WEBVTT - Credlin | 22 September 0:00:08.180 --> 0:00:11.620 Good evening and welcome to the show. I'm Jamie Rogers, 0:00:11.660 --> 0:00:15.140 sitting in for Peter Credlin, who's away today. Here's what's 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:18.979 coming up on Credlin. A major warning for the government 0:00:19.020 --> 0:00:23.720 tonight with news polls showing two-thirds of Australians want immigration cut. 0:00:24.060 --> 0:00:28.180 So is Canberra listening? And as Labor bets on artificial 0:00:28.220 --> 0:00:32.380 intelligence to power Australia's future... The global race is on 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.800 to make sure humans stay in control. So where do 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:40.530 we draw the line? Plus, the Intergenerational Report says Australia's 0:00:40.610 --> 0:00:44.050 birth rate is on the slide. So could fixing the 0:00:44.090 --> 0:00:49.250 nation's broken childcare system help turn those numbers around? And 0:00:49.330 --> 0:00:53.220 another hefty promise from Labor that household energy costs could 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:58.270 fall by more than $ 4, 000. but only if families use 0:00:58.330 --> 0:01:05.059 solar power and electrify their homes and cars. We are 0:01:05.100 --> 0:01:09.600 watching the integrity of women's sport diminish before our eyes 0:01:10.180 --> 0:01:13.480 and the silence from people who claim to champion women 0:01:13.660 --> 0:01:18.789 is almost impossible to ignore. Women have spent generations fighting 0:01:18.850 --> 0:01:24.470 for their own competitions, for recognition, for funding, for television coverage. 0:01:24.980 --> 0:01:28.800 for the chance to become professional athletes. And they got there. 0:01:29.220 --> 0:01:33.630 Millions watch. Stadiums are filling. Young girls are growing up 0:01:33.730 --> 0:01:36.630 knowing there's a place for them at the highest level 0:01:36.670 --> 0:01:40.930 of sport. Yet after all that progress, we're now too 0:01:41.030 --> 0:01:44.959 frightened to have an honest conversation about what the women's 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:49.800 category even means. Today we learn that a transgender athlete 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:53.980 who previously competed in elite men's hockey has won a 0:01:54.050 --> 0:01:58.210 Women's Best and Fairest Award in Victoria. The player scored 0:01:58.210 --> 0:02:02.370 27 goals in the regular season, another five in the finals, 0:02:02.950 --> 0:02:06.780 and received 33 votes to take out the award. This 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:11.780 is a women's competition that includes girls as young as 14. 0:02:11.780 --> 0:02:14.780 Some of the women who play in this competition are furious. 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:18.900 They've spoken anonymously to the Herald Sun out of fear 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:23.920 of backlash. One said she was so angry. Another said 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:27.360 competing against biological males can feel scary. 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:29.120 Enough. 0:02:30.190 --> 0:02:33.790 Don't tell female athletes that women's sport matters and then 0:02:33.830 --> 0:02:36.990 look the other way when they raise questions about fairness 0:02:37.090 --> 0:02:41.930 and safety. Sport has recognised biological differences between men and 0:02:41.970 --> 0:02:47.760 women for generations. That's why we created women's categories. If 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:50.880 those differences didn't matter, we wouldn't need women's sport in 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:51.720 the first place. 0:02:52.820 --> 0:02:55.060 And the reality is that we talk about female only spaces, 0:02:55.500 --> 0:02:58.500 female only sports, female only services, they don't exist anymore 0:02:59.380 --> 0:03:00.280 after this decision. 0:03:01.100 --> 0:03:01.700 They don't exist. 0:03:01.740 --> 0:03:03.720 If a man can identify as a woman and enter 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.060 these places and spaces, what's the point? Everything may as 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:07.840 well just be mixed sex. 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:15.650 Respecting transgender Australians and protecting them from discrimination doesn't mean 0:03:15.790 --> 0:03:20.570 pretending biological sex doesn't matter. And that balance shouldn't require 0:03:20.669 --> 0:03:25.169 women surrendering their rights for somebody else to have theirs. 0:03:26.090 --> 0:03:29.889 And biological women shouldn't have to apologise for asking whether 0:03:29.910 --> 0:03:34.970 their sporting category remains fair. So where is everyone standing 0:03:35.030 --> 0:03:38.160 up for women's sport? Where are all those women who 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:42.230 are outraged about the Sydney Sweeney ad last week? It's 0:03:42.270 --> 0:03:44.050 about the messaging and the context. 0:03:44.150 --> 0:03:45.570 You use a woman in an ad like this and 0:03:45.590 --> 0:03:48.840 you sexualize her and you market it as just sports. 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:53.680 It reduces her place within sport to just being valued 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:57.300 for her appearance and her sexuality rather than the athleticism 0:03:57.380 --> 0:04:00.339 in the sport. And why this matters is because women 0:04:00.380 --> 0:04:03.760 have fought so hard to be respected and valued within sports. 0:04:04.300 --> 0:04:06.910 And we want to be valued for what we can do, 0:04:07.220 --> 0:04:08.350 not what we look like. 0:04:10.020 --> 0:04:13.980 Well, turn that anger into saving women's sport. Don't tear 0:04:14.020 --> 0:04:17.080 down a woman who's advertising a sports betting company that 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:21.140 she part owns. If women's sport is worth celebrating, then 0:04:21.260 --> 0:04:25.210 surely it's worth debating about how its integrity is protected. 0:04:25.930 --> 0:04:29.650 Which leads to another question that needs answering. Why are 0:04:29.670 --> 0:04:33.390 female players being left to fight this themselves? Where are 0:04:33.410 --> 0:04:37.400 the sporting administrators? Where are the Labor politicians who can 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:41.390 fix this? Both One Nation and the Coalition have said 0:04:41.450 --> 0:04:44.510 they'll put the definition of male and female back into 0:04:44.529 --> 0:04:47.560 the Sex Discrimination Act if they win the next election. 0:04:48.300 --> 0:04:52.180 But this can be done now. Labor constantly says they're 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:57.020 champions of women. Well, actions speak louder than words. Women 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:01.360 and girls need you. Stand up for them. Or they'll 0:05:01.460 --> 0:05:04.210 end up being the ones that walks away from sport. 0:05:04.850 --> 0:05:14.779 And that will be a travesty. Enough. Are we strengthening 0:05:14.980 --> 0:05:20.240 anti-establishment politics through our obsession with political clickbait? Every day 0:05:20.300 --> 0:05:23.760 it seems there's another headline designed to provoke outrage about 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:29.260 Pauline Hanson and One Nation. Australia has some enormous challenges ahead. 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:34.700 Yesterday's intergenerational report was another reminder of that. We should 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:37.900 be talking about how we grow our economy, help young 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:41.080 Australians get ahead and set this country up for the 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:44.810 future and how we turn this ship around. And yet, 0:05:45.290 --> 0:05:48.550 what are we talking about? What the Ku Klux Klan 0:05:48.610 --> 0:05:53.570 thinks about Pauline Hanson. Yes, the Ku Klux Klan, an 0:05:53.610 --> 0:05:58.810 American organisation with an appalling history of racism, intimidation and violence. 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:02.920 Last night, Australian viewers were treated to the KKK's view 0:06:02.940 --> 0:06:04.590 that on Australian politics. 0:06:05.550 --> 0:06:08.729 Is it heartening for you to see someone like anti-immigration 0:06:08.750 --> 0:06:10.440 Pauline Hanson doing well in Australia? 0:06:10.450 --> 0:06:12.020 Is it heartening? 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:13.500 Yeah, yeah, it's encouraging, absolutely. 0:06:16.020 --> 0:06:19.880 Now seriously, what value did that interview add to our 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:23.960 political debate? Did anyone at Channel 9 stop to consider 0:06:24.500 --> 0:06:28.370 whether giving this oxygen helped the political movement the story 0:06:28.470 --> 0:06:33.489 was scrutinising? One Nation's Barnaby Joyce was scathing about the interview. 0:06:33.510 --> 0:06:37.240 I mean, it's just, it's just nutsful that you would 0:06:37.300 --> 0:06:40.179 say a person who I've never met and never intend 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:42.340 to meet hasn't anything to do with my life from 0:06:42.380 --> 0:06:46.200 a group I despise is somehow related to me because 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:50.690 they said they knew of us. I mean, just honest 0:06:51.010 --> 0:06:53.970 to goodness. I mean, that's, it's really a question for 0:06:54.010 --> 0:06:56.150 Channel 9. I mean, mate, is that, is that. 0:06:56.050 --> 0:06:56.510 Where you're at? 0:06:57.970 --> 0:07:01.830 Pauline Hanson has commented through social media, saying the Ku 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:05.640 Klux Klan is a white supremacist organisation with a long 0:07:05.700 --> 0:07:10.440 history of racial hatred, terror and violence. Any suggestion that 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:14.000 One Nation or its supporters endorse the KKK or share 0:07:14.020 --> 0:07:18.540 its ideology is absurd and offensive. And Ms Hanson is right. 0:07:19.300 --> 0:07:23.020 In a statement, Nine's National News Director Hugh Nallion stood 0:07:23.060 --> 0:07:26.570 by the documentary and saying the inclusion of Mr Robb's 0:07:26.670 --> 0:07:31.300 comments does not constitute endorsement of those views nor of 0:07:31.340 --> 0:07:35.340 the comparison he chose to make. But here's where this 0:07:35.420 --> 0:07:38.760 all gets interesting. This is the same Nine Network that 0:07:38.820 --> 0:07:42.480 parted ways with Karl Stefanovic earlier this year after the 0:07:42.580 --> 0:07:47.500 controversy surrounding his interview with British activist Tommy Robinson on 0:07:47.610 --> 0:07:51.660 his independent podcast. Nine said at the time, It was 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:54.540 no longer possible for Carl to continue hosting the Today 0:07:54.580 --> 0:07:58.360 Show while doing that podcast. Yet now we're watching the 0:07:58.420 --> 0:08:01.610 views of a Ku Klux Klan leader being broadcast on 0:08:01.650 --> 0:08:06.730 Australian television news. So where's the line? Would this interview 0:08:06.770 --> 0:08:09.990 have been treated differently if the KKK leader had been 0:08:10.030 --> 0:08:14.210 praising someone other than Pauline Hanson? Now, this isn't a 0:08:14.250 --> 0:08:18.000 defence of Pauline Hanson, but more a question about where 0:08:18.100 --> 0:08:23.680 Australian political coverage is heading. Because increasingly, the political conversation 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:27.060 seems to be driven by the most outrageous comment, the 0:08:27.100 --> 0:08:31.280 most inflammatory association and the headline most likely to make 0:08:31.340 --> 0:08:35.430 people angry. Every time Pauline Hanson or One Nation becomes 0:08:35.450 --> 0:08:40.230 the centre of another outrage, it reinforces the anti-establishment argument 0:08:40.650 --> 0:08:44.110 which One Nation has built much of its support. That's 0:08:44.170 --> 0:08:47.030 the political and media landscape that it's out to get them. 0:08:47.950 --> 0:08:51.580 While at the same time, policy debate that Australia desperately 0:08:51.650 --> 0:08:55.120 needs is being drowned out. The Coalition has released a 0:08:55.220 --> 0:08:58.760 number of policies. If elected, they intend to address the 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:02.540 enormous issue of bracket creep, cut the tobacco excise by 80% 0:09:02.540 --> 0:09:06.489 to tackle the explosion of crime, plan for a fuel 0:09:06.530 --> 0:09:10.130 price shield. They've pledged to reverse Labor's changes to negative 0:09:10.170 --> 0:09:13.709 gearing and capital gains tax and rewrite the school curriculum 0:09:13.809 --> 0:09:17.630 to restore national pride and Western values. But so much 0:09:17.650 --> 0:09:20.990 of the political conversation is consumed by the latest fight 0:09:21.050 --> 0:09:24.910 involving One Nation. And that's a problem for the Coalition. 0:09:25.429 --> 0:09:27.790 They can't get cut through on economic policy if no 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:30.520 one's talking about it. And you can't have a serious 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:34.740 contest of ideas if politics becomes an endless outrage machine. 0:09:35.460 --> 0:09:38.340 Pauline Hanson should be challenged on what she says, but 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:41.130 so should Labor and the Coalition. Well, let's head to 0:09:41.190 --> 0:09:52.270 Canberra now for tonight's asking what our politicians plan to 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:59.570 do for Australia. Well, let's head to Canberra now for 0:09:59.590 --> 0:10:03.349 tonight's political headlines with political reporter Ruben Spargo. 0:10:04.380 --> 0:10:07.660 Good evening. Pauline Hanson is attacking Channel 9, accusing the 0:10:07.700 --> 0:10:10.580 network of trying to link One Nation to the Ku 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:14.330 Klux Klan. Nine News says the KKK's Grand Wizard raised 0:10:14.470 --> 0:10:18.070 One Nation unprompted before filming, leading to the reporter to 0:10:18.230 --> 0:10:19.930 ask for his views on camera. 0:10:20.170 --> 0:10:23.340 Is it heartening for you to see someone like anti-immigration 0:10:23.380 --> 0:10:24.980 Pauline Hanson doing well in Australia? 0:10:26.540 --> 0:10:28.059 Yeah, it's encouraging, absolutely. 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:32.080 Senator Hanson says any suggestion One Nation or its supporters 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:37.189 endorse the KKK or share its ideology is absurd and offensive. 0:10:37.830 --> 0:10:40.729 The Albanese government is resisting calls for another round of 0:10:40.830 --> 0:10:44.680 petrol price relief. Unleaded is above $ 2. 30 a litre in 0:10:44.900 --> 0:10:46.000 every capital city. 0:10:46.290 --> 0:10:48.580 Yeah, it's not something that we've been discussing or considering. 0:10:48.740 --> 0:10:51.200 The coalition is promising to cut the fuel excise for 0:10:51.260 --> 0:10:55.920 as long as global oil prices remain above US $ 100 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:57.340 a barrel. A group of foreign leaders are calling for 0:10:57.380 --> 0:11:01.579 tougher rules around the world's most powerful AI. They're warning 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:04.000 that technology is racing ahead of safeguards. 0:11:04.179 --> 0:11:08.430 Well, Australia played a central role in the statement. 0:11:08.929 --> 0:11:11.969 What Donald Trump and Xi Jinping discuss on the sidelines 0:11:12.030 --> 0:11:14.809 of the UN later this week could be crucial. 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:18.920 All right, let's jump into the news out of Canberra. 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:22.220 The latest news poll still being felt with Labor notching 0:11:22.300 --> 0:11:25.700 up its worst results since 2012, while the Prime Minister 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:29.220 is in New York to receive an award from the UN. 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:32.920 Here to discuss this and plenty more, News24 political editor 0:11:33.100 --> 0:11:38.870 Andrew Clunell. Andrew, welcome. The polling shows two thirds of Australians, 0:11:38.929 --> 0:11:43.550 including 44% of Labor voters, support cutting immigration levels. And 0:11:43.570 --> 0:11:47.750 this is around concern with the pressure on housing and infrastructure, 0:11:48.670 --> 0:11:50.310 this issue certainly isn't going away, is it? 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.500 No, and I mean that's why the government announced that 0:11:53.540 --> 0:11:58.260 they were going to cut net migration. last week. I mean, 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:00.700 that was the Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, and then 0:12:00.740 --> 0:12:03.059 this week Jim Chalmers comes out and says the fertility 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:06.540 rate's going to 1.34, implying that we need immigration for 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:07.459 the workforce. 0:12:07.500 --> 0:12:10.100 He almost said, that's why immigration's so important. 0:12:10.260 --> 0:12:13.120 I know. So there has been talk these two are 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:15.720 at odds, these ministers, and I guess they represent different 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:18.660 interests in government. One's a border cop and one's Treasury. 0:12:19.590 --> 0:12:22.969 But I think it just illustrates the problem, doesn't it? 0:12:23.050 --> 0:12:27.540 Because Australians appear to have think we've had too much immigration. 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.740 In some instances, some of our culture has changed. A 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:34.700 lot of Australians don't like, they don't like, you know, 0:12:34.780 --> 0:12:37.819 Bondi feeds into that. And on the other hand, they 0:12:37.860 --> 0:12:40.579 think there's not enough housing. This is creating more traffic, 0:12:40.660 --> 0:12:43.260 more housing, whatever. On the other hand, we've got this 0:12:43.420 --> 0:12:48.630 massively ageing population. We need workers. So, but if one 0:12:48.690 --> 0:12:51.349 nation comes in and says, look, we've got too much migration, 0:12:51.390 --> 0:12:55.179 that's a very popular message. And what's happened, as has 0:12:55.220 --> 0:12:58.240 happened so much in politics really since Bondi those past 0:12:58.260 --> 0:13:01.720 few months, is the majors are following One Nation. And 0:13:01.780 --> 0:13:04.469 I think that's a fascinating dynamic in federal politics at 0:13:04.490 --> 0:13:06.610 the moment. You've got this party with the least seats 0:13:07.270 --> 0:13:12.130 having such influence over policy direction of the two major parties. 0:13:12.770 --> 0:13:14.630 You're right. It does look as though One Nation is 0:13:14.690 --> 0:13:18.470 driving the agenda specifically around immigration. There's a few others 0:13:18.510 --> 0:13:20.870 that they've come out quite hard for when it comes 0:13:20.910 --> 0:13:24.510 to policy. Are you hearing much about when the Coalition 0:13:24.550 --> 0:13:27.220 will release the more detail when it comes to their 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:28.180 immigration policy? 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.439 So my understanding is that'll be occurring before the next 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:33.699 parliamentary sitting week, which is mid-October. 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:34.180 OK. 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.220 So, I mean, I think we saw One Nation leading 0:13:37.260 --> 0:13:40.450 into a sitting week announce theirs. I reckon the Libs 0:13:40.570 --> 0:13:43.470 probably go for the same tactic and try and grab 0:13:43.490 --> 0:13:44.429 the agenda for once. 0:13:44.450 --> 0:13:44.510 Mm. 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.900 You know, it'll be about how much they differentiate with 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:53.530 the government because the government's already announced this policy claiming 0:13:53.550 --> 0:13:55.650 they're going to cut back. So how much further are 0:13:56.250 --> 0:13:57.870 the Libs going to cut it back and what other 0:13:57.910 --> 0:13:59.609 measures are they going to put in place? Like they've 0:13:59.630 --> 0:14:02.630 talked about a safe countries list to have certain regions 0:14:02.670 --> 0:14:05.030 of the world where the potential terrorists could come, not 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:07.460 come here. I think they'll lean into that sort of thing. 0:14:07.540 --> 0:14:10.460 But will they get any actual traction with it? I mean, 0:14:10.500 --> 0:14:12.940 when you've got a news poll where you've got One 0:14:12.980 --> 0:14:18.730 Nation 30 Labor 27, Coalition 19, Greens 13. The Coalition 0:14:18.770 --> 0:14:21.550 are heading towards the Greens more than they're heading up 0:14:21.590 --> 0:14:24.650 towards One Nation. So they desperately need three or four 0:14:24.690 --> 0:14:25.390 points at least. 0:14:25.630 --> 0:14:29.000 Do you think the Coalition's latest announcement when it comes 0:14:29.030 --> 0:14:32.620 to the fuel cut, that could help drive some of 0:14:32.660 --> 0:14:33.700 the traction in the polls? 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:39.180 Difficult to say. I mean, has it been noticed out there? 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:39.260 No. 0:14:40.620 --> 0:14:43.690 Look, I had Barnaby Joyce on Politics Now this afternoon. 0:14:43.730 --> 0:14:46.390 I thought it was quite extraordinary because I said, are 0:14:46.430 --> 0:14:49.550 you talking to senior people about confidence and supply for 0:14:49.570 --> 0:14:51.470 the coalition? He says, yes, and the other way. In 0:14:51.510 --> 0:14:54.890 other words, he claims he's talking to senior coalition people 0:14:54.950 --> 0:14:57.830 about the libs and gnats giving confidence and supply to 0:14:57.910 --> 0:15:01.430 a One Nation government. I mean, can you believe this? So, 0:15:01.470 --> 0:15:04.740 I mean, the only cautionary thing I would say around 0:15:04.770 --> 0:15:09.260 this is One Nation will have state representation. They've got 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:12.320 inexperienced leaders in New South Wales and Victoria. Will they 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:14.960 do things which make people think these guys aren't ready? 0:15:15.500 --> 0:15:18.830 When it comes towards an actual campaign and a poll, 0:15:19.370 --> 0:15:22.330 will people think, well, they're not quite ready? If they 0:15:22.350 --> 0:15:25.070 look like they're forming government, will people pull their votes back? 0:15:26.170 --> 0:15:28.810 And also the British example, where they changed leader to 0:15:28.890 --> 0:15:31.970 Andy Burnham and reform have gone backwards. So those are 0:15:31.990 --> 0:15:35.570 the things which could play into One Nation staying at 0:15:35.610 --> 0:15:38.560 its current level or its vote dropping. What we do 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.560 know is they will have significant representation in the next parliament. 0:15:41.660 --> 0:15:45.000 I can't see anything other than that occurring, and particularly 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:47.560 in the Senate. There are odds on to have balance 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:50.330 of power in the Senate, which of course changes Australian politics. 0:15:51.110 --> 0:15:53.570 Yeah, it's fascinating to watch, and no doubt you'll keep 0:15:53.610 --> 0:15:56.450 us updated quite frequently up until the next election. I 0:15:57.050 --> 0:16:00.270 want to move on now to artificial intelligence, and obviously 0:16:00.370 --> 0:16:04.010 Anthony Albanese is over in New York, and Australia has 0:16:04.090 --> 0:16:08.500 joined this international push for safeguards around AI. Governments are 0:16:08.540 --> 0:16:13.180 calling for more human oversight and controls, predominantly around just 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.620 the safety risk. Do you think this is interesting? Because 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:21.300 it does follow the intergenerational report where the government said 0:16:21.430 --> 0:16:23.950 it was ready to hang its hat on AI and 0:16:24.270 --> 0:16:25.890 it felt like they were going to go sort of 0:16:26.010 --> 0:16:28.430 all in on it. And then now they've come out 0:16:28.470 --> 0:16:31.490 wanting to put in these really strong safeguards. What do 0:16:31.530 --> 0:16:32.590 you make of this? 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:37.460 Well, I mean, they've been overtaken by the international debate. 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:39.780 I mean, when the leader of the AI company say, 0:16:40.100 --> 0:16:42.660 you know, we've got real problems, we need guardrails, then 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:45.210 the government's got to act. Before that, it was all AI's, great, 0:16:45.250 --> 0:16:49.110 we want the data centres here. We're not really in 0:16:49.150 --> 0:16:52.390 charge of this debate, are we? I mean, President Trump 0:16:52.430 --> 0:16:56.690 and President Xi and the companies. So it's nice for 0:16:56.750 --> 0:16:59.030 us to have our say. It's actually nice for us 0:16:59.050 --> 0:17:00.910 to get some of the businesses here because at least 0:17:00.950 --> 0:17:04.369 we can regulate them, I guess. But You know, you 0:17:04.390 --> 0:17:07.090 look over the UN, we're signing a statement with 20 countries. 0:17:07.150 --> 0:17:10.040 It's utterly meaningless. What have we got to do with it? 0:17:10.130 --> 0:17:13.050 You know, I mean, Trump and Xi meeting is more important. 0:17:13.070 --> 0:17:16.480 And then can you trust Xi to act on any 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:20.419 guarantees he gives? Of all the issues that worry me, Jamie, 0:17:20.460 --> 0:17:23.080 I think this is the biggest, to be honest, because 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:27.159 the technology is going so fast. It's like, where are 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:30.250 we going to end up? And, yeah, I kind of 0:17:30.270 --> 0:17:31.109 fear for the world a bit. 0:17:31.550 --> 0:17:35.030 Well, they are saying that they're worried about the technology 0:17:35.150 --> 0:17:36.430 overtaking humans. 0:17:36.510 --> 0:17:37.070 Yeah, great. 0:17:37.090 --> 0:17:41.350 When you read that, you think, wow, wild times. Andrew, 0:17:41.369 --> 0:17:42.450 thanks so much for your time tonight. 0:17:42.470 --> 0:17:42.780 Thank you. 0:17:44.869 --> 0:17:49.290 All right, more now on yesterday's intergenerational report and forecasts 0:17:49.350 --> 0:17:53.070 that Australia's death rate will outstrip its birth rate by 0:17:53.109 --> 0:17:56.810 the early 2060s, with more Australians choosing not to have 0:17:56.930 --> 0:17:59.949 children as a result of cost of living concerns and 0:18:00.030 --> 0:18:03.990 pressure around childcare. It's a forecast that hasn't gone down 0:18:04.050 --> 0:18:06.010 well with child advocacy groups. 0:18:07.010 --> 0:18:10.310 Let's change the name of today's intergenerational report to the 0:18:10.410 --> 0:18:11.890 Make Women Do More. 0:18:11.710 --> 0:18:12.530 For Less report. 0:18:12.910 --> 0:18:15.250 Work like you don't have children, raise children like you 0:18:15.290 --> 0:18:17.550 don't have to work and look after your parents like 0:18:17.570 --> 0:18:20.370 you don't have to work or raise children. This report 0:18:20.450 --> 0:18:23.889 is nothing but another way for Albo and Jim to 0:18:23.930 --> 0:18:26.790 push women into fixing holes in the economy without any 0:18:26.830 --> 0:18:29.910 policies or support to make it easier. If they were serious, 0:18:29.930 --> 0:18:31.150 they'd start with childcare choice. 0:18:33.140 --> 0:18:38.210 Joining me now is Childcare Choice spokeswoman, Jen Fleming. Jen, welcome. 0:18:39.070 --> 0:18:41.690 Your point is a good one. The government wants us 0:18:41.750 --> 0:18:44.159 to have more kids, but they don't really want to 0:18:44.180 --> 0:18:46.820 do anything to fix the childcare system or address cost 0:18:46.859 --> 0:18:53.200 of living. What needs to happen to shift the dial? Well, Jamie, 0:18:53.220 --> 0:18:54.840 thank you for having me. And it is a really 0:18:54.900 --> 0:18:55.879 important conversation. 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:59.590 If we look at yesterday's intergenerational report, what we're seeing 0:18:59.990 --> 0:19:03.090 in 40 years' time should be a warning bells for 0:19:03.210 --> 0:19:07.770 our government into trying to make things better for Australian families. 0:19:07.930 --> 0:19:11.150 What they're predicting would not be a great scenario for 0:19:11.210 --> 0:19:15.070 Australian families, particularly Australian women. What that report says is 0:19:15.150 --> 0:19:17.479 that women will have to have more children, they'll have 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:19.179 to work more, and they will also need to do 0:19:19.220 --> 0:19:22.700 a lot of unpaid care, particularly as families our parents' age. 0:19:23.100 --> 0:19:25.820 What this government needs to do is use that report 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:30.080 as the trigger for making things better for Australian families now, 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:32.940 making it easier to have a family. And the best 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:34.939 way for them to do that, the easiest way for 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:38.350 them to do that, is to introduce a choice-based childcare policy. 0:19:39.609 --> 0:19:43.390 And you have been very vocal around this choice-based childcare. 0:19:43.810 --> 0:19:45.850 And I know Jim Chalmers has come out and said 0:19:45.970 --> 0:19:49.970 better investment in early childhood education, like a more universal 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:52.880 access for families, is the way to address this declining 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:55.780 birth rate. And he rejected the idea that we need 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:58.310 a new baby bonus, which I do tend to agree with. 0:19:58.330 --> 0:19:59.750 I don't know if... We probably don't even have the 0:19:59.790 --> 0:20:01.609 budget to be able to go down the baby bonus path. 0:20:02.150 --> 0:20:04.910 But the government doesn't seem like it's listening because parents 0:20:05.010 --> 0:20:08.429 are crying out for choice... What is it that you 0:20:08.470 --> 0:20:10.450 would like to see when it does come to the 0:20:10.490 --> 0:20:12.550 childcare choice that you've been advocating for? 0:20:14.810 --> 0:20:17.669 Yeah, Jamie, I don't know what planet Jim Chalmers is on, 0:20:17.750 --> 0:20:20.290 but it is certainly not the planet that I'm raising 0:20:20.350 --> 0:20:22.350 children on right now. And it is not the planet 0:20:22.390 --> 0:20:25.010 that most Australian families are raising children on right now. 0:20:25.369 --> 0:20:29.310 The idea that this universal childcare is somehow the shining 0:20:29.369 --> 0:20:31.649 glory of all policy that's going to fix things for 0:20:31.710 --> 0:20:35.490 families is comical. It's nothing but Labor trying to force 0:20:35.740 --> 0:20:40.020 children into childcare sooner. We heard that from Katie Gallagher 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:42.619 on Mother's Day this year. The sooner that babies are 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:45.990 in childcare, the better. And that is completely at odds 0:20:46.030 --> 0:20:48.690 with how Australian families are living and working right now. 0:20:48.710 --> 0:20:52.910 Australian families are asking for flexibility. We're asking for choice 0:20:53.030 --> 0:20:55.340 and we're asking for our country to have flexibility. a 0:20:55.380 --> 0:20:59.160 mature conversation around policy that allows us to recognise that 0:20:59.500 --> 0:21:02.119 women want to maintain their ambition when it comes to 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:04.800 their career that we've worked so hard for. But we 0:21:04.900 --> 0:21:07.290 also want to be there for those early years of 0:21:07.350 --> 0:21:10.770 our child's life, their childhood, which goes so quickly. Everyone 0:21:10.810 --> 0:21:14.730 tells us those years are short. Right now, we're stretched between... 0:21:14.730 --> 0:21:16.810 having to work to keep a roof over our head 0:21:17.109 --> 0:21:19.869 and wanting to be at those important moments of our 0:21:19.910 --> 0:21:23.899 child's life. The government needs policy that allows women and 0:21:23.980 --> 0:21:27.000 acknowledges that for women, that that's what we want. We 0:21:27.020 --> 0:21:29.280 want more choice, we want more flexibility and we want 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:32.020 to have a bigger say over who's looking after our children, 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:36.100 not being forced into this universal childcare model that I 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:37.780 don't think parents are really asking for. 0:21:38.859 --> 0:21:41.600 And what's the feedback that you've heard when you are 0:21:41.660 --> 0:21:45.740 going and campaigning in Canberra to the Albanese government. I 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:48.240 know you've also been speaking with the Coalition as well. 0:21:48.340 --> 0:21:51.060 But what's the response to you when you are standing 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:55.730 there and putting forward these ideas? Well, I think we've 0:21:55.770 --> 0:21:57.850 had a very positive response. 0:21:57.910 --> 0:22:00.869 I think even Labor secretly know that this policy is 0:22:00.930 --> 0:22:03.310 the way to go. They are stuck between a rock 0:22:03.350 --> 0:22:06.620 and a hard place because for them, universal childcare not 0:22:06.700 --> 0:22:09.220 only sounds good on their brochures that they stuff in 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:12.280 our mailbox at an election time, but it also achieves 0:22:12.380 --> 0:22:18.159 foundational Labor policy around institutionalising children younger. and also unionising 0:22:18.200 --> 0:22:21.380 a workforce. We can't shy away from the reality of that. 0:22:21.700 --> 0:22:24.120 They will tell us this policy is great for families, 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:26.730 but deep down they know that families don't want that. 0:22:27.070 --> 0:22:30.650 Families want to have flexibility. We want to give families 0:22:30.730 --> 0:22:33.290 the freedom of choice. We have had a great reception 0:22:33.350 --> 0:22:36.330 from the Liberals. Obviously, they've put in a shadow minister 0:22:36.350 --> 0:22:39.170 for choice and childcare, Matt O'Sullivan, who's doing great work 0:22:39.230 --> 0:22:41.780 in this space. At the moment, they don't have a policy, 0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:44.480 but I'm hopeful that they will have a policy leading 0:22:44.500 --> 0:22:46.970 into the election that will give families flexibility a real 0:22:47.020 --> 0:22:49.900 opportunity to vote for change when it comes to childcare. 0:22:51.140 --> 0:22:53.940 Well, Jen, keep up the great work, as I honestly 0:22:53.980 --> 0:22:56.640 think whoever nails the childcare policy going into the next 0:22:56.700 --> 0:22:59.359 federal election will go a long way to getting close 0:22:59.400 --> 0:23:01.520 to winning that. So keep up your advocacy work. We'll 0:23:01.540 --> 0:23:04.739 chat to you again soon. Well, coming up, a new 0:23:04.780 --> 0:23:08.880 threat to Australia's coal power stations with green groups lobbying 0:23:08.940 --> 0:23:11.859 for a carbon cost that could add $ 100 million a 0:23:11.920 --> 0:23:15.180 year to running a single plant. What would that mean 0:23:15.220 --> 0:23:22.960 for power prices? Welcome back. It's great to have your company. 0:23:23.500 --> 0:23:26.280 Coming up, we will head to the UK where Earl 0:23:26.359 --> 0:23:29.830 Spencer says Harry and Meghan need protection to avoid the 0:23:29.869 --> 0:23:34.330 same media treatment as Princess Diana. But now to energy 0:23:34.450 --> 0:23:37.930 with reports Green Groups are lobbying Chris Bowen to slap 0:23:38.010 --> 0:23:41.320 coal power stations with a new carbon cost that could 0:23:41.410 --> 0:23:44.899 add $ 100 million a year to a plant's running costs. 0:23:45.420 --> 0:23:49.040 It comes as communities impacted by the closure of coal plants, 0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:53.500 particularly in Victoria's Gippsland region, chart a new path forward. 0:23:53.900 --> 0:23:57.700 Zoe Hilton is a spokeswoman for the Affordable Energy Australia 0:23:57.740 --> 0:24:01.970 campaign and she joins me now in studio. Zoe, great 0:24:01.990 --> 0:24:04.450 to see you. Thank you for coming in. I do 0:24:04.470 --> 0:24:07.310 want to start with the past week where you've been 0:24:07.450 --> 0:24:11.030 in Gippsland interviewing a lot of coal workers who are 0:24:11.130 --> 0:24:15.790 concerned about job losses, but also the nation's security and 0:24:15.990 --> 0:24:18.869 making sure that we don't enter into blackouts. What can 0:24:18.910 --> 0:24:20.050 you tell us about that trip? 0:24:20.750 --> 0:24:22.889 Yeah, so the coal workers and the broader people that 0:24:22.910 --> 0:24:24.830 I spoke to in the community in Mowi and Morwell 0:24:24.869 --> 0:24:27.250 and Traralgon, they were really concerned about what's going to 0:24:27.290 --> 0:24:30.470 happen when Yallon closes in 2028 and when Luoyang Yang 0:24:30.490 --> 0:24:34.330 closes in 2035. In Morwell, you can really see the 0:24:34.390 --> 0:24:37.660 impacts of what happened when Morwell Power Station and Hazelwood. 0:24:37.410 --> 0:24:38.780 Closed about a decade ago. 0:24:39.410 --> 0:24:42.330 I was told by locals that Morwell's High Street used 0:24:42.350 --> 0:24:44.770 to be busier than Melbourne's High Street, and now it's 0:24:44.810 --> 0:24:47.389 a ghost town. You have businesses shutting shop, you have 0:24:47.430 --> 0:24:49.600 people smoking weed in their cars in the middle of 0:24:49.640 --> 0:24:52.340 the day in the car park, you have homelessness, you 0:24:52.380 --> 0:24:55.280 have all of these social ills. And the people who 0:24:55.300 --> 0:24:57.520 work at these plants and are in Tarragun, they're really 0:24:57.540 --> 0:24:59.030 concerned that their town is going to end up the 0:24:59.050 --> 0:25:01.909 same way because When you take out industries that are 0:25:01.930 --> 0:25:06.090 productive and providing jobs for these people, you end up 0:25:06.130 --> 0:25:08.970 with so much suffering. And that's a microcosm of what 0:25:09.010 --> 0:25:11.060 will happen to the rest of Victoria and our country 0:25:11.320 --> 0:25:14.320 if we don't take affordable, reliable energy seriously. 0:25:14.340 --> 0:25:17.700 I want to get your thoughts around these green groups 0:25:17.760 --> 0:25:22.380 who are lobbying Chris Bowen to slap coal-fired power stations 0:25:22.400 --> 0:25:25.510 with these new carbon costs. What do you make of 0:25:25.550 --> 0:25:28.649 this decision? And ultimately, this cost is going to have 0:25:28.670 --> 0:25:31.150 to be passed on to... the consumer, right? 0:25:31.350 --> 0:25:34.590 I mean, it just it doesn't make sense to slap 0:25:35.050 --> 0:25:39.260 an extra cost onto something that is currently stopping us 0:25:39.300 --> 0:25:41.240 from having blackouts. And that is the reality, because when 0:25:41.280 --> 0:25:43.400 we look at what the New South Wales government did recently, 0:25:44.080 --> 0:25:46.520 they struck a deal with Araring to keep it open 0:25:46.600 --> 0:25:49.290 because they knew they were told in no uncertain terms 0:25:49.650 --> 0:25:52.050 there would be blackouts if they did not extend Araring. 0:25:52.090 --> 0:25:53.570 And that is what we're going to see. We're going 0:25:53.609 --> 0:25:58.199 to see state governments scramble as closure dates approach for 0:25:58.220 --> 0:25:59.980 these coal plants, and they're going to have to end 0:26:00.040 --> 0:26:02.080 up extending them. They're going to have to stop pretending 0:26:02.140 --> 0:26:05.640 that they can close them early without affordable, reliable baseload 0:26:05.720 --> 0:26:08.270 to replace them. And so all of these extra costs, 0:26:08.590 --> 0:26:10.949 they won't actually do what the proponents are wanting them 0:26:10.990 --> 0:26:13.389 to do, which is to encourage more renewables into the system, 0:26:13.410 --> 0:26:17.550 because the system doesn't need more intermittent renewable generation. We've 0:26:17.570 --> 0:26:20.430 already got too much in a lot of areas when 0:26:20.510 --> 0:26:22.650 the wind is blowing and when the sun is shining, 0:26:22.880 --> 0:26:25.820 we don't have enough those other times, and that is 0:26:25.960 --> 0:26:30.439 when coal plants and gas or nuclear or other baseload, hydro, 0:26:30.520 --> 0:26:33.520 that is when those sources can actually provide energy to 0:26:33.540 --> 0:26:36.679 the grid. And governments just don't seem to understand the 0:26:36.740 --> 0:26:38.080 urgency of replacing that. 0:26:38.400 --> 0:26:40.580 Yeah, I mean, it doesn't cost anything to just lift 0:26:40.600 --> 0:26:44.649 the nuclear ban and just let the market decide what's best. 0:26:45.430 --> 0:26:47.469 But when you are talking to some of these coal-fired 0:26:47.609 --> 0:26:51.899 power station workers, are they open to transferring their skills 0:26:52.070 --> 0:26:55.230 into nuclear? Because I remember reading it was something like 77% 0:26:55.230 --> 0:26:58.210 of coal workers could transfer their skills straight away into 0:26:58.230 --> 0:27:01.690 nuclear and then we can upskill the others. Are they 0:27:01.869 --> 0:27:04.270 open to doing that in the future? 0:27:04.840 --> 0:27:06.780 Yeah, I mean, of course, if we built new coal 0:27:06.800 --> 0:27:09.000 stations and that would be the most transferable skills, but 0:27:09.080 --> 0:27:11.460 nuclear can also transfer a lot of skills as well. 0:27:11.500 --> 0:27:14.280 So that would help those communities. I think the concern 0:27:14.320 --> 0:27:16.840 now is because governments have really kicked the can down 0:27:16.859 --> 0:27:19.120 the road with lifting the ban and doing the necessary 0:27:19.160 --> 0:27:22.429 work to get nuclear ready. We now we're kind of 0:27:22.430 --> 0:27:24.850 10 to 15 years behind all of the time. And 0:27:24.890 --> 0:27:28.290 so it's getting to that crunch time where these plants 0:27:28.330 --> 0:27:30.230 are about to close and we need to replace it quickly. 0:27:30.250 --> 0:27:32.359 So I think, yeah, we need to stay open to 0:27:32.400 --> 0:27:34.739 nuclear in the medium term, the long term, but we 0:27:34.800 --> 0:27:38.000 also really need to look at coal refurbishment and building 0:27:38.040 --> 0:27:40.119 new coal plants if that's something that our grid is 0:27:40.140 --> 0:27:42.050 going to need in the short term and people in 0:27:42.090 --> 0:27:43.180 those communities are going to need. 0:27:43.770 --> 0:27:46.330 It blows my mind when you look around the rest 0:27:46.350 --> 0:27:48.530 of the world. France are planning to open another 10 0:27:48.530 --> 0:27:52.490 small modular reactors by 2035. We see America are going 0:27:52.530 --> 0:27:54.710 down the nuclear path and so many other countries. And 0:27:54.750 --> 0:27:57.230 I just fear Australia is going to be so far behind. 0:27:58.020 --> 0:28:00.500 I do want to also get your thoughts about Labor, 0:28:00.560 --> 0:28:03.780 who have just recently been claiming that household energy costs 0:28:03.859 --> 0:28:07.010 could fall by as much as $ 4, 300 a year for 0:28:07.070 --> 0:28:11.369 families who use solar power and electrify their homes and cars. 0:28:11.850 --> 0:28:13.690 And I read that and I thought, haven't we heard 0:28:13.730 --> 0:28:16.689 this story before, that they would drop our power prices 0:28:16.710 --> 0:28:20.929 by $ 275 and it's gone the complete opposite? Should we 0:28:20.970 --> 0:28:21.609 be believing this? 0:28:22.460 --> 0:28:24.199 Yeah, I mean, look at your energy bills. Are they 0:28:24.220 --> 0:28:28.160 going down? Probably not, is the answer for most people. 0:28:28.640 --> 0:28:31.400 So probably can't really trust those promises. But I'd also say, 0:28:31.859 --> 0:28:34.480 I mean, yeah, for people who get rooftop solar and 0:28:34.500 --> 0:28:36.840 they get the subsidised home battery and they can afford 0:28:36.880 --> 0:28:39.719 an EV, maybe they will lower their costs, but it's 0:28:39.900 --> 0:28:44.090 only because rooftop solar, when you get that, you're actually 0:28:44.140 --> 0:28:46.490 reducing your costs at the expense of someone else because 0:28:46.530 --> 0:28:49.770 the network costs get shifted to people who don't. 0:28:49.590 --> 0:28:50.170 Have rooftop solar. 0:28:50.620 --> 0:28:52.560 So basically what it does is it shifts the money around, 0:28:52.600 --> 0:28:55.060 it shifts the cost burden to someone else, it doesn't 0:28:55.120 --> 0:28:57.220 make the grid cheaper as a whole. And so even 0:28:57.270 --> 0:28:59.630 if some people are better off, everyone else is not 0:28:59.670 --> 0:29:00.130 going to be. 0:29:01.750 --> 0:29:04.190 Now let's have a look now at what are some 0:29:04.210 --> 0:29:05.870 of the other things that you would be saying to 0:29:05.910 --> 0:29:09.950 the government, right? Just lift the ban? And then we 0:29:09.970 --> 0:29:10.530 can go from there. 0:29:10.650 --> 0:29:14.710 All options on the table. Prioritise affordability and reliability. Those 0:29:14.750 --> 0:29:18.620 should be number one. Don't have artificial government targets that 0:29:18.680 --> 0:29:22.160 are not rooted in reality. And also tell us how 0:29:22.220 --> 0:29:24.800 much the capacity investment scheme is going to cost. So 0:29:24.980 --> 0:29:28.120 that's a scheme that might cost billions, tens of billions, 0:29:28.310 --> 0:29:31.010 hundreds of billions of dollars of our tax money that 0:29:31.050 --> 0:29:34.050 is being handed over to wind, solar and battery developers. 0:29:34.550 --> 0:29:36.420 And the government won't even tell us what it will cost. 0:29:36.480 --> 0:29:39.910 And they're promising bill reductions and they can't even tell 0:29:39.930 --> 0:29:41.700 us us the cost. And you look at the UK, 0:29:41.940 --> 0:29:44.760 they've got a similar scheme. They tell their citizens how 0:29:44.780 --> 0:29:45.640 much it's going to cost. 0:29:46.120 --> 0:29:47.020 Why can't our government? 0:29:47.120 --> 0:29:49.660 Why are they saying it's not for publication in the budget? Like, 0:29:49.700 --> 0:29:52.940 that's the sort of thing where if they truly believe 0:29:53.140 --> 0:29:55.920 that renewables are the cheapest form of energy, then they 0:29:55.940 --> 0:29:57.000 can tell us what it's going to cost. 0:29:57.810 --> 0:30:00.060 You've got a petition. Tell us about it and where 0:30:00.100 --> 0:30:01.080 can we all go to sign up? 0:30:01.910 --> 0:30:05.270 So our petition is to call on Australia's leaders to 0:30:05.290 --> 0:30:09.310 prioritise affordable and reliable energy. We've got 13,000 petition signatures, 0:30:09.530 --> 0:30:11.650 but we would love to get so many more. We 0:30:11.890 --> 0:30:15.610 really need to show governments across Australia that this is 0:30:15.650 --> 0:30:18.150 an important issue. We have so many people struggling right 0:30:18.190 --> 0:30:20.890 now from energy hardship. And so if you go on 0:30:20.910 --> 0:30:24.570 to affordableenergy.org.au, then you'll be able to see our petition 0:30:24.950 --> 0:30:28.070 and sign up and support our work. We would love 0:30:28.090 --> 0:30:28.490 your support. 0:30:29.140 --> 0:30:31.030 Sounds great. We'll all jump on and support you. Thank 0:30:31.050 --> 0:30:32.110 you so much for coming in tonight. 0:30:32.120 --> 0:30:32.450 Thanks very much. 0:30:32.460 --> 0:30:32.830 Appreciate it. 0:30:34.130 --> 0:30:37.390 Alright, after the break, the campaign to fix Victoria with 0:30:37.430 --> 0:30:40.990 just under three months until the state election. That's next. 0:30:45.430 --> 0:30:49.670 Welcome back. More on the latest Royal Rift shortly. But 0:30:49.750 --> 0:30:53.150 now to the countdown to the Victorian election in November 0:30:53.310 --> 0:30:57.630 with the latest ad from campaign group Fix Victoria. twisting 0:30:57.690 --> 0:31:00.490 the screws on Labor. Here to discuss it, Head of 0:31:00.610 --> 0:31:05.700 Advocacy and Membership at Fix Victoria, Gideon Rosner. Gideon, two 0:31:05.740 --> 0:31:09.050 and a half months to go. How's the campaign been 0:31:09.070 --> 0:31:10.550 going and are you getting cut through? 0:31:11.710 --> 0:31:14.590 Look, we absolutely are. We have been inundated by people 0:31:14.630 --> 0:31:19.130 signing up at fixvictoria.com.au to support our work. Look, Jamie, 0:31:19.150 --> 0:31:22.290 from the beginning, we have sought to represent our members 0:31:22.350 --> 0:31:24.530 on the issues that they care about, and chief among 0:31:24.550 --> 0:31:29.230 them is debt. Victoria's $ 200 billion black hole of debt, 0:31:29.250 --> 0:31:31.830 the fact that we are paying $ 1 million every hour 0:31:32.190 --> 0:31:34.209 in interest, that's not to pay off the debt, that 0:31:34.280 --> 0:31:36.580 is just to service the debt. And we do have 0:31:36.630 --> 0:31:39.460 evidence now that campaigners in various political parties, when they're 0:31:39.480 --> 0:31:42.360 door knocking and so on, are getting question after question 0:31:42.660 --> 0:31:45.600 about the debt. So we have certainly succeeded in putting 0:31:45.920 --> 0:31:48.260 it on the agenda. Now, what we've been trying to 0:31:48.320 --> 0:31:50.620 do is to explain that debt is not just an 0:31:50.680 --> 0:31:53.530 abstract figure. It is the reason crime is going up, 0:31:53.570 --> 0:31:56.830 because we cannot afford police. It is the reason that 0:31:56.870 --> 0:31:59.530 we are seeing roads in such terrible shape, because we 0:31:59.550 --> 0:32:02.110 can't afford to repair them. And it's the reason a 0:32:02.150 --> 0:32:05.030 lot of Victorians are struggling financially. We know that Victoria 0:32:05.050 --> 0:32:08.370 has the highest tax burden of any state in the country. 0:32:08.670 --> 0:32:11.030 We know that we have the highest stamp duty, certainly 0:32:11.070 --> 0:32:14.670 the highest land tax. Vehicle registration is going up. Pet 0:32:14.710 --> 0:32:18.090 registration is going up. The fact of the matter is, Jamie, 0:32:18.130 --> 0:32:21.610 that the state of Victoria is not managing money properly. Therefore, 0:32:21.650 --> 0:32:22.450 it is reaching for. 0:32:22.370 --> 0:32:24.230 More of ours. 0:32:25.140 --> 0:32:28.180 Well, Gideon, I think the ad is very clever that 0:32:28.200 --> 0:32:30.550 you've done. Let's take a look so everyone else can 0:32:30.570 --> 0:32:31.070 see it too. 0:32:32.910 --> 0:32:33.550 While we all. 0:32:33.450 --> 0:32:38.810 Tighten our belts, Victoria's tsunami of debt, waste and overspending 0:32:38.850 --> 0:32:46.140 just continues. Mismanaged billions on unbuilt roads. Over half a 0:32:46.240 --> 0:32:50.500 billion on cancelled Commonwealth Games and corrupt payments to criminals. 0:32:51.460 --> 0:32:54.580 mean we're all doing it tough. We need a plan 0:32:54.600 --> 0:32:58.060 to fix debt. Join us to fix Victoria. 0:32:59.300 --> 0:33:01.390 Gideon, I must say, it was the baby for me 0:33:01.510 --> 0:33:05.010 in that ad, throwing its teddy into the high water 0:33:05.070 --> 0:33:07.760 and then crying and then hearing its cries throughout it. 0:33:07.770 --> 0:33:11.220 But it is the reality, though, of what Victorians are facing. 0:33:12.450 --> 0:33:14.150 Well, look, again, I make the point, I mean, that 0:33:14.750 --> 0:33:16.730 ad is the fourth in a series we've done. And 0:33:16.750 --> 0:33:18.750 the first one was the what a lot of your 0:33:18.790 --> 0:33:21.510 viewers will remember as the tsunami of debt. What we 0:33:21.550 --> 0:33:24.030 tried to do is, again, make an abstract concept, which 0:33:24.090 --> 0:33:26.710 is debt, something real and tangible. 0:33:27.710 --> 0:33:28.790 And impactful. 0:33:29.330 --> 0:33:31.650 We did that with the metaphor of water coming out 0:33:31.690 --> 0:33:33.890 of Parliament House and flooding the entire state. And there's 0:33:33.950 --> 0:33:36.630 debt that just keeps rising and rising and rising. And 0:33:36.650 --> 0:33:38.320 what you just saw, as I said, is the fourth 0:33:38.360 --> 0:33:40.760 ad in the series saying that among everything else, the 0:33:40.800 --> 0:33:43.800 reason you are struggling financially is in large part because 0:33:44.280 --> 0:33:46.660 the state of Victoria has not been doing the right 0:33:46.680 --> 0:33:50.160 thing with money, whether it be paying $ 1 billion plus 0:33:50.240 --> 0:33:54.620 not to build a road, whether it be paying $ 500 0:33:53.740 --> 0:33:55.680 million on Commonwealth Games we. 0:33:55.580 --> 0:33:56.380 Never got to have. 0:33:57.080 --> 0:33:58.860 The fact of the matter is, as the ad says, 0:33:59.180 --> 0:34:02.610 while everyday Victorians are tightening our belts, the state of 0:34:02.650 --> 0:34:05.250 Victoria is treating public money like confetti and it has 0:34:05.270 --> 0:34:05.610 to stop. 0:34:06.870 --> 0:34:09.729 My heart did break for Victorians when the Commonwealth Games 0:34:09.770 --> 0:34:11.810 were recently on and there were some people holding up 0:34:11.850 --> 0:34:14.969 those signs saying, thank you, Melbourne. And I thought, oh, 0:34:14.989 --> 0:34:17.700 my gosh, way to just rub salt into the wounds. 0:34:18.219 --> 0:34:21.060 But Ben Carroll has said that he's going to wind 0:34:21.100 --> 0:34:23.400 back some of the policies that were implemented by Daniel 0:34:23.480 --> 0:34:26.779 Andrews and Jacinta Allen, things like land tax, which looks 0:34:26.820 --> 0:34:28.640 to be on the chopping block. But do you think 0:34:29.200 --> 0:34:32.340 it's now a little too late or is there danger 0:34:32.380 --> 0:34:34.140 that Labor could actually hang on here? 0:34:35.580 --> 0:34:39.359 Look, Jamie, we're a genuinely nonpartisan organisation. We have said 0:34:39.380 --> 0:34:41.620 from the beginning we will work with any politician, any 0:34:41.660 --> 0:34:44.420 public figure, any political party with a serious plan to 0:34:44.460 --> 0:34:47.080 get Victoria out of the mess we're in. But what 0:34:47.120 --> 0:34:49.180 I will say is that that won't be achieved by 0:34:49.219 --> 0:34:51.960 politics on the run. That won't be achieved by policy 0:34:52.020 --> 0:34:54.239 on the run. That won't be achieved by little nips 0:34:54.280 --> 0:34:56.799 and tucks and crab walking away from things that may 0:34:56.820 --> 0:34:59.450 be electorally unpopular. Now, as a matter of fact, land 0:34:59.469 --> 0:35:02.310 tax is a huge issue in Victoria. I just came 0:35:02.350 --> 0:35:04.209 out of a private sector job to take this role 0:35:04.290 --> 0:35:06.669 up and not a day went by when I wouldn't 0:35:06.710 --> 0:35:10.020 hear somebody complaining about land tax. Now, that's not just 0:35:10.060 --> 0:35:12.300 a problem for the landlords. It's a problem for renters 0:35:12.400 --> 0:35:14.420 who get the cost passed on. It's a problem for 0:35:14.460 --> 0:35:19.630 aspiring homeowners because new housing stock is not being built. Again, 0:35:19.870 --> 0:35:22.029 we can't just have little nips and tucks here. We 0:35:22.050 --> 0:35:25.230 need a comprehensive plan from our leaders on how to 0:35:25.360 --> 0:35:29.700 fix our $ 200 billion debt that necessitates these cash grabs 0:35:29.739 --> 0:35:30.279 to begin with. 0:35:31.219 --> 0:35:33.620 And Gideon, just quickly before I let you go, potholes 0:35:33.700 --> 0:35:37.510 seems to be an enormous talking point coming out of Victoria. 0:35:37.650 --> 0:35:39.500 Is that what you're also hearing on the ground too? 0:35:40.580 --> 0:35:43.200 Number one issue. In all my 20 years of being 0:35:43.239 --> 0:35:46.040 in politics and public policy, I have never seen anger 0:35:46.680 --> 0:35:50.330 as bad as about the potholes. And we're not talking, again, Jamie, 0:35:50.350 --> 0:35:54.170 for interstate viewers, we're not talking about minor little divots. Sadly, 0:35:54.210 --> 0:35:56.609 we saw the death of Tiki Mason not so long ago. 0:35:56.739 --> 0:35:58.779 I read a story today about somebody who drove over 0:35:58.820 --> 0:36:01.240 a pothole a few years back, had a broken leg. Fibia, 0:36:01.300 --> 0:36:04.239 had a shattered spine, brain damage, a collapsed lung, all 0:36:04.260 --> 0:36:06.700 from one pothole. People are paying thousands of dollars to 0:36:06.760 --> 0:36:09.420 have their rims repaired. As I said to Peter Credlin 0:36:09.440 --> 0:36:11.859 a few weeks ago, this is a real, almost literally 0:36:11.969 --> 0:36:15.569 concrete symbol of a state that is falling apart. It's 0:36:15.610 --> 0:36:18.350 making people realise that we are being very, very badly 0:36:18.410 --> 0:36:21.149 managed and that people really do expect better. 0:36:22.290 --> 0:36:24.970 Well, Gideon, there's only a few more months until Victorians 0:36:25.010 --> 0:36:30.149 head to the poll. I appreciate your time tonight. Let's 0:36:30.170 --> 0:36:33.450 head to London where the new book from Charles Spencer 0:36:33.530 --> 0:36:36.770 about his sister Diana, the Princess of Wales, has just 0:36:36.830 --> 0:36:40.529 gone on sale there this morning. News 24 contributor and 0:36:40.590 --> 0:36:45.320 News Corp Australia's European correspondent Sophie Ellsworth ran out in 0:36:45.360 --> 0:36:48.560 the last hour to get herself a copy. A lot 0:36:48.600 --> 0:36:53.339 of controversy here, Sophie. Welcome. Tell us about this book 0:36:53.400 --> 0:36:55.160 that you've run out and got your hands on. 0:36:57.060 --> 0:36:57.739 Yeah, that's right. 0:36:57.760 --> 0:37:00.339 I've got a copy of Swan Song that just hit 0:37:00.390 --> 0:37:03.890 the shelves here this morning in the last few hours. 0:37:03.930 --> 0:37:07.310 This is Earl Spencer's book, which has got many bombshell 0:37:07.390 --> 0:37:10.130 claims that we've already heard in the lead up to 0:37:10.190 --> 0:37:14.700 its release today and many allegations against the king and 0:37:14.719 --> 0:37:18.060 the royal family. I've gone through the book this morning. 0:37:18.080 --> 0:37:21.060 The online copy was available this morning and there's many 0:37:21.160 --> 0:37:26.370 salacious details in there. including how he criticised Princess Diana 0:37:26.450 --> 0:37:31.290 about her weight, the fact that he had purchased Camilla 0:37:31.410 --> 0:37:35.450 a bracelet and Diana found this bracelet when they were married. 0:37:35.469 --> 0:37:38.610 She was very upset about this. There's a whole raft 0:37:38.650 --> 0:37:43.370 of allegations in here, including also that the late Queen 0:37:43.430 --> 0:37:49.560 Elizabeth considered pinning back King Charles's ears because they poked 0:37:49.860 --> 0:37:53.979 out a little. There's many, many salacious details in here. 0:37:54.340 --> 0:37:57.759 There's so much to go through in this 400-page book. 0:37:57.840 --> 0:38:01.710 A lot of it we've heard, including claims about the 0:38:02.170 --> 0:38:05.710 war that erupted between the Spencer household and the Windsor 0:38:05.750 --> 0:38:10.469 household over the handling of Diana's funeral arrangements. This is 0:38:10.570 --> 0:38:13.700 a book that has no doubt rocked the royal family. 0:38:14.480 --> 0:38:17.580 And whose side is the public taking on this latest? 0:38:17.600 --> 0:38:20.779 Because I've read a few reports where people are questioning 0:38:20.920 --> 0:38:24.819 why Diana's brother felt the need to reveal so many 0:38:24.880 --> 0:38:25.760 of these stories. 0:38:28.100 --> 0:38:32.350 Well, Earl Spencer has said specifically about this book that 0:38:32.390 --> 0:38:35.070 he has not put this book out to make money. 0:38:35.150 --> 0:38:38.510 But the claims are that he stands to make millions 0:38:38.550 --> 0:38:42.640 and millions of pounds from sale of this book, Swan Song. He, 0:38:43.340 --> 0:38:45.839 you know, he's a very wealthy man indeed. He's on 0:38:45.860 --> 0:38:48.500 his fourth marriage. He's had expensive divorces. 0:38:48.560 --> 0:38:49.280 But the public. 0:38:49.980 --> 0:38:52.680 Many of them seem on the side of King Charles 0:38:52.739 --> 0:38:56.609 and are quite appalled that Earl Spencer has decided 29 0:38:56.610 --> 0:39:00.450 years after the death of his sister to write this 0:39:00.530 --> 0:39:04.810 book with many allegations in there that is reportedly never 0:39:04.870 --> 0:39:08.330 been put to Buckingham Palace or the royal family ahead 0:39:08.350 --> 0:39:11.160 of its release. It's no doubt caused a lot of 0:39:11.219 --> 0:39:13.980 problems for the royal family. They're no doubt dealing with 0:39:14.000 --> 0:39:16.540 the fallout of Meghan and Harry moving back here to 0:39:16.560 --> 0:39:20.560 the UK. But now they're dealing with many allegations of 0:39:20.719 --> 0:39:25.469 private conversations that took place behind closed doors that Earl 0:39:25.510 --> 0:39:28.270 Spencer has now laid bare in his new book. 0:39:29.070 --> 0:39:31.719 And Piers Morgan. has also come out saying that he's 0:39:31.760 --> 0:39:34.960 going to sue Earl Spencer over some of the claims. 0:39:35.460 --> 0:39:40.910 Do you know what's been said that's ignited this lawsuit? Absolutely. 0:39:40.989 --> 0:39:45.069 So in Swan Song, it does detail that there was 0:39:45.239 --> 0:39:50.040 photographs of Princess Diana going to a gymnasium many years 0:39:50.100 --> 0:39:53.320 ago where she was in a leotard and the photos 0:39:53.440 --> 0:39:56.500 ended up on the front page of the Sunday Mirror. Now, 0:39:56.980 --> 0:40:01.910 Charles Earl Spencer goes into detail in the book about 0:40:01.950 --> 0:40:05.590 how Piers Morgan published these images of Diana in the 0:40:05.650 --> 0:40:10.330 leotard on the front of the Sunday Mirror. But Quite remarkably, 0:40:10.350 --> 0:40:14.739 Piers Morgan has come out overnight, said this is absolutely 0:40:14.800 --> 0:40:16.799 not the case. He was not the editor of the 0:40:16.860 --> 0:40:20.000 Sunday Mirror at the time. And he is now threatening 0:40:20.180 --> 0:40:24.860 legal action against Earl Spencer. He wants the correction made. 0:40:25.180 --> 0:40:28.270 And he also wants money donated to the King's Trust. 0:40:28.630 --> 0:40:32.430 This is very, very nasty stuff. It's put shade on 0:40:32.450 --> 0:40:35.850 the truth behind the book. and no doubt going to 0:40:35.910 --> 0:40:39.350 cause many problems for Earl Spencer and the publishers. 0:40:40.239 --> 0:40:42.719 Sophie, that was a really great update. I think lots 0:40:42.760 --> 0:40:44.140 of people are going to be running out to buy 0:40:44.200 --> 0:40:48.980 that book. Thank you. Enjoy your reading. Well, after the break, 0:40:49.100 --> 0:40:52.420 EV sales are booming, but are we sleepwalking into an 0:40:52.540 --> 0:40:56.330 economic and national security trap? Our Tuesday panel is next. 0:41:01.270 --> 0:41:03.730 All right, well, let's jump straight into what else is 0:41:03.790 --> 0:41:07.130 making news with our Tuesday night panel, Head of Advocacy 0:41:07.290 --> 0:41:13.980 at Women's Forum Australia, Stephanie Bastian, and News24 contributor Ro Knox. Welcome, ladies. 0:41:14.739 --> 0:41:18.540 Australia has been accused of sleepwalking into an economic and 0:41:18.640 --> 0:41:22.270 national security trap, and this is due to a gap 0:41:22.350 --> 0:41:26.710 in electric vehicle regulations. Ro, what are your concerns around this? 0:41:26.810 --> 0:41:28.050 What more should we be doing? 0:41:29.000 --> 0:41:32.600 Yeah, Jamie, obviously there was a really interesting piece of 0:41:32.660 --> 0:41:38.000 investigative journalism last night on this on Four Corners and 0:41:38.040 --> 0:41:43.629 essentially it exposed that electric vehicles, particularly those being made 0:41:43.690 --> 0:41:50.170 by both China and Russia, have some significant concerns for 0:41:50.650 --> 0:41:55.210 Australia in terms of not only privacy because these vehicles 0:41:55.250 --> 0:41:58.100 have a huge number of cameras and recording devices and 0:41:58.600 --> 0:42:02.810 and also geo-trackers so they can track where the actual 0:42:02.850 --> 0:42:08.930 cars are. But they also have a number of issues 0:42:09.010 --> 0:42:15.879 where software can be controlled remotely. And the gaps in legislation, 0:42:15.920 --> 0:42:19.410 we just don't have any provisions currently either in our 0:42:19.469 --> 0:42:24.489 privacy rules or our cyber security legislation. And Jamie, the 0:42:24.550 --> 0:42:28.930 other thing that was noted last night and this morning 0:42:28.969 --> 0:42:32.540 in the media is just when we thought this federal 0:42:32.580 --> 0:42:36.580 government couldn't protect us any less, it was exposed that 0:42:36.680 --> 0:42:40.920 a number of ministers are using BYD cars, which are 0:42:40.940 --> 0:42:45.650 the build your dream cars, electric vehicles manufactured in China. 0:42:47.590 --> 0:42:50.790 It's a scary thought having someone external being able to 0:42:50.830 --> 0:42:54.210 listen to our conversations. Steph, I mentioned at the top 0:42:54.250 --> 0:42:57.390 of the show a transgender athlete has claimed a Women's 0:42:57.430 --> 0:43:01.120 Hockey Best and Fairest Award after finishing ahead of biologically 0:43:01.360 --> 0:43:06.620 female competitors. Despite growing concerns over safety and competitive fairness, 0:43:07.360 --> 0:43:10.400 what concerns you the most about this award? 0:43:11.920 --> 0:43:14.580 Look, I think this really just rubs salt in the wounds. 0:43:14.680 --> 0:43:17.200 There are players that have obviously voiced their concerns about 0:43:17.239 --> 0:43:19.460 the fact that there is a male that's being included 0:43:19.480 --> 0:43:23.480 in female sport. There's been injuries in other sporting codes. 0:43:24.000 --> 0:43:26.030 And the fact that this player with all his male 0:43:26.070 --> 0:43:29.690 advantages has gone on to win a second award is 0:43:29.770 --> 0:43:32.930 just absolutely outrageous. I mean, it's very clear that the 0:43:32.969 --> 0:43:39.730 code is not listening to the player's And they really 0:43:39.770 --> 0:43:41.650 do not have a voice. It's just wrong and it's 0:43:41.710 --> 0:43:43.690 unfair and it really needs to be addressed and I 0:43:43.730 --> 0:43:45.989 don't think it's going to be addressed until we have 0:43:46.010 --> 0:43:48.230 a look at the Sex Discrimination Act because of the 0:43:48.850 --> 0:43:52.840 code around sport is really not being protected and the 0:43:52.880 --> 0:43:56.279 guidelines put forward by the Australian Human Rights Commission is 0:43:56.320 --> 0:43:59.020 also pushing this idea that inclusion is more important than 0:43:59.060 --> 0:43:59.880 fairness and safety. 0:43:59.900 --> 0:44:03.399 Yeah, and the sad reality of this is that biological 0:44:03.540 --> 0:44:05.759 women and girls will end up being the ones that 0:44:06.219 --> 0:44:10.129 walk away from playing sport and Ro, Angus Taylor was 0:44:10.190 --> 0:44:13.110 on the hustings today promising a plan to shield Australians 0:44:13.130 --> 0:44:16.150 from skyrocketing fuel costs. So he's announced plans for a 0:44:16.130 --> 0:44:20.900 27 cent per litre cut to tax on fuel. It's 0:44:20.940 --> 0:44:23.759 about half the excise to be triggered when crude oil 0:44:23.880 --> 0:44:28.140 exceeds US $ 100 per barrel. This is bread and butter 0:44:28.180 --> 0:44:30.920 policy for Australians doing it tough. Do you think this 0:44:31.000 --> 0:44:33.410 is enough to be able to improve the libs in 0:44:33.430 --> 0:44:33.930 the polling? 0:44:35.060 --> 0:44:37.960 I thought this was a really interesting piece of policy 0:44:38.080 --> 0:44:41.140 because he also tied it to say it was going 0:44:41.160 --> 0:44:44.969 to get funded through the work that the Coalition has 0:44:45.050 --> 0:44:49.890 done to cut the tobacco excise. So, as we know, 0:44:49.969 --> 0:44:54.060 there's the Laffer Curve, which... Essentially, if you tax something 0:44:54.140 --> 0:44:58.360 too much, your tax revenues end up going down because 0:44:58.420 --> 0:45:03.350 consumers go elsewhere. And that's what's happened with the tobacco excise. 0:45:03.410 --> 0:45:07.310 So by the coalition suggesting lowering that, it will mean 0:45:07.370 --> 0:45:10.370 the tax revenues will go up. And then the Coalition 0:45:10.390 --> 0:45:14.730 are essentially saying that this way of keeping volatility out 0:45:14.770 --> 0:45:19.580 of the fuel market that we've seen, particularly after the 0:45:19.739 --> 0:45:27.420 Iran-US-Israel conflict, will allow Australians to have more stability in 0:45:27.480 --> 0:45:30.860 terms of being able to budget around fuel. And I 0:45:30.880 --> 0:45:33.260 thought it was well done to tie it to other. 0:45:33.080 --> 0:45:33.860 Pieces of work. 0:45:34.360 --> 0:45:39.460 I think Australians are looking for some... as you said, Jamie, 0:45:39.480 --> 0:45:43.930 some bread and butter fixes for cost of living. People 0:45:43.989 --> 0:45:47.310 are doing it so hard. But I think it's also 0:45:47.350 --> 0:45:50.230 going to be around how do we explain that bigger 0:45:50.290 --> 0:45:56.729 story to Australians around the macro pieces. So, obviously, the 0:45:57.030 --> 0:46:00.290 indexing brackets are a big piece of that. There's a 0:46:00.350 --> 0:46:03.430 huge amount of work that Tim Wilson's doing with small business. 0:46:04.030 --> 0:46:05.860 And I think it's going to take a while for 0:46:06.219 --> 0:46:07.000 the polls to. 0:46:07.480 --> 0:46:08.500 to catch up to that. 0:46:08.620 --> 0:46:10.480 But I think this was a very good piece of 0:46:10.500 --> 0:46:13.500 policy today and a very good way of showing you 0:46:13.520 --> 0:46:15.450 how it's actually going to be funded too, Jamie. 0:46:15.989 --> 0:46:17.750 They just need to get the cut through so that 0:46:17.790 --> 0:46:21.029 people can start hearing their messages. Steph, what about this 0:46:21.070 --> 0:46:25.040 report on the Snowy Hydro? Obviously, this is filled with controversy. 0:46:25.610 --> 0:46:29.070 But now we're learning detailed cost review has been sitting 0:46:29.130 --> 0:46:31.710 on a shelf running down the clock on a brewing 0:46:31.750 --> 0:46:35.590 political storm over its late and bloated expansion. This is 0:46:35.650 --> 0:46:39.690 Malcolm Turnbull's legacy and the biggest white elephant in the 0:46:39.730 --> 0:46:40.530 nation's history. 0:46:41.830 --> 0:46:44.290 Oh, it sure is. And I mean, Australians are struggling 0:46:44.350 --> 0:46:46.430 with the cost of living and the cost of electricity 0:46:46.469 --> 0:46:48.290 is a big part of that. I mean, imagine how 0:46:48.310 --> 0:46:52.299 many nuclear reactors we potentially could have built by now 0:46:52.340 --> 0:46:55.540 had we not invested in the renewable schemes back in 2017. 0:46:55.520 --> 0:46:59.560 I mean, there needs to be public accountability for the 0:46:59.600 --> 0:47:03.259 politicians that are involved in buying into these schemes. I 0:47:05.739 --> 0:47:08.969 It's cost billions and billions of taxpayer dollars. They don't 0:47:09.010 --> 0:47:10.870 seem to mind. And I think there's certain parts of 0:47:10.910 --> 0:47:14.129 the media, particularly those who support climate change, who do 0:47:14.170 --> 0:47:17.310 not even have no concern about how much it actually 0:47:17.410 --> 0:47:20.779 costs to try and bring in these renewables instead of 0:47:20.820 --> 0:47:26.480 looking for more substantial baseload, reliable, cheap electricity. And so, 0:47:26.560 --> 0:47:28.640 you know, I think with the appointment of Susan Lee 0:47:28.860 --> 0:47:32.350 to the project, that runs the risk of being a 0:47:32.350 --> 0:47:34.210 way to neutralise the Liberal Party on this. But if 0:47:34.270 --> 0:47:36.450 they want to bring back voter confidence, they're going to 0:47:36.489 --> 0:47:39.290 actually have to distance themselves from the decision to run 0:47:39.330 --> 0:47:43.980 this project and to push back on the whole renewable 0:47:44.040 --> 0:47:46.560 scam in the first place. Otherwise, people are not going 0:47:46.600 --> 0:47:51.140 to restore trust that they can actually deliver properly on 0:47:51.180 --> 0:47:55.170 these issues and to look for more reliable sources of energy. 0:47:56.480 --> 0:48:00.239 Now, here's one for everyone. An Australian homeowner who spent 0:48:00.300 --> 0:48:03.469 money and effort to landscape the nature strip outside her 0:48:03.510 --> 0:48:06.770 home has had to rip it up. And this is 0:48:06.850 --> 0:48:10.130 over in WA. The resident spent $ 800 to transform the 0:48:10.190 --> 0:48:16.140 grass into more environmentally friendly. It sparked debate. Very quickly, ladies, 0:48:16.300 --> 0:48:18.900 Ro will start with you. Should you be touching your 0:48:18.940 --> 0:48:19.480 nature strip? 0:48:20.840 --> 0:48:26.480 So we live near a number of nature strips where 0:48:26.940 --> 0:48:29.580 some of our neighbours have done the most creative and 0:48:29.640 --> 0:48:34.180 fabulous things with them. They did consult with other neighbours 0:48:34.489 --> 0:48:38.210 on the street and they also did get council approval 0:48:38.370 --> 0:48:39.110 to do that. 0:48:39.130 --> 0:48:41.850 Sorry, Mo, we have to now go. It is over 0:48:41.930 --> 0:48:44.830 to the Bolt Report with James McPherson.