WEBVTT - Sharri | 15 May 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:10.760 Showing good evening. We'll breaking news now. Pro Palestinian protesters 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.280 have taken over a building at the University of Melbourne. 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:18.600 They are vowing they will not move. University staff are 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:23.759 warning the group leave now or face arrest. Victoria Police 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:28.240 have told us they're monitoring the situation and police are 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:31.640 in a position to respond should there be any public 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:36.480 order issues. Now, what's unfolding right now at the University 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:39.760 of Melbourne is a copycat of what took place at 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:44.560 Columbia University in the US, where students took over Hamilton 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:49.000 Hall now already classes at Melbourne Uni were canceled this 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:53.800 afternoon as students renamed the Arts West Building Mummled Hall. 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.240 They set up tents and moved away furniture. Have a 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:08.480 look now this unfolding as we speak at the University 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:12.400 of Melbourne. Protesters have occupied a building. The police are 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:15.319 on standby. I'm going to cross live to a reporter 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:19.120 who is on the scene shortly. The Australian newspaper is 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:22.920 now reporting that the protesters are getting legal advice as 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:25.440 they prepare for the police to move in. Will bring 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.360 you all the breaking news on this as it unfolds. 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:30.240 As I said, I'm going to cross live to a 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:33.480 reporter who's on the scene a bit later in the show. 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:38.640 Now to the budget. All this fevered speculation in Canberra 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:42.080 that the budget means Anthony Albanesi wants to head to 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:46.840 the polls early is nonsense. The Prime Minister plans on 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:52.280 going full term. Anthony Albanesi and Jim Chalmer's strategy is 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:55.920 to bring down inflation with this budget and then call 0:01:56.000 --> 0:02:00.760 an election, perhaps later this year, but most likely next year. 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:05.080 Alban Ezi even said this publicly today. He says we 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:08.000 won't head to the polls this year. He's indicated the 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:12.040 election will be held after March twenty twenty five, and 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:16.919 even as late as August, although that's very unlikely. Will 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:18.680 there be a budget before the next election. 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:24.480 The budget will set a budget for March next year, 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:30.119 the elections due in two thousand and twenty five, and 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:36.560 we'll set out that timetable later in this year. You 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:40.120 can't have a budget and an election at the same 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:43.760 time in May, so we'll have to make that adjustment, 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:47.480 just as has occurred in the past. You can actually 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:51.800 hold the election later. You could hold it as late 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:55.359 as August, I think is the advice. 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.560 So Alban easy, making clear that he would prefer to 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:03.680 stay in as Prime Minister as long as possible. In 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:07.399 this sense, the budget is as much about politics as 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:10.240 it is about the economy, and perhaps even more so. 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:14.840 Plenty of sweetness, plenty of spending despite the need to 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:18.959 keep inflation in check. Now The Australians Editor at Large 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:23.040 Paul Kelly writes about the paradoxes in the budget and 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:27.000 he says it's loaded with danger. In his view, it 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:31.760 risks being the wrong response for our economic times. He writes, 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:36.320 forget the orthodoxy. Labour now operates under new rules. It 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:40.360 is spending money to cut inflation. It runs an expansionary 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:44.560 fiscal policy as the Central Bank frets over interest rates 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:49.000 and ditches two generations of pro market liberalism to build 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:55.200 a new economy around state intervention and green industry policy. Now, 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:59.280 this budget is highly controversial, especially the Future Made in 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:03.360 Australia PAW package. That's the twenty two point seven billion 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:07.160 dollar investment in the next ten years in green energy. 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:11.200 This is where the government picks companies to give grants 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:14.400 to or to invest in, rather than just leave it 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:17.960 to the private sector, leave it to venture capital companies 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:23.359 to work out. Even left leading journalist Michelle Gratton was 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:27.120 worried that this would see taxpayer funds will, as she 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:28.760 put it, go up in smoke. 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:34.520 What these protections will be, What are the off ramps? 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.719 Why people should have confidence that their money won't just 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:40.320 go up in smoke. 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:45.680 The Treasurer today seemed to acknowledge just how controversial the 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:49.359 budget was, but he argued he was channeling Hawk and 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:51.600 Keating in their reform agenda. 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:56.360 Now, anything this ambitious will invite a range of responses. 0:04:56.360 --> 0:05:00.600 I'm relaxed about that. Not all of those responses, my view, 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:03.720 are right. The great reformers of the nineteen eighties and 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:08.040 nineteen nineties weren't successful because they looked back and reached 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:10.080 for the solutions that might have been right for the 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:14.080 problems of forty years prior. They were successful because they 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:18.200 looked forward. They were successful because they recognized that the 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:22.320 times had changed and the world was changing. They were 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:25.800 successful because they were strategic rather than nostalgic. 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:30.919 But critics disagree with the treasurer, and they question what 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:34.719 impact the budget will have on interest rates. The Treasurer 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:38.520 says the budget will take the pressure off inflation, but 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:43.480 economists sphere. It could make inflation worse. Now, Jim Chalmer's 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:47.040 argument is that giving relief to areas like energy bills 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:52.000 and rents reduces those components of CPI, But the risk 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:54.840 is that the extra money some people have in their 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:59.400 pocket could be spent elsewhere and thus contribute to inflation 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:01.800 and the need for a rate rise. 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:06.240 I still think the most likely outcome is right hikes, 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:07.279 but maybe not through. 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:10.760 The idea that this is somehow going to trick the 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.200 Reserve Bank into reducing interest rates. 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:14.800 Come on, it's a con job. 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:16.040 This is inflationary. 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:18.800 It's going to drive up inflation and therefore interest rates. 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:23.919 So this is why the decision by labor to in 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:27.800 effect spend their way out of an inflation crisis is, 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:31.840 as Paul Kelly says, against the orthodoxy, it's high risk. 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:37.359 Where Albin Eazy was questioned on this in the media today, you're. 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:40.080 Entirely confident that the combination of the energy bill relief 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:42.800 and the increase in common wealth franticisms will drive down 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.320 inflation by that half a percentage point. 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:47.400 Next to you, well, that's what Treasury have said. 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:50.960 We should you back them because they get stuff wrong. 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.200 They got the deficit which is turned into a surplus 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:55.799 wrong by about ten million dollars. 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:57.480 No what we've done. 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:03.119 If that calculation is wrong from Treasury and if rates rise, 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:05.520 and they could do so of course for a variety 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:08.560 of reasons, but if the government then is blamed for 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:12.200 the rate rise, this will be a massive political issue 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:16.720 heading into the next federal election. Now, Albanezi currently sits 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:21.040 in the lodge with a slim majority. Labour has seventy 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:26.280 eight seats, the coalition holds fifty five, Independence twelve and 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:31.560 minor parties six. The coalition needs around nineteen seats to 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:35.760 form majority government, but if an election were held today, 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:40.760 it's likely that Labor would lose its majority at the 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:45.200 very least now, with a four percent swing against Labor, 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:50.160 they'd likely lose eleven seats, taking them down to sixty 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.600 seven seats. Now, these eleven seats would be gains for 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:58.000 the coalition, bringing their tally up to around sixty six. 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:02.000 This would of course mean a hung parliament, but then 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:04.560 the coalition might also win a seat or two back 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:09.040 from the Teals, putting them ahead of Labor. Now, no question, 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:14.120 the coalition recovering ground is a very tough ask, but 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:18.400 Dutton's team believe that this budget makes their task of 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:26.200 trying to win government just that little bit easier. Now, 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:28.680 coming up on the show tonight, can the Liberals win 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:31.680 back the blue ribbon seat of Wentworth from the teal 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:35.600 a legraspender will their new candidate Roe Knox will be 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:40.080 joining me for her first exclusive interview later this show. 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:44.560 A Labor politician also has today called for Israel's annihilation 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.680 by repeating a hate chant that even Anthony Albanesi said 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:52.440 has no place in Australia. So will he find the 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:56.360 courage as Prime Minister to call out his own politician. 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:01.200 Plus Julie Bishop criticized for wearing expensive dress to a 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:05.160 fashion week instead of shutting down anti Semitism at a 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:09.320 and you where she's the Chancellor. But first, now let's 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:12.800 bring in tonight's political panel, Liberal Senator Holly Hughes and 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:17.880 Labor MP Andrew Charlton. Holly, Andrew, great to see you both. Look, 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.000 let's of course start with the budget. The big question 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.920 today has been inflation. The Treasurer committing seven point eight 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:28.240 billion dollars on new cost of living measures. This includes 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:32.160 a three point five billion energy bill relief package. There 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:35.560 have been some concerns from economists that this will drive 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:39.080 up inflation. Holly, what do you think do you think 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:46.080 the budget here does risk increasing inflation and thus leading 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:48.280 the IRBA to have to put up rates. 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:52.360 Absolutely, But I think this three hundred dollar payment to 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:57.160 every household is typical of this labor government, completely ill 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:02.160 conceived because again no details about how it's going to 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:04.320 be delivered and who it's going to be delivered to. 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:07.000 And I know here with Andrew, I know there was 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:10.640 a question, hypothetical question by Paul Fletcher in the House 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:13.240 of Representatives today about someone who might have to mote 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:16.520 from Bellvue Hill to Paramatta and also have a lovely 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:18.760 holiday home in Palm Beach whether or not they would 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:22.439 get payments for each of those homes. And we don't know, 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:25.480 because again the devil is in the detail and it's 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:29.120 completely lacking. But what we do know the one thing 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:30.800 that the Treasurer has said that is true. 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:32.000 This is a labor budget. 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.480 This is a tax and spend, tax and spend, tax 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:39.400 and spend budget. It is hugely putting pressures on families. 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:44.359 The spending has cost thirty thousand dollars per person in Australia. 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:47.120 To people in Australia, I feel thirty thousand dollars better 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:50.440 off since this government's been in No. The reality is 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:53.720 every average family with a mortgage has had to find 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:58.200 an additional thirty five thousand dollars per year while seeing 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:00.160 their standard of living drop by over seven and a 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.840 half percent. This is a budget that is just going 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.040 to cause more and more pain, and more and more 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:05.800 pain for longer. 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.240 All right, Andrew, what's your response to this? I mean 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:12.560 I quoted Paul Kelly in my introduction there that this 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.480 is an unorthodox budget in the sense that labor is 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:19.240 spending its way out of an inflation crisis. What do 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:21.000 you think about that criticism today? 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.439 Well, firstly, can I just say maybe Holly wasn't listening 0:11:25.520 --> 0:11:28.679 last night, but she just said that the government hasn't 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:30.960 provided any details. They haven't said who it's going to 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:32.520 go to, and that's going to everyone. It's going to 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:35.680 be received for going every time. I'm received as an 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:36.600 automatic rebase. 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:37.760 So if you've got a couple. 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.360 Of houses to get it a couple of times, don't interrupt. 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:41.240 That's the detail House. 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:43.480 You've tried to attack me. Now you're trying to interrupt me. 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.920 You ask two questions. The government has been incredibly clear 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:49.440 on the answer to both of those questions. It goes 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.319 to everybody and you get it automatically. So if those 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:54.160 are your two main questions coming out of the budget, 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:57.760 you need to read the budget papers more clearly, Charie. 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:00.439 The reason why the Liberals are hopping up and about 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:03.120 this is because Labor has delivered what they could not 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:06.800 in three terms of government. They could not deliver a 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:11.600 single budget surplus and Labor has just delivered too. And 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:14.160 I understand they're mad about that. I understand that really 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:16.720 sticks in their craw. But the truth is we have 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:21.120 delivered the appropriate and prudent fiscal setting that they were 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:23.720 unable to and that is why we have been able 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:27.360 to reduce inflation now by more than half from what 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:30.400 they left us. So all they've got is negativity and 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:33.080 personal attacks and not reading the budget. And you can 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:34.839 see why Australia didn't vote for them at. 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:35.199 The last time. 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:38.240 Come on, Andrew, just say it, Just say it. 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:41.440 Tell Australians they've never had it so good, because that 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:44.240 is the rhetoric coming out of the Albanese government. And 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:46.600 I'm yet to meet one Australian whose life has got 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.320 better since this government has been in power. We've seen 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:53.640 housing go up, groceries go up, insurance go up, fuel 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:57.440 go up. We know that there's been twelve interest rate rises. 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:01.280 No one is better off. He said before the election 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:04.280 it wouldn't be easy under alban easy, and quite frankly 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:05.560 was Yep, it's a slogan. 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:07.280 It's proven very prophetic. 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:07.959 Holly. 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:12.160 You left all those prices going up. You left inflation 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:14.719 at the end of your government, at the end of 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:16.559 the rate. It is right now. 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:19.320 You are the reason why all of those categories. 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:21.520 This is homegrown inflation. 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.319 And we have now brought the rate of inflation down 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:27.480 by half. Can't argue numbers. 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:28.000 One hundred. 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:30.440 Abs. 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:33.040 So Shari, we have hang on, just let me finish 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:35.880 on this point. We have we have improved the budget 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:39.120 position from what you left us, like two hundred and 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:44.240 fifteen billion dollars over the six years Andrew Andrew with 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:45.680 a trillion dollars of debt. 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:51.280 Andrew, you go, thank you. Look it's we have seen 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:55.080 economists today who are not politically aligned, who are saying 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:59.480 that yes, while the assistance on energy and rent might 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:03.800 bring down those components of the CPI. Many Australians having 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:05.920 the extra cash could mean that they'll spend it in 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:08.400 the economy and that that's a risk that that will 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:11.440 then raise inflation. So these are economists saying this today, 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.719 not the liberals. What's your response to that concern? Do 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:16.880 you admit that that is a concern. 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:22.880 Well, the direct impact of these rebates and other costs 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:26.880 of living measures the Treasury has forecast will reduce the 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:31.440 rate of inflation this year and next year, and what 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:33.600 that means is that we'll have a lower rate of 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:37.200 headline inflation, and of course that takes pressure off prices 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:40.480 and it also takes pressure off the RBA. There are 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:44.240 plenty of different views out there about other consequences of 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:48.640 that relief, but the Treasury has forecast and we've seen 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:51.960 this in the previous round of relief that we provided, 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.320 where the Treasury also forecast that there would be a 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.880 negative impact on inflation, and we did see that negative 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:02.240 impact on inflation coming through, and inflation has come down 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:05.800 since that last set of relief measures. That's exactly what 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:09.440 we anticipate with these relief measures. Done it before, we're 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:10.680 proposing to do it again. 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:14.520 Although they do although they do coincide, of course, with 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:17.920 greater tax cuts that will come in from July one, 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:21.040 so people will have more money in their pocket, Holly. 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:25.120 Just to be even handed here, you know, it is 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:28.560 unusual to see the Coalition arguing today that that three 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:32.760 hundred dollars energy assistance. I mean, I mean the Coalition 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:36.640 has been hammering Labor over the fact that he promised 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:39.880 energy relief would be you know, two hundred and seventy 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.080 if you'd have two hundred and seventy five dollars more 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:44.400 in your pocket from your power bills. The Coalition has 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.160 been hammering Labor over that promise, which has been a 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:50.480 broken promise. Rightly, so Labor is now saying every single 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:54.080 Australian will have three hundred dollars back in their pocket 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:56.720 in energy relief. So I find it unusual that the 0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:00.000 Coalition has argued against this today. Wouldn't you be support 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:00.520 of that? 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:02.320 Well? 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.240 I think that the difference is Shari that they promised 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.440 to two hundred and seventy five reduction in your power 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.920 bills so that your power bills would actually decline, that 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:15.800 energy would not be as expensive. Instead we have seen 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:17.040 it continue to do. 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:21.680 This is going to be this is going to be three. 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:24.640 Yeah, but it's three hundred dollars off what your bill is. 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:28.520 The electricity costs the same. You're just getting a rebate 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:31.200 or a subsidy or a payment, whatever you want to 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:35.840 call it. Your electricity bill hasn't gone down. It's just 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:39.320 three hundred dollars that the government is paying what mister 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:41.960 Albnezy promised Australians. 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:45.480 Why should it be means tested? Why shouldn't all Australians 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:45.760 have that. 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:48.160 I'm not saying that's what it should be. The question 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.760 I have to Andrew that he brushed off. No, if 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:56.000 you've got multiple houses. If you've got multiple houses, you 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:58.680 know what's mess Andrew? Is your government and what's happening? 0:16:58.680 --> 0:16:59.800 Do you know what we've just been doing in this 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.960 in the Senate chare This government is putting a billion 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:10.480 dollars one billion dollars towards rebranding the Administrative Appeals Tribunal 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:13.120 to the Administrative Review Tribunal. 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:16.199 There is the only change will be the A to 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:16.679 the R. 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:20.800 Maybe a nice new font and let ahead, but mainly 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:24.080 so they can stack it with labor apparachiks as Mark 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:26.399 Dreyfuses want to do this is what we had a 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:29.840 change of hours order in the Senate today so they 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:32.679 could ram it through with some sweetheart deal with the Greens. 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:35.600 You tell me a billion dollars is best spent on 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:40.159 a rebrand of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal versus going to 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.680 either cost of living measures. Think of all the money 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:44.280 that's going to mental health. We're going to a mental 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:48.040 health crisis. But no, let's do a rebrand for Mark Dreyfus. 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:50.600 So if this is a government who's got priorities, right, 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:51.520 I don't think so. 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:55.760 All right, Andrew Charlton, you're a very serious economist, so 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:59.119 I was quite surprised to see this video of you 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:09.800 on social media. Have a look, Andrew, can you explain 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:13.200 formally what is a fit check and what you were 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:13.680 doing there? 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:17.520 Look, I have to admit I don't know what a 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:22.840 fit check is. I believe it is a TikTok trend. 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:25.600 Some of my colleagues were having a bit of fun 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:30.199 and they decided to jump on a TikTok trend. Some 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:33.240 people will love it, some people will hate it. Most 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:35.439 of the time in Canberra we're working pretty hard, doing 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:37.800 pretty serious business. Every now and then we get a 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:39.280 couple of minutes to have a little bit of fun. 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:43.480 It looked a bit like a pre budget fashion parade, 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:47.760 all right, Holly Hughes Andrew Charlton, thank you very much 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:51.000 for that lively discussion tonight. Now don't go anywhere. The 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:53.520 battle to win back seats from the Teals has begun 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:56.400 and the liberals new candidate for the seat of Wentworth 0:18:56.560 --> 0:19:00.840 joins me next for her first exclusive interview. Plus, we'll 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:03.720 get the latest on the takeover of a building at 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:08.400 the University of Melbourne. Police are now on standby. Stay tune, 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:13.880 welcome back. 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:14.000 Well. 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:16.760 The Liberals have a big fight ahead, not only to 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:20.040 defeat Labor, but to win back inner city seats from 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:23.560 the Teals. The price seat of Wentworth in Sydney's East, 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:27.720 currently held by a Legras spender. Now, in a historic move, 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:31.840 the New Southelia Liberals have selected their first ever female 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:35.240 candidate for the seat, which was of course previously held 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:41.439 by Malcolm Turnbull. Former Deloitte consultant and businesswoman Ronox joins 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:44.520 me now for her first interview. Broth, thank you so 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:46.000 much for joining us today. 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:48.359 Chari, thanks so much for having me on the show. 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:51.720 Now, look, before we get into some of the trickier questions. 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:54.679 Can you tell us a bit about your background and 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:55.880 how you came to be here? 0:19:56.400 --> 0:20:00.600 Oh, thanks, Chary. Yes, I studied law. I then went 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:05.560 straight into management consulting. I worked in Chicago and New 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:09.359 York with Deloitte Consulting, and I worked in financial services. 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:12.199 So we worked for some of the biggest clients on 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:15.879 Wall Street. Fantastic experience. Then a group of us left 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:19.320 and we formed a small venture capital firm where we 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:23.040 invested in pre market entrepreneurs. And now I'm a small 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:27.240 business owner. I've lived in Wentworth for almost twenty years 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:29.960 and I'm passionate about the community and I want to 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:34.800 bring that big business experience, the entrepreneur experience, the small 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:37.720 business experience, and my passionate and knowledge of the seat, 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:40.720 so solving the great problems that are facing Wentworth and 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:41.919 indeed the country. 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:44.680 And you've left out the important fact you're a mum 0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:47.160 of course as well. I am a mum teenage kids. 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:47.960 Yes i am. 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:50.480 I am a most important job some good ig. 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:53.679 Now let's start with the budget that Jim Chalmers handed 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:57.520 down last night. I mean, as a former venture capitalist, 0:20:57.600 --> 0:20:59.800 you might have a view on the twenty two billion 0:21:00.400 --> 0:21:02.800 Made in Australia program. What do you think about it? 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:05.800 I certainly have a strong view on that. My view 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:10.840 is it's very unusual for a government to be investing 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:14.840 this heavily, and there's been some significant concerns around the 0:21:14.920 --> 0:21:17.880 due diligence in terms of the industries that have been 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:21.639 invested in. And I just know as a previous venture 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:25.720 capitalist that it's really important to have a huge amount 0:21:25.720 --> 0:21:28.520 of transparency in what you invest in, and also that 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:32.000 you have a really mixed portfolio of investments. And this 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:34.640 feels very targeted and. 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:37.960 Like they've picked some companies, particularly that one quantum computing 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:41.400 company for a billion dollars instead of diversifying and well, 0:21:41.440 --> 0:21:44.439 if they had to invest taxpayer funds in a risky 0:21:44.520 --> 0:21:45.200 area at. 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:47.960 All, absolutely very unusual and very unusual to just do 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:50.520 one geographic area as well. 0:21:50.560 --> 0:21:53.760 What about this debate that's unfolding about whether the budget 0:21:53.800 --> 0:21:54.760 will be inflationary. 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:55.400 What do you think. 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:58.400 I have a lot of concerns the budget is inflationary, 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:02.240 and we know that in is the biggest driver in 0:22:02.280 --> 0:22:05.360 the cost of living crisis. This cost of living crisis 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:09.679 that has been created by the labor Albanesi government, and 0:22:09.760 --> 0:22:13.480 I'm very concerned it's going to continue that inflation. I'm 0:22:13.560 --> 0:22:16.760 also concerned in the budget there wasn't any there's no 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:20.440 growth story, and we don't talk about productivity at all, 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:26.520 and the Liberals are constantly talking both about growth, productivity 0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:31.120 and also obviously the vital importance of reducing inflation. 0:22:31.000 --> 0:22:33.240 Although productivity of costs has been lagging for the best 0:22:33.240 --> 0:22:37.080 part of a decade. Look, you're the seat you're running in. 0:22:37.119 --> 0:22:40.879 Wentworth has one of the highest Jewish populations in the country. 0:22:41.200 --> 0:22:44.560 Anti Semitism has been a major issue. What's your view 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:48.320 on the Albanesi government's response to this crisis. 0:22:48.880 --> 0:22:52.840 I think it's been very poor and very weak leadership. 0:22:53.560 --> 0:22:56.560 We've seen a huge rise in anti Semitism since the 0:22:56.600 --> 0:23:01.280 October seventh attacks, and this has been very very concerning 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:05.000