Interview with Laura Jayes, AM Agenda

18 April 2024

LAURA JAYES: Welcome back. Well Bondi Junction Westfield will reopen for a day of reflection this morning in just a couple of hours time the New South Wales premier Chris Minns will be there and holding a media conference a little later this morning. And joining me live now is the Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume. Jane, I think much of the nation is still in shock. I know, the small community, or big community of Bondi is as well. How do you think the government has handled this so far?

JANE HUME: Well, I think the government has reached out to the community as best it can. A community that is grieving. There is no doubt about that. Both the two incidents in Sydney this weekend have reminded us of two things. They are very different incidents indeed, but there is one commonality which is the extraordinary bravery of individuals and the service of our frontline police and security services. And quite frankly, we should be forever grateful to those that serve on the front line. Their bravery is exceptional, and they should be supported. At every step of the way. From an opposition's perspective, a Federal Opposition specific perspective, we have offered the government every support in doing what it needs to do with any legislative changes that need to be made in order to make sure that our streets are safer.

LAURA JAYES: There's been much made of the bravery of ballard men, the two Frenchmen who helped try and corner this attacker at Bondi Westfield. There is a young man as well in hospital who has visa issues too. He was a security guard and was badly injured during the attack. He said to the Government well, can you sort out my visa issues too. Do you think that should be afforded to this young man as well?

JANE HUME: I think that the community would expect that the bravery that the two French fellows demonstrated, as well as this man, would be rewarded by considering their visa issues.

LAURA JAYES: Okay, well, we'll wait to hear from Chris Minns a little later on this morning. Can I ask you as well about what we saw, which was quite extraordinary, this week? Quite a barney in the Senate Estimates at the Supermarket inquiry. Nick McKim was a threatening Brad Banducci with jail time. Did he have grounds to do that?

JANE HUME: Well certainly holding the Senate in contempt is an offence and can be punishable by jail time. It would be highly unusual. It hasn't happened for many, many decades. That said, I do think that some of Senator McKim's threats were somewhat performative. Really going to the heart of the issue that we're facing here is high prices in supermarkets. And the question before the Senate, is whether the Bill that has been presented by the Greens will actually have an effect on prices in the supermarket, or whether this is simply an ideological crusade. We know that there are decisions that the Government has made already, that have pushed up prices in supermarkets. Whether it be through restrictive industrial relations laws, whether it be through not controlling energy prices, or whether it be through those additional taxes, like a tax on trackies and a tax on farmers that of course, get directly passed on in the form of higher groceries. There are ways to bring down prices of groceries at the checkout for ordinary Australians. We want to see the government step up and do its part in this because supermarkets do not operate in silos. Of course we want to see competition improved. Will this bill that The Greens have put forward improve that, that remains to be seen. So we'll wait to see what the report of this committee finds. But quite frankly, I don't necessarily think that the circus that goes with it is helpful.

LAURA JAYES: We're going to see the budget in less than a month's time now there's going to be increased Defence spending. Richard Marles has actually said that, by the end of this decade, Australia might need to spend $100 billion a year Is that about right?

JANE HUME: Well, we've always said that we would as a Coalition, ensure that Defence spending was up above 2% of GDP. And I think you heard Senator Paterson confirm that earlier that the Coalition would ensure that the appropriate amount was spent on Defence to improve our capabilities in a shorter timeframe. That is certainly the Coalition's commitment. What the government has planned remains to be seen and we'll see that in the Budget in the coming weeks. What we would however, expect in this Budget is some level of fiscal restraint because without fiscal restraint, we will see a continuing of inflation. Inflation will stay higher for longer. And that of course means that interest rates stay higher for longer and people will be poorer because of it. That's why it's so important that the government lives up to its commitments, on reining in spending, particularly around those burgeoning areas like NDIS and aged care.

LAURA JAYES: Jane Hume, good to talk to you. We'll check in soon.