Dutton on what the Coalition is offering women
The Coalition has said itself it has a problem with women, and SMH reporter Olivia Ireland asks Peter Dutton what exactly he’s doing for women.
She says Dutton has focused on mining, construction, agriculture and energy as the four pillars of the economy, and points out that in his campaign launch speech, he only mentioned women twice – in the context of how he had protected them from domestic violence and crime. Dutton starts:
I am offering the chance for them to get a home. Homeless women are at a record level under this government …
We have said in relation to accessing super, women who have had a messy relationship breakup, who haven’t had a home before or have no roof over the head with their kids, I want to provide that stability.
There’s a lot of back and forth over this answer. Ireland points out housing is an issue for everyone. She keeps pushing Dutton about what he’s actually doing for women working in sectors like education (which he’s consistently said is pushing a “woke” agenda) and health.
Dutton says his party would “invest more” money in those sectors. But Dutton keeps talking about women as either vulnerable (getting out of a “messy relationship”) or as mothers.
The 25 cent fuel excise reduction is targeted at women driving kids around or delivery truck drivers who are trying to make ends meet.
He comes back to housing, saying the Coalition’s housing plan will help a young family or “young professional woman who has given up on that [dream]”.
The whole answer doesn’t come off particularly well.
Key events
Clare O’Neil now makes her opening statement, and calls the housing crisis the “biggest social and economic challenge facing our country right now”.
The Coalition has been piling blame on Labor for the state of housing across Australia, and blamed them for allowing more migrants into the country.
But O’Neil says the issue has been “building now for 40 years”, and puts the blame back on to the Coalition for not having done enough for the nine years they were previously in government.
We came to office three years ago after a decade of abject neglect of housing… Many of you would remember that Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison actually deliberately made a decision to take the Commonwealth out of the discussion. And that’s why, for most of the almost decade that the coalition were in power, there wasn’t even a Commonwealth Housing Minister.
O’Neil then also moves to the ‘sell’ portion of her speech, plugging Labor’s promise to build 1.2 million homes, and their recent pledge to open up their 5% deposit scheme.
With housing now one of the biggest issues of the campaign, housing and shadow housing ministers Clare O’Neil and Michael Sukkar are going head to head on their respective policies in a debate at the national press club.
Sukkar starts with his opening address (after winning a coin toss).
Sukkar says Australians have “witnessed one of the most catastrophic policy failures in a generation,” accusing Labour of building less and approving less homes.
He also accuses the government of running the “biggest migration program in a generation”. There have been multiple fact checks on the impact that migration and international students have had on the housing crisis.
He then moves to sell his party’s policy:
Under the coalition, first-home buyers of new homes will be able to claim a tax deduction on mortgage interest for the first five years after purchasing their home. This is a monumental tilting of the scales in favour of first-home buyers.
Report casts doubt over if Labor can achieve housing goals
Patrick Commins
New figures suggest achieving the Albanese government’s target of 1.2m new well-located homes over five years to mid-2029 is looking less and less likely.
To reach that goal, we would need to complete 240,000 homes a year, or 120,000 every six months.
Instead, over the first six months of Labor’s Housing Accord target, the ABS report shows just over 90,000 homes were built – or roughly 30,000 fewer than needed.
The building pipeline is not promising, either. In the six months to December, we started building about 86,000 homes – again well short of where we need to be.
The ABS data comes as Labor and the Coalition clash over competing visions on how to address the issue of chronically unaffordable housing.
Cameron Kusher, an independent property expert, said: “Whilst I never believed the target was going to be achievable, we’ve started off very slowly and are well behind the target already.”
With interest rates falling in 2025 we should see construction lift, but it remains difficult to see how the Housing Accord target is going to be met.
Catie McLeod
Canadian food authority says Vegemite ‘not banned in Canada’ but formulation sold at Toronto cafe ‘did not comply’ with regulations
We’ve heard from the Canadian food regulators regarding their decision to order a cafe owner in Toronto to stop selling Vegemite.
As we brought you yesterday, Canada’s public broadcaster published a story – on Monday evening Australian time – saying the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) had told dual citizen Leighton Walters he would have to stop selling and serving the yeast spread because it did not meet local standards.
The CFIA had told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the Vegemite that Walters sought to import was found to have added vitamins that were not permitted with Canadian health regulations.
Now, the CFIA has sent us a statement, which says:
We recognise Vegemite’s ties to Australian culture and the interest in having access to this product in Canada.
The CFIA is working with Health Canada on options and will maintain communications with the regulated party.
Vegemite is not banned in Canada. The Vegemite formulation that was sold at the café did not comply with Canada’s food and drug Regulations.
In comparison to a similar product, Marmite, the manufacturer of Marmite produces a version of their product that meets Canadian requirements.
This doesn’t clear up all of the confusion. While the CFIA has said Vegemite is not banned in Canada, we aren’t aware of any specifically formulated Vegemite products that don’t have B vitamins in them. You can read more here:
Dutton says he holds no security concerns over hecklers who approached PM yesterday
A final question to Dutton goes to that video we reported earlier, of Anthony Albanese being confronted by two hecklers in the lobby of his hotel in Melbourne yesterday evening.
The video was shared across social media app Telegram, showing two separate men intercepting the prime minister as he was walking through the hotel in Melbourne’s CBD, before being stopped by the PM’s staff.
The videos were attributed on Telegram to “Melbourne Freedom Rally”, a large right-wing group which led protests against Covid restrictions during the pandemic.
He’s asked whether he has any security concerns:
No, I don’t. The police do a fantastic job … as the prime minister pointed out it is not a locked down area, he is in a public space, and I think the police do a great job.
Dutton says PNG minister who says he wants Labor to win is a ‘colourful character’
A tad earlier in the press conference, Dutton was asked about Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister, Justin Tkatchenko, who told the ABC he wanted to see Labor win the election.
Dutton says Tkatchenko is a “colourful character” and a friend of Australia.
I know him and have for 20 years, he is doing a great job, is a colourful character and is a friend of our country… Justin is a good friend of our country and a Melburnian originally and doing a good job up there.
Tkatchenko told the ABC the relationship between PNG and Australia, “has never been stronger … and that is in all aspects – treasury, foreign affairs, defence, agriculture, fisheries.”
Dutton was asked separately whether the Coalition’s decisions, including to not want to cohost a COP climate conference, would lose the trust of Pacific nations and lead them to move towards China. Dutton says the Coalition was a “great partner” when in government.
I was part of the government who helped get vaccines to Pacific Island nations. They were unbelievably grateful for the support we provided …
When we were in government we were a great partner with many countries including some you have referred to.
Dutton on what the Coalition is offering women
The Coalition has said itself it has a problem with women, and SMH reporter Olivia Ireland asks Peter Dutton what exactly he’s doing for women.
She says Dutton has focused on mining, construction, agriculture and energy as the four pillars of the economy, and points out that in his campaign launch speech, he only mentioned women twice – in the context of how he had protected them from domestic violence and crime. Dutton starts:
I am offering the chance for them to get a home. Homeless women are at a record level under this government …
We have said in relation to accessing super, women who have had a messy relationship breakup, who haven’t had a home before or have no roof over the head with their kids, I want to provide that stability.
There’s a lot of back and forth over this answer. Ireland points out housing is an issue for everyone. She keeps pushing Dutton about what he’s actually doing for women working in sectors like education (which he’s consistently said is pushing a “woke” agenda) and health.
Dutton says his party would “invest more” money in those sectors. But Dutton keeps talking about women as either vulnerable (getting out of a “messy relationship”) or as mothers.
The 25 cent fuel excise reduction is targeted at women driving kids around or delivery truck drivers who are trying to make ends meet.
He comes back to housing, saying the Coalition’s housing plan will help a young family or “young professional woman who has given up on that [dream]”.
The whole answer doesn’t come off particularly well.
Dutton refuses to say his statements risk relationship with Indonesia
Dutton is drawn back to the issue, and is asked by Tom Crowley if he has “overreached” and risks insulting Indonesia – considering the precarious global environment.
Dutton goes straight to attacking Wong again, and won’t answer the question on whether his comments could affect the relationship with Indonesia.
The fact is when you have a foreign minister and a defence minister and a prime minister finding out about decisions from our friends and countries abroad … you know this government is not up to it.
The relationship between Indonesia and Russia is closer, we know that and we want to continue [our] relationship because we don’t want Russian assets in our region.
Another reporter tests Dutton on his previous answer that the statement he made yesterday, that he had seen commentary from the Indonesian administration, was a reference to “a credible media website”. Dutton says:
I made the point earlier in relation to the reference.
Pushed again, and asked for more clarity on whether it was a mistake to say the Indonesian president confirmed those reports, Dutton says:
I have provided that respond to that exact question.
Dutton denies comments on Russia and Indonesia were irresponsible: ‘A lot of questions the government still has to answer’
The first question, unsurprisingly, goes to Dutton’s comments on Russia and Indonesia, and the government’s claim that Dutton was “irresponsible” in those comments.
Dutton denies he was irresponsible, and says there are further questions for the government to answer.
The prospect of having Russia with the greatest presence in our region is very real and there are a lot of questions the government still has to answer. We have asked for a briefing in relation to the matter that has not been forthcoming yet.
Dutton says the relationship between Indonesia and Russia is “closer under this president”.
Dutton is asked about the reference yesterday to a statement he made from the Indonesian administration. He says:
The reference I made is to a credible military website and that talked about government sources and the Prabowo government sources …
Penny Wong talks a big game but I don’t think she is a foreign minister on top of her brief.
Opposition leader addresses media in seat of Aston
Peter Dutton is now standing up in the seat of Aston (which the Coalition is hoping to win back, after it lost the seat to Labor in a byelection).
Dutton is also talking about his housing policy:
We will increase supply and we will make sure as we said on the weekend and repeated this policy again, allow young Australians to access their super so that they can get the deposit together. We’ll stop foreigners from purchasing homes for a 2-year period
Both leaders have been in Melbourne this morning, before their debate on the ABC tonight.
So what have they been up to? Albanese has been at a housing estate while Peter Dutton visited the Alannah and Madeline Foundation.
Queensland MP urges colleagues to adopt ‘do-nothing strategy’ in regards to climate action
Energy is still a key issue in this election and Guardian Australia has uncovered a video of one Coalition MP telling a group of climate science deniers that blackouts are a “big opportunity”.
My colleague Ben Smee reports that, in a video posed on YouTube, Queensland MP Colin Boyce said he’d urged fellow MPs to adopt a “do-nothing strategy” which would build opposition to net zero policies.
You can read the full story right here:
Albanese says he doesn’t want to encourage Dutton ‘dialling everything up’
Sarah Basford Canales
Concluding that chat on ABC Melbourne this morning, Anthony Albanese is asked whether he’s been preparing some jabs or zingers to target Peter Dutton at tonight’s ABC leaders’ debate.
The prime minister questioned Dutton’s temperament:
No, no. I stick to the policy framework. I, look, Peter Dutton dials it up to 11. I don’t need to encourage that. That’s just who he is. He dials everything up. And that’s one of the problems, I think, is that you need the right temperament to be prime minister.
