Transcript

Credlin | 29 October · Credlin

0:02
Speaker 1: Peter Credlin, live from News 24.
0:07
Speaker 2: Good evening. Welcome to the program. Bombshell allegations tonight involving
0:12
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister and One Nation MP David Farley. They're
0:16
Speaker 2: just breaking now. It appears he's been offered inducements that
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Speaker 2: he has rejected now involving staff and grants. in his
0:24
Speaker 2: New South Wales seat of Faro. The One Nation MP
0:27
Speaker 2: will join me now, live from Canberra, on the program.
0:31
Speaker 2: More tonight, too, on the referral by the head of
0:33
Speaker 2: Victorian Police to the state's anti-corruption watchdog of that infamous
0:37
Speaker 2: crash involving Dan and Catherine Andrews and the young cyclist.
0:41
Speaker 2: It comes after a long investigation and more evidence that's
0:45
Speaker 2: been brought to light. Hamas, the Islamist terror group responsible
0:49
Speaker 2: for the horrors of October 7, have launched a legal
0:52
Speaker 2: bid in Australia to overturn its listing as a terror group.
0:57
Speaker 2: So why are we wasting millions in legal costs to
1:00
Speaker 2: even entertain the madness? I've got an update for you
1:03
Speaker 2: too on that convicted ISIS terrorist, Isaac El Matari, set
1:08
Speaker 2: for release from prison on Sunday. And the huge backlash, too,
1:13
Speaker 2: against Labor for using your money to fund a website
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Speaker 2: that critics say normalises pedophilia.
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Speaker 3: I can't believe the government is sticking by this. Michelle Rowland,
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Speaker 3: the minister responsible, has said that they're not going to
1:27
Speaker 3: take this website down.
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Speaker 4: I don't want to be impolite about it.
1:30
Speaker 3: But it says to try and avoid fantasies about children
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Speaker 3: when masturbating.
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Speaker 2: I mean, this is extraordinary. We will come back to
1:41
Speaker 2: that because your reaction from the news I brought to
1:44
Speaker 2: you about that website last night has been enormous. But first,
1:49
Speaker 2: the lies continue to mount and the Prime Minister's approval
1:53
Speaker 2: numbers keep tanking. And it says today in the Parliament,
1:57
Speaker 2: doesn't it? This is why his fuse is getting shorter.
2:01
Speaker 5: The Prime Minister promised he wouldn't change CGT and negative
2:05
Speaker 5: gearing before the election. Then he did. He promised a
2:09
Speaker 5: $ 275 cut to power bills that he never delivered. He
2:13
Speaker 5: said he didn't mock the Japanese Prime Minister when he did.
2:17
Speaker 5: He said he didn't fall off a stage when he did.
2:21
Speaker 5: He said his $ 6 billion grant to the Marrickville Golf
2:24
Speaker 5: Club was to fix sewerage flows when it wasn't. He
2:27
Speaker 5: said the relevant program wasn't invitation only.
2:30
Speaker 1: When it was.
2:31
Speaker 5: Why does this Prime Minister have such a difficult relationship
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Speaker 5: with the truth?
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Speaker 2: He wasn't happy today, the Prime Minister, and clearly I
2:42
Speaker 2: won't be getting a Christmas card either.
2:45
Speaker 6: It is astonishing that they continue to get their advice
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Speaker 6: from their friends who used to have a role in
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Speaker 6: this place and don't anymore but have slots on media.
3:01
Speaker 2: Slots on media. I wouldn't want a Christmas card from
3:03
Speaker 2: Anthony Albanese. I mean, I'm not interested in currying favour...
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Speaker 2: with a bloke that treats the truth like kryptonite.
3:11
Speaker 7: Can the Prime Minister explain with a straight face why
3:14
Speaker 7: there's no mention of the sewerage works in the Prime
3:17
Speaker 7: Minister's own announcement on March 2025? No mention in the
3:21
Speaker 7: Inner West Council documents. No mention of sewerage works on
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Speaker 7: the Grant Connect website. No mention of sewerage works on
3:28
Speaker 7: the golf club's website. And no mention of sewerage works
3:31
Speaker 7: in the Infrastructure Department's decision brief.
3:34
Speaker 8: On the 27th of April 2025, We made an election commitment,
3:40
Speaker 8: building and securing the Marrickville Golf Club precinct. Went on
3:44
Speaker 8: about stormwater being harvested, irrigating the golf course, the upgrade
3:49
Speaker 8: of better indoor amenities with clubhouse renovations and the provision
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Speaker 8: of community meeting and function rooms, and went into boosting
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Speaker 8: the health of the nearby Cooks River.
4:01
Speaker 2: Can it get any more desperate? I mean, for 18
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Speaker 2: months now, He's never said anything to connect the golf
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Speaker 2: club grant with Sewerage Works until he got caught out
4:12
Speaker 2: last month in a lie. Now he's trying to double
4:15
Speaker 2: down even harder, claiming that the money for stormwater harvesting
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Speaker 2: is the same as Sewerage Works. Well, it's not. Once
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Speaker 2: to stop runoff from the club's septic tank ending up
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Speaker 2: in the Cooks River, and that's now been paid for
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Speaker 2: by the New South Wales government. The other is about
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Speaker 2: harvesting stormwater off the clubhouse roof, putting it in a
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Speaker 2: tank and later using it to irrigate the 18-hole course
4:42
Speaker 2: and avoiding the need to use water out of the
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Speaker 2: Cooks River. It's embarrassing just how much this bloke can
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Speaker 2: twist and turn just to avoid being upfront and honest
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Speaker 2: when he stuffs up.
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Speaker 5: Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the guidelines... for
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Speaker 5: the major and local community infrastructure program, showing this was
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Speaker 5: an invitation-only program to correct the record because the Prime
5:08
Speaker 5: Minister just misled the House.
5:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, the PM was all over the shop today, clearly
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Speaker 2: under pressure. And all of this now will be interrogated
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Speaker 2: by the Senate inquiry into the $ 560 million pork barrel, which,
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Speaker 2: as you heard from Senator McKenzie last night, is now
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Speaker 2: set to run longer and dig deeper into this rotten
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Speaker 2: grants scheme.
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Speaker 9: We're going to continue to pursue this. We've got another
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Speaker 9: hearing on the 12th for the Senate inquiry that we're doing.
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Speaker 2: We've got the ANAO coming.
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Speaker 9: We've got Prime Minister and Cabinet coming because we're going
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Speaker 9: to get to the bottom of those codes of conduct questions.
5:47
Speaker 9: And we've got the Marrickville Golf Club themselves coming. So
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Speaker 9: we are going to get to the bottom of this.
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Speaker 10: She will.
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Speaker 2: She will. And while they're investigating Albanese and the Marrickville millions,
6:01
Speaker 2: how about they take a long, hard look at some
6:05
Speaker 2: of the other money being thrown around by this government
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Speaker 2: and the infrastructure minister, Catherine King, in particular. Now, King's
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Speaker 2: the member for Ballarat in country Victoria. It's a seat
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Speaker 2: she's held for over 20 years. In May this year,
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Speaker 2: she announced a $ 600, 000 grant for the Ballarat Trades Hall
6:24
Speaker 2: in the home of the union movement in that area,
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Speaker 2: but also Labor's party headquarters in her electorate. Indeed, all
6:33
Speaker 2: of Labor's local political advertising carries the required authorisation that
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Speaker 2: lists the trades hall address on the literature. Now, honestly,
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Speaker 2: ask yourself this. Is half a million dollars to renovate
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Speaker 2: Labor HQ really the best use of your scarce taxpayer money?
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Speaker 2: After all, it's worth noting that on their website, Trades
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Speaker 2: Hall makes a real point of providing details about all
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Speaker 2: the various places in the building, all the rooms and
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Speaker 2: conference facilities that they hire out commercially for a fee.
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Speaker 2: If the Labor Party and Trades Hall are making money
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Speaker 2: renting out this building, then why don't they use some
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Speaker 2: of the money there to do the renovations? Why hit
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Speaker 2: the taxpayer up yet again? This grant handed out by
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Speaker 2: the Infrastructure Minister Catherine King to a union and a
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Speaker 2: Labor Party connected to the building in her own seat
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Speaker 2: also raises questions about probity and process rules. particularly given
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Speaker 2: her branches and Labor branches in that seat have been
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Speaker 2: such a frequent user of the building, including hosting her
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Speaker 2: own election night parties. Even Anthony Albanese has attended union
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Speaker 2: events at Ballarat Trades Hall. What's more, this is also
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Speaker 2: the regional headquarters for the Australian Services Union. And as
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Speaker 2: it's listed on her Parliamentary Register of Interests, The ASU
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Speaker 2: is King's own union. Talk about you scratch my back
8:11
Speaker 2: and I'll scratch yours. Can you imagine the uproar if
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Speaker 2: hundreds of thousands of dollars was spent tarting up Liberal
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Speaker 2: Party HQ on the taxpayer coin? Yet under this Prime Minister,
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Speaker 2: he's happy to take money off veterans and cut the
8:26
Speaker 2: private health rebate for those over 65, but his golf
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Speaker 2: club mates, his union mates and his Labour Party mates
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Speaker 2: are Well, they all get looked after with your money,
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Speaker 2: don't they? All right, they wrapped the end of the
8:45
Speaker 2: sitting period for the moment. Not much to go before
8:47
Speaker 2: the end of the year. We'll get the headlines now
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Speaker 2: with our reporter, Ribbon Sparker.
8:52
Speaker 11: Good evening. The Prime Minister is again facing coalition criticism
8:56
Speaker 11: over a $ 6 million grant to Marrickville Golf Club in
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Speaker 11: his local electorate.
9:00
Speaker 8: This wasn't about invite only, this is an election commitment,
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Speaker 8: just like the 1,000 election commitments made by those opposite.
9:09
Speaker 5: I seek leave to table the guidelines for the major
9:12
Speaker 5: and local community infrastructure program showing this was an invitation-only
9:18
Speaker 5: program to correct the record because the Prime Minister just
9:22
Speaker 5: misled the House.
9:23
Speaker 11: The Treasurer and Tim Wilson also clashed over government spending
9:27
Speaker 11: and inflation.
9:28
Speaker 12: After the Prime Minister has jetted off to the Caribbean...
9:31
Speaker 12: The RBA is expected to raise interest rates for the
9:35
Speaker 12: 17th time under Labor. Will the Treasurer finally take responsibility?
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Speaker 13: You can tell from that question that nothing makes the
9:43
Speaker 13: Shadow Treasurer happier than the prospect of an interest rate rise.
9:47
Speaker 11: Question time is now on a three-week break. There are
9:50
Speaker 11: just four more sessions scheduled for the rest of the year.
9:53
Speaker 11: The head of the Tax Office has admitted he failed
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Speaker 11: to understand small business concerns before he moved to end
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Speaker 11: credit card payments. for tax bills. The ATO says $ 256, 000
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Speaker 11: paid their tax with a credit card.
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Speaker 14: Had the similar thing happened to us again, I think
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Speaker 14: we'd be more active in trying to engage with people earlier.
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Speaker 11: The government has so far refused to cover the $ 200
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Speaker 11: million cost of keeping credit card payments available.
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Speaker 2: All right, I'll come back to the Prime Minister under
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Speaker 2: pressure again today, over the millions in that rorting grants
10:26
Speaker 2: process in a moment. But there's a lot of other
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Speaker 2: headlines I want to get you across tonight. Let's bring
10:30
Speaker 2: in my panel to do that. News24 contributor Carolee Katzenbarnes
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Speaker 2: and Women's Forum Australia's Stephanie Bastian. Steph, I'll start with
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Speaker 2: you if I can. I have to get your reaction
10:42
Speaker 2: to the almost $ 10 million dollars that taxpayers are spending
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Speaker 2: for this highly controversial website. It's called Stop It Now.
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Speaker 2: Here's the Shadow Minister, Matt O'Sullivan, a little earlier.
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Speaker 3: You go a long way into this website before you
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Speaker 3: get directed to actually go and seek out professional help.
11:01
Speaker 3: The government needs to review this content, take it down,
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Speaker 3: provide practical advice.
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Speaker 4: The first advice should be.
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Speaker 3: That what you're doing is criminal and you must seek
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Speaker 3: out professional help in order to stop this behaviour.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, Steph, you're a mum of little kids. I mean,
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Speaker 2: I have no words for this.
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Speaker 15: Who.
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Speaker 2: in their right mind, would let this happen with our money,
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Speaker 2: but let alone, I can't even get the words out,
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Speaker 2: let alone then go out and defend it when we
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Speaker 2: work out what's going on here.
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Speaker 16: Well, what I want to know, Peter, is who's actually
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Speaker 16: vetted this program? We've imported some of these modules from overseas.
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Speaker 16: And quite frankly, the content is disturbing. Telling someone to
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Speaker 16: take a walk and not think about sexually harming children
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Speaker 16: is not an adequate response. It is go and seek help.
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Speaker 16: This is serious. Saying that getting akin to conversion practices,
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Speaker 16: if you try and change the way that you think
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Speaker 16: about children as though it's akin to something like homosexuality,
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Speaker 16: which is on the website, makes it sound like they're
12:10
Speaker 16: trying to dress it up as some sort of sexual orientation.
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Speaker 16: I mean, this is disturbing and we are spending millions
12:16
Speaker 16: of dollars on it. And I do not feel safe
12:19
Speaker 16: at all for the future of my children if this
12:21
Speaker 16: is the way that we are dealing with adults who
12:24
Speaker 16: are struggling with pedophilia.
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Speaker 2: Yes, Steph, are you shocked, though, that the government has
12:30
Speaker 2: defended it? Today they refuse to take this website down.
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Speaker 16: It's extraordinary and I just think the government needs its
12:39
Speaker 16: head read. But you look at a lot of what's
12:41
Speaker 16: going on in schools today around the sex education and
12:45
Speaker 16: the lines have become very blurred when it comes to
12:49
Speaker 16: what children are being exposed to, the adults and how
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Speaker 16: they're presenting it. We've got cases, so for example, in
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Speaker 16: South Australia where a teacher is currently being investigated for
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Speaker 16: lining up students and performing meant to be a demonstration
13:03
Speaker 16: of a sex act behind them. I mean, the government
13:07
Speaker 16: really needs to stop and rethink about the whole way
13:10
Speaker 16: that they're addressing sex education in general, but this is
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Speaker 16: a whole step further and they can't seem to see
13:16
Speaker 16: the difference between the fact that these are adults that
13:20
Speaker 16: want to harm and offend children. They should be taking
13:23
Speaker 16: it down immediately. They should be clearing and vetting and
13:26
Speaker 16: making sure that the content is actually addressing the so
13:31
Speaker 16: that these people actually get the help and they know
13:34
Speaker 16: that it's not some sort of sexual orientation where they
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Speaker 16: go and.
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Speaker 2: That it's okay.
13:41
Speaker 16: It's got to be them seeking professional help and realising
13:45
Speaker 16: this is very serious.
13:47
Speaker 2: It is serious. Let's go to the obfuscation, the PM
13:51
Speaker 2: today in the House, all about the grants. I mean,
13:53
Speaker 2: he wants it to go away, Carolee. Front page of
13:55
Speaker 2: the telly, though, today, again in Sydney. It can't turn
13:58
Speaker 2: on the radio anywhere around the country. I mean, talkback
14:01
Speaker 2: callers are exploding, not just about this grant, but the lies.
14:06
Speaker 2: His inability to admit when he gets something wrong. I mean,
14:10
Speaker 2: his approval ratings, well, they're already in the toilet. My view,
14:15
Speaker 2: my political view is... Once they've locked in a perception
14:19
Speaker 2: that you are this or that in relation to your character,
14:23
Speaker 2: and we saw that with Scott Morrison, it's incredibly hard
14:26
Speaker 2: to shift the view. I think he's in trouble.
14:31
Speaker 10: Well, let's remind the viewers, shall we? Here's a few
14:33
Speaker 10: things that spring to my mind. So we heard 50
14:35
Speaker 10: times for the umpteenth time the changes that weren't going
14:39
Speaker 10: to happen that did to negative gearing and also capital
14:42
Speaker 10: gains tax. We heard ad infinitum that the power bills
14:45
Speaker 10: would go down by $ 275. We had the I didn't
14:49
Speaker 10: fall off the stage. We had the melon scaff, which
14:52
Speaker 10: went around in circles and still no official apology to
14:55
Speaker 10: the Japanese Prime Minister. We had the non-condemnation on October
14:59
Speaker 10: the 9th, 2023, when the rest of Australia could hear
15:03
Speaker 10: what was chanted on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.
15:05
Speaker 10: Let's not forget he actually didn't want to hold a
15:08
Speaker 10: royal commission into anti-Semitism and was dragged kicking and screaming
15:11
Speaker 10: when there were open letters in all the newspapers and
15:14
Speaker 10: across talkback radio and across television stations from business people
15:19
Speaker 10: and sports people wanting it actually held. What else can
15:22
Speaker 10: I say? Oh, yes, and look, the dreadful attack on
15:25
Speaker 10: Federal Independent MP for Indi, Helen Haynes, there was no
15:29
Speaker 10: information sheet, dirt sheet put out on her. Yet when
15:33
Speaker 10: he was asked, when she very rightly questioned the Marrickville
15:37
Speaker 10: Golf Club and wanted to probe, there was some kind
15:39
Speaker 10: of information sheet put out, which he denied and just
15:42
Speaker 10: said that she was a very good local member. Let's
15:45
Speaker 10: also not forget the cuts to the Allied Health for veterans.
15:49
Speaker 10: And I'm sure there are a whole host of other
15:51
Speaker 10: things that So if people have forgotten about his character,
15:54
Speaker 10: and one more thing that's just sprung to mind, it's
15:57
Speaker 10: all coming to my mind, Peter, what about the prickly
16:00
Speaker 10: response when he was awarded the United Nations Global Citizen
16:03
Speaker 10: Award and he was quite rightly asked by a journalist,
16:07
Speaker 10: don't you feel like a fraud given all the hassles
16:10
Speaker 10: and hoo-ha that's going on back in Australia and all
16:13
Speaker 10: the failings under your government? And he just went, no.
16:17
Speaker 10: and went across to another thing. Very glass jaw. Well,
16:19
Speaker 10: that's about eight things that I've rolled off that just
16:22
Speaker 10: spring to my mind.
16:23
Speaker 2: I'm sure there's hundreds of others.
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Speaker 10: So if viewers haven't made up and voters haven't made
16:27
Speaker 10: up their mind about Anthony Albanese's character, there's some food
16:30
Speaker 10: for thought.
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Speaker 2: Well, this won't help him either. There's now a date
16:35
Speaker 2: that Labor wants to force the staff out of Victoria
16:38
Speaker 2: barracks in Sydney. It's right up against Christmas. It's December 13. This, again,
16:43
Speaker 2: has come to the Daily Telegraph in leaked reports today.
16:47
Speaker 2: They want to plough on. They're worried about the backlash.
16:51
Speaker 2: So they think the sooner they can get people out,
16:52
Speaker 2: this is what a source is suggesting, the sooner they
16:55
Speaker 2: can get everyone out, the sooner they can shut down
16:57
Speaker 2: the noise. But the source says that people are actually
17:00
Speaker 2: becoming more and more outraged. Well, I'm not surprised here, Stephanie.
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Speaker 2: It's not going to go away at all.
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Speaker 16: No, I don't think so. And I mean, once you've
17:09
Speaker 16: sold an asset like this, you can't get it back.
17:12
Speaker 16: The government is desperate for money. They're obviously selling off
17:15
Speaker 16: these assets. But where is the money going to go?
17:17
Speaker 16: And quite frankly, if they're building new infrastructure, I'd much
17:20
Speaker 16: rather trust a building that was built in 1848 than
17:26
Speaker 16: I would with all the modern technology and the other
17:28
Speaker 16: risks and everything else that's going on with concerns around
17:32
Speaker 16: foreign interference and where we're getting our technology from. So
17:35
Speaker 16: I think that this is going to grow and become
17:37
Speaker 16: a bigger issue. We should be protecting our heritage. We
17:41
Speaker 16: should be protecting our military history. And this is just
17:44
Speaker 16: a slap in the face to try and drag it all,
17:47
Speaker 16: make it all happen before Christmas.
17:50
Speaker 2: Let's go to the fight over the debate. We always
17:52
Speaker 2: have one of these every time there's an election. This
17:54
Speaker 2: is the News 24 Herald Sun Victorian election debate. Hanging
17:59
Speaker 2: in the ballast tonight, Labor wants it to be a
18:01
Speaker 2: three-way debate. They want the Premier, they want the Opposition
18:05
Speaker 2: Leader and they want the One Nation Leader, who's not
18:08
Speaker 2: in the Parliament, Warren Pickery. The Coalition, though, they just
18:12
Speaker 2: want a debate between the two MPs, the Premier and
18:16
Speaker 2: the Opposition Leader. Here's Ben Carroll a bit earlier today.
18:19
Speaker 17: We were all invited to a debate next week. I've RSVP'd,
18:27
Speaker 17: as has Warren Pickeryn. The only person who hasn't RSVP'd
18:31
Speaker 17: is Jess Wilson. So what does Jess Wilson have to hide?
18:35
Speaker 7: People are saying that you're running scared, not willing to
18:37
Speaker 7: debate Jess Wilson.
18:38
Speaker 13: What do you say to that?
18:39
Speaker 17: The only person who hasn't RSVP'd to a debate with
18:43
Speaker 17: me is Jess Wilson. The only person who's running scared
18:46
Speaker 17: in her own community and in the whole of the
18:49
Speaker 17: state is Jess Wilson.
18:51
Speaker 2: Okay, that's a lie because I can confirm to you
18:54
Speaker 2: tonight that Jess Wilson actually has RSVP'd to a debate
18:58
Speaker 2: between her and the Premier. It's just the question of
19:02
Speaker 2: the One Nation leader that's changing the circumstances she hit
19:06
Speaker 2: at back earlier today. Absolutely not.
19:09
Speaker 15: To be honest, this isn't about any other party. This
19:12
Speaker 15: is about the two people who can be Premier after
19:15
Speaker 15: this election. The two people who have different plans for
19:18
Speaker 15: this state and I think it's only right that we
19:21
Speaker 15: have a debate, that tough questions are put, that we're
19:23
Speaker 15: asked to defend our policies. I think it speaks to
19:26
Speaker 15: volumes about Ben Carroll not prepared to do that with me.
19:29
Speaker 15: As I said, Ben, I'm ready any day.
19:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Ben Carroll desperately wants One Nation on
19:35
Speaker 2: the stage because he wants a bit of cover. He
19:38
Speaker 2: wants to make it about the parties on the centre-right
19:40
Speaker 2: because if it's a head-to-head, he's got nowhere to hide,
19:43
Speaker 2: I think, Carolee.
19:46
Speaker 10: Yeah, look, it's an old saying, 90% of something is
19:48
Speaker 10: better than 100% of nothing. I just think that Ben
19:53
Speaker 10: Carroll should be debating Jess Wilson. They might be debating
19:56
Speaker 10: between themselves. They're actually presenting, again, their policies for the
20:00
Speaker 10: Victorian voters to actually make up their minds to have
20:04
Speaker 10: another opportunity of making clear, concise messaging for people to
20:09
Speaker 10: be able to cast their vote. I think you're quite right, Peter.
20:11
Speaker 10: It is just cover because what he'll want to do
20:13
Speaker 10: is he'll try and wedge Jess Wilson. and make up
20:16
Speaker 10: untruths and things about some kind of deal or something,
20:19
Speaker 10: whatever it might be. Jess Wilson is happy to debate.
20:23
Speaker 10: Ben Carroll is happy to debate. They need to appeal
20:25
Speaker 10: to Victorian voters and they should just get on and
20:28
Speaker 10: do it.
20:29
Speaker 2: All right, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Anna Cody, back in
20:34
Speaker 2: the headlines again after this study exchange in Senate Estimates.
20:40
Speaker 18: Does the Commission interpret Section 7AA as providing breastfeeding discrimination
20:45
Speaker 18: protections to a biological male who identifies as a woman
20:49
Speaker 18: and induces lactation?
20:53
Speaker 4: Yes, Senator.
20:54
Speaker 18: Does the Commission believe an employer should be legally required
20:58
Speaker 18: or are they legally required to provide lactation breaks and
21:01
Speaker 18: breastfeeding facilities to a biological male who has medically induced lactation.
21:07
Speaker 10: They are subject to the same protections as anyone who
21:10
Speaker 10: is breastfeeding.
21:13
Speaker 2: And look, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
21:16
Speaker 2: and Girls, Reem Al Salam, says, Cody could only reach
21:21
Speaker 2: this view by disregarding the material reality of women in
21:25
Speaker 2: favour of women being a feeling or an identity. Well,
21:30
Speaker 2: she's right there, Stephanie.
21:32
Speaker 16: Absolutely. But I think what she's validating is even more sinister.
21:36
Speaker 16: When you have a man who is trying to, a male,
21:39
Speaker 16: regardless of his gender identity, trying to chest feed an infant,
21:43
Speaker 16: he is taking a cocktail of drugs to produce that
21:46
Speaker 16: substance that he's feeding, the excretions he's feeding to the infant.
21:50
Speaker 16: The Australian Human Rights Commissioner, the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner,
21:54
Speaker 16: Anna Cody, is legitimising that practice with what she said here.
21:58
Speaker 16: And it is quite frankly disturbing. And You look at
22:01
Speaker 16: New South Wales last week, they have just gone the
22:04
Speaker 16: complete other way with restoring biological definitions, breastfeeding mother. She's
22:09
Speaker 16: out of step with reality and she's billing taxpayers nearly
22:12
Speaker 16: half a million dollars to push this nonsense. I mean,
22:16
Speaker 16: Albanese should be intervening. What we saw last week at
22:18
Speaker 16: Senate Estimates was an absolute joke. Taxpayers are funding it
22:23
Speaker 16: and it's time this madness came to an end.
22:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, men, biological males, breastfeeding, and that's being defended by
22:30
Speaker 2: the taxpayer. Websites that are soft on pedophilia, that's being
22:35
Speaker 2: defended by the taxpayer. I just think we're in a
22:37
Speaker 2: topsy-turvy world. I think everyone, everyone has had enough of this.
22:42
Speaker 2: I'll leave it there. We'll get back to it, I'm sure,
22:44
Speaker 2: next week. These issues are not going away. Now to
22:47
Speaker 2: the stunning revelations tonight. One Nation MP David Farley said,
22:51
Speaker 2: rejected an unsolicited offer from the Prime Minister of a
22:55
Speaker 2: taxpayer-funded personal advisor. It's a position worth upwards of $ 200, 000
23:00
Speaker 2: a year. It followed a series of private meetings initiated
23:04
Speaker 2: with Farley by the PM. In a statement issued tonight,
23:09
Speaker 2: One Nation claims the government also raised the prospect of
23:12
Speaker 2: grant funding for Murray-Darling Basin communities as compensation for water buybacks.
23:19
Speaker 2: prompting concerns that public money and parliamentary resources are being
23:23
Speaker 2: used to exert political influence. One Nation has labelled the
23:28
Speaker 2: alleged conduct as grey corruption, accusing Labor of trying to
23:32
Speaker 2: buy cooperation and silence rather than address legitimate concerns of
23:37
Speaker 2: regional communities. Here to discuss it exclusively with us now,
23:42
Speaker 2: Farah One Nation MP, David Farley. Well, David, you've come
23:47
Speaker 2: out of business... You've turned up in the Parliament and
23:50
Speaker 2: now the Prime Minister's got you in his sights. I'll
23:54
Speaker 2: get to a bit about the staffer in a moment,
23:56
Speaker 2: but I'm really concerned because I've spent time with you
23:59
Speaker 2: on the ground in Faroe. I know water's a huge
24:02
Speaker 2: issue for your community. Is he suggesting that if you
24:06
Speaker 2: shut up about water buybacks that he's going to put
24:09
Speaker 2: tens of millions of dollars into your seat? How did
24:13
Speaker 2: you take the conversation? No.
24:17
Speaker 1: The Prime Minister hasn't been as direct to the point
24:20
Speaker 1: like that. I've engaged with the Prime Minister over water
24:24
Speaker 1: issues for the southern basin, which is principally Farah, to
24:29
Speaker 1: ensure that we can keep productivity and capacity there. I've
24:33
Speaker 1: been talking with the Prime Minister and he's directed me
24:36
Speaker 1: to other ministers, Tony Burke in particular and Murray Watt.
24:41
Speaker 1: And from there, I've had good discussions in regard to
24:45
Speaker 1: how we're going to get productivity and capacity back into
24:47
Speaker 1: Farah and also explored with those ministers, not the Prime Minister,
24:51
Speaker 1: but with those ministers, the funding that's available. And there's
24:55
Speaker 1: numerous avenues of funding that are available in the Murray-Darling
24:59
Speaker 1: Basin programs at the moment that are being allocated. So it's,
25:03
Speaker 1: you know, what I'm negotiating, and I made it quite
25:05
Speaker 1: clear to the Prime Minister, is I want water, I
25:08
Speaker 1: don't want dollars. Dollars don't really... Dollars are a sugar
25:12
Speaker 1: hit to our industry. Water underwrites it. I look at
25:16
Speaker 1: the Murray-Darling Basin and the Southern Basin in particular. We've
25:20
Speaker 1: had a good winter. There's plenty of water available at
25:22
Speaker 1: the moment. And we can put industry back to work.
25:27
Speaker 1: We can put tractors back in the field. It's an
25:29
Speaker 1: immediate stimulus to the economy. Water is worth a lot
25:32
Speaker 1: more to the economy than dollars.
25:35
Speaker 2: OK, David, then let's be clear. Is he offering you
25:39
Speaker 2: water or dollars?
25:42
Speaker 1: No, I... You know, my position has been I want...
25:46
Speaker 1: I don't need dollars. I want water. You know, dollars are...
25:50
Speaker 1: As I said, dollars run out very, very quickly.
25:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, David, but what is the Prime Minister offering you?
25:55
Speaker 4: What is the Prime.
25:57
Speaker 2: Minister in those discussions offering you?
25:59
Speaker 1: No, he hasn't... Well, first of all, he's offered me
26:02
Speaker 1: access to his ministry, which I've taken up and approached
26:06
Speaker 1: him on it. He generously offered me, unsolicited, a staffer,
26:13
Speaker 1: a high-level staffer, which, quite frankly, I need. And I
26:18
Speaker 1: think it would be disingenuous of me to take that position,
26:21
Speaker 1: that offer up at the moment, generous as it is,
26:24
Speaker 1: considering that my party leader, Pauline Hanson, and other crossbenchers
26:28
Speaker 1: are in negotiations with the Prime Minister about staffing right
26:32
Speaker 1: across the crossbench. So, you know, as I said, it
26:37
Speaker 1: would be probably disingenuous of me and demonstrating inequity in
26:42
Speaker 1: the middle of a negotiation that's taking place at the moment.
26:46
Speaker 2: Yes, but I'll come back to that water point. You
26:49
Speaker 2: want water in your communities. You just said before you're
26:51
Speaker 2: not interested in the money. You are concerned about water buybacks.
26:56
Speaker 2: You went through a whole range of things that water
26:58
Speaker 2: in the basin could do for a community like yours.
27:01
Speaker 2: When he's talking to you about the government's plan for buybacks,
27:06
Speaker 2: is he... expecting you to go with him to support
27:11
Speaker 2: the government's position? Is he offering you money to shut
27:15
Speaker 2: you down?
27:17
Speaker 1: No. Look, first of all, my whole discussions with Prime
27:22
Speaker 1: Minister Albanese has all been around water, the availability of water,
27:25
Speaker 1: the nonsense the program's got at the moment. We're buying
27:28
Speaker 1: productive assets back with debt where we could be actually
27:31
Speaker 1: employing that water into a revenue base and a taxation
27:35
Speaker 1: revenue base. Mine has been focused on the bigger picture.
27:41
Speaker 1: The introduction to Burke and to Watt has been excellent. Therefore,
27:46
Speaker 1: from there, I've been able to engage with the New
27:48
Speaker 1: South Wales ministers and the independent member for Murray, Helen Dalton.
27:54
Speaker 1: We've had some robust discussions and what we want is water.
28:01
Speaker 2: Okay, so is he going to back down, do you think?
28:03
Speaker 2: Do you think you've been heard now? Do you think
28:04
Speaker 2: you've won the argument with him and that more water
28:08
Speaker 2: will flow into the basin?
28:10
Speaker 1: Well, it's not so much winning the argument with the
28:13
Speaker 1: Prime Minister. First of all, you've got powerful legislation that's
28:16
Speaker 1: wrapped around it, and that legislation then is actually being
28:20
Speaker 1: administered by New South Wales through Penny Sharp and Rose Jackson,
28:26
Speaker 1: and that's where the point of release would be. the
28:30
Speaker 1: environmental water holder through Dr Simon Banks has some control
28:34
Speaker 1: over it. But what we need now, and we're working
28:37
Speaker 1: on a very tight window, Peter, where we're on Mother
28:40
Speaker 1: Nature's clock at the moment. There's going to be a
28:43
Speaker 1: point in the next week where the yield curve will
28:47
Speaker 1: fall off the summer crops and the economics won't work.
28:50
Speaker 1: But it's there right at the moment. If you look
28:53
Speaker 1: at the amount of water we're looking at, it's probably 1.7%
28:55
Speaker 1: of the total water that's sitting in Dartmouth and Hume
28:59
Speaker 1: dams now, which is, you know, it's a plastic bucket
29:03
Speaker 1: in comparison to what's there. We've had Mother Nature do
29:08
Speaker 1: a lot of the work this winter that the environmental
29:10
Speaker 1: water holder was going to do. And I just look
29:14
Speaker 1: at straight economics. I look at my regional communities. I
29:17
Speaker 1: look at the unemployment, the underutilised assets. and know that
29:22
Speaker 1: immediately water is the best economic stimulus, not only for
29:26
Speaker 1: my region, but it's also the best economic stimulus for Australia.
29:31
Speaker 2: All right, let's go to the staffing position. So you
29:33
Speaker 2: go and see the Prime Minister and in the conversation
29:36
Speaker 2: there's a discussion about staffing resources, you get a letter
29:40
Speaker 2: from him confirming the offer of this position. You know,
29:44
Speaker 2: your other party colleagues, certainly a party leader, could read
29:48
Speaker 2: that as some sort of attempt by the Prime Minister
29:51
Speaker 2: to cut you out from the herd, to bring you
29:54
Speaker 2: over to his way of thinking, if not his party.
29:56
Speaker 2: I mean, do you rule out joining Labor?
30:01
Speaker 1: Look, through the by-election campaign and where I stand today,
30:08
Speaker 1: the attributes that I was looking for in a political
30:10
Speaker 1: party to represent Farah is that I need political courage
30:14
Speaker 1: and I need political tenacity. And I made my decision
30:17
Speaker 1: to join One Nation and I know that I've still
30:20
Speaker 1: got that courage and tenacity in behind me. I haven't
30:23
Speaker 1: been throttled back in any way. I have got a very,
30:27
Speaker 1: very clear and defined mandate today that I've given to Farah,
30:30
Speaker 1: and that is to bring back productivity and capacity to Farah.
30:34
Speaker 1: And if I do that, I bring back productivity and
30:36
Speaker 1: capacity to the nation. And if I do that in
30:40
Speaker 1: Farah that affects the nation, we have got a powerful
30:42
Speaker 1: machine then that can pay down government debt.
30:45
Speaker 2: Okay, so he's not going to be able to entice
30:48
Speaker 2: you away from One Nation. This is the Prime Minister.
30:51
Speaker 2: He can't entice you away from One Nation with offers
30:54
Speaker 2: like this on staffing.
30:57
Speaker 1: Well, you know, I've had a great corporate career and
31:00
Speaker 1: I understand where risk is and I understand where motive is.
31:03
Speaker 1: You know, I look back at history on whether it
31:05
Speaker 1: be grant funding or a whole lot of issues that
31:08
Speaker 1: go across the Australian Parliament. I've watched the, you know,
31:12
Speaker 1: the Ros Kelly affair. I've watched the Bridget McKenzie. I've
31:15
Speaker 1: watched the car parking debacle. I've got a job to
31:20
Speaker 1: do and one of the things I want to make
31:22
Speaker 1: sure I do is I avoid any avoidable risks. And
31:25
Speaker 1: at the moment, I look at it, I watch the
31:28
Speaker 1: questioning of the Prime Minister who's being grilled into the
31:30
Speaker 1: ground over his Marrickville golf course and all that, and
31:34
Speaker 1: I don't want to be in that risk window. I
31:36
Speaker 1: want to make sure that I've still got elasticity and
31:38
Speaker 1: flexibility that I can do my job for Farah. And,
31:42
Speaker 1: you know, I feel comfortable that my message to the
31:44
Speaker 1: government and, more importantly, my message to the Coalition on
31:48
Speaker 1: how to measure the productivity of water, the value of water,
31:51
Speaker 1: is starting to get through.
31:52
Speaker 10: So.
31:53
Speaker 1: All right. I feel that... We are in the right
31:57
Speaker 1: direction to get common sense back into water management in Australia.
32:03
Speaker 2: I'll leave it there, David Farley. Thank you. I'll confirm too,
32:06
Speaker 2: I've got a copy of a letter that David Farley
32:07
Speaker 2: has sent back to the Prime Minister knocking back that position.
32:11
Speaker 2: He wants One Nation to get positions, not himself as
32:15
Speaker 2: an individual. All right, we'll talk to my next guest
32:18
Speaker 2: after the break, Dan Tehan, about that DUDE EU deal
32:22
Speaker 2: and some revelations actually. These are really interesting. including Matt Canavan,
32:26
Speaker 2: out of the Senate this week on this very point.
32:34
Speaker 2: Coming up, the gobsmacking bid by Hamas. It'll cost the government,
32:39
Speaker 2: the Commonwealth government, millions as Hamas tries to get its
32:42
Speaker 2: terrorist listing scrapped in Australia. Let's go back, though, to
32:47
Speaker 2: a parliamentary week that's gone now, just two more sitting
32:50
Speaker 2: weeks at the end of November before Parliament closes breaks
32:53
Speaker 2: for a long summer holiday, a rough ride for Labor,
32:56
Speaker 2: as I said earlier, Real opportunity here now for the coalition. Yes,
33:00
Speaker 2: it's about the grants scheme, sure, but a whole lot
33:04
Speaker 2: more now about the government, its unwillingness to stop the
33:08
Speaker 2: waste of your money and, of course, the trust and
33:13
Speaker 2: the character issues that are really dogging the Prime Minister.
33:16
Speaker 2: Here to discuss it, the man who is the Manager
33:18
Speaker 2: of Opposition Business, the Minister for Trade, Environment and many
33:24
Speaker 2: other things, Dan T. And, Dan, thank you for your time. Hey,
33:28
Speaker 2: just on the whole grants process, I've gone through it
33:31
Speaker 2: chapter and verse tonight, but late this afternoon, you have
33:35
Speaker 2: referred the Prime Minister, I'm told, to privileges. Explain why.
33:40
Speaker 4: Well, because he's lied again, Peter.
33:45
Speaker 13: In Parliament this afternoon, he said that the grants process
33:50
Speaker 13: wasn't invitation only.
33:53
Speaker 4: And yet you go on the website.
33:56
Speaker 13: And there it says clearly on the website that this
34:00
Speaker 13: grants program was invitation only. So the Prime Minister has
34:05
Speaker 13: been caught outlying again to the Parliament. Now, we're left
34:11
Speaker 13: with no option but to refer the Prime Minister now
34:15
Speaker 13: to privileges because what you would do if you could.
34:19
Speaker 4: Admit you're wrong, if you could admit you've.
34:21
Speaker 13: Made a mistake, if you could handle the truth, what
34:25
Speaker 13: you would do is come into the Parliament and just say, look,
34:28
Speaker 13: you know, it's obviously been a stressful week for me.
34:31
Speaker 13: I was caught outlying earlier. I had to sort of
34:33
Speaker 13: correct the record, but I didn't really do it properly.
34:35
Speaker 13: I don't like doing that. You know, so I've been
34:38
Speaker 13: having a tough week and I've.
34:39
Speaker 4: Done it again.
34:40
Speaker 13: And just come in and just explain that to the
34:42
Speaker 13: Australian people and just... You know, they'd sort of say, OK, yeah,
34:45
Speaker 13: we all have bad weeks, you know, we get caught out,
34:48
Speaker 13: you know, and, you know, we've got to admit we're wrong.
34:51
Speaker 4: But, you know, that happens.
34:52
Speaker 13: The Prime Minister is incapable of doing it. He's simply
34:57
Speaker 13: incapable of doing it. So we're left with no option.
34:59
Speaker 13: We can't have a repeat behavioural pattern of him just
35:04
Speaker 13: lying to the parliament. So, you know, this is not
35:07
Speaker 13: something that I did readily. It's not something you do
35:10
Speaker 13: to prime ministers readily, but we're left with no option
35:13
Speaker 13: but to try and say to the prime minister once
35:16
Speaker 13: and for all, please stop lying to the parliament.
35:20
Speaker 2: What about the grant I picked up and referenced at
35:23
Speaker 2: the top of the show? This is $ 600, 000 to Trades
35:27
Speaker 2: Hall in Ballarat. It's also the building used for Labor HQ.
35:32
Speaker 2: They run all their... election campaigns out of it. They
35:36
Speaker 2: make money out of the building. It's a commercial building.
35:39
Speaker 2: The rooms and conference facilities are all rented out. Now,
35:42
Speaker 2: if they want to renovate it, why on earth doesn't
35:44
Speaker 2: it come out of Labor funds or union funds?
35:47
Speaker 15: Why?
35:48
Speaker 2: And this is in Ballarat. Of course, it's Catherine King's
35:50
Speaker 2: own seat. She has her election night parties there. So
35:55
Speaker 2: why are taxpayers paying for this?
35:58
Speaker 13: Well, once again, it's a really good question and we'd love,
36:02
Speaker 13: as I'm sure you would, to get a straight answer
36:05
Speaker 13: to why taxpayers are paying for this rather than the
36:09
Speaker 13: Labor Party. And, you know, this is the problem with
36:13
Speaker 13: the Prime Minister because every time he tells a lie,
36:18
Speaker 13: ultimately in the end Australians are paying for that, whether
36:22
Speaker 13: it was his $ 275 that he promised.
36:25
Speaker 4: That had come off your electricity bill you've.
36:27
Speaker 13: Got $ 1, 000 or more on average.
36:30
Speaker 4: Going onto your bill instead.
36:32
Speaker 13: He said capital gains tax was safe, negative gearing was safe,
36:36
Speaker 13: tax on trust was safe, and yet here we are.
36:40
Speaker 13: They've just put the final trifecta of that legislation through
36:44
Speaker 13: the parliament. You know, there's the classic one, which sums
36:47
Speaker 13: it all up, I think, that he didn't fall off
36:50
Speaker 13: a stage when he's there, but, you know, there's the
36:52
Speaker 13: other one where, you.
36:54
Speaker 4: Know, the international.
36:55
Speaker 13: the international relations faux pas where he insulted the Japanese
37:01
Speaker 13: Prime Minister and couldn't admit that he'd done it. You know,
37:04
Speaker 13: that had potentially serious consequences to a vital, vital relationship
37:09
Speaker 13: for Australia.
37:10
Speaker 4: And it goes on and on and on.
37:13
Speaker 13: And, you know, we've got an interest rate rise which
37:17
Speaker 13: is likely to come on Melbourne Cup Day, which is
37:19
Speaker 13: going to cause more pain to Australian families because the
37:23
Speaker 13: Prime Minister said, that he was on top of inflation.
37:27
Speaker 13: So once again, he lied to the Australian people saying
37:30
Speaker 13: he was on top of inflation, but he wasn't. And
37:32
Speaker 13: now they're likely to get an interest rate rise, which
37:35
Speaker 13: is going to hurt like there's no tomorrow. You know,
37:38
Speaker 13: and he'll be jetting off to the Caribbean on Saturday.
37:42
Speaker 13: And so, you know, if the RBA does decide to
37:45
Speaker 13: put interest rates up, he'll be a million miles away
37:48
Speaker 13: and won't.
37:48
Speaker 4: Be facing the music on it. It's just this pattern.
37:51
Speaker 4: And You know, Australians are hurting every time he lies.
37:56
Speaker 2: Okay, I want to go to an exchange in Senate
37:59
Speaker 2: Estimates involving Matt Canavan. Have a look at this.
38:04
Speaker 11: Is this the first time we have made a binding
38:07
Speaker 11: commitment to the Paris Agreement in a trade agreement?
38:10
Speaker 13: Well, it is the first time we have made a
38:13
Speaker 13: distinct reaffirmation of the Paris Agreement, yes.
38:20
Speaker 2: All right, Dan, I was working for the PM when
38:22
Speaker 2: we started down the path of the EU deal, what,
38:25
Speaker 2: 15 years ago now probably. It was a dud deal then.
38:28
Speaker 2: It had all of these hooks in it about climate obligations.
38:32
Speaker 2: We said absolutely no way. We'll lose our sovereignty. It
38:36
Speaker 2: was a bad deal for our farmers as well because,
38:38
Speaker 2: as we know, the European farmers are heavily subsidised. But
38:41
Speaker 2: in sovereign terms on climate policy, we're letting the EU
38:45
Speaker 2: call the shots. This is everything that Britain used to
38:47
Speaker 2: do when they were in the EU and that was
38:49
Speaker 2: the reason for Brexit. We'd need our head read if
38:53
Speaker 2: we signed this thing.
38:56
Speaker 4: Absolutely.
38:57
Speaker 13: And once again, the government lied to the Australian people
39:01
Speaker 13: and especially farmers in my electorate about this because they
39:05
Speaker 13: They said that, oh, this is nothing to see here.
39:08
Speaker 13: It's exactly what we've done in previous free trade agreements.
39:12
Speaker 4: Well, I know that.
39:14
Speaker 13: That is not true, that that's a lie, because I
39:16
Speaker 13: was trade minister and I signed two FTAs and it's
39:21
Speaker 13: nothing like what we had in those agreements. And their
39:25
Speaker 13: own website once again says this is the first time
39:30
Speaker 13: we've signed a binding legal agreement.
39:34
Speaker 4: When it comes to climate change.
39:36
Speaker 13: It's just appalling the way they play their politics.
39:40
Speaker 4: They lie. And in this instance.
39:42
Speaker 13: You know, real consequences for dairy farmers, real consequences for
39:46
Speaker 13: beef farmers.
39:47
Speaker 4: You know, the list goes.
39:49
Speaker 13: On and yet they're quite happy to just say, oh, no,
39:52
Speaker 13: there's a completely different truth to what the reality is
39:55
Speaker 13: to try and get their way. You know, and we're
39:58
Speaker 13: calling it out and we're not going to stop calling
40:00
Speaker 13: it out.
40:02
Speaker 2: Good on you, Dan. These numbers are tanking. I think
40:04
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister's on the nose. And that's putting Labor
40:06
Speaker 2: under real pressure. I'll leave it there. Thank you very much.
40:09
Speaker 2: Have a good weekend. Let's go to the break. After
40:11
Speaker 2: the break, the push by Hamas. These are terrorists to
40:14
Speaker 2: get the government into the court to oppose their listing
40:19
Speaker 2: as a prescribed terror group. Now, why are we paying
40:24
Speaker 2: for this madness? Coming up, more heat for Premier, former
40:32
Speaker 2: Premier Dan Andrews, the Bike Boy case. referred off now
40:36
Speaker 2: to the anti-corruption watchdog in Victoria. The reporter who broke
40:40
Speaker 2: that story joins me in a moment. But Hamas, the group,
40:43
Speaker 2: the terror group responsible for October 7 attacks on citizens
40:48
Speaker 2: right across Israel, are now launching a bid in courts
40:50
Speaker 2: in Australia to scrap their terror listing. Revealed today in
40:55
Speaker 2: federal court documents obtained by the Herald Sun, the terror
40:58
Speaker 2: group is asking the court to throw out the March
41:02
Speaker 2: 22 decision by the Morrison government to list the entirety
41:06
Speaker 2: of the Hamas terror organisation. Joining me now, our defence analyst,
41:11
Speaker 2: Peter Jennings. Well, I'm objecting here to the premise of
41:15
Speaker 2: this legal action, but also the millions of dollars we'll
41:18
Speaker 2: spend as taxpayers to defend this. Are they trying to
41:22
Speaker 2: do it, do you think, Peter, because Hamas wants to
41:24
Speaker 2: keep some sort of political wing in the mix in
41:28
Speaker 2: order to put its hand up to run Gaza or
41:31
Speaker 2: rebuild Gaza in some ways? Is that the push?
41:35
Speaker 19: Yes, I think that's the right call, Peter. The basis
41:39
Speaker 19: of the case appears to be that there's good Hamas,
41:42
Speaker 19: which is providing health care and schooling and those sorts
41:45
Speaker 19: of things, and then there's the terror organisation and they're separate.
41:49
Speaker 19: And of course, the truth of the matter is that
41:50
Speaker 19: we've seen very comprehensively from 2023 on that there's just
41:55
Speaker 19: one Hamas and it's bad Hamas. You know, the Hamas
41:59
Speaker 19: health ministry was used as a sort of a media
42:01
Speaker 19: wing to propagate their propaganda about fake numbers of deaths.
42:07
Speaker 19: Hamas people were deployed as journalistic stringers and included individuals
42:12
Speaker 19: being used by our own ABC, only later to be
42:16
Speaker 19: celebrated as terrorists by Hamas itself. So it's a complete
42:20
Speaker 19: fiction to say that there's sort of separate wings of Hamas.
42:24
Speaker 19: But for them, it would be a serious political victory
42:26
Speaker 19: if an Australian court decided that there was such a
42:29
Speaker 19: thing as good Hamas. That would then turn them into
42:31
Speaker 19: people that could be negotiated with in Gaza. So I
42:35
Speaker 19: really hope our court doesn't go down that silly distinction.
42:39
Speaker 19: It's one big terror organisation, most principally brutal to its
42:44
Speaker 19: own people. And that decision in 22 to turn them
42:48
Speaker 19: into a terror organisation was absolutely right and has been
42:51
Speaker 19: proven even more right in the.
42:53
Speaker 2: OK, so let's go then from one radical Islamic group
42:59
Speaker 2: to another. We'll go to the Taliban. We fought them
43:01
Speaker 2: there on the ground, obviously, in Afghanistan in a very
43:04
Speaker 2: long conflict. There's a secret report that's now been put
43:07
Speaker 2: up on our website. It is about the review of
43:11
Speaker 2: the circumstances of that campaign. It attributes in this instance
43:16
Speaker 2: some level of blame to military commanders who But it
43:20
Speaker 2: talks about an absence of leadership, blah, blah, blah. But basically,
43:23
Speaker 2: yet again, there's no consequences for the big guys here.
43:28
Speaker 2: All the attention is still on the lower ranked soldiers
43:32
Speaker 2: on the ground, like Ben Robert Smith and others.
43:36
Speaker 19: Yeah, Peter, it doesn't pass the sniff test. I think
43:39
Speaker 19: most Australians think that somehow it's wrong that Defence has
43:43
Speaker 19: tried to position this to say, well, we had no
43:46
Speaker 19: idea about anything that was going on and it's all
43:48
Speaker 19: the the lower ranks. Defence made, I think, a fundamental mistake.
43:53
Speaker 19: This is my old department, by the way, in refusing
43:57
Speaker 19: to sort of have an open conversation about the higher
44:00
Speaker 19: command of military operations in Afghanistan. And this report, which
44:04
Speaker 19: specifically looks at the Special Forces Command, is really just
44:09
Speaker 19: one example of, I think, now a need to be
44:11
Speaker 19: more open, even though it's all so long ago now, Peter.
44:14
Speaker 19: But the defence put no credit on itself by just
44:18
Speaker 19: becoming secretive and uncommunicative about these issues. Increasingly, that's how
44:22
Speaker 19: the department acts in every area. I think it's a mistake.
44:26
Speaker 19: I think it undermines confidence in the senior leaders of
44:28
Speaker 19: the defence organisation.
44:31
Speaker 2: OK, quick comment. I'm out of time. I'm going to
44:33
Speaker 2: go to a break. But just Israeli politics is hard
44:36
Speaker 2: to guess at the best of time. The outcome of
44:40
Speaker 2: the election, where do you think will land?
44:44
Speaker 19: I think Bibi will get back. I think he has
44:46
Speaker 19: the superior negotiation skills to cobble together a coalition. So
44:52
Speaker 19: I think that's probably the most likely possibility. And if
44:55
Speaker 19: he's unable to do that, they could well be back
44:57
Speaker 19: to another election very quickly. But I think never underestimate
45:02
Speaker 19: Bibi's ability to grab political advantage, and I think that's
45:05
Speaker 19: what he'll be able to do.
45:08
Speaker 2: I don't think Israeli voters are going to want some
45:10
Speaker 2: Arab bloc of parliamentarians... acting as the balance of power
45:15
Speaker 2: right at the moment or at any time, to be fair. Peter,
45:18
Speaker 2: thank you. Peter Jennings there. Quick break. After the break,
45:21
Speaker 2: Dan and Catherine Andrews, that infamous car crash, off to
45:25
Speaker 2: the anti-corruption watchdog now. We'll get into that in a moment. Right,
45:32
Speaker 2: the big news this week, Victoria Police, this is the
45:34
Speaker 2: boss of Victoria Police, has referred fresh evidence about the
45:37
Speaker 2: 2013 Daniel Andrews and Catherine Andrews bike boy crash to
45:41
Speaker 2: IBAC for a second time. Reopening questions about the original
45:45
Speaker 2: police investigation. Despite previous findings that identified no deficiencies in
45:51
Speaker 2: the way the matter was handled. Let's bring in the
45:53
Speaker 2: journalist who broke the story, Seb Costello from The Herald Sun.
45:57
Speaker 2: I've got to say at the top, all the lawyers
45:59
Speaker 2: will be watching, Catherine Andrews and Daniel Andrews deny any
46:02
Speaker 2: wrongdoing and that's been a consistent position they have. Why
46:06
Speaker 2: is it now, back before Victoria Police, and why has
46:10
Speaker 2: Victoria Police now sent it off to IBAC?
46:14
Speaker 14: Yeah, well, I think this is a really interesting statement
46:16
Speaker 14: from the incoming Chief Commissioner, Mike Bush. And I think
46:19
Speaker 14: it's worth sort of going through his background. You know,
46:21
Speaker 14: he started in the job last year. He's the first
46:25
Speaker 14: Chief Commissioner to be appointed in more than a decade
46:28
Speaker 14: who wasn't appointed by Dan Andrews.
46:31
Speaker 4: And sort of more than that, he comes.
46:37
Speaker 14: So he's not one of these guys that's been in
46:39
Speaker 14: VicPol for 30 years. He's still chummy with the guys
46:42
Speaker 14: he went to the academy with. You do a favour
46:44
Speaker 14: for me, I'll do a favour for you, that sort
46:46
Speaker 14: of thing. He's a complete clean skin in that sense.
46:49
Speaker 14: And so this file has come in by another former
46:51
Speaker 14: top cop, Kel Gleyer. It's obviously shown Mike Bush that
46:55
Speaker 14: there's enough there for him to say, I want to
46:57
Speaker 14: do this by the book. I want our activities, you know,
47:01
Speaker 14: he wasn't even in the country when the collision happened.
47:04
Speaker 14: I want our activities examined by the watchdog.
47:06
Speaker 2: So the Cal Glare report's really interesting because it builds
47:09
Speaker 2: on earlier work by the highly respected cop Ray Shuey,
47:14
Speaker 2: doesn't it?
47:15
Speaker 14: Yeah, the late Ray Shuey. He was Cal Glare's road
47:17
Speaker 14: safety commissioner. The guy had a PhD in road safety
47:21
Speaker 14: and he went out and looked into this collision. And,
47:24
Speaker 14: you know, he disputed a lot of the things that
47:26
Speaker 14: the Andrews, as it said, happened. Like he disputed that,
47:28
Speaker 14: you know, they'd come to a stop before they turned
47:30
Speaker 14: in to the street when this collision occurred. And the
47:34
Speaker 14: Andrews had effectively called Ray Shuey, a conspiracy theorist, in
47:38
Speaker 14: their public statements. There's a court matter that's going on
47:41
Speaker 14: about those particular comments.
47:43
Speaker 4: But when I spoke to.
47:43
Speaker 14: Kel Gley yesterday, he felt that this was a real
47:45
Speaker 14: sort of vindication for the detective work that Ray Shuey
47:48
Speaker 14: had done. But I think it's also interesting that the
47:52
Speaker 14: Victoria Police Commissioner is prepared to do this by the
47:57
Speaker 14: book and confirm it on the record in an election year,
48:00
Speaker 14: sort of on the eve of a new state election.
48:02
Speaker 14: I don't know about you, Peter, but I feel like
48:06
Speaker 14: there's been this sort of leadership style of bullying in
48:09
Speaker 14: Victoria where the public service has been too afraid, you know,
48:14
Speaker 14: to ever say something that might put the government's nose
48:16
Speaker 14: out of joint. And I really see Mike Bush's statement
48:19
Speaker 14: this week as something that shows a lot of independence,
48:23
Speaker 14: you know.
48:23
Speaker 2: It's so true, you know, because you see it in Victoria.
48:28
Speaker 2: People get recycled from one department to another. They stuff up.
48:31
Speaker 2: They're just... put on leave for a bit, they're brought back.
48:34
Speaker 2: So you know that if you bite your tongue, you
48:37
Speaker 2: cop the pain, you take the medicine for the government,
48:40
Speaker 2: for the minister who might have stuffed up, you'll eventually
48:43
Speaker 2: get looked after and put in another job. And that
48:46
Speaker 2: feels like it's changing. Or maybe I'm Pollyanna.
48:48
Speaker 4: Well, no, I think you're right to be optimistic.
48:51
Speaker 14: I think, you know, the bullying style of leadership may
48:53
Speaker 14: have had its day in Victoria. And, you know, the
48:55
Speaker 14: bully boys who executed it, I'm talking about people at Parliament,
48:59
Speaker 14: I'm talking about people in the AFL as well, I
49:01
Speaker 14: think they may have had their day and we may
49:03
Speaker 14: be seeing a period where there's just a more mature
49:07
Speaker 14: level of discourse.
49:08
Speaker 2: Just quickly, do we have a timeline on this investigation
49:11
Speaker 2: and any idea on that?
49:12
Speaker 14: No, it's open-ended and we won't get too much information
49:16
Speaker 14: about what they're up to.
49:17
Speaker 2: But right now IBAC are.
49:19
Speaker 14: Looking at all angles that's contained in that 500-page dossier,
49:22
Speaker 14: which includes witness statements that no one, no police member,
49:25
Speaker 14: has ever looked at.
49:27
Speaker 2: Keep us posted. Keep us posted. Thank you, Sam. I
49:31
Speaker 2: will mention the Bike Boy podcast. If you haven't caught
49:34
Speaker 2: up on that, please do. It'll encapsulate all of this.
49:37
Speaker 2: Have a lovely weekend, everyone. I'll see you Monday. Here's Andrew.