​Subjects: Sentencing of Brenton Tarrant; Foreign Relations Bill; internal borders.

EO&E...

PETER STEFANOVIC:

Well joining me live now out of Canberra is Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. Minister good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. So as you heard there, Winston Peters, he wants Brenton Tarrant to serve out his sentence in Australia. I guess I first should ask, has that request even been made?

PETER DUTTON:

Well good morning Pete. Look, we haven't had that formal request, but New Zealand's a very close friend and we'll have a discussion with them. I've asked for some legal advice and obviously Australia works very closely with New Zealand on all sorts of matters, and we'll see if there's a formal request and have the discussion from there.

PETER STEFANOVIC:

Is it even possible? And if so, would you even accept that?

PETER DUTTON:

Well that's the legal advice that I've sought. I think the most important priority here is to make sure that this individual – whose name we should never mention again – is serving the longest possible sentence and if he is eligible for parole in Australia where he may not be eligible for parole in New Zealand, then obviously that would be a very significant consideration as well. We want to make sure that he never sees the light of day and the first priority is to make sure that's the case, but we'll work very closely with New Zealand with any formal request that they provide to us.

PETER STEFANOVIC:

Just on to the bill to be introduced next week on foreign powers. In your opinion, should Victoria's deal with the Belt and Road Initiative be torn up?

PETER DUTTON:

We were clear some time ago in relation to the Victorian arrangement that it shouldn't have been entered into – and I'm the Minister in charge of countering foreign interference in this country, I see the briefings and get the intelligence from ASIO and the other agencies about how prolific foreign interference is in our country – and we need to make sure that there is one position for our country we're not having foreign powers try and conquer through dividing states or territories away from the Commonwealth position. We need to work very closely with the states and territories, universities and others to make sure that the arrangements that they're entering into are in our national interest ahead of any self-interest.

PETER STEFANOVIC:

Isn't this something that Canberra supported, at least initially though, when it comes to the Belt and Road Initiative? Just sort of seeking some clarification on that one, there seems to be a bit of confusion.

PETER DUTTON:

Look, I think in 2020 it's very clear that we need to look very closely at where foreign interference is taking place. We're very worried about cyber attacks in our country from state actors, from non-state actors. The threat environment is very different today than what it was even two years, three years ago.

So we'll work very closely…we've got a very close working and trading relationship with China. We've got close working relationships obviously with many, many countries and this legislation that we'll introduce into Parliament next week applies to any arrangement – it doesn't matter whether it's China or any other country – we'll look very closely at the agreements that people have entered into at a state government level, or on university campuses for example because there is a very significant national interest and sovereignty discussion and priority here, and that's what we're working on.

PETER STEFANOVIC:

Daniel Andrews isn't happy about it. He says he didn't become aware of this bill until a letter was written to him on Wednesday night. However, there's a report in The Australian this morning that suggests that the Prime Minister and various security chiefs did try and actually brief him over the past month. Do you believe Daniel Andrews was out of his depth on this one?

PETER DUTTON:

Look, I don't think Premier Andrews would be surprised by the Commonwealth's position. We've been very clear and consistent in relation to it. We put Australia's interests first and we aren't going to apologise for that. We aren't going to allow states to run off in a different direction to enter into arrangements that we don't think are in our country's best interests.

We've been very frank with Victoria, with every other jurisdiction about that. They've received notification and I don't think there would be any surprise from Premier Andrews or any of the other state leaders.

PETER STEFANOVIC:

Do you believe that there is question mark over the Port of Darwin, just you know, as another example?

PETER DUTTON:

Well we've put in place Pete a very robust arrangement in terms of critical infrastructure. I think again, we're looking differently at assets and what is important to our future now than what we were even a few years ago.

We're looking at and working very closely with industries like the energy industry, telecommunications because we're worried about what a cyber-attack would mean if for example a banking sector went down and transactions couldn't be settled for a particular day or for a protracted period – people couldn't tap and go at their local retail outlet – that would be devastating over a longer period.

So look, we're realising the threat, we're engaging with the public, we're being open and honest about our cyber security strategy, we're being open and honest about countering foreign interference and we're acting in our country's best interests. That has to be the test.

PETER STEFANOVIC:

You would have seen the comments made by the Deputy Ambassador, China's Deputy Ambassador here in Australia a couple of days ago when he referred to Australia's relationship with China as a marriage, you know, that kind of goes up and down at various times. How would you describe it?

PETER DUTTON:

Well I think it's a solid relationship based on mutual interests, particularly in terms of our trading interests. I want to see China grow economically, I want to see people come out of poverty and I want to see China prosper, I want to see them be a great country in the world that they are, but I want to make sure that, like all of us, they adhere to the rule of law, that they're not involved in activities that aren't consistent with our values, that don't breach our democratic belief and the underpinning of our society and our system of government. They're the important aspects that we need to concentrate on and as I say, we'll work with China and any other country. We're not putting in place China laws; these are laws that apply equally to any country and we'll make sure that the laws are enforced.

PETER STEFANOVIC:

The Prime Minister announcing today that there is to be a set of rules when it comes to the reopening of borders. The Queensland Premier, as you know, she's dug her heels right in on this one. What do you think it would take for her to change her mind? Given that numbers in Queensland are so low at the moment. New South Wales numbers are also in single figures now. It's time to be having that debate isn't it?

PETER DUTTON:

It's past time. I mean it's really quite devastating. I saw part of a package before talking about people in Queensland travelling up to Cairns – in winter that should be the journey that people are taking from all over the country – but at the moment, obviously people can't and the reason the borders are closed to Queensland at the moment is because there's a state election in October. Premier Palaszczuk is a panicker and she doesn't want a single case in the run up to the state election, but the price to pay for that is that people are losing their businesses, their jobs and it's unacceptable.

There is absolute, you know, rationality to the decision that's been made to close the border between New South Wales and Victoria at the moment. Hopefully that can be reviewed shortly, but there's no argument for other border closures around the country – and in particular in Queensland at the moment it is having a devastating impact on jobs.

Queensland has the most, you know, the highest effective unemployment rate in the country at the moment, even higher than Victoria. Queensland had a higher debt than Victoria when we went into the coronavirus and people in Queensland understand that the closure of the borders is political. It's devastating to the Gold Coast and to Tweed Heads and any of those border towns where people are working across borders. There are devastating stories of families that can't get the medical attention that they need, and the most preposterous comment from Premier Palaszczuk was that Queensland hospitals are only for Queenslanders; it's a complete nonsense, and it needs to stop.​

I think people will mark Premier Palaszczuk down for playing politics on this important issue.

PETER STEFANOVIC:

Alright. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much for joining us here, we'll talk to you soon.

PETER DUTTON:

Well Pete thank you. And can I just say, thank you very much for a serious hard hitting interview on a Friday morning breakfast television, it's unusual, but it's nice...

PETER STEFANOVIC:

…well, finally, finally you have come to a proper news program Minister, might I say.

PETER DUTTON:

I'll let you and your brother thrash that out.

PETER STEFANOVIC:

Alright. Talk to you soon.

[ends]​