Interview with James Glenday on ABC News Breakfast

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Subjects: Prime Minister's T-Shirt, Net Zero, Auditor-General audit of Housing Australia

E&OE………

James Glenday

Parliament is sitting in Canberra this week, so it's time to talk federal politics. And today we're joined by the Shadow Housing Minister, Andrew Bragg. Andrew, welcome to the programme.

Senator Bragg

James, good morning.

James Glenday

Now, there's a bit to get through. I'm going to get to your area, housing, in a moment. But can I start with fashion? Sussan Ley, your leader, gave a speech yesterday saying that Anthony Albanese should have not worn a Joy Division T-shirt. Were you offended by his wardrobe choices?

Senator Bragg

Well, I think the Prime Minister of the country has to be very careful that he is an ambassador for our nation and that he should take great care in whatever he wears. Now, some Jewish Australians have been offended by the wearing of this T-shirt, and I think it's something that the Prime Minister should consider very carefully.

James Glenday

Do you think he should be apologising? Some of your colleagues think, "Well, this is not really what we as an opposition should be focused on at the moment."

Senator Bragg

Look, I think it's a matter for Mr. Albanese to consider whether or not he's wearing appropriate attire. Certainly, some people have been offended by the wearing of that shirt. And so that's a matter for him to consider.

James Glenday

Is that what you want your leader to be focused on, though, during precious parliamentary speech time?

Senator Bragg

Well, I mean, anti-Semitism is a national disgrace, and under this government, it's flared up terribly. And I have to say that I am so embarrassed that so many Jewish Australians feel unsafe in their own country. So, the Prime Minister is in a precious position himself, so he ought to be very careful with what he does.

James Glenday

It was interesting, none of the big Jewish organisations jumped on this yesterday, but we'll leave it there. It is just a T-shirt. Uh, on 7:30 this week, National Senator Bridget McKenzie was speaking about Barnaby Joyce and net zero, and effectively saying it's not her job to get Liberals elected. Now, putting aside the fact that her preferences come from Liberals in Victoria and there's a big question whether she would be elected if there wasn't a Coalition, as a moderate Liberal, does it annoy you that so many of the Nationals just don't seem to care about you guys at all?

Senator Bragg

Well, the Liberal Party has to look after itself, but clearly we're in Coalition with the Nats. That's something that's held the country in good stead for many decades, and I hope that continues for many years because ultimately, we want to see the centre-right be maintained as a serious political force. That's the best thing for our democracy. And that's why we're working through all these issues with the Nats. And look, I know that you probably find it all very interesting to talk about, but we do have a culture of openness in the Liberal Party and the National Party, and we seem to talk about a lot of things. I mean, frankly, I wonder what the nation would talk about if the Liberal Party died, because I think we'd sort of run out of things to discuss.

James Glenday

Uh, obviously, a lot of people in your own party are making the headlines themselves. Uh, one in the Coalition is making a lot of headlines, Barnaby Joyce. Would you personally be happy to see him leave? You spend a lot of time campaigning in teal seats, and Barnaby Joyce is a name that pretty regularly seems to come up in those places.

Senator Bragg

Yeah, but you've got to win all the seats. And I grew up in country Victoria myself, and I know that Barnaby and other Nats have strong personal followings there, so you've just got to work it out. Look, I think we'll get there on net zero. I know there's a lot of interest in it. I think ultimately, there's an ability there for the Coalition to do this much better than Labor. Labor's net zero has been a disaster. You saw Tomago announce yesterday that they might have to close in 2028. That's a result of Labor's disastrous application of net zero. I think we could do net zero better than Labor, in terms of emissions and cost and environmental protection.

James Glenday

But you've got to keep net zero, right? I mean, that's a non-negotiable for you?

Senator Bragg

Yeah, that's right.

James Glenday

Many in your party might disagree. Uh, let's move on to your area. Uh, you've been talking a lot, it has to be said, about the government's social and affordable housing scheme. It's called the HAFF. Uh, today there's news that it's going to be audited. What are you hoping from that audit?

Senator Bragg

Well, the government has wasted almost $60 billion on housing to build fewer houses than ever before. And so, the $10 billion Housing Future Fund has had two years of operation, it's built a handful of houses, it's been a disaster, and now it's under audit from the Australian National Audit Office. And that's because it is wasting taxpayer funds, it is overpaying for houses, in some cases, it's going to be paying more than $1.3 million per house when the average cost of a house in Australia is about $500,000.

James Glenday

Will you have, I mean, the government uh, will concede that this is not going as smoothly as it wants -

Senator Bragg

…Will they?

James Glenday

…Well, I think they have even on our show, Clare O'Neil said she'd wished they'd got more houses out. We're a long way out from the election, but will the Coalition this time under your uh, portfolio stewardship, will you be taking a social and affordable housing policy to the next election?

Senator Bragg

Yes, definitely. There'll be a policy on homelessness. There'll be a policy on affordable housing and social housing. These are important areas, but it is not ultimately going to be the main game, because we need to build a lot more houses in Australia. We have a major housing supply problem. The housing supply has collapsed under this government. Under the last government, we were getting about 200,000 houses a year on average. That's crashed down to 170,000 houses a year on average, despite the government wasting billions of dollars. So, you've got to build more houses. The government's failed to do that. Now the Audit Office is going to look at how much taxpayer funds have been wasted. As I say, I'm very concerned the taxpayers are paying more than double or sometimes three times the average cost of a house in this scheme, so it's very worrying.

James Glenday

Uh, just one last one. Um, we've heard a lot of uh, discussion about generational inequity, uh, the difference in wealth between rich and poor, uh, young and old in Australia. And uh, you're a relatively young member of the Liberal Party. Is there any way you could see your party going to an election promising tax reform, particularly tax reform around property investors, things like negative gearing and the capital gains tax exemption, which all economists say is driving up demand, particularly at the moment?

Senator Bragg

Well, as you know, about half the cost of building a new house goes in taxes and regulations, so, I just don't think that raising taxes is going to help. I think we want to have an easier system in which to build a house. So, we won't have a plan to raise taxes. Our plan will be about building the houses through supply and development. We'll be pro 'yes, in my backyard.' Uh, we'll be against the NIMBYs, and we'll be supporting home ownership. That's going to be our agenda for housing. And frankly, we're going to be Australia's last chance to get the Australian dream back on track because the housing stuff has been a disaster under Labor. Uh, the Housing Fund now is becoming like Pink Batts 2.0.

James Glenday

Pink Batts, I think uh, the Labor government might dispute that given the people died in that programme. But uh, we, Andrew Bragg, we are out of time. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

Senator Bragg

Thanks, James.

[Ends]

Media Contact | David Nouri | 0401 392 624

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