E&OE….
Topics: Putin attending G20, Antarctica
MARK PARTON:
Greg Hunt is Federal Environment Minister, he joins the programme right now.
Morning Greg.
GREG HUNT:
And good morning Mark.
MARK PARTON:
A lot of discussion about the G20 and unfortunately a lot of it centres around one man – Vlad Putin.
GREG HUNT:
Well look obviously there are things that have happened which we a) disagree with and b) out rightly condemn. It’s overwhelmingly likely that MH17 was shot down by a Russian missile from rebels that either are at the very least trained and most probably supplied by Russian forces.
So we have taken a world leading view in condemning that and taking action on the ground. But I can tell you this. The Prime Minister will confront and deal with Vladimir Putin directly. He will probably be as blunt as any leader in the world and, unlike many others, he’s fearless on this front.
MARK PARTON:
So they way – and I know Julie Bishop has been running this line for some time – that indeed if Vladimir Putin wasn’t coming to the G20, he wouldn’t face the sort of grilling that he’s going to get.
GREG HUNT:
I will be as certain as I can be – that we have a Prime Minister in Tony Abbott who will be direct, clear, unflinching, flinty-eyed and as tough as anybody in the world would be, face-to-face, with somebody who purports to be one of the global strong men.
He will meet his match face-to-face with Tony Abbott who will make it clear as he’s done, not just on the phone, but through the UN Security Council. Completely unacceptable. We expect full cooperation and this is actually our chance and our nation’s Prime Minister’s chance to look the Russian President in the eye and say this is totally, absolutely unacceptable.
MARK PARTON:
I guess you’ve also go to consider the way that he runs these sort of issues on a local front in Russia. That if indeed he had been banned from appearing, he would have made hay out of that at home wouldn’t he? Because he revels in this ‘us against them’ mentality.
GREG HUNT:
Well there is an old historic siege mentality which is used from time to time within the Russian context. That is a fact of international relations and domestic politics. What we have here is the opportunity on the world stage for world leaders directly, personally and in particular the Australian leader, to confront the Russian President.
MARK PARTON:
Alright, let’s move from Russia to Antarctica and I need you to fill us in on what’s planned as far as our scientific and research operation in Antarctica. Because there are some big things on the agenda.
GREG HUNT:
Absolutely. So on Friday in Hobart, we released the 20 Year Antarctic Strategic Review and Plan. This was developed by Tony Press who was a former very distinguished head of the Australian Antarctic Division and the central point is that Australia needs to be engaged for the long-term and the central response is – we are.
The reason is we have claim to 42% of the Antarctic’s territory. For Australia, there are three big things that matter. One, there’s a strategic point here that if Antarctica is a peaceful area, if the Southern Ocean is a peaceful area, that has a profound impact on our national stability…
MARK PARTON:
Yep.
GREG HUNT:
On what we need to expend on our defence forces, what we can therefore spend elsewhere by not having to focus on a potential area of conflict – which thankfully is not. And so a long-term peaceful sub-Antarctic set of waters, an Antarctic continent which isn’t in contest is totally in our national interest.
Second thing here is the big vision of Hobart being the economic and logistics gateway for scientific research on Antarctica. We’re working with countries such as China to try to build that base. And the third is the science itself and we’ve just committed almost half a billion dollars to a new icebreaker and a new Bureau of Meteorology supercomputer. Two profoundly significant pieces of national infrastructure. The icebreaker is the heart of being able to carry out the science and research and logistics in Antarctica.
MARK PARTON:
How many people do we have in Antarctica now? Australia?
GREG HUNT:
So all up in the Antarctic Division we have some 400 people. Those numbers ebb and flow and they move in and out of the Antarctic base, or bases. We have three bases – Mawson, Davis and Casey. And so…
MARK PARTON:
Ok, ok. So if…
GREG HUNT:
…the numbers will (indistinct) from the ice. Obviously much less over winter and more over the summer period.
MARK PARTON:
If you had to summarise in one sentence what’s their main aim, what it is that they’re achieving, how would you do it?
GREG HUNT:
It’s to understand the health of the Antarctic area, the history of the Antarctic area and the enormous opportunities for the world and Australia in understanding the way that the Antarctic and the Antarctic waters operate as a part of the global environment.
MARK PARTON:
Alright. Well, look I know there is much applause from the announcements made on Friday and so let’s hope we can unlock some secrets out of the great Southern Ocean and further south in the next few years.
Greg, we’re out of time, but thanks for coming on this morning.
GREG HUNT:
Cheers Mark.
(ENDS)