Latest / The Kenny Report / The Kenny Report | 26 June

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The Kenny Report | 26 June · The Kenny Report

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Line from the Skying New Center. This is the Kenny Report.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Thanks for joining me on Chris Kenny tonight. The opposition,
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: why is it talking about itself and not mustling up
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: against Labour's woeful foreign policy?
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: The human toll of the Middle East crisis.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: I'll cross to Israel to speak with a mother whose
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: son has been held hostage by Hummas for more than
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: a year and a half. And on foreign policy, Donald
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Trump gets his NATO allies to double their spending on defense.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: What does this mean for Australia. Alexander Downer will share
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: his views. Also, the Antoinette Latouf case shows the ABC
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: has lost its way, according to Tom Switzer. He'll join
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: me live and Tim Blair and Mark Nicholson wrap up
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: the week. As the media goes nuts about the Big Daddy,
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: Donald Trump. Let's get started. At the NATO summit in
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: the Netherlands, Donald Trump has won an historic commitment from
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: all Name Home members that is, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: to lift their defense spending to five percent of GDP.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: This is an astonishing level of spending. That's only good
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: news for global security. It's defense commitments like this that
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: will bolster and protect the liberal democracies of Western Europe
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: against Russia, against Iran, against any military threat. And the
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: funding guarantee follows a pattern established in Trump's first term,
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: when he pushed NATO hard for increased spending, an outcome
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: he's built on since returning to the White House.
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  Speaker 4: This week, the NATO allies committed to dramatically increase their
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: defense spending two that five percent of GDP, something that
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: no one really thought possible. And they said, you did it, sir,
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: you did it.
• 1:52
  Speaker 5: Well.
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: I don't know if they did it, but I think
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: I did. This will be known as the Hague Defense Commitment,
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: which is pretty good, pretty appropriate. When the Allies reach
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: this number, it will add more than one trillion dollars
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: a year. Think of that one trillion per year to
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: our common defense.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Now, before you're put off by Trump's ego yet again,
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: think about how all sides of politics have tried to
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: deliver this outcome. In fact, before Trump first came to
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: office in twenty sixteen, the US hoped that maybe one
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: day NATO countries might spend two percent on defense.
• 2:33
  Speaker 6: The situation in Ukraine reminds us that our freedom isn't free,
• 2:40
  Speaker 6: and we've got to be willing to pay for the assets,
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: the personnel, the training that's required to make sure that
• 2:49
  Speaker 6: we have a credible natal force and an effective deterrent force.
• 2:56
  Speaker 7: All NATO members are making the plate to expand our
• 2:58
  Speaker 7: industrial base and our industrial capacity. To fans spending commitment,
• 3:04
  Speaker 7: it's a critical step to maintain in our security. Yeah.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Once again, the Democrats are left flat footed because they've
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: long talked about getting their NATO allies to take up
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: more of the burden, and they've accused Trump of undermining
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: NATO because of the threats he's made to push for
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: additional funding. But here we are, and it's President Trump
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: who has again delivered where his predecessors only talked. And typically,
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: instead of focusing on this historic achievement, much of the
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: media is focused mainly on this exchange about how the
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Israel Iran war was brought to an end after only
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: twelve days.
• 3:44
  Speaker 8: They've got a big fight, like two kids at the
• 3:46
  Speaker 8: school yard. You know, they fight like help, you can't
• 3:48
  Speaker 8: stop them. Let him fight for about two three minutes.
• 3:51
  Speaker 8: Then it's easy to stave.
• 3:52
  Speaker 9: Up, and then daddy has sometimes strong.
• 3:54
  Speaker 8: Language is strong, and everyone's saying you have to use
• 3:58
  Speaker 8: a certain word.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: So now the media fuss is all about the term
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: daddy and using it to mock Trump and his allies.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: This stuff is so purele and Trump of course just
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: laughs it off. As I'll show you later on. They'll
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: do anything, of course, to avoid having to discuss Trump's achievement.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: But if you wanted any more evidence of the intellectual
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: gymnastics that Trump haters have to employ to make their
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: case against the president, you only had to listen to
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: ABC Radio this morning. Listen carefully to this exchange with
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: a former US ambassador to NATO.
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: NATO compared to what it was five years ago, is
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: it stronger now or looking stronger or more diminished than
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: it was previously?
• 4:42
  Speaker 10: It's in the transition phase. It's certainly stronger because NATO
• 4:46
  Speaker 10: defense spending has been increased for the past decade and
• 4:50
  Speaker 10: a very significant effort. But six hundred billion more dollars
• 4:54
  Speaker 10: has been spent than whatever otherwise, So that's a significant
• 4:57
  Speaker 10: amount of money. But the pillar of NEDO, the core
• 5:01
  Speaker 10: of Needle, was American leadership. That leadership is now being
• 5:04
  Speaker 10: called in question, not by any of the members, not
• 5:07
  Speaker 10: even by any of the adversaries, but the United States
• 5:11
  Speaker 10: itself under the leadership of Donald Trump.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, NATO is stronger because of all the additional funding,
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: but it's weaker because of a lack of US leadership
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: under Trump. This is insanely illogical. The only reason the
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: funding has increased is because Trump has demanded it. So
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: it is precisely because of American leadership under Trump that
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: NATO is stronger. These people will say black is white
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: if it helps with.
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: Their Trump derangement syndrome.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: And needless to say, the ABC didn't pick this up
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: or point out or challenge this failed logic.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: They just amplified it.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Even considering their political bias, the lack of intellectual integrity
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: is remarkable.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: Let's have a.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Quick look at the coalition under the new opposition leader,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Susan Lee.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: We mentioned her press club address.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: Yesterday and today she had her first meeting of the
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Shadow ministry in camera. I've got to say, so far
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: the Liberals have been too focused on talking about themselves.
• 6:22
  Speaker 11: So let's be honest and upfront about last month's selection.
• 6:26
  Speaker 11: We didn't just lose, we got smashed, totally smashed.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, enough of that, It's time to focus on the
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: issues and the government. And given the historic events, unfolding
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: in foreign affairs in the Middle East and with the
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: US alliance. The coalition has been way too far out
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: of the picture. I mean, Labor has been woeful. Anthony
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Alberizi and Penny Wong have failed to take a strong
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: stand against anti Semitism at home, that failed to Israel,
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: that failed to condemn Iran, that failed even to offer
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: diplomatic support.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: For our alliance partner, the United States.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Given this situation, the Opposition should be all over them
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: on these issues, criticizing the government and offering this sensible alternative.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: But the Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Mikaulia Cash has been
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: almost invisible, and Lee herself has been wishy washy as
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: she was today.
• 7:28
  Speaker 11: We've pushed the government to step up to engage more
• 7:31
  Speaker 11: seriously with our most important ally, the US, to give
• 7:35
  Speaker 11: us clear assurances on orcas and tariffs, So thank you
• 7:40
  Speaker 11: for prosecuting that case. We've called the clarity and leadership
• 7:44
  Speaker 11: on the threat of a nuclear armed Iran, and that
• 7:47
  Speaker 11: threat remains very strong and very live today.
• 7:50
  Speaker 12: As so many of you know.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Called for Labor to engage more with the US on
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: orcas and called for clarity on Iran. The opposition should
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: be demanding the government do more to commit resources to
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: the US Alliance, unambiguously support the US and Israel in
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: their military efforts against Iran, and demanding that Iran renounce
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: its nuclear ambitions, not to mention, end its sponsorship of terrorism.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Take a stand. I mean, that's why the Coalition failed
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: at the election. No one can remember them taking a
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: clear stand on anything. Thankfully, Shadow Home Affairs Minister Andrew
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: Hasty and the Assistant Minister in Treasury Dave Sharma have
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: stepped in with strong and wise arguments on these foreign
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: policy issues, which just raises the question of why Shama
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: isn't the Shadow Foreign Minister. The Opposition needs someone in
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: that job who knows the issues and has a clear
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: sense of where Australia should stand anyway. On domestic issues,
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: the biggest noise we've heard from the Coalition is whinging
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: about losing some of their staffing allocation after the election.
• 9:03
  Speaker 13: The Prime Minister, in a personal, petty, vindictive decision, has
• 9:10
  Speaker 13: stripped staff away from the Opposition and it will make
• 9:14
  Speaker 13: it harder for the entire opposition to do their job
• 9:17
  Speaker 13: because we will have fewer resources. That goes without saying.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: Really, every MP gets a staff of at least five people.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: That's more than they need for starters. And on top
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: of that, the opposition gets eighty staff members for shadow ministers,
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: again more than enough. I've been chief of staff for
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: a federal opposition leader, and I can tell you that
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: numbers of staff is the least of.
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: The problems in that office.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Labor has cut government staff numbers too, So the Liberals
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: ought to stop their whining and get on with it,
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: remembering this very important principle that Lee committed to again
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: just yesterday.
• 9:57
  Speaker 11: We're at our best when we focus on making government better,
• 10:02
  Speaker 11: not bigger.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, doing more with less is a good place to start.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: And given they've lost so many MPs, the coalition should
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: lead by example. Let's go to Anne Rustin, who's the
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: shadow health minister. Joins us alive from Adelaide and tell
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: us about that first meeting of the shadow ministry today.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: How did it go and is there anything concrete that's
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: come out of it.
• 10:29
  Speaker 14: Look, it was a really great meeting, a great morale
• 10:32
  Speaker 14: in the room, and I think everybody has realized that
• 10:34
  Speaker 14: the election result was pretty bad and there's no point
• 10:37
  Speaker 14: in its pretending it was otherwise, But everyone seems really
• 10:40
  Speaker 14: focused on doing the two things that I think oppositions
• 10:43
  Speaker 14: have to do. One of them is making sure we
• 10:45
  Speaker 14: hold the government to account, so that every day we
• 10:47
  Speaker 14: get out of bed and we focus on what the
• 10:49
  Speaker 14: government is doing and making sure that they are delivering
• 10:52
  Speaker 14: for the Australian people. But secondly, we've got a lot
• 10:55
  Speaker 14: of work to do to build up our policy platform
• 10:57
  Speaker 14: so that we're in a position to make an offering
• 10:59
  Speaker 14: to the Australian people about addressing the issues that they're
• 11:02
  Speaker 14: concerned about. Because, to be quite frank, there are so
• 11:05
  Speaker 14: many areas that I think the Labor Party has failed
• 11:08
  Speaker 14: in terms of its policy offering to Australians. So we
• 11:11
  Speaker 14: need to make sure that we've got an alternative one.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: Clearly, what we.
• 11:14
  Speaker 14: Offered at the last election didn't meet the excipectations of
• 11:19
  Speaker 14: the public and was rejected. So we need to make
• 11:22
  Speaker 14: sure that we've got a good policy offering, so policy development,
• 11:25
  Speaker 14: holding the government to account, that's what we've got to
• 11:27
  Speaker 14: do every day from now on.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: Obviously you're in Canberra rather than Adelaide as my mistake
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: in introducing you. Unless they've moved the national capital to Adelaide,
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: which I think would be a very good thing for
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: South Australia. Now, just on this absolutely and my comment
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: about the party not talking about itself too much. Now,
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: we all understand the need for a review and that
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: can go on in the background. But as you point out,
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: this government is making so many mistakes. I focused on
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: foreign policy, there's a lot happening also in energy and
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: domestic policy.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: I mean, you can't afford to waste time. You've got to.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: Hold them to account and have viable alternative, alternative arguments
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: straight away. You can't wait six months or a year, surely.
• 12:08
  Speaker 14: Well, I think there's two things. We do need to
• 12:10
  Speaker 14: take the time to get this right. Because, Chris, the
• 12:12
  Speaker 14: cold hard reality that we cannot shy away from is
• 12:15
  Speaker 14: that our offering at the last election was overwhelmingly rejected
• 12:19
  Speaker 14: by the Australian public. So we need to make sure
• 12:22
  Speaker 14: that we get that right. We need to take the
• 12:24
  Speaker 14: time to get that right. But you are equally right
• 12:27
  Speaker 14: in saying that we need to get that policy offering
• 12:29
  Speaker 14: and that alternative government out in front of the Australian
• 12:32
  Speaker 14: people as soon as possible, and we already are in
• 12:34
  Speaker 14: some areas. I mean Obviously, we've had a long talk
• 12:37
  Speaker 14: about the inadequacies of this government when it comes to defense,
• 12:40
  Speaker 14: and quite frankly, all of the problems that we saw
• 12:43
  Speaker 14: in the last three years under this government with people's
• 12:46
  Speaker 14: cost of the cost of living, people's living standards going backwards,
• 12:50
  Speaker 14: nothing has changed and they're the things that we must
• 12:53
  Speaker 14: focus on because Australians are still out there, they're still hurting,
• 12:57
  Speaker 14: and we need to make sure that we've got policies
• 12:59
  Speaker 14: that tell them that we're hearing them, we're understanding them,
• 13:03
  Speaker 14: and we're going to do something about it if they
• 13:05
  Speaker 14: give us the opportunity to do so.
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: Into the future, I'll just.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: Show you a little bit of what David little Proud
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: had to say, the Nationals leader at the Shadow Ministry
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: this morning. While it's humbling and it's disappointing the election result.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: You can do one or two things.
• 13:22
  Speaker 15: You can get in the fetal position and give up,
• 13:24
  Speaker 15: or you can come out swinging, and being from Western Queensland,
• 13:27
  Speaker 15: we always take the latter.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think he's making pretty much the similar point
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: to the one you were making, and so onwards and upwards.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: Now on this.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: There's a need to get more women into senior ranks
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: in the coalition, yourself and Susan Lee and Michaulia Cash.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: Notwithstanding the argument of quotas keeps coming up again. Is
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: the party going to get caught up in an argument
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: about quotas? Angus Taylor's against them? Susan Lee says she's ambivalent.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: Will there be quotas brought in? Do you think by
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: maybe some of some of the state branches.
• 14:03
  Speaker 14: Well, I think the most important thing is that we
• 14:06
  Speaker 14: focus on the outcome here, and the outcome that I
• 14:08
  Speaker 14: think we all overwhelmingly want is to seem more capable
• 14:12
  Speaker 14: and competent women in the ranks of our parliamentary party
• 14:15
  Speaker 14: but also within our administrative party as well, because that's
• 14:20
  Speaker 14: the way we end up with the strongest possible team
• 14:22
  Speaker 14: and the one that reflects what reflects Australia and what
• 14:26
  Speaker 14: Australia wants. So I think we need to be focusing
• 14:28
  Speaker 14: absolutely on the outcome. I don't think that we should
• 14:31
  Speaker 14: be get ourselves hung up about how we get there.
• 14:33
  Speaker 14: But the cold, hard reality is that we need to
• 14:36
  Speaker 14: get there, and we need to make sure that we
• 14:38
  Speaker 14: use whatever tools are available to us to get there.
• 14:41
  Speaker 14: And I'll certainly be encouraging my division in South Australia
• 14:45
  Speaker 14: to be focusing on making sure that we have got
• 14:48
  Speaker 14: those pathways for women. Because we've talked about it for
• 14:51
  Speaker 14: quite some time now, I think now is the time
• 14:54
  Speaker 14: that we actually take some action and really make ourselves
• 14:57
  Speaker 14: deliver the outcome that we quite clearly all want.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: Now when it comes to defense, the historic achievement to
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: NATO with a five percent of GDP spending commitment from
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: all the NATO allies, that's going to take a decade
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: or so to bring bring to fruition, but surely that
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: will put the pressure on Australia as a US alliance partner,
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: to deliver a similar level of defense spending. Do you
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: expect that that's what we'll hear from the US And
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: do you think we're hearing enough from Anthony Albanesi and
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: Richard Marles on this topic.
• 15:30
  Speaker 14: Well, I think what we've actually been highlighted over the
• 15:33
  Speaker 14: last few hours and days with NATO is the fact
• 15:36
  Speaker 14: that the Australian government has been found absolutely wanting in
• 15:40
  Speaker 14: this space. I mean with their own strategic review. Defense
• 15:44
  Speaker 14: Review came out and said there are a number of
• 15:45
  Speaker 14: areas where we needed to increase our defense capability and
• 15:49
  Speaker 14: the government hasn't funded them. So I think what we've
• 15:51
  Speaker 14: seen is that the even Anthony Albanesi admits that the
• 15:55
  Speaker 14: world is in one of the most un the most
• 15:57
  Speaker 14: uncertain time we've seen since the Second World War, and
• 15:59
  Speaker 14: he has nothing. And now we see our NATO colleagues
• 16:03
  Speaker 14: and friends come out and they're taking this issue really,
• 16:06
  Speaker 14: really seriously, and yet Anthony Alberesi, Richard Mirles and the
• 16:09
  Speaker 14: Labor government just don't seem to be doing so. So
• 16:13
  Speaker 14: hopefully that maybe the kind of pressure that we're seeing
• 16:17
  Speaker 14: will make the Alberesi government realize that they have a responsibility.
• 16:21
  Speaker 14: You can't just keep talking about the risk of the
• 16:23
  Speaker 14: uncertainty and do nothing about it, which is exactly what
• 16:26
  Speaker 14: they're doing at the moment.
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: I reckon they'll hear about it.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: If he ever gets to talk to Donald Trump, he'll
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: hear about it. Thanks so much for joining us in.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it, and Rust and their Senator for South
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: Australia and shadow Health Minister. Let's go to Tom Switzon
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: now from the Center for Independent Studies joins us live
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: from Sydney. I want to follow up on the Antoinette
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: Latooth case with the ABC yesterday, and Tom Switz has
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: written in the Daily Telegraph today that this shows that
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: the ABC has lost its way. Thanks for joining us, Tom.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: Why does this show that the ABC has lost its way?
• 16:57
  Speaker 15: Well, this was what you call an ingole Chris Antoinette
• 17:02
  Speaker 15: Latouf when she was working as a casual presenter on
• 17:05
  Speaker 15: Sydney ABC Radio in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
• 17:09
  Speaker 15: After one shift, she posted online a Human Rights Watch
• 17:12
  Speaker 15: report that was critical of Israel's conduct in the war
• 17:16
  Speaker 15: on Gaza, and there was an intense lobbying campaign underway.
• 17:20
  Speaker 15: An ABC manage management bowed to that lobby group and
• 17:25
  Speaker 15: sactor and they didn't need to do that. They should
• 17:27
  Speaker 15: just let her fill out the last two or three
• 17:29
  Speaker 15: days of her contract. And what's really golling about this
• 17:32
  Speaker 15: episode is that they went out of their way to
• 17:34
  Speaker 15: punish Antoinette Latouf, but they go out of their way
• 17:38
  Speaker 15: to defend other senior journalists, including many so called reporters,
• 17:43
  Speaker 15: who will put on social media far more outrageous left
• 17:46
  Speaker 15: wing views, but they're defended. I think there's a massive
• 17:50
  Speaker 15: hypocrisy here and that was highlighted in this littoof case.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you're absolutely right.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think it's even more complicated than that,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: because they tend to only hire people of the sort
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: of a green left background. Yourself, I suppose you're the you're
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: the exception that proofs of the rule. We were working
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: there for a while and then they love pointing that out.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: But so that's why they went to someone like Latooth
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: because should have fits their political agenda. But then when
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: they got the heat and I don't criticize the lobbyist,
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: sue criticist who complained to the ABC, that's fine that,
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: as you say, the ABC should be able to, you know,
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: withstand that pressure. And they flicked her because she was
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: a casual as you say, Laura Tingle's been out there
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: calling you know, Scott Morrison talking about ideological bastardry. Louise
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: Milligan has even defamed people on her private Twitter account
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: and taxpayers and.
• 18:39
  Speaker 15: People in the case of Louis Milligan. She's in the
• 18:43
  Speaker 15: case of Louise Milligan, she's a so called investigative reporter
• 18:47
  Speaker 15: for four Corners, but she goes on social media or
• 18:49
  Speaker 15: has in the past, where she's not only just given
• 18:51
  Speaker 15: her opinions, but she has defamed in one case, a
• 18:54
  Speaker 15: federal liberal MP and the ABC management went to great
• 18:58
  Speaker 15: links to defend her. They poured resources in her defense,
• 19:02
  Speaker 15: and then when she lost the defamation case, they paid
• 19:04
  Speaker 15: one hundred thousand dollars of taxpayers money. Why was Milligan
• 19:08
  Speaker 15: protected but not loutif as a double standard?
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: Absolutely a clear double standard. Let's have a look at
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: a little bit of what Antoinette.
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: Letofof had to say after the case yesterday.
• 19:18
  Speaker 16: I was punished for my political opinion.
• 19:22
  Speaker 9: I won't be taking any questions.
• 19:24
  Speaker 11: I'll have more to say in due time.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Thank you very Feelian.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, now I have a little bit to do with
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: Antoinette Latoof. I used to have her on programs here.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't agree with her on many of her political views,
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: but I support her in this. She was poorly treated.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: Good on her for standing up for her rights and
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: she's the ABC have made a martyr of her now
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: and no doubt they'll hear a lot more from her
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: in public debate. But the interesting point Tom, I want
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: to get your thoughts on is given that the federal
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: court has said as an a ABC presenter, she should
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: have the freedom to express her political views publicly and
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: keep her job. Where is ABC, the ABC charter and
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: the obligations on its reporters to remain objective and unbiased.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: Where does that stand for them?
• 20:20
  Speaker 15: Yeah, I mean it's complicated. I mean I was a
• 20:22
  Speaker 15: presenter at ABC's Radio National for the best part of
• 20:25
  Speaker 15: ten years, and I should stress I enjoyed my time
• 20:27
  Speaker 15: at the ABC. I had some excellent producers, wonderful colleagues
• 20:31
  Speaker 15: and despite a few ideological stashes, as you can imagine,
• 20:34
  Speaker 15: I enjoyed my time there. And I was also allowed
• 20:37
  Speaker 15: to write columns in various newspapers including the Australian Newspaper,
• 20:41
  Speaker 15: and come on programs like Sky News to Talk to You,
• 20:44
  Speaker 15: So I was allowed that latitude. So I can't really
• 20:46
  Speaker 15: complain there. I think the difference here is that if
• 20:48
  Speaker 15: you're a high profile presenter or a reporter like say
• 20:52
  Speaker 15: the aforementioned Laura Tingle on seven point thirty and Luise
• 20:56
  Speaker 15: Milligan at four Corners, you shouldn't be giving your opinions.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: You really shouldn't.
• 20:59
  Speaker 15: You should try to be living up to the principles
• 21:02
  Speaker 15: of the ABC impartiality, objectivity and fairness. After all, the
• 21:06
  Speaker 15: quid pro quo for taxpayer funding at the ABC is
• 21:11
  Speaker 15: that the top journalists show a commitment to impartiality and
• 21:14
  Speaker 15: that is all too often found lacking, and yet they
• 21:17
  Speaker 15: go after Antoinette. Now I know Antoinette. I don't agree
• 21:20
  Speaker 15: with her on a lot of issues, but she comes
• 21:22
  Speaker 15: with some degree of credibility. She has won awards, she's
• 21:25
  Speaker 15: worked at Channel seven, she's been on your program, and
• 21:27
  Speaker 15: she's also worked at SBS and she's also one of
• 21:31
  Speaker 15: afr's one hundred top myssuming flunch women. But she should
• 21:35
  Speaker 15: not have been treated like this. Again, it's the double standard.
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: Chris spot On.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Tom, it is that double standard that has exposed the ABC.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: Good to talk to you again.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it, Tom Switzer there from the Center for
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: Independent Studies, but again to it. Actually, if you're interested
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: in this ABC issues and diversity issues, what's Jack out
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: and with the media report here on the Sky News
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: tomorrow night at nine o'clock, I think he's got some
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: more news.
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: Coming in that area.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: But after the break, we want to check in on
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: this human toll. Look at the human toll of the
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: Middle East crisis. I'm going to cross to Israel to
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: speak with a mother whose son has been held hostage
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: by Hummas for more than a year.
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: And a half.
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: While the world's been focused on Israel's war with Iran,
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: the war in Gaza has continued and the trauma of the.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: Hostages has gone on.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: It's now six hundred and twenty eight days since the
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: October the seventh atrocities, and Hamma still holds fifty hostages,
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: twenty seven of them are believed to be dead. This week,
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: Israel managed to recover the bodies of three hostages who
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: were killed way back on October the seventh, twenty twenty three.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: They included Jonatan Samarano, who was twenty one when he
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: was murdered in the October the seventh attacks and then
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: had his body taken hostage to Gaza by a UN
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: AID worker. He was recovered by Israel on what would
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: have been twenty third birthday to finally be buried by
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: his family. American, Egyptian and Hummus representatives are meeting in
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: Cairo as we speak to discuss a possible hostage deal,
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: and President Donald Trump has spoken of a Gaza deal
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: being imminent.
• 23:18
  Speaker 8: I think great argas is being met on Gaza. I
• 23:22
  Speaker 8: think because of this attack that we made, I think
• 23:25
  Speaker 8: we're going to have some.
• 23:26
  Speaker 16: Very good news.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: Let's hope so.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: Nimrod Cohen was a nineteen year old serving in an
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: IDF tank trying to protect Israeli civilians on October the seventh,
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty three, when the tank broke down.
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: And he was taken hostage.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: He is believed to still be alive, still in captivity
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: at the hands of Hummas. Six hundred and twenty eight
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: days later in Gaza, his mother, Vicki joins me live
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: from Israel. Vicki Cohen, thanks for joining us. I met
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: you briefly in Israel last month. It's terrific to talk
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: to you. You've been through hell, your son continues to
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: go through hell. Do you believe that the victory over
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: Iran may actually help get a hostage deal in coming days?
• 24:15
  Speaker 16: I really hope, so. I hope that our Prime Minister
• 24:23
  Speaker 16: will feel that it's safe for him, and this is
• 24:27
  Speaker 16: the time, after the victory against Iran, it's safe to
• 24:32
  Speaker 16: end the war in Gaza and bring back all the
• 24:36
  Speaker 16: hostages that are there, and one of them is my son.
• 24:40
  Speaker 16: Nimod is still alive and he needs to be brought home.
• 24:46
  Speaker 16: It's so many days. Six hundred and twenty nine days
• 24:49
  Speaker 16: in Israel, and you cannot imagine to wait so long.
• 24:54
  Speaker 16: It's almost two years that I haven't heard or see
• 24:59
  Speaker 16: A and I did, I could, I didn't have the
• 25:04
  Speaker 16: ability to hold him and to hug him. And it's time.
• 25:10
  Speaker 16: It's time to hand the war. It's time to finish
• 25:14
  Speaker 16: this nightmare. It's there is no really war in Gaza.
• 25:19
  Speaker 16: It's it's only our force is still there with no purpose,
• 25:27
  Speaker 16: with no plan out to take them out, to take
• 25:30
  Speaker 16: the hostages back out there from there, and it risked
• 25:35
  Speaker 16: our loved ones, and it risked our soldiers. Lately we
• 25:39
  Speaker 16: heard of many of our soldiers that were killed in Gaza,
• 25:44
  Speaker 16: and for what what? For no reason?
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: Now another seven soldiers tragically killed this week, VICKI tell
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: us share with you is how you know that Nimrod
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: is alive and what you know about the condition he's in.
• 26:01
  Speaker 16: I spoke with a few weeks ago with one of
• 26:07
  Speaker 16: the member of the intelligence that told us that there
• 26:13
  Speaker 16: is no change in his status. It means that he's
• 26:16
  Speaker 16: still alive, but I don't know in what condition is
• 26:21
  Speaker 16: and what is the conditions is held in the tunnels.
• 26:26
  Speaker 16: So I'm really worried and I'm afraid of what is
• 26:30
  Speaker 16: going on. You know, when we heard here in the
• 26:34
  Speaker 16: alarms and we ran to the safety room when the
• 26:37
  Speaker 16: war was with the Iran, I didn't think of myself.
• 26:43
  Speaker 16: I only thought about nim Mode. He has no safety
• 26:47
  Speaker 16: room and is nowhere to run to, and he's under danger,
• 26:54
  Speaker 16: and I'm worried, and I'm afraid of how long it
• 26:58
  Speaker 16: can survive there and with no condition, isolated from the world.
• 27:04
  Speaker 16: And this is the time that our Prime minister should
• 27:08
  Speaker 16: make the decision and do the right thing for the
• 27:12
  Speaker 16: majority of the population. All of us needs them to
• 27:17
  Speaker 16: come back home so we can rebuild and continue our lives.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: Yes, it's surely a time for maximum pressure on the hostages.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: I want people to get an insight of your personal
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: trauma and your family sacrifice, because and you're not alone,
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: many families in Israel going through this. But Nimrod has
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: an older brother who served in the IDF, served in Gaza.
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: He also has a twin sister, and after he was
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: taken hostage, his twin sister did her military service with
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: the IDF. Tell me how you're coping with the strain
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: of having your son hostage and the stress of your
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: daughter doing her military service.
• 27:59
  Speaker 16: At the same time, you know, we love our country, Israel,
• 28:06
  Speaker 16: and we must do the separation between our government and
• 28:10
  Speaker 16: our country. We do everything we can to serve our country,
• 28:16
  Speaker 16: even if it means to join the army and do
• 28:20
  Speaker 16: what we are obligated. But we don't agree with what
• 28:25
  Speaker 16: our government is doing. So our we criticize the government
• 28:32
  Speaker 16: because they are not doing enough, and they are not
• 28:36
  Speaker 16: doing what they can to bring them all back home.
• 28:39
  Speaker 16: It's a fact that they're still there after six hundred
• 28:43
  Speaker 16: and twenty nine days so long. So of course we
• 28:48
  Speaker 16: are a patriot. We will serve our country. We will
• 28:51
  Speaker 16: do everything for the country, but the problem is that
• 28:55
  Speaker 16: the government is not doing everything she can for us
• 28:59
  Speaker 16: the city.
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: VICKI, thanks for talking to us.
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: Our hopes and prayers are with you, and we just
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: hope that those hostages can be freed as soon as possible.
• 29:10
  Speaker 16: Thank you, Thank you.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: That's Vicky Cohen. They're live from Tel Aviv. Imagine the trauma.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: Six hundred and twenty nine days now, she hasn't seen
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: her son, Nimrod. This is why I wear this badge
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: every day for the hostages in Gaza, too often forgotten
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: by too many around the world.
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: We've got to take a break.
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: On the other side of that, Donald Trump gets his
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: NATO allies to virtually double their spending on defense.
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: What does this mean for Australia. Alexander Downer will join me.
• 29:40
  Speaker 13: Now.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: As I mentioned at the top of the program, President
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: Donald Trump has had a very successful visit to the
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: NATO summit in the Netherlands, where he saw the NATO
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: allies sign up to a five percent spend on defense.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: That's five percent of GDP by twenty thirty Here's Donald
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: Trump this week.
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: The NATO allies committed to dramat adically increase their defense
• 30:01
  Speaker 4: spending to that five percent of GDP, something that no
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: one really thought possible. And they said, you did it, sir,
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: you did it.
• 30:09
  Speaker 5: Well.
• 30:10
  Speaker 4: I don't know if they did it, but I think
• 30:11
  Speaker 4: I did. This will be known as the Hague Defense Commitment,
• 30:18
  Speaker 4: which is pretty good, pretty appropriate. When the Allies reached
• 30:21
  Speaker 4: this number, it will add more than one trillion dollars
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: a year. Think of that one trillion per year to
• 30:28
  Speaker 4: our common defense.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: That's defense spending of five percent of GDP by twenty
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: thirty five. Very significant achievement. Let's catch up with Alexander Downer,
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: who was Foreign Minister of this country in the Howard
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: government days. Good to talk to Alexander. This is a
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: major achievement by Donald Trump. He's so often critics suggests
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: that he tries to undermine NIGHTS when he's obviously trying
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: to strengthen it. Strengthen it by getting the European countries
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: to spend more. How would you assess this commitment and
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: what it's going to do for NATO into the future.
• 31:05
  Speaker 17: I think this is a huge success for President Trump.
• 31:09
  Speaker 17: American presidents all the way back to President Kennedy have
• 31:13
  Speaker 17: been trying to get the Europeans to carry more of
• 31:16
  Speaker 17: the weight of the financial weight in particular of the Alliance,
• 31:21
  Speaker 17: and finally Donald Trump, I mean, he's been very aggressive
• 31:25
  Speaker 17: about it, but he's finally persuaded them to do so.
• 31:30
  Speaker 17: So it's an enormous step forward for the Western Alliance
• 31:33
  Speaker 17: and obviously specifically for NATO. It's five percent including spending
• 31:39
  Speaker 17: on infrastructure. So it's three and a half percent by
• 31:42
  Speaker 17: twenty thirty five on actual sort of military expenditure and
• 31:49
  Speaker 17: the rest is infrastructure spending. But still it's an extraordinary achievement.
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it sure, he is now you're coming to us
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: from London this week. Obviously the UK has signed up
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: to this and Kirstarma was one of the first to
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: sort of embrace this. What does it mean for Australia
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: because obviously, in Donald Trump's language, you know that he's
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: got no time for freeloaders when it comes to alliance relationships,
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: and they'll continue to put the pressure on Australia to
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: lift it spending.
• 32:19
  Speaker 17: It's a huge problem for Australia because there was one
• 32:22
  Speaker 17: NATO member that refused to sign up to this agreement,
• 32:26
  Speaker 17: and that was Spain. Spain has a socialist or a
• 32:29
  Speaker 17: labor government in Australian Palance. They refused to sign up
• 32:34
  Speaker 17: to it, and so Trump took quite a swing at
• 32:37
  Speaker 17: the Spanish government, saying, if Spain's not prepared to pull
• 32:41
  Speaker 17: its weight, then we'll make them pay for it through
• 32:44
  Speaker 17: higher tariffs on Spanish exports to the United States. So
• 32:50
  Speaker 17: if you have a look at Australia, the Treasurer Jim
• 32:53
  Speaker 17: Chalmers says that we shouldn't be spending much more money
• 32:57
  Speaker 17: on defense that they've made the commitment, but our figure
• 33:01
  Speaker 17: is around two percent of GDP. We have a government
• 33:05
  Speaker 17: similar to the Spanish government which wants to do the
• 33:07
  Speaker 17: same thing and keep spending down and instead, as I
• 33:12
  Speaker 17: often say, spend money on windmills. Well fair enough, but
• 33:17
  Speaker 17: in the end I think the Americans will take a
• 33:21
  Speaker 17: very dim view of that. And this at a time
• 33:24
  Speaker 17: when we're worried about the Orcis review and we're saying
• 33:28
  Speaker 17: we want to be able to take some of the
• 33:30
  Speaker 17: American Virginia class submarines from their production line. So we
• 33:36
  Speaker 17: want things, but we're not prepared to give to the
• 33:40
  Speaker 17: Alliance in the way that most of the NATO countries are.
• 33:45
  Speaker 17: That's going to be a problem for Australia.
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: Let's have a look at what the Deputy Prime Minister
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: and Defense Minister Richard Miles has said he was in
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: the Netherlands.
• 33:53
  Speaker 18: Obviously, a very singiliant decision has been made here in
• 33:58
  Speaker 18: relation to European defense spending, and that is fundamentally a
• 34:02
  Speaker 18: matter for NATO. We've gone through our own process of
• 34:07
  Speaker 18: assessing our strategic landscape, assessing the threats that exist there
• 34:14
  Speaker 18: and the kind of defense force we need to build
• 34:16
  Speaker 18: in order to meet those threats, to meet the strategic moment,
• 34:20
  Speaker 18: and then to resource that and what that has seen
• 34:23
  Speaker 18: is the biggest peacetime increase in Australian defense spending that
• 34:26
  Speaker 18: we have seen in our history.
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, now, Alexander, what troubles me about what we hear
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: from Albanezi and Richard Miles and the rest of them
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: is to use it in an American expression. They're just
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: giving the stiff arm to these overtures from Washington. They're
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: rejecting it and all they're doing so they're not offering
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: to give our Alliance partners anything.
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: They're just asking to get you.
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: They want tariff cuts, they want orchest submarines. They're not
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: offering to contribute, to contribute anything to the Alliance. And
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: to me, that's not going to go down well in
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: Washington at all.
• 35:00
  Speaker 17: Well, I think the Labor Party has always had reservations
• 35:04
  Speaker 17: about the Alliance. You can see within the Labor movement
• 35:09
  Speaker 17: huge amounts of criticism endlessly of Donald Trump, the sneering
• 35:14
  Speaker 17: at Trump, at the Trump administration, which by the way,
• 35:18
  Speaker 17: was elected by a majority of the American people. So
• 35:22
  Speaker 17: sneering at them might be all right with the fellow
• 35:25
  Speaker 17: travelers of the Democratic Party in the United States, but
• 35:29
  Speaker 17: the majority of people support Trump, and you know, we
• 35:33
  Speaker 17: have to live with whoever becomes the president of the
• 35:36
  Speaker 17: United States.
• 35:37
  Speaker 3: If we believe in democracy.
• 35:39
  Speaker 17: And if we believe in alliances, we have to make
• 35:42
  Speaker 17: a contribution, not just received protection from the United States.
• 35:47
  Speaker 17: And I mean the problem with Australia at the moment
• 35:51
  Speaker 17: is it's not seen to be making a commensurate contribution
• 35:56
  Speaker 17: to the alliance. And if you think you've got problems
• 35:59
  Speaker 17: in Europe with Russia, there's huge concern including in Washington,
• 36:04
  Speaker 17: about China and the aggression of the Communist Party of China.
• 36:09
  Speaker 17: So Australia is expected to pull its weight and so far,
• 36:13
  Speaker 17: I think so for viewers that's worth reflecting on this.
• 36:17
  Speaker 17: We have no missile defense capability and you can see
• 36:21
  Speaker 17: from the last few weeks how incredibly effective missile defense is,
• 36:26
  Speaker 17: so I don't think we're seen to be taking defense
• 36:29
  Speaker 17: and the alliance seriously enough.
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well said Alexander. Thanks so much for joining us.
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: Alexander down to their former Foreign Minister of Australia joining
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: us live.
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: From London, we've got to get to a break.
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: On the other side, Tim Blair and Mark Nicholson helped
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: me wrap up.
• 36:42
  Speaker 3: The week as the media goes nuts.
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: As we're just talking about with the Big Daddy, Donald Trump.
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: Let's get our national cabinet going. With Tim Blair from
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: the Daily Telegraph. He joins us live from the Wimmera
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: in Victoria and Margniferson from step Mate Studios live from
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: the heart of Melbourne.
• 37:01
  Speaker 3: Welcome, gentlemen. It's been a busy.
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: Week, just a little bit.
• 37:06
  Speaker 3: Yes, it's been a bit happening.
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: I was going to start off on the micro though,
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: because there's been another unfair dismissal case where someone has
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: won their case over unfair dismissal.
• 37:16
  Speaker 3: This is not the Antoinette.
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: Latoof one, but this is a worker in a Melbourne council.
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: He's a street sweeper.
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: And they have a meeting, told me about all the
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: guys on the tools and they had to welcome the country.
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: And this bloke Mark quite rightly says, why do we
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: need to welcome to country meeting to have a chat
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: about what we're doing at the council.
• 37:42
  Speaker 3: It's beautiful and he won. It's been proven that he
• 37:44
  Speaker 3: was there.
• 37:45
  Speaker 5: He's been found that he was unfairly dismissed, which is
• 37:48
  Speaker 5: great because hopefully this just sort of sends a message
• 37:52
  Speaker 5: to everyone else that feels coerced into doing this sort
• 37:55
  Speaker 5: of stuff for fear of losing their job, that they
• 37:58
  Speaker 5: don't have to do this anymore, or and that it
• 38:01
  Speaker 5: is unfairly and he's going to be unfair to special
• 38:04
  Speaker 5: like so you know, the city of Darrebin, the city
• 38:06
  Speaker 5: of Yarra, they can all take the message. And in
• 38:09
  Speaker 5: many ways this bloke has done more to clean up
• 38:12
  Speaker 5: the city of Darrebin than he ever would have done.
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: I do love this story or the city of Darrebin.
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: And his name is Sean Turner.
• 38:20
  Speaker 3: He'll be a national hero.
• 38:21
  Speaker 11: Now.
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: I'm someone who loves the country in the right place,
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: in the right way. But this is a clear case
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: of where it's just.
• 38:27
  Speaker 3: So over the top.
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: It's called a toolbox meeting. And this Sean Turner, Tim,
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you how much I love him, because the
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: story goes on.
• 38:36
  Speaker 3: Of course, is.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: That when when they threaten the sack him or whatever,
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: they have a meeting in the council officers to tell
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: him that there should be a welcome to country at
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: the start of every meeting, and he said, why do
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: we have one at the start of this meeting?
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: Then if you ever want to change your career, I
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: think I think something in the law field, betting he's
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: got coming in going. But also like the sheer repetition
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: of the welcome country, I take your point there, and
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: also the point made by are made of the council
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: repetition also devalues that you think coming from the side
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: of people who are in favor of the welcoming country,
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: they wouldn't want it repeated into the ground and actually
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: ruined any significance of it by behaving like this.
• 39:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Now I've got to get thoughts from both of
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: you on Susan Lee. Done a lot of media this
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: week and a major speech at the National Press Club,
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: lot of talk about how she's going.
• 39:29
  Speaker 3: Have a look at this comment.
• 39:31
  Speaker 11: We didn't just lose, we got smashed, totally smashed.
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: Now, Tim, it makes us sound like a footy trip.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: It does also in the case of your team. I
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: believe the footy results. Yes, it's a direct way of
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: going about it. But I'm not sure if being that
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: massively negative almost borders on indulgence. Perhaps. Yeah, and I
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: know she's trying to build a new platform here and
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: so on, but there's no need to wreck everything that's
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: gone before. But you know, interest seeing strategies. She's trying.
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: Let's see what it works out.
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: As they say, yeah, look, I think too Mark that
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: it's a bit too much self flagellation there because labor,
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: you know, while they've got a big majority, labor.
• 40:21
  Speaker 3: Are hardly popular.
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: They've got thirty five percent or less than thirty five
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: percent of the popular vote.
• 40:28
  Speaker 3: So what the liberals are going to focus on is
• 40:30
  Speaker 3: yet we failed.
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: We've got to do better, not just to bash themselves senseless.
• 40:37
  Speaker 5: And they're having another review. This is full lefty behavior, mate,
• 40:41
  Speaker 5: which is just there's always self loathing. They're going to
• 40:43
  Speaker 5: go and meditate, they're going to go on yoga retrips,
• 40:45
  Speaker 5: they're going to listen, they're going to learn, they're going
• 40:46
  Speaker 5: to do this. They're going for reviews. They're going to
• 40:48
  Speaker 5: pay consultants hundreds of thousands of dollars to tell them
• 40:51
  Speaker 5: what Pauline Hanson could have told them for free, which
• 40:53
  Speaker 5: is really all you need to do is just be coherent,
• 40:56
  Speaker 5: be consistent, show some conviction, be conservative.
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: That's all you got to think.
• 41:00
  Speaker 3: Like that, it's as simple as that.
• 41:02
  Speaker 5: If you get out there and do it, you'll do it.
• 41:04
  Speaker 5: And to your point, Chris, it's like there are so
• 41:06
  Speaker 5: many soft spots to hammer this government, so many soft spots.
• 41:09
  Speaker 5: And every minute that you're wasting loathing about what the
• 41:13
  Speaker 5: past result was, they're getting away with making mistake after
• 41:16
  Speaker 5: mistake that you could be embarrassing them for. Get out there,
• 41:20
  Speaker 5: shut up, don't worry about the review mirror. Let's go
• 41:22
  Speaker 5: out there. Let's slam them, because I refuse to believe
• 41:25
  Speaker 5: that this is you know, Hawk, after Fraser and thirteen
• 41:28
  Speaker 5: years of this stuff. I don't think they're popular enough.
• 41:30
  Speaker 5: I don't think he's got charisma. I think he can
• 41:32
  Speaker 5: smash them. I think he can smash him before Christmas.
• 41:34
  Speaker 5: Don't worry about the past. Just get a going come on, well.
• 41:37
  Speaker 3: Exactly, and Tim, stop talking about yourselves. You know, this
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: is the whole point.
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: People want to hear you, stand up for your values,
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: take on the government, make some arguments. I think they've
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: spent far too long running away from arguments rather than
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: having them. And lord knows, there's so many weaknesses in
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: this government that need to be pointed out and attacked.
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I remember Scott Morrison, you know, among many former
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: Liberal leaders in the former Liberal PMS, saying that the
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: freedom of speech as a particular issue hadn't helped the economy,
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: you know, didn't You didn't need to worry about freedom
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: of speech because it wasn't going to give anyone a job. Well,
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: how is what the liberals are doing now, giving anyone
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: in your jobs? How is that? How is it reducing
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: cost of living? It's doing nothing at all except giving
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: column inches to people write analytical fit pieces that again
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: don't advance things a great deal. You're exactly right. Just
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: move on with the with the issue marks correct, chuck
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: the real vision mirror away, and then get on with
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: get on with progress. Just for a change.
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: Now, I mentioned we talked a lot tonight about the
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: historic achievement of Donald Trump at NATO, but a lot
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: of the media around the world is focusing on this exchange.
• 42:46
  Speaker 8: They've got a big fight, like two kids at a
• 42:48
  Speaker 8: school year and you know, they fight like hell, you
• 42:50
  Speaker 8: can't stop them. Let them fight for about two three minutes.
• 42:53
  Speaker 8: Then it's easy to staff.
• 42:54
  Speaker 9: Up and then daddy has sometimes do strong language.
• 42:57
  Speaker 8: Strong everyone saying you have to use a certain word.
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: Now, it's pretty clear what they were talking about, the
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: serious issue in a sort of folksy way. But as
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: is the way the Trump derangement syndrome kicks in, and
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: this is all they wanted to talk about.
• 43:11
  Speaker 12: In the Hague, Mark Ritter, the NATO chief, who is
• 43:16
  Speaker 12: your friend? He called you daddy earlier. Do you regard
• 43:22
  Speaker 12: your NATO allies as kind of children?
• 43:25
  Speaker 3: No, he likes me.
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: I think he likes me.
• 43:27
  Speaker 8: If he doesn't, I'll let you know.
• 43:28
  Speaker 9: I'll come back and I'll hit him hard. Okay, he did.
• 43:31
  Speaker 4: He did it very affectionate daddy.
• 43:33
  Speaker 3: Here, my daddy, Mark.
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: These guys could be writing scripts to your cartoons, couldn't They.
• 43:40
  Speaker 5: Like, it's so good, it's so good, and to your
• 43:43
  Speaker 5: point as well. It's like they're trying to smear him
• 43:45
  Speaker 5: with this sort of stuff. He's already leaning into it,
• 43:47
  Speaker 5: posting a video today saying Daddy's home. But like, look
• 43:50
  Speaker 5: at what if you talk about him being big daddy.
• 43:53
  Speaker 5: The way he treated NATO, which was just pull their
• 43:55
  Speaker 5: allowance or threatened to pull their allowance and said, hey,
• 43:57
  Speaker 5: I'm paying for everything here.
• 43:58
  Speaker 3: Look at how they reacted to it.
• 44:00
  Speaker 5: It's not that they you know, they backed off pretty hard,
• 44:02
  Speaker 5: but in classic, you know, soft European way, they basically
• 44:05
  Speaker 5: flirt with him.
• 44:06
  Speaker 3: Now, the way he's.
• 44:07
  Speaker 5: Walking around the room and then look at her und
• 44:09
  Speaker 5: you know, he spanked him, grounded him, and I haven't
• 44:12
  Speaker 5: heard a peep from him. Now that's daddy, that's time.
• 44:15
  Speaker 3: I love it.
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: And look you did right what I love about it?
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: And Trump takes the mockery and he laughs it off.
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: In fact, he doubles down and it throws it back
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: at them. Have a look at that video you referred
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: to tim Daddy's home from Europe and he got exactly
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: what he wanted.
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: This all goes to My theory is that one of
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: the reasons why journalists hate Donald Trump is because under
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: previous president they used to be able to say, oh
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: you know what JFK is like? And oh you no, no, no, no,
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: what Barack Obama is really like. They're all the inside running,
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: They're all the inside gods. With Trump, everyone knows what
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: he's like because he just puts it all out there.
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: There's no secret Trump, there's no hidden sort of personality traits.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: We all know it. It's all out there, and journals
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: have no inside and running on it at all.
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: He's an open book. He's got no self awareness. He
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: is the crimer of international politics. Just have a look
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: at have a look at the media here and there's
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: stuff they going when here's another one.
• 45:31
  Speaker 12: Is this the way that you feel that you have
• 45:33
  Speaker 12: to act when doing business with the US President through
• 45:37
  Speaker 12: flattery and praise? Isn't it a bit demeaning and doesn't
• 45:41
  Speaker 12: it make you look weep?
• 45:43
  Speaker 6: No?
• 45:43
  Speaker 9: I don't think so. I think it's a bit of
• 45:44
  Speaker 9: a question or for taste. But I think he's a
• 45:48
  Speaker 9: good friend and when he is doing stuff which is
• 45:52
  Speaker 9: forcing us to for example, when it comes to making
• 45:56
  Speaker 9: more investments, so doesn't he deserve some praise.
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: I just think the media pack is so pathetic with
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: that stuff. But let's move on from that. I want
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: to go to this comment from earlier in the week
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: where Donald Trump, to your point, Tim was telling us
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: exactly what he thought and he was getting things done
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: with it.
• 46:14
  Speaker 8: What we have we basically have two countries that have
• 46:18
  Speaker 8: been fighting so long and so hard that they don't
• 46:21
  Speaker 8: know what the fuck they're doing.
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: Do you understand that, Mark, that's some political cut through,
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: right there.
• 46:29
  Speaker 5: Is susan lay. Listen to that. That's that's that's how
• 46:32
  Speaker 5: you do it, honestly, and that's what we were talking about.
• 46:33
  Speaker 5: You know, this is this is pure transparency. You know
• 46:36
  Speaker 5: exactly what he is. I think people think that he's
• 46:39
  Speaker 5: always lying, but it's not. It's this is purely transparent.
• 46:42
  Speaker 5: And this is how you compare it to Australian politicians
• 46:44
  Speaker 5: who were so stiff and you know, so on page
• 46:47
  Speaker 5: it's written by committee. Everything they do. They're too afraid
• 46:50
  Speaker 5: to be themselves. Look at what happens when you've got
• 46:52
  Speaker 5: conviction and you go out there. When you go when
• 46:55
  Speaker 5: you go into the world, people show you some respect.
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: Funny that nice and tim our journalist at the White
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: House managed to ask President Donald Trump what he thought
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: about Albo and Miles's handling of defense spending.
• 47:09
  Speaker 8: They don't know what they're doing.
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: And accurate too.
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: Absolutely they're on a bit of a role. They also
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: got to ask him what he thought of Albo and
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: Wong's policies on the Middle East.
• 47:23
  Speaker 8: They don't know what they're doing.
• 47:27
  Speaker 3: And just for good measure, we got our.
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: Journalist at the White House to ask what he thought
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: of Albo and Chris Bowen and their energy policies.
• 47:35
  Speaker 4: They don't know what the they're doing.
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: He's all over it, Tim, he knows exactly what's going
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: on in Australia.
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: He could write slogans for the next election campaign in
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: Australia if it's yeah. I mean he's turned a lot
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: of disasters this week into a total win and it's
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: been delightful to watch. Let's see what happens next week.
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: This has been great, it's been a big week.
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us, Tim and Mark will catch you
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: in a few weeks time.
• 48:01
  Speaker 3: Appreciate it.
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: Now a little bit of time for your feedback on
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: the ABC's defeating Court last night and a lot of
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: reaction to that, people saying the ABC is not representative
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: of Australian views, it's a monetary sinkhole, and David saying
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: another court case will have to pay for that's absolutely right,
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: And one more viewer says the ABC doesn't care about
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: the cost because it's not their money. Hold them personally
• 48:24
  Speaker 2: and financially accountable and this would never have gone to court.
• 48:27
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 48:28
  Speaker 2: Now I am off for a couple of weeks break,
• 48:31
  Speaker 2: but do you not fear in this chair for the
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: next couple of weeks will be the wonderful Danika de Giorgio,
• 48:36
  Speaker 2: So tune in.
• 48:37
  Speaker 3: At five o'clock.
• 48:38
  Speaker 2: As ever, for the next couple of weeks, I'll be
• 48:40
  Speaker 2: back after that short refresher, and for now here's Peter Quedlin.
• 48:44
  Speaker 3: Cheers.