Assistant Minister Kearney interview on Newstalk ZB

E&OE TRANSCRIPT GED KEARNEY, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES AND THE PREVENTION OF FAMILY VIOLENCE : Hello, Heather. HEATHER DU PLESSIS ALLAN, HOST : Thank you for being with us. Any updates on how Helen is going?

GED KEARNEY : Well, sadly, we know that Helen is still critical. She has lost one of her legs and the doctors are fighting right now to save her other leg. We, you know, it's so sad that it's such a shock for us all.

We all dearly respect and love Helen. She's a dear friend of mine, a fellow nurse and midwife and we have worked together on many projects in the health system in particular. And, oh, we're just all so shocked by this and reeling.

We're really hoping for her to have a speedy and full recovery and really worried for her family and her friends and her community and her staff who were, of course, there at the time that this happened. It's such a tragic shock for us all and we're really - all our thoughts are with Helen right now. HEATHER DU PLESSIS ALLAN : One of the sentiments I'm seeing expressed out of Australia is surprise that it was her who was hurt because she is considered to be very gentle and popular.

Would you agree with that? GED KEARNEY : Well, absolutely. Helen is one of the most highly respected members of our Parliament.

She is - well, because, mainly because, and the Prime Minister has said this, she's always respectful. You can always count on Helen to be, you know, intelligent in her approach. She's a very decent person.

She's hard working. She's actually very well loved by all parties and all people right across Parliament. And so, yes, it is a shock to us.

And you know, Wangaratta, her community of Indi, is such a close community, really, and she is so well loved in that community, I can't tell you. Like everywhere you go, every single person you meet speaks so highly of her. So, this is, we are really very shocked by this.

But it just goes to show, you know, that this can happen to anyone. HEATHER DU PLESSIS ALLAN : Is there any idea then why he went for her? GED KEARNEY : Well, the Prime Minister has been in many briefings with ASIO, with the Australian Federal Police.

Now, I believe that he's in Victoria, the state where Helen's electorate is, and he's meeting with the police there. It's still unclear about the motivation and so we really can't speculate on that. But, you know, it is just a shocking reminder, really, that the political debate in this country really needs to be, as the Prime Minister says, you know, the temperature needs to be turned down and we need to revert to the way Helen works.

And that is, with respect, in a very mindful way. And sure, we can all have disagreements, we can even not like some people, but that doesn't mean that you can drive hate and division. HEATHER DU PLESSIS ALLAN : Ok.

I mean, obviously, around the world, in a lot of liberal democracies, we are seeing the political rhetoric has gone up a few notches. Is there any particular reason in Australia why it has? GED KEARNEY : Well, as I said, the government has talked for years about the importance of lowering the temperature on the debate.

And even, even the head of ASIO, Mark Burgess here, has said that there is a direct link between, you know, the language that we use and, you know, the intensity of our debate used in the public, and violence that is used. And we also know that there is a direct link now between online rhetoric and online rage that is now spilling over into real life. So, there's a lot of influences right now on the political debate that are heading it, in my opinion, in the wrong direction.

So, yes, I think there has been a definite uptick in the last couple of years. I was elected in 2018, and I can honestly say that there's been nothing like I've experienced in the last two years. Like it's just really been intensified.

My staff have been attacked, you know, my office has been attacked, I've had windows smashed at events. We've had to change the way that we go about things generally when we're making public appearances. And, you know, yes, I think there has definitely been a change in the last couple of years.

HEATHER DU PLESSIS ALLAN : All right. Hey, Ged, best of luck. Thanks very much for talking to us.

Ged Kearney, Labor MP.