SKY NEWS
FIRST EDITION, INTERVIEW WITH PETER STEFANOVIC
Wednesday 22 July 2026
Peter Stefanovic
Morning, Ted. Yeah, that story struck me. Front page of the Australian today. A lot of questions on this. Let's start off with your response to what you know so far.
Ted O'Brien
Well, Pete, I think the primary purpose of government is to keep the Australian people safe, and that means we do not want this person back. Candidly, if we are being asked to take his word for it, of what a wonderful guy he is, I mean, seriously, this is a person who chose a caliphate of hate over the Australian people. He is against our country. He's against our way of life. We don't want him back in this country. He, he, I believe, also has betrayed his profession. You know, to carry on as if he's some sort of medico. This is a person who encouraged other people to go and kill. That is not a doctor who saves lives. That is a doctor which encourages death. We don't want him here.
Peter Stefanovic
Yeah. Well, given what's happened with the ISIS brides, though Ted, a precedent has been set. It seems, so should we expect to see this, Dr. Jihad?
Ted O'Brien
Australians should not expect to see him. That should be the expectation. But we are dealing with an Albanese government, Pete, and they rolled out the red carpet for the ISIS brides. And I think we're going to see a wet lettuce leaf approach again when it comes to to this. We've heard it still even this morning from Labor ministers who've been on the media, saying that you know the Albanese government will not provide assistance. What sort of confidence does that give the Australian people? Australians aren't interested whether or not the government's going to assist. What they want to know is will the government stop these people coming back.
Peter Stefanovic
I guess it comes back to this question: How do you stop someone from coming back if they want to, Ted?
Ted O'Brien
Well, at the very least, there are orders in place that can hold them back for a period of time. But we have only heard, you know, again, a passive approach from the government. Are they going to do that or not? The Coalition always stands ready to assist the government if they are prepared to step up and actually start being hard instead of soft on this. But we won't see that from the Albanese government. We'll hear the soft language of, "Oh, we're not there to assist”. Meanwhile, how can you expect the Australian community to feel safe?
Peter Stefanovic
Sure. And Murray Watt's coming up on the program shortly. These questions will go to him. But the ISIS brides, as you know, they're all being dealt with in the courts. Does that give you any encouragement, even in the slightest, that the same rule of law would be applied to this man if he were to return.
Ted O'Brien
Oh, look! I don't question the ability nor the integrity of our own judicial system, Pete. Of course, but what some of the things we've heard about the ISIS bride exposes is the pure evilness of this caliphate. And we're dealing here with a person which was absolutely the poster boy, trying to encourage people to join the caliphate. Basically, turn your back on Australia and kill. And so, step one is for the government to do everything in its power to keep him out of the country, if indeed he comes back, that's when we need to have the conversations about the full force of the law.
Peter Stefanovic
Okay, let's get to your house, Ted. Angus Taylor, he says any deal with One Nation is off. Do you back him in?
Ted O'Brien
Yes, I do. There's no reason for discussions to be had about forming a Coalition with One nation. I think what you'll hear later today, actually, which I'm pretty excited about, Pete, is Angus Taylor hopping up, maybe with Jane Hume, outlining the Coalition's positive plan. And it's only the Coalition that has a plan, but also has a team to back it in and actually deliver. We've proven that time and again in government. Of course, right now times are pretty tough from a political perspective, but that pales in comparison to how tough life is for everyday Australians. And so, our focus is on those everyday Australians. We're putting them at the centre of our plan. I'm really looking forward to hearing more from Angus about this today.
Peter Stefanovic
Isn't that like a troubling state of play for you, though, that you're in essence relaunching your old plans. You've got the plans, you've got the policies, but no one's listening.
Ted O'Brien
Well, look, let's wait to see what Angus says. I think we just need to keep talking about every plan, Pete. I don't think we should apologize for it, because we're the only ones who have a plan and have a team to deliver for the Australian people. And if if people get sick of hearing about it, well, that will be a good thing. We just need to keep being out there because you know Australia's going the wrong direction under the Albanese government, Pete. And the Coalition takes this really seriously.
Peter Stefanovic
Sure, but are you troubled that Angus Taylor, your leader, is not getting any cut through though? Is this is this not getting any cut through? One nation is the focus.
Ted O'Brien
Well, look. I know that we get asked a lot of questions about One Nation, including in this interview, Pete. And I'd prefer to have fewer questions about One Nation because our focus is the Australian people, and that's what you'll hear from Angus today. You know, people are struggling out there right now, and it's only going to get worse. This government has given the Australian people no confidence, and that's why we need to keep talking about our plan, talking about the team that's going to deliver it. Sure, other people might want to talk about One Nation, all those sort of things. To be honest, I don't go to bed every night thinking about one nation. I think about the Australian people, and that's why we need to keep prosecuting the case. We need to remove this bad government, and only a Coalition can do that, and that's why we've got a united team backing Angus in, backing the plan in.
Peter Stefanovic
Okay, Ted O'Brien, good to see you.
