Radio interview with Minister Butler, ABC AM – 9 January 2025

DAVID LIPSON, HOST: Mark Butler is a senior Minister in the Albanese Government with strong ties to the Jewish community. Minister, thanks for being with us. The Government had argued right up to 10 days ago a Royal Commission would take too long and be too broad and the terms of reference, as announced yesterday, are indeed pretty wide. Is one Commissioner going to be able to deliver a comprehensive report into such a complex issue in just 11 months?
 
MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: We are very confident in the ability of Virginia Bell. She's a very eminent legal jurist, with experience in Royal Commissions, particularly of this type. And of course, she'll be assisted by Dennis Richardson, who will continue his work looking into the lessons that we can learn at a Commonwealth level by our security and policing agencies in response to the terror attack on 14 December.
 
LIPSON: It is clear there was a good deal of reluctance in government initially to announce a federal Royal Commission. Not only were we told it would take too long, we were told it wasn't what experts had recommended, we were told it would platform hate. Why was the government so publicly against this at the start?
 
BUTLER: It's important to say that government was focused from the first day after this horrific terror attack on the urgent and immediate work we needed to do, and your listeners would expect us to do, particularly to update and strengthen hate speech laws. To shut down once and for all these hate preachers and the organisations that employ them, that ferment the hate that we've seen play out so tragically. But also gun laws, a range of updates to the ability to list terror organisations, to deal with visa holders, and also to accelerate the implementation of the work by Jillian Segal, the antisemitism envoy. But all through that time, of course, we were working with the New South Wales Government, which had indicated they would be intending to lead a Royal Commission about how that would work.
 
LIPSON: Did that make it harder for you to announce one?
 
BUTLER: There was always going to be a Royal Commission. It would either be led by New South Wales or it would be led by the Commonwealth. Obviously, it's unsustainable to have two Royal Commissions essentially under the same issue. We were talking to New South Wales. We'd indicated, obviously at a very public level, our willingness to cooperate if that was the basis of a Royal Commission into these events and this issue of antisemitism. But the important thing the Prime Minister pointed out yesterday and last night is all through that time we were listening, not just to the New South Wales Government, but so importantly to families of victims, to local rabbis.
 
The Prime Minister was sitting down in living rooms with them, not with the cameras, very privately, and listening to the voices, not just of the Jewish community, but of other organisations around the country, making the case for a Commonwealth-led Royal Commission. We've heard those voices and we've made that decision.
 
LIPSON: Now, I fully accept that and accept that you were doing other important work. I guess my point is, do you concede that out of respect for the victims and the community, in hindsight it would have been better to keep options open publicly rather than argue so strongly against a Royal Commission in recent weeks?
 
BUTLER: Some of the arguments you just mentioned were important arguments to ensure that no Royal Commission is used as a platform for simply more hate, for our ability to make sure criminal proceedings weren't prejudiced and such like. And you see in the terms of reference that the Prime Minister released yesterday they are dealt with, and we're very confident that someone with Virginia Bell's experience and sharp mind, we are going to be able to see that Royal Commission delivered before the end of the year and in a way that ensures none of those adverse consequences arise.
 
LIPSON: What is your message now to the broader community about getting behind this Royal Commission? Because not everyone even wanted a Royal Commission.
 
BUTLER: I feel very broad support for a Royal Commission not just from the Jewish community itself, but from business, in my area of responsibility from health organisations. So we're confident that this will have the support of the community. We're very reassured that it has the support of Jewish community leaders. We've seen that in the last 24 hours as well, and now's the time to come together.
 
LIPSON: Mark Butler, thank you.
 
BUTLER: Thanks, David.