Subjects: Visit to the Gold Coast; youth crime; politics.
E&OE
HOST:
We don’t often get the opportunity to have access to the most senior ranking politicians in the country, but we do this morning and we’re very grateful. Peter Dutton, thank you very much for joining us. You’re the leader of the LNP, also the Leader of the Opposition. They are the same thing at the moment. You’re a former police officer, which I’m thrilled about, to be honest. If you watch Nine Local News or Channel Seven Local News, the first three stories are always crime and usually youth related. We are having a huge homeless problem. Those two things are not unrelated.
HOST:
Thanks for coming to the show. G’day.
HOST:
How would you, as our alternative Prime Minister, deal with youth crime in this area?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, guys, firstly, thanks for having me on the show. I think it’s one of the huge issues that we need to deal with. I think there’s a lot of frustration when you speak to the police about just the way in which they’re dealing with the same offenders over and over and over again. A big part of the failing, I think, is in the justice system where it seems there’s little or no consequence for some of these actions.
You know with your own kids if they believe they can push the boundaries and get away with things and there’s no consequence, they’ll keep doing it. I think part of the problem now, too, is that it’s more escalated by the fact that it seems that the trophy is the photo on Insta or the likes that you get – the way that that gives you acceptance into your gang or into that social network group, and the overlay of social media now, I think, makes it even more dangerous and even more difficult to deal with.
HOST:
So, what do we do?
PETER DUTTON:
I think the social media companies, frankly, have got a huge responsibility here. I think the courts have to come down harder, and I think the police need to be given the additional resources that they need to do it. It was a long time ago since I was a policeman, but the break-and-enters were largely drug-related – people trying to get money for drugs. Now, I think they’re trying to get the photo of the car with the speedo at180kms or the Louis Vuitton handbag or whatever it might be. That is all about the photo on social media. So, a different dynamic. But the social media companies, you know, if you start googling holiday on the Gold Coast or whatever, you are bombarded with ads for days and days after and they’ve got the algorithms and the AI now to be able to take those photos down very quickly and starve the kids of that trophy moment.
HOST:
Couldn’t agree more.
HOST:
I love that. Great.
HOST:
Peter, I actually was driving to work last week – early, obviously, early hours of the morning – and I caught Luke Bona, our overnight announcer, and he was conducting an interview. It was with you, but I didn’t know who he was speaking to because I’d missed the start of the interview, and I thought, ‘who is this?’. They’re speaking so passionately and eloquently about youth crime. And obviously, yes, you had a decade in the police force. Do you ever regret leaving and getting into politics?
PETER DUTTON:
Most days! Most days in this present job! And in those days you had to do 2.4kms was part of the entry test to get into the academy, and you had to do it under a certain time. So, when I’m at the gym now, I always do 2.4 just thinking, you know…
HOST:
Would you get in?
PETER DUTTON:
…if things go bad…
HOST:
Want to get in?!
PETER DUTTON:
I’d have no hope of getting in. The first hundred metres I’d be okay and then I’ll be puffing and panting after that. So no, look, I had a great career. I’ve still got great mates and I just I really feel for police today because they’re kitting up like they’re going into a war zone each day. The prevalence of knives, the lack of respect and, as I say, the frustration of all of the work, dealing with the victims of crime, taking those statements, attending the crime scenes, and then they get into court and somebody gets a slap on the wrist or they’ve committed the same crime ten times and there’s a minimal sentence, and as I say, no penalty and very limited regard for the victims.
I think the way in which the pendulum has now swung in favour of the offender away from the victim, a lot of people are scared about leaving their keys in a place or they’re changing their behaviours – leaving the keys in a place if the house gets broken into that people won’t come into the bedroom. That’s not how our country should work and how we should live our lives. We shouldn’t be dictated to by the conduct and the behaviour of criminals. So, I think there’s a huge community debate to be had and I think people should be free in speaking their mind.
HOST:
Now you’ve got a long road ahead to become our next Prime Minister. I thought, you know what, I’ll put my mind up, politics isn’t probably my strong suit, just to let you know, Pete.
HOST:
What? I can’t believe that.
HOST:
No. I’ll be honest. But I thought, you know what, there’s three things that could get the Aussie public absolutely on your side.
HOST:
Oh, here we go.
HOST:
No. I’ve been thinking about this. One: don’t give us the Latham handshake. You know, just when you’re kissing babies and handshake, don’t try and shake them up and down like they’re a sauce bottle.
PETER DUTTON:
That’s good advice.
HOST:
Yep. Number two: if you can’t bowl in cricket, don’t bother bowling at all because Aussies love their sport and you’re a bit of a golfer, you go out once a year and hit them sideways.
PETER DUTTON:
And hit them sideways! Everywhere but straight, yeah.
HOST:
And I reckon the number one point to get every Aussie onboard – well most Aussies onboard – I think you’d better have a crack at the yard glass and try and beat Bobby Hawke’s record.
PETER DUTTON:
Spida, that is great advice.
HOST:
You should fill it with bourbon, though.
PETER DUTTON:
What I was thinking before – because I was just out in the anteroom and I saw the beer garden out the back – and I thought I’d come in the wrong shift here! It looks like a great, great spot. So mate, it’s good advice. I’ll take it up.
HOST:
Can we get in a one word answer from you just to finish off, because to us, being a politician seems like just a constant world of hurt – not a lot of sunshine poking through the clouds – so why do you do it? Do you do it for the pay? The power? The prestige? Or are you a glutton for punishment?
PETER DUTTON:
I think it must be the last one. Look, there’s an incredible sense of satisfaction you get out of helping people, quite genuinely, and people who come to you in tears with different issues, different law and order matters that we’ve worked on over the years. The Kennedy family. Remember Faye Kennedy? An incredible person. Those sort of issues really give you, I guess, fuel in the tank because there are a lot of days where people are just throwing crap at you all day – and you deal with that – but we live in a great country and we should be prepared to stand up and fight for it.
HOST:
Well, you’re a busy man. We do thank you, Peter, for your time coming in this morning to our Broadbeach studios. The Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, thank you for being with Flan, Ali and Spida.
PETER DUTTON:
My pleasure. Thank you, guys.
[ends]