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April 2, 2025
Transcript – Sky News Sharri
2 April 2025
E&OE
SHARRI MARKSON:
Let's turn to the news now that a freed immigration detainee who was this weekend shot by police in an incident in Melbourne's south-east had allegedly breached his visa conditions and court orders 26 times. The Herald reports that the 33 year old is one of more than 200 former detainees released following the High Court ruling in November 2023. To discuss this and more, let's bring in Shadow Home Affairs Minister and Coalition Campaign Spokesman James Paterson. James, great to see you again. Look, this detainee is alleged to have chased police with a metal pole. He was eventually shot. What should happen to the 200 or so released detainees?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, in breaking news, Sharri, we're up to 300 released detainees who the Labor Party let out of detention following the High Court's decision. Of those 300, more than 100 of them have committed new offences in the community since they were released, including, allegedly, this person that you talked about. What's most shocking about the fact that he's accused of 26 visa breaches and other court order breaches is that the parliament was supposed to have legislated mandatory minimum sentences of one year for a single visa breach, and yet that mandatory minimum sentence has not applied even on one occasion to this person. And why not? Well, the Department of Home Affairs admitted to me in Senate estimates last week that the Albanese government stuffed up the drafting and left the discretion of these so-called mandatory minimum sentences with judges who are not applying them. And so the whole reason this person was even free in the community comes down to another stuff up on community safety by the Anthony Albanese Labor Government.
SHARRI MARKSON:
It's been a debacle right from the very start and has on several occasions now seriously jeopardised the community. James, I spoke earlier in the show about the news that Beijing is endorsing Albanese. What does this say to you that a dictatorship is backing the current prime minister?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, speaking only for myself, Sharri, I would be uncomfortable if my views or my political position was endorsed by the propaganda arm of a foreign authoritarian government, and I would want to rapidly distance myself from that, and I'd be questioning what is it I had done and what is that I had said that had led to me being praised in a platform like that or a newspaper like that. It's really a question for Anthony Albanese to answer tomorrow. Is he comfortable with this endorsement? Has he reflected on the things that he has said and why it would have led to this endorsement? The particular thing that was prominently endorsed in the Global Times was his observation that the Chinese scientific research vessel in our territorial waters was only doing to us what we did to China. But of course that's not true, we don't do that, we don't enter China's territorial waters, we do not have research vessels like these, we are not mapping the seabed off the coast of Hainan Island or any other part of China, and so it was a baseless comparison endorsed by a foreign government propaganda arm.
SHARRI MARKSON:
Yeah, I think that was so concerning as well, and as you say, there's a big difference between freedom of navigation exercises in international waters that are crucial for global trade and what's clearly Australian territorial waters. But you know, are you concerned or how concerned are you about what information this Chinese vessel and others like it might be collecting relating to our cables and other information they might have picked up?
JAMES PATERSON:
I'm concerned because we don't know. We don't know why this research vessel has taken the particular route that it has chosen, but it is not the most direct route for it to return to its home port from where it was off the coast of New Zealand. It's an unusual route. It does coincide with one of our significant internet cables, and it is puzzling why it would choose to go this way. I'm also concerned because the Prime Minister is not across the details. He said that the boat was being monitored by the Australian Defence Force when it turned out it was in fact being monitored by Border Force. That's a pretty big stuff up on national security from the Prime Minister, and it's not his first one when it comes to things like this. So really he should be asking for an explanation from our counterparts in China, whom he boasts of having a close relationship to. Has he picked up the phone? Has he raised concern? Have we called the Ambassador in? None of this has been disclosed by the government.
SHARRI MARKSON:
And of course, it hasn't happened, you have to assume. We've been speaking on the show tonight about how Albanese and his ministers have been comparing Dutton, attacking him for being Trump-lite. How do you handle these sort of accusations?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well it is just a cheap political stunt by the Prime Minister, because he has nothing positive to offer about his record over the last three years, where Australians' living standards have been smashed, worse than any other country in the developed world, worst in our history, down 8%. And because he's got nothing positive to say about the future, so all he has is attacks on Peter Dutton. But the truth is that Peter Dutton would be far better placed to deal with the Trump administration than the Albanese government, because Peter Dutton is a strong leader who would stand up for Australia to anyone, including the Trump Administration, if it threatens our national interest. And the Prime Minister is weak and world leaders know that and that's why they walk all over him.
SHARRI MARKSON:
The Prime Minister refused to answer questions today by The Nightly about preference deals with the Greens. I mean, he was asked about one seat of Macnamara, but as I just said before, I think this applies to every seat where Labor's running. Do you think the Prime Minister does need to be more transparent with whether he'll preference the Greens, and why is he preferencing such an offensive political party if that's what he plans to do?
JAMES PATERSON:
The Prime Minister's answer at his press conference today was absolutely contemptuous, and the press gallery should not let him get away with it. He pretended he's got no interest in preferences at all. Anthony Albanese is one of the most intensely political Prime Ministers we've ever had. He will be up to his elbows in preference dealing and wheeling, and there is no way the National Secretary of the Labor Party, Paul Erickson, would be making any deal without the Prime Minister's explicit endorsement and protection. And so I think there is a real test for the Prime Minister: be up front tomorrow if you're asked again and say are you going to preference the extreme antisemitic Greens party particularly in seats like Macnamara. I make a bold prediction though Sharri, he will preference the Greens in every seat in the country except Macnamara where he might do an open ticket which is the weakest possible option from a weak Prime Minister.
SHARRI MARKSON:
Is that good enough? Do you think they're now such an extremist party that he shouldn't be preferencing them?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, as the Prime Minister said today, the member for Newtown, Jenny Leong, made one of the most explicitly racist comments that any member of parliament has ever made. She said that the Jewish community had tentacles and that they involved themselves in community causes like anti-racism causes for tactical reasons to manipulate those groups to increase support for Israel. Now, if any member or any major party had said that, there'd be serious consequences. But in the Greens, there are no consequences.
SHARRI MARKSON:
But do you think he shouldn't preference them?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, exactly, Sharri. Of course not, of course the Greens don't deserve our preferences anywhere, in any seat. Any self-respecting major party shouldn't be preferencing the Greens, but the Prime Minister will do that because he cares more about his own political survival than he does about the health of our democracy and our country.
SHARRI MARKSON:
Yep, indeed. All right. Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson, good to see you.
ENDS