Transcript

Sharri | 6 June · Sharri

0:03
Speaker 1: Live Sharry Good evening.
0:08
Speaker 2: Well, first tonight we start with that extraordinary video of
0:12
Speaker 2: nine chairmen and former Treasurer Peter Costello knocking a journalist
0:17
Speaker 2: to the ground. The Australians reporter Leah Mendes, a first
0:21
Speaker 2: class journalist, approached mister Costello at Camera Airport this afternoon
0:26
Speaker 2: with questions about how nine was dealing with the ongoing
0:30
Speaker 2: crisis following the departure a former newsboss Darren Wick.
0:35
Speaker 1: Here is that confrontation.
0:37
Speaker 3: Have a look, mister Cassello, my name is Lea Mendez
0:40
Speaker 3: from The Australian. Do you support mister sneedsby as CEO
0:45
Speaker 3: and his handling of the Darren Wick saga? Were you
0:51
Speaker 3: aware of the allegations against mister Wick before he left Nine?
0:55
Speaker 4: Thank you?
0:55
Speaker 3: Were you aware of those allegations? Mister Costilla? Why wonn't
0:59
Speaker 3: you support mister sneezebe publicly?
1:02
Speaker 4: Goodness? Well, you've got to answer the questions. Mister. You've
1:10
Speaker 4: just assaulted You've just assaulted me.
1:17
Speaker 5: It was very mud. That was quite a violent behavior, mister.
1:21
Speaker 4: Do you have the full support.
1:22
Speaker 5: Of your board?
1:25
Speaker 4: Journalists who work for nine approach people in this manner
1:28
Speaker 4: every day and you attacked me dercent.
1:33
Speaker 1: This is simply shocking.
1:36
Speaker 2: The chairman of a major ASX listed company knocking a
1:40
Speaker 2: reporter to the ground and I can reveal his camera
1:44
Speaker 2: broken in the process. These were perfectly legitimate questions to
1:49
Speaker 2: ask mister Costello on how he, as chairman and the
1:53
Speaker 2: nine board have handled the numerous allegations of the mistreatment
1:57
Speaker 2: of women during the time Wick was directed of News.
2:01
Speaker 2: Nine has brought in an external company to investigate its
2:05
Speaker 2: workplace culture, including allegations of harassment, of bullying, of poor
2:11
Speaker 2: treatment of staff, of a blokey culture. And yet here
2:16
Speaker 2: is the chairman of that company demonstrating physical and threatening
2:20
Speaker 2: behavior when asked politely about those very same problems.
2:27
Speaker 1: It's a terrible look.
2:29
Speaker 2: Yet, in a case of not accepting any responsibility for
2:32
Speaker 2: his actions tonight, Costello claimed it was all an accident
2:36
Speaker 2: and Mendy's had simply tripped over backward.
2:41
Speaker 6: When I came through camera airport, there was a reporter
2:44
Speaker 6: walking backwards with his phone filming. As I walked past him,
2:49
Speaker 6: he walked back into an advertising placard and he fell over.
2:54
Speaker 6: I did not strike him. If he's upset about that,
2:58
Speaker 6: I'm sorry, but I did not strike him.
3:02
Speaker 7: Have you spoken to Liamendez.
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Speaker 6: No, I have not known you look very angry when
3:05
Speaker 6: you were approaching him.
3:06
Speaker 5: Were you angry?
3:07
Speaker 6: No, I wasn't angry. Just like you blokes here, if
3:10
Speaker 6: you're backing back and there's a placard behind you, you
3:13
Speaker 6: can walk into it. I've seen it happen a million times.
3:16
Speaker 6: I've seen it here Parliament House a million times. People
3:19
Speaker 6: reporters back into the bollards and fall over. And that's
3:23
Speaker 6: what happened.
3:23
Speaker 8: He's a kicking you of assault.
3:25
Speaker 9: That's not the case.
3:26
Speaker 6: It's no assault, so I said, before he was backing backwards,
3:29
Speaker 6: he hit an advertising placard. I did not lay a
3:33
Speaker 6: finger or a fist or anything else off it.
3:37
Speaker 8: The people who saw this, I have seen this footage
3:40
Speaker 8: and have seen it and thought that actually looks like
3:43
Speaker 8: an aggressive action on your part.
3:46
Speaker 6: You, I don't think so, I don't think. Can I
3:48
Speaker 6: just stop at the eye. I think they would think
3:50
Speaker 6: if they watched the whole of it and remember it
3:51
Speaker 6: so they'd a transcript it was a pretty aggressive journalist.
3:54
Speaker 6: That's what I think they would bear.
3:56
Speaker 4: Do you do you think, mister Kener was a.
3:57
Speaker 6: Public place which I was entitled to through and as
4:02
Speaker 6: I said to you, I mean he hit the advertising
4:04
Speaker 6: melody fell over. I'm sorry about that. I wish that
4:09
Speaker 6: hadn't have happened. But you know this is I've seen
4:12
Speaker 6: it happened a million times.
4:16
Speaker 9: There's already speculation that this could put your chairmanship at risk.
4:19
Speaker 5: What is your response to.
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Speaker 10: Rubbish the generalist sake, you assaulted me and you've laughed
4:24
Speaker 10: and walked away.
4:27
Speaker 2: Well, Peter Costello is in camera for the launch of
4:29
Speaker 2: Channel nine's new super Bureau. But that version of events
4:34
Speaker 2: there is quite extraordinary. Costello even accusing Mendis of being
4:39
Speaker 2: an aggressive journalist. Well, actually he was very polite, even
4:44
Speaker 2: after he was not to the ground. He was firm,
4:47
Speaker 2: but polite And unfortunately for Peter Costello, there's video capturing
4:52
Speaker 2: the incident from two different angles. You can have a
4:56
Speaker 2: look at the video and judge for yourself. Here gain
5:00
Speaker 2: is the moment in slow motion that Costello barged into
5:04
Speaker 2: Leam Mendes, who was just doing his job.
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Speaker 4: Well, you've got to answer the questions mister straight thank you.
5:16
Speaker 4: You've just assaulted me, can't don't You've just sulted me.
5:28
Speaker 2: In my opinion, it's pretty clear that Costello comes at
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Speaker 2: leam Mendy's with a shoulder barge and knocks him to
5:36
Speaker 2: the ground. And if there was any doubt about that confrontation,
5:40
Speaker 2: take a listen to some of the witnesses who saw
5:44
Speaker 2: the whole thing unfold.
5:47
Speaker 1: He saw that.
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Speaker 4: I'm just feeling because I'm trying to So you saw
5:50
Speaker 4: you saw that?
5:50
Speaker 11: Yeah?
5:51
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, he like hitting about here.
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Speaker 6: I don't know what's your fall over there. Let's just
5:55
Speaker 6: say I'm gonna spoke on.
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Speaker 4: The Okay, yeah, I just sawt we've been shacking up.
6:00
Speaker 5: What was that about? So obviously said something that I'm.
6:05
Speaker 4: Just asking questions about the Mike Sneezeby thing.
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Speaker 3: So I'm on from the Australian and yeah, I thought
6:12
Speaker 3: like he's trying to he was trying to say that
6:14
Speaker 3: I walked into there.
6:19
Speaker 4: Yeah so I saw that.
6:20
Speaker 5: Yeah, we saw it.
6:22
Speaker 2: How impressive is that for leam Mendes. He's just been
6:26
Speaker 2: knocked to the ground, he says he's been assaulted and
6:29
Speaker 2: he goes to find witnesses who have seen it all unfold.
6:34
Speaker 2: Very impressive, but again, this is extraordinary stuff and under pressure.
6:39
Speaker 2: Peter Costello, the chair of Nine, the former Federal Treasurer
6:44
Speaker 2: knocking to the ground the journalist who was just doing
6:47
Speaker 2: his job. Leam Mendes has covered the war in Ukraine.
6:51
Speaker 2: He's won the News Corp Young Journalist of the Year award,
6:55
Speaker 2: and he's broken important stories in the Northern Territory. He
6:59
Speaker 2: was also the researcher on my book investigating the Origins
7:03
Speaker 2: of COVID nineteen. He's a talented, respected and courageous young journalist.
7:10
Speaker 1: And you can.
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Speaker 2: See how he gets back up after being knocked to
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Speaker 2: the ground and continues to ask Costello pressing questions both
7:19
Speaker 2: about why he pushed him over and about the nine
7:22
Speaker 2: share price.
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Speaker 4: Have a look, well, you've got to answer the questions,
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Speaker 4: mister Castillo. Don't you've just assaulted You've just assaulted me.
7:40
Speaker 4: You've just pushed me. It's all on camera, mister Cassello.
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Speaker 4: Why won't you support mister Sneves be probably mister Cassella,
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Speaker 4: you can't. You can't do that. That's all captured on camera.
7:52
Speaker 4: Is your share prior to concern?
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Speaker 5: He's very wide. That was quite a violent behavior, mister Cassella.
7:59
Speaker 5: Turn part of your board.
8:03
Speaker 3: Journalists who work for nine approach people in this manner
8:06
Speaker 3: every day, and you attacked me decent.
8:11
Speaker 1: And that's right.
8:12
Speaker 2: As Leah Mendes points out, journalists at the company Costello
8:16
Speaker 2: chairs do approach public figures for comment every day of
8:20
Speaker 2: the week, and none of those journalists would expect to be.
8:23
Speaker 1: Assaulted while doing their job. Now.
8:26
Speaker 2: I've also spoken to Liam today and there's no doubt
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Speaker 2: in his mind that he was.
8:31
Speaker 1: Deliberately knocked over. He is shaken.
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Speaker 2: In fact, for a journalist who's covered a war zone,
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Speaker 2: this is the most.
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Speaker 1: Shaken I've ever heard him.
8:41
Speaker 2: Given the witness testimony that you heard and the strength
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Speaker 2: of the video captured from two angles, I doubt that
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Speaker 2: Costello's statement tonight will be the end of this matter.
8:55
Speaker 2: The Australians media writer Sophie Ellsworth now joins me to
8:59
Speaker 2: discuss this. Sophie, thank you very much for your time. Now,
9:03
Speaker 2: Leah Mendes was very shaken after this incident. You would
9:08
Speaker 2: have spoken to him today, Sophie, because you wrote the story.
9:11
Speaker 2: It clearly has rattled him being pushed to the ground
9:15
Speaker 2: like that.
9:19
Speaker 7: Yes, Chari, I have spoken to Liam this afternoon, and
9:21
Speaker 7: I don't want to speak on his behalf, but I
9:24
Speaker 7: think the viewers.
9:25
Speaker 1: At home can make their own minds up.
9:27
Speaker 7: Sharf of what they saw unfold at Canberra Airport. And
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Speaker 7: I've spoken to numerous witnesses who saw what unfolded at
9:36
Speaker 7: the airport this afternoon when Liam Mendez, an excellent.
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Speaker 1: Reporter, was simply going about his job.
9:44
Speaker 7: He's an excellent journalist who was asking mister Costello the
9:48
Speaker 7: questions many of us have been trying to ask him
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Speaker 7: for weeks but receiving no response. And mister Costello has
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Speaker 7: been in political and media circles for decades. He knows
10:00
Speaker 7: how to handle media. But this looks like a situation
10:04
Speaker 7: where he just did not handle this well at all, Sharry.
10:09
Speaker 1: And the footage speaks for itself.
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Speaker 7: And as you and I know, airports are full of surveillance.
10:15
Speaker 1: So as you said, this is not the end of this, Shari. Look.
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Speaker 2: He has been under pressure the Chair of nine in
10:21
Speaker 2: any case, over his handling of the departure of Darren
10:24
Speaker 2: Wick after allegations of inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment. Do
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Speaker 2: you expect that the events this afternoon will put even
10:32
Speaker 2: more pressure on Peter Costello's role as Chair of nine.
10:38
Speaker 7: We'll, Sharry, whatever you make of this footage this afternoon,
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Speaker 7: it is not a good look for a chairman of
10:45
Speaker 7: any company, let alone an ASX listed media company to
10:51
Speaker 7: behave in this manner.
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Speaker 1: And as we've seen, it's all captured on footage. There's
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Speaker 1: vision audio there. This appear it is to be someone under.
11:01
Speaker 7: A lot of pressure who has not conducted themselves in.
11:05
Speaker 1: The best fashion. Charry.
11:06
Speaker 7: Now, just before I came on air, I received a
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Speaker 7: statement from nine about this alleged incident and a spokesman
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Speaker 7: said to me, after arriving at Canberra Airport, the chairman
11:17
Speaker 7: was confronted by a journalist from The Australian and in
11:20
Speaker 7: the course of filming the chairman, while walking backwards, the
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Speaker 7: journalists collided with an advertising placard and fell. At no
11:29
Speaker 7: point did the chairman strike the journalists. Now, this is
11:33
Speaker 7: from a nine spokesman, Sharry. That footage to me looks
11:37
Speaker 7: like there is some conduct between the two of them,
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Speaker 7: some contact, and we have had this backed up by
11:45
Speaker 7: numerous witnesses.
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Speaker 1: So this is incredibly serious. This could be alleged assault.
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Speaker 7: This is far from over and a shocking look for nine.
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Speaker 2: Look, I thought it was interesting to see that the
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Speaker 2: nine papers cover it. The City Morning Herald has covered this.
12:02
Speaker 2: It's on their homepage as well, so you know, this
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Speaker 2: is being taken seriously by the media industry right across
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Speaker 2: the board and at some points Peter Costello had been
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Speaker 2: trying to portray the investigation into sexual harassment allegations as
12:18
Speaker 2: coming from News cop But the City Morning Herald has
12:21
Speaker 2: been reporting on this as well. They've had numerous stories
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Speaker 2: on it too.
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Speaker 7: They have Shari The Australian and Sky News has led
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Speaker 7: the way on this story, but it was something that
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Speaker 7: Nine could not ignore.
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Speaker 1: It's too biggest story.
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Speaker 7: It's too biggest scandal that's gripping the network. This is
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Speaker 7: a media company in serious trouble Shary. Their share price
12:46
Speaker 7: has plunged, particularly in recent years. It's been at its
12:50
Speaker 7: lowest point around the dollar forty mark, you know, well
12:54
Speaker 7: down on the highs that it reached over three dollars.
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Speaker 7: You've got a CEO in trouble, you've got a board
13:00
Speaker 7: that appears fractured, and now you have a chairman with
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Speaker 7: an alleged incident now playing out on news bulletins all
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Speaker 7: across the media and Australia.
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Speaker 1: Sharry.
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Speaker 7: This is not good and also for the employees of nine.
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Speaker 7: They must look up to their management and their board.
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Speaker 7: Who should set and lead the example within the company
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Speaker 7: and this is not a way any chairman or managerial
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Speaker 7: role in a company should conduct themselves in public. But
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Speaker 7: this will continue to play out Shari.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, Well, Sophie Elswath, thank you very much for
13:37
Speaker 2: your time, and of course you're reporting now. We're going
13:40
Speaker 2: to come back to that topic throughout the night with
13:42
Speaker 2: my panel. But now let's go to another big story
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Speaker 2: today and I have exclusive comments now fromer Prime Minister
13:50
Speaker 2: John Howard, and he's criticized Anthony Albinezi for claiming that
13:56
Speaker 2: his government is successful on the grounds he hasn't reshard
14:00
Speaker 2: his ministry. The legendary prime Minister's intervention in this public
14:04
Speaker 2: debate comes after Alberizi dismissed suggestions he should sack his
14:09
Speaker 2: incompetent immigration minister. As pressure mounts on alber Esi to
14:13
Speaker 2: act over the scoundal prone Andrew Giles, the Prime Minister
14:17
Speaker 2: has boasted that unlike John Howard, his government has been stable.
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Speaker 12: I think the stability of the team has been a
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Speaker 12: real strength. I can't recall any new government having this
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Speaker 12: same ministry in place two years after they were appointed.
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Speaker 12: There's been no trips to Yara Lumla, and that's quite
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Speaker 12: remarkable compared with John Howard had lost six or seven ministers.
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Speaker 12: I think by this stage there'd been changes in the
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Speaker 12: Hawk ministry, changes in the Rudd ministry. Tony Abbott himself
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Speaker 12: didn't make it to two years as Prime minister, and
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Speaker 12: I had a challenges with an empty chair at one stage,
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Speaker 12: and a lot of changes and shifts occurred. So I
15:07
Speaker 12: think that stability has been a positive.
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Speaker 2: And that was Anthony Alberanzi speaking in a podcast interview
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Speaker 2: on the twenty fifth of Mate to Mark Kenny, and
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Speaker 2: as you heard, he was boasting that he hadn't sacked
15:21
Speaker 2: any ministers during his first two years in office, while
15:24
Speaker 2: John Howard had lost seven within a year. Well, I
15:28
Speaker 2: spoke to John Howard today and he strongly defended his
15:31
Speaker 2: record against Anthony Albanesi's. The former Prime Minister told me,
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Speaker 2: and I quote, I make the broader point that the
15:39
Speaker 2: worth and therefore the stability of the government is determined
15:43
Speaker 2: by more things than the frequency and extent of ministerial reshuffles.
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Speaker 2: Mister Howard pointed to the nation changing reforms he said
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Speaker 2: he'd introduced as Prime Minister in his first term. He
15:56
Speaker 2: said in the first two years, I had introduced major
15:59
Speaker 2: industrial relations changes, including reform of the waterfront. I had
16:04
Speaker 2: world leading historic gun reforms and Peter Costello and I
16:08
Speaker 2: made major reductions in spending. One of the true marks
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Speaker 2: of the stability of my government was that the same
16:15
Speaker 2: people occupied the Prime Ministership, Treasury and Foreign Ministry for
16:20
Speaker 2: the whole eleven and a half years. The only time
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Speaker 2: that's happened since federation. That was John Howard speaking to
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Speaker 2: me earlier today, now promising higher standards of ministerial accountability.
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Speaker 2: John Howard acted when there were even minor infractions of
16:38
Speaker 2: the ministerial Code of Conduct, he.
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Speaker 1: Accepted that ministers had to go.
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Speaker 2: By contrast, Albanezi has refused to act on Andrew Giles
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Speaker 2: despite mounting scandals that have seen violent criminals set free
16:52
Speaker 2: only to re offend, putting community safety at peril. The
16:57
Speaker 2: situation is now farcical yet our but Easy claims there's
17:01
Speaker 2: nothing to see here.
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Speaker 1: He's leading a great government. Have a look at him today.
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Speaker 7: There's a lot of speculation around as a possible federal industry.
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Speaker 12: Is that you're playing the first government in a long
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Speaker 12: while that's been stable, that's been orderly, that has done
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Speaker 12: what we said we would do.
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Speaker 6: We said we'd look.
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Speaker 12: After people and we've done it. My government has been stable.
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Speaker 12: That compares with the shambles that we replaced.
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Speaker 2: The Prime Minister is using the pretense of stability to
17:35
Speaker 2: disguise extreme incompetence. He thinks he can delude voters into
17:41
Speaker 2: thinking his government is successful because he hasn't sacked anyone
17:44
Speaker 2: for policy failures. Well, for a limited time, it is
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Speaker 2: a legitimate political strategy to dig in and refuse to
17:52
Speaker 2: terminate a minister. Doesn't want to give the impression of instability.
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Speaker 2: But the limited time where this was a serious and
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Speaker 2: incredible political strategy ended several Giles induced scandals ago. That
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Speaker 2: Albanezi could claim superiority over John Howard is laughable. Albinizi
18:12
Speaker 2: as Prime Minister is out of his depth and is
18:15
Speaker 2: running a poor government, weak and not across the detail.
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Speaker 1: He allows left wing.
18:21
Speaker 2: Ministers to embark on radical reform that's not in Australia's
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Speaker 2: best interest. It's nothing to boast about that he hasn't
18:28
Speaker 2: lost a minister. What this shows is that Howard had
18:33
Speaker 2: high standards for his ministry. He sacked even his allies,
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Speaker 2: whereas had the same misdemeanors happened today, Alberizi would look
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Speaker 2: the other way and wait for the scandal to burn out.
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Speaker 2: It's not a point of pride to accept not just mediocrity,
18:50
Speaker 2: but incompetence.
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Speaker 1: That's the point.
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Speaker 2: Albinizi has lowered the bar to such an extent that
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Speaker 2: grandmothers are blue and bruised in the face from being
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Speaker 2: bashed by detainees thanks to Andrew Giles's failure.
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Speaker 1: Yet that's not enough to sack him.
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Speaker 2: Albinizi has lowered the bar to such an extent that
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Speaker 2: he won't investigate allegations of bullying when they arose with
19:14
Speaker 2: the mean Girls. These were serious allegations by labor women
19:19
Speaker 2: and labor MPs, and Albinizi has lowered the bar to
19:23
Speaker 2: such an extent that when Katie Gallagher is caught out
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Speaker 2: misleading the Senate about what she knew about the Higgins
19:30
Speaker 2: matter prior to broadcast, well, he just looks the other way.
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Speaker 2: The fact Albineze won't sack a minister in his first
19:38
Speaker 2: term speaks volumes about.
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Speaker 1: His character and his leadership.
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Speaker 2: It speaks to the lack of disrespect he has for voters.
19:46
Speaker 2: How he's happy to prioritize what's politically advantageous to him,
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Speaker 2: even if it's at the expense of community safety. All right,
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Speaker 2: let's bring in tonight's panel, Liberal Senator James McGrath and
20:04
Speaker 2: Sky News commentator Jason Morrison.
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Speaker 1: Welcome to you both.
20:08
Speaker 2: We're going to come back to the big story of
20:10
Speaker 2: Peter Costello in a moment, but let's start with what
20:13
Speaker 2: I was just speaking about.
20:15
Speaker 1: Then.
20:16
Speaker 2: James, the Prime Minister, says his government is stable and
20:20
Speaker 2: that he has looked after people. There's increasing speculation that
20:25
Speaker 2: he will have a reshuffle. There were reports by Sam
20:28
Speaker 2: Maiden just today that what could spark that reshuffle is
20:33
Speaker 2: Bill Shorten taking on an ambassadorship, perhaps in Paris. Well,
20:38
Speaker 2: I've spoken to very good sources close to Shorton who
20:41
Speaker 2: say that he's not interested in an ambassadorship. He has
20:45
Speaker 2: no intention of going anywhere. So you know, at this point,
20:50
Speaker 2: perhaps it could be Linda Bernie retiring, But at this
20:53
Speaker 2: point it doesn't look like Albanize's going to admit that
20:56
Speaker 2: he needs a reshuffle based on the incompetence of Anne Giles.
21:03
Speaker 8: The issue here is not just incompetence of Andrew Giles.
21:07
Speaker 8: It's the weakness of alban Easy. It's the weakness of
21:11
Speaker 8: a prime minister who is letting Australia slide into economic
21:17
Speaker 8: mediocrity and allowing Australians to not feel safe because of
21:22
Speaker 8: an immigration minister, quite frankly, who we would not trust
21:25
Speaker 8: to operate a toaster or a kettle. He should have
21:29
Speaker 8: been sacked weeks ago. Australia is not safe because of
21:33
Speaker 8: that man, and the buck stops with the prime minister.
21:37
Speaker 8: He is a weak prime minister, Jason, what.
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Speaker 1: Do you think I mean?
21:43
Speaker 2: Clearly Albinizi is presenting this as some sort of stability
21:47
Speaker 2: in his government, the fact that he refuses to move
21:50
Speaker 2: on an incompetent minister. He compares himself to John Howard. Well,
21:54
Speaker 2: what do you make of that comparison.
21:55
Speaker 13: I'm still getting over the toaster and the kettle analogy.
21:59
Speaker 13: You know, it's interesting what a barometer for success. I'm
22:03
Speaker 13: doing well as a prime minister and my government's pretty
22:06
Speaker 13: good because I haven't sacked a couple of imbeciles. That's
22:09
Speaker 13: the barometer for success according to the Prime Minister today,
22:13
Speaker 13: it's not watching with people, I think, you know, to
22:16
Speaker 13: suggest that you know, people don't want diplomatic posts is
22:19
Speaker 13: also laughable. I'm not met a politician that doesn't want
22:22
Speaker 13: a diplomatic post.
22:23
Speaker 5: Perhaps a senator.
22:25
Speaker 13: You might want to tell me if you wouldn't mind one, two,
22:27
Speaker 13: if it was tucked your way.
22:29
Speaker 5: It's a joke.
22:30
Speaker 13: It is a joke of a thief. All right, there,
22:32
Speaker 13: you're off the hook. But the joke of this is
22:35
Speaker 13: to say that the only thing that is the indicator
22:38
Speaker 13: of how well or not a government is going is
22:41
Speaker 13: by how many ministers.
22:42
Speaker 5: You've had to clean out.
22:44
Speaker 13: History will reflect that the most successful government in terms
22:47
Speaker 13: of being re elected, probably since the kind of deep
22:51
Speaker 13: dark sixties, was the Howard government.
22:53
Speaker 5: And yeah, a lot.
22:54
Speaker 13: Of ministers got chopped, a lot got turned and burned.
22:57
Speaker 13: That happens. That doesn't mean a government's no good. It
22:59
Speaker 13: means the like in charge has got good judgment and
23:02
Speaker 13: can get rid.
23:03
Speaker 5: Of the drop kicks.
23:04
Speaker 7: Yeah.
23:04
Speaker 2: Well, John Howard responded to those allegations of those criticisms
23:09
Speaker 2: from Anthony ABERNIZI today, as you just heard, Now let's
23:12
Speaker 2: go to this big story, major breaking news this afternoon
23:15
Speaker 2: that the former treasurer at Peter Costello, the chair of nine,
23:19
Speaker 2: knocked journalist Liam Mendes to the ground James McGraw, You know,
23:25
Speaker 2: what do you think of that? You would have seen
23:27
Speaker 2: the vision by now? Do you think that conduct is
23:30
Speaker 2: befitting the chair of an ASX listed company.
23:35
Speaker 8: Look, look, Peter was perhaps the greatest treasurer that this
23:39
Speaker 8: country has seen, and I think he would be the
23:42
Speaker 8: first to admit when he if he does look at
23:44
Speaker 8: that footage, that that footage shows, he's probably let himself
23:48
Speaker 8: down and he's let the company down because he's someone
23:53
Speaker 8: who's experienced the highs and lows of politics. He's done
23:56
Speaker 8: some serious, important things for this country. But it wasn't
24:00
Speaker 8: a good look for Peter, and hopefully he will address
24:05
Speaker 8: it more in the coming days.
24:07
Speaker 1: Do you think he should step down? James McGrath.
24:11
Speaker 8: No, I don't think he should step down. He's clearly
24:14
Speaker 8: under under a lot of pressure that he is chairman
24:17
Speaker 8: of a media company with programs like a Current Affair,
24:21
Speaker 8: as Liam pointed out when he was chasing after mister Costello,
24:26
Speaker 8: which on a regular basis will do such things. And
24:29
Speaker 8: I didn't think Liam's questions were that difficult or that hard.
24:35
Speaker 8: He was doing his job and good on him. In
24:37
Speaker 8: a free country, I want the free media to hold
24:41
Speaker 8: people like me to account, but also to hold people
24:43
Speaker 8: like Peter Cassello to account, who is chairman of a
24:46
Speaker 8: very important.
24:47
Speaker 2: Company, and actually Peter Costello's own son is a journalist
24:51
Speaker 2: at a current affair and also frequently chases people down
24:55
Speaker 2: the street as well.
24:56
Speaker 1: Jason, what do you think.
24:58
Speaker 2: I don't see how can behave in that way, especially
25:02
Speaker 2: at the time when they've got external investigators in place
25:07
Speaker 2: to investigate allegations of threatening and bullying and blokey behavior
25:12
Speaker 2: at the network.
25:14
Speaker 13: Yeah, the Senator is right, he's under a lot of
25:16
Speaker 13: pressure and that would have just added to it. But
25:18
Speaker 13: let's say what Peter Costello has said tonight in response
25:23
Speaker 13: to what happened with Liam is right that the fellow
25:26
Speaker 13: fell down because he was walking backwards. Okay, if he
25:29
Speaker 13: fell down and he was walking backwards, then you're a
25:33
Speaker 13: pretty average bloke for not giving him a hand up,
25:35
Speaker 13: even if you don't like what's being asked. I've seen
25:38
Speaker 13: plenty of politicians be badgered absolutely to the point of
25:42
Speaker 13: sweat by journalists who've fallen over and they've at least
25:45
Speaker 13: had the decency to do that. He should have done that,
25:48
Speaker 13: He did nothing, he said nothing. Should he go oh, look,
25:53
Speaker 13: I mean, I think a bigger issue for him, and
25:56
Speaker 13: this will be an interesting test for the MEA, which
25:59
Speaker 13: I often find quite.
26:00
Speaker 5: An impotent union. At Fairfax nine.
26:04
Speaker 13: It's a very unionized newspaper environment, and I'd be really
26:07
Speaker 13: interested to know how the House Committee there feels about
26:10
Speaker 13: the chairman of a company that has appeared to have
26:13
Speaker 13: been involved in an incident with a journalist and has
26:15
Speaker 13: shown some sort of recklessness or carelessness. The public doesn't
26:18
Speaker 13: like the media.
26:19
Speaker 8: This is the interesting thing.
26:20
Speaker 13: I think a lot of people watching tonight I'll probably
26:22
Speaker 13: think he has been badget unnecessarily. If you think that,
26:25
Speaker 13: just remember for a second. This is a public company, right.
26:29
Speaker 13: This is a public company that has had some real
26:32
Speaker 13: serious accusations made against it, and its chairman is nowhere.
26:36
Speaker 13: He's not commenting, he's not saying an The company's kind
26:38
Speaker 13: of gone to ground apart from internal dealings, and it
26:41
Speaker 13: owes answers to its shareholders, and it's a media organization,
26:44
Speaker 13: it owes answers for its behavior.
26:47
Speaker 5: I think it's pretty.
26:48
Speaker 13: Poor formed that he didn't even engage with a reporter,
26:50
Speaker 13: let alone not offering him a hand to get up
26:52
Speaker 13: off the ground. If indeed what he says, is right.
26:54
Speaker 13: But the best thing about it for him is in
26:57
Speaker 13: the act where the worst police force in Australia have
27:00
Speaker 13: to reside.
27:01
Speaker 5: Good luck, I reckon.
27:03
Speaker 13: I reckon that they'll struggle to put two and two
27:05
Speaker 13: together on this one and find anything.
27:07
Speaker 1: Well, we'll see.
27:08
Speaker 2: We haven't heard whether or not there is a police investigation.
27:11
Speaker 2: But as Sophie Elsworth pointed out, you know there's at
27:15
Speaker 2: least two cameras that Liam Mendes had running. He had
27:18
Speaker 2: a camera which is now broken, got broken in the
27:21
Speaker 2: process of him being knocked to the ground.
27:23
Speaker 1: He also had a go pro.
27:25
Speaker 2: But there'll be a lot of other vision CCTV vision
27:29
Speaker 2: at Camera Airport.
27:30
Speaker 1: As well where that happened.
27:32
Speaker 2: And now, just before we go, Question Time opened with
27:35
Speaker 2: commemorations for the eightieth anniversary of the invasion of Normandy today,
27:38
Speaker 2: otherwise known as D Day, the major Sea Bond invasion happened,
27:44
Speaker 2: as we know, because of Hitler's hatred of Jews. I
27:48
Speaker 2: think that this is very pertinent seeing as we are
27:52
Speaker 2: living through another alarming surge of anti Semitism. James McGrath,
27:57
Speaker 2: you know, as we commemorate our fallen soldiers, it is
28:00
Speaker 2: worth remembering what they were fighting for.
28:05
Speaker 8: How quickly we forget, how quickly we forget that eighty
28:10
Speaker 8: years ago the Allied forces were landing in Normandy to
28:15
Speaker 8: get rid of fascism and Nazis, and Nazis because the
28:19
Speaker 8: Nazis were exterminating Jewish people, Gypsies, gays, Democrats, people from
28:26
Speaker 8: a Slavic background at an industrial scale. They were trying
28:31
Speaker 8: to fight for freedom, freedom that too many people today
28:35
Speaker 8: here in Australia take for granted. And yet here in Australia,
28:38
Speaker 8: I don't like the word anti semitism because it disguises
28:41
Speaker 8: what it is about. Anti Semitism is about hating Jews.
28:45
Speaker 8: It's about not liking Jews, and anti Semitism provides a
28:50
Speaker 8: cover for that. It is a national shame that Jewish
28:54
Speaker 8: people in Australia are afraid to walk the streets of
28:58
Speaker 8: our university, to wook the streets of the suburbs that
29:02
Speaker 8: live in, or their kids to go to school because
29:04
Speaker 8: of anti Jewish behavior. And political parties like the Greens
29:09
Speaker 8: need to be called out for their anti Jewish behavior
29:13
Speaker 8: and their anti Jewish stands because too many people have
29:18
Speaker 8: lost blood defending our freedoms to be lost today because
29:21
Speaker 8: of a bunch of fascists in the Greens political party.
29:25
Speaker 13: Brilliant, that's brilliant.
29:26
Speaker 2: James McGrath, Jason Morrison, thank you both very much for
29:29
Speaker 2: joining me. Now we're going to get more reaction tonight
29:33
Speaker 2: to the breaking news on Peter Costello. Also coming up
29:36
Speaker 2: Labour's anti semitism unity ticket that lasted less than twenty
29:40
Speaker 2: four hours. Liberal MP Julian Lisa will join me next
29:44
Speaker 2: about how Labor shut down his bill that would have
29:48
Speaker 2: investigated anti semitism on university campuses. Stay tuned, welcome back, Well,
29:58
Speaker 2: some breaking news. First, I have confirmed from an impeccable
30:02
Speaker 2: sauce that Bill Shorton is not seeking the ambassadorship for France.
30:07
Speaker 1: So, even if that is on offer.
30:09
Speaker 2: From Anthony Albanesi, and I understand that Shorton has been
30:12
Speaker 2: offered multiple ambassadorships, I have confirmed from an impeccable source
30:17
Speaker 2: Bill Shoton is not seeking the ambassadorship for France. Now,
30:22
Speaker 2: in unsurprising news, Labour's so called support for Israel has
30:26
Speaker 2: lasted less than twenty four hours. Yesterday we saw what
30:31
Speaker 2: looked like a unity ticket between Albanezi and Peter Dutton
30:35
Speaker 2: when they lash the behavior of the Greens over anti Semitism,
30:40
Speaker 2: But less than twenty four hours later, Labour used its
30:43
Speaker 2: numbers to completely shut down a parliamentary debate on an
30:48
Speaker 2: important bill to establish a judicial inquiry into antisemitism on
30:53
Speaker 2: university campuses. It was a bill brought on by liberal
30:57
Speaker 2: Julian Lisa, who suspended standing on in Parliament today.
31:01
Speaker 14: Have a look given the failure of the Commission president
31:04
Speaker 14: to call out antisemitism and condemn him us given the
31:07
Speaker 14: race discrimination commissioner could not condemn from the River to
31:10
Speaker 14: the Sea, given the systemic racism in its staff and contractors,
31:14
Speaker 14: does the attorney believe the Commission is really the appropriate
31:16
Speaker 14: body to undertake an inquiry into antisemitism on campus? Or
31:20
Speaker 14: does he agree with the opposition the non Green Cross
31:23
Speaker 14: benches and almost every Jewish organization in the country that
31:26
Speaker 14: only a judicial inquiry into antisemitism on campus can deal
31:29
Speaker 14: with this matter properly.
31:31
Speaker 2: Who wouldn't support that well, Labor as it turns out,
31:35
Speaker 2: and Julian Lisa, fresh off the plane from Canberra, joins
31:38
Speaker 2: me in studio. Now, Julian, thank you very much for
31:41
Speaker 2: your time. What was your bill proposing and how disappointed
31:44
Speaker 2: are you that Labour, which claims now to want to
31:47
Speaker 2: find antisemitism, didn't get behind an inquiry into antisemitism on
31:53
Speaker 2: university campuses.
31:54
Speaker 14: I'm deeply disappointed, Shari, and I'm particularly disappointed for the
31:57
Speaker 14: Jewish staff and Jewish students on our university camp When
32:01
Speaker 14: Anthony Albanezi came in on a Unity ticket yesterday with
32:04
Speaker 14: Peter Dutton. Now, Peter has been very strong in terms
32:07
Speaker 14: of moral clarity, in terms of calling out anti semitism,
32:09
Speaker 14: particularly on our university campuses. The Prime Minister said all
32:13
Speaker 14: the right things yesterday. But today when we actually bought
32:16
Speaker 14: on the bill for the purpose of establishing a judicial
32:18
Speaker 14: inquiry into anti semitism on campus, Labor shutdown debates.
32:22
Speaker 1: So I was incredibly disappointed.
32:24
Speaker 14: They didn't vote against the bill, they just shut down
32:26
Speaker 14: the debate, which was a great chain. We should have
32:28
Speaker 14: a debate about this because the government's alternative to an
32:31
Speaker 14: independent judicial inquiry is to have the terrible Human Rights
32:35
Speaker 14: Commission that I think has systemic bias against Jews run
32:40
Speaker 14: an inquiry into antisemitism on campus.
32:42
Speaker 2: Well, you gave a brilliant speech this week. You've done
32:45
Speaker 2: terrific work the entire week. Jillian Lisa but you gave
32:48
Speaker 2: a brilliant speech outlining the Human Rights Commission and how
32:53
Speaker 2: it has had internal problems with anti Semitism, and so
32:57
Speaker 2: it shouldn't be responsible therefore for conducting inquiry.
33:00
Speaker 1: Into that very issue. Can you tell us about some
33:02
Speaker 1: of its internal problems.
33:04
Speaker 14: So when it goes to antisemitism, the Human Rights Commission
33:07
Speaker 14: is rotten to the core. From the President of the
33:09
Speaker 14: Human Rights Commission who had sided estimates, failed to condemn
33:12
Speaker 14: anti semitism, and failed to condemn Hamas to the new
33:16
Speaker 14: Race Discrimination Commissioner, the person who would be running this
33:19
Speaker 14: particular inquiry, who, when asked whether he thought there was
33:23
Speaker 14: a problem with the words from the River to the Sea,
33:25
Speaker 14: words that the Prime Minister and the Senate have condemned,
33:28
Speaker 14: said very much like those US university vice chancells on
33:31
Speaker 14: It all depends on the context what we've had with
33:34
Speaker 14: the staff and the contractors of the Human Rights Commissions.
33:37
Speaker 14: Even worse, we've had contractors who are engaged in the
33:40
Speaker 14: doxing of Jewish artists and creatives who were supposed to
33:43
Speaker 14: deliver anti racism campaigns. We've had other staff at the
33:48
Speaker 14: Commission talk about effing zios. We've had other staff that
33:52
Speaker 14: have written the Commission president a letter saying that every
33:55
Speaker 14: time they talk about the conflict, every time they talk
33:57
Speaker 14: about the terrorist attack, they should blame the violence on
34:01
Speaker 14: Israel's occupation. We've had a litany of at least a
34:04
Speaker 14: dozen different staff who have basically demonstrated anti Semitic comments.
34:10
Speaker 14: And this is the body that the government wants to
34:13
Speaker 14: give this inquiry into antisemitism on campus. Imagine if this
34:18
Speaker 14: was Indian students that we were talking about, and Indian
34:20
Speaker 14: university staff and a body had such strong anti Indian views.
34:25
Speaker 14: Can you imagine the government giving such a body the
34:28
Speaker 14: right to make these sort of inquiries. I can't. And
34:31
Speaker 14: yet this government shows again and again a blind spot
34:33
Speaker 14: when it comes to Jewish people. It's time the Attorney
34:35
Speaker 14: General cleaned up that Human Rights Commission. It's his responsibility,
34:39
Speaker 14: and I can't believe he's continued to fail to do so.
34:42
Speaker 2: It does seem like racism against Jews isn't called out
34:46
Speaker 2: as strongly as racism against any other group would be.
34:50
Speaker 2: The university issue is extreme because we are seeing young
34:54
Speaker 2: you know, barely out of their child years, you know,
34:58
Speaker 2: people in their teenage having to come face to face
35:01
Speaker 2: with aggression and hatred every single day.
35:05
Speaker 1: What needs to be done to clean this up.
35:07
Speaker 14: Sure, it's not just the Jewish students, it's the standards
35:10
Speaker 14: that are being set on university campuses, which will affect
35:12
Speaker 14: the Australia of tomorrow. It will basically say to non
35:15
Speaker 14: Jewish students, all this anti Semitism is okay, you know,
35:19
Speaker 14: don't worry about it. Jews don't count.
35:21
Speaker 1: That is a terrible.
35:22
Speaker 14: Message that we are sending to the next generation of
35:25
Speaker 14: young leaders. University should be a place where people go
35:27
Speaker 14: to better themselves, to take advantage of opportunities. But we're
35:31
Speaker 14: doing all the wrong things here. So we do need
35:33
Speaker 14: this judicial inquiry because only a judicial inquiry can put
35:37
Speaker 14: some of these vice chancellors on the witness stand, can
35:40
Speaker 14: have them cross examined by silks, has the independence to
35:44
Speaker 14: search and seize documents and to provide protections for witnesses
35:48
Speaker 14: who would fear reprisals in other fua of inquiries where
35:52
Speaker 14: we need those witnesses to come forward and tell their stories,
35:54
Speaker 14: and the stories of Jewish staff and students are shocking.
35:57
Speaker 14: Jewish students being spat at and taunted with swastikas a
36:01
Speaker 14: Jewish staff member who had their office urinated upon. And
36:04
Speaker 14: you've got a culture on these university campuses where you've
36:07
Speaker 14: got rape deniers of the seventh of October at Sydney University,
36:11
Speaker 14: and you've got vice chancellors that in these encampments run
36:14
Speaker 14: the universities are a complete mess and the government's elections shame.
36:18
Speaker 2: There is an issue with the chancellors or vice chancellors
36:22
Speaker 2: asking labor lobbying labor not to have this inquiry.
36:25
Speaker 1: Do you suspect that's going on behind the scenes.
36:27
Speaker 14: I suspect there's a bit of pushback in relation to
36:30
Speaker 14: this because the vice chancellors and the chancellors don't want
36:32
Speaker 14: to get on the stand. You can be sure of
36:34
Speaker 14: that they like a nice, hush hush inquiry from the
36:36
Speaker 14: Human Rights Commission that will take two years where they
36:39
Speaker 14: know the Commission's not going to take these issues seriously
36:42
Speaker 14: and they can just carry on as they are. We
36:44
Speaker 14: know these judicial inquiries change the culture and institutions. We've
36:48
Speaker 14: seen it in banking and financial services. We've seen it
36:51
Speaker 14: in relation to religious institutions and the way they deal
36:54
Speaker 14: with child sexual abuse. This is the sort of inquiry
36:57
Speaker 14: we need now to deal with anti Semitism campus, the
37:00
Speaker 14: future of the countries at stay here absolutely.
37:03
Speaker 2: Well, Julian, Lisa, thank you for putting this on the table,
37:06
Speaker 2: Thank you for fighting it and for your strong speeches this.
37:08
Speaker 14: Week, and I'll keep fighting Shari, good on you.
37:11
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Julian.
37:13
Speaker 2: Now still to come, we'll have more reaction to that
37:16
Speaker 2: extraordinary footage emerging this afternoon of nine chare Peter Costello
37:21
Speaker 2: in an ugly confrontation with a reporter from The Australian
37:25
Speaker 2: and another major broadcasting network hit with harassment claims.
37:29
Speaker 1: How has the ABC responded all of that?
37:32
Speaker 2: Coming up, Welcome back with for more breaking coverage of
37:41
Speaker 2: the Peter Costello saga. I'm joined now by The Australians
37:45
Speaker 2: New South Wales political reporter Alexi Dimitriadi and The Australians
37:49
Speaker 2: Associate editor Jenna Clark. Alexi, Jenna, welcome to you both.
37:54
Speaker 1: For viewers who are just.
37:56
Speaker 2: Tuning in now, the chair of nine and the former
37:59
Speaker 2: Federal treasure Peter Costello has knocked to the ground a
38:03
Speaker 2: journalist Leah Mendes this afternoon at Canberra Airport.
38:06
Speaker 1: Let's have a look at how that unfolded.
38:09
Speaker 4: Mister Cassello, my name is Leam Mendez from The Australian.
38:12
Speaker 3: Do you support mister sneezeb as CEO and his handling
38:17
Speaker 3: of the Darren Wick saga? Were you aware of the
38:22
Speaker 3: allegations against mister Wick before he left nine?
38:25
Speaker 9: Thank you?
38:26
Speaker 3: Were you aware of those allegations? Mister Costillo? Why won't
38:30
Speaker 3: you support mister sneezebe publicly good s? Well, you've got
38:34
Speaker 3: to answer the questions, mister Castillo.
38:38
Speaker 4: Don't you've just assaulted Don't you've just assaulted me?
38:48
Speaker 5: It's very bid. That was quite a violent behavior.
38:50
Speaker 15: Mister.
38:52
Speaker 4: Do you have the full support of your board journalists
38:56
Speaker 4: who worked for nine approach people in this manner every day?
39:00
Speaker 4: Can you attacked me?
39:02
Speaker 5: Just son?
39:04
Speaker 1: Jenna.
39:05
Speaker 2: Look, I've spoken to Liam today. He is very shaken
39:08
Speaker 2: by this. Peter Costello denies he deliberately pushed Liam Mendes over.
39:13
Speaker 2: Liam's in no doubt about what happened and he is supported.
39:17
Speaker 2: He does appear to be supported by the video footage.
39:20
Speaker 2: What do you think of Costello's claim that it was
39:23
Speaker 2: Liam who was the aggressive journalist.
39:27
Speaker 10: I think that's ridiculous coming from Peter Costello, who has
39:30
Speaker 10: been in the rough and tumble of politics for many
39:32
Speaker 10: years and now is basically at the helm of a
39:34
Speaker 10: media company and I think his behavior, like we have
39:37
Speaker 10: seen from the number of his charges there from darren
39:41
Speaker 10: Wick all the way up to the top, is absolutely
39:44
Speaker 10: revolting and he has some serious questions to answer.
39:47
Speaker 1: Indeed he does.
39:48
Speaker 2: Alexi, you are a colleague of Liam Bendy's at The Australian.
39:53
Speaker 2: You have reported on stories with him, you know him well.
39:57
Speaker 2: It is surprising, like I said, he's covered the war
39:59
Speaker 2: in Ukraine. It is surprising for him to be so
40:03
Speaker 2: shaken like this. But you can see in the footage
40:05
Speaker 2: how he is not to the ground and it does
40:07
Speaker 2: look to be a shoulder badge.
40:12
Speaker 15: Yes, it's the footage that The Australian broke earlier. It's
40:19
Speaker 15: very resting footage of the incident. It shows him, appears
40:25
Speaker 15: to show mister Costello allegedly moving forward into Liam, and
40:28
Speaker 15: of course Liam ends up on the ground and it's
40:31
Speaker 15: you know, not just covered by the Australian, our paper,
40:34
Speaker 15: but you can see it across Twitter. That footage is
40:36
Speaker 15: now going around and yeah, anyone that works or knows
40:40
Speaker 15: Liam absolutely fantastic journalist and as the video shows, he's
40:44
Speaker 15: doing his job putting questions to mister Costello. As Liam says, nine,
40:49
Speaker 15: do your current affair do He's just doing his job
40:53
Speaker 15: and it's yeah, as the footage shows, are very confronting
40:57
Speaker 15: incident there.
40:58
Speaker 2: And that's one of the most impress of things about
41:00
Speaker 2: the moment he gets knocked to the ground, he gets up,
41:03
Speaker 2: he keeps asking polite but firm questions of the former
41:07
Speaker 2: Federal Treasurer Jenna. But then he goes back and finds
41:10
Speaker 2: witnesses who saw the whole thing unfold.
41:12
Speaker 10: What a journalist, Yeah, Liam, Liam is an exemplary journalist.
41:16
Speaker 10: And I think it just goes to show you know,
41:18
Speaker 10: mister Costello, if you do not like to be harassed,
41:20
Speaker 10: as you say in this manner, pick up your phone mate.
41:23
Speaker 10: I know colleagues have been trying to call you for weeks.
41:25
Speaker 10: Make a comment already.
41:27
Speaker 2: Indeed, we have all been putting numerous questions, myself included
41:31
Speaker 2: to Peter Costello, questions he hasn't been particularly happy to answer. Now,
41:35
Speaker 2: the ABC has been rocked by a wave of harassment claims,
41:38
Speaker 2: with almost one hundred staff saying on a survey that
41:41
Speaker 2: they'd experienced sexual harassment while at work, and a further
41:44
Speaker 2: one hundred and eighty six reporting having been bullied. Managing
41:49
Speaker 2: Director David Anderson warned in an all staff email that
41:53
Speaker 2: there would be consequences for those staff who are found
41:55
Speaker 2: have behaved in an unacceptable manner, no matter what their
41:59
Speaker 2: role is at the ABC, ALEXI, what do you think
42:03
Speaker 2: of this is yet again another example of inappropriate behavior
42:07
Speaker 2: at a media company.
42:11
Speaker 5: Yeah.
42:11
Speaker 15: Absolutely, and it's not just in the media but in
42:15
Speaker 15: every workspace. Everyone deserves to be saved, deserves to go
42:18
Speaker 15: around doing their jobs, you know, free from harassment, free
42:21
Speaker 15: from bullying, particularly from sexual sexual harassment, and is very
42:27
Speaker 15: concerned to see that, you know, in any company, and
42:29
Speaker 15: of course in the National broadcaster, going through my colleague
42:35
Speaker 15: James Madden's piece and media editor of The Australian. It
42:38
Speaker 15: is at least, I think reassuring and good to see
42:41
Speaker 15: that the stern words from mister Andson and of course
42:45
Speaker 15: Missus Stevens saying that there will be consequences and anyone
42:49
Speaker 15: in the organization at the ABC if you conduct yourself
42:52
Speaker 15: in this manner or justify actions like this, the ABC
42:55
Speaker 15: isn't the place to work for you. And I believe that. Yeah,
42:59
Speaker 15: Missus d Evens is launching or well launch a portal
43:03
Speaker 15: for staff at the ABC to anonymously file incidences like that,
43:09
Speaker 15: which should you'd hope make it easier for people to
43:12
Speaker 15: come forward and also to action and investigate any incidences.
43:17
Speaker 15: So it's very concerned to see those figures, to hear
43:20
Speaker 15: that ABC Journal's staff have experienced stuff like that, and
43:24
Speaker 15: hopefully it can be improved.
43:26
Speaker 2: Over to US politics journal, the Wall Street Journal reports
43:30
Speaker 2: that Joe Biden may be suffering a dementia, withinsiders fearing
43:34
Speaker 2: that his mind is slipping. The article claims that eighty
43:37
Speaker 2: one year old performs poorly in meetings, mixes up key
43:40
Speaker 2: details of his own policies, and speaks so softly that aids.
43:43
Speaker 1: Struggle to hear him. What do you make of these revelations?
43:48
Speaker 10: It is interesting, Sharon, and I know that you know
43:50
Speaker 10: we have been covering this on Sky News and The
43:52
Speaker 10: Australian for many, many almost years now, about the decline of.
43:56
Speaker 1: The leader of the free world.
43:57
Speaker 10: But this coming from the Wall Street Journal is incredibly alarmed,
44:00
Speaker 10: considering the sources that were cited in this piece and
44:02
Speaker 10: also with the heft of the mast head behind this story,
44:06
Speaker 10: and it just has you begging the question. November twenty
44:09
Speaker 10: twenty four is not that far away, and I know
44:12
Speaker 10: we're going to potentially see Donald Trump being the presumptive
44:15
Speaker 10: nominee for the Republican Party. But what on earth are
44:17
Speaker 10: the Democrats doing putting this man, if he is indeed
44:20
Speaker 10: suffering from this horrific disease, up for another round on
44:24
Speaker 10: the merry go round. He absolutely doesn't deserve this, so
44:26
Speaker 10: I think they really need to get their skates on
44:29
Speaker 10: and start implementing plans for the future. Now, before you go, Jenna,
44:33
Speaker 10: this is your last TV appearance before maternity leave, and
44:36
Speaker 10: I just have to wish you all the best for
44:39
Speaker 10: your new little baby. You're expecting a boy within a
44:42
Speaker 10: couple of weeks. I am thank you very much and
44:47
Speaker 10: thank you so much Sheriff for having me on your show.
44:49
Speaker 1: It's been an absolute pleasure of being with you and.
44:50
Speaker 2: Your viewers, so I can't wait for you to experience
44:53
Speaker 2: the absolute joy and love of motherhood. Nothing beats it.
44:57
Speaker 2: Jennah Clarke, good luck to you and your family. Alexi,
45:00
Speaker 2: thank you also for your time. Now after the break,
45:03
Speaker 2: we'll cross live to London for the latest on the
45:05
Speaker 2: UK's snap election.
45:07
Speaker 1: Stay tuned welcome back.
45:14
Speaker 2: Well, the race is on to the UK election, with
45:17
Speaker 2: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak facing off against his main rival
45:20
Speaker 2: Kirstama in their first TV debate earlier this week.
45:26
Speaker 9: If I'm your prime minister, the planes will go to Rwanda.
45:29
Speaker 9: We will have a deterrent. So the simple question for
45:31
Speaker 9: Kirstenriz what will you do with people who come here illegally?
45:35
Speaker 9: Tell what will you do with them? Well, very simply,
45:38
Speaker 9: what would you do with them? That's what I'm going
45:39
Speaker 9: to do? Will have a deterrent. What are you going
45:41
Speaker 9: to do?
45:41
Speaker 13: We need to smash the gangs that are running this
45:43
Speaker 13: file trade, making a huge amount of money, putting some
45:46
Speaker 13: of the most vulnerable people in votes across the channel.
45:51
Speaker 2: Let's bring you now, Spiked Online editor Tom Slater, thank
45:54
Speaker 2: you for your time. Look, Nigel Farage threw his hat.
45:58
Speaker 1: In the ring.
45:59
Speaker 2: This is sown somewhat of a spanner in the works.
46:02
Speaker 2: Do you think his Reform Party is going to cause
46:06
Speaker 2: an upset in any way?
46:09
Speaker 11: It certainly seems that that could be the case. I mean,
46:12
Speaker 11: as you say, Nigel Faraj had previously said that he
46:15
Speaker 11: was going to more or less sit out this election.
46:16
Speaker 11: He actually took a lot of flak on social media
46:18
Speaker 11: for saying he was going to concentrate on helping his
46:20
Speaker 11: friend Donald Trump in the US, but he was under
46:24
Speaker 11: a lot of pressure to step up. He has stepped up.
46:26
Speaker 11: He's back as the actual leader of the Reform Party
46:29
Speaker 11: and he's standing in Clacton, which is a seat on
46:32
Speaker 11: the coast of Essex, very strongly Antieu previously, where UKIP,
46:37
Speaker 11: a predecessor to the Reform Party, had an elected MP.
46:41
Speaker 11: And as a consequence of that, he's really lit up
46:43
Speaker 11: the debate as well. And there was a pole out
46:45
Speaker 11: last night which actually found that the Reform Party are
46:48
Speaker 11: climbing and are now within two percentage points of the Conservatives.
46:52
Speaker 11: So it's something which I think really has shaken things
46:55
Speaker 11: up already. The question of whether or not this will
46:57
Speaker 11: translate into seats and so on is not always obvious
47:00
Speaker 11: given the first past the post system that we have,
47:03
Speaker 11: but it's certainly made the debate a lot more interesting
47:05
Speaker 11: given as you saw from that clip there, the leaders
47:09
Speaker 11: of the main parties are hardly any of life's great showman,
47:12
Speaker 11: shall we say.
47:13
Speaker 2: The polls overall do show and we are expecting this
47:17
Speaker 2: to be a strong labor win.
47:20
Speaker 11: Absolutely I mean, in that poll from last night, they're
47:22
Speaker 11: on about forty percent. Some of the kind of seat
47:25
Speaker 11: projections that have been made so far, you're looking at
47:28
Speaker 11: a staggering majority, you know, nor for four hundred seats.
47:31
Speaker 11: This is something which it would be absolutely incredible if
47:35
Speaker 11: they Labor Party didn't win, and win quite handling. I
47:38
Speaker 11: think it's worth pointing out that this is not necessarily
47:40
Speaker 11: because people are very infused about Keir Starmer. People generally
47:43
Speaker 11: are quite negative about him to the extent they have
47:45
Speaker 11: a view on him at all. But this election is
47:48
Speaker 11: very much the story of the electorate wants to punish
47:50
Speaker 11: the Conservatives, not just because of fourteen years in rule
47:53
Speaker 11: and all of the mistakes they've made over that period,
47:56
Speaker 11: but I think particularly the past few years where after
47:58
Speaker 11: Brexit it felt like they had the wind at their back,
48:01
Speaker 11: they had this new coalition including a lot of former
48:04
Speaker 11: label working class voters. I think those people in particular
48:07
Speaker 11: feel that they've been betrayed essentially at this point, and
48:10
Speaker 11: this election is about giving them that punishment.
48:12
Speaker 2: Beating as it were, and a lot of chaos, a
48:15
Speaker 2: period of instability, multiple leaders.
48:19
Speaker 11: Oh, it's been ridiculous, Mehan, everyone's been able to have
48:21
Speaker 11: a go at leading the Conservative Party, it feels like
48:23
Speaker 11: over the course of the past few years, and I
48:26
Speaker 11: think that was one of the big problems was the
48:27
Speaker 11: fact that when the Conservatives were returned in twenty nineteen
48:31
Speaker 11: via Boris Johnson, there was a lot of voters wanted
48:34
Speaker 11: to take a chance of something different, and we've ended
48:36
Speaker 11: up with a Conservative Party with Rishi soon At that
48:38
Speaker 11: feels very much like what it did.
48:40
Speaker 2: Indeed, yea, all right, Tom Sayer, thank you very much
48:44
Speaker 2: for joining us with that analysis. I'll see you mandate
48:46
Speaker 2: eight o'clock and right now he's Paul Mary