Speaker 1: From Schwartz Media. I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven am.
Speaker 1: Donald Trump's presence looms large on the campaign trail, as
Speaker 1: both leaders face questions about how they would handle his
Speaker 1: trade war. The market chaos, the uncertainty, the escalation of
Speaker 1: tensions between China and the US. May have all seemed
Speaker 1: like the last thing Labour needed in the middle of
Speaker 1: an election campaign, but Labour insiders now believe they've been
Speaker 1: granted a rare opportunity to hold firm in the face
Speaker 1: of uncertainty and prove its too risky to change government
Speaker 1: at a time like this. Today special correspondent for the
Speaker 1: Saturday Paper, Jason Katsukus on Anthony Aberneze's Trump strategy and
Speaker 1: how Peter Dutton is fighting back. It's Wednesday, April sixteen,
Speaker 1: So Jason, thank you for speaking with me. You've been
Speaker 1: watching very closely as the Prime Minister Field's questions about
Speaker 1: Trump on the campaign trail. What have you noticed about
Speaker 1: Anthony Abernesi's responses.
Speaker 2: The Prime Minister has wanted to draw as much attention
Speaker 2: as possible to what Donald Trump is doing in the US,
Speaker 2: but without actually kind of naming Trump himself.
Speaker 3: People will look at similar policies around the world and
Speaker 3: they will make their own decision.
Speaker 2: The Prime Minister is hinting that Peter Dutton's policies are
Speaker 2: inspired by Donald Trump and his Make American Great Again movement,
Speaker 2: but he's not actually naming Trump.
Speaker 3: I don't want to see the Americanization of the health system.
Speaker 3: I want the Australian system what Medicare should be, which
Speaker 3: is free.
Speaker 2: When the Prime Minister talks about the Americanization of the
Speaker 2: healthcare system, I think what he's saying is that Peter
Speaker 2: Dutton wants to turn Australia's health system into a US
Speaker 2: style health system and apply the same sort of cuts
Speaker 2: to healthcare that Donald Trump is trying to force through
Speaker 2: in the US.
Speaker 3: Peter Dutton's position was that you shouldn't see not just
Speaker 3: for free. He tried to abolish bulk billing by having
Speaker 3: a GP tax every time.
Speaker 2: And of course it's not just the Prime Minister who's
Speaker 2: been out there trying to link Peter Dutton to Donald Trump.
Speaker 2: Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been doing it too.
Speaker 4: We've got an opposition leader and an opposition which is
Speaker 4: absolutely full of these kind of those y sicker fans
Speaker 4: who have hitched their wagon to American style slogans and
Speaker 4: policies and especially cuts which would make Australians worse off.
Speaker 2: And the other thing, of course, that Treasurer Jim Chalmers
Speaker 2: has been trying to do is contrast the stable shore
Speaker 2: footedness of the Albaneze government with the complete sort of
Speaker 2: chaos that we're seeing in Washington.
Speaker 4: So this is a pretty important choice, a Prime minister
Speaker 4: speaking up for Australia and standing up for Australians, or
Speaker 4: an opposition leader and an opposition to have made it
Speaker 4: clear for some time that they take their cues and
Speaker 4: their instructions and their policies directly from the US, and I.
Speaker 2: Think to prepare for what the consequences of those market
Speaker 2: swings might be on the Australian economy. Jim Chalmers has
Speaker 2: brought together the heads of the Big four banks, the
Speaker 2: see of mcquarie Group, the heads of the Keith of
Speaker 2: branuation funds. He's also convened the Council of Financial Regulators.
Speaker 1: The Treasurer walking off the election campaign today and straight
Speaker 1: into an emergency meeting with the Reserve Bank planning for
Speaker 1: a global economic meltdown.
Speaker 4: We are confident that we can weather these global conditions,
Speaker 4: but we're not complacent about that, okay.
Speaker 1: And given how little transparency there is around Trump and
Speaker 1: what his next moves might be, what is your view
Speaker 1: on whether or not by having these meetings Charmers is
Speaker 1: actually making anything happen or is something like this really
Speaker 1: just performative?
Speaker 2: Look, I think it is performative. Jim Chalmers is putting
Speaker 2: on a show here for voters, but I think there
Speaker 2: is a purpose there too. If he wasn't getting the
Speaker 2: insights and views from people like Michelle Bullock, the heads
Speaker 2: of the four banks, then I think people would be
Speaker 2: wondering whether or not Jim Chalmers really is in control
Speaker 2: and does he really understand the gravity of what's happening
Speaker 2: out there in global financial markets. And I'm sure that
Speaker 2: the information that is being exchanged in those meetings will
Speaker 2: ultimately be useful for how the government responds to this crisis.
Speaker 1: And we know a lot of work has been done
Speaker 1: to try and negotiate our way out of tariffs that
Speaker 1: ultimately did not work, and we were hit with that
Speaker 1: ten percent baseline figure like a lot of other countries were.
Speaker 1: But given we are now in caretaker mode, where have
Speaker 1: we left those negotiations.
Speaker 2: Well, I think the negotiations are very much on hold.
Speaker 2: The government is certainly looking at other things that can
Speaker 2: do if they are re elected on May third. The
Speaker 2: Trade Minister Don Farrell, and the Foreign Minister Pennywong, and
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister himself have all ruled out concessions on
Speaker 2: things such as the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme, which the US
Speaker 2: has cited as being detrimental to its own pharmaceutical industry.
Speaker 2: The US is also very unhappy with Australia's biosecurity measures,
Speaker 2: which it argues unfairly disadvantaged US agricultural products on sale
Speaker 2: here in Australia. So I think the government has said
Speaker 2: that those things are non negotiable. But there are a
Speaker 2: lot of things we don't know, And I guess that
Speaker 2: the biggest thing we don't know is just to what
Speaker 2: extent the government would be prepared to offer up Australia's
Speaker 2: critical minerals as a sort of bargaining chip in these negotiations.
Speaker 2: We know that is thinking of restricting access for US
Speaker 2: companies to its critical minerals exports, So we know that
Speaker 2: the US is very interested in securing a supply of
Speaker 2: critical minerals and this is something in Australia is in
Speaker 2: a position to offer. So we just don't know what
Speaker 2: the government's exactly thinking about there.
Speaker 1: And these moves that Trump is making, I mean they're
Speaker 1: about trade, but they're also bigger than that, aren't they.
Speaker 1: He's really testing us and everyone else for weakness and
Speaker 1: seeing how we respond. So if you are to look
Speaker 1: at the situation from that lens, how important is it
Speaker 1: that we hit the right note with these negotiations.
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's very important. The US Alliance is
Speaker 2: sacrasanct for both major parties and neither the Prime Minister
Speaker 2: nor Peter Dutton would do anything that could be seen
Speaker 2: as jeopardizing the strength of the alliance. In the past,
Speaker 2: whenever Labor has been seen to criticize the US Alliance,
Speaker 2: that has really damaged the party electorally. We saw that
Speaker 2: happen to Arthur Cowell in the nineteen sixties. We saw
Speaker 2: it happen a little bit to God Whitlam. We even
Speaker 2: saw it with Simon Crane when he was Opposition leader
Speaker 2: and was just a little bit critical of the then
Speaker 2: Bush administration over the war in Iraq. So the last
Speaker 2: thing Anthony Albinezi wants to do is to be seen
Speaker 2: to undermine the US Alliance in any way, and whenever
Speaker 2: he talks about the US, he's very careful to talk
Speaker 2: about how important this relationship is and how committed to
Speaker 2: the relationship the Australian Labor Party is. And of course
Speaker 2: for Peter Dutton and the Coalition, the US Alliance has
Speaker 2: always been a bedrock for them in terms of Australia's
Speaker 2: foreign policy and there's no way Peter Dutton is going
Speaker 2: to do anything either that would be seen to weaken
Speaker 2: the US Alliance.
Speaker 1: Coming up, Peter Dutton the Drake inspired distrack.
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Speaker 1: Jason, as you've mentioned, Charmers is really trying to pin
Speaker 1: Dutton to Trump, and Labor obviously thinks that that's damaging
Speaker 1: to the coalition. So how has Dutton talked about how
Speaker 1: he would handle the issue of trade and how do
Speaker 1: you think he's responding to that line of a time
Speaker 1: from labor.
Speaker 2: Peter Dutton is trying to convince voters of the idea
Speaker 2: that if he was Prime Minister he would be able
Speaker 2: to fly over to Washington in the first sixty days
Speaker 2: of his prime ministership get a one on one meeting
Speaker 2: with President Trump and talk him around into dropping the
Speaker 2: levies that he's put on Australian experts. I'm not sure
Speaker 2: that's very convincing because what could Peter Dutton possibly offer
Speaker 2: Donald Trump that no other country has been able to do.
Speaker 2: Australia is already getting a pretty good deal compared to
Speaker 2: other countries in Donald Trump's line of fire, and the
Speaker 2: idea that Peter Dutton could negotiate something very quickly that
Speaker 2: no other country has been able to do is it
Speaker 2: does stretch credulity in my view.
Speaker 1: And you k on seven a m just after the debate,
Speaker 1: and you said that Dutton had performed well, but that
Speaker 1: that had come off the back of what had widely
Speaker 1: been seen as a bad start to the campaign. So
Speaker 1: since that debate, how do you think Dutton has gone.
Speaker 2: I think Peter Dunton is doing better in the actual
Speaker 2: mechanics of campaigning, those press conferences that he's having each
Speaker 2: day where he's up against the traveling media Party. I
Speaker 2: think Peter Dutton is showing that he's getting better at
Speaker 2: responding to those questions. But I think other things are
Speaker 2: bringing him down and that's turning his campaign. The big
Speaker 2: one is policy preparedness.
Speaker 6: So just to deal with the issue just quickly, if
Speaker 6: I can summarize it this way.
Speaker 2: Electricity is one of Peter Dutton's big policies. Is this
Speaker 2: policy to force domestic gas producers to put aside some
Speaker 2: of the gas they produce, so there's always give me
Speaker 2: enough gas for Australian consumers. But it's quite a complex policy.
Speaker 6: We need to change the way in which the system
Speaker 6: works to bring more gas in and similar to what
Speaker 6: we've done with the twenty five cent a later cut
Speaker 6: on petrol and diesel, to that cheaper for consumers. That's
Speaker 6: apply across the economy, not just pensioners and families, but
Speaker 6: also small businesses and bigger businesses, delivery truck drivers, and
Speaker 6: that's the approach we've taken to gas as well.
Speaker 2: It has most voters don't really understand what it is
Speaker 2: that he wants to do. It's quite confusing. Another thing
Speaker 2: that Peter Dutton has talked about is halving the petrol
Speaker 2: excise for twelve months. He's got a strange advertisement to
Speaker 2: try to boost the profile of this petrol excise policy.
Speaker 1: How far can having the petrol tax take you?
Speaker 2: It's an ad I think that was entirely made using
Speaker 2: artificial intelligence. It features an alien inner with.
Speaker 1: The Liberals having the petrol tax policy does not include
Speaker 1: phytogets will not the applicable face for terrestrials.
Speaker 2: I think while it's sort of unusual and perhaps a
Speaker 2: bit gimmicky, I'm not sure that it really is a
Speaker 2: serious to voters. And I'd say the same thing about
Speaker 2: this this rap song that that the coalition campaign released.
Speaker 7: You need to wait. It is supposed to be the
Speaker 7: money was spinning on groceries. I just want to bust
Speaker 7: some eggs and cheese one hundred bucks. You can't in men.
Speaker 7: It cost for much to live. The economy is looking
Speaker 7: a mess man, so we live in shape to check
Speaker 7: labor Gadi is still and self stressed we need a fantasy.
Speaker 2: It seemed a bit trivial to me, and I'm sure
Speaker 2: it's the serious pitch that Peter Dutton needs to convince
Speaker 2: voters that he's ready for government. Both the you know
Speaker 2: the aiad and this rap song, what both of those
Speaker 2: things say to me is that the Coalition isn't quite
Speaker 2: as prepared as it should be. It hasn't put in
Speaker 2: the hard yards and it's been forced to resort to
Speaker 2: sort of gimmicky advertising.
Speaker 1: Okay, and what about the domestic policy questions, so on
Speaker 1: cost of living, on housing, how is Dunton handling those well.
Speaker 2: Another surprise appearance on the campaign trail on Monday was
Speaker 2: Peter Dutton's son Harry, who told reporters that he was
Speaker 2: struggling to save enough money to buy a house.
Speaker 1: As you've probably heard, it's almost impossible to get in
Speaker 1: in the current state.
Speaker 3: So I mean, we're saving luck, mard, but it doesn't
Speaker 3: look like we'll get there.
Speaker 2: But again you have to question Peter Dutton's judgment there,
Speaker 2: because Peter Dutton, of course has been a very successful
Speaker 2: property investor over the years, and I don't think anyone
Speaker 2: doubts that if it really comes down to it that
Speaker 2: Peter Dutton is going to help his son to buy
Speaker 2: that first home, and of course that's not an option
Speaker 2: that most parents out there really have. And I think
Speaker 2: Peter Dutton himself really struggled to answer that question when
Speaker 2: it was put to him by reporters on the campaign trail.
Speaker 4: You're doing pretty well yourself, why won't you support him
Speaker 4: a bit and give him a bit of help with
Speaker 4: getting his house.
Speaker 6: I haven't finished the excellent points I was making. The
Speaker 6: next point is why people should know.
Speaker 2: But finally, I think the biggest mistake that Peter Dutton
Speaker 2: has made is this decision to delay the policy roll
Speaker 2: out to the campaign itself. He's been calling for an
Speaker 2: election for the last eighteen months, yet he hasn't really
Speaker 2: released any policy over that eighteen months, and I think
Speaker 2: that's the real reason we're starting to see the Coalition
Speaker 2: fall behind in the campaign by so quickly and by
Speaker 2: so much. And I think the Coalition, if they do
Speaker 2: end up losing this election, will come to regret that
Speaker 2: decision to not have the big policy discussions during the
Speaker 2: last three years. Perhaps they should have to present themselves
Speaker 2: as a real alternative government.
Speaker 1: Jason, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2: Ruby, absolute pleasure talking with you. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: Also in the news today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi has
Speaker 1: said officials are seeking further information after a report emerged
Speaker 1: that Russia is seeking to base military aircraft in Indonesia.
Speaker 1: The report, by a defense and security website says Moscow
Speaker 1: has requested permission for aircraft to be based in Indonesia's
Speaker 1: remote Papua region on Australia's northern doorstep. When asked about
Speaker 1: the report, Albanesi said, we obviously do not want to
Speaker 1: see Russian influence in our region. Opposition leader Peter Dutton
Speaker 1: called it a troubling development that would be a catastrophic
Speaker 1: failure of diplomatic relations and the whole Victorian curriculum authority
Speaker 1: has been sacked after widespread failures in last year's Year
Speaker 1: twelve exams in the state. Sample exams containing the real
Speaker 1: exam questions were accidentally published online, affecting sixty five of
Speaker 1: the one hundred and sixteen VCE subjects, which had been
Speaker 1: viewed at least six thousand times before the mistake was identified.
Speaker 1: The Education Minister Ben Carroll said the board had been
Speaker 1: unprepared for the exams and appointed an interim board to
Speaker 1: oversee this year's tests. I'm Ruby Jones is seven am.
Speaker 1: We'll be back tomorrow with a full breakdown of tonight's
Speaker 1: leaders debate.