Did the Prime Minister NOT learn? Australians voted resoundingly NO to his divisive Voice Referendum.
And yet there he was at Garma talking out of both sides of his mouth.
At Garma he told people that there would be a whole rollout of new policies. He then turned around and told other people that there was nothing to see, nothing to worry about.
This is exactly what he did in relation to the Voice. We know the Prime Minister cannot be trusted here. And now we see the Prime Minister at odds with his newly-minted Indigenous Affairs Minister.
Minister Malarndirri McCarthy says the Government has not walked away from its pre-election commitment to establish a Makarrata Commission, which was a key plank of the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart.
So who’s right?
If the Prime Minister says he's not changing his position, what is his position and why is there $5.8 million in the budget allocated for a Makarrata Commission?
What will it do? Who will be appointed to it? What impact will that have on Indigenous people and communities and business?
We need practical solutions for people in Alice Springs and Laverton and Leonora.
We need to find housing. We need safety for women and children. We need to make sure that there's employment and education and health services.
The 2024 Annual Data Compilation Report is yet another indicator that we need a generational shift in how we try and close the gap.
It is clear we need an audit. Locals who face the reality of the gap daily have been calling for it, and now it seems the reality is dawning in government as well.
The Productivity Commission's report highlighting the priority of the bureaucracies "to churn out documents" is symptomatic of what is wrong with the current approach.
An audit would provide an opportunity to properly look at this churn and see what is working and what is not.
INFLATION CRISIS – LABOR HAS NO ANSWERS
In another trainwreck interview, this time on Sky, the Prime Minister has shown he has little or no understanding of the deep concerns held by the Reserve Bank over Labor's home-grown inflation.
Struggling mortgage holders won’t be seeing rate relief any time soon as the Reserve Bank of Australia has said they are looking for ‘softer growth’ in Government spending before it could cut interest rates. Mortgage holders and small business operators have every reason to share the Reserve Bank's concern that this Labor Government just doesn't get it.
Either that, or Labor just refuses to listen to serious policy advice.
Australians are the losers from Labor's tin ear.
The RBA has told the Select Committee on the Cost of Living it almost doubled its forecast of Government spending since Labor’s Budget, increasing from 2.1% to 4%.
It's more confirmation that Labor's spendathon is driving inflation.
Economists told the Committee that the Labor Government had delivered three very expansionary Budgets that were “putting upwards pressure on inflation.”
Further, Labor’s temporary measures that lowered headline inflation were a ‘trick’ and still added to demand. The Prime Minister now resorts to lame postings on social media, patting himself on the back for cost of living relief.
Australians are looking for economic leadership, not self-congratulatory spin, from their Prime Minister. It was a pathetic display from a PM who has shown he is just not up to the job.
COSTS ARE GOING UP AND UP
This is the reality under Labor.
Consumers along with businesses face higher prices, not least having to cope with 12 interest rate increases since Labor came to government.
Australians are also paying a very significant increase in their personal income taxes despite the personal income tax cuts.
Australians are paying 20% more personal income tax. Employee real wages have collapsed by nearly 9%. Living standards have collapsed by nearly 8%. Household savings have collapsed by nearly 10 percentage points and homeowners with a typical mortgage of $750,000 are nearly $35,000 worse off.
Under Labor, prices have increased by more than 10%, including for our most basic needs:
Food up 11%;
Health up 11%;
Education up 11%;
Housing up 15%;
Rent up 15%;
Financial and insurance up 17%;
Electricity up 22%; and
Gas up 25%.
Unlike the PM, Peter Dutton’s focus is on policies that will work for current and future generations of Australians.
The Coalition is working to ensure Australia can play to its strengths.
We want to be a nation which is a mining, manufacturing and agricultural powerhouse and a leader in technology and innovation.
We want Australia to be a place where home ownership is possible for every Australian - where the ability to buy a house is not something within the reach of the few who can rely on the bank of mum and dad – but something assured for the hardworking many.
We want Australia to be a place where law and order prevails in our communities and on our streets and where people feel safe again in their own homes.
We need an Australia where criminals are deterred in the knowledge they will face the full force of the law - where repeat offenders are locked-up, not released to re-offend.
We want Australia to have a well-managed migration program with sustainable levels of migration - continuing to attract people with the skills we need but not where we bring in a new migrant every minute and overwhelm our housing market, infrastructure and services.
We want Australia to be well defended - a nation building munitions and platforms at speed and scale, to provide support to our allies.
And we want a country where non-citizens who sow division, incite violence, and commit crimes are booted out.
Australia must be a nation which preserves the innocence of our young children and nurtures their minds in a responsible way and a country where teaching the basics – reading, writing, and maths – through explicit instruction occurs across our primary education system.
The policies we seek to implement are not just about the next election cycle - they are a foundation for forging a better Australia.
To do that, we must start by fixing Labor’s home-grown inflation.
Firstly, the Coalition will not spend $13.7 billion on corporate welfare for green hydrogen and critical minerals.
Second, we will wind-back Labor’s heavy-handed intervention by streamlining approval processes and cutting red tape which is strangling our industries and stifling entrepreneurialism.
Third, we will remove the complexity and hostility of Labor’s industrial relations agenda which is putting unreasonable burdens on businesses.
For example, we will revert to the former Coalition Government’s simple definition of a casual worker and create certainty for our 2.5 million small businesses. The Coalition is committed to backing in our small businesses.
Fourth, we will provide lower, simpler and fairer taxes for all – because Australians should keep more of what they earn.
And fifth, we will ensure Australians have more affordable and reliable energy.
Our economic plan – with its tried and tested principles – will restore competitiveness and rebuild economic confidence.
CFMEU RUNNING RAMPANT
Rookie Workplace Relations Minister, Murray Watt, must get serious about stamping out illegality in the construction industry, which starts with the restoration of the Australian Building and Construction Commission and deregistering the CFMEU.
The only people who are missing out because of Labor’s inaction are the Australian taxpayers, mum and dad Australia, who pay up to 30% more for their schools, for their roads and for their hospitals. Why? Because Labor has for years now condoned the actions of the CFMEU.
We know the reason - millions of reasons - the millions and millions of dollars that have flowed directly from the coffers of the CFMEU to the Australian Labor Party. It now exceeds $4 million since Mr Albanese became Prime Minister and exceeds $6 million since he became the Opposition Leader.
Murray Watt proudly led Labor's charge in the Senate to abolish the ABCC through the Senate, giving control of the construction sector in his Australia to his mates at the CFMEU.
He still refuses to acknowledge his disastrous mistake and instead tries to blame the Coalition for the lawlessness of Labor’s CFMEU donor.
If Mr Watt is serious about combatting corruption, thuggery, bribery, violence and criminal activity on our nation’s building sites. He should introduce legislation to re-establish the ABCC with increased powers when Parliament returns on Monday.
To genuinely move to stamp out corruption, Labor must:
re-establish the ABCC with increased powers;
deregister the CFMEU; and
pass the former Coalition Government's Ensuring Integrity measures which they blocked in the Senate.
Peter Dutton in WA
It was fantastic to have Peter Dutton here in Western Australia, spending five days travelling the length and breadth of our state.
I joined Peter and Tom White, our candidate for Curtin, on a visit to Tucker Fresh IGA Morris Place in Innaloo. Poojan and Veer spoke frankly about how cost of living pressures aren’t just hitting their customers hard, but it’s also having a detrimental impact on our local businesses too.
As electricity costs continue to soar under the Albanese government’s reckless rush into renewables-only energy, prices for everything else, from groceries and petrol, to rent or mortgage repayments, also continue to skyrocket.
While in WA, Peter and I also had the opportunity to join The LBW (Learning for a Better World) Trust’s Critical Minerals, Mining and ESG Summit, alongside our WA Liberal Leader, Libby Mettam MLA, and the Hon. Neil Thomson MLC. The summit was the perfect occasion to reiterate the Coalition’s support for WA and in particular, our mining and critical minerals sector. A strong WA economy means a stronger Australian economy.
Peter and I also spent some time with Howard Ong, our Liberal candidate for Tangney at his community BBQ over the weekend, with more than 230 locals in attendance.
It was terrific to show Peter that here in WA, we back him all the way and are determined to see a Dutton Coalition government elected so we can get our country back on track.
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