Subjects: Youth crime; Labor’s cost of living crisis; Gladys Berejiklian.
E&OE..
KARL STEFANOVIC:
A major police sting has taken place in Melbourne, targeting aggravated burglaries and car thefts, as we’ve been reporting almost every day, right? Well, seven people have been arrested and two allegedly stolen cars seized on the city’s Eastern Freeway. This has been driven by predominantly youth offenders targeting unlocked homes with the intention of stealing cars – sound familiar?
Well, it follows a terrifying incident in Queensland where a family has come face to face with brazen thieves in the middle of the afternoon. A Brisbane dad washing his car when he briefly stepped away before young thieves jumped in the vehicle, crashing through the garage and making off with the car. This is happening – as we’ve been reporting for a long time now – right across the country. Clearly, we have some serious problems.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton joins us now in Brisbane. Pete, good morning to you.
PETER DUTTON:
‘Morning Karl.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
We do seem to be losing control of our streets. You used to be a cop, how do we fix it?
PETER DUTTON:
Look Karl, it’s a huge problem. It’s not just a policing response. Obviously, a lot of these kids are off the rails at a much younger age and we need to make sure that there’s a lot of intervention at that point as well, but I think the common occurrence or the common element between what’s happening in Melbourne, in Townsville, in Darwin – right across the country at the moment, particularly with stolen cars – is that the trophy is actually not the car itself, it’s the social media post, it’s the Instagram photo of the odometer at record speed, or the speedometer, or the handbag – the Louis Vuitton handbag photo that they can put up – that’s the trophy.
I think we’ve got to look at a national law or look at laws across the individual states that stops that, that takes that content down straight away because that’s what really deters some of these kids, if they can’t get that buzz at the end of it.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
I mean, I think that’s 100 per cent a great idea. Also, we’re seeing cop shortages everywhere now too. It’s a big problem in Queensland.
PETER DUTTON:
Look, it’s a huge problem everywhere, and if you look at the police now turning up to work almost like they’re going into a war zone. The body armour that they’re carrying, they’re dressed more like soldiers than they are traditionally what we’ve recognised as police.
It’s a dangerous job now and you’d be thinking twice about whether you want to sign up, but they’re incredible people, they run into harm’s way to protect us and we should be very grateful for what they do.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Okay, let’s turn now, Jim Chalmers was on our program yesterday talking up the big surplus, but none of us have a lot to show for it.
PETER DUTTON:
I was in WA for most of this week Karl, and I can tell you the stories are just as grim across there, in terms of the families just not being able to scratch together the money to pay electricity bills, and ever increasing gas bills and we know that from tomorrow – as a result of the government’s policies – your electricity bill’s going up by another quarter, which is pretty staggering – and it’s on top of the prospect of another interest rate rise or two.
At the moment, families are really, really doing it tough and the government’s got to come up with solutions. The PM promised before the election he’d reduce those power bills by $275 a year, and it just hasn’t happened.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
It’s been a big week for Gladys Berejiklian as well, as we all know. Your reaction to the corruption findings?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Karl, in Gladys I know somebody who is absolutely a wonderful person. She’s first class, and what you see in public is what you get in private as well. She’s just a very decent person, she chose a bum, basically, and he was a bad guy.
I think that she has, you know, paid a big price for that. Her integrity is not in question. She’s not a corrupt person. That’s not the person that I know, and I think she should hold her head high. She had a bad relationship – as everybody does – and I hope that that’s not the defining moment for her because she’s a much better person, and we all know that.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Not to kick a man when he’s down, but not just a bum, an ugly bum.
PETER DUTTON:
Karlos, you’re looking pretty tanned there yourself mate, I might say.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
All right. Just on ICAC, we know that – and I think you’ve agreed to a national rollout of an Anti-Corruption Commission – what are you going to do to make sure that there’s not a two-year lag in any of this? I mean what happened in regards to that was disgraceful.
PETER DUTTON:
I absolutely agree with that, and I also think we need to remind ourselves sometimes in this country that there’s a presumption of innocence before guilt is drawn, and a referral to an integrity commission – as has been pointed out I think by Chris Minns and many others – is not a finding of guilt, and if we just hang people out to dry, then it becomes a political process.
I mean there are these instances where people are investigated and the integrity commissions don’t even advise them that they’ve been cleared of the offence. I just think mentally, and financially, that is a huge burden to carry. So, justice delayed is justice denied and they should have a proper process, there should be strict guidelines and timelines that they adhere to. They’re a very important process to keep integrity in our system, but you know, it works both ways.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Good to talk to you, Pete. Have a good weekend. Appreciate your time.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks Karl. See you mate.
[ends]