Thanks for joining me. Along with all Australians, I was shocked by the terrible scenes at former President Trump’s campaign event in Pennsylvania. I’m relieved by the news that the former president is safe and doing fine, and I wish him and his family well. I applaud the swift work of US security agencies. I’m also saddened by reports that a member of the audience has lost their life and other attendees have been injured. And I send my condolences on behalf of Australia to their loved ones in this time of grief. Let us be clear, the people at this event, the candidate, the crowd, the free press covering it, were all participating in the democratic process. In Australia, as in the United States, the essence and the purpose of our democracies is that we can express our views, debate our disagreements, and resolve our differences peacefully. We do so with respect for each other and in the spirit of a shared love of our country. Any act of violence is an affront to that and must be condemned unequivocally. This was an inexcusable attack on the democratic values that Australians and Americans share and the freedom that we treasure. These values are ones that unite our two countries. It’s the basis of our alliance is those shared values between our peoples as great democratic nations. And all Australians stand with our friends in the United States at this difficult time. Happy to take a couple of questions.
JOURNALIST: You’ve spoken recently about the increased political vandalism and whether that would increase to violence. Do the actions of today increase your concern and will there be any changes to security here?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the security agencies will examine these events. There’s a great deal of cooperation as Five Eyes partners between Australia and the United States, and I’m sure that there will be lessons to be learnt. I say again though, we must lower temperature of debate. There is nothing to be served by some of the escalation of rhetoric that we see in some of our political debate, political discourse in the democratic world. It’s a phenomenon that’s not unique to the United States. And I just say we should be able to have political discussion and disagreement, do it respectfully, and that is really important.
JOURNALIST: Have you spoken to Ambassador Rudd? Have you been briefed by Ambassador Rudd? What insights has he shared with you or what insights, maybe, do you have or reflections on the impact of this on the race?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, I have spoken to Ambassador Rudd this morning. He has conveyed his thoughts and concern very directly to the newly appointed chair of the Republican ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Committee. He’s received a response of appreciation for Australia’s concern. Ambassador Rudd is due to attend the Republican ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Convention. He’ll attend both conventions as is appropriate. And Ambassador Rudd has done a rather extraordinary job of becoming known to all of the significant players in the United States, which is why he was able to have that contact immediately – and that is appropriate. I say, with regard to political issues, this isn’t a day for politics. This is a day to unite, to express our concern regardless of one’s political views. There is no place for the events that we saw today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, understandably, the US will be very internally focused in the wake of this incident. Do you have any insight or understanding as to how this might affect work already underway between Australia and the US? Is there going to be any impact in any of the areas where you cooperate?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we cooperate with each other on a day by day basis. Our security agencies, of course, are linked through the Five Eyes. Our defence forces cooperate. And the economic relationship that we have as well is very significant. This is a relationship not just between leaders, but between peoples. And today, that is why Australians thoughts will go to our American friends.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you think this is a result of the hyperpolarization that we are seeing in the US? And you said it’s not unique to just the United States. Are you worried about that flowing on in Australia as well?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve said very clearly that I’m concerned, not related to this incident. I’ve been talking for a long period of time about people having conflict fatigue in this country, about being able to have political discourse which is respectful. I think that that’s the essence of democracy. There’s a lot of shouting going on. You know, a point is not made more significant by it being done in capital letters. Social media is clearly having an impact as well. And, you know, there’s still much that we don’t know about the incident. Can I say this, and there’s nothing to be gained from speculating. We don’t know motives, all of these issues. So I do urge, one of the things I urge everyone to do is to exercise caution when reading unverified reports of the events and to seek out credible news sources. We all need to be on guard against those seeking to use misinformation to create division. And this is a time for unity, it’s a time for calm, it’s a time for allowing the authorities in the United States to do their jobs.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, a few weeks ago experts warned a parliamentary committee into right wing extremism movements that election related violence in the US could have implications here in Australia. What exactly is your government doing to address that issue? And are you confident in the protocols that are in place for MP safety, given the heightened threats?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we continue to monitor these issues. I’ve expressed my concern that people who just dismiss actions outside electorate offices, these things can escalate, which is why they need to be called out unequivocally, and opposed. The sort of incidents that we’ve seen outside some electorate offices are inappropriate. People can express their views democratically, whether that be in favour of issues or against issues. We have, peaceful demonstrations are fine. Some of the incidents that we’ve seen certainly are not. They’ve crossed the line.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, I just want to follow on from MP safety. I understand that it’s a developing situation and security agencies are still talking to each other, but has the AFP, or will the AFP reach out to MP’s? Will extra security be offered in the wake of this?
PRIME MINISTER: The AFP do their job, and one of the ways that they do their job is not by me speculating out here, but by putting in place appropriate measures.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what do you think it will do to our democracy if it is that politicians need to be more removed from the public and unable to move about?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think that would be a tragedy if that occurred. I just had three days in Queensland, I went to Mount Coot-Tha in Brisbane, will be familiar to, certainly the Queenslanders. It’s essentially a lookout over that great city of Brisbane. I don’t have controlled environments. I did that, I walked through the city of Brisbane to and from appointments. On Friday, I had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Prime Minister Teo. I yesterday had a press conference in the Botanic Gardens. I walked to the Botanic Gardens, I walked through the Botanic Gardens. I engaged with people who are exercising, people who just turned up there. I walk through supermarkets and shopping centres regularly, with Ali France we went to a local coffee shop and an area, shopping area precinct in the electorate of Dickson the other morning. And, as I said, in Ryan I did at Mount Coot-Tha. In Forde we went to a TAFE and we mixed with a whole range of students and people in the community in Loganlea – that’s really important. It’s really important that people be able to do that. One of the things that I find about our great democracy is the great privilege that it is of being able to chat with people who aren’t expecting to see you. You get a different level of feedback because it’s very real. It’s not staged for the cameras, you get to engage, and here in this city of Canberra people are a bit more relaxed, I’ve got to say. In Canberra, they expect to see the PM. People normally say hello to Toto before they say hello to me here. And that’s a good thing that people can do that. You know, I go and get, buy the dog food and stuff here at various Woolies around Woden or Dickson. I know where they all are. It’s a good thing that you do that. I think it’s a great thing. You don’t see, you know, the President of the United States, I’m sure, doesn’t go to the local shopping centre. I think it’s a good thing that here in Australia I can. It’s a good thing that I’m able to walk around and I don’t want to see that diminished. I don’t want to see that diminished. There’s a report today, you know, I went to see Radio Birdman last weekend at Sydney Uni, a concert in the middle of, in the middle of people. People say hi. I obviously have security with me at all times and that’s just part of the job. But that’s a good thing that people can see that. And I sincerely hope that in Australia that can continue. Thank you very much, have a great weekend.
