Former Foreign Minister announces her retirement
Former Foreign Minister Marise Payne is retiring from the Parliament after almost three decades in federal politics. Leader of the Opposition in the senate Simon Birmingham has worked alongside Marise Payne for nearly 20 years.
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00:00 I think Maurice will be remembered on two scores.
00:04 One is somebody who broke through the glass ceiling.
00:07 She will leave the Senate as the longest serving woman in the history of the Australian Senate,
00:12 the first woman to have ever been appointed as Australia's Minister for Defence, and also,
00:17 of course, the first to be both Minister for Defence and Minister for Foreign Affairs,
00:22 and the only to date to hold both of those portfolios.
00:25 So it really is a notable score of achievements there.
00:29 But really importantly, it's what Maurice has done with those roles as well.
00:34 And in the foreign policy space, her leadership of the Pacific Step Up, seeing the opening
00:39 of six new embassies or high commissions across Pacific Island nations, the establishment
00:45 of the new infrastructure financing facility for the Pacific, of new climate financing
00:50 models, was really integral alongside the work to take the Quad to a new leader, to
00:58 a new level, I should say, the first ever ministerial meetings of the Quad, followed
01:02 by the first ever leader level meetings of the Quad.
01:05 Big, big achievements and development of AUKUS.
01:09 So Maurice, you can see, is well regarded not just in Australia, but internationally
01:14 as demonstrated by the US recently asking Maurice to act as the ship's sponsor for the
01:20 USS Canberra, which was the first ship they ever commissioned outside of the US.
01:25 And so it's a demonstration of the high regard she has held in internationally.
01:30 Do you think now is the right time for her to go?
01:32 Would you have liked to have seen her stay on longer?
01:37 Maurice Payne is a sharp intellect, is very thoughtful and considered in her approach.
01:43 It brings to politics a calmness, a consideration and a diligence that is important amidst people.
01:50 And I've got no doubt that she could continue to give and to contribute.
01:54 But I also understand that having reached the point where she's the longest serving
01:59 member of the Senate at present, as well as being the longest serving woman in history,
02:03 that at some stage there's a time to go and do other things.
02:05 And particularly when in Maurice's case, she's had those huge and challenging portfolios
02:10 that she delivered in for Australia.
02:13 There have been rumblings for some time that Senator Maurice Payne would be leaving Parliament.
02:18 That now has been confirmed today.
02:20 Scott Morrison, the former Prime Minister, has also been talked about as someone that
02:24 would leave before the next election.
02:26 Have you heard anything about his intentions, what he plans to do?
02:29 No, Scott continues to work as the member for Cook to make a contribution there in the
02:36 Parliament.
02:37 He has a unique place in the Parliament as a former Prime Minister, but it's not unprecedented
02:41 for former Prime Ministers to be there and to represent their constituency.
02:46 And I think as a former Prime Minister, he has earned and deserves the opportunity to
02:52 decide his own timing in terms of when he moves on to the next stage of his life.
02:57 Speaking of Scott Morrison, he has warned that his successor, Anthony Albanese, should
03:02 not rush to Beijing later this year.
03:04 Do you agree with his position?
03:07 Well, Prime Minister Albanese has made the decision that he's indicated to accept the
03:12 invitation from China.
03:14 Is that a good thing?
03:15 That depends on the outcomes that his visit achieves.
03:19 And Mr Albanese presumably has made that decision believing that a visit will achieve outcomes
03:25 and there are many points of dispute still caused by China's actions against Australia.
03:32 The continued detention, unfairly, of Australians, the continued application of various trade
03:38 sanctions against Australia, as well as a number of other important but less targeted
03:44 concerns we would have in areas of human rights, in areas of military build-up in the region
03:49 and respect for international rules and norms.
03:52 I would expect all of these things to be raised by Prime Minister Albanese in his visit.
03:57 But crucially for Australia, any visit he undertakes needs to have outcomes and particularly
04:02 outcomes in seeing the continued ending of attempted coercive action against Australia
04:09 in the trade policy space by China, ending those wine tariffs, ending other trade sanctions
04:14 against Australia, honouring the terms of the free trade agreement that China voluntarily
04:18 entered into and making real progress in terms of fairer treatment for those detained Australians.
04:24 And that's what this trip will be measured against.
04:27 Prime Minister Albanese needs to be cautious to ensure that it is not a trip that allows
04:33 it to be used as any type of propaganda exercise.
04:37 He needs to make sure there is less of the ceremonial and much more of the working nature
04:42 because it will be judged on the outcomes that are achieved.
04:46 So it sounds like you're cautiously supportive of Mr Albanese going, so therefore is it sort
04:51 of unhelpful of Mr Morrison to put forward his views at a time when Australia really
04:56 is trying to strengthen it and improve the relationship it has with China?
05:02 Well, Scott, like any member of the Liberal and National Party, Party Room is free and
05:07 indeed encouraged to use the platform of our Party Room to express their opinions.
05:12 And I think, importantly, the remarks that have been attributed to him are not inconsistent
05:19 with the point I just made, which is that Prime Minister Albanese needs to be very careful
05:24 to ensure that any trip he undertakes is not used for propaganda-type purposes, does not
05:32 enable China itself to claim a victory, but instead achieves working, practical outcomes
05:38 for Australia.
05:40 And those particular outcomes need to see further removal of the coercive trade sanctions
05:45 China has applied on Australia and meaningful progress for the unfairly detained Australian
05:52 citizens who are in China at present.
05:54 So given what you've said then, would you rather maybe see the release of Chang Lei
05:57 before Mr Albanese went to China?
06:01 Well I would like to see the release of Chang Lei and Dr Yang Hengjun as soon as possible.
06:06 Would that be a stipulation on whether Mr Albanese goes or not?
06:11 There is always a question here and it's one that in terms of the briefings and analysis
06:16 and work that happens within government, I am not necessarily privy to, but a judgment
06:21 there as to whether the visit will speed up the outcome or whether you should make the
06:27 visit conditional upon the outcome occurring beforehand.
06:31 Now Prime Minister Albanese has obviously leant towards the former of those that he
06:35 thinks visiting presumably will speed up those outcomes.
06:39 He needs to be making sure his ministers, all aspects of the Australian government need
06:44 to be making sure they get firm commitments in terms of real meaningful progress so that
06:49 this visit actually has genuine outcomes to Australia's benefit, including for those detained
06:55 Australians, not just something that can be used as a propaganda tool in any way.
07:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]