Latest / Steve Price / Steve Price | 21 March

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Steve Price | 21 March · Steve Price

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: This is Steve Brice. We'recome to Friday Night's Steve Price
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: back with you.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Thank you to Caleb for stepping in last week as
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: I recovered from some shoulder surgery, nothing too serious, just
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: a little bit painful. Not as painful though, as the
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: pain Victorians are suffering through. With crime stats yesterday confirming
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: what we already knew. Melbourne is in the middle of
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: a youth crime crisis like we've never seen before, and
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: those numbers dropped as another painful anniversary rolled around. It's
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: five years Can you believe it? Five years ago next Wednesday?
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: When the first COVID lockdowns were imposed by the Victorian
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Premier Daniel Andrews. Five years ago and it lasted can
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: you believe it? For forty three days that first lockdown,
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: and there were five more over eighteen months, the most
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: lockdown city on Earth and we're still recovering, limited to
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: staying within a five kilometer radius of home. Can you
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: believe we put up with that? We're only allowed out
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: once a day to exercise wearing a mask with no
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: more than one other person. I still can't believe that
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: any Australians put up with what we put up with.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: I don't believe that we would go through it again.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: I'll talk about COVID and bad COVID memories with our
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Friday Friday panel later in the program. Now coming up
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: out of control teenage online sweeps Melbourne. That is crime
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: that we just have never seen. And now the figures
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: released show how bad things are. Crime stats reveal almost
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: seven thousand and five hundred home invasions last year alone
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: and a cohort of bailed teenage offenders doing it over
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: and over again and simply being released back into the streets,
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: onto the streets shadow please. Minister David Southwick will join
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: me at the desk in just a moment plus. As
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: federal abor's obsession with renewable shows no sign of letting up.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Really it is.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: Starting to hit the road. The problem with this five
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: solar farms in regional Victoria have been told to shut
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: down because they pose a bushfire risk.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Can you believe it?
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: I'll catch up with the Victorian Farmer's Federation boss Brett
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Hosking shortly, and amid the looming tariff wars and the
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: dire predictions of a global recession, the Albanezy government must
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: now hand down a budget next week after cyclone Alfred
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: ruined their pole plans. Will it be an election cash
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: splash and what does that mean for you? Warren Hogan
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: from Judo Bank, he'll boil it down for us. Plus
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: the latest on the Ukraine Russia War. And it's stadium
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: day for Olympic City Brisbane next Tuesday Friday. Regular Campbell
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Newman makes his prediction on what will happen. I can
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: tell you he's not happy. Let's get stuck in now.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: As I said, Victoria, as we've talked about over and over,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: like many parts of Australia, is living through a once
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: in a generation youth crime crisis.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: There's no other way to put it. Does that look well? Put? Simply? Teenagers?
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: They armed themselves with machetes, sometimes knives. On other times
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: they hood up, they creep out of their home, They
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: break into your house, terrify your family, including little children,
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: and they steer your car. Then they taunt the police
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: in high speed car chases that have ended in death.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Much of this offending is by a cohort of repeat offenders,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: bailed over and over again. After that, the state's bail
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: laws were softened only just back in twenty twenty three
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: by the ex Premier Daniel Andrews. The laws were weakened
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: after strong lobbying from Indigenous groups concerned about the numbers
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: of Aboriginal teenagers that were locked up in remand those
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: same laws were tough and somewhat overnight, And here she is,
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: the Victorian Premier, bragging on social media and patting herself
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: on the back.
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  Speaker 3: Hi, everyone, I just thought i'd jump on here with
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  Speaker 3: some breaking news tonight from the Victorian Parliament. We've just
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: past the tough new bail laws, the toughest in the
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: country and these laws had consequences for people who break
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: the rules. Put in community safety first.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: The Premier, toughest bail laws in Australia. Are they well?
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Joining me now, Victorian Shadow Police spokesman David Southwick, he's
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: in the studio with us.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Are they the toughest bail laws in Australia?
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  Speaker 4: Greatfuly with you, Steve. That's deceptive and misleading advertising. They're
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: not even the toughest that they've been in the state.
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: Twelve months ago they were tougher. We have a couple
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: of tests that are no longer there in the bail
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: laws that the government are saying they'll do that in
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: the next ranch. But what happens in the meantime young
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: offenders still don't have the kinds of tests that we
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: would have hoped that would have happened. We put five
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: amendments to these laws and the government rejected all of them.
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  Speaker 5: The only one that we got.
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  Speaker 4: Through was the word tough removed out of the bill
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  Speaker 4: because even the Greens thought that these laws were an
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: absolute joke.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: So the bill was actually is the word tough?
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: Correct?
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  Speaker 4: The governments tried to put hoodwink Victorians by calling it
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: something that it's not tough bail bill. Well, the world
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: toughs out of it because we know this government hasn't
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: gone far enough.
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  Speaker 2: Let's have a look here. This is the front page
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: of the Herald Sun this morning. Quote government shamed as
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: shock trime statistics revealed you have failed, Victoria.
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  Speaker 1: I mean the numbers don't lie, do.
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  Speaker 5: They Well, absolutely right, Steve.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Freme starts out yesterday. Yet worst use crime crisis in history.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: We're up sixteen percent we were last year.
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: And the time that you'll finish your show tonight, there'll
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: be sixty crimes committed.
• 5:39
  Speaker 5: There will be four cars karjacked.
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: In the time you'll finish your show tonight and we'll
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: probably have a home invasion that goes up each and
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: every year.
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  Speaker 5: These are serious crimes.
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: We even had a Deputy Commissioner, Bob Hill said the
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: delays in some of the responses that the government in
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  Speaker 4: terms of bail law's machete law and all the rest
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: of it, has meant that the crime crisis are through
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: the roof. And when you have people not having the
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: consequences like we've been talking about and they repeat offend,
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: then ultimately we're seeing this display out in those figures.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Let's go back, David to when the bail laws were
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: softened in twenty twenty three. Can you recall what the
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: justification was for doing that.
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: Well, again, the government thought that they had an issue
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: with the indigenous as I mentioned incarceration Indigenous kids in
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  Speaker 4: yeah remarks. Yeah, and they were looking at they were
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: trying to look at what they can do in terms
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: of youth offenders as well. I know that we're going
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: to talk about the COVID lockdowns as well with all
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: of that, but they were trying to look at divergent
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: programs to keep people out of jail. But when there's
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: serious offenses, which is what we've had. There needs to
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: be those consequences and winding back some of these laws,
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: particularly when people are committing a higher offense than they
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: did the first time whilst they're out on bail. I've
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: seen that play out with some people being granted bail
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: fifty times fifty times, and each time they've stepped up
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: in terms of the offense that they've committed, and they've
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: just got to slap on the wrist and say go
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: back out and don't really if.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: We've had a complete breakdown of social order, how does
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: someone sit in the Premier's office and not realize that
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: she was part of a cabinet that softened the laws
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty three. Cause and effect is softer laws
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: meant more offending to a point now where we're breaking records.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: The Premiers suddenly had a Jesus moment where she decided, Okay,
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: I better do something a wise it taken so long?
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Be why now?
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: Well, it's why now?
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: Because her opinion polls show that it's completely bottomed out
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: for her and she's looking over her back in terms
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: of who could replace her as a leader. She's also
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: had just about every single Victorian crying for help and
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: saying please law.
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  Speaker 2: Is there any moment of reflection? I mean, does she
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: ever admit that they got it wrong?
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: Well, she apologed, but seriously, what about doing something? It's
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: too little, too late, and in the end, in many instances,
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: it's very hard to put the genie back in the bottle.
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  Speaker 4: What really concerns me, Steve is the people that have
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: had someone standing over their bed with a machete, a
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  Speaker 4: home invasion, a carjacking, an assault. How do they put
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: their lives back together? So the victims have been forgotten
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: in Victoria and everyone wants you to do completely.
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  Speaker 2: And everybody's out of sleep at night of it. You
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: hear a noise, Yeah, you're immediately won. You mentioned machetes.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: So they've decided to toughen up on access to machetes.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: Why do we have to wait till September before that
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: becomes law. I can walk into a Bunning shop today,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: can'to and still buy a machete?
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  Speaker 4: Well any other when you've got a problem with what
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: is a dangerous product that's being sold, you'd have an
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: immediate product recall. And that's what I see in the Parliament.
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: You are now saying machetes are dangerous get The government
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: wants to keep them on the shelf for at least
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: another six months, which is ridiculous. And the government is saying, well,
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: we haven't quite worked out how we're going to have
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: some of them that may be available for farming and
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: other reasons, and we want to give retailers a chance
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: to sell down their stock. Well sell down their stock
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  Speaker 4: so these knives can be put on the streets, green
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  Speaker 4: lighting criminals to go in and buy out.
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  Speaker 2: You go to Bunnings, you go to min to ten,
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  Speaker 2: they're the biggest retailers. Yeah, tell them you've got to
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  Speaker 2: put this stuff in locked cabinets and if someone wants
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: to buy one, they've got to give you proof.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: That would be common sense to do something.
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  Speaker 5: That would be common sense.
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  Speaker 4: But this government, you'd say, take them off and get
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: it sorted and then bring them back. This government say no, no, no,
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  Speaker 4: we need six months to work it out.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: They're going to have.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: A system where you can hand in your machine.
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: Yeah, what good luck with that?
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: What sixteen or fifteen with the machete and say here correct?
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  Speaker 4: And even I had Victoria police saying me, someone walks
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: into a police station with a machine in their hand,
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: they'll probably end up shot. They have not thought any
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: of this stuff through at all, not at all.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: I mentioned the anniversary we would all love to ignore,
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: of course, Wednesday, five years ago, lockdown one of six
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: in Victoria. You and I lived through it. The Victorian
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: government has lost its appeal to keep the documents that
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: David Davis wants released, and so now we presume they
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: have to be released. Why have they delayed this for
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: so long? What is in there that they're worried that
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: we're going to find out?
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: I think Victorians all want to know why we were lockdown,
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: the way that we were the longest and hardest of
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: anyone in the world, the fact that we had an
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: overreach in many.
• 10:33
  Speaker 5: Respects of police. In the way it was locked down.
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: We see where we had a police commissioner and deputy
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: commissioner sacked because and now we have corruption allegations against
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: our government interference. Well, this could potentially be more government
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: interference in health, in lockdowns, and in what ruining many
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: people's lives. You mentioned PTSD before, Steve. How many people
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: have PTSD? How many kids are still trying to rebuild
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: their lives because of government overreach? Government completely damaged so
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: many Victorians. We are still feeling the pain of that.
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: Our state has never recovered, our city hasn't recovered, and
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: Victorians haven't recovered. And this government are fairly and squarely.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Don't think you know what we're talking about with youth
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: crime crisis.
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: Completely.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Some of that can be sheeted.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: Back to the fact that there were thirteen fourteen fifteen
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: year olds told they couldn't go to school for.
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: Two completely completely young people are being damaged severely. We
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: know and I've spoken to our prison people running our
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: prisons they would deliberately scale back the amount of prisons
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: numbers because of lockdown.
• 11:36
  Speaker 5: And then get this, Steve.
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: The people that were in prisons were given reduced sentences
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: because they were locked down. So you've got serious killers
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: that they've got reductions of their centers. Well, we didn't
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: get anything where we were locked in our homes. We
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: had to feel the pain. Yet you've got prison's got
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: more relief than what we have.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: We feel like we're living in some nightmare. David sin
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: was good to see.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: You think David Southwick can look keep talking about the
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: crime issue. It is just unbelievable. Now in a blow
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: of Labour's renewable agenda. We learned this week and I
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: couldn't believe this, that Victoria's Energy Safety regulator had had
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: to order five solar farms, those solar factories as we
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: call them, to be shut down over bushfire concerns. Now,
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: inspectors were inspections were conducted in February after a fire
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: broke out at the Raywood Solar farm. Now that's located
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: around twenty eight kilometers I think north of Bendigo. Our
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Energy Safe Office is discovered quote a lack of adequate
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: vegetation management. I guess that means mowing the grass, including
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: insufficient firebreaks and vegetation that have grown too high. Farmers
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: across Victoria have been voicing their concerns about this and
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: on this program before forever the impact of renewable projects,
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: including fears about solar farm operators failing to manage vegetation.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: Joining me now, Victorian Farmers Federation President Brett Hosking, Brett,
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: good to see you again. Did it surprise you that
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: five of these joints had to be shut down?
• 13:05
  Speaker 6: No, it's not coming as a surprise because I think,
• 13:08
  Speaker 6: more than anything, Steve, we're not saying that the planning
• 13:11
  Speaker 6: that goes into these things that it feels very much
• 13:15
  Speaker 6: like there's a little bit of a gold rush happening.
• 13:17
  Speaker 6: And when you get things happen in a rush, when
• 13:20
  Speaker 6: you get things happen in a hurry and you're not
• 13:21
  Speaker 6: putting the planning and the process in place, then what
• 13:25
  Speaker 6: the outcome is is that we discover all these other
• 13:27
  Speaker 6: perverse outcomes that go along with it. So we definitely
• 13:31
  Speaker 6: have to cut our missions, and we need to do
• 13:33
  Speaker 6: it this decade. We need deeper missions cuts. I think
• 13:36
  Speaker 6: everyone agrees with that, but we just need to do
• 13:38
  Speaker 6: it in such a structure of the way that we're
• 13:40
  Speaker 6: actually leaving our communities in a better place and where
• 13:43
  Speaker 6: they started, not a worse place.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: So bred these five farms are owned by subsidiaries of
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: the Chinese owned Sun Grow Power Australia, so that's an
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: offshore company, but presumably the.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Operators are here.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: Who has the authority to tell these people you've got
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: to maintain the books around them or otherwise you're causing
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: a major potential problem and a major perhaps bushfire outbreak.
• 14:12
  Speaker 6: It's a really interesting question as we're seeing a lot
• 14:15
  Speaker 6: of this renewable development happen. Stephen and it doesn't. You know,
• 14:18
  Speaker 6: Australian companies can behave badly, just the same as overseas ones.
• 14:23
  Speaker 6: To be sure, so you know, an energy safe Victoria
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: is the regulator. They should be making sure things are safe.
• 14:28
  Speaker 6: But if you think about power generation in the past,
• 14:31
  Speaker 6: it would have been in a cold power plant and
• 14:34
  Speaker 6: they would have had their own specially trained firefighting crews
• 14:37
  Speaker 6: who know how to fight a fire in energy generation
• 14:40
  Speaker 6: related infrastructure, and they're training and they're rehearsing what the
• 14:44
  Speaker 6: drills are, they know their protocols. All of a sudden,
• 14:46
  Speaker 6: we've outsourced that, We've spread it across rural Victoria and
• 14:50
  Speaker 6: we're asking little cf A brigades, volunteer firefighters to do
• 14:53
  Speaker 6: the job that was once done by trained specialist crews.
• 14:57
  Speaker 6: You know, there feels like there's a little piece of
• 14:59
  Speaker 6: account ability that's been taken off the energy generation companies
• 15:04
  Speaker 6: and actually placed in the hands of volunteers, local volunteers
• 15:07
  Speaker 6: who living communities, who have day jobs, are farmers or
• 15:10
  Speaker 6: community members of business people, retirees sometimes and they're having
• 15:15
  Speaker 6: to leave their homes and families and go and attend
• 15:17
  Speaker 6: to these fires. And there's something very, very wrong about that.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: Stuf Brett.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: We're not talking about, you know, someone who's gone camping
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: and left of fire and it's got out of control,
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: or you know, more often than not, you firebugs who
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: like these things. We're dealing here with chemicals as well,
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: aren't we. I mean, you and I've spoken before about
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: the wind turbines, but even in the solar panels, there's
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: chemicals involved. This is not just a you know, a
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: bit of bush on fire. This is a soul of
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: factory potentially on fire. And as you say, who's trained
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: to fight that?
• 15:54
  Speaker 6: Yeah, absolutely, it's not fair to leave it up to volunteers.
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: And when we've got to remember that these are risk creators,
• 15:59
  Speaker 6: are risks that didn't work, that weren't in our rural
• 16:02
  Speaker 6: communities before and are now now. That's not a bad
• 16:05
  Speaker 6: thing as long as we're ensuring that we're putting the
• 16:08
  Speaker 6: infrastructure in the community as well to ensure that we
• 16:11
  Speaker 6: can manage at risk and we can keep the community
• 16:14
  Speaker 6: every bit of safe or safer than it was beforehand.
• 16:16
  Speaker 6: I don't think we're doing that piece right at the moment.
• 16:19
  Speaker 6: So we've got this little bit of an unplanned process
• 16:22
  Speaker 6: where you know, we talk about renewable energy zones. But really,
• 16:26
  Speaker 6: if you're within coui of a transmission line and you've
• 16:28
  Speaker 6: got the opportunity to tap into that line, then you're
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: in a renewable energy zone. It doesn't matter what lines
• 16:34
  Speaker 6: are drawn on what maps. The prospectors a renewable energy
• 16:39
  Speaker 6: company prospectors are out there looking for those opportunities where
• 16:42
  Speaker 6: they can get as close as possible to a transmission
• 16:45
  Speaker 6: line that's got a bit of capacity left in it,
• 16:47
  Speaker 6: and hey, we're going to build a turbine, we're going
• 16:49
  Speaker 6: to build a solar farm, and we're going to tap
• 16:51
  Speaker 6: into that capacity because there's money to be made there.
• 16:55
  Speaker 6: And we've just got to make sure that we're we're
• 16:57
  Speaker 6: supporting the community communities that are hosting this infra structure,
• 17:00
  Speaker 6: because I don't think we're doing that piece very well
• 17:02
  Speaker 6: at the moment.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: Good to catch up with your bread from Kwamba toookod
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: on your mate. We'll talk again soon now. Coming up
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: after the break, a decision on Brisbane's Olympic stadium finally
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: set to be handed down. We think we'll find out
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: next week what they're going to do, and I suspect
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: it's not going to keep my next guest Campbell Newman.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: Very happy.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Plus we'll have the latest on the Ukraine Russia war
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: as President Zelinski claims nothing has changed.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Welcome back, Steve Price with you.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: Jim Chalmers delivers a budget next Tuesday night, in case
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: you've forgotten that, it'll be live here on Sky and
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: we'll talk to Warren Hogan from the Judo Bank about
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: that now. Overnight, Brisbane twenty thirty two Coordination Commission chair
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: was elected to be the new President of the International
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: Olympic Committee. Quite extraordinary, Kirsty Coventry. She's an Olympian herself,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: a medalist, a swimmer, could prove to be a powerful
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: ally for the Queen Games, but is expected to step
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: down from the key Brisbane Olympic position. Now that'll leave
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: a hole they'll have to fill. Now it comes as
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: the one hundred days yes it took one hundred days
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: review into the Olympic venues is set to be handed
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: down on Tuesday, and we'll finally confirm whether a controversial
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: three point four billion with a b new stadium is
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: going to be built at Victoria Park. Someone I know
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: is not going to be happy if that is the
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: way it goes. He may in fact, know what's going
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: to happen is our Friday Night Regular Queensland from a
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: Queensland Premier Campbell Newman. Have you got the inside goss?
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Is that what it's going to be? Victoria Park?
• 18:38
  Speaker 7: Well, one of the other TV network, Steve seems to
• 18:42
  Speaker 7: be on the main line of leaks from the various
• 18:46
  Speaker 7: bodies involved, and they're tipping Victoria Park. So it seems
• 18:51
  Speaker 7: to be the biggest open secret in Brisbane at the moment, unless,
• 18:57
  Speaker 7: of course, the premiere and cabinet decide that it's too hard.
• 19:01
  Speaker 7: But Steve, I would be very disappointed if it wasn't
• 19:04
  Speaker 7: Victoria Park. But to step back from my personal views
• 19:07
  Speaker 7: about destroying a park, some precious green space, I think
• 19:11
  Speaker 7: we've got to a point they've just got to get
• 19:13
  Speaker 7: on with it. For the sake of Australia's reputation and
• 19:17
  Speaker 7: Queensland and Brisbane's reputation. We need decisions now and we
• 19:20
  Speaker 7: need action. For my money, I hope they do put
• 19:24
  Speaker 7: the swimming which has been tipped across the road from
• 19:28
  Speaker 7: the Gabba ground, an excellent location because it's well served
• 19:32
  Speaker 7: by public transport, A great upgrade of the gabber I
• 19:35
  Speaker 7: think is required anyway, I would be disappointed if it
• 19:39
  Speaker 7: was in Victoria Park. And I really am questioning whether
• 19:43
  Speaker 7: the work has been done and if it hasn't been
• 19:46
  Speaker 7: done properly, they're taking a huge risk because three point
• 19:49
  Speaker 7: four billion, well that might turn it to four point
• 19:52
  Speaker 7: three billion that we shall see.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, there's no major project in this country these
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: days because of the cost of labor and the cost
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: of materials and the difficulty I mean, the other difficulty
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: a they're going to have is finding trades people to
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: build the thing. And there's no doubt it won't be
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: at what we are talking about. Three point four billion
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: will cost more than that. I lived through Sydney and
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: the construction of the Olympic Stadium at Home Bush, and
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: I've got to say, as a Sydney sider for many years,
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: once the Olympics rode out of town, it was a
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: pain in the neck to actually go out to Home
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: Bush rather than a venue closer to the city. But
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: that's the decision they took. Just explain to those of
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: us who are not Brisbaneites Victoria Park, and I know
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: your views on the park land.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: Is it accessible, is it close enough.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: Is it going to be easy to get to all
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: of the things that make a great stadium great, like
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: the MCG.
• 20:50
  Speaker 7: Well, depending on the location within the park, Steve, it
• 20:54
  Speaker 7: could be reasonably accessible by public transport, because there is
• 20:58
  Speaker 7: a major project called Cross River Rail which is seeing
• 21:04
  Speaker 7: a station that will be fairly close to the park
• 21:06
  Speaker 7: being upgraded.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: That's happening right now.
• 21:09
  Speaker 7: So if it's down that end of the park, yes
• 21:12
  Speaker 7: you'll have that public transport access. But the idea that
• 21:16
  Speaker 7: you'll walk from the CBD from say the center of
• 21:19
  Speaker 7: town to the stadium, I'm afraid, I'm afraid is somewhat implausible.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: It's quite a hike up and.
• 21:25
  Speaker 7: Down hills, and you know, you're talking about a twenty
• 21:29
  Speaker 7: five to thirty minute walk. It's going to look spectacular'
• 21:33
  Speaker 7: I have a wonderful backdrop of the CBD.
• 21:38
  Speaker 5: Drive there.
• 21:39
  Speaker 7: I don't think so, Steve, because there won't be the
• 21:42
  Speaker 7: space and it's a very congested bottleneck area of the
• 21:47
  Speaker 7: city as it is, and it's right beside the state's
• 21:49
  Speaker 7: major tertiary hospital, the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, So
• 21:53
  Speaker 7: you know, I think it's going to have the right
• 21:57
  Speaker 7: feel about it, I suppose for those proponents, but I
• 22:01
  Speaker 7: don't know that you get better accessibility than say if
• 22:04
  Speaker 7: it was built as a rebuild of the Gabba. That
• 22:08
  Speaker 7: is the best location in Southeast Queensland for an Olympic
• 22:12
  Speaker 7: stadium because it's not only got that cross over rail
• 22:15
  Speaker 7: it's heavy rail transport, but it's also got a busway,
• 22:18
  Speaker 7: a hike capacity busway as well. Right there. It's there,
• 22:21
  Speaker 7: right now, and you know that's my sort of position
• 22:26
  Speaker 7: in terms of the best possible location.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: It's also it's also got the atmosphere.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: I mean you can go, I mean, how good is
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: it going to one of those pubs or the German
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: Club or one of those other venues around the Gabba
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: just before you go and watch your footy gun.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: It's fantastic exactly.
• 22:43
  Speaker 7: And you can walk straight out from the Gabba or
• 22:46
  Speaker 7: to one of those venues.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: Again. Building it at Victoria Park.
• 22:51
  Speaker 7: Depending on the location, it's either a bit of a
• 22:54
  Speaker 7: hike or a very very long hike because there's nothing
• 22:58
  Speaker 7: around there. So where shall see? And the final point
• 23:03
  Speaker 7: which we haven't discussed is how's has been paid for?
• 23:06
  Speaker 7: I mean the Premier said no new stadiums, you know,
• 23:11
  Speaker 7: three point four or four billion dollar stadium. Where's the
• 23:15
  Speaker 7: money coming from particular state that's been battered far too
• 23:18
  Speaker 7: often by cyclones and floods, et cetera in recent times.
• 23:23
  Speaker 7: And he's got to manage the politics of a broken
• 23:25
  Speaker 7: promise and how people up north are feeling about that.
• 23:29
  Speaker 7: There's some incredible rivalries to be managed for the Premier
• 23:32
  Speaker 7: of queens And irrespective of their political colors.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I suspect he's been in the year of
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: the Prime Minister Anthony Albanzi and also Peter Dutton in
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: cose Peter Dutton wins the election. Campbell, it was good
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: to see you mate. I'll see you next Friday, Campbell.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: Newman there, former Premier of Queensland, and we'll find out
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: probably Tuesday, we think as to where that stadium will be.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: You just get a sense the brand new, shiny stadium
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: at Victoria Park is the way they're going to go. Well,
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: let's get to international news now. Earlier in the week,
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: as we know, US President Donald Trump and the Russian
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: President Valdimir Putin reached a partial ceasefire. They had a
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: two hour telephone conversation. Russia would refrain from targeting Ukraine's
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: energy infrastructure, and you just suspect What that's about is
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: Ukraine's been hitting Russian infrastructure for energy, and so Putin's
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: probably very happy that that would be agreed to. Now
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: a few days later, Prime Minister Zelenski he's told EU
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: leaders that Russian forces have hit its energy infrastructure.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Yet again, have a.
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: Look, despite put in US words about allegedly being ready
• 24:46
  Speaker 6: to stop their tax, nothing has changed.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: So is this nominal ceasefire ever going to work? Joining
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: me now, Dicin University Global Islamic Politics Chair Greg Barton,
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: Great to see you again, Greg. Look, even if Putin
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: can put can be convinced to agree to a full
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: cease fire, how likely is it that he'd actually keep
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: his word?
• 25:09
  Speaker 8: Well, I'm keeping his words, Steve.
• 25:11
  Speaker 9: We can be pretty sure as this ks Stammer has said,
• 25:14
  Speaker 9: we just can't trust him.
• 25:15
  Speaker 8: That's based on track record.
• 25:16
  Speaker 9: He has time and time again broken ceasefire agreements. And
• 25:21
  Speaker 9: I mean we have their recent history in Ukraine twenty
• 25:23
  Speaker 9: fourteen he went back after a agreeing or was signed.
• 25:26
  Speaker 9: This is of course not long after Ukraine voluntarily gave
• 25:29
  Speaker 9: up the nuclear weapons, so that bit is very clear.
• 25:33
  Speaker 8: What this means is that Putin responds to power and.
• 25:36
  Speaker 9: Until he meets pressure and is forced to negotiate, he
• 25:39
  Speaker 9: won't negotiate, and even when he does negotiate, he.
• 25:42
  Speaker 8: Certainly can't be trusted to keep his words.
• 25:44
  Speaker 9: So you need to have checks and balances in place
• 25:46
  Speaker 9: to make sure that he doesn't just take the time
• 25:48
  Speaker 9: to rebuild strength and come back again.
• 25:50
  Speaker 8: Is he's done with Ukraine?
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: So where's this going to go?
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: I mean Donald Trump wants to be able to say
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: he's managed to secure a cease fire and he wants
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: to have the war end. He's spoken very emotionally, as
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: he should about the loss of human life on both sides,
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: but particularly with the Ukrainians. He's prevaricated about how much
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: aid the US will continue to give Zelenskin. He wants
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: Europe to get more involved. I mean, where do you
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: think this is going to all end up?
• 26:21
  Speaker 9: Unfortunately we don't see that a quick resolution insight. It's
• 26:24
  Speaker 9: a war attrician on both sides. Both the Russians and
• 26:26
  Speaker 9: the Ukrainians are doing it tough. The Russian rates the
• 26:29
  Speaker 9: Pietrician are just a businal that would be horrible to
• 26:31
  Speaker 9: be a Russian conscript, even worse than than budding. On
• 26:35
  Speaker 9: the Ukrainian side, just because of the way they're treated.
• 26:37
  Speaker 9: That doesn't put enough pressure on Ladimir Putin to stop.
• 26:41
  Speaker 9: So I think the hope that we had when Donald
• 26:44
  Speaker 9: Trump came to office that the man who nominally at
• 26:47
  Speaker 9: least wrote the book The Art of the Deal would
• 26:49
  Speaker 9: cut some sort of deal, who was motivated to be
• 26:51
  Speaker 9: known as somebody who was a master negotiator.
• 26:54
  Speaker 8: Has completely failed.
• 26:56
  Speaker 9: The Kremlin's never had a better friend in the White
• 26:58
  Speaker 9: House than Donald Trump, not not just food, but eight
• 27:02
  Speaker 9: years of Kremlin history, There's never been a president like this,
• 27:05
  Speaker 9: So there's.
• 27:05
  Speaker 8: No pressure on that side.
• 27:07
  Speaker 9: Unfortunately, the pressure will have to come from Europe, and
• 27:10
  Speaker 9: it may be that indirectly Trump has provoked Europe into
• 27:14
  Speaker 9: sort of getting their act together and stirring things up,
• 27:16
  Speaker 9: and that may be where the result comes.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: President Trump's also again obviously tucked in behind Benjamin Nette Yahoo.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: He's given Israel his full backing. They now issued what
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: they quote is a last warning to Ghazans to release
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: those remaining hostages and remove Humas from power. After resuming
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: their ground operations, pretty brutal again, they got back in
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: there and some heavy attacks on that what's left of Gaza.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: Israel air strikes Tuesday. This seems to have fired up again.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: I mean that cease fire is completely collapsed, hasn't it.
• 27:54
  Speaker 8: Yeah, that's the way it seems, Toteve.
• 27:56
  Speaker 9: We're either on the edge of the skipping into another ongoing.
• 27:59
  Speaker 8: Endless more or this is a bit of negotiating.
• 28:02
  Speaker 9: On the part of Netma, who's got Bendavia, his right
• 28:07
  Speaker 9: wing cabinet colleague back in the cabinet now is sort
• 28:11
  Speaker 9: of the Israeli right, the far right on side, so
• 28:14
  Speaker 9: he's in a strong position with his coalition.
• 28:16
  Speaker 8: He of course is facing ahead of the domestic intelligence.
• 28:25
  Speaker 9: Agent, and he's he's also responded to from the Attorney
• 28:32
  Speaker 9: General who's criticized this sacking of O Shindet, the intelligence chief.
• 28:38
  Speaker 8: Sorry, I'm sure with that connection.
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: Great, great to speak to you. I know you're up
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: in Indonesia. I just want to ask you very quickly,
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: what did you make of the Chinese naval force going
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: around Australia those three naval ships.
• 28:53
  Speaker 9: Well, they weren't breaking any international law, but it was
• 28:56
  Speaker 9: certainly a deliberate shower force. And it points to a
• 29:00
  Speaker 9: time coming perhaps as early as twenty twenty six, but
• 29:03
  Speaker 9: probably more likely twenty three seven, when they'll try and
• 29:05
  Speaker 9: ramp up pressure across the Taiwan Strait and this is
• 29:08
  Speaker 9: I think to be seen in that context. They're showing
• 29:11
  Speaker 9: the world, showing our region that they are forced to
• 29:14
  Speaker 9: be reckoned with and they're not easily contained. And of
• 29:16
  Speaker 9: course the current circumstances suit them in that respect. They're
• 29:19
  Speaker 9: not likely to face a pressure from America and Europe's
• 29:22
  Speaker 9: in no positions that respond.
• 29:23
  Speaker 8: So we're stuck with this.
• 29:26
  Speaker 9: I think we should take it to heart and recognize
• 29:28
  Speaker 9: that we need to do more about our own defense.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: Absolutely good on youre Greg. Thank you great to catch
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: up with you. Coming up after the break. Will next
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: week's federal budget be a pre election cash bless you bid?
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: It will?
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: Larren Hogan from Judobank joins me next plus, the competition
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: regulator finds A Coles and Woollies are some of the
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: most profitable supermarkets in the world. So what was that
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: inquiry all about? Welcome back, it's been a patch now.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: Jim Chalmer's the Treasure is set to deliver, of course,
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: a pre election budget that'll be Tuesday night, full coverage
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: right here on Sky. He's promising quote meaningful and substantial
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: cost of living relief for all Australians, presumably without driving
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: up inflation. Now this will be Labour's fourth budget, not
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: even supposed to happen, of course, but the arrival of
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: ex tropical cyclone Alfred derailed Prime Minister Alberzi's plan. He
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: wanted to call the election for April twelve. So now
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: we have a budget and with the campaign clock ticking already,
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: all eyes will be on charmers on Tuesday night to
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: see what's in store for those struggling with cost of living.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: Joining me now, Judobank's economic advisor Warren Hogan, Great to
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: see you again. How do you join those two things
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: up where you're going to give out substantial cost of
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: living relief and not affect inflation?
• 30:51
  Speaker 8: Yeah, good evening, Steve.
• 30:53
  Speaker 10: It is one of the great mysteries, but the reality
• 30:56
  Speaker 10: is you can't and we're seeing that right now. Although
• 31:00
  Speaker 10: when they hand out these subsidies the measured inflation comes
• 31:04
  Speaker 10: down for technical reasons. The fact is no one's ever
• 31:08
  Speaker 10: spent their way out of an inflation problem, and we
• 31:11
  Speaker 10: can see it playing out quite dangerously at the moment
• 31:15
  Speaker 10: where businesses are suffering quite severe cost pressures. Yet the
• 31:19
  Speaker 10: inability to pass them on to consumers, which none of
• 31:22
  Speaker 10: us want. But because they can't, they're starting to come
• 31:25
  Speaker 10: under real pressure and whether they can hire or whether
• 31:27
  Speaker 10: they have to fire or fail as a real reality.
• 31:29
  Speaker 10: So to answer your question, you can't give subsidies and
• 31:34
  Speaker 10: spend money and bring inflation out of an economy. But
• 31:37
  Speaker 10: they will try once again to convince the Australian people
• 31:40
  Speaker 10: that that's what they're doing. And unfortunately there's not enough
• 31:43
  Speaker 10: voices out there saying that this is hocus pocus.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: Warren, I just imagine that, you know, sitting around the
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: Economic Review Committee meetings in the last couple of days,
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: it will be tremendously difficult for what's going to happen
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: Tuesday night. So you've got Anthony Albanezi to be saying
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: in that committee meeting, I need to win the election,
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: we need to get another term in office. We haven't
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: finished what we want to do. And then you've got
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: people on that committee saying, well, yeah, but we're now
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: going into deficit. We're in the middle of a tariff
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: war with Donald Trump in the United States. Everyone's in
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: the US is talking about a potential global recession. I mean,
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: this is going to be one hell of a trick
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: if they can pull this off.
• 32:32
  Speaker 10: Yeah, and look, I can't even comprehend what those meetings
• 32:35
  Speaker 10: would have been like. But it is a pre election
• 32:37
  Speaker 10: budget and we know, particularly in the last decade, that
• 32:42
  Speaker 10: long term concerns and sensible good economic management you go
• 32:48
  Speaker 10: out the door and I think discipline will be measured
• 32:54
  Speaker 10: by just how much they spend, not whether they spend.
• 32:57
  Speaker 10: And of course you know this is set against a
• 33:01
  Speaker 10: backdrop where we're not only having we have severe domestic
• 33:04
  Speaker 10: economic challenges, but this global scene is very problematic. It's
• 33:09
  Speaker 10: very hard to know where it's going to go. But
• 33:11
  Speaker 10: the reality is we need to be careful with what
• 33:13
  Speaker 10: we're doing.
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: Charmers was very happy to say in budget one and
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: Budget two, look we've delivered a surplus. The other mob
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: weren't able to do that. You won't be able to
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: do that Tuesday night. But the average person watching us, Warren,
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: who's trying to afford the groceries and put petrol in
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: the car, they couldn't give a rats whether the economy
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: had a surplus or a deficit. They wouldn't care. They
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: just want their life to be a little simpler. And
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: I suppose in a sense labor elbow and charmers.
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: That is on their side.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: If they stand up Tuesday night and go right over,
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: We're going to give you more help with your power bills.
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: No one's going to say I don't want it.
• 33:55
  Speaker 8: No, that's exactly right.
• 33:56
  Speaker 10: And also that concept of Australians aren't is concerned about
• 33:59
  Speaker 10: the government's budget as they.
• 34:01
  Speaker 8: Once were is important.
• 34:03
  Speaker 10: That seems to be one of the disciplines that have
• 34:05
  Speaker 10: come away from our politicians that people aren't as worried
• 34:08
  Speaker 10: since COVID about these things. But look, I think it
• 34:11
  Speaker 10: all misses the real issue that sits behind this is
• 34:14
  Speaker 10: it's not so much whether the governments in surplus or
• 34:16
  Speaker 10: deficit that is important, but it's the size of government.
• 34:19
  Speaker 10: What is actually really hurting Australians and all Australians is
• 34:24
  Speaker 10: that the tax take is going up. That is bracket creep,
• 34:27
  Speaker 10: and that is the government is taking more, when adjusted
• 34:31
  Speaker 10: for inflation, out of our pockets. And that's the increase
• 34:35
  Speaker 10: in government revenues. And of course they're out there spending
• 34:38
  Speaker 10: it now they're spending it so much that we have
• 34:40
  Speaker 10: to run a deficit.
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 34:41
  Speaker 10: Those two surpluses they were because the government was taking
• 34:44
  Speaker 10: more money from us in taxes and they just didn't
• 34:47
  Speaker 10: spend it all. But now they are spending it all.
• 34:49
  Speaker 10: So I think the actual debate should be about the
• 34:52
  Speaker 10: size of government. I think there's real concerns on the
• 34:55
  Speaker 10: sort of economic side, But for the everyday Australian, they
• 34:58
  Speaker 10: need to understand the government throwing money around isn't necessarily
• 35:02
  Speaker 10: going to make their life better in the long term.
• 35:04
  Speaker 10: So it's a very tricky environment and it's one where
• 35:07
  Speaker 10: we need leadership and a long view rather than short
• 35:10
  Speaker 10: term politics.
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: Oh god, could if we could only have some leadership.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: And I imagine if they stood up on Tuesday night
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: and said, look, you know things are tight, we've got
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: to cut costs. We're going to have to let you know,
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: a few thousand public servants go because we can't keep
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: affording to pay their wages bill. I mean, they're not
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: going to cut anything. And you know the other side
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: you saw when when the Mediicare changes were announced Dunton.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: You know it took five minutes and knee matched it
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: and up to it by another five hundred million dollars.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: So both sides are to blame here. There is no
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: fiscal leadership that I can see from either side.
• 35:49
  Speaker 10: Yeah, and you're right because this size of government issue
• 35:53
  Speaker 10: has been going for a decade. It's actually at real
• 35:57
  Speaker 10: sort of concerning levels now. But the other side we're
• 35:59
  Speaker 10: doing this prior, so you're right. And of course the
• 36:06
  Speaker 10: politics of opposition in this country means that you know,
• 36:08
  Speaker 10: you have to just agree and you can't be substantive
• 36:12
  Speaker 10: and put out big policies because as we saw with
• 36:15
  Speaker 10: Bill Shorten in twenty nineteen or going way back to
• 36:18
  Speaker 10: John Houston in nineteen ninety three, is Australians don't elect
• 36:22
  Speaker 10: governments in, they kick governments out, and an opposition just
• 36:25
  Speaker 10: needs to make sure they don't get in the way
• 36:27
  Speaker 10: of a nation that doesn't like a government anymore. They
• 36:30
  Speaker 10: don't give the people an excuse not to kick someone out.
• 36:33
  Speaker 10: And all the ingredients are there for this government to
• 36:36
  Speaker 10: be kicked out, and Dunton and co. Are just trying
• 36:39
  Speaker 10: to not give Australians a reason not to. So look,
• 36:43
  Speaker 10: that doesn't get away from your point. And of course
• 36:45
  Speaker 10: we've got to see what a new coalition government would
• 36:48
  Speaker 10: do and whether they would change that tune. But you're right,
• 36:52
  Speaker 10: the old political scene in Australia is not in a
• 36:56
  Speaker 10: great place because we do have some long term issues address.
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: That's a point there that you just raised it. I
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: hadn't thought of two. Peter Dunton's going to have to
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: do a budget reply, isn't he in the middle of
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: what will be an election campaign? Or I guess if
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: they go into caretaker mode straight away, doesn't get to
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: do it.
• 37:16
  Speaker 10: Yeah, we're going to be cheeky of Albo to call
• 37:18
  Speaker 10: the election before Thursday of next week.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: And I think, thank you do it too.
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: It'd be very funny to see Warren. Is a pleasure
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: to catch up my friend. Have a good weekend.
• 37:31
  Speaker 8: Thanks Dave, all the best.
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: Come up after the break.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: Speaking of federal politics, the Coalition as slammed Labor over
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: its response to that a triple C supermarket inquiry, plus
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: what lessons.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: Have we learned? Can you believe it?
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: It is five years on from the outbreak of COVID
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: and our first lockdown. Welcome back, Rondine, coming up, let's
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: bring in our panel. We do it each Friday. Small
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: Business Women Australia SEO Amanda Rose and Sky News contributor
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: the great Joe Hildebrand.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: Great to see you both. Can you believe it? Amanda.
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: Let's start with you five years ago next Wednesday. And
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: I couldn't believe it when I track this down today,
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: five years since COVID lockdown number one in Melbourne that
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: lasted forty three days and was the first of six lockdowns.
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: I mean, horrible things in your life. Yes, you just
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: shut them out, don't you.
• 38:29
  Speaker 11: Well, I know the government wants us to, because they
• 38:32
  Speaker 11: want us to shut up and not ask for information
• 38:35
  Speaker 11: and not find out what really happened. And people are
• 38:37
  Speaker 11: still suffering from that, and that I find it quite
• 38:41
  Speaker 11: insulting that a lot of governments, not just Victoria, a
• 38:44
  Speaker 11: lot of them just say, oh, look, let's move forward,
• 38:47
  Speaker 11: let's get on with It's kind of like in someone
• 38:48
  Speaker 11: cheats and said, oh, let's save the relationship. Let's just
• 38:51
  Speaker 11: move forward and forget it happened. No, people are suffering.
• 38:54
  Speaker 11: Small businesses shut down as a result of those shutdowns.
• 39:00
  Speaker 11: They haven't built themselves back, and we've got families. Everyone
• 39:03
  Speaker 11: is suffering from this, and it really irritates me that
• 39:05
  Speaker 11: government is quite arrogant by not sharing information when they're
• 39:10
  Speaker 11: supposed to be sharing information. They're not being transparent about
• 39:13
  Speaker 11: it all because the reality is they were told here's
• 39:16
  Speaker 11: a global playbook, shut down everything. They did it, and
• 39:20
  Speaker 11: they don't want everyone to know that they didn't even
• 39:22
  Speaker 11: have a say in this. They were just following orders.
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: Amanda's right, Joe, I mean the Victorian lives hunting down
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: freedom of information. They want the documents about who told
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: who to do what and why the advice was carried
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: out the way it was. They've been fighting labor. So
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: it was Daniel Andrews and now Cindra Allen for two
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: years to deny those documents being released.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 39:45
  Speaker 12: Look, we know now that in fact, all this so
• 39:47
  Speaker 12: called expert advice that may or may not have actually
• 39:50
  Speaker 12: existed was completely and utterly wrong. That politicians were making
• 39:54
  Speaker 12: political decisions based on what was popular. They were pandering
• 39:57
  Speaker 12: to fear in the community. Instead of a lay it,
• 40:00
  Speaker 12: they were basically fueling it and then saying, look, I'm
• 40:03
  Speaker 12: the great protector who can keep you safe from this
• 40:06
  Speaker 12: terrible thing that's coming in. There are so many things
• 40:08
  Speaker 12: that we know now that a lot of us were
• 40:10
  Speaker 12: saying back then but were shouted down and were accused
• 40:13
  Speaker 12: of being reckless or anti that we were trying to
• 40:18
  Speaker 12: kill Grandma. We know that school closures should never ever,
• 40:22
  Speaker 12: ever have happened. There was never any evidence for them,
• 40:25
  Speaker 12: there was never any reason to do it.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: And we know that kids now.
• 40:28
  Speaker 12: Are still bearing the mental scars of those lockdowns and
• 40:33
  Speaker 12: those school closures, that we are seeing a rise in
• 40:36
  Speaker 12: mental health problems and you'll see more reports on this
• 40:38
  Speaker 12: over the weekend. We know that three thousand people in
• 40:42
  Speaker 12: the school system, kids, students disappeared in New South Wales
• 40:46
  Speaker 12: after the first lockdown alone. How many more we just
• 40:49
  Speaker 12: didn't know until News Corp did an incredible series where
• 40:52
  Speaker 12: we found out that eighty thousand kids. Eighty thousand children
• 40:56
  Speaker 12: disappeared out of the school system, never to be seen again.
• 41:00
  Speaker 12: And these are invisible ghost children who are basically martyrs
• 41:04
  Speaker 12: to the cause of you know, whether be it Daniel
• 41:08
  Speaker 12: Andrews or others who decide to go through with this
• 41:10
  Speaker 12: sort of tough four year that's right image at the
• 41:14
  Speaker 12: expense of what the signs were actually, so no wonder,
• 41:17
  Speaker 12: no one wants to actually look at what went wrong
• 41:19
  Speaker 12: and saying are we prepared to do it again?
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: And again?
• 41:22
  Speaker 12: You talk about the World Health Organization, they said, don't
• 41:25
  Speaker 12: lock down.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: If you're locked down, you're.
• 41:26
  Speaker 12: Crushing lives, You're destroying people. You can only lock down
• 41:29
  Speaker 12: for an incredibly short amount of time, right at the
• 41:31
  Speaker 12: beginning of a panage, until you can put systems in place.
• 41:35
  Speaker 12: But of course, as soon as everyone saw, oh, the polling,
• 41:37
  Speaker 12: the focus groups. We know they were commissioning the data.
• 41:40
  Speaker 12: We know they were commissioning the research saying what's popular.
• 41:42
  Speaker 12: What messaging do people respond well to? Oh, they like
• 41:45
  Speaker 12: it hard, Fine, we'll give it to them hard. And
• 41:47
  Speaker 12: they did, and they broke a generation.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: Amanda, what do you think we were so.
• 41:53
  Speaker 11: Compliant because we have weak leaders in this country. That's
• 41:58
  Speaker 11: why right can actually stand up and do the right thing.
• 42:02
  Speaker 11: Everyone's too scared of being voted out or rejected by
• 42:06
  Speaker 11: the globalists who might give them a job opportunity if
• 42:09
  Speaker 11: they follow the rules of what they're supposed to be doing.
• 42:12
  Speaker 11: I feel like no one's got any heart, any empathy,
• 42:14
  Speaker 11: any compassion, any soul, or any spine. And that's what
• 42:17
  Speaker 11: we left with. And now it's really highlighted what we
• 42:21
  Speaker 11: went through, and the people don't care because how can
• 42:24
  Speaker 11: you be a politician right now and not constantly be
• 42:28
  Speaker 11: pushing for this. I know, Malcolm Robertson Rennick push for this.
• 42:33
  Speaker 11: How can you not be pushing to find out the
• 42:36
  Speaker 11: truth of what actually happened, because it is there and
• 42:40
  Speaker 11: it will come out.
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: Well, the reason we need to find it out is
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: so we don't make the same mistakes.
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: Again. Let's talk supermarkets.
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: We all use them, Amanda, you're representing small business. We've
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: got this a triple C report. It's taken years to do.
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: Found Coles and Woollies are some of the most profitable
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: supermarkets in the world.
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: Gee, tell us something we didn't know.
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: The regulator recommended retailers be forced to publish their prices online,
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: but says is well, there's nothing really that can be
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: done to correct down on their market dominance. I mean,
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: this has just been a waste of time, hasn't it, Amanda.
• 43:13
  Speaker 11: Well, it is, and the reality is nothing is going
• 43:17
  Speaker 11: to happen, right. So in lockdown, small businesses had to
• 43:20
  Speaker 11: close down their business, but the supermarkets could stay open.
• 43:23
  Speaker 11: And you need to look at the shareholders. The main
• 43:25
  Speaker 11: shareholders of Woolies and of Coals. Is your State Street,
• 43:29
  Speaker 11: your Vanguard, your black Rock. They're institutional investors. So governments
• 43:33
  Speaker 11: aren't going to say, oh, we need to make sure
• 43:36
  Speaker 11: the shareholders don't make much money or we need to
• 43:38
  Speaker 11: make sure there's some regulation in place so they don't
• 43:41
  Speaker 11: squeeze the farmers and the small business and the suppliers
• 43:45
  Speaker 11: dry for their profit margin, which is exactly what they're doing.
• 43:49
  Speaker 11: They do not care about the people, and people need
• 43:51
  Speaker 11: to remember that they're not there for you. They are
• 43:54
  Speaker 11: there for the shareholders and their institutional shareholders. The majority
• 43:57
  Speaker 11: are overseas and that's who listen to and that's who
• 44:01
  Speaker 11: they're going to follow. So our governments, both sides aren't
• 44:03
  Speaker 11: going to do a single thing. They might throw a
• 44:05
  Speaker 11: few bits of promises saying oh, well we'll do some fines,
• 44:10
  Speaker 11: or we might put some regulations in place that is
• 44:12
  Speaker 11: not going to happen at or what they should be
• 44:15
  Speaker 11: doing is propping up small business more than they're propping
• 44:19
  Speaker 11: up the big business.
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: Well said, I mean, I'm a big fan of National.
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: Senator Bridget McKenzie. She didn't leave anything on the ground
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: when she was asked about what she thought about the inquiry.
• 44:30
  Speaker 13: Look, I can't build a house, and yet somehow they're
• 44:33
  Speaker 13: going to stop Coles and woollies from gaming the planning system.
• 44:39
  Speaker 13: But I didn't hear the word penalties. I didn't hear
• 44:42
  Speaker 13: any tough measures that are actually going to put a
• 44:47
  Speaker 13: very strong incentive for our supermarkets to behave better.
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: Joe, It's just going to be more of the same,
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: isn't it. Yeah.
• 44:55
  Speaker 12: Look, obviously, Coles and Boys are a huge duopoly. They
• 44:58
  Speaker 12: are very very hard to I thought that one of
• 45:01
  Speaker 12: the ways in which the government could have achieved some
• 45:04
  Speaker 12: really good results during the cost of living crisis, as
• 45:07
  Speaker 12: inflation was escalating, was to sit down with coals and
• 45:10
  Speaker 12: lawers and say, right, let's have a price's accord. You
• 45:12
  Speaker 12: actually benefited enormously from the pandemic and the lockdowns which
• 45:16
  Speaker 12: are now causing everyone.
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: Else to suffer.
• 45:19
  Speaker 12: How about you suppress price increases, absorb some of the
• 45:22
  Speaker 12: price increases, and sit down with the government, sit down
• 45:25
  Speaker 12: with the union and say all right, we might have
• 45:26
  Speaker 12: some wage restraint and you could actually build a much
• 45:30
  Speaker 12: better relationship between coals and lawies and the community. The
• 45:34
  Speaker 12: real Achilles heel, if you like, is not what the
• 45:37
  Speaker 12: big stick that the government can use to regulate them,
• 45:40
  Speaker 12: but that these supermarkets pride themselves on being Australian icons,
• 45:45
  Speaker 12: on having good brand affiliation with punters, that punters see
• 45:50
  Speaker 12: them in a positive light. And if you suddenly say,
• 45:53
  Speaker 12: if customers start to see these supermarkets as parias instead
• 45:57
  Speaker 12: of Australian institutions, you can find that all the money
• 46:00
  Speaker 12: in the world and all the profits in the world
• 46:02
  Speaker 12: very quickly, don't mean very much. So I think sunlight
• 46:05
  Speaker 12: is the best disinfectant. They could have been better corporate citizens.
• 46:08
  Speaker 12: The government could have sat down with them and said, right,
• 46:10
  Speaker 12: we are going to make you or ask you to
• 46:13
  Speaker 12: exercise some restraint, absorb some cost increases and you know,
• 46:19
  Speaker 12: and a good you know nice you know, the Lord's
• 46:22
  Speaker 12: good will will be your reward.
• 46:24
  Speaker 11: But they definitely go to face the Lord.
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: I'm telling you right.
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: Now, Amanda, Mandy Joe's sounding like Bob Hawk and Paul
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: keating that's the last time course wages accord and the
• 46:36
  Speaker 2: prices are called. It's been a long time, my friend,
• 46:39
  Speaker 2: been a long time. They're never going to buy that, Amanda.
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: Are that the government's not going to force the supermarkets
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: to say, okay, we're not going to increase prices.
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, seriously, no, they're not.
• 46:48
  Speaker 11: But if they can actually incentivize better competition and you know,
• 46:52
  Speaker 11: prop up the smaller medium enterprises and encourage that and
• 46:56
  Speaker 11: putting mechanisms in place for that that would be great.
• 46:59
  Speaker 11: The thing is is we have governments that our friends
• 47:02
  Speaker 11: were the elite. They rubbed shoulders with big business and
• 47:05
  Speaker 11: so they're very reluctant to actually do anything of value
• 47:09
  Speaker 11: to restrict them. And that's our problem. So if we
• 47:12
  Speaker 11: see governments not support the community the way we need to,
• 47:15
  Speaker 11: we need to vote them out.
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: Exactly.
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: Now, we all love a list of the Australia newspaper
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: today put out.
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: It's a rich list, Amanda.
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you what stood out for me, and I
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: should know a little bit about this. Divorce can be
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: very expensive. Twiggy Forrest is now less wealthy than his
• 47:33
  Speaker 2: ex wife Nikola.
• 47:35
  Speaker 11: Oh, I'll tell you right now, that was one of
• 47:37
  Speaker 11: the best things I have read in a while.
• 47:39
  Speaker 5: That is fantastic.
• 47:40
  Speaker 11: And you think what I would like to point out
• 47:43
  Speaker 11: here is that we assume that Nikola got divorced, got
• 47:47
  Speaker 11: the money or look, she's got more money. Now, I'm
• 47:49
  Speaker 11: telling you he wouldn't be as successful as he was
• 47:51
  Speaker 11: without her. That woman is phenomenal and she helped him,
• 47:56
  Speaker 11: support in him and she's probably the brains behind most
• 47:58
  Speaker 11: of the stuff that he actually did. And now she's
• 48:00
  Speaker 11: on her own. I actually would like to see her
• 48:03
  Speaker 11: take off and thrive. So a woman with money is
• 48:06
  Speaker 11: what we need in this society, and I think she's
• 48:09
  Speaker 11: a wonderful role model for women everywhere that you don't
• 48:12
  Speaker 11: have to be with a guy to succeed and if
• 48:14
  Speaker 11: you take some money and a divorce got on you.
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred and seventy nine billionaires we're now host
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: in this country, which is amazing. I can remember BIW
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: when it first came out with one of these lists,
• 48:27
  Speaker 2: and I think he got in it if you'd made
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: a million dollars. Extraordinary and a great group of people.
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: Most of them have done really well in life and
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: really have done some great work to make their fortunes.
• 48:37
  Speaker 2: Joe and Amanda, you go and make your fortunes across.
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: It the weekend way coming here in zero.
• 48:44
  Speaker 2: You're not on the list. No, I think I just
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: snuck in, but you're not there. Joe coming up the
• 48:49
  Speaker 2: world according to rowandin