Radio Interview, ABC Darwin

SUBJECTS: 83^rd Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin; Investing in Australia’s Northern Bases; Port of Darwin; Defence Force Personnel in the NT; Federal Election; Interest Rate Cut. 

LARA STIMPSON, HOST: Deputy Prime Minister, welcome back to Darwin and good morning.

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Great to be here.

STIMPSON: Why have you chosen to spend today here?

MARLES: Well, today is obviously a very significant day in the history of Darwin, but obviously the history of the nation. 19 February 1942 was the Bombing of Darwin. It was really the moment that World War II came to Australia. And today we will be commemorating the 83rd anniversary of that. So, very much looking forward to participating in that ceremony. I've actually never done this ceremony before, but it really is one of the most important in the context of our nation's war history. And the sinking of the USS Peary was the greatest loss of life as part of that, and there is a commemoration of that earlier in the day.

STIMPSON: Yes, you'll obviously be attending those commemorative services. Will you be meeting with our military partners and doing other sort of defence business, so to speak, while you're here today?

MARLES: Certainly, taking the opportunity to have a good look around the bases here and obviously also seeing the Northern Territory government. We are investing significantly in our northern bases across the country, but particularly in the top end. I mean, for me there's a poignancy about this because, the Bombing of Darwin happened 83 years ago because everyone knew at that moment in time that Darwin mattered, and Darwin really matters today. And that's reflected in the investment that we are putting into just about every base you'll see around the top end; RAAF Base Darwin, Larrakeyah, Tindal, Robertson Barracks. All of them are seeing significant upgrades at the moment. So, there's a lot of work going on and I'm really keen to have a look at that.

STIMPSON: And I'll get to just that in a moment, and some of those new Defence personnel who've welcomed and how you can actually get them to stick around in the top end. But reflecting on the events of 83 years ago, just how vulnerable is Darwin now in today's state of tension and conflict that we're seeing in our region?

MARLES: Look, I don't think– vulnerability is not the word I'd use, but really being Australia's strategic heart is how I see it. This is a place from which we project. And I think what we need to be ensuring going forward is that we have the capacity to project our Defence Force. It is not that we really look at the prospect of Australia being invaded in some form in the future. Our national security, the geography actually lies well beyond our coastline. And the reason we say that is because, you know, if there was any adversary who meant to do us harm, there's a whole lot of harm that can be done to us well before you ever set foot on our shores. And, you know, we are a country which has a growing proportion of our national prosperity built on trade. That has a physical manifestation – our sea lines of communication, we export and import a lot. It's that which needs to be protected. To protect that you need to be able to project. And we also need to be ensuring that not just Australia, but the region that we live in is safe and this is the place where we get to the region. And so, as I say, vulnerability is not really the word I'd use, but being completely at the heart of Australia's strategic centre, that's really how the significance of Darwin today, and that's what's reflected in obviously, our investments. But there is an echo to the past because, you know, Darwin back in 1942 was– the significance was really seen very soon after the fall of– or after the attack on Pearl Harbor. There were American ships in the harbour at that time because they were there to provide support for the defence of what was then the Netherlands East Indies, what's now Indonesia, and Japan about to invade Java, saw taking out Darwin as being a critical enabler. So, people knew then that Darwin mattered. And we understand now that Darwin matters.

STIMPSON: Yeah, well, given our strategic position and our need to project from this region and, you know, we saw just last week, the Defence Department lodged an objection, a Chinese fighter launched a flare 30 metres in front of Australian aircraft. You're separately monitoring three Chinese warships in the Coral Sea. This is live and happening right now. 

MARLES: It is. 

STIMPSON: And given our strategic position and these ongoing tensions, has the Federal Government at all reconsidered the 99 year lease of Darwin Port by the Chinese owned company Landbridge? Considering those tensions in our region at the moment.

MARLES: I mean, that is an issue which has been under consideration and that, along with, you know, other investment we look at very carefully–

STIMPSON: When you say it's been under consideration, what do you mean by that?

MARLES: Well, I mean it's been under consideration and it's difficult for me to go further than that in public. But we look very carefully at investments that are made into Australia in terms of the security implications of them– 

STIMPSON: Well, considering it's got, you know, this is a lease that's got 90 years left on it, can we get a sense from you that this is something that you'd look at, given the longevity of it? That future governments may seriously look at terminating?

MARLES: Well, perhaps the best way of describing this is that, you know, in opposition we opposed this lease to this entity. And so, you know, Labor was opposed to this in opposition and we made the commitment that we'd have a good look at this coming to government. So we are very much doing that. That gives a sense of where we were coming from in relation to this. We've not been fans of this from the get go, but you inherit the world as you find it and, you know, we want to make sure that we're not giving rise to sovereign risk in any decisions that we're making as well. So, we're working this through. But it is really important that we are looking at significant foreign investment through the lens of our national security, which of course is the law, and that's what we do. And it reflects what you just said, that we live in a strategic environment which is as complex, in some ways as threatening as we've seen since the Second World War.

STIMPSON: Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Minister of Defence, of course is your guest on ABC Radio Darwin this morning. My name is Lara Stimpson. I want to just quickly touch on, Defence has welcomed our newest cohort of personnel to the top end in recent weeks. What are you doing to reduce the high number of transfer requests that the ADF gets from members and families deployed to Darwin?

MARLES: It's a good question. I mean, there's a sort of a bigger picture answer to that, which is that we need to be – we, Defence, the nation, actually – needs to understand Darwin is a national asset. And, you know, if Darwin wasn't here, we wouldn't have the strategic ability to project in the way that we've been talking about. And therefore it's an asset which needs to be invested in.

STIMPSON: When families are sort of, I guess, deciding whether or not, or personnel are deciding whether or not Darwin is the place to stay, I'm sure that perhaps the strategic posture of Darwin is not right in the forefront of their mind. 

MARLES: I accept that, but it is important that we have that clearly in our minds because that's really what then drives a sense of investing in the top end. I mean, you're right, from a family's point of view, what you want is amenity, you want to know that this is going to be a good place to live. And it's obviously a wonderful place to live. It's a really important point, though, that we are making that case to our Defence Force personnel. It's also important then that the nuts and bolts of that are in place. Housing, for example. And, you know, we've invested since we've come to government the better part of half a billion dollars in new housing projects, be they actual new houses or upgrades to existing house in the top end– well, here in Darwin and in the top end. And that's what actually then improves the amenities. So, it's kind of understanding at the principled high level what we need to do and why we need to be making the investments. But bringing that down, as you say, to the nuts and bolts, so that families do see that there actually is good amenity here, that this is a great place to live. And it is an incredible place to live. And you know, the people who I meet who have come here by virtue of Defence and made the decision to stay here and make their lives here don’t regret it for one second, they literally don't look back. And that's a really important choice that we need to be encouraging for our Defence Force personnel because we have to see Darwin as a national asset.

STIMPSON: Just quickly, before I let you go this morning, you're not the only senior federal politician who spent time in the seat of Solomon or perhaps Lingiari in recent months. We had the Attorney General here over the weekend, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Alice Springs just recently, and the Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's been here twice in just over a fortnight. Is he smelling blood in the water in these seats?

MARLES: Well, I'm not going to answer for Peter Dutton. Look, we–

STIMPSON: Just how vulnerable do you think these two seats are in this contest?

MARLES: Oh, I think we're in a contest. But both Luke and Marion know how much of a contest any election is and they are both wonderful members for both Solomon and Lingiari. They understand the Territory unlike any people I know and have done a fantastic job in representing and being the voice for Darwin, and for Marion, for the broader Northern Territory in our nation's Parliament. The election's coming. We're looking forward to it. We're embracing the opportunity to tell the story of our government to the whole country, but very much to the Northern Territory. And I'm really confident that when we do that, Australians will see what we've been able to achieve, see that, you know, there's a lot that's been done, but there's a lot more that needs to be done, that now is not the time to be changing horses midstream. And it's really important that we do have stability. That all the investments that we've done in the Northern Territory, that they are continued through, and the good work that we've done on the economy. Obviously we saw the relief of an interest rate reduction yesterday– 

STIMPSON: Yes. With the RBA's decision, can we expect the Prime Minister to head to Government House sometime this week?

MARLES: Again, I'm not going to speak to the Prime Minister. But that is, it's just the beginning. We're not making– suggesting that that decision on its own is a panacea. But you know, to give you a sense, when we came to government, inflation was at 6.1 per cent. We've worked really hard, it's now down to 2.4. That didn't just happen. We've delivered two surplus budgets, something that the Liberals never did when they were in office. I mean, that means that we've released the nation from tens of billions of dollars of Liberal debt. Debt that the Liberals racked up well before the pandemic. And that was one of the key preconditions to higher inflation and then to what we saw with interest rate rises. So, the fact that we've got inflation down is what has enabled the Reserve Bank to take the decision that it took yesterday. That does present light at the end of the tunnel. And we know that Australians and people in Darwin and the top end are doing it tough. There is so much more work that needs to be done. But cost of living is our front and centre, it’s what we are focused on, it's why we delivered a tax cut for everyone. You know, we want to keep doing that job. And Peter Dutton represents a material risk to all of that.

STIMPSON:  Deputy Prime Minister. Thanks for your time.

MARLES: Thanks for having me.

ENDS