Sarah Abo:
‘A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews’. Those are the scathing words Benjamin Netanyahu has used to describe Anthony Albanese following Australia’s pledging to recognise Palestine.
Karl Stefanovic:
To discuss, we’re joined by Minister for Housing Clare O’Neil. Clare, good morning to you. How embarrassing to wake up to those international headlines saying Albo is weak.
Clare O’Neil:
Good morning, guys. Great to be with you. Look, unfortunately, the Israeli Prime Minister has a bit of a habit of making these disrespectful and disappointing statements. And he’s done that about a whole variety of other global leaders. The truth is this kind of diplomacy does not work and that’s why the Australian Government doesn’t engage in it. Look, we see the PM doing what he does best on the global stage. He’s respectful and polite to global leaders, but he stands really strong in what’s Australia’s national interest. And you’ve seen us do that with regard to what’s going on in the Middle East. Benjamin Netanyahu may not like it, may not be a fan, but our Prime Minister is pursuing our national interests exactly as we elected him to do.
Abo:
Those words are a lot stronger though than the words Netanyahu has used against leaders of France and the UK, for example. And there are genuine concerns here in Australia about a rise in antisemitism. It also doesn’t help our relationship with the US.
O’Neil:
Look, Sarah, respectfully, I’d separate out the situation facing our much‑loved Jewish community here in Australia. You know, one of the amazing things about our beautiful country is that we have historically been really good at not bringing global conflicts back here. A lot of people in my community in South East Melbourne actually moved to Australia to escape the kind of bigotry that we see overseas. And we are seeing this issue of antisemitism here in Australia. And it’s really important that these opportunities to just say how much we wrap our arms around our Jewish‑Australian community.
You know, for a lot of people watching at home, they’re seeing what’s happening in the Middle East as something on the television and happening a long way away. For a lot of people in my community, this is their family, their friends, their nation. And for our Palestinian Australians, you know, they’re seeing family and friends and community get killed. So, one of the most important jobs for the government is trying to not bring that really incendiary and aggressive language here. And I think you see the PM doing that really, really well.
Stefanovic:
Are you saying this morning that there’s no rift, nothing to see here?
Abo:
Well, not at all, Karl. I mean, I think I’m just saying that the Israeli Prime Minister will make the comments that he wants to make. And we don’t control his language. What we do control is how we behave on the international scene.
Stefanovic:
So, how are you going to fix it?
O’Neil:
Australia is a really important middle power, and we pursue our national interest. And our national interest in this case is doing exactly what Australians want us to do. They want the killing overseas to stop. They particularly want the forced starvation of children and babies who have absolutely nothing to do with this conflict to cease. And the only realistic pathway to peace in the Middle East is to recognise that two-state solution.
Stefanovic:
So, how are you going to fix our relationship with Israel?
O’Neil:
I see that Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t agree with the Australian Government stance, but we’re the Australian Government, we represent Australian people and we’re going to pursue that interest. From the government’s perspective, if Benjamin Netanyahu wants to make aggressive and impolite comments in public, then that’s up to him.
Abo:
All right, well, that reaction might not soothe things over there, but let’s move on now. And as if Benjamin Netanyahu’s takedown wasn’t bad. What about blasting your economic management? He said –
Stefanovic:
That was a big sigh.
Abo:
– you have, quote, ‘no budget discipline’. Is he right?
O’Neil:
Well, I don’t know how anyone could reach that conclusion, given what we’ve seen in our country over the last few years. I mean, just remember we had the Coalition promising they’d deliver a budget surplus each and every year. They didn’t deliver a single one. And then in our first 2 Budgets, we delivered 2 budget surpluses. We’ve made a bunch of really tough decisions on the federal budget to get us into shape.
And, guys, the proof’s in the pudding. We’re seeing inflation that had a 6 in front of it when we came to office, back within the RBA’s preferred band of 2 to 3 per cent. And that’s why interest rates are coming down. Thank God, finally, for our mortgage holders around the country. So, look, we’re making a lot of progress as a country on our economic challenges, but we’ve got the Economic Roundtable meeting at the moment here in Canberra. I’m in Canberra for the event and housing is going to be a central focus for today, which I’m really pleased about.
Stefanovic:
You’re still spending like a ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ winner, though. I mean, spending is not under control. You don’t have a framework to get it under control.
O’Neil:
Well, also don’t agree with that one, Karl.
Stefanovic:
Well, how?
O’Neil:
I mean, these are really challenging things because we’re talking about government services here. So, for example, the National Disability Insurance Scheme is a huge part of the challenge that we face here. That’s got to be really carefully calibrated. We’ve got hundreds of thousands of people around the country whose families depend on that scheme. You know, we’re making really big landmark investments in things that matter greatly to Australians, such as our fantastic Medicare system, which is, you know, a very proud Australian invention.
So, we’ve got to find a pathway here, which the government is doing, where we support those services that people rely on, that they continue to bring the budget back into the appropriate level of spending. And that’s work that we’ve done. We’ve done it for 3 years, and we’ll keep working on it as we go.
Abo:
All right, well, let’s see if there’s any progress at this roundtable, because it seemed like a big brawl yesterday between unions and business –
Stefanovic:
Yeah, just a big bust up.
Abo:
– but that’s likely to continue. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
Stefanovic:
Let’s see what happens with housing.