Transcript

Credlin | 6 July · Credlin

0:02
Speaker 1: Peter Kredlin live on Sky News Australia.
0:08
Speaker 2: Good evening and welcome to the show. I'm Jamie Rodgers
0:12
Speaker 2: filling in for Peter Kredline. Here's what's coming up tonight
0:16
Speaker 2: on the program.
0:17
Speaker 3: A blow for mortgage holders.
0:19
Speaker 2: New forecasts suggests interest rate cuts may not arrive until
0:23
Speaker 2: well into next year. We'll examine why questions amounting over
0:28
Speaker 2: Victoria's bail laws after a teenager granted bail just four
0:32
Speaker 2: days before allegedly killing a fifteen year old schoolboy outside
0:37
Speaker 2: a Melbourne hospital. Residents in the Northern Tablelands in New
0:42
Speaker 2: South Wales are calling for an urgent review of Australia's
0:46
Speaker 2: current energy policies. So what's been the response from the government.
0:51
Speaker 2: And just as Australia and Fiji sign up to a
0:54
Speaker 2: new defense alliance, a Chinese submarine has fired a test
1:00
Speaker 2: nuclear capable missile in the South Pacific.
1:04
Speaker 4: We were informed by China today of its intention to
1:09
Speaker 4: do this test. This is a long range missile test
1:14
Speaker 4: and we are very concerned about any actions which undermine
1:19
Speaker 4: the stability, the peace and security of the Pacific.
1:24
Speaker 2: But first, what is more dangerous for Australia. A Prime
1:28
Speaker 2: Minister that's arrogant, or a prime minister that's out of touch.
1:33
Speaker 2: Arrogance has a habit of revealing itself, and this weekend
1:37
Speaker 2: Anthony Alberanezi didn't just reveal it, he celebrated it. Speaking
1:42
Speaker 2: to the labor faithful, the Prime Minister dismissed criticism of
1:46
Speaker 2: his latest tax changes.
1:48
Speaker 5: Pulling for reform is easy.
1:51
Speaker 6: Delivering it that's hard.
1:55
Speaker 2: The Prime Minister then went on to insult anyone who
1:58
Speaker 2: questioned the reforms.
2:00
Speaker 7: But if you put the entirely predictable and barely coherent
2:04
Speaker 7: noise from the usual suspects to one side.
2:09
Speaker 2: The usual suspects, who exactly is he talking about? Fintech
2:14
Speaker 2: founder Julian Fayard, who started the viral Albogetz forty seven
2:19
Speaker 2: percent meme, has said the questions surrounding the tax reforms
2:22
Speaker 2: have fallen on deaf ears. It's getting to that point
2:26
Speaker 2: where they have taken away every single pathway that Australians
2:30
Speaker 2: could have built wealth. The Prime Minister says, critics simply
2:34
Speaker 2: don't understand the reforms, but listen to who's criticizing them.
2:39
Speaker 2: The Business Council, the Council of Small Business Organizations, accountants, economists,
2:46
Speaker 2: they're practical concerns from the people who create jobs, and
2:50
Speaker 2: perhaps that's the real problem. Anthony Alberizi has spent virtually
2:55
Speaker 2: his entire working life inside politics. He's never had to work,
3:00
Speaker 2: worry about paying staff, never had to re mortgage the
3:03
Speaker 2: house to keep a business alive. Yet he arrogantly dismisses
3:08
Speaker 2: those who have as the usual suspects. Labor insists more
3:13
Speaker 2: than ninety percent of small businesses won't be affected. But
3:17
Speaker 2: when thousands of businesses tell you that they're worried, you
3:21
Speaker 2: don't insult them.
3:23
Speaker 3: You listen.
3:24
Speaker 2: The coalition claims small businesses tax bills could increase by
3:29
Speaker 2: fifty thousand dollars due to Labour's trust changes, which will
3:33
Speaker 2: impact discretionary funds with a minimum thirty percent tax. Opposition
3:38
Speaker 2: leader Angus Taylor said the modeling was evidence Labour was
3:42
Speaker 2: trying to punish the way small businesses have been set
3:46
Speaker 2: up for years. Labor is coming after the chippy, the builder,
3:50
Speaker 2: the plumber, and the family business that has worked hard,
3:54
Speaker 2: taken risks and done the right thing. This is not
3:58
Speaker 2: tax reform, it's an assault on aspiration. Labor sold these
4:04
Speaker 2: changes as a way to help first home buyers, But
4:07
Speaker 2: even people on the ground say that's not what's happening. Auctioneers, agents,
4:13
Speaker 2: brokers and economists are warning the market is being hit
4:17
Speaker 2: in the wrong places.
4:19
Speaker 8: We've got lots of first home buyers out there. I
4:21
Speaker 8: see them week to week when they're unsuccessful on purchasing
4:24
Speaker 8: at auction. The one thing that's so difficult for them
4:27
Speaker 8: is that they just keep getting beaten by investors. They
4:30
Speaker 8: just they have a certain amount of money to spend
4:33
Speaker 8: their capped and they're also very nervous.
4:38
Speaker 2: So if the policy was meant to make housing more affordable,
4:41
Speaker 2: the question is simple, where's the evidence that this is
4:45
Speaker 2: actually working? Because right now it looks less like housing
4:50
Speaker 2: reform and more like another tax grab dressed up as
4:53
Speaker 2: help for young Australians. Perhaps if the Prime Minister spent
4:57
Speaker 2: less time dismissing the people who build Australia's economy and
5:02
Speaker 2: more time listening to them, he'd understand why so many
5:06
Speaker 2: Australians feel they're working harder yet falling further behind. Because
5:12
Speaker 2: this wasn't just a tone deaf speech. It was a
5:16
Speaker 2: window into how this government sees aspiration, not something to
5:21
Speaker 2: encourage but something to tax.
5:28
Speaker 3: Forget.
5:29
Speaker 2: The political spin. Australia has become one of the worst
5:33
Speaker 2: performing developed economies for underlying inflation. Economists and our warning
5:38
Speaker 2: another rate rise is on the cards, and many believe
5:42
Speaker 2: cuts won't come until next year. Our underlying inflation rate,
5:47
Speaker 2: the measure the Reserve Bank actually watches, rose to three
5:51
Speaker 2: point six percent in May. And this matters because inflation
5:56
Speaker 2: it's not just a number. It's the reason your mortgage
5:59
Speaker 2: stays higher, your rents keep rising, and your weekly shop
6:03
Speaker 2: costs more. And it's the reason first home buyers who
6:08
Speaker 2: stretched themselves to get into the market are now facing
6:11
Speaker 2: negative equity.
6:13
Speaker 9: The thing is with negative equity, you know, I see
6:15
Speaker 9: a lot of commentators going, oh, well, it doesn't matter
6:17
Speaker 9: if you're you know, if you're not going to sell
6:18
Speaker 9: your property and you've bought, you know, it doesn't.
6:21
Speaker 1: Matter if you're negative equity.
6:22
Speaker 9: I mean, that's one of the dumbest comments you could
6:25
Speaker 9: ever say, because to go and buy a property for
6:28
Speaker 9: say a million dollars and then it goes down in
6:31
Speaker 9: value and you've got a ninety five percent loan, you're
6:33
Speaker 9: paying an exorbitant mortgage, and to say that that doesn't
6:36
Speaker 9: matter if you don't sell the property because you don't
6:37
Speaker 9: realize the loss, but you could have been renting the
6:39
Speaker 9: property for significantly cheaper. For people to come out and say, oh,
6:42
Speaker 9: it doesn't matter, you know they're in negative equity, I mean,
6:44
Speaker 9: it's just an idiotic statement in my opinion.
6:49
Speaker 2: And Louis Christopher from SQM Research said negative equity will
6:54
Speaker 2: have further flow on impacks in other areas.
6:58
Speaker 10: I regard that it's about the sick in worse financial
7:01
Speaker 10: situation for anyone short of bankruptcy. Negative equities awfal where
7:08
Speaker 10: you owe more on that property rather than what the
7:11
Speaker 10: property is actually worth. The issue will be that you
7:14
Speaker 10: will not be able to borrow money from anywhere else
7:16
Speaker 10: for any other purpose. You will be able to borrow
7:18
Speaker 10: money for a business while you're in negative equity. You
7:21
Speaker 10: will be able to borrow money for a car.
7:24
Speaker 2: And that's the human cost of getting policy wrong. The
7:28
Speaker 2: Treasurer says high inflation is because of COVID, Ukraine and
7:32
Speaker 2: the Middle East, but leading economists say our inflation problem
7:36
Speaker 2: is home growing. KPMG Chief economist Brendan Bryan said, with
7:41
Speaker 2: the benefit of hindsight, the RBA's three cash rate cuts
7:44
Speaker 2: last year were a mistake. There was a general misreading
7:48
Speaker 2: of what was happening in inflation in the first half
7:51
Speaker 2: of last year, on the expectation that inflation was going
7:54
Speaker 2: to come back down within the target range, and therefore
7:58
Speaker 2: the RBA took it foot off the break and started
8:01
Speaker 2: loosening monetary policy too early. So while other countries have
8:07
Speaker 2: done the hard work of getting inflation under control, Australia
8:11
Speaker 2: is still stuck because government keeps spending and pouring fuel
8:16
Speaker 2: on the fire. The federal spending is expected to reach
8:20
Speaker 2: twenty six point eight percent of GDP, the highest level
8:25
Speaker 2: ever Outside the pandemic government funded jobs. They continue to
8:30
Speaker 2: grow NDIS spending is continuing to surge, and all of
8:34
Speaker 2: that keeps demand in the economy higher.
8:37
Speaker 3: Than it otherwise would be.
8:39
Speaker 2: So while the IBA is trying to slow inflation with
8:42
Speaker 2: higher interest rates, governments are still spending. Inflation is not beaten,
8:48
Speaker 2: and for too many Australians the cost of living crisis
8:52
Speaker 2: is not ending. It's now a way of life. Well,
9:00
Speaker 2: let's head to Canberra now for tonight's political headlines. For
9:03
Speaker 2: Sky News political reporter Ruben Spargo.
9:06
Speaker 7: Good evening, China has fired a submarine launched ballistic missile
9:10
Speaker 7: fitted with a simulated warhead into the South Pacific Ocean.
9:15
Speaker 7: Beijing is describing the launch as a routine part of
9:18
Speaker 7: its military training, saying governments across the region were notified
9:22
Speaker 7: in advance.
9:23
Speaker 2: Australia has been clear with China that we regard this
9:26
Speaker 2: as destabilizing to the region.
9:28
Speaker 4: We are very concerned about any actions which undermine the
9:33
Speaker 4: stability the peace and security of the Pacific.
9:36
Speaker 7: Australia is learning of the misstyle test as Anthony Albernizi
9:40
Speaker 7: steps up diplomacy in Fiji. The country's two leaders today
9:44
Speaker 7: signed the Ocean of Peace Alliance. It's a new pact
9:47
Speaker 7: that includes mutual defense commitments if either nation comes under attack.
9:53
Speaker 6: The significance of this agreement cannot be underestimated, much for
9:58
Speaker 6: what it means for our two great nations.
10:01
Speaker 7: The federal government is working to prevent China from establishing
10:04
Speaker 7: a military foothold in the Pacific, move that appears to
10:08
Speaker 7: have drawn Beijing's displeasure. Auction clearance rates in Australia are
10:12
Speaker 7: falling below fifty percent for the ninth consecutive week. The
10:16
Speaker 7: trend follows a period of higher interest rates and Labour's
10:20
Speaker 7: controversial housing tax reforms. The government maintains its policies aimed
10:25
Speaker 7: at helping more first time buys enter the market.
10:29
Speaker 2: All right, let's jump into what's making news with our
10:32
Speaker 2: Monday night panels, Sky News contributor Kreli, Katz and Barnas
10:35
Speaker 2: and former Liberal MP Nicole Flint. Ladies, Welcome to you both. Gee,
10:42
Speaker 2: it was a train wreck. The Prime Minister has been
10:44
Speaker 2: forced into an apology over his comments regarding Kylie Minogue.
10:49
Speaker 2: His office they did issue a statement. Now a lot
10:53
Speaker 2: of this criticism here and look, I think rightly, so
10:56
Speaker 2: this is locker room talk from somebody who's meant to
10:58
Speaker 2: be leading the nation on the world stage. Carroly, what
11:02
Speaker 2: did you make of the comments?
11:05
Speaker 11: I think it's absolutely disgusting, certainly not prime ministerial, and
11:09
Speaker 11: you know he doesn't even have the guts to hold
11:10
Speaker 11: a press conference. As for a statement, it was a
11:13
Speaker 11: six words sentence. I mean, this is really bad. Where
11:16
Speaker 11: are all the labor feminists now? Or they're solent, aren't they?
11:19
Speaker 11: They care more about their political careers than anything else.
11:23
Speaker 11: So I also think it's incredibly disrespectful to his wife, Jody.
11:27
Speaker 3: He laughs it away.
11:29
Speaker 11: I mean we've had many mishaps by him. This wasn't
11:32
Speaker 11: a hot Mike moment. This was a considered thing that
11:35
Speaker 11: he actually did, and it's absolutely it's vomit worthy. I mean,
11:40
Speaker 11: you know, what's the use going to be? Now? What
11:43
Speaker 11: if it had been a liberal leader that had actually
11:45
Speaker 11: done this, they'd be calling for them to stand down.
11:48
Speaker 11: But no, he's off in Fiji doing whatever, you know,
11:50
Speaker 11: whatever he is.
11:51
Speaker 3: I mean, I know he's.
11:52
Speaker 11: Signing a defense pact, but you know, I've also got
11:54
Speaker 11: China that's just launched the missile. My message is do
11:57
Speaker 11: your job, Prime Minister, stop trying to do something like this.
12:00
Speaker 11: The other thing is he says he apologizes unequivocally. I
12:04
Speaker 11: haven't seen him apologize unequivocally for Bondai or for not
12:07
Speaker 11: actually wanting to hold a royal commission when all sides
12:10
Speaker 11: of politics were wanting it. I just think it's disgusting
12:13
Speaker 11: and absolutely degrading. And all those people that are saying, oh,
12:17
Speaker 11: it's just a bit of fun laughing off, No, this
12:19
Speaker 11: is not something that you can actually laugh off.
12:22
Speaker 3: This is just awful.
12:25
Speaker 2: Nicole Caroly does make a very good point in terms
12:29
Speaker 2: of if this was Angus Taylor that had said those comments,
12:33
Speaker 2: or a CEO within a business in the private sector,
12:36
Speaker 2: there would be calls for them to stand down or
12:39
Speaker 2: to be sacked. How do you think these conversations have
12:42
Speaker 2: gone behind closed doors in Canberra?
12:45
Speaker 12: Well, I think the question for the Australian people is
12:48
Speaker 12: if our Prime Minister is willing to make such derogatory
12:52
Speaker 12: and disrespectful statements about women and including his wife, in public,
12:57
Speaker 12: what is he saying behind closed doors about women's So
13:00
Speaker 12: if it was anyone else, if it was Angus Taylor,
13:03
Speaker 12: if it was a CEO, if it was imagine if
13:04
Speaker 12: it was, you know, the coach of a footy team,
13:07
Speaker 12: they would the media would rightly be calling for them
13:11
Speaker 12: to stand down. And I would be very interested to
13:15
Speaker 12: see whether we hear that from the likes of the
13:17
Speaker 12: ABC and the Fairfax Media and Channel nine. I doubt
13:20
Speaker 12: that we will. But you know, we know that the
13:22
Speaker 12: Prime Minister has double standards when it comes to the
13:26
Speaker 12: issue of women. I am better aware than most. I
13:29
Speaker 12: spent a long time when I was in Federal Parliament
13:31
Speaker 12: holding him to account for the fact that he claims
13:34
Speaker 12: to be on the side of women, but time and
13:36
Speaker 12: time again does not demonstrate that by his actions, and
13:40
Speaker 12: now he has exposed himself pardon the pun, for the
13:44
Speaker 12: entire nation to say. It's appalling and quite frankly, I
13:48
Speaker 12: think he should quit, and also Carole.
13:51
Speaker 2: I'll move on from this in a moment, but just
13:53
Speaker 2: in his reference to those melons when he was talking
13:56
Speaker 2: about the Japanese Prime minister gave them to him as
13:59
Speaker 2: a gift, and some of those melons, apparently one of
14:02
Speaker 2: them is reportedly cost around twenty five thousand dollars and
14:06
Speaker 2: the Japanese ministry would have gone to a lot of
14:08
Speaker 2: trouble to select those melons for him, and then he
14:11
Speaker 2: was mocking them on this podcast for bringing them into
14:15
Speaker 2: the country as the gift.
14:17
Speaker 3: What did you think of that?
14:19
Speaker 11: Well, that's disgraceful as well. I think that he referred
14:22
Speaker 11: to Pamela Anderson from her Baywatch days. But the thing
14:26
Speaker 11: that I'm fed up about is he never ever takes responsibility.
14:30
Speaker 11: He should have been holding a press conference with this,
14:32
Speaker 11: not with the safety overseas and a six word as
14:35
Speaker 11: I said, it was a six word statement saying I
14:37
Speaker 11: apologize unequivocally.
14:40
Speaker 3: It's just not good.
14:41
Speaker 11: I mean, we've had his comments in the past when
14:43
Speaker 11: he's been rankled, you know about Turette's now I've had
14:46
Speaker 11: it about melons. He also used the podcaster Abby Chapfield.
14:51
Speaker 11: That hasn't gone down too well. Don't need to go
14:54
Speaker 11: into that either. But this is just not good. It's
14:57
Speaker 11: no point trying to inadverted commas be trend.
15:00
Speaker 3: That's not your job.
15:02
Speaker 11: Your job is Prime Minister to actually lead this nation.
15:06
Speaker 11: His comments have gone worldwide, worldwide. It's not an image
15:11
Speaker 11: that we actually want of Australia. And as I said,
15:14
Speaker 11: convenient that China's now launched the missile I would have said,
15:17
Speaker 11: very predictable. His needs to keep his eye on the
15:21
Speaker 11: ball and keep the best interests of Australian front and
15:25
Speaker 11: foremost he's not doing that. It's an insult and an embarrassment.
15:30
Speaker 2: And Nicole, what about this news today where Australia has
15:33
Speaker 2: become an international inflation outlier. Economists are arguing that the
15:38
Speaker 2: RBA has not done enough to bring price pressures under
15:41
Speaker 2: control or offset the inflationary effect of elevated state and
15:45
Speaker 2: federal government spending. Who should be accountable here is that
15:49
Speaker 2: the RBA or Jim Chalmers. It doesn't seem like anyone
15:53
Speaker 2: is really taking account for the inflation problem.
15:55
Speaker 3: That we're having.
15:57
Speaker 12: Look, the IBA have limited means to bread down inflation,
16:01
Speaker 12: and that really is by putting interest rates up. I
16:04
Speaker 12: think we could have seen stronger language and warnings from
16:07
Speaker 12: the RBA along the way, but they have very limited
16:10
Speaker 12: means to impact inflation. This is almost purely the responsibility
16:16
Speaker 12: of the alban Easy Labor government and treasure at Jim Charmers.
16:19
Speaker 12: They're spending is completely out of control. It's been out
16:23
Speaker 12: of control for two terms now, and they are responsible
16:27
Speaker 12: to the Australian people for the economic trauma that households
16:31
Speaker 12: and businesses are going through. So households and businesses are
16:35
Speaker 12: raining in their spending and the government is not doing that,
16:38
Speaker 12: which is keeping rates high but also causing more pain,
16:43
Speaker 12: more economic and financial pain to Australian tax payers.
16:48
Speaker 2: And Caroly I just want to look at the rates fear.
16:51
Speaker 2: At the moment, economists are now predicting that we are
16:54
Speaker 2: expected to see another rate rise and this does come
16:57
Speaker 2: at a time where auction clearance rates are continuing to
17:01
Speaker 2: go backwards. What does this say about the current state
17:05
Speaker 2: of our property market? But also for how tough Australians
17:08
Speaker 2: are already doing it. They're going to face another rate rise.
17:12
Speaker 11: Well, it just shows I can speak for here in Victoria,
17:15
Speaker 11: there's just a loss of confidence in the market. So
17:18
Speaker 11: many properties are just passed in for auction clearance rates.
17:22
Speaker 11: It shows that people do not trust this government. We
17:25
Speaker 11: know since the worst budget ever handed down in Australian history.
17:29
Speaker 11: People are worried because they're being told one thing by
17:32
Speaker 11: Anthony Albanesian Jim Charmers. They're believing that and then they're
17:36
Speaker 11: being gas lit and the rules and the goalposts.
17:38
Speaker 3: Are completely being changed.
17:40
Speaker 11: And it's not good because it has a lot of
17:42
Speaker 11: flow on effects throughout the property market. And yes, of
17:45
Speaker 11: course we want people to be able to afford houses
17:48
Speaker 11: and afford them, but it just seems that people that
17:50
Speaker 11: maybe landlords are just being penalized for putting a roof
17:54
Speaker 11: over people's heads. We also know that the changes in
17:57
Speaker 11: the budget are not going to increase supply or help
18:00
Speaker 11: more Australians get get into a home, and it's just
18:03
Speaker 11: not good. I think it's just a lack of confidence.
18:06
Speaker 11: People are just wondering what next, what are they going
18:10
Speaker 11: to be lied to about next? And so, as I
18:12
Speaker 11: said in Melbourne, it's the fourth week in a row
18:15
Speaker 11: since the budget where auction clearance rates are just not
18:18
Speaker 11: what they were and people are not wanting to invest
18:21
Speaker 11: in this state and it has a ripple effect throughout Australia,
18:24
Speaker 11: throughout the economy, throughout families, businesses, and it's just not good.
18:30
Speaker 2: And Nicole, Before I let you go, I do want
18:33
Speaker 2: to get your thoughts on an interesting one that's come
18:36
Speaker 2: out of Sydney, and this does follow the recent shark attacks.
18:39
Speaker 2: A company is now working on a trial that could
18:41
Speaker 2: see oversized drones deployed as a new line of defense
18:45
Speaker 2: for not just ocean surveillance but also bushfires. Now there's
18:49
Speaker 2: obviously been a lot of talk about what's going to
18:51
Speaker 2: prevent attacks. What do you think about technology like this?
18:56
Speaker 12: I welcome any new technology that might be able to
18:59
Speaker 12: help keep people safe in our oceans. There is nothing
19:03
Speaker 12: more Aussie than going to the beach, especially here in
19:06
Speaker 12: Sydney with such iconic beautiful beaches. But I don't want
19:10
Speaker 12: to see governments, state or federal using this as an
19:13
Speaker 12: excuse to not implement the other very important mitigation measures,
19:17
Speaker 12: which include nets, drum lines, and we need to see
19:21
Speaker 12: some culling. It is just absolutely shocking that we've seen
19:25
Speaker 12: and distressing that we've seen the recent tragic attack here
19:28
Speaker 12: in Sydney and it's inexcusable. Governments have one real job,
19:34
Speaker 12: which is to keep people safe. And great if drones
19:38
Speaker 12: can increase that, but we need to be implementing the
19:41
Speaker 12: full range of measures to protect human lives.
19:45
Speaker 2: Well, that's definitely a topic we're going to have to
19:47
Speaker 2: pick up and continue on speaking next time. That Carolene
19:50
Speaker 2: and Nicole, thank you so much for your time this
19:52
Speaker 2: evening after the break, another weekend in Melbourne, another teenage
19:57
Speaker 2: death and a family left to pick up the pieces
20:00
Speaker 2: at another fire bombing in Melbourne. As the tobacco wars continue,
20:04
Speaker 2: we speak to the man who hopes to bring this
20:06
Speaker 2: madness to an end. Next welcome back up soon, how
20:14
Speaker 2: the community fight against a renewable energy project in New
20:18
Speaker 2: England has become a national movement. But now to the
20:22
Speaker 2: anger over the latest decision by a magistrate to grant
20:26
Speaker 2: bail to a sixteen year old who just four days
20:29
Speaker 2: later allegedly stabbed a fifteen year old schoolboy to death
20:33
Speaker 2: outside of Melbourne Hospital. Three teenagers have now been charged
20:37
Speaker 2: over this alleged murder of Darwesh Muhammad, a case that
20:42
Speaker 2: has reignited scrutiny of Victoria's bail laws, youth crime and
20:46
Speaker 2: whether repeat young offenders are being kept off the streets
20:50
Speaker 2: before tragedy strikes. Joining me now is Victoria's shadow Police Minister,
20:55
Speaker 2: Brad Batten.
20:56
Speaker 3: Brad, it's great.
20:58
Speaker 2: To see you, but at the same time, it's not
21:01
Speaker 2: because we're here again.
21:05
Speaker 1: This is when we're getting to that stage.
21:07
Speaker 13: We've seen this now nearly thirty times that young men
21:10
Speaker 13: in Victoria, predominantly men, have been stabbed and killed because
21:14
Speaker 13: of the knife crime here in our state. And too
21:16
Speaker 13: often we hear exactly what you just said where it
21:19
Speaker 13: was someone who was on bail who's actually allegedly.
21:22
Speaker 1: Committed the crime.
21:24
Speaker 13: But we've seen it where they have committed the crime
21:25
Speaker 13: in the past or they get off with no sentencing.
21:28
Speaker 1: So we need to see changes here in the state.
21:30
Speaker 13: And I actually did a video today and just spoke
21:33
Speaker 13: about this, and maybe it's in someone's name now so
21:36
Speaker 13: people don't forget it and actually say we need something
21:38
Speaker 13: like Darwish's law so we ensure that we can protect
21:42
Speaker 13: young men in our streets and stop this crime crisis.
21:45
Speaker 2: You're spot on, they need I think correct Darwish's law
21:49
Speaker 2: is probably one that can really stick and have some impact.
21:52
Speaker 3: I watched the family.
21:54
Speaker 2: They had an interview with the Herald's son and it
21:56
Speaker 2: was just devastating listening to them speaking about the loss
21:59
Speaker 2: of their son. Now the Premier, just Into Alan did
22:02
Speaker 2: contact the family directly over the weekend. But these families
22:06
Speaker 2: don't need compassion, Brad, it is it's action and just
22:10
Speaker 2: Into Alan says that policy changes like adult time adult
22:13
Speaker 2: crime are making a difference.
22:15
Speaker 3: But is that really true.
22:18
Speaker 13: No, And as I said, I do I give credit
22:20
Speaker 13: where credit is due. It'd be tough to go and
22:22
Speaker 13: visit the family after that, so credits the premier for
22:25
Speaker 13: doing that and going and listening. But I think it's
22:27
Speaker 13: become too often where we've gone and heard the story
22:29
Speaker 13: of the government going and listening and then nothing happening after.
22:33
Speaker 13: And I think it's really important when the governments say
22:36
Speaker 13: they've got adult crime for adult time or for violent crime,
22:40
Speaker 13: we know that that's actually just not real. They've got
22:43
Speaker 13: so many parts of that that are missing, like serious
22:45
Speaker 13: assaults arson. Yes, some of these serious knife crime ones
22:49
Speaker 13: would be in there, but we also know that when
22:52
Speaker 13: they get to the courts, no one knows what to
22:53
Speaker 13: do with these kids. They'll end up with the same
22:55
Speaker 13: sentencing no matter what court they're in because the government
22:58
Speaker 13: haven't changed the rules to say that there's got to
23:00
Speaker 13: be some extra penalty. Send a very clear message to
23:03
Speaker 13: the courts that as a government, as a parliament, we
23:06
Speaker 13: won't tolerate it, because the community is not tolerating the
23:09
Speaker 13: week sentencing anymore.
23:11
Speaker 2: So let's go to November, hopefully the Liberals are elected
23:17
Speaker 2: and you become police Minister. What would be your first act?
23:21
Speaker 2: How do you give Victorians the assurance that this kind
23:25
Speaker 2: of violent crime is going to come to an end.
23:29
Speaker 14: Yeah.
23:29
Speaker 13: The first thing we're going to do is obviously start
23:31
Speaker 13: the position of recruiting extra police because we need more
23:33
Speaker 13: police on the beat asap. But we'll bring in Jack's Law,
23:37
Speaker 13: which is actually after a young man, Jack Beasley, was
23:40
Speaker 13: killed up in Queensland, and that law to ensure giving
23:44
Speaker 13: police the powers to go out and search for weapons
23:46
Speaker 13: using those little handheld ones, so they've got stop and
23:49
Speaker 13: search powers.
23:51
Speaker 1: We want to make sure they're out on the.
23:52
Speaker 13: Streets as soon as possible because we believe right now
23:55
Speaker 13: is the time to get the knives off the street.
23:57
Speaker 1: We'll have break bail, face jail.
23:59
Speaker 13: And we see that the Queensland government starting to bring
24:02
Speaker 13: this in now as well, where if young offenders breach
24:05
Speaker 13: their bail that they can't continuously get out like we're
24:08
Speaker 13: seeing here in Victoria up to fifty times. That would
24:11
Speaker 13: be the biggest change we see to ensure that these
24:13
Speaker 13: young offenders aren't getting back out again and the consequences
24:17
Speaker 13: are clear that will stop them committing these crimes. And
24:20
Speaker 13: then we can put other things like training, prevention and
24:23
Speaker 13: also things like boot cams, etc. To ensure that these
24:26
Speaker 13: kids get their message it's not okay and Brad.
24:29
Speaker 2: Another issue that's really happening in Victoria is that the
24:33
Speaker 2: tobacco shops that are getting set alight, and another one
24:36
Speaker 2: happened over the weekend, this time in Richmond were a
24:40
Speaker 2: car rammed into the store and then it was set alight.
24:44
Speaker 2: What is the government doing to I suppose offer assurances
24:47
Speaker 2: to legitimate business operators that are now living in fear
24:51
Speaker 2: of their livelihoods. I was reading some quotes from some
24:54
Speaker 2: of the businesses surrounding that tobacco shop just saying we
24:58
Speaker 2: now have to close our doors for months.
25:01
Speaker 3: How is that okay?
25:03
Speaker 13: It's not, and we've seen it with ten businesses around
25:05
Speaker 13: this one have also been damaged and destroyed where they've
25:08
Speaker 13: locked up their doors to go home for the weekend,
25:10
Speaker 13: come in and they've got no job.
25:11
Speaker 1: They probably have to sack staff.
25:13
Speaker 13: The impact of this is huge, and we've already seen
25:15
Speaker 13: it with eighty proof that the factory burnt down and
25:18
Speaker 13: the amount of families impacted on that. And the problem
25:20
Speaker 13: with that one was the two kids that or the
25:22
Speaker 13: three kids did that. They end up walking away with
25:24
Speaker 13: good behavior bonds effectively for twelve months and no convictions,
25:27
Speaker 13: and went out and assaulted an off duty police officer.
25:29
Speaker 13: So we've got to get clear consequences and arson has
25:32
Speaker 13: to be an adult crime at all time. We need
25:34
Speaker 13: the extra police resources so we can control around those organizations.
25:39
Speaker 13: And it's not just the tobacco stores. We've started to
25:41
Speaker 13: see it go through the hospitality and the bars. And
25:44
Speaker 13: this isn't like people are trying to think it's one
25:46
Speaker 13: club versus the other.
25:47
Speaker 1: This is something which is international.
25:49
Speaker 13: We have to really get on top of this here
25:51
Speaker 13: in the state, and the best way we can do
25:53
Speaker 13: it here is to ensure that we take the soldiers
25:55
Speaker 13: off the street effectively and ensure the kids that commit
25:58
Speaker 13: these crimes are penalized so they can't go back out
26:01
Speaker 13: with a jerry can and burn down another business and
26:03
Speaker 13: destroy another family's life.
26:06
Speaker 2: Brad, Before I let you go, I do want to
26:08
Speaker 2: look ahead to November. We're only four months away now
26:11
Speaker 2: until the state election, and recent polling did show that
26:15
Speaker 2: One Nation was ahead, which I found quite surprising, especially
26:19
Speaker 2: because there's no leader in Victoria, no policies, and hardly
26:22
Speaker 2: any candidates that I'm aware of or have been announced yet.
26:26
Speaker 3: But what are you hearing on the ground.
26:27
Speaker 2: What's the feedback from within your community and other people
26:31
Speaker 2: that you're speaking to on the streets about their support
26:33
Speaker 2: of Jess Wilson or if they're going to be heading
26:36
Speaker 2: more towards One Nation.
26:39
Speaker 13: I've been obviously, I'm out in the growth corridors out
26:41
Speaker 13: here in Berrick and I've been traveling around the West
26:43
Speaker 13: and the North, particularly in the growth areas, and it's
26:46
Speaker 13: been quite interesting.
26:46
Speaker 1: I totally understand the frustration, and I.
26:49
Speaker 13: Get it and I feel for people, but we know
26:52
Speaker 13: that if people don't vote for Liberals and Nationals at
26:54
Speaker 13: this election, that's when you'll end up with either a
26:56
Speaker 13: hung Parliament or labor back in again. So when we
26:59
Speaker 13: explain it to them that we're putting policies forward, whether
27:01
Speaker 13: it's community safety, improving the economy with our ten point
27:05
Speaker 13: plan for the economy here in Victoria, to reduce debt
27:08
Speaker 13: longer term, reduce taxes, and ensuring that we've got our
27:12
Speaker 13: frontline guarantee for education, hospital, education and health, to ensure
27:16
Speaker 13: the staff stay on the beat out in the front
27:19
Speaker 13: line and we'll protect those and guarantee it. Then they
27:22
Speaker 13: start to understand that we do have a genuine plan
27:24
Speaker 13: that we can deliver. And when people meet Jess, I'll
27:27
Speaker 13: tell you, like myself, you know, they love her. They
27:29
Speaker 13: just think she's very open, she's honest, she's listening, and
27:33
Speaker 13: I think she's done something that not many leaders have.
27:35
Speaker 1: Done in the past.
27:35
Speaker 13: She's been very honest with the community one hundred percent
27:38
Speaker 13: to ensure that people are aware of what she needs
27:40
Speaker 13: to do to ensure we can get Victoria back to
27:43
Speaker 13: the best state it can be the one we're proud of.
27:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Jess Wilson is doing a very good job.
27:49
Speaker 2: You've got four months to go, Brad Baton. I appreciate
27:52
Speaker 2: your time tonight. All right, coming out, we crack open
27:56
Speaker 2: the latest economic news and what all the dire predictions
27:59
Speaker 2: really mean for every day Australian's trying to make ends meet.
28:03
Speaker 2: We get some expert analysis. Next, welcome back. It's great
28:12
Speaker 2: to have your company coming up. The community backlash against
28:16
Speaker 2: Labour's reckless renewables. But first we touched on the state
28:20
Speaker 2: of the economy earlier, but I just wanted to dive
28:23
Speaker 2: back into some of the forecasts and predictions, particularly around
28:26
Speaker 2: inflation and what it means now that some experts are
28:30
Speaker 2: predicting mortgage holders won't get a reprieve until well into
28:33
Speaker 2: next year. Joining us now to pull it all apart
28:36
Speaker 2: is independent economics is Saul Slake And Saul, let's just
28:41
Speaker 2: start first with inflation. What do you make of the
28:45
Speaker 2: reports that came out today that Australia has become an
28:48
Speaker 2: outlier when it does come to the efforts of bringing
28:51
Speaker 2: down inflation.
28:54
Speaker 1: We so correct.
28:55
Speaker 15: The OECD has shown that Australia has had the highest
29:00
Speaker 15: or inflationery of all but one of the thirty eight
29:05
Speaker 15: members of the OECD.
29:07
Speaker 1: And that partly reflects.
29:09
Speaker 15: The conscious choice that the Reserve Bank made initially under
29:12
Speaker 15: former Governor for Low to tolerate inflation being a bit
29:17
Speaker 15: higher for a bit longer than our peers in countries
29:21
Speaker 15: like the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand in
29:24
Speaker 15: order so for Low said at the time to hang
29:27
Speaker 15: on to the gains that have been made in reducing
29:30
Speaker 15: unemployment during and immediately after COVID. So the Reserve Bank
29:34
Speaker 15: didn't raise its interest rate as much as its counterparts
29:39
Speaker 15: in Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US, all
29:42
Speaker 15: of whom took their cash rate up to five percent
29:45
Speaker 15: or more compared with the peak here of four point
29:47
Speaker 15: three five percent. And the pay off for that, I suppose,
29:52
Speaker 15: if you want to put it that way, is that
29:54
Speaker 15: Australia didn't have a recession as New Zealand, Canada and
29:58
Speaker 15: the UK did, and unemployment rate rose by a lot
30:02
Speaker 15: less in Australia than it did in New Zealand and
30:05
Speaker 15: Canada in particular, but also the UK, and we didn't
30:09
Speaker 15: have to run big budget deficits in order to achieve
30:12
Speaker 15: that outcome as the US did. But the mistake the
30:16
Speaker 15: Reserve Bank made, and it's easy to say this with hindsight,
30:19
Speaker 15: is that they come infestrates three times over the first
30:23
Speaker 15: eight months of last year, only to find that inflation
30:26
Speaker 15: rebounded again and thus they had to take back in
30:30
Speaker 15: the first four months of this year all of the
30:32
Speaker 15: interest rate reductions that they gave last year, and I
30:34
Speaker 15: think that will make the Reserve Bank very very cautious
30:38
Speaker 15: about reducing interest rates anytime soon, because to make the
30:44
Speaker 15: same mistake twice would be very damaging to their credibility.
30:48
Speaker 2: Well, let's look into the interest rates, because there's now
30:52
Speaker 2: predictions that we may in fact get another rate rise
30:55
Speaker 2: and potentially a few more.
30:58
Speaker 3: Is that what you're also predicting as well? Is this
31:00
Speaker 3: something that we have to have?
31:02
Speaker 16: Well?
31:02
Speaker 15: I think the odds are that there will be an
31:05
Speaker 15: a fourth increase in intrast rates at the Reserve Bank
31:08
Speaker 15: Board's next meeting in mid August, although that does depend
31:11
Speaker 15: importantly on what the June quarter consumer price index tells
31:15
Speaker 15: us when that's released on the last Wednesday of this month.
31:19
Speaker 15: But I think it is likely that the Reserve Bank
31:22
Speaker 15: will increase the gattorate to four point six percent. I
31:26
Speaker 15: suspect that will be it, but it may well be
31:29
Speaker 15: not until the middle of twenty twenty seven before the
31:32
Speaker 15: Reserve Bank feels sufficiently confident to start unwinding those interest
31:37
Speaker 15: rate increases. It will not want to repeat the mistake
31:40
Speaker 15: it made with a benefit of huns last year by
31:43
Speaker 15: cutting rates prematurely, only to see inflation rebound again.
31:48
Speaker 2: So there's been a lot of criticism of the federal
31:52
Speaker 2: tax reforms that were announced in May, but I'm interested
31:55
Speaker 2: in your thoughts about the balance between federal and state
32:00
Speaker 2: policies and whether or not we need to strike a
32:03
Speaker 2: better balance between the two in order to ease the
32:06
Speaker 2: pressure that we're seeing within the economy.
32:10
Speaker 15: Both federal and state governments of both political persuasions bear
32:14
Speaker 15: a heavy responsibility for the deterioration in housing affordability and
32:18
Speaker 15: the declines in home ownership rates that have really been
32:21
Speaker 15: going on since the mid nineteen sixties. And in particular,
32:25
Speaker 15: i'd say that federal governments of both political persuasions have
32:29
Speaker 15: been guilty of needlessly inflating demand by coming up with
32:33
Speaker 15: schemes that allow a small number of Australians to pay
32:37
Speaker 15: more for housing than they otherwise would be at first
32:40
Speaker 15: time own a grant source, stamped in concessions, generous tax
32:43
Speaker 15: breaks for property investors, shared equity schemes, and mortgage deposit
32:48
Speaker 15: guarantee schemes all have in common that they allow people
32:51
Speaker 15: to pay more for housing than they be able to otherwise,
32:54
Speaker 15: and in a supply constrained market, that's what they end
32:57
Speaker 15: up doing. Whilst state and local government have, particularly in
33:01
Speaker 15: New South Wales, but across most of Australia, done things
33:05
Speaker 15: that have had the effect of reducing or restraining growth
33:08
Speaker 15: in the supply of housing and adding to the cost
33:11
Speaker 15: of providing new housing. And in this sense, the price
33:14
Speaker 15: of housing is a bit like a price of bananas
33:17
Speaker 15: or any other commodity. It's determined by the interaction of
33:20
Speaker 15: supply and demand. And if governments do things that needlessly
33:23
Speaker 15: inflate demand, and governments do things that restrain supply, the
33:28
Speaker 15: inevitable result will be increases in house prices and declines
33:33
Speaker 15: in housing in home ownership rates. And that's what we've
33:37
Speaker 15: seen since the peak in nineteen sixty six. And while obviously,
33:43
Speaker 15: as you say, there have been some significant criticisms of
33:45
Speaker 15: measures in the budget, I think that the core measure
33:49
Speaker 15: in the budget will reduce the demand for established properties
33:53
Speaker 15: from investors. And remember that eighty percent of the money
33:57
Speaker 15: that's lent to investors to purchase properties goes to the
34:01
Speaker 15: purchase of housing. We've already got established housing that will
34:05
Speaker 15: result in lower house prices. Part of the reason the
34:08
Speaker 15: government is having trouble selling that politically, apart from the
34:13
Speaker 15: fact that it obviously represents a broken promise, is that
34:16
Speaker 15: they can't bring themselves to say that what their policies
34:19
Speaker 15: will result in is cheaper housing, even though that's actually
34:22
Speaker 15: the solution to the problem that housing has become too
34:25
Speaker 15: expensive for most Australians to be able to afford to
34:28
Speaker 15: buy it.
34:29
Speaker 2: Also, Leslake, I really appreciate your insights tonight. Well, let's
34:34
Speaker 2: go now to the Prime Minister's Fiji visit and of
34:37
Speaker 2: course that defense stal that has been struck today. It's
34:40
Speaker 2: a mutual defense treaty the government says will significantly deepen
34:44
Speaker 2: security ties in the Pacific. But against this backdrop news
34:49
Speaker 2: today that China has tested a nuclear capable missile in
34:54
Speaker 2: the South Pacific. Here to discuss it is Strategic Analysis
34:57
Speaker 2: Australia Director Michael Schubridge. Michael, welcome, Let's just start off
35:03
Speaker 2: with the worrying news about China's nuclear testing today. What
35:08
Speaker 2: was it that you were thinking when you first heard
35:10
Speaker 2: about the testing, but more so the lack of I
35:15
Speaker 2: suppose warning that China gave countries like Australia.
35:20
Speaker 6: Well, Jimmy, I was thinking back to the February twenty
35:23
Speaker 6: twenty five live firing exercise that the Chinese Navy Task
35:27
Speaker 6: Force conducted between Australia and New Zealand that risked the
35:32
Speaker 6: lives of civilians on airliners flying between Australia and New Zealand.
35:36
Speaker 6: And I was also thinking about the World Cup and thinking,
35:40
Speaker 6: China has just scored a massive own goal. If anyone
35:44
Speaker 6: before this missile test was in any doubt about China's
35:48
Speaker 6: aggression and growing military rich, Beijing told us, well, we're here,
35:53
Speaker 6: we're aggressive, and we're in your backyard.
35:57
Speaker 2: So what do you make of the timing of this
36:00
Speaker 2: ctyle test. I will get to the signing of the
36:02
Speaker 2: defense treaty in a moment, but surely that doesn't go
36:05
Speaker 2: unnoticed that right at the time that Australia is signing
36:09
Speaker 2: a defense deal with Fiji shortly after is when China
36:13
Speaker 2: is launching this test missile.
36:15
Speaker 3: What do you make of that?
36:17
Speaker 6: You're right, Jennie, and the Chinese give notice about the
36:21
Speaker 6: same time as the security agreement between Fiji and Australia
36:25
Speaker 6: is being signed, they do this intercontinental nuclear capable missile
36:30
Speaker 6: test right into the South Pacific, obviously to make a
36:33
Speaker 6: point that they don't care who signs what pieces of paper.
36:38
Speaker 6: Their military reach and power is growing and they're aggressive.
36:42
Speaker 6: The only person that seems to think this missile firing
36:46
Speaker 6: and the Australia Fiji agreement are not linked is Richard Miles.
36:51
Speaker 3: So what do you make of that?
36:53
Speaker 2: How should the government now be handling this situation with China?
36:57
Speaker 2: Because Penny Wong has come out an obviously condemned the action,
37:01
Speaker 2: and as did Richard Miles, But what should they be
37:04
Speaker 2: doing as the next step? Do we need to be
37:06
Speaker 2: showing some sort of defense strength because I can't help
37:09
Speaker 2: but also think Michael, at the same time, we're in
37:12
Speaker 2: the process of selling some of our defense sites at
37:14
Speaker 2: a time where we probably need to be securing that
37:17
Speaker 2: for our national security.
37:19
Speaker 6: Well, wouldn't it be great if our major northern port,
37:22
Speaker 6: the Port of Darwin, wasn't in Chinese ownership at the moment.
37:26
Speaker 6: That would be a good thing for the government to change.
37:29
Speaker 6: And the Prime Minister has said repeatedly is going to
37:32
Speaker 6: do that. The only thing he hasn't done is act
37:34
Speaker 6: on his words that would be good. I think it'd
37:38
Speaker 6: also be great to hear the Prime Minister admit he
37:41
Speaker 6: doesn't have a stabilized relationship with China. Australia and China
37:46
Speaker 6: are not in a stable relationship because China is on
37:50
Speaker 6: an aggressive push into our region with its naked military power,
37:55
Speaker 6: So getting some honesty from the government about the state
37:58
Speaker 6: of the relationship would be a good starting point.
38:02
Speaker 2: All right, let's talk about this Defense pact that happened today.
38:06
Speaker 2: It's a new alliance between Fiji and Australia. It does
38:11
Speaker 2: seem as though these two have merged together as a
38:13
Speaker 2: way to be able to get.
38:15
Speaker 3: Off the China influence.
38:18
Speaker 2: Tell us about what you think of this deal, but
38:20
Speaker 2: what it's going to be as an impact for Australia.
38:23
Speaker 6: I think the deal is a very positive thing for
38:26
Speaker 6: both Fiji and Australia. It's pretty clear about the fact
38:30
Speaker 6: that there are growing security challenges that are pushing their
38:34
Speaker 6: way into the South Pacific, and of course the primary
38:37
Speaker 6: thread is from China. So it's great to have Fiji
38:42
Speaker 6: in Australia have a meeting of the minds on that.
38:44
Speaker 6: But the biggest thing to me about this agreement is
38:47
Speaker 6: it's open to other South Pacific countries to join, So
38:50
Speaker 6: it's the start of a bigger collective security approach in
38:54
Speaker 6: the region in the face of some pretty clear Chinese aggression.
39:00
Speaker 2: Michael, can we turn our attention now to the war
39:04
Speaker 2: in Ukraine with Vladimir Putin at the moment where Russia
39:08
Speaker 2: seems to be under significant stress in terms of fuel
39:12
Speaker 2: shortages in the country, and now Putin is starting to
39:15
Speaker 2: say that they're in a bit of trouble. What do
39:19
Speaker 2: you make about the landscape of what's happening over there
39:21
Speaker 2: at the moment.
39:24
Speaker 6: Well, Ukraine has really changed the war because it's built
39:28
Speaker 6: pretty impressive strike capabilities, not just in and around the
39:32
Speaker 6: front lines and a bit deeper against Russian logistics and
39:36
Speaker 6: supply chains, but also right into the heart of Russia
39:40
Speaker 6: and all of the oil refineries and other energy infrastructure.
39:45
Speaker 6: And that's causing enormous pain to Russia. It's bringing the
39:48
Speaker 6: war home to Russia. So Putin is in a real
39:51
Speaker 6: fix at the moment because he told his people this
39:54
Speaker 6: wasn't even a war, it was all going to be
39:56
Speaker 6: over in a very short period of time, and now
39:58
Speaker 6: the war is coming home. So this is the time
40:01
Speaker 6: to increase the political pressure on Putin and also to
40:06
Speaker 6: make sure we support Ukraine as they really turn the
40:09
Speaker 6: tables on Russia.
40:11
Speaker 2: And Michael, before I let you go, just tell us
40:14
Speaker 2: about the significance of drones within warfare that we're seeing
40:18
Speaker 2: now and why it's so important that Australia is starting
40:21
Speaker 2: to invest in more of drone capability.
40:24
Speaker 6: Well, Australia is really doing far less than it should
40:28
Speaker 6: on drone capability. It's placed its bets on expensive, small
40:32
Speaker 6: numbers of drones like ghost Bat and ghost Shuk. But
40:35
Speaker 6: the Ukrainian War, the Ukrainians have shown long range drone
40:40
Speaker 6: strikes of thousands of kilometers and our routine for them
40:43
Speaker 6: that's absolutely relevant to us here in our part of
40:46
Speaker 6: the world. And obviously the Iran War showed the power
40:50
Speaker 6: of missiles and drones to close global waterways in the
40:54
Speaker 6: face of the global superpower. So Australia needs to stop
40:57
Speaker 6: talking about drone and counter drone technology and invest billions
41:02
Speaker 6: of dollars in Australian companies, many of whom are world leaders.
41:08
Speaker 2: Well, Michael Schubridge, I always love your insights. Thank you
41:10
Speaker 2: for your time tonight. Well, coming up, the push to
41:14
Speaker 2: stop renewables project has gained some significant steam, but still
41:18
Speaker 2: no answers from New South Wales government.
41:21
Speaker 3: That is next.
41:27
Speaker 2: Welcome back, all right, We're going to head out to
41:30
Speaker 2: an issue that Peter has been following closely on this
41:33
Speaker 2: program now for some time. For years, farmers in New
41:37
Speaker 2: England have been fighting the New South Wales government's renewable
41:40
Speaker 2: energy zone and the transmission lines that come with it.
41:44
Speaker 2: Now the campaign has broadened into something much bigger.
41:48
Speaker 3: The newly launched.
41:50
Speaker 2: Walker Declaration is calling for a national rethink of Australia's
41:54
Speaker 2: energy policy, arguing the country's pursuit of net zero is
41:58
Speaker 2: driving up power bills, threatening food security and sacrificing productive land.
42:05
Speaker 14: We're calling for an urgent review into an energy policy
42:08
Speaker 14: that was never built for purpose. Billions of dollars have
42:11
Speaker 14: been spent on wind and solar projects that only deliver
42:14
Speaker 14: part time power, billions more on transmission that's required to
42:18
Speaker 14: bind it altogether, and then good money after bad to
42:21
Speaker 14: back up a system where failure is a designed feature.
42:24
Speaker 14: The result is a weaker, less resilient, but more costly
42:28
Speaker 14: energy system, and the proof of that is in everyone's
42:31
Speaker 14: power bill. Australians are paying more and getting less.
42:36
Speaker 2: What joining me now is one of the founders of
42:39
Speaker 2: the Declaration and a young Anna Welcome.
42:43
Speaker 3: Let's just start.
42:44
Speaker 2: Off if you could please just give our viewers a
42:47
Speaker 2: very quick understanding of how all of this started.
42:52
Speaker 11: So for our.
42:53
Speaker 5: Group, particularly the Walk of High Country Guardians, last October
42:57
Speaker 5: it was announced that this corridor three hundred and five
43:01
Speaker 5: kilometer transmission project was going to be moved to us
43:04
Speaker 5: after the government spent two hundred million studying a previous corridor.
43:09
Speaker 5: And since then it's really moved quite quickly. We've united
43:13
Speaker 5: with all the groups across the New England as well
43:16
Speaker 5: as groups up and down this line, because we knew
43:20
Speaker 5: very quickly how problematic this was. It was very clearly
43:24
Speaker 5: drawn from a desktop in Sydney, and so from there,
43:28
Speaker 5: I guess at a ground level we knew this project
43:32
Speaker 5: is incredibly flawed and the government aren't listening. It doesn't
43:35
Speaker 5: matter what facts or logic we give, it's not being heard.
43:38
Speaker 16: And so from there it's grown to.
43:40
Speaker 5: Talking to other communities outside of just our res We
43:44
Speaker 5: know that the Central West has been absolutely decidated.
43:46
Speaker 16: They are the guidea pigs.
43:48
Speaker 5: We know down in Victoria they're finding this across our
43:50
Speaker 5: country and the government are just unwilling to listen, and
43:53
Speaker 5: so this declaration really came from I guess grassroots perspective,
43:59
Speaker 5: a bunch of very frustrated Australians well the.
44:03
Speaker 3: New South Wales government.
44:05
Speaker 2: They say that renewable energy zones are essential to keep
44:08
Speaker 2: the lights on and deliver cheaper electricity as coal exit
44:12
Speaker 2: the system. And what you guys have been able to
44:14
Speaker 2: say and proving that this is becoming a multi billion
44:17
Speaker 2: dollar misallocation of tax payers money and it's actually going
44:20
Speaker 2: to increase power prices and also damage farmland along the way.
44:24
Speaker 2: And we're seeing that our power bills are just continuously
44:27
Speaker 2: going up and up and up, and so tell us
44:30
Speaker 2: about the policy reset that you want to see.
44:33
Speaker 16: So we understand that five years ago, when the.
44:37
Speaker 5: New England res was declared in twenty twenty one, it
44:40
Speaker 5: looked like it was going to be a great project.
44:42
Speaker 16: It looked like, you know, it could be the.
44:44
Speaker 5: Right place for wind generation, for solar generation. Since then,
44:48
Speaker 5: there's been a lot of data collected and five years
44:50
Speaker 5: is a long time for new information to come in,
44:53
Speaker 5: and that new information has clearly highlighted how flawed this
44:57
Speaker 5: project is and so what we know is that over
45:01
Speaker 5: the past few years, what people thought was going to
45:03
Speaker 5: be cleaner, greener, cheaper is just not the case anymore.
45:08
Speaker 16: And so for this.
45:08
Speaker 5: Project, the transmission corridor is going to cost twenty billion
45:12
Speaker 5: dollars and the projects up here in the New England
45:15
Speaker 5: have actually just been falling through. It was probably oversized
45:19
Speaker 5: to begin with because of some errors that happened, and
45:22
Speaker 5: the new policy that's come out that the Coalition are
45:25
Speaker 5: actually really driving and have suggested at the moment, is
45:29
Speaker 5: rethinking the resis. So this res up here the New England,
45:33
Speaker 5: res capping it where it is because we are already
45:35
Speaker 5: doing our fair share, and then looking at other areas
45:39
Speaker 5: closer to the grid, so around Sydney, Newcastle, Woongbong as
45:42
Speaker 5: well as areas that are actually crying out for it,
45:45
Speaker 5: not areas where like us in the New England, completely
45:50
Speaker 5: new water supplies would be needed. Hundreds and hundreds of
45:53
Speaker 5: trucks from hundreds of kilometers away every single day would need.
45:57
Speaker 16: To transport water just to build this resis.
46:01
Speaker 2: And you recently secured a parliamentary debate after more than
46:05
Speaker 2: twenty two thousand people signed a petition, which is remarkable
46:09
Speaker 2: by any measure. Now, I was actually sent a photo
46:14
Speaker 2: of this debate and the labor side of the chamber
46:19
Speaker 2: was empty. Have you spoken to Premier Chris Mins yet?
46:24
Speaker 5: Unfortunately Mins is refusing to meet with us. Refusing to
46:28
Speaker 5: talk with us on that day. You know, twenty two
46:31
Speaker 5: thousand people cared enough, twenty two thousands of his constituents cared,
46:36
Speaker 5: and the Premier Mins not to show up or talk
46:39
Speaker 5: to us, to refuse our request to the meeting just
46:42
Speaker 5: really shows a total disrespect for his state, for the
46:46
Speaker 5: people of his state. It shows a disrespect for farming families,
46:50
Speaker 5: for small businesses. That day was incredibly disappointing. So many
46:57
Speaker 5: of us traveled, you know, over ten hours return trip
46:59
Speaker 5: to be there, and they had one person speak from
47:03
Speaker 5: Bankstown and the Labor Governments speaker only spoke about things
47:07
Speaker 5: from twenty twenty one, no reasons why this corridor should proceed,
47:12
Speaker 5: whereas every other speaker there talked about the huge number
47:16
Speaker 5: of flaws in terms of economic disaster, environmental disaster, social disaster,
47:22
Speaker 5: and Mince has no good answer to that. And we're
47:24
Speaker 5: assuming that's why he won't meet, because he knows how
47:27
Speaker 5: problematic and costly this is going to be for all
47:30
Speaker 5: of Australians. It's going to add to their electricity bills,
47:33
Speaker 5: it's going to destroy small businesses. You know, this is
47:36
Speaker 5: something his people should care about.
47:39
Speaker 2: And there were two hundred of you that made the
47:41
Speaker 2: trip into Parliament House. Just quickly before I let you go,
47:45
Speaker 2: I went out to Crookwell and I've seen firsthand the
47:48
Speaker 2: damage it's doing to farmland. We've got about thirty seconds,
47:51
Speaker 2: but just tell us emotionally how this is impacting the
47:55
Speaker 2: farmers in your area.
47:56
Speaker 3: Just the thought of what could happen.
47:58
Speaker 5: It's hugely distressing, something that we spend countless hours on
48:01
Speaker 5: every day. These farms are everything to us. We want
48:05
Speaker 5: to get on with feeding the nation. We want to
48:07
Speaker 5: get on with making sure that we can run our
48:11
Speaker 5: small businesses to pass on to our children. And we
48:13
Speaker 5: want to make sure that Australia isn't left in a
48:15
Speaker 5: worse position than we're already being left in because of
48:18
Speaker 5: the financial irresponsibility of this government.
48:21
Speaker 2: Well, An, you keep up that fight, we'll get you
48:23
Speaker 2: on again soon. Well, thank you for your company tonight.
48:27
Speaker 2: You'll see me again here tomorrow at six o'clock. The
48:30
Speaker 2: Bolt Report is up next