SALLY SARA, HOST: The Prime Minister has apologised to Jewish Australians for failing to protect them as the nation marked a National Day of Mourning in the wake of the Bondi terror attack. 

[Excerpt] 

ANTHONY ALBANESE: You came to celebrate a festival of light and freedom, and you were met with the violence of hatred. I am deeply and profoundly sorry that we could not protect your loved ones from this evil. We gather here tonight drawn together in an Australian icon to mourn the devastation inflicted at another. Tonight we stand in solidarity with Jewish Australians, and we affirm – and we reaffirm the shared values of unity, compassion and resilience that define our great nation of Australia. 

[End excerpt] 

SARA: That’s the Prime Minister speaking at the memorial service at the Sydney Opera House last night. 

The day yesterday began with a political rupture as the Nationals walked away from the Coalition with the Liberals in a significant blow to the Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. In a moment I’ll be speaking with Liberal shadow frontbencher Anne Ruston, and you’ll also be hearing from Anne Webster, Nationals MP, after 8. 

But to the government first, and Tim Ayres, who’s the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister, welcome back to Radio National Breakfast. 

SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: Thanks for having me back on. 

HOST: As you were hearing there, the Prime Minister says he was deeply and profoundly sorry that he couldn’t protect the victims of the Bondi attack. Why did the Prime Minister wait until last night to deliver those words? 

AYRES: Well, I think you heard in his speech, in the tenor of his voice, his commitment to the seriousness of the role of leading Australia, of the responsibility to bring Australians together after an event like this, to show love and solidarity to the Jewish Australian community, and of course his sorrow that as a government that this terrible atrocity happened. 

We’ve been as a government engaged fully ever since the very first minutes after this event happened. The Prime Minister and particularly the ministers responsible for security and social cohesion making sure that our response is full and effective and that we’re as a government examining any shortfalls here. We’re not defensive about these questions; we are absolutely aware of our responsibility to act in the national interest and to bring Australians together. That’s been our single focus as a government. 

HOST: Why do you think the government failed to protect those victims when there were so many warnings in the lead-up that there may be some kind of catastrophic event? 

AYRES: Let’s let the inquiry, the Royal Commission and the work that Dennis Richardson will do on behalf of the government and the Royal Commission to get – to make sure that there’s, you know, a proper understanding of anything additional that the Australian Government should do, what changes should be made. Clearly, clearly, all of us – government, social institutions, Australians themselves – have to do more to deal with the scourge of antisemitism, whether it’s in our education institutions led by David Gonski, whether it’s the security reports. This is a full-court press from the government here. We will leave no stone unturned and we will not be approaching this in a political way. We’re approaching this in a way that is about the Australian national interest and making sure that we’re supporting the Australian Jewish community and all Australians, bringing Australians together in the national interest. 

HOST: Yesterday was declared a National Day of Mourning following the Bondi terror attack. Was yesterday an appropriate day for the National Party to express grievances and split from the Coalition? 

AYRES: I’ve never seen anything so dispiriting, so self-absorbed from a group of political parties. The Coalition hasn’t learnt the lesson of the Morrison years. You know, if you put the party interests before the national interests, you inevitably end up focused on yourselves and your own interests. The Liberals and Nationals demanded that the parliament come back. When the parliament came back, the legislation that they claimed that they were there to vote for, they couldn’t bring themselves to vote for the full package. And then they managed to make not just yesterday but this whole week about themselves when it should have been about a national response to this atrocity at Bondi. 

HOST: Do you have respect for Sussan Ley’s decision not to be making public comment about internal issues yesterday? 

AYRES: She made that decision. I note, though, that there were, I’m told, 24 interviews that the Liberals and Nationals did yesterday, all about themselves. I mean, I've never – I've been around for a while; I’ve never seen anything like this. And it’s just, I suppose, an outcome of the kind of toxic dysfunction, focus on party interests before national interests that’s characterised the post-Morrison Liberals and Nationals. 

HOST: To your industry portfolio now, Minister, and the government is asking the Productivity Commission to investigate allegations of dumping in the steel industry. What information do you have about how China is using the Australian market at the moment? 

AYRES: Well, I’m here at Capral Aluminium actually, Sally, launching the Australian Made campaign, Made Right Here, $20 million campaign backed by the Albanese Government as part of our response to the trade disruptions that occurred last year. And part of having an effective trade remedies regime is that you have these kind of independent processes to examine the evidence and to make sure that Australian industry isn’t subject to unfair competition or subsidies from overseas that are outside the trade rules. 

Now, that work, it’s been referred to the Productivity Commission. That work will go on over coming weeks, and when there’s more to say about it – I won’t be making assertions about the evidence here – we’ll let the Productivity Commission do its work. As you well know, we’ve announced further reforms to Australia’s trade remedies regime. That will bring all of this work together under the Anti-Dumping Commission to make it modern and fit for purpose and adequate to deal with what’s a pretty volatile global trading environment. 

HOST: Minister, does the government risk appearing to be hypocritical given its strong opposition to US tariffs and concerns over the trade war with China by taking action here? 

AYRES: No. And it’s important to draw a distinction between tariffs and trade protectionism on one hand and everything that we’ve said about tariffs, whether they’re imposed by the US administration or other governments around the world imposing protectionist measures, absolutely stand by that. Tariff regimes are not in the interests of Australia as a middle-sized economy that trades with the world. 

These are trade remedies functions that respond to specific allegations or assertions about subsidy behaviour in other economies that breach the trade rules. These are specifically about ensuring that the trade rules operate in the interests of Australia and Australian industry, and it’s an important process and that’s why I’m being a little bit careful, Sally, about commenting on the specifics of each of these issues because we have the Anti Dumping Commission and the Productivity Commission that are established to do this kind of work in a methodical and evidence-based kind of way. 

HOST: Tim Ayres, thank you very much for joining me. 

AYRES: Thanks, Sally.