Future dark under Anthony Albanese’s Labor: Dutton

Peter Dutton has accused Anthony Albanese of breaching faith with voters, laying down the gauntlet over cost-of-living pressures, renewable ­energy targets, tax, IR and restoring values in schools.

Peter Dutton delivers his budget reply speech in the House of Representatives in Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday night. Picture: Gary Ramage

Peter Dutton has warned of dark days ahead for Australians and accused Anthony Albanese of breaching faith with voters, laying down the gauntlet over cost-of-living pressures, renewable ­energy targets, tax, industrial relations and restoring values in schools.

The Opposition Leader delivered a scathing assessment of Jim Chalmers’ budget in his first budget-reply speech, accusing the Albanese government of “breaking promises, weakening Australia’s financial position and adding to cost-of-living pressures”.

Mr Dutton said pensioners, families and small businesses could not afford 56 per cent increases to their electricity bills and 44 per cent on their gas, and lashed the government for breaking its promise to slash energy bills by $275 within three years.

Anthony Albanese watches on as Peter Dutton delivers his budget reply speech. Picture: Getty Images

Speaking in parliament on Thursday night, the 51-year-old warned that Labor’s proposed ­industrial relations shake-up would slash productivity and trigger strikes across the country.

“Australians were hoping that this budget would help to lift ­productivity; instead, Labor’s changes to multi-employer bargaining threaten to undermine productivity and will be a throwback to the 1980s,” Mr Dutton said. “Labor’s changes will impose industry-wide, ‘one size fits all’ conditions which empower unions. Where union ultimatums are not met, however unreasonable, multiple sectors will be able to engage in crippling economy-wide strikes, where parties ­unaffected by disputes join in on protests.

“Even Paul Keating has criticised the plan. The last time that unions used industry-wide strikes to pursue sector-wide ultimatums was in 1982. In that year, unemployment reached 9.4 per cent, inflation 12.4 per cent and two million working days were lost to industrial disputes.”

Mr Dutton attacked the ­government for failing to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, exacerbated by “bad decisions” and a Prime Minister who had “broken faith with you”.

“The Treasurer said his budget ‘makes hard decisions for hard times’ but I say his budget makes bad decisions – making hard times even harder for all Australians,” he said.

“Cost-of-living, power prices, taxes, interest rates, unemployment, and the deficit are going up, or will be going up. This means that, by Christmas, a typical family will be $2000 worse off under this budget.”

He launched a strong defence of the Coalition’s push to restore values in the education system, which had been outsourced to “ideologically driven advocates (with) too much influence over what is taught to our children”.

Mr Dutton said: “We celebrate our wonderful Indigenous history but we need to be equally proud of our British heritage and our migrant story. Many parents from across the country are increasingly concerned about the education their children are receiving at school. The system has allowed ideologically driven advocates too much influence over what is taught to our children.

“Teaching a sanitised and ­selective version of history and the arts – and radical gender ­theory – is not in our children’s best interests. What is needed is a focus on making the basics a priority – reading, writing and maths. A Coalition government pledges to work with families to reflect their values and perspectives in our schools.”

Mr Dutton conceded the Coalition “didn’t get everything right” during the pandemic and blamed the states for imposing lockdowns for too long but defended Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg for saving jobs, businesses and lives.

He championed the work of John Howard, Peter Costello, Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey, Malcolm Turnbull and Mr Morrison in cleaning up historical economic “messes” left behind by Labor governments. “When you hear Labor’s spin, when you hear them carry-on about a ‘wasted decade’, it’s a distraction from the fact that this government has no economic plan,” he said.

Mr Dutton accused Labor of “laying the groundwork to break” their promise on stage three tax cuts due to commence in mid-2024.

“The budget is intended to soften up Australians,” he said. “It gives the government time to come up with excuses by May next year to tax you more. Indeed, under Labor, the tax paid will increase by $142bn over the next four years.”

He said he would work with the government to ensure sustainability in the NDIS, deliver childcare cheaper and medicines for families, and protect Australians from domestic violence and natural disasters.

Ahead of the Liberal Party’s post-election review being released in December, Mr Dutton said he supported policies that backed women, families, pensioners, veterans and multicultural communities. He endorsed nuclear energy technology advancements and warned that Australia must not follow the ill-fated path of other countries that had rushed towards renewable energy only for their citizens to face the decision to “heat or eat” this winter.

Ahead of the looming power crunch and closure of coal-fired power plants, Mr Dutton said “investing in renewable energy, reducing emissions and doing so credibly to protect our environment was crucial.

“We want a sustainable and sensible pathway to reduce our emissions,” he said. “But when the Prime Minister says that the sun and wind are free energy sources, your power bill tells a different story. It’s much more complicated than that.”

Mr Dutton said Labor’s push for 82 per cent renewables by 2030 came without a plan to ensure reliable baseload power.

The former defence and home affairs minister said the threat of conflict in the region was real and the AUKUS pact was crucial in providing the nation with a deterrent. “With threats in the region, Labor and the Coalition must be on a unity ticket,” he said.