Interview with Peter Stefanovic, First Edition

14 October 2024

PETER STEFANOVIC: The Coalition has moved to poll position this morning. P-O-L-L, see where I'm going. Following the latest Newspoll today, which shows the Coalition in front of Labor on two party preferred for the first time since the last federal election, going a little crazy here on a Monday morning. Already joining us is the Shadow Finance Minister, Jane Hume, Jane, that's some nice news for you to wake up to on a Monday morning, surely?

JANE HUME: Pete, you won't be surprised when I say that the only poll that matters to the Coalition is the one on election day, but I think the message is loud and clear to Anthony Albanese, he has taken his eye off the ball, and Australians are seeing through it. Every time they go to the checkout at the grocery, every time they pay their mortgage, every time they pay their electricity bill, they say, am I better off than I was two and a half years ago when Labor were elected? And the answer is clearly no, and that's what's playing out in these polls. In fact, the decisions that this Government have made the inflation situation worse by spending more. They have kept inflation higher for longer, and therefore mortgage rates are higher for longer too. It's going to be a pretty grim Christmas for a lot of Australians this year, and this should be no surprise to Anthony Albanese that that will be playing out in the polls.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Okay, a few other stories this morning, Jane, you are being urged to all you as in the Coalition being urged to wind back unfair dismissal rights and expand Small Business exemptions if you are successful at the next election. If these polls are right, would you support a change to the legal definition of a small business from 15 to 25 employees?

JANE HUME: Pete, we have said from the very beginning that the industrial relations laws introduced by the Albanese Government at the beginning of their term of Parliament went too far, that they swung the pendulum back the wrong way. We want to make sure that we have a fair industrial relations system, but one that works for both employees and employers and embeds productivity gains into the system, because without productivity gains, well, we have an increased inflationary environment, and we can't turbocharge economic growth. We've said that we'll look at various elements of the industrial relation reforms that have been made, things like the definition to casual, multi employer bargaining, the right to disconnect, and we would ensure that in government, we would take a look at those industrial relations reforms and see where we can make them more effective for both employers and employees.

PETER STEFANOVIC: So this is a pre-election push by the Chamber of Commerce this morning that it wants to raise the number of employees from 15 to 25 and the qualifier of what is a small business. So for that particular point, Are you supportive of their push?

JANE HUME: There are a number of definitions of small business, and in fact, I was speaking to a business roundtable just last week that was saying that that makes things very confusing. The Tax Office has one definition, industrial relations, Fair Work has another and that can be very difficult, and I think that that's something that we should definitely consider. But the most important issue here is that the industrial relations that have changed have actually made our economy less productive. Higher energy prices have made our economy less productive. Industrial Relations changes have made our economy less productive. Over regulation has made our economy less productive. And higher taxes have made our economy less productive. All of that is feeding into the fact that our economic growth is stagnating. It's good to see that ACCI want to do something about it, because unless we have economic growth, we can't have the prosperity that Australians expect and deserve.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Okay, just another one out of Queensland this morning. This is an interesting one. Actually, you'd be waking up to this news from Queensland that the premier Stephen Miles says he'll hold a plebiscite on nuclear if he wins the next election. Now you, of course, need the states to get on board your policy. Is this a crack in the dam that's opening up here?

JANE HUME: The Coalition understands that there are going to need to be laws that change in order for there to be a civil nuclear industry. This sounds to me like a desperate lunge from a desperate premier who is at the last minute seeing the demise of a very bad Labor government and is clutching at any straw we want to make sure that a new civil nuclear industry will provide clean, affordable and reliable and a reliable energy source right across this country. I think Stephen Miles would do better to concentrate on his own failings and try and make up a difference to Queenslanders, rather than reaching out on a federal issue.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Okay, so Well, on the federal issue, Andrew Clenell reported yesterday that you'd release your costings by the end of the year. Is that right when it comes to nuclear?

JANE HUME: We'll release our costings before the next election, that I can assure you, and when we do, it will not just be around nuclear. It will be about the entire energy mix, renewables, gas and nuclear, and we'll be comparing that to Labor's energy mix. That all eggs in one basket approach that we do not think will work for Australians to deliver cleaner, more affordable and more reliable energy. Because unless you compare energy mixes, it's apples and oranges.

PETER STEFANOVIC: So that's before the election. Would you go even sooner than that, before the end of this year?

JANE HUME: Well, certainly, if the election’s before the end of the year, then you'll definitely see our costings on our energy mix before the end of the year.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Okay so does that mean, it's ready to go.

JANE HUME: I can assure you that when we get to the election, the costings will be clear, everything, the detail will be there for Australians to consider.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Jane Hume, good to see you. Thank you. Talk to you soon.