Interview with Sabra Lane, AM

4 March 2024

SABRA LANE: Jane Hume is the Federal Opposition's finance spokeswoman and a Liberal Senator for Victoria. Jane Hume welcome to AM.

JANE HUME: Great to be with you, Sabra.

SABRA LANE: Peter Dutton had urged a protest vote in Dunkley, focusing on the high cost of living in 13 interest rate hikes in a row. It doesn't seem the electorate is super cranky with Labor.

JANE HUME: Well before the weekend, Dunkley was a safe seat, but on Saturday, Nathan Conroy and the party turned Dunkley into a marginal seat for Labor. And I'd call that a really good sign for the Liberals in Victoria. In fact, while we haven't finished counting the votes yet, by the time we do it may in fact be the most marginal seat in the state. And there were some real green shoots. I think, for the Liberal Party there. For the first time in about a decade. The Liberal Party increased its primary vote in Dunkley, and it was about the first time in the same period that we increased our two party preferred vote too. So it's actually the best two party preferred vote that we've seen since 2016 and that was the last time we won the seat. So we always knew that it was going to be a tough by-election for the Liberal Party. We haven't held the seat of Dunkley with its current boundaries ever before. And at the last election, the primary vote went down. So we think that this has actually been a really good sign for us, and we've certainly got our tails up after the weekend.

SABRA LANE: Based on the latest counting, though, on first preferences, there was a swing to the Labor Party, too.

JANE HUME: Well, we know that the Labor Party's primary did go up, but certainly the Liberal Party's primary went up too. We think that's a really good sign, a really good sign and gives us something to work on. We know that the messages were beginning to resonate and you know, only what is it less than two years into opposition, uh, you know, the numbers are beginning to move.

SABRA LANE: To win government the Liberal Party needs to win seats in Victoria like Dunkley and reclaim the Teal seats doesn't it?

JANE HUME: Well, that's exactly right and this is an indication that it can be done. Seats like Dunkley, seats like Aston, but also seats like Higgins and like Kooyong. All of these seats are marginal and they are in the mix. Like every election, we will target marginal seats and Dunkley is now a marginal seat.

SABRA LANE: Will detailing new policies help? It's being reported that the party will soon unveil a plan for small nuclear modular reactors. Will the party do that and be explicit about the costs and locations?

JANE HUME: Well, like every election, we will go to the election with a suite of fully costed and fully developed policies that we’ll present to the Australian public at the time of the party's choosing at the time of our choosing, when it suits us, not when it suits the Labor Party.

SABRA LANE: But it's reported today that is what the Coalition will be doing. Can you confirm that?

JANE HUME: Well, I can confirm that we're at the advanced stages of a cheaper and cleaner energy programme. We haven't made any secrets of this. This is something that we've been talking about for a long period of time. We know that the energy policy under Labor has become a train wreck. They promised a $275 cut to their energy bills. It was an entirely hollow promise when it was made. And yet at the same time we've seen energy prices go up. The plan for 82% renewables by 2030 is going to require thousands of kilometres of new transmission lines. It's proving incredibly difficult on nuclear energy. The Albanese government is leaving us as the only G20 nation to not have embraced, or at least be on a pathway to embracing nuclear technology. 20 countries and that includes our closest allies. They all signed a pledge late last year at Cop 28 in Dubai calling for a triple, a tripling of zero emissions nuclear energy. But Australia was nowhere to be seen on that.

SABRA LANE: Will the Coalition be explicit on where they will be located and explicit on the cost?

JANE HUME: Well, the policy, as I said, is in advanced stages and we will be explicit at that stage. But the most important thing here is that this is a genuine pathway to net zero by 2050. But it will be done so ensuring that we have cheaper energy at the same time.

SABRA LANE: What about more women in your ranks? The pre-selection for the seat of Cook Scott Morrison's seat will be finalised tonight. Would a woman in that safe seat send a strong message to the whole country?

JANE HUME: Well, look, I am a Victorian and I don't like to weigh in on pre-selections in any other state. That said, I did meet one of the candidates there, Gwen Cherne. I thought she was a terrific candidate. She's a Veteran Family Advocate Commissioner, I think is her title. And, she struck me as a highly qualified candidate. But it's the good folk of the good Liberals of Cook that will choose their next candidate, and they'll choose somebody that will take them, has the best chance of leading them to the next election and representing them in Parliament.

SABRA LANE: Jane Hume thanks for talking to AM.

JANE HUME: Great to be with you, Sabra.