Doorstop - Chatham House, London

JOURNALIST: Minister,President Trump has said that he misspoke in Helsinki, do you believe him?

JULIEBISHOP: ThePresident has clarified his remarks in Helsinki and has made it clear that hecould see why Russia would be involved in this kind of interference.

JOURNALIST: You wouldagree that Russia looks like it has been involved in interference?

JULIEBISHOP: This isthe advice of the security community and of the intelligence community in theUnited States and elsewhere.

JOURNALIST: Do youbelieve that the US President stood up for the international rules-based orderand his allies in his meeting with Putin?

JULIEBISHOP: Well Iwasn't present at the meeting, but most certainly we have urged the Administrationto continue to hold Russia to account for various patterns of behaviour overrecent times, not the least being its role in the downing of Malaysian AirlinesMH17, but also its role in backing the Assad regime in Syria, and the Salisburyincident here. We believe that Russia has many questions to answer.

JOURNALIST: Do youbelieve that Trump did hold him to account?

JULIEBISHOP: I wasn'tpresent at the meeting, but clearly a number of issues were discussed and wereraised. The President has a view of diplomatic relations that involves buildingclose one-on-one personal ties and if this leads to much better outcomes interms of regional and global stability and security then it has been a goodthing to do.

JOURNALIST: On theoptics of the whole thing, you would have seen what we saw. He went to his NATOallies and seemed to heckle them, he undoubtedly embarrassed Theresa May in herown country when he was being hosted at a formal dinner, and then he seemed toget on very well with a semi-autocratic, effectively a dictator. What does thatmessage seem to someone like you who has to deal with the foreign policyestablishment in the United States?

JULIEBISHOP: Shortly Iwill be going to the United States and meeting with Secretary of State MikePompeo. We will discuss a range of challenges and opportunities. Australia andthe United States are the closest of friends and allies and will continue to beso. There are differences in approaches and there are different styles - butwe've got to look at the outcomes and the results of the different diplomaticstyles of various Presidents from time to time. It's the outcomes that countand that's what I'll be focusing on at the Australia-US Ministerial dialoguenext week.

JOURNALIST: Do youthink he's more comfortable among dictators than friends?

JULIEBISHOP: Wellthat's a matter you'll have to put to the President.

JOURNALIST: Ministeryour speech seemed to speak a lot about leadership and the need for roguenations to be brought to account and held to account, and a lot of it seemed tobe talking about the US approach as well. I mean in your own speech you said weneed leadership in pursuing what is right. You're being very careful with yourwords here, why won't you be more blunt about what happened in Helsinki?

JULIEBISHOP: I'mAustralia's Foreign Minister. I promote and advocate in our national interest.It's not for me to run a commentary on the actions of the United StatesPresident or any other leader. I focus on the outcomes that are in Australia'snational interest, and the support and defence and strengthening of theinternational rules based order is undoubtedly in our national interest.

JOURNALIST: Do youthink what happened in Helsinki risked undermining that order, and rubbing outthe red lines that hold people like Putin at bay?

JULIEBISHOP: I willmake my views known in my discussions with Secretary of State Pompeo – as is absolutelyappropriate. I hold many discussions with Foreign Minister counterparts aroundthe world and I'll continue to do that in my pursuit of outcomes that benefitAustralia and our allies.

JOURNALIST: Ministerhow confident are you that there will be good outcomes from that meeting?

MINISTER: Well that remains to be seen. As I also spokeabout in my speech, the President's meeting with Kim Jong-un was an unexpectedsummit – that was not something that six months ago anyone would havepredicted, and yet we must wait to see the outcomes of that meeting. If we arefor example able to see a denuclearised North Korea, if we can see stability onthe Korean Peninsula as a result of that summit it has clearly been worth it.

JOURNALIST: Is CraigKelly a fit and proper candidate for the Liberal Party? Does he embarrass youon the world stage? Does he embarrass the Australian Government?

JULIEBISHOP: No oneshould underestimate the pain and anguish that the families and loved ones ofthose killed aboard MH17 are feeling on the fourth anniversary of the downingof that plane. And no one should underestimate the determination of theAustralian Government to hold those responsible for the deaths of 298 people, including38 Australian citizens and residents, to account. We will continue to pursuejustice for those families. We have attributed state responsibility to Russiaand will continue to seek to negotiate with Russia over its role in thebringing down of MH17.

JOURNALIST: Do youthink it would have been in Australia's national interest, and the US nationalinterest, if President Trump had made a public rebuke of Russia's downing ofMH17 while in Helsinki?

JULIEBISHOP: If I weremeeting with President Putin I would have urged him to accept stateresponsibility for Russia's role in the downing of MH17. That's what I wouldhave done.

JOURNALIST: ShouldCraig Kelly be preselected again?

JULIEBISHOP: That's nota matter for me to determine, that's a matter for the New South Wales LiberalParty.

JOURNALIST: Should heapologise?

JULIEBISHOP: No oneshould underestimate the anguish and pain that the victims of MH17's familyfeel and I hope that Craig takes that into account.

JOURNALIST: Does BorisJohnson's resignation put you back a step in terms of dialogue with the UKaround Brexit and a Free Trade Agreement?

JULIEBISHOP: I've beenthe Foreign Minister of Australia for five years now and in that time I've metmany Foreign Secretaries and Foreign Ministers from different countries. Theseappointments do change from time to time. What is important is meeting with thenew occupant of the position, in this case Jeremy Hunt, and continuing topursue the opportunities and meeting the challenges that the United Kingdom andAustralia face. I'm very much looking forward to the upcoming Australia-UKMinisterial meeting. I thank Jeremy for taking over the schedule and agreeingto continue with the AUKMIN meeting, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

JOURNALIST: On BorisJohnson, President Trump said he thought he'd make a great Prime Minster. Whatdo you think of that comment and the idea of Boris as Prime Minister?

JULIEBISHOP: I'm sureBoris will continue to make a contribution to public life.

JOURNALIST: I justwant to ask two more. First; Donald Trump - there's some speculation that hecould visit Australia, perhaps at the end of the year, would you welcome that?And would you worry that the Government could be embarrassed by him sayingsomething about the political situation?

JULIEBISHOP: TheCoalition Government would always welcome a visit from the President of theUnited States, and I would look forward to a visit from the President. We havemany matters of mutual interest to discuss. The United States is our deepestand strongest defence and security ally. It's one of our major tradingpartners. We have much important business to discuss and I would welcome avisit from the US President.

JOURNALIST: Six monthsago you pointed out the obvious and said that if Britain stays within theEuropean Customs Union then Australia would be doing a free trade deal. Lastnight a proposal to ensure that Britain stays in the EU customs union failed byjust six votes. What did you make of that? And do you think there is any chanceof Australia doing a post-Brexit trade deal - or even of Brexit happening?

JULIEBISHOP: There's along way to go before Britain exits from the European Union and the terms andconditions upon which it does so. Last night's vote indicated that it is stilla very challenging and difficult issue but the conversations I've had withBritish Ministers indicate that while they know it's complex, it's challenging,and that there is a very long process ahead, they are confident that once Britainexits the European Union there will be opportunities for greater trade andinvestment with other nations when it's appropriate to do so. And Australiacertainly wants to be seen as a priority to the United Kingdom in that regard.

JOURNALIST: Is it hardto hold talks here at the moment? I mean the government seems to changeposition every couple of weeks.

JULIE BISHOP: Well I have a meeting lined up tomorrow with thenew Foreign Secretary and the Defence Secretary. I've had meetings with Ministershere this week. Of course they have Parliament sitting and I know that whenParliament is sitting you're always very busy and distracted. But I've beenmade welcome by a number of ministers and we have a very important strategicdiscussion coming up with the Australian-UK Ministerial forum on Thursday nightand Friday. Thank you.