Subjects: Dickson Seniors’ Expo; Dr Chalmers’ bizarre ‘look at moi’ Curtin Oration rant deflecting from his homegrown inflation and cost of living crisis; economic management; Labor’s ongoing visa and immigration policy shambles.
E&OE.
PETER DUTTON:
Thank you very much for being here today.
Well, firstly, welcome to the Dickson Seniors’ Expo. We expect about 2,000-plus people here today, and it’s really about trying to encourage local people to come out of their homes, and some people who don’t have friends, who don’t see their neighbours, who don’t have contact with a support network otherwise, have the opportunity to come down and look at all of the services that are available here.
We know that for older Australians at the moment, they really are doing it tough under this Government. Many people have raised with me this morning their concerns about cost of living for older Australians – but for every Australian: their power bills are going up, their gas bills are going up, their insurance premiums are going up, and we need to make sure that we can provide an alternative to that which we will do by the time of the next election, because Australians just can’t afford three more years of this Labor Government.
So, there are some wonderful people here today who give back to our local community, and I’m really pleased that we’ve been able to host this now for over 20 years, and it provides, I think, an invaluable service to our local constituents. It’s similar to some that operate around the country otherwise.
I’m happy to take any questions.
QUESTION:
The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has labelled you the ‘most divisive leader of a major political party in Australia’s modern history’. Are you?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, surely not, because there’s nothing that he can point to – apart from the fact that he wants to talk about everything but his failure in the economy.
Now, if Australians were doing it so well, and the economy was running as great as Jim Chalmers claims it is, why is he dedicating his speech to me? It seems when you have a look at the Labor Party at the moment, you’ve got Tony Burke saying, ‘look at me’, you’ve got Bill Shorten saying, ‘look at me’, you’ve now got Jim Chalmers saying, ‘look at me’, which is exactly what we saw in the Rudd-Gillard years.
People know that Anthony Albanese is a failed Prime Minister, he’s let our country down, he’s certainly let senior Australians down, and now we’ve got the alternate Prime Ministers in the Labor Party ranks who are positioning themselves if there is a change of leadership in Labor. That’s what’s going on here.
It’s one thing to be carrying on like Jim Chalmers is, but his job is to try and address the cost of living crisis. They’ve forced up inflation, which has driven up interest rates, and they’ve got an energy policy which is renewables only, and that’s driving up the cost of electricity and gas. Everyday Australians know that. When you go to the supermarket, you’re paying more for your groceries. When you get the premium for your insurance, it’s gone through the roof. When you look at your mortgage repayments, they’ve gone up 12 times under this Government.
So, I just don’t think the Government has anything positive to talk about. If they’re against the position I took in relation to the Voice, well, he’s calling millions of Australians – 60 per cent of Australians – ‘divisive’, if that’s what he’s saying.
I think it’s also important to point out that obviously the Prime Minister this morning in his comments, walked back some of what Jim Chalmers had to say. So, I think there is real internal friction within the Labor Party at the moment. I think that’s evidenced by the fact that Mr Albanese tried to distinguish himself right apart from what Mr Chalmers had to say. It shows the dynamic that’s going on in the Labor Party at the moment, because this is a Government where the wheels are falling off, and that’s obvious by Mr Chalmers’ comments.
QUESTION:
Mr Dutton, on the 37 per cent tax bracket that kicks in at $135,000, how much would it cost to abolish that, and why should that be spent – the savings – on higher income earners?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, as we’ve said all along, the Government’s wasting an enormous amount of money, and the Reserve Bank Governor has pointed out that by pumping $315 billion extra into the economy, that’s what’s driven up inflation. The Reserve Bank Governor has been very clear about Federal and State Government spending. So, we want to make sure that taxpayers’ money is spent efficiently. We want to make sure that people who work hard for their money, can get value when the Australian Government is spending that money on their behalf.
So, we’ll have a look at our policies in relation to tax, in relation to other issues which are important to Australians. We’ll have more to say about that in the run-up to the election.
QUESTION:
Well just further to that, what is the total cost of on-budget savings the Coalition aims to achieve, rather than just sort of cutting budget funds?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, again, where we find inefficiencies and we find waste, then we’re not going to proceed with that spending – and this is the point that the Reserve Bank Governor’s made.
Interest rates have gone down in the UK, interest rates have gone down in New Zealand, interest rates have gone down in Canada, they’re about to go down in the United States, and in Australia interest rates should already have come down, but they’re not coming down because we’ve got a bad Government, that, for three budgets now, have made decisions that have made it harder for Australians, not easier. That’s why inflation is sticky here and that’s why the Reserve Bank Governor is worried about interest rates and whether they’re going up or whether they’re staying where they are.
I want to see interest rates come down, but they won’t come down when you’ve got a bad Government, spending money against the advice of the Reserve Bank. As we know, inflation here is sticky compared to comparable economies and Australians are feeling that through their increased mortgage repayments that they’re making each month.
QUESTION:
Can you confirm that you want to take $100 billion worth of savings to the next election, and whether that’ll include axing Labor funds [inaudible]?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, again, we’ll have more to say about our policies in the run up to the election. But where we find waste, we will be identifying that waste because Australians work too hard for their taxes. Australians work hard and a lot of Australians are working two jobs or overtime at the moment because they’re worried about the cost of living under this Labor Government.
The Albanese Government’s created a cost of living crisis, the Albanese Government’s created an energy crisis, the Albanese Government has created a housing crisis, and the Reserve Bank Governor is saying don’t keep inflation higher for any longer than it needs to be. But the Government keeps pumping money into the economy and if they are wasting money, we’re not going to support those programmes. We’ll have more detail in relation to where we think there’s waste and where we can more efficiently spend money in the run-up to the election.
QUESTION:
Is the figure of $100 billion accurate?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we’ll have more to say in relation to the specific programmes, but, for example, the Government’s increased the public service by about 30,000 people in Canberra. We know that in Victoria that hasn’t worked, it’s just made upward pressure on taxes a reality for families in Victoria. We know in Queensland where the Labor Party has run out of money, that there’s just upward pressure on taxes. And we know that in New South Wales we’re going to see more debt accumulated now under a Labor Government.
The Labor Party can’t manage the economy. We saw it in the Northern Territory, where the Labor Party just didn’t listen to people about law and order, they didn’t listen to people about cost of living, and ultimately, Territorians delivered a verdict on a bad Labor Government there. I think many Australians are going to follow suit at the next federal election, because they’re just not happy with what Mr Albanese is doing.
QUESTION:
Some Palestinian Australians say the Opposition’s push to ban Palestinians from coming into Australia from Gaza until security checks are tightened is discriminatory and designed to incite fear and hatred. What’s your response to that?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I note the polling today which shows that the majority of Australians support proper checks being taken by the agencies. What’s happened here is that we’ve had a visas for votes scandal, which the Prime Minister is at the heart of – he’s the architect of it. Minister Giles, who’s now being sacked, was the person who implemented this programme, and Tony Burke who’s up to his neck in CFMEU allegations, is the person who’s presiding over it now. So, this is a Government that’s mired in controversy and Australians are paying the price for the incompetence of the Albanese Government.
There is a much better way. We can get our country back on track, and that’s exactly what I intend to do. But you can’t have a Government that continues to waste money, that continues to keep up inflation and therefore interest rates, and we can’t have a Government where a Prime Minister has made our country less safe and less secure because he wants to win votes in seats like those held by Mr Albanese, by Mr Burke, and by Mr Bowen. That’s just not acceptable.
QUESTION:
One final question on the 37 per cent tax bracket. How much of the proposed savings is coming from assumptions like lower inflation rates would mean less spent on pensions?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, again mate, we’ll have more to say in relation to our policies on tax, on immigration, on housing by the time of the next election. To answer your question properly, you need to see the PEFO figures, you need to see the MYEFO figures before that, depending on when the election is, and we need to get a better understanding of how much is in the bank. Under Labor, as we know, because they’ve got a spending problem, taxes always go up, and that’s the issue that they’ve got.
Alright? Thank you very much.
[ends]