TRANSCRIPT - MINISTER TONY BURKE - SUNRISE - THURSDAY, 15 JANUARY 2026

INTERVIEW

SUNRISE WITH MONIQUE WRIGHT

THURSDAY, 15 JANUARY 2025

SUBJECTS: Hate speech reforms, Labor urges Parliament to unite and pass bill, Trump considers Iran attack.

MONIQUE WRIGHT: For more we're joined now by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke live in Melbourne. Morning to you, Minister. Thanks for being with us.

MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS, TONY BURKE: Good morning.

WRIGHT: Look, some Jewish leaders have said that that loophole just really needs to be removed. What's your response to that?

BURKE: Look, it's put there for a good reason. It's put there to make sure that anyone who has nothing to do with hatred doesn't get caught up simply by quoting scripture. So that's the reason that it's there.

These arguments have been put in front of the Intelligence Committee over the last couple of days. The Intelligence Committee is a serious Committee; they'll work through the detail and provide a report I expect by the end of the week and the government will have a look at that.

But the exemption is there simply to make sure that we've got freedom of religion in Australia - and it's a constitutional requirement, freedom of religion – and just to make sure that people who are not involved in hate don't inadvertently get caught up. That's the reason that it's there.

WRIGHT: Okay. I want to ask you about another part of the major criticism, and that's coming from the Opposition, but from others also, and it's about combining two issues here: so, combining hate speech and gun reform. Why do the two need to be together?

BURKE: Because we have to deal with what happened at Bondi. We have to deal with the motivation and the method; we have to deal with the why and the how. Those two terrorists, they had bigotry in their minds and guns in their hands, and this legislation is a response to both.

I might say the Opposition, when they say, "Oh, can't you split them and put it in different bills", they're also saying, if we did, they're opposed to both anyway. I'm not sure where the arguments from the Opposition actually come from at the moment. They've spent four weeks basically demanding that Parliament be recalled and that we legislate straight away, and we do the work, we put the legislation together, we recall Parliament, and now they say, "Oh, no, it's too much of a rush, let's not do it". Andrew Hastie's even said, "Can we wait till after the Royal Commission". That would mean we did nothing for a year.

Part of dealing with the evil of antisemitism is having stronger laws against racist bigotry than we currently have, and that's what's in front of the Parliament.

But also, how on earth people living in Bonnyrigg ended up with so many high-powered weapons, those laws need to be changed as well.

WRIGHT: All right. How's it looking for next week, just quickly, because it's looking like the Opposition might not say yes to this.

BURKE: Look, I still work on the basis that after Bondi, I think everyone comes from a real sense of goodwill, and let's do everything we can to try to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again, and let's take on bigotry, let's take on the gun laws, let's make sure that we're acting.

I'm still hoping that people's better senses will come through, but I've got to say, if the Opposition, after all of this, oppose the exact sorts of legislation they've been calling for, then the hypocrisy of what they've been calling for the last four weeks is just really disappointing.

WRIGHT: All right. Well, it's going to be busy leading up to Monday and Tuesday. Monday and Tuesday are going to be busy too with Parliament resuming there.

Moving on to another issue now.

BURKE: Yeah, sure.

WRIGHT: Both the US and UK have begun pulling troops from Qatar overnight as the White House considers strike action against Iran. If Donald Trump picks up the phone to Canberra, could we see Australian involvement in this?

BURKE: What I can say is we stand with the people of Iran, the people themselves, against what is a horrific regime. You know that regime hasn't only been killing Iranians, that regime was responsible and masterminded attacks on Australian soil as well.

That firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue, and the Lewis' Continental Kitchen, Iran was hand that in using organised crime to conduct those attacks against us. This government has no time for that regime.

That's why for the first time since the Second World War we expelled an Ambassador - it was the Iranian Ambassador. For the first time we decided a section of a government could be listed as a terrorist organisation - that's the Iranian National Guard Corps. We have no time for that regime at all.

WRIGHT: So would we help?

BURKE: Well, you're talking in hypotheticals on really serious –

WRIGHT: I am, I am, but it's –

BURKE: No, it's really serious –

WRIGHT: -- I am, but we do need to ask that, you know, Australians have the right to know where the government's stands on it.

BURKE: No, I hear what you're saying, but with respect as well, you're talking about what would we do about a decision that even the United States haven't made yet. So, right at the moment I can tell you where we stand in terms of the people of Iran and how strongly opposed, we've actually - with that particular government - taken the strongest actions that an Australian Government can possibly take in diplomatic terms.

WRIGHT: Yep. All right. Fair enough. Tony Burke, thank you.

BURKE: Great to be back on the show.

ENDS