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October 26, 2026
TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW
9NEWS TODAY SHOW WITH TOM STEINFORT AND PAUL SAKKAL
Monday, 26 October 2026
Topics: Victorian state election polling, Remembrance Day protests, Council war on Christmas street parties
E&OE…………………………………………………………………………………………
TOM STEINFORT: Welcome back, some rare, good polling news for the Coalition this morning. A news poll published by The Australian predicts the LNP is in the box seat now to win the Victorian state election next month. That result would end a 12-year reign for Labor in Victoria. Joining us to discuss today's headlines, Shadow Minister for Defence James Paterson and Sydney Morning Herald's Chief Political Correspondent Paul Sakkal. Good to see you both. James, it took 12 years for the Coalition to turn the tide in Victoria. Four years in opposition for you so far federally. I guess you're hoping not seven more years to come?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, it's 33 days to go before the election, and I know Jess Wilson and the Victorian Liberals and Nationals take nothing for granted. But these certainly are encouraging results this morning because if they were replicated on election day, that would be a strong majority government for the Liberals and Nationals. And that's important because the problems that Victoria faces need a strong majority government to fix. Whether it's crime, potholes, debt, taxes - only a credible team with a credible plan can turn that around. And I think it really puts to bed this desperate Labor Party scare campaign about hung parliaments and minority governments and all this distraction. The truth is that Victorians face a choice, they will either have four more years of Ben Carroll and Labor or a fresh start under Jess Wilson and the Liberals and Nationals and I think increasingly they're making it clear they want that fresh start.
STEINFORT: Yeah, Paul, it does really feel like Ben Carroll's just trying to save the furniture at this point and that's largely because not so much what he's done, but just the brand damage of Dan Andrews and Jacinta Allan is unsalvageable.
PAUL SAKKAL: Well I know after reading this poll last night a few Labor people are texting around group chats saying why did we switch from Jacinta Allan? Could it have been much worse than this? The answer is it actually could have been a fair bit worse. If you look at the approval ratings, Ben Carroll's about negative 25, which is quite bad, it's about where the Prime Minister's at. Jacinta Allan was negative 46. She was more unpopular in Victoria than Donald Trump in the same polls. So, it is a pretty dire situation in Victoria and as you've said, it's 12 years in the wilderness, so if the Liberals didn't win this one, they'd seriously be asking questions about why they exist. But if they do get a solid ascendancy and have a majority win and show that they don't need One Nation, that would be an important message to the nation and James, who is unusually or not unusually just extraordinarily influential in Victoria, should effectively call himself the Deputy Premier of that government, I think. It would be a big win for James.
STEINFORT: Would you like to wear that hat, James?
PATERSON: Very kind Paul, but I'm just here in a supporting capacity as a Victorian who's worried about the future of my state. I mean, I really can't contemplate another four years of Labor given the damage they've done. And given the fact that Ben Carroll is complicit in it, you know, he sat around the table as Deputy Premier to Jacinta Allan. He sat around the table in cabinet with Daniel Andrews. He's trying to run away from Labor's legacy now. But he owns every single decision they made, including the $15 billion of taxpayer's money they handed to organised crime, bikies and the CFMEU.
STEINFORT: Alright, we'll move on now because students across the country are taking to the streets on Remembrance Day, but it's not to commemorate. They plan on protesting capitalism and One Nation. The proposed rally's outraging veterans, understandably. James, of all the days they've picked Remembrance Day. I mean, surely this speaks volumes to what they really stand for?
PATERSON: It's completely inappropriate and it should not proceed. Of all the days of the year to hold a rally and a political protest, Remembrance Day is not it. It is an insult to veterans. It is an insult to the memory of the ANZACs. I love living in a liberal democracy. I love living in a country where students can be free to protest. But that doesn't mean they can't exercise good judgement about when and where to protest. And the day in which we pay remembrance and thanks to those who fought and died for our country, for our rights to protest, for our rights to free speech is just not that day.
STEINFORT: Paul, the students say they are inspired by the French riots, which is a bit of a grim warning of what might be coming our way. Is it a sign though of how disenfranchised our younger generations are feeling at the moment?
SAKKAL: Well, I don't dispute that there are some reasons for young people to be anxious about the future. The housing market's not fair. There is worry, deep worry about climate change but I would have thought that there is nothing to be inspired by from what we've seen in France. It is extraordinary how often hardline activists both on the left and right use their protests in a way that they feel empowers them and emboldens them but actually turns off just about everyone else. It's yeah the left and the right should be looking overseas and not trying to import what we see there. I mean the Hanson cartoons on the one hand importing a kind of MAGA Trumpism to our politics and the Greens on the other side trying to engender fear and whip up kind of hysteria in the same way we see in France. So I would hope we pull back from this and probably don't see it go ahead.
STEINFORT: Alright, quick change of pace now, it's been called the council that stole Christmas. Darebin City Council in Melbourne deciding to charge hundreds of dollars for an annual family friendly neighbourhood Chrissy party. James, how good is council red tape, hey?
PATERSON: Honestly, these councils, including Darebin, they write to federal members of parliament all the time to give us advice on how we should conduct foreign policy, set climate policy, set migration policy. I feel like writing to them and saying, guys, can you just stick to your knitting and let people have a great Australian tradition of a street party without charging them for it. I mean, this is taking the piss, and they should stop it right now.
STEINFORT: Paul, I'm sure we've all got fond memories of the street Christmas party from when we were growing up. Big Grinch energy here from Darebin right?
SAKKAL: Some of my favourite memories, we were just talking off air about where we all grew up in the outer south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. They'd shut down this big street and there'd be Christmas lights all across it. I loved going there with my mum and dad and my brother. James, perhaps maybe a Jess Wilson policy to disband councils, just get rid of them?
STEINFORT: Just roll a little grenade. Well, he's the Deputy Premier. So, what do you think, Deputy Premier?
PATERSON: Well, she certainly said that charges like this would not proceed under a Wilson government and it is one more reason to vote for a fresh start in 33 days.
STEINFORT: Yeah, and it looks like there will be a change of government pretty soon coming for Victoria. James, Paul, appreciate your time this morning.
ENDS