Subjects: Labor’s visa shambles and hypocrisy; the Prime Minister’s weak leadership; the Coalition; K-Rudd’s taxpayer funded round the world spending spree; Kevin Walters and his service to the Brisbane Broncos; Brisbane Lions AFL premiership win.
E&OE.
PETER FEGAN:
Good morning. Happy Monday to you.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has warned he will consider cancelling the visas of anyone inciting ‘discord’ in Australia, after protesters displayed support for Hezbollah over the weekend. Protesters in Sydney and Melbourne, with some carrying pictures of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as they block traffic. Nasrallah was killed on Friday in Israeli strikes on Hezbollah’s central headquarters in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
I’d like to welcome to the 4BC Breakfast programme, the Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
Opposition Leader, good morning to you.
PETER DUTTON:
Good morning Peter. Very nice to be on the show and congratulations mate. A big week for Brisbane – we win the Premiership and you’re on Breakfast. So great outcome, congratulations.
PETER FEGAN:
Thank you very much. Really appreciate it.
Is it hypocritical now that Tony Burke will consider this only after the Government was being criticised by you, but then of course, they were turning around criticising you of being the bad guy, criticising you for being racist, a bigot, for questioning this whole process about these visas? All of a sudden Tony Burke says, ‘well, actually, maybe Peter Dutton was right’.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Peter, it’s really just about what’s going to keep Australians safe. I really worry that we’re moving into a very precarious period now. There will be a lot of anger within the community. ASIO and the Australian Federal Police will have their hands full. I think that Tony Burke talking about cancelling visas is one thing – this Government does a lot of talking and not much action.
We’ve got Jewish schools where we’ve got armed guards out the front of, there are people who are living in the Jewish community in fear and there is an absolute outrage in relation to the glorification of a terrorist leader, which surely must be against the Australian law; and if it’s not, the Parliament should be recalled to pass a law that prohibits that from happening.
Now, of course, the laws do provide for an offence in that regard, and the law should be enforced. I find it completely unacceptable that the Government wouldn’t be arresting people already, or cancelling visas of people who are glorifying Hezbollah and Hamas and others. They have no place in our country. We are the greatest country in the world and we shouldn’t be afraid to defend and protect it. If Tony Burke continues to talk a big game, that’s one thing, but he needs to follow through with it.
PETER FEGAN:
Do you still maintain that currently Australia shouldn’t be accepting any refugees from Gaza? Because I think it’s safe to say that most Australians would agree that, yes, we do have a level of responsibility, but the vetting process needs to be more stringent than just a holiday visa.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Peter, no country is taking people from Gaza at the moment – not Syria, not UAE, there’s nobody in Europe taking people out of Gaza, certainly not to any great extent. What is Australia doing here? We can’t verify people’s identity documents because there’s not a Government in place. So, the Government bringing in people without the ASIO checks, which, despite the Prime Minister’s assurances, we now know that ASIO didn’t conduct checks until after people had arrived. People in their hundreds now have claim protection, which means that they will be on a pathway to Australian citizenship.
ASIO and the Australian Federal Police, honestly, have got enough on their books at the moment without the Government bringing people in who we don’t know enough about. The vast majority of them might be good people, but we don’t know that, and the Government can’t give an assurance.
The fact that we’ve got people out marching on the street at the moment holding up photos of a terrorist leader. I mean, imagine the outrage if there were photos being held up of somebody like Osama bin Laden or Adolf Hitler. These people are responsible for hundreds, if not thousands of people being killed. Hezbollah is a listed terrorist organisation in our country. If we’ve got people here who think that that organisation is okay and they’re saddened by the death of this terrorist, if they’re on a visa, they should be deported because if we knew about that when they made their visa application, they wouldn’t get a visa to come here in the first place.
PETER FEGAN:
It’s interesting because, you know, all this time, so many people criticised the Coalition, so many people criticised your personal position on it, then all of a sudden, look what happens.
PETER DUTTON:
Oh look, I mean, they carry on with being racist and the rest of it. I mean it’s just so absurdly ridiculous, it’s laughable. So you can forget about that, but I really become a little dismayed when, I do think the risk of an event here in Australia has escalated. I think it’s evidenced by the fact that we’ve got people who are glorifying and see as a martyr, somebody who has been responsible for countless deaths. It’s just inconsistent with Australian values. The law is there for people to have their visas cancelled, and the law is there for people to be deported. I just don’t understand why the Prime Minister can’t show the leadership that our country requires.
We have to show, what I think is a very strong hand here, because if we don’t and as we’ve seen over recent months, the Prime Minister’s allowed these protests to continue on for months at university campuses, and on weekends and flying the Hamas flag, etc., etc.. The Prime Minister, I think, sent very clear message that it’s okay, that some anti-Semitism is okay. It has no place in our society whatsoever.
I think the Government needs to get serious here and start deporting a few people to send a very clear message that if you’re in Australia, you abide by our laws, you live by our values, and if not, then go and live somewhere else. That’s fine by us.
PETER FEGAN:
Let’s move on to another issue. There’s reports this morning in Nine newspapers. I find this quite interesting. Peta Credlin and Tony Abbott, do they have too much pull over the Coalition? Is that the case, Peter Dutton?
PETER DUTTON:
Again, I mean, I think James Massola is a very good journalist, but he never contacted me. He spoke to my office, and my office gave him some detail, which I’m not sure really made it into the story, but it’s not a credible story.
I’ve got a very good friendship with both Peta Credlin and Tony Abbott, but I wouldn’t have spoken to Peta Credlin twice this year. So sometimes, I think some of these journalists fill in the blanks and it’s not a credible story.
I’m very proud of my friendship with Tony and Peta and Brian and others. But I make up my own decisions and I think I’ve demonstrated that I’m happy to listen to a lot of people, but in the end, you’ve got to make the decisions that you believe are in our country’s best interests.
PETER FEGAN:
Kevin Rudd’s spending is back in the spotlight, and this time it’s not for lavish drag queen parties. It’s for a $150,000 travel bill, and fancy Kevin Rudd being our representative to the world.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Peter, again, I just think the Prime Minister’s made another bad decision, yet another bad decision. I think the message needs to be sent to Kevin Rudd that his spending needs to be in check, and he needs to make sure that it’s reasonable. And at the moment, I just think clearly it’s not.
We want our country to be well represented, no qualm with that whatsoever, but we need to be serious here – I mean Kevin Rudd flying off to see Julian Assange and bringing drag queens in and all the rest of it. People work hard for their money, and at the moment, they’re working hard for their money and they’re going backwards under this Government, which is why you get a lot of people who are dismayed when they see these sort of stories.
PETER FEGAN:
If you are to become Prime Minister, will he be looking for a new job?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, Kevin Rudd’s a former Prime Minister, so we owe him that respect. He’s also representing our country, and I think that depends on the Administration in the US at the time and the job that the Ambassador’s doing. We support him being in that role and representing our country, but I think it comes with a special responsibility, particularly around expenditure.
PETER FEGAN:
It’s been a great weekend to celebrate Brisbane, the Brisbane Lions with a fantastic victory – I’ll cover that off in just a moment. Before I let you go, though, and before we do quickly chat about the Lions, I want to get your thoughts on Kevin Walters. I think it was a sad state of affairs that the Broncos announced his, what they’re calling a ‘mutual agreement’. To me, it looks like a sacking. I’ll miss Kevin Walters, he’s a club legend. I know that you’re a Broncos tragic like I am. Was it sad to see Kevvie go?
PETER DUTTON:
Yeah look, I think it’s always sad to see those legends go. In the era that we grew up in, Kevvie Walters was a legend on the field, and he’s done a great service for his club.
I think the dignified way that he’s conducting himself now shows his decency. The club obviously has had a tough season, and in the end, decisions had to be made about what’s in the club’s best interests. That seems to be the decision that’s been taken, and I see the reports this morning about Alfie Langer as well. But I think Kevin Walters will always be held in high regard by every Broncos supporter for what he’s done, on and off the field for the club, and you’d only wish him well in the next stage of his career.
PETER FEGAN:
The Brisbane Lions – how good? What a great celebration of this great city. Did you watch the game?
PETER DUTTON:
Yeah, I was down in Melbourne for the game, so I was lucky enough to be there. It was pretty nail biting in that first quarter, and I thought kicking was going to be a problem again, but look they did well, and to win emphatically like they did, is a great credit.
I mean Chris Fagan, for what he’s been through and the leadership that he’s provided at the club, and Greg Swann and the rest of the team there, it’s a great culture that they have, and I think we should be very proud of what the Lions have achieved after a long period and a disappointing final season last year. But they got there this year and you see those young kids who are inspired by the athletes. I just think that participation in sport’s a wonderful thing. So, whatever code, whatever sport, to see kids involved is great.
PETER FEGAN:
Peter Dutton, we appreciate your time this morning.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks Peter, take care mate.
[ends]