Topics: New Liberal leadership team

PETE STEFANOVIC: Good to see you.

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DAVE SHARMA: Good morning.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: Thanks your time this morning.

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DAVE SHARMA: Pleasure to join you.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: A few more days to think about things. How are you feeling about this new leadership team?

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DAVE SHARMA: I'm very encouraged, Pete. I think, look, it's a reset that we need. I think, Angus Taylor and Jane Hume over the weekend have set out some clear directions for our party, which I think is a recommitment to traditional Liberal values. Lower taxes, support for families, support for business, support for enterprise. And, the truth is, we owe it to the people of Australia and the public to be a strong and credible opposition. I think this can help deliver that.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: Did you stray away from those? Did Sussan Ley stray away from those, those, those Liberal principles and ideals?

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DAVE SHARMA: Look, I don't think she did. I think she took over at a very difficult time, and I think there's been a lot of soul-searching since the 2025 election loss, off the back of a bad 2022 election loss. And I think Susan presided over a period of, I think, of significant internal re-examination, and reform. She didn't get to harvest the fruits of that, if you like, but I think we can now.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: Do you think it's, it's up from here or is there still further to fall? Well, You hope not.

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DAVE SHARMA: I, hope not, and I don't... I, my view is that I am optimistic. I think it is up from here. I think, as much as, anything over the last few months what it's cost us is a picture of internal division breakups with the Nationals, reunification with the Nationals, a lot of internal discussion about policy, which was important that we had. But when you, when you look to the public like you're only fighting amongst yourselves, they think, "Well, what are you there for? you the opposition? Aren't you meant to be opposing the government? Not, not each other?" And I think if we can put that behind us, and I'm very committed to getting behind the new team, and I hope the rest of the party room is as well, then I think we can make progress.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: So when you've got, and you've already heard those attack lines today from Jim Chalmers going after Angus Taylor as the Shadow Treasurer. Jane Hume, she's got baggage too from the last election as well. how do you work around that? Because you would've known that those attacks are coming.

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DAVE SHARMA: Well, I think this just shows the weak position Jim Chalmers is in. I mean, if he is not prepared to defend his own government's record, but has to go and attack personal credibility of Angus Taylor and Jane Hume, who haven't been in government in these roles, I think it shows you that Labor has nothing to sell. I mean, let's, they're presiding over record debt, $993 billion, soon to hit $1 trillion. Record spending, 27.9% of GDP, the highest it's been in 40 years outside the pandemic, and a record tax take. I mean, that is a terrible record.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: Well, I asked the Treasurer about that this morning, and his answer to that was, "Well, if you were in power, you would have hit a trillion dollars in debt faster." So he's delaying it by a few years.

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DAVE SHARMA: I don't support that at all. They, they have government spending growing at four times the rate of the economy. You cannot be growing, the government at four times the rate of the economy and not expect it to have inflationary impacts, which it's having, and not expect it to crowd out the private sector, which is exactly what it's

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PETE STEFANOVIC: Yeah, does try to fend those questions, even though it, it does feel as though the data and the evidence is there.

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DAVE SHARMA: And he's the Treasurer. I mean, he's accountable for this. There's no point saying, "Well, what about the other guys? What would they do?" He's been in office now for four and a half years, right?

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PETE STEFANOVIC: Mm. Yeah. So what do you see as the priority now? Policy priority for you?

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DAVE SHARMA: Look, I think the policy priority for us is to set out a economic policy, which will include tax, productivity, economic reform.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: Return yourself to the party of lower taxes?

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DAVE SHARMA: Yes. Party of lower taxes, party of economic growth, party of support to small businesses, party of support to families.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: What sort of, nips and tucks are going to make there? You going to announce them today?

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DAVE SHARMA: I'm not qualified

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PETE STEFANOVIC: Have you got, have you got any, any ideas, though, first of all?

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DAVE SHARMA: Well, look, I think government spending, the most important thing is government spending, the growth in government spending needs to be brought back in line with the pace of the economy. We need to restore fiscal guardrails to the budget, which means that, if you, new spending has to be offset by savings, then government spending cannot be growing faster than the economy as a share of GDP. And that we need to be encouraging the private sector to do more of the heavy lifting. Because a public sector-centric economy, which is what we have under Labor here, is failing to deliver better living standards

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PETE STEFANOVIC: Well, I mean, it's, yeah, as a proportion of our population, it's the biggest public sector in the world is the research that I've done anyway,

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DAVE SHARMA: Yes, it's massive.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: So if you're going to make cuts, I mean, it's a scary, it's a scary point, and it's susceptible to attacks from the government, but would that mean you'd have to make cuts somewhere? And if so, which ones?

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DAVE SHARMA: Well, part of the challenge is actually to rein in the growth of quite big expenditure programs. So the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which was growing at 20% per year just a year or two ago, the government is now committed to reducing it to 8%. I think we need to see that at, the rate of economic growth, two to three percent. we've done, we've did a bipartisan deal with the government on aged care. Our interest bill, for instance, our interest bill is, is costing us $70 million a day, and that, that price is only rising because interest rates are going up in Australia, and the debt continues to grow - these are all the things we need to get under control.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: What about immigration? I mean, that's, that's going to be another focal point, too. I mean, how do you, how do you tackle that without offending, key voting blocs out there, for instance?

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DAVE SHARMA: Well, I think it's important that... Immigration is not about targeting any race or ethnicity or religion or country of origin. It's about making sure the immigration program works in Australia's national interests, which means we need to be prioritising skilled migration in areas where we have skill shortages and where they will have the most productive impact on the economy.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: So who do you drop though?

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DAVE SHARMA: Well, I mean, I would say, look, I think there's a lot of... We attract a lot of immigrants in the services industries at the moment. Where we desperately need them is in housing and construction, skilled trades, because our construction cost is too high.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: Right. And it's taking too long and too much money pull back on services, increasing skills?

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DAVE SHARMA: Well, that would be my, that would be one framework. But I mean, look, I, I think we need to look at this root and branch, but we also need to get immigration to a level that's more in line with our historic average, which is probably in the order of  200,000 and 250,000 a year.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: You got your hand up for a new gig yet? Or,

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DAVE SHARMA: I'm happy to serve in anything that I can help.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: I knew you were going to say that.

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DAVE SHARMA: Thank you.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: Have you spoken to Angus Taylor and I'm sure you've wished him well, but for something that might appeal to you?

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DAVE SHARMA: I, I haven't had those conversations, but if I had, I, I wouldn't be discussing them on air of a program.

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PETE STEFANOVIC: Fair enough. enough. I appreciate it. I thought I'd try anyway. Good to see you, Dave.

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DAVE SHARMA: Thanks so much, Peter.

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[ENDS]