Subjects: Visit WA and the Perth Royal Show; the Coalition’s commitment to Australia’s live sheep export industry; Labor’s cost of living crisis; Labor’s negative gearing shambles; US move to ban Chinese smart car software; support for Ukraine; the Prime Minister avoids farmers in Perth; Labor’s Nature Positive Bill an attack on the mining and resources sector; Labor’s housing crisis and Big Australia migration policy; the Coalition’s support for Australia’s mining sector; Australia’s tourism sector; nuclear energy.
E&OE.
TOM WHITE:
Good morning. My name is Tom White. I’m the Liberal Candidate for Curtin.
Since 1905, the Claremont Showgrounds has been a place of joy for Western Australian families right here at the Perth Royal Show, but most importantly, it’s an opportunity for people working in the ag sector to demonstrate the vital work they do to fuel and feed the nation.
This year is particularly important – not just because we’ve got record numbers of people coming through the gates, but because the ag sector is under attack. It’s one of many Western Australian industries that are under attack by the Federal Government. We just met some shearers and some farmers here who have told us just how much that’s going to hurt them and their families. So it’s a really important opportunity for us to hear directly from them on the front line.
I’m going to ask Matt Moran to say a few words, and then we’ll pass to Michaelia and to Peter.
MATT MORAN:
Thanks, Tom.
We’ve just visited some farmers from Bullwinkel. The truth is, the Liberals are backing farmers in Bullwinkel. Labor has abandoned farmers and put thousands of livelihoods at risk.
I just want to say thank you to Peter, Tom and Michaelia, for standing with me to back the industry. We will not betray farmers like Labor has.
MICHAELIA CASH:
Could I just say a huge thank you, yet again, to Peter Dutton as the Leader of the Opposition for coming to Western Australia, but more than that, to come to the Perth Royal Show and to stand with us united, to say quite literally, ‘back in our farmers, back in our sheep farmers and keep the sheep’.
As Peter knows, we’ve been walking around and we’ve been talking to farmers here. It’s not a great story for them because of the decisions of Mr Albanese and his Government. We are talking to people who, because of the decisions of Mr Albanese, are facing a bleak future. Their livelihoods are on the line, and when you talk to their kids there’s no future for them in what they are currently doing. But we’ve also been wandering around having a chat with the small businesses here.
There’s around 360 small businesses who are here today, and they have one story to tell, and unfortunately, it’s a very bleak story. Life is not easy under Mr Albanese, but as we stand here today, Tom White in Curtin, Matt Moran and Bullwinkel. The WA team are also here backing in Peter Dutton.
Peter, thank you for your commitment to Western Australia, but more than that, for standing with us to say, ‘keep the sheep’.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks Michaelia.
Thank you very much, firstly to Tom White, and to Matt Moran as well for being here, along with my other Liberal colleagues.
One of the things that really strikes you when you speak to farming families, is not just their love for the environment and the land in some cases that they’ve been working for generations, but it’s also their passion about what the future looks like for their own kids. If you’re a mum and dad – many of whom we’ve spoken to today, you’re worried about this attack on their industry, you’re worried about the future for your kids and whether there’s going to be the opportunity for them to work in ag, or to take over the family business. It’s not just the farmer and his or her family, it’s also the local producers, and it’s where the farmers are spending money in the local communities, that ultimately will be attacked under what Mr Albanese is proposing here to stop the industry. There’s no alternate for these farmers.
I just want to say to all of my colleagues here, thank you very much. The Keep the Sheep campaign is running full steam ahead. It has to, because it’s important for WA and what now is obvious to all Australians is that the Albanese Government continues to create great uncertainty across the economy.
There is a reason why interest rates are coming down in the US, in the UK, in Canada and in New Zealand, and they’re not coming down here in Australia. The Reserve Bank Governor has pointed out that the amount of money that’s being spent by the Labor Government at a federal level and at the state level, is fuelling inflation and therefore keeping interest rates higher for longer.
Interest rates should have already come down in our country. People should already be saving hundreds of dollars a month in their mortgage repayments, but they’re not because the Government’s made the wrong decisions in the previous budgets. The Prime Minister was obsessed with the Voice for the first 16 months, which means that the decisions that should have been taken to weather us through this economic storm haven’t been taken, and that’s why families and small businesses are really struggling at the moment.
The stance the Prime Minister’s taken, or that I thought that he had taken, and maybe now he’s backing away, or depending on which media interview he’s doing, he changes his story – in the last 24 hours it’s been phenomenal – on what they’re doing on negative gearing. The Treasurer dumps this story out there and then he jumps on a plane to go to China, so he’s nowhere to answer questions, and the Prime Minister keeps changing his story about whether the Government is adopting the Greens policy to abolish negative gearing or to cap it. What are they doing in relation to capital gains discount? What does that mean for uncertainty in the economy? And the Prime Minister can’t answer a question with honesty.
I think Australians want from their Prime Minister somebody who can look them in the eye and tell them the truth, and this Prime Minister is not doing that at the moment, and it’s quite amazing to see this Government unravel. The wheels are falling off the Albanese Government and Australians can sense it.
The trouble is that when Labor runs out of money, they come after yours, and that’s exactly what’s happening here. This is just a new tax. It’s another tax because Labor want to increase the public service in Canberra and that’s not going to help the people of Western Australia.
So, we will take a very strong stance against any changes to negative gearing because it will disrupt the housing market, it’ll drive up rents and it’s not in our nation’s best interests.
So, I’m happy to take any questions.
QUESTION:
With Chalmers in China, is in some way our sovereignty at risk as he tries to get closer with China?
PETER DUTTON:
It’s just hard to know why the Treasurer is not answering questions on a policy that he’s commissioned? Now, the Prime Minister says that he doesn’t know anything about it, that Treasury is just off on a frolic of its own, and they’re out there costing changes to the tax system in what negative gearing? We don’t know what’s happening with the death tax again, we don’t know what’s happening with franked dividends.
This is a Government that has lost its purpose and its direction. The Treasurer should be able to answer basic questions, but of course he’s not.
QUESTION:
Should Australia follow the US’s lead and ban electric vehicles from China?
PETER DUTTON:
I think what we should do is act in our national interest, and if there’s intelligence or security concerns that the Government has been made aware of, then the Government should provide that advice.
I haven’t received any security advice to the effect that there’s a risk, but if the United States, our closest ally, has a concern, then we should listen to their concerns and ultimately we should act in our national interest, and you would expect the Prime Minister to do that.
QUESTION:
Just one more on foreign policy. Ukraine is crying out for more ammunition – 155mm shells are manufactured in Queensland. Should we be sending them that sort of ammunition?
PETER DUTTON:
There’s just no doubt whatsoever we should be providing more support to Ukraine. President Zelenskyy is a 21st century hero. He’s a man who has stood up against a murderous dictator in Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Putin is still bombing residential areas, he’s still killing women and children, and that we wouldn’t be standing with Ukraine in that fight for humanity is beyond our comprehension.
So, I think the Prime Minister needs to show some strength instead of the weakness and stand up and provide the support. As you point out, there are munitions that we manufacture here in Australia, and we have the ability to provide support to Ukraine to help them stare down Vladimir Putin, and we shouldn’t be hesitating.
QUESTION:
You’re here supporting farmers. Do you have any evidence that the broader Western Australian community doesn’t want to see an end to live exports?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, tens of thousands of people have signed petitions and they’ve expressed very clearly that they’re not happy with the decision that not even the Prime Minister could come here and explain to the farmers. The Prime Minister came to the show, he hid out in the 6PR van, he didn’t see anyone, he raced back to his car, and then went to the airport. He wasn’t down here talking to farmers.
QUESTION:
He didn’t actually make it to the 6PR van [inaudible].
PETER DUTTON:
He didn’t!?
MICHAELIA CASH:
No!
PETER DUTTON:
What? Didn’t even get there?
MICHAELIA CASH:
Not even…nope!
PETER DUTTON:
What did he do?
QUESTION:
He was in town for 19 hours. It was a short trip.
PETER DUTTON:
I just don’t know what he did. But what I know he didn’t do, was he didn’t come down and speak to the farmers, and he hasn’t been honest and open with the people of WA.
The Government’s attack on mining at the moment, through the so-called Nature Positive Bill, is an attack on jobs and it’s an attack on economic development.
The decision, if that’s what it is, or the thought bubble on negative gearing, is an attack on entrepreneurialism. People work hard. They work hard for their money, and if they want to invest into a rental property that provides a roof over the head of somebody who can’t afford a house, why is the Government seeking to disrupt that?
So look, I just think there are many examples where you could say that the Prime Minister is at odds with people, and I think the vast majority of Australians are getting behind this industry because they know that it’s sheep today, it’ll be cattle tomorrow, it’ll be long distance travelling or transport of livestock, it’ll be goats, and so it will go on and there’s no alternative for these local communities.
So the Prime Minister, if he’s going to close down an industry and put young families out of a job, make them shift from regional communities, he should have the decency to come down here and explain why he’s doing that.
QUESTION:
Anthony Albanese’s keeping count of how many times he’s been to Western Australia, it’s 24. Are you keeping count?
PETER DUTTON:
I’m not keeping count. I’m happy to look at my track record over the last 20 years. I’ve been a regular visitor to WA, it’s my 17th visit. I think what’s more important too is who you’re meeting with and whether you’re meeting with the people of Western Australia, or whether you’re just doing a radio interview and then you jump on the plane to travel somewhere else.
This shouldn’t be a fuel stop for the Prime Minister, it should be an opportunity to engage with Western Australians. The Prime Minister hasn’t explained to the people of WA, particularly in regional areas, why he’s applying a $10,000 tax to a Toyota LandCruiser or to a Ford Ranger, or to a Toyota HiLux. He hasn’t been here to explain what on earth the Government is doing in relation to their economic policy, because interest rates have gone up on 12 occasions under this Prime Minister, and we’ve had a threefold increase in the number of manufacturing businesses that have closed over the last two years.
QUESTION:
Just to clarify on negative gearing, so if elected next year, the Government you lead will not touch that or capital gains?
PETER DUTTON:
We will not be touching either of those taxes because we want to see more housing, not less.
The Prime Minister’s bringing in 1.6 million people over five years, it’s unprecedented, it’s the biggest migration programme in our country’s history. The Prime Minister mentioned nothing of it before the election, and we’ve got a situation where housing builds are at an all time low. So, the Prime Minister has created a housing dilemma for many young Australians who now don’t believe they’ll ever own a home, and we’ve got the uncertainty now around negative gearing, which will be disruptive, it’ll drive up rents and it will not be of benefit to anyone except for Jim Chalmers, who will have more tax revenue so he can afford more public servants in Canberra.
QUESTION:
Do you think the Prime Minister is just testing out the concept of negative gearing with the public?
PETER DUTTON:
Can I speak on behalf of millions of Australians? I have no idea what the Prime Minister’s doing. I just don’t think it’s clear now what this Prime Minister is about, what he stands for, what he believes in. He won’t argue for, he won’t fight for anything, and when we have a weak Prime Minister, our country is put at a comparative disadvantage.
I believe very strongly that we need to stand up for our values, for what we believe in. We need to recognise the fact that we have to stand with our farmers and we have to make sure that we’re a safe and prosperous country so that the next generation has something to look forward to as well.
QUESTION:
It’s been six months since the budget production tax credits. Have you reviewed your position, or are you seeking to change your mind on that policy?
PETER DUTTON:
We’ve been clear in relation to the issue, but what we’ve been very clear about is that we will make sure that we can get mines approved because I think every Australian needs to hear that WA is our economic powerhouse. It is the heart of the economic engine of our country. We don’t have schools, and we don’t have tunnels, and we don’t have the Olympic Games, we don’t have investment into infrastructure on the East Coast, without a successful mining sector here in Western Australia.
So, we have outlined a number of steps that we’ll take to condense the approvals processes so that we can get further economic activity up and running in WA, and in terms of further support that we want to provide, we’ll have more to say about that in due course.
QUESTION:
A lot of those young Australians that you mentioned, that can’t get into a home, do blame taxes like the capital gains tax and negative gearing. So, what’s your message to them?
PETER DUTTON:
But mate, that’s at odds with where the evidence is. People have the motivation of probably a couple of things, but primarily their own financial security when they buy a house. If you’re going to live in the house and you can afford to do that, that’s fantastic. If you’re going to rent it out, you’re renting it out to somebody who at that point in their life can’t afford to buy the house.
If we just, as the Government’s proposing to do, it seems, close down negative gearing, rents will go through the roof and people will be less reluctant. But what does the Prime Minister do in relation to commercial property? Is that going to be negative geared? What if the housing is held in a proprietary limited company name, of which a person is a director and a shareholder? The Government doesn’t think through all of these issues. They’re thought bubbles, they’re out there, the Prime Minister’s trying to reel it all back in today, but this is a chaotic Government. This is getting worse than the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd period, and when people compare Anthony Albanese to the Whitlam era, you can understand why.
QUESTION:
Do you think Jim Chalmers is trying to undercut the Prime Minister?
PETER DUTTON:
Look, what I think at the moment is very obvious is that there is a growing divide between the Treasurer on the one hand and the Prime Minister on the other. Those two seem to be at war with each other, and when the Labor Party is focussed on internals and fighting against each other and positioning about who’ll be the next Leader of the Labor Party, Australians are the ones who missed out. We’re the ones who pay the price and Australians are paying the price every time they go to the supermarket at the moment, because the Government’s renewables only policy is feeding inflation and driving up the cost of food and groceries.
QUESTION:
A question about tourism – some stats have been released by Tourism Research Australia that show young people in particular are travelling less and spending less. Do you hold concerns that higher interest rates and cost of living is hurting specifically tourism operators?
PETER DUTTON:
Well look, there’s no question as you move around the country and speak to people in retail, people in cafes, people in tourism, they are deeply concerned about what they’re seeing in their business.
Over the last couple of years, one of the biggest gripes when you went into a local cafe in a regional area somewhere, was that they couldn’t find staff. Now people are being put off. We know out of the most recent employment figures that people are seeking a second or third job because they can’t afford to pay the bills.
In that environment, in that cost of living crisis that Anthony Albanese is creating, people will cut back on discretionary spending. One of those areas where they will cut back on is a holiday. They’ll perhaps not take a flight, they might take a driving holiday, they might just not go at all because they can’t afford to pay their mortgage under this Government, or their insurance bill’s gone up by 20 per cent, food’s up by 11 per cent, electricity bills are through the roof, gas has gone up by almost 30 per cent.
So, there are very many worrying signs in the economy at the moment, but the most worrying sign for all Australians at the moment is that the Prime Minister doesn’t know what he’s doing and he’s adopting Greens economic policies like the abolition, or the restriction of negative gearing, and that’s a disaster for families.
QUESTION:
One of your MPs has told the ABC that the Coalition will run a scare campaign if Labor pursues negative gearing. Will you?
PETER DUTTON:
We’ll be running a campaign against the Government on negative gearing because we want what is in our country’s best interests. We have to have housing in this country.
The Prime Minister’s taken new home builds to an 11 year low, he’s brought in 924,000 people over the last two years, and only 305,000 homes have been built. So he’s created a housing crisis. He’s allowed the CFMEU to run riot through the economy, which has meant the building costs have gone through the roof. I was talking to a developer the other day – to build a high rise apartment building, it used to take 15 months, and now because of the CFMEU and the way that the Labor Party has let the CFMEU and the bikies run riot, that now takes double that time, it’s a 100 per cent increase in the cost to build unit. So when you’re going to buy a home unit, or you’re going to buy a retirement village unit, you know that the 30 or 40 or 50 per cent increase in cost is because of the Government’s bad decisions.
So, we’re very clear to the Australian people, we are not going to support changes that Labor’s putting forward on negative gearing, or the abolition, or curbing of the discount on capital gains tax.
I’ll just finish on this point: the other thing that we haven’t spoken enough about is that the Government is also proposing to levy a capital gains tax on unrealised gains in superannuation. So, what does that mean? It means if you’ve got a small business, you’re a mechanic with a warehouse, or you’ve got a cafe and you own a couple of shops in your superannuation fund – as many small business families do – even though you don’t sell that property during the year, if the value goes above a certain amount, you will pay tax even before you sell the property.
So this lunacy of Labor on tax didn’t start yesterday, it’s been long standing and if the Prime Minister wants to destroy the economy, he’ll keep listening to the Greens on tax policy. It’s not in our country’s best interest and that’s why we’ll stand up against it.
Thank you very much.
QUESTION:
You do have a policy idea that’s set to impact Collie, the community of Collie, have you been to Collie since the announcement?
PETER DUTTON:
No, we’ve said that we’ll get to Collie before Christmas and we’ll do that. I haven’t been able to go out into regional WA on this trip, but obviously we do on most trips, so…
QUESTION:
So is that a bit hypocritical to criticise Anthony Albanese for not coming here when you haven’t been to Collie?
PETER DUTTON:
No, Ted O’Brien’s been out in the community. We’ve spoken with people, we’ve spent a lot of time with Rick Wilson on the issue. Why are we supportive of nuclear? Because renewables only don’t work. Why have we had a three fold increase in manufacturing in our country over the last two years? Because people are just moving to Malaysia. They’re going to Wyoming, they’re going to Ontario, where people are paying one third the cost of electricity, and…
QUESTION:
But is it hypocritical though, that you’re not going to Collie, but you’re criticising Anthony Albanese for not coming to see farmers?
PETER DUTTON:
No, I just don’t think there’s a parallel.
Thank you.
[ends]