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

TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW WITH MARK LEVY, 2GB

Thursday 11 September 2025

Topics: Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price; Assassination of Charlie Kirk; 9/11 anniversary; Repatriation of ISIS brides.

E&OE……………………………………

MARK LEVY: We catch up with the Shadow Home Affairs Minister Andrew Hastie every fortnight here on 2GB mornings. I'm pleased to say he joins me on the line. Andrew, good morning to you.

ANDREW HASTIE: Good morning, Mark. Great to be with you.

MARK LEVY: Well, mate, we've got a bit of a mess on our hands at the moment. We need to start off with the Opposition Leader Sussan Ley's decision to dump Jacinda Nampijinpa Price from the frontbench because of a comment that was made about Indian migrants. I've described it this morning as an enormous overreaction from Ms Ley. Do you support her decision, Andrew?

ANDREW HASTIE: Look, I think what happened yesterday was Jacinta was asked three times whether she could support Sussan Ley, and she didn't answer in the affirmative. And the rules of being a member of the shadow ministry is that you've got to support the Leader and so the outcome was inevitable at that point. It's sad that it's taken a week to get to this point. It didn't have to get to this point. But what is done is done, and it can't be undone. We've just got to move forward and get back to the task of holding Anthony Albanese to account.

MARK LEVY: Well, this is the problem, Andrew. I mean, for the last week, we've been talking about this well, in fighting within the Liberal Party, and all the while, the government is getting free kick after free kick, even though they're going from crisis to crisis. Has this been mismanaged by the Leader? I mean, shouldn't this have been nipped in the bud last weekend rather than play out so publicly?

ANDREW HASTIE: Jacinta herself said that she misspoke last week. She clarified her comments, and she's done a lot of engagement with Australians of Indian heritage over the last week or so. So I think it should have been put to bed. It hasn't. It came to a culminating point yesterday with that press conference, and we are where we are. But nonetheless, I do think there is an issue with Labor's uncontrolled immigration. It is out of control under the Albanese – more than one million people since they've been elected have just been brought into our country, and we're feeling the effects. Fair minded Australians are right to raise this as an issue, and we can't ignore it any longer. So I think the substance of the point remains, and that is that we need controlled migration in this country, not uncontrolled immigration under Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party.

MARK LEVY: You're obviously a very important member of the Coalition frontbench. Are you concerned, Andrew, that if you speak your mind, you could be out the door? I mean, has Sussan Ley now set a standard that she can't go back on – I mean, disagree with me and you're gone?

ANDREW HASTIE: I don't think so. I speak my mind, and I'll tell you what, Mark, I will always speak my mind. But yesterday, the reason we are at this point now is that Jacinta couldn't express confidence in Sussan Ley, and that has a consequence. You can't sit in a shadow cabinet or an outer ministry if you can't support the Leader. So that's where we are at the moment. We're moving forward. But I will continue to raise my voice on issues like energy, on issues like immigration, which are at the forefront of the minds of many Australians – fair minded Australians who want a better deal for their families, for our business, for our industry and our country going forward.

MARK LEVY: You said, though, Andrew, you speak your mind, but I haven't been able to get a clear answer out of you on net zero, mate.

ANDREW HASTIE: What do you mean?

MARK LEVY: Well, I've asked you whether you stand by or whether you support a pursuit of a net zero target in the future, and you said to me two weeks ago that, well, it's a part of a review. So while you say you speak your mind, I can't get an answer out of you.

ANDREW HASTIE: No, Mark. Sorry, Mark, no, no, I oppose net zero, and I've been saying that ever since the election. I called it a straitjacket on Four Corners on ABC – I went into the lion's den and said we need to get out of net zero. I probably made the mistake of thinking your listeners are aware of my position on net zero. I'm opposed to it, and I've been arguing the case for the last few months. What I said last time on your show was that I want to respect the process that we're going through as a party. My position is clear, but where the party lands is another question altogether.

MARK LEVY: Alright, on the leadership, just before we move on to other things, and this is obviously the big story of the day, so we need to dwell on it a little bit. Does Sussan Ley survive this? Does her leadership survive this? Because there are a lot of angry conservative voters writing to me, and we've taken call after call in the first hour, Andrew, about whether or not she should continue in that role. Are the knives being sharpened within the Liberal Party to potentially replace her?

ANDREW HASTIE: No, the knives are not being sharpened – to use your language – they're not. What we need now is stability. We actually need to work out who we are and who we're fighting for and that's the fundamental question that we face in the wake of one of the biggest defeats we've had last May. That's the question we need to answer. I want to fight for everyday Australians. I want a better deal for them economically. I want a stronger country. I want a more competitive country for them. And I want them to wake up every day feeling hopeful about the future for their family, for their small business, and for our country. That's who we should be fighting for, and that's what we've got to get back on the task of doing.

MARK LEVY: Alright, so if there was to be a leadership challenge, I mean, you've made clear you harbour a desire to one day lead the party. If there is to be a spill, would you put your hand up or not?

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, there isn't a spill, Mark. People know I have a desire to lead but there isn't a move – just to be very clear. I know there's been feverish speculation over the last twelve hours. There's certainly none coming from me. I've got to be honest with you, Mark, I woke up really shocked to read about the terrible assassination of Charlie Kirk in United States on September 11. There's a lot going through my mind, and I've got to tell you now, it's not leadership speculation.

MARK LEVY: Alright. Well, just on Charlie Kirk, let's talk about that, Andrew. And I also want to touch on the fact that today marks 24 years since the September 11 attack. And I was actually reading your first speech to Parliament last night. In it, you spoke about being a student of history and reference the turning points in civilisation, like September 11, which we'll come to in a second. But this is just devastating. I mean, you're a young father. Charlie was a young father, and his life's been taken for daring to stand there and speak his mind. It's a sad day for free speech, Andrew.

ANDREW HASTIE: My heart broke when I saw it. He's been omnipresent on social media, he pops up all the time. He's a very winsome, persuasive arguer for his position. He's obviously got a lot of energy, and he's energised a lot of young conservatives, not just in America, but here in Australia as well. I know members of my team really like Charlie Kirk. And there's footage of him in Oxford, at the Oxford Union, debating with all types of people, again, in a very respectful winsome way. He was also a man of a deep Christian faith, so I share that in common with him. My heart breaks for his family, for his little girls, his wife and his friends. It's just one of those things that I think we'll remember for a very, very long time.

MARK LEVY: And the other thing we're going to remember for a long, long time is what happened on September 11, back in 2001 Andrew. Twenty-four years have passed since those planes were flown into the World Trade Center. I mentioned you speaking about being a student of history. What effect did September 11 have on you, Andrew?

ANDREW HASTIE: I was growing up in Ashfield, which many of your listeners would know. I went to Ashbury Public School, and my year two and three teacher, the late Giulia Ferraina, her daughter, Elisa, was in one of the towers that were hit on September 11 in 2001. So something that was happening in New York affected our community in the inner west of Sydney. I remember sitting there at Ashfield with my dad, watching the whole thing unfold tragically, still deep in the early hours of the morning. And I felt that that was a hinge point of history, which ultimately led to me joining the ADF and becoming an Army Officer, and ultimately in the SAS and over to Afghanistan.

MARK LEVY: Twenty-four years on, I mean the pain is still real. I've never actually stood in New York at the site of Ground Zero, but they tell me that the memorial that is set up there is very, very emotional. So we're certainly remembering the victims of those September 11 attacks. One more Andrew, and I know you're pressed for time, you've got to get the kids off to school over in the west because of the time difference. But I just wanted to seize on these ISIS brides. This is another issue in which I think we need some clarity out of the government – the repatriation of ISIS brides from Syria. As you can appreciate, there's a lot of people in western Sydney who are angry, upset, and there's a real sense of anxiety. Is it time for the Prime Minister to come clean given clearly, he's on a different page to what New South Wales Police have said in Parliament over here last week?

ANDREW HASTIE: It was very dodgy last week from the Prime Minister and his ministers. They didn't answer any of the questions that we had and now we're hearing a different story out of the New South Wales Police. I wouldn't be surprised if there is some sort of operation underway. Again, I come back to the basic principle here – these were people who betrayed our country, who wanted to join up with one of the most violent movements in history, Islamic State, who murdered, who raped, who did all sorts of obscene acts. These weren't just ISIS brides, I suspect quite a few of them were accessories to all sorts of heinous crime, including murder. And the fact that we would welcome them back, I just don't see how that works. In the end, they betrayed our country, and we have standards for citizenship. And if you don't meet that standard, why should you be welcomed back? It's basic stuff, I think.

MARK LEVY: Well said. You're on dad duties this morning. Who packs the lunches? Is that you or your wife?

ANDREW HASTIE: My wife. Mark, good question. My wife is a saint. Ruth – she manages the house when I'm away and I've got to say, I married very well. I'm very blessed to have her as my wife.

MARK LEVY: You're a good man. Look, I know it's a difficult day, and I had to ask you some difficult questions, but it's obviously very raw, and it's sparked quite the response from our listeners this morning. Andrew, great to catch up as always, mate, and we'll do it again in a couple of weeks.

ANDREW HASTIE: Thanks, Mark, pleasure.

[ENDS]