Rita Panahi:
Joining me now is IPA Chief Economist Adam Creighton and former liberal MP Nicolle Flint.
Adam, the PM said conservatives have nothing positive to offer the nation during that speech. How do you see it? It’s a bit rich of him to talk about this coalition that exists between One Nation and the liberals when without the greens, Labour would have zero hope of being elected.
Adam Creighton:
Yeah, certainly that is true. Look, there are coalitions on both sides of the political spectrum now. I think in many ways, going back to the politics of the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s when there were a lot more political parties in Australia. So historically, this is not so unusual.
But I mean, as for the context of his speech, the contents of his speech rather, it’s just more of the same. It’s not working. You’ve still got One Nation on about 30% primary, which is extraordinary. And the coalition, even when it’s on 20, that’s 50% primary vote is going to the right. That spells disaster to me for the Labour Party. So they have to change something and just kind of droning on about renewables, I don’t think that’s going to work.
Rita Panahi:
No, Nicolle, the PM spoke there about the culture wars as well, but the Labour Conference shows how obsessed Labour are with the culture wars, how far left they have veered. They’re debating things like removing the Union Jack and colonial statues from around the country.
Nicolle Flint:
Indeed, Rita, just more of the same. And no wonder One Nation are doing so well in the polls because they’re actually talking to the Australian people about the issues that they care about. I mean, we certainly won’t be hearing about Labour cutting migration, which is one of the key issues for so many Australians at the moment, whether it’s the huge influx, 1.5 million extra people into Australia under Labour, whether it’s the threat to our values. You certainly won’t hear about any of those things from Labour. And I just find it fascinating, this obsession with the Prime Minister and also Wayne Swan, the outgoing president, with attacking One Nation, attacking the Liberal Party, rather than setting out a policy platform for the Australian people that will address the very serious problems that they’re all facing. Not least of all, rising interest rates, record, grocery prices, record, power prices. You name it, people are under economic pressure. And if we see One Nation and the coalition sticking to those issues, they will defeat Labour. No worries next election.
Rita Panahi:
Well, we only saw earlier this week, Adam, more data showing the standard of living in this country is going backwards. We are having real wages declining and people are hurting, and that pain is reflected in the stats. It’s undeniable that per capita data shows we’re in a fair bit of trouble.
Adam Creighton:
No, that is true. Look, real wages are down in this country over the last five years by more than any other country in the OECD. And of course, those inflation stats, they exclude taxes, which are going up at a rapid rate. And just briefly on Wayne Swan’s speech, I have to say it’s quite funny drawing the analogy with Joh Bjelke-Petersen, who I think won more elections than any other political leader of Australian history. So maybe that’s what’s going to happen with One Nation.
Rita Panahi:
[inaudible 00:03:08] won’t mind that one.
Adam Creighton:
[inaudible 00:03:10] usual analogy. But yes, look, you’re quite right, the economic statistics are very bad. And the worst one of all is core inflation. It’s almost 4%, which is the highest in the whole Western world. Very embarrassing.
Rita Panahi:
Of course, Wayne Swan, the world’s greatest treasurer who announced four surpluses, but actually didn’t deliver a single one. Remember the four consecutive surpluses that he was promising us? Now thousands of teachers and education support staff have taken to the streets of Melbourne in their second major strike action of the year. About 1,600 public schools did not hold classes today with parents’ urged to keep their children home. Nicolle, the Australian Education Union in Victoria has rejected the government’s most recent pay offer of a 28.3% raise over four years. They say it’s not enough to keep up with inflation.
Nicolle Flint:
Well, I bet every single parent who’s had to keep their kids home today would be appalled with this, Rita. Most ordinary Australians, normal Australians, hardworking Australians are not getting a 28% pay rise over the next four years, so that’s about 7% a year. And as Adams just pointed out, 7% a year pay rise is almost double what inflation is. And the core underlying inflation is about 3.6%, I believe.
So this is just outrageous. It is out of step with what normal hardworking Australians are getting into their pay packet. And once again, all this will do is blow Labour budgets further out of the water. They’re so far in the red, this is just going to make it worse at a time when people are struggling.
Rita Panahi:
Well, this state in particular can’t afford any more largess. The teachers’ unions would argue, “Well, we haven’t had the sort of increases in recent years that we should have had to keep up with inflation, so we need to make up for that.” But they almost exist in a fantasy world because the private sector hasn’t had those increases at all.
Adam Creighton:
I’m sure that’s not true. I’m sure their wages have actually kept pace. I mean, most of them are on six figures, I believe, which is certainly a lot more than the median full-time income in Australia. But even the fact that 28% was the offer over four years is extraordinary. And of course it was rejected. Although in defence of some teachers, 49% of teachers actually voted to accept the offer. 51 voted against it. So there are some sensible teachers out there still, which is good to know, but this state has $229 billion of debt and it’s rising to 288 billion in four years.
So I mean, this is just reckless. But sadly, as the election gets closer, the unions realise they can blackmail the incumbent Labour government. So you’re going to see more of this from the other unions as they try to squeeze a bit of money out. And the government gets worried about votes, so it tends to cave in.
Rita Panahi:
And it doesn’t stop with teachers. Obviously you’ve got all the other public sector workers who are going to follow and they’re going to see what they achieve and they’re going to want to get as much.
Perth born paediatrician, Tareq Kamleh, had been widely presumed to have been killed in Syria a decade ago after walking out on his job at an Australian hospital to join Islamic state. But the Australian newspaper revealed on Tuesday that he was very much alive and in an Iraqi jail. He’s one of 13 Australian men linked to Islamic state who are hoping to be released and to return back to Australia. Tareq’s father, Imad Kamleh, told the Australian that he had only learned that his son was alive several weeks ago. He said he will respect any decision the government makes about his son’s future.
Nicolle, it’s also been revealed that Labour knew about this terrorist’s survival for years, but they kept that information secret.
Nicolle Flint:
And we are not surprised, are we, Rita? This smacks of precisely what’s just happened with the ISIS brides coming back to Australia. So apparently Senator Penny Wong, the foreign affairs minister, has known that this doctor has been alive since 2022 and has been briefed several times on it. My question is precisely the same with the ISIS bride situation. They knew that it was a threat that they would try to come back to Australia. They knew obviously that this gentleman was going to try to come back as well, so why haven’t they changed the law? The majority of Australians would be delighted to see these people locked out of our country forever.
And this is the beauty of being in government. You can actually do whatever you like. Yes, of course the human rights. Bleeding hearts would drag legislative change through the high court, no doubt. But at least you’d be signifying to the Australian people that we won’t tolerate this terrorist linked behaviour because that’s what ISIS is, a terrorist organisation. And if your passport’s expired, why is it being renewed?
Rita Panahi:
Adam, anyone who left this country to go join Islamic State knowing full well the brutal sadistic manner in which they slaughtered just thousands of people, non-believers, the Yazidi, the human right abuses under Islamic state under their caliphate are just astonishing and frankly disturbing. I remember writing about it at the time. And to think that someone educated, working as a doctor in this country saw that and said, “I want to be a part of that. I’m going to travel to Syria to join the caliphate,” I mean, how can they ever be allowed to return to Australia?
Adam Creighton:
No, look, it certainly is shocking. And the man’s parents told the Australian that they’re extremely disappointed in their son too, for all those reasons that you just said. They’re shocked at the choices he made. Look, it’s probably unlikely that he’s going to get back if he’s already in prison. But if he does get back, I believe he’s broken the law here too, so I think he’ll end up in a prison here as well. But I’d rather their taxpayers pay for it and not our taxpayers.
One little thing, I’m amazed that this wasn’t leaked for years and years. Just a reminder, the top of the public service in Canberra is so pro-Labour. Otherwise, this would’ve been leaked.
Rita Panahi:
Absolutely would’ve been leaked. Now, before you two go, the Department of Climate Change and Energy has admitted that Chris Bowen’s $8.5 billion home battery subsidy scheme is supporting units about twice the cost of what was originally conceived. The programme originally had a budget of just 2.3 billion. I say just 2.3 billion over four years, but now it’s expected to cost $8.5 billion over the life of the programme. Adam, it’s also been revealed only three of the scheme’s 136 approved manufacturers are Australian. Only three from 136.
Adam Creighton:
Yeah, look, it’s hard to know where to start here. I mean, if forecasts like that were made in the private sector, everyone would’ve been sacked. But sadly, that’s not the case. I mean, just like you said, 2.3 billion to 8.5 billion, that is a massive error. I mean, the government’s already spending $12 billion a year on climate change just on net zero stuff. So here’s even more. And yes, quite often these programmes are just a subsidy of foreign manufacturers, whether it’s electric cars, whether it’s batteries. We like to subsidise Chinese manufacturing, but not Australian manufacturing. So look, it’s [inaudible 00:10:24].
Rita Panahi:
And we spend this taxpayer money and then, Nicolle, pretend that this is market-driven, that the market wants batteries, that this is all commercial imperative when there is so much manipulation in the market.
Nicolle Flint:
Of course, Rita. And look, doesn’t this just remind us of those other great Labour Party failures when in government cash for clunkers and the pink bats that tragically ended up costing people their lives? Look, the government should not be interfering. And also, I’m pretty sure it’s mainly wealthier Australians who’ve been able to afford to do this rather than Australians who are struggling to make ends meet because they’re putting every cent into their groceries and their power bill and their fuel. So it’s helping people who I’m guessing don’t actually need help. And it’s certainly not helping Australian manufacturers with only three out of 136 of these batteries actually manufactured here. So this is going to go down in history as another great Labour disaster.
Rita Panahi:
Just imagine how much wealth we’ll generate if we put some of this taxpayer money into developing our own resources and acknowledge the fact that we are so blessed to be sitting on all this gas, all this coal, all this uranium, and we put that money, we would create so many high paying jobs, you would have extraordinary exports, and we would provide our citizens with cheap, reliable energy, and also our manufacturing sector. They’re going to look back in 50, 100 years time at this period and wonder how we could have been this catastrophically stupid.
Adam Creighton:
Now, look, I couldn’t agree more. You do have to laugh about the Future Made in Australia programme-
Rita Panahi:
Oh, yes.
Adam Creighton:
… which the government always puts up-
Rita Panahi:
Hilarious.
Adam Creighton:
[inaudible 00:12:09] Future Made in China programme. As you say, nothing can afford to be manufactured here.
Rita Panahi:
Adam Creighton, Nicolle Flint, thank you so much for your time tonight.
This transcript with Adam Creighton talking on The Rita Panahi Show – Sky News Australia from 23 July 2026 has been edited for clarity.
