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

TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW WITH SALLY SARA, ABC RN BREAKFAST

Wednesday 27 August 2025

Topics: Iranian Attacks on Australia, Porepunkah shootings of police.

E&OE……………………………………

SALLY SARA: Andrew Hastie, welcome back to Breakfast.

ANDREW HASTIE: Good morning, Sally.

SALLY SARA: Has the government made the right decision regarding Iran here?

ANDREW HASTIE: They have made the right call, and the Opposition backs in the government on this one. We needed to send a very clear message as a country that any foreign power who conducts violent operations through proxies on our shores are not welcome here, and that's why expelling the ambassador is a good decision. That's why the Coalition will work very quickly with the government to list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.

SALLY SARA: Do you believe that Iran succeeded in its goals, given the rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks that we've seen over the past 12 months? Do you believe that Iran frayed the social fabric here in Australia at all?

ANDREW HASTIE: I think their intent was to sow discord, to break down our social cohesion. I think they have had a big influence on things, and I think that's clear, but I still think there's work for us to do as a country. Iran has played a role, of course – we've seen those two attacks, and there's a possibility that they were linked to others – but we still have work to do as a country. That's why it's important for politicians in the federal Parliament, in the state Parliaments, to really work hard to build that social cohesion with community leaders as well. We all have a role to play.

SALLY SARA: What are your concerns about Australians who are in Iran right now for their safety?

ANDREW HASTIE: I'm very concerned. That's why it's important that we maintain some sort of contact with the Iranian government. We need to always have an avenue of approach. But certainly, this decision had to be made. And as you know, we called for this to happen last year. We have called for the listing of the IRGC 10 times since 2023, we're glad it's happened. We think it's a little bit late, but nonetheless, this is the right move in the national interest.

SALLY SARA: Why didn't the Coalition list it during its time in government?

ANDREW HASTIE: That's a good question. I was the chair of the Intelligence Committee; I was always keen to list it. That's for whoever was in government then to explain.

SALLY SARA: Did you put it forward?

ANDREW HASTIE: I had discussions with members of the Committee, including Labor members who wanted to list it at the time. I think of Mike Kelly and others who were moving to list it.

SALLY SARA: Did you put that proposal to the former Prime Minister at all?

ANDREW HASTIE: We put it through the right channels, but nonetheless, here we are now, and –

SALLY SARA: What does the right channels mean?

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, I won't get into committee process there, but I had a number of ministers who had direct interest in the work of the committee, from Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defence and so on. Anyone who sat on the National Security Committee of Cabinet had an interest in what we did on the committee. It wasn't listed, but here we are. The world has changed.

SALLY SARA: But did you put it forward to the minister or to the Prime Minister? Just to understand.

ANDREW HASTIE: There were discussions had within the committee itself. But nonetheless, we've seen since 7 October, the rise in antisemitism, and I'm sure ASIO and other agencies would have been tracking Iranian influence in this country. That's why we called for it to be listed up to 10 times since 2023. The point is, though, the government has made a decision, and I hope those responsible for drafting the amendments to the Criminal Code are moving at best speed, because we need to get this done as soon as possible.

SALLY SARA: So those calls that the Coalition has been making in Opposition since 2023, what should have been the trigger for acting sooner?

ANDREW HASTIE: That's a really good question. I had a briefing yesterday from the Director General of ASIO, Mike Burgess. He took us through how his team stacked up the evidence to make attribution to Iran for the two attacks. That's very forensic, painstaking work –

SALLY SARA: – It's a delicate process.

ANDREW HASTIE: It's a delicate process. Here we are now. I think there was, on the face of it, a case to list the IRGC, but here we are. And like I said, it's in the national interest. Again, authoritarian powers across the world, including Russia and others, use underhanded tactics like this to undermine the social cohesion of Western democracies. This is a strong message, which is why the Coalition supports it.

SALLY SARA: You're listening to the Shadow Home Affairs Minister Andrew Hastie. In a moment, Mel Clarke will bring you some analysis of what's been happening. On a separate issue, Andrew Hastie, the man who allegedly shot three police officers in northeast Victoria is on the run. Two of the police officers were killed in that incident. The suspect is a self-described sovereign citizen. The Prime Minister says he believes this ideology now carries a real concern, do you agree?

ANDREW HASTIE: Yes, I do. I think since Covid, we've seen a breakdown in trust for governments, whether it be state or national governments, and so we have to work extra hard to win the trust of those we represent. There is no excuse ever for violence in this country, particularly of the sort that we saw yesterday which claimed the lives of two police officers and wounded another. Very tragic and I want to honour those officers who gave their life serving our community in Victoria. But this is a real risk, and I think social cohesion is more frayed than ever. There's more misinformation and disinformation out there, a lot of people went down the rabbit hole during Covid and they never came back up, and so it's a real risk that some of them are radicalised, as we've seen with this individual.

SALLY SARA: What can you do to counter this sovereign citizen movement? Because it is a movement. In some cases it's isolated individuals, but it's a set of beliefs rather than a formal organisation with a structure. There are those who support its views in many different forms.

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, whether it's the far right or the far left the thing they both have in common is a rejection of the rule of law. Hence the word sovereign citizens in this case, we saw neo-Nazis in Melbourne – they reject the rule of law. And so I think fundamentally, our task is to make the case for our values as a democracy, which includes parliamentary democracy. But rule of law, everyone is subject to it. No one is sovereign apart from the state. Our law enforcement upholds the public good by enforcing the law. They sometimes get it wrong, but generally they get it right, and it's for the benefit of everyone else. And so these sovereign citizens, it's a worrying development and I think law enforcement and intelligence agencies have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks and months.

SALLY SARA: Just finally, on this issue, Australia prides itself on having strict gun control laws. Are you open to having a look at these laws, revisiting these laws again?

ANDREW HASTIE: That would be a matter for the Victorian Government. We've just gone through the process in Western Australia. I was a firearms owner myself, I had to hand in my firearm which I used competitively in a sporting contest. Again, this is a case where the government has to work closely with the people it represents. There are a lot of firearms owners out there who are law abiding, good people. There are some, even in the Parliament, who shoot regularly. So I think that's a matter for the state government, they'll have to consider it closely. And of course, we do have a uniquely safe country in that regard. I'd hate for us to be like the United States where you're worried about stepping out into a shopping mall and someone firing a gun at you. I think what we have here is great, and we need to uphold that.

SALLY SARA: Andrew Hastie, thanks for coming into the studio this morning.

ANDREW HASTIE: Thank you very much.

[ENDS]