Source: Australia’s climate in 2024: 2nd warmest and 8th wettest year on record
PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: Joining us live is the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong. Minister, good to see you this morning. Thank you for your time. Before we get into the post-mortem of the election, I’d just like to ask you about this. It’s all about getting the remaining hostages that Hamas still has. What’s your response to this move?
PENNY WONG, FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, first, my principled response is Australia continues to call for a ceasefire. We want to see the hostages returned and we want to see humanitarian aid delivered. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic. No aid has gone in for weeks. So, we will continue to call on all parties – ceasefire, hostage returns and humanitarian aid to be delivered.
STEFANOVIC: Do you think the election result justified your stance on Israel and Gaza?
FOREIGN MINISTER: Look, I don’t think that was a central issue in the campaign. I think that Australians were very focused on cost of living, were very focused on issues that were relevant to their lives. And I want to say how humbled and grateful we are for the privilege that’s been given to us. We really understand it’s a privilege and a responsibility. And what you will see, Pete, is us working every day for the Australian people, knowing the responsibility we’ve been given.
STEFANOVIC: On trade, a few items of note from firstly, the US and also the EU today. So, the Prime Minister will reportedly scrap the luxury car tax if the EU opens up its market for our ag exports. Is that a fair trade if it’s true?
FOREIGN MINISTER: I wanted to say broadly, when we announced our response to tariffs, you will recall, we laid out a set of principles and a set of responses that we would put in place, and one of them was continued trade diversification. Now, we’ve done a lot of work on that. You would have heard me, in the context of having some impediments and some $20 billion worth of trade into China lifted during our term of government, I always say to people, we need to diversify, we need to continue to diversify. That’s part of our economic resilience. And we had another Free Trade Agreement with the United Arab Emirates. We’ve had a lot more engagement economically with Southeast Asia on both investment and trade. But obviously, the EU Free Trade Agreement would be an important part of that trade diversification. So, we will keep working on that because we’re a trading nation. We don’t want to be part of trade barriers because it’s not good for us. It’s an act of economic self-harm. So, of course we’ll engage with the European Union and others.
STEFANOVIC: And on the US how concerned are you about Donald Trump’s tariffs on foreign-made films hurting our industry here?
FOREIGN MINISTER: I was just asked this by Karl, in fact, and the point I’d make is we have a lot of collaboration between our film industries. You get Aussie actors in US films. You get US films made here or filmed here. There’s a lot of collaboration in the creative area. So, we hope that President Trump, in the context of his discussions with the studio, will come to see the extent to which Australian and American film industries do work together to the benefit of both countries.
STEFANOVIC: Ok, let’s get to your thoughts on how the election turned out. Are you expecting many, if at all, frontbench changes?
FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, that’s a matter for, first, the caucus and the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has made clear his view about some of the senior leadership and us staying in our roles. But beyond that, the decision will be for caucus and for the Prime Minister about which portfolios he allocates. But my thoughts on the election really are summed up in this: the Liberal Party does not represent middle Australia. We see that in the seat results in the suburbs and cities of this country. Families looked at the Liberal Party and thought, you don’t represent my hopes, my aspirations or reflect my concerns.
STEFANOVIC: Did Liberal preferences help you win seats from the Greens?
FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, I have looked at a few seats and, for example, I think Renee Coffey in the seat of Griffiths was ahead of Max Chandler-Mather on primaries. So, we live in a preferential system. But I would say the Labor primary vote was obviously very strong and we really respect and are grateful for the opportunity – the choice of Australians and the opportunity we’ve been given.
STEFANOVIC: But I suppose when it comes to the Liberal Party and its preferences, you were above the Greens. So, might you have Peter Dutton to thank for that by flipping some of those seats?
FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, Pete, that’s an interesting take. I think that the majority of the contests in the 150 plus seats around the country, as you know, were between us and the Liberal Party. And out of that, I think out of 88 metropolitan seats they hold, I think it’s nine or 10. And there’s obviously some outstanding. But that really says something about the extent to which the Coalition were rejected by middle Australia. That’s the key issue, not the Greens.
STEFANOVIC: Ok, just a final note. I mean, there was some scuttlebutt back before the election and you are a young person, but there was still rumour that you might be heading for retirement. Given the size of the win, how does that change your calculations with how much time you want to spend?
FOREIGN MINISTER: That’s a very good question. Obviously, I made a commitment to serve the whole of this term. But yes, the size of the win, we can genuinely do the work for the Australian people and set the country up for a long-term stable Labor Government. And I’m really privileged to be part of that.
STEFANOVIC: So at least one term, Penny, then we’ll see.
FOREIGN MINISTER: At least one term. At least one term.
STEFANOVIC: Can I also ask, I mean, your comments on potentially resurrecting the Voice, that was seized upon by your opponents, but did you fear that that could derail the Labor campaign?
FOREIGN MINISTER: Yeah, so, and I know, Sky ran on this a lot and obviously, you never want to give people the opportunity to dial up the conflict during a campaign. But you know what I think it demonstrated? It demonstrated a reflex to have a go on these culture war issues, rather than talk about the issues that really mattered to Australians, which were cost of living, Medicare, health, education. Rather than talk about how we maintain steady leadership in a time of great uncertainty. Most Australians were not where the Liberal Party were on those issues. It was a beat-up. We’ve made clear the Voice is gone. I’ve said that many times. But what’s more important is, I think what is said to Australians is you keep talking about issues and getting aggro and playing the politics of conflict. Actually, I’m worried about, are you going to give me tax cuts? Are you going to make it easy to see a doctor? Are you going to make sure my school is funded? Are you going to make sure you build more houses? I want the 20 per cent reduction in HECS debt and I want fee-free TAFE. That’s where people were, that’s where Australians were, it’s not where the Liberal Party was.
STEFANOVIC: Ok, I know you’ve got another interview to get to, but thank you so much for your time.