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Credlin | 12 December · Credlin

0:02
Speaker 1: Peter Kredland live on Sky News Australia.
0:07
Speaker 2: Good evening, Welcome to the show. Welcome the final show
0:09
Speaker 2: this year for Peter Credlin. But on the show tonight,
0:12
Speaker 2: I've got more redeeming speaking with me exclusively after her
0:15
Speaker 2: massive win today in the Federal Court.
0:18
Speaker 3: Here's what's coming up on Credline.
0:20
Speaker 2: Well, despite his leadership being unattenable, John Pizzuto defiantly digging in,
0:25
Speaker 2: but really it's a question of when, not if he
0:27
Speaker 2: goes moves afoot to depose the leader, hopefully restoring some
0:32
Speaker 2: sanity and integrity to the Victorian Liberals. Tony Abbott will
0:37
Speaker 2: join me later in the show too, I'll get his
0:38
Speaker 2: take on the Deeming verdict, but also how we've reached
0:42
Speaker 2: the point when it comes to anti Semitism in this country,
0:45
Speaker 2: the lack of leadership and of course crocodile tears yesterday
0:48
Speaker 2: from the Prime Minister but overnight Australia voting yet again
0:53
Speaker 2: against Israel. Plus I'll cross live to Jerusalem. My Sky
0:56
Speaker 2: News co host Rita Panahy is on the ground.
1:00
Speaker 3: She's got some tough words too.
1:02
Speaker 2: For labor federally and of course that interview that exclusive
1:06
Speaker 2: with Moiradeeming coming out. She'll join me live here in
1:08
Speaker 2: the studio. It's been a long road for her and
1:11
Speaker 2: her family, but today she was vindicated for what was
1:15
Speaker 2: always simply her just standing up for women's rights.
1:21
Speaker 4: If I had no other way to defend myself than
1:24
Speaker 4: to have these things retracted, I was never the aggressor.
1:28
Speaker 4: All I did was defend myself.
1:32
Speaker 2: But first, this morning in the Federal Court, we saw
1:35
Speaker 2: a massive win for Moira Redeeming in her long running
1:38
Speaker 2: defamation action against Victoria and the leader John Perzuto after
1:42
Speaker 2: expelling her from the Parliamentary party room after Deeming spoke
1:47
Speaker 2: at a rally in support of women's rights.
1:50
Speaker 3: Demi claimed she was defamed.
1:52
Speaker 2: After Perzuto claimed she was an associate of Nazis, who,
1:55
Speaker 2: as we know, infamously gave crush the event. On all
2:00
Speaker 2: five counts. Federal Court Justice David O'Callaghan found in Deeming's favor,
2:06
Speaker 2: and he then awarded her some three hundred thousand dollars
2:10
Speaker 2: in damages. Costs two but they are yet to be decided.
2:15
Speaker 5: Pursue Intersection ten Capital A one of the Defamation Act
2:20
Speaker 5: two thousand and five Victoria. I have also found that
2:24
Speaker 5: missus deming has established that the publication of each of
2:27
Speaker 5: the five impugned publications has caused or is likely to
2:31
Speaker 5: cause serious harm to her reputation. I have found that
2:35
Speaker 5: the defenses of public interest, honest opinion, and common law
2:39
Speaker 5: qualified privilege fail, and that the defense of contextual truth
2:46
Speaker 5: does not arise.
2:49
Speaker 2: But it wasn't just that Ma Redeeming won her case
2:51
Speaker 2: today that's made headlines. It was also Justice O'Callaghan's scathing
2:56
Speaker 2: judgment on the reliability and on the honesty a Victorian
3:01
Speaker 2: opposition leader. That can't go unremarked. Now, I'll take you
3:05
Speaker 2: very carefully and clearly through his honors words in a moment,
3:09
Speaker 2: but in scenes it can only be described as self delusional.
3:13
Speaker 2: Some four hours after, the judge describes some of his
3:17
Speaker 2: evidence as untruthful and his testimony is infuriatingly unresponsive, but
3:24
Speaker 2: zouto front of the cameras to declare it was his
3:27
Speaker 2: intention to remain in the job despite calls for his resignation.
3:33
Speaker 6: I won't go into private discussions. I think what I
3:37
Speaker 6: can say about this judgment is it doesn't give me
3:40
Speaker 6: any ground or reason for considering whether I should not
3:44
Speaker 6: do this job any Further, this is an important responsibility
3:47
Speaker 6: I have, and I don't believe there's anything in this
3:50
Speaker 6: judgment that would in any way qualify my ability to
3:54
Speaker 6: undertake that important role when I won't go to private discussions.
3:58
Speaker 6: What I have said is that there's nothing in this
4:02
Speaker 6: judgment that would deter me from the responsibility I have
4:05
Speaker 6: to provide Victorian's with a better future. I went through
4:07
Speaker 6: the judgment, and to the extent that I have been
4:10
Speaker 6: able to in the time available, had some initial conversations,
4:14
Speaker 6: but I don't believe there's anything in that which in
4:16
Speaker 6: any way interferes with my ability to do the job.
4:20
Speaker 2: I mean, the Federal Court of Australia called his conduct shameful.
4:27
Speaker 2: You've got to hand it to him for shameless effrontery.
4:30
Speaker 2: But back to the findings of Justice O'Callahan. The paragraph
4:34
Speaker 2: five hundred and fifty seven of his two hundred and
4:36
Speaker 2: forty five page judgment, his honor said, and I quote,
4:39
Speaker 2: I have no hesitation in saying that mister Pizzuto's evidence
4:43
Speaker 2: and his first AFFI David is untrue. Having said on oath,
4:48
Speaker 2: the judge continued that Missus Deming had a bad reputation,
4:52
Speaker 2: particularly for giving sack at a hateful or extreme social
4:55
Speaker 2: or political views. When pressed about the allegation, he was
4:59
Speaker 2: an able to provide a sceric of evidence to support it.
5:04
Speaker 2: That said, the judge is a shameful state of affairs.
5:09
Speaker 2: And yet it's though on these questions of character, John
5:13
Speaker 2: Perzzuto is on another planet to the judge.
5:19
Speaker 6: Can I offer you a very different view of what
5:20
Speaker 6: the judgment said about my evidence? The judgment says very
5:25
Speaker 6: clearly that at all times I acted honestly in terms
5:30
Speaker 6: of acting in what I considered to be the public interest,
5:32
Speaker 6: and there are no adverse findings as to credit on
5:36
Speaker 6: the advice I've received from my lawyers and the reading
5:39
Speaker 6: of the decision that I've been able to undertake so far.
5:43
Speaker 2: And no adverse findings. You hurt him, no adverse findings.
5:48
Speaker 2: Clearly he's delusional, because the judge went on and said
5:52
Speaker 2: that Perzuto's allegations against Deeming and claims of a neo
5:56
Speaker 2: Nazi connection flew when I quote in the face of
6:00
Speaker 2: objective facts, including most obviously the fact that it was
6:04
Speaker 2: mister Pizzuto himself who proposed that Missus Deming be elected
6:07
Speaker 2: to the position of whip in the Legislative Council. A
6:11
Speaker 2: paragraph six hundred and ninety six of the judgment, his
6:14
Speaker 2: honor said that and I quote the perceived urgency to
6:18
Speaker 2: publish that is the dossier of claims against Deeming. It
6:22
Speaker 2: seems to me, even on mister Perzuto's own evidence was
6:26
Speaker 2: driven more by a fear of the political damage that
6:28
Speaker 2: would be inflicted on his fledgling leadership by the then
6:32
Speaker 2: Premier Daniel Andrews, than by his professed concern that the
6:36
Speaker 2: party and the Parliament would be brought into distribute so
6:41
Speaker 2: reckons the judge, the Victorian and the beleader made untrue
6:44
Speaker 2: and highly damaging claims against a colleague in order to
6:48
Speaker 2: save himself from political attack. That and these are my words,
6:53
Speaker 2: that he was so spooked by Daniel Andrews, as every
6:57
Speaker 2: Liberal is in his bloody state, that he through Deeming
7:00
Speaker 2: under the bus in order to save his own skin,
7:04
Speaker 2: and in the process has done vast damage to an
7:08
Speaker 2: innocent woman's reputation.
7:11
Speaker 3: Now this is.
7:11
Speaker 2: All now a legal finding, a fact in the Federal
7:15
Speaker 2: Court of Australia.
7:17
Speaker 3: This is not retric or opinion.
7:19
Speaker 2: This is a fact based judgment in the Australian Federal
7:23
Speaker 2: Court and it's a damning judgment that goes to the
7:26
Speaker 2: character of the opposition leader because for months after that
7:31
Speaker 2: women's rights rally that Deeming helped to organize, that was
7:34
Speaker 2: then gate crash by Neo Nazis. Pazuto could have been
7:38
Speaker 2: the bigger man. He could have admitted he got it wrong.
7:41
Speaker 2: He could have made peace with Moira. Now I can
7:46
Speaker 2: exclusively reveal in February this year he was offered a
7:50
Speaker 2: peace deal. He was offered a peace deal. He could
7:54
Speaker 2: have settled this case for about one hundred thousand dollars.
7:59
Speaker 2: I'll tell you in a moment just what it will
8:01
Speaker 2: now cost him financially. How many times here did I
8:05
Speaker 2: implore him to lead, to lead, to sort this out
8:10
Speaker 2: behind closed doors. I even had the party president of
8:13
Speaker 2: the Libs in Victoria in my own home trying to
8:17
Speaker 2: broker a deal. But Perzuto would not apologize, not even
8:22
Speaker 2: move a motion to readmit Deeming to the Parliamentary team. Now,
8:26
Speaker 2: more fool him and more fool his colleagues who think
8:30
Speaker 2: this blow can survive this judgment. If there's anyone left
8:34
Speaker 2: in his party room who still thinks that tonight, because
8:37
Speaker 2: as defined as he was, this afternoon. He is delusional
8:40
Speaker 2: if he doesn't think that every line in that judgment
8:43
Speaker 2: that goes to his truthfulness, his character, his integrity is
8:48
Speaker 2: treatment of women won't be turned into a campaign add
8:52
Speaker 2: by labor more redeeming. Should never have been accused by
8:56
Speaker 2: our own leader of being a neo Nazi sympathizer. She
9:00
Speaker 2: should never have been thrown out of the party room,
9:02
Speaker 2: and she should never have had her reputation trashed. Or
9:07
Speaker 2: because John Persudo quiverteds threats of Daniel Andrews to use
9:10
Speaker 2: the Nazi gate crush to damage his leadership.
9:14
Speaker 3: I mean, honestly, what.
9:16
Speaker 2: A weak, weak little man the Liberal leaders showed himself
9:21
Speaker 2: to be. The job of a party leader is not
9:24
Speaker 2: to be easily intimidated by an opponent that pedals lies.
9:29
Speaker 2: It's your job as leader to stand up to those lies,
9:31
Speaker 2: stand up for your team, particularly when your own side
9:35
Speaker 2: is unfairly under attack. Now that's the leadership test that
9:39
Speaker 2: John Perzuto has failed.
9:41
Speaker 3: For months.
9:42
Speaker 2: His leadership has been viable only because there's no obvious alternative.
9:47
Speaker 2: If he wants to survive as leader, there's only one
9:49
Speaker 2: way forward. That's to make a sincere and heartfelt apology.
9:53
Speaker 2: To deeming, except that it was never right to exclude
9:56
Speaker 2: her pledged to move immediately to reinstate her in the
10:00
Speaker 2: Liberal Party party room.
10:02
Speaker 3: Now.
10:02
Speaker 2: I thought that could be possible after the judgment this
10:05
Speaker 2: morning when he spoke, that's.
10:08
Speaker 3: Exactly what he refused to do. Later today, I.
10:14
Speaker 6: See a little point in re litigating the circumstances. What
10:17
Speaker 6: I can say is that the court's decision today, which
10:22
Speaker 6: I don't run away from, it's a very disappointing decision
10:24
Speaker 6: at a personal level, but in no way does the
10:27
Speaker 6: decision effect or comment upon the decisions that were taken
10:31
Speaker 6: in this room on the twenty seventh of March or
10:33
Speaker 6: the twelfth of May last year. I would say about
10:37
Speaker 6: this judgment, in addition to what I've already said, is
10:41
Speaker 6: that it brings to a conclusion the litigation. And yes,
10:45
Speaker 6: the decision is disappointing, as I've said, but it does
10:48
Speaker 6: bring the matter to a conclusion.
10:52
Speaker 2: As Mora said today, he's shown himself to be untrustworthy,
10:56
Speaker 2: but forever magnanimous, she says she's still ready to work
11:00
Speaker 2: with him in a professional relationship.
11:04
Speaker 4: I don't think that he's proven him self trustworthy, so
11:08
Speaker 4: it's not up to me to make that kind of call.
11:09
Speaker 4: My door is open if anybody wants to speak to me.
11:14
Speaker 2: So where does this leave the long suffering people of Victoria.
11:18
Speaker 2: After a decade of labor rule, Victoria desperately needs change.
11:22
Speaker 2: But that means a liberal party has to offer a
11:25
Speaker 2: viable alternative.
11:26
Speaker 3: Now.
11:27
Speaker 2: As I said, I did think before that delusional press conference,
11:29
Speaker 2: he might be able to find some political redemption if
11:32
Speaker 2: he was willing to accept he was wrong in how
11:34
Speaker 2: he treated Deemi and move quickly to do everything in
11:37
Speaker 2: his power to reinstate.
11:39
Speaker 3: Her to the party room and apologize. But you hurt him.
11:45
Speaker 2: That won't happen now, And it can't happen to a
11:48
Speaker 2: man that's been hit with a slam dunk as he
11:51
Speaker 2: has been by the judge and.
11:53
Speaker 3: Still thinks he's the bloody messiah.
11:56
Speaker 2: If the Liberal Party in Victoria wants to be worthy
11:58
Speaker 2: of the very name, it has to find a new
12:01
Speaker 2: and better leader. If it wants to turn this around,
12:06
Speaker 2: it has to find a new and better leader. If
12:09
Speaker 2: it wants to restore faith, it has to find a
12:13
Speaker 2: new and better leader.
12:15
Speaker 3: After all, the Liberal Party owes it to.
12:17
Speaker 2: The state and to the country to give Victorians a
12:21
Speaker 2: decent alternative to vote for. Today, Perzuto was adamant that
12:27
Speaker 2: this court defeat was the end of his humiliation.
12:30
Speaker 3: Well it's not. It's not.
12:32
Speaker 2: In a few days time there will be another court
12:35
Speaker 2: hearing about costs, which will inevitably go against him and
12:40
Speaker 2: are likely to amount to four or five million dollars. Now,
12:45
Speaker 2: people will then be asked to donate to him, to
12:48
Speaker 2: donate to him and pay his costs, but they will
12:52
Speaker 2: want to donate to Peter Dutton to help him win.
12:54
Speaker 2: They won't want to donate to bail out John Perzuto.
12:58
Speaker 3: Indeed, the issue.
12:59
Speaker 2: Of money and how he'll pay these massive legal bills
13:03
Speaker 2: became quite a feature of media questions today and they'll
13:07
Speaker 2: only intensify when that costs order is made against the
13:12
Speaker 2: Liberal leader.
13:13
Speaker 6: I think everybody will understand and appreciate that federal court
13:16
Speaker 6: matters are very expensive, so you don't do anything lightly.
13:19
Speaker 6: But I'm not even turning my mind to that. My
13:22
Speaker 6: lawyers will review the decision and give me advice according
13:24
Speaker 6: with it. I don't want any Victorians to be worried
13:27
Speaker 6: about how I'll pay my bills.
13:31
Speaker 2: And then there's also the complaint to the legal services
13:33
Speaker 2: commission to be resolved about a secret fifty thousand dollars
13:37
Speaker 2: payment made in the course of settling another defamation case
13:41
Speaker 2: against John Persuto. Today, Perzuto denied his position was unattenable.
13:47
Speaker 2: But as things stand, it's a Liberal party's position that's
13:51
Speaker 2: now untenable with a leader who makes things up, who
13:55
Speaker 2: damages people, who won't apologize or make amends even when
13:59
Speaker 2: he found out in a court of law. If I
14:03
Speaker 2: was on the Liberal front bench, I would resign tonight
14:06
Speaker 2: because my integrity would be worth more than any title
14:10
Speaker 2: that man could offer me. In all good conscience, I
14:15
Speaker 2: can never serve under any leader who uses the horrific
14:19
Speaker 2: sleur of Nazism to try and destroy another Liberal and
14:24
Speaker 2: then is found by courts to have to fame someone
14:27
Speaker 2: using those very words. Robert Menzie is a strong supporter
14:32
Speaker 2: of the individual, of freedom of speech, and of women.
14:37
Speaker 2: He would be so ashamed of his old blue ribbon
14:40
Speaker 2: state tonight. I know where the Liberal base is. I
14:48
Speaker 2: know where the Liberal Party membership in Victoria is, and
14:51
Speaker 2: tonight they are with wordeeming. All right, We'll go to
14:54
Speaker 2: Camber now for the headlines. Sky needs political reporter cam Redden.
14:59
Speaker 7: Good evening, Australia has broken ranks with the United States
15:02
Speaker 7: to support a UN motion calling for an immediate, permanent
15:06
Speaker 7: and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza.
15:09
Speaker 8: Australia supports this resolution's unwavering commitment to the vision of
15:13
Speaker 8: a two state solution because it is the only.
15:16
Speaker 1: Way out of this terrible cycle of violence.
15:19
Speaker 7: The resolution does call for the release of hostages, but
15:23
Speaker 7: doesn't set it as a condition to put down arms.
15:26
Speaker 7: In a separate vote, Australia also backed a motion in
15:29
Speaker 7: support of aid agency UNRAH, which has previously fired staff
15:34
Speaker 7: on suspicion of involvement in the October seven attacks. The
15:38
Speaker 7: government says it will force social media giants to pay
15:41
Speaker 7: for Australian News one way or another.
15:44
Speaker 9: The aim of the incentive is not to raise funds,
15:48
Speaker 9: but to encourage commercial deals.
15:51
Speaker 8: From January one, tech giants will be charged a levy
15:54
Speaker 8: worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but it can be
15:57
Speaker 8: offset plus some if they do who deals with media companies.
16:01
Speaker 1: Wouldn't be an economically rational decision to pay more under
16:06
Speaker 1: a charge than you would need to pay under a
16:09
Speaker 1: commercial agreement.
16:10
Speaker 7: News Corp Executive chair Michael Miller welcomed the initiative as
16:14
Speaker 7: a step forward in rebuilding the industry following more than
16:17
Speaker 7: one thousand job losses and in a surprise to the market,
16:21
Speaker 7: unemployments fell below four percent for the first time since March.
16:26
Speaker 8: Cameron Reddin's Sky News Canberra right.
16:29
Speaker 2: Lots of other headlines to get across as well. Of course,
16:31
Speaker 2: we'll talk to Tony Abbott, we'll talk to Myradimi, and
16:34
Speaker 2: a whole lot more. Will cross to Jerusalem to speak
16:36
Speaker 2: with Rita Panehy. But to get across the headlines and
16:38
Speaker 2: join now by Daily Telegraph journalist James Willis and senior
16:41
Speaker 2: fellow at the Menses Research Center, Nick Cator.
16:44
Speaker 3: Welcome to you both.
16:45
Speaker 2: I've got to start again and with this issue with
16:47
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister and lack of leadership growing anti Semitism
16:51
Speaker 2: in Australia. It took him days and days to call
16:54
Speaker 2: out that active terrorism in Melbourne. He took four days
16:57
Speaker 2: then to get to the synagogue. Obviously had what I
17:02
Speaker 2: thought was a change in his rectoric, certainly in how
17:06
Speaker 2: he appeared yesterday Nick Kaita. But then overnight, yet again
17:11
Speaker 2: we've got a fresh blow to the Jewish community in Australia.
17:15
Speaker 2: We have voted against Israel and the Prime Minister wants
17:19
Speaker 2: Jews to believe he's on their side. N I just
17:23
Speaker 2: think he's a hollow man. And this is about votes
17:26
Speaker 2: in Western Sydney and cowtowing to the Greens.
17:30
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I mean, I thought his comments were heartfelt yesterday
17:34
Speaker 1: in response to the violence there or the attacks in
17:38
Speaker 1: the eastern suburbs of Sydney. But look this just you know,
17:42
Speaker 1: it just puts the kibosh on it, doesn't it. Because
17:44
Speaker 1: we know that an unconditional and permanent cease fire in Gaza,
17:49
Speaker 1: without seeking to disarm Hamas or out insisting on the
17:53
Speaker 1: release of the hostages, that's a victory for Hamas. That's
17:57
Speaker 1: a victory for the terrorists. Notion that Albanesi government seems
18:02
Speaker 1: to be pursuing that we can have a two state solution,
18:05
Speaker 1: get real. The biggest obstacle to a two state solution
18:08
Speaker 1: right now is Iran and its proxies. And like the
18:11
Speaker 1: United States under Trump, we need to be focusing on
18:14
Speaker 1: Iran and not getting caught up with these desperate cries
18:18
Speaker 1: for a peace in Gaza. That's not the issue. The
18:21
Speaker 1: issue is dealing with the bigger players that are getting
18:25
Speaker 1: in the way of a truly peaceful solution in that region.
18:31
Speaker 8: James.
18:31
Speaker 2: Today the PM stood with the P and G Prime
18:34
Speaker 2: Minister James, we're oarpe he announced six hundred million dollars
18:38
Speaker 2: for an NRL club up that way. Considering where we
18:42
Speaker 2: are in Australia, with these anti Semitic attacks, on the rise,
18:45
Speaker 2: cost of living pressures, all the other grim statistics in
18:49
Speaker 2: terms of our budget and more, I just thought that, look,
18:54
Speaker 2: you know, six hundred million dollars to a foreign country
18:57
Speaker 2: for a footy team. It just looked and sounded tone
19:01
Speaker 2: deaf to me.
19:02
Speaker 10: Well, Peter, I think there's no doubt that the Prime
19:04
Speaker 10: Minister was certainly keen for a distraction after a disastrous
19:08
Speaker 10: last week and to go into a rugby league field
19:12
Speaker 10: and be discussing this major announcement, something that in fairness
19:16
Speaker 10: has been in the works for quite some time.
19:18
Speaker 11: But it was certainly a good distraction away.
19:20
Speaker 10: From some of the negative headlines he's had in the
19:22
Speaker 10: last few days. Look, it's a really interesting deal because
19:25
Speaker 10: Peter Dutton has made a very sensible point today that
19:28
Speaker 10: he largely supports the idea of doing more with P
19:32
Speaker 10: and G and he thinks it's a very important strategic step.
19:35
Speaker 10: But this kind of money over ten years, whether it
19:38
Speaker 10: be for rugby league, whether it be for anything, deserves
19:42
Speaker 10: proper scrutiny and auditing. We give a lot of money
19:45
Speaker 10: to P and G already, I think most Australians would
19:48
Speaker 10: have absolutely no idea where it goes. It's certainly in
19:51
Speaker 10: fairness and very sadly doesn't go to improve their standard
19:54
Speaker 10: of living in places like Port Moresby. But this money
19:58
Speaker 10: is ultimately seen as a very strat extent. There's apparently
20:01
Speaker 10: a China clause which means that if P and G
20:03
Speaker 10: does a deal with China anytime in the next ten years,
20:06
Speaker 10: the whole thing can be ripped up. Reading the comments today,
20:09
Speaker 10: there's a lot of rugby league fans that are a
20:11
Speaker 10: little bit doubtful about how it's all going to work.
20:14
Speaker 10: I think there's a lot to work out here. They're
20:16
Speaker 10: going to have to convince players to live in P
20:18
Speaker 10: and G. They're talking about tax free salaries. They're going
20:21
Speaker 10: to have to build them a giant compound. There's no
20:23
Speaker 10: issue with fans. P and g's got a massive rugby
20:26
Speaker 10: league audience, but I'm very keen, like Peter Dutton to
20:30
Speaker 10: understand where this money over the next ten years actually goes.
20:34
Speaker 10: But certainly for rugby league and Peter Velandi's the boss,
20:37
Speaker 10: they've played a blinder because it's money in the bank
20:39
Speaker 10: and they get another team as.
20:40
Speaker 11: A result, which is better for their broadcast deal.
20:44
Speaker 2: Mike my words with the Prime Minister eventually leaves office,
20:47
Speaker 2: he'll be the chairman of a rugby league club or
20:50
Speaker 2: he'll be on the NRL commission. This is the way
20:55
Speaker 2: this stuff works. Let's go to some comments made at
20:57
Speaker 2: ABC Radio. This was an exchange about anti Semitic vandalism
21:02
Speaker 2: in Sydney. It's raised a fair few eyebrows.
21:04
Speaker 3: Have a listen.
21:06
Speaker 12: Just on your wording in your statements this morning. What's
21:09
Speaker 12: your reasoning for branding the attack anti Semitic and not
21:12
Speaker 12: anti Israel.
21:13
Speaker 13: How do you make a distinction?
21:15
Speaker 10: I mean, I think we would have to be willful
21:17
Speaker 10: at this point to turn a blind eye to that
21:19
Speaker 10: sequence of event and suggested to anything other than an
21:21
Speaker 10: anti Semitic attack.
21:22
Speaker 12: So if you're calling it anti Semitic rather than just
21:25
Speaker 12: a political anti Israel statement, what you've been in public
21:29
Speaker 12: life a long time? Would you say anti Semitism is
21:32
Speaker 12: at an all time high in your experience.
21:36
Speaker 3: Yes, I would Nick, Nick Cata.
21:43
Speaker 1: It's perverse, isn't it, Peter. It is absolutely perverse.
21:47
Speaker 5: So it's okay.
21:48
Speaker 1: So it's a legitimate form of political statement. Is it
21:51
Speaker 1: to go and torch cars and put seeing graffiti on
21:55
Speaker 1: people's houses in a peaceful Laura buying suburb like Volkler?
22:00
Speaker 1: That's okay. Now that's just a political statement. This guy
22:03
Speaker 1: cannot be for real. I gather he's the fill in
22:06
Speaker 1: presenter on that program. Let's hope he never gets another
22:10
Speaker 1: gig there, because this is just it is just well,
22:14
Speaker 1: it is frustrating, to say the least, but I think
22:18
Speaker 1: deeply offensive really if we think about it.
22:22
Speaker 2: There's a Westpac report out today that says Australia is
22:25
Speaker 2: about to embark on a spending spree of borrowed money.
22:28
Speaker 2: I might add six hundred and fifty billion dollars money,
22:32
Speaker 2: of course, or remind people at home, just like your
22:34
Speaker 2: mortgage that has to be.
22:35
Speaker 3: Paid back that we pay interest on.
22:39
Speaker 2: Famously, as Kerry Pakis said, I would be that worried
22:42
Speaker 2: if you were spending it, well, would you spend it?
22:43
Speaker 11: Terribly?
22:44
Speaker 2: He used to tell government, look at some of the
22:46
Speaker 2: things that we're wasting money on. This is federal government waste.
22:50
Speaker 2: Six hundred and fifty thousand dollars spent on dance performances
22:54
Speaker 2: and other things in our embassy in the United States.
22:58
Speaker 2: This is of course, where our form Kevin Ruddy is ambassador.
23:03
Speaker 2: We spent close to a million dollars on just five
23:06
Speaker 2: pieces of artwork. James, We've got pensioners who can't pay
23:11
Speaker 2: their power bill and run wants a million dollars wheth
23:15
Speaker 2: of art to look at it on his walls.
23:16
Speaker 3: I just think this is outrageous.
23:18
Speaker 10: Yeah, and you've got these well paid bureaucrats all over
23:21
Speaker 10: the world in different consulates, different embassies that are living
23:26
Speaker 10: it up while you and I are struggling like everyone
23:30
Speaker 10: else is back home.
23:31
Speaker 11: I think it's shameful money.
23:33
Speaker 10: Whether it is linked to Kevin Rudd or not, there
23:36
Speaker 10: is no suggestion Kevin Rudd purchased them himself, but they
23:39
Speaker 10: are being hung in the embassy that Kevin Ruddy is
23:42
Speaker 10: in in Washington.
23:43
Speaker 11: But it's a terrible waste of money. There's musical instruments.
23:46
Speaker 10: Purchased as well, hundreds of thousands of dollars of art,
23:49
Speaker 10: dance performances.
23:50
Speaker 11: And I think when the Public.
23:52
Speaker 10: Service was recently revealed that we've spent another five billion
23:55
Speaker 10: dollars a year on the public service, and your wage
23:58
Speaker 10: bill for the public service about thirty six billion dollars
24:01
Speaker 10: now three hundred and fifty thousand Commonwealth public servants alone.
24:06
Speaker 10: They're all allowed to flexibly work from home full time. Honestly,
24:10
Speaker 10: these people, more and more by the day, are showing
24:13
Speaker 10: themselves to be out of touch. And if spending that
24:16
Speaker 10: much on artwork and other things is not the best
24:18
Speaker 10: example of that, I don't know what is.
24:22
Speaker 3: I'll leave it there. Gentlemen.
24:22
Speaker 2: I think you're absolutely spot on. Have a lovely Christmas,
24:25
Speaker 2: both of you. I've loved having you on the program
24:27
Speaker 2: throughout the year and I look forward to your company
24:29
Speaker 2: again next year. All right, let's go to some other issues.
24:33
Speaker 2: Of course, my good friend read a Panah. It's abundantly
24:36
Speaker 2: clear labor is turning their back on Israel evidence of course,
24:39
Speaker 2: I mentioned it the votes last night in the United Nations.
24:43
Speaker 2: The vast majority of Australians support our ally in the
24:46
Speaker 2: Middle East. They have not forgotten. Unlike Canberra, the atrocities
24:50
Speaker 2: of October seven joined me now live from Jerusalem, as
24:54
Speaker 2: I said, my good friend, but she's a good friend
24:56
Speaker 2: of Israel as well.
24:57
Speaker 3: My colleague read a panahe well read it.
25:01
Speaker 2: I'm keen to know where you've been because I understand
25:03
Speaker 2: you've been down very close to the Nova Music Festival site,
25:08
Speaker 2: right up against the border to Gaza. I know you
25:11
Speaker 2: were hoping right as you are to go into Gaza.
25:15
Speaker 2: But can give us a sense of what you've seen,
25:18
Speaker 2: what you've heard over the last few days.
25:23
Speaker 9: It's been an eye opening experience there. As much as
25:27
Speaker 9: I have read and consumed and interviewed people, it's different
25:31
Speaker 9: when you're right there, When you're at the Nova site,
25:35
Speaker 9: you're on the what was the dance floor where hundreds
25:39
Speaker 9: were murdered, four hundred in total, and many taking hostage,
25:44
Speaker 9: and you actually see their photos, You see the place
25:47
Speaker 9: where they were brutally killed, and you hear from survivors
25:53
Speaker 9: and how they are coping with the guilt, the survivor guilt.
25:57
Speaker 9: And we did go to a Kabut's cafar As which
26:00
Speaker 9: is right on that Gaza border. They lost sixty two
26:03
Speaker 9: people on October seven, sixty two murdered, nineteen were taken hostage,
26:07
Speaker 9: some of those fassages still haven't returned, Peter. But I've
26:11
Speaker 9: got to tell you what's really been shocking also in
26:15
Speaker 9: the last couple of days is talking to the locals,
26:18
Speaker 9: whether they're driving a taxi or whether they're parliamentarians. This
26:23
Speaker 9: perception they have of Australia and the explosion of anti
26:26
Speaker 9: Semitism in Australia, this belief that Australians are hostile to
26:31
Speaker 9: the Jewish community. I don't think we would appreciate how
26:36
Speaker 9: much to understand about what's happening in Australia and how
26:40
Speaker 9: much they misunderstand. They think this is a widely held belief.
26:44
Speaker 9: They don't understand that the great majority of Australians don't
26:48
Speaker 9: feel this way, aren't anti Israel, aren't anti Semitic, but
26:53
Speaker 9: they are getting this news and you can understand why
26:58
Speaker 9: they've taken that point of view. It really is quite
27:01
Speaker 9: disappointing to see that our friends in Israel think that
27:05
Speaker 9: the great majority are a significant number of Australians are
27:09
Speaker 9: hostile to them.
27:12
Speaker 2: I understand you're quite close tonight to the Kannesset, which
27:15
Speaker 2: is the Israeli parliament, and we've had that vote over
27:20
Speaker 2: United Nations Australia supporting an unconditional ceasefire, which means there's
27:26
Speaker 2: no requirement for these remaining hostages to be freed or
27:30
Speaker 2: God forbid, their bodies to be available to their families,
27:33
Speaker 2: to be able to bury again. We talked about the
27:37
Speaker 2: view of the sentiment of ordinary Israelis, But the government
27:39
Speaker 2: officials and those you're meeting with, what's their reaction to
27:43
Speaker 2: our very dramatic moves in the United Nations that's blown
27:48
Speaker 2: apart about seven decades of bipartisanship.
27:54
Speaker 9: It's a mixture of dismay and disappointment. They don't understand
27:58
Speaker 9: why our government has aviated from a position they expected
28:02
Speaker 9: and to have. They don't understand what the end goal is.
28:07
Speaker 9: And I think they're putting together that with the explosion
28:11
Speaker 9: in antisemitism we're seeing and seeing that Australia is no
28:17
Speaker 9: longer a friend of Israel, that they're questioning that relationship,
28:21
Speaker 9: which I think is terribly sad because I don't think
28:26
Speaker 9: the alp and Easy government is representing the wishes of
28:30
Speaker 9: the great many Australians and the voting the UN is
28:34
Speaker 9: certainly a hot topic of discussion here and they feel
28:39
Speaker 9: like it gives a license to the anti Semites to
28:43
Speaker 9: launch more attacks, to burn down more synagogues, or attack
28:49
Speaker 9: more Jewish individuals and their property, because look at this,
28:53
Speaker 9: this is what our government's position is. Israel is in
28:56
Speaker 9: the wrong. Israel needs to be brought to account. So
29:00
Speaker 9: they see a relationship between those two actions that are
29:05
Speaker 9: occurring in Australia right now.
29:09
Speaker 2: Just quickly, I know you're Victorian, and you're right for
29:11
Speaker 2: the herald Son more redeeming white Hair case comprehensively in
29:14
Speaker 2: the Federal Court today. John Perzuto, though, says nothing to
29:18
Speaker 2: see here. I'm staying on as Liberal leader or what
29:20
Speaker 2: do you think his chances are of surviving?
29:24
Speaker 9: He should have walked a year ago, eighteen months ago.
29:28
Speaker 9: He has mishandled this so catastrophically it's hard to put
29:33
Speaker 9: into words. He took something that should have been a
29:35
Speaker 9: political opportunity, the fact that he had this very admirable
29:40
Speaker 9: first term MP who was willing to fight for women's rights.
29:43
Speaker 9: It was mercilessly attacked by it Dan Andrews after being
29:47
Speaker 9: attacked by leftist protesters. She was physically attacked at that protest.
29:51
Speaker 9: This is something a lot of people forget. Police said
29:53
Speaker 9: they couldn't protect her anymore and told it to leave,
29:56
Speaker 9: And instead of backing her, he decided he was a
30:00
Speaker 9: going to be even harsher on her than Dan Andrews was.
30:03
Speaker 9: And Dan Andrews essentially blamed her for the costplaying group
30:07
Speaker 9: of neo Nazi guys who showed up, so he could
30:09
Speaker 9: have John Pursuita could have taken that whole incident, got
30:13
Speaker 9: a big political win out of it, and instead he
30:16
Speaker 9: has blown up himself. He's blown up the party. The
30:19
Speaker 9: amount of damage he has done in the last year
30:23
Speaker 9: is astonishing. Victoria is a broke and a broken state.
30:27
Speaker 9: The opposition should be in prime position to win in
30:31
Speaker 9: a landslide, and they're not, and a lot of that
30:34
Speaker 9: is down to the weak leadership. So he needs to
30:37
Speaker 9: step down. He's got to stop thinking about himself and
30:40
Speaker 9: start thinking about what's best for Victoria.
30:44
Speaker 3: All right, I leave it there, Thank you reader, Stay safe.
30:47
Speaker 11: All right.
30:48
Speaker 2: After break, I'll speak exclusively with Mo Redeeming following her
30:51
Speaker 2: decisive win today in the Federal Court. A little later on,
30:55
Speaker 2: Tony Abbott will join me for his reaction on the
30:58
Speaker 2: case and more. Welcome back still the come, Tony Abbot
31:05
Speaker 2: will join me for his assessment on Anthony Albanezi, who
31:08
Speaker 2: seems to miraculously discover the surge of anti Semitism or
31:12
Speaker 2: has he really, But first, it should never have reached
31:15
Speaker 2: the point it did. Today, thankfully, Moradmi has been vindicated
31:19
Speaker 2: in the Federal Court simply for speaking in a rally
31:22
Speaker 2: defending women's rights. She was lumped in with neo Nazis
31:26
Speaker 2: that gate crashed the event, despite having nothing to do
31:29
Speaker 2: with them.
31:30
Speaker 3: That's not my view, that's the view of Federal Court
31:33
Speaker 3: justice today. I sorry.
31:35
Speaker 2: Saga has been running since March last year, during which
31:38
Speaker 2: time Moira has been vilified. Today she came out on top,
31:42
Speaker 2: though Justice O'Callahan, finding that at all five counts it
31:47
Speaker 2: was in her favor. Now, through it all, she says,
31:50
Speaker 2: she hasn't stopped fighting for the rights of women and girls,
31:52
Speaker 2: and she will not stop fighting for sex based rights
31:56
Speaker 2: and the rights of parents too. And I'm very pleased
31:59
Speaker 2: to say that. Morodina joins me now in the studio. Well,
32:02
Speaker 2: thank you for your time. I mean, I know this
32:04
Speaker 2: has been just such a huge day and you've ridden
32:07
Speaker 2: a real emotional rollercoaster as you sat in the court
32:11
Speaker 2: this morning just after ten o'clock and everything's on the line.
32:14
Speaker 2: It's always everything been on the line for you. When
32:18
Speaker 2: the judge delivered his judgment, What were you thinking, what
32:23
Speaker 2: were you feeling?
32:26
Speaker 4: I was in I think a bit of shock. It's
32:30
Speaker 4: been a traumatic two years and I just couldn't help
32:35
Speaker 4: but think. You know, this has just been a sham expulsion,
32:39
Speaker 4: a sham termination. It's done so much damage and for
32:44
Speaker 4: what it was obviously all not true.
32:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, the judge found for people at home, the judge
32:51
Speaker 2: found that the grounds on which the Liberal Party leadership
32:57
Speaker 2: team put to the party room to expel you, that
33:00
Speaker 2: you were connected or associated with neo Nazis, I found
33:03
Speaker 2: at all of that was false, that that was defaming you,
33:06
Speaker 2: the circulation of the dossier, the movement of the motion.
33:09
Speaker 2: So if all of that's found to be untrue and false,
33:13
Speaker 2: it follows that you deserve to be returned to the
33:16
Speaker 2: party room.
33:19
Speaker 3: This has been a huge fight for your political career.
33:23
Speaker 2: But I also know that your family's good name and reputation,
33:27
Speaker 2: particularly that of your kids, has been a big part
33:30
Speaker 2: of this, hasn't it.
33:31
Speaker 4: Yes, it has. I asked the party room in my
33:34
Speaker 4: speech actually that if they were so intent on ruining
33:39
Speaker 4: my political career, then could they at least please not
33:42
Speaker 4: do it with the smear of Nazism because that would
33:45
Speaker 4: ruin the lives of my children as well. And obviously
33:51
Speaker 4: that request was not granted in the end, and I
33:55
Speaker 4: was expelled anyway. But it was just me, obviously that
34:01
Speaker 4: was hurt. Throughout all this, there were lots of women
34:04
Speaker 4: and all the attendees and all of us who fight
34:07
Speaker 4: for this issue in fact or often have these things implied.
34:11
Speaker 4: It was pretty catastrophic to be named, you know, on
34:14
Speaker 4: a Liberal party logo document like that, So it was
34:17
Speaker 4: extra catastrophic, I suppose. But what happened to me on
34:20
Speaker 4: this really public scale does happen to a lot of people.
34:22
Speaker 4: And I hope that this, yeah, is a win for
34:24
Speaker 4: all of us.
34:25
Speaker 2: And we can see since October seven, I mean, this
34:28
Speaker 2: happened to you before October seven happened, of course, but
34:31
Speaker 2: we can see now that there's no greater slur to
34:36
Speaker 2: throw at someone than to accuse them of being an
34:38
Speaker 2: a Nazi.
34:39
Speaker 3: I mean, it doesn't get worse than that.
34:41
Speaker 2: So people, I think now have a better understanding why
34:43
Speaker 2: you were so determined to clean your name.
34:45
Speaker 4: Yes, and it was so upsetting, and I didn't say
34:50
Speaker 4: anything at the time because I didn't want to make
34:52
Speaker 4: it all about me, and I tried to, you know,
34:57
Speaker 4: not attract the circus show that was my case to
35:00
Speaker 4: that issue as it has been going on the last
35:02
Speaker 4: two years. But it was so offensive, as I did
35:05
Speaker 4: see all real anti semitism in our society. It made
35:10
Speaker 4: me just feel sick that that's what I had been
35:13
Speaker 4: plastered with and there was this obstinate refusal to retract it.
35:20
Speaker 2: Liberals will say, were people who want to change of
35:22
Speaker 2: government in Victoria and this Plenty of them will say,
35:25
Speaker 2: you know, this is just terrible. Yet again the liberals
35:28
Speaker 2: have descended into in fighting they're famous for in this state.
35:33
Speaker 2: You know, why could this have all been sorted out
35:35
Speaker 2: behind closed doors?
35:37
Speaker 3: Now?
35:38
Speaker 2: I took people into a bit of confidence tonight revealed
35:41
Speaker 2: that in February this year, you and your legal team
35:45
Speaker 2: offered John Perzuto to settle this case for about a
35:48
Speaker 2: one hundred thousand dollars. I think that was the payment
35:51
Speaker 2: your costs. By then there were no costs or very
35:54
Speaker 2: little legal costs, and it all would have gone away.
35:58
Speaker 2: And yet he was so pig he wouldn't even meet
36:01
Speaker 2: you at that level and forced you into court, and
36:06
Speaker 2: now we are where we are today.
36:09
Speaker 4: It's my recollection that he never even acknowledged that letter
36:12
Speaker 4: that offer.
36:13
Speaker 3: The legal offer.
36:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you tried, did you, mora to keep this
36:19
Speaker 2: matter out of court for a long time?
36:22
Speaker 4: Yes, right up until the very last moment. Actually, we
36:26
Speaker 4: ended up having to pay someone to try and serve
36:29
Speaker 4: him because we couldn't get him to accept service on
36:31
Speaker 4: the last day.
36:34
Speaker 3: Are you still proud to be a liberal?
36:36
Speaker 4: I am. I'm very wounded by everything that's happened. I
36:43
Speaker 4: am very grateful for the Liberals who stood with me.
36:46
Speaker 4: I know that there's been horrendous bullying of them for
36:51
Speaker 4: standing up for me, even though all they did was
36:53
Speaker 4: tell the truth. I know that you have been treated poorly.
36:56
Speaker 4: I know that ordinary members have been treated poorly. I
36:59
Speaker 4: know that it's not just in my party, in our
37:01
Speaker 4: party that people have been treated poorly for standing.
37:04
Speaker 3: Up for me.
37:04
Speaker 4: And I'm so grateful that everyone did that.
37:09
Speaker 2: Because you had a lot of colleagues who fronted the
37:12
Speaker 2: court for you, a lot of colleagues who have since
37:13
Speaker 2: had their pre selections rightened.
37:16
Speaker 4: Yes, that was horrendous and I tried not to cause
37:20
Speaker 4: ongoing division. I tried to keep a bit of distance
37:23
Speaker 4: after asking for affidavits and things like that, but it's
37:29
Speaker 4: been terrible the way that power and influence and money
37:32
Speaker 4: have been used to try and avoid doing something very simple,
37:36
Speaker 4: which was to say this was a mistake, these things
37:40
Speaker 4: are actually inaccurate. We're going to retract them, we're going
37:43
Speaker 4: to undo what we did, and we're all going to
37:45
Speaker 4: move on together. It could have been very simple, and instead,
37:48
Speaker 4: multiple people's lives have been extremely traumatized. Multiple people's careers
37:52
Speaker 4: are on the line, not just mine. It's and like
37:58
Speaker 4: I said before, to sit there in court and hear
37:59
Speaker 4: the confirm everything that I knew, which was that there
38:02
Speaker 4: was absolutely no basis for the things that were done.
38:07
Speaker 4: You just think, why.
38:09
Speaker 3: When you're thrown in the fire like this. I mean,
38:11
Speaker 3: there's two choices to have.
38:12
Speaker 2: I suppose you are made stronger by the fire, or
38:16
Speaker 2: it destroys you.
38:18
Speaker 3: I know it's early days from the judgment.
38:20
Speaker 2: I mean, buts this made you stronger in your resolve
38:23
Speaker 2: to stay in the Parliament and to speak your mind.
38:28
Speaker 4: Well, nothing was ever going to destroy me. Before I
38:30
Speaker 4: cleared my children's names. That was never going to happen.
38:33
Speaker 4: And I was a happy little teacher for many, many years.
38:36
Speaker 4: But there comes a point where you have to stand up.
38:39
Speaker 4: You have to get involved in something that you never
38:41
Speaker 4: thought you would. I never thought about politics before personally,
38:45
Speaker 4: but it's unacceptable to me that child safeguards have been removed.
38:48
Speaker 4: It's unacceptable to me that women are not allowed to
38:50
Speaker 4: say no to men in our change rooms. That's just
38:53
Speaker 4: non negotiable. And so I will absolutely not be having
38:57
Speaker 4: any kind of a breakdown or giving up at all
38:59
Speaker 4: until those things are done. I will have it when
39:01
Speaker 4: I'm good and ready.
39:02
Speaker 2: I think they've awakened more than just a fire on
39:04
Speaker 2: you where I'm incredibly proud of you, and I know
39:07
Speaker 2: men and my viewers are, but I think people right
39:10
Speaker 2: around the country and overseas standing with you today applaud
39:15
Speaker 2: your dignity in what has been a pretty disgraceful episode
39:18
Speaker 2: in Victorian politics.
39:19
Speaker 3: Thank you. She's been biforsent, isn't she?
39:22
Speaker 2: Right after break Tony Abbott, he'll talk to me about
39:24
Speaker 2: the Victorian Lebels, of course, but a whole life more
39:26
Speaker 2: PM Anti Semitism goodness may stay tuned. Welcome back, Thanks
39:36
Speaker 2: for your company. Let's bring you my next guest, former
39:38
Speaker 2: Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Tony Abbitt, welcome to the show.
39:41
Speaker 2: There's a whole lot of issues I'd like to get
39:45
Speaker 2: views from you on, but I want to start with
39:48
Speaker 2: comments you wrote in news called papers over the weekend
39:50
Speaker 2: that anti Semitism. You said in Australia is out of
39:53
Speaker 2: control and that the government needed.
39:55
Speaker 3: To do more.
39:56
Speaker 2: Yesterday it looked like the PM was finally understanding the
40:01
Speaker 2: gravity of what's happened. But over night Australia is yet
40:04
Speaker 2: again voted against Israel and it looks like we're holding
40:08
Speaker 2: them to a higher standard than any other country. Indeed,
40:11
Speaker 2: it's hard not to feel as though these votes in
40:14
Speaker 2: the UN are in fact rewarding terrorism.
40:20
Speaker 14: Peter, we have to understand that anti Semitism is a
40:24
Speaker 14: species of racism, and you can't be against some racism,
40:29
Speaker 14: You've got to be against all racism. Now, it was
40:33
Speaker 14: great that the Prime Minister was against racism at a
40:38
Speaker 14: synagogue in Sydney yesterday, but then today Australia voted in
40:43
Speaker 14: favor of racism at the UN. Because voting for an
40:48
Speaker 14: immediate ceasefire is rewarding Hamas, and Hamas wants to bring
40:53
Speaker 14: about a new Holocaust of the Jewish people. So I
40:58
Speaker 14: just think there's a double standard here. I think it's reprehensible,
41:03
Speaker 14: and really we don't just need to call out anti Semitism,
41:08
Speaker 14: we need to stamp it out.
41:12
Speaker 2: You've made some pretty strong comments in the media that
41:16
Speaker 2: we need to accept that immigration has changed this country
41:20
Speaker 2: and we need to be careful about it changing too
41:23
Speaker 2: far and too fast. Now, let's be blunt here, Tony Abbott.
41:27
Speaker 2: Has immigration added to anti Semitism?
41:34
Speaker 14: Well, Peter, when you listen to some of these rabid
41:38
Speaker 14: hate preachers, you've got a fear that it has. And
41:42
Speaker 14: I guess the point I keep making is that we
41:48
Speaker 14: have a duty to keep our country's character, and depending
41:54
Speaker 14: upon who comes to this country, the character of our
41:57
Speaker 14: country can change. Now, last time I heard it, the
42:03
Speaker 14: Citizenship Oth talked about respecting our democratic beliefs and upholding
42:10
Speaker 14: and obeying our laws, and it's hard to think that
42:14
Speaker 14: all of our recent migrants have taken that seriously. So yes,
42:19
Speaker 14: by all means, let's maintain a non discriminatory policy, but
42:24
Speaker 14: let's insist that all our migrants join Team Australia that
42:28
Speaker 14: don't just live in hotel Australia. And let's remember assimilation
42:34
Speaker 14: is not a dirty word. In the end, integration and
42:38
Speaker 14: ultimately assimilation has got to be the objective of our
42:42
Speaker 14: immigration policy.
42:46
Speaker 2: I'm just looking behind you there in your office in Sydney,
42:48
Speaker 2: I can see an Australian flag. I know you've got
42:52
Speaker 2: a lot of respect for the indigenous flag. I know
42:54
Speaker 2: you've got a lot of history working for Aboriginal people.
42:58
Speaker 2: But one flag was precisely what kicked off a bit
43:01
Speaker 2: of a firestorm this week for Peter Dutton. He says,
43:04
Speaker 2: if he's PM, if he's elected PM by the goodwill
43:07
Speaker 2: of the people, he'll only have one flag behind him
43:09
Speaker 2: in a press conference.
43:10
Speaker 3: What do you make of that?
43:15
Speaker 14: Well, I only ever had one flag. In fact, I
43:19
Speaker 14: was sometimes taken to task for having too many flags
43:22
Speaker 14: behind me at press conferences. I quite like the idea
43:26
Speaker 14: of a backdrop of flags. I quite like the idea
43:29
Speaker 14: of an avenue of flags. But it's got to be
43:32
Speaker 14: the flag of all of us, and that's the Australian
43:35
Speaker 14: national flag. There's a time and a place for all
43:38
Speaker 14: the other flags, the state flags, the indigenous flags, the
43:42
Speaker 14: armed forces flags, but there's only one flag for every Australian.
43:47
Speaker 14: That's the Australian national flag and that's the one that
43:52
Speaker 14: we should proudly fly whenever we can.
43:57
Speaker 2: Yes, I'll just make it clear my views. When you're
43:59
Speaker 2: talking about you like to have lots of flags behind you.
44:01
Speaker 2: You'd like to have ten Australian flags. You didn't have
44:03
Speaker 2: multiple flags. You'd just like to see lots and lots
44:06
Speaker 2: and lots of Australian flags. That drove your office crazy. Hey,
44:09
Speaker 2: I know you've just got back from Washington, d C.
44:11
Speaker 3: Today.
44:11
Speaker 2: You met with jd Vance while you were there. It
44:14
Speaker 2: also caught up with a new British Conservative leader, Kemmy Badenock.
44:19
Speaker 2: I think under both of these people, Conservatism feels like
44:22
Speaker 2: it's getting a bit more robust.
44:25
Speaker 3: What are the lessons here for Australia.
44:29
Speaker 14: Well, I think both Kemy Badanock and the incoming Trump
44:33
Speaker 14: administration these are all conviction politicians. They're people who stand
44:40
Speaker 14: for things, and I think Peter Dutton is very much
44:43
Speaker 14: in the same mold. I think we're sick of wishy,
44:46
Speaker 14: washy politicians. I think we're particularly sick of wishy washy
44:49
Speaker 14: politicians on the Conservative side. As I always said, the
44:53
Speaker 14: job of an opposition is not to be a weak
44:57
Speaker 14: echo of a bad government. It's to be a strong alternative.
45:00
Speaker 14: And that's what I think kemmy Badenot will be. That's
45:04
Speaker 14: what I'm sure Peter Dutton is, and I think that's
45:07
Speaker 14: why Donald Trump is coming into the White House, because
45:10
Speaker 14: he was a strong and clear alternative.
45:14
Speaker 2: Now, I know you've watched this case closely. I know
45:16
Speaker 2: you've been a strong supporter in the past, personally of
45:18
Speaker 2: more You're Redeeming. But this judgment today from the court,
45:23
Speaker 2: I mean an absolute slam dunk in more deemings favor.
45:27
Speaker 2: But very surprisingly this afternoon, the Liberal leader John Persuto
45:30
Speaker 2: has come out to say he's not going anywhere. He
45:34
Speaker 2: basically says that there's no issues with this case, the
45:38
Speaker 2: court finding against him. Some are saying his positions untenable.
45:42
Speaker 3: I certainly am.
45:43
Speaker 2: You've led the Liberal Party in the past. Is his
45:46
Speaker 2: position unattenable?
45:51
Speaker 14: Peter, The first thing to say is that it should
45:54
Speaker 14: never be a crime within the Liberal Party for someone
45:59
Speaker 14: to stand up for the rights of women and girls.
46:03
Speaker 14: I mean, you can't back biology and My Redeeming's position
46:08
Speaker 14: on the rights of women and girls. I think was
46:12
Speaker 14: just common sense and decency And in the end, the
46:16
Speaker 14: test here for John Persuto is a decency test.
46:20
Speaker 3: If you.
46:23
Speaker 14: Get it wrong, you apologize, and if you do someone wrong,
46:29
Speaker 14: you try to make amends as quickly as possible. So, really,
46:33
Speaker 14: what John Persuto should be doing today, what he should
46:36
Speaker 14: have done today is publicly apologized to my redeeming and
46:41
Speaker 14: given that she was kicked out of the Liberal Party
46:44
Speaker 14: on a lie, he should have indicated that as soon
46:48
Speaker 14: as possible he would be moving to have her reinstated
46:52
Speaker 14: in the parliamentary Liberal Party, for from which she should
46:56
Speaker 14: never have been expelled in the first place.
47:01
Speaker 3: Well, if you won't do that, Tony Abbit, should he resign?
47:07
Speaker 11: Well?
47:07
Speaker 14: I believe in redemption and I think he should have
47:12
Speaker 14: a chance to do the right thing. It surprised and
47:16
Speaker 14: disappointed me that he couldn't say sorry today. In fact,
47:23
Speaker 14: when he was asked this very question in a press conference,
47:26
Speaker 14: will will you apologize to Myra Deeming, he said, I'll
47:31
Speaker 14: have to talk to my lawyers about that. Well, that's
47:34
Speaker 14: not leadership, that's hiding behind someone else.
47:40
Speaker 2: I'll leave it there, Tony Abba, thank you. Right, I
47:43
Speaker 2: have to break a whole lot of other things with
47:44
Speaker 2: my panel. We'll get to them quickly see you then
47:51
Speaker 2: welcome back joining me now Terry Barnes, a writer at
47:54
Speaker 2: the Spectator, of course, and the wonderful James McGrath's and
47:56
Speaker 2: It of a Queensland Alan peace in It a Queensland
48:00
Speaker 2: pologize in advance. I'm running out of time, Terry. You're
48:03
Speaker 2: a Victorian, you're involved for many years with the Liberal Party.
48:07
Speaker 2: John's Perzzuto fighting on can he survive?
48:11
Speaker 1: Well?
48:12
Speaker 15: Peter, I think Tony a but actually stole most of
48:13
Speaker 15: my points there, But certainly I think I too would
48:17
Speaker 15: like to have seen John Zuho actually expressed regret making
48:19
Speaker 15: personal apology to my redeeming.
48:22
Speaker 13: Because I think Tony is right.
48:23
Speaker 15: Redemption is the best pass forward because there's nobody else
48:26
Speaker 15: Victorian Liberal Party to replace it. It's a nest of vipers.
48:29
Speaker 3: They hate each.
48:30
Speaker 15: Other, they don't understand the base in that party room.
48:33
Speaker 15: They need to actually clean out, not just the John
48:35
Speaker 15: Perzuto's leader, they need to clean out the whole party room.
48:38
Speaker 3: In my view, all right, let's go to Labor Party.
48:42
Speaker 2: The PMS refuse to rule out a preference deal James
48:44
Speaker 2: mcgar with the Greens, despite the fact they've selected a
48:48
Speaker 2: candidate who claims a Zionist to have invoked the Holocaust
48:51
Speaker 2: to defect criticism. And then of course we've got Marine
48:54
Speaker 2: Feruki's chief of staff who's been reprimanded, that's all slap
48:57
Speaker 2: on the wrist for suggesting that the Melbourne Synagogue terror
49:01
Speaker 2: incident could have been a false flag operation. Now you've
49:05
Speaker 2: done campaigns this idea that the Prime Minister's got no
49:09
Speaker 2: say on preference deals.
49:11
Speaker 13: That's a furfey, it's complete bs. Friends don't let their
49:15
Speaker 13: friends vote Greens, and friends don't let their enemies preference
49:18
Speaker 13: the Greens. This just shows how weak the Prime Minister is.
49:22
Speaker 13: Is actually up to him who his party preferences. He
49:25
Speaker 13: has a very very strong say in this. He should
49:27
Speaker 13: be putting the Greens last, but he won't because he's
49:30
Speaker 13: fundamentally weak, because he needs their preferences for the next
49:33
Speaker 13: selection and he'll need their votes at their minority government.
49:36
Speaker 13: And also because he's just very left wing and he
49:38
Speaker 13: believes a lord of the roach, the Greens believing.
49:44
Speaker 11: Terry.
49:44
Speaker 2: I feel like we're getting a turning at the tide
49:46
Speaker 2: ahead of January twenty sixth. We've got the Geelong Council
49:49
Speaker 2: last night making that date again formally Australia Day. Cricket
49:54
Speaker 2: Australia luke warm about Australia Day last year, their new
49:58
Speaker 2: incoming CEO says absolutely, we'll celebrate it next year this
50:03
Speaker 2: coming January.
50:04
Speaker 3: Do you think the tide's turning well?
50:07
Speaker 15: I sidaply hope so bitter and good on Long City
50:10
Speaker 15: councilor on Bigger Australia or the new incoming CEO of
50:13
Speaker 15: Todd Greenberg. I think they're recognizing that most Australian and
50:17
Speaker 15: see the twenty sixth of January as our national day,
50:19
Speaker 15: Australia Day. We all get together, we all celebrate the
50:22
Speaker 15: old night and we quit keep the politics out of.
50:24
Speaker 2: It, all right, gott to leave it there, Jens, thank
50:28
Speaker 2: you very much. Thank you to my wonderful viewers. I'm
50:30
Speaker 2: going to do something controversial now. We are the number
50:33
Speaker 2: one show Credlin for the fourth year running. That is
50:37
Speaker 2: to you and my magnificent team Connor, my executive producer,
50:41
Speaker 2: Andrew and Damien. You're amazing, My viewers are amazing. I
50:46
Speaker 2: look forward to being back here on the thirteenth of
50:48
Speaker 2: January for a big, big election year.