Radio interview – ABC News, News Breakfast

E&OE TRANSCRIPT 
ABC NEWS
NEWS BREAKFAST
MONDAY, 11 NOVEMBER 2024

SUBJECTS: Remembrance Day; Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide; US Election; AUKUS.

BRIDGET BRENNAN, HOST: For more on how Australia is marking the 106th Remembrance Day, we're joined by the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel, Matt Keogh. Good morning to you.

MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL, MATT KEOGH: Good morning.

BRENNAN: How will you be marking this Remembrance Day?

MINISTER KEOGH: I'll be joining the Governor-General and the Prime Minister at the Australian War Memorial here in Canberra, the nation's capital. But I know there'll be many commemorations occurring all over the country and indeed around the world to commemorate the end of the First World War. But importantly, this is an opportunity to reflect upon not just those that have given their lives in the service of Australia, but also to reflect on all those that have served in Australia's uniform since that time as well, including not just in war, but in conflict and importantly in peacekeeping operations as well.

BRENNAN: What do veterans tell you, Minister, about the importance of this day to them?

MINISTER KEOGH: For many veterans, this is a significant day because it's an opportunity to reflect on their own experiences and certainly to reflect on lost comrades from the conflicts that they have been engaged in. But it's also a time where many veterans say to me they wish to bring attention to some of the issues that are confronted by our surviving veterans who need further assistance. We've seen this reflected in the recent report from the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, the need for government to take important action there. And we've said we'll respond to that Royal Commission report by the end of this year. But it's an opportunity also to remind Australians of the very important work that our Defence Force men and women have done on behalf of our nation for over a century now. And I think, as I said before, when many people think about war and conflict, they overlook peacekeeping operations. We currently have some 2,500 Australians engaged in peacekeeping operations around the world. We've had Australians engaged in peacekeeping operations continuously for the last 77 years. And this year marks the 25th anniversary of INTERFET, where Australia played a critical role in supporting the independence of Timor-Leste through that operation, as well as the UN operations to follow it. And so it's important for, I think, the entire nation to reflect on that very important work that our Australian Defence Force members have undertaken on behalf of our nation.

BRENNAN: Yeah, it really is critical to acknowledge that service as well. Minister, if we can just return to the issues highlighted in the Royal Commission into Veteran Suicide. How soon will veterans hear about plans to set up an independent body to really scrutinise the changing culture that's needed to prevent more veterans from taking their own lives?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, the Royal Commission's - one of the 122 recommendations that the Royal Commission made was that there be established an independent oversight body to examine the work that government undertakes in implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission. Many of those go to culture within the Defence Force, the wellbeing of our veterans. And the Government has already announced that we will set up such an independent oversight body. And we will provide some more information about that when we provide our response to all of the 122 recommendations by the end of the year. We only received that report in September. 122 recommendations are backed up by seven volumes and 3,100 pages of report. There's quite a bit of detail there, but we understand the importance and the urgency of this work and that's why we've committed to responding by the end of the year.

BRENNAN: Alright, let's move to politics in the United States now. Matt Keogh, what do you think will be the particular challenges for the Australian, for the Australian Government when it comes to dealing with a second Trump presidency?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, I think we've seen the Treasurer has already noted that there'll be some economic bumps on the road that will be affecting not just Australia, but the globe. And they are things that we are prepared to be able to weather through things like flexible interest rates, through an independent reserve bank, through our currency exchange mechanisms, and the way in which we have been properly managing the economy, providing surplus budgets, making sure that we are best positioned to weather economic storms, whatever may be their cause. Because we very much understand that regardless of who's in charge of the White House or what's happening across the globe, what really matters to Australians is being able to make ends meet themselves. And we know that that has been a difficult time for some time now for many Australians. And that's why we've been making sure that we've set up the way we operate the Australian Government Budget in providing cost of living relief, but also operating, providing surpluses through the Budget so that we're best prepared to weather those storms.

BRENNAN: Let's talk about AUKUS. Is the AUKUS alliance under threat, do you think, Matt Keogh? And how soon will we be seeking to get confirmation that the terms of the deal will be adhered to under Donald Trump's leadership?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, one of the things that we have seen over some time now has been the real bipartisan support for the AUKUS arrangements in the United States. And we've seen that across Democrats, Republicans, Trump Republicans. We saw legislation go through their Congress recently that had that broad cross section of support. And we expect that to continue even under a Trump presidency, because we've seen that support from Trump supporters, from Trump Republicans already across the Congress for the AUKUS arrangements. The AUKUS arrangements are fundamentally about making sure we maintain a stable region here where we are in Australia. That's in Australia's national interests, but it's also in the national interests of the United Kingdom and the United States that doesn't change. And so we expect to see the AUKUS arrangements continue.

BRENNAN: Ok, thanks very much, Matt Keogh, for joining us on this Remembrance Day.

MINISTER KEOGH: Thank you.

END

Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling provides 24/7 free confidential crisis support for current and ex-serving ADF personnel and their families on 1800 011 046 or the Open Arms website. Safe Zone Support provides anonymous counselling on 1800 142 072. Defence All-Hours Support Line provides support for ADF personnel on 1800 628 036 or the Defence Health Portal. Defence Member and Family Helpline provides support for Defence families on 1800 624 608.