Television Interview, ABC

Subjects: Australia’s additional support to Ukraine; NATO Summit; US Presidential Election.

JADE MCMILLAN: Minister, you've announced this new package of support for Ukraine. What's the significance of it and how was it received by President Zelenskyy? 

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: Well, the $250 million package of support for Ukraine is the largest package that we've announced to date since the beginning of the war. It's focused on integrated air and missile defence which is one of the areas that Ukraine has been crying out for assistance. So we've sought to be responsive to what Ukraine's needs are, it was received really well by President Zelenskyy in our meeting with him this morning, along with the support that's been provided by the other countries in the Indo Pacific Four Japan, Korea and New Zealand. And I think what it says is that we we really understand that whilst Ukraine is clearly fighting for its own country and they are really on the front line of fighting from the global rules based order. And that is something which is very much in the interests of all the countries of the world, actually, but it's very much in the interest of the countries in the Indo Pacific. 

JOURNALIST: So what has Australia communicated in terms of ongoing or future support?

MARLES: Well we will continue to provide support, so that's the first point. And we've made that clear, we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to resolve this conflict on its terms. And we also understand that this is going to be a long and enduring conflict that we need to be there for the long term. I think that's actually been the sentiment not just amongst the Four Nations in the Indo Pacific, but all member states of NATO. And it probably speaks a little bit to the commitment that we've made in the announcement today. And it comes off the back of the announcement I made back in April in Ukraine itself of $100 million dollars. In total now our military assistance to Ukraine has around $1.1 billion and that is obviously significant and very welcomed for Ukraine, but we'll continue to provide support for as long as it takes. 

JOURNALIST: Does Australia support the NATO position that China is a decisive enabler of Russia in its war in Ukraine? 

MARLES: Well, we've made really clear that from the moment that China and Russia signed a No Limits agreement on the eve of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine was a moment that this war became hugely consequential for the world. But it became hugely consequential for us in the Indo Pacific Lessons are going to be drawn from this conflict good or bad and that's why it's so important that Ukraine is able to resolve this conflict on its own terms. And we note the engagement that China continues to have in supporting Russia in relation to dual-use technologies, that's a point that we've also made as well and a point that's been made consistently over the course of these few days. It is really important that Ukraine prevail, and it is really important for countries that are here this week that they're supporting Ukraine in a way which enables them to provide support.

JOURNALIST: Do you support that language though, decisive enabler? 

MARLES: We do support that language and we've been making these points as I did back in Singapore in Shangri-La back in June. It is really important that we are calling this out, but we are there also supporting it. 

JOURNALIST: How much of this Australian announcement and this NATO Summit more generally, is about Trump proofing support for Ukraine? 

MARLES: I think this is this is about supporting Ukraine. I wouldn't characterize it like that. As I just said, we see Ukraine as really on the front line of a contest around the ongoing nature of the global rules based order. We're deeply invested in it as a country, as a smaller country which has trade as a significant proportion of our national income, which relies on open sea lines and air lines of communication. All of these things are governed by international law and so the global rules based order is fundamentally important to both Australia's prosperity and has security. And that's what's at stake in Ukraine, because what we're seeing there is a large country seeking to impose itself on a smaller neighbour not by reference to international law, but simply by reference to power and might and that cannot be allowed to stand. 

JOURNALIST: You were at the White House last night and you met Joe Biden this morning. What were your impressions of the President in those settings? 

MARLES: Oh, look, we've had excellent engagements with President Biden throughout this summit, as we've had really throughout our being a Government and President Biden's administration. I mean President Biden's administration have been deeply engaged in the Indo Pacific, we couldn't be happier with the level of engagement in the Indo Pacific and we really mean that. And it's so important that we have a present America in our region, helping us in all of our work to underpin that global rules based order. And that's what the Biden administration has been and that's what America has been. And President Biden this week has has very much been able to convey that in the engagements that we've had with him. 

JOURNALIST: Do you have any concerns about Joe Biden's capacity to do the job?

MARLES: I don't. But I'm also not about to comment on domestic matters here in the United States. We work really closely with the Biden administration and we've worked very closely with President Biden himself and we're very happy with that. 

JOURNALIST: You’ve been meeting with members of Congress as part of this trip. What have they been telling you about the uncertainty, the speculation around Joe Biden's future? How would they feel about it? 

MARLES: Well, we haven't really sought to engage people on matters of domestic politics. I mean, the conversations that we have with those members of Congress and Senators have really been around the equities that we have in our relationship with the United States, and matters such as AUKUS and such as the package of legislation that went through the Congress at the end of last year, which has really been transformational in building a seamless defence industrial ecosystem between our two countries. And we want to make sure we follow through on all of that. So the topics of conversation have been focused on that rather than anything to do with American domestic politics. 

JOURNALIST: What do you think a potential second Trump administration would mean for the NATO alliance and mean for Ukraine? 

MARLES: Well look I'm not about to speculate on the future, other than to simply say, we respect the democratic processes that play out in America, one of the the things that characterises the member states of NATO certainly characterizes the Indo Pacific Four is that we're all democracies. And we all need the space as democracies to undertake our democratic processes free from comment from outside. And so I'm not about to engage in that commentary in relation to the United States. I simply make the point, though, that across multiple presidents of differing persuasions over multiple decades, we've seen American leadership in the world and we've seen a very strong Alliance between Australia and America and we're confident about the future of that no matter what happens. 

JOURNALIST: Why didn't the Prime Minister attend the summit? And how do you respond to the Opposition's criticism that it's short sighted and a missed opportunity? 

MARLES: Well, the Prime Minister is obviously very engaged on domestic matters, you know, particularly around all the cost of living measures which the Government has put into place, which came became operative from the first of July. We've been able in this visit, to engage with NATO in really productive terms we've been really well received. So there's obviously an ongoing thing about competing priorities when you're the leader of a country. I think it’s right for the Prime Minister to be focused on the costs of living issues in Australia right now. But we've been able to pursue all of Australia's agendas here at NATO this week. 

JOURNALIST: There is the real prospect of a second Trump term. He has criticized our ambassador in Washington Kevin Rudd, do you have any concerns about the relationships there? 

MARLES: No, I don't. I mean Kevin has been doing an excellent job as our Ambassador here and I think all of us who engage with Kevin know that he can be a tour de force which is very much in Australia's interest. And Kevin, played an amazing role at the end of last year in speaking with members of Congress and with Senators across the political spectrum, Democrats and Republicans alike, and Trump Republicans included in that number to advocate for the passage of the legislation which we needed to enable AUKUS, which we needed to create that seamless defence industrial base and that legislation passed the Congress with the support of the entire American political spectrum and that's a real credit to what Kevin's been able to do. But it also speaks to the relationships that Kevin has across the political spectrum here in the United States.