NATARSHA BELLING:
Every day we come to you from the Queenscliff Surf Club right here at Manly and we share the club with our wonderful members who have been more than welcoming to us.
JAMES MATHISON:
One of the members who’s been here for about 18 years is our Prime Minister Tony Abbott and he joins us in the studio right now. Prime Minister, thanks for your time.
PRIME MINISTER:
Nice of you to have me in my own surf club.
JAMES MATHISON:
Have a look around; I mean it’s obviously quite different to how you remember it being for the last 18 years.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah, and it’s nice to think that it’s been tarted up to help a whole lot of people – like you guys.
NATARSHA BELLING:
Tarted up indeed. Now just week ago we chatted to you as you took your first surf since the election. You’ve been out for a surf every day this week?
PRIME MINISTER:
I missed one day this week and I didn’t surf over the weekend. But I love the water, people on the Northern Beaches where I live love the water; this is a priceless asset – Manly Beach is famous all round the world and why not make the most of it.
JAMES MATHISON:
And we got a bit of vision of you there. I mean, you had mixed results.
PRIME MINISTER:
I had a wobble. I had a wobble or two. I had a wobble or two.
JAMES MATHISON:
Is it like riding a bike though, mate? Get straight back on?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well that was the board I got at Dripping Wet on Wednesday to replace the board that broke on Tuesday.
NATARSHA BELLING:
What happened with the board?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, you might remember on Tuesday it was lumpy and bigger than it seemed and I got on quite a nice wave, and just as it was building up to have a second break on the bank I got off, but the board went over the falls and it took the tip off the board. I’m going to replace that board from Primitive Surf where I got it, but I thought in the mean time I’ll trade in one of my old boards at Dripping Wet and that was the new one there.
JAMES MATHISON:
There it is broken in half – a good plug in there for Primitive Surf.
PRIME MINISTER:
I did and Dripping Wet and Dripping Wet.
JAMES MATHISON:
We wanted to talk today specifically about the article you wrote – this open letter you spoke about this morning. The fact that alcohol fuelled violence is becoming a problem, not just in communities, but across the country.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well James, I’m a father of three daughters; my girls like to go to Manly, they like to go occasionally to Kings Cross, they like to have a good time, and the tragedy is that places that should be entertainment precincts have become – on some occasions – almost warzones because there is just so much alcohol fuelled violence and we’ve recently seen the phenomenon of the ‘king hit’ or we’re now calling them ‘coward punches’. Gratuitous, unprovoked violence by disturbed individuals who aren’t going out looking for a fight – the way juiced up youngsters have for generations – they’ve gone out looking for a victim. Invariably, these disturbed individuals often with a history of violence are going out looking for someone who is weak and vulnerable; they’re catching them unprepared, sometimes with deadly results, often with catastrophic results. This is a gruesome, new development and I think the police, the courts, officialdom generally have got to deal with this very, very severely indeed.
NATARSHA BELLING:
Prime Minister, on that point we’ve heard a lot of talk about this and you’ve made some excellent points. We ran here on Wake Up a campaign all last week about alcohol fuelled violence. There’s a lot of talk…
PRIME MINISTER:
You only have to go down to The Corso on Friday or a Saturday night to see it in action. 10 o’clock in the evening The Corso is a nice family place; come midnight it’s diabolical.
NATARSHA BELLING:
Ok, so what are the solutions then? Have you spoken to the states and territories? Because we all agree there’s a problem, but we need action.
PRIME MINISTER:
We do and I think every state and territory government knows there’s an issue. I have spoken to my state colleagues here in New South Wales. I know Barry O’Farrell wants to do more, quite sensibly though, he doesn’t want a kneejerk response, he wants a considered, effective response and that’s what I think we’ll see from the New South Wales Government in the weeks and months ahead.
JAMES MATHISON:
You talk about the fact that it’s new, this approach amongst young men who go out looking for victims is new. When you think back to when you used to go out and have a drink and there were fights and there scuffles, we didn’t see the intensity of the violence. What has changed in communities? What has changed amongst society that we’re seeing this at such levels?
PRIME MINISTER:
It seems, and I’m simply an observer here, I’m not an expert, it seems that the disturbed individuals who are perpetrating these cowardly attacks are loners, they’re not out with their mates, they’re out looking for trouble. They’re out looking to inflict grievous damage, they’re looking to indulge something quite gruesome, and I guess when you’ve got a society where some people are alone and alienated these are the things that happen. Now, I’m not making excuses for the perpetrators though, I’m not making excuses for them. We need to deal severely with them and the courts shouldn’t make excuses and the police shouldn’t make excuses for them, people who are guilty of random, unprovoked, gratuitous violence should be dealt with as severely as we humanly can.
NATARSHA BELLING:
So are you calling for tougher penalties then?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think the courts are capable of dealing with them. Already assault, attempted murder, can be dealt with very, very severely indeed and it needs to be dealt with severely. I think that the whole job of those of us in authority is to say to the people charged with keeping us safe in our communities – do your work, do your work. Police apprehend evil-doers, courts deal with them with suitable severity and that’s what needs to happen.
JAMES MATHISON:
You talk about, you don’t want a kneejerk reaction to this, but obviously the fact that we punish people for committing these crimes is very, very important. But there’s got to be some emphasis – don’t you agree – on early intervention. Is that really the cause of so much of this?
PRIME MINISTER:
James, if you read the reports of the people who are responsible for this kind of gratuitous unprovoked violence, invariably, invariably it’s not the first time it’s happened. Most of these people graduate from minor assault to major assault. The first time they do it it’s not usually as bad as the second, third, fourth, fifth, and subsequent times they do it. This is where the instant people are seen to be doing this kind of thing, they have to be dealt with in a way which lets them know that it is simply unacceptable and can’t ever happen again.
NATARSHA BELLING:
Prime Minister, quickly moving on to the asylum seeker debate. There’s been a lot of criticism about your Government for so-called ‘going to ground’ – for cancelling press conferences, not talking openly about what’s going on with the asylum seeker crisis. Don’t you think the public has the right to know about what’s going on?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the public want the boats stopped. That’s really what they want and that’s my determination; to stop the boats. If stopping the boats means being criticised because I’m not giving information that would be of use to people smugglers, so be it. In the end, we are in a fierce contest with these people smugglers and if we were at war, we wouldn’t be giving out information that is of use to the enemy, just because we might have an idle curiosity about it ourselves. In these situations I am not going to release information which will be exploited by people smugglers, to the peril of their customers and to the tremendous disadvantage of our country.
JAMES MATHISON:
But the disadvantage for our country though, partly, you’ve got to understand is that there is a perception that there is no transparency and without transparency, we the public aren’t able to ask for accountability. You understand that that’s where there’s a perception problem?
PRIME MINISTER:
But I’ll be accountable to the Australian public at the next election. My Ministers will be accountable to the Australian public at the next election. They expect us to stop the boats and that’s what we’re doing. We are stopping the boats. We haven’t won. There’s a long way to go yet, but it’s several weeks now since a boat has successfully arrived in Australia and I want to keep it that way.
NATARSHA BELLING:
Are you happy with the conditions in the detention centres? Are you happy with the conditions?
PRIME MINISTER:
I am confident that we are running these centres effectively and humanely.
JAMES MATHISON:
Just on that though, and we talk about the transparency – we have to take your word on that. Reporters aren’t able to get in there, journalists aren’t able to get in there, so we don’t really have any confirmation that the conditions in these centres are up to the standards that are acceptable to the Australian public. So, do you understand that allowing people in there, to have a look so that we know that these conditions are up to standard, would put people at ease?
PRIME MINISTER:
James, let’s remember that everyone in these centres is there because he or she has come illegally to Australia by boat. They have done something that they must have known was wrong. Now, we don’t apologise for the fact that they’re not five-star or even three-star hotels. Nevertheless, we are confident that we are well and truly discharging our humanitarian obligations. People are housed, they’re clothed, they’re fed, they’re given medical attention, they’re kept as safe as we can make it for them, but we want them to go back to the country from which they came; that’s what we want.
JAMES MATHISON:
Even if they are legitimate refugees?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the vast majority of these people, as the former foreign minister Bob Carr said, are ‘economic migrants’. Let’s remember that every single one of the recent arrivals has come to Australia through a series of other countries where they could easily have claimed asylum. They choose not to do that because they are seeking a migration outcome here in Australia.
Now, I can understand – I can absolutely understand – why people living in a pretty tough place would want to come to a terrific country like Australia. We have an immigration programme, we have a humanitarian and refugee programme, precisely because we do accept our obligations as an international citizen, but people have got to come the right way, not the wrong way. They’ve got to come in through the front door, not the back door and my message to people that try to come in the back door is you will find it closed, you will find it closed. My message to anyone tempted to get on a boat in Indonesia or any other country is: you won’t get to Australia.
NATARSHA BELLING:
Prime Minister, if I can ask you, is there any part of you that feels so desperately sorry for these poor refugees that are in that situation? Often this is not their first choice. Their first choice is to stay in their country, but they’re fleeing.
PRIME MINISTER:
Tarsh, they’re all coming from countries where life is harder than it is in Australia, I accept that. I can accept the yearning, indeed I can cherish the yearning for a better life that beats in the hearts of every human being. I can accept that. But, I have a responsibility to the citizens of Australia to keep our country secure, to keep our borders safe and that’s what I have to discharge.
Now, we have, as I said, one of the world’s more generous refugee and humanitarian programmes; that will continue. We will never fail to be a good international citizen, but we’ve got to keep our borders secure and we’ve got to keep our country safe.
JAMES MATHISON:
Prime Minister, thank you for your time this morning. I know you just came down for a surf but you’ve been pretty generous with your time here. I learnt to surf the other week with Cody Simpson out there. Natarsha Belling is yet to learn. She’s looking for an enthusiastic, well-abled and perhaps generous tutor…
NATARSHA BELLING:
I can boogie-board!
JAMES MATHISON:
Okay, that’s a start…
NATARSHA BELLING:
Is it kind of the same as surfing?
PRIME MINISTER:
No!
NATARSHA BELLING:
Would you give me some form of support?
PRIME MINISTER:
If you have learnt to boogie-board, you have at least begun to understand, if you like, the way waves work and the point in the wave where it’s going to pick you up and take you forward. So I mean, you’re starting to get the hang of it.
NATARSHA BELLING:
Will you teach me how to surf?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Tarsh, I suspect that a lot of… there are many better teachers than I am. You want a good coach, not a lousy coach! You want someone who knows more what they’re doing than what I do when it comes to surfing.
JAMES MATHISON:
You have a finger on the pulse of the surf club. There are a lot of members who have been there for even longer than you have – 18 years – 30 years plus. Can you give us an insight on what they think of us taking over their surf club?
PRIME MINISTER:
I think that, so far at least, they’re happy enough because come the weekend, the surf club is a surf club again and look, this is a community facility and why shouldn’t it be utilised by people such as yourselves, because in your own way, Tarsh and James, you are also providing a service to the community.
NATARSHA BELLING:
Oh, bless you. Why wouldn’t we showcase this extraordinary view in this…
JAMES MATHISON:
I think to say I’m servicing the community is a bit of a stretch but…
PRIME MINISTER:
And look, you know, we don’t mind showcasing this beach. We really do quite like to showcase this beach. We don’t want too many people to come at the wrong time, but at the right time, why not?
NATARSHA BELLING:
Thank you, Prime Minister for joining us this morning. Much appreciated.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[ends]