Latest / Steve Price / Steve Price | 12 September

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Steve Price | 12 September · Steve Price

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Live.
• 0:00
  Speaker 2: This is Steve Price.
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: Welcome to the show.
• 0:10
  Speaker 4: I'm James McPherson filling in for Steve Price. Coming up tonight,
• 0:14
  Speaker 4: the hunt for Charlie Kirk's assassin intensifies as new footage
• 0:18
  Speaker 4: of the suspect is revealed. We'll go live to the
• 0:20
  Speaker 4: US for the latest Where to from here with hostage
• 0:23
  Speaker 4: negotiations after Israel's attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: Michael Schubridge will join me.
• 0:29
  Speaker 4: The PM slams coalition in fighting over to center Price
• 0:33
  Speaker 4: amid questions about the viability of Susan Lee's leadership.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: Campbell Newman will weigh in on that one.
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: And if you thought Melbourne was the protest capital of Australia,
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: you ain't seen nothing yet. Wait until you hear what's
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: planned for this weekend. It has local officials more than
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: a little worried. We'll get to that with my panel,
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  Speaker 4: but first, the government's Special Envoy to combat Islamophobia handed
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: down his report today, which ironically is great news for
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: Australia's Jewish community. Let me explain why no reasonable person
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: can deny that Jews in this country have been under
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: constant attack since the October seven attacks. Nearly two years ago,
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: and the government promised to.
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  Speaker 3: Do something about it.
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  Speaker 4: So, with much fanfare, they appointed a special Envoy to
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  Speaker 4: combat antisemitism. At the time, Antiy Albanese said, and I quote,
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: the appointment of Gillian Siegel is a critical step in
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  Speaker 4: easing the tensions that we see playing out here at
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  Speaker 4: home as a result of the devastating conflict in the
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  Speaker 4: Middle East. And then the Immigration Minister Andrew Giles put
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  Speaker 4: out a press release saying, and again I quote, the
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  Speaker 4: Albanese government has zero tolerance for prejudice or hatred of
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: any kind. And then he promised the appointment of a
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: special envoy to combat antisemitism would help the government and
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  Speaker 4: I quote take decisive steps to combat anti Semitid behavior.
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  Speaker 3: So there you have it. I imagine this.
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  Speaker 4: Country's Jewish community at the time breathing a collective sigh
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: of relief, having endured arson attacks on synagogues, vandalism of
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: schools in kindergartens, fire bombings of homes and cars, the
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: doxing of Jewish professionals, and much much more. The Albanese
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: government had promised to protect them, as promised the envoy
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: to combat antisemitism, Julian Siegel, produced a report, a report
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: brimming with practical recommendations to address the scourge of antisemitism,
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: and what do you think the government did well?
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  Speaker 3: Instead of responding with the.
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: Urgency they promised, the Albanezi government waived the report in
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  Speaker 4: front of TV cameras and then shoved it in the
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  Speaker 4: bottom of a draw.
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  Speaker 3: Incredibly.
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  Speaker 4: Education Minister Jason Clair insisted back in July that Labour
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: would not even consider recommendations to combat anti Semitism until
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  Speaker 4: it had first received a report on Islamophobia.
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  Speaker 5: I don't intend to look at this report in isolation
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: that next month the government will receive a report from
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  Speaker 5: the Special Envoy in combating Islamophobia, and so we wait
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  Speaker 5: to see what his recommendations will be.
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  Speaker 4: Incredible, in this government's moral universe, anti Semitism couldn't be
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: addressed until Islamophobia gave permission, and if a synagogue or
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: three burnt down in the meantime, oh well. So for
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: the past two months, the Jewish community has had to
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: sit tight, waiting for the Special Envoy into Islamophobia to
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: finish his report before any action on anti.
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  Speaker 3: Semitism could be taken.
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  Speaker 4: Steps to protect the welfare of Jews couldn't be considered
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  Speaker 4: until Muslims had handed in their report. Do I need
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: to point out the irony? Well, today the government's Special
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: envoy into combating Islamophobia finally handed down his report. I'll
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: have more to say on that when I host a
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  Speaker 4: Bolt Report on Monday. But what I'll say tonight is this,
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  Speaker 4: Now that Muslim groups have handed in their report, the
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  Speaker 4: government can get on with looking at how to pretet Jews.
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  Speaker 4: What a disgrace this government is. It's not that they
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  Speaker 4: don't care about protecting Australian Jews, It's just that they
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  Speaker 4: care a lot more about votes in Western Sydney. The
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  Speaker 4: fact that Jewish families have had to live in fear
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  Speaker 4: for a few extra months while the government got its
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  Speaker 4: equality optics in order is an absolute disgrace. No one's
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  Speaker 4: fooled by this government. What does Islamophobia have to do
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  Speaker 4: with anti Semitism? Nothing except, of course, in the minds
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  Speaker 4: of labor politicians terrified of offending anyone.
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  Speaker 3: Will accept Jews.
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  Speaker 2: Of course.
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  Speaker 4: So, in a cruel and frankly disgraceful irony, now that
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  Speaker 4: we have a report on Islamophobia, the government will feel
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  Speaker 4: safe to do something about anti Semitism absolutely extraordinary. And
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: speaking of this government's obsession with political correctness, let me
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  Speaker 4: show you a quick clip from today's press conference where
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  Speaker 4: the PM answered a question from a journalist before being
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  Speaker 4: asked another question by another journalist. But wait, he refused
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  Speaker 4: to answer the second question. And why well, because the
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: second question was being asked by a journalist with x
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  Speaker 4: Y chromosomes and he'd already had a question from someone
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  Speaker 4: with x Y chromosomes.
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  Speaker 6: Take a look, I do a gender equality thing here too.
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  Speaker 7: Prime Minister, you've addressed this report, address the what is happening?
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  Speaker 8: What is the labor government?
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  Speaker 9: Twity?
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  Speaker 3: What a smug, PETTYPM we have?
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: Although isn't it interesting that sometimes labor politicians do know
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: what a woman is. The office of Prime Minister can
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: make a man look larger than he really is. Anthony
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: Albinezi has the unique distinction of making the office of
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: Prime Minister look smaller than it really is. Well, the
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  Speaker 4: hunt for an assassin continues in the United States as
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: the world struggles to come to terms with the shocking
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: murder of Christian.
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  Speaker 3: Activist Aie Kirk.
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  Speaker 4: Joining me now for the latest is political journalist John Fund.
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  Speaker 4: Thanks for joining me this morning, your time. I know
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  Speaker 4: it's early for you. We've been shocked by Charlie Kirk's
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  Speaker 4: death here in Australia, so many people impacted by his work.
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  Speaker 4: In fact, there's a vigil being held in Sydney tonight
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  Speaker 4: as we speak.
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  Speaker 3: But you knew him personally.
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  Speaker 4: So I'm keen to begin by hearing your reflections on
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  Speaker 4: the man.
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  Speaker 8: Well, Charlie was what we call in the United States
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  Speaker 8: a phenom. This is a man who never finished college,
• 6:34
  Speaker 8: but who clearly had a complete genius for political organization
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  Speaker 8: and leadership and inspiration. And at age thirty one he
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  Speaker 8: had accomplished more than most people in American politics did
• 6:45
  Speaker 8: in a lifetime. And there are many people who met
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  Speaker 8: him who said, if this is what he is at
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  Speaker 8: age thirty or thirty one, we could be seeing a
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  Speaker 8: future president of the United States, or certainly a major
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  Speaker 8: political figure. And even if he never went into elective office,
• 7:03
  Speaker 8: his rarer registration voter turnout efforts in the twenty twenty
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  Speaker 8: four election, and it was a close election, may have
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  Speaker 8: changed history.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I've heard similar thoughts expressed, and you're right, at
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  Speaker 4: age thirty one, he was an absolute force of nature
• 7:20
  Speaker 4: and a force for good. I might add, Vice President JD.
• 7:23
  Speaker 4: Vance has escorted Charlie Kirk's body home to Arizona. Vice
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  Speaker 4: President Vance described Charlie as a true friend. And I
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: guess every murder is a tragedy, obviously, but this one
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  Speaker 4: is deeply personal, isn't it. For those in the Trump administration.
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  Speaker 8: Well, not only did they know Charlie, but he was
• 7:43
  Speaker 8: a constant presence in the White House. Many of the
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  Speaker 8: administration's top figures would appear at his conventions and his rallies.
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  Speaker 8: He was a strategist. When he spoke about how to
• 7:57
  Speaker 8: reach young people, everyone in the Trump administration paid attention because,
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  Speaker 8: as you know, of the two groups that swung the
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  Speaker 8: most heavily towards Donald Trump in the twenty twenty four election,
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  Speaker 8: we saw Hispanics and then we saw young people under
• 8:12
  Speaker 8: the age of thirty. The best guesses we have is
• 8:15
  Speaker 8: that Trump narrowly carried the youth vote, which is unprecedented
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  Speaker 8: in recent American elections.
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  Speaker 4: And all of that really came down to the influence
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  Speaker 4: of Charlie Kirk. That the FBI has released footage of
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: the suspected killer, who is still on the run. Here's
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: what President Trump had to say when asked if he
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: believed the killer was a trained assassin.
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  Speaker 9: I think progress is being made.
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  Speaker 10: He's an animal, total animal, and hopefully they'll have him
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  Speaker 10: and they'll get him.
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  Speaker 9: What he did is disgraceful.
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  Speaker 10: Charlie Kirk was a great person, a great man, great
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  Speaker 10: in every way, especially with youth, and what he did,
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  Speaker 10: what this man.
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  Speaker 9: Did was disgraceful. So hopefully we have him and we
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  Speaker 9: will deal with him very appropriately.
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  Speaker 4: John, just as we continue talking, I think we've got
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  Speaker 4: some footage, will show it just in the corner of
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  Speaker 4: the screen of the vigil that's happening in Sydney for
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  Speaker 4: Charlie Kirk right now. But what do we know about
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: the assassination attempt and the alleged assassin. Can you fill
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: us in on the latest developments there?
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  Speaker 1: Well.
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  Speaker 8: His rifle that was used in the assassination was found
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  Speaker 8: in a group of trees near the university, wrapped in
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  Speaker 8: a towel. There were three unspent cartridges in there. Each
• 9:34
  Speaker 8: of them had messages engraved in them. They apparently were
• 9:39
  Speaker 8: Antifa and transphobia message messages. I remember that Charlie was
• 9:45
  Speaker 8: killed while he was answering a question about transphobic shooters.
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  Speaker 8: Ironically enough, I think that we don't want to overpriticize
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  Speaker 8: this event. However, we have been told for years there
• 9:59
  Speaker 8: is Antifa. It's just an anti fascist tendency. There's no
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  Speaker 8: organized group, and I'll agree there's no one you can
• 10:07
  Speaker 8: call the president of Antifa. There's no leadership structure. But
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  Speaker 8: Antifa is a group of thuggish, intolerant leftists. And just
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  Speaker 8: as the KKK, the klu klux Klan is a danger,
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  Speaker 8: so too is Antifa.
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  Speaker 1: And Antifa may have been, or.
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  Speaker 8: At least one of their members or adherents may have
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  Speaker 8: been behind this as fascination, So we have to take
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  Speaker 8: this very seriously. We didn't take it seriously when Portland,
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  Speaker 8: Oregon was burning down in twenty twenty after the George
• 10:36
  Speaker 8: Floyd murders. We didn't take Antifa seriously when they were
• 10:40
  Speaker 8: disrupting cities all over the country. We now have to
• 10:44
  Speaker 8: take Antifa seriously.
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: You'd imagine Trump would be beefing up his own security
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination. Obviously has
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: been a couple of attempts on Trump's life, but his
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: concerns were elsewhere.
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: Have listen.
• 11:03
  Speaker 10: Not really, I'm really concerned for our country. We have
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  Speaker 10: a great country. We have a radical left group of
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  Speaker 10: lunatics out there, just absolute lunatics, and we're going to
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  Speaker 10: get that problems out. I'm only concerned for the country.
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  Speaker 4: So then you've got President Trump saying his primary concern
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  Speaker 4: is not about himself, it's about the country, which begs
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  Speaker 4: the question, John, how will America react to this? Where
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: do you see the country going? Because it feels like
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: something's different about this particular tragedy, and this is a
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  Speaker 4: real fork in the road for the United States.
• 11:39
  Speaker 8: Well, we've had people killed, and we've certainly had incidents
• 11:42
  Speaker 8: of violence, but this is a major political assassination of
• 11:46
  Speaker 8: a major figure. One of the definitions of a country
• 11:50
  Speaker 8: that has reached a point of poisonous polarization is when
• 11:54
  Speaker 8: political assassination turns up. It's what we think of when
• 11:58
  Speaker 8: we think of Latin American countries, is what we think
• 12:01
  Speaker 8: of when we think of countries that have lost their
• 12:04
  Speaker 8: political stability and don't have free and fair elections. America
• 12:09
  Speaker 8: does still have a political civic culture that's very strong.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: However, this is a warning bell in the night.
• 12:17
  Speaker 8: This is the wake up call that we have to
• 12:20
  Speaker 8: have a serious national conversation about how we can all
• 12:22
  Speaker 8: get along, how we can have political differences but not
• 12:25
  Speaker 8: personalize them, and certainly not to the point of violence.
• 12:29
  Speaker 8: That moment is now, and I think there has to be,
• 12:33
  Speaker 8: on the part of the entire political leadership left and
• 12:35
  Speaker 8: right in America, a conversation which everybody starts talking to
• 12:40
  Speaker 8: their own followers and saying, this is now past the
• 12:44
  Speaker 8: point of performance art.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: This is deadly serious.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, John Fund. It's a delight to speak to you.
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  Speaker 4: I wish you were speaking on better terms, but I
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: really appreciate you joining me this evening.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much.
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: Well, let's go to the fallout from Israel's strike. Pleasure
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: having you. Let's go to the fallout from israel strikes
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: on Hamas in Doa. Qatar's prime minister has now warned
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: that Benjamin Ettia, who has killed any hope of the
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: hostages in Gaza being released. I want to find out
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: whether or not that would be an accurate assessment. So
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: joining me is Strategic Analysis Australia director Michael Schubridge. Michael,
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: five mass members and the Katari security officer were killed
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: in those strikes. But everyone's wanting to know what does
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: this mean for the future of peace talks and certainly
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: for Qatar's involvement in those talks.
• 13:38
  Speaker 11: Well, James, there could be more people that were killed
• 13:41
  Speaker 11: in the strike, including maybe some more senior Hamas figures.
• 13:44
  Speaker 11: We don't know that yet, but the future of any
• 13:48
  Speaker 11: peace negotiations happening in Qatar looks like zero to me.
• 13:53
  Speaker 11: I mean, what Hamas individual is going to agree to
• 13:58
  Speaker 11: turn up to any venue for a meeting in Qatar
• 14:02
  Speaker 11: when they think that instead of meeting someone, they're going
• 14:06
  Speaker 11: to meet in Israeli missile.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: So peace talks in Qatar look dead.
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  Speaker 11: The Qataris have raised the possibility of still having talks there,
• 14:15
  Speaker 11: but I think that's dreaming. Another option is talks get
• 14:19
  Speaker 11: relocated to Egypt, and at least that might mean they
• 14:23
  Speaker 11: got somewhere.
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: You've written a piece concerning raising concerns rather about the
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: precedent set by these strikes. What's the risk here that
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: Israel have taken.
• 14:37
  Speaker 11: Well, it's not just Israel, it's also the American government
• 14:41
  Speaker 11: deciding to blow up that Venezuelan speedboat with eleven people
• 14:46
  Speaker 11: on it in international waters and saying, well, it's okay
• 14:49
  Speaker 11: because we think they were drug runners. But the Israelis
• 14:53
  Speaker 11: deciding to strike in Qatar, a country they're not at
• 14:58
  Speaker 11: war with, they're not in conflict with, to kill people
• 15:01
  Speaker 11: that are terrorists. That sounds great when it's from US terrorists,
• 15:05
  Speaker 11: but imagine if China takes that precedent and does a
• 15:09
  Speaker 11: deadly strike into Sydney because there are Hong Kong dissidents,
• 15:14
  Speaker 11: it calls terrorists living there. So this is a dangerous
• 15:18
  Speaker 11: precedent of states thinking it's okay to use deadly force
• 15:22
  Speaker 11: in someone else's country that you're not.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: At war with.
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: Would you then make the argument that the United States
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: should not have gone into Pakistan to take out Osama
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: bin Laden then on that logic, well, I.
• 15:36
  Speaker 11: Think Islama bin Laden was a particularly notorious figure and
• 15:41
  Speaker 11: that was a clear counter terrorist operation, but it did
• 15:46
  Speaker 11: start this down this path. Now where once the international
• 15:51
  Speaker 11: rules freed, as they have since, then any state that
• 15:55
  Speaker 11: has the power to do this feels like they can.
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: Okay, it's an interesting take.
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: I'm not sure I want to agree with you on this,
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: just because I think if you're harboring terrorists who were
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: responsible for the rape, the beheading, the murder, the captivity
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: of or is it twelve hundred Jews who were killed
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: and a couple of hundred taken hostage if you're harboring terrorists,
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: I just don't think that you can expect anything other
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: than the wrath of the country wronged and national sovereignty
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: be damned. You're right, there's a precedent, But if China
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: were to strike Hong Kong dissonance in Sydney, that's a
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: very different moral playing field to hamas terrorists in Qatar,
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: isn't it.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure you can make more.
• 16:45
  Speaker 11: That's fine, that's fine when we all agree who are terrorists.
• 16:49
  Speaker 11: But as the international community phrase and fragments China, labeling
• 16:55
  Speaker 11: people of terrorists will make them argue that that's okay.
• 17:00
  Speaker 11: So if we can all agree on who the terrorists are,
• 17:02
  Speaker 11: who the good guys are, and who the bad guys are,
• 17:05
  Speaker 11: that's fine. The other point I'd make about Qatar was,
• 17:09
  Speaker 11: like the Star Wars bar for the Middle East, you
• 17:12
  Speaker 11: needed to have a place where despicable people could meet
• 17:15
  Speaker 11: other people and do so securely.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: So we've destroyed that.
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: Well.
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: In terms of the argument over who's wrong and who's right,
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: I would argue that Western democracy's are right and the
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: Chinese Commonist Party is always wrong. But I like your
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: comparison with the Star wars bar. I think that's very apt.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: Let's talk about the Solomon Islands.
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: There was a worrying story on the front page of
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: The Australian Today about a male era policy initiative in
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: which Chinese police are collecting fingerprints from Solomon Islanders and
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: getting them to fill out household registration cards. This sounds
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: quite all Wellyan.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: What's going on.
• 17:54
  Speaker 11: There, James? It is or Wellian and don't worry. We
• 17:59
  Speaker 11: can all agree that the Chinese Communist Party reaching into
• 18:03
  Speaker 11: the Solomons with their authoritarian policing is all bad news.
• 18:08
  Speaker 11: So this is the Solomon Islands government letting the Chinese
• 18:13
  Speaker 11: bring their repressive population surveillance methods to the Solomon Islands
• 18:19
  Speaker 11: population eight hundred and twenty thousand. Solomon Islanders do not
• 18:23
  Speaker 11: want to be treated like criminals by the Chinese government
• 18:26
  Speaker 11: and their own government.
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: Finally, I want to ask you about what's happening with
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: Russia flying drones into Polish airspace. Earlier this week, The
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: Wall Street Journal has suggested this is a case of
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: Putin taunting Trump and NATO. Do you agree with that assessment,
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: and what does this mean for a possible peace deal
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: when the Russians are pushing things this far.
• 18:52
  Speaker 11: Well, I think it's worse than Putin taunting Trump. I
• 18:57
  Speaker 11: think Putin is really sending this message to the rest
• 19:00
  Speaker 11: of NATO and Europe saying I can do whatever I
• 19:04
  Speaker 11: like and the American president is not going to do
• 19:07
  Speaker 11: anything about it. Whatever came out of that Alaska meeting
• 19:12
  Speaker 11: between Trump and Putin, none of it did anything but
• 19:16
  Speaker 11: embolden Putin. So the real missing link here in any
• 19:21
  Speaker 11: kind of response is from America. The good news, I think,
• 19:27
  Speaker 11: is that the rest of NATO is reinforcing its air
• 19:30
  Speaker 11: defenses because of this, and will put more military power
• 19:35
  Speaker 11: into Poland and bordering states.
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: We live in interesting times, Michael Schubridge. I really appreciate
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: your insights this evening. Thanks for joining me. We're going
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: to go to a break, but stick around because after
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: the break, the Prime Minister takes a swipe at the
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: coalition over the discinta price saga. Plus could the King
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: attend a climate conference in Adelaide next year?
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: Campbell Newman joins me in just a moment. Well, welcome
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: back to the program.
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: Let's go to the Australian political story which has dominated
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: the headlines this week, the controversy over Jacinth and Nampa
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: jimper Price's migrant comments, which led to her being sensationally
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: sacked from the Shadow cabinet.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: Anthony Alberezi has.
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: Taken a swipe at the Coalition today.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: Have listen.
• 20:21
  Speaker 6: What I'm concentrating on is protecting and advancing the interests
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: of Australians. I'm interested in fighting for them. The Coalition
• 20:30
  Speaker 6: are interesting in fighting each other, whether it be Liberals
• 20:33
  Speaker 6: fighting liberals, Nationals fighting nationals, or Liberals fighting nationals or
• 20:37
  Speaker 6: the lamp. I'm not sure who they're fighting each other.
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: I'm joined by former Queensland Premier Campbell Newman. Campbell, thanks
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: for coming in tonight. First off, I just want to
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: get your take on this whole saga. I mean, it
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: feels like it'd been going for months.
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: It's a bit over a week. What have you made
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: of it?
• 20:53
  Speaker 12: Well, look, firstly, the Pems, as they say in Sport,
• 20:56
  Speaker 12: he's playing the advantage, you know, and.
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: He's on message.
• 21:00
  Speaker 12: And what they're trying to do, of course, is say
• 21:03
  Speaker 12: that the Liberal Party that is abided and there's that
• 21:07
  Speaker 12: there's that sense of division, but it's also about him
• 21:10
  Speaker 12: trying to continue to paint the Liberal Party is being
• 21:13
  Speaker 12: anti immigrant, anti Indian in this particular case. The trouble
• 21:18
  Speaker 12: is the way this has been handled is that weak
• 21:21
  Speaker 12: liberals I throw the leader of the opposition into that category,
• 21:27
  Speaker 12: actually adopt the Labor Party's line. They actually get scared
• 21:31
  Speaker 12: by the Labor Party's line. What they should have done
• 21:33
  Speaker 12: here is push back. Price was not having a go
• 21:36
  Speaker 12: at Indians who've come to Australia. She was merely making
• 21:39
  Speaker 12: a comment about the crass and quite a brutal calculation
• 21:45
  Speaker 12: that the Labor Party. Do you know, when I was
• 21:48
  Speaker 12: Lord Mayor of Brisbane and indeed Premier, I had fantastic support.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: From the Indian community in this city. I was honoring
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Indian of the Year I think three years running now.
• 21:57
  Speaker 12: And so what I'm saying is that the Indian commuit
• 22:00
  Speaker 12: will vote for Liberals, and they should be voting for
• 22:03
  Speaker 12: Liberals because the Liberals actually are much more aligned if
• 22:08
  Speaker 12: they follow the principles of the party to the values
• 22:11
  Speaker 12: of people who've come from the Indian subconduent. They're industrious,
• 22:14
  Speaker 12: they want to run their own businesses, they want to
• 22:16
  Speaker 12: get ahead.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: They're about family.
• 22:18
  Speaker 12: They want to keep what they've earned. And I'm sure.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: Like hard working a Strainers don't want to pay high taxes,
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: so why shouldn't they vote liberal? But what Susan.
• 22:28
  Speaker 12: Lady has done is actually capitulated to the Labor party line.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: And you know, I mean the only criticism i'd.
• 22:35
  Speaker 12: Have a price, and it's only a small one, is
• 22:37
  Speaker 12: that what she did say was sort of clumsy.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: She did hand the issue.
• 22:42
  Speaker 12: Yeah, and she has and good honor, but you know,
• 22:45
  Speaker 12: now she'll be a free agents. She'll speak of mine
• 22:48
  Speaker 12: and I'm afraid it looks really bad for the leader
• 22:51
  Speaker 12: of the opposition.
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: That's what i want to ask you.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: Next.
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: Where do you think this goes for Susan Lee and
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: how does this affect her leadership here? Well, she would
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: probably believe this is a show of strength. Is it
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: going to play out that way?
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: It's not, it's not.
• 23:04
  Speaker 12: It's I think it plays out really really badly.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: We've seen what the Prime Minister said.
• 23:09
  Speaker 12: He's playing the advantage, you know, that's the way it looks.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: That's the way it looks.
• 23:15
  Speaker 12: And leadership is actually about trying to corral people, bring
• 23:18
  Speaker 12: him together, not do what Susan Lee has done, which
• 23:20
  Speaker 12: is the sort of reward friends and marginalize opponents in
• 23:25
  Speaker 12: the leadership ballot.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: You know, I'll I have.
• 23:28
  Speaker 12: Great respect for Peter Kretlin who appears on this network
• 23:32
  Speaker 12: and also writes to Australia, and she in her piece
• 23:36
  Speaker 12: in the Australia Day calls it right down the line.
• 23:39
  Speaker 12: She's absolutely correct in her assessment. It hasn't been about
• 23:43
  Speaker 12: leadership or demonstration leadership. It's actually been a decision I
• 23:48
  Speaker 12: think that ultimately will be terminal for Susan lad.
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: You don't panic and you certainly, as you point out,
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: you don't let your political opponents.
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: Set the attenda. This is the dance to and that's
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: what's happened is.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: Exactly exactly that.
• 23:59
  Speaker 12: What what they're allowing is for the Labor Party to
• 24:03
  Speaker 12: say the little Party of racis just about it for
• 24:07
  Speaker 12: a second.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: An Aboriginal woman of strength and character.
• 24:12
  Speaker 12: It has been label essentially's being a racist against Indians
• 24:16
  Speaker 12: who have come to this country.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: I mean, give us a break.
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: Played out terribly.
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: Hopefully the opposition can get on with holding the government
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: to account. Though I'm not holding my breath speaking of
• 24:29
  Speaker 4: the government. Anti Albanesi is yet to secure a face
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: to face meeting with Donald Trump. But the President had
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: this to say when asked about a phone call they
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: had just last week.
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: Have listened to this, how was your form with the
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: Italian Prime minister?
• 24:42
  Speaker 10: And how is your.
• 24:46
  Speaker 13: En a good club?
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: And then Anthony Albanese, he was asked about those comments
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: from Donald Trump, have listen, what do you.
• 24:54
  Speaker 12: Make of this?
• 24:54
  Speaker 13: And do you think he's a good man?
• 24:56
  Speaker 9: Well?
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: I do.
• 24:57
  Speaker 6: I've had respectful relations with President Trump. We have had
• 25:03
  Speaker 6: four discussions that have been really warm. The last one
• 25:06
  Speaker 6: was just Ober a week ago. I look forward to
• 25:10
  Speaker 6: continueing engage with the United States.
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: So there you go. Donald Trump says Anthony Albanezi is
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: a good man. But is he good enough to get
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: a meeting? Campbell? That's the question we all answer. He
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: needs a meeting, doesn't he does?
• 25:22
  Speaker 12: But it's like I guess to be sort of fair
• 25:24
  Speaker 12: about at least he's not getting the treatment other world
• 25:27
  Speaker 12: leaders have got.
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: Well, maybe that's why there hasn't been a meeting, because
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: he's afraid he will get that treatment.
• 25:32
  Speaker 12: Well, you know plenty of people have commented like that, James,
• 25:36
  Speaker 12: But look, I hope he does get a meeting for
• 25:39
  Speaker 12: the sake of this country. And look, I have to
• 25:43
  Speaker 12: reflect that this government has done so much to antagonize
• 25:48
  Speaker 12: the administration Washington, whether it be about Israel, recognition of Palestine,
• 25:56
  Speaker 12: the whole issue about defense spending, where him and dragged, kicking,
• 26:00
  Speaker 12: screaming into the reality, the brutal reality of twenty twenty
• 26:05
  Speaker 12: five in the Indo Pacific that Australia has to step
• 26:08
  Speaker 12: up to the plate and either we are aligned to
• 26:10
  Speaker 12: the United States of America spending more money, or James,
• 26:14
  Speaker 12: we spend lots more money ourselves and have a policy
• 26:18
  Speaker 12: of self reliance which will Neither thing has being espoused
• 26:24
  Speaker 12: by the government, is it well?
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: You know, prior to this week, Anthony Orbinezi had had
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: three very.
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: Constructive phone calls.
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: Every time they mentioned these phone calls, I say, very
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: constructive phone calls.
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: We still don't know where Orcus is at.
• 26:35
  Speaker 4: We've still got no tariff relief, so I'm not sure
• 26:37
  Speaker 4: what's been constructive about them.
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: But I suppose it's a good thing.
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: There was a fourth phone call, so hopefully the fifth
• 26:43
  Speaker 4: interaction will be a face to face and look.
• 26:45
  Speaker 12: Even meantime with the Specific Islands Forum, I mean two
• 26:49
  Speaker 12: comments the Chinese are crawling all over the Solomon Islands.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: Exactly. And the other thing, of course, there's the usual
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: ritual beat up.
• 26:58
  Speaker 12: On Australia about our LNG projects, which goes unanswered. I mean,
• 27:03
  Speaker 12: if I was the Prime Minister of Australia at a
• 27:05
  Speaker 12: Pacific Islands forum the moment that stuff has rolled out,
• 27:08
  Speaker 12: I'd say, well, look see your brothers over here, Melanesian
• 27:11
  Speaker 12: brothers and PNG.
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: They seem to be doing very well with.
• 27:14
  Speaker 12: Massive LNG export projects to take their country forward to
• 27:18
  Speaker 12: prosperity for all their people.
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: That's Australia's right as well. So you want money.
• 27:24
  Speaker 12: From Australia, you want our support, Well, that's how we
• 27:27
  Speaker 12: fund the Great Services and that's how we fund our
• 27:30
  Speaker 12: international relations program.
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: So rack off, you make you far too much sense.
• 27:35
  Speaker 12: Well, I wish I'd have the strength to push back
• 27:38
  Speaker 12: publicly instead of like logging. PNG has massive LNG projects
• 27:44
  Speaker 12: that they have implemented and probably still to implement.
• 27:47
  Speaker 4: Right before we go, I want to ask you about
• 27:49
  Speaker 4: the government's Special Envoy into combating anti not anti Semitism, Islamophobia.
• 27:56
  Speaker 4: He's handed down his report today. Here's some of what
• 27:59
  Speaker 4: was said in that press conference.
• 28:01
  Speaker 13: Since October seventh, twenty twenty three, Islamophobic incidences has skyrocketed.
• 28:06
  Speaker 13: The Isemaphobia Register has recorded a one hundred and fifty
• 28:09
  Speaker 13: percent increase and verified in person islamophobic incidents by November
• 28:14
  Speaker 13: twenty twenty four. Online these instances skyrocketed two hundred to
• 28:20
  Speaker 13: two hundred and fifty percent compared to any other period
• 28:23
  Speaker 13: before that. Despite these reports, Islamophobia remains under reported.
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: So he's recommended a whole lot of action points to
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: combat Islamophobia. But what I found interesting Campbell was that
• 28:37
  Speaker 4: he also wants an inquiry into the cause of anti
• 28:40
  Speaker 4: Palestinian attitudes in this country. I can't imagine why there
• 28:45
  Speaker 4: might be some anti Palestinian attitudes in Australia.
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: Any ideas can you help me?
• 28:49
  Speaker 12: Well, I'm sick of Palestinian supporters from I'm afraid certain
• 28:55
  Speaker 12: ethnic communities protesting week after week after week on the
• 29:00
  Speaker 12: it of our cities and useful idiots coming alongside with them.
• 29:05
  Speaker 12: And look, look, let's what we need is to actually
• 29:11
  Speaker 12: say we're going to be a vibrant, multicultural country. But
• 29:14
  Speaker 12: we're calling on people to adopt our values and the
• 29:17
  Speaker 12: principles by which we have all lived together, and so
• 29:21
  Speaker 12: special envoys for this and special envoys for that create
• 29:24
  Speaker 12: actually division and that's what really makes me.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: Annoyed about it.
• 29:28
  Speaker 12: We have seen a huge sort of tide of negativity
• 29:35
  Speaker 12: and quite outrageous things happening to the Jewish community in
• 29:38
  Speaker 12: this country. They are not of the State of Israel,
• 29:42
  Speaker 12: They're Jewish Australians and that's where the funt the issue
• 29:46
  Speaker 12: has been at this current time. And you know, the
• 29:49
  Speaker 12: Islamic community, and again I had very good relationships with
• 29:53
  Speaker 12: the Muslim communities here in Australia in Queensland, but I
• 29:56
  Speaker 12: would say to more broadly across Australia, well, we do
• 30:00
  Speaker 12: not have rabbis that I've noticed preaching hate and division
• 30:04
  Speaker 12: and the destruction of a particular state. Know, I haven't
• 30:09
  Speaker 12: heard any rabbis preaching for the destruction of one of
• 30:13
  Speaker 12: the Muslim nations in the Middle East.
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: So I mean there is a real issue with people.
• 30:19
  Speaker 12: In those sort of positions preaching hate and division, and
• 30:24
  Speaker 12: perhaps there's a need for them to have a good
• 30:26
  Speaker 12: hard look themselves and actually quell those more radical.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: Elements of their community.
• 30:32
  Speaker 12: But look, at the end of the day, I just
• 30:35
  Speaker 12: want people to actually get on board Team Australia and
• 30:39
  Speaker 12: leave all that rubbish behind.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: I just wish that could happen.
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 30:42
  Speaker 4: I think every single person watching this program would one
• 30:45
  Speaker 4: hundred percent agree with that. We just all want to
• 30:47
  Speaker 4: be Australians and get on with Bill.
• 30:49
  Speaker 12: I don't want to see that Palestinian flag, and I
• 30:52
  Speaker 12: don't think we.
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: Should need to see the Israeli flag.
• 30:54
  Speaker 12: I want to see the Australian flag flown proudly as
• 30:58
  Speaker 12: it flies from my own home.
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: Hundred percent.
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: Campbell Newman, thanks to joining me tonight. It's always great
• 31:03
  Speaker 4: to catch up with you. We'll stick around because after
• 31:05
  Speaker 4: the break. The Premier of South Australia has enjoyed an
• 31:08
  Speaker 4: audience with King Charles as the campaign to host the
• 31:11
  Speaker 4: COP thirty one summit continues. Plus Labor remains coy on
• 31:15
  Speaker 4: a missions targets, But when they're finally revealed, how are
• 31:18
  Speaker 4: they going to help families battling the cost of living?
• 31:20
  Speaker 4: All that more in just a moment, Welcome back to
• 31:26
  Speaker 4: the program. The Premier of South Australia, Peter Melanowskis, has
• 31:30
  Speaker 4: met with King Charles in London to discuss Australia's bid
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: to host a COP thirty one Climate summit here to
• 31:36
  Speaker 4: discuss this and more. The Environment editor at The Australian
• 31:39
  Speaker 4: Graham Lloyd Graham, thanks for coming on the program now.
• 31:43
  Speaker 4: To be fair, the South Australian Premier also signed an
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: agreement with Rolls Royce to help with the Orcast submarine deal.
• 31:50
  Speaker 4: I talked to you about that in a moment, but
• 31:52
  Speaker 4: he flew to London to talk to the King about
• 31:55
  Speaker 4: joining tens of thousands of other officials in dignitaries flying
• 31:58
  Speaker 4: to Australia to lecture about cutting the about the urgent
• 32:02
  Speaker 4: need to cut emissions.
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: We're expected to believe there's a climate crisis.
• 32:09
  Speaker 14: Yes, hi, James Well, it's one of those things about
• 32:12
  Speaker 14: the climate gatherings that omissions omitted in the pursuit of
• 32:16
  Speaker 14: good intent seem to be okay, which is remarkable if
• 32:20
  Speaker 14: you think what it is. The global group most concerned
• 32:25
  Speaker 14: about the issue of emissions is being encouraged to fly
• 32:30
  Speaker 14: all the way to Adelaide at the bottom of the Earth,
• 32:34
  Speaker 14: as far as you can possibly get from most other
• 32:36
  Speaker 14: places to talk about it. But it really shouldn't surprise us.
• 32:42
  Speaker 4: George Orwell said it didn't. He all emissions are equal
• 32:44
  Speaker 4: but some are more equal than others, some are more
• 32:48
  Speaker 4: the thirty one conference. Can you explain to me the
• 32:52
  Speaker 4: government's desperation to hold this event? I mean, as I
• 32:56
  Speaker 4: understand it, Turkey haven't given up their right to hosts,
• 33:00
  Speaker 4: so there's.
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: It's not likely that we'll end up having it.
• 33:05
  Speaker 4: The Obinezi government seems absolutely fixated on being the hosts.
• 33:09
  Speaker 14: Why well, it's something that goes back to prior to
• 33:15
  Speaker 14: the election in twenty two where the government is saying
• 33:19
  Speaker 14: this awful, terrible government that we've just had of Morrison
• 33:25
  Speaker 14: has tainted Australia's reputation around the world because we won't
• 33:29
  Speaker 14: play nice on climate change. So Labor is going to
• 33:33
  Speaker 14: change all of that and a visible demonstration of it
• 33:36
  Speaker 14: will be will host this conference, everyone will applaud, will
• 33:39
  Speaker 14: bring in the South Pacific nations to jointly host it
• 33:45
  Speaker 14: so we can mend relations with them and share their
• 33:47
  Speaker 14: pain and it will create.
• 33:50
  Speaker 15: A new atmosphere.
• 33:52
  Speaker 14: Since that time, it's run into difficulty with Turkey, who
• 33:56
  Speaker 14: gave up holding the conference to make way for Glasgow
• 33:59
  Speaker 14: when that is postponed because of COVID, So they're not
• 34:03
  Speaker 14: keen to give it up again. They want to keep going.
• 34:06
  Speaker 14: Australia is struggling with its emissions targets. It's running around
• 34:12
  Speaker 14: the Pacific being snookered by China and the best laid
• 34:16
  Speaker 14: plans of mice and men. I think if the decision
• 34:21
  Speaker 14: is made that it doesn't go to either Turkey or
• 34:24
  Speaker 14: Australia this time around, there might be cause for a
• 34:26
  Speaker 14: sigh of relief.
• 34:30
  Speaker 4: Indeed, and we wouldn't get a visit from the King
• 34:32
  Speaker 4: or Greta Tunberg.
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: So there's that as well. Labor remains.
• 34:41
  Speaker 14: I'm saying, if Greta Tunberg is planning to come, she
• 34:44
  Speaker 14: better start sailing now.
• 34:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, she's going the long way, that's for sure. Labor
• 34:51
  Speaker 4: remains coy on it's twenty thirty five emissions reduction targets,
• 34:55
  Speaker 4: but reports are now circulating that they're going to aim
• 34:57
  Speaker 4: for the low to mid sixties, which is far below
• 35:00
  Speaker 4: the seventy five percent push from Green's groups. This follows
• 35:04
  Speaker 4: warnings that higher cuts could cost industry more than five
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: hundred billion dollars. So I wanted to ask you, Graham,
• 35:10
  Speaker 4: if the target is in the sixty percent range, the
• 35:14
  Speaker 4: government really are just bowing to demands of activists. But
• 35:19
  Speaker 4: the targets are still going to put pressure on households. Right,
• 35:21
  Speaker 4: So is this a win if they're lower or is
• 35:24
  Speaker 4: it still going to be a disaster for householders.
• 35:28
  Speaker 14: Well, I think whatever you do, where we're saying that
• 35:31
  Speaker 14: the cost even of forty percent is high. The government
• 35:34
  Speaker 14: is trying to cast a wide net and be all
• 35:37
  Speaker 14: things to all people, and it's telling industry, which is
• 35:41
  Speaker 14: scaling down its own ambitions, that look, we'll have a
• 35:44
  Speaker 14: lower target than we're being badger to do to save
• 35:47
  Speaker 14: you a bit of money. But on the other hand,
• 35:49
  Speaker 14: it's saying it'll be a range and the top of
• 35:51
  Speaker 14: the range will be sufficient to satisfy the people who
• 35:55
  Speaker 14: are wanting a greater ambition. So the whole thing, at
• 35:59
  Speaker 14: the end of the day.
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: It's targets.
• 36:00
  Speaker 14: It's a bit of nonsense. You try your best. The
• 36:05
  Speaker 14: government's been setting grand ambitions and struggling to get there.
• 36:09
  Speaker 14: There's no reason to think that this will be any different.
• 36:14
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I suspect you're probably right. Just lastly, timber workers
• 36:19
  Speaker 4: have accused the Min's government of abandoning rural communities with.
• 36:22
  Speaker 3: Its plan for a great Koala National Park.
• 36:25
  Speaker 4: They've warned a moratorium on logging will devastate local jobs
• 36:29
  Speaker 4: while offering only short term token support to those out
• 36:33
  Speaker 4: of work. Is this an instance of more city centric
• 36:36
  Speaker 4: green policies being forced onto regional families.
• 36:42
  Speaker 14: Well, it's a difficult one, this one, James. I think,
• 36:44
  Speaker 14: look regional families and I live in the regions. Regional
• 36:48
  Speaker 14: families like Koalas as well, and there's a lot of
• 36:51
  Speaker 14: support for Koala National Park. The bigger issue is the
• 36:56
  Speaker 14: financial sustainability of the timber industry in gen I think
• 37:01
  Speaker 14: there's a lot of work being done to say, look,
• 37:03
  Speaker 14: there's really a public subsidy to destroy a public asset
• 37:08
  Speaker 14: in the National Park, so there needs to be some
• 37:12
  Speaker 14: work there refining it. There needs to be a solution
• 37:15
  Speaker 14: that gives the Koalas their park and actually maintains enough
• 37:19
  Speaker 14: of the industry that's actually going to be sustainable.
• 37:23
  Speaker 4: Graham Lloyd, I appreciate your time tonight, thanks so much.
• 37:26
  Speaker 4: Well after the break, just how will the killing of
• 37:29
  Speaker 4: Charlie Kirk influence protests planned for Melbourne and Sydney tomorrow
• 37:34
  Speaker 4: and what impact will it have on imbattled retailers, plus
• 37:37
  Speaker 4: the wash up from the demotion of Jcenter Price so
• 37:40
  Speaker 4: certainly made the right move Friday Night panel will go
• 37:43
  Speaker 4: at it in just a moment. Welcome back, let's bring
• 37:49
  Speaker 4: in the panel. Research fellow at the Institute of Public
• 37:52
  Speaker 4: Affairs Mia Schlitt and Sky News contributed Joe Hildebrand to
• 37:56
  Speaker 4: both of you. Thanks for joining me on the program.
• 37:59
  Speaker 4: I want to start with the assassination of US conservative
• 38:02
  Speaker 4: Charlie Kirk that is expected to galvanize opposing protest groups
• 38:06
  Speaker 4: in Australia this weekend, sparking police fears of violent clashes
• 38:11
  Speaker 4: amid what can only be described as rising political tensions.
• 38:14
  Speaker 4: Melbourne Lord man Nick Reese pleaded for a rethink. Have
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: listened to his thoughts.
• 38:19
  Speaker 16: Livelihoods are on the line here. I mean my message
• 38:22
  Speaker 16: to people considering coming into the city for the protests
• 38:25
  Speaker 16: this week, and I say don't come please. The level
• 38:29
  Speaker 16: of disruption and harm that you're causing to Melbourne, the
• 38:33
  Speaker 16: people of your city, is more.
• 38:36
  Speaker 9: Than the good.
• 38:37
  Speaker 16: Melbourne is starting to look like the bar scene from
• 38:39
  Speaker 16: Star Wars and enough is enough. We need to be
• 38:44
  Speaker 16: taking stronger measures to better manage protest activity in Melbourne.
• 38:51
  Speaker 4: Mea and Joe, there are numerous protest groups protesting about
• 38:55
  Speaker 4: all sorts of things descending on the Melbourne CBD this weekend.
• 38:59
  Speaker 4: You've got retailers and restaurants or at their wits end. Mia,
• 39:03
  Speaker 4: What are these protests achieve other than just punishing businesses
• 39:07
  Speaker 4: that are already struggling.
• 39:11
  Speaker 7: Yeah, look, James, I can completely understand that there are
• 39:13
  Speaker 7: many businesses in the CBD, particularly here in Melbourne, who
• 39:16
  Speaker 7: are pretty fed up and are a bit tired of
• 39:18
  Speaker 7: the state that our city is in. I mean, you
• 39:20
  Speaker 7: just have to look at the crime rates, the vandalism
• 39:23
  Speaker 7: that occurs, or all the empty shopfronts that never quite
• 39:25
  Speaker 7: recovered from COVID, and you can see why they're fed
• 39:28
  Speaker 7: up with a constant radical activists who are disturbing their
• 39:32
  Speaker 7: day to day businesses.
• 39:33
  Speaker 3: But what I do.
• 39:34
  Speaker 7: Find here quite ironic is I've got the Lord Mayor
• 39:37
  Speaker 7: Nick Reese speaking up about these protests. But where was
• 39:40
  Speaker 7: he when we had radical anti Israel protesters storming a
• 39:45
  Speaker 7: local restaurant here in Melbourne interrupting their business, or we
• 39:48
  Speaker 7: had protesters burning the Australian flag. I didn't see him
• 39:53
  Speaker 7: concerned about the disruption to businesses in that instance. I
• 39:57
  Speaker 7: think the other important point that I want to make
• 39:58
  Speaker 7: here is what we can't do in this instance is
• 40:01
  Speaker 7: we have some protesters who are out there speaking this
• 40:04
  Speaker 7: weekend about very legitimate concerns around migration numbers and things
• 40:08
  Speaker 7: such as housing crises. What we cannot do is conflate
• 40:12
  Speaker 7: that with the tragic and brutal murder of a free
• 40:15
  Speaker 7: speech activist over the week. These are two very distinct
• 40:19
  Speaker 7: and very important issues. What we can't have is politicians
• 40:23
  Speaker 7: coming forward and delegitimizing one cause by saying that these
• 40:27
  Speaker 7: protests are too risk You.
• 40:30
  Speaker 4: Well, there's other protests planned this weekend in New South Wales.
• 40:34
  Speaker 4: New South Wales police say resources are at breaking point, Joe.
• 40:38
  Speaker 4: They're preparing for three days of unauthorized anti Israel protests
• 40:42
  Speaker 4: targeting labor, MP's officers and police awarding. The ongoing disruptions
• 40:47
  Speaker 4: are costing millions of dollars and pushing officers to burn out.
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: How long can taxpayers.
• 40:52
  Speaker 4: Be expected to keep footing the bill for these protests,
• 40:56
  Speaker 4: And of course it takes police away from doing the
• 41:00
  Speaker 4: things that they should be doing, which is you know,
• 41:03
  Speaker 4: following up crimes.
• 41:05
  Speaker 15: Yeah, that's absolutely right, mate.
• 41:06
  Speaker 17: It's disgraceful the level and also the nature of the
• 41:10
  Speaker 17: protest actions that have been taking place. The sheer pheadedness
• 41:16
  Speaker 17: of protesting every single Sunday already had police resources at
• 41:21
  Speaker 17: breaking point. Police are already understaffed critically in New South Wales,
• 41:25
  Speaker 17: and when they have to use up all their overtime
• 41:29
  Speaker 17: to police these protests not only costs taxpayers a huge
• 41:34
  Speaker 17: amount of money, but it also results in increased burnout
• 41:38
  Speaker 17: and a lack of police resources where they are needed,
• 41:41
  Speaker 17: which is on the streets fighting crime. As you say,
• 41:44
  Speaker 17: I'm also deeply concerned about the repercussions from the assassination
• 41:50
  Speaker 17: of Charlie Kirk, which was absolutely disgraceful, and yet we
• 41:53
  Speaker 17: have had you left wing activists say that you know
• 41:58
  Speaker 17: that celebrating this, and even left being extremists condemning moderates
• 42:03
  Speaker 17: on the left who are trying to express sympathy or
• 42:06
  Speaker 17: trying to call for calm or trying to stop people
• 42:09
  Speaker 17: from delighting in the murder of a husband and father.
• 42:13
  Speaker 17: At the same time, we've already had protests here before
• 42:15
  Speaker 17: Charlie Kirk's death that did turn violent. We've had protests
• 42:20
  Speaker 17: on the thirty first of March where I was thirty
• 42:23
  Speaker 17: first of protest marchin on thirty first of August where
• 42:26
  Speaker 17: neo Nazis were invited to attend, and they spoke, and
• 42:30
  Speaker 17: they also ran rampant and got in a horrific brawl
• 42:35
  Speaker 17: for which a number have now been charged. And you
• 42:39
  Speaker 17: had left wing protesters welcoming the violence and going out
• 42:42
  Speaker 17: to challenge them as well. But even before the attack
• 42:44
  Speaker 17: on the Aboriginal encampment, we've had, you know, people at
• 42:48
  Speaker 17: that same protest in Adelaide holding up signs celebrating Desi Freeman,
• 42:53
  Speaker 17: a double cop killer who is either allegedly a double
• 42:58
  Speaker 17: cop killer if he's still aliveossibly dead, and either way
• 43:02
  Speaker 17: has not been found. So we're looking at the sort
• 43:05
  Speaker 17: of escalation of extremist rhetoric, of extremist action, of supporting
• 43:11
  Speaker 17: and actively promoting extremists on both the left and the right.
• 43:15
  Speaker 17: And I think it's extremely ugly, and I completely agree
• 43:18
  Speaker 17: with Nick Reese that it has to stop, and at
• 43:20
  Speaker 17: the very least all mainstream Australians should stay well away
• 43:25
  Speaker 17: from these protest marches on either the left or the right.
• 43:29
  Speaker 4: All right, it's been such a heavy week. Let's lighten
• 43:32
  Speaker 4: it up a little bit, and thank god for the
• 43:34
  Speaker 4: Prime Minister, because he provided a great moment of levity
• 43:37
  Speaker 4: for all of US at his meeting with Pacific leaders,
• 43:41
  Speaker 4: a fashion faupa from elbow after meeting with those leaders,
• 43:46
  Speaker 4: going into the meeting with the wrong shirt. Mia The
• 43:49
  Speaker 4: PM has never been known for being across the details.
• 43:52
  Speaker 3: Has he.
• 43:55
  Speaker 2: No look on this one?
• 43:57
  Speaker 7: I'm not going to have a go at Alban Easy
• 43:58
  Speaker 7: for his fashion faux part. We've seen him scramble his
• 44:01
  Speaker 7: way out of holes that's dug far deeper than this one.
• 44:04
  Speaker 7: And I'm not really concerned whether it's a pink shirt
• 44:06
  Speaker 7: or a blue shirt. The shirt here that I'm really
• 44:09
  Speaker 7: concerned about is a shirt that he is ripping off
• 44:12
  Speaker 7: the back of mainstream Australians in order to pay for
• 44:16
  Speaker 7: these costly zero and other climate policies that he's advocating
• 44:20
  Speaker 7: for at these summits. I mean, we know that the
• 44:22
  Speaker 7: rollout of renewable energy infrastructure is completely destroying our regional
• 44:27
  Speaker 7: communities and the communities that we rely upon for the
• 44:30
  Speaker 7: food and the fiber of this nation. Not only that
• 44:33
  Speaker 7: it has led to skyrocking power bills. Despite constant promises
• 44:38
  Speaker 7: that have now been broken that these policies would lead
• 44:40
  Speaker 7: to lower power bills, we've seen the opposite occur. And
• 44:43
  Speaker 7: despite all of this. We've got Alban Easy and Chris
• 44:46
  Speaker 7: Bowen going out and accelerating these policies and it's just outrageous.
• 44:53
  Speaker 3: All your points are.
• 44:54
  Speaker 4: Very fair Mea, though I must point out he did
• 44:56
  Speaker 4: not steal that picture off my back. I would not
• 44:59
  Speaker 4: have worn that that any circumstances.
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: Joe.
• 45:02
  Speaker 4: You've worked in politics a long time, you know the PM.
• 45:05
  Speaker 4: I'm just curious behind closed doors, he did not look
• 45:08
  Speaker 4: happy when he really getting back, looking pretty embarrassed. What's
• 45:13
  Speaker 4: going on behind closed doors? Is someone going to pay
• 45:15
  Speaker 4: pay for that with him?
• 45:17
  Speaker 15: I'm pretty sure someone has already paid for that. James.
• 45:19
  Speaker 17: That's a pretty that's a pretty rookie era for whoever's
• 45:23
  Speaker 17: in his four drobe department. But I thought he looked
• 45:26
  Speaker 17: good in the party shirt. I thought he was popping.
• 45:28
  Speaker 17: I thought it wouldn't be out of place at a barbecue.
• 45:30
  Speaker 17: Turning over a few snags, you know, I was always
• 45:32
  Speaker 17: good to see Australia stand out. So you know it's
• 45:36
  Speaker 17: a bullabulla.
• 45:40
  Speaker 3: Very well done.
• 45:41
  Speaker 4: All right, I want to throw a curveball at both
• 45:44
  Speaker 4: of you. Parents of a seven year old boy on
• 45:47
  Speaker 4: the Gold Coast claim he was forced to leave his
• 45:49
  Speaker 4: exclusive private school. After repeat the disputes over his curly hair,
• 45:55
  Speaker 4: his parents were told to breach the school's uniform policy,
• 45:58
  Speaker 4: sparking debate about dated rules versus individuality. The school put
• 46:03
  Speaker 4: our statements saying we are proud of the standards we
• 46:05
  Speaker 4: uphold and the clear expectations we set for everyone in
• 46:07
  Speaker 4: our school community. That's what our families expect when they
• 46:11
  Speaker 4: choose All Saints me, should the schools relax a little
• 46:16
  Speaker 4: bit or should we be ensuring uniform standards are upheld
• 46:19
  Speaker 4: and hair length, even for boys, is standard.
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: What do you think?
• 46:25
  Speaker 7: Oh, look, James, I remember when I was at school,
• 46:28
  Speaker 7: this was always a big issue, especially for us girls.
• 46:30
  Speaker 7: I mean there are regulations on what kind of earrings
• 46:32
  Speaker 7: we could wear, what color were dyeing our hair, what
• 46:35
  Speaker 7: kind of length our nails were, the length of our
• 46:37
  Speaker 7: skirts and our dresses. I mean, regulations around how we
• 46:41
  Speaker 7: appear our schools. It's kind of a cost when you
• 46:43
  Speaker 7: buy into these private schools. And I understand there's an
• 46:46
  Speaker 7: element there of taking pride in the uniform and going
• 46:50
  Speaker 7: along with school discipline. But at the end of the day,
• 46:53
  Speaker 7: I think the real problem in our schools is they've
• 46:55
  Speaker 7: got to get back to teaching the students, and we
• 46:57
  Speaker 7: spend far too much time worrying about kids appearances or
• 47:02
  Speaker 7: buying into these various ideological causes. At the end of
• 47:06
  Speaker 7: the day, let's just get back to maths and science.
• 47:08
  Speaker 7: That's what these kids need.
• 47:11
  Speaker 15: Joe.
• 47:12
  Speaker 4: I dream of a day, Joe where I get in
• 47:14
  Speaker 4: trouble for having my hair too long.
• 47:15
  Speaker 3: That would be all my dreams come true. We've already
• 47:19
  Speaker 3: got about a minute left.
• 47:20
  Speaker 4: But surely when you enroll in schools, you know the policies.
• 47:23
  Speaker 4: It's a bit rich then to make a big deal
• 47:25
  Speaker 4: in the media when you didn't get what you wanted,
• 47:28
  Speaker 4: knowing full well when you enrolled the policies.
• 47:32
  Speaker 17: I am one thousand percent on the school side, and
• 47:34
  Speaker 17: you can tell from that statement that I didn't do
• 47:36
  Speaker 17: too well in maths.
• 47:37
  Speaker 15: I actually had hair like that when I was.
• 47:39
  Speaker 17: In primary school and I wish to God that someone
• 47:41
  Speaker 17: had made me cut it because I look terrible. If
• 47:44
  Speaker 17: you are going to a private school, that is part
• 47:46
  Speaker 17: of the deal. You a buie by their uniform policy,
• 47:50
  Speaker 17: you buy by their dress code or their appearance code.
• 47:52
  Speaker 17: And it's actually something that public schools are trying to emulate.
• 47:56
  Speaker 17: And I know may have said that, you know, we
• 47:58
  Speaker 17: should be worried about other things, but you often see
• 48:01
  Speaker 17: and I go to these schools and I meet these people.
• 48:03
  Speaker 17: One of the first things that they do when principal
• 48:06
  Speaker 17: takes over a school that's been struggling academically is that.
• 48:09
  Speaker 15: They enforce the little things. They enforce the school dress code.
• 48:13
  Speaker 4: Absolutely, You're absolutely right, Joe. They enforce the little things,
• 48:18
  Speaker 4: and you do that and you get discipline. You're totally right.
• 48:21
  Speaker 4: Thanks to both of you. Appreciate you joining me tonight.
• 48:24
  Speaker 4: Let's all I've got time for this evening. Thanks for
• 48:27
  Speaker 4: being with me. Coming up right now is Rowan Deane.
• 48:29
  Speaker 3: Good night,