E&OE.
[Start of recording]
SHARRI MARKSON:
Peter, you’ve just walked through Adass Synagogue, I also had a walk through this morning. It’s just devastating to see how badly it’s been destroyed.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I hope every Australian looks at those images and is just ashamed of the anti-Semitism that has taken hold in our country, and we need strong leadership so that people can hear the very clear message that we have no tolerance for these sorts of terrorist attacks. To see the half burnt books, scriptures, and the devastation to a place that otherwise is peaceful and allows people to practice their faith and to share each other’s company. To be disrupted in that way is a horrible thing to see.
SHARRI MARKSON:
It’s quite emotional seeing it, isn’t it?
PETER DUTTON:
It is, actually, yes. I think when you see – and it’s not just the site, it’s the smell as well, the stench of the fire and you can see where people, young children, others, had been sitting.
It was entirely predictable that – as you’ve reported to your great credit – on our university campuses and in our streets, people have been crossing red lines for the last 13 months. They’ve acted with gross indecency, and now of course, it’s culminated in this terrorist attack, and nobody should be surprised by that. We need to work out how we can quickly resolve these issues so that the next terrorist attack doesn’t take place.
[Break in recording]
SHARRI MARKSON:
Peter, you’ve been here, you’ve shown the leadership to actually come and visit. The Prime Minister hasn’t, and we’ve just found out, it’s just been reported, that he took time out to play tennis instead of dealing with this issue over the weekend. What’s your response to the fact that he went and played tennis literally while a synagogue was burning?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think it’s really a story of the last 13 months, and when we saw those horrible circumstances and protests on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, that was really the time when the Prime Minister had to step up because that would have sent a clear message that we had no tolerance for the anti-Semitic conduct and the blatant racism that was on display that night. But it’s just compounded since then.
So, as I say, nobody should be surprised that it’s culminated in a terrorist event, and I think the Prime Minister can tell you about his own position and why the Government’s taken a position which I think is incomprehensible to most right thinking Australians.
SHARRI MARKSON:
Do you think he should come visit?
PETER DUTTON:
I think he should come visit. I think it would be the respectful thing to do.
[ends]