Topics: Middle East; Incoming Trump administration; Ambassador Rudd; Australia-China relationship;
02:35PM AEDT
13 November 2024
Cheng Lei: Joining me live is Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Birmingham. It’s great to have you with us [Senator] Birmingham. So, let’s talk about the Middle East for now. What do you think is the way forward? We haven’t really heard much from the government about it in recent weeks.
Simon Birmingham: Well, Lei, thank you. It’s good to be with you. Look, I mean, at its heart, the problem in the Middle East remains Iranian sponsored terrorism. And that is what continues to drive Hezbollah out of Lebanon, Hamas out of Gaza, the Houthi rebels out of Yemen. And that is what particularly needs to be crushed if there is an opportunity from a different approach, that will come from a new US administration to see Iran change course and be pressured into realising that such terrorist sponsorship and activities are detrimental to the entire region and world. Then of course, we want to see that type of response. That’s why from an Australian perspective, we’ve been clear that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps should be identified and recognised as a terrorist organisation. The US has already done that, Canada has already done it, and the Starmer government in the UK is committed to do so as well.
Cheng Lei: What do you think of the appointments of Iran hawks like Marco Rubio and also Pete Hesketh, who you know is a loyalist pick but also seen as someone who’s had active service, not much senior national security experience, but, you know, maybe an antidote to wokeism in the [US] government.
Simon Birmingham: Well, these are individuals whose public comments and track record demonstrates the seriousness with which they take the US role in terms of crushing terrorism and providing security and also ensuring security and stability in our own region. And you can see from some of their comments the comments of incoming Vice President Vance as well, in relation to the priority that they give on the Indo-Pacific region, the need for the US to be seriously engaged and to ensure the type of deterrence environment that can protect our region from conflict. The last thing any of us wish to see is for the type of conflict that Ukraine has faced at the hands of Russia, or that people in Gaza and Israel and Lebanon have faced at the hands of Iranian sponsored terrorism to come into our own region. And so, ensuring that we have an effective deterrence framework is so very critical there. And ensuring that effective deterrence framework is one that we are effectively collaborating and contributing to. And that’s where the AUKUS partnership is so critical, and where it is essential that the Albanese government ensure that across those new appointments in the Trump administration and with President Trump himself, they understand that no other country is stepping forward as a US ally like Australia, to invest in our own capabilities, to invest in our own defence industrial capabilities to complement those of the US, and indeed to invest directly in US defence industrial capabilities that can help ensure that across our alliance, we have the strongest possible deterrence framework.
Cheng Lei: So judging from your speech at the National Press Club earlier in the day, that would be like the appointment of these Hawks would be one of the positives of the Trump presidency as you see it.
Simon Birmingham: Well, Lei, of course, we respect the decision of the US people in electing President Trump to have a second term. We respect his right to set out his administration as he sees fit. What we have to look for in terms of that administration are the people who Australia can most effectively work with, and the areas where we can most effectively work with them. In these areas of defence and national security and foreign policy, we are looking for people who do understand the challenges in our region and will be committed to responses to those challenges that align with Australia’s interests, and in that, I think we can see that alignment. Of course, there will be other spheres in terms of economic policy, where there are particularly tests for the Albanese government to make sure that they get at the same type of acceptance of Australia’s unique position in our relationship and our economic engagement with the US that justified and warranted the Turnbull and Morrison governments successfully securing and keeping exemptions from Australia, from first Trump administration tariffs that we would wish to see replicated in this second Trump administration and that should be a priority for Anthony Albanese and his government.
Cheng Lei: How much of a hot potato is Kevin Rudd for Albanese’s government at the moment?
Simon Birmingham: Lei, this is not about the man. It is very much about the ball. And the ball in this case is Australia’s national interest. How do we ensure that whether it is on matters of tariffs, that I was just speaking of, or on matters of AUKUS and national security or on anything else, Australia’s influence is heard and as powerful as possible. We as a Coalition we have done nothing other than wish Kevin Rudd well in his time in office, recognised his successors in terms of as ambassador, securing the passage through Congress of AUKUS related reforms to defence export controls that do enable a closer and faster pursuit of industrial ties between our defence industries. And all of those things are positive. But it’s critical that he is in the best position to keep doing that. And that’s a cold, clear assessment that Kevin Rudd and Anthony Albanese will have to take in terms of his relationship with the Trump administration. Frankly, only they can really know how that is framing up and with the individuals in place where that effectiveness is going to lie. But it’s crucial in Australia’s interests that it is effective to get the outcomes that we need.
Cheng Lei: You’ve also said that we need to have a principled and predictable framework for working with China. Does that mean that we’re always a bit reactive?
Simon Birmingham: No, it certainly doesn’t, Lei. It means that that we should be, as I say, predictable in that those principles Australia holds in relation to regional peace and security, in relation to keeping our region as an open, free trading environment in relation to human rights matters or climate change matters. All of those principles that Australia holds should be clearly articulated, should be well understood in Beijing, as in other capitals around the world, and should therefore contribute to a no surprises type environment in the relationship so that we can most effectively manage our difficulties, but also harmonise around the opportunities that we have to work together where they exist.
Cheng Lei: Thank you so much for your time. I look forward to talking to you again.
Simon Birmingham: Thank you. My pleasure.
[ENDS]