Transcript

Sharri | 21 April · Sharri

0:01
Speaker 1: Why Oscy News.
0:04
Speaker 2: This is Shari.
0:07
Speaker 3: Good Evening Tonight, extraordinary details on one of the main
0:11
Speaker 3: accusers against Ben Robert Smith. You won't believe the deal
0:15
Speaker 3: that AFP has given him in exchange for his testimony.
0:19
Speaker 3: More on that big story in just a moment. Also tonight,
0:23
Speaker 3: Vice President j D Vance prepares to head to Pakistan
0:26
Speaker 3: for peace talks. Will cross live to the US to
0:29
Speaker 3: find out whether Iran will actually turn up. New data
0:33
Speaker 3: shows Australians are paying records taxes. As we're worn to
0:37
Speaker 3: brace for a stagflation nightmare for first tonight, shocking information
0:43
Speaker 3: is emerging about Ben Robert Smith's main accuser. One of
0:48
Speaker 3: them is known as Person four. He's a former SAS
0:51
Speaker 3: trooper who was a new member of the team in
0:54
Speaker 3: two thousand and nine. Although he wasn't the youngest, he
0:58
Speaker 3: was about twenty years older than some of the others.
1:01
Speaker 3: This soldier, Person four has been accused of murdering an
1:06
Speaker 3: Afghan man. The judgment in the Ben Robert Smith defamation
1:10
Speaker 3: trial states that nine the respondents alleged that Person four
1:16
Speaker 3: was ordered to shoot e KA one A fifty six
1:20
Speaker 3: so that he could be bloodied. Person four wouldn't respond
1:26
Speaker 3: to questions about this himself in the court case, claiming
1:30
Speaker 3: that it would amount to self incrimination. Yet he has
1:34
Speaker 3: been given immunity from prosecution in return for testifying against
1:40
Speaker 3: Ben Robert Smith. He is expected to claim that this
1:43
Speaker 3: murder was done on Robert Smith's instruction. Ben Robert Smith
1:49
Speaker 3: denies this. There was also a discussion about Person four's
1:53
Speaker 3: memory and mental health issues in the court case. So
1:58
Speaker 3: the person who is accused of actually pulling the trigger
2:03
Speaker 3: against so called Afghan civilian has been given immunity and anonymity.
2:10
Speaker 3: We only know him as Person four, while Robert Smith
2:15
Speaker 3: is named and shamed across the media. The Nightleies chief
2:20
Speaker 3: reporter Aaron Patrick tried to publish Person four's name. But
2:26
Speaker 3: here's what he said happened.
2:28
Speaker 4: I went to Federal court and I said, well can
2:33
Speaker 4: I name him? Have you got a suppression order.
2:36
Speaker 3: On his name?
2:37
Speaker 4: And they said, look, we'll get back to you.
2:38
Speaker 2: We'll get back to you.
2:39
Speaker 4: And then then I found out through other sources that
2:42
Speaker 4: they've gone to all the parties to the defamation case
2:45
Speaker 4: and said, well, what do you think shall we let
2:47
Speaker 4: the Nightly publish this guy's name. So they've gone to
2:49
Speaker 4: nine her a media company here, so my competing media organization, unbelievable,
2:54
Speaker 4: gets to say as to what our editorial coverage can be.
3:00
Speaker 3: Why would rival media outlet nine be asked for their
3:03
Speaker 3: opinion about publicly naming person four who's actually accused of
3:09
Speaker 3: one of the murders. It's extraordinary. It seems there is
3:13
Speaker 3: little separation between Nine's vendetta against Ben Robert Smith and
3:18
Speaker 3: the Commonwealth's case. Now, in total, four former sas soldiers
3:23
Speaker 3: have also been given immunity in return for their cooperation
3:28
Speaker 3: in testimony against Ben Robert Smith. Now there are serious
3:33
Speaker 3: questions here. Why has the AFP and federal government decided
3:38
Speaker 3: that BRS Ben Roberts Smith should be the only person
3:42
Speaker 3: facing prison time instead of the other four involved. Why
3:47
Speaker 3: were the others offered immunity deals. Very few are asking
3:51
Speaker 3: these questions of the AFP and the Commonwealth, even after
3:56
Speaker 3: the AFP Commissioner Chrissy Barrett chose to publicly Robert Smith
4:01
Speaker 3: in front of his children rather than take up his
4:04
Speaker 3: offer to turn himself in. Now, Aaron Patrick, we mentioned
4:08
Speaker 3: this last night that he was doing a bigger story
4:10
Speaker 3: on this, and he has done a front page story
4:13
Speaker 3: on this in the Nightly tonight. This has just been published.
4:16
Speaker 3: In the last hour, he's interviewed a University of WA
4:21
Speaker 3: law professor Melanie O'Brien who's writing a book on war
4:25
Speaker 3: crimes in Afghanistan, and she says prosecutors should not protect
4:29
Speaker 3: soldiers who committed crimes to secure the convictions of their superiors.
4:35
Speaker 3: She says, you can't be acquitted because you carried out
4:39
Speaker 3: an unlawful order, especially if you knew it was unlawful.
4:43
Speaker 3: Our soldiers receive quite extensive training under the laws of war,
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Speaker 3: so they know they will not be allowed to execute
4:50
Speaker 3: someone who is unarmed and not a combatant. Aaron Patrick
4:54
Speaker 3: also reports the evidence given in the defamation case that
4:58
Speaker 3: this person four, as I said, he's one of the
5:01
Speaker 3: main accusers against Ben Robert Smith. Aaron Patrick reports that
5:05
Speaker 3: he was initially passed over for a Victoria Cross and
5:10
Speaker 3: he was hurt and disappointed, but three years later Person
5:15
Speaker 3: four was then awarded a Medal for gallantry, the third
5:19
Speaker 3: ranked Bravery decoration. Patrick reports the allegation that Person four
5:25
Speaker 3: has said that he was told by other sas soldiers
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Speaker 3: that he deserved a Victoria Cross, not mister Robert Smith.
5:34
Speaker 3: At an sas barbecue in Perth in twenty eleven, his
5:38
Speaker 3: wife approached the sergeant in charge of their team and
5:42
Speaker 3: demanded to know why her husband did not receive the
5:45
Speaker 3: venerated medal. According to court evidence, the sergeant told her
5:50
Speaker 3: to pull her neck it, he said in court. Robert
5:55
Speaker 3: Smith was in twenty twelve promoted to team leader, while
6:00
Speaker 3: Person four was his deputy. Aaron Patrick reports that he
6:05
Speaker 3: left the army in twenty twenty one on medical grounds
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Speaker 3: and that he was not required to give evidence after
6:11
Speaker 3: telling his psychiatrists that he might hurt himself. And Patrick
6:17
Speaker 3: reports that the five types of medicine he was being
6:19
Speaker 3: treated with were blocked from publication by a suppression order.
6:25
Speaker 3: So that's person four well. Patrick then writes about each
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Speaker 3: of the four former Essays veterans who have been promised
6:33
Speaker 3: legal protection to testify against Ben Robert Smith, and I quote.
6:38
Speaker 3: Each of these witnesses has admitted their personal involvement in
6:42
Speaker 3: executing one or more detainees at the direction, all with
6:47
Speaker 3: the complicity of Robert Smith. The written allegation state in
6:51
Speaker 3: each instance Robert Smith was their military superior. These witnesses
6:57
Speaker 3: have provided written accounts of their actions. Each details other
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Speaker 3: murders they witnessed, and Patrick enns his piece with a
7:06
Speaker 3: question which may lead Australians to ask, how do you
7:11
Speaker 3: get away with murder in war?
7:15
Speaker 2: Now?
7:15
Speaker 3: Until now Australians aren't even aware of all of this detail,
7:21
Speaker 3: but still many instinctively are uncomfortable about how this is
7:26
Speaker 3: all playing out. Former Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon spoke about
7:31
Speaker 3: the relentless campaign against Ben Robert Smith where there's an
7:35
Speaker 3: attempt to silence supporters.
7:39
Speaker 5: But what really angers me is all these progressives now
7:41
Speaker 5: coming out and urging people like me to shut up
7:45
Speaker 5: because we're prejudicing Ben's case. Nothing could be further from
7:51
Speaker 5: the case. We have to be out there supporting Ben
7:54
Speaker 5: because there are so many others pushing the other side.
7:58
Speaker 5: Per In and I'll mention again the sixty minutes piece
8:01
Speaker 5: where they used actors to dramatize the allegations against Ben,
8:05
Speaker 5: footage which most people would assume or many people would
8:08
Speaker 5: assume was real life. So we don't want to progress,
8:12
Speaker 5: We don't need progressives trying to quite or trying to
8:16
Speaker 5: get supporters of Ben to shut out, shut out under
8:19
Speaker 5: the con on the basis that they're of arguing that
8:22
Speaker 5: we're prejudicing his case somehow. It's a ridiculous argument.
8:28
Speaker 3: And Joe Fitzgibbon will be on this show on Thursday Night.
8:31
Speaker 3: There's also a campaign for the War Memorial to drop
8:35
Speaker 3: its recognition of Ben Robert Smith and a media campaign
8:38
Speaker 3: to rescind his Victoria Cross metal. He was awarded it
8:43
Speaker 3: for showing immense courage and storming a Taliban compound to
8:47
Speaker 3: rescue Australian soldiers who'd been captured. Now. King George the
8:52
Speaker 3: Fifth famously declared that even a man facing the gallows
8:56
Speaker 3: for murder should be able to keep his Victori Cross. Now.
9:01
Speaker 3: This statement that he made is recorded in a letter
9:05
Speaker 3: from the King's Private Secretary, Lord stamfordom in nineteen twenty,
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Speaker 3: and it was in response to plans to strip soldiers
9:12
Speaker 3: of their medals due to subsequent criminal activity. King George
9:17
Speaker 3: the Fifth believed that if the VC was awarded for
9:20
Speaker 3: an act of supreme courage, that could never be erased,
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Speaker 3: and this seems to be prescient in the Ben Robert
9:28
Speaker 3: Smith case and many Australians would likely agree. Let's turn
9:39
Speaker 3: now to this big story by James Dowling in The
9:42
Speaker 3: Australian Today a former Iranian ambassador Mohammad Ebrahim Tarrean Fad
9:48
Speaker 3: reportedly helped funnel cash to Hesblah through Beirut and now
9:54
Speaker 3: his daughter, who was granted Australian citizenship, is working as
9:59
Speaker 3: an analyst in Queensland's Health Department. There's no suggestion she's
10:04
Speaker 3: done anything wrong, but it has reignited questions about vetting
10:09
Speaker 3: citizenship checks and whether Australia is properly screening close family
10:14
Speaker 3: links to hostile regimes to discuss. Let's bring it now.
10:18
Speaker 3: Let's bring in our Sky News host Steve Price, and Steve,
10:22
Speaker 3: thank you again for filling in while I was away.
10:24
Speaker 3: You did a terrific job as always. And let's also
10:27
Speaker 3: bring in former Labor Chief of Staff kimdri Milner. Great
10:30
Speaker 3: to see you both, Steve. This begs the question, this
10:35
Speaker 3: great story by James Dowling, how serious is the vetting
10:38
Speaker 3: process by Home Affairs?
10:43
Speaker 2: Well, we want to know, don't we.
10:45
Speaker 1: That the people are being allowed to settle in this
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Speaker 1: country and ultimately become Australian citizens don't have a background
10:51
Speaker 1: that could be called into question. Now, as you say,
10:54
Speaker 1: no one has suggested that this woman has done anything wrong.
10:56
Speaker 1: But if the story, which was brilliantly reported, is accurate.
11:00
Speaker 1: That her father was traveling in through Beirut with suitcases
11:06
Speaker 1: full of American dollars to fund Hezbala, then we should
11:10
Speaker 1: know that if we're going to let someone like that
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Speaker 1: settle in this country. I think the checks and balances
11:15
Speaker 1: have got to be much better. I think none of us, Cameron, you, me,
11:18
Speaker 1: and anyone watching believes at the moment that the checks
11:21
Speaker 1: and balance has done on people coming out of the
11:23
Speaker 1: Middle East have been adequate, particularly obviously the people who
11:27
Speaker 1: came out of Palestine during the Gaza dispute. I mean,
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Speaker 1: I just have no confidence that everyone has been checked.
11:34
Speaker 3: Properly, especially when you've got Tony Burker's the Home Affairs Minister. Cameron, Yeah,
11:42
Speaker 3: well that's.
11:42
Speaker 6: Right, and Burke's a big sympathizer with these people, isn't he.
11:45
Speaker 6: I mean, you know, Burke's running a very slack show,
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Speaker 6: letting three thousand people on a tourist visa come here
11:49
Speaker 6: and then we might do a couple of security checks later. No,
11:52
Speaker 6: what goes the heart of this is Australian's ability to
11:54
Speaker 6: trust government, trust our security forces, trust that if people
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Speaker 6: actually leave a horrible regime they don't keep sympathizing with
12:01
Speaker 6: them because we don't want sympathizers of the Iranian regime
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Speaker 6: living in Australia and becoming our citizens. We don't want them,
12:06
Speaker 6: and they shouldn't have bable to get through our security
12:08
Speaker 6: checks in a lax way. And I think that's the
12:10
Speaker 6: thing about today's story that's what's got everyone questioning it,
12:13
Speaker 6: which is who else has got through this sieve that
12:16
Speaker 6: there's supposedly our security network and how many other regime
12:20
Speaker 6: sympathizers are still sitting there in silos waiting to support
12:25
Speaker 6: the Iranian regime.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly right, it's a while.
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Speaker 1: I think it's very interesting, don't you, Chari. I think
12:32
Speaker 1: it's very interesting that that whole isis Bride's story seems
12:37
Speaker 1: to have died a very quick depth. I mean, at
12:39
Speaker 1: one point we had those women and children getting in
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Speaker 1: a van and heading out of the camp and on
12:43
Speaker 1: their way back to Australia, they were stopped down the road.
12:48
Speaker 1: No one's heard anything about that ever since. Where are
12:50
Speaker 1: they now? Are they still on the list to come.
12:52
Speaker 7: Back to you?
12:52
Speaker 3: Who knows exactly. I was actually just speaking to a
12:55
Speaker 3: contact today about them, and we need to find out
12:58
Speaker 3: where that's up to now. I just want to go
13:00
Speaker 3: back to the Band Robert Smith case that I was
13:02
Speaker 3: just speaking about a moment ago, Steve. You know so
13:05
Speaker 3: many in Australia are uncomfortable about this. Now we're learning
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Speaker 3: more about these accusers who've been given immunity in return
13:14
Speaker 3: for their testimony. How do you think this is all.
13:17
Speaker 1: Sitting something about the stinks? And I think the night
13:24
Speaker 1: they have done an outstanding job. And well done to
13:26
Speaker 1: you for interview the author of that article last night
13:30
Speaker 1: and replaying it today, because we need to know there's
13:33
Speaker 1: something not right about what's going on here. And I
13:37
Speaker 1: just wish that the opposition would, the federal opposition would
13:41
Speaker 1: have a braver voice in all of this, because I
13:43
Speaker 1: can't go anywhere these days without people bailing me up
13:47
Speaker 1: and saying what do you think about the Ben Roberts
13:49
Speaker 1: Smith case. Now, obviously we're going to let that unfold
13:52
Speaker 1: in the courts, and he has been charged, but there
13:56
Speaker 1: is an unhealthy obsession by the nine newspapers Ben Robert Smith.
14:01
Speaker 1: I mean, if you read the version in the Sydney
14:03
Speaker 1: Morning Herald of what happened when he got out of
14:06
Speaker 1: silver Water Jail last Friday night. I mean they had
14:09
Speaker 1: battalions of photographers there attempting to get pictures of Ben
14:13
Speaker 1: Robert Smith. I mean they don't sit in this as
14:17
Speaker 1: an independent entity. In my view, they are trying to
14:21
Speaker 1: justify their journalism and it shows when you read their coverage.
14:25
Speaker 1: I just think something is badly wrong.
14:28
Speaker 3: And then of course there's Chrissy Barrett's role in having
14:32
Speaker 3: him arrested in front of his children. I think that
14:34
Speaker 3: really she needs to come under a bit more pressure
14:37
Speaker 3: on that decision. Cameron, what do you think of all
14:41
Speaker 3: of this also the campaign to have him stripped of
14:45
Speaker 3: his VC.
14:48
Speaker 6: Well, I think this is a really big problem, isn't
14:50
Speaker 6: And to your point, Stephen, we've got a section of
14:52
Speaker 6: the media who are hate obsessed, hate obsessed about a
14:55
Speaker 6: guy who, for goodness sake, is a war hero. He's
14:58
Speaker 6: a war legend. He served six tours which on our watch,
15:02
Speaker 6: he saved lives, he won a VC. None of the
15:06
Speaker 6: cases accusations relate to any of those matters. So he's
15:09
Speaker 6: still a war hero, and he has the presumption of
15:11
Speaker 6: innocence for goodness sake under our law in our country,
15:14
Speaker 6: but not not if you're the nine newspapers. No, there's
15:17
Speaker 6: sleazy journalism there. You know, they're hush money. You know,
15:20
Speaker 6: their approach to brs as guilty and charged by them
15:25
Speaker 6: is appalling and it's an indictment on their media and
15:28
Speaker 6: their status that they're doing this. I just hope he
15:30
Speaker 6: gets to court as quickly as humanly possible. He deserves
15:33
Speaker 6: the presumption of innocence. He deserves to have his day
15:36
Speaker 6: in court and to stop these slees bags running a
15:39
Speaker 6: great man down.
15:41
Speaker 3: But I think they're saying it's not going to get
15:43
Speaker 3: to pod until what twenty twenty nine, right, twenty twenty nine,
15:47
Speaker 3: long time away.
15:49
Speaker 8: But that's probably our justice system.
15:51
Speaker 3: I reread Steve go for it.
15:54
Speaker 1: I reread today. I reread today the citation of Ben
15:58
Speaker 1: Roberts Smith for that VC. He stormed on his own
16:03
Speaker 1: three machine gun nests who are trying to kill Australian soldiers.
16:06
Speaker 1: He stood up out of his six foot eight for
16:09
Speaker 1: goodness sake, he stood up out of a small piece
16:12
Speaker 1: of cover and exposed himself to fire from those machine
16:15
Speaker 1: guns to protect the rest of his patrol. I mean, seriously,
16:19
Speaker 1: we're three days out from ANZAC Day and we're running
16:23
Speaker 1: around trying to persecute this blank. I mean, I think
16:26
Speaker 1: the major if you ran a poll on this, Shari,
16:29
Speaker 1: if you ran a poll on this today in Australia,
16:32
Speaker 1: the overwhelming majority of people would agree with what you,
16:36
Speaker 1: Cameron and I have just said.
16:38
Speaker 3: I think there's also a lot of questions. Maybe I'll
16:43
Speaker 3: you know, explore this further another day, but you know,
16:46
Speaker 3: I know there are already questions about some of those whether
16:51
Speaker 3: they are Taliban members, were so called civilians. You know,
16:56
Speaker 3: it's a big story. And in some of the scenarios
17:01
Speaker 3: it was believed that there were compounds of Taliban, I
17:05
Speaker 3: mean they dressed the same, they were all in civilian clothing.
17:08
Speaker 3: The catch and release protocol where the Australian forces kept
17:13
Speaker 3: capturing the same people, they were then forced to release them.
17:16
Speaker 3: So there's a lot more to this to come. All right,
17:19
Speaker 3: let's move on. Victorian Liberal leader Jess Wilson, she's pledging
17:23
Speaker 3: jail time for those who vandalize war memorials.
17:26
Speaker 9: Have a look put in place toughnew laws, laws that
17:29
Speaker 9: will hold these offenders to account a maximum penalty of
17:32
Speaker 9: ten years. But most importantly, they will be responsible for
17:36
Speaker 9: paying the costs of actually rectifying the damage.
17:42
Speaker 3: Steve. This is obviously a very good policy, but also
17:44
Speaker 3: if it is true that not a single charge has
17:46
Speaker 3: been laid despite dozens of attacks since twenty twenty, then
17:50
Speaker 3: clearly enforcement is also an issue.
17:55
Speaker 1: Absolutely, there was at the Easter Long weekend, just a
17:58
Speaker 1: couple of weeks back, replaques were removed from a war
18:02
Speaker 1: memorial in Windsor in suburban Melbourne. I mean, Jess Wilson,
18:06
Speaker 1: you know, good honor for coming up with this policy.
18:08
Speaker 1: Could but I can just point out to you and Cameron,
18:11
Speaker 1: I mean, there is snowflake's chance in hell of anybody
18:15
Speaker 1: ever getting ten years for defacing a war memorial in Victoria.
18:20
Speaker 1: When you've got the magistrates on the benches that we
18:22
Speaker 1: have here. They don't put people in jail for ten
18:25
Speaker 1: years for slashing people with a machete and killing people.
18:28
Speaker 1: They're not going to do it because someone's thrown red
18:31
Speaker 1: paint on a digger's statue. I mean, good on Jess.
18:33
Speaker 1: I understand what she's trying to do. And it's the
18:35
Speaker 1: lead up to Anzac Day and look, I hate the
18:38
Speaker 1: fact that people to face war memorials. I'm actually going
18:40
Speaker 1: to write about a column about that in the Herald
18:42
Speaker 1: Sun this weekend. But the bench, the magistrates, they're not
18:46
Speaker 1: going to do anything about it.
18:47
Speaker 3: Sorry, well that's the big issue the magistrates, isn't it,
18:51
Speaker 3: And the enforcement as well. Cameron, what do you think
18:54
Speaker 3: how is Jess Wilson going? Is she doing enough? Are
18:59
Speaker 3: there enough policy like these for her to actually win
19:02
Speaker 3: against Justina Allen later this year?
19:06
Speaker 6: Well no, there aren't. And however, worthy of this issue
19:08
Speaker 6: it's not about cost of living, it's not about what
19:10
Speaker 6: the voters actually want to hear. I mean, Jess Wilson
19:12
Speaker 6: comes across as a head prefect heading out tensions for
19:15
Speaker 6: uniform breaches. I mean that's about as serious as she looks.
19:18
Speaker 6: Just into Allan's hanging out free transport to every Victorian.
19:21
Speaker 6: I mean, it's not even the same game. And yet
19:23
Speaker 6: you know, Jess Wilson pretends to be an alternative premier. So,
19:26
Speaker 6: however worthy of this policy is she's not cutting it,
19:28
Speaker 6: She's not doing enough policy work on the matters that
19:31
Speaker 6: really matters to Victorians, and Alan is eating her alive,
19:35
Speaker 6: sure with taxpayers money, but eating her alive in terms
19:37
Speaker 6: of public policy and a popular position, especially around something
19:40
Speaker 6: like free public transport in the middle of a fuel crisis.
19:44
Speaker 3: Steve camer makes a good point there. I mean, if
19:46
Speaker 3: Justiner Alan wins again, maybe you'll be moving to Sydney.
19:53
Speaker 1: Well, I've said for for a very long time just
19:55
Speaker 1: Cinder Allen probably loses her own seat, but labor gets back.
19:57
Speaker 1: Cameron's made a very good point there. I mean, how
20:01
Speaker 1: more transparent can you be than saying, okay, we're going
20:05
Speaker 1: to have half priced public transport all the way until
20:09
Speaker 1: after the election at the end of the year, after
20:11
Speaker 1: the Iran oil prices could well be well and truly over.
20:14
Speaker 1: Then today she goes out to the western suburbs and
20:17
Speaker 1: hands out several hundred millions of dollars for a new
20:21
Speaker 1: maternity ward in the western suburbs of Melbourne where she
20:24
Speaker 1: needs to retain labor seats. I mean, seriously, and that
20:28
Speaker 1: labor machine camera. I don't know how much you had
20:30
Speaker 1: to do with trying to help build it, but boy,
20:32
Speaker 1: it's good. It's bloody good it is.
20:35
Speaker 6: It's very good, Steve, it's very good.
20:38
Speaker 3: Are you taking credit for that? Are you taking credit
20:40
Speaker 3: for that? Really? Cameron, You're going to have a lot
20:41
Speaker 3: of hate mail if you are.
20:43
Speaker 7: No, no, no, no, no.
20:44
Speaker 6: But it's a generation of campaigners that Labour's trained up.
20:47
Speaker 6: I mean the Liberals have got a bunch of dilettants
20:50
Speaker 6: compared to Labour's hard guys. I mean they know how
20:52
Speaker 6: to win campaigns. They know they want to win every
20:54
Speaker 6: every election. They never want to give up and if
20:57
Speaker 6: they've got a chance to breathe, they'll keep fighting.
21:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, all right. Just before we go, Cameron, I
21:03
Speaker 3: actually want to turn to your article that you've written
21:06
Speaker 3: about how the three hundred and seventy billion dollar ORCA
21:09
Speaker 3: submarine plan. You know, as valuable as it is that
21:14
Speaker 3: the current war was, and Iran have already exposed it
21:16
Speaker 3: has outdated. Why do you say this.
21:20
Speaker 6: Well, Pat Conroy agreed with me today. He came out
21:23
Speaker 6: and said that drones are the way to go after
21:25
Speaker 6: learning from Ukraine in the Middle Eastern just a bit.
21:27
Speaker 6: What we've got as this situation where war is changing
21:29
Speaker 6: really rapidly, and the first sub's not going to be
21:31
Speaker 6: here for another seven years and the third sub not
21:34
Speaker 6: for another twenty five years. So it's an awfully long
21:36
Speaker 6: time when Australia hasn't even got forty days left of fuel,
21:39
Speaker 6: when the straightahmves is cutting our economy to shreds, So
21:43
Speaker 6: we need to be a lot smarter. Learn from the
21:45
Speaker 6: modern warfare that even the Iranians are holding the Americans
21:48
Speaker 6: back in the straightahhmovez with asymmetric warfare, So we need
21:51
Speaker 6: to be a lot smarter. Learn new technologies which are
21:54
Speaker 6: a lot cheaper. I mean, our ghosts, those shark subs
21:57
Speaker 6: which are going to blow up ships and subs are
21:59
Speaker 6: two billion dollar dollars, two billion dollars compared to the
22:01
Speaker 6: three sixty billion for only three subs that the Americans
22:05
Speaker 6: are going to run anyway. So no, I'm a big
22:07
Speaker 6: support of the US Alliance. We just need to learn
22:09
Speaker 6: that the wartime is moving fast and the drones and
22:12
Speaker 6: new tech and cheap tech are a great way to
22:15
Speaker 6: defend a nation.
22:16
Speaker 3: Well, Steve, when you look at our defense strategy more broadly,
22:19
Speaker 3: I mean aside from UCUS, which I do strongly believe
22:23
Speaker 3: is of course still worth investing in. But aside from that,
22:27
Speaker 3: I mean you look at America, you look at Israel.
22:30
Speaker 3: We're nowhere near. We couldn't stand on our own two
22:33
Speaker 3: feet if required, and given we rely on the United
22:36
Speaker 3: States so heavily. Can you believe how the Prime Minister
22:39
Speaker 3: and the foreign minister speak about the President of the US.
22:46
Speaker 1: Well, what about the defense minister Richard Marles going to
22:48
Speaker 1: the press club last week and saying we were going
22:50
Speaker 1: to get to three percent of GDP spending on defense
22:54
Speaker 1: because we were going to go down the NATO road
22:57
Speaker 1: on how they actually measure what three percent is. That
23:00
Speaker 1: includes including all defense personnel pensions in what it costs
23:05
Speaker 1: you for your defense budget. So I mean, seriously, I
23:09
Speaker 1: slightly disagree with Cameron. I think aucas we may not
23:13
Speaker 1: get another sub for seven years, but we should be
23:16
Speaker 1: putting money into building submarine bases as we are at
23:20
Speaker 1: Sterling in WA. We should be looking at what we
23:23
Speaker 1: do in Darwin in the Northern Territory and just host
23:26
Speaker 1: American submarines or British submarines here. We don't have to
23:29
Speaker 1: own them. I mean, you don't have to own the
23:31
Speaker 1: fastest car in the world to be able to drive it.
23:33
Speaker 2: So let's just do that.
23:34
Speaker 1: I mean, at least then if something does horrible happen
23:39
Speaker 1: with China, we've got some defense by saying to the Americans,
23:42
Speaker 1: here you go, you can stay here, We'll look after
23:45
Speaker 1: your No drama, all.
23:46
Speaker 3: Right, Camra Milner, Steve Price, thank you so much. Vice
23:51
Speaker 3: President J. D. Vante is preparing to fly to Islamabad
23:54
Speaker 3: with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushna if Oryan agrees to
23:58
Speaker 3: further talks. This is the ceasefire deadline looms Wednesday night,
24:03
Speaker 3: Washington time. Now, Champ has highlighted the effect of the
24:06
Speaker 3: blockade on Iran. He's posted on truth Social the blockade,
24:11
Speaker 3: which we will not take off until there is a deal,
24:14
Speaker 3: is absolutely destroying Iran. They're losing five hundred million dollars
24:18
Speaker 3: a day, an unsustainable number even in the short run.
24:23
Speaker 3: But for more, Sky News Washington correspondent Jonathan Kursley joins me, Now,
24:27
Speaker 3: thank you so much for your time. How likely is
24:30
Speaker 3: it that JD. Vance gets on the plane and that
24:34
Speaker 3: Iran agrees to these talks?
24:40
Speaker 2: Well, Shari, I think.
24:41
Speaker 7: When it comes to the Vice President getting on the
24:43
Speaker 7: plane and heading towards Pakistan, while the announcement till the
24:46
Speaker 7: suggestion that it was going to happen today seems the
24:49
Speaker 7: most likely indicator that he may well get on his
24:52
Speaker 7: way towards his Lammabad to Pakistan. There had been some
24:55
Speaker 7: suggestion yesterday that it could take place. Then clearly there
24:59
Speaker 7: was a bit of an eleventh hour standoff in what
25:01
Speaker 7: is the eleventh hour of a cease fire holding between
25:04
Speaker 7: the United States and Iran. It was a bit of
25:06
Speaker 7: a game of international diplomatic chicken. Who is going to
25:09
Speaker 7: go first, who is going to leave their own country
25:12
Speaker 7: and make their way there. The Iranians were holding out
25:14
Speaker 7: because they wanted the US president to lift the blockade
25:18
Speaker 7: on Iranian ports, to take it away altogether. President Trump
25:21
Speaker 7: is medically he was not going to be doing that.
25:24
Speaker 7: And there seem to be some difference even between President
25:26
Speaker 7: Trump and the White House communications line, because at one
25:29
Speaker 7: point President Trump had been saying a matter of a
25:31
Speaker 7: couple of days ago, oh well, look, it will.
25:32
Speaker 2: Definitely be happening. JD is the one to go. Then
25:35
Speaker 2: the White House was saying, oh, well, look that might
25:37
Speaker 2: not be the case. And so there's been a little
25:39
Speaker 2: bit of movement.
25:40
Speaker 7: Clearly, the negotiating team have been working on the exact
25:43
Speaker 7: timing to locations and the parameters for the discussions. But
25:46
Speaker 7: President Trump is firm in his mind that there is
25:49
Speaker 7: a deal in the works and that there is a
25:52
Speaker 7: deal on the table for Iran to agree to. Obviously,
25:56
Speaker 7: we're waiting to see this clock countdown to zero for
26:00
Speaker 7: the ceasefi expiring on Wednesday night, Washington time, and what
26:03
Speaker 7: happens after that, because these really are going to be
26:06
Speaker 7: the last minute, last ditch talks to try and salvage something,
26:11
Speaker 7: and essentially, now Shari, it's all hanging on the shoulders
26:14
Speaker 7: of US Vice President jd Evan. Donald Trump has given
26:17
Speaker 7: him one almighty task and now it is over to
26:20
Speaker 7: the Vice president to see if he can get the
26:22
Speaker 7: deal done.
26:24
Speaker 3: Look, there's been criticisms against the President that he has
26:27
Speaker 3: too publicly signaled his desire to end the war. There's
26:32
Speaker 3: also concerns that there's a split between Iran's military hardliners
26:37
Speaker 3: and some of the politicians who are actually engaging in
26:40
Speaker 3: the negotiations, figures like the Foreign Minister Aragachi. But Trump
26:44
Speaker 3: is still making threats on social media. What are the
26:49
Speaker 3: latest military threats he's making And do people still believe
26:52
Speaker 3: him that he could return to military action.
26:58
Speaker 7: Well, I think with President there's always the possibility that
27:01
Speaker 7: military action could be on the table. I mean, remember
27:04
Speaker 7: the attacks that he launched against Iran, Operation Midniama in
27:08
Speaker 7: the middle of last year to target the nuclear science
27:11
Speaker 7: that had been done during a time of what was
27:13
Speaker 7: supposed to be some sort of negotiation, there had been
27:17
Speaker 7: a deadline, and then on the moment of that deadline
27:20
Speaker 7: in came the strikes. So I think Iran is all
27:23
Speaker 7: too aware that the US could well resume this conflict
27:27
Speaker 7: if there is not a deal, and I think the
27:28
Speaker 7: politicians involved in these negotiations with the Iranian regime there's
27:32
Speaker 7: a lot of reading between the lines. Obviously, there's been
27:34
Speaker 7: internet blackouts in Iran, it's hard to get in touch
27:37
Speaker 7: with people over there. But I think you're getting a
27:39
Speaker 7: sense reading between the lines that the Iranian politicians and
27:42
Speaker 7: negotiators themselves are trying to find a way out of
27:46
Speaker 7: this conflict because they know that for them it is
27:50
Speaker 7: not going well.
27:51
Speaker 2: Militarily, yes, they have.
27:52
Speaker 7: Been beaten, but they have used the strait of Hormus
27:55
Speaker 7: as a real economic and political stranglehold to try and
27:58
Speaker 7: keep a grips on global economies and on the United
28:01
Speaker 7: States apply the pressure directly there. But I think what
28:03
Speaker 7: you're seeing is that there is there's a real difference
28:06
Speaker 7: between what the Iranian politicians are pushing for what the
28:09
Speaker 7: IRGC is pushing for. The Revolutionary Guard called the military
28:13
Speaker 7: arm of the regime, so I think that's where the
28:15
Speaker 7: difference you're seeing exposed on the Iranian side. But President
28:19
Speaker 7: Trump is threatened to blow up bridges, He's threatened to
28:21
Speaker 7: blow up power plants. He's made these threats before. He's
28:25
Speaker 7: also extended deadlines before. So I think one question that
28:28
Speaker 7: will be in the minds of Americans today, While the
28:31
Speaker 7: Iranians are certainly thinking yes, President Trump could well launch
28:34
Speaker 7: military action again, a question in the minds of Americans
28:37
Speaker 7: will be do they want to continue this war. I
28:40
Speaker 7: get the impression President Trump wants out. I get the
28:42
Speaker 7: impression he wants this conflict done and dusted with. He
28:45
Speaker 7: had said four to six weeks he was within that
28:48
Speaker 7: timeline sort of. He doesn't want to drag this out.
28:51
Speaker 7: And he actually knows that the public is dealing economic
28:55
Speaker 7: pain from the result of this conflict, and it is
28:59
Speaker 7: now higher petrol prices here for much of this year,
29:03
Speaker 7: well beyond the conflict ending, even if it ends tomorrow.
29:07
Speaker 7: So President Trump has a number of options open to him.
29:10
Speaker 7: He's got a number of things on his mind, but
29:12
Speaker 7: I think he is going to want to see some
29:14
Speaker 7: sort of deal done, whether it is a smaller deal
29:18
Speaker 7: framed as something much more large and elaborate, but the
29:21
Speaker 7: next twenty four to thirty six hours they're going to
29:23
Speaker 7: tell the bigger picture.
29:25
Speaker 3: Just finally, there does seem to be indications that there
29:28
Speaker 3: is a difference of opinion between Israel and America on
29:31
Speaker 3: whether the job is actually done in Iran.
29:34
Speaker 7: Jonathan, Yeah, Beniminettna, who had stated yesterday as far as
29:41
Speaker 7: Israel was concerned that Israel is not done.
29:45
Speaker 2: On its part.
29:45
Speaker 7: Now, it's been interesting to see this relationship between President
29:49
Speaker 7: Trump and Benjaminettna, who evolved not only over the course
29:52
Speaker 7: of this term of Donald Trump's presidency. We've heard lavish
29:55
Speaker 7: praise from both sides and at times criticism, veiled criticism
30:01
Speaker 7: from President Trump of some of the things Benjamin Netanya
30:05
Speaker 7: who has been pushing towards. But what we have certainly
30:08
Speaker 7: seen over the course of this conflict is there has
30:12
Speaker 7: been that sense of unity between the US and Israel,
30:15
Speaker 7: but so much so that there have been questions about
30:17
Speaker 7: whether it was Israel leading the mighty power of the
30:19
Speaker 7: United States into this conflict and President Trump, Shari, we've
30:22
Speaker 7: said really push back on that yesterday, saying no, look,
30:25
Speaker 7: this wasn't Beniminettya who leading my hand into this conflict.
30:30
Speaker 7: He was attacking the media, who's attacking political opponents over
30:33
Speaker 7: this suggestion that has.
30:35
Speaker 2: Been put forward.
30:36
Speaker 7: But Benjaminettanna, who certainly seems to be clinging on to
30:39
Speaker 7: the idea of wanting to push forward with yet more
30:42
Speaker 7: military action inside Iran, He's spoken within the last few
30:46
Speaker 7: hours inside Israel warning that Iran could have carried out
30:50
Speaker 7: according to Benjamin Netanya, who another Holocaust. So that's how
30:54
Speaker 7: serious Israel is taking this threat shari And obviously the
30:57
Speaker 7: horrors of the Holocaust the Israeli and the Jewish.
30:59
Speaker 2: Peace know all too well.
31:01
Speaker 7: But benjaminette Yahu invoking that period of history, invoking that
31:06
Speaker 7: language to suggest that in his eyes, Iran is a
31:10
Speaker 7: real threat still. And so as far as Israel's concerned,
31:13
Speaker 7: the job is not done militarily and they're not involved
31:17
Speaker 7: in these Ceasepyre talks. So even if the United States
31:19
Speaker 7: pulls out, then the question is what's going to happen
31:21
Speaker 7: between Israel and Iran. That's going to be the real
31:24
Speaker 7: question mark that hangs over any sort of proposal that
31:27
Speaker 7: would be put forward on the table in Islamaback I.
31:30
Speaker 3: Mean Netdiya, who knew the timeframe that Trump gave initially publicly,
31:35
Speaker 3: so you'd hope they got everything they needed to get
31:38
Speaker 3: done within that first month. All right, Jonathan Cursley, thank
31:41
Speaker 3: you very much for joining us so early in the morning.
31:44
Speaker 3: Appreciate it still to come. Kamala Harris reaches for an
31:49
Speaker 3: ugly old smear when smashing Trump. I'll talk to Elon
31:53
Speaker 3: Levy about what she's doing. And new data shows we're
31:56
Speaker 3: paying record taxes. I'll tell you how much person after
32:01
Speaker 3: the break, Welcome back when you abs. Data released today
32:08
Speaker 3: shows the government taxed each Australian a new high of
32:12
Speaker 3: thirty thousand, six hundred and thirty three dollars on average
32:16
Speaker 3: in the twenty twenty five financial year, and they raked
32:19
Speaker 3: in a record eight hundred and thirty nine billion dollars
32:22
Speaker 3: in taxes and the total tax revenue has climbed to
32:26
Speaker 3: thirty point two percent of GDP. Joining me now EQ
32:31
Speaker 3: Economics managing director Warren Hogan and Liberal MP Tony Passon.
32:35
Speaker 3: Great to see both. Warren, I mean, it makes you
32:37
Speaker 3: feel sick to think of how much more tax Australians
32:40
Speaker 3: are paying in for what.
32:45
Speaker 8: Well, well we know what for, and that is this
32:49
Speaker 8: sort of grand project of the governments in the care economy,
32:52
Speaker 8: and the problem is that it is getting it's hard
32:57
Speaker 8: for them to control, you know, pinch uns and various
33:02
Speaker 8: other government direct expenses. Historically they've had a lot more
33:06
Speaker 8: control of than these programs where the takeup is uncertain,
33:10
Speaker 8: and now, of course, with inflation the costs of spiraling.
33:14
Speaker 8: The problem is they're funding this through bracket creep and
33:17
Speaker 8: even that isn't enough to keep the budget in order.
33:21
Speaker 8: So we're on the verge of what would be in
33:24
Speaker 8: Australia's standards, a fiscal crisis.
33:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, fiscal crisis. You just mentioned bracket creep. I mean,
33:31
Speaker 3: Tony Passon, do you think this is now a tax
33:35
Speaker 3: creep crisis? Are people just paying too much tax relative
33:40
Speaker 3: to their earnings?
33:43
Speaker 10: Of course they are, and they're feeling it. They're telling
33:46
Speaker 10: me every day they feel like they're going backwards. And
33:48
Speaker 10: that is because as prices go up wayes try to
33:52
Speaker 10: chase it, and as wages go up, they find themselves
33:55
Speaker 10: in higher and higher tax brackets.
33:57
Speaker 3: And we now know that the.
33:59
Speaker 10: Government tax is as high as it's ever been. And
34:04
Speaker 10: we've got a treasure who's floating balloons every day about
34:09
Speaker 10: how we might think of new and novel ways to
34:12
Speaker 10: tax the Australian hardworking people. I mean, this is a
34:16
Speaker 10: government that's addicted to spending Shari. Then NDIS alone is
34:20
Speaker 10: fifty billion dollars. It's growing at a rate of ten percent.
34:25
Speaker 10: There are roots, there are ripoffs, and when you are
34:28
Speaker 10: incapable of controlling your spending, the only option that's available
34:33
Speaker 10: is to jack up taxes on Australians. And that's what's
34:35
Speaker 10: happening right now, and it's happening automatically through bracket gape.
34:38
Speaker 10: But I reckon they're about to make some pretty significant
34:41
Speaker 10: decisions that are going to whack hard working Australians even more.
34:45
Speaker 3: I mean you're referring to capital gains tax and other
34:49
Speaker 3: tax measures as well. But the Herald's reporting that the
34:52
Speaker 3: Coalition might bank any revenue generated from changes to negative
34:56
Speaker 3: gearing and capital gains tax rather than campaigning to reverse them.
34:59
Speaker 3: Back in a minute on that, Tony, but Warrying. It
35:02
Speaker 3: would be a huge mistake, wouldn't it if the Coalition
35:05
Speaker 3: doesn't campaign against these higher taxes.
35:10
Speaker 2: Yeah.
35:10
Speaker 8: Well, we saw before the last election the problems that
35:13
Speaker 8: they had when they rejected income tax. But the policy
35:17
Speaker 8: proposition and of course, this is at the heart of
35:20
Speaker 8: the current challenge for the coalition. It's always been a
35:24
Speaker 8: coalition issue where the Nationals tend to want to intervene more,
35:27
Speaker 8: the Liberals are tending to be more low tax, small government,
35:30
Speaker 8: and now with One Nation as a major player on
35:32
Speaker 8: the right, this is just making it even harder for
35:36
Speaker 8: the sort of low taxing, moderate government, free market liberals
35:41
Speaker 8: in the Liberal Party to get the upper hand. I
35:45
Speaker 8: think that this economy is massively over taxed. It is
35:48
Speaker 8: going to show up in It is showing up in
35:50
Speaker 8: economic performance, it's showing up in social issues. And of
35:54
Speaker 8: course I don't think either the Liberal Party or the
35:58
Speaker 8: One Nation Party should be looking to increase tax revenues
36:02
Speaker 8: at all. But we're two years away from the election.
36:04
Speaker 8: The budget's are mess, and who knows how bad this
36:08
Speaker 8: is going to get between now and then, so I
36:10
Speaker 8: don't think we need to take it all too seriously.
36:13
Speaker 3: Well Tony on this article, is this when you've heard?
36:17
Speaker 3: Are you worry that some of your colleagues at least
36:21
Speaker 3: are telling the Herald they might agree go along with
36:24
Speaker 3: these increased taxes.
36:27
Speaker 2: We'll sharry.
36:28
Speaker 10: The focus should be on pressuring the government to look
36:31
Speaker 10: at fiscal restraint, how it can manage its penchant for
36:36
Speaker 10: spending in a way so's to take pressure off the
36:40
Speaker 10: need for increased taxes. And as I said earlier, Jim
36:42
Speaker 10: Chalmers has been floating a different balloon, it seems every
36:46
Speaker 10: day for.
36:46
Speaker 3: A fortnight or more. What we know is that he's
36:51
Speaker 3: intent to.
36:51
Speaker 10: Find a way to whack Australian taxpayers even harder because
36:55
Speaker 10: you can't control his spending. There's no proposal on the
37:00
Speaker 10: table yet yet, and so it's very hard for anyone
37:03
Speaker 10: to consider what might be open to consideration. But I
37:08
Speaker 10: didn't go to Canberra to fight for high taxes. I
37:10
Speaker 10: can tell you that much for nothing. The reality is
37:13
Speaker 10: we need to focus on getting this government to rain
37:16
Speaker 10: in the spending, not just because we can't afford it
37:19
Speaker 10: and we have to tax people more, but because it's
37:21
Speaker 10: putting pressure on inflation, and an inflation in turn is
37:24
Speaker 10: putting pressure on households by higher mortgages. And that's before
37:27
Speaker 10: we even consider the fact that we're staring down a
37:30
Speaker 10: stagflation pricess. I mean, we've got a government running a
37:34
Speaker 10: nineteen seventies economic policy, and now we've got nineteen seventies
37:37
Speaker 10: economic problems. We shouldn't be surprised.
37:41
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, and some economists we heard from HSBC yesterday
37:45
Speaker 3: are worried that Australia is just weeks away from nineteen
37:47
Speaker 3: seventies like stagflation, shock it and think it'll be that bad.
37:50
Speaker 3: But unemployment is starting to rise, inflation's obviously rising, productivity
37:54
Speaker 3: styling Warren, how worried are you?
37:58
Speaker 8: Well, I'm very worried about the trajectory the economy is
38:01
Speaker 8: on and the nation to some extent, and that was
38:04
Speaker 8: before this conflict in the Middle East erupted. What we
38:07
Speaker 8: learned over the last summer is that the economy is
38:09
Speaker 8: on an unsustainable path. The government spending too much, as
38:12
Speaker 8: we've just been talking about. The RBA had the wrong
38:14
Speaker 8: strategy though, were too complacent about inflation, and we've got
38:18
Speaker 8: a real problem on our hands. But I'd be careful
38:22
Speaker 8: with the nineteen to seventy stagflation comparisons. Dagflation was a
38:27
Speaker 8: mystifying event in the seventies because we had high unemployment
38:30
Speaker 8: and high inflation, something just about every economic theory said
38:33
Speaker 8: shouldn't happen. We don't have the high unemployment, we've got
38:36
Speaker 8: low growth, but we now have structurally labor shortages. We
38:43
Speaker 8: just do not have enough workers, and we have a
38:46
Speaker 8: problem with how do we bring technology in to help
38:49
Speaker 8: boost productivity and reorientate our workforce. And of course that's
38:53
Speaker 8: an issue that's not even talked about. But if we
38:56
Speaker 8: keep fighting against these demographic trends and we keep fighting
39:00
Speaker 8: against sort of the technological trends, yeah, we're going to
39:03
Speaker 8: be poorer for it.
39:04
Speaker 2: And I actually think we are.
39:05
Speaker 8: Going to end up in some sort of economic crisis
39:08
Speaker 8: in the next few years, whether it's fiscal or whether
39:10
Speaker 8: it's more related. But interest rates are definitely going higher,
39:14
Speaker 8: and it's just whether they're going up by three or
39:17
Speaker 8: four times this year or by six, seven, eight times
39:20
Speaker 8: over the next two years, or it might be.
39:22
Speaker 3: A new crisis that we haven't faced the like of before.
39:25
Speaker 3: You alluded there to AI taking jobs, reshaping the workforce.
39:29
Speaker 3: I mean we you know, we're only just starting to
39:31
Speaker 3: see this. It's a conversation for another night. Were times up?
39:34
Speaker 3: Warren Hogan, Tony Passon, Great to see you and still
39:38
Speaker 3: to come. Will Keir Starmer hold onto his job after
39:41
Speaker 3: admitting he inadvertently misled MP's place in Edina, who indicates
39:46
Speaker 3: Israel isn't finished the war in Iran. Ilin Levy, would
39:49
Speaker 3: you own me next, as we've been discussing under forty
39:55
Speaker 3: eight hours until the Iran ceasepire expires. But President Trump
39:59
Speaker 3: is acting total confidence, he declared on truth Social I
40:03
Speaker 3: read the fake news saying that I'm under pressure to
40:06
Speaker 3: make a deal. This is not true. I'm under no
40:08
Speaker 3: pressure whatsoever, although it will all happen relatively quickly. And
40:13
Speaker 3: joining me now is from Israeli government spokesman Elon Levy. Elon,
40:17
Speaker 3: great to see you. As always, look, Iran does see
40:20
Speaker 3: Iran doesn't seem to be coming to the table at all.
40:25
Speaker 3: If Iran does stay away from these peace talks, and
40:28
Speaker 3: we yet to see whether they'll attend or not, I mean,
40:30
Speaker 3: what happens next and what's Israel's position on this.
40:35
Speaker 11: Shari? It looks like the Iranians haven't learned their lessons
40:37
Speaker 11: and they're trying to call President Trump's bluff. He's extended
40:41
Speaker 11: the negotiation, he's extended the deadline for the negotiation, and
40:45
Speaker 11: it looks like they're mistaking his willingness to negotiate for weakness.
40:49
Speaker 11: As it stands Iranian TV as reporting the Iranians haven't
40:52
Speaker 11: even sent a delegation to Pakistan to continue to talk
40:56
Speaker 11: with the Americans. And this is happening when the Iranians
40:59
Speaker 11: really have no cards left to play. They use their
41:03
Speaker 11: last card, which was blockading the Strait of Hormuz, and
41:06
Speaker 11: Trump has checkmated them now by imposing his own blockade.
41:10
Speaker 11: That is costing the Iranian hundreds of millions and billions
41:14
Speaker 11: of dollars because they can't export their oil to China anymore.
41:18
Speaker 11: So look from an Israeli perspective, obviously, we want the
41:21
Speaker 11: Americans to reach a deal with Iran that will eliminate
41:25
Speaker 11: the triple threat of ballistic missiles, the nuclear weapons program,
41:29
Speaker 11: and the proxy armies across the region. But if the
41:32
Speaker 11: Iranians are determined to continue being the world's number one
41:36
Speaker 11: state sponsor of terror, to continue exploiting Middle Eastern countries
41:40
Speaker 11: around the region, for their proxy armies, to keep building
41:43
Speaker 11: ballistic missiles, and keep building their nuclear weapons program, but
41:47
Speaker 11: I think Israel will be willing to join the United
41:50
Speaker 11: States in military action against the Iranian regime if every
41:54
Speaker 11: attempt at diplomacy fails.
41:57
Speaker 3: And it seems like it might end up back there.
42:00
Speaker 3: What do you make though of this reported split between
42:03
Speaker 3: the military hardliners in Iran and the political leadership. I mean,
42:08
Speaker 3: we saw the foreign Minister Aragachi say that the strait
42:10
Speaker 3: was open that barely lasted a day, and then the
42:13
Speaker 3: military was firing upon international ships trying to pass. So
42:18
Speaker 3: do you think we are in a position where the negotiators,
42:21
Speaker 3: even if they're acting in goodwill, even if they are
42:25
Speaker 3: some of the more moderate Iranian politicians, they simply can't
42:29
Speaker 3: control the military.
42:31
Speaker 11: Frightly, it's unclear who speaks for the Iranian regime right
42:35
Speaker 11: now because those decapitation strikes were so successful in taking
42:39
Speaker 11: out the whole leadership, and now there's no clear pecking order.
42:42
Speaker 11: They seem to be constantly contradicting each other. And I
42:45
Speaker 11: think the reason the Iranians sent such a big delegation
42:48
Speaker 11: to the talk is that they don't trust each other.
42:50
Speaker 11: So everyone is there to keep an eye on the
42:52
Speaker 11: another person. But the fact is, even the most moderate
42:56
Speaker 11: Iranian leader is not making the concessions that are necessary
43:00
Speaker 11: to block Iran's path to a nuclear weapon. Let's remember
43:03
Speaker 11: Muhammed Bageri Galiba, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, led
43:09
Speaker 11: the Iranian parliament in charms of death to America. That's
43:12
Speaker 11: still insisting on the right, supposed right to enrich uranium
43:16
Speaker 11: and keep open a path for Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
43:20
Speaker 11: This isn't a moderated regime. This is still a regime
43:23
Speaker 11: led by intense religious fundamentalist hardliners who are not willing
43:28
Speaker 11: to make the concessions they have to make. Now that
43:31
Speaker 11: Iran has basically been defeated on the battlefield and all
43:34
Speaker 11: that selects for it to accept terms of surrender.
43:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, which is the worry that even after all of this,
43:40
Speaker 3: with their ladyship killed, the Iotola gan, a lot of
43:44
Speaker 3: their military and ships destroyed, they're still refusing to back down.
43:47
Speaker 3: I mean, where does it end then if they don't
43:51
Speaker 3: come to the table. That's the worry. Just quickly, on Lebanon,
43:56
Speaker 3: Trump has imposed this ceasefire of sorts against Hezbollah. Is
44:02
Speaker 3: that should that still last? Given that that was sort
44:07
Speaker 3: of in exchange for the Strait of Hormuz opening.
44:11
Speaker 11: Now, Israel wants to see a peace deal with the
44:14
Speaker 11: Lebanon but it needs to be a real peace deal
44:17
Speaker 11: in which we normalize relations and Lebanon dismantles Hezbolla, the
44:21
Speaker 11: Iranian proxy army on its soil. I don't know why
44:25
Speaker 11: the Americans are not more upset with the Lebanese government
44:28
Speaker 11: for snubbing American mediation. President Trump announced that Israelian Lebanese
44:33
Speaker 11: leaders would talk on the phone. Then the Lebanese president said, no,
44:37
Speaker 11: I'm not doing that. Then President Trump announced Israelian Lebanese
44:41
Speaker 11: leaders would meet in Washington, and the Lebanese president again
44:44
Speaker 11: wriggled out of that. So we need to see serious
44:48
Speaker 11: pressure on the Lebanese government to say, you need to
44:51
Speaker 11: dismantle Hezbolla, you need to engage in real peace talks.
44:55
Speaker 11: You can't use this ceasefire just to buy time and
44:58
Speaker 11: wriggle out of a conference with Hezbola. This has got
45:01
Speaker 11: to happen this time. The Israeli family is living on
45:05
Speaker 11: the northern border cannot continue to be within rocket range
45:09
Speaker 11: of Hezbola's missiles and drolls. That threat has to end.
45:12
Speaker 11: It's time to crush Hasbola and build real peace between
45:16
Speaker 11: Israel and Labanon, not just by time, right.
45:19
Speaker 3: Ilon Levy, thank you so much? So come how much
45:23
Speaker 3: longer can Kiyostarmer last in the top job? Tom Slater
45:27
Speaker 3: After the break, UK Prime Minister Kiirstarmer is fighting for
45:34
Speaker 3: his job after trying to pin the Peter Mandelson vetting
45:37
Speaker 3: fiasco on officials, claiming he was kept in the dark
45:41
Speaker 3: After two and a half bruising hours in the Commons,
45:44
Speaker 3: it's clear that Starmer has thrown his own staff under
45:47
Speaker 3: the bus.
45:48
Speaker 12: The Foreign Office officials who made that decision did not
45:53
Speaker 12: pass this information to me. If I had known before
45:58
Speaker 12: he took up his post that UKSP recommendation, of course
46:02
Speaker 12: that develop betting clearance should be denied, I would not
46:06
Speaker 12: have gone ahead with the appointment.
46:08
Speaker 7: All right.
46:09
Speaker 3: For more on this Journeyman now is Spiked Online editor
46:11
Speaker 3: Tom Slater, Tom, thanks for your time. So how vulnerable
46:15
Speaker 3: is Keoth Starmer's leadership now?
46:18
Speaker 13: Oh, he's a dead prime minister walking. The problem is
46:20
Speaker 13: that he has been for some time. So it's come
46:22
Speaker 13: to a head this week, Charry, for all the reasons
46:23
Speaker 13: you've outlined there this scandal over Peter Manerson, what he
46:27
Speaker 13: did and didn't know when the security clearance was denied
46:30
Speaker 13: to piece of Manderson that was just overridden. Starmer says
46:33
Speaker 13: by civil servants that the issue is Stalm's been held
46:36
Speaker 13: in place for quite some time by two factors, one
46:38
Speaker 13: of which is the weakness of the opposition to him
46:41
Speaker 13: within the Labor Party, the lack of a kind of clear,
46:43
Speaker 13: incredible candidate. And the other thing is the jitteriness of
46:47
Speaker 13: the bond markets. Anytime there is some talk or chatter
46:51
Speaker 13: of him being replaced, possibly by someone more to the
46:53
Speaker 13: left of himself than, the international markets react and scare
46:57
Speaker 13: the horses once again. So it is a question of when,
47:01
Speaker 13: not if, But at the moment with Kirs Starmer, he
47:04
Speaker 13: could actually kind of shamble on for some time yet
47:07
Speaker 13: because of just how lack of a credible alternative there
47:09
Speaker 13: is right now.
47:11
Speaker 3: So this later scandal has emerged, just talk us through
47:13
Speaker 3: that because more information came to light in the media
47:17
Speaker 3: about the vetting process. Is that right?
47:21
Speaker 2: Absolutely so.
47:22
Speaker 13: Kiir Starmer's line in relation to piece of Mandlsson, the
47:24
Speaker 13: former ambassador to the US who was sacked after the
47:28
Speaker 13: full extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein came to light.
47:30
Speaker 13: Kids Starmer's lines always that all due process was followed,
47:33
Speaker 13: that all of the due diligence was looked at, and
47:36
Speaker 13: that they decided that he was.
47:37
Speaker 2: Still okay to take up that post.
47:39
Speaker 13: What was revealed last week in the Garden newspaper was
47:41
Speaker 13: that he had actually Mandalson, that is, had actually failed
47:45
Speaker 13: a vetting procedure on the basis of security officials, but.
47:48
Speaker 2: His appointment was approved by the Foreign Office.
47:51
Speaker 13: Anyway, the wrinkle and the confusion in all of this
47:53
Speaker 13: is that it seems like the Foreign Office civil servants
47:56
Speaker 13: waved this through without letting Kirs Starmer know about it.
48:00
Speaker 13: But at the same time, a lot of people are
48:01
Speaker 13: finding that hard to believe, or it seems to be
48:04
Speaker 13: that we're expected to believe that Kirstarmer is just blissfully
48:08
Speaker 13: unaware of key decisions that are taking place in his
48:10
Speaker 13: own government. So regardless of how you read it, it
48:13
Speaker 13: doesn't look good and it's just a constant reminder to people.
48:16
Speaker 13: I think that Kirs Starmer made the horrendous judgment of
48:19
Speaker 13: bringing Mandleson back from the wilderness in the first place, which,
48:21
Speaker 13: given what slippery character is, to put it lightly, was
48:24
Speaker 13: never going to end world.
48:25
Speaker 3: Don't think yeah, Because there were allegations in a variety
48:28
Speaker 3: of other fields as well. Turning to this story, the
48:31
Speaker 3: first Lady of Franz, Bridget Macron, is suing Candace Owens
48:35
Speaker 3: for continuing to push this conspiracy that she's secretly a man.
48:41
Speaker 3: And now Trump has even commented on this as well, Tom.
48:45
Speaker 13: He has And it's things where it's just the continuing
48:48
Speaker 13: unraveling there, I say, of Candace Owns and what's quite
48:51
Speaker 13: prominent and interesting conservative commentator.
48:53
Speaker 2: Has gone down various rabbit holes of late.
48:55
Speaker 13: It's sad to say that the bridget Macron claims that
48:57
Speaker 13: she's secretly a man not even the worst thing the
49:00
Speaker 13: Candice Owns has been saying in recent months, given that
49:02
Speaker 13: she's gotten quite given to a lot of kind of
49:04
Speaker 13: anti Semitic conspiracy theory. But again it's a I wish
49:08
Speaker 13: this didenough to end up in court. It's hard to
49:10
Speaker 13: imagine it was going to end up any other way
49:12
Speaker 13: given how outrageous the claim Zones has been making no.
49:15
Speaker 3: Shocking claims against Bridgitte Macron. But and she's a clear
49:20
Speaker 3: andie Semite and we can say that because she clearly is.
49:23
Speaker 3: And also she's been attacking Erica Kirk, which is beyond
49:27
Speaker 3: the pale after how much Erica has suffered since the
49:30
Speaker 3: murder of her beloved husband. Just finally, there's growing alarm.
49:35
Speaker 3: There's been a three attempted fire bombings on Jewish targets
49:38
Speaker 3: in one week, including synagogues in London on the top
49:42
Speaker 3: of a Jewish charity and of course the hutsol of
49:46
Speaker 3: Jewish ambulances last month. I mean, what does it say
49:50
Speaker 3: about Britain and how is the leadership handling this? Just
49:54
Speaker 3: in the past week, there's another synagogue that was targeted.
49:58
Speaker 13: Now all you're getting is the usual platitudes from government
50:01
Speaker 13: and a lack of seriousness about where this is coming from.
50:03
Speaker 13: These attacks extent that we know, seem to be potentially
50:06
Speaker 13: at the direction of the Islamic Republic using a kind
50:09
Speaker 13: of phony new Islamist group as a banner in which
50:12
Speaker 13: to recruit sort of local thugs and anti Semites to
50:15
Speaker 13: commit these sorts of attacks. So it just shows on
50:17
Speaker 13: both fronts British Jews are being put in peril because
50:20
Speaker 13: of our lack of ability to provide proper security in
50:24
Speaker 13: relations to foreign influence, but also the homegrown problem of
50:27
Speaker 13: anti Semitism, which outside actors like the Islamic Republic are
50:30
Speaker 13: clearly using and recruiting and exploiting in order to continue
50:34
Speaker 13: to manage British Jews. But as you say, this string
50:36
Speaker 13: of attacks in one week with the attack on the
50:39
Speaker 13: ambalyses last month. I mean, it's leading a lot of
50:42
Speaker 13: British Jews to wonder whether or not this country is
50:44
Speaker 13: safe for them, which should be an absolute horror story
50:48
Speaker 13: for anyone who really cares about this country and the
50:51
Speaker 13: protection minorities. And yet the left in particular are just
50:54
Speaker 13: staring at their shoelaces once again.
50:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, so little outrage from the left, and not just
50:58
Speaker 3: in Britain, by away all over the world. I mean,
51:01
Speaker 3: only form of racism they don't care about, right, Tom Slater,
51:05
Speaker 3: thank you very much for your time as always, and
51:08
Speaker 3: thanks everyone for your company tonight. I'll see you as
51:11
Speaker 3: always here eight o'clock tomorrow night. It'll be another big show.
51:14
Speaker 3: But for now, that's it for me. And up now
51:16
Speaker 3: is James McPherson hosting Poor Married Life.