Interview with James Glenday and Bridget Brennan, ABC News Breakfast

23 April 2025

JAMES GLENDAY: We’re joined in the studio now by Shadow Finance Minister, Jane Hume. Jane, good morning.

JANE HUME: Good morning, good to be with you both.

JAMES GLENDAY: Now, the details are still coming. Maybe you can provide us with some more of them, but the Coalition's pledging to spend billions of dollars more on defence than Labor. What's your goal here?

JANE HUME: Well, there's no more important goal for a government than to keep its citizens safe and yet this government has failed to do so. In fact, they've reached $80 billion out of the Defence Budget. Now this is despite the fact that Anthony Albanese himself has said, we've never lived in more uncertain times, not since World War Two. The Coalition wants to fix that. We want to make sure that our men and women in uniform have the capability they need to defend the country. That's why we're investing an additional $21 billion into our defence forces that will take our defence spending up to 2.5% of GDP. At the moment, it's just tripping around 2%. In fact, Labor won't even make its own target of 2.3%. It’s wound that back. Now, we think that that is irresponsible in these uncertain times. This will make sure that those men and women of the Defence Force have the ability they need, the capability they need, and the defence industry behind them to deliver what it is that Australians deserve, which is a well defended nation.

JAMES GLENDAY: We had the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles on the show before he was defending the Labor spend, defence spending. So we won't go back through all that, but your goal is to get to 3% of GDP at some point.

JANE HUME: Over the next decade.

JAMES GLENDAY: Over the next decade. Okay, so I guess the question then comes up, how do you pay for that? And when will we see the costings, kind of budgeting ahead, looking at what you're going to be cutting essentially, or what you're going to be deferring so that we can afford this?

JANE HUME: Well, I think let's start with the second question, which is that you'll see the coalition's costings prior to the election. They will be released as they traditionally are, by both sides of government.

JAMES GLENDAY (TALKS OVER): Hundreds of thousands of people have started voting already.

JANE HUME: By both sides of government. They'll be released before the election. So you'll see them all in great detail. This is a very considered approach to doing what is the most important for Australia. We want to make sure that we deliver strong economic management. The IMF has said that we need to make sure that we increase the fiscal buffers, the economic buffers, that is something that we are conscious of and will actively do. Bring our budget back to structure and surplus, inject that objective back into our budgetary system, put the guard rails around our budget. That's something that Labor had removed. At the same time, though, we do understand that we need to invest more in Australia’s national security. When we have Chinese warships off our shores firing in the vicinity of civilian aircraft, when we have our own service men and women being put at risk by lasers, by sonars, and yet this Prime Minister has done so little. His response has been so weak in the face of that, we do know that we need to do more.

JAMES GLENDAY: It's hard to question you about this, because we don't know when you're going to put these costings out, we could go over them. Are we talking by the end of this week, early next week, the day before the people go to vote, like?

JANE HUME: It will be soon, I assure you that. It will be very soon.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: Let's move on to another issue and I mean, you've addressed this in terms of your backflip on the work from home policy. It's interesting, when we've been out and about for News Breakfast, talking to people in the suburbs who love to work from home, the policy didn't go down so well with them, and yet, you said it was a policy that wasn't quite of its time. Did you mean that you'd introduce it later on? When would be the right time?

JANE HUME: So, this policy was a mistake. We've said it was a mistake and we will not be going ahead with that. The fact that the government keeps talking about it is demonstrative of the scare campaigns that Labor keep putting forward. Whether it be on Medicare, whether it be on the $600 billion, magical $600 billion figure that they keep discussing around nuclear which, of course, I was actually very pleased to see in the debate last night the Prime Minister walked away from, because we know that that figure is discredited. It was developed by a discredited organisation that donates to the Labor Party.

JAMES GLENDAY: Just back to work from home. Was that your idea?

JANE HUME: Well, it was a policy that was put forward specifically for Canberra public servants. The Labor Party took it, made it a great big scare campaign, said it was going to apply to women Australia wide. That's nonsense. It's a nonsense. It was a mistake and when they said that we will not be proceeding with that.

JAMES GLENDAY: Was it your idea?

JANE HUME: Well, we said that will not, it fell under my portfolio, certainly.

JAMES GLENDAY: So, you take ownership of it.

JANE HUME: It was a public service policy. It was not supposed to apply to women Australia wide. It was a mistake and we have said that we will not be proceeding with it. The fact that the Labor Party will want to keep talking about it just demonstrates how desperate they are to have scare campaigns on whether it be Medicare, whether it be on nuclear or whether it be on women. That is entirely unfair.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: On women, I mean, you co-authored a report after the 2022 Election having a look at why women had deserted the Liberal Party. Have you done enough to speak to Australian women at this election? Because certainly that policy didn't go down so well.

JANE HUME: Bridget, I think this is actually a really important issue, and I'm so glad that you raised it. Because, you know, obviously I've worked as a Member of Parliament under four leaders now. Under Tony Abbott, I was preselected. I was a Member of Parliament under Malcolm Turnbull. I was a Minister under Scott Morrison, and now I'm a cabinet, Shadow Cabinet Minister under Peter Dutton and under Peter Dutton, I think that the attitude towards women in the Liberal Party has changed so profoundly, so dramatically. He has more women in his Shadow Cabinet than ever before. His Deputy Leader is female. His Leader of the Senate, and Deputy Leader of the Senate are female. In fact, Peter Dutton wants to keep Australians strong, keep Australians safe. It should be profoundly important to women right around the country. We want to see Australian women empowered, given the opportunity to have the best life they possibly can. You'll see that in the offering we have this election.

JAMES GLENDAY: Just one quick one, before we let you go. One last one. I mean, we know that you do a lot of work behind the scenes to support women in the Liberal Party. Should more women be put into safe seats so that you can boost your overall Parliamentary representation? There's been this criticism for some time that there's too many women standing in seats that are going to be very tricky to win.

JANE HUME: James, have you seen the women that we have running for us at this election, whether it be Amelia Hamer in Kooyong, just an extraordinary woman. Ro Knox in Wentworth, Gisele Kapterian in Bradfield, Katie Mullens in Parramatta. I mean, these are extraordinary women. Jaimee Rogers in Warringah. These women will make such a difference to our party room. I have been so proud to campaign alongside, oh, Maggie Forrest in Ryan, don’t let me forget. Nicolle Flint in Boothby. I mean, these are just extraordinary women. Their contribution to our party room will be profound. I am very much looking forward to having them alongside me in the next Parliament, under a Dutton Coalition Government.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: We'll have to see the wash up from the actual election, to see if they make it into the House, but Jane Hume, thanks for your time this morning.