David Feeney (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, let me say, I am familiar with the Wikileaks cable which you are referring to, so bear that in mind in my answer. But it seems to me that what you are essentially describing is a perfectly mundane process, and that mundane process is, firstly, the Australian government forms a view about the importance of an interoperability provision. Obviously, the United States would share our view insofar as it affects our alliance and the work our militaries do together.

Having formed an Australian government view about the worth of an interoperability provision—and there is no secret in that; we have argued for it long and hard—we then set about the task of building international support for our view. I do not see that as a revelation. I think really you are referring to the mundane conduct of diplomacy and the political task in international forums of Australia, once it has formed a view, then explaining it and building support for it.