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April 30, 2025
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PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Let's bring in the Coalition's Campaign Spokesman James Paterson who joins us from a pre-polling booth in the Sydney electorate of Reid. James, welcome.
JAMES PATERSON:
Thank you for having me.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Now, the Prime Minister said in his National Press Club address, the Liberals have not learned, they have not changed. Have you changed from what he describes as the dysfunction of three years ago?
JAMES PATERSON:
I think very clearly we have, we've had incredible stability, loyalty, collegiality and we've launched a completely fresh platform of new policies to take to the Australian people, including real cost of living relief, straight away, $14 off your fuel tank every time you fill up, up to $1,200 off your tax next year and of course an ambitious plan to transition Australia to an emissions free nuclear powered nation.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
OK, so your message is we're not the same Liberal party that you were three years ago.
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, very clearly, we're not. We have a new leader, we have a new front bench, we have new policies, we have a new agenda. And our agenda is about getting our country back on track because it has got so off track after the last three years under Anthony Albanese. He promised all Australians that they would be better off when he became Prime Minister. No Australian can say they're better off now than they were three years ago. He even promised that people would have cheaper mortgages, Patricia. I've yet to meet any Australian who's got a cheaper mortgage today than they had three years ago. The Prime Minister has failed to deliver on that agenda.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Anthony Albanese says Australia needs stability at a time of global uncertainty. Now, that's a message that resonated, as we know in Canada. Do you accept that change now might seem risky for many Australians?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, the change that I think a lot of Australians are contemplating and worried about is a change to a re-elected Albanese government, but this time in minority, having to cobble together some kind of coalition arrangement with the Teals and the Greens. That would be change, that would risk stability, that will be very uncertain in a dangerous world. What we're offering the Australian people is a strong Coalition government led by Peter Dutton that can govern in its own right, that could govern in our own right if we're successful on Saturday, that will offer people strong leadership in dangerous and difficult times.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Just on some other issues about your electoral chances, do you believe One Nation preferences could make the final result tighter than the published polling is showing, that it might actually help you in key seats?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, I've certainly seen that speculation, Patricia, but the honest answer to that question is no one knows, and we won't know until election night, and we're not asking people to vote for any other party other than the Liberal and National parties at this election. We're looking for primary votes, not preferences, and we hope to get enough of those to win enough seats around the country so that we can govern in our own right.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Okay, but you do have this preference deal with One Nation, you wouldn't have done it unless you thought that it could get you across the line in certain seats, right?
JAMES PATERSON:
We have done no preference deal with One Nation. Months ago, Pauline Hanson publicly said that they'll be putting the Greens last, the Teals second last, and Labor third last. That was a decision that they made independent of any negotiations or discussions with the Liberal Party. And their preferences are a matter for them, and they've decided to allocate them in that way. And our preferences are a matter for us. Liberal preferences really won't be distributed in almost any seat in the country. They certainly won't be distributed to any One Nation candidate because there's no One Nation candidate who's in contention for winning any lower house seat. They'll be eliminated long before any Liberal candidate would be.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Okay, but you have preferenced them number two in places, haven't you?
JAMES PATERSON:
Yes, we have preferenced them number two in some seats, and that's interesting, but you have to nominate candidates on a ballot paper. In none of those seats will the Liberal Party preferences be distributed to anyone, let alone One Nation, who will get a smaller primary vote than us and therefore their candidates will be eliminated before ours.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Okay, let me put this to you. I mean, Pauline Hanson turned up in parliament, as you know, in a burka. She has said many inflammatory things about the Islamic community. You'd have to say many, that some of those actions are pretty Islamophobic. You've criticised Labor for what you say is a preference deal in relation to the Greens for being antisemitic. Why don't the rules apply for you? Why is number two okay for a party that has done these inflammatory things, because to me, there are similarities.
JAMES PATERSON:
Yeah I hear what you're saying but there's a key difference there which is that the Greens political party are in contention to win some seats. They will finish first or second in primary votes in some seats and Labor has preferenced them in those seats. So Labor preferences can go to electing Greens members around the country in a way that Liberal preferences will never go to electing a One Nation member.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Well, they will in the Senate, you might end up with quite a few One Nation Senators.
JAMES PATERSON:
Patricia, let me tell you, we have preferenced the Labor party in the Senate in some states and territories because you have to nominate six parties for preferences. I assure you, we are not encouraging people to vote Labor, they are our principal political opponents. We do not want them to be elected to the Senate, but you have nominate parties in the Senate to receive preferences. What we're asking people to do is vote one, Liberal and National, not for any other party.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
But you understand what I'm saying, don't you? That, in terms of values, it sends a message that you think maybe some of that stuff's okay. Can you see that it looks like that?
JAMES PATERSON:
No, I don't accept that, Patricia. I understand that might be your view, but I don't agree with it. We're not endorsing any other party in this contest. We are endorsing our Liberal and National candidates.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
That's what Labor says when I press them. That's what they say. They say it's about us, like it's the same argument.
JAMES PATERSON:
It's a different argument though because Labor preferences can actually elect Greens members around the country in lower house seats. Our preferences will not go to elect any One Nation candidate anywhere in the lower house around Australia.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
You're in the seat of Reid. It's a seat currently held by Labor's Sally Sitou on a margin, I think it's about 5.2%. If you win a seat like that, could that herald an unexpected path to the lodge for Peter Dutton?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, Grange Chung, our candidate for Reid standing just over my shoulder, is an absolutely outstanding candidate who's given great service to this country already in uniform as a private citizen and is now putting his hand up to represent the people of Reid. We're very proud to have a candidate of his calibre in this seat, and I do think he has a good shot at this seat. He's been working incredibly hard, and he's got an amazing group of volunteers behind me here, and so I think there is a real chance that we'll be able to win seats like this. And certainly if we do win seats like this, that will mean we're in a very good position to form our own government.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Where do you stand on these election text message spams? I've got another one from the Trumpet of Patriots again today. I press the block and report button, which you can, and they come back. Do you have a view on whether these things should be banned?
JAMES PATERSON:
I get them too, Patricia, and I don't like them either and understand why a lot of Australians find it intrusive and unwelcome. As you know, we have an implied freedom of political communication in Australia. The High Court has upheld that many times. And that does mean that political parties have extraordinary latitude to communicate with voters during an election campaign, even in an annoying way, whether it's text messages, or emails, or ads. And so I think it would be constitutionally very difficult to restrict that, and we'd have to think very carefully as a country through whether or not we did want to restrict free political communication in an election campaign, as annoying as it can be sometimes.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
It is complex, I agree. Just on inflation figures, this is the target band now that we have entered that the RBA sets. That's definitely good news, isn't it?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, unfortunately for Australians, it's come too little, too late. I mean, their living standards are down 8% on this Prime Minister's watch. That's the highest in the developed world and the worst fall in living standards in Australia's history. So while there might be a slight moderation in inflation figures recently, it doesn't undo the pain that's happened over the last years. It doesn't reverse the 30% increase in grocery prices, or the 32% increase in electricity prices, or 34% increase in gas prices, and it is going to take years for Australians to recover the living standards that they've lost under this government.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
So, the last couple of days are upon us. Just finally, what does that look like for your campaign? Is that about hitting as many teal seats for the Opposition Leader? What is the strategy?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, Peter's crisscrossing the country trying to visit as many target seats as possible, including seats that we're trying to win from the Labor Party, seats that were trying to win for the Greens and seats that are going to try and win from the Teals, including in Victoria, in Melbourne today. It's a sprint to the finish because we've got to get our message out to the Australian people about $14 off every tank of petrol or diesel, about $1,200 off your tax next year about our plan to drive more gas into the east coast system to drive electricity prices down and gas prices down. And to deliver the strong economy that Australians need and deserve.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Thanks so much for joining us this afternoon.
JAMES PATERSON:
Thank you for having me.
END