ABC AM, Perth - Interview with Sabra Lane

JOURNALIST: Australia's Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, joined me a short time ago. Julie Bishop, thank you for talking with AM.

JULIE BISHOP: Good morning, Sabra.

JOURNALIST: The scale of this shooting is just terrible. What contact have you had so far with the US Government?

JULIE BISHOP: I am deeply shocked by this horrific massacre in Las Vegas and the Australian Government extends our sympathies to the families of the victims, at least 58 have been killed. Our thoughts are with those injured, at least 515. Our thoughts are with the American people; this is the deadliest mass shooting in US history. I have been in constant contact with Australia's Consul-General in Los Angeles throughout the night and our representatives in the United States have been making urgent enquiries with local authorities to determine if any Australians are directly affected. At this stage, we are not aware that any Australian has been killed or injured in the shooting but, given the large number of people involved, this situation could change. So we're extending our thoughts and prayers to the people of the United States and we will continue to work closely with local authorities to determine the whereabouts of all Australians who may be in the vicinity.

JOURNALIST: Have you had to bolster the number of staff there at the consulate?

JULIE BISHOP: We have indeed, we have increased our consular staff in both Los Angeles and Las Vegas. We are sending staff from our Washington Embassy, experienced consular staff. We are working with the British and Canadian consuls general. We are contacting hospitals methodically, systematically, to check if any Australians have been admitted. At this stage, we don't have any details that anyone has, but I do urge any Australians who have concerns about their loved ones who may be in the United States to try to contact them directly and if they are unable to do so, then they should call our consular emergency centre on 1300 555 135, if they are overseas, they should call +61 2 6261 3305.

JOURNALIST: Many Australians were at the concert and at the hotel. Have many got in touch with the consulate and said that they want to come home because they have been traumatised by what has happened?

JULIE BISHOP: We have been in contact with a number of people. Through media, particularly social media, we are aware that a number of Australians were at the concert and are in Las Vegas and we will provide support wherever we can. It's not possible to say how many Australians are in Las Vegas at any given time. We know those who have registered on our Smartraveller website and we can seek to account for them, but for example, it's been estimated that about 365,000 Australians visited Las Vegas in 2016, you know, in the context of 3.5 million tourists in Las Vegas per month, and there are a lot of people in this vicinity. So we will continue to work methodically and systematically with the local authorities to ensure that any Australians that may have been in the area or are in the area are accounted for.

JOURNALIST: And has Australia been spoken to or given a brief about the indication of any motive that the killer had? Stephen Paddock is now dead. The FBI says that claims by Islamic State that, you know, they tried to claim responsibility for this, aren't true. What has Australia been told?

JULIE BISHOP: The authorities have informed us - or confirmed - that the suspect, Stephen Paddock, did take his own life. He appears to have acted alone, the motive for the shooting isn't known. While ISIS, the terrorist group, have claimed responsibility for the attack, the FBI say that Mr Paddock didn't have any links to the terror group. So at this stage, there's no known motive for the shooting.

JOURNALIST: His companion is reportedly an Australian woman, Marilou Danley. What are you able to tell us about her?

JULIE BISHOP: Well, we understand that the United States had interest in an Australian citizen and they were making enquiries about Marilou Danley in connection with the shooting, but we have been informed that she is no longer a person of interest. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police have indicated that they don't believe she was involved in the incident, but we have provided information to the US authorities so that they can continue their investigation.

JOURNALIST: It's been reported that she was in the Philippines at the time and it's been reported that her ID was used, apparently, to book this hotel room.

JULIE BISHOP: Well, that's information that is emerging. Obviously, if she wasn't in the country, then she wasn't involved in the incident. She is not being treated as a person of interest, but there are reports that the perpetrator used some of her ID to book the hotel, but the investigation is obviously still ongoing.

JOURNALIST: After events like this there is renewed focus on gun laws in the United States. Do you think it's beyond the States' capacity to change their laws?

JULIE BISHOP: This will no doubt raise the debate on US gun laws again in the United States. Different states have different laws relating to guns. What we can offer is our experience. Australia had to confront the issue of gun-related violence, we all recall, in the late 1990s, after the massacre of 35 people by a lone gunman at Port Arthur. John Howard at that time introduced the National Firearms Agreement in relation to automatic or semi-automatic weapons and a national gun buy-back scheme. So that was our experience, but I am sure that this will raise the whole issue of US gun laws for debate in the United States once more.

JOURNALIST: Julie Bishop, thanks for talking to AM.

JULIE BISHOP: My pleasure. Thanks, Sabra.