Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for the Public Service, Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General
GREG JENNETT, HOST: Alright, let's get some Australian Government perspective now on events abroad and at home too. Patrick Gorman's the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, among other things. He's also the member for Perth, and he joins us from that city. Patrick Gorman, welcome back. Good to see you here. Why don't we start in the Middle East, very testing times. You may have noticed the comments of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the head of the Iranian armed forces, both are indicating further strikes from each country is possible. Should we take them at their word that much more firepower is likely to come? That things will get worse before they get better there?
PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: Well, firstly, I think it's important that we do condemn the actions of Iran. This is a completely unacceptable attack on Israel. What we want to see as the Australian Government in that region is a pathway to diplomatic solutions, not pathways to more conflict and more loss of innocent life. I think many of us have seen the footage, and just think how awful it must be for people living in that region and people in Israel who have seen those missiles flying overhead, thankfully, being able to rely on very advanced defence networks to protect innocent civilians. And we really do need to continue our advocacy for the things that we know will help people in that region. That is ceasefires, that is ensuring access for humanitarian support and aid, and looking to how the international community can assist in de-escalating and ensuring that we have a peaceful, stable region.
JENNETT: So much has happened in defiance of that united call for a ceasefire that emerged out of the UN and led by the US last week, hasn't it? Can I ask, Patrick, about Australians in Lebanon? So we've had it confirmed by the Australian Government today that it is working with the UK and with Canada, possibly with others too, that haven't been mentioned, to secure flights on what I take to be commercial airlines. Do you know much about that operation? How many have been able to get seats and how many more await those?
GORMAN: I'm not in a position to give you numbers, Greg, as you understand that that situation there is rapidly evolving, the Australian Government has been urging people in Lebanon to be leaving for a number of weeks, and we've sought to provide assistance wherever we can to Australian citizens. We are, as you said, working with partners, primarily in terms of the United Kingdom and Canada, to make sure that we do continue to find pathways for those who want to leave. And unfortunately, that's because the security situation for civilians in Lebanon has deteriorated, and we need to do everything we can to support Australians to find safe passage out. And while I don't want to broadcast specific measures, I just want to assure all of your viewers, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are working incredibly hard to make sure that anyone who is in contact with them is given the best advice for their safety and their security, given the circumstances they find themselves in.
JENNETT: It's rather remarkable, isn't it that commercial flights are still happening and seats still available into and out of Beirut? Do those DFAT contingencies assume that that will continue indefinitely?
GORMAN: What I can tell your viewers is we do not know what the next few days and beyond hold. What we do know is what is in our control, which is to continue to give the best possible advice for those Australian citizens who are continuing to be in contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's consular assistance line and their emergency response team. We'll continue to provide that assistance. But for obvious reasons, I think it would be very clear to your viewers; I'm not in a position to outline publicly all of the measures the Department's undertaking.
JENNETT: I understand that. Why don't we bring it back home, Patrick Gorman, to protests now. Some appear to be planned for this Sunday, and that might be described as regular or routine in certain cities - Melbourne springs to mind. But you will have heard, as our audience heard, the Prime Minister, kind of tamping down any suggestion that people should turn either Monday the 7th or Sunday the 6th into pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests. What should police do, various forces, state or federal, if pro-Palestinian protests are held on Monday, the actual anniversary of the 7th of October attacks?
GORMAN: Well, I hope that no such protests occur in Australia. If we think about what October 7 marks, it's one year since a horrific loss of life. It's one year since primarily young people, who were at a music festival, were brutally murdered and we saw hostages taken, most of whom have still not been released. It's not a moment for protest or celebration, it is a moment for quiet reflection. I understand that communities across Australia will be looking for ways to show their support for those families and loved ones of hostages who are still held in captivity at that point for an entire year. I'm not going to give advice to the police on how to fulfil their legal obligations. The police know that all too well, what their obligations are. What I hope, though, is that we don't put our police in that situation. These protests on these dates should not be occurring. There is not a place for advocating for such a cause at that such time. Now, I don't know why protest organisers are continuing to push in this direction, I would strongly urge them to not put our police in that situation and to not be so deeply insensitive, at a time where actually what we should be seeking to do as Australians is to celebrate how lucky we are to live in this part of the world and our strength as a multicultural community, not looking for moments to divide one from one another.
JENNETT: Yep, well, look, there is an element of bipartisanship around that messaging you will have heard, Pat Gorman, in the messages conveyed there by Peter Dutton a little earlier. Now, just to get really political, can we talk about your own seat there in Western Australia, the seat of Perth. I understand that the Greens leader has been active in your electorate today on the theme of housing as a policy issue. You won this seat - fairly comfortably in the end - 39 per cent of the primary vote. But if there is a serious push on Perth by the Greens would you consider preferencing them last?
GORMAN: Preferences are a matter for the party organisation, as they have been for many decades. What I will continue to do is to advocate for my community, and what I know that my community says to me is they really think the Greens have lost the plot when it comes to housing policy. They seem more obsessed with organising doorknocks on people's houses than actually voting for more people to have houses. What we've seen from Adam Bandt is that his party, under his leadership, has continually voted against measures that will get more Western Australians into homes, and here in WA the really weird irony of Adam Bandt's visit - he doesn't come here that often, I think this might be his first time in the West this year - but what's really weird is that he's here campaigning against our Help to Buy plan. Now Western Australians know that help to buy is modelled on Keystart, which is a program that has run here in Western Australia for more than 30 years. Keystart has helped 120,000 Western Australians into their own home, and now Adam Bandt's over here in Western Australia, telling Western Australians that we're wrong, and telling Western Australians that those 120,000 people who've got their own homes, that that plan shouldn't be expanded to the nation. I mean, that is the definition of ridiculous, Greg.
JENNETT: Okay, so just on that; Help to Buy, I think, has been foreshadowed by Clare O'Neil as a bill that will come back into the House next week. That doesn't actually give you, potentially, a double dissolution trigger, though, does it? If it is not passed again in the Senate? You haven't waited long enough.
GORMAN: Well, I don't want to presuppose what the Senate might decide to do with Help to Buy. But we are determined to turn this bill into the law of the land, because Help to Buy will help Australians. Whether that means we have to look at a double dissolution to make sure that some of the silliness we've seen from the Liberal Party, the National Party, One Nation and the Greens, where they're all teaming up together in this very odd alliance, we'll keep pushing because this is the right thing to do for Australia. It's the right thing to do for young Australians who want to know that the promise of home ownership continues to be available to them. I don't think that Peter Dutton or Adam Bandt or anyone in their teams has given a good, thorough policy explanation as to why they don't back this plan. It's good. Similar plans worked here in the West for more than 30 years, helping more than 100,000 people into their own homes. I want to take the success of WA and turn it into a national plan, and that's what I'll be voting for again in Parliament, however is needed over the coming months.
JENNETT: Alright, well, that's an argument you get to bring back to this place as soon as next week. Patrick Gorman, we note the argument now. We'll look out for it again. It's very familiar to most people by now. We'll see how it plays next week, and we do thank you for coming on today.
GORMAN: Thanks Greg.
