Transcript – Press Conference, Perth

Subjects: The Coalition’s response to the imposition of US tariffs; Labor’s weak leadership; getting Australia Back on Track.

 

E&OE.

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Everyone thank you very much for coming along this morning.

 

I wanted to make some comments in relation to the announcement obviously out of the United States in relation to tariffs. I do think this is a bad day for our country and it’s not the treatment that Australians deserve because we have a very trusted, long-standing, and abiding relationship with the United States. It spans 100 years and we have fought alongside and with the Americans in every major battle over that period of time. We have a special relationship with United States and it hasn’t been treated with respect by the administration or by the President and the question now is what do we do to resolve this matter and to do it quickly? It’s clear to me that in the language that’s come out of the administration that there is a discussion to take place and it needs to take place as a matter of urgency because as Prime Minister I want to make sure that we can help our beef producers, make sure that we can help our manufacturers, make sure that we can grow our industry and make sure that we increase employment in this country. We can do that through a normalised relationship in a trading sense with the United States and obviously to expand other markets, which is exactly what a Coalition government does and has as a priority and always has had. We believe very strongly in free trade.

 

I’ve spoken this morning with three major beef producers here in Australia, two of whom are heavily involved in export to the United States and talking about what the impact will be on them and the plans for them and for their company, and obviously they’re in negotiations with their counterparts in the United States at the moment. It’s obvious to us that there is more consumption than there is supply of beef out of the United States’ domestic market. So that is, the Americans can’t produce enough beef to satisfy what is consumed by American consumers. So, this deal is actually going to be bad for consumers in the United States because they require our beef for beef patties and for their market. It’s also important to point out that there is no ban of beef coming from the United States into Australia. They need to meet the traceability requirements and they need to adhere to our strict conditions that we have in place.

 

The next point that I would make is that we have an opportunity, in my judgement to start negotiations with the United States straight away. I think there can be a deal done very quickly with the administration and I think it’s important that the Prime Minister apply himself to that immediately. I think it’s obvious that we have and I’ve made this point I think in a speech last year and again in January this year, there is a critical relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom in terms of our defence compact. We have troops in the north of our country, we have the AUKUS deal, we the ANZUS treaty. It is a long and abiding relationship and the core of an arrangement between us and the United States in resolving this matter will centre around the defence relationship.

 

The critical minerals that I spoke about again in my speech in January is an absolute must do in the relationship and the United States to shore up its supply chains requires our critical minerals. So, there is a natural point of leverage for us in the relationship. The Prime Minister hasn’t been able to get a call or a meeting with President Trump but that needs to change and he needs to do everything he can to leverage the Ambassador and others to get the relationship normalised. It’s obvious that the Prime Minister didn’t know anything about this announcement until it was actually released to the press, which also speaks to the state of the relationship at the moment. I want to make sure that we can as quickly as possible, resolve this matter. I believe that we can and I’m happy to take some questions.

 

I just want to make this point first though. The government’s announced five measures. One strengthening anti-dumping laws which we strongly support and we don’t believe that the government should have weakened the anti-dumping laws in the first place. We support the $50 million of export for export growth and also note though that the government has reduced EMDG funding and broader export support across Austrade, in postings etc. We support the $1 billion economic resilience programme but we believe that that is best administered through the Export Finance Australia organisation. We do strongly support obviously government to buy Australian. The government has promised this already of course, but it hasn’t probably been put into action in relation to government procurement processes. The government talks about establishing a strategic reserve of critical minerals. But it’s much more sophisticated than that. There is an arrangement to be arrived at and we’ve been working on this, but it is something that the government can resolve I think very quickly with the administration.

 

We need to do that for our beef producers. We need do it for every industry here and to protect the jobs in Australia. We need to get this sorted out as quickly as possible and that’s exactly what we’re dedicated to do.

 

QUESTION: 

 

If I could start, Australia sits on the lowest single rung of these tariffs of anyone in the globe. Of anyone. How is that not a victory for our diplomats and for Anthony Albanese?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

The Prime Minister didn’t know anything about it. It was first made known to him when it was publicly announced. So that will talk about the influence that the Prime Minister has in relation to this matter. I can say this much. I want success in the relationship but it’s not going to happen if the Prime Minster finds out about things through the press. There needs to be a proper negotiation and a proper consultation. 10 per cent is a significant impost and it may not be 26 per cent that other countries have faced. But I can tell you this, there are jobs that will be lost and there will be economic detriment to our country. That’s why I honestly believe, when you read the statement, it says – and I’ll just quote this short part from it – “These tariffs will remain in effect until such time as President Trump determines that the threat posed by the trade deficit and underlining nonreciprocal treatment is satisfied, resolved or mitigated.” Now, that is a statement that we haven’t seen before and the focus that we should have as a government and as an alternative government is to do a deal on that basis as quickly as possible, so that we can reduce the impact on Australians, on our industry, and on our export capability.

 

QUESTION: 

 

You said you would be prepared to have a fight with Donald Trump or any other world leader to advance Australia’s interests and the PM then called you agro. Is this something you will fight Donald Trump over if elected?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

We go to this next election asking the Australian people to make a choice about who is best able to manage the economy and our national security. I believe that I have the strength of leadership and the experience to be able to stand up and to fight for us, fight for our country, whether it’s in relation to our national interests in the trading space, in the national security space or elsewhere. The Prime Minister has been weak and missing in action and that’s why we find ourselves in the position that we’re in today. The Prime Minister has a pathway to an outcome here that can see a better final position for the relationship and for our country. But that has not been pursued so far.

 

QUESTION: 

 

Does that involve fighting Donald Trump though or does it involve, you know…

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

It involves making sure that we can stand up and fight for our position and I don’t resile from that. I just don’t think the Prime Minister has the strength or the ability to stand up to a situation that is unacceptable to us. This is a bad day for our country and I want to resolve the matter and the question for us now is who is best able to deal with this relationship? Who is best to able to deal with an uncertain time in a national security sense as well as an economic sense? The times at the moment don’t require a weak leader and Mr Albanese has demonstrated that again today.

 

QUESTION: 

 

Mr Dutton, what levers would you have at your disposal to get a call with President Trump? If Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hasn’t been able to get one for the weeks, months he’s been trying, what do you have at your disposal that you could pull?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Well again, I think if you have a look at how we were able to negotiate with the Biden Administration, how we were able to negotiate with the Trump Administration, I dealt at a very high level with the Obama Administration. We have the links and the ability to reach into the administration. And there is a pathway for a deal to be done, the basis of which will be critical minerals and our defence relationship with the United States. Now this is an important point, not one mentioned now before by the Prime Minister. If the Prime Minister had leveraged this particular equity within the relationship before now, I think we would be finding ourselves in a different position today because there is a necessity for beef to be exported from Australia to meet the consumption needs of Americans. So, the argument that we’re banning imports or that our export is surplus to the needs of the Americans and driving down prices, that is just not the case. Speaking to the beef producers this morning, the American herd numbers are at historic lows. That means that they can’t meet their own consumption requirements. We have an integral part to play in helping America.

 

So, we shouldn’t be focusing on that being a game-stopper. It’s not, and it can be resolved. But you need to be able to have the strength of leadership to argue our corner, to fight for our position, to stand up to what is a bad decision for our country, and that’s exactly what we can do.

 

QUESTION: 

 

Mr Dutton, just on national security, you were on Mick Molloy’s programme yesterday and you were joking about the noise made by the Collins class submarines. You said, quote, “You can hear them rattling down the coast.” That comment was edited out of the transcript your office sent out. Are the Collins class not fit for purpose? And if so, is that really a laughing matter?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Well, I haven’t seen the transcript it shouldn’t be edited out and it was a jovial conversation with Mick Molloy as you would expect. I’ve been very clear, and I think if you have a look at the transcript and what I’ve said otherwise in relation to the Collins class, they are best in class, but they run out of work in the late 2030s early 2040s which is why the government’s inability to provide the upgrade is an outrage and Richard Marles has just sort of dropped out there that it’s not going to be a full life of type extension for the Collins class and I think that is a national disgrace, because we need that capability. When we negotiated with the United States, the United Kingdom to achieve the AUKUS outcome, we did so knowing that firstly and the Americans were acutely aware of this, that the work that is being done on the Collins class submarine at the moment is hand in glove with the work of the Americans and our other partners. And we negotiated a successful outcome that was in our country’s best interest in relation to AUKUS because the latest generation Virginia class and the Astute class ultimately are going to be fit for purpose and best for us. So, I think a joke with Mick Molloy should be [inaudible].

 

QUESTION: 

 

We’re here in Perth today. You’ve been criticised by Collie residents though for not having a discussion with them and hearing their concerns about nuclear power. Will you commit to going out and having a discussion with locals out there, and if I may, you launched the Pearce campaign last night, and the cost of living was another big one. Are you too easily dismissing what $500 could do to a family in a couple of years’ time?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Look, the choice at the election is about the Prime Minister’s plan, which is 70 cents a day tax cut not starting for 15 months or our plan which I think will help people in Collie, in Pearce, in WA, right across the country. Our plan is not 70 cents a day in 15 months’ time. It’s a 25 cent per litre reduction in petrol and diesel, which is going to save an average family filling up their car twice a week coming into the city from outer suburbs and regional areas. It’s going to save them 30 bucks a week, and that’s a big difference between what we’ve got on the table and what the Labor Party’s got on their table.

 

QUESTION: 

 

Can I just ask you in relation to the fighting comment does that extend to moving to the WTO in relation to this? And also you talked about minerals and defence being on the table as part of the deal. Can you just go into a bit more detail around where you see defence as being part of the deal on this?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

The Americans need to continue to manufacture and I also want to continue to develop our defence manufacturing capability here in Australia. The government has walked away from that. There are many companies here in Australia, part of the 29,000 small businesses who have closed over the last three years under this government who have been in the defence space and our capabilities domestically have been diminished by this government’s lack of investment. So, I think again, it’s a win-win in the relationship because I want to sell what we’re manufacturing here into the United States. The United State is a willing buyer for much of that product and we already see it with some companies, but how can we scale it up? So that’s one of the opportunities that’s on the table before us now.

 

We have a huge opportunity to work with the United States on critical minerals but at the moment there are distortions that take place in the prices. There are nations who are shorting the position of critical minerals to their own advantage and that makes the investment proposition more difficult for those companies to produce and to manufacture. So, the government has to work out what that compact looks like with the producers, with the miners and that’s exactly what we would do and that is of huge benefit to the United States and of huge financial benefit to Australia and that’s why it’s a no-brainer, but the Prime Minister hasn’t spoken a word about it.

 

QUESTION: 

 

Mr Dutton, do you think you could have achieved a different outcome?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

I do believe that we could have achieved a different outcome. Firstly, I think there’s no doubt that we would have had greater connection and greater communication with the White House and we demonstrated only a few years ago. Secondly, we had the ability to talk about the relationship in a more complete way and that is, what are the elements that are of interest to the United States? It is the defence relationship which is absolutely critical in this century. We know that we live in a very uncertain time. You’re seeing what’s happening in Europe, you’re seeing what’s happening in the Middle East, you’re see what’s happening in the South China Sea. It is an incredibly uncertain time and Mr Albanese himself points this out and then takes $80 billion out of Defence. So, I think there are opportunities for us and I think that is wonderful.

 

QUESTION: 

 

Are you willing to commit that as Prime Minister you would get these tariffs removed?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Look as I said before, the choice that Australians have at this election is between the continuation of the disaster of the Albanese Government, which has been bad for families, bad for the economy…

 

QUESTION: 

 

But you’re not willing to make that commitment Mr Dutton?

 

PETER DUTTON:

 

…And bad for the international relationships that we have. On the other hand, what I offer to the Australian people, and my team offers to the Australian people is stability and proven performance. We have the ability to manage the economy, we have the ability to manage our national security needs, and we have an ability to make sure that we can get a better deal for Australia, which is exactly what we’re doing.

 

QUESTION: 

 

According to the fine print of these tariffs announced this morning there will be certain minerals not available in the US that won’t be impacted by these tariffs. So, if you can’t negotiate with critical minerals, what else are you putting on the table to get a deal with Donald Trump? What else are you willing to negotiate with?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

There is an absolute deal to be done here if the Prime Minister had the strength of leadership and the ability to be able to do it. But he hasn’t even spoken about the critical minerals or the defence element to the relationship. It’s the most integral part of our relationship with the United States and we can leverage a much better outcome if we had have been speaking with the Americans about this from January 20 or probably before that.

 

QUESTION: 

 

Don Farrell didn’t put critical minerals on the table.

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Don Farrell has not been able to achieve anything. That much is obvious.

 

QUESTION: 

 

But so how would you get a phone call to put critical minerals on the table?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

And neither has Anthony Albanese, this is the problem for our country.

 

QUESTION: 

 

When you talk about the defence relationship, would you be willing to put key aspects of the relationship, the presence of American troops here, the AUKUS deal, purchases from the United States, would you put that on the table to get a better deal on tariffs?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

We’ve already got that in place, in fact that was negotiated under our government. So, we’ve got obviously a very strong relationship in relation to AUKUS. But AUKUS Pillar 2 as well, don’t forget, which involves AI, it involves satellite, it involved GPS technologies, I mean there are many elements to it, including critical minerals, and that was always envisaged as part of AUKUS too. So, we’ve already got that on the table.

 

QUESTION: 

 

American bases here for example, will you trade that away for tariffs?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

We’re not trading anything away, we want to enhance the relationship and I believe that we’re the only alternative at this election that can achieve the better outcome.

 

QUESTION: 

 

Mr Dutton, say in a bit over a month’s time you’re the Prime Minister and you secure a phone call with Donald Trump, what exactly do you say on that phone call, given it’s unlikely there will be exemptions before then, what exactly do say on the phone call and what do you achieve in that phone call?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Well, the first point is that I think there is a possibility that the Prime Minister can negotiate an outcome within a matter of weeks and I think that’s really essential to focus on here. The ingredients for a successful arrangement, negotiation with the US are there in front of us and I’ve outlined some of them this morning. But the Prime Minster has to get a phone call now, he has to make sure that Kevin Rudd can actually get into the West Wing. He has to make sure that there is a discussion about how we can enhance this relationship, and I strongly believe that we can. I think you can do that quickly and I think that’s the main focus for us now.

 

QUESTION: 

 

Just on doing a deal, the News Media Bargaining Code and raising the social media age limit have been identified as grievances by the US. You supported the social media laws last year, what guarantees can you give that you won’t resile from cracking down on those big tech platforms to curry favour with the Trump Administration?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Both are non-negotiable. I’ll just make that very clear. We will not be negotiating on that basis. I fought for a long time for kids to be safe online and going back to the Obama Administration I worked with the Attorney General in that administration as I did with Bill Barr as the Attorney-General in the 45th Presidency under President Trump and I want to make sure that we can put in place a safe environment where our kids can go online, mix with their friends and live a safe life. I’m absolutely non-negotiable in that regard and in relation to the other elements, we’re not negotiating on that basis. There are other elements of the relationship which are important, both to the United States and to us. They are in our mutual best interests and they centre around the defence relationship and the trade relationship including on beef more broadly.

 

QUESTION:

 

In the WA mining sector, there is concern in the Pilbara about the impact of secure jobs, better pay and multi-employer bargaining. They would like an answer, yes or no. Are you going to actually repeal those laws?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Well, we’ve said what our position is in relation to industrial relations, but I’ll just make this point about where Tanya Plibersek and Anthony Albanese are at the moment. They have taken a position to support the Greens in inner city Sydney and Melbourne to protect those seats and they’ve abandoned the people of WA. That’s what’s happened. So why would Tanya Plibersek put off a decision to allow 3, 000 jobs to continue here in relation to the North West Shelf until the 31st of May. If this was going to be a good decision for WA, why would Tanya Plibersek put the decision off until after the election? And what it demonstrates to the people of Western Australia is that Anthony Albanese is no Mark McGowan. He’s not even close to Roger Cook. Anthony Albanese is a threat to WA, to mining, to jobs and to economic growth in this state, and if that’s the case that he’s elected with Adam Bandt after the election, I promise you they will be the most anti-mining government in our country’s history since the Albanese Government of today.

 

QUESTION: 

 

Just on defence, Mr Dutton, you’ve spoken this morning about it being up for negotiation. Can you be specific? What exactly in our defence relationship is up for negotiations?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

So, in relation to the critical mineral aspect, which is I think a key focus for us, the critical minerals that we produce here are key elements in the manufacturing of the defence industry that keeps the United States running. When you look at what we’ve provided to Ukraine or what Canada has or what the United Kingdom has or the United States has, our elements go into the key production of some of those key weapons systems and that is an integral part for the United States. When you look at the global map and you look where these deposits are held, the Americans have very few options and that’s why I think it is an absolutely integral part to the negotiation.

 

QUESTION: 

 

So, you mean critical minerals as opposed to anything else in Defence?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Well, I think there are many elements to it, but I think critical minerals is the most obvious one and I think the Americans have expressed as much, it’s just that the Prime Minister hasn’t spent a moment thinking about it and if he had been able to get a call with the President then perhaps it could have been a negotiation or a discussion.

 

QUESTION: 

 

But if you’ve been thinking about it, could you be specific, other than critical minerals, what in the defence relationship are you willing to negotiate?

 

PETER DUTTON:

 

I spoke before about what we’re producing here in Australia now, so defence industry here in WA, at Henderson, in South Australia at Osborne, right across the defence network here in Australia. We have enormous capacity to contribute to the United States in a very uncertain time and providing assurances in relation to their surface fleet and their subsurface fleet. All of that is something that Australia brings to the table and I think there are many other…

 

QUESTION: 

 

Mr Dutton, if you’re not willing to withdraw something, if you won’t take something out of the relationship, if you won’t say get out of Darwin or if there isn’t a price on it, Donald Trump will laugh you out of the room.

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Tim, I just don’t think that people, if you read the language, understand what is on the table before us. There is a pathway here to resolve what is a bad issue and a bad outcome for our country. The deal is there to be done but the Prime Minister hasn’t been capable of doing it. I want to make sure that we can stand up for our countries’ best interests. What we’re saying is that if there had have been a normalised relationship, firstly there would have been a discussion and engagement. Secondly, the Prime Minister would have known about it before it was announced to the rest of the world and that shows where the state of the relationship is at the moment.

 

QUESTION: 

 

In February you described Donald Trump as a big thinker and that he brought gravitas to international affairs, would you still describe the President that way? Secondly, there is someone in your orbit who’s also in the Trump world orbit and that’s Gina Rinehart, would she be someone that you would look to for help if you won the election?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Well, in relation to the comments I made, I think they were in the context of the hostages being released from Gaza and the fact that that had been negotiated before the inauguration had taken place on January 20th…

 

QUESTION: 

 

It was in relation to his comments to I think take over Gaza, to rebuild Gaza.

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

I think in relation to the fact that there was a negotiation essentially taking place to release those hostages before January 20, was a pretty significant event and I think those families were happy. I’m sure they were for the release of their loved ones. So, I think the focus today is on how we turn a bad situation into a much better outcome for our country. The Prime Minister doesn’t have the ability to do that. I think over the next few weeks, if he applies himself to it, there can be a deal to be done. But we need to make sure that we act in our country’s best interest.

 

QUESTION: 

 

Mr Dutton, it sounds a bit like kowtow, frankly. It sounds a bit like you’re trying to offer the Americans more and Albanese and Farrell tried the critical minerals deal. They couldn’t get it off the ground. So why are you going to make a difference?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Andrew again, if you look at what we were able to do in government, we were able to negotiate an outcome with Trump mark one and there was an exemption for our country and a Coalition government did that because we were able to get access to the administration. We were able to talk to the key players and the people of influence in the sphere of the West Wing and that achieved an outcome for our country. Now, this Prime Minister hasn’t been able to that and we need to look at the decision that’s been made which is bad for our country and I condemn it. But the question is, what do we do now to rectify the situation and turn it into a positive for our country? There’s no doubt in my mind that we can do that. The Prime Minister has it surely in front of him to be able to do over the course of the next few weeks, and that’s an outcome that will be in the better interest of our country.

 

QUESTION: 

 

Going back to a previous question, will you commit to going to Collie on the campaign trail to discuss nuclear with the community?

 

PETER DUTTON: 

 

Well just in relation to Collie, I’ve been to Collie before. There are seven locations around the country and I won’t be able to get to all of them, but I do know that when you speak to people in regions, including in the Hunter and New South Wales for example, they know, the workers there know that when coal comes to an end, there is no shopping mall to work in, there’s no barista course that they can take that’s going to give them a job to provide support to their family. They know that heavy industry will leave, the steel manufacturing can’t survive without secure and reliable energy. The local foundry doesn’t work without the base of that industry in place. So, they know that what we’re offering is the ability to transform those communities and to build it up as we’re seeing in the United States given its topical today.

 

When you look at Apple and you look at Oracle and you all of these companies who are negotiating for the data centres now and the huge requirements around AI they are not talking to our country and I want them to come here. I want that industry to grow. I want to make sure that we can have strong, reliable, clean, and cheaper energy.  That’s exactly what we’ve got on offer. At this election, the Prime Minister is saying to Australians, vote for him, vote for Anthony Albanese, and vote for Adam Bandt. You’ll get a guarantee of higher electricity prices. But not just that, there’s a prospect increasingly of blackouts and brownouts. Under us there will be cheaper electricity, it will be cleaner and it will be reliable.

 

[ends]

 

 

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