any end in sight. And the Strait of Hormuz is still significantly affected. I mean, do you have any optimism this could be settled anytime soon?
Foreign Minister: I think that we all hope it is settled soon. We've been calling for a de-escalation for many months now. We want to see an end to the war. We want to see negotiations between the United States and Iran continue. I note President Trump did say earlier today or earlier this morning that the United States is continuing its negotiations and discussions with Iran. That is a good thing. I think we all can see, though, that this war has continued. Iran's use of the Strait of Hormuz as leverage, not just against the United States, but against the global economy continues. We want to see the Strait opened. We want to see the Strait open because ultimately, the impact on energy markets is having an impact on Australians every day.
Feldhoff: The U.S. president, sort of repeatedly at different times, says the Strait of Hormuz is actually open. What's your understanding? I've heard a figure of something like only 7% of tankers are getting through. Is that accurate?
Foreign Minister: I don't have the most recent figures, but I'd make the point it's not just what gets through, it's what the private sector, shipping, you know, the transport companies believe can happen. And so obviously there's a chilling effect on the willingness of companies to transport fuel through the Strait, which is having an effect on fuel. And, you know, the government has worked very hard to ensure that we continue to receive fuel in Australia, and that has meant entering, underwriting contracts from other locations, from other sources to ensure diesel and petrol continue to come to Australia.
Schiller: Well, before we leave this, will you rule out any discounts to the fuel excise in the future, considering now Saudi Arabia has been affected and, you know, I think we're up to almost $2.40 a litre now in Adelaide. And as you said, there's no end in sight for the Iran war. Will you rule those out in the future?
Foreign Minister: Well, first, you don't sort of, don't get into ruling in or out. I think, you know, from the way we've approached this, that we always continue to look at what it is the government can reasonably do, bearing in mind, obviously, significant budget costs. What we have been focusing on is making sure fuel supply continues. And that has seen diesel and petrol and, of course, fertiliser continue to come into Australia. Even when things were very tight globally, we have continued to ensure the economy is supplied.
Feldhoff: Has that decision by the G7 to release more diesel into the global supply ease things at all? Despite this other stuff happening.
Foreign Minister: I think what it does is it gives the markets confidence. Remember, price is not just… often we see prices move before there's any effect on supply because of what the market anticipates that will happen. So, the benefit of those sorts of announcements is it gives global markets confidence, which then flows through to Australians.
Schiller: You're listening to Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Sonya and Jules for breakfast on 891ABC Adelaide at 22 minutes past 7, can we get to Nepal and those terrible floods that happened a few weeks back. Firstly, before we get to more aid that you've announced overnight, what's the update on the missing Australians? How many Australians are currently missing?
Foreign Minister: We currently have 34 Australians who have not been found. And I do want to say that my sympathy, I'm sure the sympathy of all Australians continues to be there for the families and friends of those who have not been found. And they are amongst obviously so many that have not been found in Nepal. We know there are those who confirmed lost and then so very many, many hundreds are missing. So, this has been a shocking disaster. I want to say, apart from the announcements that I made yesterday, which comes to a total of $26 million to Nepal, $20 million has been provided in private donations from the Australian public. Now, that's really, that's such a wonderful example of the generosity of the Australian people.
Feldhoff: And in terms of that aid, I mean, we're a few weeks on now. Where is the focus of Australia's help in Nepal?
Foreign Minister: That's a good question, because the initial contribution, both in terms of dollars, but also materials, equipment, was very much on emergency humanitarian relief. So, how do you get people shelter. How do you help people with something as simple as some solar lights, because so much of the infrastructure being taken out. This last tranche that I discussed with the Foreign Minister yesterday, they will go towards recovery and that will be guided by Nepal's priorities. They obviously have a lot of infrastructure they have to rebuild, and I suspect that it will have to go to that.
Schiller: I think it was a year or two ago, so many Australians were affected by the death of Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles, who of course were doing what many young Australians do, which is have a gap year, go overseas.
Feldhoff: It feels like such an Australian thing to do, doesn't it?
Schiller: And we know they're shocking deaths and I know you've been close to their parents as well and had to sort of deal with their grief and frustration at what's happened in Laos, especially concerning any sorts of criminal charges. But you've announced a tool to help young Australians travelling overseas, Foreign Minister.
Foreign Minister: First, I do want to thank the parents of Bianca Jones, Mark and Michelle, and acknowledge their tragedy. And also, Holly's parents, Sam and Shaun. This has been such an awful time for them. And you're right, you know, we all, when we wave our children off at the airport, our last thought is always: Come home safely. Please come home safely. And what we want to do is to try and make sure that as young Australians travel overseas, particularly when entering Schoolies time, they have the resources to make good choices, choices that can keep themselves safe, that they understand the risk. So, we're launching TravelSmarts. It's an online interactive tool that helps young Australians navigate real world situations and helps them practice making informed choices.
Feldhoff. So, what does it actually do? That sounds like a test to me.
Foreign Minister: It's a little bit like a test. Well, it's sort of ,okay. You know, it might present, you know, these are the things you can, you know, if you're presented with for, just for example, like a whole bunch of very cheap drinks…
Feldhoff: Cocktails in particular.
Foreign Minister: Cocktails in particular, that's right. I mean, remember, methanol is lethal, but you can't smell it and you can't taste it. So, as Mark, Bianca's dad said at the event I did with them this week, if you're offered cheap alcohol, don't drink it.
Schiller: You're listening to Foreign Minister Penny Wong on 891ABC Adelaide. Sonya and Jules for Breakfast.
Feldhoff: Yeah, you're targeting this for Schoolies time, but it strikes me that this probably has more relevance to, you know, uni students or those who go on travel breaks during those times. Is it sort of over an age group?
Foreign Minister: Look, you know, Schoolies is the time young Australians, often as a rite of passage, go overseas. And so, we get a big, you know, we get a large cohort of young Australians travelling overseas, so we want to make sure they're equipped. But, you know, I think all of us have travelled and I was saying to Mark and Michelle, when I was with them, I travelled a lot when I was young and I don't think I knew about some of these risks.
Feldhoff: Well, in fact, when you're travelling and you're money poor, you know, you're kind of going for everything as cheap as possible.
Foreign Minister. It is, you're right. Yes, we've launched it now, but this really is about making sure we have more resources so that people can know, people can understand the risks better and can get advice about, you know, how the choices they can make and what they do if something goes wrong.
Schiller: Before you leave us Foreign Minister, we know this is the first opportunity we've had to speak to you since reports emerged that both you and South Australian Senate colleague Don Farrell are intending to seek reelection. Obviously, Don Farrell is, is going around again. I mean, don't want to be ageist here, but you know that he's long in the tooth when it comes to Parliament.
Feldhoff: Not ageist at all, Jules.
Schiller: No, no, no, but --
Foreign Minister: Sonya, can you remind me how old Jules is?
Feldhoff: Yeah, exactly, exactly. But, like, seriously, there are rumours around for a long time that you might decide that you would like to, you know, seek other pastures, I'm not saying greener, other pastures. But you've decided to go around again as well, what was the basis for that?
Foreign Minister: Well, this is, I feel this job matters a lot at this point in time. And, you know, it's the privilege of my life to be a South Australian Senator and to be the Foreign Minister and it's, I feel like the world's a difficult place and I can contribute to helping make Australia safer and more secure in a world that's pretty difficult.
Schiller: So, there's no truth to the rumour that Don Farrell might seek reelection and then make way for a, say, a protege down the track? Is that the…
Foreign Minister: You should probably ask Don. I hadn't actually heard that rumour til you put it to me. So, there you go. That shows...
Feldhoff: Well, you knew exactly who he was talking about, though.
Schiller: All right, Penny Wong, thank you for your company. Great to see that tool up and running, especially as many of you would have kids heading overseas, whether they're school leavers or uni students. And also, you know, the generosity, I mean, obviously the government's given, I think, over $20 million, but so have local Australians to Nepal.
Feldhoff: I think it's ready good as a parent, don't you want to have something to start that conversation, and have that conversation. At least you've got somewhere to direct them. That's important.