Patrick Gorman MP on Sky News' Newsday

IERAN GILBERT, HOST: Assistant Minister Patrick Gorman, thanks for your time. I won't get you to do a commentary of this extraordinary parade, but what I want to ask you about is the government position on this. The diplomat, the ambassador, Scott Dewar, is not there. He's a few thousand kilometres away at a business summit. Is that a message, in terms of Australia's position, that we're not going to stand there as this Asian giant shows off its powers?

PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: We have got officials from the embassy attending. That's the normal practice for previous events of this nature. That is what we have done on this occasion. Scott Dewar is doing an outstanding job. He is our Ambassador in China. He obviously hosted the Prime Minister there just a few weeks ago, for a significant tour showing our strong trade ties and people to people links. We have embassy officials there, that is the appropriate level of this sort of event.

GILBERT: And so have Daniel Andrews and Bob Carr defied the official approach then by showing up?

GORMAN: They are there in a private capacity. That is a matter for them.

GILBERT: What do you make, though of the image of Andrews standing behind, a couple of spots behind, Kim Jong Un? It is quite extraordinary to see an Australian former premier, not that long ago, in an image with the North Korean dictator. I never thought I'd see it.

GORMAN: The Australian Government was not consulted on this, he has gone in a private capacity. Those questions are questions for him to answer as a private citizen.

GILBERT: And as a former foreign minister, Bob Carr, he's not in that family photo, and obviously, maybe a little more cautious or judicious, depending on your view as to how he's handling this. But Xi Jinping very much welcoming Daniel Andrews, and the fact that they are putting that on show is also a sign, is it not, that the Chinese authorities want to highlight the fact that they've got an Australian, not that long ago, a premier of one of our big states.

GORMAN: I will leave that for China scholars to analyse exactly what this all means in terms of the parade that we're seeing, in terms of what it means for how China is engaging in the world. But when it comes to the Australian Government, we've got an embassy official attending. That is what we thought was appropriate. But really what I'm focused on here in Australia are things we're doing in the Parliament this week, we've just got our stronger medicines, cheaper medicines policy through the Parliament. We have had FOI reform legislation introduced into the Parliament -

GILBERT: - On the FOI just quickly. We'll get back to that parade in a moment. I do want to ask you about that, you're Assistant Minister for the Public Service as well, is this reform about less transparency? By putting in a tax or a fee for people when they do an FOI? Labor was meant to be a government of more transparency.

GORMAN: It is about less waste. That is what it's about. We have had some million hours of the public service going through freedom of information requests. Many of them are coming in anonymously. We don't know, not only where in Australia, we don't know where in the world a number of these FOI requests are coming from. I think that would concern Australians, that we're wasting a million hours of public service time that could be processing Veterans' Affairs claims, could be processing Centrelink claims, and we're wasting that on these anonymous FOI requests. It has got to stop.

GILBERT: So you think this will speed up the response, in a sense, by streamlining the approach?

GORMAN: It would mean that the resources of the Australian Public Service are there to service the public, not there servicing these anonymous FOI requests -

GILBERT: - So you're not trying to shut anything down here?

GORMAN: Anyone, from a private citizen through to a journalist, will still be able to put in an FOI request. But we're not going to deal with these ridiculous anonymous requests. And I think it's also important for your viewers to know that the requests for personal information will continue to be free.

GILBERT: On the cohesion question, are you worried about what we've seen in recent days, the protests at the weekend? One thing the Prime Minister says, there were good people at those events, but hijacked by extremists. We've seen that on the other side of the spectrum as well, with Hamas and Hezbollah supporters showing up at pro-Palestinian rallies.

GORMAN: Firstly, we have seen some really extreme points of view put at some of those rallies. But I also respect that in a free, open democracy like Australia, people can go and put their views forward, and they can attend rallies and put those views forward, whether or not I agree with them or not. But when it comes to some of the extreme language, some of the Neo or modern Nazis that we're seeing out there on our streets, that's deeply concerning. One of my responsibilities is to make sure that we do do work to enhance social cohesion. One of the ways that I seek to do that is to talk about encouraging people to celebrate the good in Australia. Today is National Flag Day, where we can actually go out and celebrate this flag that was designed by Australians for Australians. It unites us, whether we have been here for millennia or whether we're recently arrived migrants. And what I'd encourage your viewers to do if they want to sort of do something to push back on some of the things they might be seeing that they don't like, is go out and nominate someone for the Order of Australia. Go out and nominate someone who you think is an outstanding Australian. Let's celebrate the good rather than just talk about those who are seeking to divide.

GILBERT: Yeah, indeed. But the flag is also something that should be honoured, isn't it, not burnt? What's happening on that front in legal terms?

GORMAN: My view is that you don't legislate respect. You teach respect. You teach people how to be respectful of the flag, you teach them how to be respectful of our national symbols. That is the appropriate course. I recognise that we need to respect the Australian flag, and I have a role in advocating for and enforcing flag protocol. I would encourage anyone who's concerned about inappropriate flag protocol to sign up to the Flag Network.

GILBERT: Patrick Gorman, thank you, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister.