Latest / The Kenny Report / The Kenny Report | 7 April

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The Kenny Report | 7 April · The Kenny Report

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Line from the Skying New Center.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: This is the Kenny Report.
• 0:07
  Speaker 3: Thanks for joining me here on the Kenny Reporter. National
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: war hero, the Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts Smith charged
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: with five counts of war crimes, five alleged murders. I'll
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  Speaker 3: speak with the Special Air Service Associations Martin Hamilton Smith
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: Donald Trump's frightening warning to Iran less than twenty four
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: hours before a promised dramatic escalation in the war. I'll
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: speak with Peter Jennings here and Kristen Tate in the US.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: With the fuel crisis ongoing, Shadow Energy Minister Dan Teen
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: will join me and Tim Blair will check out the
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  Speaker 3: ev charging cues. All that plenty more too, with Caroline
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  Speaker 3: Derusso and Lisa Goddard.
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  Speaker 2: Let's get cracking.
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  Speaker 3: Excuse men, the news about Ben Roberts Smith is shocking.
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  Speaker 3: Whatever the outcome, whether there's war hero is guilty or innocent,
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  Speaker 3: it's a tragedy for the nation. Here he is in
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  Speaker 3: jeans and T shirt, arrested at Sydney Airport this morning
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  Speaker 3: after flying in from Brisbane. Taken into custody by Australian
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  Speaker 3: Federal Police officers.
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  Speaker 2: The laying of these charges has.
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  Speaker 3: Long been considered likely given the Brereton Report into alleged
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  Speaker 3: war crimes handed down damning findings six years ago.
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  Speaker 2: And then Robert.
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  Speaker 3: Smith sensationally lost his defamation case against the nine media
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  Speaker 3: newspapers that dubbed him a murderer a war criminal, and
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  Speaker 3: when he sued them over that damage to his reputation,
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  Speaker 3: they won the case, proving the alleged facts under the
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  Speaker 3: lower burden of proof in a civil court that is,
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  Speaker 3: on the balance of probabilities rather than proven beyond reasonable doubt.
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  Speaker 3: Now five charges of war crimes murder are set to
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  Speaker 3: be tried in a criminal court under that higher burden
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  Speaker 3: of pres But let me backtrack a little to explain
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  Speaker 3: why this is such a blow.
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  Speaker 2: To this nation as well as to Robert Smith.
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  Speaker 3: When he was awarded the Victoria Cross in twenty eleven,
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  Speaker 3: this West Australian became a genuine war hero for this
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  Speaker 3: nation in the long running Afghanistan war that had claimed
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  Speaker 3: the lives of forty one Australian Defense Force personnel.
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  Speaker 4: I'm just very proud to be a member of this unit, especially.
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  Speaker 2: The squadron that I was with on the day. I
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  Speaker 2: saw a lot of brave men do a lot of
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  Speaker 2: brave things that don't.
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  Speaker 5: The Aussie digger single handedly stormed a nest of Taliban
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  Speaker 5: fighters and under heavy machine fire, saved the lives of
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  Speaker 5: fellow soldiers in the Taliban stronghold of Northern Kandahar last year.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, a Special Air Services Regiment corporal, son of a
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  Speaker 3: Supreme Court Justice, Robert Smith, was a mountain of a man.
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  Speaker 3: Is a mountain of a man, known as a family
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  Speaker 3: man too, and a genuine war hero.
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  Speaker 2: The nation embraced him.
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  Speaker 3: Have a listened to the Governor General here as she
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  Speaker 3: pins the VC, the highest honor a soldier can receive.
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  Speaker 6: It represents the finest values and traditions of military service,
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  Speaker 6: our symbol for valor, and what an honor it is
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  Speaker 6: for me to invest you with it, to pin it
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  Speaker 6: onto your chest, my fellow Australian Corporal Robert Smith, and
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  Speaker 6: to say, on behalf of all Australians, how proud we
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  Speaker 6: are of you, How much.
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  Speaker 2: You mean to us.
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  Speaker 6: In these times of hardship and grief. For many Australians,
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  Speaker 6: you bring our hearts to soar, and you remind us
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  Speaker 6: of the strength and the endurance of the human spirit.
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  Speaker 6: I congratulate you and I wish you all the very
• 4:01
  Speaker 6: best today and always thank you for what you did
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  Speaker 6: and for what you will continue to do.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: There he is Ben Robert Smith unquestionably a national hero
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  Speaker 3: at that time.
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  Speaker 2: He went on to.
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  Speaker 3: Take up a corporate position with the Seven Network, and
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: his rise continued in the public arena too, as he
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: chaired the National Australia Day Council. But it was the
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  Speaker 3: allegations about events in Afghanistan that haunted him, the media
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  Speaker 3: reports dubbing him a murderer. Faithfully, he took court action
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  Speaker 3: to protect his reputation to disprove those claims, but he
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: lost that battle. Three years ago, the judge ruling Australia's
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  Speaker 3: most decorated living soldier murdered innocent, defenseless Afghan civilians.
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  Speaker 7: Australia's most decorated living soldier. He wrote no more, his
• 5:01
  Speaker 7: reputation shredded by a Federal court judge after the biggest
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  Speaker 7: defamation trial in a century. All up, it was found
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  Speaker 7: Robert Smith either carried out or was complicit in four.
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  Speaker 8: Murders committed murder by machine gunning a man with the
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  Speaker 8: prosthetic leg.
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  Speaker 7: The prosthetic leg became a trophy taken back to base
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  Speaker 7: used to drink beer. In that same mission, it was
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  Speaker 7: proven Robert Smith thought it a newly deployed soldier to
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  Speaker 7: execute an elderly man in an initiation process called blooding
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  Speaker 7: the rookie.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: So that's a summary of the story of Ben Roberts
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  Speaker 3: Smith so far. War hero, corporate leader and public figure
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  Speaker 3: who's fallen from grace already because of murderous allegations and
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  Speaker 3: a failed defamation action. Now he faces five serious charges, which,
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  Speaker 3: if convicted, carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
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  Speaker 9: It will be alleged to the victims were not taking
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  Speaker 9: part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder
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  Speaker 9: in Afghanistan. It will be alleged the victims were detained,
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  Speaker 9: unarmed and were under the control of ADYF members when
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  Speaker 9: they were killed.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and Ben Robert Smith is in custody tonight is
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: expected to face a bail hearing in court tomorrow. This
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  Speaker 3: is an extraordinarily difficult case for many reasons, and many
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  Speaker 3: Australians will be feeling disquiet over all of this. It's
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  Speaker 3: important to make a couple of points very clearly. First,
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  Speaker 3: if any soldier murders civilians or other combatants in cold blood,
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  Speaker 3: then they should be brought to justice.
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  Speaker 2: That's the only right and proper course of action.
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  Speaker 3: And second, given so much of this has been made
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  Speaker 3: public in the past through the government's Brereton Inquiry, media
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  Speaker 3: claims and defamation proceedings, we all need to be careful
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  Speaker 3: about not prejudicing the looming criminal trial.
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  Speaker 10: I have no intention of pread to seeing a matter
• 7:01
  Speaker 10: that clearly is a legal matter and that's before the courts,
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  Speaker 10: and any comment would do so.
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  Speaker 3: But there are areas of serious concern, and they relate
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  Speaker 3: to a number of aspects, including how.
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  Speaker 2: Long all this has taken.
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  Speaker 3: Not only is justice delayed, justice denied, but also the
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  Speaker 3: more time passes, the harder it is to have all
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  Speaker 3: the evidence at hand. And the fact these alleged events
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: happened on the other side of the world in a
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  Speaker 3: period of guerrilla warfare is highly problematic. In the Afghanistan War,
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  Speaker 3: soldiers were constantly uncertain about who the enemy was, who
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  Speaker 3: was friend and who was foe, who was a civilian,
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  Speaker 3: who was a terrorist. In fact, it was so opaque
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  Speaker 3: that sometimes Afghan soldiers working with our troops actually turned
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  Speaker 3: their guns.
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  Speaker 2: On our soldiers.
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  Speaker 3: Former Prime Minister Tony Abbot issued a statement today touching
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  Speaker 3: on some of these important issues. Of course, there are
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  Speaker 3: rules that have to be observed and enforced, even against
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  Speaker 3: soldiers in times of war, said Abbot. Still, it's wrong
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  Speaker 3: to judge the actions of men in mortal combat by
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  Speaker 3: the standards of ordinary civilian life.
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  Speaker 2: The former PM continued.
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  Speaker 3: If Benn Robert Smith transgressed, why wasn't this picked up
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  Speaker 3: prior to his gallantry awards And why wasn't any culture
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  Speaker 3: of brutality towards prisoners detected by his more senior officers
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  Speaker 3: and dealt with quickly rather than being allowed to fester
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  Speaker 3: as has been alleged for over a decade.
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  Speaker 2: Strong and pertinent points from Tony Abbott.
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  Speaker 3: Now, of course, the war is over now, US, NATO
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  Speaker 3: and Australian soldiers have long since left Afghanistan.
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  Speaker 2: The country is in the hands of the.
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  Speaker 3: Taliban again, the terrorists who were our enemies in the war.
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  Speaker 3: And there's no legal or policing system in place there
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  Speaker 3: that Australian authorities can rely upon for facts or for evidence.
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  Speaker 2: So it is a fraud case.
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  Speaker 3: Time and distance and the fog of war make it
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  Speaker 3: all very difficult for investigators and for prosecutors and for
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  Speaker 3: Robert Smith's defense team to prove anything beyond a reasonable doubt.
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  Speaker 3: We need to have our faith in our criminal justice
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  Speaker 3: system now, putting aside all of the claims and counterclaims,
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  Speaker 3: all of the speculation, and they need to just zero
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  Speaker 3: in on the facts and the facts alone to the
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  Speaker 3: current war now. And we'll be talking a lot about
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  Speaker 3: this tonight because the next moves will be crucial. When
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  Speaker 3: the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February, we
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  Speaker 3: were told quite rightly that this was not a war
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  Speaker 3: against the Iranian people, but against the Islamist theocracy, the
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  Speaker 3: extremist dictatorship that's run around for almost fifty years.
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  Speaker 4: To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces,
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  Speaker 4: and all of the police, I say tonight that you
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  Speaker 4: must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity, or
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  Speaker 4: in the alternative, face certain death. So lay down your arms.
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  Speaker 4: You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you
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  Speaker 4: will face certain death. Finally, to the great proud people
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  Speaker 4: of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your
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  Speaker 4: freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered, don't leave your home.
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  Speaker 4: It's very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When
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  Speaker 4: we are finished take over your government, it will be
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  Speaker 4: yours to take. This will be probably your only chance
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  Speaker 4: for generations.
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  Speaker 3: Since then, the Iranian leadership and military has been decimated,
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  Speaker 3: from the Supreme Leader Aetola Ali Kamani to military and
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  Speaker 3: intelligence chiefs. The targeted attacks have effectively decapitated the regime.
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  Speaker 2: The new Supreme Leader, Moshta Bacambini.
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  Speaker 3: Is reportedly seriously injured, unconscious and incapable of running the country,
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  Speaker 3: and the Iranian Navy, Air Force and notorious Islamic Revolutionary
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  Speaker 3: Guard Corps have been largely demolished as well. Yet Iran
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  Speaker 3: hasn't surrendered, Its people have not overthrown their regime and
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: diminishing but deadly and strategic attacks by Iran continue to
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  Speaker 3: terrorize its neighbors and disrupt crucial oil shipments through the
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  Speaker 3: Strait of Ormor's, which brings us to the latest threats
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  Speaker 3: from the US President.
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  Speaker 4: Where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by twelve
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  Speaker 4: o'clock tomorrow night, Where every power plant in Iran will
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  Speaker 4: be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be
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  Speaker 4: used again. I mean complete demolition by twelve o'clock, and
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  Speaker 4: it will happen over a period of four hours if
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  Speaker 4: we wanted to.
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  Speaker 2: We don't want that to happen.
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  Speaker 3: This is deeply worrying stuff, and it is paradoxical because
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  Speaker 3: attacks like this will hurt civilians, will hurt the Iranian people.
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  Speaker 3: Attacks like this will harm the very people who are
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  Speaker 3: not supposed to be harmed by this attack, and of
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  Speaker 3: course it will harm the regime as well. But the
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  Speaker 3: problem here is the harming of the Iranian people now.
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  Speaker 3: Without power, of course, other necessities like food, border, healthcare
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  Speaker 3: and education will or full by the wayside, and people
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  Speaker 3: in hospitals and age care and other facilities will suffer,
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: and there will be civilian deaths that would be inevitable.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: We simply don't know where the majority of the Iranian
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  Speaker 3: population stands right now, whether they are able to overthrow
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: their regime, whether they've tried and be shot down. What
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: we do know is that if Donald Trump does what
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: he's threatened to do, the Iranian people will suffer and
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: suffer badly. And where the war goes from there nobody
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  Speaker 3: could possibly tell. Let's go now to the Australian Special
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: Air Service Association spokesman Martin Hamilton Smith, who joins.
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  Speaker 2: Us from Adelaide. Martin. Good to talk to you again.
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  Speaker 3: I'm very keen to get your reaction to these five
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  Speaker 3: war crimes charges of murder against Ben Robert Smith.
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  Speaker 1: Good to be with you, Chris Well.
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  Speaker 11: Look, the first point is that Ben Robert Smith is
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  Speaker 11: clearly a very courageous soldier, and so are all of
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  Speaker 11: his comrades from the Special Air Service Regiment and the
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  Speaker 11: commandos who fought in Afghanistan. The second point to makers, clearly,
• 14:00
  Speaker 11: now charges have been laid, five of them against an individual.
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  Speaker 11: We'll now get the due process that our association has
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  Speaker 11: been calling for for Ben and others, and that is
• 14:13
  Speaker 11: in a proper criminal court where Ben can put his
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  Speaker 11: side of the story and those accusing can put theirs,
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  Speaker 11: and a jury can make a fair and reasonable decision,
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  Speaker 11: and we get a verdict and all of us within
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  Speaker 11: this country will respect that decision. I must say, though,
• 14:33
  Speaker 11: the process up until now has been pretty messy. It's
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  Speaker 11: been five or six years, the war was a long
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  Speaker 11: time ago. The government, the former chief the Defense for
• 14:44
  Speaker 11: z Angus Campbell, put a whole lot of allegations out
• 14:47
  Speaker 11: there in the public domain. There's been trial by media.
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  Speaker 11: Then there's been trial through a defamation court, which has
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  Speaker 11: a low standard of proof. Now in a proper court,
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  Speaker 11: we'll find out.
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  Speaker 1: The truth, and I think that'll be good for all
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  Speaker 1: of Usustralians.
• 15:01
  Speaker 11: The point I would make all the points I would make,
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  Speaker 11: because there were a few, is that there are from
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  Speaker 11: an original list of about forty five souls is about
• 15:09
  Speaker 11: whom allegations were made, I think about ten remaining. The
• 15:13
  Speaker 11: so called evidence in the other cases appears to have
• 15:16
  Speaker 11: not stood up. If there are any further charges to
• 15:19
  Speaker 11: be made, I say to the Office of the Special Investigator,
• 15:22
  Speaker 11: make them. Justice delayed is justice denied. Let's get this
• 15:25
  Speaker 11: whole thing sorted out. It's in the nation's interest to
• 15:28
  Speaker 11: do so. And that's the first point. The second point
• 15:31
  Speaker 11: is let's not presume any guilt. Ben has the right
• 15:34
  Speaker 11: to the presumption of innocence until the court makes its decision.
• 15:40
  Speaker 11: And let's not blame anyone else. These are individual charges
• 15:44
  Speaker 11: against Ben. All of the people who fought on our
• 15:47
  Speaker 11: behalf in Afghanistan. Almost twenty thousand men and women from
• 15:50
  Speaker 11: the adf over its course, but hundreds from special forces
• 15:56
  Speaker 11: put their lives on the line and in some cases
• 15:59
  Speaker 11: died for our nation. In a courageous fight. So this
• 16:02
  Speaker 11: collective punishment, let's not have any more of that. We're
• 16:07
  Speaker 11: very finely represented by RADF and the SAS Regiment. Look,
• 16:10
  Speaker 11: it's a sad day Frustralia to find a VC winner,
• 16:14
  Speaker 11: such a brave man in this predicament. Let's see what
• 16:17
  Speaker 11: the truth is and what the court decides. Our concern
• 16:22
  Speaker 11: is and association is for our veterans and their families.
• 16:24
  Speaker 11: We certainly want these other cases dealt with and we
• 16:27
  Speaker 11: don't want this thing dragging on.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: War is a messy business.
• 16:31
  Speaker 11: We charge our young men and women to go to
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  Speaker 11: fight it and to conduct lawful killings in our name,
• 16:37
  Speaker 11: and the line between what's a lawful killing and unlawful
• 16:39
  Speaker 11: killing can be very difficult to determine in war, as
• 16:43
  Speaker 11: Tony Abbott pointed out quite correctly. So let's see what
• 16:46
  Speaker 11: the truth is and where the line actually was. Whether
• 16:49
  Speaker 11: these people were actually our enemies, whether the killings were
• 16:54
  Speaker 11: lawful or not, that's a matter for the court. It's
• 16:57
  Speaker 11: certainly been very messy and I think the government should
• 17:00
  Speaker 11: could have handled it better. Successive governments and certain generals
• 17:04
  Speaker 11: this sort of fighting guerrilla warfare, we saw it in
• 17:06
  Speaker 11: Vietnam as well. You don't know who the enemy is.
• 17:10
  Speaker 11: They throw their weapons down, pick them up a minute later.
• 17:13
  Speaker 11: Our soldiers bury their mates. They have tough decisions to
• 17:16
  Speaker 11: make in a split second. So let's see what the
• 17:20
  Speaker 11: court sided as a positive. Let me say it is
• 17:24
  Speaker 11: good to see the Australian justice system working. We don't
• 17:27
  Speaker 11: need to be told what to think and what to
• 17:29
  Speaker 11: do by international criminal courts or treaties in Rome or
• 17:32
  Speaker 11: people of Mavasus. You think they know better than what
• 17:34
  Speaker 11: we do. This is the Australian justice system working and
• 17:37
  Speaker 11: I think now hopefully we'll get an outcome that Australians
• 17:41
  Speaker 11: can consider fair and just.
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: There's a lot to unpack there, and I wanted to
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: let you have your say, and you made a lot
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: of important points, but it is important that everybody gets
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: the presumption of innocence.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: I seem to recall our generals.
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: And our government actually apologizing for war crimes in Afghanistan,
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: and at the time of the Breton Report being handed down?
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: Was that preemptive? And secondly, how confident can we be
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: of a court in Australia ascitating what happened in the
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: bad lands of Afghanistan?
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Almost two decades ago.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: Well, two very good points, Chris.
• 18:20
  Speaker 11: On the first one, you are spot on about the
• 18:23
  Speaker 11: way this was handled by the government of the day
• 18:25
  Speaker 11: when the Breton Report was tabled and by the former
• 18:29
  Speaker 11: Chief of the Defense Force. The whole tenor of the
• 18:33
  Speaker 11: report by General Brereton was as if it was a
• 18:36
  Speaker 11: finding of guilt.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: It was not.
• 18:39
  Speaker 11: It was only a listing of allegations. And then the
• 18:42
  Speaker 11: way it was presented by the government and the then CDF,
• 18:46
  Speaker 11: we were apologizing, offering to pay compensation. It was disgracefully
• 18:51
  Speaker 11: dealt with. The only way to find out the truth
• 18:53
  Speaker 11: is through the process we're about to go through, which
• 18:56
  Speaker 11: is the criminal court process. You correctly point out that
• 19:00
  Speaker 11: generals and politicians who designed this war were beside themselves
• 19:04
  Speaker 11: trying to apologize for it and blaming corporals and sergeants
• 19:07
  Speaker 11: instead of taking responsibility themselves. The second point you make
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  Speaker 11: is spot on as well, trying to get to the
• 19:14
  Speaker 11: truth now in the in the in the fog of war,
• 19:18
  Speaker 11: interviewing people who are our former enemies, you know, the
• 19:22
  Speaker 11: people who were killing us, and you know, expecting them
• 19:28
  Speaker 11: to be reliable witnesses. I mean, this case is going
• 19:32
  Speaker 11: to encounter some considerable difficulties and the onus will be
• 19:36
  Speaker 11: on those prosecuting to prove their case. Absolutely, Ben should
• 19:41
  Speaker 11: be considered innocent until proven otherwise, and if the prosecutors
• 19:46
  Speaker 11: can turn up witnesses that can be believed, then that
• 19:51
  Speaker 11: will be a matter for the for the court to consider.
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: Quite right, the Israean.
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  Speaker 11: Government needs to really think carefully about how they handle
• 19:59
  Speaker 11: this and not make this mistake again.
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: Our veterans deserve better.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: Martin Hamilton Smith, thanks so much for joining us. I
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: appreciate it.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Martin Hamilton Smith there who's with the Special Air Services Association,
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: And reminder that Ben Robert Smith, the Victoria Cross recipient,
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: is in custody tonight, being held in Sydney and likely
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: to face a bail hearing in Sydney tomorrow on those
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: five war crimes charges, five charges of murder. Let's go
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: to the Shadow Energy Minister, Dan Tin, who joins us
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: from a country Victoria today.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: Dan, thanks for joining us.
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: We'll get onto the energy crisis in a moment, but
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: first up your reaction to the arrest and charging of
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: Ben Robert Smith.
• 20:42
  Speaker 12: The presumption of innocence is one of the fundamental principles
• 20:46
  Speaker 12: which underpins our society. He should be granted that. And
• 20:51
  Speaker 12: I don't want to comment any further a Chris because
• 20:54
  Speaker 12: it is before the courts, but other to say, you know,
• 20:57
  Speaker 12: he deserves like everyone does, the presumption of ann.
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: Well, if we jump ahead to the war that is
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: currently being waged in nearby Iran, the threats being made
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: by Donald Trump that we're likely to see an escalation
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: of attacks against Iran, targeting civilian infrastructure in the next
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: twenty four hours, that must concern you greatly, not only
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: in terms of global security, in the Middle Eastern security,
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: but also the energy crisis worldwide.
• 21:29
  Speaker 12: Well, what really concerns me the most is just the
• 21:33
  Speaker 12: completing competent handling of the national fuel crisis by the
• 21:38
  Speaker 12: Albanesi Labor government and by Chris Bowen in particular. We
• 21:42
  Speaker 12: were caught asleep at the wheel as a result of
• 21:45
  Speaker 12: this Iran war, and there's nothing that we're doing, especially
• 21:49
  Speaker 12: around transparency, that I think is providing any sort of
• 21:54
  Speaker 12: surety to the Australian people that the government has this
• 21:57
  Speaker 12: under control. And I've got to say, when it comes
• 22:01
  Speaker 12: to diesel, which our economy relies on about fifty percent
• 22:05
  Speaker 12: of our energy, is relying on diesel. The government seems
• 22:09
  Speaker 12: clueless in being able to guarantee that we're going to
• 22:12
  Speaker 12: have supplies from May beyond, and I hope that Chris
• 22:17
  Speaker 12: Bowen and the Prime Minister have.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: This as their key focus at the moment.
• 22:22
  Speaker 12: Obviously, what will take place between the US and Israel
• 22:26
  Speaker 12: and Iran is going to continue. I mean, the best
• 22:29
  Speaker 12: thing that could happen would be for the Iranian regime
• 22:33
  Speaker 12: to say, right, enough's.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: Enough, and we are going to end this war.
• 22:38
  Speaker 12: We're going to agree to the terms that the US
• 22:41
  Speaker 12: have put in place and open the Straits of Hamus.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Now, whether that happens or not.
• 22:46
  Speaker 12: Who knows, But I think that would be the best
• 22:49
  Speaker 12: that the world could hope for overnight, because that would
• 22:53
  Speaker 12: then put us on the path to making sure that
• 22:56
  Speaker 12: we've got the fuel security that we need here in
• 22:58
  Speaker 12: this nation and global.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: In the meantime, of course, we've got the Energy Minister
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: sounding like he's shopping around the world to get a
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: few ships here and they're trying to boost our supplies.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: It's hardly inspiring stuff. Here's Chris Bohen.
• 23:12
  Speaker 8: I now have locked in confidence into well into May,
• 23:17
  Speaker 8: had been into April, but now well into May. In
• 23:19
  Speaker 8: terms of fuel that they've been able to procure and
• 23:23
  Speaker 8: lock in and have contractual obligations to deliver to Australia.
• 23:26
  Speaker 8: That's a good thing.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: It's quite pathetic really as demeaning for a nation that
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: you're reduced to this. So this will play out in
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: coming weeks and months and.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: It could get a bit tricky.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: But dan Ke dantein the key question is what is
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: the medium term solution to this and will the coalition
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: back diesel manufacturing in this country from.
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: Coal or more drilling for oil or both.
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: I mean, we simply have to be more self sufficient
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: or this could get a lot worse with another conflict
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: closer to home.
• 24:01
  Speaker 12: Absolutely, Chris, we should look at cold or liquid fuel,
• 24:04
  Speaker 12: we should look at drilling for all. The Queensland Al
• 24:07
  Speaker 12: and p government are very keen to begin that process.
• 24:11
  Speaker 12: We've said would work with the government in a bipartisan
• 24:14
  Speaker 12: way to change the EPBC Act. You'll remember they got
• 24:18
  Speaker 12: into bed with the Greens and basically said they won't
• 24:20
  Speaker 12: fast track any fossil fuel development in this nation. We
• 24:25
  Speaker 12: think that should be changed immediately and we do it
• 24:27
  Speaker 12: that when the Parliament next sit with the government. All
• 24:31
  Speaker 12: these things we have to do. We have to restore
• 24:34
  Speaker 12: the diesel storage program that Chris Bowen cut, took money
• 24:39
  Speaker 12: out of, and then ended that program, and he had
• 24:41
  Speaker 12: to go at me today about this in his press conference.
• 24:45
  Speaker 12: I say to Chris Bowen, look at the budget papers.
• 24:48
  Speaker 12: It's quite clear that that's exactly what you did. If
• 24:51
  Speaker 12: that program had been continued, that was a two hundred
• 24:54
  Speaker 12: and fifty million dollar grand program to increase storage of
• 24:59
  Speaker 12: diesel in the this country. If they had to continue that,
• 25:02
  Speaker 12: we might not be in this mess that we're in now.
• 25:05
  Speaker 12: Remembering that when we left Offers, our oil supplies were
• 25:10
  Speaker 12: at around nearly sixty days and that's obviously deteriorated quite considerably,
• 25:16
  Speaker 12: especially when it comes to diesel. So all these things
• 25:20
  Speaker 12: we need to see the government act on and we're
• 25:23
  Speaker 12: ready and we stand ready to work with them to
• 25:25
  Speaker 12: do it.
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: All great stuff, Dan Teen, thanks for joining us. Dwan teen,
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: there the Yes Shadow Energy Minister coming to us from
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: Western Victoria.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: We're going to take a break. On the other side.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: I'm going to speak to security expert Peter Jennings about
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: what we can expect to see in Iran in the.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: Crucial next twenty four hours.
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: I showed you at the top of the program the
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: latest threats from Donald Trump when it comes to Iran.
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: Let's get some analysis on where this is heading, and
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: we're joined by Peter Jennings, Scoone News Defense Analyst's good
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: to talk to you again, Peter. This is very disturbing,
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: very worrying what we're hearing from Donald Trump.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: We understand the intimidation.
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: He's trying to push the way of Tehran to try
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: and get them to adopt a ceasefire or indeed surrender.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: But when Donald Trump is threatening to.
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: Knock out all electricity generating plants and bridges, is he
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: not promising to inflict enormous harm on the Iranian people.
• 26:27
  Speaker 13: Yes, he is, and for that reason, I think we're
• 26:30
  Speaker 13: getting some bluff here, which was an attempt to try
• 26:33
  Speaker 13: to get Iran to the negotiating table, and that appears
• 26:37
  Speaker 13: to have failed now, Chris, So, I think in the
• 26:40
  Speaker 13: next twenty four hours we are going to see a
• 26:42
  Speaker 13: lift up in American military strikes. But they've got to
• 26:45
  Speaker 13: be very careful about how hard and how far they
• 26:48
  Speaker 13: go in terms of civilian infrastructure for this to be
• 26:51
  Speaker 13: seen to be legal under the laws of conflict. Whatever
• 26:55
  Speaker 13: they do has to be proportionate to achieving their military objectives.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: And the truth of the matter.
• 27:01
  Speaker 13: Is that there's still a lot of military targets out there.
• 27:03
  Speaker 13: I saw one report today where the Americans are saying
• 27:06
  Speaker 13: they still have about a third of Iranian missiles still
• 27:11
  Speaker 13: to hit. So there's a lot of things in a
• 27:13
  Speaker 13: military sense which they need to go for. And I
• 27:16
  Speaker 13: think one final comment would be the critical factor here
• 27:20
  Speaker 13: is to continue to go after regime leaders, particularly in
• 27:24
  Speaker 13: the Revolutionary Guard, which is kind of running the show
• 27:27
  Speaker 13: right now. I think if they can make more hits
• 27:30
  Speaker 13: against the leadership group, mostly in Tehran, but not exclusively,
• 27:35
  Speaker 13: that might lead to a situation where the Iranians would
• 27:38
  Speaker 13: be prepared to think about capitulation. So what I think
• 27:43
  Speaker 13: is we'll see more strikes, but not necessarily against the
• 27:46
  Speaker 13: targets that Trump is specifically outlining, more military and political
• 27:50
  Speaker 13: targets than ones which will damage civilian power supplies or
• 27:55
  Speaker 13: civilians themselves.
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: When it comes to what concessions Iran would have to
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: make in order to get a ceasefire, the strait of
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: humors is central. Let's have a listen to this exchange
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: between a journalist and the President, they to clarify in
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: order for Iran to successfully meet your deadline tomorrow, do
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: they have to make a deal open the street or built.
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: We have to have a deal that's acceptable to me,
• 28:21
  Speaker 4: and part of that deal is going to be we
• 28:23
  Speaker 4: want free traffic of oil and everything else.
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: Doesn't this Peter Jennings just underscore how difficult it will
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: be again any sort of a deal out of Teyran.
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: They're hardly going to surrender the Strait of Humors for
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: free flowing of trade because there that is their key
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: stress point, that is their key bargaining chip.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: It's the one bargaining chip they've got left.
• 28:49
  Speaker 13: And it's interesting to note, also, Chris, that all of
• 28:52
  Speaker 13: a sudden the straight of Forelmos is important to the President.
• 28:55
  Speaker 13: Apparently it was just a matter for the Europeans a
• 28:58
  Speaker 13: few days ago, but not so. And that's the case
• 29:01
  Speaker 13: because American fuel prices.
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: Are going up.
• 29:04
  Speaker 13: America does take heavy crude oil from the Middle East still,
• 29:08
  Speaker 13: and it's vitally important to a number of American allies
• 29:11
  Speaker 13: in the region, not least the Saudis and the UE.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: So the straight ofform mess is vital.
• 29:18
  Speaker 13: I think what this al boils down to is notwithstanding
• 29:21
  Speaker 13: the more limited objectives that Trump set for the start
• 29:24
  Speaker 13: of the campaign, stopping the nuclear program, stopping the missiles,
• 29:27
  Speaker 13: those sorts of things. At the end of the day, Chris,
• 29:30
  Speaker 13: the only way you can get certainty around those objectives
• 29:33
  Speaker 13: is to break the back of.
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: The regime exactly.
• 29:36
  Speaker 13: And the regime has turned out to be a lot
• 29:38
  Speaker 13: tougher than everyone expected, or at least than the Americans expected,
• 29:43
  Speaker 13: and so they need to continue to hammer away at
• 29:45
  Speaker 13: that target. I think that has got to be the
• 29:47
  Speaker 13: military purpose behind continuing the conflict. And then and only
• 29:52
  Speaker 13: then do you get to a point where maybe the
• 29:54
  Speaker 13: Iranians will be prepared to make concessions that right now
• 29:57
  Speaker 13: they don't feel they have to make.
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: Well, this is where I want to get your thoughts
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: on Trump's treatment of allies, including Australia. Now he complains
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: that he's had no assistance from allies. I think that's
• 30:08
  Speaker 3: a bit of a moot point, because he never sought
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: assistance beforehand from his allies. He sprung the attack on
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: them and then wanted assistance. But on the other hand,
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: I would have thought, given what's at stake, and given
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: the crucial purpose of.
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: Breaking the back of that Iranian regime.
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: I would have thought allies could have said a bit
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: more about those prospects and endorsed at least the American
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: aims more strongly than they have have looked at Anthony
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: Albanezi today.
• 30:36
  Speaker 10: I think it's very clear that any further escalation needs
• 30:41
  Speaker 10: to be outlined what the objective is. So we're called consistently.
• 30:47
  Speaker 10: We haven't changed our position of calling for de escalation.
• 30:51
  Speaker 10: This is a conflict that is having a massive impact
• 30:55
  Speaker 10: on the global economy, in particular having a massive impact
• 30:59
  Speaker 10: here in Australia as it is right around our region
• 31:03
  Speaker 10: and right around the world.
• 31:06
  Speaker 3: Okay, I would have thought a masterclass in saying nothing
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: there but your thoughts. Could allies like Australia be useful
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: at least in their retoric even if they're not going
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: to get involved directly in the war.
• 31:18
  Speaker 13: Well, you know, we are doing a few things with
• 31:20
  Speaker 13: our surveillance aircraft and one hundred Special Forces soldiers and
• 31:23
  Speaker 13: missiles to the UAE. The Prime Ministers really talking out
• 31:27
  Speaker 13: of both sides of his mouth. On the one hand,
• 31:29
  Speaker 13: we're doing things, but he doesn't in any way want
• 31:31
  Speaker 13: to be seen publicly helping Trump and this is the
• 31:35
  Speaker 13: tragedy of the situation is that from the White House perspective,
• 31:39
  Speaker 13: they've been confronted with confused Germans, difficult French and a
• 31:44
  Speaker 13: bunch of lefty governments in the Old Commonwealth that just
• 31:47
  Speaker 13: weren't inclined to help. And I guess the problem from
• 31:50
  Speaker 13: the perspective of the allies is that the Americans, of
• 31:53
  Speaker 13: all the presidents we've dealt with in the last generation,
• 31:56
  Speaker 13: were the least inclined to ask nicely or to ask
• 31:59
  Speaker 13: forehand whether or not we could do anything. Bottom line
• 32:03
  Speaker 13: here is that Australia has a vital strategic interest in
• 32:06
  Speaker 13: seeing oil flow through the strain Offormers. I think we
• 32:10
  Speaker 13: have an international interest in wanting to see a change
• 32:12
  Speaker 13: of government in Iran, and we should be prepared to
• 32:15
  Speaker 13: do things to assist those outcomes, even if that means,
• 32:19
  Speaker 13: you know, biting down hard and accepting that we don't
• 32:22
  Speaker 13: necessarily like the current occupant of.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: The White House.
• 32:24
  Speaker 13: It's more important than whether or not Anthony Alberinezi likes
• 32:28
  Speaker 13: Donald Trump or he thinks the opinion polls tell them
• 32:30
  Speaker 13: that Australians don't like the president. There are bigger things
• 32:33
  Speaker 13: at stake here, and you know, the leading democracies of
• 32:39
  Speaker 13: the world of which we're one, should all be prepared
• 32:41
  Speaker 13: to work together to assist in those achieving those military objectives.
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: Now, indeed, thanks so much Chef for your analysis, Peter.
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: I appreciate Peter Jennings there all over this issue.
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: We'll see what the Morrow brings on this front.
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: I just want to bring you some breaking new some
• 32:56
  Speaker 3: new vision that's come to us just in the last
• 32:59
  Speaker 3: couple of minutes from Mascot Police station in Sydney that's
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: near the Sydney Airport where Ben Robert Smith was arrested
• 33:07
  Speaker 3: this morning. This is vision of Ben Robert Smith now
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: in police custody being taken away from that police station.
• 33:14
  Speaker 14: Have a look.
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: That is just now a Mascot police station near Sydney Airport.
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: No official confirmation where Ben Robert Smith, the Victoria Cross
• 33:43
  Speaker 3: recipient now facing five war crimes murder chargers where he's
• 33:47
  Speaker 3: been taken, but presumably he's off to the city Watchhouse
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: or one of the other facilities to be held in
• 33:53
  Speaker 3: custody overnight. As I mentioned earlier, he's expected to front
• 33:56
  Speaker 3: court tomorrow in a bail hearing to see.
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: Whether or not he gets bailed. While these charges are processed,
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: we're better get to a break. On the other side
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: of that, we're going to check in on electric vehicles
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: with Tim Blair.
• 34:09
  Speaker 3: They're queuing up all around the country.
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: Let's catch up with Tim Blair. He comes to us
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: from Western Victoria too.
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: It's dominating the program tonight, the Western Vision.
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: Mate.
• 34:25
  Speaker 3: I've got to get some electric vehicle news from you.
• 34:29
  Speaker 3: I think one of the things we wanted to point
• 34:30
  Speaker 3: out is Chris Bowen. There's pictures here of him jumping
• 34:34
  Speaker 3: into an EV after he's just that he's to finish
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: with telling the country how tough they do. He's taxpayer
• 34:40
  Speaker 3: funded EV of course doesn't matter how much they cost
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: when the taxpayers look after it. But you've been keeping
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: an eye on some of the East. The traffic for
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: US and the places like Keith in South Australia is
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: just up the road from Yet where you are heading
• 34:54
  Speaker 3: to South Australia for gather around, no doubt queuing up
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: for hundreds of meters to get the EV charger.
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: And this has happened in a number of places.
• 35:04
  Speaker 15: Well, I mean this is deeply confusing, Chris. Weren't they
• 35:07
  Speaker 15: meant to be huge queues outside petrol stations. But no,
• 35:11
  Speaker 15: even though prices are up and there are shortages and
• 35:13
  Speaker 15: some petrol stations are out of fuel, we've got EV's
• 35:16
  Speaker 15: lining up. Here's the thing, as our friend Simon from
• 35:19
  Speaker 15: m Guy Australia, a brilliant YouTube channel about devoted to
• 35:22
  Speaker 15: all matters ev as, he points out one petrol pump
• 35:27
  Speaker 15: conserve us about ten cars in and out like six
• 35:30
  Speaker 15: minutes each and you're gone. But look at what happens
• 35:34
  Speaker 15: when you line up. There's about twelve in this clip
• 35:36
  Speaker 15: you're looking at now about twelve. Look at that bag
• 35:39
  Speaker 15: may be bank because you have to wait twenty minutes,
• 35:43
  Speaker 15: twenty five, half an hour, forty minutes per each charge.
• 35:46
  Speaker 15: Look at that. You get that huge backlog of people
• 35:49
  Speaker 15: and no wonder they've got you know, they've got portable
• 35:53
  Speaker 15: toilets and everything there. We're going to see, we're going
• 35:56
  Speaker 15: to see spark rage. Sooner or later we people start
• 35:59
  Speaker 15: jumping queue.
• 36:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, with the fuel crisis, we're supposed to be all
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: counting their blessings that they've got evs. They get out
• 36:05
  Speaker 3: on their Easter holidays and that's what they have to do,
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: and presumably they're flat so they can't actually have the
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: air conditioner on or listen to some radio.
• 36:13
  Speaker 15: Well, that's the thing. If you put on the radio,
• 36:14
  Speaker 15: you put on the air conditioner, you put on a
• 36:15
  Speaker 15: heater that drains the battery faster. Chris, it's all. It's
• 36:20
  Speaker 15: a terrible trap as well. If you've got and you
• 36:22
  Speaker 15: buy your EV, you're literally adding to the problem. You're
• 36:25
  Speaker 15: adding to the queues, You're putting another barrier between you
• 36:30
  Speaker 15: and the other people who also are waiting forty odd minutes,
• 36:32
  Speaker 15: you know, for each chart. So yeah, not a great situation,
• 36:36
  Speaker 15: and it's one reason why I think a lot of
• 36:38
  Speaker 15: people are very reluctant. Sensible people were luctant to commit
• 36:42
  Speaker 15: to EV's.
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're right.
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: Only we want petrol prices to come down and diesel
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: to come down, and we want steady supplies.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: That's the way to fix this.
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: Not switch us all to EV's this time around. Thanks
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: for joining us, Tim, Tim Blair, you're ready stuff for
• 36:56
  Speaker 3: the Daddy Telegraph website. I want to go to US
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: analyst Christen Tatus the moment, but sort of recap those
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: threats that we heard about from Donald Trump to Iran.
• 37:07
  Speaker 4: The entire country could be taken out in one night,
• 37:10
  Speaker 4: and that night might be tomorrow night. We're giving them
• 37:13
  Speaker 4: till tomorrow eight o'clock Eastern time, and after that they're
• 37:18
  Speaker 4: gonna have no bridges, They're gonna have no power plants,
• 37:23
  Speaker 4: stone ages.
• 37:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, as I put to Christian, if Trump's to be believed,
• 37:30
  Speaker 3: things could be drastically different in Iran in the next dial.
• 37:33
  Speaker 16: Side the recent comments we've heard from our president, especially
• 37:37
  Speaker 16: over Easter weekend, we're pretty disappointing to me. You know,
• 37:42
  Speaker 16: threatening to wipe out a country's infrastructure. I mean that
• 37:45
  Speaker 16: means taking out power and transportation that affects tens of
• 37:50
  Speaker 16: millions of civilians potentially. We're not just talking about targeting
• 37:53
  Speaker 16: the regime right now. I mean Iran is a country
• 37:56
  Speaker 16: of roughly ninety million people. And when you start talking about,
• 38:00
  Speaker 16: you know, wiping out power grids and infrastructure, that is
• 38:03
  Speaker 16: when everything that normal people need to survive just collapses.
• 38:09
  Speaker 16: I mean, when you knock out electricity, you're talking about
• 38:12
  Speaker 16: hospitals going dark, babies on incubators, dying people the hospitals, dying.
• 38:16
  Speaker 16: Water systems can fail, food spoils. People don't just die
• 38:20
  Speaker 16: from bombs dropping. They die slowly in the days and
• 38:24
  Speaker 16: weeks after because basic systems that keep them alive are gone,
• 38:28
  Speaker 16: and you know, failed states like this, they become breeding
• 38:32
  Speaker 16: grounds for extremism, They become you know, more violent, and
• 38:35
  Speaker 16: that violence spreads and that instability spreads beyond its borders.
• 38:39
  Speaker 16: Not to mention, it's just kind of morally wrong and
• 38:42
  Speaker 16: Christians should oppose this kind of language, especially over Easter weekend.
• 38:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 38:47
  Speaker 3: Look, this is why people are starting to talk about
• 38:50
  Speaker 3: potential wool crimes in the lock. And it's a big
• 38:53
  Speaker 3: change from where we started here, which is getting rid
• 38:56
  Speaker 3: of the regime. And I'm totally in fiva of getting
• 38:59
  Speaker 3: rid of that Islamist theocratic regime in Iran. The way
• 39:03
  Speaker 3: they attack Israel, the way they're committed to eradicating Israel,
• 39:07
  Speaker 3: the way that they've sponsored terrorism around the world. But
• 39:10
  Speaker 3: what they're talking what the president is talking about now
• 39:13
  Speaker 3: is vastly different. As you've said, the presidents also continued
• 39:18
  Speaker 3: to talk down his allies.
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: Have a look, and.
• 39:22
  Speaker 4: It's not just NATO, you know, Welston help us. South
• 39:25
  Speaker 4: Korea don't help us. You know who Elston help us?
• 39:28
  Speaker 4: Or Australia ton't help us. You know who Elston help us?
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: Japan Yeah.
• 39:35
  Speaker 3: Now, we've talked before Christen about he never really gave
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: how Trump never really gave his allies a chance to help.
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: To get involved.
• 39:41
  Speaker 3: But I tend to support his retoric on this at
• 39:45
  Speaker 3: the moment, though, because if there was a united position
• 39:48
  Speaker 3: from Western allies, from the NATO countries, from Australia, from Japan,
• 39:52
  Speaker 3: South Korea and the like against what's going on in
• 39:56
  Speaker 3: Iran and calling on Iran to do a deal, then
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: there would be right a white and more pressure on
• 40:02
  Speaker 3: around to do that.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: But the US and.
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: Israel have effectively been left to handle this on their own.
• 40:09
  Speaker 16: Sure, however, he's criticizing allies for not joining a war
• 40:12
  Speaker 16: that we launched without even consulting them. That's not typically
• 40:16
  Speaker 16: how alliances work. You don't start a war without even
• 40:19
  Speaker 16: explaining to your own people, by the way, but also
• 40:21
  Speaker 16: to your allies the goals of what that war is,
• 40:25
  Speaker 16: and then just turn around and say, hey, why aren't
• 40:26
  Speaker 16: you jumping in? And a lot of this obviously is
• 40:29
  Speaker 16: about the strait of Removes being closed, but even there,
• 40:32
  Speaker 16: I think a lot of our allies would like to
• 40:34
  Speaker 16: resolve that conflict through diplomacy rather than jumping into offensive
• 40:39
  Speaker 16: military action. There's also the issue of a refugee crisis
• 40:42
  Speaker 16: potentially happening. Europe is already dealing with a lot of
• 40:46
  Speaker 16: issues from a refugee crisis that's already going on in
• 40:50
  Speaker 16: many of these countries, and if this issue in Iran
• 40:53
  Speaker 16: continues and gets worse, they can expect a lot more
• 40:56
  Speaker 16: refugees flooding into those countries, which could create some serious
• 41:01
  Speaker 16: economic issues in those places.
• 41:03
  Speaker 3: Let's have a look at what the President has had
• 41:05
  Speaker 3: to say about the information coming out of Iran. I
• 41:08
  Speaker 3: think we can all agree he's probably spot on the
• 41:10
  Speaker 3: way he frames this.
• 41:11
  Speaker 4: They don't have any mind droppers anymore, but they put
• 41:14
  Speaker 4: them on other boats and they could drop them. I'm
• 41:16
  Speaker 4: not even sure they have any minds yet, by the way,
• 41:18
  Speaker 4: I'm not sure I'm personally. They say there might be eight.
• 41:22
  Speaker 4: I don't know. I don't know.
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: I think there might be none.
• 41:25
  Speaker 4: Because they're very good bullshited artists. That's why for forty
• 41:28
  Speaker 4: seven years they've been bullshiting other presidents and they haven't
• 41:32
  Speaker 4: done the job. And people are living in hell. You
• 41:35
  Speaker 4: live in that country, they're living in hell.
• 41:39
  Speaker 3: Well, they haven't been living in hell, except for of course,
• 41:41
  Speaker 3: the horrible repression of women and others. But it's been
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: a fairly prosperous country by standards of the region. But
• 41:50
  Speaker 3: he's right that we can't trust any of the information
• 41:52
  Speaker 3: that's coming out of Irun. We will see the next
• 41:55
  Speaker 3: twenty four hours, I feel are going to be crucial Christian.
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: But I do want to finish on that positive note.
• 42:01
  Speaker 3: And that was the incredible rescue of that American airman
• 42:05
  Speaker 3: who was forced to eject behind enemy lines. He was
• 42:10
  Speaker 3: there for more than two days, quite incredible the effort
• 42:13
  Speaker 3: to get him out.
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: Here's the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth.
• 42:16
  Speaker 17: This was deep into Iran, involving coordinated strikes to suppress threats,
• 42:21
  Speaker 17: deception tactics to protect our teams, and full synchronization across air,
• 42:25
  Speaker 17: ground and special operations. The Iranians are still asking themselves
• 42:29
  Speaker 17: right now, how did the Americans do this? We leave
• 42:34
  Speaker 17: no man behind, and that is not luck. It's the
• 42:38
  Speaker 17: result of unmatched training, superior technology, and unbreakable warrior ethos
• 42:43
  Speaker 17: and sheer American grit.
• 42:46
  Speaker 3: Pete Hegseth there and Kristen, given the history of Iran
• 42:51
  Speaker 3: and the US and hostages, thank god they got this
• 42:54
  Speaker 3: bloke out Dude forty four alive and well.
• 42:57
  Speaker 16: Yeah, I mean this operation is something every Americans should
• 43:00
  Speaker 16: be proud of. Just the skill and the precision and
• 43:03
  Speaker 16: the courage involved. It was all extraordinary. And when you
• 43:06
  Speaker 16: hear about the air and the ground and special operations
• 43:09
  Speaker 16: all working together seamlessly, I mean that really is the
• 43:12
  Speaker 16: US military at its best. It also shows, Chris the
• 43:15
  Speaker 16: level of capability that the United States still has. There's
• 43:18
  Speaker 16: a lot of talk and the pundit class about how
• 43:21
  Speaker 16: our military isn't what it used to be and we're weakening,
• 43:24
  Speaker 16: but we're still we still have a pretty excellent military.
• 43:27
  Speaker 16: This made me so proud to be an American and
• 43:29
  Speaker 16: it shows why we are still respected around the world.
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us, Kristen. Catch you next week.
• 43:35
  Speaker 16: Thank you very much, Chris.
• 43:37
  Speaker 3: As always, Okay, after the break Tuesday panel, Caroline Jerusso
• 43:41
  Speaker 3: and Lisa good Id we'll talk about some good news
• 43:43
  Speaker 3: the Outamus too mission heading home from the dock.
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: Side of the Moon.
• 43:52
  Speaker 3: Thanks getting to the panel and joining me here on
• 43:53
  Speaker 3: the disk is Lisa good Id from Dining Media. Good
• 43:56
  Speaker 3: to see Lisa and Caroline Russo joining us from Perth.
• 44:00
  Speaker 3: I've got to get your thoughts first up on Ben
• 44:02
  Speaker 3: Robert Smith. I think this is a tragedy for the
• 44:04
  Speaker 3: nation that we've got such a war hero VC Winner
• 44:09
  Speaker 3: no less now facing these war crimes charges.
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: Innocent of course until proven guilty and all of that.
• 44:16
  Speaker 3: But have a look at these latest pictures when Ben
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: Roberts Smith was taken away from the court mascot to
• 44:22
  Speaker 3: police station just about half an hour ago. Yeah, we
• 44:33
  Speaker 3: could see the handcuffed hands there in the back of
• 44:36
  Speaker 3: the van Caroline As a West Australian, this is such
• 44:40
  Speaker 3: a prominent Australian son of a West Australian Supreme Court
• 44:43
  Speaker 3: judge VC Winner now facing these horrendous charges.
• 44:51
  Speaker 18: And of course the SAS is at home here in
• 44:54
  Speaker 18: Western Australia, so this is always a very sensitive issue
• 44:59
  Speaker 18: over here. Look, it's definitely not what I wanted to
• 45:03
  Speaker 18: see this morning, and with so many other issues going
• 45:07
  Speaker 18: on at the moment that you know, really do need
• 45:09
  Speaker 18: to be the priority, it just seems like a bit
• 45:12
  Speaker 18: of an odd thing for this to happen at the moment.
• 45:15
  Speaker 18: And we know that the trail of this issue in
• 45:18
  Speaker 18: this conversation has been going on for a very very
• 45:21
  Speaker 18: long time. The investigation has been going on for a
• 45:23
  Speaker 18: very long time, and it's one of those things, Chris,
• 45:27
  Speaker 18: if you're going to do something, you know it's the
• 45:29
  Speaker 18: whole Justice delayed is justice denied. The longer that this
• 45:33
  Speaker 18: goes on, the less chance of anyone in this situation,
• 45:37
  Speaker 18: you know, coming up with a solution that is acceptable.
• 45:41
  Speaker 18: So I'm very uncomfortable to see this happening today or
• 45:48
  Speaker 18: at all, frankly, But I mean there's a lot of
• 45:51
  Speaker 18: things going on in the background that we don't know.
• 45:53
  Speaker 3: Obviously, it's going to be an enormous legal battle I
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: think over this case and what sort of a trial
• 45:59
  Speaker 3: emerges the first one of wee tomorrow Lisa to see
• 46:02
  Speaker 3: whether or not it gets bail. Given this has been
• 46:04
  Speaker 3: hanging over his head for so long and he's still
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: been living in the country and working, it's just hard
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: to think he'd be denied bail, even though the charges
• 46:13
  Speaker 3: are so serious.
• 46:14
  Speaker 19: Yeah, whether' were fighting hard, I imagine to try to
• 46:16
  Speaker 19: not let him out on bail. But look, it's supposed
• 46:18
  Speaker 19: to become and we expected this. It's a media circus
• 46:20
  Speaker 19: and you saw that. As a journalist, you know that
• 46:22
  Speaker 19: you're get to tip off to know when they're going
• 46:24
  Speaker 19: to be rolled out in the car, so it looks
• 46:26
  Speaker 19: like it's terribly orchestrated. But I think that's a really
• 46:29
  Speaker 19: sad indictment on justice in this country and at a
• 46:32
  Speaker 19: time too when you look at what's happening around the world. Chris,
• 46:34
  Speaker 19: we need more men and women in our military and
• 46:38
  Speaker 19: every time Ben Robert Smith is in court or being
• 46:40
  Speaker 19: dragged through any of these allegations, the damage it's doing
• 46:43
  Speaker 19: to morale to our defense force is enormous. So, as
• 46:46
  Speaker 19: Carolyn said, you know, Western Australia is home for sas
• 46:49
  Speaker 19: this will hit them very hard tonight.
• 46:51
  Speaker 3: Yes, indeed, and it's all about getting to the facts
• 46:55
  Speaker 3: and due process and we will see there will be
• 46:58
  Speaker 3: plenty more to come on this. I want to go
• 46:59
  Speaker 3: quickly Chris Bowen, because where would we be without him.
• 47:02
  Speaker 8: Have a look to those Australians who went about their
• 47:05
  Speaker 8: business as we encouraged, did what they normally would do,
• 47:09
  Speaker 8: but didn't take more fuel than they need. Get the
• 47:11
  Speaker 8: same amount of fuel as you normally get. No more,
• 47:13
  Speaker 8: no less is the right thing to do at the moment,
• 47:15
  Speaker 8: and so many Australians across the board did that. So
• 47:17
  Speaker 8: a big thank you to everyone who did that.
• 47:21
  Speaker 3: For crying out loud, Cara, could he be more patronizing
• 47:25
  Speaker 3: thanking us for not using too much petrol?
• 47:27
  Speaker 18: I mean go home, yeah, thank you for not making
• 47:32
  Speaker 18: me look bad because I haven't done my job properly.
• 47:34
  Speaker 18: Australian people, it is really pathetic. But it's one of
• 47:41
  Speaker 18: those kindergarten set of instructions that we've come to expect
• 47:45
  Speaker 18: from various ministers in this government. I mean, the fact
• 47:48
  Speaker 18: of the matter is is that we don't have fueld
• 47:51
  Speaker 18: security post mate. I know that here in Western Australia
• 47:55
  Speaker 18: a lot of farmers are going out at the moment.
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: To put crops in.
• 47:59
  Speaker 18: There's if we come from a big state, things are
• 48:02
  Speaker 18: transported by truck, so a lot of costs have gone up,
• 48:05
  Speaker 18: and there's still a lot of lack of well, there's
• 48:07
  Speaker 18: not enough security out there, not enough certainty out there
• 48:10
  Speaker 18: about our feel supply, and it's something we're really worried about.
• 48:13
  Speaker 18: And that conversation that chit chat doesn't help.
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: Doesn't help. He's just so condescending. We're nearly out of time.
• 48:18
  Speaker 3: I've got to show you this because this is the
• 48:21
  Speaker 3: good news. And Donald Trump worries us a bit with
• 48:23
  Speaker 3: what he's saying, but he got to talk to the
• 48:26
  Speaker 3: Artamus crew on their way back today.
• 48:27
  Speaker 2: Have a look today.
• 48:29
  Speaker 4: You've made history and made all America really proud and
• 48:32
  Speaker 4: incredibly proud. We have a lot of things to be
• 48:35
  Speaker 4: proud of lately, but there's nothing like what you're doing.
• 48:38
  Speaker 4: You've really inspired the entire world. Really, everybody's watching.
• 48:44
  Speaker 2: He's right, isn't he? It's inspiring stuff.
• 48:46
  Speaker 19: It's one of those few moments where you think, exactly
• 48:48
  Speaker 19: what word could you use to describe it? So imagine
• 48:50
  Speaker 19: being out there forty minutes or thereabouts, no contact with Earth,
• 48:53
  Speaker 19: no contact with anything in the universe, so you all alone,
• 48:56
  Speaker 19: and then you come out of it. How do you
• 48:57
  Speaker 19: describe it? Unreal is what they said. But what I love, Chris,
• 49:00
  Speaker 19: is that they had to go to Iceland on a
• 49:01
  Speaker 19: field trip to work out how they could adequately describe
• 49:04
  Speaker 19: the geographic features.
• 49:05
  Speaker 3: Of the moon.
• 49:06
  Speaker 19: All the training isn't asked Jordan, that's part of it.
• 49:08
  Speaker 3: Talk about your digital detox. Go to the dark side
• 49:11
  Speaker 3: of the Moon. Thanks for joining us, Alsa and Caroline.
• 49:14
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it. We're right out of time. Here's Peter
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: Kredlin