Subjects: The Coalition’s commitment to developing the Greater South East Irrigation Scheme in Tasmania; Susie Bower – the hard working Liberal Party Candidate for Lyons; Tasmania at the upcoming federal election; US election results; Labor’s cost of living crisis; Labor’s continuing immigration detention and visa shambles; the Coalition’s plan to protect children from online harm; the Coalition’s plan to get our country back on track.
E&OE.
CLAIRE CHANDLER:
Thanks everyone for being here today at Littlewood Berry Farm. It’s been a real pleasure to be shown around the Strawberry Farm this morning by Sophie.
I have an office just up the road and I know just how important water and irrigation is to the local Coal Valley region. That’s why I’m so glad to be here today with my colleague and Leader, Peter Dutton, as well as our fabulous Liberal Lyons candidate, Susie Bower.
Peter, I might throw to you now to say a few words about what we’re announcing here today.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Claire, thank you very much.
Firstly to Sophie, I just want to say thank you very much to you and to your family for hosting us here. Thank you for what you do for the local economy and the innovation, the entrepreneurial nature, which is obvious when we were talking. You’ve got a number of lines of business operation here, and it’s a real credit.
I think family business across the country needs to be supported, and unfortunately at the moment, the Government is putting every roadblock in the way that’s possible.
I want to say thank you very much to Susie Bower for being here. Susie has been advocating for the announcement that we’re going to make today on the irrigation scheme. She understands and works hard for her local community, and I want to say Susie, to you, thank you very much, because I think it just reflects the fact that, you know your community, it means that you’re out there speaking to local residents and small businesses, farmers about the priorities here in your seat.
I also want to say thank you very much to the Acting Premier for being here today as well, and Jane, to you as well.
This is a really important project. The Greater South East Irrigation Scheme is going to make life easier for farmers, it’ll create jobs obviously in the hundreds for the construction, but ongoing as well, and farms become unviable, as we know, without a reliable water source.
So I announce today that a Coalition Government would put $150 million into this scheme. Perin Davey has put an enormous amount of work into this particular proposal. We know that the Government’s had two and a half years to do it and they just haven’t. So we announce today, in the full knowledge that it’s supported by farmers and by the local agricultural community, and I’m very proud of us being able to make this decision because it requires good economic management, but it’s also about listening to communities, and Susie certainly has done that.
So very happy to be here, and I’ll hand over now to the Acting Premier.
GUY BARNETT:
Well, thanks very much Peter. It’s really good to have you here. Senator Davey and Susie Bower, colleague and friend, has been such a strong advocate for the South East Irrigation Scheme, and congratulations Susie on your advocacy.
To Jane Howlett, my colleague and friend, Minister for Primary Industries and Water – such a strong advocate for this project.
We are absolutely delighted to be standing here today to welcome Peter Dutton’s announcement of support for $150 million that backs in our $75 million as a State Government and the $75 million of the farmers and irrigators that are backing this project in. We are ready to go. This is all about water as liquid gold. This is going to create jobs in the hundreds, not just in the building and construction, but ongoing. This will absolutely upsize the opportunities for our farmers, for our irrigators in terms of fruit and vegetables, in terms of the full range of berries, including cherries and of course our wineries and vineyards. This is opportunity galore as a result of this commitment today and we are backing it in.
We were very disappointed as a Government, when yet again, it did not and was not included in the federal budget recently. I have just today written again to the Federal Treasurer to indicate that we are seeking that support to meet that commitment. So Peter Dutton and the Coalition have stepped up and we are very, very grateful.
I want to say thank you to Peter. We worked together in the Federal Parliament during my time in the Senate. He’s true blue, he gets the job done, he’s such a hard worker and he absolutely knows and understands the importance of this sort of commitment to rural and regional Tasmania. And a very personal commitment to say, thank you again Susie, for your advocacy. You’ve been unrelenting in this, and likewise Jane Howlett, colleague and friend who understands this area so well, and particularly since being Minister for Primary Industries and Water, has just been relentless in her advocacy as well.
So we’re delighted with this announcement today. Water is liquid gold. It’s going to deliver jobs, growth, development opportunities galore all around south east Tasmania, but also across the state.
Thank you.
PERIN DAVEY:
Thank you very much.
What a delight to be here in Tasmania. What a beautiful part of the world – you are so lucky, but here in this valley it is one of the driest areas of this lovely little island. We know that to really realise the potential for this region, you need a secure water supply.
What we are announcing today, the federal contribution to this scheme – this isn’t a scheme that has been thought of overnight. This is a scheme that has been years in the planning, and for the Labor Government to again not include it in their budget this year, just goes to show their disdain for this area of Tasmania, but also for agriculture, and their failure to recognise the contribution that agriculture makes to our economy.
This valley is a $100 million agricultural production valley, and that will only grow if we can provide reliable, secure water, which is what our announcement will do.
The fact that Brian Mitchell, the current Labor Member for this area, did not fight harder for this project is absolutely reprehensible. The fact that the Federal Agriculture Minister, who is herself Tasmanian, did not fight harder for this project is reprehensible. The fact that the Liberal Tasmanian Government is 100 per cent behind this project should tell you how important this project is for Tasmania. It was such a pleasure to meet with Susie Bower when she came to Canberra, when she came in to see me to tell me how important this project is and what a difference it would make to this region, this valley, but also to the people of Hobart, because this project will actually get some of the farmers who are currently reliant on portable Hobart water to irrigate their crops, it will get them off the town water supply, it will free up that water for Hobart, but still give the farmers reliable and secure water so they can increase their production.
It is a win win win and I’m grateful for Susie for her advocacy and her fighting hard for a project that will make a difference to this region. Susie.
SUSIE BOWER:
Well, as you can tell, I am pretty excited about this announcement of $150 million to this area. My aim is and always will be, to deliver results for the people of Lyons.
I’m delighted that Peter and Perin have come here today because I personally know how much they value agriculture as a key industry for Lyons and for Tasmania. I also want to reassure our farmers that under a Dutton-led Coalition Government, we’ve got your back.
PETER DUTTON:
Well done Susie, thank you.
Okay, we’re happy to take some questions.
QUESTION:
For sure. Maybe firstly, if passed and elected and this comes to fruition, how quickly will the people on the ground be able to benefit from this?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, it’s obviously been around for a long time. We know that the Government’s been in power now for two and a half years, they’ve had two budgets and the local Labor Member has promised it, but never delivered it.
So the business study has been done, the advocacy is there now with Susie, and this is a project, as we know, that can get underway very quickly with the support of the State Government here, who understands the necessity for this water. These strawberries don’t grow without water, and I just think most farmers understand they need the security of that water.
The Prime Minister is happy to fund green projects in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne, but has not seen fit in two and a half years to fund this project.
Now, I predict that the Labor Party will come out and match this funding. You need to ask yourself the question: would it have happened without Susie Bower and her advocacy? I don’t think so because they’ve had two and a half years to do it, they haven’t done it, and what you do know is that in Susie Bower, you’ve got somebody who will fight day and night on behalf of the local community and deliver projects like this.
QUESTION:
How important will Lyons be to the Liberal Party at the next election, Mr Dutton?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, Lyons is a crucial seat for us. There’s no question about that. We have, in Susie Bower, a candidate who has demonstrated to the local community that she’s in touch, she’s a hard worker, she’s affable, and she will be a great representative of this local community in Canberra.
It’s essential that we win the seat of Lyons, and I believe very much that we can do that with Susie because she’s demonstrated herself to be somebody who works really hard locally.
QUESTION:
Will it be harder if former Labor Leader Rebecca White decides to stand?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I remember Peter Beattie running in a seat and he was a so-called ‘celebrity candidate’. But in the end, what people want is not somebody who’s in it for themselves, but somebody who is in it for the local community, and Susie is that candidate. She will fight for you day and night, and I think this announcement today demonstrates the effectiveness of her advocacy, of her passion for her community, and in the end, I believe very strongly that’s what the local residents will support. They will have somebody who will fight for them, not somebody who’s just in it because they’re looking after themselves.
QUESTION:
Are you confident that you’ll retain Bass and Braddon, given that Gavin Pearce is stepping down in Braddon?
PETER DUTTON:
I am, and I think, again, across Tasmania, the Coalition’s demonstrated at a state and federal level for some time now, that we have the ability to work hard, roll our sleeves up and deliver for Tasmanians.
I’ve been coming to – I think my first trip to Tasmania was as a 16 year old, which as you can tell is a long, long time ago. It’s great to be back here and I believe that we can win, and win well.
I think as we’ve seen, even out of the United States, we’ve been reminded, at least in the last week, that people will vote when issues are important to them.
The Government’s been distracted with the Voice, with the Makarrata Commission, with all sorts of other things and they just don’t have time for the issues that are most important to Australians, and in this case, to Tasmanians. That’s why we make this announcement today of $150 million, it will transform this community, it will keep it alive, and it will allow greater state domestic product to contribute to the services that are needed to keep Tasmanians with the policing, and with the roads, and with the hospitals that they deserve.
QUESTION:
Do you think you’ll have a chance in Clark and Franklin?
PETER DUTTON:
Well look, I think they are obviously tougher seats and I think it’ll depend on a retirement in Clark and what happens there. I suspect the people of Clark are looking to the next election, waiting to see what happens.
At the moment, today, we’re really concentrating on Susie and this is a fantastic announcement. I know that Sophie and others will be very happy with it.
QUESTION:
What are the lessons do you think the Liberals can learn from Trump’s victory?
PETER DUTTON:
Look, the US is a very different system than ours, there are different issues at play. I think what the Government’s demonstrated over the last two and a half years is that they’ve just got all the wrong priorities. The Prime Minister’s fighting on behalf of people in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne when he’s-really, I think, just discarded the desires of people in Lyons and elsewhere around the country. I think he’s lost that touch, and cost of living pressures that families are facing now are as a direct result of decisions that the Government’s made over the last couple of budgets, which have driven up inflation and kept interest rates higher for longer.
Interest rates have come down in the US, in Canada, in New Zealand, in the UK, they haven’t started to come down here and they should have. I want interest rates to come down as quickly as possible, but they won’t under a Labor Government. That’s what happened in the Hawke-Keating years, it’s what happened in the Rudd-Gillard years and I believe very strongly that we can get our country back on track and quickly, but I just don’t believe that Australians can afford three more years of a bad Albanese Government.
People will be asking themselves a question – and it’s a reasonable question to ask: are you better off today than you were at the time that Mr Albanese was elected? And how much worse will it get in three years time if he’s re-elected, particularly in a minority government?
QUESTION:
Will you mirror his strategy at the next election?
PETER DUTTON:
No, we’ll run our own campaign. I think some of the issues that have been a factor in the US, we’ve been talking about for a number of years here. Certainly cost of living, certainly interest rates, certainly migration because the Government has released over 200 hardened criminals from immigration detention when they didn’t need to do so. These are rapists and serial sex offenders, people that have committed multiple offences of domestic violence – but the Government’s released them into the community. So our country is less safe as a result of the decisions that the Albanese Government’s made and we are poorer as a community as well. I think they’re the issues that really will be front of mind for Australians at the next election.
QUESTION:
On safety, do you think Parliament’s a safe place to be given we’ve had 350, I think it was, incidents recorded including rape?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think a couple of points: one is that we’ve put in place a system which I think many people, including previous victims, have identified as being a very positive move. We’ve done that in concert with the Government and we’ll continue to make whatever improvements that we can because we want a safe working environment — not just in Parliament House, but in every workplace across the country.
QUESTION:
Many of those complaints were against Parliamentarians. Do MPs and Senators need to lift their game in the way that they behave with staff?
PETER DUTTON:
Well again, I mean sometimes there are circumstances where I mean look at the Treasurer’s workload around budget. I’m sure that in his office there’s a dynamic that gets pretty testy at times and there are different circumstances that can give rise to inappropriate conduct or behaviour.
The Deputy Prime Minister obviously has got an issue with a former chief of staff at the moment. All of these issues are to be dealt with by the independent umpire and I think that’s appropriate. People need to conduct themselves according to the law and according to the standards that the community would expect to be met.
QUESTION:
On the social media ban for kids under 16, will the Coalition support the Government in getting this legislation through Parliament this year, or will you ask a Senate committee to examine it first?
PETER DUTTON:
Well look, I think this is a great decision, but it’s come very late in this term. The Prime Minister’s now talking about this next year, but I think it needs to be in before kids go onto Christmas holidays and into the new year, when they’re sitting around on their devices.
These social media companies don’t care less about young Australians, let’s be very clear. They see them as a profit line. We have been talking about this for a long time, we’ve advocated for the Government to take a decision and to stop young impressionable minds under the age of 16 being exposed to some of the vulgar content online on social media.
The Government has finally taken a position last week, but they’re now talking about exemptions which we don’t support because that will just be another delaying tactic by the companies. We’ve been very clear about that, in fact, David Coleman and I wrote to the Prime Minister this week, and we have offered bipartisan support. The drafting should already be taking place. We’ve got two sitting weeks left, and I believe that we can pass this law by Christmas. It doesn’t need to be the case that the Government’s delaying because they haven’t had a Senate inquiry, or because they’re worried about Meta running a campaign against the Government.
Our responsibility is to act in the best interests of young Australians, and I want to make sure that we can do that. That’s why we’ve led this debate and it’s why I believe the Parliament can pass it by Christmas.
QUESTION:
The Tasmanian Government was saying that maybe 14 would have been a more appropriate age. Do you agree with that?
PETER DUTTON:
I think there’s been a discussion, obviously, between the Premiers and Chief Ministers and the Prime Minister. The position’s been arrived at. Sixteen is the age that we have been advocating for. I know Premier Malinauskus and others have been out doing that, and I think ultimately what all the Premiers have in common is a desire to protect young Australians from the evil content that they’re consuming online.
When we look at young people who are committing suicide, particularly young girls, but boys as well, when we look at the dissemination of pornographic material, I mean, we wouldn’t allow our kids to be exposed to that in a school environment, down at a local park, at a local shopping centre – why would we allow an environment where our kids are fully exposed to that online? My basic starting principle is that we should have the same rules apply online as they do in the real world. That’s just really a statement of common sense.
We need to act and I think the Albanese Government needs to stop stalling and start making decisions because they’re good at announcements, but they’re bad at follow through. I think Australians are feeling that in the hip pocket at the moment, but parents of teenage children also want to see the Government act and act quickly and that’s what we’re prepared to support.
QUESTION:
Adam Bandt yesterday said that you could become the Trump of Australia if you win the next federal election, or emulate his style. Do you think that’s a fair characterisation of you?
PETER DUTTON:
To be honest, I think the scariest thought after the next election is that Adam Bandt’s the effective Deputy Prime Minister of this country! The Greens lead a radical party. They’re antisemitic, they’re racist and they are in lockstep with the Labor Party.
We’ve just had a state election in Queensland, that’s the most recent example of the Greens and Labor working together. In one seat, the Liberal National Party preferenced the Labor Party ahead of the Greens, the Greens lost that seat and the Labor Party won it. In the second seat that the Greens held, the Labor Party preferenced the Greens ahead of the LNP, and the Greens have held that seat. So the hypocrisy from the Prime Minister in relation to the Greens, he shouts them down in one press conference and then takes their preferences and preferences them at the election.
So, I think Australians have a big choice to make at the next election. They can have a strong, stable, secure Coalition Government which will get our country back on track. We’re not going to be wound up in all of the Voice and Makarrata Commission and pronouns and all of this business. I want to make sure that families can afford to pay their bills, I want to make sure that people can keep the lights on, I want to make sure that pensioners and people on fixed incomes can afford to run their air conditioning when it’s hot and when it’s cold. I want to make sure that we can help families keep a roof over their head and that they can afford to pay their grocery bill.
The Albanese Government has put our country in a very precarious position and it’s not got as bad as it could. It’s going to get much worse under an Albanese Government, and that’s the decision really that people will face at the next election.
The Prime Minister can’t form a majority government after the next election – that much is clear. So we’re talking about a Labor Greens alliance Government, which as we know, as we’ve experienced in Tasmania, as we’ve seen in the ACT, it is a disaster for the economy. The Liberal National parties will always be better at managing the economy and that’s why interest rates will always be lower under a Coalition Government than they will be under a Labor Government.
Thank you very much.
[ends]