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May 23, 2022
PETER STEFANOVIC: Well, let's go back to Melbourne now. Joining us live is the Liberal Senator and Victorian James Paterson. James,thanks for your time this morning. So, I mean, looking at that map of Victoria,it's a sea of red across Melbourne, it's just Aston in blue. What sort of reading have you had there and what do you put it all down to?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Good morning, Peter. Look, first of all,I should say congratulations to Anthony Albanese and his team. It is no small feat to win opposition from government and it's a big day for him to be sworn in as Prime Minister today. And I'm very glad that he and Penny Wong can go to Tokyo to represent Australia at the Quad, a critically important regional security meeting, and that we have that certainty after the election. I think in uncertain times that is a is a good thing.
On the result in Victoria, it's certainly very discouraging. I would say we are hopeful about the results in Menzies and we are certainly not conceding Deakin. We think there's a good chance that the counting of postal votes that we can hold both of those seats.But nonetheless, even if we still do that, it's still a significant number of seats that we've lost in Melbourne and the closer you get to the city, the tougher the result was for us. There was very clearly a swing against us and we have to very carefully think and research and study those results and work out where to go from here.
STEFANOVIC: So, is it true you didn't articulate a defining set of values that would appeal to your, your core constituency?
PATERSON: Look, I think it's always important to reflect when you lose office and you lose a lot of your traditional supporters,why they have walked away from the party. And I think one of the things you could say is that we didn't articulate our liberal values strongly enough and clearly enough over the last few years. And partly that was just due to the nature of the circumstances we're in. We're in a global pandemic. And so the usual rulebook was thrown out the door. We spent a lot more money than we normally would as Liberals. Delivering budget surpluses, which we normally like to do, was just not an option in the middle of a global pandemic and the significant economic supports that had to be put in place. And I think there are some Liberals out there who didn't recognise their traditional Liberal values in our brand.
STEFANOVIC: Okay, so what do you do now? Do you become more moderate or do you write that off and stick to centre right conservative values?
PATERSON: Look, I think this discussion post-election where we have to tack to the left or tack to the right is very typically self-serving. The people who are advocating either of those propositions probably would have advocated the day before the election, before they knew the results as well. So, we should take that with a grain of salt. I think it's about focussing on our core brand equities, on the things that people trust us for, and having confidence that given the very difficult economic circumstances that the world is going through, that Australia is going to have to navigate through. If we are able to re-earn the trust of voters to manage the economy, to manage our national security and defence, that we have a very good prospect of returning to government.
I mean, I think the Labor Party's policies are going to exacerbate the challenges that Australia faces. I mean, we have very high inflation driven by global factors. But they're going to spend even more money. They're proposing to reregulate the labour market by abolishing the Australian Building Construction Commission and the Registered Organisation Commission. These things are going to drive inflation up, not down. And therefore they're going to drive interest rates up, not down. And therefore they are going to drive the cost of living up and not down. And I'm really worried that the exceptional unemployment rate we've left them with at3.9 per cent, instead of going down as the Reserve Bank and the Treasury have forecast, may in fact go up because Labor Party is going to exacerbate these problems.
STEFANOVIC: Who should lead the party?
PATERSON: That's a matter for the party room to decide. And there's no candidates officially declared. But I'm pleased that Peter Dutton is considering putting his name forward and he's been speaking to colleagues over the weekend. My sense is there is a very strong consensus forming that Peter Dutton is the right choice to lead us through these times.Australians have seen him deliver the goods in very tough portfolios, things like the defence portfolio in the last year where I think he's been our best Defence Minister in decades. And before that in Home Affairs where he's protected Australians from terrorism, foreign interference and espionage. And before that where he's protected our borders. But going back, he's got really strong economic credentials as well. I mean he was the Assistant Treasurer to Peter Costello in the Howard Government. So, Peter Dutton knows how to balance a budget. He knows how to pay down debt. He knows how to cut taxes. He knows how to grow the economy. And I think that's exactly what Australia is going to need in the future.
STEFANOVIC: I mean, is there anyone else, is it, can it be said that he is he is the last man standing?
PATERSON: Well, I certainly don't want to pre-empt any other candidates. Any member of the party room is entitled to put their name forward if they'd like to. They're very entitled to put themselves to the judgement of their peers. But my sense is there is a consensus forming that Peter Dutton is the right choice for these times.
STEFANOVIC: What about his deputy?
PATERSON: Look, I think that's wide open. I think there'll be a lot of good contenders who are considering throwing their hat in the ring. And I think it'll be important to have some state balance there.Probably have to be someone who's not from Queensland, could be from New South Wales or Victoria or elsewhere. We'll see who puts themselves forward.
STEFANOVIC: Should it be a female?
PATERSON: Look, I'd like to see a female candidate in the race. I think that is important. It'll ultimately be up to the party room to decide and there may be more than one candidate, but I think it'd be good for the party room to have a choice of a female candidate.
STEFANOVIC: Yeah. I mean, I asked Sussan Ley about this last hour on the programme. She was a bit tight lipped on that. She doesn't want to be Liberal leader, but she she was tight lipped on being deputy leader. And we can read into that what we will. But I mean, how does that sound for you, Dutton-Ley?
PATERSON: Look, it's very early days, Peter. And I understand why someone like Sussan Ley wouldn't want to declare on your program, no offence, that they were running. They've got to consult colleagues.But, Susan, someone who's a very experienced parliamentarian, who's been a Cabinet Minister for a long period of time and has contributed a lot to our party. So, she should absolutely consider her options and talk to colleagues.
STEFANOVIC: Just, just a final one here, the Greens.It looks like they're going to hold the balance of power in the Senate. If they don't budge, James, on climate policy, would the moderate Liberal Senators cross the floor and just back Labor?
PATERSON: I don't know whether they will or not.And again, like I was saying before, Peter, I think we have to be very careful post-election there will be some people out there who say we should scrap the climate policy we established in the last three years. There'll be others who say we should go much further than it. I think the worst thing for the Liberal Party would be to engage and the National Party to engage in another round of climate wars. What Scott Morrison achieved in settling climate policy was a very significant achievement. It involved sacrifice and compromise on both sides and I think those who are trying to bid it up or bid it down, are risking distracting us from the main game. The main game over the next three years is going to be the economy. It's going to be where the Labor Party is going to exacerbate and make worse the existing challenges we face in the global economy, or whether they can carefully manage it. If we have focus like that as a Liberal and National Party in a laser-like way, I think that's our best chance of winning back those teal seats and returning to government.
STEFANOVIC: Ok, but the other argument being isn't the rise of the Greens, and the rise of the teals down to climate?
PATERSON: Well, I think in electorates in Melbourne like Goldstein and Kooyong that we have lost to teal candidates, and also in New South Wales and Western Australia, these are economically very well-off people and remarkably, given we've had a global pandemic, they've had a very good couple of years. They've had record low interest rates, there's been record support for the economy, asset prices have risen, and it's not surprising in good economic times like that that people are focused on other things like climate change or integrity commissions or other issues. But if the economy does take a turn for the worse, and I fear it will on Labor's watch because I fear they will make the situation much worse than it already is, then I think you will see a lot of those voters reassess those priorities and think wouldn't it be better, if there are rising interest rates, if there is rising inflation,if there is a big debt, wouldn't it be better to have a Liberal government back in charge managing the economy.
STEFANOVIC: Okay, Senator James Paterson, thanks for your time this morning.
ENDS
