Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for the Public Service, Assistant Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
JULIA BRADLEY, HOST: Joining me live now is Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Patrick Gorman. Patrick, thank you so much for joining us. Perth, it's looking like there's quite a bit of growth there.
PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: We are seeing significant house price growth as that report just outlined. The important thing for the Australian Government is to make sure that we are investing in building more homes for Australians. That has been a core focus of our first term. It has been a key part of the program that we took to the election last year. That is what we continue to roll out, because what we know is that we can get more supply into these markets. That means more affordable homes for more Australians, whether they want to rent or buy. And of course, we have now had a couple of months of our Help to Buy Scheme out there, helping Australians get into their first home with things like as little as a 5% deposit. But there is a lot more work to do. That is one of the things I am determined to do, working alongside the Prime Minister, the Housing Minister, and others to make sure that housing is within reach for working Australians. Because we know that it is not just about a place to call home. It is also about giving people the security and benefits of belonging in a community and all of those benefits that flow from it.
BRADLEY: Affordability, a big issue in cities like Sydney. Firstly, just want to get your reaction to that fire we've seen at a ski resort in Switzerland. Can you tell us more about the Australian who was injured, which state they were from?
GORMAN: Firstly, if I can pass on my condolences and the Australian Government's condolences to all who have tragically lost loved ones in that horrible fire that we have seen some of the footage and images of. It is truly tragic, and people who are just out wanting to celebrate and bring in the new year, it is absolutely heartbreaking. What I can tell your viewers is that Department of Foreign Affairs consular officials are providing consular assistance to one Australian who was injured as a result of that. I am not able to share more detail than that. There are obviously privacy concerns, and we want to make sure we respect the privacy of that individual at this point in time. But what I would also like to do is to thank our Australian Government consular officials for the work that they do. It is a reminder that, for this period of time where many of us are just relaxing and enjoying ourselves, there are people around the world through our diplomatic network who fight and work to make sure that Australians can stay safe if they are out and about. Sometimes they have to deal with incredibly tragic and difficult circumstances on this occasion -
BRADLEY: And just while we've got you, we appreciate that update. I do want to speak about antisemitism, and we're seeing today, more than 100 business leaders join calls for a federal Royal Commission into what happened, and more broadly on antisemitism. Did your government underestimate how widespread support is for this?
GORMAN: What we all have known for a long period of time is that there is very broad support in the Australian community, whether it be government, business, education or the community sector, for stamping out antisemitism. And that is obviously what everyone who has signed that letter wants to do. It is what I want to do. It is what the Australian Government wants to do. We have already got a lot of actions already [inaudible] -
BRADLEY: But you don't want a Royal Commission into the issue? And a lot of the support is for that.
GORMAN: I respect that the people who have put that view forward are coming from a good place. They are coming from a place of wanting to make sure we can do whatever is needed to stamp out antisemitism. The view that the Government has taken is that the best way to do that is to act. That is why we are already acting upon the recommendations from Jillian Segal, who has put forward a road map not just for government. I think it is really important that it is not just a road map for government, it is for government and the Australian community. Because we all have a role to play. I would say to the higher education leaders -
BRADLEY: It is a report that the Government didn't act on for about six months. Now we're seeing a lot more movement in the wake of what happened in Bondi? I mean, you can implement reforms immediately while also holding a broader inquiry. There's no harm in doing both.
GORMAN: I obviously incline towards action. So I would encourage those university leaders who have signed that letter - I would encourage them to work with David Gonski on the work that he is doing in terms of making sure their education system can prevent the horrors of antisemitism and some of the things that we have seen on our university and school campuses, and find ways to make sure that does not continue into 2026. I would say to all of the business leaders, that I really respect where they are coming from, and I think they also respect that the Government is looking for the best way to make sure we can act as fast as possible.
BRADLEY: Well, they don't respect that the Government isn't willing to hold a federal Royal Commission into this. I want to ask you a specific question. I've just heard Sussan Ley today say she had briefings with senior representatives of Australia's security agencies. So, she says nothing in those briefings substantiates the Prime Minister's claim that they advised against holding a Royal Commission. Is the Prime Minister using national security to justify inaction, as the opposition claims?
GORMAN: I am not going to respond to some of those claims from Sussan Ley. I think we have got serious people doing incredibly serious work trying to keep Australians safe. I think others can judge why she might be sort of making comments in the way that she is. But what I -
BRADLEY: So why won't these experts come forward and publicly say why they advise against a Royal Commission? Why won't they justify their position publicly?
GORMAN: It is the job of the Australian Government to make decisions in the national interest. Now, I recognise that it might feel like a national Royal Commission is the way that some people want us to go. But we have looked at all of the options. We have chosen to go for fast and efficient action while supporting the Royal Commission that is already under way in New South Wales, that has already been announced. And of course, we await the terms of reference for that Royal Commission. We have already put out the terms of reference for the Richardson Review. We have done that work. That has already started -
BRADLEY: And antisemitism does not feature in the terms of reference for that Richardson review. We do run out of time. At the moment, though, we are running out of time. Patrick Gorman, thank you for your time.
GORMAN: Thank you.
