Topics: Dutton visit to Israel; Israel conflict; Boat arrivals; Rex airlines;

12:30PM AEST
30 July 2024

 


Kieran Gilbert:
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has met the Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, in a three-day visit to the country. In a statement, he thanked Mr. Herzog for a very friendly and productive meeting today in Jerusalem. We discussed Australia’s and Israel’s close relationship and shared trust. We both expressed our desire for this relationship between our two countries to continue to grow by building on our mutual interests and shared values.

The Opposition Leader will later meet released hostages and their families impacted by the October 7th attack by Hamas. He will also tour kibbutz and the Nova music festival site in southern Israel. Let’s go live to the Shadow Foreign Minister, Simon Birmingham. Why is this visit important now?

 

Simon Birmingham: G’day, Kieran. This is a very important and symbolic as well visit. It’s important in demonstrating that even as we approach the first anniversary of the horrific October 7th attacks, where more Jews were killed on a single day than at any time since the Holocaust, we are strong and consistent in our support of Israel’s right to self-defence. We are clear eyed about the atrocities that Hamas undertook, and the continuing threat posed by Iranian sponsored terrorism be that Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi rebels and the type of disruption that they are seeking to drive not just in Israel but across the region and with global implications, particularly for trading countries and democratic nations like Australia.

 

Kieran Gilbert: How worried are you about this situation with Hezbollah right now? And there is a warning for Australians to not be travelling to Lebanon at the moment, given how dangerous this is.

 

Simon Birmingham: Kieran, none of us wish to see conflict escalate, but tragically, Hezbollah has been consistent in their attacks on Israel and their firing of rockets and missiles that have displaced tens of thousands of Israelis and created a situation where, of course, Israel has to consider how it defends itself and how it protects its interests. Particularly after such terrible and tragic events as we saw on the weekend. But for Australians, there has to be some very clear messages that are understood by Australians and that is you should not be travelling to Lebanon and if you are an Australian in Lebanon, you should leave and you shouldn’t be under any misapprehension in believing that it will be easy for an Australian government to get you out of there if the conflict does escalate. If you stay, you potentially are then asking other Australians to put their lives in harm’s way to rescue you. That is reckless and irresponsible. So, the messaging has to be clear cut from the government that Australians shouldn’t go and should leave such that they are looking after their own wellbeing and that of their families.

 

Kieran Gilbert: On a few other issues, we’ve had the reshuffle announced this week. Tony Burke, former immigration minister, back into that portfolio. He says the numbers of arrivals fell off a cliff, basically that they fell dramatically. 90% was the number, he said in the weeks after he became minister. Is that a fair defence for this appointment?

 

Simon Birmingham: I think there’s, you know, statistics, lies, damn lies, statistics. What we saw were huge numbers of boat arrivals during Tony Burke’s previous short-lived tenure as minister in this space. Now he’s inherited a portfolio in chaos at multiple levels, and he’s got to show and demonstrate over coming weeks strong, tough, clear action in cleaning up the detainee mess that he’s inherited in getting back on track Operation Sovereign Borders, so that there is the type of tempo and activity that can detect illegal arrivals. And in demonstrating that he has clear plans and policies, including reinstating things he stood against in the past, such as temporary protection visas, to ensure that all aspects and all pillars, of what had been successful Coalition border protection policies, are there to protect the country in the future.

 

Kieran Gilbert: Yes, indeed. On some domestic issues now, the Rex Airlines troubles. The government has previously or the Coalition had made interventions around Virgin. What would you expect? That was when that airline was struggling. What should happen now?

 

Simon Birmingham: Well, Kieran, actually we were very cautious during the Virgin difficulties and during the Covid era and I think there are lessons there for the government to learn. They need to act with urgency, but they also need to be very clear-headed about how they act in relation to what’s unfolding with Rex. The government has responsibilities to taxpayers and to travellers, not to shareholders. That was certainly the approach we took in relation to the difficulties with Virgin. There are ways in which government can support and maintain routes which are essential for the travelling public, particularly in regional areas. And there are ways that they can act to ensure that the travelling public is protected. But they also must act in a way that is responsible for taxpayers and not underwriting shareholders, or creating an environment where taxpayers face the potential of significant losses. That is where we were careful to get the balance right. The Labor Party, under Anthony Albanese at the time were calling for bailouts of Virgin. Yet the travelling public today can see that Virgin under new ownership structures, is offering its services, is still flying, is creating jobs and taxpayers didn’t have to foot the bill for that. So that’s where they need to be careful and clear-eyed…

 

Kieran Gilbert: So just to take a breath. You’re saying they need to just take a breath before they launch into have some massive bailout or something?

 

Simon Birmingham: Well, they need to be acting urgently because these are unfolding situations. And so, I would hope that Anthony Albanese, Catherine King, relevant ministers are meeting, meeting through whatever structure of cabinet committees is appropriate for this government to be across the situation, to be getting clear commercial advice, to be ensuring they can protect regional routes in the travelling public. But they also should not be acting in rash ways that could see taxpayers footing a big bill that ultimately just flows into the pockets of owners. That’s what we avoided when it came to Virgin. And now there are bigger pieces, as Bridget McKenzie said, as well about competition in the aviation sector and the dragging of the feet by this government in terms of its approach to that, is really exposing airlines and the travelling public, and they need to be acting clearly about the longer-term embedding of competition between airlines. But in response to this, they need to tread with care. There’s a clear model and clear lessons how you protect the travelling public but also protect taxpayers.

 

Kieran Gilbert: Simon Birmingham, thanks for your time. Talk to you soon.

 

Simon Birmingham: Thanks, Kieran. My pleasure.

 


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