Radio Interview, ABC Radio National

SUBJECTS: AUKUS, Trump presidency, cost of living relief, Remembrance Day.

 STEVE CANNANE: Well, the Albanese Government has sought to reassure us all the massive AUKUS submarine deal is safe under a new presidency of Donald Trump. But the announcement of key Republican backer of AUKUS, Mike Pompeo, won't be invited to join the Trump administration is being seen as a potential setback for the deal. Pat Conroy is the country's acting Defence Minister, and he joins me now.

Thanks for your time.

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY PAT CONROY: Good morning, how are you?

STEVE CANNANE: I'm very well, thanks. Let's talk about the AUKUS deal. It's due to, of course, provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. It was one of the topics discussed between the President-Elect and the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese when they spoke on the phone last week. How confident are you that the AUKUS Agreement is safe under a Trump presidency?

MINISTER CONROY: I'm very confident, Stephen, for two reasons. One, it's in the strategic interests of all three countries involved. This is not charity. This is about the three countries enhancing our defence capability. The second reason why I'm confident is that there is strong bipartisan support in the United States for AUKUS. I was in Washington last December and I sat in the gallery of the US Senate to watch the vote for the three key AUKUS pieces of legislation. And it received an 80 per cent yes vote in an evenly divided Senate and a 75 per cent yes vote in a Republican-dominated House of Representatives. So, anything to get that level of bipartisanship is fairly remarkable. And it demonstrates the strong support in the United States for AUKUS, which is about making all three countries safer.

STEVE CANNANE: As I just mentioned though, Donald Trump has announced that his former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, won't be a part of this administration. He, of course, was a very strong supporter of AUKUS and he met with both Richard Marles and Penny Wong in recent months to help smooth the relations between Australia and a possible future Trump administration. Is that particular news a blow to AUKUS and to relations between the Albanese Government and the new administration?

MINISTER CONROY: No, I don't believe so. Ministers of the Australian Government have been engaging with Republican opinion leaders for a number of years, just as we engage with Democrat opinion leaders. And so, I'm confident that the strong bipartisan support in the United States for AUKUS will continue. And it will continue because it's in the US's interest. This is about getting greater deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. This is about investing in the three industrial bases. So, we go from three submarine construction yards across the three countries capable of making nuclear-powered but conventionally armed submarines to four. So, this is in the United States Interest as well as in the Australian interest.

STEVE CANNANE: Following last week's election, we saw Labor luminaries like former NSW Premier Bob Carr suggest the Albanese Government should reconsider the AUKUS pact in the wake of that Trump victory. What's your response to those kind of calls from your party elders?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, I respect their opinions, and they're entitled to have that. I would state that the will of the party was clearly expressed at the National Conference where a very strong majority supported AUKUS and we're continuing on that course. It's in the national interest and AUKUS will survive changes of government across all three countries. We've already had two changes of government in the three countries, and it's got stronger in Australia through the election of the Albanese Government. That's plugged the 10-year submarine capability gap. And the commitment in the UK, if anything, is stronger with the election of the Starmer Labour Government. This is a multi-decade long commitment. This is an agreement that will go for decades, and it will survive changes of government across all three countries.

STEVE CANNANE: But isn't this different? Donald Trump is one of the most unpredictable Western leaders in recent history and he's coming from a philosophy of America first. If the US is struggling to meet targets to build more nuclear-powered submarines under an America-first philosophy, a Trump administration or his successor could say, you know, we're keeping those subs for our own fleet. We're running short.

MINISTER CONROY: Well, the United States is investing record amounts into its submarine industrial base and we are seeing improvement in figures for both construction rates of new Virginia class submarines and importantly availability rates for the existing submarines in service. They've contributed $14 billion US to their submarine industrial base and obviously we've made a contribution to their industrial base as well. And importantly, we're activating Australian companies right now to help contribute to their supply chain. I made an announcement last year for Bisalloy Steel in the Illawarra to start producing steel to help build American Virginia-class submarines, not Australian.

So, I'm confident that those production rates will improve, and submarine availability will. But importantly, we're not operating in a vacuum here. There's been very strong Republican support for AUKUS. I think if you look at President Trump's comments when he was last in power, he was very keen for allies and partners to invest in their own defence. That's what Australia is doing under the Albanese Labor Government. At the same time as investing in cost of living relief, we're spending records amounts in defence. We've increased defence funding by $50 billion over the next 10 years to make Australia safer and to keep Australians safe and President Trump respects that sort of investment.

STEVE CANNANE: On Radio National Breakfast, it's 18 minutes to eight. We're talking to Pat Conroy, the acting Defence Minister. There is expected to be an increase in tensions between the US and China over a number of issues over tariffs over Taiwan, even over export restrictions relating to key technologies. What is Australia doing to prepare for all of that?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, we've been very honest with the Australian public that we live in an era of geopolitical competition in Indo-Pacific, and people are very focused on resilient supply chains in things such as defence technologies, but also things like critical minerals. And Prime Minister Albanese made a series of announcements with President Biden around critical minerals. And we would expect the United States to continue to focus on that area. Obviously, President Trump and his administration will have their own approach, but it's been very clear that a lot of countries have been overly reliant on one supply source. And there's going to be a real focus on supply chain resilience and sovereignty across the world. That's why we're investing in making missiles in this country. That's why we're investing in a future made in Australia.

STEVE CANNANE: Our Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd, has deleted old tweets labelling US President-Elect Trump as a traitor to the West. And the most destructive president in history. And vision emerged last week of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying Trump scared the shit out of him. But that was back in 2017 when he was Opposition Transport Spokesman. We know Donald Trump loves flattery. Do the Prime Minister and the Ambassador have to do some bowing and scraping in the coming months?

MINISTER CONROY: Oh, look, Ambassador Rudd's doing a great job in the United States. I was there with him only three weeks ago. He was instrumental in getting the AUKUS legislation across the line in the U.S. Congress and that involved working with Republicans and people, Republicans who are aligned with Trump. So, he's doing a great job there. And our relationship and our alliance with the United States has gone on for generations and it'll continue to endure across leaders of all political persuasions.

STEVE CANNANE: 'Are you better off than you were four years ago’, was the opening line at Donald Trump's rallies on his path to re-election, and it was very notable that Opposition leader Peter Dutton asked a very similar question at a media conference in Tasmania yesterday. How concerned are you that the voters struggling under cost of living pressures will desert the Albanese Government at the next election?

MINISTER CONROY: I think the Australian public understand we're doing all that we can to help with cost of living relief. People are doing it tough now and it's important to acknowledge that. And that's why we're providing cost of living relief from tax cuts, getting inflation under control, $32 billion for housing, the cuts of student debt and the repayment increase in the repayment thresholds, the investment in healthcare to make it more affordable. These are things that Australians see every day, us doing. They also see Peter Dutton opposing them. Peter Dutton wants to cut a lot of cost of living support, including for housing. He opposed our tax cuts. He's trying to cut $50 billion from the defence budget.

So, I think the Australian public understand what's going on. They see the Albanese Labor Government tackling cost of living, reducing inflation significantly, and they see Peter Dutton blocking it every step of the way. And I'm very confident at the next election that the Australian public will be presented with a clear choice of a government fighting for cost of living relief versus an Opposition intent on being negative and blocking it.

STEVE CANNANE: Okay, Minister, just briefly, it's Remembrance Day today. How will you be commemorating the day?

MINISTER CONROY: I'll be commemorating the sacrifice of over 100,000 Australians at the Swansea RSL. And it's important on Remembrance Day to pay our respects and honour the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of Australians who fought for our country and our thoughts are with their families who continue to be impacted today.

STEVE CANNANE: Pat Conroy, thanks for your time this morning.

MINISTER CONROY: Thanks, Steve.

STEVE CANNANE: Pat Conroy, acting Defence Minister, talking to us there on Radio National Breakfast.