Melissa Clarke, Host: Matt Thistlethwaite is the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Assistant Minister for Immigration. Matt Thistlethwaite, welcome back to Radio National Breakfast.
Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs: Good morning, Mel. Thanks for having me on.
Clarke: Look, I have to ask you straight up, what do you make of Donald Trump's latest comments? He's talking about a whole civilisation dying tonight if a deal with Iran isn't reached, how do you respond to that?
Assistant Minister: Well, this conflict's been going on for quite a while now and it's having a dramatic effect on Australians' cost of living. And obviously we want to see a de-escalation in the hostilities and the conflict drawn to a close as quickly as possible. And that's why Australia has been involved in diplomatic efforts with likeminded nations internationally to call on Iran to stop weaponising the Strait of Hormuz, to stop attacking their neighbouring countries and to try and deescalate this. We want to make sure that the conflict is ended as quickly as possible and that the international economy returns to normal as quickly as possible.
Clarke: I mean, we've seen Tehran's representative at the UN describe these kinds of threats from Donald Trump as potentially genocidal. Do you think that is helping efforts to de-escalate in the region?
Assistant Minister: Well, all parties to this conflict need to ensure that they are abiding by international law and civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected. And that's why we've been calling for some time now on a de-escalation. Australia's not alone in doing that. The Foreign Minister was involved in a digital meeting last week with 40 other leading Ministers from throughout the world calling for a de-escalation. And all of our diplomatic efforts are working in that vein.
Clarke: Let's go to the challenges to fuel supply in our region. The Prime Minister has spoken with the Chinese Premier about regional energy security. What role does China have in ensuring Asia Pacific's energy needs are met?
Assistant Minister: Well, China is an important supplier to Australia, particularly for aviation fuel. Thankfully, we've got a plan, a national plan for fuel security. But part of that plan, of course, is to ensure that we engage with our regional partners. We receive a lot of our refined oil products through nations like China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore. So, our officials, our Ministers, are regularly meeting with leaders and officials from those countries to ensure that we do have stable supplies into the future. We've got about a month's worth of supplies of fuel. Thankfully, there's about 50 shipments that are scheduled for this month. So, fuel is continuing to get through. But now we know the longer this conflict goes on, the greater the chance that it has to destabilise the international economy. So, we want to make sure that we're securing our fuel supplies as much as we can in the future.
Clarke: As you say, continuing to be able to get fuel into the Asia Pacific region where it's refined for us to then purchase from is critical. China is a big global superpower. Does it need to have a more prominent role in trying to bring about a resolution to this conflict?
Assistant Minister: Well, China, like other nations, is part of an international effort to ensure that the global economy continues to function properly. Australia's put a lot of effort, our government has put a lot of effort into stabilising the trading relationship with China, removing some of the impediments that were put in place under the previous government. We've been quite successful at that. And that allows us to have this good relationship on a trading basis with China so that we can discuss at a later level the importance of the relationship, the importance of the trading relationship going forward and keeping communication open. And that's the purpose of the Prime Minister's call with the Chinese Premier yesterday.
Clarke: You're listening to Radio National Breakfast where my guest is the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Matt Thistlethwaite. We've seen in recent weeks several countries making agreements with Iran to let ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz safely. You know, China is one that's acknowledged that some of its ships have crossed the Strait. Does the Australian Government support those kinds of diplomatic deals to allow some specific shipping traffic through the channel?
Assistant Minister: Well, it's up to other nations to determine what their best outcomes are in terms of securing their supplies. But Australia is taking the approach of working both bilaterally and multilaterally. So, that's why we're having these one-to-one conversations with the nations that supply us with our respective fuels. I had a meeting with the Japanese Minister Kenji, the Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry last week at the WTO meeting in Africa where we discussed the importance of fuel supplies for Australia. And I sort assurances and as well as that, we're doing the work at a multilateral level. The Foreign Minister being involved with other Foreign Ministers in talking about fuel security and trying to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as quickly as possible. So, as if it's going on at a bilateral level and a multilateral level.
Clarke: When it comes to those bilateral levels and those discussions you're having, the assurances you're getting from our trading partners to make sure that supply continues to flow. Are those kinds of verbal assurances enough or are you looking for something more concrete? We have this signed statement of understanding between Australia and Singapore. Would you like written agreements like those with other countries like South Korea and Malaysia and Taiwan and Japan?
Assistant Minister: Well, I think it's important to point out, Mel, that the companies that are bringing the fuel into Australia do have contracts with other suppliers in those nations. So, they are written agreements. But obviously the potential of the conflict to destabilise the deliveries is a concern. So, we're seeking assurances from nations regarding supply and thankfully we've been receiving those assurances --
Clarke: You feel they're sufficient, the assurances you've been given is sufficient enough in your view?
Assistant Minister: Well, in terms of diplomatic efforts, those assurances do give us confidence and obviously those nations that we're meeting with want to know from Australia's perspective, that many of our exports will continue to get through as well. For instance, Australia is a large supplier of LNG to Japan, so we're able to give similar assurances regarding continuing to supply energy to our regional partners, just as we are able to get those assurances from those suppliers as well.
Clarke: Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, thanks very much for speaking to us this morning.
Assistant Minister: Thanks, Mel.