Topics: AUKUS; end of travel exemption requirement for outbound fully vaccinated Australians.

CATHY BORDER: That was the French President Emmanuel Macron there. Very strong words, Minister Karen Andrews. Your response?

KAREN ANDREWS: Well, it’s not unexpected, clearly, that the French would be disappointed and concerned that Australia wasn’t proceeding with the contract, but as the Prime Minister has said – and I absolutely support him – the decision that was made was in the best interests of Australia. My understanding is that it was communicated very clearly to France – and to the French President – that the current contract was not going to deliver the capability that we needed. Now, I wasn’t in the room, so I can’t tell you what those exact words were and what those discussions were, but my understanding is that it had been made very clear that we needed different capability to what was being delivered. I’m absolutely unapologetic about the decision that has been made for Australia to enter into a contract with a view to purchasing nuclear submarines, because that’s what we need.

CATHY BORDER: The French President though, has called our leader a liar. It’s a scathing assessment. What does that do for the PM’s integrity on the global stage at this crucial time with the meeting underway?

KAREN ANDREWS: Well, I think you need to put it into the perspective that obviously France is disappointed. The French President-

CATHY BORDER: It’s not often you hear a leader call another one a liar, is it?

KAREN ANDREWS: Look, it’s much stronger than you would anticipate. It is much stronger than I believe that I have heard before, but it has to be looked at in the context that the French President is defending the termination of a contract that has impacted on France, just like our Prime Minister is actually defending Australia’s right to determine what its capability is and what is needed for the future – and that, unfortunately, meant when the contract for the submarines through France was not delivering what we needed, and there were other opportunities available for us to buy the capability that we needed, the Prime Minister took the right decision.

CATHY BORDER: Did Cabinet know? Did you as a senior Cabinet Minister know about the deal before it was made public?

KAREN ANDREWS: There were discussions – I can’t and I won’t go into what the level of discussions were – but certainly the Prime Minister did brief the appropriate people within Cabinet and across Cabinet. This was not a decision that was taken lightly, nor was it a decision that was taken overnight.

CATHY BORDER: Does that include you? Were you one of the ministers that was told?

KAREN ANDREWS: Yes, I was.

CATHY BORDER: But not the broader Cabinet?

KAREN ANDREWS: There was a briefing to Cabinet so they were aware of what the issues were, and that is as far as I can go Cathy.

CATHY BORDER: So where do you think that leaves Australia on the world stage? Given we’ve got these crucial meetings; we’ve got Prince Charles; we’ve got these leaders all there; how do you read the room at the moment?

KAREN ANDREWS: Well I think that all of the leaders there would understand that their role is to defend their own nation. So, you are seeing the French President out there defending France; you’re seeing the Australian Prime Minister defending Australia’s right to determine what its capability needs are for the future. Other nations that are looking at that, may well be focused on what the intent of that meeting was – which was COP26 and to talk about climate change. So, I would think that’s where most of the people at that meeting would be focusing their attention.

CATHY BORDER: We will talk in a moment about our borders being reopened and overseas people coming here, but just further to this issue, how do you see our relationship with France at the moment and what do we do from here to repair things?

KAREN ANDREWS: The relationship clearly needs a lot of work to be done. I mean, we don’t want to be continuing to have a bad relationship – which is where things are at the moment with France. We do have a long history, and President Macron has acknowledged that history as well. He has also said that he will respect sovereign choices; all nations will actually do that. We now need to focus on areas of common interest and from my point of view what I’ll be doing is continue to look at ways that Australia can work with France from a Home Affairs perspective; either within our two nations; or in the Pacific region, where we do have a common interest. Clearly one of the areas where President Macron himself has been very engaged is counterterrorism, and he is a key part of the Christchurch Call to Action. Australia works with France and New Zealand on counterterrorism, and we can certainly do even more to strengthen that relationship. So, I will be focusing on looking for opportunities for us to rebuild and build up the relationship with France.

CATHY BORDER: Yeah, you accept it’s something you need to be proactive about?

KAREN ANDREWS: Yes – absolutely – and we were aware that was one of the things that we needed to proactively do, to make sure that France understood that we were very committed to working with them across a broad range of issues. So we will continue to do that; but – yes – obviously, France and the French President are disappointed at the moment and President Macron has made his views abundantly clear.

CATHY BORDER: “Abundantly” is the word. Let’s move on to the issue of our international borders – because today some Australians can finally be reunited with loved ones and the borders are reopening. Who can go, or arrive, and from where?

KAREN ANDREWS: Today is actually a great day, because it really is the start of us being able to clearly see that light at the end of the tunnel. So from today, fully vaccinated Australians are able to leave Australia without having to go through the process of seeking an exemption. We’re also seeing in New South Wales and Victoria, flights coming in from overseas, and where there are fully vaccinated passengers on board, there will be no quarantine for them when they’re here – if they’re fully vaccinated. That’s a big positive and that’s going a long way to opening up the states of New South Wales and Victoria. Of course, the other thing relates to parents of Australians – so Australian citizens and permanent residents – who also are fully vaccinated, being able to enter the country again without having to apply for an exemption. Now, they do need to be able to demonstrate that they do have that familial relationship with an Australian, but yes – this is an opportunity for us to actually see families being reunited again. It has been a long 18 months for so many people. So, it is now Australia constantly looking forward, not looking back. We are opening up.

CATHY BORDER: I know we’re being told to allow an extra four hours getting to the airport to go through the processes. Are you expecting a few hiccups along the way with this?

KAREN ANDREWS: There may well be and I think the best advice is for passengers who are leaving Australia that they do factor in a bit more time to go through the departure process – because what they’ll need to do is make sure that all the paperwork is ready; that they have not only their passports but they have proof – internationally accepted proof, which they can download – of their vaccination. They can download that from myGov and they should have done that long before when they got to the airport. But they just need to allow a bit more time. I was actually at Sydney and Melbourne airports on Friday, seeing the last of the preparations ready for the reopening today. I’m very confident that Border Force is well and truly ready. They have additional staff on hand at Sydney and Melbourne airports – and look if there are little hiccups along the way, as often happens with travel, there will be many people on hand to be able to resolve that as soon as possible.

CATHY BORDER: Minister, how many Australians are registered with authorities as wanting to come home?

KAREN ANDREWS: That figure actually varies, because people come on and off. It is in the tens of thousands, those people who have registered an interest to come home, but as I’ve said, people come on and off that list, so it’s not an accurate reflection of everyone who is waiting to come home from overseas. We’ve had hundreds of thousands of people come into the country even during the COVID pandemic. So for those people who are looking to come back home to Australia now, they have the opportunity; there are more flights; the quarantine arrangements are different now to what they were even a day or so ago in terms of not having to quarantine in some states and territories when they come into Australia. Of course, that’s very different across Australia, but New South Wales signalled first that it was ready to reopen, followed closely by Victoria.

CATHY BORDER: But not Queensland.

KAREN ANDREWS: Sadly – no – and as I am the member for a border electorate, it is really disappointing for me to even have to say that you can fly from Sydney to Los Angeles but you can’t travel from Tweed Heads to Coolangatta. It’s absurd.

CATHY BORDER: Minister, are you aware of this letter? Or I’m sure you are because of the Government keeping on top of things happening in the media. Senator Rennick – the Queensland LNP Senator – has written to the Prime Minister saying he will be withholding his vote from the Coalition Government until a few things are met, including a ‘fit and proper’ compensation scheme for victims of ‘vaccine adverse events’; that those who have ‘adverse events’ have the right to refuse a second vaccine shot; and that no person in the country should be forced to lose their job. What do you make of Senator Rennick’s stand?

KAREN ANDREWS: Well, Senator Rennick is obviously a Queensland LNP Senator. He is very well known for his outspoken views. But I do think that Gerard has a lot to offer to the various debates and discussions along the way. Obviously, we will be looking for his support as an elected LNP representative, but I would expect that Gerard will put his views very clearly and he understands the ways and means to do that. He’s put that to the Prime Minister. We’ll obviously continue to work with Gerard on issues as they arrive and he’ll continue to be a valued member of our team.

CATHY BORDER: Should a valued member – as you call him – be giving the PM an ultimatum like this?

KAREN ANDREWS: Look, giving an ultimatum is something that I generally would not do. I don’t generally think that that is the way to resolve any sort of issue, but that’s the way that Senator Rennick has chosen to proceed. I’m more of the consultative process view; that you need to work with people and resolve what the issues are; rather than go down the public path of issuing an ultimatum.

CATHY BORDER: There are a few maverick LNP members in Queensland causing a few hitches. I’m thinking of George Christensen as well. Is this a good look in the countdown to the next federal election?

KAREN ANDREWS: I don’t know that there’s a ‘one-size-fits-all’ of Representatives in Parliament and neither should there be. The Parliament should actually be reflective of the population. Now, there are people out there who are very supportive of a range of different views, so within the LNP you will see people with different views. You will see George Christensen; you will see Gerard Rennick out there; you’ll see Amanda Stoker; Paul Scarr out there from the Senate as well. They will be putting their views that are broadly in line with the principles of the people who have elected them. So, if I can speak about George Christiansen, he does speak on behalf of the people who live in Dawson, so around Mackay and north to the southern parts of-

CATHY BORDER: Sure, that’s a convenient way of describing it, but he’s also a member of your team who’s not holding ranks with what the team says.

KAREN ANDREWS: Look, broadly he’s within the views of our party. He’s gone public on a number of occasions – as have others, on matters that are particularly important to them. Look, voices aren’t stymied in the Liberal Party. In the Liberal National Party here in Queensland we do respect those divergent views, but we’ve all been elected as members of the party, not as Independents, and those are the views that we uphold.

CATHY BORDER: But that debate isn’t being kept within party room walls at the moment. It’s out there for everyone to see.

KAREN ANDREWS: Yes, and elected members are able to do that, and you will see that from time to time – you will see that even with Independent members of Parliament who have probably different views in some instances to perhaps the majority of people that have elected them, but they still need to make some decisions and they will make those in line with the principles on which they were elected.

CATHY BORDER: When are you expecting a federal election Minister?

KAREN ANDREWS: Definitely next year.

CATHY BORDER: I appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

KAREN ANDREWS: Take care.

[ENDS]