Scott Morrison in London: ‘I don’t know what the public reaction is’
EXCLUSIVE: PM Scott Morrison has conceded he does not know what the public reaction has been to chilling journalism raids in Australia because he is overseas. Meanwhile, he says the new stability in Australia’s leadership has been widely welcomed by US President Donald Trump and other world leaders.
EXCLUSIVE: Scott Morrison has conceded that he does not know what the public reaction has been to chilling police raids on the ABC and a News Corp journalist’s home because he is overseas and would not want to take a “knee jerk” response.
While Mr Morrison was unaware of the local reaction, The New York Times reported “Australia may well be the world’s most secretive democracy”, while CNN reported there were fears for press freedom in Australia.
The Prime Minister — under mounting pressure over the stunning Australian Federal Police raids — has repeatedly tried to distance his government from the police investigation and refused to condemn the searches.
On the second day of sustained questioning in London, Mr Morrison conceded that he was “open to discussing” the media’s “understandable” concerns. However, he then added it was “premature” to commit to reviewing the laws that permitted the raids.
In a subsequent exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, it was put to Mr Morrison that the raids were causing anxiety in the general public, not just among journalists.
“Well I don’t know. I’m on the other side of the world. I don’t know what the public’s reaction has been at all to this,” he said. “I won’t know until I get back.”
Mr Morrison told The Daily Telegraph his approach was “steady”.
“I tend not to react in a knee jerk way to any issue. I just want to wait to see what the real implications are here and what actions are being taken. If the government thought this was seriously imperilling press freedom well that’s a serious issue,” he said.
He said the government had an “open mind” on the issue “but nor at the same time are we going to immediately jump at something based on what is the understandable anxiety of the reaction to these events”.
“I think questions about the legislation and its implications are still premature. Let’s just see what happens in the days ahead and the weeks and whether those concerns which I think have been legitimately raised flow on.”
Mr Morrison went on to say again “the government didn’t initiate anything”.
“Had we not been successful at the election, I can only assume they would have done the same thing,” he said.
When it was put to him that it was highly unusual for a journalist in Australia to face police raids even though secrecy legislation had been breached many times, Mr Morrison said “others have been raided”.
“It may not have been journalists but others have been raided. As I said no one is above the law and the government has not initiated anything,” he said.
He said he believed the referrals to the AFP by department secretaries were “quite standard in those circumstances”.
He again repeated that it would be a crime for the government to intervene in police activity.
“It’s not just that it’s not good practice for the government to intervene in an investigation, it’s actually a crime,” he said.
WORLD LEADERS REACT TO MORRISON’S RE-ELECTION
A series of world leaders led by Donald Trump has expressed relief to Prime Minister Scott Morrison that Australia is entering a new era of leadership stability and is finally done with a revolving door approach to the prime ministership.
In an interview in central London after his first international trip since winning office, Mr Morrison acknowledged there had been an almost “global” recognition of Australia’s high turnover of the top office.
The Prime Minister said that world leaders who he had met before facing a general election had indicated they were “surprised” to see him back on the world stage following his stunning victory and that there was a growing expectation of leadership stability.
“I’ve met them all before the election and they were surprised to see me back — pleasantly surprised. Particularly the President — he was very happy,” Mr Morrison said.
“There is an appreciation because of our rule changes in the Liberal party they are looking forward to that stability. They have noticed it being different in the past and there is now a recognition for the next three years this is how it is and that’s welcome.”
As well as Mr Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron were particularly supportive of Mr Morrison when he met them at D-Day commemorations in Portsmouth during a working leaders’ lunch hosted by outgoing UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
Mr Morrison said he’d made the point to the leaders that both of Australia’s major parties had changed their rules for deposing sitting prime ministers, which ensured greater stability for the country moving forward.
“That’s welcome because all of these countries have a great respect for Australia and a great admiration — that’s not directed to me or any other leaders — it’s Australia is well regarded and our contribution is sought and valued,” he said.
Mr Morrison’s two day visit to London marked his first chance to show his foreign policy intentions on the world stage since winning office.
Mr Trump and Mr Morrison discussed the “special bond” Australia and the US had over a century.
“He clearly acknowledges that as an important part of the relationship and Australia is set apart as having a unique relationship with the US,” Mr Morrison said.
He said that several leaders had also picked up on his notion of the “quiet Australians” who delivered him victory being a repeat phenomenon around the world.
“The notion of the quiet Australians — it’s quite likely that a similar phenomenon is in the UK and other places. Mark Rutte (PM of the Netherlands) was talking about this today. Politics has a lot of shouty elements — it’s true in the US, it’s true in the UK — there was a lot of shouting going on the other day in Trafalgar Square.
“But this notion of quiet aspiration … There are quiet Britons, quiet Dutch … people just wanting to get on with their lives and not spend time shouting about politics.”
Mr Morrison took an almost anti-interventionist approach in dealing with his allies, saying he only offered an opinion if it was asked for.
He denied that Australia had put pressure on the UK to ban Chinese tech giant Huawei, saying that would be “inappropriate”.
Labor’s misinformation bill opens up a ‘Pandora’s box of powers’
Australians refusing to co-operate with “misinformation hearings” could be jailed for up to a year, the Coalition has claimed, while others slam Labor’s “big brother” bill.
Woman allegedly killed and cut up husband over secret lover
Police allege that an international love triangle was the motive behind a woman killing her husband and dismembering him with a saw before dumping him in bins across Sydney.