TRANSCRIPT - SKY NEWS NEWSDAY WITH KIERAN GILBERT

PAUL FLETCHER MP

Shadow Minister for Science and the Arts

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy

Manager of Opposition Business in the House

TRANSCRIPT

SKY NEWS NEWSDAY

3 JUNE 2024
 

Kieran Gilbert: Joining me live in the studio now is the Manager of Opposition Business, Paul Fletcher. Great to have you live in the studio today.

Paul Fletcher: Thank you.

Kieran Gilbert: Now, Josh Frydenberg—there's been some speculation. Clearly, he wants to come back to politics at some point, but it won't be in Kooyong at the next election.

Paul Fletcher: We have an outstanding candidate in Kooyong, Amelia Hamer, and she is really taking the fight up to the Teals party. It's Monique Ryan who's been a great disappointment. Look, Josh is an outstanding Australian and I certainly hope that we'll see him back in public life at some point, but as he's rightly pointed out today, the Liberal Party has a pre-selected candidate in Kooyong. She's doing a great job. We're all very keen to see her in the parliament, and I think the people of Kooyong will respond very warmly to the opportunity to vote for her.

Kieran Gilbert: Josh Frydenberg obviously had been thinking about it the last few days. The idea that you would dump a young woman—the transactional cost of all of that would be devastating for the Liberal Party if he were to go down that line. Obviously, he's decided not to, but there are other seats that he could put his hand up for, potentially, if the pre-selections are reopened.

Paul Fletcher: Look, I'll leave it to Josh to comment on his political future, and I think he's made a clear statement just a few minutes ago. I welcome that. Josh is an outstanding Australian. He served our party and our nation incredibly well in his time in the parliament. I certainly hope he'll be back in public life at some point in the future, but he's been very clear this morning, and I'm really pleased that we've got such an outstanding candidate in Kooyong in Amy Hume, and I'm very confident that we'll see her in the parliament after the next election.

Kieran Gilbert: The Fair Work Commission's decision out today—3.75% for those on the minimum wage. Is that a responsible decision in your view?

Paul Fletcher: Well, look, the Fair Work Commission is an independent body. We respect its independence. The point I'd make is this: nominal wages are one thing; what matters is real wages—that's to say nominal wages and then how they compare to the rate of inflation. The fact is we saw last week inflation is not going away anytime soon. Core inflation, which is the measure the RBA tracks most closely, is sitting at 4.1%, well above the target band of 2 to 3. The Treasurer and Treasury seem to be optimistic that we're going to see inflation continuing to fall. There are plenty of market commentators saying there's not much evidence of that, and the next move in interest rates could be up, not down. So, the key point is that ultimately what matters for workers, for everybody, is real income increases. And the best way to get real income increases is to get inflation back down under control. We're seeing no sign of this government.

Kieran Gilbert: The Fair Work Commission decision today looks like it is responsible, though, in the context that it's not going to put further pressure on inflation. You'd welcome that?

Paul Fletcher: They have, in their reasoning, made a reference to the expected rate of inflation. I acknowledge that. But the point I make is that expected rate of inflation is one thing, but what it might end up being could be higher. And the sad fact is that the budget in recent weeks is a budget that fueled inflation rather than fighting inflation. Cumulative additional Labor spending is now $315 billion. We have been saying for quite some time the priority here is to get inflation under control. We're seeing no evidence that Labor has an effective plan to do that. Labor is pushing ahead.

Kieran Gilbert: If we change our focus now to recancelled visas—over 20 individuals now have had their visas recancelled by the Immigration Minister. You've said that they should have been tougher on this earlier, but you welcome the fact that these measures are being taken now?

Paul Fletcher: We're in a situation which we didn't need to be in, and it's a situation which arose because Prime Minister Albanese made a commitment to Prime Minister Ardern, which led to the now notorious Direction 99. That commitment was that he would change the policy settings in relation to when hardcore criminals were deported to New Zealand. Now, that pressure was coming from New Zealand for several years before the government changed. That pressure was resisted by Scott Morrison and other Coalition Prime Ministers. Unfortunately, within weeks of Anthony Albanese becoming Prime Minister, he caved in to Jacinda Ardern. That led directly to Direction 99 being issued in January 2023, and that has now led to a whole range of instances of people having their visas restored—people who otherwise would have undoubtedly been deported. And it's very clear from the reasoning by members of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal that Direction 99 was a clear factor.

Kieran Gilbert: The government keeps pointing out that under Peter Dutton, similar events were seen—individuals released without any monitoring and so on. It wasn't due to a High Court ruling, but it happened under the former Minister's watch, the now Opposition Leader. Is that a fair rebuttal to some of this criticism?

Paul Fletcher: The simple question for the Australian people here is: did the Albanese Labor government change the policy from where it stood before they came to government? And the answer is very clear—they did. Indeed, Mr. Albanese was proudly proclaiming that in a press conference with then Prime Minister Ardern, talking about a so-called common-sense approach. What we now know is that the so-called common-sense approach meant that this notorious Direction 99 would be issued, which weakened the weighting put on existing considerations by adding a new consideration.

Kieran Gilbert: And you'll be taking that—

Paul Fletcher: We'll continue to pursue these matters in Question Time. These are entirely appropriate matters to be pursuing.

Kieran Gilbert: In about 40 minutes from now, we'll be live. We'll see you then in the House of Representatives. Thanks for your time.

Paul Fletcher: Thanks.