February 6, 2025
CLINTON MAYNARD: Well, there have been developments in Canberra today over the past hour or so through the Senate. Legislation has now passed which is providing mandatory minimum sentences for terrorism offences. Now, it's quite a dramatic development in Canberra because the Labor Party is very much opposed; their platform is opposed to mandatory sentences for anything. The fact that Albo has done a backflip is a positive sign. James Paterson is the Shadow Home Affairs Minister, was in the Senate for this legislation going through. Thank you for your time, James.
JAMES PATERSON: Good to be with you.
MAYNARD: I know the Coalition has been fighting hard for some time on this. How did you get it over the line?
PATERSON: Well, we shouldn't have to fight for it at all because I think it's been evident for weeks, if not months now, that we've got a totally out of control antisemitism, domestic terror crisis and that we needed to send a strong deterrence message to whoever is behind it that there will be very serious consequences if they're caught. And mandatory minimum sentences are a good way to do that. But ever since we've been calling for it, the Prime Minister has been dismissing the need for them, saying that he's got it in hand and got it under control. But finally, he's backflipped this week.
MAYNARD: The fact that it came to this point, that you feel the need to have a minimum sentence. Is that an indication that your side of politics has very little confidence in the judiciary to do the right thing?
PATERSON: It's more that I've got very little confidence that the people who are behind these crimes fear the consequences of their actions. They clearly have become emboldened. They clearly don't think that anything will happen to them if they are caught or they think they'll get away with it. And so it's really about sending a message to them that we will catch you. And when we do, you will go away for a long, long time. Unfortunately, we haven't had the Prime Minister leading us to this point. We've needed the Opposition Leader to lead us to get to this point.
MAYNARD: Now on that, the Opposition Leader, your boss, Peter Dutton, has been calling for an inquiry into the communication breakdown effectively between New South Wales and the AFP. What occurred with the caravan discovery of Dural. The fact that the New South Wales Premier was told, but Albo wasn't. Now, Mr. Albanese has been asked about that today, and he says Peter Dutton wants resources, all the resources of the AFP and the intelligence agencies, to stop doing what they're doing, chasing down the criminals, arresting them and putting them in the clink. Instead, he wants a political process. He says it's extraordinary that Peter Dutton thinks this is the way to go. How do you respond to that?
PATERSON: Well, if the Prime Minister doesn't want an inquiry, he could just clear this up for everyone. He could answer himself when he was briefed, and if he wasn't briefed, why he wasn't briefed and that would be the end of the matter. But I mean, let's think about this seriously. This is a thwarted mass casualty attack. If it had of proceeded. It would have been the worst terrorist attack in Australia's history. It would have changed our country forever. And it's a deeply shocking thing the Prime Minister may not have been briefed about that or perhaps he was briefed, but he just didn't take any action in response to that briefing, which is equally damning. And that's why I think he doesn't want to answer the question. He's the one who's been political here. He's embarrassed about telling the truth.
MAYNARD: Just from your understanding of the legislative process in Parliament, I've had a couple of listeners just sent us some text messages asking with the mandatory minimum sentences, these new laws, do they simply apply for crimes from today? Can they be backdated for attacks and crimes that have already happened?
PATERSON: That's a really good question. So, they apply to any acts that occur after Royal Assent. So when the Governor-General signs off the bill, if you remember from high school politics, and so effectively that happens within a couple of days after the bill passes. So it's not retrospective. It only applies to new acts, and so it puts people on notice. Do not do this, or there'll be serious consequences.
MAYNARD: James, just one last one on this one. The Teals, not all of them, but several of the Teals in the lower House voted against this legislation. Allegra Spender actually wants to go further, but the other deals seem to be opposed to it; what does it say about them?
PATERSON: Well, every Teal except Allegra Spender voted against these mandatory minimum sentences, and it shows they are not up to the leadership required to protect the community, to keep our country safe, to safeguard our national security. And in the case of some of the Teals like Zoe Daniel and Monique Ryan in Victoria, who represent significant Jewish communities, it shows they don't even stand with the communities they're supposed to represent. They won't even help protect them against people launching a domestic terrorism campaign.
MAYNARD: Good on you, James; well done on this one.
PATERSON: Thank you.
ENDS
