Dutton to spruik Opposition's energy strategy in Newcastle

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton visits the Hunter Region on day three of the federal election campaign.

Transcript

00:00Well, we've all just pulled up in the Hunter, which is mining town, and it is really Labor

00:08heartland, but it is certainly an area that Peter Dutton has his eye on. There are a couple

00:12of seats here that he is particularly keen on. We're currently in the seat of Paterson,

00:17and that is a seat that's held by Meryl Swanson, and the Liberal Party are running Lawrence

00:23and Cliff, so quite a prominent local candidate. Peter Dutton is on his way here. We've just

00:29pulled up to a mining equipment company called Cougar. We understand the Opposition will

00:33be talking about their energy plans today, about the fuel excise, the policies that they

00:38say will bring down the cost of energy and help businesses like this one.

00:43And Isabel, the Opposition has also commented on these latest opinion polls.

00:48Yeah, and we haven't heard from Peter Dutton yet this morning. We are expecting to very

00:53shortly, but we have heard from James Paterson, who is of course the spokesperson for the

00:58Dutton campaign. As usual, when these sorts of polls come out, neither party likes to

01:03place too much weight on them, but it does represent a trend towards Labor and towards

01:08the Prime Minister, and we heard from Senator Paterson on this earlier.

01:11No, I'm not concerned. What these polls show is that the election is close. That will be

01:16decided in the campaign. We've got a very positive message about how we'll get our country

01:21back on track, how we'll improve Australia's financial circumstances, how we'll make our

01:25communities safe, and Peter Dutton is a strong leader who can deliver on that.

01:29James Paterson there. So, as I say, we're just waiting for Peter Dutton to show up here

01:34and put on the high-vis. I think I'm already wearing it, and we'll hear from him shortly.