Presenter: Welcome to the show, Prime Minister.
PM: Thanks for having me, Dee. Always a pleasure.
Presenter: Well, Prime Minister, the big news today, of
course, is the ending, at last, of the Middle East crisis.
PM: Yes indeed, Dee, yes indeed. We’re very proud
of our achievement. Very proud.
Presenter: It certainly was an inspired idea.
PM: Yes indeed, Dee. It was inspired. Inspired.
Presenter: And whose idea was it to construct a huge,
impermeable dome above the whole Middle East and suck out all the air?
PM: Well, Dee, it was a team effort. We like to
think, Dee, that, er, we played an important part in this, along with our
allies, of course. We’re very proud to have made Australia—and the world, Dee,
the world—a safer place. A safer place.
Presenter: But some of your critics will say that the
people who actually lived there—many millions of innocent people—paid a
terrible price for our safety. I think the opposition leader may have mumbled
something to that effect.
PM: Yes, well, Dee, there will always be those
... We are tough on terrorism and evil-doers, Dee. If the opposition wants to
be weak on terrorism, well ... We are tough on evil-doers, Dee. Tough. We’ve
kept our promise to keep Australia safe.
Presenter: Prime Minister, now that the threat has been
removed, I assume we will see some of the tougher laws on terrorism, and laws
restricting our freedom—
PM: Well now, Dee. We can’t afford to be, er, we
can’t afford to be complacent about these things. We can’t afford to be
complacent.
Presenter: Does that mean that you won’t be winding back those laws?
PM: Well, er, Dee, we never know when or where
the next threat might arise. We can’t afford to let down our guard.
Presenter: But, Prime Minister, where could such a
threat possibly come from?
PM: Well, Dee, we are committed to injecting
additional funding into our, er, national security agencies to find out just
that, Dee.
Presenter: More money?
PM: Yes, Dee, it’s precisely at this point in
time, at this point in time, that our national security needs boosting. We need
to identify any potential threat and nip it in the bud, Dee, nip it in the bud.
Presenter: So—
PM: We will nip any potential threat in the bud,
Dee.
Presenter: And have any potential threats been
identified, Prime Minister?
PM: Well, Dee, you know, of course, that I’m not
at liberty to discuss national security matters.
Presenter: So you will keep the existing legislation—
PM: In fact we have a whole raft of legislation,
a whole raft of new legislation on the books, er, Dee.
Presenter: Like what, Prime Minister?
PM: Well, Dee, I can’t go into details at the
moment, but suffice it to say, suffice it to say, that if we are going to be proactive, if we are going to nip potential
threats in the bud, Dee, we need to introduce measures ...
Presenter: And when will we see these new measures?
PM: All in good time, Dee, all in good time. And
we hope that the opposition will allow these measures through, allow them
through, Dee, and not give succour to our potential enemies.
Presenter: And you can tell us nothing more specific
about these threats or this legislation?
PM: Dee, we have a responsibility, a
responsibility, to keep Australia safe. If we were to identify these potential
threats, we would be warning them—warning those who wish Australia harm—that we
were onto them, and giving them time to dig in. We can’t allow that. We can’t
allow it.
Presenter: It’s difficult to see where such threats
might come from, Prime Minister. Aren’t you just scaring people by talking up
nebulous threats?
PM: Let me just say, Dee, let me just say, that
it’s an awfully big universe out there, an awfully big universe, and we have to
be prepared—prepared—for any eventuality.
Presenter: Thank you for your time, Prime Minister.
PM: Your welcome, Dee.
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