Latest / The Bolt Report / The Bolt Report | 1 September

Transcript

The Bolt Report | 1 September · The Bolt Report

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: This is the Bolt Report.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Well, good evening and thanks for joining me on The
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Bolt Report. I'm James McPherson. Here's what's coming up tonight.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Liberal Party moderates wet the bed again. A Liberal councillor
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: here in Sydney has quit the Liberal Party after her
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Liberal colleagues at the Liberal-controlled Waverley Council opposed an Australia
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Day barbecue. Councillor Lauren Townsend will join me shortly. Plus,
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Bowen's list blocked. Labor is refusing to reveal who'll be
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: attending its $ 20 million climate conference in Fiji, despite the
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: conference being just one month away. I suspect not many
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: people are attending. Matt Canavan will join me shortly on
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: that and much more, including his clash with Pauline Hanson
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: at the Bush summit. And we'll cross to the legendary
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Sean Spicer in the United States, where Donald Trump has
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: slammed the left-wing media. They accused him of wanting to
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: start a nuclear war with Iran. Now they're demanding to
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: know why he hasn't. We'll get to all of that shortly.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: But first, last night I spoke about the need for
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Pauline Hanson's opponents to dial down the rhetoric.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Just a notch. Or ten.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: When the leader of One Nation and her team are
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: increasingly subject to death threats, is it really too much
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: to ask that the Prime Minister would stop talking about
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: her as though she represents the political equivalent of an
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: incoming asteroid? Surely it's not too much to expect the
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Prime Minister just to lower the temperature. You can disagree
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: with Pauline Hanson all you like, but do you really
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: need to call her dangerous and imply that she represents
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: an existential threat to the country?
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: One Nation... whose leader seeks to divide Australians and talks
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: Australia down, peddling politics that is dangerous, divisive and downright dishonest.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Now, while I was discussing that very issue on this
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: program last night, my phone was lighting up on the
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: desk beside me.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Pauline Hanson's daughter, Lee Hanson, sent.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Me a link to a Facebook post from a group
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: that I won't name called But the Facebook post said this.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: The only good right-wing Aussie is a dead one. The
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: only way to deal with far-right degenerates is to round
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: them up and give them what they deserve. Anyone who
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: votes for One Nation, as their supporters are admitted racists,
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: should be targeted.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: There is no peace with the far right.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: The group that posted that on Facebook have been reported
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: to the Australian Federal Police. But Lee Hanson sent me
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: a copy of that post last night, expressing her absolute
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: exasperation that threats to One Nation politicians, their families and
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: their supporters aren't being taken seriously by the government. And
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: let's be honest, the government does have form. The Albanese
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: government didn't take seriously the warnings that anti-Israel protests with
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: increasingly shrill rhetoric would eventually lead to a terror attack,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: which raises an uncomfortable.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Question, does it not?
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: What exactly has to happen before the government takes threats
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: against One Nation politicians seriously.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: And shows some leadership?
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: And if you think I'm being dramatic, well, tell that
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: to the One Nation star for a woman in her
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: 60s who was hospitalised after being set upon at the
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Brisbane exhibition last month.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: So again.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: What will it take for the government to show leadership
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: and lower the temperature? Well, apparently quite a lot, because
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: judging by the comments of Federal Attorney General Michelle Rowland,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: the thermostat is still set to maximum outrage. She was
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: asked today whether she believed One Nation was dangerous.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: And I have to say, she.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: Didn't exactly seize the opportunity to calm things down.
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: Do you think One Nation is dangerous?
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: I think One Nation is a party that does not
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: represent mainstream Australia.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: A couple of observations, if I may.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Notice that when presented with an opportunity to cool the
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: rhetoric surrounding a political party whose leader is receiving death threats,
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: she declines. Instead, she chooses to explain that Pauline Hanson
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: doesn't represent mainstream Australia, which is an interesting argument, isn't it?
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Because according to recent polling... Pauline Hanson is currently attracting
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: more public support than the Attorney General.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: But Michelle Rowland wasn't done.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Now, remember, she's been asked whether or not she regards
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: One Nation, whose leader Pauline Hanson has been receiving death threats,
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: as dangerous.
• 4:46
  Speaker 5: I think some of One Nation's elements, particularly where they
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: have been recruiting or otherwise giving a platform to extremist views,
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: including neo-Nazi views, that is dangerous.
• 4:59
  Speaker 6: What?
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: One Nation has been recruiting neo-Nazis?
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: I'd love to see evidence of that.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: I suspect the defamation lawyer might like to see evidence
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: of that. Now, to be clear, Pauline Hanson herself has
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: openly acknowledged concerns that extremists might attempt to infiltrate her party.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: But isn't that true of every political movement? I mean,
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: every party attracts people it would rather not attract. Or
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: are we being asked to believe that every unsavoury character
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: in this country naturally gravitates to One Nation, while the
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: Labor Party, well, the Labor Party, they conduct their membership
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: drives exclusively through church choirs.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: And rotary clubs.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: But the irony was only just getting started because here's
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: what the Attorney General said next.
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: I think it is also dangerous at a time when
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: social cohesion has never been more important to trade on
• 5:54
  Speaker 5: the politics of division. I also think it's dangerous when
• 5:59
  Speaker 5: people who purport to be leaders in our community deliberately
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: go out with inflammatory language that seeks to divide us.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: As the young people like to say, OMG, if you
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: could power the country with gaslighting, we would be an
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: energy superpower.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: One nation trades on the politics of division.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Unlike Labor MPs, who are white as the driven snow,
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Labor MPs, they would never be divisive.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: I think they need to make clear what racist thing
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: is that they want to say.
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: What did you say about misogyny the other day?
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: The misogyny that's involved there. The sexist campaign.
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: I'll cut you up.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: You'll cut me up.
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: Yes, I'll carve you up.
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: More right wing, more sceptical, more in denial about climate change.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Despite the wall of climate denial and negativity. But it's
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: one nation who are divisive.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: And then came the part that many people will hear
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: as victim blaming. The Attorney General appeared to suggest that
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Pauline Hanson should examine whether her own conduct is contributing
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: to the threats against her.
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: I would suggest that Senator Hanson should examine what her
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: party and what her ideology and her behaviour is doing
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: and whether or not that is encouraging that.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: So it's Pauline Hanson's fault that she's receiving death threats.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Suppose it makes a change from everything being Scott Morrison's fault.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: But I'm pretty sure what Michelle Rowland just did was
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: what feminists call victim blaming. And as far as I understand,
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: that's a big no-no. Maybe the rules change when the
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: victim is Pauline Hanson.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that must be it.
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: When you go on and you entertain some of the
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: individuals whom she has been entertaining, who are not only
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: convicted criminals, when you admit that you have a party
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: that has been infiltrated by extremists and neo-Nazis, this is
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: exactly the kind of dangers to which politicians are being
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: put in this country.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: So if you appear on a podcast with Tommy Robinson,
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: you've got it coming.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: Is that seriously the argument?
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Is that really the new standard?
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: I don't wish ill on Ms Hanson in a physical way.
• 8:16
  Speaker 5: I don't wish any politician any ill will, irrespective of
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: their political persuasion. But I think sometimes when comments like
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: this are made, one needs to look at oneself and
• 8:27
  Speaker 5: one's behaviour and the kinds of standards that they accept
• 8:31
  Speaker 5: and into their own party and their own ideology.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Wow, just wow.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: If any other female politician in this country needed a
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: dozen security guards to leave the House because of threats
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: to her life, there would be bipartisan condemnation. And if
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: anyone dared suggest that maybe this woman should reflect on
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: whether she's brought the death threats on herself, they would
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: be immediately denounced for victim blaming. Yet somehow, when it's
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Pauline Hanson The rules seem to change. And that's precisely
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: why the temperature keeps rising. Well, joining me now is
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Nationals leader Matt Canavan. Matt, thanks for coming on the program.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: You and Pauline Hanson had a pretty far exchange last
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: week at the Bush Summit. For those who haven't seen it,
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: here's a quick reminder.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Who got the code of conduct for the sugarcane industry?
• 9:22
  Speaker 7: We put the code of conduct in place. I don't know,
• 9:23
  Speaker 7: Bridget McKenzie.
• 9:24
  Speaker 8: Was the agricultural.
• 9:24
  Speaker 9: Did not.
• 9:25
  Speaker 7: She put it... It's a little bit strange that, OK,
• 9:27
  Speaker 7: we've all got to work together, but you're all hopeless
• 9:29
  Speaker 7: at the same time.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Matt, don't lie to the people, right?
• 9:31
  Speaker 7: I was in cabinet at the time. I'm always on
• 9:32
  Speaker 7: the same people.
• 9:33
  Speaker 8: That's right. I mean, I'm trying to work.
• 9:34
  Speaker 7: I'm trying to work with you, Pauline, but.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: Matt, I show that because you're certainly not averse to
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: disagreeing with Pauline Hanson, but you kept it respectful.
• 9:45
  Speaker 7: Well, I try to, James.
• 9:47
  Speaker 10: Um.
• 9:47
  Speaker 7: I mean, you should see me in the party room
• 9:49
  Speaker 7: or around the Cabinet table. They get pretty fiery and
• 9:52
  Speaker 7: heated discussions as well. Too bad they're not broadcast. But,
• 9:56
  Speaker 7: you know, I stick up for myself, I stick up
• 9:58
  Speaker 7: for my team, I stick up for my state. of
• 10:00
  Speaker 7: Queensland as a Queensland Senator and I stick up for
• 10:03
  Speaker 7: all rural and regional parts of our country. I'm here today...
• 10:07
  Speaker 7: with Sam Birrell in Shepparton now, or in Echuca earlier. And,
• 10:12
  Speaker 7: you know, I fight. I fight for what I believe in. And,
• 10:15
  Speaker 7: as I say, I try and do it respectfully. I
• 10:18
  Speaker 7: never make it personal. I try not to. If I do,
• 10:21
  Speaker 7: I should seek forgiveness. But, you know, this is a
• 10:22
  Speaker 7: very important issue, having the responsibility of representing your country
• 10:27
  Speaker 7: and your nation's parliament. And I take it seriously. I
• 10:30
  Speaker 7: also think our country is in serious, serious.
• 10:35
  Speaker 7: Trouble at the moment under this government. We need change.
• 10:37
  Speaker 7: We need to make the right decision for that change
• 10:39
  Speaker 7: though and I believe the Liberals and Nationals, myself and
• 10:43
  Speaker 7: Angus Taylor, have a strong plan to get things going
• 10:46
  Speaker 7: in our country again. We're going to lower taxes by
• 10:48
  Speaker 7: scrapping all of Labor's taxes they put in place. We're
• 10:51
  Speaker 7: going to scrap net zero and get energy prices down.
• 10:54
  Speaker 7: We're going to have less migration, bring migration numbers back
• 10:58
  Speaker 7: to a sensible level where we can have the workforce
• 11:01
  Speaker 7: we need without having our universities turn into visas. So, Matt,
• 11:06
  Speaker 7: what I'm... So all of those things will help lift
• 11:07
  Speaker 7: living standards and that's what I'm focused on fighting for.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: So what I'm hearing is you're disagreeing with Pauline Hanson
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: and you're talking about policy, which is what we should do.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: What did you make of Michelle Rowland's suggestion that if
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Pauline Hanson is facing threats and intimidation, she might want
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: to look at her own behaviour?
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: What do you think about that?
• 11:28
  Speaker 7: Look, that is absolutely disgraceful. For a Minister of the
• 11:31
  Speaker 7: Crown to make those sort of comments, she needs to
• 11:33
  Speaker 7: go look at herself in the Hall of Mirrors, ASAP.
• 11:36
  Speaker 7: And it should be condemned by the Prime Minister, that
• 11:38
  Speaker 7: sort of language. Now, I thought the Prime Minister misstepped
• 11:41
  Speaker 7: on the weekend. He obviously took the loss of the
• 11:45
  Speaker 7: Labor stronghold seat in Western Australia pretty badly, and I
• 11:48
  Speaker 7: thought he misstepped, calling people dangerous and divisive. That was
• 11:51
  Speaker 7: unbecoming of the Prime Minister. But this statement from his
• 11:58
  Speaker 7: his Attorney-General, sorry, is just so out of line, almost
• 12:02
  Speaker 7: sanctioning and encouraging this kind of response. It needs to
• 12:06
  Speaker 7: be slapped down and slapped down now and hard. Look,
• 12:10
  Speaker 7: as I say, I approach politics robustly. We have an
• 12:14
  Speaker 7: adversarial system and I'm never asking for kid-glove treatment from
• 12:18
  Speaker 7: my opponents or others. We are fair game in the
• 12:22
  Speaker 7: sense of being criticised, being open to accountability and scrutiny,
• 12:25
  Speaker 7: but you should never in any way give some kind
• 12:29
  Speaker 7: of licence for a reaction that's not, one that's a
• 12:36
  Speaker 7: debating point. Anything further than that has no place in
• 12:39
  Speaker 7: our politics.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, very well said. All right, let's get on to
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: some politics. Chris Bowen is holding a $ 20 million climate
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: summit in Fiji. It's only 34 days away, but despite
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: repeated requests, Chris Bowen won't reveal which, if any, world
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: leaders have RSP'd.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: For his $ 20 million event. Should we be suspicious?
• 13:00
  Speaker 7: Well, I think that means no one's coming. I reckon
• 13:03
  Speaker 7: if he had had a world leader RSVP, he'd be
• 13:07
  Speaker 7: shouting that from the rooftops and the fact that he
• 13:10
  Speaker 7: hasn't shows to me this is a complete flop and
• 13:13
  Speaker 7: unfortunately for us it's just a multi-million dollar flop that
• 13:16
  Speaker 7: Chris Bowen's wasting tens of millions of dollars of your
• 13:18
  Speaker 7: money on. It's not going to achieve anything for our country.
• 13:21
  Speaker 7: It's a second prize effectively. He wanted to host the
• 13:26
  Speaker 7: big shindig and Thank God we didn't have to lay
• 13:28
  Speaker 7: out heaps of more taxpayer money for that. But he
• 13:31
  Speaker 7: had to take this booby prize and we all have
• 13:33
  Speaker 7: to pay for it. Why do we have to do that?
• 13:34
  Speaker 7: I think the best thing that could happen for the
• 13:36
  Speaker 7: country is if Chris Bowen just goes to one of
• 13:39
  Speaker 7: these climate conferences and takes a one-way ticket. Don't come home.
• 13:42
  Speaker 7: Stay over there. Get yourself, I don't care, a cosy
• 13:45
  Speaker 7: job paid for by other taxpayers, paid for by the
• 13:47
  Speaker 7: United Nations. Knock yourself out. And we could maybe get
• 13:51
  Speaker 7: a more sensible energy minister here because the serious issue
• 13:54
  Speaker 7: here for our country, and I've been going around to
• 13:55
  Speaker 7: businesses today... in Nicholls, the seat of Sam Birrell, as
• 13:59
  Speaker 7: I said, and constantly raised with me is this issue
• 14:02
  Speaker 7: of energy prices, and we've got a government now that
• 14:05
  Speaker 7: doesn't even think there's a problem. The biggest problem we
• 14:07
  Speaker 7: have is the government doesn't recognise that there is a problem.
• 14:12
  Speaker 7: That's the first step to fix things, that they recognise, hey,
• 14:15
  Speaker 7: our policies aren't working, what we said, what we promised
• 14:18
  Speaker 7: has not been delivered, so let's change tack. No, they're
• 14:21
  Speaker 7: doubling down on failure, doubling down on more, obsession with
• 14:25
  Speaker 7: net zero and a rollout of renewables that just doesn't
• 14:28
  Speaker 7: use all of our natural advantages. We've just got to
• 14:30
  Speaker 7: get common sense back. I don't have much hope that'll
• 14:32
  Speaker 7: happen under Chris Bowen's leadership in the energy portfolio.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I absolutely agree with you.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: It feels like they're doubling down on failure everywhere, including
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: in their housing policy. Sydney homeowners are being told to
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: prepare for the biggest annual decline in property values in
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: 40 years. And other capital cities won't fare much better.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: Sydney house values have fallen by 4.7%. in the three
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: months since the budget. And if that trend continues, Sydney
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: properties will have fallen 18.4% on the anniversary of Chalmers' budget.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: The Commonwealth Bank expects values across all capital cities to
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: fall by an average of 10%. There was a lone
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: reporter who dared to ask Albanese today whether he was
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: happy about house prices falling.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Have a look at what happened. The falling house prices
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: should be good news.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: No, well, that's... I think it's fair to say that
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: PM wasn't too keen to talk about his housing policy, Matt.
• 15:27
  Speaker 7: Well, that's because they've lost control of the housing market.
• 15:31
  Speaker 7: I mean, someone's home is, for most, the most important
• 15:35
  Speaker 7: asset they own. People have worked very hard for it,
• 15:39
  Speaker 7: to build up equity in their home, to pay back
• 15:41
  Speaker 7: their mortgage. You're on a treadmill all your life, I'm
• 15:43
  Speaker 7: still on that, trying to do that with my wife
• 15:45
  Speaker 7: and It's tough. And for people to get to that
• 15:48
  Speaker 7: stage in their life and then have their rug pulled
• 15:50
  Speaker 7: out from them, or for a first-home buyer who's taken
• 15:52
  Speaker 7: up the 5% deposit scheme, bang, they've nearly lost that
• 15:55
  Speaker 7: with this fall already. And if it continues, as you say,
• 15:58
  Speaker 7: they would be in negative equity. So, you know, that
• 16:02
  Speaker 7: has to be factored into any housing policy. You can't
• 16:05
  Speaker 7: just destroy the most important asset in our household budgets.
• 16:09
  Speaker 7: I'm worried it's going to have a broader impact on
• 16:11
  Speaker 7: our economy. The best thing the government could do would
• 16:13
  Speaker 7: be to come back to Parliament and just scrap all
• 16:15
  Speaker 7: these taxes. It's not unprecedented. Paul Keating tried this in
• 16:18
  Speaker 7: the 1980s. He tried to get rid of negative gearing
• 16:21
  Speaker 7: and within a couple of years he had to turn
• 16:23
  Speaker 7: tail and reinstate it. We've seen it overseas and other
• 16:26
  Speaker 7: countries as well. When such radical tax changes have been conducted,
• 16:29
  Speaker 7: they've often been reversed. So the quicker we get the
• 16:32
  Speaker 7: government to recognise that they're somewhat the cause of these
• 16:37
  Speaker 7: issues and they correct course, the better for all of us. Now,
• 16:39
  Speaker 7: I don't have a lot of hope for that. I
• 16:41
  Speaker 7: think we're just going to have to fight this all
• 16:42
  Speaker 7: the way through the election. And as I said earlier...
• 16:44
  Speaker 7: Our plan will be to scrap all of these taxes.
• 16:46
  Speaker 7: We'll do that on day one, get the laws in
• 16:49
  Speaker 7: there to scrap all of Labor's taxes, and then we'll
• 16:51
  Speaker 7: go further. We'll go further and cut taxes by more,
• 16:55
  Speaker 7: index tax thresholds to inflation. So you get to keep
• 16:58
  Speaker 7: more of your money every year and return the incentive
• 17:01
  Speaker 7: for people to work and be able to save, get ahead,
• 17:04
  Speaker 7: build up the nest egg in their homes and other
• 17:06
  Speaker 7: savings and not have a government come and take that
• 17:08
  Speaker 7: all from them. by changes that they didn't even take
• 17:12
  Speaker 7: to an election.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: Sounds good.
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: That would be a big improvement on what we've got now.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Matt Canavan, appreciate you joining me.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much.
• 17:18
  Speaker 7: Thanks, James.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: Well, a Liberal councillor here in Sydney has quit the
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: Liberal Party after claiming her Liberal colleagues failed to support
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: Australia Day celebrations. Now, it's fair to say Waverley Council
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: in Sydney's eastern suburbs has developed its own distinctive approach
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: to January 26th, in recent years, which is to say
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: they celebrate Australia Day about as enthusiastically as a vegan
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: celebrates a sausage sizzle. Rather than actually celebrating Australia, the
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: Liberal-dominated council holds a dawn reflection service on January 26,
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: complete with a welcome to country, a smoking ceremony and
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: Aboriginal performances to commemorate First Nations people. And then later
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: in the day, there's a citizenship ceremony. And that's pretty
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: much it. So Liberal Councillor Lauren Townsend thought maybe Australia
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: Day could involve a little more, oh, I don't know, Australia.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: She proposed expanding the celebrations with a party at Bondi Beach,
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: complete with traditional Australian sports like thong throwing and free
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: Australian cuisine such as meat pies.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: And lamingtons.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: But the liberal-controlled council balked at the cost. So when
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: a smaller celebration was suggested, a free barbecue costing $ 20, 000,
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: you might have thought this was a compromise even the
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: most aggressively multicultural council could stomach.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Apparently not.
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: The council's Indigenous Advisory Committee objected, claiming, and I quote,
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Australia Day is considered a day of mourning for many
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Aboriginal people and committee members felt they were being asked
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: to celebrate at the expense of history and the devastation
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: that resulted. It turns out only two of Lauren Townsend's
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: five Liberal colleagues supported her.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: Australia Day idea.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: And that was apparently the final straw for the Australia
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: Day barbecue and for Lauren Townsend. She decided if the
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: Liberal Party could no longer support a Liberal councillor trying
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: to organise an Australia Day celebration, maybe she no longer
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: belonged to the Liberal Party.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: And she joins me now. Lauren, welcome to the program.
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: Thanks, James.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: At what point did you decide this is not just
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: a disagreement over Australia Day, this is a reason to
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: quit the Liberal Party altogether?
• 19:26
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 19:27
  Speaker 8: James... This wasn't a dispute over just a budget or
• 19:31
  Speaker 8: an item. What you want to spend money on is
• 19:34
  Speaker 8: what you value. So this was a clash of core
• 19:37
  Speaker 8: fundamental values, ultimately.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: What reason did your Liberal colleagues give for not supporting you?
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, an Australia Day barbecue at Bondi Beach, you
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: can't get much.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: More Aussie than that.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: And I can't believe some free sausages would be that
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: offensive to Indigenous people. What was the reason for not
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: supporting your proposal?
• 19:59
  Speaker 8: They just didn't want to spend the money, James, just
• 20:01
  Speaker 8: didn't want to put their hands in their pockets, which
• 20:03
  Speaker 8: is quite sad, because I know other councils happily spend
• 20:07
  Speaker 8: into the six figures. And are proud to do so.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: And what about the objection from the Indigenous Advisory Committee?
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: Did that play into the thinking of other Liberal councillors
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: on the council?
• 20:20
  Speaker 8: You'll have to ask them that question yourself. They didn't
• 20:22
  Speaker 8: speak against it and actually explain to the council meeting
• 20:26
  Speaker 8: why they were voting against it. But that was certainly
• 20:30
  Speaker 8: Labor's reasons and I guess they left them unrebutted.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: You have said that you feel like the Liberal Party
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: is embarrassed by members who vote along conservative lines.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: What do you mean by that?
• 20:43
  Speaker 8: Being a conservative in the Liberal Party in 2026 has
• 20:47
  Speaker 8: felt like one needs to sort of keep quiet, not
• 20:51
  Speaker 8: cause offence, and at best you're tolerated by your colleagues,
• 20:57
  Speaker 8: but really I think you're kind of resented by those
• 21:01
  Speaker 8: in the party that feel... our way back to success
• 21:03
  Speaker 8: is chasing the teal vote rather than sticking to our principles.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: And when you say they are embarrassed by a fellow
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: Liberal who's pursuing conservative views, what sort of views would
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: they find embarrassing?
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: I mean, Australia Day, obviously. Christmas.
• 21:21
  Speaker 8: I wanted to have Merry Christmas instead of Season's Greetings. Again,
• 21:25
  Speaker 8: the argument was the cost. You know, how do you
• 21:28
  Speaker 8: justify spending the money? Although we are going to have some...
• 21:32
  Speaker 8: Red and green bunting this year, so that is an improvement.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: So you've taken a pretty drastic step. I believe you've
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: been a member of the Liberal Party since about 2011.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: You've now quit the party. What's been the feedback from
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: other Liberal members at your decision?
• 21:46
  Speaker 8: Actually, I've been surprisingly well supported. It's so many Liberals
• 21:51
  Speaker 8: have called me to say that they echo my sentiments
• 21:54
  Speaker 8: and no one who's called me has actually defended the
• 21:58
  Speaker 8: Liberal Party. you know, said you should stay because this
• 22:01
  Speaker 8: is such a great party.
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: Interesting.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: All right, so your intention is to remain on the
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: council as an independent?
• 22:08
  Speaker 8: At the moment, I am dedicated to serving my constituents
• 22:11
  Speaker 8: with integrity and sticking to my principles. And, look, I
• 22:15
  Speaker 8: might find another political home quite soon with people who
• 22:18
  Speaker 8: share my values.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Well, Lauren, I appreciate you coming on the program tonight.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much.
• 22:22
  Speaker 8: Thanks, James.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: All right, coming up after the break, are Australian taxpayers
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: subsidising hostile nations to develop technology that could be used
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: against us? A new study suggests we may well be.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: Peter Jennings joins me after this break. Well, there's a
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: remarkable story emerging from Australia's universities. And for once, the
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: word remarkable is not being used to describe a breakthrough
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: in technology.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Gender studies.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: An investigation into taxpayer grants doled out by the Australian
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: Research Council has raised serious questions about whether you and
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: I have been funding research collaborations involving scientists and institutions
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: in countries that are How should I put this? Not
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: exactly members of the Australian Neighbourhood Watch program. We're talking China, Russia, Iran,
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: North Korea. According to foreign interference expert Dr Brendan Walker-Monroe,
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: a review of more than 6,500 government grants since 2021
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: has identified dozens of cases where Australian academics collaborated with
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: foreign researchers who are connected to military or intelligence institutions
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: hostile to this country. Australian academics have used taxpayer money
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: to work with Chinese scientists, for example, on mosquito-sized drones,
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: as well as facial recognition technology. I'm sure none of
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: it will ever be used against us. Joining me now
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: is News24 defence analyst Peter Jennings.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Peter, welcome to the program.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: Do you worry that Australian taxpayers are essentially underwriting the
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: development of military applications by hostile nations that could be
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: used against us?
• 24:06
  Speaker 11: Well, we should be worried about it, James, and good evening.
• 24:09
  Speaker 11: But this is an old problem. I remember in my
• 24:13
  Speaker 11: early public service career days in the intelligence community being
• 24:17
  Speaker 11: astounded at the number of students, Iranian students, that had
• 24:21
  Speaker 11: found themselves into postgraduate studies around nuclear physics. That was
• 24:27
  Speaker 11: several decades ago. And then when I ran the think
• 24:31
  Speaker 11: tank ASPE, I actually went through an exercise to bring
• 24:33
  Speaker 11: the heads of our intelligence agencies together to with a
• 24:36
  Speaker 11: number of vice chancellors from key universities. And the challenge
• 24:40
  Speaker 11: was to get either side to actually acknowledge that there
• 24:43
  Speaker 11: was a problem, that this type of research was taking
• 24:46
  Speaker 11: place at our universities. It's a sort of a cultural
• 24:49
  Speaker 11: difference between the national security establishment and the university establishment, which,
• 24:54
  Speaker 11: number one, is always chasing research money, and number two,
• 24:58
  Speaker 11: believes that international collaboration is a kind of good in
• 25:02
  Speaker 11: its own right. So I am absolutely certain that the
• 25:06
  Speaker 11: The areas of research that our academic friend found are
• 25:12
  Speaker 11: absolutely going on. It will be costing Australian universities tens
• 25:17
  Speaker 11: of millions of dollars. It will be benefiting the military
• 25:21
  Speaker 11: forces of countries that are out to do us and
• 25:25
  Speaker 11: our allies damage. And it's really high time the government
• 25:29
  Speaker 11: actually took this more seriously. If the universities won't find
• 25:32
  Speaker 11: a process to fix it, then the government will need
• 25:35
  Speaker 11: to step in and do it for them And we've
• 25:37
  Speaker 11: got to start taking the security risk of this type
• 25:40
  Speaker 11: of cooperation at our universities more seriously.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, academics are supposed to be the smartest among us.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: I just don't know how they can be so naive
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: and stupid. Anthony Albanese is currently at the Pacific Islands Forum,
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: which threatens to be overshadowed by China. China's special envoy
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: for the Pacific today expressed his displeasure at Taiwan's participation
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: in the summit.
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: Here he was.
• 26:05
  Speaker 8: Taiwan is not.
• 26:06
  Speaker 11: a dialogue partner for the forum. So we have serious concern.
• 26:11
  Speaker 11: We have made our position very clear.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: He went on to say there would be, quote, unquote, consequences,
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: but then added that wasn't a threat. The PM wasn't
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: keen to talk about China's displeasure or about the number
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: of Pacific nation island leaders choosing to steer clear of
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: the summit. Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Kiribati. Anthony Albanese was
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: asked about China's intimidation of Pacific island leaders.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: Here he was.
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: I'm focused on the Pacific Islands Forum.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: That's what I'm focused on. Well, that's what I'm focused on.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: I'm Australia's spokesperson.
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: I'm Australia's spokesperson and I speak on behalf of Australia.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: A couple of questions, Peter.
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: First, where do the Chinese get off telling Pacific nations
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: who can and can't attend their forums?
• 27:04
  Speaker 11: Yes, they should mind their own business, but of course
• 27:07
  Speaker 11: they won't. They have a number one agenda in the Pacific,
• 27:10
  Speaker 11: which is to push Taiwan out of it. I think
• 27:13
  Speaker 11: the reason why we're not seeing these Pacific Island leaders
• 27:16
  Speaker 11: turn up is because Palau, the country where they're meeting,
• 27:19
  Speaker 11: is one of the few remaining Pacific Island countries that
• 27:22
  Speaker 11: recognises Taiwan. That's behind the reason why a number of
• 27:26
  Speaker 11: leaders have been induced to stay away. And the other
• 27:29
  Speaker 11: thing that I find just remarkable, James, is how not
• 27:32
  Speaker 11: even when he's wearing an Hawaiian shirt can Anthony Albanese
• 27:36
  Speaker 11: talk openly and honestly about the problem Australia has in
• 27:40
  Speaker 11: pushing back against Chinese negative influence in the Pacific.
• 27:43
  Speaker 4: It's tragic.
• 27:45
  Speaker 11: I can only hope that behind closed doors he can
• 27:48
  Speaker 11: have more honest conversations with the Pacific Island leaders that
• 27:50
  Speaker 11: have turned up Because, you know, Albanese claims that we're
• 27:55
  Speaker 11: doing a tremendous job of work in helping to keep
• 27:58
  Speaker 11: China's influence reduced. And yet, as we can see, at
• 28:01
  Speaker 11: their beck and call, a whole bunch of Pacific Island
• 28:03
  Speaker 11: leaders just won't come to the meetings.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: Indeed, I mean, if nothing else, this forum should send
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: a message that Pacific Island nations are steadfast in their
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: determination not to be bullied by China. But that message
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: isn't exactly being sent. And as you pointed out, the
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: prime minister wasn't exactly strong or willing to talk about
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: what's happening. Peter Jennings, appreciate you joining me.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much. We'll stick around.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: Coming up after the break, Donald Trump blasts the left-wing
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: media who, after accusing him of wanting to start a
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: nuclear war with Iran, are now demanding him to explain
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: why he hasn't. An interesting chat coming up next with
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: Sean Spicer. Well, US President Donald Trump has declared overnight
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: that Iran is a failed nation and he's called its
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: leaders to be tried for crimes against humanity. He wrote
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: on Truth Social, Iran is officially a failed nation.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: It is dead.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: And then he went on to say what he says
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: is the evidence. No Navy, no Air Force, a collapsing currency,
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: unpaid soldiers and police, inflation at 300%, a leadership in
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: total disarray.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: And then came the punchline. He wrote.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: The only thing they have is fake news from the USA,
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: a willingness to kill their protesters, now over 100,000 people dead.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: They must be tried for war crimes against humanity and
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: a good line of BS. Now, whatever you think of
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: Donald Trump, he raises an interesting contradiction, does he not?
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: The left, who claim to care so much about Muslims,
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: have been demanding Israeli leaders be tried for crimes against humanity,
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: for doing no more than trying to rescue their hostages
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: from a terrorist regime. Meanwhile, the Iranians slaughtered tens of
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: thousands of their own people in order to suppress dissent.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: And somehow the international establishment seems considerably less interested in.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: Booking them a room at The Hague.
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: Joining me now is Donald Trump's first White House press secretary,
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: Sean Spicer.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Sean, welcome to the program.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: What chance the Iranian leadership would ever answer for their crimes?
• 30:06
  Speaker 7: Zero.
• 30:06
  Speaker 9: Zero. And it's a really interesting point that you bring up.
• 30:10
  Speaker 9: The problem fundamentally, though, is twofold. Number one, the Iranian leadership,
• 30:14
  Speaker 9: to me, is at least somewhat amorphous. You've got the
• 30:17
  Speaker 9: people like the Ayatollah and the Speaker who are in office,
• 30:20
  Speaker 9: and then you've got the IRGC, sort of an amorphous
• 30:23
  Speaker 9: group that operates separately from the world that you negotiate with,
• 30:27
  Speaker 9: if you will, and the one that's the legitimate government,
• 30:30
  Speaker 9: but one.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: That's very powerful.
• 30:31
  Speaker 9: And secondly, to the point that you raised, James, I
• 30:34
  Speaker 9: think it's brilliant. But I also feel like the world,
• 30:37
  Speaker 9: for the most part, lives in a constant contradiction. They
• 30:40
  Speaker 9: want to support people who open with open borders. And yet, yeah,
• 30:45
  Speaker 9: I mean, so that there's constant. So I kind of
• 30:47
  Speaker 9: feel like it's so obvious what you're pointing out. And
• 30:51
  Speaker 9: yet no one will actually care about it, if that
• 30:54
  Speaker 9: makes sense.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: The media will overlook it.
• 30:56
  Speaker 9: Other nations don't care about the contradiction that they live
• 30:58
  Speaker 9: in and so many issues, particularly this one.
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: Well, speaking of contradictions, I've got to ask you about
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: Square this circle for me, Sean.
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: Here she is speaking about the need to help oppressed
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: women whom she defines as women who can't get access
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: to an abortion.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: Take a look. This is where we have the Statue
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: of Liberty welcoming people who are oppressed, women who cannot
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: receive fundamental right to control their body or receive an abortion.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: They are oppressed. They're welcome here in the state of
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: New York.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: Ah, yes, when you see the Statue of Liberty, the
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: first thing you think is, give me your tired, your poor,
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: your huddled masses yearning to abort their unborn. Anyway, women
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: who can't have an abortion are oppressed, according to the
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: New York governor, and she's all about.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: Standing up for oppressed women.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: So here she was yesterday addressing a group of Muslim
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: men while dutifully wearing a hijab, a garment millions of
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: truly oppressed women in Muslim nations like Iran are forced
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: to wear upon fear of death.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: And, Sean, to add insult to injury, the.
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: New York governor is pulling this stunt just two weeks
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: before the 25th anniversary of 9-11, when, of course, Islamic
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: terrorists murdered 3,000 New Yorkers.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: This is insane on so many levels.
• 32:27
  Speaker 9: When you play that first clip, I was hoping the
• 32:30
  Speaker 9: second clip would follow. The notion that she stood there
• 32:33
  Speaker 9: and talked about the plight of women and then put
• 32:36
  Speaker 9: a hijab on, it was not lost on me.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: And I think so.
• 32:40
  Speaker 9: Many people, again, I hate to sound like I'm playing
• 32:44
  Speaker 9: the same tune over and over again, but no one
• 32:46
  Speaker 9: in America in the mainstream media noticed that except people
• 32:49
  Speaker 9: like you, me on my show. It's amazing the contradictions
• 32:54
  Speaker 9: that these guys tie themselves up. And I'm so glad
• 32:56
  Speaker 9: that you brought up, James, the 25th commemoration of the
• 32:59
  Speaker 9: attack of 9-11. These folks from Mondami, the mayor there
• 33:03
  Speaker 9: in New York, to Hochul, the governor, to El-Sayed, the
• 33:06
  Speaker 9: Senate candidate in Michigan, have been so on the wrong
• 33:10
  Speaker 9: side of what we're about to commemorate. And I keep
• 33:15
  Speaker 9: thinking to myself, I remember very clearly after 9-11, we
• 33:18
  Speaker 9: had a slogan in America that said, Never forget. And
• 33:22
  Speaker 9: I feel like not only have we not remembered, but
• 33:26
  Speaker 9: we've continued to find ways to whitewash the lessons of
• 33:29
  Speaker 9: that tragic day.
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you mentioned Muslim candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: A lot of people are tipping that he will win
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: the Senate race there. He's the Democrat candidate. But some
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: on his own team do seem rather reluctant to support him.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: Check out this.
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: Woman pushed in front of the cameras to vouch for him.
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: She looks like she's part of a hostage video rather
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: than a campaign event.
• 33:55
  Speaker 12: Mike Rogers has a history of voting for bills that
• 33:58
  Speaker 12: protect corporations and harm workers.
• 34:01
  Speaker 9: You....
• 34:08
  Speaker 12: Whereas Abdul El-Sayed is running to be our next Michigan
• 34:13
  Speaker 12: state senator who does not accept corporate PAC money, who
• 34:17
  Speaker 12: stands with the workers of our community. And moving forward,
• 34:21
  Speaker 12: he is the best person for this assignment.
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: Shauna, I suspect she personifies how a lot of Americans
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: feel about Abdul.
• 34:32
  Speaker 9: I mean, honest to God, if you asked AI to
• 34:33
  Speaker 9: give me a hostage video, that's what it would come
• 34:36
  Speaker 9: back with. That's literally unbelievable. But here's the scary part, James.
• 34:43
  Speaker 9: Right now, he's leading. And I try to remind people
• 34:46
  Speaker 9: every day of this.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: I live in Virginia.
• 34:49
  Speaker 9: I voted in Virginia. Last cycle, there was a candidate
• 34:52
  Speaker 9: named Jay Jones who is running for attorney general, which
• 34:55
  Speaker 9: is the top law enforcement official in any state. He
• 34:59
  Speaker 9: is now the attorney general of the Commonwealth of Virginia after,
• 35:03
  Speaker 9: on the campaign trail, a video came out of him
• 35:06
  Speaker 9: pledging to kill his opponent and his opponent's children. So
• 35:10
  Speaker 9: I remind voters all the time on my show, don't
• 35:14
  Speaker 9: think that these kind of ridiculous things are going to
• 35:19
  Speaker 9: be disqualifiers. I believe, like you said, that Al-Sayed is
• 35:23
  Speaker 9: the leading candidate. Mike Rogers, the Republican, needs to go
• 35:26
  Speaker 9: out and make a very affirmative case for his own campaign,
• 35:30
  Speaker 9: not just about El-Saeed and who he is and the
• 35:33
  Speaker 9: dangers that he presents. Voters in this cycle really want
• 35:37
  Speaker 9: to know what you're going to do for them.
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: And in lieu of that, James, are willing to.
• 35:41
  Speaker 9: Overlook almost anything, as is evidenced in the Jay Jones
• 35:45
  Speaker 9: case in Virginia last cycle. When we watch videos about
• 35:49
  Speaker 9: El-Sayed saying crazy stuff, associating himself with crazy people who
• 35:54
  Speaker 9: believe that, quote, America deserved 9-11, We've got to believe
• 35:59
  Speaker 9: or remember that voters this cycle are willing to almost
• 36:02
  Speaker 9: forgive anything. And that if we want to defeat them,
• 36:05
  Speaker 9: we can't just say, oh, that's a disqualifying statement.
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: We've got to understand that we need to make an affirmative.
• 36:11
  Speaker 9: Case as to why the Republican is a better candidate.
• 36:15
  Speaker 9: And I think too many Republicans are relying on the
• 36:17
  Speaker 9: fact that people like him are just crazy left wing
• 36:22
  Speaker 9: and that voters will acknowledge that.
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, Sean, I'm not worried at all because, fortunately,
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: in the United States, you have a brilliant press corp
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: who are going to hold all of these people accountable.
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: I'm being facetious, of course. You've been a White House
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: press secretary, right? So help me understand the White House
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: press corps. This question from a reporter overnight was bizarre
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: and it got the treatment it deserved.
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: Have a look. Have you ruled out using a nuclear
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: weapon against Iran?
• 36:52
  Speaker 10: Well, I would never... say that, but the answer is yes.
• 36:56
  Speaker 10: I rule out no reason for it. What a stupid
• 37:01
  Speaker 10: question that.
• 37:02
  Speaker 8: Is, actually.
• 37:03
  Speaker 10: Here they are. They're totally defeated militarily. So now I
• 37:10
  Speaker 10: defeat them, and now I should use a nuclear weapon
• 37:12
  Speaker 10: on top of them? What a stupid question.
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: So first they accused Trump of wanting to start a
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: nuclear war and now he's prevented a nuclear war. They
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: demand to know whether he might respond by using nuclear weapons.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: Sean, my question is this.
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: When the White House press ask these sort of questions,
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: do they actually care about the answer or are they
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: just trying to generate a headline?
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: What a great question. Definitely the latter. They're trying to
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: create a headline.
• 37:42
  Speaker 9: I will say, I have never seen a president like
• 37:45
  Speaker 9: President Trump that will call it out. How many people
• 37:47
  Speaker 9: do you know, not just President Trump, but any foreign
• 37:49
  Speaker 9: leader that would say, that's a stupid question? Um, and
• 37:52
  Speaker 9: it's so brilliant because too many politicians like to coddle
• 37:55
  Speaker 9: the media. Oh, let me, let me reflect on that.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: It's an interesting question. Let me punt. He calls it
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: right out.
• 38:02
  Speaker 9: And I think the way that you framed it was
• 38:03
  Speaker 9: so perfect because the guy went into Iran to prevent
• 38:07
  Speaker 9: a nuclear war and then they think he's going to
• 38:11
  Speaker 9: start one. I mean, it just defies logic. And yet
• 38:15
  Speaker 9: it really shows how stupid most of these people are.
• 38:17
  Speaker 9: And I think one thing that hopefully, um, The foreign
• 38:22
  Speaker 9: audience gets, because clearly the American audience doesn't get, is
• 38:26
  Speaker 9: how stupid most of these people in the White House
• 38:29
  Speaker 9: press corps are. They are truly dumb people. And I'm
• 38:32
  Speaker 9: glad the president calls it out. So when the American
• 38:34
  Speaker 9: people watch an exchange like that, they actually can see
• 38:37
  Speaker 9: somebody saying, no, that's not interesting. It's just plain stupid.
• 38:40
  Speaker 9: And I, for one, am a huge fan of how
• 38:43
  Speaker 9: the president calls this out.
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: Well, before I let you go, speaking of stupid people,
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: have a listen to Texas Democrat James Tallarico, who certainly
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: isn't shy about the Democrat agenda.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: Have a listen to this.
• 38:56
  Speaker 6: If you are OK with getting taxed more, if you're
• 38:59
  Speaker 6: OK with me limiting your influence in politics, you are
• 39:02
  Speaker 6: welcome to join this movement.
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: Now, he was addressing wealthy people, but still, that's the agenda.
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: And Texans might not go for this, but lots of
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: people in the US are.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: Speaking of stupid, Sean.
• 39:16
  Speaker 9: I just got to say this to the forefront, James,
• 39:17
  Speaker 9: because I want everyone to know if you watch my
• 39:20
  Speaker 9: show tomorrow, I didn't steal all this from James. We're
• 39:23
  Speaker 9: on the same wavelength today because I honestly have like
• 39:26
  Speaker 9: all of these clips in my show tomorrow. You're just
• 39:29
  Speaker 9: ahead of the curve. So I this is absolutely brilliant
• 39:32
  Speaker 9: because I'm laughing because every time you show one of these,
• 39:34
  Speaker 9: I go, oh, my God, did they steal my script?
• 39:36
  Speaker 9: You're so far ahead of the curve right now, James.
• 39:39
  Speaker 9: But I agree. What candidate for office says, I want
• 39:41
  Speaker 9: to make sure that, you know, I'm going to raise your.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: Taxes, even if that's their agenda. Who says that out loud?
• 39:47
  Speaker 9: And I got to believe I tweeted this out earlier tonight.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: Just as proof, by the way, that I'm going to
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: use this.
• 39:52
  Speaker 9: I said, thank you, Jimmy, because Tallarico just gave us
• 39:56
  Speaker 9: a gift that hopefully Ken Paxton takes advantage of.
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: Sean Spicer, always love talking to you. Thanks for joining
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: me tonight.
• 40:04
  Speaker 5: You bet.
• 40:04
  Speaker 10: Thank you.
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: Well, coming up next, Michelle Rowland wasn't the only Labor
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: minister to claim Pauline Hanson is to blame for the
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: threats against her, plus more evidence of Victoria's violent culture,
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: shocking vision of a daylight bashing, a 75-year-old man beaten
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: with a cricket bat after he tried to stop an
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: alleged thief stealing from the Salvation Army.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: That's next.
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: I spoke at the top of the show about Attorney-General
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: Michelle Rowland suggesting it's Pauline Hanson who needs to tone
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: down the rhetoric, which was a rather unique way to
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: suggest threats against.
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: Her should stop.
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: Later today, the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Patrick Gorman,
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: said he agreed with Rowland's assessment, essentially that One Nation
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: have brought problems upon themselves.
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: Here he was.
• 40:55
  Speaker 13: I do agree with the Attorney-General that some of the
• 40:58
  Speaker 13: decisions that One Nation have made in the past... I
• 41:01
  Speaker 13: don't think, have brought Australians together. But I think what
• 41:05
  Speaker 13: I'm hopeful for is that we're going to see something
• 41:07
  Speaker 13: different from Senator Hanson. We're going to see a new, kinder,
• 41:12
  Speaker 13: more considerate type of politics from Senator Hanson. I think
• 41:16
  Speaker 13: that would be a good thing and I would welcome it.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: Absolutely incredible.
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: Joining me to discuss is Michael Danby, former Labor MP
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: and Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs,
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: Defence and Trade, and Mia Schlitt, Executive Director of the
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: Samuel Griffith Society. Michael, what did you make of Patrick
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: Gorman calling for a kinder, gentler Pauline Hanson?
• 41:38
  Speaker 4: Well, both he.
• 41:40
  Speaker 14: And Michelle Rowland make the mistake of, if you disagree
• 41:44
  Speaker 14: with someone, insisting that they speak in your terminology. Outline
• 41:49
  Speaker 14: your differences, Patrick and Michelle, with Pauline Hanson. That's fair enough.
• 41:54
  Speaker 14: That's what people expect. But saying that she's at her
• 41:58
  Speaker 14: own security risk is setting her up for violence. We've
• 42:02
  Speaker 14: already had violence against Australian citizens at Bondi. Do we
• 42:06
  Speaker 14: want them against federal politicians next? This is what these
• 42:09
  Speaker 14: two people are unintentionally presaging.
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: Mia, why is it so hard to come out and say,
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: I strongly disagree with Pauline Hanson on immigration, energy, monoculture,
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: and no one should threaten, intimidate or physically harm her
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: under any circumstances?
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: Why is that so hard to say?
• 42:30
  Speaker 6: Well, it shouldn't be difficult, James, and I think many
• 42:32
  Speaker 6: of us here in Australia expect more from our leaders
• 42:35
  Speaker 6: to stand power political violence in this way, but I
• 42:38
  Speaker 6: think it goes a bit further than that. I think
• 42:40
  Speaker 6: that many of those on the extreme left believe that
• 42:43
  Speaker 6: words can amount to violence. So therefore, if Pauline Hanson
• 42:47
  Speaker 6: says things that people on the left don't agree with,
• 42:50
  Speaker 6: therefore that deserves some kind of violent physical reaction. Of course,
• 42:53
  Speaker 6: we know that's not proportional or the right thing to do,
• 42:55
  Speaker 6: but we are seeing the rise of that around the
• 42:58
  Speaker 6: world where we have conservative leaders who are saying things
• 43:01
  Speaker 6: that some people on the extreme left disagree with, and
• 43:04
  Speaker 6: they therefore think that there is a violent reaction is
• 43:07
  Speaker 6: somewhat justified. And because we've seen that pattern, it's all
• 43:10
  Speaker 6: the more important that we have political leaders here in
• 43:13
  Speaker 6: Australia who stamp that out immediately. And I think it's
• 43:16
  Speaker 6: incredibly interesting that we want to talk about kindness and
• 43:19
  Speaker 6: turning down the rhetoric now, when we had hundreds of
• 43:22
  Speaker 6: schoolchildren flooding the streets, calling for violence against Pauline Hanson,
• 43:26
  Speaker 6: calling to shoot her, calling for the guillotine. And yet
• 43:28
  Speaker 6: we didn't have a prime minister or any Labor figures
• 43:31
  Speaker 6: who were concerned about the kindness and the rhetoric then.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: That is a really, really great point.
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: One Nation continue to lobby the Prime Minister for a
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: greater staff allocation in line with their increased representation in
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: the House of Reps and Senate. Pauline Hanson released this
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: graphic today showing just how few staffers One Nation has
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: per elected representative in comparison to other parties.
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: Michael, is her claim legitimate?
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: And how is it that this is at the discretion
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: of the Prime Minister? That hardly seems fair to me.
• 44:04
  Speaker 14: But the Prime Minister's always decided staff allocations per party
• 44:08
  Speaker 14: and they haven't dealt with the fact that One Nation
• 44:11
  Speaker 14: has an increased representation.
• 44:13
  Speaker 4: It's unfair.
• 44:14
  Speaker 14: That table is very accurate and they should be given
• 44:18
  Speaker 14: their fair allocation of staff. You can hardly blame them
• 44:20
  Speaker 14: for not being able to deliver costings when they haven't
• 44:24
  Speaker 14: got the people to do it issue by issue as
• 44:27
  Speaker 14: they should be. And then you should be able to
• 44:29
  Speaker 14: criticise them on the basis of You know, you agree
• 44:31
  Speaker 14: with that policy or disagree with that policy. I agree
• 44:35
  Speaker 14: with the both of you, Mayor and James, that you
• 44:37
  Speaker 14: have to be very, very careful about where this is leading.
• 44:41
  Speaker 14: The implication that she is to blame for violence against
• 44:45
  Speaker 14: them and to say nothing of.
• 44:47
  Speaker 4: It when people make threats against her, very dangerous.
• 44:50
  Speaker 14: If something happens, Patrick, you're going to look an idiot
• 44:53
  Speaker 14: and Michelle Rowland, you're the Attorney-General of Australia, how are
• 44:57
  Speaker 14: you going to look?
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Mia, just quickly before we move on, do you
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: think Labor MPs understand why One Nation is growing in
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: popularity and perhaps the contribution they're making to that?
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: No, not at all.
• 45:11
  Speaker 6: And I think we're seeing this consistently. We've even had
• 45:13
  Speaker 6: the Prime Minister out there implying that, you know, those
• 45:16
  Speaker 6: who support One Nation and Pauline Hanson are somehow dumb
• 45:18
  Speaker 6: or misguided or they can't see through the lies that
• 45:20
  Speaker 6: she's peddling. But that's the exact reason why so many
• 45:23
  Speaker 6: Australians are flocking to One Nation because One Nation is
• 45:26
  Speaker 6: talking about values and principles. that they agree with, and
• 45:29
  Speaker 6: for so long they've been demonised for speaking about things
• 45:32
  Speaker 6: like mass migration, things about the energy system. These are
• 45:36
  Speaker 6: all very normal topics to speak about in terms of
• 45:39
  Speaker 6: the future of this country, yet for so long those
• 45:41
  Speaker 6: who support One Nation have been demonised for being racist
• 45:44
  Speaker 6: or homophobic, for discussing very basic ideals, and the more
• 45:48
  Speaker 6: that Labor continues to demonise those views and those values,
• 45:52
  Speaker 6: the further and further they'll be pushed to One Nation.
• 45:55
  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, go ahead.
• 45:57
  Speaker 14: Doesn't Albo forget the effect that Hillary Clinton had when
• 46:02
  Speaker 14: she denigrated truck drivers in Michigan as deplorables? You know, don't...
• 46:09
  Speaker 14: criticise voters, argue issues on the basis of their merits.
• 46:14
  Speaker 9: Exactly.
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: Hey, very quickly, I had Stephen Conroy and Michael Kroger
• 46:17
  Speaker 2: on the program last night, both Victorians, as are you.
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: They were talking about the culture of violence that exists
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: in Victoria.
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: Take a look at this footage that emerged today of
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: a 75-year-old man being bashed in broad daylight with a
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: cricket bat after he tried to stop an alleged thief
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: stealing from a Salvation Army donation bin. We don't have
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: much time left, but just very quickly from both of you,
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: what is it about Victoria?
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: I'll start with you first, Mia.
• 46:43
  Speaker 10: Yeah.
• 46:44
  Speaker 6: Look, I think there's a variety of reasons why law
• 46:46
  Speaker 6: and order is collapsing here in Victoria. And there's things like,
• 46:49
  Speaker 6: for example, there's not enough funding to make sure that
• 46:51
  Speaker 6: there are police on the ground to deter crimes like
• 46:53
  Speaker 6: this from happening. But another really critical one is that
• 46:56
  Speaker 6: courts aren't meeting community expectations when it comes to sentencing.
• 47:00
  Speaker 6: This was another individual who was out on bail. And
• 47:03
  Speaker 6: I think it's about time that we had courts who
• 47:05
  Speaker 6: took individuals who have committed violent crimes and actually locked
• 47:08
  Speaker 6: them behind bars.
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Michael, what is.
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: I mean, you're a proud Victorian, but what is going
• 47:15
  Speaker 2: on down there?
• 47:16
  Speaker 4: It's the Attorney-General's mayor's right.
• 47:18
  Speaker 14: It's the implementation of the law, the appointment of basically.
• 47:24
  Speaker 4: People who interpret the law.
• 47:26
  Speaker 14: They want to make it themselves rather than the black-letter law.
• 47:30
  Speaker 14: Magistrates and judges, county court judges, Supreme Court judges.
• 47:34
  Speaker 9: Who are.
• 47:35
  Speaker 4: There's an old-fashioned word, weak, James.
• 47:37
  Speaker 10: Weak.
• 47:38
  Speaker 14: And they're responsible for this sort of surge of crime.
• 47:42
  Speaker 4: It's not as bad in New South Wales as it
• 47:44
  Speaker 4: is here in Victoria.
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you make a good point, right?
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: There's crime everywhere and there's idiots everywhere you go, but
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: it just seems day after day, week after week, we're
• 47:56
  Speaker 2: spoilt for choice when it comes to idiots and violence
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: from Victoria.
• 48:02
  Speaker 4: It's just.
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: Difficult to work out. And, of course, Pauline Hanson, back
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: to her. I know of all the places in Australia
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: she gets nervous going, it's Melbourne because of the environment
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: that's been allowed to fester there. It really is something
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: that needs to be fixed. Hopefully, with a change of
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: government in November.
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: That'll start the... the turnaround.
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: Mia Schlitt and Michael Danby, appreciate you joining me tonight.
• 48:27
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much. Thanks for your company as well. I'll
• 48:30
  Speaker 2: be back tomorrow night, but don't go anywhere. Shari Markson
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: is up in just a moment and she's got an
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: exclusive story. Dawn Fraser absolutely slamming the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism.
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: She's up right now.