Transcript

Sharri | 22 October · Sharri

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Speaker 1: Thanks, Andrew. Good evening. Well, first tonight, Ben Robert Smith
0:03
Speaker 1: considered ending his life amid the mounting media and legal
0:07
Speaker 1: campaign accusing him of war crimes. And he's spoken about
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Speaker 1: his dramatic arrest in front of his family at Sydney
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Speaker 1: Airport when he'd offered to turn himself in. The VC
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Speaker 1: winner said this spectacle was to the legal benefit of
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Speaker 1: the AFP and designed to generate publicity. He's also spoken
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Speaker 1: for the first time about the support of Kerry Stokes
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Speaker 1: and revealed just how much the defamation suit cost financially.
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Speaker 1: The decorated war hero has given two sensational interviews today,
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Speaker 1: one with Ben Fordham on 2GB and one is coming
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Speaker 1: up shortly at 8.30pm. But here's the saddest moment that
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Speaker 1: Ben Robert Smith, who fought for Australia, considered ending it all.
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Speaker 2: There was many times in that period that I thought
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Speaker 2: it might be a better option for my family if
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Speaker 2: I just took my own life and let it go.
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Speaker 2: That point, which probably played out over about three to
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Speaker 2: six months of thinking about that every day, that's rock bottom.
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Speaker 2: And that's why I said to you, I'm worried about
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Speaker 2: not being there for my kids. because I went through
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Speaker 2: that and I know I need to be there for them.
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Speaker 1: It's just shocking to think that it came to that.
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Speaker 1: And thankfully he came to his senses because, of course,
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Speaker 1: it would have only caused his family, his children, immense
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Speaker 1: pain not to have their father. And on that note,
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Speaker 1: of course, if anyone needs help, call Lifeline on 13
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Speaker 1: 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au. 24-hour support. There were those
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Speaker 1: who stood by Robert Smith during that time and he's
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Speaker 1: spoken about the support of Kerry Stokes and just how
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Speaker 1: much it meant to him personally, but also how much
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Speaker 1: it cost financially.
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Speaker 3: Kerry Stokes was funding a lot of your legal bills.
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Speaker 3: He was. How much money did he spend?
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Speaker 2: Look, I don't have an exact figure, but I would
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Speaker 2: say that it would have to be.
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Speaker 3: Upwards of $ 30 million.
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Speaker 1: And he thanked Kerry for his support through that period.
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Speaker 1: There's one moment in particular in the campaign against Ben
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Speaker 1: Robert Smith that angered Australians enormously, and that's when the
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Speaker 1: AFP chose to arrest him while he was in Sydney
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Speaker 1: on a six-hour trip instead of in his home state
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Speaker 1: of Queensland. And Ben Robert Smith spoke about how tough
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Speaker 1: that moment was, the police coming after him in front
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Speaker 1: of his family.
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Speaker 4: Can you tell us about April 7 and the day
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Speaker 4: you were arrested on the plane with your family?
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Speaker 2: In the last six months at least we had formally
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Speaker 2: written twice to do that and just I'm not sure
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Speaker 2: if we actually got a response but obviously nothing happened
3:02
Speaker 2: and then the aircraft door opened and as soon as
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Speaker 2: I saw the first person walk on in a suit
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Speaker 2: with his gun belt on and so forth I thought
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Speaker 2: okay it is me. The problem of course with that
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Speaker 2: was it was such a deliberate attempt to sensationalize the
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Speaker 2: arrest that it was hard for me to try and
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Speaker 2: keep them calm because it was unfolding in front of
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Speaker 2: 200 people on a plane and I walked off the
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Speaker 2: plane Sarah followed behind me the gentleman was talking to
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Speaker 2: me and explaining to me the situation which I said
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Speaker 2: that's fine and he said to me mate wasn't our
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Speaker 2: call you know really sorry about this we're going to
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Speaker 2: make it as smooth as possible you know the problem
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Speaker 2: that I have with this is not only that I
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Speaker 2: was happy to hand myself in but When I look
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Speaker 2: at that in retrospect, why not wait till the Saturday
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Speaker 2: when you've got an actual sterile environment? Well, you probably
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Speaker 2: don't want to do that because you don't get the
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Speaker 2: media exposure and you don't get the benefit of the
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Speaker 2: evidence laws being in your favour. I served in WA
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Speaker 2: and then I lived in Brisbane. I'm arrested in New
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Speaker 2: South Wales on a six-hour day trip for operational reasons
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Speaker 2: when the reality of that is it actually provides the
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Speaker 2: CDPP with a material advantage in the criminal proceedings, because
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Speaker 2: they are now able to utilise committal hearings to generate
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Speaker 2: or extract further evidence from people that otherwise didn't want
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Speaker 2: to be involved. And in Queensland, that's not the case.
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Speaker 2: When you're in Queensland, the only person that can call
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Speaker 2: for a committal hearing is the defendant.
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Speaker 5: So you believe that's why that arrest happened?
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Speaker 2: I 100% believe that's why, because it's a significant advantage
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Speaker 2: to them.
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Speaker 1: And now he has to drive a multi-hour round trip
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Speaker 1: from his home in Queensland just to report for bail
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Speaker 1: in New South Wales. I mean, they're clearly gaming the system.
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Speaker 1: And Ben Robert Smith says the fight isn't fair against him.
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Speaker 1: He says if the AFP and prosecutors are so confident
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Speaker 1: of their case, why do they need to use tricks
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Speaker 1: like this against him? That's what he asked today. Now,
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Speaker 1: everyone will have their own view on Ben Robert Smith's
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Speaker 1: guilt or innocence. And you've already heard many different views
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Speaker 1: this evening. Ben Robert Smith says all he's asking for
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Speaker 1: is a fair go. And he told Ben Fordham about
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Speaker 1: the $ 700, 000 that Nine paid to a witness who had
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Speaker 1: damning evidence against its journalist, Nick McKenzie. I first broke
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Speaker 1: that story here with the shocking recording of McKenzie speaking
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Speaker 1: to this witness on the phone. And again, the interview
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Speaker 1: is coming up shortly at 8.30pm. But guilt or innocence aside,
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Speaker 1: one thing is for certain. Government agencies have spent upwards
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Speaker 1: of $ 300 million and hundreds of staff on its war
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Speaker 1: crimes investigation. Now, wouldn't our country be a lot safer
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Speaker 1: if that money and those major resources were redirected into
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Speaker 1: investigating actual terrorists? There are 18,000 people on the terror
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Speaker 1: watch list in Australia. Ben Robert Smith has had more surveillance,
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Speaker 1: more scrutiny and more money spent on him than the
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Speaker 1: vast majority of those 18,000 extremists. Now, the agencies admit
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Speaker 1: they don't have enough resources to possibly monitor everyone on
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Speaker 1: that list. It's a constant revision, a constant guessing game,
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Speaker 1: trying to work out who's moving from extremist to actual
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Speaker 1: violent action. And as a society, we have to re-examine
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Speaker 1: our priorities. Our terror threat level is elevated. Our security
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Speaker 1: agencies are warning there will be another attack. Bondi, where
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Speaker 1: a 10-year-old girl was killed, was just 10 months ago.
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Speaker 1: is spending $ 300 million on a war crimes investigation that
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Speaker 1: has spotlighted one individual who poses absolutely no risk to society,
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Speaker 1: really the best use of resources and national policing, when
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Speaker 1: we have a live and serious risk of radical Islamic
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Speaker 1: extremism and terrorism. Nobody could possibly say that it is.
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Speaker 1: And I'll come back to that with Matt Canavan and
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Speaker 1: also with New South Wales One Nation leader Mike Newman shortly.
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Speaker 1: But now let's turn to this dirt sheet that Prime
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Speaker 1: Minister Anthony Albanese has spread, his office has spread, about
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Speaker 1: Helen Haynes. Will the Prime Minister today try to claim
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Speaker 1: that this dirt sheet was somehow about her integrity?
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Speaker 6: Let's be very clear, because apparently it's been published somewhere.
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Speaker 3: It's a list of.
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Speaker 6: Funding us from Helen Haynes just showing that people of
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Speaker 6: integrity stand up for their electorate. No personal criticism of Helen.
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Speaker 6: Helen is a strong advocate for her electorate. She's advocated
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Speaker 6: for funding for projects in her electorate.
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Speaker 1: Look, the idea that this is somehow a sheet about
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Speaker 1: her integrity is a ludicrous suggestion. And you only have
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Speaker 1: to look at the five-page dirt sheet itself to see that.
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Speaker 1: It says, in the past two years, the member for
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Speaker 1: Indi has asked for more than $ 1. 8 billion worth of
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Speaker 1: funding for projects she selected. And in one example, they
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Speaker 1: questioned her request for funding for a local art gallery.
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Speaker 1: It says, given she has pushed for funding for this project,
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Speaker 1: has the member for Indi ever visited, been a member of,
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Speaker 1: donated to or have any personal or professional connection with
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Speaker 1: any of the employees or board of Benalla Art Gallery?
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Speaker 1: In another example, it questioned if she ever visited, received
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Speaker 1: undeclared gifts including wine or food or held business interests
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Speaker 1: with any local companies or organisations on Prosecco Road. The
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Speaker 1: member has declared gifts of three bottles of wine from
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Speaker 1: relevant businesses. So this is a dirt sheet. There's no question. Now,
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Speaker 1: behind the scenes, some teals are saying Helen Haynes wouldn't
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Speaker 1: be troubled by this dirt sheet. But when it was
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Speaker 1: brought to her attention at the time, she did care.
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Speaker 1: Peter Van Onselen wrote that she said of this dirt sheet,
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Speaker 1: they are pretty desperate. Let's bring in now Nationals leader
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Speaker 1: Matt Canavan. Matt, this is quite the spin from Anthony Albanese,
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Speaker 1: trying to claim that a dirt sheet was actually a
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Speaker 1: document praising her integrity.
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Speaker 7: It is, Shari, and look, it's been a tough week
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Speaker 7: for the country and at times like this I want
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Speaker 7: to support our Prime Minister. I want to have our
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Speaker 7: country led by him. a leader that can bring people
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Speaker 7: together that can espouse tough truths about everyone, including himself. Unfortunately,
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Speaker 7: this seems to be another instance, though, where at a
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Speaker 7: time of national tragedy the Prime Minister is struggling to
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Speaker 7: step up to the mark. this is such an absurd
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Speaker 7: suggestion that it throws into doubt everything else he's saying
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Speaker 7: this week in trying to give leadership and solace to
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Speaker 7: a nation and to a people in northern Victoria whose
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Speaker 7: hearts have been broken.
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Speaker 3: You've just read out, Shari.
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Speaker 7: I mean, this was clearly, in all elements of political tactics,
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Speaker 7: a dirt sheet that The Prime Minister's office was spreading
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Speaker 7: this around to seek to raise questions about Dr Haynes' integrity, not,
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Speaker 7: as now the Prime Minister was saying, trying to espouse
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Speaker 7: her integrity. I mean, does he seriously believe that we
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Speaker 7: believe that the purpose of this sheet being sent to
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Speaker 7: journalists was to sell and promote? What a great person.
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Speaker 7: Helen Haynes is. It is absurd on its face. It
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Speaker 7: is effectively a lie, Shari, and we're sick of it all. Now,
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Speaker 7: in saying all of that, look, these things happen in politics. No-one,
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Speaker 7: and I am not, blaming the Prime Minister for what
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Speaker 7: the terrible tragedy that's occurred this week. It's part of
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Speaker 7: the cut-and-throw of politics that stuff like this is sent around.
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Speaker 3: The Prime Minister, however, should just own it. Should just
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Speaker 3: own it.
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Speaker 7: And at a time like this, apologise for it now,
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Speaker 7: given the timing of it, what's happened, and try and
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Speaker 7: bring this country together.
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Speaker 1: Exactly. Matt, it's been reported that Brendan Nugent was allegedly
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Speaker 1: drug-addled when he allegedly attacked Helen Haynes. It meant the
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Speaker 1: interview with police was delayed until the following morning. Matt,
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Speaker 1: do you think the role of drugs in this attack
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Speaker 1: has been underplayed in the national conversation?
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Speaker 7: Look, I've been very careful, Shari, to not try and
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Speaker 7: push any particular political wheelbarrow here because I think primarily
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Speaker 7: this is a personal and family tragedy for the Haynes
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Speaker 7: family and for.
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Speaker 3: Her local community.
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Speaker 7: The world is a cruel and unjust place and I've
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Speaker 7: been struggling myself to explain this.
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Speaker 3: It almost defies explanation.
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Speaker 7: I think it is unfortunate that many have sought to
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Speaker 7: jump on this tragedy to push... a particular narrative, and
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Speaker 7: other people have gone to social media, some have gone
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Speaker 7: to mainstream media, some have gone to political rhetoric. It's
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Speaker 7: not clear to me that any of those things directly
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Speaker 7: affect or directly have influenced this event. What we do know, though,
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Speaker 7: is that both witnesses have said the individual was spaced out,
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Speaker 7: was incoherent, and the police have charged this individual with
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Speaker 7: at least alleged illegal cannabis cultivation. I do think at
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Speaker 7: some point we need to have a discussion about this.
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Speaker 7: Everyone seems to be ignoring... The potential role here, the
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Speaker 7: drugs have played and unfortunately repeated and often use of
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Speaker 7: cannabis does cause people to lose their mind and do very,
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Speaker 7: very crazy things. Yet we have normalised cannabis use in
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Speaker 7: our country in recent years. And yes, we should look
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Speaker 7: at things like social media. Yes, we should try and
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Speaker 7: be better as political figures. But why are we not
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Speaker 7: having a discussion about illegal drug use and the normalisation
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Speaker 7: of that in recent years, which does cause this kind
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Speaker 7: of antisocial behaviour And it's often our police, our ambulance officers,
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Speaker 7: our nurses that are on the front line of this.
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Speaker 7: They have to deal with people like this every day.
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Speaker 7: They put their lives at risk every day doing this.
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Speaker 7: And I think a big cause of that is the
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Speaker 7: growth in illicit substance use in our country.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. I think it's such an important point that
13:42
Speaker 1: you make. There should be more discussion about it. Turning
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Speaker 1: to the Ben Robert Smith interview dominating the headlines today,
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Speaker 1: what's your reaction to the revelations that this campaign against
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Speaker 1: him was so severe he considered taking his own life?
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Speaker 7: Look, it doesn't surprise me, unfortunately. It's very sad to
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Speaker 7: hear people resort to those areas, none the least of
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Speaker 7: which someone who's a Victoria Cross winner. And I like
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Speaker 7: to honour all of the veterans that have served this nation.
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Speaker 7: Ben Robert Smith did things that earned... He's the highest valour,
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Speaker 7: the highest award in our country, and.
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Speaker 3: He deserves credit for that act.
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Speaker 7: Now, there are these allegations that we must have a
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Speaker 7: military system that is based on rules and standards and
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Speaker 7: penalties for people who breach those standards, but in this respect,
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Speaker 7: what has happened to Ben Robert Smith, the process itself
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Speaker 7: has been the punishment, and that's not justice, because a
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Speaker 7: penalty should only be meted out to someone who's proven.
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Speaker 7: In a court of law to have committed a crime.
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Speaker 7: That hasn't happened in the case of Ben Robert Smith.
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Speaker 7: He has been tortured, clearly, and his family have been
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Speaker 7: as well, through a process taken far too long, which
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Speaker 7: has not delivered justice to both Ben Robert Smith or
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Speaker 7: the others in the Australian Army affected by all of
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Speaker 7: these allegations.
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Speaker 3: Something has gone horribly wrong here.
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Speaker 7: Now, there's no easy answer now, given the mistakes we've made,
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Speaker 7: the stage of the process we're up to, but I
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Speaker 7: think beyond all this, we need a clear, hard look
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Speaker 7: at whether the military justice system is fit for purpose
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Speaker 7: to handle serious allegations of this nature.
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Speaker 1: I don't know if you heard my editorial, but what
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Speaker 1: do you think about my point that we've spent more
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Speaker 1: than $ 300 million on a war crimes investigation, you know,
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Speaker 1: hundreds of staff, and yet we have actual terrorists that
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Speaker 1: can't properly be monitored because of a lack of resourcing?
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Speaker 7: Well, I miss that, Shari, because... I was talking to
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Speaker 7: Kay here from Kempsey, who loves you and has read
15:37
Speaker 7: your book. Tell Kay I say... She wouldn't come in
15:41
Speaker 7: the background here. She's too shy, but she loves your show.
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Speaker 1: Well, tell her I say hello and thank you for
15:46
Speaker 1: reading the book.
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Speaker 3: LAUGHTER I will. Others should too.
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Speaker 7: And, look, but your point is spot on. Look, I
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Speaker 7: think primarily the injustice here is that that's been done
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Speaker 7: to Ben Robert Smith. But we shouldn't lose sight of
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Speaker 7: the fact that, yes, this has cost hundreds of millions
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Speaker 7: of dollars. Surely there would be a more efficient way
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Speaker 7: of dealing with these things. Until this century, these types
16:08
Speaker 7: of allegations were done or handled through military tribunals, which
16:11
Speaker 7: were a lot more efficient and involved a lot fewer
16:13
Speaker 7: lawyers than we've seen with the Brereton report and the
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Speaker 7: ongoing saga.
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Speaker 3: of these allegations.
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Speaker 7: Now, I suppose some people might think that's pretty rough
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Speaker 7: justice through the military, but it's what worked in our
16:23
Speaker 7: case for a century or so and in the British
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Speaker 7: Army for much longer. So it's not clear to me
16:28
Speaker 7: why we moved away from that so quickly and what
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Speaker 7: we've replaced it with doesn't.
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Speaker 3: Seem to be working.
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Speaker 1: Indeed it does. And, Matt Canavan, thank you so much.
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Speaker 1: We'll let you get back to your campaign there. Alright,
16:37
Speaker 1: the Israeli elections are just days away on Tuesday. The
16:39
Speaker 1: world is watching closely. The latest Channel 12 poll shows
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Speaker 1: Israeli General Gadi Eisenkot's party in the lead with 23 seats,
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Speaker 1: Netanyahu's Likud party on 19 seats. And joining me now
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Speaker 1: is former IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus. Jonathan, great to see you. Look,
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Speaker 1: can you tell us... We don't have that much time,
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Speaker 1: but we've got a short show tonight. Pretty quickly, who
17:04
Speaker 1: the main candidates are and how it's looking at the moment.
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Speaker 5: Well, the main candidates are more than the ones that
17:12
Speaker 5: you spoke about. Of course, incumbent Netanyahu, I don't think
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Speaker 5: he needs any introduction to anybody who has access to
17:19
Speaker 5: internet or news over the last 20 years. Gadi Eisenkot,
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Speaker 5: former military commander, a centrist, right-leaning... who is a very
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Speaker 5: strong contender and probably the leading contender to oust Netanyahu,
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Speaker 5: but also former Prime Minister Bennett, right-wing... and conservative security
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Speaker 5: hawk who has very strong credentials and has bounced back
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Speaker 5: and is rising in the polls and there are a
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Speaker 5: few other smaller ones but as you know the Israeli
17:51
Speaker 5: system is a parliamentary system so it's not only who
17:55
Speaker 5: is the biggest party but who and this is the
17:58
Speaker 5: real issue will be able to form a coalition of
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Speaker 5: more than 61 members of our parliament of Knesset and
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Speaker 5: as of now And this is a big worry for
18:07
Speaker 5: a lot of Israelis. It looks very, very tight and tied.
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Speaker 5: And there's no clear indication that either side, not the
18:15
Speaker 5: bloc led by Netanyahu or the bloc that is opposing Netanyahu,
18:20
Speaker 5: has a clear path to victory. I hope we will
18:23
Speaker 5: have conclusive elections and not find ourselves in a stalemate,
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Speaker 5: which could be a scenario that I'm not looking forward towards.
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Speaker 1: If that does happen, which, as you say, is probably
18:36
Speaker 1: the most likely outcome, that there is no definitive result
18:40
Speaker 1: on polling day. So what's the process next? There begins
18:43
Speaker 1: negotiations of forming alliances.
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Speaker 5: Well, first, the parties themselves have to recommend to the
18:51
Speaker 5: Israeli president who has the that's his claim to fame
18:55
Speaker 5: and his only executive power is. who he designates to
19:00
Speaker 5: form a government. And it is based on the recommendations
19:03
Speaker 5: of all of the other parties. So there could be
19:06
Speaker 5: surprises here and there could be deals that already have
19:08
Speaker 5: been made between politicians of different parties that could cross
19:13
Speaker 5: different boundaries. So even if we don't see it in
19:15
Speaker 5: the polls now, there might be a situation where political
19:19
Speaker 5: deals will be made and one of the two contenders
19:22
Speaker 5: will be able to form a government of more than 61.
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Speaker 5: And then there's the outstanding question of the Arab parties.
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Speaker 5: The Arab parties reflect about 20 percent of the Israeli population.
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Speaker 5: A lot of people don't know it, but Israeli Arabs
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Speaker 5: vote and get elected and are an integral part of
19:40
Speaker 5: the Israeli political system. The big question for the Jewish
19:44
Speaker 5: parties is, is anybody going to cooperate with the Arab
19:49
Speaker 5: parties and will we have them form government together with
19:52
Speaker 5: Jewish parties? That's a very hotly contested issue in Israeli politics,
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Speaker 5: and it could be a deal breaker.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
20:00
Speaker 1: Look, it's so interesting, and particularly the endorsement already for
20:03
Speaker 1: Netanyahu from President Trump is absolutely fascinating. Yeah, I'm not
20:06
Speaker 1: sure how important.
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Speaker 5: It's fascinating, and it is, you know, really interfering in
20:11
Speaker 5: Israeli domestic issues. Not sure that it is really relevant,
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Speaker 5: and I'm not sure that it will sway a.
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Speaker 3: Lot of votes in Israel.
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Speaker 1: Well, I hear he is pretty popular in Israel, so
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Speaker 1: we'll see. All right, Jonathan Kamrikas, thank you so much,
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Speaker 1: and apologies it's a bit tight today. Thank you for
20:25
Speaker 1: your time. All right, still to come, the backflip on
20:27
Speaker 1: breastfeeding policy to add back in, yes, mothers, plus the
20:32
Speaker 1: One Nation leader in New South Wales hit with questions
20:35
Speaker 1: over his spending. I'll ask him why he charged taxpayers
20:39
Speaker 1: for 71 beers after the break. Thanks for tuning in
20:46
Speaker 1: and the Ben Roberts-Smith interview coming up shortly. But joining
20:49
Speaker 1: me now, IPA Chief Economist Adam Crichton and New South
20:52
Speaker 1: Wales One Nation leader Mike Newman, and great to see
20:55
Speaker 1: you both. Mike, unfortunately for you, bad timing. There's been
20:59
Speaker 1: a damning story that's just been published about your spending.
21:04
Speaker 1: The Herald reports that during your stint as a Senior
21:06
Speaker 1: Trade Commissioner in Japan, you charged taxpayers tens of thousands
21:10
Speaker 1: of dollars for hotels, restaurants, other trips, including a $ 7, 000,
21:16
Speaker 1: $ 791 dinner with a Japanese trade delegation, which included 71
21:22
Speaker 1: beers and 23 bottles of wine. Another $ 20, 000 stay at
21:28
Speaker 1: a Meritan suite hotel. Mike, you're campaigning to cut government waste.
21:33
Speaker 1: So how can you explain this spending?
21:36
Speaker 3: Quite easily, Shari.
21:37
Speaker 4: Well, first of all, The Japanese government banned foreigners from
21:40
Speaker 4: entering the country during COVID, which was part of the
21:43
Speaker 4: reason why I had a seven-month stay, because I wasn't
21:46
Speaker 4: able to get into country until April, even though I'd
21:49
Speaker 4: moved and shipped my furniture sometime around September, October, from memory.
21:53
Speaker 4: And that hotel was, you know, extremely cheap, and it
21:56
Speaker 4: was part of a relocation package that was part of
21:58
Speaker 4: my contract. In terms of the Japanese government delegation I
22:02
Speaker 4: had up in Newcastle from memory... We had something like
22:06
Speaker 4: 70-odd senior executives worth $ 1. 1 trillion, so we're talking Toyota,
22:11
Speaker 4: Nippon Steel. And we're also selling The Hunter to these
22:16
Speaker 4: businesses who wanted to get involved in clean energy. So
22:19
Speaker 4: we're selling senior Japanese government delegates, also senior businesses from
22:24
Speaker 4: The Hunter as well as from the Japanese side. And
22:30
Speaker 4: these are cultures where if you were to host a dinner...
22:34
Speaker 4: Alcohol is assumed to be part of the way that
22:37
Speaker 4: they do business. I often used to say that the
22:39
Speaker 4: Japanese and Koreans spend more on entertainment than the Americans
22:43
Speaker 4: do on lawyers. That's just how they do business.
22:45
Speaker 1: So that's where the 71 beers came from. You're saying
22:48
Speaker 1: that was for a Japanese delegation.
22:50
Speaker 2: Correct.
22:50
Speaker 4: There's like 70... As I said, I think there are
22:52
Speaker 4: 70-odd Japanese who attended that. I might be wrong on
22:55
Speaker 4: the exact number, but that's what it's for. It's not
22:57
Speaker 4: me having 71 beers, so I think that might even
22:59
Speaker 4: be a bit too much for me.
23:00
Speaker 1: All right, fair enough. All right, let's turn to some
23:03
Speaker 1: other news now.
23:04
Speaker 4: Foghorn Brewery is very good, I'll let you know.
23:07
Speaker 1: New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has backflipped on his
23:10
Speaker 1: gender-neutral language breastfeeding policy, which had removed references to women
23:15
Speaker 1: and mothers. Kelly Sloan raised this as an issue. Have
23:18
Speaker 1: a look. When government gets the language wrong, when they
23:22
Speaker 1: try to neutralise everything, I think they do everyone a disservice.
23:26
Speaker 1: And quite frankly, they make themselves a joke. I mean, Adam,
23:31
Speaker 1: you're a man, you can't breastfeed, of course. I mean,
23:33
Speaker 1: this whole movement, it's not just in New South Wales,
23:36
Speaker 1: this whole movement is nonsensical. Look, it certainly is.
23:40
Speaker 8: I think Chris Minns is the more sensible of the
23:43
Speaker 8: Labor premiers in this country and he's realising that this
23:45
Speaker 8: sort of language is extremely alienating to the.
23:47
Speaker 3: Vast bulk of voters.
23:49
Speaker 8: But, of course, it's nearing to a state election and
23:52
Speaker 8: so it attracts attention that he's reversed. I think you'll
23:55
Speaker 8: see more Labor premiers do the same thing.
23:58
Speaker 1: Mike, I mean, this is common sense. Do you praise
24:02
Speaker 1: both Kelly for raising it and Mins for reversing it?
24:06
Speaker 4: No, look, I think it's just such a non-issue. As
24:08
Speaker 4: you know, I'm the father of a 24-day-old and I'm
24:12
Speaker 4: struggling to latch him.
24:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is very difficult. It is very difficult. The
24:17
Speaker 1: breastfeeding latch... Takes a while, not to mention the pain
24:20
Speaker 1: for the first four weeks. Let's not remember that. We'll
24:24
Speaker 1: move on. It's a difficult period and exhausting, no doubt.
24:29
Speaker 1: Turning to the economy now, Adam, look, it looks like
24:31
Speaker 1: we're in for a Melbourne Cup rate rise, given the
24:34
Speaker 1: comments from the Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser. He
24:37
Speaker 1: says inflation risks becoming entrenched.
24:40
Speaker 2: Hmm.
24:41
Speaker 9: The inflation outlook looks materially worse than we projected in
24:45
Speaker 9: the August report. Do you do more to tackle higher inflation,
24:50
Speaker 9: recognising that that means weaker activity, weaker labour market? We
24:54
Speaker 9: obviously have a dual mandate. Or do we hold our
24:58
Speaker 9: horses to protect the labour market, to try and protect
25:01
Speaker 9: some of the labour market?
25:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, Adam, your view on what he had to say?
25:06
Speaker 5: Sorry.
25:07
Speaker 8: Yeah, so we already have a cash rate of 4.6,
25:09
Speaker 8: as you know, and there's a 40% chance now of
25:11
Speaker 8: a rate rise on Melbourne Cup Day. That would be 4.85.
25:14
Speaker 8: And I think into the new year, 5% is entirely reasonable.
25:17
Speaker 8: And we already have the highest cash rate in the
25:19
Speaker 8: developed world, basically. I think the RBA is looking around
25:22
Speaker 8: the world and seeing that inflation is rising in the US,
25:24
Speaker 8: it's rising in Europe, it's going to continue to rise
25:27
Speaker 8: here as well. This is very bad news for everyone. Remember,
25:29
Speaker 8: inflation is the worst tax of all because it affects
25:31
Speaker 8: absolutely everyone every day. So bad news for the government
25:35
Speaker 8: and bad news for Australians.
25:37
Speaker 1: Mike, is there anything that New South Wales should be
25:39
Speaker 1: doing to help get inflation under control?
25:42
Speaker 4: Well, look, we have a government that's committing to cut
25:45
Speaker 4: spending by $ 11 billion, or at least debt by $ 11
25:48
Speaker 4: billion over the next decade, which means we have to
25:50
Speaker 4: have three more Mins governments to achieve $ 1. 1 billion a year,
25:55
Speaker 4: which is less than 1% of the total revenue pile. Look,
25:59
Speaker 4: we have to sort of take on board also that
26:01
Speaker 4: With the rising debt to GSP in New South Wales
26:05
Speaker 4: at much higher interest rates, and of course we trade
26:07
Speaker 4: at higher... The New South Wales Treasury bonds trade at
26:10
Speaker 4: a higher premium to Australian government bonds, that the pressure
26:15
Speaker 4: is going to continue to remain on New South Wales
26:17
Speaker 4: to do something, and that's why a government that I
26:20
Speaker 4: would lead would be far more about getting spending under control,
26:24
Speaker 4: not just revitalising the economy through lower taxes.
26:28
Speaker 1: Lower taxes, of course, are important, incredibly important as well.
26:32
Speaker 1: Before we go, we've got a couple of minutes left.
26:34
Speaker 1: Ben Robert Smith interview a tell-all right after this. Adam, look,
26:40
Speaker 1: we're seeing a lot of debate about his guilt and innocence,
26:43
Speaker 1: but this has gone on for close to a decade.
26:47
Speaker 1: Shouldn't it be up to the courts to decide rather
26:50
Speaker 1: than this all playing out like a trial by media? Mm.
26:54
Speaker 8: Yeah, well, look, I'm just a bystander here. I don't
26:56
Speaker 8: have all the facts. But these alleged crimes happened so
26:59
Speaker 8: long ago, I do not understand why 13 years later
27:02
Speaker 8: they're going to trial now. There should be a statute
27:05
Speaker 8: of limitations on these things. It's just a persecution, in
27:08
Speaker 8: my view. It's highly political. There are so many crimes
27:12
Speaker 8: committed every single day in Australia and only a very
27:14
Speaker 8: small fraction are prosecuted, right? And that is a political decision.
27:19
Speaker 8: Why prosecute this man? Why prosecute Alan Jones? Why prosecute
27:22
Speaker 8: people like this?
27:22
Speaker 1: It is politics.
27:23
Speaker 5: Of course it's politics.
27:25
Speaker 8: Sadly, the judicial system is not perfect and it's very
27:28
Speaker 8: depressing to see it used like this as an Australian.
27:31
Speaker 1: Mike Newman, do you agree with that? Do you think
27:33
Speaker 1: the judicial system is politicised?
27:36
Speaker 4: Well, look, I reiterate what Adam just said there, but look,
27:40
Speaker 4: I think that the idea that Ben Robert Smith is
27:43
Speaker 4: now launching his own clothing line almost as a troll
27:46
Speaker 4: to the way that he's been treated through the alleged
27:50
Speaker 4: arrest on there with the with a circling of the
27:53
Speaker 4: spirit of Australia on the Qantas flight that he was
27:56
Speaker 4: taken off from. Look, we are just in a situation
27:59
Speaker 4: where we are politicising these things and we do have
28:02
Speaker 4: far bigger fish to fry, I believe, when it comes
28:05
Speaker 4: to crime and punishment. And certainly BRS does not really
28:09
Speaker 4: fit that bill in our view.
28:11
Speaker 1: Just finally, Mike, what about how he was arrested in
28:14
Speaker 1: front of his family in this, what he calls, you know,
28:17
Speaker 1: a spectacle for the media?
28:19
Speaker 6: Well.
28:20
Speaker 3: Look, I mean, the.
28:21
Speaker 4: You know, BRS offered to go to any police station
28:25
Speaker 4: to give himself up, so why was media waiting for
28:29
Speaker 4: him when he was frog-marched off that aircraft? I just,
28:32
Speaker 4: you know, think that, as you said in your earlier comments,
28:34
Speaker 4: trial by media is what is going on here, and
28:37
Speaker 4: I just think that if there is to be a
28:40
Speaker 4: proper court process, then we should leave it to the
28:42
Speaker 4: courts and the media should stay out of it until
28:45
Speaker 4: we have the final conclusions.
28:47
Speaker 5: Right.
28:47
Speaker 1: Adam Crichton? Mike Newman, thank you both so much. And
28:51
Speaker 1: don't go anywhere. That bombshell interview with Ben Roberts-Smith is
28:54
Speaker 1: coming up now and you don't want to miss it.