Transcript

Sharri | 26 October · Sharri

0:06
Speaker 1: Thanks, Andrew. Good evening. Tonight, One Nation accused of fuelling
0:10
Speaker 1: a dangerous political climate. But what about the hatred we've
0:14
Speaker 1: witnessed on our streets for the past three years? Why
0:18
Speaker 1: the double standard? Dave Sharma joins me to respond. On
0:22
Speaker 1: track to be Premier, Jess Wilson vows a major crackdown
0:26
Speaker 1: on extremist slogans and protesters. I'll bring you her powerful
0:30
Speaker 1: comments shortly. And Israel heads to the polls tomorrow. We'll
0:35
Speaker 1: look at who's emerging as the frontrunner and what's at stake.
0:38
Speaker 1: And we'll cross live to Israel for the latest. But first,
0:43
Speaker 1: as the Victorian election campaign gets underway, opposition leader Jess
0:47
Speaker 1: Wilson has emerged with a commanding lead in the polls.
0:51
Speaker 1: The election is less than five weeks away. A news
0:54
Speaker 1: poll today shows Wilson is on track to become Premier
0:58
Speaker 1: and lead a majority coalition government. According to today's news poll,
1:04
Speaker 1: the coalition is ahead of Labor by 55 to 45,
1:08
Speaker 1: two-party preferred, and Wilson is ahead of Ben Carroll as
1:12
Speaker 1: preferred Premier by 48 to 34%. This is despite the
1:18
Speaker 1: central line of attack from Labor, that the Liberals can't
1:22
Speaker 1: govern without One Nation. And Ben Carroll is painting this
1:26
Speaker 1: as a risky proposition for voters.
1:29
Speaker 2: There's a real choice at this election. A party and
1:34
Speaker 2: a movement that is fighting for working people or a
1:38
Speaker 2: Liberal One Nation coalition that will hurt working people. Labor
1:43
Speaker 2: decriminalised abortion and Liberal One Nation coalition want to recriminalise it.
1:49
Speaker 2: And polling does show that Victoria could elect Australia's first
1:53
Speaker 2: Liberal One Nation coalition government. And I want to be
1:59
Speaker 2: very clear why that result would be disastrous for Victoria,
2:05
Speaker 2: for the Victorian economy in general, and in particular, working families.
2:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, a big scare campaign. But news polls suggest that
2:14
Speaker 1: the coalition may not need the support of One Nation
2:18
Speaker 1: to government. And there's a caveat here that the two-party
2:21
Speaker 1: preferred vote is very difficult to calculate with the rise
2:25
Speaker 1: of One Nation. And it's the same when it comes
2:28
Speaker 1: to polling across the board. It may be even more
2:31
Speaker 1: inaccurate than normal. The primary vote is a much better indicator. Now,
2:36
Speaker 1: the election campaign in Victoria unofficially began yesterday with Ben
2:41
Speaker 1: Carrow unveiling his campaign bus and hitting the road with journalists.
2:46
Speaker 1: But it was Jess Wilson who made a significant policy
2:49
Speaker 1: commitment on protests and law and order. And she did
2:53
Speaker 1: this at the Melbourne launch of our book, Bondi Terror.
2:57
Speaker 1: It was yesterday afternoon at Caulfield Synagogue. Now, Wilson said
3:01
Speaker 1: she'd introduce move-on orders for pro-Palestinian rallies to regain control
3:07
Speaker 1: of the streets. And she said she'd withdraw taxpayer funding
3:12
Speaker 1: from organisations that promote hatred and incite violence. Here she was.
3:18
Speaker 3: For years, extremists have hijacked our city with often violent
3:23
Speaker 3: protests with no action in response.
3:28
Speaker 1: And that's why.
3:29
Speaker 3: Under my leadership, we will introduce move-on laws and protest
3:34
Speaker 3: permits so that all Victorians can feel safe in the
3:39
Speaker 3: city that we all love. And under my leadership, we
3:44
Speaker 3: will also review and withdraw taxpayer funding from organisations that
3:51
Speaker 3: promote hatred or incite violence. Not one cent of taxpayer
3:57
Speaker 3: money should go to organisations that promote anti-Semitism or extremism.
4:04
Speaker 1: Well said. And Wilson also vowed to crack down on
4:07
Speaker 1: inflammatory rhetoric that incites violence. She said she'd ban the phrase,
4:12
Speaker 1: globalise the intifada, if she wins the election. Now, as
4:16
Speaker 1: you know, this is a phrase that's become increasingly popular
4:20
Speaker 1: among the left, with Grace Tame famously leading the charge.
4:26
Speaker 1: Gadigal to Gaza.
4:27
Speaker 4: Globalise the intifada.
4:29
Speaker 5: One more time. From Gadigal to Gaza.
4:33
Speaker 4: Globalise the intifada.
4:36
Speaker 1: Well, Jess Wilson was adamant. She said it's time this
4:40
Speaker 1: phrase was banned, as it is in Queensland.
4:44
Speaker 3: As Shari and Alex so eloquently said, Bondi shows us
4:50
Speaker 3: where hatred without consequences leads. That's why, under my leadership,
4:58
Speaker 3: we will expand bans on speech that amounts to incitement
5:02
Speaker 3: to violence like Globalise the Intifada.
5:07
Speaker 1: And in even stronger remarks, she defended Zionism and she
5:11
Speaker 1: spoke about how attacks on Zionists led to the hatred
5:15
Speaker 1: that resulted in Bondi. That's her view and here's what
5:19
Speaker 1: she said.
5:20
Speaker 3: For years, Zionism... has been used as a code word
5:26
Speaker 3: for blatant anti-Semitism. What has been lost in the mainstream
5:31
Speaker 3: coverage of Bondi is that these two deranged individuals were
5:37
Speaker 3: motivated to murder Zionists and they came to Hanukkah event
5:42
Speaker 3: to target Jews. When governments at both a state and
5:50
Speaker 3: a federal level allow hatred like all Zionists are terrorists
5:57
Speaker 3: and globalise the Intifada to be spewed and normalised on
6:03
Speaker 3: our streets, at our universities and online, Bondi is the result.
6:13
Speaker 3: I say to everyone here today, Zionism is not a slur,
6:21
Speaker 3: but a proud reflection of the Jewish people and their
6:25
Speaker 3: ancestral and spiritual connection to the land of Israel.
6:29
Speaker 1: I mean, you just can't imagine any Albanese government minister
6:34
Speaker 1: making comments like that. And this strength from Jess Wilson
6:38
Speaker 1: shows she's got no interest in sitting on the fence
6:42
Speaker 1: on contentious issues. I mean, it shouldn't be a contentious issue.
6:46
Speaker 1: She isn't trying to appease pro-Hamas or pro-Palestinian voters. as
6:51
Speaker 1: the Albanese government did ahead of the last election. And
6:54
Speaker 1: it's this conviction that appeals to voters, that appeals to
6:58
Speaker 1: Victorians who've had enough of lawlessness and crime on the streets.
7:04
Speaker 1: And then in the wake of the violent riots that
7:06
Speaker 1: have swept across France, Jess Wilson noticed a passage in
7:11
Speaker 1: our book that now carries a new significance in light
7:15
Speaker 1: of recent events. It's about Dan Elkiam. the young, fit
7:20
Speaker 1: and healthy French citizen who was killed at Bondi.
7:26
Speaker 3: One of the most profound and heartbreaking reflections in Bondi
7:30
Speaker 3: terror for me was the story of Dan Elkayam's family
7:35
Speaker 3: choosing to lay him to rest in Israel rather than
7:40
Speaker 3: France in part because they feared his grave would be desecrated.
7:47
Speaker 1: Just think about that for a moment.
7:50
Speaker 3: A family already enduring the unimaginable grief of losing a
7:55
Speaker 3: loved one to an act of anti-Semitic terror was forced
8:01
Speaker 3: to consider whether his final resting place would be safe
8:05
Speaker 3: from the very hatred that took his life.
8:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a powerful point that Dan's family made in
8:13
Speaker 1: our book, and it resonates strongly now that we're seeing
8:16
Speaker 1: mass civil unrest across France, with shopfronts and monuments and
8:21
Speaker 1: historic buildings being damaged or even torn down and set alight.
8:27
Speaker 1: Dan's family was right to worry that Jewish graves in
8:30
Speaker 1: France may be at risk. But with five weeks to
8:34
Speaker 1: go until the election, the contrast at the very start
8:38
Speaker 1: of the campaign was striking. Ben Carroll unveiling his campaign bus,
8:43
Speaker 1: All Spin, while Jess Wilson unveiled a series of commitments
8:47
Speaker 1: on public safety and the rule of law. A shiny
8:51
Speaker 1: new bus is no match for substance and courage. I'll
9:00
Speaker 1: return to that in just a moment. But first, Pauline
9:03
Speaker 1: Hanson is once again defending her Please Explain cartoon after
9:08
Speaker 1: AFP Commissioner Chrissy Barrett said that there was a link
9:11
Speaker 1: between inflammatory political discourse and threats against MPs.
9:17
Speaker 6: I've got to ask, do things like a cartoon that
9:20
Speaker 6: suggests someone should be hit by a car or something
9:23
Speaker 6: like that, does that have a direct link?
9:24
Speaker 5: Is that what you're talking about?
9:25
Speaker 3: We do see examples where there are particular announcements or,
9:29
Speaker 3: you know, things like you've just described.
9:32
Speaker 1: There is a reaction amongst the community. Now, what exactly
9:37
Speaker 1: is she talking about? Well, here's one example of an
9:41
Speaker 1: episode of a One Nation cartoon. Oh, for goodness sake. Lydia,
9:46
Speaker 1: get out of the way.
9:47
Speaker 5: No!
9:49
Speaker 4: All right, class.
9:50
Speaker 1: Chat amongst yourselves. I'll sort this out.
9:52
Speaker 5: Right-o, you mob.
9:53
Speaker 4: Let's go to the rum distillery.
9:55
Speaker 1: Yeah!
9:57
Speaker 5: Hey, Mich, how did you get Lydia to move out
9:59
Speaker 5: of the way? Who?
10:07
Speaker 1: Get in. Now, Pauline Hanson was asked about this today
10:11
Speaker 1: after the AFP Commissioner's comments. She said the satirical cartoon
10:17
Speaker 1: wasn't going anywhere.
10:19
Speaker 7: Look, she's like, this woman's on the floor of Parliament,
10:22
Speaker 7: fist in the air saying.
10:23
Speaker 1: This is war.
10:24
Speaker 7: You should see the hatred and venom that comes out
10:26
Speaker 7: of her mouth on the floor of Parliament. And people
10:28
Speaker 7: know a cartoon to a non-cartoon. And besides, that bus
10:32
Speaker 7: episode happened years ago. You've got kids out there on
10:36
Speaker 7: streets with kill Pauline Hanson. I hate Pauline Hanson. Shoot
10:39
Speaker 7: Pauline Hanson. What does the commissioner do about that? Absolutely nothing.
10:46
Speaker 1: It's extraordinary that in the interview on the ABC with
10:49
Speaker 1: the AFP commissioner, it was only Pauline Hanson's cartoon that
10:53
Speaker 1: was put under the spotlight. The conversation largely ignored the
10:57
Speaker 1: rising inflammatory and violent rhetoric of the left, including comments
11:02
Speaker 1: like that from Grace Tame that I just played a
11:04
Speaker 1: moment ago. Now, hatred and support for terrorism has played
11:09
Speaker 1: out on our streets time and time again. But it's
11:14
Speaker 1: only the One Nation cartoons that are blamed. And by
11:18
Speaker 1: the way, the alleged perpetrator behind the Helen Haynes attack
11:21
Speaker 1: was not a right-wing supporter. It seems he was an
11:25
Speaker 1: environmental activist and an anti-Israel activist. Now, to discuss more,
11:30
Speaker 1: I'm joined now by tonight's panel, former Speaker of the
11:33
Speaker 1: House Bronwyn Bishop and former Labor State Secretary Cameron Milner.
11:37
Speaker 1: Great to see you both. Cameron, starting with you, you know,
11:41
Speaker 1: why ignore all the other threats and just focus on
11:45
Speaker 1: One Nation?
11:47
Speaker 8: Well, this is the problem with our political dialogue at
11:49
Speaker 8: the moment, isn't it, where you have the AFP commissioner
11:52
Speaker 8: who's not even doing a day job. I mean, let's
11:54
Speaker 8: call it for what it is. There's 18,000 people on
11:57
Speaker 8: a terrorist watch list in Australia. You know, there's Helen
11:59
Speaker 8: Haynes who's losing her legs. There's, you know, Bondi that's occurred.
12:01
Speaker 8: There's three years of shocking anti-Semitism on this AFP commissioner's
12:05
Speaker 8: watch and yet she goes on the ABC and calls.
12:07
Speaker 4: It a cartoon.
12:08
Speaker 8: For goodness sake, you know, look at the real problem
12:11
Speaker 8: that's in our society. Look at the real evidence of
12:13
Speaker 8: the problem and the tragedy of what's actually occurring on
12:15
Speaker 8: our streets. And maybe then, if she'd done that job,
12:19
Speaker 8: maybe we could listen to her commentary about social media
12:21
Speaker 8: and a cartoon that, for goodness.
12:22
Speaker 5: Sake, is satirical.
12:25
Speaker 1: Look, Bronwyn, I think there's no question that some of
12:27
Speaker 1: the episodes in the cartoon, you know, are off colour
12:31
Speaker 1: or do miss the mark. But, you know, that is
12:34
Speaker 1: not the only problem. And I would say the far
12:37
Speaker 1: greater problem is the support for terror we've seen day in,
12:41
Speaker 1: day out over the past few years.
12:43
Speaker 9: And it's also the complete lack of being even-handed in
12:48
Speaker 9: these matters. And I'll speak as one who, when I
12:50
Speaker 9: was in the Senate, Gareth Evans threatened to cross the
12:53
Speaker 9: chamber and garrot me. Was there an outcry? Was the
12:57
Speaker 9: sisterhood inflamed?
12:58
Speaker 5: Nothing.
12:59
Speaker 9: Absolutely nothing.
13:00
Speaker 1: The Labor women didn't say anything. Not a word.
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Speaker 5: Not a word.
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Speaker 9: But now, of course, you see children on the streets shouting,
13:09
Speaker 9: kill Pauline Hanson.
13:10
Speaker 5: Mm.
13:11
Speaker 9: And you're complaining about a cartoon which is about, is old.
13:17
Speaker 9: You can say it's off colour. You can say it's offensive, whatever.
13:20
Speaker 9: So is the story of Snow White or the story
13:23
Speaker 9: of Hansel and Gretel. They're pretty grim too. So I
13:26
Speaker 9: think we have to put things into perspective. We have
13:29
Speaker 9: to really say what is the problem and let's go
13:33
Speaker 9: back to finding what the real story behind the motive
13:37
Speaker 9: of this man who committed this atrocious act against Helen,
13:41
Speaker 9: who all our hearts go out to.
13:44
Speaker 5: No, absolutely.
13:45
Speaker 9: All our hearts go out to.
13:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, and he's, of course, facing court, so they are allegations.
13:50
Speaker 1: He's allegedly facing those. I want to return to the
13:54
Speaker 1: Victorian election. You know, the campaign has unofficially begun. Cameron,
14:00
Speaker 1: what do you think? Do you think we are likely
14:04
Speaker 1: to see Labor lose? I mean, the reality is we've
14:06
Speaker 1: had 12 years. It's been a very unpopular government under
14:10
Speaker 1: Daniel Andrews and then Jacinta Allen. Voters have probably just
14:14
Speaker 1: had enough and they want to change. It would be
14:16
Speaker 1: hard for Ben Carroll to hang on.
14:19
Speaker 8: I think it's incredibly difficult for Labor to have a
14:21
Speaker 8: pathway to victory. I mean, it's not remote, it's not impossible,
14:25
Speaker 8: but it's very difficult. And I have a lot of
14:26
Speaker 8: time for Ben Carroll. I think he's taken the cudgel
14:29
Speaker 8: up at the most difficult of times, having inherited a
14:33
Speaker 8: terrible regime from Dan Andrews and a terrible regime from
14:35
Speaker 8: Senator Allen.
14:36
Speaker 5: But that said.
14:37
Speaker 8: Time for change.
14:38
Speaker 5: Jess Wilson is a strong performer.
14:39
Speaker 8: I was there as your guest yesterday.
14:41
Speaker 5: She spoke really, really well. She's a premier-in-waiting.
14:44
Speaker 8: And I think the only issue now will be if
14:46
Speaker 8: polls like this promote a One Nation protest vote, that
14:49
Speaker 8: people think they've got a free ride, that she's already
14:51
Speaker 8: going to become premier so they can vote for Pauline
14:53
Speaker 8: as well. That's the only thing that could spoil her
14:56
Speaker 8: getting a majority.
14:56
Speaker 10: Mm-mm.
14:58
Speaker 1: So let's look at the primary figures from today's news poll.
15:00
Speaker 1: So Jess Wilson's on 33%, Labor on 24%, One Nation
15:07
Speaker 1: on 20%. So, Rowan, you know, again, we are just
15:10
Speaker 1: under five weeks away, but looking at where the primary
15:14
Speaker 1: votes sit now, because this is more reliable than two-party preferred,
15:17
Speaker 1: where the pollsters are kind of guessing how the preferences
15:19
Speaker 1: will flow, do you think she can win majority government
15:23
Speaker 1: or do you think it's more likely to be an
15:24
Speaker 1: alliance with One Nation?
15:26
Speaker 9: Well, first of all, I admire her confidence in coming
15:29
Speaker 9: out and saying she wants to be a majority government.
15:33
Speaker 9: But she's not going to be silly enough to try
15:37
Speaker 9: and insult people who are going to vote One Nation
15:39
Speaker 9: because she needs those preferences. And she may need support.
15:44
Speaker 9: She may need support in the upper house. There are
15:46
Speaker 9: a whole lot of permutations and a month is a long,
15:49
Speaker 9: long time to go. So hubris is something that can't
15:53
Speaker 9: be afforded. It's a question of making sure she's putting
15:56
Speaker 9: forward The case and the clips that you showed today
16:00
Speaker 9: show that there's a wisdom there.
16:02
Speaker 1: That was very impressive stuff.
16:04
Speaker 10: I agree.
16:05
Speaker 9: And if she keeps up that degree of commitment and
16:09
Speaker 9: belief in what she was saying, she will make a
16:13
Speaker 9: very good premiere.
16:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I thought it was impressive. That's why
16:17
Speaker 1: I played them at the start of the show tonight. Cameron,
16:19
Speaker 1: as you just said, you very kindly came to support
16:22
Speaker 1: us yesterday and then you wrote a piece, a column
16:25
Speaker 1: for the nightly show. this evening where you revealed that
16:28
Speaker 1: it was actually your first time ever in a synagogue
16:33
Speaker 1: and that it became an unexpected lesson for you in anti-Semitism, faith,
16:39
Speaker 1: labour and forgiveness. Tell us about this.
16:42
Speaker 8: Well, it was an incredibly moving event and it was
16:44
Speaker 8: my first time in a synagogue, but I met some beautiful,
16:47
Speaker 8: amazing Australians who had real hurt and were really fearful
16:51
Speaker 8: for where the country would go, but they also had hope. And,
16:54
Speaker 8: you know, when I heard the rabbis speak about, you know,
16:56
Speaker 8: what you do about setbacks, what you do next is
16:59
Speaker 8: the most important thing. There was so much love in
17:01
Speaker 8: that room, so much love for the country, love for Australia.
17:03
Speaker 8: And that was incredibly impressive. But it also reflected on
17:06
Speaker 8: the fact that Albo and Wong and Burke have trashed
17:09
Speaker 8: the Labor Party's reputation. I mean, this is a party
17:11
Speaker 8: of Doc Evatt, who helped form Israel, of Bob Hawke,
17:15
Speaker 8: who defended Israel. This is a great Labor Party that
17:17
Speaker 8: has a huge connection to the Jewish community, but it's
17:19
Speaker 8: being trashed by Albo and trashed by Wong And that's
17:22
Speaker 8: what I was really fearful of when an Australian jury
17:25
Speaker 8: yesterday said to me, you know, they feel like the
17:27
Speaker 8: Labor Party's abandoned them, Shari. That's the awful message I
17:30
Speaker 8: also got out of yesterday.
17:32
Speaker 1: And one person actually said to you, why are you
17:35
Speaker 1: still a member of the Labor Party? Why are you?
17:37
Speaker 1: What did you say back?
17:40
Speaker 8: Very simply, I'm not going to give it to Albo
17:42
Speaker 8: and Wong for free. You know, we're going to fight
17:44
Speaker 8: and fight for Israel and fight for Australian Jews from
17:47
Speaker 8: inside the Labor Party because we're the party of Bob
17:49
Speaker 8: Hawke and we're the party of Doc Evatt.
17:51
Speaker 1: Good answer. That's a very strong answer. All right, let's
17:54
Speaker 1: have a look at another topic. This pre-Cop 31, it
17:59
Speaker 1: was literally a snooze fest seeing as Chris Bowen actually
18:01
Speaker 1: fell asleep in Fiji. But shocking revelations today that it
18:06
Speaker 1: actually ended up costing taxpayers almost $ 35 million. I mean,
18:08
Speaker 1: what did it achieve? And this is, of course, just
18:14
Speaker 1: weeks after Chris Bowen said it would cost $ 20 million. But, Bronwyn,
18:18
Speaker 1: this from Senate estimates, you know, reveals the true cost
18:23
Speaker 1: of this two-day leaders' meeting in Tuvalu.
18:27
Speaker 9: Well, it's just another lie, isn't it? I mean, he
18:29
Speaker 9: must have known it was going to be more than
18:31
Speaker 9: $ 20 million. And to come out and say, oh, it's
18:34
Speaker 9: only $ 20 and it turns out to be $ 35 million,
18:37
Speaker 9: It just builds on this continual lying to the Australian
18:41
Speaker 9: people by the government. I mean, I watch every time
18:45
Speaker 9: Albanese comes out and tries to deflect away from the truth.
18:51
Speaker 9: And I think they are missing the point. I think
18:55
Speaker 9: people are going away from disliking them to despising them.
19:00
Speaker 9: And that sort of thing is what leads to that.
19:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. There's an incredible amount of anger out there.
19:07
Speaker 1: And Cameron, stories like this contribute to that because there's
19:10
Speaker 1: a cost of living crisis. People can't afford basic things.
19:13
Speaker 1: And then you see Chris Bowen in Albanese spending $ 35
19:17
Speaker 1: million on a two-day talk fest that literally achieved nothing.
19:22
Speaker 1: People didn't even turn up.
19:25
Speaker 8: And to your point, Bronwyn, I think it's right. I mean,
19:26
Speaker 8: Australians see it for what it is. They know they're
19:29
Speaker 8: being lied to. And that's the awful thing. So I mean,
19:32
Speaker 8: I've heard all these great speeches today about Helen Haynes,
19:34
Speaker 8: which is fantastic. But for goodness sake, if they want
19:36
Speaker 8: to turn the temperature down, just start doing a better job.
19:39
Speaker 5: Just do a better job. Stop lying.
19:41
Speaker 1: That's a good point. Stop making everyone so angry. All right,
19:45
Speaker 1: Bronwyn Bishop, Cameron Milner, thank you so much. And I
19:48
Speaker 1: recommend everyone head over to The Nightly to read Cameron
19:52
Speaker 1: Milner's beautiful article. And just on that, a huge thanks
19:56
Speaker 1: to my colleague and friend, Andrew Bolt, for doing such
19:58
Speaker 1: a brilliant job as MC yesterday. Alright, in other news,
20:02
Speaker 1: Parliament held a sombre tribute for Helen Haynes today as
20:05
Speaker 1: the independent MP remains in a serious but stable condition
20:09
Speaker 1: in hospital.
20:11
Speaker 11: The shock from what happened last Monday is like a
20:14
Speaker 11: stone in our hearts. We look across to the member
20:18
Speaker 11: for Indi's Place and despite ourselves, half expect to see
20:21
Speaker 11: her face.
20:24
Speaker 1: Angus Taylor also spoke, and he rejected any link between
20:28
Speaker 1: heated parliamentary debate and acts of political violence.
20:32
Speaker 12: In the past week, it's been suggested by some there
20:35
Speaker 12: is a causal connection between robust parliamentary debate and political violence.
20:42
Speaker 12: I disagree with this view. Our democratic system has served
20:46
Speaker 12: us well. The antidote to violence isn't to compromise our
20:49
Speaker 12: system of robust debate, but to cherish, champion... and strengthen
20:54
Speaker 12: that system. The government has been absolutely right to call
20:57
Speaker 12: out far-right extremism, but all extremism must be called out.
21:03
Speaker 1: Indeed, and those comments seem to be in response to
21:06
Speaker 1: the AFP Commissioner's remarks. Well, joining me now to discuss
21:09
Speaker 1: Shadow Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Dave Sharma. Dave, great to
21:13
Speaker 1: see you again. Do you agree with Angus Taylor there,
21:16
Speaker 1: and do you think the AFP Commissioner was right to
21:19
Speaker 1: focus on One Nation cartoons?
21:23
Speaker 6: Well, I think the point that Angus Taylor was making
21:25
Speaker 6: is that people are being quite quick, I think, to
21:29
Speaker 6: draw their own preferred conclusions from what's a horrible tragedy
21:34
Speaker 6: for Helen Haynes and her family and about which we
21:37
Speaker 6: still know very little about the motive and the identity
21:40
Speaker 6: of the attacker. And I think until such time as
21:42
Speaker 6: we do, it's not particularly responsible or particularly responsible or
21:47
Speaker 6: particularly respectful to the attribute it to any particular thing,
21:51
Speaker 6: whether it's, you know, the tone of political debate or
21:54
Speaker 6: any number of other things.
21:55
Speaker 4: And I think.
21:58
Speaker 6: Today's gathering at Parliament was actually an important message of
22:03
Speaker 6: sympathy for Helen and her family, but also an important
22:05
Speaker 6: reaffirmation of our democracy and our robust, pluralistic democratic culture
22:11
Speaker 6: and a.
22:13
Speaker 4: Show that we will not be allowed.
22:14
Speaker 6: That culture or that value to be intimidated or whittled
22:19
Speaker 6: away by these sorts of threats and violence. I think
22:21
Speaker 6: that was the most important part of Parliament's meeting today
22:25
Speaker 6: was a reaffirmation that we will continue to go about
22:28
Speaker 6: our business as the Parliament of Australia. And when Helen
22:30
Speaker 6: is well and ready to return, she will be welcomed
22:32
Speaker 6: back and she will continue to make a contribution to
22:34
Speaker 6: public life. I think that's the most powerful message we
22:37
Speaker 6: can send in the face of these sorts of attacks,
22:40
Speaker 6: which are designed to obviously intimidate parliamentarians from against doing
22:46
Speaker 6: their job.
22:47
Speaker 1: I think you're right to point out that we don't
22:49
Speaker 1: know the motive attack. And as I spoke about with
22:54
Speaker 1: Matt Canavan on Thursday, probably the role of drugs has
22:58
Speaker 1: been underplayed in the national conversation as well. But, you know,
23:03
Speaker 1: many senior people, including the ASIO director general, has come
23:07
Speaker 1: out and said the level of discourse is too inflamed.
23:11
Speaker 1: It's too high. The temperature needs to come down. The
23:14
Speaker 1: risk of politically motivated violence is very high at the moment.
23:18
Speaker 1: So what are your reflections on on those comments as well?
23:25
Speaker 6: Look, I think we need to be able to strike
23:29
Speaker 6: a balance here. I mean, you know, am I an
23:32
Speaker 6: enthusiast for raising the political temperature?
23:34
Speaker 5: No.
23:35
Speaker 4: But do I think that we.
23:36
Speaker 6: Should cease conducting politics because of a fear of these
23:40
Speaker 6: sorts of attacks?
23:41
Speaker 4: My answer to that would also be no.
23:43
Speaker 6: We are a free liberal society which believes that the
23:47
Speaker 6: best way to govern societies is through the free exchange
23:50
Speaker 6: of our views, the exchange of views, the contest of
23:52
Speaker 6: ideas and the settlement of disputes peacefully, that's an important term, peacefully,
23:57
Speaker 6: through measures like the parliament and the ballot box and
24:00
Speaker 6: elections and things like that. So I think, you know,
24:04
Speaker 6: we need to be a little careful here, I think,
24:06
Speaker 6: in trying to draw a line between something that's clearly
24:08
Speaker 6: a tragedy but about which we don't know the causes yet,
24:11
Speaker 6: and make sure that in doing so, in trying to
24:14
Speaker 6: do these, you know, humans are trying to make sense
24:16
Speaker 6: of this, I understand that, but we want to be
24:19
Speaker 6: careful that we're not jeopardising or undermining the very foundations
24:23
Speaker 6: of our society and our nation in our attempt to
24:27
Speaker 6: rationalise this in some way.
24:28
Speaker 4: And I think, you know, I remember, and these are not.
24:30
Speaker 6: Necessarily analogous, but you would as well, the terrible stabbing
24:34
Speaker 6: at the Westfield Mall in Bondi Junction about two years
24:38
Speaker 6: ago now. Now, I mean, that was sadly someone who
24:42
Speaker 6: had a history of mental illness and a number of
24:46
Speaker 6: other things.
24:46
Speaker 4: And, you know, that happened. It was a tragedy.
24:50
Speaker 6: Six people died and people lost children and mothers and partners.
24:55
Speaker 6: But I don't think people were saying then, oh, well,
24:57
Speaker 6: it's to do with the political temperature or anything else.
25:00
Speaker 4: At the time.
25:01
Speaker 6: Sometimes these things happen and they're terribly sad. But I
25:04
Speaker 6: think we just need to be careful not to, as
25:07
Speaker 6: I said, draw too many conclusions when we know so
25:09
Speaker 6: very little about this.
25:11
Speaker 1: I suppose, of course, the obvious difference is the target
25:14
Speaker 1: here was an MP Dave, I want to ask you
25:17
Speaker 1: about the Israeli election. Of course, Israelis are heading to
25:20
Speaker 1: the polls tomorrow. This election is being followed closely around
25:23
Speaker 1: the world. As you know, President Trump has endorsed the
25:27
Speaker 1: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He says they have to finish
25:30
Speaker 1: the job together. Now, just reminding everyone, you are the
25:33
Speaker 1: former ambassador to Israel. You're uniquely positioned to comment on this.
25:39
Speaker 1: What do you expect to happen tomorrow? Will we have
25:41
Speaker 1: an outcome or do you think this is going to
25:43
Speaker 1: be a period of negotiation?
25:47
Speaker 6: Look, I think, you know, we will get an outcome
25:49
Speaker 6: in terms of which parties have won seats and how
25:52
Speaker 6: many seats relatively quickly within about 24 to 36 hours.
25:56
Speaker 6: But it's, you know, no single party will have enough
25:59
Speaker 6: to form a government in its own right. And so
26:02
Speaker 6: then it will be a matter of permutations and different
26:05
Speaker 6: constellations of coalitions. And I think in that situation, Benjamin
26:09
Speaker 6: Netanyahu has as good a chance as an alternative bloc
26:13
Speaker 6: led by Gaddy Isingcott of forming a government.
26:16
Speaker 4: I think.
26:17
Speaker 6: Anyone who's writing off his chances, I think, doesn't know
26:21
Speaker 6: his political history. Him and his party tend to finish
26:24
Speaker 6: strong in the closing 24 to 36 hours before an
26:28
Speaker 6: election result, and they've tended to, in the last few
26:31
Speaker 6: election cycles, outperform the public polling in advance of the election.
26:36
Speaker 6: So I think this is a very difficult race to call,
26:40
Speaker 6: and I think it'll be several weeks until we know
26:41
Speaker 6: what a new government in Israel looks like.
26:44
Speaker 1: Netanyahu, of course, is a very polarising figure. Do you
26:49
Speaker 1: think it would make any difference at all to the
26:52
Speaker 1: level of anti-Semitism around the world if there was a
26:55
Speaker 1: change in Prime Minister, if he was no longer the PM?
27:00
Speaker 6: Look, I think this is an important point. I think
27:02
Speaker 6: a different government, a government, say, led by Gadi Eisenkot,
27:06
Speaker 6: is going to continue with many of the current government's policies.
27:10
Speaker 5: I mean.
27:11
Speaker 6: there is a remarkable degree of consensus in Israel about
27:14
Speaker 6: the security challenges they face. You know, Gadi Eizenkot doesn't
27:18
Speaker 6: want to see a nuclear-armed Iran. Gadi Eizenkot doesn't want
27:21
Speaker 6: to see Hamas in control of Gaza. Gadi Eizenkot doesn't
27:24
Speaker 6: want to see Hamas in control of the West Bank.
27:26
Speaker 6: Gadi Eizenkot doesn't want Hezbollah to threaten Israel on its
27:29
Speaker 6: northern borders. Those are bipartisan positions in Israel. So anyone
27:33
Speaker 6: who's expecting a change of government is somehow going to
27:36
Speaker 6: lead to a dramatic change in Israel's foreign or defence
27:39
Speaker 6: or security policy.
27:40
Speaker 4: Is very misled. That won't change.
27:42
Speaker 6: And I think because of that, and I think because
27:45
Speaker 6: many of the drivers of anti-Semitism these days are a
27:48
Speaker 6: fundamental lack of acceptance of Israel's right to exist as
27:53
Speaker 6: a nation state, I don't think that changes as a
27:56
Speaker 6: result of a change in Prime Minister. People who don't
27:59
Speaker 6: believe Israel should be there as a state continue to
28:02
Speaker 6: hold that view. Gary Eisenkot isn't going to change that.
28:06
Speaker 6: No new Prime Minister is going to change that because
28:08
Speaker 6: the drivers of anti-Semitism are here about Israel's right to exist.
28:12
Speaker 5: Yeah, exactly.
28:13
Speaker 1: I think you're completely right. Dave, thank you so much.
28:15
Speaker 1: Really appreciate your time.
28:18
Speaker 4: Thanks so much.
28:19
Speaker 1: All right, coming up in the program, we'll cross to
28:21
Speaker 1: Israel as voters prepare to go to the polls and
28:24
Speaker 1: Snowy Hydro 2.0 has blown out by more than 10
28:27
Speaker 1: times its original cost, yet Chris Bowen is still defending
28:31
Speaker 1: the project. I'll talk about that with Ray Hadley after
28:34
Speaker 1: this quick break. Well, the cost of Snowy 2.0 has
28:41
Speaker 1: blown out to $ 25 billion. This is more than 10
28:46
Speaker 1: times the original estimate. But Chris Bowen is defending the project.
28:50
Speaker 1: Have a look.
28:52
Speaker 13: Yes, it's much more expensive than was thought, $ 2 billion
28:56
Speaker 13: when the previous government announced it. Much more expensive than
28:59
Speaker 13: we would like. But it is very important. It's a
29:02
Speaker 13: national treasure.
29:04
Speaker 1: Oh, and to discuss this, National Treasure radio legend Ray
29:08
Speaker 1: Hadley joins me now.
29:09
Speaker 5: Was he talking about himself then or Snowy too?
29:12
Speaker 1: Or if he was, he would have referred to himself
29:14
Speaker 1: as the president, of course.
29:15
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah.
29:16
Speaker 14: Look, it was Malcolm's brainchild at $ 2 billion. Then it
29:22
Speaker 14: went to $ 5 billion.
29:23
Speaker 5: Then it went to $ 7 billion. Then it went to
29:24
Speaker 5: $ 10 billion.
29:24
Speaker 14: And under this dolt, it's gone to $ 25 billion, still
29:27
Speaker 14: trying to justify it. I see the former CEO that
29:30
Speaker 14: he sacked who was trying to rein in the costs
29:32
Speaker 14: and he got rid of him.
29:33
Speaker 5: And it's... I mean, it's just pie in the sky stuff. Yes,
29:37
Speaker 5: it will make some sort of difference, you know, in
29:39
Speaker 5: storing energy.
29:40
Speaker 14: Down the track, but you can do a lot more
29:45
Speaker 14: with $ 25 billion than dig a big hole in the
29:47
Speaker 14: ground and have tunnels boring through that earth.
29:51
Speaker 5: And get a better result. And he defends the indefensible.
29:55
Speaker 1: And also, when is it actually going to be finished?
29:57
Speaker 1: I mean, it seems to be never, ever.
29:59
Speaker 14: Well, I'm hoping to live to see it. So maybe
30:03
Speaker 14: by 2030 or 2031, that's what they're saying. But they
30:05
Speaker 14: keep putting it back. It was supposed to be finished,
30:07
Speaker 14: you know, a number of years ago.
30:09
Speaker 5: And then they had problems.
30:10
Speaker 14: They lost one of the boring machines down a giant
30:12
Speaker 14: hole and something else happened. And Now it's the fault,
30:15
Speaker 14: according to him, of not having enough quality tradespeople down
30:18
Speaker 14: there and we need more people to dig holes.
30:21
Speaker 5: Look, it's just the whole thing.
30:23
Speaker 14: If in any instance a major piece of infrastructure went
30:27
Speaker 14: from $ 2 billion to $ 25 billion, well, the person that
30:30
Speaker 14: was in charge of it would be getting the punt.
30:32
Speaker 14: They'd be farewelling him, but he's like Teflon coated.
30:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly.
30:37
Speaker 14: I don't know what he's got on the Prime Minister,
30:38
Speaker 14: but it must be something important.
30:40
Speaker 1: And Turnbull's long gone, of course.
30:41
Speaker 5: Oh, yeah. We've got a lot to thank him for.
30:43
Speaker 1: I'm always very sceptical of polls, but this poll by
30:47
Speaker 1: the Coalition for Conservation found that 78% of locals in
30:51
Speaker 1: Chris Bowen's own electorate want to keep coal-fired power plants
30:56
Speaker 1: and 80% actually said New South Wales should build new ones. Now,
30:59
Speaker 1: like I say, I'm sceptical of polls, but this... at
31:02
Speaker 1: least indicate some support for reliable energy.
31:05
Speaker 14: Shari, they're reacting to their power bills. That's what they're
31:09
Speaker 14: reacting to. They've suddenly woken to the fact that they're
31:12
Speaker 14: not getting the $ 275 cheaper power they were promised by
31:15
Speaker 14: the Labor government.
31:16
Speaker 5: And whether they live in Smithfield.
31:18
Speaker 14: Which is in southwestern Sydney, in the middle of his electorate,
31:21
Speaker 14: or they live in the North Shore, or they live
31:22
Speaker 14: somewhere in Victoria where there's an election coming up, and
31:25
Speaker 14: by the sounds of it, the Liberal Party are going
31:26
Speaker 14: to claim a victory there, as you've already indicated. But
31:29
Speaker 14: people are just sick to the back teeth of being
31:32
Speaker 14: lied to about power.
31:34
Speaker 5: So the cheapest affordable power.
31:36
Speaker 14: We have in New South Wales and Queensland is coal-fired power.
31:41
Speaker 5: And you and I discussed this recently.
31:44
Speaker 14: I mean, if all of a sudden the people that
31:46
Speaker 14: are saying ban coal, the bloke that jumped in the
31:48
Speaker 14: New South Wales Parliament, ban coal.
31:50
Speaker 5: You ban coal, you'll be living in.
31:51
Speaker 14: The dark because at varying stages on any given day,
31:56
Speaker 14: Power to New South Wales and Queensland comes from coal
32:00
Speaker 14: to the extent of somewhere between 65% and 85%. So
32:04
Speaker 14: you stop doing that and we're all sitting here in
32:06
Speaker 14: the dark.
32:08
Speaker 1: And taxpayer funds keep going into extending the life cycle
32:11
Speaker 1: of coal-fired power stations like Araring after, you know, various
32:15
Speaker 1: governments have removed the market conditions for those, you know,
32:18
Speaker 1: energy companies to actually support them and extend them themselves.
32:21
Speaker 14: Well, they're all terrified because if you mention coal as
32:24
Speaker 14: opposed to renewables... They all duck down and say, well, no,
32:28
Speaker 14: I'm not a coal miner, you know, except people like
32:30
Speaker 14: Gina Reinhart and others.
32:31
Speaker 1: Interesting to see New South Wales Premier Chris Minns come
32:34
Speaker 1: out in recent times because he's trying to win over
32:37
Speaker 1: voters in the Hunter because it's under threat from One Nation.
32:40
Speaker 1: So he's speaking more about mining.
32:42
Speaker 5: He's got an election. He's got an election in March.
32:45
Speaker 14: He'd be a pretty stupid Premier if he didn't start
32:47
Speaker 14: talking about coal in the Hunter. I mean, and there's
32:49
Speaker 14: that massive swing that they're looking at in Cessnock that
32:52
Speaker 14: we've spoken about before, come March, and it could fall
32:55
Speaker 14: to One Nation with a 20% swing away from the
32:58
Speaker 14: sitting Labor member.
32:59
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's huge.
33:00
Speaker 1: Victoria Barracks. So we've been speaking about this a lot
33:03
Speaker 1: on this show.
33:04
Speaker 5: I've probably driven you mad about Victoria Barracks, I think.
33:06
Speaker 1: No, it's very important. Did you go down to this
33:09
Speaker 1: protest yesterday?
33:10
Speaker 5: No, I didn't go, but plenty of others went. And look.
33:12
Speaker 1: And John Howard was there. I was going to play
33:14
Speaker 1: what he had to say.
33:15
Speaker 5: Please do.
33:15
Speaker 1: Let's have a look. Here's Howard.
33:18
Speaker 15: I haven't come here to bag the government. I've come
33:20
Speaker 15: here to represent, I think, the feelings of many Australians.
33:25
Speaker 15: So please, Prime Minister, if he intervenes and overrules, makes
33:33
Speaker 15: it clear, I'll be the first to go on 2GB
33:37
Speaker 15: and congratulate him. No holds barred, no mucking around. No points, Corey.
33:44
Speaker 15: There won't be any gloating about him backing down. It
33:46
Speaker 15: will not be a back down. It will be a
33:48
Speaker 15: victory for common sense.
33:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, and let's hope there is a victory. And good
33:52
Speaker 1: on John Howard for showing up. This is to protest
33:55
Speaker 1: the Albanese government's plans to sell off Victoria Barracks.
33:58
Speaker 5: You just want to cuddle John Howard. You just want
34:00
Speaker 5: to put your arms around him and give him a
34:01
Speaker 5: big cuddle. He's just so eloquent and so respected.
34:04
Speaker 14: But, look, in 35 years of covering politics on radio...
34:09
Speaker 14: I have never seen, I won't call it a protest,
34:11
Speaker 14: a gathering of minds that was Liberal, National, former Prime Ministers,
34:16
Speaker 14: Tony Abbott was there along with John Howard.
34:19
Speaker 5: You had Independents. The Teals.
34:21
Speaker 14: Teal Independents. You had One Nation and you had the Greens.
34:26
Speaker 14: And then you had Federal Labor members there. And, of course,
34:30
Speaker 14: Chris Minns couldn't go because he, I think, might have
34:32
Speaker 14: been at the airport, the opening of Western Sydney. But
34:35
Speaker 14: he wasn't there in body, but he was there in
34:37
Speaker 14: spirit because at the moment the New South Wales Parliament
34:40
Speaker 14: is trying to come up with a formula that will
34:42
Speaker 14: stop the federal government getting rid of Victoria Barracks in
34:45
Speaker 14: the form that it currently is.
34:47
Speaker 1: He's spoken out about it as well.
34:49
Speaker 14: Yeah, the other story was that where they're going to
34:51
Speaker 14: put them in the centre of Sydney is a building
34:54
Speaker 14: that's sublet to a Chinese company. So what you really
34:58
Speaker 14: want is the masters of a defence in a building
35:01
Speaker 14: that the Chinese have some connection with. That's just what
35:03
Speaker 14: you want to do. And Richard Marles, I mean, the
35:06
Speaker 14: way he's spoken, the arrogance. Sir Peter Cosgrove is one
35:09
Speaker 14: of the most respected servicemen in this country, a former Governor-General,
35:14
Speaker 14: and he's just dispensed with him and other former generals
35:17
Speaker 14: like they are awful.
35:18
Speaker 5: It's just, it's reprehensible, his behaviour. He's the Defence Minister.
35:22
Speaker 5: He's supposed to support these people.
35:23
Speaker 1: I can't believe they haven't backed down on this already.
35:26
Speaker 1: It's been such a long time now.
35:28
Speaker 14: He's come out again today and doubled down and said, no, no,
35:30
Speaker 14: we won't be changing it. And that's why I said
35:32
Speaker 14: in the Telegraph this morning on an editorial recorder that
35:36
Speaker 14: he's got to intervene, Anthony Albanese.
35:38
Speaker 5: And look.
35:39
Speaker 14: It's hard to imagine Anthony Albanese in New South Wales
35:42
Speaker 14: would be a hero, but I think John Howard's right.
35:45
Speaker 14: If he did the right thing, John Howard would go
35:48
Speaker 14: to the media and say, well, you know, congratulations. This
35:52
Speaker 14: is a common sense decision.
35:54
Speaker 5: Yeah, exactly.
35:55
Speaker 1: And then in a further insult to veterans, you know,
35:58
Speaker 1: it looks like this anti-One Nation, anti-Pauline Hanson protest is
36:01
Speaker 1: going ahead on Remembrance Day.
36:04
Speaker 14: Look, I heard you talk with Peter McGoran about this earlier.
36:08
Speaker 5: I think two of the most important.
36:09
Speaker 1: Cameron Milner.
36:10
Speaker 14: I'm sorry, Cameron Milner. And your guest before was Peter,
36:13
Speaker 14: who I met out in Lafoya.
36:14
Speaker 5: Great fellow too.
36:15
Speaker 14: Anyway, I think two important days, and I know Australia
36:20
Speaker 14: Day has debates about it, but I think two important
36:22
Speaker 14: days in our history are Anzac Day and Remembrance Day.
36:26
Speaker 14: And these kids that are leaving school and the state
36:28
Speaker 14: governments are saying, oh, no, we're not going to take
36:30
Speaker 14: any action if they want to go and protest. They
36:33
Speaker 14: have no idea of the sacrifices made.
36:36
Speaker 5: And the significance... Of the 11th day, the 11th hour,
36:40
Speaker 5: the 11th month. And it is part of our history.
36:45
Speaker 14: And it doesn't matter where people come from, what part
36:48
Speaker 14: of the world or whether they're the original inhabitants of
36:50
Speaker 14: this country.
36:51
Speaker 5: They commemorate. They don't celebrate death. They commemorate the fact
36:55
Speaker 5: that men gave their lives and the war ended. The
36:59
Speaker 5: Great War ended on that day.
37:01
Speaker 14: And it's a tribute to the bravery of men and
37:04
Speaker 14: women in later battles.
37:06
Speaker 5: Yeah. But every theatre of war we've been.
37:08
Speaker 14: To, they commemorate Anzac Day and Remembrance Day and for
37:11
Speaker 14: these kids with no knowledge of the past to think
37:14
Speaker 14: they can go and protest against One Nation on this
37:17
Speaker 14: of all days.
37:18
Speaker 5: Do it on the 12th. Do it on the 10th.
37:20
Speaker 5: Do it on the 13th. But don't do it on
37:22
Speaker 5: the 11th.
37:22
Speaker 1: Well said. Well said, Ray. Thank you so much. You're
37:25
Speaker 1: looking great and we'll see you next week.
37:28
Speaker 5: Always good to be with you.
37:30
Speaker 1: All right, coming up, Obama has joined the Democrat campaign
37:33
Speaker 1: trail against Trump ahead of the midterms. Plus, we'll cross
37:37
Speaker 1: live to Israel to see how voters are feeling. Well,
37:45
Speaker 1: let's turn to the US, where President Donald Trump and
37:48
Speaker 1: former President Barack Obama campaigned for rival Senate candidates in
37:53
Speaker 1: the highly contested state of Michigan. Obama threw his support
37:57
Speaker 1: behind far-left Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who's been compared to New
38:01
Speaker 1: York City's Zoran Mamdani, and he took an unusual swipe
38:06
Speaker 1: at Trump.
38:07
Speaker 5: Abdul is fighting for change, real change. I don't know
38:12
Speaker 5: if you've noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovations.
38:16
Speaker 5: What's up with the gold? Everything, more gold.
38:23
Speaker 14: He's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened
38:25
Speaker 14: a cheesecake factory.
38:29
Speaker 1: Our News 24 contributor, Kosha Garda, joins me now. Kosha,
38:33
Speaker 1: great to see you. Now, you know, Obama often would
38:37
Speaker 1: come out and campaign, but for Abdul Al-Said, I mean,
38:40
Speaker 1: he's too extreme, isn't he, even for Obama?
38:43
Speaker 5: Yeah.
38:45
Speaker 16: One would think, but this is the machine of politics
38:49
Speaker 16: and ultimately the machine trumps, no pun intended, the candidate.
38:55
Speaker 16: And the Democrats want the Democrats to gain power. They
38:59
Speaker 16: are in striking distance of the Senate. Most of the
39:01
Speaker 16: polls are saying that they are going to take the House.
39:03
Speaker 16: possibly even the Senate. And if that happens, that is
39:05
Speaker 16: the singular goal that they're all laser focused on right now,
39:09
Speaker 16: leaving aside whatever issues or disagreements they have with the candidates.
39:12
Speaker 16: And also what they know will come, because these people
39:15
Speaker 16: that are far left are going to keep pulling the
39:16
Speaker 16: center of gravity of the Democrat Party more and more leftward,
39:19
Speaker 16: as it has been happening for some time now. But
39:22
Speaker 16: come what may, their initial goal is to just take
39:25
Speaker 16: back power. And that's why they're bringing out the big
39:28
Speaker 16: dogs like Obama now in Michigan, in Ohio, in Georgia,
39:31
Speaker 16: these Senate races that are highly contested. And right now,
39:34
Speaker 16: looking favorable to the Democrats is likely to pull out victories.
39:38
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think candidates like Abdul Al-Said are
39:42
Speaker 1: highly problematic. Trump, meanwhile, he was joined on stage by
39:46
Speaker 1: Nicki Minaj. This at the rival rally. So, look, Trump
39:52
Speaker 1: bringing out the pop star. Nikki has been a big
39:54
Speaker 1: supporter for some time. How's Trump dealing with the fact
39:57
Speaker 1: that the polls show this is going poorly for them?
40:03
Speaker 16: You know, he's certainly doing what he loves doing, which
40:06
Speaker 16: is going to these rallies. He does draw energy from crowds.
40:10
Speaker 16: He is always known as the consummate closer, that in
40:13
Speaker 16: those final days leading up to the election, he just
40:16
Speaker 16: goes nonstop, crisscrosses the country and does that.
40:18
Speaker 17: So he's doing what he can do.
40:20
Speaker 16: But I'm sure he's aware of the popularity plunge that
40:24
Speaker 16: he's taken. He knows that a big segment of his
40:26
Speaker 16: base has been unhappy with the war in Iran and
40:28
Speaker 16: the way it went down and how long it's dragged
40:30
Speaker 16: on and how the focus on domestic issues isn't helpful,
40:34
Speaker 16: cost of living remains high, etc.
40:36
Speaker 17: So he's aware of that.
40:37
Speaker 16: But I think at the end, these elections really are
40:39
Speaker 16: about turnout, turning out the base more and more in
40:42
Speaker 16: the US, certainly in the midterms. And he's just trying
40:44
Speaker 16: to do what he can to rally the base to turnout.
40:47
Speaker 16: Even if you're unhappy with many things that he's done,
40:50
Speaker 16: it's better than the alternative.
40:51
Speaker 17: And that's the message he's selling.
40:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, it's tricky for him because you do, as
40:55
Speaker 1: you said, you know, You've got a large part of
40:59
Speaker 1: what would traditionally be the Republican movement, these MAGA isolationists
41:03
Speaker 1: being led astray by the likes of Tucker Carlson, who's
41:07
Speaker 1: truly nutty. I mean, this isn't a consistent ideology anymore,
41:10
Speaker 1: but they're following down this path and turning against Trump.
41:17
Speaker 17: Yeah, and I think the war is his biggest thing.
41:20
Speaker 16: The Epstein files also is something that keeps coming back
41:22
Speaker 16: in that faction where they just see it as on
41:24
Speaker 16: some level a betrayal of not going after draining the
41:28
Speaker 16: swamp and all those things.
41:29
Speaker 17: That he said, be that as it may.
41:31
Speaker 16: But hopefully people will come home and they tend to
41:35
Speaker 16: do that, putting their differences aside. But right now, I
41:38
Speaker 16: think everybody knows in the consensus from the polling data,
41:41
Speaker 16: from the betting markets, is that the Democrats are looking
41:43
Speaker 16: to certainly take the House, maybe even the Senate.
41:46
Speaker 1: All right, let's turn to Europe. The riots that started
41:49
Speaker 1: in France have now spread. Even Rome was rocked by
41:53
Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands of protesters who stormed the Colosseum on
41:57
Speaker 1: the weekend. And some of them were even waving Palestinian
42:00
Speaker 1: flags and clashing with police. So, Kosha, this movement appears
42:05
Speaker 1: to be spreading across Europe. There's no consistent reason for it.
42:10
Speaker 1: It is just pure civil unrest.
42:14
Speaker 17: Spreading like wildfire, for sure. And it is civil unrest.
42:18
Speaker 16: If we zoom out, the big meta take away from it,
42:22
Speaker 16: I think undeniably is that this is the inevitable, perhaps,
42:26
Speaker 16: consequence of the grand immigration project that has happened all
42:29
Speaker 16: around the West, but certainly at breakneck speed in Europe,
42:33
Speaker 16: importing people from cultures and countries that are completely incompatible
42:37
Speaker 16: with what they stand for. And you get enough of them,
42:40
Speaker 16: enough critical mass, and then you couple that with a
42:43
Speaker 16: soft on crime mindset and policy that has happened. To
42:46
Speaker 16: the contrary, you even pander to these other groups and
42:49
Speaker 16: frame everything in this oppressor-oppressed type of framework.
42:52
Speaker 17: This is what you get. This is exactly what you get.
42:54
Speaker 16: And now the problem is that the solutions are much,
42:57
Speaker 16: much harder at this point, because you are talking about
42:59
Speaker 16: a moratorium on immigration, things like deportations, really raising up
43:04
Speaker 16: how you deal with criminality. And I don't think the
43:07
Speaker 16: leadership right now that we see in Europe is ready
43:09
Speaker 16: for that. And therefore, unfortunately, this type of unrest seems
43:12
Speaker 16: to only be continuing.
43:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, the leadership overall has been incredibly weak.
43:18
Speaker 1: They haven't known how to handle this. I mean, the
43:20
Speaker 1: only kind of positive, tiny positive that I can take
43:24
Speaker 1: out of it is that it does seem to be
43:26
Speaker 1: moving away from the broad pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel rallies, although, of course,
43:30
Speaker 1: that sentiment is there within it. But it feels like
43:33
Speaker 1: we had the trend of the climate change rallies, the
43:36
Speaker 1: Black Lives Matter, the pro-Palestinian movement, and now there's this,
43:41
Speaker 1: whatever you call this.
43:44
Speaker 16: Yes, I call it sort of the coalition of the fringes,
43:47
Speaker 16: that there's almost this hodgepodge of people that have one
43:49
Speaker 16: grievance or the other, and you'll have Greta Thunberg joining
43:52
Speaker 16: hands with pro-Palestinian rallies and all the rest of it,
43:56
Speaker 16: where you don't really know what they actually don't have
43:58
Speaker 16: a lot in common. What they have in common is
44:00
Speaker 16: being against the status quo, the history, the conservative sort
44:04
Speaker 16: of right-leaning history of the nation, and certainly governments that
44:08
Speaker 16: are in that direction, they're against that, and that's what
44:11
Speaker 16: unites them as opposed to anything that they really deeply
44:13
Speaker 16: believe in.
44:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, exactly. All right, Kosha, really appreciate your time.
44:18
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. All right, after the break, we'll
44:21
Speaker 1: cross to Israel and see whether Benjamin Netanyahu could face
44:26
Speaker 1: a shock result when Israel goes to the polls tomorrow.
44:29
Speaker 10: That's next.
44:33
Speaker 1: Well, the Israeli election is set to be a tight race,
44:37
Speaker 1: with the latest polls placing Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival,
44:41
Speaker 1: the former Israeli Defence Force Chief of Staff, Gadi Eisenkot,
44:45
Speaker 1: neck and neck at just two to three points apart. Trump,
44:48
Speaker 1: as I mentioned earlier, has re-endorsed Netanyahu and urged voters
44:53
Speaker 1: to remember to vote for Bibi Netanyahu for Prime Minister.
44:56
Speaker 1: We have to finish the job that we started. He's
44:59
Speaker 1: issued a new statement just a few hours ago. And
45:02
Speaker 1: joining me now to discuss is former Israeli Deputy Foreign
45:05
Speaker 1: Affairs Minister and now leader of the Israel First Party,
45:08
Speaker 1: Sharon Haskell. Sharon, thanks.
45:10
Speaker 5: Hi, Sharon.
45:10
Speaker 1: Great to see you again. Who are you supporting to
45:15
Speaker 1: be Prime Minister tomorrow?
45:18
Speaker 10: So our position is a very unique position.
45:20
Speaker 18: The Israel First party that I'm heading has declared we
45:24
Speaker 18: are not in the pocket of anyone and so we
45:26
Speaker 18: don't support officially anyone. We are a right-wing party who
45:30
Speaker 18: believes in strong security, in a liberal economy. But because
45:35
Speaker 18: this race is mainly about one thing, whether it is
45:39
Speaker 18: yes BB or anti-BB, we.
45:41
Speaker 10: Refuse to play this game. We think it's destructive for Israel.
45:46
Speaker 1: I mean, the two key frontrunners there, I mean, Naftali
45:49
Speaker 1: Bennett seems to have pulled behind a bit. It's really
45:51
Speaker 1: Gadi Eisenkot and Netanyahu. A couple of the key issues,
45:54
Speaker 1: I mean, I think you frame it well. It's about
45:56
Speaker 1: whether people want Bibi or not. But there are a
45:59
Speaker 1: couple of other issues. One is the push for a
46:01
Speaker 1: full inquiry into the events leading up to October 7.
46:05
Speaker 1: Do you think this is something that is essential?
46:09
Speaker 10: Absolutely. I mean, it is essential, but the question.
46:12
Speaker 18: Is, what kind of inquiry will that be?
46:15
Speaker 10: And this cannot be a political one.
46:17
Speaker 18: That's why we have to find a compromise between those
46:19
Speaker 18: two camps to find one that everybody.
46:22
Speaker 10: Would trust, because the conclusion of.
46:24
Speaker 18: Such an inquiry are so important for the future of
46:27
Speaker 18: Israel's security. that it cannot be political. It cannot be
46:31
Speaker 18: a one-sided issue of each camp and how they want
46:33
Speaker 18: this inquiry to be. And more so, the conversation about yes, Bibi,
46:38
Speaker 18: no Bibi have put all of our attention away from
46:42
Speaker 18: what's going to happen on our borders with Syria, with Lebanon,
46:44
Speaker 18: with Hamas. What is happening with our economy? What's happening
46:47
Speaker 18: with our education system?
46:49
Speaker 10: That's why, and it is a very, very tight race
46:51
Speaker 10: between those two groups.
46:53
Speaker 18: And it seems like Netanyahu is just a little bit
46:56
Speaker 18: over Gadi Eisenkot's group. But we are coming in to
46:59
Speaker 18: make sure that Israel first put the policy, which either
47:03
Speaker 18: group we are going to go with.
47:06
Speaker 1: Another one of the big domestic political issues is whether
47:10
Speaker 1: the ultra-Orthodox should serving the army. I mean, this again
47:15
Speaker 1: is an issue that has angered a lot of Israelis
47:18
Speaker 1: who've had to send their sons and daughters to sacrifice
47:23
Speaker 1: their lives, to risk their lives over the past few years.
47:25
Speaker 18: I would say this should have been the most important
47:31
Speaker 18: issue in these elections because hundreds of thousands of people here, families,
47:36
Speaker 18: have paid huge prices whether it is economical prices, businesses
47:41
Speaker 18: that have collapsed, fathers or mothers who haven't seen their
47:45
Speaker 18: children because they've been in the front line for.
47:47
Speaker 10: Almost three years.
47:48
Speaker 18: And in the meantime, there are sectorial groups who are
47:52
Speaker 18: extorting the government, whether it is for funds or whether
47:55
Speaker 18: it is to exempt their community out of this service,
47:59
Speaker 18: out of this civilian duty that we have because of
48:02
Speaker 18: the situation in Israel. And you need to understand, Shari,
48:06
Speaker 18: I think most of Australians do not understand how those
48:09
Speaker 18: small marginal sectorial parties are literally extorting the government, extorting
48:14
Speaker 18: each government they are going to sit with. And if
48:17
Speaker 18: we are not able to form a government without them,
48:21
Speaker 18: that is going to be detrimental. It's going to be
48:23
Speaker 18: devastating for our security, for our economy and for our children.
48:27
Speaker 10: Yeah.
48:28
Speaker 17: All right.
48:29
Speaker 1: Shiran Haskell, thank you so much for joining us ahead
48:32
Speaker 1: of the important elections tomorrow. Appreciate your time.
48:35
Speaker 10: Thank you.
48:36
Speaker 1: And again, we'll cross live to Israel during the program
48:39
Speaker 1: tomorrow night when voting will be underway.
48:42
Speaker 17: All right.
48:42
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your company this evening. Right now,
48:45
Speaker 1: Paul Murray.