Let’s bring in the Shadow Immigration Minister, Paul Scarr. It’s good to see you this morning, Paul. Let’s start with this meeting today. What do you know about this catch‑up between Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie?
Senator Scarr
Good to be with you, Pete, and your listeners. I don’t know anything about any proposed meeting. From my perspective, the main focus needs to be on the Australian people, and that higher inflation figure, which is undoubtedly going to lead to higher interest rates. That is going to be a body blow, an absolute body blow, to Australian families, Australians with mortgages, and Australians looking to enter the housing market.
Peter Stefanovic
If this meeting happens today, is that going to be another body blow for the Liberal Party?
Senator Scarr
That’s up to the colleagues who may or may not be involved in any meeting. As I say, I think we’ve got an obligation to focus on the issues that concern all Australians. At the moment it’s Labor’s cost‑of‑living crisis: electricity prices up, food prices up, everything has gone up. And now Australians are looking at an additional interest rate increase next week. As you commented, these things don’t usually come in ones. Usually, it triggers a number of increases. So it really is a body blow to Australian families.
Peter Stefanovic
If Angus or Andrew work out who is going to lead a charge and who may or may not be deputy, that brings on a challenge. Wherever you’re likely to be, whatever happens, would you stand behind Sussan Ley, or would you be interested in what either Taylor or Hastie offer?
Senator Scarr
I support Sussan. She’s our Leader. I think she has had to navigate extremely difficult circumstances coming out of the last election. She is doing everything she said she was going to do, including consulting the backbench and holding the Labor Government to account. So, Sussan has my support.
Peter Stefanovic
Do you think David Littleproud’s move has backfired?
Senator Scarr
I think that’s something for David and the National Party. I sit in the Liberal Party Room, so I really don’t think it’s helpful to provide commentary on the National Party. What I would say, coming from Queensland, is that the one thing we’ve learned over decades is that to be successful, the non‑Labor side of politics has to be united. We have a very strong LNP Government under David Crisafulli, and I think they provide an example for everyone.
Peter Stefanovic
If David Littleproud wins his leadership challenge next week, which is widely expected, does that keep the Coalition apart in perpetuity?
Senator Scarr
I hope the Coalition comes together as soon as possible. History tells us we’re far more successful when we are together in Coalition. I think there’s an expectation from the Australian people that we will come together, and we need to come together to form an alternative government.
Peter Stefanovic
Let’s talk about the economy. It’s a shock now for mortgage holders. This was expected from the back end of last year, that a rate rise was coming. It does seem likely now. You’ve got Jim Chalmers blaming the private sector; you’ve got economists blaming the government and its excessive spending. Who should mortgage holders thank next week for the potential rate rise?
Senator Scarr
Well, the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and the Labor Government have to take responsibility. They’ve now been in power for four years, and now we’re seeing interest rates go up again. This is a real body blow to everyday Australians, those who are just holding on in terms of servicing their mortgage, young Australians looking to enter the housing market. Higher interest rates mean they have less capacity to borrow.
There are so many working families, Pete, who are just struggling day‑to‑day: electricity prices up, rent up, food up, insurance up. It’s just staggering. And here in my home state of Queensland, as your previous report suggested, mortgage repayments just keep going up, $1,000 additional every year for a working family. Food banks in the area where my office is located are telling me they’re seeing people they’ve never seen before—people with jobs actually going to food banks just to make ends meet. So this is Labor’s cost‑of‑living crisis.
Peter Stefanovic
Well, in your space then, how does this affect your argument when it comes to immigration?
Senator Scarr
The rate of immigration is still too high. It has come down over the last few years; it’s now at 306,000 for the year ending 30 June 2025, which is still 90,000 above the long‑term 10‑year average before the COVID‑19 pandemic. So that rate of immigration needs to keep coming down. We need to come up with a suite of policies to ensure the skilled places in our immigration program are dedicated to the skills we need, the priority skills to build houses, etc. And we also need to look at the departure side of the equation. One of the things that has happened, and this has been raised by the ABS and the Centre for Population, is that we’re not getting departures of people on temporary visas at the rates we should be, and that is something we need to look at.
Peter Stefanovic
Can I also make a point, because I read a bit about this over the Christmas break: globally, people are having fewer children. That’s true here as well. As time goes on, you’re going to need more immigrants. So how does that affect your thinking?
Senator Scarr
It has to be part of the thinking. Our ageing demographic is real. It is true that people are having fewer children, and our fertility rate is below replacement level. As more Australians enter those higher age cohorts, we need labour to support them, and we need labour participation in the marketplace. It’s a real issue, Pete, one faced by many Western countries. It’s a big one, and it has to be part of the mix.
Just one other point, it underlines the importance of long‑term planning. We need medium‑ and long‑term planning for immigration so we can take into account issues like the ageing population.
Peter Stefanovic
Okay, Paul, we’ll leave it there. Appreciate it. We’ll chat again soon.
