Transcript

Credlin | 23 June · Credlin

0:01
Speaker 1: Peter Kredland live on Sky News Australia.
0:07
Speaker 2: So true, Chris Kenny, I will be lining up outside
0:09
Speaker 2: the MCG for ACDCA. Absolutely love it. Busy show tonight,
0:14
Speaker 2: Let's get into it. He's what's coming up tonight On Credline,
0:17
Speaker 2: new details emerge about just how Operation Midnight Hammer was
0:20
Speaker 2: carried out, the Americans pulling up the stealth mission for
0:23
Speaker 2: the ages.
0:24
Speaker 3: So how was it done?
0:25
Speaker 2: I want all the mechanical detail here and will the
0:28
Speaker 2: Iranians Iranians be ready next time. We've got an expert
0:32
Speaker 2: to walk us through all the detail, as I said
0:34
Speaker 2: in a moment, So how now will the regime respond?
0:38
Speaker 2: Because they will, they will respond, and sure no one
0:41
Speaker 2: wants a wider Middle Eastern conflict. But what happens next
0:44
Speaker 2: and crucially what does success look like?
0:47
Speaker 3: When?
0:48
Speaker 2: And how will we know if Iran's nuclear ambitions have
0:51
Speaker 2: been defeated. Plus already the Israelis are bearing the brunt
0:55
Speaker 2: of all the missiles launched overnight in retaliation. They've done
0:59
Speaker 2: a lot of the heavy lifting. This is extraordinary. We'll
1:02
Speaker 2: go into some of the bankers and a unique story
1:05
Speaker 2: of joy out of one of them on the weekend
1:08
Speaker 2: and plenty of domestic fallout too, was the OLM and
1:10
Speaker 2: Easy government appears to be on the back foot yet
1:12
Speaker 2: again equivocating when it comes to supporting our allies.
1:18
Speaker 3: What did it take twenty.
1:19
Speaker 4: Four hours for Australia express unequivocal support for this action
1:23
Speaker 4: by its closest ally And what does this say about
1:26
Speaker 4: our relationship with the US under your government?
1:29
Speaker 5: We issue a state me Yes, sir.
1:33
Speaker 2: Plenty of experts tonight and as I said, we'll cross
1:35
Speaker 2: into Tel Aviv. And I also have Tony Abbott, former
1:38
Speaker 2: Prime Minister, coming up. But first, every week I have
1:40
Speaker 2: a column in the news Corps Sunday papers that's published
1:43
Speaker 2: across the country and I file my words the day before.
1:47
Speaker 2: Usually it's around lunchtime on a Saturday. Now this week,
1:50
Speaker 2: on Saturday, I confess as I sent the column off,
1:54
Speaker 2: I was a little bit despondent that despite Israel's incredible
1:57
Speaker 2: bombing rays earlier in the week, it had severe week
2:00
Speaker 2: in the Iran. I was concerned that Donald Trump was
2:03
Speaker 2: going to squib it. Remember he gave Iran fourteen days.
2:07
Speaker 2: We were told on Friday to get to the negotiating table. Now,
2:12
Speaker 2: I wrote for years the world's debated how to stop
2:15
Speaker 2: Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. It's tried to negotiate with them,
2:18
Speaker 2: I wrote, and stupidly pay them billions to stop, which
2:22
Speaker 2: didn't and then it threatened them, which for a country
2:25
Speaker 2: run by Islamic fundamentalists who cheer death or that hasn't
2:28
Speaker 2: worked either. So now we are at the point, I said,
2:31
Speaker 2: we're faced with a regime that literally wants to blow
2:34
Speaker 2: them off.
2:34
Speaker 3: The face of the map.
2:36
Speaker 2: It is Israel who's taken them on and done more
2:38
Speaker 2: in one week than the United Nations and Western Nations combined.
2:43
Speaker 2: And yet for Israel, there's been as much criticism as gratitude.
2:49
Speaker 2: Thank God for Israel, I wrote, But I said, the
2:52
Speaker 2: big question.
2:53
Speaker 3: Now will be what will Trump do.
2:56
Speaker 2: Will the US President be seduced by the prospect of
2:58
Speaker 2: an eleventh hour deal that Iran will just ignore, as
3:02
Speaker 2: so many of his predecessors have done, or will he
3:05
Speaker 2: finally finish off what Israel has bravely and with great
3:09
Speaker 2: precision started that it is not just about protecting them
3:13
Speaker 2: but the wider world. Well, by the time most of
3:17
Speaker 2: my readers were working through the papers over breakfast on Sunday,
3:20
Speaker 2: we found out the answer to that question as we
3:22
Speaker 2: watched the US president do what so many had merely threatened, namely,
3:28
Speaker 2: to show strength against a tyrannical regime that is intentti
3:32
Speaker 2: not just blowing Israel off the map, but bringing death
3:35
Speaker 2: and destruction to all the Sudi Muslim neighbors and Christians
3:39
Speaker 2: the world over. This was not just a strike by
3:43
Speaker 2: the US against Iran. This was a strike by good
3:47
Speaker 2: against evil. It was a strike against an apocalyptic Islamist
3:52
Speaker 2: regime that simply can't be allowed to gain in clear
3:55
Speaker 2: weapons weapons it would most certainly use first to anilate
4:00
Speaker 2: Israel and then to achieve its aim of a global caliphate.
4:06
Speaker 3: Now, thank God for Israel.
4:08
Speaker 2: Thank God too for the United States that did what
4:11
Speaker 2: only the might of the United States could do when
4:14
Speaker 2: it launched Operation Midnight Hammer and all of it wiped
4:17
Speaker 2: out Iran's nuclear capability. Now, whatever people might think of
4:22
Speaker 2: Donald Trump on this, he has acted while all of
4:26
Speaker 2: his predecessors have simply talked. It was Bill Clinton back
4:30
Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety five if first declared and I quote,
4:33
Speaker 2: we are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
4:38
Speaker 3: Then there was George W.
4:39
Speaker 2: Bush in two thousand and six who said Iran must
4:42
Speaker 2: not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, period. And here
4:48
Speaker 2: in twenty fifteen was Barack Obama.
4:51
Speaker 3: I have stated that Iran will never be allowed to
4:54
Speaker 3: obtain a nuclear weapon.
4:58
Speaker 2: Sure, but on the they went. And then in twenty
5:02
Speaker 2: twenty two he was Joe Biden.
5:05
Speaker 3: The United States is clear, we will not allow Iran
5:10
Speaker 3: to acquire a nuclear weapon. Talk, just more talk.
5:16
Speaker 2: And here is Donald Trump from the weekend, having done,
5:18
Speaker 2: most likely what others merely promised they would do.
5:23
Speaker 1: Iran's Ki nuclear and Richmond facilities have been completely and
5:27
Speaker 1: totally obliterated.
5:30
Speaker 2: All right, let's be clear what has not happened and
5:33
Speaker 2: what almost certainly won't happen. There are no American troops
5:38
Speaker 2: on the ground. This is not a replay of the
5:40
Speaker 2: two thousand and three attack on Iraq in search of
5:43
Speaker 2: weapons of mass destruction. This is not a war against Iran.
5:48
Speaker 2: It's a war against Iranian nuclear weapons. If nuclear energy
5:52
Speaker 2: was all Iran wanted, why was it enriching uranium to
5:55
Speaker 2: weapons grade to which international inspectors have attested. It's not
6:00
Speaker 2: a war for regime change either, although as long as
6:03
Speaker 2: the Aya Tollers are in charge, Iran will be a
6:05
Speaker 2: menace to its own people and it's Sunni Muslim neighbors.
6:09
Speaker 3: But let's be clear what has been happening.
6:12
Speaker 2: The Mullas in Tehran have been in an informal alliance
6:16
Speaker 2: with the communists in Beijing and the militarists in Moscow
6:20
Speaker 2: in a war against the West that includes Australia. It
6:24
Speaker 2: is no accident or coincidence that the Uranian Foreign minister
6:28
Speaker 2: is reportedly going to Moscow to seek the Russian Tyrant's
6:31
Speaker 2: advice and help in striking hard against the Iranian nuclear program.
6:37
Speaker 2: America has undoubtedly strengthened global de terrence and reinforced President
6:42
Speaker 2: Trump's message of peace through strength. And it's precisely because
6:47
Speaker 2: this American action has been so right, so strong, so necessary,
6:52
Speaker 2: that the Almenezi government's hesitations have been so telling. For
6:56
Speaker 2: twenty four hours after the US action, all there was
6:59
Speaker 2: from the austrail government was a written statement from a
7:03
Speaker 2: spokesman demanding dialogue, diplomacy.
7:06
Speaker 3: And de escalation.
7:08
Speaker 2: Not that we even heard a word of any of
7:11
Speaker 2: this yesterday from the Prime Minister.
7:13
Speaker 3: I mean, just have a look at this.
7:16
Speaker 2: Now he can post a photograph of his dog in
7:18
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister or suite. That's the pem's private office there.
7:22
Speaker 2: This is on Friday, to celebrate international Take your Dog
7:25
Speaker 2: to Workday, and yet he put nothing up on Iran
7:30
Speaker 2: until three hours ago, when it was just a clip
7:33
Speaker 2: of a press conference he gave earlier today, twenty four
7:38
Speaker 2: hours of radio silence from a man who wants to
7:41
Speaker 2: call himself Australia's leader.
7:43
Speaker 3: What a joke.
7:45
Speaker 2: A surprise bombing raid from our closest ally against the
7:48
Speaker 2: world's most volatile, nearly nuclear capable Islamists who hate us
7:54
Speaker 2: in our way of life, and Anthony Albernezi couldn't get
7:57
Speaker 2: himself fucking about on Sunday morning to explain to Usustralians
8:01
Speaker 2: what the heck was going on and what our own
8:03
Speaker 2: government knew of America's plan and if they were willing
8:07
Speaker 2: to back it in.
8:08
Speaker 3: I mean this is extraordinary.
8:12
Speaker 2: I mean yesterday, almost immediately after the US raid was
8:15
Speaker 2: known publicly, we got moral clarity, absolute moral clarity from
8:21
Speaker 2: former Special Forces captain, Liberal front bencher Andrew Hasty.
8:26
Speaker 6: We could never accept a nuclear Iran. Iran is a oppressive,
8:30
Speaker 6: theocratic autocracy and it's a sponsor of terrorism, as we've
8:35
Speaker 6: seen over the last few years. This is a regime
8:37
Speaker 6: committed to the destruction of Israel and our allies like
8:41
Speaker 6: the United States. That is why we support the actions today.
8:47
Speaker 3: He is in the opposition.
8:50
Speaker 2: And yet it wasn't until Monday morning that Foreign mins
8:52
Speaker 2: depending On finally emerged briefly stepping into a corridor to
8:57
Speaker 2: say she supported sort of the American actors.
9:01
Speaker 7: So Australia has been clear, along with the international community
9:04
Speaker 7: that Iran cannot be allowed to develop a newclear weapon.
9:07
Speaker 7: We support action to prevent that from occurring. And this
9:10
Speaker 7: is what this is, she said.
9:14
Speaker 1: Quote.
9:14
Speaker 3: We're not a central player.
9:15
Speaker 2: I would say that again, even though Australia in the
9:18
Speaker 2: past is swiftly rallied to support our friends and allies
9:21
Speaker 2: in the cause of peace with freedom. A decade back,
9:25
Speaker 2: Australia's command and control aircraft and our aerial refueling tankers
9:30
Speaker 2: were supporting you as strikes on Islavic stayed as well
9:33
Speaker 2: as our own strikes. The Prime Minister invisible since returning,
9:38
Speaker 2: desperate and dateless from the G seven well. He told
9:40
Speaker 2: Cinny Radio this morning that he would have something to
9:43
Speaker 2: say after a national security briefing, as if he needed
9:48
Speaker 2: a briefing to know what he thought about stopping Iran
9:52
Speaker 2: going nuclear. Now, why wouldn't he have called an NSC
9:56
Speaker 2: meeting yesterday? John Howard and Tony Abbott or they made
9:59
Speaker 2: an s seized it on weekends and late into the
10:02
Speaker 2: night if there was a security issue where our national
10:04
Speaker 2: interest was at stake, Not so this blow. Who can
10:08
Speaker 2: go to the footy on the weekend. We can't go
10:10
Speaker 2: back into the office, it would seem. And when he
10:13
Speaker 2: finally emerged yesterday today around lunchtime, sorry today, around lunchtime,
10:19
Speaker 2: he said he backed the US strikes, that he's still equivocated.
10:25
Speaker 5: We don't want escalation and a full scale war. We
10:29
Speaker 5: continue to call for dialogue and for diplomacy.
10:34
Speaker 2: And he was at pains too to stress that this
10:36
Speaker 2: had nothing to do with Australia.
10:39
Speaker 8: Was a facility like pine Gap used in this attack.
10:43
Speaker 5: We don't talk about intelligence. We've made very clear this
10:47
Speaker 5: was unilateral action taken by the United States.
10:50
Speaker 2: So was your government briefed prior to the attack?
10:53
Speaker 5: This was unilateral action taken by the United States.
10:58
Speaker 3: PM, You won't break that is that this.
11:01
Speaker 5: Was unilateral action taken by the United States.
11:03
Speaker 4: And there was absolutely no Australian involvement whatsoever, redeweling jazz,
11:07
Speaker 4: and nothing, nothing was aw well.
11:09
Speaker 5: I can't be clearer than this was unilateral action taken
11:13
Speaker 5: by the United States.
11:17
Speaker 2: An abbreviated press conference, a whole lot of rote lines,
11:21
Speaker 2: and then he shut it down quickly. Now, if we're
11:24
Speaker 2: serious about the US alliance, it was serious about getting
11:27
Speaker 2: august submarines, we better get bloody serious about pulling our
11:31
Speaker 2: military weight at a time like this. It really should
11:34
Speaker 2: be the Prime Minister, not his weg deputy, who's heading
11:37
Speaker 2: off to NATO this week in the Hague, because the
11:40
Speaker 2: Prime Minister needs to hear directly that Australia is the
11:43
Speaker 2: only Western country not substantially increasing our military spending. Sit
11:49
Speaker 2: around the NATO table, Prime Minister, and that is what
11:52
Speaker 2: you will hear. You also need to have your first
11:55
Speaker 2: meeting with President Trump right now. IPM doesn't look like
11:59
Speaker 2: you're scared of meeting the leader of the free world.
12:02
Speaker 3: It just looks scared.
12:04
Speaker 2: And if our Prime minister is scared, we are weak.
12:08
Speaker 2: And look around the world tonight, Australia, this is not
12:11
Speaker 2: a time to be weak or led by anyone who
12:14
Speaker 2: is scared.
12:16
Speaker 3: Is it all right?
12:21
Speaker 2: Let's got a Camber now for the headlines. Sky News
12:23
Speaker 2: political reporter Riven Spargo.
12:26
Speaker 9: The Prime Minister is explicitly supporting the US strikes on
12:30
Speaker 9: Iran's nuclear facilities, but he won't say when or how
12:34
Speaker 9: Australia was notified about the attack. Anthony Abernezi was repeatedly pressed.
12:40
Speaker 5: It can't be clearer than this was unilateral action.
12:43
Speaker 6: Very few people in Washington, d c. Were briefed, let
12:46
Speaker 6: alone allies. That was the reason behind the success of
12:48
Speaker 6: the operation.
12:48
Speaker 3: I think so.
12:49
Speaker 6: I think we can just take it as it appears
12:52
Speaker 6: on the face.
12:53
Speaker 9: The government declared its support for the US intervention a
12:56
Speaker 9: day later.
12:57
Speaker 5: We aren't a central player in this contract conflict.
13:01
Speaker 9: Anthony Abernezi is adamant Australia does not want a full
13:05
Speaker 9: scale war. It's adding to global calls for de escalation
13:09
Speaker 9: and dialogue in the Middle East. Australians in Iran are
13:12
Speaker 9: making their way to the Azerbaijan border crossing Consulate staff
13:17
Speaker 9: are deployed to support the government's response to the crisis.
13:20
Speaker 9: Twenty nine hundred Australians in Iran and thirteen hundred Australians
13:24
Speaker 9: in Israel have registered with the Foreign Affairs Department for
13:27
Speaker 9: assistance evacuating.
13:31
Speaker 2: All right, As I said, coming up Tony Abbot military
13:33
Speaker 2: experts will cross live into Israel, as well as a
13:36
Speaker 2: few other issues making news here at home. But first
13:38
Speaker 2: we'll look too at the Prime Minister who went missing
13:40
Speaker 2: on the weekend. At the press conference today, all the
13:43
Speaker 2: ins and outs to handle that.
13:44
Speaker 3: Now.
13:44
Speaker 2: I'm joined by our political reporter out of camera, Cam Reddin,
13:47
Speaker 2: and in sending the Daily Telly's James Willis.
13:50
Speaker 3: Cam.
13:51
Speaker 2: You were there in Parliament House today in the Blue
13:53
Speaker 2: room we finally heard from the Prime Minister and you
13:56
Speaker 2: were straight out of the blocks at the press conference.
13:58
Speaker 2: When they got to questions, you pressed him on why
14:01
Speaker 2: on earth it took him so long to respond to
14:04
Speaker 2: the US strike Home Listen.
14:07
Speaker 4: Can you just explain why you've waited until now to
14:10
Speaker 4: explicitly express your support for this action? And is it
14:13
Speaker 4: because you want Australia to remain a non central player
14:17
Speaker 4: in this conflict?
14:18
Speaker 5: Well, we aren't a central player in this contract conflict.
14:22
Speaker 5: That's just a fact. And what we do is we
14:26
Speaker 5: run an orderly stable government. But I made comments about
14:31
Speaker 5: this in three countries over recent days, and my comments
14:37
Speaker 5: today are perfectly consistent with that.
14:41
Speaker 2: Now you have heard me before say we heard nothing
14:43
Speaker 2: from the PMS today. Nothing from one something from a spokesman.
14:46
Speaker 3: That's about it.
14:47
Speaker 2: The rest of the world. They weren't asleep yesterday. Their
14:50
Speaker 2: leaders were out there on Sunday right across the board.
14:53
Speaker 2: And what staggers me the admission today from the Prime
14:56
Speaker 2: Minister that he had NSC today. Now he wasn't warned
15:01
Speaker 2: CAM And I was wargaming this this morning. If I
15:04
Speaker 2: was back in the Prime Minister's office and something like
15:06
Speaker 2: this happened with one of our allies and you did
15:08
Speaker 2: not get a heads up, the first thing you'd want
15:11
Speaker 2: to do weekend or not middle of the night or night.
15:13
Speaker 3: You'd want to get all the experts in.
15:15
Speaker 2: You'd get CDF, military strategists and others and say, okay,
15:19
Speaker 2: what do we know who's reached out to the Pentagon,
15:22
Speaker 2: where are things up to? Is there a domestic risk
15:25
Speaker 2: for Australians? Do we need to alter the terror threat alert?
15:28
Speaker 2: Are we worried about Jewish Australians and any reprisals around
15:32
Speaker 2: synagogues and other areas. You do all of that wargaming,
15:35
Speaker 2: you'd speak to premiers. You'd want to alert police forces
15:39
Speaker 2: to be obviously on watch you do all of that
15:42
Speaker 2: Sunday in the moment, but crickets from our prime minister.
15:49
Speaker 4: Yeah, we were on here for a couple of hours
15:51
Speaker 4: yesterday as this was all unfolding. When Donald Trump spoke
15:54
Speaker 4: at midday, there was a brief effectively a holding statement
15:57
Speaker 4: really put out by a government spokesperson, not attributable.
16:00
Speaker 3: That was at quarter to one.
16:01
Speaker 4: The next we heard from the government, just in terms
16:04
Speaker 4: of the timeline was when the Foreign Minister went on
16:06
Speaker 4: breakfast television this morning just after seven o'clock and it
16:09
Speaker 4: kind of went on from there. So certainly, in terms
16:11
Speaker 4: of the Sunday afternoon period, Peter, I think it's better
16:14
Speaker 4: say they would have been Australians wondering what the Prime
16:16
Speaker 4: Minister and the government's position was. I think when we
16:19
Speaker 4: go looking for the why that is, and we've heard
16:22
Speaker 4: this phrase a couple of times already in the last
16:24
Speaker 4: few minutes, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister saying we
16:26
Speaker 4: are not a central player to this. I think that
16:29
Speaker 4: really goes to the fundamental view. And it is a judgment,
16:32
Speaker 4: called Peter, that the government appears to have made here
16:35
Speaker 4: that on issues like this when it comes to big
16:38
Speaker 4: foreign diplomacy conflict in the Middle East. The government seems
16:42
Speaker 4: willing to not put our head above the parapet first,
16:46
Speaker 4: to wait and see what some of the rest of
16:47
Speaker 4: the world have to say, including the likes of the
16:49
Speaker 4: UK and others who might have a bigger dog in
16:52
Speaker 4: the fight when it comes to involvement and a presence
16:54
Speaker 4: in the Middle East, and then move as a pack
16:57
Speaker 4: afterwards to put out joint statements with the likes of
17:00
Speaker 4: Canada and New Zealand for example. We've seen in the past.
17:02
Speaker 4: That is a judgment call and others will debate whether
17:05
Speaker 4: that is the right or wrong position to take, but
17:07
Speaker 4: clearly there has been a decision taken by the government
17:11
Speaker 4: that there is not much benefit in their view for
17:13
Speaker 4: Australia to be leading the world in its response to this.
17:16
Speaker 4: When it was the middle of the night, I've.
17:18
Speaker 2: Got to get in there cave. I have to get
17:21
Speaker 2: in there. I have to get in there. First of all,
17:23
Speaker 2: we were in Afghanistan, so this is our theater. We
17:26
Speaker 2: were in Iraq, that was our theater. We have been
17:28
Speaker 2: in the Middle East.
17:29
Speaker 3: We have an.
17:30
Speaker 2: Embassy in Tehran, where a lot of nations do not
17:33
Speaker 2: have a diplomatic presence. This is as much our call
17:37
Speaker 2: to be involved. I'm not saying the United States should
17:41
Speaker 2: have given us a heads up. I think part of
17:42
Speaker 2: the reason this bombing rad was so successful is it
17:45
Speaker 2: was held incredibly tight. The UK were told because they
17:48
Speaker 2: had assets in the region. Granted we do not, and
17:52
Speaker 2: I think that was the right call. But by heck,
17:55
Speaker 2: if your biggest ally does a bombing raid like this
17:58
Speaker 2: against a nuclear power at ISLAMUS nation that wants death
18:02
Speaker 2: and destruction, do everyone surely there is, Prime Minister, you
18:05
Speaker 2: can get off your backside, get into the office on
18:08
Speaker 2: the weekend, get all your generals in and find out
18:11
Speaker 2: what the hell's going on, and give Australians as they
18:13
Speaker 2: go to bed Sunday night, some comfort that this is strategic.
18:18
Speaker 2: It will not end up in World War three. God
18:20
Speaker 2: help us, and give them some comfort that you're across
18:23
Speaker 2: your brief.
18:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, Peter, I agree with that.
18:27
Speaker 4: We made this point yesterday to sorry James, you go that. Yeah,
18:31
Speaker 4: we did make this point yesterday as well. That there
18:33
Speaker 4: were comments remember made by Richard Miles eight o'clock on
18:36
Speaker 4: Sky the holding statement just after one after the bombings.
18:39
Speaker 4: A lot had changed and those words were basically the same,
18:42
Speaker 4: and obviously now we've seen a few extra steps taken today.
18:45
Speaker 2: Week week week, James, I'll go to you now because
18:48
Speaker 2: I'm Cam. All credit to you. Yesterday I watched the
18:50
Speaker 2: coverage all day. I flicked around the international stations as well.
18:53
Speaker 2: Sky was outstanding. We jumped the whole day to cover this.
18:56
Speaker 2: This this is world news and as I say, the
18:59
Speaker 2: Prime Minister should have been back at his desk. And
19:01
Speaker 2: I'm being too tough here, James Willis. I can't imagine
19:04
Speaker 2: John Howard sitting at home on the couch as the
19:06
Speaker 2: Middle East erupted.
19:07
Speaker 10: Can you no, or Scott Morrison or a number of
19:11
Speaker 10: other Prime ministers from both sides of the chamber. Look, Peter,
19:14
Speaker 10: as you say, this is the kind of thing that
19:17
Speaker 10: the Prime Minister today should have had answers to and
19:20
Speaker 10: should have been.
19:21
Speaker 3: Able to reassure people.
19:22
Speaker 10: There was a question in that press conference that Cam
19:24
Speaker 10: was at about the terror threat level, concerns about sleeper sells,
19:28
Speaker 10: concerns about possible terrorism. The Prime Minister didn't have anything
19:32
Speaker 10: to say.
19:32
Speaker 3: He couldn't even.
19:33
Speaker 10: Really reassure the public about what was going on. You're
19:36
Speaker 10: exactly right, as soon as this happened yesterday. He should
19:39
Speaker 10: have been calling people in to say what do we know?
19:42
Speaker 10: And the other question that he should be asking himself
19:45
Speaker 10: and his government is if we weren't given our heads
19:47
Speaker 10: up like some of our other allies were. We believe
19:50
Speaker 10: that Keir Starmer was in the UK, where are we
19:52
Speaker 10: going wrong? Where are we not as strong with the
19:55
Speaker 10: US as we may have been previously. Now there's been
19:57
Speaker 10: a lot said about the Prime Minister's lack of relationship
20:00
Speaker 10: with Donald Trump so far, I'm not saying that would
20:02
Speaker 10: have made any difference, but certainly there's some ground to
20:05
Speaker 10: be made up there. But I thought today today was
20:08
Speaker 10: the opportunity, after going missing Mia yesterday, to front up,
20:12
Speaker 10: to reassure Australia and to be completely clear on where
20:16
Speaker 10: we stood.
20:17
Speaker 3: On this conflict.
20:18
Speaker 10: Instead, at every response, it felt like it was a
20:21
Speaker 10: box ticking exercise. And Peter, I think the wider issue
20:25
Speaker 10: for Labor is that it gives you an idea about
20:28
Speaker 10: how many knots they've tied themselves in when it comes
20:31
Speaker 10: to the Middle East. I mean every time that they've
20:34
Speaker 10: backed in Palestine and Hamas and sort of condemned Israel
20:38
Speaker 10: along the way when something like this happens, they've got
20:41
Speaker 10: to come out. They've got to very quietly say, look,
20:43
Speaker 10: we support what America is doing, but nothing really substantial.
20:47
Speaker 10: And then you saw over the weekend protests in the
20:50
Speaker 10: name of Iran and all that sort of thing. So look,
20:53
Speaker 10: I think the whole thing was embarrassing. It was weak
20:55
Speaker 10: leadership and once again a clet clear example Peter of
20:59
Speaker 10: the PM just not being across his brief and having
21:02
Speaker 10: no meat on the bone.
21:05
Speaker 2: I sort of feel that someone needs to pass in
21:07
Speaker 2: a note, you know, a bit like you get in class,
21:09
Speaker 2: to say, PM, just so you know, these guys are
21:12
Speaker 2: Shia Muslims in Iran and they hate the Sudi Muslims,
21:16
Speaker 2: which is just about everyone else.
21:18
Speaker 3: So the Saadis and the Egyptians and others are not.
21:20
Speaker 2: Going to go on the record, but I'll tell you what, quietly,
21:23
Speaker 2: they'd be pretty happy at what's happened in relation to
21:26
Speaker 2: Iran and the risk of nuclear war. It feels to
21:29
Speaker 2: me that he only has a rudimentary understanding of most
21:33
Speaker 2: of these issues. That press conference today was abbreviated.
21:37
Speaker 3: He was just reading.
21:38
Speaker 2: From his notes, and that blocking response about unilateral.
21:41
Speaker 3: Action, it couldn't get out of there fast enough.
21:44
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure the gallery you guys sat there
21:46
Speaker 2: afterwards and thought what.
21:48
Speaker 3: The heck was that about.
21:52
Speaker 4: I had to nearly buster hamstring getting back on the telly,
21:54
Speaker 4: so I didn't have much time to think. Peter, I
21:55
Speaker 4: got to say, but on that point, you're right in
21:58
Speaker 4: terms of Look, I think the judgment call. And I
22:03
Speaker 4: do go back to this because I think this is
22:05
Speaker 4: the critical cog in the thinking of the government, is
22:07
Speaker 4: they want to keep their head down and stay out
22:09
Speaker 4: of this. We've seen the United States in the last
22:12
Speaker 4: few hours, even earlier this morning, issue a warning basically
22:15
Speaker 4: to its citizens around the world saying be on a
22:18
Speaker 4: higher level of alert because Iran or its proxies or
22:21
Speaker 4: its sympathizers might try and target you. So the US
22:25
Speaker 4: is on a significantly higher alert as a response to this.
22:28
Speaker 4: And look, it is an unpredictable scenario. Could there be
22:32
Speaker 4: under the Trump administration different expectations of its allies, including
22:36
Speaker 4: Australia that we don't know, and we know that a
22:39
Speaker 4: request hasn't come yet for Australian involvement. But I do
22:42
Speaker 4: keep mentioning that idea of the government not thinking we're
22:46
Speaker 4: a critical part of it, probably not wanting to be
22:48
Speaker 4: a critical part of it. But the question, and I
22:51
Speaker 4: think your question touches on the heart of this, Peter,
22:53
Speaker 4: could the United States, under an unpredictable president, ask Australia
22:58
Speaker 4: or other allies to play a bigger in this If
23:00
Speaker 4: that question or request does come, we don't know it will,
23:03
Speaker 4: it hasn't yet, but if it does, that would be
23:07
Speaker 4: a very different kind of test for the alliance.
23:10
Speaker 2: Okay, well, I'll just tell you Cam and I'm sure
23:12
Speaker 2: Tony have it. We'll back it up with a lot
23:14
Speaker 2: more detail than me because he was there at the.
23:16
Speaker 3: Time when we all bombed. The West bombed the.
23:18
Speaker 2: But Jesus out of Islamic state, Australia was involved. We
23:22
Speaker 2: were part of the targeting mission. We had planes in
23:24
Speaker 2: the sky, we were refueling the JITs. We were there
23:27
Speaker 2: in terms of assessing payload and targeting. We had special
23:32
Speaker 2: forces in the region. I mean we have been involved before,
23:35
Speaker 2: we are in this. I mean every time the UN
23:38
Speaker 2: has a vote, we're on the wrong side of history
23:40
Speaker 2: in relation to Israel. I mean this idea that Australia
23:43
Speaker 2: just on the map is a long way away is wrong.
23:46
Speaker 3: We have as many interests in the Straits.
23:48
Speaker 2: Of Horn moves as everybody else does about world trade.
23:51
Speaker 3: I mean, we are in the middle of this now.
23:53
Speaker 2: I'm not saying again we should have been warned, but
23:56
Speaker 2: by God, we can't just put our head under the
23:58
Speaker 2: bed and hide away on Sunday and think it all
24:01
Speaker 2: just goes away. And I think this just goes to
24:03
Speaker 2: the grave weakness of this Prime minister. And I know
24:06
Speaker 2: Australians have just voted the bloke back in, but I
24:09
Speaker 2: still maintain he is not up to the job. It
24:13
Speaker 2: was the forty last night. If it was a concert,
24:15
Speaker 2: if he was out there playing DJ, he'd happily do that.
24:18
Speaker 2: But to turn up to NSC and sort this out
24:21
Speaker 2: and give Australians confidence given all the ructions we've got,
24:25
Speaker 2: I mean, James Willis, we've got an Islamist type of
24:29
Speaker 2: Muslim hate.
24:30
Speaker 3: Preacher, if I can call him that.
24:32
Speaker 2: Reportedly in Australia he can get a visa, but an
24:36
Speaker 2: Israeli speaker can't. We've got problems in mosques in Western Sydney.
24:40
Speaker 2: I mean, we're a tinderbox in this country and our
24:43
Speaker 2: Prime Minister should be there giving people assurance.
24:47
Speaker 3: But he's not is he James, He's just not no.
24:50
Speaker 10: And those examples that you've articulated and we've spoken about previously,
24:54
Speaker 10: Peter on the money and what should concern a lot
24:57
Speaker 10: of Australians about the growing fabric of this society and
25:00
Speaker 10: every time that we've allowed more people to come to
25:03
Speaker 10: this country, and you know, a growing number of people
25:06
Speaker 10: from different religions that may have escaped war torn countries.
25:10
Speaker 10: A lot of people can come here and forget the
25:12
Speaker 10: horrors of the other side of the world. Sadly some
25:14
Speaker 10: people can't. And that's where we see once again on
25:17
Speaker 10: the weekend. You know, you had a pro Palestinian protests
25:20
Speaker 10: in Sydney. There are a lot of people there in
25:22
Speaker 10: support of Iran and it does rightly make people scared,
25:26
Speaker 10: particularly when we've articulated before the link between radical religion
25:31
Speaker 10: and terrorism in this country. And I think, to be honest,
25:35
Speaker 10: this is going to be the greatest test so far
25:37
Speaker 10: of the PM's leadership. I think the last term he
25:40
Speaker 10: was able to just skirt around the edges Squibet sort
25:43
Speaker 10: of go through these press conferences pointing at people and
25:45
Speaker 10: getting through. This is a whole new game, and based
25:48
Speaker 10: on today's example, I'm very, very concerned about the way
25:52
Speaker 10: that he's going to handle this and on the alliance
25:54
Speaker 10: over all, Peter, I think we're either all in this
25:56
Speaker 10: or we're not.
25:57
Speaker 3: If we're signing up to orcus.
25:58
Speaker 10: If we've been close allies to the US and the
26:01
Speaker 10: UK for decades now, in great battles over the years,
26:04
Speaker 10: well then I'm sorry, but we can't put our heads
26:06
Speaker 10: in the sand on this one even and waiting until
26:08
Speaker 10: it's too late. We've got to be all in and
26:10
Speaker 10: decide today what the way forward is and not just
26:13
Speaker 10: simply say well, I hope this goes away in a heartbeat.
26:18
Speaker 3: Good and said it better. Thank you gentlemen.
26:21
Speaker 2: Right coming up at the break, how exactly did the
26:23
Speaker 2: US pull off what has been one of the most
26:26
Speaker 2: significant military strikes in generations. Plus inevitably Iran will retaliate,
26:32
Speaker 2: but what will that scale be like? And what does
26:36
Speaker 2: this mean too for the Middle East and all out war.
26:45
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the come Tony Abbott his taken America's
26:48
Speaker 2: historic strikes against Iran.
26:50
Speaker 3: We'll also discuss his new book.
26:52
Speaker 2: He's got a new book about Australia's history without the
26:54
Speaker 2: Black Armband view and a real surprise for Sky News viewers.
26:58
Speaker 2: Stick with me, go into all the details of what's
27:02
Speaker 2: been a momentous weekend, not just obviously for the Middle East,
27:05
Speaker 2: but for the wider world and also interestingly today up
27:09
Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory, Australia is involved in US joint
27:13
Speaker 2: exercises Talisman Saber. It's called There was supposed to be
27:17
Speaker 2: a press conference but it was abruptly canceled, picked up
27:20
Speaker 2: of course by our bureau chief up there, Matt Cunningham,
27:23
Speaker 2: and then of course we had the Prime Minister's press
27:25
Speaker 2: conference and a whole lot of blocking. As we've talked
27:28
Speaker 2: about a lot of answers. Someone who has some answers
27:31
Speaker 2: for us, the Director of Strategic Analysis Australia, Michael Shubride,
27:35
Speaker 2: who joins me. Now I want to get into the
27:37
Speaker 2: nuts and bolts of operation in Dynhammer, because I find
27:39
Speaker 2: it absolutely fascinating, Michael, But just for a moment, let's
27:44
Speaker 2: talk about the Prime Minister's response today that press conference
27:47
Speaker 2: and as I said, those blocking lines of just unilateral
27:50
Speaker 2: action by the United States and absolutely no detail. He
27:54
Speaker 2: called it over as quick as he could and just
27:56
Speaker 2: scarp it out of the room.
27:59
Speaker 11: Yes, he really was like some mondy python parrot sketch
28:03
Speaker 11: where he was just parroting what Penny Wong had said
28:07
Speaker 11: earlier in the day and he had nothing else left.
28:10
Speaker 11: But while he was desperate not to say anything about
28:13
Speaker 11: national security and told us he couldn't what a contrast
28:17
Speaker 11: with how much we heard from the Americans about a
28:19
Speaker 11: far more sensitive operational activity. And he spoke about Pine
28:24
Speaker 11: Gap like it wasn't a joint facility and he barely
28:27
Speaker 11: knew what might be going on there. So unfortunately, even
28:31
Speaker 11: after the National Security Committee meeting, he was.
28:34
Speaker 3: Completely out of his depth.
28:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought exactly the same thing. And he's a
28:39
Speaker 2: joint facility PM, not just a you know, a US
28:42
Speaker 2: asset in our own country. So talk to me about
28:45
Speaker 2: sort of the operational detail at Midnight Hammer, because clearly,
28:50
Speaker 2: and I mentioned this at the top of the show,
28:52
Speaker 2: those lines about that two week grace that Donald Trump
28:56
Speaker 2: put on the table maybe feel very despondent.
28:58
Speaker 3: On the weekend, I thought, here we go again.
29:01
Speaker 2: They'll get close to wiping out in Iran's nuclear capability,
29:04
Speaker 2: but they won't finish it off. But here he was
29:08
Speaker 2: on Sunday and they went public with what seven B
29:11
Speaker 2: two bombers, one hundred and twenty five warplanes, precision weaponry.
29:16
Speaker 2: They were in and they were out before the world
29:18
Speaker 2: woke up.
29:19
Speaker 3: Extraordinary. I think I've got a bit of a grab
29:21
Speaker 3: there to play.
29:22
Speaker 12: Let's listen, we devastated the Iranian nuclear program. The operation
29:28
Speaker 12: did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people. Tran
29:31
Speaker 12: is certainly calculating the reality that planes flew from the
29:36
Speaker 12: middle of America and Missouri overnight completely undetected over three
29:40
Speaker 12: of their most highly sensitive sits.
29:43
Speaker 2: And of course, remember they put out some messaging to
29:46
Speaker 2: say that there were bombers going through Guam, so we
29:49
Speaker 2: all looked towards Guam, but of course they were coming
29:51
Speaker 2: around the other way as well and into this strike.
29:54
Speaker 2: I mean, you tell me what you thought of it all,
29:55
Speaker 2: but I think it's extraordinary.
29:58
Speaker 11: Well, Peter, it was an elaborate, the very successfully orchestrated
30:02
Speaker 11: global mission. You're right, there was the deception effort to
30:06
Speaker 11: have everyone watching b two bombers preposition in Guam. Meanwhile,
30:10
Speaker 11: they flew the bombers that did the attack. As we
30:13
Speaker 11: heard from Pete, Hexit flew directly from continental America to
30:17
Speaker 11: the Middle East. They had to meet up with air
30:19
Speaker 11: to we refuelers that came out of parts of Europe.
30:22
Speaker 11: Short arranged fighters, things like F fifteen's and F thirty
30:25
Speaker 11: fives flew into Iranian airspace. The fighters were in front,
30:29
Speaker 11: suppressing any remaining Iranian air defense. The Iranians didn't see
30:33
Speaker 11: them coming in. The B two pilots would have rehearsed
30:36
Speaker 11: the kind of facility, the exact facility and its design
30:39
Speaker 11: and layout that they bombed. They bombed with multiple of
30:43
Speaker 11: those massive penetrator bombs. Seven aircraft let fourteen of them
30:49
Speaker 11: loose over those sites, and then they left and the
30:52
Speaker 11: Iranians didn't even know they'd turned up, but were coping
30:56
Speaker 11: with the damage.
31:00
Speaker 3: So extraordinary sophistication here. How will we know? We know
31:06
Speaker 3: it was a success in that they came in, they.
31:07
Speaker 2: Bombed, and they got out alive, But how do we
31:09
Speaker 2: know how much we have have set back their nuclear ambitions?
31:15
Speaker 3: Where will we know that? Well?
31:18
Speaker 11: We know something now because there's been early satellite imagery
31:22
Speaker 11: of these damage to the three sites s Fahan Natans
31:26
Speaker 11: and that one buried so deep under the mountain at
31:28
Speaker 11: fourdo it looks like there's extensive structural damage to all
31:32
Speaker 11: three that means that a lot of the technical equipment
31:37
Speaker 11: and facilities around needs to enrich uranium and then manufacture
31:41
Speaker 11: it into the kind of uranium metal you stick on
31:44
Speaker 11: the top of a warhead has been lost. But it's
31:47
Speaker 11: quite likely that the Uranians have dispersed some of their
31:51
Speaker 11: around four hundred kilograms of sixty percent enriched uranium before
31:55
Speaker 11: the strikes.
31:58
Speaker 2: So that could be moved somewhere in country, you presume,
32:01
Speaker 2: or potentially buried in other bunkers.
32:04
Speaker 11: I'd say they would disperse that because they're feeling extremely vulnerable.
32:09
Speaker 11: They know Israeli's moss At intelligence agency has penetrated the
32:14
Speaker 11: Iranian regime comprehensively. They know that they've lost control of
32:18
Speaker 11: their airspace that's under Israeli control, so there's there are
32:23
Speaker 11: very few places they can hide now.
32:25
Speaker 2: But this is small amount of stuff, Okay, So we
32:30
Speaker 2: know that they're militias under pressure, the hoodies and others.
32:34
Speaker 2: We know hes Blah, which is one of their agents.
32:38
Speaker 2: So ren Levanon and inter Syria of courses is monumentally degraded.
32:42
Speaker 2: So they're down to what they've got in their own country.
32:44
Speaker 2: There's been hits to their scientists, there's been hits to
32:47
Speaker 2: their guard leadership and their intelligence leadership. We know the
32:51
Speaker 2: eyetoler is in hiding what happens now because Trump in
32:56
Speaker 2: the last few hours is sort of amped up the
32:58
Speaker 2: discussion of regime Chaine. That wasn't there yesterday, it appears
33:02
Speaker 2: to be there now. Give us your best take here here.
33:05
Speaker 11: Michael, Well, Peter, I don't think we're going to see
33:09
Speaker 11: regime change soon. I think they're the regimes in a
33:13
Speaker 11: world of hurt over the medium term though, because they're
33:16
Speaker 11: so they've looked so powerless, out of control and humiliated.
33:21
Speaker 11: You're right, the Supreme leader is hiding away at a bunker.
33:23
Speaker 11: He's using no electronics to communicate. That means he's on
33:27
Speaker 11: the backfoot understanding what is going on. He's also on
33:30
Speaker 11: the back foot in giving any orders in instructions. But
33:34
Speaker 11: the Iranian military has a range of short range rockets
33:38
Speaker 11: and missiles that can reach to US bases around the region.
33:41
Speaker 11: They're much closer than Israel, and they could do nasty,
33:44
Speaker 11: low tech things in the straits of Homer's, like float
33:47
Speaker 11: sea mines there to disable the world's energy supply. There
33:51
Speaker 11: are things they can do.
33:54
Speaker 2: Right, Let's just step back and look at sort of
33:57
Speaker 2: the UN as input in as it is, and this
33:59
Speaker 2: discuss that was had, there was a convening of a
34:01
Speaker 2: meeting of the Security Council over the weekend they can
34:04
Speaker 2: need even if the Prime Minister can't get out of bed,
34:07
Speaker 2: and there was talking that this was somehow a breach
34:09
Speaker 2: of international law. China pushed this pretty hard.
34:11
Speaker 3: Have a listen.
34:14
Speaker 13: Australia condemns the US attacks. Aren't Iran for nuclear facilities
34:22
Speaker 13: under the siffgues of the A. The actions of the
34:26
Speaker 13: United States are seriously violent the purposes and principles of
34:29
Speaker 13: the UN, tatar and the international law, as well as
34:33
Speaker 13: in RAN's sovereignty, security and territory in Cheguty.
34:38
Speaker 2: So that comment there from China, we know obviously they've
34:41
Speaker 2: been supportive today Iran. We know that the Ranian Foreign
34:44
Speaker 2: ministers on his way to Russia. The Russian government condemned
34:47
Speaker 2: the strikes as well, saying they will negotiate with Tehran.
34:53
Speaker 3: International law being breached.
34:54
Speaker 2: Where I see things will go now with China and
34:57
Speaker 2: Russia potentially.
35:00
Speaker 1: Well.
35:00
Speaker 11: Isn't it interesting that the regimes who have a habit
35:03
Speaker 11: of breaking international law repeatedly are the ones that seem
35:07
Speaker 11: to hold it most dearly at this point, so the
35:11
Speaker 11: supporters of Iran and Putin is dependent on Iran for
35:15
Speaker 11: some of his drone supplies, and Beijing breaking every international
35:20
Speaker 11: law whenever they feel like it. They both now have
35:23
Speaker 11: an attack of principle. This action was to remove an
35:27
Speaker 11: active threat to the region, but also to Israel, and
35:30
Speaker 11: Israel's in direct conflict with Iran, so I think there's
35:34
Speaker 11: a legitimacy there. At the same time, we shouldn't be
35:38
Speaker 11: surprised that the rules based global order is extremely damaged
35:42
Speaker 11: and probably over.
35:45
Speaker 3: Just quickly before we go.
35:46
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm really critical that the Prime Minister yesterday
35:49
Speaker 2: admits he wasn't warned.
35:50
Speaker 3: I don't expect Australia would be.
35:52
Speaker 2: But having not been warned, does nothing about finding out
35:56
Speaker 2: what on Earth's gone on with his most significant Australia's
35:59
Speaker 2: most significant ally until convening an NSC this morning.
36:02
Speaker 3: Why on earth wouldn't you have had.
36:04
Speaker 2: CDF and others in for briefing yesterday? Why would there
36:07
Speaker 2: have been no NSC meeting until today.
36:12
Speaker 11: Mister Albanezi, through his whole term first term failed to
36:16
Speaker 11: take national security seriously. He's doing the same in the
36:20
Speaker 11: second term. So which he's not a national security leader
36:24
Speaker 11: and in the dangerous world wherein that's a real indictment.
36:28
Speaker 11: I agree, not getting briefed is bizarre. There are thousands
36:31
Speaker 11: of Australians living in the region trying to get home.
36:34
Speaker 11: He's just sent hundreds of ADF personnel into a very dangerous,
36:39
Speaker 11: vulnerable situation at that big air base in our minhat.
36:42
Speaker 11: He seems not to grasp the Australian interests at stake here.
36:48
Speaker 3: Not wrong, I'll over there, thank you, Michael Shabrich. How
36:51
Speaker 3: to the break Tony Abbatt.
36:52
Speaker 2: We'll talk about this, of course, but his new book
36:54
Speaker 2: to exploring Australia's history, A proud history, a good history,
36:58
Speaker 2: history we should learn, not try and by, and a
37:01
Speaker 2: very special surprise too for.
37:02
Speaker 3: Sky News viewers.
37:07
Speaker 2: Welcome about coming up of Australia's shocking place in the
37:10
Speaker 2: tax rankings internationally. We'll get to those in a moment,
37:13
Speaker 2: but first, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting
37:17
Speaker 2: following the US strikes on Iran. The Secretary General of
37:20
Speaker 2: the UN, Antonio Guteris quick to criticize the strikes, posting
37:24
Speaker 2: on X on Sunday that he was gravely alarmed by
37:28
Speaker 2: the use of force from the United States, it claimed
37:31
Speaker 2: it posed a direct threat to international peace and security.
37:35
Speaker 2: Joined me now to discuss this and more Former Prime
37:37
Speaker 2: Minister Tony Abbott.
37:39
Speaker 3: Well, Tony will start there.
37:40
Speaker 2: With a broad question, if I can, why was this
37:44
Speaker 2: US action necessary?
37:49
Speaker 1: Well, as usual, the UN has got it wrong. It
37:53
Speaker 1: is Iranian nuclear weapons, potential Iranian nuclear weapons that are
37:59
Speaker 1: the threat world peace. And thank God for Israel, thank
38:04
Speaker 1: God for the United States. Donald Trump has done what
38:08
Speaker 1: many of his predecessors have talked about but never acted upon.
38:12
Speaker 1: He has taken decisive action to ensure that Iran never
38:17
Speaker 1: ever gets a nuclear weapon. And frankly, the world will
38:21
Speaker 1: be a much safer place without Iranian nuclear weapons.
38:28
Speaker 3: Yeah. I think we spoke over the weekend.
38:29
Speaker 2: I feared that the President would go the way of
38:32
Speaker 2: his predecessors and talk tough as they have going all
38:35
Speaker 2: the way back to Clinton about the nuclear ambitions of
38:38
Speaker 2: Iran and do nothing, and particularly when he gave them
38:40
Speaker 2: that two week window. But that's not what's happened. And
38:44
Speaker 2: I want to make particular mention. I think Israel really
38:47
Speaker 2: forced the United States hand. I mean it went in
38:50
Speaker 2: bravely for a week and took out a lot of
38:53
Speaker 2: the air defense systems, and America went in and finished
38:56
Speaker 2: the job. And the Israelis tonight in Tel Aviv, they're
38:59
Speaker 2: in their shelters.
39:01
Speaker 3: They're bearing the brunt of this.
39:05
Speaker 4: Yeah.
39:06
Speaker 1: Look, I was apprehensive, like you, Peter, But it seems
39:10
Speaker 1: that President Trump apprehends that the Islamist, the apocalyptic Islamist
39:18
Speaker 1: dictatorship in Tehran. Dealing with them is not like doing
39:22
Speaker 1: a New York property deal. You cannot do deals with
39:27
Speaker 1: apocalyptic dictators. You cannot do deals with people who are
39:32
Speaker 1: hell bent on your destruction. I think the President has
39:37
Speaker 1: appreciated that, and good on him and good on his
39:40
Speaker 1: administration for doing what's necessary and acting so powerfully to
39:48
Speaker 1: secure peace through strength and to support their brave ally Israel.
39:57
Speaker 2: I think what a lot of people won't realize too,
39:59
Speaker 2: chiny is Shia Iran is not just out to have
40:04
Speaker 2: a global caliphate and you know, send Christians to the
40:08
Speaker 2: Lions and you know all the other references we've heard
40:12
Speaker 2: for many, many years. But they also want to wipe
40:15
Speaker 2: out the other Sunni Muslim nations in the region. And
40:18
Speaker 2: of course they'd privately if not, they can't say it publicly.
40:21
Speaker 2: They'd probably be pretty supportive of what's happened over the weekend,
40:23
Speaker 2: wouldn't they.
40:26
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Look, the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt will all
40:32
Speaker 1: be quietly cheered by this. If Iran ever did get
40:38
Speaker 1: a nuclear weapon, and please God, this will now never
40:42
Speaker 1: ever happen, and who knows down the track, we might
40:45
Speaker 1: even get regime change, which would be wonderful. But if
40:49
Speaker 1: Iran did get a nuclear weapon, almost immediately, Saudi would
40:55
Speaker 1: go health for leather to get one, the Turks would
40:58
Speaker 1: go health for leather to get one, and the whole
41:03
Speaker 1: idea of nuclear non proliferation would be dead in the
41:08
Speaker 1: most dangerous part of the world. So really, what happened
41:12
Speaker 1: on the weekend is a big, big step towards a
41:16
Speaker 1: much safer world. And it's a sign that America under
41:20
Speaker 1: President Trump will not be trifled with. And this will
41:23
Speaker 1: very much be noticed in the other rogue capitals, particularly
41:28
Speaker 1: in Moscow and particularly in Beijing.
41:33
Speaker 2: I got to ask you, because I've been pretty critical
41:35
Speaker 2: tonight of the Prime Minister who didn't call it NFC
41:37
Speaker 2: yesterday when this all broke. He says he was not warned.
41:40
Speaker 2: Australia didn't have a heads up. I mean, does that
41:43
Speaker 2: surprise you because I know with you and we were
41:45
Speaker 2: in the theater in the Middle East when we were
41:46
Speaker 2: involved obouly in Islamic State, Australia was involved, assets were involved.
41:52
Speaker 2: You had NSC meet day and night, on weekends whenever
41:55
Speaker 2: it was required. I just think it's a shocking look
41:57
Speaker 2: that we didn't hear from our Prime minister until today.
42:02
Speaker 1: Look what happened today was of a peace with what's
42:06
Speaker 1: been happening ever since twenty twenty two. Under this government,
42:12
Speaker 1: Australia has been in retreat from the wider world. And
42:16
Speaker 1: the most obvious sign of that was about eighteen months
42:20
Speaker 1: ago when the Albanese government refused to send a frigate
42:24
Speaker 1: to the Red Sea. And this was the first time
42:27
Speaker 1: since the Anzas Treaty in nineteen fifty one that Australia
42:31
Speaker 1: had turned down a specific request from America for military help.
42:37
Speaker 1: The other big problem is that under this government it's
42:41
Speaker 1: almost as if there's this even handedness in Canberra between
42:47
Speaker 1: the United States and China. And given that one is
42:52
Speaker 1: a democracy and our greatest ally, the other is a
42:57
Speaker 1: dictatorship which is bent on regional and ultimately global hegemony.
43:03
Speaker 1: I just think this is both wrong and strange.
43:09
Speaker 2: All right, I'm going to play a bit of a
43:11
Speaker 2: treat for my viewers at home, because I know you've
43:14
Speaker 2: got a book, But what most people do not know
43:17
Speaker 2: is you've also got a wonderful documentary being filmed at
43:21
Speaker 2: the moment that will soon air on Sky News. Let's
43:25
Speaker 2: have a little look here as an exclusive.
43:29
Speaker 1: I try to think of what it would have been
43:31
Speaker 1: like for the fifteen hundred souls on board the first
43:34
Speaker 1: fleet coming into this harbor all those years ago. Apprehension, anticipation, relief.
43:43
Speaker 3: I don't think.
43:44
Speaker 1: Anyone can ever get tired of the harbor like this.
43:48
Speaker 1: I'm sure that being here would have excited even in
43:52
Speaker 1: them a feeling of hope.
43:56
Speaker 2: Right, that's a sneak peak for the documentary. But let's
43:58
Speaker 2: talk about the Let's talk about the book on which
44:00
Speaker 2: it will be based. It's a history book about Australia.
44:04
Speaker 2: This is a big endeavor, Tony Abbott. Why would you
44:08
Speaker 2: write a book and why do you think it's so
44:10
Speaker 2: important that it be a book about the history of
44:13
Speaker 2: our nation?
44:17
Speaker 1: Well, Peter, all too often over the last few decades
44:20
Speaker 1: we've had the black armband view of Australia's history. Now
44:25
Speaker 1: it's not all good, but gee whiz, there is so
44:29
Speaker 1: much more to be proud of than to be ashamed of.
44:33
Speaker 1: And having, i guess, been at the apex of our government,
44:40
Speaker 1: having seen so much of the Australian people up close
44:44
Speaker 1: and personal over my life and particularly in my public life,
44:49
Speaker 1: I just think it's time for a better story to
44:51
Speaker 1: be told. And I certainly don't believe in standing by
44:56
Speaker 1: and seeing our country run down people who should know better.
45:01
Speaker 1: And that's why this proud history should be told, and
45:07
Speaker 1: frankly it should be much better known and much more appreciated.
45:14
Speaker 2: Good on you, Tony, have it. The book will come
45:16
Speaker 2: out obviously in a couple of months time. The documentary,
45:19
Speaker 2: I think is by the end of the year. We'll
45:20
Speaker 2: see it here on Sky News. But it's all out
45:21
Speaker 2: there now in the public domain. I know you've been
45:24
Speaker 2: working on it, slaving over it for many, many months,
45:27
Speaker 2: so I'm delighted we could talk about it tonight.
45:29
Speaker 3: Thanks for your time, Tony.
45:31
Speaker 2: After the break, we'll have a quick break. I've got
45:33
Speaker 2: a panel, lots of issues, well right out of time,
45:36
Speaker 2: but we'll do our best.
45:37
Speaker 3: See then, welcome back.
45:42
Speaker 2: Let's bring in my panel, that says Lucy's Zelic broadcaster
45:46
Speaker 2: of course, and James Ashby Pollenhansen's One Nation Chief of
45:50
Speaker 2: Staff revelations today. James Ashby that adding all our federal
45:54
Speaker 2: and state government post taxes and levies into the mix,
45:58
Speaker 2: we are now the second high best country in the
46:01
Speaker 2: whole of the OCD in terms of tax only beaten,
46:05
Speaker 2: I'm afraid by Columbia.
46:07
Speaker 3: It's a shocking indictment of where we are.
46:09
Speaker 2: And if you listen to that speech from the Treasurer
46:11
Speaker 2: last week, he's going to go back at it again.
46:14
Speaker 2: We've got more taxes to come because labor can't manage money.
46:23
Speaker 14: It's a shocking indictment, isn't it when you think about it.
46:26
Speaker 14: Governments should act more like farmers. In my opinion. Farmers
46:30
Speaker 14: they get the conditions right, they can grow anything. And
46:33
Speaker 14: unfortunately we haven't got the conditions right in this country
46:35
Speaker 14: and that's why business is very sluggish. That's why people
46:38
Speaker 14: are not getting employed, they're getting more likely laid off
46:41
Speaker 14: under this government. And look, I just say this, One
46:45
Speaker 14: Nation would strongly support the deregulation of business, regulation and
46:51
Speaker 14: so many other red tape, green tape, blue tape, the
46:54
Speaker 14: black tape that's imposed upon them by state and federal governments,
46:58
Speaker 14: and of course, reduce the taxes on people, like payroll tax.
47:02
Speaker 14: We've seen an increase to wages, but guess what, none
47:05
Speaker 14: of the states lifted the threshold on payroll tax. All
47:08
Speaker 14: these things are crippling business and for once, we just
47:11
Speaker 14: want a government that will listen to small and medium
47:14
Speaker 14: business to get it right, create the right environment and
47:17
Speaker 14: you can grow this economy.
47:21
Speaker 3: Lucie.
47:21
Speaker 2: There's been a few stories around in the last couple
47:23
Speaker 2: of months about IVF and some horrific examples that will
47:27
Speaker 2: work their way through the courts of families getting the
47:29
Speaker 2: wrong embryo and other things. But a story of the
47:33
Speaker 2: weekend really struck me. A woman she was a woman
47:35
Speaker 2: who was conceived via a dona has found out she's
47:39
Speaker 2: got something like seventy seven other siblings. Now I've thought
47:44
Speaker 2: we had regulation in this industry. Her biological fathers donated
47:48
Speaker 2: more than three hundred times. I thought this wasn't allowed
47:51
Speaker 2: in Australia. This really shocked me.
47:54
Speaker 8: Shock the but Jesus out of me too, Peter, because
47:57
Speaker 8: the interesting thing about this story is that this is
47:59
Speaker 8: not the first time that we're learning about this. So Lyndall,
48:02
Speaker 8: who's the focal point of this particular story, her half sister,
48:06
Speaker 8: Alexandra Eccles. She came out last year and actually shared
48:10
Speaker 8: her story about how she discovered that Lindall was her
48:13
Speaker 8: half sibling, and at the time that only had about,
48:16
Speaker 8: at least that they knew of at the time, a
48:17
Speaker 8: roughly thirty half siblings. Now this is skyrocketed to seventy
48:22
Speaker 8: seven now. Three decades ago, there was no limit on
48:25
Speaker 8: how many times a sperm donor could donate, and they
48:28
Speaker 8: had a real emphasis on anononymity, which is really crazy
48:31
Speaker 8: in and of itself when you consider that much of
48:33
Speaker 8: the regulations were left to these particular clinics and services. Well,
48:37
Speaker 8: only in November last year did they actually pass legislation
48:41
Speaker 8: in Queensland to introduce an official register where we can
48:44
Speaker 8: have some regulation. But it really begs the question why
48:47
Speaker 8: we don't have an overall federal register for these people
48:51
Speaker 8: who we're anticipating. Now this is just the tip of
48:54
Speaker 8: the iceberg for how much grief I'll have to go
48:56
Speaker 8: through in learning how many half siblings they have, and
48:59
Speaker 8: also the risk to insist, Yeah, you're.
49:04
Speaker 2: Spot on let's go to growing concerns about foreign takeover
49:08
Speaker 2: of our big energy giant, Santos. This is an ABU
49:12
Speaker 2: Derby consortium involving obviously some state owned players there as well.
49:18
Speaker 3: James.
49:19
Speaker 2: The government of course has got to approve this deal,
49:21
Speaker 2: but we're getting sort of mixed messages from the Treasurer
49:24
Speaker 2: when he's asked some questions, where's one nation on this.
49:30
Speaker 14: Well, we don't support it, Peter. And the reason for
49:32
Speaker 14: that is because we have to look at what's in
49:34
Speaker 14: the best interest of Australia. And right now we're on
49:38
Speaker 14: the very verge of importing gas rather than exporting, because
49:42
Speaker 14: we export far too much of what we pull out
49:45
Speaker 14: of the ground ourselves. So we have to take a
49:48
Speaker 14: very very strong stance on protecting Australia's energy security moving forward.
49:53
Speaker 14: And I think by selling this off it just weakens
49:56
Speaker 14: this country, particularly as I say, when it's a fine
50:00
Speaker 14: you're an investor, well, I know we've got forty percent
50:02
Speaker 14: of people already, the investors from overseas, but the large
50:05
Speaker 14: majority investors a mum and dads here at Australia. We
50:08
Speaker 14: don't want to lose vital industry like our gas and
50:12
Speaker 14: unfortunately one nation wouldn't support the sell off of Santos.
50:18
Speaker 3: Not wrong. I'll leave it there.
50:19
Speaker 2: Thank you both for the tonight and apologies for my
50:22
Speaker 2: shortened period of time with the panel. I just want
50:25
Speaker 2: to say tonight too. Last night I was an event
50:27
Speaker 2: with the Jewish Melbourne and your bravery is incredible given
50:32
Speaker 2: all you've gone through in the last couple of years,
50:34
Speaker 2: but also your wonderful welcome to me last night was
50:38
Speaker 2: on such a momentous day in history in the Middle East.
50:40
Speaker 3: Was just lovely. Thank you for your time. Then that's
50:44
Speaker 3: it for me.
50:44
Speaker 2: James mcfirst and filling in for Andrew Bolt up next