Interview with Natalie Barr, Sunrise
21 August 2024
NATALIE BARR: Well, the Coalition has boldly claimed that more than 1000 Palestinian refugees who fled to Australia should be sent back when the Middle East conflict ends. Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson says permanent residency should not be granted to those fleeing Gaza, saying there will be a ceasefire, the conflict will end, and the objective must be for it to be a place that people can live again for their take let's bring in Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth and Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume. Good morning to both of you. Jane, James Patterson seems pretty confident there will be peace in the Middle East soon. Is there something the Coalition knows that the rest of the world doesn't?
JANE HUME: Well, I think we're all hoping for the same thing here Nat. Surely the conflict will end eventually. And the most important thing is that Australia can be a generous nation. Can take people in from war zones, put them on Temporary Protection Visas, those very strong Temporary Protection Visas that were in place under a Coalition Government, that allow people to remain here safely while they need to and then return home safely when they can.
NATALIE BARR: Jane, peace in the Middle East has, I don't even know how to start this, but we've been trying to get peace in the Middle East for, I don't know how long. So why would we put them on temporary visas and make them unable to, you know, work or do anything in this country while we wait for it to happen that their houses have been smashed to smithereens. Is it, is that not a pipe dream?
JANE HUME: Well, the rebuilding process is going to be an important part of establishing-
NATALIE BARR: They haven’t stopped bombing yet.
JANE HUME: a functional Gaza again without a Hamas government. We're talking about in the future Nat, obviously.
NATALIE BARR: That’s what I mean, a long time in the future.
JANE HUME: The most important thing is we can bring people here safely, look after them temporarily, on temporary protection visas, not visitor visas, as they're on now, and then, make sure that they have the opportunity to find a pathway back to their own home and help rebuild Gaza to make it a strong state again.
NATALIE BARR: And how long would that be?
JANE HUME: Well, that's up to Hamas really. They’re decision makers here, they're still holding more than 100 Israeli hostages. We would hope that they would return the hostages, that a ceasefire could take place and the rebuilding could begin as soon as possible. That's what we've been saying from the beginning.
NATALIE BARR: So, we'll just wait for Hamas.
JANE HUME: Well, I think that there's already talks underway. We would hope that those talks are being fruitful, but the most important thing is that those hostages are returned, that we can ceasefire, can safely take place, and that the rebuilding of Gaza can begin. Those that are here temporarily, currently on visitor visas, but should be temporary protection visas, can then return to their homeland and help be part of that rebuilding.
NATALIE BARR: Amanda, what do you make of this plan?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, firstly, I would say that there has been conflict in the Middle East for a long time, not just, of course, in the Palestinian territories, but also in Syria, in Afghanistan, in a range of places and and what I would say is that it was actually a coalition government that brought in people from war torn Syria. And indeed, many of those Syrians are making a positive contribution. And over recent days, we've heard from people that have come here from Palestine wanting to make a positive contribution to Australia, and wanting to be in a peaceful place where they can, you know, be safe. And so I think this is really the core of what our humanitarian program is about. We have used it really, since 1949 and is something that's really important to ensuring that people from war torn areas can find safety here in Australia.
NATALIE BARR: Amanda, now your government is stuck on this point, though, and the Prime Minister wouldn't answer it in parliament yesterday. Why won't your government say how many visas were canceled from this area and why?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, firstly I would say that the attacks by the Opposition are just absolutely hypocritical, because what we have is the same security standard under the same security agencies-
JANE HUME (interrupts): No you don’t.
AMANDA RISHWORTH: -including the same security personnel. I mean, that is the arrangement.
JANE HUME (interrupts): No you don’t.
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, it is Jane.
JANE HUME: It’s just not.
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Of course, the previous government refused to ever talk about any security arrangements. We've been very clear about what the security arrangements are, and we will maintain the same set of standards that those in the Opposition held as well.
JANE HUME: There are no interviews on the ground, there's no biometric testing. There's no temporary evacuation to a third country while that biometric testing takes place, you essentially brought people here on visitor visas without adequate security checks. Some of those security checks took place in less than 24 hours. That's not what happened under the previous government.
AMANDA RISHWORTH: As the Prime Minister has said, the previous government also brought people from Gaza, from Gaza on, and granted them visas, visitor visas. So it is actually really hypocritical.
NATALIE BARR: Amanda, this is the biggest hot spot in the world right now, you could argue. People are interested in this and if people have been brought in on visitor visas, and you've had to cancel some of them, you would think that the question would be answered and the Prime Minister wouldn't answer it. Why? How many have been cancelled?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Let's be really clear that it is the same security standards, under the same security agencies.
NATALIE BARR: Ok and if it’s the same, why not just answer it? Because it's cutting through now. This is in the news every night. Seven News has answered the question for you. So why won't you say it to the people?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: There has been a lot of information out there about how many were rejected, how many were given, and we are maintaining our security in exactly the same way that the previous government did.
NATALIE BARR: How is putting a number out there harming our security?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, let's be really clear. There are things that we do not want to broadcast for national security. The previous government talked about on-water matters over and over again, but we are maintaining, and I can't stress this enough, the same security arrangements, standards, personnel and agencies as the previous government.
NATALIE BARR: Do you think it sounds a bit shady, though, by you not giving numbers?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: No, I think people would be reassured that we are using the exact same security standards as the previous government. I think that is, that is what people want to hear and we're reassuring them about that.
NATALIE BARR: Okay, let's go to something else.
JANE HUME (interrupts): The previous government did not issue visas within 24 hours.
NATALIE BARR: - we’ll just go to this other topic, which is very important for everyone. The latest progress report on our national plan to end violence against women and children is going to be given today. Amanda, what do you expect it will show?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, look, it's very important that we have the Independent Domestic and Family Violence Commissioner providing this yearly report to Parliament. Look, of course, she will outline her views. But I think you know, there is a clear message coming through that firstly, we need to make sure that we are engaging boys and men in the conversation, particularly about providing good male role models, particularly to counter influencers like Andrew Tate and alike. I think it will also talk about good collaboration across all jurisdictions, but I think it will also say there's, of course, more to do. And I think when we look at what more we need to do, we need to make sure that the lived experience of those who have experienced violence is firmly in the spotlight as we look at what is next.
NATALIE BARR: Yeah, you're right. There have been at least 55 women and 10 children killed this year from family violence. Jane, is ending this within the next decade achievable?
JANE HUME: I think we're all hoping that it will be. In my home state of Victoria, the police are called out to a family and domestic violence incident once every six minutes, which is quite extraordinary, somebody is arrested three times in an hour. Our concern is that the Albanese Government promised 500 frontline workers as an election commitment so far, two years later, we have 352 on the ground, and only 136 of those are full time equivalents. That's a real concern. We still haven't got the resources there that have been promised two years ago.
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Jane, please don't make politics out of this. This requires us all pulling in the same direction.
JANE HUME (interrupts): We agree. Pull harder.
AMANDA RISHWORTH: - we have a national plan that was involved with all victim survivors. We've got 85 initiatives, $3.4 billion of investment. You know, it would be nice for us all to work together, to actually send a strong message that all sides of politics want to end this.
NATALIE BARR: You're right. That is the only way it's going to be solved, if everyone works together. We all want the same solution. Thank you both. We'll see you next week.