Latest / The Bolt Report / The Bolt Report | 8 January

Transcript

The Bolt Report | 8 January · The Bolt Report

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: He's the reform it.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Well, good evening and welcome to the show. I'm James
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Macpherson filling in for Andrew bolt Is what's coming up tonight?
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Anthony Albanezi calls a Royal commission into anti Semitism? Does
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: he deserve any credit? Why does it take so long?
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: And do we trust the terms of reference? Security expert
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Peter Jennings will join me shortly. New data shows the
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: burnout rate among staff in regional hospitals is, if you'll
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: pardon the pun, off the charts. How concerned should we
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: be that those trusted to care for the sick are
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: so stressed themselves? And remember that youth offender who was
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: sent on an all expenses paid trip to Dreamworld as
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: part of his rehabilitation, Well he's been arrested again. Surprise, surprise.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: A former detective will explain to me why cases like
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: this drive police to destruction and Victorian firefighters already have
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: their hands full with worsening whether conditions to come. We'll
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: get the latest on that shortly, but first, what's that
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: old expression better late than never? Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: has finally belatedly called a Royal commission into the Bondi
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: terror attack and into anti Semitism.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: It's clear to me that a Royal commission is essential.
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: Today I announced that I will be recommending to the
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Governor General and an Executive Council meeting that will be
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: held tomorrow that a Royal Commission on Anti Semitism and
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: Social Cohesion be established.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: What only took Anthony Albanese weeks to finally catch up
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: with the rest of the country. A national survey published
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: in The Daily Telegraph today found fifty four percent of
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Australians wanted a full inquiry into the terror attack. Only
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: nine teen percent were opposed. The rest were unsure. Now,
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: to be fair, Poland would probably show the majority of
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Australians also believe ice cream should be free. But opinion
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: on a Royal commission, well, that's about national security, about
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: public safety, and about the moral imperative of protecting Jews
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: in this country from an existential threat. Had the PM
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: denied the majority of the Australian population on this issue,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: as he and his ministers had threatened for so long,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Australians would not have forgotten, and nor would they have forgiven.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: And besides, the momentum toward a Royal Commission was gaining
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: pace without the PM. So well done Anthony Albanezi for
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: realizing today what eighty eight year old Dawn Fraser realized
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: weeks ago. Today's newspapers were filled with opinion pieces not
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: about whether or not a Royal Commission should be held,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: but about which prominent Australians should lead the inquiry when
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: it happens. Now most leaders say I'm the leader, follow me.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: Anthony Albanese's mantra is I'm the leader, wait for me. Obama,
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: he used to talk about leading from behind will elbow.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: He's perfected it, and this afternoon he finally caught up
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: with the rest of the country.
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: I've taken the time to reflect.
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: It's clear to me that a Royal Commission is essential
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: to achieving this.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: He's taken the time to reflect. Did the PM really
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: need twenty five days of reflection to realize the worst
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: terror attack on Australian saw demanded a royal commission. New
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: South Wales Premier Christians announced the roy Commission within six days.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: Should we call the PM slow or is he just
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: the most reflective leader since the Dealai Lama. Anthony Albanese
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: is right, of course to have called this royal commission.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: But when a state premier can grasp the urgency in
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: under a week and the nation's leader needs nearly a
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: month and a strong tailwind of public outrage to boot well,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: the doesn't look like reflection or listening. It looks like avoidance.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: History will record that the PM did the right thing.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: It'll also record that he did it late and only
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: after everyone else had already arrived at the obvious and
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: it was obvious that nothing less than a royal commission
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: was necessary. It was obvious immediately after the Bondi terror attacks,
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: when our political class, our media elite, and our law
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: of fall enforcement officials demonstrated so conclusively they were all
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: but clueless as to how to deal with the threat
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: of radical Islam. Or worse, maybe they weren't clueless, maybe
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: just plain scared. Remember when the Deputy PM No Less
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: was asked by my Sky News colleague Peter Stefanovick about
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: the need to crack down on Islamic hate preachers.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Should there be a greater emphasis on hate speech from
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Muslim clerics in the western part of Sydney.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Now, I think we all knew the answer to that
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: question was yes, But here's what the Deputy Prime said.
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: I think Look, I think, as I said earlier, what
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: we've done is criminalized more forms of hate speech.
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: And you know, we criminalize chrominalized the Nazi salute. Obviously
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: that's a.
• 5:15
  Speaker 6: In its own context, but we need to be looking
• 5:18
  Speaker 6: at all of this.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: What on earth was that we've criminalized the Nazi salute?
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: Did the Deputy PM honestly think that banning a gesture
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: used by the Germans eighty years ago would help protect
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: Jews from radicalismists today? Did you really expect credit for that?
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: You remember Peter Stefanovic followed up.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: With this, should there be a greater emphasis on this
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: hate speech from Muslim clerics?
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Then what.
• 5:47
  Speaker 7: I don't want to we will go through all of this.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: What conclusion were we to draw other than that ministers
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: in the Albanese government were terrified of offending Islamists. If
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: that didn't exactly fill you with confidence, will pity the
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: man looking to the Prime Minister for reassurance after the
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Bondi terror attack, He tweeted and let me quote, everyone
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: deserves to feel safe in Australia, no matter who they worship.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: We will not be divided. We will come through this together. Now,
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: the alleged Islamist gunman on Bondai Beach weren't seeking to
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: divide us. They were allegedly seeking to kill Jews. And
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: in the wake of a terror attack, it didn't help
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: that the PM kept insisting his main job was to
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: to bring everybody together. My job as the leader, as
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: the Prime Minister, is to bring the country together. Now
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: that was rich coming from a guy who tried to
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: insert race into the constitution. And you can't even fly
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: the national flag without an Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: flag pushing it to the periphery. But you got the
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: feeling Albanez he preferred to make his job about uniting
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: the country in a group hug because well, that's much
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: easier than his actual job one he seemed very reticent
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: to do, which is to purge Islamic extremism from our
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: country so that Jews not only feel safe, but are
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: safe in this country. So many in the media demonstrated
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: they didn't get it either, and this only made it
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: more obvious that a royal commission was vital. You remember
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: a few weeks ago when ABC journalist Laura Tingle insisted
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: the slaughter of Jews by alleged Islamic gi artists allegedly
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: acting on behalf of Islamic state had nothing whatsoever to
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: do with Islam. Tingle was speaking on the ABC's Politics
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Now podcast.
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: Their actions are not based on their religion.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: Well, of course, I honestly couldn't be bothered listing all
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: the reasons the alleged g Hardes are believe to have
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: gone full g Hardy based on their belief in ji
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: had Besides, what would be the point? The ABC seemed
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: to have already decided that the alleged facts were a
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: little bit triggering. That's why we need a royal commission.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: When it was revealed the bomb thy gunmen were allegedly
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: inspired by ISIS, former seven thirty host Quentin Dempster tweeted
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: and by quote, is is an apostate entity. Is is
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: indifferent to religion. IS kills Muslims too, isis is indifferent
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: to religion. The clue is in the initial where the
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: eye in ISIS stands for Islamic and sure, ISIS kills
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: Muslim So does Amas, so does the Muslim Brotherhood, so
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: does the Taliban, so does the Islamic Republic of Iran history,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: ancient and modern shows radical Islamists have no hesitation sacrificing
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: their own if it means furthering what they believe to
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: be the cause of Islam. So to claim that Islamic
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: state is indifferent to religion, it's just plain stupid. As
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: for the claim that ISIS is an apostate entity, well,
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Dempster should explain why so many Muslims, some here in
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: Australia and overseas, were so desperate to join ISIS, and
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: why so many Muslim organizations around the world are loath
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: to condemn ISIS. Assistant Minister for Productivity Andrew Lee was
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: typical of MPs who tiptoed around the issue of radical Islam.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: He tweeted, there is no place for anti Semitism in Australia.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: The violence and hatred we saw in Bondai on Sunday
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: is an evil scourge and we will eradicate it. That's
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: why we're bringing in new laws to protect to wish Australians.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: And here's the part I want to focus on. Crack
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: down on hate, division and radicalization. Crack down on hate,
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: how do you crack down on an emotion? Crack down
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: on division, well, it's a little vague crack down on radicalization.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: You're getting closer, Andrew Lee, but could you be a
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: little more specific? Seriously, if government ministers couldn't even say
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: the phrase radical Islam, what hope they'd do anything about it?
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: And this is one of the reasons why we must
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: have and thank god now have a Royal Commission, because
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: we simply don't trust our political leaders to tell us
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: the truth about the threat we face, and sadly we
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: don't trust law enforcement officials either, and why should we not.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: After Australian Federal Police Commissioner Chrissy Barrett informed the nation
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: that the slaughter of fifteen Australians by alleged Islamic jee
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: hardists had nothing to do with Islam. During a press conference,
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Barrett said the alleged ge hardests had been aligning themselves
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: with a terrorist organization, not a religion. Barrett said this
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: straight faced, standing beside the Prime Minister, who naturally remained silent.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: The statement itself was a marvel. It asks us to
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: believe that a group called Islamic State, whose fighters shout
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Islamic slogans, swear Islamic oaths, cite Islamic texts and explicitly
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: say they're acting for Islam sub and how have no
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: connection to Islam? When it was later revealed the alleged
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: g Hardists had made a video swearing their allegiance to
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: Islamic State, the AFP boss returned for a second helping
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: of nonsense.
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: But we know who isis distorts and corrupts Islam, which
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: leads to radicalization.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: How do we know Isis distorts Islam? Could Chrissy Barrett elaborate?
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: Provide examples which Islamic doctrines are being distorted, which versus misread,
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: which traditions corrupted, Which parts of Islam does isis get wrong?
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: And what parts do they get right? Now? These are
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: not trick questions. They're the most basic questions any serious
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: person should ask if they're going to make sweeping claims
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: about religion and violence. But no, not a single journalist
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: in the Canberra Press gallery asked Barrett to explain herself.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: There were no follow up questions, no requests for clarification,
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: no curiosity, just obedient note taking and a quick pivot
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: to the next approved talking point. And so her assertion
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: that Islamic state has nothing to do with Islam was
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: allowed to go unchallenged. That's not policing, that's public relations.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: The job of the AFP Commissioner is not to protect
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: Australians from uncomfortable thoughts. It's to protect Australians from being murdered,
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: and that requires clarity about threats, motivations and ideologies. Instead,
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: in the wake of the Bondi attack, we were treated
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: to the kind of euphemistic fog normally produced by university
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: diversity officers. By pretending islamus Terra has nothing to do
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: with Islam, our leaders guarantee they'll never understand it, never
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: confront it, and never stop it. Worse, they insult the
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: intelligence of every Australian. We're asked to accept that these
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: alleged killers are motivated by everything except the thing they
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: themselves allegedly say motivates them, That their theology is irrelevant,
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: their slogans meaningless, their declarations just a coincidence. At some point,
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: denial stops being compassion and it starts being negligence. And
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: as for the press, gallery, will spare me. Journalism used
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: to involve asking questions that people in people in power
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: didn't want to answer. Now it's mostly about asking questions
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: that help people in power avoid saying anything at all
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: when the nation's top cop makes an assertion that consequential
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: that an explicitly Islamist terror group has nothing to do
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: with Islam, and no one challenges it. Let's not journalism,
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: that's stenography. And hopefully a Royal commission announced today will
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: provide some planes speaking and some intellectual honesty, because my god,
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: they've been in short supply. Former South Australian Premier Mike Rhan,
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: who was too smart by half when arguing against a
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: Royal commission, tweeted this, have a listen, decent Kiwis didn't
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: blame the Adern government when an Australian terrorist killed fifty
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: two Muslims and wounded many more. Instead, they rallied around
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: a prime minister seeking to unite, not divide New Zealanders,
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: and their parliament overwhelmingly supported tougher gun laws. So if
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: I read that right. In the wake of Jews shot
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: dead at Bondi, Anthony Alberanzi was the victim, maybe Kiwis
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: didn't blame Jacinda Adern for what happened in christ Church
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: because Jacinda Adern hadn't spent two years providing tacit approval
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: for groups of activists to march through the streets of
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: New Zealand chanting against Muslims until Muslims were killed. Decent
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: people should rally around the prime minister. Really, the Prime
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: Minister isn't the one who needs protecting and isn't that
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: the irony today calling a Royal commission as he did
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: this afternoon maybe the only way Antony Albenzi can protect
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: whatever political future he has left.
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: Well.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: One of the things that no doubt would have influenced
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: Anti Albanzi to finally call a Royal commission into anti
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: Semitism or calls from some of the nation's most distinguished
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: former security experts, chief among them Peter Jennings, who joins
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: me now. Peter, thanks for coming on the program, especially
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: this afternoon. What was your reaction to the Prime Minister's
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: announcement today.
• 15:07
  Speaker 7: Well, I'm pleased that he did it, James. It was
• 15:10
  Speaker 7: the mother of all u turns. But I think he
• 15:15
  Speaker 7: knew that he had to. And so now the issue
• 15:18
  Speaker 7: is going to come down to how well Justice Virginia
• 15:21
  Speaker 7: Bell is able to run this because I have no
• 15:24
  Speaker 7: doubt that over the life of the Royal Commission, the
• 15:26
  Speaker 7: government is going to continue to try and spin its
• 15:29
  Speaker 7: way out of any sense of culpability for what's happened
• 15:33
  Speaker 7: in Australia over the last couple of years. So the
• 15:37
  Speaker 7: things that I noted, just to follow up with your editorial.
• 15:41
  Speaker 7: No mention of Islamist extremism, but there is a dock
• 15:45
  Speaker 7: point that talks about extremism, so the Royal Commissioner will
• 15:50
  Speaker 7: have the opportunity to investigate that area. Absolutely no mention,
• 15:54
  Speaker 7: by the way, in the terms of reference about investigating
• 15:57
  Speaker 7: government decision making. Believe the Albanesi government. Everything that should
• 16:02
  Speaker 7: be looked at here goes to who said what to whom,
• 16:04
  Speaker 7: between the police and the intelligence services, and everything just
• 16:07
  Speaker 7: sort of stops at a glass ceiling below the level
• 16:11
  Speaker 7: of government decision making that needs to be addressed. Then
• 16:15
  Speaker 7: I thought there was a rather patronizing series of language
• 16:20
  Speaker 7: from the Prime Minister which says, well, we need this
• 16:22
  Speaker 7: now so that families can tell their stories about what
• 16:25
  Speaker 7: went on, and I think that just mistakes the concerns
• 16:29
  Speaker 7: of the Jewish community. It's not about telling stories. It's
• 16:32
  Speaker 7: actually about seeing concrete steps taken to assure their security
• 16:37
  Speaker 7: and to take Australian society back to some place where
• 16:40
  Speaker 7: they feel they can be saved. And then the final
• 16:43
  Speaker 7: concern I've got is constant reference James two, this term
• 16:48
  Speaker 7: social cohesion, and increasingly this just seems to be a
• 16:53
  Speaker 7: catch all code word for governments wanting to hide uncomfortable
• 16:59
  Speaker 7: truths or not wanting to talk about difficult things. So
• 17:03
  Speaker 7: if you want to talk about the rise of Islamist
• 17:06
  Speaker 7: extremism that threatens social cohesion, no it doesn't. We need
• 17:10
  Speaker 7: to have a forensic look at that issue, just as
• 17:14
  Speaker 7: we need to have a forensic look at the quality
• 17:16
  Speaker 7: of government decision making over the last few years. So
• 17:20
  Speaker 7: it's good that there's a Royal Commission. There's a lot
• 17:23
  Speaker 7: of work in front of the Commissioner now to do
• 17:25
  Speaker 7: this in a way which will demonstrate that she's going
• 17:28
  Speaker 7: to be forensic and completely independent of a government instinct
• 17:32
  Speaker 7: to spin. And I thought the brazenness of the Prime Minister,
• 17:36
  Speaker 7: in having vigorously fought against this four weeks to now
• 17:40
  Speaker 7: turn around and say well, it was really just a
• 17:43
  Speaker 7: listening exercise and now he's ready to make his decision.
• 17:46
  Speaker 7: It is one of the more stunningly brazen exercises in
• 17:50
  Speaker 7: political spin that I've seen.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: Absolutely and One of the things you just mentioned was
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: the repetition of this talk of social cohesion. Tony Burke
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: said it was very important that this Royal Commission was
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: and I'm quoting, conducted in such a way that it
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: helps social cohesion. When I listened to that, I thought
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: it sounds like they're going to prioritize social cohesion over
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: truth and plain speaking. Was that your read of that.
• 18:20
  Speaker 7: Absolutely, I mean, they must think we're all dumb, you know,
• 18:22
  Speaker 7: Australians are just too dumb to handle the truth. And
• 18:27
  Speaker 7: yet the fact is that you know, we have all
• 18:29
  Speaker 7: of this come forward in court trials, you know, in
• 18:33
  Speaker 7: many areas of public life all the time, without a
• 18:36
  Speaker 7: government sort of patronizingly saying that, well, if we hear
• 18:39
  Speaker 7: difficult things that could impact social cohesion, you know what,
• 18:42
  Speaker 7: lying about the problems that we face in Australia right now,
• 18:46
  Speaker 7: that doesn't help social cohesion either, you know, pretending that
• 18:50
  Speaker 7: there isn't a problem when clearly there is, that doesn't
• 18:53
  Speaker 7: help social cohesion. So this has just become the latest
• 18:56
  Speaker 7: buzzword of how governments will attempt to justify their spin doctoring.
• 19:02
  Speaker 7: I think I hope it turns out to their cost
• 19:06
  Speaker 7: that we will now have a process through the Royal Commission,
• 19:08
  Speaker 7: which is not going to allow that to get in
• 19:10
  Speaker 7: the way of a forensic examination because we need that
• 19:14
  Speaker 7: for our own good frankly, and in order to bring
• 19:16
  Speaker 7: Australia back to a more positive place.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: The other thing, and you mentioned this earlier, but in
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: the terms of reference, the Prime Minister said the Royal
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: Commission will look at the nature and prevalence of and
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: I'm quoting religious and ideologically motivated extremism. Now, people sitting
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: at home would think, is he talking about Islam? Would
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: they be right to guess that? Or is that what
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: the Prime Minister wants us to do. He wants us
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: to be literally guessing at what he might mean, because
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: it could mean any sort of religion. He is surely
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: not talking about Presbyterians or Anglicans, is he.
• 19:51
  Speaker 7: Yes, the threat from Rastafarianism is not that great, I
• 19:54
  Speaker 7: don't believe, but it's Islamism. Extremist Islamism is the phrase
• 19:58
  Speaker 7: that will not pass the the government's lips. And I
• 20:02
  Speaker 7: think you know so much for not wanting to take
• 20:08
  Speaker 7: a forensic look at what's happening, and you know that
• 20:11
  Speaker 7: refusal to deal with the issue is now presented to
• 20:14
  Speaker 7: us as well. If we look at it, it's a
• 20:16
  Speaker 7: threat to cohesion. I mean, it's kind of orwelly and nonsense.
• 20:21
  Speaker 7: But I think the fact that there is a reference
• 20:23
  Speaker 7: to extremism in the terms of reference of the Royal Commission, well,
• 20:26
  Speaker 7: that actually gives the Commission of the authority. She will
• 20:29
  Speaker 7: need to look into it.
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: And by all means bring in far right and far.
• 20:34
  Speaker 7: Left extremism too, because we've seen a lot of that
• 20:36
  Speaker 7: on our streets and let's look at it all and
• 20:40
  Speaker 7: find out how a tolerant democracy can deal with these things.
• 20:46
  Speaker 7: That this could be a very useful function in the
• 20:49
  Speaker 7: Royal Commission, and frankly, far more useful than you know
• 20:52
  Speaker 7: picking through the stories of the forty eight hours before
• 20:56
  Speaker 7: Bondai and the incident itself. There's going to be lots
• 20:59
  Speaker 7: of Colonne inquiries which will deal with coronial inquiries, which
• 21:03
  Speaker 7: will deal with those sorts of things. But the longer
• 21:05
  Speaker 7: term systemic issues and courses, I think that's where the
• 21:08
  Speaker 7: Royal Commission could add real value.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: You wrote a great article in The Australian today, and
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: congratulations on that article. I've read it this morning and
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: thought it was absolutely spot on, but you argued that
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: the horse had bolted for Elbanzi, who had fundamentally mishandled
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: the terror attack and the broader rise of extremes, of
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: ignoring repeated warnings from Australia's security agencies and national security leaders.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: You pointed out how Asio had Mike Burgess was among
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: experts who had laid these warnings at the PM's feet.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: And I want to quote from your own article. You wrote,
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: all thinking people could see for themselves the direction in
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: which Australia was heading, all except for Elbanzi and his government.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: So I guess I want to end with this question
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: to you, Peter. Why has Anthony Elbanzi been so blind?
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: He suddenly he saw the light today, But why has
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: he been so blind? Why did it take him for
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: basically the whole country to be calling for a royal
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: commission before finally he was able to bring himself to
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: do it. What's wrong with the man?
• 22:14
  Speaker 7: I think they've spent two years tying themselves into ideological
• 22:18
  Speaker 7: knots over the Middle East, the situation of Gaza, which
• 22:24
  Speaker 7: means that they just did not want to deal with
• 22:26
  Speaker 7: the issue of threats towards Australian Jews. I think there
• 22:30
  Speaker 7: are clear political factors at play inside the Labor Party
• 22:35
  Speaker 7: in terms of how they manage their branches and how
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: they think they manage ethnic communities. I think they mist
• 22:42
  Speaker 7: read dealing with ethnic communities. They see them as blocks
• 22:46
  Speaker 7: to manipulate rather than individuals to talk to. But that's
• 22:50
  Speaker 7: where the government has dug itself. And what we've seen
• 22:54
  Speaker 7: with ALBINIZI is once he's duck himself into a position,
• 22:57
  Speaker 7: he doesn't want to acknowledge that he might have got
• 22:59
  Speaker 7: things wrong.
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: And move out.
• 23:02
  Speaker 7: And so I'm sure it's only with great reluctance that
• 23:04
  Speaker 7: he's made this change today with the announcement of the
• 23:09
  Speaker 7: Royal Commission. He must have been told from senior side
• 23:12
  Speaker 7: the party that he had no choice and so.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: No doubt I reckon he was. I reckon he was
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: shown some I reckon he was shown some polling, Peter,
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: and that may have had something to do with I
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: got to go, But Peter Jennings, always a delight to
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: talk with you, and thanks for your insights today well.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: As I said, the big news this afternoon Anthony Alberanzi
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: announcing there will be a Royal Commission into the Bondai
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: terror attack. Of course, now a new argument will unfold
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: over who's heading the commission and whether she is appropriate,
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: and of course whether we like the terms of reference. Interestingly,
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: earlier today, the secretary of the Lebanese Muslim Association insisted
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: that a Royal Commission should not only examine anti Semitism,
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: but Islamophobia and indeed all forms of minority discrimination. Anyway,
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: here to discuss this and other news of the day,
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: Skyne his contributor carolee caston Banas and Broadcast and producer
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: of the hit podcast The Boy in the gold Mine
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: d D. Dun Levy, ladies, welcome to the program. D
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: D to you first. In announcing the Royal Commission this afternoon,
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: the Prime Minister said he had listened to Australians. How
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: much credence did you give that? Because it strikes me
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: if he had listened from the beginning, maybe we wouldn't
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: be needing a Royal commission at all.
• 24:31
  Speaker 8: Well, I think you're absolutely right, James. If he'd been
• 24:34
  Speaker 8: listening after the October seven attacks to what was being
• 24:38
  Speaker 8: chanted on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, then
• 24:40
  Speaker 8: he would have known from that point that there was
• 24:43
  Speaker 8: this rise in anti Semitism. If he'd driven past any
• 24:47
  Speaker 8: Jewish school where children are having to go to and
• 24:50
  Speaker 8: from school with guards at the entrance to the facilities,
• 24:53
  Speaker 8: if he'd taken notice of the news of fire bombings
• 24:56
  Speaker 8: of synagogues, then he would have known well ahead of this.
• 24:59
  Speaker 8: Let's be honest, he did not want to have this
• 25:01
  Speaker 8: royal commission. And this spin that we're hearing today that
• 25:05
  Speaker 8: he's been listening, well, he has been because he's seen
• 25:08
  Speaker 8: that list of eminent Australians, of people of the highest
• 25:13
  Speaker 8: moral character around the country calling for this royal commission
• 25:17
  Speaker 8: to happen, and then, as you mentioned a moment ago,
• 25:19
  Speaker 8: the polls now telling him that the majority of Australians
• 25:22
  Speaker 8: also want this royal commission. He had no choice And
• 25:25
  Speaker 8: to say that he's just been listening for twenty five
• 25:28
  Speaker 8: days is ridiculous. I think he would never have said, oh,
• 25:33
  Speaker 8: I couldn't, We can't hold it because it will platform
• 25:36
  Speaker 8: anti semitism, or it will take too long. Those were
• 25:39
  Speaker 8: excuses he was putting up because he was trying to
• 25:41
  Speaker 8: stop it from happening. And I'm very pleased that he's
• 25:44
  Speaker 8: finally given in to what the people of Australia actually want.
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: Currently. The other thing I noticed in Alberes's press conference
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: this afternoon was that when he was asked by journalists
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: why has it taken so long? Why have you spent
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: weeks on this and didn't decide earlier, he would quickly
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: talk about how I sat down with a rabbi and
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: I sat in his hormon, his couch, and I cried
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: tears with these people, and he immediately just went to
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: personal stories rather than to give plain answers as to
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: why it's taken so long. It struck me as a
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: pretty political sort of tactic. Did you find his press
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: conference genuine That was one of the words he said.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: He said, I've genuinely listened or did you find it
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: a press conference conducted very much by a politician?
• 26:36
  Speaker 5: I think the latter. With what you've said, I mean
• 26:38
  Speaker 5: what he had suddenly a road to Damascus moment. I mean,
• 26:41
  Speaker 5: this is ridiculous. Twenty five days ago, fifteen innocent Australians
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: were gunned down in cold blood on the shores of
• 26:48
  Speaker 5: Bondai Beach as they celebrated the first Night of Hunaka
• 26:51
  Speaker 5: in a community event. So now the Prime Minister he's
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: trying to gaslight everybody. Didn't he say a couple of
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: weeks ago, or to be too painful for the Jewish community,
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: it would take years to get the answers. This isn't
• 27:04
  Speaker 5: the way. We've had loads of open letters written by
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: business leaders, politicians, sports stars, labor politicians, former labor politicians,
• 27:13
  Speaker 5: even the Human Rights Commissioner. Make no doubt about this.
• 27:16
  Speaker 5: And you know what labor is going to try and
• 27:18
  Speaker 5: spin it that, oh, we've got a Prime minister who's listening. No,
• 27:22
  Speaker 5: he didn't listen. He's never said who these experts were.
• 27:25
  Speaker 5: And you know what, on the twenty first of September
• 27:28
  Speaker 5: twenty twenty five, he didn't take the advice of experts
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: not to recognize the state of Palestine, which would be
• 27:35
  Speaker 5: seen as a reward for the Hamas terrorists. He didn't
• 27:38
  Speaker 5: take that advice. He's taking the advice of internal labor polling.
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: And it's not good enough. And no, okay, a Royal
• 27:45
  Speaker 5: commission is being held.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: That's a tick.
• 27:48
  Speaker 5: But no, he doesn't get a tick because in the
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: times when Australians wanted their Prime minister to stand up,
• 27:55
  Speaker 5: unite the country and lead, if he couldn't reflexively internally
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: on December fourteenth, on that night, say we need a
• 28:04
  Speaker 5: Royal commission and he's needed twenty five days to do it.
• 28:07
  Speaker 5: It's an absolute insult and he's only playing petty politics
• 28:11
  Speaker 5: as per usual.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: Absolutely did he. The government have talked a lot about
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: the need for social cohesion, and we all want social cohesion.
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: I don't think they get a special medal because they're
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: particularly fond of it. We all want it. But I
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: mentioned a moment ago the Lebanese Muslim Association's call for
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: the terms of reference for a Royal Commission prompted by
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: the murder of Jews for being Jews, to include Islamophobia.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: What's your reaction to that and how do calls like
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: that help social cohesion?
• 28:47
  Speaker 4: Well, they don't.
• 28:48
  Speaker 8: It's a bit rich, isn't it. I mean, it's really
• 28:50
  Speaker 8: galling to hear them come out at this particular time,
• 28:53
  Speaker 8: especially as we know, and this was confirmed by the
• 28:55
  Speaker 8: Australian Mederal Police that the Bondai shooters were motivated by
• 28:59
  Speaker 8: the hate full ideology of the Islamic state. So I
• 29:03
  Speaker 8: don't think that that is a fair thing to be
• 29:07
  Speaker 8: calling for at this time. Their timing is appalling and
• 29:10
  Speaker 8: kind of just add something to what you mentioned to
• 29:12
  Speaker 8: caroly a moment ago, the Prime Minister saying that behind
• 29:15
  Speaker 8: the scenes he's been crying with people and stuff. That's
• 29:18
  Speaker 8: all well and good, but he's a public official and
• 29:21
  Speaker 8: at the time when we needed him to stand up
• 29:24
  Speaker 8: and be our leader and to give us some guidance
• 29:27
  Speaker 8: and to look as though he was dealing with this
• 29:28
  Speaker 8: situation in a strong and decisive way, doing things behind
• 29:32
  Speaker 8: closed doors is not the way to behave.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're absolutely right, there's no doubt about that at all.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: But well we got there in the end. We now
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: have a Royal commission and we'll watch with interest how
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: it plays out. Ladies, thanks so much for joining me tonight.
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: I really appreciate it. Well. Coming up, the courts allowed
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: a violent teenager to in Victoria to head off on
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: a Queensland holiday his family as part of his rehabilitation.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: So how did that go, you may well ask. The answer,
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: not well. Reports he's just been arrested again over alleged
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: home invasions. That's coming up next. Well, welcome back to
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: the program. Now to the revelations that are violent teenage
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: offender who was sent on a taxpayer funded Gold Coast
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: theme park holiday as part of his rehabilitation. Has now
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: been arrested again over alleged armed robberies and home invasions.
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: It's reignited outrage over Victoria's soft on crime justice system.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: And I just can't imagine why he discussed this and
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: more form a homicide detective Charlie Bezina, Charlie, welcome to
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: the program. This guy allowed to head to the Gold
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: Coast with his family. They called it rehabilitation. If you'll
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: believe that riding roller coasters at dream World is a
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: form of rehabilitation for criminals. Now he's been rearrested. Are
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: we surprised? And how does the government just fi this
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: kind of stuff when we find out he's in trouble
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: with the law again.
• 31:08
  Speaker 9: Thanks James, Well they don't. This state continues to be
• 31:11
  Speaker 9: a laughing stock by the whole nation. And here we
• 31:15
  Speaker 9: have and this is only one we know of. So
• 31:17
  Speaker 9: if there's only one that we know of this, you're
• 31:19
  Speaker 9: backing in its more and Jasin has come out and said, well,
• 31:23
  Speaker 9: or quoted on behalf of the government. Someone said, on
• 31:25
  Speaker 9: behalf of the government, the government didn't know about it. Well,
• 31:28
  Speaker 9: the contradiction in terms of the Department of Justice and
• 31:32
  Speaker 9: Community Safety authorized it. How ridiculous is that to be
• 31:37
  Speaker 9: able to do that in rehabilitation? Did that person go
• 31:40
  Speaker 9: up there with an escort? He was on a community
• 31:43
  Speaker 9: corrections order. He's been breached. He's now been charged, as
• 31:47
  Speaker 9: you say, James, with other offenses allegedly that he may
• 31:52
  Speaker 9: or may not have committed, but he's on bail again.
• 31:55
  Speaker 9: It biggest belief.
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: So I got to ask you this, Charlie, as a
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: former police officer, how would police reading stuff like this
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: in the papers as we all do, how would they
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: feel all their hard work, all their diligence, putting their
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: lives at risk day after day trying to deal with crime,
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: and then this is how the justice system deals with it.
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: What a police think of this when they hear about it.
• 32:24
  Speaker 9: Well, they're they're moralized. The whole thing is we've got
• 32:27
  Speaker 9: a significant rise in in our crime rates and these
• 32:31
  Speaker 9: recivitoust defenders to be treated in that way with a
• 32:35
  Speaker 9: disregard to the victims of crime. With these alleged crimes
• 32:39
  Speaker 9: he's now committed on top of his previous ones he's
• 32:42
  Speaker 9: been convicted of. It absolutely demoralizes the morale and the
• 32:45
  Speaker 9: police force. The numbers are clearly lacking in the police numbers,
• 32:49
  Speaker 9: but to continually be locking up the same people. They
• 32:52
  Speaker 9: look at each other and say, you know, what is
• 32:55
  Speaker 9: the hope and what is the use of doing it?
• 32:56
  Speaker 9: They're let down by the government time and time again
• 33:00
  Speaker 9: and by the court system in regards penalties. They know
• 33:02
  Speaker 9: that this state, this government and the courts are not
• 33:05
  Speaker 9: fear and income in relation to sending a strong message
• 33:09
  Speaker 9: to these people this is how you be treated. This's
• 33:12
  Speaker 9: come out, but I'll back it in.
• 33:14
  Speaker 4: I'll say it again.
• 33:15
  Speaker 9: There were other people. I would say, there's other ones
• 33:17
  Speaker 9: that have gone on the public purse in the state
• 33:21
  Speaker 9: and possibly committed further offenses.
• 33:23
  Speaker 4: That it's ridiculous.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: And that's the problem with Victoria now, isn't it. Nothing
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: would surprise Talking about youth crime, what do you make
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: of the scenes repeated scenes we've seen around Melbourne's bayside beaches.
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: Yesterday a bunch of kids clashed with police at Mortiolic
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: and then it's killed a peer. Police were trying to
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: help a young man who apparently had gotten in trouble
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: in the surf and then while police are trying to
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: help him. You've got young people gathering around, some of
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: them clearly you can see they're physically harassing police. A
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: policewoman having to push young people away so they can
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: help a kid in trouble. What's driving this pattern of
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: behavior and how do we get on top of it?
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: Sort of having police on horseback.
• 34:08
  Speaker 9: A select of consequences and these youth know that. And
• 34:11
  Speaker 9: I've seen the footage from last time when they one
• 34:14
  Speaker 9: hundred odd use and they rampage through a supermarket. And
• 34:18
  Speaker 9: the footage I saw just this evening prior to coming
• 34:20
  Speaker 9: in was a mother taking your children away within meters
• 34:25
  Speaker 9: of a number of offenders, kicking and stomping on a
• 34:29
  Speaker 9: particular person, a member of the public. And then you've
• 34:32
  Speaker 9: got that issue with the police are assisting someone who
• 34:34
  Speaker 9: was in trouble in the water to be then attacked
• 34:37
  Speaker 9: by this group. The situation is I wanted to see.
• 34:41
  Speaker 9: Now you've got ordinary police officers there, where are the
• 34:44
  Speaker 9: public and the Rights squad, the Public Order Response Group
• 34:47
  Speaker 9: where are they? Don't worry about the oc S, break
• 34:50
  Speaker 9: come out with the long wooden battens and start cracking
• 34:53
  Speaker 9: a few heads and be there have with the brawler
• 34:55
  Speaker 9: van and throw them in the back of the brawler van,
• 34:58
  Speaker 9: taking them back to the police station and give a
• 35:00
  Speaker 9: bit of summary justice. That's where we've got to be
• 35:02
  Speaker 9: because these kids know there are no consequences, and with
• 35:06
  Speaker 9: the limited resources police have got, it's a matter of
• 35:08
  Speaker 9: coming in harder and then supported by the courts, and
• 35:11
  Speaker 9: that's where it's falling down.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: I'm smirking here, Charlie, as you're talking crack a few heads.
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: I reckon there be a lot of people watching saying
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: that's what they used to do, and maybe we should
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: get back to some of the old and not literally
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: suggesting we crack heads. But you're right, we've become so
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: tolerant and we've almost made victims of offenders that you're right.
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: Young people just think they can get away with anything.
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: I want to ask you. We've been talking at the
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: top of the show about a Royal commission into the
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: Bondai terror attack, So speaking of terrorism, I want to
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: get your thoughts on the news that Victoria Police are
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: set to abolish their stand alone counter terrorism command. They're
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: going to fold it into a broader crime portfolio that
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: deals with all sorts of crimes. That they would do
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: this just weeks after the Bondi terror attack. Strikes me
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: as odd. Is this going to help Victorian police to
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: crack down on terrorism and to keep the community safe
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: or is this just something driven by budget pressures that
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: is going to actually endanger public safety because it will
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: hamper the terrorist response.
• 36:20
  Speaker 9: Well, No, James, I think this is something that Mike
• 36:22
  Speaker 9: Bush looked at. The Chief commissioner from New Zealand has
• 36:25
  Speaker 9: come over here, he's looked at that and he's seen
• 36:27
  Speaker 9: the major gaps in our higher echelant and I reckon
• 36:31
  Speaker 9: it's a fantastic move. It hasn't been in reaction to
• 36:34
  Speaker 9: what's happened in Bondi. That's played a role, But I
• 36:37
  Speaker 9: think Mike Bush has looked at it and is now
• 36:39
  Speaker 9: remodeling the squads, doing away with superflous squads that have
• 36:44
  Speaker 9: been there, and combining the resources. There's two assistant commissioners
• 36:48
  Speaker 9: that were running two separate entities. Now they're going to
• 36:51
  Speaker 9: go and be re employed somewhere else within the police department.
• 36:55
  Speaker 9: But when you've got a terrorist situation that goes hand
• 36:58
  Speaker 9: in hand as we did with Bondi, hand him in homicide,
• 37:01
  Speaker 9: that goes hand in hand with armed defenders. That goes
• 37:03
  Speaker 9: hand in hand possibly with these other major squads, and
• 37:06
  Speaker 9: he have one unit under one assistant commissioner and the
• 37:09
  Speaker 9: cohesion is a very very smart move by Mike Bush.
• 37:13
  Speaker 9: To filter and get rid of the top echelant and
• 37:16
  Speaker 9: thin that down, redirect the resources back to the front
• 37:20
  Speaker 9: line is exactly what he's done. And there's going to
• 37:22
  Speaker 9: be more to come that is rearranging the whole situation,
• 37:26
  Speaker 9: get rid of the top bechelant, let the light come
• 37:28
  Speaker 9: in support the frontline police. And he's doing a fantastic job.
• 37:32
  Speaker 9: But this movement of moving the counterterrorism under Crime command
• 37:37
  Speaker 9: with other major squads is a great move because you've
• 37:40
  Speaker 9: got the one adhesion and one strikeforce to be able
• 37:43
  Speaker 9: to get in in the situation and be such a
• 37:47
  Speaker 9: forceful unit.
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: Okay, well there you go. Credit where credits due. A
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: good decision from the Victoria Police. I like it, Charlie,
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: thanks so much for joining me after the break. A
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: state government accused of political meddling after it used a
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: secret report to extend its control over a local council.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: Political interference and why are ratepayers getting slugged three hundred
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: thousand dollars as a result that's coming up shortly.
• 38:15
  Speaker 4: Well.
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: The Victorian government is facing backlash after it used a
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: secret interim report to extend state appointed monitors at Kingston Council,
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: and move critics say amounts to political interference and it's
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: likely to cost local rate payers more than three hundred
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: thousand dollars to have the state government monitor their local
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: council meetings. Here to tell us more, and to dive
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: into a few other local government issues, Council Watch President
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: Dean Hurston, Dean, thanks for coming on the program. Help
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: me understand this one. Effectively, we have hard working rate
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: payers forced to fund secretive state government monitors even though
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: there appears to be no evidence of governance failures within
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: their local council. Am I reading that right?
• 39:00
  Speaker 10: You are?
• 39:01
  Speaker 6: Indeed, what we see in the Victorian local government sector
• 39:04
  Speaker 6: is the Minister Nick Staikos politically choosing where he puts monitors.
• 39:10
  Speaker 6: No minister of any government of any political persuasion. Remember,
• 39:14
  Speaker 6: ministers are political operators first and foremost for their party,
• 39:18
  Speaker 6: So no minister should have the unilateral right to make
• 39:22
  Speaker 6: captain's calls and decide where a monitor goes because it
• 39:26
  Speaker 6: suits their party's political interests. In the City of Kingston.
• 39:30
  Speaker 6: Labor has had that as a stronghold on council for years.
• 39:33
  Speaker 6: As soon as an independent Labor mayor split with the
• 39:38
  Speaker 6: Labor faction and went against them and appointed a deputy
• 39:43
  Speaker 6: and a group of majority counselors who were independent. Along
• 39:47
  Speaker 6: comes the local member, the minister himself, Nick Staikos, and
• 39:52
  Speaker 6: he appoints monitors because they suddenly have governance problems. He
• 39:57
  Speaker 6: ignores all of the issues that had been there before,
• 40:00
  Speaker 6: that people had called for monitors when his own party
• 40:03
  Speaker 6: was ruling the council, and now he's conveniently put them in.
• 40:06
  Speaker 6: And it's not the only council. He's done it at
• 40:09
  Speaker 6: Hobson's Bay, where Labor is under pressure to an independent
• 40:12
  Speaker 6: in this year's state election, and he's now done it
• 40:15
  Speaker 6: at the most marginal seat in Victoria, in Nepean where
• 40:20
  Speaker 6: Sam Groth, as you would know sits and where others
• 40:25
  Speaker 6: are attempting to take the seat away on the Mornington Peninsula,
• 40:29
  Speaker 6: and you have an independent ruling faction there that doesn't
• 40:32
  Speaker 6: suit Labour's narrative and agenda. This is why monitors who
• 40:38
  Speaker 6: have paid three hundred thousand dollars a year should never
• 40:41
  Speaker 6: be able to be appointed by political ministers.
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: And of course this is terrible for local rate payers.
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: You mentioned three hundred grand a year. I think it's
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: is it fifteen hundred dollars a day that these monitors
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: can earn sitting in on council meetings? Fair enough? If
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: there was mayhem in the local council, then okay, you've
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: got to sort it out. But rate payers have been
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: given no reason as to why this has been deemed necessary,
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: but they're slugged with the bill. How can the government
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: justify this and carry on with it?
• 41:18
  Speaker 6: So one of the greatest hypocrisies that we see out
• 41:21
  Speaker 6: of the Victorian government and many governments across Australia is
• 41:24
  Speaker 6: that the states actually shift this cost onto the council
• 41:28
  Speaker 6: who didn't ask for it. The residents didn't ask for it,
• 41:32
  Speaker 6: political factions likely asked for it, and then they cost
• 41:36
  Speaker 6: shift that onto the poor, unsuspecting rate payers. What this
• 41:39
  Speaker 6: is doing is it is taking and essentially stealing money
• 41:43
  Speaker 6: out of the kitty that needs to be used. You know,
• 41:46
  Speaker 6: councils don't have this endless bucket of money. We know that,
• 41:49
  Speaker 6: so instead of it being used on parks and gardens, cleanliness,
• 41:53
  Speaker 6: graffiti removals, street repairs, for goodness say, potholes. This is
• 41:58
  Speaker 6: what it's doing. And not only do they get paid
• 42:00
  Speaker 6: this three hundred thousand dollars, they have unlimited expensess. The
• 42:04
  Speaker 6: Minister directs the council to pay them whatever expenses they claim.
• 42:09
  Speaker 6: We've even got in the City of Kingston, you know,
• 42:12
  Speaker 6: monitors claiming above reasonable accommodation and travel expenses costing tens
• 42:19
  Speaker 6: of thousands of dollars for them to attend council meetings
• 42:22
  Speaker 6: and stay in fancy hotels. What the heck is going on?
• 42:25
  Speaker 6: This is not what local government's about. It's not junkets
• 42:28
  Speaker 6: to Canberra.
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: I look, I'm as appalled as you are, but I'm
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: also excited about a future career change. A council monitor
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: sounds like a great way to make a living. Just
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: before I let you go, because I'm fascinated by local councils.
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: On the late debate, we talk about council madness all
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: the time. It seems they're never content to fill potholes
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: and keep park lawns, you know, nice, They've always got
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: to be advocating for this or promoting some foreign policy agenda.
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: You're at the call face of local government and holding
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: them to account. Do you feel like councils, particularly metropolitan
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: ones are likely to pull back from making political and
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: cultural statements, and if not, how do we get that
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: message across and get our local councils back to doing
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: the basic stuff they're supposed to be doing rather than
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: freelancing as you know, ambassadors for this and activists for that. Well.
• 43:27
  Speaker 6: I think what it comes down to is the hypocrisy
• 43:30
  Speaker 6: in local state government ministers across the country is that
• 43:34
  Speaker 6: they won't define what the role of local government is.
• 43:37
  Speaker 6: They all say it is basically whatever our councilors decide
• 43:39
  Speaker 6: or the administration decides that gives them. You know, essentially
• 43:43
  Speaker 6: a I would like to be the un on all things,
• 43:45
  Speaker 6: and that's not what we want counselors for. It's not
• 43:48
  Speaker 6: what they were created for. We do see a council's
• 43:51
  Speaker 6: due to what happened in BONDI pulling back a little bit,
• 43:53
  Speaker 6: which is really responsible right now. Unfortunately, there are always
• 43:57
  Speaker 6: going to be outliers, you know, crazy councilor who still
• 43:59
  Speaker 6: fly the Palestinian flag and offend their Jewish communities, or
• 44:03
  Speaker 6: you know, like Donington Council they put the Manora almost
• 44:06
  Speaker 6: in the car park because they don't want people to
• 44:08
  Speaker 6: see it. What we do see is a little bit
• 44:11
  Speaker 6: more restraint and that's great. But what we want to
• 44:13
  Speaker 6: see is our councils get back to those basics. But
• 44:16
  Speaker 6: clearly the state doesn't want that. What we are seeing
• 44:19
  Speaker 6: at the moment. You know, one of the most fundamental
• 44:21
  Speaker 6: roles of councils is planning and standing up for their
• 44:23
  Speaker 6: local community. And even again in the minister's own backyard,
• 44:27
  Speaker 6: we've got the planning minister in Victoria kicking, you know,
• 44:31
  Speaker 6: an appeal by Kingston Council on behalf of their residence
• 44:34
  Speaker 6: against an over development of a local area that's a
• 44:37
  Speaker 6: golf course and what I can see coming in.
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: Course, I've got to jump. I got to jump in Dean.
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry, running out of time. I saw that story
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: and I couldn't believe it either. As councils running a much.
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: Unfortunately it's a common problem. Hopefully it might change thanks
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: to work by people like yourself. Appreciate you joining me tonight,
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much. We're going to go to a break.
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: When we come back, we'll get the latest on those
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: fires burning in Victoria and what we can expect in
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: the next twenty four hours things getting pretty serious there.
• 45:08
  Speaker 2: That's coming up next.
• 45:13
  Speaker 5: Well.
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: Authorities of warning lives will be lost unless people leave
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: fire affected parts of Victoria. With catastrophic fire conditions forecast
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: across the state, Acting Premier Ben Carroll is urging residents
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: to comply with emergency warnings. Have a listen.
• 45:29
  Speaker 4: Catastrophic means catastrophic.
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: Victoria is one of the most bushfire prone areas in
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: the world. We are talking tomorrow of uncontrollable, unpredictable bushfires
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: with the real risk of lost loss of life and property.
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: And we cannot underscore enough that emergency services will do
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: all of the work they can do to keep Victorians safe,
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: but we need Victorians to do their part as well.
• 46:00
  Speaker 5: Well.
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: Joining me now is Forest Fire Management Victoria Chief Fire
• 46:03
  Speaker 2: Officer Chris Hardman. Chris, thanks for your time tonight. I
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: can imagine you're pretty busy. Just give us the latest
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: update on what the situation is in Victoria right now.
• 46:14
  Speaker 4: Great, thanks for that and thanks for the opportunity.
• 46:16
  Speaker 10: It's really important to get these messages out to community.
• 46:19
  Speaker 4: Right now.
• 46:20
  Speaker 10: We've got two major fires in the landscape. The first
• 46:24
  Speaker 10: one is the Wilwa Mount Lawson fire up in the
• 46:28
  Speaker 10: Upper Murray area in between wild War and Telangata really
• 46:34
  Speaker 10: significant fire now it's around eleven thousand hectares.
• 46:38
  Speaker 4: And continuing to grow.
• 46:41
  Speaker 10: The prevailing conditions are really really bad for that landscape
• 46:46
  Speaker 10: for the rest of tonight and into tomorrow, so we
• 46:48
  Speaker 10: can expect that fire to grow significantly. The firefighters have
• 46:54
  Speaker 10: really focused on township protection and asset protection now it's
• 46:59
  Speaker 10: far too dangerous to put.
• 47:00
  Speaker 4: Themselves in front of that fire.
• 47:02
  Speaker 10: We do have more than four hundred firefighters available doing
• 47:07
  Speaker 10: everything they can to protect the community on the world
• 47:09
  Speaker 10: with fire, and they will continue to do that all
• 47:12
  Speaker 10: the way through tomorrow, right throughout the peak fire weather day.
• 47:17
  Speaker 10: The second fire I'd like to talk about is the
• 47:20
  Speaker 10: Longwood Roughy Road fire that's already around thirty thousand hectares
• 47:25
  Speaker 10: and we have had some reports of property losses in
• 47:29
  Speaker 10: that fire, but we are not able to confirm the
• 47:32
  Speaker 10: numbers as we speak, but we will have assessment teams
• 47:36
  Speaker 10: in there as soon as it is safe to do so. Again,
• 47:39
  Speaker 10: we have hundreds of firefighters working to contain that fire,
• 47:43
  Speaker 10: working to protect the surrounding communities, and that fire will
• 47:47
  Speaker 10: spread significantly tomorrow. So what is really important is that
• 47:52
  Speaker 10: the communities in those areas are very focused on having
• 47:56
  Speaker 10: really good information to make good decisions as the fire
• 47:59
  Speaker 10: situation and changes. As always, we'd like people to leave early,
• 48:05
  Speaker 10: and if you haven't left, we'd like you to leave
• 48:08
  Speaker 10: by seven o'clock in the morning.
• 48:10
  Speaker 4: If you're in one of these high risk fire areas.
• 48:14
  Speaker 4: The fire weather tomorrow is frightening.
• 48:19
  Speaker 10: We certainly have four of our fire districts with catastrophic
• 48:25
  Speaker 10: fire conditions, and that's where fires will turn into large
• 48:30
  Speaker 10: conflagration let's use the word like monster fires that will
• 48:34
  Speaker 10: be uncontrollable, uncontrollable beyond our ability to suppress those fires.
• 48:40
  Speaker 10: We're going to have winds somewhere between fifty and one
• 48:43
  Speaker 10: hundred kilometers an hour with hot, dry conditions. That's Mother
• 48:48
  Speaker 10: Nature saying I'm going to take these fires and going
• 48:52
  Speaker 10: to turn them into really big, devastating fires that are uncontrollable,
• 48:57
  Speaker 10: and we are really concerned about the loss of life.
• 49:00
  Speaker 10: So please follow those directions for your own safety and
• 49:03
  Speaker 10: for the safety of those are closest to you.
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: Chris, we've only got about thirty seconds left, but it
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: seems to me that Despite how bad these fires are,
• 49:14
  Speaker 2: people are getting adequate warning to get out of the
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: way if they're in those affected areas. What would you
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: say to anyone who decides to bunk it down just
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: really quickly.
• 49:25
  Speaker 10: Well, you may have experienced many bush fires in the
• 49:28
  Speaker 10: time you've lived in some of these rural locations, but
• 49:31
  Speaker 10: you will have never seen fire behavior like we have
• 49:34
  Speaker 10: the possibility to see tomorrow. Conflagration fires, columns of smoke
• 49:39
  Speaker 10: that can go fifteen kilometers into the air and push
• 49:42
  Speaker 10: lightning out in front of it. The radiant heat will
• 49:45
  Speaker 10: kill you. Your properties are not going to be defendable.
• 49:49
  Speaker 10: It's really important that if you're in a path up
• 49:51
  Speaker 10: one of these fires, the best place to be is
• 49:53
  Speaker 10: not there at all, So please heed the warnings. This
• 49:57
  Speaker 10: is the worst fire season we have for many, many
• 50:01
  Speaker 10: years in Victoria, and it's devastating lead challenging for all
• 50:07
  Speaker 10: of the teams out there working to keep Chris harden.
• 50:10
  Speaker 2: And I'm so grateful you come on tonight. Thank you
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: so much for updating us, and all the best to
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: you and your crew, and thank you for all the
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: hard work you do. We really do appreciate it. On
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: behalf of everybody well, coming up next is the Late Debate.
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: I'll be back tomorrow night, but right now is Fraileach
• 50:27
  Speaker 2: Kel Richards and Jamie Rodgers. Good night,