WEBVTT - The Late Debate | 27 May 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:00.400 Lately. 0:00:02.320 --> 0:00:07.600 Welcome to the Late Debate. Thanks for joining us on 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:08.200 the Late Debate. 0:00:08.280 --> 0:00:11.440 I'm James Macpherson with Caleb Bond and Freier Leach. Coming 0:00:11.480 --> 0:00:16.959 up tonight, the Chinese launch a brand new sport, robot boxing. 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.800 Is it RoboCop? I think it's more robo Flop. Will 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:22.440 show you about a little later. Plus when we look 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:25.600 at what's making news tomorrow, the Queensland government have got 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:28.360 an idea for reducing power prices. They're going to open 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:29.520 up new gas fields. 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:30.320 Who would have thought. 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:35.600 And a former afl umpire gives the most bizarre excuse 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:38.519 for missing a court hearing. We'll get to all of 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:41.320 that shortly, but we want to start the show tonight 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:45.199 in Caleb's favorite place, South Australia, where the City of 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:49.760 Churches is about to get their very first skyscraper and 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:52.239 not everybody is happy about it. 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:52.440 Now. 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:54.920 Business leaders they're very happy they're going to get a 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:58.400 thirty eight story tower right in the heart of the 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:02.080 city because it will house five thousand office workers and 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:03.440 one hundred retail staff. 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:07.080 But opponents, including the Council, say it will. 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:11.440 Completely overshadow the Historic and National Heritage list in Parliament House. 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:13.920 You can see an image there. And then the. 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:17.680 Adelaide Parks Association of called the skyscraper a monster, saying 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:21.960 it's going to impose on Adelaide's beautiful green spaces. Now 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:24.440 I've got to say I am with the opponents of 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:28.120 this project for two reasons. Firstly, Caleb Adelaide is a 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:31.000 beautiful city that is not in spite of the lack 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:33.600 of skyscrapers, but because there's a lack of If you 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:36.720 want skyscrapers, go to Melbourne, go to Sydney, go to Perth, 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:40.080 go to Brisbane. Adelaide is beautiful because it doesn't have 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:43.399 any of those things. And second, they don't need this. 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:47.800 The commercial vacancy rate in the CBD of Adelaide is 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:52.640 sixteen point four percent. The national vacancy rate is thirteen percent. 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:56.480 Only Melbourne has a higher commercial vacancy rate than the CBD. 0:01:56.960 --> 0:02:00.680 Adelaide doesn't need more office towers. It's beautiful the way 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:02.880 it is. And as a person who loves Adelaide, I 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:04.560 would expect you would agree with me on this. 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:06.880 Well, no, because it sounds like you want to tell 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:09.040 the private sector what they ought to do with their money. 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:11.120 I mean, you're saying you know the vacancy rate is this, 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:14.440 therefore you should not be able to build new buildings. 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:17.200 I'll tell you why the vacancy rate is so high. 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.080 There are lots of heritage buildings in the CBD that 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:22.720 ought to have things done with them, and nothing is 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:25.040 done with them. I mean, I have written about Sir 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:28.639 Edmund Wright House in King William Street in Adelaide has 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:30.840 been sitting there empty for years. In years and years, 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:33.239 it's owned by the state government. They've tried to sell 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:35.800 it multiple times. No one wants to take it because 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:37.799 serious work has to be done to it. So why 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:39.960 doesn't the state government say, oh, look we've got an 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:42.799 opportunity here to do something with a heritage building. We'll 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:44.680 do it. But they don't do that. So the only 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:47.239 place you can go is a new building. So someone 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:50.600 comes along Lange Walker and says, I want to spend 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.480 the money to put up two towers on this bit 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:57.440 of what was otherwise basically unused land in the CBD 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:00.920 behind Parliament House. I mean, they these sculptures. It was 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:04.760 called Adelaide Urban iconography, and people who live in Adelaide 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:07.160 will know exactly what I'm talking about. It used to 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:10.800 be behind Parliament House. It was a weird, rhombous looking 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.359 thing and it was dilapidated and old. It was done 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:16.960 in the time of Don Dunstan. It was an eyesore. 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:19.520 So lane walkerss will put some buildings up. I mean, 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:23.320 you pee investment in South Australia, what is wrong with that? 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:26.320 And you've got the Greens say, oh, we can't have 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:31.760 anything shadowing over Parliament House. The only people really concerned 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:34.600 about anything shadowing over Parliament House are the people who 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:37.080 work with in it. But what's the problem. They put 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:39.640 up a brand new building with a rooftop bar and 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:43.040 a restaurant on it, so all the overpaid staffers can 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:45.680 go and spend their taxpayer dollars up there. I don't 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:46.400 see what the issues. 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:49.000 Put it somewhere else, Freyer, so it doesn't overshadow what 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:52.480 is a beautiful historic building, this parkland mine. You have 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:54.200 the building, just put it somewhere different. 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:56.800 But this is the reality. If Adelaide wants to be 0:03:56.920 --> 0:04:00.440 an international city, they need to go up and they're 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:02.360 surrounded by a ring of parts. It's not like you 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:05.080 can just infinitely go out. There's a limit to how 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:07.720 far Adelaide can expand. So they have to go up. 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:10.000 And we've seen this, you know, I'm from Sydney and 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:12.760 we've seen this in Sydney all the time. People oppose 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:17.320 huge developments like Barangaroo is a great example. They go, oh, no, 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:20.080 this will be terrible, My harbor of you will be blocked. 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:23.599 How could we possibly do this? And then they go up. Sure, 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:25.960 in the early years you deal with a lot of construction, 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.360 but once they're up, everyone enjoys it and the amenity 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:32.719 for the whole area improves. And that is what development 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:35.440 does to our cities. The nimbi's oppose it, but the 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:39.720 ymbi's will win because we all benefit from nice, new, 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:41.040 great cities. 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:43.200 All right, Well, I'll tell you who else is opposed development, 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:47.240 and that's the Australian Turf Club. They've rejected caliber what 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:50.320 a five billion dollar offer from the New South Wales 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:53.200 state government to take over that property. They would have 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:56.120 put twenty five thousand homes there. God knows we need 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:59.000 more homes. The Turf Club could have built a new 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:02.480 facility somewhere else. There was the opportunity to upgrade an 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:05.400 existing one elsewhere, but they've declined the offer. They want 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:09.040 rose Hill to remain as a turf as a racing venue. 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:10.840 Good decision or bad decision. 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:12.360 As well, they should. I mean you get rid of 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:15.520 these things, you'd never get them back. Right. This is 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.920 one of the premier race courses in the country. Right, 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:21.640 it has some of the best races in the world, 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:24.880 the Golden Slipper etc. And the idea that you would 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:29.480 turf pardon the party, what is a great race track 0:05:29.600 --> 0:05:33.120 because mister Mins wants to put some houses on it 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:36.200 makes no sense to me. Let's be clear, this was 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:39.240 not a proposal from the state government. It was an 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:43.520 unsolicited proposal from the Australian Turf Club to the State 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:46.240 government that they could put twenty or twenty five thousand 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:48.640 odd houses on it and that the state government ought 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:51.080 to chip in the money to make it happen. The 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:53.760 state government said they were interested, but there was no 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:57.080 contract there. So the members of the ATC were essentially 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:59.599 asked today to sign a blank check for the club 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:02.520 to go way and have negotiations with mister Min's to 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:06.120 come to an agreement which is probably about five billion, 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:09.080 maybe we were told, but who the hell would agree 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.440 to that. There's plenty of space to put houses elsewhere. 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:15.240 In fact, there was already a proposal on the table 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:19.680 to put ten thousand residences next to the rose Hill 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:23.480 Racecourse that required no touching of the race course whatsoever. 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:25.159 So why don't they just do that? Why do they 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:27.680 have to get rid of one of my great loves 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:28.800 to put up more houses. 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:30.360 But this is just nimbi logic. 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:33.680 A four seconds ago you were arguing against when it 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:34.599 comes to Adelaide. 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:37.080 But this is the exact same thing we took me down. 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:42.159 People and Australians value homes in an acute housing crisis 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:46.080 more than I'm sorry. A few people value horse racing. 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:50.880 That's what people horse racing. Yeah sorry, It is one 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:53.160 of the biggest industries. It is one of the biggest 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:54.679 employers in this country. 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:56.000 Horse and you know what happened. 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.800 We don't have enough. You know what happens if we 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:01.760 don't have enough homes, week suffer. But you could also 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:03.880 build the race course next door. You can build the 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.680 races running Western Sydney. This is a silly argument. 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:09.680 You know, you don't need to build another race course. 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:12.559 You've already got the race course and history has shown 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:15.920 what happens when you sell race courses. The SAJC in 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:18.960 South Australia sold Cheltenham in two thousand and seven for 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:22.040 eighty five million dollars and they said this will secure 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:25.720 racing in Adelaide forever. We have an investment fund now 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:28.720 that will make sure everything is hunky dory. And it 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:30.960 was never meant to go below fifty million dollars. In 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:33.800 their last annual report the investment fund was down to 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.520 eighteen point nine million dollars. So in a matter of 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.400 fifteen years they've nearly blown the whole lot, and then 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:42.239 that we're going begging for more money. This is what happens. 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:44.480 They never spend it properly and leave it as it is. 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:46.360 Unlike you, I could care less about horse racing. 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:48.720 It's not the job of the Turf Club to help 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:51.040 out the New South Wales government with their poor planning 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.640 by giving up their property to create more houses. If 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:56.600 we've got a housing shortage, it's not up to the 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:59.280 Turf Club to save it. On behalf of Chris Min's. 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:01.760 He's the government organize a solution. 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:04.880 I'll just leave it on this. If racing was so profitable, 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:06.560 why are they flogging off their asset? 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:11.560 But let's move on. Moving on to Victoria. Now, the Victorian. 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:15.000 Treasurer had a really awkward moment today when she was 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:19.560 addressing a group of high rolling property developers and investors 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:23.040 and she asked the really interesting question. 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:25.760 Of what is your favorite tax? 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:30.080 Now, obviously the room was dead silent, and everyone was 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:33.760 kind of looking around, going what the heck the treasurer 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:37.600 of the state that has become uninvestible because of the 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.439 amount of taxes and regulations being put on the property 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:45.079 sector is trying to make a joke of this situation. Seriously, 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:47.680 it was truly shocking, and I think it really does 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.720 demonstrate how out of touch the Victorian government is with 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:52.640 the realities. 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:55.400 Well, I just wish Kerry Packer had been part of 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:58.400 that crowd, because he would have answered something like this, 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:00.480 I'm wrong. 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:02.840 With minimizing tax. I don't know anybody who doesn't minimize 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:05.520 their tax, and that you were doing so in ways 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:10.400 that work contrary to the spirits of the law. Well, 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:12.520 I just got through telling you what I thought about that. 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:17.360 I am not evading tax in any way, shape or form. Now, 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.480 of course I am minimizing my tax. And if anybody 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:23.400 in this country doesn't minimize their tax, they want their 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.400 head remp because as a government, I can tell you 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:28.200 you're not spending it that well that we should be 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:29.040 donating extra. 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:34.120 Imagine a Victorian state premier asking property developers and real 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.240 estate moguls, what's your favorite tax? I mean, you've got 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:39.240 plenty to choose from. You've got your land tax, you've 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:41.920 got your fire services levey, you've got your windfall gains tax, 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:44.600 you've got your congestion levey, you've got stamp duty, all 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:48.079 of which affects property owners. So what's your favorite tax? 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:50.960 Or there's so many to choose from. I mean, this 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:55.719 is a treasurer who asks staff, don't give me economic 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:59.840 terms in your emails because I don't understand them, and 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:04.000 clearly she doesn't understand business. To suppose that they might 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:07.440 have a favorite tax that they could nominate. A better question, 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:10.240 Caylor would have been, what's your favorite term to describe 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:14.600 the treasurer? Is it incompetent, arrogant or completely tone deaf? 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.839 Look, I know, what's your favorite text? Might fly in 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:21.120 a room full of boring ato. You know, people weren't 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:23.080 good enough to be accountants in that with the ADO 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:25.400 public servants. But I mean, it's like asking a room 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:28.079 full of people who's your favorite serial killer. Oh yeah, 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:31.560 Jeffrey Dahmer. I mean, you don't ask people what their 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:33.720 favorite No one has got a favorite text. There is 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:36.240 no such thing as a favorite tax I can only 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:40.560 imagine that the discussions between Simes and her staff before 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:43.240 she went into the room when something like this. 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.480 Does every tax ryers represent a blur against freedom? 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:49.440 It depends how big the tax raises. 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:51.319 That's fascinating. 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:57.160 Does twenty pence represent a blow against freedom? 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:00.319 So it's something a blow against freedom simply because it 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:01.840 can seriously damage your wealth. 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:06.080 I must warn you of the difficulties. 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:10.560 I foresee all sorts of unforeseen problems, such as if 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:14.679 I could foresee them, they wouldn't be unforeseen. They obviously 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:17.720 didn't foresee the unforeseen problems in asking a room full 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:20.280 of people who work in the property sector what their 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:22.360 favorite tax is. But it is, you know, to be 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:25.360 serious for a moment. It is a window into the 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:30.120 way the Andrews then Allen government thinks in that they 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.120 generally think that there would be people out there who 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:34.199 would be able to nominate what they think the best 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:37.240 tax is, because of course it's the only way they 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:39.920 can think that government at the moment because they need 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:42.960 the money so much. I mean, they're hurtling towards two 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:48.160 hundred billion dollars sorry worth of debt. I mean, compared 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:52.000 to other jurisdictions around the world with similar populations, it 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:55.640 is one of the most indebted jurisdictions, state or federal 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:59.200 anywhere in the world. I mean. They are obsessed with 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.439 taxation because it's the only way they can hope to 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.480 keep themselves afloat. So she's certainly thinking about what her 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:08.360 favorite tax is. She just can't fathom the idea that 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:09.240 the rest of us wouldn't. 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:12.880 It's like asking what's your favorite way of being robbed? Well, 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:14.280 that's pretty much the question. 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:16.360 Speaking of your favorite way to be robbed, perhaps your 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:18.800 least favorite way to be robbed. Council rates is probably 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:21.480 it certainly is for me. I mean, you know, we 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:25.000 bang on every night about these council stories here because 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:27.440 you might say, look, they're minus stories, but these are 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:30.480 the things. And I have a background in working in 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:32.840 newspapers at a local level, where I started out at 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:36.000 the local rag in Adelaide, working around the suburbs. You 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:39.360 will never find a story that gets people more angry 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:41.720 and they're more interested in than a council story because 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:44.720 it affects them every single day and you pay your 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:48.200 rates and you expect something reasonable to be done with it, 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:50.720 and we constantly show you the examples of how they're 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.400 not doing reasonable things with it. But I can't believe 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:57.280 this decision has been handed down by the South Australian 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:00.440 Remuneration Tribunal. And you would know that this is the 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:04.480 mob that sets the pay for senior public servants and politicians. 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:08.320 So they decide what the premier gets and what MPs get, 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:11.679 and they also decide what council CEOs can be paid. 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:13.680 So they've gone through and done an audit because a 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:17.000 number of councils have come to the Remuneration Tribunal and said, 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.600 for some reason or another, we want to pay our 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:23.760 CEO more so, the Remuneration Tribunal has reviewed all of 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:26.880 the pay bands for CEOs and they do it council 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:30.360 by council and for at least half a dozen councils 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:34.400 they've actually reduced the top end of the paypacket that 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:37.640 the council CEO can go away. And one of these 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:41.400 councils is burn Sad. As they say in Adelaide, Burn sad. 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:45.920 It's the leafy Eastern suburbs which is actually now turned 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:49.360 into labor territory. But they wanted to give their CEO 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:52.040 pay rise and at the moment, the upper end of 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:54.200 that is three hundred and fifty one K that they're 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:57.160 allowed to give. Now the Remuneration Tribunal says you can 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:00.760 only give three hundred and twenty one. Kid going begging 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:03.320 for a pay rise, they've actually come back and said, no, 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:05.760 you've got to take a pay cut. How good is this? 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:06.320 What's that? Oh? I thing? 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:07.839 Be careful what you ask for. 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:10.720 And the reason that the Burnside Council wanted to pay 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:14.000 their CEO so much money was that they listened to 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:17.319 three things. Because he's the CEO in a highly engaged 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.280 and affluent population, I should notice a shit. I'm not 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:23.480 sure when that matters. They want to pay her because 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:26.600 she comes under media scrutiny. Will a lot of roles 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:30.320 come under media scrutiny? And because of political challenges, it's 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:32.640 not that difficult prayer at last. I remember it was 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:35.880 like filling in potholes, arranging for bins to be emptied, 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:39.640 mowing the grass, you know, in the public park areas 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:42.480 for a CEO to earn as much as, or in 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:45.000 some cases more than the state premiere. 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:46.440 It's just outrageous. 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:50.360 You've got sixty eight local council CEOs in South Australia 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:53.480 in a population of two million people, and these CEOs 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:55.600 are on between two hundred and four hundred and fifty 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:56.600 thousand dollars each. 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:57.640 No wonder they don't want to. 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:00.000 I know you're a bit of a proponent for amalgamating council. 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:02.520 No wonder they don't want to amalgamate. Why would you 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:03.640 when you're on that kind of money. 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:05.560 Well, I think it shows us a couple things. 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:09.600 Firstly, defenders of the high renumeration would argue that a 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:12.920 lot of these councils have budgets of hundreds of millions 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:16.720 of dollars. So it actually shows us that these councils 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:20.000 have expanded well beyond the remit of what councils were 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:21.200 actually established to do. 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:23.840 And a lot of the functions in the community that. 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:26.920 Used to be carried out by not for profits voluntary 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.760 association's churches are now being taken over by the councils. 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:32.840 So you end up with these huge. 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:37.600 Massive, bloated bureaucracies performing functions that used to be perfectly 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:40.400 well performed by not for profits. But then it also 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:44.680 does highlight the fact that our politicians in Australia really 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:48.360 are not paid very much. In New South Wales you 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:52.240 have ten council CEOs earning over five hundred thousand dollars. 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:55.320 That is far more than the premiere of the state. 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:57.760 So it is pretty shocking. I mean, I think we 0:15:57.800 --> 0:16:00.760 need to pay our politicians more, and also just in council. 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:03.320 Funny thing though, is, you know, comparatively, we pay our 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:05.720 politicians a lot in the present of the United States, 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:08.520 and it's about two hundred k year, which is probably 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:10.840 traditionally why the President of the United States has been 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:13.400 a rich man, because they're the only people who can 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:15.560 afford to get there. But one thing I can guarantee 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:17.880 is that when people woke up and read the advertiser 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.800 this morning and discovered that their council ceo was going 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:23.160 to be paid list, they would have reacted something like 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:24.640 Jeremy Clarkson, here. 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:29.160 Bad news. What the Dacia sandero it's delayed? 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:31.680 Oh no, anyway last week. 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:34.520 And so say all of that, I think when we 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:37.240 use that cleep a bit more now because there's plenty 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:40.880 of opportunities I can think of where you're just like, oh, oh, 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:44.880 that is so sad. I just can't believe it's happened. 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:45.920 Absolutely love that. 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.640 Let's go to the United States where Donald Trump is 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:51.720 busy trying to rebuild the US military, and we wish 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:54.560 him all the best with that. The military really came 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:56.920 under a lot of pressure because they just couldn't recruit 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:00.560 enough soldiers. In twenty twenty two, they felt twenty five 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:04.119 percent short of their recruitment target. Twenty twenty three wasn't 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:07.800 much better than new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says it's 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:08.280 because the. 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:09.680 Military had gone so woke. 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.480 Young Americans just weren't inclined to die for their country 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.720 or serve in a military that was all about transgenderism 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:21.080 and pronouns. But the Trump administration, well they've addressed that issue. 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.800 And take a look at the new recruitment ad. It's 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:24.840 pretty inspiring. 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:34.000 No more distraction, no more electric tanks, no more gender confusion, 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:39.119 no more climate change worship. We are laser focused on 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:46.840 our mission of warfighting. We will measure our success not 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:49.960 only by the battles we win, but also by the 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:51.080 war as we end. 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.920 And perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into. 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:57.640 It's called peace through Strength. 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:02.240 I like that commercial. It's inspiring and some of the 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:05.560 other slogans used in the extended version. They talk about, 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:07.920 we don't fight because we hate what's in front of us. 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.680 We fight because we love what's behind us. They talk 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:14.399 about through power and might, we will lead the world 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:17.399 to peace. Our friends will respect us, our enemies will 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.240 fear us, and the world will admire us. What I 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:23.959 like about this Frayer is they're appealing to young people's 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:27.119 sense of getting involved in something bigger than themselves. And 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:29.960 I couldn't help but think about some of the Australian 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:33.359 Defense Force advertisements which have as a slogan, or at 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:36.640 least they did recently, challenge yourself. It was all about 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:40.040 self fulfillment. It was all about a career. Maybe you 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:42.720 could get a trade through the military. But the US 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:44.840 have gone a different way. It's not about you, it's 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:47.600 about your country. It's not about you, it's about your family. 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:50.720 It's not about doing something for yourself. It's about doing 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:54.199 something for the common good that will go on beyond you. 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:58.360 I think it's a good way to inspire young people totally. 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:01.640 And the kind of twenty five century religion for jen 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:06.800 Z has been expressive individualism. Find your true self and 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:10.199 live according to your authentic self and self actualize and 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:13.800 then you'll be a fulfilled human being. But ultimately that 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:17.080 actually leaves us empty, as you can see by the 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:21.639 incredibly devastating mental health statistics. So what the US has 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:25.080 now said is stuff that it's clearly not working. This 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.840 is the counter cultural revolution of saying it's not about 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:32.200 just focusing on yourself, focusing on who you are, it's 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:35.920 about fighting for something greater than yourself. And that commercial 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:40.000 was so inspiring, but let's compare that to a different 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:44.199 ad that was released under the Biden presidency. 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:47.959 This is the story of a soldier who operates your 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:58.879 niece's Patriot missile defense systems. It begins in California with 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:02.679 the little girl by two moms. 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:07.440 Need I say more? Need I say more? And the 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:07.879 rest of. 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:11.119 The commercial continued in that vein the fact that they 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:14.359 are trying to or they attempted to recruit people into 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:20.080 the army based on silly things like LGBTQ diversity. It's 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:22.040 just people don't care about that. If they're going to 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:24.400