Latest / The Bolt Report / The Bolt Report | 26 June

Transcript

The Bolt Report | 26 June · The Bolt Report

0:11
Speaker 1: He's the report.
0:15
Speaker 2: Good evening, I'm calib Bond, Big Show tonight. Here's what's
0:18
Speaker 2: coming up. Julian Assange is expected to touch down in
0:21
Speaker 2: Canberra in the next thirty minutes.
0:23
Speaker 3: We'll bring that to you live as it happens.
0:25
Speaker 2: Plus, South Australia's most notorious bank robber dies by euthanasia.
0:29
Speaker 3: Just dies a.
0:30
Speaker 2: Day sorry after he was sentenced for his decade long
0:33
Speaker 2: crime spree. And outrageous. Kids at a state run primary
0:37
Speaker 2: school are taught to sing an alternative national anthem.
0:40
Speaker 3: We'll play it for you a little bit later.
0:42
Speaker 2: But first, today was a bad day for the Albanesi government.
0:46
Speaker 2: Those new inflation numbers four percent for May creates so
0:50
Speaker 2: many headaches. Now, Yes, monthly inflation figures are more volatile
0:55
Speaker 2: and less reliable than quarterly numbers, and quarterly is what
0:58
Speaker 2: the Reserve Bank looks at when it decides whether or
1:01
Speaker 2: not to fiddle with interest rates. But Reserve Bank Governor
1:04
Speaker 2: Michelle Bullock has already flagged that another interest rate rise
1:08
Speaker 2: is a possibility, and the Prime Minister desperately wants that
1:12
Speaker 2: to not happen. All his fingers, all his toes, they're
1:17
Speaker 2: all crossed across very tightly because an interest rate rise
1:21
Speaker 2: would kill the one thing he could possibly take to
1:24
Speaker 2: an election as an achievement. Now, I was saying towards
1:27
Speaker 2: the end of last year that as soon as there's
1:29
Speaker 2: an interest rate reduction, Anthony Albanezi will call an early
1:33
Speaker 2: election and it'll be an eighty seven style campaign when
1:37
Speaker 2: Hawk and Keating ran with the slogan of.
1:39
Speaker 3: Let's stick together, let's see it through.
1:43
Speaker 1: We're going to keep on.
1:46
Speaker 3: To that break Australian.
1:49
Speaker 4: Nobody ever gone anywhere changing horses and stream together.
2:01
Speaker 2: Together. I know I've said this before, but why do
2:08
Speaker 2: we get political campaigns and jingles like that anymore? In
2:11
Speaker 2: any case, Albanezi would have gone out and said, look,
2:14
Speaker 2: we've been through tough times, but we're starting to get
2:17
Speaker 2: to the other side of it. Here's the interest rate
2:20
Speaker 2: drop to prove it. You've helped us get half the
2:22
Speaker 2: work done and now we need you to let us
2:25
Speaker 2: finish the job. But an interest rate reduction is now
2:28
Speaker 2: highly unlikely and the money market to tipping a potential
2:31
Speaker 2: rise in the next few months, which puts the government
2:34
Speaker 2: in a hell of a pickle without something to prove
2:37
Speaker 2: that they have the economy under control and that's what
2:40
Speaker 2: falling inflation with an interest rate reduction would be. They
2:44
Speaker 2: have precious little else to hold up as an achievement.
2:47
Speaker 2: I mean, try to think of one big thing this
2:50
Speaker 2: government has actually achieved. The Voice fail, Immigration detainees fail,
2:56
Speaker 2: Section ninety nine fail, Stage three, tax cut, changed energy, Well,
3:02
Speaker 2: now they're farting against nuclear, which the majority of the
3:05
Speaker 2: country supports. There's not one big policy you could say
3:09
Speaker 2: that this government has delivered. I mean, they're great white
3:13
Speaker 2: hope was the Voice. The PM stated all of his
3:17
Speaker 2: political capital on that, because he wanted to go down
3:20
Speaker 2: in the history books as some sort of great Whitlamesque reformer.
3:24
Speaker 2: And while the massive failure of the Voice mightn't have
3:27
Speaker 2: killed him politically, it certainly robbed him of what would
3:30
Speaker 2: have otherwise been the hallmark of his Prime ministership. And
3:34
Speaker 2: albert Is he spent so much time talking about the
3:37
Speaker 2: Voice and not talking about cost of living that he
3:40
Speaker 2: turned people off the Voice, and then when he turned
3:42
Speaker 2: his attention to the cost of living, it was too
3:44
Speaker 2: late to be able to point to any great economic successes.
3:48
Speaker 2: The whole purpose of this year's federal budget was to
3:51
Speaker 2: drive down inflation in the hopes of an interest rate
3:54
Speaker 2: reduction by the next election. The three hundred dollars power
3:58
Speaker 2: bill rebate. I mean, that's just a peace of economic
4:00
Speaker 2: slide of hand that's designed to reduce headline inflation because
4:04
Speaker 2: on paper it means that power bills are lower, but
4:08
Speaker 2: there are no indicators that things are actually getting that
4:12
Speaker 2: much better. Data from Westpac yesterday showed that people are
4:16
Speaker 2: slightly less pessimistic about the economy than they were, but
4:20
Speaker 2: half of us expect that interest rates will rise in
4:23
Speaker 2: the next year, and we're more uneasy about the economy
4:26
Speaker 2: over the next year. With confidence in the economic artlook
4:29
Speaker 2: over the next twelve months at the lowest level it's
4:32
Speaker 2: been since October, it's going backwards now, Benez he needs something, anything,
4:38
Speaker 2: to show that he hasn't just been asleep at the
4:40
Speaker 2: wheel the whole time. But the problem is that he has,
4:44
Speaker 2: and he could be about to lose the one small
4:46
Speaker 2: win to which he could have pointed.
4:52
Speaker 3: Now.
4:52
Speaker 2: Look, I thought today about saying that this bizarre you
4:55
Speaker 2: get your vapes from the pharmacy idea was going up
4:58
Speaker 2: in smoke, but I thought that was perhaps litle bit obvious. Well,
5:00
Speaker 2: I suppose I just said it now anyway, haven't I
5:03
Speaker 2: But it is in a bit of trouble because at
5:05
Speaker 2: least one big chemist chain is going to refuse to
5:09
Speaker 2: sell them without a prescription. Blooms The Chemist, which has
5:12
Speaker 2: one hundred and fifteen stores across the country, has written
5:15
Speaker 2: to its managers to say Nope, not happening now. This
5:18
Speaker 2: is from the letter by the chief executive, Emmanuel Vavulus.
5:22
Speaker 2: He wrote, vapes are potentially harmful products and they currently
5:26
Speaker 2: do not have TGA approval for sale. The addictive nature
5:29
Speaker 2: of nicotine in vapes can lead to the continuation of
5:32
Speaker 2: vaping rather than solving the addiction problem, blooms the Chemist's
5:36
Speaker 2: Support Office, the BSO, as he calls it feels very
5:40
Speaker 2: strongly that it would be unethical for a retail health
5:43
Speaker 2: brand like ours to do business with a tobacco company
5:47
Speaker 2: for all the reasons outlined above. The BSO team will
5:50
Speaker 2: not be negotiating any deals on vaping products on behalf
5:54
Speaker 2: of the store network. No vapes, it blooms the Chemist. Now,
5:58
Speaker 2: I'm not going to get into the mirror of vaping
6:00
Speaker 2: or not. I believe it's much better for you than smoking.
6:04
Speaker 2: But now that one has said that, we're not going
6:07
Speaker 2: to stock them. You'd be surprised if others didn't follow.
6:10
Speaker 2: I mean, they're pharmacies, they've never been tobacconists, and I
6:13
Speaker 2: can understand why they wouldn't particularly want to start.
6:16
Speaker 3: The whole idea is absurd.
6:18
Speaker 2: I mean you'll have to go and say, please, mister pharmacist,
6:21
Speaker 2: I want to vape, and then he'll give you a
6:23
Speaker 2: lecture about how it's bad for you and you're a
6:25
Speaker 2: leper and all this sort of business, and then you'll
6:27
Speaker 2: hand over the vape and away you'll go.
6:30
Speaker 3: But you can still trundle on down to.
6:31
Speaker 2: Your local Woolies or Coals or IgA or wherever you
6:35
Speaker 2: get your cigarettes and buy a packet of fags with
6:37
Speaker 2: more ease than you can buy a different nicotine product
6:41
Speaker 2: that is, on all available evidence, safer than smoking. You
6:45
Speaker 2: won't be copying a lecture from the checkout check So
6:48
Speaker 2: what's the point. Vapes are meant to be banned, But
6:51
Speaker 2: you can still walk into almost any tobacconist store convenience
6:54
Speaker 2: store in the country right now and get your hands
6:57
Speaker 2: on one. What are they going to cost at the farmer?
7:00
Speaker 2: If they're more expensive than the illegal ones, then people
7:04
Speaker 2: will keep going to the local shop and they won't
7:06
Speaker 2: get a lecture there either. People smoke people vape. Nicotine
7:11
Speaker 2: is a legal product. All the federal government has done
7:14
Speaker 2: to this point is fuel organized crime by jacking up
7:17
Speaker 2: the tobacco excise up to Kingdom Come and refusing to
7:21
Speaker 2: allow a legal, taxed, regulated vape market, which is of
7:25
Speaker 2: course driven people to illegal products. So in the name
7:28
Speaker 2: of health, we've had tobacconists, fire bond people murdered, women raped,
7:34
Speaker 2: all the other things that organize crime. GAG's fund and
7:36
Speaker 2: get involved with because they're selling these illegal vapes. But
7:40
Speaker 2: we're going to put them in the pharmacies, except that
7:43
Speaker 2: the pharmacies don't want them and some of them are
7:45
Speaker 2: not going to sell them.
7:47
Speaker 3: You couldn't make this stuff up.
7:52
Speaker 2: Let's bring in the panel now, former New South Wales
7:55
Speaker 2: Labour Treasurer Michael Costa and Liberal MP Garth Hamilton.
7:59
Speaker 3: Gentlemen. Juliana Sanje is.
8:01
Speaker 2: Landing very soon in Canberra. Will be taking those live
8:05
Speaker 2: pictures when they come in. Michael, what have you made
8:07
Speaker 2: of his release?
8:09
Speaker 5: Look, I just want this saga over with, you know,
8:13
Speaker 5: and I'm really dreading what comes next. That is that
8:15
Speaker 5: the Left turns this guy into a hero. Look, I'm
8:18
Speaker 5: all for free speech, but we've got to be objective here.
8:21
Speaker 5: The way he released the documents that he released through
8:25
Speaker 5: wicked leagues, you know, did put people in danger. And
8:28
Speaker 5: free speech has to come with responsibility and I don't
8:31
Speaker 5: think he showed any responsibility. But let's wait and see.
8:35
Speaker 5: The Left will make him a hero. She'll probably be
8:37
Speaker 5: at one of those writers' festivals after he's written his
8:39
Speaker 5: book about what a great guy he is. And you know,
8:43
Speaker 5: I wouldn't be surprised they try and give him an
8:45
Speaker 5: Order of Australia. Certainly they'll give him some professorship at
8:49
Speaker 5: some university on communications. You can see it all coming.
8:55
Speaker 2: As I said last night, Gath, my view has softened
8:57
Speaker 2: a bit on a sange. You know, I used to
8:59
Speaker 2: be full bottle that he was the bad guy, et cetera.
9:02
Speaker 2: C I've come to the conclusion now that he's done
9:05
Speaker 2: his time, i just want this over with. I'm a
9:09
Speaker 2: bit sick of it, to be perfectly honest, But do
9:11
Speaker 2: you think that the government deserves any sort of plaudits
9:15
Speaker 2: for some diplomatic work here to get an Australian citizen
9:19
Speaker 2: who was charged in a foreign country back into Australia.
9:25
Speaker 6: Look, I probably share your view. I'm finding it very
9:28
Speaker 6: hard to find a clear line of sight on the
9:31
Speaker 6: public's view on this. I think most of us do
9:33
Speaker 6: just want it over. In terms of the government's response,
9:37
Speaker 6: I'm not sure that every Australian who is faced with
9:41
Speaker 6: a crime or who admits to a crime, as is
9:43
Speaker 6: the case here, will receive the same level of high
9:46
Speaker 6: profile support and diplomatic support. I'd like to think they would,
9:51
Speaker 6: but I guess we can wait and see on that one.
9:54
Speaker 6: I agree very much with Michael's position, though I think
9:56
Speaker 6: making this into a case of a hero will be
10:00
Speaker 6: wrong way to go.
10:01
Speaker 3: Now.
10:02
Speaker 2: Last night, of course, we saw Labor Senator Fatima Payment.
10:05
Speaker 2: She did something that no other federal Labor politician has
10:08
Speaker 2: done in more than eighteen years by defying her party
10:11
Speaker 2: and crossing the floor to vote in favor of the
10:14
Speaker 2: Greens motion to formally recognize Palestine as its own state. Now,
10:18
Speaker 2: normally if you did something like that in the Labor Party,
10:21
Speaker 2: you'd have a suspension that at least be some kind
10:25
Speaker 2: of punishment, and a number of Payment's colleagues told The
10:28
Speaker 2: Australian that they hoped the Prime Minister Anthony Albanezi would
10:31
Speaker 2: initiate a move to expel her, but instead of doing that,
10:35
Speaker 2: this is what deputy his deputy Richard Marles told us
10:38
Speaker 2: this morning.
10:40
Speaker 4: To be at this moment suggesting that we're going to
10:43
Speaker 4: expel people for a particular view would be doing precisely
10:47
Speaker 4: the opposite. And ultimately, fatam a Payment is a person
10:50
Speaker 4: who's making a real contribution in the Senate on behalf
10:54
Speaker 4: of the Australian Labor Party. She wants to continue to
10:56
Speaker 4: do that and she.
10:58
Speaker 2: Will now look to be entirely fair that the PM
11:02
Speaker 2: isn't letting it slide entirely, but he's giving her a
11:05
Speaker 2: measly punishment.
11:06
Speaker 7: Ever listened, I met with with Senator Payment earlier today.
11:12
Speaker 5: She will not be attending.
11:13
Speaker 8: The Labor Caucus for the rest of this session.
11:18
Speaker 2: Now, Michael, of course you are a former Treasurer and
11:21
Speaker 2: different rules of play. If you're on the front bench,
11:23
Speaker 2: you just can't disagree with the government at all. But
11:26
Speaker 2: as a labor man, do you think Payment ought to
11:30
Speaker 2: have received a stronger punishment than that.
11:34
Speaker 5: I think Governess looks weak on this issue and people
11:38
Speaker 5: are going to ask the question whether he's weak because
11:40
Speaker 5: he shares some of those very opinions that she's expressing.
11:44
Speaker 5: That's the problem he faces in terms of payment. She
11:47
Speaker 5: should be expelled. I mean, remember, this is not the
11:50
Speaker 5: first time she's gone out and broken with policy. She
11:54
Speaker 5: made those comments supporting the slogan from the River to
11:58
Speaker 5: the Sea, which is every body understands what that means.
12:01
Speaker 5: It means the elimination of the state of Israel. And
12:05
Speaker 5: she is now being given a very mild slap on
12:08
Speaker 5: the hand. I think she should do the right thing herself, resign,
12:12
Speaker 5: join the Greens and express those silly views. I can
12:15
Speaker 5: just wonder what would happen if a Labor person came
12:18
Speaker 5: out and said, and this is becoming more and more
12:20
Speaker 5: a position in Israel, of course, that there can never
12:23
Speaker 5: be a two state solution because of the attitude of
12:27
Speaker 5: the Palestinians. Now, if somebody came out in the Labor
12:30
Speaker 5: party and said, look, I don't support this to state
12:32
Speaker 5: solution because Israeli is now believe it's impossible to maintain
12:35
Speaker 5: this security, I think they'd be spelled immediately. And this
12:39
Speaker 5: is what worries me about this. It shares a very
12:41
Speaker 5: weak prime minister and a very weak response, and Richard
12:44
Speaker 5: Miles's position there is just pathetic.
12:46
Speaker 3: I think this is the thing Garth.
12:48
Speaker 2: If it was any other issue, Labor would go harder
12:51
Speaker 2: on it. But they're worried not only about what it
12:55
Speaker 2: would look like if they say to a Muslim senity,
12:58
Speaker 2: you know you can't have that opinion. They're worried about
13:01
Speaker 2: other electorates, not in Western Australia. I'm thinking more about
13:05
Speaker 2: Western Sydney that have significant Muslim populations that are currently
13:10
Speaker 2: Labor seats and they don't want to pee those voters off.
13:14
Speaker 2: And so if they say to a Labor senator who's
13:17
Speaker 2: spoken out for Palestine, hang on across the floor, you
13:19
Speaker 2: can't do that. We're going to expel you, at least
13:22
Speaker 2: to kick you out of the party room. It sends
13:25
Speaker 2: a message that puts Labor in a very difficult position.
13:29
Speaker 3: So what do they actually believe?
13:33
Speaker 1: Well, who knows.
13:33
Speaker 6: And this is the result of the Prime Minister trying
13:36
Speaker 6: to play both sides of this debate all the way through.
13:38
Speaker 6: He has been very, very weak on this issue, and
13:42
Speaker 6: he's told one group of people one thing and told
13:44
Speaker 6: another group of people another.
13:46
Speaker 1: And now he's being caught out and he's got a.
13:48
Speaker 6: Senator who I disagree completely with the views, but at
13:51
Speaker 6: least she's being honest. I know that there are a
13:53
Speaker 6: lot of other people in the Labor Party who hold
13:55
Speaker 6: a very similar view. We don't quite know exactly what
13:57
Speaker 6: the Prime minister's view is. He's trying to change that,
14:00
Speaker 6: rewrite history now and claim that he held a forthright
14:03
Speaker 6: position all the way through.
14:04
Speaker 3: He absolutely did not.
14:06
Speaker 6: The social division that we've seen across Australia as a
14:08
Speaker 6: result of that has been very hurtful, particularly to Jewish Australians,
14:14
Speaker 6: but to the greater Australian populist. I think we're just
14:17
Speaker 6: so troubled in our hearts to see this sort of division.
14:20
Speaker 6: But you know what, he's seeing that division now come
14:22
Speaker 6: back in his own party. It's been a long time
14:24
Speaker 6: you've sent that since we've seen that in the Labor Party,
14:27
Speaker 6: and it is this issue that is pulling them apart,
14:30
Speaker 6: purely because the Prime Minister would not stand up and
14:33
Speaker 6: do the right thing and support Israel right from the
14:35
Speaker 6: get go.
14:36
Speaker 2: And I've said before I think on Charry's program that
14:40
Speaker 2: when it comes to this war, the Prime Minister's had
14:42
Speaker 2: more flip flops than Bondai Beach.
14:44
Speaker 3: And it's another example of that.
14:47
Speaker 2: You know, on one hand, he came on the documentary
14:51
Speaker 2: here on scar News that Josh Fardenberg did about anti Semitism,
14:54
Speaker 2: said all the right things, and if you'd watch that,
14:56
Speaker 2: he would have come away thinking, Oh, yeah, the PM's
14:58
Speaker 2: all gung ho about how bad anti Semitism is, and
15:01
Speaker 2: then he goes off and says a completely different thing
15:03
Speaker 2: or does a completely different thing when it comes to
15:06
Speaker 2: something like this, he's sitting so heavily on the fence
15:09
Speaker 2: because he's worried about those Western suburb seats. Now I
15:13
Speaker 2: talked about this at the top of the show, but
15:14
Speaker 2: the inflation figures for May were released today, so it's
15:18
Speaker 2: now risen to four percent on the monthly figures. That's
15:23
Speaker 2: up from three point six percent which we saw in April.
15:26
Speaker 2: So it makes it now the second consecutive month on
15:29
Speaker 2: month inflation increase. So the discussion now is going to
15:33
Speaker 2: turn to whether or not the Reserve Bank will hike
15:35
Speaker 2: interest rates at its next board meeting in August. I
15:38
Speaker 2: mean I said before if that happens, it will be
15:41
Speaker 2: disastrous Michael for the government because they really need interest
15:45
Speaker 2: rates to come down before they go to the next election.
15:48
Speaker 2: But as a former treasurer, what do you think the
15:50
Speaker 2: state of play is now?
15:52
Speaker 5: Well, I'd be waiting for the quarterly figures, but I
15:55
Speaker 5: think it's very grim for the government. And as I
15:58
Speaker 5: said at the time of the budget, I think that
16:00
Speaker 5: the budget was flawed in its strategy. You've got to remember,
16:04
Speaker 5: we're putting in another forty billion dollars worth of demand
16:07
Speaker 5: that's at the federal level with the tax cuts included
16:10
Speaker 5: at the end of the month, and that's going to
16:12
Speaker 5: feed right into the demand pressures at a time when
16:15
Speaker 5: the economy may be slowing, but demand in the economy
16:18
Speaker 5: won't be slowing. And then you've got all of the
16:20
Speaker 5: states that are running budget deficits, the significant ones, and
16:24
Speaker 5: capital programs that are ridiculously unfunded. So I think they're
16:29
Speaker 5: a real difficult position, and I agree if there is
16:33
Speaker 5: another interest rate rise, I think this government's future looks
16:37
Speaker 5: extremely grim. I would predict that if there's another one,
16:42
Speaker 5: there's likely to be a following one as well, because
16:45
Speaker 5: that clearly would show that they are concerned and you
16:49
Speaker 5: don't see any mitigation in the short term with all
16:52
Speaker 5: of those funds going in at state and federal level.
16:55
Speaker 5: So you know, the budget strategy was flawed. Charmers is
16:59
Speaker 5: full of and you know, hubris about where the economy
17:04
Speaker 5: is going. And I think all the chickens are going
17:06
Speaker 5: to come in the roost.
17:07
Speaker 2: Well, and this is the thing, Garth, I mean, that
17:09
Speaker 2: budget is going to have to do a hell of
17:11
Speaker 2: a lot of heavy lifting if it is to achieve
17:14
Speaker 2: what the government wants it to achieve. And we were
17:16
Speaker 2: warned at the time that it was expansionary and inflationary.
17:19
Speaker 2: You know, you hand money around, and sure you don't
17:22
Speaker 2: put it in their hands, but like the three hundred
17:23
Speaker 2: dollars off your paid bill or your power bill. Right,
17:26
Speaker 2: sure it's not three hundred bucks the government's given to you,
17:29
Speaker 2: but it's three hundred bucks that you otherwise would have
17:32
Speaker 2: had to spend. So it is in effect three hundred
17:35
Speaker 2: dollars in your hand that you go and spend somewhere.
17:37
Speaker 3: Else, and that causes inflation.
17:41
Speaker 6: Look, I'm always reminded of the exquisite simplicity of economics,
17:45
Speaker 6: and you know, some things can't be avoided. You're putting
17:49
Speaker 6: more money into the inflationary times. More government spending in
17:52
Speaker 6: this period was always going to drive inflation harder. We'd
17:56
Speaker 6: three hundred and fifty billion dollars of additional spending since
17:58
Speaker 6: this government came to power. Gym likes to talk about
18:00
Speaker 6: himself as in terms of being a student of Keating.
18:03
Speaker 6: Keating reduced government spending as a percentage of GDP three
18:07
Speaker 6: budgets in a row. A Gym's increased it. He's done
18:10
Speaker 6: the complete opposite. So any claims to economic credibility has
18:14
Speaker 6: a wash now. But I would point out there's a
18:17
Speaker 6: treasure who only a couple of weeks ago stood with
18:19
Speaker 6: a straight face and told the Australian people that his
18:21
Speaker 6: budget was perfectly calibrated to deal with the issues of
18:24
Speaker 6: the day, perfectly calibrated. Looking back now, the hubris, the arrogance,
18:29
Speaker 6: and just how out of touch he is with that
18:32
Speaker 6: simple basic economics. It really is troubling looking into Australia's
18:36
Speaker 6: future and seeing that you know, we've got the bond
18:39
Speaker 6: markets predicting you're betting on an his straight rise within
18:42
Speaker 6: the next year.
18:43
Speaker 1: Yep.
18:44
Speaker 2: You know, we thought it was bad enough. I think
18:46
Speaker 2: there's a lot more damage to come. We've we've run
18:48
Speaker 2: out of time, gen So I wanted to get to
18:49
Speaker 2: the gg's pay rise because of course the Coalition today
18:53
Speaker 2: said they will support it, which I think is a
18:54
Speaker 2: bit ridiculous, but we'll leave that to one side. Michael Costa,
18:57
Speaker 2: Garth Hamilton, thank you so much for you and well
19:00
Speaker 2: coming up, we'll bring you live pictures as Julian Nossange
19:04
Speaker 2: lands in Canberra. You can see a little bit there.
19:06
Speaker 2: We'll have more for you after this. Now Julian Losange
19:13
Speaker 2: is just about to land. We will bring you those
19:15
Speaker 2: pictures when they come through and you can.
19:18
Speaker 3: See the airport there.
19:20
Speaker 2: It is literally just minutes away, but very quickly before that.
19:23
Speaker 2: You may have heard the story about Callide power station
19:26
Speaker 2: in Queensland this week which caused an explosion. There was
19:29
Speaker 2: a failure caused an explosion three years ago cut off
19:32
Speaker 2: electricity to five hundred thousand homes. It's run by a
19:36
Speaker 2: Queensland government agency. They commissioned a report into what went
19:39
Speaker 2: wrong and it came back and essentially said that there
19:43
Speaker 2: were safety issues and there were cost reductions being driven
19:47
Speaker 2: by the state government that led to this explosion that
19:51
Speaker 2: then caused the biggest blackout in Queensland in decades. Joining
19:55
Speaker 2: me now is Keith Pitt National Zimp and former Resources
19:59
Speaker 2: Minister Keith. The state government doesn't seem to think they
20:02
Speaker 2: had anything to do with this though.
20:05
Speaker 7: Oh they've said for years there's nothing to see here.
20:07
Speaker 7: It's not their fault. I mean, what a debarkle. Five
20:11
Speaker 7: hundred thousand people lost their electricity supply as a result
20:15
Speaker 7: of under investment and lack of technical knowledge, according to
20:19
Speaker 7: the allegations that have been reported and the media reports
20:22
Speaker 7: from the technical expert. So effectively, what they've said is
20:25
Speaker 7: someone's put a battery charger on that didn't work. And
20:28
Speaker 7: one of the most critical systems in a power station
20:31
Speaker 7: is your protection system and the backup that makes it work.
20:34
Speaker 7: And if I was a betting man, I'd say, what's
20:35
Speaker 7: happened is they're not charged, they didn't function, They've had
20:39
Speaker 7: a fault. The generator has turned into a motor, had
20:42
Speaker 7: a huge drawer on the network, none of the protection
20:45
Speaker 7: systems went out at overheated and went bank And now
20:48
Speaker 7: you've got Mick de Brennie, the Queensland Labor Minister, saying
20:50
Speaker 7: it's not his fault, he's not responsible.
20:52
Speaker 1: And guess what the solution is, kayleb.
20:54
Speaker 7: Everyone gets a thousand dollars so the market shortened by
20:57
Speaker 7: four or five hundred megawatts, But you'll get a thousand
21:00
Speaker 7: dollars if your own money back to help subsidize the
21:02
Speaker 7: ginormous increase in electricity because this system's not online.
21:05
Speaker 2: I wish they'd given us one thousand dollars when the
21:07
Speaker 2: power went out down in South Australia, remember that the
21:09
Speaker 2: whole state went out. But surely which time, Surely, surely
21:14
Speaker 2: Debrini ort to go. I mean, how can you stand
21:16
Speaker 2: there as Energy minister with this report that essentially sees
21:21
Speaker 2: a government run agency failed badly here and there were
21:25
Speaker 2: calls from the state government to cut costs that led
21:27
Speaker 2: to all of this.
21:28
Speaker 3: How can he remain in his job?
21:31
Speaker 7: Well, it's even worse than that. Can you imagine if
21:33
Speaker 7: someone was injured, someone could have been killed. I mean
21:36
Speaker 7: there were literally tons of equipment flying around twenty and
21:39
Speaker 7: thirty meters in the air from the explosion and Quaisland
21:42
Speaker 7: as industrial manslaughter of legislation that the board, the CEO
21:46
Speaker 7: and the other number of individuals could have been fronting
21:48
Speaker 7: up for criminal charges. And if this is the direction
21:51
Speaker 7: from the state government, because you know, they think coal's
21:54
Speaker 7: not necessary, so run down that asset, that we own.
21:57
Speaker 7: It's also a joint venture with someone else, So now
22:00
Speaker 7: the taxpayer will probably have to front up with some
22:02
Speaker 7: sort of compensation.
22:03
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about it.
22:04
Speaker 7: Make should get the FLICK and the labor government they
22:07
Speaker 7: should hang their heads in shame for what's happened here.
22:09
Speaker 7: It's cost a fortune, it will cost even more and
22:12
Speaker 7: there could have been an even worse outcome.
22:14
Speaker 2: Well, while we're talking about coal and those sorts of things,
22:16
Speaker 2: the Energy Market Operator has come out again and they've
22:19
Speaker 2: said this a few times now, but they've come out
22:21
Speaker 2: again and reiterated exactly how big of a challenge it
22:25
Speaker 2: is to transition away from coal. They're warning again that
22:29
Speaker 2: we'll have to put a rocket under our renewable roll
22:32
Speaker 2: out if we're going to hit net zero by twenty fifty,
22:35
Speaker 2: and if we're going to have enough power online to
22:38
Speaker 2: keep powering the country when all the coal goes offline.
22:41
Speaker 2: It's just not moving fast enough. We know that, but
22:45
Speaker 2: the government seems intent on continuing down the same line
22:49
Speaker 2: it is. I mean, the result we are going to
22:51
Speaker 2: get is blackouts, there's no doubt about it.
22:55
Speaker 7: And you've also got a shortfall and gas supply in
22:58
Speaker 7: Victoria right now. That'll impacts and the ability to cover
23:02
Speaker 7: because there's no wind and there's no sun and what
23:04
Speaker 7: do they expect is going to happen here? So the solution,
23:07
Speaker 7: according to Federal Labor, is to speed up the roll
23:10
Speaker 7: out of what's causing the problem. You can't run this
23:13
Speaker 7: country on part time power. It has already caused a
23:16
Speaker 7: massive increase in the price of electricity for everyday consumers.
23:20
Speaker 1: They just can't afford it.
23:21
Speaker 7: And what's the environmental outcome, Well, you'll get millions of
23:24
Speaker 7: hectares of the Australian countryside cleared and leveled to cover
23:27
Speaker 7: with the black tarmac of solar panels and thousands of
23:31
Speaker 7: wind turbines which last twenty years, and they're plowing through
23:34
Speaker 7: pristine forests and Koala habitat literally. But apparently that's okay
23:38
Speaker 7: because they're saving the planet from something where China increases
23:41
Speaker 7: their emissions in one year by more than Australia's entire contribution.
23:46
Speaker 1: And guess what Adam Baht made It actually a very.
23:48
Speaker 7: Good point today, and that is that emissions under this
23:51
Speaker 7: Labor government have increased.
23:53
Speaker 1: The coalition they went down under Labor, they've gone up.
23:57
Speaker 2: This is amazing what can happen under a labor government.
23:59
Speaker 3: Isn't it?
23:59
Speaker 2: And you talk about gas there and this is the
24:03
Speaker 2: absurd thing about it. So they've got a gas shortage
24:05
Speaker 2: in Victoria. But of all the gas we produce in
24:09
Speaker 2: this country, I think we keep about two percent of
24:12
Speaker 2: it or something for ourselves and we export the rest
24:15
Speaker 2: of it. I don't know why we are not using
24:18
Speaker 2: this stuff, because even the federal government acknowledges that a
24:22
Speaker 2: major plank of being able to transition to renewable energy
24:26
Speaker 2: is the.
24:26
Speaker 3: Use of gas.
24:27
Speaker 2: Gas is unquestionably better for the environment than coal is.
24:32
Speaker 2: But no one is using what we have here as
24:35
Speaker 2: an abundant natural resource.
24:38
Speaker 7: And the other problem, Tanya Plemsx just approved project for
24:42
Speaker 7: Senex which I think is about sixty pj's. That's a
24:44
Speaker 7: lot of gas, but it's in Queensland where all the
24:46
Speaker 7: other gas is, and what you needed is in Victoria.
24:49
Speaker 7: And the reason they don't have it is because they've
24:50
Speaker 7: had a moratorium on exploration. There is heaps of gas
24:54
Speaker 7: onshore in Victoria. There's even some more in the bas
24:56
Speaker 7: straight if you want to develop it, but you can't
24:58
Speaker 7: take gas from Queensland and deliver it to the middle
25:01
Speaker 7: of Melbourne and have it been the same price as
25:03
Speaker 7: if it was produced one hundred kilometers away.
25:06
Speaker 1: It is just a nonsense proposition.
25:08
Speaker 7: We should use Australia's resources for the benefit of the
25:10
Speaker 7: Australian people. But you've got federal labor governments, state labor
25:13
Speaker 7: governments who were driven by ideology and not reality, and
25:16
Speaker 7: the result will be blackouts and higher power prices. And
25:20
Speaker 7: Chris Beyond had half a shot at me in Question
25:22
Speaker 7: Time today. I think I must be right up his
25:24
Speaker 7: nose and that's.
25:25
Speaker 1: A good thing.
25:26
Speaker 2: Now for those who are watching the pictures in the
25:29
Speaker 2: corner of the screen there wondering where Juliana sangis. I've
25:33
Speaker 2: just been having a look at the flight tracker here
25:37
Speaker 2: and they've actually overshot Canberra by a little bit. But
25:41
Speaker 2: unfortunately there seemed to be coming back. I thought maybe
25:43
Speaker 2: he realized that he had to land in Canberra and
25:45
Speaker 2: he thought bag of that. I'm not doing that. But
25:46
Speaker 2: they are turning around, so we'll have the pictures of
25:49
Speaker 2: him coming in for you very soon. Keith, I couldn't
25:53
Speaker 2: believe this's I read a story in The Guardian today
25:55
Speaker 2: by their political editor Karen Middleton, she's suggesting that Peter
25:59
Speaker 2: data and didn't mean to change the coalition's policy on
26:03
Speaker 2: twenty thirty climate targets, but that he actually misspoke during
26:08
Speaker 2: an interview with The Australian and then just decided he'd
26:12
Speaker 2: go along with it anyway.
26:13
Speaker 3: What do you make of that.
26:16
Speaker 7: Well, Peter made what's called a personal explanation in the
26:18
Speaker 7: Parliament today and he said it's just not factual.
26:22
Speaker 1: So the story's incorrect.
26:23
Speaker 7: But we also voted against Labour's crazy targets. What they've
26:27
Speaker 7: put in place for twenty thirty is completely unachievable. The
26:30
Speaker 7: only way they can get there is they shut down
26:32
Speaker 7: huge ways of industry like the aluminium smelters across the
26:35
Speaker 7: country who are large contributors. And that's a very very
26:39
Speaker 7: bad outcome. That's literally thousands and thousands of jobs. And
26:42
Speaker 7: look at the flip side of this. So they brought
26:44
Speaker 7: in six hundred and fifty thousand additional people in twelve months,
26:48
Speaker 7: and what they won't use electricity, and they won't drive
26:51
Speaker 7: a car and they won't drive up emissions.
26:53
Speaker 1: It is just a nonsense argument.
26:55
Speaker 7: We've got to get back to common sense policies that
26:57
Speaker 7: actually help the Australian.
26:58
Speaker 1: People, not Mike la harder for them.
27:01
Speaker 7: And I can't think of a single person in this
27:02
Speaker 7: country that's better off now than they were under the coalition.
27:05
Speaker 7: And it's the fault of Labour's governments, Labor government policies.
27:08
Speaker 1: Particularly around energy.
27:10
Speaker 7: They will just keep driving the price up and up
27:13
Speaker 7: and up.
27:14
Speaker 3: Keith Pitt, thank you so much for your time.
27:16
Speaker 2: Well. US News Corp journalist Evan Gershkevich faced a closed
27:20
Speaker 2: door trial in Russia for the first time today on
27:22
Speaker 2: espionage chargers, more than a year after the Wall Street
27:25
Speaker 2: Journal correspondent was arrested while on a reporting trip to
27:29
Speaker 2: the Urals. Russian prosecutors are accusing Gershkevich of working for
27:33
Speaker 2: the CIA and collecting secret information about the country's main
27:37
Speaker 2: tank manufacturer. These claims, of course, have been denied by
27:41
Speaker 2: the White House and News Corp. Joining me now is
27:44
Speaker 2: media writer at The Australian, Sophie Ellsworth. Sophie, what's the latest?
27:51
Speaker 9: Well, this is a shocking case, calib Evan Gerskevich back
27:55
Speaker 9: in court today in Russia. He was imprisoned last month
28:00
Speaker 9: much with no explanation really other than he's on espiona's charges,
28:05
Speaker 9: which the Wall Street Journal and News Corporation have vehemently
28:10
Speaker 9: denied and basically said it's complete and utter rubbish. This
28:16
Speaker 9: is a very secretive trial. We don't know the evidence
28:19
Speaker 9: that Russian authorities are presenting, and a very shocking situation
28:24
Speaker 9: for Evan Gerskevich. Caleb I was very fortunate last year
28:28
Speaker 9: to meet his parents when I was in Washington, and
28:31
Speaker 9: the toll that this is taking not only on Evan
28:34
Speaker 9: but of his parents. This is a very, very big
28:38
Speaker 9: fight he has on his hands to fight Russian authorities because,
28:41
Speaker 9: as we know, they don't believe in democracy.
28:44
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, it's all behind closed doors, right, we
28:47
Speaker 2: can't have any confidence about what is going on there,
28:50
Speaker 2: what's happening behind the scenes in terms of diplomatic moves
28:54
Speaker 2: about this. I mean, you know, Juliana Sande is about
28:56
Speaker 2: to land, and we know that the federal government in
29:00
Speaker 2: some ways helped to negotiate that plea deal.
29:03
Speaker 3: What are they doing about Evan?
29:07
Speaker 9: Well, American authorities have tried to do a prisoner swap
29:11
Speaker 9: arrangement with Evan Gerskevich previously that has not come to fruition.
29:17
Speaker 9: Putin did speak on this several months ago and said
29:21
Speaker 9: this may be a possibility, but like I said, that
29:24
Speaker 9: hasn't happened. So you know, there's a lot of worry here,
29:29
Speaker 9: Caleb of what his fate is because this is all
29:33
Speaker 9: behind closed doors and we don't know what.
29:35
Speaker 3: Is going on now.
29:36
Speaker 2: Former ABC presenter Antoinette Lato, we know she got checked
29:40
Speaker 2: from the ABC while she was filling in on radio.
29:43
Speaker 2: Will her unfair dismissal claims are now going to go
29:46
Speaker 2: to trial after attempts at mediation failed. And you know
29:51
Speaker 2: she obviously shared posts on social media that said that
29:54
Speaker 2: the Israeli government was using starvation of civilians as a
29:58
Speaker 2: weapon of war in Gaza.
30:00
Speaker 3: How do you think all of this is going to
30:01
Speaker 3: end up?
30:04
Speaker 9: Well, Caleb, I can tell you it's going to be
30:06
Speaker 9: a very costly exercise. Antoinette Latouf has managed to drum
30:12
Speaker 9: up one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars in a go
30:14
Speaker 9: fund MeCAT page. Taxpayers will be footing these legal costs
30:18
Speaker 9: of the ABC. That probably doesn't worry them in the
30:21
Speaker 9: slightest because they get one point one billion dollars of
30:24
Speaker 9: our money every year. But now they cannot mediate. They've
30:29
Speaker 9: done it before, that's right, they cannot mediate, and now
30:32
Speaker 9: this is going to trial in court, so she you know,
30:37
Speaker 9: I've always said all along with this case, Caleb, who
30:41
Speaker 9: on earth thought it was a good idea to put
30:43
Speaker 9: Antoinette Latouth behind a microphone when she has long been
30:48
Speaker 9: an activist and it was clear that she was not
30:51
Speaker 9: going to abide by the rules of being impartial the
30:55
Speaker 9: public broadcaster. This was a bad decision from the beginning,
30:59
Speaker 9: but they did it. They did not do their due
31:01
Speaker 9: diligence in check her social media post, Caleb, she was
31:04
Speaker 9: saying basically the middle finger up and she was swearing
31:08
Speaker 9: that people didn't agree with her. Too bad, And then
31:12
Speaker 9: a week or so later she's rolled up and got
31:14
Speaker 9: her own fill in program on ABC Sydney. I mean,
31:18
Speaker 9: it's just unbelievable stuff.
31:21
Speaker 2: I mean, I was going to say, you've got to
31:22
Speaker 2: wonder what the ABC was thinking, but I think we're
31:25
Speaker 2: constantly wondering what the ABC is thinking. We know that
31:28
Speaker 2: their radio ratings across the country are in the toilet,
31:30
Speaker 2: as if that was going to.
31:31
Speaker 3: Help curious story.
31:33
Speaker 2: Britney Higgins husband David Charaz has written to the organizers
31:37
Speaker 2: of Women in Media because they're having an event that's
31:40
Speaker 2: featuring justice Michael Lee, who of course presided over the
31:43
Speaker 2: de lehrum and defamation case, and he's demanding to know
31:48
Speaker 2: whether the Federal Court judge will discuss the defamation case
31:52
Speaker 2: for which he has made his name quote unquote according
31:56
Speaker 2: to David Scharaz, why does he care so much?
32:02
Speaker 9: Well, David Charaz just recently got married to Britney Higgins,
32:07
Speaker 9: you know, wish them both very well a bit, you know,
32:11
Speaker 9: surprised that he would perhaps be so concerned about what
32:15
Speaker 9: Justice Lee is saying or going to say at the
32:17
Speaker 9: Women in Media conference. He himself is in hot water,
32:21
Speaker 9: that is, David Charaz. He has a defamation case looming,
32:26
Speaker 9: you know, with Senator Reynolds over in Western Australia. This
32:30
Speaker 9: case has just had so many casualties along the way, Caleb.
32:35
Speaker 9: I did find it interesting though, that Justice Lee will
32:38
Speaker 9: be fronting the Women in Media Annual conference with Ita
32:42
Speaker 9: Buttrose and Justice Lee. I don't think he's one to
32:46
Speaker 9: hold back on his thoughts, so it'll be very interesting
32:49
Speaker 9: to see and I will be attending it to see
32:51
Speaker 9: what he has to say.
32:52
Speaker 2: Sophie, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to interrupt you.
32:54
Speaker 2: We're just going to go to the live pictures now
32:56
Speaker 2: out of Canberra. You can see the plane there, Julian
32:59
Speaker 2: and the on board. The Wiki League's founder has landed
33:03
Speaker 2: back in Australia. He's made his way home after he
33:06
Speaker 2: was freed by a US court in Saipan. Of course,
33:09
Speaker 2: this morning. He pleaded guilty to a single charge of
33:12
Speaker 2: espionage as part of a deal with the United States
33:15
Speaker 2: Justice Department, and he took off for Canberra after that.
33:19
Speaker 2: And it's interesting because it was in a U s
33:21
Speaker 2: Pacific territory, which was a very deliberate thing, so that
33:25
Speaker 2: he couldn't potentially be recharged on US soil if he
33:28
Speaker 2: stepped out of a court room.
33:30
Speaker 3: Afterwards, the US district.
33:32
Speaker 2: Judge Ramona Manglona sentenced him to five years and two
33:37
Speaker 2: months today, which of course is the exact amount of
33:40
Speaker 2: time that he'd already spent in prison in Belmarsh in
33:43
Speaker 2: the United Kingdom fighting the extradition to the US. The
33:47
Speaker 2: judge said, with this pronouncement, it appears that you will
33:49
Speaker 2: be able to walk out of this court room a
33:51
Speaker 2: free man. That's exactly what he's about to do. Sky
33:53
Speaker 2: News reporter Fiona Willon joins us from the scene now
33:57
Speaker 2: what's the mood like down there, Fiona.
34:01
Speaker 10: Oh, I'd say the excitement's growing. You can see there's
34:04
Speaker 10: quite a large group of people here, a lot of media,
34:06
Speaker 10: but there are also supporters here too. They've got their signs.
34:09
Speaker 10: People have just been waiting for his arrival. This is
34:12
Speaker 10: the first time in fifteen years or so that he'll
34:15
Speaker 10: be setting foot on Australian soil. I think today there
34:19
Speaker 10: was a sort of nervous anticipation because nobody wanted to
34:23
Speaker 10: count their chickens before they hatched. I think his family
34:26
Speaker 10: in particular were quite cautious when it came to welcoming
34:29
Speaker 10: the news of of his freedom. But now he's made
34:32
Speaker 10: at home.
34:33
Speaker 1: He's here.
34:34
Speaker 10: We know that his wife Stella at Sange's going to
34:36
Speaker 10: be greeting him at the airport, as well as his dad,
34:40
Speaker 10: John Shipton, so we should hopefully see him get off
34:43
Speaker 10: the plane pretty soon and greet them well.
34:46
Speaker 2: His wife Stella left her hotel just before seven pm
34:49
Speaker 2: I believe, to head down to the airport. I'm sure
34:52
Speaker 2: she's very much looking forward to seeing him again. He's
34:55
Speaker 2: meant to speak tonight at about nine point fifteen.
34:58
Speaker 3: Correct.
35:01
Speaker 10: Well, we're hoping so so what we know is WikiLeaks
35:04
Speaker 10: have put out a tweet earlier today and they said
35:06
Speaker 10: they're holding a press conference at nine point fifteen at
35:09
Speaker 10: his hotel. Of course, we're hoping it will be Julianasarm speaking.
35:13
Speaker 10: They didn't specify that it could be his supporters. But
35:17
Speaker 10: certainly when he left court earlier today he didn't say
35:20
Speaker 10: a word. He sort of he gave it a bit
35:21
Speaker 10: of a wave and a smile, but he let his
35:23
Speaker 10: lawyers do the talking. So it certainly hoped that now
35:27
Speaker 10: that he's back on home soil, he'll be ready to
35:31
Speaker 10: speak himself.
35:32
Speaker 3: And of course he's had Kevin Rut on board to
35:35
Speaker 3: the plane.
35:36
Speaker 2: Within the poor bugger he has to fly into Canberra
35:39
Speaker 2: and have Kevin run on the plane. But after all
35:43
Speaker 2: this time, to be touching down back in Australia, not
35:47
Speaker 2: only for him but for his family is a momentous occasion.
35:52
Speaker 2: I mean, there would have been times when he never
35:54
Speaker 2: thought this was going to happen, and now it has.
36:00
Speaker 10: I'm sure that's the case. And the other thing is
36:02
Speaker 10: I think a lot of people are wondering what happens
36:05
Speaker 10: next for him. Is he going to go and live
36:07
Speaker 10: a quiet life with his family in Australia, or is
36:10
Speaker 10: he going to be someone who speaks out again. When
36:13
Speaker 10: his lawyer left the court today, one of his lawyers suggested,
36:16
Speaker 10: I just said, by the way. One of his lawyers
36:18
Speaker 10: suggested that he would continue to speak out and would
36:22
Speaker 10: continue to do the work of wiki leagues. But you know,
36:24
Speaker 10: he's in a very different situation to what he was
36:28
Speaker 10: in when he left. He is now in his fifties,
36:30
Speaker 10: he's married, he has children. His brother and his father
36:34
Speaker 10: both seem to suggest he might want to live an ordinary,
36:37
Speaker 10: quiet life. But I guess the only person who really
36:40
Speaker 10: knows is Julie the Sun, and he hasn't said yet.
36:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, it will be interesting to see, because of
36:45
Speaker 2: course he's lead anything but an ordinary life for the
36:48
Speaker 2: last fourteen fifteen years. You would think someone like that, though,
36:52
Speaker 2: with the sort of convictions he has and I don't
36:55
Speaker 2: mean criminal, although he was in court this morning, but
36:58
Speaker 2: his personal conviction, that it would be hard for someone
37:01
Speaker 2: like that to not get back into that sort of thing.
37:04
Speaker 2: But if you haven't lived a normal life, you'd be
37:06
Speaker 2: damn well tempted to just go and bolt off into
37:09
Speaker 2: the bush somewhere and never come back.
37:10
Speaker 3: Wouldn't you.
37:14
Speaker 10: Yeah, potentially, you know. His dad also made the point
37:16
Speaker 10: that he doesn't know how he is at the moment.
37:19
Speaker 10: He doesn't know how well he is. He doesn't know,
37:22
Speaker 10: you know. Obviously there could be some healing to do here.
37:25
Speaker 10: His dad said, he doesn't know how stressed he is,
37:27
Speaker 10: so he may, you know, he may have some mental
37:31
Speaker 10: obstacles to overcome.
37:32
Speaker 3: We don't.
37:32
Speaker 10: We just don't know yet. He might take some time
37:35
Speaker 10: out of all. He might you know, be raring to
37:37
Speaker 10: go and get straight back to where he was.
37:39
Speaker 3: I have to say he's here, by.
37:41
Speaker 10: The way, I'll just go on. I was going to
37:45
Speaker 10: just say to talk you through what's about to happen.
37:47
Speaker 10: So he's about to get off the plane, but he's
37:50
Speaker 10: going to walk into this building here.
37:52
Speaker 3: We're just moving in to.
37:53
Speaker 10: Get a closer look, and he's going to go through.
37:55
Speaker 10: That's all lockdown at the moment. But he's going to
37:57
Speaker 10: clear custom So it's just like a as you would
38:01
Speaker 10: expect a regular flight. He comes in, clears customs, and
38:05
Speaker 10: then he is officially back in the country and free.
38:09
Speaker 2: Is there any chance that the media will be able
38:11
Speaker 2: to speak to him as he walks past?
38:17
Speaker 10: He's at a great distance at the moment, and we
38:19
Speaker 10: won't because that's a military base, we won't be able
38:22
Speaker 10: to actually get on to it. So the best bet
38:25
Speaker 10: we'll be getting him at the hotel afterwards. So that's
38:29
Speaker 10: why we're hoping that this nine point fifteen press conference
38:32
Speaker 10: is actually with him. But if not, I understand. I
38:36
Speaker 10: know his wife was staying there, so I'm hoping that
38:39
Speaker 10: that's where he's staying as well, and hopefully we'll get
38:41
Speaker 10: near him.
38:42
Speaker 2: Well, we just seen him to movement at the plane.
38:44
Speaker 2: Now the door has just opened and the stairs have
38:48
Speaker 2: come down, so hopefully we will see Dulian emerge in
38:52
Speaker 2: a moment and get another look at what sort of
38:54
Speaker 2: condition he's in. I have to say I was rather
38:56
Speaker 2: surprised by the videos that we saw over the last
39:00
Speaker 2: couple of days.
39:01
Speaker 3: He actually looked.
39:02
Speaker 2: Remarkably well given what we have seen of him over
39:06
Speaker 2: the last few years.
39:10
Speaker 10: Yeah, and his dad did say when he spoke to
39:12
Speaker 10: him last week he was in good spirits. He was
39:16
Speaker 10: feeling quite optimistic, so perhaps perhaps the fact that this
39:20
Speaker 10: has happened has given him obviously the boost that he needed.
39:24
Speaker 10: He was looking pretty happy and healthy as he left
39:28
Speaker 10: the court today. Yeah, and I'm trying to You've got
39:32
Speaker 10: probably got My eyesight's not the best, so you're probably
39:34
Speaker 10: getting a better shot than me right now. But I
39:36
Speaker 10: think very curious to see how he's looking when he
39:40
Speaker 10: gets off the plane.
39:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm trying to peel through a screen here
39:44
Speaker 2: to see what's going on inside that plane. And I
39:46
Speaker 2: can't tell you any more than you can tell me
39:48
Speaker 2: at the moment. But look, we'll come back to you
39:51
Speaker 2: if when we get a bit more movement. Thank you
39:54
Speaker 2: so much for your time. Let's bring in Evelyn race
39:57
Speaker 2: gar New's contributor. Now, who was you to join us
40:00
Speaker 2: for a panel? I don't think we're going to have
40:02
Speaker 2: time for that, but she is on the line. What's
40:04
Speaker 2: your reaction to him touching down, Julian Assange touching down
40:08
Speaker 2: in the country loved.
40:10
Speaker 11: Well, Caleb. My first reaction is it is about time.
40:15
Speaker 11: I mean, this has been a long time in the making.
40:18
Speaker 11: I think so many of us have been watching this
40:21
Speaker 11: so closely because obviously he has such strong links to Australia,
40:26
Speaker 11: so we feel connected.
40:28
Speaker 12: To it somewhat.
40:28
Speaker 11: And then those of us who you know, are sort
40:31
Speaker 11: of speaking out, are commentating on things politically socially, you know,
40:37
Speaker 11: and I guess culturally. You know, this has a big
40:40
Speaker 11: impact on us because freedom of speech I do not
40:43
Speaker 11: think is a very.
40:46
Speaker 12: Relevant thing in Australia. We have so many laws.
40:49
Speaker 11: But you know, we are hopeful that coming into the
40:52
Speaker 11: future we can pave a way where you know, freedom
40:55
Speaker 11: of expression within the bounds of the law is something
40:58
Speaker 11: that we all have a right.
41:01
Speaker 12: And so I think.
41:02
Speaker 1: This is really big.
41:03
Speaker 11: I think I was hopeful that Trump was going to
41:06
Speaker 11: pardon him before he got booted last time round, and
41:09
Speaker 11: I was like, for sure it was going to happen,
41:12
Speaker 11: and when it didn't, I was very disappointed. So I'm
41:15
Speaker 11: very happy to see this and very curious to see
41:18
Speaker 11: what comes next for his life.
41:21
Speaker 2: Well, this is the thing, right, So he's out now,
41:24
Speaker 2: he's pleaded guilty.
41:25
Speaker 3: Today, it's all done.
41:26
Speaker 2: He's back in Australia, so he doesn't have to worry
41:28
Speaker 2: about being pursued criminally anymore.
41:32
Speaker 3: He is safe.
41:33
Speaker 2: But do you then take the risk of going back
41:36
Speaker 2: to what you were doing previously that of course landed
41:39
Speaker 2: you in all of that hot water, or do you say, look,
41:42
Speaker 2: I've been there, I've done that. I have a young
41:45
Speaker 2: family now I'm back with my wife, I'm back with
41:48
Speaker 2: my kids. I'm just going to take it easy and
41:51
Speaker 2: enjoy the simpler things in life.
41:53
Speaker 11: Look, I don't think any of us would blame him
41:56
Speaker 11: if that's what he chose to do, if he took
41:58
Speaker 11: a moment to actually live his life, because he's lived
42:03
Speaker 11: his life somewhat restrained and somewhat bound with the circumstances
42:08
Speaker 11: he's been entrapped with. And so you know, like I think,
42:12
Speaker 11: majority of people around the world, particularly Australians, don't believe
42:17
Speaker 11: that he is guilty of crimes that deserve what he's
42:21
Speaker 11: been treated for over these last like what decade or something,
42:26
Speaker 11: especially when other people involved with his crime were let
42:30
Speaker 11: off a long time before him, who potentially you could
42:34
Speaker 11: say did worse crimes than him himself.
42:37
Speaker 12: And so you wouldn't blame the guy.
42:39
Speaker 11: He wants to have a respite and he wants to
42:42
Speaker 11: enjoy his family, so you wouldn't blame him for that.
42:46
Speaker 11: But I guess this is the point where you see
42:47
Speaker 11: how strong his conviction is. And I guess he's been
42:51
Speaker 11: on the other side and he probably knows and is
42:53
Speaker 11: privy to a lot more things than you and I are.
42:56
Speaker 11: Privy to and so perhaps he might feel the conviction
43:01
Speaker 11: to fight against that because he has the ability or
43:06
Speaker 11: the means to do it with his experience. So I
43:09
Speaker 11: think time will tell. But look, if I were him,
43:12
Speaker 11: I would.
43:12
Speaker 13: Go and enjoy a good old Ossie barbecue with some
43:16
Speaker 13: lamb chops and some comforts and some family and just
43:21
Speaker 13: sit back for a little bit and just sort of
43:23
Speaker 13: recharge the batteries. And then, man, he could do some
43:27
Speaker 13: real good things if he chooses to go down that path.
43:31
Speaker 2: Well, I can tell you the first thing I'd be
43:33
Speaker 2: doing is going down to the pub if I'd been
43:35
Speaker 2: lucky the Ecuadorian embassy and then in a prison for
43:39
Speaker 2: fifteen fourteen fifteen years. It's interesting, though, I mean, I
43:45
Speaker 2: changed my view on all of this. I've sort of
43:47
Speaker 2: come round to the idea. I don't believe he is
43:50
Speaker 2: a hero, but I do believe that he ought to
43:53
Speaker 2: be back in the country now, and I'm glad all
43:55
Speaker 2: of this has happened. I'm just going to go to
43:57
Speaker 2: James McPherson, who's joined us now as well.
44:00
Speaker 3: James, what's your reaction.
44:03
Speaker 8: I'm kind of amused.
44:04
Speaker 1: Caleb.
44:04
Speaker 8: It's like Nelson Mandela has just touched down in Australia.
44:08
Speaker 8: Julian Osand is no hero. He's being lionized though, as
44:11
Speaker 8: if he's this remarkable person who's done a great service
44:14
Speaker 8: to the world by dumping American military secrets on the
44:18
Speaker 8: Internet and then endangering many, many lives. So yeah, I'm
44:23
Speaker 8: not sure this is something we should celebrate. Good on
44:26
Speaker 8: him and good for his family, but he's hardly a
44:29
Speaker 8: great Australian.
44:30
Speaker 2: And I suppose this is the polarizing aspect of all
44:33
Speaker 2: of it. Right, You've got people who feel very strongly
44:36
Speaker 2: in his favor, and obviously people who feel very strongly
44:39
Speaker 2: out of his favor.
44:39
Speaker 3: But if you strip all.
44:40
Speaker 2: Of that away and you talk about an Australian who
44:45
Speaker 2: was charged in a foreign country, I think there is
44:49
Speaker 2: an argument, even if you believe as I do, that
44:51
Speaker 2: as I said before, he's not exactly a hero, there
44:55
Speaker 2: is an argument that you ought to be back on
44:57
Speaker 2: Australian soil.
44:59
Speaker 8: I'm not so sure I agree with that, Caleb. I
45:01
Speaker 8: think he dumped American military secrets online for everyone to see.
45:08
Speaker 8: I think the Americans had every right to go after
45:10
Speaker 8: him and to guard their national interests. Whether he's an
45:13
Speaker 8: Australian or whatever. If someone from another nation did that
45:17
Speaker 8: to Australia and exposed our military intelligence, I would expect
45:21
Speaker 8: our government to go after them as well, no matter
45:23
Speaker 8: where they were from.
45:26
Speaker 2: Would you think then, in that case that it was
45:29
Speaker 2: the wrong move for the Barden administration or more so
45:33
Speaker 2: the DOJ to do this plea bargain. What was there
45:38
Speaker 2: to gain for them in this situation.
45:42
Speaker 8: Well, I suppose Australia doesn't ask much of the United States.
45:47
Speaker 8: They're looking for Australia's help in the Pacific, obviously with
45:51
Speaker 8: containing China, so maybe that's got something to do with it.
45:54
Speaker 8: It was a pretty small favor they could do for
45:57
Speaker 8: Anthony Elberinizi, and to be honest, maybe they're glad to
46:00
Speaker 8: have Assanje off their books. Anyway, this thing has dragged
46:03
Speaker 8: on for a long time and it was probably a
46:07
Speaker 8: small soop they could give to the Albanzy government in
46:10
Speaker 8: return for, as I said, increasing favors they're going to
46:13
Speaker 8: need from US as they seek to catail China in
46:15
Speaker 8: the Pacific.
46:17
Speaker 2: And by the way, we're just waiting for a press
46:20
Speaker 2: conference that will be coming soon from Anthony Albanezi, the
46:23
Speaker 2: Prime Minister he will be speaking on Julian Assange and
46:26
Speaker 2: you can see the pictures from also in Canberra in
46:29
Speaker 2: the corner there. I'll bring you back in Evelyn. What's
46:32
Speaker 2: your response to what James has just said. Is this
46:36
Speaker 2: a win for the US? Is it a win for Australia.
46:39
Speaker 2: What is the political outcome of all of this do
46:42
Speaker 2: you think?
46:44
Speaker 11: I think it's really important for Australia and America to
46:47
Speaker 11: have a good relationship, more so than I'd say any
46:51
Speaker 11: other sort of alliance that we have, only because like,
46:55
Speaker 11: if something happens to us, we need America more than
46:58
Speaker 11: any other.
46:59
Speaker 12: Nation to come to our aid.
47:00
Speaker 11: So I think that this is good politically for both nations,
47:04
Speaker 11: especially US. But you know, like you mentioned Caleb, there
47:09
Speaker 11: are two sort of sides here. Whether people are on
47:12
Speaker 11: the side of Assange, whether they believe he did anything
47:15
Speaker 11: criminal or whether it was exaggerated with the charges. And
47:20
Speaker 11: then you've got people who you know, think that he
47:24
Speaker 11: isn't a hero. And I think that, you know, it's
47:27
Speaker 11: the absence of objectivity and debate that is the true
47:31
Speaker 11: language of the oppressors. And I think that at the
47:34
Speaker 11: heart of everything with a Sange, I think there is
47:37
Speaker 11: so much more to it that we aren't privy to,
47:40
Speaker 11: and there are so many more people out there who
47:44
Speaker 11: are far more evil, who are left without any justice.
47:49
Speaker 11: And so I think those of us who I wouldn't
47:53
Speaker 11: pin him up as a hero, you know, I wouldn't
47:55
Speaker 11: pin him up as some sort of.
47:57
Speaker 12: Jesus God like Messiah figure.
48:00
Speaker 11: But I do believe that it's a very important case
48:05
Speaker 11: and that Australians should pay very close attention to the
48:09
Speaker 11: and people around the world because we're at the cusp
48:12
Speaker 11: of war on speech and war on information. And I'm sorry,
48:18
Speaker 11: but the last few years a testament that we can't unfortunately,
48:22
Speaker 11: we can't trust the people who you would ought to trust.
48:26
Speaker 12: Which is the government. They seem to think that we
48:28
Speaker 12: work for them and they don't work for us.
48:30
Speaker 11: And so I think that there are bigger issues as
48:33
Speaker 11: opposed to just an individual. I think that he you know,
48:37
Speaker 11: so based on all of those things, Yeah, I'm very
48:42
Speaker 11: happy to see him home, and I think politically it's
48:45
Speaker 11: very good for us in America to have come to
48:47
Speaker 11: some sort of agreement, especially when you look around the
48:52
Speaker 11: world and there's sort of chaos going on, and just
48:54
Speaker 11: having your big brother there America there in alliance.
48:57
Speaker 12: With you is a very comforting thing and should strive
49:01
Speaker 12: for that.
49:02
Speaker 3: If you're just tuning in. Juliana.
49:03
Speaker 2: Sange has just landed back in Australia. He's landed at
49:07
Speaker 2: Canberra Airport, of course, after he left Saipan this morning,
49:11
Speaker 2: where he pleaded guilty to a single charge of espionage
49:14
Speaker 2: as part of a deal with the United States Justice Department.
49:17
Speaker 2: The judge said afterwards, with this pronouncement, it appears you
49:21
Speaker 2: will be able to walk out of this courtroom a
49:24
Speaker 2: free man.
49:24
Speaker 3: We're going to go to Anthony Obnezi in canber now