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April 9, 2025
Transcript – Sky News News Day
09 April 2025
E&OE
KIERAN GILBERT:
Let's go to Coalition Campaign Headquarters, and their Spokesman, James Paterson joins me. Senator Paterson, thanks for your time. I want to get your thoughts on the forum last night. We can preview the Treasurer's Debate tonight. But on the gas plan, I'm wondering, as a Liberal, are you comfortable with elements of this? I know it's been called a gas reservation, but effectively they're export controls imposed on private enterprises. that set up these projects a decade ago. Are you comfortable with that?
JAMES PATERSON:
Yes, Kieran, I'm entirely comfortable with this plan because it's about getting more gas for Australians first. It's our gas, and it is crazy to me that we have some of the highest gas prices in the world as such a massive gas exporting country, and it's having such a damaging effect on families and businesses and industry. You know, over the last three years, gas prices are up 34%, Kieran. Electricity prices are up 32%, and that's driving people out of business. No wonder we've had 29,000 business failures, and it's putting pressure on families. All we're asking the gas industry to do is to divert a small proportion from their short-term contracts in that spot market into the domestic market. And in exchange for that, we're going to get better prices for Australians. We're also going to help the gas industries explore for more gas, move gas around more quickly, get approvals more quickly so they can continue to do that very important export earning for Australia.
KIERAN GILBERT:
How does it work though, because I know you've got the energy experts and the Minister tomorrow and the Shadow Minister, but I've had the industry say to me, look, the pipeline is full, so if you've gotta get the gas from Queensland to southern states, the pipelines are full. How do you get it there?
JAMES PATERSON:
They're right, Kieran, there are serious constraints on the gas infrastructure on the east coast. That's one of the reasons why we are setting aside $1 billion for gas infrastructure that is both about moving gas and storing gas, because there's also a shortage of storage of gas, particularly in my home state of Victoria. And a very serious risk this winter that there will be shortages of gas which for a state like Victoria would be an absolute disaster. So we're going to invest in the movement of gas. But we're also investing in the exploration of gas, and we want to find more gas reserves, and we want to exploit those reserves. We're going to speed up that approval process because I don't want Victoria forever to be reliant on Queensland gas being exported down the East Coast. I want Victoria to take advantage of the natural gas assets that it has.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Did Peter Dutton reset his campaign last night in the People's Forum? I know that you had the policy back flip, not always easy to execute. Do you think that he handled last night effectively to reset things?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, Kieran, first of all, I thought you did a great job as a moderator. It was a very civil discussion. It was great engagement with voters. And I think that's a really important part of our democracy, as you and others have said today, that we have our political leaders on the same level as the people that they're seeking support from, and they're hearing that feedback directly. I'm really proud of the job that Peter Dutton did last night. I think he used the opportunity to knock some Labor scare campaigns on the head, and particularly the despicable scare campaign that the Prime Minister has been running, which is based on a lie on Medicare. That blew up in the Prime Minister's own face when he waved around his Medicare card and claimed that everyone in the audience could get the health care they needed without a credit card, but was refuted by that member of the audience who said, actually, no, she used her credit card as well as her Medicare card to get the care that she and her family needed. So I thought that was a really important moment. I thought Peter Dutton's answer on energy in particular, nuclear power, was a strong answer. Labor's been running a scare campaign on that. Probably most importantly was the confronting scene, Kieran, when you asked people in the audience to raise their hand if they were struggling financially. I mean that is an indictment on our country. We are a great country, but Australians are suffering under this government, they're suffering under this Prime Minister, they are paying more for everything, and they're going backwards. And there is a better way and we can get our country back on track if we change our government in four weeks' time.
KIERAN GILBERT:
It was certainly jarring when we saw those hands go up. I've got to say it was confronting. And I think Mr. Dutton said something similar to see the wave of hands go up, and quite moving as well. Let's hope things can turn around ASAP when it comes to inflation and then the other costs associated with that. But that's going to be central to the debate tonight. Jim Chalmers is seen as the better communicator, I think it's fair to say. Is it a tough one for Angus Taylor? Is he up against it?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, Jim Chalmers is certainly a confident communicator. Sometimes I would even say he's a bit cocky and arrogant. And I think his view of the Australian economy and the Australian people's view of the Australian country couldn't be more different, couldn't be more stark. He's out there running victory laps, giving himself and the Prime Minister a pat on the back for the amazing job that they think they've done with the economy over the last three years. But meanwhile, the actual experience of Australians in the economy is that their living standards have been smashed. They've gone backwards more than any other developed country in the world, and more than at any other time in our history. An 8% reduction in real living standards for Australian families is a disastrous result and one that's come about because of the policies that Jim Chalmers has put in place. So we're very confident that Angus Taylor will have the opportunity to sell our positive message for getting our country back on track, for returning to the good, basic tools of economic management, of getting the budget back under control, of not wasting money, of putting downward pressure on inflation, not upward pressure on inflation, and managing our economy in a way that the Liberal Party always does.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Senator James Paterson, Coalition Campaign Spokesperson, we will stay in touch. Appreciate it.
JAMES PATERSON:
Thanks Kieran.
ENDS