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Transcripts
May 7, 2026
PETER STEFANOVIC: Joining us live now is the Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson. Are you okay today, James?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: I'm fine, thanks, Pete. I appreciate your concern, but I've had worse in junior footy.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Okay, just backing things up, what's the context to this? What's the lead up to it?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: So the One Nation volunteer engaged in conversation with me to complain about a National Party sign which criticised David Farley being a former Labor Party member, an aspiring Labor Party candidate, and a Labor Party donor only a few years ago, and I started filming when it started to get aggressive. And as you saw then, the One Nation volunteer grabbed my phone and took it from me. Look, I'm happy to engage in spirited debate on a polling booth with anyone. It's a perfectly normal part of democracy, but things should never cross the line into physical altercations as that did.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Did you antagonise him, though, by recording him?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: No, not at all, Pete, I think it's appropriate when someone gets aggressive in a public place, on a polling booth, to take a video to record it. That's the advice that our political parties give all of our volunteers on booths.
PETER STEFANOVIC: But you're a member of parliament, could you not have, you know, risen above the moment?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, look, I didn't know where it was going to go, but I had a bad feeling about the way in which he was behaving. He was getting pretty agitated. And I thought it was important to have a record of the exchange in case something happened. And unfortunately, it did.
PETER STEFANOVIC: I mean I can see why someone would become agitated at that, people do it all the time these days, but do you think it was necessary in hindsight to film him though, knowing that it would likely wind him up?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, I certainly didn't have the intention of winding him up, but he was getting very aggressive, getting quite close to me, engaging in profanities, and I thought it would be important to have a record of this in case it does escalate. Now, unfortunately, it did. As I said, I'm happy to engage in spirited debate with any other person on a polling booth, I do it all the time. It's a perfectly healthy part of democracy, but it's never appropriate to cross the line into physical altercation as this person did.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Okay, so Pauline Hanson apologised, but then this from James Ashby on Sky last night.
[CLIP START]
JAMES ASHBY: James Paterson needs a kick up the backside for this because you've got a bloke who's on $300,000 a year deliberately going out there rage baiting a pensioner, who God only knows what he's having to live off. You deserve to have that phone bloody knocked out of your hand.
[CLIP END]
PETER STEFANOVIC: What is your reaction to that, James?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, I'm scratching my head because the One Nation volunteers who were on the booth, who witnessed it, came up to me and immediately apologised after the incident that they witnessed. About half an hour later, James Ashby called me and put David Farley on the phone, and both of them apologised to me. And then Pauline Hanson publicly apologised to me on Chris Kenny's show last night. So, something's going on in One Nation. I know they have contradicted each other many times on policy over the last few weeks, with David Farley advocating for higher immigration and increased foreign aid funding, contrary to One Nation's policies, but now they're contradicting each other on apologies as well. I know James Ashby was speaking figuratively when he said I need a kick up the backside, but I really hope none of the One Nation volunteers take that literally because the last thing we need is violence on polling booths in Australia.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Wait, so James Ashby is saying two things here with what was said last night and what he said to you personally?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Oh yes, he called me within an hour of the incident and apologised profusely and appropriately, and so did David Farley, who was part of the same phone call, and they assured me that the volunteer in question wouldn't be appearing on the booths again.
PETER STEFANOVIC: So all of this, what sort of tension does this point to on the ground, James?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, I think One Nation started this contest as the unbackable favourites, given the circumstances of the by-election, given it's a regional electorate, given the way that One Nation is polling nationally. But I think the scrutiny on their candidate, of his past links to the Labor Party, of his past endorsement of the Teal, of these contradictory positions, I think the pressure is getting to One Nation, and that's probably why they're reacting the way that they did. But the truth is, they have a pretence of being a major party. They're acting like they're going to win a lot of seats. Maybe they will be successful still here in Farrer and elsewhere around the country. And with that comes legitimate public scrutiny about our positions, our past associations, as David Farley has had. And One Nation needs to accept that that's part of a healthy and normal democratic process.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Just elsewhere this morning, James, the ISIS brides, they're expected to arrive at Sydney and Melbourne airports this afternoon. Have you got a thought on that ahead of those arrivals?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, this is the arrival that the Albanese government has been secretly preparing for for many months. They have, in my view, actively facilitated this return by providing passports for these people and by failing to use powers like temporary exclusion orders, which they could have used to keep them offshore. The revelations that some of these people will be charged with criminal offences when they land in Australia is evidence why they should not have been granted passports and why they should of had temporary exclusion orders applied to protect our country. But Labor obviously secretly wanted these people back in the country, and they've got their wish today.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Right, as Tony Burke said though yesterday, there is very little a government can do to stop someone from arriving back home.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, Tony Burke secretly met with the charity that was seeking to facilitate this return, and one of the people who has helped facilitate this return is one of his closest personal political supporters. So frankly, I don't take Tony Burke at his word when he says there's nothing they could have done. They did not have to grant them passports, and they could have used temporary exclusion orders. They chose not to, and they have to explain their decision to do so.
PETER STEFANOVIC: So how much of our resources, police resources, surveillance, etc are going to have to be tied up now?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: It's very significant if you do need to monitor someone in the community in Australia. It's round the clock the surveillance for a high risk target and only the AFP and ASIO can assess the level of risk of these people but the fact that they're being investigated and likely charged with crimes indicates that they do pose a risk to the Australian community and that's in addition to all the other costs that will be imposed by hosting these people back in the communities we understand in both Melbourne and Sydney. And frankly, I think many Australians will be disconcerted to know that these could be their neighbours next door.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Yeah, and we've got an ex-officer coming up in the program in about 15 minutes or so to describe what is going to go on now. But James Paterson, thank you for your time this morning, appreciate it.
ENDS