Subjects: Coalition Shadow Ministry; Indigenous Australians; energy prices
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Implementing his agenda. The new Opposition Leader has unveiled the team he hopes will take the fight to Labor. Shadow Cabinet will now include 10 women and The Nationals have been handed back the trade portfolio. And several of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s allies have been dumped or demoted, including Stuart Robert and Alex Hawke. The Opposition Leader Peter Dutton joins me now. Peter Dutton, welcome.
PETER DUTTON:
Thank you very much Patricia.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
How will this new frontbench bring voters back to the Coalition?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Patricia, I think it says to the Australian public that we have [inaudible] in the Coalition and we’ve got that on display and we’ve got a great diversity, we have people with all sorts of experiences and it’s the team to hold the government to account, but also importantly over the next three years, to put all of our policies together so that we can have a very clear alternative to the government. I think that work is important. It starts on day one and an effective Opposition keeps the government to account, but it puts forward a credible alternative program and that’s the work that my team will be undertaking.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Obviously the issue of women is a big one and lots of analysis by your Party about what happened with women voting for the Coalition and also the representation of women in the Party. Are you open to the idea of quotas to get more women into the Liberal Party representing people in winnable seats?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Patricia, a couple of things. We’ve got 10 women in the Cabinet, which is the same number as the government has – and I’m very proud of that. People are there because of their skills and their capability. We’ve got, as I say across the board, some incredible talent. People who have performed not only in government, but in their work life and their experiences otherwise that they bring to the table. It’s quite a remarkable compilation. So I’m very proud of that.
I’m also proud of the fact that there’s nobody else in the Parliament now who has done more for, to fight for the rights of women and children, and I did that from an early age. I was a police officer working in the sex offender squad and worked very assiduously. I took very seriously the responsibility that I had to protect women and children in sexual offences, and I’ve done that as a Minister in Home Affairs. I’ll continue to do it in the Parliament.
So I don’t know what people have thought of the Liberal Party in the past, but I hope that people judge me by my roles, by what I’ve put into action over my lifetime and what I’ve announced yesterday in the frontbench. It’ll be reflected in policies as well because there’s a lot that I want to do, but I don’t support quotas.
I believe very strongly that one of the biggest issues that we have as a Liberal Party, that we’re at a disadvantage on, is that women within the Labor movement can go back to a job at the union, they can go back to a job at the industry super fund, they can go back to a job within other affiliates of the Labor Party. Business won’t do that for the Liberal Party and the small business woman who’s juggling an overdraft, and trying to get her business up and running, can’t afford to take six weeks off for a campaign because her business goes broke. So we have to come up with a different model and that in my mind is the biggest inhibitor. We had some wonderful female candidates at the last election…
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
…doesn’t it help to put them in winnable seats then. I mean, then more likely you win.
PETER DUTTON:
We did that at the last election, and unfortunately we lost people like Lucy Wicks for example, and many other candidates – not just females – I mean we lost openly gay candidates in Tim Wilson, in Trevor Evans, Trent Zimmerman and they were all in relatively safe seats – certainly Tim and Trent – and Brisbane’s always been a marginal seat, but three exceptional candidates.
So yes, I’m pained by the losses of both our female candidates and others who really would have been part of the frontbench to be honest, in my announcement yesterday had they been in Parliament. So we’ve got that rebuilding to do, but that happens in an election where a government loses or a party loses, you lose good people and that’s what happened to us in the election.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Two key Scott Morrison allies have been demoted. The former immigration minister Alex Hawke was dumped from the ministry entirely and Stuart Robert will become Assistant Treasurer to Angus Taylor, which is of course a demotion for him, outside of the Shadow Cabinet. Why?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Patricia, one of the hardest things – and you know each of my predecessors has said this, and I think Anthony Albanese has made the same comment – one of the hardest parts of this job is a reshuffle where you’ve got an abundance of talent, the people have got great capability and you’ve only got a certain number of spots to fill. And so there will be disappointments. I wanted to bring people through because of their experiences, and you then end up with a geographic spread, you end up with the opportunity for greater representation by women in the Cabinet.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Is it just a coincidence that they’re Scott Morrison’s allies?
PETER DUTTON:
Well it’s in terms of Alex Hawke, he was a very good Minister, but I saw other opportunities for people that I wanted to bring forward. I’m conscious that a lot of us have been on the frontbench for a period of time and we have to bring that talent forward. We shouldn’t be afraid of it. We should celebrate it and somebody like Julian Leeser, who’s had a remarkable career, I saw as somebody that needed to be on the frontbench and he’ll be a great Attorney-General and the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians. He’s got, as I say, just an incredible CV, not only as a lawyer, but as a contributor to public debate…
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
…it’s interesting you mention him…
PETER DUTTON:
…and I saw him as somebody I want to bring in.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Because he has been outspoken in his support, for instance, of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. You put him in this role of Indigenous Affairs, what should we read into that? Is it your wish that a referendum on a constitutionally enshrined voice to Parliament is successful? I mean is putting him in there a signal.
PETER DUTTON:
Patricia, the signal is that I want the best people in the jobs.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
But you know what his views are on Uluru.
PETER DUTTON:
Yes. And again, as I say, he’s one of the most considered intelligent people in the Parliament. He’s going to make an incredible contribution and in relation to the statement; we’ve said very clearly from day one, I’ve said we will consider what the government’s putting forward. I want to look at the detail and at the moment the detail is not available. Linda Burney’s been very open and honest and reasonable in that in that regard, she hasn’t put a timeline on it. She’s working very closely with the Prime Minister she says.
I think what needs to take part, to take place first, is we need for the public to understand what it is that’s being proposed and is this the best course of action, the fastest course of action to provide reconciliation, to increase the health outcomes, the educational outcomes, housing outcomes. That’s, I suppose, my focus and again, I’ve been very clear about this.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
But we can walk and chew gum right, they don’t have to be a choice or a trade-off.
PETER DUTTON:
Of course we can, but at the moment we’re not chewing gum and if in our country, as I said before, in the year 2022, we’ve got young girls and young boys who last night were locking themselves in shipping containers to make it through the hours of darkness in our country in 2022, in an indigenous community – that is appalling. Is that a priority for me…
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
…it is appalling but if you give the sense of a voice…
PETER DUTTON:
…absolutely it is.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
But if you give a sense of a voice that there is genuine representation in our nation’s founding document. You can shift the dial on some of these things can’t you.
PETER DUTTON:
You may well be able to depending on the design of what has been proposed, and that’s why I’ve said that we’re very open to the discussion, to hearing what the government’s got to say, but at the moment that detail is not available.
I’m sure they’re working on it and they’ve spoken about engaging publicly on it, which is good because I think there are many questions that need to be answered and we would expect those questions to be answered before the Coalition is in a position to provide support or not.
But in principle, do we support anything that’s going to improve the situation of Indigenous Australians? Absolutely. But there are things that can be done now in those communities that don’t need to wait for a referendum and I would like to see those actions.
As I have said before Patricia, every government that I’ve been in, every government that I’ve witnessed in our country, Liberal or Labor, has had good intention in relation to improving the situation, to closing the gap, and there have been some successes – and we should celebrate those successes – but that we’re still talking about sexual assault of women and children now, and the domestic violence incidences at a record rate, is completely and utterly deplorable.
I want to see those people in those communities leading a much better life akin to what we do in the capital cities.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
The other signal that I believe you may have sent, so I’m going to ask, is your new Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Ted O’Brien. Who is a strong supporter of nuclear energy. Is that the debate you’re interested in having? Does this suggest a signal on nuclear energy that you want to embrace it?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Patricia again, I mean in somebody in Ted O’Brien, we’ve got just an exceptional background, a very considerate person, a great communicator and he did a report, as you point out, when he was on the backbench in the last Parliament in relation to nuclear energy. He had a particular focus on the latest generation of small modular nuclear power generation, which can power up to 100,000 houses etc.
So I’m not afraid to have a discussion on nuclear. If we want to have legitimate emission reductions, if we want to lower electricity prices, then that’s exactly the path that President Macron has embarked on in France. That’s what Prime Minister Johnson is talking about in the United Kingdom and I fear at the moment, that the current government has us on a path to higher electricity prices and less energy security, which as been pointed out in the media over the weekend, can result in businesses leaving, jobs going offshore, no better environmental outcomes and I want to see jobs increase here.
I want to see manufacturing increase and I don’t think we should be afraid of talking about any technology frankly, that’s going to have the ability to reduce emissions and electricity prices. So that’s something that we can consider in time, but I don’t think you rule things out simply because it’s not fashionable to talk about them.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Okay. Let’s talk about the kind of Opposition Leader you want to be. Will you be negative? Will you run a negative Tony Abbott style Opposition or will you be constructive? Perhaps there is another option.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Patricia, I’m my own person. We’re in a different Parliament than the one Tony Abbott was in, that Kevin Rudd was in, or Julia Gillard was in and I’m not going to be the Anthony Albanese or the Bill Shorten of Opposition Leader either. The government has a majority in the Lower House. They rely on the Greens in the Upper House to get legislation through.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Or they could rely on you. Or they could rely on you.
PETER DUTTON:
Or they could do, and we will assess what they’re proposing and we’ll support legislation that we believe is in the national interest and will oppose that, which is not. One thing that I do want to make very clear, is that we are going to have a definite policy position, strong policy positions and the reason I brought such a high calibre team together is so that we can work through that policy and have a very clear alternative to the government.
As I say, the situation economically in the United States, in Europe, in Asia, over the next few months I think is problematic and Australia won’t be immune from that. The government’s always had those pressures and those tests. The question is how you respond to it? And from what I’ve seen so far from Chris Bowen and Jim Chalmers, they’re all about making excuses. They told the Australian people they had the answers and we haven’t seen that.
So I want to have a presentation to the Australian people, at the time of the next election to say that we are a much better option to keep our country safe, and to keep our economy strong and it will be tough under Labor over the next few years.
People I think are starting to see the first signs of that, and when you’ve got a credit rating agency that’s out there at the moment saying that Labor hadn’t included all of the proposed expenditure in their costings at the time of the election, and that could put pressure, downward pressure on our ratings; that is a huge concern because it means you’re paying more for the debt and Australians will feel that in higher taxes.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
On gas prices and what we’re dealing with here, I mean this new government’s only been in power for a couple of weeks. Do you accept that a failure to manage this market over a decade in power has something to do with what we’re seeing?
PETER DUTTON:
No I don’t actually.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Really.
PETER DUTTON:
I wouldn’t fall for this line from Chris Bowen. The law is there.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
I’m not falling for his lines. I’m listening to the experts and they say it has something to do with it. Shouldn’t we just level with the Australian public?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, absolutely I am. The legislation is there, the power is there for Chris Bowen to act. That’s why the legislation was drafted the way it was.
PATRICIA KARVELAS::
But it doesn’t even have an impact until next year as you know, if he was to.
PETER DUTTON:
Patricia, all I can say to you is that these same problems presented to the previous government and they were able to be dealt with. Angus Taylor as Energy Minister was able to respond. You’re now seeing a panicked new government that had – give them time, fair enough, they haven’t had their feet under the desk for too long and they don’t understand the options – but in Chris Bowen at the moment when he when he speaks, I hear somebody who doesn’t know what he wants to do and is not sure yet of which direction he should head in. Now, I’m happy to cut him some slack, but let’s call it out for what it is. It’s the voice of inexperience.
When the previous government was faced with these issues, we were able to deal with them. But there is a real risk under the Labor Party that we’re going to see greater energy insecurity – which for businesses who are deciding whether they should invest in our country, they will take a decision to go elsewhere – and that is the great risk under the Labor Party at the moment – as well as the upward pressure on electricity prices – which people in households where you and I can afford it, it’s a very different proposition than in many households across the country where people cannot afford 18 per cent or 20 per cent increase in their electricity prices.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
We’re out of time. Thank you so much for joining us.
PETER DUTTON:
My pleasure, thank you.
[ends]