Latest / Steve Price / Steve Price | 25 September

Transcript

Steve Price | 25 September · Steve Price

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Live, this is Steve Price. Good evening. Welcome to the
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: AFL Grand Final League program as Melbourne experiences its annual
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: celebration of everything footy to be played, of course, at
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: the MCG tomorrow, minus any Victorian teams as Queensland and
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: WA do battle. On a super busy news day, here's
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: what's coming up on the program tonight. All eyes on
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Washington and New York today with a steak dinner for
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: China's President Xi Jinping, hosted by President Donald Trump while
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: in New York. Our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, addresses the UN,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: again confirming his recognition of Palestine from a year ago
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: and giving more detail on this open AI hack on Medicare.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Also tonight, Victoria goes to the polls. It's only nine
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: weeks tomorrow now, with the state's unemployment rate now the
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: worst in the country. Throw in a retail crime epidemic,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: a corruption royal commission, arguments about potholes and a crackdown
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: on illegal tobacco... stores. It's going to be a long
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: nine weeks. We'll speak with the Nationals MP leader Danny
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: O'Brien about Labor's record and what Victorians can expect from
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: the election campaign coming up. Australia's electric vehicle sales, well,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: they're booming, but warnings are mounting that governments have failed
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: to keep up with the security infrastructure and road funding implications.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Paul Gover joins us to examine whether Australia is sleepwalking
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: into an EV trap and a major recall of a
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: BYD ute. Plus, we'll check in with Herald Sun cartoonist
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Mark Knight, as Kalem just mentioned, ahead of tomorrow's AFL
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: grand final and the unusual controversy he found himself in
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: after Frio, or maybe the AFL, took issue with his
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: premiership poster. But first, back to our Prime Minister's visit
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: to the UN and his speech today, where the Prime Minister,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Prime Minister Albanese, used his time to rally other countries
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: to agree with his position on using legislation to limit
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: the impact of AI. Now, I'm not sure about his timing,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: given as he was speaking, Donald Trump, as I mentioned,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: was hosting the Chinese president at the White House, along
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: with all the major players of big tech and AI,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: after President Trump earlier in the week, from the very
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: same lectern that Albanese was speaking from, talked up the
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: benefits of AI, even renaming it. Here was the president...
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: talking up what he now calls superintelligence and calling for
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: fears of losing control of AI a hoax.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Whoever wins SI, whoever wins superintelligent, wins.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: We're going to keep it that way.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: We're going to keep it very, very straight and very strong.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to stifle growth of something that will
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: be bigger than the Industrial Revolution.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Well, completely the opposite argument from our Prime Minister. Our PM,
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: while acknowledging the importance of Australia's reliance on the US alliance,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: as he should, seems to be completely at odds, using
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: his speech to warn that there has to be greater
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: restrictions on the developing tech.
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: Recently, an artificial intelligence agent infiltrated an Australian government website.
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: This is unacceptable. And it is why Australia has been
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: leading the way in establishing Australian standards for AI. Standards
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: to ensure that AI will work and deliver for people,
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: not the other way around.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Now, clearly, Anthony Albanese, unlike Trump, is a huge fan
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: of the UN, advocating a globalist view on AI, joining
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: other UN loving countries like the French and the UK
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: under their new prime minister, Andy Burnham, with Albanese calling
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: for action to shape the technology. Now, I presume the
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: prime minister and Labor believe that this attitude will play
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: well with Labor voters in the lead up to next
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: year's election. The Prime Minister also restated a view that
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: he expressed at the UN exactly this time last year
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: that he supports the recognition of Palestine, tying Australia to
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: that viewpoint.
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: Colleagues, last year Australia took the considered decision to join
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: other partners and recognise the state of Palestine. It was motivated.
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: by the determination to try and end a cycle of
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: violence that has stolen too many innocent lives. We know
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: the only viable path to peace and security in Palestine,
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: in Israel and in the broader Middle East is through
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: a two-state solution. We will continue to speak out against
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: actions that damage that prospect of peace, including illegal settlements
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: in the West Bank.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Of course, that recognition of Palestine has upset a lot
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: of Jewish Australians. I've not yet been able to see
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: a camera angle, by the way, of how many people
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: were actually in the UN hall there listening and watching
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Anthony Albanese. It's hard not to contrast the style and
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: the passion of our Prime Minister's UN address with that
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: of Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who called claims of
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: a genocide in Gaza the biggest lie of the century.
• 5:22
  Speaker 5: What genocidal regime gives a million polio vaccinations to the
• 5:28
  Speaker 5: enemy's population? What genocidal regime enables the distribution of two
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: million tons of food into Gaza? That's a ton for
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: every person. Accusing Israel of genocide is the greatest lie
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: of the century.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: That speech sparked a group walkout from the Assembly, a
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: move that the Israeli Prime Minister called, quote, a move
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: by a bunch of moral cowards.
• 5:57
  Speaker 6: I request an order in the hall, please.
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: If there are any other moral cowards who haven't yet
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: left this hall, please do so now.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: Netanyahu's presence in New York also sparked a series of
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: protests outside the heavily protected diplomatic zone after New York
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Mayor Mandami said the Israeli leader was not welcome in
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: the Big Apple. Now, the Prime Minister, our Prime Minister,
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: is due back in the country tomorrow morning, I think, flying.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: I believe, into Sydney or it could be Canberra. Now,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: I presume that. But conveniently, he's avoiding attending the grand
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: final in Melbourne, which would have been very, very awkward
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: given the pre-match entertainment is being headlined by one Kylie Minogue,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: who the prime minister in that infamous podcast revealed that
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: he would like to shag. How embarrassing that would have
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: been for the Prime Minister, Albanese, and a complete insult
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: to the pop superstar, Kylie. Now, I know who Melbourne
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: footy fans would rather have at the game, and it's
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: not Anthony Albanese. I'll talk in a moment with the
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: Victorian Nationals leader, Danny O'Brien, with that nine weeks to
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Polling Day in Victoria. with overnight a major slapdown for
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: the failure of the Andrews-Allen-Carroll government's ability to control street crime.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: I mean, this is unbelievable. We've got street crime, carjackings, firebombings,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: home invasions and increasingly retail theft. Crime is at or
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: near the top of the election issues, and it should be.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: With shopping centre developer Chris Garneau overnight, and his company
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: has $ 5 billion invested in centres around the country... It's
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: a crowd called Faulkner Property. Well, he said of Victoria, quote,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: it's a criminal's dream state. He went on to describe
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: Victoria as being uninvestable. I mean, what a slap, what
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: a statement, what a truth being told. Garneau said retail
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: crime in Victoria was double that of other states and said, quote,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: criminals are not being charged or if they are, they're
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: immediately being let off. Adding the crime rate in their
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: Coles and Woolworths supermarkets is a criminal's dream state. He
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: said bashing of security guards, people just walk off, they
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: don't get charged or if they do, they are out
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: on bail. Now, I've been telling our audience for years,
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: but to have remarks like that just weeks out from
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: an election campaign will only deepen Labor's nightmare. As he remarked,
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: as the retailer remarked, the state is uninvestable.
• 8:32
  Speaker 7: I mean, what?
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: And a state of affairs and a looming challenge for
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: any incoming government. OK, let's get stuck in now to
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: that Victorian election. And the countdown is on just over
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: two months now, nine weeks. until voters go to the polls. Now, interestingly,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Labor will have to navigate any fallout from the big
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: build Royal Commission, with the former Premier Jacinda Allen likely
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: to get drilled as part of that probe. The Nationals
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: leader in Victoria is Danny O'Brien. I'm pleased to say
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: you'll join us again. We'll get to that Royal Commission, Danny,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: in just a second. But that honest assessment from Faulkner Properties'
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Chris Garneau, I mean, it's pretty hard to disagree, isn't it?
• 9:14
  Speaker 8: Oh, look, it's not the first time we've heard it, Steve.
• 9:16
  Speaker 8: You know, we hear, sadly, we hear a lot of
• 9:18
  Speaker 8: investors and international property people. We hear business people around
• 9:23
  Speaker 8: the nation who are saying the acronym ABV, anywhere but Victoria.
• 9:27
  Speaker 8: And that's an embarrassment for our state under this Labor government,
• 9:30
  Speaker 8: whether it's the crime issues, whether it's the unemployment, whether
• 9:33
  Speaker 8: it's the taxes and the red tape burden. Victoria is
• 9:36
  Speaker 8: really struggling under Labor, and that's why we need a
• 9:38
  Speaker 8: fresh start in November.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Just to point out to people watching us from outside
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: of Victoria, we have, you know, not only, but we've
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: got drug-affected people walking into supermarkets. They just grab whatever
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: they want, even loading up trolleys and walking out, and
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: security guards are told they can't do anything about it.
• 9:57
  Speaker 8: And we see that right around our state as well.
• 10:00
  Speaker 8: not just a city issue anymore too, Steve, in our
• 10:02
  Speaker 8: regional centres as well. the homelessness, the mental health, the
• 10:06
  Speaker 8: drug addiction, all of those issues. The amenity of our
• 10:09
  Speaker 8: communities now has gone dramatically backwards, probably in the last
• 10:13
  Speaker 8: 10 years in particular, particularly even in the time I've
• 10:15
  Speaker 8: been an MP, which is 12 years now. You're just
• 10:18
  Speaker 8: seeing things that you wouldn't see before, and it's largely
• 10:20
  Speaker 8: because we're not getting a government that actually ensures there
• 10:23
  Speaker 8: are consequences for people who commit crimes. We see that
• 10:26
  Speaker 8: time and time again. That's why we've got a break, bail,
• 10:28
  Speaker 8: face jail policy, why we're committed to recruiting 3,000 new
• 10:31
  Speaker 8: police officers and making sure that Victoria gets the fresh
• 10:35
  Speaker 8: start it deserves.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: The new Premier, Ben Carroll, seems to be trying to
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: gaslight the community. He says, look, I've added to the
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: number of PSOs to stop the thefts, but they are
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: at record highs. I mean, he's been in Cabinet for
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: the entire time that Dan Andrews and Jacinda Allen have
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: been in charge. Why has he only discovered now that
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: he's trying to get re-elected that crime's such a big issue?
• 11:01
  Speaker 8: I think because of the reason you just highlighted, that
• 11:03
  Speaker 8: we're nine weeks from an election. And this is the thing,
• 11:06
  Speaker 8: I don't think Victorians are buying it. Ben Carroll's trying
• 11:09
  Speaker 8: to pretend he's some sort of opposition, that he's never
• 11:11
  Speaker 8: been part of this government. Well, he's been a deputy
• 11:13
  Speaker 8: premier for the last three years. He's been a minister
• 11:15
  Speaker 8: for about 10 years. He's been there. He's been part
• 11:18
  Speaker 8: of it. All of this chaos, this red tape, this taxation,
• 11:23
  Speaker 8: this soft on crime approach, For the last 12 years,
• 11:26
  Speaker 8: all the time, Ben Carroll has been there and most
• 11:29
  Speaker 8: of that time he's been a big part of it.
• 11:30
  Speaker 8: And you're right, he is trying to gaslight Victorians on
• 11:33
  Speaker 8: the eve of an election. And frankly, as I travel around,
• 11:36
  Speaker 8: I don't think Victorians are buying it.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: He's quickly set up a Royal Commission into the big build.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: It's had one day of sitting with an opening remarks
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: from the Royal Commissioner. And we are told, although I
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: have to wait and see it until I believe it,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: that Daniel Andrews and Jacinda Allen will be called. How
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: confident are we, Danny, that this Royal Commission will actually
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: get to the bottom of the rot? Well, we hope
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: it does, Steve.
• 12:05
  Speaker 8: And it's, you know, it's very late in the piece
• 12:08
  Speaker 8: for the Labor government to be announcing this. And we
• 12:10
  Speaker 8: know that there were Labor people saying that we should
• 12:13
  Speaker 8: do it because if the Liberals and Nationals do it,
• 12:15
  Speaker 8: it will be tough on our unions and on us
• 12:17
  Speaker 8: as And so we're always a little bit sceptical about
• 12:20
  Speaker 8: this and we hope that the Royal Commissioner does take
• 12:23
  Speaker 8: a full and fulsome look at everything that's there and
• 12:26
  Speaker 8: the $ 15 billion lost to corruption on the big build.
• 12:29
  Speaker 8: And absolutely that Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allen are grilled.
• 12:33
  Speaker 8: We actually released terms of reference earlier this year and
• 12:36
  Speaker 8: then updated them a couple of months ago to include
• 12:38
  Speaker 8: a list of witnesses that would start with Daniel Andrews
• 12:41
  Speaker 8: and Jacinta Allen. And look, if the Royal Commission doesn't
• 12:44
  Speaker 8: call them, we reserve the right to make sure that
• 12:47
  Speaker 8: they are and we'll change the terms of reference if
• 12:49
  Speaker 8: we're elected to make sure we do get to the
• 12:51
  Speaker 8: bottom of where this money went, who was responsible and
• 12:53
  Speaker 8: make sure we actually punish those who were involved in
• 12:56
  Speaker 8: the corruption in the first place.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's unlikely, isn't it, between now and nine
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: weeks from tomorrow that you're going to see either of
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: those former premiers back? up before the Royal Commission. So,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: I mean, I guess what Labor's hoping for is that
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: they can squeak back in, win a fourth term and
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: just brush all that to one side. You're guaranteeing Victorians, though,
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: that if the coalition is to win, you have the
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: legal right to change the Royal Commission terms of reference
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: to make sure they're called. That's right. Absolutely, Steve.
• 13:29
  Speaker 8: We've got a list of about 20 witnesses on there
• 13:31
  Speaker 8: and they're at the top of it because ultimately this
• 13:35
  Speaker 8: was a failure of government. Yes, there was corruption, obviously,
• 13:38
  Speaker 8: by the CFMEU and officials and bikies and criminals who
• 13:42
  Speaker 8: infiltrated the big build. But at the top of the
• 13:45
  Speaker 8: chain were Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allen. Now, what they knew,
• 13:48
  Speaker 8: what they did, All of those things are important that
• 13:51
  Speaker 8: the Royal Commission has to get to the bottom of
• 13:54
  Speaker 8: because there has to be accountability. And I would hope
• 13:56
  Speaker 8: that we do hear more of this before the election
• 13:59
  Speaker 8: so Victorians can pass judgment. I think we know largely
• 14:02
  Speaker 8: what's happened, but it's important for the Royal Commission to
• 14:04
  Speaker 8: get into the detail as much as possible before the
• 14:06
  Speaker 8: election as well. And we literally asked Ben Carroll this week,
• 14:09
  Speaker 8: would he put himself before the Royal Commission before the
• 14:12
  Speaker 8: election so that Victorians understand what he knew, what he did,
• 14:16
  Speaker 8: what he didn't do and how he will be held accountable.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: Incredibly, Parliament won't sit again now before the election, so
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: that's nine weeks away. I mean, I don't know how
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Victorians feel about the fact that Parliament's up and finished
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: and now we're into election mode. I even had a
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Greens candidate in one of the seats where I live
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: buzzing on my apartment door thing today, wanting to know
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: if he can come and have a talk. about what
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: the Greens were going to offer up in November. He
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: didn't get inside the front door, I'll be pleased to say.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: But these IBAC anti-corruption laws that were rushed through, will
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: they allow Cabinet immunity? Are you worried that this might
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: protect some Cabinet documents, that they might be classified by
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: the Commissioner as unacceptable as evidence? Well, absolutely, Stephen.
• 15:09
  Speaker 8: We moved an amendment on that in the Upper House
• 15:11
  Speaker 8: to try and ensure that that loophole was closed. There
• 15:14
  Speaker 8: shouldn't be immunity for Cabinet documents or for Cabinet ministers
• 15:18
  Speaker 8: or Cabinet discussions when it comes to this level of
• 15:20
  Speaker 8: corruption that we've seen in Victoria. You know, the fish
• 15:23
  Speaker 8: rots from the head and we do need to know
• 15:25
  Speaker 8: that the Cabinet..... or we do need to know everything
• 15:28
  Speaker 8: that the Cabinet knew and did because, you know, Victorians
• 15:31
  Speaker 8: have lost $ 15 billion of their taxpayers' money today through
• 15:35
  Speaker 8: this debacle. And absolutely, we tried to make sure that
• 15:39
  Speaker 8: that immunity was that public interest immunity for cabinet documents
• 15:43
  Speaker 8: was closed. The fact that Ben Carroll and Labor voted
• 15:47
  Speaker 8: against it, I think probably tells you what you need
• 15:48
  Speaker 8: to know.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Danny, it wouldn't be a Steve Price, Danny conversation without
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: talking about potholes. You know, they are a major issue.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, obviously, $ 15 billion or more going
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: into corrupt hands is a major issue. And there is,
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: you know, crime and the crime wave that Victorians have
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: had to put up with. But potholes have become symptomatic,
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: have they not, of the decaying state of this state?
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: You're spot on.
• 16:18
  Speaker 8: They are an example, a symptom of exactly the broader
• 16:22
  Speaker 8: malaise that our state faces. And I think what I
• 16:25
  Speaker 8: hear from people so often is that, if the government
• 16:28
  Speaker 8: can't do the basics, like keep our roads in good order,
• 16:32
  Speaker 8: then what else is there that they're failing on? And
• 16:34
  Speaker 8: as you said, $ 15 billion lost to corruption. Imagine what
• 16:37
  Speaker 8: that could have done for our roads. And you're right,
• 16:40
  Speaker 8: this has now become, I mean, it's always been a
• 16:43
  Speaker 8: high order issue, particularly in our regional areas where the
• 16:45
  Speaker 8: nationals are fighting for better roads. But It's really become
• 16:49
  Speaker 8: a statewide issue and probably in the last couple of weeks, tragically,
• 16:52
  Speaker 8: thanks to the death of Peter Mason on the Western Highway,
• 16:56
  Speaker 8: it's probably become almost a first or second order issue
• 16:59
  Speaker 8: in the election and that's a very sad reflection on
• 17:02
  Speaker 8: the Labor government and how badly they've mismanaged and underfunded
• 17:04
  Speaker 8: our roads.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Good on you, Danny. Good to catch up. It's going
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: to be a very long nine weeks and a lot
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: of electioneering to come. Danny O'Brien there, the Nationals leader
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: in Victoria. Speaking of potholes and roads... I want to
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: go to the growing debate also now over electric vehicles.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: I wonder if the weight of electric vehicles, thinking about it,
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: has had some impact on the condition of those roads.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: They're much, much, much heavier. There's also a debate about
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: whether there should be a road user charge. and warnings
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: that you shouldn't be talking when you're in an EV
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: if you've got something sensitive to say. There are now
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: warnings Australians could be exposed to economic and national security
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: risks if governments fail to properly regulate the technology, while
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: questions also remain over a road user charge, as I said.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: And it comes as BYD Australia is investigating claims its
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Shark 6 plug-in hybrid can be hacked. And there's also
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: a major recall of 32,009 dual cab hybrid utes, if
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: you don't mind, following concerns that the spare wheel could
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: fall off. Here to discuss it, veteran moding journalist and
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: a regular on the program and a great electric vehicle fan,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: Paul Gover. Paul, welcome, as usual.
• 18:18
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: The weight of these things, potentially you could make an argument.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's not just them, it's trucks as well.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: are having an impact on the condition of our roads,
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: couldn't you?
• 18:30
  Speaker 9: Yeah, well, we're talking about a battery pack that can
• 18:32
  Speaker 9: weigh up to 400 kilos. So like for like, a
• 18:36
  Speaker 9: combustion car against a battery electric car, the battery electric
• 18:40
  Speaker 9: car can be 400 kilos heavier. Even fairly small electric cars,
• 18:45
  Speaker 9: and I drove here to the studio tonight, In a
• 18:48
  Speaker 9: GWM aura, it is significantly heavier. There is no doubt
• 18:54
  Speaker 9: that over time they'll do more damage to the road.
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: But we're getting ahead of ourselves here.
• 18:59
  Speaker 9: You know, 25% of the sales last month, yes, were electric.
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: 25% of, you know, the annual total is $ 1. 2 million.
• 19:09
  Speaker 9: There are seven or eight million cars on the road
• 19:11
  Speaker 9: in Australia. It's still relatively small numbers, but governments traditionally
• 19:15
  Speaker 9: knee-jerk afterwards. In Victoria, they've started to worry about the
• 19:19
  Speaker 9: potholes after somebody on a motorcycle got killed, not before.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's disgraceful. And I can tell you the condition
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: of the roads down here are much worse than in
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: any other state. What about this idea of a road
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: user charge? We all pay it, those of us who
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: drive petrol or diesel vehicles. I mean, surely the government
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: at some point, Victoria tried to do it. And I
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: think someone went to the High Court and said it's unconstitutional,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: but they should be paying it, shouldn't they?
• 19:46
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 19:47
  Speaker 7: Absolutely.
• 19:48
  Speaker 9: But the thing about it is the reason the Victorian
• 19:50
  Speaker 9: tax got knocked over was not because it was bad
• 19:53
  Speaker 9: or anything, it was because legislatively they didn't have the
• 19:56
  Speaker 9: powers of state government to have that level of taxation.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: Yes, we need to have a road.
• 20:00
  Speaker 9: User charge, but those lovely people in the EV body
• 20:03
  Speaker 9: say that people who have combustion cars should pay a
• 20:06
  Speaker 9: road user tax instead as well as the excise we're
• 20:09
  Speaker 9: already paying, which is effectively a road user tax, because the.
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: More you drive, the more fuel you use, therefore you're
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: paying a road user tax.
• 20:17
  Speaker 9: So, you know, the greener and holier-than-thou attitude of the EV,
• 20:22
  Speaker 9: people pop that again, because, oh, if we have to
• 20:24
  Speaker 9: pay a tax, they should pay.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: No, they're already paying a tax, people. You're not.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: My only worry with all of this is someone in
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: Treasury in Canberra is going to go, oh, well, I
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: was watching Paul Gober make this argument the other night
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: Why don't we just simplify it all and we have
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: a tax on the distances you travel in any given
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: year and that you pay a road users tax that way?
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: I mean, that's the other problem that I see coming
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: across the horizon.
• 20:52
  Speaker 7: Yep.
• 20:53
  Speaker 9: Yeah, but if that came across the horizon, Steve, you
• 20:55
  Speaker 9: wouldn't then have to pay excise on fuel because that's
• 20:59
  Speaker 9: what the excise on fuel is supposed to be. It's
• 21:01
  Speaker 9: the road user tax. You're supposed to give it back
• 21:03
  Speaker 9: to people to make roads with. not put it in
• 21:06
  Speaker 9: consolidated revenue.
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: Thank you very much.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: The issue of fuel, I mean, I saw diesel today
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: up around the $ 2. 80, $ 2. 90 mark, depending upon where you're looking.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: I think I paid $ 2. 65 for 98 unleaded. Those prices
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: are back to where they were when we started to
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: have a minor panic about them earlier. They can only
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: go higher if this conflict in the Middle East, Paul,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: keeps going.
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you're right. But it's also there are other factors
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: in this.
• 21:41
  Speaker 9: I've never, ever seen a complete breakdown of how oil
• 21:44
  Speaker 9: companies price petrol anyway. And they've had a number of
• 21:47
  Speaker 9: inquiries and they never seem to get very far with it.
• 21:49
  Speaker 9: But the other thing about it is you've also got
• 21:51
  Speaker 9: to look at the Australian, the exchange rate of the
• 21:53
  Speaker 9: Australian dollar. We don't buy oil in Australian dollars. We
• 21:56
  Speaker 9: pay in US dollars. That's another factor that we need
• 21:59
  Speaker 9: to be looking at with this sort of thing.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: But, yeah, you're right. Why it's going again that way?
• 22:05
  Speaker 9: Gee whiz, the oil price is actually speculation. People are
• 22:09
  Speaker 9: looking at oil futures all the time. So what control
• 22:12
  Speaker 9: does Australia have over that?
• 22:14
  Speaker 7: None.
• 22:15
  Speaker 9: But what happened was, of course, the federal government took
• 22:17
  Speaker 9: the excise down and gave us relief, but then went, oh, no,
• 22:21
  Speaker 9: we're putting it back where it was.
• 22:23
  Speaker 7: But if you look at the amount of.
• 22:24
  Speaker 9: Taxation they're getting, GST and that sort of stuff, because
• 22:27
  Speaker 9: the price is up, they're actually getting more as a
• 22:30
  Speaker 9: percentage of the price anyway.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: So this is a windfall tax for them. which they're
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: not talking about.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: Interestingly, Donald Trump's also made some remarks in the last
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: 48 hours about he might limit the export of diesel.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: That would be a disaster for this country. I presume
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: we get a lot of our diesel from the US.
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: No, it mostly comes... It actually mostly comes through.
• 22:54
  Speaker 9: The crude they use for that mostly comes through Singapore,
• 22:58
  Speaker 9: as I understand it. So we're not so limited on
• 23:02
  Speaker 9: that sort of stuff.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: Most of our oil.
• 23:04
  Speaker 9: comes out of the Asian region, the stuff that we
• 23:07
  Speaker 9: need to import. The big problem here is we have
• 23:10
  Speaker 9: no sustainability. At the beginning of this whole situation, the
• 23:14
  Speaker 9: federal government realised that we didn't have the fuel stocks
• 23:17
  Speaker 9: that we needed, but also there were a signature to
• 23:21
  Speaker 9: an international treaty on how much oil reserves you're supposed
• 23:24
  Speaker 9: to have.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: We were nowhere near that number.
• 23:26
  Speaker 9: And the other thing, of course, is that we went
• 23:28
  Speaker 9: from having five oil refineries to two. So we're not
• 23:31
  Speaker 9: as self-sufficient as we need to be in oil. And
• 23:34
  Speaker 9: the way to get ahead of that is always to
• 23:36
  Speaker 9: have a buffer, not to be continually knee-jerk reacting to
• 23:39
  Speaker 9: a short-term problem.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: Just finally, I noticed a little sign in a side
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: street near my place where the local council, Stonington Council,
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: is going to introduce... 30 kilometre an hour speed limits.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: They're calling it a trial, which is going to last
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: 18 months. It includes the entire length of Chapel Street
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: between Toorak Road and Dandenong Road. I can barely keep
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: myself at 40, let alone down at 30. You can't
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: drive that slowly.
• 24:13
  Speaker 7: Well, you can.
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: But you shouldn't have to.
• 24:15
  Speaker 7: I can't. All of this.
• 24:17
  Speaker 9: I did some... No, exactly, exactly. The thing about it
• 24:21
  Speaker 9: is they've done some... I did a bit of research.
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: They've dropped it down in Japan, right?
• 24:28
  Speaker 9: But they have roads that are only three metres, four
• 24:30
  Speaker 9: metres wide, not like our roads, OK? So this is
• 24:33
  Speaker 9: local governments reacting. And, of course, the thing is they say, oh,
• 24:36
  Speaker 9: pedestrian deaths are up. But they're not doing any research
• 24:40
  Speaker 9: on people walking around with headphones plugged in And looking
• 24:43
  Speaker 9: at their phones and stepping out into the traffic. So
• 24:46
  Speaker 9: once again, instead of looking at the cause, they're looking
• 24:49
  Speaker 9: at the result and saying, OK, cars must be going
• 24:52
  Speaker 9: too fast because people are getting injured. Instead of saying,
• 24:55
  Speaker 9: why are people getting injured? They're walking out into the
• 24:58
  Speaker 9: traffic without paying attention.
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: So it's that sort of stuff.
• 25:02
  Speaker 7: It's the same.
• 25:02
  Speaker 9: You know, electric vehicles have to make a noise, some
• 25:05
  Speaker 9: sort of buzzing noise, when they're going below a certain
• 25:08
  Speaker 9: speed because the governments have assumed that people are not
• 25:12
  Speaker 9: paying attention, therefore will penalise the car makers by making
• 25:15
  Speaker 9: them have these buzzers on their cars. It's the same
• 25:17
  Speaker 9: as trucks that back up, you know, and go beep, beep, beep.
• 25:20
  Speaker 9: All the time we're putting on band-aids on what is
• 25:23
  Speaker 9: effectively a sucking chest wound because governments hamble these things along.
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: Instead of looking at the cause, they're looking at a
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: short-term solution.
• 25:33
  Speaker 9: And politically, for that local council, that'll get a huge
• 25:36
  Speaker 9: number of votes from people who want to do the
• 25:38
  Speaker 9: right thing in those sort of streets.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Yep, I suspect you're right. Paul Gover, always great to
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: catch up, my friend.
• 25:45
  Speaker 7: Thank you.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again soon. Now, coming up after
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: the break, the extraordinary Medicare cyber breach involving an open
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: AI agent and why the government says it took almost
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: three months to find out exactly what had happened. Plus,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: soaring fuel prices that I just mentioned, putting the squeeze
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: on farmers, tradies and businesses. That's all up next.
• 26:09
  Speaker 7: Welcome back.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: Coming up, we'll check in with Mark Knight as he
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: prepares for tomorrow's AFL Grand Final. He draws those magnificent posters,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: but also the controversy he found himself in over the
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Fremantle poster. I still can't quite understand that. Mark will
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: be here on the desk shortly. Now, for more on
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: that data breach, which we talked about at the top
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: of the program, left the Prime Minister and the federal
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: government under extraordinary pressure yesterday after it was revealed that
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Labor had known about this for more than a week.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: The government says no individual Medicare records were accessed, but
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: the AI agent, so not a human, did access non-public
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: files after finding a way around the portal's protections. I mean,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: the Prime Minister's now ordered an urgent review, as he
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: should have. Joining me now from Brisbane, former Queensland Premier...
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Campbell Newman, who I'm sure will be barracking for the
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Brisbane Lions tomorrow. Go Lions, Wade.
• 27:02
  Speaker 6: Go Lions.
• 27:03
  Speaker 5: Oh, yeah.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: I knew that would happen. What a world we live in.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: We've got the government's done its best to play this down,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: but this is very serious stuff, isn't it, when a
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: bot can get itself inside the protections on something as
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: sensitive as Medicare?
• 27:20
  Speaker 6: Well, it is, Steve, and.
• 27:22
  Speaker 10: particularly when the government's been doing this sabre-rattling for some
• 27:26
  Speaker 10: time now about AI. And I just contrast this with
• 27:30
  Speaker 10: if a top ASX company in this country had a
• 27:35
  Speaker 10: data breach today, you would have a conga line from
• 27:38
  Speaker 10: the Prime Minister and various ministers thundering darkly about they're
• 27:42
  Speaker 10: going to throw the book at them and they're going
• 27:44
  Speaker 10: to fine them and they should be God knows jail
• 27:46
  Speaker 10: terms and this is important and they're not treating the
• 27:50
  Speaker 10: public with respect. But when government leaves the doors open,
• 27:54
  Speaker 10: unlocks the doors or has a flimsy, you know, lock,
• 28:00
  Speaker 10: You don't hear anything about sort of the public servants
• 28:03
  Speaker 10: concerned being held to account for being so slack. And meantime,
• 28:08
  Speaker 10: by the way, you know, the government is trying to
• 28:10
  Speaker 10: lecture business across Australia about the need for better cyber security.
• 28:14
  Speaker 10: So this needs to be investigated properly. And I particularly
• 28:17
  Speaker 10: say what a confected stage managed blooming thing we saw in.
• 28:21
  Speaker 6: The last 14 hours from the Prime Minister.
• 28:23
  Speaker 10: Literally, I mean, let's be very clear, they waited, they
• 28:26
  Speaker 10: kept this in the can so he could go to
• 28:28
  Speaker 10: New York because it allowed him to make this speech
• 28:31
  Speaker 10: about who are dangerous AI, we've got to regulate it,
• 28:35
  Speaker 10: which needs to be better debated anyway. So confected stage
• 28:38
  Speaker 10: managed nonsense. And there's a lot of questions that should
• 28:42
  Speaker 10: be being asked by the media about why the Australian
• 28:44
  Speaker 10: government's cyber security clearly isn't up to scratch.
• 28:48
  Speaker 6: That's the real question here.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: It's a real worry if what you say is correct.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: And I thought exactly the same thing myself. I mean,
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: I'd like the question directly put to the prime minister
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: or to the health minister or the acting prime minister.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: I don't care who. Did you actually hold back telling
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: the Australian public that this had happened, that their Medicare
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: details had been hacked? so that the Prime Minister could
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: use it as some sort of hammer in his argument
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: in New York that this stuff needs to be better controlled.
• 29:24
  Speaker 10: Oh, Steve, I'm really quite dismayed at many people in
• 29:28
  Speaker 10: the media who are just going with the government's sort
• 29:32
  Speaker 10: of choreographed, you know, political lines. It's just, you know, really,
• 29:39
  Speaker 10: after COVID... I would have hoped people in the fourth
• 29:42
  Speaker 10: estate would do a better job of holding, you know,
• 29:44
  Speaker 10: government to account in this country. And, you know, this
• 29:47
  Speaker 10: has been Boulder Dash. This has been, you know, absolutely transparent.
• 29:52
  Speaker 10: and indeed, you know, colleagues on Sky, sorry, News 24,
• 29:56
  Speaker 10: have got it probably better than others.
• 29:59
  Speaker 6: We need government to be held to account.
• 30:01
  Speaker 10: Why, in this age of AI, where they've been saying how,
• 30:05
  Speaker 10: you know, how big a risk it is, we haven't
• 30:08
  Speaker 10: got better defences on the doors of, you know, of government?
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Well, Peter Credlin did a great job on this last night,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: but the government... apparently had at some point an AI panel.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: These were the top experts in the country to guide
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: the government through.
• 30:25
  Speaker 7: But guess what?
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Labor candid. Here's Professor Toby Walsh told Peter last night.
• 30:32
  Speaker 11: These new AI tools have significant side of the capability
• 30:35
  Speaker 11: and we can't sit around. We need more expertise in government,
• 30:38
  Speaker 11: more oversight. We need to invest much more time and
• 30:41
  Speaker 11: effort in that. But equally, at the AI Safety Institute
• 30:44
  Speaker 11: of It needs to be much larger. The government's putting
• 30:47
  Speaker 11: up 30 million or something for it.
• 30:49
  Speaker 6: And that's a tenth of.
• 30:50
  Speaker 11: What the UK government's putting out there. And we can
• 30:52
  Speaker 11: see the threats are only getting more significant and more
• 30:55
  Speaker 11: challenging by the day.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: Again, it goes to your theory about, you know, Albanese
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: just trying to big note himself at the U.N.
• 31:05
  Speaker 10: Well, there's a political agenda that he's running about AI,
• 31:09
  Speaker 10: and I think it's so contradictory, by the way. On
• 31:11
  Speaker 10: the one hand, they're saying it's going to lead to
• 31:14
  Speaker 10: productivity improvements, which I, by the way, agree with, but
• 31:18
  Speaker 10: they're also saying we're going to regulate it. They're against
• 31:21
  Speaker 10: the data centres.
• 31:22
  Speaker 7: In a way because.
• 31:23
  Speaker 10: You know, they're going to regulate the hell out of that.
• 31:25
  Speaker 10: And data centres can be built anywhere, Steve. So their
• 31:29
  Speaker 10: agenda is all over the shop. I'm not sure what
• 31:33
  Speaker 10: they really want to support or not. But at the moment,
• 31:36
  Speaker 10: they come across in one big way to me that
• 31:38
  Speaker 10: they're Luddites. And this is going to happen whether we
• 31:41
  Speaker 10: like it or not. It was very interesting to see
• 31:44
  Speaker 10: President Xi at some of his lines the last 48 hours.
• 31:49
  Speaker 10: He's talking about sort of regulating as well, if I
• 31:52
  Speaker 10: read that correctly.
• 31:54
  Speaker 6: And why would that be? Well, it might be the Americans.
• 31:56
  Speaker 10: Are way ahead of them and the Chinese don't want
• 32:00
  Speaker 10: to see that continue. They want to catch up. And
• 32:03
  Speaker 10: you've got to think about why that is. So Look,
• 32:06
  Speaker 10: let's not be naive. We have to be grown-ups. We
• 32:10
  Speaker 10: have to bolster the defences of government and business, and
• 32:14
  Speaker 10: we shouldn't be saying, oh, dear, OpenAI, you're a bad company,
• 32:18
  Speaker 10: you allowed this to happen. You know, that's.
• 32:22
  Speaker 6: Not the point.
• 32:23
  Speaker 10: The point is anybody, any bad sort of player out
• 32:27
  Speaker 10: there in the world could be trying to do this,
• 32:29
  Speaker 10: and we need to get real.
• 32:31
  Speaker 6: Be grown-ups.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: Yes, we do, and there's a lot of questions still
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: to be answered. Speaking of questions, I note my old
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: mate David Koch, who, of course, for years was a
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: host on Sunrise on 7, posted an open letter to
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: the RBA's Governor Michelle Bullock urging her to address Labor's
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: out-of-control government spending. I mean, he's the latest person to
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: have done that. He says that's the cause of inflation.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: It's not hard to work that out. And he's also
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: said to not throw the burden of another interest rate
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: rise at householders.
• 33:00
  Speaker 7: Here he was.
• 33:02
  Speaker 13: It's governments and their demand, not just the federal government.
• 33:07
  Speaker 13: It is state governments. It's local governments. They're spending what
• 33:11
  Speaker 13: they were spending during COVID to keep us out of
• 33:14
  Speaker 13: a Great Depression.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: We are back to.
• 33:16
  Speaker 13: Normal economic times. And that heat is fuelling inflation, leading
• 33:22
  Speaker 13: to higher interest rates.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: That was Koshy with Chris Kenny during the week. I mean,
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: he's right, isn't he?
• 33:29
  Speaker 10: Great to see his intervention, Steve, because he is dead right.
• 33:32
  Speaker 10: And we've discussed this before on your show. We do
• 33:36
  Speaker 10: have a situation where the federal government continue to spend,
• 33:40
  Speaker 10: particularly on social services, things like the NDIS, etc., which
• 33:45
  Speaker 10: is still running away in terms of those costs. But
• 33:47
  Speaker 10: we have a state government in Queensland who lost the
• 33:49
  Speaker 10: credit rating of the state the other day and then
• 33:52
  Speaker 10: just when asked about it said, well, we're not going
• 33:54
  Speaker 10: to cut spending and we're not going to raise taxes,
• 33:58
  Speaker 10: by the way. So they just don't seem to care
• 34:00
  Speaker 10: at all.
• 34:02
  Speaker 6: It is fuelling inflation. And I think the.
• 34:04
  Speaker 10: Interesting thing now with Kosh's intervention, and by the way,
• 34:07
  Speaker 10: there was an op-ed piece in The Australian Today where
• 34:10
  Speaker 10: someone else was accusing the RBA of running.
• 34:12
  Speaker 6: A protection racket for the government.
• 34:16
  Speaker 10: I think the pressures on the RBA now to be
• 34:18
  Speaker 10: far clearer and upfront with Australians about what's going on
• 34:22
  Speaker 10: and why, you know, they're going to have great difficulties
• 34:25
  Speaker 10: in controlling inflation.
• 34:26
  Speaker 6: If this continues.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: 100% is the debate we have to have. Always good
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: to see you, my friend. Campbell Newman will be back
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: with us next Friday. Now, after the break, there's a
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: controversy brewing. Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight, a regular on
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: this program. He'll be here on the desk next. Welcome back.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: Steve Price with you. Coming up with our panel tonight,
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: the AFL Grand Final public holiday debate. That's white hot
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: at the moment. whether it ought to be shifted, and
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: we'll get into it with our Friday night panel, as
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: I said, shortly. But now to the controversy of the week,
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: cartoons of the week. A huge week for our regular
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: Mark Knight ahead of the grand final blockbuster, but he
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: was forced to literally go back to the drawing board
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: after Fremantle asked him to, quote, de-warfy the original design.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: He joins us in the studio. It's a funny old week.
• 35:17
  Speaker 7: What happened?
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: We talked about this off air last week.
• 35:20
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 35:21
  Speaker 12: I go away on prelim final last weekend and draw
• 35:24
  Speaker 12: the winning teams, the posters. And so I did the Lions,
• 35:28
  Speaker 12: did the Dockers, thought, okay, Dockers are going to draw
• 35:30
  Speaker 12: a big Wharfie.
• 35:32
  Speaker 7: Wharfie time's a big thing.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: Tattoos.
• 35:34
  Speaker 7: Tattoos, big and angry. And I presented. We presented it
• 35:37
  Speaker 7: to them and they went, nah. No, no, that doesn't
• 35:40
  Speaker 7: fit with who we are now.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: What's Wharfie time?
• 35:44
  Speaker 7: Well, I don't know, but.
• 35:45
  Speaker 12: They said we don't endorse uber masculinity.
• 35:49
  Speaker 7: That's sort of toxic.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: Was that the actual word? That was the word.
• 35:52
  Speaker 12: So don't make him so angry. We want him to
• 35:56
  Speaker 12: be like a hipster, man bun.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: Well, they have a lot of man buns. They've got
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: blokes with long hair and ponytails.
• 36:01
  Speaker 7: Well, they're basically describing their Captain Pierce to me.
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: Yes, okay.
• 36:05
  Speaker 7: So I went away and I drew something.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: You ever had that happen before?
• 36:08
  Speaker 11: No.
• 36:09
  Speaker 7: Never?
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: How long have you been doing these posters for?
• 36:12
  Speaker 12: In 2010, the AFL questioned my sleeve tattoos on the magpie.
• 36:16
  Speaker 7: Remember Dane Swan?
• 36:17
  Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah.
• 36:17
  Speaker 7: Covered in tattoos.
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: Do I ever?
• 36:19
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 36:20
  Speaker 12: Well, they eventually said, yeah, no, that's right, he's covered
• 36:24
  Speaker 12: in tattoos, that's fine. But, no, this was... This was
• 36:27
  Speaker 12: a unique occasion. And, look, fair enough, we've run it
• 36:31
  Speaker 12: by the fans. A lot of people like.
• 36:32
  Speaker 7: The new one.
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: Show us the new one, which is the if they
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: win the grand final, that's their poster. So you have
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: a large man with long hair.
• 36:42
  Speaker 7: Yes. And a beard. Little man bun there.
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: Still got one anchor tattoo.
• 36:47
  Speaker 7: He's got a little tattoo there. Yeah. He's got the anchor.
• 36:51
  Speaker 12: Now, the anchor's been raised and it's covered in barnacles
• 36:53
  Speaker 12: because Freo have been, you know, they haven't been there
• 36:56
  Speaker 12: for a while.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 36:57
  Speaker 7: And he's on the bow of the Freo first.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: I think they're mad to complain. The first one looked
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: absolutely spectacular.
• 37:03
  Speaker 7: Well.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: Anyway, you've done it now. What about the lions?
• 37:07
  Speaker 7: Lions, they're going for three, Pete.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: Who are you tipping?
• 37:12
  Speaker 7: The Lions have got so much firepower, you know.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: Hold that up for us.
• 37:15
  Speaker 7: Here we go.
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: Here's the Lions poster, folks, which you'll be able to
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: see and purchase, of course, after the game finishes tomorrow.
• 37:22
  Speaker 7: It'll be on sale outside the ground. Isn't that.
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: How come Brisbane didn't say, oh, it's too angry, we
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: are showing teeth and Lions might kill someone?
• 37:30
  Speaker 12: No, there was a little problem with... See the fingers here?
• 37:34
  Speaker 12: I had the fingers together like this. Apparently on the
• 37:37
  Speaker 12: movie Hunger Games, they tell me, that is a salute
• 37:40
  Speaker 12: for the dead.
• 37:41
  Speaker 7: Oh.
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: Your job is so hard.
• 37:44
  Speaker 7: It's not easy being a cartoonist.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: It's supposed to be funny. It's supposed to be fun.
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: You also had a Michelle Bullock cartoon about homeowners and
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: the inflation dragon. Michelle, ready to hurt homeowners again next Tuesday?
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: Let's have a look at that.
• 37:56
  Speaker 12: I thought I would get ahead because next week interest
• 37:59
  Speaker 12: rates will go up.
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: You've had the dragon breathing fire before. I love the dragon. Yeah,
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 38:03
  Speaker 7: You've brought it back. Pete Costello gave us that, didn't he?
• 38:06
  Speaker 7: The inflation dragon, I think.
• 38:07
  Speaker 12: Well, it seems that, I mean, monetary policy is, it's
• 38:10
  Speaker 12: like something from the Middle Ages. Interest rate, like inflation
• 38:14
  Speaker 12: goes up, we belt mortgage holders.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: Here comes the dragon. Pauline went to the Brownlow Medal.
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: Pauline Hanson, I can see her there. You had her
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: walking in.
• 38:22
  Speaker 7: I visited her there.
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: You took her there. Let's have a look at Pauline
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: heading the Brownlow Medal.
• 38:26
  Speaker 7: We love the red carpet on the Brownlow, right? We do,
• 38:29
  Speaker 7: we do. You know, let's face it, Pauline. Yes, she is.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: With Barnaby.
• 38:33
  Speaker 7: She's the hottest ticket in the country at the moment.
• 38:36
  Speaker 7: Barnaby's wag. Isn't Barnaby a fashion statement?
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: He's a fashion statement.
• 38:43
  Speaker 7: He's amazing.
• 38:45
  Speaker 12: But the cameras are all over them and look who's
• 38:47
  Speaker 12: sort of holding Pauline's train, which is our good friend.
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: I've written a column about Albo not being at the
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: grand final because of Melon Gate and Kylie. You've drawn
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: a cartoon about no Albo at the grand final, but
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: I do see a couple of melons sitting in the
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: grand stand.
• 39:02
  Speaker 12: Well, Albo couldn't make an appearance because we can't have
• 39:07
  Speaker 12: Albo and Kylie in the same building.
• 39:10
  Speaker 7: Because of the dangers.
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: Imagine how awkward that would have been.
• 39:12
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 39:13
  Speaker 7: But his melons are warming the seat.
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: You've also got Hawthorne supporters and the little clash last week.
• 39:20
  Speaker 7: We all saw that. The Hawthorne supporters.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: With the cane toads.
• 39:24
  Speaker 12: They all got a bit upset. Now, Hawthorne has this
• 39:27
  Speaker 12: great player, the wizard.
• 39:28
  Speaker 7: The wizard. Nick Watson. He's just.
• 39:29
  Speaker 14: A genius.
• 39:30
  Speaker 7: He is brilliant. So I thought, what would the wizard do? Well,
• 39:34
  Speaker 7: he'd turn the umpires into cane toads.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: That's a very clever cartoon. Thanks, man. I really like
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: that one. Thank you. And you got the fans turning
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: on the umpires as well?
• 39:43
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: What did I do there? Then you got Angry Anderson.
• 39:46
  Speaker 7: We lost Angry Anderson, didn't we? You know, good old
• 39:50
  Speaker 7: Angry leftists.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: Rose Tattoo.
• 39:51
  Speaker 12: Now, remember that iconic moment at Waverley at the Grand Final?
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: I was there. It was West Coast playing Collingwood.
• 39:59
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: And it was out at Waverley.
• 40:01
  Speaker 7: Because they were building the Great Southern Stand.
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: He came out in that actual thing.
• 40:07
  Speaker 7: In the blue Batmobile. Singing.
• 40:09
  Speaker 12: It's one of the greatest Australian cars ever built. And,
• 40:12
  Speaker 12: you know, sadly he died this week and I thought,
• 40:14
  Speaker 12: what a fitting occasion. Angry leaving the stage in the
• 40:18
  Speaker 12: blue Batmobile from the MCG and handing the baton over
• 40:21
  Speaker 12: to Kylie, who's going to probably slay him this weekend.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: That'll be good. And you've got a Page One cartoon
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: coming up in the Herald Sun tomorrow.
• 40:26
  Speaker 7: I've got to get back to my desk. I've got
• 40:28
  Speaker 7: to get this drawing finished of the players.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: Thank you, mate. Thank you for dropping in. Mark Knight,
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: enjoy tomorrow. And those posters will be available after the game.
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: The AFL Grand Final public holiday. As I said, there's
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: a big debate going on. And Dan Andrews established it,
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: but most Victorian small businesses... are not opening their doors.
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: But at what cost? Friday night panel up next. Welcome back.
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: Steve Price with you. My favourite weekend of sport. You've
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: got the NRL prelims, of course, and you've got the
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: AFL grand final. Let's dive into it with our Friday
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: night panel. News 24 contributor Jo Hildebrand, who is a
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: Friday regular, and in her first appearance... As a panellist
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: with us, childcare choice spokeswoman, Jen Fleming. Jen, welcome. Great
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: to have you with us. Let's start with this public
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: holiday debate. Joe, it's a long weekend. It's a public
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: holiday in Melbourne today. Most small businesses are either shutting.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: or paying excessive penalty rates, it does not seem to work.
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: Cafes that I saw closed this morning are unbelievable, and
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: you've got everybody come to town because there's two interstate
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: teams playing, and a lot of stuff that should be
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: open is not open. It's crazy. Yeah, it seems very strange.
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: And it's one of those things.
• 41:43
  Speaker 15: I mean, obviously, axing a public holiday is never going
• 41:46
  Speaker 15: to be popular with voters, which is why, like with
• 41:49
  Speaker 15: a lot of the COVID measures, it's something that once
• 41:52
  Speaker 15: done is hard to be undone. And so it shouldn't
• 41:53
  Speaker 15: have been done in the first place. And if memory serves,
• 41:56
  Speaker 15: it was Dan Andrews going on an FM radio show
• 42:00
  Speaker 15: and basically being asked by the hosts or lobbyists needled
• 42:04
  Speaker 15: by the host to reinstate it. And, you know, just
• 42:07
  Speaker 15: for chuckles said, yeah, all right, we will. Another illumination
• 42:10
  Speaker 15: of the pro-business attitude of the socialist left of the
• 42:14
  Speaker 15: Labor Party in Victoria. And now, of course, you know,
• 42:17
  Speaker 15: even Ben Carroll, whose instincts are much more pro-business, feels
• 42:21
  Speaker 15: like he can't actually get rid of it, even though
• 42:24
  Speaker 15: Victoria needs all the business it possibly can right now
• 42:28
  Speaker 15: and needs to be exploiting major events like these and
• 42:30
  Speaker 15: making sure it's open for business instead of shuttering its doors.
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: Well, Jen, I mean, the clear evidence that I saw
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: this afternoon is regardless of whether it was a public holiday,
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: long weekend or not, the streets would be crowded with people.
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, particularly when you consider that the two teams
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: playing are people from Perth and people from Brisbane, the
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: streets are full of those people who've come here as tourists. Yeah, absolutely.
• 42:58
  Speaker 14: And a lot of my fellow Brisbane friends are down
• 43:01
  Speaker 14: there watching us take home the trophy tomorrow night. But
• 43:04
  Speaker 14: we're saying to small business, this, no, definitely, this is
• 43:09
  Speaker 14: your biggest trading weekend, arguably, of the year. And you
• 43:13
  Speaker 14: have now the most expensive labour to pay for it
• 43:16
  Speaker 14: and to keep your doors open. That doesn't seem fair.
• 43:18
  Speaker 14: That doesn't seem right. like something that's very Australian and pro-business.
• 43:22
  Speaker 14: So I think, you know, we might have to rethink
• 43:25
  Speaker 14: the long weekend for those Melbourne folks down there and
• 43:28
  Speaker 14: do some work like the Brisbane guys did today.
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: Joe, I don't have a lot of hair, but I
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: had a haircut this morning. And guess what? I had
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: to pay 10% on top of the normal charge to
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: have it cut because it's a public holiday. Yeah, that's
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: exactly right.
• 43:44
  Speaker 7: I mean, seriously.
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: Our old mate Eddie McGuire, he's come up with an
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: idea and he says we should have a Sunday night
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: grand final and a holiday Monday after the game. Gee, Joe,
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: that sounds a lot like, I think, the NRL do.
• 44:01
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it's interesting.
• 44:02
  Speaker 15: I mean, the NRL is, shall we say, a lot
• 44:04
  Speaker 15: more unburdened by tradition than the AFL. It's obviously a
• 44:09
  Speaker 15: much younger code.
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: But also.
• 44:12
  Speaker 15: It's very nimble and smart in the way that it
• 44:15
  Speaker 15: has gone about finding out where audiences are, innovating. Things
• 44:19
  Speaker 15: like the State of Origin is absolutely huge in New
• 44:22
  Speaker 15: South Wales and Queensland, a way it's never been in, say,
• 44:25
  Speaker 15: Victoria and South Australia.
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: And so.
• 44:28
  Speaker 15: And what they do is they've taken an existing long
• 44:30
  Speaker 15: weekend and stuck the grand final on at night, on
• 44:34
  Speaker 15: a Sunday night, the highest viewing numbers you can possibly get,
• 44:37
  Speaker 15: and everyone gets the day off tomorrow to... to sleep
• 44:41
  Speaker 15: off the hangover. So it's a, it's, it seems to
• 44:44
  Speaker 15: me a much more sensible, sensible and smart and it's
• 44:48
  Speaker 15: paid off. But the NRL is now more watched than
• 44:51
  Speaker 15: the AFL. It's most watched sport in the country.
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: Don't, don't say that out loud. We've got an election
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: down here in nine weeks. So the politicians have all
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: got to come up with, you know, you know, tricky
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: little policies to get people to vote for them. Ben Carroll,
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: the existing Premier, has come out during the week saying
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: he's going to allow pubs to stay open to three
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning and that people will be able
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: to take their dogs inside hotels. The only dogs, Jen,
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: that I want to see in a pub are drug-sniffing
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: dogs looking for drugs. I don't want to go to
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: the pub and have a German shepherd sitting next to
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: me on the next stool. Oh, no, Steve, come on.
• 45:31
  Speaker 14: There's nothing nicer than being out and having a lovely
• 45:34
  Speaker 14: little Labrador next to you. I think people take their
• 45:38
  Speaker 14: dogs to work these days. Why can't we take them
• 45:40
  Speaker 14: to the pub with us on a Sunday afternoon for
• 45:42
  Speaker 14: a drink? I think it's great. No, get amongst the
• 45:46
  Speaker 14: dogs in the pubs.
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: I think it's awesome. Joe, what about staying up to 3am?
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: Nothing good happens after 1am, let alone 3am, and that's
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: complete madness.
• 45:57
  Speaker 15: Yeah, the dogs might find themselves being hit on by
• 45:59
  Speaker 15: a few desperados, I think, if they're not careful.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: Or left behind.
• 46:05
  Speaker 15: That's right, with the baby. Look, I think this is good.
• 46:09
  Speaker 15: I think this is the sort of stuff that you'll
• 46:10
  Speaker 15: see more often, Ben Carroll, just signals that He wants
• 46:12
  Speaker 15: to cut red tape, eliminate any barriers to doing business
• 46:16
  Speaker 15: in Victoria and make it easier for those who are
• 46:19
  Speaker 15: already there. And I tell you what, I've met a
• 46:21
  Speaker 15: few characters in pubs that are much dirtier than dogs,
• 46:25
  Speaker 15: shall we say.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: So I'm with Jed.
• 46:28
  Speaker 7: I happen.
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: I happen to know the pubs that you hang out
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: in and that's not a surprise to me one little bit.
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: Huge story, Jen, out of the UK this week is
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: this book from Earl Spencer, Princess Diana's brother. He's apologised
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: for incorrectly accusing Piers Morgan of being the newspaper editor
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: who published images of Di working out in the gym,
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: only to find out that Piers didn't start working at
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: that paper for a couple of years later. Are you
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: invested in this book by Earl Spencer dragging all this
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: stuff back up, given that Diana died 30 years ago?
• 47:03
  Speaker 14: Well, I think we need to acknowledge why we are
• 47:05
  Speaker 14: still so fascinated with Princess Diana. And I think it's
• 47:09
  Speaker 14: really simple. It's because a lot of us still want
• 47:11
  Speaker 14: to be like her. She was brave. She was kind.
• 47:14
  Speaker 14: She was very human. And she always stood up for
• 47:17
  Speaker 14: what was right. So I'm not surprised that she has
• 47:20
  Speaker 14: lived on for generations. And I mean, the woman knew
• 47:23
  Speaker 14: how to rock some bike pants and a jumper like
• 47:26
  Speaker 14: no one else I've ever seen. So I think she'll
• 47:28
  Speaker 14: continue to be an icon forever. many generations to come.
• 47:31
  Speaker 14: I hope the book is about continuing her legacy and
• 47:34
  Speaker 14: all of those incredible things that she did.
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: Triggering pictures for me there, Joe. Yeah, I remember them well.
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: When that timing is rock, I was there.
• 47:43
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: With them.
• 47:45
  Speaker 5: Really?
• 47:46
  Speaker 15: My God, you've been everywhere, haven't you, mate? You are just,
• 47:48
  Speaker 15: you're like the Forrest Gump of Australian history.
• 47:52
  Speaker 3: You've seen it all.
• 47:53
  Speaker 9: Yes, sir.
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: This Earl Spencer character, if he can't get the check
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: when Piers was actually editing that paper, can we believe
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: any of the other facts in the book?
• 48:05
  Speaker 15: Yeah, well, this is the interesting thing, Price. Earl Spencer
• 48:08
  Speaker 15: is actually a published historian. He is meant to be
• 48:12
  Speaker 15: the kind of person who gets his history right. and
• 48:14
  Speaker 15: gets his facts right. And I think to get something
• 48:17
  Speaker 15: as fundamentally wrong as this and have it not picked
• 48:20
  Speaker 15: up when clearly it could be defamatory and Piers Morgan
• 48:24
  Speaker 15: has threatened us.
• 48:25
  Speaker 7: Yep.
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: Big canary in the hole. I don't think I'll be
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: out buying the book. Joe and Jen, appreciate your time tonight.
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much.
• 48:32
  Speaker 8: Thanks, guys.
• 48:33
  Speaker 7: Have a great one.
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: As we've been talking about, it is grand final weekend.
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: The Lions take on the Fremantle Dockers. We will see
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: whether Wharfie Time gets a run at the MCG. I'll
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: tell you who's going to be most popular there. Kylie Minogue.
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: See you next week.