Interview with Emma Rebellato, ABC News Breakfast
Transcript, E&OE Subjects: Telstra outage; Landmark week for Australian foreign policy; Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Australia; China missile test; Middle East conflict; Fuel prices; Travel advice. 10 July 2026 Emma Rebellato, Host: We are now joined by the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong. Minister, thanks for your time this morning. Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Good to be with you.
I'll ask you about the visit by the Indian Prime Minister in a moment. But first I'd like to get your thoughts on the Telstra outage, which has, of course, been dominating news this week. The Victorian Premier thinks the telco should pay compensation to travellers, for instance.
I know small businesses were left shortchanged too. Do you agree that Telstra should foot the bill? Foreign Minister: Well, Telstra certainly has let the Australian community down.
The first point I'd make is, I understand they announced last night that the outages had all been resolved. Secondly, I'd make the point that the government will ensure that a full investigation of this is made by the media and communications authority. And finally, I think I speak for everyone, you know, we do expect, particularly our triple-0 network to remain functional.
The fact that there were outages on that network is of deep concern to the community as well as to the government. And Telstra should be accountable for that. Developments yesterday in your home state of South Australia that police are now investigating a death at a regional hospital to see if it is possibly linked to this outage.
What's your reaction to that? Foreign Minister: The police investigation should be allowed to occur without public comment, and I'll await the outcome of that investigation. But I do pass on my sympathy to the family and friends.
Senator, the visit by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. We saw a great fanfare at Docklands stadium last night, but before that, a number of agreements were announced, including on trade, education, also defence cooperation. Why do we need this?
Why do we need that particular agreement in place? Foreign Minister: This week really was a landmark week for Australian foreign policy. You saw a new alliance being announced in Fiji when the Prime Minister visited there.
We saw our alliance with Papua New Guinea come into force. And now we have these many agreements about all the work we are doing together with India as a consequence of the Indian Prime Minister's visit. And this is all about us working with other countries in the region to ensure a strategic balance so that we can all work for peace, stability and prosperity in our region.
India is such an important power, it's such an important player in the world and in the region. We are deepening our defence cooperation in order to assure peace and stability in the region we share, which, of course, is the Indo-Pacific, both the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Is this another indication that you're shoring up allegiances because you're worried about China, particularly in the context this week, of what we saw with the missile test?
Foreign Minister: Well, we're very concerned about the missile test. And the Prime Minister and I both made comment, we were in Fiji at the time. We both responded to that and pointed out how destabilising it was and that the Pacific region has made clear it wants to be an ocean of peace.
But to your point, we know peace and stability require all of us to work to assure them in a time of much more contest, much more competition, and the largest militarisation that we've seen since World War II, which is what China is engaging with. The way you preserve peace and stability is to work with other countries. And India is a key country for Australia.
It's also to make sure we have strong relationships in our near-region, which is the Pacific island region, which is why the alliances with Papua New Guinea and Fiji are so important. This is all about assuring peace and stability. I want to take you to the Middle East now.
We've seen more strikes overnight, a second consecutive day now. In your view, is this ceasefire over? Foreign Minister: Well, it's certainly fraying around the edges and we see continued sporadic conflict.
What I would say is that this: The world really is looking to this ceasefire to hold, to firm up. The world wants to see an end to this conflict, not just for the peoples of the region, but because of the effect on the global economy, on energy markets and on the hip pocket of so many people around the world, including Australians. Is that a possibility now that petrol prices could rise and supply chains could be affected?
Foreign Minister: We've done a lot of work as a government to assure fuel supply for Australia. And you've seen Chris Bowen give those updates on a weekly [basis] or more often, more frequently. And we've seen different arrangements to bring fuel to Australia.
We've seen diesel, we've seen fertiliser, petrol, jet fuel. We've worked hard with the countries of the region to diversify supply and to assure supply, and the government will keep doing that. I want to get your thoughts on the advice for Australian travellers.
We know that the advice level was reduced a few weeks back. Is that advice level for travellers, Australian travellers, the same as they transit through areas of the Middle East? Because we have seen strikes beyond, obviously, from Iran into other countries.
Foreign Minister: Yes. We held our travel advice at level four, at a Do Not Travel level for quite a sustained period because of that risk. We have recently changed that advice.
Obviously, we always keep the travel advice under review. Okay. Minister Penny Wong, thanks for your time this morning.
Foreign Minister: Good to speak with you.