THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CANNING
TRANSCRIPT

INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS KENNY, SKY NEWS

FRIDAY 5 AUGUST, 2022

E&OE…

CHRIS KENNY: Joining me now, of course, is the Shadow Defence Minister, Andrew Hastie, from
Western Australia. Thanks for joining us, Andrew. This was predictable this response from Beijing, but
it's disturbing to see that firepower and the blatant intimidation of Taiwan.

THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP, SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE:
It is quite concerning, firing missiles near Taiwan. It's actually a big escalation. As I said last month, in a
speech in London, authoritarian powers are on the move. We've seen that over the last decade. China
has a trust deficit, a trust deficit with its neighbours, particularly after what they've done in the South
China Sea and this sort of behaviour does nothing to build trust among nations. And I think it is
concerning, it's definitely an escalation on what we've seen. And, of course, we want peace and it's
only right and proper that we call on China to de-escalate and to cease from these activities.

CHRIS KENNY: I notice former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, met today with Taiwan's representative in
Sydney to display his solidarity, I suppose. What should the Australian Government be doing? Should
we consider any ministerial visits or should we stay right out of that?

ANDREW HASTIE: We have a great relationship with Taiwan. Mr. Eliot Charng, the representative
from Taipei - I saw him only yesterday in fact, and I have a standing offer from him to visit Taiwan.
Senator James Patterson visited Taiwan, Christopher Pyne was there recently, our former Defence
Minister, Tony Abbott's been there. Nancy Pelosi’s visit was pretty routine. The US has lots of
congressional visits. She's high profile, of course, but she's got a long-standing consistent record on
Chinaa nd there was no reason to fire missiles over her visit. This shows that the leadership of the PRC
are insecure and that's troubling.

CHRIS KENNY: Alright, I want to go to our domestic defence situation and this review announced by
the Albanese government to be conducted by Sir Angus Houston and former Defence Minister Stephen
Smith. Are you concerned that this review could be the basis upon which Labor revises its support for
the AUKUS agreement?

ANDREW HASTIE: I'm very concerned and concerned that the Prime Minister and Richard Marles
have appointed Stephen Smith to lead that review. Now the Prime Minister a few days ago said that
Australia is facing the most complex and dangerous strategic situation in the last seventy years. And
what does he do to review the situation? He appoints a man who was responsible for the biggest
Defence cuts in the last seventy years. That man was Stephen Smith, the Labor Defence Minister from
2010 to 2013. He took Defence spending to the lowest since 1938 - 1.56 percent of GDP. Under the
Morrison Government, and the Abbott and Turnbull Governments before it, we took Defence spending
to 2.11 percent of GDP. That's where it's got to stay, and I'm worried that appointing Stephen Smith to
lead this review is the equivalent of appointing a one man razor gang.

CHRIS KENNY: Yeah, it's a bad record. You’ve got to hope that he's learned a lot since he left federal
politics. But I was reminded today, of course, five or six years ago that he wanted to get back into state
politics and take on Mark McGowan - have a look at this.

Excerpt: MARK MCGOWAN: “…I watched with horror from Western Australia, the
experiences of the Gillard and Rudd Government. I was horrified. In fact, at times I was
embarrassed by the shenanigans and the goings on, and Stephen was at the middle of that…”

STEPHEN SMITH: “…I reject the suggestion that I have been destabilising. I have not spoken
to journalists. I've kept my own counsel until today… but they are not confident that he can win
ten seats on a ten percent swing and therefore form a government….”

CHRIS KENNY: So of course, history tells us Stephen Smith didn't go back into state politics. But how's
his judgement? He reckons Mark McGowan might not win government! This guy- he rampaged into
government and then did even better the second time around.

ANDREW HASTIE: That was one of the craziest things I've seen in politics over the last five or six
years - walking into a park on the weekend and calling a leadership challenge without the numbers. It
does speak to the judgement of the individual -

CHRIS KENNY: -or when you're not even in Parliament.

ANDREW HASTIE: - not even in Parliament. So look, I am concerned, but I understand Stephen Smith
is also very close to Anthony Albanese, and I also understand he flew during the campaign on his
plane. So, the Prime Minister has appointed one of his close confidants and that's why I'm concerned
because I judge people by past performance. I judge people by past performance and his performance
as Defence Minister from 2010 to 2013, was one of the poorest in Australia's history. And that's why I'm
concerned about cuts - cuts to capability, cuts to personnel - leaving us in a weaker position when right
now, what we need is strength and we need to build on those strengths that we've established over the
last decade under the Coalition Government.

CHRIS KENNY: Thanks for joining us, Andrew, I appreciate it.

ANDREW HASTIE: Always a pleasure Chris, thank you.

[END]