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Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with Federal Shadow Minister for Defence Brendan O’Connor · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining us on the line is Brendan O'Connor, the Shadow
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Minister for Defense. Good morning to.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: You, Good morning Katie, how are you very well?
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: And Brendan, we were just talking about how the Northern
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Territory is such a great place to be at the moment,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: and well you were meant to be here but unfortunately
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: stuck in Victoria.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: I know, in fact, I was really hoping to participate
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: in the Run with Dad run you've got on Sundays now, yes,
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: and we've scheduled all of these work events and we
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: were wanting to be part of that great, great initiative
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: that I know you were very very much part of
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: in terms of creating, and it's a great and it
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: would just be lovely to get out of the sort
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: of the cold climbs of Melbourne, but unfortunately the pandemic
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: has restricted our movement. But I wish everyone who participates
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: on Sunday all the very best and have a great day.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: And we'll be watching with envy from afar.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: I know. Well. And then you've got Luke Gosling, your colleague,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: your labor colleague. He's stuck in Howard Springs at the
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: moment at Quarantining he's going to be running in the
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: spot on his balcony.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: He told me, Yeah, he's free, enthusiastic and he's going
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: to Look. It's really good that he's been how it
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: springs obviously with those that have fled Afghanistan and Kabul,
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: and obviously as a former ADF personnel, he he really
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: feels for the Defense force personnel and and those Afghan
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: nationals who work so closely with our defense forces and
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: was very much involved working with the government by that
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: to try and make sure we did whatever we could
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: to get those people out. Now we did we you know,
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: we wish we could have done more, but I think
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: there's been a great effort by people in the last
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: stages to get people out.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Brendan, as the shadow Minister for Defense, what have been
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: some of those conversations that you've had, you know, with
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: with servicemen and women who served over in Afghanistan following
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: on from what's happened in recent work.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: They've been quite harrowing. Look, can I just say the
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: extent to which former defense personnel have been involved working
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: with the government and the opposition federally to identify, locate
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: and assist those Afghan nationals and Australian citizens. I'm like
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: add in some cases be to be evacuated from Kabul
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: has been remarkable because of course some of these who
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: work so closely with those who work with the ADF
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: have personal mobiles and have an ability to contact them.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: So the combination of defense personnel working with the Department
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: of Foreign Afairs and trade work with the Minister's officers
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: and the Shadow Minister's officers has certainly provided great support
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: to this really important attempt to ensure that we are
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: able to have those leave a very dangerous city in Kabul. Now,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: of course there are some there are quite considerably more
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: people that have yet to leave Afghanistan, and of course
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: whatever we can do in the future through any diplomatic means,
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: if we can assist in providing support for them in
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: the future, then of course would look to do so,
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: and I think the government generally is on board with that. Obviously,
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: we need to make sure that there are security clearances
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: and the like, but we know that there are some
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: very good friends of Australia and not everyone was able
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: to get out of Kabul in the last days of
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: that on the end of the war.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Formally, yeah, it has been such a difficult situation and
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: I tell you what, for all of us in Australia,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: watching on our TV screens, through the news and hearing
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: about it, it's been pretty distressing and we are glad.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: We think about two hundred people around overnight on one
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: of those flights and are now in quarantine at Howard Springs, Brendan.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: We also know though this week, the federal Labor Party
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: has actually said that it would launch a new force
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: posture review to evaluate how the military is positioned to
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: meet the country's strategic threats. That is what Labor will
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: do if elected at the federal election. What exactly does
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: this mean and what would this review include?
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Well, it is to be assessing where, effectively where our
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: defense personnel on our assets are located. The last occasion
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: that there was a defense force posture review was in
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: twenty twelve, conducted by the then Defense Minister Stephen Smith. In fact,
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: it was that review which led to the United States
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Force Posture Initiative and Our North which was the program
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: that began under Promeinister Guillard and President Obama. And it
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: was that initiative that led to the Marine Rotation Force
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: in Darwin. So as you might recall it's started then
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: and by the way, it's the bipartisan positions supporting the
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: Marines in the Northern Territory. What we have now is
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: we have a new administration in the United States. The
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Biden administration is conducting its own global posture review in
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: terms of where it places it's personal and assets. And look, clearly,
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: most of the areas we have got personal located will remain,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: but there is whilst without preempting the review, there's clearly
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: more to be done in the North and Northwest, and
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: I think that means for the future of the Northern
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Territory and for Western Australia and other parts of Australia.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: I think you're going to see more activity and more
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: presence of ADF assets and personnel over time. But that's
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: really for the independent review to determine. But you can
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: see for the shift if you like, to the Indo
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Pacific generally, and the fact that the United States is
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: conducting INSIE defense posture review, it's timely then I think
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: the austract that considers doing the same and to that reason,
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: Anthony Albanesi announced on the seventieth anniversary of ANSAs on
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: Wednesday that would be looking on sorry, on Tuesday, they
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: would be looking to do that.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: And has the Morrison government committed to doing the same
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: or you know, do you think that, no matter who
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: is elected at the next federal election, that realistically this
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: is something that needs to happen.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Look, they haven't formally made such an announcement, but I
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: do believe given the twenty twenty Strategic Update of the
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: in terms of our national security in the ADF, I'd
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: be very surprised if the Government's not seriously contemplating that
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: when it comes to national security Cody, as you know,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: we certainly would rather work in a very in a
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: bipartisan manner, and I do believe the Government would be
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: considering this. But certainly Labour's made a decision that we
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: would be conducting such a review if elected, and of
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: course impress upon the government consider doing the same, so
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: that the two major parties would be you know, would
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: sort of have the same position. That would be of
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: course the preferable situation. But I just think it's timely.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: I think we had a review under Kim Beazley in
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: the mid eighties and then of course in twenty twelve
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: and of the Guillow government and I think it's now
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: timary ten years on, it's time that we look to
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: do the same.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: Well, very often here Brendan that the Northern Territory and
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: indeed the top end, so Darwin is strategically important when
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: you talk about the defense force. But you know, if
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: we were to do a review like this, how what
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: do you think or what kind of changes do you
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: think we could anticipate for us here in the Northern Territory.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Well, I just think if you you know, again without
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: preempting the review itself, that there is a greater like
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: that we look to the north and northwest. I think
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: it's fair to say that there might have been more
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: of a focus on the Pacific, but that now this
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: Indo region is clearly delineated as a priority for the
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: United States, and not just the United States, the Quad partners, India, Japan,
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: our regional partners. The fact that that's becoming more more
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: of a focus, if you like, globally, then our northern
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: coastline and our northwestern coastline will be will be seriously
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: considering what we do. Now You've got some very significant
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: bases in the territory and some very significant assets of
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: the Australian Defense Force. Well, I can't help but think
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: that's only likely to increase given the need to focus
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: on the Indo Pacific region, given that the fact that
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: the United States is certainly refocusing its posture and reviewing
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: it currently, and I just can't help but see that,
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: if anything, the territory will play even a large role.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: It already plays a very important role, but it's given
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: its location, it's likely the player greater role in the future.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: Well, Federal Shadow Minister for Defense, Brendan O'Connor, it's always
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: good to catch up with you. Thank you very much
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: for your time and hopefully soon enough Victoria is out
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: of the situation you guys are in and you're able
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: to travel to the territory again.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: Oh thanks Kadie, and all the best for Sunday.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much. That's Brendan O'Connor there, who is
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: the Federal Shadow Minister for Defense. And yeah, interesting stuff obviously,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: that announcement by Anthony Albanezi a little earlier in the
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: week that they are going to launch or that Labor
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: would launch a forced posture review to evaluate how the
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: military is positioned to meet the country's strategic threats. If
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: they were in power after the next election. But as
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: you've heard there from Brendan O'Connor as well, he does
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: really think that it needs to be a bipartisan approach
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: when you're talking about national security here in Australia.