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April 29, 2025
JACQUI FELGATE:
Let's go to Senator James Paterson, Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Coalition Campaign Spokesman, good afternoon.
JAMES PATERSON:
Great to be with you. Thank you for having me.
JACQUI FELGATE:
How do you think the residents or electors of Kooyong have behaved this election?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, I've got no criticism of the residents and electors of Kooyong. But the candidates I have more to say about, I mean, Monique Ryan, I think really misled the people of Kooyong at the last election when she kind of implied she was a nicer, softer version of the Liberal party. It turns out she's voted most of the time with the extreme Greens party, 77% of votes in the House of Representatives, she was sitting next to Adam Bandt.
JACQUI FELGATE:
But don't you think some of the behaviour there with the type of people pulling down sides, I mean, even the former Premier, Jeff Kennett, I just had him on the show before the break. I don't know if you were listening, but even he's had his sign vandalised. It feels like that particular electorate is borderline unhinged at the moment.
JAMES PATERSON:
Oh, that's a very fair observation. Although I'm not sure that all the people doing that are actually residents of Kooyong themselves. I think there are a lot of outsiders coming in and engaging in that sort of behaviour. I mean, literally hundreds of signs belonging to Amelia Hamer's campaign have been stolen or vandalised. And obviously, famously, Monique Ryan's husband was caught being involved in at least one of those sign thefts.
JACQUI FELGATE:
That is true.
JAMES PATERSON:
I don't know how many others Monique's campaign has been involved in, but it's actually worse in Teal seats than in any other seats in the country.
JACQUI FELGATE:
So, have you noticed that more in other Teal held electorates as well?
JAMES PATERSON:
Yeah, it's prolific in Goldstein as well, targeting Tim Wilson's signs. And I'm up in New South Wales at the moment in my campaign spokesman role. And it's been prolific in Wentworth as well, affecting a Liberal candidate, Ro Knox's signs. The interesting thing is in traditional Labor-Liberal contests in the suburbs, it happens occasionally, but nowhere near as much as in Teal seats.
JACQUI FELGATE:
Why do you think that is?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, my observation dealing with Teal volunteers and supporters is that they think they are better than everyone else. They think they are morally superior to everyone else. And I think, they think that justifies behaviour that you don't normally get in other seats. The good thing about a contest between Labor and Liberal Party is, although we profoundly disagree, is that at least there's respect for democracy. We often see the same people at pre-poll and polling booths year after year, and they are experienced, and they understand the rules. Now, that's not to say everyone always behaves well in those contests as well. Sometimes, there is bad behaviour there too, but it's just much worse in Teal seats.
JACQUI FELGATE:
Okay. And in terms of this Boroondara council issue, I mean, I do think that with five days to go. Is it not bizarre that you're now heading to court, fighting over how many signs you can put up at a particular polling booth?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, Boroondara Council has completely exceeded their legal authority. They have no grounds to restrict political campaigning. In this country, we have an implied freedom of political communication which has been upheld by the High Court, time and time again. And that's a really important principle in democracy, because it allows voters to make a decision in an election and to have unimpeded free campaigning in the election. Council have no legal or constitutional authority to interfere in that process, and they shouldn't do so.
JACQUI FELGATE:
So, the council had until 3 pm today, I think, to respond. Do you have an update?
JAMES PATERSON:
Look, I don't have any announcements to make on behalf of Boroondara Council. I hope they have reconsidered their rules because, at one point, they were trying to restrict the number of volunteers around the booths as well, saying that each candidate was only allowed to have two volunteers. I mean, that is really quite an extraordinary overreach by the council and a big mistake.
JACQUI FELGATE:
Shouldn't we be focusing on things like the cost of living here, rather than being bogged down in the type of behaviour, in terms of how many volunteers are at a site, how many signs you can put up, like I've never seen an election campaign like it.
JAMES PATERSON:
Yes, we should be, because frankly, that's what most Australians are concerned about. And I'm very happy to talk about that. That's what I do most of my day, talking about the cost of living and Peter Dutton's plan to make every tank of petrol $14 cheaper. His plan to give $1,200 back to most taxpayers next financial year, our plan to get more gas into the system and drive prices down in our energy system for the first time in a long time.
JACQUI FELGATE:
Do you have any regrets this campaign period?
JAMES PATERSON:
No, look, I would say the last week of a campaign is not a good time to do a post-election review. We can worry about that after Saturday. I still think this election is there to be won. There's been a very encouraging response on pre-poll, on early voting. Our candidates are very encouraged by the response, and we know there's a significant number of undecided voters who are yet to make up their minds. So we think this election is up for grabs.
JACQUI FELGATE:
When it comes to working from home, is that the biggest misstep of the campaign?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, we've very clearly owned up to that. We've said that that was a mistake, and it was. We have heard the feedback loud and clear from people just about how important flexible work, including working from home, is to make modern families work. It's an essential part of modern life. And of course, Labor did run a scare campaign, made that into something that it was not, and it was never going to apply to the private sector, it was only ever about the Canberra based public servants. But nonetheless, we're not proceeding with that. And we've heard people.
JACQUI FELGATE:
What's been the highlight of the campaign for you?
JAMES PATERSON:
Look, it's been a grueling campaign so far. They're very intense experiences, but we are so privileged to live in a country where we can have the peaceful transfer of power, where Australians get to have a say in the future of their country. And I certainly hope that my party is successful and succeeds. But if it doesn't, you know, we'll of course accept the verdict.
JACQUI FELGATE:
Has there a been a key policy, though, that you're most proud of?
JAMES PATERSON:
Yeah, absolutely. I would say it's the housing policies that I'm most proud of because I'm 37 and it's it's my generation and people younger than me, below me, who just have lost hope of home ownership. They have lost hope that they're ever going to get to the housing market, and the really comprehensive plan that Peter Dutton and Michael Sukkar have put together to build more homes, to make it easier to save for a deposit, to make it easier to pay a mortgage. I mean, that's transformative for young people. And we want to restore that hope again.
JACQUI FELGATE:
Thank you, Senator James Paterson.
ENDS