THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP
 FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CANNING

TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW WITH MARK LEVY, 2GB

Thursday 4 December 2025

Topics: ISIS brides; immigration; Labor’s defence restructure; Anika Wells flights.

E&OE……………………………………

MARK LEVY: Andrew, good morning to you.

ANDREW HASTIE: Good morning, Mark, great to chat with you again.

MARK LEVY: And mate, Merry Christmas to you and your family as well – I might ask you about that at end of the chat and find out what you've got planned. But look, a lot of people are hot under the collar today, and I think rightfully so. I said off the top of the show that Tony Burke is unfit to continue as Minister for Home Affairs, given the revelations today about secret meetings to try and bring ISIS bribes back to Australia unofficially. What are your thoughts, and do you agree with me?

ANDREW HASTIE: Mark, I think the Prime Minister and his Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, have some serious questions to answer. You're right to emphasise this is a failure of the Albanese ministry here. There's a lack of transparency and what we're talking about are people who betrayed Australia, deserted Australia very publicly, for a violent regime that is now no longer around, but nonetheless left this country to partake in terrorism and all sorts of violent acts. Whether they did themselves is beside the point. They pledged themselves to a very violent regime – the Islamic State regime. And if they're going to come back here, they should do so publicly, and they should apologise to Australian people, and they should do this very, very transparently. All we've seen from the Albanese government over the last few months is secrecy and behind closed doors work to get these people back here, and we deserve better. The Australian people deserve better.

MARK LEVY: I just cannot understand how there can be meetings, secret conversations, a bureaucrat is told to get out of the room so a frank conversation can be had, and Tony Burke thinks this isn't going to be highlighted at some point. His job – and correct me if I'm wrong, you were once the shadow Home Affairs Minister – that portfolio is responsible for the security and safety of all Australians. Is that right or wrong?

ANDREW HASTIE: You're absolutely right. Security and safety of all Australians and also upholding our values: the rule of law, treating others fairly, with respect. And these people, when they chose to desert and betray Australia, ripped up those values and said they want to partner with a violent regime. So look, if they're going to come back, we need to hear from them directly that they've completely repudiated everything to do with ISIS. I mean, most Australians wouldn't want them back, and that's fair enough, too. So the way the government has gone about this – to do it in secrecy – I think it's wrong, and it undermines our confidence in our government.

MARK LEVY: Don't talk to me at the moment, Andrew as a Liberal MP, as the Member for Canning. Talk to me as a bloke who once defended this country. How do you feel knowing that these terror supporters and ISIS brides are being welcomed back into Australia? Because I've got a lot of people, and the vast majority of people this morning saying, I don't want to live next to one of these people. I think Australians are right to say that, are they not?

ANDREW HASTIE: They are. And you're asking me as a former member of the ADF who was deployed to the Middle East as part of the effort against ISIS. I had to watch a lot of these beheadings and murders that were put on film and integrated into their propaganda. This was one of history's worst regimes, and I'm so glad that it's been defeated and destroyed. But nonetheless, people who joined it – this was some of the most inhumane stuff that they did. And so as a former soldier, to hear that we are welcoming people back, but secretly and doing it without any transparency, it makes me angry. Because if you want to betray and desert our country, sure, but if you want to come back again, well, you need to repent. You need to pledge allegiance to Australia, and you need to say I was completely wrong in what I did. We're not even seeing any of that. We don't even know who these people are or where they're living.

MARK LEVY: I've got a real problem, Andrew even allowing it back into the country. And an aside to this is, and we spoke yesterday about the rise in antisemitism in this country, and that was highlighted in a report from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which said, "this hatred has left the fringes of our society and become part of the mainstream." Doesn't that just emphasise the need for this government to stop importing this hatred and division to a country that's supposed to be free of all this – excuse my language here – crap?

ANDREW HASTIE: Absolutely. We've been a country that has been stable, prosperous and secure, and we've accepted people from all over the world as part of our migration story. But just in the last 10 years, we've seen this uptick of antisemitism, of radical Islamist terrorism, and people are right to ask questions about the sort of people who are coming into our country. That's fundamentally the question at the heart of immigration policy right now. The numbers are too high under Labor, but people are also worried about who's coming to our country, particularly Australians of Jewish heritage. The uptick in antisemitism over the last three or four years has been disturbing. So it's really important that we get these settings right. And so, when we let people come back to Australia who have betrayed us and joined some of these terrible causes, and to have them back in secrecy, like they are under the Albanese government, people are right to be hot under the collar this morning.

MARK LEVY: Let's move on to immigration. Admittedly, we're waiting to hear what the Coalition's immigration policy is. You've made your position very clear. I just want to highlight a couple of things that your colleagues have said. Jonno Duniam has floated the need for visa tests to ensure those people who are coming to Australia respect our values. But Andrew Bragg has come out and said a savage cut the net overseas migration won't solve the housing crisis or the shortage of skilled workers. What's your response to that, Andrew?

ANDREW HASTIE: You mentioned Jonno Duniam and then Andrew Bragg. I think Jonno Duniam, as the Home Affairs shadow minister, is a really safe set of hands. I think he's right on this. We do need to make sure that we're getting the right people through. Andrew Bragg is okay to ventilate these views, as he did on his email. I'm not going to pick a fight with a colleague on radio. Suffice to say I don't agree with him. And I do think we need to take some fairly significant reforms to the immigration portfolio if we're going to get the settings right for the Australian people to fix the congestion, to fix a whole range of issues that the numbers under Labor have caused, particularly with our essential services. We're feeling it in our hospitals, with our GP's. We're seeing it on our roads and of course, in the housing sector. But also, I think we really need to make a stronger case for what it is to be an Australian, and that people who come to our country sign up to that. And if they do so, that's great – that's the sort of person we want joining our country. But we've really got to double down on that and emphasise that point.

MARK LEVY: It sounds, Andrew, like there was a bit of tension around the whole Net Zero issue within the Liberal Party. Is this going to be another flash point when it comes to immigration policy.

ANDREW HASTIE: One of the strengths of our party is that we have a debate, and you can do that in opposition. Labor doesn't have internal debates it seems. It's very centralised and controlled under Anthony Albanese and his inner circle. We have these debates, and that's a good thing. But in the end, we've got to land somewhere – that's the point of debate – and my view is that we need to land on a tighter immigration policy that serves the interests of the Australian people. That's what we're not getting under Labor, and that's why we need to change it.

MARK LEVY: Alright, let's whip through a few other issues while I've got you, Andrew and again, I want to thank you for making yourself available this year. These changes announced this week by Richard Marles to the Defence Department, which have been described as the biggest overhaul in five decades, are they actually going to make a difference?

ANDREW HASTIE: I heard that. Every time Richard Marles makes an announcement, it's always the biggest in history or the biggest in the last decade. He talks a big game, but he's actually delivering very little. We won't see any changes under his plan until 2027 so that'll be five years from when the Albanese government first won office in 2022 to any significant change. This looks a bit like they're shuffling around the Defence organisational chart on paper, but whether it actually delivers capability in reality will be the real test. I want to see our kit get to our troops faster, I want to see less red tape, and I want to see Australian industry get backed by this government. Because it's a competitive world, and if we don't get energy costs down, if we don't start fostering Australian defence industry, it's going to die all together under this government. The other thing I'd say is when it comes to the senior leadership at the ADF, there's a whole cohort of officers just beneath the senior leadership who have had a lot of operational experience over the last 20 years. They're the ones who've had to take risk at the pointy end with service in Afghanistan, Iraq, Timor and elsewhere. I'm looking forward to seeing them taking the helm as well, because I think they'll bring a bit more reality to the way Defence runs itself.

MARK LEVY: Well said. We move to GDP. Well, there's not really much to say there. Obviously the government and the Reserve Bank are on different pages. Jim Chalmers is comfortable with government spending, yet Michelle Bullock, the Governor, is saying, please curb spending. Just on the whole economy and what we're spending at the moment, I cannot believe the money we are wasting for these trips overseas. For instance, the Communications Minister, Anika Wells, she went over to the United Nations General Assembly earlier in September, to sell and tout the social media ban for under 16s. Can you believe Anika Wells and a couple of her staff members spent over $100,000 Andrew Hastie?

ANDREW HASTIE: I mean, it's ridiculous. When they're asking seniors and families and small businesses to manage their budgets and to apply cuts to their own lifestyles because of the pressure that this economy is putting on people, the Labor government is off spending big like Anika Wells – $100k dropped on a trip to the United Nations to spruik her policy. I mean, it's baffling. I'm glad the press is finally starting to wake up to this Labor government – it's been a while – but they need to be held accountable. And this sort of expenditure just mocks those who are doing it tough out on struggle street.

MARK LEVY: Yep, exactly right. Two quick ones before you go. Tony Abbott is a big fan of yours, Andrew. He made some comments over the weekend that he'd love to see you back on the shadow frontbench. Is that your New Year's resolution to get yourself back on the frontbench under Sussan Ley?

ANDREW HASTIE: Tony's a good mate. Big hearted bloke who, I've got to tell you, is still very fit – I've seen it firsthand. I'm always going to be grateful for a bit of support from Tony. I'm just going to do my job. The frontbench is a gift of Susan Ley. I'm always willing to serve. As you know, a couple of months ago, I took a step back on a point of principle. That hasn't changed, and we'll see what the new year brings.

MARK LEVY: Alright, last one. Christmas – what does it look like in the Hastie household? Are you in charge of carving the ham and the turkey? And are there any Christmas traditions in the West for Andrew Hastie?

ANDREW HASTIE: Yes, I do take control of the protein so ham and turkey is on me. My wife buys us Christmas pyjamas, and she cracks them out on 1 December. So I'm wearing Home Alone, "Merry Christmas, you filthy animal" with Macaulay Culkin on them – you can get those at Peter Alexander, apparently. And –

MARK LEVY: Andrew – Peter Alexander? Mate, I shop at Lowes, I'm a battler!

ANDREW HASTIE: Yeah, well, you know, it's cheap down here in Mandurah. And we do Advent. So every day we read a verse from the New Testament and the Old Testament, and we focus on the build up to Christmas from a Christian perspective.

MARK LEVY: Good on you, mate. Well, you've had a big year. There's been a few bumps along the way, but Merry Christmas from all of our listeners to you and your family and here's to a big 2026 holding this Labor government to account because the way in which they're managing the country at the moment is diabolical. Andrew Hastie, I thank you for joining us every couple of weeks, and I really hope we can continue it next year, because the listeners love hearing from you. Thanks so much.

ANDREW HASTIE: Thanks so much, Mark. Merry Christmas to you.

[ENDS]