Tony Abbott: The challenge to Western values has never been more severe

A series of global shocks is testing the character and resilience of the West.

In recent weeks, debate has intensified over whether the rules-based international order is fraying. Tariff threats, talk of annexing sovereign territory, and reports of a new “strategic partnership” between Canada and China have all fuelled concern. At the same time, Western elites and the media class seem to be losing their moral compass – with much of the political and media establishment slow to call out the dangers of Islamic extremism despite an uprising being repressed by the Islamic regime in Iran, and a horrific attack at Bondi Beach in Australia.

Canada has so far avoided a Bondi Beach-style attack inspired by Islamic extremism. But on February 10, 2026, five days after the recording of this episode, one of the largest mass shootings in Canadian history took place at Tumbler Ridge, BC, underscoring the broader security challenges facing Western nations.

To unpack these interconnected challenges, former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott joins Inside Policy Talks. Abbott, who served as Australia’s 28th prime minister from 2013 to 2015, has not shied away from speaking with moral clarity on these issues – particularly in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach attack, which saw two ISIS-inspired gunmen open fire on a large Hanukkah celebration, killing 15 and injuring more than 40 attendees.

On the episode, he shares his views with former Canadian Member of Parliament Kevin Vuong – who is no stranger to the increasingly brazen actions of the West's adversaries. In Vuong’s case, he was targeted by the Chinese Communist regime.

Abbott tells Vuong that “the problem with the doctrine of multiculturalism” is that it “encourage(s) migrants to stay separate from the country that they've entered.”

“It’s my fundamental position that we do no one any favours – we don’t do the existing population, we don’t do the new migrants any favors – if we try to dilute the Anglo-Celtic core culture and water down the fundamentally Judeo-Christian ethos which have made our countries … so attractive,” says Abbott.