Subjects: Changes to Coalition Shadow Ministry; Labor’s cost of living crisis; nuclear energy.
E&OE.
PETER DUTTON:
Thank you very much for being here today. I want to say thank you to Andrew and Tyler and the team here at OzLED – a great small business in my electorate. They employ about 12 local people, and it means that those local families can pay their mortgage, pay their rent, put their kids through school and pay the bills. I’m really proud of this precinct here in Brendale, which is an industrial hub and employing thousands of people and contributing very significantly to the economy, and that of course is true in areas right around the country.
Many small businesses at the moment are doing it tough, because it’s not just households that are finding it difficult to balance budgets, but it’s also small businesses who are facing the costs under this Government. So, really pleased to be here today, and I’m very grateful for the tour and the work that they’re doing, especially with the emergency service providers and those that are building ambulances and other vehicles. It’s a really remarkable story, and it’s a great credit, to Andrew and Tyler and the team here.
Now, I’m very pleased to be here today with two of my colleagues, with Luke Howarth, and also Melissa McIntosh. I’m announcing today that we’ll have some changes to our Shadow Ministry. They’re important changes, because they reflect the skill and the depth of capacity and capability that we have within our ranks. It’s always tough because there are so many people with the requisite skills to take up positions, but I’m pleased to announce today that Luke Howarth will take up the position of Shadow Assistant Treasurer and also Shadow Minister for Financial Services. It’s an important role, and Luke has a great background in small business, and he will do a fantastic job in those portfolios. He’ll work very closely with Angus Taylor and also with Jane Hume.
Melissa McIntosh, who is like Luke, a fantastic local marginal seat Member. Works day and night, and has not just a great work ethic, but a great ability to communicate. One of the big issues, as we know of our time is energy, and there’s a huge debate about the transition, our bills continue to go up under this Government, and Melissa is going to fulfil a very important role working closely with Ted O’Brien, and our other Shadows in the area of energy affordability and also importantly, the Shadow Minister for Western Sydney. It will signal very clearly our intention to make great inroads into Western Sydney. So I congratulate both of them on the appointments that I’ve made today.
There are a couple of other important appointments: James Paterson will take up the role of Shadow Cabinet Secretary. Again, an important role, particularly given the coordination that’s required as we’re developing policies and we roll those out.
Andrew Hastie assumes the additional responsibilities of Shadow Minister for Defence Industry and Defence Personnel, and Phil Thompson similarly takes on those roles in his Assistant Minister role – both of them are doing fantastic work in an area where the Government clearly is failing.
Andrew Bragg will become the Shadow Assistant Minister for Home Ownership. Again, one of the biggest issues that face Australian families at the moment is that people just can’t find housing. In part, that’s because the Government’s bringing in 1.6 million people over the course of the next few years. We don’t have the housing, we don’t have the stock, and for two years now, the Government’s promised they’ve had a solution, but clearly they don’t.
James Stevens will become the Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Waste Reduction, and we know under this Government, billions and billions of dollars each year are being wasted – $450 million spent on the Voice, which only divided the nation and didn’t provide a practical outcome for people living in Indigenous communities.
Paul Scarr will become the Shadow Assistant Minister for Multicultural Engagement. It’ll be a formalised position for him, he’s already very much immersed and engaged with multicultural communities, does a great job, and I recognise today the work that he does, and he’ll be able now to extend that interstate beyond his current state boundaries.
Hollie Hughes will become the Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, and also for the NDIS, to provide assistance to Anne Ruston in that regard, and also Michael Sukkar, as the senior Shadow Minister in the area of the NDIS.
So, I’m very happy to take any questions you might have, but I might ask Luke and Melissa first to comment and then I’m happy to take any questions.
LUKE HOWARTH:
Well, thanks very much Peter. It’s a real honour to be put into this position. The Australian people are doing it tough under the Albanese Labor Government. We’ve never seen the pressure that they’re under with finances in the last two years since the Albanese Labor Government have been elected. People are doing it tough with rents, mortgages, electricity and insurance, and it’s just getting worse.
In this role, I look forward to working with obviously the Shadow Treasurer, and also Jane Hume, to make sure the Coalition presents a real alternative to the Australian people at the next federal election just some 12, 14 months away.
We believe that the Australian people aren’t being put first under the Albanese Labor Government, and as we lead up into the 2025 election we’ll be announcing policies and speaking on behalf of them to make sure they get the deal that they deserve.
Thank you.
MELISSA MCINTOSH:
Thank you very much. It’s wonderful to be here in Peter’s electorate for a change, in Dickson, and to be on the factory floor. Last time you came and visited me, Peter, we went out to one of my local Foodbanks, a local charity which is now feeding people on double incomes, and just recently, I’ve been attending local schools where we’ve started putting fridges and pantries, because parents just can’t afford to feed their kids to go to school. This is absolutely extraordinary, and the number one issue facing families right now is their energy bills. It’s not just individuals and families who are struggling, it’s manufacturers like here today.
I have an aluminium manufacturer in my electorate that told me their energy bills are up 200 per cent, small cafe owners are shutting their doors because they just can’t afford to keep the lights on. So, while Australians are waiting for their $275 that Albo promised, their electricity bills are going up about 30 per cent.
I’m also extremely honoured to be appointed by Peter as the Shadow Minister for Western Sydney, because this is the heartland of the cost of living crisis. People there are doing it tough because the Labor Party has forgotten about Western Sydney. Worse than that, they just don’t care. We have major infrastructure projects cut – $5 billion ripped away from Western Sydney, people who just want to be able to commute to work and home again, safely and quicker.
So, this crisis is also about Western Sydney. John Howard calls it the microcosm of Australia. So today Peter, I feel like you’ve given me the position of the ‘Shadow Minister of Everyday Australians,’ and I’m so honoured to take this position.
PETER DUTTON:
Fantastic. Thank you very much Melissa, and I’m happy to take questions.
QUESTION:
Mr Dutton, is your nuclear plan just a way of extending the life of coal fired power stations by 20 years?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, it’s a way of transitioning out of coal and into zero emissions technology. We know that of the G20 nations, Australia is the only country that hasn’t already utilised nuclear power, or hasn’t signed up to it. Australia is the outlier, and the Prime Minister needs to explain to the Australian public why he just dismisses it out of hand. Bob Hawke was a very strong proponent of nuclear energy, so too was John Howard. It means that we can firm up the renewables that are in the system, and Chris Bowen is taking our country and the economy, to a very precarious place.
It’s no surprise to any small business or any family around the country at the moment that their bills, not only have gone up dramatically, despite the fact the Prime Minister promised on 100 occasions that they would be reduced by $275, but people know that the prices are going to go up and up under the Albanese Government.
The Prime Minister’s had an opportunity to put forward a plan. He doesn’t have the guts to stand up and make the decisions that our country needs made, and we do need to look at the best technology, zero emissions. I think it’s the only credible pathway we have to our international commitments to net zero by 2050. I think there’s a huge problem that the Government’s got, that they’re just not willing to address. They’re proposing rolling out 28,000km of new poles and wires, their program is at a cost of $1.2 to $1.5 trillion, all of which is going to be passed on in the form of higher bills to families and businesses who just can’t afford it.
So, I think there’s a rational debate to be had here, and if Chris Bowen can act like an adult instead of a child, we can have a proper national debate about what’s in our country’s best interests. The Coalition is prepared to stand up and have that debate and argue for and on behalf of Australians who are doing it as tough as they’ve ever done it. Life under Mr Albanese is going to get harder, not easier, over the coming years.
QUESTION:
How much taxpayer money would your government devote to developing a nuclear industry?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we’ll have more to say in relation to the policy in due course, but it’s clear that in Ontario, for example, they’re paying roughly half the energy cost that we are here in Australia. There are businesses moving to the United States, who are utilising a baseload of nuclear energy there, they’re paying one third the cost that our businesses are paying here in Australia.
So, at the moment, the Government’s got us on this reckless path where the cost of everything is going up because the cost of energy is going up, and it means that if you’re in a business that relies on cold room storage, or glass manufacturing for your product to be sold on the shelves at the supermarkets, all of that cost is going up because the Albanese Government is driving up the cost of energy for everyone. The cost of fertiliser, which is energy intensive, goes up under this Government, and it’s all passed on to consumers. That’s why you’re getting less for every dollar you spend at the supermarket checkout, it’s why you’re paying more when you go to every shop and store, because their costs are going up as a result of the Government’s reckless 100 per cent renewable energy policy. That is not something that I think is in our country’s best interest.
QUESTION:
Is your Party now looking, I suppose, at what you’d call a more old fashioned large nuclear power plants, not the more modern SMRs – the small modular ones?
PETER DUTTON:
The latest technology is what we’re looking at. So, it’s zero emissions, it’s similar, obviously, to the technology that the Government’s signed up to on the AUKUS submarine deal with the United States and the United Kingdom. It means that we have a chance to reduce electricity prices, it means that we have the ability to have stability in the system, because at the moment there will be disruption. Every analyst points out the fact that the path the Government has us on at the moment, is not just going to result in higher prices, but more likelihood of blackouts and brownouts, and for a lot of businesses they can’t afford that disruption to their energy supply, and ultimately they move overseas, they import the product back to Australia at a higher cost, it means that there are higher emissions, it means that we’re an unreliable partner or investment destination.
I think when people think about what Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese have signed us up to here, your power bills are going to go through the roof under Anthony Albanese. We need to find a way to bring power prices down, we need to make sure that electricity is stable, and at the moment the Government’s blind approach to their energy policy is just forcing up the prices of everyday goods.
QUESTION:
If we move to nuclear power, how many reactors would we need though, to power the country? And where would they go?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we’ve said that we’re on the interested in looking at sites where you’ve got an end of life coal fired generation asset. So, that means that you can use the existing distribution network.
This is the important thing, right? When Labor talks about rolling out 28,000km of new poles and wires, there are many analysts, rightly, who say, ‘look, they could just never afford to do it’, it’s going through national parks, through productive farming land, resumptions of land matters, matters going into the Planning Court on appeal to the High Courts, all of that is required before the Government can distribute their renewable energy, because you can’t distribute that energy across the existing power grid.
Our argument, as most other developed nations have found out, is that you can replace the coal fire generators with the small modular reactor, or the bigger modular reactors – the latest technology – it’s zero emissions, it’s lower cost, and it means that you can distribute the energy with the existing grid network. That comes at $1 trillion less cost than what Labor’s proposing. It means that you have reliability to firm up the renewables in the system.
Renewables are incredibly important, and will remain a very significant part of the energy system in the foreseeable future, but you can’t turn off the existing system, which is what Mr Albanese’s doing at the moment, and just hoping that the battery technology is going to improve overnight. The latest technology battery installed in Adelaide by AGL at the cost of $190 million, lasts for one hour. That doesn’t cut it. It means that the local IGA can’t keep their freezers running 24/7, and you can’t run an economy where you don’t have stable energy. That’s why 19 of 20 G20 countries have signed up, or are currently using nuclear energy, and Australia is the only outlier.
QUESTION:
Just to confirm though, you are looking at the big stations, as opposed to just the small modular reactors?
PETER DUTTON:
We’re looking at the latest technology nuclear solution at the most efficient cost. That’s exactly what comparable economies have done.
The car that you drive off the showroom floor today is very different to the car driven off the showroom floor in 1954. Okay? Let’s be very clear about the state of the technology and why younger people are most embracing of nuclear technology is because they’re well read, they’re passionate about reducing emissions, and they understand what’s happening in Europe, what’s happening in North America, what’s happening in Asia. If the technology is good enough for our nuclear submarines, why is it not good enough for the population?
If we can get to price reductions, like they’ve seen in Ontario, where people are paying 50 per cent of the cost of energy that we are here, and for businesses who are leaving Australia to go and manufacture offshore – at a third of the cost of electricity in the United States – why wouldn’t we consider doing that? Instead of losing those jobs, losing that industry, losing the taxation revenue.
Australia, I think, is in a very precarious period under this Albanese Government at the moment, where, yes, families are feeling it, their cost of living pressures are going up, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet. This Government is slowly choking the Australian economy – particularly with their energy policy, and I want a vibrant economy where businesses are profitable so they can employ more people, so they can pay their staff more, where we can export product, instead of losing industry. Year after year our manufacturing industry declines, and this Government’s had two budgets to deal with the cost of living pressures, they’ve only made it harder for families and small businesses.
QUESTION:
Have you spoken to your colleagues that have retiring coal sites in their electorates about how they feel about nuclear?
PETER DUTTON:
I think, again, you can go down the sort of the juvenile scare campaign of Chris Bowen, or you could have a mature conversation. The energy IQ within communities where there are coal fired generators, understand particularly, the baseload argument. We just can’t pretend that solar panels work of a night time, and we can’t pretend that wind turbines – 260 metres out of the seabed – are environmentally conscious, and we can’t pretend that that is a baseload energy. It’s just not. Hopefully the battery technology is about to be discovered, but not yet, and businesses won’t make investments in our country if they can’t have stability in their manufacturing processes.
At the moment, we’re telling businesses in our country to wind down the afternoon shift, so that they can shed, and we don’t get disruption or blackouts in the energy market. I mean it’s absurd. What other country is doing that? We should be saying to those companies, if you want to employ more Australians and you want to manufacture more goods so that you can export them, ramp up your activity, that’s fantastic for our economy and for jobs, but instead in our country under the Albanese Government, we’re telling them to cut production and to cut the afternoon shift when people get home from work and they want to turn on the air conditioner, or turn on the washing machine, or start preparing a meal for kids of a night time. That’s the situation that Labor’s got us into.
I have a solution to get us out of it, and I believe that we can deliver stable baseload power to firm up renewables. We could do it at a lower cost, and I don’t understand why Anthony Albanese won’t even have the debate.
QUESTION:
Darren Chester, whose electorate in Gippsland has three coal fired power stations, says community concerns would have to be ‘managed and ameliorated’, how do you ensure that nuclear reactors won’t be imposed against the will of local communities [inaudible]?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we’ll have a lot more to say in relation to what we do with local communities, and again, you can look at some of the international examples here, where at the moment in parts of the United States, communities are actually bidding for the technology because they know that there’s significant benefit that comes to the local community; particularly in manufacturing, particularly in jobs.
So, I think there’s, again, a mature discussion that can be had here. You can discuss the pros and cons, but at the moment the Prime Minister is treating Australians like he did during the course of the Voice debate, that there’s ‘nothing to see here’, ‘you don’t need to know the detail’, ‘we’re not going to have a proper debate’, ‘I know best’. Well, Australians aren’t stupid, and they know they’ve got a Prime Minister at the moment who is weak, out of his depth, and doesn’t have the ability to make decisions, tough decisions, that are in our country’s best interests.
I think families know electricity bills are already very high under this Government, the Prime Minister hasn’t delivered on his $275 promise on power reduction, and we know that prices are going to go up and up and up under this Government, and we know that there is a greater likelihood, as every day goes past, that we’re going to see brownouts and blackouts.
All right. Thank you very much. Thank you.
[ends]