E&OE
MARK LEVY:
David Coleman’s the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. He joins me on the line right now. David, good morning to you.
DAVID COLEMAN:
Good morning, Mark.
MARK LEVY:
Well, these are unpredictable times, but gee, there’s little government can do while you’re in caretaker mode, I would have thought.
DAVID COLEMAN:
Well there’s a lot we can do in the future if we change the Government, Mark, because we know that this Government’s economic management has been terrible. We know that we are entering a period of increased uncertainty. There’s a lot of volatility. A trade war involving the US and China would be of great concern. And we know that the biggest decline in living standards in the developed world over the last two and a half years has been in Australia under Anthony Albanese. He’s now saying re-elect me, give me the job again of managing the economy, after having done such a terrible job by international standards. And you know, if you need to put out a fire, Mark, you don’t hire the arsonist. These guys have done a terrible job and the Coalition will always do a better job of economic management.
MARK LEVY:
With all due respect, David, what could have this Government have done to stop these tariffs? Because everyone around the world has copped these tariffs, and I understand the politics of all of this, but what could, have Don Farrell, the Prime Minister, what, what could they have done to have stopped these tariffs being imposed on Australia?
DAVID COLEMAN:
Yeah, well, we think the Prime Minister should have gone to the United States, we think he should have…
MARK LEVY:
Would that have changed anything, though?
DAVID COLEMAN:
Well, look, we’d think that we would do a much better job. I mean, Peter Dutton was heavily involved in the negotiation of AUKUS, for instance, Mark, and that’s about as big as it gets when it comes to negotiating international deals with the US, so that’s our strong view. But the bottom line here, Mark is, the economic reality of what is happening around the world with these tariffs is clearly concerning. So the question now is, who is better placed to manage through that? And that’s not only about the tariff negotiations, that’s about the economy as a whole, Mark, because all of the economic analysis says that when you put tariffs on across the globe, as is happening now, that has a negative impact on the economy. And, as I said, the official OECD data, which is basically all the biggest economies in the world, shows the worst economic results for Australia in disposable income, than any country in the OECD. And then Anthony Albanese turns around and says, well, in this volatile environment, put me back in charge to manage through that. And it doesn’t make sense, because why logically would you rehire someone who’s done a terrible job in a situation that you know is going to be difficult, given that everything that’s going on around the world?
MARK LEVY:
I’m sure you’d agree David that this is a very complex issue, right? And there’s a lot of people listening to us this morning that’ll say look I just want to know how this is going to affect us, so can you simplify it for my listeners and explain to them what this trade war will mean for them and what sort of price rises you envisage for products here in Australia.
DAVID COLEMAN:
Well what trade wars do is they basically increase prices around the world. And so if the US and China are whacking up tariffs on each other, that’s going to mean less trade between those countries. It’s going to potentially mean less investment in those countries and it’s going to have an inflationary impact across the globe, that will have an impact on the economy. Now, the precise percentage of that is obviously hard to forecast, but what we know, Mark, is it’s not good news. It’s not good news. And it means that economic management is even more important than ever. Now, this Government, on economic management is always blaming someone other than themselves. Has the Prime Minister ever accepted responsibility for the economic failures of the last three years? He has not. I mean, this is a guy who doesn’t even acknowledge the truth when he falls off the stage. And he has said that effectively, all of the economic pain that Australians have experienced, the worst in the developed world, is not his fault.
MARK LEVY:
Yep.
DAVID COLEMAN:
It’s always someone else. And in that environment, Mark, the idea of the Prime Minister fronting up and saying, I’m the best economic manager, makes no sense at all. The Coalition will always do a better job of economic management, as we have in the past and as we will in the future.
MARK LEVY:
All right, well on that, how do you plan on doing it? Because post the election, I know you’re hoping to win, and I think for the sake of the country, we’d like to think that there’s going to be a change of Government. Hypothetical, I know, but how do fix this? How do you address this? I spent the first hour of the program suggesting that our political leaders just need to keep it simple when it comes to the ordinary Australians who are going to cast their vote on May 3. Put simply, how to address this, how you fix it?
DAVID COLEMAN:
Yeah, I think in the immediate term, Mark, we’ve got to address cost of living and that’s halving the petrol tax. That’s 25 cents a litre and not 70 cents a day in 15 months, which is what the Government wants to do. This is halving the petrol taxes, 25 cents per litre, and as you know, Mark, a lot of your listeners would have two or three cars in the family, driving around a lot…
MARK LEVY:
I’m talking more about, though, the effect of these tariffs. How do you how do you address this if you become the Foreign Affairs Minister under a Coalition Government?
DAVID COLEMAN:
Well in terms of the Foreign Affairs aspects, Mark, one of the big things obviously is promoting free trade around the world. You mentioned the EU Free Trade Agreement. So the biggest free trade agreement remaining to be done – and we think free trade is a good thing – is with the EU.
We need to do that. The Government dropped the ball on that, Mark, and about a year ago, the talk stopped. It’s literally only in the last two weeks that Don Farrell is talking about the EU Free Trade Agreement and that follows Peter Dutton committing to working on that free trade agreement as a top priority. And we’ve got the runs on the board here, Mark. I mean, we’re the ones who did the China Free Trade Agreement. We did free trade agreements with Japan, with South Korea, with many other countries. So the Coalition’s got the runs on the board on free trade, and that’s in an environment where tariffs are going up. You want to go in the other direction and reduce tariffs wherever you can.
MARK LEVY:
All right, some economists today, I noticed, saying that fears that Donald Trump’s trade war could push Australia into recession are overblown. What do you say to that, David?
DAVID COLEMAN:
Look, I think it’s very clear that there’s a negative impact of tariffs around the world, it’s very clear. And in that environment, Mark, economic management comes to the fore. And so do you want Jim Chalmers, who’s got a PhD studying Paul Keating, of all people, as your Treasurer? Or do you Angus Taylor, who has got more than 20 years of business experience and a Rhodes Scholar, with the experience and the runs on the board in the real world? And so, this is a very serious choice. I mean, Anthony Albanese, he never takes responsibility for economic failings under his Government.
MARK LEVY:
Can I just pull you up, David? I just want to pull you up on something, right? I’ve been listening to you speak and it’s all about, you know, and I get how politics works. It’s pointing the finger and highlighting what the Government hasn’t done, and what the Government hasn’t done. I think you’ve got to really change tact in the next three and a half weeks and tell the Australian people what you’re going to do to fix it. Okay, we know what’s happened over the last three years. And you know, and I said earlier, we’ve all got a vested interest in wanting the Coalition to put itself in a winnable position. I think people are past the point of the blame game. They want to know how you’re gonna fix it, so I think rather than just keep pointing the finger at the Government and point the finger to Anthony Albanese and point the finger at Jim Chalmers, people want to know what you’re going to do to fix that. And I think that’s got to resonate within your party to say, right no more blame game, let’s tell the Australian people straight: one how their lives are going to improve under Peter Dutton.
DAVID COLEMAN:
Yeah, and one of those examples is the petrol tax, which is immediate relief. Another is our plan for Australian gas for Australians. This is very significant, Mark, because this is going to bring down the cost of manufacturing in Australia, and that then flows through to the cost-of-living, because it means that those products that rely on manufacturing, which a lot of what we consume, become cheaper because of the cost of energy coming down. And if you talk to businesses large and small, Mark, the number one issue that people cite is the cost of energy, and particularly in industry, that’s often about gas. There’ll also be a significant impact on gas prices for, in the residential market as well. We think it comes down by about 7%, which is significant. So that’s very practical, Mark. So is halving the petrol tax. These are things that will have a significant impact on our country. The Coalition has a very strong track record in the past in economic management. We will have that record in future. It is important, though, Mark, that people realise that this Government, if we are successful, Anthony Albanese will not be a part of it and that is a very positive thing for our country.
MARK LEVY:
Let me squeeze in a couple of quick ones before you go. Are you a bit late to the party? I mean, yes, you’ve announced your cut to the fuel excise, and I think that’s a winner. I also think your gas policy and how you plan on reducing the electricity bill is a winner as well. There’s the announcement today about the reversing of the decline of apprentices and trainees. Another win. Why have you sort of been sitting on these? Why not tell the Australian people earlier, so you’ve had the time to spruit them? Because it seems to me, like I say, right, fuel excise, tick, electricity bill gas, tick, reversing the decline of apprentices and trainees, tick. Why am I finding out about them in the second week of election campaign?
DAVID COLEMAN:
I think we’ve announced quite a few policies in the past as well, but obviously, during an election campaign, it’s normal for different policies to be announced and we’ll continue to do that as we go along because it’s so important that we change the Government. We’ve also said, consistently Mark, that there’s been wasteful spending by this Government and that there are areas where we would not spend as much as the Government. And that’s important, because if you spend too much, you put upward pressure on inflation and that leads to the 12 interest rate rises that we’ve seen under the Government, because, just like in a household or a small business, you can’t spend money like it’s going out of fashion and that’s what the Labor Party does, and I think that’s another area of contrast and we’ve made that clear in the past as well.
MARK LEVY:
Alright, one last one David. How did you think the boss went last night? How did he perform?
DAVID COLEMAN:
I thought he was very good, Mark. I thought Peter Dutton spoke with clarity and passion. He is a person of conviction. And this is really important, because people sometimes say, oh, well, politicians just go with the flow or see which way the wind’s blowing. Peter Dutton is a person of conviction and that came across very strongly last night when he spoke about what he wanted to do in terms of fixing the economy, when he talked about the importance of a strong foreign policy and so on. And I think that came across loud and clear, and I think the Prime Minister came across as sort of all over the place, as he so often does.
MARK LEVY:
Alright, thanks for joining us, David. Good luck for the rest of the campaign.
DAVID COLEMAN:
Thanks Mark.
MARK LEVY:
That’s David Coleman, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. And given what’s happening internationally at the moment with tariffs and the trade war, obviously a really important conversation now.
Hon David Coleman MP
Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs
Member for Banks