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Transcript
Station:
2GB
Date:
03/01/2018
Program:
SUMMER AFTERNOONS
Time:
01:09 PM
Compere:
CHRIS KENNY
Summary ID:
X00073101449
Item:
INTERVIEW WITH PETER DUTTON, FEDERAL MINISTER FOR HOME
AFFAIRS, IMMIGRATION MINISTER.
INTERVIEWEE: PETER DUTTON, FEDERAL MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS,
IMMIGRATION MINISTER
Audience:
Male 16+
Female 16+
Al people
31000
27000
58000
CHRIS KENNY:
I'm joined on the line now by the Federal Minister for
Home Affairs, the Immigration Minister but now
heading up this super department of Home Affairs. His
name, of course, is Peter Dutton.
And thanks for joining us, Peter. Happy New Year to
you.
PETER DUTTON:
Happy New Year, Chris. Nice to be on the show.
CHRIS KENNY:
Look, I wanted to talk to you about Federal
Government involvement in this Melbourne situation.
Because we've had your own Liberal MPs – Jason
Wood, no less, of course, who you know has a policing
background. And he was suggesting that, of course, the
prime responsibility here is the Victorian Police and the
Victorian Government, but he'd like to see more AFP –
Australian Federal Police – involvement, trying to help
them combat these African youth crime gangs. Is there
some merit in that idea? Are you looking at it?
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PETER DUTTON:
Chris, obviously I think Jason's, like any Victorian,
whether you're a member of Parliament or not, I think
people are just bemused at the moment in Victoria
when you look at the political correctness that's taken
hold, you look at some of the joke sentences that are
being handed down. There's no deterrents there at the
moment, and the State Government's wrapped the
police force up in this politically correct conversation,
which I think they're trying to break out of and they're
trying to do the right thing, but I think the State
Government's really been caught flat-footed.
So you're right, we need to do whatever we can to
encourage the Premier to pass laws around bail to put
deterrents in place, and then the Federal Government
can provide whatever support we can. And there's a lot
that we've already done. Obviously, in the Immigration
and Border Protection portfolio, cancelled a number of
visas. We're looking at a number of other cases at the
moment, but when the police are given direction from
the Premier and from the State Government down
there, which is really a go-soft message, it's
unacceptable. And I think the Victorian public are really
outraged by some of the goings on. I mean, people
don't see this in New South Wales and Queensland, but
the reality is people are scared to go out to restaurants
in the night-time because they're followed home by
these gangs, home invasions and cars are stolen and
we just need to call it for what it is. Of course it's
African gang violence. It's not the whole community.
There are many good people within the community
that would condemn this action as strongly as you and I
would, but …
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CHRIS KENNY:
[Interrupts] And have done so.
PETER DUTTON:
And have done so, and to their credit. And we need to
weed out the people who have done the wrong thing,
deport them where we can, but where they're
Australian citizens we need to deal with them
according to the law and there's a lot of work to do
down there, and I think Jason Wood and others, to
their great credit, have really been applying pressure to
the Andrews Government to call them out for this
nonsense. And we need to deal with it. It's a law and
order issue. It's not happening in New South Wales and
Queensland, and I've said for a long time we need to
respect the judiciary, but in the end, the magistrates at
a state level are appointed by the state premiers, and if
they're appointing civil libertarians and people that
won't put in place proper deterrents, well, you can
expect the sort of outcomes that we've seen in
Victoria.
CHRIS KENNY:
Are there issues here for your immigration program? I
know some of these gang members in Melbourne have
been refugee arrivals; others are Australian-born, of
course. Do you have any concerns about lack of
integration in the Sudanese community? Do you have
any concerns that people coming into this country are
not having their obligations and responsibilities made
clear to them?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think the vast majority do, Chris, but obviously
we're looking at those at the moment who don't, and
I've been very clear about this. If people want to come
here, particularly if they're coming out of a war-torn
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area or an area of desperate poverty, Australia is an
opportunity for them that will never come their way
again. And we have a generous welfare system and
health system and education, housing, all the rest of it,
but this is a two-way street, and if people aren't
prepared to integrate, if they aren't prepared to send
their kids to school, if they have 10- and 12-year old
kids wandering the street at night committing these
offences, then frankly they don't belong in Australian
society.
And this is why I was just gobsmacked, frankly, when
Bill Shorten refused to- in fact, voted against our
legislation in the Senate that said people couldn't
become Australian citizens unless they demonstrated
the fact that they had integrated, that they were
abiding by the law and that they were adhering to
Australian culture. And this is nothing more than any
other country asks of new arrivals, and I don't see why
Mr Shorten was so opposed to it, and I think, as a
Victorian, frankly, he should know firsthand why this is
important and there's, I think, a long way to run in this
debate, but the short answer is that if people haven't
integrated, if they're not abiding by our laws, they
don't adhere to our culture, then they're not welcome
here.
CHRIS KENNY:
There is so much pathetic pussyfooting around on the
issue. I noticed on the ABC today they're talking about
how all Sudanese are sadly tarred with the brush of
these crimes, and that's because too many people in
the media and politics are calling it out, yet there are
Sudanese leaders- many responsible and significant
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Sudanese leaders have called this out. They recognise
they have an African youth gang problem, and you
have to actually be able to identify what it is if you're
going to tackle it. If there are problems unfortunately
occurring for the rest of the Sudanese community,
surely it's not the police or politicians calling out the
problem, or indeed Sudanese community leaders
calling out the problem, the issue is created by those
who are breaking the law.
PETER DUTTON:
Of course it is, Chris, and people need to call it out. I
think the public is sick of the political correctness and
the sensitised versions of statements and people soft-
peddling on this stuff. You need to be honest, and if
the truth is inconvenient here for the Victorian
Government, well so be it. It's an issue of their making,
and as I say, you don't get these problems in New
South Wales and Queensland where you have ethnic
communities settling there. There's a problem in
Victoria. It's driven by the fact that I think the State
Government there has tried to tie at least one hand
behind the back of the police down there, and …
CHRIS KENNY:
[Interrupts] Well the police don't have a police
commissioner either. Isn't he still on stress leave?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, he's on leave and they've got an acting
commissioner who I think is a great guy – Shane
Patton. I've spent some time with him and I think he's
doing his best when he's got the hand above him that's
pressing down, and that's the difficulty. If you've got a
court system or a watch house that's just releasing
people once they come in, they're back out committing
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crimes a few hours later, people are laughing at that
system.
And the sad part about it is that the victims in Victoria,
the people that have been assaulted, violently
assaulted, people that have had their cars stolen or
their houses broken into, they don't find it so funny
and I think people need to respect the law, they need
to adhere to the law and that starts with a culture that
needs to be driven by the government.
In the end, the police or any government agency will
follow the lead of their elected representatives, and
the Premier and the Cabinet in Victoria have an
enormous amount to answer for. And they're the ones
that need to make the changes so that the laws are in
place that the police can implement and those
offenders that are laughing at the system now are
pulled into line. That's how they're going to fix the
mess up in Victoria and they need to start sooner than
later.
CHRIS KENNY:
Well, when you talk about a lenient system in Victoria,
we've had that revealed again today when, of course,
the 15-year old boy who's facing charges – including
two counts of attempted murder and six counts of
reckless conduct endangering life – he's been let out on
bail. This is a 15-year-old who was screaming around in
a car – there's video footage available online today –
screaming around in a car on Flinders Street in
Melbourne on Grand Final Day in a horrendously
frightening vehicular behaviour. Anyone who's seeing it
would have been frightened. Incredibly brave
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intervention by some individuals who tried to disable
the car by throwing bikes underneath it, but this is a
very serious offence. There's suggestions there's
evidence that this 15-year-old actually looked up online
to try and find out about military and police sites
before conducting this activity. He's still facing these
charges yet he's out on bail.
PETER DUTTON:
Chris, you have to ask yourself, on similar facts, would
that person with those allegations against him have
been granted bail in other jurisdictions? So, in New
South Wales or Queensland would the magistrate or
judge have held that person in custody?
CHRIS KENNY:
You think so?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, that's my judgement on the facts that I know.
And again, there are some very good magistrates and
judges out there. It's right that they're independent,
but they are not above public scrutiny, and I get
criticised all the time for making comments about
some of the decisions that you see which I think are
pathetically weak, and you get some judges and
magistrates who hand down strong messages or
deterrents.
And if you've got people that are being let out on bail
on serious offences and there are circumstances where
they're back out committing similar offences in a
matter of hours, it's no wonder the police really are left
scratching their head, because if people don't have a
deterrent, if there's not something in place which says
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to people that there is a consequence for your actions,
well, of course people will push it to the limit.
And I just think Victorians are sick of it, and as I say, it's
a great credit of Jason Wood and others in Victoria,
they've really been calling this out for what it is. It's a
failing of Daniel Andrews. It needs to be fixed, and I see
some commentary in the press yesterday and today,
even Labor MPs down there believe that this is a huge
problem for the Victorian Government. It's a problem
of their making. They need to resolve it, but they need
to do it quickly, before more people are hurt.
CHRIS KENNY:
I'm speaking with the Home Affairs Minister Peter
Dutton, and Peter, just before we let you go, an update
on the terror issue in Australia. We've seen an update,
additional charges laid against a man in New South
Wales who's allegedly looking to attack police with a
knife, was allegedly looking to make a martyr of
himself and so those charges have been updated
today. New South Wales Police have announced that.
At the same time, we read that New York City is putting
in 1500 bollards across New York City to try and
protect against vehicle attacks. I know the Federal
Government is working with state and local
government authorities across this country to put in
additional bollards and restrict vehicle movement
around our cities. It's a terribly worrisome way to start
the New Year when we're looking at these sorts of
measures being required to prevent further terror
attacks in our country.
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PETER DUTTON:
You're right, Chris. It's a worrying time and particularly
for families as they're on holidays with their kids or
returning to work, they want to know that the
Government's doing everything possible to keep them
safe and we are. Great credit to the New South Wales
Police who have charged this 26-year old male for an
incident that allegedly occurred in June of last year,
and there's a lot of work that goes on, as I said to you
and on your network before, a lot of work that goes on
24/7 now.
Officers within ASIO and the Australian Federal Police
are working very closely with their state counterparts,
obviously looking at a number of individuals. They've
been able to thwart some 14 or 15 attempts now, and
we're seeing it play out in other Western democracies
as well. So there's a lot of intelligence that we've been
sharing with the United States, and they've obviously
been looking at the use of vehicles in Europe, but here
as well where those vehicles have been used as
weapons, and we're all seeking to learn from each
other.
But to the Prime Minister's credit, last year they
launched this engagement with business to try and
look at places where vehicles could mount footpaths or
come into crowded places and cause death or serious
damage there, so there's a lot that we're doing across
or in concert with the private sector as well. But the
whole idea of the Home Affairs portfolio is so that we
can pool all of those resources together and give
ourselves the best chance of defeating these lunatics
who would seek to do us harm.
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CHRIS KENNY:
Peter Dutton, I really do appreciate you giving us all
this time on these deadly serious issues, but if you can
forgive me one cheeky question to finish on. Are you
pleased that your Prime Minister …
PETER DUTTON:
[Interrupts] [Indistinct] interview without [indistinct].
CHRIS KENNY:
[Talks over] Without the cheeky question, yeah. Are
you pleased that your Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
has thrown more fuel onto the fire of the republican
debate.
PETER DUTTON:
Look, I think if you have a look at what Malcolm had to
say, it's nothing different than what he's said in
previous years, Chris. I think the public- I mean, I'm a
monarchist. I declare that, so I guess I've got a
particular slant on this debate. I think we're well-
served by the system of government that we've got at
the moment. Our government's focused on two very
important issues: that is the issue of national security,
the issue that we've just spoken about, but also the
economy. The economy is going well. We've got good
signs over the next 12 months or so, and I think
families and small businesses want to see us
concentrating on those important issues, as the Prime
Minister's pointed out, and that'll be the Government's
focus over the next 12 months.
CHRIS KENNY:
Indeed. Thanks very much for joining us, Peter, and all
the best for 2018.
PETER DUTTON:
Pleasure, Chris. To you too, mate. Take care.
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CHRIS KENNY:
There's the Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. Some
really strong messages there for the Victorian
Government. Peter Dutton calls it as he sees it. He talks
about the Victorian problems there, the youth gang
problems they're having there, the African gang
problems, and the challenge there is for the Victorian
Government to get on top of it. He's obviously offering
every assistance possible from the Federal
Government, but he wants to see a more concerted
effort from the Victorian Government.
* * END * *
TRANSCRIPT PRODUCED BY ISENTIA
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THE HON PETER DUTTON MP
MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS
MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION
TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS KENNY – 2GB/4BC
3 January 2018
Subject: Melbourne African street gangs
EO&E...........................................................................................................................................
CHRIS KENNY:
I'm joined on the line now by the Federal Minister for Home Affairs, the Immigration
Minister, but now heading up this super Department of Home Affairs. His name, of course,
is Peter Dutton.
And thanks for joining us, Peter. Happy New Year to you.
PETER DUTTON:
Happy New Year, Chris. Nice to be on the show.
CHRIS KENNY:
Look, I wanted to talk to you about Federal Government involvement in this Melbourne
situation, because we've had your own Liberal MPs – Jason Wood, no less, of course, who
you know has a policing background – and he was suggesting that, of course, the prime
responsibility here is the Victorian Police and the Victorian Government, but he'd like to see
more AFP – Australian Federal Police – involvement, trying to help them combat these
African youth crime gangs.
Is there some merit in that idea? Are you looking at it?
PETER DUTTON:
Chris, obviously I think Jason, like any Victorian, whether you're a Member of Parliament or
not, I think people are just bemused at the moment in Victoria when you look at the
political correctness that's taken hold, you look at some of the joke sentences that are being
handed down.
There's no deterrents there at the moment, and the State Government's wrapped the police
force up in this political y correct conversation, which I think they're trying to break out of
and they're trying to do the right thing, but I think the State Government's real y been
caught flat-footed.
So you're right, we need to do whatever we can to encourage the Premier to pass laws
around bail to put deterrents in place and then the Federal Government can provide
whatever support we can.
There's a lot that we've already done. Obviously, in the Immigration and Border Protection
portfolio, cancelled a number of visas. We're looking at a number of other cases at the
moment, but when the police are given direction from the Premier and from the State
Government down there, which is really a go-soft message, it's unacceptable.
I think the Victorian public are real y outraged by some of the goings on. I mean, people
don't see this in New South Wales and Queensland, but the reality is people are scared to go
out to restaurants in the night-time because they're fol owed home by these gangs, home
invasions and cars are stolen and we just need to call it for what it is. Of course it's African
gang violence. It's not the whole community. There are many good people within the
community that would condemn this action as strongly as you and I would, but …
CHRIS KENNY:
…..and have done so…..
PETER DUTTON:
…..and have done so, and to their credit. And we need to weed out the people who have
done the wrong thing, deport them where we can, but where they're Australian citizens we
need to deal with them according to the law and there's a lot of work to do down there, and
I think Jason Wood and others, to their great credit, have real y been applying pressure to
the Andrews Government to cal them out for this nonsense. And we need to deal with it.
It's a law and order issue. It's not happening in New South Wales and Queensland, and I've
said for a long time we need to respect the judiciary, but in the end, the magistrates at a
state level are appointed by the State Premiers, and if they're appointing civil libertarians
and people that won't put in place proper deterrents, wel , you can expect the sort of
outcomes that we've seen in Victoria.
CHRIS KENNY:
Are there issues here for your immigration program? I know some of these gang members
in Melbourne have been refugee arrivals; others are Australian-born, of course.
2
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
Do you have any concerns about lack of integration in the Sudanese community? Do you
have any concerns that people coming into this country are not having their obligations and
responsibilities made clear to them?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think the vast majority do, Chris, but obviously we're looking at those at the moment
who don't, and I've been very clear about this. If people want to come here, particularly if
they're coming out of a war-torn area or an area of desperate poverty, Australia is an
opportunity for them that will never come their way again. We have a generous welfare
system and health system and education, housing, all the rest of it, but this is a two-way
street and if people aren't prepared to integrate, if they aren't prepared to send their kids to
school, if they have 10 and 12-year old kids wandering the street at night committing these
offences, then frankly they don't belong in Australian society.
This is why I was just gobsmacked, frankly, when Bill Shorten refused to, in fact voted
against our legislation in the Senate, that said people couldn't become Australian citizens
unless they demonstrated the fact that they had integrated, that they were abiding by the
law and that they were adhering to Australian culture.
This is nothing more than any other country asks of new arrivals and I don't see why Mr
Shorten was so opposed to it, and I think, as a Victorian, frankly, he should know firsthand
why this is important and there's, I think, a long way to run in this debate, but the short
answer is that if people haven't integrated, if they're not abiding by our laws, they don't
adhere to our culture, then they're not welcome here.
CHRIS KENNY:
There is so much pathetic pussyfooting around on this issue. I noticed on the ABC today
they're talking about how all Sudanese are sadly tarred with the brush of these crimes, and
that's because too many people in the media and politics are cal ing it out, yet there are
Sudanese leaders, many responsible and significant Sudanese leaders have called this out.
They recognise they have an African youth gang problem, and you have to actually be able
to identify what it is if you're going to tackle it. If there are problems unfortunately
occurring for the rest of the Sudanese community, surely it's not the police or politicians
cal ing out the problem, or indeed Sudanese community leaders cal ing out the problem, the
issue is created by those who are breaking the law.
PETER DUTTON:
Of course it is, Chris, and people need to call it out.
I think the public is sick of the political correctness and the sensitised versions of statements
and people soft-peddling on this stuff. You need to be honest, and if the truth is
inconvenient here for the Victorian Government, well so be it. It's an issue of their making,
3
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
and as I say, you don't get these problems in New South Wales and Queensland where you
have ethnic communities settling there.
There's a problem in Victoria. It's driven by the fact that I think the State Government there
has tried to tie at least one hand behind the back of the police down there, and …
CHRIS KENNY:
…….wel the police don't have a Police Commissioner either. Isn't he still on stress leave?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, he's on leave and they've got an Acting Commissioner who I think is a great guy –
Shane Patton. I've spent some time with him and I think he's doing his best, but when he's
got the hand above him that's pressing down, that's the difficulty. If you've got a court
system or a watch house that's just releasing people once they come in, they're back out
committing crimes a few hours later, people are laughing at that system.
And the sad part about it is that the victims in Victoria, the people that have been assaulted,
violently assaulted, people that have had their cars stolen or their houses broken into, they
don't find it so funny and I think people need to respect the law, they need to adhere to the
law and that starts with a culture that needs to be driven by the Government.
In the end, the police or any government agency will follow the lead of their elected
representatives, and the Premier and the Cabinet in Victoria have an enormous amount to
answer for.
They're the ones that need to make the changes so that the laws are in place that the police
can implement and those offenders that are laughing at the system now, are pulled into
line. That's how they're going to fix the mess up in Victoria and they need to start sooner
than later.
CHRIS KENNY:
Well, when you talk about a lenient system in Victoria, we've had that revealed again today
when, of course, the 15-year old boy who's facing charges – including two counts of
attempted murder and six counts of reckless conduct endangering life – he's been let out on
bail.
This is a 15-year-old who was screaming around in a car – there's video footage available
online today – screaming around in a car on Flinders Street in Melbourne on Grand Final Day
in a horrendously frightening vehicular behaviour.
Anyone who's seeing it would have been frightened. Incredibly brave intervention by some
individuals who tried to disable the car by throwing bikes underneath it, but this is a very
serious offence.
4
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
There's suggestions there's evidence that this 15-year-old actual y looked up online to try
and find out about military and police sites before conducting this activity.
He's stil facing these charges, yet he's out on bail.
PETER DUTTON:
Chris, you have to ask yourself, on similar facts, would that person with those allegations
against him have been granted bail in other jurisdictions? So, in New South Wales or
Queensland would the Magistrate or Judge have held that person in custody?
CHRIS KENNY:
You think so?
PETER DUTTON:
Wel , that's my judgement on the facts that I know. And again, there are some very good
Magistrates and Judges out there. It’s right that they're independent, but they are not
above public scrutiny, and I get criticised all the time for making comments about some of
the decisions that you see which I think are pathetical y weak, and you get some Judges and
Magistrates who hand down strong messages or deterrents.
If you've got people that are being let out on bail on serious offences and there are
circumstances where they're back out committing similar offences in a matter of hours, it's
no wonder the police real y are left scratching their head, because if people don't have a
deterrent, if there's not something in place which says to people that there is a
consequence for your actions, well, of course people will push it to the limit.
I just think Victorians are sick of it, and as I say, it's a great credit to Jason Wood and others
in Victoria, they've really been calling this out for what it is. It's a failing of Daniel Andrews. It
needs to be fixed, and I see some commentary in the press yesterday and today, even Labor
MPs down there believe that this is a huge problem for the Victorian Government. It's a
problem of their making. They need to resolve it, but they need to do it quickly, before more
people are hurt
.
CHRIS KENNY:
I'm speaking with the Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, and Peter, just before we let you
go, an update on the terror issue in Australia.
We've seen an update, additional charges laid against a man in New South Wales who's
allegedly looking to attack police with a knife, was allegedly looking to make a martyr of
himself and so those charges have been updated today. New South Wales Police have
announced that.
5
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
At the same time, we read that New York City is putting in 1500 bollards across New York
City to try and protect against vehicle attacks. I know the Federal Government is working
with State and Local Government authorities across this country to put in additional bol ards
and restrict vehicle movement around our cities. It's a terribly worrisome way to start the
New Year when we're looking at these sorts of measures being required to prevent further
terror attacks in our country.
PETER DUTTON:
You're right, Chris. It's a worrying time and particularly for families as they're on holidays
with their kids or returning to work, they want to know that the Government's doing
everything possible to keep them safe and we are.
Great credit to the New South Wales Police who have charged this 26-year old male for an
incident that al egedly occurred in June of last year, and there's a lot of work that goes on,
as I said to you and on your network before, a lot of work that goes on 24/7 now.
Officers within ASIO and the Australian Federal Police are working very closely with their
state counterparts, obviously looking at a number of individuals. They've been able to
thwart some 14 or 15 attempts now, and we're seeing it play out in other Western
democracies as well. So there's a lot of intelligence that we've been sharing with the United
States and they've obviously been looking at the use of vehicles in Europe, but here as wel
where those vehicles have been used as weapons, and we're all seeking to learn from each
other.
But to the Prime Minister's credit, last year he launched this engagement with business to
try and look at places where vehicles could mount footpaths or come into crowded places
and cause death or serious damage there, so there's a lot that we're doing across or in
concert with the private sector as well.
But the whole idea of the Home Affairs portfolio is so that we can pool all of those resources
together and give ourselves the best chance of defeating these lunatics who would seek to
do us harm.
CHRIS KENNY:
Peter Dutton, I really do appreciate you giving us all this time on these deadly serious issues,
but if you can forgive me one cheeky question to finish on. Are you pleased that your Prime
Minister …
PETER DUTTON:
….can’t be an interview without that……
CHRIS KENNY:
6
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
….without the cheeky question, yeah.
Are you pleased that your Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has thrown more fuel onto the
fire of the republican debate.
PETER DUTTON:
Look, I think if you have a look at what Malcolm had to say, it's nothing different than what
he's said in previous years, Chris. I think the public – I mean, I'm a monarchist, I declare that,
so I guess I've got a particular slant on this debate. I think we're well-served by the system of
government that we've got at the moment.
Our Government's focused on two very important issues: that is the issue of national
security, the issue that we've just spoken about, but also the economy.
The economy is going wel . We've got good signs over the next 12 months or so, and I think
families and small businesses want to see us concentrating on those important issues, as the
Prime Minister's pointed out and that'l be the Government's focus over the next 12
months.
CHRIS KENNY:
Indeed. Thanks very much for joining us, Peter, and al the best for 2018.
PETER DUTTON:
Pleasure, Chris. To you too, mate. Take care.
[ends]
7
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
FOI
From:
Media Operations
Sent:
Wednesday, 3 January 2018 5:10 PM
To:
Web Services
Cc:
s22(1)(a)(ii)
Media Operations
Subject:
FOR ACTION: Minister's transcript for upload to website please [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Attachments:
180103 IV 2GB - Melbourne street gangs.docx
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi team,
Grateful if the MO could get the attached uploaded to the MIBP website asap please.
Thanks,
s22(1)
(a)(ii)
s22(1)(a)(ii)
Media Operations
Department of Home Affairs
Phone: 02 s22(1)(a)(ii)
| M: s22(1)(a)(ii)
Media line: 02 6264 2244
E: xxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xx
UNCLASSIFIED
1
THE HON PETER DUTTON MP
MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS
MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION
TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS KENNY – 2GB/4BC
3 January 2018
Subject: Melbourne African street gangs
EO&E...........................................................................................................................................
CHRIS KENNY:
I'm joined on the line now by the Federal Minister for Home Affairs, the Immigration
Minister, but now heading up this super Department of Home Affairs. His name, of course,
is Peter Dutton.
And thanks for joining us, Peter. Happy New Year to you.
PETER DUTTON:
Happy New Year, Chris. Nice to be on the show.
CHRIS KENNY:
Look, I wanted to talk to you about Federal Government involvement in this Melbourne
situation, because we've had your own Liberal MPs – Jason Wood, no less, of course, who
you know has a policing background – and he was suggesting that, of course, the prime
responsibility here is the Victorian Police and the Victorian Government, but he'd like to see
more AFP – Australian Federal Police – involvement, trying to help them combat these
African youth crime gangs.
Is there some merit in that idea? Are you looking at it?
PETER DUTTON:
Chris, obviously I think Jason, like any Victorian, whether you're a Member of Parliament or
not, I think people are just bemused at the moment in Victoria when you look at the
political correctness that's taken hold, you look at some of the joke sentences that are being
handed down.
There's no deterrents there at the moment, and the State Government's wrapped the police
force up in this political y correct conversation, which I think they're trying to break out of
and they're trying to do the right thing, but I think the State Government's real y been
caught flat-footed.
So you're right, we need to do whatever we can to encourage the Premier to pass laws
around bail to put deterrents in place and then the Federal Government can provide
whatever support we can.
There's a lot that we've already done. Obviously, in the Immigration and Border Protection
portfolio, cancelled a number of visas. We're looking at a number of other cases at the
moment, but when the police are given direction from the Premier and from the State
Government down there, which is really a go-soft message, it's unacceptable.
I think the Victorian public are real y outraged by some of the goings on. I mean, people
don't see this in New South Wales and Queensland, but the reality is people are scared to go
out to restaurants in the night-time because they're fol owed home by these gangs, home
invasions and cars are stolen and we just need to call it for what it is. Of course it's African
gang violence. It's not the whole community. There are many good people within the
community that would condemn this action as strongly as you and I would, but …
CHRIS KENNY:
…..and have done so…..
PETER DUTTON:
…..and have done so, and to their credit. And we need to weed out the people who have
done the wrong thing, deport them where we can, but where they're Australian citizens we
need to deal with them according to the law and there's a lot of work to do down there, and
I think Jason Wood and others, to their great credit, have real y been applying pressure to
the Andrews Government to cal them out for this nonsense. And we need to deal with it.
It's a law and order issue. It's not happening in New South Wales and Queensland, and I've
said for a long time we need to respect the judiciary, but in the end, the magistrates at a
state level are appointed by the State Premiers, and if they're appointing civil libertarians
and people that won't put in place proper deterrents, wel , you can expect the sort of
outcomes that we've seen in Victoria.
CHRIS KENNY:
Are there issues here for your immigration program? I know some of these gang members
in Melbourne have been refugee arrivals; others are Australian-born, of course.
2
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
Do you have any concerns about lack of integration in the Sudanese community? Do you
have any concerns that people coming into this country are not having their obligations and
responsibilities made clear to them?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think the vast majority do, Chris, but obviously we're looking at those at the moment
who don't, and I've been very clear about this. If people want to come here, particularly if
they're coming out of a war-torn area or an area of desperate poverty, Australia is an
opportunity for them that will never come their way again. We have a generous welfare
system and health system and education, housing, all the rest of it, but this is a two-way
street and if people aren't prepared to integrate, if they aren't prepared to send their kids to
school, if they have 10 and 12-year old kids wandering the street at night committing these
offences, then frankly they don't belong in Australian society.
This is why I was just gobsmacked, frankly, when Bill Shorten refused to, in fact voted
against our legislation in the Senate, that said people couldn't become Australian citizens
unless they demonstrated the fact that they had integrated, that they were abiding by the
law and that they were adhering to Australian culture.
This is nothing more than any other country asks of new arrivals and I don't see why Mr
Shorten was so opposed to it, and I think, as a Victorian, frankly, he should know firsthand
why this is important and there's, I think, a long way to run in this debate, but the short
answer is that if people haven't integrated, if they're not abiding by our laws, they don't
adhere to our culture, then they're not welcome here.
CHRIS KENNY:
There is so much pathetic pussyfooting around on this issue. I noticed on the ABC today
they're talking about how all Sudanese are sadly tarred with the brush of these crimes, and
that's because too many people in the media and politics are cal ing it out, yet there are
Sudanese leaders, many responsible and significant Sudanese leaders have called this out.
They recognise they have an African youth gang problem, and you have to actually be able
to identify what it is if you're going to tackle it. If there are problems unfortunately
occurring for the rest of the Sudanese community, surely it's not the police or politicians
cal ing out the problem, or indeed Sudanese community leaders cal ing out the problem, the
issue is created by those who are breaking the law.
PETER DUTTON:
Of course it is, Chris, and people need to call it out.
I think the public is sick of the political correctness and the sensitised versions of statements
and people soft-peddling on this stuff. You need to be honest, and if the truth is
inconvenient here for the Victorian Government, well so be it. It's an issue of their making,
3
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
and as I say, you don't get these problems in New South Wales and Queensland where you
have ethnic communities settling there.
There's a problem in Victoria. It's driven by the fact that I think the State Government there
has tried to tie at least one hand behind the back of the police down there, and …
CHRIS KENNY:
…….wel the police don't have a Police Commissioner either. Isn't he still on stress leave?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, he's on leave and they've got an Acting Commissioner who I think is a great guy –
Shane Patton. I've spent some time with him and I think he's doing his best, but when he's
got the hand above him that's pressing down, that's the difficulty. If you've got a court
system or a watch house that's just releasing people once they come in, they're back out
committing crimes a few hours later, people are laughing at that system.
And the sad part about it is that the victims in Victoria, the people that have been assaulted,
violently assaulted, people that have had their cars stolen or their houses broken into, they
don't find it so funny and I think people need to respect the law, they need to adhere to the
law and that starts with a culture that needs to be driven by the Government.
In the end, the police or any government agency will follow the lead of their elected
representatives, and the Premier and the Cabinet in Victoria have an enormous amount to
answer for.
They're the ones that need to make the changes so that the laws are in place that the police
can implement and those offenders that are laughing at the system now, are pulled into
line. That's how they're going to fix the mess up in Victoria and they need to start sooner
than later.
CHRIS KENNY:
Well, when you talk about a lenient system in Victoria, we've had that revealed again today
when, of course, the 15-year old boy who's facing charges – including two counts of
attempted murder and six counts of reckless conduct endangering life – he's been let out on
bail.
This is a 15-year-old who was screaming around in a car – there's video footage available
online today – screaming around in a car on Flinders Street in Melbourne on Grand Final Day
in a horrendously frightening vehicular behaviour.
Anyone who's seeing it would have been frightened. Incredibly brave intervention by some
individuals who tried to disable the car by throwing bikes underneath it, but this is a very
serious offence.
4
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
There's suggestions there's evidence that this 15-year-old actual y looked up online to try
and find out about military and police sites before conducting this activity.
He's stil facing these charges, yet he's out on bail.
PETER DUTTON:
Chris, you have to ask yourself, on similar facts, would that person with those allegations
against him have been granted bail in other jurisdictions? So, in New South Wales or
Queensland would the Magistrate or Judge have held that person in custody?
CHRIS KENNY:
You think so?
PETER DUTTON:
Wel , that's my judgement on the facts that I know. And again, there are some very good
Magistrates and Judges out there. It’s right that they're independent, but they are not
above public scrutiny, and I get criticised all the time for making comments about some of
the decisions that you see which I think are pathetical y weak, and you get some Judges and
Magistrates who hand down strong messages or deterrents.
If you've got people that are being let out on bail on serious offences and there are
circumstances where they're back out committing similar offences in a matter of hours, it's
no wonder the police real y are left scratching their head, because if people don't have a
deterrent, if there's not something in place which says to people that there is a
consequence for your actions, well, of course people will push it to the limit.
I just think Victorians are sick of it, and as I say, it's a great credit to Jason Wood and others
in Victoria, they've really been calling this out for what it is. It's a failing of Daniel Andrews. It
needs to be fixed, and I see some commentary in the press yesterday and today, even Labor
MPs down there believe that this is a huge problem for the Victorian Government. It's a
problem of their making. They need to resolve it, but they need to do it quickly, before more
people are hurt
.
CHRIS KENNY:
I'm speaking with the Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, and Peter, just before we let you
go, an update on the terror issue in Australia.
We've seen an update, additional charges laid against a man in New South Wales who's
allegedly looking to attack police with a knife, was allegedly looking to make a martyr of
himself and so those charges have been updated today. New South Wales Police have
announced that.
5
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
At the same time, we read that New York City is putting in 1500 bollards across New York
City to try and protect against vehicle attacks. I know the Federal Government is working
with State and Local Government authorities across this country to put in additional bol ards
and restrict vehicle movement around our cities. It's a terribly worrisome way to start the
New Year when we're looking at these sorts of measures being required to prevent further
terror attacks in our country.
PETER DUTTON:
You're right, Chris. It's a worrying time and particularly for families as they're on holidays
with their kids or returning to work, they want to know that the Government's doing
everything possible to keep them safe and we are.
Great credit to the New South Wales Police who have charged this 26-year old male for an
incident that al egedly occurred in June of last year, and there's a lot of work that goes on,
as I said to you and on your network before, a lot of work that goes on 24/7 now.
Officers within ASIO and the Australian Federal Police are working very closely with their
state counterparts, obviously looking at a number of individuals. They've been able to
thwart some 14 or 15 attempts now, and we're seeing it play out in other Western
democracies as well. So there's a lot of intelligence that we've been sharing with the United
States and they've obviously been looking at the use of vehicles in Europe, but here as wel
where those vehicles have been used as weapons, and we're all seeking to learn from each
other.
But to the Prime Minister's credit, last year he launched this engagement with business to
try and look at places where vehicles could mount footpaths or come into crowded places
and cause death or serious damage there, so there's a lot that we're doing across or in
concert with the private sector as well.
But the whole idea of the Home Affairs portfolio is so that we can pool all of those resources
together and give ourselves the best chance of defeating these lunatics who would seek to
do us harm.
CHRIS KENNY:
Peter Dutton, I really do appreciate you giving us all this time on these deadly serious issues,
but if you can forgive me one cheeky question to finish on. Are you pleased that your Prime
Minister …
PETER DUTTON:
….can’t be an interview without that……
CHRIS KENNY:
6
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
….without the cheeky question, yeah.
Are you pleased that your Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has thrown more fuel onto the
fire of the republican debate.
PETER DUTTON:
Look, I think if you have a look at what Malcolm had to say, it's nothing different than what
he's said in previous years, Chris. I think the public – I mean, I'm a monarchist, I declare that,
so I guess I've got a particular slant on this debate. I think we're well-served by the system of
government that we've got at the moment.
Our Government's focused on two very important issues: that is the issue of national
security, the issue that we've just spoken about, but also the economy.
The economy is going wel . We've got good signs over the next 12 months or so, and I think
families and small businesses want to see us concentrating on those important issues, as the
Prime Minister's pointed out and that'l be the Government's focus over the next 12
months.
CHRIS KENNY:
Indeed. Thanks very much for joining us, Peter, and al the best for 2018.
PETER DUTTON:
Pleasure, Chris. To you too, mate. Take care.
[ends]
7
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
FOI
From:
Media Operations
Sent:
Wednesday, 3 January 2018 5:21 PM
To:
s22(1)(a)(ii)
Cc:
Media Operations; Web Services
Subject:
FW: FOR ACTION: Minister's transcript for upload to website please
[SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Attachments:
180103 IV 2GB - Melbourne street gangs.docx
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi s22(1)
(a)(ii)
Thanks for your help with this one. As discussed, please see attached for upload to the MIBP website. I tried ringing the
web ops team but couldn’t catch anyone.
Regards,
s22(1)
(a)(ii)
s22(1)(a)(ii)
Media Operations
Department of Home Affairs
Phone: 02 s22(1)(a)(ii)
| M: s22(1)(a)(ii)
Media line: 02 6264 2244
E: xxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xx
UNCLASSIFIED
From: Media Operations
Sent: Wednesday, 3 January 2018 5:10 PM
To: Web Services <xxx.xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx>
Cc: s22(1)(a)(ii)
@HOMEAFFAIRS.GOV.AU>; s22(1)(a)(ii)
@HOMEAFFAIRS.GOV.AU>; s22(1)(a)(ii)
@HOMEAFFAIRS.GOV.AU>; Media
Operations <xxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xx>
Subject: FOR ACTION: Minister's transcript for upload to website please [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi team,
Grateful if the MO could get the attached uploaded to the MIBP website asap please.
Thanks,
s22(1)
(a)(ii)
1
s22(1)(a)(ii)
Media Operations
Department of Home Affairs
Phone: 02 s22(1)(a)(ii)
| M: s22(1)(a)(ii)
Media line: 02 6264 2244
E: xxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xx
UNCLASSIFIED
2
THE HON PETER DUTTON MP
MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS
MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION
TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS KENNY – 2GB/4BC
3 January 2018
Subject: Melbourne African street gangs
EO&E...........................................................................................................................................
CHRIS KENNY:
I'm joined on the line now by the Federal Minister for Home Affairs, the Immigration
Minister, but now heading up this super Department of Home Affairs. His name, of course,
is Peter Dutton.
And thanks for joining us, Peter. Happy New Year to you.
PETER DUTTON:
Happy New Year, Chris. Nice to be on the show.
CHRIS KENNY:
Look, I wanted to talk to you about Federal Government involvement in this Melbourne
situation, because we've had your own Liberal MPs – Jason Wood, no less, of course, who
you know has a policing background – and he was suggesting that, of course, the prime
responsibility here is the Victorian Police and the Victorian Government, but he'd like to see
more AFP – Australian Federal Police – involvement, trying to help them combat these
African youth crime gangs.
Is there some merit in that idea? Are you looking at it?
PETER DUTTON:
Chris, obviously I think Jason, like any Victorian, whether you're a Member of Parliament or
not, I think people are just bemused at the moment in Victoria when you look at the
political correctness that's taken hold, you look at some of the joke sentences that are being
handed down.
There's no deterrents there at the moment, and the State Government's wrapped the police
force up in this political y correct conversation, which I think they're trying to break out of
and they're trying to do the right thing, but I think the State Government's real y been
caught flat-footed.
So you're right, we need to do whatever we can to encourage the Premier to pass laws
around bail to put deterrents in place and then the Federal Government can provide
whatever support we can.
There's a lot that we've already done. Obviously, in the Immigration and Border Protection
portfolio, cancelled a number of visas. We're looking at a number of other cases at the
moment, but when the police are given direction from the Premier and from the State
Government down there, which is really a go-soft message, it's unacceptable.
I think the Victorian public are real y outraged by some of the goings on. I mean, people
don't see this in New South Wales and Queensland, but the reality is people are scared to go
out to restaurants in the night-time because they're fol owed home by these gangs, home
invasions and cars are stolen and we just need to call it for what it is. Of course it's African
gang violence. It's not the whole community. There are many good people within the
community that would condemn this action as strongly as you and I would, but …
CHRIS KENNY:
…..and have done so…..
PETER DUTTON:
…..and have done so, and to their credit. And we need to weed out the people who have
done the wrong thing, deport them where we can, but where they're Australian citizens we
need to deal with them according to the law and there's a lot of work to do down there, and
I think Jason Wood and others, to their great credit, have real y been applying pressure to
the Andrews Government to cal them out for this nonsense. And we need to deal with it.
It's a law and order issue. It's not happening in New South Wales and Queensland, and I've
said for a long time we need to respect the judiciary, but in the end, the magistrates at a
state level are appointed by the State Premiers, and if they're appointing civil libertarians
and people that won't put in place proper deterrents, wel , you can expect the sort of
outcomes that we've seen in Victoria.
CHRIS KENNY:
Are there issues here for your immigration program? I know some of these gang members
in Melbourne have been refugee arrivals; others are Australian-born, of course.
2
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
Do you have any concerns about lack of integration in the Sudanese community? Do you
have any concerns that people coming into this country are not having their obligations and
responsibilities made clear to them?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think the vast majority do, Chris, but obviously we're looking at those at the moment
who don't, and I've been very clear about this. If people want to come here, particularly if
they're coming out of a war-torn area or an area of desperate poverty, Australia is an
opportunity for them that will never come their way again. We have a generous welfare
system and health system and education, housing, all the rest of it, but this is a two-way
street and if people aren't prepared to integrate, if they aren't prepared to send their kids to
school, if they have 10 and 12-year old kids wandering the street at night committing these
offences, then frankly they don't belong in Australian society.
This is why I was just gobsmacked, frankly, when Bill Shorten refused to, in fact voted
against our legislation in the Senate, that said people couldn't become Australian citizens
unless they demonstrated the fact that they had integrated, that they were abiding by the
law and that they were adhering to Australian culture.
This is nothing more than any other country asks of new arrivals and I don't see why Mr
Shorten was so opposed to it, and I think, as a Victorian, frankly, he should know firsthand
why this is important and there's, I think, a long way to run in this debate, but the short
answer is that if people haven't integrated, if they're not abiding by our laws, they don't
adhere to our culture, then they're not welcome here.
CHRIS KENNY:
There is so much pathetic pussyfooting around on this issue. I noticed on the ABC today
they're talking about how all Sudanese are sadly tarred with the brush of these crimes, and
that's because too many people in the media and politics are cal ing it out, yet there are
Sudanese leaders, many responsible and significant Sudanese leaders have called this out.
They recognise they have an African youth gang problem, and you have to actually be able
to identify what it is if you're going to tackle it. If there are problems unfortunately
occurring for the rest of the Sudanese community, surely it's not the police or politicians
cal ing out the problem, or indeed Sudanese community leaders cal ing out the problem, the
issue is created by those who are breaking the law.
PETER DUTTON:
Of course it is, Chris, and people need to call it out.
I think the public is sick of the political correctness and the sensitised versions of statements
and people soft-peddling on this stuff. You need to be honest, and if the truth is
inconvenient here for the Victorian Government, well so be it. It's an issue of their making,
3
www.minister.homeaffairs.gov.au
and as I say, you don't get these problems in New South Wales and Queensland where you
have ethnic communities settling there.
There's a problem in Victoria. It's driven by the fact that I think the State Government there
has tried to tie at least one hand behind the back of the police down there, and …
CHRIS KENNY:
…….wel the police don't have a Police Commissioner either. Isn't he still on stress leave?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, he's on leave and they've got an Acting Commissioner who I think is a great guy –
Shane Patton. I've spent some time with him and I think he's doing his best, but when he's
got the hand above him that's pressing down, that's the difficulty. If you've got a court
system or a watch house that's just releasing people once they come in, they're back out
committing crimes a few hours later, people are laughing at that system.
And the sad part about it is that the victims in Victoria, the people that have been assaulted,
violently assaulted, people that have had their cars stolen or their houses broken into, they
don't find it so funny and I think people need to respect the law, they need to adhere to the
law and that starts with a culture that needs to be driven by the Government.
In the end, the police or any government agency will follow the lead of their elected
representatives, and the Premier and the Cabinet in Victoria have an enormous amount to
answer for.
They're the ones that need to make the changes so that the laws are in place that the police
can implement and those offenders that are laughing at the system now, are pulled into
line. That's how they're going to fix the mess up in Victoria and they need to start sooner
than later.
CHRIS KENNY:
Well, when you talk about a lenient system in Victoria, we've had that revealed again today
when, of course, the 15-year old boy who's facing charges – including two counts of
attempted murder and six counts of reckless conduct endangering life – he's been let out on
bail.
This is a 15-year-old who was screaming around in a car – there's video footage available
online today – screaming around in a car on Flinders Street in Melbourne on Grand Final Day
in a horrendously frightening vehicular behaviour.
Anyone who's seeing it would have been frightened. Incredibly brave intervention by some
individuals who tried to disable the car by throwing bikes underneath it, but this is a very
serious offence.
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There's suggestions there's evidence that this 15-year-old actual y looked up online to try
and find out about military and police sites before conducting this activity.
He's stil facing these charges, yet he's out on bail.
PETER DUTTON:
Chris, you have to ask yourself, on similar facts, would that person with those allegations
against him have been granted bail in other jurisdictions? So, in New South Wales or
Queensland would the Magistrate or Judge have held that person in custody?
CHRIS KENNY:
You think so?
PETER DUTTON:
Wel , that's my judgement on the facts that I know. And again, there are some very good
Magistrates and Judges out there. It’s right that they're independent, but they are not
above public scrutiny, and I get criticised all the time for making comments about some of
the decisions that you see which I think are pathetical y weak, and you get some Judges and
Magistrates who hand down strong messages or deterrents.
If you've got people that are being let out on bail on serious offences and there are
circumstances where they're back out committing similar offences in a matter of hours, it's
no wonder the police real y are left scratching their head, because if people don't have a
deterrent, if there's not something in place which says to people that there is a
consequence for your actions, well, of course people will push it to the limit.
I just think Victorians are sick of it, and as I say, it's a great credit to Jason Wood and others
in Victoria, they've really been calling this out for what it is. It's a failing of Daniel Andrews. It
needs to be fixed, and I see some commentary in the press yesterday and today, even Labor
MPs down there believe that this is a huge problem for the Victorian Government. It's a
problem of their making. They need to resolve it, but they need to do it quickly, before more
people are hurt
.
CHRIS KENNY:
I'm speaking with the Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, and Peter, just before we let you
go, an update on the terror issue in Australia.
We've seen an update, additional charges laid against a man in New South Wales who's
allegedly looking to attack police with a knife, was allegedly looking to make a martyr of
himself and so those charges have been updated today. New South Wales Police have
announced that.
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At the same time, we read that New York City is putting in 1500 bollards across New York
City to try and protect against vehicle attacks. I know the Federal Government is working
with State and Local Government authorities across this country to put in additional bol ards
and restrict vehicle movement around our cities. It's a terribly worrisome way to start the
New Year when we're looking at these sorts of measures being required to prevent further
terror attacks in our country.
PETER DUTTON:
You're right, Chris. It's a worrying time and particularly for families as they're on holidays
with their kids or returning to work, they want to know that the Government's doing
everything possible to keep them safe and we are.
Great credit to the New South Wales Police who have charged this 26-year old male for an
incident that al egedly occurred in June of last year, and there's a lot of work that goes on,
as I said to you and on your network before, a lot of work that goes on 24/7 now.
Officers within ASIO and the Australian Federal Police are working very closely with their
state counterparts, obviously looking at a number of individuals. They've been able to
thwart some 14 or 15 attempts now, and we're seeing it play out in other Western
democracies as well. So there's a lot of intelligence that we've been sharing with the United
States and they've obviously been looking at the use of vehicles in Europe, but here as wel
where those vehicles have been used as weapons, and we're all seeking to learn from each
other.
But to the Prime Minister's credit, last year he launched this engagement with business to
try and look at places where vehicles could mount footpaths or come into crowded places
and cause death or serious damage there, so there's a lot that we're doing across or in
concert with the private sector as well.
But the whole idea of the Home Affairs portfolio is so that we can pool all of those resources
together and give ourselves the best chance of defeating these lunatics who would seek to
do us harm.
CHRIS KENNY:
Peter Dutton, I really do appreciate you giving us all this time on these deadly serious issues,
but if you can forgive me one cheeky question to finish on. Are you pleased that your Prime
Minister …
PETER DUTTON:
….can’t be an interview without that……
CHRIS KENNY:
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….without the cheeky question, yeah.
Are you pleased that your Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has thrown more fuel onto the
fire of the republican debate.
PETER DUTTON:
Look, I think if you have a look at what Malcolm had to say, it's nothing different than what
he's said in previous years, Chris. I think the public – I mean, I'm a monarchist, I declare that,
so I guess I've got a particular slant on this debate. I think we're well-served by the system of
government that we've got at the moment.
Our Government's focused on two very important issues: that is the issue of national
security, the issue that we've just spoken about, but also the economy.
The economy is going wel . We've got good signs over the next 12 months or so, and I think
families and small businesses want to see us concentrating on those important issues, as the
Prime Minister's pointed out and that'l be the Government's focus over the next 12
months.
CHRIS KENNY:
Indeed. Thanks very much for joining us, Peter, and al the best for 2018.
PETER DUTTON:
Pleasure, Chris. To you too, mate. Take care.
[ends]
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FOI
From:
Media Operations
Sent:
Wednesday, 3 January 2018 6:34 PM
To:
s22(1)(a)(ii)
Cc:
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Subject:
RE: FOR ACTION: Minister's transcript for upload to website please
[SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi s22(1)
(a)(ii)
Do you have an ETA on this one?
Thanks again for your help, really appreciate it.
s22(1)(a)(ii)
Media Operations
Department of Home Affairs
Phone: 02 s22(1)(a)(ii)
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Media line: 02 6264 2244
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From: Media Operations
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To: s22(1)(a)(ii)
@HOMEAFFAIRS.GOV.AU>
Cc: Media Operations <xxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xx>; Web Services <xxx.xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx>
Subject: FW: FOR ACTION: Minister's transcript for upload to website please [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi s22(1)
(a)(ii)
Thanks for your help with this one. As discussed, please see attached for upload to the MIBP website. I tried ringing the
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Regards,
s22(1)
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s22(1)(a)(ii)
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UNCLASSIFIED
From: Media Operations
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Cc: s22(1)(a)(ii)
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@HOMEAFFAIRS.GOV.AU>; s22(1)(a)(ii)
@HOMEAFFAIRS.GOV.AU>; Media
Operations <xxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xx>
Subject: FOR ACTION: Minister's transcript for upload to website please [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi team,
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Thanks,
s22(1)
(a)(ii)
s22(1)(a)(ii)
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