Interview with Pete Stefanovic, First Edition

28 April 2025

PETE STEFANOVIC: Going from local picture to big picture now, and bring in the Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume for her thoughts on a few issues this morning. I do want to start off with the debate last night Jane, though Peter Dutton didn't know the cost of a dozen eggs. Can he be trusted in a cost of living crisis if he doesn't know how much a dozen eggs are?

JANE HUME: I think Pete that Peter can be forgiven for not knowing the price of a dozen eggs. It's been a fair while since he's probably made pancakes at home. He's been very busy on the road, travelling right around Australia, talking to ordinary Australians about what's important to them and they are telling him that the cost of living has been their number one issue. The price of energy has made everything get further and further out of reach. At the supermarket, at the petrol Bowser, when they're paying their bills, at home, when they're paying their mortgage, everything has meant that Australians have felt the pinch. That's the issue, that is that a Peter Dutton led Coalition Government will first and foremost, deliver on by delivering a 25 cent cut in the cost of petrol immediately, and then a $1,200 tax back package at the end of the next financial year, so that we can help Australians pay their bills while we go through the process of going through Labor's mess, fixing Labor's mess and addressing the energy crisis to bring down energy bills.

PETE STEFANOVIC: Just checking, do you know what the cost of a dozen eggs are?

JANE HUME: I'm afraid, Pete, I absolutely do. After the rally yesterday, I went to my mother's house and cooked bacon and eggs and sausages and baked beans for my kids and for my mother, as I do most Sundays and unfortunately, the dozen eggs that I bought on the way home were nearly $10 but they were free range, so I think I got stung.

PETE STEFANOVIC: Okay, well, yeah, well, you got closer than Peter Dutton. I mean, it is expensive, as most folks know at the moment. Now, just another issue I'd like to ask you about too that came up in the debate last night is the Welcome to Country ceremonies and Peter Dutton did say that he would like to see some changes when it comes to that. Just one more on the social issue. What sort of changes would you like to see on that?

JANE HUME: Well, Welcome to Country ceremonies, very, very important, particularly at ceremonial occasions, and that's when they're most meaningful, and often very profound and moving. I think the issue, though, is when they become performative, when they occur before every sporting event, or every, you know, every meeting and in an office, it does become a little bit ridiculous, and that's when they lose their meaning. We want to see Welcome to Country ceremonies performed at those ceremonial events when it is important, but at the same time, we want to make sure that they are meaningful.

PETE STEFANOVIC: What's important and what's not, though, I guess, yes is, where do you draw the line on what isn't?

JANE HUME: Well, that's a judge for, that's a judge for the individual organisation. It's a judge for the individual organisation or the individual event organisers. But I think you and I have both been to meetings where, you know there'll be a dozen people sitting around a table, and each person decides to do an acknowledgment of country before they speak up. That is kind of performative, isn't it? That's frustrating. We want to make sure that when we do these things that they have meaning.

PETE STEFANOVIC: Okay, now just this morning, you've accused the government of a huge spendathon, yet in recent weeks, you have matched, or even in some instances bettered, what Labor is doing when it comes to spending. So can you be trusted when it comes to fiscal responsibility?

JANE HUME: Pete this week, you will see the Coalition party costings writ large, and you will see that we have delivered savings. We will deliver a much better bottom line than Labor would. In fact, Labor have spent an eye watering ten million dollars every hour just since the last time we saw the books only a few weeks ago. This, of course, is going to fuel inflation further, and the IMF have really belled the cat on this one. They've made forecasts that suggest that inflation will be much higher than Labor have forecasted, and that growth will be much slower, at a time when we are in very economic, uncertain times when our geo-strategic and global circumstances are also uncertain. This is not the time to have a great big spendathon of ten million per hour. That is eye watering. It puts Australia's economic resilience at risk too.

PETE STEFANOVIC (TALKS OVER): But your spending is up there too, is the point.

JANE HUME: That's not something that you will see under a Dutton led Coalition Government. Well, we will return our fiscal, our costings later this week, and you will see a much better bottom line than Labor. We will return savings, not just spendings.

PETE STEFANOVIC: Okay, so Labor wants today to warn voters that the Coalition is going to pose a risk to the pension, not just the pension, though, but rent assistance as well. Are those items at risk?

JANE HUME: No. In fact, I cannot believe what another scare campaign coming from Labor. You know, when you run out of ideas, you simply try and start these scare campaigns. We've said that we'll deliver the essential services that Australians expect and deserve. We've said that there is no risk to pensions, there is no risk to rent assistance. This is a nonsense. This is just another round of mediscare. Labor have simply run out of ideas, and so they try and start these scare campaigns. All I can assure your viewers is that a Dutton led Coalition Government will manage the economy, economy sensibly, that we will get inflation down in a sustainable way. We will bring down the cost of energy, and we will deliver a better bottom line for all Australians, building that economic resilience that we need, because economic resilience is necessary for national security.

PETE STEFANOVIC: All right, just just so I'm consistent as well and a final note here, Jane, one more on polls. I know, I ask you about this every week, but we've got a final one in Newspoll today. It shows that there's not much of a change when it comes to things from a week ago or the week before that. But look, we've got only a week to go before polling day. You're not making ground. Are you concerned about what that means?

JANE HUME: Pete, I haven't discussed polls with you for a year. I'm not going to start the week before the election. A Dutton led Coalition Government is focused on what's important to ordinary Australians, bringing down the cost of living sustainably, managing the economy in a sensible and professional way. Making sure we bring down the cost of energy, deliver cheaper cheaper mortgages, homes for all Australians, quality healthcare and safer communities. That's the commitment of a Dutton led Coalition Government. It has been from the beginning, and it will be right up to election day.

PETE STEFANOVIC: All right, we will leave it there. Jane Hume, Shadow Finance Minister, good to have you with us this morning. Thank you.