Latest / Credlin / Credlin | 31 December

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Credlin | 31 December · Credlin

0:02
Speaker 1: Peter Kredland live on Sky News Australia.
0:08
Speaker 2: Well good evening, I'm James macpherson filling in for Peter Kreedlin.
0:10
Speaker 2: Coming up tonight. Signs Labor is preparing to run a
0:14
Speaker 2: new medi Scare campaign, with the Treasurer claiming the Coalition
0:17
Speaker 2: wants to dismantle Medicare. We've never heard that one before.
0:20
Speaker 2: Will unpack what's really going on. Plus, anger grows over
0:24
Speaker 2: Victoria's new short stay tax, with concerns holidaymakers could be
0:28
Speaker 2: driven away by hidden costs just what the Victorian economy needs.
0:33
Speaker 2: And Israel issues a final warning to the Hootie rebels,
0:36
Speaker 2: calling for an end to their missile attacks.
0:38
Speaker 3: But will they listen?
0:40
Speaker 2: All of that coming up shortly, But first it's New
0:43
Speaker 2: Year's Eve, which means fireworks, celebrations and a message from
0:47
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister. I thought we'd get it out of
0:49
Speaker 2: the way early.
0:49
Speaker 3: Here is Happy New Year, Australia.
0:54
Speaker 4: I hope you've had a chance to relax and celebrate.
0:57
Speaker 4: We'd love ones and friends those who have worked through
1:01
Speaker 4: the break from our Australie Defense Force, to emergency service
1:05
Speaker 4: and health workers, to people in hospitality and retail. Thank
1:10
Speaker 4: you for the sacrifices.
1:12
Speaker 3: That you've made.
1:13
Speaker 4: We live in the greatest country in the world, and
1:17
Speaker 4: in the year ahead, with new determination and renewed optimism,
1:21
Speaker 4: we can build and then even stronger Australia.
1:24
Speaker 1: Together.
1:25
Speaker 4: I wish you all a safe, happy and prosperous twenty
1:30
Speaker 4: twenty five.
1:33
Speaker 2: Is it me or is it getting hard to know
1:34
Speaker 2: what's real and what's satire? The Prime Minister boasts that
1:38
Speaker 2: Australia as the greatest country in the world. Is that
1:41
Speaker 2: because of or in spite of the Albanezy government? That's
1:43
Speaker 2: a rhetorical question, obviously, And when the PM says we
1:47
Speaker 2: should approach twenty twenty five with renewed optimism, I can
1:50
Speaker 2: only assume he's referring to the upcoming election, unless there's
1:54
Speaker 2: another offramp we don't know about. As for his wishes
1:57
Speaker 2: for a prosperous twenty twenty five, well I'm wishing for
1:59
Speaker 2: a for We were promised a plan. Instead we got
2:03
Speaker 2: the worst decline in living standards since the nineteen fifties.
2:06
Speaker 2: Apparently economies don't run on wishes. The government's own statistics
2:11
Speaker 2: reveal Australian living standards have fallen more than in any
2:14
Speaker 2: other OECD country with the hit to households now worse
2:18
Speaker 2: than almost all comparable developed nations, and there's zero evidence
2:22
Speaker 2: to suggest any change of direction. Despite the huhar around
2:26
Speaker 2: New Years, there's nothing magical about the clock striking midnight.
2:30
Speaker 2: When we awake tomorrow, interest rates will still be high,
2:33
Speaker 2: the cost of living will still hurt, housing will still
2:36
Speaker 2: be scarce, blackouts will still be threatened, social cohesion will
2:39
Speaker 2: still be a problem, and Jim Chalmers will still not
2:41
Speaker 2: have a clue. The PM took to Twitter to reflect
2:45
Speaker 2: on the year he'd had. He wrote, and I quote,
2:48
Speaker 2: that's a wrap on twenty twenty four tax cuts, energy
2:51
Speaker 2: bill relief, cheaper childcare, expanding bulk billing, cheaper medicines, cutting
2:56
Speaker 2: student debt.
2:57
Speaker 3: Twenty twenty four has had it all. Yeah, it sure has.
3:01
Speaker 2: Changes to Stage three tax cuts, Well, they were a lie.
3:05
Speaker 2: Energy bill relief was to cover for another lie that
3:07
Speaker 2: power prices would go down. And who pays for energy
3:10
Speaker 2: bill relief?
3:11
Speaker 3: We do.
3:12
Speaker 2: If billing has been expanded, it certainly hasn't been expanded.
3:15
Speaker 2: Where I live, You've got more chance of finding a
3:18
Speaker 2: house to rent than a doctor who bolk bills. Cheaper childcare,
3:21
Speaker 2: Well that's an inflationary budget item paid for by the taxpayer.
3:25
Speaker 2: And as for cutting student debt, well we got to
3:27
Speaker 2: pay for that too. I still don't understand how having
3:31
Speaker 2: us pay off the debt of strangers who knowingly took
3:34
Speaker 2: on a debt for service is something to brag about.
3:37
Speaker 2: The entire list of six achievements six doesn't amount to
3:41
Speaker 2: much more than increased government spending, which ensures inflation remains high,
3:46
Speaker 2: which keeps interest rates high, which affects cost of living,
3:49
Speaker 2: which is why the wish for a prosperous new year
3:52
Speaker 2: rings a little hollow from this PM. It's not all
3:56
Speaker 2: doom and gloom, though the Opposition leader, who we were
3:59
Speaker 2: told just a few years ago was unelectable, is increasingly
4:02
Speaker 2: sounding like he might be a prime minister.
4:06
Speaker 5: I'm sure that for many of you you're reflecting on
4:08
Speaker 5: the year that's been, including on those events at home
4:11
Speaker 5: and abroad which are etched in our national consciousness. With
4:15
Speaker 5: a new year, Australians will also be thinking about their
4:18
Speaker 5: aspirations and hopes for twenty twenty five, and not just
4:21
Speaker 5: for yourselves and for your families, but for our nation too.
4:25
Speaker 5: Twenty twenty five, of course, is a federal election year,
4:28
Speaker 5: and Australians will again exercise the greatest gift democracy affwards,
4:33
Speaker 5: the privilege of having a say in determining the future
4:36
Speaker 5: of our great country.
4:40
Speaker 2: As Peter Dutton says, the new year will offer Australians
4:42
Speaker 2: a choice. Our future prosperity will depend less on wishes
4:47
Speaker 2: and much more on making the right choice when that
4:49
Speaker 2: time comes. Well, four weeks after the fire bombing of
4:57
Speaker 2: a Melbourne synagogue, still no erac Guess maybe police are
5:01
Speaker 2: genuinely stumped. Maybe it's just one of those cases that's
5:04
Speaker 2: too hard to crack. Well maybe Victorian police simply aren't
5:08
Speaker 2: up to the task. A few years ago they could
5:10
Speaker 2: locate a pregnant woman in pajamas responsible for a random
5:13
Speaker 2: Facebook post. These days, well, they couldn't track an elephant
5:17
Speaker 2: through snow. Then again, if the elephant forgot its mask. Anyway,
5:21
Speaker 2: that's the case, they shouldn't feel too bad. New South
5:24
Speaker 2: Wales police needed months to work out whether they heard
5:26
Speaker 2: people say gas the Jews or where are the Jews?
5:30
Speaker 2: Deputy Commissioner Mellanion told the ABC police had collected several
5:34
Speaker 2: witness statements from people who heard chance of gas the Jews,
5:38
Speaker 2: but police then engaged acoustic and phonetic experts from the
5:41
Speaker 2: National Center of Biometric Science, who found no evidence that
5:45
Speaker 2: the phrase was ever used. Who to believe on the spot,
5:48
Speaker 2: witnesses or acoustic experts. The case was closed. There's another possibility,
5:54
Speaker 2: and it stinks that we should even be contemplating it.
5:57
Speaker 2: But just maybe there's a lack of political will to
6:00
Speaker 2: find the synagogue arsonists. It's hard to believe that neither
6:03
Speaker 2: the Victorian Police, nor ASIO, nor the Australian Federal Police
6:07
Speaker 2: they're all involved in the investigation, have come up with
6:10
Speaker 2: nothing after a month. Really, this was AFP Deputy Commissioner
6:16
Speaker 2: Chrissy Barrett after the terror attack.
6:19
Speaker 6: Do not test the resolve or determination of the AFP
6:23
Speaker 6: and a JCTT investigation unlocks more powers, more capability and
6:27
Speaker 6: more intelligence.
6:30
Speaker 2: Like I said, it stinks that we should even raise
6:32
Speaker 2: the possibility that the resolve and determination to find the
6:35
Speaker 2: culprits might come second to political considerations. None of us
6:41
Speaker 2: know that's the case, but the government's forked tongue on
6:43
Speaker 2: anti Semitism, condemning it on the one hand while stoking
6:47
Speaker 2: it on the other, means the possibility can't be completely discounted.
6:51
Speaker 2: You know how it goes a big song and dance
6:53
Speaker 2: at the time of the incident and then just kind
6:55
Speaker 2: of let it fade into the background, a bit like
6:57
Speaker 2: the hostages. Within a week of the terror attack, we
7:00
Speaker 2: were told police were hunting three suspects and they'd made
7:03
Speaker 2: what they called significant progress. Three weeks later. Crickets plus
7:08
Speaker 2: the actual cricket what a game? Plus New Years plus holidays,
7:11
Speaker 2: and by the time February rolls around, everyone will have.
7:14
Speaker 3: Just moved on.
7:15
Speaker 2: I hope that's not the case, but can we be
7:18
Speaker 2: blamed for wondering to add fuel to the fire? Pung
7:22
Speaker 2: very much intended. The government has just appointed, of all people,
7:26
Speaker 2: federal backbencher Julian Hill to help coordinate government funding to
7:30
Speaker 2: rebuild the synagogue. The Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs will
7:34
Speaker 2: act as the middleman between Jewish synagogue leaders and Anthony Albanezi.
7:39
Speaker 2: This is a government MP who claimed the October seven
7:42
Speaker 2: slaughter of twelve hundred Israelis needed to be contextualized. He
7:47
Speaker 2: said that, I quote, we need to acknowledge the history
7:49
Speaker 2: and the complexity before understanding what happened on October seven.
7:54
Speaker 2: He added, this didn't just start on October the seventh.
7:57
Speaker 2: As many people in my community know viscerally, this is
8:00
Speaker 2: a seventy five year old conflict. This is an MP
8:04
Speaker 2: who once accused Israel of being quote hell bent on
8:08
Speaker 2: imposing an apartheid state on the Middle East. This is
8:11
Speaker 2: an MP who's called for the formal recognition of a
8:13
Speaker 2: Palestinian state while her mass is still holding Jewish hostages.
8:19
Speaker 2: This is the MP Alban Eazy has appointed as his
8:22
Speaker 2: liaison with the Jewish community. Is the PM completely lacking
8:26
Speaker 2: in judgment? Again a rhetorical question, Is it a calculated insult?
8:31
Speaker 2: Julian Hill is the least suitable Labor MP to liaise
8:34
Speaker 2: with the Jewish community aside from all the other Labor MPs.
8:38
Speaker 3: I mean, you know elber Ez.
8:41
Speaker 2: He could have appointed Jewish MP Josh Burns as his
8:44
Speaker 2: go between, but of course that would have made far
8:47
Speaker 2: too much sense.
8:53
Speaker 3: Well, let's get into the news of the day.
8:55
Speaker 2: It looks like Labor has already kicked off some of
8:58
Speaker 2: their New Year's resolutions, with the latest and the first
9:01
Speaker 2: being a scare campaign against Peter Dutton. Jim Chalmers is
9:06
Speaker 2: reportedly heralding the way for a new medi scare campaign
9:09
Speaker 2: accusing Dutton of undermining the National Health Insurance Scheme and
9:12
Speaker 2: pushing down wages and can you believe it? He's threatening
9:15
Speaker 2: that Dutton will rise raise electricity prices as if the
9:19
Speaker 2: government has any scrounds to talk about that. To unpack
9:23
Speaker 2: this and more, let's bring in my panel history lecturer
9:25
Speaker 2: and author Stephen Shavura and the Spectator.
9:28
Speaker 3: Contributed at to Terry bar. Welcome to you both, Terry.
9:32
Speaker 2: Let's start with you another year, another medi scare campaign.
9:35
Speaker 2: We've been here before, haven't we.
9:39
Speaker 6: Well, we have and I have. I mean, I'm the
9:41
Speaker 6: original seven dollars GP of co Pavemnent god from twenty
9:44
Speaker 6: thirteen fourteen.
9:45
Speaker 3: So it's all my fault. Blame me, everybody else does.
9:50
Speaker 6: But certainly, look, I think the fact that Jim Chalmers
9:53
Speaker 6: is rolling out medi Scare two point zero or three
9:55
Speaker 6: point zero because it's thirty sixteen, twenty nineteen, then they
9:58
Speaker 6: won in twenty twenty two, clearly I think that Peter
10:01
Speaker 6: Dutton is a pretty serious threat to Labor actually hanging
10:05
Speaker 6: on to government. So the Treasurer is ramping it up,
10:08
Speaker 6: the Prime Minister is ramping it up. The Labor Party
10:11
Speaker 6: campaign gurus are ramping it up because they know that
10:16
Speaker 6: they are in an existential fight for survival here and
10:18
Speaker 6: Peter Dutton is a serious threat to them, and so
10:21
Speaker 6: they're going to throw the kitchen sink, not just the
10:24
Speaker 6: personal abuse that the Victorian Labor Party has tried, but
10:28
Speaker 6: that anything that he's been associated with. And he was
10:30
Speaker 6: a former health minister in twenty fourteen, so it's all
10:33
Speaker 6: his fault. No, no, don't blame Peter, blame me. So
10:38
Speaker 6: take it out on me, guys in the Labor Party,
10:40
Speaker 6: take it out on me, Prime Minister. Just leave Peter
10:42
Speaker 6: Dutton alone. Because bear in mind that when it comes
10:46
Speaker 6: to health issues and health reform, because of what happened
10:50
Speaker 6: in twenty fourteen, the Coalition has been spooked about reform
10:53
Speaker 6: ever since. And they love bulk Billding just as much
10:56
Speaker 6: as Labor does. So there's going to be no change.
10:58
Speaker 6: So that's a really false scare campaign just ramping up
11:03
Speaker 6: yet again.
11:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I agree with your analysis.
11:08
Speaker 2: I think the polls are showing that Peter Dutton is
11:10
Speaker 2: definitely in with a chance when no one gave him
11:12
Speaker 2: any chance just a couple of years ago. Scare campaign
11:16
Speaker 2: silly memes regarding nuclear power will talk about the personal
11:19
Speaker 2: attack on Dutton in just a moment. But Stephen, they
11:22
Speaker 2: can attack Dutton as much as they like. The fact
11:25
Speaker 2: is the economy speaks for itself, doesn't it. They've failed
11:28
Speaker 2: to curb the cost of living. Inflation is still too high.
11:31
Speaker 2: Chalmers is urging the public to be optimistic as if
11:34
Speaker 2: that's the best they've got. Grocery bills don't lie, power
11:38
Speaker 2: bills don't lie.
11:41
Speaker 7: I know what, I'm half expecting that Jim chalmers next
11:44
Speaker 7: move is going to be to ask us to join
11:46
Speaker 7: him in singing always look on the bright side of life,
11:48
Speaker 7: because they are getting destined now. The fact of the
11:51
Speaker 7: matter is that interest rates since Labor god in have
11:54
Speaker 7: risen twelve times, productivity is down, and the national gp
12:02
Speaker 7: GDP has gone backwards for the last seven quarters. And
12:07
Speaker 7: on top of all this, we've still got a massive
12:10
Speaker 7: immigration problem.
12:11
Speaker 1: That are where the Labor.
12:19
Speaker 8: Party is still recklessly pursuing net zero, which is going
12:24
Speaker 8: to be at the cost of our whole that the
12:26
Speaker 8: Labor Party seems totainly no plan to grow the economy.
12:30
Speaker 8: All they ever do is pretend to be Santa Claus
12:33
Speaker 8: saying that they've got a whole bunch of new handouts
12:35
Speaker 8: for everyone, but there is absolutely no plan on how
12:38
Speaker 8: any of this is going to be paid for.
12:39
Speaker 7: And the rise in support for them is among younger
12:42
Speaker 7: mortgage holders up to the age of about thirty four,
12:45
Speaker 7: because they're the ones really feeling these interest rate rises.
12:49
Speaker 7: And I think Liberal are going to make government at
12:52
Speaker 7: the next election because of this.
12:55
Speaker 2: Well, we talked about some of the attacks on Peter Dutton,
12:59
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister, has been forced to get involved over
13:02
Speaker 2: an ALP post. This is out of Victoria personally attacking
13:06
Speaker 2: Dutton and his wife. Here's the meme that they posted.
13:10
Speaker 2: The caption reads, we all know that one couple and
13:14
Speaker 2: a secondary line stating justifying dating your new partner to
13:18
Speaker 2: your friends who don't like him Stephen, this is highly
13:22
Speaker 2: offensive and can I add completely immature and even worse
13:28
Speaker 2: bringing Peter Dutton's wife into the argument.
13:30
Speaker 3: There's just no excuse for this.
13:34
Speaker 7: That's the really bad thing here, bringing his wife in.
13:36
Speaker 7: I mean, there's a rule in politics and generally all
13:39
Speaker 7: parties follow it, and that is you never bring families
13:42
Speaker 7: into the political debate. Otherwise it's pretty much no holds bart.
13:46
Speaker 7: The ironic thing is that the labor Party have this
13:48
Speaker 7: new word that they like to keep applying to Peter Dutton,
13:51
Speaker 7: and it's this word Trumpian. They keep saying he's Trumpian.
13:54
Speaker 7: But if anyone is behaving Trumpian right now, it's the
13:57
Speaker 7: Victorian Labor Party because they're engaging personal invective, not just
14:01
Speaker 7: a caase Darton, but against you know, they're.
14:04
Speaker 1: Bringing his wife into it.
14:05
Speaker 9: So yeah, it's very very bad form. Not surprised because
14:09
Speaker 9: Labor supports in Victoria first first Preference, Labor supporting book Victoria,
14:15
Speaker 9: who is down to thirty percent, so they're getting pretty desperate.
14:20
Speaker 2: Well, it's interesting, Stephen, that you compare this to, you know,
14:24
Speaker 2: Trumpian tactics. At least Trump's funny when he has a
14:28
Speaker 2: go at the other side. The Victorian ALP secretary Terry
14:31
Speaker 2: said that the post was a comedic meme. Well, I've
14:34
Speaker 2: got to say as comedians, the Victorian Labor Party make
14:37
Speaker 2: pretty good economic managers, don't they.
14:41
Speaker 6: Well, again, i think they're showing that they're running scared
14:44
Speaker 6: of the Coalition federally, and they're even running scared of
14:46
Speaker 6: the Victorian Coalition, even though that's been a clown show
14:48
Speaker 6: for so long. But certainly I think the Victorian economy.
14:53
Speaker 6: If we're talking about a referendum on the Victorian government
14:57
Speaker 6: coming up in the federal election, as it did in
14:59
Speaker 6: nineteen ninety when the Cane Kerner government was taken to
15:02
Speaker 6: the Cleaners, that losing eight federal seats, I think, if
15:05
Speaker 6: I remember rightly, I can see that repeating again and
15:09
Speaker 6: clearly the Victorian labor brains trust think that going after
15:15
Speaker 6: the Duttin family as not just mister Dutton is good politics.
15:18
Speaker 6: I just think it's bad politics. My old bos Tony
15:20
Speaker 6: Abbott used to say to MPs are volunteers and families
15:24
Speaker 6: are conscripts, and I think that's the way that it
15:27
Speaker 6: should always be. And look, I'll give mister Alberinezi some
15:31
Speaker 6: credit here. I think the fact that he actually put
15:33
Speaker 6: the kaibosh on that as soon as he knew about
15:35
Speaker 6: it is to his credit.
15:39
Speaker 3: Yeah.
15:39
Speaker 2: Well, I noticed that just Cinta Allen, the Victorian Premier,
15:43
Speaker 2: when asked about this yesterday, had no comment, but she
15:47
Speaker 2: condemned the social media post today after the Prime Minister
15:51
Speaker 2: got involved.
15:52
Speaker 3: So read into that what you will.
15:54
Speaker 2: I want to talk about Queensland for a moment, where
15:56
Speaker 2: obviously they've got a new government and a new Transport
15:59
Speaker 2: minut Brent Mickelberg, has thrown support behind an idea that
16:03
Speaker 2: was originally proposed by the former Labor Premier, Stephen Miles.
16:06
Speaker 2: That's a cap on daily fuel price hikes. The new
16:10
Speaker 2: Transport Minister also wants a national inquiry into petrol prices.
16:15
Speaker 2: Now I would be the first to say yes to
16:17
Speaker 2: lower petrol prices, But Terry, do you think this is
16:20
Speaker 2: a good idea and will it really make much difference?
16:25
Speaker 6: And are we going to actually see the LNP and
16:27
Speaker 6: Queensland stop pretending to be labor light and actually pretending
16:31
Speaker 6: to be a center right government. I mean, everything they've
16:34
Speaker 6: come up with since the election seems to be mirroring labor,
16:37
Speaker 6: me tooing labor and here we go again. But look,
16:40
Speaker 6: when it comes to a cap on petrol prices, that
16:43
Speaker 6: is a very unliberal thing to support. I mean, we
16:46
Speaker 6: actually leave in a free market, don't we. But when
16:49
Speaker 6: it comes to an inquiry into petrol prices, I actually
16:51
Speaker 6: think that's a worthwhile idea, especially if the Ash Triple
16:54
Speaker 6: C is doing it. Because we've got the well, we've
16:57
Speaker 6: got the movement bus cycles we see over over time
17:01
Speaker 6: in the capital cities and petrol goes up, petrol goes down,
17:04
Speaker 6: Petrol goes round and round, and that's where the fuel companies,
17:09
Speaker 6: where the retailers get into that, the distributors is something
17:12
Speaker 6: I think we need to know more about it. But
17:13
Speaker 6: I think we also need to actually understand the taxation
17:16
Speaker 6: treat of the petrol too, because of particularly the double
17:19
Speaker 6: taxation of petrol excise and the GST.
17:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was going to say, if governments are so
17:26
Speaker 2: worried about the price of fuel and want to really
17:28
Speaker 2: help us, they could always remove some of that taxation
17:31
Speaker 2: and excise, couldn't they.
17:32
Speaker 3: Let's go to New South Wales.
17:34
Speaker 2: Premier Chris Mins is being recognized for his strong stance
17:37
Speaker 2: against anti Semitism. His clear condemnation of antisemitisms drawn praise
17:42
Speaker 2: from Jewish leaders. The chief Minister of Sydney's Great Synagogue
17:45
Speaker 2: said of the premiere quote, he strikes the right message
17:49
Speaker 2: and that sends a message across the entirety of society.
17:52
Speaker 2: That's Rabbi Elton. The premier has been nominated for the
17:56
Speaker 2: Australians Australian of the Year Award because of his leadership
17:59
Speaker 2: on this issue. Stephen, I personally think Chris Min's has
18:03
Speaker 2: been the best of any politician, certainly on the labor side.
18:08
Speaker 2: I mean, Peter Dutton has been outstanding, James Patterson and others,
18:12
Speaker 2: but among labor politicians, Chris Min's has been pretty good.
18:17
Speaker 7: I completely agree, and so bravo to him for taking
18:21
Speaker 7: that stance, which is a risky thing for labor to do,
18:24
Speaker 7: because they have spent decades courting the so called multicultural
18:28
Speaker 7: vote and now it's coming back to haunt them where
18:31
Speaker 7: they're Those who would probably like to speak out against
18:34
Speaker 7: anti Semitism feel hamstring from doing it because of densely
18:39
Speaker 7: Muslim constituencies. One thing that I will say does concern
18:44
Speaker 7: me about the whole antisemitism debate in Australia is that
18:49
Speaker 7: it's been conceptualized as a free speech debate and as
18:52
Speaker 7: a hate speech debate, and I think that that's actually misleading.
18:55
Speaker 7: I think the uncomfortable truth is that this is really
18:58
Speaker 7: an immigration issue that we have allowed for decades large
19:04
Speaker 7: insular Islamic communities to emerge in Australia, many of which
19:09
Speaker 7: have parts in them which are deeply anti Semitic, and
19:12
Speaker 7: we really do need to address that. And so the
19:15
Speaker 7: government letting in two five hundred and sixty four Palestinians
19:18
Speaker 7: on visitor visas.
19:20
Speaker 1: Over the last twelve months.
19:22
Speaker 7: Is not a good idea. Is going to only make
19:25
Speaker 7: this worse because everyone knows by the surveys the overwhelming
19:29
Speaker 7: majority of Palestinians actually pro Hamas. So I think we
19:33
Speaker 7: need I think we need to tackle anti Semitism, but
19:35
Speaker 7: not so much as a speech issue, but as an
19:38
Speaker 7: immigration issue. As uncomfortable as that debate's going to be.
19:44
Speaker 3: It's a really good point.
19:46
Speaker 2: But as far as Chris Mins goes, I agree with
19:50
Speaker 2: your comments. He's been very good and more power to him.
19:54
Speaker 2: Kerry Barnes, Stephen Shaverrett, thank you so much for your
19:56
Speaker 2: time and to both of you, have a happy New
19:58
Speaker 2: Year and enjoy the rest of your evening well.
20:01
Speaker 3: The cost of living crisis has.
20:03
Speaker 2: Definitely been one of the major challenges facing all Australians
20:06
Speaker 2: this year and it's sure to be a key issue
20:08
Speaker 2: at the next election. The Treasurer of Jim Chalmers has
20:11
Speaker 2: been talking up a range of cost of living measures
20:14
Speaker 2: which will kick in on New Year's Day. These include indexation,
20:18
Speaker 2: freeze on pharmaceutical benefits, scheme co payments, as well as
20:22
Speaker 2: payment increases for youth allowance recipients who have dependents, But
20:26
Speaker 2: it remains to me seen whether these measures will be enough.
20:29
Speaker 2: Joining me now to discuss all of that and more
20:31
Speaker 2: is Sky and his contributor and child and adolescent psychologist
20:35
Speaker 2: Claire row Claire, Happy New Year, Thanks for joining me.
20:38
Speaker 2: Jim Chalmers has been spooking what he calls the Albanezy
20:41
Speaker 2: governments meaningful and responsible cost of living help. I think
20:46
Speaker 2: he adds responsible in there to try to make us
20:48
Speaker 2: think it's not going to affect inflation. I wanted to
20:51
Speaker 2: ask you, though, because you're dealing with families all the time,
20:54
Speaker 2: what sort of impact is the cost of living crisis
20:57
Speaker 2: having on family dynamics end? Is there more the government
21:01
Speaker 2: should be doing?
21:03
Speaker 3: Yeah?
21:03
Speaker 10: Thanks James, and happy New Year to you too.
21:06
Speaker 1: Yeah.
21:06
Speaker 10: I think we need to unpack these figures because I
21:08
Speaker 10: think on the outset they do look like they might
21:11
Speaker 10: provide relief. But the way I see it, this is
21:14
Speaker 10: a very piecemeal, splash cats approach, and I don't think
21:18
Speaker 10: it's going to have much real impact on the families
21:21
Speaker 10: that I see that are really in pain at the
21:24
Speaker 10: petrol bowser and at the checkout. I think at the
21:27
Speaker 10: end of the day. This is very much pre campaigning
21:30
Speaker 10: dressed up as policy. I mean things like you mentioned
21:34
Speaker 10: the indexation freeze with the pharmaceutical Benefit scheme. That's going
21:38
Speaker 10: to save Ozsie families a couple of bucks. But I
21:41
Speaker 10: think over the five years. On one hand, it's a
21:43
Speaker 10: lot of money the government is spending, and it's at
21:46
Speaker 10: the same time a drop in the ocean compared to
21:49
Speaker 10: the pain that Ossie families are in at the moment.
21:52
Speaker 10: You mentioned again the thirty dollar rise for an individual
21:55
Speaker 10: on youth allowance. Well, I don't know about you, James,
21:58
Speaker 10: but I don't know what thirty dollars buys you at
22:00
Speaker 10: the supermarket, because I am increasingly shocked at how light
22:04
Speaker 10: my shopping bags are when I tap the one hundred dollars
22:07
Speaker 10: on the credit card. So thirty dollars doesn't get you much.
22:09
Speaker 10: So you know, no one's going to turn back thirty
22:12
Speaker 10: dollars in their bank account. But will it provide an
22:15
Speaker 10: individual with some relief at the moment, probably not. But
22:18
Speaker 10: at the same time, the amount of cash the government
22:21
Speaker 10: will spend on that scheme is just a ticking time
22:25
Speaker 10: bomb for inflation. So yeah, I think it's a very
22:28
Speaker 10: piecemeal approach. I think it's stressed up looking at writing
22:31
Speaker 10: a news cycle into the campaign and the election next year,
22:36
Speaker 10: and I'm doubtful that will provide really some relief and
22:41
Speaker 10: families will actually feel it in their hip pocket come
22:44
Speaker 10: tomorrow when this is rolled out.
22:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're right when it gets to it.
22:49
Speaker 2: It doesn't make a lot of difference, but it's an
22:51
Speaker 2: announcement and it gives the appearance of the government doing
22:54
Speaker 2: something to help. I want to go to some interesting
22:57
Speaker 2: polling analysis which shows a lot of young vote have
23:01
Speaker 2: moved away from the Greens in the last quarter of
23:03
Speaker 2: the year. According to Resolve Political Monitor, voters aged eighteen
23:07
Speaker 2: to thirty four have cut the Greens primary vote from
23:11
Speaker 2: twenty seven percent to twenty three percent. That's two points
23:14
Speaker 2: down from the twenty twenty two election. What do you
23:18
Speaker 2: think is driving this trend? Because, I mean, the Greens
23:20
Speaker 2: typically rely on younger voters for support, which is why
23:24
Speaker 2: the Greens always want to reduce the voting age, right,
23:27
Speaker 2: But we're seeing this trend now where young people are
23:29
Speaker 2: drifting away from the Greens.
23:31
Speaker 3: What do you think is happening?
23:32
Speaker 10: Well, it's interesting and I think it tells a very
23:35
Speaker 10: significant story at the moment for the Australian political landscape.
23:40
Speaker 10: And I think at the end of the day, as psychologists,
23:43
Speaker 10: we talk about a hierarchy of needs, and right at
23:46
Speaker 10: the top of those needs, you know what's there the
23:48
Speaker 10: ability to feed yourself and the ability to house yourself.
23:53
Speaker 10: And if you can't do those two things, all this
23:56
Speaker 10: retory can talk around kind of progressive and feel good
24:00
Speaker 10: on climate change and Middle Eastern politics, that just goes
24:04
Speaker 10: down at the priorities. And so young people are looking
24:07
Speaker 10: this and I think that they, you know, gradually finally
24:11
Speaker 10: becoming pretty disillusioned with bands kind of rhetoric heavy and
24:15
Speaker 10: results light approach. But I think at the end of
24:18
Speaker 10: the day, the two parties are benefiting. Two major parties, sorry,
24:21
Speaker 10: are benefiting from that. Labor I think is clawing back
24:25
Speaker 10: some of its younger votes. But I think the Coalition,
24:28
Speaker 10: you know, this shows that there is room there for
24:32
Speaker 10: policies that center around economic stability, housing supply, personal responsibility.
24:39
Speaker 10: And these are the exact values the coalition should be amplifying.
24:43
Speaker 10: So there is room there for young voters for the coalition.
24:46
Speaker 10: But here's the kicker, James. I think, out of these
24:49
Speaker 10: figures today what it showed actually is that whilst both
24:53
Speaker 10: major parties are gaining in young voters, by the time
24:57
Speaker 10: you get to you know, middle aged voters that's probably
25:00
Speaker 10: me and definitely over fifty fives, they are decisively going
25:05
Speaker 10: towards the coalition. And so you know, whilst Albanezi may
25:10
Speaker 10: be the preferred prime minister for young voters at the
25:13
Speaker 10: moment compared to Dutton, clearly so that margin absolutely decreases
25:18
Speaker 10: once people get a bit older, and it completely flips
25:21
Speaker 10: when you look at the over fifty fives. So I
25:24
Speaker 10: think at the end of the day it comes down
25:27
Speaker 10: to those basic needs and young people as well as
25:30
Speaker 10: older people are pretty disappointed by promises that haven't been
25:34
Speaker 10: met by this government.
25:37
Speaker 3: My heart was in my mouth for a minute there.
25:39
Speaker 2: Clear you talked about young voters and middle aged voters
25:42
Speaker 2: like yourself, and then I wondered where you were going
25:44
Speaker 2: to go and where you're going.
25:45
Speaker 3: To put me before I let you go.
25:48
Speaker 2: As a psychologist, obviously this is the time of year
25:50
Speaker 2: people are making New Year's resolutions. Is it too late
25:53
Speaker 2: for people who haven't made resolutions? How important is it
25:57
Speaker 2: to make resolutions and what are some tips on making resolutions?
26:00
Speaker 3: That will actually be meaningful.
26:02
Speaker 10: Well, I know not everyone's into New Year's resolutions. I
26:06
Speaker 10: love them. I think there is something really enticing still
26:09
Speaker 10: with human nature of a blank page and a fresh
26:12
Speaker 10: start tomorrow. But you know, of course you can make
26:14
Speaker 10: resolutions three hundred and sixty five days of the year.
26:18
Speaker 10: My tip for everyone wanting to make resolutions is to
26:21
Speaker 10: think small. Think about habits, and a habit is a
26:24
Speaker 10: small behavior that is done consistently. So if you want
26:28
Speaker 10: to clean up your diet, don't go the full hog
26:30
Speaker 10: and cut everything out, you know, just think about reducing,
26:33
Speaker 10: say your intake of soft drinks for the next three months,
26:36
Speaker 10: and then habits stack we call it a psychologist. You
26:39
Speaker 10: stack another habit onto that in a couple of months time.
26:42
Speaker 10: So think small. Eighty percent of resolutions don't work. People
26:46
Speaker 10: don't stick to them. I think generally it's because people
26:49
Speaker 10: have two great expectations for what they can achieve, and
26:52
Speaker 10: when motivation dwindles, which it's going to do, you want
26:56
Speaker 10: those new habits to be fairly easy.
27:00
Speaker 3: Very good advice. Claire Row always a pleasure to talk to.
27:03
Speaker 1: You.
27:03
Speaker 3: Have a happy New Year.
27:04
Speaker 2: Whatever you're doing tonight, trust you enjoy it. And all
27:07
Speaker 2: the very best for twenty twenty five. Well, stick around
27:10
Speaker 2: because after the break, we really have seen a turnaround
27:15
Speaker 2: in our relations with China, or have we their ambassador
27:18
Speaker 2: claims we have.
27:19
Speaker 3: We'll talk about whether or not that's correct.
27:21
Speaker 2: Plus growing concerns about the impact of Victoria's controversial news
27:25
Speaker 2: short stat tax, all of that.
27:26
Speaker 3: Coming up in just a moment. Well.
27:33
Speaker 2: In an exclusive interview with The Australian last week, China's
27:36
Speaker 2: ambassador to Australia declared we need to respect China's territorial
27:40
Speaker 2: claims in the South China Sea. The interview took place
27:43
Speaker 2: only a matter of days after China removed its last
27:46
Speaker 2: remaining trade ban on Australian exports, with the ambassador claiming
27:50
Speaker 2: there'd been a quote full turnaround in bilateral ties. Joining
27:54
Speaker 2: me now as Director of Strategic Analysis Australia, Michael Schubridge, Michael,
27:59
Speaker 2: it's true we've seen some progress when it comes to
28:02
Speaker 2: our relationship with China this year. But what do the
28:05
Speaker 2: Chinese mean when they say it's been a full turnaround.
28:09
Speaker 2: It sounds to me like they're trying to talk us
28:12
Speaker 2: into a position.
28:15
Speaker 11: Yes, James, I think you're right. China's ambassador show will
28:19
Speaker 11: be very pleased with Albanesi's first term because the handsome
28:23
Speaker 11: boy has done everything Beijing has asked him to do,
28:26
Speaker 11: so the turnaround has really been by Australia. He's silenced
28:31
Speaker 11: our government on China's military aggression towards our own military
28:35
Speaker 11: and others in the region. He's prioritized lobster sales over
28:39
Speaker 11: doing anything that might upset Shijingping. And he's done two
28:43
Speaker 11: reviews which have done exactly what Beijing wanted, left Darwin
28:47
Speaker 11: Port in Chinese hands and put stronger controls around think
28:52
Speaker 11: tanks that dared to speak the truth. So as the
28:57
Speaker 11: new ambassador takes over, Beijing's going to be very very
29:00
Speaker 11: hopeful that he will capitalize on mister Albanese's excellent response
29:05
Speaker 11: to training, and they'll probably hope they can drive wedges
29:08
Speaker 11: between Alberzi and Trump.
29:13
Speaker 2: And of course, when the ambassador says Australia should respect
29:16
Speaker 2: China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, is that just,
29:21
Speaker 2: you know, an obvious thing, or is he really sending
29:23
Speaker 2: a message if you want to keep these trade numbers
29:28
Speaker 2: that we've returned to you, then you will do our bidding.
29:33
Speaker 1: Well.
29:33
Speaker 11: China's territorial claims in the South China Sea are wholly
29:37
Speaker 11: illegitimate and illegal. They want to take territory and maritime
29:43
Speaker 11: space from Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia, so we can't
29:47
Speaker 11: respect that. But what he wants is the continued silence
29:51
Speaker 11: out of mister Alberansi and senior ministers.
29:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, fair enough.
29:58
Speaker 2: All right, let's talk about defense then, because our defense
30:01
Speaker 2: force has got pretty serious personnel problems. The recruitment goal
30:06
Speaker 2: has been missed every year since two thousand and twelve.
30:09
Speaker 2: Total numbers are currently fifty nine thousand or thereabouts, a
30:13
Speaker 2: figure that needs to reach eighty thousand by twenty forty.
30:17
Speaker 2: So in an effort to help boost recruitment, they've set
30:20
Speaker 2: up a new app, as always, a new app that
30:23
Speaker 2: adf Ready app is designed to help Australians reach the
30:26
Speaker 2: fitness requirements for entry into the Navy. So it's one
30:30
Speaker 2: of our plans to increase recruitment. I'm not sure how
30:33
Speaker 2: successful the app will be. The other program, of course,
30:36
Speaker 2: is allowing citizens from five Eyes nations to sign up,
30:40
Speaker 2: and that kicks off tomorrow, so we've got, you know,
30:43
Speaker 2: people from New Zealand, Canada, they can join our defense forces.
30:47
Speaker 2: And Michael, we've got an app. Is this enough to
30:49
Speaker 2: fix the crisis?
30:52
Speaker 11: Well, James, people that have retired from the UK, US,
30:56
Speaker 11: New Zealand and Canadian militaries that have spent time living
30:59
Speaker 11: in Australia and then are desperate to join our military.
31:02
Speaker 1: They're not going to.
31:03
Speaker 11: Solve a workforce collapse that's four and a half thousand people,
31:06
Speaker 11: big and growing. So that's not an answer. And if
31:10
Speaker 11: they were wildly successful, our Canadian, US, UK and other
31:15
Speaker 11: partners would say stop, you're taking our military. And an
31:18
Speaker 11: app designed by a bunch of bureaucrats around fitness is
31:23
Speaker 11: not going to energize young people to join the military.
31:26
Speaker 11: What will energize them is cutting the top heavy senior
31:29
Speaker 11: ranks who are so out of touch and pushing responsibility
31:33
Speaker 11: down to junior people in our military. That's been the
31:36
Speaker 11: hallmark of Australian military success through our history.
31:42
Speaker 2: Just before I let you go, Michael, i'd like to
31:43
Speaker 2: get your thoughts on how you think the government has
31:46
Speaker 2: performed when it comes to defense policy this year.
31:50
Speaker 3: If you could.
31:50
Speaker 2: Nominate off the top of your head, what's the Obenezi
31:53
Speaker 2: done well when it's come to defense.
31:55
Speaker 3: And where have they failed this year do you think?
32:00
Speaker 11: Let me start with the single biggest failure of the
32:02
Speaker 11: Albenzi government on defense, and this is for their whole term.
32:06
Speaker 11: They have failed to make Australian safer by making our
32:10
Speaker 11: military more powerful rapidly. Instead, they've signed up to bureaucrats
32:15
Speaker 11: plans where nothing can happen for ten or twenty years.
32:20
Speaker 11: That's their big failure. Two successes this year. They've actually
32:25
Speaker 11: agreed to have a non US company, Consberg, build advanced
32:29
Speaker 11: missiles here in Australia. And they've agreed to give the
32:32
Speaker 11: m one Abrams tanks our army is retiring to the
32:36
Speaker 11: Ukrainians who desperately need them. That's a much better decision
32:39
Speaker 11: than when they cut up and buried those helicopters that
32:42
Speaker 11: the Ukrainians wanted.
32:46
Speaker 2: Michael Schubrich appreciate you joining me tonight. Have a wonderful
32:49
Speaker 2: New Year's Eve, and all the very best to you
32:51
Speaker 2: and your family for the coming year. Well stick around
32:54
Speaker 2: because after the break the hidden costs holidaymakers in Victoria
32:58
Speaker 2: could be hit with from tomorrow are really going to sting. Plus,
33:02
Speaker 2: Israel ramps up pressure on the Hooti rebels to stop
33:05
Speaker 2: their missile attacks. All of that and more in just
33:07
Speaker 2: a moment.
33:12
Speaker 3: Welcome back.
33:13
Speaker 2: Victoria's controversial short stay tax will take effect from tomorrow.
33:17
Speaker 2: Not exactly a happy new year for holiday makers or
33:20
Speaker 2: for airbnb owners. Not only will all bookings be hit
33:24
Speaker 2: with a seven point five percent tax, but there's concerns
33:27
Speaker 2: that levy includes some surprise details.
33:30
Speaker 3: It's just been revealed.
33:31
Speaker 2: The fine print in the tax says it also applies
33:34
Speaker 2: to cleaning charges and to GST. Victorian Libertarian Party MP
33:39
Speaker 2: David Limbrick joins me, Now, David, this is pretty absurd,
33:43
Speaker 2: isn't it. I mean Victorians are already facing enough tax
33:47
Speaker 2: and doesn't the state want to attract people rather than
33:51
Speaker 2: drive them away.
33:55
Speaker 12: Well, you're absolutely right, of course, the Libertarian Party oppose
33:58
Speaker 12: these tax I've never supported an increase in taxation in Victoria.
34:02
Speaker 12: But when this was brought up, we did lots of
34:04
Speaker 12: consultation with stakeholders and they brought to our attention that
34:08
Speaker 12: the tax would be placed on the total value that
34:11
Speaker 12: was charged to the visitor, and that would include things
34:16
Speaker 12: like cleaning and GST. So you effectively have the state
34:19
Speaker 12: government which is putting a margin on federal government GST,
34:23
Speaker 12: which is outrageous by itself, but you're absolutely right. We
34:26
Speaker 12: want Victoria to be a place that's attractive for people
34:29
Speaker 12: to visit. And when you've got an extra seven and
34:31
Speaker 12: a half percent tax, that makes it less attractive for
34:33
Speaker 12: Victorians to come and stay in the state, that makes
34:36
Speaker 12: it less attractive for interstate visitors and international visitors. I
34:39
Speaker 12: want Victoria to be somewhere that's attractive and cheaper for
34:43
Speaker 12: visitors to come and have a holiday here.
34:47
Speaker 3: Yeah.
34:47
Speaker 2: Absolutely, all right, let's change place for a second. I
34:50
Speaker 2: want to talk about something that we probably don't talk
34:52
Speaker 2: about as often as we should, and that's the toll
34:55
Speaker 2: that policing takes on the mental health of officers. I
34:59
Speaker 2: know it's been fun to sort of knock Victorian police
35:01
Speaker 2: after what went down during the COVID pandemic, but I mean,
35:05
Speaker 2: our police are incredibly important. It's a very tough job,
35:08
Speaker 2: and Victoria Police have confirmed mental health injuries, including those
35:13
Speaker 2: resulting from attending traumatic events, having a huge impact on
35:17
Speaker 2: our police. Almost eighty percent of the two hundred thousand
35:22
Speaker 2: lost shifts among uniform and unsworn employees were related to
35:26
Speaker 2: mental health issues in twenty twenty three, twenty four. That's
35:30
Speaker 2: according to the Victorian Police Annual Report. They say the
35:34
Speaker 2: problem is escalating. David, it's pretty concerning when our police
35:38
Speaker 2: are really struggling themselves emotionally and mentally with the job
35:43
Speaker 2: they have to do. Is the government doing enough for
35:46
Speaker 2: our police?
35:50
Speaker 12: I think the government's doing too much. I mean when
35:52
Speaker 12: a police officer signs up, I imagine that they want
35:55
Speaker 12: to you know, they want to be the hero that
35:58
Speaker 12: takes out the murderers and finds the thieves and thugs.
36:02
Speaker 12: But over the last few years, what they've been tasked
36:04
Speaker 12: with during COVID, we're policing all these crazy restrictions. More recently,
36:09
Speaker 12: they've had to police the consequences of crazy government policy
36:13
Speaker 12: on tobacco excise, which has resulted in arson attacks all
36:16
Speaker 12: over the state like hundreds. Now it's almost impossible for
36:19
Speaker 12: them to deal with this. And now coming up down
36:22
Speaker 12: the line, we have the state government wants to implement
36:24
Speaker 12: these what they're calling their social cohesion laws, which effectively
36:28
Speaker 12: will mean police will need to police words, symbols and gestures.
36:33
Speaker 12: I don't think the police signed up for this sort
36:34
Speaker 12: of thing, and I can understand why it would be
36:37
Speaker 12: very demoralizing for them. And I really hope that the
36:41
Speaker 12: new Opposition leader, mister Brad Batten reconsiders their support for
36:45
Speaker 12: what the government has been proposing with the social cohesion
36:48
Speaker 12: laws and we can maybe put a stop to it.
36:54
Speaker 3: Yeah.
36:54
Speaker 2: Well, I guess police officers in Victoria will be heartened
36:57
Speaker 2: by the fact that the new opposition leader has a
37:00
Speaker 2: policing background, as does Peter Dutton, so maybe they'll get
37:04
Speaker 2: a bit more love and attention from the government if
37:07
Speaker 2: the Libs get in. But I mean, you mentioned COVID
37:10
Speaker 2: and the pandemic, and you know, we can say what
37:13
Speaker 2: we like about policing, but ultimately they have to do
37:16
Speaker 2: what the government is charging them to do. They've taken
37:19
Speaker 2: a pretty bad rap and I can't imagine that policing
37:22
Speaker 2: would be a preferred career for a lot of Victorians
37:25
Speaker 2: after all the flak they took from the pandemic. That's
37:28
Speaker 2: not going to help with policing either, is it.
37:33
Speaker 12: No, And you're right, like the police have to do
37:36
Speaker 12: what the laws say, right that they have to enforce
37:38
Speaker 12: the law.
37:39
Speaker 1: That's their job. They don't make up the laws.
37:41
Speaker 12: And you know, there was a lot of trust destroyed
37:44
Speaker 12: between the public and police during COVID when they saw
37:47
Speaker 12: you know, Grandma's being arrested for being outside, or you know,
37:50
Speaker 12: people getting fines for not wearing a mask and all
37:53
Speaker 12: these other things that you know, would would have seemed
37:56
Speaker 12: outrageous and sort of crazy. Like a few years ago,
37:59
Speaker 12: all of a sudden, the police were at the front
38:01
Speaker 12: line trying to deal with this sort of stuff. But
38:03
Speaker 12: ultimately it was the government that allowed the public health
38:06
Speaker 12: bureaucrats to go crazy and take control and come out
38:09
Speaker 12: with these mandates that the police ultimately have to enforce.
38:12
Speaker 12: After all, all laws ultimately are enforced by the man
38:16
Speaker 12: in the uniform holding the gun.
38:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, I want to move on to one
38:23
Speaker 2: more topic before I let you go, David, and you
38:25
Speaker 2: can celebrate your New Years. But believe it or not,
38:28
Speaker 2: I want to talk to you about a table, A
38:30
Speaker 2: very expensive table, I might add, because we learned today
38:33
Speaker 2: the Victorian government managed to splurge forty thousand dollars on
38:38
Speaker 2: a dining table for Parliament House.
38:40
Speaker 3: Have a look at this. It seats eight.
38:42
Speaker 2: Lucky MPs for forty grand Can you believe it? A
38:46
Speaker 2: Department of Secretary Services Secretary Trish Burrows defended the purchase
38:50
Speaker 2: as you would expect, she said. The table that was
38:53
Speaker 2: previously in the room was very old and was not
38:56
Speaker 2: a dining table. It had a low apron, which meant
38:58
Speaker 2: it was difficult and uncomfortable for many people to sit at. Well,
39:02
Speaker 2: thank god that Victorian taxpayers have only had to pay
39:05
Speaker 2: forty grand to fix that problem, so that eight MP's
39:09
Speaker 2: at a time can sit at the parliamentary dining room table. Honestly,
39:14
Speaker 2: can you believe this rubbish and a cost of living crisis?
39:19
Speaker 12: Well, it's a bit interesting this one because the decision
39:22
Speaker 12: actually isn't a government decision. This is made by Parliament itself.
39:26
Speaker 12: And I'll say this the Commonwealth Games debarcle that happened.
39:31
Speaker 12: The government spent five hundred and eighty nine million dollars
39:34
Speaker 12: and taxpayers got absolutely nothing. At least the Department of
39:37
Speaker 12: Parliamentary Services got a table out of this, so at
39:40
Speaker 12: least they got something.
39:44
Speaker 3: David Limbrick, I like your optimism. That's a great way
39:47
Speaker 3: to look at it. It was a win for Victorian taxpayers.
39:49
Speaker 2: They shelled out a whole lot of money and actually
39:51
Speaker 2: this time got something in return. Miracles do happen, David Limbrick.
39:56
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for joining me. Happy New Year, all
39:58
Speaker 2: the best.
39:59
Speaker 1: For twent.
40:01
Speaker 3: We're going to go to a break, but when we
40:03
Speaker 3: come back.
40:04
Speaker 2: Israel's ambassador to the United Nations has issued a final
40:07
Speaker 2: warning to the Hooti rebels. Plus, why have Donald Trump's
40:11
Speaker 2: cabinet nominee has gone so quiet on social media? Michael
40:14
Speaker 2: Danby will join me in a moment, welcome back. Well,
40:21
Speaker 2: there's a bit happening internationally on this New Year's eve,
40:24
Speaker 2: so joining me to talk about it all is the
40:26
Speaker 2: past chair of Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Michael Danby. Michael,
40:31
Speaker 2: actually a time tonight, the Israeli ambassador to the United
40:34
Speaker 2: Nations has called on the Iran backed Hooti rebels to
40:37
Speaker 2: stop their missile attacks on Israel. These have been going
40:40
Speaker 2: on for quite some time. Israel have said, this is
40:43
Speaker 2: your final warning. During an address to the UN Security Council,
40:47
Speaker 2: the Israeli Ambassador, Danny Dannon said the Hooties would share
40:51
Speaker 2: the same miserable fate as Hamas Hezbalah and Assad if
40:56
Speaker 2: they persisted with these rocket attacks. How much of a
41:00
Speaker 2: threat to the uties pose to the Israeli people. Just
41:03
Speaker 2: give us an idea of what damage they've been doing
41:07
Speaker 2: to the state of Israel through these non stop missile attacks.
41:13
Speaker 13: James Television coverage of this is like a telescope. It
41:19
Speaker 13: magnifies a tiny country a third the size of Tasmania,
41:25
Speaker 13: and many people around the world think it's as big
41:27
Speaker 13: as Russia.
41:27
Speaker 1: It's not so.
41:29
Speaker 13: When a one ton ballistic missile is sent from Yemen
41:34
Speaker 13: towards Israel. Sure the arrow self defense network is ninety
41:41
Speaker 13: percent effective, but four or five million people have got
41:44
Speaker 13: a trudge off.
41:45
Speaker 1: To the bombshelters, the elderly, the.
41:48
Speaker 13: Sick, infants. It's a bit like the blitz in London
41:52
Speaker 13: at six of the last eleven nights.
41:54
Speaker 1: I think they've had to do this.
41:56
Speaker 13: So no democratic society, particularly small, tiny one like Israel,
42:01
Speaker 13: can tolerate this over a sustained period of time.
42:05
Speaker 1: And there are two schools of thought.
42:07
Speaker 13: There's the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister who favor
42:12
Speaker 13: doing what mister Dunnan said to the Hugi leadership that
42:18
Speaker 13: was done to the leadership of Hezbollah.
42:20
Speaker 1: Hamas, et cetera.
42:23
Speaker 13: But there's another school, led by the head of the Mossad,
42:27
Speaker 13: that the only way to stop the Hoodi from doing
42:29
Speaker 13: this and to international shipping in the Red Sea, which
42:34
Speaker 13: is fifty percent of decrease and fifty reduction in income
42:39
Speaker 13: to Egypt via the sewers canal has to be done
42:43
Speaker 13: via an attack on Iran. Iran is the head of
42:47
Speaker 13: the octopus, so the two schools of thought are contending.
42:53
Speaker 13: Nephani El was in hospital. I don't think anything will
42:55
Speaker 13: happen until he comes out, and I don't think anything
42:59
Speaker 13: will happen with Iran until the twentieth of January, until
43:04
Speaker 13: Trump's fully astride the presidency.
43:08
Speaker 2: You raise a great point, and I've never been able
43:10
Speaker 2: to understand it. What state could allow its citizens to
43:14
Speaker 2: be continually bombarded with missiles And often the media make
43:17
Speaker 2: a big deal about the fact, well, no one was hurt,
43:20
Speaker 2: and it's assumable therefore Israel shouldn't do anything about it.
43:23
Speaker 2: But as you said, you've got millions of people having
43:26
Speaker 2: to scurry down and hide in bomb shelters at all hours,
43:29
Speaker 2: including your kids.
43:30
Speaker 3: No one would tolerate that.
43:33
Speaker 2: Israel recently bombed Yemen in a bid to sort of,
43:36
Speaker 2: you know, put the hooties at bay, and then they
43:39
Speaker 2: get accused for endangering civilians. So what choice does Israel
43:44
Speaker 2: have they can't allow the situation to continue. But when
43:47
Speaker 2: they do something to protect their own citizens, the entire
43:50
Speaker 2: world accuses them of being irresponsible and of ramping things up.
43:54
Speaker 13: Well, you'll never hear this on the ABC, James. It's
43:57
Speaker 13: such a good point. They've got a few minutes to
43:59
Speaker 13: get to the shelter. Happening every night, the red alerts
44:02
Speaker 13: are going up everywhere. Matt Dora, and the ABC's correspondent
44:05
Speaker 13: is sitting in Jerusalem, I bet you on his telephone,
44:08
Speaker 13: like all millions of Israelis, he finds out about these
44:11
Speaker 13: red alerts and the missile attacks every time they happen,
44:16
Speaker 13: so he can get safely to the shelter. But he's
44:19
Speaker 13: not telling Australians that that's what millions of people in
44:22
Speaker 13: a comparable democratic society like Australia have to do at
44:26
Speaker 13: two o'clock in the morning, At four o'clock in the morning,
44:29
Speaker 13: As I said, it's like the blitz. How long can
44:31
Speaker 13: this go on? So I don't think Unfortunately, either the
44:36
Speaker 13: American or Israeli raids on Yemen have.
44:38
Speaker 1: Been effective to date.
44:40
Speaker 13: So I think the possibility of taking out the Hootie
44:43
Speaker 13: leadership or going to the Master of all of this
44:51
Speaker 13: Iran is probably going to happen in the future. I mean,
44:54
Speaker 13: the Iranians are providing them all with ballistic missiles. James,
44:58
Speaker 13: do you think the poorest country in the world is
45:01
Speaker 13: able to have radars and ballistic missiles to vector them
45:04
Speaker 13: onto moving commercial ships in the Red Sea?
45:08
Speaker 1: No, it's all the Iran.
45:11
Speaker 9: Yeah.
45:12
Speaker 2: Well, I mean the Huties are a ragtag terrorist group
45:14
Speaker 2: that are funded to the tune of more than a
45:16
Speaker 2: billion dollars a year by Iran. I mean, it's just
45:19
Speaker 2: an intolerable situation that there's no way Israel should be
45:23
Speaker 2: expected to just let that continue.
45:25
Speaker 3: I want to go to the United States.
45:27
Speaker 2: Donald Trump's cabinet nominees have been told to refrain from
45:31
Speaker 2: posting on social media ahead of their Senate confirmation hearings,
45:35
Speaker 2: which is ironic, of course, because Donald Trump is always
45:38
Speaker 2: posting on social media. But in a December twenty nine message,
45:42
Speaker 2: Trump's chief of staff reminded nominees that no member of
45:46
Speaker 2: the incoming administration or transition speaks for the US or
45:50
Speaker 2: for the President elect himself, and as such should refrain
45:53
Speaker 2: from any public social media posts without prior approval from
45:57
Speaker 2: the incoming.
45:58
Speaker 3: White House council.
46:00
Speaker 2: This would seem to me to be fairly obvious advice,
46:03
Speaker 2: wouldn't it. Michael, If you're about to go to a
46:05
Speaker 2: confirmation hearing it's going to be quite combative, just stay
46:09
Speaker 2: off Twitter for a bit so that you don't create
46:12
Speaker 2: any problems for yourself. It's sort of obvious, really.
46:17
Speaker 13: Very sound advice. And one of the best appointments he
46:20
Speaker 13: made was he's chief of staff, the woman who around
46:22
Speaker 13: the campaign, Susie Wild. She looks like she's enforcing a
46:25
Speaker 13: bit of discipline and common sense on the very diverse
46:28
Speaker 13: group of people that he's got in the prospective cabinet.
46:32
Speaker 13: So I think she's saying exactly the right thing. Because
46:35
Speaker 13: there's a huge brawl amongst some of the nominees over
46:39
Speaker 13: the HDSH one B technology or higher education visas. Elon Muskin,
46:50
Speaker 13: Vivit Gramaswami want this to continue, but a lot of
46:54
Speaker 13: more of the nativist element of MAGA don't, So I
46:58
Speaker 13: think they're going to have that out Trumpany's cheat to
47:01
Speaker 13: start quite rightly. So these things that we decided within
47:04
Speaker 13: the administration first, not in a war on social media
47:07
Speaker 13: on Twitter.
47:11
Speaker 2: One more thing I want to ask you about before
47:13
Speaker 2: we finish up. The German government has accused Elon Musk.
47:16
Speaker 2: You just mentioned him. Of course, he's a key part
47:19
Speaker 2: of Trump's team. The German government accused him of trying
47:22
Speaker 2: to influence their election after he penned an opinion piece
47:25
Speaker 2: in support of the AfD party, which is a right
47:28
Speaker 2: wing party. Elon Musk also posted on ex that only
47:33
Speaker 2: the AfD can save Germany.
47:35
Speaker 3: Is that election interference?
47:37
Speaker 2: And do we want people like Elon Musk even if
47:39
Speaker 2: we agree with him, do we want him chiming in
47:42
Speaker 2: on foreign elections?
47:44
Speaker 13: Well, we only just passed laws in the last few
47:46
Speaker 13: years here in Australia, James, that prevented foreigners from interfering
47:51
Speaker 13: in Australian elections. I mean, let's remember a certain government
47:54
Speaker 13: in Beijing used to do it via their front organization,
47:57
Speaker 13: the United Front.
47:58
Speaker 1: So you know we've got it here in Australia.
48:01
Speaker 13: I think all countries should have a basic law that
48:04
Speaker 13: says foreign countries can't invest in elections or in propaganda
48:08
Speaker 13: to change the course of events in those countries. But
48:11
Speaker 13: Elon Musk is free to put his point of view.
48:14
Speaker 13: And the problem is in Germany they have to face
48:17
Speaker 13: up to the issue of immigration. I mean all of
48:20
Speaker 13: those poor people killed at the Christmas market in Mugdeburg
48:25
Speaker 13: by that lunatic Saudi.
48:27
Speaker 1: Whether he was.
48:27
Speaker 13: Pro AfD or anti AfD, he's an immigrant who probably
48:33
Speaker 13: most Germans wish weren't there. But it's given a point
48:37
Speaker 13: for Elon Musk to write an opinion piece.
48:40
Speaker 1: I think we can have George Soros.
48:42
Speaker 13: Write opinion pieces here in Australia, Elon Musk write them
48:45
Speaker 13: in the United.
48:46
Speaker 1: Kingdom or Germany.
48:47
Speaker 13: But the question is do they interfere by investing huge
48:52
Speaker 13: amounts in political parties at election time.
48:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a good point. Michael. Always a joy to
49:00
Speaker 3: talk to you.
49:00
Speaker 2: I hope whatever you're doing to celebrate New Year's Eve
49:02
Speaker 2: is a great night for you and your family, and
49:05
Speaker 2: all the best for the New Year's I wanted to
49:07
Speaker 2: me tonight. I really have appreciated. I've got to go, mate,
49:11
Speaker 2: I'm very sorry. We've got to go to the Bolt Report.
49:14
Speaker 2: Up next is Danika di Georgio. You'll see me again
49:17
Speaker 2: right here tomorrow night. Here's Danika