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December 17, 2025
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON
SHADOW MINISTER FOR FINANCE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICES
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE
SENATOR FOR VICTORIA
TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW
2GB MORNINGS
Wednesday, 17 December 2025
Topics: Bondi terrorist attack, MYEFO
E&OE…………………………………………………………………………………………
MARK LEVY: I want to have a chat to the Shadow Finance Minister, Senator James Paterson, who joins me. On the line from, I think, Sydney. James, nice to talk to you. I know you've been at Bondi today. You've felt the pain of Sydney's Jewish community, in fact, the whole Sydney community. You've seen it there firsthand. And I can't help but note the floral tribute there at the Bondi Pavilion, it's huge. I remember it started with three or four bunches. It's extraordinary, the outpouring of love and support for Jewish Australians. In all his horror, that's a wonderful thing to observe.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: It certainly is, mate. Can I encourage your listeners, if they're able to, and they're in Sydney, to get down there and see it for themselves. I think it's a really important moment in our country's history, and seeing it on the news is one thing, but seeing it for yourself is a different thing. And just seeing the lines of police tape, the e-bikes strewn on the footpaths that haven't been moved for three days, the cars that have been parked there for three days, it is a horrific and troubling scene. But members of the Jewish community in particular, but also just Bondi locals generally, really appreciate it when other Australians come down and show their support, and show their love, and show affection. And at a time like this, I think if you can do it, I encourage you to.
MARK LEVY: Mate, it really feels, I mean, it feels like a Sydney thing. I know it's not, it's an Australian thing. And you travel around, and you're based in Victoria. Is there a similar feeling? The country has changed so much, so quickly. Does it feel like that elsewhere?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: I spent the last couple of days in Melbourne visiting vigils and community events for Hanukkah and for this event, and visiting synagogues in particular. And Rabbis and Jewish community leaders just tell me how touched they are, how many non-Jewish Australians have reached out to them to express their love and support. People who come to deliver flowers at the synagogue or at a Jewish bakery, you know, in the Jewish community. They're really touched by that, and they feel very affected by it, too. But there is something very uniquely Sydney about this. I mean, Bondi is such an iconic international image of Australia, and it's been desecrated. It's been desecrated frankly, like the Opera House was desecrated on October 9th. Frankly, like the Sydney Harbour Bridge was desecrated when people carried ISIS flags, and al-Qaeda flags, and photos of the Ayatollah Khamenei across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I mean, these are such iconic images of Australia, and it's devastating for Australians to see that, but it's also disastrous for our international image and reputation.
MARK LEVY: Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I want to get to the budget, but I also want to ask you about a review into antisemitism, which has been announced by Sussan Ley, having a gathering, including, as I understand it, the antisemitism envoy. What can the opposition do by having this? What do you hope to achieve?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: The overwhelming sentiment that we've heard from Jewish Australians and other Australians in the last couple of days is that they want action. They're sick of the platitudes, they're sick of the rhetoric, they are sick of the talking points, they want action. Now obviously, as the Opposition, we don't govern Australia, and there are only limited things that we can do. But one thing we can do is get organised, and that's why Sussan has established this taskforce. We'll be meeting with Jewish community leaders and the antisemitism envoy today to talk about what we can do to progress her report and her recommendations, because it's been sitting on the Prime Minister's desk for five months. He's never formally responded to the report, and very few of the concrete ideas in the report have been taken up yet by the Prime Minister. And so the best thing an Opposition can do in these circumstances is to help ensure the government actually acts on this and not let them get away any longer with kicking the can down the road.
MARK LEVY: Now MYEFO today, there's been the, well, I think probably the unusual leaking of information, and I don't want to look away from this because this will be part of the, because the government's all about politics, this will be used for politics amongst other things. From what you've seen leaked and what you know, is there good news here for Australians?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: I've got to say I feel deeply uncomfortable talking about MYEFO on a day like today, and I'm not critical of the government, the government has to govern and things like this need to happen, but it feels very weird three days after the worst terrorist atrocity in our history to be talking about the budget.
MARK LEVY: Yeah, I agree.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: To your question, I think Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher have been mugged by reality. I think they've finally realised the warnings that they've been given by economists and business leaders, and the opposition that their reckless spending is driving up inflation, and they are now deeply worried that there will be interest rate increases next year. The Commonwealth Bank and the National Australia Bank predict as early as February the Reserve Bank could increase interest rates. And they don't want to be blamed for that. And so they're desperately trying to reverse some of the reckless spending decisions they've made over the last few years, and they're going to try and cut spending now. Let's wait and see what the details of that is, but my gut instinct is this is going to be too little, too late. I think the inflation genie is now out of the bottle. It's well above the target range. And I fear that rates are going to have to come up again, and that's going to hurt a lot of Australians.
MARK LEVY: Well, mate, people with a mortgage, so that's a third of us, who've had the high interest rates passed on to us, and there've been a couple of cuts. And, you know, that's very, very helpful because mortgage repayments went through the roof. We thought that things might come down a bit more, but the thought that they now will go up and that the government could do something about it, I mean, this is where the rubber hits the road, mate, isn't it? Because MYEFO will talk about things in the billions. Many of us talk about things in the dollars and the cents, and we just wonder where the help will be. They've taken away the electricity subsidies, which they had to do because they completely stuffed that up. Where is the hope for the average Australian wage earner trying to raise a family, for goodness' sake?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, an Australian with a mortgage has faced 12 interest rate increases on Labor's watch since they were elected. Interest rates have only been cut three times, and some banks are now predicting at least one, maybe even two, interest rate rises next year. Now, what that means is if you've got an average mortgage of about $600,000, you are already $20,000 a year worse off under Labor, taking into account those 12 rises and the three cuts. If there are further rate rises next year, then that's thousands of dollars out of family budgets around Australia at a time when they just can't afford it, because it's not the only thing that's going up. It's their electricity bill, as you say, electricity subsidies are going to come off. It is their insurance, it's their rent, it is their groceries, it's everything. And I think Australians are already hurting enough that rate rises will be a body blow for many.
MARK LEVY: The other thing which, and I'll leave it here, they're talking about the former government's spending, which included stimulus of more than $300 billion to help during COVID. JobKeeper wage subsidy that the then opposition, now government, said you should have gone harder on and longer on, and they wanted to give everyone 300 bucks for getting a jab in the arm, and they've got a temerity to compare their spending to the COVID spending, that’s laughable.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: It is laughable, and they were highly critical of the former government for not being more generous, and now they're more critical of the government in retrospect for spending too much. But the Morrison government did what it had to do to get Australia through a terrible time. We are past the COVID period now, and yet spending is still at 40-year highs under this government, and a number of economists and business leaders have called out the government, saying this is driving up inflation and this will ultimately drive up interest rates. And they have had their head in the sand about this, they've ignored those warnings, their last budget was particularly reckless, and they're desperately trying to reverse themselves now, but I fear it's too late.
MARK LEVY: Yeah, you're right. It is weird talking about this stuff now, but it's happening today. I guess we'll hear all the details in 45 minutes. And James, thank you, mate, for encouraging us to go to the Bondi Pavilion. I think that's really important, showing support, that's a great idea, a great suggestion. I thank you for making it. I wish you well. If I don't talk to you, if you can have one, have a Merry Christmas.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: To you and your listeners, too. Thank you, mate.
ENDS