Transcript

Sharri | 10 March · Sharri

0:01
Speaker 1: Live on Sky News This is Sharry Good Evening.
0:08
Speaker 2: Australia's fuel crisis deepens, regional towns of rationing diesel, some
0:14
Speaker 2: down to just days of supply. Opposition leader Angus Taylor
0:17
Speaker 2: joins me live in just a moment. Also tonight, encrypted
0:21
Speaker 2: messages intercepted by intelligence agencies have revealed that Iranian sleeper
0:27
Speaker 2: cells are being activated globally and there's concern there's an
0:31
Speaker 2: elevated risk in Australia. More on that with the former
0:35
Speaker 2: advisor to the late Israeli President Shimon Perez later this
0:39
Speaker 2: hour and the secret plan to help the Iranian soccer
0:43
Speaker 2: players escape. Will speak to a friend of the girls
0:46
Speaker 2: who worked on their defection live. Also on the show
0:50
Speaker 2: Drew Pavlou, whose social media posts sparked Donald Trump's intervention
0:55
Speaker 2: in the plight of the players, And on that note,
0:59
Speaker 2: there has been a global public outcry in support of
1:03
Speaker 2: the Iranian women's soccer team, with even JK Rowling leading
1:07
Speaker 2: the campaign on social media, and in the middle of
1:11
Speaker 2: the night there was an intervention from the President of
1:15
Speaker 2: the United States, Donald Trump. And then finally this morning,
1:19
Speaker 2: the news that the Albanezy government would act to help
1:24
Speaker 2: the Iranian female.
1:25
Speaker 3: Soccer players and haven't they been brave?
1:29
Speaker 2: The Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Home Affairs Minister appeared
1:32
Speaker 2: to have done little in the past week since these
1:36
Speaker 2: courageous soccer players first refused to sing the current Iranian
1:41
Speaker 2: regimes national anthem in vision that went global. Then four
1:47
Speaker 2: days ago, Iranian state television branded them wartime traitors and
1:53
Speaker 2: said they'd faced severe consequences. Then one of the players
1:58
Speaker 2: sent the International SOS signal. Yet the message from the
2:03
Speaker 2: Albanesi government was concerning. One of the Albanese ministers said
2:09
Speaker 2: there'd be no special treatment for these soccer players, so they.
2:14
Speaker 4: Must meet all of the conditions for the visa, and
2:17
Speaker 4: that includes a security check and a health check, so
2:20
Speaker 4: there'll be no special circumstances granted to anyone that's competing
2:24
Speaker 4: in the Asian Women's Cup.
2:28
Speaker 3: Well, there was a huge backlash.
2:30
Speaker 2: This position was outrageous and the players shouldn't be forced
2:34
Speaker 2: to go home where they'd face grave penalties.
2:39
Speaker 3: JK.
2:39
Speaker 2: Rowling had joined the outcry, begging to please protect these
2:45
Speaker 2: young women, and a petition started on change dot Org
2:50
Speaker 2: had garnered nearly seventy eight thousand signatures. Then on the weekend,
2:56
Speaker 2: a covert meeting with the players was held under another pretense.
3:03
Speaker 2: It was a meet that didn't raise the suspicions of
3:06
Speaker 2: the Iranian regime security, who've been conducting surveillance.
3:10
Speaker 3: Of the players at all times.
3:13
Speaker 2: This meeting, disguised as something innocuous, was an opportunity for
3:18
Speaker 2: a question to be put to the players, did they
3:22
Speaker 2: want asylum? Their escape was then facilitated, and at around
3:29
Speaker 2: six o'clock last night, the players took their fate into
3:33
Speaker 2: their own hands and bravely fled from their Gold Coast
3:38
Speaker 2: hotel a foot chase ensuit. The Iranian minders ran after
3:44
Speaker 2: the players, racing down the stairs of the hotel, but
3:47
Speaker 2: found a locked door blocking their path.
3:51
Speaker 3: The AFP were at the ready.
3:53
Speaker 2: They were there to help, with a black van waiting
3:56
Speaker 2: to whisk the players away, and they've now been taken
4:00
Speaker 2: into a safe house in Brisbane. Now to reinforce just
4:04
Speaker 2: how courageous, how daring this escape was. Listen to the
4:08
Speaker 2: strict security they've been under. They had full time escorts.
4:14
Speaker 5: This regime has managed to book out two levels within
4:17
Speaker 5: our Australian hotel. They've completely barricaded these girls within these rooms.
4:23
Speaker 5: They've got officers inside, they've got guards outside, they have
4:27
Speaker 5: people patrolling the corridors even.
4:30
Speaker 2: Yep, so they were under strict supervision, yet managed to flee.
4:35
Speaker 2: Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke flew into Queensland overnight, where
4:39
Speaker 2: he wasted no time in claiming credit. He posed for
4:44
Speaker 2: photographs and there were more pictures of him than the
4:47
Speaker 2: actual players. He quickly released these on social media. It's
4:52
Speaker 2: a distasteful attempt to exploit these vulnerable women to score
4:58
Speaker 2: political points, and of course Albanezi didn't want to miss
5:03
Speaker 2: out and the good publicity either.
5:06
Speaker 6: Australians have been moved by the plight of these brave women.
5:12
Speaker 6: They're safe here and they should feel at home here.
5:15
Speaker 6: And once it was made clear that these women wanted assistance,
5:20
Speaker 6: the Australian Federal Police moved them to a safe location
5:23
Speaker 6: where they remain.
5:26
Speaker 2: To be clear, these women made their own luck by
5:30
Speaker 2: refusing to sing the national anthem and courageously risking their
5:35
Speaker 2: life to escape. By the time President Donald Trump became
5:39
Speaker 2: aware of the situation, the women had already made a
5:42
Speaker 2: run for it. But even Trump was shocked by the
5:46
Speaker 2: slow pace of the Albanese government. Trump posted to social
5:50
Speaker 2: media Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing
5:55
Speaker 2: the Iran national women's soccer team to be false back
5:59
Speaker 2: to where they will most likely be killed. Don't do it,
6:04
Speaker 2: mister Prime Minister. Give asylum.
6:07
Speaker 3: The US will take them if you won't.
6:10
Speaker 2: And he also shared a Drew Pavlu post explaining the situation,
6:15
Speaker 2: and Trump wrote asylum. Trump cared so much about these
6:23
Speaker 2: women that he then phoned Albanezi at around two am
6:27
Speaker 2: our time to implore him to protect them, and Albanizy
6:32
Speaker 2: was asked about that call today.
6:35
Speaker 6: President Trump rang me this morning just before two am.
6:43
Speaker 6: We had a very positive discussion. He was concerned about
6:48
Speaker 6: the Iranian women in the soccer team and their welfare
6:54
Speaker 6: and their safety if they returned home. He conveyed that
6:59
Speaker 6: to me. I was able to convey to him the
7:02
Speaker 6: action that we'd undertaken over the previous forty eight hours,
7:07
Speaker 6: and that five of the team had asked for assistance
7:11
Speaker 6: and had received it and were safely located.
7:16
Speaker 2: And there are reports that another two women may be defecting.
7:20
Speaker 2: I'm going to get the latest with an Iranian activist
7:24
Speaker 2: who has worked behind the scenes to help these women
7:27
Speaker 2: that's coming up shortly, but there's no question the Albanese
7:31
Speaker 2: government was slow to act and responded to a campaign
7:34
Speaker 2: of lobbying from Australia and around the world. The threats
7:39
Speaker 2: to these women were blatant and apparent for nearly a week.
7:44
Speaker 2: It's the latest example of the government's weakness and inaptitude.
7:49
Speaker 2: Albanzi also this morning announced that Australia would finally send
7:53
Speaker 2: military equipment.
7:54
Speaker 3: To help know well, to help not Israel or America,
7:58
Speaker 3: of course not, but to help the Arab nations.
8:02
Speaker 2: He said he'd provide advanced medium, advanced medium range air
8:07
Speaker 2: to air missiles and an E seven a wedge tail
8:11
Speaker 2: to the UAE.
8:13
Speaker 3: This is a very welcome move, a good move.
8:17
Speaker 2: Yet the Prime Minister made it clear this wasn't to
8:19
Speaker 2: join the war against Iran, but only to protect Australians
8:25
Speaker 2: in the region.
8:26
Speaker 6: There are around one hundred and fifteen thousand Australians in
8:30
Speaker 6: the Middle East, around twenty four thousand of those in
8:33
Speaker 6: the UAE. Helping Australians ment also helping the UAE and
8:39
Speaker 6: other Gulf nations to defend themselves against what are unprovoked attacks.
8:45
Speaker 6: My government has been clear that we're not taking offensive
8:47
Speaker 6: action against Iran.
8:50
Speaker 2: I mean, this sort of justification is extraordinary, and Albanezi
8:55
Speaker 2: reiterated about five times in that press conference the same point.
9:00
Speaker 6: Well, that our involvement is purely defensive and it's in
9:04
Speaker 6: defense of Australians who are in the region, as well
9:07
Speaker 6: as in defense of our friends in the United Arab
9:11
Speaker 6: Emirates who are good friends of Australia and Australians.
9:17
Speaker 2: Can you ever imagine him committing weapons to help the
9:21
Speaker 2: defense of our friends in Israel and America.
9:25
Speaker 3: He wouldn't say that.
9:27
Speaker 2: Nevertheless, it is something and a welcome move, even if
9:32
Speaker 2: it took him ten days to offer to help, and
9:35
Speaker 2: even if he's at pains to point out that he's
9:37
Speaker 2: not helping America or Israel directly, just the United Arab
9:42
Speaker 2: Emirates and only in defense and only because Australians are there. Well,
9:47
Speaker 2: then the Prime Minister also joined Pennywong in calling for
9:51
Speaker 2: her favorite word, de escalation.
9:55
Speaker 6: Our position remains that we do not want to see
9:57
Speaker 6: the conflict continue to escalate, and we call on all
10:01
Speaker 6: parties to uphold international humanitarian law and to protect Savilian life.
10:09
Speaker 2: It's laughable America and Israel with the support of most
10:15
Speaker 2: Gulf nations are trying to eliminate a terror regime's nuclear
10:19
Speaker 2: and missile arsenal. Yet our prime minister calls.
10:23
Speaker 3: For de escalation.
10:26
Speaker 2: He offers a sad daily reminder that he's a prime
10:30
Speaker 2: minister with no backbone, no courage and certainly no moral clarity.
10:40
Speaker 2: Now right across the country, especially in regional Australia, farmers
10:44
Speaker 2: and motorists are already running out of fuel.
10:48
Speaker 3: Some towns are.
10:49
Speaker 2: Rationing supply, while others have as little as a weak
10:52
Speaker 2: of fuel left. Regional independent chains are being hit first,
10:58
Speaker 2: with national fuel wholesalers supply and funneling it to metropolitan areas.
11:04
Speaker 2: In Tamworth, trans West Fuels is completely out of unlettered
11:08
Speaker 2: also E ninety five and is now on the brink
11:11
Speaker 2: of running out of diesel as well. Ben Fordam painted
11:15
Speaker 2: a dire picture this morning of the struggles faced in
11:19
Speaker 2: regional Australia.
11:21
Speaker 7: One of our listeners on the South Coast says, my
11:23
Speaker 7: brother visited five petrol stations in Naara, they'd all run
11:26
Speaker 7: out of diesel. Outside of tweedeads of Freedom Fuels outletters
11:30
Speaker 7: run dry. Staff say they don't know when they'll receive more.
11:34
Speaker 7: Inland communities are feeling the squeeze. Both service stations at
11:37
Speaker 7: Crookwell are out of diesel. A supplier in the river
11:41
Speaker 7: a Rena, has sent a warning to customers saying we've
11:43
Speaker 7: run out of diesel.
11:46
Speaker 2: And it goes and Westlink Petroleum says it's receiving just
11:50
Speaker 2: ten percent of the fuel it would normally need to operate.
11:54
Speaker 2: And Australian farmers are feeling the pain as well, with
11:57
Speaker 2: diesel shortages now disrupting day.
11:59
Speaker 3: To day work on the land.
12:01
Speaker 2: Farmer Late and Free from the Touromber region in Queensland
12:05
Speaker 2: said he had about a week a fuel left.
12:09
Speaker 8: We have enough fuel for about the week. It's a
12:12
Speaker 8: little bit hard not to panic.
12:14
Speaker 9: And now he says we have enough fuel, but how
12:17
Speaker 9: come we're not getting Its simple as that is somebody
12:21
Speaker 9: manipulating the supply or is it not. They're the answers
12:24
Speaker 9: that we need to ask.
12:26
Speaker 2: And we've spoken about how Australia has only thirty two
12:30
Speaker 2: to thirty six days of supply left. Most countries around
12:34
Speaker 2: the world have up to ninety days. Yet the Albaneze
12:37
Speaker 2: government continues to deny there's any shortage, even as farmers
12:41
Speaker 2: and motorists, especially in regional communities, are struggling to fill up.
12:47
Speaker 2: And here was Chris Bowman today.
12:50
Speaker 10: I do have a great deal of concern and empathy
12:52
Speaker 10: for those farmers in particular, but I do need to
12:55
Speaker 10: emphasize this is managing a huge spike in demand, not
13:00
Speaker 10: an impact on supply.
13:03
Speaker 3: Employment.
13:03
Speaker 2: Minister Amanda Rishworth was also pressed on this issue by
13:07
Speaker 2: Kyle Stefanovic.
13:10
Speaker 11: Labour's saying there is no shortage of fuel in Australia.
13:14
Speaker 11: What planet are you all living on?
13:17
Speaker 8: Oh well, let's be really clear.
13:19
Speaker 12: There isn't an issue with supply when it comes to fuel.
13:23
Speaker 8: There has been obviously, yes, there is.
13:25
Speaker 11: We've just had farmers on. That's a complete fabrication. We've
13:28
Speaker 11: just had farmers on saying they cannot get fuel.
13:32
Speaker 2: Let's tell if there has been a spike in demand.
13:37
Speaker 2: As much as Labor tries to make this about the language,
13:40
Speaker 2: whether it's supply or demand issues, if the bowsers are dry,
13:44
Speaker 2: the distinction means nothing to farmers or motorists. And while
13:50
Speaker 2: ministers in Canberra insist there's no real issue, farmers are
13:54
Speaker 2: being forced to stand down work, Petrol stations are running
13:57
Speaker 2: out and entire communities are being left wondering how much longer.
14:02
Speaker 3: Their fuel will last.
14:04
Speaker 2: It's time for Labor to stop bickering about language and
14:07
Speaker 2: deliver real action for regional Australians who are clearly struggling.
14:16
Speaker 2: Any Question time today, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor asked the
14:20
Speaker 2: Prime Minister about the current fuel supply crisis.
14:25
Speaker 13: Can the Prime Minister inform the House where there are
14:27
Speaker 13: fuel supply shortages in Australia.
14:31
Speaker 6: The big message for every Australian is don't panic. The
14:37
Speaker 6: suppliers are there. We all have a role to play
14:40
Speaker 6: and that stick to our normal daily operations and schedules,
14:43
Speaker 6: and don't think that we have to always keep topping up.
14:48
Speaker 2: And the Opposition Leader Angus Taylor joins me, now, thank
14:51
Speaker 2: you so much for your time. Do you think we
14:54
Speaker 2: are already in a fuel crisis here in Australia?
15:00
Speaker 8: Well, thanks for having me, Shari.
15:02
Speaker 13: What's very clear is that there's a lot of customers
15:05
Speaker 13: out there, farmers, truckers, distributors who can't get access to
15:09
Speaker 13: the fuel they need.
15:11
Speaker 8: There's no doubt about that. And yet alban.
15:14
Speaker 13: EASi and Bowen and others are consistently telling us there's
15:18
Speaker 13: no problem well, there.
15:20
Speaker 8: Is a problem.
15:21
Speaker 13: We've got people right across this country telling us they
15:25
Speaker 13: can't get access to that fuel that they need, and
15:29
Speaker 13: the government is in complete denial about that. They keep
15:33
Speaker 13: telling us it's absolutely as it normally is.
15:36
Speaker 8: There's more than.
15:37
Speaker 13: Enough stock to go around, except somehow, for some bizarre reason,
15:41
Speaker 13: people can't seem to get hold of it.
15:43
Speaker 8: There is a problem, and the government needs to get
15:45
Speaker 8: on top of it.
15:46
Speaker 2: So what should the Albanesi government be doing, in your view,
15:49
Speaker 2: to secure more supply.
15:53
Speaker 8: Well, let's be clear.
15:55
Speaker 13: If the stocks are as they say, then the problem
15:58
Speaker 13: is the stocks aren't getting to the custom and that's
16:01
Speaker 13: a tough discussion.
16:02
Speaker 8: You have to have with supplies.
16:04
Speaker 13: I had that discussion when I was Energy Minister during
16:07
Speaker 13: COVID and they respond to that. But you've got to
16:11
Speaker 13: make sure that the fuel is getting to customers.
16:14
Speaker 8: Now. Their answer to this is the customer's fault. The
16:17
Speaker 8: customers are buying too much. I mean, this is just.
16:20
Speaker 13: Absolute nonsense, Shari. They don't understand what's going on there.
16:25
Speaker 13: Not on top of it, they don't understand the supply shortages.
16:28
Speaker 13: We're hearing it from our constituents and from Australians every
16:32
Speaker 13: day right now, and the government needs to get on
16:34
Speaker 13: top of it, take control of it and make sure
16:36
Speaker 13: the supply is getting to customers.
16:39
Speaker 2: Chris Bowen and the Prime Minister say that there is
16:42
Speaker 2: panic buying going on. If this is the case, if
16:45
Speaker 2: this is causing the problem, do you think there needs
16:47
Speaker 2: to face There needs to be petrol limits or rationing
16:51
Speaker 2: in city areas.
16:54
Speaker 8: Well.
16:54
Speaker 13: You know, the extraordinary thing about this government is it's
16:57
Speaker 13: always someone else's fault.
17:00
Speaker 8: It's the customer's fault.
17:01
Speaker 13: The customers are at fault and they're the reason why
17:04
Speaker 13: they can't buy fuel.
17:05
Speaker 8: I mean, this is nonsense, shari.
17:08
Speaker 13: And what the government needs to do is sit down
17:11
Speaker 13: with the suppliers and make sure the supply is getting
17:13
Speaker 13: to the customers. If, as they say, the stocks are
17:16
Speaker 13: high enough, and they keep saying this, then they've got
17:19
Speaker 13: to get the full there. And that's a discussion you
17:21
Speaker 13: can have with the suppliers. They have access to very
17:24
Speaker 13: detailed stock data as to where the stocks are right
17:27
Speaker 13: through the supply chain.
17:29
Speaker 8: That's a regime we set up when we're in government.
17:31
Speaker 13: They're not giving any transparency to that, but they should
17:35
Speaker 13: be able to make sure with pressure on the suppliers
17:37
Speaker 13: that the fuel is getting to customers.
17:39
Speaker 2: What about looking at alternate sources of fuel, perhaps from
17:43
Speaker 2: the United States, which has its own domestic supply, or
17:46
Speaker 2: even from India via or from Russia via India.
17:54
Speaker 13: Well, I mean the alternatives are being proposed. Chris Bowen
17:57
Speaker 13: told us last week. All of this is a good
17:59
Speaker 13: reason to buy an elect vehicle. But if you live
18:01
Speaker 13: in a country area, there's just a nonsensical suggestion as
18:05
Speaker 13: a solution to the problem. But this is just the
18:08
Speaker 13: way this government thinks. As I say, if the stocks
18:11
Speaker 13: are there, as they keep claiming, then the matter is
18:15
Speaker 13: all about getting those stocks to the customers. If there
18:19
Speaker 13: is indeed a problem with fuel coming to Australia, yes
18:21
Speaker 13: we should be looking at alters.
18:25
Speaker 2: The Prime Minister today said that he would be supplying
18:28
Speaker 2: some defensive weapons to the United Arab Emirates, but he
18:31
Speaker 2: was at pains to point out that he wasn't helping
18:33
Speaker 2: the United States or Israel and that there were no
18:36
Speaker 2: offensive attacks on Iran. Why didn't you think of his
18:39
Speaker 2: kind of timid language and would you have a different
18:43
Speaker 2: position if you were a leader.
18:47
Speaker 8: Oh, I think it's pathetic. I think it's pathetic.
18:50
Speaker 13: They couldn't come to congratulate the sub mariners, the Australian
18:54
Speaker 13: sub mariners who were on US vessels that were attacking
18:58
Speaker 13: rightly Iranian ships. They can't come to say that Israel
19:05
Speaker 13: and the United States deserve support in the attacks they've
19:08
Speaker 13: been making on Iran. And this is the complete moral ambiguity,
19:13
Speaker 13: the lack of moral clarity, for as you used a
19:15
Speaker 13: moment ago quite rightly, Shari, of this Prime Minister, it
19:19
Speaker 13: is clear what is right and wrong here. This is
19:22
Speaker 13: a rotten, despotic regime in Iran. It oppresses its own people,
19:27
Speaker 13: it's responsible for genocide, it's been responsible for terrorist attacks
19:32
Speaker 13: in our country. In our country, the Adah Synagogue, as
19:36
Speaker 13: you know well, was the most notable of those. And
19:40
Speaker 13: they should be condemned. And we should support our friends
19:43
Speaker 13: and allies from the United States in Israel in their attacks.
19:47
Speaker 13: And we don't need this kind of defensive language. We
19:50
Speaker 13: obviously do support the wedge tails and the Amoran missiles
19:55
Speaker 13: going over to the UAE. I think this is zoo.
19:58
Speaker 13: I strongly support that move. But you've got to go
20:02
Speaker 13: shoulder to shoulder with our allies on this one.
20:04
Speaker 2: Well, shoulder to shoulder does that mean that if you
20:06
Speaker 2: were Prime minister, you'd be offering to send more military
20:09
Speaker 2: equipment to be involved in offensive attacks.
20:14
Speaker 13: Well, we haven't received any we're not aware of any
20:17
Speaker 13: proposal along those lines. But I have to say that
20:20
Speaker 13: we shouldn't be closed minded about it, Sharry.
20:22
Speaker 8: We want this to succeed.
20:25
Speaker 13: We want these actions by the United States and Israel
20:28
Speaker 13: to handback a run to the Uranian people so that
20:32
Speaker 13: they can have control over their own destiny rather than
20:36
Speaker 13: be controlled by this regime. So that's our starting point,
20:41
Speaker 13: and would be very open to proposals along the lines
20:44
Speaker 13: of what you just suggested.
20:46
Speaker 2: Just very quick answers on a couple of other points.
20:50
Speaker 2: President Trump phoned the Prime Minister overnight about the Uranian
20:53
Speaker 2: soccer team. Do you think the Abanzi government was a
20:57
Speaker 2: bit slow to act? Would you like to make sure
20:59
Speaker 2: that help extended to the other players.
21:04
Speaker 13: Or we strongly support asylum being offered to the players.
21:07
Speaker 13: You can only offer it at the end of the day,
21:10
Speaker 13: but it should be and there shouldn't be any kind
21:12
Speaker 13: of oppression of those players by management. There's questions about
21:17
Speaker 13: how some of those the management, whether they had appropriate clearances,
21:22
Speaker 13: But putting that aside for a moment. I think asylum
21:25
Speaker 13: offering asylum is incredibly important. We support the actions that
21:28
Speaker 13: have been taken. I'm not so sure about the photography.
21:32
Speaker 13: I doubt Tony Burke will be getting photographs with the
21:34
Speaker 13: ISIS brides if they come to Australia.
21:37
Speaker 2: Well, well you never know. He has turned up to
21:39
Speaker 2: Sydney Airport when there have been arrivals from Gaza, so
21:43
Speaker 2: doesn't miss a photo opportunity.
21:45
Speaker 3: Just finally, very.
21:46
Speaker 2: Quickly, Nationalist leader David Little Proud has of course announced
21:49
Speaker 2: his resignation.
21:51
Speaker 3: Did he tell you he was going to resign or
21:52
Speaker 3: were you blindsided?
21:56
Speaker 8: No, he gave me warning in advance.
22:00
Speaker 13: No. I thank him for the role. He's played an
22:02
Speaker 13: important role. Well a little bit. I'm not going to
22:04
Speaker 13: go into private conversation Shari, but he did give me warning.
22:09
Speaker 13: But I think David has led the National Party through
22:12
Speaker 13: a difficult time coming out of the election loss in
22:14
Speaker 13: twenty twenty two, and I thank him for that service.
22:17
Speaker 13: He'll continue to serve in the Parliament. He has been
22:22
Speaker 13: important person to work with for me in re establishing
22:26
Speaker 13: the coalition and we needed to get that back onto
22:29
Speaker 13: a good footing and we've done that right.
22:31
Speaker 3: Angus Taylor, really appreciate your time this evening. Thank you.
22:36
Speaker 2: We're back to the Middle East now, where reports are
22:39
Speaker 2: coming out of Iran that the new leader, moch Taba
22:42
Speaker 2: kamen A, has already been injured in a strike. These
22:45
Speaker 2: are unverified, but there are media reports. I asked from
22:49
Speaker 2: a National Republican Party spokeswoman, Elizabeth Pipco about this a
22:53
Speaker 2: little earlier. Elizabeth, great to see you again. The President
22:58
Speaker 2: has today reacted to the annown that the late Ietolah
23:02
Speaker 2: Khamenei's son, Moshtaba would be his replacement. What is Trump
23:07
Speaker 2: indicated about whether the US will accept his leadership.
23:11
Speaker 14: Well, look, I think the President has made very clear
23:13
Speaker 14: what he wants for the future of Iran. Anyone that's
23:16
Speaker 14: following this knows not only what the President has been
23:19
Speaker 14: saying about Iran for many, many years now, they know
23:21
Speaker 14: how this mission has gone thus far. They also know
23:24
Speaker 14: that we've lost American lives. And for the President, he's
23:26
Speaker 14: not going to allow for this mission, these strikes to
23:29
Speaker 14: be in vain. So he's not going to allow anyone
23:31
Speaker 14: to take over Iran that will probably continue to lead
23:33
Speaker 14: in the same way that it has been led. Up
23:35
Speaker 14: until this point, threatening not only the people of Iran,
23:38
Speaker 14: but threatening the United States and our allies around the
23:40
Speaker 14: world too. So I don't think the President will be
23:43
Speaker 14: very happy with this new replacement Ayatola, And I can
23:46
Speaker 14: only imagine his words when he found out that that
23:48
Speaker 14: was the choice, and knowing that his mission was going
23:51
Speaker 14: to have to continue on with or without this choice,
23:53
Speaker 14: considering he has a lot of other options in mind.
23:56
Speaker 14: I don't know how about the situation is for this
23:58
Speaker 14: new Ayatola, but based on what President has said, I
24:01
Speaker 14: don't think he's going to last much longer anyway.
24:03
Speaker 2: And there are reports that he's been injured unverified at
24:07
Speaker 2: this point.
24:08
Speaker 14: Correct, Yes, I'm told he's injured. I don't know how
24:10
Speaker 14: bad it is. But again, the goal is to make
24:12
Speaker 14: sure this is not the future leader of Iran, so
24:15
Speaker 14: I imagine this is not going to continue on either way.
24:18
Speaker 2: President Trump has also given some comments about the length
24:21
Speaker 2: of the war. He initially predicted it could be four
24:24
Speaker 2: to five weeks, but today he said it could be
24:27
Speaker 2: over soon.
24:28
Speaker 14: Well, look, I think the President's goal is for it
24:30
Speaker 14: to be over as quickly as possible. That should be
24:33
Speaker 14: our goal as well. Right, the entire world should be
24:35
Speaker 14: rooting for this to be as concise as possible and
24:38
Speaker 14: to come to an end as soon as possible, but
24:40
Speaker 14: we never know how long it's going to take. I
24:42
Speaker 14: think the people not only of our country in the US,
24:44
Speaker 14: but around the world have always appreciated President Trump's transparency
24:48
Speaker 14: when it comes to things like this. A lot of
24:50
Speaker 14: presidents keep a lot to themselves, whereas Donald Trump wants
24:52
Speaker 14: as much information out as possible so the people that
24:55
Speaker 14: elected him understand exactly what he's doing. So he's updating
24:58
Speaker 14: us as things are. I believe based on his statements,
25:02
Speaker 14: things are progressing faster than he had anticipated, which is
25:04
Speaker 14: a great sign. We're not going to know anything, of course,
25:07
Speaker 14: until the war is officially done and behind us, but
25:10
Speaker 14: I think that was a very positive update.
25:12
Speaker 2: There are media reports that there are now strains in
25:15
Speaker 2: the relationship with Vice President jd Vance and the President
25:18
Speaker 2: based on different opinions about the war.
25:21
Speaker 3: Can you tell us about this, Liz.
25:24
Speaker 14: Well, look, I'm not going to speak for the president
25:26
Speaker 14: nor the Vice president. I can tell you based on
25:28
Speaker 14: what I know, everybody in our administration is incredibly unified.
25:32
Speaker 14: Jd Vance knew exactly the ticket that he was joining
25:35
Speaker 14: when he agreed to become President Trump's vice president. He's
25:38
Speaker 14: an incredibly smart man. He knows exactly what the United
25:40
Speaker 14: States has to do when dealing with a threat like Iran,
25:43
Speaker 14: and he also knows, like most of us, what President
25:45
Speaker 14: Trump has been saying about that threat for the last
25:48
Speaker 14: few years. He knows that Donald Trump believes that Iran
25:51
Speaker 14: cannot have a nuclear weapon. Jd Vance, obviously, in the
25:54
Speaker 14: best interest of the United States, believes the exact same thing.
25:57
Speaker 14: And if there are any disagreements, I can assure there
25:59
Speaker 14: are mines. And with that only comes a lot of
26:02
Speaker 14: opportunity for conversation, for discussion, for proper planning, with a
26:06
Speaker 14: lot of opinions at the table, trying to come to
26:08
Speaker 14: the proper and best solution for everybody. So I don't
26:12
Speaker 14: really pay attention to rumors, and I hope most people
26:14
Speaker 14: realize when there is something as serious as these strikes
26:16
Speaker 14: on the table. No one is futing in any United
26:19
Speaker 14: States administration.
26:21
Speaker 2: Liz, We've seen strong dissent from figures like Tucker Carlson
26:24
Speaker 2: and Megan Kelly. Some of this is anti Wall, but
26:27
Speaker 2: some verges on being anti Semitic. How wide spread of
26:31
Speaker 2: these views within the MAGA movement.
26:34
Speaker 14: Well, look, there's polling that shows that the majority of
26:37
Speaker 14: Republicans approved not only of President Trump's leadership up until
26:40
Speaker 14: this point, but specifically of these strikes. There is pulling
26:44
Speaker 14: that shows how many Americans have been negative view, of course,
26:47
Speaker 14: of the Iranian regime. I know that this is exactly
26:49
Speaker 14: what had to be done. Donald Trump does not pay attention.
26:52
Speaker 14: I can tell you to podcast hosts or anybody on
26:54
Speaker 14: social media. He knows what he has to do. He
26:56
Speaker 14: has already put a statements about Tucker Carlson out there,
26:59
Speaker 14: has made that opinion very very clear, and I think
27:02
Speaker 14: for most of us, it's about making sure that we
27:04
Speaker 14: know the history that the United States has dealt with
27:06
Speaker 14: with Ran, that the entire world has dealt with with Iran,
27:09
Speaker 14: and that that is why this decision was made. And
27:12
Speaker 14: no one is paying attention to social media to anybody
27:14
Speaker 14: that wants clicks. They're solely paying attention to freeing the
27:17
Speaker 14: people of Iran, avenging those American lives, of course that
27:20
Speaker 14: were taken by this regime, and making sure Iran never
27:22
Speaker 14: gets a nuclear weapon. Those are really the objectives that
27:26
Speaker 14: matter to the President, and I can probably assure you
27:28
Speaker 14: he hasn't really noticed much of the negative commentary that
27:31
Speaker 14: exists solely on Twitter and not really in the real world.
27:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, very good point. This isn't the real world. It's
27:37
Speaker 2: just for clicks and for making money as well. Just finally,
27:41
Speaker 2: the President spoke with our Prime Minister Anthony Albinizi overnight.
27:44
Speaker 2: He encouraged him to give asylum to the brave Iranian
27:47
Speaker 2: soccer players in Australia right now. The government has now
27:52
Speaker 2: done that with five players who've requested it. But this
27:55
Speaker 2: saga has been going on for nearly a week. Was
27:58
Speaker 2: there a concern in the United States that the Albanezy
28:01
Speaker 2: government was too slow to act?
28:04
Speaker 14: Well, Look, everyone that paid attention to Donald Trump's statement
28:07
Speaker 14: saw that he said if Australia does not do this,
28:09
Speaker 14: the United States will, so I can only imagine he
28:11
Speaker 14: was slightly concerned if with what was going to happen
28:15
Speaker 14: to these athletes. I think for him it was about
28:17
Speaker 14: getting the right thing done, and if Australia did not
28:19
Speaker 14: do it, he was going to He let everybody know
28:22
Speaker 14: that he is pretty transparent, as I said earlier, and
28:25
Speaker 14: in that shrute social post, he didn't let the administration speak.
28:28
Speaker 14: He spoke himself as Donald Trump, the human who was
28:30
Speaker 14: worried about the lives of these athletes, and he said
28:32
Speaker 14: this needs to get done. So I assume he was
28:35
Speaker 14: pretty worried and clearly made his point known that if
28:38
Speaker 14: Australia didn't do it, America would have handled it.
28:41
Speaker 2: Elizabeth Pipko really appreciate your time as always, Thank you,
28:45
Speaker 2: thank you.
28:48
Speaker 15: Well.
28:49
Speaker 2: While five of the Iranian soccer players have been granted
28:52
Speaker 2: visas to stay here, the rest are preparing to leave
28:55
Speaker 2: the Gold.
28:55
Speaker 3: Coast and the same.
28:59
Speaker 2: Good Yeah, those scenes are really hard to watch. And
29:17
Speaker 2: the Lioness is then loaded onto the bus which was
29:21
Speaker 2: swarmed by protesters and I'm Joe now by Aara Rassili,
29:27
Speaker 2: who's been working behind the scenes to help these women defect.
29:32
Speaker 2: Hopefully we have our in a moment. Have we got
29:36
Speaker 2: her there? Yep, we do, Arah, Welcome to the show. Look,
29:41
Speaker 2: are there another two players who are going to stay
29:44
Speaker 2: in Australia and be given protection by the Australian government.
29:50
Speaker 16: Thank you for having me here. As far as we
29:53
Speaker 16: know now, too, there are players that do want to
29:58
Speaker 16: stay here, but we don't have official confirmation that they
30:01
Speaker 16: have stayed. I know that some players that pulled onto
30:06
Speaker 16: that bus, as you can see in the video there,
30:09
Speaker 16: and they are hopefully will be protected by the Australian
30:14
Speaker 16: for the police once they land in Sydney, which is
30:18
Speaker 16: as we speak, and it will be happening very soon.
30:21
Speaker 2: Okay, so you're hoping another two will be so they'll
30:24
Speaker 2: be seven in total.
30:28
Speaker 3: We are hoping.
30:28
Speaker 2: Yes, Yeah, other girls, the five girls. Are they excited
30:33
Speaker 2: to be Australian? Are they also worried though, for the
30:36
Speaker 2: safety of their family in Iran?
30:42
Speaker 16: I As far as I know, there is mixed emotions
30:45
Speaker 16: from the girls, appreciating they have made a very hard
30:50
Speaker 16: life decision as to becoming a migrant here.
30:55
Speaker 3: We are very proud of them.
30:57
Speaker 16: We know that their families will be under three as
31:00
Speaker 16: well as themselves, but we are proud to see them
31:04
Speaker 16: stay here and show such courage.
31:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, what do you know about whether they intend to
31:11
Speaker 2: continue their soccer career here in Australia.
31:17
Speaker 16: I don't have confirmation from them to tell you what
31:20
Speaker 16: they intend to do here in Australia, but what I
31:23
Speaker 16: can tell you is that we are very excited to
31:25
Speaker 16: see them continue their journey here. They are here as
31:29
Speaker 16: athletes and we cannot wake them grow, wait to see
31:32
Speaker 16: them grow in Australia.
31:35
Speaker 2: Just finally, those that are returning to Iran, what fate
31:39
Speaker 2: potentially awaits them.
31:43
Speaker 3: We don't know.
31:44
Speaker 16: The Islamic regime is very unpredictable and scared to deal with.
31:49
Speaker 16: We can only help them the very best and hope
31:51
Speaker 16: that all the media coverage puts pressure under Islamic regime
31:54
Speaker 16: not to do anything, but we might.
31:57
Speaker 3: We also know that their.
31:59
Speaker 16: National tea threatened them to the maximum execution, which is
32:04
Speaker 16: known as killing them, and it can look very ugly.
32:10
Speaker 16: I just hope to the best for them, and I
32:12
Speaker 16: hope that they land safe and all this media covers
32:17
Speaker 16: them and they say safe.
32:21
Speaker 2: And I just have to say thank you to you
32:23
Speaker 2: for the work you've done behind the scenes in reaching
32:26
Speaker 2: out to the families of these women to help them defect,
32:30
Speaker 2: and you know, please pass on the message from all
32:33
Speaker 2: of Australia that we're right here with these players. They're
32:36
Speaker 2: incredibly courageous and we're thrilled to have them in our country.
32:41
Speaker 16: I'm sure they know that, and all the credit of
32:44
Speaker 16: all this work goes to our raise players. They are
32:48
Speaker 16: the ones that chose very braveryly not to see the
32:52
Speaker 16: national anthem and make such a new statement. We are
32:55
Speaker 16: very proud of them and all this work goes to them,
32:59
Speaker 16: and be a proud to have them here in Australia.
33:01
Speaker 3: Indeed, Aarra, thank you very much for your time still
33:05
Speaker 3: to calm.
33:06
Speaker 2: Trump's late night phone call was sparked by Drew Pavlou's
33:09
Speaker 2: post and he will join me soon and intercepted encrypted
33:13
Speaker 2: messages reveal Iranian sleeper cells are being activated globally.
33:17
Speaker 3: That's coming up.
33:23
Speaker 2: There are reports in The Nightly that the Australian Army's
33:26
Speaker 2: First Division is preparing for possible deployment to the Middle East,
33:31
Speaker 2: and this would be in addition to the assistants the
33:33
Speaker 2: government already announced today. Or joining me now to discuss
33:36
Speaker 2: labor Chief of Staff former Chief of Staff Camra Milner
33:40
Speaker 2: and The Nightlyi's chief writer, Aaron Patrick. Great to see
33:44
Speaker 2: you both, Aaron, you broke this story.
33:47
Speaker 17: What can you tell us well, Cherry, My sources are
33:50
Speaker 17: my source, very high level source in the Army tells
33:53
Speaker 17: me that the First Division, which is based in Glipoally
33:56
Speaker 17: Barracks in Brisbane, is undergoing prepared to very planning for
34:02
Speaker 17: Australian forces to go to the Middle East. Now, this
34:04
Speaker 17: doesn't mean it will happen. This is giving the government
34:07
Speaker 17: options if they want ground forces and it will be
34:11
Speaker 17: up to the government decide a later point, but they
34:13
Speaker 17: want to exercise that. But it does show how seriously
34:16
Speaker 17: the Army is taking the possibility and direct involvement.
34:19
Speaker 9: In this war.
34:21
Speaker 2: Cameron doesn't seem like Albanez you would ever have the
34:25
Speaker 2: courage to do something like this. I mean he's too
34:29
Speaker 2: squeamish to even overtly say that he'll help America in Israel.
34:35
Speaker 12: Well that's right, and we had to extract it like
34:37
Speaker 12: blood out of a stone, getting the fact that we
34:38
Speaker 12: had three sailors on board that great US submarine. That's
34:41
Speaker 12: something the Iranian frigate. So you know, No, this blog
34:43
Speaker 12: doesn't want to be anywhere near this war.
34:45
Speaker 8: And it's great.
34:46
Speaker 12: The Australian Army is doing exactly what it should do.
34:48
Speaker 12: And it's great hour and you broke that story. Great, great,
34:51
Speaker 12: great exclusive for you there for the Nightly as well.
34:53
Speaker 12: But no, I think the great problem here is the
34:55
Speaker 12: Army might be ready, but Alba will never be ready.
34:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, just on that point about the missiles we're
35:01
Speaker 2: sending over there. I mean the Albanezi government belatedly ordered
35:05
Speaker 2: some missiles a year ago, Aaron, and now they're sending these.
35:09
Speaker 2: So it's an indication that we don't actually have a
35:11
Speaker 2: lot of supply as it is.
35:13
Speaker 17: Well, it also looks like the army is getting rid
35:15
Speaker 17: of the missiles that it doesn't want. Well, sorry, the
35:17
Speaker 17: ADF is getting rid of all perhaps out of date,
35:20
Speaker 17: out of date missiles. Also, the Defense Minister, Richard Miles
35:23
Speaker 17: said something which I thought very strange today. He said
35:26
Speaker 17: these are defensive weapons. They're not defensive weapons. Well, missile
35:29
Speaker 17: is designed to shoot down other aircraft. So it's really
35:31
Speaker 17: the intent that matters. And I think they're playing semantics
35:35
Speaker 17: in a way. I think they're giving Trump part of
35:38
Speaker 17: what he wants, but they're portraying it as a defense
35:41
Speaker 17: of the UAE.
35:43
Speaker 2: And Cameron.
35:44
Speaker 3: I said this earlier.
35:44
Speaker 2: Can you imagine Albanize ever saying, oh, we're sending weapons
35:48
Speaker 2: to help our good friends in Israel and America.
35:52
Speaker 12: Well, no, he's no Bob Hawk, is he. I mean
35:54
Speaker 12: Hawk stood up on behalf of Australians and sent troops
35:58
Speaker 12: into those golf regions and we needed to as a
36:00
Speaker 12: country to defend democratic values, to defend our allies in
36:04
Speaker 12: the region. No, I mean Albanie has been completely absent
36:06
Speaker 12: from the battlefield, you know, almost as bad as kirs Dama.
36:09
Speaker 12: And that's pretty bad.
36:11
Speaker 2: Exactly fascinating Aaron that President Trump intervened and rang Albanesi
36:17
Speaker 2: after a social media post from an influential activist, Drew Pavlu.
36:22
Speaker 17: Well, Drew Pavlou was a young guy's twenty six. He
36:24
Speaker 17: lives in a small apartment in South Brisbane and he
36:27
Speaker 17: has the attention of the White House. Last night, around
36:30
Speaker 17: close to midnight, he sent out a tweet. He told
36:33
Speaker 17: me a belly even thought about it. And then a
36:35
Speaker 17: little while later it was about the Uranian sockey team.
36:38
Speaker 17: A little while later, Donald Trump posted it to truth
36:42
Speaker 17: social and he said Australia has to act. And then
36:44
Speaker 17: suddenly there's a phone call at two a m between
36:47
Speaker 17: the Prime Minister and the President. And this is because
36:50
Speaker 17: of Drew Pavlu. This guy made it happen, and I
36:53
Speaker 17: think today he had more influence over the American administration
36:57
Speaker 17: than our ambassador in Washington, Kevin Run.
37:00
Speaker 2: Extraordinary when you put it like that, at twenty six
37:02
Speaker 2: year olds living in an apartment in Brisbane. Amazing the
37:06
Speaker 2: resignation of the Nationals leader David Little Proud today, Cameron,
37:11
Speaker 2: you know he said he's got no energy left in
37:13
Speaker 2: the job. I don't think his legacy has been great
37:16
Speaker 2: over the past year. He's split the coalition twice. But Cameron,
37:19
Speaker 2: I'm interested from a labor perspective, who would be a
37:22
Speaker 2: good replacement.
37:26
Speaker 12: Well, I think the obvious choice, and I don't want
37:27
Speaker 12: it in any way to fear in what the National
37:29
Speaker 12: Party room's going to do. But you know, your friend
37:31
Speaker 12: and mine, Matt Canavan, I think is an exceptional spokesperson.
37:34
Speaker 12: He has real values, are real courage in terms of
37:36
Speaker 12: his beliefs, and as someone who speaks to Queensland as
37:39
Speaker 12: and speaks to people who the National Party needs to
37:41
Speaker 12: get back from one nation because under David Little Proud
37:44
Speaker 12: they've walked those have walked to Pauline. I mean Little
37:46
Speaker 12: Proud has been terrible for the National Party. You need
37:48
Speaker 12: someone who's actually genuinely from Queensland, genuinely speaks regional language,
37:52
Speaker 12: and Matt Canavan has that in spades, and on climate
37:55
Speaker 12: and all those other sets of issues. Very sound values,
37:57
Speaker 12: and a very strong view which I think stands up
38:00
Speaker 12: well for Australia.
38:02
Speaker 8: So we're looking for some leadership.
38:03
Speaker 2: He is probably the only other candidate you know now
38:06
Speaker 2: that Barnaby is at One Nation who has that sort.
38:09
Speaker 3: Of cut through.
38:10
Speaker 17: Mccanavan is one of the best media performers in the
38:13
Speaker 17: National Party and that's going to help him hugely. The
38:16
Speaker 17: National Party is a pretty conservative beast though, and you know,
38:21
Speaker 17: I would be actually be surprised if they decided to
38:23
Speaker 17: go to go to Senate Canavan, but you know it
38:26
Speaker 17: was going to be pretty interesting if he gets it,
38:28
Speaker 17: because then you can't shut that guy up.
38:31
Speaker 2: Finally, I know it seems like a bit of an
38:33
Speaker 2: odd topic to swap to, but this is a big
38:37
Speaker 2: media business story. Kyle Sandalands has spoken out for the
38:41
Speaker 2: first time today and he's hit out at the radio
38:43
Speaker 2: company at ARN.
38:45
Speaker 3: He released this statement.
38:46
Speaker 2: Which we can bring up on the screen, basically saying
38:49
Speaker 2: that AARN told me I'm not allowed to contact Jackie,
38:52
Speaker 2: I'm not allowed to speak to my colleagues, and then
38:55
Speaker 2: you know, accusations against AARN about how he was told
38:59
Speaker 2: to sit quietly and say nothing and that it hasn't
39:02
Speaker 2: been a genuine process, Cameron that you know their deals
39:06
Speaker 2: are worth two hundred million dollars, But it looks like
39:11
Speaker 2: if he's reaching out in Olive Branch, will maybe the
39:13
Speaker 2: windows open for him and Jackie O to return.
39:18
Speaker 12: I think he spent a fortnight on the couch on
39:20
Speaker 12: seat dot Com looking for where radio bullies and and
39:24
Speaker 12: agro people can get jobs or ten million dollars a year,
39:27
Speaker 12: and they don't exist, and they shouldn't exist. I mean
39:29
Speaker 12: his programs a disgrace. I mean the fact that he
39:31
Speaker 12: bombs so badly in Melbourne, the fact that advertiser walking
39:34
Speaker 12: from his show should speak spades for the dud deal
39:37
Speaker 12: that Aarn's predecessors had done with Kyle. I mean, look,
39:40
Speaker 12: I know Sydney like him, but the rest of Australia
39:43
Speaker 12: barely know him and probably have heard more on the
39:45
Speaker 12: headlines than him from his own radio show. Now he's
39:48
Speaker 12: someone who should be condemned to the dustbin.
39:50
Speaker 2: What did you think about this comment hitting out at Aarn? Aaron,
39:53
Speaker 2: do you think we could see some legal action here?
39:56
Speaker 17: I think there's so much money at stake, very very
39:59
Speaker 17: possible we'd see some legal action thing.
40:02
Speaker 8: A city side.
40:03
Speaker 17: I've never never listened to them, and I don't really
40:05
Speaker 17: get the attraction that they are the biggest names in radio.
40:08
Speaker 17: And this has been a fascinating story about how tough
40:11
Speaker 17: it is to manage really well paid talent.
40:14
Speaker 3: So funny.
40:15
Speaker 2: I've tried to talk about this issue on my show
40:16
Speaker 2: because it's a big story and everyone's talking about it,
40:19
Speaker 2: but every guest I have says I've never listened to them.
40:22
Speaker 2: It's very funny.
40:23
Speaker 17: It's because you choose such serious people.
40:25
Speaker 3: I know it's true. Only the best.
40:27
Speaker 2: Aaron Patrick garm Ramiono. Great to see you vote now
40:32
Speaker 2: still to come after the break. Fears of retaliation attacks
40:35
Speaker 2: with Iranian sleeper cells activating.
40:37
Speaker 3: Across the globe.
40:38
Speaker 2: More on that with former advisor to Israeli President Shimon
40:41
Speaker 2: Perez next. An encrypted message intercepted by the United States
40:51
Speaker 2: indicates that a run maybe activating sleeper cells globally. The
40:55
Speaker 2: coded signal was sent after the death of the Ayatola,
40:58
Speaker 2: and while the exact content can't be public, US experts
41:02
Speaker 2: have already been on high alert for revenge attacks. If
41:07
Speaker 2: ever there's going to have a Hesbala cell or a
41:10
Speaker 2: Hamas cell act in the United States in a violent way.
41:13
Speaker 2: It's now and there are serious concerns about the possibility
41:19
Speaker 2: that Iranian sleeper cells could be activated even.
41:22
Speaker 3: In Australia too.
41:24
Speaker 2: Joining me now is former advisor Toho Israeli President Shimon
41:27
Speaker 2: Perez Yonatan Adirri Yonatan, thank you very much for your time. Now,
41:32
Speaker 2: what kind of dir what kind of threat to do
41:36
Speaker 2: Iranian sleeper cells pose to us in the West.
41:41
Speaker 1: So I think that the nomenclature is actually very indicative.
41:45
Speaker 1: Right what's going on in the Middle East in the
41:47
Speaker 1: last ten days is a wake up call, the fact
41:51
Speaker 1: that there are sleeper cells that are now being awoken.
41:53
Speaker 1: They're not the only ones being awoken. The entire region
41:56
Speaker 1: is being awoken. Side Arabia, Qatar, the UEE, They're all
42:00
Speaker 1: waking up to a new reality. We are all waking
42:02
Speaker 1: up to a new reality. Whereas most of us, specifically Israelis,
42:06
Speaker 1: were preaching regionally that this is the reality hiding underneath
42:11
Speaker 1: the veneer of the you know, nights faces and smiles
42:16
Speaker 1: of the Iranian diplomatic core, Whereas in fact, the sleeper cells,
42:21
Speaker 1: if you will, or the sleeping violent reality of repression
42:25
Speaker 1: both internally in Iran and the nature of the regime
42:28
Speaker 1: from a regional risk perspective, is now, you know, being
42:32
Speaker 1: exposed to everybody to watch. And the sleeper cell global
42:35
Speaker 1: network is just another element or an angle of that dynamic.
42:41
Speaker 2: How extensive is it Iranian agents in places like Australia,
42:46
Speaker 2: the UK, the US just waiting to be activated.
42:51
Speaker 1: Well sure, I think for your viewers and for the listeners,
42:55
Speaker 1: it's important to understand when you hear the words IRGC
43:00
Speaker 1: Ranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, those are the people who now
43:03
Speaker 1: run the country.
43:06
Speaker 8: That's the meaning of the world.
43:07
Speaker 1: These are people who have the title of defending the revolution.
43:11
Speaker 1: And Iran has the Islamic Republic of Iran has a
43:16
Speaker 1: budgetary article which is called exporting the Revolution. This is
43:21
Speaker 1: a regime formally, financially, kinetically committed to exporting its nefarious
43:28
Speaker 1: vision of the world and exporting the revolution. So those
43:33
Speaker 1: sleeper cells have been put in place for decades. We've
43:37
Speaker 1: seen them active against the Jewish community in Argentina years ago.
43:41
Speaker 1: We've seen them active. President Trump mentioned the USS coal
43:44
Speaker 1: and other areas in the barracks in Lebanon against the Marines.
43:49
Speaker 1: This is not new. The sleeper cells are there. They
43:52
Speaker 1: are part of an explicit budget article effort by the
43:58
Speaker 1: regime to export the revolution.
44:01
Speaker 2: Trump indicated that the wall could be over soon. Are
44:04
Speaker 2: you concerned he might be getting spooked because of the
44:07
Speaker 2: global economic impact of the oil crisis.
44:12
Speaker 1: So I think to understand the comments President Trump made yesterday,
44:15
Speaker 1: we need to go back ten years to his first term,
44:18
Speaker 1: and he invoked that in his speech. So, Shari, it's
44:21
Speaker 1: important to understand President Trump, and when he started his
44:24
Speaker 1: first term said America will transition from energy dependence to
44:29
Speaker 1: independence and ultimately energy dominance. And if you read the
44:34
Speaker 1: White House strategy paper, the National Security Strategy, just from
44:37
Speaker 1: two months ago, it is evident there. I think that
44:39
Speaker 1: Trump is being incredibly coherent with that policy. The US
44:44
Speaker 1: is now the biggest oil producer in the world, with
44:47
Speaker 1: fourteen million barrels per day. They are also the biggest
44:50
Speaker 1: producer of natural guests, surpassing katar in gas and Saudi
44:54
Speaker 1: Arabia in oil. So, as President Trump said yesterday in
44:58
Speaker 1: answering one of the reporters, did you guys think that
45:01
Speaker 1: when we embarked on this attack, we did not anticipate
45:04
Speaker 1: oil prices will go up? This is transitory, all.
45:07
Speaker 2: Right, Jonatan, Really appreciate your time thank you very much
45:11
Speaker 2: for joining us and coming up.
45:12
Speaker 3: After the break.
45:13
Speaker 2: The activist whose tweet sparked Trump's horror, that's next, Drew Pavlou,
45:21
Speaker 2: has been the tog of the town today and I
45:23
Speaker 2: spoke with him a little earlier. Drew Pavlou, Great to
45:27
Speaker 2: see you again, Welcome. Well do you think your post
45:31
Speaker 2: forced this onto the President's radar?
45:35
Speaker 15: Look, Cherry, thank you so much for having me on.
45:39
Speaker 15: I don't want to be presumptuous, but I was extraordinarily
45:42
Speaker 15: delighted and shocked to see that the President shared my post.
45:46
Speaker 15: And he called up Prime minist Anthony Albanezi right after
45:49
Speaker 15: at two am, and he requested that the Australian government
45:53
Speaker 15: protect these players. And look, I'm just absolutely delighted, Like
45:56
Speaker 15: it's such a good cause to try to protect these women.
45:59
Speaker 15: They face the potential of being executed in Iran if
46:03
Speaker 15: they're sent back, and I really fear for them if
46:07
Speaker 15: they sent back that they will be hurt. So I
46:09
Speaker 15: really hope that we've had a good option. I really
46:12
Speaker 15: hope that we've had a good impact here saving the
46:16
Speaker 15: lives of innocent people. I'm really really, I'm really grateful
46:20
Speaker 15: to President Trump for sharing my tweet, I'm honestly just
46:23
Speaker 15: still in shock. It's just crazy.
46:25
Speaker 2: Do you think that Albanzy government was too slow to
46:28
Speaker 2: act here, because we've known about this issue for close
46:31
Speaker 2: to a week.
46:32
Speaker 3: And do you think this also.
46:33
Speaker 2: Shows the power of social media where you can raise
46:37
Speaker 2: the plight of these brave Iranian soccer players and the
46:41
Speaker 2: President of the United States sees it, he acts, He
46:45
Speaker 2: calls the Prime minister.
46:48
Speaker 15: Look, it was an amazing statement by Trump. He acted
46:51
Speaker 15: very decisively. I'm really really grateful that he intervened. I
46:55
Speaker 15: was really worried that the labor government was dragging their
46:57
Speaker 15: feet on this. It took many days for or any
47:00
Speaker 15: confirmation that they would protect these players. It was left
47:03
Speaker 15: right up to the last moment. The five players that
47:05
Speaker 15: were offered asylum, it was only after they were able
47:08
Speaker 15: to escape. I'm really worried for the other women who
47:10
Speaker 15: haven't been able to escape the official minders. There was
47:12
Speaker 15: official visuals earlier. There were official visuals earlier today showing
47:16
Speaker 15: that at least one player was being dragged onto the bus.
47:18
Speaker 15: So I'm really worried for these women. I really hope
47:20
Speaker 15: that they will be helped at the airport when they're
47:22
Speaker 15: about to go on the plan. I really hope that
47:24
Speaker 15: Austraian government officials will be there to give them the
47:26
Speaker 15: option of safety. I was really worried the Isstrainan government
47:29
Speaker 15: was not going to protect them, and I think it
47:31
Speaker 15: was extremely hypocritical and it was extremely horrible because they've
47:34
Speaker 15: spent the past month and broiled in this terrible fight
47:37
Speaker 15: over the ISIS brides. They basically want to bring literal
47:40
Speaker 15: ISIS members here to Australia, the persecutors, the g hardest
47:44
Speaker 15: persecutors of innocence, and yet victims of Islamis's persecution were
47:47
Speaker 15: potentially going to be sent to their deaths in Iran.
47:50
Speaker 15: So I'm really really grateful that Trump stepped in here.
47:52
Speaker 15: I think it was needed. I think without President Trump's intervention,
47:55
Speaker 15: I was really worried that potentially the Australian government would
47:58
Speaker 15: let the rest of the team basically be bundled onto
48:00
Speaker 15: a plane.
48:02
Speaker 2: Of course, the Albanezer government says they're not doing anything
48:05
Speaker 2: to repatriate to repatriate the ISIS cohort, but they've done
48:09
Speaker 2: nothing to stop it. They say they're entitled to passports
48:12
Speaker 2: and they're not answering the questions about how exactly the
48:15
Speaker 2: group got hold of the Australian Passports DURA. Just want
48:19
Speaker 2: to change topic for a minute. You recently released a report.
48:23
Speaker 3: Online almost an hour long.
48:26
Speaker 2: Exposing alleged NDIS waste and fraud from suspicious providers to
48:31
Speaker 2: inflated invoices being charged to the scheme. In one example,
48:36
Speaker 2: you looked at and NDIS business in Western Sydney was
48:39
Speaker 2: shut down in October, but in its place was another
48:43
Speaker 2: NDIS company with the same phone number and accountant. And
48:46
Speaker 2: here's what happened when you approached them.
48:50
Speaker 15: Hello, is there a manager here?
48:51
Speaker 8: I'm sorry, no, not yet.
48:54
Speaker 15: I'm just asking so so I know that this was
48:59
Speaker 15: the exact dress of a bend in the ice business police.
49:14
Speaker 2: You just broke the glass that was really heated, Drew.
49:21
Speaker 15: Look, it was an amazingly professional business. I will te
49:24
Speaker 15: I will speak in very general terms about this, but
49:26
Speaker 15: it was an amazingly professional business to have Pete's filming
49:30
Speaker 15: glasses smashed. I think they screamed, uh, the R word,
49:35
Speaker 15: you know, the slur about disabilities. They screamed that at us.
49:38
Speaker 15: They was literally screaming slurs at us.
49:40
Speaker 8: So it's just a good question.
49:42
Speaker 15: I mean, do you want these people to be basically
49:45
Speaker 15: involved in disability provision care in Australia when they're literally
49:48
Speaker 15: hurling slurs around, assaulting people.
49:51
Speaker 8: Speaking in very general terms.
49:52
Speaker 15: I don't think in general terms that is the hallmark
49:54
Speaker 15: of a professional business. So it's incredible what we.
49:57
Speaker 8: Were able to uncover.
49:58
Speaker 15: It was really, unfortunately, just the tip of the ice.
50:00
Speaker 15: I mean, it gets really bad. John Dato, the official
50:02
Speaker 15: NDIA regulator. He told the Australian Senate that if all
50:06
Speaker 15: cases of fraud in the system were to be prosecuted,
50:08
Speaker 15: the Australian legal system would collapse. There are simply not
50:10
Speaker 15: enough judges in Australia to deal with all cases of fraud.
50:13
Speaker 15: When it comes to the NDS we're talking. This is
50:16
Speaker 15: a massive, massive drain on the country. It's an incinerator
50:19
Speaker 15: of cash and we want people with genuine disabilities to
50:23
Speaker 15: be cared for. We just want the roots to be ended.
50:26
Speaker 15: We want dodgy providers out of the system. We want
50:28
Speaker 15: organized crime out of the system. We want people to
50:31
Speaker 15: be able to people who genuinely need this care to
50:34
Speaker 15: get the care that they need without massive roughts being involved,
50:37
Speaker 15: without people being exploited, without people being taken advantage of
50:40
Speaker 15: and that's what we're trying to do. We're ultimately trying
50:42
Speaker 15: to actually help disable people.
50:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, all right, Drew, thank you so much for your time.
50:46
Speaker 3: Really appreciate it.
50:49
Speaker 2: And I'll see you tomorrow at eight thirty. And here's
50:52
Speaker 2: Paul Murray