Speaker 1: Ready to go.
Speaker 2: You bet.
Speaker 3: Born ready, my fellow Australians. This morning I visited the
Speaker 3: Governor General and her Excellency has accepted my advice. Did
Speaker 3: an election be held on Saturday third of May twenty
Speaker 3: and twenty five?
Speaker 2: Promence Sir Anthony Albanesi's re election pitch is stark and singular,
Speaker 2: warning of cuts and chaos under a government led by
Speaker 2: Peter Dutton.
Speaker 3: This election is a choice between Labour's plan to keep
Speaker 3: building or Peter Dutton's promise to cut. That is the choice.
Speaker 3: That is your choice, your job, your wages, your child's education,
Speaker 3: and importantly as well this scene here, your Medicare card.
Speaker 3: They're all in your hands.
Speaker 2: Peter Dutton. It's a question of whether Australians are better
Speaker 2: off now than they were before.
Speaker 1: Australians have built their lives and our country on the
Speaker 1: belief that if you work hard, you can get ahead
Speaker 1: and build a better future for your children. However, right
Speaker 1: now Australia is going backwards. The Prime Minister's spent the
Speaker 1: first time two.
Speaker 2: The opposition leader has made a lot of promises about
Speaker 2: the cost of living, housing and immigration, but with scant
Speaker 2: detail from sports media. I'm Daniel James. This is seven am.
Speaker 2: Today's special correspondent for the Saturday paper, Jason gottsukis on
Speaker 2: your choice at the next election and whether having a
Speaker 2: winning personality matters for either leader over the next five weeks.
Speaker 2: It's Saturday, March twenty nine. Jason, thanks so much for
Speaker 2: speaking with us. What did you make of the Prime
Speaker 2: minister's speech and what did it tell us about how
Speaker 2: he wants to fight selection.
Speaker 4: Well, the Prime Minister talked about how Australia is turning
Speaker 4: the corner. He's talking about the economy there that inflation
Speaker 4: has come down from nearly seven percent to around two
Speaker 4: and a half percent over the last three.
Speaker 3: Years today because of all the hard work that Australians
Speaker 3: have done. Inflation is down, real wages are up, Unemployment
Speaker 3: is low, interest rates are falling, and we're cutting taxpayer.
Speaker 4: And I think the biggest moment of his press conference
Speaker 4: was when he pulled out his Medicare carden. Of course,
Speaker 4: he was also able to relate that to his mother
Speaker 4: and the sort of care that she'd been able to
Speaker 4: receive courtesy of Medicare, and he got quite emotional there.
Speaker 4: He teared up.
Speaker 3: As an invalid pensioner, she got taken up the road
Speaker 3: after having an aneurysm, and she never left RPA, but
Speaker 3: she got the same care that Kerry Packer got. They're
Speaker 3: the Australian values. That's what I'll fight for.
Speaker 4: He talked about the energy relief measure that the government
Speaker 4: has introduced to take one hundred and fifty dollars a
Speaker 4: year off people's power bills, and then he sort of
Speaker 4: compared all of that to the chaotic, dysfunctional Member Morrison government.
Speaker 3: Less than three years ago. The chaotic and dysfunctional Morrison
Speaker 3: government left bulk billing in free fall, age care in crisis,
Speaker 3: and the ndis at breaking point. A decade of the
Speaker 3: Liberals keeping wages low, sending jobs offshore, and fighting about
Speaker 3: climate change left our nation open to the worst global
Speaker 3: inflation since the ninety eight.
Speaker 4: But I thought it was the most effective line of
Speaker 4: the press conference. Was everything in Peter Dutton's record tells
Speaker 4: us that he will start by cutting medicare.
Speaker 3: That he will start by cutting medicare, and he won't
Speaker 3: stop there. He will cut everything except your taxes.
Speaker 5: I thought that was a very effective line.
Speaker 2: Jason. You spent the past few months speaking with labor
Speaker 2: strategists about their plan for this election. You've also looked
Speaker 2: at the advertising campaigns they've been rolling out, So what
Speaker 2: have you found out about how they want to use
Speaker 2: Dutton as a foil.
Speaker 4: Well, there's no question, I think, and Labor strategists have
Speaker 4: been saying this to me for months. There's no question
Speaker 4: that they think Peter Dutton is not very popular and
Speaker 4: they're going to be focusing on that very much during
Speaker 4: the course of this campaign.
Speaker 5: They don't think that Peter Dutton is ready to govern, and.
Speaker 4: If you look at the last News poll, it seems
Speaker 4: like a majority of voters don't think Peter Dutton is
Speaker 4: ready to govern either. So I think we're going to
Speaker 4: see the Labor Party have some positive advertising, but I
Speaker 4: think most of it is going to be on the
Speaker 4: negative side and really attacking Peter Dutton. The other thing
Speaker 4: the ALP is going to focus on is the what
Speaker 4: has been a real lucky charm for the Labor Party
Speaker 4: ever since Bob Hawk was Prime Minister, and that is
Speaker 4: Medicare and strengthening the health system. That's always been a
Speaker 4: winner for the Labor Party. Their policy that the Prime
Speaker 4: Minister announced a few weeks ago now on Medicare, that
Speaker 4: eight point five billion that they're putting into bulk billing.
Speaker 4: I think the ALPA getting very good feedback on that
Speaker 4: from voters, and they're going to keep hammering that issue
Speaker 4: as much as they can as well.
Speaker 2: Coming up after the break, why Dunton suddenly doesn't want
Speaker 2: to talk about nuclear.
Speaker 6: Hi Ruby Jones Here seven Am tells stories that need
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Speaker 2: Jason on Thursday night, We've got a little insight into
Speaker 2: Peter Dutton's plans for the country when he gave his
Speaker 2: budget in reply speech. He followed that up on Friday
Speaker 2: once the election was called, what do we learn?
Speaker 4: I think the biggest surprise of the week was when
Speaker 4: we learned that the Coalition wouldn't be supporting Labor's surprise
Speaker 4: tax cuts. Angus Taylor went on seven point thirty report
Speaker 4: straight after Treasurer Jim Chalmers had delivered the budget and
Speaker 4: called the tax cuts a cruel oaks and a bribe.
Speaker 7: There are better structural, fundamental solutions to the cost of
Speaker 7: living crisis. That's not what's being offered by labor and
Speaker 7: so we won't support what they're doing here.
Speaker 6: You do not support the tax cuts.
Speaker 7: No, Well, look, let's be clear. They are a cruel huax.
Speaker 7: I mean, they are not a genuine tax cut.
Speaker 4: And it also gave the government the opportunity to kind
Speaker 4: of wedge the Coalition on the tax cuts. They weren't
Speaker 4: expecting Peter Dutton to oppose them. It's been an enormous
Speaker 4: political gift for the government and they really pounced on
Speaker 4: that on Wednesday morning when they suddenly decided to introduce
Speaker 4: legislation to really lock the opposition into that promise to
Speaker 4: oppose the tax cuts. But we also learned about the
Speaker 4: coalition's promise to have petro exise for twelve months if
Speaker 4: they win the election, and I think that is popular
Speaker 4: with a lot of obviously people who are spending a
Speaker 4: lot of money a week each week on petrol.
Speaker 1: We're saying that we want to help now pensioners and
Speaker 1: families and small businesses right across the economy with a
Speaker 1: twenty five cent reduction in fuel excise. So when you
Speaker 1: go to the bowser and you fill up your car,
Speaker 1: fill up your you you're going to be paying about
Speaker 1: fourteen dollars.
Speaker 4: But we also learned a little bit about the coalition's
Speaker 4: plan to try to lower energy costs for households with
Speaker 4: this policy to force domestic gas producers to keep some
Speaker 4: of the gas that they take out of the ground
Speaker 4: and put it into the domestic market.
Speaker 1: Gas is used to create and generate electricity, and under
Speaker 1: our policy, we're putting gas back into the energy system
Speaker 1: and we're doing it for Australians.
Speaker 4: Because it's quite a complex policy and it's not clear
Speaker 4: to me that it's going to lower gas prices. Peter
Speaker 4: Dutton also talked about getting rid of the Housing Australia
Speaker 4: Future Fund and the rewiring the Nation Fund, and of
Speaker 4: course Peter Dutton's promise to implement large cuts to the
Speaker 4: public service in Gambra. I think that's also risky for
Speaker 4: the Coalition because it does remind voters very much of
Speaker 4: what Donald Trump is doing over in Washington. Donald Trump
Speaker 4: is something that the Labour Party are going to be
Speaker 4: trying to link Peter Dutton to very much during the
Speaker 4: course of this campaign. They think Trump is a big
Speaker 4: negative for Dutton and they're going to try to remind
Speaker 4: voters of that as.
Speaker 5: Much as they can. I think over the next five weeks.
Speaker 2: So the last couple of days, we've got a bit
Speaker 2: of an insight into some of Dutton's plans. But like
Speaker 2: you just said, he has talked a lot about cutting
Speaker 2: the public service. Do you think that's going to resonate
Speaker 2: on all with the broader electorate.
Speaker 4: I don't think so, because during the last three years
Speaker 4: of the Morrison government, yes, on the one hand, they
Speaker 4: reduced the size of the public service, but they massively
Speaker 4: increased the number of consultants that were needed. So I'm
Speaker 4: not sure that Peter Dutton's going to be able to
Speaker 4: square this circle of He's on the one hand saying well,
Speaker 4: we'll cut public servants and we'll save money, but then
Speaker 4: who's going to deliver all all the services that people
Speaker 4: expect government to deliver. And then what we probably see,
Speaker 4: if we're going on the coalition's recording government, is that
Speaker 4: they'll have to turn around and employ consultants and that's
Speaker 4: probably going to cost Peter had done a lot more
Speaker 4: than he saves by sacking forty one thousand public servants.
Speaker 2: What was interesting to me was some of the stuff
Speaker 2: Dutton isn't talking about. I mean, he's been Defense minister,
Speaker 2: he's been Minister for Home Affairs and immigration, and yet
Speaker 2: in his budget reply speech you want to get into
Speaker 2: specifics from the coalition's position on defense spending or immigration numbers.
Speaker 2: What do you think that is?
Speaker 4: Jason, Well, it's a great question, Denial, and I think
Speaker 4: the answer is that Peter Dutton probably has not worked
Speaker 4: it out himself yet. They've been all over the place
Speaker 4: when it comes to what the migration target will be.
Speaker 4: They haven't been very clear whether they're talking about reducing
Speaker 4: the permanent intake of migration, which is around one hundred
Speaker 4: and ninety thousand a year, or whether they're talking about
Speaker 4: reducing net overseas migration, which is of course a completely
Speaker 4: different number. If he's going to cut permanent migration by
Speaker 4: as much as he said he will, they're talking about
Speaker 4: reducing I think taking it down from one ninety to
Speaker 4: one sixty, then that's really going to harm the economy
Speaker 4: because the only reason the Australian economy me has been
Speaker 4: able to stay out of recession over the last five
Speaker 4: to ten years is because we've had this quite high
Speaker 4: migration number. And on defense, I wonder whether the reason
Speaker 4: he held back on that is because he knew alban
Speaker 4: Anthony Albanze was going to call the election and he
Speaker 4: probably thought, well, I'm going to not get as much
Speaker 4: coverage of my speech tonight as as I would normally.
Speaker 4: I have to save something for a quieter newsday. And
Speaker 4: so I wonder whether he held back for that reason.
Speaker 4: And yet when it comes to the commitments around defense.
Speaker 2: There was also only one mention of nuclear in his
Speaker 2: budget reply speech and the first question he was asked
Speaker 2: by Generalist and Friday was why is that coalition.
Speaker 7: Has a three hundred billion dollar plan for nuclear energy
Speaker 7: but barely got to mention last night in your budget reply?
Speaker 5: Why was that walking back from yuclear because the elector
Speaker 5: doesn't like it?
Speaker 1: Well, we spoke extensive about, extensively about our energy plan
Speaker 1: last night.
Speaker 2: And does this scene to you like Peter Dutton doesn't
Speaker 2: want to speak about what was until recently his flagship policy.
Speaker 4: I think no question. Daniel Jason Claire, the Minister for Education,
Speaker 4: who is going to be the layback campaign spokesman I
Speaker 4: think for the next four or five weeks. He gave
Speaker 4: a press conference last night after the budget in reply
Speaker 4: speech and he said, well, he thinks Stutton's nuclear policy
Speaker 4: is about as popular as a fart in an elevator.
Speaker 4: The Coalition have basically stopped talking about their nuclear policy. Instead,
Speaker 4: Peter Dutton's talking about this new gas policy that they're
Speaker 4: going to try to implement. Peter Dutton knows that the
Speaker 4: nuclear is not polling well, people aren't buying it. I
Speaker 4: think we're probably going to start to see the layback
Speaker 4: campaign strategist trying to put more pressure on him about that.
Speaker 4: There's also this confusion about what it's going to cost.
Speaker 4: As we saw on Insiders last Sunday, not even Angus Taylor,
Speaker 4: the Shadow Treasurer, really seems to understand how much the
Speaker 4: coalition's nuclear policy.
Speaker 5: Is going to cost. And I think it's a real
Speaker 5: weak point for them.
Speaker 2: So Jason, over the next five weeks, you're going to
Speaker 2: be out on the campaign trail. Last election, Albanese wasn't
Speaker 2: all that crash hot on the trail. Darton is largely untested,
Speaker 2: so what your read on how they'll connect with voters
Speaker 2: and do you expect they'll try and kiss as many
Speaker 2: babies as possible.
Speaker 4: Well, always politicians will try to kiss babies and whoever
Speaker 4: they can. I do think Anthony Albanezi he is very
Speaker 4: patchy when it comes to campaigning. He does tend to
Speaker 4: drift off and he gets into this mode where he
Speaker 4: starts to list all the things he's done in government,
Speaker 4: and it I think has the effect of turning listeners off.
Speaker 4: But I think in the last four or five weeks
Speaker 4: there are signs that Anthony Alberesi has learnt something. He's
Speaker 4: getting better. His legacy is really on the line now.
Speaker 4: If he loses this election, it will be the first
Speaker 4: time a government has lost an election after just one term,
Speaker 4: and I think that is a huge incentive for the
Speaker 4: Prime Minister to campaign as hard as possible. Peter Dutton
Speaker 4: is untested and we have seen the evidence of that
Speaker 4: in the last few weeks. He's started to make mistakes.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 4: Albanesi of course has been through an election campaign, so
Speaker 4: that experience is going to matter, and I think Peter
Speaker 4: Dutton is going to struggle I think a bit more
Speaker 4: than perhaps the Prime Minister will.
Speaker 2: Well Jason, thank you for joining us, Thank you for
Speaker 2: your insights and look after your Sava of the next
Speaker 2: five weeks.
Speaker 5: Thanks Daniel.
Speaker 4: I hope we talk again before election day.
Speaker 2: Every Chance seven Am is a daily show from Schwartz
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