TRANSCRIPT - SKY FIRST EDITION - PETER STEFANOVIC 14 FEBRUARY

Subjects: Temporary Protection Visas, Mortgages, RBA

E&OE

PETER STEFANOVIC: Well, speaking of anxiety, let's go to Canberra again because joining us is the Manager of Opposition Business, Paul Fletcher. You anxious about potentially boats restarting, Paul?

PAUL FLETCHER: Well Peter, this is an issue that the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs was asked about in estimates. That's because we've seen Labor abolish temporary protection visas and he was asked if his Department had provided advice to the Government and he said that yes, they had that the advice was the temporary protection visas are part of the suite of measures that have been effective in stopping the boats. Now, Anthony Albanese was asked this question by us in Question Time yesterday and he ducked the question. But the fact is that under the previous Labor government, the Rudd, Gillard, Rudd Government, we saw 800 boats, tragically 1200 deaths at sea. It took us a considerable period of time to stabilise that situation and now it seems Labor is failing to learn from its previous mistake because they once again doing what they did in 2008, which started the whole sorry saga by effectively abolishing temporary protection.

STEFANOVIC: Just going over Mike Pazuello comments though, he said the Department did not advise against changes to temporary protection visas though. So are your fears overblown?

FLETCHER: Well we have seen this, unfortunately, before. What the government is doing now in many ways seems similar to the steps they took in 2008. And that's why we asked questions in Question Time about it yesterday. Had the government received any advice and Mr. Pezzullo has confirmed that that temporary protection visas, the advice that was given was that this was part of the suite of measures that had had an effect. Now the last thing any of us want to see is more deaths at sea and yet it seems that we've got Labor taking a decision here which presents real risks.

STEFANOVIC: But it might mean just going through some of the comments. I mean, just getting back to that point, because he goes on to say that changing any single element of Operation Sovereign Borders could weaken the overall deterrence of it all. But he did say that the Department did not advise against changes to temporary protection visas. So does that give the current government the all clear to do that, if that's what the Department's saying?

FLETCHER: I think the words you've quoted really speak for themselves. Changing any element could weaken the overall effectiveness of Operation Sovereign Borders. Anything which increases the risk of more boats coming in. Therefore, tragically, people dying at sea is something very much to be avoided. That's why we raised questions about it in Question Time in the House of Representatives yesterday. That's why Coalition senators have been asking questions of Mr. Pezzullo, the secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, about this matter. It would be tragic if we were to see this Labor government repeat the mistakes of…

STEFANOVIC: The visas remain though. I mean, they're still there. Is that not a deterrent?

FLETCHER: Well again, I go back to the words of Mr. Pezzullo, the combined impact of all of these issues, of all of these elements, of the policy is what is important. And what's important is that we don't give the people smugglers the opportunity to re-establish their business model. And when you have got a Labor government at effectively abolishing temporary protection visas…

STEFANOVIC: But they're not then they're not they're not abolishing them, they're remaining that the visas will remain.

FLETCHER: What they've done is had a material change in relation to people who've arrived on that status. That is a material change…

STEFANOVIC: But the visas will still remain.

FLETCHER: Yes. And that's why we asked questions about it yesterday. And that's why the advice that Mr. Pezzullo has given is very significant. And it's also significant that Mr. Albanese really did not directly answer these questions yesterday. This is something we will continue to focus on because it would be a tragedy if we were to see the people smugglers able to re-establish their business model and if we were to start to see more deaths at sea.

STEFANOVIC: I just have a few more questions before we go to go KPMG warning this morning, Paul, that when homeowners come off fixed rate mortgages this year, it could blow $20 billion hole in the economy. Is that a figure that you're expecting?

FLETCHER: Well, Mr. Albanese promised cheaper mortgages. We're seeing mortgages going in the opposite direction as KPMG have highlighted, some 800,000 families that are on fixed mortgages today are going to go to variable mortgages and they're going to see a very sharp jump in the interest bills that they're paying. KPMG talked about a sixteen and a half thousand dollar interest cliff for these families. So that is something that will, as KPMG predicts, work its way through the economy. What Australians want to know is that they've have a government that is in control of the situation and right now there's not much evidence that this government is in control.

STEFANOVIC: Well, I mean, they're not doing it alone at the RBA. The RBA has got a role to play here too, but it says that it's going to need some help controlling inflation. So if Jim Chalmers pursues energy rebates and potentially higher unemployment benefits, do you think that could make things worse?

FLETCHER: Look I'm not going to get into commentary designed to tell the RBA what to do. We have unfortunately seen a Labor Party MPs making those kinds of direct comments. We saw Stephen Jones, the Assistant Treasurer, saying that he thought there'd been enough interest rate increases. That really does cross the line in terms of things that elected politicians ought not to be saying. The RBA is independent for a reason. But the point we make is that Mr. Albanese promised cheaper mortgages. He promised that energy bills would go down by $275. In fact, they're going up. So there's no sign that this government has control of this.

STEFANOVIC: Do you support the RBA Governor Philip Lowe staying in his role beyond this term?

FLETCHER: Well look, that'll be a matter for the government. What I would support is this government delivering on the promises it made of cheaper mortgages, cheaper energy bills.

STEFANOVIC: So do you think he's doing a good job?

FLETCHER: He's got a difficult job. It's an important job. And I'm not going to add to the complexity of his job by offering my views as to whether or not he should stay in the role. That's a question for the government. But what is important is that the independence of the RBA be respected. And we've seen quite a few Labor politicians cross the line and seem to fail to recognise that.

STEFANOVIC: We’ll leave it right there, thank you Paul Fletcher.