Transcript

Sharri | 8 October · Sharri

0:07
Speaker 1: Thanks, Andrew. Good evening.
0:08
Speaker 2: The big exclusive tonight, Anthony Albanese is accused of throwing
0:12
Speaker 2: his treasurer.
0:13
Speaker 1: Under the bus in private discussions. My story coming up.
0:18
Speaker 2: Undercover agents were sent into our defence bases to test security.
0:22
Speaker 1: We'll tell you what they found.
0:24
Speaker 2: And the family of the youngest Bondi victim, Matilda, hit
0:28
Speaker 2: with shocking online abuse, telling them to leave Australia and
0:32
Speaker 2: go to Israel. This as Allegra Spender causes offence with
0:36
Speaker 2: her October 7 post.
0:38
Speaker 1: That's all coming up.
0:40
Speaker 2: But first to the tensions at the highest levels of
0:43
Speaker 2: the Albanese government. And the Prime Minister has been accused
0:47
Speaker 2: of throwing his treasurer under the bus in private discussions,
0:51
Speaker 2: blaming Jim Chalmers for voter anxiety around the economy. Senior
0:56
Speaker 2: Labor sources told me that Albanese has openly told political,
1:01
Speaker 2: business and business figures that Chalmers wanted to go even
1:06
Speaker 2: further with the budget, but he held him back, that
1:10
Speaker 2: Albanese blocked him. My understanding is that Chalmers wanted greater
1:15
Speaker 2: cuts to government spending. A Labor source said there's a
1:20
Speaker 2: fair bit of finger pointing at Jim about the messaging
1:23
Speaker 2: and the communication around the budget, the housing market and
1:27
Speaker 2: anxiety around the economy.
1:29
Speaker 1: There's not a.
1:30
Speaker 2: Serious voice in caucus blaming Jim for the economy. The
1:34
Speaker 2: frustration is he's the treasurer, the messaging and communication about
1:38
Speaker 2: the economy and why it's not in the position we
1:40
Speaker 2: would want it to be. But there has been surprise
1:45
Speaker 2: at how openly the Prime Minister is said to have
1:49
Speaker 2: criticised his Treasurer. It comes as Albanese's approval ratings and
1:54
Speaker 2: Labor's primary vote has plummeted with concerns around their handling
1:58
Speaker 2: of cost of living. The Labor source told me, I
2:02
Speaker 2: know he's blaming Chalmers and he's saying Chalmers wanted to
2:05
Speaker 2: do even more in the budget and I blocked him.
2:09
Speaker 2: Business people have said Albo has thrown Jim under the bus.
2:14
Speaker 2: I put questions to Albanese today asking if he has
2:17
Speaker 2: been undermining his treasurer. His spokeswoman said, and I quote, nonsense.
2:25
Speaker 2: But the pressure is building among rank and file federal
2:28
Speaker 2: Labor MPs for the first time. Labor MPs, even senior figures,
2:34
Speaker 2: have been feeling the heat in their electorates. The two
2:37
Speaker 2: issues are how the Albanese government is handling the economy,
2:42
Speaker 2: and secondly, the support for One Nation, with the party
2:46
Speaker 2: drawing support in Labor seats. The ATO's ban on credit
2:50
Speaker 2: cards is adding to the pressure on Labor MPs, with
2:54
Speaker 2: up to a quarter of a million small businesses in uproar,
2:58
Speaker 2: that they can't use credit cards to pay their tax bills.
3:01
Speaker 2: It adds, of course, to rising interest rates, inflation, cost
3:05
Speaker 2: of living pressures, all facing families. With the Treasurer away
3:10
Speaker 2: in Japan, it seems Andrew Charlton has been increasingly sent
3:15
Speaker 2: out by the Prime Minister's office to sell the government's
3:19
Speaker 2: economic message. And here's just some of his appearances over
3:23
Speaker 2: the past few days.
3:25
Speaker 3: Yes, the government supports the ATO's decision. The ATO has
3:29
Speaker 3: made that decision because of a principle of consistency between
3:33
Speaker 3: the private sector and the public sector.
3:36
Speaker 4: And the government has said to the ATO that we
3:38
Speaker 4: want them to work with small businesses to make sure
3:40
Speaker 4: that that flexibility is there and to continue consultation with
3:43
Speaker 4: small businesses. The fact here is that nearly nine out
3:46
Speaker 4: of 10 Australian businesses don't surcharge. And what that means,
3:51
Speaker 4: because the government has reduced the cost of payment as
3:54
Speaker 4: part of these reforms, a lot of those businesses will
3:57
Speaker 4: actually be better off.
4:00
Speaker 2: Well, this led to opposition leader Angus Taylor today declaring this.
4:06
Speaker 5: The de facto treasurer, eh?
4:07
Speaker 4: He's out there. There he is.
4:09
Speaker 5: Where's Jimmy? Where's Jimmy on this one? You know what
4:12
Speaker 5: they should do? Is just ax the ban. Just get
4:15
Speaker 5: rid of the ban. You know, they are asking small
4:19
Speaker 5: businesses to absorb the surcharges and then they refuse to
4:24
Speaker 5: absorb the surcharge. The hypocrisy of this knows no bounds.
4:30
Speaker 2: But multiple Labor sources tell me that despite Albanese shifting
4:35
Speaker 2: the blame onto Chalmers or trying to, he wouldn't actually
4:39
Speaker 2: dump him as Treasurer prior to the federal election or
4:42
Speaker 2: he wouldn't be likely to do that. It would be
4:45
Speaker 2: an admission of economic failure and it would be politically
4:48
Speaker 2: very silly to do, one source told me. Meanwhile, Albanese's
4:54
Speaker 2: own rivals are saying that he should be the one
4:57
Speaker 2: to go. The Daily Mail's political correspondent, Nicholas Camino, reports
5:02
Speaker 2: that much of the internal discussion has focused less on
5:05
Speaker 2: a formal challenge and more on the prospect of Albanese
5:09
Speaker 2: choosing his own departure date. Several party figures believe the
5:13
Speaker 2: least damaging scenario would involve the PM announcing his retirement
5:17
Speaker 2: before the next election, allowing a successor to take the
5:20
Speaker 2: reins without the bloodletting of a leadership war and giving
5:24
Speaker 2: Labor a chance to reset before voters head back to
5:28
Speaker 2: the polls. Of course, Albanese is too politically smart for
5:33
Speaker 2: any of that. His own brand has become toxic for
5:37
Speaker 2: Labor in New South Wales. where Chris Minns is facing
5:41
Speaker 2: an election in just five months' time. And there is
5:44
Speaker 2: concern the popular Premier will lose, and the sense is
5:49
Speaker 2: that it's because of federal issues.
5:50
Speaker 1: And brand damage from Albanese.
5:54
Speaker 2: Labor's view is that it will either be, and this
5:56
Speaker 2: is New South Wales Labor's view, is that it will
5:59
Speaker 2: either be a one-nation opposition or a one-nation government in
6:03
Speaker 2: an alliance.
6:04
Speaker 1: With the coalition.
6:06
Speaker 2: And the man who stands to be the opposition leader,
6:08
Speaker 2: or even the Premier, is on the show again tonight.
6:12
Speaker 2: Mike Newman will join me shortly. But the point is
6:15
Speaker 2: that Albanese has built his entire political strategy around stability.
6:21
Speaker 1: Yet he knows voters.
6:23
Speaker 2: Are angry and that the political ground is shifting with
6:27
Speaker 2: the unprecedented rise of One Nation. Labor sources say he
6:32
Speaker 2: needs a circuit breaker. Across the country, voter anger is intensifying,
6:38
Speaker 2: fueled by the cost of living crisis, frustration with the economy,
6:43
Speaker 2: and the deadly Bondi terror attack.
6:51
Speaker 1: I'll come back to that a bit later. There's a
6:54
Speaker 1: lot to talk about there.
6:55
Speaker 2: With Albanese under pressure over the economy, the coalition is
6:59
Speaker 2: trying to shift its focus to the cost of living,
7:01
Speaker 2: something it should have been doing all along. Shadow Treasurer
7:05
Speaker 2: Tim Wilson told voters the next election will be a
7:08
Speaker 2: referendum on the economy and economic hope, particularly for the self-starters,
7:13
Speaker 2: self-employed and small and family businesses of the nation that
7:17
Speaker 2: are being sunk by Labor's active inflation agenda and rising costs. Well,
7:23
Speaker 2: as I said, the economy should have been the Liberals'
7:24
Speaker 2: bread and butter from the start. Joining me now is
7:28
Speaker 2: Nationals leader Matt Canavan. Matt, great to see you, as always,
7:31
Speaker 2: on a Thursday. Look, Labor's under pressure over the economy.
7:35
Speaker 2: But I have to say this. The Coalition announced a
7:38
Speaker 2: major tax policy in the Budget Reply speech, indexing tax brackets,
7:43
Speaker 2: and has virtually never mentioned it since.
7:46
Speaker 1: Why not?
7:49
Speaker 6: Well, Shari, look, I'll let you.
7:53
Speaker 7: commentates as you see fit but I was just at
7:55
Speaker 7: a business meeting right now and as a centrepiece of
7:58
Speaker 7: what I just said we have released a very strong
8:01
Speaker 7: plan to restore living standards in this country and a
8:04
Speaker 7: central part of that plan is our tax pack guarantee
8:07
Speaker 7: where we will index tax thresholds to inflation. I say
8:11
Speaker 7: often in many speeches I've made the point that the
8:15
Speaker 7: key reason we need this policy is not just to
8:17
Speaker 7: provide a tax cut for hardworking Australians every year It's
8:21
Speaker 7: that we starve the beast that is the waste and
8:24
Speaker 7: fraud we're seeing out of Canberra. We've had an enormous
8:27
Speaker 7: increase in spending under this government that has been fuelled
8:30
Speaker 7: by lots of waste and fraud we've seen in programs
8:33
Speaker 7: like the NDIS. And what is really needed is for
8:37
Speaker 7: the Canberra bureaucracy to go on a bit of a
8:39
Speaker 7: diet to.
8:40
Speaker 6: Cut that fat.
8:41
Speaker 7: And that's why I like to call this tax-back guarantee
8:43
Speaker 7: policy the osempic of tax policies.
8:46
Speaker 6: It'll help put our nation on a diet.
8:48
Speaker 7: It will cut back on government spending because it just
8:50
Speaker 7: won't be automatic tax revenue increases every year for the
8:54
Speaker 7: federal government.
8:55
Speaker 2: Matt, it's the strongest policy that the Coalition has yet,
8:58
Speaker 2: and you say you've mentioned it at a meeting, but
9:01
Speaker 2: voters don't know about it. You guys aren't selling it.
9:04
Speaker 2: You haven't heard Tim Wilson, the opposition leader, no-one ever
9:07
Speaker 2: mentions it. I mean, what's your slogan for it?
9:13
Speaker 6: Well, look.
9:14
Speaker 7: Again, Shari, I'll let you commentate. I'm just out in
9:17
Speaker 7: the field doing my best. And as I say, it's
9:20
Speaker 7: called the Tax Back Guarantee. If you want a slogan,
9:22
Speaker 7: there's the three-word slogan, but I can also explain it
9:25
Speaker 7: in great detail.
9:26
Speaker 6: It means that every year.
9:27
Speaker 1: No, you just did explain it.
9:29
Speaker 6: a tax payers will get an automatic tax cut.
9:30
Speaker 1: You just did explain it to us. We've spoken about
9:33
Speaker 1: it on the show a lot.
9:34
Speaker 6: Right, OK. Well, now you won't let me speak about it.
9:36
Speaker 1: Well, you just explained it in your first answer. You're
9:39
Speaker 1: cutting me off. You just explained it in your first answer.
9:41
Speaker 1: We don't need the explanation twice.
9:43
Speaker 6: It's very simple.
9:44
Speaker 1: In terms of the issue with the ATO.
9:45
Speaker 6: Oh, repeat, repeat, repeat.
9:48
Speaker 1: Yeah.
9:48
Speaker 2: In terms of this issue with the ATO banning credit
9:50
Speaker 2: cards for tax bills, should the Albanese government force the
9:54
Speaker 2: ATO to overturn this move?
9:56
Speaker 1: Can they do so?
9:58
Speaker 6: Yes, they should.
9:59
Speaker 7: And I said that today here in Wagga Wagga with
10:02
Speaker 7: Michael McCormack.
10:03
Speaker 6: I've been speaking to many small businesses.
10:05
Speaker 7: Here who have raised this unprompted with me. Obviously they're
10:09
Speaker 7: having to absorb these additional credit card surcharge fees because
10:12
Speaker 7: of a decision that the Reserve Bank made but it
10:16
Speaker 7: is an absolute insult to their costs of doing business
10:19
Speaker 7: and the extra charges they have to absorb when the
10:22
Speaker 7: Australian Taxation Office decides that there's a different rule for
10:25
Speaker 7: government agencies than what exists for small business. Now, for
10:29
Speaker 7: small businesses, they can't just say, we won't accept the
10:32
Speaker 7: credit card payments because someone can go get their coffee
10:35
Speaker 7: down the street.
10:36
Speaker 6: They have to compete. and they've got to offer all
10:39
Speaker 6: forms of payment.
10:40
Speaker 7: Of course, you can't pay your tax bill to a
10:42
Speaker 7: different and competing tax office. The ATO has a monopoly,
10:46
Speaker 7: and this decision is ridiculous and absurd, and whether or
10:50
Speaker 7: not the government had anything to do with it, and
10:52
Speaker 7: maybe it was just the Commissioner of Taxation on a flurry,
10:54
Speaker 7: they need to call the ATO in and change the decision.
10:58
Speaker 7: It's the responsibility of government to call and haul government
11:00
Speaker 7: agencies in line when they get out of line, and
11:02
Speaker 7: this is an out-of-line decision that needs to be changed ASAP.
11:06
Speaker 2: We saw the story today that Australia's most prominent law scholar,
11:10
Speaker 2: Anne Toomey, has accused Labor, the Prime Minister even, of
11:14
Speaker 2: grey corruption. This is in relation to the Marrickville golf
11:18
Speaker 2: course and how it was given a $ 6 million grant.
11:22
Speaker 2: Anne Toomey basically says an earlier version of the scheme
11:24
Speaker 2: was constitutionally invalid, that the federal funds were local in nature.
11:29
Speaker 1: Matt, is this grey corruption?
11:34
Speaker 7: Well, look, certainly the government has answers to give here,
11:38
Speaker 7: and particularly the Prime Minister. Look, I do believe governments
11:42
Speaker 7: should have the right to go to elections and make
11:46
Speaker 7: promises about what they're going to do to local communities,
11:50
Speaker 7: and there needs to be investment in lots of local communities.
11:54
Speaker 6: We should allow.
11:55
Speaker 7: voters to have their say and their choice on those commitments.
11:58
Speaker 7: But clearly here there was a conflict of interest involving
12:01
Speaker 7: the Prime Minister. He had a membership of the club
12:03
Speaker 7: that was not declared, I believe, according to reports. He
12:06
Speaker 7: owned property in the vicinity of this large investment in
12:10
Speaker 7: his area. So we need to know and should hear
12:12
Speaker 7: from the Prime Minister about what he did do to
12:15
Speaker 7: recuse himself of any involvement in this decision.
12:17
Speaker 6: That would be the basic.
12:21
Speaker 7: Minimum required in a case like this. where if you
12:24
Speaker 7: do have a clear conflict of interest, you recuse yourself
12:26
Speaker 7: from any decisions. And there's been no evidence provided that's
12:29
Speaker 7: the case. Indeed, usually how these things work with election
12:32
Speaker 7: commitments is the Prime Minister's office, and sometimes the Prime
12:35
Speaker 7: Minister himself, is noted heavily involved in determining what those
12:39
Speaker 7: commitments are. As I say, there's nothing inherently wrong with that.
12:42
Speaker 7: Governments and oppositions need to take a set of policies
12:45
Speaker 7: to an election. But where there's a clear conflict of interest,
12:49
Speaker 7: the Prime Minister should take appropriate steps to make sure
12:52
Speaker 7: he is not... questioned over such a conflict. And, you know,
12:56
Speaker 7: we are not just making this claim from opposition. This
13:00
Speaker 7: is a standard that we have upheld, and particularly my
13:04
Speaker 7: colleague Senator Bridget McKenzie upheld, when there were questions about
13:07
Speaker 7: her involvement. And, you know, I don't think a membership
13:10
Speaker 7: she was gifted at a gun club influenced a $ 30, 000
13:12
Speaker 7: grant or whatever it was. But the rules were broken,
13:16
Speaker 7: she'd made a mistake, and she fell on her sword
13:18
Speaker 7: and resigned. That's what should happen here if the Prime
13:21
Speaker 7: Minister can't properly explain... how he dealt with these conflicts
13:24
Speaker 7: of interest.
13:24
Speaker 1: Yeah.
13:25
Speaker 2: And, of course, he says he didn't know that he
13:27
Speaker 2: was a member of that golfing club. Matt, I've got
13:30
Speaker 2: a big interview on Monday with one of your former colleagues,
13:34
Speaker 2: a colleague you butted heads with from time to time,
13:37
Speaker 2: particularly on energy policy.
13:38
Speaker 1: Have a look at the promo. Thank you so much
13:42
Speaker 1: for joining us.
13:43
Speaker 8: In a one-hour special.
13:44
Speaker 2: You'd never seen Morrison lose his temper like this.
13:47
Speaker 8: What I saw that day was another level.
13:49
Speaker 6: Shari reveals all.
13:51
Speaker 2: It's an extraordinary story that you tell in the book.
13:53
Speaker 8: My mother, who's pretty much left for dead.
13:56
Speaker 6: And asks the hard questions.
13:57
Speaker 1: Do you think they've got it right with Albanese? Who
13:59
Speaker 1: would you rather as PM? It has been your lifelong
14:02
Speaker 1: dream to be Prime Minister, hasn't it?
14:03
Speaker 8: They're your words, not mine.
14:05
Speaker 7: Shari's one-hour special with Josh Frydenberg next Monday on News 24.
14:12
Speaker 2: And we have a long conversation about whether he will
14:14
Speaker 2: return to federal politics. Matt, would you like to see
14:17
Speaker 2: Frydenberg return?
14:19
Speaker 7: Well, look, I've got a lot of time for Josh.
14:23
Speaker 7: He made a great contribution as a member of parliament
14:27
Speaker 7: and eventually treasurer. I'd like to see lots of good people.
14:30
Speaker 7: What we need to do is kick out Labor members
14:34
Speaker 7: of parliament. That's what I'm focused on doing because it's
14:36
Speaker 7: the only way we'll change the government and be able
14:39
Speaker 7: to implement policies that we need.
14:41
Speaker 2: So did you give a clear answer there on Josh?
14:43
Speaker 2: Are you saying he should come back or shouldn't? I mean,
14:45
Speaker 2: many people see him as a future Prime Minister.
14:47
Speaker 7: Well, I'm not going to say... I'm not going to
14:50
Speaker 7: say anyone should come back. That's a matter for that individual. Look,
14:54
Speaker 7: I think people like Josh who have served in the
14:56
Speaker 7: nation's parliament, I know, given a sacrifice in public service...
15:00
Speaker 7: deserves to make his own decisions there. There's no obligation
15:03
Speaker 7: on anybody. But I'd welcome him back.
15:05
Speaker 1: I'm not saying you're making the decision.
15:06
Speaker 2: I'm not saying you're making the decision for him. I'm saying,
15:09
Speaker 2: do you think he's a talented figure who's needed in
15:12
Speaker 2: the Liberal Party?
15:13
Speaker 6: Well, you did ask.
15:14
Speaker 7: No, you didn't ask that. You asked if he should
15:16
Speaker 7: come back. If you think he should come back. And
15:18
Speaker 7: I'm just saying I'm not in a position to demand
15:20
Speaker 7: people to give up their lives and say goodbye to
15:23
Speaker 7: their families for large parts of the year to do that.
15:25
Speaker 6: I don't think it's fair.
15:26
Speaker 1: Very literal interpretation of my question.
15:28
Speaker 6: Absolutely. OK, well.
15:30
Speaker 7: That's exactly what you asked. So, yes, I would absolutely
15:33
Speaker 7: welcome people of his calibre back. But it's a matter
15:36
Speaker 7: for Josh. And, you know, as I say, he's deserved
15:38
Speaker 7: the right to make his own decision there. He's given
15:40
Speaker 7: a lot to our country and he's got a lot
15:41
Speaker 7: to be proud of.
15:43
Speaker 2: Just finally, your big migration policy finally released this week.
15:47
Speaker 2: There are reports today that rideshare and food delivery prices
15:51
Speaker 2: could spike as a result of fewer migrants.
15:54
Speaker 1: What's your response to this?
15:57
Speaker 7: Well, look, I think we need to set a migration
15:59
Speaker 7: policy that's in our national interest. And, you know, I
16:02
Speaker 7: don't think a migration policy should be set based on
16:05
Speaker 7: what Uber costs people. We are seeing this uncontrolled, uncapped
16:08
Speaker 7: and unsustainable level of migration erode the very unity of
16:13
Speaker 7: our country. It's undermining living standards and the right of
16:16
Speaker 7: Australians to have a living wage. It's undermining, I think,
16:18
Speaker 7: the true identity of this country. And that's why we
16:20
Speaker 7: need change and we need to have the largest cut,
16:23
Speaker 7: planned cut to migration in a nation's history. Keep in
16:26
Speaker 7: mind now, Shari, that for every six Australian workers, there
16:30
Speaker 7: is one temporary visa holder with work rights in this country.
16:34
Speaker 7: It has never been this low. Australian workers are having
16:36
Speaker 7: to compete against this effectively permanent temporary class of people
16:41
Speaker 7: who do provide, yes, potentially cheap foreign labour, but our
16:45
Speaker 7: country has never been based on that. That's why it
16:46
Speaker 7: says it gets to the very identity of our nation.
16:49
Speaker 7: Other countries, like America, have often relied on large amounts
16:53
Speaker 7: of cheap foreign labour to prop up their economy. It's
16:55
Speaker 7: never been the way we have run a successful migration
16:59
Speaker 7: policy in this country. Our migration policy has always been
17:02
Speaker 7: unashamedly skewed towards people who want to move here permanently
17:06
Speaker 7: and set down new roots and start a new family
17:08
Speaker 7: and become new Australians. That's what we've got to return to.
17:11
Speaker 7: It was successful as our nation, but under this government,
17:14
Speaker 7: they have skewed the migration program to bringing in this
17:17
Speaker 7: temporary underclass. They have taken a lazy approach to economic
17:21
Speaker 7: policy and sought to artificially pump up economic statistics by
17:25
Speaker 7: importing more people, not becoming more productive, by boosting GDP
17:29
Speaker 7: from having more taxpayers not cut taxes and get economic
17:33
Speaker 7: growth going. So we'll have a very different economic policy
17:35
Speaker 7: than this government. We will bring migration down to a
17:38
Speaker 7: sustainable level, but then we will cut taxes, we'll cut
17:40
Speaker 7: red tape, we'll make energy prices cheaper by scrapping net zero.
17:44
Speaker 7: That's the way to have a strong, stable economy and
17:46
Speaker 7: a unified nation.
17:48
Speaker 1: All right. Matt Canavan, thank you so much for your time.
17:52
Speaker 3: Thanks, Shari.
17:55
Speaker 2: One of the world's top credit agencies, S & P Ratings,
17:58
Speaker 2: has issued a warning that government spending is making it
18:01
Speaker 2: difficult for the RBA to control inflation. The Australian reports
18:06
Speaker 2: the ratings agency also noted that record government spending was
18:09
Speaker 2: complicating the job of the Reserve Bank by driving inflation higher,
18:13
Speaker 2: contradicting Dr Chalmers' claims that the Iran war was to
18:17
Speaker 2: blame for stubborn price growth. And for more on this,
18:20
Speaker 2: let's bring in IPA Chief Economist Adam Crichton and former
18:24
Speaker 2: Liberal Senator turned One Nation member, maybe One Nation future candidate,
18:27
Speaker 2: Holly Hughes.
18:28
Speaker 1: Good to see you both.
18:30
Speaker 2: Adam, this is damning from a credible ratings agency. They
18:34
Speaker 2: also warned the government's reliance on revenue windfalls like higher
18:38
Speaker 2: tax could severely damage the budget's bottom line.
18:43
Speaker 9: Yeah, well, certainly their central point is right. You've got
18:45
Speaker 9: the Reserve Bank that's increasing rates. There's a 25% chance
18:48
Speaker 9: of another rate increase by the end of the year,
18:50
Speaker 9: which would bring the cash rate to 4.85. And there's 100%
18:53
Speaker 9: chance of another rate rise by early next year. So
18:56
Speaker 9: you've got all these rate rises by the RBA trying
18:58
Speaker 9: to slow inflation, but you've got a headline budget balance
19:01
Speaker 9: at the federal level of $ 60- something billion this year, which...
19:05
Speaker 9: Might surprise you, that number, because the government likes talking
19:08
Speaker 9: about the underlying cash balance, which gets all the media attention.
19:10
Speaker 9: But if you include all the off-balance sheet.
19:13
Speaker 1: Stuff, it's well over 60.
19:14
Speaker 9: That's a lot of new money going into the economy.
19:16
Speaker 9: And then, of course, you've got the state governments, which
19:18
Speaker 9: are all running large budget deficits as well. So the
19:22
Speaker 9: rating agency is 100% correct.
19:24
Speaker 6: It is moving.
19:25
Speaker 9: The agencies are moving in opposite directions.
19:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, and, Holly, voters are feeling just how tough it
19:32
Speaker 2: is at the moment. The economy, of course, as well,
19:35
Speaker 2: is sluggish. The RBA, though, in this environment, doesn't really
19:39
Speaker 2: have a choice but to raise rates when inflation is sticky,
19:42
Speaker 2: government spending is high and productivity is sluggish.
19:45
Speaker 10: Well, I mean, it's really not Jim's week, is it?
19:47
Speaker 10: You know, we're hearing these stories that... Albanese is throwing
19:50
Speaker 10: him under a bus and now there's actually international ratings
19:53
Speaker 10: agencies saying, no, Jim, it's not the war in Iran.
19:56
Speaker 1: It is actually your fault.
19:58
Speaker 10: The government spending is what's driving the inflationary pressures in Australia.
20:02
Speaker 10: And everyday Australians are feeling it. It's like this government
20:05
Speaker 10: is the last to notice how tough everyday Australians are
20:09
Speaker 10: doing it, whether it's paying their electricity bill, putting groceries
20:12
Speaker 10: on the table, paying the school fees, paying the rent,
20:15
Speaker 10: paying the mortgage. Any of those things are being impacted
20:18
Speaker 10: and people are doing it tougher and tougher every single week.
20:22
Speaker 10: And these guys seem to live in this bubble of
20:24
Speaker 10: oblivion that somehow everything's going really well and when something's
20:27
Speaker 10: going bad, it's not their fault.
20:31
Speaker 2: And, Adam, you know, we've... Look, you follow politics closely.
20:35
Speaker 2: I don't know if you heard my editorial at the
20:38
Speaker 2: start of the show, also my exclusive story on Tuesday night. Clearly,
20:42
Speaker 2: there's tensions at the top of the Albanese government with
20:46
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister blaming Jim Chalmers for the economy, the messaging,
20:51
Speaker 2: you know, voter anxiety. And there's a lot of suggestion
20:56
Speaker 2: that Andrew Charlton is being put forward as a better
21:00
Speaker 2: economic spokesman.
21:01
Speaker 1: What do you think about this?
21:04
Speaker 9: Well, look, there's no doubt in my mind that Andrew
21:05
Speaker 9: Charlton's probably, you know, the brightest economic mind on the
21:08
Speaker 9: Labor front bench. And we have been hearing a lot
21:10
Speaker 9: more from him in recent weeks in the media. So
21:12
Speaker 9: I don't know whether that's deliberate. I mean, personally, I
21:15
Speaker 9: think it's good to see because he's, you know, he's
21:16
Speaker 9: a very rational, sensible guy. But if Jim Chalmers thought
21:20
Speaker 9: that he was going to succeed the Prime Minister, I
21:21
Speaker 9: think that's extremely unlikely now. And, you know, we haven't
21:24
Speaker 9: even heard much from the Prime Minister recently. I think
21:26
Speaker 9: he's been trying to give all the bad advice the
21:28
Speaker 9: bad press to the Treasurer. So that's interesting. They're probably
21:32
Speaker 9: going to do something before the next federal election if
21:35
Speaker 9: those polls stay where they are right now, because it's
21:37
Speaker 9: looking catastrophic for the Labor Party.
21:39
Speaker 2: The federal election's a long time away. You've got two
21:41
Speaker 2: state elections first that could absorb some of the anger
21:45
Speaker 2: at Labor. But just one point on the politics of it.
21:48
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I've reported tonight that the Prime
21:50
Speaker 2: Minister is blaming the Treasurer to political and business figures.
21:55
Speaker 2: But what about the Prime Minister's responsibility in selling his
21:58
Speaker 2: own message? I mean, can you imagine John Howard walking
22:01
Speaker 2: away and just leaving Peter Costello? Or the same with
22:04
Speaker 2: Hawken Keating. Albanese has a responsibility as well, Holly, to
22:08
Speaker 2: take control, especially when he's so involved in the budget
22:13
Speaker 2: and blocking various measures.
22:15
Speaker 10: Well, he's very busy overseas, obviously, wearing Hawaiian shirts and
22:18
Speaker 10: turning down headwear.
22:20
Speaker 1: Offending him.
22:22
Speaker 10: It's offending every Australian that he's spending $ 20 million when
22:25
Speaker 10: they can't put groceries on the table. I think what's interesting,
22:28
Speaker 10: I think Andrew Charlton is one of Labor's best performers.
22:30
Speaker 10: I think he's one of their brightest. brains in that
22:34
Speaker 10: Labor Party, not that, you know, he's close to the
22:37
Speaker 10: Lone Ranger at that. But, you know, the thing about
22:40
Speaker 10: Andrew this morning was he came out backing in the
22:44
Speaker 10: ATO's banning of credit cards because that was clearly what
22:47
Speaker 10: the talking points had said. But by the afternoon he
22:50
Speaker 10: was softening that message because other Labor ministers had come
22:53
Speaker 10: out saying, yeah, not really sure this is going to fly.
22:56
Speaker 2: We've got those comments. We can actually have a look
22:58
Speaker 2: at them. Here was Claire O'Neill saying she had concerns
23:00
Speaker 2: about the move.
23:01
Speaker 1: Have a look.
23:03
Speaker 11: We really want the ATO to go back and talk
23:05
Speaker 11: to business about what they've decided to do here and
23:08
Speaker 11: think about how they can find a solution that.
23:10
Speaker 6: Works for everyone.
23:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, but then pretty quickly, Andrew Charlton said the opposite.
23:16
Speaker 4: The government has made a really important reform here, and
23:19
Speaker 4: that reform is to help Australians by making surcharging banned.
23:23
Speaker 4: And by doing that, we have reduced the cost that
23:28
Speaker 4: businesses pay when they take a payment on a card. Overall,
23:32
Speaker 4: that'll be good across the economy for consumers and it
23:35
Speaker 4: will be good for businesses.
23:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, so he was backing in the move, but as
23:41
Speaker 2: you said, Holly, he later said the ATO should be consulting.
23:44
Speaker 10: Yeah, and he'd softened his language, but then you've also
23:47
Speaker 10: had Dan Rapacoli out there today going, hey, I'm pro-mining,
23:50
Speaker 10: this isn't my fault, the Minsk government's knocked this mine back.
23:53
Speaker 10: And you don't very often see this sort of disruption
23:56
Speaker 10: from a Labor caucus, and so there's clearly some unsettling
24:00
Speaker 10: in the ranks when you've got... backbenchers and frontbenchers coming
24:04
Speaker 10: out on differing opinions.
24:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, Adam, what are you saying?
24:08
Speaker 9: Well, just on the ATO question, look, my view is
24:12
Speaker 9: slightly different. I think Andrew Charlton of The Morning was correct.
24:15
Speaker 9: I mean, at the end of the day, we're supposed
24:16
Speaker 9: to be against wasteful government spending and this was going
24:19
Speaker 9: to cost the ATO hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
24:21
Speaker 9: which would have just been borrowed at five and a
24:23
Speaker 9: half percent interest. So I think they made the right decision.
24:27
Speaker 9: I mean, the problem is the RBA's regulatory move. That's
24:29
Speaker 9: the problem. And I think, you know, the ATO is
24:32
Speaker 9: just responding to that. I mean, I worked in the
24:34
Speaker 9: Reserve Bank's department that dealt with these credit card interchange
24:37
Speaker 9: fees back in the early 2000s. And we were back
24:40
Speaker 9: then the RBA wanted these fees to be passed on.
24:42
Speaker 9: And now they've They've basically said it's not legal to
24:45
Speaker 9: pass them on. So the complete opposite of just 20
24:48
Speaker 9: years ago. So I don't really understand why they've done this,
24:51
Speaker 9: but it makes sense for the ATO and, indeed, any
24:54
Speaker 9: large business. If they can't pass on the cost of
24:56
Speaker 9: Visa and MasterCard, then, you know, they don't have to.
25:00
Speaker 1: They just shouldn't accept them.
25:01
Speaker 10: But poor small business, we've just got to absorb it.
25:03
Speaker 6: But can't they use a debit card?
25:05
Speaker 1: Well, Holly sucked in. That's all on you. Yeah, so, Holly,
25:08
Speaker 1: you run a restaurant, a pub now.
25:10
Speaker 6: Yep.
25:12
Speaker 1: How is this going to impact you? Well, this is
25:13
Speaker 1: the reality.
25:14
Speaker 10: We can't say, no, pay cash. We can't say, no,
25:17
Speaker 10: here's an alternative pay method.
25:19
Speaker 12: And we have to absorb.
25:21
Speaker 10: Well, there is, but there's debit cards, but not everyone
25:24
Speaker 10: has a debit card, Adam, and you can't necessarily send
25:26
Speaker 10: them down the road.
25:26
Speaker 1: I don't have a debit card, yeah.
25:27
Speaker 10: So, you know, that's a ridiculous argument for a start.
25:30
Speaker 1: And you know what?
25:31
Speaker 10: What everyone seems to miss the point, if you're going
25:33
Speaker 10: to ban surcharges, ban them from the banks, right? Don't
25:36
Speaker 10: ban the businesses recouping the costs. If the government really
25:40
Speaker 10: wants to take credit on this, they should say to
25:42
Speaker 10: the banks, you're the one. You charge enough everywhere else.
25:46
Speaker 10: You get enough interest payments. You're the ones to stop
25:49
Speaker 10: the surcharge, not put it back onto small businesses.
25:54
Speaker 1: Adam, final say?
25:56
Speaker 9: Well, someone has to pay the cost of VJ Mastercard.
25:57
Speaker 1: The bloody banks.
25:58
Speaker 9: They're making more money than I am.
26:00
Speaker 10: I can tell you that much, Adam.
26:02
Speaker 3: Well, it's true.
26:03
Speaker 2: I mean, didn't the CBA, CBA had a profit of
26:06
Speaker 2: $ 11 billion this year.
26:07
Speaker 10: Geez, I'll be lucky to have a profit of $ 11.
26:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, exactly. The bank, I mean, it's extraordinary. All right. Anyway. Sorry, Adam.
26:16
Speaker 1: Let's move on.
26:16
Speaker 3: I've had my say.
26:17
Speaker 1: I've had my say.
26:18
Speaker 2: You've had your say, and it's a very... It was
26:20
Speaker 2: an interesting point. Allegra Spender thought she was... I don't
26:25
Speaker 2: know what she thought she was doing, but she posted
26:26
Speaker 2: this October 7 tribute on social media.
26:29
Speaker 1: Here's what she wrote.
26:30
Speaker 2: She said, the tragic conflict that followed has cost many
26:34
Speaker 2: thousands of innocent lives and divided communities across the world.
26:39
Speaker 2: Nowhere in her post... Did she mention Jews or Israel?
26:44
Speaker 2: I mean, this isn't just weak, but it's offensive from
26:47
Speaker 2: the MP who represents one of the largest Jewish communities
26:51
Speaker 2: in the country, Holly. A lot of people have raised
26:54
Speaker 2: this with me and have been really upset about it.
26:57
Speaker 10: Yeah, well, let's not forget, though, there's a reason they're
27:00
Speaker 10: called teals. because there's a whole lot of green coming
27:04
Speaker 10: over that blue that they pretend to be liberals, that
27:06
Speaker 10: they plan to be socially, you know, they're socially progressive,
27:10
Speaker 10: they're economically conservative. No, let's face it, there's a whole
27:13
Speaker 10: lot more green in there. I mean, Allegra might want
27:16
Speaker 10: to have a look at her electorate. I'm not quite sure.
27:19
Speaker 10: upsetting the Jewish Australian community is the way she wants
27:22
Speaker 10: to go.
27:22
Speaker 1: She obviously doesn't care.
27:24
Speaker 10: I cannot believe that she does not get this and
27:27
Speaker 10: the fact that 1,200 people lost their lives on October
27:30
Speaker 10: 7th and now she's proclaiming the loss of thousands of
27:33
Speaker 10: lives after. What about the 1,200 that were lost that day?
27:36
Speaker 10: What about the 250-plus hostages? Not a mention. And the
27:40
Speaker 10: fact of the matter is it wasn't just Jews targeted,
27:42
Speaker 10: it was Israelis and the fact that she can't mention that,
27:45
Speaker 10: neither even have any sort of understanding of the distinction there,
27:48
Speaker 10: I mean, it's just typical of the Teals.
27:50
Speaker 1: And none of the rest. Of course.
27:51
Speaker 2: I mean, it goes without saying. I feel like I
27:53
Speaker 2: don't need to repeat this. Everyone watching this program already
27:56
Speaker 2: knows this. None of the subsequent loss of life would
27:58
Speaker 2: have happened.
27:59
Speaker 1: No, not one loss. Hadn't started the war.
28:02
Speaker 2: And anyway, Adam, I want to finish with your Victoria,
28:06
Speaker 2: your premier, Adam, your Victorian premier.
28:08
Speaker 1: Yes, my premier.
28:10
Speaker 2: Ben Carroll made a quick exit out of a cafe
28:14
Speaker 2: after he was confronted over the state's crime crisis.
28:16
Speaker 1: Have a look.
28:18
Speaker 6: You're not going to do anything? You're not going to
28:21
Speaker 6: make us safer in Melbourne?
28:24
Speaker 10: Got nothing to say, hey?
28:25
Speaker 2: Hopefully they go to your house one day and then
28:29
Speaker 2: maybe you'll change your mind. Yeah, the joys of social
28:32
Speaker 2: media when you're a politician. But seriously, Adam, crime is
28:36
Speaker 2: the biggest issue this state election.
28:40
Speaker 9: Yeah, certainly motor vehicle theft and people trespassing on properties
28:44
Speaker 9: and stealing things is statistically a major issue in Victoria.
28:46
Speaker 9: I mean, just in the complex I live in, we've
28:48
Speaker 9: had three bikes stolen in the past six months. People
28:50
Speaker 9: were just waltzing and stealing them.
28:52
Speaker 6: And, you know, there's.
28:53
Speaker 9: A serious youth crime problem and quite reasonably people are
28:57
Speaker 9: very angry about it. And One Nation's just released their platform.
29:00
Speaker 9: They're making a big deal about it. I mean, I
29:02
Speaker 9: kind of don't get it because Victoria has more police
29:05
Speaker 9: proportionately and I think even in absolute terms than any
29:08
Speaker 9: other state. So there's some issue there.
29:11
Speaker 1: And I don't know the details, but there's an issue.
29:14
Speaker 2: Adam Crichton, Holly Hughes, great to have you on.
29:18
Speaker 6: Thanks.
29:19
Speaker 2: All right, still to come, the family of little Matilda harassed,
29:23
Speaker 2: told to leave the country. And could a High Court
29:26
Speaker 2: decision cost Australia its next wave of mining investment? One
29:30
Speaker 2: Nation leader in New South Wales joins me after the break.
29:37
Speaker 2: Thanks for tuning in. Well, tonight, One Nation is announced
29:40
Speaker 2: that it'll introduce a bill to save mining if it
29:43
Speaker 2: wins the New South Wales election. One Nation New South
29:46
Speaker 2: Wales leader Mike Newman says if he wins government, he'll
29:50
Speaker 2: repeal all of the so-called Scope 3 emissions regulations and
29:54
Speaker 2: the net zero policies to encourage more investment. And this
29:58
Speaker 2: comes after the High Court ruled that New South Wales
30:00
Speaker 2: planning authorities would need to factor in emissions caused by
30:04
Speaker 2: Australian coal burnt overseas. A move, of course, that the
30:08
Speaker 2: Greens celebrated. Well, joining us now for more is One
30:11
Speaker 2: Nation New South Wales leader Mike Newman. Mike Newman, thanks
30:15
Speaker 2: for your time. The Premier today said he wouldn't repeal
30:18
Speaker 2: these Scope 3 emissions regulations. What are you announcing on
30:23
Speaker 2: this program tonight?
30:25
Speaker 13: Well, Shari, thanks for your time today and to all
30:28
Speaker 13: of your viewers. In the first hundred days, if One
30:31
Speaker 13: Nation is fortunate to be elected, we will bring in
30:34
Speaker 13: an omnibus bill that will not only remove scope three,
30:38
Speaker 13: but we'll also get rid of every bit of net
30:40
Speaker 13: zero legislation and regulation that is killing our industries and
30:45
Speaker 13: drive a once prosperous state out of the poverty that
30:48
Speaker 13: it is headed towards. And I will say this, One
30:51
Speaker 13: Nation is often criticized for not having experience in government.
30:54
Speaker 13: I'll put the shoe on the other foot and say,
30:57
Speaker 13: Our governments over successive decades have very little experience in
31:01
Speaker 13: the private sector and how is that working out for us?
31:03
Speaker 13: We really are seeing that this Mount Pleasant High Court
31:06
Speaker 13: decision has said everything about why our system is broken.
31:12
Speaker 13: We are destroying investor confidence by making the system less predictable.
31:16
Speaker 13: And I've been saying ever since I was a Senior
31:18
Speaker 13: Trade Commissioner that we are losing investor confidence by the
31:23
Speaker 13: short things that everything continues to change And that is
31:27
Speaker 13: not good for investment. Now, I will say that the
31:30
Speaker 13: rest of the world has moved on from net zero.
31:34
Speaker 13: You know, China has added 10 times the New South
31:36
Speaker 13: Wales coal-fired power stack in the last year alone. And,
31:40
Speaker 13: you know, we're just seeing that the net zero banking
31:43
Speaker 13: alliance was abandoned. So I'm putting it to Premier Minns,
31:46
Speaker 13: why don't you remove the scope three regs and at
31:48
Speaker 13: a bare minimum do that and do the right thing?
31:50
Speaker 13: Because telling coal miners in the Hunter that you've got
31:53
Speaker 13: their backs is disingenuous in the extreme.
31:56
Speaker 2: Now, this is an issue that does affect the Hunter region.
32:00
Speaker 2: This is problematic for New South Wales Labor because, I mean,
32:03
Speaker 2: you're standing in the seat of Cessnock in the Hunter,
32:06
Speaker 2: a safe Labor seat, a margin of, I think, 23%.
32:09
Speaker 2: And you're expecting to win that with a primary in
32:13
Speaker 2: the low 40s, I understand. So this mining issue particularly
32:18
Speaker 2: plays in the area where Labor stands to lose seats.
32:21
Speaker 2: What has been the reaction since this High Court decision
32:25
Speaker 2: in your local area?
32:27
Speaker 13: Well, look, I mean, it's pretty clear that coal miners
32:31
Speaker 13: can see with their own eyes that a government that's
32:33
Speaker 13: not prepared to do things that incentivise investment is going
32:38
Speaker 13: to create more problems, right? This government is telling on
32:41
Speaker 13: one side they back coal miners, yet at the same time,
32:44
Speaker 13: this is the same government that introduced... legislation to ban
32:48
Speaker 13: new greenfield coal exploration. And we've also got to look
32:53
Speaker 13: at the fact that by 2029, when Arrarin closes, this
32:56
Speaker 13: government has legislated rolling blackout because their system is simply
33:01
Speaker 13: not working in terms of the energy transition. And the
33:03
Speaker 13: people of Sestock and other areas, Currie Currie, you name it,
33:07
Speaker 13: up in Singleton, Obviously, you know, Stuart Bonds, our upper
33:10
Speaker 13: house lead candidate, he's in the coal mining industry. He
33:13
Speaker 13: knows full well that the people are seeing through this
33:17
Speaker 13: fraudulent attempt to pretend that somehow they back mining.
33:21
Speaker 3: All right.
33:21
Speaker 2: Just on a couple of other issues, we're hearing again
33:24
Speaker 2: that students in Sydney and Melbourne are planning their third
33:28
Speaker 2: protest against Pauline Hanson.
33:29
Speaker 1: This time it's going to be on Remembrance Day.
33:32
Speaker 2: Now, it's been reported that these Australian protests are inspired
33:36
Speaker 2: by the French protests where we've seen quite shocking scenes
33:40
Speaker 2: of violence like this. I mean, Mike, having students walk
34:11
Speaker 2: out to protest a political party is one thing, but
34:15
Speaker 2: is this even more problematic on Remembrance Day?
34:18
Speaker 13: Look, I just think that the recent spate of selecting
34:21
Speaker 13: particular days to protest is quite abhorrent. I mean, we
34:25
Speaker 13: saw that only yesterday with the vigil for Gaza. I mean,
34:30
Speaker 13: this is really trying to use specific dates to basically
34:36
Speaker 13: demonise people. And instead of, you know, letting the people
34:41
Speaker 13: grieve for the 1200 people that were killed in Israel,
34:43
Speaker 13: the same thing with these student protests has the same
34:46
Speaker 13: underlying message is they are against free speech. They're against
34:51
Speaker 13: people having their own opinions. And look, as I said,
34:53
Speaker 13: the more that they do this, the more they drive
34:56
Speaker 13: people towards One Nation. And that's why we're seeing it
34:59
Speaker 13: pick up in many minority groups who are sick to
35:01
Speaker 13: death of being lectured to, especially by students who really
35:05
Speaker 13: do not understand the things they're trying to protest against.
35:08
Speaker 2: I just heard today, actually, when I was making phone
35:10
Speaker 2: calls about the report I had at the start of.
35:12
Speaker 1: The show, I.
35:14
Speaker 2: Someone very credible told me that a lot of Chinese
35:16
Speaker 2: voters are turning to One Nation as well, which I
35:19
Speaker 2: thought was interesting, but because of the economy, because they
35:23
Speaker 2: care about aspiration. Just on a final topic, Mike, the
35:27
Speaker 2: former Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, has added his voice to
35:31
Speaker 2: the growing chorus of critics blasting Richard Miles' decision to
35:36
Speaker 2: sell off Victoria Barracks, a famous defence site. Here he
35:39
Speaker 2: was speaking with Ben Fordham this morning.
35:42
Speaker 12: The notion that Victoria Barracks is just some wine cellar
35:46
Speaker 12: I think is the most stupid thing I've ever heard.
35:48
Speaker 12: It's as sacred as all those other pieces of the
35:52
Speaker 12: jigsaw that go back in time immemorial from the first
35:57
Speaker 12: Australians who we understand trod Australia's earth to the settlers
36:04
Speaker 12: who arrived and all that happened thereafter. It's all part
36:08
Speaker 12: of the fabric.
36:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, so this is, by the way, a terrific interview
36:13
Speaker 2: by Ben Fordham and so important that Cosgrove has come
36:17
Speaker 2: out on this. But do you think the government should
36:18
Speaker 2: backflip on this decision, not just on the Victoria Barracks,
36:21
Speaker 2: but to sell off all the defence sites it's planning
36:24
Speaker 2: to around the country?
36:26
Speaker 13: Well, it's not being done for the right reasons. It's
36:29
Speaker 13: doing it because this government is running out of cash. Now,
36:31
Speaker 13: my grandfather served in World War II at age 16
36:34
Speaker 13: and Victoria Barracks became his North Star. It was what
36:39
Speaker 13: he was attached to. It gave him a semblance of being.
36:43
Speaker 13: And that is why many veterans and also current serving
36:46
Speaker 13: ADF personnel believe that Victoria Barracks and other sites like
36:51
Speaker 13: it are part of the fabric of serving a nation.
36:54
Speaker 13: And it has history. It has credibility. It has all
36:57
Speaker 13: the things that that we should inspire and get our
37:01
Speaker 13: military towards moving and supporting these sorts of institutions rather
37:05
Speaker 13: than thinking to turn it into some sort of private business.
37:08
Speaker 13: I mean, it absolutely says everything about this government, that
37:11
Speaker 13: they are all about just raising money however they can
37:14
Speaker 13: get it, regardless of the mentality around the reasons for
37:18
Speaker 13: doing it, which is all pretty much.
37:20
Speaker 6: A cash grab.
37:21
Speaker 1: All right.
37:22
Speaker 2: Mike Newman, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time.
37:26
Speaker 2: And that's the New South Wales One Nation leader there.
37:29
Speaker 2: All right, well, still to come, undercover agents sent into
37:32
Speaker 2: our defence bases to test security. Their findings are shocking. Plus,
37:37
Speaker 2: we'll show you the message sent to little Matilda's family.
37:40
Speaker 2: That's all coming up. Well, Matilda, of course, was the
37:47
Speaker 2: youngest victim at Bondi, 10 years old. We'll just have
37:51
Speaker 2: a look at this private message that was sent to
37:54
Speaker 2: her family's account that they set up in her honor
37:57
Speaker 2: called literally Matilda B. It reads, go back to Israel
38:01
Speaker 2: where you belong. You do not belong in Australia. You
38:04
Speaker 2: are merely a Zionist operative, a blot on society. You
38:08
Speaker 2: support the criminally insane rogue pariah murdering Israeli terrorist state.
38:12
Speaker 2: Australians hate Israel and hate Zionism. Everybody knows this.
38:16
Speaker 1: You know this. It's disgraceful. It's despicable.
38:20
Speaker 2: And this after her family, her dad, Michael, her mum, Valentina,
38:24
Speaker 2: and her little sister, Summer, attended the October 7 commemorations yesterday.
38:30
Speaker 2: I mean, there is something seriously wrong with individuals who
38:35
Speaker 2: harass a family who lost their daughter not even 10
38:39
Speaker 2: months ago and And this Insta account that they sent
38:42
Speaker 2: the private message to is.
38:43
Speaker 1: Literally Matilda B. It's the Matilda B name.
38:47
Speaker 2: Joining me now, former IDF spokesperson and senior fellow at FTD,
38:51
Speaker 2: Jonathan Conricus. Jonathan, great to have you on the show again. Look,
38:56
Speaker 2: there's just a real problem with anti-Semites when they start
38:59
Speaker 2: attacking a family whose little girl was killed.
39:04
Speaker 8: Yeah, sadly, Shalom, and thanks for having me on again.
39:07
Speaker 8: You know, sadly, these days, it's not a rare occurrence.
39:10
Speaker 8: This is something that Jews around the world, whether it's Australia, Canada, France,
39:16
Speaker 8: the UK, even in the US, Jews encounter it everywhere.
39:21
Speaker 8: And many feel unsafe and unwanted and betrayed, even though
39:28
Speaker 8: in Australia, in Canada, in the U.S., Jews by and
39:32
Speaker 8: large have amongst the lowest crime rates. They are productive,
39:37
Speaker 8: loyal citizens wherever they live. They are proud members of society,
39:41
Speaker 8: usually highly committed members of society, philanthropists and good earners,
39:47
Speaker 8: and I can't really imagine what the logic would be
39:50
Speaker 8: for anybody to have this level of hatred. But, you know,
39:53
Speaker 8: to put the sad or realistic assessment on it, we've
39:58
Speaker 8: seen in history that anti-Semitism goes in waves. It has
40:01
Speaker 8: ebbs and flows. Unfortunately, I think since October 7, a
40:05
Speaker 8: new level of hatred, toxicity, violence and Islamist anti-Semitism has
40:12
Speaker 8: been unlocked and Jews around the world are feeling the consequences.
40:15
Speaker 1: Yeah.
40:16
Speaker 4: Yeah.
40:16
Speaker 2: And I spoke to Michael Matilda's dad about this particular
40:19
Speaker 2: instance today. He said it wasn't the first time, but,
40:23
Speaker 2: you know, they were on the front page of The
40:24
Speaker 2: Australian today, a picture of Michael Vallon's summer attending the
40:28
Speaker 2: October 7th commemoration. So, you know, I suppose someone must
40:33
Speaker 2: have seen it. New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani, Jonathan, on
40:38
Speaker 2: the third anniversary of October 7, he posted that the
40:41
Speaker 2: suffering didn't begin or end that day. He said it
40:44
Speaker 2: continued through the Israeli government's, you know, so-called genocide in Gaza.
40:49
Speaker 2: I mean, Jonathan, the only genocide was by Hamas when
40:52
Speaker 2: it slaughtered Israel on October 7. But Mamdani, the New
40:56
Speaker 2: York mayor, doesn't acknowledge this.
41:00
Speaker 8: No, I think, you know, the health secretary of the U.S.
41:05
Speaker 8: tweeted a very substantial tweet where he was, I don't
41:08
Speaker 8: know why he deleted it afterwards, but he said, he
41:11
Speaker 8: tweeted that the genocide hoax is a Qatari influence operation
41:17
Speaker 8: that has been very successful, that it is a blatant
41:20
Speaker 8: lie that any intelligent person immediately can identify that it
41:24
Speaker 8: is nonsense. Whatever metric you measure by the amount of
41:29
Speaker 8: people who live in Gaza today versus the amount of
41:31
Speaker 8: people who lived on October 7, the amount of babies born,
41:35
Speaker 8: the amount of food coming in, every metric you look at,
41:40
Speaker 8: that whole nonsense is just an influence operation. But what
41:44
Speaker 8: is infuriating is that, unfortunately, that Qatari-funded infused by Western
41:51
Speaker 8: media influence operation is sadly successful. And there are lots
41:56
Speaker 8: of good people, perhaps a bit ignorant, perhaps a bit lazy,
41:59
Speaker 8: but essentially good people around the world who actually believe
42:02
Speaker 8: that this atrocity happened. And not, as you correctly say,
42:06
Speaker 8: not the genocidal intentions of Hamas, who invaded into Israel
42:10
Speaker 8: with the real intention of murdering every Jew that they
42:14
Speaker 8: could get their hands on. But they are instead mixing
42:18
Speaker 8: attacker and victim, and they're blaming Israel for defending itself.
42:22
Speaker 8: And it's a sad situation. You know, someone told me
42:25
Speaker 8: that it's called war or it's called jihad and Islamists
42:30
Speaker 8: attack you. And then when they lose, it becomes the genocide.
42:33
Speaker 8: And that's the unfortunate situation.
42:35
Speaker 3: It is.
42:36
Speaker 2: It's complete moral confusion. Very quickly before you go, we
42:40
Speaker 2: literally have like 30 seconds, 40 seconds. You've got elections
42:43
Speaker 2: in Israel coming up. Do you expect that Israeli Prime
42:46
Speaker 2: Minister Netanyahu will be re-elected with a coalition?
42:51
Speaker 8: Doesn't look like it. It's too early to say. And
42:54
Speaker 8: I think anybody who has any political memory It is
42:58
Speaker 8: wise not to count out the most accomplished politician in Israel.
43:02
Speaker 8: But according to polls, it doesn't look as if there
43:05
Speaker 8: will be the current coalition is losing about 10 seats,
43:08
Speaker 8: a significant size.
43:10
Speaker 1: So who do you think will be the prime minister?
43:14
Speaker 8: Well, I hope that it will be a Zionist prime
43:16
Speaker 8: minister who represents Zionist people who work. fight and even
43:21
Speaker 8: the dream of Israel.
43:23
Speaker 1: Very diplomatic answer, Jonathan Conricus. Great to have you on
43:28
Speaker 1: the show.
43:29
Speaker 2: Surprised about that lack of opinion there, at least expressed publicly.
43:32
Speaker 2: All right, after the break, a shocking investigation has exposed
43:36
Speaker 2: how the US undercover agents were able to walk onto
43:40
Speaker 2: Australian defence false bases with no identification.
43:44
Speaker 1: David Craig will have the story after the break. Thanks
43:51
Speaker 1: for tuning in.
43:52
Speaker 2: Well, after a series of security breaches at Australian Defence
43:56
Speaker 2: Force bases, The Daily Telegraph has uncovered a shocking failure
44:00
Speaker 2: in the system. It's reported the US Naval Criminal Investigative Service,
44:05
Speaker 2: also known as NCIS, sent undercover agents to HMAS Stirling
44:11
Speaker 2: in WA and HMAS Catapult in Sydney to test the security.
44:17
Speaker 1: And once it's inside... It's.
44:18
Speaker 2: Believed that the agents were able to move through restricted
44:22
Speaker 2: areas without being challenged and photograph areas subject to security controls.
44:28
Speaker 2: It raises questions about whether Australia can be trusted in
44:31
Speaker 2: the wake of the AUKUS agreement. And joining me now
44:34
Speaker 2: is former Australian Federal Police Detective Superintendent David Craig. David,
44:39
Speaker 2: you were involved in preparing this report. Can you tell
44:43
Speaker 2: us what these undercover American agents discovered? What breaches did
44:48
Speaker 2: they find?
44:48
Speaker 11: Well, they haven't specifically told me, but they certainly gained
44:54
Speaker 11: access to areas where you had to be authorised. They
44:57
Speaker 11: were able to speak to high ranking members of the military.
45:02
Speaker 11: They were able to film locations as well, which is
45:07
Speaker 11: a big embarrassment for our country. I think the ADF
45:12
Speaker 11: should be embarrassed, and hopefully they're going to do something
45:14
Speaker 11: about this. Particularly, HMAS Sterling has got an $ 8 billion
45:19
Speaker 11: security upgrade, and regardless of how good your security is,
45:23
Speaker 11: if you haven't got a security culture inside the gates,
45:25
Speaker 11: then you can spend all you want on your protective security.
45:27
Speaker 11: You need a force protection security attitude towards this. And
45:33
Speaker 11: for people to go in armed only with a suit
45:34
Speaker 11: and an American accent, that's not good enough.
45:38
Speaker 2: So the Telegraph reports that the NCIS were able to
45:40
Speaker 2: access Australian Royal Navy bases using covert tactics while testing
45:45
Speaker 2: security provisions as part of the Orca submarine deal.
45:49
Speaker 1: I mean, this has got to worry you. the Trump administration,
45:52
Speaker 1: doesn't it?
45:55
Speaker 6: Of course.
45:55
Speaker 11: I mean, these are our closest allies and they're entrusting
45:59
Speaker 11: us with their most secretive and most effective war deterrent
46:03
Speaker 11: military hardware. And we've been, we are at the moment,
46:08
Speaker 11: the ADF is the weak link in the security pact
46:12
Speaker 11: of AUKUS and it's been demonstrated as that and we
46:14
Speaker 11: need to fix it. It's just simply not good enough.
46:17
Speaker 2: I mean, the reason this happened is because there have
46:21
Speaker 2: been a series of breaches. I'm going to do a
46:23
Speaker 2: bit more reporting on this area in the coming weeks,
46:25
Speaker 2: but drones have been sent into defence bases, into secure
46:29
Speaker 2: areas and have gone undetected. This is a big emerging issue.
46:36
Speaker 11: Yes, there's been several thousand security events, the Australian National
46:42
Speaker 11: Audit Office has reported, on defence sites. We are protected
46:46
Speaker 11: there by MSS security guards who are unarmed with very
46:49
Speaker 11: little powers whatsoever. And we've got drones flying over our
46:55
Speaker 11: Air Force bases. We've got people being able to walk
46:57
Speaker 11: into our most secretive or soon to be our most
47:00
Speaker 11: strategic and secret naval base, unchallenged, or bases. This is
47:05
Speaker 11: a real problem. And then after the removal of all
47:08
Speaker 11: the DUA cameras, 700 of which were in the defence sites,
47:13
Speaker 11: Now we find out that some staff and some visitors
47:16
Speaker 11: are returning with the Leap motor vehicles with Darwin cameras
47:19
Speaker 11: in them, six in each one, internet connected, Chinese made.
47:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a huge, huge problem. I just want to
47:26
Speaker 2: turn to some breaking news now, David. And there's reports
47:30
Speaker 2: that a police station in Sydney's north, the DIY police station,
47:35
Speaker 2: is in lockdown after a person walked in and put
47:37
Speaker 2: a hand grenade on the front counter. It's been in
47:40
Speaker 2: lockdown since about 6.30pm tonight. A large exclusion zone reportedly
47:45
Speaker 2: set up. Police sources said the explosive is being treated
47:48
Speaker 2: as live. This is what The Telegraph's reporting. And the
47:51
Speaker 2: bomb squad had been called in. Police haven't commented other
47:55
Speaker 2: than to say an operation is ongoing. alarming, a hand grenade.
48:01
Speaker 2: Can you tell us a bit about a hand grenade, David? How,
48:06
Speaker 2: if this were to explode, how big would the damage be?
48:11
Speaker 11: Well, it depends on the size of the grenade and
48:13
Speaker 11: the size of the confined area that it's in. If
48:15
Speaker 11: it's in a normal DY police station, I'm not familiar
48:19
Speaker 11: with the foyer area, but if it's been left on
48:21
Speaker 11: the counter or in the foyer there, depending on the
48:23
Speaker 11: size of the room, we'll examine, we'll determine how big
48:27
Speaker 11: the damage is from it. Now, they have a timing
48:31
Speaker 11: fuse on it, so it's clearly the pin hasn't been
48:34
Speaker 11: pulled out, so the trigger should not have been released.
48:36
Speaker 11: So hopefully we're not dealing with a countdown of an
48:40
Speaker 11: altered time fuse. But if it's a live hand grenade
48:43
Speaker 11: and it's been left there, this is, you know, obviously
48:46
Speaker 11: there'll be CCTV cameras, but this is a major thing.
48:49
Speaker 6: This isn't someone having found something. This is a warning.
48:52
Speaker 6: I would take it as that.
48:53
Speaker 11: And it needs to be treated as live and If
48:55
Speaker 11: I was anywhere near the DY police station at the moment,
48:58
Speaker 11: I would be trying to avoid that area.
49:00
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
49:01
Speaker 2: Look, this comes as the New South Wales Premier today
49:03
Speaker 2: announced a new police squad to patrol the streets armed
49:08
Speaker 2: with high-powered rifles. 250 armed response command team. They're going
49:12
Speaker 2: to be rolled out from November. This is in response
49:15
Speaker 2: to Bondi, of course. Has this been needed?
49:20
Speaker 11: It's 100% needed, Shari. There's always been a big gap
49:24
Speaker 11: between the very first constable on scene with a 9mm
49:29
Speaker 11: sidearm and the tactical police that come in with high-range
49:33
Speaker 11: weapons and are better trained. There's a time delay between that.
49:36
Speaker 11: And Bondi has taught us that Islamic terrorism can burst
49:40
Speaker 11: out of normality and cause mass casualties and mass deaths
49:44
Speaker 11: in a matter of minutes. So to have this armed
49:47
Speaker 11: squad is a good step. It's a good measure and
49:49
Speaker 11: it's necessary.
49:50
Speaker 3: Yeah.
49:50
Speaker 1: All right, David Craig, thank you so much for your
49:52
Speaker 1: time and your insights. Appreciate it as always.
49:55
Speaker 2: And don't forget, Monday night, we've got our big Josh
49:57
Speaker 2: Frydenberg interview. But right now, here's Caleb Bond filling in
50:01
Speaker 2: for Paul Murray.