THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CANNING 

TRANSCRIPT

INTERVIEW WITH PETA CREDLIN, SKY NEWS

Tuesday 16 December 2025

Topics: Bondi terrorist attack

E&OE……………………………………

PETA CREDLIN: Andrew, welcome to the program. You have been outspoken for many, many months about the need to have a fair dinkum national debate in this country about immigration. Not just the quantum, not just the number of people we bring to this country, but who we bring and what their values are and whether they are in conflict with ours. Is this finally a wake-up call to have that debate?

ANDREW HASTIE: Good evening, Peta. I think it is a wake-up call, and it's a violent wake-up call, sadly for 15 murdered Australians, their families and friends. I think at the heart of all of this is that theology has public consequences, and radical Islamic theology has violent consequences. It encourages people to withdraw from Australian society. It encourages people to think of believers and infidels. It doesn't recognise secular authority, like the parliaments, the courts or the police. It encourages gender segregation. And it legitimises and normalises violence in the pursuit of religious aims. We have a problem with radical Islamic theology, and I think one of the areas that we really need to look at is immigration. Numbers are one thing, but I think who we bring into our country is really important. They have to sign up to Australian values, which are fundamentally Judeo-Christian values: equality, the rule of law, consent, democratic traditions – all those things are fundamentally Judeo-Christian. And I think what we're seeing is that radical Islamic theology is completely incompatible with the Australian achievement, as John Howard calls it.

PETA CREDLIN: I was watching the Prime Minister – I have for the last couple of days, I've watched every single press conference, there's been three or four press conferences a day – and not once has he used the term radical Islam, or Islam or Islamist. I checked my reckoning with Andrew Clennell, he also agreed. Does that surprise you?

ANDREW HASTIE: I'm not surprised. I think it's a failure of leadership by the Prime Minister. He has to be grounded in reality as he leads the nation out of this dark valley, and the first thing he needs to do is to be honest and truthful about why this attack occurred. It was because two people were radicalised by a very extreme form of Islam that encouraged them to take up guns and shoot innocent Jewish Australians during a Hanukkah festival down at Bondi Beach. And until he does that, he's missed the mark. I also think he needs to lead grounded in Australian values. He needs to articulate who we are as a country, what we stand for and what we oppose. Finally, he's got to have a bias for action. There are 49 recommendations that Jillian Segal made, he can take those up tomorrow and get on with it. And if he has to recall the national parliament, well then let's go – I'll get on the next flight to Canberra to make sure that we protect Jewish Australians. There are a number of other things to do, but he can start with that report by Ms Segal.

PETA CREDLIN: Are you concerned that at the National Cabinet yesterday, there was no debate about much in relation to Jillian Segal's report. In fact, it wasn't even discussed. It wasn't named in the room. The debate was – and I call this sort of a switch game – the debate was about gun reform. Now you've fired a gun in a professional sense as a soldier, and yes, I do think that gun reform is a valid debate to have, but it is the motivation behind the killers, it's what they did with those guns on the weekend, that we cannot lose sight of. My fear is that the Prime Minister wants to make this about gun reform. He wants to try and get the Coalition to fight against farmers, to fight amongst itself, because that will give him cover from having to deal with his derogation of duty over the last two and a half years. That's my concern.

ANDREW HASTIE: It's a valid concern, Peta, because the issue here is antisemitism, and the wellspring of that antisemitism is radical Islamic theology, which motivated these two shooters. So until he acknowledges that and deals with that, we're not going to make any headway. To talk about gun reform – sure, we can talk about gun reform – but it's to completely miss the mark. He's had two years. We saw the ugly face of antisemitism on the steps of the Opera House two years ago. We've had a number of incidents. The data points are all there over the last two years, he's just got to wake up. He's got to acknowledge the reality. He's got to lead from a position of strength and values, and he's got to have a bias for action and protect not just Jewish Australians, but all Australians, because this affects us all.

PETA CREDLIN: Are we going to see the Coalition, Andrew, with a lot of your pushing and shoving, are we going to see them step up to the mark on the arguments you've just put so eloquently tonight in relation to immigration?

ANDREW HASTIE: I hope so, because on the Coalition backbenches, we're going to make the arguments regardless. We need to move as a team. We need to be unified. This is a moment where Australians across the country are calling out for leadership and plain speaking. Everyone can see what happened on Sunday. We don't need to cloak it in language of platitude; we actually need to get on with the job. And people expect action from their political leaders.

PETA CREDLIN: From someone who has worn the uniform to the fight against radical Islam, thank you, Andrew Hastie.

ANDREW HASTIE: Thanks, Peta.

[ENDS]