19 November 2025
Peter Stefanovic
Deputy Opposition leader Ted O’Brien, happy days. Ted, is the Liberal Party in danger of splitting?
Ted O’Brien
Good morning, Pete, great to be with you and your listeners. No, I don’t think so at all. And as you well know, and I think we’ve spoken about this before, we are proudly the party of freedom, and that includes freedom of speech. And the only way you get to good policy conclusions is where you do have party members, including members of parliament, speaking their mind. We’ve got an enormous depth of talent, people do speak their mind, and I think that’s a healthy thing.
Peter Stefanovic
How do you sell your policy though your key policy of net zero, if you’ve got people like McLachlan who actually don’t believe it?
Ted O’Brien
Oh, look, we’ve only just settled the policy last weekend. And so it’s early days, and I have to say, Sussan, Dan Tehan and others are out there every single day this week, starting to sell. And I think the primary message really is that we are focused on one key thing here, and that is affordable energy. Pete, I don’t think it matters where you are in Australia. I don’t think it matters your demographic. You know that prices are out of control. Labor has made a complete and utter mess of the energy system, and we are coming forward saying we are going to prioritize, above all else, affordable energy. I think that will resonate with the Australian people, because they are feeling it every single day, and they feel it in the hip pocket. There
Peter Stefanovic
There is this malaise, though, within the Liberal Party, and it’s not a new thing Ted, and it’s not just at a federal level. You saw what happened in Victoria yesterday. It’s got a new leader. There are leadership rumblings in New South Wales as well. I mean, is the party now fighting for its survival?
Ted O’Brien
Pete, I wouldn’t say so, although I am happy to see refreshed leadership in Victoria there, and I think Jess will do a wonderful job. And I take my hat off to Brad Battin, by the way, who not just did a good job, but the fact that their parliamentary party is united, they are resetting the agenda. I think that’s a good thing, and it sends a very powerful message to the people of Victoria, who are in the need of a change of government, that they do have a united, competent team in the Liberal Party of Victoria, and they want to see the change. At the federal level, under Sussan’s leadership, we are also resetting the policy agenda. We’ve seen that this week when it comes to climate and energy, we’ve made it very clear that the next cab off the rank is immigration. So we are resetting our agenda so that we can take a compelling proposition to the Australian people at the next federal election.
Peter Stefanovic
Okay, well, you mentioned immigration being your next battle there. Would you like to see net migration reduced or cut by more than 100,000 or are you inclined to avoid a hard target?
Ted O’Brien
Look over the next few weeks, you’ll hear more, not just from Sussan, also Jonno Duniam and Paul Scarr and others in the team who are doing the heavy lifting on this. We’ll be laying out the key principles that we think are important for us to again, fix up Labor’s mess. Pete, it’s nearly every single time Labor comes to office, they botch border control in some shape or form, or we’re seeing it again. You can’t bring over a million people to Australia when you do not have housing, sorted, infrastructure, sorted, services sorted. Now we’ll be laying out the key principles to address that it’s not just about hard numbers. This is about a population plan, a settlement plan, infrastructure plan. We’re taking a holistic and strategic approach to this, because I think Australians deserve nothing less.
Peter Stefanovic
Yet historically, unemployment remains quite low. We need the workers out here. We need the migrants. So how are you going to argue against that if you’re making these large cuts? Jonno Duniam saying yesterday that 100,000 sounded about right.
Ted O’Brien
Well, I think your question is a good one, Pete, because it goes to one thing that nobody should be doing. Nobody should be blaming migrants. Nobody should be undermining the importance of us having skilled migrants in this country, with the exception of our indigenous peoples, we have all come from somewhere, and migrants make an enormous contribution to our country. It’s about getting the balance right. It’s about taking a responsible planning approach that the government is not taking. And so skilled migration is absolutely key. We hear that all the time from business and so of course, that is part of our consideration.
Peter Stefanovic
Okay, let’s get to the economy. The CBA boss, Matt Comyn, he isn’t expecting a rate cut next year. It’s what many economists had already stated. But still, he is a key figure. What are your thoughts on what he had to say?
Ted O’Brien
I think what the Commonwealth Bank boss there has done is really spoken the truth, from his bank’s perspective, made it clear to Australian mortgage holders that they can’t be expecting relief next year. You know, this is going to be a brutal blow when Australians understand that because Labor keeps spending money, it is inflation. Jim Chalmers, inflation, otherwise known as the Jimflation effect. Interest rates are just not looking like they’re coming down, Pete. The average Australian mortgage holder, for example, pays an extra $1,800 every single month in interest payments compared to when the coalition was in office. This is what happens when you have a government that cannot stop spending money. It keeps inflation higher for longer, and therefore the RBA is unable to reduce the cash rate, and banks like the CBA are unable to reduce interest rates for their customers.
Peter Stefanovic
That is all true, and we’ll see where that all ends up. But Ted O’Brien, it’s always good to have you with us, though. Thank you for your time.
ENDS