Australia would never knowingly target a Syrian govt unit: Marise Payne

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: The Prime Minister has expressed regret over the involvement of Australian aircraft in the bombing. I spoke earlier with the Defence Minister Marise Payne.

Marise Payne, we know Australian aircraft were involved in these strikes. Can you provide any more information about what involvement they had? Are we talking about bombers or support aircraft?

MARISE PAYNE: Michael, at this stage, as you'd understand, the US led international coalition is going to be reviewing this incident, so I'm not going to go into the detail of the very complex activities that's involved with multiple aircraft from multiple nations.

I don't think engaging in speculations on that helps.

So we're going to participate fully in that review process and ensure that we provide whatever information is required.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Clearly, it was an intelligence failure of some sort though, wasn't it?

MARISE PAYNE: Well as I understand it, the coalition aircraft was conducting airstrikes in Eastern Syria, as we know, against what was believed to be a Daesh fighting position that in fact they had been tracking for some time.

So it remains to be seen what led to this particular outcome, and of course, we regret the loss of life and have extended our deep sympathies to the families of those, of members of the Syrian defence force involved.

But discussing what led to it and the action itself - at this point, without a proper review - I think is premature.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Sure, clearly as you said, they thought they were targeting Islamic state fighters. There's speculation around that that intelligence came from the Russians, is that correct?

MARISE PAYNE: Again, Michael, you put me in difficult position. I'm not going to comment or speak- or particularly comment on speculation.

But what I can make very clear, I know the Prime Minister has reinforced, is that Australia will never intentionally, knowingly target a known Syrian military unit or in any way, shape or form actively support Daesh. Our mission is in fact to remove the threat of Daesh, not support it in any way.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: As you said, there will be a US review of the incident. Is that enough? I note Andrew Wilkie has called for us to have our own review of the incident. Are we going to?

MARISE PAYNE: Well, we'll let the coalition review get underway and see what comes of that. I think that given that, as I have said, that this is a multinational force, we have multiple aircraft participating, it's only fair to allow the processes that are in place to take their course and then consider our position.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Okay, clearly we were involved in some way. If this investigation casts more light on that or not enough light on that, are we prepared to have our own investigation?

MARISE PAYNE: Well, let's contemplate those options when we come to that point.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: This incident comes just a couple of months after we announced broader rules of engagement for the operation of our air operations in this region. Would Australian aircraft have been involved in an operation like this if those changes hadn't been put in place?

MARISE PAYNE: In fact, Michael, my advice is that the changes have had no impact on Australian's engagement in this particular activity.

What the coalition aircraft were doing were conducting air strikes against what was believed to be a Daesh fighting postion that, as I said, the coalition had been tracking for some time. That is a legitimate target under the laws of armed conflict and it actually has no relationship to the proposed legislative changes.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: What do think the wider implications of this are? Because Russia has responded by calling an emergency meeting at the UN Security Council; do you think it will damage the already strained relationships?

MARISE PAYNE: Well I'll leave others to comment on the relation- international relationships there, but what is very important I think is that we remain focussed on the actual objective we have in this particular engagement; that is, the defeat of Daesh in Iraq and Syria - and that should be our focus. I would hope to see that these are characterized on all the participating nations.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: You must be concerned- everyone must be concerned that something like this would have an impact on the ceasefire. I mean, it's less than a week old now.

MARISE PAYNE: Well, it is very important I think to remain focused on the capacity of the ceasefire to lead to progress in this area. And we certainly have been very supportive of that.

We indicated previously that the agreement itself wouldn't change our air operations in Syria, given our area of operation in the east. That remains the case. And we will continue to do that in accordance to our existing targeting authorities and procedures.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: On that broader battle, there's going to be a review of Australia's intelligence agencies for the first since 2011. What's likely to be the focus this time?

MARISE PAYNE: Michael, I think an inquisitive defence agency will participate fully in that review, the Australian Signals Directorate Intelligence organisation and the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation.

I think one of the focuses will most certainly go to changes in technology, which are happening extremely rapidly and which elevate the challenges in terms of intelligence collection and analysis even higher than they have been previously.

That is something which agencies and their senior leadership comment upon regularly. It's a matter of concern to the Government, so that would certainly be a part of the discussion.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Okay, Marise Payne, we'll end it there. Thank you so much for joining us

MARISE PAYNE: Thank you very much, Michael.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: The Defence Minister, Marise Payne.