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May 1, 2025
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PETER STEFANOVIC:
Let's go big picture now in terms of the national conversation and the big story today is the costings that will be unveiled by Peter Dutton, the Opposition Leader. Let's bring in the Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson. James, good to see you this morning. Thanks for your time. So on the numbers, let's start there today. What is the Coalition in for?
JAMES PATERSON:
Good morning, Pete. Well, the Shadow Treasurer, Angus Taylor, and the Shadow Finance Minister, Jane Hume, will release the full details today. But what I can say this morning is that the budget will be $10 billion stronger under a Peter Dutton Coalition government over the next four years because we'll rein in Labor's wasteful spending. We'll also reduce gross debt by $40 billion by getting rid of some of the off-budget boondoggles that Labor has put in place over the last three years, because, frankly, Australians are paying far too much in a cost of living crisis for their federal government. Their taxes are up three and a half thousand dollars on average under this government. That's gone to paying for Labor's wasteful spending, and we'll put back in place, those good fiscal rules, those good budget guidelines to make sure we get our country and our budget back on track.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay, well Peter Dutton, he's quoted this morning as saying some tough decisions are going to have to be made, tough decisions being cuts, so what cuts are there going to be?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, Pete, look, most of the ones that will be in the costings today we've been talking about for weeks, if not months. We are unashamedly reducing the size of the public service because it has blown out on this government's watch. A 20% increase in the size of the public service hasn't delivered 20% better services to Australians, it's just delivered 20% higher costs than they otherwise would have faced. So, going through natural attrition and a hiring freeze, we're going to reduce that back down to the level it was at the start of the last term. There'll be other details in the costing today, I'm not going to pre-release those, that will be a career limiting move, but we'll be fully transparent about where we've found those savings in Labor's waste
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Even with those savings, though, James, the country is looking at a staggering overall debt that's heading towards $1.2 trillion. Is there going to be a commitment to real reform, to pay some of that down? Real tax reform, whether it's looking at the GST, whether its looking at tax brackets, is that something that you're going to have to look at if you're successful?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, you're right, Pete. Labor's plan is for a decade of deficits and $1.2 trillion of gross debt. And we will do everything we can to turn that around. But to be completely frank and honest with the Australian people, it is going to take time to clean up the mess that Labor has done in just the last three years. We can't just flick a switch and go back to Howard-Costello era of surplus budgets, but we will have real improvements in the budget bottom line over the next few years. And what that means will be interest payments will be lower, pressure on interest rates in the economy will also be lower. And we'll get the cost of living back under control. Over time, we've said once we do clean up Labor's mess, absolutely, tax reform is a core principle of the Liberal Party, and Peter Dutton has particularly said that one of the most insidious features of Labor's tax system is bracket creep, the way in which people pay more tax without actually earning more in real terms. We do have an aspiration to fix that, but it will take time.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Just a couple of other issues to get to this morning James, I'd like your opinion on, first of all again, more drama in the Melbourne seat of Kooyong, it was crashed yesterday by Neo-Nazis, your thoughts on that this morning?
JAMES PATERSON:
I'm very loathe to give these people the attention that they crave, but when such a despicable and vile act happens I think there's no option but for it to be roundly and utterly and unambiguously condemned. I think it needs to be investigated whether or not any of that activity breached the law, and I understand some of those investigations are taking place. And if they have breached the law, the full force of the law should be thrown at them.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Can I just also ask you about, there's a trend emerging when it comes to links to the Chinese Communist Party and candidates, not just in a couple of different Melbourne seats that are held by various contenders at the moment, including the Labor Party, but also the Liberal Party and your candidate in Bennelong. Just a broad response to whether you're or how concerned you are about all of that.
JAMES PATERSON:
Extremely concerned, Pete. Our intelligence agencies have been telling us for years that foreign interference and espionage is higher than it has ever been in our history, higher than even at the height of the Cold War, that it is our principal security concern. And I am particularly worried that in the campaigns of the independent member for Kooyong, Monique Ryan, a Greens campaign in Menzies and Labor's campaign in Hotham, there are serious allegations of agents of the Chinese Communist Party-linked entities, being involved in those campaigns. And it appears from the reporting in The Australian today that Clare O'Neil and the Labor Party have not been completely upfront and honest about their relationship with these individuals and with these groups. And I think they really need to come clean today about how long they have been associating with these organisations, how long they have been seeking their support, and how long they have been using their volunteers, and whether or not they sought the appropriate national security advice about whether there was any risk of foreign interference in their campaigns. Because the principle is the most important thing here, Pete. Australian elections must be decided by Australians only. The long arm of a foreign authoritarian government cannot tip the balance in an Australian election because if they do, then we cease to be the sovereign liberal democracy that we all enjoy.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Sure, just a final story, a final thought here too. Penny Wong, she's backtracked on comments made about a potential reheating of the Voice to Parliament. James, your thoughts on that backflip this morning?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, there's no minister in the Albanese government who's closer to the Prime Minister than Penny Wong. A lot of Labor MPs regard her as the real Deputy Prime Minister in the government, not Richard Marles. So for her to make this admission is a stunning insight into the Prime Minister and the government's thinking on this issue. They will revive the Voice agenda if they're re-elected. They will find a way to enact it. And I don't think this is an accidental slip-up by Penny Wong I think, you know, as is often the case, a gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth. And I think Penny Wong accidentally told the truth about their Voice agenda, which 60% of Australians rejected, and it frankly shows their contempt for the verdict of the Australian people in the Voice referendum.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Alright, James Paterson, we'll leave it there. Thank you so much. We'll talk to you again soon.
ENDS