April 21, 2025
TONY JONES:
We're joined by Senator James Paterson, Shadow Home Affairs Minister. Good morning to you, James.
JAMES PATERSON:
Good to be with you, Tony.
TONY JONES:
Thanks very much for coming on. Look, we're being offered everything, aren't we, in this election campaign? Such as the nature of it. This one is no different. But will it work? And will you actually fulfil your promise if you're elected?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, we're absolutely determined to get our community safer again, because under this government's watch over the last three years, crime is up and people feel less safe and none more so than in Victoria, because in Victoria we've got not just one, but two, weak Labor governments who have been soft on crime. And that's why we're going to introduce federal leadership on this, particularly to tackle drug trafficking and serious organised crime. They are behind a lot of the criminality that we see in our communities, and on our streets, whether it's the tobacco firebombing that we're seeing across Victoria, whether it's the car thefts or the drug importation and trafficking.
TONY JONES:
It's not sort of lost on a lot of people that this was going on prior to the Labor government coming into power. Which begs the question, what did you do about it then?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, there's been an increase in crime on this government's watch.
TONY JONES:
It was still pretty bad three years ago, wasn't it?
JAMES PATERSON:
I'd love to be able to eliminate crime altogether Tony, but that is beyond our power. What we can do is put the resources behind the Federal police and give them the laws that they need to crack down on this problem. We're also particularly concerned by the increase in the importation of drugs through the mail over the last few years, including date-rape drugs through the mail. And we're going to surge resources to the border so that more mail can be inspected and intercepted to make sure the contraband like that doesn't get into our community where it does serious harm.
TONY JONES:
So is it a personnel thing? Or is it a technology thing to beef up the number of people we got on in our border forces and also customs, that type of thing. Increased technology. It sounds like it would take a hell of a lot more than $750 million.
JAMES PATERSON:
It's people. It's technology. And its laws. We need more people on this problem, and we will fund that. We need technology to scan these imports to make sure we're getting to the bottom of it. And we need strong laws to make sure there are serious consequences, so that people fear the consequences of what they're doing. And so that's why we've got this comprehensive package, because otherwise it's going to keep getting worse, and people are feeling unsafe in their homes, you know, whether they are Australians who have lived here all their lives, or new migrants who come to this country. People say this is not what we expected in Australia. This is what we love about Australia. And we're feeling unsafe in our own homes.
TONY JONES:
So you say it's like a real problem here in Victoria where we live, and you. But I mean, you've got to work hand in hand with the state government as well, don't you? You've got to sort of, you know, sort of muscle them a little bit to sort of say, hey, you guys need to lift your game as well.
JAMES PATERSON:
Absolutely. And we will if we win this election and win a mandate for this plan, we'll expect the state governments to work with us cooperatively to get this problem under control. And this is something which should be beyond politics, Labor or Liberal, we should all agree we must have safer communities. We must get our streets back under control. Otherwise, I think, frankly, voters will harshly judge and punish all of us.
TONY JONES:
So I was amazed when I read about this initiative, or at least this pledge from the Coalition. And it includes a National Register for Paedophiles. Sorry, we don't have one?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, we don't have one that allows parents or guardians of their children to find out whether or not their children have access to or being engaged by someone who is on the sex offender list. So, police keep records of who is a child sex offender or not. But as a parent, you have no right to even request to the police whether or not your child has come into contact with someone like that. And we think that needs to change. In the United Kingdom, they did this a decade ago. Thousands of disclosures have been made to parents, which have allowed them to remove their children from harm's way. Western Australia has also successfully introduced this scheme, and South Australia has indicated intention to do so, but the rest of Australia doesn't benefit from this, and parents deserve to have that information.
TONY JONES:
It really goes to prove that we just need a national approach to a lot of these things, don't we? It's just not good enough. Having it state by state, different laws, different procedures, different outlooks, different initiatives, different attitudes.
JAMES PATERSON:
That's exactly right, Tony. A child in Western Australia is no more or less deserving of protection than a child in Victoria. But right now, you're much safer in WA than you are in Victoria, if you're concerned about someone who has access to your child, whether they're a childcare centre worker or a sporting coach or someone else in your child's life, and we don't think that's good enough. We think the absence of federal leadership has been a big problem. And Peter Dutton, as a former police officer, who's very passionate about this, is determined to fix it.
TONY JONES:
We're speaking with Senator James Paterson, Shadow Home Affairs Minister, a Victorian Senator, and that's why I want to bring in into this next conversation, James. And that is the revelations over the weekend in the Herald Sun under freedom of information, showing that the curfews that were imposed on us during the lockdowns was almost the sole call, well it was the sole call, of that seven member cabinet with very, very little input, if any at all. In fact, none from the medical authorities. What did you make of that?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, full credit to the Victorian state opposition who have been pursuing this for years, and it says a lot about the Allan government in Victoria that they refused to hand over this information, that they fought every step of the way until they been ordered to do so. But Victorians have a right to know about how these decisions were made in the pandemic. Many Victorians suffered under this period, and the least that they deserve is honesty about why the Andrews and Allan Labor governments made the decisions that they did and how they made those decisions.
TONY JONES:
Is it good enough, though, to have it exposed? But do we need to, and this was the point I was making earlier. It's all very well to have it exposed, and I guess, you know, it just infuriates this even more. But should there not be repercussions as a result of that exposé?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, I think the repercussions should be political, and I think Victorians should send a message to Labor on the 3rd of May here at the federal election that they're not going to tolerate this. And what happened to them was not okay. And they should also send a message at the next state election that they don't want to continue to be governed by people who were so dishonest during this period on those issues and so many other issues, who have failed to keep them safe, who have made their living standards go backwards.
TONY JONES:
Yeah, but what happens? So they they get voted out of office, and the go and retire on a big fat pension? Some of them.
JAMES PATERSON:
Yes. Well, we certainly don't have those pensions at the federal level anymore. I'm not sure whether they do at the state level or not.
TONY JONES:
I'm quite sure Daniel Andrews would be on a pension of sorts, wouldn't he?
JAMES PATERSON:
Yeah. It depends on when you're elected. He might have been elected under the old system, and he may well have that pension. And I think Victorians are rendering their verdict every day on this state government. And they are on the federal government, too. And I think they understand that, you know, one is bad enough. But the combination of Allan and Albanese together is just a devastating combination for Victoria. It's what we've seen so many business failures. It's why our state has gone backwards. It's why people are not safe. And the only thing you can do as a citizen is to get rid of bad governments. And I hope that is on the 3rd of May and then again in two years' time.
TONY JONES:
Yeah. What your gut feel? Well, I know you gut feel is, but, you know, we're seeing the polls continually tell us it's going the way of Albanese, Prime Minister Albanese, even, you know, sort of preferred Prime Minister. The latest poll suggests, you know, he's edging a little bit further and further with each poll.
JAMES PATERSON:
The polls show that it's going to be very close. And it also shows there's a very large number of Australians who are not engaged in this election so far, who haven't tuned in, who will often make the decision quite late and how those undecided voters break, over the next two weeks, will be absolutely critical. And what they will get from us is a $0.25 a litre cut in their petrol and diesel, up to $1,200 back on their tax, and a government that can manage the economy with a strong plan that will steer them through the difficult times that we're facing globally. If they re-elect the Albanese government, they shouldn't expect that it's going to be any different to how it was in its first three years, particularly if it's in a hung parliament with the Greens and the Teals.
TONY JONES:
All right. Time will tell. Even Antony Green, I think, from the ABC is saying it's going to be a cliff-hanger of sorts. So we'll wait and see. But nervous time coming up for you, James.
JAMES PATERSON:
Thanks, Tony.
ENDS