Topics: Terrorism; Israel-Palestine; Visas; Immigration; Antisemitism; Budget, Budget surplus; Cost of living.
SARAH ABO, HOST: Welcome back. Well, this morning the AFP is investigating protesters who flew terrorist flags at pro-Palestine rallies in Melbourne and Sydney. Joining us to discuss today's headlines is Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth and Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie. Good morning to you both. Now, I know we both love a robust discussion, but let's let one finish before the other starts, shall we? So, Amanda, I'm going to start with you. What we're seeing at these protests with some waving flags of a declared terrorist organisation is pretty alarming. Is enough being done to stamp it out? Amanda, did you catch me there? All right, Bridget, I'll get your reaction to there. I think we've just lost Amanda's audio.
BRIDGET MCKENZIE, SENATOR: Yeah, well, next Monday is going to be the anniversary of the largest loss of Jewish life in a single day outside the Holocaust. We saw antisemitism take to the streets of our suburbs, visions of Sydney and the Opera House beamed across the world. And the Labor government has done nothing to pull this up. And the vision your viewers are seeing right now is people that are living in our communities waiving and supporting terrorist organisations. Not hiding in a cupboard, not whispering it amongst friends. They are actually marching in our streets, in capital cities, showing their unbridled support for a registered terrorist organisation. Now, if Tony Burke wants to say, we will not hesitate to cancel visas. Well, Mister Burke, you've hesitated for twelve months on this. We want to see action. If you're a visa holder supporting a terrorist organisation, you need to be deported. If you are an Australian waving one of those flags, you need to be charged. And what we're seeing from Labor, again, is a weak, timid and soft approach when what is needed is swift, determined action that sends a very clear signal, not just to these people who think it's ok to sympathise, but to the Jewish community who have to see this.
SARAH ABO: Yes. No, no, you're right, Bridget. But I think to pull you up on a couple of those points there. It was Labor, obviously, who said that anyone supporting these groups on a who's a non-resident will have their visa cancelled.
BRIDGET MCKENZIE: No, he said it could...
SARAH ABO: The Victorian Premier, a Labor Premier has come out quite strongly. I guess the question is, to Bridget's point, has the action been too slow?
AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: No, I don't think so. I completely disagree with this. We have been unequivocal that we condemn anyone that is indicating support for terrorist organisations. But more importantly, we put laws through the Parliament to say that the displaying of terrorist symbols such as flags like this were a criminal offence. That glorifying terrorism was a criminal offence and so we've put those laws through the Parliament. The previous government didn't put those laws through. We put those laws through. And now the AFP, I understand, are investigating and I have trust in our law enforcement organisations. But when it comes to visas, Tony Burke has been very clear that there is high scrutiny on anyone with a visa. Now we don't know if people had a visa or whether they're Australian citizens. There's a lot of assumptions being made here. But Tony Burke's been very clear, he will not hesitate to cancel visas of people that are inciting terrorism. We've been clear and we've been strong on this and it's disappointing the politics that the opposition is making with this.
SARAH ABO: I think one of the major concerns as well is that these protesters who are waving these flags are basically just taking the focus away from the humanitarian impact of this war. And then we're seeing vigils, Amanda, at mosques in Sydney honouring killed Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Does that concern you?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Look, I am very concerned about social disharmony in our country. I am very concerned. Of course there's a lot of distress about what's happening in the Middle East. I think anyone watching the scenes in the Middle East, we know that there's a rise of both Islamophobia in this country and, of course, antisemitism. And that is not who our country is and what our country is about. And so we do need to bring the temperature down. Everyone has a responsibility and we do need to unequivocally condemn indications of support for terrorist organisations and really be on one page with that.
SARAH ABO: Yeah, I think there's probably agreement there. Bridget, very quickly.
BRIDGET MCKENZIE: Yeah, well, Amanda, talks a big game. You've got the laws. But the Assistant Commissioner of Police was actually in the papers this morning saying they're going to give these people a warning. Now, I'm sorry, they might not know that the flags that they were holding were symbols of terror. That is absolutely unacceptable. The police have to uphold the law and arrest these people, not give them warnings.
SARAH ABO: All right, just very quickly, we only have less than a minute left, but I just want to get your take. The surplus doesn't really mean very much to those of us living through this cost of living crisis. But, Amanda, it has provoked discussion again about bracket creep and tax system overhaul. Is it necessary?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: I would say two things. Firstly, I would say that these two surpluses are critically important in our fight against inflation. Something the Liberal party couldn't do. But it does actually help in our fight against inflation, which is about supporting people with cost of living. It also demonstrates we can make room for cost of living. When we look at actual taxes, these figures don't take into consideration our significant tax cuts. We have delivered tax cuts for every single taxpayer in this country, something that the previous government refused to do. We're delivering that, and that is flowing through now.
[Bridget McKenzie audio not captured]
SARAH ABO: What did you just say, Bridget?
BRIDGET MCKENZIE: I just said I have significant concerns with a lot of Amanda's talking points. The reality is, Sarah…
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, of course you would Bridget.
SARAH ABO: Very, very quickly because we do have to go…
BRIDGET MCKENZIE: You would…
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, you oppose everything.
SARAH ABO: Okay, that's it. Time's up, unfortunately. Thank you both so much for joining us this morning. Really appreciate it.