THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CANNING

TRANSCRIPT

INTERVIEW WITH SALLY SARA, ABC RN BREAKFAST

Wednesday 20 August 2025

Topics: Israeli PM’s comments, Tony Burke’s visa failures.

E&OE……………………………………

SALLY SARA: Andrew Hastie is the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, and joins me now from our studio in Karratha, where he's been listening in. Andrew Hastie, welcome back to breakfast.

ANDREW HASTIE: Good morning, Sally. Good to be with you.

SALLY SARA: What did you make of the comments you've heard from the Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, particularly about these issues of recognition of statehood, the visa cancelations and our relationship Australia's relationship with Israel right now?

ANDREW HASTIE: I think the important thing to note is that the relationship with Israel now is at an all-time low, and that's largely because of the Albanese foreign policy incompetence from this government. And I think there's a number of things at work here. Number one, pushing for a two-state solution, which I think empowers and emboldens Hamas before we've seen the end of the war in Gaza, has been very, very counterproductive to the relationship. I think as well, this latest visa decision, regardless of what you think of the Knesset MP who applied to come to this country, has further damaged the relationship. And so –

SALLY SARA: Do you think that Simcha Rotman should have been granted a visa to speak in Australia?

ANDREW HASTIE: Look, he's a member of the Israeli parliament. Israel is the only democracy really functioning in the Middle East right now. And I think it's a decision that will have consequences, which we've already seen from Prime Minister Netanyahu with his tweet and also his letter in the last 24 hours. In this country, we've met with a range of people over the years. I remember back in 2016 meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister as part of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. Did I agree with the Iranian Foreign Minister at the time? No, I didn't. But it was an important conversation that we had with that person. And so I think the government's failed to recognise what this cancelation would mean. This wasn't just any old visa. The other thing I'd say as well is that Tony Burke has been very inconsistent with his application of his standards. Last year, for example, he issued a visa for Sami Hamdi, who supported October 7, Mr Mohammed Ghuloom, who supported Hezbollah. And then only in the last two weeks we saw this visa get through for a woman from Gaza, Mona Zahed, who had expressed support for the attacks on October 7. So it's a pretty inconsistent standard that he's applying here. And because it's been so inconsistent, he's been caught out - this is Mr. Burke. He's been caught out, and now the Israel relationship has dropped even further.

SALLY SARA: We heard the minister talking about some of the comments made by Simcha Rotman and another Israeli MP with Mr Rotman once describing Palestinian children in Gaza as 'enemies'. What about the issue of social cohesion of having someone coming in and expressing those views? How do you balance that in making it in the way that a decision is made about this?

ANDREW HASTIE: These are tough decisions, I don't disagree. I'm sure he has said a whole range of things that I probably wouldn't agree with, but nonetheless, he's a member of the Knesset. And my point would be that Mr Burke, last year, allowed a number of people into this country who had expressed support for terrorism or terrorist organisations. And the member of Knesset from a party which I don't know a great deal about, but I'm pretty confident I wouldn't see eye to eye on a whole range of issues – nonetheless, in the same spirit that I was willing to meet with the Iranian Foreign Minister back in 2016, I think that we should allow members of foreign parliaments to visit our country regardless if we agree with them or not.

SALLY SARA: Let's have a listen back to what Tony Burke was saying. He was saying he wouldn't tolerate such a bigot of views. Let's just have a listen again to what he said.

*EXCERPT PLAYS*

SALLY SARA: Are you prepared to tolerate those views. As you say, you were talking about them being members of parliament and meeting previously with people that you strongly disagreed with?

ANDREW HASTIE: Obviously those views I don't support. But the bigger point that I'm making here is that Tony Burke has applied this standard very inconsistently. I mentioned Sami Hamdi, I mentioned Mohammed Ghuloom both supporting terror and terrorist organisations last year. He seems to be all over the place. It's a very unstable standard that Mr Burke is applying, and this is because he's shifting with the political winds. And so what we'd like to see is more consistency. Again, I come back to the point that Israel, regardless of its faults – and it has faults, of course, no country is perfect, including ours – but it is an important relationship that we have with Israel, and it's been mishandled so badly now that we have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coming out and making some very strong comments about Anthony Albanese. I think that tells you everything you need to know about where this government has taken the relationship.

SALLY SARA: Tony Burke was talking about what he described as a discrepancy that Michaelia Cash, the Shadow Foreign Minister, didn't object to visas being revoked for Kanye West and Candace Owens. Is there an inconsistency there?

ANDREW HASTIE: No, I think what we've always said as a Coalition is we want a consistent application of the standard. And under this government, it's been quite unstable, and it's been shaped largely by political considerations – domestic political considerations. I think when you're dealing with important allies, not just in the Middle East, but across the world, and including people you don't agree with, but who are official members of the government, you've got to be prepared to show some leeway there. And I think that's why you comparing members of the Knesset effectively with people who support terror or terrorism is not good for our relationship with Israel.

SALLY SARA: What needs to happen to improve the relationship in your view?

ANDREW HASTIE: That's a really good question. I think Mr Albanese needs to pick up the phone to Benjamin Netanyahu. I think having a public spat is –

SALLY SARA: He already has, hasn't he?

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, I don't know his calendar. I don't know who he's speaking with.

SALLY SARA: But we know publicly that prior to these visa decisions or prior to the recognition of the Palestinian state, there was a direct call.

ANDREW HASTIE: Yeah, sure. But in the last 24 hours Mr Netanyahu has come out and called him weak. Now, Mr Netanyahu can explain his own comments. I'm an Australian, and I'll always back my Prime Minister in a situation like this, but it does –

SALLY SARA: Are you?

ANDREW HASTIE: Am I backing the Prime Minister? I'm not going to lean into Mr Netanyahu's comments and pick a side here. I'm simply making the case that the relationship shouldn't be in the current state that it is.

SALLY SARA: But you just said you'd back the Prime Minister, just so I understand.

ANDREW HASTIE: No. I said, as an Australian, I will always back my own government in some sort of dispute with another country. The point that we're making here is that the Prime Minister has allowed the relationship to really get into a bad place. And I think that's very poor diplomacy on their part. It's a reflection on the Labor government, and I think they need to do some work to repair it.

SALLY SARA: Shadow Home Affairs Minister Andrew Hastie, it's an early start in the west. Thank you for joining me from Karratha this morning.

ANDREW HASTIE: My pleasure. Thank you. 

[ENDS]