Television Interview, ABC Afternoon Briefing

SUBJECTS: Exercise Pitch Black; US Presidential Election; Vice President Kamala Harris; AUKUS; Australian War Graves in Gaza; Special Adviser Mark Binskin Investigation.

GREG JENNETT, HOST: All right, we're gonna turn to Darwin now. There air power exercises, called Pitch Black are underway again. That takes Assistant Defence Minister Matt Thistlethwaite to the top end, and he joins us now live from there. Welcome back to the program. Matt, you are there for Pitch Black. Many US Marines are involved, along with servicemen and women from other countries do you get the sense that they or their commanders have been captivated by events surrounding their commander in chief back home, Joe Biden, of course.

MATT THISTLETHWAITE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR DEFENCE:  G'day, Greg. That's right. I'm in Darwin at the RAAF base for exercise Pitch Black 24, and we've got four and a half thousand personnel from Australia and 20 other participating nations, predominantly air forces, who are here. And that does include six nations participating for the first time. But you're right, the US Marines and other air force personnel are here. Obviously, what's going on in the United States at the moment with the presidential races is quite topical. I think it's being discussed everywhere, not just here, but, of course, the US personnel are very, very professional they understand that they're here to do a job and that's their priority at the moment.

JENNETT: Of course, I understand that. You will have noticed, and we just summarised there, Matt Thistlethwaite, that within the last few hours, Kamala Harris and her team has claimed to have secured enough pledges to go forward as the democratic candidate next month. You've been, you know, around the defence portfolio for some time. What do you understand her background or familiarity to have been on defence and AUKUS matters even in her most recent job as Vice President?

ASSISTANT MINISTER: Obviously, whoever is nominated from the Democratic Party is a matter for the American people, and we'll wait and see what occurs with that. Kamala Harris is obviously the Vice President, so in that role, she has an understanding of how the defence establishment in the United States works. Obviously, she's getting regular briefings from the Joint Chiefs and other Defence Force personnel in the US about operations that the US are involved in and the challenges that the US faces. So, like all Vice Presidents, she'll be well versed in the operation of the military, but we'll have to wait and see whether or not she's the presidential candidate from the Democrats. Ultimately, that's a decision for the Americans.

JENNETT: Well, exactly. AUKUS was a creation of Joe Biden and the Biden administration, so you would imagine that she was in or around ground level at the time that it was formed. Now, early next month, AUSMIN will be in Maryland, probably Secretary Lloyd Austin's last as Defence Secretary. What does the Australian Government expect him and the Biden administration generally to do, to push along with AUKUS as it enters what would now be the lame duck final six months of that administration, is it an opportunity to put the pedal down in further progress?

ASSISTANT MINISTER: AUSMIN’s crucially important to our strong defence relationship with the United States and it occurs on a regular basis and it's due to occur again this year. I think that you'll find that the topics to be discussed will principally be AUKUS and the regulation making power that's going through the United States Congress at the moment to allow that technology transfer and intellectual property transfer that's so crucial to AUKUS in particular pillar two. When I was in the United States a couple of weeks ago and that was a hot topic of discussion. At the moment you've got the Marine Rotational Force, it's an annual force deployment for US Marines that's going on here in Australia that is happening in association with Pitch Black. And of course the Indo Pacific region is an area of increasing uncertainty and discussion at talks such as that. So, they're the types of issues that are going to be on the table. But again, reinforcing the strength of that relationship between Australia and the US that I'm seeing on the ground here today is vitally important to the defence of our nation.

JENNETT: And regarding the passage of those laws that will be required for IP through the Congress or the Senate there in the US, is there anything about the events of the last few days that say that might lose momentum or willpower in US politics?

ASSISTANT MINISTER: I don't think so. When I was in the US a week or so ago, there's a deep commitment to AUKUS from both sides of the aisle. And I met with Congress people from the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, and they're all committed to ensuring that AUKUS is delivered, particularly the regulation making power that's being put through the Congress at the moment. And Kevin Rudd is doing a fantastic job on Australia's behalf in leading that regulation making power being now delivered.

JENNETT: All right, well, we'll keep eyes on the AUSMIN talks when they happen in early August. Can I take you, Matt, to some criticism that's been made publicly? It's been led by the Greens, but others too about Commonwealth war graves in Gaza. The criticism is that the War Graves Commission hasn't done anything to enquire with Israel or for that matter to ask for restraint by Israeli Defence Forces on bombardment in the area that may, may have damaged war graves there. Is that true? What efforts, if any, have been made through the Israeli Government?

ASSISTANT MINISTER: Well, obviously, the protection of Australian war graves, not only in Australia but anywhere throughout the world, is deeply important to Australia. That's where our diggers who fought for our nation are buried, and we'll do all we can to protect them. In this case, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is unable to access the site to do an assessment of any damage to the graves, and that's because, obviously, it's been a zone of conflict and there are safety issues. But the Government, through the Department of Veterans affairs, is liaising quite closely with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to make sure that they can get access to the site as quickly as possible to assess the damage, if there is any, and see what we need to do to repair those graves. But it's a really important issue and it's something that we certainly don't underplay.

JENNETT: No, I understand that access would be extremely limited and dangerous by nature of the war being waged there. But aren't there other avenues, through cooperation with the Israeli Government, to get some on the ground picture of what may or may not have happened? We're not asserting that there has been any damage to those war graves, but have any attempts been made through the Israeli Government?

ASSISTANT MINISTER: Well, I’ve sought a brief from the Department of Veterans Affairs about this. Obviously, we think that if it is possible that DVA representatives and Commonwealth War Graves representatives should be making contact with the Israeli Government to assess whether or not there has been damage. So, we're awaiting that brief coming back to us. But obviously I'd reiterate the point that this is sacred ground for Australians. It's really important that we protect those war graves, wherever they are, throughout the world.

JENNETT: All right, well, we'll await further clarification from the Government on anything that comes back there. And just finally today, Matt Thistlethwaite, also in that theatre of war, the Binskin report, the inquiry that was requested by Air Marshal Mark Binskin into the killing of World Central Kitchen workers, including Zomi Frankcom, back in April. We understand the Government is now in possession of that. When will the public find out about its contents?

ASSISTANT MINISTER: Obviously, it's a very, very sensitive matter and we again offer our sincerest condolences and thoughts to Zomi Frankcom’s family and friends. We've asked for full accountability from the Israeli Defence Force and their Government. That's why we appointed Mark Binskin to do this role. He's now handed his report to the Australian Government. We'll work through that. And obviously the liaise with Zomi Frankcom's family to ensure that hopefully they can get some closure from what's been a very, very traumatic period for them and their loved ones.

JENNETT: That's the only impediment, is it? Communication with her family?

ASSISTANT MINISTER: Yeah, I think that that's, you know, they deserve due respect with this and they deserve to see what the findings were before any public pronouncements are made regarding the report.

JENNETT: All right, Matt Thistlethwaite, I think you've got a pretty full program there in Darwin around the Pitch Black exercises. Always welcome on the program. Good to have you back.

ASSISTANT MINISTER: Thanks, Greg. Cheers.

ENDS