Television interview - ABC News Breakfast

JAMES GLENDAY, HOST: Now we can bring in the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, who joins us now from Canberra. Prime Minister, welcome back to our program.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good to be with you, James.

GLENDAY: Donald Trump says he is now planning a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. We understand that's meant to take place from midnight our time tonight. Do you wake up in the morning at the moment and pick up your phone and think, goodness me, what is the President up to now?

PRIME MINISTER: No, I do wake up in the morning and there's usually some change in the circumstances in the Middle East. And what I want to see is to wake up in the morning and see that peace has broken out, on a permanent basis, that we have de-escalation, that we have an end to civilian loss of life, we have an end to loss of civilian infrastructure, and that importantly, the Strait of Hormuz is about to be open with freedom of navigation. That's what I want to see, and that's what Australians want to see. And that's what global citizens want to see as well, because this global conflict on the other side of the world is having an impact here, and it's having an impact right around the world.

GLENDAY: Mr Trump says a lot of things, of course, but he also said this morning that numerous countries are going to help with this blockade. Has Australia been asked to help?

PRIME MINISTER: We haven't been asked to help. What we have done is continue to provide support. I've extended the period of service of our Wedgetail aircraft in the Middle East that's providing defensive support, particularly to the UAE and to Gulf countries that aren't participants in the war, but have been victims of it as a result of Iran's unprovoked attacks. And of course, there are many Australian citizens, of course, particularly in the UAE, in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, around about 20,000. And so we have very much an interest in providing that defensive support for our friends there, and that's what we were asked to do by the UAE, and that is what we have done.

GLENDAY: Do you think a blockade is going to achieve anything at all?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I want to see the resumption of peace talks. We want to see an end to this conflict. It's having a devastating impact on the global economy, and the longer it goes, the bigger the impact will be, and the longer the tail will be as well. And so we want to see an end to the conflict. We've made that very clear for some time.

GLENDAY: You're travelling overseas again to try to secure our fuel supply. If this blockade drags on, if these talks don't resume swiftly, are you worried that in our region it might become every country for itself with certain countries holding back their natural resources, their oil, their gas, things like that?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've had an agreement from Singapore that that two-way trade will continue to flow between Australia and Singapore. Singapore provides about 25 per cent of our refined fuel. We provide about 32 per cent of LNG needs for Singapore. Brunei is an important partner as well. They provide about 9 per cent of our diesel. They're also a major supplier of fertiliser, which is an issue as well, of course, as a result of this conflict. And Malaysia is the third-biggest supplier of fuel to Australia. So, these are important countries. I'll be meeting with the Sultan of Brunei and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia. I have very good relations with both of them, and we have good country-to-country relations. The investment, frankly, that we have made in building up our relationships with ASEAN countries over the last four years, this is why you engage with partners in our region. And one of the themes of this is that people recognise that we've got to work together at this difficult time.

GLENDAY: Before we let you go, Prime Minister, we've been asking our viewers this morning about different ways they've been saving fuel. A lot of different views on this. A few, however, have been questioning the point of your new $20 million advertising campaign that's rolling out, saying that the tips in it are pretty much a statement of the bleeding obvious. Is it a good use of taxpayers' money? Why have you done this?

PRIME MINISTER: It certainly is. It's pointing out our four-point plan. We're at Level Two at the moment, that's been worked out with the states and territories, that's keeping the economy going, giving people public information. I certainly spoke to someone last night who, just getting out and about here in Canberra, who wasn't aware, for example, that taking the roof racks off your car will reduce the weight and reduce the fuel that you use. That's good for saving fuel. Guess what? Saves money as well. That's something they hadn't thought through. So, these practical measures, every little bit does count and does make a difference. And this campaign is a modest campaign, but it's important as well that we get that direct information to people about the four levels that we're engaged with. The truth is that one of the things that happened at the beginning of this conflict was there was, in some cases, a more than doubling of demand when it wasn't necessary. So, that shows that there was misinformation out there. People filling up jerry cans and putting them in the back of utes and filling up cars. That was behaviour that not only didn't help the situation, it also could be quite dangerous to fill up your garage. It's a bit different filling up your garage with fuel as opposed to filling it up with toilet paper that we saw happen during the COVID pandemic. So, this practical information is really important for people.

GLENDAY: Prime Minister, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, James. Have a great day.