Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie gave an interview to Sputnik on the upcoming meeting between Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brisbane, telling what to expect from the meeting.
We all know that Russian President Vladimir Putin is about to meet Prime Minister Abbott in the coming days on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brisbane. How do you think this meeting will go? What are your expectations?
Jacqui Lambie: I believe that your President is really welcomed to the country. That would be the first thing, and that our Prime Minister shows him the respect that he’s earned. He was elected democratically and I made sure the Prime Minister is aware of that, and that your President should be welcomed like any other president or prime minister from any other country.
Yes! But what do you expect from the meeting? Do you think they can actually find some kind of consensus on the issues that they disagree on?
Jacqui Lambie: I think they can find agreement on the issues that they are talking about. And I'm hoping that the lines of communication can be left open, because I, like the other Australians, am very aware that President Putin did not press the button when it comes to the Malaysian airliner coming out of the sky. We are very aware of that. And what I’d say is that someone is innocent, until proven guilty. So, I welcome President Putin to Australia. I hope one day he can come to Tasmania. And hopefully, the Prime Minister will settle the differences.
Abbott is obviously not a person who believes in Putin’s genuine intentions and he said that he is going to shirtfront him. Do you think this rhetoric helps the matter?
Jacqui Lambie: No! I think that saying he was going to confront President Putin is disrespectful of a PM.
But when it comes to finding a solution and trying to investigate the crash of the Malaysian Airlines plane, do you think these kinds of words are actually helpful?
No, I don’t think they are going to be helpful, whatsoever. I don’t think that blaming Mr. Putin is going to give the answers. And I think it would be better to stay respectful of President Putin and start making some plan, so that they can come out with some answers on why this aircraft was shot over the sky.
I've been reading some of your interviews and statements. You said that the Australian politicians are trying to “out-macho each other over Putin”. What do you mean by that?
Jacqui Lambie: I think they need to give President Putin the benefit of doubt. And carrying on like schoolboys trying to out-macho each other on a football field is not the answer. And both leaders down here in Australia, both the PM and the opposition, should be acting as the mature leaders of the great country that we live in, I hope for that. I'm very impressed personally that Mr. Abbott is going to send troops when it comes to the spread of Islamic extremism. He’s held very solid ground in that area and I congratulate him for that. When it comes to your leader, unlike my Australian political leaders, there is no nonsense about your leader. What he says is what he carries out and what he does. And I respect him for that.
Talking about the G20, Australia is hosting the event, do you think that the two leaders could actually share something in common, for example in terms of their personality and their approach to international politics when it comes to defending the national interests of a country?
Jacqui Lambie: Well, both have to defend their national interests and the best way to do it is to make sure that the lines of communication are left open. It would be nice to see them all play nice.
Do you think that at some point the two can get on of friendly terms? Could there be some synergies from finding a dialogue and mutual points of interest?
Jacqui Lambie: I'm sure that if the PM approaches your President with respect and makes sure many other issues are being approached, that would certainly open the lines of communication and that would be a great starter point.
But what are issues do you think they can find some kind of consensus on?
Jacqui Lambie: Well, they can certainly find some over the Islamic extremism that is going on in a lot of the countries. And I'm sure that they can talk about the democratic processes that we live in and keeping our nations safe, and, hopefully, opening up communication and trade. I’d like to see trade going on between Russia and Australia, and especially my Tasmania.
The Netherlands have also lost some of its citizens in the MH17 crash, but they do not show such an attitude and have such harsh rhetoric about it. Why do you think Australia is doing that? Is it just about Mr. Abbott or it is more widespread in Australian politics?
Jacqui Lambie: I think it’s probably got to do with Mr. Abbott’s leadership, absolutely. I think most Australians are very aware that, like I said, your President certainly didn’t press the button. That’s the first thing. And secondly, I think we may go back to Malaysian Airlines and ask why they were flying over the war zone in the first place. That would be the bigger question and the question I would like to see the answer to. So, I'm quite sure that when your President finds the answers, if he is able to do that, he will share that with the rest of the world and we are going to be grateful for that.
As far as I know. Mr. Abbott faces some domestic issues. Do you think that Abbott is trying to divert attention from the domestic issues by underlining the rift with Putin?
Jacqui Lambie: I think he is on a distraction course when it comes to the issues of his own country, there is no doubt about that. And I think probably Tony, the PM, let it hang for a little while and should get onto running the country and getting some of these issues dealt with.
Back to the relations with Russia, what do you think about sanctioning Russia? Australia has joined the West in their sanctions, but we can say with certainly that they are probably not really effective as trade between the two is quite low. Why do you think Australia has introduced these measures? Is it that the US’s influence in Australia is quite high?
Jacqui Lambie: I think when it comes to the sanctions that have been put in, I'm not quite sure I could answer that. I think that’s up to the PM to answer that. But I would certainly love to see trade between Russia and Australia, beyond a doubt. And certainly I'm looking to see whether we can actually do more trade with Russia, certainly today and in the future.
Putin has recently been named the most powerful man of the world, according to Forbes. And Obama was again pushed to the second place. Why do you think that is?
Jacqui Lambie: I think that he is doing the leadership and the way he’s dealt with the Islamic extremism, I think that he does that very very well. And that’s probably why he is the number one most powerful man in the world right now.
You are bringing up the issue of Islamic extremism once again, do you think that the international coalition needs Russian help with that?
Jacqui Lambie: Absolutely, we need to get on top of this and we need to do it now. I think the more countries that are involved in shutting the Islamic extremism down, the better off the world is going to be in the long run.
Yes, but how do you think Russia can contribute?
Jacqui Lambie: I think that would be a discussion certainly between the Western world and your President. But, you know, the bottom line is that we need Australia capable and safe, and there is Islamic extremism that needs to be shut down, and that needs to be shut down immediately.
Overall, what kind of statement and what kind of rhetoric do you expect from this meeting that will be taking place in the coming days between Abbott and Putin?
Jacqui Lambie: I hope that they will be friendly, that they will be able to fix the problems that have occurred between the two of them. And hopefully, our PM will extend the olive branch to your President Putin.
So, you do not expect that Abbott would shirtfront Putin?
Jacqui Lambie: No, I wouldn’t think that with the background of your President it would be a smart move for our PM to shirtfront your President, put it that way.
As far as I know, you were against the legislation for the military in Australia. Can you please elaborate on that?
Jacqui Lambie: The Australian army has a pay increase that our defense sets on a yearly basis, the increases are below inflation, by 1.5 percent, and they are also attacking the Christmas leave. So, that’s very very disappointing.
