Speaking from Brisbane, Peter Dutton responded to the government's aviation statements, criticising the government's relationship with former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and the cost of living crisis.
“Don't forget the friendship, the very close friendship, between Alan Joyce and Anthony Albanese, which has reduced the competition,” Dutton said, commenting on the failure of talks between the transport minister and Qatar Airways to expand its flights to Australia.
“Less competition means higher prices and unfortunately Australians are paying more and more for their flights and we need to have more competition.”
“Consumers should pay less for air tickets, although there are many more people willing to buy them than under the constant price increases under the Albanian government.”
Dutton was entering the Brisbane electorate of Ryan to support the campaign of Maggie Forrest, the LNP candidate seeking to unseat first-term incumbent senator Elizabeth Watson-Brown.
Watson-Brown won the seat for the Green Party by 8.7 per cent against the Liberal National Party in the 2022 federal election.
Dutton took the opportunity to criticise the Greens' policy platform, describing it as not reflecting the interests of Brisbane voters.
“The Greens believe in abolishing private health insurance, which will kill our public system and make private health insurance prohibitively expensive for families,” Dutton said. “They want to legalize hard drugs, which will lead to a dramatic increase in crime.”
The Green Party's political platform aims to end private healthcare discounts and legalise cannabis, but decriminalise other drugs.