Topics: Israeli President Herzog’s visit to Australia, Sydney protests, Liberal leadership

CHRIS SMITH: Liberal Senator Dave Sharma has joined us on the line right now. Dave, welcome to the program.

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DAVE SHARMA: Good morning, Chris. Good to join you.

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CHRIS SMITH: Yeah. The Palestinian Action Group went to the Supreme Court demanding their right to hold a peaceful protest yesterday, but that was never their intent. What do you take out of the scenes that you saw in Sydney and Melbourne last night?

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DAVE SHARMA: Look, I think it made me incredibly disappointed. I mean, you know, here we are, we have a foreign leader coming here, uh, not with any message of ill will or malice towards any part of the Australian community, solely to, you know, offer condolences and provide comfort after the worst terrorist attack in Australian history, which was directed at the Jewish community. And yet we have these protestors out there, uh, chanting slogans and carrying on like Bondi never happened. I mean, have they, have they learnt nothing about, uh, the 14th of December terrorist attack and the conditions and environment that preceded it?

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CHRIS SMITH: Yeah. It was almost as if they gave the bird to what occurred on Bondi Beach, when on the other side of Darling Harbour, Isaac Herzog was joining others in an event to grieve those that we lost that day. Like, the opposite polarization of both events could not be more stark.

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DAVE SHARMA: No. It couldn't be, and it's, it's a terribly jarring contrast. I mean, you know, where were all those people after December 14th? Where were their protests against the terrorist attack? Where were their demands that the, um, you know, the government stand down on antisemitism? Where have they been even whilst Iranian regime forces have killed about 20,000 protestors or thereabouts in the last few weeks? They've been nowhere. But a president of a foreign country with whom we have good relations turns up, and this their reaction? I mean, they, they, they are single-minded in their determination to make life unpleasant and hostile for Australia's Jewish community.

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CHRIS SMITH: As for the way police reacted yesterday, a couple of specific images are doing the rounds and getting elevation on social media. A protestor being punched in the stomach, and men praying on the street dragged away as well. Police couldn't win in those scenarios, could they?

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DAVE SHARMA: I think they had a very difficult job, and it was clear that the protestors were out seeking to do things that were not authorised by the law, whether it was to march from town hall, and elsewhere, and I take what the Assistant Police Commissioner and the New South Wales Premier say at face value, that police were left with a very difficult and challenging situation. They didn't want the protestors to descend on the ICC where, you know, several thousand Jews were gathered and the Israeli president was gathered, and they had a tough job to do in the circumstances. Now, I haven't seen all the images and I can't comment on the individual circumstances, but I've seen nothing to suggest that the police were doing anything else than trying to fulfill their role in very difficult circumstances.

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CHRIS SMITH: Interesting to see what's happening in Queensland in this regard. The government there is going to outlaw those provocative slogans you've mentioned, "Globalize the intifada," "From the river to the sea," but here in Sydney, maybe one of those phrases will be considered a no-no. What do we do with this? This is, it's a fine line, is it not?

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DAVE SHARMA: It is a fine line, and I don't wish to kind of criminalise behaviour lightly. And my deepest wish is that, you know, my fellow Australians who are engaging in this sort of conduct have a think about the repercussions of it, you know, and, and self-censor, if you like, or control what they say rather than needing the laws to enforce it. But I think, we do need to look at measures, and I'm glad the New South Wales Government did this last night to constrain or limit protests so they're not going to impact upon the lives of others or threaten the lives of others. And, uh, I'd rather not look at language, but if we need to look at that, uh, you know, I think we should study that issue closely.

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CHRIS SMITH: Yeah. Meanwhile, you're getting on with business in Parliament House today, participating in a Senate estimates hearing, I understand. But leadership speculation won't go away. Will your leader, Sussan Ley, last the week?

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DAVE SHARMA: Look, I don't have a crystal ball, but, I don't, I haven't... I'm not aware of any leadership challenge. I'm not going to pretend for your listeners that there isn't leadership speculation. Uh, yes, there is, but I'm not aware of any challenge. And I think... Um, look, my view and my focus is just to try and get on with the job we were all sent here to do, which is to represent our communities and to hold the government to account. And to be honest, if more of my colleagues were focused on that, and less focused on, who's occupying which chair in what has become a rabble of an opposition, I think we'd be in a better situation.

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CHRIS SMITH: Can you just clear something up for me? I saw a Newspoll today, what would happen if preferences were divided if an election were held today between the various conservative parties. Uh, we know that One Nation is on a trajectory up in terms of popularity and support, but they don't have Lower House seats. Um, they may not sit in every single seat around the nation. People need to understand that only 50%, according to the Newspoll that I saw today, only 50% would actually preference One Nation. They're a long, long way away from becoming a government, aren't they?

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DAVE SHARMA: I think that's right. Look we got to remember this is a poll taken at a point in time, not before an election, and it's this point in time when people tend to register frustration with the major parties by saying, "I won't going to vote so-and-so at the next election." It's quite different when you're actually in the booth. But the other point I'd say is that the One Nation vote, historically at least, has been geographically and demographically quite concentrated, which means, it might be stronger in, you know, regional and rural areas, in Queensland for instance, but it might be very small in other areas, which means their ability to win a large number of seats is, is not going to be high. But what it will do, if they've got a decent-sized primary vote, is it'll take primary votes away from the Liberal and almost certainly deliver it to the Labor or the Greens or the Teal candidate, and that's what people need to keep in mind.

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CHRIS SMITH: And that's exactly what Newspoll indicated today. I'll let you go, get back to business. Thank you so much for your time, Dave.

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