THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND SOVEREIGN CAPABILITY
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CANNING

TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW WITH PATRICIA KARVELAS, AFTERNOON BRIEFING

Monday 10 August 2026

Topics:  Artificial intelligence; Secret Harbour by-election; gambling reforms.

E&OE……………………………………

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Welcome to the program.

ANDREW HASTIE: Good afternoon, PK.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Big announcement from the South Australian Premier – an AI Royal Commission is it a good idea?

ANDREW HASTIE: I think we've had a lot of royal commissions, and I would much prefer a select Parliamentary committee conducted by the Commonwealth Parliament to look at this issue because I do think artificial intelligence has strategic, moral, and economic implications for the Australian people, and it's really important that we look at this from a national perspective. So I applaud the Premier of South Australia's move, but I think this is something that we need to do at a national level.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Okay, so you think it's a good idea, but it should be focused in the Parliament through a new committee, essentially. What sort of work should the committee do?

ANDREW HASTIE: I think it should be a tri-partisan committee that should examine the issues, take as long as they need to ask the hard questions, take as many public submissions as possible, and see what comes of that. We're in a bit of a bad habit of pushing away a lot of our Parliamentary work to commissions of inquiry or statutory commissions. I think this is something that sits within the realm of the national Parliament, and I think a select committee would be a good idea.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Malinauskas said that if unchecked, AI presented a material risk to the way society operates. Do you agree with that?

ANDREW HASTIE: There are all sorts of implications for AI. There's a geopolitical implication – China and the US engaged in a race for AI supremacy. There are moral implications for the way it's used – it's not morally neutral – it has all the characteristics of humanity because we design AI. And then there's economic implications as well – what will this do to our workforce? How will it disrupt our labour force? What will it mean for communities and the way we interact with each other? Then there's the educational implications, which I'm really concerned about because our kids need to learn how to think themselves. They don't need to be offloading their thinking to AI, they need to be using AI as a tool. So there's a lot to be done here, there's a lot to be discussed. That's why I think it would be best done by a national Parliamentary committee.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: I want to ask you a couple of other questions in other areas. One Nation has launched its Canning branch and vowed to run a strong candidate against you at the next election. Last week you said you accepted your own political mortality. A Redbridge poll suggested you could lose your own seat to a populist surge. Why do you think One Nation has taken hold in a seat like yours?

ANDREW HASTIE: Last week I was saying the obvious, which is every three years a Member of Parliament has to reapply for their job at a federal election. I've been prepared to do that over five elections now. I'm going to my sixth. I have a strong record of delivering for the people of Canning, and I look forward to contesting One Nation. They seem to be fixated with me at the moment, making cartoons and devoting all this energy to taking me out when apparently they're all about getting rid of the Albanese Government. They're a bit confused – I'll give them that. But look, I'm focused on delivering for my community, and there's plenty to be done, I'll tell you that.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Bridget McKenzie was on the show on Friday, and she said this $5 million that they've fundraised to "Fire the Liar" – that's their language – should be quarantined to only fighting Labor. That it shouldn't be spent in seats like yours, for instance, because that's not firing the liar, as they frame it. Do you agree with that?

ANDREW HASTIE: It's not for me to tell One Nation how to spend their money, but I'm obviously living rent-free in James Ashby's head, and I wouldn't be surprised if he spent some of that money on the cartoon he made about me – I’m flattered. I'm all about delivery, and thus far – you'll be aware there's a Secret Harbour state by-election in the seat of Canning – I've spooked Labor into delivering the Karnup train station. For me, that'll be my second train station in 10 years – not a bad record for a local member. Politics isn't about slogans or online likes, it's actually about delivery, and that's what I'm about.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: The Liberal leader in WA has denied that the Liberals are running dead in the Secret Harbor by-election, which overlaps your seat – as you know, but I'm explaining to our viewers – but admits he won't be shedding a tear if One Nation wins the seat. What do you make of that?

ANDREW HASTIE: I'll leave Basil Zempilas to explain his own comments. Suffice to say, this is a state by-election contested on state issues. It's a test for the Premier, Roger Cook, who is leading a 11-year WA state government, and it's also a test for the Opposition. It's 11 years of Labor, I'd be hoping for a good result for Basil. Let's see what happens but certainly, I'd like to see the Liberal Party win.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: But in terms of this shedding a tear, I mean, would you be shedding a tear if One Nation wins?

ANDREW HASTIE: It's not a federal election, it's a state election. The result will reflect on the parties involved at the state level, so it's really a question for Roger Cook and for Basil Zempilas to answer.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: On a couple of other issues, Angus Taylor has demanded Anthony Albanese apologise for remarks he made on a podcast about the Japanese Prime Minister. This issue of melons, we played it a little earlier. There was a sharp rebuke from Tokyo's former ambassador in Canberra, but hasn't the Prime Minister already apologised unequivocally?

ANDREW HASTIE: I think there's some special sensitivity around this. I think it was beneath the office of the Prime Minister to make the comments that he did. Despite Tanya Plibersek's comments, I think the context is obvious, there's no getting around that. Japan is a close partner of ours, and I think it was disrespectful to a female prime minister so the Prime Minister should apologise. When in doubt, apologise because our relationship with Japan is too important to be damaged by some foolish comments on a podcast.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Just on some issues that have to be sorted out by the Parliament this week. The Prime Minister, obviously fresh off a week of leave, has told the Labor caucus he does expect the NDIS reforms to pass this fortnight. Does the Coalition have an instinct to support the NDIS legislation in the next fortnight?

ANDREW HASTIE: Look, we want to see the NDIS reformed. We'll have another conversation about that. There's a lot of things going on at the moment – you mentioned gambling with Premier Minns earlier. We're going to be talking to the government about a lot of legislation. Angus Taylor had a meeting with the Prime Minister today, so stay tuned for more on what we're going to do this fortnight.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Gambling reforms – you mentioned them, so I will ask. Former Prime Minister John Howard has made a last-ditch plea for Anthony Albanese and Angus Taylor to essentially take on powerful media and sports organisations, companies, and crack down hard on sports betting ads. He wants basically that you opt in to the advertising. At the moment, it's opt out. Will you listen to John Howard?

ANDREW HASTIE: Former Prime Minister John Howard is a man I respect. He's obviously accrued a lot of political wisdom over the years, so of course we'll listen to what Mr Howard has to say. Our guiding principle is to protect the vulnerable here, and that is children – we don't want our kids being exposed to betting ads during family time. I watch a lot of sport with my kids; I don't want betting ads during that time. And then also gamblers who are vulnerable and who are prone to addiction, we want to protect them as well, which is why we're having a conversation about predatory inducements. Sarah Henderson, our communications shadow, Angus Taylor, and the rest of the team will be discussing this in coming days, and our position will become clearer next week once the Senate Environment and Communications Committee also hands down their report into this Bill.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: And on a personal level, you've heard some of your backbench is very passionate about this – people like Simon Kennedy. Are you passionate about it?

ANDREW HASTIE: I'm passionate about protecting vulnerable Australians. I really do want to protect our children, and I want to protect people who are prone to addiction in this area. But having said that, public policy is about trade-offs, and we don't want to go down the path of tobacco, where we create a black market and an era of prohibition, which yields all sorts of criminal activity. So, getting the balance is right. There is no perfect solution here, but we must protect our vulnerable, and we must set some standards, particularly when it comes to family time.

PATRICIA KARVELAS: Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon.

ANDREW HASTIE: Thanks, PK.

[ENDS]