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October 9, 2025
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ALEX THOMAS: Let's speak live now to Shadow Finance Minister and Acting Shadow Home Affairs spokesperson James Paterson. Mr. Paterson, thanks for your time on Sky News Australia. We heard you asking the questions in that clip earlier. Do you think the government's been transparent enough about the return of these Australian citizens?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Good morning, Alex. Nothing could be further from the truth than the government being transparent. It is extraordinary that it has taken as long as it has to just get some basic facts out of officials in this process, instead of the Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, taking responsibility at the start of this affair by standing up and providing this information to the Australian public to reassure them. It should not have taken several days to learn that two ISIS brides and their four children had returned to Australia, that they had come into our country on the 26th of September, that the Department of Home Affairs had granted at least two of them citizenship by descent, that they had probably been granted passports while overseas and that the department failed to apply for a temporary exclusion order to keep them offshore or a control order to monitor them while they are here. But there are so many things we still don't know about this cohort. We don't even know the state or territory they're in, let alone the community, and that is causing incredible distress, particularly for Assyrian Christians and Australian Yazidis, who were resettled in our country after the rise and fall of Islamic State, who thought we were offering them a safe home, but now may be living alongside their torturers and jailers, and it is simply not good enough.
ALEX THOMAS: Do you think the secrecy is there because, you know, if these people have come back to Australia full of regret and they want to change their ways and think it was a big mistake to go there in the first place, that they're looking to quietly try and rebuild their lives?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: No, I think the secrecy is there because it's politically convenient for the Albanese government, and they don't want to take responsibility for their role in facilitating the return of these people. We know that Tony Burke had two secret meetings with Save the Children, a charity that's advocated for the return of these people to Australia. He met them once in October last year and again in June this year. But the details of those meetings have not been released. The Department of Home Affairs was not able to tell me what happened in those meetings. They did not have available the notes that were taken of those meetings. So we are none the wiser as to whether the Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, gave Save the Children a wink and a nod and said, if you bring them back on your own, then we won't stand in your way. In fact, we'll facilitate it with citizenship by descent, passports and by failing to apply for temporary exclusion orders. So until we can get to the bottom of those facts and until we know whether or not these people can be charged with terrorism offences, then this government has far more to answer for than they have done so far.
ALEX THOMAS: We're going to see a court decision later this morning about the proposed pro-Palestinian protests outside the Sydney Opera House. What are you hoping to see?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: I hope the court says that this protest should not proceed, and I hope that the protesters heed the warnings of the court and abide by the law and do not proceed with their protest. One of the most damaging and distressing thing that's happened in this country over the last two years for the Australian Jewish community and also for our international image was those shocking scenes on the 9th of October at the Sydney Opera House two years ago, which went around the world and stained the reputation and image of our country as a tolerant, open, welcoming country. People are entitled to feel very sincerely and strongly about the genuine humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which we all hope comes to an end as soon as possible. But we all know what will happen if there is a protest at the Sydney Opera House. It will be similar to the one we saw two years ago, and it will do further harm to our social cohesion. And frankly, the Albanese government needs to be doing more to send a strong message that it should not proceed.
ALEX THOMAS: I'm wearing your Finance Minister hat. What did you make of the Mount Isa copper smelter deal, the bailout? Does it make financial sense to you?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, what would make great financial sense is providing the basic public policy settings that meant that it wasn't necessary to bail out so many heavy industries and smelters, as this government has now been forced to do. But when your taxes are higher, when your red tape is greater, and when your energy prices in particular are going through the roof, unfortunately, good businesses like this, which used to be able to be highly profitable and employ lots of Australians, are becoming unviable and now require taxpayer bailouts. I don't want to see industries like this lost to Australia, and so it may be necessary on a temporary basis to assist them financially. But actually, our objective should be to provide an environment where bailouts aren't necessary and they are again profitable, and I have no confidence this government has a plan to do so. What they're doing is a patch-up job on their other policy failures, particularly on energy.
ALEX THOMAS: Okay, James Paterson, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
ENDS