|
February 5, 2025
.png)
SHARRI MARKSON: Welcome back. Let's return to the breaking news that I mentioned at the start of the show that the Albanese government has done a massive backflip. They said that they opposed Peter Dutton's idea for mandatory minimum sentences. So, this is a minimum jail term for those who commit antisemitic attacks or terror offences. Albanese opposed it. And now, in breaking news tonight, Tony Burke is introducing that legislation to the House. Let's bring in now Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson. James, what's your reaction to this capitulation by Labor?
JAMES PATERSON: Well, capitulation is the only way to describe it, Sharri. A total and utter capitulation. It was only two days ago that senior Albanese government Ministers were publicly dismissing the idea of the need for mandatory minimum sentences. And in fact, on Tuesday in the Senate, they voted against a motion that I moved to call for the introduction of mandatory minimum sentences. This is another example of Peter Dutton leading, of seeing the problems in our country, of identifying the solutions and calling for them and pressuring the Albanese government into very reluctantly acting to address them. It's been very clear in this country since this antisemitism crisis has become a terrorism crisis and got out of control under Anthony Albanese’s watch, that we needed strong action to send a strong signal to deter people who are responsible for these attacks and that only mandatory minimum sentences would be sufficient to achieve that. But after Peter Dutton and I announced that we would introduce them on the 20th of January, the Prime Minister dismissed the idea as being a distraction and unnecessary.
MARKSON: Look, I also want to ask you about the biggest news of the day, right around the world, Trump's stunning plan to fix the Gaza Strip. Let's have a quick look at what else Trump had to say on this today.
[CLIP START]
DONALD TRUMP: Do something different. Just can't go back. If you go back, it's going to end up the same way it has for 100 years. I'm hopeful that this cease fire could be the beginning of a larger and more enduring peace that will end the bloodshed and killing once and for all. With the same goal in mind, my administration has been moving quickly to restore trust in the alliance and rebuild American strength throughout the region.
[CLIP ENDS]
MARKSON: James, Trump is right, isn't he? He says we can't go back. It'll be another hundred year cycle of bloodshed and terrorism. Isn't that right?
PATERSON: Well, there's no question, Sharri, that the status quo has been a disaster for the Palestinians and a disaster for Israelis, and there's no positive future for either if Hamas remains in charge in Gaza. And very sadly, they do appear to be regaining control in Gaza since the ceasefire was put into effect. And so we do need to think about the best way to resolve that and ensure a peaceful future for both the people of the region. It's not our policy, as you know, to go down this path. We have a two state solution that we support and have supported for a long time in this country. It's actually the Labor Party that's walked away from that and proposes to unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state without the agreement of the Israeli government and without any peace negotiations - we don't think that's the right approach.
MARKSON: We haven't seen the details of Trump's plan yet. I had Sharon Haskel, she is the deputy foreign affairs minister for Israel. She was on earlier. She said we are still to see the details in the coming weeks. But do you agree with the principle that there does need to be a new external governing body in Gaza?
PATERSON: Well, the rebuilding project in Gaza is going to be an enormous task, and it will need an international coalition of states, particularly those from the region. We do want to see leadership from Arab states in the region recognising their responsibility and interest in this issue. Of course, Israel will have to be satisfied with those arrangements, and American leadership will be absolutely essential to getting this done because what we should hope to see out of this is peace and security for the people of Israel and peace and security for the people of Gaza and the Palestinian people. And it is not going to happen just by letting it continue, as it has over the last 20 years under Hamas's terrible rule in that region.
MARKSON: No, absolutely. Look in Question Time today it was brutal for the Prime Minister. The Coalition grilled him over the explosives-filled caravan. Why didn't he know about this? Have a look.
[CLIP START]
PETER DUTTON: The Prime Minister has been embarrassed because he wasn't advised by the police because they were worried about him leaking the information ahead of any action by the police.
SUSSAN LEY: When was the Prime Minister first informed of the planned mass casualty terror attack against Sydney's Jewish community?
MICHAEL SUKKAR: The Prime Minister is studiously avoiding answering the question if he doesn't want to be relevant to the question. He can sit down.
[CLIP ENDS]
MARKSON: James, how concerned are you that the Prime Minister evidently wasn't told about a potential mass casualty event potentially for seven days?
PATERSON: Sharri, if that turns out to be the case, that will be a travesty and a shocking breakdown of our national security architecture under the Prime Minister's watch. How he is allowed to get it to be so bad that our police and intelligence agencies don't feel compelled to bring news like this to him urgently, to inform him so that he can take decisive action to protect our country is a real indictment on his leadership. He should have been driving this from the beginning. They should have been rolling National Security Committee of Cabinet meetings. He should have been demanding answers from our police and intelligence agencies, and they should have been keeping him in the loop because they knew he would want to know about what was going on. And it speaks to his leadership that that clearly appears not to be happening.
MARKSON: Yes, it is beyond comprehension how, if it would have been executed, a terror attack that would have had a 40 meter blast wave, and yet the Prime Minister didn't know about it. There almost should be an inquiry into what has gone on here, because this is a major failure of national security. It's a major failure to protect Australian citizens.
PATERSON: That's exactly right.
MARKSON: Do you think there should be an inquiry?
PATERSON: I strongly support an independent inquiry by an eminent national security expert to get to the bottom of why the Prime Minister didn't know or when he did know and what he did about it.
MARKSON: All right, James Paterson, really appreciate your time. Thank you so much.
ENDS
