Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Can I first express my sympathies and thoughts being with the Australians who are experiencing the severe weather events we're seeing around the country. And certainly, most recently, the flash flooding along the Great Ocean Road where many of us have travelled was really shocking. And so I say to those communities, we are thinking of you and I hope that people are both safe and okay. I know the Prime Minister has been in contact regularly with the Premiers and Ministers to offer our ongoing support. And NEMA, the National Emergency Management Agency, is continuing to monitor the many severe weather events across our country and is working with state authorities. I again urge Australians to do what we do well, which is to pull together and to listen to the advice of local authorities. Turning now to my portfolio, as you would be aware, the UN Security Council has had an urgent meeting overnight our time which underlines the seriousness of the situation in Iran. Hundreds, if not thousands of Iranians have been killed by their own government, by a brutal, oppressive regime which is seeking to maintain power. I again say Australia and Australians stand with the courageous people of Iran and, with partners, we condemn this horrific crackdown. The Iranian people have shown enormous courage, not only in recent weeks, but over many years, and we all particularly salute the courage of Iranian women. The regime has shut down the internet, but videos and other reports emerging from Iran show that reports may have underestimated the full scale of violence. In terms of Australians in Iran, I would make a few points. The first is we have advised Australians not to travel to Iran since 2020. We continue to do so. The security situation remains extremely volatile. Again, if you are Australian and you are in Iran, we urge you to leave if it is safe to do so. People may recall that the Australian Government suspended the operations of our embassy in Tehran in August of last year. We do not have the ability, therefore, to provide consular assistance other than in the most extremely limited of circumstances. More broadly, tensions across the Middle East remain high. The security situation could deteriorate rapidly without notice. This could see flights cancelled, airspace closed and other disruptions. I again ask Australians in the region, please subscribe to Smartraveller. If you need emergency consular assistance, please call our 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre, which is +61 2 6261 3305, if you are calling from overseas. I'm happy to take questions.
Journalist: On Iran, Donald Trump has said all options remain on the table, including military action. Do you have a message for our closest military ally at this time?
Foreign Minister: My message is to the Iranian regime which is the world is calling on you to cease your brutal crackdown on your people. That is what President Trump has articulated. It is what the G7 has articulated and what Australia also calls for.
Journalist: Just another question on Trump. We've seen Venezuela's Opposition Leader present her Noble Peace Prize to Donald Trump after he essentially kidnapped President Maduro. Are you concerned that Donald Trump is creating a world order where might is right? And what message does this send to other authoritarian regimes?
Foreign Minister: Well, there's quite a lot in that question that doesn't reflect how the Australian Government would view a number of things. But can I first say in relation to Ms Machado's presentation or her gifting of the Peace Prize, that was very generous of her. In relation to Venezuela, I think you have seen Secretary Rubio and the United States outline the basis of that action, which they have said was a law enforcement action. More generally, you know, we do live in a time of great change and a time where strategic circumstances are moving rapidly. I've been very upfront with Australians about that. What I've also said is we should be confident as Australians in our ability to navigate these changes together. And what the Government will keep doing is to continue to work for peace in our region, in our relationships, and by building our resilience, and also by working with others to protect the rules which have enabled peace and stability for so many decades.
Journalist: Just in regards to Sussan Ley, is Sussan Ley being a hypocrite on the hate speech legislation given that the Council of Australian Jewry have said that they would prefer this legislation passed next week?
Foreign Minister: Well, look, I'd say a number of things about Ms Ley and the comments that she has made. The first thing I would say is that this legislation arises out of the worst terrorist incident that we have seen in this country, in which 15 Australians, Australians from our Jewish community, were killed. And as the Prime Minister has said, those murderers had hate in their minds and guns in their hands. And we have to deal with both. We have to deal with motive and we have to deal with means. For weeks now, Ms Ley has been calling on the Government to immediately recall parliament. For weeks now, she has been demanding in press conferences that we recall the Parliament. Well, we are recalling the Parliament and we have presented legislation, we've given advance copies to the Opposition in the hope that we would see some national unity in our response. What I would say about Ms Ley is this, she continues to say this bill is unsalvageable. This is also, whilst her front benchers are out claiming they want to work with the Government but just need more time. Ms Ley has also promised alternative legislation. That's what she said. It's not actually clear whether anyone in her party has seen this alternative legislation. But what I would say is this. The Prime Minister has made clear we are open to amendments. We would like to see national unity, we would like to see the Coalition and the Greens act responsibly. It's important legislation to protect Australians. We want to get it right and we're open to the discussion. But I would say this about Sussan Ley – she says the legislation is unsalvageable, I think what is becoming increasingly clear is that it is Ms Ley's leadership which is unsalvageable. 15 Australians were killed. All of us have a responsibility to act. And what I'd say to the Coalition and to the Greens is I urge you to act responsibly, that's what Australians expect.
Journalist: On hate speech, the Greens are pushing for amendments to include other minorities in the hate speech laws. Is there room for these amendments?
Foreign Minister: We want to see the legislation passed. I think what the Prime Minister has said quite clearly is this legislation is specifically a response to what occurred at Bondi and that, you know, the discussion about what other grounds should be included is a discussion that we are open to having and we are open to engaging in a process for that.
Journalist: Australia's social media ban for children has been in place for a few months now. What interest, if any, is coming from other countries at the moment?
Foreign Minister: Well, first, I think this ban has been very successful and I think the Prime Minister stood up today to talk about the number of accounts which have been closed and the consequence of that, which is to try and get kids off their phones and doing more things and engaging on a one to one basis more often. That's a good thing. It is something that is of interest to other nations. Certainly when we were in the US at the UN General Assembly the event there was very well attended and countries were interested and I've had a number of counterparts ask about it. I think many countries are grappling with the same thing we are, which is how do you deal with so many of the current generation of your young people engaging so much on social media.
Journalist: Is DFAT working with other countries that might be replicating?
Foreign Minister: We will always engage with others to share what we've learned, share what we're doing. We'll continue to do that.
Journalist: And have there been any conversations specifically around the impact of Elon Musk's AI platform Grok given the UK's banned it?
Foreign Minister: Look, I'll leave that to the relevant Minister, but I would say I think we all want platforms to be responsible and we all want platforms to ensure that they are not used as vectors for hatred, for discrimination and for denigration.
Journalist: On the Adelaide Festival. What do you make of that decision to apologise to Dr Abdel-Fattah and invite her next year?
Foreign Minister: Look, I was asked about this yesterday and obviously there is a legal process underway and I'm not going to comment given that there are legal proceedings on foot. What I would say is all of us want the festival to be successful. We're the festival state and we will continue to be so.
Journalist: Are you concerned about the bad publicity and the controversy around the festival affecting our reputation as the festival state?
Foreign Minister: Well, look, we've got a reputation as the festival state because we've built one over decades and all of us have been part of going to Adelaide festivals, Fringe Festivals, the Writers Festival, you know, I'm confident that reputation will continue.
Journalist: Do you think Dr Abdel-Fattah deserves an apology from Peter Malinauskas?
Foreign Minister: Well, as I said, as I understand it, there are legal proceedings now on foot, so I'm not going to comment further on that. Anything further? All good, thanks very much for coming.