Interview - The TODAY Show
SARAH ABO: Well, Foreign Minister Penny Wong has echoed warnings ISIS brides coming back to Australia will face the full force of the law upon arrival. Education Minister Jason Clare joins us live now from Canberra. Minister, good morning to you.
JASON CLARE: Good morning, Sarah.
ABO: So, are they returning or not? I think Australians deserve more transparency, don't they?
CLARE: Of course, you know the short answer to that question is if they do return, they can expect to be met by the police at the airport and as you've just repeated there, expect to face the full force of the law. ISIS was and is an evil organisation that perpetrated the most hideous of crimes. And I don't have, I don't think any Australians have any sympathy for people who went over there either to fight for them or to support them. And if there are Australians who make it back to Australia, they can expect to be met by our security agencies when they get home.
ABO: All right, all of that we know and probably agree with, but we don't have an answer as to if they're returning to Australia. There's nothing you can do to stop them, right? They have their visas, they have their passports, they're Australian citizens, they'll be returning to Australian soil. When?
CLARE: Well, we don't know. Well, I certainly don't know. I'm sure our security agencies are tracking their movements right now. They'll know whether they get on an aeroplane or not. But I don't think any Australian watching this right now would want them to come home or have any sympathy for what they did in choosing to fight with or support ISIS. But you're right, they are Australian citizens. If they do return home, we've got to make sure that our security agencies are all over it, which I know they will be.
ABO: Ok, again with the ‘if’, we know that they want to return home and that they probably will. I mean, only one temporary exclusion order has been imposed on a so-called ISIS bride. So, when you say they'll face the full force of the law, what faith can we put in that promise?
CLARE: Well, just on those temporary exclusion orders, Minister Burke, the Minister for Home Affairs, has made it very clear that if security agencies think the threshold for those laws has been met and he's got a recommendation from the security agencies to impose one of those temporary exclusion orders, then he will impose that, and he's done that already.
ABO: So, if only one's been issued, does that mean we have nothing to fear?
CLARE: Well, that means that one of those individuals has met that threshold so far. It doesn't mean that there won't be more in the future. That's something that would be information that would be within the remit of the security agencies. I don't have that detail at the moment, Sarah.
ABO: Alright, do you have any detail on where they'll be settled? Will any be living in your Western Sydney electorate?
CLARE: Look, again, I don't have that detail. That's a hypothetical question. They haven't arrived here in Australia, but I would expect, just like the 40 fighters that the Liberal Party brought home, that security agencies would be all over them like a rash.
ABO: Would you be happy for them to be in your electorate?
CLARE: Well, I don't want them to come home. I don't think any Australians want them to come home. They made a hideous choice to go over and fight for, or work for, or support ISIS. So, we don't want them to come home. If they do come home, I expect the police to be there to greet them at the airport and for them to face the full force of the law.
ABO: Okay, we'll see when they do return. Let's move on to your portfolio now. More than two-thirds of early childcare educators have now completed that new mandatory training, which is part of the government's child safety package. The sector, of course, has been plagued with misconduct. Are you confident this is enough to keep kids safe?
CLARE: I think it's an important step, and this is a bit of good news. You know, two-thirds of all of our child care workers have done the safety training that we've made mandatory within two months. We've given them six months to do the training, and two-thirds of the workforce have done it within eight weeks. And I think that's a sign of how seriously all of the workers in our child care system treat this. They love our kids, they care for our kids, they educate our kids. I think they were hurt and tormented and shocked and sickened just like the rest of us when all of those allegations last year were revealed. They want to make sure that they're equipped with the skills that they need to keep our kids safe. And so, the fact that two-thirds have already done the training within two months is a good start, but it's not the only thing that we need to do Sarah. We've banned mobile phones in centres. I won't go into the detail on morning TV why that's important, but I reckon mums and dads will work that out. We're also putting CCTV cameras in centres, that's being trialled. There's early evidence already that that's really important in catching people who are up to no good. We've also passed laws that enable us to cut off funding to centres that don't meet the minimum safety standards and that's working as well. We're already seeing centres that weren't up to scratch for seven years suddenly change their behaviour and get up to scratch. I think that's a good thing. And there's more to do there as well.
ABO: Yeah. National Employee Register is also an important one that we’ll figure in the future. Thanks so much for your time this morning, Jason, appreciate it.
CLARE: Good on you.