TRANSCRIPT -TV INTERVIEW – ABC NEWS BREAKFAST – TUESDAY 22 JULY 2025

 E&OE TRANSCRIPT

TV INTERVIEW

ABC NEWS BREAKFAST – BRIDGET BRENNAN

TUESDAY, 22 JULY 2025

SUBJECTS: AUSTRALIA’S JOINT STATEMENT ON ISRAEL-GAZA CONFLICT, 48TH PARLIAMENT, SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S ALGAL BLOOM

BRIDGET BRENNAN: Straight to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in Canberra. Good morning, Minister.

TONY BURKE: Good morning, Bridget.

BRENNAN: This statement says the suffering of civilians in Gaza has now reached new depths. The Israeli government's, I quote, “aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity.” Tony Burke, is this

Australia's strongest statement we've issued since the beginning of the conflict?

BURKE: It would be. There's been a series of very strong statements that we've made. What we've been making sure of is that whenever we make a statement of this nature, that we're bringing as many other countries along with us at the same time. On our own, Australia is not a loud voice or a decisive voice on the other side of the world. But when you can make a statement together with so many other significant powers, then we're all hoping that there'll be something that'll break this. We've seen too many images of children being killed, of horrific slaughter, of churches being bombed. The images that we've seen have been pretty clear that so much of this is indefensible. And as that statement referred to, aid being drip-fed in. None of this changes the fact that the hostages need to be released, of course that needs to happen. But what we are watching on the other side of the world is indefensible. The hostages still need to be released, but the war needs to end.

BRENNAN: Has it taken too long to get to this point, Tony Burke? Because there's been many, many months of evidence of mass atrocities, allegations of war crimes. Why has it taken us this long to issue a statement of this kind?

BURKE: Well, some of what this statement refers to is referring to recent events as well, with the shifts that have happened in how aid's being managed into the area. And also, the increasing sight of people being killed on their way simply to get food and water. So, it deals with the most recent events. But let's not lose sight of the fact that, we're in 2025. We're going back to October of 2023 when this started. And even in 2023 we were calling for ceasefire, we were voting for ceasefire. Yes, this is a very strong statement, but we should not pretend that it's only begun today.

BRENNAN: Israel has responded immediately refuting the statement. And given Israel appears increasingly hostile to the calls from its allies.. what's our next step from here? Because the statement foreshadows what it calls further action. What would that be?

BURKE: Look, I think at the moment, you let the statement speak for itself. It's been worked out with other countries to be precisely in the terms that it is. And I don't think it's helpful for me to be clarifying or adding to the words. It's a powerful statement. It's got countries, powerful countries from all around the world saying the same thing. The slaughter has to end.

BRENNAN: Let's move to the beginning of Parliament. I can see quite a bit of activity behind you there. You'll be attending a church service alongside your colleagues. Tony Burke, how do you think this parliament, the 48th parliament, will be different?

BURKE: Well, obviously, the House of Representatives on the floor will feel different this time, just because the numbers, the nature of it is very different. Every parliament feels different in that way. But the expectations on us, I've got to say, I don't feel that different. When we were first elected, people wanted us to get wages moving. They wanted us to be defending Medicare. They wanted us to make sure that people would earn more and keep more of what they earn. And those themes carried us through the campaign. And those themes are what we need to get down to this term. I mean, tomorrow, Jason Clare will be introducing the legislation, a big cost-of-living measure, to reduce every student debt by 20 per cent. There's people who went to uni, there's people who went to TAFE, who carry these student debts. For a lot of them, it's a problem in them trying to get a home loan and to be able to cut that by 20 per cent. That's one of the things we committed to, and that legislation will be introduced tomorrow. But immediately following that, there will be the legislation about early childcare centres, early childhood education centres. In making sure that we've got the laws in place to make sure that we are really lifting the standards in every centre. But the horrific stories that we've seen in a number of centres. Every parent needs to be able to have the confidence that we put the laws in place to be able to address that.

BRENNAN: Just before we let you go, I know you're on a deadline. Look, there is a shocking situation unfolding in South Australia with the algal bloom. Why did the government resist calls to declare this a national disaster?

BURKE: Look, the wording of national disaster applies to very specific events. Like there's a legislated - there's a formalised list of events that this isn't in. That doesn't change the fact that it's an environmental disaster. It doesn't change the fact that all eyes of the nation are on it, it doesn't change the fact that for the people of South Australia, what they are seeing, the carcasses washing up onto their beaches is absolutely horrific. It's appropriate there's a national response. There are particular words that don't fit a legal definition that's there, but that doesn't change the fact that we're treating it as something that matters to the whole nation that is a disaster and that warrants our response.

BRENNAN: Some people questioning whether or not there'd be a more escalated response had it been, say, off the coast of Sydney or Melbourne.

BURKE: Look, what matters is that Murray Watt, the Environment Minister was there on the ground yesterday. The Premier made statements as well yesterday. We're working cooperatively. This is a new event. We've had algal blooms before, but of this particular scale. It's affected by climate change. It's something that is a slow moving but having a horrific impact. I've spoken to people who live in some of the coastal areas in South Australia who've just spoken about the horror of going for what's meant to be - they love, absolutely love the concept of going for a walk on the beach. And what's been one of their great joys in life has now just become this horrifically depressing moment. It's not something that government, state or federal can immediately fix. We don't have a method of immediately stopping an algal bloom, but we need to be able to work together in dealing with the response and that's what we're doing.

BRENNAN: Yeah, so, so shocking for those fishos. Thanks very much for joining us Tony Burke, on a busy morning. I hope I haven't made you late for mass and we'll let you go now.

BURKE: Thanks, Bridget.