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Transcripts
December 18, 2025
PETA CREDLIN: Senator James Paterson. James, thank you for being here. Just a reaction to what you've seen there.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, Australians will be shocked to see images like that tonight, police in camouflage gear with long arms standing over men who are face down on the pavement with their hands tied behind their backs. That is an image we're more used to seeing coming out of Gaza, not coming out of Sydney. And police don't take action like that lightly. They clearly rammed that vehicle off the road in order to arrest these men and interdict them, according to Sharri Markson's reporting, on the way to Bondi. I think that just shows the heightened environment that we're in and the seriousness with which we all need to take this. Let's hope that Bondi is the last worst-ever terror attack in Australia. Let's hope there is never any more. But hope is not enough. We need action to accompany it to make sure there are no more incidents like Bondi.
PETA CREDLIN: Well, given the briefings you've had, given what I've known in the past, I'm not surprised to hear they're from Melbourne. I am not surprised for us to be talking tonight about this being an Australia-wide issue.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Exactly right. There are radicalised cells of extreme Muslims around our country, but particularly concentrated in our major cities on the eastern seaboard, especially Sydney and Melbourne. And I did see Tony Burke on the 7.30 Report the other night, talking about Bondi trying to reassure people by saying, we're only dealing with two people here. Well, if only we were dealing with only two people here. The truth is there are people, a larger number of people, that are of concern to our intelligence agencies and police and are being actively monitored by our intelligence agencies and police.
PETA CREDLIN: The men involved, one is dead, and one has been arrested and now charged, so we'll be careful with our language. But early on, it looked like it could be a lone wolf attack, albeit with two people. Now, when you look at the information we have, the presence of the younger alleged killer on an ASIO watch list, the significant travel to the southern parts of the Philippines, where we both know there are training camps for terrorism. And obviously, now what we're seeing play out just a couple of hours ago. This is of a real concern. You talked about radical Muslims a moment ago. Why can you say that word, why can you say that phrase, and the Prime Minister can't, and Tony Burke can't?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Honestly, there's no good explanation as to why they're refusing to use language like that or why they are so reticent to use language like that. When they're really pushed, occasionally, they might say words like that, but they very quickly follow it up with qualifiers to downplay what they're saying. It's hard to escape the judgment that it's about electoral considerations. Some of the worst behaviour that we've seen is in Tony Burke's electorate. The Al Madina Dawah Centre, which I've been calling to be shut down for a long time now, which is a corrosive institution that spreads radical Islam, and is in Tony Burke's part of the world.
PETA CREDLIN: We've seen them, and we've played them, and the Prime Minister looks like today he's just woken up to hate preachers. But if you watch Sky News you would be probably bored with that footage. We've played it so often over the last two years. Can they shut it down now? Does he need new legislation?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, new legislation might help, but why are they only introducing it now, in fact not even introducing it, just saying they're going to draft it over summer and it might be ready for Parliament when it returns in February. These organisations didn't become a problem on Sunday. These organisations, including Hizb ut-Tahrir, have been a problem for years, and they chose not to address it earlier. I think they haven't fully utilised all the existing tools that we have. I would like to see what kind of scrutiny these guys could bear if the ATO was sent after them. If the ACNC was sent after them, if AUSTRAC was sent after them, let alone ASIO and the AFP. I doubt they'd stand up to that kind of scrutiny. And frankly, I think much of what they've done since the 7th October has constituted incitement to violence, which is a crime in this country, and they should have been prosecuted for it.
PETA CREDLIN: Why couldn't the Prime Minister say sorry today?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Sorry is the hardest word to say for Anthony Albanese. He is a very proud and stubborn man. He very rarely admits fault. I am told, even in private. Journalists say he is so reluctant to concede any error of his own, and I think it diminishes his leadership. He said today he wasn't perfect. Well, he's far from perfect. And if you ask the Jewish community, they'll tell you he's not even close to that. And he should be honest and say he hasn't done everything in his power to stop this. We can't say for certain that any one action would have stopped the event on Sunday, the terror attack on Sunday. But can we say that he did everything in his power to prevent that from happening? No, no, he did not.
PETA CREDLIN: I want to play some comments out of an interview last night. Josh Frydenberg was on the ABC, and there was a reprehensible end to that interview with Sarah Ferguson. Have a listen.
[CLIP START]
SARAH FERGUSON: How do we not see this through a political lens? I mean the case that you're making, a personal case against the Prime Minister.
JOSH FRYDENBERG: I'm deeply offended by what you've just said. I'm deeply offended. That is an insult. That is an insult to say that there's any political motivation in this.
[CLIP END]
PETA CREDLIN: What's your reaction to that?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: In a way, Peta, I'm actually glad that question was asked because of Josh's very powerful answer, which I think really just spoke volumes to his integrity and his leadership. But also because the truth is, the Labor Party is whispering this behind closed doors. They're trying to dismiss criticism by people like Josh by saying it's just political, it's just partisan, not recognising he's one of the most prominent Jews in Australia and a leader of the Jewish community who's long out of parliament and is doing this from a place of conviction. So I'm glad Josh had the opportunity to say what he said. I think we're all better for having heard that.
PETA CREDLIN: It felt like the ABC, though, was doing a tag team with Labor because Josh had spoken so powerfully during the afternoon and had, I think, shamed the Prime Minister into fronting the media today in Canberra. And I felt that the ABC was out there doing the bidding of Labor.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, as you know, sometimes the ABC does do that. Sometimes. Some of the commentary that Laura Tingle has been running this week. Really, just beggars' belief.
PETA CREDLIN: Oh, that religion has got nothing to do with it.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Apparently, people who are motivated by Islamic State, who are Muslim, and extremists, allegedly, are not motivated by religion. I mean, that's just beggars' belief. It's treating the viewers of the ABC like they're idiots, and frankly, the ABC should do better.
PETA CREDLIN: I wish it was a better way to end the year. but all the best to you and your family.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: You too Peta, thank you.
ENDS