Doorstop interview, Parliament House, Canberra

SUBJECTS: Annual Cyber Threat Report; Energy; Student caps; Migration; Awarding of the Victoria Cross to Richard Norden. 

RICHARD MARLES, ACTING PRIME MINISTER: This morning, we've released the Annual Cyber Threat Report, which is showing that the Australian Signals Directorate, our agency which deals with these threats, is receiving a report once every six minutes. Really concerningly, the cost of each of these attacks is going up – an 8% increase for small business, a 17% increase for individuals. And we are also, very concerningly, seeing an increased focus from both state actors and criminals on attacking Australia's critical infrastructure. This is a real and present threat. It is a threat that we are dealing with each and every day, right now. As a result of that, we have been increasing funding to the Australian Signals Directorate. In fact, we're pretty well doubling the size of ASD over the course of a five year period. In the course of the last year, we've done more attributions than had ever been done before. Last year, we spoke a lot about the importance of individuals to maintain their cyber protection. This year, our message is very much focused on businesses. It's really important that businesses understand what IT systems they have in their business. That might seem obvious, but a lot of businesses have legacy system which can inadvertently be the back door for a cyber criminal to get into their business. It's really important that businesses understand that this is an evolving threat. So as you put in place your cyber defences you can't set and forget, and you've got to evolve those defences as the threat evolves. And that means being on top of them, making sure that you update, making sure that you have the best possible defences in place at any moment in time. And finally, it's really important that businesses work with the Australian Signals Directorate. They are a national asset, they are our nation's expert, and they really can help businesses in these instances. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, where are these threats coming from? Is it primarily, sort of, you know, hackers in the basement, or is it international actors?

MARLES: It's a good question, and the answer is it’s both. Not just hackers in a basement, it's organised cyber criminals around the world. We are seeing state actor involvement as well. And we're seeing a lot of grey in between that, where there's cooperation between both. That's what makes the threat environment so complex, and one which companies and businesses really need to be very vigilant about. This is one of the issues, which is the issue really, which is facing the country in terms of threats out there to businesses right now. We're investing a lot in our nation's cyber defences, but part of this is about making sure that we have a cyber ecosystem in Australia, which is which is as robust as any in the world. So businesses and individuals need to play their part, which is why we're really calling on businesses to make sure they understand what systems they have in place, and that they protect them in a continuing way. 

JOURNALIST: Did Australia ask to be removed from the nuclear agreement at COP29? 

MARLES: We are not part of that agreement. This is an agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States around the cooperation of their civil nuclear industries. We do not have a civil nuclear industry. This is not an agreement which applies to us, which is why we're not going to be a part of the agreement. What we're seeing here is Peter Dutton wilfully and mischievously trying to conflate a couple of issues here. When Peter Dutton talks about embarrassment, what we should be clear about is that the real embarrassment here is Peter Dutton’s own domestic agenda. I mean, for Australia, from not having a civil nuclear industry, to try and establish one, would represent pursuing the most expensive form of electricity on the planet. It would see an increase in household energy bills of $1,200. It would not take effect for a couple of decades, and even then, at best, it might contribute 4% to the electricity grid. This makes no sense. That is why we are not pursuing a civil nuclear industry. We don't have one on this day. That's why we're not participating in an agreement between the UK and the US about the collaboration of their own civil nuclear industry. 

JOURNALIST: Why did the UK think we would sign on? 

MARLES: Well, we are not going to be a part of an agreement where we don't have a civil nuclear industry. I mean, it's about the cooperation of their nuclear industries and obviously we are not going to be a part of that. And it stands completely separate to AUKUS which is an agreement that we are pursuing with vigour. I was in London just a month or two ago at the trilateral AUKUS Defence Minister’s Meeting. I mean, that is going at a pace and we continue to work with them in terms of sharing military capability. That is completely separate to the UK and the US collaborating in a civil space in terms of their civil nuclear power industries and the fact that we don't have one.

JOURNALIST: They issued a statement, though. So did someone stuff up here?

MARLES: At the end of the day, and what is really clear is we don't have a civil nuclear industry and so there is nothing for us to cooperate with the UK and the US on. It's obviously understandable why they would seek to cooperate with themselves, with each other, in terms of the civil nuclear industries which they have. We don't have one and we don't intend to have one, and so we are not a part of that agreement. 

JOURNALIST: Just on the student caps issue. You've said this morning that it's important to manage the migration system broadly so you have control over things like housing and so on. Do you agree with the Coalition that high levels of migration have made it harder to buy a home? 

MARLES: Well, what we don't agree with the Coalition on is the step that they have taken to not put in place caps in relation to international students–

JOURNALIST: But on buying at home, is it harder because of higher migration?

MARLES: The Coalition talk the talk in a big way. They do not walk the walk. And what every Australian needs to understand is that this week, what we have seen is that the Coalition, the Liberals, and the Greens are now cooperating on immigration policy. I mean, that is astonishing. They're also cooperating in stopping the building of new homes in Australia. That's the Liberals and the Greens cooperating. Both of them have utterly abandoned what they believe in. They are cooperating together in a more significant way than we have ever seen before to maximize the political damage to this country. So every Australian should be really clear of this. If you vote Liberal or if you vote Green, in Canberra, they end up being the same team. That's what we've seen in Canberra this week. And it is utterly astonishing that Peter Dutton is now cooperating with Adam Bandt, that those are the two working together to stop us managing our immigration system. Now, in the aftermath of the pandemic, we have seen a spike in immigration. It is something that we need to manage. We need to return it to the kind of levels that we had before the pandemic, so that we can manage a migration system which is obviously important for our country, but in a way which is commensurate with our infrastructure and our housing and the like. You can't do that without managing international students, because student visas are such a significant component of our overall immigration intake. And what we've seen here is Peter Dutton, despite saying he would do that in his budget reply speech, utterly walk away from that in order to maximize political damage to Australia. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, you received the recommendation two years ago to award a VC to Richard Norden. That was announced, of course, just a week or two ago. Why that two year gap? Why did it take two years for that to be processed? 

MARLES: Well, firstly, that these are precious, unique awards in this country. There's been something in the order of 100 VCs awarded to Australians during the course of our military history. This is in respect of actions which occurred during the Vietnam War. It was not done lightly, and it shouldn't be done lightly. The currency of Victoria Crosses needs to be maintained. So I don’t think there’s any apology for taking time here, in the context of actions which occurred in the Vietnam War, to make sure that we get this right. But having done it, it really does then make the awarding of the Victoria Cross to Richard Norden so significant. I mean, this is bravery of the highest level. What Richard Norden did was very much in the context of what VCs are about. That is people risking their lives, acting in a way knowing that they themselves may die in order to save and help others. That's what Richard Norden did, and his VC is absolutely deserved. 

ENDS