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April 26, 2025
Transcript – 2GB Weekends with Luke Grant
26 April 2025
E&OE
LUKE GRANT:
Now the Coalition has an intent to get the 3%, and the government has said, we'll think about it when we get returned. I should have said if they get returned, but they are so cocky. Probably when they get returned, is their thinking. Shadow Minister for Home Affairs James Paterson is on the line. G'day, James, nice to talk again. Why is the PM hesitant to commit to a specific spending target, do you think?
JAMES PATERSON:
Luke, I think the honest answer is because he is a weak Prime Minister who doesn't understand the serious strategic circumstances facing Australia. Because if you did understand them, if you actually believed how dire things are, there's no way that you'd get away with the low defence spending that this Prime Minister has, and you'd allow it to languish as much as it has, that you'd cut as much capability as this Prime Minister has. He has scrapped infantry fighting vehicles, howitzers, F-35 fighter jets, and a number of other important capabilities at a time when our region is becoming less safe, more dangerous, not more calm.
LUKE GRANT:
Very often, you hear politicians say, My first job is to keep you safe. Now he's tried to brush off this story about Russia and Indonesia as an investigation into Loch Ness. He won't commit to the amount of money the Coalition say they will commit to, to up the defence spending, which most people think is just a given. Why is he so weak in this policy area? I mean, he loves to get around the joint with a credit card. I don't know what he does if there, you know, ships from hostile enemies, if he's going to flash his Medicare card and hope they go away. But in this policy area, it's laughable, I have to say, in the current climate.
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, he has made a stunning admission in this interview with Paul Kelly and Dennis Shanahan that, in fact, Russia did make a request of Indonesia to base its Air Force assets in our region. Previously, he has personally compared that to the faking of the moon landing. One of his ministers, Murray Watt, compared it to the Loch Ness Monster. And they all refuse a briefing to the Coalition on the basis that it never happened. Well, he's now admitted that it did happen, and there is now no reason for him to deny this briefing request to the opposition. And he must immediately reverse that decision and allow the opposition to be briefed.
LUKE GRANT:
Well, he fell off the stage, then he didn't, then he did, then he didn't. Then, you know, you need only your Medicare card. Then Butler tells the truth at the National Press Club. Hang on, you need your credit card. And now there was nothing happening with Indonesia and Russia. Now there is. I mean, it's impossible to keep up. And I'm inclined to think now that during the last week of the campaign, it will get dirty, if it hasn't already. And I'd argue that the government is trying to lie their way back into office. This is going to be Dutton versus Albanese on steroids, isn't it? During the last week.
JAMES PATERSON:
I think you're right. It is pretty hard for most Australians to keep up. I confess it's my job to keep up, and I'm struggling to keep up with the lies the Prime Minister has told. In fact, as of a few days ago, we've tracked 76 lies that the Prime Minister has told during this campaign. And every time he does a press conference, he adds many, many more to that, including today. I mean, to your point, Luke, if he lies about falling off a stage, well, is there anything he won't lie about? I mean, we all saw that with our eyes, but there are lots of things that Australians don't get to see with their own eyes, like intelligence briefings he receives about Russian offers to Indonesia. And so imagine how much he's lying about things we can't see, if he's willing to lie about things that we can see.
LUKE GRANT:
Great point. Good to chat, James. Stay well, Mate.
JAMES PATERSON:
Thanks, Luke.
ENDS