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April 29, 2025
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KIERAN GILBERT:
Let's go live to the Coalition Campaign Spokesman, James Paterson. Senator, thanks for your time. You heard there what Georgie has reported, Monique Ryan referring it to the AEC and the Department of Parliamentary Services. Do you welcome that?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well it's certainly welcome that the AEC has said that they have referred it to the relevant agencies in the Electoral Assurance Integrity Task Force which includes ASIO and the Australian Federal Police, because foreign interference is a serious crime and Australian elections must be decided by Australians only, not the proxies or arms of foreign authoritarian governments. But I have to say, Kieran, I thought it was truly bizarre that Monique Ryan has said she's referred herself, among other things, to the Department of Parliamentary Services. The Department of Parliamentary Services has no role in dealing with countering foreign interference. It has no role in enforcing the Electoral Act. It is an administrative arm of the parliament which serves members of parliament and makes sure they have access to emails, and offices, and phones, and other things like that. So, why Monique Ryan thought that was an appropriate or relevant thing to do is beyond me.
KIERAN GILBERT:
But as you say, the AEC is the key one, and then involving other agencies, are you worried about what you heard from those volunteers?
JAMES PATERSON:
I am worried, Kieran, because on face value, what they have described is an organisation which is part of the United Front Network of the Chinese Communist Party, which Xi Jinping himself has described as the magic weapon of the CCP, and it's an overseas influence arm on behalf of the China's government. Those people confess to being directed to volunteering on a Monique's campaign. So if that is proven, if that is confirmed, it seems like a case of foreign interference. And the Parliament, on a bipartisan basis, seven years ago criminalised foreign interference in our elections at the federal level. And we must make sure that elections are decided by Australian citizens, not by a foreign government interfering in our elections.
KIERAN GILBERT:
And so can you give us a sense of, I mean, obviously you've been on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence, you've been advised of some of the information, maybe not privy to all of us, as to how thorough these attempts are. This, you know, on the surface of it, a couple of volunteers, it sounds a little harmless, but when you dig a bit deeper and how broad this impact is, it needs to be stamped out, doesn't it?
JAMES PATERSON:
It's very serious, Kieran, and what I can point to is information that's already on the public record. So the ASIO Director-General, Mike Burgess, has said that foreign interference and espionage is our principal security concern. It sits alongside terrorism as the number one problem that ASIO is focused on. I can say that the predominant source of foreign interference and espionage in Australia is the Chinese Communist Party, and that its attempts to interfere in our democracy are higher now than they ever have been in our history, even at the height of the Cold War, foreign interference and espionage is a greater problem for Australia. And it's a problem because if we wake up one day and find out that our elections were decided by external parties and not Australians, well then we've lost something fundamental about us. We cease to be a sovereign liberal democracy, and we can't permit that to happen.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Do candidates need to do more as well? Is it incumbent upon those that run for Parliament to be vigilant? Because, as you allude to, it's something that we treasure in this country. It's not something that we can afford to take lightly. The beauty and the value of our democracy and underpinning that, the AEC and its role.
JAMES PATERSON:
Absolutely. I think there's a special obligation on the Prime Minister and senior ministers who have access to our intelligence agencies and can have people that they meet with vetted by those agencies or advised by those agencies whether they're appropriate to associate with. I think they bear the highest burden. The next highest burden applies to all members of Parliament who must be discerning about our engagements with the community and must be sceptical about people who might seek to have other motivations in engaging with. And then of course candidates. Candidates themselves don't have the same access to resources that members of parliament have, but they should consult their political party or political organisation that supports them to make sure that they are taking reasonable steps to limit the risk of foreign interference in their campaigns.
KIERAN GILBERT:
I want to ask you quickly on other things, we're going to cross the live to Ottawa in a moment, but we've seen the Canadian Liberal Party have a thumping win in large part because of the Trump effect. Are you worried that the Trump impact is hurting your own attempts in the centre-right party to win this coming weekend in the federal election here?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, it has certainly had a dramatic effect in the Canadian election. It was only a few months ago that Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative Party Leader, was 20 points ahead of the Canadian Liberal Party, the centre-left party in Canada, in the polls. Now, there was also a change of leader to a new leader, Mark Carney, for the Canadian Liberals, and that also would have had an effect. But I think there's no doubt that the Trump effect, and in particular the tariffs applied to Canada, had a devastating impact on the Conservative campaign. As to the effect it'll have here, look, we'll find out on Saturday night, on election night here, but what I would say is that this election here in Australia is not about any foreign government or any foreign political leader, it's about whether you think Anthony Albanese deserves another three years, it is about whether he will be a better Prime Minister in his second term than he has been in his first term, and I'm doubtful about that, or whether you'd prefer to get Australia back on track with a strong leader in Peter Dutton who will give people instant financial relief in terms of $14 off every tank, $1,200 off your tax, and a plan to get the cost of living under control.
KIERAN GILBERT:
James Paterson, appreciate it, we'll know this weekend.
ENDS