ANDREW CLENNELL, HOST: So, joining me now is the Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister, Matt Thistlethwaite. Thanks for your time.
MATT THISTLETHWAITE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE: Morning, Andrew.
CLENNELL: I notice, tell us about the charter flights home for the Australians. And look, the UK announced about an hour or two ago that they are chartering their own flights as a government, if we don't send a military plane, is this one option for us?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Well, I can announce that 1,549 Australians have arrived home safely. There are a further two flights overnight and there's two more coming in today to Sydney and Melbourne. We began bus transits yesterday from Doha to Riyadh and 92 Australians are on three buses. The first of those has arrived safely in Riyadh. And 68 Australians have been able to fly out of Doha. So, some of the airspace is reopening there. They've headed to Europe where they can get connections to Australia. So, Australians are getting out. Our assessment is that the safest and the best way for Australians to return home is on commercial flights. We've got about 115,000 Australians there. To get them out at scale, the best option is commercial flight. So, if someone's offered a seat on a commercial flight, then they should seriously consider taking that option.
CLENNELL: Any chance of, because I think the government suggested yesterday, no plans at the moment for any government help for, you know, these really expensive airline tickets. Will you look at that?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: We're always looking at the contingencies. But the best option at the moment, because the airspace is only open on an ad-hoc basis, the safety authorities in those countries have to make an assessment of when it's safe to fly. The best option is for Australians to take commercial flights. Now, we've seen that some of those flights haven't been full. We've seen the cost of tickets. We're pretty disappointed by that, to be honest. And we've made that disappointment known to the airlines.
CLENNELL: So, Aussies are probably there going, no, I'm not going to spend 15 grand on a flight to get home or I can't afford it. Would that be causing the empty seats?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Well, the first thing is to maintain your booking on your flight if you've already got one booked, and then they shouldn't be able to jack up the prices, and to work with your travel agent and the Australian officials that are on the ground. We've got crisis teams on the ground and our normal diplomatic teams who are doing hotel visits, they're doing phone calls with Australians and they're doing online forums as well to provide as much information as possible. Maintain your booking, take that opportunity on a commercial flight if it comes up.
CLENNELL: Let's talk about the sub. Does this mean we're part of the war?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: No, it doesn't. As the Prime Minister outlined in your grab there, this is part of a normal training rotation for Australian submariners. In the wake of the signing of the orchestra, we've increasingly had more Australians training with the United States Navy. We've got engineers and designers doing courses in the United States. They're doing very well, I might add. Some of them are topping their classes, which is great to see. We've got Australian Defence Force personnel embedded and training with assets and I might add that the Americans come here to train as well. We're just about to start the next rotation of the Marine Rotational Force in the north of Australia, where American Marines come in their thousands and train with Australians. This is a normal training exercise that Australians undertake.
CLENNELL: Were they senior? Can you at least tell us if they were senior submariners?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: We can't confirm the, the identities, obviously, or their ranks for national security reasons, we take the safety of Australian submariners and Defence Force personnel very seriously and we don't do anything that compromises --
CLENNELL: Well, how would it make them unsafe?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Well, we don't disclose the details of operations and people involved in those operations overseas for national security reasons.
CLENNELL: Alright. The Iranian ship was part of a naval exercise with India. Do you have a view on the attack itself?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Well, obviously we've been calling for a de-escalation. We want to see this issue resolved. Australia has offered support to the United States to ensure that Iran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon. This is a regime that's breached the human rights of its citizens, it's murdered its people, it's exported terrorism to the region and unfortunately, it was involved in an antisemitic attack on Australian soil. So, I don't think any Australians have sympathy for the Iranian regime.
CLENNELL: Do you support torpedoing that ship, which was on a naval exercise with India?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Well, that's a matter for the United States --
CLENNELL: But our submariners are on it.
ASSISTANT MINISTER: But that was their, that was their offensive operation. And as the Prime Minister pointed out, Australian Defence Force personnel were not involved in any offensive capacity in that operation and at all times abide by Australian law and Australian --
CLENNELL: I understand. But I've got to say it, how can we not say we're supporting the action if we're on the sub, even if we're just watching on the sub?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Our support is for ensuring that Iran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon and that they reduce their capacity to acquire that. And that's the basis upon which we supported the United States’ actions.
CLENNELL: Will there be any consideration of taking Australians off these subs or are you happy to just go as you're currently going?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Well, we'll continue with normal arrangements because there's protocols that are put in place to ensure that Australians aren't involved in any offensive activities and that they abide by Australian laws at all time. And they're good training opportunities for Australians because we're increasingly working out how to operate nuclear propelled submarines as we acquire that AUKUS capability.
CLENNELL: Donald Trump's had a bit to say overnight. You might have seen it. Let's have a look, anyway, “Today Iran will be hit very hard under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death because of Iran's bad behaviour. Areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time.” So, what do you make of that? I mean, you're saying you're about de-escalation, but you're also about disarming Iran. Are you happy with the way the US is conducting this conflict so far, which they're hesitant to call a war, but clearly it looks like a war?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Yeah, I mean, our support is conditional upon removing the nuclear threat. That's the basis upon which we supported the United States action. And that's consistent with the approach that we've taken for many, many months now since this conflict broke out. But there are 115,000 Australians that live and work within that region. Iran has been attacking nations that aren't involved in this conflict. So, that's why we want to see a de-escalation to ensure the safety of Australians who live and work and get their livelihoods from the work that they do within the region.
CLENNELL: How does the de-escalation happen, in your view?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Well, we've got to make sure that there's a dialogue that goes on eventually. How quickly we get to that is yet to be seen. The President's indicated that he'd like to see the conflict ended within the next month. We'll wait and see what happens with that, but we want to see a de-escalation as quickly as possible.
CLENNELL: He wants a say in the new leader, do you think that's fair enough?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: That's a matter for the Iranian people. Australia is a democratic nation and internationally we espouse democratic values --
CLENNELL: But Donald Trump doesn't, he just wants to be able to choose the leader. That's a bit of a difference in positions, it seems, from what you're saying.
ASSISTANT MINISTER: The Australian view is that that's a matter for the Iranian people.
CLENNELL: Do you think the US has a game plan here?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Obviously, they've gone into the conflict with a game plan and that was to stop Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon. We know that there have been conditions that have been placed on Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency and that in the past they've breached those conditions and that's why the United States launched those actions. They had, they say, intelligence that meant that they were enriching uranium to a weapons grade level, and that's the basis upon which they launched this attack.
CLENNELL: We had this issue come up in Question Time during the week of mosque funding and a grant was pulled from a Victoria mosque by Minister Anne Aly after they mourned the death of the Ayatollah. Do you know why that money was granted in the first place and why it was taken off them?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Well, there are grants that are available for organisations to apply for and this organisation has applied --
CLENNELL: Do you know what program that was, or --
ASSISTANT MINISTER: It's a multicultural grants program. So, it's aimed at promoting multiculturalism within Australia and there are guidelines that organisations must meet to secure that funding. Now, it's inappropriate for any person or organisation to mourn or promote the Ayatollah and the regime, given that they were promoting an antisemitic attack in Australia. And when we found out about them and this grant funding, it was immediately withdrawn.
CLENNELL: Bit of speculation past couple of days that asylum could be granted to members of the Iranian women's soccer team out here if they want it. Is that something the Government might consider?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Well, any sporting team or member of a sporting team gets no preferential treatment in terms of visas coming to Australia. They must meet all of the conditions for the visa and that includes a security check and a health check. So, there'll be no special circumstances granted to anyone that's competing in the Asian Women's Cup. The normal rules that apply to visa grants in Australia, including those important security checks, will apply.
CLENNELL: Just finally some weekend speculation, the Government may look to tax family trusts, which have been a tax minimisation vehicle for some time. That was a 2019 policy for Bill Shorten and that fateful election for Labor. Is that something you think the Government could or should consider?
ASSISTANT MINISTER: We didn't take that policy to the last election and our tax policies haven't changed. The only focus of our tax policies at the moment, reducing income tax for Australians. There's another one built into the system and we're looking forward to that being implemented later in the year.
CLENNELL: At the moment. Alright, thanks very much, Matt Thistlethwaite.
ASSISTANT MINISTER: Thanks, Andrew.