Friday, 4 September 2026

Topics: housing; migration; the Coalition’s plan to kill the illicit tobacco market and smash the gangs; Dolly Parton

E&OE……………………..

Sylvia Jeffreys: Welcome back to Today. A grim warning from one of Australia's big four banks this morning. NAB's chief economist predicting Australia's housing crisis will quote, “take the better part of a generation” to fix. Joining us to discuss today's headlines is Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson and Independent MP Dai Le. Morning to you both. Tim, I'll go to you first. The one thing everyone can agree on here is that we need more supply, which means more trades. But with massive building companies collapsing, as we've seen in the last couple of weeks, it all feels like mission impossible at the moment.

Tim Wilson: It's not mission impossible. We need to give Australians hope. The problem we've got is a government whose only answer to the challenges that small businesses and building companies face is to hit them with higher taxes. If you add higher taxes onto building companies, it doesn't increase the chance they go on, build more houses, build the supply Australians need to get prices down for first home buyers. And the data shows that the drop in house prices is at the top end, not at first home buyer entry-level housing.

Sylvia Jeffreys: We desperately need more tradies. How many more skilled migrants would a Coalition government bring in?

Tim Wilson: We're working through the details of that policy right now, but we absolutely believe that the migration program should be focused on the skilled trades that Australia needs for our national interest, and to make sure we get that balance right. At the moment, the balance is out of whack.

Sylvia Jeffreys: Okay, still waiting for those details. In the meantime, Dai, thousands of new homes in limbo after the Bathla collapse, which is a huge concern. Another rate rise now on the cards as well. How do Aussies get out of this mess?

Dai Le: Look, you know, I mean, I think the Bathla group is meeting with their creditors today, the 4th of September. There are about, I think about 2,000 homes and another 11,000 in the pipeline that's not going to be built, and these are people who have, you know, put their deposit into buying, you know, off the plan and all of that. I went door-knocking a few days ago, and people are telling me about the cost of rent. So a lot of people, 45 percent of renters live in my electorate, are talking, you know, in terms of the cost of housing, I think the taxes, and Tim mentioned that, up to about 48 percent going towards building a house is in government taxes, both federal and state. So, if we want to really make housing affordable, we need to look at how you can reduce those taxes. The cost is just so high.

Sylvia Jeffreys: Okay, let's move along. Australia's leading medical body is labelling the Coalition's plan to slash the tobacco tax reckless. Tim, the AMA has panned your plan saying making cigarettes more affordable is not the answer to tackling the illicit tobacco trade. Your response?

Tim Wilson: Well, cigarettes are already affordable under their plan, they're just being sold by illegal crime gangs. This is a problem, I’m in Melbourne, and you can go up just about every strip shopping centre from where I am at North Point in Brighton, and you'll find firebombed shops where illegal tobacco arsonists have been attacking small businesses. The problem we've got is the government has handed over the trade to organised crime gangs. They're not paying any tax. They're not worried about the health of Australians. What we want to do is make sure that the market is legal, the tax is collected, and that we absolutely smash the business model of organised crime. That's the appropriate response.

Sylvia Jeffreys: The trade-off here is that, yes, there might be a reduction in the illicit trade potentially, but then are smoking rates going to be going up?

Dai Le: Can I say we are now an educated, informed community. We actually, those who don't want to smoke won't smoke, right? So nowadays young people, people are smoking less. What we're seeing in my electorate is that people who are on low income are still buying cigarettes, and I've got an illegal shop next across from my office selling illegal cigarettes for $10 a pack.

Sylvia Jeffreys: Have you ever seen the police there cracking down?

Dai Le: No, no. But there are lots of around in southwest Sydney, like to Tim's point, there's a lot of firebombings and there are a lot of gangs fighting for that turf. So, it's very dangerous. So, I understand the health, I think we are informed, those who want to be informed have a very educated view about cigarettes, but the ones that are struggling and the crime rate, that is something that we have to prevent.

Sylvia Jeffreys: Something has to change. Okay, finally before we let you go…

Tim Wilson: Sylvia, it’s very important to understand tobacco, so just to clarify, cigarettes consumption is going up right now under the illegal regime and that's the problem.

Sylvia Jeffreys: Okay, I have to get to this before I let you go today. I really need your thoughts on this this morning because we've already been cringing here at the desk this morning. Queensland LNP MPs, well, they're being branded cringe this morning after posting this Dolly Parton singalong on Instagram.

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Sylvia Jeffreys: It's like this. Tim, first it was Anika and the Ooshies, now this. Please, can we all today, here and now, agree to end the social media cringe. Enough is enough.

Tim Wilson: Of course we can all end the social media cringe. Any politician with their weight in salt doesn't work 9 to 5 anyway, so I don't know why they were singing it. I'm afraid the great, late, Dolly Parton deserves better.

Dai Le: Well, look, you know what, I mean, look, it's fun. I mean, obviously we have to do something fun from my perspective anyway, and but we in our library in Fairfield we have the reading library, the Dolly Parton one, which is fantastic. So, we can pay tribute to her in various ways from our own different individual ways to pay tribute.

Sylvia Jeffreys: There are so many other ways to pay tribute to the late, great, Dolly Parton. Thank you both. Happy Friday.

Tim Wilson: Dai works more than 9 to 5.

Sylvia Jeffreys: Oh, yeah, we can't disconnect at all. We can't disconnect.

Dai Le: No doubt.

Sylvia Jeffreys: Thank you, both. See you soon.

[ENDS]