Topics: Trump shooting.
1130 AEST
Monday, 15 July 2024
Kieran Gilbert: Let’s get some more reaction to the events in the United States over the weekend. We’re live to the Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham. Thanks as always. How concerned are you for where our most significant ally is right now? This moment in time in the United States?
Simon Birmingham: Kieran, I think we need to keep in perspective the US has been through some deeply troubling and divisive times in the past and has come out of those still as a very strong nation. Strong economically, strong in its world leadership, strong in terms of its military and security positioning around the world. And that is what we need to look for now. Of course, some of the challenges of this terrible, tragic event that happened, and all our thoughts go to those victims of the shooting and their loved ones and families, but one of the changes in this era is that it’s the first such assassination attempt in the social media age. In being so it provides a new vehicle for misinformation and disinformation and that does I think put more responsibility on all of us as political leaders, as responsible commentators to really urge people to seek their information from places of authority, to be responsible in the way in which we respond, but also in hoping to see the United States come through this difficult time as it has in the past with strength and with the capacity to still be engaged heavily in global leadership as we need it to be.
Kieran Gilbert: You spoke about that issue around misinformation. Many, many issues and layers of importance here I guess that we could explore. What are the lessons that Australia can learn in our democracy and the lessons that the US should be learning as well from how this has transpired and the broader context around the political debate right now?
Simon Birmingham: Kieran, these are big cultural challenges and they’re ones that are only going to get harder as we enter the age of artificial intelligence. And I describe them as cultural challenges because no single legal framework or government action is going to be able to ensure that what people see and read online and through social media platforms is universally accurate or reliable. And so it actually comes to ensuring that our populations, our electorates and indeed those of us who promote information are as attuned as possible to going to trusted and verified sources of information. Your profession is more important than ever in terms of credible, responsible journalism. How you curate information, how you validate that information and how you ensure that it is projected in a way that is as accurate as possible. But then that we also ensure that through all aspects of our education system and elsewhere we are teaching people the importance of getting that information from trusted, credible sources. We still want there to be competition in our media market. We of course, want there to be innovation. We want there to be different voices because that is how we have a truly functioning democracy. But we also need to make sure that ethical, trusted voices are at the forefront of debate and the way in which people form their positions.
Kieran Gilbert: This event yesterday and it was a tragedy and our thoughts of course with those wounded and killed – one individual, a firefighter from Pennsylvania, who was killed as he was guarding his family there as the shots rang out. And so, I don’t mean to diminish that tragedy, but this could have been a lot worse; millimetres away from the presumptive nominee being killed, the former president being assassinated.
Simon Birmingham: It certainly could have had much more profound consequences in terms of the US election and the direction potentially of history and how all of these events unfold. So, certainly it clearly was a tragedy with tragic consequences and the assault on democracy is itself a tragedy as well and it should be seen very much as an assault on the democratic process for a presidential nominee to be targeted for an assassination attempt. Ultimately, the US election will now unfold with this looming over it, but still with much debate to be had on their domestic issues – those matters that are ones entirely for the American electorate to decide between former President Trump, President Biden, or indeed any other nominee that may surface depending on those other debates happening in the US. But from an Australian perspective there are a couple of things that remain of paramount concern and that is that we, as a country, maintain the special relationship, the strength of the Alliance and the ability to work with whomever the US people elect as their president. And then more broadly, that we together with other democratic nations continue to work with the US and whoever they elect to ensure they remain engaged with the rest of the world; continue to play a leading leadership role with the rest of the world. The last thing we can afford to see or would wish to see is an isolationist America. We want to see an America that works alongside of those democracies who all came together at NATO last week, to stand up for the types of principles and rules that underpin the way our country operates and are so important to the way the world maintains peace and stability.
Kieran Gilbert: Just finally, as we look at those images you reflect on the various elements to this, and we do have a lot of things in common with the US; we have things that are very different and one is the gun culture or the scourge of guns in the United States. Do we have to factor that in here as well? That, that really that illness that the US has in terms of its use and the spread, the number of guns – the easy acquisition of guns in that country.
Simon Birmingham: We share much in common as countries in terms of our democratic traditions and the extreme priority we put on the protection of those democratic freedoms and values. But some of the differences we have, and one of the greatest is absolutely gun culture, and after the initial shock of the news and the footage passed yesterday morning one of the first things that came to my mind as I’m sure it was so many other Australians, was thank God we don’t have that type of gun culture. Thankfully we have the gun laws that the Howard Government put in place after Port Arthur. It is a real benefit to our nation in terms of what it means for gun violence, for domestic violence, as well as for the possibility of these types of political assassination attempts. And while we are not immune from terrorism, we’re not immune from violence, we are in a better place thanks to those sorts of laws and we should be very grateful for it.
Kieran Gilbert: We are indeed and credit again, as we always mention, to the former Prime Minister for the leadership he took and the Nationals leader at the time as well I know played a big part in that Tim Fischer. Thank you, Simon Birmingham. Thanks.
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