Subjects: The barbaric attacks on Israel; the Prime Minister’s divisive Voice, Treaty, Truth proposal.
E&OE
SHARRI MARKSON:
Peter Dutton, thank you so much for your time today.
PETER DUTTON:
My pleasure Sharri.
SHARRI MARKSON:
What’s your reaction to what we’ve seen unfold in Israel over the past 48 hours?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Sharri, it’s just a reminder of the horrific circumstances that Israel lives in and is surrounded by, and the human loss of life is quite staggering.
As people have rightly said, this is Israel’s 9/11 moment and every Australian remembers where they were at the time of the 9/11 attacks in the United States, and the images of young women being dragged by their hair, forcing the driving of people into the desert and mowing down over 260 people, the people who have been taken hostage, the allegations of rape and the ill treatment of women otherwise is truly horrific. It’s a reminder of the fact that we need to continue our strong relationship, our strong friendship in support of the people of Israel at what is a very dark hour.
SHARRI MARKSON:
I mean, you speak about the horrors and the kidnapping also of children and babies, the slaughter of women and families. I mean, we haven’t seen anything this brutal since the ISIS beheadings. How should Israel respond to this, do you think, and how can Australia support it?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Sharri, they need to respond with whatever force is appropriate because they’re dealing with a very significant threat and it’s ongoing. There will be operations that are underway now to try and recover people, and that’s obviously going to take some time. The resecuring of borders, and I’ve said today that Australia should provide whatever support Israel requests and it should be made known to Israel by the Prime Minister that Australia is prepared to provide munitions and support, otherwise, as the Americans and others no doubt have.
But this is a very, very significant day and people will remember the strength of John Howard at the time when he stood up with George W. Bush in the aftermath of 9/11, and that’s exactly the same approach that our country should be taking now.
SHARRI MARKSON:
You speak about the Albanese Government’s response. What’s your view of Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s comment on Saturday evening that there should be ‘restraint’?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think it’s regrettable and I think no doubt she has a similar view. I know in a press conference today, she’s walked back from that language.
This is not the time for restraint and people who try to draw a parallel or argue equivalence between Israeli activity now in their retaliation for these strikes and the barbaric attacks that we’ve seen by Hamas, I mean, there is no comparison and it’s appalling. Even some of the reporting here through The Age and otherwise, some of the headlines, I think completely and utterly misrepresent the barbaric activity that’s taken place against Israel’s citizens, and we should be very clear about that.
So, I think we should be providing whatever support Israel needs because this is going to be a long and protracted event – there’s no doubt about that – and we need to make it very clear that we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the people of Israel.
SHARRI MARKSON:
We’ve seen groups in Lakemba, in Sydney, celebrating this. What should be the response to this celebration of such hatred, such inhumanity?
PETER DUTTON:
Well again, it should be condemned in the strongest possible terms and people who are out celebrating the rape, the abduction, the slaughter of women and children, I mean if people are inciting violence, then obviously the Australian Federal Police will have investigations underway at the moment, and I would lend every support to the government in coming down hard on those elements. It’s completely and utterly unacceptable.
SHARRI MARKSON:
There are reports out of The Wall Street Journal that Iranian security officials may have been behind this attack on Israel. Are you concerned about the fact that the United States recently gave Iran $6 billion? Do you think this was inappropriate and that the funding could have been used to fund terrorism?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think there’s a lot of intelligence, obviously, that’s missing at the moment and the agencies from around the world – but obviously starting with Israel – will be trying to put together the picture of exactly what has happened, what’s transpired, who’s conspired with whom, and some of it will be made public, other elements of it will be actionable. That’s the situation we are in at the moment.
I think the priority is – certainly for the Israeli forces no doubt – to recover those people wherever they can who have been taken hostage – if there are any survivors – this is a dreadful time for their families and for their loved ones, including here in Australia.
I think the other point of course Sharri, is the agencies here need to be doing all they can to ramp up the security and the support for Jewish schools, for places of worship because we know – and you’ve made reference to some actions here which are completely and utterly intolerable – but there will be those who seek to incite violence against people of Jewish faith, and that needs to be quashed before it starts. I hope the AFP and ASIO and others – I’m sure they are, they’re a very professional group of men and women – they will be acting to keep people safe in our country as well.
SHARRI MARKSON:
Mr Dutton, I know you’ve got to go catch a plane; just finally the Voice Referendum is on this weekend. Polling shows it’s on track to not just fail, but be crushed. Do you blame the Prime Minister for the model he chose that has divided the country?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Sharri, I mean the Prime Minister wants to believe that he’s Bob Hawke. The reality is that he’s not Bob Hawke, of course. But Bob Hawke, I can tell you if he made a mistake like this, he would stand up and take responsibility and apologise.
The Prime Minister spent $400 million of taxpayers money. That money could have been spent on 800 houses in Indigenous communities. He has divided the country, he’s pitched family member against family member, he’s pitched community against community, and on the weekend, I hope that people do make the effort to get out and vote because this would be the most detrimental change to our Constitution in our nation’s history.
We live in the best country in the world. We should be prepared to stand up and defend it, to make sure that our institutions are protected, and the proposal to insert a new chapter into the Constitution, deliberately keeping the detail from Australians, is without precedent, it’s reckless, and the Prime Minister should take full responsibility for his actions and he should apologise for it.
SHARRI MARKSON:
Mr Dutton, thank you very much for your time this evening.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks Sharri. Take care.
[ends]