Australian news and politics recap for March 20, 2025: Hecklers interrupt Peter Dutton and Angus Taylor

Protesters from climate action group Rising Tide have claimed responsibility for gatecrashing Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s Lowy Institute speech on Thursday.

The group snuck into the Sydney event by pretending to be media representatives before heckling Mr Dutton and holding a banner calling for an end to coal and gas projects.

Security dragged one of the men out of the event but not before he yelled: “Why are you lying to the Australian people about the cost of nuclear”.

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, Rising Tide protesters Zack Schofield and Nigel Cox claimed the attack.

“The Coalition’s scheme to force nuclear into Australia’s energy grid is going to cost $600 billion to the taxpayer, add up to $1,200 to people’s energy bills, and produce 1.6 billion tonnes of climate pollution by 2050,” Mr Schofield said.

“This idea is so colossally dumb that we’re now even seeing Liberal stalwarts campaigning against their own party,” the statement said.

“We cannot afford more distraction and delay with absolute potato policies like nuclear.”

The activist group were also behind the gatecrashing of Treasurer Jim Chalmer’s speech at the Queensland Media Club in Brisbane earlier in the week, where they waved the same blue banner on stage.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has argued that Australia should not send troops to Ukraine because the country’s defence capabilities are “underdone as it is”.

Asked in a Q&A session at the Lowy Institute on Thursday, the Liberal leader criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s announcements that Australia would send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.

He argued that European nations should step up and take on the job of policing and managing any Ukraine-Russian ceasefire, doubling down on his objection to sending Aussies to the region.

Mr Dutton suggested that Australia’s resources would be better spent on training, capability acquisition, and supporting Ukraine’s rebuilding efforts, rather than deploying troops.

“The thought that we’re going to send troops from our shores at a time when the Prime Minister says, in our region, it’s the most precarious period since the Second World War - we’re underdone as it is,” he said.

“The billions of dollars, as I point out... are better spent and directed into training and acquisition of capability.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said a circumnavigation of Australia by a trio of Chinese warships showed a “critical failure” in the country’s defence capabilities.

He said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had a “weak response” to what he believed was a test for Australia.

“It was a show of force,” he said.

“I think what was being tested was our response time, how we would engage, what we would say.

“And I think the Prime Minister, frankly, failed.

“It showed also a critical failure in our response capacities. There were surface assets that were deployed, but again, there’s no urgency to that task.”

Mr Dutton vowed to build a strong relationship with Beijing if elected, and arguing that President Xi Jinping would likely have no respect for a “weak and incompetent Australian Prime Minister”

“I do want to see the trading relationship prosper and expand,” he said.

Mr Dutton has criticised the Albanese government for its treatment of Israel, including changing Australia’s position on recognising West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“Prior to the election, Labor promised that its support for Israel would be no different to that of the Coalitions,” he told the Lowy Institute on Thursday.

“But after coming to power, of course, Labor - unilaterally and without consultation - changed Australia’s position.

He accused the government of adopting adversarial positions towards Israel to shore up Labor’s votes in certain seats.

“The government should have sent a strong and clear message that it stood with our ally,” he said.

“Instead, the government’s response, we began to hear unreasonable calls for immediate restraint.

“Calls for Israel to de-escalate and to pause its military response. Now, these calls persisted, despite hostages remaining in chains, being executed.

“There have been other illogical, ill, tired and inappropriate calls from the Albanese government.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has described US President Donald Trump’s tough-on-tariffs approach as “unjustified” and urged Labor to do more.

“Let me be very clear, we disagree with President Trump’s decision to apply these tariffs, they’re not just unjustified. They benefit neither Australia or the United States,” he said.

“Let me tell you what’s holding back Australia’s national interest, a Prime Minister who is unable to get a phone call with the US president to discuss the tariffs.

“I do believe that if there’s a change of government, I will be able to work with the Trump administration to get better outcomes for Australians.”

He slammed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for not being able to strike an exemption with Trump ahead of the March 12 deadline for their implementation.

Mr Dutton has said there is “no equivalence” between “elected” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and “unelected dictator” Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Dutton said in a speech to the Lowy Institute said Australia should continue to support Ukraine and he was “disappointed” by Mr Zelensky’s White House treatment.

The Ukrainian leader was told to leave the White House after an angry exchange with the US president late last month.

“I was deeply disappointed by the treatment of President Zelensky at the White House, and I made that public before, but the Trump administration wants peace and an end to the conflict, and we share that objective,” he said.

“However, it will be an uneasy peace if Ukraine is not provided with robust and lasting security guarantees.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has criticised Prime Minister Albanese’s lack of prior national security and economic experience, arguing this has led to “catastrophic failures” in key policy areas under the current government.

The Liberal leader is at the Lowy Institute speaking about international affairs and the opposition’s foreign policy agenda ahead of the upcoming federal election.

“The reason we’ve seen catastrophic failures in defence, diplomacy and national security under the government is that Anthony Albanese has not provided strong, clear, sighted and values-driven leadership,” he said.

He said Australia needed to become more self-reliant and resilient on defence and national security matters.

Mr Dutton pledged to urgently develop sovereign defence capabilities to ensure Australia is not overly dependent on allies in times of crisis.

One of the men who heckled Mr Dutton yelled: “Why are you lying to the Australian people about the cost of nuclear”.

The man was then dragged out by one of Mr Dutton’s bodyguards

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Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s speech at the Lowy Institute has been interrupted by climate protesters.

Security acted swiftly to block a man with a blue banner which appeared to reference stopping coal and gas projects in Australia.

The protesters appeared similar to a group which targeted Treasurer Jim Chalmer’s speech in Brisbane at the Queensland Press Club earlier in the week.

In his speech to pharmacists, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reaffirmed the government’s commitment to protecting and enhancing Medicare, calling it a “proud part of our Australian identity.”

“That patriotic piece of green and gold plastic, or these days on your phone, is something that is a proud part of our Australian identity,” he said.

“Medicare is one of the most meaningful expressions of that most Australian of sayings ‘the fair go’.

“It is why our government has made the biggest investment in Medicare since its creation.”

Labor last month announced it $8.5 billion bulk-billing plan as its major election pitch, only to be gazumped a few hours later by the Liberal Party’s promise to raise it to $9 billion.

He also vowed to defend the PBS as a “monument to fairness” that will not be up for negotiation.

“We can also take great pride in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). It has become part of the Australian story,” he said.

The Labor leader also highlighted the vital role that local pharmacists play in healthcare while speaking at the Australian Pharmacy Professional Conference on the Gold Coast, saying they served on the “front line” as a trusted part of the communities they serve.