Latest / Credlin / Credlin | 30 December

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Credlin | 30 December · Credlin

0:01
Speaker 1: Peter Kredland live on Sky News Australia.
0:07
Speaker 2: Well, good evening, I'm James Macpherson filling in for Peter Kredlin.
0:10
Speaker 2: Coming up tonight, Former US President Jimmy Carter has passed
0:14
Speaker 2: away at the age of one hundred. Will assess his
0:16
Speaker 2: impact on the world stage. Plus the plan to fix
0:20
Speaker 2: the ADF's personnel shortage by recruiting foreign citizens kicks off this.
0:24
Speaker 3: Week, But is it a good move?
0:26
Speaker 2: And another major wind farm project is scrapped, this time
0:29
Speaker 2: off the coast of South Australia. When will this government
0:33
Speaker 2: wake up? But first, hostages. There are still ninety six
0:38
Speaker 2: Israelis being held captive in Gaza, men and women and
0:42
Speaker 2: children snatched from their homes by terrorists four hundred and
0:46
Speaker 2: fifty days ago. I'm trying to imagine the absolute outrage
0:50
Speaker 2: I would feel if one of my family members was
0:53
Speaker 2: taken hostage, that alone, still being held hostage fourteen months later,
0:58
Speaker 2: as the world didthers if it was my mother or
1:01
Speaker 2: my sister still held captive in Gaza. While world leaders
1:05
Speaker 2: are pined on which particular rescue efforts they felt most
1:08
Speaker 2: comfortable with, Well, I can't imagine the fury I would
1:11
Speaker 2: feel and all of this as the world prepares to
1:14
Speaker 2: wish each other a happy New year, imagine Hamas terrorists
1:18
Speaker 2: holding your loved ones hostage. While Western politicians, including here
1:22
Speaker 2: in Australia, tutted the rescuers from being too well vigorous
1:26
Speaker 2: in their efforts to free them, a report to be
1:29
Speaker 2: submitted to the United Nations this week says the hostages
1:32
Speaker 2: so far released had been subjected to physical and sexual
1:36
Speaker 2: abuse during their captivity, that.
1:38
Speaker 3: Includes the children.
1:40
Speaker 2: The report from the Israeli Health Ministry, based on testimonies
1:43
Speaker 2: from released hostages, details incidents of Jews being burned, beaten,
1:49
Speaker 2: sexually assaulted at gunpoint, and deliberately starved by their Hamas captors.
1:54
Speaker 2: Jewish women described being tied to beds while their captors
1:58
Speaker 2: stared at them. Wish teenagers reported being forced to perform
2:02
Speaker 2: sexual acts on each other a threat of being shot
2:05
Speaker 2: by their tormentors. The latest report from the Health Ministry
2:09
Speaker 2: also said that male captives and I quote endured severe
2:13
Speaker 2: physical abuse, including continuous starvation, beatings, burns with galvanized iron,
2:20
Speaker 2: and being denied access to the bathroom which forced them
2:23
Speaker 2: to defecate on themselves, and in all likelihood that's only
2:27
Speaker 2: half the story. Many of the released hostages are too
2:30
Speaker 2: afraid to speak about what transpired for fear it will
2:33
Speaker 2: only provoke worse for those still captive. It beggars belief
2:38
Speaker 2: that our own foreign Minister, who now seems completely foreign,
2:42
Speaker 2: at least to me, speaks far more about how the
2:45
Speaker 2: Israeli Defense Force has offended her sensibilities than about what
2:49
Speaker 2: Hermas has done and continues to do to innocence. It
2:53
Speaker 2: boggles my mind that our own prime minister seems far
2:57
Speaker 2: more interested in shoring up Muslim votes and he does
3:00
Speaker 2: standing for basic freedoms. Erebus Elbow hasn't even visited Israel
3:05
Speaker 2: since October seven.
3:07
Speaker 3: Penny Wong visited, but wasn't.
3:09
Speaker 2: Bother to travel the forty five minutes from the comforts
3:11
Speaker 2: for a hotel in Jerusalem to the site of the
3:14
Speaker 2: Hamas attacks, and virtually none of our government ministers have
3:18
Speaker 2: taken up the opportunity to view footage of what actually
3:21
Speaker 2: went down on October seven. Talk about a collective case
3:24
Speaker 2: of looking the other way. I was thinking about all
3:28
Speaker 2: of this when I read in horror, as many of
3:30
Speaker 2: you would have, last week, about a woman set on
3:33
Speaker 2: fire in the New York subway.
3:35
Speaker 3: More horrific than the.
3:36
Speaker 2: Crime was the response, or should I say, the lack
3:39
Speaker 2: thereof a woman asleep on a train set on fire
3:44
Speaker 2: by a madman, and fellow passengers stood idly while she burned.
3:49
Speaker 2: A New York cop was seen to nonchalantly walk past
3:52
Speaker 2: the burning woman, even as flames engulfed her.
3:55
Speaker 3: But here's the crazy part.
3:57
Speaker 2: At one point, the murderous madman was actually standing they're
4:00
Speaker 2: fanning the flames as everybody else just watched on. It
4:05
Speaker 2: wasn't just that people watched her burn. People stood back
4:07
Speaker 2: as the madman made sure she burned. Every decent person
4:12
Speaker 2: was left asking how on earth could this happen? How
4:16
Speaker 2: could the world be so heartless, so cruel, so unmoved,
4:20
Speaker 2: so blase in the face of evil, so unwilling to
4:23
Speaker 2: help a fellow human being. Well, time's that horrific event
4:27
Speaker 2: by a factor of ninety six. As I said, there
4:31
Speaker 2: are right now ninety six of our fellow human beings
4:34
Speaker 2: held captive by madmen in Gaza as the world watches on,
4:39
Speaker 2: as the United Nations about as helpful as that disinterested
4:42
Speaker 2: New York cop nonchalantly stroll by. What about this our
4:48
Speaker 2: government has plenty of pity for convicted heroine smugglers twenty
4:52
Speaker 2: years in prison. That's long enough for the Bali nine,
4:54
Speaker 2: our government said, which begs the question how long is
4:58
Speaker 2: long enough for innocent used to be held hostage by terrorists?
5:03
Speaker 2: At what point does our government say enough? After four
5:06
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty one days? Is that when Albanesi in
5:09
Speaker 2: one finally take a stand? Maybe after the election, did
5:13
Speaker 2: any of us imagine we'd still be talking about the
5:16
Speaker 2: need to free the Jews four hundred and fifty days
5:20
Speaker 2: after they were taken hostage. I suspect the government would
5:23
Speaker 2: like us to just stop talking about them, But if
5:26
Speaker 2: we did, we'd be no better than those who watched
5:28
Speaker 2: that poor woman burn on the subway before getting on
5:32
Speaker 2: with our shopping. You and I are a lot better
5:35
Speaker 2: than that, surely. I just wish our government was.
5:42
Speaker 4: Well.
5:43
Speaker 3: Anthony Albanese says.
5:44
Speaker 2: Disasters have become more intense and more frequent in Australia
5:47
Speaker 2: during his time as Prime Minister. That's no surprise he
5:51
Speaker 2: leads a disaster prone government. Oh hang on a second,
5:54
Speaker 2: he meant natural disasters have become more frequent as opposed
5:58
Speaker 2: to Bow and Giles Chalmers Wong and Plibasek induced disasters,
6:02
Speaker 2: which seem to occur now on an almost daily basis.
6:06
Speaker 2: The PM was flying over the Grampians Somenday to inspect
6:09
Speaker 2: fires that have burned through seventy six thousand hectares of
6:12
Speaker 2: Victorian National Park.
6:14
Speaker 3: Albanzi toll journalists.
6:17
Speaker 5: We live in a country which has harsh conditions.
6:23
Speaker 2: Well, that's true. Housing is unaffordable, electricity is unreliable, and
6:27
Speaker 2: hospital beds are regularly unavailable. Harsh conditions. Indeed, Prime Minister,
6:32
Speaker 2: ill hang on a second, You mean we live in
6:34
Speaker 2: a country that has naturally harsh conditions as opposed to
6:37
Speaker 2: those created by the Labor government. Well, sure, Australia has
6:41
Speaker 2: always been a harsh land. Dorothy mckella said so in
6:44
Speaker 2: her famous poem My Country back in nineteen o eight.
6:48
Speaker 3: But as the Albanesi went on and added this.
6:51
Speaker 5: It's always had fires, that's always had these extreme weather events.
6:56
Speaker 5: But the truth is they're becoming more frequent and more
6:59
Speaker 5: intent and that has been something that I've been Prime
7:03
Speaker 5: Minister for two and a half years, and I have
7:06
Speaker 5: been to natural disasters and extreme weather events in every
7:11
Speaker 5: single state and territory of the country.
7:16
Speaker 2: Well, If extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and
7:19
Speaker 2: more intense since Anthony Alberenezi has become PM, all the
7:22
Speaker 2: more reason to vote him out office. But I think
7:25
Speaker 2: what the PM meant to say was that he is
7:27
Speaker 2: more aware of natural disasters since becoming PM, having criticized
7:31
Speaker 2: Scott Morrison for missing a fire elbow, now needs to
7:34
Speaker 2: attend them all.
7:36
Speaker 3: But let's imagine the PM is right.
7:38
Speaker 2: You know that human activity is having such a dramatic
7:40
Speaker 2: effect on the climate. Natural disasters have noticeably increased even
7:45
Speaker 2: in just the past two years. But why is he
7:48
Speaker 2: not using his much vaunted relationship with Jijinping to say, hey,
7:52
Speaker 2: quit the fossil fuels already, you're setting our continent on fire.
7:55
Speaker 2: After all, If Pacific island leaders reckon our ingy use
7:59
Speaker 2: is seeking their islands, why aren't we calling out China's
8:03
Speaker 2: energy use for setting fire to ours. The Chinese can,
8:07
Speaker 2: of course, relax. There's no way our government would risk
8:10
Speaker 2: losing a couple of borrowed panda bears in Adelaide due
8:13
Speaker 2: to finger pointing over climate change, or reckless behavior toward
8:16
Speaker 2: our armed forces, for that matter. But besides all of that,
8:20
Speaker 2: the PM's claim is utter rubbish. Exploring Australia's East Coast
8:24
Speaker 2: in seventeen seventy, long before internal combustion engines, Captain James
8:29
Speaker 2: Cook described the Landers and I quote a continent of smoke,
8:34
Speaker 2: and noted that we saw smoke by day or fires
8:36
Speaker 2: by night wherever we came. This week's fire and the
8:40
Speaker 2: Grampians is significant, to be sure, though nowhere near as
8:44
Speaker 2: bad as previous fires dating back to the eighteen hundreds.
8:48
Speaker 2: The Forest Fire Management Victoria website lists major fires occurring
8:52
Speaker 2: in the state in twenty nineteen, twenty fifteen, twenty thirteen,
8:56
Speaker 2: two thousand and nine, two thousand and six, two thousand
8:59
Speaker 2: and five to one thousand and three, two thousand and two.
9:02
Speaker 3: Do you want me to keep going?
9:03
Speaker 2: Nineteen ninety eight, ninety seven, eighty five, eighty three, eighty
9:05
Speaker 2: seventy seven, seventy two, sixty nine, sixty five, sixty two,
9:09
Speaker 2: nineteen fifty two, nineteen forty four, forty three, forty two,
9:12
Speaker 2: thirty eight, thirty two.
9:14
Speaker 3: And nineteen twenty six.
9:15
Speaker 2: And that's before we talk about Red Tuesday on February first,
9:19
Speaker 2: eighteen ninety eight, when fires burned two hundred and sixty
9:22
Speaker 2: thousand hectares, killing twelve people, destroying two thousand buildings, or worse,
9:26
Speaker 2: what about Black Thursday In February eighteen fifty one, fires
9:30
Speaker 2: covered a quarter of what is now Victoria, about five
9:33
Speaker 2: million hectares, killing twelve people, along with a million sheep
9:37
Speaker 2: plus thousands of cattle. Natural disasters such as that in
9:41
Speaker 2: the Grampians this week have not become more frequent or
9:44
Speaker 2: intense since Anthony Albanesi became Prime minister. He's not that important.
9:49
Speaker 2: The statistics don't lie Albanezi. However, now it can be
9:53
Speaker 2: a little elastic two hundred and seventy five dollars powerbill reduction.
9:58
Speaker 2: To be clear, I'm not saying this year's fire and
10:01
Speaker 2: the Grampians is nothing to be concerned about. I'm just
10:04
Speaker 2: pointing out that the Victorian government's own records show this
10:07
Speaker 2: fire is not particularly unique nor historically intense. Nevertheless, a
10:12
Speaker 2: forest catches fire, as forests in Victoria have done for centuries,
10:16
Speaker 2: and Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi while he is on the scene,
10:20
Speaker 2: no one had to.
10:21
Speaker 3: Coax him to be there.
10:22
Speaker 2: But you know, there was another fire in Victoria just
10:26
Speaker 2: recently at a Jewish synagogue, and Prime Minister Anthony Albaneze
10:30
Speaker 2: he waited five days before having to be shamed into
10:32
Speaker 2: showing up at that one. It seems to me like
10:36
Speaker 2: the National Park fire helps Albanzi. It serves as a
10:40
Speaker 2: welcome distraction from his government's ineptitude, and it assists in
10:44
Speaker 2: ramping up fear over climate change, a necessary ingredient for
10:47
Speaker 2: support of his renewables. Push the synagogue fire, though, will
10:52
Speaker 2: that only serve to highlight his government's ineptitude when it
10:55
Speaker 2: comes to maintaining social cohesion. Now the irony here should
10:59
Speaker 2: be playing to see the PM has little ability to
11:03
Speaker 2: stop fires such as the one in the Victorian high Country.
11:06
Speaker 2: As Elbanezi himself said, it's a harsh country. Bushfires happen,
11:11
Speaker 2: but synagogue fires, well, that's an entirely new phenomenon that
11:16
Speaker 2: has become more common under his watch. Indeed, Australia has
11:20
Speaker 2: always been a safe country for Jews, and Australia still
11:23
Speaker 2: could be a safe place for Jews if the government
11:26
Speaker 2: was serious about hosing down anti Semitism, and if Penny
11:30
Speaker 2: One would stop inflaming opinion against Israel at the United Nations.
11:33
Speaker 2: But when it comes to anti Semitism, neither Elbow nor
11:37
Speaker 2: Wong nor Burke seemed to.
11:38
Speaker 3: Hold a hose.
11:41
Speaker 2: Exaggerating the Grampians fire serves this government's ideology. Acknowledging the
11:46
Speaker 2: synagogue fire does not. You know, sometimes the Albaneze government
11:51
Speaker 2: wants to be the fireman and sometimes the Albanze government
11:54
Speaker 2: wants to be the arsonist. It all depends on which
11:58
Speaker 2: way they think the smoke will blow. Well, joining me
12:05
Speaker 2: now to discuss some of the major stories of the
12:07
Speaker 2: day is Nick Cata, senior fellow at the Menzies Research Center. Nick,
12:11
Speaker 2: thanks for joining me in Happy New Year in advance
12:14
Speaker 2: in case I don't get a chance to talk to
12:16
Speaker 2: you a bit later. But let's start in the United
12:19
Speaker 2: States tonight, where former President Jimmy Carter has died at
12:22
Speaker 2: the age of one hundred. The former peanut farmer and
12:26
Speaker 2: Democratic leader served as president for one term from nineteen
12:29
Speaker 2: seventy seven before being swept away by Ronald Reagan. He
12:33
Speaker 2: was President Joe Biden. Offering some words of reflection, have
12:37
Speaker 2: a listen.
12:38
Speaker 4: Jimmy Carter lived a life measured not by words but
12:41
Speaker 4: by his deeds. Just look at his life, his life's work.
12:45
Speaker 4: He worked to eradicate disease. Now and who knows this at home,
12:48
Speaker 4: but around the world he forwards peace, advanced civil rights,
12:54
Speaker 4: human rights, promoter free and fair elections around the world,
12:58
Speaker 4: built housing and homeless and it's compassion and moral clarity
13:05
Speaker 4: that the people up and change lives and saved lives
13:08
Speaker 4: all over the globe.
13:10
Speaker 2: Nicklet to start by asking you, what do you think
13:12
Speaker 2: President Carter will primarily be remembered for.
13:16
Speaker 1: Oh, without a doubt, I think James the Camp David Accords,
13:19
Speaker 1: the historic peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, which has
13:23
Speaker 1: stood the test of time, and we've just seen with
13:26
Speaker 1: the fallout from October the seventh, what an important relationship
13:30
Speaker 1: that is and how it stands firm, and how it's
13:33
Speaker 1: one country in the regional, one near neighbor, which Israel
13:37
Speaker 1: can have a trusting and normal relationship with. Because you'll
13:41
Speaker 1: also be remembered, I think for not being firm enough
13:45
Speaker 1: when it came to handling the Russian invasion of Afghanistan,
13:48
Speaker 1: and certainly not the capture of the US hostages in
13:52
Speaker 1: the US embassy in Tehran, which was still in progress
13:56
Speaker 1: when he left. It was up to Ronald Reagan to
13:57
Speaker 1: clean that up. But I do think one thing I
13:59
Speaker 1: think think which is being overlooked about him in much
14:02
Speaker 1: has been said today. I think he really paved the
14:04
Speaker 1: way for Reagan to end the Cold War. He changed
14:07
Speaker 1: the narrative towards the Soviets towards one based on human
14:12
Speaker 1: rights abuses, the way they were treating their own people,
14:16
Speaker 1: and that was what in the end cut through, and
14:18
Speaker 1: I think paved the way for the historic ending of
14:21
Speaker 1: the Cold War under Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.
14:27
Speaker 2: He will has certainly been honored by people from all
14:30
Speaker 2: sides of politics in the US, including Donald Trump, who
14:33
Speaker 2: gave a very nice tribute on X earlier today. I
14:37
Speaker 2: want to go back to local politics here because analysis
14:40
Speaker 2: of quarterly polling trends is very interesting. At the moment
14:43
Speaker 2: Nikot's finding Labor is losing ground in the nation's largest
14:47
Speaker 2: states in the lead up to next year's election. According
14:50
Speaker 2: to Resolved Political Monitor, the Coalition is now leading Labour
14:53
Speaker 2: thirty eight percent to twenty nine percent when it comes
14:56
Speaker 2: to the primary vote in New South Wales and would
14:58
Speaker 2: you believe it Warrior and while Anthony Albaneze he has
15:02
Speaker 2: a two point lead over Dutton when it comes to
15:05
Speaker 2: preferred prime minister in those states. On the national level,
15:08
Speaker 2: he's only one point ahead. So I got to ask
15:12
Speaker 2: you on these trends, Nick, as big a hurdle as
15:16
Speaker 2: it would be for the coalition to jump, do you
15:19
Speaker 2: think they're on track to potentially make Albanezi a one
15:22
Speaker 2: term prime minister.
15:24
Speaker 1: Well, that's the big question. I mean, I think it
15:26
Speaker 1: is certain in my view that they will lose seats
15:30
Speaker 1: and therefore enter minority government. I can't see how they
15:33
Speaker 1: can do anything but lose seats. Every first term government
15:36
Speaker 1: since the war, including the great Robert Menzies, lost seats
15:40
Speaker 1: at their first election. John Howard lost eighteen seats at
15:44
Speaker 1: his first election after becoming after holding after his first term.
15:48
Speaker 1: So I cannot see a government as bad as this
15:52
Speaker 1: doing anything but going backwards. Will they go backwards far enough?
15:56
Speaker 1: Let's remember that the Coalition probably need eighteen to twenty
15:59
Speaker 1: seats to have any chance of governing in their own right,
16:03
Speaker 1: and probably fifteen if they want to try and stitch
16:05
Speaker 1: a coalition together, which I'm not sure it will be
16:06
Speaker 1: a good idea. That is a big, big ask. So yes,
16:11
Speaker 1: Albanezy won't be in charge of his own destiny after
16:14
Speaker 1: the next election. He'll have to seek some sort of
16:16
Speaker 1: coalition agreement, some sort of coalition partnership with the Greens
16:21
Speaker 1: or the Teals, or possibly both of them. But I
16:24
Speaker 1: think the idea is still a big, big ask for
16:28
Speaker 1: Peter Dutton, and he's going to need some momentum behind him.
16:32
Speaker 1: There's going to have to be even more momentum, and
16:34
Speaker 1: there is at the moment.
16:37
Speaker 3: Well.
16:37
Speaker 2: The way the Albanezer government keep making mistakes, you wouldn't
16:40
Speaker 2: put it past them to put some more wind in
16:42
Speaker 2: dutton sales.
16:44
Speaker 3: I want to talk to you about end of year predictions.
16:46
Speaker 2: The Sydney Morning Herald has come under fire after publishing
16:49
Speaker 2: an opinion piece on Sunday in which their technology editor
16:53
Speaker 2: David Swan predicted that Elon Musk would be.
16:55
Speaker 3: Forced to part ways with Tesla next year.
16:58
Speaker 2: Mister Swan wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald, after constant
17:01
Speaker 2: controversies and distractions, it will all come to a head
17:04
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty five and Musk will be forced to
17:06
Speaker 2: hand over the reins at Tesla, a company many mistakenly
17:10
Speaker 2: think he founded.
17:11
Speaker 3: Now.
17:12
Speaker 2: Elon Musk didn't like that as a New Year's prediction.
17:14
Speaker 2: He responded on X quote I predict the Sydney Morning
17:17
Speaker 2: Herald will continue to lose readership in twenty twenty five
17:20
Speaker 2: for relentless lying to their audience and boring them to death.
17:25
Speaker 2: So Nick, I've got to ask you, in terms of
17:26
Speaker 2: those two predictions for the new year, which do you
17:29
Speaker 2: think will come true? Musk leaves Tesla or the Sydney
17:33
Speaker 2: Morning Herald continue to bore their readers to death.
17:37
Speaker 1: Well, Sidney Morning Herald boring its readers soles and losing
17:40
Speaker 1: more readers. I mean, we know the trenders your friend, right,
17:43
Speaker 1: that's been going on since about, oh, I don't know,
17:46
Speaker 1: eighteen ninety nine or something, So look ohing the heck
17:48
Speaker 1: the Herald is destined to lose readers. That's a bold prediction,
17:52
Speaker 1: isn't it by their technology writer. But they can't get
17:56
Speaker 1: their heads around the fact that a virtuous thing, in
17:59
Speaker 1: their view, very saintly like an electric car, it could
18:03
Speaker 1: be produced by a man they detest, like Elon Musk.
18:06
Speaker 1: It really messes with their heads. So I think he'll
18:10
Speaker 1: hold on to that company as long as he can,
18:12
Speaker 1: just to continue messing with their heads. Quite apart from
18:14
Speaker 1: the fact I think it's been a fairly successful business
18:17
Speaker 1: for him.
18:19
Speaker 2: I think you're absolutely right about why they don't like
18:21
Speaker 2: Elon Musk.
18:22
Speaker 3: Nick.
18:22
Speaker 2: I've got to go, but before I do, you wrote
18:24
Speaker 2: a great piece in The Australian today. You gave eighteen
18:27
Speaker 2: predictions for the new year, which is very bold. I
18:30
Speaker 2: must say of you. We haven't got much time left,
18:32
Speaker 2: but just give me your two big tips for twenty
18:35
Speaker 2: twenty five.
18:36
Speaker 1: I predict that coal production around the world will be
18:40
Speaker 1: or hit a record ever be'st number one, despite the
18:44
Speaker 1: fact that the International Energy Authority said in twenty fifteen
18:47
Speaker 1: that coal had already peaked. It will be record sales
18:50
Speaker 1: next year. That's the trend on that one. I also
18:54
Speaker 1: predict that we will produce in Australia far more coal
18:59
Speaker 1: than we did do power from windmills and solo, and
19:03
Speaker 1: we will continue to export most of that coal, unlike
19:06
Speaker 1: wind and solar, which we don't export. So I think
19:09
Speaker 1: the idea of a renewable energy superpower, you know, the
19:12
Speaker 1: great Chris Bowen dream, that's going to be on hold
19:15
Speaker 1: for another year.
19:18
Speaker 2: I reckon it might be on hold for more than
19:19
Speaker 2: just another year. Nick, Thanks for joining me tonight, and
19:22
Speaker 2: a happy New Year to you and your family.
19:26
Speaker 3: Well.
19:26
Speaker 2: In an effort to address the personal personnel rather shortages
19:29
Speaker 2: facing the ADF. Citizens from Canada, America and Britain will
19:33
Speaker 2: be eligible to join our army from January the first
19:37
Speaker 2: under the program, which was announced earlier this year. Residents
19:41
Speaker 2: from five I countries will be able to sign up
19:43
Speaker 2: as long as they've lived in Australia for twelve months,
19:46
Speaker 2: cleared security checks, and have not served in a foreign
19:48
Speaker 2: army within the past two years. LNPMP Garth Hamilton joins
19:53
Speaker 2: me now, Garth welcome this move to allow five Nations
19:58
Speaker 2: partners to join our defense forces will inevitably provide a
20:03
Speaker 2: boost to the ADF. But I think a lot more
20:06
Speaker 2: needs to be done to attract Australian citizens, doesn't it.
20:10
Speaker 6: Oh?
20:10
Speaker 7: Absolutely, And look we do have a problem with recruitment.
20:13
Speaker 7: We do need to address it. But this is a
20:15
Speaker 7: massive admission of defeat by this labor government. No one's
20:19
Speaker 7: going to fight for Australia like an Australian will. We
20:21
Speaker 7: all know that. But this government said that we're going
20:24
Speaker 7: to increase recruitment. They haven't. This is almost exactly the
20:26
Speaker 7: same as them saying we're going to reduce your energy
20:28
Speaker 7: bills by two hundred and seventy five dollars and then
20:30
Speaker 7: giving you your own tax dollars back as a subsidy
20:33
Speaker 7: to try and cover it up. They haven't addressed to
20:35
Speaker 7: fundamental issues. I think this is going to be a
20:38
Speaker 7: big issue to deal with. They put on thirty six
20:42
Speaker 7: thousand public servants. I want to point out we've seen
20:44
Speaker 7: the NDIS boom over this period, so people can be
20:47
Speaker 7: brought into employment. You know, that's not been a problem
20:51
Speaker 7: for this government. So I think that this is a
20:54
Speaker 7: short term fix. This doesn't do the job that we
20:57
Speaker 7: need them to do, which is to bring more Australians
20:59
Speaker 7: into the.
21:03
Speaker 6: Yeah.
21:03
Speaker 2: And the other thing, Garth I always think is if
21:05
Speaker 2: we want young people to join the military and risk
21:08
Speaker 2: their lives for our country, then we need to make
21:11
Speaker 2: sure our country is seen to be worth risking their
21:13
Speaker 2: lives for.
21:14
Speaker 3: And when you've got a government that continually is.
21:16
Speaker 2: Vacillating on Australia Day and talking about, you know, how
21:20
Speaker 2: colonization was a terrible thing, you're not surprised that there's
21:24
Speaker 2: difficulty in convincing young people to join our defense forces.
21:28
Speaker 2: Want to talk to you about another very important subject
21:30
Speaker 2: that I know a lot of people are interested in
21:33
Speaker 2: and that's COVID related fines. The Queensland government is now
21:37
Speaker 2: facing pressure to scrap three point two million dollars worth
21:40
Speaker 2: of COVID fines issued during the pandemic, with the Cataparty
21:44
Speaker 2: calling for those who've already paid fines to be offered
21:47
Speaker 2: a refund. This comes, of course, after the New South
21:50
Speaker 2: Wales government revealed it would be withdrawing the remaining twenty three,
21:54
Speaker 2: five hundred and thirty nine unpaid fines issue during the pandemic,
21:58
Speaker 2: which makes me think you're a bit of a mug
22:00
Speaker 2: if you paid your pandemic fine, weren't you. I want
22:04
Speaker 2: to ask what you think about this move. Surely it's
22:07
Speaker 2: a good one and Queensland should follow the example of
22:11
Speaker 2: New South Wales and refund the fines that have been
22:14
Speaker 2: paid and scrap the ones that are outstanding.
22:18
Speaker 8: Look.
22:18
Speaker 7: I don't like to lean too much into state politics
22:21
Speaker 7: and tell my state colleagues what to do, but I
22:23
Speaker 7: think this is a conversation about good faith. We went
22:26
Speaker 7: through a very very difficult period during COVID. A lot
22:29
Speaker 7: of decisions were made in haste, both by the government
22:32
Speaker 7: and by the Australian people. I think it's a good
22:35
Speaker 7: move that New South Wales has acknowledged that decided to
22:37
Speaker 7: move on, and it's interesting to see that's a labor
22:40
Speaker 7: government in New South Wales making that call. We've got
22:42
Speaker 7: a Catter party in Queensland making that call there. I
22:45
Speaker 7: think this is something the government can do to reach
22:47
Speaker 7: out to his strands and say, look, we're going to
22:48
Speaker 7: move on. We're going to move on from COVID. I
22:51
Speaker 7: don't know anyone who really wants to go back through
22:53
Speaker 7: that period, wants to think about that period too much.
22:55
Speaker 7: Over again, it was a very difficult time in our lives.
22:58
Speaker 7: I think there'd be a good step forward.
23:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree.
23:03
Speaker 2: I mean there's been some very belated admissions that maybe,
23:06
Speaker 2: you know, things weren't done as well as they could
23:08
Speaker 2: have been. Refunding some of those fines I think would
23:12
Speaker 2: be the least governments could do after the horrendous breaches
23:16
Speaker 2: of civil liberties that we were subjected to during that period.
23:19
Speaker 2: Told it was medical advice when it turned out oftentimes
23:22
Speaker 2: to be based on things.
23:23
Speaker 3: Like polling and vibe more than anything.
23:25
Speaker 2: Else, to quickly go to Victoria where of course, the
23:28
Speaker 2: big news last week was that Liberal leader Brad Batton
23:33
Speaker 2: was well.
23:33
Speaker 3: He wasn't the Liberal leader then he is.
23:35
Speaker 2: Now, but he's faced his first major test after replacing Pursuito.
23:40
Speaker 2: In an interview with my colleague Kenny Heatley this morning,
23:43
Speaker 2: Brad Batton refused to answer what I thought was a
23:46
Speaker 2: pretty incredible, pretty important question, the question of whether he
23:50
Speaker 2: personally supports nuclear power at a federal level.
23:54
Speaker 3: Here's the interview. Do you support nuclear power in the
23:58
Speaker 3: La Tree Valley?
24:01
Speaker 9: Yeah, We've gone through this process.
24:02
Speaker 7: We've got to go through it with.
24:03
Speaker 3: The party room.
24:04
Speaker 9: I've only been in this role for a few days
24:06
Speaker 9: and the most important part of anything I want to
24:08
Speaker 9: do is making sure the team is involved in those discussions.
24:11
Speaker 9: So we've said in the past.
24:12
Speaker 10: Our focus personally clear power.
24:16
Speaker 3: Yeah.
24:16
Speaker 9: As I said, I've got to take that back through
24:18
Speaker 9: the party room. And I understand if I make a
24:20
Speaker 9: personal call right now, all that is is becomes policy
24:23
Speaker 9: for the party.
24:25
Speaker 3: Okay, So Garth, this is where I need you to
24:27
Speaker 3: advise me. You're the politician. I'm not. I sit here
24:30
Speaker 3: and think, what are you doing? This is a great opportunity.
24:33
Speaker 2: You've got all this favorable media support Dutton's nuclear plan.
24:37
Speaker 3: What could be better.
24:38
Speaker 2: As the new leader of the opposition in Victoria or
24:42
Speaker 2: does politics just not work that way?
24:44
Speaker 3: What am I missing?
24:46
Speaker 7: Look, I probably share a few views with you on
24:49
Speaker 7: this one. I think he is right that he has
24:52
Speaker 7: to get his party on board with this. This is
24:54
Speaker 7: a big call, and I appreciate that that's important, and
24:56
Speaker 7: I think that probably his predecessor would have done well
24:59
Speaker 7: to secure his party room support for some of his decisions.
25:03
Speaker 7: But look, I think we can make this easy for
25:04
Speaker 7: our state colleagues. And just be honest, I think we've
25:07
Speaker 7: won the nuclear debate. I really do.
25:10
Speaker 5: I really do.
25:10
Speaker 7: Every single issue that Labor have raised about it, they've
25:13
Speaker 7: been unable to put forward and a strong or credible
25:17
Speaker 7: counter arguement for it. They raise safety, they looked ridiculous
25:20
Speaker 7: with the three eyed fish pitchers. They raised we're going
25:23
Speaker 7: to put the waste. Well, there's thirty two countries in
25:25
Speaker 7: the world that deal with it, so we've got all
25:26
Speaker 7: those options. They raised locations, We've put those on the table.
25:29
Speaker 7: They've raised costs, We've lewed our costings. There's not a
25:32
Speaker 7: single thing that Labor can credibly argue against on this issue.
25:36
Speaker 7: And when I go and talk to people in the street,
25:39
Speaker 7: Labor hasn't won people over with their tactics on this issue.
25:43
Speaker 7: Labor hasn't. People are coming to the nuclear debate willing
25:47
Speaker 7: for a grown up conversation. We've had that labor haven't
25:49
Speaker 7: engaged in that way, and I think if our state
25:52
Speaker 7: colleagues took that view, they'd see that the Australian populace
25:56
Speaker 7: is open to this. We're willing to see it go ahead,
25:59
Speaker 7: and no one is affording labor on this. There's nothing
26:02
Speaker 7: that they're going to lose by being open to nuclear.
26:07
Speaker 2: I reckon, You're absolutely right. It was a free kick
26:09
Speaker 2: for Brad Batten. I wish you'd taken at Garth Hamilton.
26:12
Speaker 2: Thanks for your time tonight. Well we're going to go
26:14
Speaker 2: to a break, but stick around because coming up a
26:16
Speaker 2: major wind farm project has been scrapped, another one, this
26:20
Speaker 2: time off the South Australian coast and without explanation. Plus
26:24
Speaker 2: the push to change native title laws to protect WA's
26:27
Speaker 2: resources industry, all of that in just a moment.
26:34
Speaker 3: Well.
26:34
Speaker 2: As I mentioned in my editorial at the beginning of
26:36
Speaker 2: the program, Anthony Albanezi has claimed natural disasters have become
26:39
Speaker 2: more intense and more frequent during his time as Prime Minister.
26:44
Speaker 2: The Australian's Environment editor Graham Lloyd joins me. Now, Graham, welcome.
26:49
Speaker 2: You wrote a great piece in The Australian claiming that
26:51
Speaker 2: Anthony Albanezi saying that these things have become more common
26:56
Speaker 2: over the last couple of years only serves to demonstrate
26:59
Speaker 2: that I'll leader losing all sense of perspective.
27:03
Speaker 3: Talk to me about why you think that is?
27:07
Speaker 11: Yes, good evening. Well, look, I was simply making the
27:09
Speaker 11: point that what seems to be getting lost is the
27:13
Speaker 11: difference between weather and climate. Whether is something we get
27:18
Speaker 11: every day and we sort of forecast with varying degrees
27:21
Speaker 11: of precision. Climate is something quite different. It's something that
27:25
Speaker 11: is analyzed over a thirty year horizon of averages. So
27:30
Speaker 11: that makes the notion that anything can be deducted from
27:33
Speaker 11: two and a half years in office by the Prime
27:36
Speaker 11: Minister is quite ludicrous. Of course, it's sort of symbolic
27:40
Speaker 11: of a bigger issue that it's become retail politics to
27:45
Speaker 11: quickly make these comments all the time that look, this
27:48
Speaker 11: is the worst ever, this is the biggest, this is
27:50
Speaker 11: unprecedented and we should never stop calling out this on
27:56
Speaker 11: the facts. The facts don't often demonstrate what's being claimed,
28:01
Speaker 11: and it's important that we have a sense of what
28:05
Speaker 11: is actually going on. I think the Prime minister's objective
28:09
Speaker 11: was to take a helicopter trip over a really historically
28:14
Speaker 11: not significant fire in Victoria and announce a new program
28:17
Speaker 11: for the government to give money to people who are
28:21
Speaker 11: impacted by natural disasters. Now that's all very good, but
28:25
Speaker 11: what we should really be doing is focusing on what
28:28
Speaker 11: policymakers can do to combat things that are a regular occurrence,
28:35
Speaker 11: rather than pretending there's something they're.
28:36
Speaker 3: Not indeed well said.
28:40
Speaker 2: And of course you know, it doesn't hurt the Prime
28:43
Speaker 2: Minister to talk about climate change and natural disasters if
28:47
Speaker 2: it helps people to get behind the renewables push, which
28:51
Speaker 2: I want to ask you about because something very interesting
28:53
Speaker 2: happened over the last couple of days. There's a two
28:56
Speaker 2: billion dollar wind farm project that was supposed to be
29:00
Speaker 2: built off the South Australian coast, but we now learn
29:03
Speaker 2: has been scrapped and without explanation. The proposal was put
29:07
Speaker 2: forward by the British company Australis Energy and the German
29:11
Speaker 2: Group's Skyborne Renewables. It was a fifty to fifty joint
29:13
Speaker 2: venture partner back in twenty twenty two, but now it's
29:17
Speaker 2: not going ahead. Tell us what we know about this project,
29:20
Speaker 2: why it was so contentious and why is it being
29:23
Speaker 2: called off all of a sudden.
29:26
Speaker 11: Well, this was called the Kingston project, and if there's
29:30
Speaker 11: an unusual feature to it, it was going to be
29:33
Speaker 11: built half in State waters and half in Commonwealth waters
29:37
Speaker 11: which are further offshore. The state government objected to it
29:40
Speaker 11: and said look, there would be an impact on fishing
29:42
Speaker 11: and other recreational things. They didn't want it. So the
29:46
Speaker 11: company said, well, we'll just move it further offshore into
29:49
Speaker 11: totally Commonwealth waters. But now it's been scrapped. And this
29:54
Speaker 11: is really the trend. The offshore wind projects are being
29:58
Speaker 11: canceled in New South Whi and other places and around
30:02
Speaker 11: the world because the truth is the economics just don't
30:06
Speaker 11: stack up. So it's becoming much harder to build offshore
30:10
Speaker 11: when projects due to inflation and bigger running costs and
30:14
Speaker 11: other things and were anticipated. So we're seeing these projects
30:18
Speaker 11: being scrapped and this leaves quite a big hole in
30:22
Speaker 11: the projections of where Australia is going to get its
30:25
Speaker 11: power from in the future. So it's something we should
30:28
Speaker 11: watch very closely.
30:31
Speaker 2: Now the other thing I want to ask you, Graham.
30:34
Speaker 2: Of course it's been pretty warm on the East coast
30:36
Speaker 2: of Australia this week, so I can't imagine how households
30:40
Speaker 2: trying to keep the lights on during a cost of
30:42
Speaker 2: living crisis are paying for the air con as well.
30:46
Speaker 2: But it's been revealed that more than eight thousand Queensland
30:49
Speaker 2: homes had their air con remotely cut off earlier this
30:54
Speaker 2: month to ease pressure on the grid. Now, the affected
30:57
Speaker 2: households had signed up for the Peak Smart scheme. It's
31:00
Speaker 2: called if you sign up and get a rebate of
31:03
Speaker 2: about four hundred dollars when you buy an air condition
31:05
Speaker 2: But here's the catch. A signal receiver installed in the
31:08
Speaker 2: unit allows the government owned energy companies to control your
31:12
Speaker 2: air con at home and cut it off when the
31:16
Speaker 2: grid is under pressure. Do you think people knew this
31:19
Speaker 2: when they applied for the rebate and this is not
31:22
Speaker 2: a good thing that people would be happy about.
31:26
Speaker 11: Well, I think they probably didn't think about it as
31:29
Speaker 11: hard as they should have when they took the money.
31:32
Speaker 11: But really it's symbolic of what what's going to happen
31:36
Speaker 11: in the energy market. More broadly, Smart meters and other
31:40
Speaker 11: things are being put in so the authorities can control
31:43
Speaker 11: the power supply to a house across a whole range
31:46
Speaker 11: of appliances. This is how they plan to deal with
31:50
Speaker 11: shortages of production in the future, and it's something that
31:55
Speaker 11: rich people will suffer a lot less than those who
31:58
Speaker 11: can't afford it.
32:01
Speaker 2: Well, that's a pretty dystopian view of the future, Graham,
32:05
Speaker 2: if it gets to the state government, some bureaucrat in Canberra. Besides,
32:09
Speaker 2: I can't use my dishwasher or my air con because
32:12
Speaker 2: of the gridge. I hope we don't end up there,
32:15
Speaker 2: but it's looking that way, isn't it, Graham. Lloyd, appreciate
32:17
Speaker 2: your time tonight. Thanks for joining me. We're going to
32:20
Speaker 2: go to a break, but stick around because coming up.
32:22
Speaker 2: Victoria's first ever pill testing trial has already raised doubts
32:26
Speaker 2: as a young festival goer overdoses. Plus young people are
32:30
Speaker 2: reportedly toasting to the new year but sober.
32:33
Speaker 3: Can you believe it? My panel will join me next
32:40
Speaker 3: Welcome back.
32:41
Speaker 2: The West Australian government is calling for changes to the
32:43
Speaker 2: Native Tidal Act to protect its resources industry.
32:47
Speaker 3: This comes as companies could.
32:48
Speaker 2: Be forced to sign hefty new agreements with local indigenous groups.
32:53
Speaker 2: As things stand, mining leases that have been in place
32:56
Speaker 2: more than forty years won't be renewed unless companies come
33:00
Speaker 2: to agreement with native title claimants. That's despite the fact
33:04
Speaker 2: many of these minds have operated for decades without native
33:07
Speaker 2: title agreements. Let's bringing my panel libertarian commentator Kristin Abraham
33:12
Speaker 2: and PR Council Christy McSweeney. Christy, it seems like we
33:16
Speaker 2: are doing everything we can to rob ourselves of our
33:21
Speaker 2: natural advantage, which is our resources. How much harder can
33:25
Speaker 2: we make it for our resources industry to provide revenue
33:29
Speaker 2: for this country?
33:31
Speaker 10: Well, James, I think it seems like the Federal Labor
33:35
Speaker 10: Party is doing everything it can to get Roger Cook
33:39
Speaker 10: to enact his agenda, to enact their agenda. Of course,
33:43
Speaker 10: we saw the Premier withdraw the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage laws
33:47
Speaker 10: against Albanesi and Tanua plubisex wishes. We've seen him lobby
33:53
Speaker 10: against further impositions into the mining industry to Canberra places
33:58
Speaker 10: Madeline King, the Mining Minister West Australian Cabinet Minister, at
34:02
Speaker 10: a very difficult position. We have essentially seen Roger Cook
34:06
Speaker 10: be in the running alongside the coalition for the best
34:09
Speaker 10: friend that mining's ever had. But I think the rubber
34:12
Speaker 10: is going to hit the road here between the West
34:14
Speaker 10: Australian Premier and Federal Labor as we get closer to
34:16
Speaker 10: both elections in the same period. Native title has been
34:20
Speaker 10: in place since nineteen ninety three. You're correct, there are
34:23
Speaker 10: leases that pre date that Native title legislation, so they're
34:28
Speaker 10: trying to bring it together. However, a lot of this
34:31
Speaker 10: ticks along very very nicely without intervention required, James, as you.
34:36
Speaker 2: Said, Indeed, I want to turn to Victoria where a
34:42
Speaker 2: young festival goer has overdosed on drugs on the first
34:46
Speaker 2: day of pill testing trials. This is at the Beyond
34:49
Speaker 2: the Valley Festival nar Geelong. The five day music festival
34:53
Speaker 2: was the first in the state to have a mobile
34:55
Speaker 2: drug checking service as part of an eighteen month trial
34:59
Speaker 2: announced by the Victorian Labor government in its drug reform bid. Now,
35:03
Speaker 2: fortunately the man who's in his twenties was discharged from hospital.
35:07
Speaker 3: And is going to be okay.
35:09
Speaker 2: But the fact he overdosed at this festival where they've
35:12
Speaker 2: got pill testing available surely illustrates the futility of it.
35:17
Speaker 2: The pill testing officials can't even say whether or not
35:19
Speaker 2: this particular individual use their service, because it's all anonymous
35:23
Speaker 2: and Kristen, part of my problem with pill testing regimes
35:27
Speaker 2: is it seems to create the illusion of safety when
35:30
Speaker 2: in fact drugs are never safe, as we found out
35:33
Speaker 2: today on the first day of the drug pill testing regime.
35:39
Speaker 6: So James, let's get one thing straight. Correlation is not
35:42
Speaker 6: causation when it comes to theirs. If anyone has ever
35:46
Speaker 6: thrown out, thrown up from alcohol, they have had a
35:50
Speaker 6: drug overdose. We don't just teach abstinence and schools, we
35:55
Speaker 6: also teach contraception. Now, whether that's young.
35:59
Speaker 9: People or people.
36:01
Speaker 6: If they're going to choose to take drugs, they're going
36:02
Speaker 6: to take the drugs anyway, whether you say drugs are
36:05
Speaker 6: bad or not. What you're doing is what they're doing
36:09
Speaker 6: by having the pill testing facilities, ensuring that there is
36:12
Speaker 6: a harm reduction and there is risk mitigation, risk mitigation
36:16
Speaker 6: for the punters that are there, risk mitigation for the
36:19
Speaker 6: services that are there, so if there is an actual
36:21
Speaker 6: medical emergency, they're more likely to be able to use
36:25
Speaker 6: that service rather than being taken up with just drug
36:28
Speaker 6: related situations. Now, the people that are running the pill
36:33
Speaker 6: testing at Beyond the Valley, which is dance wise, are
36:36
Speaker 6: doing a phenomenal job of mitigating those risks. They're having
36:39
Speaker 6: a mature conversation with these people about whether they do
36:42
Speaker 6: still want to take those drugs. They're ensuring that they
36:45
Speaker 6: can find out whether there is slight fentanyl in it
36:48
Speaker 6: which could kill them, or whether it's stronger than what
36:51
Speaker 6: they thought, and engaging in mature conversations which, if you're
36:56
Speaker 6: going to choose to make these decisions of taking drugs,
36:58
Speaker 6: at least do it safely.
37:02
Speaker 2: Well, Christy, here's a mature conversation. Don't do illegal drugs.
37:08
Speaker 10: Well, here's another mature conversation. Jobs understand that the supply
37:14
Speaker 10: chain of people who are bringing these drugs that kill
37:17
Speaker 10: our children into Australia is organized crime. And understand that
37:23
Speaker 10: having children, and let's face it, many of them children
37:26
Speaker 10: sixteen to seventeen years old at a festival, the ability
37:30
Speaker 10: ability to buy those drugs to have them tested, that's wonderful.
37:35
Speaker 10: I understand the health response. But everybody who wants to
37:38
Speaker 10: have this mature conversation forgets that this says to organize crime.
37:43
Speaker 10: It's fine, we'll just mitigate that risk. It's absolutely fine.
37:48
Speaker 10: Keep profiting, keep putting illegal drugs on the streets, and
37:51
Speaker 10: keep killing kids.
37:53
Speaker 6: But in twenty fifteen personic in twenty fifteen had six overdoses.
37:59
Speaker 6: At that point there was no pill testing there. We're
38:02
Speaker 6: on the second day of Beyond the Valley now and
38:04
Speaker 6: there's been one overdose. We don't know whether they use
38:06
Speaker 6: that facility or not. But what for the last ten
38:09
Speaker 6: years of not having pill testing around? What do you
38:12
Speaker 6: attribute all the other overdoses to? At least there is
38:15
Speaker 6: mitigation with this.
38:18
Speaker 2: Well, I think, as you said earlier, Christin, mitigation doesn't
38:21
Speaker 2: and pulsation aren't the same thing.
38:26
Speaker 3: So how do we know?
38:28
Speaker 2: Let me move on to another issue in Victoria, because
38:30
Speaker 2: there's concern among police at the number of boozed up
38:33
Speaker 2: motorists getting behind the wheel as we count down the
38:36
Speaker 2: hours to New Year's Eve. Now, new police analysis shows
38:40
Speaker 2: over the past three years, almost half of the one
38:43
Speaker 2: hundred and forty five drink drivers detected on New Year's
38:46
Speaker 2: Day were caught between midnight and six am. So, Christy,
38:51
Speaker 2: the government will provide pill testing facilities so I can
38:55
Speaker 2: safely take illegal drugs, but the government won't make reliable
38:59
Speaker 2: breath testing stufations available so I can drink alcohol legally
39:03
Speaker 2: and know that I'm not over the limit. It's just
39:05
Speaker 2: a case of gotcha when it comes to alcohol. Explain
39:07
Speaker 2: that contradiction to me.
39:10
Speaker 10: Well, it's really interesting, isn't it what we consider socially
39:13
Speaker 10: acceptable and what we consider not socially acceptable. You can't
39:17
Speaker 10: smoke a cigarette outside in a lot of places in Melbourne,
39:21
Speaker 10: in the restaurant district. But apparently the Victorian government will
39:26
Speaker 10: pay sixteen chemists and health workers and support workers not
39:29
Speaker 10: to mention police resources for a pill testing trial over
39:33
Speaker 10: the next two years at sixteen sites. So it is
39:37
Speaker 10: a huge spectrum, isn't it, of what we spend money
39:40
Speaker 10: on and what we allow and what is politically palatable
39:43
Speaker 10: for people to have state government resources invested in, and
39:47
Speaker 10: what's legal and what's not. But it's the same as
39:50
Speaker 10: you know, if you don't want to do damage to
39:52
Speaker 10: yourself and or others, don't take drugs. If you don't
39:55
Speaker 10: want to do damage to yourself and or others, don't
39:58
Speaker 10: get behind the wheel after what you believe is an
40:01
Speaker 10: over limit of alcohol.
40:05
Speaker 3: Kristin, I want to throw this one at you.
40:07
Speaker 2: There are reports today that common sense may prevail amongst
40:11
Speaker 2: young people, with many reportedly set to toast the new
40:13
Speaker 2: year can you Believe it?
40:15
Speaker 3: Sober?
40:15
Speaker 2: According to data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare,
40:19
Speaker 2: they say young people are drinking less and also driving
40:22
Speaker 2: a long term increase in cutting alcohol completely. I think
40:26
Speaker 2: it's twenty three percent of young people aged eighteen to
40:29
Speaker 2: twenty four are no longer drinking alcohol at all now.
40:33
Speaker 2: South Bank bottle shop owner Andrew Compton told journalists alcohol
40:37
Speaker 2: consumption is being lowered to match people's lower budgets, so
40:41
Speaker 2: people end up buying less because of the cost of
40:43
Speaker 2: living crisis. Is that what's driving young people to sobriety
40:48
Speaker 2: or is this a cultural phenomena we're seeing.
40:53
Speaker 6: I reckon There's probably three contributing factors to this, James.
40:57
Speaker 6: The first one being that it is a cost of
40:59
Speaker 6: living crisis and people are prioritizing their rent and bills
41:03
Speaker 6: and everything else that they need because it's not just
41:08
Speaker 6: drinking that cost money. It's also the uber home because
41:12
Speaker 6: you're choosing to drink responsibly, and it's the late night
41:15
Speaker 6: kebab that all contribute to it. The other thing is
41:19
Speaker 6: we have a young generation that turned eighteen or twenty
41:23
Speaker 6: one in the pandemic, and they don't like to go
41:26
Speaker 6: out and drink. They prefer to stay home. There is
41:30
Speaker 6: an increased level of social anxiety amongst them as well.
41:34
Speaker 6: And there is also a lot more health information out
41:38
Speaker 6: there about how bad drinking is for you, and young
41:42
Speaker 6: people are listening to that health information. So I don't
41:44
Speaker 6: think it's just one thing. I think it's all contributing
41:47
Speaker 6: to an increase in sobriety from young people. And that's
41:51
Speaker 6: mature conversation.
41:55
Speaker 3: It is a mature conversation.
41:56
Speaker 2: Indeed, I've enjoyed our conversation tonight, christ and Abrahams m McSweeney.
42:00
Speaker 2: Thank you to both of you for your time and
42:02
Speaker 2: a happy new year. Well after the break, we'll discuss
42:05
Speaker 2: the mega civil war that's erupted over a controversial migration policy.
42:10
Speaker 2: Plus the incoming Victorian Liberal leader is a big fan
42:13
Speaker 2: of Peter Dutton. We'll find out why in just a
42:15
Speaker 2: moment with Prue McSweeney.
42:22
Speaker 3: Welcome back.
42:23
Speaker 2: Let's turn our attention to the US, where a big
42:25
Speaker 2: argument has broken out amongst Republicans over the controversial H
42:30
Speaker 2: one B visas. Now, these visas allow educated immigrants to
42:33
Speaker 2: work in the United States for up to six years.
42:37
Speaker 2: Many of these immigrants are from India to work in
42:39
Speaker 2: the tech industry, which explains why Elon Musk and other
42:43
Speaker 2: tech titans, as well as Vivek Ramaswami have come out
42:46
Speaker 2: in defense of the visas for skilled foreigners, saying America
42:50
Speaker 2: needs to import people, particularly to help them stay ahead
42:53
Speaker 2: of China in the race to develop AI. But of
42:56
Speaker 2: course the Republican base, well, they just want immigration curtailed
43:00
Speaker 2: full stop. Now adding salt to the injury, is that
43:03
Speaker 2: President elect Donald Trump. Well, he's backed Musk's sentiment, he said,
43:08
Speaker 2: and I quote, I've always liked the visas. I've always
43:12
Speaker 2: been in favor of the visas. That's why we have
43:14
Speaker 2: them joining me now to discuss this is skyne Is
43:17
Speaker 2: contributor pru McSweeney, prou Good evening to you.
43:21
Speaker 3: I'm interested in your take on this saga.
43:23
Speaker 2: But then quickly, I want to get to something Vivek
43:26
Speaker 2: Ramaswami said about education and culture in the United States,
43:30
Speaker 2: which I think might have relevance for parents here in Australia.
43:33
Speaker 2: But just quickly, in regards to this spat, now, I
43:37
Speaker 2: guess between Elon Musk and the rest of the Republican Party.
43:40
Speaker 2: What do you make of it? Is it a storm
43:42
Speaker 2: and a teacup or is this lefty dreams come true?
43:45
Speaker 3: There's finally a split in Maga.
43:47
Speaker 4: Well.
43:47
Speaker 8: I think that it was predictable because the disenfranchised, jealous
43:52
Speaker 8: Republicans who don't like the fact that Trump Scott cozy
43:56
Speaker 8: with Elon, you know, are going to pick a fight
43:59
Speaker 8: wherever they can. I think once Trump delivers on his
44:04
Speaker 8: promise of making America great again, all will be forgiven.
44:08
Speaker 8: And part of that, of course, is to get the
44:11
Speaker 8: very best in key positions. And if that means that
44:14
Speaker 8: you have to import some talent, it's only like zero
44:17
Speaker 8: one percent of the immigration total, I believe, so it's
44:23
Speaker 8: not much.
44:24
Speaker 3: But if it means you're.
44:25
Speaker 8: Going to make America great again, then I think that
44:28
Speaker 8: the mainstream Republicans won't have a problem, you know, they
44:31
Speaker 8: just want to have their life and lifestyle improved.
44:37
Speaker 2: What really interested me in this whole argument were comments
44:40
Speaker 2: from Vivic Ramaswami who said, look, we've got to import
44:44
Speaker 2: people from, say India, because where else are we going
44:47
Speaker 2: to get engineers from. And then he had this to say,
44:49
Speaker 2: which I thought was very interesting he said, our American
44:52
Speaker 2: culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long.
44:57
Speaker 2: That doesn't start in college, it starts young. Culture that
45:00
Speaker 2: celebrates the prom queen over the math Olympia champ or
45:03
Speaker 2: the jock over the valec Dectorian will not produce the
45:07
Speaker 2: best engineers. What American needs is more movies like Whiplash,
45:10
Speaker 2: fewer reruns of Friends, more math tutoring, fewer sleepovers, more
45:14
Speaker 2: weekend science competitions, fewer Saturday morning cartoons, more books, less TV,
45:21
Speaker 2: more extra curriculars, less hanging out at the mall.
45:24
Speaker 3: Now this would you believe?
45:26
Speaker 2: It has created a storm because a lot of Americans
45:28
Speaker 2: are now saying to Vivek, well, we don't want to
45:31
Speaker 2: be like many Asians, who you know, make their kids
45:34
Speaker 2: study all the time and they can never have any fun.
45:37
Speaker 2: On the other hand, Vivek is saying, if we want
45:39
Speaker 2: to be a smart country, maybe we should treat our kids'
45:42
Speaker 2: education a little more seriously. What would your take be
45:45
Speaker 2: on that argument?
45:47
Speaker 8: Well, I think, you know, thank God for that man,
45:49
Speaker 8: and I wish we could import him here. I think
45:52
Speaker 8: mediocrity has been totally celebrated in Australia and in America
45:57
Speaker 8: and a lot of the western countries. That's why the Asians,
46:01
Speaker 8: in particular the Asian countries are doing so well. You know,
46:04
Speaker 8: we should be aspirring for our kids to do better
46:07
Speaker 8: and to be high achievers. And there's a great focus
46:10
Speaker 8: on work life balance as well. So I think that
46:14
Speaker 8: between Ramaswami and musk America is in great hands. Not
46:20
Speaker 8: to mention Trump, because if they can deliver on this,
46:24
Speaker 8: I think that all the naysays are we're thanking them.
46:27
Speaker 8: It's going to be the best thing for the country,
46:29
Speaker 8: the most fulfilling thing for the people. So good on them.
46:32
Speaker 3: I wish we could have them here absolutely.
46:37
Speaker 2: I mean I'm a parent and I've never sat there
46:39
Speaker 2: and thought to you, I wish my kids had watch
46:41
Speaker 2: more cartoons when they were young. I do wish they'd
46:43
Speaker 2: read a few more books though. I got to say,
46:46
Speaker 2: let's come back to Australia, where Jim Chalmers is very optimistic.
46:50
Speaker 2: He remains in denial about the economy and says that
46:54
Speaker 2: Ozzie should be really positive as the.
46:56
Speaker 3: New year approaches.
46:57
Speaker 2: He made the comments in an end of Your interview
46:59
Speaker 2: with You Australians, saying Australians have made some welcome progress
47:03
Speaker 2: together in our economy, and that means twenty twenty five
47:06
Speaker 2: will we better as a consequence?
47:09
Speaker 3: I don't know.
47:10
Speaker 2: Do you think most Australians are feeling as cheery and
47:13
Speaker 2: as rosy eyed as Jim Chalmers would want us to?
47:17
Speaker 8: Absolutely not. We are living the experience of this Treasurer
47:22
Speaker 8: on training wheels. You know, the guys either duplicitous or deceitful.
47:26
Speaker 8: We don't well and not in denial because he has
47:31
Speaker 8: no idea clearly of what the average Australians going through,
47:36
Speaker 8: the average business is going through. You know, he spins
47:39
Speaker 8: a lot. He talks about, you know, stopping you know,
47:43
Speaker 8: this cost of living crisis. But what he's done is
47:46
Speaker 8: stop any productivity with their ir laws, stopped manufacturing and
47:52
Speaker 8: the ability to do business because of the high cost
47:55
Speaker 8: of the energy con that they've imposed on us ordinary
48:00
Speaker 8: Australians from being able to feed their kids and properly
48:04
Speaker 8: and pay their rent and build a house or buy
48:08
Speaker 8: a house. So this whole con bye by this Treasurer
48:14
Speaker 8: and this government. I really believe people have stopped listening.
48:17
Speaker 8: He can say what he likes about twenty twenty five.
48:20
Speaker 8: I think he needs to focus on what he's going
48:22
Speaker 8: to do when they're kicked out. I really strongly believe
48:25
Speaker 8: that there's a real will in this whole population where
48:31
Speaker 8: we're going to get rid of this government because what
48:34
Speaker 8: they've done to this country is really disgraceful and it's
48:38
Speaker 8: time for a change.
48:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, I reckon. You're right.
48:40
Speaker 2: You know, Jim Chalmers can tell us all to be
48:43
Speaker 2: happy and optimistic. I'll be optimistic and happy when groceries
48:47
Speaker 2: are affordable when my power bill starts coming down, not
48:50
Speaker 2: simply because the government tells me to be good. If
48:52
Speaker 2: I had an optimistic and cheery disposition, that would make
48:56
Speaker 2: them feel better about the horrible job they're doing. Primic Sweeny,
48:59
Speaker 2: thanks for your I'm this evening and have a happy
49:02
Speaker 2: New Year. That's all I've got time for tonight. Thanks
49:05
Speaker 2: for your company, but stick around. Coming up in just
49:07
Speaker 2: a moment is the Bolt Report with my good friend
49:10
Speaker 2: Danika de Giorgio.
49:11
Speaker 3: Good Night,