ABC RADIO SYDNEY
MONDAY, 15 JUNE 2026
SUBJECT: NEW RESOLVE POLLING, ONE NATION, HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
HAMISH MACDONALD, HOST: It is nineteen minutes past nine and it’s time to talk politics. Here this week, as always, Sam Maiden from news.com.au and joining her is Susan Templeman, Labor MP for Macquarie which spans of course, the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Penrith and Emu Plains. Good morning to you both.
SAMANTHA MAIDEN, POLITICAL EDITOR FOR NEWS.COM.AU: Good morning.
SUSAN TEMPLEMAN, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MACQUARIE: Good morning.
MACDONALD: So, Sam Maiden, we try to avoid too much poll talk but there is -
MAIDEN: No, we don’t. We’re mad for it. Like a rat up a drainpipe.
MACDONALD: Pauline Hanson is now the preferred Prime Minister according to the Resolve poll overnight. It’s significant, isn’t it, because it’s a non-major party political figure that is now in front?
MAIDEN: Yes, that’s correct. I mean, look, it is highly unusual. I can't remember something like that happening. Before that said, you know, I don't put much store on the preferred prime minister. Usually, it's the prime minister and sometimes before a change of government, it's the opposition leader. It doesn't really mean a lot. I think what is more significant is One Nation's primary vote, which is obviously climbing to a figure that is equal in some polls higher than the Labor Party. So that's huge and that's significant. And I think really, it's a reflection of the fact that voters are pretty filthy out there, right? They're filthy about a whole bunch of things. And there's probably more trouble for the Labor Party to come because don't forget now that we've had, you know, the good news it would seem of this, you know, what Donald Trump's announced in relation to Iran in the last hour or so, any sort of ceasefire, end of the war in that region, which is obviously unequivocally a good thing, really does completely rule out out any sort of extension of the petrol excise freeze, which no one, I think, really seriously thought was going to be extended anyway. So what I'm saying is, you know, like by the end of the month, July 1, petrol prices are going to go up again and presumably that could quite rightly, I suppose, create a new level of unhinging.
MACDONALD: Yes. And we will actually catch up with Laura Tingle after the news at 9.30, just for an update on what exactly this deal does or does not include and whether or not Iran and the US has actually signed it.
MAIDEN: Done anything at all.
MACDONALD: I don't know what your memory of all the history of polls is, Sam, but can you think of a time that a female leader of an opposition party has been preferred prime minister?
MAIDEN: No, not off the top of my head. And, you know, presumably there would have been obviously a time that Julia Gillard was the preferred PM when she was the PM but, like I can't recall her ever being the preferred PM before she was the PM, and there's no real example, I don't think, of Sussan Ley ever being the preferred PM. So, it's a first for Lady Hanson.
MACDONALD: Well, Barnaby Joyce was on Radio National Breakfast earlier and said somewhat cautious.
[AUDIO GRAB]
BARNABY JOYCE, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR NEW ENGLAND: Well, the first thing is don't get carried away. I'm very aware of hubris and that is we will concentrate on the here and now. We will concentrate on the policy of now. The election is still some way away and polls are indicators, not votes.
[AUDIO GRAB ENDS]
MACDONALD: That's Barnaby Joyce this morning. Susan Templeman, who are you now viewing as the opposition or the opposition leader? Is it Angus Taylor or is it Pauline Hanson?
TEMPLEMAN: You know, I don't actually think about it in that way. I think about what I am hearing from my community about what they want us to do in government. And I'm certainly seeing that One Nation is really good at fuelling fury and frustration, but, you know, they're not coming up with any problem solving that would make a difference. And so, what I'm hearing from people and what my focus is the things that we do that alleviate the cost of living pressures people are feeling and obviously taking action on housing, which is one of the... Housing affordability is one of the really underlying issues, you know, which is why we're doing the things we're doing, as well as the cheaper medicines, more bulk billing. So, I take my cues not from what a poll says, but from what my community says to me. And I think that's what every Labor MP is doing right now.
MACDONALD: Sam, something that I just, with regards to what Susan was saying there, something I'm noticing more and more here on 702 as people call in and talk about One Nation is that they are pointing to policy positions that One Nation has, whether it's on CGT or whether it's on housing or perhaps on the way the gas industry works and sovereign wealth funds. And they're talking specifically about those policies as what's leading them to One Nation. Is it still correct to say One Nation is sort of policy-free zone?
MAIDEN: Well, I mean, they've always had policies. I suppose there hasn't always been so much of a focus on that. They've been more, you know, I suppose, defined by, you know, the things that they've said on, you know, about the immigration and things like that. But mean, that's still a policy, right? I think what perhaps you're alluding to is the fact that, I suppose, aggression, anger about the budget is driving people to consider alternatives and then they're raising that issue. So, it's not necessarily that, you know, the policy they have is still reactive, if you know what I mean. But I mean, I think that there's a whole bunch of things going on. There's a real policy of a sort of issue of grievance in the electorate and that is driving people to Pauline Hanson and she is reacting. But the core issue that they have always campaigned on, which she's been pretty resolute on for 30 years or however long it is, immigration. And, you know, I think that's still a huge part of, you know, what she stands for and why people are attracted to it.
MACDONALD: Susan Templeman, is your government moving closer towards linking housing issues and policy with immigration? Is that something that we're, you know, listening to Tony Burke, for example, it does sound as if at least your rhetoric, if not your policies, are slightly shifting.
TEMPLEMAN: Well, I think it's been consistent because we've always said there's a range of factors in housing. You know, one was supply and you certainly need skilled labour to be able to build those houses. And so that's a really important part of getting housing affordability back under control. You know, what we're seeing is that... I go back to the days where Jackie Kelly in Lindsay was blaming migrants for the roads being congested. I mean, you're seeing frustrations from people and like they have done forever, there are people who will target a certain group and try and lay the blame there. And, you know, we will not accept that. What we will accept is that out of COVID, migration levels were too high, and that's why there's been such a significant cut to migration. But we need skilled labour. We need people who will help build Australia, physically and literally. You know, so it's not... I think we shouldn't be trying to have a black-and-white conversation about this. It is a nuanced conversation. And really unpacking what the sources of the frustration are. And I think what's interesting about this budget is it's actually going to address one of the things that is a real frustration, and that is the ability of our kids or our grandkids to be able to afford houses. But, you know, of course, it's not an instant fix. And I understand that people are frustrated that there's not a quick fix to it. But I really believe and we believe that the policies will help alleviate housing pressures for young people and older people who want to buy their first home. And that's how we'll tackle, you know, the threats that are there in trying to skew people to have picked someone and blame them for it.
MACDONALD: But, Susan Templeman, do you think people are open to nuanced discussions that delve into the causal factors? I just wonder if these times are, you know, people are available for that.
TEMPLEMAN: Well, heaven help us if they're not, and it's our job to make it accessible. You know, one of the things I get most feedback about that's positive is around cheaper medicines and more bulk billing. Now, a few years ago, people were cynical about whether that would work. The opposition poo-pooed it. Pauline Hanson voted against a whole bunch of stuff around that. So, what we've shown people is we can do things that make a tangible difference. And that is now up to us to deliver and to show those benefits coming through. It was never going to happen in one term of government. And I think it's really important that the changes we've made to help the housing market are a recognition that supply alone was not going to solve the problem, problem, that we had to even the playing field so that you weren't at an auction or bidding. We don't have a lot of auctions in my part of the world, but you weren't up against someone who had the taxpayer in their pocket as well as all the money that they'd saved themselves.
MACDONALD: News headlines coming up in a few minutes time. Susan Templeman, Labor MP, is here and Sam Maiden from news.com.au. Sam, the public inquiries are happening this week, Senate inquiries into the changes to CGT that were delivered as part of the budget. Clearly people have staked out different positions on this. Is it clear to you that the government is going to shift or not? Obviously, when it comes to some of the other policy areas like NDIS changes, there's a view that the government is just holding the inquiries and public hearings as a sort of tick-the-box exercise.
MAIDEN: Well, I think it depends on how you define shifting, right? I mean, my personal view is I think the government is going to do exactly what it said it's going to do since the budget, which is that it's going to make some tweaks of special circumstances around venture capital and businesses with a low-cost base. I think they've been saying that from the start. Do I think they're going to dump the entirety of the CGT reforms or negative gearing reforms? No, I absolutely don't. And so, it's a question of how you define that. Are you looking for them to completely scuttle the policy? I don't think that's going to happen. Or do you define change in terms of having those carve-outs for specific groups, which I think is what they flagged from the beginning and I think what they're going to do.
MACDONALD: Sam Maiden, Susan Templeman, always good to talk. Thank you very much.
MAIDEN: Thank you.
TEMPLEMAN: Thank you.
ENDS
