Alex Thomas, Host: Let's speak to the Assistant Immigration Minister, Matt Thistlethwaite, who joins us live now. Matt, good morning to you. Any Australians caught up in this Philippines quake as far as we know?
Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Assistant Minister for Immigration: Good morning, Alex. According to the reports from Australia consular officials on the ground there, thankfully there are no Australians involved at this stage. Obviously, we just saw the shocking and terrifying footage of those buildings coming down. 35 people have lost their lives, unfortunately, in that earthquake, predominantly centred around Mindanao in the south of Philippines. Our consular officials will continue to monitor the situation. But if Australians have loved ones who are in the Philippines that they're concerned about, then they can call 1300-555-135 to get the latest information from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade about Australians.
Thomas: Sadly, the Philippines no strangers to these types of quakes. Do they need assistance? Can Australia offer any?
Assistant Minister: Yeah, you're right, these are a regular occurrence in places like the Philippines and around Southeast Asia. Look, we'll assess the situation at the moment and await for any requests that may come from the Philippines government. It's early days yet. Our priority remains the safety of Australians who are living and working in the region and those that may be holidaying as well. It's a one of the island chains. It's a holiday destination for many Australians and increasingly more and more are visiting the area. So, our priority remains the safety of Australians within the region.
Thomas: Yeah, I'm keen to get your take on the latest news out of the Middle East. Always a complex situation, hard to decipher where we stand. An exchange of fire between Iran and Israel quickly halted a temporary ceasefire, we're told. Although the US President sounds confident about a more sort of permanent peace deal. What do you make of the latest developments?
Assistant Minister: Well, we're glad that the hostilities have stopped once again, but we want the temporary cease fire to become a permanent cease fire. Australians are becoming increasingly frustrated with this ongoing conflict in the Middle East because it's having a dramatic effect on their cost of living. It's pushed up the cost of petrol and that's flowing through to household goods, particularly food and groceries. So, we want to see this conflict drawn to an end as quickly as possible. We want a negotiated outcome and we want the Strait of Hormuz to return to normal shipping, not this one or two ships getting through every now and then. We want the Strait completely opened, free of any impediments and shipping to resume as normal as possible. And that's what we've been advocating for and we've been joining international partners in doing that.
Thomas: We've seen some tensions, it appears, between the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and the US President, Donald Trump. Is that actually quite a healthy thing if it maybe shows the US President is like you said, Matt, that we feel here in this country getting a bit fed up with this and wants to bring an end to it?
Assistant Minister: Yeah, we back what the United States President Trump has said about this and the incursions that Israel has been making into southern Lebanon. We've supported a number of UN resolutions that uphold the territorial integrity of Lebanon, and we can certainly understand the frustration of the United States President. Further conflict around Lebanon and the region more broadly won't help bring a lasting peace that will draw this conflict to an end. Similarly with Iran, they need to stop the threats, they need to stop the missiles that were fired into Israel. That's completely unjustified. All of the parties need to abide by the ceasefire, get around the negotiating table and try and draw this conflict to a close.
Thomas: Closer to home, the Daily Telegraph reporting that Labor is asking supporters for extra donations to help stop One Nation's growing popularity. How's that money going to be used?
Assistant Minister: Look, these are campaigns that are run by the political party, not by any MPs or senators. And from what I understand, they predominantly support social media campaigns that will be aimed at highlighting to the Australian public the voting record of One Nation when it comes to supporting workers in the Parliament, collective bargaining rights. Same job, same pay, which is important for miners in the mining industry. One Nation voted against that. Better conditions for gig economy workers. One Nation voted against that. Better paying conditions for truck drivers. One Nation voted against that. We certainly understand the frustration that Australians have with cost of living pressures at the moment and feeling like despite the fact they're working hard, they just can't get ahead. The ironic thing is that Australians are rebelling against the system, but One Nation and the Coalition are actually acting to defend the system that the Australian working population is rebelling against. And we've heard what Australians have had to say. That's why in our Budget, we're reforming negative gearing capital gains tax and fairer taxation for trusts. And the money that we're raising from those reforms goes back into providing tax cuts for Australians, a working Australian tax offset and $1,000 instant refund.
Thomas: Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite. Thank you for your time, Matt. Appreciate it.
Assistant Minister: Thanks, Alex.