Latest / The Kenny Report / The Kenny Report | 5 March

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The Kenny Report | 5 March · The Kenny Report

0:01
Speaker 1: Live from the sky New Center. This is the Kenny Report.
0:07
Speaker 2: Good evening.
0:07
Speaker 3: I'm Cali Marcus filling in for Chris Kenny Tonight the
0:11
Speaker 3: latest on the war against Iran as the conflict enters
0:15
Speaker 3: its fifth day and spreads further across the region. Former
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Speaker 3: British Colonel Richard Camp and Alexander Downer will join us
0:23
Speaker 3: to discuss the government in damage control over revelations it
0:27
Speaker 3: had promised a Melbourne mosque a six figure grant. As
0:31
Speaker 3: it emerged it had held a service honoring Iran's Supreme
0:35
Speaker 3: Leader Iotola Harmani, and a date has been set for
0:39
Speaker 3: a by election in former opposition leader Susan Lee's seat
0:43
Speaker 3: of Farah. Can one Nation secure another Lower House seat.
0:50
Speaker 2: Today?
0:51
Speaker 3: The government was still trying to undo the damage after
0:54
Speaker 3: it emerged this week Labor m P Julian Hill had
0:58
Speaker 3: secretly promised a Melbourne mosque a six hundred and seventy
1:02
Speaker 3: thousand dollars grant the TAHA Humanity Association of Victoria.
1:07
Speaker 2: Its name just sounds.
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Speaker 3: So innocent, so humanitarian, doesn't it well. That center was
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Speaker 3: one of a number of mosques that held obscene services
1:17
Speaker 3: this week, mourning the death of Iran's Ayatola Ali Hamanik,
1:22
Speaker 3: a demonic leader of a prescribed terror organization, a man
1:27
Speaker 3: who killed tens of thousands of his own people in
1:31
Speaker 3: recent weeks alone. Now we can show you the moment
1:34
Speaker 3: mister Hill made that pre election pledge a year ago,
1:38
Speaker 3: a pledge which unsurprisingly was never made public by the
1:43
Speaker 3: Albanese government.
1:44
Speaker 4: I'm really pleased to say that if the Federal Labor
1:48
Speaker 4: Government is successful at the election, then we will be
1:51
Speaker 4: giving six hundred and seventy thousand dollars to the Taha
1:56
Speaker 4: Center to support the next stage of community facilities, because
2:00
Speaker 4: you've done the hard work to buy the land.
2:03
Speaker 3: As people openly wept at the Taha Center's service, its
2:08
Speaker 3: senior scholar, doctor Rahim Latifi, described the dictator as an
2:13
Speaker 3: innocent person. He labeled Donald Trump instead the crazy warmonger
2:20
Speaker 3: and the Israeli Prime minister evil, and proclaimed these Western
2:25
Speaker 3: leaders had declared war on religious communities. Now of comments
2:31
Speaker 3: like that, let alone publicly mourning the loss of a
2:35
Speaker 3: terrorist leader don't meet the threshold for supporting and promoting
2:40
Speaker 3: terrorism a criminal offense. Honestly, what does the government yesterday
2:46
Speaker 3: rightly canceled the six figure grant to the Taha Center
2:51
Speaker 3: on social cohesion grants here on grounds Here was Tinya
2:56
Speaker 3: Plibasak explaining that decision on sky News earlier.
3:00
Speaker 5: The Minister Anne Ali put a stop to that. She's
3:04
Speaker 5: called in that proposal and is having a close look
3:08
Speaker 5: at it now. But we make it very clear that
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Speaker 5: it is not in line with Australian values to be
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Speaker 5: mourning the death of a dictator who has murdered tens
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Speaker 5: of thousands of his own people and launched attacks against
3:24
Speaker 5: Australia on Australian soil.
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Speaker 3: And she's right to remind the public that this is
3:30
Speaker 3: not just a regime that has murdered so much of
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Speaker 3: its own population, it's also directed attacks that have put
3:37
Speaker 3: Australian lives at risk here. But you have to ask
3:42
Speaker 3: what sort of due diligence was done by the government
3:46
Speaker 3: on the Taha Center before its local member pledged such
3:50
Speaker 3: a large amount of taxpayer money. The fact is we
3:54
Speaker 3: know there is a president for this kind of conduct,
3:58
Speaker 3: in particular mosques around the country here in Sydney, especially
4:02
Speaker 3: two years ago, these centers filled their halls with hundreds
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Speaker 3: of mourners grieving the leader of another prescribed terror organization
4:11
Speaker 3: HESBLA Hesbla's Hassun Nasrallah following his assassination. So why have
4:19
Speaker 3: there been no attempts to shut down these places or
4:23
Speaker 3: prosecute the organizers of these services. A country that tolerates
4:28
Speaker 3: terrorst sympathizers and glorifiers.
4:31
Speaker 2: Is a country doomed.
4:36
Speaker 3: Now for the latest on Iran, and extraordinary pictures have
4:40
Speaker 3: emerged as US forces sunk an Iranian warship off the
4:44
Speaker 3: coast of Sri Lanka, more than eighty sailors on board
4:48
Speaker 3: reportedly killed. The US Central Command also released footage of
4:53
Speaker 3: one hundred hours of its Operation Epic Fury, claiming American
4:58
Speaker 3: forces have now sunk more than twenty Iranian vessels. It's
5:02
Speaker 3: also said run's missile and drone launches had dropped by
5:07
Speaker 3: eighty six percent and seventy three percent, respectively in.
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Speaker 2: The past four days.
5:13
Speaker 3: All that adding weight to US Secretary of woll Pete
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Speaker 3: Hexath's bold statement overnight.
5:20
Speaker 6: They are toast and they know it, or at least
5:25
Speaker 6: soon enough, they will know it.
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Speaker 3: US Donald President Donald Trump has also addressed the media
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Speaker 3: during an economic roundtable this morning, rating his RUN operation
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Speaker 3: a fifteen out of ten.
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Speaker 7: We're doing very well.
5:40
Speaker 8: On the warfront.
5:43
Speaker 7: To put it mildly, I would say so many said
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Speaker 7: on a scale of ten, where would you're dyed? I
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Speaker 7: said about a fifteen.
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Speaker 3: He also continued to debunk the conspiracy theories emerging in
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Speaker 3: elements of his magabase and among far right commentators that
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Speaker 3: the US was fighting Israel's war and that there was
6:03
Speaker 3: no tangible benefit for America.
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Speaker 7: I think if we didn't do it first, they would
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Speaker 7: have done it to Israel and give us a shot
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Speaker 7: if that was possible. For forty seven years, we were
6:15
Speaker 7: pushed around and we shouldn't have been. And I think
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Speaker 7: I can say, and you see it as well as
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Speaker 7: I do. You see the tremendous progress that's being made.
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Speaker 7: Their missiles are being wiped out rapidly, their launchers are
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Speaker 7: being wiped out.
6:32
Speaker 3: Meanwhile, media outlets in the US and Israel are reporting
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Speaker 3: Kurdish militias have launched a ground offensive into Iran from
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Speaker 3: its northern border, though this has been denied by Iranian
6:43
Speaker 3: state media and senior Iraqi officials. US President Donald Trump
6:47
Speaker 3: is considering arming the militias to help dislodge the Iranian regime.
6:52
Speaker 3: Now all this comes as Iran prepares to announce its
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Speaker 3: new leader. It's widely tipped to be the second son
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Speaker 3: of the Ayotola Mataba Hamani, who is believed to be
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Speaker 3: the choice of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Israeli Defense
7:07
Speaker 3: Minister Gideon Sar has already warned he wouldn't last long
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Speaker 3: in the role.
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Speaker 2: He's got a target on his back.
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Speaker 3: And the Iotola's hardlin of Sun certainly doesn't seem to
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Speaker 3: be any more popular among the Iranian people. In this
7:21
Speaker 3: audio clip, you can hear protesters in Tehran clearly calling
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Speaker 3: for death to Mottaba from their homes.
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Speaker 9: Now.
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Speaker 3: This man's expected succession has also prompted reports of diplomatic
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Speaker 3: leaks that the new Supreme Leader has been treated for
7:46
Speaker 3: impotency so severe that he had to be hospitalized numerous times.
7:52
Speaker 3: Reports have also been have also resurfaced about the extraordinary
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Speaker 3: cost of his late wife's three months in London and
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Speaker 3: the birth of Mataba's third son there, which was said
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Speaker 3: to have cost around one hundred million dollars. If Iran
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Speaker 3: does officially announce his succession, well don't expect him to
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Speaker 3: last long, says former British colonel encountered terror expert Richard Camp.
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Speaker 1: I think it's probably quite a short term job in
8:22
Speaker 1: his case.
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Speaker 10: I suspect he will follow his father quite soon after
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Speaker 10: he takes over. I do believe that Israeli and US
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Speaker 10: intelligence is so good in Iran at the moment that
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Speaker 10: it has the capability of hitting pretty much anyone who
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Speaker 10: needs to hit.
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Speaker 3: And I'll bring you more from that interview with Colonel
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Speaker 3: Richard Camp later in the show, so don't miss that.
8:47
Speaker 3: A motion to debate the return of isis Brides to
8:50
Speaker 3: Australia was voted down in the Senate today by Labor
8:54
Speaker 3: and the Greens. The motion was moved by a Shadow
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Speaker 3: Home Affairs spokesman John O'donniamustralians.
9:00
Speaker 11: Are seeking assurances from the government around protection of our
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Speaker 11: borders and our national security. But the government are not
9:08
Speaker 11: going to play ball. They're not going to be transparent,
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Speaker 11: they're not going to provide information, and they're not going
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Speaker 11: to allow us today to debate this legislation. We've been
9:16
Speaker 11: asking who issued the passports we don't know. We asked
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Speaker 11: them who carried the passports to Syria to these people
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Speaker 11: we don't know. We asked them who these people were
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Speaker 11: they don't know.
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Speaker 1: We asked them.
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Speaker 11: When are they coming back? They don't know, they know nothing, and.
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Speaker 3: I'm pleased to say, Senator Donniam joins me. Now, Senator,
9:34
Speaker 3: thanks for your time. Now you wanted this Keeping Australia
9:38
Speaker 3: Safe Bill debated. What were you hoping to get to
9:40
Speaker 3: the bottom of here? And why do you think the
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Speaker 3: government wouldn't allow that debate to Just go ahead?
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Speaker 11: Caroline, thanks for having me. The point of the legislation
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Speaker 11: is to close this loophole that labor is exploiting at
9:54
Speaker 11: the moment. At the moment they're saying they're not helping
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Speaker 11: the so called ARSIS brides or their children back to Australia.
10:01
Speaker 11: It's something that they've had no hand in. And you've
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Speaker 11: just heard us talking about the fact that they have
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Speaker 11: issued passports and there are elements of support that have
10:09
Speaker 11: been provided. But they're happy to say, well, they're not
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Speaker 11: helping them back to Australia to allow others to go
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Speaker 11: and do it for them. And you've got third party
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Speaker 11: groups like Save the Children and this doctor Jamal Riffi,
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Speaker 11: the campaigner for Tony Burke over in the Middle East
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Speaker 11: helping these people get back to Australia. Well, I'm sorry
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Speaker 11: these are not people that went on a sight seeing holiday,
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Speaker 11: as we know, they're women who went to a designated
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Speaker 11: terror hotspot to join their ISIS fighter husband's ISIS being
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Speaker 11: a deaf culture listed terrorist organization. No friends of Australia,
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Speaker 11: we don't think they should be allowed to come back,
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Speaker 11: and so to that end, this legislation was about stopping
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Speaker 11: those groups like Save the Children for example, or others
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Speaker 11: from being able to assist these people back to Australia
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Speaker 11: when Australia haven't given the government has not given the
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Speaker 11: Australian people the assurances around safety and security that we
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Speaker 11: need to have these people risk and the government are
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Speaker 11: ignoring it. They're putting our national security at risk.
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Speaker 3: Well, the government has said Albanese Centainly has said that
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Speaker 3: he doesn't think these people should be coming back, but
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Speaker 3: yet they won't allow even a discussion about this loophole.
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Speaker 3: So why do you think that's the case that they're
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Speaker 3: afraid of information coming out about the steps they have
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Speaker 3: or haven't taken to stop this repatriation from happening.
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Speaker 11: I think they are worried about what exposure there might be.
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Speaker 11: I mean it is odd Caroline that one they wouldn't
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Speaker 11: debate the legislation. That's not the sign of a good, robust,
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Speaker 11: transparent government who wants to work in their nation's interests.
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Speaker 11: It is a sign of a government that is hiding something.
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Speaker 11: How did thirty four people get passports that have been
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Speaker 11: in a displaced person's camp in Syria and their isis
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Speaker 11: brides and their children. We don't know what assessments have
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Speaker 11: been done on these people about what risk they might
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Speaker 11: be to the nation. Under the Passport Act, they can
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Speaker 11: indeed be refused a passport if they do pose a
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Speaker 11: risk to our national security. And of course one of
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Speaker 11: those people that actually got a passport has a temporary
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Speaker 11: exclusion or applied to them that is a temporary travel band.
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Speaker 11: So how can you be banned from coming back to
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Speaker 11: Australia because you're a risk, but be given a passport.
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Speaker 11: So this is why the government don't want to have
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Speaker 11: this discussion, is because these issues and the involvement they've
12:29
Speaker 11: had and the reason they have done what they've done,
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Speaker 11: will become apparent in Australians, I fear will be absolutely
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Speaker 11: shocked at what we learn.
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Speaker 3: Well, I think we deserve some more answers, and good
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Speaker 3: on you for trying to push it because people want
12:40
Speaker 3: to know how this could even be possible.
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Speaker 2: Look, there have been calls.
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Speaker 3: From the Jewish community and others to prosecute Australians who
12:49
Speaker 3: have been honoring the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hamine this week.
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Speaker 3: Senator Duniam, you've said yourself, Evans, glorifying this heinous individuals
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Speaker 3: certainly warrant more examine than what has been evident from
13:01
Speaker 3: the Albanese government.
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Speaker 2: Would you call for criminal.
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Speaker 3: Prosecutions here to be considered and to go ahead, or
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Speaker 3: deportations even in cases where that might be a dual
13:13
Speaker 3: citizenship or even foreign citizenship.
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Speaker 11: Well, I think it is apparent that these entities that
13:21
Speaker 11: are celebrating the life of this terrible human being who
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Speaker 11: presided over the deaths of tens, if not hundreds of
13:28
Speaker 11: thousands of his own people in pursuit of hanging on
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Speaker 11: to power and spreading the evil that he did. Anyone
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Speaker 11: who's celebrating that person's life, who is of course also
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Speaker 11: the head of the IIGC, a listed sponsor of a
13:42
Speaker 11: state sponsor of terror, that there are legal provisions that
13:47
Speaker 11: would deal with these people. And so I do think
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Speaker 11: there may well be criminal penalties that could be applied
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Speaker 11: to individuals who celebrate this man's life and display images
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Speaker 11: of him and the IIGC of which he headed up.
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Speaker 11: So I think the Commonwealth, if they're serious about dealing
14:02
Speaker 11: with anti Semitism, if they're serious about dealing with the
14:06
Speaker 11: Islamist extremism, as they say they are, then they should
14:09
Speaker 11: put their money where their mouth is and get the
14:10
Speaker 11: Director of Public Prosecutions and law enforcement agencies to get
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Speaker 11: in and investigate and where possible, prosecute these people. I
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Speaker 11: cannot believe, with everything that is happening in the Middle
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Speaker 11: East that we would just as a tolerant nation, turn
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Speaker 11: a blind eye to this and allow these celebrations of
14:28
Speaker 11: this terrible man's life to go ahead, nice.
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Speaker 3: Frong and not just in the Middle East, but what
14:32
Speaker 3: we saw in Bontno a few weeks ago, by what
14:35
Speaker 3: it would seem to be how I've heard Tarost supporters. Look,
14:37
Speaker 3: let's talk quickly about the by election for Susan Lee's
14:41
Speaker 3: Cedar Barrow that's now been set today for the ninth
14:43
Speaker 3: of May. How worried are you and how worried is
14:46
Speaker 3: the opposition about the threat from one nation. We don't
14:49
Speaker 3: know who's going to be pre selected here. But obviously
14:52
Speaker 3: we've seen in the polls one Asian support surge considerably.
14:58
Speaker 11: Well, we've got our work cut out for it us
15:00
Speaker 11: and our metric of success is winning and so that's
15:04
Speaker 11: the job we have ahead, is to win that seat.
15:06
Speaker 11: And what Angus Taylor I think has demonstrated to our
15:10
Speaker 11: party room, to his colleagues, to the people of Australia
15:14
Speaker 11: is that he has the capacity to deliver what it
15:17
Speaker 11: is Australians want. He's presented that change we needed as
15:20
Speaker 11: an opposition and I think enough time on the ground
15:23
Speaker 11: in Phararh convincing Australians that we are the party to
15:28
Speaker 11: vote for will be something that will bring us the
15:31
Speaker 11: result we want. Yes, it's a challenge, but by gum,
15:34
Speaker 11: we've got to get on with the job and actually
15:36
Speaker 11: do what Australians need from an opposition and provide that
15:39
Speaker 11: credible alternative and under Angus that's what we're going to
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Speaker 11: do and hopefully that means a win in Phararh.
15:44
Speaker 3: Okay, well, you guys have about nine weeks to get
15:47
Speaker 3: the brace really started over that.
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Speaker 2: John o'donnian, thanks so much for your time tonight. Appreciated.
15:53
Speaker 3: Now, Prime Minister Anthony Alberizi is basing criticism from the
15:56
Speaker 3: opposition for failing to warn Australians about the risk of
16:00
Speaker 3: conflict in the Middle East in the week leading up
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Speaker 3: to the strikes.
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Speaker 12: In the week leading up to the strikes in Iran,
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Speaker 12: when we had faltering a piece talks between the administration
16:10
Speaker 12: and Iran, when we had two US carrier strike groups
16:13
Speaker 12: moving into the region, the Foreign Minister of Australia did
16:16
Speaker 12: not make a single public statement personally about Iran. The
16:20
Speaker 12: Prime Minister answered one question about it in a radio
16:23
Speaker 12: interview because he was asked, but spent more time talking
16:26
Speaker 12: about Andrew Mountbatten.
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Speaker 3: Windsor joining me Now is former Foreign Minister Alexander down
16:33
Speaker 3: Alexander Danna, thank you for your time this evening.
16:36
Speaker 2: Do you think this criticism is fair?
16:38
Speaker 3: Should the Prime Minister have put the Australian public on
16:41
Speaker 3: notice about the very real potential for conflict?
16:46
Speaker 13: Well, I think the Foreign Minister indefact should have reflected
16:51
Speaker 13: the building of war in the defact Traveler Advisory and
16:57
Speaker 13: the Foreign Minister should have made a series public statements.
17:01
Speaker 13: I mean perhaps the Prime Minister could have backed them up,
17:04
Speaker 13: but it would have helped because it would have ensured
17:08
Speaker 13: that many of those Australians who have been trapped in
17:11
Speaker 13: the Middle East would have had the opportunity to leave.
17:15
Speaker 13: And after all, the government would have had a huge
17:18
Speaker 13: amount of information flowing to it from the Americans on
17:22
Speaker 13: the Americans preparations, so you know, there's no excuse here,
17:27
Speaker 13: they were just a little slow in getting the message
17:31
Speaker 13: out to Australians.
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Speaker 3: Well, since we learned about the strikes, Albanesi has made
17:37
Speaker 3: statements in support of the US and Israeli action against Iran,
17:41
Speaker 3: and I suppose that's welcome, especially when you consider the
17:43
Speaker 3: increasing hostility the government has showed towards Israel, in particular
17:47
Speaker 3: before the Bonnie massacre. That is, What do you make
17:50
Speaker 3: of the Albanese government's response since the strikes were launched.
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Speaker 13: Well, actually, I think their response has been pretty good.
17:59
Speaker 13: Their response has been a great deal better than the
18:03
Speaker 13: response of the British and the Spanish governments. I mean,
18:07
Speaker 13: the Spanish Prime Minister has gone out and condemned what
18:11
Speaker 13: the Americans have done, as though we'd be better off
18:15
Speaker 13: with the Ayatollahs and Muller's running their nation of terror
18:20
Speaker 13: and oppression.
18:22
Speaker 8: I mean, one day, this Iranian.
18:26
Speaker 13: Activity had to be brought to an end. So Albanesi
18:30
Speaker 13: has been pretty good on that. Keirs Starmer, on the
18:33
Speaker 13: other hand, for a while denied the Americans use of
18:38
Speaker 13: British bases, in particular Criteri in Cyprus and Diego Garcia
18:44
Speaker 13: in the Chagos.
18:45
Speaker 8: Islands, which is in the Indian Ocean.
18:48
Speaker 13: And I think the British Prime Minister and the British
18:52
Speaker 13: government has shown itself to be not just weak, but
18:58
Speaker 13: very untraditional. You know, the great leaders of Britain, the Thatchers,
19:03
Speaker 13: the Blairs. You can go all the way back, as
19:07
Speaker 13: people often do to Winston Churchill. These people have been
19:11
Speaker 13: great and dynamic leaders who stood up for freedom.
19:15
Speaker 8: And Kirs Starmer could never be accused of that.
19:18
Speaker 3: Well, as Donald Trump said, he's certainly no Winston Churchill.
19:22
Speaker 3: I'll talk about that a little bit later with in
19:26
Speaker 3: more detail with Colonel Richard camp But as Chris Kenny
19:29
Speaker 3: showed on his program earlier this week, former prime minister,
19:33
Speaker 3: a liberal prime minister, how come Turnbull? Well, he's called
19:36
Speaker 3: this an a legal war. He's taken a similar position,
19:39
Speaker 3: it would seem to the Greens. What do you make
19:42
Speaker 3: of mister Turnbull's intervention.
19:43
Speaker 13: In this well, I mean, I think former Liberal leaders
19:49
Speaker 13: and I'm one of them, should stick with the stick
19:53
Speaker 13: with the philosophy of the Liberal Party. I mean, the
19:56
Speaker 13: Liberal Party is never going to be a political party
19:59
Speaker 13: on the side a terrorist and oppressive, freedom destroying.
20:05
Speaker 8: Regime like the Iranian regime.
20:09
Speaker 13: And as for the legality, I'm an art shore where
20:12
Speaker 13: he gets that line from.
20:13
Speaker 8: But I would have thought this was perfectly legal.
20:17
Speaker 13: The United States was threatened with attacks on its bases
20:22
Speaker 13: in the Middle East, and indeed those bases have been attacked.
20:26
Speaker 13: The United States has every right to defend its bases
20:30
Speaker 13: and its interests and to help defend its allies in
20:33
Speaker 13: the Middle East. And its allies, by the way, are
20:36
Speaker 13: not just Israel, but importantly include Israel, but countries like
20:41
Speaker 13: the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
20:45
Speaker 8: These countries have on and so on.
20:48
Speaker 13: These countries have been ruthlessly attacked by the Iranians. Thank
20:52
Speaker 13: god the Americans have been dealing with those attacks and
20:57
Speaker 13: with those threats.
20:58
Speaker 8: I mean people who who.
21:00
Speaker 13: Run around with slogans like illegal or what is legal
21:05
Speaker 13: about what the Iranians have been doing since nineteen seventy
21:08
Speaker 13: nine in the Middle East. They have acted constantly beyond
21:13
Speaker 13: the bounds of international law, and up until now no
21:16
Speaker 13: one's done much about it.
21:18
Speaker 2: No, it's so true.
21:19
Speaker 3: It was quite an extraordinary statement I thought from him,
21:22
Speaker 3: and I just don't know what side he's even on anymore. Look,
21:24
Speaker 3: this conflict has drawn attention to our own defense capabilities.
21:29
Speaker 3: What action would you like to see from the government
21:31
Speaker 3: to shore up our defenses?
21:34
Speaker 13: Well, I think this should remind us that we have
21:38
Speaker 13: to make a solid contribution to the building of our defenses. So,
21:43
Speaker 13: for example, missile defense is an absolutely fundamental part of
21:48
Speaker 13: what the Israelis and the Americans and their allies in
21:53
Speaker 13: the Middle.
21:53
Speaker 8: East depending on.
21:55
Speaker 13: At the moment, we have almost no missile defense system
22:00
Speaker 13: here in Australia at all.
22:02
Speaker 8: We don't have mind sweepers.
22:05
Speaker 13: For example, if someone decided to mine our strategic ports,
22:09
Speaker 13: we don't have any way of clearing those minds. So
22:13
Speaker 13: we have underinvested for quite some years now in our
22:16
Speaker 13: defense capability and we need to think more seriously about
22:22
Speaker 13: it and not take our security for granted, which is
22:25
Speaker 13: something we have done for the pretty much the last
22:28
Speaker 13: twenty years yep.
22:30
Speaker 3: And it's increasingly becoming a concern. Alexander Downer, thank you
22:34
Speaker 3: so much for your time. Tonight after the break, we'll
22:37
Speaker 3: return to the War in the Middle East for more
22:39
Speaker 3: on that, as former British Colonel Richard Kemp explains why
22:42
Speaker 3: he agrees Iran is toast. Returning now to the War
22:51
Speaker 3: in the Middle East, the US says it has struck
22:54
Speaker 3: two thousand targets in Iran since the war began. Over
22:58
Speaker 3: the weekend overnight submarine heat and Iranian naval ship in
23:02
Speaker 3: the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka. Secretary of War Pete
23:07
Speaker 3: Hegseth gave this assessment.
23:10
Speaker 6: They are toast and they know it, or at least
23:14
Speaker 6: soon enough they will know it.
23:17
Speaker 3: A little earlier, I caught up with retired British Colonel
23:20
Speaker 3: Richard Kemp, who has commanded troops in Afghanistan and Iraq,
23:24
Speaker 3: and I started by asking whether he thinks Pete Hegseth's
23:27
Speaker 3: assessment is accurate.
23:30
Speaker 1: Well, it certainly looks if it's going that way.
23:31
Speaker 10: They've had enormous damage done to the top level of
23:35
Speaker 10: the regime and several layers below that, plus enormous devastation
23:41
Speaker 10: to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which props up the regime.
23:45
Speaker 10: It's not ended yet, but certainly the doors have been opened,
23:49
Speaker 10: I think in Iran for oppositionists to bring this regime
23:53
Speaker 10: down if they're able to do so.
23:55
Speaker 3: There have been fears that this conflict will expand exponentially
23:59
Speaker 3: and become an open ended war. We've already seen Kurdish
24:02
Speaker 3: militants in Iraq reportedly launched an offensive into Iran, and
24:06
Speaker 3: we've seen the US sink this Iranian ship off the
24:10
Speaker 3: coast of Sri Lanka. Do you think those fears of
24:13
Speaker 3: an open ended war of valords?
24:17
Speaker 1: I don't really think so.
24:18
Speaker 10: I think we have seen Iran expanding the conflict by
24:21
Speaker 10: hitting out at its neighbors and others, including British targets
24:27
Speaker 10: in Cyprus. So and of course Turkey, we've seen some
24:30
Speaker 10: expansion of it, but this is their current knee jerk reaction.
24:33
Speaker 10: I think, in particular, if this regime is brought down,
24:36
Speaker 10: we're not going to see an extended, wide scale war
24:40
Speaker 10: in the Middle East as a result of it. We may, unfortunately,
24:43
Speaker 10: and it depends how things work out. I don't think
24:46
Speaker 10: anyone can really predict. We may see chaos and violence
24:50
Speaker 10: in Iran. Rather for some considerable time as a result
24:55
Speaker 10: of maybe the fall of the regime.
24:57
Speaker 3: Well on that the Iotola's son, which Habahamma, and he
25:00
Speaker 3: has already been reportedly elected Aron's next supreme leader. Do
25:06
Speaker 3: you see him lasting in this role and if he did,
25:10
Speaker 3: what does that mean for the future of the Iranian people.
25:14
Speaker 1: I think it's probably quite a short term job in
25:18
Speaker 1: his case.
25:18
Speaker 10: I suspect he will follow his father quite soon after
25:22
Speaker 10: he takes over. Obviously we don't know that for sure,
25:26
Speaker 10: but I do believe that Israeli and US intelligence is
25:29
Speaker 10: so good in Iran at the moment that it has
25:32
Speaker 10: the capability of hitting pretty much anyone who needs to hit.
25:35
Speaker 10: So I would guess he's not that long the in
25:39
Speaker 10: the chair, And if he is, we're also going to
25:42
Speaker 10: see I suspect in fighting within the regime itself, people
25:45
Speaker 10: who maybe not approve.
25:46
Speaker 1: Of him, people who want somebody else to lead it.
25:48
Speaker 10: So we could see that there are various rival factions
25:52
Speaker 10: within the Iranian regime and have been for a while.
25:55
Speaker 3: Your Prime Minister in the UK, so Keyostama, he's refused
25:59
Speaker 3: to let the US used British bases to launch strikes
26:03
Speaker 3: in this conflict. Donald Trump has equipped. He is no
26:06
Speaker 3: Winston Churchill. What is your response to Starmer's move here?
26:10
Speaker 3: Has it damaged the relationship the UK has with the US?
26:15
Speaker 10: I certainly do think that the US and Britain have
26:18
Speaker 10: had long term, a very special relationship, as it's known.
26:23
Speaker 10: It's gone through good and bad over those years, but nothing,
26:26
Speaker 10: certainly in my experience, nothing.
26:28
Speaker 1: Comparable to what we've got now, where.
26:30
Speaker 10: The US's major ally in Europe has refused to provide
26:34
Speaker 10: the essential support for US military operations in a very
26:39
Speaker 10: very legitimate cause. And even Starmer himself has said that
26:42
Speaker 10: the Iranian regime needs to be brought down and if
26:48
Speaker 10: you can trast him for example, with the Australian and
26:52
Speaker 10: Canadian leaders, both of whom are on the left as well,
26:55
Speaker 10: and both of whom probably share some of Starmer's perspectives,
26:59
Speaker 10: but they were very quick to jump in in support
27:01
Speaker 10: of Trump and Starmish that is done the same. It's
27:03
Speaker 10: actually a national embarrassment what's happening in the UK at
27:06
Speaker 10: the moment, and in particular after a drone strike on Rafacriti,
27:11
Speaker 10: which is British sovereign territory in Cyprus launched. It appears
27:15
Speaker 10: from one of Iran's major proxies, his Balara in Lebanon
27:19
Speaker 10: hadn't We haven't responded. There's been no response even to attack,
27:23
Speaker 10: albeit there were no casualties, no severe damage done, but
27:25
Speaker 10: it was still an attack on British sovereign territory and
27:28
Speaker 10: we've had no response to it.
27:30
Speaker 3: What do you think is motivating so keios Dama to
27:33
Speaker 3: be so obstructionist.
27:36
Speaker 10: Well, I think he's putting his party interests ahead of
27:41
Speaker 10: the national interest and he has genuinely done very severe
27:44
Speaker 10: damaged to the US UK relationship because he's very concerned
27:50
Speaker 10: about his own support base, which is dominated by anti
27:55
Speaker 10: Israel elements and anti Western elements, including the hard left
27:59
Speaker 10: and the Islamist supporters of labor, and he doesn't want
28:03
Speaker 10: and didn't want them to be able to say to him,
28:07
Speaker 10: you have been involved in attacking another Islamic country and
28:11
Speaker 10: certainly the last thing he wants is to be seen
28:14
Speaker 10: to be doing anything alongside Israel for the same reason.
28:17
Speaker 10: So his domestic support basis dictating is currently dictating British
28:23
Speaker 10: foreign policy.
28:24
Speaker 3: What do you think this conflict will mean for the
28:26
Speaker 3: Iranian regimes proxies hamas Hezbolla, the Houties and will this
28:31
Speaker 3: make places like here in Australia safer when we know
28:35
Speaker 3: that around directed attacks on the Jewish community here.
28:41
Speaker 10: Yeah, I mean the Iranian proxies her mass have already
28:45
Speaker 10: been very badly written down by Israel over the last
28:48
Speaker 10: two years, and the loss of their primary supporter, the
28:52
Speaker 10: Iranian Ayatollas, is going to be devastating for them, particularly
28:57
Speaker 10: in morale terms. And I think many of them made
28:59
Speaker 10: us the game is up. Really, we're not going to
29:02
Speaker 10: fight on and either way the Israelis are likely to
29:05
Speaker 10: go in and finish them off.
29:06
Speaker 1: After this campaign is finished.
29:09
Speaker 10: In Lebanon, the Israelis are currently attacking again, attacking is Billah,
29:13
Speaker 10: which was also very badly damaged in the last couple
29:17
Speaker 10: of years.
29:19
Speaker 1: The Houthis have been at the Houthis said they.
29:22
Speaker 10: Would join in this attack, but haven't done so yet
29:25
Speaker 10: that I'm aware of. But if they do, if they
29:27
Speaker 10: raise their heads, they're going to get it knocked off
29:29
Speaker 10: as well. And I think the overall effect of this
29:32
Speaker 10: and the two year war that's been fought so far
29:38
Speaker 10: by Israel is going to be to make the world safer,
29:42
Speaker 10: because let's not forget that since nineteen seventy nine. The
29:47
Speaker 10: Islamic Revolution in Iran inspired and in many cases supported
29:53
Speaker 10: the international global Jihad, Albeit that many of the Jahadi
29:56
Speaker 10: worsh Sunni as opposed to shar which Iran is, that's
30:00
Speaker 10: not really an important point in this instance. So they've
30:04
Speaker 10: they've been inspired by the Iranian revolution and they've been
30:07
Speaker 10: reacting to it for the last nearly half a century.
30:10
Speaker 1: And I think the destruction of this regime may not
30:14
Speaker 1: end global ja had it won't end global chair, but
30:17
Speaker 1: at least it will weaken it, I believe.
30:20
Speaker 3: Well with that in mind, you're in the US right now,
30:23
Speaker 3: what is your view on elements within the MAGA movement
30:27
Speaker 3: And also among a lot of far right commentators like
30:31
Speaker 3: Tucker Carlson and Megan Kelly who are criticizing Donald Trump
30:35
Speaker 3: and the US but taking this action and claiming it's
30:37
Speaker 3: Israel who's forcing the US's hand, even though Trump has
30:42
Speaker 3: denied this.
30:44
Speaker 10: I think anybody who thinks that President Trump's hand can
30:49
Speaker 10: be forced by anybody is somewhat delusional. Certainly it wouldn't
30:53
Speaker 10: be forced by Isroe. Of course, have been joint planning
30:56
Speaker 10: and joint preparations for this operation between Israel and the
31:00
Speaker 10: United States.
31:00
Speaker 1: There had to be, and that it was inevitable. It
31:02
Speaker 1: was right, there was.
31:04
Speaker 10: But this is the United States acting in their national interests,
31:07
Speaker 10: and the destruction of this regime is not just in
31:11
Speaker 10: Israel's interest, it's certainly in the United States interests and
31:14
Speaker 10: the Western world's interest, because this regime has been spreading terror,
31:18
Speaker 10: as I said, for nearly half a century around the world.
31:22
Speaker 10: It's been developing a very very dangerous ballistic missile program,
31:27
Speaker 10: which we've seen used already on its neighboring states as
31:31
Speaker 10: well as Israel. And they were working on a bomb,
31:34
Speaker 10: a nuclear bomb, and of course America could not allow
31:38
Speaker 10: this to continue, and therefore it was the right thing
31:40
Speaker 10: to do, despite what the anti Trump elements on the
31:44
Speaker 10: right have to say.
31:46
Speaker 3: Colonel Richard Cambe, thank you for your time and your insights.
31:50
Speaker 1: Thank you, it's my pleasure.
31:52
Speaker 3: After the break an emotional moment for the Iranian women's
31:56
Speaker 3: soccer team as they prepared to face off against the
31:59
Speaker 3: Matildas while facing uncertainty about family back home.
32:08
Speaker 2: Welcome back, well.
32:09
Speaker 3: The conflict in the Middle East has raised some serious
32:12
Speaker 3: concerns about our nation's fuel supplies, with a major shipping
32:16
Speaker 3: route the Strait of Hulmus effectively closed. Energy Minister Chris
32:20
Speaker 3: Bowen has downplayed concerns about supplies and price hikes, arguing
32:26
Speaker 3: companies are required to keep a minimum amount of stock
32:29
Speaker 3: on hand. Joining me now to discuss this and more
32:33
Speaker 3: as Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Webster. Dr Webster,
32:37
Speaker 3: thanks for your time tonight. Firstly, do you accept Chris
32:41
Speaker 3: Bowen's assurances here about our fuel supplies?
32:47
Speaker 9: Well, Carolyne, thanks for having me. Does anyone accept Chris
32:51
Speaker 9: Bowen's assurances about fuel supplies any more than we trust
32:55
Speaker 9: him about electricity prices to come down? I mean I
32:58
Speaker 9: could go through a myriad of things that Chris Bowen
33:01
Speaker 9: says that certainly give me no comfort, and I'm sure
33:04
Speaker 9: don't give Australians comfort with the growing uncertainty overseas Australia.
33:11
Speaker 9: I think, you know, often we need to be motivated
33:14
Speaker 9: for change and motivated to find what is needed to
33:20
Speaker 9: develop the things that we need to have as a nation,
33:24
Speaker 9: and our own fuel supplies and having enough in reserves
33:28
Speaker 9: is one of them. But you know, I understand why
33:31
Speaker 9: industry would not want to be backing or investing in
33:37
Speaker 9: refining in Australia so much because the economic platform that
33:42
Speaker 9: they've got to deal with, the ir laws, the red tape,
33:45
Speaker 9: the green tape, you name it, are so difficult that
33:51
Speaker 9: they discourage investment, and we at this point in time
33:55
Speaker 9: the Labor government needs to get off its hands and
33:58
Speaker 9: deal with all the barriers that stop this kind of
34:01
Speaker 9: investment happening. I think the other area, too, Carolyne, is
34:05
Speaker 9: that biofuels are a thing, are a real thing. They're
34:09
Speaker 9: really happening. Seventy percent of Australia's canola which has grown
34:13
Speaker 9: in my patch goes to the EU at the moment
34:16
Speaker 9: and is refined into diesel in the EU. It sounds
34:21
Speaker 9: incredibly costly. Apparently it works. Why are we not doing
34:25
Speaker 9: that in Australia. You know, sugar cane again up north,
34:30
Speaker 9: there are particular varieties. Last night I had the privilege
34:34
Speaker 9: of being at the Japanese embassy and looking at particular beans.
34:38
Speaker 9: Don't ask me what the name is. It's something like pomgani,
34:42
Speaker 9: which grows in salt environments. I've probably got that wrong.
34:46
Speaker 9: Salt environments and doesn't need a lot of water, and
34:50
Speaker 9: they're using that for fuels. There are so many options
34:54
Speaker 9: and we should be an environment in Australia where we
34:57
Speaker 9: can invest in this and private enterprise can invest in
35:01
Speaker 9: this and see it flourish.
35:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you're right.
35:04
Speaker 3: I mean we're still waiting for that two hundred and
35:06
Speaker 3: seventy five dollars discount of our electricity bill, So how
35:10
Speaker 3: can we trust anything, Chris Bowen says at this point. Meanwhile,
35:13
Speaker 3: your bill to protect prime agricultural land from renewables projects
35:18
Speaker 3: has been tabled in Canberra this week. How would this
35:22
Speaker 3: legislation protect farmers across the country.
35:27
Speaker 9: So fundamentally it works on and I've got to give
35:30
Speaker 9: a shout out to Allison Penfold who actually delivered this
35:33
Speaker 9: in the House. The Nationals party room stands behind it.
35:37
Speaker 9: Now it's got to go through all the processes as
35:39
Speaker 9: a coalition, so we'll continue to develop that. But the
35:43
Speaker 9: legislation deals with determining what quality land exists in agricultural
35:50
Speaker 9: land at the moment in Victoria, and we've seen more
35:53
Speaker 9: emergency laws today come into play where agg land is
35:57
Speaker 9: completely devalued by the government because they are trying to
36:01
Speaker 9: hit Chris Bowen's energy targets and trashing our agricultural land.
36:07
Speaker 9: The bill goes to define tier one, tier two, tier
36:10
Speaker 9: three of agricultural land, to determine what is prime, what
36:15
Speaker 9: is the next level, and then marginal land. Do what
36:18
Speaker 9: you like with marginal land. Basically nobody cares. But when
36:22
Speaker 9: you're dealing with prime ag land, which is most of
36:24
Speaker 9: my electrin, farmers' rights are being utterly trashed. And the
36:30
Speaker 9: Commonwealth legislation that I have put forward through Allison Penfold
36:35
Speaker 9: is using section ninety six of the Constitution, which is
36:39
Speaker 9: about commonwealth funds and how they can be delivered or
36:44
Speaker 9: not delivered, the parameters around where we would not deliver
36:47
Speaker 9: funds to states, territories, or other entities, including private enterprise
36:52
Speaker 9: for that much. At the moment, the labor government is
36:56
Speaker 9: subsidizing to the tune of who knows how much care billions,
37:01
Speaker 9: but how many billions we don't know to have these
37:06
Speaker 9: renewable projects and the transmission lines and everything that goes
37:11
Speaker 9: with them subsidized. So under this legislation, if it becomes
37:17
Speaker 9: coalition policy, and of course that's to be determined yet,
37:21
Speaker 9: and goes into our portfolios into the next election, we
37:26
Speaker 9: would stop that funding. And what would happen then, Well,
37:30
Speaker 9: I think it's pretty plain, the people who are drinking
37:35
Speaker 9: from the teat of the government expenditure and funding would
37:40
Speaker 9: cease to be so engaged with that process. So what
37:44
Speaker 9: we want to see. I'm using whatever I can at
37:47
Speaker 9: a federal level. A lot of these laws are state
37:50
Speaker 9: I acknowledge that, but at a federal law, there is
37:53
Speaker 9: more to be done, and you know, the math.
37:56
Speaker 2: Needs to see one.
37:58
Speaker 3: There certainly needs to be more to you done, and Webster,
38:01
Speaker 3: because people are concerned, you know, and we're trying to
38:04
Speaker 3: these ridiculous things to meet these renewables and energy goals
38:08
Speaker 3: that will have no tangible effect on the environment anyway,
38:11
Speaker 3: We've got to leave it there, but thank you so
38:12
Speaker 3: much for your time.
38:13
Speaker 2: Dogs, So Webster, good luck with the legislation.
38:16
Speaker 3: Tonight, the Iranian women's soccer team I want to talk
38:18
Speaker 3: to you about that because they're facing off against the
38:21
Speaker 3: Matilda's in a sold out match in the Asian Cup,
38:25
Speaker 3: and there were emotional scenes during a press conference yesterday
38:29
Speaker 3: when one of the players, Sarah Dida, was asked a
38:32
Speaker 3: question about her family and friends back home in Iran.
38:42
Speaker 14: Has seen Amoris rocab my mom, Madame jaf.
38:55
Speaker 3: Just out of the excess of caution, I should disclose
38:59
Speaker 3: my husband is involved in the marketing of this Asian Cup,
39:01
Speaker 3: not that that has anything to do with me wanting
39:04
Speaker 3: to cover what is now also a fascinating intersection between
39:08
Speaker 3: politics and sport given the war. Joining me now is
39:11
Speaker 3: the Herald Suns former chief football writer Mark Robinson. Mark
39:16
Speaker 3: journalists had been warned of asking about the war to
39:21
Speaker 3: these Iranian soccer players that they have apparently been holed
39:26
Speaker 3: up in their hotel rooms. They are very careful about
39:31
Speaker 3: not having anyone to effect while they're here, but of
39:34
Speaker 3: course questions were inevitable, and you have to feel for
39:37
Speaker 3: these players representing a run on the world stage during
39:41
Speaker 3: this conflict, with fears for their own loved ones back.
39:44
Speaker 15: Home and things for themselves.
39:46
Speaker 16: Caron and well said, you know, sport and politics is
39:51
Speaker 16: just messing into one these days, and in sport there's
39:55
Speaker 16: a lot of carriage required, but the carriage of these
39:58
Speaker 16: women to not sing the national lanthem, which is a
40:02
Speaker 16: real show of loyalty in Iran, which I've read in
40:05
Speaker 16: the last couple of days, for these women who probably
40:08
Speaker 16: been facing persecution maybe when they get back home.
40:13
Speaker 15: Protesting apparently against the regime in Iran and We've got
40:18
Speaker 15: people around the world, including women, protesting for the regime
40:22
Speaker 15: and against America, and for these women to do what
40:27
Speaker 15: they did.
40:29
Speaker 1: Smacks of such fortitude from them, you know.
40:34
Speaker 15: Courage export What about courage in the face of fear
40:38
Speaker 15: of persecution when they get home. No, one's not going
40:40
Speaker 15: to know what's going to happen, So good on them.
40:45
Speaker 1: And then questions.
40:45
Speaker 16: You were quite right, Carolo, The questions were always going
40:48
Speaker 16: to come, and the journalists have to ask the questions,
40:52
Speaker 16: and they and they did.
40:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, And we just showed some of the footage of
40:56
Speaker 3: what you're talking about there.
40:57
Speaker 16: That was the.
40:58
Speaker 3: Iranian team whomen nash All anthem was played at a
41:01
Speaker 3: recent game.
41:02
Speaker 2: They just stood.
41:02
Speaker 3: Defiantly silent during the playing of it, which, as you say,
41:07
Speaker 3: took a lot of courage. I mean, these women are
41:09
Speaker 3: forced to compete wearing the hijab and represent Iran during
41:13
Speaker 3: time of such conflict. Obviously, we'll be going for the
41:16
Speaker 3: Matilda's tonight, but I think they deserve a shout out
41:19
Speaker 3: as well. Also tonight, though, Mark the AFL season kicks
41:24
Speaker 3: off with a showdown between Carlton and the Sydney Swans
41:27
Speaker 3: at the SCG.
41:27
Speaker 2: What can we expect from this opening ground, well.
41:30
Speaker 1: Happily a big crowd.
41:31
Speaker 15: I mean the world's chained for NRL and AFL supporters
41:35
Speaker 15: from last week and now the AFL started. So the
41:38
Speaker 15: next lurty odd works is going to be dominated by
41:41
Speaker 15: this sport, the AFL.
41:42
Speaker 1: Charlie Kerno, as we all know who follow football, went
41:45
Speaker 1: to Sydney. Who'll be playing against these old team tonight.
41:48
Speaker 1: There's a rivalry, bit of blood.
41:50
Speaker 15: We'll see how those two teams respond, certainly how how
41:54
Speaker 15: Carton responds. You know, the AFL has put the northern
41:59
Speaker 15: markets from Victoria on the map by playing four of
42:03
Speaker 15: the four of the opening round games.
42:05
Speaker 1: Out of Victoria.
42:07
Speaker 15: In Collingwood and Secura are playing Sunday night, and people
42:10
Speaker 15: are winging about that, et cetera, et cetera.
42:12
Speaker 1: Victorians have got.
42:14
Speaker 15: More to winter about than having one game of football
42:17
Speaker 15: in the opening round.
42:18
Speaker 1: Do you know I want to go off tante here
42:21
Speaker 1: for a second.
42:22
Speaker 16: Do you know that we have the biggest sporting weekend
42:26
Speaker 16: in Victoria, the biggest weekend.
42:29
Speaker 1: We've got races, we've.
42:30
Speaker 16: Got the Formula one, We've got forty on Sunday night,
42:32
Speaker 16: we've got member and.
42:35
Speaker 15: State government decided to upgrade three of the major train
42:38
Speaker 15: routes going into the city. I mean, yeah, is this
42:42
Speaker 15: an episode of utapia or is this real life government?
42:45
Speaker 3: This is the state of Victoria for you, Mark Robinson,
42:48
Speaker 3: I hate to break it to you. Thank you so
42:50
Speaker 3: much for your time tonight. I hope all goes well
42:53
Speaker 3: with that opening round. After the break, there are calls
42:56
Speaker 3: for university leaders to face the Anti Samitism Soil Commission
43:01
Speaker 3: after they celebrated controversial anti Israel academic Randa abdel Fata.
43:11
Speaker 3: Welcome back, Let's bring in tonight's panel. The Daily Telegraphs
43:14
Speaker 3: Tim Blair and Mark Nicholson from step Mate Studios.
43:17
Speaker 2: Welcome to you both.
43:19
Speaker 3: Let's begin tonight with this concerning poll by the Australian
43:23
Speaker 3: National University. It found less than half of young Australians
43:26
Speaker 3: aged eighteen to twenty four think democracy is always preferable
43:31
Speaker 3: to other forms of government. That's compared to sixty seven
43:36
Speaker 3: percent support for democracy against all age groups.
43:40
Speaker 2: Tim, I mean, I don't.
43:41
Speaker 3: Know what they think are the form of government. They
43:44
Speaker 3: want socialists, I suppose, But what do you think could
43:47
Speaker 3: be driving this?
43:49
Speaker 17: Well, as you say, Carolyn, I'd like to dive a
43:52
Speaker 17: deeper into the stats on this one, but it could
43:55
Speaker 17: be in large part that these people have been sold
43:59
Speaker 17: a version of democracy that they're not seeing. So if
44:02
Speaker 17: you're told democracy means you get to have your say,
44:05
Speaker 17: and then things just happen without anyone voting for them,
44:08
Speaker 17: like for example, the last liberal government suddenly deciding are
44:11
Speaker 17: all in for net zero, which no one voted for,
44:14
Speaker 17: especially on that side, maybe a few people questioning democracy
44:19
Speaker 17: from that point of view.
44:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fair, Mark.
44:22
Speaker 3: You know, the support for democracy is especially low for
44:24
Speaker 3: those who haven't finished year twelve but don't have tertiary qualifications.
44:29
Speaker 2: I mean, why do you think that is?
44:30
Speaker 3: Do they not feel represented by our elected politicians?
44:36
Speaker 1: Well?
44:36
Speaker 18: Yeah, I reckon that's one hundred percent right. Yeah, Like
44:38
Speaker 18: as Tim said, the results be for themselves. But also
44:41
Speaker 18: I kind of don't blame them. Look at the look
44:42
Speaker 18: at the results of democracy for these people. Look at
44:45
Speaker 18: the look at the quality of politician that's it's pumping out.
44:48
Speaker 18: Oh democracy, it's not great. But I talk about the
44:52
Speaker 18: Churchill quote the democracy is the worst form of government.
44:56
Speaker 8: Except for all the other ones that we've tried. And
44:58
Speaker 8: that's that's the truth.
45:00
Speaker 2: That's true.
45:01
Speaker 8: You know, you've got to you got to play.
45:02
Speaker 18: You've got to blame the game, you know, but blame
45:05
Speaker 18: don't blame the game, blame the players and take some agency.
45:08
Speaker 18: But I think that's the next step for these kids
45:09
Speaker 18: is to they realize that the government you elect is
45:12
Speaker 18: the government you deserve. That's a Thomas Jeffson quote. I'm
45:14
Speaker 18: filled with quotes.
45:16
Speaker 8: And that's the thing.
45:17
Speaker 18: They'll take some agency, they'll take some they'll take some
45:19
Speaker 18: personal responsibility. That's the next step in their maturity, and
45:22
Speaker 18: they will start voting my nation and they'll get the
45:23
Speaker 18: change they deserve.
45:25
Speaker 3: Well, that's that's true. Probably a lot of them are
45:28
Speaker 3: heading that way. Let's just hope it's not towards the Greens. Now,
45:31
Speaker 3: the coalition is calling for horror university leaders to be
45:34
Speaker 3: hauled before the Anti Semitism Royal Commission after an event
45:38
Speaker 3: featuring controversial anti Israel academic Runda abdel Farter was described
45:43
Speaker 3: as a phenomenal success now. This town hall featured both
45:47
Speaker 3: abdel Fara and the now former director of the Adelaide
45:50
Speaker 3: Writers Festival, Louise Adler, after their Writers Week imploded.
45:55
Speaker 2: Tim Let's not forget that.
45:57
Speaker 3: Abdelf Farter has said Zionists don't deserve cultural safety, not
46:01
Speaker 3: to mention shared images glorifying hamas. Do you think these
46:05
Speaker 3: university leaders should have to explain themselves?
46:09
Speaker 17: Well, yes, and I think in a broader sense, the
46:12
Speaker 17: universities themselves should. You know, the whole cultural universities needs
46:16
Speaker 17: to be explained at this point. If you're a young
46:19
Speaker 17: person and you want to avoid you're not really getting
46:23
Speaker 17: an education these days at university, you're getting an indoctrination.
46:26
Speaker 17: If you want to avoid becoming a sort of an
46:30
Speaker 17: insane leftist, you know, anti colonialist maniac, stay away from
46:35
Speaker 17: universities and believe me, in about ten fifteen years, who knows,
46:38
Speaker 17: having a BA on your resume, it might be looked
46:42
Speaker 17: down upon us in the same way as you'd look
46:44
Speaker 17: upon someone saying, hey, I used to be a member.
46:46
Speaker 8: Of the Hitler youth.
46:46
Speaker 17: You know, yay for me. Get the hell away from
46:49
Speaker 17: these universities, unless maybe you're doing something proper like engineering.
46:52
Speaker 17: But even so, even those areas of universities have been infected. Honestly,
46:56
Speaker 17: keep them at arm's length.
46:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, we're still only the people doing metasin, but
47:00
Speaker 3: you're right, it's creeping in everywhere. Look, I want to
47:02
Speaker 3: give you both a sneak peek of an exclusive report
47:05
Speaker 3: I have airing on Sky News Bulletins tomorrow about Taiwan
47:08
Speaker 3: launching new adult Mandarin classes across Australia and New Zealand.
47:13
Speaker 3: This isn't a bid to counter Chinese Communist Party propaganda,
47:16
Speaker 3: they say. Here's the president of the association running the
47:20
Speaker 3: classes in Sydney.
47:22
Speaker 2: Our message is simple, you can live Mandarin in that
47:25
Speaker 2: open and.
47:25
Speaker 13: Respectful way, which reflects the Australian vardues.
47:32
Speaker 16: Mark.
47:32
Speaker 3: It's no real secret the CCP have been trying to
47:35
Speaker 3: exert foreign influence in this country, including through the education
47:39
Speaker 3: system and places like Confucius institutes. What do you think,
47:42
Speaker 3: just quickly about this move from Taiwan.
47:46
Speaker 18: Sign me up, Sign me up. I didn't like the
47:49
Speaker 18: CCP classes that I went to. I asked one question
47:52
Speaker 18: and they threatened to make me disappear. I lost my
47:55
Speaker 18: social credit score, everything went all downhill. All I learned
47:58
Speaker 18: to say was that Tianeman Square didn't happen. It was
48:00
Speaker 18: a useless course. So I'm excited to sign up for
48:02
Speaker 18: this one. This sounds like a ripper.
48:04
Speaker 3: Well, you might have had a boost your TikTok Chinese
48:06
Speaker 3: own TikTok account.
48:08
Speaker 2: We've got time.
48:09
Speaker 3: Very quickly, Tim Victorian Premier, just into Alan she's seen
48:13
Speaker 3: another mysterious surge of Instagram followers, an additional thirty thousand
48:17
Speaker 3: followers overnight. Do you think she's buying followers or has
48:21
Speaker 3: she just had a sudden surgeon popularity?
48:24
Speaker 17: This is no mystery. It all to us in in Victoria.
48:26
Speaker 17: As Mark will will attest, we speak of little else
48:29
Speaker 17: other than just Center and what she's doing on Instagram.
48:32
Speaker 17: If I would leave my office right now and walk
48:33
Speaker 17: down this week swarms of people, what is Jesse to doing?
48:36
Speaker 17: Has she posted a meme? Maybe she's invented a new
48:39
Speaker 17: way of meming. We literally cannot get enough of the woman,
48:42
Speaker 17: and the vote will reflect that when the ex Victorian
48:44
Speaker 17: election is help.
48:45
Speaker 3: I promise you, Tim Blair, you have set up all
48:48
Speaker 3: those accounts yourself, haven't you?
48:49
Speaker 2: Just to follow what she's doing.
48:51
Speaker 3: Tim Blair and Mark Nicholson, we're out of time. Thank
48:54
Speaker 3: you both so much, and I will be back on
48:56
Speaker 3: Sunday for outsiders. But Kredlin is up next, hosted by
49:00
Speaker 3: day Press
49:08
Speaker 18: H