E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
TODAY SHOW
THURSDAY, 22 JANUARY 2026
TOPICS: NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING; COMBATTING ANTISEMITISM, HATE AND EXTREMISM BILLS; COALITION CHAOS
KARL STEFANOVIC: Coalition chaos this morning, taking heat off the Prime Minister.
SARAH ABO: To discuss, we are joined by Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek in Canberra. Tanya, good morning to you. So, the hate speech laws have passed. The Coalition is on the brink. Does Labor consider this a win-win?
TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: Well, no, I think this is a very sad moment for Australia. We saw the worst terrorist attack in Australian history about a month ago in Bondi. Today we're calling for a national day of unity and remembrance. There'll be a service, as you know, at the Opera House tonight. There'll be a minutes silence at 7:01. The Jewish community have asked us to have this commemoration tonight and for every individual Australian who perhaps can't be there or isn't watching, to put a candle in their window and to do an act of goodness or kindness, a mitzvah, for other Australians. That is our focus, keeping Australians safe and bringing Australians together. And it's very disappointing that the Coalition made this week all about themselves and their own chaos and division. After calling for Parliament to be returned, after calling for stronger laws, they haven't backed those stronger laws. They've actually asked for laws to be watered down. We've passed laws that are an improvement on what we had, but they could have been stronger with stronger Coalition support. And now they're not even a Coalition anymore. They're falling apart at the seams and at a time when we need stability and unity and adult behaviour in this country.
KARL STEFANOVIC: I can't believe, I mean, Albo probably can't wake up this morning and believe his luck after being on the nose over his handling of this crisis from the very get go. He wakes up this morning and the Coalition is imploding. I mean, that's just a luck thing, isn't it?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, I think that's a bad thing for Australia. I mean, honestly, Australians expect their government to behave in an adult fashion, to pass laws that give stronger protections at a time when the nation's worried. They want to see that our parliamentary leaders are focused on the safety of the nation, the social cohesion of the nation, bringing Australians together, keeping them safe, and instead the Coalition are focused on themselves and can't even stick to, you know, one position on these stronger laws for a couple of days.
SARAH ABO: The issue though, Tanya, I guess is, yes, sure, this is a stink for the Coalition and this is great for you guys, but ultimately the public is still furious at your handling of the situation of what happened in Bondi and generally your government for just being out of touch. And as we know, that's why they're turning to Pauline Hanson. So, all of this is just playing into her hands and more and more disaffected voters out there are turning against the major parties. It's that simple.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, look, I think journalists will be very focused on what's going on in the Coalition and the political fallout of this. That's not our focus as a government. Our focus as a government consistently has been to keep Australians safe. So, in the last term of Parliament, we passed stronger hate speech laws. Then we increased very substantially the resources that our security and intelligence agencies have to tackle violent extremism. We invested in upgrading security around schools and synagogues and other Jewish buildings to try and keep them safer. We have consistently been working to keep Australians safe. And the Coalition, the Liberals and the Nationals, have been saying all along we want stronger laws. Now they won't vote for them. They say they want action and then they refuse to act. The inconsistency there is very disappointing at a time when we need national unity and a focus on keeping Australians safe.
KARL STEFANOVIC: I think, Tanya, that your government has to be really careful with the balance of crowing about and what you've achieved in terms of this, because all of this has happened, the majority of it, on your watch, anyway. It's a very important day today. I know it's an important day for you, too, and your local electorate. We appreciate you coming on.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Thank you, Karl. And we'll never say that we have done enough. There will always be more to do. You're quite right.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Good on you, Tanya. Thank you.
ENDS
