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April 8, 2025
Transcript – 2CC Breakfast
08 April 2025
E&OE
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:
Let's go now, to Senator James Paterson, Coalition Campaign Spokesman and Shadow Minister for Home Affairs. James, good morning.
JAMES PATERSON:
Good to be with you, Stephen.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:
The first week was a bit disastrous. Can you pick yourself up?
JAMES PATERSON:
I think you're going a bit too far there, mate. We're very competitive. The polls are very tight, and this election will be close. And the questions that Australians have to answer if they early vote in two weeks' time or if they wait till election day in four weeks' time, are, can you afford another three years like the last three under Mr. Albanese and the Labor party? And many Australians can't.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:
You've had to walk back a couple of policies that I actually think were good policies. But you've been unable to sell them. I mean, is that the answer, or do you need to get the messaging right?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, I think it's really important, when it came to flexible working arrangements, particularly in Canberra, for the public service, that we listened and heard what people had to say. And what they told us was that in a modern economy, many families make their lives work by having that flexibility. It is really important for them to be able to work from home occasionally, not all the time. And they value that flexibility. And we didn't want to take that away from people. We know how much they've suffered under Labor's cost of living crisis, and we don't want to make it any harder for them. And that's why we've listened, we heard, we've acted, and we've changed the policy.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:
I want to talk about the international student cap. If you're successful, you're going to limit that to 240,000. Still, that sounds high to me, but is that really the answer? Is that the cap that's necessary, or do we need to take a broader look at how we manage international students? How many of them actually finish their courses, and how many of them use a student visa as a back door entry into Australia, so to speak?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, you're right, Stephen. It is not just bringing those numbers down, it's managing it better. But bringing the numbers down is the first part of it. Because students living in Australia under Labor has exploded. There's been a 65% increase in their first three years, and that has had a real effect on the rental market, particularly in capital cities, but also the housing market more broadly. And we've got to get it back down to sustainable levels. The international student market is an important part of our international exports and our education industry. But it's got to be sustainable. And so what we're proposing is to bring it down by 80,000 compared to the most recent available figures in 2023. That is the 50,000 that Labor has promised to bring it down, plus an additional 30,000 that we're proposing to bring it down. But Labor has failed to meet any of the targets they have previously set for themselves, and that's one of the reasons why it's so out of control.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:
But doesn't that say we've got a problem with our education system overall? If we're looking at it as an export industry rather than an education industry?
JAMES PATERSON:
Yes. And I think universities have lost sight in particular of their core mission. Their core mission - and they receive taxpayer funding to do this - is to educate Australians. And there are some universities, like Sydney University, where about half of their student commencements this year were international students. Now that is way out of whack with the other international examples. Most universities around the world do not educate anywhere near that number of international students. It's far smaller, particularly in the best universities around the world, that have some international students, but predominantly educate students from their own country.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:
As an alternative government, how do you take control of the narrative this week?
JAMES PATERSON:
Look, I think the thing that Australians will be really contemplating this week, with the chaos on the share market that we were just hearing about earlier with Ross Greenwood, is who's best placed to navigate Australia through these uncertain economic and strategic times. Is it a weak Prime Minister who's too slow to respond to emerging crises? Or do you want someone strong and decisive, like Peter Dutton, who has been through this before, has seen it before, has been Defence Minister, Home Affairs Minister, Assistant Treasurer? He knows how to navigate Australia through difficult economic and strategic times.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:
How important are these debates taking place this week?
JAMES PATERSON:
Look, they will certainly generate a lot of media interest. There's no question about that. And it is an opportunity for us to sell our message. And for Peter to talk directly to voters tonight in the Sky News forum, where there'll be voters asking questions. So we relish those opportunities, and we're looking forward to more of them throughout the campaign. But I think some in the media overhype them. Not every Australian will be sitting down with a cup of tea tonight to watch them. Some will, but probably only those who are quite engaged in politics.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:
I reckon I'll probably need a scotch, not a cup of tea. James, good to talk to you. We will catch up again soon.
JAMES PATERSON:
Thanks, Stephen.
ENDS