Key events
PM says neither side of politics has done enough for Indigenous Australians
David Speers pointed out the fact that neither leader has visited an Indigenous community so far in this campaign.
Anthony Albanese said that “neither side of politics has done well enough for First Nations people.”
That’s just a fact, and that’s something that breaks my heart.
The PM said that after the referendum he went to Garma and committed to economic empowerment, pointing to a number of initiatives.
Has Labor now moved on from the Voice, treaty and truth telling completely? Albanese responded:
We accept the decision that was made, David. We put forward a proposition that was asked for. We took up the gracious request of First Nations people, made at Uluru, in 2017.
PM rules out need for contingencies around Aukus
Anthony Albanese said there was no need for contingency plans around Aukus, and that the deal is “in the interests of both Australia and the US and the UK as well.”
What is extraordinary is a questioning of that [it] does nothing to advance Australia’s national interests. The important thing about international relations is that you shouldn’t try to score domestic political points through it.
Peter Dutton jumped in and has accused Labor of “cannibalising” defence spending, but the PM rejected this:
It’s complete farce, nonsense. We have increased defence spending by $57bn. We had a defence strategic review … We’ve had serious discussions with the US, going back to the Biden administration, about critical minerals, the role it plays in industry, and we have engaged constructively.
And it doesn’t assist to try to score a political point on something that we backed when the Morrison government came up with this proposal.
Dutton continues argument he could have achieved different outcome on tariffs for Australia
Peter Dutton has previously said he could have got a deal with Donald Trump over tariffs. No other leader has managed this – how would he pull the deal off?
Dutton argued that the Coalition did this “in the 45th presidency when president Trump was first elected.”
We were able to negotiate as a government then an outcome where Australia was exempt … We were able to leverage relationships.
Does the Coalition have a stronger relationship with the administration than Labor? Dutton replied:
I think we have the ability, as we demonstrated before, to talk to the administration … We demonstrated it in the first presidency that we’re able to get an exemption when other countries weren’t …
We have people in Washington who have worked for Coalition governments, people who have worked for the Australian government. I think there is the ability to do a deal.
Leaders asked if they trust Xi Jinping
We’ve now moved on to another world leader – the Chinese president Xi Jinping.
Anthony Albanese gave the same response, saying “I have no reason not to, either.”
In terms of the discussions we have had as one-on-one discussions have been important … It’s in Australia’s national interest to have a good economic relationship with China. We have different political systems.
Peter Dutton said he strongly believes in the relationship Australia has with Xi “for the reasons the prime minister outlined.” Does he trust him? Dutton responded:
Again, I spoke to him across the table. I haven’t done business with him and shaken hands and seen whether somebody has honoured that deal. I don’t have any reason to distrust.
Does Albanese trust Trump? ‘I have no reason not to’
Also asked if he trusts Trump, Anthony Albanese responded that “I have no reason not to.”
I’ve had a couple of discussions with him, and the last discussion we agreed on a series of words that he would ‘give consideration’. Great consideration was the words he used. And he did that (in relation to the tariffs).
Dutton says ‘I don’t know the president’ when asked if he trusts Trump
Peter Dutton has now been asked if he trusts Donald Trump. He responded:
We trust the US, and I don’t know the president. I’ve not met him. The prime minister obviously has been able to.
Pressed on the question, Dutton said his point is that he doesn’t know Trump, and that he does trust “the Australian people.”
My job is to stand up for our country’s interests, which is what I did when we negotiated the Aukus deal with president [Joe] Biden.
Anthony Albanese is doubling down, saying this is the second example of the “failures that we have seen of diplomacy and of mature responses to international issues just during this campaign” from Peter Dutton.
When president [Donald] Trump made the announcement that every single country in the world will be hit with tariffs, the alternative prime minister suggested that we should put defence and our defence relationship with the US on the bargaining table. And it took John Howard to intervene to point out how unwise that would be.
Dutton defends comments about Indonesia
We’re now moving to reports that Russia made a request to Indonesia to station aircraft in the country – something Indonesia assured Australia it wasn’t accepting.
David Speers asked Peter Dutton:
You said the Indonesian president had publicly announced this Russian request when he had not. Indonesia says there won’t be Russian planes based there. Do you admit you got that wrong?
The opposition leader defended his comments and said:
What we have seen the last 12 hours or so is the Russian envoy to Indonesia has confirmed that there have been discussions and obviously there is a concerning closeness in that relationship. And I think the main point here is that the prime minister knew nothing of it.
Anthony Albanese said this was an “extraordinary double down from the alternative prime minister of Australia who verballed the Indonesian president yesterday”.
The idea you throw out these comments is just extraordinary. And the fact that we just saw a double down on it as if there’s nothing to see here, just shows there’s no understanding of the need for diplomacy.
Albanese says cost of not acting on climate change is ‘severe’
Answering the same question, Anthony Albanese said “the science is very clear” on climate change.
It doesn’t mean that every single weather event is because of climate change. It does mean the science told us the events would be more extreme and they’d be more frequent. That is what we are seeing playing out. Whether it be increased bushfires, flooding, extreme weather events that are having an impact.
The PM said that these increasing weather events are “one of the costs” to the economy by not acting on climate change.
[The costs of] not being a part of the global solution are severe.
Dutton questioned on his views on climate change: ‘I’m not a scientist’
Peter Dutton is asked if he accepts that we are already seeing the impact of climate change.
The opposition leader said “there’s an impact” but the question is “what we can do about it as a population of 27 million people.”
We should be good corporate citizens, good international neighbours. But at the moment China is building two coal fire power stations a week. India obviously is burning a lot of fossil fuel.
Pressed on the question, Dutton said “I don’t know because I’m not a scientist.”
I can’t tell you whether the temperature has risen in Thargomindah because of climate change … I think the honest answer for people is they don’t know and scientists can provide advice.
When will bills come down?
Anthony Albanese has been asked when energy bills will come down?
He pointed to Labor’s renewables plan, and honed in on gas:
Peter raised gas. Gas is $13, it was $30 when we came to office. $13 is cheaper than $30.
As for when bills will come down, the PM said that “what we need do is to roll out renewables.”
Make sure there’s energy security, make sure it’s backed up by batteries, by hydro and by gas. That’s what all the private sector is backing and investing in. Not using taxpayers’ money to fund something that they never put forward the entire time they were in office.
Would Coalition override local communities and state governments on nuclear?
If local communities and farmers say no, and state governments say no, to nuclear, what happens? Would a Coalition government override them?
Peter Dutton said the “commonwealth has powers [and] we can exercise those powers if need be”.
We can work with the state governments. In South Australia, the South Australian premier has been very clear of his support for nuclear. There’s many figures in the union movement and in the Labor party have as well.
Dutton said the Coalition would “work to find consensus”.
If we can’t find consensus, we will do what’s in country’s best interest.
Anthony Albanese chimed in and said even the private sector wouldn’t support nuclear:
Every single state and territory government, none will support it … That is not what is important. The most important thing is, the private sector won’t back it.
Other countries wish they more solar and wind resources, Albanese says
Staying with nuclear, Anthony Albanese picked up on Peter Dutton’s reference to other countries who have implemented nuclear, and said they “wish” they had the natural resources Australia does. The PM says:
What Keir Starmer has to deal with is the blow out in the costs of the Hinkley nuclear plant. It is now up to $90bn for one plant. It is coming in 14 years late and being built in a country that has a nuclear industry, by the world’s largest nuclear energy company, in France.
That shows exactly the problem and Keir Starmer wishes, as do so many people, that they had the access with the solar resources, with the wind resources, with the space that we have here in Australia, to have renewables backed by gas, backed by hydro and backed by batteries. That’s the future.
What do the leaders want to be remembered for?
The prime minister was asked what is one big change he would like to be remembered for. Anthony Albanese pointed to affordable childcare, and said:
We want the universal provision of affordable childcare so that it is as natural to have your child have access to childcare as it is to have access to a public school.
Peter Dutton was asked the same question, and pointed to creating an east coast gas reserve, and then went to nuclear:
We go beyond [gas], as you know, to deal with what firms up the renewables as we go forward, which is a vision that Bob Hawke had for our country, John Howard shared and I strongly believe in, a zero emissions nuclear technology, embraced by the Labour party in the United Kingdom, by the French, by many countries.
Albanese warns of cuts under Coalition to fund nuclear reactors
Anthony Albanese then interjected on this topic:
That is before they get to the $600bn they need for their nuclear reactors … ‘Vote for me, trust us, we will tell you after the election.’
Last time the cuts came to health, education, $50bn out of hospitals, $30bn out of schools. That is why a decade later, we’re still trying to fix and repair the damage that was done by that 2014 budget.
Dutton sidesteps questions on which area of the public service he would cut
Peter Dutton was asked if the Coalition’s cuts to the public service are going to cover all its spending in this election? He said the “short answer is no”.
We won’t achieve all of the savings we need to achieve through our changes to the public service.
Asked to outline one area of the public service he would cut, Dutton did not answer the question directly but said:
There’s been a three-fold increase in the expansion of the public service compared to the Rudd-Gillard years. We have the highest per capita rate of public servants in the world, and our argument is if you have families working second, third jobs, working their guts out, paying tax, I want to make sure the taxpayer dollar is spent efficiently. My argument is that where you balloon the public service in Canberra, that is not an efficient use of taxpayer money.
He was pushed to answer directly, and said:
Where we find inefficiency. It’s not something you can do from opposition to redesign the public service, it’s not the way that works.
PM defends the fact energy rebates aren’t means tested
Anthony Albanese was asked about the energy rebates Labor is promising, and why these aren’t means tested. He responded:
Because of the way it is delivered through the energy companies, you either give it to everyone or just to concession card holders. We understand a whole lot of working people need that assistance in cost of living. That is why this is our third increase in energy rebates that we’ve put forward, that’s why we have done it.
Would the leaders support longer rental agreements?
Asked if he would be willing to give renters certainty with longer rentals, Peter Dutton said this was an issue for the states.
I’m happy to support sensible reforms. As you pointed out, it’s for the states. The focus on this election who is better to fix the housing crisis this government created.
Would Anthony Albanese put pressure on the states to give renters more certainty? He responded:
We delivered a renters’ rights program in agreement with states and territories that improved the rights of people renting and, in addition, increased maximum rental assistance by 45% in this term.
He took aim at the Coalition’s super for housing policy and said this “does nothing for supply” and would “bid up prices as it did in New Zealand”.
www.theguardian.com
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