February 24, 2025
JAMES PATERSON: Good morning; well, Senate Estimates will be in session today, and the Department of Home Affairs has serious questions to answer about their handling of Tony Burke's express citizenship ceremonies. It's emerged today in media reports in The Daily Telegraph that Tu Le, the Labor candidate for Fowler, was invited to participate in these citizenship ceremonies and meet new constituents who'd be enrolled to vote before the election. But Dai Le, the independent member for Fowler, was not invited. Now, there is no good reason why political candidates for one party but incumbent members of Parliament from the crossbench should be invited to participate in their citizenship ceremonies. It is critically important for our country that the immigration system, that our citizenship processes and citizenship ceremonies are not seen to be used for political purposes. Because if the Australian public believes that a government is using the migration system to try and drive political outcomes in their partisan interests, then that will collapse support for our migration system and further undermine support for our institutions, including the Department of Home Affairs. So the Department of Home Affairs and its secretary, Stephanie Foster, have serious questions to answer today about what they did when Tony Burke made this request of them, did they push back at all or did they simply roll over and facilitate what appears to be an industrial scale process to put new citizens on the electoral roll in the dying days of a desperate government?
JOURNALIST: If it turns out some public servants did roll over, what should happen to them?
PATERSON: Well, that would be a very, very serious matter. If public servants allowed the migration system and our citizenship ceremonies to be hijacked by Tony Burke for Labor's partisan political interests. That would be a very serious thing indeed.
JOURNALIST: Two polls out today showing the trends heading towards the Coalition. what do you read into that?
PATERSON: I've been saying for the better part of two years now that the next election will be very close, that it will come down to a handful of seats. Federal elections in Australia are always very close, and notwithstanding these polls today, I still believe that it will be very close. It will come down to those final seats. It is now very clear, though, that we are going to either have a strong Dutton Coalition government, a majority government after the next election, or we're going to have a hung parliament and a minority government led by Anthony Albanese in partnership with the Green-Teals and the Greens. And I worry about that what that means for the country. We'll have three more years of weak leadership and wrong priorities, but even weaker than before, as every major initiative from tax in the economy to border protection to national security will have to be negotiated with Adam Bandt, Monique Ryan, Zoe Daniel and the other crossbenchers.
JOURNALIST: It seems the rate cut hasn't given the government the boost it might of hoped for, are you surprised we are not in an election already?
PATERSON: Well it is hardly a surprise, after 12 interest rate rises in a row, that just one cut of just 25 basis points hasn't made any material difference to the financial circumstances of most Australians. When prices for energy and groceries and petrol and other things just keep going up and up. Australians are struggling because this government has had the wrong priorities. They spent their first 18 months trying to divide that country through an expensive referendum to change the constitution, instead of being focused on helping people make ends meet.
JOURNALIST: There is a big anniversary for Ukraine. President Zelenskyy said he'd happily step down if Ukraine became a NATO country. Do you think that's feasible, something that should be moved towards?
PATERSON: Well, the Coalition continues to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. We believe we have a very strong interest in the health and prosperity of Ukraine. We believe we have an interest in successfully resisting this Russian invasion and occupation, and we want them to prevail in this contest and we'll continue to support them to do so. It's critical that we do so. Questions of NATO membership are not a question for Australia, and we are not a NATO member, but we are a partner, and we should do everything we can within our means to assist Ukraine and their ongoing resistance.
JOURNALIST: Should we do more if President Trump is pulling back, to help fill that void?
PATERSON: Look Australia's got a critical role to play. I'm very proud of the military assistance that we have provided. We should continue to provide that regardless of other circumstances. If the Ukrainians want to continue to fight, if they have the support from the European partners and others to continue to fight, then we should continue to stand with them.
JOURNALIST: Can you give us an idea of what answer you will be seeking on the antisemitism crisis this week, particularly on the caravan, and what would the Coalition do if you win the election? What would you do on day one to tackle the antisemitism crisis?
PATERSON: I think we still need to get to the bottom of the Prime Minister's awareness of the handling of the caravan incident and the implications for our national security policy. Was the Prime Minister briefed, and when was he briefed? Or did he find out just moments before it was published in the media by the Daily Telegraph and that press conference held by NSW Police? If the Prime Minister didn't know, then we would have had a major failure in our national security policy architecture. He should have been notified. And if he was notified, then what did he do about it? Did he convene a National Security Committee of Cabinet or other measures? The Coalition will take a very different approach to the antisemitism crisis. We will start with moral leadership, it will be very clear from the office of the Prime Minister down that we will not tolerate antisemitism in this country. We will convene a national cabinet to bring together states and territories to fight this, and we will put real resources behind a standing Federal Police-led taskforce to get to the bottom of this crisis. We will have no hesitation cancelling visas and deporting people who have been involved in fermenting antisemitism.
JOURNALIST: If the Coalition is going to support, which the leader has said that Medicare announcement. But does that mean there's more cuts that have to be found once you get into government in other parts of the budget?
PATERSON: Well, let's be clear. The Labor Party here is trying to clean up their own mess in the final days of this government before an election. When Peter Dutton was Health Minister, the bulk billing rate was 84%. It rose to 88% under the Coalition at the height of the pandemic, and it's crashed to 77% on this government's watch. And so that $8.5 billion is just about restoring bulk billing to the rates it was when it was under the Coalition. We've backed it because we want a health system that delivers for Australians. We know Australians are struggling with the cost of living, and they need support to be able to go and see the doctor. And we'll be unveiling all of our costings in the usual way, at the usual time.
JOURNALIST: What if the polls over the weekend showed that people trust Peter Dutton more to deal with Donald Trump? Do you think foreign policy, and particularly the news coming out of Washington, is going to be a factor in the Australian election?
PATERSON: Well, I'm not surprised that Australians have doubts about Anthony Albanese's strength as Prime Minister and his dealings with other foreign countries, whether it's countries in our region or traditional allies and friends, because he is a weak leader who has no instinct for national security, who has no instinct for defence. And that was made very clear by his response to the very serious incident in the Tasman Sea over the weekend, where the People's Liberation Army Navy engaged in a live foreign exercise that required commercial airlines to change their routes in order to avoid the area. That's very serious. In the Prime Minister's attempt to downplay that reflects very badly on him and it's no wonder Australians don't have confidence in his ability to deal with any foreign leader.
JOURNALIST: What do you think is China's message in carrying out these exercises?
PATERSON: Well, it's really not clear. And only the People's Liberation Army Navy and the Chinese Communist Party can answer what their intentions were here. But let's be clear: this is extremely disruptive and unusual behaviour. Australia conducts live firing exercises, too, in international waters, but when we do so, we don't typically do so under the flight paths of civilian airliners. We provide at least 24 if not 48 hours notice, and we do so in hotly disputed international waterways like the South China Sea. The Tasman Sea is not a hotly disputed international waterway. It's a very remote part of the world. It's not a significant trading route. And so, while it might be technically in compliance with international law, it's incredibly unorthodox behaviour by the People's Liberation Army Navy. And it does appear designed to send a message to Australia.
Thank you.
ENDS
