Latest / Credlin / Credlin | 26 December

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Credlin | 26 December · Credlin

0:02
Speaker 1: PETERO Kwedlin live on Sky News Australia.
0:07
Speaker 2: Good evening, I'm Caroline Marcus filling in for Peter Kredlin.
0:11
Speaker 2: Coming up tonight, twenty years on from the horrific Boxing
0:15
Speaker 2: Day tsunami. We'll speak to an Australian hero running across
0:19
Speaker 2: Thailand those still recovering from the tragedy. Plus we'll head
0:25
Speaker 2: to the UK where we'll break down how the Royals
0:28
Speaker 2: spent Christmas this year. But first tims the season to
0:33
Speaker 2: be jolly unless your name is Anthony Albanizi. The Prime
0:38
Speaker 2: Minister's New Year's resolution should perhaps be to spruce up
0:42
Speaker 2: the furniture his new Copa Cavana coastal home, since it's
0:46
Speaker 2: now looking increasingly likely his days in the lodge are numbered.
0:51
Speaker 2: The latest News poll shows labor going backwards.
0:55
Speaker 3: In key areas.
0:56
Speaker 2: Victoria now a problem child for the party, with the
1:00
Speaker 2: ALP's primary vote in the state lower than in New
1:04
Speaker 2: South Wales and only a point above that in its
1:08
Speaker 2: worst state, Queensland. In Victoria, one of our most progressive states,
1:14
Speaker 2: Albanezi is now no more popular than Peter Dutton. The
1:19
Speaker 2: Prime Minister's other trouble spot is New South Wales, where
1:23
Speaker 2: the Coalition's primary vote has lifted to forty percent. The
1:27
Speaker 2: thirty five to forty nine year old demographic has also
1:31
Speaker 2: turned against Labor in the past six months, not surprising
1:35
Speaker 2: given they're the ones most likely to have families and
1:38
Speaker 2: mortgages and struggle with interest rates. The Australian's political editors
1:43
Speaker 2: Simon Benson writes today, any pollster will tell you that
1:47
Speaker 2: it is this group that decides elections. Indeed, this cohort
1:53
Speaker 2: were the ones to get Scott Morrison into power in
1:55
Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, before turning against him.
1:58
Speaker 3: Three years later.
2:00
Speaker 2: The polls do still show an even split between Labor
2:04
Speaker 2: and the Coalition after preferences, but at this juncture minority
2:08
Speaker 2: government appears to be the best outcome Labour can hope
2:12
Speaker 2: for at the next election, and if history is.
2:15
Speaker 3: Any guide, minority governments do.
2:17
Speaker 2: Not bode well for either Labor or its leaders who
2:21
Speaker 2: secure them. A News poll from earlier this month found
2:25
Speaker 2: that Albanzi was considered by voters the weakest prime minister
2:29
Speaker 2: in decades, while Dutton scored the highest of any opposition
2:34
Speaker 2: leader in more than a decade. And looking back on
2:37
Speaker 2: the year that was, it isn't hard to see why
2:40
Speaker 2: Albanizi could well end up a one term wonder. Cost
2:44
Speaker 2: of living will obviously be the number one issue for
2:46
Speaker 2: voters when they do eventually head to the ballot box
2:49
Speaker 2: next year, and the government's failure to tackle this epidemic
2:54
Speaker 2: has really hit them hard. Labor has remained stubbornly wedded
2:59
Speaker 2: to costly and unreliable renewable energy and a radical green
3:04
Speaker 2: ideology that's left Australians struggling to pay their power bills,
3:09
Speaker 2: let alone two hundred and seventy five dollars a year
3:12
Speaker 2: better off we were promised before the last election. Now
3:16
Speaker 2: wouldn't that extra cash have come in helpful At Christmas? Instead,
3:20
Speaker 2: and Peas launched a juvenile scare campaign against the opposition's
3:25
Speaker 2: nuclear energy policy. That's despite the fact that they're perfectly
3:31
Speaker 2: comfortable with nuclear when it comes to submarines.
3:34
Speaker 3: Make it make sense.
3:36
Speaker 2: This year, the government's also been distracted by the four
3:39
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty million dollar Voice referendum and trying to
3:43
Speaker 2: mire Australians in harmful identity politics, but it backfired as
3:49
Speaker 2: two thirds of us said no to being divided by
3:52
Speaker 2: the color of our skin, and in the most basic
3:56
Speaker 2: key test for any government. It's failed abysmally in keeping
4:01
Speaker 2: us safe, as about one hundred and fifty immigration detainees
4:06
Speaker 2: freedomto the community, among them convicted murderersts, rapists, and drug
4:11
Speaker 2: traffickers managed to gain the system and avoid monitoring. There
4:16
Speaker 2: were already plenty of breaches during the year from those detainees. Now,
4:22
Speaker 2: our leader's failure to confront extremism and terror support has
4:27
Speaker 2: been well documented here on this network.
4:29
Speaker 3: The lack of law.
4:30
Speaker 2: Enforcement, its minister's anti Israel rhetoric, and growing hostility towards
4:36
Speaker 2: our only democratic ally in the Middle East have all
4:39
Speaker 2: contributed to record levels of anti Semitism in this country,
4:44
Speaker 2: to our great shame. And on that, despite the fanfare
4:49
Speaker 2: over the formation of Special Operation Avlite, the federal police
4:53
Speaker 2: task force investigating threats and violence towards the Jewish community
4:58
Speaker 2: and peace, where are the arrests? Why haven't we had
5:03
Speaker 2: any updates to what is a major investigation into a
5:07
Speaker 2: terror attack?
5:08
Speaker 3: We asked AFP.
5:10
Speaker 2: Commissioner Rheese Kerschel, why after two and a half weeks
5:14
Speaker 2: since AVLITE was announced, there have been no updates in
5:18
Speaker 2: the investigation provided. We asked why is it taking so long?
5:22
Speaker 2: To make any arrests or any apparent headway in this incident.
5:27
Speaker 2: An AFP spokesperson told us further comment will be made
5:31
Speaker 2: at an appropriate time. In other words, these alleged terrorists
5:36
Speaker 2: are still out there and the public has no idea
5:40
Speaker 2: when or if they may strike again. Now compare and
5:44
Speaker 2: contrast our week leadership with the crystal clear language of
5:48
Speaker 2: Peter Dutton, whose Hannakha message yesterday was refreshingly and unashamedly strong.
5:55
Speaker 2: He wrote, from the hate filmed mob that gathered on
5:58
Speaker 2: the steps of the Opera House to the firebombing of
6:01
Speaker 2: Melbourne's Adas Israel Synagogue, intolerable incident after intolerable incident has
6:08
Speaker 2: been tolerated due to a vacuum of political leadership, and
6:12
Speaker 2: he promised a douton coalition government will provide moral clarity,
6:17
Speaker 2: deliver strong political leadership and act decisively to restore law
6:22
Speaker 2: and order. The distinction between the alternatives of the next
6:26
Speaker 2: election could it be starker and the poll show voters
6:30
Speaker 2: are waking up to that. Now, Let's bring in today's panel,
6:37
Speaker 2: former Labour MP Michael Danby and the Spectator contributor Terry
6:42
Speaker 2: Barnes Welcome gentlemen, and I hope you had a wonderful
6:45
Speaker 2: Christmas and hannaka. Now first, Michael, I want to get
6:48
Speaker 2: your reaction to my editorial there. In the past couple
6:51
Speaker 2: of weeks alone, we've seen the firebombing of the Melbourne
6:54
Speaker 2: Synagogue and neo Nazis on the steps of Melbourne Parliament
6:59
Speaker 2: openly viewing that you hate what in the hell is going.
7:02
Speaker 3: On down there.
7:04
Speaker 1: I was in the dash Synagogue today and it's worse
7:09
Speaker 1: than you think.
7:10
Speaker 4: It's really terrible.
7:12
Speaker 1: So the question is is will all Australians, not just
7:16
Speaker 1: Jewish Australians, rise up and tell the federal and state
7:19
Speaker 1: governments that this is not good enough. It's destroying a
7:22
Speaker 1: fabric of Australian society. And I think that the fact
7:29
Speaker 1: that there's been no report on these people who did
7:32
Speaker 1: this crime.
7:34
Speaker 5: Carolin.
7:35
Speaker 1: When people went in there, they sprayed the walls. It
7:39
Speaker 1: was so organized with this accelerant that these people are
7:44
Speaker 1: really evil and they could do it again. I hope
7:47
Speaker 1: the police are taking this with all the seriousness that
7:50
Speaker 1: they should and not having a break because of the
7:52
Speaker 1: Christmas New Year period. It's a defamation of the whole
7:58
Speaker 1: of Australian society. Aliens, all of us, not just Jewish Austrains,
8:02
Speaker 1: have got to tell federal and state governments and the
8:05
Speaker 1: police we want action.
8:08
Speaker 3: Terry.
8:08
Speaker 2: We've seen the government announce this big task force to
8:12
Speaker 2: tackle this sort of anti Semitism, but we've already seen
8:16
Speaker 2: you know that too many times, so many incidents, not
8:19
Speaker 2: just the synagogue fire bombing and the neo Nazis, though
8:23
Speaker 2: they just seem to be the climax of what has
8:25
Speaker 2: been this epidemic. Do you see this as the culmination
8:30
Speaker 2: of what has been week leadership?
8:34
Speaker 6: Well, certainly, Caroline. I think that really the Albanesi government
8:40
Speaker 6: and state governments around Australia too should have been sowing
8:43
Speaker 6: leadership from the seventh of October onwards. And I think, well,
8:49
Speaker 6: the federal government has come to a little too late
8:50
Speaker 6: to the party. But it's good that these investigations, these
8:54
Speaker 6: inquiries are happening, but really they should not be happening
8:57
Speaker 6: because those incidents should not have happened. I think the
9:01
Speaker 6: strongest possible messages needed to be sent at the start,
9:04
Speaker 6: but they weren't. Whatever you say about Peter Dupp, at
9:06
Speaker 6: least he showed some moral clarity and moral consistency all through.
9:10
Speaker 6: He hasn't subcontracted his policy to the Greens. He's actually
9:13
Speaker 6: hasn't pandered to minorities in particular federal electorates. He's actually
9:18
Speaker 6: held the line and held principle. And I think on
9:22
Speaker 6: this rare year, isn't it, Caroline, where Haneker and Christmas
9:26
Speaker 6: actually coincide. Our Jewish friends in the Australian community and
9:31
Speaker 6: our Christian friends in the Australian community should actually be
9:34
Speaker 6: as one on this and stamp out and call out
9:37
Speaker 6: anti Semitism for what it is.
9:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, Terry, and it really is an attack
9:43
Speaker 2: on Western values. That's what a lot of this is about,
9:46
Speaker 2: and Judeo Christian values as well. Now still with you
9:50
Speaker 2: now here. What do you make of the latest news
9:52
Speaker 2: poll as I explained it showing real trouble spots for
9:55
Speaker 2: Labor in Victoria and.
9:57
Speaker 3: New South Wales.
9:58
Speaker 2: How much of a concern do you think this will
9:59
Speaker 2: be to the alban Ezy government.
10:03
Speaker 6: Well, I'd be very surprised Carolina, the Labor government's private
10:06
Speaker 6: polling is actually showing anything different. The thing about this
10:11
Speaker 6: News poll analysis that the Australian has done is it's
10:14
Speaker 6: showing that Labor is losing support right across the board
10:18
Speaker 6: with women, with particularly that thirty five forty nine age group,
10:22
Speaker 6: the mortgage belt to Australians, so older Australians, yes, you
10:26
Speaker 6: tend to favor Conservatives in the coalition, but younger Australians
10:31
Speaker 6: are also coming back towards the right, although not in
10:34
Speaker 6: sufficient numbers.
10:35
Speaker 4: Look, I think the.
10:36
Speaker 6: Reality is that if Labor is thinking that is going
10:40
Speaker 6: to win majority government in whenever it is March or April,
10:44
Speaker 6: is my prediction, they're dreaming. They're absolutely dreaming. I mean,
10:48
Speaker 6: I think the best result for them is a weak
10:50
Speaker 6: minority government and there's actually a chance of a coalition
10:53
Speaker 6: boil over because when the coalition hits forty percent in
10:56
Speaker 6: New South Wales and that's knocking on the door of
10:58
Speaker 6: forty percent consistently nationally, that's getting into a winning position.
11:03
Speaker 2: Well, look, I hope you're right, because I think what
11:06
Speaker 2: could be worse than this Labor government as a minority
11:09
Speaker 2: government with the Greens or the Teals. But Michael, the
11:13
Speaker 2: polling also shows that the Greens have shared younger voters
11:17
Speaker 2: to Labor and the minor party is struggling to rebuild
11:20
Speaker 2: the support and enjoyed at.
11:21
Speaker 3: The last election.
11:23
Speaker 2: How much of that do you put down to the
11:25
Speaker 2: Green stance on the Middle East.
11:29
Speaker 1: Well, that's the encouraging news in this news poll, Caroline,
11:33
Speaker 1: that their support is down. What would you expect from
11:37
Speaker 1: a person whose thesis was on Soviet jurisprudence.
11:42
Speaker 7: That's Adam Bant.
11:43
Speaker 1: Adam Band has changed the environmental Climate Change Green Party
11:50
Speaker 1: into a kafa wearing a bunch of Marxists and I
11:55
Speaker 1: think a lot of Australians, including young Australians, think he's
12:00
Speaker 1: gone a bridge too far. So we saw them go
12:04
Speaker 1: down on their support in the New South Wales council elections,
12:08
Speaker 1: in the Act, in Queensland state elections. Let's hope that
12:13
Speaker 1: process continues. I think at will in Queensland at the
12:16
Speaker 1: federal election that may benefit labor slightly, but the Libs
12:20
Speaker 1: have to get more than fifty to fifty in Victoria,
12:23
Speaker 1: New South Wales if they're going to if they're going
12:25
Speaker 1: to win. I think the Teals here are very well
12:29
Speaker 1: dug in and in New South Wales. And you're right
12:33
Speaker 1: that Australia has a bad government at the moment, but
12:36
Speaker 1: it could get worse with the Teals Green's minority government
12:40
Speaker 1: in alliance with Albert or probably his success in Tanya plebacy,
12:44
Speaker 1: because if he loses well seats, he'll probably be dumped.
12:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you're right. It's going to be very
12:49
Speaker 3: hard for him to hold on. But it's very much
12:52
Speaker 3: a case of be careful what you wish for in
12:54
Speaker 3: some respects.
12:55
Speaker 2: Now, let's move on to Victorian politics now, and embattled
12:59
Speaker 2: Liberal leader John Persuito is set to face a major
13:02
Speaker 2: leadership test in a high stakes party room meeting tomorrow. Now.
13:06
Speaker 2: Persuto has reportedly been refusing to bow down out of
13:10
Speaker 2: this top job despite his future looking increasingly shaky. Terry,
13:16
Speaker 2: do you see him remaining leader of the Victorian Liberals
13:20
Speaker 2: by the weekend?
13:23
Speaker 6: Well, certainly it's good to see politicians working just after Christmas,
13:26
Speaker 6: isn't it not.
13:29
Speaker 2: It's very hard to get them on the show at
13:30
Speaker 2: the moment.
13:33
Speaker 6: And I'm speaking as a member, rank and file member
13:35
Speaker 6: of the Victorian Liberal Party two I should declare that,
13:37
Speaker 6: but really what we have here is the shamozzle. John Persuto,
13:42
Speaker 6: the current leader, is calling a meeting tomorrow, has actually
13:47
Speaker 6: been forced to call a meeting tomorrow because five members
13:49
Speaker 6: of petition for it where there will be a spilled leadership.
13:53
Speaker 6: It's reported that Brad Batton, the shadow Police Minister, has
13:57
Speaker 6: rung him today to say well mate, it's on. And
14:01
Speaker 6: obviously if he's done that, he believes he has the numbers.
14:04
Speaker 6: But really I just think it's an absolute dog's breakfast.
14:08
Speaker 6: That's a shambozzle. I mean John Bizuto and what he
14:11
Speaker 6: did in pushing out More Redeeming last year made his
14:16
Speaker 6: own bed. Now he's going to line it. But Brad
14:18
Speaker 6: Matten has a replacement. He's a nice bloke, I have
14:21
Speaker 6: to say, but he doesn't really impress me as a
14:25
Speaker 6: potential premiere. And I think if that's the choice, where
14:29
Speaker 6: Victorian Liberals is in a bad space. But if we're
14:31
Speaker 6: talking about nationally, we're talking about nationally the Liberal Party
14:34
Speaker 6: has to be healthy in Victoria. It has to be
14:37
Speaker 6: able to campaign, It has to be able to back
14:40
Speaker 6: the candidates that it wants to actually win those seats.
14:43
Speaker 6: That needs to get Peter Dutton over the line in
14:45
Speaker 6: one way or another, and at the moment I just
14:48
Speaker 6: can't see that happening. I think the best thing about
14:50
Speaker 6: tomorrow is actually whatever the result is, it's going to
14:54
Speaker 6: hopefully cauterize the wound. For the Victorian Liberals, they actually
14:58
Speaker 6: knuckle down and get on with the job of being
15:01
Speaker 6: a competitive opposition to well. Talk about bad government. So
15:04
Speaker 6: I think the one we have down here in Victoria
15:06
Speaker 6: is absolutely pathetic, but also backing Peter Dutton in to
15:11
Speaker 6: win in a few months time, whether it's minority or majority.
15:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you're right, Terry.
15:16
Speaker 2: There hasn't really been a really healthy alternative government there
15:21
Speaker 2: in Victoria.
15:22
Speaker 3: For a while now. But what about you, Michael.
15:24
Speaker 2: I mean Terry talks about the fact that Persudo threw
15:28
Speaker 2: more redeeming out of the party.
15:29
Speaker 3: It wasn't just that.
15:30
Speaker 2: Of course, once the defamation ruland came down in her favor,
15:34
Speaker 2: he still didn't let her back in, and he used
15:36
Speaker 2: his casting.
15:36
Speaker 3: Vote to keep her out. And now he's called a
15:38
Speaker 3: meeting in order to readmit her.
15:40
Speaker 2: It's such bad, such a bad look for the party.
15:44
Speaker 3: It's such a bad look for him, isn't it.
15:46
Speaker 1: Well, all Democrats, a liberal labor of Calithumpian wants strong oppositions,
15:52
Speaker 1: and there's been no strong opposition here in Victoria. We've
15:55
Speaker 1: got an enormous state debt which should have been argued
16:00
Speaker 1: again strongly by a conservative opposition, but they're completely ineffective.
16:06
Speaker 1: And Terry's right that if there is to be a
16:09
Speaker 1: change of government in Australia, the Liberals will need to
16:13
Speaker 1: do better in Victoria in particular, and there are half
16:17
Speaker 1: a dozen seats where they might but it will depend
16:20
Speaker 1: on there being no distraction from mister Persuto, and he's antics,
16:27
Speaker 1: so I think whether he's replaced tomorrow or not, I
16:32
Speaker 1: think he's a dead duck as far as Victorians are concerned,
16:36
Speaker 1: and focusing it on a cultural issue like we're redeeming
16:41
Speaker 1: a speaking to a women's rally because of some unannounced
16:45
Speaker 1: nazi's turning up and then him being scared of Dan Andrews.
16:50
Speaker 1: That's not sort of political leadership. Should have got past
16:53
Speaker 1: this long time ago. But his legacy may be to
16:57
Speaker 1: influence the federal election in a very bad way. And
16:59
Speaker 1: the federal election is coming soon. All of these slick
17:03
Speaker 1: ads on TV by governments don't come for no reason.
17:07
Speaker 1: They're coming because the collection is coming.
17:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, and they're spending an awful lot of
17:11
Speaker 2: money on them as.
17:12
Speaker 3: Well, millions and millions.
17:13
Speaker 2: Of dollars while the rest of us struggle with cost
17:15
Speaker 2: of lipping. Now, Terry, I want to get onto a
17:17
Speaker 2: piece that you wrote for The Spectator about how Christmas
17:21
Speaker 2: in Australia is becoming less about Christianity as the years
17:25
Speaker 2: go on. You write, the birth of Jesus may be
17:28
Speaker 2: the official reason for the season, but it's Christian celebration
17:32
Speaker 2: increasingly has become an optional extra. The Christmas season is
17:37
Speaker 2: an imported shopping festival.
17:39
Speaker 3: And an excuse to play.
17:40
Speaker 2: Carol's and Mariah Carey's execrable.
17:44
Speaker 3: All I want for Christmas is you.
17:46
Speaker 2: And every public place imaginable, all show and meaning nothing.
17:51
Speaker 2: First of all, what do you have against Mariah's Christmas Classic?
17:54
Speaker 2: But also more importantly, what do you think the ramifications
17:58
Speaker 2: of this godless Christristmas?
18:01
Speaker 3: What are those ramifications?
18:02
Speaker 6: Well, yeah, I wrote that article with the UK Spectator
18:06
Speaker 6: of Carolina and I was pointing out that when you
18:09
Speaker 6: travel into Asian countries like Thailand and you go around Bangkok,
18:13
Speaker 6: they actually celebrate Christmas because it's a commercial festival. To them,
18:16
Speaker 6: it's it's an excuse to do what we do in
18:19
Speaker 6: the West and make a bit of money. But also
18:22
Speaker 6: they play those Christmas songs on Christmas carols as much
18:25
Speaker 6: as the Mariah Carey and all the rest of them.
18:28
Speaker 6: But the point I was making in the article is
18:30
Speaker 6: that at forty three percent according last census, Christianity is
18:35
Speaker 6: no longer majority religion in Australia. That really when you
18:41
Speaker 6: look at it. I mean, of course churches were packed yesterday.
18:44
Speaker 6: I've got admit I did go along myself because I'm
18:47
Speaker 6: c andy. That's Christmas and Easter. But in terms of
18:51
Speaker 6: actual serious Christians no longer in the minority. When I
18:56
Speaker 6: was a kid, it was about eighty ninety percent declared
18:58
Speaker 6: layer of Christians. Now it's three And the next religion
19:01
Speaker 6: along is no religion at thirty eight percent, and I
19:03
Speaker 6: reckon by the twenty twenty sixth census that might actually
19:07
Speaker 6: be the top one, which well says a lot really,
19:10
Speaker 6: But at this time of year, what do we celebrate?
19:13
Speaker 6: We celebrate, well, we celebrate the weather, we celebrate summer.
19:17
Speaker 6: We celebrate in the cathedrals of the beach or the
19:20
Speaker 6: mcg in Melbourne. Today we don't. I think, as I said,
19:26
Speaker 6: Jesus is the reason for the season, but really it's
19:29
Speaker 6: been optional for many Australians and nominal for even more.
19:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're definitely onto something that Michael. One of the
19:37
Speaker 2: other interesting points in Terry's article is this growth in
19:40
Speaker 2: non judaio Christian faith. I'm not just talking about the atheism,
19:43
Speaker 2: which is I guess faithless, but Islam, he points out,
19:47
Speaker 2: growing at the fastest rate. Now more than three percent
19:49
Speaker 2: of Australians identify as Muslim. Well, that was according to
19:53
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one figures, and Muslims now outnumbered Jews by
19:57
Speaker 2: more than eight to one. What do you make of
20:00
Speaker 2: all of this for society, Well, that.
20:04
Speaker 1: Jewish Muslim difference is obviously changing politics, particularly inside the
20:08
Speaker 1: Labor Party. It's a shame for a society like Australia,
20:13
Speaker 1: Unlike the United States, that spirituality has been taken out
20:17
Speaker 1: of what we're originally religious festivals. It's not quite as catastrophic.
20:22
Speaker 1: I don't think as Terry paints it, in that most
20:26
Speaker 1: people use as an occasion Christmas or Hunker to get
20:30
Speaker 1: family together, and the continuing celebration of family solidarity and
20:37
Speaker 1: arguments with your with your ornerary uncle are all part
20:42
Speaker 1: of the Australian scene. So I think the King's message
20:46
Speaker 1: was an interesting reaffirmation of the fact that there are
20:51
Speaker 1: people who believe that we should have ethical principles that
20:55
Speaker 1: lead us to look towards the new year. I think
20:58
Speaker 1: that's a good thing. I think it's a bad thing
21:01
Speaker 1: that faith has dropped all over the world. It's interesting
21:06
Speaker 1: the difference between the United States and May the belief
21:09
Speaker 1: in faith and ethics, etc. I think has a lot
21:12
Speaker 1: to do with the Trump victory, which we'll see culminate
21:17
Speaker 1: on twenty January.
21:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're right there. Well, Terry Bunes, Michael Damby,
21:22
Speaker 2: Merry Christmas and happy Hannekah while we can still say
21:25
Speaker 2: that aloud, Thank you both for your time tonight. Now,
21:28
Speaker 2: after the break we'll speak to Australian hero Peter Bains,
21:31
Speaker 2: who is.
21:32
Speaker 3: Now completing his fourteen hundred.
21:34
Speaker 2: Kilometer run around Thailand, raising money for the region that
21:38
Speaker 2: suffered so horrifical, so horrifically from the Boxing Day tsunami
21:42
Speaker 2: two decades ago. He'll share his heartwarming story after the break.
21:51
Speaker 8: Well.
21:51
Speaker 2: Today marks the twentieth anniversary since the devastating Boxing Day tsunami,
21:57
Speaker 2: when a nine point one magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian
22:01
Speaker 2: island of Samatro, killing more than two hundred and twenty
22:05
Speaker 2: thousand people, including twenty six Australians. Anthony Albanezi today paid
22:11
Speaker 2: tribute to the victims.
22:13
Speaker 9: For twenty years, survivors have lived with the weight of
22:15
Speaker 9: loss and the pain of memories that one terrible day
22:18
Speaker 9: looming so large over all the others. For all of
22:21
Speaker 9: these people, we hold them in our hearts. Our hearts
22:25
Speaker 9: are also filled by what that he's asked to showed
22:28
Speaker 9: us some of the human spirit. Even amid that nightmare,
22:31
Speaker 9: people followed the powerful instinct to help each other, to
22:35
Speaker 9: look out for each other and to comfort each other.
22:38
Speaker 9: It was in that spirit that we came together as
22:41
Speaker 9: people and as nations to help our cherished friends and
22:44
Speaker 9: neighbors across the region to get back on their feet.
22:48
Speaker 2: As they say, always look for the helpers. And one
22:52
Speaker 2: of those helpers was former New South Wales Police forensic
22:56
Speaker 2: specialist Peter Bains, who was part of the team back
22:59
Speaker 2: then tasked with identifying bodies and victims to send them
23:03
Speaker 2: back to their families.
23:05
Speaker 3: And now he's.
23:06
Speaker 2: Just finished a nearly fourteen hundred kilometer run around Thailand
23:10
Speaker 2: to raise a million dollars for Hands across the Water,
23:15
Speaker 2: a charity he started to help children orphaned by the tsunami,
23:19
Speaker 2: but has since grown to support the region more widely.
23:22
Speaker 2: Since its inception, it's raised more than thirty five million dollars.
23:27
Speaker 2: And I'm pleased to say that Peter joins me now
23:29
Speaker 2: live from the first orphanage that he opened. Peter, what
23:33
Speaker 2: an incredible effort. Congratulations. What was it like being on
23:40
Speaker 2: the ground back then helping people that made you so
23:43
Speaker 2: committed to wanting to continue to help them even twenty
23:47
Speaker 2: years on.
23:49
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you for having me this afternoon.
23:51
Speaker 10: And I think what it was twenty years ago was
23:56
Speaker 10: I saw an opportunity to do something for the children,
24:01
Speaker 10: and I accepted I couldn't change what had happened, but
24:05
Speaker 10: it felt with my capacity to do something around what
24:09
Speaker 10: happened next for them, And to be honest, it was
24:12
Speaker 10: a decision that I thought, by building them a home
24:17
Speaker 10: that their needs would be answered and the job would
24:20
Speaker 10: be done. But here we are, almost twenty years on,
24:23
Speaker 10: and very much occupies every day of my week, and
24:28
Speaker 10: we continue to continue to work over here and support
24:33
Speaker 10: the broader community and many additional communities, not just those
24:38
Speaker 10: that were originally affected by the tsunami.
24:42
Speaker 2: Why is it that people that still need help twenty
24:45
Speaker 2: years later.
24:48
Speaker 10: Thailand's are developing country and you don't have to step
24:52
Speaker 10: too far outside of the Bangkok to find those who
24:59
Speaker 10: live in in abject poverty compared to Australian standards, and
25:05
Speaker 10: out in the regions, they don't have the social structure
25:10
Speaker 10: or the resources and the homes that we support. Many
25:16
Speaker 10: of the children arrive at the request of the government,
25:19
Speaker 10: of the social welfare, of the hospitals, of the police,
25:23
Speaker 10: who have no other options, and the children that we
25:26
Speaker 10: take care of, they might be with us for a
25:28
Speaker 10: short time while we help repatriate families. They might be
25:32
Speaker 10: with us for a longer time. But we certainly accept
25:36
Speaker 10: that the best place for kids, all things been equal,
25:40
Speaker 10: is with a family. But when things aren't equal, we
25:43
Speaker 10: provide an option, and as I say, whether that's short
25:46
Speaker 10: or long term.
25:47
Speaker 4: And it's long been.
25:50
Speaker 10: The case that the communities we support reached much further
25:55
Speaker 10: than just the tsunami that brought us over here twenty
25:59
Speaker 10: years ago.
26:00
Speaker 2: It's incredible the work that you're doing. And now it's
26:02
Speaker 2: been two decades, obviously, but do you remember what it
26:05
Speaker 2: was like confronting that scene, having to identify victims up
26:10
Speaker 2: to such a devastating event.
26:13
Speaker 11: Yeah.
26:13
Speaker 4: Absolutely, the first.
26:16
Speaker 10: The first time I visited Thailand was here in response
26:20
Speaker 10: to the tsunami, and I arrived into Puquet Airport on
26:25
Speaker 10: a fight from Singapore and it was a deserted airport
26:29
Speaker 10: and covering the walls of the airport were photos and
26:34
Speaker 10: posters of those who were missing, left by relatives. And
26:41
Speaker 10: then you know, within hours, I was in a helicopter
26:43
Speaker 10: flying up to the devastated region and the temple of
26:47
Speaker 10: wat yan Yao, where there would be three and a
26:50
Speaker 10: half thousand bodies in that one temple that we would
26:54
Speaker 10: spend and when I see, I mean in the entire
26:57
Speaker 10: forensic community that would come here. We'd spend over twelve
27:01
Speaker 10: months working to identify the five and a half thousand
27:05
Speaker 10: bodies that were recovering in Thailand to repatriate them. And
27:10
Speaker 10: those images and those scenes from those early days have
27:13
Speaker 10: never left me, and it serves as a reminder as
27:18
Speaker 10: to the power of nature destruction. But as the Prime
27:22
Speaker 10: Minister said, the good and the humanity that can come
27:26
Speaker 10: from such destruction.
27:29
Speaker 2: Yes, well, the help that you and the others provide,
27:33
Speaker 2: and then those horrific circumstances and certainly the positive thing
27:39
Speaker 2: that we saw come out of this, and the fact
27:41
Speaker 2: that you're still doing it so much later that commitment
27:44
Speaker 2: is incredible. What prompted the idea for this particular run
27:48
Speaker 2: around Thailand and what challenges did it throw up running
27:53
Speaker 2: around the country.
27:55
Speaker 10: Yeah, Well, as I knew the anniversary was coming, I
28:01
Speaker 10: wanted to do something significant and there was three levels
28:06
Speaker 10: to it. One was to raise a million dollars on
28:09
Speaker 10: top of the annual funding that we have to raise
28:12
Speaker 10: to support the kids that we have through university and
28:15
Speaker 10: the staff and the upkeep of all the premises. So
28:18
Speaker 10: the million dollars I wanted to raise would go towards
28:21
Speaker 10: building an agricultural learning center and a hospitality training center,
28:27
Speaker 10: and that's for the community and the kids, the older kids,
28:30
Speaker 10: to give them opportunities for further education and employment, which
28:35
Speaker 10: then makes create sustainable options here. So that was the
28:40
Speaker 10: first reason. The second was to raise awareness. We've raised
28:44
Speaker 10: thirty five million dollars since I started, and most of
28:48
Speaker 10: that has come from the generosity of Australians and sadly
28:53
Speaker 10: we're pretty much unknown here in Thailand as a charity,
28:56
Speaker 10: and I hoped that by the activities of running over
29:01
Speaker 10: this twenty six stay period and through Bangkok we would
29:05
Speaker 10: raise awareness of what we've done, and I think that's
29:07
Speaker 10: been achieved. And then the third reason was to do
29:12
Speaker 10: something memorable to mark my time here and running from
29:18
Speaker 10: the northeast region. The town of Yoston is a home
29:23
Speaker 10: that we've been supporting since twenty ten, and the obvious
29:28
Speaker 10: finish point for the run was where I am today,
29:32
Speaker 10: the first home we built here in Takyapa, about an
29:38
Speaker 10: hour and a half north of Pukat Airport and the
29:41
Speaker 10: area which was the most devastated here in Thailand.
29:45
Speaker 3: And how are your legs feeling now?
29:47
Speaker 2: But also more importantly, how can people at home help?
29:52
Speaker 10: Yeah, the legs are feeling good. You know, it's been
29:54
Speaker 10: really surprising. I've had had a few issues, but you know,
30:00
Speaker 10: to take something pretty significant to stop me because I
30:02
Speaker 10: never had another option, never had a plan B.
30:05
Speaker 4: It was always to get to the end.
30:07
Speaker 10: And you know, it's a pretty amazing I think it's
30:11
Speaker 10: a testament to the crew that we've got that have
30:15
Speaker 10: each day have patched me up and tended to blisters
30:18
Speaker 10: and niggles and rattles and got me back out on
30:22
Speaker 10: the road. And so I'm feeling good, but I am
30:25
Speaker 10: looking forward to not hearing the alarm go off at
30:28
Speaker 10: four point thirty in the morning and having it put
30:31
Speaker 10: my sore feet on the ground and run again for
30:34
Speaker 10: a little while.
30:35
Speaker 4: And if people are interested.
30:37
Speaker 10: In learning more about what we've done or helping us
30:40
Speaker 10: get towards at that million dollars, they can visit hands
30:43
Speaker 10: across the Water dot org dot au, which is where
30:46
Speaker 10: all the information about our runner is. And if they
30:50
Speaker 10: want to have a look back over what the last
30:52
Speaker 10: twenty six days has been like, probably best to visit
30:55
Speaker 10: our instagram or my Instagram which is just Peter Bayins
30:58
Speaker 10: and we've documented the run through there as well.
31:01
Speaker 2: We saw some beautiful photos during the segment pop up,
31:04
Speaker 2: But Peter bains the word hero gets shown around way
31:07
Speaker 2: too often these days, but you surely are deserving of
31:10
Speaker 2: that title. Thanks for sharing your journey and enjoy a
31:13
Speaker 2: much deserve rest now now don't go anywhere. Locals in
31:17
Speaker 2: Sydney's Bronte have woken up to this. I saw a
31:21
Speaker 2: Christmas rubbish heap at the beach again, and over to
31:25
Speaker 2: the US where Trump is vowing to implement vigorous laws
31:30
Speaker 2: ahead of his inauguration.
31:31
Speaker 3: My panel will join me next welcome back.
31:39
Speaker 4: Well.
31:39
Speaker 2: This year, Christmas and Hannekah fell on the same day
31:42
Speaker 2: for the first time in almost two decades, and Peter Dutton,
31:46
Speaker 2: who has been one of the strongest allies of the
31:48
Speaker 2: Jewish community, didn't mince his words in his Hannekah message.
31:53
Speaker 2: He wrote this, Hannekhah, I reiterate to Jewish Australians and
31:57
Speaker 2: indeed all Australians who cherish our way way of life,
32:01
Speaker 2: that a Dutton coalition government will provide moral clarity, deliver
32:05
Speaker 2: strong political leadership and act decisively.
32:08
Speaker 3: To restore law and order.
32:10
Speaker 2: And what's evident there is what we do not have
32:13
Speaker 2: at the moment, lacking in law and order enforcement and
32:17
Speaker 2: the very weak leadership. Well, joining me now is my
32:21
Speaker 2: panel author and senior history lecturer at Campion College, Stephen
32:25
Speaker 2: Chouvur and Sky News contributor Evelyn Ray. Thank you both
32:30
Speaker 2: for your time tonight now. Stephen, I spoke earlier in
32:33
Speaker 2: the show about the difference how it couldn't be more
32:37
Speaker 2: stark between Dutton's rhetoric about this extremism crisis and alban Easy's.
32:43
Speaker 3: Would you agree with that?
32:46
Speaker 11: Absolutely? The Labor Party in general were just so shamefully
32:51
Speaker 11: ambivalent on this issue really ever since the massacre took
32:57
Speaker 11: place a bit over a year ago. For example, very
33:00
Speaker 11: early on, almost immediately after the massacre, Penny Wong pledged
33:04
Speaker 11: ten million dollars to Gaza, which anyone who knows anything
33:09
Speaker 11: about funding to Gaza knows that it makes its way
33:11
Speaker 11: to her mass very very quickly. She had no idea
33:15
Speaker 11: whether it was going to go to terrorists, so whether
33:17
Speaker 11: it was going to go to actual people in need,
33:19
Speaker 11: and there can be no doubt that most of it
33:21
Speaker 11: probably went to terrorists. The Labor Party every time Israel
33:26
Speaker 11: was making some inroads into putting her mass, putting her
33:31
Speaker 11: mass down and destroying her mass, the Labor Party would
33:34
Speaker 11: constantly tell them to encourage them to cease fire, that
33:39
Speaker 11: is actually telling them to stop destroying the very terrorists
33:43
Speaker 11: who had attacked them. And then of course you had
33:46
Speaker 11: the Greens as well with their disgraceful comments talking about
33:49
Speaker 11: sort of Israel's tentacles all around the world. So in
33:53
Speaker 11: comparison to Labor, yeah, the Liberal Party in Dutton in
33:56
Speaker 11: particular have really been a beacon of morality in this.
34:01
Speaker 11: They know who the victims are, they know who the
34:05
Speaker 11: perpetrators are, They know that the perpetrators, the terrorists, must
34:09
Speaker 11: be absolutely destroyed. And this is something that has tremendously
34:14
Speaker 11: set them apart from labor, and not just labor, but
34:16
Speaker 11: the ABC, the universities and so much of the left
34:20
Speaker 11: wing commentariat that seemed quicker to take the side of
34:24
Speaker 11: her Maas than it did to take the side of Israel.
34:27
Speaker 12: Oh.
34:27
Speaker 2: Absolutely, there were so many useful idiots for her Maas
34:31
Speaker 2: on the left.
34:31
Speaker 3: Evelyn.
34:32
Speaker 2: Do you think Albanize is handling over the response to
34:35
Speaker 2: the war in the Middle East here will hurt him
34:38
Speaker 2: at the election?
34:40
Speaker 7: I certainly do.
34:41
Speaker 8: I think there are going to be lots of things,
34:43
Speaker 8: you know, that are going to hurt Albanese at the election.
34:46
Speaker 7: This is just one of the millions of things.
34:49
Speaker 8: But you know, this is such a big problem that's
34:51
Speaker 8: happening all over the West, and it's particularly happening in countries.
34:56
Speaker 7: Which are distinctly multicultural.
34:59
Speaker 8: You know, sadly the Jewish community are the only victims
35:02
Speaker 8: of this.
35:02
Speaker 7: I think it was.
35:03
Speaker 8: Last week we had an absolute lunatic driver car through
35:07
Speaker 8: Christians in Germany, killing five and injuring over two hundred
35:11
Speaker 8: and thirty.
35:12
Speaker 7: Are the people.
35:12
Speaker 8: We had a man in New South Wales recently stabbed
35:15
Speaker 8: in the face in his pulpit when he was doing
35:17
Speaker 8: a sermon. This is such a big problem and we
35:21
Speaker 8: need strong leadership who will call right from wrong, who
35:25
Speaker 8: will call a spade a spade. You know, sought the
35:29
Speaker 8: wheat from the chaff, so to speak. But you know,
35:32
Speaker 8: these sorts of attacks are skyrocketing across the West, and
35:35
Speaker 8: in the West, we need leaders who will stand in
35:38
Speaker 8: truth and morality.
35:40
Speaker 7: You know, there's a fundamental flaw.
35:42
Speaker 8: With the philosophy of multiculturalism, and it's you know, it's
35:46
Speaker 8: superficially unites, but fundamentally divides, and sadly, unless we properly
35:52
Speaker 8: diagnose the.
35:53
Speaker 7: Disease, we will never have a cure for it. And
35:56
Speaker 7: the Jewish community, the Christian community, and.
35:59
Speaker 8: You know, the ideologies that made the West the best
36:03
Speaker 8: will will die off if we don't have strong.
36:05
Speaker 7: Leaders to preserve that.
36:07
Speaker 2: Oh look, I absolutely agree with you that it's not
36:09
Speaker 2: just the Jewish community under attack, it's everyone. The Western
36:13
Speaker 2: way of life and judae are Christian values. Although I
36:16
Speaker 2: think when with the problem with multiculturalism isn't with all cultures.
36:19
Speaker 2: I mean, the Jewish culture has integrated really well here
36:22
Speaker 2: it's that some cultures and some ideologies do not integrate
36:27
Speaker 2: with Western cultures and we have to wake up and
36:29
Speaker 2: admit that.
36:29
Speaker 3: But look, let's move on to the damning news.
36:31
Speaker 2: Poland Steven, I've already spoken about how labor has lost
36:35
Speaker 2: ground in Victoria and New South Wales and among people
36:38
Speaker 2: aged thirty five to forty nine. What did you make
36:41
Speaker 2: of this analysis that came out today.
36:44
Speaker 11: Yeah, I'm not entirely surprised. I think when you look
36:48
Speaker 11: back at sort of labor over the last sort of
36:51
Speaker 11: twenty years olds certainly since the election of Right in
36:54
Speaker 11: twenty oh seven, the story is always the same. Australians
36:58
Speaker 11: feel that the country has sort of plateaued, and so
37:02
Speaker 11: kind of in a kind of hopeful spirit, they'll elect
37:06
Speaker 11: labor into governments, but are invariably disappointed. And that is
37:11
Speaker 11: exactly what has happened with the Albanesi government. They were
37:15
Speaker 11: elected hoping that they'd be able to do something about inflation,
37:18
Speaker 11: something about the cost of living, but the government has
37:22
Speaker 11: proven to be one of the most dysfunctional, visionless, confused
37:27
Speaker 11: governments in recent political history. It made a huge issue
37:32
Speaker 11: of the voice at a time where people were losing
37:35
Speaker 11: their houses because mortgage payments were so high at a
37:38
Speaker 11: time where people couldn't find places to rent because of
37:40
Speaker 11: a rental crisis, at a time where people couldn't afford
37:43
Speaker 11: even a house deposit. For Albanesi, the real issue was
37:48
Speaker 11: some voice to parliament. So it's not surprising that a
37:52
Speaker 11: few years on people are realizing that Labor are not
37:55
Speaker 11: the answer. And my prediction is that Liberal will win
38:00
Speaker 11: a will win government at the next selection. But there's
38:03
Speaker 11: also no guarantee that Liberal are going to be able
38:06
Speaker 11: to solve a lot of the problems. I think they're
38:08
Speaker 11: ahead of Labor, particularly on climate and energy policy, but
38:12
Speaker 11: they're not exactly where they ought to be on that
38:14
Speaker 11: they should be far more robustly promoting coal, but so liberal.
38:19
Speaker 11: I would describe aroout that right now as the Leopards
38:21
Speaker 11: with the most fingers. But the Labor Party has proven
38:25
Speaker 11: to be an absolute disaster, and people are going to
38:28
Speaker 11: swing back to Liberal after a Labor disaster as they
38:31
Speaker 11: always will, as they always do.
38:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, it will be interesting to see what happens
38:35
Speaker 2: at the polls. Look, let's move on to the holiday
38:38
Speaker 2: chaos and bronching residents woke up to Christmas rubbish.
38:42
Speaker 3: At the beach this year again.
38:44
Speaker 2: Now, Evelyn, why are people and let's be honest, it's
38:47
Speaker 2: mainly pack packers here, but why are they such grubs?
38:51
Speaker 8: Look, I think it's the infantile culture that we're fostering
38:56
Speaker 8: in Australia and many Western nations. Sadly, it's complete and
39:00
Speaker 8: utter disrespect and it goes back to I think that
39:04
Speaker 8: sort of state enslaved mindset where you know, people always
39:08
Speaker 8: feel like it's somebody else's responsibility, that daddy government, you.
39:13
Speaker 7: Know type thing. You know, it's just discussing.
39:16
Speaker 8: You don't leave that level of trash behind for somebody
39:20
Speaker 8: else to clean up unless you have a severely inflated
39:24
Speaker 8: sense of self entitlement.
39:25
Speaker 3: Let's be honest, you know.
39:27
Speaker 8: I hope it's not due to the local councils cutting
39:30
Speaker 8: back on public garbage bins like we've been seeing happening everywhere.
39:34
Speaker 8: I mean, I went to the Pro Life rally in
39:37
Speaker 8: Sydney Hyde Park.
39:38
Speaker 3: Not long ago.
39:39
Speaker 8: Not only could I not find a restroom, I couldn't
39:41
Speaker 8: find a bin to put anywhere. So I hope that
39:44
Speaker 8: that's not the problem. If it is actually put out
39:46
Speaker 8: the whole recal councils should use their funds better spend
39:50
Speaker 8: you know, doing things like this, particularly around the holidays,
39:54
Speaker 8: by upping you know, waste disposal methods and things like that,
39:57
Speaker 8: instead of you know, perhaps you know, spending millionllions of
40:00
Speaker 8: dollars on cultural diversity trainings.
40:03
Speaker 2: I think, in fairness to the council, they apparently reportedly
40:07
Speaker 2: put out more bins. They put out extra bins because
40:10
Speaker 2: last year this has been such an issue.
40:12
Speaker 3: So I think the problem this time, for once, we
40:14
Speaker 3: can't blame the councils. I think it just people being grubs.
40:18
Speaker 2: Look, let's move on to the US now, where Donald
40:21
Speaker 2: Trump continues to get down to business ahead of his inauguration.
40:25
Speaker 2: The president elect has vowed to pursue the death.
40:28
Speaker 3: Penalty for violent crimes.
40:30
Speaker 2: The day after Joe Biden commuted the death sentences of
40:34
Speaker 2: most prisoners on death row. Now, Trump posted to his
40:38
Speaker 2: platform truth Social that he will direct the Justice Department
40:42
Speaker 2: to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families
40:47
Speaker 2: and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters. We will
40:51
Speaker 2: be a nation of law and order again, Trump added, Now, Stephen,
40:56
Speaker 2: this might be welcome news for Americans who are sick
40:59
Speaker 2: of violent crime taking over cities like New York who
41:02
Speaker 2: are sick of undocumented migrants. Do you think that this
41:06
Speaker 2: will go down well among voters?
41:08
Speaker 11: Absolutely, it will. I mean, voters have been wanting tougher
41:12
Speaker 11: law and order for many, many years. And we've got
41:15
Speaker 11: to be clear that we do talk about the Biden government,
41:18
Speaker 11: but in fact it's not Biden making any of these decisions.
41:21
Speaker 11: It's a very far left cabal within the Democratic Party
41:25
Speaker 11: that is doing this purely for ideological reasons. They have
41:28
Speaker 11: an ideological objection to the death penalty. They would say
41:32
Speaker 11: the death penalty is actually racist. They would say the
41:34
Speaker 11: whole prison system is racist. And it's just amazing that.
41:38
Speaker 11: I mean, they're doing this now because they couldn't have
41:41
Speaker 11: got away with doing anything like this earlier, because they
41:44
Speaker 11: literally are commuting sentences from death to life of people
41:47
Speaker 11: who are horrifically cruel, torturers and murderers. These You don't
41:54
Speaker 11: show mercy to people who have been merciless to others.
41:58
Speaker 11: I mean, if anyone is going to show mercy to
42:00
Speaker 11: those people, it's God, but it should not be the state.
42:03
Speaker 7: Now.
42:03
Speaker 11: I actually happen to think that the death penalty is
42:05
Speaker 11: fundamentally grounded in the dignity of human life. That is
42:09
Speaker 11: that human life is so sacred that his innocent human
42:12
Speaker 11: life is so sacred that when it is taken in
42:15
Speaker 11: first degree murder, the proper punishment is death. And so
42:19
Speaker 11: in actual fact, the death penalty is premised on a
42:22
Speaker 11: very good principle, the sacredness of human life, and that
42:25
Speaker 11: principle has more or less been thrown out over the
42:27
Speaker 11: last sixty years. And I would ask people, since that
42:30
Speaker 11: principle has been thrown out and people have turned against
42:33
Speaker 11: the death penalty all around the West, do we think
42:35
Speaker 11: the justice system has gotten better for victims or has
42:39
Speaker 11: it gotten worse? And I'll just leave you with that.
42:41
Speaker 4: Yeah.
42:41
Speaker 2: Look, I grew up in Singapore and they have the
42:43
Speaker 2: death penalty there and it's worked for them in terms
42:46
Speaker 2: of crime, that's for sure, but I know it's not
42:48
Speaker 2: very popular in Australia. Now, Steven Evelyn, thank you both
42:51
Speaker 2: for your time tonight. That's all we have time for
42:53
Speaker 2: for the panel. But after the break, we crossed live
42:56
Speaker 2: to London to find out how the Royal family spent Christmas.
43:00
Speaker 3: Don't go anywhere.
43:05
Speaker 2: Let's turn to the UK now and early this year,
43:08
Speaker 2: where is Kate topped the headlines and even trended on
43:12
Speaker 2: social media for months. Remember the bizarre conspiracy theories. People
43:17
Speaker 2: said she'd had surgery, she was pregnant, that there'd been
43:20
Speaker 2: a cheating scandal, and some other theories were just too
43:23
Speaker 2: ridiculous to even give oxygen to. But the Princess of Wales,
43:27
Speaker 2: with all her grace, put the conspiracists in their place
43:31
Speaker 2: after revealing her private cancer battle and treatment.
43:36
Speaker 3: So it's no surprise that.
43:37
Speaker 2: She received overwhelming support at the annual Royal Christmas Day
43:42
Speaker 2: service at Santrincham.
43:43
Speaker 3: Along her father in law.
43:45
Speaker 2: Alongside her father in law, King Charles, who is also
43:48
Speaker 2: battling cancer, joining me now to discuss this is the
43:51
Speaker 2: Daily Express Royal reporter Pandora Forsyth.
43:55
Speaker 3: Pandora, great to see you. It was really.
43:58
Speaker 2: Heartwarming to see such an out pouring of support and
44:01
Speaker 2: love for the Princess.
44:03
Speaker 12: Morning from London, or should say good evening for you all. Yes,
44:08
Speaker 12: it was to be expected that the Princess would get
44:13
Speaker 12: lots of festive cheer and well wishes, as they do
44:16
Speaker 12: every year when the Royal family make that walk up
44:20
Speaker 12: to Saint Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, but this year was,
44:24
Speaker 12: as you said, very different. The King has been undergoing
44:30
Speaker 12: treatment for his cancer and of course, as you also noted,
44:34
Speaker 12: it's been a particularly difficult year as well for Catherine.
44:38
Speaker 12: And the place is so special in Sandringham because it's
44:41
Speaker 12: where they go away and where she has spent a
44:43
Speaker 12: lot of her time away from the public eye, actually
44:47
Speaker 12: dealing with what lots of families across the world have
44:50
Speaker 12: dealt with, which is, you know, health diagnosises, which they
44:54
Speaker 12: they're uncertain about the future. But I think this very
44:57
Speaker 12: much marks hopefully seeing a lot more of her next year.
45:01
Speaker 12: But I think if this year is anything to go by,
45:04
Speaker 12: we now know that family, for her and her husband
45:08
Speaker 12: very much do come first.
45:11
Speaker 2: Yes, that is a clear message out of this all. Now,
45:14
Speaker 2: Prince Andrew was obviously missing from that walk to church
45:18
Speaker 2: and other festivities. What did you think of that decision
45:21
Speaker 2: to exclude him.
45:24
Speaker 12: Yeah, Look, I totally understand the King's position on this.
45:28
Speaker 12: It's been headline after headline for Prince Andrew in the
45:32
Speaker 12: past few years, and of course we don't have enough
45:34
Speaker 12: time to talk about all the headlines.
45:36
Speaker 11: Now, but not.
45:39
Speaker 12: Some of them haven't been a great look on the
45:41
Speaker 12: Royal family, if we're blunt about it. And this year
45:45
Speaker 12: he actually took advice off his ex wife Sarah Ferguson
45:49
Speaker 12: to step back, which the King was actually very thankful for.
45:53
Speaker 12: I think this year and that he has done now,
45:56
Speaker 12: I think people might just think, oh, perhaps it's just
45:58
Speaker 12: the public facing events he's going to be stepping back
46:01
Speaker 12: from over this festive period. Well, no, it's actually the
46:04
Speaker 12: private events too, So I think that just goes to
46:07
Speaker 12: show the strain that him and his brother the King
46:12
Speaker 12: are very much under in their personal relationship right now.
46:15
Speaker 12: Because it's anything that happens in the royal family, it's
46:18
Speaker 12: not a very good look on the rest of the
46:21
Speaker 12: royal family, and that is something that Prince Andrew hasn't
46:24
Speaker 12: really i think, addressed with himself up until this point.
46:31
Speaker 12: I think perhaps now he will realize because all the
46:33
Speaker 12: other years by the pandemic he has been around at
46:38
Speaker 12: Sandrum and been there for private ryle festivities, but this
46:42
Speaker 12: year is the first bar of the pandemic where he's
46:45
Speaker 12: not going to be there.
46:46
Speaker 2: Or maybe he can need some of his spare time
46:48
Speaker 2: this festive season to do some self reflection. Now to
46:52
Speaker 2: the King's annual Christmas message, in a nod to medical
46:55
Speaker 2: staff all across the country. King Charles broke tradition this year,
46:59
Speaker 2: and he's from a former hospital chapel instead of one
47:02
Speaker 2: of the royal residents.
47:03
Speaker 5: That's let's take a look from a personal point of view.
47:07
Speaker 5: I offer special, heart filled thanks to the selfless doctors
47:12
Speaker 5: and nurses who this year have supported me and other
47:16
Speaker 5: members of my family through the uncertainties and anxieties of
47:21
Speaker 5: illness and have helped provide the strength, care and comfort
47:26
Speaker 5: we have needed.
47:28
Speaker 2: Pandora, that seemed very heartfelt. How was it received over there?
47:33
Speaker 12: Yeah, extremely heartfelt and obviously very personal to him and
47:37
Speaker 12: for all his family and of course lots of people
47:40
Speaker 12: around the world right now who are dealing with health difficulties.
47:43
Speaker 12: This year, the King did want to be somewhere which
47:46
Speaker 12: wasn't a royal residence, which did also give the nod
47:50
Speaker 12: to healthcare workers. You've not only helped him, but many
47:53
Speaker 12: people across the world. Of course, he noted everything which
47:57
Speaker 12: happening within the Middle East and the war there, and
48:00
Speaker 12: the tree actually that he was standing next to got
48:03
Speaker 12: donated to a hospice as well afterwards in London, so
48:09
Speaker 12: everything he could possibly do he was always bringing it
48:12
Speaker 12: back to healthcare workers, and I think as well he
48:15
Speaker 12: wanted to note that he welcomes all different faiths. So
48:19
Speaker 12: even though that did used to be a hospital chapel,
48:23
Speaker 12: it's now used for community events for many different faiths
48:27
Speaker 12: and communities to come together that space, So I think
48:31
Speaker 12: again he wants unity going into the new year in
48:35
Speaker 12: the Commonwealth and worldwide.
48:38
Speaker 2: Well, very quickly, Prince Harry's new Netflix series Pollo has
48:42
Speaker 2: been absolutely lash.
48:43
Speaker 3: Just in a few seconds. Have you watched it and
48:45
Speaker 3: do plan to?
48:47
Speaker 4: I have watched it.
48:49
Speaker 12: I couldn't do my job without watching it. I think
48:52
Speaker 12: it shows the great divide between what Harry's world is
48:57
Speaker 12: and what everybody else's world is because Solo extremely elitist,
49:02
Speaker 12: and I think.
49:04
Speaker 3: It is very elitist.
49:06
Speaker 2: Pandora, of course, I thank you so much for your
49:08
Speaker 2: time and Merry Christmas as well, and to you at home,
49:11
Speaker 2: thank you for joining me this Boxing day. That's it
49:14
Speaker 2: for the Credline program tonight, but I'll see you back
49:16
Speaker 2: here tomorrow. Up next is James McPherson with The Bolt Report.