Kieran Gilbert, Host: Well, let's go live to Matt Thistlethwaite. He's the Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister, can you give us a sense of your view of what we're seeing in the Middle East? Obviously, a moment of crisis and emergency in Israel too with residents in Tel Aviv and elsewhere now in their shelters and bunkers awaiting retaliation from Iran?
Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: G'day, Kieran. Yeah, the tensions in the Middle East are certainly concerning. We're seeing an escalation and that's something that will concern not only Australians, but the rest of the world. And that's why the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, has said that we hope that we'll see a de-escalation of this tension and that diplomacy and dialogue can solve these differences. Obviously, there's been concern about Iran's nuclear program for many, many years, that the United States has attempted a dialogue, and we want to see the parties get back to dialogue and diplomacy to resolve this rather than through conflict.
Gilbert: It seems ominous right now, in fact, the Iranian military saying just a few moments ago on social media, remember, we didn't start this, so it's, as I say, it appears, an ominous moment for the Middle East?
Assistant Minister: Well, regardless of that, we want to make sure that there's a de-escalation. I don't think anyone in the world wants to see an escalation in these tensions and no one wants to see armed conflict at all. So, the best way to ensure that is to ensure that talks continue and that we get back to diplomacy and dialogue. So, in that respect, we want to see this de-escalated.
Gilbert: And when we reported, Cam Reddin reporting, the additional support for Gaza, that aid and the Foreign Minister urging aid to get into that enclave at the same time, earlier in the week, of course, the sanctions announced against two Israeli ministers, how do you reflect on that, given the criticism that we've heard from some members of the Jewish community in Australia, representatives with obviously an affiliation with Israel, believe it's a double standard. What do you say?
Assistant Minister: It's important to point out, Kieran, that Australia took those actions in concert with our partners, the United Kingdom, with Canada, New Zealand and Norway. So, it wasn't Australia acting on its own. We'd done that in concert with close allies and partners of Australia. And that reflects the concern that there is in the international community about the lack of access for aid to people who are starving in Gaza, the lack of medical assistance to people who have been severely injured. And that's why our government's announced today a further $10 million in support to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, $5 million for medical assistance, and they're providing field hospitals and the like, and a further $5 million to UNICEF for food aid. And that will feed around 8,000 children over the course of the next four months. So, it's important to point out that we haven't done this on our own.
Gilbert: How does it help to put those sanctions in place?
Assistant Minister: Well, I think that the world is saying to the Netanyahu government that we have a difference of view regarding the actions of particular Ministers. And those two particular Ministers who've been sanctioned have been very forthright in their support for illegal settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, settlement activity that is illegal under international law and against UN resolutions that Australia has supported. So, it's other nations saying to the Netanyahu government that some of their policies and their actions that they've taken are not consistent with international law.
Gilbert: On the Prime Minister's visit to North America, does the success of this trip rest on the meeting with Donald Trump and whether it goes ahead?
Assistant Minister: Well, the Prime Minister is making several stops on this trip. Firstly, he's going to the Pacific, to Fiji, to meet with Prime Minister Rabuka, to reinforce the importance of our nearest neighbours, our Pacific friends. And then he'll travel on to Seattle, where he'll meet with American business leaders, before going on to the G7, he'll meet with a number of leaders from various countries. And that underscores the importance of those relationship that we have on a bilateral basis and a multilateral basis. And we've had a very strong dialogue with the United States. The Prime Minister's had a very close relationship and working relationship with President Trump, and that will continue.
Gilbert: Do you believe that we should be worried, at least concerned, about that AUKUS review being undertaken by the Pentagon? And should the Prime Minister get some guarantees from Donald Trump, given how much Australia is investing in this space?
Assistant Minister: I don't believe we should be too concerned at all, because the United Kingdom recently undertook review of their defence posture. They undertook a defence strategic review as well, and that included AUKUS, and they decided to actually bolster their support for AUKUS, and they've appointed a particular naval commander to oversee that project. Australia undertook a Defence Strategic Review a couple of years ago and as a result of that we've increased our support for defence acquisitions and defence expenditure. So, there's nothing unusual about the United States reviewing their defence arrangements. I'd also like to point out, Kieran, that AUKUS has started and Australia's been successful in gaining a number of concessions from the United States government through their Congress where they've changed their laws to allow that technology transfer that will be important to AUKUS and to indeed allow the sale of Virginia-class submarines to Australia, not to mention the people to people exchanges that are going on around building up that nuclear training capability in Australia. So, AUKUS has started. The review is not unexpected, but we're pretty confident that AUKUS will be maintained and that will continue with that strong relationship with the United Kingdom and the United States.
Gilbert: Assistant Foreign Minister, Matt Thistlethwaite, thanks. Appreciate your time.
Assistant Minister: Thanks, Kieran.