Latest / The Bolt Report / The Bolt Report | 23 June

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The Bolt Report | 23 June · The Bolt Report

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: He's the Report.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Good evening and welcome to the Bolt Report. I'm James Macpherson.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Coming up tonight, the Trump administration successfully targets Aranian nuclear sites.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: General Jack Keane will join us in a moment to
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: discuss the Anthony Albdnezi government has once again come under
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: fire for their weak response to the situation in the
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Middle East. We'll also be joined by the Great Greg
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Sheridan for his analysis on the situation, and lots more
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: for you later in the show, including everyone's favorite Senator
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Lydia Thorpe making a fool of herself yet again, this
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: time in the UK. But first, as plumes of smoke
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: rose over Iran's now very second hand nuclear facilities, the
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Ayatoller wept, But if you listen carefully, you can hear
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: a faint, anguished sob echoing across the Indian Ocean from Tehran,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: but from Canberra. The American Air Force yesterday gave Iran's
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: nuclear ambitions a one way ticket to paradise, and the
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: only people more devastated than iran Supreme Leader seemed to
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: be members of the Albanesi government. Albanezi, whose strategic brilliance
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: is normally reserved for regulating vape flavors and announcing energy
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: price hikes was sulking, or at least that's how it seemed.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: While world leaders issued statements about Trump's historic attack on
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Iran's nuclear installations, the Australian Prime Minister.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Well, he fell silent.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Apparently he doesn't work on Sundays. He was certainly in
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: no rush to complement what the United States called Operation
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Midnight Hammer, a bold, unapologetic strike that turned Iran's nuclear
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: ambitions into a smoking pile of centrifuge confetti. Anthony Albanesi,
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: with help from Foreign Minister Penny Wong, had been talking
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: NonStop over the past few weeks about their plan for
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: the Middle East, which, as opposed to Operation Midnight Hammer,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: could have been more accurately called Operation Decade Long Feather Touch.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: The Federal Labor government had hoped to tickle the IATOL
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: into submission over the course of I don't know ten
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: to fifteen respectful diplomatic summits.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: There's an opportunity over the next two weeks for de escalation,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: dialogue and diplomacy.
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: That is what we want to see, and that is
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: what the world wants to see.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: There is a real risk of escalation here, which is
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: why we have used our voice to urge a de escalation.
• 2:28
  Speaker 5: We want to see peace and security in the region,
• 2:31
  Speaker 5: and we want to see a de escalation.
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: But now all of that lay in smoking ruins.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: The Americans had sent stealth bombers before Penny Wong had
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: been even able to finish a sternly.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: Worded press release.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Trump's Operation Midnight Hammer was a muscular affair. Air strikes, bunkerbusting, bombs, explosions,
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: the kind of thing serious countries do. And nothing is
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: more confronting to this progressive Albanese government than watching bold,
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: unapologetic leaderships succeed without a single mention of climate justice
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: pronouns or working with the global community. Today, twenty four
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: hours after one of the most historic events in the
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: Middle East, the Prime Minister finally came out of hiding.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Elbanezy was asked why it had taken him so long
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: to address the nation.
• 3:19
  Speaker 6: Why did it take twenty four hours for Australia express
• 3:22
  Speaker 6: unequivocal support for this action by its closest ally and
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: what does this say about our relationship with the US
• 3:29
  Speaker 6: under your government.
• 3:30
  Speaker 5: We issued a statement, yes, sir, that was it.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: We issued a statement yesterday, when that is what passes
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: for leadership in the strange world of Anthony Albanzi, you
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: know why this country has so many problems. Yesterday's statement
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: was a vague, banal, unattributed press release that didn't actually
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: express support for our closest ally, it's simply.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: Called for peace. Well, a beauty queen can do that.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: When Pressta gained today as to why he had been
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: less visible than an Australian flag at a Green press conference,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Albanezi offered this excuse.
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: We aren't a central player in this contract conflict.
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: That's just a fact.
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: And what we do is we run an orderly stable government.
• 4:15
  Speaker 5: But I make comments about this in three countries over
• 4:21
  Speaker 5: recent days, and my comments today are perfectly consistent with that.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Well, the PM is right when he says that Australia
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: is not a central player in this. His government's antipathy
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: towards Israel and downright to stain for the United States
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: under Donald Trump is pretty much guaranteed. We're not a
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: central player in anything these days. And nothing illustrates better
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: that you've achieved pique not a central player status than
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: having your defense mister calling for dialogue and diplomacy. At
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: the very moment, US stealth bombers are in the air
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: en route to Iran, which is exactly the embarrassing position
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Richard Miles was caught in on Sunday. It's almost imposs
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: able to overstate the significance of what Trump did yesterday.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: He removed the most dangerous weapons in the world from
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: the most dangerous regime in the world. And yet this
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: is as close as our Prime minister could bring himself
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: to congratulating our closest ally on that remarkable feat.
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: The world has long agreed that Iran cannot be allowed
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: to get a nuclear weapon, and we support action to
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: prevent that, and that.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: Is what this is.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Honestly, i've seen Anthony Aberinezi more enthusiastic about Chinese pandas
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: the Prime Minister was that pains to emphasize over and
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: over again, as if we're a boast.
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: The Australia had absolutely.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: Nothing to do with ensuring the Islamic Republic of Iran
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: could not get its hands on nuclear weapons.
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: We confirm, of course, that this was a unilateral action
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: by the United States. We've made very clear this was
• 5:54
  Speaker 5: unilateral action taken by the United States.
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: Well, the US has made clear this was unilateral action
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: taken the United States.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: Well, was your government.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: Briefed prior attack?
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: This was unilateral action taken by the United States.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: PM, You won't breath that.
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: Is that this was unilateral action taken by the United States.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: What I would say is the US has made it
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: clear this was a unilateral strike.
• 6:18
  Speaker 6: And the would absolutely nostra involvement whatsoever, refueling jazz and nothing.
• 6:22
  Speaker 5: Nothing was a Well, I can't be clearer than this
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: was unilateral action taken by the United States.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: The events of yesterday were a massive win for Western democracies.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: Trump demonstrated that rogue states threatening to use nuclear weapons
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: will not be tolerated. Trump also ensured that the only
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: democracy in the Middle East, Israel, was free of the
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: existential threat they were facing.
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: And all our Prime Minister could.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: Say today was, please be absolutely sure this has nothing
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: to do with me. Not a single word of thanks
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: to our major ally for doing the world's dirty work.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: Not a single word of congratulations on a remarkable military
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: operation that removed the RAN's nuclear threat without loss of
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: American assets or Iranian lives. Just a stroppy press conference
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: from a petulant PM. He going to emphasize his ownly
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: irrelevance in what I assume is a desperate bid to
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: be all things to all people, and thus rendering himself
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: of no importance to anyone. Operation Midnight Hammer was Albanesi's
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: worst nightmare. It proved that peace doesn't always come from
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: listening circles and nicely worded un resolutions. Sometimes pieces achieved
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: by sending bunker busting bombs through a hardened target meters underground.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: The Australian government's preferred Operation Decade Long Feather Touch was
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: a doctrine of moral superiority wrapped in cowardice.
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: It preferred speeches to.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: Airstrikes, pleading with terror regimes to hard power, and above all,
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: it hoped everyone else will do the necessary work of reality.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: So hats off to Donald Trump and Midnight Hammer for
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: reminding the free world there are still nations willing to
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: act well. The Ayatolla wipes away tears with shredded uranium documentation.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Spare a thought for Anthony Albanezi and Penny Wong. Their
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: dreams of being admired onto the international stage through ineffensive
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: ambiguity were reduced to rubble yesterday, right alongside Iran's nuclear hopes.
• 8:28
  Speaker 7: Well.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Joining me now from New York City is retired four
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: star General Jack Keane. General, thanks for your time tonight.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: I want to get into the specifics of the last
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: twenty four hours in a moment, but let me start
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: with this. Are we on the verge of World War III?
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: Or are we on the verge of a historic peace
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: in the Middle East?
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: What's your view?
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think we're on the verge of a fundamental
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: strategic paradigm chef in the Middle East, where it appears,
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: based on some pretty factual evidence of what has happened
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: inside Iran, that we're on a cusp of ending a
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: forty five year history with this regime and their very aggressive,
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: malign behavior where they've completely destabilized the Middle East for
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: all of those years with their fundamental desire to dominate
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: and control the Middle East, drive the United States out
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: of the Middle East, and destroy the State of Israel.
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: And now that they've been decapitated in terms of their
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: nuclear capability, their ballistic missile capability, much of their military capability,
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: we see an end in sight for this regime and
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: the idea that some people think this is going to
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: be World War III is just nonsense. I mean, that
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: is so shadow thinking, doesn't with no reasoning to see
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: what the facts are here in front of us. We're
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: ending a war, not starting a war.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, great point.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: I want to talk to you about the speci of what
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: the US accomplished in that military action we learned yesterday. Obviously,
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: the US had bombed Around's nuclear facilities and it sounds
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: so simple to say, but explain to me the complexity
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: of the operation, because while executed flawlessly, it wasn't without
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: enormous risk obviously.
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Well, it had a number of major things that
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: contributed to its success. One was operational security. There was
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: absolutely no leak whatsoever of this. Two is deception. They
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: flew a couple of airplanes to the west towards Hawaii,
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: and after they took off from the state of Missouri,
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: which for our viewing audience in Australia that's central to
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: the United States, they took off the other seven B
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: two bombers took off to the east and they weren't
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: doing any communications. They were moving radio silent doing that.
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: And the other part of the reception I think was
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: President Trump himself when he announced that we've got a
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: couple of weeks here to negotiate a deal with them.
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: I think he knew full well no deal was going
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: to be made and that decision had already been locked.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: Obviously, the goal of the mission was to destroy Around's
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: nuclear program. Can we say it's now destroyed.
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: I don't think we know that answer yet. It's going
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: to take some time. The Israelis have done significant damage
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: to the twelve sites, with the exception of the four
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: Dial site, so they've been systematic and deliberately working on this.
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: But they needed the United States help because of some
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: of the capabilities that these sites were underneath the ground.
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: Even though a lot of things have been destroyed at
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: Ishfahan and also in Natans to finish it off, they
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: wanted the United States to help them do that. In
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: for Dow, they had limited capability because the underground enriched
• 12:06
  Speaker 4: uranium and where the centifuges are held is three hundred
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: feet underneath a mountain of rock. And we had never
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: used this massive ordinance penetration bomb in combat before, and obviously,
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: even when we practice having this bomb during the research
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: and development stage, we never applied it to a mountain
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: of rock. So there was some question mark in terms
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: of what the results would be. That didn't deter us
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: from using it. You know, going into Normandy during World
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: War two, Eisenhower was fifty to fifty in terms of
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: whether we were going to succeed or not. Well, why
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: did he do it if those were the odds? Well,
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: because the alternative was unacceptable. You know, we wouldn't be
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: able to defeat Germany without the Normandy invasion. The all
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: alternative is unacceptable. You can't have hern keep that capability,
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: even though it's only one site, because that's all they
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: would need to weaponize and put together somewhere in the
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: neighborhood of nine or ten weapons. So on the surface
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: of it, it looks successful. We believe the major hall
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: complexes in the Fordahle site have likely been destroyed, and
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: we believe also it may be likely inaccessible. Naton's we
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: think is gone, but we have to verify it and
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: Isfahan the same. So what is happening here? A major
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: intelligence effort by the Israelis and the United States. And
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: here's what they're doing. Satellite imagery examining that very closely.
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: Number two aerial reconnaissance largely being conducted by the Israelis
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: That means we're flying man platforms over the site to
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: take a look at at and get a different picture
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: than what a satellite is provided. And the third thing,
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: we are eavesdropping on the Iranians. We call this signal intelligence.
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: Israeli has a capability and the United States has the
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: most exquisite capability in the world. That means we monitor
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: phone conversations, we monitor radio conversations, we get into people's Internet,
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: et cetera. And we're listening to the Iranians assessment of
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: what took place. And then the third assessment has taken
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: place as human intelligence. There are people on the ground
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: and those are likely the Macade and they will also
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: try to attempt at verification in terms of the nature
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: of the damage. So it'll take a few days, I think,
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: to get a complete assessment made to see if there
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: is anything left, which would require the Israelis finishing it
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: off or asking the United States, look at we still
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: got a little piece of work here. Do are you
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: wanting to go back and finish this That assessment has
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: not been made and we're waiting for it.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: General you mentioned that part of the reason for the
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: success of this operation was the secrecy, so I want
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: you to clear something up for me if you can.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: Here in Australia, it's pretty clear our government, unlike the
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: UK government, had no prior warning of the US attack.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: There's a debate here over whether that's because of our
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: government's anti Israel, anti defense spending, anti Trump attitude, or
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: if the reason we weren't told of this attack was
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: simply a matter of operational security. As a general, what
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: would your perspective on that question be.
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: Oh, it's absolutely operational security. I mean the Congress City
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: of the United States was not informed and obviously that's
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: our legislature. We have to protect our pilots, and we
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: leaked that out and we put them at risk. That simple.
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: Even inside the entire Department of Defense establishment, there were
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: senior people in the Defense Department, senior generals who were
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: not advised. Chiefs of services, not all of them were advised.
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: I mean, this is normal business for the United States
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: in conducting an operation like this. When we were going
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: after Usama bin Laden to kill them, we didn't tell anybody.
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: That's just the way it has to be if we're
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: going to protect our crews.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Our Prime Minister shouldn't feel personally slighted. Then US military
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: planners have obviously affected in Iranian retaliation for this strike.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: What are we likely to see from ran over the
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: next few days.
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: I think there's a very good chance that they may
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: not do much of anything if they want their regime
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: to survive. And here's the reason. I'm absolutely confident President
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: Trump anddministration has told customs, I mean, excuse me, CARMAINI,
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: the supreme leader the Ayatola, that if you attack and
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: harm us at all, we are coming for you and
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: everything will be on the table. That is, you and
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: your entire civilian leadership, oil of your oil and gas operations,
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: and anything that is of value that has not been
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: exterminated by what the Israelis have don I've done for
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: almost now approaching close to two weeks. That would be
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: consequential to him, and it would likely put him in
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: a position where there would be an internal change of
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: regime by someone else who leaders that are surviving that. So, yeah,
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: that's kind of what's on the table here, just looking
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: at it from Afar, and obviously this is their choice.
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: Just like the attack you've seen in the last twenty
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: four hours, was President Trump's toys.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: Well, We're certainly going to be watching with anticipation to
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: see where events go from here. General Jack Keane, thanks
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: so much for your time tonight.
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, great talking to you and always your audience.
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: All right, well let's get into our Monday night panel.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: Joining me now is former Labor MP Michael Danby and
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: former Labor Senator Stephen Conroy.
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: Gentlemen, thanks for joining me.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: I want to start with the PM's response to yesterday's
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: US military operation. Stephen Conroy, why did Anthony Albanezi keep
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: Australians waiting twenty four hours before addressing this massively historic moment.
• 18:46
  Speaker 8: Well, I think the Prime Minister indicated a statement was
• 18:50
  Speaker 8: put out yesterday. And the thing that I think you've
• 18:55
  Speaker 8: got to get used to doing the Sydney media bubble
• 18:58
  Speaker 8: is that the Prime minis very considered, are not going
• 19:02
  Speaker 8: to be pushed around because journalists want to shout at him,
• 19:06
  Speaker 8: or journalists are demanding answers on their timetable for their deadlines.
• 19:10
  Speaker 8: He gave a considered a response, he supported the action,
• 19:14
  Speaker 8: and the media can jump up and down about it
• 19:17
  Speaker 8: all they like. He gave a very considered supporting press
• 19:20
  Speaker 8: conference today.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: Michael Danby Is that just people like myself in the
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: Sydney media bubble who expect the Prime Minister, I don't know,
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: to talk to us within twenty four hours of a
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: major world event.
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: Or should we just be more patient and wait a
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: bit longer.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: No, if Bob Hawk had been here, Kim Beasley had
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: been in charge, even Bill Shorten or Julia Gillard, or
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: if Comrade Conroy over there was the Defense Minister, they
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: would have strowed out confidently and ann ounce south support
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: for the Americans and said how it's so good that
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: after forty five years as General, Keane just said that
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: the Iranian attempts to get nuclear weapons, which you can see, Stephen,
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: what they would have done with their ballistic missiles landing
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: on civilian areas all over Israel. They would have done.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: It's what I've been term my pioneered on a sky.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: But you'll never hear on the ABC. This is a
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: different labor government. It's led by the socialist left. You'll
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: never hear that from Patricia Cavellos or any of the
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: drones at the ABC. But that's the difference. They're not
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: Stephen Conroy, they're not Kim Beasley, they're not Bob Hawk.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Well, here's another aspect of the PM's response that really
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: concerned me. Or maybe this is just me being part
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: of the Sydney media bubble. Worse than waiting twenty four
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: hours to address the public, Anthony Albenezi waited a full
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: twenty four hours to convene the National Security Committee. Stephen
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: am I wrong in this to expect that maybe that
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: should have happened as a matter of urgency rather than
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: waiting a whole day after a so already moving.
• 21:03
  Speaker 9: Well.
• 21:04
  Speaker 8: One of the things about the National Security Committee is
• 21:07
  Speaker 8: usually you like to make sure it's properly brief. You
• 21:09
  Speaker 8: don't run on a journalist's Twitter timetable, where you need
• 21:14
  Speaker 8: to be able to publish something, no matter how accurate
• 21:18
  Speaker 8: or inaccurate, in five minutes to prove that you're the
• 21:21
  Speaker 8: fastest journalist in the world. So the National Security Committee
• 21:25
  Speaker 8: is a considered body. There's a lot happening yesterday, they'd
• 21:28
  Speaker 8: want to be able to make sure they're well informed.
• 21:31
  Speaker 8: You want to coordinate with other governments. I mean, if
• 21:34
  Speaker 8: you look at what many governments in Europe have said,
• 21:39
  Speaker 8: you know they've welcomed this. So there's all sorts of
• 21:43
  Speaker 8: conversations that will have been taking place, and then the
• 21:45
  Speaker 8: National Security Committee would meet get a considered briefing on
• 21:50
  Speaker 8: what's happened. As a general I mean, first rule in
• 21:54
  Speaker 8: politics as you never asked a question you don't know
• 21:57
  Speaker 8: the answer to. So unfortunately one below the waterline there
• 22:03
  Speaker 8: when he actually said no, it's just operational security. So
• 22:07
  Speaker 8: there's a whole range of issues that would have been
• 22:09
  Speaker 8: pulled together by defact by defense briefings from the US Embassy,
• 22:14
  Speaker 8: all of that. So you like National Security Committee not
• 22:16
  Speaker 8: to just behave like a pack of journalist at a
• 22:18
  Speaker 8: media conference, but to actually be considered in their actions.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: Well, I take your point that you don't want the
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: National Security being briefed by Twitter, But Michael I would
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: have assumed a National Security Committee would be briefed by
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: our major ally, the Americans.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: I think Jack King is Stephens right, gave you the
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: answer that the Americans were so tight on this, and
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: that's part.
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: Of the reason for its success.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: It was operational security. Now, Wong and Obeys deserve a
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: lot of criticism for all of the missteps they've made
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: in foreign policy, particularly disassociating assholes from the Americans over Israel.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: And failing to make the case for the Israel He's
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: being able to defend themselves. But on this occasion, I
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: think in order to preserve the security of those B
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: two pilots that were fainting that they were going to
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: Diego Garcia vi Iguam, they kept it very tight. But
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: you know, we should have come out earlier and said that,
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: like Keir Starma said that this was the right thing
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: to do. Penny Won didn't have to wait twenty four
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: hours for Kevin Rudd to panic in Washington and say, look, guys,
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: you better say something about this if you want to
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: visit Trump in the next few weeks.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: All right, I couldn't help but notice the PM was
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: pretty touchy when asked if he had spoken with Donald
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: Trump since being snubbed at the G seven in Canada
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: last week. There was talk Anthony Albaneze he would try
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: to meet with Trump at the upcoming NATO summit, but
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: that's not happening now. And here's the PM's terse reply
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: when asked about his relationship with Donald Trump today.
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: Have a listen, minister, have you supposed.
• 24:05
  Speaker 10: Than Donald Trump since the G seventy summer No?
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: Now, Stephen Conroy I heard you laughing there. But the
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: world is on the verge of war and the Prime
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: Minister of Australia doesn't appear to have any personal relationship
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: whatsoever with the leader of the free world.
• 24:22
  Speaker 8: Well, I appreciate again the media. We just love the
• 24:26
  Speaker 8: prime minister that I go over and get a bullying
• 24:30
  Speaker 8: and a beating from Donald Trump to help them sell newspapers.
• 24:34
  Speaker 8: But seriously, Donald Trump has humiliated or attempted to humiliate
• 24:40
  Speaker 8: the Canadian Prime minister, is humiliated, the NATO prime ministers
• 24:47
  Speaker 8: and chancellors, has humiliated Keir Starmer, like just to help
• 24:53
  Speaker 8: you your high horse on this issue. Yes, he has
• 24:56
  Speaker 8: even seriously he's actually been barracking Demago. Farad him now
• 25:00
  Speaker 8: he got it. Yeah, No, he has played the game
• 25:05
  Speaker 8: to play to his vanity and his ego. Okay, he
• 25:08
  Speaker 8: is a tacked Starmer and the British Labor Party repeatedly, Michael,
• 25:12
  Speaker 8: and you know this to be a fact. He has
• 25:14
  Speaker 8: attacked them repeated early day over the last three or
• 25:17
  Speaker 8: four months from.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Campaign, which was very in advice. But are you saying
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: that if he goes over that elbow, goes over to Washington,
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: that he'll get the Zelenski treatment. I don't think that's through.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: I think Rudd should have positioned us in a different position.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I think that's that that's a reflection of Elbow and
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Wom's terrible foreign policy stances. They're being advised by these
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: defat officials who've got no idea that we're working in
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: a different world and that you have to pick a
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: side when one side is being threatened with nuclear weapons.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: One side is a democracy and the other side is
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: the theocratic state that hangs, gays, rapes and murders women
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: and sponsors international terrorism. There aren't two sides, so this
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: we're on one side. We're a democracy like Israel in
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: the United States, and we shouldn't be afraid of Donald Trump.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: We should grab it with both hands. And there are
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: many countries who've got fair hearings from him, but they
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: haven't annoyed him beforehand like we have.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: Well, that sounded to me stolen, Like Anthony Albaneze is
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: running scared of Donald Trump.
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: I want to move on to one more time.
• 26:25
  Speaker 8: It's not what I said at all. It's not what
• 26:28
  Speaker 8: I said at all.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: Like he doesn't want to go to the White House
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: because he's scared he'll get the Zelenski trick.
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: Then you'll get treated like stars.
• 26:34
  Speaker 8: So I said, that's what that's what the media like.
• 26:39
  Speaker 8: That's all that's what the Sydney media bubble wants to see,
• 26:43
  Speaker 8: Okay and is just a bit too smart Finn. If
• 26:46
  Speaker 8: that drives the Sydney meebel, well, I think he if
• 26:50
  Speaker 8: it was possible. I mean, you start off by saying
• 26:52
  Speaker 8: you were snubbed, he actually went back. Clearly this had
• 26:55
  Speaker 8: been planning for a little while. He went back to
• 26:57
  Speaker 8: deal with that. He may or may not be going
• 26:59
  Speaker 8: to NATO. I've got no information whether he's going or not.
• 27:02
  Speaker 8: He might want to go now, but he was clearly.
• 27:05
  Speaker 8: Now now I'm talking about whether Trump goes to NATAL
• 27:09
  Speaker 8: I generally have no idea, but my point being Trump
• 27:13
  Speaker 8: has correctly prioritized this strike above a G seven meeting
• 27:18
  Speaker 8: and possibly a NATO meeting. So this is him taking
• 27:23
  Speaker 8: the first time I operational.
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 27:28
  Speaker 8: Well, he actually did pretty well distracting everybody from what
• 27:32
  Speaker 8: he was actually really doing. And credit to Donald Trump.
• 27:35
  Speaker 8: That's the first time in my life I've ever said that.
• 27:36
  Speaker 8: But credit to him for completely blind signing the Iranians,
• 27:41
  Speaker 8: and credit to him for you know, I'm not quite
• 27:45
  Speaker 8: as confident yet. I'm like many of the generals who've
• 27:47
  Speaker 8: been involved into the briefing next to Headskirth, where they
• 27:51
  Speaker 8: weren't quite prepared to say it's you know, we've obliterated.
• 27:55
  Speaker 8: I hope Donald Trump is right, but his generals who
• 27:59
  Speaker 8: are doing the job I'm working with people on the ground,
• 28:02
  Speaker 8: weren't quite prepared to say that.
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: I got to finish it there. I gotta finish it there.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: But what a great note to finish on Steven Conroy
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: giving credit to Donald Trump. Will leave it there, gentlemen,
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: Thanks for joining me.
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: Still to come.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: After the break, donald Trump suggests someone needs to make
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: Iran great again. Can the US president resist the temptation
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: to pursue pursue regime change? And what to make of
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: a top Russian officials threat that several nations will help
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: ensure Iran does get nuclear weapons. I'll put those questions
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: to Greg Sheridan. Right after the break, well before he
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: was elected, Donald Trump committed himself to making sure Iran
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: never got nuclear weapons. He also committed himself to not
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: dragging America into any more of those forever wars. But
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: those two commitments are not mutually exclusive. The question now
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: being asked, though, is has Donald Trump changed his tune?
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: Now the mullers in Iran are on their knees. Trump
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: hinted on his social media platform today that he might
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: expand US involvement from eradicating the nuclear sites to achieving
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: regime change. He wrote, and I quote it's not politically
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: correct to use the term regime change, but if the
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: current Iranian regime is unable to make aram great again,
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: why wouldn't there be a regime change? Joining me now
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: is Foreign editor for The Australian Greg Sheridan.
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: Greg, can Trump.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: Resist the temptation to go beyond these limited targeted strikes
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: and attempt to overthrow the Iranian regime completely?
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: Well?
• 29:32
  Speaker 11: Great to be with you, Yeah, I think you don't
• 29:36
  Speaker 11: want to get too caught up in Trump's tweets. Really,
• 29:40
  Speaker 11: this was the most limited action you could possibly take.
• 29:44
  Speaker 11: I think the B two bombers were over Iran for
• 29:47
  Speaker 11: twenty five minutes. They delivered a crippling blow to the
• 29:51
  Speaker 11: four DHO facility and to Natan's and who is for
• 29:54
  Speaker 11: hand although that came from the submarines. Trump's administration all
• 29:59
  Speaker 11: day was saying when on interested in regime change. But
• 30:01
  Speaker 11: of course everybody would love regime behavior to change, and
• 30:05
  Speaker 11: if the Iranian people were able to, you know, somehow
• 30:10
  Speaker 11: other get rid of the dictators who ruin their lives
• 30:14
  Speaker 11: today and put in somebody more reasonable, that would be great.
• 30:18
  Speaker 11: But there's no sign at all. I mean, regime change
• 30:20
  Speaker 11: means that you kill the leaders of the current regime,
• 30:24
  Speaker 11: or you capture them and you install somebody else. That's
• 30:28
  Speaker 11: what the United States did with Iraq in two thousand
• 30:31
  Speaker 11: and three. There's not the slightest evidence that Trump, or
• 30:36
  Speaker 11: indeed net and Yahoo plans anything like that. Even Andrew Hasty,
• 30:42
  Speaker 11: for whom I have the greatest admiration, was talking about,
• 30:45
  Speaker 11: you know what happens if there's an Iranian collapse and
• 30:48
  Speaker 11: there'll be refugees all over Europe, and so well, is
• 30:51
  Speaker 11: this not the slightest indication that anything the United States
• 30:55
  Speaker 11: or Israel is doing could lead to that? So I
• 30:59
  Speaker 11: think is needling the Iranians and trying to put them
• 31:03
  Speaker 11: under a bit of pressure. But you know, you can't
• 31:05
  Speaker 11: just flip a switch and say regime change. These regimes
• 31:09
  Speaker 11: are pretty pretty tenacious.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: Iran's foreign minister said last night he'd be meeting with
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: Vladimir Putin today. In fact, he's at the Kremlin right now. Meanwhile,
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: Putin's deputy Security Council head Dmitri Medvedev threatened that several
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: nations would be prepared to supply Iran with nuclear weapons.
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: What do you make of all of that.
• 31:33
  Speaker 11: Well, it's a very disturbing statement. Indeed, I don't think
• 31:36
  Speaker 11: it's literally true. So Medvedev has always been a kind
• 31:39
  Speaker 11: of a glove puppet of Putins. He was briefly president
• 31:42
  Speaker 11: when Putin was observing the rudiments of constitutional law and
• 31:48
  Speaker 11: stood down because of term limits and became Prime Minister,
• 31:52
  Speaker 11: and Medvedev was his puppet president. Since then, Medvedev has
• 31:56
  Speaker 11: not been that influential at the heart of Russian government,
• 32:00
  Speaker 11: and Putin uses him sometimes to say extreme things. Nonetheless,
• 32:04
  Speaker 11: he is in the high in the Russian government and
• 32:08
  Speaker 11: this is an extraordinarily disturbing statement. I write about it
• 32:12
  Speaker 11: in The Australian tomorrow. He also says that he seems
• 32:16
  Speaker 11: to rip off all pretense that Iran had peaceful intentions
• 32:19
  Speaker 11: with its nuclear program. He says the production of nuclear
• 32:23
  Speaker 11: weapons now will not be affected by US strikes. So
• 32:28
  Speaker 11: these are very strange statements. It is true that both
• 32:31
  Speaker 11: Russia and China had helped Iran with its nuclear program. Previously,
• 32:37
  Speaker 11: certain key technologies, the converter, which converts uranium into highly
• 32:44
  Speaker 11: enriched nuclear fuel, came from China. And I don't think
• 32:50
  Speaker 11: China or Russia will give Iran nuclear warheads, but it
• 32:54
  Speaker 11: could well give them again nuclear technology in order to
• 32:57
  Speaker 11: hurt America. And we should always recognize the nature of
• 33:02
  Speaker 11: the authoritarian regimes we're dealing with Russia, China, North Korea,
• 33:06
  Speaker 11: and Iran. They help each other and they have a
• 33:08
  Speaker 11: shared hatred of us.
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: Well, you mentioned China, I wanted to ask you about them.
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: How do the events of the past twenty four to
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: thirty six hours affect China's ambitions and the timing of
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: any move they might make on Taiwan.
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: Are these events connected at all?
• 33:26
  Speaker 11: I think they are, and I think the effect is
• 33:28
  Speaker 11: overall beneficial.
• 33:30
  Speaker 4: It is.
• 33:32
  Speaker 11: Likely that the Chinese will have to reconsider Trump's willingness
• 33:37
  Speaker 11: to take military action.
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: So there was this.
• 33:40
  Speaker 11: I think the Financial Times has done us all a
• 33:42
  Speaker 11: great favor by labeling Trump Taco. You know, Trump always
• 33:46
  Speaker 11: chickens out, meaning he always blusters, but then he pulls
• 33:49
  Speaker 11: back from action right at the end with tariff's and
• 33:52
  Speaker 11: with security. So Trump has busted open the taco proposition
• 33:57
  Speaker 11: by taking very strong action against I Ran. So that
• 34:01
  Speaker 11: means that Chinese are going to have to recalibrate again.
• 34:04
  Speaker 11: Would Trump take action if the can?
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: I just sorry, Greg, I just need to interrupt you.
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: I just need to interrupt you for a second.
• 34:10
  Speaker 3: Greg.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: We've actually got live pictures from the Kremlin with Iran's
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: foreign minister meeting with Russian officials there and with Vladimir Putin.
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: Let me just ask you about that for a second.
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: How important is Iran's relationship with Russia. I note that
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: Vladimir Putin was volunteering to be a negotiator between the US, Israel,
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: and Iran. Tell me about that relationship and where you
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: see it going from here.
• 34:37
  Speaker 11: Well, Putin's you know, offered to be a mediator was
• 34:40
  Speaker 11: just just kind of a joke. I mean, as I said,
• 34:42
  Speaker 11: you don't want to take the mad things that Putin
• 34:44
  Speaker 11: and indeed Trump occasionally say too. Seriously. However, for Trump
• 34:49
  Speaker 11: to host the Iranian foreign minister, you know, a couple
• 34:53
  Speaker 11: of days after American strikes, is a very strong show
• 34:57
  Speaker 11: of support by Putin. For Putin to the Iranian foreign
• 35:01
  Speaker 11: minister is a very strong show of support. I think
• 35:04
  Speaker 11: Putin and China both are very strong supporters of Iran.
• 35:08
  Speaker 11: Putin has got drones and missiles from Iran, and both
• 35:14
  Speaker 11: Iran and Russia survive economically by the trade they do
• 35:18
  Speaker 11: with China. So these four authoritarian powers, including North Korea,
• 35:23
  Speaker 11: they are a de facto alliance and they are very
• 35:26
  Speaker 11: helpful to each other.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: Indeed, and as you said, it's instructive that the first
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: thing the Iranian Foreign minister did after the American air
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: strikes was he went straight to the Kremlin. It is
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: a concerning development, Greg Sheridan. A lot more to come
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: on this, of course. Thanks for keeping us updated tonight.
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: We're going to go to a break, but stick around.
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: Still to come.
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: Protests in Sydney and Melbourne come out in support of Iran.
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: And why is US Defense secretary in trouble for congratulating
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: the boys who carried out the successful bombing raid on Iran.
• 36:01
  Speaker 3: My panel is up next.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: Well.
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth heaped praise on American pilots
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: who perfectly executed the bombing raid on Iran, listen carefully
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: to what he had to say.
• 36:17
  Speaker 9: Tran is certainly calculating the reality that planes flew from
• 36:22
  Speaker 9: the middle of America and Missouri over an eight completely
• 36:25
  Speaker 9: undetected over three of their most highly sensitive states, and
• 36:28
  Speaker 9: we were able to destroy nuclear capabilities. And our boys
• 36:33
  Speaker 9: in those bombers are on their way home right now.
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: Aha, did you notice the problem?
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: The Defense secretary referred to the air crew as quote,
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: our boys. The New York Times, a former newspaper, immediately
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: jumped on that, with Pentagon reporter John Ismay correcting the
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: record he wrote, and I quote in the briefing heg
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: Seth referred to B two pilots as our boys on
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: those bombers. Yet both men and women have been trained
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: to fly them end quote. Honestly, the New York Times
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: couldn't define what a woman was six months ago. Joining
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: me is my panel history lecturer and author Stephen Shaverra
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: and my late debate co host Freya Leitch. Stephen, this
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: is why the New York Times is more handy as
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: birdcage lining.
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: That is paper of record, isn't it.
• 37:20
  Speaker 4: Yeah?
• 37:21
  Speaker 12: Thank goodness birds can't read, otherwise they'd probably become confused
• 37:24
  Speaker 12: about their own pronouns. But The New York Times has
• 37:27
  Speaker 12: a history of misinformation. I mean, probably the most serious,
• 37:33
  Speaker 12: more recent example was on October seventeenth, twenty twenty three,
• 37:37
  Speaker 12: when The New York Times reported that Israel had bombed
• 37:40
  Speaker 12: a hospital in Gaza and that five hundred people had
• 37:42
  Speaker 12: been killed, when in actual fact, the bomb went off
• 37:46
  Speaker 12: in the car park of the hospital in Gaza, it
• 37:48
  Speaker 12: was sent it was lobbed by Islamic g had, not Israel,
• 37:53
  Speaker 12: and ten people were killed, not five hundred. Why did
• 37:56
  Speaker 12: they report things the way they did, well because Hamas
• 37:59
  Speaker 12: told them that way, Hermas said so, and so the
• 38:02
  Speaker 12: New York Times has its reputation has really fallen through
• 38:06
  Speaker 12: the floor, particularly since twenty sixteen when they caught Trump
• 38:09
  Speaker 12: derangement syndrome. And part of the problem is that so
• 38:12
  Speaker 12: many journalists nowadays are products of media studies departments and
• 38:17
  Speaker 12: universities which are very ideological. They're very Marxist, and journalists
• 38:21
  Speaker 12: are taught that this is not about the unbiased truth,
• 38:25
  Speaker 12: that it's really about being political activists, speaking truth to
• 38:29
  Speaker 12: power and that kind of thing. And it's really drag
• 38:32
  Speaker 12: journalistic standards into the gutter and That's exactly what's happened
• 38:35
  Speaker 12: with the New York Times and so much of the
• 38:37
  Speaker 12: mainstream media.
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: In fact, Freya, what does it say about the left that,
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: at a moment of such historic importance, and at a
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: moment of great American achievement, that's the issue they pick
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: up on.
• 38:52
  Speaker 7: It shows that they are completely out of touch with reality.
• 38:57
  Speaker 7: I mean, anyone who watched what Pete Hegseth was actually
• 39:00
  Speaker 7: saying would not be bothered by the fact that he said,
• 39:02
  Speaker 7: our boys. We all know what he means, and statistically
• 39:06
  Speaker 7: those pilots were most likely to be men. But heck,
• 39:10
  Speaker 7: what does it matter anyway. We're on the precipice of
• 39:13
  Speaker 7: a huge regional conflict. America has just carried out a stunning,
• 39:18
  Speaker 7: stunning military operation that should be celebrated and will go
• 39:22
  Speaker 7: down in history as an incredible operation. And then here
• 39:27
  Speaker 7: is The New York Times, a supposedly once reputable newspaper,
• 39:31
  Speaker 7: focusing on the political incorrectness of Hegseth's language. I'm sorry,
• 39:36
  Speaker 7: I think America has bigger things to worry about right now.
• 39:40
  Speaker 7: And this, as Steve said, is the problem with a
• 39:43
  Speaker 7: lot of the establishment media. And it's become clear during
• 39:46
  Speaker 7: this conflict as well. The information you can get from
• 39:49
  Speaker 7: a lot of open intel sources on platforms like x
• 39:54
  Speaker 7: so Twitter are far better and more reliable and more
• 39:57
  Speaker 7: timely than anything you'll be getting from sites like The
• 40:00
  Speaker 7: New York Times, because they're not interested in analysis or
• 40:04
  Speaker 7: critical thinking, just pushing political agendas.
• 40:09
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: Hey, thousands took to the streets of Sydney on Sunday
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: in a major protest against Israel. But what was striking
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: to me was the avert display of support for the
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: Islamic Republic of Iran. Take a look at this. Also
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: on Sunday in Melbourne, a synagogue was defaced with pro
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: Palestinian and pro Iranian graffiti, sparking outrage from the local
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: Jewish community. One rabbi condemned the attack on the heritage
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: listed Hebrew congregation as quote an Australian after slogans like
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: free Palestine and get this Iran is the bomb unbelievable
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: were scrawled across the building. Stephen, I agree with the rabbi.
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: It is an Australian, but it's increased common that we're
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: seeing this sort of stuff in Australia. If the US
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: can't remove the nuclear capacity of an Islamic terra state
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: on the other side of the globe without sympathizers here
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: being aroused.
• 41:13
  Speaker 3: That's a worry, isn't it. Well, here's the thing.
• 41:16
  Speaker 12: You might argue that forty years ago that might have
• 41:19
  Speaker 12: been very UnAustralian, but with thirty years of multicultural immigration
• 41:25
  Speaker 12: policy which doesn't ask will the people come into this
• 41:29
  Speaker 12: country be able to fit into our prevailing culture, but
• 41:32
  Speaker 12: really just says let's take anyone from any culture, and
• 41:36
  Speaker 12: all cultures can be themselves while they are here, and
• 41:39
  Speaker 12: we've got no right to ask whether a particular culture
• 41:42
  Speaker 12: is suitable for our existing culture, because hey, we have
• 41:44
  Speaker 12: no existing culture other than multiculturalism. The sad fact is
• 41:48
  Speaker 12: that actually it is increasingly quite Australian to see these
• 41:52
  Speaker 12: kinds of thing because the face of Australia is changing
• 41:56
  Speaker 12: because of a very irresponsible immigration policy, and I think
• 41:59
  Speaker 12: a lot of people over the last couple of years
• 42:01
  Speaker 12: have been having a look at these protests. We've got
• 42:04
  Speaker 12: now one yeah pro and Iranian regime, which literally is
• 42:07
  Speaker 12: a genocidal regime, and a lot of Australians I think
• 42:11
  Speaker 12: have been saying, why are these people here? Why do
• 42:14
  Speaker 12: we have people in Australia, who love a regime, who
• 42:18
  Speaker 12: love regimes that are not only genocidal but also just
• 42:23
  Speaker 12: hate the West, who call our greatest military, ally America,
• 42:27
  Speaker 12: the great Satan. Why are these people here? And we're
• 42:31
  Speaker 12: going to have to really start asking and having some
• 42:34
  Speaker 12: serious discussions about the nature of our immigration program. It
• 42:37
  Speaker 12: is naive to think that anyone from any culture can
• 42:40
  Speaker 12: assimilate into Australia.
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: It is completely naive.
• 42:44
  Speaker 12: We need to focus on bringing people in who we
• 42:46
  Speaker 12: know will easily be able to assimilate because the culture
• 42:49
  Speaker 12: they come from is a lot like ours.
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: Just before we finished, the Independent Centator Lydia Thorpe people
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: who are speaking of people who don't like this country.
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: She stirred fresh controversy after posting photos of herself flipping
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: the middle finger outside Buckingham Palace. The outspoken politician known
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: for her provocative protests, shared these images to social media
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: with the caption dropped by to collect all the stuff
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: this lot stole, but Charlie wasn't in. We've just got
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: thirty seconds Freyer. Do we need to talk about Lydia Thorpe,
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: I mean she is a senator or should we just
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: ignore her?
• 43:28
  Speaker 7: Well, her whole stick is playing and profiting off Indigenous
• 43:33
  Speaker 7: grievance and victimhood. So she will continually pull stunts like
• 43:37
  Speaker 7: this because this is the only relevance she has and
• 43:40
  Speaker 7: the only way she can make headlines. Because we all
• 43:43
  Speaker 7: know she's not actually doing anything productive to advance Indigenous Australians.
• 43:47
  Speaker 7: It's all about pulling these outrageous stunts.
• 43:52
  Speaker 3: It absolutely is.
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: Freyer Stephen, thanks for your time tonight. We'll stick around
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: still to come. Kirstarmer has national security concerns turns after
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: his support for US strikes on Iran, and I think
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: I may have a new favorite TV host, and she's
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: from the BBC. I'll explain why with my guest Tom
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: Slater after this short break will support of as supporters
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: of Iran Supreme Leader march through central London on Saturday
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: as pro Palestinian protests intensified. Among a sea of Palestinian
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: and Iranian flags, demonstrators held placards of the Ayatolla, declaring
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: choose the right side of history in a sign of
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: growing Iranian influence in the UK, Joining me as Spike
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: Online editor Tom Slater, Tom this growing visibility of Iranian
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: symbols at protests in the UK. Is this a national
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: security concern for Keir Starmer?
• 44:47
  Speaker 10: I mean, quite possibly. It's something that we've been seeing
• 44:50
  Speaker 10: in recent years, which is the presence of seemingly kind
• 44:53
  Speaker 10: of Iranian elements beating up pro anti regime protest from
• 45:00
  Speaker 10: time to time. Also, there was a terror plot not
• 45:02
  Speaker 10: too long ago led by Iranians aimed at the Israeli embassy,
• 45:05
  Speaker 10: so that's definitely a significant problem. But also it's a
• 45:07
  Speaker 10: moral problem, isn't it the fact that you've got people
• 45:10
  Speaker 10: walking around in the streets of our capital city with
• 45:12
  Speaker 10: that placard there with a picture of the Ayah Tolla
• 45:15
  Speaker 10: saying choose the right side of history. I should note
• 45:19
  Speaker 10: that that's by a group called the Islamic Human Rights Commission,
• 45:22
  Speaker 10: who in twenty fifteen, two months after the massacre at
• 45:25
  Speaker 10: Charlie Hebdo, gave that magazine the International Islamophobe of the
• 45:29
  Speaker 10: Year awards. I don't think we should take any lectures
• 45:31
  Speaker 10: on who is on the right side of history from
• 45:33
  Speaker 10: an organization like that, But it's a profound there's national
• 45:36
  Speaker 10: security elements this, but I think also moral why do
• 45:38
  Speaker 10: we have I understand, while there are Islamits marching behind
• 45:40
  Speaker 10: those kinds of banners. Why you've got leftists who are
• 45:43
  Speaker 10: joining them on these demonstrations, sticking up for a regime
• 45:46
  Speaker 10: as bigoted and as backward as that is something that
• 45:48
  Speaker 10: never ceases to boggle the mind, I think.
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: L I do note that Keirstam has been quite forward
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: in supporting the US action in Iran, much more so
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: than say our government here in Australia, which has really
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: been issuing just merely mouthed statements, trying not to take
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: a position, perhaps because our government fears stirring up elements
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: in this country. One more thing before we go, Tom,
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: and sorry, we don't have much time, but I had
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: to show you this clip from my new favorite TV precenter,
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: BBC's Martine Croxel. She raised eyebrows during a live segment
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: on heat wave advice, seemingly pushing back on gender neutral language.
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: After reading the phrase pregnant people from a report, she
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: pointedly added, women with a noticeable eye roll have a look.
• 46:40
  Speaker 13: London's School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine HOWS released research
• 46:43
  Speaker 13: which says that nearly six hundred heat related deaths are
• 46:47
  Speaker 13: expected in the UK. Malcolm Mystery, who was involved in
• 46:50
  Speaker 13: the research says that the aged, pregnant people, women and
• 46:55
  Speaker 13: those with pre existing health conditions need to take precautions.
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: Tom, could this be the best BBC presenter we have
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: ever seen?
• 47:05
  Speaker 3: I like her a lot, the best C percent of ever.
• 47:09
  Speaker 10: I mean that is a bit of a tallest dwarf
• 47:11
  Speaker 10: competition in some respects, certainly politically speaking. But what a
• 47:14
  Speaker 10: great moment. I think that eye roll is precisely what
• 47:17
  Speaker 10: we should have greeted all of this trans madness with
• 47:21
  Speaker 10: to begin with. And I think it is a bit
• 47:23
  Speaker 10: of a sign of the vibe shift that's taking place
• 47:25
  Speaker 10: on that issue in this country as many other Western
• 47:27
  Speaker 10: countries now, which is I can imagine a BBC presented
• 47:30
  Speaker 10: doing that a few years ago and getting dummed out
• 47:31
  Speaker 10: of the organization. The fact that the spell is breaking
• 47:35
  Speaker 10: even at an organizations thoroughly woke as the BBC, is
• 47:39
  Speaker 10: surely a sign that we're heading in the right direction
• 47:41
  Speaker 10: A little bit.
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: Well, I was going to say, not only is she right,
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: but she's brave, because I wonder how she would go
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: after she came off here with her superiors at the
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: BBC making such a public show of her to stain
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: for this whole gender theory. Just in ten seconds you reckon,
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: She'll be okay. I'd really love to see you on
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: air again.
• 48:03
  Speaker 10: Absolutely, we can only hope so. But what a bizarre
• 48:05
  Speaker 10: situation we're saying pregnant women rather than people with such
• 48:09
  Speaker 10: a risky business. But that is the world we've ended
• 48:11
  Speaker 10: up in.
• 48:11
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately, it sure is.
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: Unfortunately, Tom Slater, thanks for your time tonight, really appreciate it,
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: and thanks to you at home for watching.
• 48:19
  Speaker 3: But stick around.
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: Coming up in just a moment is Sharry markson good
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: Night