In this interview, Saxon Davidson appeared on Credlin Sky News Australia to discuss the IPA’s research on government spending.
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.
Jaimee Rogers:
Joining me now is Institute of Public Affairs research fellow Saxon Davidson. And Saxon, this role has a $400,000 salary, 10 staff, and a four year budget of more than $13 million. Where’s the proof of actual real outcomes that has improved the lives of aboriginal people?
Saxon Davidson:
Well, there’s no proof that there’s been any improved outcomes for Indigenous people in Australia based on this envoy. And that doesn’t really surprise me considering that outcomes aren’t really a serious thing that the Albanese government thinks about. Almost all the decisions that are being made under this government have everything to do with ideology, whether it be the economy, or energy, or the budget.
And Indigenous affairs are no different. You only have to look at the activist and divisive Voice to Parliament referendum to see this. And also this just seems like to be following the same way with the view that you have to prove white Australia wrong when the envoy’s role should really be about improving the lives of Indigenous Australians on the ground here in Australia.
Jaimee Rogers:
And Peter Dutton wanted to abolish this role. How can Labour and Penny Wong justify $350,000 in travel expenses? Especially, during a cost of living crisis when families and this country is doing it so tough.
Saxon Davidson:
Well, there’s really no justification for it, especially, considering that government waste and government waste spending, particularly, is crowding out economic growth, and is one of the key driving factors of inflation here in Australia.
But this is even getting beyond the fact is why is the taxpayer paying for a First Nations envoy to be travelling internationally at all? Considering that Indigenous Australians are indigenous to Australia.
I understand that it could be expensive to travel from particularly remote communities in western Australia to the northern territory to Queensland, and even to south Australia. But even so, it should be nowhere near the hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel expenses for a First Nations envoy.
Jaimee Rogers:
Well, Chris Minns said today that life in Sydney will be extremely different than what it was in December. Here is the premier.
Chris Minns:
The security protocols and resources are going to have to change in Sydney. They’ve changed in Rome, and they’ve changed in Paris, and they’re going to have to change here. Anyone who is suggesting that we can just have the same regime, the same process that we had in place on December the 13th is wrong. Those days are over.
Jaimee Rogers:
Saxon, what do you make of the premier’s comments?
Saxon Davidson:
I think the premier’s completely right. Australia has changed forever since December 13. And we really have to look to ourselves and actually say, “How do we get to this point?” This didn’t happen in a vacuum. This terrorist attack, the worst terrorist attack on Australian shores had been brewing for two years since October 7th in Israel, and, especially, since the march on the Sydney Opera House just two days afterwards.
The government has been … The federal government, particularly, has been completely ignorant to the rising anti-Semitism crisis in Australia. And I commend Chris Minns for actually taking acton to combat the rising anti-Semitism in Australia, and, particularly, in Sydney. However, we do have to look at how we got to this point. And we definitely need a federal royal commission to actually figure out what occurred, how it got to this point, what national security failures there were, and the rise in anti-Semitism. And I commend Chris Minns on having a state royal commission in New South Wales to actually look into these things as well.
Jaimee Rogers:
Well, Saxon, you’ve now joined calls to have that royal commission. What did you make of Anthony Albanese’s comments today where he said it’s not within the national interest to have one?
Saxon Davidson:
Well, I think it’s a disgrace, to be honest. It’s absolutely in the national interest to have a royal commission into the worst terrorist attack on Australian shores. We need answers, and we need action based on those answers. You can’t actually create fundamental change, and fundamental change that is required unless you know what you were trying to fix, or even if you want to fix it.
Now I think the Albanese government need to change track, and just conduct this royal commission, because if they don’t … Because people will start to ask if you’re not having a royal commission into this. Maybe it’s because you don’t want to know what the answers are, and actually you don’t want to know what is going to be found. And I’d hate for that to be true. So, the Albanese government must have this royal commission, and they must investigate the events that led to this terrorist attack.
Jaimee Rogers:
Yeah. Well said, Saxon. Well, thank you so much for your time this evening.
This transcript with Saxon Davidson talking on Credlin Sky News Australia from 29 December 2025 has been edited for clarity.
