Speakers: Ted O’Brien MP & Ben Fordham
Ben Fordham
Ted O'Brien is The Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, and he joins us on the line, good morning Ted. What about the BS from the Albanese government when they say they're not helping in any way, shape or form?
Ted O'Brien
I think everybody knows it's BS indeed Ben. I mean, they've gone to great lengths to make sure that they all have passports. They've happily dealt with third parties, including close personal friends of the responsible minister, to make sure that this cohort and others will get back to Australia. So, publicly, the Albanese government is turning a blind eye. Privately, they are absolutely involved, but they're trying to outsource the dirty work to third parties. That's how they're doing it.
Ben Fordham
Well, why can't they just tell the truth on it? I mean, the first ISIS brides that came here have been trouble-free since returning, and I've made that point a number of times, because it's true, they haven't caused any grief. So why wouldn't they just say, 'look, we did it the first time it didn't lead to any trouble, so we're doing it again, and we've done all the checks and balances.' Why can't they just tell the truth?
Ted O'Brien
Well, Ben, they should, but they don't on anything. I mean, look at the existing fuel crisis. I mean they spent over two weeks denying there's a problem until it was too late and they had to deal with it. So this is the way they do business. They know that if they are up front with the Australian people, the Australian people are going to look at the government and expect them to take accountability. They don't like accountability. Because if you're accountable, you've got to be transparent. You've got to tell the Australian people what's going on. The government doesn't want to do that. I mean, the only reason we know about this cohort of ISIS brides now coming back to Australia, we heard over the weekend, because it broke through the media, not because the government stood up and was open with the Australian people. I mean, if you treat the Australian people like mugs, I tell you what, they will turn on you, because Australians aren't mugs. They know some things can be challenging, but you just be upfront, take them in your confidence. And that's what leadership is about, and that is what this government is failing to demonstrate.
Ben Fordham
And we know the history of the group that returned late last year, I contacted Tony Burke directly, told him I'd heard about it. His offsider called me and said, not true. No change to their status whatsoever. There was a later revelation that Tony Burke had held a meeting with one particular group, and at one stage of the meeting, he asked the note taker to please leave the room so he could speak privately.
Ted O'Brien
Exactly, and you know, when you are asking the department to leave a meeting and you're the responsible Minister, you know that there's something going on that shouldn't be going on. And still the same Minister says, 'Oh no, no, no, we've got nothing to do with any of this.' And you know we're talking here, as you know, Ben about, about people who decided to join a caliphate of hate, people who don't like Australians way of life. They chose violence over peace. They chose, you know, beheadings and slavery over law and order. Now they want to come back to Australia, and the government of the day is refusing to be open with the Australian people about the process involved here. The government should be doing everything they can to keep these people away from Australia. They've already made their decision that they don't like our country. Instead, what the government is doing is publicly, blind eye. We don't know what's going on, but privately, they're doing everything they can to facilitate it.
Ben Fordham
As the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ted O'Brien, I'm guessing you'd be sending your best wishes to the US president after another assassination attempt?
Ted O'Brien
Yeah, indeed. Ben, thankfully, nobody was hurt. But I tell you, it's a it's a reminder of how violent the world can be. And you know, we're not immune here in Australia either. We've got to remain vigilant. There's no role for political violence. But the US, of course, has copped this more than most. Thankfully, the weekend didn't end in tragedy.
Ben Fordham
We appreciate your time.
