E&EO…………………………………………………………………………………………..
BEN FORDHAM:
Joining us from our Parliament House studio is the Immigration Minister Peter Dutton. Mr Dutton, good afternoon.
PETER DUTTON:
Good afternoon Ben.
BEN FORDHAM:
Are you swayed by these protesters Minister?
PETER DUTTON:
No, I think most good Australians’ would look at it and say, ‘look these Greens protesters don’t belong in the Parliament.’ And I think most people would be angry about the fact that they’ve caused damage to the Parliament. Obviously the police put themselves at risk as well trying to remove these idiots from the Parliament and I think the Greens have a lot to apologise for. I see they are out there tweeting at the moment saying how great this was, but I think for most Australians, for hardworking taxpayers, they would be pretty angry about these scenes today and rightly so.
BEN FORDHAM:
I did note that you described them as Greens protesters. Do you think they are linked to the Greens, to the political party?
PETER DUTTON:
I have got no doubt and this is a problem we have got at the moment Ben. We have got advocates, many of them members of the Greens and the Labor Party, telling people up on Nauru and Manus that they don’t have to take the deal to go to the United States, they don’t have to go back to their country of origin, that the Australian taxpayer will keep paying for this and eventually they will come to Australia and this is the problem. This is how boats started in the first place because the Left of politics in this country decided that they would send a green light to people smugglers and we don’t want to return to those days.
This Government’s message is very clear on boats – we are not going to allow people to settle in our country that seek to come here by boat and we’re not going to allow those people on Nauru and Manus at the moment to settle permanently in Australia.
So it was a complete waste of time for these protestors today, but sadly it was a bigger waste of time for the police resources and the security resources here at Parliament House and I think they should be condemned for it.
BEN FORDHAM:
You mention the damage done to public property, you mention the danger for security and police in going in there and trying to get these people out of there. What do you think about the fact that you have got Sarah Hanson-Young and Adam Bandt and others talking about these citizens being brave and powerful and the fact that they’re proud? Adam Bandt says he’s proud of what they did today.
PETER DUTTON:
Well I mean could that come as any surprise to you? I mean this is Adam Bandt and Sarah Hanson-Young. I mean they are two of the craziest people within the Greens and they speak for a very small portion of the Australian society.
I believe that most hard working taxpayers, people who would have been abhorred by the protester’s behaviour today would properly condemn what the protesters did. I mean have a peaceful protest, go outside the Parliament, do your thing, but when you’ve got young kids who are up there in Question Time or people who have travelled, or overseas guests who have come to the Australian Parliament and they see these people protesting in the way in which they did – I don’t think it’s acceptable.
It’s strange frankly that Mr Shorten decided to stay in there with all of his team and listen to these protests. The Prime Minister made the right decision. We left the Parliament and the Speaker closed the Parliament down because clearly they weren’t going to leave – the protestors weren’t going to leave the Parliament until we vacated it – and it’s a strange position, decision that Mr Shorten took, but I guess that’s a question for him.
BEN FORDHAM:
I’m interested in your comment just then that these are two of the craziest people in Greens. How do you judge these things? It must be hard.
PETER DUTTON:
Well I guess it is relative to those that are these otherwise. I mean you have got Nick McKim – fortunately Bob Brown’s not there anymore – but these are people who are frankly fringe dwellers and they don’t represent the mainstream view. The vast majority of Australians want us to have a programme where we keep our borders secure and our community safe and that’s what the Government is doing and we’re just not going to be swayed by these idiot protesters today.
BEN FORDHAM:
You mention that there were children there, we also had special guests there as well, I notice once Question Time got underway there were dignitaries and whatever who were being recognised and they have to watch off all this stuff and listen to all of this stuff.
I just want to play you for a moment what went on just outside the Chamber; I don’t know whether you heard any of this –
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This is one of the feral protesters who was unloading on security outside and claiming she was being harmed and tortured, I mean, you’ve got to have some sympathy for the people who’ve got to deal with this, who were just doing their jobs as well, right?
PETER DUTTON:
Well this is the thing. It puts the security staff under pressure and it’s unacceptable. It’s interesting to note actually that one of the protesters there today was one of three protesters arrested up on the roof of my Electorate Office a few weeks ago…
BEN FORDHAM:
...oh, that’s interesting…
PETER DUTTON:
…and believe it or not the Magistrate that dealt with the matter in the Petrie Magistrates Court in Queensland said, after he gave a $100 fine, to the three women ‘if you were my daughters I’d be proud of the fact that you were up on that roof’….
BEN FORDHAM:
…the Magistrate said that?
PETER DUTTON:
…this is what the Magistrate said in Queensland and it’s completely outrageous. The Chief Magistrate up in Queensland refuses to comment on it, but it just shows political bias and obviously this particular protester wasn’t hearing words of deterrence from the Magistrate…
BEN FORDHAM:
…no…
PETER DUTTON:
…and she’s involved in the activity today.
BEN FORDHAM:
…I suppose when you get a pat on the back from the Magistrate for climbing up on Peter Dutton’s roof then they might think alright we’ll I’ll go one step further and super glue myself to the Chamber in the House of Representatives.
PETER DUTTON:
Well this is it Ben, people who go before the courts expect, if they’re found guilty – which she was of this offence, of climbing up on the roof of my Electorate Office – some words of deterrence from the Magistrate: don’t do it again, instead this Magistrate chastised effectively the police for making the arrest.
Police had to come out, the Fire Brigade came out, used ladders to bring these people down and we find her down here amongst these people today, these protesters today.
So I think it’s a good question, frankly, to ask of the Magistrate in Queensland or the Chief Magistrate, how they feel now?
What do they believe they were doing in making this political statement in the court?
And I think it’s a legitimate question that frankly the Magistrate in Queensland needs to answer.
BEN FORDHAM:
I’ve just been told by Stephanie Borys, one of our political correspondents there in Canberra, that Richard Di Natale from the Greens went outside of the Chamber to meet the protestors and hugged them. Richard Di Natale was hugging these people.
PETER DUTTON:
Yes well, I’ve been harsh to Hanson-Young and Bandt to say that they were the craziest of the Greens…
BEN FORDHAM:
…yes where’s Di Natale on the crazy metre?
PETER DUTTON:
Di Natale has just taken the crown. So well done Richard, if that’s what makes you feel good.
But look, I just think people are angry about these scenes and they should be because it’s just a juvenile attempt on an issue that most Australians feel very strongly about – that is that they want to Government to have strong and secure borders.
BEN FORDHAM:
You’d need the suit dry cleaned after those hugs I would have thought. Now a couple of other things just too quickly ask you about.
Well I just want to ask you about the substance of what was being yelled from the public chamber today, and I know we shouldn’t put too much weight on what they’re saying because they’re lunatics, but they’re saying – you’re all complicit in the murder, rape and torture and child abuse of refugees on Manus Island, Nauru and Christmas Island. I mean it is just unbelievable that people even think this stuff, let alone say it, let alone accuse everyone in the Chamber of being complicit in child abuse, torture and murder.
PETER DUTTON:
Well I think Ben Laura Jayes on Sky News did a great job in the last 24 hours. She had a package that she put to air. She went up to visit Nauru. There were lots of footage of the school where there’s been $8 million spent on new classrooms, $11 million spent on the first stage of the hospital and about $23 or $24 million in total to be spent there – this is all Australian taxpayers’ dollars – and there’s money that’s been spent on the medical centre, and millions of dollars otherwise.
We want to get those people off. Those people that have been found not be refugees have to go back to their country of origin and at the moment I think they are snubbing their nose to us and these protesters and the advocates from the Greens that are telling them, look, just stay there until the Australian Government changes its mind and eventually you will move to Australia – you know it is irresponsible.
BEN FORDHAM:
The irony here of course is that they are saying get them off the island, get them out of the camps – that’s what you’re trying to do, that’s what Malcolm Turnbull tried to do when he did that deal with Barack Obama to get them to America.
PETER DUTTON:
Well I see some of the footage in Laura Jayes’ package where some of the people up on Nauru now are saying the United States essentially is not good enough for us, we’re not going to the US. Well if you are a legitimate refugee and the United States is offered as a permanent outcome for you, that you can move to the US and start a new life, there are hundreds of millions of people that have done that over many, many decades and I just don’t think Australians believe that these people are genuine when they turn down an offer to go to the United States of America to start a new life. And frankly, as I have said before, if they don’t take the US offer then we’ve renegotiated the arrangement with Nauru and people will be subject to a 20 year visa and our assistance that’s been provided by the Australian taxpayer will come to an end.
So these people want to hear this very clearly; if they don’t take the US offer, they are staying on Nauru long-term and it won’t be with assistance from the Australian Government and I have been very clear about that.
BEN FORDHAM:
Two quick ones before I let you go because I know you have got to get to a meeting. There is story written by James Massola in the Sydney Morning Herald about a secret Turnbull Government plan to radically reshape Australia’s visa system and how it could undermine social cohesion, increase the risk of violent extremism. Now that story has now been referred to the Australian Federal Police by the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Is that fair to do? I mean at the end of the day journalists are out there trying to find out what is going on. If James Massola has been lucky enough to find out this leaked cabinet document, should it be the subject of an Australian Federal Police investigation? Isn’t the problem that you’ve got a leak in Cabinet?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Ben a couple of points; this is not a cabinet document. It was a briefing note that was given to the Secretary of the Department of Social Services – so it’s not a cabinet document, it hasn’t been to Cabinet and the Secretary of the Department as I understand it has asked the federal police to investigate. So that’s the normal course of things and that investigation will take place.
But Ben essentially, without commenting on the document because I haven’t seen it, but I just make this general point; we have a very generous programme of settling people in Australia, we provide an opportunity to people to start a new life, many people migrate to our country each year, the vast, vast majority of them are good people, do the right thing, but Australians expect of their neighbour – regardless of where they have come from – that if they are able to work, people should work. Welfare should not be the first option.
I want to make sure that we put in place every incentive for people to work, to be engaged in the Australian society, for their kids to go to school, for them to learn the English language and I believe that reflects the values of all Australians and I think people that have come to this country over a long period of time share in those same values and I want the best opportunity for new entrants to our country to go into a job, to work, to work hard and to educate their kids. That’s at the heart of what I want in any reforms, but I haven’t seen the document so I can’t make any comment beyond that.
BEN FORDHAM:
Look I will let you go. Some of those lunatic protesters are outside the studio wanting to give you a hug as well so I better let you go.
PETER DUTTON:
Alright, thanks Ben, take care.
BEN FORDHAM:
Nice to talk to you.