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

TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW WITH KARL STEFANOVIC AND TRACY VO, TODAY SHOW, NINE

WEDNESDAY 18 JUNE 2025

E&OE

KARL STEFANOVIC: Joining us to discuss today's headlines is Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie and Nine Perth presenter Tracy Vo.Good to see you, Tracy, and you too Andrew,. Like I said, Andrew, it's incredibly unsettling, isn't it?

ANDREW HASTIE: Look Karl, it's very unsettling. But I think one thing we can all agree on is that a nuclear armed Iran would be very bad for regional stability and global peace. And noting what they've done over the last few years, conducting pretty much unrestricted warfare through their proxies in Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis against Israel, I guess we can't be surprised that it's gotten to this point with Iran unable to come to the negotiating table, to effectively commit to no longer pursuing nuclear weapons.

KARL STEFANOVIC: Look, you know, conflict, if the US gets involved here in the Middle East, spell it out for us.

ANDREW HASTIE: Look, I think we're at the point where Donald Trump has to make a decision. The mission for Israel was to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities, and the only way they're going to destroy the Fordow enrichment facility is with a bomb that they don't possess. It's a conventional weapon, the mass Ordnance Penetrator about 30,000 pounds, and that bomb can only be dropped by US pilots in a US B-2. And so Donald Trump is the person who holds the key to hopefully ending this conflict, because I think now that the war has started, it needs to finish, and the best way to finish it would be to destroy Iran's capabilities when it comes to nuclear weapons. So, Donald Trump has a decision to make, and it looks like yesterday with the staging of carriers, with the sending of refuelers or tankers across the Middle East—it looks like the US is setting the conditions for some sort of a strike, but we'll see soon enough.

KARL STEFANOVIC: Clearly he's got a bit on here, Richard Marles was just talking to up to Sarah about all of this, and that what we're calling a snub of Australia's interests. And there's plenty on for Australia to worry about. And what did you think of that yesterday?

ANDREW HASTIE: Look, I think it's a big failure by the Prime Minister. Our relationship with the US is absolutely critical. They're our closest security partner, and it's more than six months now since Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States. And regardless of what political differences you might have as Prime Minister with the US President, your job is to secure a meeting and build a relationship. Last week we saw that AUKUS is now under review. Elbridge Colby, who's the US Under Secretary for Defense Policy, has initiated the review. It's a massive vote of no confidence in Australia's ability to meet our part of the deal for AUKUS. And it doesn't matter what Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister, said to Donald Trump, what really matters is what they think of us, and I know they're going to ask some really tough questions of the Albanese government and their readiness to get AUKUS delivered.

KARL STEFANOVIC: All right, hold on to your hat. Look, Tracy, Perth, feels like a world away from all of that conflict right now. It feels like we're entering a really dangerous time, doesn't it?

TRACY VO: It really does. I mean, we are in the most isolated city in the world, here in Perth Karl, but eventually, if this conflict does not deescalate, as what the US is trying to do and what other world leaders are calling for or end, if it drags on longer, which it seems it might be, it will eventually hit us closer to home. And we're already seeing markets quite jittery as well, in terms of seeing how that all plays out. Oil prices that will have a huge impact. We know that Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, so that's a big, I guess, a focal point in this conflict too. And if that gets impacted, if that gets closed down, that impacts 20% of the global oil production, so it will eventually probably hit us closer to home, but we're just not sure how long it would take.

KARL STEFANOVIC: Yeah, look, Andrew, the Treasurer, has signalled that tax changes could be on the way to repair the budget, looking at alternate ways and maybe some big changes, that won't surprise you?

ANDREW HASTIE: No, not at all, and we'll hear what he has to say in his speech. But Labor's been in government for three years now we've had runaway spending under Labor. So when he talks about the deficit and the structural changes that need to be made, he's actually talking about his own performance over the last three years. But we oppose their super changes. We want simpler, fairer, lower taxes for all Australians. And so, you'll hear more from the Coalition about that, but inflation, economic security, these are the issues that we're really concerned about. And you know, Tracy mentioned the oil prices. Well, we've also got to consider the cost of containerised shipping going up. We import a lot of things from across the world, including Europe and the Middle East, and if it's very expensive to ship for ships to move through the Middle East, well those costs will be passed on to consumers here in Australia as well.

KARL STEFANOVIC: All right, let's talk about some light stuff in State of Origin time, even though that's taken on a bit of a serious nature with Billy Slater yesterday. But I've got to say this precinct here at Crown and looking back at Optus Stadium, I went for a run of sorts yesterday, the vibe and the energy here, this is a big event, and they do it spectacularly well Tracy.

TRACY VO: Oh, thanks Karl. No, it's great. And even, you know, we're up early here in the morning here in Perth, but it looks beautiful from where we're standing. We're very proud of our precinct here. Optus Stadium really does put on a magnificent show, and you can see it with all the fans flocking. It was wonderful to see the Maroons, the Blues, all those colours coming into Perth yesterday, and they going to pack our stadium tonight, which is fantastic to see.

KARL STEFANOVIC: Who you backing? Are you backing Billy Slater's Maroons right?

TRACY VO: I can see the tie there. I've got this, this has been a memento. Sydney is my second home. I was there for about 10 years. So, you know I'm gonna go the Blues.

KARL STEFANOVIC: I'll forgive you because you're pregnant and you look good. Hello, little baby, little baby, Queenslander. Oh, my goodness, Andrew, you're going for Queensland, though, right? You want to be a Liberal Prime Minister one day, you’ve got to go for Queensland.

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, Karl, I grew up in Sydney. I played rugby league, the Enfield Federals actually under 10s, and I support the Blues, and so I'm looking forward to having the Blues out here. It's a great stadium. Perth is mad for rugby league, so we really welcome having game two. It's a big privilege for us.

KARL STEFANOVIC: It sure is and you're turning on a great show. Good on you.

[ENDS]