Subjects: Malaysia Airlines flight bomb scare; the Prime Minister’s divisive Voice; the Coalition’s plan to improve sporting infrastructure.
E&OE
ALEX CULLEN:
Let’s get more on that incident at Sydney Airport. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton joins us right now from Melbourne.
SARAH ABO:
Good morning Peter. Thank you for joining us this morning.
ALEX CULLEN:
‘Morning Peter.
SARAH ABO:
Now, a bomb threat on a passenger jet outbound from Sydney – I mean you can only imagine the terror those on board would have felt – and I guess it’s left everyone sort of asking how an incident like this can happen in this day and age and why there aren’t better checks and balances in place?
PETER DUTTON:
‘Morning Sarah. ‘Morning Alex.
Look, I think it’s a real reminder that the ideology is still out there, the threat is still there, and the police and the intelligence agencies do their work 24/7 to keep us safe. It’s hard to imagine how somebody could get a device through the level of scanning that now applies to airport travel, but you never know, and you would be petrified if you’re on that plane.
The staff, obviously, I mean they remained calm and really collected through the course of it, which I’m sure was reassuring to the passengers as well; but it’s just a reminder of the threat that we constantly live with, and fortunately, we haven’t seen any terrorist incidents for a long time and we hope and pray that’s the case, but it’s ever enduring and we need to be very mindful of it.
ALEX CULLEN:
Are we calling this a terror incident, Peter?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think we’ll see what the police investigation says, but I’ve watched the video from one of the passengers – which I think has been circulating online – and you know, there are some pretty disturbing statements from the individual. Authorities will make their own conclusions, but I think it’s pretty obvious to most who were on board and some of the eyewitness accounts, it’s pretty concerning.
So, let’s hope the police get to the bottom of the motivation, the investigation, but for those people on board and for the crew on board, I’d say it was a restless night last night.
ALEX CULLEN:
Having said all that, I mean the plane left, it was turned around somewhere over north western New South Wales, it lands back on the tarmac at 3:47pm. When that plane landed, there’s a three hour siege on the ground. Why do we think it took so long for security to get there and sort that situation out?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Alex, I suspect the authorities are looking at the likely threat. Do they escalate it if they go on board? I don’t know whether negotiations were part of that, but obviously it was kept fairly quiet for a period of time and the authorities make those judgements. They train for these sorts of incidents, they’re the professionals at it, and perhaps they were speaking to people on board. Maybe the advice back from the crew was that they thought they could contain the situation and deal with it peacefully, without escalating it. It’s difficult to know. I guess you second guess until we hear all the details and facts.
SARAH ABO:
Yeah. All right. Well, let’s move on now. Qantas has come out in support of the ‘yes’ campaign vocally yesterday at a time new polling shows support for both Anthony Albanese and the Voice is falling. Meanwhile, the PM has admitted he prefers you, Peter Dutton, over Scott Morrison. Seems like he might not be the only one…
PETER DUTTON:
I think that’s referred to as the kiss of death. So, we’ll see. I’m sure he’s being nice.
Look, I’ve got a good relationship with the PM. I think he’s way off the pace in terms of the Voice. I think millions of Australians just want to be treated like adults, they want the information from their Prime Minister, and the PM has taken a deliberate decision not to supply the information about the Voice and answer the questions that are validly being asked. In that circumstance I think people become suspicious and people know that this is the biggest change that’s proposed to our Constitution – our nation’s rule book, since it was formed at Federation.
So, I understand the scepticism that’s out there. Everybody wants a better outcome for Indigenous Australians, but I think people are really worried about a new layer of bureaucracy and whether it would give the practical outcomes in Indigenous communities that we all really want.
ALEX CULLEN:
There is a groundswell out there that if you vote ‘no’, you are racist. Well, what’s your response to that?
PETER DUTTON:
I just think it’s a complete nonsense, Alex. I mean you look at many people within the Indigenous community who’ve said that they’re not supporting it. There are many people who can look at it and say, ‘look, you know, I want nothing more than to see a better outcome for those kids in Alice Springs or Tennant Creek, but I’m worried about putting it in the Constitution’ – because as we saw in WA, once it’s in the Constitution, you can’t change it. If it’s a law in Parliament, you can amend it, you can abolish it, you can beef it up, but once it goes into the Constitution, there’s no law that the Parliament can pass that can undo that. So you need to get it right in the first place.
We haven’t had a constitutional convention, there hasn’t been reasonable answers to the questions that are being asked of the PM, and I think there’s enough doubt out there that people can reasonably form a judgement to vote ‘no’.
Now, if people decide to vote ‘yes’, I respect that, I mean, that’s their decision. I think it would have a really significant impact, and not for the better, on our country and I think there are better ways that we can help people in Indigenous communities.
SARAH ABO:
Well, something we can all agree on as well Peter Dutton, is of course our support for the Matildas. They’re going gangbusters at the moment. Now are you on the public holiday bandwagon?
PETER DUTTON:
I’m going to be on the road, so I’ll be – it was actually a public holiday at home yesterday – but we were in Melbourne here today and off to Sydney later today, so…
SARAH ABO:
So, public holiday – yes or no?
ALEX CULLEN:
Come on Peter, make it happen. Public holiday?
PETER DUTTON:
No, no. We keep working. So, in terms of the public holiday, no, I’m not supportive of it because it’s a $2 billion cost to the economy and it’s at a time when small business I don’t think can afford it.
The better idea is what we’ve proposed today, and that is money to provide support to increase female participation, there are lots of young girls who are, you know, getting changed in car parks and going to the boys toilets, or the change rooms at sporting clubs. It’s just not good enough.
I think the lasting legacy to do justice to the work of the Matildas, the Ashes team who just had great success in the UK, and also the Diamonds, I think the enduring legacy and a smarter way to spend that money would be to upgrade the change rooms and increase participation.
It’s good for health, it’s good for mental health, it’s good for participation, and also it’ll help keep downward pressure for families who otherwise will have to pay levies and increase fees at their local sporting clubs to pay for these facilities.
SARAH ABO:
Yeah. All right Peter. Thanks so much for your insight. Appreciate it today.
ALEX CULLEN:
Thanks Peter.
[ends]