Latest / The Bolt Report / The Bolt Report | 17 December

Transcript

The Bolt Report | 17 December · The Bolt Report

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: He is the report.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Well, good evening and welcome to the Bolt Report. I'm
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: James Macpherson. Another big show tonight as the government continues
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: to blame everyone but themselves ahead of tomorrow's budget update.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Whose fault is it that we're being driven further into
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: the red by government spending? And there's a cost of
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: living crisis, But don't worry, there's no crisis at the ABC,
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: the independent Public broadcaster is in line for another funding boost.
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: Is it too late or too little from the.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Victorian government as they attempt to ban protests from places
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: of worship? And Donald Trump says the US military is
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: hiding the truth about those mysterious drone sightings. Former White
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: House Press Secretary Sean Spicer will join me later, but
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: first I want to begin tonight by showing you the
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: most embarrassing thing CNN has ever done, and that's saying something.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: The network that specializes in propagating misinformation seems to have
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: themselves been the victim of misinformation. Perhaps that's being too kind.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: It was more likely there were victims of their own
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: lack of curiosity, a lack of curiosity that led them
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: to assist in setting free and alleged war criminal and
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: broadcasting it globally as one of the most amazing moments
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: on television in twenty years.
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: Amazing. Indeed, the CNN crew were.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: In Damascus right after Syrian dictator Bashah l Assad was
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: toppled last week.
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: The broadcast crew were filming in an empty prison when
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: they stumbled upon what appeared to be the only locked
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: cell in the secret facility. With help from their guides,
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: they broke into the cell and rescued a victim of
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Assad's brutal regime.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Except he wasn't a victim at all. The man they
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: set free.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: He was later identified as Salama Mohammed Salama, one of
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Asad's most brutal lieutenants responsible for the savage torture of civilians.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: But CNN didn't know that, or at least they didn't
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: check that when they were busy freeing the war criminal
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: and broadcasting a globally in what reporter Clarissa Ward described
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: as quote one of the most extraordinary moments I've witnessed
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: in twenty.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: Years of reporting.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Here's the moment Ward and her CNN team rescued a
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: war criminal and broadcast it to the world.
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: I'm a civilian. He says, I'm a civilian. He tells
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: the fighter, he's from the City of Humps, has been
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: in the cell for three months. You're okay, clutches my
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: arm tightly with both hands.
• 3:06
  Speaker 5: An okay, it's water, it's water. Okay, okay, okay, you're okay.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: Now, for a guy who claimed to have been in
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: solitary confinement for three months, he was.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: Looking pretty good. In fact, he looked.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Better after three months in solitary than I look after
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: six hours in bed. But maybe that says something about me.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: CNN reporter Clarissa Ward escorted the victim out into the
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: fresh air, where his acting skills turned out to be
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: every bit as good as his reportedly brutal interrogation skills.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: The CNN crew was so loving that they were part
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: of the story. The whole thing was basically a selfie.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: It never seemed to have occurred to them that this
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: was all just a little bit too you know, clean, h.
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: After three months in a windowless cell, you can finally
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: see the sky, the light.
• 4:14
  Speaker 6: Oh God, there is light.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Of course, he wasn't actually saying, oh God, there's light.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: He was really saying, thank you God for sending me
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: the dupes from CNN. CNN, of course, have spent the
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: past decade being duped by Russian collusion, Biden's mental capacity,
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: the border inflation, and now their reporter is getting kisses
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: from an alleged war criminal.
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: You can't make this stuff up.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Assad's brutal enforcer was so loving CNN he didn't want
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: them to leave. Okay, again and again, And they were
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: so busy being part of the story they didn't notice
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: his tip top physical condition, his nice clothing, his impeccable grooming,
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: and his lack of any injuries or even bruises to
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: think that well, maybe they'd been catfished. Meanwhile, Salama was
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: putting on a performance worthy of the Oscars, as CNN
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: quite literally ate it up.
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: The fighter handsome something to eat, He'll barely lifted to his.
• 5:23
  Speaker 6: Mouthhama j done.
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: He thought his body can't handle it.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: Okay now.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: It was only after this CNN exclusive went viral that
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: local fact checkers alerted the network they had just released
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: one of Asad's most notorious henchmen. Whoops, They said, the
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: man CNN set free, kissed and fed, had been responsible
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: for the murder and torture of citizens who would not
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: act as informers for ASAD. The way things are going,
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: I expect that next week's Lama Mohammad will cross the
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: Mexican border into the United States, where Joe Biden will
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: be waiting with a pardon, and a month after that
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: he'll probably turn up on CNN as their Middle East correspondent.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: Addressing the fiasco, CNN Today said they were quote a
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: where Salama may have given a false identity.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: No kidding, but CNN, the.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Most trusted name in news, never thought to check what
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Salama had told them. Then again, they never think to
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: check what the Hamas run health ministry tells them about
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: casualties in Gaza either. Speaking of which, what are the
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: odds that the Albanese government's checks on Ghazan's given visas
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: to come to Australia are about as thorough as CNN's. Well,
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: let's get into the news of the day. Joining me
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: is LNPMP Phil Thompson. Phil, thanks for your time tonight.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: I want to start with the government's budget update being
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: handed down tomorrow. There's reports it's set to include up
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: to twenty five billion dollars in additional spending, So riddle
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: me this.
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: I thought we wanted to try and bring inflation down.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: How does twenty five billion dollars of extra spending help that,
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: Or maybe inflation's not really a priority after all, or
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: maybe Jim Chalmers just doesn't know what he's doing.
• 7:20
  Speaker 7: Well, I think you're right everywhere. It's definitely not a
• 7:25
  Speaker 7: number one factor for this government. If you look back
• 7:27
  Speaker 7: to the election, the number one issue for this Labor
• 7:31
  Speaker 7: government was to go to the polls for a referendum
• 7:33
  Speaker 7: in a divisive voice. Now it's saying, oh, the number
• 7:37
  Speaker 7: one issue has always been inflation, but we're going to
• 7:39
  Speaker 7: spend a lot more as well. Jim Charmers, it's clear
• 7:42
  Speaker 7: that he's not across his brief doesn't really know what
• 7:45
  Speaker 7: he's up to. And we saw today that you know,
• 7:48
  Speaker 7: there'll be fact checkers out showing that he's been misleading
• 7:51
  Speaker 7: in his comments. We know that when they run out
• 7:54
  Speaker 7: of money, they come after yours and they are preparing
• 7:57
  Speaker 7: for an election.
• 7:58
  Speaker 8: They're not focused on the inflation.
• 8:00
  Speaker 7: They are going to spend, spend, spend, and it's going
• 8:02
  Speaker 7: to put Australia in a worse position.
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: I love the way Jim Chalmers is communicating this though,
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: and I mean not that there's a high bar for
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: communication when it comes to the government.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: But he's talking about the fact.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: That, you know, the deficit is going to be larger
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: than thought. He's saying there's going to be some slippage,
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: some slippage. I just love the language. Finance Minister Katie Gallagher,
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: she's blamed the government's extra spending on the coalition. She
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: says it's inherited spending, funding for already established programs that
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: the coalition didn't budget. Let's take a look at what
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: she had to say today.
• 8:39
  Speaker 9: It's also the continuation of the unavoidable spending that we've
• 8:42
  Speaker 9: been inherited since coming to government. So these are often
• 8:44
  Speaker 9: ongoing programs that had a funding cliff or had no
• 8:48
  Speaker 9: ongoing funding.
• 8:49
  Speaker 10: Attached to them.
• 8:51
  Speaker 9: And this obviously was a feature of the former government's
• 8:54
  Speaker 9: budgeting where they sought to reduce costs or make it
• 8:57
  Speaker 9: look like the budget was in better shape than it
• 8:59
  Speaker 9: actually was.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: How long have the Albanesi government been in power.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: It's like three years, isn't it.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: At what point does the government take responsibility for things?
• 9:13
  Speaker 8: Well, imagine they sit in the big office.
• 9:15
  Speaker 7: You know, when you get the big office, you get
• 9:17
  Speaker 7: the big responsibility. And we've heard from the Labor government
• 9:21
  Speaker 7: and Katie Gallagher and Jin Charmers and you know Wayne
• 9:24
  Speaker 7: Swann who's Jim's best mate, telling the Australian people that
• 9:28
  Speaker 7: look how good we We're in budget surplus and now
• 9:32
  Speaker 7: going into their last budget for the election like, oh no,
• 9:35
  Speaker 7: it's the coalition's fault.
• 9:36
  Speaker 8: We're going into deficit.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: What rubbish.
• 9:39
  Speaker 7: Take some responsibility for your budget mismanagement. And the only
• 9:43
  Speaker 7: reason they managed to find a surplus was because of
• 9:46
  Speaker 7: the coal industry. The gas industry are mining and resources
• 9:50
  Speaker 7: our agriculture. But instead of thanking them, they want to
• 9:53
  Speaker 7: punish them. And instead of going we know that people
• 9:56
  Speaker 7: are doing it tough, they want to talk about how
• 9:58
  Speaker 7: great they are. Now a budget surplus does not mean
• 10:01
  Speaker 7: that your household budget is in surplus, because it's not.
• 10:04
  Speaker 7: People are doing it tough. Now we're going to go
• 10:06
  Speaker 7: into a labor deficit and they want to blame the coalition. Ah,
• 10:10
  Speaker 7: grow up, take some responsibility.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: Well we were promised that if they came to power,
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: we'd have adults, but instead we've got you know, a
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: repetition of do you remember on the Brady Bunch where used
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: to say Marsha Marsha Marsha. The Government's like everything Dutton, Dutton, Dutton.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: It's never their responsibility. I'll tell you though, there's one
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: group who will be very happy with tomorrow's budget, not householders.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: But the ABC.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Money's tight, but money's never so tight that labor can't
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: find a few extra million. Try eighty three million over
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: two years for their sorry, I mean our ABC and SBS.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: The government says it's committed to showing the independence of
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: the public broadcasters, but I'm inclined to think eighty three
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: million dollars in the cost of living crisis shows something
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: other than independence.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 11:01
  Speaker 7: Well, we've seen a lack of independence from ABC recently.
• 11:05
  Speaker 7: Only look at the Heston Russell case, where they fabricated
• 11:09
  Speaker 7: gunshots or rifle shots and pretty much accused him and
• 11:12
  Speaker 7: his platoon of war criminals. To be found guilty in
• 11:15
  Speaker 7: court and to come out and pretty much just go
• 11:17
  Speaker 7: oh my bad, and then have no punishments from there,
• 11:20
  Speaker 7: I think surrendous. I think it's a slap in the
• 11:23
  Speaker 7: face to democracy and the wider ADF.
• 11:26
  Speaker 8: I don't think that they're independent. I think that the
• 11:29
  Speaker 8: ABC specific specifically.
• 11:32
  Speaker 7: Is left leaning and bias and has been targeting our
• 11:35
  Speaker 7: ADF and any sort of policy that's different to the
• 11:39
  Speaker 7: Labor government.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: I just don't understand how you can get decreasing viewers,
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: decreasing listeners and yet increasing funding. Tell me anywhere else
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: in the world where that kind of equation works certainly
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: doesn't work like that in the private sector. Speaking of
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: Labour's face is to acknowledge its own mistakes or to
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: give credit where it's due. A war of words as
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: are upted between Treasure Jim Chalmers and oppositionally to Peter
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: Dutton over nuclear power. Have listened to what Jim Chalmers
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: had to say this morning regarding the opposition's nuclear plan.
• 12:16
  Speaker 11: Our political opponents, for reasons that are unfathomable to sensible people,
• 12:22
  Speaker 11: have gone for the version of energy which is the
• 12:25
  Speaker 11: most expensive, would push our power bills the most, would
• 12:28
  Speaker 11: take the longest, would deliver only a sliver of energy.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Honestly, this government has no credibility at all talking about
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: what's expensive when it comes to energy.
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: Peter Dutton was quick to respond.
• 12:42
  Speaker 12: Well, it's just comical. I mean, Jim Charmers is like
• 12:44
  Speaker 12: some sort of comedy routine where whatever he says I
• 12:49
  Speaker 12: would fact check. He refuses to release any of the
• 12:51
  Speaker 12: detail in relation to that claim.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Phil It seems Labor is so blinded by its green
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: dream it won't even consider a reasonable alternative that would
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: lower power bills, keep the lights on and reduce emissions.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: Jim Chalmers has really pushed the idea that next year's
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: election will be a referendum on nuclear energy. I'm not
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: sure it's going to be a referendum on nuclear I
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: think it's going to be a referendum on power bills
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: and power reliability. On that score, the Coalition are in
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: a very good position, don't you think.
• 13:25
  Speaker 8: Oh correct ed.
• 13:26
  Speaker 7: The next election that we go to is going to
• 13:29
  Speaker 7: be focused on cost of living and how cost of
• 13:32
  Speaker 7: living is out of control. But if you look at
• 13:34
  Speaker 7: what Jim Chalmers just said, he has been fact checked
• 13:38
  Speaker 7: before on x on other platforms with misleading comments. He's
• 13:41
  Speaker 7: been told he's wrong, and this just goes to show
• 13:44
  Speaker 7: that once again he's not above purposely misleading. These policies
• 13:50
  Speaker 7: that Peter Dutton and Ted O'Brien are released on the
• 13:53
  Speaker 7: nuclear costings were done independently by an independent group that
• 13:57
  Speaker 7: is respected, that have been used by the Labor Party,
• 14:00
  Speaker 7: And to say that if people want to explore nuclear
• 14:04
  Speaker 7: and have that mature conversation, aren't sensible, which is what
• 14:08
  Speaker 7: Jim Chalmers just said. I think pretty disgraceful from a
• 14:11
  Speaker 7: Treasurer that's supposed to.
• 14:12
  Speaker 8: Be there for all of Australians.
• 14:14
  Speaker 7: Instead he's just doing whatever Wayne Swans tells him to do,
• 14:18
  Speaker 7: just in the factional warlord games. Instead of looking how
• 14:22
  Speaker 7: he should be able to make life better for all
• 14:24
  Speaker 7: of Australians, he won't do it.
• 14:26
  Speaker 13: Peter Duttonwell, there was a nuclear inquiry underway today with
• 14:32
  Speaker 13: representatives from both sides of government, and I was interested
• 14:35
  Speaker 13: to hear the Minerals Council of Australia making clear their
• 14:37
  Speaker 13: opposition to the legislative ban on nuclear energy.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: The Council's Chief executive, Tenure Constable, told the inquiry there
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: was no mandate for the ban, either scientifically, technologically or economically,
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: and no evidence has been presented to justify the ban.
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: I'm sure you would agree with that.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: It's ridiculous that nuclear energy is banned in this country
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: and there won't even be a discussion contemplated by the government.
• 15:05
  Speaker 7: Well, imagine having experts in the room, like the Resource
• 15:07
  Speaker 7: Council that represents a vast variety of different organizations and
• 15:13
  Speaker 7: industries coming out and saying that we should be listening
• 15:16
  Speaker 7: to experts. And I'll tell you one thing, mate, No
• 15:18
  Speaker 7: good ideas come out of Canberra. No good ideas come
• 15:21
  Speaker 7: out of from politicians, out of Parliament House. They come
• 15:24
  Speaker 7: from people like this, experts that live and breathe it
• 15:28
  Speaker 7: in the industries.
• 15:29
  Speaker 8: We should be listening to them.
• 15:31
  Speaker 7: And the coalition is would love for the Labor Party
• 15:35
  Speaker 7: to put down this warlord mentality and born to rule mentality.
• 15:40
  Speaker 7: Listen to the experts, Listen to the Resource Council, Listen
• 15:44
  Speaker 7: to people that are out there saying let's have this
• 15:47
  Speaker 7: matual conversation. Because the best time to build a shade
• 15:51
  Speaker 7: tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is today.
• 15:53
  Speaker 7: We need to get on with it so power is cheaper,
• 15:55
  Speaker 7: in cost of living comes down for our future generations.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: Phil Thompson, always a pleasure to talk to you. Thanks well,
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: I want to turn to the other news of the day.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: You sometimes have to wonder if the ABC really enjoys
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: playing us for fools. We've dragged the ABC over the
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: calls multiple times after they were after it was revealed
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: that footage of an Australian soldiers shooting at people from
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: inside a helicopter had additional gunfire sounds added to it.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: And here's how the ABC edited the footage of a.
• 16:27
  Speaker 14: Look revealing an astonishing difference between the Sauce vision and
• 16:34
  Speaker 14: the version of events told by the ABC's Mark Willison,
• 16:38
  Speaker 14: which starts with six rounds of firing, then a single
• 16:48
  Speaker 14: warning shot becomes six.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: To me, it appears the.
• 16:59
  Speaker 15: Added extra gunshots.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: That's phenomenon. So I fell off my chair when I
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: saw this.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: Now the ABC was forced to apologize. They said a
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: full review was being conducted and they promised we'd have
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: the findings by the end of October. Well here we
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: are midway through December, and today we learned the findings
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: have just been submitted two months late. Joining me now
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: is the man who the ABC painted as basically a
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: war criminal, retired Special Forces Major Heston Russell Heston. A
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: two month delay on this report. That's a long time
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: when you consider the ABC were in the wrong. They
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: promised to put out a report saying what had happened
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: and couldn't give it, couldn't even get it in on time.
• 17:49
  Speaker 15: Get a James Well, the full context also is that
• 17:52
  Speaker 15: the ABC only came up with this new story where
• 17:55
  Speaker 15: they actually said it was me shooting out of the
• 17:57
  Speaker 15: helicopter and that they were unarmed civilians, and they then
• 18:00
  Speaker 15: went as far as adding extra gunshots. And they did
• 18:03
  Speaker 15: this when I launched deformation proceedings against them in twenty
• 18:06
  Speaker 15: twenty two, and then my legal team and I wrote
• 18:09
  Speaker 15: to the ABC legal team and ABC News who instructs
• 18:12
  Speaker 15: their legal team in November of twenty twenty two with
• 18:15
  Speaker 15: a letter that said, why have there been gunshots added
• 18:18
  Speaker 15: to this footage at this minute mark?
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: At this minute mark.
• 18:21
  Speaker 15: ABC is saying they didn't get that letter passed on
• 18:24
  Speaker 15: to their executive even though they submitted a subsequent truth defense,
• 18:28
  Speaker 15: and then only after Channel seven published that spotlight episode
• 18:31
  Speaker 15: earlier this year were they forced to through public black
• 18:34
  Speaker 15: backlash A point investigator.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you've seen Britain to the ABC.
• 18:38
  Speaker 15: They appointed one of their former executives who worked there
• 18:41
  Speaker 15: for twenty years and are calling it an independent review,
• 18:45
  Speaker 15: which is complete and misinformation to Australian public. And I've
• 18:48
  Speaker 15: rejected the person they've appointed, and then they've gone as
• 18:51
  Speaker 15: far as promises report like you said, to be the
• 18:53
  Speaker 15: end of October, and now it's two months later, and
• 18:56
  Speaker 15: I expect it to be lame as well.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: You just told me that you expected to be lame.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: I'm presuming you haven't been given access to the findings.
• 19:07
  Speaker 15: So Alan Sunderland, who was appointed to do it, he's
• 19:10
  Speaker 15: already released his interim report and that basically said that,
• 19:13
  Speaker 15: and he gave every justification that he wasn't allowed to
• 19:16
  Speaker 15: go outside of his terms of reference, so he wasn't
• 19:18
  Speaker 15: allowed to go into all of the context that has
• 19:20
  Speaker 15: been the poor behavior and the deceit of the ABC
• 19:24
  Speaker 15: people involved during my court case. He's just dealing with
• 19:27
  Speaker 15: this one piece, and his interim report said that he
• 19:30
  Speaker 15: did not believe that the editing of that footage and
• 19:32
  Speaker 15: adding of gunshots was in any way designed to mislead
• 19:36
  Speaker 15: the Australian public. And I know that doesn't pass the
• 19:39
  Speaker 15: pub test. That doesn't pass just walking on the street now,
• 19:42
  Speaker 15: some lovely lady pulling me aside and telling me how
• 19:43
  Speaker 15: disgusted she is by their conduct and they're just simply
• 19:46
  Speaker 15: trying to sweep this under the carpet.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: So the rest of this report we're.
• 19:50
  Speaker 15: Waiting on is the ABC answering how they missed that
• 19:54
  Speaker 15: letter when we wrote to them in twenty twenty two
• 19:56
  Speaker 15: through my legal team highlighting these issues, and where that
• 19:59
  Speaker 15: fell down within their own editorial review system.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm wondering how if you add fictitious gunshots to
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: a news report, you're doing anything other than misleading the
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: public much sense at all, certainly, as you said, doesn't
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: pass the pub test. You mentioned the independent reviewer, Alan Sunderland,
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: and that he's a former ABC employee. Now I'm not
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: alleging he's been unfair or biased in his report. We
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: can't access it, but that does, as you say, raise
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: some eyebrows, and it just makes you wonder how serious
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: the ABC are about integrity and transparency when they've made
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: such an epic blunder and then they try and put
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: it right, but they can't even get it right with
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: the report in appointing someone who is seen to be
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: truly independent, it makes you question their seriousness, doesn't it massive?
• 20:54
  Speaker 15: And it just makes me question it more after the
• 20:56
  Speaker 15: last four years, including taken them to the federal court
• 20:58
  Speaker 15: case because they're refused to not the massive errors in
• 21:01
  Speaker 15: their story. The issues here are that why is there
• 21:04
  Speaker 15: a culture in ABC where they think it's alright at
• 21:07
  Speaker 15: all to be editing footage and adding gunshots when the
• 21:10
  Speaker 15: story is accusing Australian soldiers of war crimes.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: Number one.
• 21:14
  Speaker 15: Number two, what is their editorial process to not have
• 21:17
  Speaker 15: picked up on this with the journalist Mark Willersey putting
• 21:20
  Speaker 15: his name on that byline?
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: Where is their professional standards?
• 21:24
  Speaker 15: And number three, like you said, why do they not
• 21:26
  Speaker 15: take this seriously enough to be able to read the room.
• 21:29
  Speaker 15: The fact that they get over a billion dollars a
• 21:31
  Speaker 15: year now even more from Australian taxpayers to quantify wanting
• 21:35
  Speaker 15: to restore some of their reputation and appoint someone truly
• 21:38
  Speaker 15: independent and think that we're not going to see the
• 21:41
  Speaker 15: smoker mirror that is appointing a former executive. And I
• 21:44
  Speaker 15: sat with this former executive with my barrister supercent through
• 21:47
  Speaker 15: for two hours and provided all the information and all
• 21:51
  Speaker 15: of the demonstrations of what's been going on, and then
• 21:53
  Speaker 15: to receive his interim report just show that he's simply
• 21:56
  Speaker 15: there to tick boxes and move this on it and
• 21:58
  Speaker 15: make it look like they pleaded a process.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: But I tell you what, it has a lot to
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: be desired.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it certainly does Hestin Russell. Thanks for your time tonight.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: We'll stick around because after the break, Donald Trump says
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: the US military is hiding the truth about those mysterious
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: drone sightings. Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer will.
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: Join me in a moment. Well, welcome back.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: As mysterious drones are spotted hovering over New Jersey, the
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: White House is simul Tennis Lee telling Americans they don't
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: know where the drones are from and that there's nothing
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: to worry about, which is why Americans are so worried.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Are the drones the prelude to an enemy attack, Are they,
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: as some have suggested, being operated by the government in
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: a bid to detect a radiation leak? Or are they
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: a diversion The Democratic administration has Americans looking up into
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: the sky rather than looking into who. Joe Biden is
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: pardoning Beggar's belief that American officials don't know who all
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: what is operating in airspace over sensitive defense sites. Donald
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: Trump told the media today that officials know exactly what's happening,
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: despite their denials.
• 23:11
  Speaker 16: Our military knows where they took off from. If it's
• 23:15
  Speaker 16: a garage, they can go right into that garage. They
• 23:18
  Speaker 16: know where it came from and where it went, and
• 23:22
  Speaker 16: for some reason they don't want to comment, And I
• 23:24
  Speaker 16: think they'd be better of saying what it is. Our
• 23:26
  Speaker 16: military knows and our president knows, and for some reason
• 23:31
  Speaker 16: they want to keep people in suspense. I can't imagine
• 23:34
  Speaker 16: it's the enemy, because it was the enemy they'd blasted out,
• 23:37
  Speaker 16: even if they were late, they'd blasted Something strange is
• 23:41
  Speaker 16: going on. For some reason, they don't want to tell
• 23:43
  Speaker 16: the people, and they.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: Should joining me now, is former White House Press Secretary
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: Sean Spicer. Sean Trump also refused to say whether or
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: not he had been briefed on the situation, adding further intrigue.
• 23:56
  Speaker 17: Yeah, well, look, I think that there's an element to
• 23:59
  Speaker 17: which he can't talk about certain things. But the reality is, James,
• 24:03
  Speaker 17: it's this easier there utter incompetence or they're lying. I mean,
• 24:07
  Speaker 17: you stated it perfectly at the outset. You either know
• 24:10
  Speaker 17: what you can't tell people they're safe if they don't
• 24:13
  Speaker 17: know what's going on. And when you see this many
• 24:16
  Speaker 17: drones flying overhead over key military installations, over the President's
• 24:21
  Speaker 17: golf club there at Bedminster, New Jersey, you would think
• 24:25
  Speaker 17: that the government would want to know. So this begs
• 24:28
  Speaker 17: the question, truly, are they that incompetent or are they lying?
• 24:32
  Speaker 17: And this all comes on the heels of not knowing
• 24:35
  Speaker 17: whether or not China was setting a spy balloon over
• 24:39
  Speaker 17: our country for days on end. I don't know that
• 24:41
  Speaker 17: these are the most trusted people when it comes to
• 24:43
  Speaker 17: our safety of what's in the sky.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I think you're definitely right about that. And
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: of course all Americans are distracted by UFOs. Something truly
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: sinister is happening on the Southern board of the Biden administration,
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: and I cannot believe this is selling off parts of
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: the border wall. Trump ripped into Biden for it, he
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: described as quote an almost criminal act.
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: Have a listen.
• 25:09
  Speaker 16: We ordered an additional two hundred miles of wall. It's
• 25:12
  Speaker 16: very expensive, and now it's about double the price of
• 25:16
  Speaker 16: what it would have been six years ago. And the
• 25:20
  Speaker 16: administration is trying to sell it for five cents on
• 25:22
  Speaker 16: the dollar, knowing that we're getting ready to put it up.
• 25:27
  Speaker 16: And what they're doing is really an act. It's almost
• 25:30
  Speaker 16: it's almost a criminal act. They know we're going to
• 25:33
  Speaker 16: use it, and if we don't have it, we're going
• 25:35
  Speaker 16: to have to rebuild it, and it'll cost double what
• 25:39
  Speaker 16: it costs years ago.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: Beyond a criminal act, it seems treasonous to me, Sean
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: And in addition, didn't the Biden administration promise a smooth transition.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: This seems to be an effort to disrupt Trump's agenda,
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: one that people voted overwhelmingly for. They want the southern
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: border secured.
• 26:00
  Speaker 17: Yeah, this is a real slap in the face of
• 26:02
  Speaker 17: the American people. Look, James I was down at the
• 26:05
  Speaker 17: southern border probably four weeks ago and there were piles
• 26:07
  Speaker 17: and piles of this wall material that.
• 26:11
  Speaker 6: They had been told was not to be touched.
• 26:14
  Speaker 17: Starting at noon on January twentieth, twenty twenty one, when
• 26:17
  Speaker 17: Biden was sworn into office, it has sat there and
• 26:20
  Speaker 17: now they're basically going to sell it for, as the
• 26:22
  Speaker 17: President noted, pennies on the dollar, so that it has
• 26:25
  Speaker 17: to be repurchased.
• 26:27
  Speaker 6: And here's the most insulting part of it.
• 26:30
  Speaker 17: You know, President Trump mentioned how much more expensive it's
• 26:33
  Speaker 17: going to be, but it's because of the inflation that
• 26:36
  Speaker 17: Biden caused that we're going to have to Biden again
• 26:40
  Speaker 17: at a much steeper price. So they're selling it for
• 26:43
  Speaker 17: pennies on the dollar. We're going to repay for it
• 26:46
  Speaker 17: as taxpayers at a much higher cost because of the
• 26:49
  Speaker 17: very policies that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden lost the
• 26:52
  Speaker 17: election over. I mean, this is really adding insult to
• 26:56
  Speaker 17: injury for so many Americans.
• 26:58
  Speaker 6: Never mind the policy itself.
• 27:00
  Speaker 17: That they have allowed to you know, perpetrate our nation
• 27:05
  Speaker 17: and allow this southern border to remain wide open, but
• 27:08
  Speaker 17: now on the way out the door, to be selling
• 27:11
  Speaker 17: it off the way that they are is just unfathomable.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you could not make this stuff up.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: This sort of behavior should disqualify the Democrats ever getting
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: back into office for a generation.
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: I reckon. People have come yeah, no.
• 27:28
  Speaker 17: No, you're absolutely right, but you understand that you an
• 27:32
  Speaker 17: Australian television network has asked more questions about this than
• 27:37
  Speaker 17: the American media. There is zero curiosity about this in
• 27:42
  Speaker 17: the American media. Where's the New York Times, the Washington Post,
• 27:45
  Speaker 17: NBC asking Democratic lawmakers to be accountable for these decisions,
• 27:50
  Speaker 17: to speak out against it.
• 27:51
  Speaker 6: There's zero.
• 27:52
  Speaker 17: Australian television has covered this issue more than American television.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: This seems so obvious, Sean, I mean it's an obvious story,
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: for one, but.
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: It's also clearly outrageous.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: Why the lack of curiosity by the media in the US.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: Are they just a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party and
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: that's the way it is, or do they not think
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: it's a problem that people are pouring over the border.
• 28:19
  Speaker 17: I think it's more of the latter. They actually, I
• 28:22
  Speaker 17: think agree with this. They sort of don't want a
• 28:24
  Speaker 17: southern border. They believe in an open border's policy, despite
• 28:29
  Speaker 17: the vast majority of the American people supporting President Trump
• 28:32
  Speaker 17: on this issue. So I don't think they're covering it
• 28:35
  Speaker 17: because they don't want to. They clearly look, they'll cover
• 28:38
  Speaker 17: everything the President says when it comes to deporting people
• 28:42
  Speaker 17: in this country illegally, But when it comes to President
• 28:45
  Speaker 17: Biden in his policy of not obeying the law and
• 28:49
  Speaker 17: now selling off something that the American taxpayer has already
• 28:53
  Speaker 17: paid for, not a peep.
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: It's just extraordinary. Hey.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: A lot of people have commented just on another topic
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: that really I find just shocking. People have commented on
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: the way in which the left have formed over Luigi Mangioni,
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: the alleged killer of a health insurance CEO. I want
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: to play you Trump's take on this, and ask you
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: about the culture in the United States at the moment.
• 29:19
  Speaker 3: Here's Trump.
• 29:21
  Speaker 8: I think it's a terrible thing.
• 29:22
  Speaker 16: I think it's really terrible that some people seem to
• 29:26
  Speaker 16: admire him like him, And I was happy to see
• 29:31
  Speaker 16: that it wasn't specific to this gentleman that was killed.
• 29:34
  Speaker 16: It's just an overall sectness as opposed to a specific sectness.
• 29:40
  Speaker 16: That was a terrible thing. It was cold blooded, just
• 29:42
  Speaker 16: a cold blooded, horrible killing.
• 29:45
  Speaker 6: And how people can like this.
• 29:47
  Speaker 16: Guy is that's a sectus.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: Actually, sure, I listened to that, and I thought Trump's
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: onto something here. The cheering for a murder is not
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: just an aberration symptom of a deeper He called it
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: a sickness that seems to be spreading, and sadly to say,
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: not just in the United States, but in the Western world.
• 30:10
  Speaker 17: Yeah, and you referred to this at the beginning, James,
• 30:13
  Speaker 17: but there are Democratic senators in the United States who
• 30:16
  Speaker 17: are trying to explain this away. Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts saying, well,
• 30:22
  Speaker 17: when you push somebody that far, you got to expect
• 30:25
  Speaker 17: these kind of things. No, you don't ever have to
• 30:28
  Speaker 17: accept these things. You never ever explain away cold blooded killing.
• 30:32
  Speaker 17: As President Trump noted, this is not I don't We
• 30:36
  Speaker 17: should never normalize this.
• 30:38
  Speaker 6: The idea that this man shot.
• 30:40
  Speaker 17: A husband, a father, a fellow human being in cold
• 30:44
  Speaker 17: blood on the streets of midtown Manhattan is not something
• 30:48
  Speaker 17: we should be explaining away or.
• 30:50
  Speaker 6: Admiring, or attempting to idolize.
• 30:53
  Speaker 17: It's disgusting what the left is doing, and it explains
• 30:57
  Speaker 17: a lot about who they are at their core.
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, sadly it really does.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: Hey, before I let you go, I want to know
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: what you thought of Joe Biden's comments overnight that Kamala
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: Harris will remain a major player in US politics despite
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: her humiliating defeat. Here's what Biden had to say.
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: I knew what I do and ask her to be
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: my vice president.
• 31:21
  Speaker 17: I knew her, I knew of her, I knew about her,
• 31:22
  Speaker 17: I knew her record.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: I trusted her.
• 31:25
  Speaker 16: She always served this country of purpose.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: And integrity and she always will.
• 31:29
  Speaker 6: And you're not going anywhere a kid, because we're not
• 31:31
  Speaker 6: going to let you go.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: Seriously, as a democratic cupboard, really that bear sean that
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: Kamala Harris, could I mean, could she possibly run again?
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: In twenty twenty eight surely not well.
• 31:47
  Speaker 17: As a Republican, I'm cheering her on. I'd love to
• 31:50
  Speaker 17: see her make another comeback at it between twenty nineteen
• 31:54
  Speaker 17: and this time around. Listen, I'd love her back on
• 31:57
  Speaker 17: the stage. But honestly, that says a lot about the
• 32:00
  Speaker 17: state of the Democratic Party if she's going to be
• 32:02
  Speaker 17: their standard bearer. Look, she failed fundamentally with key constituencies
• 32:08
  Speaker 17: within the Democratic Party. She spent billions of dollars and
• 32:13
  Speaker 17: is in debt. It was unbelievable. She bought friends, she
• 32:17
  Speaker 17: paid Beyonce and these other folks to come out and
• 32:19
  Speaker 17: support her.
• 32:20
  Speaker 6: This literally is laughable.
• 32:23
  Speaker 17: And the idea that you are not as a Democrat
• 32:26
  Speaker 17: embarrassed about the campaign that she ran, the money that
• 32:29
  Speaker 17: she wasted, says a lot about the Democratic Party today.
• 32:34
  Speaker 17: If I were them, I would ask her to go
• 32:36
  Speaker 17: to California and never come back.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: You know, I reckon that, just as you're excited that
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: she could be the next candidate, I reckon jd. Vance
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: would love her to be the Democratic candidate as well.
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: Would guarantee he'll succeed Trump. Hey, I think she had
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: time tonight, Sean. Always a pleasure to speak to you.
• 32:57
  Speaker 6: Always a pleasure, James, Merry Christmas.
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: If I don't see you, well stick around because after
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: the break I want to talk about whether it's too little,
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: too late from the Victorian government as it attempts to
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: ban protests outside places of worship.
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: My panel will join me next Welcome back. Well.
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen has decided something needs to be
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: done about anti Semitism. Who knew it's just a Piteou
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: synagogue had to be firebombed before she found her voice.
• 33:28
  Speaker 18: It's really about providing people of faith. Doesn't matter who
• 33:32
  Speaker 18: you pray to, what place of worship you attend. It
• 33:35
  Speaker 18: really is saying to people of faith that you have
• 33:38
  Speaker 18: every right to attend your place of worship in a
• 33:42
  Speaker 18: safe way.
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: Well, I suppose it's better late than never, right.
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: Joining me on the panel is skyne Is, contributor Rock
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: Earlier Kono and libertarian commentator Kristen Abraham. This ban on
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: protesting outside places of worship Rocco, as well as banning
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: terrorist flags and symbols in public and face coverings of protests.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: It's a good move, but it begs the question why
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: was this not done months ago?
• 34:10
  Speaker 19: Well, James, it should have been done after October the
• 34:12
  Speaker 19: ninth last year of what happened at the Sydney Opera House.
• 34:15
  Speaker 19: I mean, for the last fourteen months we've seen cities
• 34:18
  Speaker 19: disrupted and shut down. We haven't had hate preachers deported.
• 34:23
  Speaker 19: And compare that to what happened during COVID when peaceful
• 34:28
  Speaker 19: protesters were shot at with rubber bullets. Prinut, when we're
• 34:32
  Speaker 19: arrested in their own homes, grandmother's harassed and mentally ill
• 34:36
  Speaker 19: men smashed the ground by the Victoria police. Not only
• 34:38
  Speaker 19: is it too little, too late, but it exhibits the
• 34:41
  Speaker 19: usual double standards Victorian that we've come to expect from
• 34:44
  Speaker 19: the Victorian government.
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: Well, I love how Victoria has seen some of the worst,
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: most violent, most aggressive pro Palestinian protests he has taken
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: until now, As I said after a synagogue was burnt
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: down in a terrorist attack, for just into allen to
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: ignore knowledge what we've been saying for more than a year,
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: have a listen.
• 35:04
  Speaker 18: Anti Semitism is a cancer. Anti Semitism is a cancer,
• 35:08
  Speaker 18: and we must leave no stone unturned to fight the
• 35:11
  Speaker 18: evil of antisemitism, to fight the evil of this racism
• 35:14
  Speaker 18: and hate in all of its forms, and also continue
• 35:18
  Speaker 18: to work to help heal our multicultural community.
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: Like I said, we've been saying that for more than
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: a year. Oppositionallyder Peter Dutton is right in my opinion
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: when he had this to say earlier today.
• 35:31
  Speaker 12: I just can't understand why it's taken the Ellen government
• 35:35
  Speaker 12: so long to react to the reasonable requests, particularly of
• 35:39
  Speaker 12: Jewish Australians who have been treated in the most applorable way.
• 35:43
  Speaker 12: The Premier of Victoria says that she needs to do
• 35:46
  Speaker 12: something about it. Well, of course she does, and she
• 35:47
  Speaker 12: should have done it fourteen months ago.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it does make you curious, doesn't it, Kristin? Why
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: has it taken so long for I mean, labor federally
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: have been terrible and we know they've got their eye
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: on Western Sydney's seats. It's all very political. What's going
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: on in Victoria? Why is the premier taken so long
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: to address this?
• 36:05
  Speaker 20: What's not going on in Victoria?
• 36:07
  Speaker 6: James?
• 36:08
  Speaker 20: It's point, it's the circus around here. But in terms
• 36:12
  Speaker 20: of what they're proposing at the moment, all I can
• 36:14
  Speaker 20: really think of is is there already laws on firebombing places?
• 36:19
  Speaker 20: Is there already laws on doing no harm to others?
• 36:23
  Speaker 20: And aren't their laws that they can be enforcing. The
• 36:27
  Speaker 20: other gentleman did say that there was peaceful protests in
• 36:30
  Speaker 20: the pandemic and they shut rubber bullets at Victorians. So
• 36:34
  Speaker 20: how about they enforce the laws that are already there
• 36:37
  Speaker 20: rather than proposing a legislation that is potentially going to
• 36:41
  Speaker 20: further impeach civil liberties, which we have a massive problem
• 36:44
  Speaker 20: with here in Victoria.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, the other irony is it was back
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: in I think twenty fifteen that Dan Andrews got rid
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: of the ability for police to move people on if
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: they were creating a problem. And then when that was
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: tried to be brought back by the Collision in twenty nineteen,
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: labor government opposed that. So, like you said, they've had
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: laws in place that they could have used but haven't,
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: or that they got rid of. Now they're acting like
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: they've come in to.
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: Save the day with all these new laws.
• 37:12
  Speaker 20: It's just ridiculous that the Alan government thinks that they
• 37:14
  Speaker 20: can just wash out this new law and think that
• 37:18
  Speaker 20: they're going to fix an institutionalize problem. How but they
• 37:21
  Speaker 20: stand up for the UNI students that felt the racism
• 37:25
  Speaker 20: and religious hatred that was going on. However, they stand
• 37:28
  Speaker 20: up for the Jewish community and actually show some leadership,
• 37:31
  Speaker 20: but they just refuse to do that, and all they
• 37:33
  Speaker 20: think is they can just push out new laws to.
• 37:35
  Speaker 3: Save the problem.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: Well, I've spoken many times throughout this year about Labour's
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: inability to accept blame. They blame everyone but themselves, and
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: it seems that goes for State Labor too. Have listened
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: to this comment from just Sinto Allen which had me
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: shaking my head.
• 37:50
  Speaker 18: And what every community of faith and culture, indeed, what
• 37:54
  Speaker 18: every Victorian and Australian deserves are leaders who lead without
• 37:59
  Speaker 18: politics on this matter. We had just seen too many politicians,
• 38:05
  Speaker 18: Liberal politicians, Green's political politicians who have chosen to use
• 38:12
  Speaker 18: a humanitarian crisis conflict as a cause for political division
• 38:18
  Speaker 18: in our community. I find that utterly unacceptable, utterly unacceptable, Rocco.
• 38:26
  Speaker 3: Can you believe this?
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: You know we don't want politicians using this issue politically,
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: The Greens, the Liberals, She missing anybody?
• 38:37
  Speaker 19: Oh? I thought it was Hamas who were invaded Israel
• 38:40
  Speaker 19: and rape women and put and murdered babies. And yet
• 38:46
  Speaker 19: the Labor Party and their fellow childers, the Greens are
• 38:49
  Speaker 19: the ones who have to be drag kicking and screaming
• 38:51
  Speaker 19: to this point what you mentioned Western Sydney sets earlier.
• 38:56
  Speaker 19: I mean, this is the thing the Labor Party has
• 38:58
  Speaker 19: been trying to tiptoe around not actually condemn the perpetrators
• 39:03
  Speaker 19: of any of these terrorist attacks for fear of engaging
• 39:08
  Speaker 19: in some kind of false notion of Islamophobia. And look
• 39:12
  Speaker 19: what we've seen. What we saw in the synagogue attack
• 39:15
  Speaker 19: the other day, with Bishop Mari Emmanuel being stabbed earlier
• 39:19
  Speaker 19: on this year. This is what happens when you have
• 39:22
  Speaker 19: a very liberal, lax immigration policy, when you allow too
• 39:26
  Speaker 19: many people in who aren't willing to accept the values
• 39:30
  Speaker 19: that a liberal democratic society must live under. And this
• 39:33
  Speaker 19: is what's happening in Europe. And when we see in France,
• 39:35
  Speaker 19: which has had a similar kind of lax immigration policy,
• 39:38
  Speaker 19: church is they're attacked on a monthly basis. So this
• 39:41
  Speaker 19: has been imported and now these people are saying, oh,
• 39:44
  Speaker 19: it's being politicized, it's a discretioncial division.
• 39:49
  Speaker 20: Though let's talk about the voice.
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: I just cannot believe she's talked about politicalization and doesn't mention,
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: you know, Anthony ALBERINIZI, I want to talk quickly about
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: poor leadership in an the space, and that's in banking.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: The boss of the Commonwealth Bank, Matt Coman, says he
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: wasn't behind the decision to charge some customers three dollars
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: to withdraw their own funds Kristen. He says he only
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: learned about this decision through the media.
• 40:15
  Speaker 3: He's the boss. Do you believe him?
• 40:17
  Speaker 20: There's only no, I don't believe him. There's only two
• 40:20
  Speaker 20: situations that happened here. The first one is he didn't
• 40:23
  Speaker 20: know which is poor form considering that's your leadership team
• 40:26
  Speaker 20: going out or the head of retail that he's trying
• 40:29
  Speaker 20: to throw under the bus. Is the poor fall guy
• 40:32
  Speaker 20: for something that wasn't very popular in the first place.
• 40:35
  Speaker 20: And if I was a Commonwealth Bank customer, as a libertarian,
• 40:38
  Speaker 20: I believe in freedom of choice and I would choose
• 40:42
  Speaker 20: to banquet someone else.
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Rocco, just really quickly. The Commonwealth Bank of you know,
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: apologized for stress this might have caused to customers. But
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: I mean, when you consider they made a nine point
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: five billion dollar profit last financial year, is is there
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: any reason for them to be charging people to withdraw
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: their own fund And their apology, mind you, was about
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: the way they communicated it. They still intend, as I
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: understand it, to implement this just a little later down
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: the track, once the furor dies down.
• 41:12
  Speaker 3: No, it's not believable.
• 41:13
  Speaker 19: And you're right, I mean, this apology is just pushing
• 41:19
  Speaker 19: the kicking the can down the road. I mean, Matt
• 41:21
  Speaker 19: Coleman has said in the past, he's on the recorder saying, look, oh,
• 41:24
  Speaker 19: to have cash cost us so much, and we want
• 41:28
  Speaker 19: to be able to continue to reduce number of bank
• 41:33
  Speaker 19: branches and reduce the number of ATMs because in twenty
• 41:36
  Speaker 19: nineteen there were forty three percent of transactions using cash,
• 41:39
  Speaker 19: where his last year it was only fifteen percent. This
• 41:42
  Speaker 19: is a deliberate strategy to try and remove cash. And
• 41:45
  Speaker 19: I think it's too cute for him to say he
• 41:46
  Speaker 19: didn't know, And it begs the question, well, what else
• 41:48
  Speaker 19: is going on that the Comworf Bank board is not
• 41:51
  Speaker 19: telling him, because under the law, he's got some serious
• 41:54
  Speaker 19: duties under the Corporations Act to know what's actually going on.
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: You're absolutely right, does beg what else doesn't he know about?
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: Rock O Kristen, thanks for your time. I appreciate you
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: joining me. It seems a funding boost isn't the only
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: thing the ABC is getting. Former nine CEO Hugh Marx
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: has been announced as the new boss of the public broadcaster,
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: but some have raised eyebrows the appointment. Joining me is
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: Verve Communications PRU McSweeney PRU. Marx was the CEO of
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: nine for five years. He left quite abruptly in twenty twenty.
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: Do you think he can make a difference to the ABC?
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm not sure that the ABC's left bias
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: has been fixed by Kim Williams as the chair. What
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: about Hugh Marx from nine? Can he change it?
• 42:41
  Speaker 21: Well, he's supposedly presided over the toxicity at nine, so
• 42:46
  Speaker 21: he should fit in very well with the ABC.
• 42:48
  Speaker 3: James, when you think about how toxic that culture is.
• 42:52
  Speaker 21: The ploy or the thoughts behind his appointment and that
• 42:56
  Speaker 21: of Kim Williams is to bring to commercial and malls
• 43:00
  Speaker 21: to the ABC. But you can imagine they're going to
• 43:03
  Speaker 21: be stepping into a hornet's nest. How the activists of
• 43:08
  Speaker 21: the ABC, the lovies, who just feel that they run
• 43:11
  Speaker 21: the joint and in fact have been running the joint,
• 43:13
  Speaker 21: will accept any changes of these two men will be
• 43:16
  Speaker 21: fascinating to watch. But in the meantime we've got the
• 43:19
  Speaker 21: government who's awarding eighty what eighty three million dollars to
• 43:23
  Speaker 21: the ABC, probably because it's its only supporter.
• 43:27
  Speaker 6: And champion in the media.
• 43:29
  Speaker 13: But what a hide?
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, indeed, and it's one of these things that you know,
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: we keep talking about it, we keep pointing out all
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: the issues, but nothing ever seems to change. I wonder
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: if a coalition get into government, if they'll actually have
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: the courage to do something about it, or if they'll
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: just keep winging as well.
• 43:49
  Speaker 3: I guess we'll watch that space. I hope so too.
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: Hey, I reckon it would be great, Prue, if we
• 43:55
  Speaker 2: could just have one Christmas without fear mongering. But it's
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: not going to be this Christmas, unfortunately, West Australians.
• 44:02
  Speaker 3: Can you believe this?
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: Are being warned to stay home because you guess that
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: there's a new wave of COVID. Seriously, haven't we all
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: learned to live with COVID now? I mean, if you're unwell,
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: then sure you stay home. But who even tests for
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: COVID anymore. I've got a theory, though, Prue, maybe this
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: warning is not actually about COVID at all. Maybe health
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: officials in WA laying the groundwork so they can avoid
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: having to spend Christmas Day with their in laws.
• 44:31
  Speaker 21: Well that's very smart. If they did, I love it. Look,
• 44:36
  Speaker 21: who knows, James. We all know that COVID is still
• 44:40
  Speaker 21: amongst us.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 44:42
  Speaker 21: I went to my mom the other day in a
• 44:44
  Speaker 21: nursing home and one of the floors was COVID closed.
• 44:48
  Speaker 21: It's around. We have to be living with it now.
• 44:51
  Speaker 21: It's like the flu or anything else that we have.
• 44:53
  Speaker 21: There's booster shots if you want to take them, and
• 44:56
  Speaker 21: it's just a part of life now. Unfortunately.
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well exactly, it's just a part of life, which
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: is why I'm curious that health officials in Wa are
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: saying people should consider masking up, that people should consider
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: getting their booster shots. I don't know anyone who's had
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: a booster shot for the longest time. And of course
• 45:16
  Speaker 2: these warnings that you should stay home. Is it almost like,
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: you know, health officials had this idea from a couple
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: of years ago that they'd have regular TV press conferences
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: and they have a profile. Fortunately, we haven't heard from
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: them for a while, but then every now and then
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: they've got to pop back up with these warnings, almost
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: like they've had relevant deprivations in them.
• 45:36
  Speaker 21: I think so well, it seems to be, or maybe
• 45:39
  Speaker 21: they don't want to be accused of being irresponsible, you know,
• 45:42
  Speaker 21: if there is a breakout, who knows. Look, I'm bureaucrats
• 45:48
  Speaker 21: as as sorry as I'm concerned in Australia are a
• 45:51
  Speaker 21: lost cause. You know, they haven't got much credibility as
• 45:55
  Speaker 21: well at all. So you know, I'm not surprised they've
• 45:58
  Speaker 21: come out with this fortunate timing for everyone, and I
• 46:01
  Speaker 21: think everybody will just have an extra few beers and
• 46:04
  Speaker 21: forget about it.
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: I think you're right, hey, Just moving on to the US,
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: the left are still out to get Donald Trump. A
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: New York judge has ruled against a bid by Trump
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: to have his conviction for covering up hush money payments
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: to porn Stormy Daniels thrown out on immunity grounds. So
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: it means Trump could be the first president to enter
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: the White House on January twenty with a felony conviction.
• 46:32
  Speaker 3: But I want to ask you this, proue.
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: Joe Biden's been handing out pardons like confetti right.
• 46:37
  Speaker 3: To all sorts of people. Would it be amazing thing.
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: If Joe Biden pardoned Donald Trump in a show of
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: unity to bring the country together.
• 46:46
  Speaker 3: What do you think.
• 46:47
  Speaker 6: I think it's a great idea.
• 46:48
  Speaker 21: I was actually thinking it myself, and in fact, I
• 46:52
  Speaker 21: thought they got on so well during their little knees
• 46:54
  Speaker 21: up together that probably Trump will now give him a
• 46:57
  Speaker 21: call as long as Biden remembers who he is. But
• 47:00
  Speaker 21: when you think about all the things that Biden has
• 47:03
  Speaker 21: got away with and his family has got away with,
• 47:06
  Speaker 21: it's just astounding that Trump is facing this. It's not
• 47:10
  Speaker 21: really I know his lawyers have said it could affect
• 47:12
  Speaker 21: his ability to govern, but it's not a nice thing
• 47:15
  Speaker 21: to have that conviction against you. But in the long term,
• 47:18
  Speaker 21: I don't think Trump will cared too much about it.
• 47:22
  Speaker 21: And what he's one been awarded millions in these recent
• 47:26
  Speaker 21: cases against him, so the money is not the issue.
• 47:30
  Speaker 21: Of course, it's his ego that will be bruised. But yeah,
• 47:34
  Speaker 21: a nice idea. Maybe Trump can talk I mean, he's
• 47:37
  Speaker 21: a broker, isn't he. Maybe he can talk Biden into
• 47:40
  Speaker 21: giving him that immunity and allow him to pardon.
• 47:47
  Speaker 2: Hey, real quick, have I look at this clip from
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: Justin Trudeau just the other day saying he's a feminist.
• 47:51
  Speaker 3: Have a look at this.
• 47:53
  Speaker 10: It shouldn't be that way. It wasn't supposed to be
• 47:56
  Speaker 10: that way. We were supposed to be on a steady,
• 47:59
  Speaker 10: if difficult, sometimes march towards progress. And yeah, just a
• 48:05
  Speaker 10: few weeks ago, the United States voted for a second
• 48:08
  Speaker 10: time to not elect its first woman president. Everywhere, women's
• 48:14
  Speaker 10: rates and women's progress is under attack, overtly and subtlely.
• 48:20
  Speaker 10: But I want you to know that I am and
• 48:22
  Speaker 10: I always will be a proud feminist. You will always
• 48:26
  Speaker 10: have an ally in me and in my government.
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: True, really quickly, there's now suggestions that Trudeau might need
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: to resign.
• 48:33
  Speaker 3: Will anybody miss this guy?
• 48:36
  Speaker 16: No?
• 48:36
  Speaker 21: I mean, look, he could be a blackface to a feminist.
• 48:39
  Speaker 21: Maybe that's the best thing he can do to win
• 48:41
  Speaker 21: some popularity. I mean, the bloke's a joke. He should resign,
• 48:44
  Speaker 21: and I'm sure he's going to. He's done the go.
• 48:47
  Speaker 3: Work, Go broke.
• 48:49
  Speaker 6: A philosopher there.
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: I think you're absolutely right through here, absolutely right. Well,
• 48:54
  Speaker 2: that's all I've got time for. Thanks Prue for joining me.
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: I'll be back tomorrow night, but stick around. Coming up
• 49:00
  Speaker 2: now is the Late Debate with Liz Storer, Joe Hildebrand
• 49:03
  Speaker 2: and Gabrielle Power.