1 December 2025
Sarah Abo
Teddy, schools over for the year. You’ve staggered to the finish line and what a show for you guys right. You’ve got a new leader, you’ve got fewer seats and you’ve got no policies. Is that about right?
Ted O’Brien
Well, Sarah, what we lack in numbers, we make up for in talent and depth. And we’re absolutely looking forward to the fight come 2026.
Sarah Abo
It’s going to be a big fight. Look, I was being a bit cheeky there, but, Paul, there is a new policy of sorts, as you’ve reported in the SMH this morning, centered on migration, but already it’s proving divisive again within the Coalition.
Paul Sakkal
We saw on the weekend these rallies in Melbourne again showing how much community feeling there is around the migration issue. And it’s kind of a perpetual problem that bubbles up every few years, this debate about whether we have the housing and infrastructure to have in Australia as many people as we do, and it’s always going to create friction in major parties, but particularly the coalition, where you’ve got regional Nats who need migrants to pick fruit, and you’ve got people in the outer suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney who see that their hospitals and schools are overcrowded. So it’s a tricky one, and Sussan Ley needs to find a level of authority to steer the party through this debate.
Sarah Abo
Ted, where are you going to land on that? I mean, is there any light you can shed on the Coalition’s migration policy? I know it’s going to be a few weeks before you actually outline it, but how are you going to strike that balance? Because as Paul said, the Nats want more settled in regional Australia. We still need some of the outer suburbs of metro areas across the country. Where are you going to land?
Ted O’Brien
I actually think there’s an enormous amount of common ground here. The Coalition is the only ones who get this right with immigration. You know, there’s almost like this unwritten compact in Australia. Australians are very welcoming, especially of new Australians. But once a government loses control of the borders in any shape or form, Australians fold their arms and they say, hang on, get your act in order here, and that’s what’s happening now. I mean, you can’t bring in a million Australians in two years and then expect that nothing’s going to be strained. There’s no doubt that roads, essential services have not been keeping up the population curve. I have seen Sussan rightly identify this as the next priority for us to deal with. We’ll more before Christmas in terms of the key principles that will be driving the policy.
Sarah Abo
Yeah, I mean…
Ted O’Brien
And there is, in fact, an enormous amount of common ground.
Sarah Abo
This is going to be another big test for you, right? I mean, you guys. The net zero saga was just so drawn out. How can the public have any confidence that you guys will end up on the same page when it comes to migration, or any policy, for that matter?
Ted O’Brien
Sarah, I think Australians can have confidence because we get it right. And that is why we have these debates.
Sarah Abo
Would you agree with that, Paul?
Paul Sakkal
Tough sell at this stage, but you know, Christmas spirit will abide pretty soon, so maybe next year will be a new Liberal Party but I think this is a little bit less about creating a coherent policy two and half years out for an election for the Liberal Party and just kind of getting on message and focusing on the government.
Sarah Abo
Yeah.
Paul Sakkal
Policies only matter when you actually get to the crunch. They need to just get in a room, decide what they want to talk about, get some coherence to their message and focus on the government because there’s actually a lot of flaws heading into 2026 around interest rates might not come down, the immigration problem is serious and they don’t have much of a forward agenda. I think they need to have a little get-together over summer.
Sarah Abo
No, and I think some of those points you mentioned a right, Ted. And I know obviously this will become a priority for you. guys have banged on about this. We know energy rebates are expiring on December 31. Labor hasn’t ruled out an extension. But what do you see them doing? I mean, the government, Ted, has been battling to find the right balance between tackling inflation while easing cost of living pressures. Can you possibly do both?
Ted O’Brien
Oh look you should be able to do both but the problem when it comes to energy is the government only seems to be offering subsidies. It’s not dealing with the problem at its source. We have a broken energy system instead of trying to fix it, they keep giving money away. And I think Paul with all due respect you’re not right when it comes to coalition policy. We’ve made it crystal clear through our new affordable energy policy what our approach is when it comes to energy. We’ve made it very clear that we are going to be laying out the key principles to tackle problems with immigration before Christmas.
Sarah Abo
I’m not sure it’s crystal clear, Ted.
Ted O’Brien
We’ve made it very clear the problems on the Australian economy and how we will be prioritising a personal income tax package ahead of the next election. There’s no doubt we’ve got more to do, but we’ve been very clear about what the priorities are and it’s about putting Australians at the centre of our policies.
Paul Sakkal
I’d say they’re hints at policy rather than policy intent. I mean, what’s the emissions reduction tool? How much will energy prices come down by? What are the personal income tax cuts? There’s not much meat on the bone.
Sarah Abo
Yeah, it sounds as though there will be a bit to work on over the summer break if you do indeed get one.
Ted O’Brien
Well actually. Sorry, Sarah.
Sarah Abo
We’re just running out of time.
Ted O’Brien
Happy to interrupt Paul, but not you.
Sarah Abo
Oh, I like that. We are running out of time and I just wanted to get your take, of course, on the wedding to end all weddings, in inverted commas, the PM tied the knot over the weekend. A big congratulations to him and Jodie, of course. Personalised Cans and Jodie’s beautiful dress, which I just adored. According the SMH, Paul, DJ Albo came out to play. What tracks do you reckon he spun on those decks?
Paul Sakkal
Well, apparently the first song was Beyonce’s Crazy In Love, but given his obsession with Aussie rock, I’m sure he pumped out some Powderfinger or something else pretty soon. Apparently the party went till about 3am.
Sarah Abo
Wow.
Paul Sakkal
There were some ministers who I tried to get some information from on Sunday morning who were pretty dusty and didn’t see my texts until about 10am, so looks like I had a bit of a rager.
Sarah Abo
Well, that’s a story in itself. You didn’t quite make the invite list, Teddy, but I guess it was a tight one.
Ted O’Brien
Yeah, look, I wasn’t invited to the Bucks party, Sarah.
Sarah Abo
Oh what!
Ted O’Brien
But no, look, a big congratulations to Albo and Jodie. It’s beautiful news.
Sarah Abo
It absolutely is. Alright, guys, thank you so much for joining me this morning. Really appreciate it. We’ll catch up again soon.
ENDS