‘We weren’t going to be lectured by some of those sanctimonious Scandinavian countries’

They made a terrible mess of immigration. They pretended beforehand that they would be like us, but they weren’t. They thought they could have their cake and eat it. They thought they could bow before international criticism of our policy yet not really change our policy. Well, he couldn’t do that. You had to be willing to stick to your guns, and we did. They didn’t, and the fact that they eventually capitulated indicated that we’ve been right from the beginning.

You just referred to it as a “coincidence of time” — a few weeks later you were in Washington, D.C., on the morning of 9/11.

I was. I was there originally to give an address to a joint sitting in Congress — only, I think, the third or fourth Australian prime minister ever to have done that. I was doing it to mark the 50th anniversary. It was going to be on the Wednesday. The terrorist attack took place on the Tuesday morning.

What do you remember from that day?

I remember it very clearly. I went for a walk, as was always my custom. When I got back, I was briefed by my press secretary, Tony O’Leary, about an upcoming news conference. That was largely to talk about the pending collapse — if I can put it that way — of Ansett Airways. At the end of that briefing, Tony said to me: “Oh, by the way, there’s been an unfortunate accident. A plane has plowed into one of the Twin Towers.” I said: “Oh, gee, that’s unfortunate.” We thought no more about it. Then 10 minutes later, he banged on my door and said: “You better turn your television set. Another plane has hit the other tower. It’s no accident.” The rest is history.

Were you within viewing distance of the Pentagon?

We were having a news conference a little later, and during that the third plane hit the Pentagon. It was just terrible — the place was in shock. They were remarkably calm, the Americans, and they reacted in a very sensible, deliberate fashion. We were evacuated from the hotel. The American security man in charge of my protection said he hadn’t lost anybody yet, and he didn’t intend to start that day. I and my immediate staff were taken to what could only be called a bunker under the Australian Embassy. Earlier that morning, my wife and one of my two sons came over ostensibly to be there when I spoke to the joint sitting of Congress. But of course, that didn’t come about. He and my wife had set out for the Pentagon, but they ended up in the bunker with us.

With the passing of time, it’s easy to think of history as being inevitable. Did you realize on that morning how far-reaching the consequences of 9/11 would be?