00:01U.S. President Donald Trump said other countries will be helping with this blockade.
00:06The question is exactly which countries and the Prime Minister here in Australia has said
00:10that no formal request has come from the U.S. and he doesn't expect there to be a request.
00:17Mr Albanese describing the decision made overnight by the U.S. President as a unilateral decision
00:23and instead Anthony Albanese was wanting to focus on what the Australian government has
00:27provided in terms of support and that's a surveillance aircraft in the UAE.
00:33It's been there for four weeks now and the expectation is that it will be there for at least another
00:37month or so.
00:39On reflecting on the latest news coming out of the U.S., Mr Albanese used the similar lines
00:45that the government has been using over recent weeks calling for a de-escalation and an opening
00:51of the strait so that ships can move freely.
00:54The other point as well, though, he said today he described the peace talks that didn't
00:59go successfully on the weekend as disappointing that they didn't reach some level of agreement.
01:04Now, a question remains, if Australia was to be asked formally to join some sort of blockade
01:10that the U.S. is proposing, could or would we help?
01:13The Chief of Navy, Mark Hammond, was asked about this today.
01:17He's also just been announced as the new Chief of the Defence Force, but he was asked specifically
01:21what Australia could provide if we were to be formally asked.
01:26We've got ten surface combatants right now, eight of them are at sea today.
01:30The Navy is as ready as it ever has been and they are fitted with one of the most advanced
01:35radars in the world, CEA radar and some of the most advanced missile and point defence systems
01:40in the world.
01:41Are they capable of performing the mission, as Admiral Johnson said last week?
01:44Absolutely.
01:45The question of a contribution is one for consideration by the Australian government.
01:50Should they receive a request?
01:51And there's been no such request as yet.
01:53Now, Steph, as we mentioned earlier, the Prime Minister jetting off again this week to look
01:58at shoring up Australia's oil supply.
02:01Yeah, he's heading off to Brunei and Malaysia to give you an idea of why he's going to these
02:06two countries.
02:07Brunei, Australia relies on about 9% of its diesel supply from there as well as fertiliser.
02:13For Malaysia, they're our third largest source of refined fuel and they also provide fertiliser
02:18to Australia.
02:19Now, we all know that fuel is essential, we all do rely on it, but fertiliser too is incredibly
02:24important, especially at the moment given farmers are starting to sow their winter crops.
02:29So, these two visits come off the back of the Prime Minister going to Singapore last week
02:34to also shore up supply.
02:36There was no new deal announced last week with Singapore.
02:39Singapore, it was simply a recommitment to continue the flow of fuel between the countries
02:45from Australia's point of view, exporting gas and from overseas, the expectation fuel is
02:50still sent to Australia.
02:52Mr Albanese said these meetings that he'll be having in both Brunei and Malaysia couldn't
02:58come at a better time.
03:00The trip this week will be very significant and the impacts that are happening on a day-to-day
03:12basis with announcements just reinforce the fact that we are living in very uncertain times.
03:20And when you have that, what you have to do is to act with certainty.
03:25What we are acting with certainty is to maximise Australia's opportunities to secure supply.
03:32And Jo, these talks, the Prime Minister wouldn't say whether it's about simply securing the current
03:37supply levels or whether it's about trying to get additional supply from these countries.
03:43The general gist is this is about communication and coordination during a very uncertain time
03:48when no country knows how this war in the Middle East will continue to unfold.
03:53happen.
03:55That's correct.
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