By John Paterson — 21 Aug 2025

What I would do if I was Prime Minister

I reckon I could do a far better job of running the country than Albo - or any other politician. Here's what I would do differently:

I would end the housing crisis and record levels of homelessness by stopping immigration.
I would end negative gearing and the CGT discount and increase taxes on second and subsequent properties to give first home buyers an advantage.

I would boost wages, increase productivity and increase workplace training by not flooding the labour market with masses of cheap third-world labour.
There is no such thing as a "labour shortage" or a "skills shortage". Labour is a resource. If the demand for labour was greater than the supply, what should happen is wages would increase until supply and demand reached equilibrium. If demand for a particular skill was greater than supply, wages for people with that skill should increase - which then attracts more people to learn that skill. This is how the labour market is supposed to work. It's how the labour market has worked since the beginning of civilisation. If you can't get staff, you're not paying enough. If you can't pay more, you're not productive enough. This is not some sort of national emergency that the Govt needs to remedy. Workers shouldn't have to live in tents in order to keep your crappy business afloat.
If the "ageing population" is really an issue, I would solve it by encouraging increased workforce participation in the over 65s. We're living longer, so we may need to work longer. Immigration is just kicking the can down the road. Migrants get old too.
I would prioritise decreasing the wealth gap.

I would save $40b per year on infrastructure spend for migrants and instead use that money on projects that benefit taxpayers.
I would stop building stupid bike lanes that nobody uses. Decisions will be based on practicality - not ideology.

I would end mass immigration. It's a scam. It only benefits big business by increasing the size of their markets - which increases revenues and by increasing the supply of labour - which decreases wages. Corporations "influence" the Govt. to keep increasing immigration. For the rest of us, immigration has no benefits and is extremely detrimental (housing crisis, stagnating wages, cost of infrastructure, damage to the environment, increased demand on power and water, overburdened Govt. services, congestion, overdevelopment...). All of the excuses we've been given for mass immigration are lies. It's not good for the economy (if you want a bigger GDP - move to India. Their GDP is twice Australia's), it does nothing for an ageing population (the average age of migrants is around the same as the rest of the population and the population bubble caused by mass immigration completely dwarfs the baby-boomers.) and there is no such thing as a labour shortage (if 20+ years of mass immigration and an extra 8 million people hasn't fixed the "labour shortage" by now, it's never going to). When I say immigration is a scam, it's not hyperbole - I mean it's literally a scam.

I would close the gap by funding free boarding school places for Indigenous kids in our best schools. This approach has a proven track record.
I would change Australia Day to the first Friday in February so that it's a guaranteed long weekend and not a horrible shit-fight every year (and Jan 26th isn't really Australia Day anyway - it's NSW's foundation day. There was no such thing as Australia in 1788. NSW was a British colony in New Holland There's literally NO reason to have Australia Day on Jan 26th).
I would stop dividing the country with identity politics.

I would boost defence by learning from the war in Ukraine and investing heavily in drone technology, development and training.

I would boost industry and productivity by providing cheap, reliable, clean nuclear energy.

I would not negotiate with terrorists and wouldn't recognise Palestine until all the hostages had been released.

I would stop corporate control of the Government and restore democracy by governing for the people instead.
I would introduce direct democracy so that Australians could stop the government doing things that are not in our best interest - like mass immigration.
I would sack eKaren.

I would declare climate change to be a cult and put some adults in charge of energy.