September 30, 2024
RAY HADLEY: The shadow Minister of Home Affairs is Senator James Paterson. He's on the line. Senator, good morning to you.
JAMES PATERSON: Good morning Ray.
HADLEY: So a replica in Sydney yesterday, and I'll concentrate on Sydney where I am, of what happened on October 9 when we heard, That won't happen again, we won't let these people take over the streets. What happened yesterday? They took over the streets as they did on October 9th.
PATERSON: That's exactly right Ray. And I'm saying that Melbourne has had its Sydney Opera House moment, because we had dozens and dozens and dozens of men with the flags of a terrorist organisation chanting inflammatory slogans, not about Israel but about the Jewish community and in my view, inciting violence against the Australian Jewish community. And as you said, after what happened at the Sydney Opera House, we all said this should never happen again in Australia, we won't permit this to happen again in Australia. And yet it has, not just in Sydney but in Melbourne as well.
HADLEY: And now we got a statement this morning from the AFP. No one will be charged because no one broke the law.
PATERSON: Well, I'm not convinced that's the case. And frankly, the AFP should have been much more robust in enforcing the law. The Parliament in December last year unanimously passed new legislation that made it a crime to publicly display the symbol of a listed terrorist organisation. And we've seen it on the streets of our cities every weekend since then, whether it's Hamas logos, whether it's Hezbollah logos. And yet not one person has been charged and that is a failure. And really, I think this comes down to political leadership. Why hasn't the Prime Minister and the Minister for Home Affairs made their expectations to the police crystal clear? We expect you to enforce the law.
HADLEY: But the best he could do is worry. Before he went to the meeting, it's worrying. It's more than worrying. It's terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
PATERSON: It is. It's deeply disturbing for any Australian, but particularly distressing for members of the Jewish community for whom this is really directed at, this intimidation is directed at. I have had members of the Melbourne Jewish community saying to me that do not allow their children to go into the city on weekends anymore, because they fear what would happen to them if they did. I have members of the Jewish community in both Sydney and Melbourne telling me they're contemplating moving to Israel because they think they'll feel safer there, under attack from three terrorist organisations simultaneously, than they do in the streets of our cities and suburbs, and that is a disgrace.
HADLEY: Penny Wong has released a statement the last hour. We condemn any indication of support for a terrorist organisation such as Hezbollah. Forget about Hamas. They're also a terrorist organisation. Foreign Minister. It's not only threatening national security, but fuels fear and division in our community. Well, that's what I'm replicating here. There's fear in our community. There is fear. All of us, including every political leader, must stand together to reject terrorism and extremism. Now, we've had this, you know, paper weight, Tony Burke, I mean, I believe in his office in Canberra they keep the window shut in case the wind blows up, because he'd be thrown straight out of the window. He's that much of a light weight, saying, oh, we're going to check visas. I'd like to see someone deported, but I never will. And you know, I never will, James Paterson.
PATERSON: Exactly right. It's all well and good for Penny Wong or Tony Burke to talk tough, but how about they actually do something? How about they actually take action? It's no good just threatening to deport someone. Find people who were there, who were on visas, who breached the character provisions of the Migration Act. Cancel their visas and deport them. We don't want people like that in our country. It will not make our country stronger or safer or more harmonious.
HADLEY: My fear is this the anniversary of October 7th looming, what are they going to do in Melbourne? What will they do in Sydney? What will they do in other capital cities? What happens?
PATERSON: That's the fear I have as well, Ray. Because there are significant commemorations planned by the Jewish community at which there'll be political leaders and people from across the community to show their respect for those who were killed on the 7th October by Hamas in Israel. And I fear that there will be counter-protests. I fear that there will be disruptions. I fear that there'll be an attempt to hijack it to support the agenda of Hamas and to support the agenda of Hezbollah. And police cannot allow that to happen, even though they have failed this weekend. They cannot fail again.
HADLEY: I did a story just earlier which you may not have caught up with, because there's plenty happening here about Germany. Allowing a million immigrants in in 2015-2016. They've got a real problem with Syrians at the moment. And now a bloke has set fire to buildings and seriously injured, if not critically injured, 30 people, including eight children. And as a result of that, the German government is now saying it's looking at beefing up immigration laws, protecting its border and repelling people coming to their country illegally. I mean, the people here. We're remote, we're an island. We're in better shape than they are in Europe. Don't they get the message here? Don't they get the message here that we are bringing people to this country who may be a danger to all our safety.
PATERSON: Well, I wish they would get that message but judging by their performance in relation to the 3000 Gaza tourist visas, I don't think they have. It's all well and good to be a welcoming country. We're all very proud of that in Australia. But you have to do the checks. You have to make sure people don't pose a threat. And when they're leaving a war zone that's been controlled by a terrorist organisation for nearly 20 years, you have to be extra careful. And yet they weren't extra careful. They skipped the normal process. They handed out sight unseen, without interviews or identity checks, tourist visas and let people come to this country. And it's just emerged last week, they only referred them to ASIO after their visas were granted, not before. Well, there's no point in referring them to ASIO after the visa has been granted. They need to be referred before they are granted so they can't come into the country if they pose a threat.
HADLEY: Okay. Good to talk to you. Let’s hope we don't confront these sorts of things beyond October 7th, that we're confronted twice now in major Cities. I appreciate your time, Senator.
PATERSON: Thanks, Ray.
ENDS
