Peter Stefanovic, Host: Well, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is hours away from arriving in Washington, D.C. where he'll finally get his moment in the Oval Office with Donald Trump early tomorrow morning our time. Joining us live is the Assistant Foreign Minister, Matt Thistlethwaite and the Liberal Senator, Maria Kovacic. Good morning to you both. So, let's start with you, Matt, this morning. What are we hoping to get out of it? What is a realistic achievement here beyond the actual meeting itself?
Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: Good morning, Pete. Well, obviously Australia and the United States have been close allies since World War II. That will continue into the future. It's an important meeting. I think it's a sign of the respect of the relationship. I'm not going to preempt what the discussion topics will be, but I think you'll find that our Prime Minister will continue to advocate for Australian businesses and exporters that have been affected by the United States tariff regime. I think that there's good congressional support for AUKUS in the discussions that I've had with both Republican and Democratic Congressional representatives. And importantly, I think that Australian rare earths and the fact that we have large deposits of those rare earths is going to be important in the relationship moving forward.
Stefanovic: Yeah. Do you think we'll get a deal on rare earths, Matt?
Assistant Minister: Look, I'm not going to preempt any of the outcomes. The reality is I don't know. And I think that Australia is in a good position because we do have those many deposits of rare earths. And importantly, Pete, we have a policy from our government, the Future Made in Australia, to extract those rare earths and to process them here in Australia. We're making those investments in those businesses and we welcome capital investment from the United States.
Stefanovic: Yeah. And on AUKUS, you know, are you expecting the future of AUKUS to be solid, to be locked in?
Assistant Minister: Well, we're very confident that AUKUS will be maintained in the discussions that I've had with Congressional representatives, both Republicans and Democrats, their strong commitment to AUKUS continuing. That goes for the United Kingdom as well. It's a tripartite relationship, but I think we have to respect the fact that the United States is going through a review, as Australia has and the United Kingdom has. So, we can't expect too much because they've got to complete that review and that's an ordinary course of their deliberations there. But we're confident that AUKUS will be maintained.
Stefanovic: And a final point here on this line of questioning. Do you have to factor in China's response when it comes to any deal with Donald Trump?
Assistant Minister: Well, obviously China is an important economic partner for Australia, but we act in Australia's best interests and that has been always the approach of our Prime Minister and our government. We will stand up for Australia's interests and that will not change.
Stefanovic: Ok, Maria, you've been patient. Thank you so much. I'll get your response to this. So, Matt's not preempting anything. I mean, it'd be dangerous to do that when you're talking to Donald Trump because anything can happen on any given day. But just looking from the side here, what are you hoping or expecting could possibly come out of Anthony Albanese's meeting tomorrow?
Maria Kovacic, Liberal Senator for NSW: Well, we're really pleased that the Prime Minister finally has a meeting with President Trump. We've been after that for a very long time. It's been, you know, some 350 days since President Trump came to office and we're having that meeting this week. Ultimately, we want the Prime Minister to do well. We need to ensure that this meeting delivers in terms AUKUS, in terms of trade and ensuring our national security. They are really critical things for us and so far the Prime Minister hasn't been able to give us any guarantees. We have the conversations now in relation to rare earth minerals, but we also have concerns in relation to the tariffs on copper and pharmaceuticals, too.
Stefanovic: Yeah, that's true. I mean, might there be something on pharma, Matt?
Assistant Minister: Well, we've always been of the view that the PBS is off the table. It's an important part of the Australian health framework and is not up for negotiation and our Prime Minister has made that clear. It's been a policy of our government. It's good to see that that has bipartisan support as well from the Coalition. So, we'll act and advocate in the interests of not only Australian businesses, but the Australian population when it comes to our health care and maintaining that.
Stefanovic: All right, Maria, let's close out in Barnaby. Just had a brief conversation with him, but if he defects, if he moves from the Nationals to One Nation. He didn't confirm that, but it seems as though that's how it's tracking. What would your response be to that?
Kovacic: Look, it's a matter for the National's party room, obviously for them to have this conversation and I've seen the media, as have others, and it is unclear, as you state, there are some stories saying one thing and some another. So, you know, it's a matter for that party room and for Barnaby to have that conversation with David Littleproud, his leader.
Stefanovic: Would it be a blow for the Coalition or, you know, is it still somewhat linked to One Nation, therefore it wouldn't matter?
Kovacic: Look, these things happen in the political spectrum. If you look over the last term of Parliament, we had Dorinda Cox move from the Greens to Labor. We saw Tammy Tyrrell leave Jacqui Lambie, we saw Lidia Thorpe leave the Greens, we saw Fatima Payman leave Labor and become an Independent. I don't think, you know, there's too much here that's unusual. It's just a reality, I guess, of political life.
Stefanovic: You got a closing thought on that, Matt?
Assistant Minister: Well, the Liberal National Party is in disarray, Pete, and that was evident in the interview that you did with Barnaby, because Barnaby still hasn't made his mind up about whether he's going to stay in the National Party or he's going to go to One Nation. I think that that's symbolic of the disarray in the Coalition at the moment. Sussan Ley's doing a speech today. There's no detail, there's no costings. And the reason for that, Pete, is she's been preoccupied with looking over her shoulder at her leadership and who's about to challenge her. David Littleproud is the same in the LNP. The Australian people deserve to know what the policy offering of the LNP is and the details of it. They can't get that at the moment because they're preoccupied with leadership challenges and who's in and out of the party.
Kovacic: What I would suggest to that, Matt, just one retort if I can, Pete, is just a little reminder that it's actually Labor who are in government and when it comes to costings and details, it's the government who should be providing the costings and details to Australians--
Assistant Minister: And we have.
Kovacic: -- and they have failed to do that on policy after policy after policy. So, I would suggest that they perhaps focus on governing rather than providing commentary on the goings on of the opposition.
Stefanovic: Can I just, on that point, Maria, can I ask, I know it's a speech today from Sussan, but I mean, is it, how much do you want to drop those personal income taxes when it comes to those lower and middle ends?
Kovacic: Well, it's really important that Sussan has the opportunity to articulate that clearly today in her speech. But what I will say is that it will be based on lowering taxes and rebuilding our economy. Our economy has literally been trashed by this government. We have seen unemployment rise again, we have seen productivity plummet, we have seen living standards crash to the lowest levels in the OECD, and that is under the watch of this government. That's the job that they are doing, and it's a pretty bad one.
Stefanovic: Maria and Matt, we will have to leave it there. Appreciate your company this Monday morning, though. See you next week.