Transcript - Sunrise with Natalie Barr

NATALIE BARR: As the federal government prepares to pass historic legislation on hate speech and gun reform, politicians have united to pay tribute to the 15 victims of the Bondi terror attack. Cabinet minister Jason Clare broke down in a speech to parliament where he shared the story of a friend caught up in the massacre. 

[Excerpt] 

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: “I realised I was no longer preparing to survive – I was preparing for how I wanted my daughter and I to die. I leaned into her ear and spoke the only words that came to me – Go inside yourself, my darling, go to your heart where all the love is. Stay there, my baby. Stay there.”

[End excerpt] 

BARR: And Education Minister Jason Clare joins us live now. Good morning, Jason. 

CLARE: Morning, Nat. 

BARR: Putting aside all the politics for a second, like yourself, so many have been impacted by what happened that day. How important is it to you that something is done to prevent this ever happening again? 

CLARE: Well, it’s life and death. You know, my friend could have been amongst the dead that day. If it wasn’t for the actions of police and ordinary Aussies, she very well might have been. And if we don’t take the sort of action that we need to take, then, you know, that is the real and obvious risk. The eyes of the country are on us today. People expect us to come together, the two big political parties, to be bigger than our political parties or our political interests and to act to help to keep Australians safe. 

BARR: Do you think you’ve got it right? For people who aren’t across these details, there are two new bills that are being put through. Hate speech and gun reforms. What are they going to change? 

CLARE: Yeah, well, I think both of them are important. As you say, one is about guns and the other is about hate – the sort of guns that were used to kill so many people that day and the hate that was really responsible for pulling the trigger. The gun laws that will hopefully pass through the Parliament today will mean that if you’re not an Australian citizen you can’t get a gun. Remember, one of these terrorists wasn’t an Australian citizen. They’ll stop the importation for most Australians of the sort of weapons that were used that day. They’ll introduce ASIO background checks on family members. All of that’s important. The gun buyback is important, too. It will shock most Australians that there’s more guns in Australia today than there were 30 years ago when the Port Arthur massacre happened. So I think all of that’s important. 

But so is the action that we take on hate to stop the sort of poison that causes this in the first place. So extra penalties for hate preachers but also the banning of organisations like the neo-Nazis, like Hizb ut-Tahrir. You know, if the neo-Nazis are out, as they have been over the weekend, lobbying politicians not to pass this legislation, then you know it’s good legislation. But it’s not the only thing, Nat, that we need to do. Kids aren’t born racist, they’re not born with hate in their hearts. It’s something that’s taught, that’s learnt, that grows. And there’s things that can be done in my patch in education. That’s why I’ve appointed David Gonski to lead an Antisemitism Education Taskforce that will look at everything from teacher training, through to the curriculum, through to what we do in our universities as well. 

BARR: Yep, everything’s on the table. Jason Clare, we thank you very much for joining us today. 

CLARE: Thank you. Thanks, Nat. 

ENDS