Chris Bowen on Sydney knife attack, interfaith conflict, religious freedom debate
* This ABC interview with Chris Bowen, Federal Minister for Climate Change has been reproduced and shared on the Sydney Times Digital Platform and our Social media channels “in the public interest” as adjudged by the Editor of the Sydney Times , Axel Ritenis
17 april, 2024
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
ABC AFTERNOON BRIEFING
TUESDAY 16 APRIL 2024
Subjects: Sydney knife attack, interfaith conflict, religious freedom debate.
GREGG JENETT: Chris Bowen, thanks for coming back on the programme. In what are pretty difficult circumstances there where you are, you’ve held a meeting with the Premier and others represented by faith leaders. Are they expressing to you anger at any lack of police or security protection that may have contributed to them being exposed in the place of worship last night?
CHRIS BOWEN: Well, thanks, Greg. This morning, or just early this afternoon, I met with the Premier, the Police Commissioner and the Police Minister, the State Attorney-General, the Mayor, Frank Carbone, the state member, David Saliba and others. And then separately, of course, I’ve been speaking to religious leaders across our community, and the short answer to your question is no. In fact, I’ve been very impressed with the response of the faith leaders in our community who have been expressing the call for calm, expressing that all religions must come together at this time. They are not interested at this point in a blame game. Obviously, there is a very serious terrorist investigation underway, but the faith leaders that I have spoken to, and there’s been many today, our local leaders have been expressing support for the police, confidence in the police and a willingness to work with the police in coming days and weeks.
GREGG JENETT: Alright, thanks for that account. Is an almost constant police presence at mosques, synagogues or even at the very church of Christ The Good Shepherd now going to be a daily necessity?
CHRIS BOWEN: I think there’s a balance to be struck here, to be honest, Greg. Again, the faith leaders I’ve spoken to today want to send a message to their parishioners of, in some senses, business as usual religions working well together, no case for any panic. But of course, the police with a view to events over the last 24 hours have and will increase patrols around places of worship, particularly on key days, Sunday, etc, just to ensure that they’re in touch with what’s going on in communities. So, again, the faith leaders that I’ve spoken to have said that they want to have a normal mass, a normal event this weekend. They want to have people feeling safe coming to that event. They don’t want an overarching, overwhelming police presence. But of course, the police very actively and responsively are liaising with those leaders and ensuring that they’re aware of the times of different services and events and that they’re keeping an eye on the situation.
GREGG JENETT: Would you intend just briefly on that point, Chris Bowen, to attend in solidarity yourself?
CHRIS BOWEN: I’ve raised that with some of our local church leaders and we’re going to keep that under monitoring. Again, they want to ensure that Sunday is as a normal day as possible, but they’ve made it clear to me that I’m always welcome at their services, as you would hope and expect, and I’ll keep talking to them about what the appropriate response on Sunday is. Make a call closer to the time.
GREGG JENETT: Sure, I hear you striking an optimistic tone for social cohesion, I should say, but I just wonder whether the ingredients are there for tensions to bristle for some time. Police Commissioner Karen Webb has said anyone involved in last night’s riotous behaviour, I think, was the description of the Premier, can expect a knock on the door and that arrests will follow. There’s going to be heightened tension around these investigations for some time, isn’t there?
CHRIS BOWEN: Sure. Inevitably, Greg, and, you know, I’m not sure, I’m hoping to point a particularly pessimistic or optimistic tone, but a realistic tone and reflecting what faith leaders and community leaders are saying to me. But yes, last night we saw lawlessness. There’s no two ways about that. We saw a terrible attack on a clergyman, which is to be condemned, but we saw a response from some, from some, I emphasise, which was utterly inappropriate. Damage to police vehicles, police officers sent to hospital. That is in no way acceptable to anyone in the community. Observers, community members, faith leaders, local members of parliament, other community leaders, the mayor, none of us. And, of course, we would fully support the police dealing with that riotous behaviour, as the Premier said, fully. They will deal with it, I’m sure, sensitively, but fully, with the full force of the law, as is appropriate. We’ve been briefed. I’m not going to go down to the details, but being briefed on the status of the investigations into that behaviour at the church and the work by the commissioner and her officers to get to the bottom of exactly who perpetrated it and to ensure that they are dealt with appropriately under the law.
GREGG JENETT: And have you received from any of the people you’ve spoken to today credible explanations about how that so erupted and violently erupted as it did? What degree of coordination had there been, for instance, on social media to put the word out? Do you have an understanding of those circumstances?
CHRIS BOWEN: Yes, and it’s not rocket science, Greg. I mean, we live in a world of social media where both true accounts of what went on, and we’ve all seen the footage of what went on made social media, and then disinformation made the social media as well. And, of course, the federal and state governments will work as closely together as we can about that disinformation about, you know, encouragement to people to get to certain places of worship to ensure they’re defended, et cetera, which is just disinformation and not on. But again, that’s part of the mix of the things that the law enforcement agencies and governments are dealing with, together with community leaders. And I think that underlines the point that I opened with, that the faith leaders I’ve spoken to want to ensure their message goes out, that we are at peace with our fellow religions and there is no need for any other approach to be taken. And I really want to commend the actions taken by the local bishops in my community and others to send that message to their parishioners.
GREGG JENETT: As a local MP for quite some period of standing now, Chris, I take it you probably know Bishop Emmanuel. Correct me if I’m wrong. If so, how does he strike you? Is he a firebrand preacher? Is that an accurate description?
CHRIS BOWEN: Yeah, I do know him. I do know him quite well and I know the history of his church. I’m not going to get into a commentary, particularly Greg, on him or his form of sermon, other than to say, yes, he does elicit strong views across the community, but that’s no- that’s no excuse for what happened last night. Nobody should be subjected to what happened, what he was subjected to last night. His injuries are very serious, he remains in hospital and, of course, that action is to be condemned. And again, I’ve been briefed on the status of the investigation into that. I’m not going to go through. I’ll leave the police commissioner to give the fuller updates. But it’s a very, very serious investigation of a very, very serious crime.
GREGG JENETT: I wonder about a buildup of pressures here. Even before last night’s attack. Were there localised indicators to you, Chris, of a heightened risk of conflict between Judeo-Christian believers on one side and people of a Muslim faith on the other, emanating from or connected to, in some way, the war between Israel and Hamas?
CHRIS BOWEN: No, no, I wouldn’t draw any link between those issues. That is not the case at all. I’ve seen no evidence of that. Of course, people have strong views about the situation in the Middle East. Of course that’s the case. But I have not seen that reflected in any sense in any threats or violent activity, and I’ve seen no reports of any link between that and the events here last night. I have been briefed on what may have led to last night, but that’s for the investigation to further examine and to investigate, and I’ll leave the Police Commissioner to do that. But I would not be drawing any explicit links with the situation in the Middle east. No, I will say this Greg, in the aftermath of the terrible incident at Bondi Junction, I saw, I think you saw, we all saw, plenty of disinformation on social media about who was responsible, and that is to be regretted and condemned as well. So, I do think that’s important to bear in mind, and I would bear that in mind in all circumstances in relation to last night’s events, that disinformation can lead to tensions, and everybody should bear that in mind and not comment on things they don’t know about. They shouldn’t be saying someone’s responsible for an event when they don’t know. I saw a lot of that on X and other social media on Saturday, and that is to be very much condemned.
GREGG JENETT: Yes, a salutary reminder, and we are having other discussions on that this afternoon, including with your colleague Michelle Rowland, the Communications Minister. Final one. Chris, if we could. Religious freedom, it’s not directly related as a concept to anything that’s gone on around your part of Sydney, but in light of the heightened sensitivities right now, does now seem like the right time to engage in a discussion or a debate on legislation in that area?
CHRIS BOWEN: Well, I think it underlines the importance of the Prime Minister’s approach, to be frank, whp said he wants to see a consensus emerge around this across the parliament, and if a consensus can’t emerge, then he won’t be proceeding. I think that’s exactly the right approach by the Prime Minister. This is not the time for a fierce partisan debate about religious freedom. It is the time for the leaders of Parliament to come together to see if we can’t agree. The Prime Minister’s indicated a willingness to do that. I think the call he’s made to do that has been 100 per cent correct and, if anything, vindicated.
GREGG JENETT: Well, Chris Bowen, we really appreciate some local perspective. There you are, Minister, we might say for another day, questions on your portfolio, but appreciate everything you’ve been able to offer as the member for McMahon today in difficult circumstances. Thanks again.
CHRIS BOWEN: Certainly. My pleasure, Greg. Thank you.
