Subjects: Visit to Adelaide; Liberal Party candidates for Boothby, Adelaide and Makin: Nicolle Flint, Amy Grantham and Irena Zagladov; Labor’s cost of living crisis; the Albanese Government’s defence cuts; women’s safety; Labor’s immigration detention shambles; Foreign Investment changes; the Quad and the importance of our relationship with India; women in politics; Nicolle Flint’s strong track record of delivering for Boothby.
E&OE.
NICOLLE FLINT:
Well, good morning everyone. I’m Nicolle Flint. I’m the Liberal candidate for federal seat of Boothby, and it is so exciting to be here at SAGE this morning, which is one of the true success stories in the seat of Boothby. SAGE was formed in Boothby almost 30 years ago on Seacombe Road, moved to Melrose Park and is now here at the wonderful Flinders University Tonsley Precinct. We’re very grateful to Andrew Downs, the founder and his team, for having us today.
I am delighted to be joined by the Federal Liberal Leader, Peter Dutton, State Liberal Leader David Speirs, my good friend and colleague, and we’ve worked together very closely over the years, David, and my good friend, Senator Kerrynne Liddle, who is the Shadow Minister for Child Protection and Family Violence.
I just wanted to explain why I have nominated to again be the candidate for Boothby. In December last year, I had a major health breakthrough. I’ve been very public about my stage four endometriosis diagnosis, which occurred back in 2020, and the struggles that I’ve had to deal with my endometriosis since, including multiple major surgeries. So, in December, I finally found medication that has literally changed my life. So, I’m running again because my health is on track, but the nation isn’t.
Australians are not better off under the Albanese Labor Government. Australians are suffering, my community is suffering. The cost of living crisis is affecting families, households and it is really hitting our small businesses very, very hard in and around the whole community of Boothby.
I’ve also nominated to run because I’m determined to do everything I can to see Peter Dutton elected as the next Prime Minister of Australia, because we cannot put Australians through another three years of the mess that the Labor Government has made for them. Under Peter Dutton, Australians will be safer and we will fix the economic mess that Labor has made.
Finally, I have a range of unfinished business across a range of different policy issues that I’m determined to get to work on, and I also want to see my beautiful local community here in the seat of Boothby continuing to thrive and us working together to fix a range of local problems that when I look around our community, have not been touched by Labor, despite them being in Government for coming up to two years.
I’ll just invite the Federal Liberal Leader, Peter Dutton, to say a few words.
PETER DUTTON:
Nicolle, thank you very much. Firstly, thank you very much to Andrew and the team at SAGE for showing us through. This is an incredible company, and it should make every South Australian very proud of what is happening here. The employment – 700 people employed across the business in many areas, including cyber, critical infrastructure, otherwise. The skillset here is world class, and this business will continue to grow because they are a trusted partner for defence industry, for Governments, and for many other private sector organisations here and around the world. It’s a great credit for a business that started, you know, back shed 30 years ago, now to be what it is, as a world leader. This is a great South Australian success story, and Andrew, to you and the staff, thank you very much for your hospitality and your generosity in showing us around this morning.
Look, I’m really delighted to be here today with Senator Kerrynne Liddle, who has done an amazing job in her portfolio, and on behalf of all South Australians as well. That is true of David Speirs as well, who I think is a man of great courage, he stands up for what he believes in. He’s a person that has a strong set of values and he lives them out in his leadership, which is to his great credit and to the credit of his team.
I want to say Nicolle, you’ve seen this morning, again, her bravery on display. She had an enormous amount of respect from the people of Boothby, and she went above and beyond, even at the cost of her own health, to represent them in the Federal Parliament. The abuse, the attacks, the misogynistic attacks on her when she was the Member for Boothby were quite disgraceful, and they’ve been reasonably well documented. But while I’m sure not all of the grotesque acts have been detailed from GetUp, and from the Labor Party, and others over the course of that period, but for Nicolle to be back here as our candidate, it’s a great day for the Liberal Party, but most importantly, it’s a great day for the people of Boothby and therefore for the country as well. So Nic, I want to say thank you very much to you for your friendship, for your advice. You have a great connection with people, a great capacity to communicate and to stand up for causes that you believe in. So, thank you for taking the nomination and for being an amazing candidate, an exceptional next Member for Boothby.
I also want to congratulate Amy Grantham and Irena Zagladov. As we saw last night, these are incredible women as well. They have stood up for their local communities, they are prepared, in a social media age, to get out there and argue on behalf of their local constituents, and they are really exceptional candidates. Selecting three women for us in South Australia is important, because of the skillset individually that they bring, but I think it sends a very clear message to the people of South Australia that the Liberal Party is determined to win seats back at a federal level, so that we can continue to fight and advocate for South Australia.
South Australia has been left behind by the Albanese Government. We know that from speaking to some of the defence industry companies – they are leaving South Australia. They are leaving Australia in some circumstances to go to the United States, or to countries of allies otherwise, because they just can’t find the consistency of work here. We’ve got a Government that’s made a decision to take $80 billion out of Defence, which is crippling to many of those supply changes. At the same time, the Government tells us that we face the most precarious period since the Second World War, and Australians know that we live in a precarious environment – not just in our region, what we’re seeing in Europe, in the Middle East, at the moment as well – and it’s why Australia needs to be strong, safe and secure.
I think we need to call out what is pretty poor behaviour by the Government at the moment. The treatment of those defence industry companies, the workers that are being put off. It is not helping South Australia. We restored integrity to the budget, we signed the AUKUS deal when we were in government, and it is a very significant contributor, as an industry, but it’s one of many that we need to continue to support here in South Australia.
I want to say thank you very much to the Premiers for coming together with the Prime Minister today. I think it’s incredibly important that we show national leadership, on what is a national scourge. Nobody wants to see violence of any nature, but particularly not domestic violence.
Women should feel safe in society, but especially they should feel safe in their own homes. It is completely unacceptable the level of violence that we’re seeing across society. It affects every strata of society – rich households, poor households, different suburbs, different towns, different regions across the country – and the Prime Minister’s commitment to put more funding into the programmes that are working, I think is something that we should support and applaud, and we will work with the Government on whatever basis is required to bring an end to this violence, because it has no place in any society, and in particular, has no place in our society.
A long time ago I was a police officer, and I can tell you, when you go to the scene of a domestic violence incident, where you’ve got kids who are screaming, grabbing onto parents legs, bloody scenes, they’re terrible, terrible, confronting scenes, and some of those circumstances women can’t afford to leave, there are drugs involved, mind altering substances, alcohol that’s involved, financial coercion. There are many issues, including of course the modern reality of social media, the violent games that young kids, in particular young boys are playing at a younger and younger age, the exposure online, on TikTok and Instagram, on platforms otherwise of violent content, and videos that normalise sexual behaviour that shouldn’t be in the minds of young people. That is something that the whole of government, at three levels, needs to come together to work on, and we support that work.
I want to make a further comment in relation to the dreadful incident that we’ve seen in Western Australia, but it really could have been any family across the country. An elderly lady who was bashed severely, allegedly by a non-citizen – somebody who shouldn’t be in our country – and as it turns out now, because the talking points from the Government have been leaked to the media, we know that yesterday the Government was out saying that the Commonwealth had opposed the bail application of this particular individual. As it turns out, that was not the case.
I think the Prime Minister, instead of being tricky and telling half truths here, he needs to be honest and open with the Australian people. He needs to explain to the Australian people how on earth it is tenable for Minister Giles or Minister O’Neil to remain in their job.
Even the judge said, in relation to this case, that the Commonwealth had been particularly generous in not opposing the bail application because of previous offences that have been committed. Now, when the judge says that I would oppose bail and that I would rule that this person should stay in custody if the Commonwealth bothered to make the application, you know that you’re talking about a serious case here.
The Government has made a decision to release 151 hardened criminals into the community, including seven murders, 37 sex offenders and 72 serious offenders. Australia is less safe because of the actions of the Albanese Government, and they’re making it even more so because they won’t put these people back behind bars where they belong. I think the Government stands condemned at a time when many Australians are living with great uncertainty about crime in their communities. The Albanese Government is making it less safe for families in those communities.
I think the Prime Minister has lost control of this situation. Andrew Giles is a very close Labor mate of his, but just because you are factional ally, doesn’t mean that your incompetence should be overlooked. This is a Minister who doesn’t know what he’s doing, and the Australian public, sadly, as we’ve seen in Western Australia and elsewhere, is paying the price for that incompetence.
I’m very happy to take any questions.
QUESTION:
So, Clare O’Neil is refusing to take responsibility. What do you make of her refusal to take responsibility?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I saw the Sunrise interview this morning with Clare O’Neil, it was a train wreck of an interview. It lurched from disaster to disaster, and it shows that Clare O’Neil is utterly and completely, and totally, out of her depth.
Now, Minister Giles is in some sort of witness protection programme because we haven’t seen him at all. He should be fronting the media to explain what on earth has happened and how it won’t happen again.
Minister Giles gave an undertaking to the Parliament that these people would be tracked electronically, that surveillance would be put in place, and no Australian had anything to fear by these people being released into the community. We now know that people are committing multiple offences, and we now know that Minister Giles couldn’t even be bothered to instruct the Australian Government Solicitors to oppose the bail application, which potentially would have seen this individual retained, or brought back into custody, and the crime, this dreadful crime, horrific crime, against an elderly Australian woman perhaps wouldn’t have taken place if the Minister was doing his job. But Clare O’Neil, I mean she is wandering around with a blindfold on, she has no idea what she’s doing. Anthony Albanese needs to stop being weak and show the strength of leadership. Start acting as a Prime Minister and doing what’s in our country’s best interests.
QUESTION:
What do you make of the Federal Government planning to overhaul foreign investment rules arguing the interests of national security? And do you think Australia is losing control of local supply chains?
PETER DUTTON:
Look, I think we’ll have a look at what the Government’s proposing, but a very important point here: we’re seeing deals at the moment, billion dollar deals announced on a daily basis, and we know that the deal on the quantum computing was stitched up together by a team of Labor former staffers, and we know that, that deal has been put together against the advice of the Department. I would’ve thought that at a time when Australians can’t afford to pay for their groceries when they get to the checkout, when people can’t afford to fuel their cars up at moment, when insurance premiums are going through the roof, when interest rates have gone up on 12 occasions under this Government, and we know that were the per capita recession – people are going backwards – even though they’re working harder and working longer – I would have thought the priority for this Government is to help those people instead of giving money to Labor mates.
I would have thought most Australians would expect their Prime Minister to be doing everything possible to bring inflation down at the moment. But as we’ve seen from Warren Hogan, from Chris Richardson, from the Commonwealth Bank economists, etc., all of these economists are pointing to the fact, as the Reserve Bank Governor did, that inflation is home grown. That is, it’s of the making of this Government. They’ve had two budgets to bring downward pressure on inflation, and therefore interest rates, and the opposite has happened.
Inflation is sticky in our country because the Government is spending an enormous amount of money and putting upward pressure on that inflation figure, which ultimately is keeping interest rates higher for longer. People with mortgages, families who can’t afford to pay their mortgages at the moment know that they are much worse off under the Albanese Government.
QUESTION:
Leader, do you think the overhaul though is in response to any specific country? Say China?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, if the Government has that view, they should say so. The Prime Minister says that we live in the most precarious period since the Second World War, and then he rips $8 billion out of Defence.
At the moment, the Australian Defence Force, the morale is through the floor – I was speaking to a couple of diggers in Torquay yesterday, in Victoria, they know that the Army has been fleeced of dollars to try and pay for AUKUS and other initiatives that are in the defence materiel space. That shouldn’t be the case. There should be more money going into defence at a time when it’s most needed. The Defence Minister says that we don’t have a decade, so we need to get that money and that investment into defence now.
So, I mean, they talk out of both sides of their mouth, and unfortunately, Australians are the ones who lose out. If there are concerns about foreign investment, the Government should act, and they should be transparent about the concerns that they have, and explain what it is that they’re worried about.
QUESTION:
Leader, do you support – on domestic violence – do you support the sharing of information about repeat high risk offenders between state and territory police forces?
PETER DUTTON:
Yes, I do. I think it’s a very good question. I think it’s an absolute imperative, as we’ve seen with the national gun laws. If the information is not disseminated and shared between jurisdictions, then tragic consequences happen.
As we saw in western Queensland, not that long ago where two police officers lost their lives, and the same principle applies here. People in the modern age, unlike when the laws were first drafted, are moving across borders every day of the week. We’re a very transient population, people have family in different states and territories, and the information should be shared. The privacy issues can be respected, the data can be shared in a secure way, but it would allow jurisdictions to deal with repeat offenders, and it would allow the police and the other first responders to respond in a way that could keep women and their children safe.
QUESTION:
Can I ask you also about the reporting this morning, about a nest of Indian spies that was disrupted by ASIO back in 2020 and then kicked out of Australia. If I recall correctly, you were Home Affairs Minister at that point in time, what are your recollections of those things?
PETER DUTTON:
Well look, it’s just not something I would comment on publicly. Obviously when we were in government we put a record amount of money into ASIO and into the Federal Police and into ASIS, our other security agencies otherwise, and Labor are taking money out of them as they’re doing now as well.
The Director-General of ASIO has been, I think, clear over a number of public outings that we do face a very significant threat from foreign interference. It can come from many sources and the resources that ASIO has to defeat that are necessary. At the same time of course, ASIO needs to deal with the reality of terrorism again in our country. They obviously have done great work with the New South Wales Police and with the Australian Federal Police in thwarting what could have been a fatal attack, and those matters obviously are now before the court, but in relation to the specific instance, it’s not something that I will publicly comment on.
QUESTION:
Is it at all awkward though considering Australia’s ties with India through the Quad dialogue and also our deepening defence ties considering the raising issues with China?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, issues can be dealt with and the Director-General, as he’s highlighted, has been able to deal with the particular issues.
In relation to India, I’ll just make this comment: India is an important part of the Quad. They are an increasingly important partner in the region because they share the same democratic values that we do here in Australia. They are worried about their border on the Himalayas with China, they’ve lost troops at the hands of Chinese troops in recent years, they’re worried about the build up in China’s defence across their three services, they’re worried about China’s actions in the region more broadly – as are the Japanese. These are all important partners for us to work very closely with, and if there are problems in the relationship, they can be dealt with appropriately.
QUESTION:
Do you think if social media companies refuse to take down violent or misogynistic content, should they be kicked out of Australia?
PETER DUTTON:
I just think the same rules should apply online, as they do in the real world. We wouldn’t allow graphic images of women being sexually assaulted, or physically assaulted to be published in newspapers, we wouldn’t allow it to be on TV screens of a night time, and we shouldn’t allow it to be on the screens that our kids are sitting in front of for many hours a day.
I think the companies have the technical ability to deal at scale with the images. I think the AI that they’re able to deploy, I think the algorithms that they’re able to run now, give them the ability to take that content down, or to stop it from being posted in the first place, and I think the companies have a particular responsibility because they make literally billions of dollars out of an economy like ours. People subscribe to services, they do it in good faith, and particularly for parents, as we’ve been arguing for a long period of time, there should be age verification or validation online so that kids aren’t reading graphic adult content.
The constant enforcement of that, and there’s a parallel here with what we’ve seen in the indoctrination space, where as the Director-General I think of ASIO has pointed out before, a young, impressionable male, or female for that matter, but predominantly male, sitting in front of a computer screen watching ISIS videos for a period of time, only days or a couple of weeks, could be convinced to strap a vest onto themselves and go into a movie theatre and blow up Australians. Similarly, if kids are watching hours and hours and hours of content of women being abused, or pornography, if they’re at a very young age, if they don’t have the ability that an adult would have to discern between what was appropriate and not, then we see that acting out in a playground, we see it acting out in other settings, which are completely unacceptable.
I think one of the tragedies is that in the domestic violence space, the Government committed to providing 500 extra frontline workers. We all supported that strongly at the time. Here in South Australia, the promise was that there would be 37 of those frontline workers appointed, as I understand, maybe one has been? And so the Prime Minister promised that two years ago. I think we would see a lot more in terms of early intervention and support services for those who are victims of domestic violence, if those 500 had have been appointed over the course of the last two years, and we’d really encourage the Prime Minister to work out what has failed here, and why the Government has not been able to deliver their promise and roll those people out into positions so that they can provide the support that’s required.
QUESTION:
What do you think Nicolle’s candidacy will do to address concerns that your Party has a female problem?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, a couple points. I mean the Labor Party, their treatment, say of Kimberley Kitching was disgraceful. It’s been well documented. Their treatment of women otherwise, within their Party, over a period of time, I think as the Prime Minister’s pointed out, is no different to how women have been treated in our Party. It’s not a party political issue. We’ve been supporting on a bipartisan basis some of the changes that are required in Parliament House, and that’s a good thing.
In terms of our Party, we have a process, not where union bosses are appointing people because you’re part of a particular faction, we’ve chosen our three candidates, predominantly because they are champions for their local communities, they are in seats which we believe are winnable, and we have to have a greater presence in South Australia – I’ve pointed that out before – and they have a great connection, a great work capacity, a great track record of achievement. Nicolle was a champion, in and outside of the Parliament for the people of Boothby, and she will be again.
I think this sends a very clear message to the people of South Australia that we’re very keen to get women into the Party, into Parliament and I’d encourage, particularly more small business women, to join the Party.
It’s easy if you’re working in Maurice Blackburn, or if you’re working in an industry super fund, or if you’re working at the CFMEU. You get a car, you get a phone, you can campaign full time. If you’re a small businesswoman working at a cafe and struggling because your energy bill’s going through the roof under Labor at the moment, it’s pretty hard to walk away from that, to come to the Liberal Party and to campaign full time and lose money in your business. But if you’re a union hack, or you’re a union organiser, as we know – male or female – you get a rails run because the union membership fees are used to pay for your campaigning.
So, I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve got three excellent candidates, and I look forward to them being a very important part of our government after the election.
QUESTION:
Could we just go to Nicolle?
PETER DUTTON:
Yes, please, yeah.
QUESTION:
Thank you Leader.
Nicolle, it’s been well publicised just then by the Leader of the attacks and the abuse that you experienced when you were in Parliament, why go again?
NICOLLE FLINT:
Because, as I said, my health is on track, the nation isn’t.
Australians are struggling under Anthony Albanese. But I proved last time that I could withstand the disgraceful attacks that occurred, and I would just encourage you all to put that question to the Labor Party, to the unions, and to GetUp, and the Greens, as to how they intend to conduct themselves in the next federal election campaign, because I never want to see the disgraceful behaviour that occurred in 2019, happen ever again.
That’s why I was so vocal about it continually, and that’s why I will continue to hold Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and also Senator Penny Wong, for example, to account, because every single candidate, no matter which Party they’re from, deserves to be able to campaign and put their views in a safe and respectful manner. We have just been discussing the terrible scourge of domestic violence, which primarily occurs against women. The awful home invasion we saw where an elderly woman was attacked by a criminal detainee. It has never been more important, for all of us in public life, to make sure that we set the example and conduct ourselves in a safe and respectful way, every single day.
QUESTION:
Do you think that environment has changed and will be different, particularly in your place? Or do you think that you are likely wind up the target of the same sort of treatment that you were last time around?
NICOLLE FLINT:
I do believe that in 2022, we saw a normal campaign environment around the nation. I know that the federal Coalition did a huge amount of work within Federal Parliament with the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, for example, and Peter Dutton our Liberal Leader, remarked on that in his comments.
There has been a lot of work undertaken from 2019 onwards to make the public space and politics safer and more respectful for everyone, but particularly for women. I’m really encouraged by the excellent work that Peter Dutton and the federal team have been doing in terms of online safety, and I will support them however I can in that space. And also, of course, my wonderful friend, Senator Kerrynne Liddle is our Shadow Minister for Child Protection and Domestic Violence, and she’s doing some incredible work in her portfolio areas as well.
QUESTION:
The hypocrisy that you talked about, again, when you left policies, the hypocrisy about some of the people who didn’t support you, you thought should have. Do you believe that has changed?
NICOLLE FLINT:
Well, mainly my comments have always been about the Labor Party and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who I personally wrote to twice, never received a response in terms of the treatment that I was subjected to by Labor Party affiliated supporters.
So, I will continue to speak out against this sort of behaviour whenever I see it, and I hope it doesn’t occur again. I have incredible support from Federal Liberal Leader Peter Dutton, State Liberal Leader David Speirs. David and I have worked incredibly closely together when I was the Federal Member for Boothby, and I know that were any appalling behaviour to occur again and again, if that happens, it will be due to Labor, union, GetUp, Greens, incited behaviour.
I know that Peter Dutton, David Speirs, Kerrynne Liddle – my good friend Senator Kerrynne Liddle – will be there to support me, as well as our wonderful team at Liberal Party HQ.
QUESTION:
Nicolle, how do you think the electorate of Boothby will respond to your attempt to come back and represent them once more?
NICOLLE FLINT:
Well, I will humbly be seeking the support of my wonderful community here in Boothby. I have a wonderful track record that local community and I worked together to achieve. We fixed so many long term public transport options and road infrastructure issues, we did so much great work for our volunteer groups and community groups around the community.
So, I’m campaigning not just on my track record, but also on the fact that I look around and I see that my local community is not better off under the Albanese Labor Government. In fact, they are much worse off and people are feeling the cost of living pain – whether it’s households, families or small businesses – they are all suffering and I am determined that they don’t go through another three years of these challenges.
QUESTION:
The political landscape has obviously changed nationally, but it’s also changed locally with two and a half years now with the Malinauskas Labor Government. Do you think that will have an impact on voters given we are obviously – the State Government is Labor and the Federal Government is Labor as well?
NICOLLE FLINT:
I am campaigning on behalf of my local community and to continue the wonderful work that we did together when I was the Federal Member for Boothby between 2016 and 2022. I believe my track record stands for itself, as does the wonderful work that we, as the Federal Coalition and State Liberal Government, were able to do together. For example, the reactivating and saving the Repat Hospital site is something I am incredibly proud of, and David Speirs and I worked very closely, as I did with my other state Liberal colleagues to achieve that.
We have South Australia’s Veterans’ Wellbeing Centre there, which is the only one in South Australia. We put in the brain and spinal rehabilitation units, we have the very best practice dementia care, and I was really disappointed to see that the planned private hospital has now been abandoned because costs have blown out so badly under this State and Federal Labor Governments that that sort of centerpiece of the reactivated Repat site doesn’t appear that it will be going ahead. So, there’s a lot of work that I’m keen to get out and get doing for our local community.
QUESTION:
What about if you don’t win the seat? What’s planned? Have you thought about that?
NICOLLE FLINT:
Well, I am just here to campaign as hard as I can every single day for our local community and do whatever I can to see Peter Dutton elected Prime Minister of Australia, because I know Peter is the only leader who will keep our community safe across the nation and fix the economic mess that the Federal Labor Party has made of our country.
QUESTION:
Did you entertain perhaps returning in a different electorate, maybe a regional one rather than Boothby?
NICOLLE FLINT:
My heart has always been in Boothby. I was encouraged by a range of people to consider running in other seats, but my heart’s in Boothby. My great grandparents settled in lower Mitcham in the heart of Boothby in 1920, when, as I think most people know locally, my great grandfather returned from World War One. He was a prisoner of war. He married my great grandmother and they made their lives here. My great grandmother and my grandmother taught at Colonel Light Gardens Primary School, my dad and uncle went to school just across the road and trained at the Sturt – dad did his ambulance training up on Sturt Road, and I studied here at Flinders University – so it’s wonderful to be back at Flinders today.
So, as you can see, my heart is very much in Boothby and my history is in Boothby, and I cannot wait to get to work again for our local community to continue the incredible work that we did together between 2016 and 2022.
Thank you.
[ends]