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April 13, 2025
Transcript – Sky News Sunday Agenda
13 April 2025
E&OE
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Joining me live from Sydney now is the Coalition Campaign Spokesman and Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson. James Paterson, thanks for your time. I think I have to start on a few things that Richard Marles just said, the Deputy Prime Minister. He said Andrew Hastie isn't fit to be Defence Minister because of his comments on women in combat. He said that Peter Dutton is saying that there have been $80 billion worth of defence cuts, and this is a lie. He's accused Peter Dutton of being a liar. What do you make of all that?
JAMES PATERSON:
Where to begin, Andrew? If I was Richard Marles, I wouldn't be lecturing Andrew Hastie about his service to our country. Andrew Hastie has actually served in combat, actually served on the front line, actually knows what it's like to put on a uniform for this country. Richard Marles hasn't done any of that, nor have I, but nor would I be criticising people who have. Andrew Hastie will be an outstanding Defence Minister under a Dutton Coalition government, should we have that honour, because he will deal with the disaster that has unfolded on Richard Marles' watch. I mean, Richard Marles can't even manage a life-of-type extension of the Collins-class submarines, which could open a very dangerous capability gap for Australia before the Virginia-class submarines are transferred to us under AUKUS. And the truth is, there are $80 billion of cuts and delays under their reprioritisation of the integrated investment plan under Defence. And the reason for that is they are funding future capability under AUKUS from current money today, and that means they are cutting capability that we could actually receive in the next few years to deliver AUKUS, instead of increasing defence spending today, to both deliver AUKUS and deliver the capability that we need. These are things like infantry fighting vehicles, howitzers and other critical capabilities that this government has cut.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Well, they say you're hiding, Andrew Hastie. And I do have to ask, where is this defence policy? There are only three weeks to go. Voting starts on Tuesday. Peter Dutton is saying that, you know, increasing defence spending is one of the key things of his policy platform. Where is it, James Paterson?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, Andrew Hastie stood beside Peter Dutton just a week ago in Darwin to announce our plan to take back control of a critical strategic asset. When Anthony Albanese turned up to Darwin a few days ago, he had nothing to offer the people of Darwin or the people of Australia. He's got no plan to take control of the Port of Darwin, despite dialling in on a late Friday afternoon call to ABC to try and claim that he did. So we won't be taking any lectures from the Labor Party on that. There's not long to wait for our defence policy announcements, but we have made it very clear already that we will increase defence spending because Labor is not meeting the challenge of the moment. They say this is the most dangerous time that Australia has faced since the end of World War II, but their actions don't match it. They've kept defence spending low when it needs to increase. We've already said, for example, we'll spend at least $3 billion on an extra squadron of F-35 fighter jets because they are the most advanced platform in the world today in that domain, and we need more of them to prevent conflict in our region through deterrence.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Well, let's talk about your tax cut announcement in the papers ahead of this launch today. Is this about countering Labor's tax cut, and how long have you planned this announcement for?
JAMES PATERSON:
Andrew, I nearly fell off my chair when I heard Richard Marles criticise our tax offset, a cost of living tax cut, on the basis that it wasn't going to arrive soon enough. Well, first of all, people are going to get a benefit from Day 1 of the Dutton Coalition Government.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Well, I did pull him up on that.
JAMES PATERSON:
You did, well done. But it was an extraordinary claim from a guy who's offering 70 cents a day in 15 months' time. And of course, we're also offering a petrol and diesel tax cut from the beginning of our government, as soon as that can be legislated, which will see people $14 better off every time they fill up their tank. That's up to $1,500 a year for a family. But secondly, the same time that you'll start to receive 70 cents today under a re-elected Albanese Labor Government, you could receive a tax offset from a Coalition government of $1,200, up to $1,200. That is the real relief that Australians need. What we're offering is immediate relief and a long-term plan to restore the standard of living that Australians used to enjoy in this country before the Albanese Government did so much harm to it.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
This does nothing to address bracket creep for higher income earners who you promised to help after the government's stage 3 rejig though, does it?
JAMES PATERSON:
We want to look to address that in time, but the truth is, with the damage that Labor has done to the budget with their $425 billion of additional spending over the last three years, that is going to take time. We are committed to tax reform. We are committed to addressing bracket creep, but our priority early on is to provide immediate relief for Australians who are struggling right now. We'll do that in terms of the petrol and diesel tax cut. We will also do that, in terms of the cost of living tax offset, and over time, we'll look to address those structural issues that have got much worse on Labor's watch. I mean, Richard Marles said when he came to office that there were deficits as far as the eye can see. Well, nothing's changed; there are deficits as far as the eye can see now as well. $1.2 trillion of debt is going to be racked up on this government's watch on the trajectory they planned in their budget only a few weeks ago.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
But is this something you've only come up with in recent weeks, the tax offset policy?
JAMES PATERSON:
We've been considering a range of tax policies over the last few months. We've always had a menu of options to choose from. We've settled on this one because we think it provides the immediate relief that Australians are crying out for. There are Australians who have run up enormous credit card bills over the past three years because they've had to cover the cost of a 30% increase in grocery prices, a 32% increase in electricity prices, a 34% increase in gas prices. Rents are up, insurance is up, everything is up under this government's watch, and they are suffering under that financial burden, and we want to help relieve it. We can't fix all the mess that Labor has done over the last three years, but we want to make a significant contribution to restoring the financial position of Australians with this cost-of-living tax offset.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
What do you make of the government's plans to build homes exclusively for first home buyers? Will we see a first home buyer's policy from you today?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, this is more failed policy from a government that hasn't delivered a single home under its signature housing policies. Their Housing Australia Future Fund hasn't delivered one new home, despite promising to do so, and it was reported yesterday it will need a taxpayer-funded bailout just to stay solvent. I mean, this is how bad things have got on this government's watch. They've said over five years, they're going to build 1.2 million homes, but independent industry estimates are very clear they'll fall around 400,000 homes short of that. So, no Australian should have any confidence that this government is going to do any better in its second term on housing affordability than it has in its first term. And yes, we will have more to say about support for first home buyers very soon.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Today?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, you will just have to wait and see, Andrew, but of course we've outlined a lot in this space already. We're going to take pressure off demand by reducing migration and banning foreign investors from buying homes for two years. We're going to reform the building industry, which Labor cannot do, by deregistering the CFMEU and introducing new laws to deal with the lawlessness and corruption that has flourished in that industry under Labor's watch. We're getting to deliver a $5 billion fund to fund the infrastructure that's necessary to unlock private development of over 500,000 homes over the next few years, and we will, of course, have policies already to support first home buyers, including allowing them to access their own superannuation to meet their deposit.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
And more today. Now what do you make of this promise by Labor to guarantee loans for first home buyers if they have a 5% deposit?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, of course, the Home Guarantee Scheme is a Coalition government initiative. It was introduced in 2020 under the former government. And all this government has done is to tinker with it a little bit. They also have this so-called Help to Buy Scheme, but it hasn't helped anyone to buy over the last three years because it hasn't even started yet. That's one of the reasons why housing has become so much more unaffordable on Labor's watch. House prices are up, rents are up. And of course, this is a government that's brought in more than a million people on their watch while not building the homes to accommodate them. So it's no wonder we have a housing crisis, it's no wonder that this government is unable to address it, and the only way we can address it is by voting Liberal and National in three weeks' time to get our country back on track.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Well, speaking of which, we've got just under three weeks until polling day and Labor is now at a $1.26 to win the election. What's gone wrong for the Coalition in this campaign? Why has the Opposition waited so long to release policy? Do you think you have enough time to sell your policies now?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, one thing I do agree with Richard Marles on is that this election is close and it will be close, it will come down to a handful of seats, and we've got three weeks to go. Many Australians out there have not tuned into the election yet because they're busy in their own lives and they've got other priorities. But as they tune in over the coming weeks, I think they'll find that there's a very significant policy agenda from the opposition that will deliver immediate relief on the cost of living pressures that they're facing and includes a long-term plan to get inflation under control, to start building homes in this country again to make our communities safe. And I think when they hear that message, I think they'll be very receptive to it and increasingly support the Coalition.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
You've had some hiccups with candidates. The latest is your Bennelong candidate handing out lollies to children outside a school. The PM launched into that yesterday. What's your view on that? And another hiccup has been revelations this Victorian candidate for Wills got done for obtaining financial deception. Has there been any thought of letting him go?
JAMES PATERSON:
I'm really proud of the outstanding candidates we've chosen all around the country, including Scott Yung in Bennelong. He is an outstanding candidate. He's working very hard to represent his community, and we certainly won't be taking any lectures from the party of Jerome Laxale. We know what he got up to in the lead-up to the last election. If it's a question of character, I back Scott Yung any day of the week. The reality is that people in Bennelong and around the country have suffered under Labor's watch. They've gone backwards, worse than any other country in the OECD, worse ever in Australia's history.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
First of all, can you clarify what you're talking about in relation to Jerome Laxale? And second of all, do you see no problem with the handing out of the lollies?
JAMES PATERSON:
It's been widely reported in the media the issues with Jerome Laxale and his conduct, and you're well familiar with that, Andrew. I'll leave you and your viewers to Google that and get to the bottom of his behaviour, which hasn't been properly accounted for. But Scott Yung is an outstanding candidate, we're very proud of him, we back him every step of the way in Bennelong. And if the people of Bennelong vote for Scott Young and the Liberal Party they will get our country back on track, they'll get the immediate financial relief that they need, they will the long term plan our country needs to get inflation and cost of living under control to make their lives easier.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
I just want to bring you back to this point, so the principal complained. Do you think Scott Yung maybe made a little bit of a mistake?
JAMES PATERSON:
I think it was a completely well intentioned, innocent thing to do; it's actually quite routine for politicians in the lead up to Easter to set up street stalls and hand out Easter eggs to kids. I think politicians on both sides of the aisle do that, but what I'm really concerned about is the state of our country, Andrew. We have got completely off track on this government's watch; there is a better way, we have a better plan.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
And in relation to this candidate from Wills, does he have any concerns? Do you have concerns about him, or are you backing him one hundred percent?
JAMES PATERSON:
Look, I've seen the reporting in the media; I'm not familiar with the allegations. We stand by all of our candidates, we're backing them all the way, and if you vote Liberal and National at this election, we will get our country back on track.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Alright, well let me ask you about Ben Britton, that's not ideal, his departure, is it? Is he someone you know, has he worked as an advisor for you previously and what do you think of him being ejected as a candidate?
JAMES PATERSON:
No, Mr. Britton has never worked for me in any capacity, and the issues reported in the media about his candidacy are just some of the issues that were identified by the party that didn't come up through the applicant review process, that weren't disclosed appropriately as they should be. We've moved on, we've got a much better candidate now in Whitlam who will help get our country back on track with our strong plan to return our economy to the strength it was under the previous government.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
So he never worked as a voluntary advisor or anything of that nature for you.
JAMES PATERSON:
No, never.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
I want to play this, your Government Efficiency Spokeswoman Jacinta Price said yesterday.
[CLIP START]
JACINTA PRICE:
I'm so proud to be able to stand beside and to ensure that we can make Australia great again, that we bring Australia back to its former glory, that we get Australia back on track.
[CLIP ENDS]
ANDREW CLENNELL:
It's widely acknowledged that Donald Trump and comparisons between Peter Dutton and Donald Trump, which I assume you would say are unfair, have hurt your campaign. That comment wasn't very helpful from Jacinta Price, was it?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well Andrew, I believe Australia is the greatest country in the world but we certainly don't have the best government in the world. And we will not get back on track if the Albanese Labor government is re-elected, particularly if they're re- elected in a hung parliament in a minority government and they have to enter into a coalition with Adam Bandt and the Greens who are extreme and the Teals who've got no idea what they stand for and have no plans for the future of our country. I think that would leave Australia weaker and worse off. I think what we need is a strong Coalition government led by Peter Dutton and David Littleproud, that has the plans that we need to give the immediate financial relief that Australians need and the long-term plan to get the cost of living under control.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Are you hoping to make Australia great again?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, that's not my style of politics, Andrew. What we're focused on is the damage that's been done to our country over the last three years and the fall in living standards that's occurred on Labor's watch. We've fallen more than any other country in the OECD. We've fallen more than in our country's history ever before. Australians are 8% worse off in terms of their living standards than they were when this government was elected. And Anthony Albanese promised they'd be better off. He even promised cheaper mortgages, Andrew. I don't know how many people you've met over the past three years who have cheaper mortgages on Anthony Albanese's watch.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Just finally, on public servants, you revealed last week some detail of the plan that you were hoping to use voluntary redundancies to cut the 41,000 or so to take it to COVID levels or pre-COVID levels. Over how many years can you achieve those, do you think, and would any of the cuts be in your own Department of Home Affairs?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, Andrew, we've been really clear about this. The 41,000 extra public servants that Labor has hired in just three years is far more than even the Rudd and Gillard governments did in six years, and that was not a particularly fiscally prudent government. And Australians are not better off for those extra public servants that this government has hired. We will put in place a hiring freeze, and we believe that the vast majority of that reduction will happen through natural attrition. What we have ruled out is any forced redundancies, that will not be necessary. But if it is necessary, we will offer voluntary redundancies, and there's nothing unusual about that. Federal and state governments, as well as the private sector, offer voluntary redundancies all the time to manage their workforce.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Sure, over how many years, how many years?
JAMES PATERSON:
I'll get to that. The key about them, though, is they're voluntary. We've set a target of achieving that over five years, the 41,000. And natural nutrition's actually quite high in the public service. So if people leave the public services in non-frontline roles…
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Okay, any in Home Affairs?
JAMES PATERSON:
No one in any frontline role or any national security role…
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Mr. Paterson, any in Home Affairs?
JAMES PATERSON:
I'm answering that question if you listen, Andrew. No one in any frontline service delivery role, no one in the ADF and no one in any national security positions will be allowed to leave without being replaced. They will be replaced.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Mr. Paterson, thanks. Sorry, that last bit was just a bit of a delay, I think.
JAMES PATERSON:
Thanks, Andrew.
ENDS