Latest / The Kenny Report / The Kenny Report | 23 September

Transcript

The Kenny Report | 23 September · The Kenny Report

0:00
Speaker 1: Primetime Opinion on News 24 starts now.
0:08
Speaker 2: This is the Kenny Report. Thanks for joining me tonight.
0:13
Speaker 3: Interest rates about to rise again, all part of the
0:15
Speaker 3: war on inflation. But isn't government spending driving inflation? Why
0:20
Speaker 3: do we wear the pain for Labor's spending? Finance and
0:24
Speaker 3: business expert to the masses, David Koshy-Kosh, joins me live. Meanwhile,
0:29
Speaker 3: in New York City, Anthony Albanese is yucking it up,
0:31
Speaker 3: ignoring the problems back home and pretending to solve the
0:35
Speaker 3: problems of the world. Anne Webster and Tom Switzer on
0:38
Speaker 3: all of that. The British PM and Donald Trump are
0:40
Speaker 3: at the UN Circus too, and they're at loggerheads across
0:44
Speaker 3: to Esther Krakow in the UK. And on the panel,
0:47
Speaker 3: Danika DiGiorgio and James Bolt will look at Albanese's plummeting popularity.
0:51
Speaker 2: That's unpopular here, not at the UN. Let's get cracking.
0:59
Speaker 3: It's almost as if Anthony Albanese is taunting us, teasing
1:03
Speaker 3: the nation, mocking voters by yucking it up at the
1:06
Speaker 3: United Nations in New York City while back in Australia
1:09
Speaker 3: people are paying $ 200 and more to fill their tanks
1:12
Speaker 3: while we face yet another interest rate rise and electricity
1:16
Speaker 3: prices continue to push upwards to record levels, precisely the
1:21
Speaker 3: opposite direction that Labor promised. The list could go on.
1:24
Speaker 3: We've had the worst terrorist attack in the nation's history.
1:28
Speaker 3: More alleged extremists arrested. And our Prime Minister has the
1:32
Speaker 3: audacity to launch a UN Security Council bid with a pitch.
1:36
Speaker 2: About how we listen, we partner, we protect.
1:40
Speaker 3: Listen to who? Certainly not their own promises. And partner
1:45
Speaker 3: with who? The unions or renewables companies? And protect who?
1:50
Speaker 3: Certainly not the Australian Jewish community. Certainly not anyone who
1:53
Speaker 3: happened to be at Bondi Beach on December the 14th.
1:57
Speaker 3: But back to the taunting. The Prime Minister's own social
2:00
Speaker 3: media posts are full of picture opportunities of him with
2:04
Speaker 3: world leaders, even one with the Japanese Prime Minister, Senai Takeuchi,
2:09
Speaker 3: this time.
2:09
Speaker 2: No doubt, without melons.
2:11
Speaker 3: And no word of any apology about his horrible and
2:14
Speaker 3: sexist mocking of her previous thoughtful gift. The PM is
2:19
Speaker 3: so proud of his glad-handing that he put some of
2:22
Speaker 3: it to music for us. But I tell you what,
2:37
Speaker 3: some of his comments in New York have reminded me
2:39
Speaker 3: of another piece of music, like when he was asked
2:42
Speaker 3: about the shocking child abuse and neglect that's been revealed
2:46
Speaker 3: in South Headlands Indigenous community.
2:50
Speaker 4: Well, this is a Western Australian issue. And, you know,
2:55
Speaker 4: I will refer you once again to Mel and Deary McCarthy,
3:00
Speaker 4: our minister in Australia. It is impossible to follow on
3:04
Speaker 4: an hour-by-hour basis what is happening in Australia from New York.
3:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, just an appalling approach. And, of course, the musical
3:15
Speaker 3: response it prompted from me was this.
3:19
Speaker 5: He's never responsible for anything. Incredibly, with so many economic, energy.
3:43
Speaker 3: Debt, productivity, inflation, education, social cohesion and security problems back home,
3:51
Speaker 3: Albanese has the gall to lecture the world on how
3:54
Speaker 3: to manage the ills of social media, on how to
3:57
Speaker 3: transition a modern economy to renewable energy, no comment on
4:01
Speaker 3: what it's done to prices and reliability. And Albo is
4:05
Speaker 3: also lecturing on how to regulate the great hope for
4:08
Speaker 3: a quantum leap in productivity, AI.
4:12
Speaker 4: Humans need to be in control of it. If it's
4:16
Speaker 4: going to be successful, then we need to make sure
4:19
Speaker 4: that humans are at the centre of everything that occurs.
4:24
Speaker 3: The trouble is that in the US, the global giant
4:27
Speaker 3: of economic growth and innovation, the free world's powerhouse of
4:31
Speaker 3: technological advancement and AI development, well, in the US, President
4:35
Speaker 3: Donald Trump is not interested in reining in this economic
4:39
Speaker 3: and strategic advantage.
4:41
Speaker 7: I'm not going to stifle growth of something that will
4:44
Speaker 7: be bigger than the Industrial Revolution. Many say bigger than
4:48
Speaker 7: the Industrial Revolution or the internet itself. But we will
4:52
Speaker 7: only encourage superintelligence. We're going to encourage it, not rein
4:57
Speaker 7: it in.
4:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, but even with these fundamental disagreements and our own
5:03
Speaker 3: Prime Minister's low opinions of Trump previously shared publicly, here's
5:07
Speaker 3: a reminder.
5:09
Speaker 2: So we have an alliance with the US. We've got
5:11
Speaker 2: to deal with him.
5:12
Speaker 4: But that doesn't mean that you're uncritical about it.
5:16
Speaker 2: He scares the * * * * out of me.
5:18
Speaker 4: And I think it's of some concern that the leader
5:24
Speaker 4: of the free world thinks that you can conduct politics
5:27
Speaker 4: through 140 characters on Twitter.
5:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's our Prime Minister, a bloke whose word has
5:34
Speaker 3: become worthless, really. Well, even with all that fresh in
5:38
Speaker 3: our minds, here he is today. getting into the diplomacy
5:43
Speaker 3: of social media himself, posting a selfie, would you believe,
5:47
Speaker 3: with Trump on social media. That's Albanese. He's at the
5:53
Speaker 3: UN and you're not. And by the way, he won't
5:56
Speaker 3: be back in time for the grand final. And with
6:00
Speaker 3: the AFL's star entertainer rehearsing at the G today, perhaps
6:04
Speaker 3: that's a clue as to why. I mean, could Albanese
6:08
Speaker 3: really come face to face with Kylie Minogue after sharing
6:11
Speaker 3: his fantasies with the world?
6:14
Speaker 2: No, the PM won't be back in time. Kylie should
6:17
Speaker 2: be so lucky. And you and me?
6:20
Speaker 3: The taxpayers will have to settle for being represented by
6:24
Speaker 3: the Minister for Sports Rorts, Annika Wells, back at the
6:27
Speaker 3: sports event trough.
6:28
Speaker 2: After only a few minutes in the sin bin.
6:32
Speaker 3: And this government wonders why it's on the nose. Another
6:39
Speaker 3: terrorism-related reality check today with Victorian counter-terrorism police arresting a
6:46
Speaker 3: 65-year-old man in Melbourne over allegations he was a propagandist
6:51
Speaker 3: for ISIS or Islamic State. That's the same organisation police
6:55
Speaker 3: alleged was the inspiration for the Bondi massacre. It's alleged
7:00
Speaker 3: the arrested Melbourne man is an ISIS supporter who shared
7:04
Speaker 3: information more than five years ago about how to avoid
7:07
Speaker 3: detection by police and other enforcement agencies, as well as
7:11
Speaker 3: instructional guides on planning and conducting mass casualty attacks.
7:17
Speaker 8: Joint counterterrorism teams around Australia remain committed to identifying and
7:22
Speaker 8: disrupting anyone who is alleged to be participating in or
7:25
Speaker 8: supporting violent extremism, regardless of whether that activity occurs online
7:31
Speaker 8: or in the physical world.
7:33
Speaker 3: This is a serious worry, a deep concern for this country,
7:36
Speaker 3: as I've said repeatedly for a decade or more, and
7:39
Speaker 3: especially over the past three years. And we have to
7:41
Speaker 3: applaud our security agencies today, the Victoria Police, the Australian
7:46
Speaker 3: Federal Police... and ASIO in keeping tabs on this threat,
7:50
Speaker 3: thwarting numerous plots and making arrests like.
7:53
Speaker 2: The one we've seen today.
7:55
Speaker 3: But I've got to say there is something that the
7:57
Speaker 3: ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said last week that seems at
8:01
Speaker 3: odds with all of this. It was in his podcast
8:04
Speaker 3: interview with Neil Mitchell. And I get that he wants
8:07
Speaker 3: to reassure people, but this struck me as more than odd.
8:12
Speaker 9: I bristle when I hear people saying that we have
8:14
Speaker 9: a growing Islamic extremism problem in this country.
8:16
Speaker 10: We don't.
8:17
Speaker 9: We have an Islamic extremism problem in this country. That
8:19
Speaker 9: is true. It is not growing, but it's still a problem.
8:22
Speaker 9: It represents about 70% of my organisation's caseload.
8:26
Speaker 3: More than two-thirds of ASIO's load, the largest terror attack
8:32
Speaker 3: in the nation's history, taking 15 lives and injuring dozens
8:36
Speaker 3: more at Bondi less than a year ago, and 16
8:40
Speaker 3: plots thwarted Since then, another serious arrest today, and the
8:46
Speaker 3: ASIO boss says the threat is not growing. It looks
8:51
Speaker 3: like the threat is certainly not diminishing. And so much
8:54
Speaker 3: else of what Burgess has said and done points to
8:58
Speaker 3: the threat growing. In fact, in the same interview, he
9:01
Speaker 3: outlined how he would like to have the nation's terror
9:04
Speaker 3: threat higher than the probable setting it's on now, only
9:08
Speaker 3: the current formulation doesn't allow for it.
9:12
Speaker 9: The next level up is expected. But for me to
9:15
Speaker 9: recommend to the government we raise the threat level, I
9:17
Speaker 9: have to have intelligence that says someone is planning an attack.
9:21
Speaker 9: And when I don't, it stays at probable. What's happening
9:23
Speaker 9: in the environment at the moment, though, is it's this
9:26
Speaker 9: increase in the risk or chance of violence. And we're
9:29
Speaker 9: probably at the upper end of probable. But I can't
9:31
Speaker 9: go to the next level or recommend we do until
9:33
Speaker 9: I get that specific intelligence.
9:36
Speaker 3: Increased risk, upper end of probable, yet the problem's the
9:40
Speaker 3: threat's not growing. Let's hope we never see another mass
9:45
Speaker 3: casualty attack in Australia. But I'd like some clarity on
9:48
Speaker 3: whether the Islamist extremist threat is growing or not. I've
9:52
Speaker 3: asked ASIO for an interview or more information. Likewise, the AFP.
9:57
Speaker 3: I'll keep you posted. If you believe, as I do,
10:04
Speaker 3: that apart from democracy versus authoritarianism and Apart from capitalism
10:10
Speaker 3: versus communism, the world faces a clash of civilisations between
10:15
Speaker 3: Islamist fundamentalist aspirations for Sharia principles imposed via an Islamist
10:21
Speaker 3: caliphate and our Western ideals of religious plurality and the
10:25
Speaker 3: separation of the church and state. Well, if you believe
10:29
Speaker 3: that battle is real, then developments in Britain earlier this
10:33
Speaker 3: month were pretty depressing.
10:35
Speaker 2: We know that many Christian churches, many Christian.
10:38
Speaker 3: Leaders have become the weak links as they bow to
10:41
Speaker 3: political fashion, they bow to wokeness and virtue signalling instead
10:46
Speaker 3: of defending their values and faith. As some of you
10:50
Speaker 3: will have heard on other programs here on News 24,
10:53
Speaker 3: earlier this month the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first female
10:57
Speaker 3: leader of the Anglican Church no less, made a gesture
11:00
Speaker 3: that perfectly encapsulated these misguided good intentions. The former Anglican priest,
11:07
Speaker 3: in fact, the former chaplain to Queen Elizabeth, Gavin Ashenden,
11:11
Speaker 3: has his own YouTube channel where he discusses important religious
11:14
Speaker 3: and social matters. He left the Anglican Church for Catholicism
11:19
Speaker 3: nine years ago and here he is on the Archbishop
11:23
Speaker 3: of Canterbury's astonishing effort.
11:26
Speaker 6: So you'll be aware, I'm sure, that on 9-11, the
11:29
Speaker 6: 25th anniversary of 9-11, Dame Sarah Mullally, the Archbishop of Canterbury,
11:35
Speaker 6: gave an award for peace and reconciliation to Dr. Ashrafi,
11:41
Speaker 6: a Muslim cleric. In so many ways, this could not
11:45
Speaker 6: have been more inappropriate. What was Ashrafi famous for? Well,
11:51
Speaker 6: he came out a number of years ago wanting to
11:54
Speaker 6: give Osama bin Laden the equivalent of a knighthood, the
11:57
Speaker 6: sword of Allah, they called him, because he was fighting
12:00
Speaker 6: Christians and Jews and killing them. He was famous for
12:04
Speaker 6: commending suicide bombers. So the Archbishop of Canterbury takes this
12:11
Speaker 6: man and gives him an award for peace and reconciliation.
12:19
Speaker 3: Oh, dear. This is, of course, no laughing matter, not
12:21
Speaker 3: if you worry about Islamist terrorism or if you think
12:24
Speaker 3: the major churches ought to be providing any moral leadership
12:28
Speaker 3: or authority. When the facts were drawn to the church's attention,
12:32
Speaker 3: a corrective occurred. And as the BBC reported, the Archbishop
12:37
Speaker 3: of Canterbury withdrew the award given to a Muslim cleric
12:40
Speaker 3: who praised Osama bin Laden. Still, the misstep gets even
12:45
Speaker 3: worse in a way because of what the Archbishop had
12:47
Speaker 3: actually seen and experienced at the award ceremony. I mean,
12:52
Speaker 3: that's if you're interested in women's rights, something which the
12:54
Speaker 3: first female Archbishop of Canterbury should be attuned to.
12:59
Speaker 2: Here's Ashenden again.
13:01
Speaker 6: So the Archbishop said from the very beginning, I'm going
13:06
Speaker 6: to be an energetic warrior against misogyny. Any misogyny, I
13:11
Speaker 6: should be against it. I'm not going to allow misogyny
13:13
Speaker 6: on my watch. And one of her earliest remarks, and
13:19
Speaker 6: then suddenly at this award, we see that she's giving
13:21
Speaker 6: the award to the wife, clad in a niqab, in black,
13:26
Speaker 6: head to toe, only her eyes showing, because as it happens,
13:32
Speaker 6: the misogyny of the man she's giving it to won't
13:34
Speaker 6: allow her to touch him. So the award has to
13:38
Speaker 6: be hung around his wife, whom she can touch as
13:42
Speaker 6: a woman to woman. I mean, a greater example of
13:44
Speaker 6: misogyny you couldn't have, but the Archbishop appears to be
13:48
Speaker 6: quite okay with that.
13:50
Speaker 2: Just extraordinary, isn't it?
13:51
Speaker 3: On the treatment of women alone, surely anyone in a
13:53
Speaker 3: Western liberal democracy ought to be critical of Islamist fundamentalism.
13:58
Speaker 2: But of course, the feminists are silent. The left is
14:01
Speaker 2: struck dumb.
14:02
Speaker 3: Ashenden says this episode is more than a mere blunder
14:05
Speaker 3: by the Anglican church. He cites it as evidence the
14:08
Speaker 3: church is in its death throes.
14:11
Speaker 6: Can an organisation recover from this kind of blunder? I've
14:15
Speaker 6: been saying in public, I don't think it can. I
14:17
Speaker 6: think there's a basic level of competence if you fall
14:20
Speaker 6: beneath which you're no longer fit for purpose as an organisation.
14:23
Speaker 6: And I think they've fell beneath the most basic level
14:28
Speaker 6: of competence here. And we need to say so because
14:33
Speaker 6: effectively there's a struggle going on for what kind of
14:36
Speaker 6: Christianity will represent the West. And one of the reasons
14:39
Speaker 6: I left being an Anglican was I didn't think it
14:41
Speaker 6: could do the job Jesus wanted.
14:45
Speaker 3: Well, we'll all have our personal takes on religions and faith,
14:48
Speaker 3: but if you are a Christian of any kind, or
14:51
Speaker 3: a Hindu, Buddhist, or in fact, if you're an avowed atheist,
14:54
Speaker 3: and if you happen to be gay, or enjoy music,
14:57
Speaker 3: or you're a woman who likes to dress and live
14:59
Speaker 3: as you please, well, if you are any one of
15:02
Speaker 3: these people, you need to comprehend that Islamist extremists deny
15:06
Speaker 3: your right to exist.
15:07
Speaker 2: They will come after you.
15:09
Speaker 3: Just ask the Christians of northern Nigeria, whose massacres the
15:13
Speaker 3: world too readily ignores. They might be at the front
15:16
Speaker 3: line and the extremists might come for them and the
15:19
Speaker 3: Jews first or the gays or even the more moderate
15:22
Speaker 3: Muslims who try to oppose them. But they will come
15:25
Speaker 3: for you. That's what they profess. And that's what they've
15:28
Speaker 3: done time and time again. So ignore this reality or
15:34
Speaker 3: seek to appease it at your peril. Now, yesterday I
15:42
Speaker 3: shared with you the open letter written by journalist and
15:46
Speaker 3: football administrator David Koch. It was an open letter to
15:49
Speaker 3: the Reserve Bank governor about why she isn't calling out
15:53
Speaker 3: how government spending is pushing up inflation. forcing her to
15:58
Speaker 3: push up interest rates and hurt all of us. Now, yesterday,
16:01
Speaker 3: the Governor, Michelle Bullock, gave a public address. She answered
16:04
Speaker 3: a few questions.
16:05
Speaker 2: Not that one, unfortunately.
16:07
Speaker 3: But here she is admitting, at least, that inflation really
16:10
Speaker 3: hurts those who can least afford to be hurt.
16:14
Speaker 11: And the other point about inflation is that it really
16:18
Speaker 11: hits the most vulnerable in the community the hardest. They're
16:22
Speaker 11: the ones that have the least ability and income to move,
16:26
Speaker 11: if you like. They have less flexibility. They have less
16:30
Speaker 11: discretionary expenditure. They're mainly essentials. So inflation really, really hits
16:35
Speaker 11: the people on the lowest incomes the hardest. Hits everyone,
16:38
Speaker 11: but hits them the hardest.
16:41
Speaker 2: It sure does, and so do interest rate rises.
16:43
Speaker 3: Joining me live on the desk now is David Koch.
16:45
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us, Koshi.
16:46
Speaker 1: Chris, thanks for having me.
16:47
Speaker 2: Fantastic letter, a really well-reasoned argument.
16:50
Speaker 3: You recognise, of course, the Reserve Bank governor can't dictate
16:54
Speaker 3: government policy, but in essence, what's your message to Michelle Bullock?
16:58
Speaker 1: My message to Michelle Bullock is that you've talked to
17:02
Speaker 1: average Australians over the last two years and said, we've
17:05
Speaker 1: got to fight inflation, we've got to tighten our belt...
17:08
Speaker 1: We've got to live within our means and not keep
17:11
Speaker 1: fuelling price rises. And we've done our bit. Household spending
17:15
Speaker 1: has slowed dramatically. Business confidences crashed. Consumer sentiment down. We
17:22
Speaker 1: have gone into our bunker. But inflation keeps rising.
17:26
Speaker 3: Why?
17:26
Speaker 1: Number one, global oil prices, which none of us can
17:30
Speaker 1: influence at all, although we're paying the equivalent of of
17:34
Speaker 1: another interest rate rise just through higher pump prices. And secondly,
17:39
Speaker 1: it's governments and their demand. Not just the federal government.
17:44
Speaker 1: It is state governments. It's local governments. They're spending what
17:48
Speaker 1: they were spending during COVID to keep us out of
17:51
Speaker 1: a Great Depression. We are back to normal economic times.
17:55
Speaker 1: And that heat... is fuelling inflation, leading to higher interest rates.
18:00
Speaker 1: So Michelle Bullock has got us on our side doing
18:03
Speaker 1: our bit, but we're being countered by government spending and
18:08
Speaker 1: interest rates hit the wrong people. Why should we pay
18:11
Speaker 1: for it?
18:11
Speaker 3: Federal government spending is at record levels and we see
18:14
Speaker 3: and hear from the government through their intergenerational report and
18:17
Speaker 3: everything they say, it's just going to stay that way.
18:19
Speaker 2: They've no plans to reduce it.
18:21
Speaker 3: You're right, the state governments too are at record levels
18:23
Speaker 3: generally across the board.
18:25
Speaker 2: I think local government gets left out too often. They
18:27
Speaker 2: waste money all the time. Look at the rate increase. Yeah, exactly.
18:31
Speaker 1: They're not 2% to 3%. They're not in the inflation target.
18:34
Speaker 2: It's extraordinary.
18:35
Speaker 4: So.
18:35
Speaker 3: Michelle Bullock would argue, and I'm hoping to get an
18:38
Speaker 3: interview with her, and I think she'll be asked about
18:40
Speaker 3: your letter next week. She would argue that she has
18:42
Speaker 3: spread the blame around. She has noted that demand is
18:45
Speaker 3: there on the government side as well as the private side.
18:48
Speaker 3: But what you're really saying is be more blatant about it,
18:51
Speaker 3: be more clear about it.
18:52
Speaker 1: Call it out. I think she needs to do four things.
18:55
Speaker 1: Number one... When she increased official interest rates next week,
18:59
Speaker 1: it's almost.
19:00
Speaker 2: We've got a graphic here of these four points. It's great.
19:02
Speaker 2: Rather than just criticise... Financial. Here's the first point.
19:05
Speaker 1: Government quantifier. What impact does government spending and also government
19:11
Speaker 1: increases in prices they can affect? Because the big inflation
19:14
Speaker 1: drivers are healthcare, childcare... insurances, wages, government wages, public sector
19:22
Speaker 1: wages are way above the increases in the private sector. So, quantified,
19:28
Speaker 1: how much of that rate increase do you put down
19:32
Speaker 1: to government spending too much? Then, number two, say what
19:36
Speaker 1: the increase would be if governments cut their code according
19:41
Speaker 1: to their cloth, that they understood their inflation impact and
19:48
Speaker 1: reined it back in.
19:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's show that second point. Just show what the
19:53
Speaker 3: difference would make if government just kept its spending to
19:56
Speaker 3: the normal rate.
19:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, economic growth. Between 2% and 3%. That's the target band.
20:02
Speaker 1: That's the target band that was put into the point
20:06
Speaker 1: three is... is the statement of monetary spending that the
20:16
Speaker 1: Treasurer and the Reserve Bank signed three years ago saying,
20:20
Speaker 1: we're going to fight inflation and the target band's 2%
20:22
Speaker 1: to 3%.
20:23
Speaker 2: I love this point. Point number three.
20:26
Speaker 3: Get the federal government and the state governments together and
20:28
Speaker 3: sign up to a target.
20:29
Speaker 1: Exactly the same thing. Sign up to a target... that
20:32
Speaker 1: keeps their spending and keeps inflation flat. And if any
20:37
Speaker 1: state governments or local governments or federal government breach that, well,
20:42
Speaker 1: then they're named and shamed.
20:44
Speaker 3: We have a lot of these so-called national cabinets to
20:46
Speaker 3: agree on ways to spend more money.
20:48
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
20:49
Speaker 3: This would be a national meeting to coalesce around... Some constraint.
20:54
Speaker 3: It makes a lot of sense.
20:54
Speaker 2: And your fourth point.
20:55
Speaker 1: And governments would say, oh, it affects us too because.
20:59
Speaker 2: Of our debt.
21:00
Speaker 1: Well, the only difference is you and I paid the
21:03
Speaker 1: interest on their debt as taxpayers. It's not them personally.
21:07
Speaker 1: And be upfront. Explain the rate costs, what it costs
21:13
Speaker 1: the economy and the household. in plain English, when she
21:18
Speaker 1: fronts the next economics committee and very publicly say, hey,
21:24
Speaker 1: I'm not being political about this. I am stating the facts.
21:27
Speaker 1: And we've all got to play our role, not just households.
21:31
Speaker 1: We've done a lot, but governments have got to too.
21:34
Speaker 1: They're doing great projects, you know, infrastructure projects, energy transition,
21:38
Speaker 1: all of that. But, hey, there's a time and a place.
21:41
Speaker 1: to do everything, not all at once, so we start
21:45
Speaker 1: paying for it as a household.
21:46
Speaker 2: It's all debt-funded. It's a great point.
21:48
Speaker 3: We'll see what Michelle Bullock says after they increase rates,
21:51
Speaker 3: most likely next Tuesday. I wanted to get you on
21:54
Speaker 3: a broader point, though, and in that intergenerational report released
21:57
Speaker 3: early this week, I found that really depressing because they're
22:01
Speaker 3: saying we're going to run federal budget deficits for the
22:03
Speaker 3: next 40 years, keeping spending high and keeping taxes high.
22:08
Speaker 3: It's a real worry, yet listen to what the Treasurer
22:11
Speaker 3: had to say about it.
22:13
Speaker 12: One of the key conclusions I'm hoping that you draw
22:15
Speaker 12: from this intergenerational report when you've gone through it in
22:18
Speaker 12: detail is that every page of this IGR in one
22:23
Speaker 12: way or another justifies... validates and I hope one day
22:28
Speaker 12: vindicates the difficult decisions that we've taken reforming the housing
22:33
Speaker 12: market and reforming the tax system.
22:35
Speaker 3: Now, Koshi, people have their different views of Jim Chalmers
22:38
Speaker 3: and the Labor government on this policy or.
22:40
Speaker 2: That, but he can't be right, can he? They're doing
22:42
Speaker 2: everything right, that this is sustainable.
22:44
Speaker 1: We haven't had tax reform. We've had tax band-aids. It's
22:48
Speaker 1: a challenge I've spoken to the Treasurer about for a
22:52
Speaker 1: number of years. He did his PhD... On Paul Keating.
22:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, on politics.
22:58
Speaker 1: Paul Keating was one of our great treasurers. We have
23:01
Speaker 1: our AAA credit rating today because of the fundamental reforms,
23:06
Speaker 1: the real tax reforms, Paul Keating made in the early 90s.
23:10
Speaker 1: It was.
23:12
Speaker 1: It was bringing in a consumption tax.
23:13
Speaker 10: It was.
23:15
Speaker 1: Compulsory superannuation. It was floating the dollar. It was reducing
23:19
Speaker 1: tariffs to make us globally competitive. And I've said to
23:23
Speaker 1: Jim on a number of times, don't want you to
23:25
Speaker 1: be a Keating disciple. We want you to be Keating
23:28
Speaker 1: 2.0 that sets us up for the next 40 years.
23:32
Speaker 1: Fundamental reform. And, look, they've got such a majority, you know,
23:37
Speaker 1: they're probably in for two terms, now is the time
23:41
Speaker 1: to make those reforms.
23:43
Speaker 3: Well, and if you can't cut spending, you've got to
23:45
Speaker 3: find a way to boost productivity and make the economy stronger.
23:48
Speaker 3: I can't have you in here, Koshi, being an Adelaide
23:50
Speaker 3: Crows man and you running Port Adelaide, without a footy question.
23:53
Speaker 2: Just to finish up on.
23:55
Speaker 3: Talking about productivity and growth, how are Port.
23:57
Speaker 2: Going to go next year without Zach Butters in the
23:59
Speaker 2: engine room?
24:00
Speaker 1: Oh, look, we've got a really young side. They're developing.
24:04
Speaker 1: Look at Jason Horn-Francis, how.
24:06
Speaker 2: What a gun... how.
24:07
Speaker 1: He voted or polled in the brown load just the
24:10
Speaker 1: other night, only a couple of votes behind Zach. We're
24:13
Speaker 1: looking pretty good. We've got some really good draft prospects,
24:17
Speaker 1: arguably a top five draft prospect. in this year and
24:20
Speaker 1: two next year. So we're quietly confident going forward and
24:26
Speaker 1: I need to get you a new mug.
24:30
Speaker 2: Yes, it's here with me every night.
24:31
Speaker 1: And you're a mate of Tom Jonas. He sits on
24:33
Speaker 1: the Port Adelaide board. Come on, a bit of fairness.
24:36
Speaker 2: A few nights a week. Little secret.
24:38
Speaker 3: Tom used to come to the footy with me in
24:40
Speaker 3: his Crows Guernsey, but you turned him.
24:42
Speaker 1: I can't believe that.
24:43
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us, Kosh. We really appreciate your insights.
24:45
Speaker 3: David Kosh there on where we're going with this discussion
24:48
Speaker 3: interest rate cycle and government spending. Now I want to
24:52
Speaker 3: cross to Anne Webster, the Shadow Regional Health Minister, joins
24:55
Speaker 3: us live from Mildura.
24:56
Speaker 2: Anne, good to talk to you again. You've held a
24:59
Speaker 2: regional forum on aged care today. Tell us a bit
25:02
Speaker 2: about that.
25:04
Speaker 13: It is a.
25:05
Speaker 14: Tri-state regional aged care forum and we had 150 people
25:10
Speaker 14: in the room, 100 were consumers and 50 were providers.
25:15
Speaker 14: So New South Wales, Victoria, and a touch of South Australia.
25:20
Speaker 14: There is such pain and hurt and confusion among our elderly,
25:26
Speaker 14: and they're put in this position because the government has
25:30
Speaker 14: developed bad policy. Fundamentally, the Royal Commission said there should be.
25:36
Speaker 13: A one-door entry.
25:37
Speaker 14: There isn't, and people don't know where the door is,
25:41
Speaker 14: and they don't know how to access it. I think
25:44
Speaker 14: What we found from all of the discussion and everything
25:48
Speaker 14: was scribed on every table. Nick Coatsworth, everyone would know,
25:52
Speaker 14: he facilitated the forum for me. And we know that
25:57
Speaker 14: regional healthcare spending is not where it should be. Same
26:00
Speaker 14: with aged care and the issues around workforce, the issues
26:05
Speaker 14: around distance and access, all of those things mean that
26:09
Speaker 14: our elderly are Well, as we know from the numbers
26:13
Speaker 14: that have been reported, 5,000 people have died while waiting
26:17
Speaker 14: for care. I think one of the other things, Chris,
26:21
Speaker 14: that was really important that came out very strongly on
26:23
Speaker 14: every table was that the telephone assessments, which I think
26:29
Speaker 14: I've talked to you about before, like honestly what a nightmare,
26:33
Speaker 14: a telephone assessment is then managed, the assessment is completed
26:38
Speaker 14: by an algorithm. which we now find out this week,
26:41
Speaker 14: having Sam Ray skirted the whole issue for a year,
26:45
Speaker 14: is not able to be legally overridden by a human.
26:51
Speaker 14: That means that whatever is said on the phone, where
26:54
Speaker 14: we don't have professionals who are observing elderly in their homes,
26:58
Speaker 14: they don't know if what they say is actually what
27:01
Speaker 14: the person can do, it's all a complete failure. And
27:06
Speaker 14: then once the assessment is actually done, It could be
27:10
Speaker 14: nine months before you get an assessment. Then it could
27:12
Speaker 14: be another year before you can actually get a provider
27:16
Speaker 14: and maybe services. They're not guaranteed. So we've got people
27:20
Speaker 14: in the room.
27:21
Speaker 13: Today, made me cry.
27:22
Speaker 14: I know I sometimes look like I cry easily, but
27:27
Speaker 14: where their husband has died because the services were not
27:31
Speaker 14: brought to them, to assisting them. It was multiplied around
27:37
Speaker 14: the room. It is heartbreaking and this government is absolutely
27:41
Speaker 14: tinny on the whole subject.
27:43
Speaker 3: Such an important issue, a problem right around the country,
27:47
Speaker 3: but especially in the regions, as you've highlighted. Good get
27:50
Speaker 3: to get Nick Coatsworth there to facilitate it. I think
27:53
Speaker 3: we might see him in Parliament sometime. Maybe he'd be
27:55
Speaker 3: a Health Minister himself. Just briefly while we've got time, though, Anne,
27:59
Speaker 3: I wanted to get your summary of the Coalition's energy
28:01
Speaker 3: policy released today by Dan Tehan.
28:06
Speaker 14: Yeah, look, the energy policy is really important. The one
28:10
Speaker 14: that stands out to me has to do with social
28:12
Speaker 14: licence and the renewables policy.
28:17
Speaker 13: Which impacts our farmers.
28:18
Speaker 14: I've spoken to you so.
28:19
Speaker 2: Many times about this, Chris.
28:20
Speaker 1: So many times, yeah.
28:22
Speaker 14: Yeah, so the railroading of prime ag land across all
28:27
Speaker 14: the eastern seaboard, honestly, it's our farmers that are wearing
28:30
Speaker 14: the stress and they have no certainty. This policy will
28:36
Speaker 14: address that. So I developed the protection of prime ag
28:40
Speaker 14: land legislation, which Matt Canavan tabled in the Senate and
28:43
Speaker 14: Alison Penfold in the House. because I was back in
28:46
Speaker 14: shadow portfolio roles.
28:49
Speaker 13: And so that.
28:50
Speaker 14: Particular bill would make sure that we had social license.
28:56
Speaker 14: It would make sure that prime ag land was protected.
29:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, spot on.
29:01
Speaker 10: Thanks, Anne.
29:01
Speaker 3: Thanks for joining us. I appreciate it. Anne Webster there
29:03
Speaker 3: joining us live from Mildura. We've got to get to
29:05
Speaker 3: a break. On the other side of that, we're going
29:07
Speaker 3: to catch up with everybody being in New York at
29:09
Speaker 3: the moment, including the UK Prime Minister and Donald Trump,
29:13
Speaker 3: and Xi Jinping is heading for Washington. We'll preview that
29:16
Speaker 3: meeting with Tom Switzer after the break. Let's check in
29:26
Speaker 3: on the UN, where there's been some virtue signalling, as expected,
29:29
Speaker 3: from every nation.
29:30
Speaker 2: And no nation is better at that than, of course, France.
29:33
Speaker 3: Let's have a look at what Emmanuel Macron has had
29:35
Speaker 3: to say at the UN about Gaza.
29:38
Speaker 15: But what is our credibility?
29:39
Speaker 2: Worth if we remain inactive on Gaza?
29:43
Speaker 6: Some claim that.
29:46
Speaker 14: Peace has been achieved, but this has not opened up
29:48
Speaker 14: humanitarian deliveries.
29:50
Speaker 12: The spectacle, the spectacle, it is shameful.
29:54
Speaker 3: Shame on all of us. Yeah, shame on all of us.
29:58
Speaker 3: How about shame on Hamas? Let's bring in economist for
30:01
Speaker 3: The Australian, Tom Switzer. Tom, you'll have been watching events
30:04
Speaker 3: in New York, the annual General Assembly Gab Fest. That's
30:08
Speaker 3: typical of Macron and France, isn't it? Just throwing the barbs,
30:11
Speaker 3: there's a problem here. But what have they ever done
30:13
Speaker 3: to help solve these problems?
30:14
Speaker 16: No, it's a toothless tiger, the United Nations. It doesn't
30:17
Speaker 16: replace power politics, it just disguises it, and that's just
30:20
Speaker 16: being gentle to the United Nations.
30:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is indeed. Now, tell us about.
30:25
Speaker 3: Your thoughts of Anthony Albanese prancing around the place, posting
30:29
Speaker 3: selfies with world leaders, trying to tell them what to
30:31
Speaker 3: do on renewable energy, on social media policies and on AI?
30:36
Speaker 16: There are surely limits on what a middle power can
30:39
Speaker 16: do in the international realm. And I think that Anthony
30:42
Speaker 16: Albanese has just indulged in the old mantra that we
30:46
Speaker 16: need a punch above our weight.
30:48
Speaker 10: But ultimately, Australia's.
30:49
Speaker 16: Influence of these things is pretty limited.
30:51
Speaker 3: Let's have a look at what Donald Trump has had
30:53
Speaker 3: to say about AI. He's now changed his name to superintelligence.
30:57
Speaker 3: He doesn't want any regulation.
30:59
Speaker 2: Here he is.
31:01
Speaker 7: From this point forward, all of United States documents and
31:04
Speaker 7: hopefully the world's will be changed to use the much
31:07
Speaker 7: more accurate term super as opposed to artificial.
31:12
Speaker 6: So it's superintelligence.
31:15
Speaker 7: Welcome to the new world of superintelligence.
31:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, now, he doesn't want it constrained. He sees America's advantage.
31:24
Speaker 3: He's in competition with China. This is directly at odds
31:26
Speaker 3: with Anthony Albanese. These are other countries who say they
31:29
Speaker 3: want to somehow constrain AI. Even some of the AI
31:32
Speaker 3: company leaders say they want to be constrained.
31:35
Speaker 2: Where's this going to end?
31:36
Speaker 16: Well, there's certainly a case for dialogue between Beijing and
31:40
Speaker 16: Washington on artificial intelligence, not least to have hotlines so
31:45
Speaker 16: that they can deal with any crises if a rogue
31:47
Speaker 16: actor gets involved. But we have to be frank. A
31:50
Speaker 16: dialogue should not substitute for competition. We're in the middle,
31:54
Speaker 16: or the very early stages, of a serious technological and
31:57
Speaker 16: indeed strategic competition between the United States and China. Donald
32:01
Speaker 16: Trump knows that. And he also knows Beijing's long record
32:05
Speaker 16: of stealing digital technology from the United States.
32:09
Speaker 3: And he's got an appalling record when it comes to
32:11
Speaker 3: intellectual copyright and stealing.
32:13
Speaker 6: Yep.
32:16
Speaker 3: And stealing technology. So it's got to be a major issue.
32:18
Speaker 3: They're going to meet in Washington tomorrow, our time. Obviously,
32:22
Speaker 3: an important summit. Anytime the US president and Chinese leader
32:26
Speaker 3: get together, AI will no doubt form a part of that.
32:30
Speaker 3: What else will be the key issue?
32:31
Speaker 16: Well, the great concern is Taiwan. Now, in the first
32:34
Speaker 16: Trump administration, the United States was committed to a strategic
32:38
Speaker 16: competition with the United States. And Donald Trump, in the
32:41
Speaker 16: course of the last 18 months, has given some indications
32:44
Speaker 16: that he would like to have a closer relationship with China.
32:47
Speaker 16: And he's flirted with the idea of going slow on
32:50
Speaker 16: exporting technology and arms to Taiwan, and China does not
32:54
Speaker 16: want that. I think Donald Trump would be unwise to
32:57
Speaker 16: follow China's.
32:57
Speaker 2: Lead on this.
32:58
Speaker 16: It's very important that America makes it very clear that
33:01
Speaker 16: it will go to great lengths to defend Taiwan in
33:03
Speaker 16: the event of any Chinese attack on the vibrant island democracy.
33:07
Speaker 3: Now, you're very critical of Trump over Iran, so we
33:10
Speaker 3: better show you what he said in the UN, his
33:13
Speaker 3: latest bluster on Iran.
33:19
Speaker 7: That lets them rebuild and create a far greater country
33:23
Speaker 7: than it ever was before. Or do I annihilate the
33:28
Speaker 7: Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a
33:31
Speaker 7: chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?
33:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, raising the spectre of annihilation again. You say that
33:40
Speaker 3: America's bogged down in.
33:41
Speaker 2: An unwinnable war here.
33:42
Speaker 16: Well, I mean, we've heard this before, time and again,
33:45
Speaker 16: since the February 28 strikes. The President has talked about
33:49
Speaker 16: escalating the military conflict, annihilating a civilisation and whatnot.
33:54
Speaker 10: But he always backs down.
33:55
Speaker 16: Taco, you know, Trump always backs down. The reality is
33:58
Speaker 16: there is an extreme munitions shortage in Washington, and he
34:01
Speaker 16: knows that. And he's clearly underestimated Iran's capacity to use
34:06
Speaker 16: these ballistic missiles to intimidate America's Sunni Gulf allies across
34:10
Speaker 16: the Persian Gulf. The only way to solve this problem
34:13
Speaker 16: is through a political settlement. He had that with the
34:15
Speaker 16: Memorandum of Understanding.
34:17
Speaker 1: Which he jettisoned. But, you know, what's the alternative?
34:20
Speaker 10: Are we going to prolong the war?
34:22
Speaker 16: And two months out before the midterm elections, with the
34:25
Speaker 16: price of crude going up, he may pay a very
34:27
Speaker 16: heavy political price at the midterm elections.
34:30
Speaker 3: We've got high oil prices affecting everyone around the world now,
34:33
Speaker 3: and as you say, the midterms are only weeks away,
34:37
Speaker 3: so the political implications are strong. Thanks for joining us again,
34:40
Speaker 3: Tom Switzer there. You can read his stuff in The Australian.
34:42
Speaker 3: After the break, we'll cross to the UK to get
34:45
Speaker 3: a readout on how the British PM and Donald Trump
34:47
Speaker 3: have been at loggerheads over an issue or two.
34:50
Speaker 2: Esther Cracker will join us. The UK's new Prime Minister,
34:58
Speaker 2: Andy Burnham, faced his first diplomatic test at the United
35:01
Speaker 2: Nations in New York overnight.
35:02
Speaker 3: His predecessor, Keir Starmer, of course, famously fell out with
35:06
Speaker 3: President Trump over the UK's decision to hand sovereignty of
35:10
Speaker 3: the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Now, in the centre of
35:14
Speaker 3: the Indian Ocean, with the airbase at Diego Garcia, these
35:18
Speaker 3: islands are an important tactical asset. And in his first
35:22
Speaker 3: meeting with Burnham, Trump didn't hide his anger over the Brits.
35:25
Speaker 2: Latest attempt at self-flagellation.
35:29
Speaker 10: I don't support it.
35:29
Speaker 1: I think it's terrible.
35:31
Speaker 17: It was a terrible deal. They all of a sudden
35:34
Speaker 17: say they have ownership. Somebody has ownership that never showed
35:37
Speaker 17: up before. We were talking about that. It's strategically very important.
35:42
Speaker 17: When we bombed the Iran nuclear, we had to send
35:45
Speaker 17: the B-2 bombers back home to Missouri as opposed to
35:49
Speaker 17: flying for a short period of time. They had to
35:51
Speaker 17: fly for a long period of time. I think the
35:52
Speaker 17: prime minister is going to be looking at it.
35:56
Speaker 3: Let's go to London and catch up with writer and
35:58
Speaker 3: broadcaster Esther Crack, who seemed to be a suggestion there, Esther,
36:03
Speaker 3: that Andy Burnham might re-examine this issue.
36:06
Speaker 2: He's not going to change his mind, is he?
36:09
Speaker 10: I don't think he is.
36:10
Speaker 15: I mean, there's nothing more glorious than waking up to
36:12
Speaker 15: see that nutter Trump giving a British prime minister a hiding.
36:16
Speaker 15: And Andy Burnham has already been nicknamed continuity care, more
36:19
Speaker 15: like incontinence care, but let's not go there. But he
36:23
Speaker 15: was clearly completely out of his depth. He looked quite
36:25
Speaker 15: taken by surprise that Donald Trump even mentioned it to
36:29
Speaker 15: the detail. that he did, that they had to send
36:31
Speaker 15: back their bombers to Missouri as opposed to using a
36:34
Speaker 15: base from an ally, a supposed ally, that they agreed
36:37
Speaker 15: upon using as a launch pad for their strikes against Iran.
36:43
Speaker 15: But I don't think anything is going to come of it.
36:45
Speaker 15: For some reason, the Labour Party seems to be bent
36:48
Speaker 15: on this treasonous act of madness to hand over a
36:51
Speaker 15: territory that we already know to a China-friendly country and
36:55
Speaker 15: to pay them for the privilege because we are completely
36:58
Speaker 15: bereft of imagination and keep jumping headfirst into the most
37:01
Speaker 15: stupid decisions imaginable. So I'm glad that Donald Trump raised that.
37:05
Speaker 15: And it was actually a very tactical question by the
37:07
Speaker 15: reporter that posed it. But you could see that Andy
37:10
Speaker 15: Burnham was completely out of his depth. I mean, he
37:13
Speaker 15: used the first two minutes of his speech at this
37:15
Speaker 15: UN meeting to talk about Brexit. And if there's anything
37:19
Speaker 15: that indicates that someone just completely does not understand the
37:21
Speaker 15: British electorate is relitigating a decision from 10 years ago
37:25
Speaker 15: as if the heavens fell and time completely stood still
37:28
Speaker 15: when the United Kingdom took the ridiculous decision, the unthinkable
37:33
Speaker 15: decision to leave the EU. And that's obviously clearly adrift
37:37
Speaker 15: from the reality of the voters and just of geopolitics
37:40
Speaker 15: more broadly. I don't think anyone is looking at the
37:42
Speaker 15: EU as some sort of beacon of development and hope.
37:44
Speaker 3: Well, we keep talking about the immigration problem. You'd have
37:47
Speaker 3: no hope if you were still in the EU. What
37:49
Speaker 3: surprises me is that Britain isn't able to establish its
37:53
Speaker 3: sovereign rights over immigration, even now that it's out of
37:55
Speaker 3: the EU. But let's go on to Australia-UK relations. And
38:01
Speaker 3: our two prime ministers got together in the UN.
38:03
Speaker 2: Here's a bit of what they had to say. We
38:06
Speaker 2: have history... We have common values.
38:10
Speaker 4: We have a Westminster parliamentary system that we inherited and
38:15
Speaker 4: so much of our traditions come from your traditions.
38:19
Speaker 6: We look to you and what you've done, the leadership
38:21
Speaker 6: that you've given on social media and we're looking to
38:25
Speaker 6: go on.
38:26
Speaker 2: Our own path now.
38:26
Speaker 6: We're completely aligned politically.
38:30
Speaker 3: Yeah, they've got a lot in common, all right, Esther,
38:34
Speaker 3: because they're both weak, they both can't control spending, they
38:38
Speaker 3: both want to stick the hand of government into everything,
38:40
Speaker 3: they both think they can save the planet by destroying
38:43
Speaker 3: our electricity grid. I mean, what don't they agree on?
38:46
Speaker 15: They have leadership on social media where they're being asked
38:49
Speaker 15: what their favorite flavor of tacos is. I mean, it's
38:52
Speaker 15: just it's completely I mean, they're both completely adrift from
38:55
Speaker 15: from from the voting public to spectacular degrees. I mean,
39:00
Speaker 15: where else can we draw similarities between these two? They're
39:03
Speaker 15: completely out of their depth. They're trying to project power
39:06
Speaker 15: way above the sort of their pay grade when they
39:08
Speaker 15: just don't understand the fundamentals of a functioning state. They
39:12
Speaker 15: don't understand that you can't, no one's been taxed into prosperity.
39:16
Speaker 15: I mean, the similarities keep going on and on, but
39:19
Speaker 15: it's actually quite sad to see because, you know, you
39:21
Speaker 15: have countries like Sweden and Germany, for example, where you
39:24
Speaker 15: see these fundamental issues of mass immigration, of high energy prices,
39:29
Speaker 15: of high unemployment. how it is eating into the electoral outcomes.
39:36
Speaker 15: I mean, Angela Merkel's party, the CDU party, for example,
39:39
Speaker 15: in regional elections.
39:40
Speaker 13: Recently didn't win a single seat.
39:42
Speaker 15: And that's a seat she represented for 30 years. These
39:46
Speaker 15: are the kinds of things that are frustrating people. And
39:48
Speaker 15: they lost the AFD, no less. And in a place
39:52
Speaker 15: like Sweden, you have demographic changes actually shaping their elections.
39:55
Speaker 15: So it's not just about the fact that last year
39:57
Speaker 15: Sweden had 200 bombings or the fact that they're using
40:01
Speaker 15: children as basically like de facto terrorists. It's the fact
40:05
Speaker 15: that these significant demographic changes are fundamentally affecting their electoral
40:09
Speaker 15: cycles and the decision making in the country. So, unfortunately,
40:13
Speaker 15: if Labor and our Labor Party don't change direction, they're
40:16
Speaker 15: going to see similar outcomes.
40:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, there's no doubt these forces coming from
40:20
Speaker 3: the populace through polls and elections are common right across
40:25
Speaker 3: Western liberal democracies. But, sadly, the other thing that's common
40:28
Speaker 3: is that the elitist, the leftist elitist governments in charge
40:31
Speaker 3: just aren't listening.
40:34
Speaker 15: And it's quite strange because there's a lot of evidence
40:36
Speaker 15: to suggest that that's actually the path to electoral success,
40:39
Speaker 15: taking the concerns of the voters seriously. I know it's
40:42
Speaker 15: quite shocking in a democracy, but look at what Denmark
40:44
Speaker 15: has done. I mean, it basically saved their left wing
40:46
Speaker 15: parties when they got really hard on immigration and decided
40:49
Speaker 15: to take the concerns of voters seriously. And for some reason,
40:54
Speaker 15: our left wing parties don't seem to want to even
40:56
Speaker 15: engage with that.
40:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, they are delusional. Thanks for joining us, Esther. Appreciate it.
41:00
Speaker 2: Esther Cracker, all over in the UK as ever. We'll
41:03
Speaker 2: get to a break.
41:04
Speaker 3: On the other side, we'll have a wrangle, a Wednesday wrangle,
41:06
Speaker 3: with Danica DiGiorgio making a return performance and James Bolt.
41:10
Speaker 3: We'll look at Albanese's plummeting popularity here in Australia while
41:14
Speaker 3: he yucks it up at the UN. Let's get into
41:22
Speaker 3: the Wednesday wrangle now. It's great to have Danika DiGiorgio
41:24
Speaker 3: back in here.
41:25
Speaker 10: Oh, hi.
41:26
Speaker 3: One of the busiest women at News 24. She's found
41:28
Speaker 3: time to slot in here.
41:29
Speaker 2: Always.
41:29
Speaker 3: And James Bolt up from the digital desk. Guys, give
41:32
Speaker 3: us first up. I'll let you go first, Danika. Ladies first,
41:35
Speaker 3: of course, especially on your return performance. Albo at the UN,
41:39
Speaker 3: so obviously enjoying glad-handing all these world leaders and talking
41:43
Speaker 3: about AI and about social media. How's this looking when
41:47
Speaker 3: we've got really serious cost-of-living issues back home?
41:50
Speaker 13: It looks absolutely pathetic.
41:51
Speaker 18: He's patting himself on the back right now, because don't forget, Chris,
41:54
Speaker 18: of course, he's about to receive his Global Citizen Award.
41:56
Speaker 18: This is a big moment for Anthony Albanese on the
41:59
Speaker 18: world stage. When here back at home, we've got reports
42:02
Speaker 18: that we could see three interest rate rises between now
42:05
Speaker 18: and May next year, disaster for homeowners. And your report
42:08
Speaker 18: today said about 50% of renters do not feel secure
42:12
Speaker 18: right now.
42:12
Speaker 13: The taxes are still having a phenomenal impact.
42:16
Speaker 18: Housing prices, you know, it's a shocking time right now
42:20
Speaker 18: to be in the market or if you're a first
42:21
Speaker 18: home buyer. And Anthony Albanese swatting about on the world stage,
42:25
Speaker 18: patting world leaders on the back, doing goodness knows what,
42:27
Speaker 18: doesn't want to address the crisis in the Pilbara in WA, doesn't.
42:30
Speaker 13: Want to hear about it.
42:30
Speaker 2: Don't ask me about that while I'm here.
42:31
Speaker 13: Don't ask me about domestic issues. I'm not interested. I'm
42:34
Speaker 13: too busy on my vanity project.
42:36
Speaker 3: It surprised me, I've got to say, because one thing
42:38
Speaker 3: you say about Albo, James, is he's normally politically pretty sharp, right?
42:42
Speaker 3: And the idea that he's pumping out this social media
42:44
Speaker 3: feed of all this stuff is just wrong. He ought
42:46
Speaker 3: to be just shutting up and doing what he needs
42:47
Speaker 3: to do there and then getting home.
42:49
Speaker 10: You'd think so. I think you said there he'd be
42:51
Speaker 10: patting leaders on the back. Do you reckon anyone has
42:53
Speaker 10: ever had their hands more to their sides than Albanese,
42:55
Speaker 10: meaning the Japanese president? I don't think he made a
42:58
Speaker 10: single hand gesture. He didn't do this. He definitely didn't
43:01
Speaker 10: do that.
43:01
Speaker 2: Thank God.
43:02
Speaker 10: He was self-regulating as much as he ever could. But also, like,
43:05
Speaker 10: the other big selfie today was him with Donald Trump.
43:08
Speaker 1: Yes.
43:08
Speaker 2: What a hypocrite.
43:09
Speaker 10: You say correctly, usually he's pretty good at politics. This
43:12
Speaker 10: is the second time he's had a big selfie with
43:14
Speaker 10: Donald Trump and wanted to show everyone. What is his
43:17
Speaker 10: sin to Labor people? You spend so much time being like,
43:19
Speaker 10: Donald Trump's the enemy, he's everything that we hate about
43:22
Speaker 10: the world, American hegemony, etc., Second you get a chance,
43:24
Speaker 10: you're like, hey, we're best mates. Like, who's that signalling to?
43:27
Speaker 3: And as I showed at the top of the program,
43:29
Speaker 3: he's criticised Trump for playing politics through social media and
43:33
Speaker 3: here I am having a selfie with him.
43:34
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just so hypocritical.
43:36
Speaker 3: Let's have a listen of something he's had to say
43:38
Speaker 3: about AI.
43:39
Speaker 2: Here's Albo.
43:41
Speaker 4: I'll always stand up for Australia's national interests and the
43:45
Speaker 4: digital duty of care is something that we've foreshadowed for
43:49
Speaker 4: some period of time. It's not about giving government control,
43:52
Speaker 4: it's about giving people back control over what they receive
43:57
Speaker 4: on their devices, which is why it is framed in
44:01
Speaker 4: that way.
44:03
Speaker 2: This is just nonsense.
44:04
Speaker 3: This Moralbo lies. He's not standing up for Australia's interests.
44:06
Speaker 3: The foreign minister is there, for crying out loud. Why
44:09
Speaker 3: does he need to be there talking about bloody social
44:11
Speaker 3: media bans that every 11-year-old kid in Australia is getting around?
44:15
Speaker 2: Exactly.
44:16
Speaker 18: And let's be honest, his track record when it comes
44:18
Speaker 18: to the digital sphere is a shocker. Look at this
44:20
Speaker 18: duty of care bill. That's an absolute disaster. Remember, the
44:22
Speaker 18: minister couldn't even explain what it means.
44:24
Speaker 13: And what social harms... actually stand for.
44:27
Speaker 18: And I'm actually, I'm quite baffled that he's gone against
44:29
Speaker 18: Donald Trump when it comes to AI. I don't personally
44:32
Speaker 18: think that this is the number one priority list of
44:34
Speaker 18: Australians tackling artificial intelligence.
44:37
Speaker 13: I agree it's a problem. It's runaway. It's unregulated.
44:40
Speaker 18: But Anthony Albanese has gone against the United States in this.
44:43
Speaker 18: He's signed this document to which other nations like Britain
44:46
Speaker 18: haven't even signed.
44:48
Speaker 13: There's no detail in the document itself.
44:50
Speaker 18: We don't know how they're going to plan to tackle
44:52
Speaker 18: artificial intelligence. And then Albo comes out and goes, I'm
44:56
Speaker 18: doing everything I can right now to protect Australians.
44:58
Speaker 13: Please just stop.
44:59
Speaker 2: Just stop.
45:00
Speaker 13: It's getting embarrassing.
45:02
Speaker 3: It is very embarrassing. And, look, he's not coming back
45:04
Speaker 3: for the AFL grand final, James. Now, I think that, frankly,
45:07
Speaker 3: is un-Australian... and he's obviously pretending that he's too busy working.
45:11
Speaker 2: But I think there's a secret agenda here.
45:13
Speaker 3: I think he's too embarrassed to turn up at the
45:15
Speaker 3: grand final because Kylie Minogue's playing, and it's one of
45:19
Speaker 3: these things where he's shared his fantasies about her with
45:21
Speaker 3: the world in a most unprimed ministerial fashion, and he
45:25
Speaker 3: just doesn't want to be near the joint, so he's
45:26
Speaker 3: sending the sports rorts minister instead.
45:29
Speaker 10: Can you just imagine how disappointed the pilot switching the
45:32
Speaker 10: AFL grand final is, that he's just lost the shot
45:35
Speaker 10: of Kylie Minogue performing... Mashed cut to Albanese watching.
45:38
Speaker 2: Dribbling.
45:39
Speaker 10: And Albanese just going, like, don't give the camera attention
45:41
Speaker 10: right now.
45:41
Speaker 2: Don't smile, don't look, pretend you're not looking.
45:43
Speaker 13: And Joe's sitting next to him.
45:44
Speaker 10: Yeah, yeah, exactly. But, like, look, you know, if he
45:47
Speaker 10: doesn't want to go to the AFL Grand Final, I
45:48
Speaker 10: am very happy to take the Prime Ministerial seats that
45:50
Speaker 10: they hand out.
45:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
45:52
Speaker 10: There's probably two seats available. You have my email address.
45:55
Speaker 2: There you go. And who would you back if you went?
45:59
Speaker 10: Frio, head says Brisbane by at least 50 points.
46:02
Speaker 2: We digress.
46:03
Speaker 3: And, look, we love Johannes Leek, his cartoons in The Australian.
46:08
Speaker 2: He always draws Albo now, holding two melons.
46:11
Speaker 1: Always.
46:11
Speaker 13: It's the perfect shot.
46:13
Speaker 1: He's dribbling, spitting.
46:14
Speaker 2: And holding melons. And, as you say, Albo's got his
46:17
Speaker 2: hands at his sides.
46:18
Speaker 3: I want to talk about interest rates, inflation and the
46:21
Speaker 3: role that government's playing in this. And Koshi's call that
46:24
Speaker 3: we talked about at the top of the program for
46:26
Speaker 3: the Reserve Bank Governor to be bolder in calling this out.
46:29
Speaker 3: Have a look at Koshi from earlier in the program.
46:33
Speaker 1: My message to Michelle Bullock is that you've talked to
46:37
Speaker 1: average Australians over the last two years and said, we've
46:41
Speaker 1: got to fight inflation, we've got to tighten our belt.
46:43
Speaker 1: It's governments and their demand, not just the federal government.
46:48
Speaker 1: It is state governments, it's local governments. They're spending what
46:52
Speaker 1: they were spending during COVID to keep us out of
46:55
Speaker 1: a Great Depression.
46:57
Speaker 2: Danika, Koshy's right, isn't she? Absolutely. Now, Bullock, to be fair,
47:01
Speaker 2: sort of talks about these issues generally and covers.
47:04
Speaker 3: But she hasn't been blunt and said that the real
47:06
Speaker 3: driver of inflation at the moment, or at least 50%,
47:09
Speaker 3: let her quantify it, is government support.
47:12
Speaker 13: No, she hasn't been.
47:13
Speaker 18: I mean, she has given warnings, I will say that,
47:16
Speaker 18: but not directly. And even on Friday, I remember she
47:18
Speaker 18: had that exchange with Simon Kennedy where she was asked
47:21
Speaker 18: about the spending modelling, and even then she was unwilling
47:25
Speaker 18: to give an answer, and I think it was all very,
47:26
Speaker 18: very political. The only person who doesn't realise that spending
47:29
Speaker 18: is out of control in this country right now seems
47:31
Speaker 18: to be Jim Chalmers, and I know that Koshi even
47:34
Speaker 18: mentioned that in the interview.
47:35
Speaker 13: You spoke at length about that.
47:38
Speaker 18: And the thing is, is that the intergenerational report that
47:40
Speaker 18: was handed down earlier in the week said that we're
47:42
Speaker 18: going to have about 40 years of deficits ahead.
47:45
Speaker 1: Unreal.
47:45
Speaker 13: And a lot of it has.
47:46
Speaker 18: To do with spending over time. So it's really slapping
47:50
Speaker 18: the Treasurer in the face.
47:51
Speaker 13: He's in denial.
47:52
Speaker 18: But how good would it be for Michelle Bullock to
47:55
Speaker 18: lay down the gauntlet?
47:56
Speaker 3: I think the Reserve Bank, James, says, well, we don't
47:59
Speaker 3: control government policy. But if you send out the message...
48:02
Speaker 3: No-one's asking them to be political. Just lay the facts
48:05
Speaker 3: on the line. That helps the political pressure and voters
48:08
Speaker 3: push for the spending restraint we need.
48:10
Speaker 10: Yeah, I think that, unfortunately, the way the RBA is
48:13
Speaker 10: set up, that is by its nature political, unfortunately, because
48:16
Speaker 10: it is true that it's government spending, but that would
48:18
Speaker 10: take away, you know, not just Labor, I'll be honest.
48:21
Speaker 10: It's Liberal as well. It's their favourite thing to do,
48:22
Speaker 10: which is pre-election commitment.
48:24
Speaker 6: Yeah.
48:24
Speaker 10: If you say, like, OK, we're actually going to limit
48:26
Speaker 10: government spending, they've got less that they can announce in
48:28
Speaker 10: an election to win. So they're not going to do
48:30
Speaker 10: that because they don't like losing elections.
48:32
Speaker 3: Well, where it got out of control was COVID overreach
48:36
Speaker 3: under a coalition government. The trouble is it has not
48:38
Speaker 3: been wound back strongly enough by the coalition immediately, but really,
48:41
Speaker 3: especially by Labor since. I want to go to US
48:44
Speaker 3: politics because Kamala Harris, our favourite, has been out and about.
48:47
Speaker 3: And I want to show you this clip where she's
48:49
Speaker 3: G-ing people up. She wants everybody to get out and
48:52
Speaker 3: vote at the midterms to make the elections too big
48:55
Speaker 3: to rig.
48:55
Speaker 13: Too big to rig. We've got to be too big
49:02
Speaker 13: to rig.
49:06
Speaker 7: Right?
49:08
Speaker 3: LAUGHTER She is the world champion for being able to
49:16
Speaker 3: laugh at nothing.
49:18
Speaker 2: But this is just... pathetic, isn't it? Because too big
49:22
Speaker 2: to rig.
49:23
Speaker 3: They keep going on about Trump saying that he had
49:25
Speaker 3: an election stolen and all they ever talk about is
49:27
Speaker 3: elections being stolen as well. Doesn't anybody accept the will
49:30
Speaker 3: of voters in the US anymore?
49:32
Speaker 13: No, but, yeah, she's all about democracy, though, isn't she?
49:35
Speaker 18: I think there was a point in there somewhere, but
49:36
Speaker 18: I think it got lost in that word salad journey,
49:38
Speaker 18: so I'm not entirely sure what she was on about.
49:41
Speaker 13: My question, I would like.
49:42
Speaker 18: To know, Chris, was it a margarita or a red
49:45
Speaker 18: before that word salad journey?
49:46
Speaker 2: Or maybe it.
49:47
Speaker 13: Was a tequila shot.
49:48
Speaker 18: Kamala, please, we'd love to know because I detected a
49:51
Speaker 18: bit of slurring in that last little bit of sentence there.
49:55
Speaker 3: There's someone I'm very close to who should not be named,
49:58
Speaker 3: says you never order just one margarita. They take too
50:01
Speaker 3: long to make. You've got to order two and double
50:03
Speaker 3: park them.
50:03
Speaker 2: There you go. So maybe she's on that bandwagon.
50:06
Speaker 3: Surely Kamala's a terrible distraction for the Democrats. They've got
50:10
Speaker 3: to get her out of the way and find someone
50:12
Speaker 3: else to lead their charge.
50:13
Speaker 10: You're right, but, look, I'll be perfectly honest, I know
50:16
Speaker 10: I don't have a lot of time. Kamala, please run. Like,
50:18
Speaker 10: I'm one News 24 guy, we're all News 24 people,
50:20
Speaker 10: we need the clips, please run.
50:22
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us, James and Danika.
50:23
Speaker 10: Thank you.
50:24
Speaker 2: A real pleasure.
50:24
Speaker 3: Just to go to some of your feedback from what
50:26
Speaker 3: we had to say last night about the Reserve Bank
50:29
Speaker 3: and what Koshi had to say. And Darren said, interest
50:31
Speaker 3: rates will make no difference if this useless government does
50:35
Speaker 3: not reduce spending. The RBA needs to get out of
50:38
Speaker 3: their ivory palace and meet people on the streets.
50:41
Speaker 2: Well said. And that's what Koshi backed up today in
50:44
Speaker 2: that interview.
50:44
Speaker 3: Thanks for joining us. Been plenty happening today. We'll be
50:47
Speaker 3: back tomorrow. And here's Peter Credlin back in her own chair.
50:50
Speaker 2: See you tomorrow.