Liberal-National Party (LNP) Coalition Leader Peter Dutton has characterised Labor’s 2024 Budget as “one of the most irresponsible” he has seen in his 22 year parliamentary career and says it has “set our country on a dangerous course.”
Citing the cost of living and inflation as the most serious issues facing the country, he said “the reason interest rates have gone up 12 times is because the government can’t control its spending—and because of its reckless energy policy.”
Energy, immigration, small business, and law and order were the major focus of his speech in reply to the Labor government’s May 14th Budget announcement—all recognised strengths for the Coalition.
He said Treasurer Jim Chalmers was proposing “magic pudding spending” and said the Coalition would not spend $13.7 billion on what he called “corporate welfare for green hydrogen and critical minerals,” referring to the tax incentives for exploration announced this week.
Labor’s intervention and regulatory roadblocks were “suffocating the economy and stopping businesses from getting ahead” he said, and pledged that the LNP would not “force large firms to spend more than $1 billion a year policing the emissions of every small business they deal with.”
Regarding workplace law, he said his team would “revert to the former Coalition government’s simple definition of a casual worker and create certainty for our 2.5 million small businesses.”
Nuclear Power a Centrepiece of Energy Policy
He reiterated the Coalition’s commitment to making nuclear power a contributor to the country’s generation, saying, “With nuclear power, we can maximise the highest yield of energy per square metre, and minimise environmental damage.”As previously signalled, nuclear plants would be built on brownfield sites of decommissioned or retiring coal-fired power plants and use the existing grid.
“There’s no need for all of the proposed 58 million solar panels, almost 3,500 wind farms, and 28,000 kilometres of new transmission poles and wires,” he said.
Currently, more details of the nuclear plan are expected to be released in June or July.
Mr. Dutton also reiterated Coalition’s policy of allowing people to access their superannuation to use as a housing deposit, and went on to announce new policies to address the accommodation shortfall.
Two Year Cut to Migration, Foreign Buyers
He claimed the current government has allowed 928,000 new immigrants into the country in the last two years, but only 265,000 new homes had been built.A “rebalancing” of the migration program would free up almost 40,000 additional homes in the first year and “well over 100,000 homes” in the next five years, he said.
This would involve reducing permanent migration numbers by 25 percent: from 185,000 to 140,000 for the first two years, then increasing to 150,000 in year three, and 160,000 in year four.
Foreign investors and temporary residents would be banned from purchasing existing homes for two years.
Cut to Foreign Student Intake
A Dutton government would reduce what he called the “excessive numbers of foreign students” studying at metropolitan universities in order to relieve stress on rental markets in major cities.“The usual CEOs and big businesses may not like this approach,” he said, “But my priority is restoring the dream of home ownership.”
“We believe that by rebalancing the migration program and taking decisive action on the housing crisis, the Coalition would free up more than 100,000 additional homes over the next five years,” he said.
But one piece of good news for those on student visas is that the number of hours they can work would be increased by 12 hours a fortnight, and pensioners and veterans will also be allowed to work more hours without it impacting their benefits.
He later explained to reporters that the Coalition hoped that people who recently retired, or are reluctant to take part-time work because it affects their pension, will fill some skills shortages, particularly in building and construction.
Uniform Knife Laws Across the Country, Tackling Online Crime
Moving on to law and order, Mr. Dutton referenced his former career as a police officer in Queensland, saying, “The horrific scenes of beaten women and distraught children I encountered stay with me to this day. As do the memories of taking women who were shaking with fear to shelters and safe homes, and helping them relocate with their children to safety.”His government would work with states and territories to develop uniform knife laws across all jurisdictions and encourage the nationwide adoption of laws which give police the power to stop and search using detector wands and to limit and restrict the sale and possession of knives to minors and dangerous individuals.
While bail laws generally fall under state and territory jurisdiction, he said the Coalition would toughen those that applied to Commonwealth offences, and make it an offence to use mobile phone and computer networks to cause an intimate partner or family member to fear for their personal safety, to track them using spyware, or engage in coercive behaviour.
Noting that during his time as home affairs minister he cancelled more than 6,300 visas for “dangerous non-citizen criminals” he claimed he had “made our country and citizens safer. As prime minister, I will do it again.
“It will take a Coalition government ... to stop the people smugglers and to deport criminals,” he said.
New laws would make it an offence to post criminal acts online, with those convicted banned from using digital platforms and liable for up to two years’ imprisonment.
He said he was “worried by the criminal dark underbelly of the internet,” which included “a concerning volume of sexually explicit and violent material, as well as content designed to indoctrinate.”
Lower Taxes, Cuts to Public Service
He promised “lower, simpler and fairer taxes for all, because Australians should keep more of what they earn,” but said people would have to wait until just before the next election for details.He also confirmed the Coalition wants to reinstate the higher tax breaks for high-earning Australians that were changed in the stage-three revamp.
“Which opposition leader has come in here and detailed $40 billion of spending cuts?” he asked. “None, ever.”
