KARL STEFANOVIC:
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has just addressed the United Nations General Assembly and the PM joins us now live from UN headquarters. Prime Minister, good morning to you, good afternoon to you New York time. Most of the world now seems to be on the same page. It’s a full court press on Islamic State?
PRIME MINISTER:
That is right, Karl, I think there is universal alarm about what is happening in Syria and Iraq. Of course what is happening in Syria and Iraq is not just something that is happening thousands of miles from home, it is reaching out to us. We have got people in Australia who have been radicalised, militarised, brutalised through experience with ISIL and other terrorist groups in the Middle East. We have got to deal with it at home and abroad and obviously that is what the Government is doing.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
The priority was always going to be in regard to the attacks in Syria and Iraq to try to get to the leadership of Islamic State. Have those raids been successful yet?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, my understanding is the raids by the United States and five Middle Eastern countries into Syria have been successful. They are just a start. Obviously there is an enormous amount of work to be done in Iraq, elsewhere in the Middle East, and obviously here at home because in the end anything that Australia does abroad is designed to create a better situation at home. By tackling the magnetism which so many local people seem to feel from the ISIL advance we help to improve domestic security as well.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
We noticed, also those aerial shots there of bombardments – any further word yet on the ground there about troops going in on the ground? I know there was speculation before this that might happen at the UN, calls for that. Anything further to that this morning?
PRIME MINISTER:
Obviously, Karl, what America and other countries do is a matter for them. As far as Australia is concerned, we are not anticipating at this stage military action in Syria itself. What we are anticipating, should Cabinet finalise these decisions in coming days, what we are anticipating is air strikes inside Iraq and the use of military advisers inside Iraq.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
We are having a little bit of break-up on the satellite there but we will try to persist Prime Minister if we can. You mentioned here at home a stretching out, this war stretching to our shores. We know yesterday Defence Force personnel was targeted in an assault in Sydney. This is all very worrying at a time for our men and women on the front line especially when that front line is here and now.
PRIME MINISTER:
You are right, Karl. It is very important that people go about their normal business because that is what the terrorists want, they want to scare us out of being ourselves. It is also important that the Government do everything that we humanly can to keep our community safe. It is important to remember, for everyone to remember, that in the end this is not about religion. It is about crime. It is about terrorism. Anyone who breaks Australian law will feel the full force of the law. That is the commitment that I give. That is the commitment that the state premiers would give as well.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Yesterday, too, in Melbourne, you may not be aware, we saw grieving members of the Muslim community attacking the media and the police. The worry here is these people may not necessarily be Islamic State sympathisers, they’re just members of the Muslim community who are upset at the moment. All of this needs to be handled, doesn't it?
PRIME MINISTER:
It does Karl and that is why the point I keep making is that it is not about religion; it is about crime – it is about terrorist crime. The vast majority of Australians, regardless of their religion, regardless of their ethnic or cultural background, the vast majority of Australians are peaceable people who find what is happening with groups such as ISIL utterly abhorrent – utterly repellent. The point I keep making and the point that I have made here is that it is never, never, never right to kill or mistreat people in the name of God.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
The problem is that we are going to see protests today as well. This is going to lead to a little more angst in the community and heightened tensions. There is no doubt about that. You can see it coming.
PRIME MINISTER:
There are always hot-headed people in any community, even in a community as decent and as good and as law-abiding as Australia is. The important thing is not to enflame tensions, it is not to exaggerate what is going on, because, as I said, the overwhelming majority of Australians regardless of their religion, their ethnicity, their culture, are decent law-abiding people who support the police, who are on Team Australia and who are utterly repelled by the murderous rage of ISIL.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Prime Minister, just before we go, I know we are having some difficulties with the satellite but I know you were going to try to get back for the AFL Grand Final. Will you still be trying to do that given the heightened risks or are you too busy over there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Karl, I would love to be there barracking for the Sydney Swans who have had a fabulous season. Let's hope they top it off with a big win. But whether I will be barracking in person or whether I’ll just be barracking in spirit, I think it is more likely to be in spirit at this stage, it is quite possible that Julie Bishop might have to very elegantly represent me.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
I have it on very good authority you were training quite hard for this AFL Grand Final. In fact my sources tell me at the United Nations that you may have been working out with none other than Barack Obama this morning. Is that true?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, we were gym buddies this morning, you are right about that, Karl. He was on the treadmill, I was on the bike, so I guess we both stuck to our strengths.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
It’s like the beach volley ball scene from Top Gun, conjures all sorts of images. We appreciate your time, Prime Minister. We know you are a busy man and a lot is happening in the world at the moment and hopefully you can make it back for the AFL Grand Final. It is going to be a terrific day in Melbourne.
Thanks for your time again.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks Karl, thanks Lisa.
[ends]