Latest / Steve Price / Steve Price | 23 October

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Steve Price | 23 October · Steve Price

0:01
Speaker 1: Live, this is Steve Price. Good evening. Welcome to the
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Speaker 1: Pro Show. Steve Price coming from the hometown of Adelaide tonight.
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Speaker 1: And as a resident of Melbourne, I must say the
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Speaker 1: South Australian capital is a much better sized city delivering
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Speaker 1: a great standard of living. Here's what's coming up on
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Speaker 1: our program tonight. Australia remains shocked as the week comes
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Speaker 1: to an end after Monday's alleged attack on Indi independent
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Speaker 1: Helen Haynes. But the story of the tragedy is now
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Speaker 1: morphed into a political one with the appalling revelations of
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Speaker 1: of the existence of a dirt file on the MP
0:36
Speaker 1: emanating from the Prime Minister's office. Former South Australian Liberal
0:40
Speaker 1: Nicole Flint, herself a victim of abuse, will join us shortly.
0:44
Speaker 1: Not a day goes by in 2026, I don't think,
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Speaker 1: when there are no reports of another Australian business, be
0:50
Speaker 1: they big, small or medium-sized, going broke, belly up, as
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Speaker 1: the cost of living crisis worsens across the nation. Small
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Speaker 1: business is being particularly hard hit with the release overnight
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Speaker 1: of the 2025-2026 State of the Small Business Report. And
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Speaker 1: no surprise, the worst state to open one in? Victoria.
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Speaker 1: Bill Lang, Small Business Australia CEO, will take us through it. Plus,
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Speaker 1: with our panel, as Europe braces for another weekend of
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Speaker 1: dangerous and deadly riots from the mad left, Italy's PM,
1:21
Speaker 1: Giorgia Maloney, strikes the right note, with the armed forces
1:25
Speaker 1: called out and threats of jail time and even getting
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Speaker 1: the parents of teenage protesters to stump up to pay
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Speaker 1: for damages. Why wouldn't we do that here? First, though,
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Speaker 1: it's not often I find myself agreeing with the ACT
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Speaker 1: Senator David Pocock, an independent, about very much. But when
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Speaker 1: it comes to the terrifying attack on fellow independent Helen
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Speaker 1: Haynes in Wangaratta on Monday afternoon and the emergence now
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Speaker 1: of a political dirt sheet on Helen Haynes that was
1:55
Speaker 1: reportedly dished out of Anthony Albanese's office only weeks earlier, well,
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Speaker 1: I couldn't agree more with Pocock. My only criticism would
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Speaker 1: be that the Senator did not go hard enough on
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Speaker 1: Anthony Albanese. The pathetic responses from the Prime Minister defending
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Speaker 1: the existence of this material has further, I believe, diminished
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Speaker 1: the character of the bloke who no longer deserves to
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Speaker 1: be in the top job. Here's Anthony Albanese trying to
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Speaker 1: suggest that the file outlining funding requests for Indi by
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Speaker 1: Helen Haynes was, quote, merely aimed at highlighting the that
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Speaker 1: people of integrity stand up for their electorate. Have a look.
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Speaker 2: Let's be very clear because apparently it's been published.
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Speaker 3: It's a list of.
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Speaker 2: Funding us from Helen Haynes just showing that people of
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Speaker 2: integrity stand up for their electorate. No personal criticism of Helen.
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Speaker 2: Helen is a strong advocate for her electorate. She's advocated
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Speaker 2: for funding for projects in her electorate.
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Speaker 1: Rubbish. It's much more to that, and I'll get to
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Speaker 1: it in a moment. In The Australian today, Pocock labelled
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Speaker 1: the response, I'd call it, a dribbling insult to all Australians,
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Speaker 1: he called it not good enough. He said, quote, trying
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Speaker 1: to explain this away rather than acknowledging what happened, taking
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Speaker 1: responsibility and apologising is not good enough. Whether or not
3:26
Speaker 1: this behaviour was authorised, it was wrong and there should
3:29
Speaker 1: be accountability. Not good enough. I mean, come on, Senator.
3:33
Speaker 1: You played 83 games for the Wallabies. Toughen up. What
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Speaker 1: your Prime Minister did in trying to weasel his way
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Speaker 1: out of what clearly was a political hit job on
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Speaker 1: Helen Haynes before Monday's tragedy was a direct response to
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Speaker 1: her questions to him about the $ 6 million grant to
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Speaker 1: Albanese's local golf club. I mean, remember him trying to
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Speaker 1: dodge that Marrickville Golf Club drama, saying he didn't even
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Speaker 1: have a member's card?
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Speaker 4: In 2012, I've been advised that I got honorary membership.
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Speaker 2: Someone made a decision.
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Speaker 5: I don't have a card. I don't go to the club.
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Speaker 1: Fourteen years ago. Order, the member for KT.
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Speaker 5: But I make this point.
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Speaker 1: Mr Speaker.
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Speaker 5: If anyone wants to.
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Speaker 2: Join what is affectionately known as Royal Marrickville, what they
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Speaker 2: need for two years membership is $ 5. We'll get them
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Speaker 2: two years membership.
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Speaker 5: LAUGHTER for two years.
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Speaker 1: Now, this dirt fire was sent before the events of Monday.
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Speaker 1: So can you imagine the panic in the Prime Minister's
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Speaker 1: office when news was broken just after 6pm that day, Monday,
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Speaker 1: that Helen had been allegedly mowed down by a four-wheel drive,
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Speaker 1: complete with full bull bar, trapping her underneath her electorate SUV,
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Speaker 1: and as we now know, resulting in horrendous injuries where
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Speaker 1: she lost both her legs. Now, it always seemed odd
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Speaker 1: to me that the Prime Minister... and his Home Affairs Minister,
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Speaker 1: Tony Burke, appeared as quickly as they did to talk
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Speaker 1: about the incident where the alleged offender, Brendan Nugent, used
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Speaker 1: his vehicle to attack Haynes. The pair had little, that's
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Speaker 1: Albanese and Burke, had little or no information on the
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Speaker 1: incident itself that had not already been reported right here
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Speaker 1: on News 24 or from the original report from Seven's
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Speaker 1: Melbourne newsroom. Helen Haynes is incredibly hardworking.
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Speaker 2: She is fiercely intelligent. But most importantly, she's just thoroughly
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Speaker 2: decent human being.
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Speaker 1: So I have to ask, why the rush? The alleged
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Speaker 1: offender had been captured and pinned down by brave locals.
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Speaker 1: And it wasn't as if, like, say, the cop killer
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Speaker 1: Desi Freeman, he was on the run after the incident.
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Speaker 1: The political leaders weren't out there to start alert a
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Speaker 1: frightened public that this person might be coming their way.
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Speaker 1: It was way too early to be talking, I believe,
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Speaker 1: about threats to national security. And as it turns out,
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Speaker 1: with the incident still being investigated, a local allegedly under
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Speaker 1: the influence of alcohol or drugs or both and police
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Speaker 1: exploring an angle at some sort of family rift could
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Speaker 1: be at the heart of it. I mean, as terrible
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Speaker 1: as this is for everybody in Haynes' family, her friends,
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Speaker 1: her colleagues, and the good people of Wangaratta, this was
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Speaker 1: not Bondi. That's not to downplay the horrendous nature of
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Speaker 1: the attack, but for the two of the nation's most
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Speaker 1: senior politicians to appear on national TV not an hour
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Speaker 1: after it was reported is, in my view, odd, and
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Speaker 1: I'm no conspiracy theorist. And it's not until you read,
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Speaker 1: as reported, as I mentioned, in The Australian today, the
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Speaker 1: dirt sheet allegations about Helen Haynes, perhaps lobbying for projects
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Speaker 1: because she's According to the dirt sheet, she might have
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Speaker 1: got three bottles of free wine or once trained at
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Speaker 1: a sporting facility that you really realise what a grubby
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Speaker 1: exercise this was. The panic that must have set in
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Speaker 1: inside the Prime Minister's office on Monday must have been nuclear.
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Speaker 1: And to then have the Prime Minister try and distance
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Speaker 1: himself from the smear was even worse. Fittingly, this from
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Speaker 1: One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce today.
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Speaker 3: And not only is the fact that He's lying again,
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Speaker 3: lying again. But obviously their office is dumb as a
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Speaker 3: bag of hammers. We're all supposed to sit back and go, oh, no,
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Speaker 3: nothing to see here. No, we believe you, Albo. It's
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Speaker 3: just pathetic.
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Speaker 1: Colourful, but I couldn't have summed it up much better myself. OK,
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Speaker 1: let's get stuck in. No one in public life, whether
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Speaker 1: it be a politician, a sporting star, a media personality,
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Speaker 1: should have to be threatened for what they do, what
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Speaker 1: they say or what they stand for. Now, of course,
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Speaker 1: social media in particular has made the levels of abuse
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Speaker 1: easier for unhinged people to become keyboard warriors and in
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Speaker 1: the most extreme cases, take their obsessions to physical threat.
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Speaker 1: News 24 contributor and former Liberal MP Nicole Flint was
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Speaker 1: herself exposed to threats during her election campaigns. and her
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Speaker 1: political career. She has said Australia suffers from a culture
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Speaker 1: of no consequence and there is an urgent need for
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Speaker 1: tougher action and better funded police. Nicole Flint joins me
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Speaker 1: now from Sydney. Nicole, you were targeted during your time
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Speaker 1: in the job. What can you tell us about that
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Speaker 1: to put this into context?
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Speaker 6: Well, Steve, it's really just devastating to be having to
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Speaker 6: talk about this again in the context of the terrible
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Speaker 6: tragedy that happened to Helen Haynes this weekend. We all
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Speaker 6: send our love and support to Helen and her family
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Speaker 6: through this most awful of times. In 2019, unfortunately, we
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Speaker 6: saw GetUp, the good friend of Labor and the Greens
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Speaker 6: during the election campaign, target six Liberal MPs around the nation.
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Speaker 6: I was one of them. I was the only woman.
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Speaker 6: And they're very aggressive tactics, encouraged a very aggressive response
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Speaker 6: on the ground in my electorate of Boothby and things
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Speaker 6: became very dangerous.
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Speaker 1: I was stalked.
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Speaker 6: There was disgusting and disgraceful sexist and misogynistic abuse. I
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Speaker 6: had Labor and GetUp volunteers literally hunting me down around
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Speaker 6: the electorate and chasing me around and, you know, these
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Speaker 6: sort of flash mobs. And it was just really, really dangerous.
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Speaker 6: And it was one of the reasons I retired from
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Speaker 6: Parliament because, quite frankly, it just wasn't worth the risk.
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Speaker 7: And following the election.
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Speaker 6: And following, which I won, and following my very public
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Speaker 6: comments about what happened and calling for more respect in
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Speaker 6: politics and in public life and, you know, stop the
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Speaker 6: online abuse and all of that sort of stuff, the
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Speaker 6: sort of threats and intimidation increased, particularly from Extinction Rebellion,
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Speaker 6: who targeted Muslims. office multiple times when you already feel
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Speaker 6: unsafe and then you get more of the left getting
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Speaker 6: even more aggressive. Honestly, Steve, it just wasn't worth it.
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Speaker 5: And I retired.
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Speaker 1: Were you scared or were you angry or all of
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Speaker 1: the above?
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Speaker 7: Oh, all of the above, Steve.
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Speaker 6: And look, there's a lot that needs to change and
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Speaker 6: that was reflected in the column that I wrote for
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Speaker 6: the advertiser this week following the horrific events and what
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Speaker 6: happened to Helen Haynes. We need to see greatly increased
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Speaker 6: resourcing and powers for the Australian Federal Police.
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Speaker 7: They are grossly under-resourced.
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Speaker 6: Especially when it comes to looking after federal MPs or
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Speaker 6: anyone in public life for that matter. They simply do
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Speaker 6: not have the powers, especially when it comes to online threats.
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Speaker 6: But we need to see electorate offices that are much
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Speaker 6: safer because Helen was near her office with her branded
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Speaker 6: car when this happened.
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Speaker 1: And yes, we do.
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Speaker 6: Not know precisely the motivations as you reflected on in
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Speaker 6: your opening remarks. But she was a highly visible target, Steve.
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Speaker 6: You know, during the 2019 campaign, I just stopped driving
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Speaker 6: my branded car because I felt so unsafe. So that's
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Speaker 6: the sort of changes that you make when you're trying
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Speaker 6: to keep yourself safe. So we need to see a
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Speaker 6: lot more resourcing of the AFP and greater powers for
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Speaker 6: them to keep elected representatives safe so that your MPs,
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Speaker 6: your candidates feel safe so that voters can have the
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Speaker 6: free and easy access that they should have to members
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Speaker 6: of parliament or candidates because that's what keeps our democracy
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Speaker 6: strong when people like me in my former role can
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Speaker 6: hear direct from all of my local residents.
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Speaker 1: Do you think we will get to the point where
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Speaker 1: we'll have to have unbranded electorate offices? I mean, the
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Speaker 1: two electorates that I live in, I mean, the local
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Speaker 1: member has massive, you know, photograph of themselves on the
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Speaker 1: front window and slogans and what political party they represent.
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Speaker 1: Do you think we're going to get to that point?
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Speaker 5: I hope not.
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Speaker 6: Look, the electorate offices are relatively well protected when you
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Speaker 6: get into them. It's just getting staff and MPs into
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Speaker 6: them safely that is a really big challenge.
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Speaker 7: And that comes back to.
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Speaker 5: My car point.
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Speaker 6: If you're driving a highly visible branded vehicle, as Helen
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Speaker 6: Haynes was... You are an obvious target, as I was,
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Speaker 6: and I made decisions to, you know, not drive the
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Speaker 6: car in the end during 2019 because it did get
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Speaker 6: so dangerous. That's the sort of challenge that we need
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Speaker 6: to overcome in order to keep people safe.
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Speaker 1: Do you buy the Prime Minister's explanation about this dirt sheet?
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Speaker 6: Steve, I'm going to use some very unparliamentary language that
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Speaker 6: I have used before in relation to the Prime Minister.
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Speaker 6: He is a liar. The man is a liar. This
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Speaker 6: is just more evidence of his willingness to lie and
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Speaker 6: to not tell the truth. So this is the man
13:01
Speaker 6: who fell off a stage on film.
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Speaker 7: The whole nation saw it.
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Speaker 6: News 24 has reported extensively and said, I didn't fall
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Speaker 6: off a stage. He went to the United Nations, what,
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Speaker 6: a month ago, Steve? And made links to needing to
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Speaker 6: put back in the misinformation, disinformation bills into Parliament, you know,
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Speaker 6: to keep us all safe online, and then claimed he
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Speaker 6: didn't say it.
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Speaker 7: It's recorded.
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Speaker 1: So, you know, for him.
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Speaker 6: To, and the fact that he is attempting to defend
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Speaker 6: the indefensible in these most tragic and horrific of circumstances
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Speaker 6: is just quite frankly disgusting.
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Speaker 1: Have you lost the campaign to have the first Australian-branded
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Speaker 1: astronaut in space, do you think, because the government's refusing
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Speaker 1: to stump up the money?
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Speaker 6: Steve, I certainly hope that we haven't. Again, this Albanese
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Speaker 6: Labor government just go from bad to worse, honestly. The
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Speaker 6: European Space Agency put an offer to us, one of
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Speaker 6: the very few countries in the world they've put an
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Speaker 6: offer to, to say, we would like to send your
14:05
Speaker 6: first-ever Australian-flagged astronaut in. into space, you need to pay
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Speaker 6: $ 100 million. They have now today announced that they have
14:14
Speaker 6: made a counteroffer to the ESA, which, Steve, to give
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Speaker 6: you an analogy, is like you or me saying to Qantas,
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Speaker 6: we don't want to pay $ 500 for our flight. We'd
14:23
Speaker 6: like to pay you, you know, let's say $ 250. Qantas
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Speaker 6: would tell you to get stuffed. And quite frankly, that's
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Speaker 6: probably what the European Space Agency will do. And I
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Speaker 6: think the Labor Party needs to remember this isn't a
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Speaker 6: union negotiation. They've been given the price.
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Speaker 7: It is a fixed price.
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Speaker 6: We know what it costs to send an astronaut into space.
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Speaker 6: And the fact that they cannot send... Our first Australian
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Speaker 6: flagged astronaut who happens to be an absolutely brilliant and
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Speaker 6: inspiring woman into space is, again, this word, an absolute disgrace.
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Speaker 6: And they should be deeply ashamed because, Steve, the next
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Speaker 6: time any of your viewers or anyone in Australia hears
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Speaker 6: Labor saying anything about we need more women in leadership
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Speaker 6: roles and we need more women in STEM, just know
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Speaker 6: again that they are complete liars.
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Speaker 1: Well said. Love the passion. Catch up soon, Nicole Flint there.
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Speaker 1: Let's turn to the issue of small business. I mentioned
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Speaker 1: at the beginning of the program they're under so much pressure.
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Speaker 1: Not a day goes by, I don't think, when you
15:22
Speaker 1: don't read about not just small but big businesses going
15:25
Speaker 1: under government, red tape, taxes leading, many operators to just
15:29
Speaker 1: throw their hands in the air, say, look, it's all
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Speaker 1: too hard. There was a report released today, the Small
15:33
Speaker 1: Business Australia State Performance Report, and surprise, surprise, Victoria is
15:39
Speaker 1: last of all the states and territories, scoring just 35.2
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Speaker 1: out of 100 for overall small business performance. That's no
15:47
Speaker 1: surprise to me, but it is really, really sad. That report,
15:52
Speaker 1: and to take us through it and step us through it,
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Speaker 1: the CEO of the Small Business Association of Australia, Bill Lang,
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Speaker 1: joins me today. We shouldn't be surprised, should we, about
16:03
Speaker 1: those numbers? I mean, you can just see it every
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Speaker 1: day on News 24 and read about it in every paper, Bill. Hi, Steve.
16:11
Speaker 8: Well, look, I don't think anyone that lives in Victoria
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Speaker 8: is surprised about it. And even today, when we launched
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Speaker 8: the report with 50 small business owners down in Geelong
16:20
Speaker 8: here in Victoria, there was absolutely no surprise whatsoever. And,
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Speaker 8: you know, there's a whole range of reasons for where
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Speaker 8: we're at. We've got more taxes than any other state
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Speaker 8: here in Victoria.
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Speaker 1: They're higher.
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Speaker 8: We've got more regulatory bodies, more regulations, more red tape.
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Speaker 8: You take the red tape as an example, like the
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Speaker 8: government's own umpire called the Auditor General here in Victoria
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Speaker 8: says it's costing Victorian small businesses over $ 2 billion. That's
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Speaker 8: $ 2, 000 million a year just to deal with the administration
16:52
Speaker 8: of the red tape that's in Victoria. So we've literally
16:54
Speaker 8: got an octopus of red tape and regulators and And
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Speaker 8: they've been squeezing the lifeblood out of everyday small business
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Speaker 8: families here now for many years.
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Speaker 1: I've written many times about the fact that there's no
17:06
Speaker 1: business acumen at all in the state cabinet and the
17:09
Speaker 1: wider front bench of the Victorian Labor Party, let alone
17:13
Speaker 1: in Canberra. There's not much of it either. But that
17:15
Speaker 1: has to be, Bill, part of the reason they don't
17:18
Speaker 1: understand it. They've never run a business. They've never, ever
17:21
Speaker 1: had to put their own capital into something that might
17:24
Speaker 1: be lost if the thing doesn't work. So how would
17:27
Speaker 1: they have any empathy for a small business when they
17:30
Speaker 1: don't get it? Look, I think that's right, Steve.
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Speaker 8: And, you know, at the end of the day, it's
17:35
Speaker 8: not just capital in some cases. It's the opportunity cost
17:38
Speaker 8: if you've left a job. It's your reputation.
17:41
Speaker 1: It's the energy.
17:42
Speaker 8: You know, you're always thinking about your business when you're
17:44
Speaker 8: a small business family. And there's just such a disconnect
17:47
Speaker 8: between the rule makers and the rulers.
17:51
Speaker 1: And those that they're ruling.
17:52
Speaker 8: And, you know, in many cases, the regulations across the
17:55
Speaker 8: place that get applied to small businesses might be okay
17:58
Speaker 8: for Qantas and larger corporations. But in terms of the
18:02
Speaker 8: load and the stress that it causes for many small
18:05
Speaker 8: business owners, so we're seeing a lot of people saying, look,
18:08
Speaker 8: it's just been too hard.
18:09
Speaker 1: Enough's enough.
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Speaker 8: You don't see them go insolvent, but they quietly close down. And,
18:15
Speaker 8: you know, with the election coming up in Victoria, there's
18:18
Speaker 8: an opportunity for the next government to rebuild some trust because,
18:22
Speaker 8: you know, we're lacking integrity, competence, commonality in terms of understandings.
18:28
Speaker 8: Empathy is a great word you use. And then, you know,
18:30
Speaker 8: I think in terms of character, like tell us the truth.
18:34
Speaker 8: Every Victorian that's out there knows what's going on, knows
18:37
Speaker 8: how hard it is. You've just got to walk down
18:39
Speaker 8: their local street and see the empty shops everywhere. So
18:43
Speaker 8: let's have the facts over the fiction and the fantasies
18:46
Speaker 8: that they like to spin.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and one of the defences today, I think, has
18:51
Speaker 1: been that they say, oh, well, Victoria's added 20,000 businesses.
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Speaker 1: But the point that your report makes is that we
18:58
Speaker 1: have the worst business survival score in the country. So
19:02
Speaker 1: people have still got, I mean, a little bit of
19:05
Speaker 1: hope and they're trying to set up a business, but
19:08
Speaker 1: it's simply being strangled, as you say. Yes, it's a
19:12
Speaker 1: good point.
19:12
Speaker 8: And again, we've taken more than 50 sources of government
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Speaker 8: data and more than 20 sources of private sector data
19:19
Speaker 8: and putting together this state performance index.
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Speaker 1: And, you know, there are many.
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Speaker 8: People that if you go and start doing some part-time
19:25
Speaker 8: work via an air tasker or becoming an Uber driver
19:28
Speaker 8: or delivering for Hungry Panda, you need an ABN number.
19:31
Speaker 8: And that gets treated as a new business starting, which
19:33
Speaker 8: in many.
19:34
Speaker 1: Respects, you're just a casual person.
19:35
Speaker 8: So what's more important to those businesses that actually employ
19:39
Speaker 8: people And again, we get back to taxes. Like in
19:41
Speaker 8: New South Wales, you don't start paying payroll tax until
19:45
Speaker 8: you've got a total payroll of over $ 1. 2 million. In Victoria,
19:48
Speaker 8: it's $ 1 million. So up here we pay, if you've
19:51
Speaker 8: got a payroll here of $ 1. 2 million in Victoria, you're
19:54
Speaker 8: paying an extra $ 10, 000 to employ people versus no $ 10, 000
19:58
Speaker 8: being paid in New South Wales.
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Speaker 1: You're a proud Victorian, but I mean, when you look
20:03
Speaker 1: at the report that you've put together and you see
20:06
Speaker 1: that in Western Australia, for example, they scored 79.4% in
20:10
Speaker 1: this report compared to Victoria's 35.2 why wouldn't you if
20:15
Speaker 1: you wanted had a good idea and you wanted to
20:17
Speaker 1: start a small business why wouldn't you go to somewhere
20:19
Speaker 1: like Western Australia or South Australia where I am tonight
20:23
Speaker 1: or or Queensland and do it there rather than do
20:26
Speaker 1: it in Victoria because you can see the writing on
20:28
Speaker 1: the wall that if you're going to do that you
20:30
Speaker 1: might be more successful. Well, it's one of the reasons
20:34
Speaker 1: why we've put together the State Performance Index, Steve, so
20:36
Speaker 1: people have got some fact-based analysis to actually have a
20:39
Speaker 1: look at in terms of where is potentially the best place.
20:42
Speaker 8: And, of course, it depends on the type of business
20:44
Speaker 8: and who the.
20:45
Speaker 1: Customers will be.
20:46
Speaker 8: The bigger issue at the Australian level, Steve, beyond sort
20:49
Speaker 8: of the state level is all these proposed taxes now
20:53
Speaker 8: around changing the taxes of trusts, changing capital gains tax.
20:57
Speaker 8: We've got people with ideas for terrific businesses They're setting
21:01
Speaker 8: up in Dubai. They're setting up in parts of China
21:03
Speaker 8: where they're encouraged to actually come up there and have
21:06
Speaker 8: a go and given incentives to get going in those countries,
21:09
Speaker 8: which then end up providing more employment and having more innovation.
21:13
Speaker 8: And I think the thing about business and small business,
21:15
Speaker 8: it's often forgotten. And I was only talking to a
21:17
Speaker 8: couple of politicians today about this. Whenever we hear the
21:19
Speaker 8: engine room of the economy, it's a very rational comment.
21:22
Speaker 8: So we go, no, no, the small business families are
21:24
Speaker 8: the hearts and souls of local communities. That's who's providing
21:27
Speaker 8: the work experience for the kids in high school. sponsoring
21:30
Speaker 8: the local netball club. Now, to give you an example,
21:33
Speaker 8: I know you're in South Australia at the moment. Like
21:35
Speaker 8: over in South Australia, you know, if you want to
21:37
Speaker 8: get a building permit to have a home built, so
21:39
Speaker 8: say you're a small business builder, it takes 12 days,
21:43
Speaker 8: 120 days in Victoria, you know?
21:45
Speaker 1: Oh, my God. Well, I mean, it's a very important
21:49
Speaker 1: piece of work, Bill. I appreciate you sharing it with
21:51
Speaker 1: us tonight. Thanks for talking to us. Bill Lang there.
21:54
Speaker 1: I mean, that's incredible. 12 days in Adelaide, 120 in Victoria.
21:57
Speaker 1: After the break, The exit of Queensland MP Michelle Landry,
22:00
Speaker 1: who today decided she would not stand at the next election,
22:04
Speaker 1: that could spark a showdown between the Nats and One Nation.
22:09
Speaker 1: Find out more with Campbell Newman after the break. Welcome back.
22:15
Speaker 1: Great to have you with us on this Friday night.
22:17
Speaker 1: Coming up, we'll take a closer look at the impact
22:19
Speaker 1: that Victoria's big build is having on local traders. In
22:23
Speaker 1: a pocket of suburban Melbourne, It's not an isolated problem
22:26
Speaker 1: and it's a real issue. We'll get to that shortly. OK,
22:29
Speaker 1: let's get a closer look at the situation tonight unfolding
22:32
Speaker 1: in Queensland with news today that Capricornia MP Michelle Landry,
22:37
Speaker 1: who's been a champion in her seat, is pulling the
22:40
Speaker 1: pin at the next election. She announced it today. Now,
22:43
Speaker 1: that's opened up an interesting situation with Nationals leader Matt Canavan,
22:47
Speaker 1: who's not spoken today, expected to perhaps make a move
22:50
Speaker 1: to the lower house. But the smooth transition could be
22:54
Speaker 1: disrupted by One Nation. They're also eyeing off that seat
22:57
Speaker 1: with suggestions that James Ashby will put his hand up
23:01
Speaker 1: to stand there. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is reportedly
23:04
Speaker 1: looking also to move her electorate office to Rockhampton. Friday
23:08
Speaker 1: night regular former Queensland Premier Campbell Newman joins us. Always
23:11
Speaker 1: good to see you on a Friday night, Campbell. Tell
23:13
Speaker 1: us about the seat of Capricornia, can you?
23:18
Speaker 9: Well, look, Capricornia is sort of centred around sort of
23:21
Speaker 9: Rockhampton in the central Queensland area. And it's, you know,
23:25
Speaker 9: it's sort of, you.
23:26
Speaker 5: Know, beef cattle.
23:27
Speaker 9: It's obviously big in the coal sector. And there's tourism
23:32
Speaker 9: down on the coastline at Yipoon. So it's a fairly
23:36
Speaker 9: diverse seat, but it's been, you know, traditionally in the
23:40
Speaker 9: last sort of, I suppose, decade and a half, tightly
23:44
Speaker 9: held by the LNP, particularly through Michelle Landry, who has
23:48
Speaker 9: been seen as being an effective local member. At the
23:50
Speaker 9: last election, she saw off a bit of a swing
23:54
Speaker 9: against her. This is very interesting because her primary at
24:00
Speaker 9: the last election in 2025 was about 36%, 37%, and
24:02
Speaker 9: One Nation got about 15%. Now, as we know, One
24:10
Speaker 9: Nation's polling since 2025 has gone up quite significantly, particularly
24:16
Speaker 9: in Queensland. I also point to the fact that recent
24:20
Speaker 9: polls have suggested that Pauline Hanson is the preferred prime
24:24
Speaker 9: minister when it comes to Queensland. So that's all part
24:29
Speaker 9: of the calculation that Matt Canavan would be making. Look,
24:32
Speaker 9: I'd just say this. I think that if Matt Canavan
24:34
Speaker 9: puts his hand up and decides to do it, I
24:36
Speaker 9: think he would prevail. I think he's well regarded up there.
24:40
Speaker 9: He's based up there.
24:41
Speaker 5: And he'd pull it off. I think he would stare down.
24:46
Speaker 5: One Nation.
24:46
Speaker 9: I could be wrong, but that's the way I'd see it.
24:50
Speaker 5: But it would be a very interesting battle.
24:51
Speaker 9: And, you know, as a leader of a party, I
24:54
Speaker 9: can tell you from personal experience, you don't want to
24:56
Speaker 9: be in a seat that you could lose.
25:00
Speaker 1: Well, you really do make a good point. They need
25:02
Speaker 1: a big personality because, I mean, Landry's a much loved
25:05
Speaker 1: local candidate. She's going. You can't just put another LNP
25:09
Speaker 1: candidate in there. You need to choose someone with a
25:11
Speaker 1: big personality, and that's certainly Canavan. I want to ask you, Campbell,
25:15
Speaker 1: about the warnings today from the Business Council of Australia
25:18
Speaker 1: that say the Albanese government's proposed procurement overhaul, this sounds
25:23
Speaker 1: very dry, but stay with me, could give unions greater
25:26
Speaker 1: influence over who wins taxpayer-funded contracts. These are the reforms
25:31
Speaker 1: that would give unions more say over what companies win
25:35
Speaker 1: federal government contracts. I mean, we've seen the disaster that's
25:38
Speaker 1: beset big build in Victoria. The CFMEU's been out of
25:42
Speaker 1: control now for, you know, near on 10 years. And
25:45
Speaker 1: the Business Council say this is just going to drive
25:48
Speaker 1: up costs. Why would the federal government, and I know
25:50
Speaker 1: what the answer is, be doing this?
25:52
Speaker 9: Well, the VCR writes, Steve, this is a total rort.
25:59
Speaker 9: the ALP looking after the unions who ultimately fund them
26:03
Speaker 9: and pre-select them as well. And not just in Victoria,
26:07
Speaker 9: as you've said, but also in Queensland, we had a
26:09
Speaker 9: thing that the Palaszczuk government brought in called Best Practice
26:14
Speaker 9: Industry Conditions, BPIC, which is notorious because it was brought
26:19
Speaker 9: in about 2018. It led to massive cost blowouts on
26:24
Speaker 9: infrastructure projects and It lessens competition because the bureaucracy, and
26:29
Speaker 9: I was just noting the interview you just did with Bill,
26:33
Speaker 9: the bureaucracy that was entailed in BPIC meant that smaller
26:38
Speaker 9: contractors couldn't sort of vie for jobs and become larger
26:42
Speaker 9: and more successful. So the bottom line is it lined
26:46
Speaker 9: the pockets of unions. And it is a recipe for corruption. So,
26:51
Speaker 9: you know, it is quite disgraceful that they're proposing to
26:55
Speaker 9: do this at a federal level.
26:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, but not surprising. Still in Queensland, Christopher Foley, David
27:02
Speaker 1: Christopher Foley, the Premier there, has lost a minister today.
27:05
Speaker 1: The Queensland Child Safety Minister, Amanda Cam, has resigned from
27:10
Speaker 1: the front bench. Why has she decided to go?
27:15
Speaker 5: Well, they're saying she wasn't pushed.
27:18
Speaker 9: But I can tell you now, she was generating lots
27:22
Speaker 9: and lots of column inches that in the papers, particularly
27:26
Speaker 9: on the weekend, that the Premier wouldn't have been happy with.
27:29
Speaker 9: And I have no inside knowledge, Steve, but I can
27:32
Speaker 9: just tell you, as an outsider looking in, it was
27:35
Speaker 9: not a good look. I don't think the Minister was
27:38
Speaker 9: on top of the portfolio. There were too many big
27:42
Speaker 9: problems that weren't being addressed.
27:44
Speaker 2: And.
27:45
Speaker 9: and a sense of someone who is flailing in the job.
27:48
Speaker 9: So I'm sure that the minister was leaned on to go.
27:52
Speaker 9: By the way, I went to an event that the
27:54
Speaker 9: Courier-Mail ran today at the Brisbane Convention Centre and Chris
27:57
Speaker 9: Afuli spoke, and I should make the point I thought
28:00
Speaker 9: it was a very inspiring speech about the future of
28:04
Speaker 9: Queensland and Brisbane. And, you know, it was one of
28:06
Speaker 9: the best speeches I've ever seen him give.
28:09
Speaker 1: Was the Prime Minister at that same event? Was he inspiring?
28:14
Speaker 9: He certainly was. He came on before the Premier. And
28:18
Speaker 9: I can just say, and remember viewers who watch this
28:21
Speaker 9: show regularly, I'm not in the LNP anymore.
28:24
Speaker 5: They're political opponents.
28:26
Speaker 9: But I'll say this, that he was completely outgunned in
28:31
Speaker 9: terms of the presentation by the Premier.
28:35
Speaker 5: He was very inspiring. Sorry, the Prime Minister, very dry.
28:41
Speaker 1: Do you, just quickly, do you agree with Chris Afuli's
28:44
Speaker 1: change of the Queensland voting system? Do you think that
28:47
Speaker 1: there's a good way to go?
28:50
Speaker 5: Well, he made a promise on this and it's quite interesting.
28:52
Speaker 9: He keeps sticking to promises that I think he should
28:55
Speaker 9: abandon and other things. He's broken some promises, a certain stadium.
29:00
Speaker 9: that I think he shouldn't have. But anyway, this one
29:03
Speaker 9: could be really diabolical for the LNP with the rise
29:06
Speaker 9: of the One Nation primary vote.
29:09
Speaker 5: It's like this, Steve. I was talking to someone the
29:10
Speaker 5: other day.
29:11
Speaker 9: It's like you've got the, you know, it's the kids
29:12
Speaker 9: have got the Lego and they just throw the whole
29:14
Speaker 9: lot in the air and the pieces are going to
29:16
Speaker 9: fall down and it's going to be really hard to
29:18
Speaker 9: work out what you can put back together with that.
29:22
Speaker 1: We'll wait and see how it goes. Campbell, always good
29:24
Speaker 1: to see you. Have a great weekend. Now, it's five
29:27
Speaker 1: weeks until a Victorian election. It's going to come around
29:29
Speaker 1: very quickly and the electioneering is going to hot up
29:32
Speaker 1: big time in the next five weeks. A lot of
29:35
Speaker 1: the issues are local, issues like potholes in Victoria. I
29:38
Speaker 1: know a lot of the rest of Australia... don't understand it,
29:41
Speaker 1: but drive your car down here and you'll quickly find out.
29:44
Speaker 1: Crumbling infrastructure is another big part, schools, hospitals. Victoria feels
29:49
Speaker 1: and is broke. Now, one local issue that is real
29:53
Speaker 1: hot involves the removal of a level crossing, a train
29:56
Speaker 1: crossing in in the inner suburb of Yarraville. Now, the
29:59
Speaker 1: former Premier Daniel Andrews used level crossing removals very cleverly
30:03
Speaker 1: as a vote winner in the city's southeast. I'm not sure, though,
30:08
Speaker 1: that this one is as popular. Traders in the vibrant
30:12
Speaker 1: retail village of Yarraville worry it's about to be turned
30:16
Speaker 1: into a ghost town. Let's hope that.
30:18
Speaker 10: There are impacts and one of them will be potentially
30:21
Speaker 10: that if you close off this road, people will not
30:25
Speaker 10: come to this little village. Shops will close and it
30:29
Speaker 10: will eventually die.
30:33
Speaker 1: Lawyer and local campaigner Francine Bedford, who's fighting the plan,
30:36
Speaker 1: says the government needs to pause the project, properly assess
30:40
Speaker 1: its impact on the community. Fran... Welcome. I mean, explain
30:44
Speaker 1: your concerns around the apparent urgency of this. Why do
30:48
Speaker 1: you think it should be halted at least?
30:52
Speaker 10: OK, it should be halted for a couple of reasons.
30:56
Speaker 10: The process that has been undertaken in terms of where
31:00
Speaker 10: we've got to today with Yarraville is problematic. What's in
31:06
Speaker 10: fact happened is the government has used a legal loophole
31:12
Speaker 10: to in fact bring the whole of a Yarraville project
31:16
Speaker 10: under another project as additional scope, which was not at
31:21
Speaker 10: all what that section was intended to do. So from
31:24
Speaker 10: a process perspective, it's quite fraught and it's actually doubtful
31:29
Speaker 10: whether that's acting within the government's powers in terms of
31:34
Speaker 10: what they've done there. So that's one of the issues.
31:38
Speaker 10: They're also looking to close the road So none of
31:42
Speaker 10: the other railway crossing closures have involved a closing of
31:48
Speaker 10: a road. So this is a road where there's over
31:51
Speaker 10: 24 shopkeepers, local traders that are on that road. There
31:56
Speaker 10: is no reason we have been given as to why
32:00
Speaker 10: the road needs to be closed. And if that does
32:05
Speaker 10: in fact happen, it's extremely problematic because no one has
32:10
Speaker 10: undertaken any impact assessments whatsoever in deciding this plan to
32:15
Speaker 10: close the road, close the railway and do other things
32:19
Speaker 10: that will severely impact amenity and also really kill this village.
32:26
Speaker 10: If they close the road, we won't have.
32:29
Speaker 4: Traffic through the road.
32:30
Speaker 10: It will reduce passers-by and we've seen in other areas
32:36
Speaker 10: where roads have been turned into malls, it's actually been
32:41
Speaker 10: very problematic and there's been mixed success.
32:44
Speaker 1: Well, we've seen that in places like Footscray, haven't we?
32:49
Speaker 10: Absolutely.
32:51
Speaker 1: A mall and, you know, it's just created a mess.
32:55
Speaker 10: It's very close to home. Footscray is the perfect example
32:58
Speaker 10: where the local council is actually at the moment examining
33:01
Speaker 10: whether or not to turn the road back into a
33:05
Speaker 10: road and allow cars. I mean, there's other examples in Ballarat, Shepparton,
33:11
Speaker 10: and other regional towns where they've created malls by doing
33:14
Speaker 10: this sort of thing and they've worked out that actually
33:16
Speaker 10: it's terrible for the traders and they've reverted to vehicles.
33:21
Speaker 1: Why do you think they're so stubbornly wedded to this idea?
33:27
Speaker 10: It's really gobsmacking because what we have learnt through undertaking
33:34
Speaker 10: some FOI requests, we've learnt that actually When the Minister
33:40
Speaker 10: and the Premier were asked to sign off on this
33:42
Speaker 10: last year, there was absolutely no impact assessments that were
33:47
Speaker 10: provided to them in relation to Yarraville. So they were
33:52
Speaker 10: proposing to close roads and they didn't do any economic
33:56
Speaker 10: impact assessment, no social impact assessment, no environmental impact assessment.
34:00
Speaker 10: So they've developed a plan effectively based on nothing. There
34:05
Speaker 10: is no... Verification, there's no data to support that this
34:09
Speaker 10: will work. And it's really a bit like building a
34:13
Speaker 10: house and not getting an engineering report and just hoping
34:17
Speaker 10: it kind of stays up.
34:21
Speaker 1: Well, Francine, I mean, not to generalise, but when I
34:23
Speaker 1: think of Yarraville and Spotswood as inner suburban Melbourne, I
34:30
Speaker 1: think of those suburbs as, you know, Labor supporting electorates
34:34
Speaker 1: pretty much. I mean... That part of Melbourne would be,
34:38
Speaker 1: you know, without sounding silly, you know, green Labor sympathisers.
34:46
Speaker 1: Why are you not getting a sympathetic ear when you
34:50
Speaker 1: say that don't do this, you're going to ruin our village?
34:53
Speaker 10: Well, we're not quite sure. Our local member has not
34:57
Speaker 10: at all been helpful in advocating for this, especially when
35:03
Speaker 10: there are significant impacts to traders and The plan will
35:07
Speaker 10: actually divide the suburb in half. It will completely change
35:13
Speaker 10: the environment that we know and access to and from
35:17
Speaker 10: the village. And there's a whole range of other, part
35:20
Speaker 10: of the proposal is to demolish a state heritage registered building,
35:26
Speaker 10: which is part of the railway complex. None of these
35:30
Speaker 10: things were mentioned when the Premier was asked to sign
35:33
Speaker 10: off on this. So it's the briefing paper that was
35:36
Speaker 10: provided to the minister and the premier was severely deficient.
35:41
Speaker 10: They ticked a box basically saying that there was no
35:43
Speaker 10: financial impact on this project, which is quite extraordinary. And
35:49
Speaker 10: also beyond belief that there is no concerns with consultation
35:56
Speaker 10: or engagement. So that kind of sets the scene of
35:59
Speaker 10: what we've been dealing with when that's the framework with
36:03
Speaker 10: which you start.
36:05
Speaker 1: I don't want to use a cliche, but it sounds
36:07
Speaker 1: like you've been railroaded, Fran. We'll keep an eye on it.
36:09
Speaker 1: We'll get an opinion from... We'll get an opinion for
36:12
Speaker 1: the opposition and see where they go. Fran Bedford, we'll
36:16
Speaker 1: keep an eye on that. That is just ridiculous what
36:18
Speaker 1: they're trying to do there. Now, coming up after the break,
36:21
Speaker 1: Cartoons of the Week with our very favourite cartoonist, the
36:24
Speaker 1: Herald Sun's Mark Knott. Welcome back. Rowan Dean coming up shortly. Well,
36:32
Speaker 1: it was a tough start to the week for the
36:34
Speaker 1: best illustrator in the business, Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight,
36:37
Speaker 1: who joins us tonight. The Helen Haynes story, it was
36:41
Speaker 1: just horrendous. It broke late on Monday evening, Mark, and
36:46
Speaker 1: I thought you drew one of your most touching and
36:50
Speaker 1: poignant illustrations of the year. I mean, that must have
36:54
Speaker 1: been tough.
36:55
Speaker 11: Very hard, Pricey. you know uh situations come along like
37:02
Speaker 11: this um rarely fortunately in this country but like with
37:06
Speaker 11: Bondi you can't ignore them and as cartoonist for the
37:10
Speaker 11: Herald Sun I had to comment on it and you
37:12
Speaker 11: just wonder where do you start and I guess the
37:15
Speaker 11: thing that we're all thinking is what this is no
37:18
Speaker 11: pun intended at all but what drove this man to
37:21
Speaker 11: do what he did and there are various theories but
37:24
Speaker 11: um We can't but help but think that people are
37:27
Speaker 11: motivated now by a lot of what goes on online.
37:32
Speaker 11: The debate is sometimes, you know, beyond decency and something has.
37:39
Speaker 4: Flicked a switch in this man's head. And so I
37:41
Speaker 4: tried to illustrate that moment.
37:44
Speaker 1: Yeah. The allegations will end up in court and we'll
37:48
Speaker 1: see where it goes. But, I mean, they are the
37:49
Speaker 1: toughest ones to do. Let's lighten the load on a Friday.
37:53
Speaker 1: Pauline Hanson. You love drawing Pauline. She's got herself somehow
37:59
Speaker 1: through Mark Knight into the middle of the protests in Europe.
38:03
Speaker 4: Well, I figured when this has just played into Pauline's
38:07
Speaker 4: hands beautifully, immigration in France, the riots, looting, rabid left,
38:17
Speaker 4: I think it's all just top of mind for Pauline.
38:19
Speaker 5: And so I thought when she.
38:21
Speaker 4: Would see this, I think it just reinforces some of
38:24
Speaker 4: the arguments she's making.
38:26
Speaker 11: And she's flame-haired and, boy, is she flame-haired in that cartoon.
38:33
Speaker 1: You just get out your red pen whenever you're going
38:35
Speaker 1: to draw her, I can tell. Casey Stoner, speaking of champions,
38:39
Speaker 1: motorcycle champion, world champion, Labor today, he's had a crack
38:44
Speaker 1: at the government in Victoria for dropping the MotoGP. I
38:48
Speaker 1: haven't seen a bike with a sidecar for a long while.
38:52
Speaker 1: My old man had one back in the day. Who's
38:54
Speaker 1: in the sidecar?
38:56
Speaker 4: I have reintroduced it, Pricey, and, of course, that is
38:58
Speaker 4: the Victorian Premier, Ben Carroll. Isn't he recognisable by that
39:03
Speaker 4: beautiful quiff of hair he has? But Victoria and the
39:08
Speaker 4: MotoGP have decided to part ways, and this illustration I
39:14
Speaker 4: think shows that moment where, The MotoGP is headed to
39:19
Speaker 4: Adelaide and we are going in a different direction.
39:23
Speaker 1: We are. It's been 30 years. Oh, I love it, yeah.
39:28
Speaker 1: And they're going to cut down a lot of trees.
39:30
Speaker 1: in Adelaide to make the thing actually work, which is
39:32
Speaker 1: also a bit of a disgrace. Listen, speaking about Premier
39:35
Speaker 1: Ben Carroll, I reckon this is your best drawing of
39:38
Speaker 1: the week. Now, you've done this for my column tomorrow,
39:41
Speaker 1: as I understand it, because the Premier, during the week,
39:45
Speaker 1: he drove off without paying for his petrol. You've drawn
39:48
Speaker 1: two this week about it. What have you got this
39:50
Speaker 1: bloke saying to him now?
39:52
Speaker 5: Well, this is Ben.
39:54
Speaker 4: I mean, this just shows you... Ben is now saying
39:57
Speaker 4: he's a man of the people, but just how much
39:59
Speaker 4: of a man of the people is he that when
40:01
Speaker 4: he goes to a petrol station.
40:02
Speaker 1: He doesn't realise you have.
40:03
Speaker 12: To pay for the fuel because when you're in your
40:08
Speaker 12: taxpayer-funded limo, you assume that fuel is free because you
40:12
Speaker 12: now have to put your hand in your pocket.
40:14
Speaker 4: So here's Ben saying, you have to pay for petrol?
40:17
Speaker 13: Really?
40:18
Speaker 4: I thought this stuff was free.
40:22
Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. I love having you
40:24
Speaker 1: back on the page with the column. Good on you, mate.
40:26
Speaker 1: I'll see you in a couple of weeks' time. Mark
40:27
Speaker 1: Knight there. You can see that column. and that cartoon
40:30
Speaker 1: in the Herald Sun tomorrow. Now, after the break, extraordinary
40:32
Speaker 1: footage from our friends at the ABC, our friends and
40:36
Speaker 1: one of their reporters actually doing a great job. Friday
40:39
Speaker 1: night panel up next. Welcome back. Let's jump into panel
40:47
Speaker 1: night with the Friday night panel. News 24 contributor, our
40:50
Speaker 1: old mate Joe Hildebrand and executive director from the Samuel
40:54
Speaker 1: Griffith Society, Mia Schlitt. Good to see you again, Joe
40:57
Speaker 1: and Mia, both of you. Welcome. I want to start
41:00
Speaker 1: with a pat on the back to the ABC. Now,
41:03
Speaker 1: I know, Joe, you would find that hard to come
41:04
Speaker 1: from my mouth, that I would say something like that
41:08
Speaker 1: and that the screen would go black, but it hasn't.
41:10
Speaker 1: Have a look at this vision, both of you, from
41:12
Speaker 1: the Queensland floods. This is yesterday. Footage courtesy of our
41:16
Speaker 1: friends at the ABC. We're told the reporter... is positioned
41:19
Speaker 1: to report back on the rising floodwaters. And this was
41:22
Speaker 1: on a flooded road at a place called Morayfield. The
41:25
Speaker 1: reporter and another bystander went to help a driver of
41:28
Speaker 1: a ute who was caught when he drove through the water,
41:31
Speaker 1: let's be honest, couldn't get out. Now, Joe, you and
41:35
Speaker 1: I have been on some tough assignments in our journalistic careers.
41:39
Speaker 1: Would we have ever stripped down to our jocks and
41:41
Speaker 1: jumped in the water to rescue some bloke in a ute?
41:44
Speaker 14: Well, I would just to give the housewives of Australia
41:46
Speaker 14: what they want, Pricey. You know, you've got to do
41:50
Speaker 14: it for the viewers. But just it cannot be overstated
41:53
Speaker 14: what an incredible feat this was. When a vehicle like
41:58
Speaker 14: that is underwater, the amount of pressure that is on
42:01
Speaker 14: the doors. I mean, no wonder the occupant couldn't open
42:04
Speaker 14: them himself.
42:05
Speaker 1: And it was only.
42:06
Speaker 14: by chance that they were able to open a rear
42:09
Speaker 14: door where the pressure, they think, equalised because the water
42:14
Speaker 14: rushing in sort of started helping to force the door open. Otherwise,
42:18
Speaker 14: no human being alive probably would have been able to
42:21
Speaker 14: actually pull it open. So this journo is an absolute hero.
42:26
Speaker 14: It is a remarkable feat of almost superhuman strength. And
42:31
Speaker 14: It is just, I think you can almost see even without,
42:33
Speaker 14: from just the sheer relief from the man as they
42:36
Speaker 14: dragged him out of the ute that he knew he
42:38
Speaker 14: was on his way to meet his maker.
42:42
Speaker 1: Mia, we can cut out some of the dead wood
42:43
Speaker 1: at the ABC and give that bloke a pay rise.
42:45
Speaker 1: I mean, that's extraordinary stuff.
42:50
Speaker 13: Yeah, I'd be happy to support that, Steve. I really
42:52
Speaker 13: do think I'm the first to criticise the ABC, but
42:55
Speaker 13: this guy certainly is.
42:56
Speaker 7: A hero in credit where credit is due.
42:59
Speaker 13: That was an extremely dangerous risk that he took in
43:03
Speaker 13: saving that man's life, but I'm glad he did.
43:05
Speaker 7: And also shout out to the other civilian who helped
43:08
Speaker 7: out as well.
43:08
Speaker 13: I understand that he's a father with young children and
43:12
Speaker 13: it can't be underestimated just how dangerous of a situation
43:15
Speaker 13: they both put themselves in to save this man.
43:18
Speaker 7: But it speaks to the Australian spirit.
43:20
Speaker 13: And I think we all wish that we saw more
43:21
Speaker 13: of this at the ABC, that, you know, they were
43:24
Speaker 13: there because they do, some of them do embody this
43:26
Speaker 13: Australian spirit and this reporter certainly did.
43:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, they both deserve a medal, no doubt about that. Now,
43:31
Speaker 1: Nick Scarley, the furniture retailer, I mean, they have some
43:34
Speaker 1: fairly out there advertising, but they have warned this week, Joe,
43:38
Speaker 1: that they'll take a huge hit to their profits. because
43:41
Speaker 1: of challenging retail conditions. They say housing downturn is forcing
43:45
Speaker 1: shopping to hold off on buying furniture. Well, I would
43:48
Speaker 1: say that the state of the economy, the general state
43:51
Speaker 1: of the economy, Joe and Mia, would say to you,
43:54
Speaker 1: I don't need a new lounge suite. I don't need
43:56
Speaker 1: a new lounge chair. I don't need a new coffee table.
43:59
Speaker 1: I mean, everybody I know is pulling their horns in
44:02
Speaker 1: when it comes to making those sort of discretionary purchases.
44:06
Speaker 14: Yeah, I think it's just the latest. And again, I've
44:09
Speaker 14: been hypercritical of this budget. I know a lot of
44:11
Speaker 14: people think I'm too soft on the government, but I've
44:13
Speaker 14: been absolutely... just tearing my hair out over the thinking
44:18
Speaker 14: behind this budget, even by its own reckoning, even by
44:21
Speaker 14: its own rationale that it used to justify some of
44:24
Speaker 14: the measures it took, let alone the huge raft of
44:28
Speaker 14: unintended consequences that we are still seeing. And this is
44:32
Speaker 14: just another one of them. And I think, to be honest,
44:35
Speaker 14: and again, this is not to sort of let the
44:37
Speaker 14: government off the hook, but The boffins in Treasury have
44:41
Speaker 14: got to have so much to answer for that clearly
44:45
Speaker 14: the modelling they did either didn't take into account any
44:50
Speaker 14: of these kind of flow on effects or got them
44:53
Speaker 14: wrong or perhaps even worse, they knew that this would happen,
44:58
Speaker 14: but proceeded to just sort of, you know, floor the
45:01
Speaker 14: steamroller through the economy anyway. And it just it just
45:04
Speaker 14: sort of I honestly think there is an element here
45:07
Speaker 14: of a disconnected Canberra class that has all the stats
45:11
Speaker 14: and all the spreadsheets, but none of the real world
45:14
Speaker 14: experience in business who just don't understand the behaviour of business,
45:20
Speaker 14: the behaviour of people who make decisions to keep their
45:23
Speaker 14: businesses alive and profitable. I think they seem to rely
45:27
Speaker 14: entirely on this kind of soulless modelling and don't accept
45:32
Speaker 14: that these things will change behaviour.
45:35
Speaker 1: Mia, what's it say about Jim Chalmers' lack of understanding
45:38
Speaker 1: of the economy and the way retail works in this country?
45:44
Speaker 7: Oh, it speaks volumes, Steve.
45:45
Speaker 13: And I think, you know, a few months ago, we
45:47
Speaker 13: saw Chalmers ram through his changes to negative gearing and
45:50
Speaker 13: the capital gains tax. And that was meant to solve
45:53
Speaker 13: the housing crisis that we've got here in this country.
45:55
Speaker 13: And obviously, those effects have not improved. In fact, the
45:59
Speaker 13: housing market is taking a turn for the worse. And
46:02
Speaker 13: of course, there are flow on consequences of that, because
46:04
Speaker 13: it's not just about the price of housing or how
46:06
Speaker 13: easy it is to get to the market. It means
46:08
Speaker 13: that people aren't buying furniture or to renovate those homes
46:12
Speaker 13: when they're not bringing in tradespeople, to renovate those homes
46:15
Speaker 13: when the cost of living gets worse.
46:17
Speaker 7: There are all these flow-on consequences of that.
46:20
Speaker 13: And rather than actually addressing that, rather than acknowledging the
46:23
Speaker 13: fact that we have a supply and demand issue on
46:25
Speaker 13: housing in this country, instead we were introduced with a
46:28
Speaker 13: variety of tax reforms that have made things worse, and
46:31
Speaker 13: tax reforms that Australians were told would never, ever be introduced,
46:34
Speaker 13: and they were anyway.
46:37
Speaker 1: Joe, One Nation has a leader in New South Wales,
46:40
Speaker 1: a guy called Mike Newman. Now, I was tempted to
46:43
Speaker 1: say that this is another mistake by One Nation. They've
46:46
Speaker 1: chosen the wrong candidate. I've changed my mind after reading
46:49
Speaker 1: the detail of this. He used to be some sort
46:51
Speaker 1: of super trade commissioner in Japan. He's now in trouble
46:55
Speaker 1: from the accounts department. He's facing scrutiny over, wait for this,
47:00
Speaker 1: his expenses, including a $ 7, 790 dinner, which included 71 bottles
47:08
Speaker 1: of beer and 23 bottles of wine. I think that
47:13
Speaker 1: probably gets him elected, don't you? One Nation supporters would say,
47:16
Speaker 1: you beauty, you ripped off the boss, you got the
47:19
Speaker 1: big lunch, you had all the beer and wine. Good
47:21
Speaker 1: on you, mate. That's right.
47:22
Speaker 14: I've got to say, it sounds like a hell of
47:24
Speaker 14: a dinner.
47:24
Speaker 1: I'm just sorry that I wasn't there. You and me both.
47:29
Speaker 1: I mean, Mia, I guess it does, though, in a
47:32
Speaker 1: serious sense, say, look, One Nation does have a problem.
47:35
Speaker 1: They've got to be very careful on who they select
47:37
Speaker 1: as candidates, don't they?
47:41
Speaker 7: Oh, absolutely.
47:41
Speaker 13: It also speaks to hypocrisy because this particular individual has
47:44
Speaker 13: gone around, you know, lamenting the government for their outrageous
47:47
Speaker 13: government spending. And then you see bills like this pop up,
47:50
Speaker 13: which whilst they might be within the rules, they don't
47:52
Speaker 13: pass the pub test.
47:53
Speaker 7: And there's a difference on that. But I did find
47:55
Speaker 7: it amusing.
47:55
Speaker 13: One of the justifications that was used for one of
47:58
Speaker 13: these outrageous lunches or dinners that was spent was that
48:01
Speaker 13: somebody ordered a very expensive prawn salad.
48:04
Speaker 7: And that's why the bill was so high.
48:06
Speaker 13: So it must have been the most expensive prawn salad
48:08
Speaker 13: this country has ever seen.
48:13
Speaker 1: Joe, just quickly, Italy shows France how to deal with
48:16
Speaker 1: a riot, get out the army and tell people they're
48:20
Speaker 1: going to get thrown in jail. Yeah, that's exactly right.
48:22
Speaker 14: There's nothing progressive about kids not being in school and
48:25
Speaker 14: people running through the streets, setting fire to things, looting shops. So, yeah,
48:30
Speaker 14: good on them. I think this is what Maloney was
48:33
Speaker 14: born to do. Was she ever born to do it?
48:36
Speaker 14: And I've got to tell you, if I'm going to
48:37
Speaker 14: go for a holiday over there, I'll be more likely
48:39
Speaker 14: to be going to Italy.
48:40
Speaker 1: Than to France. Thank you both. Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Mia.
48:45
Speaker 1: Rowan Dean. The World According to Rowan Dean is up
48:47
Speaker 1: right next.