WEBVTT - Credlin | 3 November 0:00:02.660 --> 0:00:08.320 Peter Credlin, live from News 24. 0:00:09.260 --> 0:00:10.720 We don't have a lot of good news in Melbourne. 0:00:10.740 --> 0:00:13.540 The Melbourne Cup is a good news story every year 0:00:13.590 --> 0:00:16.189 for us poor old Victorians, but that's about to change. 0:00:16.750 --> 0:00:18.160 We'll get to that in a moment. Good evening. Welcome 0:00:18.180 --> 0:00:21.440 to the program. Here's what's coming up on Credlin. Tonight, 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.980 no mercy for Australian mortgage holders. The RBA lifting rates 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:29.040 to an 18-year high. We'll dig into the consequences. Talk 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:33.100 now growing of a recession. What's this mean politically for 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:39.510 Labor as their vote continues to plummet? $ 170 billion is 0:00:39.530 --> 0:00:44.030 the budget blowout and mounting anger too over Labor's economic mismanagement, 0:00:44.350 --> 0:00:48.450 fresh doubts about the promised NDIS savings. We'll speak with 0:00:48.470 --> 0:00:51.820 opposition leader Angus Taylor on all of that, plus his 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:56.580 demand that the Prime Minister get serious on national security. Plus, 0:00:56.620 --> 0:00:59.420 more than a year after Anthony Albanese pledged to return 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:04.090 the Port of Darwin into your Australian hands, it hasn't happened. 0:01:04.550 --> 0:01:06.850 So it was Labor backed itself into a corner with 0:01:06.870 --> 0:01:10.949 the port's Chinese operators. And shocked tonight over the alleged 0:01:11.010 --> 0:01:15.140 targeting of a One Nation supporter in Torquay, a violent 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:21.320 and apparently politically motivated attack. Pauline Hanson speaking out. 0:01:23.180 --> 0:01:27.280 This is the problem with this country. This is the 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:32.970 problem with Victoria. This should not be happening. And this 0:01:33.050 --> 0:01:35.190 is what the people of the state have been crying 0:01:35.250 --> 0:01:38.090 out for so long for something to be done to 0:01:38.170 --> 0:01:38.850 stop this. 0:01:40.709 --> 0:01:43.350 We will stay in Victoria because while the rest of 0:01:43.390 --> 0:01:45.890 Melbourne was out at Flemington today for a race that 0:01:45.940 --> 0:01:48.340 stopped the nation, I was on the steps of the 0:01:48.380 --> 0:01:52.060 Victorian Parliament filming some material for the state election which 0:01:52.140 --> 0:01:56.560 officially got underway when the Governor of Victoria issued the 0:01:56.640 --> 0:02:00.320 writs just as we went to air at six o'clock tonight. 0:02:01.030 --> 0:02:05.730 And haven't we been waiting for this? Finally, every Victorian 0:02:05.750 --> 0:02:08.550 will get their chance to pass a verdict on the 0:02:08.590 --> 0:02:12.740 last four years of the Andrews, Ellen and Carroll government. 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:19.080 Three shocking Labor leaders and four demoralising debt-ridden years marked 0:02:19.139 --> 0:02:23.080 by corruption, a crime crisis and a state so broken 0:02:23.139 --> 0:02:26.260 it's hard to imagine Victoria can even come back from this. 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:30.850 But it can. It can and it will. provided voters 0:02:30.990 --> 0:02:35.750 put Labor last. Ben Carroll, though, he's hoping voters will 0:02:35.790 --> 0:02:38.960 have forgotten the Dan Andrews years as he tries to 0:02:39.010 --> 0:02:42.700 sell his message today of a fresh start. 0:02:43.940 --> 0:02:45.820 How can you say a couple of months before the 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:47.820 election you want a new start when there's so many 0:02:47.940 --> 0:02:51.310 MPs in your government, probably none more so than yourself, 0:02:51.350 --> 0:02:54.330 that happily bopped along when Dan Andrews was in charge? 0:02:54.410 --> 0:02:57.529 Happily towed the line when Jacinta Allen was in charge. 0:02:57.930 --> 0:02:59.450 And now when it's on the nose, all of a 0:02:59.470 --> 0:03:01.250 sudden you're saying, oh, no, no, no, I had nothing 0:03:01.270 --> 0:03:01.810 to do with that. 0:03:01.830 --> 0:03:04.460 Changing course. 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:08.510 Tom, I've been very clear. You know, 121 new schools, 0:03:08.510 --> 0:03:09.889 12 new hospitals. 0:03:10.150 --> 0:03:12.670 No, no, no, you just avoided the whole question there, Premier. 0:03:12.690 --> 0:03:13.670 I think this is the problem. 0:03:13.830 --> 0:03:17.169 You're talking in talking points. People want to know, you 0:03:17.190 --> 0:03:20.670 were part of that government with Dan Andrews, with Jacinta Allen. 0:03:20.910 --> 0:03:23.210 Why was it good enough to stand alongside them back 0:03:23.250 --> 0:03:25.220 then and say, oh, these two people are amazing, and 0:03:25.250 --> 0:03:27.480 now you're saying, oh, no, I want nothing to do 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:27.820 with them? 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:29.919 No, well, Tom, hear me out. 0:03:30.060 --> 0:03:32.040 I said I'm proud of the 121 new schools and 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:36.480 the 12 new hospitals. We could have done things better 0:03:36.540 --> 0:03:37.320 in other areas. 0:03:39.380 --> 0:03:43.210 Not good. Now that the official campaign today, though, is underway, 0:03:43.250 --> 0:03:47.010 two things here will be critical. First, that voters understand 0:03:47.090 --> 0:03:51.710 how the preference system works and think carefully about where 0:03:51.750 --> 0:03:56.100 their vote goes because, believe me, Labor have mastered using 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:59.360 the preference system to harvest the numbers needed to keep 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.560 them in power. And the second thing to watch for... 0:04:03.090 --> 0:04:07.070 is the predictable Labor scare campaign. Now, Labor does this 0:04:07.110 --> 0:04:09.880 when they're desperate and they've never been more desperate than 0:04:09.900 --> 0:04:13.840 they are now because if they lose in November, all 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:16.120 the corruption, the dirty deals, all of that will be 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:21.870 exposed and Labor's taxpayer gravy train will end. So Labor 0:04:22.290 --> 0:04:25.710 will do anything and say anything needed to hang on 0:04:25.750 --> 0:04:30.669 to office and those billions. We've seen those scare campaigns 0:04:30.730 --> 0:04:35.390 before with Mediscare and claims of austerity budget cuts from Liberals. 0:04:36.210 --> 0:04:38.310 I hate to admit it, but a scare campaign has 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:41.080 the potential to work if it's run in the last 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.000 couple of weeks before polling day and the party that's 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:48.039 being targeted isn't fast enough to shut it down. To 0:04:48.060 --> 0:04:51.000 be honest, though, I don't even think a scare campaign 0:04:51.020 --> 0:04:55.830 this time around will save Labor in Victoria, given how 0:04:55.910 --> 0:04:59.520 rotten the government is and how angry voters are across 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:04.050 the state. Now, all elections matter. They do. All of 0:05:04.089 --> 0:05:08.469 them do. But this one in Victoria already feels very different. 0:05:09.250 --> 0:05:12.400 I speak with real people every day across the state, 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:15.600 friends and family in the city and in the regions. 0:05:16.060 --> 0:05:19.780 people that work for themselves or for someone else, farmers too, 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.920 and almost universally what people tell me is that if 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:28.040 we don't change the government this time around, they are out. 0:05:28.700 --> 0:05:31.130 If Labor's re-elected, they tell me we're going to walk, 0:05:31.890 --> 0:05:36.150 meaning jobs and investment will exit the state. Already we 0:05:36.190 --> 0:05:41.330 know that's happened at a brisk pace following Victoria's record-breaking lockdowns, 0:05:42.029 --> 0:05:46.210 but it hasn't stopped. Every week, Victorian businesses quit the 0:05:46.250 --> 0:05:52.089 state because of draconian laws, over-regulation and massive taxes that 0:05:52.110 --> 0:05:55.190 are all a huge disincentive for anyone in the private sector, 0:05:55.470 --> 0:06:01.070 particularly in Melbourne. Mayor Nick Rees, though, today was obsessed 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:04.960 with the idea that the Melbourne Cup public holiday goes national. 0:06:05.620 --> 0:06:07.540 But anyone with a business in the CBD, well, they 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.570 just want Rees to do his day job. Clean up 0:06:10.589 --> 0:06:14.490 the city, reopen the derelict retail shops, get businesses back 0:06:14.570 --> 0:06:18.430 into empty office blocks and make our streets safer. But 0:06:18.710 --> 0:06:22.730 spin over substance is still the Labor way. Whether it's 0:06:22.770 --> 0:06:25.240 the Mayor or the Premier or those clowns in Canberra, 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:28.920 any upside is the result of Labor's hard work, not yours. 0:06:29.500 --> 0:06:34.279 And any downside, well, that's anyone's fault but theirs. Look 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:38.239 at today's hike to the official cash rate, the 17th 0:06:38.339 --> 0:06:45.260 such hike, since Anthony Albanese was elected, 17. Now, when 0:06:45.460 --> 0:06:50.190 just one happened under Scott Morrison, this was how Albanese 0:06:50.270 --> 0:06:51.570 reacted back then. 0:06:51.589 --> 0:06:58.710 Today, potentially, we face the triple whammy. Lower wages, rising 0:06:59.210 --> 0:07:03.710 inflation and rising interest rates. Scott Morrison, of course, is 0:07:03.750 --> 0:07:08.130 happy to always take credit for anything that goes right. 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:11.679 But he always says it's not my job. It's someone 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:15.320 else's fault. It's nothing to do with me when things 0:07:15.460 --> 0:07:16.540 aren't going so well. 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:22.400 Well, that's one. He's now been 17, Prime Minister. That's 0:07:22.420 --> 0:07:25.530 not aged very well, has it? Almost every economist in 0:07:25.550 --> 0:07:28.970 the country says that a big component of Australia's out-of-control 0:07:29.010 --> 0:07:33.750 inflation is the federal government's inability to curb spending. 0:07:34.970 --> 0:07:38.850 If every nation on Earth is also undergoing the same 0:07:38.890 --> 0:07:42.590 inflationary pressures caused by the Middle East and by the 0:07:42.730 --> 0:07:46.080 Ukraine wars, then they should all be raising interest rates 0:07:46.100 --> 0:07:48.520 the same as we are. And as you make the observation, 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:50.740 if we go to, I don't know, we go to 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:54.280 the UK, they have zero interest rate rises this year. 0:07:54.500 --> 0:07:57.790 Go to the United States. one interest rate rise this year. Canada, 0:07:58.290 --> 0:08:00.030 zero interest rate rises this year. 0:08:00.390 --> 0:08:01.550 New Zealand, two. 0:08:01.830 --> 0:08:02.550 Europe, two. 0:08:02.970 --> 0:08:07.170 Australia, about to be five. And that says that something 0:08:07.550 --> 0:08:09.860 is not equal in the world in the way in 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:14.780 which different nations have absorbed the inflation that's come as 0:08:14.820 --> 0:08:18.440 a result of these increases in fuel prices. So, therefore, 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:21.400 it actually suggests that there is something different happening in 0:08:21.460 --> 0:08:22.280 Australia's economy. 0:08:23.870 --> 0:08:26.130 That's our business editor, Ross Greenwood, on the program just 0:08:26.190 --> 0:08:31.250 last week. And government spending, it is what's driving inflation 0:08:31.410 --> 0:08:34.750 and these rate hikes, and it's a direct consequence of 0:08:34.809 --> 0:08:38.900 the Treasurer trying to buy votes with taxpayer dollars. like 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:42.880 the $ 16 billion Labor spent last year to cut student 0:08:43.100 --> 0:08:46.829 HECS debt. And yet when rightly pushed about his own 0:08:46.929 --> 0:08:50.350 contribution to today's cash rate hike, taking it to the 0:08:50.410 --> 0:08:55.550 highest cash rate at 4.85% that we've had in 18 years, 0:08:56.030 --> 0:09:00.030 Chalmers says it's all to do with international factors. 0:09:01.179 --> 0:09:04.079 How many of the five interest rate rises this year 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.200 are down to government spending? 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:09.180 So there are a number of issues at play here, 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:13.040 primarily but not exclusively, the war in the Middle East. 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:15.300 You would have seen polling this week that has you 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:18.210 rated as the lowest performing member of the government. I'm 0:09:18.230 --> 0:09:20.829 wondering whether you've given any thought to stepping aside and 0:09:20.870 --> 0:09:21.829 giving someone else a go. 0:09:23.150 --> 0:09:25.490 No is the answer to the second half of your question. 0:09:25.510 --> 0:09:30.030 Well, good on you, Cam Redden, just there. If you 0:09:30.070 --> 0:09:31.650 listen to the treasurer today, it's all the fault of 0:09:31.670 --> 0:09:35.229 the war in Iran, he says. Before that, Putin and Ukraine. 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:39.179 I mean, the statistics expose Labor's lie. Just look at 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:42.070 this table. It compares the cash rate today with the 0:09:42.110 --> 0:09:45.770 cash rate three years ago. Look at Canada. Three years ago, 0:09:45.830 --> 0:09:49.890 their cash rate was 5%. Now it's half of that, 2.5%. 0:09:49.890 --> 0:09:52.510 In Germany, Italy and France, the cash rate was 4.5%. 0:09:52.510 --> 0:09:54.189 It's now 2.65%. Three years ago, the UK had a 0:09:54.190 --> 0:09:55.790 cash rate of 5.25%. It's now more than a 4% 0:09:55.790 --> 0:09:57.900 lower than where we are at 3.75%. Even Trump's America 0:09:57.920 --> 0:09:59.280 is doing better than us. It was 5.5%. It's now 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:01.199 down to a flat 4%. The only country that has 0:10:01.220 --> 0:10:02.320 a cash rate in that table. 0:10:02.300 --> 0:10:02.660 Going up. 0:10:19.860 --> 0:10:27.960 Is Australia, from 4.35% in November 2023 to now 4.85% today, 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:34.880 higher than any other major advanced economy. Now, embarrassingly, even 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:39.410 across the ditch, New Zealand's cash rate is 2.75% and 0:10:39.429 --> 0:10:43.460 they head into a national election on Saturday. So every 0:10:43.500 --> 0:10:47.059 time Labor wants to blame high inflation and high mortgage 0:10:47.140 --> 0:10:52.080 rates on international factors, remember this. The whole world is 0:10:52.140 --> 0:10:55.900 facing the same pressures out of Iran and out of Ukraine. 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:56.900 We all are. 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:02.209 And yet interest rates overseas are going down, so too 0:11:02.450 --> 0:11:06.750 their inflation. The difference in Australia is that we've got 0:11:06.790 --> 0:11:10.089 the dead weight of an incompetent government making it all 0:11:10.110 --> 0:11:12.470 a whole lot worse. 0:11:13.780 --> 0:11:16.240 Labor has a spending problem. The Prime Minister and Treasurer 0:11:16.300 --> 0:11:18.960 have a spending problem. The IMF has said it. The 0:11:19.020 --> 0:11:23.180 OECD has said it. Chris Minns too. The RBA has 0:11:23.230 --> 0:11:29.010 said spending is too high. Most distinguished economists, most business 0:11:29.050 --> 0:11:32.090 leaders in this country, they've all said it. And yet 0:11:32.150 --> 0:11:35.550 the person, the people who will not admit to it 0:11:36.110 --> 0:11:37.429 are the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. 0:11:39.390 --> 0:11:42.160 People aren't stupid. This is why Labor's vote is tanking. 0:11:42.790 --> 0:11:46.100 This is why Labor MPs are starting to panic. Now, 0:11:46.130 --> 0:11:49.740 what's troubling most out of today is that talk of 0:11:49.780 --> 0:11:54.240 a recession that's now become a whole lot more real. 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:01.880 We'll check in with the economist Warren Hogan on that 0:12:01.950 --> 0:12:05.250 recession talk. As I said, it is now chatter right 0:12:05.290 --> 0:12:07.830 across all of the headlines coming out of the RBA 0:12:07.850 --> 0:12:12.620 decision today. We'll also speak with One Nation's Mark Nicholson shortly, 0:12:13.050 --> 0:12:15.910 following news breaking today about the violent bashing of a 0:12:15.950 --> 0:12:19.949 party supporter over the weekend in Torquay. Now, the images 0:12:19.970 --> 0:12:22.960 I'm going to show you are shocking. We still had 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:26.020 to blur some of them, but allegedly this happened at 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:29.200 the hands of someone upset that the man that's been 0:12:29.340 --> 0:12:32.660 bashed had a One Nation poster on his fence at home, 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:35.890 as I said, in Torquay. Speaking to the media today 0:12:35.970 --> 0:12:39.320 following a private visit to the injured man, who remains 0:12:39.380 --> 0:12:43.540 tonight in hospital with horrific injuries, including a bleed on 0:12:43.620 --> 0:12:47.199 his brain, Pauline Hanson was clearly emotional. 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:53.210 The man who was viciously attacked for no reason whatsoever 0:12:54.030 --> 0:12:59.610 by two alleged suspects, one as young as 14 years 0:12:59.630 --> 0:13:05.250 of age. This is the problem with this country. This 0:13:05.330 --> 0:13:08.910 is the problem with Victoria. You can't even be on 0:13:08.970 --> 0:13:13.790 your own property and then to be viciously attacked, knocked 0:13:13.850 --> 0:13:15.290 to the ground and kicked. 0:13:17.330 --> 0:13:18.790 As I said, we're going to touch base with Mike 0:13:18.809 --> 0:13:20.170 a little later in the show for the latest, but 0:13:20.210 --> 0:13:23.800 I can tell you this. After launching a GoFundMe page 0:13:23.860 --> 0:13:27.220 to help support this self-employed man who may well be 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:30.980 unable to work for many months, tonight their total's already 0:13:31.100 --> 0:13:36.400 reached more than $ 170, 000. Welcome. So much for the Prime 0:13:36.450 --> 0:13:44.970 Minister telling Australians to take the temperature down. All right, 0:13:44.990 --> 0:13:47.050 the man with the tough questions there to the Treasurer, 0:13:47.150 --> 0:13:49.410 Cam Redden, gives us the headlines now. 0:13:50.750 --> 0:13:51.170 Good evening. 0:13:51.570 --> 0:13:54.670 It may have been expected, but it is no less impactful. 0:13:54.770 --> 0:13:57.569 The Reserve Bank has lifted interest rates for the fifth 0:13:57.650 --> 0:13:58.569 time this year. 0:13:59.190 --> 0:14:01.980 It is going to make people feel like it's a recession. 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:06.960 The responsible pathway to give households more breathing room is 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:09.340 to stop the government spending addiction. 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:12.319 I'm wondering whether you've given any thought to stepping aside 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:12.860 and giving. 0:14:12.700 --> 0:14:13.420 Someone else a go. 0:14:14.740 --> 0:14:17.050 No is the answer to the second half of your question. 0:14:17.170 --> 0:14:19.690 When you're doing difficult things, you see that reflected in. 0:14:19.670 --> 0:14:20.510 The opinion polls. 0:14:20.690 --> 0:14:23.810 Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is in Antigua for the Commonwealth 0:14:23.850 --> 0:14:24.890 Heads of Government meeting. 0:14:25.370 --> 0:14:30.810 Australia is a participant in the Commonwealth. And at the 0:14:30.850 --> 0:14:36.590 personal invitation of King Charles, of his majesty, I agreed 0:14:36.670 --> 0:14:38.070 to come to this meeting. 0:14:38.530 --> 0:14:51.800 Cameron Redden, News 24, Canberra. 0:14:56.290 --> 0:14:57.920 Well, as I said, all eyes on Melbourne today. At 0:14:58.160 --> 0:14:59.680 one end of the city, of course, a race that 0:14:59.700 --> 0:15:02.280 stops the nation. At the other end, the governor was 0:15:02.340 --> 0:15:05.200 signing off the writs to mark the official start of 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:07.920 the Victorian election. But the first day has been marred 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:12.180 by that brutal attack of a One Nation volunteer, allegedly 0:15:12.200 --> 0:15:14.100 at the hands of a man arrested at the scene 0:15:14.700 --> 0:15:18.300 after he tried to take down One Nation posters on 0:15:18.340 --> 0:15:21.850 a fence. News 24 reporter Georgie Dickerson with more. 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:25.660 Peter, a One Nation volunteer has been left with serious 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:29.900 injuries after an alleged baseball bat attack in Torquay just 0:15:30.020 --> 0:15:33.620 weeks out from the election. The six-year-old was reportedly confronting 0:15:33.660 --> 0:15:37.100 a 14-year-old boy who had been damaging One Nation campaign 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:41.250 signage on Sunday evening. It's alleged the teenager and his 0:15:41.270 --> 0:15:44.550 37-year-old father then attacked the volunteer, leaving him with serious 0:15:44.610 --> 0:15:47.510 head injuries, facial fractures and internal bleeding. 0:15:48.010 --> 0:15:51.250 He's got bleeding in the brain. Apparently it's going deeper 0:15:51.290 --> 0:15:54.090 into the brain. So there's a situation there that it's 0:15:54.130 --> 0:15:57.860 been monitored. He's badly bruised. You couldn't even recognise the man. 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:01.020 It wasn't just a punch. He was on the ground 0:16:01.260 --> 0:16:04.720 and he was kicked that badly. He lost consciousness. I'm 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:09.030 very emotional about this because I respect people who support me. 0:16:10.490 --> 0:16:12.530 I really do. I don't take it for granted. It 0:16:12.690 --> 0:16:13.490 means a lot to me. 0:16:14.010 --> 0:16:16.570 A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the father. 0:16:16.730 --> 0:16:18.630 It says he runs his own business and is the 0:16:18.690 --> 0:16:22.000 family's only income earner. While he is recovering, the family 0:16:22.060 --> 0:16:25.560 has no money coming in. The 37-year-old has been charged, 0:16:25.580 --> 0:16:28.540 but the 14-year-old has been issued a caution. Premier Ben 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:31.760 Carroll has also condemned the attack, saying no volunteer should 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:35.420 face violence for their political beliefs. The government is facing 0:16:35.490 --> 0:16:39.370 fresh criticism, though, over its decision to approve two controversial 0:16:39.510 --> 0:16:45.090 battery storage projects. worth $ 240 million near Camperdown, just days 0:16:45.150 --> 0:16:49.090 before entering caretaker mode. Meanwhile, opposition leader Jess Wilson is 0:16:49.130 --> 0:16:52.330 taking the campaign trail to a local pub, joining punters 0:16:52.410 --> 0:16:56.490 to watch the Melbourne Cup, swapping political stakes for racing odds. 0:16:56.870 --> 0:17:00.330 But beyond the Cup Day festivities, the political clock is ticking. 0:17:00.550 --> 0:17:03.010 The governor has formally signed the writs for the November 0:17:03.250 --> 0:17:07.560 28th state election, setting the electoral process in motion. And Peter, 0:17:07.580 --> 0:17:11.080 the campaign is now underway, with the Carol Labor government 0:17:11.410 --> 0:17:13.389 officially entering caretaker mode. 0:17:15.170 --> 0:17:17.109 As I said to you, more on the alleged bashing 0:17:17.130 --> 0:17:20.520 of the One Nation volunteer and I guess the political 0:17:20.580 --> 0:17:23.939 mood around our country, in Victoria in particular, more broadly. 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:26.419 Let's bring in One Nation's upper house candidate for the 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:32.480 northern metro region, Mark Nicholson. I was staggered. I spoke 0:17:32.510 --> 0:17:35.110 to James Ashby this morning and he sent me through 0:17:35.150 --> 0:17:38.600 those images. I don't think I've ever seen Images like 0:17:38.619 --> 0:17:41.980 that connected with anything political in this country, Mark. Yeah. 0:17:42.700 --> 0:17:45.310 We've had a bad couple of weeks right around the country, 0:17:45.330 --> 0:17:46.470 but this is really shocking. 0:17:46.790 --> 0:17:49.629 Yeah, I was rattled. I've got a background in criminal 0:17:49.650 --> 0:17:54.210 law and I worked on death penalty cases in North Carolina. 0:17:54.230 --> 0:17:55.430 I've seen some stuff. 0:17:55.630 --> 0:17:55.880 Yeah. 0:17:56.300 --> 0:17:59.420 But this one really hit me. It takes a lot 0:17:59.700 --> 0:18:00.859 for something like that to hit me. 0:18:01.180 --> 0:18:01.360 Yeah. 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:05.730 Because I guess it's personal and it's... Convinced me and 0:18:05.750 --> 0:18:07.230 a lot of the party as well that this is 0:18:07.270 --> 0:18:10.030 now incumbent on us to not let it affect us, 0:18:10.070 --> 0:18:12.129 not let it stop us. It's convinced us that we 0:18:12.190 --> 0:18:14.290 are the good guys. We're not the ones that are 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:17.780 roaming around with baseball bats and using violence. We're trying 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:21.080 to hit the ballot. We're trying to change things properly. 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:24.680 We did 63 pages of policy that can be summed 0:18:24.740 --> 0:18:26.700 up as we want to stop bleeding on the streets 0:18:26.780 --> 0:18:30.140 and stop the bleeding in the budget and restore trust 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:35.050 to government. What is controversial about that? I just don't 0:18:35.090 --> 0:18:37.210 understand how we can continue to be framed as the 0:18:37.230 --> 0:18:38.290 bad guys constantly. 0:18:38.950 --> 0:18:41.540 How do you feel about your own safety personally and 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:42.260 that of your family? 0:18:42.490 --> 0:18:44.580 I've had to think about it a lot since I 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:46.620 stood up as a candidate and especially the last couple 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:49.040 of weeks while everyone was clamouring around to try and 0:18:49.100 --> 0:18:51.879 blame the cartoon for political violence. I've had to think 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:53.080 about it a lot and I said it the other 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.660 day that With what we're doing here in Victoria, because 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:57.760 I do believe we're the good guys, I've had to 0:18:57.780 --> 0:19:00.740 think a lot about the potential of these lunatics getting 0:19:00.780 --> 0:19:01.420 off a good shot. 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:01.900 And they could. 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:04.580 They could get a shot off. And I've thought about, 0:19:04.780 --> 0:19:06.020 and I want to make it clear to everyone at 0:19:06.060 --> 0:19:08.740 home as well, that when the blood drains from my brain, 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:11.530 the last thing that goes through my mind is that 0:19:11.570 --> 0:19:15.369 it was worth it. Because Victoria's worth it. Australia's worth it. 0:19:15.369 --> 0:19:17.350 And blokes like this guy that stood up for us today, 0:19:18.190 --> 0:19:18.750 he's worth it too. 0:19:19.619 --> 0:19:23.420 Yeah, self-employed guy, cares enough about his country and cares 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:25.520 enough about his state. And I say this to people, 0:19:25.540 --> 0:19:27.439 if you don't live in Victoria, you don't understand the 0:19:27.460 --> 0:19:29.860 mood down here. This is a broken state. It's been 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:32.120 broken for a long time. I think we're all stuck 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:36.730 in that cycle of PTSD around COVID. I think it's 0:19:37.010 --> 0:19:39.510 all of that and more coming to the fore right now. 0:19:40.010 --> 0:19:42.990 And so people that have never been motivated by politics 0:19:43.030 --> 0:19:45.330 before are whacking a sign up in their front yard. 0:19:45.350 --> 0:19:47.540 They're talking to their mates at the, you know, the 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:50.930 Bottle-O or the golf club. They're big. much more vocal 0:19:50.970 --> 0:19:53.930 about their politics than I have ever seen in Victoria. 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:57.300 And someone does that and ends up at the end 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:01.520 of a baseball bat with catastrophic injuries. How do you 0:20:01.540 --> 0:20:04.119 get good people to put the posters up now or 0:20:04.340 --> 0:20:07.100 to offer to do how to vote cards or to 0:20:07.140 --> 0:20:08.919 get out there and doorknock? How do you do that now? 0:20:09.270 --> 0:20:09.949 It can't stop us. 0:20:10.030 --> 0:20:11.390 It's incumbent on us. So it's designed to shut you down. 0:20:11.430 --> 0:20:11.649 It is. 0:20:11.730 --> 0:20:13.950 It's designed to shut us down. And, yes, you're right, 0:20:14.330 --> 0:20:17.889 I am so angry at both of the major parties 0:20:18.190 --> 0:20:20.450 here in Victoria. I am deeply angry. I am not 0:20:20.990 --> 0:20:24.859 angry at the socialist left who have undoubtedly hijacked this government. 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:26.820 I've got enough to give for both of us, but anyway. 0:20:26.840 --> 0:20:29.239 Yeah, I'm angry, but I'm angry at the politicians that 0:20:29.260 --> 0:20:31.959 let them run the show. They've invited him inside the lodge. 0:20:32.619 --> 0:20:35.310 I'm angry at those people. But we're doing it the 0:20:35.350 --> 0:20:37.489 right way. We're not wandering around with baseball bats. We're 0:20:37.510 --> 0:20:39.730 hitting the ballot. We're trying to do it the right way. 0:20:40.060 --> 0:20:43.920 I'm sick of our conservative side of politics. We constantly 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:46.630 disavow our extremists. I think it's time for the other 0:20:46.670 --> 0:20:48.270 side of politics to do the same because I've had 0:20:48.330 --> 0:20:50.149 enough and I'm sick of not saying it out loud. 0:20:50.170 --> 0:20:50.570 Yeah, you're right. 0:20:50.690 --> 0:20:53.390 Every time something happens and there's an element where there's 0:20:53.570 --> 0:20:57.600 even a loose connection to the right, everybody's got to 0:20:57.630 --> 0:20:59.650 get out there and jump on top of it, right? 0:20:59.690 --> 0:21:02.520 Every right-wing politician's pushed on it, but not if it's 0:21:02.540 --> 0:21:03.040 from the left. 0:21:03.260 --> 0:21:06.320 No. Look, when they saw the Land Cruiser with Helen Haynes, 0:21:06.380 --> 0:21:08.840 they went, we got one, boys. We got one. 0:21:09.100 --> 0:21:09.580 Fire it up. 0:21:09.619 --> 0:21:10.860 Let's do a press conference now. 0:21:10.980 --> 0:21:11.500 We got one. 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:15.120 It's a One Nation supporter, guaranteed. They shut everything down. 0:21:15.910 --> 0:21:17.770 Now they started clamouring. Once they worked out it was 0:21:17.850 --> 0:21:20.210 one of them, they started clamouring around and they were like, oh, 0:21:20.210 --> 0:21:22.830 maybe it's the cartoons. Maybe it was Pauline Hanson. Maybe 0:21:22.850 --> 0:21:25.760 he's got depression. I'm sure he's got ADHD, something. They're 0:21:25.780 --> 0:21:27.470 going to find some sort of reason to explain it. 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:30.540 Well, then it became digital duty of care, as we know, 0:21:30.580 --> 0:21:31.100 and many other things. 0:21:31.119 --> 0:21:32.300 That sense of the internet, yeah. 0:21:32.780 --> 0:21:36.420 So the Ritz issue today, you've got a really big 0:21:36.460 --> 0:21:39.980 mountain to climb. How do you feel, day one? 0:21:40.619 --> 0:21:43.010 Honestly, charged, more charged than I've ever felt before. 0:21:43.210 --> 0:21:43.410 Yeah. 0:21:43.590 --> 0:21:43.730 This. 0:21:44.520 --> 0:21:46.780 This is an honest, this is a tragedy and indeed 0:21:46.820 --> 0:21:50.200 it rocked me, but it's incumbent on us, on all 0:21:50.220 --> 0:21:52.030 of us, and we've had a chat amongst the leadership 0:21:52.050 --> 0:21:54.630 team now that it's now or never. 0:21:55.210 --> 0:21:55.590 We have to. 0:21:55.830 --> 0:21:57.250 Thoughts and prayers to this individual. 0:21:57.270 --> 0:21:58.730 Yeah, it's at $ 200, 000 now. 0:21:58.730 --> 0:22:00.929 $ 200, 000. I was going to say the GoFundMe tells you 0:22:00.950 --> 0:22:04.109 where the hearts and minds of ordinary Victorians are. Mark Nicholson, 0:22:04.130 --> 0:22:04.449 thank you. 0:22:04.570 --> 0:22:04.869 Thank you. 0:22:04.890 --> 0:22:08.790 All right. If you had a mortgage today too, we'll 0:22:08.810 --> 0:22:10.889 get on to some other issues, but you didn't come 0:22:10.930 --> 0:22:12.460 out on top, did you, today? That was a horrible 0:22:12.500 --> 0:22:15.600 decision and it's number 17. More predicted on the way. 0:22:15.660 --> 0:22:18.679 But if you watched last night and you listened to 0:22:18.740 --> 0:22:21.949 Jess Wilson, you might have at least turned the corner 0:22:22.470 --> 0:22:24.030 in the big race at Flemington. 0:22:25.890 --> 0:22:28.609 I am backing Point of Law. 0:22:28.850 --> 0:22:29.350 Point of Law. 0:22:29.369 --> 0:22:31.649 Point of Law because I want to restore law and 0:22:31.730 --> 0:22:33.470 order to this state. But I think Point of Law 0:22:33.550 --> 0:22:35.490 and Trust Your Instincts are sort of the two favourites 0:22:35.540 --> 0:22:35.890 in the cup. 0:22:35.910 --> 0:22:36.720 Maybe a Quinella, hey? 0:22:36.940 --> 0:22:39.820 Maybe, but also Point of Law looked like the jockeys 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:41.200 in blue, so it's a good one to back. 0:22:43.260 --> 0:22:46.670 My pick. Went nowhere, but I also put $ 5 on 0:22:46.710 --> 0:22:49.580 Jess's one and washed myself out in front. So there 0:22:49.619 --> 0:22:51.660 we go. Let's get on to the other issues around 0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:55.660 the country. News24 political editor Andrew Clennell joins me now. 0:22:56.520 --> 0:22:59.000 With the rates rise, of course, top of mind, Andrew. 0:22:59.380 --> 0:23:02.429 That cash rate, 18-year high now. You'd have to go 0:23:02.490 --> 0:23:05.430 back to the Kevin Ruddy era, I think 2008, to 0:23:05.930 --> 0:23:10.109 get numbers of 4.85, some of the worst in the 0:23:10.150 --> 0:23:13.520 developed world. But not our fault, says the Treasurer. 0:23:14.550 --> 0:23:19.310 Yeah, and I think Michelle Bullock indicated that excuse doesn't work. 0:23:19.350 --> 0:23:23.669 She said it was domestic capacity pressures. She said the 0:23:23.780 --> 0:23:26.440 oil price obviously is a contributor and it flows through 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:28.960 the economy, but she was quite clear on a number 0:23:29.000 --> 0:23:32.720 of occasions in her press conference that it's domestic spending 0:23:32.800 --> 0:23:35.960 that's the issue. And, you know, you can look at 0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:39.230 domestic spending, government spending, you can look at the labour 0:23:39.270 --> 0:23:41.950 shortage up until now when we're starting to see unemployment, 0:23:42.540 --> 0:23:47.030 as various reasons, it's just not correct to say. that 0:23:47.090 --> 0:23:52.010 it is all about things happening overseas. And, look, that 0:23:52.090 --> 0:23:54.350 rate back then, and in John Howard's time it was 0:23:54.410 --> 0:23:57.909 up to 6%, it's not as severe on people as 0:23:57.950 --> 0:24:00.149 it is now because house prices have gone up to 0:24:00.170 --> 0:24:04.850 the extent that people are getting hit way more with 0:24:04.910 --> 0:24:07.210 it than they were then, or perhaps even in the 0:24:07.250 --> 0:24:10.710 Keating years when they were 17%. I mean, it's just 0:24:10.770 --> 0:24:14.629 a different market, a different situation. People are more heavily leveraged. 0:24:15.330 --> 0:24:18.469 And I think that's why it's such a heavy political 0:24:18.530 --> 0:24:19.710 situation for the government. 0:24:21.490 --> 0:24:23.919 Yeah, and I think that voters aren't stupid, right? So 0:24:23.940 --> 0:24:26.119 when the government's out there saying it's global factors, it's 0:24:26.140 --> 0:24:29.119 the cost of getting fuel all the way down the 0:24:29.160 --> 0:24:32.479 southern hemisphere to Australia, you look across the ditch, New 0:24:32.520 --> 0:24:34.340 Zealand's got a cash rate with a two in front 0:24:34.380 --> 0:24:36.840 of it. Now, their geography is the same as ours. 0:24:37.280 --> 0:24:41.600 They're a heavy diesel economy like we are in agriculture. 0:24:42.020 --> 0:24:43.380 If they can put a two in front of their 0:24:43.400 --> 0:24:45.560 cash rate, well, then you've got to ask, what the 0:24:45.619 --> 0:24:47.320 heck is Canberra doing to ours? 0:24:48.160 --> 0:24:49.980 Well, at the end of the day, their Reserve Bank 0:24:50.000 --> 0:24:53.359 went harder earlier and caused a recession. But the thing is, 0:24:53.400 --> 0:24:57.740 with the recession these days, with unemployment relatively low, you 0:24:57.770 --> 0:25:01.100 can come out of it. Not like in the early 90s, 0:25:01.130 --> 0:25:04.910 which you and I would have experienced. So there's an argument, too, 0:25:04.950 --> 0:25:07.810 that the RBA have stuffed it. They did those rate cuts, 0:25:07.869 --> 0:25:11.270 which started just before the last election, conveniently for the government. 0:25:12.550 --> 0:25:14.970 And that's proven to be a mistake. I mean, Michelle 0:25:15.010 --> 0:25:18.150 Bullock basically said that today, right? She said, oh, the 0:25:18.190 --> 0:25:21.969 domestic inflation was worse than we thought. I mean, that 0:25:22.030 --> 0:25:24.030 is a hell of a mistake by the Reserve Bank, 0:25:24.310 --> 0:25:24.770 I'm seeing. 0:25:24.950 --> 0:25:28.690 Yeah, but I'm going to say there's blame everywhere. She's 0:25:28.710 --> 0:25:32.580 got one lever. Jim Chalmers has got multiple levers with 0:25:32.600 --> 0:25:35.700 spending like drunken sailors. The spending as a percentage of 0:25:35.740 --> 0:25:40.200 GDP is massive. The off-book budget stuff is huge as well. 0:25:40.720 --> 0:25:42.439 It's not just the numbers we can see that are 0:25:42.460 --> 0:25:45.200 written into the budget. I mean, everyone's got universal childcare. 0:25:46.680 --> 0:25:51.300 You've got $ 16 billion going to pay off HECS debts. Childcare, again, 0:25:51.340 --> 0:25:53.240 you can have childcare in this country if you earn 0:25:53.550 --> 0:25:57.970 half a million dollars. We are spending borrowed money and 0:25:58.010 --> 0:25:59.710 we can't afford to keep going like this. 0:25:59.950 --> 0:26:04.909 Well, Medicare NDIS completely not means tested. You know, and 0:26:04.950 --> 0:26:07.930 they went, what's happening now, and we haven't even seen 0:26:07.970 --> 0:26:10.129 it for everyone really. I'm still paying for the doctor, 0:26:10.190 --> 0:26:12.169 I can tell you. But if you go and get 0:26:12.210 --> 0:26:15.720 a free doctor's visit, that's more spending in the economy. 0:26:15.800 --> 0:26:18.119 So you get it with one hand and then you 0:26:18.140 --> 0:26:21.500 end up giving it with the other because inflation everywhere, 0:26:21.520 --> 0:26:24.180 it drives inflation and it drives interest rates up. So 0:26:24.200 --> 0:26:28.790 this is the issue, that they basically haven't made the 0:26:28.830 --> 0:26:31.960 hard decisions in their first term. It appears to me 0:26:32.000 --> 0:26:34.200 they had a COVID level spending. They say we've made 0:26:34.240 --> 0:26:36.980 some savings, but then they spent as well and they 0:26:37.010 --> 0:26:40.330 had revenue upgrades from mining as all treasurers seem to have. 0:26:40.350 --> 0:26:44.030 And so they were able to point to so-called savings 0:26:44.090 --> 0:26:47.590 and surpluses. The surpluses were a benefit of inflation, actually. 0:26:48.430 --> 0:26:52.310 And when they really could have made inroads there, they 0:26:52.450 --> 0:26:56.110 could have made significant inroads into the spending. If you 0:26:56.790 --> 0:26:58.690 give people something, they don't want to take it away. 0:26:58.730 --> 0:27:01.060 So if you keep it at that COVID level spending, 0:27:01.780 --> 0:27:05.440 the budget, this is where we end up. Someone had 0:27:05.480 --> 0:27:07.340 to bite the bullet and we're now four years into 0:27:07.380 --> 0:27:10.260 this government and they're suddenly saying, oh, we might have 0:27:10.300 --> 0:27:11.080 to bite the bullet. 0:27:11.980 --> 0:27:12.459 Far out. 0:27:12.619 --> 0:27:15.429 And the NDIS changes they've made, they're just about limiting 0:27:15.450 --> 0:27:18.470 the growth of the scheme. They're not actually about cutting 0:27:18.510 --> 0:27:21.630 the scheme back and they take a while to roll out. 0:27:21.990 --> 0:27:26.010 So inflation now doesn't account for that. And anecdotally, you 0:27:26.050 --> 0:27:30.030 just hear about the NDIS taking over the economy and taking, 0:27:30.050 --> 0:27:31.990 you know, labour away from the private sector. 0:27:33.090 --> 0:27:35.910 Correct. And let's not forget every time there's a need 0:27:35.970 --> 0:27:39.510 to increase the wages of people in these private economy 0:27:39.570 --> 0:27:44.230 jobs like the NDIS, like childcare, the federal taxpayer is 0:27:44.310 --> 0:27:45.949 paying for these cost increases. 0:27:45.970 --> 0:27:46.090 Mm-hmm. 0:27:46.420 --> 0:27:48.699 You know, it's coming out of the bottom line at 0:27:48.760 --> 0:27:52.169 every opportunity. I said before I don't think Australians are stupid. 0:27:52.210 --> 0:27:55.090 They're not. You're starting to now see this play into 0:27:55.150 --> 0:27:58.330 the primary vote for Labor. It's collapsed 10 points from 0:27:58.350 --> 0:28:02.730 where it was last September at 37% to 27% in 0:28:02.770 --> 0:28:08.720 the latest news poll. I won't pre-empt the News 24 poll. 0:28:08.740 --> 0:28:12.040 We'll get that tomorrow. But that's not got any good 0:28:12.080 --> 0:28:15.600 news in that tomorrow for the Prime Minister or Labor. 0:28:16.260 --> 0:28:18.220 This is starting to really settle in. And this is 0:28:18.240 --> 0:28:21.369 where I think Jim Chalmers in particular is in a 0:28:21.390 --> 0:28:23.410 lot of trouble. He's the heir apparent. And I don't 0:28:23.430 --> 0:28:25.550 think any of his colleagues would vote for him in 0:28:25.570 --> 0:28:26.090 a pink fit. 0:28:28.570 --> 0:28:30.210 Yeah, well, definitely. 0:28:30.290 --> 0:28:33.130 And does it get to the point where Anthony Albanese, 0:28:33.170 --> 0:28:34.770 if he doesn't want to go himself, has to have 0:28:34.830 --> 0:28:37.250 a full guy? That's what Jim Chalmers would be fearing 0:28:37.290 --> 0:28:39.830 at the moment. Look, it's a pretty critical time for 0:28:39.860 --> 0:28:43.739 the government because If they just stabilise there, they can 0:28:43.760 --> 0:28:46.220 bring it back up if the cycle changes. I mean, 0:28:46.240 --> 0:28:48.640 that 10% has come off as rates have gone up. 0:28:49.620 --> 0:28:54.320 If you put a rates column next to the polling numbers, 0:28:54.600 --> 0:28:59.080 you'd see an absolute correlation. So they would be hoping 0:28:59.120 --> 0:29:02.350 we can get lucky like last time and there's an 0:29:02.810 --> 0:29:05.150 economic cycle and the cuts come in, the war ends, 0:29:05.210 --> 0:29:09.570 et cetera. But on the other hand, if that starts 0:29:09.630 --> 0:29:12.780 to move further downwards... And there's a risk of that 0:29:12.800 --> 0:29:14.700 in the next couple of months. You get a rate hike. 0:29:16.240 --> 0:29:20.220 You get the prime minister away a lot. Then it 0:29:20.280 --> 0:29:24.060 does become a Julia Gillard type issue, right? Because that's 0:29:24.100 --> 0:29:26.400 what happened to her. I mean, she was ahead. She 0:29:26.440 --> 0:29:29.890 did the carbon tax thing and she was at 38 0:29:29.890 --> 0:29:31.410 and she ends up, you know, they look like they're 0:29:31.430 --> 0:29:33.290 going to win 30 seats. So that's why it's such 0:29:33.330 --> 0:29:37.030 a danger period because that number is way too low 0:29:37.050 --> 0:29:42.739 and if a further, it could just get baked in. 0:29:44.340 --> 0:29:46.400 When you get into that death spiral in politics, as 0:29:46.460 --> 0:29:49.000 you know well, when you get into it, you know, 0:29:49.200 --> 0:29:51.080 you can't pull your nose out of it, right? Your 0:29:51.100 --> 0:29:54.220 plane's going down. There's nothing you can do. it becomes very, 0:29:54.260 --> 0:29:56.580 very difficult and you have to have a game-changer event 0:29:56.660 --> 0:30:00.820 like sacking your treasurer or the retirement of a leader. Absolutely. 0:30:00.840 --> 0:30:01.300 We will see. 0:30:01.820 --> 0:30:02.400 Absolutely. 0:30:02.500 --> 0:30:05.140 Andrew, thank you. Thank you. All right, quick break after 0:30:05.160 --> 0:30:07.870 the break. Warren Hogan, our economic expert, let's pull it 0:30:07.920 --> 0:30:11.670 all apart and understand what's still on the horizon in 0:30:11.710 --> 0:30:14.870 terms of household pain. Angus Taylor, too, heading back at 0:30:14.890 --> 0:30:18.469 the PM's continuing weakness when it comes to Islamic terrorists 0:30:18.950 --> 0:30:31.930 and national security. Welcome back. Coming up, opposition leader Angus 0:30:32.010 --> 0:30:35.410 Taylor set to join me shortly as more terrorists are 0:30:35.430 --> 0:30:38.750 slated to be released from prison. But first, more on 0:30:38.770 --> 0:30:42.990 today's 17th rate hike under the Albanese government. Let's bring 0:30:43.090 --> 0:30:46.760 in noted economist Warren Hogan, who's also the managing director, 0:30:46.780 --> 0:30:51.210 of course, of EQ Economics. Warren. We've done a little 0:30:51.230 --> 0:30:52.910 bit of a chat about this on the top. We've 0:30:52.950 --> 0:30:55.790 set all the parameters about how sort of historic this is. 0:30:56.510 --> 0:31:01.390 17th rate hike, 18-year highs in terms of numbers. What 0:31:01.450 --> 0:31:05.230 shocked me this hour was how prevalent across every news 0:31:05.270 --> 0:31:08.410 site I looked at was talk about a real genuine 0:31:08.470 --> 0:31:13.290 recession risk here in Australia. Give me your analysis on that. 0:31:14.550 --> 0:31:17.930 Yeah, good evening, Peter. Look, I actually think the chance 0:31:17.990 --> 0:31:20.910 of a recession in the next six months is still 0:31:20.970 --> 0:31:24.170 pretty low i mean we're running a very fine line 0:31:24.210 --> 0:31:27.480 here our economy can grow at about two percent before 0:31:27.520 --> 0:31:31.000 it creates inflation the rba needs to get growth under 0:31:31.040 --> 0:31:34.040 that to bring inflation down and of course the governments 0:31:34.120 --> 0:31:37.020 of australia are spending it sort of three percent plus 0:31:37.120 --> 0:31:40.810 which means they need the private sector to be literally 0:31:41.050 --> 0:31:44.510 on their knees they need virtually no growth and calibrating 0:31:44.550 --> 0:31:47.190 these things is impossible we've got an uncertain world so 0:31:47.650 --> 0:31:50.450 You can't rule out a technical recession, but a bad 0:31:51.050 --> 0:31:55.020 recession is unlikely. And the reason is the new economy 0:31:55.280 --> 0:31:58.300 in the post-pandemic world, in the world of the retirement 0:31:58.320 --> 0:32:00.920 of the baby boomers, is we have worker shortages. We're 0:32:00.980 --> 0:32:03.400 not seeing the big job losses like we used to. 0:32:03.540 --> 0:32:07.000 Unemployment isn't the problem it used to be. And that 0:32:07.060 --> 0:32:09.120 means that when people have jobs, they keep spending. So 0:32:09.140 --> 0:32:12.250 there's resilience in this economy and many economies around the world. 0:32:12.270 --> 0:32:15.450 And that's what's catching policymakers out in recent years. 0:32:17.550 --> 0:32:20.190 That works, doesn't it, though? If you've got a skill 0:32:20.230 --> 0:32:22.970 set in demand, what if you've got a skill set 0:32:23.370 --> 0:32:25.490 that's not in demand? Are you telling me across the 0:32:25.510 --> 0:32:28.470 board that every skill set is in demand and if 0:32:28.510 --> 0:32:30.450 you lost your job, you're going to get picked up 0:32:30.520 --> 0:32:31.100 somewhere else? 0:32:31.710 --> 0:32:34.800 Yeah, look, you make the really critical point. And this 0:32:34.840 --> 0:32:37.920 should be one of the key focus areas of government, 0:32:37.980 --> 0:32:43.560 particularly federal government, is retraining and reskilling the displaced workers. 0:32:43.640 --> 0:32:46.420 And we're at just the start of this new technology wave. 0:32:47.170 --> 0:32:47.730 And it's coming. 0:32:47.970 --> 0:32:50.230 We're not putting it back in the box. We can 0:32:50.570 --> 0:32:52.630 pretend it's not coming if we want, but it's going 0:32:52.650 --> 0:32:55.910 to hit us. So, look, we have to reskill and retrain. 0:32:55.930 --> 0:32:57.770 We know the numbers after a quarter of the current 0:32:57.790 --> 0:33:00.090 jobs are going to go, et cetera, et cetera. And 0:33:00.110 --> 0:33:02.630 you're right. Even right now as we sit in this economy, 0:33:03.100 --> 0:33:07.720 the 325,000 job vacancies the ABS reports that exist across 0:33:07.780 --> 0:33:13.510 every state and territory and, importantly, across just about every industry, So, look, 0:33:13.630 --> 0:33:15.830 it's not like you need to leave a job in 0:33:15.970 --> 0:33:19.390 a middle management of an office job and go and 0:33:19.430 --> 0:33:22.530 work in aged care. That's not it. That's the fear mongering. 0:33:23.030 --> 0:33:26.450 There is work in construction, in hospitality, in defence, in police. 0:33:26.510 --> 0:33:28.870 I mean, we really do have a lot of jobs 0:33:28.910 --> 0:33:31.170 out there. And, of course, one of the statistics that's 0:33:31.230 --> 0:33:33.760 really startling is the amount of second job holders in 0:33:33.800 --> 0:33:35.800 this economy has gone to a record high in the 0:33:35.840 --> 0:33:39.670 last six months of almost 7% of the workforce. never 0:33:39.750 --> 0:33:41.990 got over 6% any time in the last 20 years. 0:33:42.430 --> 0:33:44.670 And that's, of course, people under pressure, but it's also 0:33:44.730 --> 0:33:48.100 because there's jobs out there. So it's a different economy 0:33:48.120 --> 0:33:50.000 to the one we've known for the last 40 years, 0:33:50.080 --> 0:33:53.160 and the big thing is this employment story. 0:33:53.180 --> 0:33:58.000 Well, what about the ACTU today? They've been accused of hypocrisy. 0:33:58.440 --> 0:34:02.120 Businesses saying, well, hang on, your constant demands for pay 0:34:02.180 --> 0:34:05.860 rises of sort of 35% and more, they are what's 0:34:05.900 --> 0:34:07.400 helping drive inflation. 0:34:09.130 --> 0:34:12.470 And it's totally fair enough. I mean, so far, despite 0:34:12.489 --> 0:34:17.120 a few big pay rises going typically to unionised workforces, 0:34:17.960 --> 0:34:20.759 the wage story more generally has not been part of 0:34:20.840 --> 0:34:24.160 our inflation problem. It's been a productivity story. It's been 0:34:24.180 --> 0:34:26.840 a global story. It's been a fiscal stimulus and government 0:34:26.860 --> 0:34:29.719 spending story. But it's not going to be long before 0:34:29.760 --> 0:34:32.350 the fact that we have labour shortages and the fact 0:34:32.390 --> 0:34:34.689 that people are so far behind where they were five 0:34:34.710 --> 0:34:36.910 years ago that they're going to start moving jobs and 0:34:36.969 --> 0:34:40.629 wanting bigger pay packets. And the business community has got 0:34:40.670 --> 0:34:42.989 to stand up for itself and for what I would 0:34:43.030 --> 0:34:46.290 call a good economy and make it clear that this 0:34:46.330 --> 0:34:50.380 sort of economic storytelling, you know, Australians are sick and 0:34:50.400 --> 0:34:53.380 tired of it. They need economic reality. They need our 0:34:53.440 --> 0:34:56.239 leaders to be talking about what's going to work. And 0:34:56.280 --> 0:34:58.200 I think there's been a real shift in this country 0:34:58.219 --> 0:35:00.319 in the last six weeks. And the RBA has been 0:35:00.360 --> 0:35:02.670 a big part of it, not just in raising rates, 0:35:02.730 --> 0:35:05.790 but of course their communications. They've gone to a great 0:35:05.850 --> 0:35:08.290 effort to try and explain a lot of this. And 0:35:08.330 --> 0:35:12.310 I think this sort of what I call vibanomics, you know, 0:35:12.350 --> 0:35:15.820 this is over. You know, reality is dawning on everyone 0:35:15.840 --> 0:35:18.219 that we've got to face up to the facts of 0:35:18.280 --> 0:35:21.020 what's ahead of us, and that is that higher rates 0:35:21.060 --> 0:35:24.080 are here to stay and that we have an economy 0:35:24.280 --> 0:35:26.720 that is being overwhelmed by government spending. 0:35:28.540 --> 0:35:31.860 You're not wrong there, Warren Hogan. Thank you. There you go. 0:35:31.870 --> 0:35:34.009 He knows what he's talking about. Let's go to the break. 0:35:34.050 --> 0:35:35.839 Angus Taylor after the break. We'll get an update too 0:35:35.880 --> 0:35:38.299 on the Port of Darwin. The PM said it would 0:35:38.340 --> 0:35:41.660 come back to Australian ownership. Well, that's not happened. What's 0:35:41.700 --> 0:35:49.279 going on with the Chinese beer? That's next. Welcome back. 0:35:49.360 --> 0:35:52.759 Coming up, the growing risk of lithium batteries catching fire 0:35:52.780 --> 0:35:56.710 in family homes. Tuesday panel, Lucy Exelic and a surprise 0:35:56.790 --> 0:35:58.759 as well. We'll do that in a moment. And now 0:35:58.780 --> 0:36:02.379 back to the Reserve Bank decision today, more pain for households. 0:36:02.800 --> 0:36:06.100 And let's bring in Opposition Leader Angus Taylor. Angus, I 0:36:06.160 --> 0:36:08.030 played a little bit at the start of the program 0:36:08.070 --> 0:36:10.930 tonight to say, you know, when this happened, I think 0:36:10.950 --> 0:36:14.190 it was in 2008, the Prime Minister, then the Opposition Leader, 0:36:14.650 --> 0:36:20.160 was scarifying in relation to Scott Morrison's hike to rates. 0:36:20.219 --> 0:36:23.839 It wasn't 2008. It was later than that. And that 0:36:23.880 --> 0:36:27.800 was only one. There's now been 17 on his watch. 0:36:28.440 --> 0:36:31.180 None of this is his government's fault. It's all the 0:36:31.239 --> 0:36:35.000 fault of global factors. What do you say to that? 0:36:38.180 --> 0:36:41.049 Peter, thank you for having me. It is absolute and 0:36:41.230 --> 0:36:44.930 utter nonsense. And the Reserve Bank governor called it out today. 0:36:45.650 --> 0:36:48.549 She said that the interest rate increase today was not 0:36:48.590 --> 0:36:51.150 about oil prices or a war in the Middle East. 0:36:52.110 --> 0:36:54.989 It's not about those things. It's about government spending being 0:36:55.190 --> 0:36:57.890 out of control. And four and a half years now, 0:36:58.350 --> 0:37:00.680 we've had a government with the foot on the accelerator, 0:37:01.070 --> 0:37:04.810 spending like drunken sailors at the same time as... The 0:37:04.870 --> 0:37:07.370 Reserve Bank has been trying to get interest rates down. 0:37:07.710 --> 0:37:10.190 And the result of that is eventually you break the engine. 0:37:10.270 --> 0:37:13.770 And the engine's broken, Peter. Our economy is not working 0:37:13.810 --> 0:37:17.440 for Australians anymore. They're having to work harder for less. 0:37:17.719 --> 0:37:20.120 The forecasts coming out from the Reserve Bank today are 0:37:20.160 --> 0:37:24.640 extremely grim. This is not an economy where people can 0:37:24.700 --> 0:37:27.900 get ahead. And, of course, anyone with a mortgage today, 0:37:28.420 --> 0:37:30.529 it's a very, very tough day. It's not going to 0:37:30.570 --> 0:37:34.469 make it any easier to make ends meet. for families and, 0:37:34.610 --> 0:37:37.510 of course, just trying to keep a small business afloat 0:37:37.730 --> 0:37:41.510 at the moment is incredibly difficult. We need a government 0:37:41.550 --> 0:37:44.129 that can get control of spending and that's why we 0:37:44.170 --> 0:37:48.130 announced our plan last week for $ 31 billion of sensible 0:37:48.210 --> 0:37:52.680 savings to cut the waste alongside cutting taxes and red tape, 0:37:52.719 --> 0:37:55.279 which is what we desperately need if we're going to 0:37:55.320 --> 0:37:57.370 get our economy back to where it needs to be. I. 0:38:00.200 --> 0:38:02.779 Two things struck me today, obviously getting the news poll 0:38:02.800 --> 0:38:05.660 from yesterday that shows more and more Australians are just 0:38:06.090 --> 0:38:08.790 bleeding away the primary vote from Labor. So they have 0:38:08.830 --> 0:38:11.270 worked out what's going on and they're looking at the 0:38:11.430 --> 0:38:15.390 trust deficit with this government and they're not falling for 0:38:15.410 --> 0:38:18.450 the spinners much anymore. But this is a big shift. 0:38:18.489 --> 0:38:21.450 Today in that press conference with the Treasurer, it was 0:38:21.510 --> 0:38:24.150 like the Emperor had no clothes. It's the first time 0:38:24.210 --> 0:38:27.190 I saw him under real pressure from the press gallery 0:38:27.210 --> 0:38:30.650 and I mean, he can't claim its global factors if 0:38:30.710 --> 0:38:33.250 the rest of the world doesn't have inflation like this, 0:38:33.350 --> 0:38:35.920 if the rest of the world doesn't have a cash 0:38:35.980 --> 0:38:39.160 rate for us. And that's where he's in real trouble. 0:38:39.180 --> 0:38:42.700 I just don't think the rhetoric for Labor works anymore. 0:38:45.550 --> 0:38:49.250 No, absolutely not. And they can't keep denying and blaming Labor. 0:38:49.600 --> 0:38:52.029 other factors. I mean, we had the last week, the 0:38:52.070 --> 0:38:55.320 Prime Minister blaming the Reserve Bank. We had the Treasurer 0:38:55.340 --> 0:38:57.440 blaming the Prime Minister and we have Labor members of 0:38:57.500 --> 0:39:00.540 Parliament blaming each other. But in the end, they're at fault. 0:39:00.840 --> 0:39:03.900 They've got to take responsibility. And, Peter, here's the key. 0:39:04.140 --> 0:39:07.360 You cannot fix a problem if you don't take responsibility 0:39:07.420 --> 0:39:10.609 for the problem. And right now we're seeing a Prime 0:39:10.640 --> 0:39:13.529 Minister and a Treasurer who refuse to do that. I mean, 0:39:13.550 --> 0:39:15.969 this is a Prime Minister who can't even admit when 0:39:15.989 --> 0:39:18.410 he falls off a stage. So, of course, he's not 0:39:18.450 --> 0:39:21.310 going to admit that he's made a mess of the economy. 0:39:21.450 --> 0:39:24.900 But it can be fixed. But getting spending down is 0:39:24.960 --> 0:39:28.650 the key, getting rid of red tape, getting enterprise moving again, 0:39:29.130 --> 0:39:33.399 getting business. and households the confidence to invest again. That's 0:39:33.460 --> 0:39:35.820 what we need. It can be done. We've done it before. 0:39:36.040 --> 0:39:38.450 We can do it again. And that's what our plan 0:39:38.510 --> 0:39:39.049 is all about. 0:39:39.070 --> 0:39:42.630 So quick ones I want to get to, Angus. The 0:39:42.670 --> 0:39:45.169 Port of Darwin, he promised last year it would come 0:39:45.230 --> 0:39:50.240 back under Australian ownership. It's a Chinese-linked lease that's in place. 0:39:50.820 --> 0:39:53.319 There's all this talk that he's being pushed around by 0:39:53.340 --> 0:39:55.620 the Chinese operators. What's going on here? 0:39:58.400 --> 0:40:01.950 Well, it's a very good question, Peter. The Prime Minister 0:40:01.989 --> 0:40:03.950 made the announcement that he would get it back into 0:40:03.989 --> 0:40:08.509 Australian hands under duress during the election campaign after we 0:40:08.570 --> 0:40:12.130 had said that we would force it back into Australian hands. 0:40:12.450 --> 0:40:15.469 He made the announcement yesterday. on a, I think it 0:40:15.489 --> 0:40:18.989 was a radio interview. But the reality, I don't think 0:40:19.030 --> 0:40:21.430 his heart was ever in it, and that's showing up now. 0:40:21.489 --> 0:40:24.220 There's been no moves to fix this problem. This should 0:40:24.340 --> 0:40:27.700 not be in Chinese hands. The port of Darwin is 0:40:27.760 --> 0:40:31.879 a strategic asset, obviously strong military interest there, in getting 0:40:31.920 --> 0:40:34.910 it right, the Americans as well, us and our allies, 0:40:35.050 --> 0:40:37.770 we need to have this in safe hands. It is 0:40:37.870 --> 0:40:40.730 not at the moment and he needs to get on 0:40:40.770 --> 0:40:42.710 with it and do exactly what he said he was 0:40:42.730 --> 0:40:45.330 going to do. The trouble with this Prime Minister is 0:40:45.350 --> 0:40:47.310 he said he wasn't going to raise taxes and he's 0:40:47.350 --> 0:40:49.089 doing it. He said he was going to deliver lower 0:40:49.110 --> 0:40:51.799 electricity bills and, of course, he's failed to do it. 0:40:51.860 --> 0:40:53.400 He said he was going to put the Port of 0:40:53.420 --> 0:40:56.259 Darwin back into Australian hands. We see no sign of 0:40:56.300 --> 0:40:57.939 it and we're going to keep pressuring it. I know 0:40:57.980 --> 0:41:01.170 James Patterson we'll be keeping the pressure on the Prime 0:41:01.190 --> 0:41:02.529 Minister and the government to fix that. 0:41:04.290 --> 0:41:07.009 He also said after the horrific events in Bondi last 0:41:07.030 --> 0:41:10.049 year that he'd keep Australians safe. We've got a convicted 0:41:10.250 --> 0:41:14.660 ISIS terrorist, an Australian man about to leave prison. He 0:41:14.680 --> 0:41:18.140 left actually on Sunday, although I can't get that confirmed 0:41:18.180 --> 0:41:21.100 from the government. They're dodging on this. I can't get 0:41:21.140 --> 0:41:23.730 them to tell us under what conditions Australia He's being 0:41:23.790 --> 0:41:28.219 monitored if he is. Isaac El-Mattari is his name. I 0:41:28.239 --> 0:41:31.160 know you pushed the Prime Minister on the Parliament in this, 0:41:31.620 --> 0:41:34.680 but it's not just him. There's others coming out of prison. 0:41:35.020 --> 0:41:38.700 We know that we've got Australians linked to ISIS in Iraq. 0:41:39.100 --> 0:41:42.009 They could be back in Australia in a matter of months. 0:41:42.760 --> 0:41:45.410 You know, we're not even 12 months on from Bondi 0:41:45.489 --> 0:41:51.270 Angus and Australians feel incredibly vulnerable, but he doesn't seem 0:41:51.310 --> 0:41:53.049 to take this stuff seriously. 0:41:55.750 --> 0:41:57.810 Well, the first job of any government, as you know 0:41:57.890 --> 0:42:02.060 only too well, Peter, is to keep Australians safe and 0:42:02.320 --> 0:42:06.259 allowing Islamist extremists to get out on the loose, out 0:42:06.300 --> 0:42:10.680 on the streets, is absolutely at odds with this. And 0:42:10.700 --> 0:42:13.880 this government has a problem with taking on the Islamist extremists. 0:42:14.020 --> 0:42:17.009 I asked the Prime Minister about this last week. He 0:42:17.030 --> 0:42:20.650 gave the question to Tony Burke, of course, and Tony 0:42:20.710 --> 0:42:24.189 Burke gave a completely unsatisfactory answer, said the AFP might 0:42:24.230 --> 0:42:27.950 do something about a control order. Well, that's not keeping 0:42:27.989 --> 0:42:30.210 this guy under lock and key. Now, this guy was 0:42:30.250 --> 0:42:33.880 an ISIS commander, Peter, a known associate of one of 0:42:33.960 --> 0:42:39.419 the Bondi gunmen. This is a person that shouldn't be 0:42:39.520 --> 0:42:42.899 in the country in the first place and, frankly, should 0:42:42.940 --> 0:42:45.660 be under lock and key if he's here. But the 0:42:45.719 --> 0:42:49.350 government has not even applied for a continuing detention order. 0:42:49.850 --> 0:42:52.109 We know that because Tony Burke told us that last week. 0:42:52.390 --> 0:42:54.870 This is the guy who rolled out the welcome mat 0:42:55.250 --> 0:43:00.170 to the ISIS brides. He is not keeping Australians safe. 0:43:00.290 --> 0:43:02.589 He has not done what he should have done to 0:43:02.630 --> 0:43:05.589 apply for a continuing detention order. And he needs to 0:43:05.630 --> 0:43:08.630 sort this out. And there'll be more secrecy about it, 0:43:08.810 --> 0:43:11.180 around it, as you said a moment ago. I have 0:43:11.239 --> 0:43:12.109 no doubt that that's right. 0:43:13.860 --> 0:43:17.540 Angus Taylor, thank you. Thanks for joining me tonight. Quick break. 0:43:17.580 --> 0:43:19.280 After the break, we'll get into things with the panel. 0:43:19.960 --> 0:43:25.980 A huge, almost 300% surge in lithium battery recalls. The 0:43:26.000 --> 0:43:27.959 government's paying you money to put it on the side 0:43:27.980 --> 0:43:31.969 of your house. Pretty crazy. And the push on the 0:43:32.010 --> 0:43:34.810 Victoria barracks in Sydney. My panel's up next. 0:43:39.230 --> 0:43:39.569 Welcome back. 0:43:39.610 --> 0:43:42.210 Let's bring in the panel now, broadcaster Lucy Zellick and 0:43:42.290 --> 0:43:45.720 News24 host Jamie Rogers. Welcome to you both. I was 0:43:45.760 --> 0:43:47.959 about to say it's ladies' night. Probably can't say that anymore, 0:43:47.980 --> 0:43:49.920 but I can on this show. We can say that 0:43:49.960 --> 0:43:53.600 on the show. Battery fires. Bad news today for the 0:43:53.640 --> 0:43:57.839 Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, trying to convince households to take 0:43:57.920 --> 0:44:01.529 up his cheaper home battery scheme. There's been a staggering 280% 0:44:01.530 --> 0:44:07.800 surge in in lithium-ion battery recalls over the past four years. 0:44:08.160 --> 0:44:12.009 This is from data out of the Australian Competition and 0:44:12.050 --> 0:44:16.629 Consumer Commission, the ACCC. Lucy, we're even talking here about 0:44:16.810 --> 0:44:19.930 fire risks in baby nurseries. 0:44:21.370 --> 0:44:23.450 It's absolutely terrifying, isn't it, Peter? 0:44:23.469 --> 0:44:23.839 Good evening. 0:44:23.880 --> 0:44:25.820 Great to be with you once again. And it extends 0:44:25.880 --> 0:44:28.540 also to your basic power tools in your home and 0:44:28.560 --> 0:44:32.000 the storage for these batteries inside your walls. When you 0:44:32.040 --> 0:44:34.390 speak to experts and they talk to you about the 0:44:34.430 --> 0:44:38.219 confronting and devastating injuries that people can sustain from these 0:44:38.280 --> 0:44:43.000 batteries exploding, they're catastrophic. But if you really want to 0:44:43.040 --> 0:44:45.469 kind of really get into the nitty-gritty of this, cast 0:44:45.510 --> 0:44:48.630 your mind back to when Chris Bowen stood atop Mount 0:44:48.710 --> 0:44:51.270 Indulgent and told us all that this was going to 0:44:51.330 --> 0:44:54.790 lower our electricity costs, right, that it would be reduced 0:44:54.850 --> 0:44:57.950 by $ 275 and it would be the best thing for 0:44:58.010 --> 0:45:02.279 us going forward. Well, it was forecast to cost $ 2. 3 billion. 0:45:02.340 --> 0:45:05.900 It's now exploded and tripled to over $ 7 billion. Our 0:45:05.940 --> 0:45:10.200 electricity costs are up by 22%. And we are struggling 0:45:10.340 --> 0:45:13.020 as a nation economically. I mean, we've only just seen 0:45:13.060 --> 0:45:15.480 what's come out of the RBA in their decision today. 0:45:15.580 --> 0:45:19.120 So this is deeply concerning and disturbing. And the fact 0:45:19.160 --> 0:45:21.580 that the poor old suffering taxpayer has to foot the 0:45:21.600 --> 0:45:25.440 bill for these ideological fantasies is the biggest disgrace in 0:45:25.540 --> 0:45:26.000 all of this. 0:45:27.820 --> 0:45:32.580 And that's before we get into that impact, if I can, Lucy, 0:45:32.600 --> 0:45:35.240 that was brought out by some of the national security data, 0:45:35.760 --> 0:45:38.390 that these batteries are mainly made in China and And 0:45:38.430 --> 0:45:41.069 they have off switches that if they remain connected can 0:45:41.090 --> 0:45:43.950 be turned off at will. So if China wanted to 0:45:43.989 --> 0:45:47.890 get serious about invading Australia or, you know, doing some 0:45:47.930 --> 0:45:50.390 sort of damage to Australian homes, they can cause these 0:45:50.450 --> 0:45:54.660 batteries to misfire and start fires, which is a real 0:45:54.719 --> 0:45:58.080 concern as well. Victoria Barracks, let's go to that one 0:45:58.100 --> 0:45:59.600 there if I can because I know you've been a 0:45:59.620 --> 0:46:03.180 big fighter on this front, Jamie. This move to put 0:46:03.280 --> 0:46:06.740 all of the staff... in the city defence world into 0:46:06.780 --> 0:46:09.440 an office block in the city which, again, mortgaged to 0:46:09.460 --> 0:46:14.440 the Chinese. And international defence security expert Neil Fergus has 0:46:14.500 --> 0:46:17.570 told the Daily Telly this would be a crazy move. 0:46:17.610 --> 0:46:22.170 You know, everybody else is dispersing its resources. This is 0:46:22.210 --> 0:46:24.910 the only defence force in the world, he says, would 0:46:24.930 --> 0:46:27.330 be the only ones to put all of our resources 0:46:27.390 --> 0:46:29.450 in the one spot. Not a smart move, he says. 0:46:30.460 --> 0:46:32.880 Well, it's not a smart move, Peter, and the government 0:46:33.020 --> 0:46:37.500 is repeatedly being warned by defence personnel and security experts 0:46:38.080 --> 0:46:40.680 about the strategic threat that is going to happen if 0:46:40.719 --> 0:46:43.620 we lose a site like Victoria Barracks and move our 0:46:43.820 --> 0:46:47.779 army personnel into Defence Plaza in the CBD. And Senator 0:46:47.800 --> 0:46:50.989 Jess Collins, who's been incredible during the Senate inquiry into 0:46:51.010 --> 0:46:55.010 the sale of these assets, has highlighted some really important points. 0:46:55.550 --> 0:46:57.509 One that was raised last week, Peter, was the fact 0:46:57.570 --> 0:47:00.830 about the CCTV footage that is monitoring the foyer and 0:47:00.850 --> 0:47:04.230 the lifts because that is a public space. Who owns that? 0:47:04.590 --> 0:47:06.710 Who has access to be able to see that? Because 0:47:06.770 --> 0:47:10.230 Wilson Security that looks after Defence Plaza is owned by 0:47:10.310 --> 0:47:12.819 a family in Hong Kong. So there's all of these 0:47:12.890 --> 0:47:15.620 elements and the person that was being asked those questions 0:47:15.900 --> 0:47:18.799 couldn't answer them because they didn't know. They also didn't 0:47:18.840 --> 0:47:21.080 know that it was mortgaged by a Chinese bank. So 0:47:21.100 --> 0:47:23.140 there's all of these issues that just show that they 0:47:23.180 --> 0:47:26.759 haven't been doing their due diligence. And unfortunately, we're going 0:47:26.780 --> 0:47:29.560 to be the ones to suffer. And it's an absolute disgrace, Peter. 0:47:29.600 --> 0:47:32.900 They are ignoring the warnings and the government should be ashamed. 0:47:34.700 --> 0:47:37.810 Lucy, the alleged attack on a One Nation man who 0:47:37.850 --> 0:47:41.170 had a call flute on his fence. Who would have 0:47:41.210 --> 0:47:45.690 thought that expressing your political views to your neighbours quietly 0:47:45.770 --> 0:47:48.290 with a sign on your fence could put your life 0:47:48.350 --> 0:47:48.750 at risk? 0:47:50.160 --> 0:47:53.400 It's absolutely terrifying, isn't it? And we've only come fresh 0:47:53.500 --> 0:47:56.190 and what still feels very fresh off the horrific alleged 0:47:56.230 --> 0:47:59.609 attack against Dr Helen Haynes. I never thought that we 0:47:59.650 --> 0:48:02.430 as a nation, Peter, would be reduced to something like this. 0:48:02.590 --> 0:48:05.509 We are Australians who are very proud to live in 0:48:05.550 --> 0:48:08.970 a free and open democracy where regardless of one's political 0:48:09.050 --> 0:48:12.000 views or our points of difference, we've always been able 0:48:12.040 --> 0:48:16.040 to respectfully agree. So to be in this situation is 0:48:16.100 --> 0:48:18.960 deeply shocking and my thoughts and prayers are with their 0:48:19.000 --> 0:48:19.520 family now. 0:48:20.940 --> 0:48:24.010 You're not wrong on that GoFundMe page, Michael. Nicholson said 0:48:24.030 --> 0:48:26.890 he's up to 200,000 and has climbed 30,000 while we've 0:48:26.910 --> 0:48:30.270 been talking in this program. Thank you both. Thank you, Jamie. 0:48:30.290 --> 0:48:34.160 Thank you, Lucy. Andrew's still on leave. Joining us now, though, 0:48:34.180 --> 0:48:35.760 for the Bolt Report, James McPherson.