E&OE

 

KENNY HEATLEY:

Well, joining me is Shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor. We really appreciate you coming on the program this morning. Angus, first of all, Defence Minister Richard Marles says Labor has known about the US AUKUS review for weeks. Did you know that they knew about it?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Absolutely not. Kenny, the first we’ve heard about it was yesterday morning and of course, it now turns out that Richard Marles has known for some time, and the truth of the matter is that there will be a very high price to pay if AUKUS fails. This is an incredibly important alliance. It's an incredibly important capability, both in terms of the submarine capability and the technology capability, pillar two capabilities, and this must be a top priority of the government. There are many questions to answer about this. What discussions has Richard Marles already had? To what extent is our lack of defence spending a driver of this review? When will the Prime Minister meet with the President to actually discuss this face to face? These are questions we need answers to, and they're questions that go to the heart of making sure that AUKUS is a success, and that we ensure that we have peace through deterrence in our region.

 

KENNY HEATLEY:

Is this review being used as leverage to pressure Australia to increase defence spending? And should the United States, if so, be doing that to Australia?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, that's a good question. I mean, I think we should be increasing defence spending because it's the right thing to do, regardless of pressure from the United States and of course, we see peer countries right across the world who are increasing their defence spending because it is the right thing to do. We did that in the lead up to the last election, and it's absolutely necessary that the government do that. We are facing, as the Prime Minister has put it, the most uncertain times since the Second World War, dangerous times, indeed, we want to see continued peace in our region, and deterrence is absolutely crucial to achieve that, and that means properly funding our Australian Defence Force. ASPI has told us that we are at risk of having a paper ADF, as they put it, a paper ADF, well, we won't stand by and allow that to happen. We will continue to advocate strongly for making sure we've got a properly resourced ADF, which has the readiness, which has the agility, which has the sovereign capability, and which has the people necessary to defend our great nation and ensure we have continued peace in our region.

 

KENNY HEATLEY:

According to confidential sources speaking to Sky News, the United States is looking for Anthony Albanese to reinforce his commitment to the US Alliance more broadly, and there's a view that he should be prepared to call out China in a more robust fashion. Is the Prime Minister striking the right balance between the US and China?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, let's see. I mean, this is why we need to see the Prime Minister meeting with the President, making the case for AUKUS, making the case for what we can do together in our region to ensure we have continued peace. I mean, that's the goal here. That's the goal here, Kenny, and it's incredibly important that the Prime Minister work with the United States to achieve exactly that. Peace is achieved through strength. Peace is achieved through deterrence at a time like this, and the Prime Minister himself has said it's the most dangerous time, the most uncertain time since the Second World War. So, it's on him to work with the United States and to build that relationship with the President of the United States, you don't have to agree with someone on everything to form a relationship with them and work with them, and that's what we need from our Prime Minister.

 

KENNY HEATLEY:

Nothing locked in yet, but if a meeting does happen at the G7 does Anthony Albanese need to go to Canada to meet with Donald Trump and get some sort of AUKUS deal, and does he need to make it bigger to appeal to Trump to keep it alive? How does the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister make AUKUS great again for Donald Trump?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, I mean, first of all, you've got to meet with the President, and this is why it's such a high priority. So, he should do what is necessary to meet with the President, work through the issues, understand where the United States is coming from, and also advocate for AUKUS. It's incredibly important that an arrangement like this have constant advocacy. This is important to achieve peace through deterrence in our region, but also important to the United States, because it gives them access to a submarine base in the West, and it's an ongoing commitment between us to work to make sure we get the outcomes in our region that we all want to see.

 

KENNY HEATLEY:

What about the Port of Darwin lease?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, there's a whole range of issues there. That's one of them. There's a whole range of issues here that Labor needs to look at harder. They are clearly underfunding critical capability in many areas in our ADF, the bases in the north of the country, at Tindal, at Darwin, at Townsville, need additional investment. Labor itself has said that, and yet we're not seeing those proceeding. They've said that there's a problem with our procurement. We need to accelerate it. There's clearly a problem with our agility, with our ability to develop capabilities like drone and counter drone capability, our sovereign missile manufacturing that Labor has committed to, and yet we're not seeing progress on this. These are things including, of course, control over the port in Darwin that Labor needs to take action on now, and we will stand by and work closely with them on these and other issues. Bipartisanship, we believe, is incredibly important to make sure that our country is safe and that our defence force is what it needs to be.

 

KENNY HEATLEY:

Angus Taylor, really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much.

 

ENDS.