Topics: Inglis River walking track upgrade; Labor’s cost of living crisis; Federal Budget; revocation of dual citizenship of people who commit serious crimes; antisemitism; Defence spending; international student numbers

 

E&OE   

 

MAL HINGSTON, LIBERAL CANDIDATE FOR BRADDON:

Good morning everyone. We're down here at the Inglis River walking track in Wynyard. Today we're announcing a Peter Dutton Coalition Government will provide $2.1 million to upgrade this walking track. So we're talking about upgrade of structures, bridges, walkways and the gravel as well, repairing some erosion work. It's a vital bit of community infrastructure. It's a good walk. It gets people outside exercising, and I'm happy to support the rehabilitation of this track

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Very good. Thanks, Mal and great to be with you and Richard Colbeck, both big champions of this region and the importance of making sure we have the amenity that people deserve for this area, and we are seeing this as a powerhouse for Australia. Agricultural powerhouse, an economic powerhouse and we need to make sure we've got the housing, we've got the amenity that is necessary to support the growth of this region and the ongoing prosperity of this region, which is our strong focus. I know it’s Mal’s focus and Richard's focus, and that's why we're here today. I've seen myself just the enormous benefit that comes from having a project like this proceed in my own hometown. We've seen walkways go into place over a number of years, which have really changed the amenity of the town and brought in economic benefits because it brings people from out of town, brings people here to enjoy what is an amazing, beautiful place, and supports local cafes, businesses, restaurants and so on and we want to see exactly that kind of growth and success here in this wonderful part of Tasmania, this wonderful part of Australia. All of this is only possible if you have a strong economy. If you have a strong economy, you can afford the Defence Force that you need to defend the nation. If you have a strong economy, you can pay for local amenity and infrastructure that supports a growth in housing supply that ensures young Australians have the chance to buy a home and get ahead. If you have a strong economy, it ensures that you have the jobs, the rising incomes, that are necessary for aspiration to be the centre of our economy, the centrepiece of our economy in the years to come.

 

Right now, under Labor, we haven't had that strong economy. We've had the biggest hit to our standard of living in history. We had seven consecutive quarters of GDP going backwards. The only way people have been able to get ahead is to work harder and to do more. Extra hours, extra jobs have been the centrepiece of any growth we've seen in the economy and that that is not how, that is not how you create a prosperous, successful nation, but that's what we've seen under Labor and we saw a speech from the Treasury yesterday that outlines more of the same. We are not going to get back to the standard of living that Australians had when Labor came to power until 2030. I mean, we've never seen this kind of hit before, and it's worse than any other country in the world. It's completely unacceptable. So what do we need to see in the budget next week? We need to see genuine, sustainable reduction in Australians’ cost of living, beating inflation on a sustainable basis, not bandaids on bullet wounds, but a sustainable solution to what Australians have seen over the last two and a half years. We need to restore hope. The aspiration to own a home, to start and build a business, has to be a centrepiece of this budget, and we need to see those fiscal guardrails back in place, where we grow the economy faster than our spending. We make sure we're coming back to budget balance. We know from the Treasurer yesterday, there's going to be red ink as far as the eye can see, and that drives inflation. It's bad for growth. It undermines the private sector of the economy, but that's what Labor seems to be happy with. It's been a disaster for Australian households. What we also saw from the Treasurer yesterday is a long litany of excuses for his failures. A long litany of excuses for his failures. This bloke has a PhD in blame shifting, he's blamed just about everybody, but the one person who won't take responsibility for the economic failures of the last two and a half years is the Treasurer and the Prime Minister. Australians deserve better. We can't afford another three years of Labor. Happy to take questions.

 

JOURNALIST:

What discussions have you had with Peter Dutton about a potential referendum on dual nationals? When did you first hear about it?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, I tell you what, I've had a lot of discussions with Peter Dutton about how we make sure that Australians are kept safe at a time when we have seen, we have seen atrocious behaviour around Australia, in particular antisemitism. Peter has been strong on this since October 7. And we have seen under this Labor Government, rapists, murderers being let out of detention who are not, who are not appropriate people to have around free in our community, but that's what we've seen under this Labor Government. So I have had many discussions about this, and we will consider any option that's going to keep Australians safe. The first duty of any government is to keep Australians safe. We've seen Anthony Albanese fail in that duty because he's weak. But a strong Dutton government will always put that first, and we'll consider all options. We have already proposed that as our citizenship tests should include assurance that we're not bringing someone into this country who is going to perpetuate anti-semitism. That's completely unacceptable, and it's important that eligibility for citizenship consider that criteria.

 

JOURNALIST:

So will the referendum be a policy that you're considering?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

We’ve said we'd consider all options. We've been absolutely clear on that throughout.

 

JOURNALIST:

Will the Coalition Government increase Defence spending to 2.5 per cent, and under what time frame?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Let me tell you how you increase Defence spending. You have a strong economy. A bigger economy can afford a bigger spend on Defence. It's that simple. We learnt this during the Cold War when the when the United States beat the Soviet Union by having a stronger economy. That was the heart of it. So this is what Labor doesn't understand. If you want to have stronger Defence. If you want to have more amenity, if you want to have better infrastructure for more housing, for young Australians to get ahead, if you want to have more opportunities for people to start and build a business, you must have a strong economy, and it can't just be driven by the public sector. You've got to back small businesses that are the backbones of the communities, like here, where we are today. You've got to back those small businesses to get out, invest and have a go and you can't do that if you're wrapping them in red and green tape. You can do that if you give them incentives to invest, if you take away that red tape, if you give them a chance to get ahead, and that's what we stand for.

 

JOURNALIST:

Are you considering a flat cap on international student numbers?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Oh look, you know getting the balance right in our universities is enormously important and perhaps stepping back from that a bit, getting the balance right between immigration and housing supply is hugely important. We have a real challenge right now where young Australians are struggling to find and buy a home. Young Australians are struggling to rent a home. You know, aspiration is dying in this country in front of us. The hope that I had as I was growing up, that I'd be able to buy a home, pay off my mortgage over time and get ahead, that hope is disappearing in front of us and one of the things we've got to do to get that right, there are many things we got to do to get that right, but one of the things we got to do to get that right is make sure we have the right balance between the rate of immigration in this country and our housing supply and Labor has got that wrong. I mean, we've seen close to double the rate of immigration, and a significant part of that has been international students in the last couple of years to what we'd ever seen before. Now, international education is an important part of this country, but you've got to get the balance right, and the balance has been completely out of whack under this Labor Government.

 

JOURNALIST:

Just returning to the referendum topic. Have you spoken with anyone on the northwest coast within Braddon about the referendum. Has this idea emerged? And is anyone actually talking to you about it?

 

MAL HINGSTON, LIBERAL CANDIDATE FOR BRADDON:

No, they're not. People in Braddon are talking about access to health and health services, and they're talking about cost of living. Nobody's talking about this here. But I am supportive of anything that's going to keep Braddon members safe and secure, and give them that sense of security. So, you know, I'm open to these conversations, but it's not a hot topic at the moment.

 

JOURNALIST:

And just talking about the track. This announcement today. Is this something that you've discussed with council prior to this? Is this something that’s been building up? How did this come about?

 

MAL HINGSTON, LIBERAL CANDIDATE FOR BRADDON:

Yeah, so this is a council-led project. The total project cost is $4.2 million. They're going to fund half of it. We're going to fund $2.1 million.

 

JOURNALIST:

And have you spoken to the people of Wynyard about this and what have they been saying?

 

MAL HINGSTON, LIBERAL CANDIDATE FOR BRADDON:

People of Wynyard, they like the walking track. It's well-used by the locals and I support anything which gets people outside in a bit of fresh air, getting some exercise. It's good for mental health. It's good for physical health and I like supporting these projects.

 

JOURNALIST:

One more question for Mr Taylor. Just on that referendum. You said all options on the table. Just want to be really clear. Is a referendum on the table? Michaelia Cash has said that it's a last resort. What's your view on that?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, we’ve said all options are on the table when it comes to keeping Australians safe, and the reason we take that position is because this government has not kept all options on the table for keeping Australians safe. They have allowed people out of detention who are rapists and murderers. I mean, this is completely unacceptable, and so we will put the safety of Australians first. That is the first duty of any government. Thank you very much.

 

ENDS.