Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher

SALLY SARA, HOST: The ceasefire between Israel and Iran is holding for a second day with the US President flagging talks with Iran next week. It's good news for Australians trying to flee the region and could ease fears of a broader economic fallout. Katy Gallagher is the federal Finance Minister, and I spoke to her a short time ago. Firstly, if we check in on the Middle East, more Australians have been able to leave Israel with the help of the Australian Defence Force. What can you tell us?

SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: Well, obviously we've been planning for some time with all the uncertainty over in the Middle East about how to get Australians out with assisted travel. So, we've made sure that we've had assets ready to go in the region for those windows where airspace opens up. We've made sure that DFAT, who've been doing an incredible job to keep in touch with Australians in those areas to make sure that they're keeping Australians informed and engaged, and we'll continue to work on this. Obviously, we've got a lot of Australians who continue to want to come return home, and we'll continue doing what we need to do to make sure that they are supported and assisted on their way out.

SARA: Your former cabinet colleague, Ed Husic, said yesterday that Israel didn't have a licence to bomb Iran. In your view, did Israel have that licence? Was it legal?

GALLAGHER: Look, I haven't seen Ed's comments. Obviously, our position on the Middle East has been that we want a ceasefire. We want peace to return to that area. We want in relation to whether it is in Gaza or in Iran, dialogue to continue, countries to return to the table and seek consensus and diplomatic solutions on the way out of this conflict. It's complex, I don't pretend otherwise. Australia's a middle power, we've sought to influence where we can, but obviously we want, for the interest of the global peace, for this conflict to end.

SARA: Has the Federal Government sought advice on whether the Israeli strikes on Iran and the US strikes on Iran are legal under international law?

GALLAGHER: Look, that's really a matter for the Foreign Minister and others. Look, again, our position on this, and I think we've been clear since the strike, the US strike on those nuclear facilities in Iran, is that we don't want Iran to have nuclear weapons. The strikes on those facilities reduce the chance of Iran having nuclear weapons, and we welcome that, but we do want peace in the region. We don't want to see this escalate. We want to see people return to the table and talk through diplomatic channels about how to return peace to the Middle East.

SARA: As a cabinet minister, though, to your knowledge, has advice been sought as to whether these military actions are legal under international law?

GALLAGHER: Look, obviously advice has been sought by – I mean, in government, as we are working through some of these issues, we get a whole lot of advice across the government. We certainly support the fact that those facilities that were struck by the US reduce the possibility of Iran having nuclear weapons, we definitely support that.

SARA: So, that advice has been sought, has it been received as yet?

GALLAGHER: Well, we receive – for example, when the NSC meets, we get a whole lot of advice from across government about a whole range of things, and we don't really go into those matters publicly, Sally. You would expect the Government to be briefed –

SARA: I guess what I'm asking here is, has the Federal Government endorsed particularly these US strikes on Israel [sic] before or after receiving advice on whether those strikes were legal under international law?

GALLAGHER: Well, I'm not going to go into the advice the government receives, but I can be clear, and I think ministers who have appeared on your programme and the PM and the Foreign Minister have been very clear that we support the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. We don't want to see Iran –– we don't think it's in the interest of global peace for Iran to have nuclear weapons. And I think the world has long agreed that Iran is not in compliance with its international obligations when it comes to nuclear material, and that position hasn't changed. That's the position we've had from when these strikes occurred. It's the position that we continue to hold.

SARA: Let's return to domestic politics now, and the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, spoke to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent yesterday. He said it was a positive discussion. Does that mean that Australia is closer to securing an exemption from trade tariffs, which begin early next month?

GALLAGHER: Well, I think you would expect the Treasurer – I mean, I haven't caught up with the Treasurer since he's had that phone call yesterday morning, but I don't think it's surprising that he's put a very strong position to the US about our beliefs around tariffs and some of the impacts that that would have both on America and Australia, and we'll continue to engage.

SARA: We saw inflation easing further yesterday, Minister to 2.1 per cent for the year to May. In your view, has inflation been tamed now?

GALLAGHER: Well, we certainly welcome the continued progress on inflation, and we saw that in the latest monthly figures. So, to see them actually down now in the bottom half of the band, both for headline and underlying inflation, is really welcome. And I think it speaks to the job that Australians have done over the last two years or so or more of working through what's been a really difficult time. We've tried to help with assistance and support and that will continue. We've got some more of that coming on 1 July, so just next week. But it's very welcome and I think it's not only welcome in the fact inflation's come down, but the fact that we have an unemployment rate of 4.1 per cent, so we've managed to keep unemployment historically low whilst inflation's been coming down is a fantastic result.

SARA: You're a senator for the ACT. The Territory's budget this week handed down includes a $250 health levy. Is this evidence that current funding agreements just aren't keeping up with need?

GALLAGHER: Well, no. I don't accept that. I do accept that Territory government, and having been a Chief Minister, I understand how difficult it is to put together a budget in the ACT, so I sort of leave those decisions to them. They've obviously made those decisions, but when we look at what we've done to support, I think to support the ACT in particular with my responsibilities, I can't think of another Commonwealth government who's done as much as we have to support the ACT economy.

SARA: Finally, the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, gave her first major speech at the Press Club yesterday after the federal election and is talking about having a fresh approach and doing things differently. Have you noticed a shift in the Opposition's approach since the election?

GALLAGHER: Well, time will tell, I guess. I think it's an important speech she gave yesterday. I think when I looked at the comments that she made about women, I think it is important that these matters are dealt with by the Opposition. I don't think problem identification is the issue, though. I think there's been many a time where problems have been identified about their policy offering, the number of women, how their organisation works. It's actually the next step that matters, which is what are you going to do about it? And I think we'll just have to wait and see whether the rhetoric actually is matched by action.

SARA: Minister, thank you for joining me again on Breakfast.

GALLAGHER: Thanks very much, Sally.