Radio Interview - Radio National Breakfast

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
RADIO NATIONAL BREAKFAST
WEDNESDAY 25 JUNE 2025

SUBJECTS: Middle East conflict; NATO; 75th Anniversary of Australia’s involvement in the Korean War 

SALLY SARA, HOST: Australians have been flown out of Israel with a Royal Australian Air Force flight departing from Tel Aviv overnight. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says Australians have been taken to what he describes as a safe place in the region just hours after Israel reopened its airspace. It comes as US President Donald Trump has touched down in the Netherlands for the NATO summit, as a ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to be holding for now. Joining me now in our Parliament House studio in Canberra is Matt Keogh, the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans' Affairs. Minister, welcome back to breakfast.

MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL: Good morning. It's great to be with you.

SARA: Just to begin with, what's the message to the rest of Australians who may be stranded in the Middle East? Should they be relying on commercial flights now?

KEOGH: So, certainly Australians that are in the region that are needing assistance in getting out should be engaging with DFAT. But we are seeing now reopening of airspace in many parts of the region, which means that Australians that are still looking to leave will be able to find more regular ways of getting out. And as the ceasefire has taken hold and continues, that should see a return to more ordinary transport operations.

SARA: So, if the ceasefire continues to hold, will that mean an end to Air Force repatriation flights for Australians?

KEOGH: We'll obviously keep monitoring the situation to make sure that we're actually seeing that return to regular transport options. But that's what we are starting to see progress. And so if military repatriations aren't required anymore, then we would obviously bring that to an end but we're not yet at a stage where we'd be making a call on that.

SARA: And what about for the Australians who are stuck in Iran still?

KEOGH: So, for Australians that are stuck in Iran, obviously that airspace is closed. There's no flights going in or out of Iran. And it's really about Australians being able to get out over land. There is consular assistance, Australian consular assistance on the border of Azerbaijan, for example, and coming in other directions. And those Australians should be in contact with DFAT.

SARA: We were speaking yesterday to the daughter of an Iranian Australian woman who was stuck at the border with Azerbaijan. Is the Government confident that its system is working on that border to get people across who want to go?

KEOGH: Well, of course, I think the first thing we need to point out is it's not our border. We can only provide assistance where we're able. But we now have consular officials on that border to provide that assistance for people, Australians who are seeking to get out of Iran.

SARA: Let's have a look at Australia's reaction to what's happening in the region at the moment. Events were moving very, very quickly in the past 24 hours. Donald Trump's announcement of an Iran Israel ceasefire was widely welcomed yesterday. Is the Federal Government still hopeful that this ceasefire will last?

KEOGH: Absolutely, and I think everybody around the world is hopeful. Everyone wants to see de-escalation and a return to stability in the region. We absolutely don't want to see escalation or any sort of return to what we've been seeing over the last few days occurring between Israel and Iran. And as we've just been discussing, it's affected Australians that are caught in the region, but it's affecting many people. And the way where that was heading was not looking positive. And so seeing a ceasefire is a great outcome and we want to see that stick. We want to see people, both Israel and Iran, stick to the conditions of that ceasefire.

SARA: Minister, does the Federal Government have enough information to be sure that the US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites were justified and legal under international law?

KEOGH: The key thing about what the Americans have done, and we just heard it in the news report that you just put to air there was, that what the Americans did was the targeted strike on nuclear only facilities in Iran. And we know that even the United Nations had been saying Iran had produced enough enriched nuclear material to be able to produce weapons. That's something that is not acceptable to anyone across the globe. And it was important that that potential capability was not able to be activated by Iran. And that's what the Americans have done there in their bombing.

SARA: Yesterday we spoke to Independent MP Andrew Wilkie. He accused the Government of pushing countries such as China and Russia to follow international law, but applying a different standard to the United States. So, let's take a listen.

ANDREW WILKIE: The fact that the Australian Government has come out and has put our bilateral relationship with Washington ahead of international law, this reflects very, very poorly on the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister and the Foreign Minister.

SARA: Is the government prepared to support breaches of international law if those breaches are conducted by our allies?

KEOGH: Well, I don't think that's what's occurred here. What is clear is that the global response, as I said, the UN was acknowledging that there was a problem here.

SARA: The amount of nuclear material moving from a civil nuclear programme to a military one from the IAEA.

KEOGH: They assessed the amount of material that was there. They were talking about enriched nuclear material and a volume of that that would be available to support the nuclear weaponry. That is something that's not acceptable to the globe and it's something that no one could let Iran ever hold a nuclear weapon. And that is the importance of what the Americans did in their response, was making sure that that wasn't going to happen.

SARA: The IAEA was saying that nuclear weapons were up to three years away. Is that an imminent threat?

KEOGH: They were saying that there was that material there. That's important to recognise. That is a program that was about being able to head towards having a nuclear weapon. Having a nuclear weapon is not an acceptable thing for the globe for Iran to have. And that's why the Americans made very targeted strikes with warning to those nuclear facilities.

SARA: But was it an imminent threat at this point of time?

KEOGH: Well, that's what we saw was that they took that, took out that threat.

SARA: But was it an imminent threat?

KEOGH: So, they've set that back and that's really important.

SARA: Let's have a look at NATO. Defence Minister Richard Marles has signed an agreement with NATO's procurement organisation. How does that benefit Australia?

KEOGH: It benefits Australia in two ways. One, it gives us better access, access to military capabilities coming from European defence industry. But importantly, it also gives Australian defence industry better access to the supply chains into defence industry manufacturing in Europe. So, it grows our industry capability and opportunities as well as giving us better access to defence capability through those European organisations. And we already have a number of European organisations providing the Australian Defence Force with capability and equipment and this improves that relationship so we can have better access to that capability as we may need it.

SARA: A significant number of European leaders have largely agreed to lift their Defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP after some pressure from the United States. Does that put more pressure on Australia to lift defence spending even further than targeted?

KEOGH: Well, I think the key thing about our Defence expenditure is what is the capability that we need to meet our geostrategic circumstances to ensure that we are keeping Australia safe and we're acting in the best interests of Australia's national Defence. That's why we had our Defence Strategic Review when we came into Government. That's why we have our National Defence Statement and that was made a couple years ago and there'll be another one next year. And it's from those that we track what are the capabilities we need and obviously what the cost of delivering and sustaining those capabilities are. Now, following that review and the changes that we made from it, we've made an additional $10 billion investment over the forward estimate period, an additional over $50 billion over the decade into our Defence expenditure to make sure that we have the capabilities that we need. That's the important metric is do we have the capabilities we need or plans to invest in the ones that we don't yet have and that we do need. And that's what we have done. And that's the important metric that we measure ourselves against.

SARA: Just finally today, you're mark the anniversary of another conflict. It's been 75 years since Australia's involvement in the Korean War began. Have the veterans from that conflict, have they sometimes been overlooked by the broader community or not understood their role?

KEOGH: I think sometimes wedged between the end of the Second World War and then the Vietnam War, people have sometimes overlooked the significance of the Korean War. And there was more than 18,000 Australians that participated in the Korean War. We were the second country to provide a full commitment to that war with all services engaged. And it was a very significant war. And we saw great success in defending South Korea and our participation in that war. And when the armistice came into effect in July 1953, we've continued to be present on the border in South Korea, protecting that peace as well. I went to Korea a few years ago as part of commemorations of the Korean War, and we had a number of Australian veterans with us, and it was amazing to speak to them, for them to be able to see - some of them for the first time since they were there so long ago - of the complete change in progress that has occurred in that country and the pride that they had in what they had been able to do in defending South Korea through their efforts. And it's really important we commemorate that action.

SARA: Minister, thank you very much for your time this morning.

KEOGH: Thank you.

END

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