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Transcripts
January 29, 2026
SALLY SARA: Pressure on opposition leader Sussan Ley has intensified. The two most likely leadership contenders, Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor, aren't ruling out a tilt ahead of Parliament resuming next week. James Paterson is Shadow Minister for Finance. I spoke to him a short time ago. Senator, welcome back to Breakfast.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Good to be with you.
SALLY SARA: Before we get to the Coalition split, inflation data yesterday showed a 3.8% annual rise in December, up from 3.4% to the year in the year to November. What else could the government be doing to clamp down on inflation?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, firstly, Sally, this will be really tough news for a lot of Australians. They'll be experiencing it intuitively at the checkout and the shops. They know that the price of everything is going up under this government, including insurance being up 39%, energy being up 38% and rents up 22% over the last four years. But now they'll be worried, as many economists are predicting, that interest rates could rise, costing them even more. They're already paying an average of $21,000 more a year on their repayments. To go directly to your question, one of the things the government could do is take the pressure off public spending because that is now very clearly contributing to higher inflation and, therefore, high interest rates.
SALLY SARA: The Treasurer said yesterday that he didn't think that any of this could be objectively attributed to government spending or the budget position. What's your evidence that he's got it wrong then?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, it's not surprising that Jim Chalmers is unwilling to take responsibility for the consequences of his policies, but he took credit for interest rates falling, and he's going to have to take responsibility if they start to rise. And many respected independent economists are calling out the way in which reckless government spending is contributing it. One good example is the chief economist at AMP, Shane Oliver, one of our most widely respected market economists. He said yesterday, 'private demand has been quite constrained for many years now. The strength has actually come from public spending, and, 'a lot of the factors driving inflation relate to government spending.' So people like Shane Oliver are widely supported in the economics field in recognising that higher government spending contributes to higher inflation.
SALLY SARA: Does Opposition Leader Sussan Ley have your support to remain as Leader of the Opposition?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Yes, she does. I wouldn't be speaking to you this morning as the Shadow Minister for Finance if she didn't. I understand my responsibilities under the Westminster convention. The first responsibility if you don't support any leader is to tell them, and the second responsibility is to resign, and I haven't done either, so you can assume I continue to support Sussan.
SALLY SARA: Do you think there'll be a challenge to Sussan Ley's leadership in the next week or so?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, I can't predict what all of my colleagues may or may not do, but I can say that in my assessment, Sussan continues to enjoy the support of the majority of the party room.
SALLY SARA: Who's the current shadow spokesperson on trade?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: We haven't appointed a shadow spokesperson on trade yet. That's a matter for the leader to consider. Obviously, that was a portfolio previously held by the National Party.
SALLY SARA: And emergency management?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: The same again. These are shadow ministry responsibilities that were previously held by Nationals. The Coalition has split, as you know, and the Leader is considering whether Liberals should be appointed to fill those positions.
SALLY SARA: Does that leave the opposition in a compromised position, not having these shadow portfolios filled from a Liberal perspective?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Certainly, I think it will be appropriate in due course, before the parliament resumes, to appoint people in an acting capacity to take responsibility for those portfolios. But I also have the view that we should keep the door open to reforming with the National Party in due course. And I note that David Littleproud has not yet appointed any spokesman for those areas as well. My view is we should continue to talk with the National Party and see whether reformation of the Coalition can occur. But if it is to occur, it would have to take place on an agreed and shared understanding of the important principles of the Westminster system, including Shadow Cabinet solidarity.
SALLY SARA: Has the Liberal Party received much back through formal channels from the National Party at the moment over these calls to reunite at some stage?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Not to my knowledge, but I have colleagues who are having ongoing conversations informally with the National Party. And a number of National Party MPs, including Matt Canavan and Michael McCormack, have publicly said that they think it would be a good thing for the Nationals and Liberals to reform, and I agree with them. It is much more preferable, all else being equal, that we fight the next election together, not apart. But if we are to reform it must be on the basis that everybody, including the National Party, accepts the conventions of Shadow Cabinet solidarity so that we can be an effective opposition and hopefully also form an effective government.
SALLY SARA: You're listening to Radio National Breakfast. My guest is the Shadow Minister for Finance, Senator James Paterson. National MP Colin Boyce says he'll call for a leadership spill next week within the Nats, saying that his party is, quote, 'committing political suicide by removing itself from the Coalition'. What do you think of those remarks?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, I certainly don't have any comment to make about whether he's standing for the leadership or not. That's entirely a matter for the National Party. But I do agree it would be preferable to fight the next election in Coalition rather than apart. I think the centre right of Australian politics is best when it is united and focused on presenting a policy agenda to the Australian people that spans the country and the city and that takes the fight up to our principal political opponents in the Labor Party.
SALLY SARA: Are Sussan Ley and David Littleproud the leaders who can deliver reunification in the Coalition?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: I don't think this is about personality, I think this is about principle. And if both the Liberal party room and the National party room agree that we must uphold the conventions of the Westminster system, including Shadow Cabinet responsibility, that we must work together to fight for all Australian people at the next election rather than each other, then I think the Coalition can and should reform, regardless of who's leading us.
SALLY SARA: Senator James Paterson, thank you for joining me.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Thanks for having me.
ENDS