Subjects: Olympians’ Welcome Home event; Brisbane 2032; Labor’s visa and immigration policy shambles.
E&OE.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
I’ve got the Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, here with us now.
Pete, good to see you. Thanks so much.
PETER DUTTON:
Fantastic Pete.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
How were you able to get some work done over the last two and a half weeks?
PETER DUTTON:
Everyone’s getting some sleep patterns back into normality. A pretty amazing effort. We talked about it in Parliament yesterday, but the next generation of young kids who are enthused and who are inspired by this generation of athletes, they’ll go on to 2032. But their lives have been changed because they’ve now got a hero – whether it’s in the pool or on the track, wherever it might be – and that is a wonderful thing for our country.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Just on 2032, you’re a Queenslander, we’re both Queenslanders, from Brisbane. Even Sally Pearson came out yesterday, she was a bit worried about things, potentially looking like we might be embarrassed by the infrastructure that’s in place. We’ve still got eight years as a chance to turn things around, but, do you have any concerns about that?
PETER DUTTON:
Look, I think there’ll be a period of stability following the state election in October. I think the Government will have a mandate, obviously for four years, and I think there’ll be decisions made pretty quickly, and I hope that they go with Victoria Park…
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Yeah.
PETER DUTTON:
…I think that’s the legacy asset for Brisbane. An Olympic Games is an opportunity for a city to become an international – a truly international city – and you need that legacy. It’s not just about the opening and closing ceremonies of the games, but it’s about what is there for another generation.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
I mean, as I’ve mentioned before, QEII – I mean, the Broncos didn’t want that 20 years ago!
PETER DUTTON:
Look, the QEII is a great track, right? But you take your kids there on a Friday sports carnival. It’s not an asset that is fit for purpose. It doesn’t have the public transport infrastructure around it and there is a sensible conversation to be had. But, unfortunately the current State Government just hasn’t had that sensible conversation so far.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Did you have a highlight of these games?
PETER DUTTON:
I thought the Stingers…
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Yeah!
PETER DUTTON:
…Right at the end. When you watch their journey through and the penalty shoot-outs and, you know, they came close a few times to bowing out, but it was just a gutsy determination that they had. They got silver in the end, which, you know, they would have been disappointed by, but incredibly proud at the same time. So, yeah, huge opportunity.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Just while I’ve got you, Pete, before you go, and while it’s quiet, I do want to ask you about the security checks on Palestinians coming in from Gaza. Your thoughts on that this morning?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I just think every Australian would be shocked to think the Government’s bringing in people from a war zone, and that ASIO is not conducting checks and searches on these people. We have a database, particularly out of the US, which allows for biometric checks and to bring people out on paper documentation when you don’t have a regime there to check the births, deaths and marriages registers as you would normally have, coming out of another country – it is, I think, something the Prime Minister needs to answer because we’re living in a heightened security threat environment, and the Prime Minister needs to be upfront with the Australian public.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Shouldn’t everyone be screened by ASIO?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, if people are coming in from that war zone and we’re uncertain about identity or their allegiances – Hamas is a listed terrorist organization, they’ve just committed an atrocity against the Jewish people, the biggest attack on people of Jewish faith since the Holocaust – and that the Government wouldn’t be conducting checks? I don’t think people should be coming in from that war zone at all at the moment. It’s not prudent to do so, and I think it puts our national security at risk.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. That’s Peter Dutton, the Opposition Leader. Appreciate your time.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks Pete.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
I know you’re in demand. You’ve got other interviews to go and do but Peter, appreciate that.
PETER DUTTON:
Thank you. Pleasure.
[ends]