THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TV INTERVIEW
TODAY SHOW 
TUESDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 2025

TOPICS: PAULINE HANSON; BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY; 1800RESPECT FUNDING BOOST.

SARAH ABO: One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson has been suspended from the Senate after wearing a black burqa into the chamber for the second time.

KARL STEFANOVIC: To discuss, we're joined by Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek in Canberra. Minister, good morning to you. The last week of Parliament. It's always interesting. Huh. Well, Pauline Hanson wanted some reactions and she got them.

MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES, TANYA PLIBERSEK: Well, I mean, I don't remember the last time someone in a burqa robbed a bank. Two weeks ago, there was a queue of neo-Nazis standing outside New South Wales Parliament House and I didn't hear her joining with ASIO to admit that the fastest growing source of danger in the Australian community is right-wing extremism. The only thing that she's ensured today is that some schoolgirl wearing a headscarf is going to get bullied on the train on the way to school.

STEFANOVIC: Are you saying she's a right-wing extremist?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: No, I'm saying that it's continued disappointing behaviour and I don't really know what she's trying to say, like, literally, can you remember the last time someone in a burqa robbed a bank?

ABO: Yeah, it seems like just another stunt, as you said, you know, it happened eight years ago and she's just sort of back to the pool. But let's move on. The BoM is in hot water after it was revealed their new website cost taxpayers more than $96.5 million, despite supposed to cost $4.1 million. I mean, talk about wasteful spending.

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, I think this story's kind of a bit more complicated than the way people have been reporting it. This is a set of contracts that were signed under the Turnbull government. It's a big multi-year strengthening of the BoM's computer system. They were told that there was a really big risk of hacking. If someone hacks the Bureau of Meteorology, planes can't fly, certainly farmers can't do their work. If it happens when there's a storm approaching, you can imagine how dangerous that is. And so, under the Turnbull government and the subsequent Liberal governments, a commitment was made to strengthen the security of their system and to make sure that the data coming in from thousands of instruments across the country is able to go into a big new secure computer system to provide reliable weather information for the businesses, the industries, the people who need it. I think it is up to the Bureau of Meteorology to answer for its spending. It's an independent statutory agency, it should be answering for its spending. I don't think the new website's been very popular, so they've got some questions around that. But it was a very big computer upgrade that was begun under the previous Liberal government.

ABO: It does seem exorbitant, but let's move on to your portfolio now. You've announced an almost 40% funding boost for 1800RESPECT. It's so sorely needed. How confident are you that this will ease the pressure on the service when we're talking about some 60 deaths so far in the DV space in Australia?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, well, of course, I'm never going to say that we're doing enough on family, domestic and sexual violence until we see no more family, domestic or sexual violence. But this is a really important contribution and it's important to acknowledge it because we've got thousands of frontline workers out there working really hard every day to help women and children who are escaping violence. 1800RESPECT was set up in 2010 when we were last in government. In that year, it received 11,000 calls. Last financial year, they took 342,000 calls or texts or video chats. And that means 342,000 people were able to get help when they needed it. They're answering calls that well over 90% of calls are picked up within 20 seconds. That's a really terrific achievement, but what we're seeing is that year on year that demand is growing. And so we want to make sure that we're keeping up with demand. We want to make sure that this terrific service is there to do what it's set up to do, which is support people at some of the most difficult times of their lives.

ABO: Desperately needed. And it's a great move. Thank you, Tanya Plibersek, for your work on that as well.

STEFANOVIC: Thanks Tanya.

ENDS