Tonight on The Nightline. We’re joined by Senator Paul Scarr, as we always have him here on a Friday, don’t we, for Canberra Conversations. He’s the Liberal National Senator for Queensland and the Shadow Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. We’ll be tackling some of the big issues weighing on all of Australia right now. Welcome Senator.
Senator Scarr
G’Day. Good to be with you and your listeners again. It’s my favorite time of the week.
Cheralyn Darcey
Brilliant. Well, look, we’re not just going to look at the headlines, because, well, they are headlines, but there’s stories that are shaping everybody’s life and their future right now. And I want to hear those of you listening out there tonight, I want to hear what you think of this as well. We’re tackling some big ones tonight, and also answering the question, what exactly is AUKUS. A lot of you have been asking that, and it can get a little confusing when everybody’s in there having a little bit of an argument about what we should or shouldn’t be doing. So I’m sure, Senator, you can clear that up for all of us.
Senator Scarr
Oh, absolutely. Look, I think AUKUS is one of the most important strategic relationships Australia has entered into in its history. And what it does is it gives us access to technology, the best technology available from a defense capability perspective. So it’s not just about submarines. It’s nuclear powered submarines, which are really important in terms of Australia’s geographical challenges, in terms of making sure we’re up to date in terms of the best technology being available. But it also sets out a framework where we can pursue opportunities to get access to some of the most important technology that’s around from a defense capability perspective, so it is incredibly important.
Cheralyn Darcey
All right. Well, let’s we’ll have a look at AUKUS a bit later, but let’s have a look, first and foremost, at the interest rates and cost of living. Senator, it’s hurting everyone’s hip pocket right now. Australians are feeling it every single time the mortgage or the rent is due, millions of Australians are paying around $1,800 more a month on their mortgages. Now you’ve blamed the government for overspending, but what would the Coalition have done differently to ease the pain for families right now?
Senator Scarr
I think that is the major issue – the government has been spending like a drunken sailor on all sorts of initiatives and whenever you’ve got the government spending to the degree it has been spending increasing our debt, that puts pressure on interest rates, because it puts pressure on inflation and the Reserve Bank of Australia has the target for inflation to be between 2% and 3% so as soon as you get inflation at 3% or higher, that means the reserve bank actually has a legislative requirement to act to actually do its best to bring that inflation rate back into the range. So that’s why we haven’t seen a move in interest rates this month, and that means it’s going to be harder for your listeners to make ends meet, for their kids to make ends meet, and we’re still in this cost of living crisis, which I think we’ve spoken about for quite some time now.
Cheralyn Darcey
Oh, we have, and families keep hearing about future cuts to interest rates, but very little relief has arrived. Do you think Australians should brace for more of this pain well into next year?
Senator Scarr
I think Australians need to be pretty conservative in terms of their outlook regarding interest rates. I think that’s the sensible thing to do, and I would not necessarily be expecting any substantial downward movement in interest rates in the short term. I think it’d be really important for your listeners to be pretty prudent before entering into debt obligations.I think great care is needed at this point in time.
Cheralyn Darcey
What do you say to people who argue that both major parties have overseen years of housing and also economic mismanagement, not just the current government.
Senator Scarr
I’m quite happy to point to the Coalition’s record in terms of interest rates and mortgage repayments were I think, as you said in your introductory comments, there were $1,800 a month less under the Coalition than they are today, and that’s a huge difference, and that’s a factor of the different policies which we had as a Coalition government, especially in terms of managing the budget. So I think we can point to our track record as the Coalition and say there was a real difference between interest rates that were applying to your listeners under a Coalition Government, as opposed to the interest rates that apply under the Labor Government. So happy to point to our track record in that respect.
Cheralyn Darcey
Okay, Senator, you’ve painted a picture of families under pressure, but that pressure isn’t just about bills. It’s also the dream of owning a home. So let’s turn this to housing. The government has expanded the home guarantee scheme, but critics say it’s just pushing up demand without increasing supply. What’s your alternative plan for making housing affordable?
Senator Scarr
That is a real issue in terms of the scheme. Whilst we can understand the need to try and assist those first home buyers getting into the housing market, one of the issues is that it will have a price impact, and most economists recognize that. The other point to note is we actually have a Housing Australia Future Fund, which was set up with billions of dollars of debt by this government, that’s actually been out in the market buying homes. So you’ve got the government agency that’s been set up to try and improve the housing supply issues out in the market, to actually going into the same market as your listeners, buying homes in competition with them. So that’s that’s really unsatisfactory and I think we need to look at the role of the Housing Australia Future Fund, because it simply hasn’t been delivering in terms of new houses. I think there’s a whole range of things that we need to look at. There’s something like and if you can believe this figure – it’s quite extraordinary. More than 100,000 apprentices and trainees have left the skills pipeline under the this Labor Government, 100,000 and that’s a shocking figure. So we need to be able to incentivize small businesses and medium sized businesses and large businesses to to put on those apprentices. We also have something like 18,000 people in this country, migrants to this country who have construction related skills, but their skills, for whatever reason, aren’t recognized and I think we really need to look at how we get those skills recognized as quickly as possible, so they can take those construction jobs and start to assist us in meeting that housing supply crisis. Because it really is a crisis at the moment. It’s so difficult for people, in particular, in the rental market and for those first time buyers,
Cheralyn Darcey
Very difficult for young Australians. What’s your message to them tonight? You know, there are so many are saying they’re giving up of ever owning a home. Have you got a message for those people tonight?
Senator Scarr
Hang in there. That’s my message. Hang in there. I think people on both sides of politics, and I say this generally about everyone sitting in our Australian Parliament, we’re aware of the housing supply crisis, we’re aware of the issues, and I think it’s up there in our top three priorities in trying to address for young people, because we all want to see our young people have the opportunity to realize that Australian dream of having your own home. Hang in there. Keep saving, keep doing the things you’re doing in order to position yourself to enter into the housing market, and hopefully we can get to a stage where it becomes easier, not harder, to make that first purchase and enter into the housing market.
Cheralyn Darcey
While people are worried about their homes here, there’s also global unrest that impacts us. The conflict in Gaza continues to dominate headlines day in day out, and it stirs very deep emotions. Senator, where do we stand on this at the moment?
Senator Scarr
Well, there’s been a recent announcement of a peace plan by President Trump, in conjunction with Benjamin Netanyahu from Israel, so we hope that perhaps there is a pathway to peace. We hope that there is a pathway to Hamas to put down its weapons in Gaza, for the remaining hostages to be released, and for peace to return to the region, and then the rebuilding process to commence and that’s what we all want to see. We all want to see peace. We want to see the violence come to an end. We want to see the hostages released. We want to see the people of Gaza having the opportunity also to live in peace and not be scrambling to feed their children and living in a war zone. So we all want to see an end to this conflict, I think, and I just hope and pray it comes as soon as possible. We’re now nearly at the second anniversary, actually of the awful terrorist event by Hamas, the invasion of Israel, which actually triggered this crisis. So two years, it’s been a very, very long two years, and there’s been a lot of pain and suffering. So we just want to see it come to an end and peace return to the region and hopefully a sustainable long term peace, because we never want to see this again.
Cheralyn Darcey
Do you think Australia has any role in peacekeeping?
Senator Scarr
I think that’s something we would have to consider carefully. We obviously have our own demands in our own. region especially in the Indo Pacific region. So I think we’d have to consider that very carefully and I think any involvement by Australia in relation to peacekeeping activities would have to come at the end of a peace process which has been successful, but I think it would have to be carefully considered.
Cheralyn Darcey
While Australia has to watch these conflicts from afar, we also have to think about how secure we are closer to home and thank you for explaining just overall, what AUKUS means for Australia and I think that’s a lot clearer for everybody now, but you’ve also warned that weakening AUKUS could be a major foreign policy failure. What are the risks if this deal slips?
Senator Scarr
Well, I think there are some great risks. The number one risk is that, of course, our submarines are coming to the end of their operational life. So there needs to be a replacement of those submarines and those submarines are actually of vital importance in terms of Australia’s defense capability. So I think we need to see this bedded down. We need to see AUKUS succeed. We need to see the submarines delivered in accordance with the schedule agreed under AUKUS and we need to also see that exchange of really important defense related technology that I also referred to, which is part of the treaty that’s been entered into by Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States. So we just need to see this work. I think that’s that’s a key importance and I hope that the Prime Minister, when he does have that long awaited meeting with President Trump, has an opportunity to discuss that issue and to make sure that the relevant assurances are given. I should emphasize this is something which both the Labor Government and, of course, the Coalition who managed entry into the AUKUS Treaty. This is something both both governing parties support. It’s really only the Greens that opposed to AUKUS.
Cheralyn Darcey
Looking ahead. Senator, what’s your vision for Australia’s role in the region over the next decade?
Senator Scarr
I would like to see Australia being a force for peace and prosperity and progress in our region. I think that is really important and when I look at our closer region, if I can put it that way, we’re part of the Pacific family. I’m going out later, after having done this interview with you, to attend a wonderful event with the Queensland Samoan rugby league community and they’re having a wonderful rugby league tournament with our Samoan Diaspora. A lot of kids will be participating in that and it just in my mind, it just reinforces how close we are with the Pacific. There are so many people from our Pacific region who are living and working in our country, and I think it really is incumbent upon Australia to do all we can to promote that peace and prosperity and progress across our region and I also think we need to do our bit in terms of international matters, in terms of supporting our international allies, such as the United States, such as the United Kingdom, in terms of meeting our fair share of of defense arrangements and I think AUKUS is part of that.
Cheralyn Darcey
Thanks Senator, thanks a lot for joining us again. Look forward to speaking to you again next week.
Senator Scarr
Okay, look forward to it as always.
