E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
CHANNEL 7 SUNRISE
FRIDAY, 25 OCTOBER 2024
SUBJECTS: China; Middle East; Economy; Queensland election
NATALIE BARR: Beijing has sensationally accused Australia of systemic racism and hate crimes after an Australian diplomat raised international concerns about human rights abuses in China.
The country’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson slammed Australia for criticising China publicly, arguing that we have severely violated the rights of refugees and immigrants, have left indigenous people with vulnerable living conditions, and that our soldiers have committed abhorrent crimes through military operations overseas.
For their take let’s bring in Education Minister Jason Clare and Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. Good morning to both of you.
Jason, they’re saying “you’re just as bad as us”, what do you say?
JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: I think we’re the best multicultural country in the world, and I think we’re an example to other countries all around the world about how to do it, how to get it right. We’re a country that’s made up of people from all around the world living in harmony and that sends a pretty good message given what’s happening all around the world about how you do it.
It doesn’t mean that we’re perfect. We’re not. No country’s perfect. We can always do these things better. We’ve seen the rise of anti‑Semitism in Australia and Islamophobia. We all know the chronic, terrible conditions that a lot of Indigenous Australians live in.
So, no country’s perfect but we’ve got to admit where we’ve got things that we need to do and make sure that we crack on and do it.
BARR: Is that language concerning though, coming from China?
CLARE: Fundamentally the relationship between Australia and China is in a lot better nick today than it was, say, two years ago. Two years ago, the last Liberal Government couldn’t get Beijing to even answer the phone. Now we’ve been able to get all of those trade sanctions on everything from grog to lobsters lifted, that’s good for farmers, that’s good for workers.
But it doesn’t mean that we’re going to agree on everything, we’re just not. We’re going to agree where we can, but we’ve got to disagree where we must.
BARR: Sussan, is this a concern in language? Because he’s right, we’ve only just got the lobsters back, amongst all the other exports, so have they got a point on the way we treat people?
SUSSAN LEY: Nat, this is the sort of disrespectful and factually incorrect commentary that we’ve come to expect from the Chinese Communist Party, and it usually means they’re sensitive about something.
Australia is the most successful multicultural nation in the world, and that includes the more than one million Chinese Australians, the Chinese diaspora who we love and cherish, there’s no equivalence between Australia and China when it comes to a human rights record. You only have to look at their crushing of democracy in Hong Kong, their treatment of the Uyghurs. I would simply say silence on human rights is never the price of a ticket to Beijing.
BARR: Okay, moving on. The Treasurer will today call for a ceasefire in the Middle East, warning that an escalation in the war risks persistent inflation for the global middle class.
Jason, there are two issues here, of course the economic conditions, whether that will make our situation worse. But also, whether a ceasefire will make things worse in the Middle East for a lot of people.
CLARE: I think we want a ceasefire, don’t we. We’ve been calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East now for over 12 months.
BARR: Some countries don’t, they think it will make Hamas be able to arm themselves and make matters worse though.
CLARE: I think almost every country in the world now, from the US to the UK to the Kiwis, to us, to, you know, almost every country I can think of is calling for an end to the war. We want an end to innocent people being killed in the Middle East, whether it’s in Gaza or now in Lebanon. Fundamentally that’s what’s most important. We all see that death and destruction on our TV screens.
I think the point Jim’s making is, it has an economic impact. Whenever there’s a war it has an economic impact. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has done that. We’re now seeing evidence of that here too in terms of oil prices.
But fundamentally in terms of how our economy is going, what we’ve seen last week, a million new jobs created in two years, more than any government has ever created in Australia’s history. We’ve got inflation cut in half, from 6 to 3. That’s a good thing. We’ve also delivered two surpluses in a row, something that the Libs were never able to do. So, all of those trends are heading in the right direction.
BARR: Sussan, do you agree with Jim Chalmers here?
LEY: Well, we all want the conflict in the Middle East to end and the best way for that to happen, Nat, is for Hamas to surrender the hostages and actually surrender themselves, and for Hezbollah to stop their terrorist activities on the northern border.
But there’s a bit of smoke and mirrors here from Jim Chalmers. He’s suggesting that the inflation that we’re seeing at home is because of factors overseas. The problem is that the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand, are all seeing inflation come down. In fact, I think Canada’s interest rates came down by 50 basis points yesterday. So, the problem here is the Labor Party’s lack of an economic plan that is keeping prices higher and causing Australians to feel pain for longer and causing Australians to fall further behind.
BARR: Okay. Let’s go to Queensland because of course the election is on tomorrow. Let’s have a look, we kind of probably know who you’re going for. Let’s take a dibs on how many seats.
CLARE: I’m not going to guess. If the polls are right, it’s going to be really tight. Those polls show that it’s going to be a really tight result tomorrow. It’s always hard for third term governments to get re‑elected. But Steven Miles has run a pretty terrific campaign. He’s a strong leader. Just look at the guns on him, they’ve been on display in this election campaign.
BARR: The gun show, is it?
CLARE: But he’s also focussed on the sort of things we’re talking about here, on the cost‑of‑living and measures to help people with the cost‑of‑living in Queensland, which is the number one issue.
BARR: Sussan, if the polls are right Crisafulli has squandered his lead and may just fall over the line. Do you think he’s run a bad campaign?
LEY: I think he’s run a terrific campaign, and I think the LNP will win. I think it will be a strong victory. I think Queenslanders most importantly will turn the corner, because whether it’s health care, whether it’s crime, whether it is cost‑of‑living, the LNP does have the better plan.
So, I’m excited for the weekend, Nat, and we’ll see what happens.
BARR: And as you guys know, what do the polls know? We’ve all been there before. They can be wrong. Thank you very much, we’ll see you next week.
CLARE: Thanks.
ENDS