Subjects: Visit to Bell Bay Aluminium, the Prime Minister’s $275 broken promise on electricity prices; cost of living pressures; ministerial appointments.
BRIDGET ARCHER
It’s great to be here in my hometown, at Bell Bay, here at Bell Bay Aluminium, with Leader Peter Dutton and Deputy Leader Sussan Ley, as well as colleagues Ted O’Brien and Susan McDonald.
We’ve just had a tour here of the facility, important industry here in Northern Tasmania and important, you know, for our leadership to come here and hear about the important work that’s being done here at Bell Bay Aluminium. Sussan, you might like to say something.
SUSSAN LEY
Well, many thanks, Bridget. Thank you for your strong representation of Northern Tasmania, along with colleagues in this part of Australia. I have really appreciated the opportunity to have a look through the facility. Bell Bay Aluminium has shown us the importance of this facility not just for manufacturing in Tasmania, but for jobs. Over 500 people employed here and with 35 per cent of the input costs of this facility being energy, energy price is critical, which is why Mr Albanese’s broken promise, the $275 reduction in the cost of electricity for households and businesses would really hit home here.
So, once again, thank you, Bridget. It’s terrific that the Shadow Cabinet is fanning out across Northern Tasmania and we’re talking to small businesses, we’re talking to industries, we’re talking to members of the community. We’re very busy for a couple of days and we really appreciate that opportunity to listen, to learn, to understand, and to be determined and focussed in our strong representation of your people.
Thank you.
PETER DUTTON
Thanks, Sussan. Thank you very much to Bridget, who’s just a fantastic local member, and she’s got an incredible reputation as a hard worker and somebody that stands up for her community and for Tasmania as well, and there’s no better example of that than here at Bell Bay.
I just want to say thank you very much to Leigh and to Lou for showing us around the site. It’s an incredible infrastructure and asset of the local community here. It, of course, employs hundreds of people directly, but about a thousand people indirectly. That’s why Bridget is such a big advocate of what happens here in this local community. We’re also going to have a chance to catch up with Gavin Pearce whilst we’re here in Tassie and many other businesses and business leaders and community leaders, and it’s part of our getting out of Canberra and listening to communities right across the country and to bring the Shadow Cabinet here to Launceston to hear about the local issues, to hear about the issues that are important to people.
They’re not talking about what’s happening in Canberra, they’re talking about the situation that’s facing their small business and the situation that’s facing their families and predominantly, that’s the issue of cost of living. There are very significant issues facing Australians and those issues will only compound over the next couple of years. What I worry about is that Labor is going to make a bad situation worse. As Sussan pointed out, Mr Albanese promised at the last election – on 15 separate occasions, including in Tasmania – that he would reduce the household electricity price by $275, and he’s now broken that promise, and he’s provided no explanation as to why he won’t honour the promise that he gave to the Australian public before they voted for him in May of this year. But it is going to have a detrimental impact on families, on their budgets and it comes at a time when their mortgage is increasing and when their grocery bill is going up and when their gas bill is going up and when they are paying more and more at the bowser as well. So they’re the issues that you hear from Australians on the ground and I’m looking forward to our engagement here in Tasmania, and I’m happy to take any questions.
JOURNALIST
Opposition Leader, former Home Affairs Minister, Karen Andrews has just called for Scott Morrison to resign from Parliament, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed he appointed himself to five additional portfolios between March 2020 and May 2021. Do you agree with her?
PETER DUTTON
Well, a couple of points in relation to this issue. Obviously, Scott Morrison’s made some comments on radio this morning and I’d just point you to those comments which put into context some of the decisions that he made when he was Prime Minister. Prime Minister Albanese has announced that he’s seeking advice from the Solicitor-General which he expects to get back on Monday and he’s announced this process that he’s put in place. So, I think frankly, it’s time for cooler heads to prevail. The Prime Minister’s come out of his holiday swinging and obviously, this is an issue that he’ll get his teeth into, but there are bigger issues that frankly the families of Australia are dealing with at the moment. So, let’s wait for the Prime Minister’s process and we haven’t seen the legal advice back from the Solicitor-General, but former Prime Minister Morrison has made comment this morning to put into context.
The Prime Minister is now no longer the Opposition Leader, he’s the Prime Minister – whose job is to lead this country, and normally these sorts of attacks, these individual attacks on members of parliament or on the other side are normally left to the head-kickers within the Labor Party, but the Prime Minister has rolled his sleeves up on this and he sees political advantage but at the time that he’s concentrating on this, he’s not explaining to the Australian public how it is that they’re going to be able to pay their bills. And they’re worried under this Government that the bad situation is being made worse by this Labor Government.
JOURNALIST
Will you be encouraging the former Prime Minister to resign?
PETER DUTTON
No, I won’t, and I’ve been clear in my comments yesterday where I dealt with this issue. When you look at the situation that we first faced in February or March of 2020 – I’d come back from the United States, and I was diagnosed with COVID a few days later – I was admitted to hospital at that stage, and I went into the infectious diseases ward like many other Australians did at the time. I spent about 27 or 28 days in isolation at the time, which was the norm for Australians. There was no vaccination, we were looking at significant deaths coming out of Europe and out of North America, and it was a very difficult situation. The NSC, at the time, was advised in relation to setting up morgues adjacent to public hospitals. We had done up plans within Home Affairs to deploy police and army personnel to turn people away from emergency departments. That was the context in which the former Prime Minister, as he explained this morning, made some of the judgments that he did, but, as I say, the Prime Minister sought legal advice. I think we’re better to wait for that legal advice before you make any decisions about what should occur next.
JOURNALIST
These calls for Scott Morrison to resign are coming from within your own party. Are you still comfortable with him being in the Party?
PETER DUTTON
Well, I’ve dealt with that issue…
JOURNALIST
Have you spoken to Scott Morrison [inaudible]…?
PETER DUTTON
I texted him yesterday. I haven’t spoken to him.
JOURNALIST
Should the public have been told about Scott Morrison’s initial [inaudible]?
PETER DUTTON
Well mate, yep look, I think I’ve answered that issue as well.
JOURNALIST
Do you at all expect they’ll be a by-election for Cook and would it be best for Scott Morrison to now move on?
PETER DUTTON
Well again, I’ve dealt with that issue. So, if there are any other issues about Tasmania, about…
JOURNALIST
Do you think the Australian public has been lied to throughout this? We heard Scott Morrison say on 2GB this morning that he doesn’t recall being sworn into any other portfolios. Is that a lie to the Australian public?
PETER DUTTON
No, and, as I said, the Prime Minister has sought legal advice. He gets that legal advice back Monday and there’s a process that’s in place. So, I think we should respect that process, and let’s see what the Prime Minister is able to advise next week.
JOURNALIST
Do you admit that there’s been a lack of transparency here?
PETER DUTTON
Well, I just think the Prime Minister has now set up a process. He’s asked for legal advice, and we should wait for that legal advice.
JOURNALIST
Is it conducive to a healthy democracy?
PETER DUTTON
Well, again, if you look at the way that Labor was describing the start of this pandemic, and the Liberal Party was describing this pandemic and leaders all over the world, it was a war-like situation, and there was concern about what would happen as the Prime Minister, as Prime Minister Morrison pointed out this morning, there was concern as to what would happen. I think I was the first case in the Cabinet at the time, and I was sent to hospital, and you know, people were on ventilators and people were dying at that stage, and that’s the context in which the Prime Minister at the time, Mr Morrison, made some of those decisions and that’s, as he’s explained it this morning. I wasn’t aware of the decisions, I wasn’t there for the decision making in that regard, and I think he’s made statements this morning that you can reflect on.
JOURNALIST
If you became Prime Minister, would you publicise additional portfolios?
PETER DUTTON
Well, I’m not getting into hypotheticals, and again, I think it’s very hard for anybody to speculate beyond what is publicly known now, and the Prime Minister has got a process set up, which I think is the appropriate thing to do and we’ll wait to hear back on that.
JOURNALIST
But, you’re in a position of power now as Opposition Leader, would you do the same thing?
PETER DUTTON
Well, I’m the Opposition Leader, right, and the joy of being the Opposition Leader is and I’m not in government. The Prime Minister’s announced a process, he’s waiting on that legal advice which they’ll get back next week.
JOURNALIST
But if you were the Prime Minister, would you condone it?
PETER DUTTON
I would wait for the legal advice.
JOURNALIST
Would you condone that if you were the Prime Minister?
PETER DUTTON
I would wait for the legal advice, which is what this Prime Minister’s commissioned, and we should wait for it to come back. But as I say, as I move around the country, I can tell you the number one issue that people are raising: it’s cost of living and people are really struggling with a combination of high mortgage payments, and higher electricity prices, and higher gas prices, and increasing prices right across their household budget – that’s what they’re dealing with.
JOURNALIST
When do you intend to speak to Scott Morrison about this?
PETER DUTTON
Well, I’ve texted with him yesterday, as I said, but I’ve made clear my situation during the course of this in the early stages and I detailed all of that yesterday.
JOURNALIST
Were you aware of any of these new appointments that have been outlined by the Prime Minister this morning…
PETER DUTTON
No, no, no.
JOURNALIST
Do you know if anyone else in the Party was aware of it aside from Greg Hunt and Keith Pitt?
PETER DUTTON
No I wasn’t, and no I don’t.
[ends]