Speaker 1: We're at rapid fire questions Now every guest gets asked these. Shag,
Speaker 1: Mary Date, Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kibman or Ronda Birchmore.
Speaker 2: I've just got married. I managed six months in.
Speaker 3: Anthony Albanezi has with growing confidence, spent years trying to
Speaker 3: convince voters he's relatable.
Speaker 2: But if a ghost tips up, let's just pretend.
Speaker 3: Oh, Kylie clearly, But this week that confidence carried him
Speaker 3: somewhere the office of Prime Minister probably shouldn't go in Mary,
Speaker 3: Kylie and Shagger and data, all.
Speaker 2: Of the above. All right, it's a triple. She's terrific.
Speaker 3: The apology came quickly, then, as the Prime Minister turned
Speaker 3: to rugby league diplomacy in the Pacific, China tested a
Speaker 3: missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. It was a
Speaker 3: week that meets swiftly from political embarrassment to regional unease
Speaker 3: and left Labour managing the Prime Minister's image at home
Speaker 3: and Australia's influence abroad. I'm Daniel James, and you're listening
Speaker 3: to seven AM today. Press gallery veteran Poor Joorno on
Speaker 3: a turbulent week for Anthony Alberzi, marked with missteps, a
Speaker 3: communication breakdown, and a focus on Pacific diplomacy in tumultuous
Speaker 3: geo political waters. It's Saturday, July eleven. Paul the PM
Speaker 3: started the week with an apology after some unfortunate comments
Speaker 3: on a comedy podcast. That's a rookie aera, isn't it.
Speaker 3: I mean, surely it's beyond the office of the PM.
Speaker 3: I mean, you don't eat an onion on camera. We
Speaker 3: all know this by now. But you also don't play
Speaker 3: shag Marry date, do you?
Speaker 2: Well, you certainly don't. I mean I really agree.
Speaker 3: I never thought i'd ask you a question like that.
Speaker 2: Well exactly.
Speaker 4: I mean Alberanizi prides himself on being able to be
Speaker 4: a relatable person talking to people off the piece, as
Speaker 4: it were, But to assume the persona of a sort
Speaker 4: of a Benny Hill smut comedian talking to Nicki Osborne,
Speaker 4: who by the way, calls herself Bushy and her podcast
Speaker 4: is called bush Deep, which is a you know, it's
Speaker 4: a sexual pun and the previous videos have had millions
Speaker 4: of views, so we all know sex cells. But is
Speaker 4: this really the message that the Prime Minister of Australia wants.
Speaker 4: It's not only beneath the Prime Minister. You'd think it's
Speaker 4: beneath any decent person.
Speaker 3: Frankly, this isn't the first time and any of you
Speaker 3: like this has gone wrong for the Prime minister. Earlier
Speaker 3: this year there was a running with an FM radio
Speaker 3: host say the possibility of a royal commission in the femicide.
Speaker 4: It's calls for royal commission about everything.
Speaker 3: Well, I think it's the women are pretty paramount.
Speaker 1: But you've got to work out what does a royal
Speaker 1: commission do besides fun lawyers.
Speaker 3: Do Missteps like these leave him open to criticism for
Speaker 3: having a woman problem.
Speaker 4: Well, I look, it's a bit mystifying because as his defenders,
Speaker 4: I mean the acting Prime Minister, Miles and Tanya Plivasek.
Speaker 4: By the way, plibask wasn't told that Albanizi had put
Speaker 4: out an apology for his remarks in regard to shagging
Speaker 4: Kylie Minogue, but they were able to point to the
Speaker 4: record of the Albanesi government.
Speaker 5: So the Prime Minister nipped in the bud and apologize. Well,
Speaker 5: I haven't listened to the whole of the podcast. I
Speaker 5: just heard that excerpt that you played then. But what
Speaker 5: I'd say on women's equality in this country is that
Speaker 5: no government's been better for it.
Speaker 4: It has the biggest representation of women, not only on
Speaker 4: its backbench, but half of the cabinet is women. It's
Speaker 4: done more for gender equity and pay equity than any
Speaker 4: other government, which makes.
Speaker 2: It all the more mystifying.
Speaker 4: Why you'd want to send out an image that runs
Speaker 4: counter to that sensibility.
Speaker 3: I mean, I guess you could see why Albai does
Speaker 3: want to do these less serious interviews. Man, we're talking
Speaker 3: always talking about our politicians wanting them to be more.
Speaker 2: Real, more relatable.
Speaker 3: But do you think that it's worth the risk for
Speaker 3: the PM?
Speaker 4: We would be that he and his staff should vet
Speaker 4: these podcasts. You know who's doing them, why are they
Speaker 4: doing them, and what are the risks? I mean even
Speaker 4: Nicky Osborne herself said that the Prime Minister took a
Speaker 4: big risk but gave her comedy goal.
Speaker 3: A certainly good publicity at the very least exactly.
Speaker 4: But look, Albaneze's a pig headed when it comes to
Speaker 4: all of this. He's very confident that he can handle
Speaker 4: any situation, but it does seem that the context got
Speaker 4: away from him.
Speaker 2: Really.
Speaker 4: He also in the podcast tells Nicky Osborne that it's
Speaker 4: very rare for him to let any media into the lodge.
Speaker 4: They're in the sitting room of the lodge and was
Speaker 4: clearly set up. I mean, for example, not only did
Speaker 4: she come in her persona as Bushy, but they had
Speaker 4: two fingers of whiskey each to share. You know, this
Speaker 4: sort of innuendos going all the way through it, talking
Speaker 4: about his sex life, talking about the Prime Minister of
Speaker 4: Japan's melons, you know, all this sort of stuff.
Speaker 2: The Japanese Prime Minister brought a melon? How did you
Speaker 2: get that through custom?
Speaker 1: She at a royal melon.
Speaker 3: She smuggled it was a she shed, she smuggle it.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I got a couple of melons. She brought two. She
Speaker 2: brought too, as you do. She just came in looking
Speaker 2: like Pamela r Anders. She brought to yes, and they're beautiful.
Speaker 4: Someone should have said, and maybe ALBANIZI should have said,
Speaker 4: oh what am I doing here? And if I don't
Speaker 4: play along, I might look like a stuffed shirt? And
Speaker 4: is there any way out for me other than to
Speaker 4: say lovely to meet you, Nikki, goodbye?
Speaker 3: Coming up meetings and missiles in the Pacific.
Speaker 2: Paul.
Speaker 3: This week the PAM was doing security deals without specific neighbors.
Speaker 3: You called it Rugula League diplomacy. How significant were those meetings?
Speaker 2: Well? Though very significant.
Speaker 4: In fact, the Albanese government since it came to power
Speaker 4: has done more than merely repair the neglect of the
Speaker 4: Morrison government. It has filled a void really that the
Speaker 4: Americans have left to the soft diplomacy of China over
Speaker 4: the past decade.
Speaker 2: And it has forged a.
Speaker 4: New treaty with Fiji which was signed during the week,
Speaker 4: which is of the same ilk as the Ans treaty, namely,
Speaker 4: and we've got one now with Papua New Guinea as well,
Speaker 4: that if either of these nations are attacked by a
Speaker 4: third force, then we will come to their aid, which
Speaker 4: raises the question how which I must say that while
Speaker 4: the opposition actually supports everything the government's doing in the
Speaker 4: South Pacific, James Patterson, the Shadow Defense Minister, did wonder
Speaker 4: whether we had the missiles and the equipment two come
Speaker 4: to anybody's aid, or even our own aid. If a
Speaker 4: missile like the one tested by the Chinese was aimed
Speaker 4: at Sydney or Melbourne.
Speaker 1: I think it's right to call it provocative. I think
Speaker 1: it's right to call it destabilizing. I'd also say it's
Speaker 1: coercive and intimidatory, and I think it is designed to
Speaker 1: threaten Pacific island nations in particular and intimidate them. And
Speaker 1: it's about demonstrating China's capabilities military capabilities which are very formidable.
Speaker 1: But I think the People's Republic of China should think
Speaker 1: very carefully about the long term consequence of this.
Speaker 3: Let's talk about that, because during his meetings in the Pacific,
Speaker 3: China launched a missile test with a missile that was
Speaker 3: capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Was there any connection
Speaker 3: between the test and the meetings? Do you think it
Speaker 3: was aimed at sending Australia and the island nations a message?
Speaker 4: Well, look, there's conflicting views about this. Government insiders I
Speaker 4: spoke to have absolutely no doubt that this was a
Speaker 4: message not only to Australia but to Pacific island nations
Speaker 4: that China is around and by the way, where to
Speaker 4: be taken seriously. Now, the Prime Minister said it was
Speaker 4: disruptive of the region. The Opposition took a harder line
Speaker 4: and they said it was China intimidating the region. Which
Speaker 4: is interestingly the Prime Minister of the Solomons actually agrees
Speaker 4: with James Patterson when he says China was trying to
Speaker 4: intimidate us. It's not the action of a friend and
Speaker 4: we will not be intimidated.
Speaker 2: There's a very interesting.
Speaker 4: View which I hadn't appreciated until I spoke to Sam
Speaker 4: Rogaven from the Lower Institute, who's a security expert.
Speaker 2: He actually agrees.
Speaker 4: And accepts the explanation of the Chinese Foreign Ministry that
Speaker 4: this test was routine and according with international law. He
Speaker 4: says that what happens with nuclear armed states and submarines
Speaker 4: they test their weapons, which are reactive weapons. They are
Speaker 4: defensive to be fired in terms of if there's any
Speaker 4: nuclear attack on the mainland or on Chinese assets or
Speaker 4: American assets. And Rogavin pointed out in the past twelve
Speaker 4: months alone, the Americans have carried out four of these
Speaker 4: tests in their Pacific ballistic testing range, while the Prime
Speaker 4: Minister of the solomon says, in fact, the Pacific island
Speaker 4: nations don't want anybody testingstic missiles in the Pacific. There
Speaker 4: are critics I was reading yesterday in New Zealand that
Speaker 4: say that Australia New Zealand and some of the Pacific
Speaker 4: islands a bit too faced about this. They don't criticize
Speaker 4: America doing exactly what they criticized China for, and under
Speaker 4: successive governments, now Australia's basically become a military outpost of
Speaker 4: the United States.
Speaker 3: I guess when we're talking about the reaction from the opposition,
Speaker 3: do you think the opposition stands on net zero and
Speaker 3: leaning into one nation type rhetoric over monoculture as they
Speaker 3: are at the moment, Should the government be highlighting its
Speaker 3: ability to engage with our Pacific neighbors as a real
Speaker 3: point of difference between itself and the other side of politics.
Speaker 4: Well, Deniel, I think it's it's very important that the
Speaker 4: Australian government to deal with the Pacific island nations according
Speaker 4: to its own policies on a whole range of key issues.
Speaker 4: And I think what has been overlooked in some of
Speaker 4: the reporting very high up. In fact, in a key
Speaker 4: passage of the treaty between Australia and Fiji, the document
Speaker 4: says that climate change quote is the single greatest threat
Speaker 4: to the livelihood's security and well being of Pacific peoples.
Speaker 4: Sidevani Rambuka the Prime Minister of Fiji actually pointed out
Speaker 4: that climate change is an existential and present threat to
Speaker 4: these nations and they are looking for not only Australia
Speaker 4: but the rest of the world community to take more
Speaker 4: notice and to treat the issue with more urgency.
Speaker 2: And that of course is a real split.
Speaker 4: Or fisher between the policies of the Australian Labor government
Speaker 4: and the Liberal National Party opposition. And by the way,
Speaker 4: also one nation who actually thinks that climate change science
Speaker 4: is a joke and a hoax quote unquote.
Speaker 3: There's also a practical bit in the agreement that says
Speaker 3: Australia and Vanawati plan to work together on renewable energy,
Speaker 3: renewable power for Vaniwati's communities, wasn't there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4: I mean they're looking for support from Australia and they're
Speaker 4: getting it.
Speaker 5: All.
Speaker 3: This comes Paul at a time when Indian Prime Minister
Speaker 3: Narendra Modi is in Australia for the annual meeting with
Speaker 3: our Prime Minister. How significant is our relationship with India becoming,
Speaker 3: particularly during such an unstable time in global politics.
Speaker 2: It's really interesting.
Speaker 4: India is, of course the largest democracy in the world.
Speaker 4: But people forget that India was always during the Cold
Speaker 4: War non aligned, and even now it takes a more
Speaker 4: non aligned stance and for example does not share Australia's
Speaker 4: view of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. So there is this,
Speaker 4: in a sense, almost to disconnect. However, we can't ignore
Speaker 4: India for several reasons. One is because it's such a
Speaker 4: huge place and an emerging major economy. But there is
Speaker 4: also now a very big people to people connection between
Speaker 4: India and Australia, with the Indian diasper getting close to
Speaker 4: overtaking the Chinese diasper, with something close to a million
Speaker 4: Indians now making Australia home. In fact, while Moody was
Speaker 4: in Melbourne this week, he held a big rally in
Speaker 4: Marvel Stadium where he addressed them not in English, Paul Nansen,
Speaker 4: but in Hindi.
Speaker 3: Before I let's go, Paul. The Tawstra adage this week
Speaker 3: was very quickly politicized by the Coalition saying Labour needs
Speaker 3: to take urgent action about this and Holtalco's to account.
Speaker 3: Labour tried to make it about Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson
Speaker 3: Stunt after she made a test call to Triple zero.
Speaker 3: But following the optics adage and now this with Taulstra,
Speaker 3: is this a serious issue for the government having so
Speaker 3: many of our essential ser linked to private talco operators.
Speaker 4: Well, it certainly is, But I suspect that horse has bolted.
Speaker 4: But you'd have to say, what's going on. I mean,
Speaker 4: a lot of people went back to Telstra after the
Speaker 4: optics situation, and Vodafone had earlier issues. It seemed to
Speaker 4: have sorted them all out. But I think the government
Speaker 4: is certainly on notice after this Telstra outage that it
Speaker 4: has to be seen to be taking this very seriously. Indeed,
Speaker 4: now there is no doubt that the opposition, particularly Sarah Henderson,
Speaker 4: the Shadow Minister in this area of communications.
Speaker 2: Was quick and rushed to politicize it.
Speaker 4: But you know that even when a strident critic like
Speaker 4: Henderson speaks out and maybe she shouldn't have made her
Speaker 4: own test calls to triple zero, in fact that there's
Speaker 4: a suggestion she might have broken the law in doing it,
Speaker 4: she has I think pinpointed a real and urgent crisis
Speaker 4: that needs to be addressed by the government.
Speaker 3: Paul, You've got one number. You can call me anytime.
Speaker 3: Thanks once again, for me on a seven am.
Speaker 2: Good on you. Daniel by.
Speaker 3: Seven Am is a daily show from Solstice Media. It's
Speaker 3: made by Aria Richards, Adigas Basto, Chris, Danegate, Crystal Keller,
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Speaker 3: Daniel James. Our theme music is by Ned Beckley and
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Speaker 3: Am this week. Have a great weekend.