Speaker 1: Already and this is the Daily This is the Daily OS.
Speaker 1: Oh now it makes sense. Good morning and welcome to
Speaker 1: the Daily OS. It's Monday, the twenty eighth of April.
Speaker 1: I'm Billy fitz.
Speaker 2: Simon's I'm Zara Seidler.
Speaker 1: Well, we are now less than a week out from
Speaker 1: the election, when more than eighteen million Australians are due
Speaker 1: to vote for who will form the country's next government
Speaker 1: and who will be the next Prime Minister. On today's episode,
Speaker 1: we're going to break down who the major parties in
Speaker 1: Australia are. Now. All your life, you've probably been hearing
Speaker 1: about the Labor Party and the Coalition, But if you've
Speaker 1: never stopped to do a deep dive on either of
Speaker 1: those parties, then this podcast is for you.
Speaker 2: Billy, I always like the opportunity to just step back
Speaker 2: and explain the basics that really sits behind our political system.
Speaker 2: It's something that we take for granted, this idea that
Speaker 2: we all know everything, but it is really important to
Speaker 2: explain the basic So how does how Australian political still work?
Speaker 2: Just a small question to start with.
Speaker 1: Okay, So, Australia's political landscape is often described as a
Speaker 1: two party system, and that's because we do have two
Speaker 1: major parties or two major groups who tend to get
Speaker 1: the majority of votes and who tend to make up
Speaker 1: most of the spots in parliament, and that's the Labor
Speaker 1: Party and the Coalition. Now, for several decades it's been
Speaker 1: either the Labor Party or the Coalition who have been
Speaker 1: in government with the other in opposition. So there's always
Speaker 1: one party that's in government and one party who's in opposition,
Speaker 1: and their job in opposition is kind of to hold
Speaker 1: the government of the day to account. Now, Labor is
Speaker 1: one single party, but unlike Labor, the Coalition isn't actually
Speaker 1: a single party. It's two or actually it's more than two,
Speaker 1: but mainly it's two.
Speaker 2: Let's not get bogged down in this scifully here, but yes,
Speaker 2: it is a coalition of multiple players here. And so
Speaker 2: let's start with the coalition. How do they bill themselves?
Speaker 2: What are they about?
Speaker 1: So the coalition is a formal alliance between the Liberal
Speaker 1: Party and the National Party. And then like I kind
Speaker 1: of just said, there are a few other very small parties,
Speaker 1: but they kind of do.
Speaker 2: Full undersidiaries of exactly National.
Speaker 1: Exactly, and so they join forces to govern together. If
Speaker 1: they win enough seats collectively in the House of Representatives. Now,
Speaker 1: since twenty twenty two, the Coalition has been in opposition,
Speaker 1: but before that they were actually in government for nearly
Speaker 1: a decade. You might remember some of the prime ministers
Speaker 1: of that time. We had Tony Abbott, we had Malcolm Turnbull,
Speaker 1: and then we had Scott Morrison, which I'm sure many
Speaker 1: of our listeners, our younger listeners will remember, maybe Scott
Speaker 1: Morrison more than the previous two. And then right before that,
Speaker 1: if we're going back to you know, the early two thousands,
Speaker 1: we had John Howard. So those are some of the
Speaker 1: fame Coalition prime ministers.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: And important to say that when the Coalition is in government,
Speaker 1: it's the leader of the Liberal Party who becomes the
Speaker 1: prime minister, and then it's the leader of the National
Speaker 1: Party who becomes the deputy prime minister. Now, deputy prime
Speaker 1: ministers definitely don't have the same high profile as prime ministers,
Speaker 1: but one deputy prime minister that you might be familiar
Speaker 1: with was Barnaby Joyce. He definitely had maybe a higher
Speaker 1: profile than some of the previous ones.
Speaker 2: Definitely. Okay, So this coalition is made up of the
Speaker 2: Liberal Party, and of the nationals, starting first with the
Speaker 2: Liberal Party. What do they stand for?
Speaker 1: Yeah, so the Liberal Party is usually considered to be
Speaker 1: on the right side of the political spectrum.
Speaker 2: I want to stop you there, because you and I
Speaker 2: often do panels where we explain the basics of politics,
Speaker 2: and this idea of the left and the right can
Speaker 2: be quite an abstract term for a lot of people.
Speaker 2: What do you mean by the right?
Speaker 1: I vividly remember in year ten my history teacher throwing
Speaker 1: out the schedule for that day and saying, today I
Speaker 1: am teaching you the difference between the left and the
Speaker 1: right in politics. It was amazing And to the same
Speaker 1: it's the like only class I remember, no, but it's
Speaker 1: like it was just the most amazing lesson. So for
Speaker 1: anyone who didn't have mister Muir as a history teacher,
Speaker 1: you're right that it's something that we always hear about
Speaker 1: but is never quite explained to us. So it's a
Speaker 1: common way to define political parties as existing on this
Speaker 1: kind of spectrum between the left and the right, and
Speaker 1: the left is considered to be more socially progressive, and
Speaker 1: it tends to favor the government playing a more active
Speaker 1: role in our lives. And then the right is the opposite,
Speaker 1: so they favor the government playing less of a role
Speaker 1: in our lives and kind of government exactly, and that
Speaker 1: is what the Liberal Party is usually considered to be.
Speaker 1: It's considered to be more right of center, although important
Speaker 1: to note that, especially in Australia, both of the major
Speaker 1: parties are quite center. But then Liberal Party a little
Speaker 1: bit more to the right, the Labor Party a little
Speaker 1: bit more to the left. Back to the Liberal Party.
Speaker 1: So they position themselves as the party of business, and
Speaker 1: they tend to push for economic changes that benefit businesses
Speaker 1: and their owners. And like I just said, they tend
Speaker 1: to believe that the government should have minimal interference in
Speaker 1: our daily lives, prioritizing kind of individual freedom and responsibility.
Speaker 1: And it also tends to be more socially conservative than Labor.
Speaker 2: Okay, So when we talk about the Liberal Party, an
Speaker 2: easy way to think about it is small government, like
Speaker 2: market running itself and tends to be a bit more
Speaker 2: socially conservative than what we see from the Labor Party.
Speaker 1: And when you say market economic market.
Speaker 2: Yeah, correct, So then that's the Liberal Party. They're in
Speaker 2: coalition with the Nationals. Tell me about the Nationals.
Speaker 1: So the National Party is traditionally the party for regional Australia.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure all of their seats that they hold
Speaker 1: in the House of Representatives are in regional or rural
Speaker 1: parts of Australia, and that's because it has a particular
Speaker 1: focus on agricultural and mining industries. And if we go
Speaker 1: back to that spectrum that we were just talking about,
Speaker 1: they tend to be considered further to the right than
Speaker 1: the Liberal Party, especially on social issues and also on
Speaker 1: environmental issues.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so it's that very interesting balance that the
Speaker 2: coalition has to get right, which is that the Nationals
Speaker 2: do tend to sit differently on the spectrum to certainly
Speaker 2: some parts of the Liberal Party. But because they govern together,
Speaker 2: they have to reach this compromise and they have to
Speaker 2: have a party position as the coalition. So what are
Speaker 2: some of the key policies that the coalition has put
Speaker 2: forward with this federal election coming up? Okay?
Speaker 1: I would say that there are two big things that
Speaker 1: they are focusing on. The first is cost of living,
Speaker 1: and I'd say they're kind of focusing on that through
Speaker 1: two main ways. The first is through their fuel EXI
Speaker 1: So you might not know that every single time you
Speaker 1: fill up your car or fill up your motorbike, you
Speaker 1: are paying fifty cents per litera in tax on the
Speaker 1: price of petrol. Now, what the Coalition wants to do
Speaker 1: if they get into government is have that to be
Speaker 1: twenty five cents. So in effect, that would mean that
Speaker 1: your petrol is twenty five cents cheaper per liter that
Speaker 1: you fill up. So that's the first way that they're
Speaker 1: trying to address cost of living. And then the second
Speaker 1: way is through housing. They talk a lot about trying
Speaker 1: to help first home buyers get into the market, and
Speaker 1: they have a range of different policies to do that.
Speaker 1: I think a key one is that they want to
Speaker 1: help first home buyers access up to fifty thousand dollars
Speaker 1: of their superannuation to help them buy a home. And
Speaker 1: then if you did that, so if you access fifty
Speaker 1: thousand dollars of your superannuation, you would then need to
Speaker 1: put that money back if you were then to sell
Speaker 1: the house that you bought with that money. Does that
Speaker 1: make sense?
Speaker 2: Yeah, makes sense, And so that's their kind of central
Speaker 2: housing proposition or a way to get new home buyers
Speaker 2: into the market. But then really another key policy pillar
Speaker 2: i'd call it is really energy, and I don't think
Speaker 2: that this is unique to the Coalition. Both Labor and
Speaker 2: the Coalition are really focusing on cost of living and
Speaker 2: energy as these two big topics, but the way that
Speaker 2: they're doing it is very different. Talk me through the
Speaker 2: coalition's energy policy.
Speaker 1: Yes, this is a big one, so stick with me.
Speaker 1: So basically, with energy, Australia over the next decade or
Speaker 1: so is going through a period of transition, and what
Speaker 1: the Coalition wants to do is they want to introduce
Speaker 1: nuclear energy into Australia. So they want to build nuclear
Speaker 1: reactors on the sites of coalfied power stations, which are
Speaker 1: stations that are already closing down in the next decade
Speaker 1: or so. Now, just to explain that a bit more,
Speaker 1: because they did have to go.
Speaker 2: To a lot of reason, a lot of to and
Speaker 2: fro on this line, Yes.
Speaker 1: Because I really wanted to understand first why is it
Speaker 1: that they think we need this. So, like I just said,
Speaker 1: all coal fiede power stations are due to close in
Speaker 1: Australia in the next decade or so, and that's due
Speaker 1: to multiple reasons like their impact on the environment, and
Speaker 1: then also just the growing popularity of renewable energy sources,
Speaker 1: and so with the closure of these coal fide power stations,
Speaker 1: there becomes a gap in the market that needs to
Speaker 1: be filled. And just to give you an idea of
Speaker 1: that gap, in twenty twenty three, forty six percent of
Speaker 1: electricity generation in Australia came from coal, so that's about
Speaker 1: half and that now needs to be filled. So the
Speaker 1: Coalition says Australia is running out of energy, which will
Speaker 1: mean inconsistent energy sources, so more blackouts and also higher
Speaker 1: energy bills. But they say that they can solve that
Speaker 1: through nuclear energy, which they say is the cheaper, cleaner
Speaker 1: and more consistent alternative. And so they want to build
Speaker 1: these nuclear reactors on these retired colfied power stations to
Speaker 1: keep Australia's energy source running smoothly. So that's their aim,
Speaker 1: and this is their alternative to Labour's plan, which is
Speaker 1: to focus on renewable energy, so mostly solar and wind power.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's certainly the quickest explanation I've ever heard
Speaker 2: on nuclear I do just want to add, though, the
Speaker 2: reason listeners might not be familiar with nuclear power. I
Speaker 2: guess the reason you and I have had to spend
Speaker 2: so long trying to get our heads around it is.
Speaker 2: It's been banned in Australia since the nineties. The Coalition
Speaker 2: under John Howard at that point banned nuclear in Australia.
Speaker 2: That was as a result of shifting public opinion. We
Speaker 2: all know of many nuclear related disasters and so what
Speaker 2: the Coalition is saying here is that they are going
Speaker 2: to repeal that ban and use, as you said, those
Speaker 2: coal fired stations or the retired ones to set up
Speaker 2: nuclear reactors. And throughout this campaign there's been a real
Speaker 2: to and fro between the Coalition on labor and labor
Speaker 2: on how much that will cost. But again a whole
Speaker 2: other podcast, so we will leave that there, but we
Speaker 2: will absolutely be uploading pieces to TDA that really explains
Speaker 2: where the Coalition is going with their thinking here.
Speaker 1: I was just going to say that throughout this podcast. Also,
Speaker 1: when we go through Labour's policies, I'm kind of just
Speaker 1: telling you their perspective on why they think those policies
Speaker 1: are important. Obviously there's a lot of criticism on both
Speaker 1: sides about the different policies and I'm not really going
Speaker 1: through that. I thought it was important to just tell
Speaker 1: you what are the policies from their perspective.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then it's for our listeners to look at
Speaker 2: what is being suggested on both sides and decide what
Speaker 2: they think is better for them. Yes, all right, So
Speaker 2: on that topic, we obviously have another party, the party
Speaker 2: that is in government currently Labor. Tell me about Labor.
Speaker 1: So the Labor Party traditionally positions itself as the party
Speaker 1: of working people. So we said before, the Liberal Party
Speaker 1: was more the party of Businessabor Party is much more
Speaker 1: the party of working people. It has its roots in
Speaker 1: the union movement, and they say they exist to push
Speaker 1: for economic changes that benefit workers, specifically, such as things
Speaker 1: like increasing the minimum wage, and just to go back
Speaker 1: to the spectrum we were talking about before, we keep
Speaker 1: going back to it. They exist more on the left
Speaker 1: of the spectrum, but again, just like the Liberal Party,
Speaker 1: they are close to the center as well. Now their
Speaker 1: current leader is Anthony Alberanzi, who is of course the
Speaker 1: current Prime minister. And then some recent prime ministers from
Speaker 1: the Labor Party that listeners might be familiar with include
Speaker 1: Kevin Rudd Kevin O seven, one of the probably one
Speaker 1: of the most successful political campaigns in recent memory. And
Speaker 1: then there was also Julie Gillard, who was our first
Speaker 1: female prime minister in Australia and only and then Kevin
Speaker 1: Rudd again, we went back to Kevin Rudd.
Speaker 2: That was an interesting time in politics, wasn't it. So
Speaker 2: what are the key policies that Labor is taking to
Speaker 2: this election.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so similar to the Coalition, they are also campaigning
Speaker 1: very heavily on helping voters with the cost of living
Speaker 1: and the housing crisis, but the ways in which they
Speaker 1: propose to do that are a little bit different. So
Speaker 1: first with housing, they also have a range of policies
Speaker 1: to help first home buyers. Specifically, one way that they
Speaker 1: are proposing to do this is to allow all first
Speaker 1: home buyers the ability to buy a home with just
Speaker 1: a five percent deposit. So usually the minimum you would
Speaker 1: need is ten percent, and they're saying that they would
Speaker 1: bring that down to five percent. And they say that
Speaker 1: they'll do that by guaranteeing a portion of a first
Speaker 1: home buyers loan and not requiring the first home buyer
Speaker 1: to pay lender's mortgage insurance. Are you familiar with lender's
Speaker 1: mortgage insurance?
Speaker 2: Honestly, it's really nache, But I am because I did
Speaker 2: a lot of work on it in my previous job.
Speaker 2: I know, so I didn't know that about you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know for anyone who's not familiar with it.
Speaker 1: It's basically just a fee that you need to pay
Speaker 1: if the deposit you're putting down is below a certain
Speaker 1: percentage of a property price. I think it's usually twenty percent.
Speaker 1: So what Labour is saying is that if you're a
Speaker 1: first home buyer, you wouldn't have to pay that under
Speaker 1: their policy. And then I talked about energy before, So
Speaker 1: Labour's proposal in this area is to get our energy
Speaker 1: grid to eighty two percent renewables by twenty thirty. Now,
Speaker 1: just to give you an idea, in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: thirty five percent of Australia's total electricity generation was from
Speaker 1: renewable energy sources, and so they want to increase that
Speaker 1: thirty five percent in twenty twenty three to eighty two
Speaker 1: percent by twenty thirty, so basically doubling it in less
Speaker 1: than a decade. And so just to recap that again,
Speaker 1: the Coalition they are wanting to rely on nuclear energy
Speaker 1: to fix this gap, and then Labor is wanting to
Speaker 1: rely on renewables.
Speaker 2: Billy, very helpful to understand what the value or the
Speaker 2: offering from both of the major parties this election is.
Speaker 2: But always important to note that when you go to
Speaker 2: the ballot box, it's not just the major parties that
Speaker 2: are on that ballot. We will be speaking in a
Speaker 2: later episode this week about minor parties about independence, because
Speaker 2: although we do exist in this kind of two party system,
Speaker 2: we are seeing the growing prominence of those minor parties
Speaker 2: and of those independents, and we will absolutely be talking
Speaker 2: about them ahead of the election. But for today, thank
Speaker 2: you for taking us through Labor and the Coalition, and
Speaker 2: thank you for joining us for another episode of the
Speaker 2: Daily Ods. This week, we'll be taking you through politics
Speaker 2: one oh one. It's more important than ever that you
Speaker 2: have unbiased and factual political information, and you can count
Speaker 2: on the Daily Ods to get you there. We'll be
Speaker 2: back later today with the headlines, but until then, have
Speaker 2: a great day.
Speaker 1: My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Arunda
Speaker 1: Bunjelung Kalkotin woman from Gadighl Country. The Daily Os acknowledges
Speaker 1: that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the
Speaker 1: Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and torrest
Speaker 1: rate island and nations. We pay our respects to the
Speaker 1: first peoples of these countries, both past and present.