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

TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW WITH PETA CREDLIN, SKY NEWS

Wednesday 3 September 2025

Topics: Repatriation of ISIS brides, National Flag Day, Net Zero.

E&OE……………………………………

PETA CREDLIN: Joining me now to discuss this, Shadow Home Affairs Minister, Andrew Hastie. Andrew, thank you for your time. We'll get into the risk these women and their children may pose to the Australian community, but Labor has been accused – Tony Burke in particular – of trying to cover up this story, have a listen.

*EXCERPT PLAYS*

PETA CREDLIN: And look, you asked questions of the Prime Minister in the chamber today, he shut them down. Your Leader had earlier asked questions, he dodged those as well. It's like they don't know what's going on. Now, either they do know and they're lying to us, or they don't know and I have to say, Andrew, that is just as concerning.

ANDREW HASTIE: That's right, Peta. The Prime Minister didn't even bother giving a principled position on this and ruling it out, or at least articulating that it's really important that we keep our communities safe. He just said nothing. And so the question is, what does he know? The question is, is there a plan underway already and they don't want to talk about it, or are they just hoping this will go away altogether? It's very concerning. Again, when these people decided to betray their country, go to the Middle East, join the Islamic State caliphate, they betrayed their country and most Australians, I'm confident, would have said goodbye and good riddance.

PETA CREDLIN: I went through this at the top of the show. You know, I remember the briefings at the time, obviously Tony Abbott was Prime Minister, and the scale of the involvement of these women. I don't even like the term ISIS brides, because it somehow by imputation downgrades their involvement. Many of them were heavily involved – Western women around the world fighting for Islamic State. What concerns have you got [about them] coming back to Australia at this time? I feel like we're at a bit of a tinderbox moment in the community. They come back, some of their children obviously have never lived in Australia, have no connection with Australia. What's your concerns?

ANDREW HASTIE: Islamic State was incredibly barbaric. The last deployment I did with the ADF before entering Parliament was to Jordan as part of a task force that was collecting intelligence on Islamic State, and I had to watch a lot of the videos, the execution, the barbarism. These aren't just ISIS brides potentially; they're actually accessories to murder and barbarism and a whole range of evil acts. So the question is, if they were radicalised and they went there, have they been de-radicalised? Do they still pose a threat to the community? Do they still sign up to the evil ideology of Islamic State? These are all legitimate questions that people are entitled to ask, let alone the broader question of, where's their allegiance? They betrayed their country. Why should we have them back? We've got to have a standard for citizenship, and if you betray your country, see you later.

PETA CREDLIN: What concerns me, too, Andrew, is the government admitted that they haven't got any Australian officials anywhere near these camps. So who was even vetting whether these women are de-radicalised? I mean, there was a House of Lords report a few years ago to say deradicalisation programs have not yet been proven to work, but let's assume they do work. How do we even know if these women are fit to return to Australia, or their children?

ANDREW HASTIE: We don't know and therein lies the risk. That's why it's really important that we get a clear answer from the Prime Minister and the Home Affairs Minister on these questions. The Australian people have a right to know. We deserve transparency and accountability from the Albanese Government. 

PETA CREDLIN: Have they offered you a briefing, Andrew? Have you been offered a briefing from our intelligence agencies?

ANDREW HASTIE: No. Everyone has been very tight lipped. But we'll seek a briefing if there's one to be had. My sense will be it won't be this sitting fortnight, and we don't meet again for a month. I suspect they're trying to kick this into the long grass and stop the questions coming.

PETA CREDLIN: It sort of rubs up against those comments from Ed Husic, the Labor MP, who's reportedly questioned whether dual Australian-Israelis who might be fighting for the IDF – the Israeli Defense Force – should be classified as foreign fighters. I mean, these are people fighting for a legitimate state army, if they are. They're not fighting for a terror group, as these women ostensibly were. Why the double standard?

ANDREW HASTIE: I think it's a terrible form of moral equivalency to somehow connect service with the IDF, with joining the ranks of Islamic State or any other terrorist group, including Hamas. There's a very clear difference between the two, and as Penny Wong said today, the foreign fighter legislation doesn't cover people who are dual citizens. And where do you stop? If you apply it to the IDF do you start going after Australians who might be serving with the Ukrainians, or any other country for that matter?

PETA CREDLIN: Change of pace, but not unrelated. National Flag Day today. Your colleague in the Senate, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, came under fire today just because she wore the Australian flag in the Senate. Now, this set off the Greens, and it led to the Deputy President – a Liberal, I might add – who asked her to remove the flag. Have a listen.

*EXCERPT PLAYS*

PETA CREDLIN: So the flag can be in the chamber, it can fly above Parliament House. It can wear all manner of Palestinian earrings and Aboriginal possum skins into the chamber. But on National Flag Day, you cannot bring in on your shoulders our one and only Australian flag. You've got mates who have had that flag draped across their coffin, Andrew. What's your response to this nonsense in the Senate?

ANDREW HASTIE: Unfortunately, I have such low expectations of the Greens and other senators that I'm not surprised. But it just underscores the terrible double standard from the political class in this place. They're happy to have all sorts of other symbols paraded in the Senate chamber but when it comes to our national flag, worn by an indigenous Australian, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, and they deny her that – it's ridiculous. And I've got to say, Jacinta spoke so well, she's a patriot. She doesn't need me to defend her, she's rock solid on this sort of stuff. But again, it just underscores the complete double standard in the Senate. 

PETA CREDLIN: I know you've got to go, but I've got to ask you about a bit of commentary about whether or not you'll support Barnaby Joyce's net zero Bill. I know you've got some real concerns about net zero. Where do you stand?

ANDREW HASTIE: Look, there's a lot of commentary. I've been very clear on the record that I have very grave concerns about the direction of energy policy under the Albanese Government. I think net zero is going to kill our productivity, our competitiveness, and compromise our security and prosperity – that's why I'm opposed to it. We're going through an energy review at the moment – energy policy review – led by Sussan Ley and Dan Tehan, our Shadow Energy Minister. I want to respect that process. And as for what I might do in a hypothetical situation, I'm not going to go into a discussion about that on national TV. As much as I admire and respect you, Peta, I'm going to keep my counsel to myself on this one.

PETA CREDLIN: Right, I'll leave it there. Andrew Hastie, thank you. 

ANDREW HASTIE: Thank you.

[ENDS]