KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Prime Minister, thanks for your time.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good to be with you, Kieran.
GILBERT: The ceasefire we've seen, is this a vindication of the Trump approach of peace through strength?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we want to see is the ceasefire announced by President Trump implemented. We think that we do want to see dialogue and diplomacy replace any escalation. And President Trump's announcement, we very much welcome.
GILBERT: When you look at the strikes, you backed them, but it did take a day. It's been called slow and flat footed.
PRIME MINISTER: No.
GILBERT: Were you?
PRIME MINISTER: Only by the usual suspects, Kieran. I run a considered, orderly government. We have made it very clear in multiple press conferences for some time now, including last week on the sideline of the G7, that Iran could not be allowed to get a nuclear weapon. And both myself and the Foreign Minister were very clear about that.
GILBERT: You were, well the language is probably, arguably, stronger than Starmer. But why did it take 24 hours and give the opening to Andrew Hastie and others that have said that you were flat-footed?
PRIME MINISTER: No, we're very clear. Look, Kieran, there are some in the media who have a criticism of anything that the Labor Government does. What my government does is act in an orderly, coherent way. And we were very clear for some period of time that Iran could not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. We called for Iran to come to the table to ensure that the United States wouldn't have to take the action which they did. The action that they took, we made clear that we supported action that would ensure that Iran couldn't gain that nuclear weapon.
GILBERT: President Trump did give advance notice to Keir Starmer, not to you. He left the G7, didn't give you a heads up. Are we the forgotten ally at the moment?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. I met with President Trump's key economic advisers on the sidelines of the G7. The G7 meeting wasn't just the United States. I had meetings with the partners, all of the G7 partners, as well as with the new President of Korea, Prime Minister Modi of India. They also, of course, because President Trump took the understandable decision to leave that meeting.
GILBERT: It gets easier, though, when you make the personal connection. You've done it before with other leaders. You must be keen to get that first, one on one.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh look, we have agreed –
GILBERT: Then you can get that personal relationship.
PRIME MINISTER: We have agreed that we will have a meeting and that will take place at a time that's convenient for both of us. That will be a good thing.
GILBERT: Should you have gone to NATO, given he wants to meet with the Indo-Pacific allies?
PRIME MINISTER: They're not there, Kieran. The President of Korea is not there. The Prime Minister of Japan is not there. In terms of the IP4, three of the four leaders aren't there. That was a part of the decision making process that we made. NATO is about NATO. It's about all of the countries that are a part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Of course it is appropriate that the Defence Minister attend the meeting. The Defence Minister attended the meeting last year. I’ve been to the United States -
GILBERT: If he meets with Trump, doesn't it show that you could have also got that face time?
PRIME MINISTER: I've been to the United States on five separate occasions, Kieran, as Prime Minister. And I do note that the same people who constantly say I should do more international travel, every time I do, are critical of it as well.
GILBERT: Now, the legality question around it. Do you find it a bit rich that the Iranians have complained about the strikes when there have been state sponsors of terrorism for so many years?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Iranians, of course, have played a role with Hezbollah, with Hamas, with the Houthis. They have been a very destructive force in the region. What we want to see is regional peace and security. We want to see a solution to, as John Howard said all those years ago, there is a need to resolve the Palestinian question. We want to see the right of Israelis to live in secure borders in Israel. We also want to see the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people fulfilled. And we want to see peace and security in the region. It has been a source of global instability for a long period of time.
GILBERT: So, you defend Israel, their right to strike Iran recently as well. I know we've got the ceasefire, but you've backed the US. Do you also back the Israeli approach?
PRIME MINISTER: We support Israel's right to defend itself. What we say, we haven't been uncritical of Israel where we believe that the actions have not been consistent. We, for example, continue to call for support for aid to go into Gaza at the same time, of course, as we call for the hostages to be released.
GILBERT: I know you've got a busy afternoon. Just a couple of important ones. You've said that keeping Australians safe in the region is your top priority. First of all, let's start in the region and then I want to ask you about the terror alert here. In the region, what is being done to get people out of the zone? I know the ceasefire has been agreed to, but obviously it remains a precarious situation.
PRIME MINISTER: In the region there are 3000 Australian citizens wish to leave Iran safely and there are around about 1000 people, Australian citizens, who wish to leave Israel. It has been made more difficult by what has occurred. There was a scheduled flight out of Israel that wasn't able to be fulfilled because of the security situation. What we hope is that a more secure position, a ceasefire, will ensure that people don't feel the need to get to safety. In addition to that, there's been major disruption of commercial airlines because of what has happened in Qatar. But also disruption to international aviation, including not just the Middle Eastern hubs, but also Qantas has been impacted by this as well. So we say to people, log on to Smart Traveller, onto the Australian site, to make sure, safety, of course, is the number one priority. So airlines, quite rightly, are taking a precautionary approach.
GILBERT: And the national terror threat level, is that under review? Given we hear this talk about sleeper cells in the US. Is this something you're briefed on?
PRIME MINISTER: It is constantly monitored, but there's been no change in the national security alert. We continue to have our national security agencies to monitor the situation.
GILBERT: And is it something where you’d reconsider as well, just finally, the 3.5 per cent that NATO is talking about - defence spending? Do we have to rethink our approach on defence given how volatile the world is?
PRIME MINISTER: Our approach, Kieran, is very clear, which is we will ensure that Australia has the capability that we need. What we won't do is -
GILBERT: If it’s 3.5 then you get to -
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we won't do is do something that the Coalition gave an example of, the alternative approach, during the campaign. Announcing in excess of $20 billion additional spending. Couldn't say where the money was coming from or what it was for. What we've done is provide for additional investment, some $57 billion of additional investment over the medium term. With, in addition to $10 billion of additional investment over the forward estimates. In addition to that, of course, we're continuing to invest in our relationships. So investing in our capability, investing in our relationships, prioritising our national security.
GILBERT: Thanks for your time, Prime Minister.