Paul, we thought of you when the Pope passed away. You were once a Catholic priest. What did you make of his passing and what did it mean to you?
Well, I've got to say it meant a lot to me, really, because this pope, in many ways epitomizes the sort of Catholic Church that well I was educated in immediately after the Vatican Council back in the mid to late sixties. He was inclusive, he was human, and he actually showed what I believe is the core of not only the Catholic faith, but of the Christian belief of love and mercy. So it's no surprise to me that the whole world, whether they're believers or not, mourn a figure of this sort.
Paul bon Jorne is one of one point two billion Roman Catholics him on the loss of Pope Francis this week, and as he read tribute after treatbute of the impact of the pope, he noticed what wasn't on the front page Utton's last minute policy announcements.
The Pope is a world figure. There's absolutely no doubt about that, and of course it's swamped the world's media, including here in Australia. So it's not surprising that the death of this pope would overshadow anything that our leaders were doing in the election campaign. In fact would blow the campaign out of the water for a few days.
From Swarts Media, I'm Daniel James. This is seven AM Today. Calumnist for the Saturday paper. Paul Bonjorno on how the Pope's death derailed Dutton and whether he can recover. That's darting, not the Pope. It's Saturday, April twenty six, Paul. Peter Dutton had a major policy announcement on Monday which was lost in the coverage of the Pope's death, but it was about law and order.
Well, this is Peter Dutton positioning himself not just as a potential future prime minister, but also remind us he is a former police officer and also a dad who knows right now parents they're two biggest concerns a drugs and keeping children safe.
What do you make of this move by Dutton.
Well, look, this isn't a surprise at all. This is an area of security, law and order crime.
So today when now it's a seven hundred and fifty million dollar package, which is a real game change in relation to how we can help keep our communities and our homes and our towns and suburbs safe.
While it is true certainly at the state level law and order, for example, played a very big role in the Queensland state election. I think people are aware that the federal issues are a bit broader than the law and order tack that Dutton is taking. The other thing is I actually thought the launch was a bit hyperbolic, if I can put it that way. There's a lot of hyperbole with the one of the Liberal candidates saying that you know, people are scared to go shopping in Melbourne.
People don't feel safe, and they're on horns, they're businesses taking public transport, are even at the shop. And I actually don't think that it's resonating in the federal campaign anywhere near, say, as strongly as the whole issue of cost of living.
Peter Dutton managed to break through when he won the third Leader's debate on Tuesday night. Is he sharpening as we're getting closer to the finish line.
Well, look, I would dispute that he did break through On Tuesday night. Dutton gave Labor an enormous piece of ammunition when he confirmed that there would be significant cuts, but said he had to wait till he got into government before he could tell where they would be, what agencies and what department.
So we will look at government expenditure and as again we've done in the past as a liberal government, we will.
Look at the budget.
We'll see where the government's wasting money. I think every Austrains look at their own budgets now and if they're having to tighten their belts, so too should the federal government because if we don't.
And in my view, in another lapse by Peter Dutton, he seemed to lose his cool with Alberanisi when Alberanzi was accusing him of cutting what was it about eighty billion dollars from the health budget.
Prior to you come into office. You ripped eighty billion dollars out of those two items.
Dudn't shot back. You couldn't even lie straight in bed.
In two thousand and four, minister, You couldn't lie straight in bed.
Honestly, this is unbelievable.
It can go to abuse.
It was I think Albanesi's retort that hit the mark when he said.
Look, abuse, that's a sign of desperation.
Frankly, as he's lying.
That's a sign of desperation. Go to the twenty fourteen budget papers.
And Labor strategists tell me that Dunn't has to be on his guard in these debates against reinforcing the view that he's nothing more than aggressive or as Malcolm turmul once called him, a thug. Whereas this lapse, as it were, plays into this overly aggressive persona.
As you mentioned before, Paul, one of the key moments during the leader's debate was when Dutten conceded there would be significant budget cut but refused to outline where they'd fall. How is that moment played into Labour's narrative about trust and transparency.
Well, probably in light of the arguments that the Labor have been using throughout the campaign. The Coalition campaign headquarters released a list of the sort of cuts they would make, and this only reinforces the vulnerability of the Liberals in claiming that they will make tough decisions and cut labors in inverted commas wasteful spending. But when you look at the list, it's quite gobsmacking on a couple of levels.
First of all, it goes counter to what you might call is liberal holy writ They always attack labor for wanting to pay for its spending by upping income tax. Well that's exactly what they're doing here.
Paul Dunne has announced an increase in defense spending.
What we announced today is a record investment into defense, which is going to be a particular benefit here in Western Australia and South Australia.
Given the chaos out of the United States that has loomed over this campaign, will it be politically popular?
Well, look, the presumption is that Australians, or a majority of Australians actually support massive defense spending.
Australia has an important role to play on the global stage and in our own region. But most importantly, a good Australian government will always invest into keeping us safe.
Now, there was a study that was written up in The Conversation this week, a survey done by the War Studies Research Group at the University of New South Wales, and it found that only a third of Australians support
increasing defense spending. So, in other words, even though we have uncertainty, even though we have Donald Trump in the White House telling us to look after yourselves, only a third of Australians support a massive defense spending at this time because it's vying with another thing that Australians do support, and that is relief so that they can make ends meet for their families, that they can pay their bills.
He simply hasn't done the homework to build this into a major election issue at this time.
Coming up after the break, what record pre polling numbers say about the mood of the electric.
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Paul headed Anthony Albanezi spend the week well.
He started the week basically mourning the Pope.
Today, there of more than a billion people from all nations, in every walk of life go with Pope Francis to his rest.
I mean he was very fast off the mark, noting the Pope's death, paying a great tribute to him, but then he suspended for a full day his campaigning.
I have vast the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet that all flags from the commult Government of Australia will fly at half mast tamaraw as a sign of respect.
Albanize came back into the fray by going up to Sydney and debating Peter Dutton on Tuesday night, then campaigned in Liberal marginal seats in Melbourne, and then he's gone over to Perth to one of the Liberal's strongest seats in wa Colli.
The Prime Minister, Energy Minister and West Australia's Premier Roger Cook coming to Collie, south of Perth, one of seven sites where Peter Dutton plans to build nuclear reactors if he wins the election.
Albert Easy, We're there, as it were, hang a bright lantern over the fact that Dutton won't even come here even though he wants to put a nuclear plant here, and that nuclear is the least best option for dealing with the transition to net zero emissions.
Albert Eazy has consistently ruled out doing a deal with the Greens in the event of a hung Parliament. So given how likely a minority government still is, what should voters make of what will happen if Labor doesn't win out right.
Look, it was a bit gobsmack Daniel when in the debate the moderator thought that when albert Is he ruled out doing a deal with the Greens, that we're going to go to another election. That's not the fact at all. In fact, the whole cross bench, including the Greens, except the fact that you don't have to have a formal
coalition agreement as it were with the minority government. For a mon minority government to exist, all you have to do is to guarantee confidence and supply and then tackle every issue and every bit of legislation on its merits.
And that's the game plan, certainly for Albanisi, and it's also the game plan for people like Andrew Wilkie, who as late as Thursday reinforced that he wouldn't be doing a deal with any minority government like he did with the Gillard minority government because he said they don't keep
this side of the bargain. So what we would see if, for example, there is a minority government and there are no formal coalition agreements like we have on the non Labour side of politics with the Liberals and the Nationals. The most likely thing would be that the Governor General would call the Parliament to convene and for the party with the biggest number of seats to test on the floor of the Parliament if it had confidence. That would probably be the way that we would go forward.
Early polling has been going game busters and the first day alone, more than half a million people voted, smashing the previous record in twenty twenty two by one hundreds and thousands of votes. What do you think it says about the sentiment in the community that people are making their minds up well before the campaign is Overpaul.
Yeah, it's There are various theories on this, Daniel, and I've noticed some vox pops that have been done outside the polling birds and you get the impression that, well, these voters have had enough, they don't want to hear anymore, and in fact most of them have made up their minds. They're saying now that by the time we get to a Saturday week that over half the electorate that is about nine million people will have voted.
There's still another leader's debate that come. Given what we've seen with early voting, what's the point do you still think voters haven't made up their mind could be moved by yet another debate.
Well, there could be one or two who might be moved, looking for something to give them a reason to vote one way or the other. Interestingly, Anthony Alberanizi is the first prime minister to agree to four of these debates. We've had as few as one. I think three was the last best number and people were wondering why Albanizi was so keen. But it seems that the labor camp or of a view that the more people see of
Peter Dutton, the worse it is for him. And the News poll shows, among other polls this week, that Peter Dutton has gone backwards quite dramatically in his approvals during the campaign. Minus twenty two is his net approval in the News poll. One seasoned liberals said to me, that's change of leader territory. Well, we'll see in over a week's time whether that change will be forced upon the Liberals by the voters.
Well, it's going to be fascinating to see how it all plays out in the final week. Well, thank you once again for your time and your insights.
Thanks mate. Bye.
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