Sarah Abo, Host: We are joined live from Canberra by Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong. Senator, can you tell us what that latest is on those Aussie stuck there?
Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Thanks very much. Well, obviously the situation in the Middle East is highly risky and very complicated. And as you know, airspace has been closed since the conflict began, which obviously complicates our ability to assist people. I can tell you that we have about 1500 Australians in Iran who have registered with us seeking assistance in leaving. We have about 1200 in Israel seeking assistance to leave. Obviously those numbers I anticipate will continue to climb. They've certainly increased over the last few days. In Iran the situation is obviously very challenging and our advice is to leave if safe to do so, otherwise to shelter in place. In relation to Israel, we obviously have a few more options there. We took the opportunity to assist a small group out across a land border crossing in the last 24 hours and we hope to have more able to be moved today. Obviously that does depend on the security situation on the ground.
Karl Stefanovic, Host: I mean the logistics of that sound incredibly difficult. How do you even manage to, to look at Iran and a number that high as well? I mean how are you going to do that?
Foreign Minister: Look, I think we all know the situation in Iran is extremely difficult and it is, there are real limits on what the Australian Government can do just as there are limits on what our like minded partner governments can do for their citizens in Iran. Unfortunately, airspace has been closed since the conflict began and airspace is closed as you know, because authorities don't want civilian aircraft to be caught up in military strikes. It's not safe to fly. And without airspace being open, it's obviously made it much more difficult for us to arrange to get people out.
Abo: Senator, the situation obviously in the Middle East is deeply distressing and it's teetering, right? It's escalating. We don't know what's going to happen next. You've been calling for a de-escalation but it seems they're not listening.
Foreign Minister: Look the world certainly is at a very risky moment, isn't it. And I think we've seen that from the reports. You talked about it, you've talked about it on this program as well. What I would say to Iran is it's time to come to the table. It's time to come to the table and commit to discontinuing any nuclear program. You see the circumstances, you see what the risks are for the Iranian people, but also for the whole world and certainly for the people of the region. So, we continue to call for diplomacy and dialogue and Iran to come to the table. As the President said, President Trump said, it's never too late.
Stefanovic: Okay, look, as you know too, US military assets and some significant ones are moving into the region. We spoke to a former adviser to the Secretary of Defense who's confident the US will launch an attack, however ominous that sounds. How does Australia respond to US involvement?
Foreign Minister: Well, those are decisions for the United States. And I'm not going to get into commentary about what the US might or might not do at this point. What I would say is, Iran has a choice here. It has a choice to continue with the rhetoric, continue to be defiant in the face of the security situation facing them, or it can come to table and agree to discontinue any nuclear program. And the second path is the path that is safest for the Iranian people.
Abo: Would you support the assassination of the Ayatollah?
Foreign Minister: Look, I'm not going to get into commentary on that.
Stefanovic: So, where does it leave us with Donald Trump then? The G7, it's almost become like a political Eurovision, even though I know that you're not going to like that characterisation, judging by the look on your face.
Foreign Minister: I'm trying to understand that actually.
Stefanovic: But when will our PM get face to face with Donald Trump? Is that likely to be next week at NATO or is it just too hard?
Foreign Minister: Look, I think it's good to have some perspective here. There is a war going on in the Middle East, there's a war going on in Europe. And President Trump left the G7 - obviously he wasn't able to meet the Prime Minister, wasn't able to proceed with a scheduled meeting. He also wasn't able to have his scheduled meeting with the President of Korea or the Prime Minister of India. So, this is understandable in the circumstances. I know that the Prime Minister is considering whether he should be going to NATO. And why is that - well, as I said, we have war in the Middle East, war in Europe. The world is increasingly unstable and this is a time where you have to lean in to engaging with countries around the world on how we can protect and preserve peace and security for all our peoples. In relation to the President, I'm sure there will be a meeting scheduled and the Prime Minister looks forward to building on three very constructive phone calls.
Stefanovic: Look, there's a lot of people heading around the world too at this point. What would you say just generally to Australians at the moment?
Foreign Minister: I was asked this earlier this morning and I made this point - please consider travel advice. We think very carefully, a lot of security considerations goes into the assessment of the wording of travel advice and the level of travel advice. For example, before the conflict began our advice for Israel was, 'reconsider your need to travel'. So, I would say to Australians, travel advice is there for for a reason. Please consider it, wherever you're going. Please take it into account, wherever you're going.
Stefanovic: Tens of thousands go, don't they and they will continue to. Good on you Penny. Always good to talk to you. Thank you so much.
Foreign Minister: Thank you very much. It's good to be with you.