Television Interview, ABC Afternoon Briefing

SUBJECTS: Tonga, Liberal Party disunity, Crime, Housing, Superannuation changes

MELISSA CLARKE [HOST]: All right, well, I want to bring in my political panel for today. I'm joined by Peter Khalil, who is the Assistant Defence Minister. He joins us from Tonga. And Jane Hume is a Liberal Senator for Victoria. Welcome to you both.

PETER KHALIL [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: Good to be with you, Mel.

CLARKE: Look, Peter, I have to start with you. What takes you to Nuku’alofa?

KHALIL: Well, I'm in the beautiful Kingdom of Tonga, here for meetings with His Royal Highness the Defence and Foreign Minister, and also for the commissioning of a new navy vessel with His Majesty the King, who I met again this morning, as well as visiting our ADF contingent who are facilitating training with His Majesty's Armed forces and just really the enhancement of the maritime security relationship and our relationship with Tonga, which is growing and flourishing. So, it's a really important trip and it is a beautiful country.

CLARKE: It really is. Jane, I know you in Melbourne. Look, the weather is not going to compare to the Polynesian beauty of Tonga, but nonetheless, you're persisting. Jane, I want to ask you about the speech that your colleague James Paterson gave overnight. There's been a lot of interpretations of it and Senator Paterson says there's been some misinterpretations of it as well. How did you read his speech? What did you make of it?

JANE HUME [SENATOR FOR VICTORIA]: I suppose that's bound to happen. I have read his speech and I thought it was excellent. It reminds us that the Liberal Party, when it began its origins back in the 1940s, brought together eleven different political groups that were essentially non-Labor. And those 11 political groups sorted out their differences, worked out the values that bound them together, and the objectives they had of presenting a solid opposition, an alternative government to a Labor government. And that's exactly what we're facing today and exactly what we should be doing. It's so dull, it's so boring when Liberals talk about themselves. It is about time that we stopped this worldwide apology tour and started getting together that legislative agenda that. That alternative policy agenda that we can take to the next election and at the same time hold this terrible government to account for its failures to deliver on its promises, whether it be lower energy prices or cheaper housing or lower costs to go to the doctors. All of those things Labor are failing on. That's what we should be concentrating on, not talking about ourselves.

CLARKE: I mean, Senator Paterson is clearly pushing back. What he's suggesting is a bit of outside pressure from the party to split? Where's that outside pressure coming from, Jane Hume?

HUME: I couldn't explain that to you. We know that there is, you know, populist parties sort of cropping up right around the world, but Australia isn't like that with a compulsory voting system. We see people driven towards the centre. That's the mainstream, is exactly where the Liberal Party has represented so well for so long. And we need to head back there, too. We should be talking about the 33 seats that we need to attract. We need to win that. We need to build our policy platform for to win the next election. Not talking about, you know, veering one way, left, right, somewhere in the middle, doesn't matter. We need to concentrate on those 33 seats and no one else right now.

CLARKE: Peter, when the Labor Party's had its election losses, how long do you think it's been reasonable to have a period of introspection? How long can a party mourn before it needs to move on and get on with policy development?

KHALIL: Well, Melissa, I was kind of agreeing with Senator Hume until I lost my earpiece for about five seconds. I wasn't sure whether she said we were, what kind of government we were, but the fact is, that's all they're doing. They're talking about themselves. They're fighting amongst themselves. They're tearing each other apart. We are a responsible government. We're getting on with doing the work necessary to represent the people of Australia and put forward good policies for the people of Australia. That's what we're doing. And the Opposition has a responsibility to actually come out of its introspection and its infighting and be the alternative government. And they're certainly not that at the moment, as Senator Hume has said. They are in the midst of actually tearing each other apart and it's not good for democracy overall. We want a responsible government, which we are. We want to have an opposition that does its job as well.

HUME: We're very happy to hold you to account, Peter.

CLARKE: I'm glad you can both agree on that. You're both Victorians as well. And the Opposition Leader, Sussan Ley, was in Melbourne today. She was talking about issues with crime that, you know, very specific Victorian issue. But Jane Hume, I didn't see you there. I didn't see James Paterson there. I know he was giving a speech last night, but she was flanked by someone from Queensland and someone from New South Wales. Where were the Victorians?

HUME: Well, she was flanked by the Shadow Education Minister and the new Shadow Attorney General as well. But she was talking about something that is very important to so many Victorians and that is rising crime rates. You know, I put out A community survey from my office and have just been inundated with responses. Crime is the number one issue in Victoria right now. In fact, one constituent even sent me footage of a house break in their own house being broken into by this gang of youths. It must have been so terrifying for them. But this is a really common refrain right now. Everybody knows somebody that has been a victim of crime in Victoria and it just can't continue this way. This is what happens when you have a weak Labor government in charge that isn't strengthening bail laws, that is underfunding the police and not taking Victorians seriously when they say that enough is enough.

CLARKE: Senator Hume, it does sound like you're very across the crime issues in Victoria. Would you have liked to have been sitting in the Shadow Attorney General portfolio?

HUME: That's a great question, Mel, and nice little wedge, but no. I'm very happy being a conscientious and diligent Senator for Victoria, making sure that I'm fighting for the issues that are important to ordinary Victorians and every single day, that's my job.

CLARKE: Peter, the issue of crime in Melbourne is certainly one that is fearful. Many, many Victorians are fearful of the amount of crime they're seeing in the area. It's a really potent issue at a state level. Is there a greater role for the Federal Government that it could look at or play to try and address some of those issues?

KHALIL: Well, I know that when it comes to Commonwealth laws that relate to any of these issues, obviously the Attorney General, Michelle Rowland, has been looking at where we can strengthen Commonwealth laws that that may be applicable across the states and territories. That's certainly part of our responsibility as a Federal Government. And I know that the Victorian State Government is changing laws around bail. We have a new Police Commissioner in Victoria as well who has been very forthright on what he thinks is necessary to tackle some of the issues that they're facing. But as you said, as you pointed out, none of the Victorian Federal Senators or MPs were actually there for whatever press conference they had. Instead, they were making speeches about the existential issues within the Liberal Party. So, rather than focusing on the issues that Senator Hume is bravely trying to focus on in this interview, they're spending most of their time talking about themselves.

CLARKE:  Look, we have had from the Opposition Leader, Sussan Ley, a hint that a housing policy might be coming soon. Senator Hume, anything you can tell us about that? Got a hint for us of what it might involve?

HUME: Well, I'd love to tell you, Mel, but I’d have to kill you. But it's a really important. Sorry, that was a joke. It's a really important issue, isn't it? Because let's face it, this government has promised so much in housing but has failed to deliver. Just today we've seen new stats come out of the ABS showing that housing approvals are down 4.4%. Housing completions are down over 5%. This simply isn't good enough. There is no way that Labor are going to meet their own housing targets. They are building future newer houses now than, than the Coalition government built when it was in office by around. I think it was around 200,000 a year under the coalition. Around 170,000 a year under Labor. In fact three and a half thousand fewer houses this year than last year. So, Labor aren't delivering on this big promise of, of more affordable housing and in fact we're seeing housing prices go up, rentals becoming less affordable. Australians need better from their government.

CLARKE:  Peter, do you want to respond to that?

KHALIL: Well, sometimes Mel, I feel like I'm in a different reality when I'm on with Senator Hume. She creates a completely different reality to what is actually going on. You know, she talks about her old Coalition government. They did nothing for nine years on housing. Absolutely zero. Nothing. Nothing.

HUME: 200,000 houses a year.

KHALIL: Nothing was, nothing was done.

HUME: They were built. We had

KHALIL: You had your chances to speak and it would be respectful to let me finish a sentence. We have invested over $43 billion in social and affordable and public housing. We're building tens of thousands of homes. And if it wasn't for Senator Hume and the Liberal Party and their friends in the Greens, blocking our Housing Australia Future Fund, blocking the equity scheme for first home buyers, blocking every part of our housing policies, sometimes for over a year, we would have built more houses than we've already built. So, it is just a different reality that she's talking about and refusing to take responsibility for the partisanship and the political game playing that they decided to participate in when it comes to housing policy. By actually blocking our housing policies, we are building houses and you're building fewer houses, spending more, building less. We've built thousands of social affordable homes. We're on track. So, I just think it's rich for Senator Hume to make these grand proclamations when her party was responsible for blocking the actual housing policies that would have built house.

CLARKE: I am going to move on from this issue because there is another important topic from this week that I want to touch on, Peter, We've seen the Labor Party change its approach to superannuation tax arrangements. The concessions in place for superannuation accounts, earnings above $3 million. Why did the Labor Party spend two years saying that taxing unrealised gains was a good policy and now walk away from it?

KHALIL: Well, Melissa, we are a responsible government, as we talked about at the start of this interview, one that actually takes feedback, that does consultation, that works with the stakeholders, with industry, with different experts in the community around making sure that we develop good policies. And that's exactly what's occurred here. The fundamental basis of superannuation is to ensure that there is a living wage for retirees so they can live in dignity in their retirement, not to have tax concessions or for it to be some sort of tax reduction mechanism, if you like.

CLARKE: The basis of it, on the amendments that you've made, though, should that consultation and feedback have been taken on board before you put forward the policy for the first time two years ago.

KHALIL: Good policies take time to develop. We don't just do them at the drop of a hat like the other mob who turn things around really quickly. We actually take the time to make sure that we're putting policies forward that pass, that are making the superannuation system fairer, more efficient and more sustainable. There has been also an announcement to, to the low, the low income superannuation tax offset that's going to make 1.3 million Australians have more super. We've put in a 40 per cent rate for super funds above 10 million and 30 per cent at 3 million. And there are a number of other changes that make the system fairer and more sustainable over the long term. And it's been a good policy and a good process.

CLARKE: So, Senator Hume, the question now falls to the Coalition. Given the changes the government's made, it will now only be on realised gains. There is indexation on the. On the threshold for it. So, is there any opposition to this amended policy from the  Coalition now?

HUME: Well, we'll wait to see exactly what the legislation says because there's always a sting in the tail with Labor. You know, this was a policy that they took. They did, they took the last election, but they said prior to being elected that there were going to be no new taxes on super or no new taxes and no changes to Super. They immediately brought in a new tax on superannuation and then when they took it to an election, then they back flipped again. This is the most humiliating back down from a Treasurer that we've seen in decades. I can't recall a time when a Prime Minister has put a Treasurer back in his box the way Anthony Albanese has done to Jim.

CLARKE: So, given those major issues have been addressed though, I understand you might want to check the detail of the legislation itself. But if the legislation says what Jim Chalmers says is on the box, would that be a sufficient plan that you would support?

HUME: Well, let's be very clear here. What Jim Chalmers has also done here is introduce this as, as Peter has mentioned, the low income super tax offset. The only reason they needed to bring this in was because of that selling 70 cents a day tax cut actually made it more expensive to put money into superannuation than it did if you had have kept it in your pocket. Now that was an outrageous oversight that was raised in Senate estimates just after the budget, just after that tax cut was introduced. So, fixing it up then, well I don't know how else you could do so but it's going to cost around $2 billion to do so. This was a mistake of Labor's making that they are now trying to repair and calling it a terrific thing which is absolutely outrageous.

KHALIL: I think you still managed to not answer whether or not you would support it.

HUME: Well we have to take this to our shadow cabinet and we haven't seen the legislation yet. They only back flipped on Monday, Mel. They back flipped it on Monday. Show us the legislation, we'll take a look at it and then we'll tell you. But this is a brand new tax, not one that they had a mandate for at the election, a brand new tax.

CLARKE:  Peter, final word to you.

KHALIL: Well it's instructive. Senator Hume knows a fair bit of the detail but will not answer your question and she probably would be worthwhile having a look at the Treasurer's statement where he sets out in clear detail the policies and the announcement that he's made. I would hope that the Opposition don't play politics with this and do the thing that's best for 1.3 million Australians who have more super in their fund.

CLARKE: Peter Khalil, thank you for making time for us in Nuku’alofa for today. We'll let you get back to some much more pleasurable weather than what Jane Hume is experiencing in Melbourne. Thank you for joining us today as well.

KHALIL: Thanks Mel. Malo. 

ENDS