Transcript

Credlin | 27 October · Credlin

0:08
Speaker 1: Good evening. Welcome to the show. Caught out misleading the
0:11
Speaker 1: Parliament today. The Prime Minister did his best to spin
0:14
Speaker 1: it all away, but he couldn't. I'll get you across
0:17
Speaker 1: what's been a bad day for Labor in Canberra and more.
0:19
Speaker 1: Here's what's coming up tonight on the show. More angry
0:22
Speaker 1: regional communities. Yet another massive renewables project is approved, this
0:27
Speaker 1: one in Victoria, just before Labor's likely election loss in
0:32
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks' time. Worse still, locals were not
0:35
Speaker 1: even consulted. We'll check in with the people of Warwick,
0:38
Speaker 1: Nabil tonight. Wind turbines on the way. More alarming vision, too,
0:43
Speaker 1: out of Australian childcare centres. So why does the Prime
0:46
Speaker 1: Minister still force parents to use what he tells them
0:50
Speaker 1: to rather than give them choice in order to keep
0:53
Speaker 1: their children safe? The plan to strip the words war
0:57
Speaker 1: memorial from the name of an historic Sydney pool. Well,
1:01
Speaker 1: it's fired up the RSL president there and the premier,
1:03
Speaker 1: Chris Minns, and yet another sign of official disrespect for
1:08
Speaker 1: our veterans. Plus, as I say, the jigs up of
1:11
Speaker 1: the Prime Minister. But despite the weight of evidence exposing
1:15
Speaker 1: him and his Marrickville golf club lies, they can't tell
1:20
Speaker 1: the truth today. Just more spin.
1:24
Speaker 2: I have said that was not correct.
1:26
Speaker 3: It was not correct.
1:27
Speaker 2: The state government have moved in and are funding the project.
1:34
Speaker 1: We will stay with this problem because it's a problem
1:36
Speaker 1: that's not going away, despite how much the Prime Minister
1:39
Speaker 1: might wish it would. The $ 6 million of your money
1:43
Speaker 1: that he's handed out to his mates at the Marrickville
1:45
Speaker 1: Golf Club. Because this is an issue that's long moved
1:49
Speaker 1: away from being a case of a simple pork barrel
1:52
Speaker 1: from one Labor mate to another, and it's now elevated
1:56
Speaker 1: to the charge of a Prime Minister misleading Parliament not once,
2:00
Speaker 1: but twice. Even in this warped world where politicians don't
2:05
Speaker 1: like to take responsibility anymore, misleading the Parliament still has
2:09
Speaker 1: serious consequences. Today, just after prayers, the opposition frontbencher Dan
2:15
Speaker 1: Tehan kicked off the morning with this, a motion for
2:19
Speaker 1: the Prime Minister to come clean on what he told
2:21
Speaker 1: the House about the Marrickville Golf Club, which, as I've
2:25
Speaker 1: proven here again and again, is at odds with the facts.
2:31
Speaker 4: I move that so much of the standing and sessional
2:36
Speaker 4: orders be suspended as would prevent the following occurring immediately.
2:41
Speaker 4: The Prime Minister immediately attending the Chamber to make a
2:46
Speaker 4: statement of not more than 10 minutes to correct the
2:49
Speaker 4: record as to the purpose of the 6.05 million grant
2:55
Speaker 4: concerning the Marrickville Golf Club precinct. To act in good
3:00
Speaker 4: faith We are seeking the Prime Minister attend the Chamber
3:04
Speaker 4: and provide a statement of explanation on the matter.
3:10
Speaker 1: Now, remember, it was only last month when pushed about
3:13
Speaker 1: why he gave his golf club mates $ 6 million for
3:16
Speaker 1: a new clubhouse. A desperate Albanese tried to take the
3:20
Speaker 1: higher moral ground and make it all about environmental protections
3:24
Speaker 1: and sewerage.
3:26
Speaker 2: It's existed for a long period of time, almost 100 years,
3:30
Speaker 2: and they have a septic tank which, because when it
3:34
Speaker 2: is on the floodplain, when it floods in Marrickville, raw
3:38
Speaker 2: sewerage flows into the Cooks River. That is what the
3:43
Speaker 2: funding is for.
3:44
Speaker 1: Well, there he was, and again the following day.
3:50
Speaker 2: And one for the upgrade of the Inner West Council-owned
3:54
Speaker 2: Marrickville Golf Club. Included in that was funding to fix
3:58
Speaker 2: the sewerage because it goes into the river and causes
4:04
Speaker 2: a problem when it floods.
4:08
Speaker 1: Okay, that's September this year. The problem is, though, exactly
4:12
Speaker 1: 12 months earlier, the New South Wales State Government announced
4:17
Speaker 1: announced $ 270, 000 to do the sewerage works itself. But there's
4:23
Speaker 1: more here. If we go back to Albanese's media release
4:26
Speaker 1: in last year's election campaign where he first promised the
4:30
Speaker 1: money to the Marrickville Golf Club, there was no mention
4:34
Speaker 1: anywhere about sewerage works in the announcement. Not one word.
4:39
Speaker 1: No mention whatsoever of sewerage, septic tanks or sewerage repairs.
4:46
Speaker 1: Nor did the follow-up media updates from the council, headed
4:50
Speaker 1: up by the PM's mate, the Mayor Darcy Byrne, mention
4:53
Speaker 1: any sewage works either. Here's their media release from July
4:58
Speaker 1: last year. So that's two months before anyone knew that
5:02
Speaker 1: New South Wales was going to fix the sewage problems.
5:06
Speaker 1: And yet it's not mentioned here either. Again, not a word. Instead,
5:11
Speaker 1: says the Mayor Darcy Byrne, it's all about a $ 6
5:13
Speaker 1: million upgrade of clubhouse facilities so it can hold more functions,
5:18
Speaker 1: just like Labor Party events, which it's done in the past.
5:22
Speaker 1: And wait for it. It also includes the building of
5:25
Speaker 1: a new dog walking station. Well, there you go, Toto.
5:29
Speaker 1: Taxpayers are looking out for you as well as your boss. Again,
5:34
Speaker 1: in Senate estimates, it was left to the public servants
5:37
Speaker 1: under questioning to tell us the truth.
5:40
Speaker 5: Has the department provided any briefings or advice to Minister
5:44
Speaker 5: King on what the grant is funding.
5:47
Speaker 1: And more importantly in this case, what it's not funding?
5:52
Speaker 6: So as part of the approval brief that was provided
5:54
Speaker 6: to Minister King, we outlined the scope of the project.
5:58
Speaker 5: And the scope of the project... Did it include sewerage
6:02
Speaker 5: works or not sewerage works, which is why I wanted
6:06
Speaker 5: to confirm your evidence from last week?
6:09
Speaker 1: It does not include sewerage works.
6:11
Speaker 7: Righto.
6:14
Speaker 1: OK, you heard that. No sewerage again, says a senior
6:17
Speaker 1: public servant from the Department of Infrastructure. The same as
6:21
Speaker 1: we were told last Thursday during the special inquiry by
6:25
Speaker 1: the Senate into the Marrickville millions.
6:29
Speaker 6: The grantee must deliver the design and upgrade of the
6:32
Speaker 6: Marrickville Golf Club, including the following deliverables. The club precinct refurbishment,
6:40
Speaker 6: which includes a range of elements. Installation of a stormwater
6:44
Speaker 6: harvesting system, including storage tanks and pump. Creation of a
6:48
Speaker 6: botanical garden and biodiversity area. And an upgrade of the
6:53
Speaker 6: existing electrical capacity to 250.
6:57
Speaker 8: Amps.
6:57
Speaker 6: The sewerage works are not in the scope of this grant.
7:00
Speaker 3: This grant focuses on the stormwater.
7:04
Speaker 1: So that's two statements from an official that are consistent
7:08
Speaker 1: last week and yesterday. So explain to me then why
7:13
Speaker 1: the Minister of that same department, Catherine King, told my
7:17
Speaker 1: colleague Andrew Clennell this on Sunday.
7:21
Speaker 9: Did the money end up going to sewerage works, as
7:24
Speaker 9: the PM has said in the Parliament?
7:26
Speaker 10: Yes, that is the works. There's two levels of work.
7:29
Speaker 10: So both of it is to look at the water
7:32
Speaker 10: outflow from the golf club itself and to deal with
7:36
Speaker 10: the sewerage issue. And there's also some facilities.
7:40
Speaker 1: Well, hang on. No, says her department on Thursday. No,
7:45
Speaker 1: says her department yesterday. But yes, she says on Sunday. Now,
7:51
Speaker 1: that's the minister responsible for spending half a billion dollars
7:55
Speaker 1: on an invite-only grants scheme contradicting evidence from public servants
8:01
Speaker 1: about what the money will be spent on, despite this
8:04
Speaker 1: revelation today that public servants made it public Thursday, public today,
8:09
Speaker 1: public yesterday, that Sewerage Works had nothing to do with
8:13
Speaker 1: this federal grant. And not just in the hearings. Under questioning,
8:19
Speaker 1: the infrastructure official told the Senate that her Minister Catherine King,
8:25
Speaker 1: she knew this herself because the fact that it was
8:29
Speaker 1: no sewerage was included in briefs to her office, which
8:33
Speaker 1: she has signed.
8:35
Speaker 5: Has Minister King's office ever requested advice from the department
8:40
Speaker 5: as to whether the $ 6 million grant is or is
8:42
Speaker 5: not funding the sewerage problem?
8:46
Speaker 6: So the Department provided the Minister with the approval brief
8:49
Speaker 6: for the project, which outlined the scope.
8:51
Speaker 5: And the scope that the Department sees is being funded
8:56
Speaker 5: doesn't include sewerage work.
8:59
Speaker 7: Does or it doesn't?
9:01
Speaker 1: It does not include sewerage work. Doesn't she read what
9:05
Speaker 1: she signs? I mean, it hardly fills you with any confidence,
9:08
Speaker 1: does it? A Minister spending hundreds of millions of dollars
9:12
Speaker 1: who's not across her brief. A department official admitting yesterday,
9:17
Speaker 1: in fact, that it was Labor's head office that called
9:20
Speaker 1: the shots on these grants, at least who was going
9:23
Speaker 1: to get the money, rather than a properly run arms-length
9:27
Speaker 1: process led by the department. And then we've got a
9:31
Speaker 1: Prime Minister who hands out $ 6 million to his mates
9:34
Speaker 1: across the back fence from his Marrickville home to tart
9:37
Speaker 1: up the golf house, the clubhouse, where Labor routinely holds functions.
9:43
Speaker 1: Throw in that dog walking station two for Toto. And
9:47
Speaker 1: then we start asking questions here on this program, as
9:49
Speaker 1: I did weeks ago. He then misleads the parliament, trying
9:53
Speaker 1: to pretend that none of this is about anything other
9:57
Speaker 1: than essential sewerage works.
10:00
Speaker 2: It's existed for a long period of time, almost 100 years.
10:05
Speaker 2: And they have a septic tank, which because when it
10:08
Speaker 2: is on the floodplain, when it floods in Marrickville, raw
10:13
Speaker 2: sewerage flows into the Cooks River.
10:16
Speaker 3: That is what the funding is for.
10:19
Speaker 2: And one for the upgrade of the Inner West Council-owned
10:23
Speaker 2: Marrickville Golf Club. Included in that was funding to fix
10:27
Speaker 2: the sewerage because it goes into the river and causes
10:32
Speaker 2: a problem when it floods.
10:36
Speaker 1: It was never about sewerage works. Never even mentioned, not
10:40
Speaker 1: one word in his press release last April, not one
10:44
Speaker 1: word by the council in his documents in July. And
10:49
Speaker 1: now public officials are on the record as saying the
10:52
Speaker 1: sewage works have never been a part of any plans
10:55
Speaker 1: for the Marrickville Golf Club. So let's be clear here.
10:58
Speaker 1: This isn't a random project. This is the sixth grant
11:02
Speaker 1: that Labor's made to the Marrickville Golf Club. It's in
11:06
Speaker 1: Albanese's own electorate. It's 200 metres from the back fence
11:11
Speaker 1: of his $ 3 million home. Let's cut the crap, pardon
11:15
Speaker 1: the pun, but this is not an honest mistake. Anthony
11:18
Speaker 1: Albanese has misled the Parliament. And this today is about
11:22
Speaker 1: as good as you'll get from a bloke who pathologically
11:24
Speaker 1: lies and hates to ever admit when he's been caught out.
11:30
Speaker 4: Will the Prime Minister just stop the spin and admit
11:35
Speaker 4: he was wrong?
11:36
Speaker 11: It's not correct to say. that the federal grant would
11:40
Speaker 11: deal with the Sewer Row... Well, to quote the state
11:47
Speaker 11: government media release of 17 September 2025, I assume it's
11:50
Speaker 11: from the state government, putting an end to Sewer Row's
11:54
Speaker 11: Maryford golf course to get a whole lot better. After
11:57
Speaker 11: we made the commitment to the club, which included fixing
12:01
Speaker 11: this issue, which has been an issue since 1947, the
12:04
Speaker 11: state government have stepped in. That is a good thing.
12:08
Speaker 11: I was not aware of the state government grant. Why
12:12
Speaker 11: would I be?
12:13
Speaker 1: Now, I'll say this. If we had not dug into
12:18
Speaker 1: the detail here and put this man under some pressure,
12:21
Speaker 1: we wouldn't have had the Senate inquiry and this would
12:24
Speaker 1: not have been pursued in the parliament as it has.
12:27
Speaker 1: And if there's millions in dodgy grants in this program, well...
12:33
Speaker 1: What the PM says doesn't stack up with the facts.
12:35
Speaker 1: Believe me, if there's millions here, there's millions, billions more elsewhere. Now,
12:41
Speaker 1: all of this should be referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
12:45
Speaker 1: That's what it's there for. Law Professor Antumi has already
12:49
Speaker 1: labelled this as grey corruption, and it is. But more
12:53
Speaker 1: than that, it's a pattern of behaviour from a man
12:56
Speaker 1: who thinks he's above it all. Now that he's in
12:58
Speaker 1: the Lodge, he doesn't have to tell the truth, admit mistakes,
13:03
Speaker 1: or even apologise. And this is precisely why voters are
13:07
Speaker 1: walking away from Labor, because it's Albanese that's tanking the
13:12
Speaker 1: party's vote. Never forget that Labor won last year's federal
13:16
Speaker 1: election with its lowest primary vote ever since the Second
13:20
Speaker 1: World War, with seven out of every ten Australian voters
13:26
Speaker 1: preferring someone else. Fire the liar, indeed. Right, let's get
13:36
Speaker 1: into the headlines now with Ruben Spargo. Good evening.
13:40
Speaker 12: Senator Fatima Payman is accusing the Prime Minister of waiting
13:44
Speaker 12: for an attack like the one on Helen Haynes before
13:47
Speaker 12: finally granting her additional staff. The former Labor senator has
13:51
Speaker 12: spent nearly two years seeking two additional advisor-level staffers from
13:56
Speaker 12: Anthony Albanese.
13:57
Speaker 13: Is the Prime Minister waiting for something like what happened
14:00
Speaker 13: to Dr Helen Haynes to occur to my office, to me,
14:04
Speaker 13: for him to take our request seriously?
14:06
Speaker 1: That's an outrageous suggestion, Senator Payman.
14:10
Speaker 13: Yeah, I can't believe that I'm saying that or making
14:13
Speaker 13: that suggestion because it's been two years.
14:15
Speaker 10: Maybe Senator Payman should just.
14:17
Speaker 12: Fatima Payman has faced repeated abuse and threats. The remarks
14:21
Speaker 12: were made on the same day MPs gathered to pay
14:24
Speaker 12: tribute to Helen Haynes. Australia's cyber spy agency is warning
14:29
Speaker 12: Australians to expect more significant service disruptions and network outages.
14:34
Speaker 12: The Australian Signals Directorate says Frontier AI is enabling malicious
14:38
Speaker 12: actors to strike faster and at greater scale.
14:41
Speaker 4: Australia must accelerate the modernisation of its technology and cyber
14:45
Speaker 4: security foundations to protect the systems.
14:48
Speaker 3: We rely on.
14:49
Speaker 12: The Australian Cyber Security Centre responded to more than 1,500
14:52
Speaker 12: cyber security incidents during the 2025 financial year. That number
14:57
Speaker 12: is rising by more than 20% year on year and
15:00
Speaker 12: more than 36% in the last five years.
15:03
Speaker 1: All right, let's get into a busy city week with
15:07
Speaker 1: our News 24 Chief Political Editor, Andrew Clennell. I'll get
15:11
Speaker 1: into this misleading the Parliament in a moment, Andrew, but
15:14
Speaker 1: just on Fatima Payman, traditionally crossbench staff have been handed
15:21
Speaker 1: out in an equitable way. This Prime Minister's made a
15:25
Speaker 1: real art form of giving someone five, some four, some three,
15:29
Speaker 1: depending on how they vote with Labor over their time
15:33
Speaker 1: in the Parliament. Do you think, and our language might
15:37
Speaker 1: have been a bit off, but do you think Fatima
15:39
Speaker 1: Payman here has a fair point?
15:42
Speaker 9: The language was off, she has a fair point, but
15:44
Speaker 9: I need to discuss this James Ashby thing with you, Peter. Now,
15:47
Speaker 9: this bloke Ashby came on your show last night and
15:50
Speaker 9: he defamed me and multiple people have asked why he
15:53
Speaker 9: didn't back me up. Now, I appreciate your apology last
15:55
Speaker 9: night after the show. Things happen quick on live TV.
15:59
Speaker 9: I think it's important to know that 20 years ago,
16:03
Speaker 9: James Ashby was convicted and fined for making threatening and
16:06
Speaker 9: abusing phone calls. He is in charge of this party
16:09
Speaker 9: and his actions deserve scrutiny. I'd like to thank the
16:12
Speaker 9: many viewers who have reached out to me in the
16:15
Speaker 9: last 26 hours offering support for my journalism. And I'll
16:18
Speaker 9: repeat again that Pauline Hanson is welcome on my show
16:22
Speaker 9: any time. And I believe sometime in the future she
16:25
Speaker 9: will come on my show. I've stood up to Prime
16:28
Speaker 9: Ministers in this place and there's no way I'm being
16:31
Speaker 9: stood over by James Ashby. That's all I wanted to say.
16:35
Speaker 9: And I've been coming on the show nine years. It's
16:38
Speaker 9: a great thing that we do here, Peter. So, you know,
16:42
Speaker 9: it's just one of those things. The guy calls me
16:43
Speaker 9: a dickhead on air. Let's move on. But, you know,
16:47
Speaker 9: I need to comment. If I come on and don't
16:50
Speaker 9: talk about this, people are going to go, why isn't
16:52
Speaker 9: he talking about this, you know?
16:54
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, Andrew, one, have a look down there.
16:58
Speaker 1: The show's called Credlin, right? I will decide what we
17:01
Speaker 1: discuss on the show and the order in which we
17:03
Speaker 1: discuss it. I said to you last night and I
17:06
Speaker 1: said to you today we would put it in the rundown.
17:08
Speaker 1: We've got a whole lot of issues that I want
17:10
Speaker 1: to talk to first about what's impacting real people in
17:13
Speaker 1: the Parliament today. I know you're upset. Everyone gets upset
17:17
Speaker 1: from time to time in this game and you're right
17:20
Speaker 1: to be upset, but we'll discuss it in an orderly way. Now,
17:23
Speaker 1: now you have brought it up. As I said to
17:25
Speaker 1: you last night, it was at the back end of
17:27
Speaker 1: the show that If I didn't like you, if I
17:29
Speaker 1: didn't respect you, mate, you wouldn't be on this show
17:31
Speaker 1: for nine years, and I do respect you. I've got
17:35
Speaker 1: people in my ear, as you know, in this game,
17:38
Speaker 1: absolutely constantly. I heard the discussion about him telling you
17:43
Speaker 1: that Pauline Hanson thought you were a dick. I didn't
17:47
Speaker 1: hear him say that, Andrew, and if I did, I
17:50
Speaker 1: would have jumped in, right? I call a spade a spade.
17:52
Speaker 7: Yeah, fine.
17:53
Speaker 1: I'm straight up and down, but you're not going to
17:56
Speaker 1: hijack my show because at the top when I said
17:58
Speaker 1: I would get to this. So let's get to some
18:00
Speaker 1: of the issues that I know ordinary Australians want us
18:04
Speaker 1: to focus on, like the liar in the Lodge. I
18:08
Speaker 1: want your take on what happened today in the Chamber
18:11
Speaker 1: that's about as strong as an admission you will get
18:15
Speaker 1: from Anthony Albanese, where he has misled the House, there's
18:19
Speaker 1: no doubt about that. He said last month, last September,
18:23
Speaker 1: that this was all about Sewerage Works, when 12 months ago,
18:27
Speaker 1: We know that the state government had funded those works
18:31
Speaker 1: and nowhere in his press release last April or any
18:34
Speaker 1: of the council documentation does it mention sewerage. In none
18:38
Speaker 1: of the reports before the government, before the minister, does
18:41
Speaker 1: it mention sewerage. And good on you for putting King
18:44
Speaker 1: under some pressure on Sunday because on Sunday I think
18:47
Speaker 1: she's caught between a rock and a hard place. She
18:50
Speaker 1: has a brief in her office to say it's nothing
18:52
Speaker 1: to do with sewerage, but she backs the Prime Minister
18:55
Speaker 1: in with you on Sunday saying Because if she didn't,
18:59
Speaker 1: she would be admitting that he had misled the House.
19:03
Speaker 1: So where does this go from here?
19:07
Speaker 9: Well, I just couldn't believe that that occurred Sunday and
19:11
Speaker 9: the officials the next day said, we've provided a brief
19:15
Speaker 9: to the Minister's office saying it wasn't Sirich, like a
19:17
Speaker 9: day later. And Bridget McKenzie, of all people, being the
19:21
Speaker 9: prosecutor on that one, having gone down over sports rorts herself,
19:24
Speaker 9: who would be better qualified?
19:25
Speaker 3: But I think.
19:27
Speaker 9: Ultimately for the PM, he's got an issue with admitting
19:30
Speaker 9: wrong and apologising. And we've seen it multiple times. And
19:37
Speaker 9: I think, again today, I called it a Fonz-type concession.
19:43
Speaker 9: I was wrong, you know.
19:47
Speaker 3: People look... So what does he do, mate?
19:49
Speaker 1: Because you were... know.
19:50
Speaker 3: At leadership, we apologise with strength.
19:53
Speaker 1: I know from state polling... Sorry, we're not talking over
19:57
Speaker 1: each other, viewers. We've got a time delay coming out
19:59
Speaker 1: of Canberra all the time into Melbourne. I know from
20:02
Speaker 1: state polling in Victoria that Anthony Albanese is coming up
20:05
Speaker 1: in focus groups about the Labor brand... And the one,
20:09
Speaker 1: I mean, yes, there's cost of living, but the one
20:12
Speaker 1: other big issue they're raising is that he's a liar,
20:15
Speaker 1: that they can't trust him, that he won't ever say
20:17
Speaker 1: sorry when he gets it wrong. Now, this is brand
20:20
Speaker 1: damage that once it cements itself in the electorate, a
20:23
Speaker 1: bit like Scott Morrison, it's really hard to come back from.
20:29
Speaker 14: Yeah, it is.
20:31
Speaker 9: His one advantage is that conservative votes split.
20:34
Speaker 1: So....
20:36
Speaker 9: Otherwise, you know, with that primary vote, if it was
20:38
Speaker 9: just the Libs and Nats, he'd been a fair bit
20:39
Speaker 9: of strife. I've said this to you a few times
20:42
Speaker 9: and the talk down here, I still don't discount that
20:44
Speaker 9: he goes next year.
20:46
Speaker 3: You know, I think it's 50-50.
20:47
Speaker 1: I'm with you.
20:50
Speaker 9: And all the talk down here because of the numbers
20:52
Speaker 9: is Mark Butler. Now, I don't know how much of an...
20:54
Speaker 9: Mark Butler's competent enough, but, you know, is he really
20:58
Speaker 9: going to be the big answer for Labor if they
21:00
Speaker 9: do go down that path? And then they talk about
21:03
Speaker 9: Charlton Treasury, you see. So a whole sort of rebrand.
21:07
Speaker 9: But I just think, you know, they spend some time
21:11
Speaker 9: in this job, they get barnacles and he's got a
21:15
Speaker 9: fair few and Jim's got heaps now.
21:18
Speaker 3: And I think, you know, there's an argument for it.
21:21
Speaker 9: I've seen many times you get an extra term because
21:23
Speaker 9: you change horse and some of the voters go, well,
21:26
Speaker 9: let's give them one more chance. But in this high
21:28
Speaker 9: inflation environment with no seeming answers to it, They're in
21:33
Speaker 9: all sorts.
21:34
Speaker 3: They are in absolute all sorts.
21:37
Speaker 9: But I think, you know, I cannot believe that he
21:40
Speaker 9: doesn't just wear a bit more of it. I mean,
21:42
Speaker 9: that's just got to be pride and stubbornness, right? Like,
21:45
Speaker 9: if he was running again and he wanted to win,
21:47
Speaker 9: surely he would.
21:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, the lack of humility, I think, is something that
21:53
Speaker 1: should come with a leader. When you get to the
21:55
Speaker 1: top job, you've climbed the mountain, particularly if you've got
21:59
Speaker 1: a working class route like he says he does. And
22:02
Speaker 1: that's where he's lost people, that lack of authenticity. I mean,
22:05
Speaker 1: Repicoli is saying that in his seat of Hunter. One
22:08
Speaker 1: Nation's ahead there on 33 primary. It's hurting them across
22:12
Speaker 1: the board, as we know, in Western New South Wales,
22:16
Speaker 1: obviously in Queensland. In Victoria, they're on the nose for
22:19
Speaker 1: a whole lot of other reasons. I mean, this is
22:22
Speaker 1: going to be the challenge. And you're right to point
22:23
Speaker 1: out Jim Chalmers. I think he's damaged goods. If we
22:26
Speaker 1: get this rate rise out of the inflation data that
22:29
Speaker 1: we expect will be pretty horrific tomorrow, well, again, you know,
22:33
Speaker 1: what is it that Labor has done to make your
22:35
Speaker 1: life easier? You'd ask yourself that as a voter.
22:39
Speaker 9: Yeah, and, you know, they can go with tax cuts
22:42
Speaker 9: to the next election, which is their plan, but they're
22:44
Speaker 9: so expensive, as you know.
22:46
Speaker 3: What can you really offer?
22:47
Speaker 9: I mean, last time it was just a cup of coffee,
22:48
Speaker 9: and that's well and truly been swallowed up. So and
22:52
Speaker 9: they've just introduced new taxes. So I just I mean,
22:58
Speaker 9: Albanese goes on all these trips, overseas trips at the
23:01
Speaker 9: end of this year.
23:02
Speaker 3: Rates go up.
23:04
Speaker 9: You can't see things getting better. The question really is
23:07
Speaker 9: whether the Liberal Party improves its stocks. Now, I had
23:10
Speaker 9: Hastie on today. He said there's no there's definitely no
23:12
Speaker 9: challenge the last sitting week.
23:14
Speaker 10: Right.
23:15
Speaker 9: And I expect the Victorian Liberals to win. So that
23:18
Speaker 9: gives a bit of a boost to the Liberal brand.
23:20
Speaker 9: And I mean winning their own right, incidentally. But then
23:23
Speaker 9: New South Wales happens in March and then you've got
23:26
Speaker 9: a situation One Nation could become the official opposition or
23:29
Speaker 9: near enough and the Libs can get wiped out.
23:31
Speaker 3: Could well.
23:34
Speaker 9: Is that kind of result the impetus or the pressure
23:36
Speaker 9: for a Liberal leadership change? And there is risk associated
23:40
Speaker 9: with that change as well. And then you've got the
23:43
Speaker 9: added dimension that if Mike Newman gets there in official
23:47
Speaker 9: opposition and, you know, some of their candidates are a
23:50
Speaker 9: bit dodgy and there's There's a few issues around how
23:54
Speaker 9: they progress as an opposition. Does that deflate potentially the
23:59
Speaker 9: federal vote? Because what's going to happen now.
24:01
Speaker 1: Hang on, hang on.
24:02
Speaker 3: is you're going to see... Yes.
24:05
Speaker 1: I just want to... Your rationale with New South Wales,
24:08
Speaker 1: I don't understand how a conservative in Angus Taylor would
24:11
Speaker 1: lose the leadership If a moderate in Kelly Sloan goes
24:16
Speaker 1: backwards in New South Wales, I know the Nats are
24:19
Speaker 1: under pressure from One Nation in New South Wales, but
24:22
Speaker 1: the conservative Liberals are in a better position. If Kelly Sloan,
24:25
Speaker 1: the moderate, takes them backwards, isn't that just underscoring the
24:28
Speaker 1: point that if you put a moderate in the top
24:31
Speaker 1: job running the Liberal Party, well, you're in trouble?
24:36
Speaker 9: Oh, it wouldn't be Wilson, it'd be Hastie. So then
24:39
Speaker 9: you'd have a conservative replacing a conservative.
24:42
Speaker 15: Well, I'm not so sure.
24:43
Speaker 1: Conservatives would regard Hastie as one of their own anymore. Yeah,
24:47
Speaker 1: I'm just not so sure the conservatives would regard Hastie
24:50
Speaker 1: as one of their own anymore. But we'll see. We'll see.
24:53
Speaker 1: Worth thinking about. Now, can we leave shaking hands across
24:58
Speaker 1: the screen? Rest assured, I have your back. You better
25:00
Speaker 1: have mine though, mate. Someone calls me a well, I
25:03
Speaker 1: won't say it on air, something worse than that, you'll
25:05
Speaker 1: have my back and I'll have yours again. Thanks, Andrew.
25:08
Speaker 3: I'll always have your back, Peter.
25:11
Speaker 1: I meant what I said. I wouldn't have Andrew on
25:12
Speaker 1: the show. You know my viewers. I'd offend him when
25:15
Speaker 1: you email him thinking he's a bit fired up or
25:17
Speaker 1: he's got the wrong end of the stick. I wouldn't
25:19
Speaker 1: have him on the show if I didn't like a
25:21
Speaker 1: bit of hurly-burly. So there we go. Let's get into
25:23
Speaker 1: some other issues. Victoria Barracks. Now, listen to this one.
25:28
Speaker 1: We know that the Albanese government wants to sell it. Well,
25:32
Speaker 1: they're moving out the brass from the building, the defence personnel,
25:35
Speaker 1: and they're putting them in a CBD high-rise that's owned
25:38
Speaker 1: by Singaporean interests and mortgaged to a Chinese bank. All
25:43
Speaker 1: of this was exposed through Senate estimates this week. Here
25:47
Speaker 1: to discuss this and more, Shadow Minister for Defence Personnel,
25:49
Speaker 1: Phil Thompson. Well, Phil, Jess Collins makes the point. They've
25:54
Speaker 1: got five floors in this CBD tower owned by the Singaporeans,
25:59
Speaker 1: leased out to a Chinese bank. Now, the cost is staggering.
26:04
Speaker 1: Australian taxpayers will spend $ 231 million on this lease. But wait,
26:11
Speaker 1: another $ 83 million will be spent to make it secure
26:15
Speaker 1: enough for Defence to use it. Now, down the road,
26:18
Speaker 1: you've got a barracks that we own, no lease needed,
26:22
Speaker 1: and no $ 80 million either to make it secure. At
26:26
Speaker 1: the same time, we're cutting all of our support, left,
26:29
Speaker 1: right and centre, to veterans. to pay for this sort
26:32
Speaker 1: of waste?
26:34
Speaker 7: Yep.
26:35
Speaker 3: It is disgraceful and it shouldn't be happening.
26:37
Speaker 16: 1841 is when Victoria Barracks became home to the Australian Army.
26:43
Speaker 16: It has treated World War One soldiers. It has been
26:47
Speaker 16: the place that has been the home for the Australian Army.
26:50
Speaker 16: And now under a fire sale, because Richard Miles wants
26:53
Speaker 16: to get rid of it, he's decided to, instead of owning,
26:56
Speaker 16: which we already have, we own it. And he puts
26:59
Speaker 16: a price of about $ 200 million over about 10 or
27:02
Speaker 16: so years. He wants to lease a place that is
27:07
Speaker 16: mortgaged through the Chinese bank.
27:10
Speaker 3: And he wants to shove people. You don't own a lease.
27:12
Speaker 16: And when the lease runs out, you spend all this money,
27:14
Speaker 16: you spend all these upgrades, and then we're all out,
27:17
Speaker 16: you know, looking for another home.
27:19
Speaker 3: I think it's disgraceful.
27:19
Speaker 16: But one important point that I wanted to raise, and
27:23
Speaker 16: I've asked Richard a couple of times and he skirts
27:25
Speaker 16: around it, what was the Chief of Army's recommendation?
27:30
Speaker 3: Because I have it on good authority.
27:32
Speaker 16: The Chief of Army even stated that she would move
27:35
Speaker 16: the head of the headquarters of the Australian Army two
27:39
Speaker 16: Victoria barracks to save it. So why won't this Labor
27:43
Speaker 16: Defence Minister listen to the Chief of Army?
27:48
Speaker 1: This is a friendless proposal, as you know. You've got
27:51
Speaker 1: almost every side of politics, including state Labor, against it.
27:56
Speaker 1: I know the Premier's talking about a heritage order. I mean,
27:59
Speaker 1: what can be done, Phil? What can you do in
28:02
Speaker 1: Canberra to stop this travesty?
28:06
Speaker 3: Well, we'll be in the fight. And that's what we
28:08
Speaker 3: will be in.
28:08
Speaker 16: Because we've got a government who is hell-bent on selling assets.
28:13
Speaker 16: And you can't sell off your history. And that's what
28:16
Speaker 16: they're doing. We've been able to have good wins from opposition.
28:20
Speaker 16: We've been able to be in the fight. We've reversed
28:23
Speaker 16: $ 5, 000 caps. We got funding back to the Baird family
28:26
Speaker 16: with your help and Tony Abbott's help.
28:28
Speaker 3: And we can be in the fight here too. But
28:31
Speaker 3: what I'm.
28:31
Speaker 16: Terrified of is the lack of care from the Minister
28:34
Speaker 16: and the Prime Minister.
28:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're not wrong. It comes, you know, one after
28:40
Speaker 1: another with this sort of stuff. You've got the story
28:41
Speaker 1: too about Coggera, the council there wanting to drop the
28:45
Speaker 1: phrase war memorial from the name of the Coggera swimming pool.
28:50
Speaker 1: He's the president of the RSL in New South Wales.
28:54
Speaker 3: Appalling.
28:55
Speaker 14: It's a war memorial. Coggera War Memorial Swimming Pool is
29:02
Speaker 14: a name that goes back 60 years. It's a name
29:04
Speaker 14: that people identify... to have it associated with some Olympian's
29:10
Speaker 14: name or the like. I just don't understand why you
29:14
Speaker 14: would want to change it from a name like Coggera.
29:18
Speaker 1: And here's the Premier this morning on radio.
29:21
Speaker 7: They've said that the War Memorial must remain in the title.
29:26
Speaker 7: So I hope that they're not planning on having some
29:28
Speaker 7: double-barrelled name where they Make it a cultural name and
29:31
Speaker 7: then an Olympic swimmer's name and then War Memorial at
29:33
Speaker 7: the end. Removing the name or even jamming another one
29:36
Speaker 7: next to it is not in the interest of our
29:39
Speaker 7: duty to remember. people that came back from that terrible
29:42
Speaker 7: conflict and defended Australia and kept it free.
29:46
Speaker 1: Now, it looks like this afternoon they're backtracking a bit,
29:49
Speaker 1: but they're putting it out for community consultation. I think
29:54
Speaker 1: the Premier's come back this afternoon and said, don't waste
29:56
Speaker 1: the money, just make the decision, stick with the title
30:00
Speaker 1: that it is now. But this is the stuff that
30:02
Speaker 1: really angers people, Phil.
30:05
Speaker 3: Oh, it does.
30:05
Speaker 16: And it really kind of ticks me off that every
30:09
Speaker 16: other day we're turning on the TV or we're reading
30:13
Speaker 16: a paper and there's another attack on our history and
30:17
Speaker 16: our defence history. It's really, it's winding a bit thin
30:21
Speaker 16: here because those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice, your families, veterans,
30:26
Speaker 16: you know, they've done so much in support of this nation,
30:29
Speaker 16: including those that have laid their lives down, to have
30:32
Speaker 16: some council somewhere or some protesters here go, oh, we don't.
30:37
Speaker 3: Care about the traditions anymore. We don't really.
30:39
Speaker 16: We don't know about this, so we're just going to
30:41
Speaker 16: gloss over it and make some change.
30:42
Speaker 3: It's not good enough.
30:43
Speaker 16: And if that was in Townsville, there would be riots
30:45
Speaker 16: in the street because we support our veterans, we support
30:49
Speaker 16: our Defence Force men and women.
30:51
Speaker 3: We should not be changing names of our memorial pools.
30:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't reckon on Remembrance Day in Townsville... the
31:00
Speaker 1: students that would have much luck doing some sort of
31:03
Speaker 1: protest at the memorial, would they?
31:07
Speaker 3: Oh, absolutely not.
31:08
Speaker 14: No way.
31:08
Speaker 16: And if, you know what, if you want to protest,
31:11
Speaker 16: I'm all for, you know, the, your freedom of protesting
31:14
Speaker 16: and you can go walk the shit, do it on Saturday,
31:17
Speaker 16: do it on Sunday, do it on a day that
31:20
Speaker 16: isn't one of our most sacred, but also don't do
31:22
Speaker 16: it on a school day.
31:23
Speaker 3: And then we'll see where, where the people really lie.
31:26
Speaker 16: But I just can't believe that there's going to be
31:28
Speaker 16: protests in capital cities on Remembrance Day. I've never felt
31:33
Speaker 16: you know, so ashamed of a government that hasn't stood
31:35
Speaker 16: up and said, if you do that, the teachers that
31:37
Speaker 16: are organised, you know, they'll be disciplined or moved on.
31:40
Speaker 16: And no, we will not be supporting your absentee through
31:44
Speaker 16: that process.
31:45
Speaker 3: It just was not good enough.
31:47
Speaker 1: No, it's not good enough at all. And of course,
31:48
Speaker 1: all these kids have got parents. They should know what
31:51
Speaker 1: their kids are up to as well. Thank you, Phil.
31:53
Speaker 1: After the break, more disturbing footage has emerged regarding the
31:57
Speaker 1: safety of children in our childcare centres. The government, though,
32:00
Speaker 1: determined to plough on with a model that strips choice
32:04
Speaker 1: away from parents. One size fits all after the break.
32:13
Speaker 1: Just before we get on to some other issues, Victorian
32:15
Speaker 1: Labor ramming through a whole lot of stuff before they
32:18
Speaker 1: hit the caretaker issue. conventions on the weekend and a
32:22
Speaker 1: lot of it impacts regional communities. A lot of it's
32:25
Speaker 1: got to do with planning for big renewable projects. I'll
32:28
Speaker 1: get to that in a moment. But now to that
32:30
Speaker 1: alarming story overnight on the ABC, Four Corners, documenting, exposing
32:37
Speaker 1: abuse occurring in Australian childcare centres. A warning, some viewers
32:41
Speaker 1: may find this unsettling.
32:43
Speaker 8: You just can't imagine how someone can be so cruel
32:46
Speaker 8: to babies.
32:50
Speaker 1: It's beyond a red flag. It's in the middle of
32:53
Speaker 1: a psychological storm characterised by cruelty and sadism.
32:59
Speaker 10: How on earth could anyone do that to someone else's child?
33:06
Speaker 11: We have to work, so he needs to go to
33:08
Speaker 11: a childcare, so it's almost like we need to put
33:10
Speaker 11: him in harm's way so we can survive.
33:13
Speaker 1: Tough to watch, isn't it? Joining me now, someone who's
33:15
Speaker 1: been fighting for choice for parents, the founder of Childcare Choice,
33:18
Speaker 1: Jen Fleming. Jen, Shocking footage. Yeah, it's awful.
33:26
Speaker 8: And I think every Australian who watched that last night
33:28
Speaker 8: felt sick to their stomach to understand what was going
33:31
Speaker 8: on in our childcare centres. And today parents have woken up,
33:34
Speaker 8: like that parent in that footage, saying we have to
33:36
Speaker 8: go to work and we have no other option but
33:38
Speaker 8: to continue using these services that are failing our children
33:41
Speaker 8: and our families.
33:43
Speaker 1: And, of course, the money. We spend $ 16 billion a
33:46
Speaker 1: year on childcare as taxpayers. It follows unionised childcare. Parents
33:51
Speaker 1: don't have a choice. If they're working and they need
33:53
Speaker 1: their children looked after, they don't have anyone else to
33:55
Speaker 1: help around, you know, grandparents or family, they have to
33:59
Speaker 1: use these centres. And we know of people jailed for
34:04
Speaker 1: abusing children. We know of 120 childcare centres jailed put
34:07
Speaker 1: on notice. There's just case after case. Some are being
34:11
Speaker 1: shut down. Concerns about not enough appropriate checks for workers
34:19
Speaker 1: in these centres. And more and more, Jen, they're targeting
34:22
Speaker 1: the really young infants because they're less likely to be
34:26
Speaker 1: able to tell their parents what's going on. Yeah, it's disgusting.
34:31
Speaker 8: I think it's really distressing to think about what's going on.
34:34
Speaker 8: But you're right, there are stories every week and parents
34:37
Speaker 8: are sick of it. The heartbreaking headlines have to stop.
34:39
Speaker 8: These are not just numbers, they are people's babies. They
34:42
Speaker 8: are the most precious people in our lives and right
34:45
Speaker 8: now the system that the Albanese government is forcing families
34:48
Speaker 8: into is... is failing miserably. But the government's solution is
34:53
Speaker 8: more money, more of your taxpayer money going into this
34:56
Speaker 8: system that can't guarantee the safety of children.
34:58
Speaker 1: And parents are sick of it. Parents want action.
35:01
Speaker 8: They want to be heard and they want the government
35:03
Speaker 8: to act and they need to do it today.
35:06
Speaker 1: As we know, privatised union membership or union membership, sorry,
35:10
Speaker 1: in private businesses is steadily in decline. Less than 9%
35:14
Speaker 1: of the population belong to a union and outside places
35:18
Speaker 1: like childcare where it's part of the rules. If you
35:21
Speaker 1: want the funding, you've got to be unionised. So it's
35:23
Speaker 1: a growth area. You can see that's why the government,
35:26
Speaker 1: you know, has got such an eye to use taxpayer
35:29
Speaker 1: money to basically buy themselves a membership force and votes.
35:35
Speaker 1: If you were redesigning this system, there's no reason why
35:38
Speaker 1: you can't, the money should follow the parent and give
35:42
Speaker 1: them choice.
35:42
Speaker 3: Yeah.
35:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely.
35:45
Speaker 8: So you're totally right, Peter. This is an attempt at unionisation.
35:49
Speaker 8: It is a typical play from the Labor Playbook 101.
35:52
Speaker 8: What they do is they unionise workforces to try and
35:55
Speaker 8: get votes, and that's fine. They can unionise those workforces,
35:58
Speaker 8: but don't force parents to use them.
36:00
Speaker 1: We need to have more options.
36:01
Speaker 8: Right now the funding should go directly to the parents
36:04
Speaker 8: to be able to choose the care that best supports them.
36:07
Speaker 8: We're eligible for this funding but we aren't eligible for
36:09
Speaker 8: it unless we use what Labor want us to use. Well,
36:12
Speaker 8: that's wrong. That's a backwards system and we can see
36:14
Speaker 8: that it's failing. We need to direct that funding to
36:18
Speaker 8: families to be able to use alternative forms of care
36:21
Speaker 8: that best suit us. Childcare didn't work for my family.
36:24
Speaker 8: I tried as hard as I could and it didn't
36:26
Speaker 8: work and I'm not alone in that. There are so
36:28
Speaker 8: many families across this country who are being let down
36:31
Speaker 8: by this system and the government is forcing us into
36:34
Speaker 8: it and that needs to change.
36:37
Speaker 1: I saw a paper come out from the Liberal Party
36:39
Speaker 1: think tank, the Menzies Research Centre. It had a whole
36:41
Speaker 1: lot of options, very flexible care. I don't agree with
36:45
Speaker 1: every one of them, but it's a debate we've got
36:46
Speaker 1: to have. I feel like, Jen, we're starting to get
36:49
Speaker 1: some momentum here. Yeah, we are.
36:53
Speaker 8: And parents have been asking for this for so long.
36:55
Speaker 8: We know that 78% of women across this country with
36:58
Speaker 8: children under the age of six want a more flexible
37:01
Speaker 8: childcare system. I can't remember a poll that has that
37:04
Speaker 8: huge support across all voting preferences because this is something
37:08
Speaker 8: that families are living every day. So it was really
37:11
Speaker 8: reassuring to see the Menzies Research Centre put that in
37:13
Speaker 8: black and white, that parents need choice.
37:16
Speaker 1: I agree with you. There are a lot of options
37:17
Speaker 1: in there.
37:18
Speaker 8: It's probably potentially overcomplicating something that just should be very simple,
37:22
Speaker 8: and that is funding parents, not providers.
37:24
Speaker 1: Right, we'll leave it there, Jen. Keep up the fight.
37:28
Speaker 1: Let's go to the break. After the break, 100 projects
37:30
Speaker 1: since July 1 rammed through by Labor as they head
37:34
Speaker 1: to a state election that they're not expected to win,
37:37
Speaker 1: including a horrific proposal for farmers out near Victoria's Warwick Nabil.
37:42
Speaker 1: We'll speak to them in a moment. Coming up, John
37:49
Speaker 1: Howard weighs in pretty hard about Labor's spending Significant comments
37:54
Speaker 1: from him. Of course, the inflation numbers out tomorrow, Tuesday
37:57
Speaker 1: panel coming up. But now to the jaw-dropping push from
37:59
Speaker 1: Victorian Labor this week. Front page of the Weekly Times
38:03
Speaker 1: rushing to approve planning amendments, more than 100 of them
38:06
Speaker 1: since July, before they switch into caretaker mode ahead of
38:11
Speaker 1: the November election. Now, one of these projects is huge,
38:15
Speaker 1: 26,000 hectares of renewable energy near Warwick Nabil, two large
38:20
Speaker 1: battery systems. This is a fire-prone area, I'll remind you.
38:24
Speaker 1: Transmission lines and 219 massive turbines, all signed up by
38:30
Speaker 1: the Minister, Sonia Kilkenny. Of course, she's got that large
38:33
Speaker 1: Islamic centre on her books as well. Here to discuss
38:37
Speaker 1: it now, Wimmera Mallee Environmental and Agricultural Protection Association boss,
38:41
Speaker 1: Ross Johns. Well, Ross, you've been blindsided here. People have
38:47
Speaker 1: spoken up your way, so there's been no consultation. This
38:51
Speaker 1: has just literally landed on you, and you've got an
38:54
Speaker 1: election within weeks.
38:57
Speaker 15: Well, it's always been a poor process, but what it's
38:59
Speaker 15: become is a very, very poor process, and unfortunately, And
39:03
Speaker 15: taking away the rights of the local council through the
39:06
Speaker 15: amendment to the planning scheme was absolutely outrageous and should
39:09
Speaker 15: never happen. But that's not the only poor planning process
39:13
Speaker 15: that Sonia Kilkenny has done. She approved some batteries in
39:17
Speaker 15: Gippsland that are awarded to a company in voluntary administration.
39:22
Speaker 15: This is just terrible governance from government. And Sonia Kilkenny
39:26
Speaker 15: needs to answer why she's done it. And the new
39:28
Speaker 15: government should review it.
39:31
Speaker 1: Well, when I spoke to Jess Wilson, she said in
39:33
Speaker 1: relation to another decision pending with the Minister that if
39:37
Speaker 1: they were to rush it through prior to the election,
39:39
Speaker 1: she would tear it up the other side. I think
39:42
Speaker 1: this is part of your push. You've got to push
39:43
Speaker 1: that all of them get reviewed. But just on the
39:46
Speaker 1: point I made about the battery, I mean, you are
39:49
Speaker 1: a fire-prone area. I've spoken to the CFA before about
39:53
Speaker 1: aerial fire fighting when there are big transmission lines, let
39:58
Speaker 1: alone these turbines. We saw that case down near Geelong
40:01
Speaker 1: where a turbine head caught fire. This is a huge risk.
40:06
Speaker 15: Oh, no, absolutely. There was a turbine fire at Bolgana,
40:09
Speaker 15: which is... to the east of Stawell, and it's inevitable
40:12
Speaker 15: there'll be turbine fires in this project as well. One
40:16
Speaker 15: in 1,700 turbines burn every year, and these turbines are
40:20
Speaker 15: placed west of Warratnabil, and the prevailing wind comes from
40:23
Speaker 15: the northwest, and I think it puts Warratnabil, and particularly
40:27
Speaker 15: Brim as well, a small community to the north of Warratnabil,
40:31
Speaker 15: in high peril, and those issues have not been properly considered.
40:34
Speaker 15: The area is normally.
40:38
Speaker 15: Surveyed by firefighting capacity from the air, and that will
40:42
Speaker 15: not be possible. You will not be able to fight
40:45
Speaker 15: fires accurately from the air. It puts the whole community
40:49
Speaker 15: in real peril.
40:52
Speaker 1: A lot of these organisations that are funding these projects
40:55
Speaker 1: are foreign-owned. I spoke to someone out near Rapunyip. about
40:58
Speaker 1: a wind turbine project near her. It's had three owners
41:01
Speaker 1: in about four years, all foreign owned. People sign contracts
41:05
Speaker 1: with one mob, they're gone the next day and on
41:07
Speaker 1: it goes. What do we know about this body and
41:11
Speaker 1: what's the feeling of locals up at Warwick?
41:14
Speaker 15: Well, there's an air of concern and particularly now that
41:18
Speaker 15: council's been taken out of a role of oversight completely,
41:23
Speaker 15: I think there's a real air of concern. The problem
41:26
Speaker 15: with neighbours and the community in general, they haven't been
41:30
Speaker 15: properly consulted. There's been no community consultation and transparency. We
41:34
Speaker 15: absolutely have been crying out for a proper process right
41:37
Speaker 15: from the start. And we've got anything but a proper process.
41:41
Speaker 15: And now we've got large, potentially large batteries and turbines
41:45
Speaker 15: in a very high fire risk area for these communities.
41:49
Speaker 15: And it's just completely unacceptable. Australia is a very fire
41:53
Speaker 15: prone place. Droughts and flooding rains. then the whole place burns.
41:59
Speaker 15: I think we must do better. We can do better.
42:02
Speaker 15: There's also some other considerations which I think are pretty big,
42:06
Speaker 15: is what's the cost to the community? What's the cost
42:08
Speaker 15: to government? The capacity investment scheme hasn't been fully explained.
42:14
Speaker 1: We'll come back to this one. We'll stay right across it.
42:16
Speaker 1: It'll be a feature in the election campaign. I'll get
42:20
Speaker 1: off the show on the way home tonight. I'll make
42:22
Speaker 1: a few phone calls and... see how much we can
42:24
Speaker 1: ramp it up because I know that this is not
42:26
Speaker 1: something that's supported by so many other Victorians. It's not
42:30
Speaker 1: just people up your way. Thanks, Ross. Thanks for your time.
42:32
Speaker 1: Ross John's there. That's in Warwick, Nabil, out near the Wimra.
42:36
Speaker 1: Let's take a break. After the break, my fabulous panel,
42:38
Speaker 1: Lucy Zellick, you love her, and the Daily Telly's Chief
42:41
Speaker 1: of Staff, Jason Morrison, as well. I was just reading
42:49
Speaker 1: my social media in the break and Meghan Markle's confirmed
42:52
Speaker 1: as a co-host. of MasterChef that will be filmed in Victoria,
42:57
Speaker 1: in Melbourne. I tell you what, Victorian taxpayers, they won't
42:59
Speaker 1: be contributing to her security at all. Let's bring in
43:03
Speaker 1: my panel broadcaster, News24 contributor Lucy Zellick and the Daily
43:07
Speaker 1: Telly's Chief of Staff, Jason Morrison. Well, John Howard, geez,
43:11
Speaker 1: he's had a whack. He's gone to town on government spending.
43:15
Speaker 1: pointing out that public servants are enjoying a river of gold,
43:19
Speaker 1: more pay than ever before, more super, as some have
43:22
Speaker 1: got 25%, 35% pay rises, well and above anything out
43:27
Speaker 1: there in the real world. Well, Lucy, he's not wrong. No,
43:31
Speaker 1: he's absolutely not wrong, Peter. Great to be with you.
43:34
Speaker 17: And if you are one of the businesses which contribute
43:38
Speaker 17: to one third of our nation's GDP, you would be
43:41
Speaker 17: sitting back and thinking, Hang on a minute. Where's our break? But,
43:45
Speaker 17: you know, to you and I and to many of
43:46
Speaker 17: our viewers, of course, cuts to the public service make sense.
43:49
Speaker 17: But to the broader public, if you cast your mind
43:52
Speaker 17: back to the federal election campaign under then opposition leader
43:55
Speaker 17: Peter Dutton, when he announced that he wanted to.
43:57
Speaker 3: Cut up to 41,000 APS jobs.
44:00
Speaker 17: Over five years and it would have saved the taxpayer
44:03
Speaker 17: seven billion dollars he was pilloried for it and absolutely
44:07
Speaker 17: smashed by the labor government well cast your mind back
44:10
Speaker 17: to may this year where a report by the australian
44:12
Speaker 17: financial review showed that under this albanese government the cost
44:16
Speaker 17: blowouts of running this aps under his government are now
44:21
Speaker 17: exceeding over.
44:22
Speaker 14: 19.6 billion.
44:25
Speaker 3: Over four years.
44:26
Speaker 17: And not only that, they then started instructing government departments
44:30
Speaker 17: to start scratching around.
44:31
Speaker 1: To look for savings. I mean, it's remarkable, isn't it?
44:35
Speaker 17: When you think about this, one had the courage to
44:37
Speaker 17: take the policy to an election, the other over-promised and under-delivered.
44:41
Speaker 17: And that's why our economy is tanking under this government.
44:45
Speaker 1: You've got the secretaries of department, Jason, on close to
44:50
Speaker 1: a million dollars, some a bit more than that. You've
44:53
Speaker 1: got the Prime Minister now with more staff than any
44:55
Speaker 1: other PM in history. Clearly they're not helping him. He's
44:58
Speaker 1: making mistake and lie after lie on a regular basis.
45:02
Speaker 1: I had a look at what his chief of staff
45:04
Speaker 1: earns or senior staff in his office. Most of them
45:07
Speaker 1: are on the top staff, at least $ 140, 000 more, more
45:09
Speaker 1: than what I earned in the same job what, not
45:15
Speaker 1: even a decade ago, this is where Australians are right
45:19
Speaker 1: to be angry.
45:20
Speaker 3: They are.
45:21
Speaker 18: And this is the thing that's sort of gone missing
45:24
Speaker 18: in all of this. It used to be, and I
45:25
Speaker 18: come from a family of people who've worked in the
45:28
Speaker 18: public service for most of my childhood, mother and father.
45:31
Speaker 18: And the reason people worked in the public service on
45:34
Speaker 18: a number of fronts was, well, it was one of
45:35
Speaker 18: those jobs that you didn't lose easily. And in tough times,
45:39
Speaker 18: the pressure wasn't quite on you like it was. So
45:41
Speaker 18: you copped the lesser salary because that was the trade-off.
45:45
Speaker 18: the safety of holding your position. These days, I mean,
45:48
Speaker 18: the public sector is under, is assaulting the private sector
45:52
Speaker 18: for staff. And some of the so-called brightest minds that
45:56
Speaker 18: should be working in private enterprise are being drawn into
46:00
Speaker 18: the relaxed and comfortable lifestyle of the public service. And
46:04
Speaker 18: where are the ramifications for them not delivering on what
46:06
Speaker 18: they're meant to be doing? Where's the ramifications for blowing
46:09
Speaker 18: out the budget?
46:10
Speaker 4: Nil, none. They roll on.
46:12
Speaker 1: There are no consequences. They sit at home. They can
46:15
Speaker 1: all work from home. They can work actually from anywhere
46:17
Speaker 1: they like in the country. They don't have to be
46:19
Speaker 1: anywhere near Canberra. Let's go to the AFP Commissioner. She
46:23
Speaker 1: can't front the Bondo Royal Commission, but she can have
46:27
Speaker 1: this to say.
46:29
Speaker 9: Things like a cartoon that suggests someone should be hit
46:32
Speaker 9: by a car or something like that, does that have
46:35
Speaker 9: a direct link?
46:35
Speaker 3: Is that what you're talking about?
46:36
Speaker 5: We do see examples where there are particular announcements or,
46:40
Speaker 5: you know... things like you've just described, there is a
46:44
Speaker 5: reaction amongst the community.
46:47
Speaker 1: OK, so ever since that terrible incident with Helen Haynes
46:50
Speaker 1: last Monday, we've had all this talk, you know, it's
46:53
Speaker 1: the fault of social media, it's the fault of Hanson's cartoons.
46:58
Speaker 1: Hardly anyone, Lucy, has gone after the man himself who's
47:03
Speaker 1: been accused of this crime. We're not focused on him.
47:07
Speaker 1: It's the fault of everything else. And I find that extraordinary.
47:11
Speaker 17: I find it extraordinary like you, Peter, but also very
47:14
Speaker 17: egregious because it takes away the responsibility that this man
47:18
Speaker 17: should face for these alleged attacks. And by the way,
47:21
Speaker 17: to the points there that the AFP Commissioner Chrissie Barrett made,
47:25
Speaker 17: saying and suggesting somehow that the reactions were, I quote, immediate,
47:30
Speaker 17: these cartoons that they've been digging up over the last
47:32
Speaker 17: few days that One Nation have produced, those were produced
47:35
Speaker 17: in 2022 and 2023.
47:38
Speaker 1: Did we see any attacks like the.
47:40
Speaker 17: Horrific one that we saw on Dr Helen Haynes in
47:43
Speaker 17: those periods in time? No, Dr Helen Haynes was attacked
47:47
Speaker 17: eight days ago, not in 2022 and 2023. So the
47:51
Speaker 17: cause and link effect there are very, very misleading and
47:55
Speaker 17: also takes away, as I said, the blame that this
47:57
Speaker 17: man should face.
48:00
Speaker 1: Just quickly, Jason, Hanson says if elected, she wants to
48:03
Speaker 1: remove that retrospective law under which Ben Robert Smith has
48:08
Speaker 1: been charged.
48:09
Speaker 18: Yeah, well, I hope she gets there in that front
48:12
Speaker 18: because that is an appalling thing that's happened. The fairness
48:16
Speaker 18: in all of this, almost from the start, has worked
48:19
Speaker 18: backwards on him. They changed the law to make it
48:21
Speaker 18: less fair. They arrested him in a manner that made
48:25
Speaker 18: it very, very hard for him to have a fair
48:27
Speaker 18: shot at looking like an innocent man being accused. They
48:31
Speaker 18: have never treated this man with fairness and we need
48:35
Speaker 18: the Parliament to recognise that. And if that fails, you've
48:37
Speaker 18: got to hope the justice system does.
48:40
Speaker 1: I'm with you on that. I'll leave it there. Thank
48:42
Speaker 1: you to you both. Lucy Jason, see you next week.
48:45
Speaker 1: That's it for me. See you tomorrow night. He's Andrew Bolt.