Interview with Peter Stefanovic, First Edition

10 March 2025

PETER STEFANOVIC: Well, a blow to the Coalition this morning. With the majority of Newspoll voters believing the Coalition is not ready to govern. While Anthony Albanese has gained support following a rate cut and a string of announcements. Joining us live on this Monday morning, the Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume. Jane, hello again. New Newspoll out this morning. It's not a good one for you, though. Does it sting?

JANE HUME: Pete, I think I've said to you almost every week since the beginning of this year, since the middle of last year, that the only poll that matters is the one on election day. But what I will tell you is that Peter Dutton and his team are definitely ready to govern. We've brought the same disciplines from government into opposition. We've developed the policies, and we will go to this election with a suite of policies that will deal with what's important to everyday Australians, and that is tackling the cost of living, making sure that we bring down energy prices, making sure that we deliver quality health care, that we bring affordable homes back into the realm of possibility for young Australians, and that we secure our nation by making sure that our national security is appropriate, that our borders are safe and that our streets are safe as well. Peter Dutton is probably one of the most experienced opposition leaders to battle it out for the honour of being Prime Minister. He's held portfolios in national security, in Social Security in economics, and he's had more than 20 years in Parliament, and he has a team around him that is a combination of fresh faces and fresh ideas, but also experienced ministers from previous governments.

PETER STEFANOVIC: But despite all that, it’s not resonating.

JANE HUME: Polls may say whatever it is, the polls may say whatever it is that they say, but that we knew that they were going to tighten in the lead up to the election. Of course, they're going to do that. That's what polls do, which is why we haven't spoken about what's in, you know what they mean for months in months in the past. As we lead up to election day, though, Australians will be looking to see what the alternative is, and they know that they have gone backwards under an Albanese government, that they are poorer under Labor, that their standard of living has reversed, and they'll be looking to see what the alternative is. Peter Dutton…

PETER STEFANOVIC: Okay, so with that said, and Bill Shorten said this last week, with 12 rate rises on their watch, why aren't you killing Labor?

JANE HUME: Well, 12 rate rises on their watch, all of which occurred while they were distracted by campaigning for a Voice Referendum that nobody wanted.

PETER STEFANOVIC: So why aren't you smashing down the polls?

JANE HUME: Australians are so angry. Well, that's why Australians are so angry. They've actually wanted to give a new government the benefit of the doubt, but this government has let them down from day one, from day one, because they had the wrong priorities and the wrong ideas and broken promises. That's why it's going to be so important that as a Coalition opposition, we lay out our priorities to deliver what Australians are looking for, which is going to be cost of living, relief, managing the budget, carefully getting rid of all that wasteful spending, injecting more energy supply into the system, injecting more housing supply into the system, bringing the prices down of those very important elements of energy and housing. Making sure we deliver on quality healthcare, we've made announcements on that since day one of opposition. And ensuring that we keep Australians safe. That's what a Dutton Coalition government would deliver. That's what we need to express in the lead up to this next election, because it's going to be so important.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Elsewhere this morning, Jane, there are hopes, and they are fading, for an Australian carve out of steel and aluminium tariffs when that's announced Wednesday afternoon, Australian time. So the Government may have to keep on lobbying afterwards, like they did in China. How concerned are you though about global competitors now dumping low cost product onto our fair shores that would harm local producers even more?

JANE HUME: Pete, it's never going to do a trading nation like Australia any good to be involved in a trade war. As you know, in 2018 a Coalition government secured exemptions for steel and aluminium tariffs from the previous Trump administration. We were very much hoping that the Labor government would be able to do the same this time around. It doesn't seem to have been successful. That's going to cost our steel and aluminium manufacturers dearly here in Australia, and that's going to have flow on effects for our ability to deliver on our defence commitments, because we need steel and aluminium industries here in order to make sure that we can deliver on those international obligations and also deliver on our own manufacturing capability.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Yeah so how do you avoid, you know, cheaper products coming into Australia, because of all of this, other countries are caught up in it as well. So how do you avoid them, you know, selling cheap, substandard stuff over here, which affects our producers?

JANE HUME: Well, the most important thing we can do is ensure that our manufacturers have what they need in order to be able to continue to deliver the products that they can deliver. The first thing is markets. We want to make sure that those tariffs, that we're exempt from those tariffs, so that we have that US market maintained. But then the second most important thing is to deliver cheaper energy. We want to make sure that our manufacturers have access to cheap energy so that they can deliver at a cheaper, a cheaper product at the end of the day, and make sure that they have an industrial relations system that works for not just the employee, but also the employer, that they're not wrapped up in industrial relations obligations that would make it harder for them to deliver on their promise. That's what we need to be able to deliver for government, that's what we need to be able to deliver for business, whether it be steel and aluminium or whether it be broader manufacturing.

PETER STEFANOVIC: All right, we'll leave it there. Jane, good to see you. We'll chat again soon.