Doorstop Interview - Parliament House

Doublespeak Dutton says one thing and does another, the National Party motion to abandon Net Zero plans, Cabinet in Perth, Minerals Week, Labour Hire Loopholes Bill, the Albanese Government is working for Australia.

In the weeks since Parliament last sat, we've seen the Albanese Government continue to work for Australia. Making sure we deliver on things such as our commitment to Fee-Free TAFE, where we've now got some 214,000 Australians gaining the benefits of Fee-Free TAFE. We've seen the Government deliver five more Medicare Urgent Care Clinics. Making it easier to see a doctor when you have one of those urgent situations, but to take pressure off our emergency rooms.

Also, we held the Cabinet meeting in Perth. It was great to have all of my colleagues come over to the West. And we had everything from small commitments around improving the health of the Swan River, which I was pleased to announce with Tanya Plibersek in Maylands, through to the big visionary work we're doing in Rewiring the Nation. In a new partnership with the Cook Labor Government for $3 billion of additional investment in the South West Integrated System energy grid, and the Northern grid to make sure that we have that renewable energy future and Western Australia can play a big role as a renewable energy superpower.

We then come back to Parliament this week, getting on with the job of working for Australia. Delivering on our commitment to close loopholes in our industrial relations system. And to properly make underpayment a crime when it comes to people who have been working. We want to make sure that we do finally deliver on that commitment to make underpayment of workers a crime. And that's what we're doing in the Parliament this week.

Also in the Parliament this week, we saw the House of Representatives, it's over to the Senate now, pass the Higher Education Bill, which will open the doors of opportunity, making sure that we make those doors a little bit wider, and make it easier for more Australians to get a world-class education. We have the Prime Minister representing Australia at the Association of South East Asian Nations, putting forward Australia's interests on the national international stage.

We also had this Parliament this week host Minerals Week, where the Prime Minister and other ministers talked about the important role that Australia's minerals sector plays in transitioning not just Australia, but the world to a low carbon future and net zero future. And it is incredibly exciting what Australian minerals can do from lithium, copper, and so many things in-between in delivering on that renewable energy future. And it was great to have, in particular, many Western Australian companies who are part of that exciting, renewable energy future here.

So while we're here in the building, talking about how we get the Australia and the world to that net zero future, we learned yesterday from the National Party, that after nine years in government under Barnaby Joyce, Michael McCormack, the whole show that went on there, after nine years in government, where the Nationals did net zero on reducing emissions, the National Party now this weekend, will be debating a motion from the New England branch, which is going to suggest that they should in fact, abolish their commitment to net zero by 2050. This is, this tells us everything we need to know about the National Party, which is that the National Party never truly believed in reducing emissions. And despite doing nothing in Government, they're actually gonna go even further backwards in Opposition. And what that tells every Australian wherever they live, is that any government that will be led by Peter Dutton would take Australia backwards when it comes to climate action. And we know that that is not an option that is available to Australia that we want to meet our commitments and to avoid the impacts of climate change.

I think Australians this week have also learned something about Peter Dutton. Doublespeak Dutton tells us that he believes there should be a second referendum but he won't vote in the first one. Doublespeak Dutton says he doesn't think there should be a Voice but he's going to legislate for a Voice. Doublespeak Dutton is telling us time and time again, that everything would be fine if he was Prime Minister, and he would effectively implement more or less the same agenda. The only problem is that he's not the guy who's actually leading the country.

And when it comes to Doublespeak Dutton what we also see is this is someone who's sat in Cabinet for nine years. He tells us that in the nine years that he was sitting in Cabinet, he believed in constitutional recognition, and it was high on their agenda. He just never quite got around to doing it. And then he tells us that, again, he's so committed to legislating for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. But again, when the report landed into Cabinet - and we know from reports from his colleagues that it went to Cabinet twice in the time that Peter Dutton was sitting around the table - just they needed that little bit more time, that extra little week to get it done.

Australians are starting to see through Doublespeak Dutton. They know that he's always saying one thing doing another. Australians deserve so much better than that, and particularly at a time, where we now have Australians going to a referendum. They deserve leaders who seek to be upfront with the Australian people, explain what it is that they will actually do, and not do this very weird, costly, and quite frankly, disappointing suggestion of a second referendum.