Interview with Peter Stefanovic, First Edition
21 April 2025
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Well, there's been a ceasefire of sorts on the election campaign as the long Easter weekend continues today. Well, joining us live is the Shadow Finance Minister, Jane Hume. Jane, it's good as always to see you. But alas, we have another poll out today. It shows the Coalition going backwards again. It's certainly not the way you want things a day before early voting, and twelve days before election day is it?
JANE HUME:
Pete, as I've said to you for the last twelve months, polls will come and go. The most important thing is that we are out there talking to voters about what is important to them. And every time I knock on a door or stand on a street corner and speak to voters directly, they're telling me that what it is that they want is immediately, cost of living relief, and that's why our 25 cent cut to fuel tax has been so well received. They want to make sure that in 12 months time, when that fuel excise cut comes off, that they are still well supported. And that's why we have the income tax offset that kicks in, then that will be available to around 85% of taxpayers. $1,200 of your own money back in your pocket when it matters most. In the meantime, energy prices will come down. We have a gas plan that will instantly increase the supply of gas, bringing down price pressures in the system that should kick in within that 12 month period of time. We've announced more affordable homes. We want to make sure that more Australians can get into homes sooner. That's why we've announced $5 billion of enabling infrastructure as well as confidence measures to allow first home buyers to get into their first homes. And today, you'll see some announcements on how we are going to make sure that communities are safer as well. We want to make sure that Australians feel safe in their own homes, that their borders are secure, and that we are cracking down on organised crime and drug enforcement as well. And that's why we'll see this big Operation Safer Communities announced today, $750 million.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Ok, I'll get in a moment, but just back to the polls, because your primary vote is now lower than what it was at the last election. Now you were part of that post election review last time around, so why haven't you acted on those findings and turned things around this time where you could be in a more commanding position?
JANE HUME: Well, we have acted on those findings, Pete. In fact…
PETER STEFANOVIC (talks over):
But it’s not working, you’re going backwards.
JANE HUME (continues):
…they were adopted by every state and territory…
PETER STEFANOVIC (talks over):
Your primary vote’s lower.
JANE HUME (continues):
…by every state and territory. Well, there were suggestions in that review for organisational wings as well as for the campaign teams. But the most important thing that we can focus on right now is what Australians are telling us at this election. And what they're telling us is that three years ago, Anthony Albanese promised them $275 off their energy bills and didn't deliver. He promised that their mortgages would be cheaper, and he didn't deliver. He promised that you would be better off under Labor, and he didn't deliver. On every metric Labor has failed on their commitments…
PETER STEFANOVIC (interrupts):
Okay but why are they surging ahead in the polls? Polling out the
JANE HUME:
…and that’s playing out in the information that we're hearing on the ground. I can't comment on polls Pete. I can't comment on what it is that the thousand or so people that were surveyed this time have said. What I can comment on is what I'm hearing on the ground every day, at every listening post when I'm door knocking around communities. And can I tell you that the knives, sorry, the knives that’s a terrible thing to say, that the baseball bats are certainly out for Anthony Albanese here in Victoria where they have been profoundly disappointed by 10 years of economic mismanagement by a state Labor government. They can't afford to have three more years of Labor at a federal government.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay, so just on to that police announcement today. How much of that is a federal responsibility? Isn't much of this reliant on the states?
JANE HUME:
So Operation Safer Communities is a $750 million package that will be right around the country, the most important element of that, and you'll be hearing more about that later today from the Leader the most important element of that, though, is a $355 (million) commitment to drug enforcement and organised crime task force. Now this means that there will be AFP officers in every single state, and we will also have a coordinated approach to financial crime, to financial investigators and prosecutors so they can tackle organised crime where it hurts in their hip pocket, making sure that we have the opportunity to access their wealth. This will make organised crime far less attractive in Australia, and let's face it, it's organised crime that is driving the anti-social behaviours that we're seeing in our streets and in our communities. It's organised crime that's feeding the dependence cycle that's seeing people invade our homes, steal our cars and essentially pedal drugs to our children. This is unacceptable. It has to be tackled at the source. That is very much a federal response. When I've been knocking on doors, and I have been telling you that the cost of living is a number one issue every single time, though, crime keeps coming up over and over again. As recently as Saturday, I met a woman in Kew, so this is the Teal seat of Kooyong, that has said that she had her car stolen three times in the last 12 months out of her driveway. That she feels unsafe in her home and has set up the most elaborate security system. This is not an uncommon response everywhere I go. Crime seems to be that groundswell issue that makes people fear to be in their own communities. That's not good enough.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
A couple of final ones here. Have you got a defence announcement, a defence spend that will come before ANZAC day this week?
JANE HUME:
I think that that is being widely reported, and it is very important to make sure that in these very uncertain times…
PETER STEFANOVIC (interrupts):
Is it true?
JANE HUME:
…that we are keeping Australians safe. Well, I'll leave that up to the Leader. As I said, it's a career limiting move to make announcements before the Leader does. But I think you can safely say that, you know, for the last few months, you know, Anthony Albanese has been telling us that we live in the most uncertain and precarious geopolitical times since World War Two, and yet he has done nothing about it. The first responsibility of a government is to keep its citizens safe, and the second is to keep its economy strong. On those two benchmarks, Anthony Albanese has failed and will continue to do so.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
If you lose this election, will you junk your nuclear plans?
JANE HUME:
I'm not going to get into picking over the entrails of a chicken that hasn't been gutted. Quite frankly, we're here to win an election, and every time we speak to people on the streets, they tell us that what Anthony Albanese has been offering simply isn't good enough. Australians have seen their standard of living go backwards in the last three years, backwards by around 8% the sharpest and deepest falls to people's standard of living ever recorded in this country. Faster and further than any other developed nation. That's not good enough. People are crying out for a change, they want something different. Peter Dutton and the Liberal and National Team are offering something different, a genuine chance to get ahead, to tackle the cost of living at its source, to fight crime on our streets, to make sure that we bring down the cost of housing, make affordable homes accessible to more Australians, to bring down the cost of energy and to deliver the essential services, including healthcare that Australians expect and deserve.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Jane Hume, thanks as always for your time. We'll chat to you again next week.