Doorstop interview, Thursday Island
MATT SMITH, MEMBER FOR LEICHHARDT: My name is Matt Smith. I’m the federal member for Leichhardt. This is Minister Andrew Giles and Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles, and we are here on Thursday Island, Kaurareg Country, in the beautiful Torres Strait. We are at the Thursday Island campus of TAFE. The Diploma of Nursing is now available, and what we know for sure is that people who train locally stay locally. I’ve been travelling up to this part of the world professionally for a number of years, and one of the things that was sold to me every single time is we need to grow our own health workers. Now you can be a health worker, you can become a nurse, and you can do it at home on Country here in the Torres Strait, and that is a fantastic outcome for the entire community. What’s also great and really encouraging is how seriously the Anthony Albanese Labor Government is taking far northern Australia. Ministers are coming through here at a rate to hear first-hand the challenges and the opportunities that Far North Queensland presents. I know that they’re grateful to be here. I know that they have a good time, but I know that they’re sitting down to listen. God has given us two ears and one mouth, and when we’re up in this part of the world, we definitely use those two ears. I’ll hand over now to Mr Giles.
ANDREW GILES, MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND TRAINING OF AUSTRALIA: Thanks, Matt. It’s really great to be back here with you in this beautiful part of Australia, this beautiful part of the Leichhardt electorate that you represent so well on the ground in Canberra, and, of course, to be joined by my friend, the Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles. It’s really special to be in the Torres Strait, but particularly special to come back a second time. I was here just over a year ago when we announced the Health Hub funding, funding made available thanks to the Albanese Government’s TAFE Technology Fund in partnership with the Queensland Government. And to see what has happened since then is really quite remarkable. It builds on a vision, a vision that’s fundamentally about, as Matt said a moment ago, listening. And in the Albanese Government, we are committed to listening to First Nations Australians, to listening to them, and to working with them to find common ground to solve problems and realise opportunities. And in meeting Ash earlier, a Diploma of Nursing student, we’re seeing that come to life. We’re seeing the combination of decisions that are being made by government and decisions that are being made and led by a community come together to make a real difference and a real impact. We know here that people want to make a life in community. We know here that, for too many people, local jobs haven’t been able to be done by local people. That’s changing. It’s changed in many ways, but fundamentally now, someone like Ash, thanks to Fee-Free TAFE on the one hand, and thanks to this Health Hub on the other, can begin a journey to becoming a nurse. And he’s nearly there. He and two others, at the end of this year, will become enrolled nurses, doing all of their study right here on Thursday Island. That’s a fantastic story, and I think it is just the start of a partnership that will become deeper, thanks to visits like this one, where the Acting Prime Minister is spending his time engaging deeply with Torres Strait Islanders, listening attentively, and taking on board their thoughts. There’s no one in the Australian Government really better at that than Richard Marles. It’s a pleasure to be here with you.
RICHARD MARLES, ACTING PRIME MINISTER: Very kind. Thank you, Andrew, and it’s great to be here with Andrew and Matt. The Albanese Government has given the greatest investment by any federal government in TAFE in our country’s history, and Andrew is very much leading that effort. And what we are committed to is breaking down barriers and getting more people into our TAFE system right across Australia. We’ve done that through the introduction of Free TAFE, and that has made a real difference in terms of providing access to a whole range of Australians in a whole range of courses around the country. But here on Thursday Island, our northernmost TAFE campus in the country, we’ve also invested in the Health Hub, and, as both Andrew and Matt have said, what that has done is allow people to be able to pursue their studies in health much further here without having to go to Cairns and all the expense and time associated with that. And so, as Andrew said, we just met Ash earlier. He’ll be completing his Diploma of Nursing in the next six months, doing it all right here on Thursday Island. It makes a massive difference in terms of enabling a wider range of people to be able to complete these courses. But, as Matt said, where you study is more than likely where you will end up practising your craft and your trade. And we need more health workers across the Torres Strait, and so this hub is also making an enormous contribution to what skills ultimately exist in the Torres Strait. Earlier today, we were at Sarpeye Barracks. It is the northernmost Defence base in Australia, and it’s a place I’ve been keen to come to for a long time. It forms part of the Regional Force Surveillance Units, the Far North Queensland Regiment. There are seven personnel who are based there, but there’s 70 reservists across the Torres Strait who form part of the Regional Force Surveillance Unit here. They are literally our eyes and ears on our northernmost part of our country. They are part of the frontline defences of our nation. The Regional Force Surveillance Units across North Queensland, the Northern Territory and the top of Western Australia are a unique part of our Australian Defence Force, a unique part of the Australian Army. We are utilising the incredible knowledge, the comprehensive understanding of Country that our remote Indigenous communities have in order to provide the eyes and ears, the visibility of our northern frontier, and they do an incredible job. In some cases, we are seeing reservists who have been engaged in the Regional Force Surveillance Units for decades, multi generational. We met a number of people today, third-generation military, and there is a deep military history here in the Torres Strait and a deep sense of connection to the Australian Army that those reservists have. In turn, this is probably the most significant connection that the Defence Force, the Australian Army, has with Indigenous Australians around the country. So it’s been an absolute treat to see that, as it has been to be in this unique part of Australia. The Torres Strait plays a huge part in contributing to the cultural heritage, the cultural legacy, of our nation. It is a very special part of Australia, and it’s been our treat, the three of us, to be here today.
JOURNALIST: Why was Tony Burke’s appearance at the Press Club cancelled at short notice, and have there been disagreements about the Government’s migration policy?
MARLES: Look, Tony Burke is seeking to reschedule his appearance at the National Press Club at the earliest opportunity, and that’s what will occur. We’ve been working through immigration policy ahead of the Budget. We continue to do that. Obviously, Tony leads all of that, and he’ll be speaking about that as soon as he can when this is rescheduled at the National Press Club.
JOURNALIST: Have there been disagreements about the policy?
MARLES: No, we’ve been working through the policy. I mean, there’s been a whole lot of iterations of what we’ve done in the space of immigration over the time that we’ve been in Government, and I remind people that immigration levels are down 45 per cent on the peak coming out of the post-pandemic years. So we’ve done a significant job in reducing immigration to the country. And Tony Burke will be detailing where the Government is at, at the earliest opportunity at the National Press Club.
JOURNALIST: The AFP is investigating whether an arson attack on a Victorian defence manufacturer last year was an act of far-left terrorism. Have you been made aware of those investigations, and how concerned are you about far-left terrorism? MARLES: Look, I’m aware of this. It’s now before the court, so there’s a limited amount that I can say about it. More generally, not speaking about this incident, obviously, the defence industry plays a really important part in building sovereign capability in our country. Defence industry is critical to enabling Australian sovereignty and enabling Australian defence capability, and those who work within it do a critically important job for our country, and I think it’s very important that we understand that.
JOURNALIST: How concerned are you about far-left terrorism?
MARLES: Well, I mean, we are concerned about terrorist threats across the board. We take our lead from our agencies. What I would say is that our agencies, and particularly the AFP and ASIO, have the lead on all of this. We have some of the best agencies in the world in terms of counter-terrorism and protecting us. And so I do have a sense of confidence in the work that they put in here, and we take the warnings that they give us as a Government, and the warnings that they make more publicly, very seriously.
JOURNALIST: Cape York Institute’s Noel Pearson has proposed dismantling state and territory Indigenous affairs departments and centralised funding. Given the major disadvantage gaps that remain, is it time for your Cabinet to consider that?
MARLES: Well, firstly, I mean, Noel Pearson is a great Australian, and he’s been a critically important leader of Indigenous Australians for a long time. He is very much a thought leader, and I think the contribution that he’s made in the speech that he’s just given is a really important contribution. The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator McCarthy, has made clear that she will look at what he has said thoroughly and deeply, but take the time to do that. It is an important contribution that Noel Pearson has made, and we want to take the time to go through it in a thorough and detailed way, and Minister McCarthy has made clear that she’ll do that.
JOURNALIST: These Indigenous advocates say the system’s failing them and locking children up, taking kids from them in unacceptable numbers. Does anything major need to change in how these communities are funded?
MARLES: Well, I think, you know, clearly the range of issues across Indigenous Australia, including what you’ve just asked, have been a challenge for Government for a long time. You know, as a Government, the Albanese Labor Government is completely focused on closing the gap, on building reconciliation with Indigenous Australians, and if you look at all that we’ve done since coming to office in 2022, we very much stand by our record and our commitment to making real change during the time that we are in office. And there are real challenges that are faced here, and in respect of the gap, it has been stubborn in our ability to be able to close the gap across a range of areas. We will continue to fund this at record levels, but we will continue to engage on critical ideas such as what Noel Pearson has said, and Minister McCarthy has said that she will take this very seriously in terms of the thought that she gives to it and how we go forward as a Government.
JOURNALIST: You’ve spoken before about the intersection between national security and climate change. What are your thoughts on the Pabai Pabai appeal that’s just wrapped up in the Federal Court? The two Torres Strait elders are arguing that your Government isn’t doing enough to stop them from being harmed by climate change.
MARLES: Yeah. Well, look again, I won’t comment on the case specifically, given that it’s before the courts. But, again, as a Government, we have been utterly focused on climate change and on how we can deal with Australia’s emissions, first of all, but how we can also lend our voice to the global efforts to combat climate change. I mean, again, when you look at what we have done since coming to office, we are a Government which has been utterly focused on reducing our emissions, and we have seen a record effort there in terms of bringing renewable energy onto the grid and doing that in a sustainable way. And globally, you can see our co chairing of COP as being a significant part of how we are using our voice internationally. What I would say is that, in exercising our voice internationally, we’re really mindful of the communities of the Torres Strait. This is a part of the world which is very much on the frontline of climate change, and we get that. And we get that in terms of this as a part of Australia. We get that in terms of the way in which we engage with our near neighbours in the Pacific, where climate change again is front and centre, and where they too, as communities, are on the frontline of climate change. So it deeply informs the way in which we have behaved and acted as a Government, both in terms of our domestic policies, but also our international advocacy.
JOURNALIST: Sorry, I just had one more come through. How seriously is the Government looking at migration?
MARLES: Well, we are really focused on that, and I repeat, you know, migration levels are down by 45 per cent on the peak that we inherited coming into Government in the aftermath of the pandemic. So we are really focused on managing this issue, and we are managing migration levels down.
JOURNALIST: Hi, Minister. Thank you for this. You’re at the northernmost Defence base up there. How prepared is Australia for war on the defensive front?
MARLES: Well, I mean, we are prepared. I mean, what you have seen from this Government since coming to office is the biggest peacetime increase in defence spending in our nation’s history. What you have seen since we’ve come to office is another focus on what our strategic threat is, and making sure that we are building a defence force to meet that threat. We now have a sense of coherence around that strategic thinking that has not been around for decades. We’ve got the funding to back it up, and so we are very much building our preparedness, and I feel very confident about the position of our defence forces now and our ability to meet the challenges that we face in the world.
JOURNALIST: There is a new Senate committee that will look at preparedness on the home front. Same question, but how prepared are we domestically and on the home front, away from the military side of things?
MARLES: Well, we’ve provided a reference to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence to examine questions of resilience and civil defence preparedness. So that’s beyond the Australian Defence Force. That’s within civil society, and we think this is a really important issue to look at. It’s something that was highlighted in the Defence Strategic Review, which has also been highlighted in the National Defence Strategy 2024 and the most recent one in 2026. To be frank, this is an area which really hasn’t received much attention in Australian public policy since the end of the Second World War. But in any contingency, the way in which the civil economy operates and interacts with the defence force is fundamental to a society, to us as a country, being able to manage that contingency. Now, it is important that we are able to prepare for that, that we’re able to exercise those muscles, if I could put it that way. And other countries around the world do this. The Defence Strategic Review highlighted that this is an area which we need to focus more upon, and I think this is an excellent area for the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence to do its first inquiry on. I very much look forward to their work. I mean, they will really be focused on how we can exercise in this space and how we can build our civil defence preparedness and resilience. And I think their work will be really important.
JOURNALIST: And final question, just on that. You mentioned the importance. Has it been an oversight that we haven’t had a plan like this since, really, the Cold War?
MARLES: Oh well, it’s beyond that, actually, Charles. It’s really going back to the Second World War. Look, I think it’s a function of the times through which we’ve lived. But I think it is important that we have an understanding of how, in any contingency, our civil economy would interact with our defence force, and what role our civil economy might play. And there are ways in which other countries do exercises in respect of that, and that’s what we’re really looking at. I mean, the truth is that since the end of the Second World War, we have obviously enjoyed an extended period of peace and stability. But the Defence Strategic Review really highlighted that this is something that, amidst all that we are doing in terms of building the actual Defence Force, is an area which should be given attention, and that’s why we are very keen to see this being the first inquiry that the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence undertakes.