The opposition leader is out today claiming that car prices are going rise under the new vehicle efficiency standards that are due to come into effect in July.

Every other advanced country except Russia has these kinds of standards, some of them for many decades. This means we have plenty of evidence about what their effect might be.

A US study of prices between 2003 and 2021 found “no systemic, statistically significant increase in inflation-adjusted vehicle prices across either vehicle classes or vehicle nameplates.” But it did find that over that same period average fuel economy improved by 30%.

So, no prices won’t increase. But yes, you will save money because new cars will use less fuel.

Q: Back on the alleged terror plot against you – does the experience raise concerns about the growing radicalisation of youth online? Can more be done to protect politicians?

Dutton:

I’ve been, again, I think consistent in my comments about trying to keep, particularly, young adults and children safe online. It doesn’t matter – I remember being told years ago when we were looking at the ISIS threat here in Australia, which obviously is still extant now – it’s still current as a threat now – that it would take a very short period of time for young people online to become radicalised if they’re watching videos constantly. And so, yeah, it’s tough for families, because your kids are spending so much time online.

I want to make sure that we can keep our kids safe online, and that’s why wive pushed through the parliament legislation to provide an extra layer of security for kids under the age of 16. But as a society, as a community, we should be doing everything we can to take down hate comments and all of that which might inspire or incite violence. I’m sure that every reasonable Australian thinks exactly that.

Q: Mr Dutton, just looking at the campaign more broadly, we’ve barely seen you sort of undertake streetwalks and have those sort of unscripted moments with voters. Is that due to sort of an increased security concerns that are on yourself and other politicians? And do you have a concern that that limits your ability to interact with voters in a more authentic environment?

Dutton:

No, I think I dealt with that before. I haven’t had any advice to that effect. We’ll visit many parts of the country. It’s a wonderful opportunity to be in this job. To be able to meet Australians – and it’s not just in this campaign, but to stand up to the threats that might come our way as a country. A lot of Australians really expressed that concern about whether the Prime Minister’s just out of his depth and too weak to deal with the threats that face our country now and in a very uncertain decade ahead. So I think this is an opportunity to speak to the Australian people, to see as many people as humanly possible, and we’ll continue that over the course of the campaign.

Ok, but the question was about how he is NOT doing that. So if it is not about security concerns, then the campaign strategists don’t think it’s a good idea. And why could that be? Anyone? Anyone?

Q: Andrew Greene has reported an Australian-designed weapons system has been tested by Israel. What’s your view on the sale of Australian arms to Israel?

Dutton:

There’s been a bipartisan position for a period of time in relation to the export of arms and that’s not a process that we propose to change. It’s been adhered to as far as I can understand by the current government, if the Prime Minister’s changed that then it’s not something [I know about]

Q: [The parts reportedly went to Israel via the Unites States] – is that appropriate?

Dutton:

Not that I’m aware of, in terms of where the government’s made changes to. I will make this statement in relation to Israel, though – when we stopped a terrorist attack from taking place on an A380 here in Australia where literally hundreds of Australians would have died, that intelligence came from Israel.

Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East* that are a key partner and, when we were evacuating people out of Kabul and when we have had our people in the Middle East – and I recall this very specifically as Defence Minister – we relied on Israel for intelligence that saved the lives of Australians, including in uniform. So I’m not going to speak in a disparaging way about Israel.

*This is not true. Iraq and Lebanon are parliamentary republic democracies. Palestinians in Gaza have been banned from holding an election by Israel since 2006.

Q: You’ve long had a security detail out of necessity. Does it disappoint you that, under current circumstances and some news that we’ve heard in the last 24 hours, that you might not get to meet as many members of the public as you would like?

Dutton:

No, I haven’t had that advice at all. We have the same security package as the Prime Minister does. And as the Governor-General does. And that’s been the case for some time. Obviously since I cancelled the visas of a lot of bikies and rapists and organised crime figures.

I wouldn’t change that. I mean, there’s been an impact on my family. They’ve been stoic and never complained about the security that’s been around me and my family. Federal Police at home and the AFP have been absolutely amazing. But that’s what started the need for security.

And I wouldn’t change any of that. Because I know the decisions I took actually stopped further women from becoming victims of rapists. And I know that the murderers that I deported from our country are no longer a threat to Australian people. And I’ve always fought for what I believe in. I’m incredibly grateful to the AFP that my family are kept safe. I’ve never felt unsafe one day in this job, particularly with the protection from the AFP. It hasn’t stopped me from doing anything, and it won’t on this campaign.

I take the advice of the Federal Police but, ultimately, I think this job is about a test of character – do you have the strength of character regardless of what’s thrown at you to deal with the issues and to act in our country’s best interests? I think I’ve demonstrated that as a police officer, and I can tell you there’s no job that I’ve had in my time in parliament – not as Defence Minister or Home Affairs Minister or Immigration Minister or Health Minister or Assistant Treasurer or now, as Leader of the Opposition, which has been harder than the days that I’ve seen as a police officer where people have gone through losing a child, a life event where they could never recover from it and they’re impacted for the rest of their life.

And so for me, I’m incredibly fortunate to be in this job, because I’m passionate about our country. I want to do everything I can to make our country better for every Australian, and that’s what this election is about.

Q: In your preamble, you noted that you hope that people connect with the election campaign, the remaining three weeks. I think it’s fair to say we’re two weeks in and hardly have captivated the national attention.

(Dutton laughs, which is very gallows humour.)

I’m just wondering what you have to inspire or excite voters to change their vote.

Dutton:

I think, to be honest, most families at the moment, most Australians, are just working out around their kitchen table tonight, “How the hell am I going to pay the electricity bill? How am I going to pay the insurance bill which has gone up under this government?” If they’ve been to the supermarket this week, they’re paying 30% more for groceries under Mr Albanese.

Our plan is to fix Labor’s cost-of-living crisis by reducing the cost of petrol and diesel by 25 cents a litre. That will drive down the cost of filling up your tank by $14 every week – every car.

The government doesn’t speak anything about it but, to buy a new Ford Ranger under this government, it’ll go up by $14,400 by 2029.

A RAV4 hybrid goes up by almost $10,000 under Mr Albanese and Mr Bowen. I think, once Australians start to hear that message, they’ll realise that they can’t afford three more years of Labor.

It would be a disaster for WA and for the economy for Mr Albanese to be in partnership with Mr Bandt – but that’s exactly what will happen in a minority government for the Labor Party. I will never form government with a minority government that is racist, as is the case with the Greens, that is so anti-mining, anti-business, anti-defence, pro-hard-core drugs.

But Mr Albanese will do a deal with the Greens in a heartbeat. And that would be a disaster for our country. So I think, as Australians look at that choice, more of them, as they tune in – they’re busy running their kids around to school and sport and going to work doing bookwork at the night-time – when they get closer to the election, they’ll look very sharply oat the two options before them. They’ll realise, as I’m sure increasingly many millions of Australians do, that we can’t afford three more years of Anthony

Q: Can you categorically rule out any changes to capital gains tax or negative gearing, including capital gains tax if you form government?

This question is just a waste of time because no major party is suggesting tax reform in these areas, no matter how desperately needed it is.

Dutton:

You should be assured the coalition government will not tax the family home, you can be assured we’re not going to change the arrangements into the capital gains discount arrangements, and similarly in relation to negative gearing. I want young Australians to get into housing. And I don’t want rents to be driven up, which is exactly the model that Adam Bandt is promising. And in a Labor Greens government, which is the only option if the Labor Party is to form government after the election, it’s a disaster for WA. It will stop mining projects from going ahead. It will stop investment into different asset classes, including housing.

If you abolish negative gearing, people will just move their money into equities or somewhere else. And that’s going to make the cost of housing more expensive and it will create a less certain environment for people as they approach their retirement, when they have worked hard all their lives to pay off a rental property and they’re relying on the rent to help them support their own kids and grandkids, why Labor would want to affect it is beyond me.

OK, well this isn’t the winning answer he thinks it is. It might be a winner if this was still John Howard’s Australia, when Howard could literally say to an ABC radio host that ‘no one is coming up to me in the street complaining about their house prices’. The Greens have created that policy in RESPONSE to what voters are telling them. It’s a grandfathered negative gearing policy and then beyond that, if you want an investment property you can have one, but not get a tax break from the government for it. That’s it.

And the idea that this will make housing more expensive became people will move their equity into something else? Well won’t that just put more houses onto the market, therefore increasingly supply, which Dutton says is the reason that he is cutting migration – to increase supply (even if his numbers are dodgy) and that will make houses and rentals cheaper.

So apparently cutting migration will make housing cheaper because it will increase supply, but people selling investment properties to put their equity elsewhere, increasing supply, will make housing more expensive. Make. It. Make. Sense.

On to the public service workers cut policy that the Coalition just can’t seem to get the details straight on:

Q: Prime Minister, James Paterson said voluntary redundancies have always been part of the coalition’s public service plan. Why wasn’t this included in your policy statement on Monday, and how many redundancies do you plan to offer?

Dutton:

We have spoken about that a lot. The point I would make in relation to the issue is that Australians are working harder than ever. There’s Australians now who are working second and third jobs, paying taxes, can’t keep their heads above water with Mr Albanese’s increasing costs. They’re paying 30% more than for groceries [not true, it is 12% which is still not great, so why lie about the number?], 34% more for gas (the Coalition voted against the energy rebates, which has brought the cost of energy down). Australians want their taxpayer dollars to be spent efficiently.

Q:But voluntary redundancies… What’s the modelling for the voluntary redundancies. It’s a new element. Are you going to offer people money to leave their jobs in the public service?

Dutton:

We are looking at where we can have an employment freeze and the natural attrition. That helps us achieve the 41,000. It allows us to invest into important areas, including the fuel tax reduction. Under us, there’s a 25 cent fuel tax reduction, so young families, pensioners, tradies, across the economy, get a 25 cent cut to fuel tax because of our careful economic management. Under Labor, you get a 70 cent per week, per day tax cut.

Ok, so now that’s another change confirmed – looking at where the cuts can be made and then offering voluntary redundancies.

This policy was originally:

41,000 cuts from Canberra based public servants

then it was

41,000 people to be sacked with the detail to be worked out after the election

and then:

No one would be sacked, but 41,000 people who left from the Canberra based public service, but not in front line positions, or defence, would not be replaced over five years (which would be impossible)

to

41,000 people would not be replaced in the public service, and we’ll offer voluntary redundancies to help get there, but we’ll work out where to offer those redundancies after the election, if we win.

Q: Mr Dutton, you said US President Joe Biden was initially opposed to the AUKUS deal. Are you suggesting the talks on this deal pre-date the Biden administration, was that remark to try to protect AUKUS from Elon Musk and his DOGE razor gang?

Dutton:

I think the prime minister has taken $80 billion out of defence,(Dutton is using the same measure that he rejects from Labor when they talk about cuts to education and health funding – funding increased under Labor, but the rate of funding forecast by the previous Coalition government was cut. So funding went up, but not by as much as the Coalition wanted it to. And Labor says that $80bn in funding growth was re-directed into other areas, like AUKUS, which is why this line from Dutton is getting no traction – it is hard to say defence funding has been cut when we all know that $360bn is being spent on the AUKUS deal)

Dutton:

I want to make sure we can invest into defence because as the prime minister says, we live in the most precarious period since 1949, and he doesn’t do anything about it. He is not bolstering our defence and investing into keeping us safe. I want to make sure I lead a government to provide certainty and security. And I – I will work very hard, day and night, with my colleagues to ensure that we do whatever it takes to keep our country safe and I think we’ve been very clear, the Labor Party always takes money out of defence. It happened in the Rudd Gillard years, it happened in administrations before, that and it’s happening again now.

Q: With Elon Musk potentially (cutting Aukus does Dutton have any concerns) [Aukus is an incredible deal for the Americans – we pay to help subsidise their submarine building and in return we might get a submarine down the track (although they are so far behind in domestic production, it is basically into the never-never now, because they are not giving Australia submarines when they are missing their own) as well as the fact that no one really knows who has sovereignty over these American submarines, because it kinda remains their tech, even under the deal]

Dutton:

I have huge concerns about AUKUS under Anthony Albanese. In relation to President Biden, he had a long standing and consistent view in relation to non-proliferation (of nuclear). He had that his whole career. He was consistent in his views and position. Ultimately the United States is a very important security partner with Australia. And I will do whatever I can, if I’m given the great honour of being prime minister of this country, to protect and defend our people and our country and we’ll invest to do that, exactly that.

Peter Dutton is again doing the ‘sliding doors’ moment for the country – which I guess you could say about any election? But it does beg the question – which Gwyneth Paltrow is he?

To the questions:

Q: Police removed two homophobic banners targeting a Labor MP from the highway. What do you think should happen to the people behind these sort of stunts?

Dutton:

I’ve seen the image, I condemn them. Our families are off-limits. I thought it was disgraceful and that’s the response I would give.

Given the Opposition for some reason still wants to keep hitting themselves in the face by raising the prospect of cuts to the public service let’s give some context to the numbers.

As Amy pointed out this morning, there are more public servants than there used to be because Australia has more people. But while comparing the size of the APS to population is useful, another way to gauge the size of the APS is to compare it to Australia workforce. After all if the share of Australia’s workers are employed in the APS is high that would be a good sign that the ASP is growing massively out of step with the rest of the economy.

And well.. nope. The increase in the size of the APS relative to total employment has only undone some of the ruination of the APS over the years from 2013 to 2021.

1.3% of all of Australia’s employed in June 2024 were working in the APS – lower than was the case in June 2016, and well below the 1.5% in the last year of the Howard government.

If 1.5% of Australia’s employed were now working in the public service as was the case when Howard was PM, that would mean an extra 28,000 people working the public service than is the case now. That’s an interesting stat given Peter Dutton said he wants his government’s “Department of Government Efficiency” to be more like Howard than Trump…