TRANSCRIPT - Sky News Newsday with Kieran Gilbert

PAUL FLETCHER MP

Shadow Minister for Science and the Arts

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy

Manager of Opposition Business in the House

TRANSCRIPT

SKY NEWS NEWSDAY

14 August 2024

Kieran Gilbert: Joining me live in the studio is the Manager of Opposition Business, Paul Fletcher. Another busy sitting day and Question Time 45 minutes from now, where obviously you'll be there and playing an important role. Will you be pursuing the question over those seeking visas out of Gaza, because the Opposition Leader is saying he doesn't think anyone should be accepted out of that war zone now?

Paul Fletcher: Well look, there's a lot of significant issues around. Certainly cost of living, certainly the Prime Minister's capacity to promise one thing and do another. Certainly, the issue of Gaza and people coming in from Gaza. So there are a lot of questions that we want to ask.

Now yesterday, the Prime Minister cut off Question Time after only six questions from the Opposition. On Monday it was after only seven questions from the Opposition. The Morrison government, for example, routinely allowed nine or ten questions from the Opposition. 

Kieran Gilbert: Is that because the independents are getting more questions, a larger crossbench?

Paul Fletcher: That's one factor, but the reality is Oppositions have Shadow Ministers who focus on a particular area, have specialisation. It clearly suits Mister Albanese and Labor to take as few questions from the Opposition as they possibly can. Can I make this point, we have the same number of people in the Opposition as Labor had from 2013 to 2016 but we're getting many fewer questions than Labor routinely received during that period.

Kieran Gilbert: And this statement by Peter Dutton, is that a big shift from the Coalition in terms of the traditional approach, which has been a non-discriminatory immigration policy including when it comes to refugees?

Paul Fletcher: Well it's entirely proper to be asking questions, as Peter has been doing today, about the security implications for Australia, of people coming from a war zone in Gaza into Australia. What steps is the government taking to satisfy themselves that we're not having Hamas sympathisers, or supporters coming into Australia?

Hamas is a listed terrorist organisation. Let's be clear. Under the Australian government, Hamas is a listed terrorist organisation, and so these are totally appropriate questions in relation to the national security implications for Australia.

Kieran Gilbert: They're not just questions, he said, I don't think people should be coming in from that war zone at the moment.

Paul Fletcher: Well he's been very clear about that, drawing on his experience as Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Defence and raising the point that this government does not appear to be across this at all.

Kieran Gilbert: But that blanket ban, have we seen that before?

Paul Fletcher: This is a situation which is a very serious situation. On October 7, the Hamas terrorist organisation led an attack on Israel, a democracy and our longstanding ally. 1,200 people killed, 250 taken hostage. At least100, still in Gaza. Still hostage, we trust. Unless some of them have been killed, sadly some of them probably have been killed. This is very serious, the implications-

Kieran Gilbert: It was appalling. Not everyone in Gaza is a terrorist though are they?

Paul Fletcher: But what process do we have? What process does this government have to satisfy themselves to check on the status of people who are coming into this country? What process do they have to check that we are not seeing Hamas sympathisers come into the country?

Kieran Gilbert: Well they're saying that they've got the movement alert list and all that, that's been detailed by ministers today, updated every 24 hours by ASIO. I'm just wondering, is this a formal policy though for the Coalition? Do you have a ban on those leaving, or is it just questions being asked?

Paul Fletcher: Well the Leader of the Opposition has been very clear in his statement today, about people coming into Australia from the current war zone in Gaza. He's highlighting that we consider that there are serious national security implications.

Kieran Gilbert: So I take that as a yes. On the CGMEU, is there a deal done? Is it going to be a deal done in terms of that legislation?

Paul Fletcher: Well we've been clear we need to see something much stronger than what the Labor government, the Albanese Labor government, has put up. Their so-called administration is so weak you could drive a truck through it. It's open to the minister at any time to cease the administration to release particular state branches of the CFMEU from the administration process.

There's no barrier on the crooks and thugs and criminals at the CFMEU continuing to make political donations to Labor. We know there have been over $6 million dollars  of donations from the crooks and thugs and criminals at the CFMEU since Mister Albanese became Leader of the Opposition and certainly since continuing while he's been Prime Minister.

Labor has known for years, for years, that the CFMEU is an absolute sink of criminality and corruption. We know that their conduct on building sites around the country is making housing more expensive than it needs to be. So this has an implication for every Australian, and what Labor has come up with is far too weak and we are pressing them to make it much stronger.

Kieran Gilbert: And just a first step as well? There'll be more to come from the Coalition, no doubt. I know you want the Building and Construction Commission back, there'd be a lot of electoral support to go even further now, wouldn't there?

Paul Fletcher: Well this is not just about politics. This is about good policy. It's, first of all, not turning a blind eye to consistent criminality, but secondly, it's about the implications for all of us because the crooked CFMEU and the implications for the building sector and construction sector means housing is costing more than it should for Australians.

Kieran Gilbert: Paul Fletcher. Thanks as always.

 Paul Fletcher: Thank you.