THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND SOVEREIGN CAPABILITY
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CANNING

TRANSCRIPT

INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS KENNY, SKY NEWS

Tuesday 3 March 2026

Topics: Iran conflict; ISIS sympathisers.

E&OE……………………………………

CHRIS KENNY: Thanks for joining us, Andrew. Good to talk to you again. I showed at the start of my program, among other things, a clip of the former Liberal leader, Malcolm Turnbull, focusing on UN approval for the war against Iran and calling this an illegal war. What do you think about this legalistic reliance on the United Nations and disregard, I suppose, for the greatest security and moral imperative for this war?

ANDREW HASTIE: Good evening, Chris. I said this morning that I think the rules-based global order is dead and buried and so these sorts of legal arguments are nice, but we live in the world of reality. What we've seen over the last decade is a complete disruption to the world that we knew after the Second World War, which was underwritten by US power, largely naval power. And now we're in a new phase where we've seen the US conduct strikes in Nigeria, they've removed the president of Venezuela, and now we're at war with Iran. So this is a new world, and it's disorientating for us, but we've got to grapple with it, and we've got to start thinking about how we protect Australia and our national interests going forward.

CHRIS KENNY: See the way I view this is I agree with you that the rules-based order is finished, but it was never adhered to anyway. I think Western countries like the US constantly tied one hand behind their back trying to adhere to it, while countries like Russia, China and Iran, importantly, never made any pretence.

ANDREW HASTIE: Look, it was a nice Western construct, and it was the sort of thing that you talked about at diplomatic dinner parties, but the world in reality is very different, and this is something that our foreign policy makers, particularly, need to grapple with. It has flow on effects in a number of areas, but particularly in industry, and that's why I'm focused on looking at ways that we can rebuild our industrial base to make sure that we have a level of sovereign capability which, in a crisis, will give us flexibility and resilience. That's something that I think for the last 20 years, we've ignored and neglected, and it's not good enough.

CHRIS KENNY: Absolutely. We need energy and industry security, and I'll talk to you about those issues again another time. But I want to focus now on the so-called ISIS brides – I prefer to call them the Islamic State families – getting back into the country. You and others press the government on this today to make them deny, which they couldn't, that any minister or anyone involved in the government have put any pressure on, done anything to help out with passports for these families. Have a look at the Prime Minister's answer.

*EXCERPT PLAYS*

CHRIS KENNY: This is amazing stuff, Andrew. The argument seems to be from the government that we haven't helped them; it's our public servants that have helped them. There seems to be this ridiculous division between what is part of the Albanese government and what is part of the bureaucracy.

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, in the end, we have a Westminster system where ministers are accountable for their departments. And so if the Home Affairs Department, if the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been assisting with the repatriation of ISIS sympathisers, then the government, particularly the ministers – Minister Penny Wong and Minister Tony Burke – have questions to answer. Ultimately, it's the Prime Minister who presides over cabinet, and he is ultimately accountable to the Australian people. So to regard our line of questioning as an obsession, I think is ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with being obsessive about protecting Australians and our way of life, and that is what the Leader of the Opposition, Angus Taylor, and his team were doing today in Parliament.

CHRIS KENNY: And I'm certain most Australians agree with you. Just to illustrate that point, I want to share with you some of a conversation that Ben Fordham had on radio 2GB today with Sarah. Not her real name, but she's a woman who's been to authorities years ago, about one of these women who is now an ISIS bride, speaking to her before she was a mother, and when someone was trying to convince her about go back to school, Have a listen.

*EXCERPT PLAYS*

CHRIS KENNY: This is alarming stuff, especially when you consider that Sarah – not her real name – who knew this woman, who is now an ISIS bride, says that she wouldn't trust her back in the country. She worries for the safety of her own children if we let her back in.

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, that's right, these women chose to join with the Islamic State caliphate. They believe the ideology, they hold to these militant political Islamic views, and they're a risk to our society. Let's not forget that one of the Bondi shooters was born here, raised here, schooled here, and radicalised here. And so the risk is bringing back these ISIS sympathisers who haven't repudiated their beliefs, who still hold to Islamic State ideology, they'll be a risk to our communities. They'll be celebrated in some quarters, unfortunately. That's why the government should be doing everything to hold them back from coming to Australia.

CHRIS KENNY: Andrew Hastie, thanks so much for joining us.

[ENDS]