Subjects: The Prime Minister’s lack of leadership; release of foreign criminals from immigration detention into the community; the Government’s inadequate visa conditions bill; the barbaric attacks on Israel and the ramifications around Australia; call for National Cabinet to meet to condemn antisemitism in Australia.
E&OE
RAY HADLEY:
Peter Dutton, the Federal Opposition Leader, is on the line right now.
Peter, good morning.
PETER DUTTON:
Good morning Ray.
RAY HADLEY:
I just, during the news, was able to hear what you’d said to Parliament – and I haven’t gone into it in detail – but suffice to say you won’t be agreeing to this legislation put forward by the Government, based on what I heard.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we’re going to move some amendments to it, some pretty basic amendments that the Government tried to block us doing in the House of Representatives, but if we can’t get the amendments up, then we’ll still vote for the Bill because a little bit is better than nothing at all.
But I mean, what we’re aiming for is to get these people back into immigration detention, and we think the Government can do that through legislation and they’re refusing to do it. They’ve put in place this soft regime around some reporting requirements and there’s a five year penalty if you don’t meet the reporting requirements, but no court is going to send people to jail.
So, I think there should be mandatory minimum sentences for some of these murderers and rapists and paedophiles who don’t meet the conditions. But the Government, the Albanese Government won’t support any of that, so it’s a bit of a dog’s breakfast and they’ve obviously been drafting it – the solicitors have been drafting the Bill overnight – so there are all sorts of holes in it. But I think they’ve really botched this up.
RAY HADLEY:
Look, some of the things that they’ve put in that you want amended – just this one thing: if they breach the conditions, say they don’t report as they should every day and they breach it five days in a row, it’ll only count as one breach, not five breaches. I mean, that’s kindergarten stuff.
PETER DUTTON:
Of course it is, and I mean there are other amendments that we want in there, you know, paedophiles – first point is that these are non-citizens, right? We’re not talking about Australian citizens. They’re people of very bad character – and where there is a paedophile or a sex offender, we want to move an amendment that they can’t go within 150 metres of a school or childcare centre; well the Government opposes that.
We’ve said in relation to offenders who have committed murder, for example, that they can’t contact the victims families, or a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, somebody who has been raped, can’t be contacted by the offender. The Government is opposed to that amendment as well. It’s unbelievable.
RAY HADLEY:
And one of the things here, this monitoring – the bracelets on the ankle – they’re not mandatory, it’s at the discretion of the Minister. I mean, so in other words, we’ve got – you know, and I think you revealed that the number is now 84 today and eight more are imminently to be released – but you said, well, the simple fact of the matter here is why aren’t they all wearing bracelets? Why aren’t they all subject to a curfew? Why are we cherry picking? They’re all criminals.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, and there are 340 more that they think can be released as well. So, it doesn’t stop at the 84, and the interesting thing is – which we still can’t get a straight answer to – the Solicitor-General in his submission to the High Court spoke about 92 people, and so eight are still held within immigration detention; why can you hold the eight, but not the 92? They are all subject to the same judgement of the High Court and we can’t get any answer to that question either.
So, I think they have got a power to hold the 82, or now 84 and they’re refusing to do it. They were told by the High Court in June that the High Court had changed its mind or had problems. They should have been drafting legislation from then and again, we couldn’t get a straight answer on that this morning.
RAY HADLEY:
Okay.
You mentioned, you said 340 then, and I heard you say that. Now, I’d approached various people in Government and even your side of politics about a bloke called John Basikbasik who’s in Villawood. This is a West Papuan who’s been there for quite some time and is described as a murderer, a most violent man, a large man, who is a problematic, I guess, incarcerated person at Villawood.
Now, would he be among the 340 because he’s there on of course immigration detention as opposed to a jail sentence because he served his jail sentence as I believe it.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, he may well be. And if not, there are plenty with similar facts and similar histories of violence and offending against Australian citizens. I just can’t believe that the Prime Minister’s jumped on a plane and gone overseas again, when I think he should have stayed here to sort this mess out. The fact is I just don’t think the Prime Minister’s got a more important job than keeping Australians safe and he’s nowhere to be seen.
RAY HADLEY:
As soon as the Voice was determined, he was on a plane to the United States, back to China, back to the Cook Islands, he was here for a twinkling and now he’s back to the United States again. But surely, given the crisis we’re facing – and don’t forget, while we’re dealing with this, there’s a crisis for home owners, there’s a crisis for young people, with another increase on Melbourne Cup day of the interest rates.
I had some stuff that I dealt with last week, and I probably didn’t get to talk to you about it, but the Treasurer, the then Shadow Treasurer Mr Chalmers, was hammering Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg last year just before the election about the first of 13 increases. He said specifically, ‘a Government can control the way the Reserve Bank operates by their actions.’ So he was hammering them – and you I guess at the time – for that one increase. They’ve had 12 more since then, including last week.
Now, if I blame your mob for the first four after you lost office, I’ve got to blame the next eight on this Government, because Chalmers said himself that a Government can determine what the Reserve Bank does by their actions, and yet here we’ve had, under this Government, 12 interest rate increases, crippling people who are now paying in some cases $1,800 a month more for their mortgage. $1,800 a month! Where do they find that money from? Wages haven’t gone up by $1,800 a month. I’m sorry if I’m getting excited, but it’s just not right, Peter. It’s just not right!
PETER DUTTON:
Well, of course it’s not.
When you speak to the families who are in tears, they can’t pay their bills at the moment. The Government said that they had a response, the Prime Minister said he was going to address any cost of living pressures and they’ve had two budgets now. So, sure, you can blame the past Government for so long, but they’ve had two budgets to make decisions and the decisions they’ve made in the budgets have made a bad situation worse.
They’ve got a situation of their own making. People are – just not just homeowners either, Ray, I mean there are lots of small businesses now who are paying double digits for their overdraft, their wages have gone up, their input costs have gone up, under your friend C Bowen their energy costs keep going up – I don’t know how they can continue to cope with that.
You’ve got the Prime Minister jet setting around the world like there’s no tomorrow. I just think it sends exactly the wrong message when he should be here dealing with these problems and giving people assurance and the leadership that they require.
RAY HADLEY:
Yeah, look, just so I can get it clear, the 3rd of May last year – I just searched while you were talking through my documents here – and he said, ‘Scott Morrison takes all the credit, but when things get difficult, he takes none of the responsibility. He can’t have it both ways’. And this is after one interest rate increase by the Reserve Bank. One interest rate increase after, you know, it got down to historically low figures.
He said, ‘Governments have a role to play in easing cost of living pressures and in creating secure jobs and putting forward an upward pressure on wages. All Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg have done is a plan to get them through the next election’. So in other words, he’s saying there quite clearly that Government policy, while they can’t direct the Reserve Bank Governor or the Board of Directors to do what they may do, they can certainly make legislation and make decisions on behalf of our economies that will impact on that decision. Yet he takes no ownership of the 12, or let’s call it eight that have increased under his stewardship.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I mean that’s just a statement of fact. I think again, a lot of people, when they hear the Prime Minister say that he was following in Gough Whitlam’s footsteps in China, well, it’s obvious he’s following in his footsteps here in Australia as well because a lot of economic decisions that this Government is making, are pretty similar to the disasters that the Whitlam Government presided over.
I think the Government is making a series of decisions, particularly in the energy policy space, which are damaging the economy. If lights go out, if we get a situation where people – I met with some manufacturers last night, they basically say, ‘Look, we can’t invest in Australia, it’s too hard. The investment process and the environmental considerations and everything else that goes with it means that a project in America that takes five months to approve, takes five years here’, and they’re taking their capital and going elsewhere. They’ve just had enough of this Government.
I think, the other point to add Ray, is when the Government makes decisions in an inflationary environment, to put more money into the economy, that’s what drives inflation up and it’s what keeps it up for higher. This Government spent an extra $188 billion into the economy, and that’s a big part of the reason as to why the Reserve Bank is having to make the decisions that they’re making – that’s exactly the point that you’re making – and then inflation stays high because every part of the supply chain process, every part of manufacturing, every thing that you buy on the shelf involves electricity or gas.
All of those people, whether it’s the farmers, whether it’s the people who provide the packaging, whether it’s the transport truck owner, the cold room storage people, all of them are putting their prices up because they’re paying more for electricity and gas under this Government. That’s what feeds into inflation.
RAY HADLEY:
Look, I’ve just got to divert you away from something. I’ve just looked up at the Sky News and the Prime Minister has landed in the United States of America. You wouldn’t believe who was at the bottom of the bridge, the aerobridge to greet him: K-Rudd.
PETER DUTTON:
K-Rudd. All the cameras were there and K-Rudd’s there.
RAY HADLEY:
K-Rudd. A little bit of a hug. One of those half man hugs, you know when you shake hands with a bloke and give him a little touch on the shoulder.
PETER DUTTON:
He just held on for a little bit too long?
RAY HADLEY:
Well, no. I can’t convict him of that, I’d like to.
But you see, the reason why I looked up, I’ve said before, you’d be aware of a thing called – not that you’re a racing man, really – but the Hotham Handicap resulted in a triple dead heat. A long, long time ago – it was 1956: a triple dead heat. And I’ve said before that there was a dead heat between Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull as the worst two Prime Ministers since Federation, and then the last six months I’ve said, chiming in on the outside, with the speed of Burnbrae, is the most recent competitor: Anthony Albanese.
I’m prepared to say now, he may have just edged past Turnbull and Rudd in the Hotham Handicap of bad Prime Ministers. I think that he may just have edged past them. I know it’s a big call – Rudd was a shocker, your old mate Malcolm was probably as bad – but here he is looming up on the outside.
PETER DUTTON:
Almost coming into the home straight, we’re halfway through this race. He’s got 18 months to turn things around, but I don’t think they’re capable of it and they’re making some bad decisions.
The sad part is, on a serious note – as you pointed out before – it’s hurting people. And on your first issue we’re talking about, letting these criminals out, the most important thing here to remember is that somebody is going to fall victim to one of these people, likely more, and what does the Prime Minister say to those families or to that woman or that child? It’s avoidable, and I just can’t believe that they’ve made this decision.
The other point, of course Ray, is that the people smugglers will be hearing this as well, because if you’re stateless, if you’re from Afghanistan or Iran, for example, and you can’t be returned back to that country, then the message they’re hearing at the moment is that, you know, go through the court system and get three square meals a day and next thing you know, you’ll be living out in the community in a hotel room paid for by the taxpayer – even if you’ve committed crimes. It’s a joke.
RAY HADLEY:
Just one final thing, in relation to the Jewish community. I’ve been talking about this since October 8-9. We’ve got very prominent members of the Muslim community advocating or encouraging violence against Jewish people, and I do mean very prominent people.
I’ve mentioned Sonny Bill Williams here a number of times, a former prominent rugby league and rugby union player – unfortunately he’s employed by the same organisation as me and hasn’t been harnessed like others have been at different times over controversial matters, including gay marriage and the like – but my fear, and I stated this in concert with you, is that while I would never accuse these people of committing an act of terrorism, there are loose minded Muslim youth out there that could be encouraged to perform an act of terrorism based on the rantings of preachers at Bankstown, or of Sonny Bill Williams and other people.
Now, you’ve written to the PM to ask him to convene a National Cabinet on the growing risk of a potential attack, given the increase in anti-Semitism that we’ve seen since October 9 – two days after the Hamas torture and murder of people in Israel. Some people were surprised at that, but I’m not surprised. I’m really concerned about it, and obviously you are as well.
PETER DUTTON:
I truly am, Ray, and like you, I’ve spoken to a lot of the Jewish leaders here in Australia, and I addressed the gathering of about 10,000 people in Dover Heights. You can see in the eyes the fear in these people and the rally at the Harbour Bridge (and the Opera House) and rallies otherwise, people going into Caulfield and into Jewish communities and suburbs otherwise, trying to provoke some of the Jewish community members there into confrontation, having the synagogue evacuated – it just doesn’t have any place in our society.
The images of people in Israel on the October 7 attacks, cowering in cupboards and being dragged out into the streets, kids being taken from their parents – that is the Holocaust. Six million people lost their lives during the course of that horrible period of history. I never thought it would be repeated, but it has been on a much smaller scale, thank God.
The fact is that when they preach, you know, ‘F the Jews’ or ‘gas the Jews’ or ‘from the river to the sea, driving the Jews into the sea’, they are encouraging those young people and those minds that can be easily influenced to perform an act of violence. That’s why it needs to be called out and condemned.
It’s why I think, again, another reason the Prime Minister shouldn’t have overseas, but convene the National Cabinet to bring the Premiers and the Police Commissioners together to work out what they can send by way of a strong message and response to stop something terrible from happening.
RAY HADLEY:
Okay, we’ll talk again next week.
Thanks for your time.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks, Ray. See you mate.
[ends]