Latest / Steve Price / Steve Price | 23 May

Transcript

Steve Price | 23 May · Steve Price

0:00
Speaker 1: This is Steve Price. Welcome to Friday Night's Super Price.
0:07
Speaker 2: With you, we'll cover off the latest from the flood
0:09
Speaker 2: affected areas of New South Wales. Really smashed by this
0:13
Speaker 2: once in a generation event. The cleanup it's going to
0:16
Speaker 2: be long, it's going to be expensive. I'll take you
0:18
Speaker 2: up to Kempsey shortly. But first up tonight the fast
0:22
Speaker 2: moving political split that followed that May three election smashing
0:26
Speaker 2: of the Coalition. The Libs met this afternoon for the
0:28
Speaker 2: second time in twenty four hours and as Sky has
0:31
Speaker 2: been reporting, it seems the short lived divorce has been repaired.
0:35
Speaker 2: We will catch up with Nationals Deputy Leader Kevin Hogan
0:39
Speaker 2: and his view on the developments.
0:41
Speaker 1: Shortly.
0:42
Speaker 2: Victorian's are now the most highly taxed Australians by a
0:46
Speaker 2: very long way. This week, thousands of CFA volunteers protested
0:50
Speaker 2: through the streets of Melbourne over yet another tax or
0:53
Speaker 2: levy as Labour likes to call them. The Liberals Deputy
0:56
Speaker 2: Opposition Leader Sam Groth will be with us in the studio.
1:00
Speaker 2: Us the crushing details on homelessness and the impact that
1:04
Speaker 2: this is having on ordinary Australians that you would never
1:07
Speaker 2: think needed a hand out. The Salvation Army's Brenda Knel.
1:11
Speaker 2: He sees it daily and his story is very, very sad.
1:15
Speaker 2: Brendan will be with us in the studio as well.
1:18
Speaker 2: But first up tonight, clearly Labour's win at the May
1:20
Speaker 2: three election was a thumping victory, with their final Lower
1:24
Speaker 2: House seat count probably to be ninety three or even
1:27
Speaker 2: ninety four seats looming over an opposition which will likely
1:31
Speaker 2: again be a coalition and they'll have about forty three
1:34
Speaker 2: seats and there'll be a bunch of cross benches. Now
1:37
Speaker 2: barring some massive stuff up by Labor think rud Gillard Raden,
1:42
Speaker 2: the carbon tax, the roof insulation scandal, cash for clunkers,
1:46
Speaker 2: all that sort of madness. Then federally Labor I think
1:49
Speaker 2: is going to govern us from Canberra. You'd think for
1:51
Speaker 2: at least two terms or six years. Now six years
1:55
Speaker 2: takes us to twenty thirty one. Now twenty thirty will
1:59
Speaker 2: be a critical year for our nation because the Labor
2:01
Speaker 2: government's climate policy policy not promise, is to have eighty
2:06
Speaker 2: two percent of the electricity grid powered by renewables by
2:10
Speaker 2: twenty thirty, eighty two percent electricity from solar panels, wind turbines,
2:16
Speaker 2: some hydro of snowy two point zero ever gets built
2:19
Speaker 2: eighty two percent in five years.
2:21
Speaker 1: Now.
2:21
Speaker 2: Recent figures I could find currently today show that fossil fuels,
2:26
Speaker 2: including coal, gas and oil, make up currently sixty five
2:30
Speaker 2: percent of our total electricity generation. Now I suspect as
2:34
Speaker 2: we get closer to twenty thirty labor will change from
2:37
Speaker 2: a policy to a promise. But stay with me and
2:41
Speaker 2: presume that we need to get to this eighty two
2:43
Speaker 2: percent mark. The custom the way of getting there, of course,
2:48
Speaker 2: was never going to be spelt out the cost of it.
2:50
Speaker 2: During the election campaign, all we ever heard about in
2:53
Speaker 2: figure terms was the falsehood and I'm being polite there
2:57
Speaker 2: that the coalition's nuclear plan is going to cost six
2:59
Speaker 2: hundred billion dollars. Now, as I said, false. But with
3:03
Speaker 2: the campaign wrapped up and Minister Bowen now let out
3:06
Speaker 2: a witness protection, we are going to learn very quickly
3:09
Speaker 2: not only the financial cost of this renewable fantasy, but
3:13
Speaker 2: the social cost.
3:14
Speaker 1: And of course it.
3:15
Speaker 2: Will be mainly born by our friends in regional and
3:18
Speaker 2: rule Australia, not in the suburbs. As an example of
3:21
Speaker 2: the eye watering financial cost, last Friday, late afternoon, when
3:25
Speaker 2: everyone was tuning out for the weekend. An outfit called
3:28
Speaker 2: Vicgrid released some costings on connecting new renewable projects to
3:34
Speaker 2: the grid. They also released maps where they would like
3:38
Speaker 2: to put these new solar farms and win factories, quietly,
3:41
Speaker 2: no fanfare, hoping I think that no one would notice. Now,
3:45
Speaker 2: this release included a figure of four point three billion dollars.
3:50
Speaker 2: Now what's that for, you, ask? Well, the four point
3:53
Speaker 2: three billion is for the transmission lines alone to be
3:57
Speaker 2: built in time for twenty thirty. Oh no, hang on,
4:00
Speaker 2: it's going to take fifteen years to build those transmission lines.
4:03
Speaker 3: Not five.
4:04
Speaker 2: Then they had this Perler energy experts say, the modeling
4:08
Speaker 2: that's the four point three billion has an accuracy range
4:11
Speaker 2: of up to one hundred percent. What does that mean, Well,
4:15
Speaker 2: it could cost eight point six billion, not four point three.
4:18
Speaker 2: Oh kid, you're not And of course you will pay
4:21
Speaker 2: for all this with your electricity bill. Now Vicgrid also
4:24
Speaker 2: has the power to say where these transmission lines will go,
4:28
Speaker 2: and they have outlined seven draft onshore energy zones, all
4:32
Speaker 2: in regional Victoria. And this has been done in every
4:35
Speaker 2: state in Australia. On top of that four or eight billion,
4:39
Speaker 2: whatever it ends up being you can add another three
4:41
Speaker 2: point three billion already committed to something called the VNI
4:45
Speaker 2: West Project, and another thing called Western Renewable Link will
4:49
Speaker 2: cost three hundred and seventy million. So on a quiet
4:52
Speaker 2: Friday afternoon a report gets shoveled out the door, no debate,
4:56
Speaker 2: no discussion, And with state labor governments in Victoria, New
4:59
Speaker 2: South Wales and South Australia, combined with labor in Canberra,
5:03
Speaker 2: this green dream is going to become a costly, invasive
5:07
Speaker 2: nightmare for many Australians. Now at least four people have
5:15
Speaker 2: died and thousands remain trapped by those floodwaters. Sky has
5:18
Speaker 2: done an outstanding job covering this emergency.
5:21
Speaker 1: Over the last three days.
5:23
Speaker 2: They've caused havoc right through New South Wales, the Hunter
5:27
Speaker 2: Mid North Coast. The amount of water is unbelievable.
5:31
Speaker 4: Now.
5:31
Speaker 2: In the town of Kempsey on the Mid North Coast,
5:34
Speaker 2: residents have been forced to evacuate the CBD floodwaters breached
5:39
Speaker 2: their levee, the river peaking at the highest level in
5:42
Speaker 2: twenty years. Homes and businesses have been completely impacted. Residents
5:47
Speaker 2: have begun to have to actually panic by supermarket goods
5:51
Speaker 2: joining me now is Kempsey Shire Mayor Kinney Ring. Have
5:55
Speaker 2: you ever seen anything like this in your life?
5:57
Speaker 5: Mayor Steve?
6:00
Speaker 6: Just the sheer amount of rain that we've seen. The
6:04
Speaker 6: river came up so fast four meters in just a day.
6:08
Speaker 6: It was absolutely insane. People weren't prepared. Usually we have
6:13
Speaker 6: time when these sorts of events happens.
6:15
Speaker 3: We live on a.
6:15
Speaker 6: Floodplain, but it just came thick and came fast, and
6:19
Speaker 6: it's been really devastating to our community.
6:24
Speaker 2: I mean, I know Kempsey pretty well as we know
6:26
Speaker 2: it's you know, you've got the bridge into town and
6:28
Speaker 2: the town is in two parts. Where were you when
6:32
Speaker 2: the main flood peak hit and how quick did it happen?
6:38
Speaker 6: I was in my little village of Little Warren, but
6:41
Speaker 6: I've been stuck in West Kempsey, so West Kempsy has
6:44
Speaker 6: been isolated from South.
6:47
Speaker 7: I was at home when the peak happened, but it's
6:51
Speaker 7: just been really devastating.
6:53
Speaker 6: There's still water in the CBD now and it rose
6:57
Speaker 6: by yeah, four meters in a day, and it's just
6:59
Speaker 6: been insane.
7:02
Speaker 2: It's very hard for the media to get to parts
7:05
Speaker 2: of the flood affected areas. Skuy's been in Tiree today.
7:08
Speaker 2: It's heartbreaking to see the shopkeepers there just dumping all
7:12
Speaker 2: of their stock out onto the footpaths because it's all ruined.
7:16
Speaker 2: Is it as bad as that in Kempsey as well.
7:19
Speaker 3: Yes, Steve.
7:20
Speaker 6: Unfortunately within our CBD, Wiolworths and Coals and Aldia there
7:25
Speaker 6: and they have been they've had their power cut off
7:27
Speaker 6: and they've been inundated with water in some cases, so
7:31
Speaker 6: all of their stock is going to have to go.
7:34
Speaker 6: We don't know when we'll actually be able to get
7:36
Speaker 6: trucks into the CBD to not only clear the stock
7:39
Speaker 6: but also provide more stock. There's a tiny West mc
7:44
Speaker 6: iva in a bakery servicing thousands in West kemc As
7:48
Speaker 6: it's been isolated. It's a really dire situation here.
7:52
Speaker 7: The Sees, as you've seen it.
7:53
Speaker 6: Is stretched across the mid North Coast and the Hunter
7:56
Speaker 6: so getting supplies to people is being really tricky. I
8:00
Speaker 6: mean for us, we've had people isolated all across the shire,
8:04
Speaker 6: you know West Kempsey the CBD, but our downriver communities
8:07
Speaker 6: in Smithtown and Bloodstone have had their homes in undated
8:10
Speaker 6: and they've been stuck for almost two days now, so
8:13
Speaker 6: it's been a really really difficult situation.
8:18
Speaker 2: Do you feel Kenny a little bit left out of
8:21
Speaker 2: the conversation. I mean, I know it's hard to have
8:23
Speaker 2: that chat because you know everyone needs help, but it
8:28
Speaker 2: seems to me that Kempsey has been not ignored, but
8:32
Speaker 2: left a little bit out of the conversation. I mean,
8:35
Speaker 2: I don't believe that I heard the Premiere or the
8:37
Speaker 2: Prime Minister mention your town.
8:41
Speaker 6: Unfortunately, I don't believe they're able to get here today.
8:46
Speaker 7: I know that the highway was locked off.
8:49
Speaker 6: I have heard from the Governor General and the Governor
8:52
Speaker 6: of New South Wales.
8:53
Speaker 7: But not from either of those two leaders. And it
8:56
Speaker 7: is a little bit disappointing to see kemps all the
9:00
Speaker 7: people in kempc actually.
9:01
Speaker 6: Feel like they've been a bit left out. I have
9:05
Speaker 6: heard that when I was at the evacuation center today,
9:08
Speaker 6: especially because it's going to be a long recovery. Steve,
9:11
Speaker 6: I mean millions and millions of dollars, not only to
9:14
Speaker 6: replace infrastructure, but we've had businesses with people who've invested
9:18
Speaker 6: their life savings. We've had families who've had their homes
9:22
Speaker 6: in undated, who at times can't even afford the insurance
9:25
Speaker 6: and it's just going to be a long road ahead,
9:27
Speaker 6: so we're going to need all the help we can get.
9:32
Speaker 2: Good luck with it. We'll keep in touch with you.
9:34
Speaker 2: We won't forget kemps. We'll come back and talk to
9:37
Speaker 2: you same time next week and just make sure people
9:40
Speaker 2: are paying attention into how tough it is. So good
9:43
Speaker 2: luck with it. I appreciate your time today. That's just extraordinary,
9:46
Speaker 2: isn't it. Imagine being there and having your business and
9:48
Speaker 2: your home just completely destroyed. Someone who knows very well
9:52
Speaker 2: about the effect of floodwaters is my next guest. I
9:55
Speaker 2: mentioned the politics this afternoon, with the split between the
9:58
Speaker 2: coalition partners that lives in the NAT looks like it's
10:00
Speaker 2: going to.
10:00
Speaker 1: Be short lived.
10:02
Speaker 2: In the middle of the negotiations has been Deputy Nationals
10:05
Speaker 2: Leader Kevin Hogan. Kevin, I'll get to the politics in
10:08
Speaker 2: a moment. You and I talked a lot in twenty
10:12
Speaker 2: twenty one about the Lismore floods. You've got a property
10:16
Speaker 2: up there, yourself, you lost stock. You know firsthand how
10:19
Speaker 2: bad this has been. How are you feeling about this
10:23
Speaker 2: happening again in that region.
10:25
Speaker 8: It's just heartbreaking, Steve, it is and you know my
10:31
Speaker 8: prayers and thoughts are with those communities, the Kempsi community,
10:34
Speaker 8: but we know Tari as well, but that wider region
10:36
Speaker 8: they have really been smashed as we know. But Steve,
10:40
Speaker 8: what I really feel for them about is I've just
10:42
Speaker 8: gone through the really dangerous period. We've had four loss
10:44
Speaker 8: of life, which is terrible and the really scary part
10:47
Speaker 8: of that natural disaster. But what is about to happen is,
10:50
Speaker 8: as I think, is equally as traumatic as the water
10:54
Speaker 8: subsides and you start cleaning out the mud and you
10:57
Speaker 8: literally have people throwing their life out of their home
11:00
Speaker 8: onto the footpaths or or their business life out onto
11:03
Speaker 8: the footpath as it's all been destroyed by flood. So
11:06
Speaker 8: they're going to have a really traumatic time. And I
11:08
Speaker 8: was talking to Alison Penfold today. She's a new remember
11:10
Speaker 8: for Line who takes Sintarre, and I'm going to go
11:13
Speaker 8: down there this week to spend some time with her
11:15
Speaker 8: and her community because this is going to be a
11:17
Speaker 8: long road and a really emotional traumatic road for a
11:20
Speaker 8: lot of those people.
11:23
Speaker 2: Back in twenty twenty one, we talked a lot about
11:25
Speaker 2: whether the reaction from state and federal governments was quick enough.
11:29
Speaker 2: You were very pivotal in making sure that the conversation continued.
11:34
Speaker 2: It seems like it's been a bit quicker this time,
11:37
Speaker 2: But this is such a massive event Kevin that I
11:40
Speaker 2: guess they can't get to everyone everywhere.
11:45
Speaker 8: Yeah, look, and it's never quick enough because, as you said,
11:47
Speaker 8: the events are so big. I was talking to the
11:49
Speaker 8: state minister today who's going to be responsible for the
11:52
Speaker 8: recovery effort. I mean, she's aware of what has to
11:54
Speaker 8: be done. Sometimes at the moment with the recovery side
11:57
Speaker 8: of it, we have to wait for the water to
11:59
Speaker 8: subside before you can get in and start the cleanup.
12:01
Speaker 8: But you know, we're aware of the job that needs
12:04
Speaker 8: to be done at both state and federal level.
12:06
Speaker 1: So it will happen.
12:07
Speaker 8: It won't be quick enough because of what the magnitude
12:10
Speaker 8: of the event, but there's a lot of work to do,
12:12
Speaker 8: a lot.
12:12
Speaker 1: Of trauma to go through.
12:13
Speaker 8: And you know, I would certainly be down there with
12:15
Speaker 8: Alison this week because that community is going to need
12:17
Speaker 8: a lot of hugs as well as everything else.
12:21
Speaker 2: In a sense, politics should take a back seat to
12:23
Speaker 2: what's happening. We should be more worried about those poor people.
12:27
Speaker 2: I mean, I've heard about farms losing huge amounts of stocks,
12:29
Speaker 2: dairy herds being decimated at all of that. But I
12:32
Speaker 2: have to ask you about what happened this afternoon. What
12:34
Speaker 2: are you hearing about the Liberals decision? They met twice
12:37
Speaker 2: within twenty four hours. You were pivotal in the decision
12:41
Speaker 2: of the Nationals to walk away from the coalition.
12:43
Speaker 1: Is it back together well, Steve? I hope.
12:47
Speaker 3: So.
12:47
Speaker 8: Our intention always was never to break up the coalition.
12:50
Speaker 8: We always wanted the coalition to come through and sign
12:53
Speaker 8: an agreement.
12:54
Speaker 1: But look what the good.
12:55
Speaker 8: News for us today is the Liberal Party room has
12:57
Speaker 8: at the opportunity to look at the four policy that
13:00
Speaker 8: we want to stay on the table, and it seems
13:02
Speaker 8: I've given very positive feedback. So you know, for us,
13:05
Speaker 8: for me, for regional communities, I think around the country,
13:08
Speaker 8: that's good news because that's about increased infrastructure for the regions.
13:12
Speaker 8: It's about better telling communications for our regional areas. It's
13:15
Speaker 8: about a better deal for farmers dealing with supermarkets for
13:18
Speaker 8: our regional community. So these policies were dear to us,
13:21
Speaker 8: which is why we wanted them kept on the table.
13:23
Speaker 8: And I think it's great news the Liberal Party room
13:25
Speaker 8: has made that decision.
13:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, from my point of view, the policies are just
13:30
Speaker 2: common sense, that's what they are. I mean, Malcolm Turnbuller
13:33
Speaker 2: former Prime Minister Kevin he couldn't help himself, had to
13:36
Speaker 2: stick his nose in as usual on the ABC he claims,
13:39
Speaker 2: you're putting a gun to your coalition partner's head. Have
13:43
Speaker 2: a listened to, lamentable Malcolm.
13:46
Speaker 5: This holding a gun to the Liberal Party's head, which
13:49
Speaker 5: is what the Nats are doing, is really really unwise,
13:53
Speaker 5: stupid politically because if Susan Lee agrees to it, then
13:58
Speaker 5: people will say, there you go again, the Liberals are doing,
14:02
Speaker 5: you know, the tails wagging the dogs.
14:05
Speaker 1: What do you make of that?
14:08
Speaker 8: Well, you know, let's not talk about the policy. What
14:11
Speaker 8: were we asking for that was unreasonable? Should should the
14:15
Speaker 8: Bush not have proper telecommunications? Should the Bush not have
14:18
Speaker 8: proper investment into our infrastructure, into our health, into our childcare?
14:22
Speaker 8: Should the Bush not have our farmers be able to
14:24
Speaker 8: negotiate more fairly with the supermarkets? Because that's what we're
14:27
Speaker 8: asking for. Let's talk about the policy issues. So I
14:29
Speaker 8: think they are reasonable, but you know, I do make
14:31
Speaker 8: this point, Steve, I mean Malcolm turbul once spoke about
14:35
Speaker 8: ex prime minister's been miserable ghosts. He's becoming one of
14:38
Speaker 8: the biggest of the miserable ghosts that we've had. Next
14:40
Speaker 8: prime ministers.
14:43
Speaker 1: David Little proud safe as leader.
14:47
Speaker 8: Absolutely, he's led very well this week. It was a
14:50
Speaker 8: big call because Steve this again. No, there's been very
14:53
Speaker 8: little talk this week in the media about why. You know,
14:56
Speaker 8: we talk about who, what, where, but why. We did
14:59
Speaker 8: this for a principled position on four policies that we'd
15:02
Speaker 8: taken through the coalition party room process and they've been approved.
15:06
Speaker 8: We couldn't let them disappear because, with all due respect,
15:09
Speaker 8: a lot of Liberals don't like two or three of
15:11
Speaker 8: those policies, so we didn't want them to disappear for
15:14
Speaker 8: our regional communities and the importance of them for our
15:17
Speaker 8: regional community. So David led us through that process and
15:20
Speaker 8: hopefully now with the Liberal party room having had the
15:23
Speaker 8: ability to have a look at it and discuss that
15:24
Speaker 8: we might get it, which I think is great for
15:26
Speaker 8: the coalition and great for and well led by David.
15:31
Speaker 2: Good To catch up, Kevin good Luck with your inspection
15:33
Speaker 2: of the floodwaters at the weekend. That's Kevin Hogan there. Now,
15:36
Speaker 2: as I've said at the top of the program, Victorians
15:38
Speaker 2: are now the most highly taxed Australians.
15:41
Speaker 1: By a very long way.
15:42
Speaker 2: And this is all to try and rain in ten
15:45
Speaker 2: years of labor debt. Now the numbers are eye watering
15:49
Speaker 2: and the inability of labor in Victoria to even address
15:52
Speaker 2: the issue is completely out of control. State debt, how
15:56
Speaker 2: I listen to this is headed toward two hundred billion
15:59
Speaker 2: dollars by twenty twenty nine. Incredibly, Victorians are paying twenty
16:03
Speaker 2: point seven million dollars a day to service the interest alone.
16:08
Speaker 2: Now that's almost a million dollars an hour. All this
16:12
Speaker 2: in a week where a state budget was handed down
16:14
Speaker 2: by a treasurer who doesn't seem to me to know
16:17
Speaker 2: what she's doing, Jacqueline Simes a budget full of more spending,
16:20
Speaker 2: including free public transport for school students who don't pay
16:24
Speaker 2: to travel on the tram. Anyways, I can work out
16:27
Speaker 2: next year, of course, in an election year. Joining me
16:29
Speaker 2: in our Deputy Liberal Leader Sam Groth. Good to catch
16:32
Speaker 2: up with you again. Those numbers don't lie. What was
16:35
Speaker 2: in that budget to fix it?
16:39
Speaker 4: Well, Steve, thank you for having me on again and
16:41
Speaker 4: you're right, Absolutely nothing other than more tax for Victorians
16:45
Speaker 4: to pay.
16:46
Speaker 3: We went through some of these numbers.
16:47
Speaker 4: They're one hundred and ninety four billion dollars of debt
16:50
Speaker 4: forecast by twenty eight twenty nine. And those interest numbers
16:53
Speaker 4: that you quoted, well, they're the current ones.
16:55
Speaker 3: By twenty eight twenty nine.
16:56
Speaker 4: It's going to be one point two million dollars an hour,
16:59
Speaker 4: nearly twenty nine million dollars a day. And what Victorians
17:02
Speaker 4: get for it, As you said, highest tax state in
17:04
Speaker 4: the nation, the tax take over the next four years
17:07
Speaker 4: is going to push one hundred and eighty billion dollars.
17:10
Speaker 4: Every single Victorian's paying for a labor government that cannot
17:13
Speaker 4: manage money.
17:16
Speaker 2: So what happens Sam when Jacquelin Simes turns up in
17:18
Speaker 2: New York at Standard and Pause knocks on the door
17:20
Speaker 2: and they say, well, you've got a big problem on
17:23
Speaker 2: your hands. We're going to actually downgrade your credit ratings.
17:28
Speaker 2: What's the repayment on the interest rate end up being?
17:30
Speaker 4: Then, look, the responsible thing from the treasure it would
17:35
Speaker 4: have been to deliver a responsible budget. Now, I don't
17:37
Speaker 4: begrude you any minister, anyone traveling overseas if it is
17:40
Speaker 4: in the best interests of Victoria, and you're securing investment
17:43
Speaker 4: in this state. We need to grow our way out
17:45
Speaker 4: of this mess that's been created. That's fine, But to
17:48
Speaker 4: go over and announce a trip a day after the
17:51
Speaker 4: budget to travel to New York to clean up a
17:54
Speaker 4: mess that should have been cleaned up on budget day
17:56
Speaker 4: is not the right way to operate the state's books.
17:58
Speaker 4: And I look, I hope for every Victorian's sake, we
18:01
Speaker 4: do not get a downgrade. We don't want to be
18:03
Speaker 4: paying more interest than we currently already are. We want
18:06
Speaker 4: to be able to service that debt in a responsible way.
18:08
Speaker 4: But it's the responsibility of the government to actually deliver
18:11
Speaker 4: a responsible budget and not to go beating on its
18:13
Speaker 4: hands and knees after they've delivered what they've delivered.
18:17
Speaker 2: Sam, I imagine you weren't surprised at the anger over
18:20
Speaker 2: the ridiculously named emergency services and volunteers. Levy, your side
18:26
Speaker 2: of politics already said you'll dump that.
18:28
Speaker 1: You have to.
18:29
Speaker 2: Feel for farmers and people who don't donate their time
18:32
Speaker 2: to the CFA.
18:33
Speaker 1: They're going to be whacked with it with yet another tax.
18:38
Speaker 4: Well, can I just say, first of all, Steve, that
18:40
Speaker 4: we stand with the farmers, and we completely understand.
18:43
Speaker 3: We're not in their shoes, but we understand and we.
18:45
Speaker 4: Acknowledge the heartache and the tough times that some of
18:48
Speaker 4: the farmers are going through in regional areas at the
18:50
Speaker 4: moment with the drought.
18:51
Speaker 3: But for the unlabor government to.
18:52
Speaker 4: Go and impose a tax that they hide as a
18:55
Speaker 4: volunteers fund, a fund that's going to.
18:57
Speaker 3: Support emergency services, must be very clear.
19:00
Speaker 4: Our emergency services are a core government business and have
19:02
Speaker 4: always been handled out of consolidated revenue. This is about
19:05
Speaker 4: moving the emergency services and the cost of those off
19:08
Speaker 4: the government's books and putting in a tax that is
19:11
Speaker 4: going to hit every resident, every householder, every renter, every business,
19:15
Speaker 4: every commercial property with one hundred percent increase. And then
19:18
Speaker 4: those farmers you mentioned one hundred and fifty percent increase
19:21
Speaker 4: on their fire services levy.
19:23
Speaker 1: And we were.
19:23
Speaker 4: Proud to stand beside our farmers and our volunteers on
19:26
Speaker 4: the steps of Parliament this week with Brad Batton, leader
19:29
Speaker 4: of the Liberal Party, leader of the Opposition, and Danny O'Brien,
19:32
Speaker 4: the Leader of the Nationals, to announce that if we
19:33
Speaker 4: are elected in November twenty twenty six, we will repeal
19:36
Speaker 4: that tax.
19:37
Speaker 3: We will scrap it and we'll go back to a more.
19:39
Speaker 4: Fair and equitable tax system.
19:42
Speaker 3: And one thing I can commit Steve to you and
19:44
Speaker 3: to the listeners is.
19:45
Speaker 4: That under us, under a liberal and Nationals government, taxes
19:49
Speaker 4: will always be cheaper under a government that we lead.
19:53
Speaker 2: The other tax that is really ripping Victoria apart and
19:57
Speaker 2: destroying the real estate market is land tax.
20:00
Speaker 1: Now you'll seat covers.
20:02
Speaker 2: You're my local member, so you'll seat covers the Mornington Peninsula.
20:06
Speaker 2: I mean the amount of properties that are for sale
20:08
Speaker 2: now because people simply can't afford to have a second residence.
20:14
Speaker 2: The land tex the amount of money people are paying
20:17
Speaker 2: is just incredible.
20:22
Speaker 4: It's staggering. Land tax is one we need to have
20:24
Speaker 4: a look at. Obviously, the fire services levity of the
20:26
Speaker 4: Emergency Service Volunteers Fund I've already mentioned. We need to
20:29
Speaker 4: have a look at the tax system here in Victoria
20:31
Speaker 4: as a whole. It is not sustainable to continue to
20:34
Speaker 4: tax Victorians at the rate that we are and as
20:37
Speaker 4: I said, one hundred and eighty billion dollars over the
20:39
Speaker 4: next four years is going to be the tax take
20:41
Speaker 4: from the state government. It's not fair that that money
20:43
Speaker 4: keeps getting pulled out of the pockets of Victorians and honestly,
20:46
Speaker 4: Steve a lot of people that buy a second property.
20:49
Speaker 4: I have a lot in my lectureate. Don't get me wrong,
20:51
Speaker 4: but they are people. They are teachers, they are police officers,
20:54
Speaker 4: they are tradees who have decided to put the little
20:57
Speaker 4: bit that they've squirreled away into property instead of in
20:59
Speaker 4: the sheer mark good, or instead of into a super
21:01
Speaker 4: fund that is their self managed money.
21:03
Speaker 3: It is not fair to continually.
21:05
Speaker 4: Go after these people, and the Labor government goes after Victorian's,
21:08
Speaker 4: they go after anything that is not tied down, purely
21:11
Speaker 4: because they haven't been able to manage the budget over
21:13
Speaker 4: the last ten years.
21:16
Speaker 2: Sam Alway was great to catch up. Thanks for joining
21:18
Speaker 2: us on this Friday. Sam growth there the Deputy Opposition leader.
21:21
Speaker 2: Now after the break survey from the Salvation Army has
21:24
Speaker 2: exposed the harsh reality of Australia's cost of living crisis.
21:28
Speaker 2: It's really quite horrific. New footage exposing also tonight something
21:33
Speaker 2: that is equally horrific, a tax being carried out against
21:37
Speaker 2: religious minorities. This is happening in Syria as we speak.
21:41
Speaker 2: We'll have some exclusive details on that a little later.
21:47
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Deep Price with you on this Friday night. Now,
21:49
Speaker 2: a new survey out from the Salvation Army has found
21:52
Speaker 2: that one in twenty vulnerable people are being forced forgive
21:56
Speaker 2: me for this but this is a raw fact to
22:00
Speaker 2: eat from rubbish wins. More than half of disadvantaged people
22:04
Speaker 2: are skipping meals. Twenty three percent, according to Salbows, are
22:08
Speaker 2: eating expired or spoiled food. This is Australia in twenty
22:12
Speaker 2: twenty five. Joining me now in the studio is the
22:15
Speaker 2: Salvation Army Major Render Nottle.
22:19
Speaker 1: Is that true? Yeah?
22:20
Speaker 9: Absolutely, So what happens Steve, was the Salvation Army conducted
22:24
Speaker 9: research amongst three and a half thousand people that access
22:27
Speaker 9: our services and you look at the data and it's horrendous,
22:30
Speaker 9: But it's even more horrendous when you stop and realize
22:33
Speaker 9: that those stats are actually human beings. So it's people
22:36
Speaker 9: that are doing it incredibly tough and we see it
22:38
Speaker 9: every day. And the concern for us is that people
22:43
Speaker 9: are really struggling to look after themselves and look after
22:46
Speaker 9: their families, and they're doing all they can to get
22:48
Speaker 9: food on the table for their kids. But what they're
22:51
Speaker 9: neglecting to do is look after the central. So we
22:54
Speaker 9: had a man coming in who had massive headaches and
22:57
Speaker 9: he ignored them because he thought, how on earth am
22:59
Speaker 9: I going to pay for the doctor's build? So he
23:01
Speaker 9: kept putting food on the table freeze. Kids ended up
23:03
Speaker 9: with an aneurysm which burst. It's just a miracle that
23:06
Speaker 9: he was saved by medical staff. But you see that
23:09
Speaker 9: stuff not once or twice, but day in, day out,
23:12
Speaker 9: day in day out, and it's tough.
23:14
Speaker 1: I was thinking about this just the other day.
23:15
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I added a heart check up, which, yeah,
23:19
Speaker 2: when you get to my age, you've got to do it.
23:20
Speaker 2: These people would not be able to afford to do that.
23:23
Speaker 2: They would be ignoring their own health. Dental absolutely yeah.
23:27
Speaker 2: I mean are we seeing a new generation of working pool?
23:33
Speaker 9: Oh, there's no question. So we actually physically see it
23:36
Speaker 9: every day and every night where there's a group of
23:38
Speaker 9: people coming in and you actually see them, Steve, they
23:41
Speaker 9: come in their high vis gears, so they're out working.
23:43
Speaker 9: They're doing everything they can to make ends meet, and
23:46
Speaker 9: they can't. They simply can't.
23:48
Speaker 1: Say.
23:48
Speaker 9: Rents are going up, energy bills are going up, and
23:52
Speaker 9: you just have one slip up that's inevitable. You know,
23:55
Speaker 9: you have one issue in a family, which it could
23:57
Speaker 9: be a medical issue, and then the bills roll in
24:00
Speaker 9: people that just tips people over the edge.
24:03
Speaker 2: You and I've known each other a long times. It's
24:04
Speaker 2: as bad as you've ever seen.
24:06
Speaker 1: It, no question.
24:07
Speaker 2: So I'm getting worse each year. So what are governments
24:10
Speaker 2: doing to help?
24:12
Speaker 9: Well, I think, Steve, the issue is that it's getting worse,
24:16
Speaker 9: but there's no light at the end of the tunnel,
24:19
Speaker 9: and that's making it incredibly difficult for individuals, and I
24:21
Speaker 9: think for governments, we actually need governments. Don't sit in
24:26
Speaker 9: your office and come up with policy. Actually come in
24:29
Speaker 9: and listen. So come into places like we run. So
24:32
Speaker 9: the Salvation Army has got over two thousand sellers around
24:34
Speaker 9: the nation. Come and listen, and not only listen to
24:38
Speaker 9: how bad.
24:38
Speaker 1: Things are after people. No, no, not enough.
24:41
Speaker 9: And we need not only people to listen, but we
24:44
Speaker 9: actually need them to take on board some of the
24:46
Speaker 9: suggestions that are people that people are making. Because the
24:49
Speaker 9: people that are in these situations that have been described
24:52
Speaker 9: in our stats, they actually have ideas, they actually have
24:55
Speaker 9: ways through this. So we need to be taking their
24:58
Speaker 9: suggestions on board as well.
25:00
Speaker 1: If you walk.
25:00
Speaker 2: Down Chapel Street, which I do on a regular basis,
25:04
Speaker 2: I would see six seven eight people sleeping in doorways
25:09
Speaker 2: of abandoned jobs.
25:10
Speaker 1: Yep.
25:11
Speaker 2: And it's getting worth three degrees one day morning this week.
25:14
Speaker 9: Yeah, So Steve that the issue often is contained to cities.
25:19
Speaker 9: It's no longer contained cities, so it's spreading out. But
25:22
Speaker 9: it's more than that. It's actually not just spreading out
25:24
Speaker 9: on the streets. It's spreading out in vans and it's
25:27
Speaker 9: spreading out in cars. So we see individuals, but we're
25:30
Speaker 9: also seeing families. They just can't make ends meet, so
25:33
Speaker 9: they're living in their car or in their van. And
25:36
Speaker 9: we see people to Steve who live in their van,
25:39
Speaker 9: go to work the next day, come back and live
25:41
Speaker 9: in their van again. And it's like the really confronting
25:45
Speaker 9: thing is, as you said in your open up, this
25:48
Speaker 9: is Australia. This actually shouldn't be happening here in Australia.
25:51
Speaker 2: Rich Shield appeal is on this weekend? How can people donate?
25:55
Speaker 2: How important is it?
25:56
Speaker 1: Well, there's two things.
25:57
Speaker 9: Stay like, we're wanting to raise thirty eight million dollars,
26:00
Speaker 9: so that's this weekend and up until the end of June,
26:04
Speaker 9: so people can go to thirteen Salvos or Salvation Armi
26:07
Speaker 9: dot org dot au and whatever they can give will
26:09
Speaker 9: be gratefully appreciated. But I also want to say, if
26:12
Speaker 9: there are people watching tonight who know someone that's doing
26:15
Speaker 9: it tough, get them entering the number or get on
26:17
Speaker 9: the email to Salvation Armi dot org dot A and.
26:20
Speaker 1: Reach out for help.
26:21
Speaker 9: Because, Steve, when we can get people into our doors
26:24
Speaker 9: and they start to realize they're not on their own,
26:27
Speaker 9: you can actually see lights go on, you know, in
26:30
Speaker 9: people's eyes, and people go, there's actually hope here.
26:32
Speaker 1: You know, it's not a hopeless situation. And I'm not
26:34
Speaker 1: on my own.
26:35
Speaker 9: So we want to encourage people to give, but also
26:37
Speaker 9: to reach out if they need help.
26:38
Speaker 1: You do great work. Thank you, thanks Steve, Thanks for
26:41
Speaker 1: roy your support on Brenda.
26:42
Speaker 2: Not Ealiot now joining me now Friday regular guests Former
26:45
Speaker 2: Queensland Premier Campbell Newman Campbell joins us Now. Campbell, that's
26:49
Speaker 2: horrible to hear, isn't it twenty twenty five in Australia,
26:52
Speaker 2: and I'm sure it'll be the same in Brisbane. I
26:54
Speaker 2: know I've seen it in Sydney. Australians who've haven't got
26:58
Speaker 2: a roof over their head and their kids are not
26:59
Speaker 2: eat improperly.
27:02
Speaker 10: It's absolutely shocking, Steve, And I guess you're probably gonna
27:06
Speaker 10: ask me about the events, but you know, that's what
27:12
Speaker 10: our politicians need to be focused on. There is a
27:15
Speaker 10: massive housing crisis alongside the huge increases in the cost
27:20
Speaker 10: of living, and we need our politicians and bureaucrats to
27:23
Speaker 10: focus on it in a relentless way as never before.
27:26
Speaker 10: And sadly I don't see it.
27:32
Speaker 1: Z mean, Salvo's got.
27:36
Speaker 2: Places right around the country where people gather who are
27:39
Speaker 2: in this very problem, and yet we don't see politicians
27:43
Speaker 2: even visiting there. I mean, you think you could at
27:45
Speaker 2: least do a listening to around the country if you
27:48
Speaker 2: were leading the nation to find out how bad it is.
27:53
Speaker 10: Well, look, look, Steve, I think that's a fair point,
27:56
Speaker 10: but I'd make the overall point that this housing crisis
28:00
Speaker 10: has been caused by government and I really mean that.
28:04
Speaker 10: And anybody I talk to, and as you know, I'm
28:07
Speaker 10: involved in the property sector, anybody I talk to will
28:11
Speaker 10: rattle off a whole range of things that government need
28:14
Speaker 10: to deal with right now, from the building codes through
28:17
Speaker 10: to the whole ESG sort of overlay, through to the
28:22
Speaker 10: planning regulations, to the way that buildings are certified, through
28:28
Speaker 10: the infrastructure charges that government levy on projects, the bureaucratic
28:35
Speaker 10: wait times to get projects through. It's really it is
28:39
Speaker 10: a supply issue in the main. Yes, we can talk
28:42
Speaker 10: about immigration, but that is the big thing, and needlessly
28:46
Speaker 10: we have constrained supply and driven up prices and it
28:50
Speaker 10: comes down to government.
28:55
Speaker 2: What do you make of the debacle this week with
28:57
Speaker 2: the coalition splitting and then getting back together again three
29:00
Speaker 2: days later. I mean, it's been a bit of a
29:02
Speaker 2: joke to watch it, hasn't it.
29:05
Speaker 10: It's been appalling Steve, and I heard a word this
29:08
Speaker 10: afternoon I haven't heard for quite a few years. I
29:11
Speaker 10: met up with some old army mates and the consensus
29:15
Speaker 10: was they need to be bished.
29:17
Speaker 3: And for the non army people, what does bish mean.
29:20
Speaker 10: It means throwing buckets of It means throwing buckets of
29:24
Speaker 10: cold water, sometimes with other sort of unsavory additives over
29:28
Speaker 10: the victim. So that's what these people thought. And look,
29:35
Speaker 10: we just talked about the homelessness issue and the housing
29:37
Speaker 10: sort of affordability crisis. Similarly, we've got a major issue
29:41
Speaker 10: at the moment where the government wants to bring in
29:43
Speaker 10: taxation of unrealized gains. Have you ever heard anything in
29:48
Speaker 10: the last week from any person in either That's or
29:51
Speaker 10: the Liberal Party. They've been busy fighting each other, talking
29:54
Speaker 10: about each other and internal politics and the rest of
29:58
Speaker 10: us watch on where we have no effective opposition. It
30:01
Speaker 10: is incredibly frustrating. They have really damaged themselves, perhaps hopefully
30:08
Speaker 10: the short term, even more than what happened in the
30:11
Speaker 10: election campaign.
30:14
Speaker 2: So hell of a long way back, isn't it. When
30:15
Speaker 2: you think that there's probably going to be ninety four
30:18
Speaker 2: labor Lower House members of Parliament to the coalition's forty three,
30:23
Speaker 2: that's not a three year turnaround, might even not be
30:26
Speaker 2: a six year turnaround.
30:30
Speaker 10: Well, dare I say Anastasia Palachet managed to do it
30:33
Speaker 10: in Queensland. That shows you with an effective opposition can
30:38
Speaker 10: do with minimal resources. And she had far less than
30:43
Speaker 10: the coalition have. But I'll tell you the secret of
30:46
Speaker 10: her success. She got organized, They worked as a team,
30:50
Speaker 10: they fought hard, they were relentless, and they had the
30:55
Speaker 10: unions helping them and attacking my government. And that is
30:59
Speaker 10: what we need to see from the coalition.
31:01
Speaker 1: We need this.
31:01
Speaker 10: Patched up as soon as possible. And really, Steve, we
31:04
Speaker 10: don't know all the ins and outs. We don't know
31:06
Speaker 10: what happened. To mean, I think the four things that a
31:11
Speaker 10: little proud put on the table seemed eminently reasonable. I
31:15
Speaker 10: don't know why Susan Lee saw the need to say
31:18
Speaker 10: that all bets are off. I mean, you know, why
31:23
Speaker 10: be against say, nuclear power, why be against decent mobile
31:27
Speaker 10: services in the bush? I could go on so but
31:30
Speaker 10: then there's also this undercurrent about sort of being able
31:33
Speaker 10: to speak out and shadow cabinet, So we really don't
31:35
Speaker 10: know what happened. The bottom line was that there has
31:39
Speaker 10: to be a coalition, there has to be effective teamwork,
31:42
Speaker 10: and the sooner they get together and work out what
31:45
Speaker 10: their alternative vision and program for Australians, the better off
31:49
Speaker 10: will be because then they can get on and hold
31:51
Speaker 10: this government to account.
31:54
Speaker 2: Camelos usually great to see you, Thanks, I'll see you
31:56
Speaker 2: next Friday. Now, after the break, we all had hopes
31:59
Speaker 2: that the end of the Assad regime in Syria would
32:03
Speaker 2: lead to peace, but that's quickly evaporating that idea. I'll
32:06
Speaker 2: be joined by two Syrian refugees now living in Sydney
32:11
Speaker 2: who are warning that the horrendous violence continues.
32:14
Speaker 1: Right up to this day.
32:19
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the panel coming up shortly now. As
32:21
Speaker 2: I mentioned before the break, the downfall of the Assad
32:24
Speaker 2: regime was supposed to mark a new chapter for the
32:27
Speaker 2: people of Wartorn, Syria. Instead, since December last year, religious
32:32
Speaker 2: minorities have been targeted by Islamist extremists in a series
32:37
Speaker 2: of ethnic cleansing attacks which have gone largely unreported around
32:41
Speaker 2: the world. Tonight, Sky News can reveal some of the
32:44
Speaker 2: extent of the brutality, horrific raw vision which underlines the
32:49
Speaker 2: savagery of what's going on of these atrocities that have
32:52
Speaker 2: been carried out against peaceful Syrians in pockets of the
32:56
Speaker 2: nation's west coast. Now these are direct attacks on my
33:00
Speaker 2: porities by members of the Hayat Tahi Real sham stear
33:04
Speaker 2: A cell. Now this is a Sunni Islamist group formerly
33:08
Speaker 2: affiliated with ol Kaida and its radical offshoot, now determined
33:12
Speaker 2: to round up and slaughter Christian minorities as well as
33:16
Speaker 2: peaceful Sheer Muslims, Alawhites and Druze. We've been shown several
33:21
Speaker 2: of these horrific videos showing humiliation, torture, murder, all in
33:25
Speaker 2: cold blood. Most are too graphic to show you here,
33:28
Speaker 2: but it is important that the world knows what exactly
33:31
Speaker 2: is happening now. The following clip, which we have heavily censored,
33:35
Speaker 2: shows the moments leading up to a man's murder and
33:38
Speaker 2: the audio of his shooting, and be warned this is confronting.
33:59
Speaker 2: Another video, also so very confronting, shows at the moment
34:01
Speaker 2: a man calmly confronts the murderers before.
34:05
Speaker 1: He too is shot.
34:08
Speaker 2: A horrendous sky News has seen much worse footage. We've
34:21
Speaker 2: had men, seen men forced to work, walk on all
34:24
Speaker 2: fours and told to bark like dogs before being ruthlessly shot.
34:28
Speaker 2: Teenagers standing in fear by a roadside before being cut down,
34:33
Speaker 2: the bodies of children shot in their homes in cold blood. Shockingly,
34:37
Speaker 2: there's even footage of one of the terror leaders telling
34:40
Speaker 2: the attackers to do whatever they want, just don't film
34:43
Speaker 2: it again, a warning that is very distressing.
34:47
Speaker 1: Here. It is.
34:50
Speaker 8: Lots of lot of the harlot of.
34:58
Speaker 1: Lots of in short, yeah, yeah, they were Jen may
35:06
Speaker 1: it may be Leslie, and I should and she said
35:13
Speaker 1: film it.
35:14
Speaker 2: Discussing now Sydney based Syrian refugees Ana Joseph and her
35:18
Speaker 2: brothers Imad and Elias. They arrived in Australia in twenty eighteen.
35:22
Speaker 2: They escaped that horrible life in their home country. They
35:26
Speaker 2: had hoped the downfall of Assad might change things. Since December,
35:30
Speaker 2: they've been carefully cataloging that brutality, the executions of men,
35:34
Speaker 2: women and children filmed and shared online as gruesome content
35:39
Speaker 2: from the perpetrators posting thrill kills.
35:41
Speaker 1: It's just horrendous.
35:42
Speaker 2: All the wild activists in Australia and elsewhere around the
35:45
Speaker 2: world just turn a blind eye. And IMUD have been
35:49
Speaker 2: kind enough to join us. Thank you very much for
35:50
Speaker 2: being one brave and welcome to the studio. Anna, can
35:55
Speaker 2: you tell us why you and your brothers decided that
35:58
Speaker 2: you needed to catalog the wife of attext Sure.
36:03
Speaker 11: First, Stephen, thank you for having us tonight. The reason
36:07
Speaker 11: why we started to catalog these videos is because when
36:11
Speaker 11: the regime, the a Sad regime fell, we actually thought
36:15
Speaker 11: that the horrendous videos that we were seeing prior to
36:19
Speaker 11: that would stop, that people would get safety in protection
36:24
Speaker 11: for them and their own families. But that actually wasn't
36:28
Speaker 11: the case and very soon after the fall of the regime,
36:32
Speaker 11: we started seeing the videos that were coming out, and
36:35
Speaker 11: that was actually in December. Also, we noticed that there
36:40
Speaker 11: was no spotlight given to any of the horrendous crimes
36:43
Speaker 11: being committed on camera, and so that's pretty much the
36:47
Speaker 11: reason why we decided to keep all these videos and
36:50
Speaker 11: try to shed some light on them. At some point,
36:54
Speaker 11: it made.
36:55
Speaker 2: How difficult is it for families like yours to actually
36:57
Speaker 2: watch these horizontalhal It.
37:00
Speaker 12: Is really difficult for us to watch it. This people
37:02
Speaker 12: is not just like our people, our countries people. This
37:05
Speaker 12: is our families, our friends, our neighborhoods, like we shared
37:09
Speaker 12: life with this people who went to schools with them.
37:12
Speaker 12: They genuine nice people, They moderant, they have values. They
37:15
Speaker 12: just want to be left alone and have a discent life.
37:18
Speaker 12: They just want to have a normal life where they
37:20
Speaker 12: can hope and dreams and not just survive their day
37:22
Speaker 12: to day life.
37:25
Speaker 2: And how can we be sure that these videos are authentic?
37:29
Speaker 2: I know you will have checked it very carefully, you
37:31
Speaker 2: and your brothers, But how do we know where they
37:34
Speaker 2: were filmed?
37:34
Speaker 1: And when?
37:37
Speaker 11: I mean, we do have some first hand accounts people
37:42
Speaker 11: on the ground who were people who we were living
37:45
Speaker 11: with our families, our friends, and we also have like
37:51
Speaker 11: documented locations and names and even like very very thorough
37:58
Speaker 11: details for it.
38:01
Speaker 12: We even went to the details that we even went
38:04
Speaker 12: to the details to look into the general security uniform
38:07
Speaker 12: that was provided to the forces that went to this
38:10
Speaker 12: areas and committed this massacres. This uniforse was issued after December,
38:15
Speaker 12: so this is our new issue issued the uniforms. There's
38:18
Speaker 12: general security forces that meant to be the police, meant
38:21
Speaker 12: to be protecting these people instead of they went and
38:23
Speaker 12: around and killed people. We even have first hand in
38:25
Speaker 12: caunters of the Red Crescent volunteers that they were forced
38:29
Speaker 12: to go to this area to clean up the killing
38:31
Speaker 12: sites and they were basically told if if you think
38:36
Speaker 12: about touching your phone while doing the job, you'll be
38:39
Speaker 12: you join the dead ones as well. So we gathered
38:42
Speaker 12: so much evidence just to set as much as LATS
38:45
Speaker 12: we can do, as much as lats we can on
38:48
Speaker 12: what's going on right now in Syria.
38:51
Speaker 2: Well, I hope everybody who's seen what we were put
38:54
Speaker 2: to here tonight actually starts to talk about it. I
38:58
Speaker 2: think Syria has largely been in by the mainstream media
39:01
Speaker 2: and are an image of very brave both of you.
39:04
Speaker 2: I'm pleased to now here safe in Australia. Thank you
39:06
Speaker 2: very much for joining us tonight. I appreciate it and
39:09
Speaker 2: we'll keep in touch with you now after the break.
39:11
Speaker 2: First up, what happens now with the coalition? Will it
39:14
Speaker 2: get back together? We'll get the panel in plus Melbourne
39:17
Speaker 2: versus Sydney. Now, I don't buy this argument. Which city
39:21
Speaker 2: deserves the title of the best city in Australia? Welcome back,
39:29
Speaker 2: Panel Time, Small Businesswomen Australia Chief Executive Amanda Rose and
39:33
Speaker 2: Sky News contributor Joe hilde Brown, welcome to your boat,
39:36
Speaker 2: get onto politics in a moment, Joe, you and I
39:39
Speaker 2: have covered a lot of floods. I don't think and
39:43
Speaker 2: I'll go back to twenty twenty one and Liz Moore.
39:45
Speaker 2: I've never seen the body of water that ripped through
39:49
Speaker 2: the towns of like Tai, all those communities up there.
39:54
Speaker 1: It's just horrendous.
39:56
Speaker 13: Yeah, it's absolutely brutal. I've never said I can't remember
40:00
Speaker 13: seeing anything like it. Awfully, last I heard there was
40:04
Speaker 13: four dead now and one person still missing. A lot
40:07
Speaker 13: of these communities are facing this horrendous stuff for the
40:11
Speaker 13: first time, but a lot of actually just rebuilding from
40:14
Speaker 13: the last flood event and are just coppying it again
40:17
Speaker 13: and again just when they're starting to get back on
40:19
Speaker 13: their feet. So it's really really brutal. And you know,
40:24
Speaker 13: again it's a cliche, but you know, you really do
40:26
Speaker 13: sort of think and pray for these people.
40:30
Speaker 2: Amanda, you would have had your heart broken seeing the
40:33
Speaker 2: vision on sky today that was out of Tare where
40:36
Speaker 2: the entire strip of the main street, all of those
40:40
Speaker 2: shops have been inundated with water and all the small
40:43
Speaker 2: business people can do is throw everything out onto the footpath.
40:48
Speaker 14: That's right, And I think people forget that component of
40:52
Speaker 14: the floods. You know, obviously there's the human element of families,
40:55
Speaker 14: but the small businesses, that's their stock, so their stock
40:59
Speaker 14: has gone, equipment is gone. A lot of people also
41:02
Speaker 14: don't have the level of insurance that they need because
41:04
Speaker 14: we know that from the last floods, insurance went up
41:07
Speaker 14: so high that they actually couldn't keep up with the payment.
41:10
Speaker 14: So a lot of these people aren't insured. And we
41:13
Speaker 14: need to remember that they're still recovering from last time
41:16
Speaker 14: as well, and that moving forward, it's not something that
41:20
Speaker 14: was like, oh, isn't it good that we're rebuilding and
41:22
Speaker 14: they're back in their homes or things are happening.
41:25
Speaker 1: That pain is.
41:26
Speaker 14: Going to last for another five to ten years, So
41:29
Speaker 14: the government needs to look at rebuilding the small businesses
41:31
Speaker 14: as well as the families.
41:35
Speaker 2: Joe, I'm sure the teller you'll get into the story
41:36
Speaker 2: of insurance because many of these people now not be
41:39
Speaker 2: able to get insurance, or if they can, they can't
41:42
Speaker 2: afford it. One of the things the federal government could
41:45
Speaker 2: do straight up is drop GST on insurance policies in
41:50
Speaker 2: any flood affected areas in Australia. That wouldn't be difficult
41:53
Speaker 2: to do.
41:54
Speaker 13: Yeah, look, I don't think it would be that difficult
41:57
Speaker 13: to do. I think perhaps more importantly, though, is the
42:00
Speaker 13: goverment I think it's made some noises in this direction,
42:03
Speaker 13: is looking towards some towards some sort of scheme where
42:06
Speaker 13: the federal government can be the underwriter to these big insurers,
42:10
Speaker 13: so you're not basically having premiums that are so ridiculously
42:14
Speaker 13: high as to be completely prohibitive, to the point where
42:17
Speaker 13: you're almost better off just taking your chances with the
42:20
Speaker 13: flood water rather than pay just a huge amount which
42:22
Speaker 13: will drive your business down anyway. So I think there
42:27
Speaker 13: is a very strong argument to be made for the
42:29
Speaker 13: government acting as a guarrantur, so not necessarily even having
42:33
Speaker 13: to cough up the money, but being able to provide
42:36
Speaker 13: that security and there being some kind of you know,
42:39
Speaker 13: having insurance at a reasonably affordable level should be something
42:44
Speaker 13: that's pretty universal. We talk about, you know, Telstra having
42:47
Speaker 13: to provide universal mobile phone coverage because it's not right
42:50
Speaker 13: that you can't actually call someone if you're in the middle.
42:52
Speaker 1: Of a bushfire in the bush.
42:54
Speaker 13: Likewise, if you are living in the regions where these
42:57
Speaker 13: things do happen and it can destroy you of home,
42:59
Speaker 13: can destroy your business, you have to be able to
43:02
Speaker 13: take some kind of be able to take some kind
43:04
Speaker 13: of action against that without going broke before the flood
43:07
Speaker 13: even hits.
43:08
Speaker 14: And I also just can I just say I think
43:10
Speaker 14: the entire insurance industry needs to be audited and reviewed
43:13
Speaker 14: because whether it's from you know, I care workers comp
43:17
Speaker 14: or house insurance and all these insurances they've gone up
43:20
Speaker 14: thirty percent forty percent. People can't afford it. So underwriting
43:24
Speaker 14: sounds like a great idea, but you're underwriting something that's
43:26
Speaker 14: overpriced or it's exorbitant, so they actually needs to review
43:30
Speaker 14: the actual industry.
43:33
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think that's absolutely correct. Joe. On the politics,
43:36
Speaker 1: what happened to the divorce?
43:39
Speaker 13: This is the million dollar question, isn't it pricey?
43:42
Speaker 1: Yeah?
43:42
Speaker 13: I mean obviously a very stupid move, as John Howard said,
43:46
Speaker 13: for David Little Proud to throw his toys out of
43:48
Speaker 13: the cot and for the Nats to walk away from
43:50
Speaker 13: the coalition right at the moment where the coalition desperately
43:54
Speaker 13: needs to rebuild. And Susan Lay, whether you support it
43:57
Speaker 13: or not, is the elected leader of the Liberal Party
44:00
Speaker 13: needs all the support she can possibly get if there's
44:03
Speaker 13: going to be any hope of unity to elections from
44:05
Speaker 13: now forget about the next one. And then suddenly all
44:09
Speaker 13: these suddenly, all these principles that the Gnats were going
44:12
Speaker 13: to die on a hill for because they were so
44:14
Speaker 13: incredibly important, that now seems to have been watered down
44:17
Speaker 13: because the Libs have sort of come back and said,
44:19
Speaker 13: all right, well, what if we promised to in principle
44:21
Speaker 13: support all these things. And we all know what in
44:23
Speaker 13: principle means, it means not in practice. But I think
44:27
Speaker 13: basically they realized that they were looking incredibly foolish, and
44:33
Speaker 13: they've now sort of the Libs and the Gnats have
44:36
Speaker 13: now come back in a zoom meeting, which you would
44:38
Speaker 13: have thought might have been able to solve these problems
44:40
Speaker 13: in the first place. And now the Libs look weak,
44:42
Speaker 13: the Nats look foolish, and they both utterly divided, hopelessly.
44:48
Speaker 13: So I mean the living is already divided, let alone
44:51
Speaker 13: when you get into the coalition.
44:53
Speaker 1: So so brutal the word brutal world. Look, I think, look,
44:58
Speaker 1: it is a brutal world.
45:00
Speaker 3: It look it is brutal.
45:02
Speaker 14: But I think we need to look at why these
45:04
Speaker 14: things happened. Right, So I understand why the Nats did
45:08
Speaker 14: what they did because they did very well in the
45:10
Speaker 14: election with the policies that they wanted to keep, and
45:13
Speaker 14: their members were happy with those policies and decisions. And
45:16
Speaker 14: we need to understand that their members are very different
45:19
Speaker 14: to your liberal members. And I understand what Susan did
45:22
Speaker 14: because she's you know, standing her ground and saying, well, actually,
45:26
Speaker 14: I'm the leader and this is what we want to do,
45:29
Speaker 14: and we don't want to rush into committing to policies.
45:31
Speaker 14: So I get what's happened, and I think it's very
45:34
Speaker 14: positive that can work together, because without working together then
45:38
Speaker 14: nothing substantial will happen over the next three years. And
45:42
Speaker 14: I know people are saying that Labor win for six
45:45
Speaker 14: years instead of three years, but at the rate of
45:48
Speaker 14: the decisions and the legislation that they are pushing through
45:52
Speaker 14: and will push through over the next three years, that
45:54
Speaker 14: may change because people are going to hurt more and
45:57
Speaker 14: more because of the decisions they're making, especially small business.
46:03
Speaker 2: And Joe, I will remind you of two thousand and
46:06
Speaker 2: seven and Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, home insulation disasters,
46:14
Speaker 2: HASH for clunkers, all of those things. It can turn
46:16
Speaker 2: sout pretty quick, can't it.
46:18
Speaker 13: Yeah, look, it certainly can. And I'm the last person.
46:20
Speaker 13: I'm still got PTSD from twenty ten, but I'm the
46:24
Speaker 13: last person to so you know, as they say, should
46:26
Speaker 13: never make predictions in politics.
46:28
Speaker 1: Especially about the future.
46:29
Speaker 13: But just mathematically it is just so so difficult. I mean,
46:34
Speaker 13: the sheer number of seats that Labor has, the sheer
46:37
Speaker 13: paucity of seats that the Liberal and the National Party have,
46:40
Speaker 13: and again the fact that the Liberal Party is on
46:42
Speaker 13: a knife edge of division even as it is and
46:46
Speaker 13: the Nats are making it even harder for them. You're
46:48
Speaker 13: basically looking at a kind of tripartite coalition that you
46:52
Speaker 13: know that cannot even agree on what it stands for,
46:56
Speaker 13: on what offering it will even take to the next election.
46:58
Speaker 13: And that was a big enough problem last time around,
47:01
Speaker 13: let alone now that the rug's been pulled back, so
47:03
Speaker 13: they need to pull their finger out and get together.
47:06
Speaker 13: Disinity is deaf, Amanda.
47:09
Speaker 2: I don't know who does these studies about which city
47:11
Speaker 2: is better than the other. This outfit called Oxford Economics.
47:15
Speaker 2: Apparently it's listed the top ten world cities. It's got
47:19
Speaker 2: Melbourne ahead of Sydney. I mean, what sort of lunatic
47:24
Speaker 2: is these people visit these cities that they're rating. I mean,
47:27
Speaker 2: I've been to Sydney and Melbourne a lot of times
47:29
Speaker 2: over the last two months. Sydney so far ahead of Melbourne.
47:32
Speaker 1: It's not funny, Okay.
47:34
Speaker 14: So the criteria that they've actually measured Melbourne and Sydney
47:38
Speaker 14: with in this instance, which is why they're rated, is
47:40
Speaker 14: actually based on human capital, which is actually a fancy
47:45
Speaker 14: word for saying immigration. So because of the mass immigration
47:48
Speaker 14: in Melbourne and Sydney, they've been rewarded by this group,
47:52
Speaker 14: which is a globalist group, to say you're doing well,
47:55
Speaker 14: we're going to rank you. So it's essentially just the
47:58
Speaker 14: more immigration you bring in the high and that component,
48:01
Speaker 14: and that's why they've gone up.
48:03
Speaker 1: Come on, Amanda, look it up.
48:06
Speaker 13: That's exactly Sydney beat Melbourne on every single metric except
48:11
Speaker 13: for something that they called environment, which I imagine is
48:14
Speaker 13: you know, lots of Laneway coffee.
48:16
Speaker 14: Yes, that they picked both Melbourne and Sydney.
48:20
Speaker 13: Yeah, that's why I was human capitalb.
48:21
Speaker 1: But you Sydney. I'm the only one in Melbourne. I'm
48:24
Speaker 1: the only one who can judge this.
48:26
Speaker 3: Well, why don't you move?
48:27
Speaker 13: Move?
48:27
Speaker 1: Come on, have you we know you're one of us.
48:31
Speaker 2: No, I tell you where I'd be going. I'd be
48:34
Speaker 2: going to Adelaide. Thank you very much, Joe Hildebrand and
48:37
Speaker 2: thank you Amanda. Fantastic. We'll see you next week. Melbourne
48:41
Speaker 2: ahead of Sydney. I mean that is completely ridiculous. That's
48:45
Speaker 2: it for us tonight on this Friday night, coming up
48:47
Speaker 2: the world. According to Rowendine,