|
March 31, 2025
Transcript – ABC Radio National Breakfast
31 March 2025
E&OE
SALLY SARA:
The federal Coalition is promising that its gas reservation plan would drive down prices by the end of 2025. At the weekend, Peter Dutton said the opposition has modelling to back up that claim, but we'll have to wait to see it. James Paterson is the Coalition's campaign spokesman, and of course, Shadow Home Affairs Minister and joins me now. James Paterson, welcome back.
JAMES PATERSON:
Good morning.
SALLY SARA:
On Sunday, you said that you'd been briefed on this modelling but hadn't seen it. Have you managed to get a look yet?
JAMES PATERSON:
Look, I've been briefed on it and I understand what it shows and I think more evidence of why we're not making this specific promise like the Prime Minister did before the last election was revealed yesterday when Anthony Albanese abandoned the RepuTex modelling that he used to promise 97 times that he would reduce power bills by $275. Now Australians know that hasn't eventuated. Some Australians are paying up to $1300 more than the Labor party promised they would.
SALLY SARA:
This policy was announced last Thursday, the Coalition's policy, and you say this has been in the works for months, but the modelling that it's based on isn't yet ready for distribution. Why?
JAMES PATERSON:
It's not a question of it not being ready. We will release it, and it is ready, and we'll just release it at a time of our choosing. We're happy to talk about our plan to drive down the price of gas on the east coast by having a domestic reservation scheme because gas prices are up 34% for household on this government's watch and no wonder 29,000 businesses have failed under the Labor Party. Because energy costs are through the roof and we're going to drive those costs down.
SALLY SARA:
James Paterson, can we just clarify some of the nuts and bolts of how it would work? How much gas would producers need to supply to the domestic market and at what point, that is, what would trigger this reservation requirement?
JAMES PATERSON:
So to take your listeners through it, the way the east coast gas market works is about 2,000 petajoules are produced in Australia on the east coast each year. Of that, less than 500 is consumed domestically and about 1,500 is exported internationally. Now, from that 1,500, which is exported internationally, we are saying we require between 50 and 100 of those petajoules to be diverted into the domestic market. And what that will do is it will decouple the domestic gas price from the international prices, and it will drive those domestic prices down.
SALLY SARA:
And is it correct to say that there would be fines to those energy companies if they fail to comply?
JAMES PATERSON:
Yes, if that is necessary to drive the gas into the domestic market, then we're prepared to resort to fines to drive it into the market.
SALLY SARA:
Do you think it is necessary?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, that's a matter for the gas companies. We think there's plenty of gas out there, and we also have policies to increase the supply of gas by speeding up the approval process, by defunding the taxpayer-funded environmental activists who are holding it up, by contributing taxpayers' money to exploration of new gas, and also $1 billion for a gas infrastructure investment in pipelines and storage to get the gas where it needs to be in the country. So we think there'll be plenty of gas, and we've got hundreds of years of supply under our feet, we just have to take advantage of it.
SALLY SARA:
Gas companies and some analysts say this could kill investment in new supply to the point one analyst says that we'll end up with a shortfall of exporters or exporters breaching their contracts with overseas customers. Are you concerned about that scenario? Do you see it as a possibility?
JAMES PATERSON:
Not at all because we've said that the long-term foundational contracts with our key export markets like Japan and Korea and China and others will be respected. They will not be touched. We believe from the spot market and short-term contracts, we can find the gas we need to divert it into the market, particularly because we're also going to increase supply. But I have to say it is a bold claim from the gas companies that reducing the price of gas is a bad thing. We think it's a good thing. And frankly, it was not that long ago in this country that we had gas at $5 a gigajoule instead of $14 a gigajoule and there was plenty of investment happening in the industry then. So we just do not accept that reducing it to around $10 a gigajoule will not see significant investments still flowing.
SALLY SARA:
Senator Paterson, we've seen some initial polls at the start of this campaign, which are pointing to Labor being in front. As campaign spokesman, what's your view of those polls?
JAMES PATERSON:
These polls are roughly similar to the polls we've had over the last year, and what they show is that the election will be competitive, that it is close, and that Australians have a choice to make over the next five weeks. They can ask themselves, can they afford another three years of Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party, particularly if he were to be re-elected in a minority government in a partnership with the Greens, who have become increasingly extreme? Or would they prefer to elect a strong Prime Minister in Peter Dutton as part of a Coalition government that can get our country back on track?
SALLY SARA:
Is there enough discipline within the Coalition at the moment when it comes to policy? We've seen Peter Dutton raising the idea of a referendum on citizenship, also on Indigenous recognition and four-year terms. Are they policies or just ideas? Because over the weekend, they seemed to be floating up in the air, and then they came down.
JAMES PATERSON:
We have no plans to hold any referendums if we win the next election. The only referendum that we would contemplate as a last resort is if legislative change to allow us to cancel citizenship of people who commit very serious crimes is not successful, then we will keep that on the table as a last resort, because community safety is incredibly important to the Coalition and to Peter Dutton personally. But we think there's legislative means of solving those problems first that will allow really serious violent criminals, terrorists and others to have their citizenship cancelled.
SALLY SARA:
So I'm interested in the thinking within the Coalition's campaign. Why is Peter Dutton raising ideas like this if you're saying these referendums won't happen?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, Peter is an honest leader who answers questions directly when he's asked them. And he's previously said, prior to the voice referendum, that it would have been nice to have recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Constitution. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister, with his $450 million failed divisive Voice referendum, has burnt all of the capital in our country for any positive change like that, and it's not realistic. And both the Prime Minister and Peter have said, of course, they would prefer four-year terms. But Australians have no appetite for further constitutional change. We're not putting it on the agenda, it's not part of our plan.
SALLY SARA:
So when Peter Dutton raises ideas, should we take them seriously?
JAMES PATERSON:
Yes, I think you should take him very seriously. And as he said yesterday, these are ideas which, in a different context, at a different time, would be worthy. But at the moment, Australians want us to be focused on the cost of living. And that's what we are focused on. Every time you go to a petrol station under a Dutton Coalition government, you will get a tax cut. If you fill up your 55-litre tank, it'll be $14 cheaper than it would be if Mr Albanese and the Labor party are re-elected.
SALLY SARA:
James Paterson, we'll need to leave it there. Thank you for your time.
JAMES PATERSON:
Thank you.
ENDS