Patrick Gorman MP on Sky News Politics Now

TOM CONNELL, HOST: HELP loans will also not be treated as debt for reporting purposes. We're joining the panel now, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Patrick Gorman, thank you as ever for your time. So housing, I mean, the supply side is still struggling. Here's another log on the fire of demand that'll do one thing to prices, won't it send them up?

PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: The other thing that the Treasurer announced was that we're going to make sure that those who are proposing to build apartment blocks don't have to necessarily get to that 100% of pre-sales. That will actually help on the supply side. So there's two measures here, but this is also about making sure that those student loans are considered in the way that they actually occur when someone is actually looking at their finances. Not being seen as just a set of debts that doesn't have any contingencies on it, instead that you only pay off at a certain amount as you are earning more. So this is a pretty common sense change, and I think most people who've had a HECS debt or a student loan from TAFE, have gone to get a loan for a house and been told 'oh no, you can't service this loan' would say that's clearly ridiculous. So this is just a common sense change.

TRUDY MCINTOSH, HOST: If it's common sense why did it take until this close to an election to come up with this? Wouldn't this have been an easy piece of regulation you could have done early on?

GORMAN: I think what you've seen from this Government is that we've consistently looked at more and more ways to address the housing challenges that we have. This is one more way of encouraging where we've seen we'd like to get more loans being issued in this country to help more people on that journey to home ownership. It's a sensible measure. I welcome it.

ANDREW CLENNELL, HOST: Are the Teal drinks an admission that we're heading to a hung parliament, you can't win a majority?

GORMAN: I think what we know is that there's a lot of different people who get invited to the Lodge. I was there last month with the Australians of the Year.

CLENNELL: How often are you there Pat Gorman?

GORMAN: I think from time to time the -

CLENNELL: You're the Minister Assisting.

GORMAN: I think from time to time, members of the Fourth Estate get an invitation to go to the Lodge. The Prime Minister has been very clear in his view that the Lodge is a home that belongs to the Australian people.

CONNELL: So just random people, the invite pops in your letter box?

GORMAN: I think it's more than -

CLENNELL: Just before an election, eight Independents who might decide the balance of power it's about time for the Independents, we've had the journos, we've had the, you know, Minister Assisting. Who can we invite next, the Independents? Andrew Chambers?

GORMAN: I think it's well known that the Prime Minister has a lot of different people over to the Lodge from time to time. Sometimes there are cameras from Sky News and other media outlets there. Often, I must say, when myself and other colleagues attend, maybe it's not as exciting for your good self.

CONNELL: Were you there this week for this event?

GORMAN: I think you can look at your own footage Tom and you'll know that I wasn't.

CONNELL: I didn't comb through all of it.

GORMAN: Why not?

CONNELL: Thought the Assistant Minister, you might be taking around a tray, bit of chit-chat.

CLENNELL: He could have been serving the drinks.

MCINTOSH: Can I ask a more serious question, I'll save you from Tom. Electoral reforms, a deal done with Labor and the Coalition. Are you likely to get this through the Senate tonight?

GORMAN: I'll leave it to Don Farrell to announce where those discussions are up to. But we've been really open that for a long time, we have been having discussions with other parties, other major parties, other minor parties and Independents.

MCINTOSH: Why the rush to get it through?

GORMAN: Well, there's no rush. I was the Minister who introduced this into the House of Representatives last year in November. It sat on the table for months and months.

MCINTOSH: Do you finally think you'll pass it after the election?

GORMAN: I also note that we had a number of people over the course of this term of Parliament asking why we hadn't moved faster. So some will always say that you're moving too fast. Some will always say that you're moving too slow. What I think we know is that for elections in the future, these measures don't apply to the election that will happen sometime this year. These measures don't apply then. But these measures will apply to the election afterwards, for by-elections that happen after the next election. So from 2026 onwards. It's about making sure we've got more transparency. It's about making sure that we get some of the big money out of politics. It's about making sure that when people go to vote, they have more information to make up their mind than they have now.

CLENNELL: We're not having a Budget before the election are we?

GORMAN: The Budget is scheduled for March. That's always been the plan.

CLENNELL: It's scheduled, but we're not having it, are we?

GORMAN: We've heard Ministers this week in Parliament even say they've been having Expenditure Review Committee meetings going -

CLENNELL: So we are having it?

GORMAN: - doing that work. I expect that we'll have the Budget in March. That's what the Parliamentary schedule says.

CLENNELL: So you expect a May election.

GORMAN: The Budget's in my calendar.

CLENNELL: So you're expecting a May election.

GORMAN: Well, look, Andrew, I know that you have stories about when the election might be, we are deep in election speculation. I'm not going to fuel that speculation other than to say that I think we all know that it's going to be called in the next couple of months. Like you and all your viewers, I look forward to knowing when it is that I'll get to go down to Highgate Primary School and vote for an excellent Labor candidate in the seat of Perth.

KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Is that you?

GORMAN: I hope so.

GILBERT: Good rap. Self rap. I want to ask you a serious, the separate issue now, and it is a serious question, because we've all been shocked by that video from the two nurses in Sydney. I want to get your thoughts on that, because it was sickening and upsetting, obviously very frightening for many members of Australia's Jewish community. What did you think when you when you saw that?

GORMAN: Kieran I first read the report, and I thought this is absolutely disgusting how could anyone hold those views, but let alone a health professional, a public servant in our state public health system in New South Wales. I was reading it whiles I was in a meeting, so I didn't actually have a chance to watch the video until a few hours later, and I was shocked all over again. It is just some of the most horrible things to hear a human being say about other human beings. That's what I don't understand about it. And to be doing it in such a hateful, so hateful, way is just disgusting. I think for the Jewish community across Australia and this will be seen across the world. It is really the worst, and that's why you've seen across this Parliament condemnation of this. But also, I want to commend Premier Chris Minns, a really fast, firm, clear response. There is no place for antisemitism, there's no place for racism, there's no place for hatred in the public service of the state or the Commonwealth.

CLENNELL: The PM said it was a crime. Do you think there's a federal crime that could be used here? Those laws that passed the Parliament, are they gazetted? The hate, the laws that went through on mandatory minimums and so forth, which have a hate speech component?

GORMAN: There's two things I don't want to answer, because I believe that when you don't know the answer to something, you shouldn't just try and guess. I don't know whether they're gazetted or not. I'm sure we can get that answer for you. I'm sure we can follow that up.

CLENNELL: If someone in PMO can tell me, the viewers would like to know.

GORMAN: We'll get you that answer. I think it would be wrong for me to speculate as to how those laws would apply to this case. If I was to do that, I would be potentially damaging the chances of those who might seek to take a prosecution on this particular incident. I agree with the Prime Minister, it is criminal act what we've seen.

CLENNELL: Yeah he was pretty firm on that.

GORMAN: I don't want to say under which law police at a state or a federal level might choose to prosecute under, because they often make those decisions based on wanting to make sure they get a successful prosecution outcome. It would be wrong of me to say 'under this law right here and now.' But we'll get advice on that, as will our law enforcement agencies at a state and federal level.

CONNELL: Patrick Gorman, friend of the program, I think we'll see you Budget Week then, from the sounds of earlier discussion.

GORMAN: See you Budget Week.

CONNELL: All right, save you a chair.