Subjects: Visit to Chisholm; Labor’s cost of living crisis; Middle East tensions and the ramifications around Australia; Labor’s weak stance at a state and federal level allowing pro-Palestinian protests to go ahead in Victoria this weekend; Labor’s negative gearing shambles; our Liberal Party candidate for Chisholm – Dr Katie Allen; Australians in Lebanon; aid to Israel; supermarket ‘shrinkflation’.
E&OE.
KATIE ALLEN:
Well, good morning everyone.
I’m delighted to welcome the Honourable Peter Dutton, the Leader of the Opposition, Senator James Paterson, to Chisholm today.
We’ve had a fantastic roundtable speaking to local businesses right here in Chisholm about what are keeping them up at night, and I can tell you there are a lot of things keeping them up at night. They’re very concerned about the direction of this country, they’re concerned about how they can do better with their businesses, they’re concerned that the Labor Government is taking this country in the wrong direction.
So, it’s been really interesting to hear about all the issues that they’re concerned about, and to be reassured that the alternative vision being offered by Peter Dutton is one that they’re really excited to hear about.
So over to Peter or over to James, is that right? Thank you so much.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks Katie.
JAMES PATERSON:
Look, it’s terrific to be here today with the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, and Katie Allen, our local endorsed Liberal candidate.
Katie’s a great liberal, she’s a hard campaigner and she’s got incredible contribution to make to our Federal Parliament again, if she can win the seat here in Chisholm, and we must win Chisholm if we are to change the Government and get our country back on track.
Peter, it’s great to have you in Melbourne again, you’re a very welcome visitor to Melbourne, and I think increasingly Victorians are looking for federal leadership to help us get out of the terrible state of affairs that we are here in Victoria. It’s a double whammy of a very bad State Government and a very bad Federal Government, and it’s hurting Victorians and we need change.
I just finally want to make some comments on the planned rallies on Sunday and Monday. No civilised society allows the celebration of death, but that’s exactly what the pro-Palestinian rallies planned for Sunday and Monday are there to do.
They are there to celebrate the anniversary of the largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. That’s what happened on the 7th of October. No one can say that they’re gathering to protest against the loss of Palestinian life because there was no loss of Palestinian life on the 7th of October. The IDF response to what happened on 7th October took many days and weeks to organise. So, the only reason to commemorate that occasion is if you want to cause distress and hurt to the Jewish community here in Australia, and it should not be allowed to happen.
It is not good enough for either our Federal Government or our State Government to say, ‘there’s nothing they can do’, to throw their hands up in the air. They must put a stop to this, and this is a test for our Prime Minister and his strength. Peter.
PETER DUTTON:
Pato, thank you very much.
Well firstly, to Katie, thank you for organising a roundtable this morning. It was really instructive and good to hear from local business leaders about what they’re seeing in their own businesses. The Liberal Party will always support small business because we know that they employ many Australians, they help Australians put a roof over their heads, they help put their kids through school and they contribute back, obviously economically and in a philanthropic way to the local community as well.
It’s great to be here with James Paterson as well, who really is a very strong voice for common sense here in Victoria and across the country – particularly on issues of national importance.
At the moment, Australian families really are struggling. The Victorian Labor Government and obviously now at a federal level as well, they’re just mismanaging the economy and they are slowly killing confidence here in the Victorian economy, and Anthony Albanese is doing that across the national economy.
We’ve had 12 interest rate rises. Here in the seat of Chisholm we’ve got the highest number of people in Victoria who have properties which are negatively geared. These are people who have worked hard, they’ve sacrificed and they’re providing a house to people until they can afford to buy their own. The fact that Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese is thinking about taking that support away, or increasing taxes again – as we’ve seen in Victoria, you can’t tax your way to prosperity. All that is happening here is that they’re killing confidence and the economy is deteriorating, and that is completely and utterly at odds with what’s in the best interests of Victorians and Australians more generally.
In relation to what we’re seeing at the moment from the Albanese Government by way of response to Iran and to Hezbollah, the Government is at odds now with our major partners and our major friends. Let’s be very clear about this. This is a very distressing time for what’s in our country’s best interests.
It’s not good to be at odds with our allies, and the Prime Minister at the moment is damaging our relationship with our key allies. President Biden has been very clear in his support for our ally in Israel. We’ve seen President Macron, we’ve seen Prime Minister Trudeau, we’ve seen many leaders who have shown absolute clarity where the Prime Minister has not. Penny Wong is out there calling for restraint, the Prime Minister is calling for Israel to step back. Israel is facing an existential threat of extinction. They are being attacked through the proxies of Iran. That’s what’s happening here. Israel wasn’t firing rockets on the 6th of October, on the 7th of October, 1,200 people were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists. People to this day are still being held captive in tunnels who were dragged back across the border on that day, and this Government says that it’s okay for protesters to be out on the street. Well, I think the Premier is at odds with the majority of Victorians who would not support the celebration of death. As James rightly points out, this is the biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust.
The thought that we would allow people to go out onto the streets to celebrate an anniversary of the Holocaust is inconceivable, and no decent person would support that. So what is the justification for the Premier here not to do everything at her disposal to stop these protests from taking place? To the credit of Premier Minns in New South Wales, he is making an application to the court. If there is a will, there is a way. Premier Malinauskas in South Australia is making similar steps, but here in Victoria, Premier Allan is hiding behind an argument of convenience. If there is a will, there is a way to stop these protests and to stop this celebration of death. We’re a civilised society, we don’t celebrate the acts of barbaric terrorists and we don’t hold up and praise the leaders of these listed terrorist organisations.
So it’s time the Prime Minister showed some leadership because since the 9th of October, when we saw those horrific scenes on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, and for months and months people protesting without any consequence on university campuses, that’s what has allowed an element of acceptance in these debates and the racism and the anti-Semitism that has now taken root has made us a lesser society. It’s about time the Prime Minister and the Premier here in Victoria stood up for the best interests of Victorians and of Australians more generally.
I’m happy to take any questions.
QUESTION:
Just on Chisholm, how do you feel about the Party dumping an endorsed candidate after a redistribution? And one who says he had the support of local members – even as recent as last Thursday?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Simon, a couple of points: I mean firstly, Theo is a great member of the local community and was a great candidate, but when you have a redistribution, when a seat gets abolished, it triggers another process and that’s what’s taken place.
Katie has been endorsed as the candidate here for Chisholm, she has an incredible background and a lifetime of service to the local community, supporting families and children, and she will, I think, be a great member for Chisholm in the Parliament.
I want to thank Theo very much for his service, his loyalty, his dedication to our Party over a long period of time. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll do everything he can to support our success here in Chisholm, because like a growing number of Victorians, he wants to see Anthony Albanese out of office so that we can get our country back on track.
QUESTION:
Will there be a Kirribilli type agreement if Katie doesn’t win the seat, that Theo can run again?
PETER DUTTON:
No, we intend to win the seat, and if we can win Chisholm, we can win government at the next federal election, and we have to. Let’s be serious about this. Our country is deteriorating under the so-called leadership of Anthony Albanese, and we’re continuing to make inroads here in Victoria. It’s an incredibly important state for us as a Liberal Party. In recent years we haven’t done well in Victoria, let’s be very clear about it; but I believe that our best days are ahead. I believe that Katie Allen can be the next member for Chisholm, and if we can pick seats up in Victoria, we can get rid of a bad Labor Government at a federal level, and that’s exactly what we intend to do.
QUESTION:
Katie, how do you feel about taking…
PETER DUTTON:
Might come back to questions for Katie in a sec, I’m just happy to take any others on other issues.
QUESTION:
Oh sure, yeah that’s fine.
QUESTION:
Richard Marles has asked for a 21 day cease fire for the war in the Middle East. What kind of message do you think that sends to Israel in the wake of the attacks from Iran?
PETER DUTTON:
Well again, if Richard Marles wants to go down the appeasement path of Anthony Albanese, that’s an issue for him, but frankly, I think he diminishes himself by being at odds with the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and our partners otherwise.
Israel is an ally of our country, Israel has provided intelligence to us that has saved the lives of Australians and stopped terrorist attacks from taking place on our own soil. It stopped terrorist attacks on our soldiers in the Middle East. They are a democracy, they are an important ally of ours and they are under threat and attack at this very moment.
For the Defence Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister of our country to be talking about some sort of an appeasement model, is not going to work, and frankly, it diminishes our relationship – not only with Israel – but it also says to our other allies that an Albanese-Marles Government will only support our allies if it’s in their domestic political interests.
Let’s be understanding of what’s happening here; the Prime Minister is being led by the nose, by the Greens. He’s being dragged to the left and he’s sacrificing our national security and our international standing as a result, and frankly, Richard Marles, I thought was better than that.
QUESTION:
The US and other allies did seek a ceasefire prior to this week’s events, so is there a limit on what you’d like to see from Israel as part of this process?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I want to see people in the Middle East live in peace, I want to see a two state solution at the right time, but what we’re seeing now – through the proxies of Iran – is an attack on innocent people.
Hamas couldn’t care less, Hezbollah couldn’t care less for people in the Palestinian territories, or in the Gaza Strip – anywhere. That’s why they put their headquarters under residential buildings and under hospitals, that’s why they protect themselves with human shields, and that’s why they’re a terrorist organisation. They don’t represent civilisation as we know it and as we cherish and as we’ve fought for. Australians, I think, of generations past, would be rolling in their graves seeing what the Prime Minister is presiding over at the moment.
Iran is a significant threat to Israel. They go through the proxies, but they have very significant capacity themselves to kill a lot of people. Israel needs to be strong, they are being strong. There was no war on the 6th of October, and now we’re seeing a deliberate escalation by Iran.
For our Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister to call for a ceasefire at this time, when Israel is defending herself, I think speaks very poorly of this Government.
QUESTION:
Just on Australians in Lebanon – two part question: many aren’t leaving at the moment. What’s your message to those who want to stay? And also, we’ve just learnt – about an hour ago – that a RAAF plane’s landed in Cyprus as a contingency. Should there be more of a proactive effort to get Australians out of Lebanon?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Simon, I would just encourage all Australians to listen to the advice of the Prime Minister on getting out of Lebanon and doing it as quickly as possible. These calls have been going on for months, it was predictable that there was going to be the circumstance that we see at the moment in Lebanon, and it’s why I asked for a briefing – and James and I attended that briefing with the Government a couple of months ago – asking about the evacuation plans and what would happen in extremis? How would our security interests be protected etc., with the movement of people out of that region?
I would just say to people, please heed the advice of the Smartraveller website, of the Prime Minister, of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and exit Lebanon as quickly as you can and as safely as possible.
QUESTION:
What about the plane in Cyprus and do you think there needs to be of a more proactive effort?
PETER DUTTON:
No. no…
QUESTION:
Or is that, is that…
PETER DUTTON:
…I’m happy with the advice that we’ve received that the Government has the plans in place. There’s obviously a precedent from 2006, and when we lifted people out of Kabul, we staged people in Al Minhad so that security checks and health checks, etc., could be conducted before people were brought to Australia.
A slightly different circumstance, obviously in relation to Australian citizens, but presumably there’s going to be staging in Cyprus, or if people have got aeroplanes that need to land and you can’t do that in Lebanon, then there are obvious, but limited opportunities, or options available to the Government. So, we support the Government in what they’re doing in that regard.
QUESTION:
The UK is sending chartered flights to try and get their citizens out of Lebanon. Is there any discussions with the UK Government to try and create some sort of relationships so that Aussies can get out of there too?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, normally we would work with allies, including obviously the United Kingdom, but that’s a question for the Government. They’ll be working, as they are at the moment to message very strongly and as I say, we support the messaging for people to take commercial flights that are available now.
I know people often leave it right until the last minute, but now is the time to exit and there are commercial flights available – take those options – and the Government, if they’ve got other options available, will make those announcements in due course.
QUESTION:
Would a Coalition Government provide military aid to Israel?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we’ve provided support to Israel in the past in terms of intelligence sharing, and I don’t think Israel requires the support of Australia in terms of defence materiel and supplies, otherwise. There may be commercial arrangements, I’m not sure, but the best thing that we can do at the moment is to provide Israel with that moral support because they’re at threat from an attack from people who don’t share our values.
Hezbollah is a listed terrorist organisation in our country, and people should not be celebrating death and they shouldn’t be celebrating the cause, the life of people who are listed as terrorist leaders.
QUESTION:
You’re across the road from a supermarket here. The Government’s trying to crack down on ‘shrinkflation’. Is it unfair for companies to shrink the size of products without shrinking the price?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, in fact, we’re just having a bit of a conversation with some of the local businesses here and this issue came up. There is a free market that operates in our country and we’re very supportive of it, but ultimately, the free market has to operate in the interests of consumers. We need competition – we need fair competition – and businesses need to be transparent in their pricing and in the product that they’re offering to the market.
The laws are very clear in this country – if you try and deceive consumers, if you try and mislead, if you try and operate in a cartel arrangement, then the penalties are very significant. So I think companies should be very careful about the steps they’re taking if that’s the case.
QUESTION:
So you think they’re deceiving at the moment with this ‘shrinkflation’?
PETER DUTTON:
I think the ACCC has flagged concerns that they’ve got, there’s an investigation underway. We’ve spoken about our policy in relation to land banking, for example. I find it egregious that Coles and Woolies would lock up land holdings so that IGA, or small competitors couldn’t get a foothold and couldn’t have a store established, because ultimately we want more competition in the market, we want greater consumer choice. If consumers are being starved from that choice and prices are being held higher unnaturally, then that’s not in the interests of consumers, or the economy.
QUESTION:
What’s your message to Muslim Australians who feel betrayed by Labor at the moment?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I can understand that millions of Australians feel betrayed by Labor at the moment. The other point of course that I think must be made and we were out in Liverpool, in New South Wales yesterday, is that Hamas is responsible for the death of many women and children over the course of the last 12 months.
When you see Hamas, or Hezbollah putting their headquarters underneath a school, or building tunnels in a residential network, there are going to be civilian casualties. Nobody wants to see the loss of any life, regardless of their religion, of their background, of their heritage, and these terrorist organisations, as we’ve seen in Afghanistan and Iraq, they have no regard for young girls, for women, they have no regard for the rule of law. They have one objective and that is death.
The Premier here in Victoria has the ability, has the power, to stop these protests from taking place because it is a celebration of death and the biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust occurred, on October 7. We would never allow people to celebrate an anniversary of the Holocaust, and we should never allow people to celebrate the anniversary of what happened on October 7.
QUESTION:
What power are you referring to? Like are you referring to the ones that Michael O’Brien brought up yesterday, these laws? Or are you saying that they should look into a similar permit system like New South Wales?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, Michael O’Brien’s raised a very legitimate point, and he has a very smart legal mind. There may be other options available. I’m sure lawyers can provide that advice, but Jacinta Allan…
QUESTION:
Or do you think the New South Wales type model?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I just think that the Premier of Victoria had great capacity, she was part of a Government that deployed the police force here in Victoria during the course of COVID to enforce the rule of law. I think the Victorian Labor Party should have the same resolve in relation to this issue, and I’m sure there are laws available and that’ll be an issue for the Premier.
QUESTION:
I have a question for Katie.
PETER DUTTON:
Yeah, sorry.
QUESTION:
Katie, how do you feel about coming in over the top of Theo as a candidate? I mean, do you feel you’ve got the support of local Liberal members in Chisholm?
KATIE ALLEN:
The first thing to say is that I’m deeply honoured to be selected by the Liberal Party to represent Liberal values in my community. Remember there’s been a redistribution, there’s been a change to boundaries, and I care very deeply about this community that stretches across old boundaries where I used to be a Federal Member of Parliament.
The community is a fantastic community full of people who care about looking after their families, getting ahead, paying their mortgages, and I’m hearing from people a sense of anxiety, frustration and a clear desire for change. They’re frustrated at the State Labor Government, but they’re also frustrated with the Federal Labor Government. So, I’ll be there to represent the people of Chisholm with Liberal values, and I’m very honoured, deeply honoured to be given that opportunity.
QUESTION:
Clearly Theo’s frustrated. What do you say to the members who want another local pre-selection?
KATIE ALLEN:
What I would say is we’ve been through a process that’s a constitutional process of our Party. Our Party has processes, they’ve all been followed. It can be very difficult for people when the outcome’s maybe not the way they desire, but at the end of the day – and I’ve said this publicly before – politics can be a tough business. At the end of the day, I’m here to represent the people of Chisholm with strong Liberal values, and I really care about making sure that we bring back a Liberal or Coalition Government after this next federal election.
[ends]