PM scathing of Coalition request for Indonesia briefing, says he won’t promote ‘Russia’ propaganda message’
Albanese has been scathing of the Coalition’s request for a briefing for more detail on whether the Russians did make a request to Indonesia.
The government has consistently said they were told by the Indonesian government that no Russian aircraft would be based in their nation.
Over the weekend Murray Watt said there was “no proposal” from Russia, and Albanese is asked if he misspoke?
I tell you who misspoke – he [Dutton] didn’t misspeak, he just straight out said something that was completely wrong, which was to say that the president of Indonesia had made a statement. He has not.
They raised issues about briefings. I’m waiting for them to ask for a briefing on who faked the moon landing. The truth is that the Indonesian president made no statement. The alternative prime minister of Australia verballed the Indonesian president.
Albanese is pushed again on whether there was a request made by Russia, and whether Russia does want a stronger presence in the region. Albanese says:
I have no wish to help promote Russia’s propaganda messages and I would suggest that that is not in Australia’s national interest either.
Key events
The Greens’ federal election fight
While there’s been plenty of focus on the major parties homing in on their pitches to voters, we know that primary votes have gone down for Labor and the Coalition, while support for minor parties and independents has gone up.
The Greens have been positioning themselves as the kingmakers in a potential minority government with Labor, but they need to win their own battles first come 3 May.
Dan Jervis-Bardy has taken a look what they’re fighting who they’re fighting for.
Albanese says Dutton’s team MIA as he goes on defensive about Labor’s defence record
While the polls are looking increasingly favourable towards Labor, a reporter asks why the latest Newspoll shows voters trust Dutton more than Albanese to defend Australia.
Albanese says he’ll let people “make their own judgment” on issues such as the response to Russia and Indonesia, but plugs his own record, mentioning Australia’s standing among Asean nations, and bringing home Australians like Cheng Lei.
Asked as well whether he’s getting complacent or taking some of the polling for granted, Albanese says “elections in Australia are close” and are decided by “a handful of votes”.
He then goes on the attack, taking aim at Dutton’s senior leadership team.
I think one of the things that is emerging very clearly is that the other team aren’t so much a team, there is chaos on their side. They have senior shadow ministers who haven’t been sighted. I don’t know where Andrew Hastie has been. He’s the shadow defence minister. Angus Taylor – not quite sure what he’s doing as the shadow treasurer.
Albanese takes aim at Dutton over bringing back Mike Pezzullo
The Coalition has said that Mike Pezzullo, the sacked former public servant, should have a “role” to play under a Coalition government.
Albanese is asked to weigh in on whether he’s “concerned” about this. His answer is short:
Peter Dutton confirmed that he wants to sack 41,000 public servants but wants to bring one back. That’s what he’s confirmed.
PM scathing of Coalition request for Indonesia briefing, says he won’t promote ‘Russia’ propaganda message’
Albanese has been scathing of the Coalition’s request for a briefing for more detail on whether the Russians did make a request to Indonesia.
The government has consistently said they were told by the Indonesian government that no Russian aircraft would be based in their nation.
Over the weekend Murray Watt said there was “no proposal” from Russia, and Albanese is asked if he misspoke?
I tell you who misspoke – he [Dutton] didn’t misspeak, he just straight out said something that was completely wrong, which was to say that the president of Indonesia had made a statement. He has not.
They raised issues about briefings. I’m waiting for them to ask for a briefing on who faked the moon landing. The truth is that the Indonesian president made no statement. The alternative prime minister of Australia verballed the Indonesian president.
Albanese is pushed again on whether there was a request made by Russia, and whether Russia does want a stronger presence in the region. Albanese says:
I have no wish to help promote Russia’s propaganda messages and I would suggest that that is not in Australia’s national interest either.
Labor has ‘more to do’ to tackle gambling advertising, Albanese says
Turning to gambling, the PM is asked whether he’ll commit to doing more to bring down online gambling advertising on TV.
It’s an issue that has seen internal and external pressure piled on the PM to do more, since the late Labor MP Peta Murphy released her committee report making 31 recommendations, that was tabled back in June 2023.
Albanese has consistently said “my government has done more to tackle problem gambling than any other government”.
But he adds:
There’s more to do, I’ve said that. And we will do more.
The government still hasn’t provided an official response to Murphy’s 2023 report.
Albanese won’t outline exactly what more it will do to tackle gambling advertising.
PM asked about national sex offender disclosure scheme and Russian military request
To questions, Albanese is asked about whether he’d match the Coalition’s promise to establish a national sex offender disclosure scheme.
He says:
There is a national system right now that my government has put in place. He never put it in place. It’s in place now, that enables cooperation across-the-board between jurisdictions.
Asked whether the government needs to do more to crack down on crime, he says:
Of course, you’d be aware, of course, that those responsibilities primarily of the police, state police, jurisdictions. But my Government provides whatever support is required when it is requested.
Pushed again, separately, on what the deal is between Russia and Indonesia and whether Russia made a request to base military aircraft in Indonesia, Albanese is asked whether his government is underplaying the seriousness of the issue.
Over the weekend, Russia said it wanted to have a greater presence in the region.
Albanese turns the question back to Peter Dutton:
The Russians want propaganda to be promoted by Australians … I know that last week, the opposition leader verballed the prime minister of Indonesia by saying that he had made a statement that he had not.
PM says Oscar Piastri a ‘great ambassador’ for Australia
The PM starts marking the drownings over the Easter long weekend, and on a happier note gives a shoutout to Oscar Piastri.
Piastri is the dead set Australian legend who won the F1 Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia this weekend.
Albanese calls him a “great ambassador” for Australia.
He then goes to the Coalition’s nuclear plan, and the well-worn line from Labor that the Coalition still hasn’t revealed how they’ll pay for it:
When Peter Dutton cuts, Australians will pay. And we know because he can’t now, when polling booths open tomorrow, say where the money is coming from for this $600bn nuclear plant. And he also can’t explain why it is that he and others, senior members of his team, have said consistently that the money that has been invested in things like urgent care clinics is waste.
PM in electorate of Gilmore
The PM is in the seat of Gilmore this morning, where Labor is facing a tough battle to hold on to its seat on the NSW south coast.
Fiona Phillips is on a super slim margin of just 0.2%, and it’s former NSW Liberal minister Andrew Constance’s second go to win the seat off Labor.
No surprises here, the press conference is at a Medicare urgent care clinic in Bateman’s Bay, so cue the bright green Medicare background.
Sacked public servant Mike Pezzullo would provide ‘insight and value’ to any Coalition government, Paterson says
Paterson was also asked about a story in the Nine papers, that Peter Dutton would give sacked public servant Mike Pezzullo “a role to play” under a future Coalition government.
Pezzullo was sacked in 2023 for misconduct and later stripped of his Order of Australia honour.
Paterson told News Breakfast “no decisions” have been made about personnel issues, but said Pezzullo is “someone who’s given great service to our country”.
We’ll make sure anyone who’s got something to contribute including Michael Pezzullo a role which they can contribute.
Paterson wouldn’t confirm what that role would be, but said again when pushed by host James Glenday, that Pezzullo had “insight and value”.
[It] doesn’t make sense to me that someone of value like that is not being utilised adequately.
James Paterson says federal government should take ‘lead’ on tackling crime
Earlier this morning, the shadow home affairs minister and Coalition spokesperson James Paterson was on ABC News Breakfast, selling the “drugs and thugs” crackdown.
Paterson, when asked why the Coalition was spending $750m to fight crime, which is tackled by the states, Paterson laid the blame on the federal government for not taking the “lead”.
We’re going to lead from the national level with this new package to make our community safe again. It’s absolutely critical that we give police the resources they need at the federal level to work with their state counterparts, particularly to tackle crime which is across the state borders and which is transnational in nature, like serious organised crime and drug trafficking.
On the national child sex offender scheme, Paterson – like Michaelia Cash – says it’s modelling on similar programs operating in WA and the UK.
He’s asked about the timing of the announcement, just a day before early voting opens, but says it’s been “in the work for some time”.
This is a plan that’s been in the work for some time. We have been carefully examining other models around the country and around the world to see what will work best and we’re responding to what our candidates are hearing in the field.
Lambie: Coalition ‘running through the same narrative’ on crime policy
Jacqui Lambie isn’t buying the Coalition’s “tough on crime” promises, saying the party had nine years to do something, and insisting more needs to be done on early intervention.
Lambie was on Sky News a moment ago and was also sceptical on the timing, saying, “This is always in the second week [before an election], stuff on defence, stuff on crime.”
These guys [Coalition] had nine years in [government], nine years in, only just three years ago, and they certainly weren’t tackling crime that they should have been doing it. The problem is here it is all about a change in a generation. It’s all about early intervention. It’s all about teaching kids critical thinking …
So as much as he’s doing ‘tough on crime’, but we see this is always in the second week – stuff on defence, stuff on crime. You’re running through the same narrative, and I think that’s why people have switched off.
Labor promises to protect penalty rates if re-elected
Over the weekend, Labor promised to legislate to protect penalty rates, which would scuttle applications by employer groups to the Fair Work Commission to reduce entitlements for some workers in exchange for higher pay.
The employment minister, Murray Watt, joined RN Breakfast a little earlier this morning and said the move would help as families continue to deal with cost-of-living pressures.
If we’re re-elected, we will go one step further and introduce legislation to protect penalty rates from being stripped by awards.
So what happens to those cases that are currently being considered by the Fair Work Commission? Watt says it depends on the timing:
If this legislation is passed prior to the Fair Work Commission making its decision, then those workers would not lose their penalty rates, and I think that’s a good thing. It won’t be retrospective this legislation, we won’t be dealing with anything that’s already happened, and if the commission were to make a decision before the legislation’s passed, then the commission’s decision would stand.
Cash quizzed on whether Coalition ‘drugs and thugs’ crackdown includes domestic violence
Cash keeps says the policies will tackle drugs and thugs, but Sally Sara asks her: what is the Coalition doing about family and domestic violence?
Cash says, “We’ve already made huge announcements in relation to that. But Sally, this one today is specifically about crime.”
Sara pushes back, citing the Queensland police union that says police are called to family and domestic violence incidents every three minutes. Cash says:
Sally, this particular announcement is all about drugs and organised crime, and in particular, attacking that across Australia. Families and business owners are fed up [with] break-ins, burglaries, arson, they drive up the costs of doing business. They mean that people feel less safe in their communities.
Are domestic violence offenders “thugs” Sara asks?
“Of course they are,” says Cash.
She adds she has spoken to families whose children have become addicted to drugs, and says Australia needs an “integrated” and “truly national” response.
Coalition policy getting ‘drugs and thugs off our streets’, Cash says
The shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, has been tasked with explaining more detail on what the Coalition is announcing on crime this morning.
Speaking to ABC RN Breakfast, she’s boiled the announcement to establish a national sex offenders disclosure scheme, and a commitment to bolster border resources as a crackdown on “drugs and thugs”.
She repeats that line several times across the interview.
Cash says the scheme would work in a similar way to similar schemes operating in Western Australia (Cash’s home state) and in the UK:
What it’s done is unmasked thousands of paedophiles to worry parents and guardians…
The disclosure scheme allows the public, let’s just say it’s mum or dad … to request information from the police about whether an individual who interacts with their child is a convicted sex offender.
Cash says that information can’t be shared with anyone else, but host Sally Sara asks what that means if a convicted sex offender is talking to multiple children, and one of their parents finds out that information from the police.
Cash doesn’t say what parents would do in that scenario, but says the scheme has been working in the UK.
Butler reiterates need for Australia to establish a Centre for Disease Control
On his health portfolio, Butler is asked whether Australia really needs to press ahead with a Centre for Disease Control, which the Coalition has said it would not continue with.
Butler says the country must go through with a CDC because “we got the clearest possible report on our experience through the last pandemic”.
We didn’t have a plan, we weren’t prepared, there was poor coordination and poor transparency about our advice. And that’s why that independent inquiry recommended in the strongest possible terms that we put in place a Centre for Disease Control … We’re currently the only OECD country that doesn’t have an agency like that.
Butler’s also challenged on accusations from the Coalition that Labor has “lied” about claims a Dutton government would scrap 90 existing urgent care clinics.
Butler says he’s “going on this party’s record” to make that claim, and says the opposition has “bagged” the urgent care clinics.
They call them a disaster and a failure. Anne Ruston called them a “smoke screen”. But most tellingly, Angus Taylor for the best part of the last three years has described them as wasteful spending, along with other investments in health that we’ve made
Butler weighs in on Coalition plan for national sex offender register
Sticking with Mark Butler on ABC News Breakfast, the health minister was taken through a few issues, and is asked to weigh in on the Coalition’s plan for a national sex offender register.
Butler says there is “already a national child sex offender system” that ensure jurisdictions and policing agencies can share information.
There is, of course, already a national child sex offender system, which ensures that jurisdictions, policing agencies across jurisdictions, can share information. That’s a critically important ingredient in keeping children safe. We’re open to any good idea that improves our chances of keeping every Australian child safe.
I do note, of course, that Peter Dutton when he was the minister for home affairs, promised a public register, but didn’t deliver it.
Labor ministers pressed on whether Russia requested to use Indonesian aircraft base
Labor cabinet ministers have been pressed this morning for more details on whether Indonesia received a request by Russia to base its military aircraft.
Last week Peter Dutton was forced to admit he made a mistake when he had claimed the Indonesian president had made an announcement about a proposal from Russia.
The government has said the Indonesian government has confirmed there will be no Russian aircraft on its bases, but whether a request was ever made has been a bit murkier.
Over the weekend, the opposition asked for more clarity on that question.
This morning, the health minister, Mark Butler, was asked the question on ABC News Breakfast, who repeated previous government lines.
As I understand things, our defence minister had a discussion with his Indonesian counterpart, and was assured that the reports that there was any prospect of a Russian air base in Indonesia were simply not true.
We were given the clearest possible assurance from our Indonesian neighbours that there was no prospect of a Russian air base in Indonesia.
Over on RN Breakfast, the employment minister, Murray Watt, was asked the same, and had the same answer:
Indonesia has made really clear that this is not happening. They couldn’t have made that more clear, and I think that was an incredibly embarrassing moment for Peter Dutton to have to withdraw that statement made about the president of one of our nearest neighbours and most important nations in our region.
From ‘border to the back yard’: Dutton’s crime crackdown
Parents would be able to check whether they’re living near a child sex offender under an election promise by Peter Dutton to stamp out crime from the “border to the back yard”, AAP reports.
Should the Coalition win the 3 May election, it will spend more than $750m to improve community safety by tightening laws and the nation’s borders, in addition to extra resources for policing and intelligence agencies.
Under Operation Safer Communities, $355m in extra funding would go to national law enforcement authorities to crackdown on illegal drugs.
A pilot national sex offenders disclosure scheme would be set up to give parents more information about criminals in their communities.
The Coalition plan would see new laws introduced to disrupt organised criminal syndicates, including strengthening proceeds of crime and unexplained wealth laws.
Drug laws would be streamlined across the country to close gaps and improve cross-border police cooperation.
Dutton claimed safety had been compromised by Labor’s “weak leadership and bad decisions”.
I have the experience and determination to stand up to the outlaw motorcycle gangs and organised crime syndicates which are wreaking havoc on our streets and in our communities …
I will strengthen laws and provide more funding for our police and intelligence agencies to stop the crime gangs, protect our borders, and protect our community.
Good morning
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you, as we get closer to the pointy end of this federal election campaign, with just under a fortnight to go.
But many will be voting before 3 May, with early voting centres opening tomorrow.
This morning, the Coalition is continuing its campaign on crime, pitching a promise for a national child sex offender registry scheme and a commitment to bolster border protection against illegal drug imports.
We’ll follow all of that as it comes.
