'Backing local industry' – Nationals pledge support for regional resources and energy jobs
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We've known for months, we've known for the last three years, for the coalition to win this election, it is near impossible because they have a mountain to climb. They need 21 seats and they need to create history by knocking off a government in their first term. It just doesn't happen. Based on the opinion polls and even today's AFR freshwater poll, and it's tighter than the news poll, it's tighter than the Redbridge one released earlier this week.

It still gives Labor an election-winning lead. Based on the poll that's been released from Freshwater, Labor would need the support of independents or Greens. It would be minority government. The talk around the traps is the coalition may well pick up 10 seats through this election, but that's not going to be enough. David Littleproud, the Nationals leader, wants to be Deputy Prime Minister, and he joins us. Hello, Mr Littleproud.

Good afternoon. Good to be with you. It's good to have you on the program on the final day of campaigning, and thanks for making the time this afternoon. You have obviously followed the polls, and I know the only poll that matters is what happens tomorrow. But do you have any chance...

We do. And this is a 2019 election, not a 22 election. And the reason I'll give that is scientifically based. Our track polling not just looks at what the national polls will do, and that gives what we call an unaided result. That just says, what do you think broadly of the National Party, the Liberal Party, the Labor Party? And it gives a result.

What the national polls don't do and our internal polling, we call it track polling, does do is actually add the value of our individual candidates. So this is a hyper local election. It'll be won by a handful of votes in a whole lot of seats, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria, that can shift this election our way. And our track polling shows that there is enough of those contests.

that over the next 24 hours, how people vote will determine whether it's a coalition government between the Nationals and the Liberals or whether it's a coalition government between the Labor, Green and Teal minorities. But we've had some figures released in the ASC today that show at least 7.3 million people have voted already. It's an astonishing number, yet you've left a lot of the policy detail until quite late to release in the campaign. Yesterday's costings, for instance, and I think that can be interpreted, the costings, as quite positive figures

For your side, there's $14 billion worth of savings to the budget bottom line over four years. Why did you leave it so late?

Well, just understand that the seven-odd million and probably more now, they'll close the business in another hour or so, have voted and they're normally the ones that have already made their mind up. They're the ones that have a very strong view and likely probably pushing our way in terms of the disdain for Anthony Albanese and the lived experience of being a lot poorer over the last three years. In terms of much of the other policy work, I mean, we released one of the biggest policies recently

ever since GST in our nuclear policy. We did that over 12 months ago. And I've applauded you guys for that for the last six months because it's very long-term policy and too often we see just politicians thinking about the next election. So, you know, well done for releasing a plan. But on that, not on one occasion during the campaign has Peter Dutton visited one of the sites. Why hasn't he done that?

Well, because we'd already won the social licence, because we announced those 12 months ago. I've got one in my own electorate. We visited those electorates and we've made sure that they understand. And if you look at our polling, those communities support them because you know what? Nearly 80% of those people that work in those coal-fired power stations will have a job in a nuclear power station. I can see the Lucas Heights reactor from my house. Now, I know it's not a power station, but I'd have no concerns if that was a power station. Exactly.

But this is the thing, is that they are energy literate. The people, and if you look at another proof point of this, in the Western Australian state election, the seat of Collie, where one of these nuclear power plants were going, there was a 15% swing to the coalition there. And if they hated the idea so much, they would have voted against it. But the reality is they're energy literate. They understand this is...

a cheap form of energy that gives a legacy, not just for 10 to 15 years of a solar panel or wind turbine, and there's not 20 jobs left over polishing a solar panel, but in fact, a lot of jobs paying a lot of higher wages than what you would polishing a solar panel. But David, this is the point. You've just told me more about your energy policy than anyone else from the coalition has on my program for the last five weeks.

Well, if I'd been on your program, I would have been happy to continue to articulate. I went to the press club a week or two ago. But the reality is it's not just nuclear. It's also gas. We need to, because nuclear will give us the medium-term solution. The short term is to fix the last time Anthony Albanese was in a government with Julia Gillard. He sold all our gas.

away. And that gas predominantly comes from my own electorate. And then we're going to respect those foundation contracts. But what we're saying is there is about 300 petajoules of floating cargo that goes out every year that isn't contracted that we should be saying Australians get first track of that. We only need 50 to 100 petajoules

And Frontier Economics says that will bring down the processes of your food, their energy bill by about 15%, residential gas by about 8%. That you can do. You can do that in getting gas into the grid in under 12 months. And what we're saying is... Sorry? David, I need to move on to some other policies. Was it a mistake for Mr Dutton to back down on what I think are two crucial policies?

The decision originally to send workers, public service workers in Canberra back to the office and the reduction of the public service by 41,000 through redundancies.

Well, I think what we've said is that I totally agree with Peter. We need to have a balance and I think you do get productivity from people working from home. Peter, that policy was probably got away from us in terms of the articulation and also the scam hungering by the Labor Party. And, you know, I think

we've been prepared enough and big enough to say that when we get something wrong, we're going to own it. Whereas you've got a prime minister that won't tell the truth about whether they've modelled negative gearing. He won't tell the truth about Mediscare. He won't tell the truth even about falling off a stage. I'd rather work with a man that I can trust. I trust Peter Dutton. And when he makes a mistake, he's prepared to say, no, we got that wrong. We're going to amend it. We're going to get this right. And in terms of the public service,

we can actually reduce those 41,000 because much of them haven't even been employed yet. They are in the budget but haven't been employed, so we won't employ them. But where we need to make the reduction of those 41, some of that 41 that has, we'll do that sensibly and methodically through natural attrition. And about 10,000 to 11,000 a year

remove themselves voluntarily from the public service every year. What we want to see is more beds in hospitals, more school deaths in classrooms and less deaths in Canberra. That's a better use of your money. That's what we're going to get to and we'll do that sensibly and methodically to make sure that we're getting value for your money. David, if you need 21 seats for majority, say you win 16, you win 17, which will be a big result for the Coalition.

Can you be confident you could form government or rely on Teal independence to pass legislation? It depends who it is. Look, my personal belief is I think Allegra Spender is the only one that's worked out that she's not there to try and save the planet, but she's realised she's got to save your wallet first. And the ideology of an all renewables approach isn't going to work. We do need gas. We do need nuclear. We need to be sensible about this. We've got our own resources.

I think the crossbench that we can rely on is Rebecca Sharkey. I think she's eminently sensible. I think Bob Catter, so long as we can rely on Bob turning up, I think he's fine. And Dai Lee, I think, is someone that I'd also trust to be able to work with. But what we will do is make sure that after the end of this, we'll look at what the lay of the land is. And from my perspective as a leader of the Nationals, I don't intend to trade away our values and principles.

I fought very hard to make sure that nuclear energy is part of our energy grid, that this gas policy remains, about getting your gas being used by you first, and about divestiture powers in supermarkets. I have a real disdain for our big supermarkets, what they've done to farmers, but also what they've done to you, the Australian consumer. They've done you over, and you've got a Prime Minister that hasn't got the guts to stand up to them, despite saying in January last year,

ACCC can have every power in the world they want. Within a month, the big CEOs of Coles and Woolworths had got to him and said, oh, you can have all the powers bar divestiture. If you don't have a deterrent and a consequence in life, then you won't change culture. And these supermarkets have done farmers over. They did it with a dollar litre milk, and now they're doing it with meat and everything else. But they're playing on that and making you pay more at the checkout. I'm not wanting fixed prices. I want fair prices. When you go to Australians tonight, there are some Australians that will not be able to afford to have dinner because

I've been given a privileged position to go to Parliament and change this country for the better. I'm not going to leave anything in the top drawer when I could do something to make sure we are a better country and our corporates treat everybody fairly. David, some points very well made there that many of our listeners agree with. Just lastly, on the lighter note, we're running the Sydney Now Election Campaign Awards this afternoon. Best Use of Witness Protection Program, which kindly the Australian Federal Police is sponsoring.

Chris Bowen's leading our nominations at the moment. No one's seen him during the campaign. You got a nomination for me?

Well, it's disappointing he's winning that because he has, apart from Anthony Albanese, he's been our best asset every time he opens his mouth. I lived the experience of that $275 promise. And if you didn't get it, well, I think Chris would be saying, well, don't vote for us. That's what he said last election. Didn't he say along those lines, you don't like what I've done, don't vote for us? Well, I'm sure if Chris was allowed out in front of a camera, he'd be saying, well, if you don't like not getting your $275,

don't vote for us. Well, I'd do exactly that because if you vote for Chris Butt for the Labor Party, you get Chris Bowen again. You get Anthony Albanese, Adam Bandt, some Teals, some Independents spreading furry dust across Canberra. So God help us. David, thanks for your time. Good luck tomorrow. Thanks, mate. Thanks for having me. David Littleproud, the leader of the Nationals, the man who wants to be the Deputy Prime Minister.