Interview with Peter Stefanovic, First Edition
18 March 2024
PETER STEFANOVIC: Well, let's start there with the Shadow Finance Minister, Jane Hume, who’s live in Canberra. Jane, good to see you this morning. I know what you’re going to say here, but what are you expecting the RBA to come up with today and tomorrow?
JANE HUME: Well, we won't pre-empt the RBA's decision. You know that the RBA is an independent body. But I do know that there's an awful lot of mortgage holders out there who will be holding their breath because, quite frankly, the average mortgage is already around $24,000 a year more expensive under this government than it was when Labor were elected. And that's not the sort of money that you find down the back of the couch. There's a lot of people feeling a lot of pain out there because of the rising cost of living. So there will be a lot of people waiting to see what the RBA does, no doubt.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Yeah. Andrew Giles meanwhile, he's to mount a new defence in the High Court against asylum seekers who refused to cooperate with authorities. Jane, what's your reaction to this latest approach?
JANE HUME: Well, quite frankly, this is too little, too late from Andrew Giles, who potentially I think is the most incompetent minister that we have seen in this already chaotic Labor government. They have lost control of the borders. They have already said themselves that the immigration detention system is unravelling before their eyes, and it's because of decisions that Labor is making. It is not the fault of the courts at all. We know that Andrew Giles specifically made representations to the High Court saying that there was little prospect of resettling NZYQ, and that is one of the reasons that the High Court, they even said that was one of the reasons that they took into account when making their decision about that detainee's prospects of resettlement and, therefore his release. And that's why the Labor government then released not one, but 149 criminal detainees into the community. That's after Andrew Giles missed three crucial appointments with his own department, who would brief him on this issue. The Labor government then said that they needed preventative detention orders. The Coalition has helped them pass those preventative detention orders, but now they've said the bar is too high. Yeah, quite frankly, if the legislative bar is too high, the Coalition will come to the party and help them lower that bar. But we haven't seen any amendments presented. It's ridiculous. The Labor government are simply shrugging their shoulders rather than doing something. Don't point to the fire. Put it out.
PETER STEFANOVIC: So how would you lower that bar? What would you do?
JANE HUME: Well, that's up to the government to present amendments that would provide a legislative ability.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Have you got an idea? Have you got an amendment that you'd like to see?
JANE HUME: It is entirely up to the government to move those amendments. They are the ones that are dealing with the High Court's decision and the inability to create preventative detention orders that would be legally binding. So let's see what their advice is. We don't have the departments that can create that advice. Why aren't they doing something? They've hired a whole bunch of lawyers, but they don't seem to be doing anything.
PETER STEFANOVIC: So here's a point. As you mentioned there. And you're right. The Coalition did help toughen those laws. But why are they still so vulnerable to constitutional challenges?
JANE HUME: Well, that is a very good question. So that's why we need the Labor government to present amendments to those orders so that we can and the Coalition stand by ready to support them to do that. The Coalition has always been strong on border protection and is committed, unlike the Labor government, to keeping the community safe. If the government can present us with an alternative, with an option, with an amendment that will help keep criminal detainees behind bars rather than roaming about in the community, well, of course the Coalition stands by ready to help.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Okay. Are you encouraged by that LNP result in Queensland over the weekend?
JANE HUME: I think you certainly would be. I think it speaks volumes of the fact that, you know, people will speak at the ballot box if the cost of living rages out of control, as does crime, and particularly in Queensland youth crime. They've said that they are dissatisfied with the way that the Queensland Labor government has been managing both the economy and managing the crime situation up there, and that's been played out in the ballot box. Now, how that plays out on a federal level, I think we'll probably need to truly gut the chicken before we read the entrails there. Right. But this is, you know, certainly an indication that when people are dissatisfied with their lot, with the way that the government is handling various issues, they speak at the ballot box.
PETER STEFANOVIC: All right, Jane Hume good to see you on a Monday morning, as always. Thank you. We'll talk to you again soon.