Source: Australia Government Statements 2
Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: Welcome to Coogee and Merry Christmas, everyone. We’re entering the danger season when it comes to coastal drownings in Australia. Over the course of last summer, 139 people drowned on our coastline. But the key statistic is this: no one drowns between the red and yellow flags in Australia. That perfectly highlights the value of surf life saving to the Australian community each summer, and it also highlights the dangers. As Australians begin to go away on their summer holidays, they need to heed the advice of surf life savers. Always swim at patrolled beaches, always swim between the red and yellow flags, always obey the instructions of life savers. If you’re rock fishing, never fish alone and always take the appropriate safety precautions, including wearing a life jacket, which is mandatory in New South Wales. If people follow the surf safety regulations and rules, they will have a wonderful day at the beach and return home safely to their families. We also know there has been an increase in the number of Australians drowning from multicultural communities. About 30% of those who drown in Australia are from multicultural backgrounds. They don’t have the same background in swimming and water safety education that are Australians born here have. That’s why the Albanese Government is acting, with the introduction of a $5 million program that specifically targets those who are missing out on water safety education from multicultural backgrounds. That policy is being rolled out on top of the $35 million our government already provides to Surf Life Saving Australia and Royal Life Saving.
You’ll notice at the surf club here that the flags are at half‑mast. They are at half‑mast out of respect for those who lost their lives at Bondi Beach in that shocking terrorist incident a week or so ago. I was fortunate this time last week to go to Bondi Beach and link arms with fellow life savers to pay respects to those who lost their lives, and to thank our surf life savers, lifeguards, and first responders who sprang into action to assist those who were injured and who saved lives on that day. It was a very moving tribute and highlights the important role they play, not only as surf life savers, but as providing assistance to those when they need it. When I was there in Bondi, I met with the presidents of both North Bondi and Bondi Surf Life Saving Clubs to inform them that the Albanese Government is providing them with $100,000 each to replenish their first aid supplies. On the day of the massacre, they used every single one of their bandages, of their gauze, the defibrillators, and rescue boards to assist with the saving of lives of those tragically injured on the beach. We will work to ensure their supplies are replenished as quickly as possible and they can get back to doing what they do best and that’s saving lives, not only here at Coogee, but across the wider Sydney community and across Australia. Thank you to our wonderful surf life savers, to our lifeguards who are providing that wonderful service, keeping the Australian public safe and ensuring that no one drowns on our beaches between the red and yellow flags. Happy to take some questions.
Journalist: Will you talk us through the drowning statistics so far this summer? Last summer was one of the worst on record in terms of drownings. How are we preparing, and will this be enough to ensure it’s not as bad?
Assistant Minister: Yeah, a big factor in the number of drownings each year is the weather. And this surf season, we haven’t had the best weather, which has kept people away from the beaches, and that’s really, really important when it comes to drowning statistics. But of course, the weather is going to fine up, and we’ll see Australians flock to our beaches and our coast over the holiday period. That’s when we need to be ever vigilant to ensure people obey the instructions of Surf Life Saving Australia. Most people, unfortunately, drown on unpatrolled beaches when they go on holidays. That’s a salient warning that we need to ensure that people obey the instructions of life savers, they swim at patrolled beaches and that they swim between the red and yellow flags.
Journalist: Do you think more needs to be done at remote and regional locations?
Assistant Minister:We do have a strategy to ensure that unpatrolled beaches are, the danger is reduced. We make sure that people heed hose warnings. There’s a national program now to roll out warning signs across every single beach across Australia, ensuring there are messages about dangers, how to identify rips, and who to contact in an emergency. That’s a program that was rolled out by the Federal government in conjunction with Surf Life Saving over a number of years. So, we are doing our best to ensure people know the dangers if they’re swimming at unpatrolled beaches. But the best way to ensure that you are safe is simple, not to swim at an unpatrolled beach. Swim at a beach where they have the red and yellow flags and where life savers are on duty to protect the swimming public.
Journalist: [inaudible]
Assistant Minister: Every single member of our government is deeply, deeply sorry for the atrocities that were committed against Australia’s Jewish community at Bondi a few weeks ago. At the time of that atrocity, I was actually here at Coogee at a Chanukah event with the local Jewish community. And we had to leave because the police were aware of an incident that was occurring at Bondi. It is a terrible, terrible tragedy, and I, and every single member of the Albanese Government, expresses its sorrow, but we also express our sympathy and our support for Australia’s Jewish community. I’ve attended Bondi countless times over the course of the last week and a half. I’ve been joined by my ministerial colleagues, led by the Prime Minister and others, to pay our respects. The Prime Minister and myself met with leaders of the Jewish community three times in the wake of the massacre at Bondi, and we attended a number of events, including the very moving vigil at Bondi last week. My message to the Jewish community is that our government is here to support you, to help you. We are acting on the recommendations of the Jillian Segal report to toughen laws, to ensure that we combat antisemitism in Australia, and do everything we can to keep Australia’s Jewish community safe.
Journalist: Sorry, I couldn’t quite hear the journo’s question on the phone, so sorry if this is repetitive. But what was your reaction to Penny Wong’s admission that the government hasn’t done enough to keep the Jewish community safe?
Assistant Minister: Well, that’s why we are acting quickly to make sure that we adopt all the recommendations of Jillian Segal’s report. We’re acting by consulting with the Jewish community, by working with them to deliver the necessary legal reforms and protections to keep the community safe. We are increasing penalties associated with hate speech, we’re introducing new crimes associated with hate speech, we’re toughening our migration laws to ensure that anyone that expresses any form antisemitic views or racist views will never get a visa to come to Australia. And if they’re here in Australia, they will be deported. The Home Affairs Minister deported a gentleman earlier this week who’d expressed such views. We’re acting to ensure that we are strengthening gun laws at a nation level and reviewing the actions of ASIO and the Australian Federal Police in the lead‑up to the incident at Bondi. We are acting as quickly as we possibly can, in consultation with the leadership of the Jewish community, to keep the Jewish population safe.
Journalist: In the meantime, we’ve got victims’ families and others imploring the government to call for a Commonwealth Royal Commission. Can you understand why they would want that?
Assistant Minister: I certainly respect the views and wishes of the victims and their families, and the leadership of Australia’s Jewish community. I’ve had several meetings with victims’ families and with the leaders of the Australian Jewish community. Royal Commissions take years, they take even longer to implement the recommendations. We owe it to Australia’s Jewish community to act now, to keep them safe and to put in place measures to ensure that they are free to practise their religion and their faith in Australia in safety. And that is exactly what our government is doing.
Journalist: [inaudible]
Assistant Minister: Yeah, the question was about the letter internally in the ALP around antisemitism. Antisemitism will not be tolerated by any Australian and that includes by members of the Australian Labor Party. There is no tolerance at all for any form of antisemitism or racism in Australia. And we will crack down on that, including within the Labor Party. In recent years, the Australian Labor Party has put in place measures to ensure that every single member feels safe and respected in our party. To do that, we introduced a code of conduct that all members have to abide by and that includes a complaints mechanism. And I would encourage any member who witnesses or sees any form of antisemitism within our party to report that and ensure that it’s investigated as soon as possible. The penalties within our party for any form of antisemitism or racism include expulsion and we will not hesitate to act to ensure that anyone who expresses antisemitic views is expelled from our party.<
Journalist: Do you worry that events like the planned protest today deepen division in our community? And what would you have to say about that protest?
Assistant Minister:Now is the time for Australians to come together and unite, to show respect for each other, and to show that we are all one nation living together in this beautiful country. And that we need to respect each other’s faiths, our backgrounds, our ethnic origins, and our views. Australia is a wonderful multicultural society that has made a success of welcoming people from different backgrounds and ensuring they are respected and valued in Australian society. And that’s why our government is acting to ensure Jewish Australians feel that respect, and that warmth and that welcome here in Australia, by toughening laws and ensuring they feel safe. All Australians have an obligation and a role to respect others and to ensure that we are a united nation, and that we all live freely and peacefully in this beautiful country. Thanks everyone, appreciate your time.