TV interview with Minister Butler, Sunrise – 20 October 2026

DAVID WOIWOD, HOST: Well, for more on this developing story, let's bring in Mark Butler, Minister for Health. Good morning to you, Minister. Just having a look at the AFP's numbers here, more than a thousand credible threats against our federal MPs and our high office holders just in the past 12 months. In your opinion, are we witnessing a dangerous escalation of political violence in this country?
 
MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: That number is double what it was only five years ago, David. The Director of National Intelligence, the head of ASIO, the Prime Minister, the AFP, they've been warning for some time of the need to turn the temperature down. The huge increase in hate and intolerance that we've seen in our public commentary, it's not just here in Australia, we're seeing this around the world, but that hate could turn into violence. And I think that’s what we're all grappling with this morning and were grappling with overnight. I think we're all in a state of shock. I can only imagine the level of shock and distress that Helen's family are feeling right now and her friends and her staff. As we just heard from the state member, the community of Wangaratta, the beautiful community of Wangaratta that's seen an awful event like this take place in their town. But there have been warnings about this for some time now, the need to turn the temperature down and for us all to be a little bit more tolerant of each other.
 
WOIWOD: We've heard from the Prime Minister down this morning, calling for a real reduction in the temperature. But when we look at it, I mean, your own colleague here, Anne Aly, she received 19 death threats in just one week. She was told by one MP, a colleague there in Canberra, that she should be shamed and stoned in the street. Do our Parliamentarians need to perhaps look within? That's where we need to begin on this?
 
BUTLER: I think it's for all of us. It's for the entire Australian community. We all have views about politics and the direction of our country, whether we are MPs, or political activists, or just members of the community trying to live their lives. We all have views about what's best for our country. But what's been great about this country is our ability to debate those views with respect and tolerance. And that's just becoming rarer nowadays. And I think we need to get back to that great tradition of Australia that had an open system of government where MPs were readily available, very accessible, not shielded behind cordons of security and armed guards that you see in most other parts of the world. After we've heard hopefully some positive news about Helen and we've done everything we can to support her and her family and her community, there will be the time, I think, for us to reflect on where political debate has got to in this country. Because the level of hate, the level of intolerance, is the breeding ground for acts of violence like we've seen overnight.
 
WOIWOD: Yes, that openness is a great strength of our system and we hope we don't lose it. While we've got you, it's been almost a year since 1800MEDICARE launched. Its whole purpose is to take pressure off our hospital emergency departments Has it delivered?
 
BUTLER: It's making a difference, I'm really happy to say. In just 10 months, well over a million Australians have used this new service. It’s convenient, it's open 24/7, 365 days a year, it's completely free of charge and it has the level of quality about it you'd expect from an official Medicare service. Well over a million calls, people getting high quality advice, almost 200,000 of them say that they would otherwise have gone to the hospital emergency department in their area or called Triple Zero. Not only are people getting good care and advice where they need it, at their home, often for their child who's sick overnight, they're also taking pressure off our public hospital systems which are very, very busy at the moment.
 
WOIWOD: Yes, and that is a good thing. Minister, we thank you for your time and your insights this morning