Latest / The Bolt Report / The Bolt Report | 16 December

Transcript

The Bolt Report | 16 December · The Bolt Report

0:11
Speaker 1: He is the reform it.
0:16
Speaker 2: Well, good evening and welcome to the Bolt Report. I'm
0:18
Speaker 2: James Macpherson. Coming up tonight. Treasurer Jim Chalmers is preparing
0:21
Speaker 2: to hand down his budget update. The government might be
0:25
Speaker 2: experts in spin, but I'll tell you what the numbers.
0:27
Speaker 3: Do not lie.
0:29
Speaker 2: A very different kind of protest was held yesterday calling
0:32
Speaker 2: for the government to step up and end anti Semitism.
0:35
Speaker 3: But is the government listening.
0:37
Speaker 2: Former Labor MP Michael Danby spoke at the protest and
0:40
Speaker 2: he'll join us live.
0:42
Speaker 3: There really is something wrong with the left. You already
0:45
Speaker 3: know that.
0:45
Speaker 2: But a new card game targeting CEOs and executives, well
0:50
Speaker 2: it will shock you and more trouble could be coming
0:53
Speaker 2: for Victorian Liberal leader John Persuto, this time from women's
0:57
Speaker 2: activist Kelly j Keen. Sophie Elsworth will join us from
1:01
Speaker 2: the UK.
1:02
Speaker 3: But first. When Victorian Treasurer Jim Pallace.
1:05
Speaker 2: Delivered his state's budget update on Friday, he said, and
1:08
Speaker 2: I quote, we need to have a greater capacity to
1:12
Speaker 2: protect the Victorian people. Well, today he found a way
1:16
Speaker 2: to protect the Victorian people.
1:18
Speaker 3: He resigned.
1:20
Speaker 4: I will be resigning both as the Treasurer and a
1:25
Speaker 4: Member of Cabinet and also resigning as the Member for Werribee.
1:32
Speaker 4: The intention has always been to make sure that we
1:35
Speaker 4: give more than we get in public life. I'll leave
1:38
Speaker 4: it to the prognosticators and the historians to decide whether
1:42
Speaker 4: or not I've achieved in that noble ambition.
1:46
Speaker 2: Well, let's prognosticate away anyway, shall we. When Comrade Pallace
1:51
Speaker 2: took control of Victoria's finances alongside newly minted Premier Dan
1:55
Speaker 2: Andrews in twenty fourteen, the state's debt was twenty one
1:58
Speaker 2: point eight billion dollars and going down. Ten years later,
2:03
Speaker 2: the state's net debt is more than one hundred and
2:05
Speaker 2: fifty billion dollars and still going up. It's tipped to
2:08
Speaker 2: reach one hundred and eighty seven point eight billion by
2:11
Speaker 2: twenty twenty eight. Now that makes Victoria the fourth most
2:15
Speaker 2: indebted state government from advanced economies outside the US in
2:19
Speaker 2: absolute dollar terms, according to Ratings Agency SNP's latest report,
2:24
Speaker 2: and the Uditor General's Office warned last month of the
2:27
Speaker 2: Victorian government have a listen to this quote has not
2:31
Speaker 2: articulated a clear plan for long term fiscal management. Current
2:36
Speaker 2: strategies are short term, reactive and do not address both
2:40
Speaker 2: the existing financial challenges and emerging financial risks. Now, as
2:46
Speaker 2: far as I can make out, the only discernible strategy
2:49
Speaker 2: has been to raise taxes while reducing services. Let me
2:53
Speaker 2: give you just one example of how things currently work.
2:56
Speaker 2: In the Socialist Republic of Victoria. More than ten thousand
3:00
Speaker 2: volunteer firefighters have quit the service since labor came to power,
3:04
Speaker 2: so they're desperately short of man power as another summer approaches.
3:09
Speaker 2: Temperatures hit forty one degrees today in Victoria. But get this,
3:13
Speaker 2: Victorian firefighters who never got the COVID vaccine aren't allowed
3:17
Speaker 2: to fight fires. You can't cough while holding a hose well.
3:21
Speaker 2: On Friday, as one of his last acts as Treasurer,
3:25
Speaker 2: Jim Pallas announced the fire services levee would be almost doubled.
3:29
Speaker 2: It's like you get less service, but you pay more.
3:35
Speaker 2: But Tim Pallas is hearing none of that. After raising
3:38
Speaker 2: taxes and levees last Friday, just in time for Christmas,
3:42
Speaker 2: he's now quit so that he can spend the next
3:44
Speaker 2: few years telling anyone who listen just how good he was.
3:47
Speaker 3: And I'm not even joking.
3:50
Speaker 4: We're going to buy two rocking chairs We're going to
3:52
Speaker 4: put them on the porch. We're going to rock back
3:54
Speaker 4: and forward, and and he passes by that goes past,
3:57
Speaker 4: we will harass them with stories about how good we were.
4:02
Speaker 2: He might as well have just said, good luck with
4:04
Speaker 2: the debt everyone, I've got a pension to spend. It
4:06
Speaker 2: sure takes some front to be the worst treasurer in
4:09
Speaker 2: Victorian history, in the worst government in Australian history, and
4:13
Speaker 2: then walk away saying.
4:14
Speaker 3: How good was I?
4:16
Speaker 2: But they are a particular breed in Victorian labor, aren't they.
4:19
Speaker 2: Dan Andrews managed the worst COVID response in the country
4:23
Speaker 2: and then boasted about how good he was. Now Tim
4:26
Speaker 2: Pallas has given up managing the worst economy in the country,
4:29
Speaker 2: so he can boast about how good he is. I
4:31
Speaker 2: suppose if his aim was to virtually bankrupt Victoria, never
4:35
Speaker 2: complete a project on time or on budget, and become
4:38
Speaker 2: the highest taxing state government in the country, well then
4:41
Speaker 2: Tim Pallas can claim to have been a raging success.
4:44
Speaker 2: To be fair, everyone who knows the Victorian Treasurer says
4:47
Speaker 2: he's a decent bloke. It's only the debt he's saddled
4:51
Speaker 2: future Victorians with that is indecent. Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers
4:55
Speaker 2: eulogized his Victorian counterpart like this, He.
4:59
Speaker 5: Is wonderful company and I'll be sad to see him go.
5:03
Speaker 5: From time to time we butt heads about issues, and
5:05
Speaker 5: that's fine, that's to be expected. But nobody could doubt
5:10
Speaker 5: his commitment over ten years and ten budgets and all
5:14
Speaker 5: of his experience before then, he has been a huge
5:18
Speaker 5: contributor to the state of Victoria.
5:22
Speaker 2: No one could doubt his commitment. Well, no one could
5:25
Speaker 2: doubt Raygun's commitment either, But that doesn't mean she should
5:28
Speaker 2: have been break dancing at the Olympics any more than
5:30
Speaker 2: Tim Pallace should have had his hands on the Victorian finances.
5:34
Speaker 2: Speaking of dancing around the real issues, Jim Chalmers announced
5:37
Speaker 2: the new makeup of the Reserve Bank today, and this
5:40
Speaker 2: was the message our Federal Treasurer had for mortgage holders
5:43
Speaker 2: right around the country who are struggling to hold on
5:46
Speaker 2: in the face of stubbornly high interest rates.
5:48
Speaker 5: Very proud to say that women will make up the
5:50
Speaker 5: majority of both boards. And this continues the very substantial
5:54
Speaker 5: progress that we've made when it comes to appointments in
5:57
Speaker 5: the Treasury portfolio.
6:00
Speaker 2: Well, if my bank thought that gender balance on the
6:03
Speaker 2: RBA board was a reason to drop interest rates, I'd
6:06
Speaker 2: be thrilled, But sadly they don't. So I'm going to
6:09
Speaker 2: default on my mortgage. But you know what, it's okay
6:11
Speaker 2: because there are more women on the RBA board than
6:14
Speaker 2: men and that's important.
6:16
Speaker 3: God help us.
6:16
Speaker 2: They must think we are stupid, Victorian Premier Justinto Allen
6:20
Speaker 2: certainly seems to think so. She summarized her outgoing Treasurer's
6:24
Speaker 2: performance thus quote, But as Tim has always said, a
6:29
Speaker 2: truly strong economy is one that works for working people,
6:32
Speaker 2: not the other way around. What on earth does that
6:35
Speaker 2: even mean? Right when Victoria needs a leader, they get
6:39
Speaker 2: a poor man's Kamala Harris. If only words sellings were
6:42
Speaker 2: worth something, just Into Alan would have paid off the
6:44
Speaker 2: debt in no time. But she's not worried about Victoria's
6:47
Speaker 2: crippling debt, is she? She's focused on negotiating a treaty
6:51
Speaker 2: with the States indigenous people, which gives me an idea.
6:55
Speaker 3: They reckon.
6:55
Speaker 2: Tim Pallace, while clearly not much of a money manager,
6:58
Speaker 2: was a great negotiat Maybe he could help you, Into
7:02
Speaker 2: Allan with the treaty and organized for the state's crippling
7:04
Speaker 2: debt to be handed over as part of the settlement.
7:07
Speaker 2: Do you think labour has a better idea? Well, the
7:14
Speaker 2: leftist media suddenly believes in biology and sex again. I
7:19
Speaker 2: was fascinated to read in the New York Times and
7:21
Speaker 2: to see reports by CNN that ancient remains recovered from
7:25
Speaker 2: Pompeii were in fact male, not female, as previously thought.
7:30
Speaker 2: When Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD seventy nine, most of
7:34
Speaker 2: Pompey's population perished. Vacuu excavations in the eighteenth century uncovered
7:39
Speaker 2: two bodies that will always assumed to be a mother
7:43
Speaker 2: holding a child, but scientists of this week upended that narrative,
7:47
Speaker 2: stating the adult was in fact male, which begs the
7:51
Speaker 2: question how did they know? Was there a government issued
7:54
Speaker 2: gender recognition certificate found near the remains. Were the scientists
7:58
Speaker 2: somehow able to determine the corpse's preferred pronouns? CNN reported
8:03
Speaker 2: quote DNA analysis up ends long held assumptions. In The
8:08
Speaker 2: New York Times, a former newspaper gasped in seventy nine AD,
8:13
Speaker 2: a volcanic eruption of gulfed a town's residents. They weren't
8:17
Speaker 2: all whose scientists thought newly extracted genetic material suggests ah,
8:23
Speaker 2: it turns out the sex of a person is grained
8:26
Speaker 2: in their very DNA. Who knew, well, I think the
8:31
Speaker 2: New York Times and CNN always knew. It's just that,
8:35
Speaker 2: like our politicians, they pretend not to know what a
8:37
Speaker 2: woman is when it's convenient to do so.
8:41
Speaker 3: It's be inclusive. Anyone that identifies as a woman is
8:44
Speaker 3: a woman.
8:45
Speaker 2: Lawmakers like former Queensland Women's Minister Shannon Fentamen can espouse
8:49
Speaker 2: whatever gender nonsense they like, but bones don't lie, not
8:54
Speaker 2: even after one thousand, nine hundred and forty five years. Well,
9:03
Speaker 2: we've got a big show ahead, so let's get straight
9:05
Speaker 2: into it with my panel. Joining me is Victorian Leader
9:08
Speaker 2: Michael Kroger and One Nation Chief of Staff James Ashby. Gentlemen,
9:13
Speaker 2: thanks for joining me tonight. Let's start with the federal
9:16
Speaker 2: government's budget update, to be officially released on Wednesday. It'll
9:22
Speaker 2: show a massive drop in mining exports about one hundred
9:25
Speaker 2: billion dollars at the same time as higher government spending,
9:29
Speaker 2: all of which will push Labour's budget further into the
9:32
Speaker 2: red over the next four years. Now here's what Treasurer
9:36
Speaker 2: Jim Chalmers had to say in response to excellent questions
9:39
Speaker 2: from my Sky News colleague Andrew Clenell.
9:42
Speaker 6: You had deficits predicted in your budget of twenty eight
9:45
Speaker 6: point three b in growing to forty two point eight
9:48
Speaker 6: b in in twenty five twenty six, which will be
9:51
Speaker 6: about the sixth largest on record, then twenty six point seven,
9:54
Speaker 6: then twenty four b in. Is the totality of those
9:58
Speaker 6: deficits that you're going to four on Wednesday bigger than
10:02
Speaker 6: the totality of those four forecast in the budget.
10:05
Speaker 5: We have to wait and see the numbers on Wednesday, Andrew.
10:08
Speaker 5: We've been said that because of some of these pressures, well,
10:12
Speaker 5: you have to see on Wednesday. You'll see all the
10:14
Speaker 5: numbers on Wednesday. There hasn't been slippage in every year.
10:18
Speaker 5: We've been able to do a little bit better in
10:19
Speaker 5: the near turn. But there's been some slippage for reasons
10:22
Speaker 5: that we've been upfront about. But the overall story since
10:25
Speaker 5: we came to office two surpluses, a huge turnaround in
10:28
Speaker 5: the budget situation that we inherited much less debt, much
10:31
Speaker 5: less interest on the debt, will show that we've made
10:34
Speaker 5: really very very substantial progress since we came to office.
10:39
Speaker 2: Michael Kroger, substantial progress. I'm not sure many people would
10:42
Speaker 2: agree with that assessment.
10:43
Speaker 7: Well, it depends how you define substantial progress. James. Look,
10:48
Speaker 7: he's had two surpluses which have nothing to do with him. Right,
10:50
Speaker 7: he's not in charge of the budget. Right, the budget's
10:52
Speaker 7: in charge of him. He's punched drunk. He's a cork
10:55
Speaker 7: in the ocean. This pol Blake, he's just a commentator right,
10:57
Speaker 7: telling us you know what's happening out there. Got no
11:00
Speaker 7: control over anything. What we know is this in the
11:03
Speaker 7: last budget that he said the next four years, the
11:06
Speaker 7: next four budgets will be one hundred and twenty one
11:08
Speaker 7: billion dollars worth of deferences. Deloitte's put out a report
11:11
Speaker 7: the other week's thing won't be one hundred and twenty one.
11:12
Speaker 7: It'll be one hundred and forty nine billion. Now we
11:15
Speaker 7: don't need to wait till Wednesday. I continue. Now it's
11:17
Speaker 7: more than the one twenty one that he predicted. This
11:19
Speaker 7: bloke cannot control his spending. He is two week to
11:23
Speaker 7: be treasurer of this country. That fellow palace who's doing
11:27
Speaker 7: us all a favor by leaving he ought to get
11:29
Speaker 7: a third rocking chair for Jim Chalmers. Well, mate, mate, seriously,
11:34
Speaker 7: I mean Chalmers has completely lost control of the budget.
11:37
Speaker 7: We're going to have. We're going to have deficits over
11:39
Speaker 7: the next four years, probably more than one hundred and
11:42
Speaker 7: fifty billion dollars right. It's why I don't think Albo
11:45
Speaker 7: can wait for the budget to be brought down before
11:47
Speaker 7: he goes an election. He's got to have an election
11:49
Speaker 7: before he has a budget. The punders out there think
11:51
Speaker 7: that there's something about Charms. He's had two surpluses, so
11:54
Speaker 7: that's good when they say yeah, but by the way,
11:56
Speaker 7: the next four over one hundred and fifty billion, it'll
11:59
Speaker 7: be like, oh, this bloke was good. No, he was
12:02
Speaker 7: just very lucky. So that's why I think Albo will
12:04
Speaker 7: go before the budget because they've totally lost control of
12:08
Speaker 7: everything out there.
12:09
Speaker 2: Well, James Asbury, when you've got a one hundred billion
12:12
Speaker 2: dollar hole in the budget because our exports to China
12:15
Speaker 2: are going to be down, you cut spending, don't you.
12:21
Speaker 8: Well, that's normally the trend and it's something that this
12:23
Speaker 8: labor government don't know how to do very well at all,
12:26
Speaker 8: and that is pull the reins in households have got
12:28
Speaker 8: to do it right across the country. I think it's
12:30
Speaker 8: going to be a lean of Christmas for most households
12:32
Speaker 8: out there. But this is a government that think that
12:35
Speaker 8: by giving out or dolling out all this money were
12:38
Speaker 8: borrowed money. I might just say they will win the votes,
12:42
Speaker 8: and they may very well do that. That is what
12:44
Speaker 8: labor do best. They scare people into thinking that the
12:49
Speaker 8: coalition will pull or retract the money from the economy
12:52
Speaker 8: so greatly that you will have detrimental.
12:55
Speaker 1: Impacts on people's hip pockets. We know that people are
12:58
Speaker 1: struggling already.
13:00
Speaker 8: That fear itself doesn't take much to permeate the minds
13:03
Speaker 8: of those people already doing it tough. Look, if they're
13:07
Speaker 8: going to use any levers as a government between now
13:10
Speaker 8: and the election, I don't think they're leaving themselves much time.
13:13
Speaker 1: But to soften the landing here, they've.
13:16
Speaker 8: Got to make doing business in this country a whole
13:18
Speaker 8: lot easier.
13:19
Speaker 1: And they're doing nothing about that.
13:21
Speaker 8: In fact, they're only making it tough for businesses, and
13:25
Speaker 8: as a result of that, we are seeing businesses crumble
13:28
Speaker 8: at a rapid rate of knots.
13:29
Speaker 1: And that's not making life any better either.
13:34
Speaker 2: Indeed, before we move on from Jim Chalmers, he's announced
13:37
Speaker 2: his appointments to the RBA's new interest rate setting Board.
13:41
Speaker 2: We've got RBA Governor Michelle Bullock. We've got an RBA
13:45
Speaker 2: Deputy Governor, the Treasury secretary, an economist, the university professor,
13:49
Speaker 2: a former bank boss, and a couple of company directors.
13:53
Speaker 3: But here's what the Treasurer said today.
13:56
Speaker 5: So these are high quality, high caliber peace people, and
14:01
Speaker 5: together they present they represent the best mix of relevant
14:05
Speaker 5: skills and abilities and experience. I'm very proud to say
14:10
Speaker 5: that women will make up the majority of both boards.
14:12
Speaker 5: And this continues the very substantial progress that we've made
14:16
Speaker 5: when it comes to appointments in the Treasury portfolio.
14:20
Speaker 2: Michael Kroger, I'm sure they're all very qualified. But why
14:23
Speaker 2: does the Treasurer make it about gender? Does anybody really care?
14:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, they do care.
14:27
Speaker 7: They want people pointed on the basis of their ability. Now, look,
14:30
Speaker 7: they probably have been a point on the basis of ability,
14:32
Speaker 7: and they look very well qualified, as you said, But
14:35
Speaker 7: why does charmers want to say, oh, we've got a
14:38
Speaker 7: majority of women. Ie, maybe they're not the best qualified,
14:42
Speaker 7: but they're women. That's why we've pointed them. I mean,
14:44
Speaker 7: no one wants to be known to be a diversity higher.
14:47
Speaker 7: Someone's got to give this guy the memo where we're
14:49
Speaker 7: past peak woke. Now people have tired of this nonsense. Right,
14:52
Speaker 7: if you're going in for neurosurgery, do you want to
14:55
Speaker 7: be told that the neurosurgeon is not the top person
14:58
Speaker 7: in the field. Wasn't a you know, only got into
15:01
Speaker 7: the course as a diversity person and it's not really
15:04
Speaker 7: you know, the top neurosurgeon, but it's trying their best. Well,
15:08
Speaker 7: no one wants to be told I'm on the Reserve
15:10
Speaker 7: Bank board possibly because of a woman. It's insulting to
15:13
Speaker 7: those women who've got excellent, outstanding careers. It's just insulting.
15:16
Speaker 7: And as I said, someone of you tell this blake,
15:18
Speaker 7: we're overall this nonsense. We want people to Reserve Bank
15:21
Speaker 7: board and the senior positions appointed on the basis of
15:25
Speaker 7: their ability.
15:26
Speaker 2: And it's insulting to people who are struggling with their
15:29
Speaker 2: mortgages as well. I mean, as if we care about
15:31
Speaker 2: the sex of the people on the interest rate board,
15:33
Speaker 2: we just want interest rates to come down. Sought out
15:37
Speaker 2: the economy going back to Victoria for a moment. James
15:40
Speaker 2: Ashby as if Victorians haven't suffered enough, Premier Justinto Allen
15:44
Speaker 2: is planning to force households off gas.
15:46
Speaker 3: But here's a surprise. It looks like an absolute vote killer.
15:51
Speaker 3: Who knew.
15:52
Speaker 2: A new poll by Redbridge has found people are less
15:55
Speaker 2: likely to vote for the Labor government because of the
15:57
Speaker 2: no gas policy Labor voters to thirty percent of Labor
16:02
Speaker 2: supporters said they would be less likely to vote for
16:06
Speaker 2: the government due to its gas phase out plans. That's
16:10
Speaker 2: a big hit for Jacinta Allen.
16:11
Speaker 3: James, Oh, you bet.
16:14
Speaker 1: And I suspect that this.
16:16
Speaker 8: Polling has prompted other piling just before coming to where
16:19
Speaker 8: I took a pole from Yucom's on this exact same
16:23
Speaker 8: issue on energy transition.
16:25
Speaker 1: So there is more and more polling.
16:27
Speaker 8: I think as we get closer to another federal election,
16:31
Speaker 8: these sorts of poles are going to take precedence.
16:34
Speaker 1: The issue is Victoria is a different.
16:36
Speaker 8: State to the Act who made this announcement they were
16:39
Speaker 8: going to transition all those houses over to electricity all
16:43
Speaker 8: those years ago.
16:44
Speaker 1: The Act earns a lot more money, there's.
16:47
Speaker 8: A lot more wealth in that territory, but Victoria and
16:51
Speaker 8: the Poles were done in some of those marginal seats.
16:54
Speaker 8: It says a completely different story here. People want choice.
16:58
Speaker 8: They're happy with their gas. I don't want the cost
17:02
Speaker 8: of having to refit their entire kitchen out. And if
17:05
Speaker 8: you're a migrant who loves to cook with gas, especially
17:08
Speaker 8: the Asian community, I don't think electricity. I know myself,
17:11
Speaker 8: an induction cook top's never going to cut it. Versut
17:13
Speaker 8: out of a hot walk on gas, that's for sure.
17:18
Speaker 3: I'll tell you.
17:18
Speaker 2: The other thing that's interesting about this pole, Michael, is
17:21
Speaker 2: that only thirty percent of Greens voters said they would
17:25
Speaker 2: be prepared to cop the cost themselves to move from
17:28
Speaker 2: Why are you laughing, Michael? You thought Greens were.
17:31
Speaker 3: Committed to They committed, aren't they? I always thought so.
17:33
Speaker 7: Out of ten.
17:34
Speaker 2: Seventy percent of the party said we're not paying out
17:36
Speaker 2: of our own pocket, and.
17:38
Speaker 7: The public said we're not paying for this. I mean,
17:40
Speaker 7: it's correct. There's another memo that needs to go to
17:42
Speaker 7: Cinder Allen, just send it. There's a cost of living crisis.
17:45
Speaker 7: People are not so worried about whether it's gas, you know,
17:47
Speaker 7: gas or not what they can't afford to put food
17:51
Speaker 7: on the table. They can't can't afford to put food
17:54
Speaker 7: in the walk. But listen, here's the bigger point about
17:56
Speaker 7: what Alan's doing. I think there's now an extreme likelihood
18:02
Speaker 7: that just Ciner Allen will be dumped as Labor leader
18:04
Speaker 7: before the next day election. I can't see Labor sticking
18:08
Speaker 7: with her. Air big call. I haven't got one wrong
18:11
Speaker 7: yet for a long long time, I would think. Just
18:15
Speaker 7: in fact, I can't think of the last one I
18:16
Speaker 7: got wrong. Just Cina Allen won't lead the Labor Party
18:20
Speaker 7: to the twenty sixth election. She's too tainted by Daniel Andrews.
18:24
Speaker 7: She's too yesterday's person. The baggage of that hopeless Tim
18:29
Speaker 7: Pallace and the whole Andrew's era is wrapped around her.
18:35
Speaker 7: She doesn't look like the future. She looks like a
18:37
Speaker 7: relic from the train wreck from the past. She can't
18:41
Speaker 7: survive as letter. She's going to lose, and they're going
18:44
Speaker 7: to dump her and put in the deputy Bend Carol.
18:46
Speaker 7: That would be my guess. He doesn't have the numbers
18:48
Speaker 7: because he's in the minority. But sooner or later, our
18:51
Speaker 7: good friend Stephen Conor and the other people you know
18:53
Speaker 7: can manipulate these things. They'll dump her, They'll put in Carol.
18:57
Speaker 7: Carol's got all those sort of chris Min's looks to
19:00
Speaker 7: me like a Chris Min's moderate, sensible, younger, newer, fresher.
19:04
Speaker 7: And if you notice, Min's had an argument he says
19:06
Speaker 7: in a critical Daniel Andrews the other week, just to
19:08
Speaker 7: distance himself for Andrew. So it's like, I'm not him,
19:11
Speaker 7: I'm more a Chris Mins, I'm more in melanouskins. That's
19:14
Speaker 7: what they're going to do. I don't think she can survive.
19:16
Speaker 3: It's funny.
19:16
Speaker 2: I don't know if I'm imagining this, but whenever I
19:18
Speaker 2: see chriss Company, her demeanor, her her manner is very
19:23
Speaker 2: much like Dan Andrews.
19:25
Speaker 8: So what was that, James, I was just saying, my
19:29
Speaker 8: good time for the Liberals today the state later as well. Yeah,
19:32
Speaker 8: it was been a little smart but also quite serious
19:35
Speaker 8: at the same time.
19:38
Speaker 3: Right, very good, very good.
19:40
Speaker 7: I just don't think she can survive, mate, I just don't.
19:42
Speaker 3: We'll see. I agree with you, James.
19:44
Speaker 2: I think the Liberals aren't much chop either. They could
19:47
Speaker 2: do with a change there as well. Let's move on
19:49
Speaker 2: to other topics. The major news of course over the
19:52
Speaker 2: weekend was that the remaining five members of the Bali
19:56
Speaker 2: nine have arrived on home soil. After more than nineteen
19:59
Speaker 2: years in and for drug smuggling. They're now free men.
20:03
Speaker 2: Here's the Prime Minister Anthony Albanezi.
20:06
Speaker 9: The five men committed serious offenses. Australia shares Indonesia's concern
20:11
Speaker 9: about the serious problem illicit drugs represents. These Australians served
20:16
Speaker 9: more than nineteen years in prison in Indonesia. It was
20:21
Speaker 9: time for them to come home.
20:25
Speaker 2: James Ashby a good call or bad call.
20:29
Speaker 8: I'm a bit mixed on this. I must admit part
20:32
Speaker 8: of me hates the idea. I was only a young bloke.
20:34
Speaker 8: They were only a few years younger than me when
20:36
Speaker 8: they were found to be strapped with several kilos of
20:39
Speaker 8: heroin trying to get out of Indonesia all those years ago.
20:43
Speaker 8: They have had their lives squandered by their own decisions.
20:47
Speaker 8: I'm not for a second saying that anyone's fault by
20:49
Speaker 8: their own but these were young blokes and nineteen years
20:53
Speaker 8: in an Indonesian prison would feel like a lifetime of hell.
20:57
Speaker 8: Sometimes I wish that our prison system would criminals the
21:01
Speaker 8: same way as they do, because it might be more
21:04
Speaker 8: of a deterrent. But one thing I found very interesting
21:07
Speaker 8: about this decision. It was reported today that they've had
21:09
Speaker 8: their sentences quashed. Now that's very interesting terminology because, as
21:14
Speaker 8: we know, if you're a convicted criminal, when you return
21:17
Speaker 8: to Australia or you get out of prison here, you
21:19
Speaker 8: aren't a profit of your crimes. That mere statement of
21:24
Speaker 8: having their prison terms quashed may allude to the fact
21:28
Speaker 8: that these blokes might be able to sell their stories
21:31
Speaker 8: at a later date. That's something I'd just keep an
21:34
Speaker 8: eye out for. But yeah, look, I've got mixed emotions.
21:37
Speaker 8: I know there's plenty of people out there. I hate
21:39
Speaker 8: the scourge of drugs in this country, and it's people
21:41
Speaker 8: like these young blokes and the one woman that was
21:44
Speaker 8: involved in it that have killed many Many people in
21:49
Speaker 8: this country have either dabbled or become hooked on drugs
21:52
Speaker 8: as a result of their actions.
21:54
Speaker 1: So mixed reaction.
21:55
Speaker 8: But look, let's hope they make something of what is
21:59
Speaker 8: left of their life.
22:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, I share your sentiments. I feel pretty mixed about
22:05
Speaker 2: this as well, Michael. I mean, they've served nineteen years,
22:08
Speaker 2: which is probably what they would have got had they
22:10
Speaker 2: been sentenced in Australia. These guys were what early twenties
22:14
Speaker 2: when they committed these crimes. Do you leave them there
22:17
Speaker 2: for the rest of their lives or do you give
22:18
Speaker 2: them the opportunity for redemption? But you're still going to
22:21
Speaker 2: be tough on drugs.
22:22
Speaker 3: So what do you think?
22:23
Speaker 7: Well, look, you know, I think James is right. This
22:25
Speaker 7: is there's no winner out of this. Young kids do
22:29
Speaker 7: stupid things, you know, But for the grace of God,
22:32
Speaker 7: there's a lot of people who've done stupid things in
22:34
Speaker 7: their lives. These kids got caught, you know, And as
22:39
Speaker 7: James says, you know how many people have been killed
22:41
Speaker 7: down the road by taking the drugs that these people
22:44
Speaker 7: were might have done before. Who knows, who knows what
22:48
Speaker 7: the history is. But as a parent, and I've got
22:52
Speaker 7: four boys and a parent, you think yourself, one of
22:54
Speaker 7: my kids has been in korokobn what's it called Kurrobocken
22:58
Speaker 7: jail for nineteen years and he's coming home at Christmas. Boy,
23:03
Speaker 7: So as a parent, you think yourself, nine and years
23:06
Speaker 7: is a long time. As you say, that's probably forty
23:09
Speaker 7: is in Australian joiuse, well, let's hope they make the
23:12
Speaker 7: most of the opportunity, because to be honest, they were
23:14
Speaker 7: fortunate not to be shot.
23:16
Speaker 2: They've been given a second chance, and so good luck
23:19
Speaker 2: to them. Let's hope they can turn things around one
23:22
Speaker 2: more thing before we get to the break. Common sense
23:25
Speaker 2: seems to have prevailed for at least some in this country.
23:28
Speaker 2: The Melbourne Storm in our l team have decided to
23:31
Speaker 2: ditch regular welcome to country ceremonies, saying, quote, we're really
23:35
Speaker 2: keen to let our actions rather than words, reflect what
23:39
Speaker 2: we stand for as a club in the community. So
23:42
Speaker 2: they'll still do welcome to country occasionally, but it won't
23:45
Speaker 2: be like the excessive amount that we're used to in
23:48
Speaker 2: so much sport these days.
23:50
Speaker 3: Michael Kroger, what do you think?
23:53
Speaker 7: Well, mate, we're past peak wake as I said, and
23:55
Speaker 7: see I hope so I hope.
23:56
Speaker 3: Well, you you can just.
23:57
Speaker 7: Feel it everywhere. You can feel it everywhere across the board,
24:02
Speaker 7: you know, starting with the university vice challenges in America,
24:05
Speaker 7: who got sacked every et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
24:08
Speaker 7: It's throughout the world. People are sick of the welcome
24:10
Speaker 7: to countries. I mean, they don't want to be just
24:12
Speaker 7: respectful to Indigenous Australians at all, but at every sporting
24:16
Speaker 7: event when meetings, public service have meetings, and this is ridiculous.
24:21
Speaker 2: People are to ask you something about meeting of Victorian
24:24
Speaker 2: The AFL is so woke. Is it significant that the
24:28
Speaker 2: Melbourne Storm have made this decision here in AFL Hartley?
24:31
Speaker 7: It is a little bit here in Victoria. They're basically
24:33
Speaker 7: sending a message to the AFL. I would think of Overhall,
24:36
Speaker 7: majority of football supporters don't want this, but they're very
24:39
Speaker 7: polite at the ground. They don't want to show disrespect,
24:42
Speaker 7: but they're certainly over quantus welcoming us to Australia every
24:46
Speaker 7: time we land in a quarters plane. That's going to
24:48
Speaker 7: go in due course because that doesn't do Quantus any good.
24:51
Speaker 7: People don't want to be patronized in that way.
24:54
Speaker 3: James, what do you reckon?
24:55
Speaker 2: You agree with Michael that we are beyond peak woke
24:58
Speaker 2: and there's a turn coming.
25:02
Speaker 8: Well, I heard this was coming about four weeks ago,
25:04
Speaker 8: and I thought I'll believe it when.
25:05
Speaker 1: I see it.
25:06
Speaker 8: Look if the one thing that I can say to
25:08
Speaker 8: the NRL itself is until it happens across the entire NRL,
25:13
Speaker 8: it means nothing from the storm. But if they can
25:16
Speaker 8: do it in Victoria, that should be a clear indication
25:19
Speaker 8: to the whole NRL teams across the entire country.
25:22
Speaker 1: If they can do it, you can.
25:23
Speaker 8: Do it as a as a code altogether. So and
25:27
Speaker 8: Michael is right. I want to see it gone from
25:28
Speaker 8: not just NRL but aircraft. I just we're all over it.
25:33
Speaker 8: The workism has got to stop. And maybe it can
25:36
Speaker 8: be a new Year's resolution for so many corporate industry
25:38
Speaker 8: as well as sporting clubs from January one, twenty twenty five.
25:43
Speaker 8: Wouldn't that be amazing.
25:46
Speaker 3: It'd be a great Christmas present.
25:48
Speaker 2: I hope that we all get at Michael Kroger, James Ashmy,
25:51
Speaker 2: you appreciate your time tonight.
25:52
Speaker 7: Thanks mate.
25:53
Speaker 2: Well we are going to go to a break, but
25:56
Speaker 2: stick around because coming up I'm going to be talking
25:58
Speaker 2: to former Labor MP Michael Danby about that protest yesterday
26:03
Speaker 2: asking the government to finally step up and do something
26:06
Speaker 2: about anti Semitism. But is the government listening. We'll talk
26:09
Speaker 2: about that in just a moment. Well, we saw some
26:15
Speaker 2: amazing scenes in Sydney yesterday with hundreds of people wearing
26:18
Speaker 2: the Star of David waving Israeli and Australian flags calling
26:22
Speaker 2: for an end to the anti Semitism that swept across
26:26
Speaker 2: this country since October seven last year. A very different
26:29
Speaker 2: type of protest compared to the Palestinian marchers we've been
26:33
Speaker 2: forced to endure week in and week out. No one
26:37
Speaker 2: waving terrast flags or spitting abuse. There were, however, plenty
26:41
Speaker 2: of signs saying elbow, the world is watching. One of
26:45
Speaker 2: the speakers that yesterday's rally was former Labour MP Michael Danby,
26:49
Speaker 2: and he joins me now, Michael tell us about yesterday particularly,
26:53
Speaker 2: I'm interested in the feedback that you were getting from
26:56
Speaker 2: Jewish Australians who attended that march.
27:00
Speaker 10: Well, it was in Martin Places, about three and a
27:02
Speaker 10: half thousand people. The reaction was very strongly that they
27:07
Speaker 10: were just Jewish Australians. There were a lot of Christian
27:10
Speaker 10: people who there, and a lot of people from Iran
27:13
Speaker 10: and from the Indian community. And basically they're tired of
27:18
Speaker 10: the government allowing our streets to be dominated by what
27:22
Speaker 10: they regard as extremist Islamist elements. But the line that
27:28
Speaker 10: I'm said about the government ministers spending their time in
27:36
Speaker 10: synagogues and at Holocaust centers that they would be better
27:38
Speaker 10: out in Lakemba, telling some of those extremist preachers who
27:43
Speaker 10: were saying the Jews should be killed that the it's
27:46
Speaker 10: not the Australian way of talking and we expect them
27:49
Speaker 10: to behave themselves and if they don't, if they don't
27:52
Speaker 10: have Australian citizenship, they should be out. The line that
27:55
Speaker 10: got particularly the biggest interest, because there are a lot
27:58
Speaker 10: of is there who some of whom are Australian citizens,
28:05
Speaker 10: was about Tony Burke, and I explained that Tony Burke
28:08
Speaker 10: has instituted its discriminatory tourist plan. We're only young Israelis
28:14
Speaker 10: from the only democracy. Now other democracies have it happened
28:17
Speaker 10: to them, whether it's Greece or the United States or
28:21
Speaker 10: the UK, where they are given a thirteen page questionnaire
28:26
Speaker 10: interrogation by Tony Burke about their army service, who their relatives.
28:31
Speaker 1: Are, who else have their relatives served in the army?
28:34
Speaker 10: Very detailed thirteen page interrogation, and people thought that was
28:38
Speaker 10: really unfair that people from Russia or China, which are
28:42
Speaker 10: totalitarian states or authoritarian states, don't face similar interrogations by
28:48
Speaker 10: Tony Burke when they come to this country and they
28:51
Speaker 10: think it's very unfair that israelis all of whom who
28:54
Speaker 10: have to do national service and he knows that very well,
28:57
Speaker 10: are subject to this very detail and very strange, and
29:02
Speaker 10: I would argue suspicious interrogation. What are they accumulating all
29:07
Speaker 10: these details for James, Who are they going to share
29:10
Speaker 10: them with? And what kind of action is being taken
29:14
Speaker 10: against some innocent young people who come to this country
29:17
Speaker 10: as tourists.
29:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, of course these are young people from a
29:22
Speaker 2: country that I thought was one of our allies, and
29:25
Speaker 2: we're asking their young people, have you been involved in
29:27
Speaker 2: war crimes or genocide? I mean, it's just unbelievable. There
29:31
Speaker 2: was a fair bit of anger obviously at the Prime
29:34
Speaker 2: Minister at the rally yesterday. And I guess when you've
29:37
Speaker 2: got government ministers constantly sprouting anti Israel messages like this, We.
29:42
Speaker 11: Expect Russia by international law and end it's illegal and
29:47
Speaker 11: full scale war on Ukraine. We expect China to by
29:52
Speaker 11: international legal decisions in the South China see. We expect
29:55
Speaker 11: Israel by by international.
29:57
Speaker 3: Law, so be it anti Semitism, islamophobia.
30:01
Speaker 12: The government's criticized for always linking saying any Semitism alongside Islamophobia.
30:07
Speaker 12: James Patterson says, that's part of the problem, that you
30:10
Speaker 12: should just call out any Semitism for what it is,
30:12
Speaker 12: because it's worse now than anything else.
30:14
Speaker 4: Sorry, So should we turn a blind eye to Islamophobia?
30:17
Speaker 1: Is that what the coalition's saying.
30:18
Speaker 11: Is James Patterson thinks there's no as Lamophobia in Australia.
30:21
Speaker 3: He's wrong. He didn't say that though.
30:23
Speaker 13: He said that when something happens, it should be enough
30:26
Speaker 13: to just denos and we went.
30:28
Speaker 7: On to say that they're not at the same levels.
30:32
Speaker 2: I guess Michael Danby you can understand why so many
30:34
Speaker 2: Jewish Australians are pretty upset right now.
30:38
Speaker 10: Well again, James, I just want to emphasize that it
30:41
Speaker 10: was more than just Jewish Australians, and I think Australians
30:45
Speaker 10: generally don't like and the poll show this, this domination
30:50
Speaker 10: of our streets by what they perceive as extremist groups,
30:55
Speaker 10: and this demonstration was a cry from the heart from
31:00
Speaker 10: that represents most Australians in my view that the ministers
31:03
Speaker 10: just don't get it. I mean, a synagogue has been
31:06
Speaker 10: burnt to the ground, I said, I was coming from
31:08
Speaker 10: burnt Melbourne and this was the winter of anti Semitism
31:12
Speaker 10: in Australia that got a very strong reaction.
31:16
Speaker 1: It's just not good enough to.
31:18
Speaker 10: Talk about other discriminations which shouldn't exist. And if there's
31:22
Speaker 10: some graffiti on a bridge in Sydney, I'm against it too,
31:24
Speaker 10: but it doesn't compare with burning down a synagogue or blockading.
31:28
Speaker 10: Three hundred people was in Sydney this rally in the
31:31
Speaker 10: Great Synagogue which is in famous George Street in Sydney
31:36
Speaker 10: just last week. I think the Premier of New South
31:39
Speaker 10: Wales ought to be imitated by the Premier of Victoria
31:42
Speaker 10: and there should be a ban on all blockades or
31:46
Speaker 10: political protests outside any religious institution, whether it's a Hindu shrine,
31:52
Speaker 10: a Jewish synagogue or a Catholic church.
31:57
Speaker 2: So you've got Jewish Labour MP Josh Burns who's pushing
32:02
Speaker 2: against the grain. It appears, I mean, you've got Tony Burke,
32:05
Speaker 2: Ed Husick, Penny Wong out there pretty anti Israel.
32:09
Speaker 3: Josh Burns is trying.
32:10
Speaker 2: To push for tougher hate speech laws to address anti Semitism.
32:14
Speaker 2: He wants to lower the threshold for vilification and put
32:18
Speaker 2: in place exclusion zones outside places of worship so people
32:21
Speaker 2: can't protest there two questions, Michael Danby, do you think
32:25
Speaker 2: his proposal will get off the ground, But second, how
32:29
Speaker 2: do you feel about more stringent anti vilification laws. My
32:34
Speaker 2: concern with this is that it starts off trying to
32:37
Speaker 2: crack down on anti Semitism, and then it gets used
32:40
Speaker 2: to stop all sorts of other speech, criticism of Islam
32:43
Speaker 2: for instance, or other topics that become no go zones
32:47
Speaker 2: because you run the risk of vilification.
32:51
Speaker 10: Well condemned for their total inactivity and hopelessness, and this
32:57
Speaker 10: has been called out by Julian Lisa as the Australian
32:59
Speaker 10: Human Commission. They haven't stepped up, they haven't been heard of,
33:03
Speaker 10: they haven't done anything. The bloke appointed by Drapus to
33:06
Speaker 10: head it up is hopeless. He said that he met
33:10
Speaker 10: with Jewish groups just to show that he'd met with them,
33:12
Speaker 10: rather than actually taking any action.
33:15
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that we need extra laws, as you do.
33:17
Speaker 1: We need to tweak the existing laws that we've got.
33:20
Speaker 10: If, for instance, incitement laws were about what people said
33:25
Speaker 10: or they intended, like gas the Jews was a threast,
33:29
Speaker 10: you wouldn't actually have to have actual gassing of the
33:32
Speaker 10: Jews or death to the Jews. But the intention is
33:35
Speaker 10: something that the police could take on, and these kinds
33:39
Speaker 10: of intentions and incitement should be criminal offenses now, Mark drefus.
33:44
Speaker 10: You can just change that easily from being a civil
33:46
Speaker 10: offense to a criminal offense. If those terrible people who
33:51
Speaker 10: yelled at and defamed Australia on the steps of the
33:54
Speaker 10: Opera House by yelling out gas the Jews, and I
33:56
Speaker 10: don't believe for a second the false explanation profited by
34:00
Speaker 10: the New South Wales police that it was where the Jews.
34:03
Speaker 10: If those people had been facing criminal charges and their
34:07
Speaker 10: intentions were able to be judged in court, then we've
34:12
Speaker 10: been in a lot stronger position. So it's very easy
34:15
Speaker 10: to change this. Don't need a big investigation. I'm pleased
34:20
Speaker 10: there is some investigation being made into it, and I
34:22
Speaker 10: agree that there shouldn't be demos outside any religious site,
34:26
Speaker 10: not just Jewish synagogue, but any religious site.
34:28
Speaker 1: Including mosques.
34:29
Speaker 10: So there are solutions to this without restricting people's freedom
34:36
Speaker 10: of speech.
34:37
Speaker 3: James, Yeah, absolutely.
34:41
Speaker 2: Michael Danby, you appreciate your time tonight, thanks for joining me. Well,
34:44
Speaker 2: we're going to go to a break, but stick around.
34:46
Speaker 2: Coming up in just a moment. Most of us know
34:49
Speaker 2: there's something wrong with the left, But what I want
34:52
Speaker 2: to talk about next will shock you. A new card
34:54
Speaker 2: game that's specifically targeting CEOs of big companies.
34:59
Speaker 3: Will talk to Shegater about that in just a moment.
35:05
Speaker 3: Welcome back.
35:06
Speaker 2: Well, there really is something wrong with the left. I
35:10
Speaker 2: mean you already knew that, but get a load of this.
35:12
Speaker 2: Last week, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the husband and
35:17
Speaker 2: father of two boys, was gunned down in New York.
35:20
Speaker 2: Why well because he was the CEO of a big company,
35:24
Speaker 2: and the left they cheered. Now the founder of a
35:27
Speaker 2: socialist apparel brand. I don't know what socialist apparel looks like.
35:31
Speaker 2: I guess it comes in communist gray. But this guy
35:34
Speaker 2: has called for the death of corporate executives and now
35:37
Speaker 2: he's planning to sell a deck of cards featuring America's
35:41
Speaker 2: most wanted CEOs. The cards will apparently have the names
35:45
Speaker 2: and faces of various business bosses with gun sight targets
35:50
Speaker 2: on them.
35:51
Speaker 3: Seriously, sometimes I just shake my head.
35:54
Speaker 2: Joining me as Sky and his contributor Kosher Garda Kosher,
35:57
Speaker 2: I'd like to think this isn't actually happy. But we've
36:01
Speaker 2: already seen a number of people from the left try
36:03
Speaker 2: and justify the murder of this health insurance company.
36:09
Speaker 3: What on earth is wrong with people now?
36:11
Speaker 14: I think, as you said, James, this really has become
36:14
Speaker 14: a sick society, unfortunately in some parts, for people to
36:17
Speaker 14: transfer their issues with the healthcare system or the unaffordability
36:22
Speaker 14: of insurance in the US onto Okay, the end goal
36:25
Speaker 14: here is go out and take out the symbol of
36:28
Speaker 14: that who's a CEO who worked his way up, by
36:30
Speaker 14: the way, came from a very humble background, this person,
36:33
Speaker 14: and the shooter was somebody quite privileged, which goes against
36:36
Speaker 14: their framework. And then there's deck of cards and all that.
36:39
Speaker 14: I think, you know, it's very interesting because what I
36:41
Speaker 14: also saw was silent was the calls for gun control
36:44
Speaker 14: that always happened after a crime in the US. That
36:46
Speaker 14: was very, very silent. And I do think the CEOs
36:48
Speaker 14: are going to either voice their opinions more and shift
36:52
Speaker 14: possibly to the right or at least, you know, crime
36:55
Speaker 14: control as well as have better security if this is
36:57
Speaker 14: going to become a thing now, and it really will
36:59
Speaker 14: depend on what the outcomers of this case with Luigi, Well, you.
37:02
Speaker 2: Mentioned better security, and security firms in the US have
37:04
Speaker 2: said they have been inundated by fortune five hundred companies
37:08
Speaker 2: wanting security for their CEOs, and a whole lot of
37:12
Speaker 2: other businesses have wiped their websites so that there's no
37:16
Speaker 2: names of CEOs available to the public because they're taking
37:19
Speaker 2: these threats so seriously.
37:21
Speaker 3: You just could not believe in twenty twenty.
37:23
Speaker 2: Four we've got a situation where one group of people
37:26
Speaker 2: are so envious of others that they're actually proposing it's
37:30
Speaker 2: okay to go out.
37:31
Speaker 3: And kill them.
37:32
Speaker 14: Yeah, it's the breakdown of just lawe and order and
37:36
Speaker 14: enforcement of the law, vigilanteism and everything in between. And
37:39
Speaker 14: it feels like a dystopian novel. But I hope things
37:42
Speaker 14: are going to turn around, just with the platform of
37:44
Speaker 14: the incoming administration trying to be tough on crime and
37:47
Speaker 14: hopefully that trickles down. But this is pretty scary stuff.
37:50
Speaker 2: Well, you talk about being tough on crime, I tell
37:52
Speaker 2: you who's not being tough on crime right now, and
37:55
Speaker 2: that's US President Joe Biden. He's really going for it.
37:59
Speaker 2: In his last few days in office.
38:01
Speaker 3: During the four years that he's.
38:03
Speaker 2: Been the president, and mind you, he's got four weeks
38:06
Speaker 2: to go. He's pardoned or commuted the sentences of more
38:09
Speaker 2: than eight thousand people, including of course, his son Hunter.
38:13
Speaker 14: Now.
38:14
Speaker 2: The only other presidents who come close to pardoning or
38:17
Speaker 2: commuting that many people, if you ignore Jimmy Carter pardoning
38:21
Speaker 2: Vietnam War draft evaders, is Lyndon B. Johnson and Barack Obama,
38:25
Speaker 2: who issued around two thousand pardons each. Trump, by comparison,
38:30
Speaker 2: pardoned only two hundred and thirty seven people in his
38:32
Speaker 2: first term, but Joe Biden eight thousand people, including a
38:37
Speaker 2: Chinese national who was caught with something like forty.
38:41
Speaker 3: Thousand child porn images.
38:43
Speaker 2: And then he's commuted the sentences of a whole lot
38:47
Speaker 2: of business bosses who ripped off five billion dollars from
38:52
Speaker 2: about a million victims.
38:54
Speaker 3: What on earth is Joe Biden playing at.
38:57
Speaker 14: I looked it up, and since the turn of the
38:59
Speaker 14: century nineteen one hundred till now, there have been something
39:02
Speaker 14: like twenty two thousand acts of clemency. So this is
39:04
Speaker 14: about thirty five percent of that thirty five percent of
39:07
Speaker 14: what's happened in the.
39:07
Speaker 3: Last three and a half has come now.
39:09
Speaker 14: And it really is interesting because it stinks to high heaven.
39:12
Speaker 14: You know, the power presidential power is unilateral. Whether we
39:16
Speaker 14: like it or not, it is knowlaturally his prerogative to do.
39:19
Speaker 14: But it stinks to high heaven in terms of that scale,
39:21
Speaker 14: because what does it mean if you take it to
39:22
Speaker 14: its logical endpoint. It either means that there's all these people,
39:25
Speaker 14: eight thousand people who were over sentenced or over prosecuted,
39:30
Speaker 14: and so what's wrong with the criminal justice system if
39:32
Speaker 14: that's true, or there are all these people who actually
39:35
Speaker 14: have committed crime and he's paving the way by doing
39:38
Speaker 14: these early ones. Now he still has thirty five days
39:40
Speaker 14: to go. Who's coming?
39:42
Speaker 3: Is it Fauci? Is it his brother? Is it himself?
39:44
Speaker 14: That's going to be the big one if that happens,
39:46
Speaker 14: big news that day.
39:47
Speaker 2: And a lot of people really do think he will
39:49
Speaker 2: issue preemptive pardons to people like Anthony Fauci. And the
39:53
Speaker 2: thing about the Democrats is, for years now, I've been thinking, no,
39:56
Speaker 2: they wouldn't do that, they wouldn't prosecute Trump, they wouldn't,
40:00
Speaker 2: and every time they surprise me. So you wouldn't put
40:03
Speaker 2: it past them issuing a preemptive pardon for someone like
40:07
Speaker 2: Anthony fauci, which would just be wild. Hey, before I
40:10
Speaker 2: let you go, there's one thing I've got to ask you,
40:12
Speaker 2: and I'm sure you have the answer, because someone must.
40:15
Speaker 2: All of these drones over New Jersey and New York.
40:18
Speaker 2: There's wild theories going around, and I guess the wild
40:21
Speaker 2: theories have been given opportunity because the White House saying no, no,
40:25
Speaker 2: there's nothing to see here.
40:26
Speaker 3: But Americans are used to the White House lying.
40:28
Speaker 2: I mean, they said the border was secure and closed.
40:31
Speaker 2: So there's all these wild theories and speculation. What's the
40:36
Speaker 2: speculation and what's your bet about these drones that keep
40:39
Speaker 2: being seen?
40:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, I wish I knew.
40:41
Speaker 14: In the absence of actual information, all we can do
40:44
Speaker 14: is speculate on the spectrum. So it goes from the
40:46
Speaker 14: least nefarious hobbyists, which.
40:48
Speaker 3: Most people have ruled out.
40:49
Speaker 14: It doesn't look like that, to something commercial like the
40:51
Speaker 14: Amazons and Walmarts of the world trying to perfect their
40:54
Speaker 14: same daye delivery.
40:55
Speaker 3: Probably not that.
40:56
Speaker 14: To foreign governments, which the Pentagon has ruled them old.
41:00
Speaker 14: To your point, trust's government agencies anymore. Really, to the
41:03
Speaker 14: US government, which is probably the most likely. If I
41:06
Speaker 14: had to pick a jeans where they're training for warfare
41:09
Speaker 14: and drones are going to be a big key part
41:11
Speaker 14: of the future of warfare.
41:12
Speaker 3: Is it something like that?
41:13
Speaker 14: And of course the most sinister at the end of
41:14
Speaker 14: the spectrum is UFOs and I think that has probably
41:17
Speaker 14: been ruled out too, but there's lots of people interjecting
41:20
Speaker 14: that into the mix.
41:21
Speaker 2: The most recent one is Joe Rogan is now saying
41:24
Speaker 2: that he reckons the government are flying these drones looking
41:27
Speaker 2: for some sort of radiation leak or something like that.
41:30
Speaker 2: And of course who knows, but the White House have
41:33
Speaker 2: created this speculation by not just being upfront with people
41:37
Speaker 2: and having the last four years where you know, Karine
41:40
Speaker 2: Jean Paul, you never believe anything she says at the
41:44
Speaker 2: White House. Kosher Garda, appreciate your time tonight. Well let's
41:48
Speaker 2: go back to Victoria for a second, because things just
41:50
Speaker 2: keep getting worse there for Liberal leader John Persuto.
41:55
Speaker 3: British activist Kelly J.
41:56
Speaker 2: Keen has vowed to return to Australia and push on
41:59
Speaker 2: with her fight for women's rights following more redeemings defamation win.
42:04
Speaker 15: Well, I'd love to, but I've had my last two
42:06
Speaker 15: visa applications refused. There's just something about there's something really
42:11
Speaker 15: optimistic and hopeful and lovely about Australia, and I think
42:15
Speaker 15: that is both to its advantage and disadvantage. I think
42:17
Speaker 15: that's why maybe the Wope virus has taken hold so badly,
42:22
Speaker 15: because I think a lot of Australians are like, well,
42:24
Speaker 15: everything's great, you know, everything's great, there's no problem. Yeah,
42:28
Speaker 15: that's great, And I'm wondering whether that might be the
42:32
Speaker 15: downfall at the moment.
42:34
Speaker 2: News Corps Europe correspondent Sophie Ellsworth joins me now, Sophie
42:38
Speaker 2: Good Evening.
42:39
Speaker 3: Kelly J.
42:40
Speaker 2: Keen has tried to come back to Australia twice in
42:42
Speaker 2: the last year. Both visa attempts were denied. But I'm
42:46
Speaker 2: wondering if Moier Redeemings win might just change that.
42:52
Speaker 1: Well.
42:52
Speaker 13: I traveled to England's West Country James last week to
42:56
Speaker 13: speak with Kelly J. Keen and she is very determined
43:00
Speaker 13: to come back to Australia as early as March. She
43:04
Speaker 13: wants to hold more of these lets Women Speak rallies,
43:08
Speaker 13: and she's not going to be put off by what
43:11
Speaker 13: happened when she did visit a year or so ago,
43:15
Speaker 13: when that whole disaster happened with the Neo Nazis gate
43:19
Speaker 13: crashing their event, and she was very scathing too of
43:23
Speaker 13: John Bishudo. She thinks he should resign. So watch this space, James.
43:29
Speaker 13: I expect she'll be back in Australia, hoping, hopefully she's
43:33
Speaker 13: saying with that visa that will allow her to do
43:36
Speaker 13: so in a few months time.
43:40
Speaker 2: Well, of course John Pisuto had to issue an apology
43:43
Speaker 2: to her for defaming her over the whole Nazi thing.
43:48
Speaker 2: So I don't see any reason why she shouldn't be
43:50
Speaker 2: allowed back unless we don't want people who talk about
43:53
Speaker 2: biological truth in this country anymore. Speaking of interesting people,
44:00
Speaker 2: we've got to talk about Prince Andrew. He seems to
44:03
Speaker 2: collect some unsavory friends like he collects Teddy Bears apparently,
44:07
Speaker 2: But a close confidante has been exposed as a Chinese
44:10
Speaker 2: spy who Prince Andrew gave access not just two palaces,
44:15
Speaker 2: but to a couple of British prime ministers.
44:17
Speaker 3: Tell us what's going on there?
44:20
Speaker 1: Well, that's right.
44:21
Speaker 13: There's been days of reporting on this, James, over here
44:24
Speaker 13: in Britain, with this alleged Chinese spy having very close
44:28
Speaker 13: ties to Prince Andrew, it's incredibly damaging, clearly for the
44:33
Speaker 13: royal family and yet again Prince Andrew, who seems to
44:37
Speaker 13: always be making headlines for the wrong reasons. So this
44:42
Speaker 13: disaster is unfolding at a terrible time, right before Christmas,
44:46
Speaker 13: when the Royal family is due to all congregate together
44:49
Speaker 13: for Christmas lunch, you know, walking out together on Christmas Day, etc.
44:54
Speaker 13: And now there's reports in the British press today that
44:57
Speaker 13: really Prince Andrews should remove him self from these engagements
45:01
Speaker 13: rather than have his brother, King Charles take action, because
45:05
Speaker 13: the headlines are going to be dominated yet again by
45:07
Speaker 13: Prince Andrew and yet another scandal when it should be
45:12
Speaker 13: focusing on the festive season, the recovery of the King
45:15
Speaker 13: and Princess Catherine with their health battles, and focusing on
45:19
Speaker 13: the Christmas and New Year period.
45:24
Speaker 2: Is this just a bad look or is there a
45:26
Speaker 2: serious suggestion that perhaps security could have been compromised by
45:30
Speaker 2: the Prince's actions.
45:34
Speaker 13: Well it looks to be both really, James, and as
45:36
Speaker 13: I said, it's still unfolding. We don't know exactly what happened.
45:40
Speaker 13: We don't know who this person is. They have not
45:43
Speaker 13: been identified. We've got very little detail about the person
45:48
Speaker 13: who is this alleged Chinese spy. But again we're talking
45:52
Speaker 13: about the Royal family for the wrong reasons. And this
45:56
Speaker 13: is where Prince Andrew is on the outer repeated lee,
46:01
Speaker 13: because decisions that are made either by him or people
46:04
Speaker 13: around him end up causing immense harm for the Royal
46:07
Speaker 13: family and those surrounding him as a result.
46:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can only imagine William watching this and thinking, Dad,
46:16
Speaker 2: please deal with Andrew so that I don't have to.
46:19
Speaker 2: That would not be something you'd want to inherit when
46:22
Speaker 2: you ascend to the throne. Hey, in the time we've
46:25
Speaker 2: got left, just staying on UK politics, I want to
46:29
Speaker 2: talk to you about some events that could turn everything
46:32
Speaker 2: upside down there. I'm hearing of reports that Elon Musk
46:36
Speaker 2: is set to donate one hundred million pounds to Nigel
46:40
Speaker 2: Faraja's Reform Party. If that's true, it would be, as
46:43
Speaker 2: I understand it, the biggest political donation in British history,
46:48
Speaker 2: and it would short put rocket boosters, if you'll excuse
46:51
Speaker 2: the SpaceX pun under Reform ahead of the next election,
46:54
Speaker 2: wouldn't it.
46:57
Speaker 13: Will Reform an absolute head for the Tory Party here
47:01
Speaker 13: as we know, Nigel Frage seems to be gathering momentum
47:06
Speaker 13: at a rapid rate. There's a lot of disgruntled Tory voters.
47:10
Speaker 13: We clearly saw that with many abandoning the Tory Party
47:14
Speaker 13: at the general election several months back. And so this
47:18
Speaker 13: is another win for Nigel Frage and Reform UK and
47:24
Speaker 13: is going to prove a real problem for the Tory Party.
47:27
Speaker 13: And there's questions being asked repeatedly why didn't the Tory
47:30
Speaker 13: Party try and bring Nigel Frage in with them, But
47:33
Speaker 13: now he's really an agitated to them because he's taking
47:37
Speaker 13: votes or will take votes away from them, and he's
47:40
Speaker 13: got the backing of these very wealthy people. So having
47:44
Speaker 13: Elon Musk on his side is going to be incredibly
47:47
Speaker 13: beneficial for him financially, that's for sure.
47:52
Speaker 3: Sophie, we've got about thirty seconds left.
47:54
Speaker 2: I'm really interested in this idea that Elon Musk is
47:57
Speaker 2: not just content to try and do something in States,
48:00
Speaker 2: but he really wants to push back against woke right
48:03
Speaker 2: around the Western world.
48:07
Speaker 13: Absolutely. I mean, he's kind of a contradiction. He's got
48:10
Speaker 13: his electric vehicles, but then he's got his platform X
48:15
Speaker 13: and then his friend, you know, he's got that new
48:18
Speaker 13: role with Donald Trump's administration. You know, he's aligning himself
48:22
Speaker 13: with conservatives. There's a lot of people on the left
48:25
Speaker 13: incredibly unhappy with the Elon Musk, that's for sure.
48:30
Speaker 2: I reckon you're right to a lot of people on
48:32
Speaker 2: the right who are pretty happy with him. Well, thank you,
48:35
Speaker 2: Sophie Ellsworth, appreciate your time, and that's it from me.
48:38
Speaker 2: I'll be back tomorrow night, but don't go anywhere because
48:42
Speaker 2: up next is the Late Debate with Liz Storer, Joe
48:45
Speaker 2: Hildebrand and Gabriella Power.