Subjects: Dickson Seniors Expo; Illegal Maritime Arrivals; Torres Strait interception; citizenship; anti-vaxxers.
E&EO…………………………………………………………………………………………
RAY HADLEY:
Minister good morning.
PETER DUTTON:
Good morning Ray.
RAY HADLEY:
I said you're there. I understand you're heading to the Dickson Seniors Expo at the Strathpine Community Centre. What's happening there?
PETER DUTTON:
Well each year – and this is about the 13th or 14th year – we hold the Dickson Seniors Expo. It's at the Strathpine Community Centre aimed for people over 60 years of age. So you and I aren't quite there yet.
RAY HADLEY:
Hang on, hang on, hang on. I qualify.
PETER DUTTON:
You happy to volunteer?
RAY HADLEY:
Well I won't be coming there this morning, but look I'm happy to be my age. I mean there are commentators who get to about 59 and stay that for four or five years, but I'm happy to admit to turning 63 next month.
PETER DUTTON:
That's true. Well anyway we get about 2000 people over two days and today is the last day. So if you're living in the Dickson electorate please come down because there's lots of information, there's stage shows and all sorts of things you can come and see so it's a fun couple of days.
RAY HADLEY:
You spoke to my colleague Alan Jones about asylum seekers using medical scams to live rent free in five bedroom homes across Sydney and I think we're talking about 70 people. These are the people brought back to Australia on the premise they once needed medical attention and then they would return to either Nauru or Manus, but the conga line of left-leaning lawyers to the left represent them. Can you still get them back from whence they came?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Ray this is costing the Australian taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. People have come here as you say seeking medical advice – or in many cases they actually needed no medical advice, they just came as a support person for the patient – and the doctors have given them an all clear to go back and yet these pro bono lawyers have taken action in the High Court to prevent us from sending these people back.
So it's costing us about $40 million a year and the thing that really stuck in my craw was that you've got people who are receiving rent free housing when Australian pensioners don't get rent free housing. So people who have worked all of their lives here don't get free housing, they get a supplement toward the rent and yet these people are living here high on the hog. They get welfare and I've said ‘well you know we're not going to tolerate that.’ So we'll give people working rights, they can work, but they aren't going to receive this taxpayers' support.
And to my amazement actually, to be honest with you, Bill Shorten came out and disagreed with that and said that ‘no, no, these people should stay.’ The most important point out of this is that this demonstrates that even in Opposition Mr Shorten doesn't have the strength of character to make the tough decisions required because the people smugglers will be up in Sri Lanka, in Vietnam and Indonesia now saying ‘oh we've found a way to get you to Australia, you go to Manus or Nauru and then you need medical assistance, you go to Australia and then you'll stay there.’ Believe me the floodgates will reopen.
So that's what's happened in relation to that issue.
RAY HADLEY:
You say the floodgates will open, what's the legal position once they get to Australia in relation to if they didn't get to Australia, they stayed on Nauru or Manus Island? Are you in trouble?
PETER DUTTON:
Well we've been very clear that the reason we've been able to stop the boats is that we've taken the product off the table. That is people smugglers were selling the opportunity to come and settle in Australia and we've said if you come by boat you'll never settle here – clear and simple.
Unfortunately these people through the lawyers have injuncted us in the High Court – and those matters will be heard when we can get a date in the High Court – but at the moment they're here.
At least Kevin Rudd had the good sense to try and say nothing before the election, pretend that he was going to be just like the Liberal Party in relation to stopping boats and yet Bill Shorten hasn't even waited until he's in the Lodge before he's gone soft.
As I say, these people smugglers are sophisticated. They listen to every word that we say and they will be saying to people we've now found a way for you to get to Australia. I think it's a really worrying development because the Left of the Labor Party obviously have got control of Mr Shorten on this issue.
RAY HADLEY:
It was almost with shrill delight that Fairfax Media was quick off the mark this week to report six Chinese men had landed on an Australian territory by boat. They were labelling it an apparent blow to claims that you've stopped boats. I mean it's the cheer squad that annoys me. They're willing you to fail.
Was it a breach of Operation Sovereign Borders? I note that many of the people have been sent back, five I think, is that correct?
PETER DUTTON:
Yeah look it's not a breach of Operation Sovereign Borders. As you say, those that delight in the thought that people might be getting through by boat I just think most Australians hold that sort of view in contempt.
So Saibai Island is about three or four kilometres – it's a stone's throw from PNG – and there were a handful of people that made their way onto that island. They were stopped and returned. One or two I think have been charged with some offences and that matter's before the court at the moment.
So no, I mean if they classify that as a breach then Labor would've had 10,000 boats through.
As I say, and as we've said on the programme before, we've not had a successful boat in three years, we've not had a drowning at sea, we've got all the kids out of detention and we've closed 17 detention centres.
RAY HADLEY:
Okay. For the past month Labor MPs have been shouting from the rooftop about how they have no issues and that they've got a foolproof system. Now we've got today Derryn Hinch outing himself because of a social security card he's held since he worked for newspapers in the United States of America. But I'm just wondering what's going to happen when it's confirmed by the Ecuadorians that Katy Gallagher by descent is an Ecuadorian, or is viewed in the same way that Barnaby Joyce is viewed to be a Kiwi and others are viewed to be Scottish or British or Cypriot or the rest of it.
I mean surely to goodness the suggestion by Hinch, who has now outed himself, that we need a complete audit would be the way to go otherwise we'll be having people going in dribs and drabs in the High Court for evermore.
PETER DUTTON:
I think everyone's anxiously awaiting the outcome in relation to Barnaby Joyce's case. I think that's the test case with the first half dozen so we'll get an idea from the High Court what their interpretation of the particular provision is going to be and then I think you can make a judgement about what the next step is.
But look you know full credit to Derryn Hinch for providing the information. He identified an issue and he was honest enough and frankly decent enough to come forward and stick his hand up and that's what others, including Barnaby Joyce, Matt Canavan and even the Greens have done.
The hypocrisy here again is with Mr Shorten. I mean Mr Shorten was calling for Matt Canavan and others to produce the documents and yet in relation to his own situation, or the situation of some of his members, including his member for Longman in a marginal seat, they are refusing to provide any documentation.
I just don't understand why the same rules don't apply across the board and if Mr Shorten's calling for other people to produce the documentation – and people like Senator Hinch have had the decency to put their words into action – why Mr Shorten can't abide by his own rules and stick to his own word.
I think there's a great level hypocrisy there and I think frankly Mr Shorten needs to come out and explain why he's not doing that.
RAY HADLEY:
Speaking of hypocrites, I want you to have a listen to this fellow and then I'll ask you about him when we're finished listening to him. Andrew Leigh of course.
<<<AUDIO RECORDING>>>
ANDREW LEIGH: We have an absolutely transparent process and this call for the production of certificates is frankly the analogy of the US birther movement. I don't like right wing extremists at the best of times, but I particularly dislike them when they're just playing derivative games. And this is just them photocopying the right wing strategies, the extremists in the United States, who ran that extraordinary campaign to get Barack Obama to release his birth certificate.
KIERAN GILBERT: It's a bit different in the sense that we've already got questions over a number of members of Parliament under Section 44 of the Constitution and it's just the question is should Labor be providing some documentation to reassure voters that there aren't the same doubts over their eligibility?
ANDREW LEIGH: Kieran we have stringent processes. We're confident that all of our MPs are validly elected. We don't need birther-style attacks here in Australia.
<<<END OF AUDIO RECORDING>>>
What sort of fellow is this fellow? I watch him with a puzzled look on my face on Sky News. Is he as strange as he sounds?
PETER DUTTON:
He's a weird cat Ray.
RAY HADLEY:
A weird dude.
PETER DUTTON:
He’s a weird dude.
RAY HADLEY:
A weird dude. Well you know I wouldn't want to mention him because I've said in the past that we should have an IQ test for federal MPs. Now he'd pass that because he's got 48 degrees, but he's as thick as four planks.
PETER DUTTON:
Yeah no you should spend some time with him. I'd like you to spend some time with him …
RAY HADLEY:
…no, no. My life – look, at 62 and a bit, my life is too short to be in a room with Andrew Leigh for any more than 30 seconds.
PETER DUTTON:
Yeah well your listeners that don’t know who we're talking about, Google him and listen to a couple of his speeches and …
RAY HADLEY:
…well he'd be on the ministry if they won the election.
PETER DUTTON:
Well he would. He'd be on the Front Bench and he'd be making decisions on all sorts of issues that would have no - the Australian public just wouldn't comprehend what he was talking about or suggesting…
RAY HADLEY:
….he seems to me in the discussions he has with Kieran Gilbert regularly, that he inhabits entirely – and don't worry about Canberra or the ACT, he's on another planet.
PETER DUTTON:
Yeah no, he's straight out of the universities and he would be right at home in a previous time, but he's a strange guy.
RAY HADLEY:
Yeah okay you've confirmed what I thought.
Now we spoke last Thursday about another of these lunatic anti-vaxxers trying to get to this country. The exotically named Kent Heckenlively. How's Kent Heckenlively going?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Kent's not got any travel plans to Australia because we're not going to allow him to come here. We're not going to issue a visa for this particular individual. And again – and we've spoken about this before Ray – I mean these people who are telling parents that their kids shouldn't be vaccinated are dangerous people and we have been very clear in having a look right through this particular case and it's clear to me that it's not in our national interest that he should come here.
RAY HADLEY:
Well you've broken new ground on the Ray Hadley Morning Programme today. You've described a fellow MP in terms that have never been described in my history on radio. I think you said a weird cat.
PETER DUTTON:
A weird cat.
RAY HADLEY:
That's him. Okay. Thanks for your time.
PETER DUTTON:
Good to speak to you mate. See you.