Latest / The Bolt Report / The Bolt Report | 21 September

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The Bolt Report | 21 September · The Bolt Report

0:11
Speaker 1: This is The Bolt Report.
0:15
Speaker 2: Well, good evening and welcome to The Bolt Report. I'm
0:17
Speaker 2: James McPherson. Here's what's coming up tonight. The Prime Minister
0:20
Speaker 2: is in New York, but that hasn't stopped him from
0:23
Speaker 2: displaying blatant hypocrisy about a major crisis we're facing here
0:26
Speaker 2: at home.
0:27
Speaker 1: More on that in a moment.
0:29
Speaker 2: Plus, Labor decides to focus on gaining a new seat
0:32
Speaker 2: at the United Nations instead of fixing their plummeting polling numbers.
0:36
Speaker 2: Greg Sheridan will explain whether it's all worth it. And
0:39
Speaker 2: countries in the Caribbean are turning the grievance industry into
0:42
Speaker 2: a national project, rearranging school curriculum so kids can.
0:46
Speaker 1: Learn to be activists.
0:48
Speaker 2: In the campaign for slavery reparations. We'll cross to London
0:52
Speaker 2: later in the show to talk about that. But first,
0:55
Speaker 2: Australia's Prime Minister is in New York, and I've got
0:57
Speaker 2: to be honest, I don't blame him. I wouldn't want
1:00
Speaker 2: to be anywhere near Australia if I was Anthony Albanese,
1:03
Speaker 2: not when the latest news poll shows support for Labour
1:06
Speaker 2: has crashed to just 27%. its lowest level of support
1:11
Speaker 2: since the unhappy final days of Julia Gillard's fateful reign.
1:15
Speaker 2: And not when the Treasurer was releasing an intergenerational report
1:18
Speaker 2: that predicts Australia will run deficit budgets for the next
1:22
Speaker 2: 40 years. Honestly, when I read that in the paper
1:25
Speaker 2: this afternoon, I had to read it three times just
1:27
Speaker 2: to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Depending on whether I
1:30
Speaker 2: live to old age or to very old age, I'm
1:33
Speaker 2: unlikely to see another budget surplus in my lifetime. Bleak,
1:37
Speaker 2: thy name is Labor. So, yeah, I can understand why
1:41
Speaker 2: Anthony Albanese is in New York, though, frankly, even New
1:45
Speaker 2: York wasn't quite far enough away.
1:48
Speaker 3: Prime Minister, here in New York on Wednesday night, you
1:50
Speaker 3: will receive an award for being a global citizen. Don't
1:54
Speaker 3: you feel like a bit of a fraud accepting this
1:56
Speaker 3: award when at home... You screwed up the response to
1:59
Speaker 3: the worst massacre since Port Arthur in the polls. You're
2:03
Speaker 3: taking Labor to one point shy of Julia Gillard when
2:06
Speaker 3: you rolled her. And your net negatives are worse than
2:09
Speaker 3: Scott Morrison.
2:11
Speaker 4: No.
2:12
Speaker 1: Forget the PM's Global Citizen Award.
2:14
Speaker 2: Give independent journalist Latika Burke an Australian Citizen Award for
2:19
Speaker 2: that question. The PM's terse response was him regretting that
2:23
Speaker 2: he'd sought refuge from domestic politics in New York rather than, say, Mars.
2:28
Speaker 2: Anthony Albanese's prime goal while in the Big Apple is
2:31
Speaker 2: to lobby for a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
2:34
Speaker 2: Having shown what his government can do in Australia, he'd
2:37
Speaker 2: now like the chance to inflict it on a global scale.
2:41
Speaker 2: To that end, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
2:43
Speaker 2: released a slick video making Labor's case. I'm sorry, but
2:54
Speaker 2: I've got to cut in there because seriously, I can't
2:57
Speaker 2: believe they went with that slogan.
2:59
Speaker 1: We listen, we partner, we protect. Are they for real?
3:03
Speaker 2: Tell that to the Australian Jewish community. Tell that to
3:06
Speaker 2: our veterans. Tell that to Indigenous kids, some as young
3:09
Speaker 2: as five, reportedly living unsupervised in filthy conditions in Port Hedland.
3:15
Speaker 2: But I'm getting ahead of myself, so keep rolling the tape.
3:23
Speaker 5: I'm going to take you to see what's going on.
3:31
Speaker 2: So the first person you see in our pitch for
3:33
Speaker 2: a seat on the UN Security Council is the Indigenous
3:36
Speaker 2: Affairs Minister, speaking in an Aboriginal tribal language, promoting Aboriginal spirituality.
3:42
Speaker 2: Here's the translation in tastes you didn't understand.
3:46
Speaker 1: How are you?
3:47
Speaker 2: I am of the Yan'yawa people, and we are known
3:50
Speaker 2: as the people whose spirit comes from the sea country.
3:54
Speaker 2: I'm sure the foreign diplomats watching that were absolutely riveted
3:57
Speaker 2: because nothing says, please trust us with a seat on
4:00
Speaker 2: the Security Council, quite like a prime ministerial promotional video
4:05
Speaker 2: beginning with Indigenous spirits coming up out of the sea.
4:09
Speaker 2: If that doesn't convince nations to agree our government should
4:12
Speaker 2: be voting with the US, Russia and China on world affairs, well,
4:15
Speaker 2: nothing will. But there you go. We put our best
4:19
Speaker 2: foot forward and it's this. We might not have nukes,
4:22
Speaker 2: we might not even have much of a military at all,
4:24
Speaker 2: but we can sure deploy identity politics better than anyone
4:27
Speaker 2: else on the planet.
4:29
Speaker 1: Give us a seat on the Security Council.
4:32
Speaker 2: The entire pitch places enormous emphasis on our Indigenous culture,
4:36
Speaker 2: the background music, the Aboriginal imagery, another appearance from the
4:39
Speaker 2: Indigenous Affairs Minister, this time, thankfully, speaking in English. And
4:44
Speaker 2: if you watch closely, even the logos used to denote
4:46
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister, who naturally
4:49
Speaker 2: boasts about how multicultural we are, are rendered using Aboriginal art.
4:55
Speaker 6: Australia is a Pacific nation inhabiting an entire continent and
4:59
Speaker 6: connected to Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean and Antarctica.
5:05
Speaker 7: We are home to the oldest continuous culture on the planet.
5:09
Speaker 5: And to people from more than 300 different ancestries.
5:14
Speaker 2: Now, I'm emphasising all of this because I want to
5:17
Speaker 2: show you just how much Anthony Albanese and his team
5:21
Speaker 2: are leaning into our Indigenous heritage.
5:23
Speaker 1: In order to make their pitch.
5:25
Speaker 2: And there's nothing inherently wrong with showcasing Australian Indigenous culture, obviously.
5:30
Speaker 2: But the brag designed to boost our Security Council bid
5:34
Speaker 2: on the international stage only serves to highlight Labor's hypocrisy
5:38
Speaker 2: here at home. Because while the PM is happy to
5:41
Speaker 2: waltz around New York parading his government's embrace of Aboriginal art,
5:46
Speaker 2: Aboriginal language, Aboriginal spirituality, he wasn't at all happy to
5:50
Speaker 2: talk about the welfare of Aboriginal children back here.
5:54
Speaker 8: The revelations that have come out about values in the
5:58
Speaker 8: child protection system in Port Hedland, has it surprised you
6:02
Speaker 8: that there's that much dysfunction within the system and that
6:07
Speaker 8: Does there need to be a stronger oversight or more
6:11
Speaker 8: powers given to the federal government or even an inquiry
6:15
Speaker 8: to oversee this?
6:16
Speaker 6: Well, we're not about to intervene against the Western Australian government.
6:22
Speaker 2: Aboriginal kids, some as young as five, being left unattended
6:25
Speaker 2: and uncared for in filthy conditions while authorities look the
6:30
Speaker 2: other way.
6:31
Speaker 1: Not my job. Next question.
6:33
Speaker 2: The Albanese government is happy to showcase Indigenous affairs as
6:37
Speaker 2: part of its international brand. But when the subject turns
6:40
Speaker 2: from Aboriginal art to the welfare of Aboriginal children, well,
6:44
Speaker 2: suddenly the constitutional fine print becomes terribly interesting. And they
6:48
Speaker 2: have the hide to call Pauline Hanson a racist. Then
6:52
Speaker 2: came the second great boast in Anthony Albanese's New York
6:55
Speaker 2: sales pitch, Australia's supposedly world-leading legislation to protect children online.
7:02
Speaker 6: Australia has rolled out a world-leading social media age ban
7:06
Speaker 6: and has partnered with nations around the globe to keep
7:10
Speaker 6: kids safe online.
7:12
Speaker 1: Protect the kids! Yeah, and what about those Aboriginal kids?
7:16
Speaker 2: Up to 15 children, some as young as five, left
7:19
Speaker 2: exposed to violence and rape while authorities declined to intervene
7:23
Speaker 2: despite having known for months that these kids needed protection,
7:27
Speaker 2: not online, but in person.
7:30
Speaker 6: Well, we're not about to intervene against the Western Australian government.
7:35
Speaker 1: There you go.
7:36
Speaker 2: Maybe Elbow should listen to his own promotional video because
7:39
Speaker 2: there in the middle of the government's glossy pitch for
7:42
Speaker 2: a seat on the UN Security Council comes a rather
7:45
Speaker 2: inconvenient line.
7:46
Speaker 6: Australia's actions show our character.
7:51
Speaker 2: On that point, Prime Minister, you are absolutely right. And
7:54
Speaker 2: that's why you're now polling at near record lows. Well,
8:03
Speaker 2: joining me now is the political panel, former Victoria Liberal
8:06
Speaker 2: Party President Michael Kroger and former Labor Minister Stephen Conroy.
8:11
Speaker 1: Welcome to you both.
8:12
Speaker 2: I want to start with Latika Burke's question to the PM.
8:16
Speaker 2: It was one for the ages and so is definitely
8:18
Speaker 2: worth watching again. But this time, keep your eye on
8:22
Speaker 2: the PM's face as the question is being asked.
8:26
Speaker 3: Prime Minister, here in New York on Wednesday night, you
8:28
Speaker 3: will receive an award for being a global citizen. Don't
8:32
Speaker 3: you feel like a bit of a fraud accepting this
8:34
Speaker 3: award when, at home, you screwed up the response to
8:38
Speaker 3: the worst massacre since Port Arthur? In the polls, you're
8:41
Speaker 3: taking Labor to one point shy of Julia Gillard when
8:44
Speaker 3: you rolled her. And your net negatives are worse than
8:48
Speaker 3: Scott Morrison.
8:49
Speaker 4: No.
8:50
Speaker 1: Yelch. Michael, I'll start with you. What did you think
8:53
Speaker 1: of that?
8:55
Speaker 9: Well, clearly, James, the best question asked of a political
8:59
Speaker 9: leader in this country since Jonathan Lee is a magnificent
9:01
Speaker 9: question to Bill Shorten. I think during the 2019 election
9:04
Speaker 9: where he kept asking about the cost of his promises
9:06
Speaker 9: and just wouldn't give up was like a dog with
9:08
Speaker 9: a bone. So a great question. You could see Albo
9:13
Speaker 9: during that with his head up, slightly turned up, very unhappy.
9:17
Speaker 9: And of course he'd be unhappy. But, you know, it's
9:21
Speaker 9: a legitimate question to be asked. And there's international awards
9:24
Speaker 9: being given away like confetti, quite frankly. And does he
9:27
Speaker 9: deserve that award?
9:29
Speaker 1: I do not think so, no. Stephen, what do you think?
9:33
Speaker 2: Was that a journalist grandstanding or was it a journalist
9:36
Speaker 2: giving voice to the prevailing mood back home?
9:39
Speaker 10: Well, I think it was not really a question. It
9:41
Speaker 10: was more of an expression of an opinion and a
9:44
Speaker 10: number of opinions that was wrapped up in a pretense
9:49
Speaker 10: of a question. So I think it was a chance to,
9:53
Speaker 10: you know, have a real go at the PM pretending
9:56
Speaker 10: you were asking a question. And I thought he handled
9:59
Speaker 10: it very well. It was just like, no, move on.
10:05
Speaker 1: I don't know if he handled it very well.
10:06
Speaker 2: On the other hand, I'm not sure how else he
10:08
Speaker 2: could have handled it, because what could he really say?
10:12
Speaker 2: Latika Burke mentioned news poll in her question to the PM.
10:15
Speaker 2: So let's have a look at that. Support for Labor
10:18
Speaker 2: has collapsed to a near record low. Labor's primary vote
10:21
Speaker 2: sinking to a measly 27 percent. First time since 2012
10:25
Speaker 2: it's been that low. It's worth noting that 27 percent
10:28
Speaker 2: is 10 percent lower than just a year ago. when
10:31
Speaker 2: Labor was at 37%. Meanwhile, you've got One Nation, the
10:34
Speaker 2: most popular political party in the country. They're on 30,
10:37
Speaker 2: with the coalition on a barely relevant 19. Albanese's personal
10:42
Speaker 2: approval ratings have also crashed by 6% in just four weeks,
10:45
Speaker 2: shrinking from an already lamentable minus 21% to minus 27%. Michael,
10:52
Speaker 2: if things keep going like this, does Anthony Albanese lead
10:55
Speaker 2: Labor to the next election?
10:58
Speaker 9: I think the answer is probably because he, as I
11:02
Speaker 9: understand it, he's not prepared to stand down. He wants
11:04
Speaker 9: to go and win another election.
11:06
Speaker 1: And then perhaps stand down.
11:07
Speaker 9: And the political cost of executing him before the election.
11:11
Speaker 1: Would be too great.
11:12
Speaker 9: Labor have been through that with Rudd and Gillard and
11:14
Speaker 9: they don't want to repeat that. So I think the
11:15
Speaker 9: likelihood is he will stay. But the way these polls
11:19
Speaker 9: are going, I mean, if you roughly had the Liberal
11:21
Speaker 9: One Nation vote together, there's the centre-right is 50 and
11:24
Speaker 9: the left, Labor... just left-wing Labor and Greens at 40.
11:29
Speaker 9: So it's quite possible if an election was held tomorrow,
11:32
Speaker 9: given the fact he can't buy the election as he
11:33
Speaker 9: did in 25 and 22, as Labor can't buy the
11:37
Speaker 9: state election here in Victoria as they did in 22
11:40
Speaker 9: and 18, it's likely he might lose more.
11:42
Speaker 1: Than 20 seats.
11:43
Speaker 9: And depending on what happens with the Teals.
11:47
Speaker 1: he could.
11:47
Speaker 9: Lose his majority on the floor and may struggle to
11:50
Speaker 9: cobble together a majority. So at that number, you're in
11:54
Speaker 9: the political death zone. You are above 8,000 feet on Everest, mate.
12:00
Speaker 2: Well, in the next few months, we expect at least one,
12:03
Speaker 2: maybe two more interest rate rises. In October, the PM's
12:07
Speaker 2: going to be parading around Turkey for COP31, an event
12:09
Speaker 2: that will only serve to remind everybody our energy policy
12:12
Speaker 2: is cooked.
12:13
Speaker 1: So, Stephen, I see you laughing, but, I mean, things
12:16
Speaker 1: could get worse.
12:18
Speaker 10: No, no, look, I'm just laughing because the ghost or
12:23
Speaker 10: the elephant in the room from your question and Michael's
12:25
Speaker 10: answer was, did anyone mention Angus Taylor or the Liberal
12:30
Speaker 10: Party in your question or his answer? It was just fantastic.
12:33
Speaker 10: Let's just pretend they're not there. We don't have to
12:36
Speaker 10: talk about their 19%. We don't have to talk about
12:39
Speaker 10: the fact... that they'd lose almost half of their party
12:44
Speaker 10: representation if an election was held tomorrow. I mean, what
12:51
Speaker 10: it does is reinforce that poll, that One Nation aren't
12:55
Speaker 10: going away any time soon. If anyone wants to delude
12:57
Speaker 10: themselves that Pauline Hanson, her messages, and the One Nation
13:02
Speaker 10: party are suddenly going to have a collapse down to 10%,
13:05
Speaker 10: they are really dreaming. The Liberal Party have an enormous,
13:09
Speaker 10: enormous problem.
13:10
Speaker 1: On their hands.
13:12
Speaker 10: And Labor needs to be absolutely laser focused on cost
13:16
Speaker 10: of living issues. And to your point there, James, that
13:21
Speaker 10: the interest rate rises that are forecast, they're going to
13:24
Speaker 10: punish the people who haven't created the inflation. We've got
13:27
Speaker 10: price rises caused by, you know, Donald Trump, the war
13:31
Speaker 10: in the Middle East, the Ukraine. And we've got companies
13:36
Speaker 10: actually making off like bandits in terms of raising the
13:40
Speaker 10: prices for their profitability. So all of those things are
13:43
Speaker 10: contributing to a rising inflation. But just, Michael, I'm prepared
13:49
Speaker 10: to make your bet. $ 100 that Anthony Albanese leads Labor
13:55
Speaker 10: to the next election and Angus Taylor doesn't lead the
13:58
Speaker 10: Liberals to the next election. Well, I think they both
14:00
Speaker 10: will lead to the next election.
14:02
Speaker 4: $ 100.
14:02
Speaker 11: $ 100.
14:02
Speaker 1: Come on. You're on.
14:03
Speaker 9: You're on.
14:04
Speaker 10: You're a witness, James.
14:05
Speaker 1: They'll both lead to the next election. There you go.
14:09
Speaker 4: All right.
14:09
Speaker 2: We'll eagerly await to see who gets the $ 100. Although
14:13
Speaker 2: I've got to say, Stephen, I mean, you're right. We
14:15
Speaker 2: didn't talk about Angus Taylor polling at, what were the Liberals, 19%.
14:19
Speaker 1: Or whatever they were.
14:20
Speaker 2: But, I mean, surely the best defence of Anthony Albanese
14:24
Speaker 2: is not, yeah, he's doing bad, but he's not doing
14:26
Speaker 2: as bad as other people. I mean, the fact is
14:28
Speaker 2: it's historically almost low polling, and I don't think it's
14:33
Speaker 2: just down to Donald Trump or, you know, external factors.
14:36
Speaker 2: I think the PM's got to take a bit of
14:38
Speaker 2: responsibility for that. Speaking of which, maybe he should take
14:43
Speaker 2: some responsibility for what's going on with the Indigenous community.
14:46
Speaker 2: So I want to ask you about him refusing to
14:48
Speaker 2: address the child protection crises facing remote communities. Michael, the
14:54
Speaker 2: PM has invented this brand new convention. I'd not really
14:57
Speaker 2: heard of it before, but apparently it goes like this.
15:00
Speaker 2: When you're overseas, you don't comment on domestic issues. That's
15:04
Speaker 2: a rather convenient and Johnny-come-lately convention, is it not?
15:09
Speaker 9: No, it's convenient, but no, it's not joining come lately.
15:12
Speaker 9: It's been a longstanding convention for Prime Ministers to.
15:15
Speaker 10: Before the internet was invented.
15:17
Speaker 11: not answer those questions.
15:18
Speaker 1: But, look, the bigger question is this.
15:21
Speaker 9: Is it about time in this country that the states
15:24
Speaker 9: and the territories lose their power over Indigenous affairs? I mean,
15:29
Speaker 9: I remember Graham Richardson when he was the Minister for
15:31
Speaker 9: Health 40 years ago in the Hawke government, complaining bitterly
15:35
Speaker 9: and loudly about Aboriginal health, And what can we do
15:38
Speaker 9: to fix it? I remember Richo, I think, was on
15:40
Speaker 9: a 60 Minutes program saying he was going to the
15:43
Speaker 9: bush to see what he could do. That was four
15:45
Speaker 9: decades ago. What's happened since? Nothing seems to have improved
15:49
Speaker 9: much at all. So I wonder whether the states and
15:52
Speaker 9: territories have basically lost their right to govern our Indigenous
15:57
Speaker 9: Australians because they don't.
15:59
Speaker 1: Seem to be improving.
16:00
Speaker 9: I mean, isn't it time, I think, for the Commonwealth
16:02
Speaker 9: to step up, as I think the Fraser government started
16:04
Speaker 9: to do, and take responsibility? Because surely it comes, surely
16:09
Speaker 9: there's a point at which we say enough and no more.
16:12
Speaker 9: And these states and territories have presided over these disasters
16:16
Speaker 9: for decades.
16:16
Speaker 1: And, James, it's got to come to a stop.
16:20
Speaker 2: Well, even if Anthony Albanese is right that the horrific
16:23
Speaker 2: story from Port Hedland is a matter for the West
16:25
Speaker 2: Australian government, Stephen, he's the Prime Minister. He never ceases
16:30
Speaker 2: to leverage Indigenous affairs or the welfare of children and
16:33
Speaker 2: for his advantage, and fair enough, he's got some policies
16:36
Speaker 2: out there, but how can he be so dismissive as
16:38
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister? I think the country expects to hear
16:41
Speaker 2: him speak into these issues, especially when they're dominating the
16:45
Speaker 2: news the way they have been.
16:47
Speaker 10: Look, unfortunately, the challenges for the Indigenous community, whether it
16:51
Speaker 10: be health, as Michael mentioned, poverty, the sort of child abuse,
16:55
Speaker 10: these have been problems rife for 30, 40 years, tragically.
17:00
Speaker 10: Every federal government... that's come to office of both political
17:05
Speaker 10: parties have put forward plans, strategy, money to try and
17:10
Speaker 10: change this. And unfortunately, whether it was Tony Abbott, who
17:15
Speaker 10: absolutely wanted to make a difference, whether it was Malcolm Turnbull,
17:20
Speaker 10: whether it was Scott Morrison, whether it's Albo, it is
17:23
Speaker 10: a real challenge to try and ensure and lift the
17:28
Speaker 10: Indigenous community out of the sort of difficulties they face.
17:32
Speaker 10: And we've got all the money, we've got the goodwill,
17:39
Speaker 10: we've got the desire. But over many, many decades, unfortunately,
17:45
Speaker 10: no federal government has been able to make enough of
17:50
Speaker 10: a dent that situations like this aren't able to be resolved.
17:57
Speaker 1: I agree with you. It's a tough policy area.
17:59
Speaker 2: But in this instance where you've got authorities who apparently
18:02
Speaker 2: knew that there was trouble and looked the other way
18:05
Speaker 2: for whatever reasons, whether they were afraid of getting involved
18:08
Speaker 2: or whatever, I mean, that's something that can be addressed
18:12
Speaker 2: immediately and should be. That's not something that's just in
18:15
Speaker 2: the too hard basket. The Treasurer handed down his second
18:19
Speaker 2: intergenerational report.
18:22
Speaker 1: Well, I realise that, but when it's so dire and
18:25
Speaker 1: the state.
18:26
Speaker 10: You know, it got an entire department, got entire boots
18:29
Speaker 10: on the ground, got an entire infrastructure. It genuinely, when
18:33
Speaker 10: you talk about the immediacy of the problem, the federal
18:36
Speaker 10: government aren't able to respond immediately. They're not made aware
18:39
Speaker 10: that there's this issue on the ground, whereas the state government,
18:43
Speaker 10: as you've said, were. So I think if you want
18:47
Speaker 10: to deal with it instantly in an emergency circumstance, well,
18:51
Speaker 10: that is a state responsibility.
18:52
Speaker 4: Mm.
18:54
Speaker 9: James, before we finish.
18:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're absolutely right. The PM made that point.
18:57
Speaker 10: Yeah, yeah.
18:58
Speaker 9: I was just going to, before we finish, rather than
19:01
Speaker 9: the intergenerational report, go on to this issue of the
19:03
Speaker 9: UN Security Council, which I know you wanted to talk about,
19:05
Speaker 9: but I know we're running out of time. Australia, as
19:08
Speaker 9: we know, are applying to join the UN Security Council.
19:12
Speaker 9: This is something we should not do under any circumstances,
19:16
Speaker 9: not because we don't want to be on.
19:17
Speaker 1: It, but because.
19:19
Speaker 9: Historically, to win a seat like this at the UN,
19:22
Speaker 9: you have to engage in foreign corruption and foreign bribery.
19:27
Speaker 9: And there are laws in Australia and internationally against bribery
19:30
Speaker 9: and corruption because we have to pay foreign governments in
19:34
Speaker 9: increased aid in order to win their vote. That's what
19:37
Speaker 9: you call corruption and bribery. The UN, by the way,
19:40
Speaker 9: has this unique way of saying, oh, no, no, that's
19:42
Speaker 9: just horse trading over aid. That's quite legitimate. It's wrong
19:47
Speaker 9: if you're paying money to individuals. Oh, that's corruption and bribery. Well,
19:51
Speaker 9: the area between the two is so grey, Australia should
19:54
Speaker 9: have nothing to do with this type of arrangement where
19:57
Speaker 9: we have to pay money to foreign governments in order
20:01
Speaker 9: to win their votes.
20:02
Speaker 1: In anyone's normal language, that is bribery.
20:05
Speaker 11: Right?
20:05
Speaker 1: It's bribery.
20:06
Speaker 9: The UN, because it has corruption at so many levels,
20:09
Speaker 9: as we've seen since October 7, they say this is legitimate,
20:14
Speaker 9: you know, horse trading over aid and foreign support.
20:17
Speaker 1: What a load of rubbish.
20:19
Speaker 9: That is bribery in anyone's language and Australia should not
20:21
Speaker 9: be part of it. We've had to do this, you know,
20:23
Speaker 9: more than a decade ago, increasing foreign aid, which is
20:27
Speaker 9: code for paying bribes. And if we're going to proceed
20:32
Speaker 9: with this, There needs to be 100% transparency by Penny
20:36
Speaker 9: Wong on what we've promised foreign governments, how much we've
20:39
Speaker 9: promised them, and ultimately an assurance from that government that
20:44
Speaker 9: none of those monies are being paid to the officials
20:47
Speaker 9: who helped win those awards and those grants from the
20:50
Speaker 9: Australian government. So as far as I'm concerned, you would
20:53
Speaker 9: have to be joking.
20:56
Speaker 2: We're going to have to go to the break, Michael. So, Stephen,
20:59
Speaker 2: I'm just going to just assume that you agreed with
21:01
Speaker 2: everything he just said there.
21:03
Speaker 1: I appreciate both of you coming on the program. It's
21:05
Speaker 1: a breathtaking conspiracy. It's not a conspiracy. It's well documented.
21:10
Speaker 1: Well documented.
21:11
Speaker 2: I've got to go to a break, guys. Thanks for
21:14
Speaker 2: joining me tonight. I appreciate it. Alright, coming up after
21:18
Speaker 2: the break, you won't believe the way the BBC reported
21:20
Speaker 2: Ed Sheeran's comments about the conflict in Gaza, or maybe
21:24
Speaker 2: you will believe it. And Alex Antic will join me
21:27
Speaker 2: after becoming the South Australian Liberal Party President.
21:29
Speaker 1: All of that and more coming up after this. Welcome
21:35
Speaker 1: back to the program.
21:36
Speaker 2: The BBC appears to have doctored a speech by pop
21:39
Speaker 2: star Ed Sheeran in order to demonise Israel. I'll play
21:43
Speaker 2: you the BBC report in a moment. But first, here's
21:46
Speaker 2: what Ed Sheeran said to concertgoers over the weekend when
21:50
Speaker 2: he addressed the controversy surrounding support acts wanting to advocate
21:54
Speaker 2: for Palestine.
21:55
Speaker 1: Have a listen.
21:56
Speaker 12: What happened in Israel and at the Nova Music Festival
21:59
Speaker 12: on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain.
22:04
Speaker 12: What is happening in Gaza is a catastrophic and unjustifiable
22:09
Speaker 12: and disproportionate.
22:12
Speaker 2: OK, so you heard what he said. What happened in
22:14
Speaker 2: Israel on October 7 was horrific. What's happening in Gaza
22:17
Speaker 2: is catastrophic. He managed to acknowledge both, which is apparently
22:21
Speaker 2: where things became a little complicated for the BBC, because
22:25
Speaker 2: when the broadcaster reported Ed Sheeran's comments, one half of
22:28
Speaker 2: that equation, I wonder if you can guess which, rather
22:31
Speaker 2: mysteriously disappeared.
22:33
Speaker 13: He addressed the events of the past week and clarified
22:36
Speaker 13: where he stood on the situation in Gaza.
22:39
Speaker 12: I had to take and make difficult decisions, and I
22:42
Speaker 12: am making mistakes.
22:43
Speaker 1: And I'm so, so sorry.
22:46
Speaker 12: What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.
22:53
Speaker 12: My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation
22:56
Speaker 12: and loss of civilians' lives.
22:58
Speaker 14: Ed Sheeran had been under increasing pressure.
23:03
Speaker 2: So there you go, the BBC clip out all mention
23:06
Speaker 2: of the massacre of Israeli young people and civilians, leaving
23:09
Speaker 2: only the bit about Gaza. Now, I'm not accusing the
23:12
Speaker 2: BBC of telling people what to think.
23:14
Speaker 1: They would never do that.
23:16
Speaker 2: The BBC was just making sure listeners didn't hear anything
23:19
Speaker 2: that might make them think something else. Outspoken Liberal Senator
23:28
Speaker 2: Alex Antic has been elected President of the South Australian
23:31
Speaker 2: Liberal Party in a landslide victory, winning 119 to 73 votes,
23:37
Speaker 2: despite mounting pushback from all corners. In the weeks leading
23:41
Speaker 2: up to the vote, senior Liberals threatened a federal takeover
23:45
Speaker 2: if Antic won. Meanwhile, the media was covering the story
23:47
Speaker 2: with headlines like this from the ABC. Liberal Party grapples
23:52
Speaker 2: with promoting Alex Antic. And even the Australian newspaper reported
23:56
Speaker 2: his rise to the presidency like this. Hardline conservative Alex
24:01
Speaker 2: Antic has seized the presidency of the South Australian Liberal Party.
24:06
Speaker 2: I presume hardline conservative means actual conservative. I presume seized
24:10
Speaker 2: the presidency means was democratically elected by the membership of
24:15
Speaker 2: Many in the Liberal Party and in the media warn
24:17
Speaker 2: that Alex Antic is very right wing and very dangerous.
24:20
Speaker 2: I mean, he supported forming a coalition with One Nation.
24:23
Speaker 2: He's good friends with South Australian One Nation leader, Corey Bernardi.
24:27
Speaker 2: He opposed COVID vaccine mandates. He's not particularly fond of abortion.
24:32
Speaker 2: He was the sole Liberal Party senator to vote against
24:35
Speaker 2: the under 16 social media ban and I'm pleased to
24:38
Speaker 2: say he joins me now. Alex Antic, welcome to the
24:41
Speaker 2: program and congratulations on your new role as South Australian
24:45
Speaker 2: Liberal Party President.
24:47
Speaker 1: Thanks, James.
24:48
Speaker 14: What a wrap-up there. I mean, you know, hard right
24:51
Speaker 14: these days. Actually, there almost hasn't been a euphemism not
24:56
Speaker 14: used in the last two months. I mean, you know, maverick, rebel.
25:01
Speaker 14: You know, it's amazing what passes for hard right these days.
25:04
Speaker 14: I mean, I'm only hard right to the hard left,
25:06
Speaker 14: I can assure you of that, although perhaps, you know,
25:09
Speaker 14: I should be more ambitious. But, look, you know, it
25:12
Speaker 14: has been a staggering response to a fairly procedural vote
25:17
Speaker 14: inside the Liberal Party and a good result. I think
25:19
Speaker 14: we had a good win. We had some good vice
25:20
Speaker 14: presidents and great politicians. executive elected, and even in the
25:26
Speaker 14: days leading up to it, we've elected some good people.
25:29
Speaker 14: Michael Arbon, who's our new rural and regional chairman. It's
25:33
Speaker 14: all good news for the Liberal Party. That's all I
25:36
Speaker 14: can pick from it.
25:38
Speaker 2: Well, I've got to ask you, are you a danger
25:41
Speaker 2: to the Liberal Party or are you the saviour? Because
25:43
Speaker 2: in all of the reporting, there is no in-between.
25:46
Speaker 1: You're one or the other.
25:47
Speaker 14: No, I'm just a naughty boy, James, none of the above.
25:52
Speaker 14: But look, I mean, you know, I get it. I mean,
25:56
Speaker 14: and I don't this is not aimed at you or
25:59
Speaker 14: your program, but the media is all about clickbait these
26:02
Speaker 14: days and sensationalism. I mean, I know that's a hackneyed
26:04
Speaker 14: old line, but realistically, the sort of things we're talking about,
26:07
Speaker 14: the sort of things you said in your intro are.
26:09
Speaker 14: common sense policies, I think. I think when properly explained,
26:12
Speaker 14: most Australians would agree with those things. If I was
26:20
Speaker 14: a danger to the Liberal Party, I wouldn't still be here.
26:23
Speaker 14: My job is to try and You know, give some
26:26
Speaker 14: voice to the members who have joined our movement over
26:28
Speaker 14: the last five years. We've reinvigorated the South Australian division.
26:33
Speaker 14: The age demographic has dropped by about 20 years. It's
26:36
Speaker 14: no disrespect to the older establishment there, but the reality
26:39
Speaker 14: is at the end of every meeting we used to hear,
26:41
Speaker 14: we need to find new people, young people. Then you
26:43
Speaker 14: go and do it and everyone falls over backwards. But anyway, look,
26:47
Speaker 14: the point is the grass is very green and it's
26:50
Speaker 14: good news. I mean, ultimately it's healthy.
26:55
Speaker 2: Let me read for you what One Nation's Corey Bernardi
26:57
Speaker 2: said about your elevation to Liberal state president. He said,
27:01
Speaker 2: many who used to support the Liberals have given their
27:04
Speaker 2: support to One Nation because the Liberals no longer represent
27:07
Speaker 2: the conservative values which matter to them. Senator Antic's win
27:11
Speaker 2: represents an opportunity to turn the South Australian Liberals back
27:14
Speaker 2: to the right path. Do you agree with Corey Bernardi
27:17
Speaker 2: in his assessment of the Liberal Party and of yourself?
27:22
Speaker 14: Well, I tend to agree with Corey on a lot
27:23
Speaker 14: of stuff. In fact, you know, Corey, I think, is
27:26
Speaker 14: one of the reasons why I got into politics. I
27:27
Speaker 14: looked at the sort of things that he would do
27:29
Speaker 14: and the courageous way he would prosecute arguments when he
27:31
Speaker 14: was a Liberal senator. And I was always quite impressed
27:34
Speaker 14: by that, I have to say. So, yeah, look, I mean,
27:37
Speaker 14: the reality is here that if you were to suggest
27:40
Speaker 14: that we hadn't lost ground to One Nation, looking at
27:43
Speaker 14: the last news poll, there was one out last night,
27:45
Speaker 14: which showed the coalition sitting on 19% on a primary
27:50
Speaker 14: and One Nation at 30%. I mean, you know, I mean,
27:54
Speaker 14: if that's a hard right vote, there are a lot
27:55
Speaker 14: of hard right Australians floating around out there. I just
27:58
Speaker 14: think in terms of the left and the media, which
28:01
Speaker 14: is also the left in this country, there's got to
28:04
Speaker 14: be something newsworthy report. And, you know, local father who
28:08
Speaker 14: takes presidency on democratically elected vote is not a very
28:12
Speaker 14: interesting story until you tweak.
28:14
Speaker 1: It up a bit.
28:16
Speaker 2: Well, I'll tell you the other story that everyone was
28:18
Speaker 2: very keen on up until this weekend when you've assumed
28:22
Speaker 2: the presidency of the South Australian Liberals was that you
28:24
Speaker 2: would announce your move to One Nation. A lot of
28:27
Speaker 2: people were predicting that. I want to ask you, like genuinely,
28:31
Speaker 2: how close did you get to making a move?
28:36
Speaker 14: Not at all, in fact, James.
28:37
Speaker 5: Not at all.
28:38
Speaker 14: I mean, I think, once again, that was just something
28:39
Speaker 14: that was being talked about. And, you know, I unashamedly
28:43
Speaker 14: have a lot of time and respect for One Nation.
28:45
Speaker 14: I've said it time and time again. I think, as
28:47
Speaker 14: I will say again, if Pauline Hanson had come from
28:50
Speaker 14: the left of politics, they'd be writing books about her.
28:53
Speaker 14: She'd have more letters after her name than an alphabet.
28:55
Speaker 14: It's a phenomenal story in Australian political history and she's
28:58
Speaker 14: really captured the essence of the common sense of And
29:02
Speaker 14: it's a great credit to her. But look, my view
29:05
Speaker 14: is that the Liberal Party is the best vehicle for
29:08
Speaker 14: this country returning to common sense. Angus Taylor is doing
29:11
Speaker 14: a great job. He is starting to gain momentum. You know,
29:14
Speaker 14: it's very hard as opposition leader to get Get your
29:16
Speaker 14: claws into it. And we're here in South Australia, we're
29:19
Speaker 14: showing that when real people get involved in a political movement,
29:23
Speaker 14: you can really do things. And we're starting to show that.
29:25
Speaker 14: And we're going to do a whole lot of things
29:27
Speaker 14: we're going to try and do with the division here
29:29
Speaker 14: that will be impressive. I think one of the things
29:30
Speaker 14: we could do is set some new rules around members
29:35
Speaker 14: having their voice in parliament, you know, sort of the
29:37
Speaker 14: voice in policy motions, I should say. And there may
29:40
Speaker 14: be a whole lot of other things as well. It's
29:42
Speaker 14: been said that perhaps we should set a target for
29:45
Speaker 14: pre-selections on the ability to bench press your own body weight,
29:48
Speaker 14: which might weed out some of the issues, but that's
29:51
Speaker 14: probably a bit speculative at this point.
29:56
Speaker 2: I'm not sure exactly what you meant by that, but
29:58
Speaker 2: you might be alluding to this problem that your party has,
30:02
Speaker 2: the federal party, I mean. They're saying they'll reject net zero,
30:05
Speaker 2: but your South Australian senator, Andrew McLaughlin, was last week
30:09
Speaker 2: calling for a carbon tax.
30:11
Speaker 1: Have a listen to this.
30:12
Speaker 13: I think, as someone who is of centre-right disposition and conservative,
30:18
Speaker 13: that the only solution is with coal and gas bearing
30:21
Speaker 13: the cost of their own emissions. We need a carbon
30:26
Speaker 13: price and we need it now.
30:29
Speaker 1: Is Senator McLaughlin in the wrong party?
30:33
Speaker 4: No.
30:33
Speaker 14: Look, I actually sit right next to Andrew and I
30:36
Speaker 14: get on very well with him. I've got a lot
30:37
Speaker 14: of time for him. And once again, we're in a
30:39
Speaker 14: party where backbenchers can express their views. I don't agree
30:42
Speaker 14: with them. And, you know, I don't... I mean, I
30:45
Speaker 14: think we're past carbon tax now that we're into... you know,
30:48
Speaker 14: $ 3 a litre diesel, I think it's time to put
30:51
Speaker 14: that one on the shelf. But, look, I mean, he's
30:54
Speaker 14: entitled to those views and I'd support his ability to
30:58
Speaker 14: do those and say them and cross the floor. I mean,
31:00
Speaker 14: I do it myself on a range of different issues. So, look,
31:04
Speaker 14: that's entirely his position and I'm, you know, happy.
31:08
Speaker 10: For him to have it.
31:09
Speaker 11: I guess.
31:10
Speaker 2: I guess, Alex, I'm just saying, is he not symptomatic
31:13
Speaker 2: of the sort of moderates that have put so many
31:16
Speaker 2: conservative voters off your party and toward One Nation? He's
31:22
Speaker 2: like a classic example, is he not?
31:23
Speaker 14: Yeah, no, I know what you're trying to say. But
31:26
Speaker 14: I look, I mean, once again, it is. And look,
31:28
Speaker 14: the term has been overused. The broad church has been overused.
31:32
Speaker 14: But it is really an opportunity, I think, on backbench
31:34
Speaker 14: for people to, you know, diverge from their views a
31:37
Speaker 14: little bit. Andrew has some strong views. on climate science.
31:41
Speaker 14: I take a different view on all of those. I
31:43
Speaker 14: think it's a scam myself, but anyway, that's for another day.
31:46
Speaker 14: And he's entitled to voice them. And, you know, so
31:50
Speaker 14: good on him for doing that. But look, at the
31:53
Speaker 14: end of the day, I think we're able to do that.
31:56
Speaker 14: That's a good thing. And if it wasn't for that,
31:58
Speaker 14: if either of us was in the Labor Party, we
32:00
Speaker 14: would have been ejected a long, long time ago for
32:03
Speaker 14: straying off the party line. I can tell you there's
32:04
Speaker 14: a lot of people in the Labor Party that don't
32:06
Speaker 14: always like what what their side is doing. They just
32:09
Speaker 14: can't say it out loud.
32:12
Speaker 2: And I think, Alex Antic, you're now entitled to have
32:14
Speaker 2: a bit more of a say of where people sit
32:16
Speaker 2: on the Senate ticket. So that'll be interesting. Congratulations on
32:20
Speaker 2: your appointment. A lot of people, I think, would be
32:22
Speaker 2: very happy about it. And I appreciate you talking to
32:25
Speaker 2: me tonight. We're going to go to a break. When
32:27
Speaker 2: we come back, does Australia really need a seat on
32:30
Speaker 2: the UN Security Council? And do we believe the government's
32:33
Speaker 2: promise that AI is going to make us all rich?
32:36
Speaker 2: Greg Sheridan will answer those questions and more after this. Well,
32:44
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister announced today Australia's bid for a seat
32:47
Speaker 2: on the UN Security Council. The announcement came with this quote,
32:51
Speaker 2: Our vision is simple. We listen with respect. We partner
32:54
Speaker 2: as equals and we protect what matters most, which would
32:57
Speaker 2: make an inspirational Instagram meme. I'm just not sure it's
33:00
Speaker 2: particularly accurate of describing how the Albanese Labour government behaves.
33:06
Speaker 2: The bid seeks a two-year term on the Security Council
33:09
Speaker 2: from 2029 to 2030 and which means that even if successful,
33:15
Speaker 2: Labor might not get to enjoy it, a prospect Penny
33:18
Speaker 2: Wong herself warned would be dangerous for the world.
33:21
Speaker 10: If we have a Prime Minister Taylor or a Prime
33:24
Speaker 10: Minister Hanson, would you still think it's a good thing
33:27
Speaker 10: for Australia to have this position?
33:30
Speaker 5: What I would say is the sort of chaos that
33:35
Speaker 5: you know One Nation and the Coalition would bring to
33:39
Speaker 5: Australia would be, I think, damaging Australia. to us at
33:42
Speaker 5: home and in the world.
33:44
Speaker 1: So there you go.
33:45
Speaker 2: Joining me now is the Australia's foreign editor, Greg Sheridan. Greg,
33:49
Speaker 2: let's start with a question many Australians, I think, would
33:51
Speaker 2: be asking. Why should we care about a seat on
33:54
Speaker 2: the UN Security Council?
33:56
Speaker 11: James, great to be with you. Look, I think it's
33:59
Speaker 11: a worthwhile thing to do. It's OK. The thing about
34:02
Speaker 11: it is when you seek a position like that, you
34:07
Speaker 11: must not let the seeking of the position influence your policy.
34:12
Speaker 11: So we should not, you know, take positions that we
34:16
Speaker 11: don't believe in in order to appease the Arab, Asian,
34:20
Speaker 11: African majority at the UN. Not that there's anything wrong
34:23
Speaker 11: with Arabs, Asians or Africans. And we've done a bit
34:27
Speaker 11: of that in the past and that's been very regrettable.
34:29
Speaker 11: But on the other hand, the United Nations does exist.
34:33
Speaker 11: All these committees have a lot of power. Certainly the
34:35
Speaker 11: Security Council does. So I think it's better for democracies
34:40
Speaker 11: to go forward and occupy those positions. The last time
34:47
Speaker 11: we had a position like that, Labor won it and
34:49
Speaker 11: Tony Abbott exercised it. So that was fine.
34:53
Speaker 1: Look, it's marginal. It's not key to our interest.
34:56
Speaker 11: But, you know, you do get a bit more intelligence
34:59
Speaker 11: information and the other... P5 members take a bit more
35:05
Speaker 11: seriously for that two years. So, you know, look, it's
35:08
Speaker 11: on balance worth doing so long as it doesn't distort
35:11
Speaker 11: our foreign policy.
35:12
Speaker 2: I want to ask you about the intergenerational report released
35:17
Speaker 2: by the Treasurer today. There was a lot in it,
35:20
Speaker 2: but I wanted to ask you about its hopes regarding AI,
35:23
Speaker 2: because if you believe the report, AI is not going
35:26
Speaker 2: to destroy humanity.
35:27
Speaker 1: It's going to make us all rich. What did you
35:28
Speaker 1: make of that?
35:30
Speaker 11: Well, James, I thought the report was ridiculous. I mean,
35:33
Speaker 11: one thing about being around in journalism for a long
35:35
Speaker 11: time is you see these reports and their forecasts and
35:38
Speaker 11: everything come and go. The first intergenerational report 23 years
35:42
Speaker 11: ago forecast that we would be about $ 15, 000 a head
35:46
Speaker 11: better off today than we are. We have had no
35:51
Speaker 11: productivity gain at all in the last 10 years. And
35:54
Speaker 11: at the moment, our productivity is going backwards. And this
35:57
Speaker 11: report says we're going to get a 1.2% plus productivity
36:01
Speaker 11: growth from AI for the next 40 years. Now, James,
36:04
Speaker 11: how can an average normal person judge this? Well, let's
36:08
Speaker 11: look at the digital economy. We've had it now for
36:11
Speaker 11: the last 20 years, certainly. It permeates every aspect of
36:14
Speaker 11: Australian life. It was going to be a great boost
36:17
Speaker 11: to productivity, and we've had no net increase at all
36:21
Speaker 11: in productivity over the last 20 years. So this is
36:24
Speaker 11: absolutely baloney. I've written a long piece about this tomorrow.
36:28
Speaker 11: It's cargo cult economic policy. We get one thing after another,
36:32
Speaker 11: green hydrogen, net zero. Paul Keating used to think APEC
36:36
Speaker 11: would solve everything. And these fantasy things are designed to
36:42
Speaker 11: allow governments to avoid doing all the hard work of
36:45
Speaker 11: economic reform. You know, you've got to cut government expenditure.
36:48
Speaker 1: That's tough.
36:48
Speaker 11: You've got to cut taxes. You've got to cut regulation.
36:51
Speaker 11: You've got to get out of the way of business
36:54
Speaker 11: making money. You've got to have a sensible... energy policy. Well,
36:57
Speaker 11: that's all grossly difficult. So it's much better just to
37:01
Speaker 11: go off with a fantasy. And, you know, artificial intelligence
37:06
Speaker 11: may provide some real security dangers and it may possibly
37:10
Speaker 11: provide some productivity increase. But there is absolutely nothing to
37:15
Speaker 11: think that AI means an Australian government no longer has
37:18
Speaker 11: to govern sensibly in economic policy.
37:23
Speaker 1: Well, maybe the answer is not AI. Maybe it's the
37:25
Speaker 1: European Union.
37:27
Speaker 2: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is keen for Canada to
37:30
Speaker 2: become the EU's first ever associate member, a move Trump
37:34
Speaker 2: warned would be considered a hostile act. I'm wondering if
37:37
Speaker 2: our PM might follow suit, because in a press conference today,
37:41
Speaker 2: the PM didn't rule it out. He said that Australia
37:45
Speaker 2: was a long way from Europe.
37:46
Speaker 1: That's true.
37:48
Speaker 2: He said his focus was on a free trade agreement
37:50
Speaker 2: with the region and But, and he left it sort
37:53
Speaker 2: of hanging, we're part of Eurovision. Why not the European Union?
37:57
Speaker 2: Would that be a good move for Albanese? Like I said,
38:00
Speaker 2: he's not ruling it out.
38:02
Speaker 11: Well, look, I think, you know, I'd give Alba a
38:05
Speaker 11: break here. Australia is not going to join the European Union.
38:09
Speaker 11: Neither is Canada. I mean, it's just kind of complete nonsense, poppycock, balderdash,
38:14
Speaker 11: the kind of stuff that foreign affairs people sometimes talk about.
38:18
Speaker 11: There's not a snowflake's chance in hell. that Australia will
38:21
Speaker 11: join the European Union. We would never subscribe to their rules.
38:25
Speaker 11: We'd have government by the EU without representation in the
38:29
Speaker 11: EU because we'd never have voting rights. In any event,
38:32
Speaker 11: our interests are totally different. We live in a different continent.
38:35
Speaker 11: But on the other hand, it had been raised by
38:38
Speaker 11: Ursula von der Leyen. So when the president of another
38:42
Speaker 11: club says we might like to have you as a member,
38:46
Speaker 11: the polite thing to say is kind of, well, that's
38:48
Speaker 11: very interesting, you know, a lot of obstacles to that,
38:51
Speaker 11: but let's, you know, let's think about that. I think all,
38:55
Speaker 11: you know, I'd give Albanese credit for this. I think
38:58
Speaker 11: he was just being polite to what is really the silliest.
39:03
Speaker 11: I mean, it's more likely, you know, the intergenerational report
39:07
Speaker 11: should be entered for the Miles Franklin best fiction writing
39:10
Speaker 11: report And this could be a best fiction short story.
39:14
Speaker 11: But so much of Australian public policy debate just lives
39:17
Speaker 11: in fantasy land. And certainly Australia joining the EU is
39:20
Speaker 11: complete fantasy land.
39:22
Speaker 2: All right, before I let you go, Greg, there was
39:26
Speaker 2: an alarming story in the Daily Telegraph today revealing contractors.
39:30
Speaker 1: and.
39:30
Speaker 2: Military police charged with protecting defence facilities are completely unarmed.
39:36
Speaker 2: Bearing in mind ASIO are currently warning a terror attack
39:39
Speaker 2: on Australian shores is probable, does that not strike you
39:42
Speaker 2: as madness that the people charged with protecting our military
39:46
Speaker 2: bases don't have weapons?
39:49
Speaker 11: Yeah, I think that's very bad, James, and it's typical
39:52
Speaker 11: of what you get with a cost-cutting government in defence.
39:55
Speaker 11: There's no area of defence in which this government is
39:57
Speaker 11: spending adequate money. Now, you have a defence force. You
40:00
Speaker 11: think one of the things they can do is defend
40:02
Speaker 11: their own bases. So you would think armed Australian soldiers
40:05
Speaker 11: would be defending our bases. But we have so few soldiers,
40:09
Speaker 11: and on any given day, the three or four that
40:11
Speaker 11: we have are doing bushfire fighting or flood relief or
40:15
Speaker 11: something like that. So we hire... security firms to do it.
40:19
Speaker 11: But of course, if you hire armed security guards, a
40:21
Speaker 11: lot more expensive than if you hire, you know, unarmed
40:25
Speaker 11: security guards who really have no sort of security capability
40:29
Speaker 11: at all. But our bases are very badly defended. They
40:33
Speaker 11: don't have missile defence. They have very, very limited counter
40:37
Speaker 11: drone defence. All our planes are lined up neatly for
40:40
Speaker 11: the Chinese to take out our air force on the
40:42
Speaker 11: first day of any hostilities.
40:44
Speaker 1: Or the day before.
40:46
Speaker 11: And that's just one of countless things that we don't
40:49
Speaker 11: take seriously in defence. And you can bet your bottom
40:53
Speaker 11: dollar that this is the cut rate solution. You know,
40:57
Speaker 11: we get the cheapest security guards we can find. And
41:01
Speaker 11: I didn't, I'm surprised even to know sometimes that we've
41:04
Speaker 11: got security guards because I've wandered onto a lot of
41:06
Speaker 11: Australian military bases without, you know, without encountering any much
41:11
Speaker 11: security at all.
41:15
Speaker 2: Well, Greg Sheridan, I'm glad you didn't get in trouble
41:18
Speaker 2: doing that and I appreciate you joining me tonight.
41:20
Speaker 1: Thanks so much.
41:22
Speaker 2: All right, coming up after the break, Earl Spencer doubles
41:24
Speaker 2: down in a tell-all interview about his new book on
41:27
Speaker 2: the death of Princess Diana. Meghan and Harry have finally
41:31
Speaker 2: been told to put a sock in it and Caribbean
41:33
Speaker 2: nations decide to train kids as reparations activists.
41:37
Speaker 1: We'll go live to London after this. Well, just when.
41:43
Speaker 2: You thought the age of historical grievance couldn't possibly become
41:47
Speaker 2: any more elaborate, have a look at today's headline in
41:50
Speaker 2: the UK Telegraph. Caribbean to train children as reparations activists
41:56
Speaker 2: against Britain. The Barbados prime minister is worried that activists
42:01
Speaker 2: campaigning for Britain to pay reparations for slavery are getting
42:04
Speaker 2: a little long in the tooth and so apparently terrified
42:07
Speaker 2: the reparations movement might die out before the Czech arrives.
42:11
Speaker 2: She suggested overhauling the school curriculum to put slavery front
42:15
Speaker 2: and centre. Quite literally, the Barbados PM is proposing to
42:19
Speaker 2: turn children into foot soldiers for the reparations movement. It's
42:24
Speaker 2: as ridiculous or as sinister as this. Rather than counting
42:28
Speaker 2: items bought at the shop, in a simple arithmetic exercise,
42:32
Speaker 2: she suggested children could count instead how many Africans were
42:36
Speaker 2: seized by slavers. Apparently nothing says future ready education quite
42:41
Speaker 2: like making primary school arithmetic carry the emotional baggage of
42:45
Speaker 2: the 18th century. Joining me now is the host of
42:49
Speaker 2: Triggered with Samara Gill. Here's Samara Gill. Samara, we talk
42:53
Speaker 2: about the grievance industry. This is way past that. This
42:57
Speaker 2: is grievance as a national project.
43:01
Speaker 15: Yeah, it's very sinister and dark, as you say. And
43:04
Speaker 15: these hereditary invoices, they need to stop.
43:06
Speaker 11: Seriously.
43:07
Speaker 15: Poland was partitioned. Ireland was colonized. India was ruled by Britain.
43:12
Speaker 15: You know, Korea occupied by Japan. And it goes on
43:15
Speaker 15: and on and on. Yet Barbados especially and some of
43:18
Speaker 15: these Caribbean islands are the ones who are absolutely obsessed
43:22
Speaker 15: with teaching their young. how to be victims. And I
43:25
Speaker 15: think it's really dangerous, this victim mentality that they are
43:28
Speaker 15: trying to embed within the children. They should be empowered
43:32
Speaker 15: about the future, not taught that England and other evil
43:37
Speaker 15: countries need to repay for their sins of the past.
43:40
Speaker 15: I mean, everyone that was involved in slavery is now dead.
43:45
Speaker 15: And those that would be paying the reparations are are
43:48
Speaker 15: taxpaying citizens who were not alive while this was going on.
43:52
Speaker 15: So it makes absolutely no sense. And we've seen countries
43:56
Speaker 15: like India, who haven't taken reparations, are thriving because they
44:01
Speaker 15: teach their young how.
44:03
Speaker 4: To move forward.
44:04
Speaker 15: And they're not stuck in the past like some of
44:06
Speaker 15: these other countries. And I think it really, really needs
44:09
Speaker 15: to stop. It's quite crazy what that delegate from Jamaica
44:13
Speaker 15: is trying to do, you know, suggesting that they insert
44:17
Speaker 15: this victim mentality into their math lessons. I mean, I
44:20
Speaker 15: thought math was the one thing that wasn't politicized. and
44:23
Speaker 15: yet it still is. And, of course, I'm all for
44:26
Speaker 15: teaching about the dark history and different things that may
44:29
Speaker 15: have happened in a history lesson, but let's not bleed
44:33
Speaker 15: it into the rest of the curriculum.
44:34
Speaker 1: I think it's insane.
44:38
Speaker 2: Samara, have you not learned yet that there is nothing
44:40
Speaker 2: which cannot be politicised? In 2026. Let's move on to
44:45
Speaker 2: the royal family. Earl Spencer has gone on primetime television
44:48
Speaker 2: and accused the king of having been elated when Princess
44:52
Speaker 2: Diana was killed in a car crash. Here's part of
44:55
Speaker 2: an interview with the brother of the late Princess Diana
44:57
Speaker 2: speaking to the BBC on the eve of the release
45:00
Speaker 2: of his new book.
45:00
Speaker 1: Have a listen.
45:02
Speaker 4: You write that he was giddily elated like a lottery winner.
45:08
Speaker 4: You're suggesting he was somehow pleased that his former wife
45:12
Speaker 4: was dead.
45:13
Speaker 7: Well, I'm reporting every word in this book, I report
45:17
Speaker 7: exactly as I saw it and felt it at the time.
45:21
Speaker 7: And I was surprised at the giddiness of his tone.
45:25
Speaker 7: That's what I'm recording there.
45:27
Speaker 2: Samara, I watched that and I just thought, wow, I mean,
45:32
Speaker 2: is he for real? And that could not possibly be true.
45:37
Speaker 15: I don't really believe a word of what he says.
45:40
Speaker 15: I mean, this is someone who, honestly, his choice of
45:43
Speaker 15: media outlet is also quite questionable. You know, Charles Spencer
45:47
Speaker 15: sitting down with the BBC. Martin Bashir is the one
45:49
Speaker 15: who duped Diana with forged documents into sitting down with
45:53
Speaker 15: him for that now infamous interview. panorama interview. He also
45:56
Speaker 15: sat down with CBS over the weekend, which were the
46:00
Speaker 15: news station that actually broadcast Diana's final moments, and he
46:05
Speaker 15: vowed to never go on that station again. So to
46:08
Speaker 15: be choosing these sort of woke outlets to peddle news
46:12
Speaker 15: To be quite frank, his embellishment of the truth is ridiculous. And,
46:16
Speaker 15: you know, in a 1996 letter, he actually said that
46:19
Speaker 15: his relationship with Diana was the worst it had ever been.
46:22
Speaker 15: This is a year before her death. He said years
46:24
Speaker 15: of neglect on both sides. And basically, Diana had become
46:29
Speaker 15: a peripheral part of his life. He also described Diana
46:33
Speaker 15: as a fickle friend and being manipulative and deceitful. So
46:37
Speaker 15: how can we trust a word that Earl Spencer says,
46:39
Speaker 15: especially four divorces later? This is someone who sold copies
46:43
Speaker 15: of his eulogy to members of the public on his estate.
46:46
Speaker 15: I think it's nothing but a feckless money grab. And honestly,
46:51
Speaker 15: he's bringing the royal family into disrepute. What he is
46:54
Speaker 15: doing is traitorous.
46:57
Speaker 2: Well, speaking of feckless money grabbers, should we talk about
47:01
Speaker 2: Harry and Meghan? The former head of royal protection has
47:07
Speaker 2: said that if they're worried about their security, they just
47:10
Speaker 2: need to shut up. He says the more they talk
47:12
Speaker 2: about their lack of security, the more danger they're putting
47:15
Speaker 2: themselves into.
47:18
Speaker 15: Yeah, I've had long chats with Di Davies about this,
47:20
Speaker 15: and he does really understand things. He's been in it
47:23
Speaker 15: for a long time, this Royal Protection Officer. And just
47:26
Speaker 15: to go back to Earl Spencer, what is interesting is
47:29
Speaker 15: that over the weekend, Earl Spencer has come out saying
47:32
Speaker 15: that Harry and Meghan deserve taxpayer-funded security. So this is
47:36
Speaker 15: all lining up very nicely for them to come back
47:39
Speaker 15: with their begging bowl to the British public and King
47:43
Speaker 15: Charles and ask them to fund the multi-million pound bill
47:46
Speaker 15: that it takes to protect them to live their private
47:49
Speaker 15: life where they profiteer off the.
47:51
Speaker 10: Rest of us.
47:52
Speaker 1: And it's pretty ridiculous. There you go.
47:54
Speaker 15: They will stop at nothing. They will stop at nothing.
47:58
Speaker 1: There you go.
47:59
Speaker 2: It's all starting to make sense. That's why we like you, Samara.
48:01
Speaker 2: Always great chatting. Thanks so much.
48:04
Speaker 1: All right. I appreciate you joining me from home as well.
48:06
Speaker 2: I'll be back tomorrow night, but don't go anywhere right now.
48:09
Speaker 1: Filling in for Shari is the brilliant Danica DiGiorgio.