Isobel Roe, Host: A number of high profile former allies of Israel have threatened action against the country after it launched an offensive in Gaza amid warnings of looming famine. The UK, France and Canada have threatened sanctions against Israel. But Australia has not gone that far, instead signing onto a joint statement criticising Israel for blocking aid into war torn areas. The newly appointed Assistant Foreign Minister is Matt Thistlethwaite. He joined me earlier fresh off a plane from a trip to the Pacific. Well, Matt Thistlethwaite, thank you so much for joining Afternoon Briefing. This was your first trip you've recently returned from as Assistant Foreign Minister, what did you learn about the Pacific countries that you visited?
Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minster for Foreign Affairs and Trade: Good afternoon, Isobel. It was no accident that the Pacific was my first trip as Assistant Foreign Minister. I wanted to reinforce with the Foreign Minister the importance of our relations in the Pacific and our partnership with Pacific nations, particularly around stronger action on climate change. And all the leaders that we met in Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu stressed the importance of the existential threat that climate change is for their nations and their people. And they welcome the commitments that the Labor Government has made to stronger action on climate change and working together to protect the Pacific into the future through that stronger action.
Roe: And what specifically are you able to do to protect those countries in particular?
Assistant Minister: So, we outlined our commitments through the Paris Agreement, the fact that we have a target for renewable energy by 2030 and we're putting in place policies to meet that commitment. Things like the new vehicle emissions standards that will reduce emissions from Australia, the Pacific Reconstruction Fund and the investments that we're making in resilience infrastructure. If you look at a nation like Tuvalu, there's a land reclamation project going on there at the moment that's a resilience project that's been funded by the Australian Government to ensure that the people of Tuvalu can live happy, rewarding and fulfilling lives despite the threat that climate change is for their existence.
Roe: One of the first questions that you and Foreign Minister Penny Wong got from local media was about the Pacific workers scheme. Clearly, stories about that scheme are getting back to locals about poor working conditions. Is that embarrassing for Australia?
Assistant Minister: All of the nations stressed the importance of the Pacific Labour Mobility Scheme, or PALM as it's known, and all of them see it as a win-win for both of our nations. For Pacific Islanders, it means that they get the opportunity to work in Australia, remittances are a large proportion of the GDP of those nations, and they can remit that money back to their families through that scheme. But there were instances raised with us. We stress the importance of the fact that under the PALM scheme, Pacific workers have access to exactly the same wages and conditions as Australian workers. And that means all of the protections that Australian workers get as well. And if there are any cases of people being exploited or employers doing the wrong thing, then those employers will be prosecuted in accordance with Australian law. And we gave that guarantee to those specific leaders.
Roe: Well, yes, and by July last year, the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman had recovered more than $700,000 for about 2,000 workers who were underpaid in that scheme. I mean, is that good enough?
Assistant Minister: Well, I think it proves that the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman is doing its job and that those protections are in place for Pacific workers. And we make sure that the Department of Home Affairs is regularly monitoring the conditions under which people are working and ensuring that employers are meeting their obligations. And we've had some investigations going on. We could report to those specific leaders that the number of disengagements of people coming on those visas has reduced and that the Fair Work Ombudsman is being able to do its job and to prosecute employers where they do the wrong thing.
Roe: Just on the issue of Gaza, the UK, France and Canada are warning Israel that they will take concrete action against them if they don't stop expanding their military expansion in Gaza. Do you make that same pledge on behalf of Australia?
Assistant Minister: Well, the Albanese Government's been pretty strong in our condemnation of the Israel government's blockading, if you like, and not allowing aid into Gaza. We've said that aid and those aid workers must be given access immediately. And we've been very, very consistent in the message that we've had for the Israeli government, and that is that we want to see a ceasefire, permanent and lasting ceasefire, obviously, of course. We want to see the release of hostages as quickly as possible, and importantly, that there's no restrictions or blockages when it comes to aid getting to the people that need it.
Roe: But the UK and Canada and France have gone further now and threatened sanctions. What's stopping Australia from also joining that statement?
Assistant Minister: Well, we joined 20 other nations this week in making a strong call for the Israeli government, the Netanyahu government, to make sure that vital aid for people who are in a dire situation is unimpeded and gets to those that need it as quickly as possible. And again, reiterating the call that we've consistently made and the approach that we've consistently taken with this issue of calling for an immediate and a lasting ceasefire so that that aid can get into people that need it as quickly as possible.
Roe: The General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, though, says that words are not enough. So, what can you actually do here? Is sanctions not one of the options that you could take?
Assistant Minister: Well, we've been pretty consistent in the approach that we've taken, and we're not alone in doing that. We've joined 20 other nations again this week who have been calling for that aid to get to the people as quickly as possible. And we've made strong words to the Netanyahu government to ensure that that aid does get through as quickly as possible.
Roe: We understand that the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, spoke to the Israeli Foreign Minister last week. Do you know what was discussed?
Assistant Minister: Look, I wasn't part of that conversation, but obviously Australia has been reiterating that message consistently since this conflict began, of calling for an immediate ceasefire and ensuring that aid gets to people as quickly as possible. And that's been a consistent message. We're not alone in calling for that, and we hope that the Netanyahu government hears that message and ensures unimpeded access of aid to those that need it.
Roe: Just on the issue of the Coalition, is the government enjoying the opposition taking the spotlight this week?
Assistant Minister: Well, there's some pretty serious flooding in the state that I'm in at the moment in NSW, where people are in some pretty dire situations. Our focus is on assisting those people. Kristy McBain, our Emergency Services Minister, has been on the ground there consistently with those communities, ensuring that that support gets through and that people get the assistance that they need. And our focus continues to be, as a government, on cost of living and housing and the policies that we took to the last election. We'll leave the deliberations of the coalition in Canberra to them. Our focus is on assisting people with the floods. At the moment.
Roe: It does appear, though, as if the Liberals and Nationals may reunite again. Is that a bit of a disappointment? It's potentially less of a strong opposition if you had two separate parties.
Assistant Minister: I think that we've always based our policies and our approach on what the needs of the Australian people are. And thankfully, the Australian people saw fit to give us another term, and we're focused on implementing that. There's some discussions going on within the Nationals and the Liberal Party in Canberra this week. I don't know what's going on, really. It's up to them to come to a resolution so I'll leave it up to them.
Roe: How do you avoid as you say that there was such a resounding Labor victory? How do you avoid that hubris that people have warned against?
Assistant Minister: By focusing on the communities that we represent and the issues that are important to Australians and that's going to be my aim in the community that I represent. I've been working with people on housing issues here on cost of living measures, on rolling out better health care and Medicare in our community and how we can increase the rates of bulk billings. So, that keeps you pretty grounded when you're in constant contact with your constituents and you understand what their issues are and that's the approach that I'll continue to take.
Roe: Matt Thistlethwaite, thank you so much for your time.
Assistant Minister: Thanks, Isobel.