April 26, 2025
Transcript – Sky News Weekend Live
26 April 2025
E&OE
JAYNIE SEAL:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is open to increasing defence spending if he's re-elected next week. An interview in Today's Australian talks about the Prime Minister saying his government is prepared to increase the defence budget beyond the current level of 2.3 per cent of GDP. Joining us live is Shadow Home Affairs Minister Senator James Paterson. Senator, thank you very much for joining us. What are your thoughts on this, because it stops short of committing to a number?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, it's not even worth the paper it was printed on. The Prime Minister has the opportunity to commit more to defence spending in the budget every year and in every budget the Labor party has held since the last election, he's failed to do so. In fact, he's cut ADF capability, including infantry fighting vehicles, howitzers and Joint Strike Fighters, just at the time that we can't afford to be making cuts to the ADF. So he needs to put his money where his mouth is and actually promise real increases to defence spending, to match the strategic environment we find ourselves in. The Prime Minister himself has admitted that this is the most dangerous time since World War II, but he doesn't have the action or the follow through to match that rhetoric.
JAYNIE SEAL:
The article also talks about the Trump administration asking its allied nations to spend more than three percent of their GDP on defence and that's amid concerns of Russia advancing to expand its influence on the region. What can you tell us about that?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, the Coalition is committed to increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP within five years and to 3% of the GDP within ten years, but we're doing that for our own reasons in our own national interest and we're following the advice of people like Sir Angus Houston, a former Chief of the Defence Force who conducted the Defence Strategic Review for the Albanese Government and recommended a 3% spend, just like the former Labor leader and Defence Minister Kim Beazley has recommended. The only way you're going to get that spending, though, is under a Coalition government. You can't trust Labor to actually deliver it.
JAYNIE SEAL:
Senator, we're just getting some new information on the Daily Telegraph not long ago. It talks about opposition leader Peter Dutton's Dickson electorate office vandalised for the second time in just eight days. It talks about the vandals this time smashing the glass front door. What can you tell us, and what needs to be done here? Because again, we're just hearing more and more of this.
JAMES PATERSON:
Unfortunately, this is an increasingly frequent occurrence and not just targeting Peter's office, although his has been targeted a number of times, but targeting members of Parliament all around the country with graffiti and even more serious acts of violence. We saw one electorate office belonging to a Labor member firebombed in my home city of Melbourne. This is out of control, and it's totally unacceptable. Australia is a country that has had political violence free elections for almost all of our history. It's an incredibly rare event, and we want to keep it that way because if we have more acts of violence like this, it will change our political system fundamentally and forever in a way that I think we'll all regret. It's critical that the people who are responsible for this are identified, prosecuted, and held to account to the fullest extent possible under the law.
JAYNIE SEAL:
Protests at yesterday's ANZAC Day service in Melbourne are not likely to meet the criminal threshold under the Victorian anti-vilification laws. Do we need to change the laws?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, it was absolutely disgraceful conduct from someone to boo in the middle of an ANZAC Day ceremony. In my view, ANZAC Day is Australia's most sacred day. And if you come to an ANZAC Day ceremony, you should be respectful of the proceedings. And the idea that it's appropriate, whatever your opinion on other issues, to boo I think is disgraceful. Frankly, some of those people involved self-describe themselves as neo-Nazis. And the truth is, they would have been on the wrong side of World War II had they been around at the time. So they are the people whom we last need to take advice from on patriotism or on the law.
JAYNIE SEAL:
And the NRL cancelled the Welcome to Country at the Melbourne Storm and South Sydney Rabbitohs match last night. The Storm later came back with a statement saying that there was miscommunication for the cancellation. Is that excuse, if you want to call miscommunications, is that good enough?
JAMES PATERSON:
Look, it's really up to event organisers whether they want to have a Welcome to Country at their events. I think there are times when it is appropriate and it is welcome, and other times where you may not want to do it. It's really up to the NRL and the Storm to answer why, in this instance, they chose not to have one. But I certainly have no problem with it happening in an appropriate way.
JAYNIE SEAL:
All right. And Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke a couple of hours ago, saying that Australians will be better off with their government and certainly worse off with the Coalition, and they would be seven thousand two hundred dollars worse off, in fact, talking about the cost of living. Do you agree with that number?
JAMES PATERSON:
That's just a made-up number that the Prime Minister is using to try to scare people. It's not based on anything substantive or truthful; it is a baseless claim. It's another lie that the Prime Minister has told in his campaign, of many lies. In fact, our count as of a few days ago is he has told 76 lies in just over 20 days in this campaign so far, which is an absolutely extraordinary number. The truth is Australians know they've gone backwards on this Prime Minister's watch, despite the fact he promised three years ago they would be better off under Labor. So why would you think that the next three years under a re-elected Albanese government would be any better? I think you going to have grocery prices, electricity prices, gas prices, rent, and everything else go up in the next term, just as they have in this term, if this Prime Minister gets back in office.
JAYNIE SEAL:
He also spoke about insurance, Senator, on climate change as well. The Prime Minister mentioned that climate change is an economic and environmental issue. He also mentioned that Peter Dutton is oblivious to this. Peter Dutton has come out and said that he does believe in climate change. But do you think he's oblivious to the fact that it's an economic and environmental issue?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well it was interesting when the Prime Minister was asked that question, he had no proposal, no ideas, no policies at all to deal with the fact that insurance costs are up 35% over the last three years on his watch, and there are a number of things that have contributed to that. But one of the things that has contributed to that is the increase in crime on his watch. Now, particularly in my home state of Victoria, there's been record levels of crime committed over the last 12 months. And the flow on costs of that are not just for the victims, who have obviously very distressingly become victims of crime, but every person who pays insurance pays the cost of that because insurance companies have to pay out more people for their claims when they have their car stolen or their home invaded. So this Prime Minister's weakness on community safety, coupled with the weakness of state Labor governments like we have in my home state of Victoria, has cost all Australians significantly, and it will cost them even more if he gets back in.
JAYNIE SEAL:
He also said, finally, Senator, that he is pro-aspiration. What would you say to those comments?
JAMES PATERSON:
Well, I wish that was true, but on the Prime Minister's watch, aspiration has taken a massive hit. In fact, living standards of Australians are down 8% over the last three years. That's the worst in the developed world, and the worst is Australia's history. Australians are finding it even more difficult just to make ends meet, let alone aspire to more, and particularly the aspiration of home ownership has disappeared on his watch, and young people have lost hope that they'll ever be able to buy their own home. That's why the Coalition has a comprehensive plan to restore the dream of home-ownership and restore the dream of aspiration in this country, because every Australian should aspire to be better off than previous generations and for their kids to be better off than they are. But on this government's watch, they fear that that won't happen.
JAYNIE SEAL:
Shadow of Home Affairs, Senator James Paterson, thank you so much.
JAMES PATERSON:
Thank you.
ENDS