Q: You’ve said that the coalition will keep continuity in Washington with Kevin Rudd. Given the market turmoil, how relations are going, would you reconsider that position? And how is your approach different from Labor?

Dutton:

Look, I think what Australians are worried about at the moment is – who is better to manage our economy and bring down the cost of living? Who can deal with economic headwinds? If we have a recession in the United States, if there is a global recession, if there’s a broader war in Europe, a Labor-Greens government with a weak and incompetent prime minister is not going to be able to deal with that. I

have served as the Defence Minister, as the Home Affairs Minister, as Health Minister. I’ve worked for four prime ministers. I’ve watched closely seven prime ministers in action. I was around the Cabinet table with my colleagues when we dealt with COVID. And we made decisions which brought Australians economically through COVID in a much better shape than many other countries around the world.

I have the experience and my team has the experience to deal with whatever comes at our country. The Prime Minister has demonstrated that he’s always weak, always late to the game, and the lies just roll off his tongue.

And yet Dutton’s approach here is – everything Labor is doing, but we’ll just beg more and sign more defence contracts with the US.