Latest / Credlin / Credlin | 2 September

Transcript

Credlin | 2 September · Credlin

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Peter Credlin, live from News 24.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Good evening. Welcome to the program. Here's what's coming up
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: tonight on Credlin. Pill testing now for illicit drugs is
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: permanent in New South Wales. Announcing it today, the Health
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Minister said it's not a silver bullet. Well, no, it's not.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: It sends a shocking mixed signal on illegal drugs. More
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: on that in a moment. More to you tonight on
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: my exclusive report about an AFP whistleblower and his repeated
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: attempts to provide counter-terrorism evidence to the Bondi Royal Commission. Now,
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: he was ignored... Well, I've got the texts exchanged and
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: the missed call log to prove it. Labor in Victoria
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: reportedly ready to swing open the door and lift the
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: age of criminal responsibility to 14. Never mind the state's
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: in a youth crime crisis. Is this just about winning
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: back left voters that they've lost to the Greens? And
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: the Treasurer and the Housing Minister back at it today,
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: trying to sell those shocking budget changes and downplay the
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: damage it's doing to property.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: This is a government which is doing everything it responsibly
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: can to build more homes and to make the housing
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: market fairer for more Australians.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: The housing market in Australia is inherently cyclical.
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: I would ask Australians to step back and take a
• 1:19
  Speaker 4: look at the big picture here.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: But first, in an Albanese government that's hardly flush with talent,
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: Attorney-General Michelle Rowland seemed to be one of the better ones.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: That was until I heard her comments... alleging Pauline Hanson
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: had some sort of culpability for the death threats she
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: has received. That's right. As we know, the One Nation
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: leader has for a long time been subject to some
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: pretty horrific abuse, including but not limited to rape threats
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: and threats of political assassination. Threats that I know the
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: police take seriously, and so too do the people who
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: assist with her security. Now, as AG, Rowland would be
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: privy to just how serious these risks are. And yet
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: here she is on ABC Radio, basically saying that the
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: threats against Hanson are her own fault. If not in full,
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: then at least in part. Here she is.
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: I would suggest that Senator Hanson should examine what her
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: party and what her ideology and her behaviour is doing
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: and whether or not that is encouraging that.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Now, part of the reason Rowland got into this issue
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: in the first place was to defend the Prime Minister's
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: characterisation of the One Nation leader as dangerous in a
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: speech he made on the weekend to the Queensland Labor
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: Party State Conference. Here again are those comments from the
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Prime Minister.
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: One nation whose leader seeks to divide Australians and talks
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: Australia down, whether she is here or overseas, peddling politics
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: that is dangerous.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: Now, that's pretty rich commentary coming from a bloke that's
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: always urging everybody else to take the temperature down. But
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: that's our Prime Minister, isn't it? Quick to say one thing,
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: yet when it comes to himself, do the complete opposite.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: But he's not the only hypocrite here. These Labor women
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: should be called out, and in this case it's Rowlands
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: who deserves the condemnation. Imagine if we went back to
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: the days where we told a woman who wore a
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: short skirt out at night that she was asking to
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: be raped. Imagine that today. Or if we told a
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: woman beaten up by her husband that she wouldn't be
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: subject to domestic violence if she'd just got up and left.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Because that's not much different than Rowland's message to Hansen,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: that she should, quote, examine her behaviour, whether she's encouraging
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: this behaviour, whether she's encouraging these threats. Now, that's basically,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: let's be blunt here, Hansen wouldn't be getting these death
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: threats if she just fell into line with the thinking
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: of those who want to kill her or just shut
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: up and quit politics. Is that the message? So much
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: of this political aggression against Hansen comes from the militant
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: activist left. And if proof was ever needed as to
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: just how bad things are, have a look at the
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: recent murder of the healthcare CEO in New York, allegedly
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: motivated by left-wing grievance. Look at the assassination of Charlie Kirk,
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: again by someone who disagreed with him, but rather than
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: contest his views... This individual allegedly picked up a gun
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: and took him out. And whatever your views on Donald Trump,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: no political leader should be subject to repeated assassination attempts.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: In a democracy, we're supposed to settle our disagreements via
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: the ballot box, not with bullets. Lover or loather, Pauline
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: Hanson is an elected official. Someone who won her seat
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: in Parliament fair and square, who has a legitimate platform
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: as party leader to put forward her views and her policies.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: And as a human being, the right we all have
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: to expect that expressing free speech should not put our
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: lives at risk. Now, shame on you, Michelle Rowland. I
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: thought you were better than that. I gave you points
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: when you were one of the few Labor front bench
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: women who didn't go out there and try and excuse
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: away the Prime Minister's offensive Melons podcast. But this is worse.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: As Attorney General, you sign off on the security arrangements
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: for all politicians. I know you do. And you also
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: know personally how bad it is for many of them.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: You know that in a way, that so few Australians do.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: So to make light of the persistent death threats against
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Pauline Hanson and to basically try and blame the potential
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: victim here, well, that's reprehensible. Quite honestly, Pauline Hanson deserves
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: an apology from you. Now to this decision today by
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: the Minns government in New South Wales to roll out
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: permanent pill testing at music festivals. Actually, let me say
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: that again because I don't want to play the game
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: of the left's minimising what's happening here. That announcement today
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: in New South Wales that we will see taxpayers spend
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: millions of dollars to permanently test illicit drugs so that
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: young people can use them illegally. Because that's what's happening here. Now,
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: I hear the arguments about harm minimisation, but the best
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: way to ensure that you don't die from a drug
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: overdose is not to take the drugs in the first place.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: I might be in my 50s, but I'm young enough
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: to have grown up in and around the drug culture
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: my entire teenage and adult life. I'm no Pollyanna. I've
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: been to plenty of parties and events where drugs have
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: been freely available. Do you know what? I have never
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: ever tried an illicit drug, whatever way you want to
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: take it. And the reason I haven't is that thankfully,
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: I've never been one to bow to peer pressure. But also,
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: there's no way I'd put my life in the hands
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: of some bikey gang or dealer that's cooked up a
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: pill in some backyard lab and tried to flog it
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: to me as some sort of way to enjoy myself
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: with friends. As far as I'm concerned, That's been a
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: game of Russian roulette that I've never wanted to play.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: And if I ever found myself moving in circles where
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: the drugs were too prevalent, well, I just took myself
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: out of those circles. Now, if you can't go to
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: a music festival and not enjoy the music by itself,
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: then ask yourself why. Not that these are music festivals anyway,
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: let's be honest. They're just drug events with music thrown in.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: And now the cost to test these drugs on offer
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: will be picked up by the poor old taxpayer to
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: the tune of $ 4. 5 million for these mobile testing units. Now,
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: I don't agree with that in principle, but if you
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: want to bring this in, why aren't the organisers who
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: make millions from these festivals footing the bill or those
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: who buy the drugs? Now, my heart goes out to
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: the parents who are routinely co-opted to become advocates for
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: pill testing after the tragic loss of one of their
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: own children. But if you listen clearly to what these
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: parents say, almost all of them wish their children had
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: never taken drugs in the first place. And isn't that
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: the message we should be sending rather than this mixed
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: message that it's somehow safe now to use what's illegal?
• 8:46
  Speaker 6: From a drug perspective, you know, it's not worth it.
• 8:51
  Speaker 6: It really is not worth it. Don't think it can't
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: happen to you because it can. It really can. And
• 9:00
  Speaker 6: yours and or your friends' lives can change in an
• 9:03
  Speaker 6: instant and it doesn't have to be that way.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Right now, the Prime Minister's in Palau at the Pacific
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: Islanders Forum. And today he's just announced a $ 600 million
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: package to crack down on illicit drug trafficking through the region,
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: which has exploded due to soaring illegal drug use in Australia.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: And yet here we are in Sydney, we've got the
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: state government spending taxpayer millions to test these very same
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: illegal substances to give our kids a false sense of
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: security and that somehow using them is okay. $ 600 million
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: of your money to try and keep illicit drugs out,
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: yet millions to test them when they get in anyway
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: so that they are safe to use. Anyone that demands soaring.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: Illicit drugs need a new pipeline of users to make money.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: That's why they're after your kids and your grandkids, and
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: here we are stupidly giving access to them under the
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: guise of, quote, safe use. We have all these draconian
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: rules now about nicotine and alcohol. They're legal, including warnings
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: on wine bottles and early closing hours. And yet illicit drugs, what,
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: they're okay? Ask yourself what happens after your kid goes
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: away from the festival, decides that they like the sort
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: of drugs they've tried, or that they can't cope socially
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: anymore without being high. What happens when they buy drugs
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: at a party or a nightclub and there is no
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: pill testing? It's too late then, isn't it? They are hooked.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: Activists will say this is the argument to legalise illicit
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: drugs across the board so that they are safe to
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: use anywhere and everywhere. That's the end game here. It
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: might start with pill testing and trial at a couple
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: of festivals, then that trial, like today, becomes permanent. And
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: then the fix will be in to completely decriminalise illicit drugs,
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: even the hardcore stuff like heroin and ice, as we've
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: already seen in the case of the ACT. Just like
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: New South Wales, the ACT started with pill testing as
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: a trial, Then it became permanent. And now it's completely
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: down the decriminalisation path. And do you know what? Overdoses
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: have increased. And we have problems in modern society because
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: we've lost our way on so many levels. Too soft
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: when our kids refuse to go to school. Too soft
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: when adults demand to work from home. And way too
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: soft on issues like illicit drugs, which once addiction sets in,
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: exacerbates crime, mental health harm, violence and homelessness. Now, I
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: can guarantee you that the decision in New South Wales
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: will now be used by other Labor states as a
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: precedent to do the same where you live. And none
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: of that, none of that's going to help future generations
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: be the sort of Australians that we need to cope
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: with what we know will be a very challenging future.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: All right, let's go to Canberra now for the headlines.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: Political reporter, Ruben Spargo.
• 12:19
  Speaker 7: Good evening.
• 12:20
  Speaker 8: The Treasurer is touting the resilience of Australia's economy despite
• 12:23
  Speaker 8: growing expectations the Reserve Bank could raise interest rates again.
• 12:28
  Speaker 8: The economy picked up pace in the three months to June,
• 12:31
  Speaker 8: growing 0.4% over the quarter.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: This is a robust result in really challenging international circumstances.
• 12:38
  Speaker 9: The small businesses that are going to the wall in
• 12:40
  Speaker 9: record numbers don't share Jim Chalmers' enthusiasm.
• 12:44
  Speaker 8: Markets are now pricing in a 58% chance of a
• 12:47
  Speaker 8: 25 basis point rate hike when the Reserve Bank meets
• 12:51
  Speaker 8: in around four weeks. The Albanese government is asking Australians
• 12:55
  Speaker 8: to take a longer term view as more dire projections
• 12:59
  Speaker 8: emerge for the housing market. The Commonwealth Bank has downgraded
• 13:02
  Speaker 8: its forecast, tipping Sydney house prices to fall 13% from
• 13:06
  Speaker 8: their peak to the expected floor next April.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: People are in a rush to draw conclusions. about the
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: next few years based on the last few months.
• 13:16
  Speaker 8: Australia's biggest bank expects prices to rebound by the end
• 13:20
  Speaker 8: of the year if the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates.
• 13:23
  Speaker 8: China is flexing its diplomatic muscle at the Pacific Islands
• 13:26
  Speaker 8: Forum as Taiwan again finds itself short on regional support.
• 13:31
  Speaker 8: Papua New Guinea has joined Beijing in criticising the decision
• 13:35
  Speaker 8: to invite Taiwan to the leaders' meeting.
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: It's a matter for the Pacific Islands Forum. who attends
• 13:41
  Speaker 5: these matters.
• 13:42
  Speaker 8: Taiwan insists there should be no compromise in the face
• 13:45
  Speaker 8: of what it describes as Chinese bullying.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: Now to that latest GDP data, which came in slightly
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: higher than market expectations, but still relatively weak against a
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: bleak economic outlook. Today's figures show the economy grew by 0.4%
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: over the June quarter. or 2.1% over last year. And
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: it all points to an ongoing economic malaise under the
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: Albanese government as Labor's record high spending continues. Here to
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: discuss this and more, News24 host Jamie Rogers and the
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: head of advocacy at Women's Forum Australia, Stephanie Bastian. Well,
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: welcome to you both. All of this, of course, Jamie,
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: as you can see, is compounding the woes in Australia's
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: property market. A treasurer getting a bit snippy there today.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: but also reports that former Treasury officials were just guessing
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: when they were making predictions on price growth. And, of course,
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: the government makes decisions based on those projections. They're absolutely
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: way out. The government said there'd be no harm here
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: or there's harm across the board. You're absolutely right there, Peter.
• 14:51
  Speaker 10: And we constantly hear the modelling says this, the Treasury
• 14:54
  Speaker 10: is assuming this. And it's all these numbers and these
• 14:58
  Speaker 10: words are like gospel. And, of course, in that article
• 15:01
  Speaker 10: that you were just showing up on the screen, a
• 15:03
  Speaker 10: former Treasury official has said that a lot of this
• 15:05
  Speaker 10: data looks as though it is based on educated guessers.
• 15:10
  Speaker 10: Educated guesses. And this is significant because these educated guesses
• 15:14
  Speaker 10: is what the government is going and creating their tax
• 15:16
  Speaker 10: policy around. And this is people's largest investment when it
• 15:20
  Speaker 10: comes to their housing. So are we any surprised to
• 15:23
  Speaker 10: see that the property market is going the way that
• 15:25
  Speaker 10: it is when you're using guesses? And the other thing, Peter,
• 15:29
  Speaker 10: which you'd know with your background. It's odd that the
• 15:32
  Speaker 10: modelling isn't even available for anyone else to actually look at.
• 15:35
  Speaker 10: So we can't even really scrutinise what has gone on
• 15:38
  Speaker 10: behind the scenes. It is all very hazy of what
• 15:41
  Speaker 10: is happening. And normally when you're creating policy, you look
• 15:44
  Speaker 10: at evidence and data and then go and create it.
• 15:47
  Speaker 10: But it looks as though in this case, Jim Chalmers
• 15:50
  Speaker 10: and the Albanese government wanted to create this policy and
• 15:54
  Speaker 10: then they've gone and used the Treasury modelling to back
• 15:56
  Speaker 10: up that decision.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: And look, you don't even have to be a macroeconomist.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: Go back in history. When Labor did this the last
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: time under Paul Keating's death, everyone knows they had to
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: reverse it within two years because the anticipated uplift for
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: investment properties in the housing market more broadly didn't eventuate.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: Things went backwards at a rate of knots, pretty much
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: like what's happening now, and there was a massive backflip.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: And I think this is where I know he loves
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: Jim Chalmers, I know he loves Paul Keating, but But
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: this is where I think he's going to emulate his
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: hero in the worst possible way.
• 16:32
  Speaker 11: Absolutely. I mean, there's a huge gap in their modelling
• 16:34
  Speaker 11: as well, 2% versus the reality that's looking like 18%
• 16:38
  Speaker 11: in New South Wales. I mean, the modelling is so poor.
• 16:42
  Speaker 11: They should release it, as Jamie said. The truth of
• 16:45
  Speaker 11: the matter is this policy, it's been put together to
• 16:48
  Speaker 11: try and, you know, they've pitched it as helping young
• 16:50
  Speaker 11: people get into their homes, but it's actually hurting the
• 16:52
  Speaker 11: people that have scrimped and saved and got into the market.
• 16:55
  Speaker 11: They're the ones that are suffering. If the government was
• 16:57
  Speaker 11: serious about getting young people and, you know, middle and
• 17:02
  Speaker 11: income earners into homes, they should be cutting the costs
• 17:04
  Speaker 11: of building. They should be cutting the red tape. They
• 17:06
  Speaker 11: should be cutting the taxes associated with it, but they're
• 17:09
  Speaker 11: not doing that because they're addicted to spending. Instead, they've
• 17:12
  Speaker 11: sort of, they're using this blunt approach policy force to
• 17:16
  Speaker 11: fix a 30-year problem and it's backfiring.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: Let's go to those comments today, JV, from the Premier,
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: Ben Carroll in Victoria, defending how he handled the secret
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: decision to basically levy poor old transport users in Victoria
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: to the tune of $ 8 billion after it's been revealed
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: today that it was actually disclosed to the full Cabinet
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: that And he's the Deputy Premier, so he was in
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: the room more than two years ago. He was pressed
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: on this today by our reporter, Georgia Dickinson. Have a listen.
• 17:48
  Speaker 12: Were people not doing their job properly, that is, they
• 17:50
  Speaker 12: weren't reading the Cabinet briefing documents in June 2024?
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: No-one seemed to know about this charge until now.
• 17:56
  Speaker 9: It's very unfair to say something was put in a
• 17:59
  Speaker 9: Cabinet minute that was decided on seven months earlier.
• 18:04
  Speaker 11: It was unfair for Victorians not to have known that
• 18:05
  Speaker 11: they were paying that secret money.
• 18:06
  Speaker 9: It was unfair from the very first day that that
• 18:09
  Speaker 9: cabinet meeting occurred with Andrews, Pellis and Allen and Molino
• 18:15
  Speaker 9: in 2021, they should have said, this is what we're
• 18:19
  Speaker 9: looking at and being transparent with the public.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: Well, the opposition leader, Jess Wilson, wasn't going to cop that.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Have a listen to her.
• 18:28
  Speaker 13: This is an utter disgrace and it demonstrates that this
• 18:34
  Speaker 13: Premier is not only weak, but he is a liar.
• 18:37
  Speaker 13: He's looking Victorians in the eye and saying, I have
• 18:40
  Speaker 13: no knowledge of this secret tax. Despite the fact there
• 18:43
  Speaker 13: are cabinet documents that demonstrate that he was briefed. You
• 18:47
  Speaker 13: simply cannot trust him.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, Jamie, he was the Minister for Public Transport
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: when this thing was made. It was held back, not
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: implemented at the time, but he was the minister. And then,
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: of course, he's sitting there in the Cabinet table. I
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: don't buy that rubbish that he doesn't read his papers.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: If he's not reading his papers, he doesn't deserve the
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: salary and he's bloody incompetent. But let's say he did
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: read the papers and he did know in the room, well,
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: Jess Wilson's right, he is a liar.
• 19:16
  Speaker 10: Jess Wilson was spot on there and good questioning by
• 19:19
  Speaker 10: Georgie as well, because that was my thinking that Ben Carroll,
• 19:23
  Speaker 10: he was there when it was implemented in 2023 as
• 19:25
  Speaker 10: the deputy premier. Gabrielle Williams was also there as transport minister. Now,
• 19:30
  Speaker 10: the two of them either sat there and listened to
• 19:33
  Speaker 10: this potential levy getting in and they stayed silent or
• 19:37
  Speaker 10: they weren't across their cabinet papers. And when you look
• 19:39
  Speaker 10: at those two options, I don't know what's worse. And
• 19:42
  Speaker 10: I think Jess Wilson is spot on that he is
• 19:44
  Speaker 10: a liar and just needs to be up front with
• 19:47
  Speaker 10: the Victorian public because.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: You get caught out at press conferences.
• 19:50
  Speaker 10: Like this because Georgie has done her homework and people
• 19:53
  Speaker 10: will now continue to ask questions until he tells the truth.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: Steph, I opened the show with this tonight, Attorney General
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: Michelle Rowland. actually suggesting that Pauline Hanson's to blame for
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: threats of violence against her. This is what the Attorney-General
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: said on ABC Radio yesterday.
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: I would suggest that Senator Hanson should examine what her
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: party and what her ideology and her behaviour is doing
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: and whether or not that is encouraging that.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: I think this is outrageous.
• 20:27
  Speaker 7: Oh, me too.
• 20:27
  Speaker 11: It's an absolute disgrace. What we're seeing here is a
• 20:30
  Speaker 11: rise in the radical left, and this sort of rhetoric
• 20:34
  Speaker 11: condones their move towards political violence. We're seeing this, we
• 20:37
  Speaker 11: saw this just last weekend with Sal Grover and Kiralee Smith,
• 20:40
  Speaker 11: where they were threatened with murder by a trans activist
• 20:43
  Speaker 11: on social media. We saw schoolchildren marching around the capital
• 20:46
  Speaker 11: cities calling for Pauline's death, and there have been alleged
• 20:50
  Speaker 11: firebombings in Melbourne for Jewish-associated businesses linked to Israel-led Israeli
• 20:56
  Speaker 11: weapon making. What we're seeing is this increase of political
• 20:59
  Speaker 11: violence or threats of political violence, and it's been called
• 21:02
  Speaker 11: political resistance.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: It's not.
• 21:04
  Speaker 11: And Michelle Rowland should, first of all, apologise for those comments,
• 21:07
  Speaker 11: but also come out and condemn the violence because it's
• 21:10
  Speaker 11: not long before these words turn into actions.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: It's a disgrace. And I'll make the point again that
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: the protection of politicians, their officers and their personal protection
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: is the use of close personal protection, AFP offices, is
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: all under Michelle Rowland's remit. So she knows exactly how
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: serious this is. And I note this afternoon I spoke
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: to someone inside One Nation and they had an event
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: in Melbourne on Sunday to announce candidates. Unfortunately, they've had
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: to cancel that because of security concerns. So it impacts,
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: I think, our access as voters to our politicians. I
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: think that's been a rare blessing in Australia, but I
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: think that will now change. Thank you to you both.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: Let's go now back to the issue that I broke
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: at the start of the week, this AFP whistleblower discussing
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: counter-terrorism capability deficiencies well and truly prior to Bondi, putting
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: that information up the chain of command in the AFP,
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: then putting in a submission to the Bondi Royal Commission asking,
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: pleading to give evidence. Well, I now have some text
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: exchanges that show just how hard he pushed the staff
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: at the commission. in order to appear, as well as
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: the written submission. But it was all for nothing. Today,
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, referenced his story when he
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: reiterated calls for the Royal Commission to be extended. He said,
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: thanks to a former AFP whistleblower, we now know that
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: there was extreme pressure on counter-terrorism resources at the time.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Here to discuss it further, Legal Affairs Contributor at The Australian,
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: Chris Merritt. We'll start with the submission, then I want
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: to move on to the whole principle of responsible government.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: You've watched how this has played out this week, Chris. This,
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: I think, is a serious omission for the Royal Commission.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: Does it justify it being reopened?
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: I think it does, particularly in the light of what
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: we now know about this problem. The Royal Commission... If
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: you look at its interim report, it reached some conclusions
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: about the resourcing, the adequacy of the resourcing of the
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: counter-terrorism work at the AFP, but they're not in that
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: interim report. They're secret. There's a separate secret edition of
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: this report in which the Royal Commission weighs up the
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: resources and the workload and comes to a conclusion that
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: Those assessments have been shared with the federal government and
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: all state governments, but they have not been made public. Now,
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: what we've got is a former senior counter-terrorism officer prepared
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: to cast light on that issue, that entire issue, and
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: he has not been called. Even if the Commission were
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: to talk to him in private... and subject his assessments
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: to checking with those who might have a different view
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: and do that in private, that would be beneficial. It
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: would inform the final report. But on its current practice,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: there's a risk that the final report of this commission
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: might again adopt this secrecy approach and not share with
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: the rest of the community a proper assessment about whether
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: the resources available to the AFP's counter-terrorism work were adequate
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: when you weigh it against the increasing workload since October 7, 2023.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: And that's spelled out in great detail in the interim report.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: There's been a big increase, but it says that the
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: resources over recent years have been relatively stable. So we've
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: got relatively stable resources, an increasing workload and a secret
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: conclusion as to what this means. And really it makes
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: it very difficult to adopt the position I had adopted,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: which was trying to wait until the commission finished its
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: work before reaching a conclusion. But we've already seen a
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: number of serious decisions taken which are very worrying.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: So what concerns me, and I think that extrapolation of
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: the issues is correct, Chris, but what concerns me, you
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: mentioned there basically the steady flow of resourcing. The steady
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: flow of resourcing in my mind is not enough to
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: considering the events we've had around the world and in
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: Australia over the last three years since October 7. It's
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: not enough when we've taken the terror threat in this
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: country from possible to probable. I don't want to see
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: static resources, you know, no loss of resources. I actually
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: want to see a heavy increase of resources. And there are,
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: you know, specific detail in that whistleblower's submission that says
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: when they're talking about the terrorist's that these counter-terrorism police
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: were supposed to monitor, you've got 20 would-be terrorists to
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: one officer. You've got a 38% reduction in capability in
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: CT in New South Wales. 18 months they were warned
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: about that. For 18 months they were told about that
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: deficiency and then you've got Bondi. Can you only imagine
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: if they had remedied that 38% and perhaps even increased it?
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: if that had all happened prior to the events of December,
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: would we have lost 15 Australians? And that's what the
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: Royal Commissioner needs to tell us.
• 27:08
  Speaker 7: I agree.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: But on the material that's already on the public record,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: not just the submission from this whistleblower, but the detail,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: the facts in the interim report, the only conclusion you
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: can draw from that is that the workload has outpaced
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: the resources. The resources stayed stable.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: There's no doubt about that.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Now, that's consistent with the main points that this whistleblower
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: is making. Now, I'm dumbfounded that that hasn't been taken
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: on board by the Commission.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: Can I just say something about that interim report too?
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: The interim report is from the Royal Commissioner. So this
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: is Virginia Bell's interim report. But when she talks about
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: all the Canberra bureaucracy and the agencies of the counter-terrorism resourcing,
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: that's been informed by the Richardson inquiry, which was not
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: conducted under Royal Commission powers. So no ability to compel
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: witnesses or documents. People only participated voluntarily. They did not
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: have immunity. So I question and I, you know, I
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: do think Dennis Richardson's an eminent public servant. But if
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: he doesn't have the powers to get to the bottom
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: of it, and that's the bulk of the basis of
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: her interim report, and she's not called herself any of
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: these individuals, she has not herself, at least to our knowledge,
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: interrogated any of the papers and the people behind the
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: Richardson inquiry, then how on earth does this have the
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: veracity that we all should be expecting about a Royal Commission.
• 28:47
  Speaker 6: How?
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, she's called the head of Netball Australia, mate,
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: the head of Netball Australia and not the head of
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: the AFP. That's just not credible.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: Look, Peter, I share your concerns. The whole point of
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: holding a Royal Commission is the use of coercive power
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: to get to the truth. Otherwise, don't bother. If you're
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: not going to use those coercive powers, just have a
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: departmental report done and be done with it. it just,
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: it's dumbfounding, as I've said before.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: I just want to put up on screen so people
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: can see. These are the messages, text exchanges that the
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: whistleblower has provided to me. They go back to April.
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: I mean, he has been fighting with the Secretariat of
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: this Royal Commission to come in and tell them what
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: he knows since April, and only towards the the end
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: of July was he told, put in a submission, which
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: he did, he truly did, he put it in, in August,
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: hoping that might mean he'd be called before them, but
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: he was not. So, I mean, this has a very,
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: very long tail and I am not giving up. I
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: want to grab you before you go, if I can.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: Ben Robert Smith, today we learned that he'll finally be
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: allowed to see the secret evidence against him ahead of
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: this war crimes trial. Now, I think it's extraordinary. It's
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: a fundamental tenet of justice that you get to see
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: the detail of the charges and the evidence behind the
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: accusations made against you. But he can only get this
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: information because he had to fight for it after a
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: judge's ruling.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: It comes five months after he was taken off that
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: aeroplane and charged, as we all saw. It is fundamental
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: to criminal justice that you must know what the case
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: is against you. The fact that it's taken five months
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: to get to this point, it just delays the entire process.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: The whole point about criminal justice is it should be quick.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: It should be prompt. So this is five months wasted
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: where his legal team could have been working on on
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: his defence, at least we all have the comfort of
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: knowing that the trial itself is not going to happen,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: I think until 28 on the current speculation. So yes,
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: it's good that it's happened. It should have happened earlier.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: A proper criminal trial cannot proceed unless the defendant has
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: all the information that the prosecution is going to put
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: against them.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, again, this one, Worries me enormously about the state
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: of justice in this country. Thank you, Chris Merritt. After
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: the break, more on the decision out of New South
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: Wales on pill testing at festivals, plus Labor in Victoria.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: It wants to open the door again to raising the
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: age of criminal responsibility. This is the state with that
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: massive youth crime crisis. That's next. Welcome back. We'll cross
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: to the UK shortly. Keir Starmer's pulled the pin, but
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: his successor, he's blaming everything now on Thatcher. Now, she
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: left a long, long, what, 40 years ago? It's all
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: Thatcher's fault, according to the new Labor Prime Minister. Let's
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: go back, though, now to the issue of pill testing
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: and the announcement today. Out of New South Wales, they'll
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: spend $ 4. 5 million to expand pill testing, make it permanent.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: at 15 music festivals across the year. This follows the trial.
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: They say the trial resulted in fewer hospitalisations. Well, let's
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: see about that. Joining me now, this and other things
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: we'll cover as well, of course, former Victorian homicide detective
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: Charlie Bozzina. This really does my head in, right, because
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: I made the point at the top of the show. Yes,
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: I'm old. People watching here will go, she's an old lady.
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: She doesn't know anything about drugs. All my teenage life, right,
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: all my adult life, I have been around drugs, Charlie,
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: and I've never tried anything because not that I'm a
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: perfect angel, but it's Russian roulette. I'm not going to
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: put something in my mouth given to me, you know,
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: at an event somewhere, cooked up in a lab by
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: some bikey drug dealer and play the game where I
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: could end up with brain damage, heart attack or die.
• 33:09
  Speaker 7: Correct.
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: So why is the government now... basically giving these dealers
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: a product to sell where they can say at these festivals,
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: don't worry, I've had it tested over there, my gear's good,
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: don't buy his gear. That's what we're doing.
• 33:24
  Speaker 14: I couldn't agree more because I'm old school like you
• 33:26
  Speaker 14: and ultimately why do we become responsible for these people
• 33:30
  Speaker 14: making a decision one way or the other? They're adult people,
• 33:32
  Speaker 14: teenage into adult. They can make decisions right or wrong.
• 33:36
  Speaker 14: You're going to take this, it's going to kill you.
• 33:38
  Speaker 14: And ultimately, OK, interestingly enough, now New South Wales are
• 33:41
  Speaker 14: taking it up. Victoria's had it for a while. But
• 33:44
  Speaker 14: interestingly enough, the exemption only comes when they go into
• 33:46
  Speaker 14: a drug testing station.
• 33:48
  Speaker 7: If you're backstage, you can still be charged. But I'll
• 33:51
  Speaker 7: mark my words.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: No one will be charged.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: Correct.
• 33:53
  Speaker 14: Because police are told it's open slather for the whole lot.
• 33:56
  Speaker 14: It's a health issue.
• 33:57
  Speaker 7: Softly, softly. And why are we footing the bill for it?
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: I know exactly what happens at the drug testing. injecting
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: room near where I live in Richmond. People are walking around.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: I see it every single day I go to the gym.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: I see them openly dealing, right? I see the prostitution
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: that's going on in order to score a hit. This
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: is at 10am in the morning. I see people handing
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: over bags. The police are powerless. There's a police station
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: just down the corner on Church Street. They're powerless because
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: they know if people are walking into an injecting room
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: to inject heroin or ice, They've got to get their drugs.
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: So they turn a blind eye. This is wrong.
• 34:36
  Speaker 7: Yeah, very much so.
• 34:37
  Speaker 14: And I've spoken to actually neighbours living in here. This
• 34:40
  Speaker 14: particular lady actually moved out. She was across the road
• 34:43
  Speaker 14: from the drug injecting.
• 34:44
  Speaker 7: She moved out.
• 34:45
  Speaker 14: And if you recall years ago, they were actually charged
• 34:48
  Speaker 14: with drug trafficking within the facility. And where's the control?
• 34:51
  Speaker 14: But it stays there next to a school. And ultimately
• 34:54
  Speaker 14: we're bowing down to them.
• 34:55
  Speaker 7: It's a health issue.
• 34:56
  Speaker 14: And thank goodness the one in Flinders Street that was
• 34:59
  Speaker 14: considered some time ago hasn't opened.
• 35:01
  Speaker 7: Drug injecting rooms, do they work? Realistically, no.
• 35:04
  Speaker 14: But at the end of the day, you're just pattering
• 35:08
  Speaker 14: up the whole situation and not addressing the concern.
• 35:11
  Speaker 7: Or the problem.
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: And what worries me, right, so you send this signal
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: to the kid that goes to the festival or the
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: young adult, they buy their gear, they get hooked, they
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: love it. They can't go out socially now without getting high.
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: But they're somewhere like a nightclub or a party, the
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: gear's being sold to them, it's not tested.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: Correct.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: And they end up in trouble, right?
• 35:28
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: You're not saving them. You're, in fact, enabling addiction at
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: these festivals. Life won't have a pill-testing unit every time
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: someone offers you something you should not take. It requires backbone.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: It requires us teaching our kids to walk away. You know,
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: change your friend group if you have to.
• 35:47
  Speaker 7: Correct.
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: But if you have to get high to enjoy life,
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: it's a very sorry place to live.
• 35:51
  Speaker 7: And you're giving them confidence.
• 35:52
  Speaker 14: I went to this music festival and, geez, that was
• 35:55
  Speaker 14: quite nice and it was okay for me to take. Well,
• 35:58
  Speaker 14: I've got the same supplier, but that doesn't mean they're
• 36:00
  Speaker 14: still cutting it with rubbish and all this stuff.
• 36:02
  Speaker 7: They didn't make a dollar.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: Yes, red sack and everything.
• 36:04
  Speaker 7: Do they care about your welfare? Of course they don't.
• 36:05
  Speaker 7: Drug dealers don't. They didn't make a dollar. If you die,
• 36:08
  Speaker 7: they don't care.
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: And, of course, the madness is, you know, if I
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: walk into the injecting room, I could stick a needle
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: in my arm with an illegal substance, but if I
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: open my handbag and put out a cigarette, that would
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: be stomped on because, you know, we've got all these
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: regulations around cigarettes, Charlie, but we've got open slather on
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: illicit drugs. Hey, I've got to ask you, give me
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: your take on Labor looking again to lift the age
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: of criminal responsibility to 14. What do you think?
• 36:33
  Speaker 7: Absolutely nonsensical.
• 36:35
  Speaker 14: You look at every... The only other state... Big button.
• 36:39
  Speaker 14: ACT is 14. Every other state and territory is 10.
• 36:44
  Speaker 7: We're currently 12 years of age here.
• 36:46
  Speaker 14: We are the leaders in youth crime, yet Carol wants
• 36:50
  Speaker 14: to bring up the 14... And he's saying, oh, the
• 36:52
  Speaker 14: human rights issue.
• 36:54
  Speaker 7: Why are all.
• 36:55
  Speaker 14: These other states and territory in Australia wrong, but this
• 36:59
  Speaker 14: current government is right by saying we're going to raid?
• 37:01
  Speaker 7: You know why? Because it's self-serving.
• 37:03
  Speaker 14: Because the less people police can lock up, the less
• 37:05
  Speaker 14: money they need to spend on incarceration of these people.
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: And does this go to the comments today from the
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: new police commissioner, Mike Bush, where he says to police officers,
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: I know the jails are overcrowded or the remand centres
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: are overcrowded, but I want you to keep people behind
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: bars if you think they should be. Don't feel the
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: pressure because you haven't got enough room because, you know,
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: Victoria's got too many crooks to let them out. Is
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: that what this is about?
• 37:32
  Speaker 14: Yeah, very much so because ultimately the police are doing
• 37:34
  Speaker 14: their job. Now, people have got to realise that the
• 37:36
  Speaker 14: police jails, the police cells are gazetted jails that can
• 37:40
  Speaker 14: only hold prisoners there for three, four days and they're
• 37:42
  Speaker 14: going to move along. Why does the fact that police
• 37:44
  Speaker 14: are doing such a good job and the ineptness of
• 37:47
  Speaker 14: the government becomes a police problem?
• 37:49
  Speaker 7: It's a corrections problem. They are remanded. Bail is refused.
• 37:53
  Speaker 14: Get them out of my cells, put them in the
• 37:55
  Speaker 14: corrections system where they should be.
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, don't stop the police putting them in there if
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: they should be in there.
• 38:00
  Speaker 5: Correct.
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: Work out what you do with them after they've been caught.
• 38:02
  Speaker 14: Government puts pressure on the police. Police are under the
• 38:04
  Speaker 14: pump all the time. It's not their problem. Same as
• 38:07
  Speaker 14: the smokes and all this stuff. We've got the illegal tobacco.
• 38:09
  Speaker 14: It's not a police problem, but it's a government problem,
• 38:12
  Speaker 14: a federal government, now a state government problem. Police are
• 38:15
  Speaker 14: locking them up, but we've got nowhere to put them
• 38:17
  Speaker 14: because you're not collecting them enough.
• 38:18
  Speaker 7: Get extra vans. You've got Port Phillip. You've closed that.
• 38:21
  Speaker 7: Open it up. Put them in there.
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: Quick one. Prisoners out there doing potholes.
• 38:26
  Speaker 7: What a joke. Now, interestingly enough.
• 38:29
  Speaker 14: It's not going to work for a start because of
• 38:31
  Speaker 14: all the other issues that are involved. But when you
• 38:33
  Speaker 14: think about it, it's a law that all traffic fines
• 38:38
  Speaker 14: and traffic cameras, the revenue by law must go to
• 38:41
  Speaker 14: road rehabilitation. Annually it creates $ 837 million.
• 38:46
  Speaker 7: Now that's being sharpened.
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: So where's that money going?
• 38:48
  Speaker 5: Correct.
• 38:49
  Speaker 7: Ask the question.
• 38:50
  Speaker 14: When you get a chance, ask a question, and Carol
• 38:53
  Speaker 14: was a Roads Minister. Now, that money's been siphoned everywhere.
• 38:56
  Speaker 7: $ 837 million annually. This is why you're a good detective.
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: Look at you, you've gone right down that.
• 38:59
  Speaker 7: Yeah, so ultimately, we could... The roads could be fixed
• 39:03
  Speaker 7: for $ 830. Where's that money gone?
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: Right-o, that's tomorrow's job. Charlie Bussino, good to see you.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: As I said, there you go. That's why he was
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: a detective, wasn't he? Right into the detail. Quick break.
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: After the break, we'll go to the UK. Starmer's quit
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: the Parliament. The new PM says, as I said before,
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: it's all Thatcher's fault. He's not ruling out new taxes, though.
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: And Harry and Meghan, they want a nine-bedroom house, but
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: no one wants to be their servants. That's next. welcome
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: back kel coming up as always but now to the
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: uk where sakir's tama finally announced he'll officially step down
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: as an mp triggering a by-election in his london seat
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: and prompting the first major test for his successor, Andy Burnham.
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: Here to discuss it and all that, and more, Megan
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: and Harry as well, News24 contributor, News Corp Australia's European correspondent,
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: Sophie Ellsworth. Well, not unexpected, of course, he's lost the job,
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: but this will be a big test for Burnham.
• 40:01
  Speaker 12: It will indeed, Peter. We heard from the Prime Minister
• 40:04
  Speaker 12: here in London yesterday in the House of Commons for
• 40:07
  Speaker 12: the first time since he took the keys to 10
• 40:11
  Speaker 12: Downing Street. Now, today he'll be answering questions in the
• 40:15
  Speaker 12: House of Commons. But there's a lot of unknown with
• 40:18
  Speaker 12: Andy Burnham because, as we know, he came into office
• 40:22
  Speaker 12: relatively quickly. He wasn't an MP until he won that by-election.
• 40:26
  Speaker 12: And we don't know a lot of what he's going
• 40:28
  Speaker 12: to do because he hasn't had to come in with
• 40:30
  Speaker 12: a mandate. So there's very much unknown territory ahead. But
• 40:35
  Speaker 12: there's certainly concerns with him making remarks, Peter, that he's
• 40:38
  Speaker 12: blaming issues here in the U.K., on former Prime Minister
• 40:42
  Speaker 12: Margaret Thatcher, who left office nearly four decades ago, and
• 40:46
  Speaker 12: also Brexit. So it certainly is an interesting time.
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's clutching for straws there because I think nowadays
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: there'd be as many people that adore Thatcher as hated
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: her in those old days. I know in the north
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: there's still a bit of a legacy, but broadly speaking,
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: they look like the golden years for Britain. He's not
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: ruling out extra taxes too, is he?
• 41:10
  Speaker 12: He certainly hasn't ruled out extra taxes and we have
• 41:13
  Speaker 12: the budget here in late October. So that's to come.
• 41:18
  Speaker 12: But interestingly too, Peter, there was a poll out in
• 41:22
  Speaker 12: the last few days that showed Labor is ahead here
• 41:25
  Speaker 12: with about 26% of support followed by the Tories and
• 41:30
  Speaker 12: reform coming in third, which is really interesting. that conservatives
• 41:35
  Speaker 12: are coming in second now. So the race is tightening up,
• 41:39
  Speaker 12: but Peter, as you know, there is an awfully long
• 41:41
  Speaker 12: time until there is, there has to be a general
• 41:44
  Speaker 12: election here, which is not until 2029.
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I remind people it's first past the post
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: in the UK, so no torturous preferential flows to worry about. Hey,
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: let's go to those two rogue royals who are back
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: in the UK, Harry and Meghan. This is interesting. She's
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: got a long list for this new UK home. No
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: idea how they're going to pay for it, Sophie. I'm
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: sure you'll tell us. But there's also not that many
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: people who want to work for Meghan Markle.
• 42:16
  Speaker 12: Well, they're certainly not, Peter. I mean, she has a
• 42:18
  Speaker 12: reputation for being a very difficult woman and I don't
• 42:22
  Speaker 12: think there'll be hordes of people queuing to work for
• 42:24
  Speaker 12: the Sussexes because, as we know, they're always in damage
• 42:27
  Speaker 12: control and they appear to be very difficult people to
• 42:31
  Speaker 12: get along with. Now, they're looking for accommodation here. Latest
• 42:34
  Speaker 12: reports say they'll be living somewhere in the Cotswolds. They
• 42:37
  Speaker 12: will be non-working royals. But I don't think there'll be
• 42:41
  Speaker 12: a lot of Britons wanting to work for Meghan Markle
• 42:44
  Speaker 12: in particular. And Peter, we know they have a long
• 42:47
  Speaker 12: way to go until they can win back the support
• 42:52
  Speaker 12: of the British public because they are certainly out of
• 42:54
  Speaker 12: favour here right now.
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: Now, just before you go, Sophie, you look fetching and
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: you look to me like a Stuart Tartan, but not
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: exactly the Stuart Tartan. But you're outside the Houses of
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: Parliament there. You're on some dirt, I'd have to call it.
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: That's usually the parliamentary lawn, isn't it?
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: It is, Peter.
• 43:16
  Speaker 12: As you can see behind me, there's Big Ben, there's
• 43:19
  Speaker 12: the Houses of Parliament. It's awfully dry here. It actually,
• 43:23
  Speaker 12: believe it or not, there's a little bit of spit
• 43:25
  Speaker 12: in the air dripping down on me now. And heaven forbid,
• 43:28
  Speaker 12: we do need rain here. They don't seem to like
• 43:31
  Speaker 12: to water grass here in the UK because they don't
• 43:33
  Speaker 12: normally need to bother. But it is very, very dry.
• 43:36
  Speaker 12: So hopefully there is some rain ahead.
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: I knew I could ask you for a weather forecast
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: because you, like me, are a country girl from Western Victoria,
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: so you're all over the, you know, the meteorology as
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: we go to air. Thanks. So good to see you.
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: All right, after the break, Kel Richards with words for
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: the week. All right, let's bring him straight in, the
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: wonderful Kel Richards who joins me every Wednesday. We discuss
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: words and phrases and alliterations and synonyms and the whole
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: box and dice. Today as I was writing my editorial,
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: and this one I'll tell viewers comes from me, and
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: I was interchangeably using, this is in relation to the
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: pill testing stuff out of New South Wales, illicit and illegal.
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: And I thought, wouldn't it be good, we might put
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: that on the show tonight because what's the difference, Kel,
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: between illicit and illegal?
• 44:30
  Speaker 15: They're clearly closely related, but illicit is a broad term
• 44:34
  Speaker 15: and illegal is a narrow term. Illicit was coined in
• 44:37
  Speaker 15: 1606 and illegal a bit later, 1624. Illegal means what
• 44:42
  Speaker 15: it sounds like, unlawful, violating a specific law. But illicit
• 44:47
  Speaker 15: means that plus violating community expectations, community standards, community rules,
• 44:53
  Speaker 15: the wider range of things. So etymologically, illicit is very broad,
• 44:57
  Speaker 15: illegal is narrow.
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: So it's got sort of a moral component to it.
• 45:02
  Speaker 15: Yes, and a cultural one. If you offend people culturally,
• 45:07
  Speaker 15: this is not decent in our society. That can be
• 45:11
  Speaker 15: called illicit.
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: Okay, well, there'll be a lot more things that I'll
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: be calling illicit from here on in. Hey, let's go
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: to tenterhooks. Ray wants to know why people claim to
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: be on tenterhooks. Where's that one come from?
• 45:23
  Speaker 15: Tenterhooks were hooks. They were either bent nails or spikes.
• 45:28
  Speaker 15: on which fabric was stretched really taut in order to
• 45:31
  Speaker 15: dry and cure. This often happened in the open air
• 45:34
  Speaker 15: in fields, hence the New South Wales country town of Tenterfield.
• 45:39
  Speaker 15: And if your nerves are stretched really taut, then you
• 45:42
  Speaker 15: are metaphorically on tenterhooks. And by the way, if you
• 45:46
  Speaker 15: put up a canvas structure, which is anchored to the
• 45:49
  Speaker 15: ground with spikes, you put up a tent. All of
• 45:53
  Speaker 15: them related words.
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: So it's not just about trying to dry out leather.
• 45:58
  Speaker 2: It was fabric and other things.
• 46:00
  Speaker 7: Yes, yes, yes.
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: OK, well, Roger wants to know the origin of the
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: phrase for crying out loud.
• 46:08
  Speaker 15: This one is interesting in the sense that it's a
• 46:11
  Speaker 15: softened blasphemy. And there's a whole lot of expressions in
• 46:13
  Speaker 15: English which were coined specifically to avoid being blasphemous. Now,
• 46:18
  Speaker 15: this one tries to imitate the consonant sounds and the
• 46:22
  Speaker 15: rhythm of a very offensive blasphemy, for Christ's sake. so
• 46:26
  Speaker 15: that you could use this instead of saying that to
• 46:29
  Speaker 15: express exasperation. And we happen to know who coined this one,
• 46:32
  Speaker 15: because this was coined by an American cartoonist named Tad
• 46:36
  Speaker 15: Dorgan in New York in the early years of the
• 46:38
  Speaker 15: 20th century. Tad Dorgan has coined a lot of expressions.
• 46:42
  Speaker 15: He was, just as a by-the-by, he's the man who
• 46:44
  Speaker 15: coined the expression hot dog. He was doing a cartoon
• 46:47
  Speaker 15: with a sausage dog, a dachshund, in a bread roll.
• 46:51
  Speaker 15: And then when he was doing the caption, he realised
• 46:53
  Speaker 15: he didn't know how to spell Duxland. So he wrote
• 46:55
  Speaker 15: hot dog underneath it. And they've been called hot dogs
• 46:58
  Speaker 15: ever since.
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: I've got one of those dogs. I like that. You've
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: brought my little boy Hendrix into the show. We discussed
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: a country mile last week. We had one of our
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: viewers who wanted to know, is a country mile, this
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: is Mark, different from a city mile. And we talked
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: about that. You've got an update though from Someone else,
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: I think.
• 47:20
  Speaker 15: Yes, one of our viewers did some historical research. We've
• 47:24
  Speaker 15: got a panel of experts helping us here on this program, Peter.
• 47:27
  Speaker 15: And he wrote in to tell me.
• 47:29
  Speaker 7: You're not wrong. Yes.
• 47:30
  Speaker 15: The earliest mile was a Roman mile back in the
• 47:32
  Speaker 15: days of the Roman Empire. And a Roman mile was
• 47:35
  Speaker 15: 1,000 steps by a Roman soldier. A step was left, right, left.
• 47:39
  Speaker 15: That was taken to be five feet. So a Roman
• 47:42
  Speaker 15: mile was 5,000 feet. But in the country, farmers didn't
• 47:46
  Speaker 15: count feet. They counted fields. And when they passed eight fields,
• 47:51
  Speaker 15: they said that's one mile. So a country mile was
• 47:54
  Speaker 15: eight fields. Then when they had to regularize it, measure it,
• 47:58
  Speaker 15: what they did was they made the assumption that one
• 48:00
  Speaker 15: field equaled one furlong. So a country mile was eight
• 48:03
  Speaker 15: fields or eight furlongs. And eight furlongs adds up.
• 48:07
  Speaker 7: To 5,280 feet.
• 48:07
  Speaker 15: That was the original country mile. That is our mile.
• 48:13
  Speaker 15: It became the standard mile and replaced the shorter Roman mile.
• 48:18
  Speaker 15: So that's the story. Furlongs to fields to the mile
• 48:21
  Speaker 15: we have today. The country mile won. It now took over.
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: Wow, wow, wow. I am blessed to say that I
• 48:28
  Speaker 2: grew up in the metric era because... All the various
• 48:31
  Speaker 2: numbers of feet versus inches versus pounds versus stones versus furlongs.
• 48:37
  Speaker 2: I would never. Well, I do remember learning a little
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: bit about them in primary school, but gone from memory. Thanks, Kel.
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: Send your words in to oswords.com.au. We need some new
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: words for next week. That's it for me, though. Here's
• 48:49
  Speaker 2: the Bolt Report.