Kerry, Hagel with Australian Leaders in Australia
12 August 2014
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesperson
Sydney, Australia
REMARKS
Secretary of State John Kerry with Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie
Bishop, and Australian Minister of Defense David Johnston
FOREIGN MINISTER BISHOP: Ladies and gentlemen, today we have welcomed to Sydney and to AUSMIN Secretaries John Kerry and
Chuck Hagel, and this is the second AUSMIN meeting that the four principals here have participated in. The United States
alliance is the most important security relationship for Australia, and AUSMIN is an annual opportunity for us to take
stock of this relationship. And today’s discussion was broad in its scope. We were frank in our exchanges, and there was
a clear instinct for collaboration across a wide area of endeavor. There’s a desire to share the burden of implementing
our mutual vision and mutual goal of regional and global peace and prosperity, security and stability.
At a bilateral level, we signed the Force Posture Initiatives, the formal, legally binding document about a presence of
U.S. Marines in the north of our country, and we focused particularly on the humanitarian disaster relief aspects of
having the assistance of the U.S. in our region, which is, sadly, prone to natural disasters and other tragedies. Now at
a regional level, we discussed the tensions in the South China Sea. Secretary Kerry and I have just returned from the
East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum, where the South China Sea was discussed at length, and we went over some
of those issues. But we also discussed the tensions on the Korean Peninsula and our mutual desire to see North Korea
denuclearized in a verifiable way and returned to the Six Party Talks.
We discussed the regional architecture and the need for the East Asia Summit to be the premier regional forum. It has
the right mandate, the right membership to discuss matters of regional strategic significance. We talked about the
importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This is where the U.S. rebalance finds its economic expression and how
important the TPP will be to opening up and liberalizing markets in our region. We discussed the emergence of China and
other major powers in our region.
Globally, in the wake of the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17, we talked about the situation in eastern
Ukraine and Russia’s intentions and the behavior of Russia in recent months and weeks involving the breach of
sovereignty in Ukraine and elsewhere. We had a long discussion on the Middle East and the significant conflicts there,
whether it be Syria, Iraq, or in Gaza, and we also talked about Afghanistan and our commitment to Afghanistan post-2014.
A considerable focus of our discussion was on counterterrorism and, more specifically, on the issue of foreign fighters.
People going to fight in conflicts around the world, leaving their countries, going to Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere and
becoming radicalized and taking part in extremist terrorist activities is, in fact, an international problem. It’s a
concern for Australia, it’s a concern for the United States, but it’s a topic that’s raised increasingly in countries in
our region and across Europe. It’s an international problem, but the barbaric ideology that these extremists embrace is,
in fact, a threat to our way of life, a threat to our values, and we discussed ways that we can bring this issue to
international attention. So a major focus on the issue of foreign fighters.
Overall, it was a most productive and most useful exchange from Australia’s point of view. We came up with a number of
significant initiatives. The communiqué sets out the detail of it, but I want to thank both Secretary Kerry and
Secretary Hagel for making the trip down under. We are always delighted to see you in our part of the world. You’ve been
in Asia and Southeast Asia on so many occasions, and we always want you to come to Australia and count us in on your
discussions. The relationship has never been stronger, and we have appreciated your commitment and focus on the issues
that are of mutual concern and of concern to Australia’s national interest.
I’ll ask the Minister for Defense to say a few words and then pass over to our American friends.
DEFENSE MINISTER JOHNSTON: Well, thank you, Julie. To Secretary Kerry and Secretary Hagel, firstly, thank you for the
magnanimous, generous, and gracious way that you’ve entered into our discussions. I must say I know I speak for Julie,
it’s an absolute delight to be with you in your busy schedules to discuss matters that are regionally significant, but
also in the wider area of world events, the problems we both are worried about, how best to confront them and how best
Australia can help the United States in its very excellent leadership, particularly in this region.
Part of that is, of course, the rebalance, and we’re delighted to have 1,200 – approximately 1,200 U.S. Marines in
Darwin. That, ladies and gentlemen, is going very seamlessly, very well, and it is a classic win-win situation. So
today’s discussions have gone very cordially, very constructively, and very frankly as you would expect with partners
and friends of long standing. So the rebalance has been, from our point of view, delivering the Marines into Darwin
very, very successful so that our region has, of course, benefitted – and I reiterate this to the Secretaries –
benefitted from the stability of the past 20, 30 years. That stability has been delivered by U.S. leadership and of
course the booming middle class of Southeast and East Asia has been the end dividend of that stability.
And so today we’ve enjoyed discussing the challenges, what we perceive coming over the horizon in the future, matters
such as counterterrorism, foreign fighters, which we both, as two countries have to deal with. Can I say that both
Secretary Hagel and Secretary Kerry bring enormous amount of wisdom and wit to our discussions. And I must say to you
the discussions have been most enjoyable. We share interoperability across so many fronts. We have very large numbers of
people embedded in the United States in the U.S. military. We’ve got 400 people still in Afghanistan working with the
Americans and our other ISAF partners going forward. I want to end on that note by just saying thank you very much for
the trust. When we are doing things together in the defense space, trust is a really important part of that, and trust
leads to great friendship, and I think we have great friendship, and I thank you both for that.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you very much, Julie. Good afternoon to all of you. And let me just – let me begin by
saying that I am really delighted to be here with Secretary Hagel at the Australia-United States Ministerial Meeting.
This is my first AUSMIN, as we call it, in Australia, and I really want to thank Foreign Minister Bishop and Defense
Minister Johnston for their unbelievably warm welcome over the course of these two days. We had a very productive dinner
discussion last night just over the way from here, and today we both join together in thanking Governor-General Cosgrove
for opening up his magnificent residence to us. It afforded a really superb venue to be able to sit here quietly and be
able to really dig in in very personal ways to very complicated issues, and we thank them for this special venue and
special friendship that goes with it.
Secretary Hagel and I both want to begin any comments that we make here today with an expression of our deepest
condolences to the families and the loved ones of the 38 Australians who lost their lives in the Flight 17 – Malaysia
Airlines Flight 17. We both want to affirm to Australia and to the world that we absolutely demand, as does Australia,
justice for this unconscionable crime. And just as we stand together on so many issues from the Asia Pacific to the
Middle East to Afghanistan and beyond, we will see this through together.
I’ve also had the very good fortune to work with our Australian friends for many years, 29 years in the United States
Senate and a number of years as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. So when Secretary Hagel and I served in
Vietnam – slightly different times, but we both served there – we also fought alongside, side by side, with our
Australian brothers who are great soldiers and great friends. In fact, Australian men and American men and women – men
and women on both sides – have fought side by side in every major conflict since World War I, and we’re proud of the
friendship and the trust, as Minister Johnston was just saying, that has grown out of this longtime relationship.
I was very privileged to join Secretary Hagel and Foreign Minister Bishop and Defense Minister Johnston last year at
Arlington National Secretary where we honored this special bond between Australians and the United States, a bond that
can only be forged through the sacrifice of war, which we both understand. So I thank Australia at this moment,
particularly for stepping up yet again with their offer of humanitarian assistance in Iraq at this moment of crisis. The
new Iraqi leadership has a very difficult challenge. It has to regain the confidence of its citizens by governing
inclusively, but also by taking steps to demonstrate their resolve, and we’re going to continue to stand with the Iraqi
people during this time of transition.
And though we live in different hemispheres and at opposite ends of the globe, the United States could ask for no better
friend and no closer ally than Australia. Australia is a vital partner in so many different endeavors. It is vital as we
deepen the U.S. economic engagement throughout the Asia Pacific, as we engage in the rebalances of – both ministers have
referred to it, which will bring the United States even more to the effort to help create a larger economic
transformation in the region and to bring about a rule of law-based structure where everybody understands the rules and
where it is a race to the top, not to the bottom. We also are working hard together to try to complete a critical
component of that race to the top, which is the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.
We also discussed, as has been mentioned by both ministers, difficult regional and global security challenges. We didn’t
need to struggle to find commonality in our understanding of the fact that we are living in one of the most complicated
moments of transformation and transition all across this planet. Instant communications, massive numbers of mobile
devices, massive amounts of information moving at lightning speed around the globe informing everybody about everything
all of the time. And that has changed politics, and it has changed international relations. It raises expectations among
people all over the world. And it challenges politics in terms of building consensus around decisions.
So we face a lot of these challenges together in today’s world, and that is why it is so important to have the kind of
discussion that we had here today where we lay out every one of those challenges and try to figure out how do we do this
better, how can we have greater impact, how do we bring more people to the table in order to affect change. It has
enabled both of our countries to stand with the people of Ukraine, support long-term progress in Afghanistan, reduce
tensions in the South China Sea, collaborate in the United Nations Security Council on everything from Iran to Syria to
restricting trade in illicit small arms and weapons and even in our fellow human beings.
Today’s session allowed us to consult and coordinate in depth on these issues and on the challenges that we face in Iraq
and Gaza, and we also agreed in conjunction with our discussion about the foreign fighters that Julie raised a moment
ago that we are going to work together to assemble a compendium of the best practices in the world today regarding those
foreign fighters, and we intend to join together in order to bring this to the United Nations meeting next month and put
it on the agenda in a way that will elicit support from source countries as well as those countries of concern.
Earlier today, as you all know, we signed a Force Posture Agreement that will further strengthen and deepen the
U.S.-Australian defense relationship, and we agreed to expand our trilateral cooperation with Japan. So you can see that
we covered a range of very important issues in the Asia Pacific region, including our commitment to the peaceful
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. And the United States – I want to make this clear – is absolutely prepared to
improve relations with North Korea if North Korea will honor its international obligations. It’s that simple. But make
no mistake we are also prepared to increase pressure, including through strong sanctions and further isolation if North
Korea chooses the path of confrontation.
So I join Secretary Hagel in thanking Foreign Minister Bishop and Defense Minister Johnston for very productive
discussions over the past day, and we all look forward to continuing our work together in the years to come in order to
address these complex challenges.
SECRETARY HAGEL: John, thank you, and I, too, appreciate an opportunity to be with Secretary Kerry here for the AUSMIN
meetings that we are concluding this afternoon. I want to add my thanks as well to our hosts, Minister Bishop, Minister
Johnston, and also to Governor-General Cosgrove for his hospitality here at Admiralty House. So thank you.
On a visit to the United States in 1960, the great Australian prime minister, Robert Menzies, said that strength is
admirable, but only for the responsibilities it accepts and discharges. America, Australia, and this historic alliance
has always, always sought to live up to those responsibilities around the world. Today’s agenda for the U.S.-Australia
alliance, you have heard, span issues ranging from the South China Sea to Iraq where Secretary Kerry and I expressed our
appreciation for Australia’s offer to contribute to the humanitarian and relief operations and where America is prepared
to intensify its security cooperation as Iraq undertakes and makes progress towards political reform.
We also addressed the crisis in Ukraine as has been noted and Australia’s tragic loss of 38 citizens and residents
aboard MH-17. And as I have said, as Secretary has – Secretary Kerry has expressed, our condolences to the people of
Australia and especially the families of those who were lost in that tragedy. America will continue to work with
Australia as we have said clearly and plainly to provide requested support and assistance.
Today we have reinforced the foundation of our alliances, defense, and security cooperation by, as Secretary Kerry
noted, signing the U.S.-Australia Force Posture Agreement. This long-term agreement on rotational deployment of U.S.
Marines in Darwin and American Airmen in northern Australia will broaden and deepen our alliance’s contributions to
regional security and advance America’s ongoing strategic rebalance in the Asia Pacific. At today’s AUSMIN having just
come from New Delhi and having consulted closely with our Japanese and Korean allies and ASEAN defense ministers, I see
a new, committed resolve to work together, to work together to build a security system across this Indo-Pacific region,
recognizing the independent sovereignty of nations, respecting that sovereignty, but also recognizing the common
interests that we all have for a stable, peaceful, secure world.
The U.S. Australia alliance is spurring this progress and will remain a bedrock for a stable and secure order. Along
with Secretary Kerry, let me again thank our hosts, Minister Bishop, Minister Johnston, and Governor-General Cosgrove
for hosting this year’s AUSMIN and what they continue to do as we continue to collaborate and work together on some of
the great issues of our time. As Secretary Kerry has noted, we live in an immensely complicated world, but a world that
is still full of hope and promise if we endeavor to bring resolute, strong leadership, leadership that is committed to
these virtues and values and principles that we all share and living up to the highest responsibilities as Prime
Minister Menzies once said. Thank you very much.
MODERATOR: Okay. Thank you. We’re now going to have four questions, and I think Laura, you’re going to kick off. Thank
you.
QUESTION: Laura Jayes from Sky News. Secretary Kerry, Secretary Hagel, thank you. Ministers, thank you. I wanted to
first go to Russia, and our Australian Government has talked about greater sanctions on Russia, leaving that option
open, uranium perhaps. Secretary Kerry, is that a path you would like to see Australia go down? There’s also the
question of Vladimir Putin attending the G20 Summit. I wondered if you have a comment on that.
And also, as I guess a little bit out of that direct realm, China in all of this. We’ve seen the U.S. and EU impose
quite strong sanctions against Russia in the last couple of months, but China has, I think, helped to dilute that in
some ways, if you, Secretary Kerry, could address those questions, also, Minister Bishop as well.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you very much. On the subject of sanctions with respect to Russia, we are very
understanding of our friend, Australia’s deep, deep anger and its need for justice with respect to what has happened.
This is an unconscionable crime on a huge international order that findings already, without the full investigation
being done – and we are pressing for a full investigation, because nothing is complete until you have a full
investigation. But there is no question – and we’ve said this publicly previously, but that this type of weapon and all
the evidence of it was seen on our imagery. We saw the takeoff. We saw the trajectory. We saw the hit. We saw this
airplane disappear from the radar screen. So there’s really no mystery about where it came from and where these weapons
have come from.
But we need to have the complete investigation, obviously, to legitimize whatever steps are going to be taken as we go
down the road, and that’s why we’re all pressing so hard for that. The foreign minister of Australia traveled to New
York, made an eloquent plea working with our ambassador and others there, Frans Timmermans of – the Dutch foreign
minister spoke eloquently about what had happened. And the world can’t just sort of move by this and gloss by it. People
need to remember this, because holding people accountable is essential not just to justice for what happened, but to
deterrence and prevention in the future, and we don’t want to see these kinds of things ever repeated again.
So we’re open, but we haven’t made any decisions. I’m not sure Australia has either yet. We need to see what’s
happening, but our hope and prayer – our hope is that in the next days and weeks we can find a way for President
Poroshenko and Ukraine to be able to work with the Russians to provide the humanitarian assistance necessary in the east
to facilitate the thoroughness of the investigation, to begin to bring the separatists to the degree that they are
Ukrainian into the political process, and for those who are not Ukrainian, they need to leave the country, and there
needs to be a process worked out where the supplies stop coming in both in money and arms and support and people and
Ukraine is allowed to begin to protect its sovereignty and define its future. Our hope is that that can happen through
the diplomatic process, but we’ve all learned that we need to be cautious and strong at the same time in our responses
and clear about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.
With respect to the G20 Summit, et cetera, no decisions have been made at this point in time. I think a lot of the
attitudes about the – about that issue from the various countries attending can, frankly, be determined and impacted to
some degree in what happens in these next days and weeks.
And finally, with respect to China and what is going on, we have said again and again – and we just had a Strategic and
Economic Dialogue in China, Secretary Jack Lew of the Treasury and I were there, with two days of discussions, and we
made it very clear to China that we welcome the rise of China as a global partner, hopefully, as a powerful economy, as
a full participating, constructive member of the international community, and we want China to participate in
constructive ways, whether it’s in the South China Sea or with respect to Japan and South Korea, with North Korea, with
other issues that we face. We are not seeking conflict and confrontation, and our hope is that China will, likewise,
take advantage of the opportunities that are in front of it to be that cooperative partner.
And so there are always differences, shades – there are differences with respect to certain issues, and we’ve agreed to
try to find those things where we can really cooperate. We’re cooperating in Afghanistan, we’re cooperating on
nonproliferation with respect to Iran, we’re cooperating to get the chemical weapons out of Syria, we’re cooperating on
counterterrorism, we’re cooperating on nuclear weaponry and on the reduction of nuclear arms. So there are plenty of big
issues on which we cooperate with Russia even now every day, and our hope is that on those things where we’ve obviously
had some disagreements with China or with Russia that we can both find a diplomatic path forward, because everybody in
the world understands the world will be better off if great power nations are finding ways to cooperate, not to confront
each other.
FOREIGN MINISTER BISHOP: If I could put this question of sanctions in context, MH-17 was a commercial airplane flying in
commercial airspace carrying 298 civilians. Passenger numbers included 80 children, and this plane was shot down, we
believe, by a surface-to-air missile just inside eastern Ukraine. The deaths of so many people, including 38 Australian
citizens and residents was shocking, and the implications for international aviation are profound. So after completing
our humanitarian mission of removing the remains and personal effects from the crash site, we are now focused on the
investigation into how this came to be, how this plane was shot down, and who did it, because those culpable for
creating the circumstances or for actually causing the downing of this plane must be held to account, and the grief of
our citizens demands answers. They must be held to account, the perpetrators, and brought to justice.
All the while, when Australian and Dutch teams, unarmed police, humanitarian teams were seeking to get to the crash
site, all the while, Russia was supplying more armed personnel, more heavy weaponry over the border into eastern
Ukraine. They didn’t cease, and in fact increased their efforts. And instead of listening to international concerns
about a ceasefire and the need for a humanitarian corridor for us to conclude our work, on the very day that Australia
was holding a national day of mourning to grieve the loss of so many Australian lives, Russia chose to impose sanctions
on Australia through an embargo on our agricultural exports.
We are rightly focused on the investigation, supporting the Netherlands, Malaysia, Belgium, and Ukraine as part of an
investigation team. But on the question of sanctions, we will consider the options available to us, but our focus at
present is to bring closure to the families who are still grieving over this barbaric act of shooting down a plane that
killed their loved ones.
As far as the G20 is concerned, as Secretary Kerry indicated, there’s been no decision. The G20 is an economic forum.
There would have to be a consensus view as to whether or not steps should be taken in relation to President Putin’s
presence here in Australia.
On China, I must say that China was extremely supportive of our resolution in the United Nations Security Council. As
you’d be aware, it was a unanimous resolution. It was supported by all 15 members of the UN Security Council, and China
has suffered a great loss through the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-370. Australia has done what we can
to help in that search effort, and I have committed to Foreign Minister Wang Yi last weekend that Australia will
continue to help search for that missing plane. So China grieves with us over the loss of people aboard airplanes that
have crashed or disappeared in such extraordinary circumstances.
On the question of China’s support beyond MH-17, Russia’s behavior in recent months has been to breach the sovereignty
of Ukraine, a neighbor, and this is not behavior that China, one would think, would condone. It’s behavior that China
has pointed out to others would be unacceptable if it were to occur in China’s sphere of the world. So we’ll continue to
consult, discuss with China the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian tensions, the conflict, the need for ceasefire, the need
for humanitarian assistance and hope that China sees it as we do, an unacceptable breach of Ukraine’s sovereignty and
urge Russia to stop the flow of weapons, stop the flow of armed personnel. Russia claims to be concerned about a
humanitarian situation in Ukraine when the first thing it should do is stop sending weapons and armed personnel to the
so-called separatists.
QUESTION: I’m (inaudible). I’m a reporter with Bloomberg News. Questions on Iraq first to Secretary Hagel: What kind of
direct military assistance is the Pentagon prepared to offer the Kurds, and does it include sending heavy weapons to
them?
And if I can ask Secretary Kerry: Can you talk a little bit more about what the United States is prepared to do once
there is a new Iraqi Government? And both of you, do you share any concern that directly aiding and supporting the Kurds
could potentially encourage them to break away from a united Iraq in the future?
And to the Australian officials, the U.S. has said it will assist and train Iraqi troops to combat ISIL. And have you
been asked and are you prepared to send any of your troops to train the Iraqi forces? Thank you.
SECRETARY HAGEL: The United States Government is working with the Iraqi Government, the Iraqi security forces to get
military equipment to the Peshmerga. That is Iraqi military equipment. We – our American forces through CENTCOM are
helping get that equipment to Erbil. As to your question regarding a breakaway status of the Kurds into an independent
Kurdistan, I think it’s important that – and we have taken this position and Secretary Kerry, who has been directly
involved in this, may want to amplify on this point – but it’s important to note that America’s position is a unified
Iraq.
You all know that the Council of Representatives announced today that it had selected a new prime minister, a new Shia
prime minister. That then completes the new senior officers that the Counsel of Representatives have put forth, a new
speaker of the parliament, a new president, a new prime minister. That’s good news. Now the next step has to move
forward in getting that government ratified and in place, and we look forward to working with that new government.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well – sorry, go ahead. No, please.
DEFENSE MINISTER JOHNSTON: With respect to the Australian contribution to those people who are in the mountains around
Erbil, we are going to be participate and deliver humanitarian relief in the nature of being able to drop supplies to
them, and that is a (inaudible) capability we have long held probably since East Timor. And that’s the role that we’ll
carry out, and we’ll fit into and be part of the planning of the United States and other partners who want to assist on
that humanitarian basis, and that’s the way we’ll go forward. Sorry, John.
SECRETARY KERRY: No, no, no. That’s important, and I appreciate it. Let me just begin by congratulating Dr. Haider
al-Abadi on his nomination, which now offers him an opportunity to be able to form a government over the next 30 days.
And we urge him to form a new cabinet as swiftly as possible, and the U.S. does stand ready to fully support a new and
inclusive Iraqi Government, particularly in its fight against ISIL.
Now I’m not going to get into the details today before a new prime minister is there and a government is there and we’ve
talked to them and we know what they think their needs are and how they define the road ahead, but I will tell you that
without any question, we are prepared to consider additional political, economic, and security options as Iraq starts to
build a new government and very much calculated to try to help stabilize the security situation, to expand economic
development, and to strengthen the democratic institutions. Those will be the guidelines.
We also would note that there are already a significant group of programs in place under the strategic framework
agreement, and we, with a new government in place, would absolutely look to provide additional options, and we would
consider those options for sure in an effort to strengthen an effort. Let me be very clear we have always wanted an
inclusive, participatory government that represents the interests of Shia, Kurd, Sunni, minorities, all Iraqis. That’s
the goal. And our hope is that when there is a new government, we will all of us in the international community be able
to work with them in order to guarantee that outstanding issues that have just stood there absolutely frozen for years
now, like the oil revenue law or the constitutional reform, all of these things need to be resolved, and that will
really determine the road ahead.
Now with respect to the Kurds, we welcome increased coordination and support between the Iraqi security forces and the
Kurdish forces. That is taking place right now. It’s quite unique, and we think that’s a signal of a growing potential
for cooperation between Baghdad and Erbil. So as we’ve said last week, ISIL has secured certain heavy weaponry, and the
Kurds need additional arms, and what is happening now is through the government in Baghdad, some of that assistance is
being provided directly to the Kurds. I think that raises as many questions about the possibility of greater cooperation
as it does with the possibility of further efforts for separation.
What I do know is from my own meetings with President Barzani recently, he is very committed to this transition in
Baghdad, in Iraq, in the government. He is committed to trying to be a force for a strong federal government that works
for all Iraqis, and that’s the only subject on the table at this point in time.
QUESTION: Secretaries, Ministers, Greg Jennett from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. This is to any or all of
you, but perhaps starting with you, Secretary Kerry. Following on from that question on Iraq and noting that you don’t
want to get into details, but that stabilizing security is an option that the U.S. is prepared to explore with the
government there, what are the circumstances in which the U.S. could look to allies, including Australia, to support
security with further military commitments, if you could outline at least the parameters in which you would start that
conversation.
And also on homecoming jihadists from the Middle East, what is the shared approach? Practically, what sort of
initiatives are we talking about? As this – things before prosecution, after incarceration, before interrogation, is
there any example of the types of actions you’d like to see the world take jointly?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me let a couple of my colleagues – I’ll turn to Julie to address the issue on the foreign
fighters, because we had a pretty robust discussion, and perhaps even Mr. Johnston and Hagel want to tackle that. So let
me just answer the first part of the question, and they can answer the second.
The question is: How can we look towards this issue of stabilization and military assistance? And you said: Where would
the discussion begin? Well, let me tell you in the simplest terms where the discussion begins. There will be no
reintroduction of American combat forces into Iraq. That is the beginning of the discussion. This is a fight that Iraqis
need to join on behalf of Iraq, and our hope is and the reason President Obama has been so clear about wanting to get
the government formation before beginning to tackle ISIL in the most significant way excepting the kind of emergency
circumstances that have arisen is because if you don’t have a government that is inclusive and that works, nothing else
will work plain and simply.
So you have to have a government that can begin to be inclusive where the forces of Iraq are not a personal force
defined by one particular sect and sworn to allegiance to one particular leader, but they truly represent Iraq, and
Iraq’s future in a broad-based sense. And I think that everybody understands that is the direction that we have to go.
Lots of countries who have an interest in stability in the region have already offered different kinds of assistance of
one kind or another, but nobody, I think, is looking towards a return to the road that we’ve traveled. What we’re really
looking for here is a way to support Iraq, support their forces with either training or equipment or assistance of one
kind or another that can help them to stand on their own two feet and defend their nation. That’s the goal. That’s where
the conversation begins, whoever is prime minister, and I think everybody is crystal clear about that.
We are convinced that with a unified effort by Iraqis, and particularly if there is a return to the kind of localized
efforts that existed in the Sons of Anbar or the Iraqi Anbar Awakening, as it’s referred to, that there will be plenty
of opportunity here for a pushback against ISIL forces which is why the restoration of a unified, inclusive government
is so critical as a starting point. I think the President felt that that process was well enough along the way with the
selection of a speaker, the selection of a president, and the clear movement of people towards a candidate for prime
minister that he felt comfortable that the urgency of the situation, of protecting potential people moving towards Erbil
or the extraordinary atrocities that were beginning to take place with respect to the Yazidis that it was critical to
begin to move in that regard, and that’s why he made that decision, and I think it was a wise decision.
FOREIGN MINISTER BISHOP: Australia has long joined the international community in calling for a more inclusive
government in Iraq, and the political instability that we have seen that hasn’t addressed the concerns of the Sunnis,
hasn’t addressed the concerns of minorities, is of course a matter of grave concern. So political stability is the key
for Iraq encountering the influence and impact of these extremist groups, including ISIL. And that brings me to the
issue of foreign fighters. The Australian media has, this week, published some truly shocking photographs I assume have
been verified of an Australian family in the Middle East holding up a severed head, a seven year-old child is involved
in this barbarous display of ideology, and they’re Australian citizens.
So when the government says that there is a real domestic security threat from the phenomenon of foreign fighters, we
have evidence that there are a significant number of Australian citizens who are taking part in activities in Iraq and
parts of Syria, extremist activities, terrorist activities. Our fear is that they will return home to Australia as
hardened, homegrown terrorists and seek to continue their work here in Australia. And it’s not a concern just of this
country. As I mentioned earlier, at the East Asia Summit, a number of countries raised this issue of foreign fighters
leaving countries, going to fight in these conflicts and coming home with a set of skills and experience as terrorists.
That truly poses one of the most significant threats that we’ve seen in a very long time.
Our discussion today focused on what we can do to counter this risk. Australia, as the Australian media would be well
aware, has announced a series of legislative reforms that deal with matters including the burden of proof for people’s
presence in prescribed areas like Mosul, and why Australian citizens would be defying the Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade advice to not go to Mosul demands explanation. We are looking at issues involving passports and the
cancellation and the ability to suspend passports so that we can investigate the activities of people within Australia
and deal with them on their turn.
We know that one of the Australian citizens involved in these activities in the Middle East in Iraq had, in fact, been
convicted of terrorist activities in Australia, had served time and then left Australia under a false identity. We also
know that in coming weeks and months, a significant number of those convicted of terrorist activities in Indonesia will
be released. Now the question is: Have they been de-radicalized in their time in prison? Clearly in the case of the
Australian citizen, not. And we hold similar fears for those inmates leaving Indonesian jails. So the whole question of
what we can do when these people are detained and what we can do if they’re prosecuted and found guilty and spend time
in jail, they are matters that we have to look at. The whole question of reaching out to the communities in Australia
and getting communities to assist us in fighting this extremist threat is important.
So as we were discussing these issues, Secretary Kerry said this is something we’ve got to bring to the attention of the
international community. It’s a shared issue across Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Europe, in Pakistan, in
Great Britain, Canada. There are a number of countries across the globe reporting instances of citizens becoming
extremist fighters in the Middle East. And so this idea of having a forum, discussion at UNGA Leaders’ Week is something
that I believe will be well supported because so many countries are facing this threat, and if we can exchange ideas and
practices and suggestions as how we can deal with it, then I think we will have made a great step forward, and so we
certainly will support the United States and work very hard to ensure that we collectively deal with this growing threat
to the security of our nation.
SECRETARY KERRY: Can I add one thing to that?
FOREIGN MINISTER BISHOP: Sure.
SECRETARY KERRY: I apologize, but I just want to underscore this image, perhaps even an iconic photograph that Julie has
just referred to is really one of the most disturbing, stomach-turning, grotesque photographs ever displayed, this seven
year-old child holding a severed head out with pride and with the support and encouragement of a parent with brothers
there. That child should be in school, that child should be out learning about a future, that child should be playing
with other kids, not holding a severed head and out in the field of combat. This is utterly disgraceful, and it
underscores the degree to which ISIL is so far beyond the pale with respect to any standard by which we judge even
terrorist groups, that al-Qaida shunted them aside. And that’s why they represent the threat that they represent. And
it’s no accident that every country in the region is opposed to ISIL.
So this threat is so real, an African – north African president of a country recently told me that 1,800 identified
citizens of that country have gone to Syria to fight. Believe it or not, 1,100 of them they knew had already been killed
because their bodies had been returned or they were tallied as killed. Well, that leaves 7 or 800 still out there that
they fear are going to return to that country knowing how to fix an IED, knowing how to arm weapons, knowing how to
explode a bomb, knowing how to build a suicide vest or something like that. And this ideology is without one redeeming
quality of offering people a job or healthcare or an education or anything other than saying don’t live any other way
but the way we tell you.
So this is serious business, and we understand that, and I think the world is beginning to come to grips with the fact,
the degree to which this is unacceptable. And we have a responsibility to take this to the United Nations and to the
world so that all countries involved take measures ahead of time to prevent the return of these fighters and the chaos
and havoc that could come with that, and I just wanted to underscore that with the – with Minister Bishop, because we’re
all joined together in this effort, and that’s why we’re going to take it to the United Nations in the fall and try to
get best practices put together by which all countries can begin to act together in unison in order to react to it.
QUESTION: Leslie Wroughton from Reuters. Please excuse if I don’t stand up. I’ve got too much equipment going here.
Turning back to Iraq, you said that the U.S. was prepared to consider security, political, and economic options as Iraq
forms this new government. Can you get into more specifics about that? We’ve heard some vague statements on how you
ought to prepare to support. Does this include further airstrikes to push back ISIS? Once the government comes in, how
do you secure that stability?
And then number two, on Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Rasmussen said today there’s a high probability of a Russian
intervention in Ukraine. What specific steps, again, are you taking through diplomatic channels to address this. You
talked about your hopes in the next days and weeks to – that you could find a way for President Poroshenko and Ukraine
to be able to work with the Russians. Are you talking about a new diplomatic effort here? And what are you talking
about? Thanks.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me make it clear with respect to Ukraine, diplomatic efforts have never ceased. It’s not a
question of a new one; it’s a question of ongoing diplomatic efforts. We have never stopped. The President has not
stopped, the Vice President, myself have all been in touch with the top leadership of Ukraine, with leadership of
Russia, and others. The President of the United States talked to President Putin a few days ago. I talked to Foreign
Minister Lavrov just a couple days ago. I talked to President Poroshenko a few days ago. There are a lot of
conversations taking place.
And even now as we stand here, there are efforts being made with our friends, with Germany, with the Ukrainians, with
Russia, with others to try to see if there’s a way to work out a way forward on the humanitarian delivery with direct
contact with the ICRC. There is direct contact with the Germans and others in this effort, and the hope is that through
the meetings that will take place this week, there is a way to find a means that is acceptable to deliver humanitarian
assistance without the guise of a military delivery in an effort to do so against the will and wishes of the country
where it is being delivered and against the norms of the ICRC, the International Red Cross, and how it would react to
that.
So that’s the effort that’s underway now. It’s been a consistent, continued diplomatic effort to try to find a way
forward, but obviously the humanitarian assistance needs to get there, and there are a clear set of meetings scheduled,
so there’s a timeframe within which we think we’re operating, which is why I mention that.
With respect to Iraq and the stability, I want – I think Chuck Hagel should speak specifically to any of the security
components of that, but I’d just say on the economic and political front, the best thing for stability in Iraq is for an
inclusive government to bring the disaffected parties to the table and work with them in order to make sure there is the
kind of sharing of power and decision making that people feel confident the government represents all of their
interests. And if that begins to happen, then there is a way for both investment, trade, economic, other realities to
help sustain and build that kind of stability.
But if you don’t have the prerequisite, which President Obama identified at the outset, of an inclusive, working
government, there’s no chance for any of that. That’s why we think the steps taken, the selection of a speaker, the
selection of a president, and now a prime minister-designate who has an opportunity to be able to form a government are
just essential prerequisites to this process of providing stability.
Do you want to talk to the security?
SECRETARY HAGEL: I’ll just mention a couple of things. One, as you know, it was the Iraqi Government that requested the
U.S. Government’s assistance with humanitarian delivery on Mount Sinjar. And we complied with that request, agreed with
that request for carrying out those missions. It was also the Iraqi Government’s request of the United States Government
to assist them in transferring, transporting military equipment to Erbil to help the Peshmerga. As Secretary Kerry noted
and as President Obama has said, as a new government begins, takes shape, we would consider further requests from that
new government.
But I would just also reemphasize what Secretary Kerry has already noted, and President Obama has made this very clear,
the future of Iraq will be determined by the people of Iraq. It will not be determined by a military solution. It will
require a political solution, and I think Secretary Kerry’s comments about an inclusive participatory, a functioning
government is critically important to the future of Iraq. So we would wait and see what future requests that this new
government would ask of us, and we would consider those based on those requests.
FOREIGN MINISTER BISHOP: Just on Ukraine, Australia welcomes the efforts of the United States to assist in preventative
diplomacy between Ukraine and Russia. As I made, I hope, very clear to Vice Minister Morgulov in Naypyidaw over the
weekend, yes, there is a humanitarian situation in Ukraine that is serious, and it’s likely to worsen. But if Russia
were concerned about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, the first step is to stop the flow of fighters and weapons
into eastern Ukraine and the so-called separatists are very professional, very well armed with the most sophisticated of
weaponry and equipment, so to cease that flow of personnel and weapons would be a start.
I also hope I made very clear that any intervention by Russia into Ukraine under the guise of a humanitarian crisis
would be seen as the transparent artifice that it is, and Australia would condemn in the strongest possible terms any
effort by Russia to enter Ukraine under the guise of carrying out some sort of humanitarian mission. Clearly that kind
of support must come from donor countries, from the UN, from the International Red Cross, and that is our expectation.
I think that’s it, (inaudible). Yes, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. We will now depart, and I just want to
place on record again our thanks to Secretaries Kerry and Hagel for taking part in this AUSMIN, and we look forward to
seeing them next year.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you.
ENDS