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April 14, 2025
Transcript – ABC News Breakfast
14 April 2025
E&OE
JAMES GLENDAY:
We are joined by the Coalition's campaign spokesman James Paterson. James, good morning.
JAMES PATERSON:
Good morning, James.
JAMES GLENDAY:
Because we are in WA, I wanted to start off with a very WA-specific question. Why do you think that this used to be a Liberal Party stronghold, why do you think that Western Australians have turned away and that this is now a stronghold for the Labor Party?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, I wouldn't get too ahead of myself if I was the Prime Minister and the government. Not a single vote has been cast yet, let alone counted. And it's presumptuous to assume how Western Australians are going to vote before they have the opportunity to do so. But speaking more generally over the last couple of years, it's certainly the case that state Labor governments in WA have been popular, particularly during the pandemic period. We know that the former Premier was well regarded because he closed Western Australia's border and kept COVID out of the state for some period of time, and that certainly lifted the Labor brand in WA.
JAMES GLENDAY:
Let's go to some policies, and maybe let's start with tax. Your party was pretty clear on this a couple of weeks ago, saying that Labor's tax cuts in the budget were a blatant bribe. How then would you describe your tax offset or tax payment for low and middle income earners, which was announced yesterday?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, we describe it as a cost-of-living tax offset, and it's desperately needed by many Australians because they've suffered so much from rising cost of living under the Labor Party's watch under the Prime Minister. I mean, grocery prices are up 30% over the last three years. Electricity prices are at 32%. Gas prices are 34%. And the Prime Minister promised Australians before the last election that they would be better off. He even said that they'd have cheaper mortgages, but that's not Australians' experience. They need help to try and restore their standard of living, and we've got a comprehensive plan to do that. It includes immediate upfront relief with a reduction in petrol and diesel tax that will save people $14 every time they fill up and ongoing assistance with reduced energy prices through our gas plan. But it also includes this one-off cost of living tax offset because a lot of Australians have racked up big credit card bills on Labor's watch over the last three years, and they need help.
JAMES GLENDAY:
But only a couple of weeks ago, your leader and Shadow Treasurer were pretty solid, saying no, no, there'd be no tax cuts, you wanted to be the party of fiscal responsibility. Have you been influenced at all by the Coalition's declining position in some opinion polls, have you decided this is a lever you had to pull?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, the difference between what Labor is proposing and what we're proposing is ours is timely, it is targeted, and it is meaningful. So it's not baked into the budget forever, costing billions and billions and billions over many years, but it's going to give people much more when they actually need it. So the same week that they'd be receiving a 70 cent a day tax cuts under a re-elected Albanese Labor government, they could be receiving up to $1200 from a Dutton Coalition government in a way that will really assist them when they really need it, but doesn't bake in a structural spend in the budget.
JAMES GLENDAY:
Alright, for first home buyers, you're promising to allow them to deduct interest akin to negative gearing. Do you know what this policy would do to house prices, because a number of economists have some pretty serious concerns about this?
JAMES PATERSON:
I have seen some of that commentary from economists and others, and I have to say when it comes from someone who owns their own home and probably bought it many years ago, it's going to come across to many Australians as frankly pretty out of touch and tone deaf. I think people underestimate the generational despair among young Australians who've lost hope that they'll ever be able to buy a home. Some polls show that up to three quarters of young people believe they will never be able buy a house, and that's a disaster for our country and frankly there is quite a lot of intergenerational resentment from young people…
JAMES GLENDAY:
Sorry to jump in James, but…
JAMES PATERSON:
This is a really important point James, I just want to finish this point really quickly. There is intergenerational resentment from young Australians who believe that the cards have been stacked against them and we want to fix that.
JAMES GLENDAY:
But I think there is a lot of, I would guess, that there's a lot knowledge about how house prices work in this country. And do you think that without some serious moves to build more homes, or to increase supply, that this isn't just going to once again benefit Australians who already own their own homes by pushing up house prices?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, that's exactly what we're doing, James. We have a comprehensive plan that includes $5 billion for infrastructure to unlock 500,000 homes. That's building the water and the sewage and the roads and electricity that allows housing developments to be commenced and bring those houses onto the market. We're also reducing demand by cutting migration. We believe we'll reduce migration by 100,000 a year in net overseas terms compared to Labor. And over the next few years, that will free up 100,000 homes. We're also going to reform the building industry to bring down the costs of construction because the CFMEU has been out of control, and that's added to the cost of construction. And we're going to help deliver the skills we need to industries, so they've got more workers who can help build homes with a $12,000 payment to small businesses who take on apprentices and trainees. So it's a comprehensive plan and taken together, it both reduces the pressure on demand, particularly from international visitors, it increases supply, and it backs first home buyers, giving them a real advantage in the market.
JAMES GLENDAY:
I just wanted to ask something that's happening in your state at the moment, James. John Pesutto, the former state leader of the Liberal party, there are fears that he might go bankrupt, and then that could force a by-election. Do you hope that your party can somehow intervene to make sure that doesn't happen? Would that send the wrong message about the unity of the Liberal party on the eve of a federal election?
JAMES PATERSON:
I do understand your interest in this, James, but this is a matter which is before the courts, which could be argued in the coming weeks, so I want to be really cautious about commenting on it. It's not the focus of Peter Dutton or his team. Our focus is getting our country back on track. It's getting inflation down and restoring the standard of living that Australians have lost over the last three years. It's about building more homes and getting young first home buyers into the market, and it's about keeping our communities safe.
JAMES GLENDAY:
And James, just before I let you go, there were masked neo-Nazi protests outside your office at the weekend. I just wanted to get your reaction to that.
JAMES PATERSON:
I don't know what their motivation was, but if it was to intimidate, it's not going to work on me. I'm more determined than ever before to stand up for Australians, to protect them against extremists like these and any other extremists in our community. I particularly resent the attempt by these people to portray themselves as patriots. There is nothing patriotic about worshipping a failed foreign regime of one of history's greatest losers, Adolf Hitler. The real patriots are the Australian men and women who went and fought and defeated Nazism and whenever it rears its ugly head in Australia, it must be fought and combated and I will always stand against it.
JAMES GLENDAY:
Alright, James Paterson, thank you very much for joining us again this morning.
JAMES PATERSON:
Thanks, James.
ENDS