Friends, thank you very much. Thank you.
Well, they're some incredible warm up acts, I've got to say.
Can you join with me as I ask our three candidates to stand up and to please, firstly, thank them for putting themselves forward and thank them for what they're doing - and do so with the knowledge that they are future members of parliament and they are going to help us win government at the next election.
Thank you very much Katie, for your kind words.
I want to say thank you very much to my incredible deputy Sussan Ley, for her very kind words, for her loyalty, for the way in which she has stood side by side with me in different governments, in ministries and she has provided so much support to, not just the organization, but to our candidates, as she's mentioned, and all of those seats that she's visited.
Sussan, you're a wonderful friend. I want to say thank you very much for what you do and the stability that you've provided, along with Angus and James and Maria and Dave and Simon, and to all of our federal candidates and members - David Coleman and others, Julian Leeser.
I have an incredible team. I feel enthused and blessed by their presence, and I know that they have provided incredible support during a period where normally the Liberal Party would be tearing itself apart - that's what normally happens when we go into opposition after a long period in government - we haven't done that. We haven't done that because of the loyalty of my colleagues - and I do want to ask them, please, all to stand, and to say thank you to them.
I want to say thank you to each and every one of you for being here today. There are many people in this room who are stalwarts of our Party, there are people who have stood on polling booths for their entire adult life - in fact, some of them since the time they were born, they were conscripted fairly early on.
Now, they're either slow learners, or they have a great and abiding passion for our country - and I really think it's the latter. I want to say to each and every one of you, and to all of our members, our supporters, our volunteers across the country; it makes me incredibly proud to be the Leader of this Party, to know the values that you hold, that you share, that you have passed on and bequeathed to your children and grandchildren.
They are values that Menzies had in mind. They are values that we should live and breathe every day. They're the values that we've adhered to, and they're the reason that we're in a strong position and that we can win the next election. So thank you very much for what you do.
Please thank all of our members and volunteers.
I've got some important remarks to make today, and I'm going to go to those in a second, but there is no more important issue for me to address today than the terrorist attack that took place in Maroubra last night.
The fact is that people of Jewish faith in our country are living in fear at the moment.
For the last 15 months, Australians more generally, but particularly people of Jewish faith, have begged their Prime Minister to provide leadership and to provide deterrence to those who would seek to conduct themselves illegally and in a racist way in our country.
I wrote to the Prime Minister in November of '23 asking for a National Cabinet to be convened because we could foresee what was going to happen.
The university campus protests, what we've seen not just online, but in real life, the doxxing, the targeting of people at their homes, at their places of worship, what we've seen now with the attack on a childcare centre of all places.
The Prime Minister should have demonstrated leadership 15 months ago off the back of the dreadful experience that Australians watched on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.
The Prime Minister should have expressed the leadership and should have provided that deterrence and been very clear to those people who were acting against the laws of our country that it has no place in our nation.
The Prime Minister chose not to do that.
We've asked consistently, and James Paterson has led this call, as has Julian Leeser. And yesterday we were at the Central Synagogue calling for the Prime Minister to convene a National Cabinet because we need to have in place the deterrence, the clear message that there is zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in our country.
So we welcome the Prime Minister's announcement that he will convene a meeting of the National Cabinet.
It needs to have tangible outcomes.
There's no sense holding a meeting for the sake of ticking a box.
If the Prime Minister thinks that he's going to get the Australian public off his back and that he'll have some reprieve from the media by holding this meeting, he doesn't understand the gravity of the situation.
This is a national crisis.
We are having rolling terrorist attacks in our community, and the Prime Minister is being dragged kicking and screaming to hold a meeting of our nation's leaders.
There need to be tangible outcomes from that meeting and there needs to be optimism, particularly for those people who are sending their children to school at the moment, being protected by armed guards.
It has no place whatsoever in our country.
And if the Jews today, who tomorrow?
We don't discriminate against anybody in our country.
We should not tolerate racism of any description.
Today, the suburbs of Sydney are home to people from many migrant backgrounds and of many ancestries. Their home to people of many faiths and their home to people from across the socio-economic spectrum.
And it's for these reasons diversity defines the suburbs of Sydney.
But by focusing too much on the suburban patchwork, we lose sight of something else.
We lose sight of the attributes that the people of the suburbs of Sydney have in common - despite their differences.
Most importantly, they have in common a love of family - and that's an attribute shared by the Liberal Party. They have an attachment to community and a pride in this great country which we share with them.
John Howard, as you know, was the former Member for Bennelong - and he is right when he said: "The things that unite us as Australians are infinitely greater and more enduring than the things that divide us."
As residents of the suburbs of Sydney, you want what all Australians want.
You want the best for yourselves and your families.
You want to see your children well-educated to get the best start in life.
You want to be part of the community that gives back to you, as much as you give to it, and you do that through sporting clubs and through gatherings at your local church or at your local place of worship, with interest groups and with charities.
The philanthropic spirit is alive within those communities.
You want to succeed and to work hard and to be rewarded for that hard work in your chosen field of endeavour.
You want the streets and our communities to be safe and crime-free.
And you want life to be affordable - because then you have more choices and more opportunity to realise your aspirations.
But as we know, the last two-and-a-half years have been tough for people around our country - including for those in the suburbs of our cities.
Australians are hurting under one of the most incompetent governments since Federation.
Australians are suffering under one of the weakest Prime Ministers in our country's history.
You are worse off today - in so many ways - because the Albanese Government has made bad decision after bad decision.
Including, as we know, the creation of a cost of living crisis for Australians.
The Prime Minister's had decisions to make in subsequent budgets.
They could have been decisions taken to relieve some of that pressure, but that has not happened.
The Prime Minister has caused a crisis in the economy that spares no one - from small businesses through to the big industries.
It's turned a housing challenge into a housing crisis.
And in displaying such spineless leadership, it's doing nothing to address a crisis of crime.
Due to this Government's behaviour, for so many Australians, have had their aspiration replaced by anxiety.
People worried about whether their home is going to be broken into, whether keys will be stolen and their car stolen.
Optimism has turned to pessimism.
And national confidence has changed to uncertainty.
But friends, as we know, there is a better way and it doesn't have to be like this.
Now, you know that I wouldn't agree with Paul Keating on too many occasions.
And to reassure you, I am the person that you know, it's only just this one occasion where I've found common ground.
But our 24th prime minister said this:
"When Governments change, the country changes."
If you consider what will happen if there is no change at the next election, it's a daunting proposition.
If Labor is returned, it can only be in minority form.
There is no credible political analyst at the moment who can tell you that Labor can form a majority government after the next election.
So we know that it will double down on its agenda because the hard left of the Labor Party share common ground with the green-Teals and with the extreme Greens.
If the Teals or Greens hold the balance of power in a returned Labor minority government, the worst excesses of the Albanese Government won't be moderated, they'll be exacerbated.
The Teals are not disaffected Liberals - let's be very clear about it.
They are pretend.
They are Greens in disguise - let's be very clear about that.
Since being elected, they have voted more often with the Greens - about 72 per cent of the time than any other party.
At least the Greens are happy to express their extreme views on a daily basis, and Adam Bandt epitomises this.
This guy would bankrupt and black-out our nation.
He doesn't stand with the flag. He doesn't believe in the values that you and I share with millions of Australians.
A vote for a Teal, or a vote for a Green, ultimately, at this election, is going to be a vote for Anthony Albanese.
It's not only about the next political term.
If the Government is returned in minority form, what they will embed will take us decades to undo.
That was the experience of the Howard Government when they came into power in 1996.
Philip remembers it well, Nick Greiner remembers the history well and many of you in this room have watched this movie before.
We can't allow Labor to destroy our economy and to destroy the lives and aspirations, the dreams of Australians.
Our great country is going backwards under Labor.
And only a change of government at the next election can course-correct our country.
Only a Dutton Coalition Government can get our country back on track.
My friends, the path to better times and a better country starts with having the right priorities.
In the past few weeks, I've been speaking about the priorities of a government I seek to lead.
Let me remind you of them today.
They're in this booklet.
If I can display this booklet to you - you'll see this booklet a lot.
It looks good in this version, looks good in that version, looks good one handed, looks good right handed.
I tell you, please, read this book.
I want to remind you of some of those priorities today because I think you share them with me.
Indeed, you play a critical role in helping to communicate these priorities.
You can do that when you're out doorknocking, when you phone canvassing, when you're speaking with your family and friends.
By speaking about our priorities, Australians will clearly understand what a Coalition Government will stand for.
And more people will recognise that the Coalition respects the views, values and vision of everyday Australians.
So here are our key priorities:
We will fight cost-of-living pressures.
Because everything is costing more under Labor - food, rents, mortgages, electricity, gas and insurance.
We will cut government waste.
Because Labor's unrestrained and irresponsible spending is keeping inflation and interest rates higher for longer - and you hear Angus Taylor talk about this constantly.
We will build a stronger economy.
Because when we cut red and green tape, and we take the burdens off businesses, and invest in areas of the economy that generate new economic activity, that benefits all Australians.
We will back small businesses, I promise you.
Because they're the backbone of our economy as job makers, as wage payers, as wealth creators - but have been neglected by Labor.
On the weekend, as you heard earlier, we announced a new policy which provides small businesses with a turnover of $10 million or less.
Bearing in mind that's two and a half million small businesses across the country, 98 per cent of small businesses in this country turn over $10 million or less.
We'll provide them with tax deductibility of up to $20,000 per year on food and entertainment at local clubs, at pubs, at restaurants.
And it will be a game changer - not just for their businesses, but importantly for hospitality and for those pubs and clubs who are doing it so tough at the moment.
It's a win for those small businesses - it means lower tax, it means a reward for their employees, and boost to their business competitiveness in engaging clients.
And it's a win for venues, as I say, because more customers will come through their doors and an increased spend in their businesses.
It will boost the productivity of those businesses. It will help them employ more young people going into hospitality - a very important sector across the country.
Indeed we know that more than 4,000 accommodation and food service businesses have gone insolvent on Labor's watch.
And last year alone, jobs in those industries fell by 165,000.
So our policy is a leg-up at a time when the hospitality needs it.
But we're also going to deliver affordable and reliable energy.
Because Labor's reckless renewables-only policy is only going to make electricity cost even more - and cause our energy grid to become even less reliable.
We're going to fix the housing crisis - including by rebalancing our migration program.
Because Labor has brought the housing market to breaking point by bringing in too many people - and not ensuring enough new homes are built to meet demand.
We will deliver quality healthcare again.
Because under Labor, bulk billing has plummeted, mental health services have been cut, and there's GP shortages in our suburbs and regions - as each of you know.
We will focus on practical action for Indigenous Australians.
I promise you that our work in this area did not stop when we defeated the Voice, which would have done nothing for Indigenous Australians.
And Jacinta Price is going to go through every dollar, in every programme, to make sure that we cut the waste and we prioritise housing, education and health outcomes for Indigenous Australians, and better outcomes for all Australians living in regional areas.
And that is what Jacinta is committed to doing.
We will grow a stronger regional Australia.
Because many of you have a heritage which is based through generations of hard work in regional areas. Many of you have family and friends who are working hard on the land today, and we are a Party for them.
We're going to make sure that we build our mining industry, not destroy it.
We're going to make sure that we build our agricultural and manufacturing powerhouses to what they once were, because that will provide the funding not just to build stronger and sustainable communities and a stronger economy, it will help underpin our investment in health, in roads, in infrastructure, in education and in policing
And because it's in our DNA, we want to keep Australians safe.
The Albanese Government has failed - as I mentioned earlier - on this core principal objective of any government.
It is an essential selection criteria that when the Australian people cast their vote, they're voting for somebody who can keep them safe in good times and in bad.
This Prime Minister has demonstrated time and again that he's failed that primary and principal obligation. That promise that he gave to Australians.
And there is no end in sight to his incompetence.
This Government has failed to deter people smugglers.
We know under an Albanese-Bandt Government that the borders would reopen and children would go back into detention.
We know that they've weakened our Defence force because they've withdrawn money from the men and women who wear our uniform, at a time when we should be investing more into Defence.
And they've allowed crime to run rampant on our streets.
It's why I first announced that a Coalition Government would legislate mandatory minimum sentences of six years imprisonment for acts of terrorism and 12 months imprisonment for the public display of terrorist symbols.
These are key priorities of a Coalition Government.
We will stop anti-Semitism in our country.
We will stop those racist acts, I promise you and I promise the Jewish community that we will do that.
But we will drill down into a few of these priorities which are especially relevant for people in the seats of Bennelong, Parramatta and Reid.
Friends, to escape the clutches of the cost-of-living crisis, we must bring down inflation.
Inflation is just another form of taxation.
Inflation makes everything cost more.
Inflation reduces the purchasing power of your paycheque.
The only way to reduce inflation is by having an economically responsible government that reins-in wasteful spending.
And that's what a Coalition Government will do.
Now, I don't mean to be controversial today, but I want to ask you this question, and if the answer is definitive in your mind, then please answer accordingly.
But is your life better today?
Have you been finding it easy to wake up in the morning knowing that 36,000 new public servants have been employed in Canberra?
You answered that very well, I might say!
Can you say that our country is more united today than it was two and a half years ago?
There is a better way.
There is a much better way.
We are going to help the Australian people in a way that they haven't seen over the course of the last two and a half years with a Government which has worked against it.
We're going to provide enormous support to young people to get into housing.
I feel incredibly passionate about this, because my own story is similar to yours.
I had to work hard, from a working class family, to provide the deposit to buy a house.
I couldn't do that as a 19 year old in the economy today.
I don't want a generation of young Australians to give up the dream of home ownership.
And so, we've announced a $5 billion fund to provide support to local councils to build infrastructure, to make sure that we can provide additional supply, which is what's required, given the Government has poured in 1.8 million people over the course of a five year period they're proposing, but a million people over the last two years, which is a record in our country.
We will provide extra support to help young people achieve the dream of home ownership again.
And only a Coalition Government can do that.
My friends, we are going to stop reckless spending, not just on extra public servants in Canberra, we are going to make sure that we can bring downward pressure on inflation, because that is the best way in which we can help young families who are struggling with mortgages now. But to help young people get into home ownership as well.
Interest rates will continue to go up under the Labor Party if they continue to spend money recklessly.
It's what happened under Whitlam.
It's what happened under Hawke and Keating.
And it's what's happening under Albanese and Chalmers.
And we are going to turn it around.
Labor promised that people would have a $275 reduction in their power bills.
Has anyone seen that reduction in your power bill?
Instead, the power bills of average Australian households have gone up by $1,000, and they will continue to go up and up and up under Chris Bowen.
Are there any fans of Chris Bowen in the room, might I ask?
That was just a little integrity question to make sure there were no interlopers here. You passed the test with flying colours!
That guy, I can tell you, is a wrecking ball through the economy.
Chris Bowen possibly could be the worst Minister in the Albanese Government.
But is a tough race! It is a tough race!
Think Tony Burke, think Tanya Plibersek, think Anthony Albanese, Penny Wong - one of my favourites, you mentioned Penny Wong - but she's in the United States celebrating the ascension of the 47th President of the United States. I mean she's there as the best friend that Donald Trump's ever had.
I mean, is that credible?
Have I missed something?
Or was Penny Wong always a strong opponent and hater of Donald Trump. And now somehow she's a great champion of the Trump Administration.
It's a Government of incompetence and frauds.
That's what's happening here.
My friends, we've got a lot of work to do between now and the election.
Is there any doubt in my mind that we can win? There's no doubt whatsoever.
But it is an incredible task.
As Sussan and others pointed out before, 1931 is a long time ago, but there hasn't been a more incompetent Government over the course of that history.
A government needs to be voted out by people, but after one term, a Coalition needs to be voted in. People need to tick both boxes and we have set preconditions for that.
We have a united team, which means that we look like a credible alternative.
We have worked hard on policy - the Shadow Expenditure Review Committee was meeting yesterday and again today.
We are going through, in a professional way, options around policy, which will include responsible spending and downward pressure on inflation, which is essential to getting the economic piece right.
We have not only conducted ourselves in a responsible way in terms of our loyalty to each other and our policy offerings, we have also in doing that, put pressure on a bad Government.
Anthony Albanese's instinct is every instinct is bad.
There's no question about that.
But we haven't let this Government up off the mat for one minute over the course of the last two and a half years.
And we should be incredibly proud of that.
But it means the job is only half done.
The candidates that you see before you today have been selected in good time so that they can connect with the community, so that they can work with great local Members, some of whom have been acknowledged - and I really say thank you to the state team here today.
To all of you, thank you for your loyalty to us, your support of us, your support of the candidates, the fundraising - that is an essential element to our success.
So, we've selected in good time, good candidates and people who are going to be wonderful members of parliament.
But our most important asset is our membership.
You reflect the values of the Australian people through your hard work, your sacrifice and your desire to see the best for our country.
We need to rely on you to deliver us the seats that will help us form government.
When I look around the room, and as I say, there are many friends here, long standing, who have worked on campaigns - countless.
Countless days in the hot sun, in the pouring rain and you have helped deliver us government before.
And we're calling on you once again.
I've been a proud Liberal since I was 18 years of age, which is a long, long, long time ago.
But what I've seen in this Party over all of that time is that we rise when the occasion demands.
And with your support, there is no doubt in my mind that we can get great candidates elected here in New South Wales and across the country.
If we do that, we have the vision for our country.
Not only can we get it back on track, but we can provide the best days ahead for every Australian.
And with your support we can and we will do that at the time of the next election.
Thank you so much.
Please work hard and get this great country back on track.
Thank you.
