Transcript

Credlin | 5 October · Credlin

0:08
Speaker 1: Good evening and welcome to the program. I'm Jamie Rogers,
0:12
Speaker 1: in for Peter Credlin, who's away. Here's what's coming up
0:16
Speaker 1: on the show. The climate gravy train rolls into Fiji
0:20
Speaker 1: as Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen attend the pre-COP31 meeting.
0:25
Speaker 1: Warm weather, cocktails and plenty of secrecy over just how
0:30
Speaker 1: much all of this is costing you as the taxpayer.
0:34
Speaker 1: Questions tonight over acceptable policy positions after the Greens in
0:38
Speaker 1: the UK adopted a Zionism is racism position, putting opposition
0:43
Speaker 1: to the existence of Jewish state at the heart of
0:47
Speaker 1: its platform on the eve of the anniversary of the
0:50
Speaker 1: vile October 7 attacks. Plus the campaign to send an
0:55
Speaker 1: Australian astronaut to space. It comes with a $ 100 million
1:00
Speaker 1: price tag, but those have argued it could have some
1:03
Speaker 1: tangible benefits for the nation and Australia's global standing. And
1:08
Speaker 1: the backlash keeps on coming as the Albanese government faces
1:12
Speaker 1: pressure to reverse the ATO's ban on credit card payments,
1:16
Speaker 1: accused of making life even harder for small business.
1:20
Speaker 2: You know, it's just one thing on top of another.
1:22
Speaker 2: The red tape burden is strangling small business and it's
1:25
Speaker 2: got to stop.
1:28
Speaker 1: Well, Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen jetted off to Fiji
1:31
Speaker 1: today on your dime for a three-day pre-cop climate summit
1:36
Speaker 1: organised by Australia. Flights, officials, accommodation, security, logistics. Australian taxpayers
1:44
Speaker 1: are footing the bill. But there's one important detail that
1:48
Speaker 1: Chris Bowen won't tell us.
1:50
Speaker 3: How much we're actually paying for it. That's right.
1:54
Speaker 1: Now, this is part of the $ 150 million for Mr
1:57
Speaker 1: Bowen's role as president of negotiations and other COP-related activities.
2:03
Speaker 1: And that's even before we begin to count the billions
2:06
Speaker 1: being poured into Labor's energy transition. Now, this is at
2:09
Speaker 1: a time when Australians have been hit with another interest
2:13
Speaker 1: rate rise, small businesses being squeezed from every direction.
2:18
Speaker 3: Households told to tighten their belts.
2:21
Speaker 1: Yet when taxpayers ask how much their government is spending
2:25
Speaker 1: on a climate conference in Fiji, apparently they're not entitled
2:28
Speaker 1: to answer. If the government is so proud of this event,
2:32
Speaker 1: why the secrecy?
2:34
Speaker 4: And it's very hard to see how this in any
2:37
Speaker 4: way is getting value for money for the Australian taxpayer.
2:41
Speaker 4: And the reason we know that is because the government
2:44
Speaker 4: won't come clean with the costs. And you heard Chris
2:47
Speaker 4: Bowen just before. He wouldn't come clean with the costs.
2:51
Speaker 4: You had to throw numbers at him to try and
2:53
Speaker 4: elicit a response as to how much this costs. They
2:57
Speaker 4: won't tell us which world leaders are going, which aren't.
3:00
Speaker 4: They won't say whether they were all invited or not.
3:04
Speaker 4: I mean, the whole thing, the secrecy around it. I mean,
3:07
Speaker 4: what have they got to hide? If this is so important,
3:10
Speaker 4: why the secrecy around it all?
3:13
Speaker 1: And it's a fair question, particularly when you hear Chris
3:17
Speaker 1: Bowen's description of the event.
3:19
Speaker 5: Yeah, and Sally, I think it's important to note that
3:21
Speaker 5: pre-copy is normally a pretty pedestrian affair, to be frank
3:25
Speaker 5: with you.
3:27
Speaker 3: A pretty pedestrian affair. Excuse me?
3:30
Speaker 1: You can't tell Australians this is an important diplomatic engagement
3:34
Speaker 1: and then defend a low turnout by saying pre-cop is
3:37
Speaker 1: normally a pretty pedestrian affair. Well, former Prime Minister Julia
3:41
Speaker 1: Gillard has been announced as one of the headline speakers,
3:45
Speaker 1: and so has former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
3:49
Speaker 1: Chris Bowen will talk about greater electrification across the Pacific.
3:53
Speaker 1: But perhaps before lecturing the region about its energy future,
3:56
Speaker 1: he should look in his own backyard. Energy prices have
4:00
Speaker 1: risen close to 40%. So much for the $ 275 annual
4:05
Speaker 1: reduction by 2025. Just last week, another smelter was rescued
4:09
Speaker 1: to the tune of $ 200 million using taxpayer money shared
4:14
Speaker 1: between Tasmania and the federal government. This year, we've also
4:17
Speaker 1: rescued the Tomago smelter with a $ 2. 5 billion bailout between
4:22
Speaker 1: the New South Wales and federal governments. Rio's aluminium smelter
4:26
Speaker 1: in Queensland received a $ 2 billion bailout between the state
4:30
Speaker 1: and federal government. Let's not forget the $ 6 billion spent
4:34
Speaker 1: on the Energy Bill Relief Fund to help families and
4:38
Speaker 1: Australians with sky-high electricity bills. But the absurdity of that
4:43
Speaker 1: is we all pay taxes and then the government gives
4:47
Speaker 1: the money back to help all of us pay electricity
4:50
Speaker 1: bills that have become too expensive.
4:52
Speaker 3: Do you see the pattern here?
4:54
Speaker 1: Energy intensive industries are struggling and cannot survive on windmills
4:59
Speaker 1: and solar. Families are choosing between heating their home and
5:03
Speaker 1: putting food on the table. But will this government reconsider
5:06
Speaker 1: the transition? No, they'll just reach into your pocket and
5:11
Speaker 1: take more money. Chris Bowen should also look at the
5:14
Speaker 1: energy debate around the rest of the world. Because something
5:17
Speaker 1: extraordinary happened in Britain this weekend. The Green Party voted
5:22
Speaker 1: to abandon its blanket opposition to nuclear power. Its policy
5:26
Speaker 1: now recognises nuclear as a form of low carbon electricity generation.
5:31
Speaker 3: And then there's the United States.
5:33
Speaker 1: Just last week, the US approved construction for the country's
5:36
Speaker 1: first commercial small modular reactor. France are powering ahead with
5:41
Speaker 1: another 10 reactors by 2030. Even the Prime Minister himself
5:45
Speaker 1: recently praised India's Prime Minister for their energy grid.
5:51
Speaker 6: To give Prime Minister Modi credit, more people have been
5:57
Speaker 6: connected with access to energy in India under his reign
6:04
Speaker 6: than has occurred in any decade in any country or
6:07
Speaker 6: any region in human history.
6:11
Speaker 1: And that's Anthony Albanese sitting there praising India for their
6:15
Speaker 1: energy grid. And they're using nuclear powered by our uranium.
6:21
Speaker 1: So nuclear power is good enough for India's energy transition,
6:25
Speaker 1: but not here. We'll just keep powering ahead with a
6:28
Speaker 1: renewables only plan. And the contradiction doesn't end there. Labor's
6:32
Speaker 1: assistant climate change minister, Josh Wilson, recently dismissed the nuclear
6:37
Speaker 1: debate by declaring this.
6:39
Speaker 7: They want to spend $ 600 billion of taxpayers' money because
6:43
Speaker 7: there's no private investment in it.
6:44
Speaker 2: There's no private investment in nuclear anywhere.
6:48
Speaker 3: Anywhere?
6:49
Speaker 1: Well, somebody might want to tell the Minister about the
6:51
Speaker 1: investments made by Google, Meta and Microsoft. They're securing nuclear
6:56
Speaker 1: power to confront the enormous energy demands of AI and
6:59
Speaker 1: data centres. And here's the great irony. Lifting Australia's moratorium
7:05
Speaker 1: on nuclear power won't commit taxpayers to building a single reactor.
7:09
Speaker 1: It will allow the market to decide where the nuclear
7:12
Speaker 1: stacks up. It costs taxpayers nothing to lift the ban.
7:17
Speaker 1: This government's renewables-only tunnel vision won't solve the energy crisis.
7:22
Speaker 1: And the opposition's case for lifting the nuclear ban stands
7:26
Speaker 1: up better than the government would like to admit. or
7:33
Speaker 1: more unintended consequences from a government that just doesn't understand.
7:38
Speaker 1: Labor's ban on credit card surcharges came into effect last week.
7:42
Speaker 1: It was sold as another cost-of-living win with customers set
7:46
Speaker 1: to save $ 1.
7:46
Speaker 3: 6 billion a year. Problem solved. Except, of course, it isn't.
7:53
Speaker 1: Because this government has developed an unfortunate habit, making the
7:56
Speaker 1: announcement and then leaving everyone else to work out who pays.
8:01
Speaker 1: And now some of the Australians that are being caught
8:03
Speaker 1: in the fallout are renters already struggling to make ends meet.
8:08
Speaker 1: One of Australia's largest rental payment platforms has decided to
8:12
Speaker 1: stop accepting credit cards altogether. Macquarie Bank's DEFT platform processes
8:17
Speaker 1: around 1.2 million rent transactions every month. About 2% of
8:23
Speaker 1: rental and strata payments through the platform were being made
8:26
Speaker 1: by card. But following the surcharge reforms, Macquarie has announced
8:30
Speaker 1: it will stop accepting them. And even the bank admits
8:34
Speaker 1: there's no like-for-like replacement. And credit cards are important for
8:38
Speaker 1: those who need a short-term bridge rather than falling behind
8:42
Speaker 1: on their rent. Tenants Union chief executive Leo Patterson-Ross said
8:47
Speaker 1: financially distressed tenants were in more danger. He told the
8:51
Speaker 1: Sydney Morning Herald, the people I'd be most concerned about
8:55
Speaker 1: are the people on the edge of hardship. Some renters'
8:58
Speaker 1: incomes don't line up nicely with what landlords or managing
9:02
Speaker 1: agents expect. If you're a contractor or have irregular income,
9:06
Speaker 1: you can see an advantage to using a credit card.
9:10
Speaker 3: Because this isn't the only unintended consequence.
9:13
Speaker 1: The ATO has stopped accepting credit cards because they don't
9:16
Speaker 1: want to pay the fee. Master Builders has written to
9:19
Speaker 1: the ATO slamming their decision, saying builders need this offer.
9:25
Speaker 1: And former Labor Minister Joel Fitzgibbon says the changes don't
9:29
Speaker 1: make sense and will hit those who need it most.
9:33
Speaker 8: Yeah, it is inconsistent, Kieran. It has bewildered me, quite frankly.
9:39
Speaker 8: I mean, the ATO has suggested it might save $ 200
9:42
Speaker 8: million by doing this. Well, dare I say, I mean,
9:46
Speaker 8: $ 200 million is a lot of money in our eyes,
9:49
Speaker 8: but in the context of the Commonwealth budget or in
9:51
Speaker 8: the context as a proportion of the taxes they raise,
9:53
Speaker 8: it's a very, very small amount of money. So why
9:56
Speaker 8: do this, particularly when the government's just decided or someone
10:01
Speaker 8: has just decided to deny small business the capacity to
10:04
Speaker 8: pass on the bank fees? So it's bewildering.
10:09
Speaker 1: So the ATO doesn't want to absorb the costs, but
10:12
Speaker 1: the government still expects businesses to. The double standard is
10:16
Speaker 1: hard to ignore. But this is what happens when governments
10:20
Speaker 1: confuse regulating a price with reducing a cost. Instead of
10:24
Speaker 1: taking up the fight with the banks over what it
10:27
Speaker 1: costs to process a payment, they've taken the easy option
10:30
Speaker 1: and dumped the cost on businesses. They haven't abolished the surcharge.
10:35
Speaker 1: They've socialised it. And now everyone pays. And once again,
10:41
Speaker 1: we're left asking whether anyone in the federal government stops
10:44
Speaker 1: to think about the real-world impact.
10:46
Speaker 3: Before they act.
10:52
Speaker 1: Well, let's head to Canberra now for tonight's political headlines
10:55
Speaker 1: with political reporter Cam Redden.
10:57
Speaker 3: Good evening.
10:58
Speaker 9: The Prime Minister has arrived in Fiji for the beginning
11:01
Speaker 9: of the pre-cop climate summit.
11:03
Speaker 6: We know that we're seeing more intense and more extreme
11:07
Speaker 6: weather events more frequently.
11:10
Speaker 3: On occasion.
11:11
Speaker 10: Well, certainly it is a good spin of Australia's taxpayers' money.
11:13
Speaker 5: This is our most important diplomatic engagement in the Pacific,
11:16
Speaker 5: certainly this term.
11:18
Speaker 9: Backlash is mounting over the unintended consequences of Labor's ban
11:22
Speaker 9: on credit card surcharges.
11:24
Speaker 6: The price you see is the price you pay.
11:26
Speaker 9: But the prices they see are going up as business
11:29
Speaker 9: owners flood social media to say they have no choice
11:33
Speaker 9: but to pass on the cost of covering processing fees.
11:36
Speaker 11: Small to medium operators are We have no choice. We're
11:39
Speaker 11: sort of held by the throat.
11:41
Speaker 9: Last week, the tax office announced that rather than absorb
11:43
Speaker 9: the cost itself, it would instead refuse all credit card
11:47
Speaker 9: payments from November 30.
11:49
Speaker 10: We can't expect SMEs, particularly in the building sector, to
11:52
Speaker 10: keep taking these hits.
11:54
Speaker 9: Now tenants too are facing a squeeze. Macquarie Bank's deft
11:58
Speaker 9: payment system, which processes more than a million rent payments
12:01
Speaker 9: a month, has also blocked credit card payments. People who
12:05
Speaker 9: are running the country have never run a business and
12:07
Speaker 9: they don't understand what you need and that flexibility of
12:11
Speaker 9: and how slim your margins are. Cameron Redden, News 24, Canberra.
12:18
Speaker 1: All right, well, let's get into some other news of
12:20
Speaker 1: the day now with News24 political contributor Chris Ullman, who
12:24
Speaker 1: joins us from Canberra.
12:26
Speaker 3: Chris, welcome.
12:28
Speaker 1: As I've just touched on moments ago, our part-time energy
12:31
Speaker 1: minister has jetted off to Fiji for the pre-COP31 meeting.
12:35
Speaker 1: But revelations today that former Prime Minister Julia Gillard and
12:39
Speaker 1: New Zealand's former leader Jacinda Ardern are amongst some of
12:42
Speaker 1: those headline speakers.
12:44
Speaker 3: But, Chris, honestly... What are those two going to add
12:47
Speaker 3: to the climate conference?
12:48
Speaker 1: It feels like this is nothing more than a political
12:51
Speaker 1: junket for current and former politicians.
12:56
Speaker 7: Well, Jamie, what we do know is that only two
12:58
Speaker 7: world leaders are actually showing up to this event. That's
13:02
Speaker 7: the president of Mauritius and the leader of Timor-Leste. At
13:05
Speaker 7: the beginning of the year, of course, Chris Bowen said
13:08
Speaker 7: that this was going to be an unprecedented opportunity to
13:11
Speaker 7: bring the world to the Pacific. And as usual, the
13:13
Speaker 7: advertising turned out to run way ahead of what actually
13:16
Speaker 7: is being delivered. All of this presidency of the Council
13:20
Speaker 7: of Parties that he's now undertaking is a consolation prize
13:24
Speaker 7: for not having that event in Australia. It's going to
13:26
Speaker 7: go ahead in Turkey, where he'll have next to no
13:29
Speaker 7: influence over what's going on there. And those world leaders
13:32
Speaker 7: that do up will show there. So this is a
13:34
Speaker 7: completely wasted opportunity for Australia. And the money that we're
13:38
Speaker 7: being asked to pour into it, $ 150 million, could well
13:42
Speaker 7: be spent better on something else. And I point to
13:45
Speaker 7: the fact that we had a Pacific Island forum just
13:48
Speaker 7: one month where all of these same issues were canvassed.
13:52
Speaker 7: So this is an utterly pointless exercise to try and
13:56
Speaker 7: burnish the credentials of our energy minister on the international stage,
14:01
Speaker 7: not in Australia, but to try and get his CV
14:04
Speaker 7: ready for the next job that he will apply for
14:07
Speaker 7: on the international stage.
14:09
Speaker 1: But Chris, to your point, if there's only two world
14:12
Speaker 1: leaders that have arrived to this pre-COP31 summit in Fiji,
14:17
Speaker 1: what does that say about how other leaders view, one,
14:21
Speaker 1: Australia's energy transition and our plan? Is people not showing
14:25
Speaker 1: up a sign that they're all going down a different path,
14:28
Speaker 1: down the nuclear path, and potentially they don't want to
14:31
Speaker 1: be lectured by someone who's all in on renewables?
14:36
Speaker 7: And it's a waste of their leaders' time to make
14:38
Speaker 7: their way to the Pacific when those leaders that are
14:40
Speaker 7: going to go are going to go to the actual
14:42
Speaker 7: event which comes in December. So why would they make
14:45
Speaker 7: their way to the Pacific and spend useful time doing
14:48
Speaker 7: a useless thing, which is what Australia's engaged in at
14:52
Speaker 7: the moment? Nothing will come of this. I'll tell you
14:54
Speaker 7: what it will do, though. It will draw a giant
14:55
Speaker 7: circle around Australia again and get the Pacific Island leaders
14:59
Speaker 7: to talk again about Australia's ambitions because they never complain
15:01
Speaker 7: about China's and the United States isn't there. So what
15:05
Speaker 7: they will do is demand an end to our coal
15:07
Speaker 7: and gas exports. And if we didn't have those coal
15:10
Speaker 7: and gas exports, we wouldn't have the money that we
15:12
Speaker 7: sometimes laid along the Pacific. So, you know, this entire
15:16
Speaker 7: thing will be an exercise in self-harm for Australia, costly
15:19
Speaker 7: taxpayers and an enormous amount of money which could be
15:22
Speaker 7: spent better somewhere else.
15:24
Speaker 3: Well, let's come back to some domestic issues, Chris.
15:27
Speaker 1: And we've seen four interest rate rises that have added
15:30
Speaker 1: now $ 172, 000 in total extra repayment costs for a typical
15:31
Speaker 1: home loan. Several times the dollar amount that falling values
15:39
Speaker 1: have wiped off property values in the past six months. Now,
15:42
Speaker 1: I spotted a tweet from Anthony Albanese from 2022.
15:46
Speaker 3: This was four years ago. But have a look at this.
15:49
Speaker 1: Assuring Australians that the government had a plan. It's been
15:53
Speaker 1: doing the rounds again because it obviously hasn't aged well.
15:57
Speaker 3: What do you make of those comments?
16:01
Speaker 7: Well, I interviewed the Prime Minister, the now Prime Minister,
16:03
Speaker 7: the now Treasurer and the now Energy Minister back in 2022.
16:07
Speaker 7: And they all had the same theme, and that was
16:10
Speaker 7: that they would bring down the cost of energy, that
16:12
Speaker 7: they would cut the costs of groceries, that they would
16:14
Speaker 7: essentially be able to help people with their mortgage repayments.
16:18
Speaker 7: And they were quite critical of Scott Morrison.
16:20
Speaker 2: At that time.
16:21
Speaker 7: The triple whammy that they talked about of skyrocketing costs
16:24
Speaker 7: for essentials and falling wages was and of course the
16:27
Speaker 7: rising cost of everything. What they pinned on Scott Morrison
16:30
Speaker 7: is what they are responsible for now in government. Now,
16:33
Speaker 7: they can try and walk away from these things and
16:35
Speaker 7: pretend that they never said these things, but they exist
16:39
Speaker 7: on the public record and more and more people are
16:41
Speaker 7: waking up to the fact that there's a big difference
16:43
Speaker 7: between the things that the Albanese government has said and
16:46
Speaker 7: the things that it is delivering.
16:49
Speaker 1: The internet doesn't forget and I often think that politicians
16:52
Speaker 1: probably wishes that it does.
16:53
Speaker 3: I do want to just quickly.
16:55
Speaker 1: Touch on One Nation before you go and this was
16:57
Speaker 1: around their policy launch in Melbourne. This was over the
17:00
Speaker 1: weekend and it was quite the rally at Crown Melbourne
17:03
Speaker 1: at a 63-page policy booklet titled The Real Deal which.
17:08
Speaker 3: Was what they were talking about.
17:09
Speaker 1: And it focuses on three key themes, crime, cost of
17:13
Speaker 1: living and accountability. There has been a little bit of
17:16
Speaker 1: criticism that none of it's been costed. But when you
17:19
Speaker 1: looked at the crowd numbers there and you saw how
17:22
Speaker 1: passionately Pauline was speaking, it does seem like there's some
17:25
Speaker 1: significant momentum.
17:28
Speaker 7: Yeah, and you've said it, momentum, Jamie. So that's the
17:30
Speaker 7: thing that is driving One Nation at the moment. People
17:33
Speaker 7: are looking for change. They don't like what they're getting
17:35
Speaker 7: out of the two major parties. They're looking elsewhere. And
17:37
Speaker 7: I doubt that costings are going to be front and
17:39
Speaker 7: centre of their mind. What they're doing is looking to
17:41
Speaker 7: punish those governments who put them in a position where
17:44
Speaker 7: they feel that crime really is a big problem in Victoria,
17:47
Speaker 7: which it clearly is. And cost of living is a
17:49
Speaker 7: big problem in Victoria, as it is everywhere. And accountability
17:54
Speaker 7: is something that people want, not just in Victoria, but everywhere. So, yeah,
17:58
Speaker 7: I don't know that costings are going to figure much.
18:00
Speaker 7: I would counsel One Nation on this, though. When they
18:03
Speaker 7: start trying to ape the policies of the United States
18:05
Speaker 7: and calling to lock up former political leaders, you know,
18:09
Speaker 7: with the chance of lock them up, lock them up,
18:11
Speaker 7: I don't think they're doing themselves any favours at all.
18:14
Speaker 7: I don't know that that plays particularly well in Australia.
18:17
Speaker 7: And it does look like you're going to use the
18:19
Speaker 7: political system to do something that the judiciary should do.
18:22
Speaker 7: I think we're well advised to keep those things separated.
18:26
Speaker 1: Chris, are you concerned at all that the Coalition aren't
18:29
Speaker 1: further in front in Victoria? We're now two months to
18:32
Speaker 1: go until the election, and we just saw on Chris
18:34
Speaker 1: Kenny's show the roads are filled with potholes, the crime's
18:38
Speaker 1: out of control. Do you think that the Liberals should
18:42
Speaker 1: be a little bit further ahead?
18:43
Speaker 7: Well, Jamie, I'm not concerned because I'm non-partisan, but the
18:47
Speaker 7: Coalition should be concerned, and every time I come on
18:50
Speaker 7: these programs, people talk to me about the threat to
18:52
Speaker 7: Labor from One Nation and The real and present danger
18:55
Speaker 7: from One Nation is first and foremost to the coalition.
18:58
Speaker 7: We've seen that in what's happened to its polling results.
19:01
Speaker 7: And it needs to lift its head a little further
19:03
Speaker 7: if it's going to win government in its own right
19:05
Speaker 7: in the lower house in Victoria, which it must do.
19:09
Speaker 7: if it does find itself in a coalition essentially with
19:13
Speaker 7: One Nation, it's going to find governing very difficult and
19:15
Speaker 7: making difficult decisions, which is what Victoria needs, extremely difficult.
19:20
Speaker 7: So the coalition has to do a lot better from here.
19:23
Speaker 7: But that is such a seminal test in Victoria. It
19:26
Speaker 7: will mark whether or not the coalition actually has a
19:29
Speaker 7: future in Australian politics. If they can win in Victoria,
19:32
Speaker 7: then it does. If they fail there with all the
19:34
Speaker 7: conditions which are now running in their favour.
19:37
Speaker 2: then it will be.
19:38
Speaker 7: A sign that perhaps the Coalition is a dead letter
19:42
Speaker 7: in politics in Australia.
19:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, they've got a big task ahead. Chris Ullman, I'll
19:46
Speaker 3: leave it there. Thank you so much. All right.
19:50
Speaker 1: I want to revisit the significant backlash from Australian small businesses.
19:55
Speaker 1: If you're like me and were scrolling social media over
19:57
Speaker 1: the weekend, it was hard to miss the anger from
20:00
Speaker 1: business owners who say they are getting a hit at
20:02
Speaker 1: every turn. And one of those frustrated businessmen is chef
20:07
Speaker 1: David Lee.
20:09
Speaker 12: Does the government actually want small business in Australia? I mean, honestly,
20:13
Speaker 12: everything they're doing is to try to crush small business.
20:16
Speaker 12: Does the government not want small business in this country?
20:19
Speaker 12: Does the Labor government not want private enterprise? Because it
20:23
Speaker 12: sure looks like they don't.
20:27
Speaker 1: And I'm pleased to say David joins me now on
20:29
Speaker 1: the desk.
20:30
Speaker 3: David, welcome.
20:31
Speaker 4: Thank you.
20:32
Speaker 1: I must say, I saw your social media video, as
20:35
Speaker 1: I know hundreds of thousands of other people did, and
20:39
Speaker 1: you spoke just so passionately and from the heart about
20:43
Speaker 1: what these changes are going to do to you. Just
20:45
Speaker 1: tell us about some of the hardship that you have
20:48
Speaker 1: been facing and why this is so significant to remove
20:52
Speaker 1: those ban surcharge.
20:53
Speaker 13: So that reel was a real off-the-cuff moment. I'd been
20:56
Speaker 13: doing a series of reels on how tough small business
21:00
Speaker 13: is with constant price increases, constant wage increases, payday super.
21:06
Speaker 13: It's honestly like a death by a thousand pinpricks for
21:09
Speaker 13: most small businesses. and then comes along a credit card
21:13
Speaker 13: surcharge ban along with an interest rate rise and then
21:16
Speaker 13: the ATO decides that well we're not going to accept
21:19
Speaker 13: credit cards anymore it's untenable for you know us to
21:23
Speaker 13: do it but small business is expected to.
21:26
Speaker 1: So tell us about what the impact would be to
21:29
Speaker 1: a business like yours and what you're also hearing from
21:31
Speaker 1: other small businesses.
21:33
Speaker 13: So what I heard on the day of the ATO
21:36
Speaker 13: decision was a lot of the people I know and
21:38
Speaker 13: I get contacted by hundreds of small business owners every day,
21:42
Speaker 13: they're terrified about how are they going to meet their
21:44
Speaker 13: cash flow obligations to the ATO, for Payday Super. A
21:49
Speaker 13: lot of them are really, really worried. And then the
21:51
Speaker 13: surcharge ban as well. Can they absorb the tens of
21:55
Speaker 13: thousands of dollars that's going to cost a business each year?
21:59
Speaker 13: They're just going to have to put their pricing up.
22:01
Speaker 1: Tell us how hard it is to manage cash flow
22:04
Speaker 1: in this economy.
22:06
Speaker 13: There were times there over the last three or four
22:07
Speaker 13: years where Managing cash flow was almost impossible. There were
22:11
Speaker 13: daily or weekly increases in, you know, products that we
22:15
Speaker 13: use regularly like chicken or things like that. Wages were
22:18
Speaker 13: going up. Trying to manage cash flow is an absolute
22:20
Speaker 13: nightmare in a small business in Australia these days.
22:24
Speaker 1: David, tell us from a small business perspective, how does
22:28
Speaker 1: it feel when you see Treasurer Jim Chalmers or the
22:32
Speaker 1: Prime Minister standing up there using talking points that head
22:36
Speaker 1: office has given them to say, knowing that they haven't
22:40
Speaker 1: been in your shoes before, they've never run a business,
22:43
Speaker 1: they've never had to feel the stresses that you're under.
22:45
Speaker 10: Exactly, yes.
22:46
Speaker 3: Just give us a bit of an insight into what
22:47
Speaker 3: you think when you're listening to them.
22:49
Speaker 13: Oh, I just see it as gaslighting.
22:51
Speaker 7: They're gaslighting.
22:52
Speaker 13: The Australian community and the small business community, to be honest.
22:56
Speaker 13: None of the rhetoric actually flows through to actual reality
23:00
Speaker 13: for a small business operator at all.
23:03
Speaker 1: And tell us, I was having a look at your
23:05
Speaker 1: website this afternoon and your passion for your cooking, your
23:10
Speaker 1: food and your wine just oozes out of you when
23:14
Speaker 1: you're not having to talk about the struggles of what
23:16
Speaker 1: you're facing. You can see the real passion that you
23:19
Speaker 1: have for what you do, but how hard is it
23:21
Speaker 1: to remain as upbeat and enthusiastic for your craft when
23:26
Speaker 1: you're going through this?
23:27
Speaker 13: Yeah, so we have, you know, clients over the last
23:29
Speaker 13: 15 years that I really focus on them, I look
23:32
Speaker 13: after them, but then you're always sidetracked by, you know,
23:36
Speaker 13: the cost of doing business crisis, another hit from the government.
23:40
Speaker 13: It really takes away that passion a little bit, absolutely.
23:44
Speaker 1: And what about some of the feedback you were getting
23:46
Speaker 1: on social media from your video? I must say, I
23:49
Speaker 1: actually used a snippet of your video on my show
23:51
Speaker 1: last night and then I was very pleased to see
23:54
Speaker 1: you coming in here.
23:54
Speaker 3: But what are people writing to you?
23:56
Speaker 13: 99% support. You know, small business owners out there, I'm
24:01
Speaker 13: just trying to give them a bit of a voice.
24:03
Speaker 13: They don't have a voice. They're voiceless. So a lot
24:05
Speaker 13: of them are too nervous or scared to say what
24:07
Speaker 13: they're actually thinking. And so the support has been overwhelming
24:11
Speaker 13: from all of my colleagues and also from you know,
24:15
Speaker 13: a restauranteur in Perth or Bridgesbourne or wherever they might be.
24:19
Speaker 3: What do small businesses need right now?
24:22
Speaker 13: They need a government that will listen to them. The
24:25
Speaker 13: government doesn't listen. We've been banging on for two, three
24:30
Speaker 13: years about these issues and nothing. And this is just
24:32
Speaker 13: another hit down the track. So what do we need?
24:36
Speaker 13: We need consultation. We need someone to listen. And we
24:41
Speaker 13: need somebody to focus on productivity.
24:45
Speaker 1: Does anyone ever come out and knock on your door
24:47
Speaker 1: and see your video and say, how can we help
24:49
Speaker 1: from the government or your local minister?
24:52
Speaker 13: No, nothing at all. Just shouting in the wilderness.
24:56
Speaker 1: Well, David, we will keep up the fight here and
24:59
Speaker 1: I really appreciate you coming in and all the best
25:01
Speaker 1: with your business.
25:02
Speaker 3: Keep up the passion.
25:03
Speaker 5: Absolutely.
25:03
Speaker 3: And those social.
25:04
Speaker 1: Media videos because we'll all be following you. So thank
25:07
Speaker 1: you so much for coming in.
25:08
Speaker 11: No worries, thank you.
25:08
Speaker 2: I really appreciate it.
25:10
Speaker 1: All right, after the break, the extraordinary Australian-led campaign to
25:13
Speaker 1: send the nation's first female astronaut to space.
25:16
Speaker 3: Find out more next. Welcome back. It's great to have
25:25
Speaker 3: your company.
25:26
Speaker 1: Coming up, the stunning decision by the UK Greens to
25:30
Speaker 1: adopt a policy declaring.
25:31
Speaker 3: Zionism is racism.
25:35
Speaker 1: But now to the federal appeal for the states to
25:37
Speaker 1: help fund a $ 100 million mission to send Australian astronaut
25:41
Speaker 1: Catherine Benelpeg into space. But supporters argue the real prize
25:46
Speaker 1: is the scientific breakthroughs, medical research and future industries that
25:51
Speaker 1: Australia could bring home. And Jim Wally is the Liberal-appointed
27:01
Speaker 1: Chief Entrepreneur who has donated $ 1 million to the cause,
27:06
Speaker 1: and he joins me now.
27:07
Speaker 3: Jim, welcome. Thank you for coming in.
27:10
Speaker 5: Jamie, lovely to be here.
27:11
Speaker 3: This is a very exciting project.
27:13
Speaker 1: Tell us about why you have invested and why you
27:16
Speaker 1: want to see Australia get to the moon.
27:19
Speaker 5: Well, Jamie, it's getting Catherine up to the International Space
27:22
Speaker 5: Station to perform some really, really groundbreaking experiments that are
27:26
Speaker 5: going to give us new technologies in medicine. They're going
27:31
Speaker 5: to provide us with cancer cures, all sorts of things.
27:36
Speaker 5: They're going to do things as diverse as bushfire control.
27:40
Speaker 5: And it's an opportunity for Australia, a nation that has
27:43
Speaker 5: led the way in technology in the past, to really
27:46
Speaker 5: get back up there and be a leader in all
27:49
Speaker 5: sorts of fabulous endeavours that are very space related. And
27:53
Speaker 5: as we know, space is such a critical part of
27:55
Speaker 5: our lives today, whether it's satellite communications, whether it's GPS
28:00
Speaker 5: and so many other things. It's a great opportunity for
28:03
Speaker 5: Australia and it's a great opportunity for our youth to
28:06
Speaker 5: look forward to something fabulous in their futures.
28:08
Speaker 1: Well, touching on the youth, you know, I've got two
28:10
Speaker 1: sons and space is a big topic within our household.
28:15
Speaker 1: But in terms of maximising for that younger generation, it
28:18
Speaker 1: is probably a way to then boost enrolments within subjects
28:21
Speaker 1: like STEM or physics because they can see the astronaut
28:25
Speaker 1: and go, oh, you know what, this is actually really
28:26
Speaker 1: cool and can follow along on the journey.
28:29
Speaker 3: Is that part of the driver behind this as well?
28:32
Speaker 5: Look, I think that's one of the great intangibles, but
28:33
Speaker 5: one of the things that will give us tangible benefits
28:36
Speaker 5: in the future, we now have, sadly, some of our
28:39
Speaker 5: lowest enrolments in, for example, year 12 physics ever. We're
28:43
Speaker 5: down to, I think, about 12 percent of kids going
28:45
Speaker 5: into year 12 physics. This is the sort of thing
28:47
Speaker 5: that motivates young kids to want to go and study
28:50
Speaker 5: science and mathematics. And they may not go into space.
28:53
Speaker 5: They may go into engineering. They may go into computer science.
28:55
Speaker 5: They may go into cyber, all sorts of areas. But
28:58
Speaker 5: they need to have that base in science and technology,
29:01
Speaker 5: engineering and maths to start with. And this is a
29:04
Speaker 5: great inspiration for that. But more importantly, we get tangible
29:07
Speaker 5: benefits out of this. We get medical research that's up
29:10
Speaker 5: there that are saving people's lives. that are creating Australian
29:14
Speaker 5: businesses that can sell products to the world, strengthening our
29:17
Speaker 5: own economy and making a stronger, more resilient Australia.
29:23
Speaker 1: I guess the one, probably the critical side of me
29:26
Speaker 1: that comes out of this is the $ 100 million price tag, which,
29:29
Speaker 1: you know, in the scheme of things that are being
29:31
Speaker 1: spent at the moment, it's a drop in the ocean, really.
29:34
Speaker 1: Have you received much support when it comes from the
29:37
Speaker 1: federal government? I know Peter Malinowskis in South Australia is very...
29:40
Speaker 1: supportive of this program. What's the response been from the
29:44
Speaker 1: federal government?
29:45
Speaker 5: Look, I think the federal government are really enthusiastic about
29:49
Speaker 5: this opportunity. They have said it's a lot of money,
29:52
Speaker 5: and it is a lot of money, and it's a
29:53
Speaker 5: lot of money too when people are suffering with a
29:55
Speaker 5: cost of living crisis, but it's also an investment in
29:58
Speaker 5: our future. And it is also making sure there is
30:02
Speaker 5: not a cost of living crisis for our children. You know,
30:05
Speaker 5: when we invest money in roads and infrastructure, we don't
30:09
Speaker 5: expect an immediate return, but we do expect a return
30:12
Speaker 5: in the future. And that's exactly what this mission to
30:14
Speaker 5: the ice is is going to do for basically the cup,
30:18
Speaker 5: the cost of a cup of coffee for children. for
30:21
Speaker 5: everyone in Australia or a few kilometres of freeway, we
30:25
Speaker 5: are genuinely going to put Australia at the leading edge
30:27
Speaker 5: and create new Australian businesses and new Australian economies that
30:33
Speaker 5: are gonna help make our country stronger.
30:35
Speaker 1: And I saw in the video that was just played,
30:38
Speaker 1: it looks like it could be 20,000 jobs as well
30:41
Speaker 1: by 2032. That in itself is also a really good
30:44
Speaker 1: driver to get this happening.
30:45
Speaker 2: Exactly.
30:46
Speaker 5: We've already got a strong space industry. This is going
30:50
Speaker 5: to strengthen it even more. And they are high-tech jobs
30:53
Speaker 5: that have real impact. And they have real impact on
30:55
Speaker 5: our nation's productivity. They have real impact on solving medical problems,
31:00
Speaker 5: on issues of climate, of security, a whole range of things.
31:04
Speaker 11: And.
31:05
Speaker 5: And getting our kids involved in this sort of stuff
31:07
Speaker 5: is the thing that really drives me.
31:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, me too.
31:10
Speaker 1: I've got a son that is very much in all
31:12
Speaker 1: of that STEM involvement and wants to be an engineer.
31:16
Speaker 1: Just tell us, you've got a timeline that this needs
31:19
Speaker 1: to be achieved by. So it's the $ 100 million price tag,
31:22
Speaker 1: but when do you need to have raised the money by?
31:24
Speaker 5: Well, to be perfectly honest, it's not $ 100 million right now.
31:27
Speaker 5: And the vast majority of that money is going to
31:30
Speaker 5: go back into Australian research and Australian businesses, to be
31:33
Speaker 5: absolutely clear. So It's not a cheque for a free ride.
31:37
Speaker 5: A lot of that money is going to go back
31:38
Speaker 5: in the Australian economy immediately. Then there'll be long-term benefits. And,
31:42
Speaker 5: you know, space generally delivers about a seven-fold return on
31:46
Speaker 5: the money that's invested. But we do need commitments from
31:51
Speaker 5: our government to this mission. Catherine's got to train for
31:55
Speaker 5: a mission, hopefully in 28, 29, and that training needs
31:58
Speaker 5: to start now. Sadly, it's not just turn up at check-in.
32:02
Speaker 5: pass over your boarding pass and jump on the nearest
32:06
Speaker 5: space vehicle to the International Space Station. It is years
32:09
Speaker 5: of training to get her ready for this mission and
32:12
Speaker 5: to be prepared to do all those experiments and really
32:14
Speaker 5: deliver a benefit.
32:15
Speaker 3: And so she would head off to the US in
32:18
Speaker 3: the next few weeks?
32:18
Speaker 5: She'll go off to Europe to start with and she'll
32:20
Speaker 5: be doing work in the US and Europe all over
32:22
Speaker 5: while she trains for that mission.
32:25
Speaker 1: And just quickly, I know you're here to talk about
32:28
Speaker 1: the space mission, but you are also Deputy Chair and
32:31
Speaker 1: Director of Nova Systems. And this is a defence engineering
32:35
Speaker 1: and technology company. And I often get nervous about Australia's
32:39
Speaker 1: defence capability issues. And the US, they want us to
32:41
Speaker 1: increase our spending level. But increasingly, it seems as though
32:45
Speaker 1: the battlefield is more in this cyber security, cyberspace element.
32:50
Speaker 3: Do you think Australia is vulnerable for attacks?
32:52
Speaker 5: Well, look, you're absolutely correct. But I think we've still
32:55
Speaker 5: got those kinetic effects, which is a polite military way
32:59
Speaker 5: of saying things that blow up.
33:00
Speaker 2: That still matters.
33:02
Speaker 5: But those digital effects are becoming more and more important.
33:06
Speaker 5: Fortunately we do. We have quite a unique capability in
33:09
Speaker 5: the Australian Signals Directorate. We have great relationships with our
33:14
Speaker 5: Five Eyes partners. So we are at the forefront of
33:18
Speaker 5: that cyber protection but it is one of those things
33:20
Speaker 5: that you always need to be wary of. You always
33:23
Speaker 5: need to be pushing and looking at your defences and
33:26
Speaker 5: changing them. We've seen that in what's happened in Ukraine.
33:29
Speaker 5: we've seen in other conflicts around the world. But Australia
33:32
Speaker 5: is pretty well placed.
33:34
Speaker 1: Well, Jim, I really appreciate your time tonight. And where
33:36
Speaker 1: can we all watch to follow along with Catherine's journey, hopefully,
33:41
Speaker 1: to the moon?
33:41
Speaker 5: Well, look, I hope in social media and all over.
33:44
Speaker 5: I would ask all your viewers, you know, if you're
33:47
Speaker 5: passionate about this, as many of us are, and believe
33:49
Speaker 5: it's so important, please contact your local politicians. Please contact
33:53
Speaker 5: those in the media. Please post on Facebook and LinkedIn
33:56
Speaker 5: and all those things. this is about our future and
33:59
Speaker 5: it is about the future for our children.
34:01
Speaker 3: Really important. No, it's really exciting. Thank you so much
34:03
Speaker 3: for coming in.
34:04
Speaker 5: Thanks for having me.
34:06
Speaker 1: Well, the Greens in Britain declare Zionism is racism, a
34:09
Speaker 1: policy that would end Israel as a Jewish state. So
34:13
Speaker 1: how did this become acceptable in mainstream politics?
34:16
Speaker 3: That's next. Welcome back.
34:24
Speaker 1: Coming up, calls to overhaul apprentice retention. as a way
34:28
Speaker 1: to fix Australia's severe tradie shortage. But now, three years
34:32
Speaker 1: on from the October 7 attacks, anti-Israel rhetoric across the
34:37
Speaker 1: West remains a deeply troubling issue. In Britain, the Green
34:41
Speaker 1: Party has adopted a policy declaring Zionism is racism, while
34:45
Speaker 1: also backing the creation of a single Palestinian state across
34:50
Speaker 1: what it calls historic Palestine, effectively ending Israel as a
34:54
Speaker 1: Jewish state. Party members also voted down an amendment designed
34:58
Speaker 1: to protect Jewish Greens from discrimination because they attended Zionist
35:02
Speaker 1: synagogues or community organisations.
35:05
Speaker 3: Green Party leader Zach Polanski.
35:07
Speaker 1: Who is Jewish himself, didn't vote on the motion because
35:10
Speaker 1: he was campaigning in North London, but has since declined
35:13
Speaker 1: to condemn it. For more on this, Spiked Online chief
35:17
Speaker 1: political writer Brendan O'Neill. Brendan, I do want to start
35:21
Speaker 1: with this adoption of the Zionism as racism policy. The
35:26
Speaker 1: Greens have become Europe's first mainstream anti-Zionist party.
35:30
Speaker 3: How is this acceptable?
35:33
Speaker 2: It's not acceptable in my view and in the view
35:36
Speaker 2: of a lot of other people here in the UK.
35:38
Speaker 2: It's shocking. You know, what's actually I think this has
35:41
Speaker 2: made the Green Party into an explicitly anti-Jewish party, because
35:45
Speaker 2: all that Zionism means is the right of the Jewish
35:47
Speaker 2: people to their own homeland. It just means Jewish sovereignty,
35:50
Speaker 2: Jewish self-determination. And if you're a political party that defines
35:54
Speaker 2: yourself against one form of sovereignty, no other, just the
35:58
Speaker 2: Jewish one, That makes you racist, in my view. You're
36:01
Speaker 2: singling out the Jewish people and Jewish nationhood for demonisation,
36:06
Speaker 2: and that is a bigoted stance. And what's happened effectively
36:10
Speaker 2: this morning in the UK, we've woken up to a
36:12
Speaker 2: new reality, which is that there is now a mainstream
36:15
Speaker 2: party in Britain that is openly constitutionally hostile to the
36:19
Speaker 2: Jewish people.
36:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the policy also calls for the establishment of
36:26
Speaker 1: a single democratic Palestinian state.
36:29
Speaker 3: With Jerusalem as.
36:30
Speaker 1: Its capital, so no more Jewish homeland. And I was
36:34
Speaker 1: reading about this in your piece, which was brilliant, and
36:38
Speaker 1: I just can't help but think that the outrage that
36:40
Speaker 1: would follow if this was about.
36:43
Speaker 3: A different group. Why is it acceptable when it's Israel?
36:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, this policy openly states that there should be no Israel.
36:51
Speaker 2: It basically says let's get rid of Israel, let's get
36:53
Speaker 2: rid of the Jewish homeland and and replace it with
36:56
Speaker 2: what they refer to as historic Palestine. So no more Israel,
36:59
Speaker 2: no more Jewish nation. Imagine calling other people genocidal when
37:04
Speaker 2: you're dreaming of erasing a whole country from the face
37:07
Speaker 2: of the earth. That's a genocidal ambition right there in
37:10
Speaker 2: the Green Party policy. And you're right, if this was
37:13
Speaker 2: any other nation, if a right-wing party, for example, campaigned
37:17
Speaker 2: actively to get rid of the state of Pakistan... and
37:20
Speaker 2: demonized every Pakistani in Britain or Australia who likes or
37:24
Speaker 2: supports that state. If any party were to do that,
37:26
Speaker 2: they would be called racist. They would be condemned. They
37:29
Speaker 2: would be told that they are obsessed with foreign affairs.
37:32
Speaker 2: But when it comes to Israel, you can get away
37:34
Speaker 2: with it. When it comes to the Jews, you can
37:36
Speaker 2: get away with it. And I'm afraid that really speaks
37:39
Speaker 2: to the shocking double standards that surround this whole issue.
37:43
Speaker 1: And can you also just tell us more about the
37:45
Speaker 1: voting down of an amendment that would have offered protection
37:48
Speaker 1: to Jewish Greens who attended Zionist synagogues?
37:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, this for me was the most shocking thing of
37:54
Speaker 2: all in the vote yesterday. There was one amendment that
37:57
Speaker 2: said we need to provide protection from discrimination against for
38:01
Speaker 2: Jewish members of the Green Party that attend Zionist synagogues.
38:04
Speaker 2: We need an assurance that they won't be harassed or
38:07
Speaker 2: kicked out of the party simply on the basis of
38:09
Speaker 2: the synagogue that they attend. And that motion was, that
38:13
Speaker 2: amendment was voted down. It was rejected very significantly as well.
38:17
Speaker 2: So what's happening here is that a party is openly
38:20
Speaker 2: saying not only that the Jewish state should not exist,
38:23
Speaker 2: not only that Zionism is racism, but even Jews who
38:26
Speaker 2: go to Zionist synagogues, which, by the way, is most synagogues,
38:30
Speaker 2: They should not be protected from discrimination. They can essentially
38:33
Speaker 2: be harassed or expelled from the party because they attend
38:36
Speaker 2: a certain religious institution. That is anti-Semitism. There is literally
38:41
Speaker 2: no other way to describe it. We now have an
38:43
Speaker 2: institutionally anti-Semitic party in the United Kingdom.
38:48
Speaker 3: It's incredibly distressing, Brendan.
38:49
Speaker 1: I do want to turn our attention now to the
38:52
Speaker 1: US that's reportedly pulled bombers out of RAF Fairford, and
38:56
Speaker 1: this follows reports of a fresh terror plot that What
38:59
Speaker 1: does it tell us about the threat from Iran?
39:03
Speaker 2: It tells us that the threat is really serious. So
39:06
Speaker 2: Fairford is an RAF base where America has been using
39:11
Speaker 2: it for a long time throughout the Cold War right
39:13
Speaker 2: through to today. It's a base in the southwest of
39:16
Speaker 2: England that America takes off from, flies from, often starts
39:20
Speaker 2: military operations there. And people will know that a few
39:24
Speaker 2: men were arrested there a couple of weeks ago for
39:26
Speaker 2: acting suspiciously. They are suspected of either plotting an attack
39:31
Speaker 2: or trying to carry one out. And now we know
39:34
Speaker 2: that an Iranian UK national has been arrested on suspicion
39:38
Speaker 2: of organizing acts of terrorism. This is incredibly serious. And
39:42
Speaker 2: it makes me think back to the start of the
39:44
Speaker 2: Iran-Israel-American War. a few months ago when Britain said, well,
39:48
Speaker 2: it's got nothing to do with us and all these
39:50
Speaker 2: commentators were saying, let's keep well away from it. It's
39:53
Speaker 2: not our business. I'm afraid it does have something to
39:56
Speaker 2: do with us because we now have the Iranian threat
39:58
Speaker 2: right here in the UK and we should start taking
40:01
Speaker 2: it more seriously.
40:03
Speaker 1: And just quickly before I let you go, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,
40:06
Speaker 1: he's back in the news, this time, though, taking the
40:09
Speaker 1: police to court over the warrants used to search his properties.
40:12
Speaker 1: And I saw this article and I thought, given everything
40:15
Speaker 1: that emerged about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, does this
40:19
Speaker 1: show an astonishing level of arrogance that somehow he still
40:22
Speaker 1: believes normal rules shouldn't.
40:24
Speaker 3: Apply to him?
40:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I believe everyone should be treated fairly
40:29
Speaker 2: by the police and by the courts. Of course, equality
40:32
Speaker 2: before the law. I think everyone agrees with that, whether
40:34
Speaker 2: you're a prince or a pauper. But it does seem
40:37
Speaker 2: that Andrew, the former Prince Andrew, seems to think that
40:41
Speaker 2: he should get special treatment. You know, if I was
40:43
Speaker 2: in his position, and thank God I'm not, and most
40:46
Speaker 2: normal people aren't, I would just keep quiet, keep your
40:49
Speaker 2: head down, just go away, which is pretty much what
40:52
Speaker 2: he's done. stop making statements, stop taking action, just lie low.
40:57
Speaker 2: Who knows, maybe he can come back at some point
40:59
Speaker 2: in the future if he makes a mea culpa and
41:02
Speaker 2: admits that he did wrong. But all this kind of
41:04
Speaker 2: woe is me approach, I think that's going to rub
41:06
Speaker 2: people up.
41:07
Speaker 6: The wrong way.
41:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just thought that was a really interesting move. Well, Brendan,
41:12
Speaker 1: thanks for your time tonight.
41:14
Speaker 2: Thank you.
41:15
Speaker 1: Well, after the break, we'll get into the detail from
41:17
Speaker 1: One Nation's big policy launch in Victoria at the weekend. Plus,
41:22
Speaker 1: with the building sector under pressure, are we doing enough
41:25
Speaker 1: to keep tradies in the job?
41:27
Speaker 3: Our Monday night panel is next.
41:34
Speaker 1: All right, well, let's get straight into it and bring
41:36
Speaker 1: in tonight's panel, One Nation National Director James Ashby and
41:40
Speaker 1: former Liberal MP Nicole Flint.
41:43
Speaker 3: Welcome to you both.
41:44
Speaker 1: A pretty fiery old function, the launch of One Nation's
41:47
Speaker 1: policy position ahead of the Victorian election. James, you had
41:52
Speaker 1: Mark Nicholson up there rousing the crowd and telling them
41:55
Speaker 1: that Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allen should be imprisoned by Christmas. Now,
41:59
Speaker 1: I know plenty of people who would agree they should
42:02
Speaker 1: be held to account. But was that what you guys
42:04
Speaker 1: need to do?
42:07
Speaker 14: Well, I'm glad you're giving us the opportunity to correct
42:09
Speaker 14: the record here. Mark Nicholson didn't say that One Nation
42:12
Speaker 14: would jail them by Christmas. He said that if he
42:15
Speaker 14: had it his way, he'd like to see them in
42:17
Speaker 14: jail by Christmas.
42:18
Speaker 11: So there's a big difference.
42:19
Speaker 14: And strangely enough, the only news outlet that got it
42:23
Speaker 14: right was the ABC, and I hate admitting that.
42:25
Speaker 11: But that's the truth behind it.
42:27
Speaker 14: But, look, with that said, I think a lot of
42:29
Speaker 14: Victorians would admit they are sick to death of the corruption...
42:33
Speaker 14: The crime and certainly the behaviour of this Labor government,
42:37
Speaker 14: it doesn't matter whether it's Daniel Andrews, whether it's Jacinda
42:40
Speaker 14: Allen or the new bloke that's apparently leading the mob,
42:43
Speaker 14: you know, he was part of the same Cabinet room
42:45
Speaker 14: that made all of these decisions. The truth is no-one
42:48
Speaker 14: trusts Labor anymore, whether it be in Victoria or nationally,
42:51
Speaker 14: and they've got to go. And that's why One Nation
42:53
Speaker 14: have made this determination to put Labor and the Greens last,
42:57
Speaker 14: and we've just got to make sure, for Victoria's sake...
43:00
Speaker 14: that One Nation, and so be it if the Coalition
43:03
Speaker 14: have a say in this next parliament, as long as
43:06
Speaker 14: it's no longer Labor.
43:09
Speaker 1: The only issue, Mark is a candidate, though, for One Nation,
43:12
Speaker 1: so whilst it was his opinion, you're still representing the party.
43:15
Speaker 3: But, Nicole, what did you make of the event? Because
43:18
Speaker 3: it looked like there were hundreds of people there and
43:21
Speaker 3: it looked like the momentum is certainly going behind One Nation.
43:24
Speaker 10: Absolutely, and that sort of enthusiasm is reflected in the polls,
43:28
Speaker 10: isn't it?
43:28
Speaker 11: So we know.
43:30
Speaker 10: Around the nation and certainly in the national polls, One
43:33
Speaker 10: Nation are leading all of the major political parties, but
43:37
Speaker 10: I have real issues with anyone, especially if they are
43:40
Speaker 10: a candidate, suggesting that other MPs or candidates should be
43:44
Speaker 10: thrown into jail.
43:46
Speaker 7: There is.
43:46
Speaker 10: No suggestion of criminal wrongdoing or legal wrongdoing. So I
43:53
Speaker 10: think James is being a little bit too... No, James,
43:55
Speaker 10: usually we are on a unity ticket on so many things,
43:58
Speaker 10: but not this one. We have the rule of law
44:00
Speaker 10: for a reason. You don't go around throwing politicians in jail.
44:03
Speaker 11: Of course, we're not suggesting that, Kay. As your boss
44:06
Speaker 11: well knows. We're not suggesting that. You know that. So
44:08
Speaker 11: lighten up.
44:10
Speaker 1: All right, well, let's move on to a more positive story.
44:13
Speaker 1: And I did have Jim Wally on just shortly. The
44:16
Speaker 1: South Australian Premier, Pridham Malinowskis, has come under fire after
44:21
Speaker 1: pledging state funds towards Catherine Benalpeg's space mission. And he's
44:26
Speaker 1: throwing a million dollars in, Jim Wally, who was just
44:28
Speaker 1: on the desk.
44:30
Speaker 3: What do you think, James? A lot of people would
44:32
Speaker 3: argue this is money well spent.
44:36
Speaker 11: No, it's not.
44:37
Speaker 14: It's a ridiculous concept that we would go throwing $ 100
44:39
Speaker 14: million of taxpayers' money at some space race at this
44:43
Speaker 14: early stage.
44:44
Speaker 11: We've got better things to worry about.
44:45
Speaker 14: Just consider the volume of people sleeping in their cars
44:48
Speaker 14: that don't have a roof over their head.
44:50
Speaker 11: I'm sorry.
44:50
Speaker 14: We've now got, you've seen in Victoria there, hundreds and
44:53
Speaker 14: hundreds of people lining up at food banks on any
44:56
Speaker 14: given day trying to collect some reasonable form of dignity,
45:00
Speaker 14: trying to have their bills paid, like electricity.
45:03
Speaker 11: They're the most important things at the moment, so.
45:05
Speaker 14: With all due respect, if we were flush with cash
45:07
Speaker 14: and we didn't have a trillion dollars worth of debt
45:10
Speaker 14: as a nation, we may consider it.
45:12
Speaker 11: But right now, we've just got.
45:13
Speaker 14: To take the fiscally responsible path here and say, look,
45:16
Speaker 14: that's on the wish list of the future, not today.
45:19
Speaker 11: Sorry, grow up. Grow up?
45:22
Speaker 10: Well, I think we need... Jamie, if I may just
45:25
Speaker 10: jump in there, please. I think we need all political
45:28
Speaker 10: parties to grow up, James, and I'm putting you in
45:31
Speaker 10: that category now. This is the last opportunity for us
45:35
Speaker 10: to get our first-ever Australian-trained astronaut... onto the International Space Station.
45:41
Speaker 10: It's being decommissioned in 2030.
45:42
Speaker 11: Do you want to blow $ 100 million?
45:44
Speaker 10: I absolutely do, James, because what are you suggesting as well?
45:47
Speaker 2: Like, let's just.
45:48
Speaker 10: This is a nation-building exercise. This is about inspiring.
45:51
Speaker 11: No, your priorities are wrong. No wonder the Liberal Party
45:52
Speaker 11: are down the.
45:53
Speaker 10: This is about inspiring young people. OK, give me a chance. Hey, James, please,
45:57
Speaker 10: give me a chance to speak. It's about inspiring... a
45:59
Speaker 10: generation of kids who are not doing STEM subjects at
46:02
Speaker 10: all to get into STEM. But more than that, we
46:07
Speaker 10: are sending our first Australian astronaut into space. And there
46:11
Speaker 10: is a whole heap of science and tech that's reliant
46:13
Speaker 10: on this. And if you are saying that we shouldn't
46:15
Speaker 10: be funding things like this, should we then cut our
46:19
Speaker 10: entire Olympic team? Because sending Catherine Bunnell-Pegg, our first Australian-trained
46:24
Speaker 10: astronaut into space will cost the equivalent of two and
46:27
Speaker 10: a half gold medals or two and a half medals
46:30
Speaker 10: at the Olympics. So if you want to start cutting
46:32
Speaker 10: things and saying we can't fund nation-building exercises that are
46:36
Speaker 10: actually really important for business, for science.
46:40
Speaker 14: If Elon Musk wants to send somebody to space, let
46:42
Speaker 14: him pay it. What, is he the first trillionaire in
46:45
Speaker 14: the world? Let him pay for it. I'm sure there's
46:47
Speaker 14: other people that will happily pay for this. It doesn't
46:49
Speaker 14: have to be government and taxpayers.
46:51
Speaker 3: It's silly.
46:52
Speaker 1: You're a wasteful person, Nicole.
46:53
Speaker 11: I never thought this of you.
46:55
Speaker 3: Wasteful person, Nicole. But it is worth noting that it
46:57
Speaker 3: could create 20,000 jobs by 2030.
47:02
Speaker 1: The 20,000 jobs by 2030 was an interesting aspect and
47:05
Speaker 1: what it can do for science and children and the productivity.
47:10
Speaker 10: Jamie, there are medical experiments, for example, that occur when
47:15
Speaker 10: you're on the space station. Fiona Wood, one of our
47:17
Speaker 10: preeminent burns experts... is actually wanting to send some technology
47:23
Speaker 10: up there to be tested. There are certain things you
47:25
Speaker 10: can only test in a zero-gravity environment, which is actually
47:29
Speaker 10: what happens in space. You're not just along for a ride.
47:32
Speaker 10: You're there to actually do some really important scientific and
47:35
Speaker 10: industry-based work that then... does things like save lives. So, James,
47:39
Speaker 10: if you don't think that's important, I'm very disappointed. Well,
47:41
Speaker 10: let the pharmaceutical companies pay for it.
47:42
Speaker 14: They're the ones that are getting huge amounts of money
47:45
Speaker 14: from the medicines that they sell around the globe.
47:47
Speaker 11: Well, hang on, James.
47:48
Speaker 14: If you're so convinced on medicine being the answer to this,
47:51
Speaker 14: let the pharmaceutical companies do it. Why are we, as taxpayers,
47:54
Speaker 14: when you've got all these homeless people? OK, I'd ask
47:56
Speaker 14: a very quick favour then.
47:57
Speaker 11: Purple in the face. You're wrong.
47:59
Speaker 10: Please ask Mrs Reinhart to fund this. I'd love to
48:02
Speaker 10: see a brilliant.
48:03
Speaker 14: No, you ask yourself. I wouldn't ask her to waste
48:05
Speaker 14: the money on it either.
48:07
Speaker 10: Oh, I'm really disappointed that you see it as... I
48:10
Speaker 10: really am really disappointed you see this as a waste. James,
48:13
Speaker 10: you're always cheeky.
48:15
Speaker 1: Now, just very quickly, James, we literally have 20 seconds.
48:18
Speaker 1: So the planned pro-Palestinian protest for October 7.
48:22
Speaker 3: Disgraceful.
48:23
Speaker 10: Yeah.
48:23
Speaker 3: What do you think?
48:25
Speaker 14: Well, they say it's freedom of speech and they should
48:27
Speaker 14: be allowed. No, this is just inciting more violence and hate.
48:31
Speaker 14: They're also the same people that have hauled Pauline Hanson
48:34
Speaker 14: through the court for saying PO back to Pakistan. I
48:38
Speaker 14: think these people should not be allowed to protest on
48:40
Speaker 14: the 7th of October. It's a disgraceful event and no
48:44
Speaker 14: authority should be saying you're.
48:45
Speaker 11: Not welcome to do it on the streets.
48:46
Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Nicole. Thank you. Up next, it's
48:49
Speaker 3: the Volt Report.