In this interview, Daniel Wild appeared on Credlin Sky News Australia to discuss the IPA’s research on immigration.
All media appearances posted onto the IPA website are directly related to the promotion and dissemination of IPA research.
Below is a transcript of the interview.
Peta Credlin:
Into my Monday night panel, Deputy Executive Director at the Institute of Public Affairs, Dan Wild and One Nation Chief of Staff, James Ashby. I’ll start with you, Dan. As a former Melbournian, this story that a delegation of unnamed liberal MPs knocked on Brad Battin’s door tonight and said, “You need to stand aside.” I’m told, my phone’s been blowing up for the last hour and a bit, there was a leadership spill. We expect that to be tomorrow. It’s understood Jess Wilson has all the numbers, but this will be the fourth leader in under a year. I think this is madness.
Daniel Wild:
Yeah. Well, we’ll wait and see what happens tomorrow, but it looks like it’s a done deal. Look, I mean, changing leaders can change the political fortunes of a party very quickly. We’ve seen that here in Australia on a number of occasions. Obviously we saw it in Canada, which was the starkers example when they went from Trudeau to Mark Carney over there. So you can understand the allure of this, but for this to be successful, it has to be tethered to something fundamental. It has to be tethered to a change in direction and a change in policy direction. Whether it’s actually fighting on the treaty, whether it’s getting rid of net zero, whether it’s dealing with immigration and overpopulation and those types of issues which matter today to Victorians.
Sure, changing the face of the party may give a temporary increase to the primary vote, but that will probably wither away in the absence of more fundamental change of direction and to actually fight and creating a contest. So I remain open-minded about what might happen, but as I say, unless it’s actually related to policy change, I don’t think it’s going to change a whole lot.
Peta Credlin:
Well, Chris Ullman makes a point, James Ashby, that there has only been a liberal party. Actually, I don’t even think they have… Yes, they have. One term in 30 years. 27 years, I think it might be exactly. One term only in Victoria. I think they’ve got a Messiah complex. They think changing the leader will end up winning the election. That doesn’t work. You’ve actually got to do the bloody hard work of opposition in policy terms as well. But again, four leaders in under a year and they’re up against the most formidable labour machine in that country. I just think it’s crackers. I think it’s absolutely crackers.
James Ashby:
But you can see why they haven’t won in recent elections, despite that being a terrible labour government time and time again. And we hear about the debt just exploding out and here we have it. They’re going for, as you say, fourth leadership challenge. Look, there’ve been more internal problems within the Liberal National Coalition, if that’s what they’ve got down there in Victoria, than what they’ve put focus and attention onto policy and actually holding this labour government to account. So is it any wonder why the polling is so terrible for the liberal party of Victoria? I keep saying it, Peta, One Nation are really going to take the challenge up at this next state election down there in Victoria, and I think that-
Peta Credlin:
Yeah, you’re up with 18% [inaudible 00:03:05].
James Ashby:
… we’ve got every bit of a chance to get more than one seat this next election.
Peta Credlin:
The latest Red Bridge poll, you are 18%, the Liberals on 24, you’re closing in on the Liberal Party. I think you’re an option in Victoria. I think it’s a different market in part for a range of reasons. And look, I have no issue with Jess Wilson. I have run the programme. She’s a shadow treasurer. I think she’s just got into that role and she’s already making a difference. But she’s only been in the Parliament two years. Sorry, three years. Three years, four year terms in Victoria, three years. Yeah, I think it’s crazy. Hey, your boss was in court today. What can you tell us there without getting into trouble with the lawyers?
James Ashby:
I think Sue Chrysanthou did an exceptional job today. Obviously, I was quite gobsmacked, to be honest, Peta. Here we had five representatives on our team for Senator Hanson over this [inaudible 00:03:59] case. And yet on for rookie side, the Commonwealth and then of course the Human Rights Commission. There were more than a dozen. And I just look at it, it is such a cost blowout for such a trivial case, and it’s such a shame that the freedom of speech has been lost in this country.
Peta Credlin:
Let’s talk about immigration, Dan, while the IPA data out last week. And it comes down to the IPA basically aggregating the yearly data because the government’s not quick to tell us just how record high our migration is to this country, but the data comes out, it tells a very, very sorry story. It’s absolutely big Australia under labour and this is fertile ground if the Coalition is prepared to do something with it.
Daniel Wild:
Yeah, that’s right. I mean, we’re seeing record numbers keep coming in. Now that chart you’ve got there is what we put out, which is a leading indicator of the net overseas migration data, which the government says is going to come down and maybe it will. We’ll find that in a few months when the official data comes out. But whichever way you look at it, over the last few years, there’s been an unprecedented surge to our population. Every single Australian is affected by it. Every single facet of our life, whether it’s the roads, the access to schools and GPS and social services, the collapse in social cohesion, every single Australian is worried about it.
And what’s interesting to me about this issue, Peta, is it’s not a left-right issue. You can see people from all across the country, whoever they vote for, they say we want to have lower migration intake. And indeed, there’s a significant majority who actually say they want to have a pause on immigration. They want to have a temporary pause until we have sufficient infrastructure in place. So this is a red hot issue. If the Liberals are able to land this and actually put out a number that says they’re going to dramatically cut immigration, I can tell you what, that’s going to shake up the debate pretty quickly.
Peta Credlin:
I’ll leave it there, gentlemen. But I just want to mention really quickly, there’s been some big changes mooted in the UK on the very issue of how they handle asylum seekers. I’ll talk about that tomorrow night because I think we should do the same thing here in Australia. Thank you both for your…
This transcript with Daniel Wild talking on Credlin Sky News Australia from 17 November 2025 has been edited for clarity.
