Subjects: Visit to the Pilbara; Labor’s complete disregard for the mining sector; the Coalition’s support for WA and Australia’s mining sector; Labor’s cost of living, energy and housing crisis hurting families and small businesses; Commissioner Brereton and the NACC; the Prime Minister’s flight upgrades and his cosy relationship with Alan Joyce; Labor’s economic mismanagement sending businesses offshore; the Coalition’s plan to revive the home ownership dream and boost building across Australia; the Coalition’s vision for practical outcomes in Indigenous communities; nuclear energy; Labor’s visa and immigration policy shambles; COVID Inquiry Report.
E&OE.
MELISSA PRICE:
Good morning everyone. Great to be here in the Pilbara and great to be here with Rio Tinto out at Dampier Port. Thanks so much to Rio for their hospitality today.
I want to give a very warm Pilbara welcome to Peter Dutton and also to Amanda Kailis who is the Liberal candidate for the state seat of the Pilbara.
Wonderful opportunity for Peter Dutton to understand how important the Pilbara is, of course he knows that. We know that we are the economic powerhouse of the nation, but our roads are not paved in gold and there are just as many social issues – people struggling with housing affordability here in the Pilbara.
Last night we had an amazing community event. People from all walks of life and I think Peter Dutton got a really good understanding of just the diversity of the Pilbara. Yes, there is great riches here, but people are struggling.
But today is a great day – great to see the fantastic operations of Rio at Dampier and thanks to Rio for making us so welcome.
Thank you, Peter.
PETER DUTTON:
Melissa, firstly, thank you very much. To Rio, I want to say, Simon to you and the team, we’ve had a great chance to have a look through just a small part of the operation here, but what I think what every Australian should know, is that when West Australia and the wealth creation that we’ve seen here today is going full steam ahead, our country goes full steam ahead as well.
I want to lead a government that can see us export more to the world in mining and in agriculture. I want to see more manufacturing and we can only do that if we have a stable energy market. We can only do it if we have baseload power. We can only do it if we have affordable power and reliable power.
When you look at a company like Rio, they employ 17,000 Australian people directly, many more than that indirectly, and all of the suppliers, the contractors, people who feed into this Rio Tinto network from right across the country, is quite a phenomenal ecosystem and they pay about $10 billion a year in tax. So when we build tunnels in Sydney, when we renovate schools in Brisbane, when we put in port infrastructure, or we put money into a local park, or a freeway upgrade wherever it might be, it’s because of the mining sector here in WA and across the country.
I want to make sure that we can condense the timelines, particularly with trusted partners like Rio Tinto, who have an abundance of intellectual property and an understanding of how our laws work, they have the greatest of respect for their workforce, for the environment, for the local community, for the engagement with Indigenous leaders. If we use these models as ones that can really ramp up activity, then we can reduce our debt that we carry as a country, we can afford to pay for our defences to keep us safe and secure – not just for our generation, but for subsequent generations – we can afford all of the cost around the NDIS, we can afford all of the costs around health and aged care, but if we stop this industry, if we see Government introduce the nature positive laws, if the Government introduces more and more red and green tape that stifles these opportunities, then we can’t build the infrastructure in this country and we can’t have the best days ahead.
So I want to make sure that we do everything we can to support what is a thriving sector. There is insatiable demand internationally, globally, for our product, for our raw materials. I want to make sure that we can have a government which is supportive and is not trying to stand in the way of what we’ve seen here today.
Melissa, I want to say to you, thank you very much for the gathering last night. Local residents involved in community service, people who are giving back to their communities. Amanda was there as well. To speak to those people, firstly, it’s very humbling. But secondly, it’s a reminder, as Melissa points out, that even in an environment like this, where people in many jobs are earning good money because they work hard, they spend time away from their family, they sacrifice for additional money that they want to help raise their kids and provide for a future for their children and grandchildren, there are other people in the community who are really doing it tough, and we have to make sure that we provide support to those people as well.
Now, there’s inflation data out today which indicates that Australians are going to suffer for longer under this Government, because people are desperately waiting for a decrease in interest rates, and the Albanese Government keeps putting in place inflationary policies which are going to keep interest rates higher for longer. We know that interest rates have already come down in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Canada and New Zealand. So comparable economies to ours, interest rates have already come down.
Inflation is staying high here, because as the Reserve Bank Governor points out, too much money is going from state and federal governments into the economy, which is fuelling inflation and for a lot of Australians, there is not going to be any relief under the Albanese Government. Interest rates should already have come down under the Albanese Government because they’ve come down in comparable economies. I really worry for a lot of families and small businesses that we’ve spoken to here, and around the country, that they’re struggling to put food on the table, to keep the doors open in their small business at the moment.
I want to make sure that we can get our country back on track. I want to have a responsible, mature government – which we don’t have in Canberra at the moment – which can make decisions in our national interest and create the jobs and the economic prosperity that will drive us further into the 21st century.
I’m happy to take any questions.
QUESTION:
Just a couple of questions on the Robodebt news from this morning. So Commissioner Brereton continued to be involved in whether to investigate Robodebt referrals despite declaring that conflict of interest. Does he still have your trust to do the job?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, Commissioner Brereton’s, firstly, a person with the utmost integrity. He served his country in uniform and he’s now taken on a very important role. It’s also important to point out, of course, that he has statutory independence and decisions that he makes, or that the Commission make should be respected. If the Government’s seeking to interfere in that independence and to corrupt that process, then they’d want to have a very good reason properly explained to the Australian public as to why they would deviate from practices of the past. Ultimately it’s a matter for the Commission.
QUESTION:
Does the Commission still have the public’s trust given the Commissioner now has a misconduct finding against him?
PETER DUTTON:
I think the public has total trust in the Commissioner and in the Commission. Unless we’re demonstrated to us otherwise that there is some sort of abrogation of responsibility, a deliberate action that would undermine that trust, then I think, frankly, we’ve probably got the Government at the moment searching around for a distraction from the Prime Minister’s own disaster – whatever it is today.
So I just think if the Government is trying to create a distraction, this is a very serious issue and I don’t think that they should undermine the work of the Integrity Commission, which is a fundamental pillar in our democracy.
QUESTION:
You’ve also suggested that Anthony Albanese should self-refer his dealings with Qantas boss, Alan Joyce to the NACC. Is it appropriate for NACC Commissioners to accept Chairman’s Lounge membership from Qantas themselves, given the potential they have to investigate these issues?
PETER DUTTON:
Look, I just think all of these things are red herrings. There are two questions the Prime Minister has to ask: one is that when he was Transport Minister of our country, did he pick the phone up to the CEO of Qantas and ask for a free upgrade? That’s the question that he refuses to answer. Now, he can tie himself in all sorts of knots, but the reality is that he needs to answer that fundamental question.
The second question is, given the very friendly, long standing relationship between Mr Joyce and the Prime Minister, what were the circumstances around the Prime Minister’s decision to not allow Qatar Airways into Australia? If Qatar was flying on routes from Perth to Sydney, or Perth to Melbourne, or Perth to Brisbane at the moment, people in WA, people in the Northern Territory and in other parts of the country would be paying lower airfares, but the Prime Minister made a decision which wasn’t properly explained at the time, which starved Qatar of the opportunity to come into our market, reduced competition and therefore has held up the prices of airfares for too long.
We don’t know why the Prime Minister went against the advice of the Department, or why the Prime Minister went against the advice of Minister King and made the decision to exclude Qatar. But what we do know is that the Prime Minister had a very significant and now declared personal friendship with the CEO of Qantas, who ultimately was the beneficiary of the decision taken by the Prime Minister.
Again, the Prime Minister has to answer that question, as he does the first question about did he pick the phone up to Alan Joyce and ask for the free upgrades, or not? It’s a pretty simple question to answer.
QUESTION:
You spoke yesterday about a concern that a lot of mining companies are now deciding not to invest in WA and choosing to invest in foreign areas. Is this a genuine concern that you’ve heard from industry leaders and stakeholders? And are there any specific projects or companies that you are referring to?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, there are many companies that we’ve spoken to who’ve given us that indication, and there will be many that you can see who are investing in Africa right now, who with global demands on their capital and their capital is limited, they’ve taken the decision not to invest in Australia and that is absolutely the fact. We’ve spoken to the Japanese, to the Koreans and others who are worried about sovereign risk in our country for the first time. They see a Government with a renewables only policy that is so distracted by inner-city voters in Sydney, and Melbourne, where they’re in a tussle with the Greens, that they are making decisions which are making it harder to invest in our country.
If we don’t have the Rio Tinto’s of the world paying $10 billion a year in taxes and royalties, we don’t have a prosperous country. What is the replacement income if we close mining down as Mr Albanese and Tanya Plibersek seem intent on doing? I want this industry to expand. I think there is huge demand for our commodities. I want manufacturing to re-establish in our country, but it won’t do it if it’s just relying on wind and solar. That’s why we’ve been very serious about putting forward the nuclear proposal, which I think should be supported on a bipartisan basis, as the Labor Party supported the Liberal Government when we signed a deal with the United States and the United Kingdom in AUKUS.
There is no logical or intellectual argument that the Prime Minister can put as to why he’s opposed to nuclear, other than he’s worried about losing votes to the Greens in Sydney and Melbourne. It’s detrimental in its impact on our country and I think the Prime Minister, frankly, should stand up and show some leadership. His continuing weakness is doing a lot of harm to our country.
QUESTION:
The Pilbara’s home to a unique housing crisis that’s exacerbated by high development costs, a large proportion of company housing that restricts supply for non-industry workers. How would a Federal Coalition Government address those concerns?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we’ve just announced, as you know, a $5 billion programme which is targeted at bringing 500,000 more homes online. This is a really significant issue locally and Melissa Price has spoken to me about this in the last 24 hours, but before that as well, she’s brought it up regularly in Canberra. There is a difficulty, of course, because trying to attract a workforce into a community that is remote, that doesn’t have housing, just doesn’t add up.
So the $5 billion that we’ve put on the table would allow some of the roadblocks at the moment to be overcome. So in some instances where the local council doesn’t have the balance sheet, or can’t afford to pay for the infrastructure, or for the sewerage, or for the road upgrade; our plan is designed to put money into that project to make it stack up, to get the land developed, to get the houses built, and particularly for a lot of young Australians at the moment who have lost the hope and the aspiration of home ownership under the Albanese Government.
I want to restore that dream again. I want young Australians, as I did when I was much younger, to be in a position to afford a home. We’ve got young Australians at the moment under this Government who are putting off having children because they can’t afford to save for a deposit, to pay rent and to raise a family at the same time. That’s not what our country is about. Our country needs to get back on track and that’s exactly what we intend to do after the next election.
QUESTION:
You’ve said that it’s difficult to get new mines approved because of excessive regulations, but we’ve got groups like the UN who believe that there aren’t enough environmental and cultural protections here in WA. How would a Coalition Government balance the interests of speeding up those approvals and also protecting cultural heritage?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we have, as I said before, an established market in this country. This is not as if we’re talking about first time operators who are shonky operators, who are coming from one industry into mining because I think there’s a buck to be made. This nonsense that you hear people talk about, ‘that they’re just digging stuff out of the ground and throwing it on a ship and somehow a company like Rio generates an income, which means that they have to pay $10 billion a year’. We have a sophisticated sector, we have a world leading sector, we have a sector in the mining industry here in WA predominantly, but in Queensland and New South Wales and across the country otherwise, which understands the environmental laws, they have a well-established and mutually respected relationship with Indigenous owners in the local areas.
There are difficulties from time-to-time, there’s no question about that, but all of that can be dealt with professionally and in that environment where we have world renowned partners to work with in Rio, in many of the other companies who are working here in WA, then I think there is the opportunity to look at what the reality is on the ground and the success that’s being achieved and being able to replicate that in other sites.
With all due respect to international observers, when you look at some of their objectives and some of their competing interests, then it’s no wonder – I don’t think they’ve got an objective perspective on what’s happening here in Australia.
QUESTION:
Asad from Ngaarda Media, given the current national conversation around Indigenous rights and Voice to Parliament, what is the Liberal Party stance on this issue and how do you plan to engage with Indigenous communities moving forward?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we had the opportunity to visit a great business this morning which is entering into potentially a relationship with some of the traditional owners about supply of food, and I’ve been to other land councils where they either have business interests where they’re creating and generating cash flow, they’re employing young Indigenous apprentices, etc. and we want to see that continue to grow.
In East Arnhem Land, where you have a relationship there between mining and the Indigenous community, there’s a sustainable logging business, there’s a building business, there’s a functioning society where they have a 90 per cent attendance rate at school, and there is a huge productivity that takes place each day in that community. I want to see that replicated into other areas where we see domestic violence, where we see sexual assault, where we see low rates of attendance at school and high truancy rates and crime and other issues, housing, etc., which aren’t unacceptable.
So I want to do practical things that can deliver education and housing and all of the outcomes that any of us would expect as parents, whether we live in the city, or we live in a remote area. Indigenous Australians who live in cities, or live in regional or remote areas are no different of course to any other Australian. They want the best for their children, they want opportunities for work, they want their kids to be able to live safely in the local community.
The Labor Party is obsessed with all of the green agenda and ideology about all of the tokenism, which you know is fine, but I want to see the practical outcomes for young Indigenous children and families on the ground.
QUESTION:
How do you plan to address the mixed public perception of nuclear energy, including that of the new Queensland Liberal National Party Premier David Crisafulli, and other communities that have historically opposed it?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think the nuclear debate in our country is one that we must have. If you look at the latest Newspoll figures, there are 65 per cent of 18 to 34 year olds who support nuclear. In many cases that’s because they’re very passionate about reducing our emissions and achieving our net zero by 2050 commitment.
It’s clear at the moment that under Labor we’re not going to achieve the net zero by 2050 commitment that they’ve made as a Government and that we’ve adopted as an Opposition. With nuclear energy, as we know, it’s a zero emissions technology, it’s a proven technology, and the Prime Minister obviously has no concerns about safety because the Labor Party signed up to the nuclear propulsion system under AUKUS for the submarine, they’ve signed up to disposal of waste under AUKUS.
The Government talks about timelines. We can condense the timelines and we can bring the safest technology and the latest technology, zero emissions, it can underpin the renewables in our system. We can do that very quickly if there’s a bipartisan position from the Government to support the Coalition in nuclear power. It’s what’s happened in the United Kingdom, in France, it’s what’s happened in Canada. All of those Labour Governments in those jurisdictions all support nuclear power. In the most recent election in the United Kingdom, as you know, Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, now Prime Minister, the biggest gripe that he had or the biggest argument that he had in the energy space against the Tories there, the Liberal Party equivalent, was that they weren’t embracing enough nuclear.
So let’s just have a mature debate about all of the elements to it, and instead of being distracted by whatever the Prime Minister’s fumbled, stumbled into next, let’s actually have a debate that can give us a bipartisan position that can provide great hope and opportunity for our country into the future. If we do that, we can condense the timelines and allow the industrial capability to build up in our country, which will generate taxes and employment and keep us going into the future.
QUESTION:
You’ve expressed firm opposition to allowing refugees from Gaza into…
PETER DUTTON:
..sorry, yes.
QUESTION:
You have expressed opposition to that, suggesting concerns about potential Hamas sympathisers entering the country. While some Australians understand your stance as an effort to prevent division domestically, many are questioning why your position has not similarly addressed Israeli settlers who have been sanctioned by US and Australia, both. Could you clarify how you assess potential risk?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we assess potential risk based on the advice from our intelligence agencies and what we know of a region from where somebody has started their journey. We know that in the case of Gaza, it’s controlled by Hamas, which is a listed terrorist organisation in our country, and we know that people were brought from that region into Australia on tourist visas – about 3,000 people. The number may be higher by now, I’m not sure. But the requisite security checks weren’t done. Now that has no precedent in our country whatsoever. Let’s be clear about that.
I think Minister Giles, who now has been sacked from his portfolio, this was a decision that he made as well, but it was sanctioned ultimately by the Prime Minister and by the Cabinet. The Albanese Government has not only made us less certain as a country economically, but they’ve made us less safe in terms of our national security requirements.
We welcome people from the four corners of the earth, we’re an incredible story of migration in this country, and we should be very proud of it, but we have success in this country because everybody abides by the rule of law, equally applied.
We also have a situation in this country where people who pose a risk are stopped from coming here in the first place, and if they do come here as a non-citizen and they commit a crime, then they can expect to be deported. That’s the regime that we’ve operated, which has kept us safe for a long time. The fact that the Albanese Government has departed from that and allowed people to come in from a war zone is quite remarkable.
Now, in relation to the settlers, some of that conduct is completely unacceptable and should be condemned. There’s no question about that. But Israel is a democracy in the Middle East. It is an ally with Australia, and as Defence Minister and as Home Affairs Minister we received intelligence from our Israeli partners which thwarted terrorist attacks against our personnel, which stopped a terrorist attack from taking place in our own country, and that the Albanese Government has abandoned the Jewish community here in Australia, and abandoned the State of Israel the way that they have, only to chase votes from the Greens in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne, I think is an absolute disgrace.
QUESTION:
Maddi Hayes from Pilbara News. This morning, Senator Matt Canavan called for a full Royal Commission into COVID-19. If you were elected into government, would you pursue this Commission?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Maddi, just in relation to the report, as you know, the Government appointed somebody that had been, I think, critical of previous Liberal Party figures, including past Prime Ministers. I think it’s important for us to get an understanding of what happened during the course of COVID, the good and bad, so that we can learn – not just for today, but whenever a future pandemic might take place.
In relation to a Royal Commission, I’ve made comments about that in the past and we’ll have a position in relation to that issue before the election.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
[ends]