Subjects: Online safety roundtable with Eating Disorders Families Australia; the Coalition’s plan to protect children from online harm; Labor’s cost of living crisis; the Coalition’s plan to get our country back on track; Ambassador Rudd; election date speculation; US election outcomes; Labor’s Big Australia policy; PsiQuantum deal review; Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics infrastructure.
E&OE.
MAGGIE FORREST:
Good morning, I’m Maggie Forrest, the LNP candidate for Ryan. Today we heard about the devastating impacts of social media on kids’ mental health. As a mum, it’s something that I worry about and it’s something that families across Ryan raise with me all the time.
It was great to have the Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton and Shadow Communications Minister, David Coleman in Ryan today to meet with Eating Disorders Families Australia, to hear about the negative impacts of social media.
It was the Coalition that first proposed lifting the age limit to access social media to 16 and thankfully it will now become law – something I know Peter will talk more about today.
Thanks Peter.
PETER DUTTON:
Maggie, thank you very much. Thank you David, for being here as well.
Obviously, for every parent, their worst nightmare is to see their child unwell. We met this morning with some amazing mothers, mothers who have an experience that many Australians will face. We need more information, we need to destigmatize and we need there to be greater clarity around the issue of eating disorders.
We spoke to a mum who has lost her son only in January of this year – 14 years of age. It’s unthinkable, unspeakable, for any parent, and what many families are going through now, particularly around mental health issues, particularly around eating disorders, is something that we need to speak publicly and openly about. We need to understand the influence of social media, not just in this space, but in relation to many aspects of the lives of young, impressionable teenagers.
We’ve been talking for a long time about the need to have the rule of law apply online as it does in the real world. That’s the principle, really, that we’ve applied. If you have a child who’s online speaking to a paedophile, or being groomed by somebody online, it’s not something we would accept in the real world, obviously. So why would we tolerate an environment where that sort of conduct, that sort of behaviour is commonplace? The social media companies don’t have any interest in our children except seeing them as a profit line.
So we have been very serious in our call for the Government to increase the age to 16 – for children under the age of 16 not to be able to access TikTok, and insta, and other ways in which they’re communicating. I think it’s a common sense position that we’ve taken. It’s now been adopted by the Prime Minister and we believe it can be implemented by Christmas. We’ve got two sitting weeks coming up and we would encourage the Government to make sure that they continue the drafting process to get the bill into Parliament. David has extended an offer to the Government to work closely with them to review the legislation and ultimately to work in a bipartisan way to get that introduced as quickly as possible.
Just a couple of other issues: obviously, every Australian at the moment is struggling to pay their bills, not just your mortgage bill, but insurance bills. We know that the Treasurer now is blaming everybody else but the real problem here, and that is the Government.
We’ve had three budgets, they’ve made bad decisions which have kept inflation higher for longer in our country. Interest rates have started to go down in the US, in the UK, in Canada and in New Zealand, they haven’t gone down here and they should already have gone down. So it’s going to be a tough Christmas for a lot of families here in Australia.
If you think the first two and a half years of the Albanese Government have been bad, wait and see what will happen over the course of the next three years. If they re-elected in minority government with the Greens, it will only get harder for Australian families and small businesses.
There is a better way, there’s a better way to get our country back on track, and that will be the alternative that people have to decide on in the run up to, and at the next election.
I’ll ask David to say some comments and then I’m happy to take any questions you might have.
Thanks mate.
DAVID COLEMAN:
Thanks Peter, and good morning.
It was great to meet today with Eating Disorder Families Australia and some families who have been tragically affected by eating disorders. I want to in particular note the advocacy of Jane Rowan, the Executive Director of Eating Disorder Families Australia. For a long time, the organisation has been saying when it comes to social media; enough. Enough of social media damaging our kids, enough of social media leading to mental health conditions for our kids, and tragically, in the worst circumstances, enough of social media contributing to the death of Australian children.
EDFA has been outspoken on this for a long time and I thank them for their advocacy. It’s part of the reason why back in June, Peter Dutton and I committed that a Coalition Government within 100 days of taking office would legislate to create an age limit of 16 for social media. It’s the right thing to do, it’s been the right thing to do for a long time. We welcome the Prime Minister’s recent announcement that the Government now supports that, and we need to get it done.
So we need to see the legislation, we’ll work constructively with the Government to do that. We don’t want to see the opportunity for exemptions from the law for companies like Instagram, or TikTok, or Snapchat, or creating supposedly a safe version of those products because there’s no safe version of TikTok for children. That’s just a fact and we need to acknowledge that, but we need to see that legislation.
I also wanted to talk this morning about the Government’s Misinformation Bill. Now, we’ve seen in recent days some of Australia’s top experts come out and slam this appalling piece of legislation. This is one of the worst bills ever put forward by an Australian Government. It would have a chilling effect on free speech, it would mean that ultimately government regulators would decide what can be said and what can’t be said. It is completely unacceptable in a democracy, it has no place in this country and that’s why the Coalition has so strongly opposed this legislation and will continue to oppose this legislation, and we would call on the Senate to ensure that this legislation does not become law because it is completely incompatible with the great democracy that is, Australia, it should never have been put forward and it must not become law. Thank you.
QUESTION:
Is Mr Rudd’s position as Ambassador becoming untenable?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think it’s really a question for the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister made the appointment of Mr Rudd to a very important position and the Ambassador has to have a functional working relationship with the Administration – whether that’s a Democrat or Republican Administration – I think it’s really a question for the Prime Minister.
Of course it’s not just Mr Rudd, I mean we’re talking about Mr Albanese and Senator Wong and others in the Labor Party who have seen fit to criticise President-elect Trump and others, and again, it’s really a question for them.
QUESTION:
Would you prefer to see the federal election before, or after the Western Australian election?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, a couple of points: the Prime Minister’s now talking about a second term agenda. I don’t understand what the first term agenda is of the Albanese Government? I mean what has the Prime Minister achieved during this term of Parliament except making it harder for families to pay the bills, keeping inflation high – which means interest rates have stayed higher for longer than in comparable economies – the energy system is a train wreck in this country, the energy regulator’s talking about the lights going out, talking about power bills continuing to go up, and the Prime Minister’s out there talking about the second term agenda. The Government’s wasted $450 million on the Voice. I just don’t know what the first term agenda has been about and what have they achieved?
So, we’ve got six months of this term left, if the Prime Minister’s planning to go early in March, that’s at odds with what he’s said publicly before when he said he’ll go full term and now he’s trying to, it seems, do some tricky deal with the WA Premier to move their fixed term. I just don’t think the Prime Minister’s been open and honest, or transparent with the Australian public.
If there’s a secret discussion, or a deal going on with the WA Premier, I think the Prime Minister should be open about it because he’s looked the Australian public in the eye before and said that he’s going to go full term. If that’s not the case, then has it changed? And if so, why?
QUESTION:
Would you support moving the date of the WA election, as Roger Cook is looking at?
PETER DUTTON:
Well again, if the Prime Minister’s wanting to call an early election, he’s in all sorts of trouble. I think Jim Chalmers and Tony Burke and others would challenge him in a heartbeat. I think the Prime Minister’s standing continues to deteriorate so quickly. So maybe he wants an early election before there’s leadership chatter within the Labor Party. I don’t know, but let’s see some openness and some honesty and transparency. If the Prime Minister’s proposing to have an early election, which requires the March date in WA to be moved, then he needs to explain why.
QUESTION:
‘Morning Mr Dutton, what inspiration do you draw from Trump’s win?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think a couple of points that I’d make in relation to the US outcome. One is that it’s clear that families in the US are hurting under higher inflation and unsurprisingly, that’s exactly what’s happening in our country.
Secondly, I think incumbent Governments that don’t read the room and don’t understand the priorities that people have will be punished for it.
The Albanese Government has got themselves into all sorts of a problem and a muddle at the moment, because they’ve made bad decisions early in this term. They knew that there was going to be an inflationary concern off the back of COVID, and they did nothing to prepare for it. The Reserve Bank Governor here should be listened to. Constantly she’s warned the Albanese Government that if the reckless spending continues, then interest rates will go up.
We saw the Government announcing a $16 billion programme to cut back some of the debt that people have got that have university degrees, but the fact is that every other Australian is going to pay for that. $16 billion just doesn’t materialise. It’s paid for by someone and it’s going to be tradies and it’s going to be workers at the moment who’ll face higher taxes under this Government.
So I think there are a number of lessons, but ultimately what we’ve got to be interested in is what’s important and what is the priority of Australian citizens. I think at the moment cost of living, and housing, and grocery costs and energy costs – I think they’re topping the charts for concerns of Australians.
QUESTION:
Mr Dutton, Senator McKenzie said the view that migration is good for the economy has ‘snapped’, do you agree with those comments? Has the migration made daily lives worse for Australians?
PETER DUTTON:
I’d make this point in relation to migration numbers: the Government’s brought in about a million people over two years, we’ve only built 350,000 homes over that period in this country, and so the Government has created a housing crisis. There was certainly a housing problem and supply issues and the CFMEU and building costs, etc., etc, that all contributed to a difficult scenario, but when you bring in a million people over two years and you don’t plan for it, it creates social tension, it creates the supply issues that we’ve seen and big demand obviously for housing, at the same time that we’ve had an 11 year low of construction starts in this country.
So yes, I mean the Albanese Government has made a mess. The Government’s proposing to bring in – over a five year period – 1.67 million people, which is the size of the city of Adelaide, but we don’t have new trains coming online, we don’t have an expansion of our highways, we don’t have new schools being built to keep up with that population growth. The Prime Minister keeps promising that the population numbers will come down, but instead, as we see each time these numbers are reported, they go up. I just think it’s another example of poor management of the Albanese Government.
QUESTION:
Would you prioritise preparing for that influx, or cutting the influx?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think we should, as a very proud migrant nation, firstly celebrate the amazing contribution to our country since migration started in this country. That’s the first point. But as every migrant family will tell you, that they want a home for their 18 year old one day, they want to make sure that they’ve got a place at school and they want to make sure that there’s proper planning for housing and medical services, etc., in their local community.
I just don’t think the Government can continue to ignore Australians on the issue of migration, or housing, or energy, or economic policy, otherwise.
QUESTION:
The new State Government’s threatening to pull out of its 50 per cent share from the PsiQuantum computing project, which is 50 per cent federal. What are you to make of that, the threat of that?
PETER DUTTON:
Well look, I mean, what you know of Labor and their economic management – you’re seeing it in Victoria at the moment as well – I mean the Labor Government in Victoria is killing the Victorian economy and it’s a tragedy for a great state like Victoria to be at the hands of complete incompetence – but we saw it here in Queensland in recent months.
The Labor Government here giving out all sorts of sweeteners to try and buy votes. Ultimately, as the Reserve Bank Governor points out, all of that leads to higher interest rates. So if you’ve got state owned petrol stations, if you’ve got non-commercial agreements having been entered into without proper governance arrangements, or considerations of what the tail, or the legacy liability will be for the state economy, well, I mean it’s all a recipe for disaster.
I think what the new Premier here in Queensland has demonstrated is that a Liberal National Party has in our DNA the ability to manage the economy, the ability to make decisions which are economically prudent, and ultimately, I think which will put downward pressure on interest rates, which is why interest rates will always be cheaper under a Coalition Government than what they are under a Labor Administration.
QUESTION:
Are you making plans to try and meet Donald Trump in person?
PETER DUTTON:
No.
QUESTION:
Can we expect to see more of you here in the seat of Ryan in Brisbane ahead of the federal election?
PETER DUTTON:
You can expect to see a lot of me here. Maggie’s an amazing candidate and I’ve been to Ryan on a number of occasions, and I think as people see with Maggie Forrest, she’s not only accomplished professionally, she’s a mum with a young family trying to balance work and her commitments at home.
I’ve known Maggie for a long period of time, and I know that she’s working hard in the local community and she won’t be a part time Member. She doesn’t have the radical ideas and ideology of the local Greens Federal Member. I think, frankly, as we’re seeing in the state election and as we’ve seen in recent polling, people are now starting to understand that the Greens…it’s just a facade. It’s a nice green entrance to the shop and when you go inside it’s a house of horrors. They’ve got all sorts of madness in their policy arsenal and I just don’t think they have a connection with everyday Australians.
I think people in Ryan, in Brisbane and elsewhere, will be voting for the Coalition at the next election because they want to get our country back on track. They want to make sure that we don’t experience another two and a half years like we’ve experienced in the last two and a half years where families have gone backwards. I just don’t think any Australian can say that they’re better off today than they were two and a half years ago, and imagine how bad it will be in two and a half or three years time if the Albanese Government’s re-elected.
QUESTION:
Mr Dutton, Sir, do you think Australia will be exempt from Mr Trump’s trade war?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, the point I’d make is that when we were in Government we were able to negotiate with the Trump Administration an exemption from tariffs that were being applied at that time.
Now, the onus will be on the Prime Minister to negotiate a similar outcome with the Trump Administration, and that will be a question for him as to whether or not they’re able to craft that.
I think it’s obvious that America has charted a different course now, and the Government here needs to course correct and make sure that they’re working with and not against our most important ally. The Prime Minister says that we live in the most precarious period since the Second World War. We need to have a very strong and trusted relationship with our Five Eyes partners, including the United States.
QUESTION:
Just on the PsiQuantum sorry again, do you support the review or are you concerned that there might be wasted money there?
PETER DUTTON:
Well look, if taxpayers’ money is being wasted, I’m against it. If the Government has unearthed an issue where there was poor governance there, question marks about lobbyists, who was influenced, what is Jim Chalmers’ involvement? What did the Albanese Government know? These are all reasonable questions that should be asked because we’re talking about half $1 billion of taxpayers’ money. That’s money that could be provided to health causes, it could be provided, as we were talking this morning, about greater awareness in general practice and the diagnosis and management of eating disorders. I mean there are many things that that that money could be properly spent on.
If that contract’s been inappropriately entered into, then I think it’s right for the Crisafulli Government to properly examine that decision of the Miles Government, because ultimately we want, where people are working harder than ever under this Government to put money in the bank, and where their bills are going up and up and up, we want to make sure that there’s not higher pressure on taxes because so much money is being wasted.
QUESTION:
So should Mr Rudd be recalled?
PETER DUTTON:
I think I dealt with that before.
QUESTION:
Just on Minister King’s comments about the Olympics. She says that the review will lead to cost blow-outs and delays. Do you agree with those comments?
PETER DUTTON:
Where has Minister King been over the last couple of years when we’ve had the QSAC proposal, you’ve had the Gabba thought bubble, they looked at Victoria Park and then ruled it out, maybe they could, but probably they won’t. Where was Minister King in all of this? It shows the double standard that Labor Ministers have.
She should have been calling out the hapless and hopeless Miles Government long before the election, but of course she wouldn’t do that, and I think Queenslanders have suffered because of the incompetence of the Albanese Government yet again.
Alright. Thank you very much. Thank you.
[ends]