Transcript - ABC News Breakfast with Emma Rebellato

EMMA REBELLATO: Thanks, Bridget. I am, and I'm joined by the Education Minister, Jason Clare. Thanks very much for joining us this morning on News Breakfast. 

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Thank you. 

REBELLATO: First up, do we have a deal? 

CLARE: We've had very constructive engagement with the Opposition overnight and over the last few days, so I'm very hopeful. Obviously, it's not done until it's done. 

These are difficult times for our country, and the whole country's watching us right now. They expect us to come together today and to work together, to be bigger than our political parties and to act in the national interest, to take the sort of action that's needed to help to keep Australians safe, and so I'm very hopeful that that will happen today. 

REBELLATO: We know that the Liberals held a Party Room meeting last night and they've come up with a number of changes that they would like to see. Now some of those include consultation with the Opposition Leader when extremist organisations are listed or delisted, also a tweaking of the framework to list prohibited hate groups. Are those going to be accepted by the Government or do they then have to be worked through a bit more? 

CLARE: I don't have the detail on the specific amendments; I know that we've had some very good conversations about the proposals the Opposition have had. 

The Prime Minister's I think made it very, very clear that this needs to be a moment where the country comes together and the big political parties come together and that we don't want a fractious debate in the Parliament, we want to find common ground, and that's the way in which we've entered into these discussions. 

REBELLATO: Tony Burke yesterday said that he wished the Government was going harder on hate speech. Clearly there were changes before it then went to the Coalition in the past few days. Is that what you would have liked to have seen as well? 

CLARE: I think everyone in the Labor Party would have, but you know, the way this building works is you need a majority. We've got a majority in the House of Representatives, we don't in the Senate, and if neither the Liberal Party or the Greens Political Party were willing to support us in that effort – remember this is a recommendation of the Special Envoy targeting antisemitism. If we can't get the other political parties to support us, then we can't act in that area. 

REBELLATO: You're the Minister for Education. School's coming back pretty soon. 

CLARE: Yes, yes. 

REBELLATO: We know that the Antisemitism Education Taskforce has been set up. Can you tell us about some of the steps that they'll work through? Will we see any changes this school year? 

CLARE: Yeah, I hope so. This is a taskforce that is led by David Gonski, a towering Australian. Somebody I think who is respected by all Australians. Someone who understands the education system inside and out. And he understands, like I do, and I think like most Australians do, that whilst the legislation we're debating today is important, because it's about the sort of weapons that were used on December 14 and the sort of hate that pulled the trigger that day, that children aren't born racist, they're not born antisemitic, they're not born with hate in their hearts, but it is something that's learnt, that's taught, that grows over time, and that our education system can play a role here. 

So that work is about teacher training, it's about teacher resources, it's about programs we run in schools, a lot of that will happen this year. But also work on the curriculum. The curriculum already has in it a lot of information about the Holocaust, but there's more that we can add to it about the evils of antisemitism and Australian values, and more that we can do to give the university regulator the sort of powers they need to act where universities don't. 

REBELLATO: I know they've got another meeting coming up in a couple of weeks. What are the next steps then that this taskforce will be taking? 

CLARE: Yeah. So this is a taskforce for 12 months, but it won't wait 12 months to give us a report. It will meet regularly and provide recommendations to me regularly, and it will provide recommendations to me in a couple of weeks' time about the powers the university regulator should have, the reforms that we need to make to the curriculum and teacher training, and those will all go to Education Ministers when we meet next month. 

REBELLATO: Yesterday, the condolence motion, it was really tough for a lot of MPs, it was tough to watch as well. How hard was it for you yesterday? 

CLARE: Well, it's not about me, it's about the people who lost their lives, their family members, and the people who were there who almost lost their lives. One of those was a friend of mine. She was there with her daughter, her five‑year‑old daughter, to get jam doughnuts. And when the shooting started she was one of those people that picked up her daughter and ran and hid, and she could hear the bullets, she could see people dying, she could feel the blood as it splattered against her. 

She gave me a message to tell the Parliament yesterday about what she whispered in the ear of her five‑year‑old daughter when she thought they were going to die, and that was to go inside herself, into her heart and to stay there. And she gave a message to us as politicians as well, and it was the same thing; to find our heart, to act with our heart, and to stay there, and that's what I hope we do today. 

REBELLATO: Do you think that that's something that Parliament can do going forward as well? 

CLARE: I hope so. You know, this is a place where you'll often see on TV, you know, the most extreme and outrageous things that are said, but most of us are good people who want to act to keep our country safe, and I really, really hope, and I think that that's what we'll see today. 

REBELLATO: Do you think – we talked about the wish for further – from you and your Government of stronger hate speech laws. Do you think it's something you will revisit, because previously Anthony Albanese has said, "That's it, we're going to move forward now". But do you think this is something that can be looked at down the track, or should be looked at down the track? 

CLARE: Really, it's in the hands of others. Whether it's in racial discrimination laws or religious discrimination laws, it is important that we bring the major political parties together here, that we don't have a fractious debate that pulls the country apart. 

Now more than ever what this country needs is for us to work together. We don't need more hate or fear or division, we need to work together here, and I do hope that that day will come, but it's not going to happen today. 

REBELLATO: Education Minister, Jason Clare, thank you very much for joining us on News Breakfast. We appreciate it. 

CLARE: Thank you. 

REBELLATO: Thank you.

ENDS