Doorstop Interview – RMIT Hanoi, Vietnam
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: I’m very pleased to be here on my first official visit to Vietnam as Australia’s Prime Minister, to mark the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relationship. We are strategic partners and we’ve been enduring friends over that 50 years. And nothing embodies that more than this very structure here, a structure that beneath it is about people. The provision of education services from the RMIT in Vietnam has been in place now for more than two decades. I came to RMIT here in Hanoi in 2007 on my last visit. It was in a different place then. And this new, magnificent building reflects the extraordinary growth that has occurred. Some 13,000 students here at RMIT throughout Vietnam. And today’s announcement of a $250 million additional investment says a lot about the confidence that RMIT has in Vietnam, and in providing services which make a difference, produce income for great Australian universities but also, of course, make a contribution to the development of Vietnam. Since then, of course, it has been joined by other universities, including the University of Western Sydney that today is announcing Whitlam scholarships for people from Vietnam to be able to come to Australia and study, making a difference for them as well going forward.
Vietnam’s economic dynamism is quite remarkable. Economic growth is due to grow at some 6 per cent this year. But over such a long period of time, you’ve had consistently high economic growth, bringing higher living standards here in Vietnam. In my first visit to Vietnam in 1986, everyone was on a bicycle. When I came back ten years later, everyone was on a motorbike. Ten years after that, everyone was driving around in cars. And today, we have traffic congestion and we have sustainable cities being studied here at RMIT to deal with sustainable economic development in cities like Hanoi. We have logistics issues being dealt with in cities like Haiphong, which I visited back in 1986. And of course, RMIT have a presence here, but also in Ho Chi Minh City in the south. Our two-way trade grew by some 40 per cent last financial year. And one of the things that Australia has to do is we have to diversify our economic and trading relationships. In a little while, we’ll go and visit somewhere using Australian barley and wheat. That growth was quite extraordinary. Barley exports grew to Vietnam by some 75 per cent since 2020, and Vietnam is one of the top ten consumers of beer in the world. A little fun fact for Kieran Gilbert there. And with that growth, just about all of the barley that goes into that product is from Australia. We want to cooperate, as well, on climate and energy. It presents great opportunities for both our countries going forward. Australia is committed to becoming a renewable energy superpower and is supporting our regional partners in their clean energy transitions. We’re contributing a further $105 million through projects that support Vietnam’s sustainable economic growth, stimulate private investment in clean energy infrastructure, and help reform critical minerals legislation. On the global stage, we share a common interest in a region that is stable, that is prosperous, and that is resilient. And we’re pleased to work with Vietnam, particularly through ASEAN, and we share a commitment to maintaining the global rules and norms that can ensure that stability in the region going forward.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, with Vietnam’s foreign policy, there’s obviously a lot of complexity. It’s got an enormous powerful neighbour to the north, disputed claims in the South China Sea. Is there anything that we can learn from how China balances those difficulties in their relations with China [sic]? And did you have any conversation with the Chinese Defence Minister in Singapore over dinner?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the first point, of course, we are here and one of the things that we do is to listen to the leadership of Vietnam and to engage with them. And tomorrow, I have meetings with all of the leadership here in Vietnam and I look forward to that. I previously have had discussions with the Prime Minister of Vietnam, with the President of Vietnam as well. And we participate, indeed, Vietnam was even there at the King’s Coronation there at Buckingham Palace, and we had a discussion there. We benefit from having those person to person relationships, and getting an understanding. And Vietnam, of course, shares a border with China to its north. We will have discussions, no doubt, we’ll touch on that relationship. We’ll touch as well on, we and Vietnam share a view on the South China Sea, and that the Convention on the Law of the Sea needs to be upheld and maintained. That we need to respect nations’ sovereignty in the region and indeed throughout the world, and we share that view. It’s a view and an improvement in a relationship that has occurred across government, it must be said. And the former government did work as well here in Vietnam to build on the relationship. And this is a bipartisan position that we have. With regard to last night, I shared a table that was one of the more interesting tables that I’ve had over dinner in my life, it’s fair to say, with the United States Defence Secretary, and I, of course, have got to know him rather well over the years. The UK Minister for Defence, China’s Minister for Defence, Cambodia’s Minister for Defence. Importantly as well, Indonesia’s Minister for Defence, as well as the head of BAE who, of course, I visited BAE there in Barrow during the Coronation as well, and we were able to have a discussion as well. And of course, our host, the Acting Prime Minister, was a very gracious host. I don’t share private conversations, it’s one of the ways that I deal diplomatically. But I can say that it was very constructive dialogue. We spent a couple of hours together and it’s always a positive thing when you have dialogue. It was a theme of my speech last night. Last night’s speech was a very considered speech. We put a lot of thought into the opportunity that I was given, at the most significant defence and security conference that’s held in this region, and I think arguably anywhere in the world. There were 37, I’m told, defence ministers there last night, including, of course, from places like Germany and the Netherlands and other European countries, from Middle Eastern countries, as well as countries in our region, in North America, Canada, Mexico and in addition to that, of course, the Ukrainian Defence Minister was there. So it was an opportunity to put Australia’s worldview, our desire for peace and security and stability in our region and throughout the world.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just following on from that. What does Australia want to get out of Defence Minister Richard Marles’ meeting this afternoon with the Chinese Defence Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: The meeting itself is positive. The meeting itself – from dialogue and engagement comes understanding. And we, of course, have said that we want to cooperate with China wherever we can, and it’s positive that that meeting is taking place today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, in your speech last night, to use your words, you made it crystal clear that any action over the Taiwan Strait or the South China Sea, that risk would far outweigh any reward. Have you or do you expect any pushback over those remarks? I suppose this was some of your sharpest comments on the issue.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Australia supports the status quo. It’s something that I said in opposition as Labor Leader. I have the same position as Labor Prime Minister. Australia supports the status quo. There should be no unilateral action which attempts to change that status quo. And that is our view. That is very much in the interests of peace and security and stability in the region.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, in terms of dialogue, you’ve encouraged dialogue in your speech last night, you welcomed the United States’ attempt to restart dialogue with China. Is Australia in a good enough position, I guess, diplomatically with China, that we can privately or publicly continue to encourage that restarting of the conversation there? Could Australia almost act as the middleman in terms of restarting those negotiations?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think that Australia can play a very constructive role in international affairs. More than one in five jobs in Australia is dependent upon international trade. We see the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The idea that we can be isolated from the world because we’re an island continent has been disproved time and time again, whether it’s a global pandemic, a potential cyber event or, indeed, the conflict that we see of Russia in Ukraine, has had a direct impact on Australians, because of the global inflation that it’s caused, global energy prices rising, and we’re not immune to that. So Australia has an interest in engaging. I think we are a trusted nation. We’re a nation that is straightforward. And when I deal with my international counterparts, I give straight talking. I talk, I don’t say one thing in public and something different in private. And I can also have private conversations that stay private. You won’t ever see a text message from me in the paper or in the news. That’s important. It’s important that it be trusted.
JOURNALIST: PM, speaking of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Defence Minister says that there’s, after talks with Richard Marles, that there’s going to be a package, fresh package of support coming next month. Why are we making them wait so long, they’re in desperate need?
PRIME MINISTER: We have been the largest non-NATO contributor to give support to Ukraine in its struggle to defend its national sovereignty and to go forward. One of the arguments there is whether NATO appliers like Sweden have contributed more. But the truth is, we have been, as a proportion of where we’re at, we have been substantial contributors. We continue to deliver our Bushmasters. When you make an announcement, it’s not a media release that assists people. It’s actually delivery on the ground. So you can do preparations and do the work to make sure that what we are committing to can be delivered. But we’ve delivered, not just military support in terms of assets like Bushmasters and other support, we’ve provided other technical support as well. And of course, Australians are in the United Kingdom at the moment assisting to train Ukrainian soldiers to make a difference. I have said consistently, we’ll continue to monitor the situation and to deliver what we can, when we can, and that is what we are doing. In consultation, I had a discussion myself with President Zelenskyy, of course, on the sidelines of the G7 meeting, just a couple of weeks ago.
JOURNALIST: PM, will you raise in your, sticking with Ukraine, will you raise in your discussion with Vietnam’s leadership tomorrow about Vietnam sort of abstaining on UN votes and being silent in its condemnation of Russia, and will you also raise human rights concerns including the two Australians detained in Vietnam?
PRIME MINISTER: Firstly, can I say that Australia always raises issues of human rights for Australian citizens, and we raise them appropriately and diplomatically in order to try to secure a positive result for Australian citizens. With regard to Vietnam’s position on Ukraine and other international issues, of course, Vietnam is a sovereign nation. One of the things that Australia does is respect that sovereignty and the rights of nations to determine their position. But we assert what our position is, and we assert why we take particular positions. And we regard the Russian invasion of Ukraine as illegal, as immoral, as an attack on international rules, and as an attack on national sovereignty. The implications are there for the whole world, and we pay tribute to President Zelenskyy and to the people of Ukraine on what they have done.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can I come back on the Ukraine questions. Can you confirm that there is going to be an additional assistance package that Australia will provide in July? Is the characterisation provided by Ukraine’s Defence Minister correct? And if it is correct, what’s in that package? Hawkeis, for example, further Bushmasters, can you give us an idea?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I can’t confirm. What I can confirm is that my government makes announcements when we make them, when they’re ready to be made, when the detail’s been worked out. My government is a considered, adult government. It’s the way that we deal with every single area of policy. So I can confirm that we make the announcements when they are ready, when they’ve been considered by all of our processes, including our Cabinet, because I lead a proper government that governs in an orderly way, and produces outcomes. Thanks very much.