Welcome to the program and thank you for your time Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: I’m sorry that the program has this emphasis tonight.
BROWN: We all are. When you consider yesterday’s murderous attack, how do you think that has affected the psyche of our nation?
PRIME MINISTER: It has shocked the nation. People go about their business on a Saturday afternoon – many Australians go and do their shopping then. So many families would have been out and about yesterday. It’s a very large shopping centre, that I’m very familiar with, and the thought that people have lost their lives, and many others injured, and of course, thousands traumatised by the events of yesterday directly, comes as a great shock in a peace-loving nation like Australia.
BROWN: Yes, a lot of people are saying maybe in the United States, but not here. They can’t quite imagine that Australia is now confronting these sorts of issues as in the style of what happened yesterday. Have we lost a sense of safety?
PRIME MINISTER: I believe that tragically, amidst the carnage and the atrocity that was yesterday, we do have as well, to give thanks to some of the best of our Australian character that was shown. The inspector, Amy Scott, who ran towards danger, who risked her own life to end the carnage, and to take this perpetrator out. The other Australians, including the footage that people will have seen, of the man with the bollard standing, he could have very easily retreated. So it is a difficult time. It’s a tough time. You can’t gild the lily, about this. And Australians are grieving. My heart goes out to the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives. I’ve spoken to a couple of people who are in that situation to personally express my condolences on behalf of the nation. But it will be a difficult time. And it’s important over coming days that people be allowed to express their grief. One of the messages that we need to send out is that if people need support, they reach out. It’s not a sign of weakness. It is a necessary part of health care. And for people who were there in that centre, their lives will have changed forever, as well. And there were thousands of them at that time, which is really peak hour on a Saturday afternoon.
BROWN: I think there’s something like 75 emergency responders who rushed to the scene – we have the lone policewoman, that brave, brave woman. What do you think they thought they were attending? What were they rushing to do you believe?
PRIME MINISTER: It was unclear. At that time, quite clearly, there was reports of more than one perpetrator. There were reports as well about different forms of weapons being used, and they didn’t know. And that, of course, just signals of bravery that they were showing – the men and women who wear our uniform each and every day, whether they be members of the Australian Defence Force, or our police and emergency services. They deserve our thanks each and every day, because they put the lives of their fellow Australians before themselves. They put the safety of their fellow Australians before their own safety. And we witnessed that yesterday.
BROWN: Did you initially think it was a terrorist attack? Do you think that’s what they feared?
PRIME MINISTER: That was certainly a possibility. But I very, in my position, know that it’s important not to jump to conclusions, but to respond to things as they are. And they were responding. Without full knowledge, quite clearly, no one had it, of, there wasn’t a warning of this attack. And so, there was no preparation. They reacted, in some cases, the police officer who ended the siege, had no thought quite clearly – she entered the shopping centre by herself, not knowing what she would be confronted with.
BROWN: She certainly wouldn’t have started her day thinking it would’ve ended the way it did, I’m sure.
PRIME MINISTER: Certainly not. And I don’t think, I don’t think any Australian started their day yesterday thinking that last night, on the news, they’d be confronted with such an atrocity. Because we do regard ourselves as a nation that is enriched by our harmony. And by looking after each other. It’s part of the Australian ethos.
BROWN: What do you know of the offender?
PRIME MINISTER: We know he was a Queenslander, who had travelled to Sydney in recent times. But those details will come out in future days.
BROWN: The police have released information that says this offender was known to them, that welfare checks had been done on him. Is it right for the community to feel that they’ve been let down in some way, by how we deal with mental illness and the dangers it can potentially pose?
PRIME MINISTER: We can always do better when it comes to mental health. But I think it’s very difficult for anyone to have foreseen that this man would engage in activity like this.
BROWN: As a final word, Prime Minister, what would you like to say to the families grieving?
PRIME MINISTER: Just, my heart goes out to you as a human being. But as Prime Minister, every Australian is thinking of you at what is a very difficult time.
BROWN: Thank you for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Tara.
