WEBVTT - Credlin | 23 September 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:07.360 Peter Credlin, live from News 24. 0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:09.800 Certainly am here. Good evening. Welcome to the program. Here's 0:00:09.820 --> 0:00:13.120 what's coming up tonight on Credlin. Another counter-terrorism arrest in 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:16.740 Melbourne today. This time it's an alleged ISIS member who 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:19.940 spent six months in Egypt before returning home to Australia. 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:23.490 All smiles as the Prime Minister gets his selfie fix 0:00:23.550 --> 0:00:27.110 at the UN, but the US President not looking so happy, 0:00:27.590 --> 0:00:30.950 turning on the pressure to Australia over Labor's digital laws 0:00:31.150 --> 0:00:34.970 and free speech. More tonight on the Australian War Memorial 0:00:35.010 --> 0:00:38.870 being used as a political platform, including the dumping of 0:00:38.890 --> 0:00:43.090 the Australian National Anthem. And the Coalition unveils its energy 0:00:43.150 --> 0:00:46.449 plan and finally looks ready to pull the renewables rug 0:00:46.570 --> 0:00:50.989 from under Chris Bowen and this net zero obsessed government. 0:00:52.030 --> 0:00:57.790 We need to take a chainsaw to Labor's green, ideologically 0:00:57.950 --> 0:01:00.770 driven approach to energy. 0:01:02.830 --> 0:01:06.190 But first, as the latest News 24 Pulse poll has revealed, 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:10.490 with a deeply unpopular leader, Labor is in trouble. No 0:01:10.550 --> 0:01:13.590 surprise then that Anthony Albanese has grabbed the opportunity for 0:01:13.610 --> 0:01:16.819 a trip to the UN rather than face a booing 0:01:16.900 --> 0:01:23.320 crowd and Kylie Minogue at the MCG this weekend. Shag, marry, date. 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:26.220 Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman or Rhonda Birchmore? 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:28.699 Kylie, clearly. 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.039 You'd marry Kylie and shag her and date her? 0:01:31.540 --> 0:01:32.240 All of the above. 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:32.900 All right. 0:01:35.730 --> 0:01:37.690 That's why he's not there at the MCG for the 0:01:37.750 --> 0:01:41.050 AFL grand final. But Albanese is under no threat of 0:01:41.110 --> 0:01:44.220 removal as long as the right of politics remains split. 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:48.500 And that's both the dismal reality and the challenge for 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:52.220 anyone wanting our country to be better. After a decade 0:01:52.260 --> 0:01:55.220 of climate wars, the coalition has finally given us the 0:01:55.270 --> 0:01:58.670 bare bones of an energy policy today to keep coal 0:01:58.710 --> 0:02:00.970 in the system, to get more gas out of the 0:02:01.010 --> 0:02:04.430 ground as quickly as possible and essentially to scrap all 0:02:04.570 --> 0:02:07.970 subsidies for renewables because if they're really cheap, they don't 0:02:08.010 --> 0:02:12.550 need them, and to end the nuclear ban. Finally, net 0:02:12.590 --> 0:02:17.440 zero is dead and the Turnbull-Morrison era of climate nonsense 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:22.380 consigned to history. But now the coalition needs a fair 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:26.520 income immigration policy too. Because energy and immigration are the 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:30.800 policy areas where the Albanese government is most damaging our country. 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:34.500 It's also where One Nation has the advantage over the 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:40.070 Coalition for consistency and credibility. Unlike the Coalition, which has 0:02:40.130 --> 0:02:44.570 been against and then for and now against net zero emissions, 0:02:45.090 --> 0:02:49.090 One Nation has always opposed it. And unlike the Coalition, 0:02:49.169 --> 0:02:53.010 which successfully stopped illegal migration under PMs Howard and Abbott, 0:02:53.630 --> 0:02:58.350 But eventually lost control of legal migration, One Nation's always 0:02:58.410 --> 0:03:02.130 been concerned about both and the impact of migrants on 0:03:02.169 --> 0:03:06.750 the economy and their effect on social cohesion. As revealed 0:03:06.790 --> 0:03:09.510 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in their annual report 0:03:09.570 --> 0:03:13.650 last week, our net overseas migration, the NOM, was 292,000 0:03:13.650 --> 0:03:14.850 in the 12 months to March this year. In the 0:03:14.930 --> 0:03:24.669 Howard era, the long-run average was 110,000. So let's be clear, 0:03:24.710 --> 0:03:28.310 a norm averaging around $ 300, 000 a year puts downward pressure 0:03:28.370 --> 0:03:32.730 on wages, upward pressure on housing, it strains physical and 0:03:32.830 --> 0:03:36.290 social infrastructure, and at least for the migrants who come 0:03:36.330 --> 0:03:39.050 here and just live in Hotel Australia, take all they 0:03:39.090 --> 0:03:44.370 can get, well, it erodes social cohesion. Angus Taylor began 0:03:44.430 --> 0:03:46.790 his time as opposition leader saying that he'd restore our 0:03:46.810 --> 0:03:50.200 standard of living, he'd protect our way of life, and 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:53.440 that the migrant situation Migrants come into this country while 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:56.680 the numbers were too high and the quality was too low. 0:03:58.060 --> 0:04:01.440 Our top priority in the Liberal Party and my top 0:04:01.460 --> 0:04:04.260 priority as a new leader and Jane's as well is 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:07.590 to protect Australians' way of life and to restore their 0:04:07.620 --> 0:04:10.790 standard of living. You've heard some strong comments from me 0:04:10.810 --> 0:04:14.410 in the last 24 hours on immigration and immigration, clearly 0:04:14.470 --> 0:04:16.890 the numbers have been too high and the standards have 0:04:16.930 --> 0:04:17.510 been too low. 0:04:19.490 --> 0:04:22.349 Now on this, the public are clearly with Angus. Numerous 0:04:22.410 --> 0:04:28.920 polls have the majorities wanting lower or much lower migration. Likewise, 0:04:28.980 --> 0:04:32.219 there are significant and growing poll concerns about the impact 0:04:32.260 --> 0:04:36.700 of mass migration on social cohesion. As well as fueling 0:04:36.740 --> 0:04:39.870 support for One Nation and the polling trend line makes 0:04:39.910 --> 0:04:43.890 that obvious, the Bondi massacre has obviously drawn attention to 0:04:43.950 --> 0:04:47.830 migrant communities that have lived here for decades without assimilating 0:04:47.850 --> 0:04:53.299 Australian values. For too long in Canberra, ever-increasing migrant numbers 0:04:53.339 --> 0:04:56.680 have been a lazy tool to artificially inflate growth forecasts 0:04:57.300 --> 0:05:00.640 and to stop the economy slipping into recession, even though 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:04.990 in per capita terms that's precisely what's happened. This practice 0:05:05.029 --> 0:05:10.229 has masked record high government spending and profligate waste, especially 0:05:10.270 --> 0:05:14.350 under the Albanese government, but also under Morrison too. Now 0:05:14.430 --> 0:05:18.490 Taylor has to stand up and declare the racket must end. 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:22.460 To keep the coalition competitive, he must spell out precisely 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:26.700 how he will reduce migrant numbers while demonstrating how to 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:31.339 keep productive industries strong, such as agriculture, that rely on 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:34.849 overseas workers to do the jobs that Australians just won't do. Now, 0:05:35.790 --> 0:05:40.890 perhaps ending access to welfare for able-bodied, working-age people would 0:05:40.930 --> 0:05:43.950 be a good start. He's also got to tackle the 0:05:44.010 --> 0:05:47.910 elephant in the room, and that's who we permit to 0:05:47.990 --> 0:05:52.120 migrate here. If politicians don't think that voters could join 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:56.690 the dots between recent terrorism-related arrests and the countries of 0:05:56.820 --> 0:06:01.750 origin that sponsor Islamist extremism, well, they are kidding themselves. 0:06:02.510 --> 0:06:06.830 Look at the latest arrest today. A Somalian-born man, now 0:06:06.890 --> 0:06:11.460 Australian citizen, arrested because police allege he's a member of 0:06:11.660 --> 0:06:16.039 ISIS and has been, they claim, trying to recruit people 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:19.440 online to and give advice as to how to avoid 0:06:19.500 --> 0:06:23.469 detection when planning a mass terrorism event. 0:06:24.350 --> 0:06:29.469 Today, the Victorian counter-terrorism team, comprised of the AFP, Victoria 0:06:29.529 --> 0:06:33.490 Police and ASIO, have arrested a 65-year-old man who we 0:06:33.529 --> 0:06:35.790 will allege is a member of ISIS. The man will 0:06:35.810 --> 0:06:40.830 be charged with membership of a terrorism organisation, possessing and 0:06:40.890 --> 0:06:44.700 controlling violent extremist material and using a carriage service to 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:45.480 cause offence. 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:52.289 Not linked to ISIS, a member of ISIS is the allegation. 0:06:53.089 --> 0:06:55.830 In a world that's more globally connected than any other 0:06:55.870 --> 0:06:59.290 time in human existence, events in a little town called 0:06:59.410 --> 0:07:03.890 Piddington in the UK and their anger about the housing 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:08.979 of some 1,500 adult male illegal migrants near a rural 0:07:09.100 --> 0:07:14.260 hamlet of 350 locals, well, that matters to perceptions of 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:18.630 what governments end up doing when they lose control of 0:07:18.690 --> 0:07:21.050 both our borders and culture. 0:07:21.750 --> 0:07:25.370 My concerns are the sheer scale of this. So we 0:07:25.530 --> 0:07:26.830 are a very small village. 0:07:26.990 --> 0:07:29.070 I'll be afraid. I mean, and I like going around 0:07:29.110 --> 0:07:33.650 the park, which is also very close. And it will be, well, 0:07:33.770 --> 0:07:35.930 I'll be totally scared and at risk. 0:07:36.730 --> 0:07:38.550 We're already doing self-defense classes. 0:07:39.810 --> 0:07:42.550 Everybody's watching this stuff on their devices. And what's happening 0:07:42.570 --> 0:07:48.030 in the UK feels very, very real here. Taylor's challenge 0:07:48.070 --> 0:07:51.510 would be to say what must be said while avoiding 0:07:51.570 --> 0:07:55.170 outbreaks of disunity from left-wing liberals who think that we've 0:07:55.290 --> 0:07:58.850 no moral right as a rich country to exclude would-be 0:07:58.910 --> 0:08:02.410 migrants from relatively poor ones. Now, if they can't get 0:08:02.470 --> 0:08:05.270 on board, then it's beyond time they drop the charade 0:08:05.570 --> 0:08:09.420 and join Labor. Luckily, there's a way forward, namely to 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:12.140 insist that everyone who comes to this country must be 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.040 able to demonstrate that their presence in Australia will be 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:18.850 as good for us as it would undoubtedly be for them. 0:08:19.710 --> 0:08:21.990 After all, the chance at life in Australia remains the 0:08:22.050 --> 0:08:25.250 global golden ticket. And we've got to get back to 0:08:25.390 --> 0:08:29.450 prizing this ourselves to ensure we leverage it to get 0:08:29.500 --> 0:08:32.560 the world's best and brightest, people who love what we 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:35.800 stand for and want to join us, rather than those 0:08:35.860 --> 0:08:40.830 who want to come here, use us or change us. Essentially, 0:08:40.870 --> 0:08:44.329 this means only providing long-term visas to those with a 0:08:44.370 --> 0:08:47.850 definitive job to go to from day one at fair 0:08:47.890 --> 0:08:51.930 market wages, because working and paying taxes is the best 0:08:51.990 --> 0:08:56.700 way to integrate and ultimately to assimilate into Australian society. 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.760 If you're on a tourist visa or a study visa, 0:09:00.100 --> 0:09:02.800 when it ends, you go home. You go home and 0:09:02.820 --> 0:09:05.959 apply again if you want to come back to Australia, 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:10.020 thus ending the road of visa hopping onshore. And when 0:09:10.070 --> 0:09:14.310 it comes to our refugee intake, how about prioritising the 0:09:14.370 --> 0:09:19.390 persecuted Christian minorities currently being slaughtered by Islamists in places 0:09:19.450 --> 0:09:24.790 like Nigeria? Taylor will never be able to rhetorically outgun 0:09:24.850 --> 0:09:28.630 his rival on the right, who will always sound more 0:09:28.750 --> 0:09:32.370 hardline than a party of potential government that has to 0:09:32.390 --> 0:09:37.620 balance concerns about social cohesion with concerns about keeping migrant-dependent 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.660 industries alive. But Taylor's got to do a whole lot 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:44.440 more than just be a little less worse than Labor, 0:09:44.980 --> 0:09:49.900 because it's this policy timidity that began under Labor-like Malcolm 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:54.970 Turnbull that's responsible for the decade-long exodus of the Liberal base. 0:09:55.950 --> 0:09:59.330 A big migrant intake, and ours is one of the 0:09:59.410 --> 0:10:03.300 largest intakes, the developed world, that does not automatically mean 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:08.060 a higher GDP. Every country ahead of us on the 0:10:08.300 --> 0:10:13.290 IMF's latest GDP table has a smaller percentage of foreign-born 0:10:13.410 --> 0:10:17.530 population than we have in Australia, meaning it's one thing 0:10:17.590 --> 0:10:21.020 to bring people into this country But it's whether they 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:25.890 lift or lean, to borrow Robert Menzies phrase, when they 0:10:25.929 --> 0:10:33.569 get here, well, that is what matters. All right, let's 0:10:33.590 --> 0:10:36.390 go to camera now for the headlines with our political reporter, 0:10:36.470 --> 0:10:37.250 Ruben Spargo. 0:10:38.220 --> 0:10:38.650 Good evening. 0:10:38.820 --> 0:10:41.079 The prime minister has met President Donald Trump on the 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:44.640 sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. A 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:46.880 selfie of the pair was taken only hours before the 0:10:46.940 --> 0:10:50.580 US President criticised Anthony Albanese's tech agenda. 0:10:51.059 --> 0:10:54.680 I'll always stand up for Australia's national interests and the 0:10:54.730 --> 0:10:58.210 digital duty of care is something that we've foreshadowed for 0:10:58.290 --> 0:10:59.270 some period of time. 0:10:59.850 --> 0:11:03.310 It was the first face-to-face meeting between the pair since October. 0:11:03.830 --> 0:11:06.750 Former Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen will be called to give 0:11:06.910 --> 0:11:11.140 evidence at the state's Construction Royal Commission. Documents revealed she 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:15.940 was briefed about concerns surrounding major infrastructure projects in 2023. 0:11:15.940 --> 0:11:19.790 The core message recited in this brief is as follows. 0:11:20.490 --> 0:11:25.130 MTIA has recently received anecdotal reports of criminal elements potentially 0:11:25.190 --> 0:11:26.070 becoming involved. 0:11:26.330 --> 0:11:28.809 The Royal Commission opened with a warning to those with 0:11:28.929 --> 0:11:32.120 something to hide. Come forward or be found out. 0:11:32.140 --> 0:11:36.540 All right, fresh poll in today. Sky, Sky, good to 0:11:36.580 --> 0:11:39.950 see you again. News 24 Pulse Poll. shows Prime Minister 0:11:39.990 --> 0:11:44.370 Anthony Albanese's crash to his lowest and worst ever approval 0:11:44.470 --> 0:11:48.640 rating following weeks of scandals. A bit here from me 0:11:48.700 --> 0:11:52.980 about golf courses, controversies and government backdowns. Here to tell 0:11:53.020 --> 0:11:56.689 us more, News 24 Chief Election Analyst Tom Connell. 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:04.439 Peter, there has to be a real question. 0:12:04.500 --> 0:12:07.979 Is Anthony Albanese's net satisfaction rating becoming a bit of 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.300 a problem for Labor? This particular poll already has a 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:14.990 big drop in support. So the number satisfied with his job, 33%, 0:12:14.990 --> 0:12:21.189 down three, dissatisfied up to 62%. Net satisfaction, so the positive, 0:12:21.330 --> 0:12:24.450 minus the minus, minus 29%. Scott Morrison after the summer 0:12:24.470 --> 0:12:27.210 of bushfires when... Voters weren't shaking his hand. He was 0:12:27.250 --> 0:12:29.790 at minus 22. So this is a problem. Let's compare 0:12:29.809 --> 0:12:32.710 it to November as well. As you can see, since then, 0:12:33.170 --> 0:12:36.270 minus nine satisfied, plus 12 dissatisfied. 0:12:36.290 --> 0:12:37.200 That's a huge move. 0:12:37.250 --> 0:12:40.960 So he was minus eight in only November and he 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:42.340 shifted to minus 29. 0:12:42.340 --> 0:12:43.240 That's a huge shift. 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:45.960 Where is he losing support? Well, breaking it down by 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:49.360 voter cohort, first of all, some massive discrepancies. And you 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:50.540 might say, well, no surprise. 0:12:50.580 --> 0:12:53.840 Of course, he's plus 67 with Labor. and much worse. 0:12:53.860 --> 0:12:56.140 But the concern here is Labor has lost primary vote, 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:58.810 maybe a little bit to the coalition, maybe not, but 0:12:58.870 --> 0:13:02.449 certainly to One Nation. And that rating, minus 94, basically 0:13:02.570 --> 0:13:05.309 everyone saying he's doing a bad job, indicates maybe it 0:13:05.350 --> 0:13:07.910 will be hard to win them over. The other problem 0:13:07.970 --> 0:13:10.890 is where it's happening in terms of voter type. So 0:13:11.100 --> 0:13:14.760 Outer Metro, remember, his overall rating, minus 29. It's worse 0:13:14.780 --> 0:13:17.780 than the Outer Metro at minus 33, much worse for 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:21.699 those low-middle-income households at minus 39. and also bad at 0:13:21.740 --> 0:13:26.610 minus 35 for TAFE educated. So outer suburban seats, working class, 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:30.010 low and middle income, these seats, Labor have a lot 0:13:30.030 --> 0:13:32.530 of them at the moment, and these numbers indicate they 0:13:32.550 --> 0:13:33.209 could be in trouble. 0:13:39.750 --> 0:13:41.150 All right, let's bring in my panel. We'll pull that 0:13:41.210 --> 0:13:43.050 apart and a whole lot more. Senior Fellow at the 0:13:43.090 --> 0:13:46.970 Menzies Research Centre, Nick Cater, and News 24 host Jamie Rogers. 0:13:48.010 --> 0:13:50.990 Just on that, Nick, those numbers there from Tom Connell, 0:13:51.350 --> 0:13:53.949 what's interesting in that last slide, the demographic of the 0:13:54.010 --> 0:13:59.309 people moving fast away from Labor, that's Labor's old working 0:13:59.450 --> 0:14:01.949 class base. This is why they're so exercised. 0:14:04.179 --> 0:14:04.870 Well, that's right. 0:14:05.710 --> 0:14:09.550 One Nation has bled to labour before in past incarnations, 0:14:09.630 --> 0:14:12.090 but it's happening big time now. And I think this 0:14:12.170 --> 0:14:14.209 is where most of the increase for the One Nation 0:14:14.250 --> 0:14:16.490 vote has been coming in the last few months. Some 0:14:16.510 --> 0:14:19.510 of the coalition are not in a great position, but 0:14:19.550 --> 0:14:22.960 they're stable. They're holding their ground and perhaps even gaining some. 0:14:23.010 --> 0:14:26.180 So I would be really worried if I was Anthony 0:14:26.220 --> 0:14:29.140 Albanese on this. There's a lot of metropolitan seats, outer 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:33.700 metropolitan seats around Sydney, around Melbourne. Adelaide even and Brisbane, 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:36.900 that the coalition would have a real battle winning. You 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:39.740 wouldn't get them over in one election, you would think. 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:44.120 But the One Nation, I think, have every chance of 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:47.500 winning some of those seats, places like in the Illawarra, 0:14:47.660 --> 0:14:50.510 up in the Hunter Valley in the far west of Sydney. 0:14:50.570 --> 0:14:50.750 So. 0:14:50.770 --> 0:14:58.330 Oh, I might have lost him there. He's frozen. I'll 0:14:58.350 --> 0:15:00.910 go to you if I can, Jamie, that the government, sorry, 0:15:00.930 --> 0:15:04.670 the opposition announced its energy plan today and it's really 0:15:04.830 --> 0:15:08.230 ripping into renewables. Now, we've long argued this should be 0:15:08.290 --> 0:15:11.390 on the agenda, that they need to really differentiate themselves 0:15:11.430 --> 0:15:14.850 from Labor. Here's the shadow energy minister, Dan Tehan. 0:15:18.820 --> 0:15:24.540 We need to take a chainsaw to Labor's green, ideologically 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:30.250 driven approach to energy. For the Coalition, our energy policy 0:15:30.330 --> 0:15:36.290 starts with abundance and has three non-negotiables. The focus has 0:15:36.330 --> 0:15:39.950 to be on affordability, it has to be on reliability 0:15:40.380 --> 0:15:42.680 and it has to be on security. 0:15:44.390 --> 0:15:47.430 Yeah, there's eight priorities here. There's a big one, the 0:15:47.450 --> 0:15:51.270 repeal of the Climate Change Act of 2022 to remove 0:15:51.350 --> 0:15:56.290 legislated net zero targets, scrapping the safeguard mechanism, revoking four 0:15:56.500 --> 0:16:00.400 offshore wind energy zones and removing, of course, that prohibition 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:05.100 on nuclear energy. Well, it's been a long time coming. 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:07.140 What did you make of it today, Jamie? 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:10.820 Well, Peter, I watched Dan Tehan today and I heard 0:16:10.860 --> 0:16:14.760 him earlier this morning on radio and I thought, demolition Dan. 0:16:14.900 --> 0:16:18.840 I liked what I was hearing, especially the removing net 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:23.120 zero targets and lifting this nuclear ban. The concern, though, 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:25.650 is the fact that we are still staying in Paris. 0:16:25.750 --> 0:16:28.750 And Dan did explain it on radio as a way 0:16:28.890 --> 0:16:31.270 to make sure that we can stay in control of 0:16:31.470 --> 0:16:33.650 pretty much our destiny by keeping a seat at the 0:16:33.710 --> 0:16:36.020 table and At the time when he was explaining it, 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:37.540 it did seem to make sense to me. But now, 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:39.680 as I'm saying it to you, it's actually not really 0:16:39.700 --> 0:16:42.570 quite making sense. But he came across brilliantly. And I 0:16:42.610 --> 0:16:44.470 think this is exactly the sort of fight that we 0:16:44.510 --> 0:16:47.890 need to see from the coalition. My only concern now, though, Peter, 0:16:47.930 --> 0:16:50.380 as well, is they drop these policies and then they 0:16:50.390 --> 0:16:52.700 stop talking about it. So now they've got to go 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:54.980 hard and make sure that they get cut through and 0:16:55.020 --> 0:16:58.500 that the electorate and voters can see what their plan is. 0:16:58.980 --> 0:17:02.120 Because as Dan rightly pointed out, Australians at the moment 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:04.350 are choosing between whether to have the lights on or 0:17:04.369 --> 0:17:07.550 whether to feed their family. And in a country like Australia, 0:17:07.630 --> 0:17:11.030 where we are abundant with natural resources, it's the sad 0:17:11.090 --> 0:17:14.919 reality that we face chasing this green ideology path. So 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:17.680 I think that the coalition are heading in the right direction. 0:17:18.060 --> 0:17:20.920 I want to keep seeing more of this policy prosecution, 0:17:20.940 --> 0:17:24.159 because let's not forget, when nuclear was the only policy 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:27.810 for the coalition January last year, they were dominating in 0:17:27.850 --> 0:17:31.490 the polls. And then they backtracked and almost got scared. 0:17:31.530 --> 0:17:34.070 And as soon as Labor came out with that $ 600 0:17:33.550 --> 0:17:37.669 billion scare campaign, with nuclear. No one stopped it and 0:17:37.970 --> 0:17:41.939 corrected Labor. And unfortunately, we know the results there. So 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:44.240 I think this is a good direction. I've liked what 0:17:44.260 --> 0:17:46.659 I've seen so far. So it's the fight's on. 0:17:48.460 --> 0:17:50.480 I just want to see them prosecuted day in, day 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:52.760 out for more than a week. I mean, the problem 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:55.760 is they pick something up, they drop it tomorrow. I mean, 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:58.550 Abbott wore out his welcome everywhere he went with the 0:17:58.609 --> 0:18:01.420 four or five plans he had over six years. before 0:18:01.460 --> 0:18:05.080 he was elected, you've absolutely got to drum the message in. And, look, 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.859 I was in Horsham on the weekend. I was in 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:11.030 Birdship for a funeral of an aunt yesterday. God bless 0:18:11.070 --> 0:18:13.949 her soul, a wonderful woman. But all the way up 0:18:14.010 --> 0:18:16.310 that road, up the calder I was driving this time, 0:18:16.330 --> 0:18:18.750 it was the Western Highway on the weekend, but up 0:18:18.790 --> 0:18:22.429 the calder, there were signs everywhere about renewables. I mean, 0:18:22.470 --> 0:18:26.850 these communities now... are absolutely fighting this stuff hard, Nick. 0:18:27.510 --> 0:18:30.820 In Birdship, there was no lines, no mines, no turbines. 0:18:30.859 --> 0:18:35.500 That's the sign. Absolutely everywhere. I think this fight on 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:38.820 renewables is fast becoming lost for Labor. 0:18:41.020 --> 0:18:42.060 Well, I think it definitely has. 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:44.300 I mean, this has shifted a big way, Peter, in 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:47.400 the last year, particularly in rural areas. I mean, you 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:50.439 and I know we've been following this for four years 0:18:50.550 --> 0:18:54.450 or longer, the anger that was building up in the bush, 0:18:54.490 --> 0:18:56.629 but that was not getting through to the cities and 0:18:56.670 --> 0:18:59.429 it certainly wasn't getting through to Canberra. Now it is, 0:18:59.510 --> 0:19:03.869 it's become a national issue. What is happening to our countryside, 0:19:03.910 --> 0:19:07.109 what is happening to our Our farmland and some of 0:19:07.190 --> 0:19:11.050 our native bushland is an absolute disgrace. And once at last, 0:19:11.090 --> 0:19:13.209 that's on the political agenda. So I think this is 0:19:13.250 --> 0:19:15.930 a real, real negative for Labour. And you can see 0:19:15.950 --> 0:19:19.929 in the coalition's policy, they are onto this. They recognise 0:19:19.950 --> 0:19:21.670 that this has to change and we have to get 0:19:21.750 --> 0:19:25.260 back to a more sensible energy policy that focuses on 0:19:25.700 --> 0:19:28.200 cost and availability, one and two. 0:19:30.090 --> 0:19:33.110 Let's go to that fight I discussed yesterday, last week 0:19:33.130 --> 0:19:37.850 with Jess Collins, Senator Collins, about Sydney's Victoria Barracks. Well, 0:19:38.330 --> 0:19:42.350 today Chris Minns has weighed in. He's talking about support 0:19:42.390 --> 0:19:46.530 to slap a Heritage Council order on the property so 0:19:46.570 --> 0:19:50.300 it can't be sold, but it must be protected. Jamie, 0:19:51.140 --> 0:19:52.950 I think the Prime Minister's got a real fight on 0:19:52.990 --> 0:19:55.590 his hands here. Well, he does, and I've got to 0:19:55.630 --> 0:19:57.230 say well done to Chris Menz. 0:19:57.350 --> 0:19:59.270 I probably would have liked him to have started this 0:19:59.290 --> 0:20:00.859 fight a little bit earlier, but he's done it. 0:20:01.570 --> 0:20:02.190 Credits due. 0:20:02.530 --> 0:20:05.370 And the sad thing, though, here, Peter, is the prime 0:20:05.410 --> 0:20:07.949 minister is the one person who can stand up and 0:20:08.030 --> 0:20:10.929 stop the sale of these defence assets. He needs to 0:20:10.990 --> 0:20:14.430 show some leadership and back our defence sites. I actually 0:20:14.450 --> 0:20:17.409 took my boys to Lancer Barracks in Parramatta. And as 0:20:17.450 --> 0:20:19.990 soon as you walk through the gates, you can feel 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:22.960 how special these sites are. And when you bundle in 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:26.500 HMAS Penguin and Victoria Barracks, this is part of our 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:29.640 national heritage that the Labor government are just so flippantly 0:20:29.700 --> 0:20:32.359 going off and selling. So we need to all sign 0:20:32.420 --> 0:20:35.640 James Patterson's petition that you can do online. Last time 0:20:35.700 --> 0:20:38.880 I checked, it was more than 80,000 signatures. And Jess 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:42.879 Collins is also organising a protest down at HMAS Penguin 0:20:42.980 --> 0:20:45.500 on October 11. So the more people that are out 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:47.760 there and the more that we all stay vocal, we 0:20:47.810 --> 0:20:50.310 can show this government that it's just unacceptable and it's 0:20:50.330 --> 0:20:53.669 an absolute disgrace that they're selling off these precious sites, 0:20:53.690 --> 0:20:55.470 because once they're gone, they're gone. 0:20:56.590 --> 0:20:58.850 They're gone forever. I need to leave it there. I'm sorry, 0:20:58.869 --> 0:21:01.260 I've got a hectic show and Obviously, I want to 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:04.399 get to that Islamic State arrest today. Thank you to 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:07.220 you both. Now, the continuing debate over the role and 0:21:07.260 --> 0:21:10.859 purpose of the Australian War Memorial and whether its expansion 0:21:11.060 --> 0:21:15.880 into the history of colonial frontier conflict risks changing what 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:20.590 the institution is fundamentally about. Last week, you'll recall, I 0:21:20.609 --> 0:21:24.110 brought you the concerns from retired Lieutenant Colonel Peter O'Brien, 0:21:24.130 --> 0:21:29.890 a Vietnam veteran and co-convener of the campaign Defend Sacred Ground. 0:21:30.630 --> 0:21:33.430 This should go to the people, but they have done 0:21:33.450 --> 0:21:35.960 it behind closed doors. They had a meeting where it 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:38.560 was agreed. The minutes of that meeting have not been 0:21:38.580 --> 0:21:41.859 made available. It was done in secret and now it's 0:21:41.880 --> 0:21:44.820 being thrust upon people. And I would bet that if 0:21:44.980 --> 0:21:47.530 this came to a plebiscite, we would get the same 0:21:47.570 --> 0:21:49.970 result that we got in the voice referendums. 0:21:51.770 --> 0:21:55.060 Well, now former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has weighed into 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:59.180 the debate, arguing that frontier bloodshed is part of Australia's 0:21:59.340 --> 0:22:02.909 national story, but that the war memorial is not the 0:22:02.970 --> 0:22:06.850 appropriate place to commemorate it. Tony Abbott joins me now 0:22:06.910 --> 0:22:07.610 from Perth. 0:22:08.109 --> 0:22:08.429 Tony. 0:22:09.000 --> 0:22:11.020 In addition, obviously, to being a former Prime Minister, you 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.219 were a member of the War Memorial Council. That's what 0:22:14.240 --> 0:22:20.020 we call the board of the shrine. So I'm assuming 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:23.159 you've got plenty of understanding of what was discussed on 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:27.500 this issue. I've been contacted by a huge number of 0:22:27.580 --> 0:22:31.520 Australians who are very angry that this proposal is even 0:22:31.740 --> 0:22:34.189 on the table. What can you tell us? 0:22:36.020 --> 0:22:39.679 Well, Peter, my very strong recollection is that no final 0:22:39.740 --> 0:22:43.100 decision was made, certainly in my time, to go down 0:22:43.140 --> 0:22:46.840 this path, because the Australian War Memorial, it's our greatest 0:22:46.940 --> 0:22:52.859 national shrine. It should be a place which honours those 0:22:52.900 --> 0:22:54.160 who have worn our uniform. 0:22:54.240 --> 0:22:57.560 It is a tribute to our nation in uniform. 0:22:57.660 --> 0:23:00.680 It should always be a place of unity and pride, 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:03.550 not a place of division and shame. 0:23:04.119 --> 0:23:08.120 And unfortunately, there's an attempt on now to hijack the. 0:23:08.050 --> 0:23:12.650 War Memorial by the Invasion Day Brigade, by people who 0:23:12.710 --> 0:23:15.810 think the only thing that matters about our country is 0:23:15.830 --> 0:23:20.050 Aboriginal dispossession. Now, I accept that there was bloodshed on 0:23:20.070 --> 0:23:23.190 the frontier, and it's fair enough to remember that at 0:23:23.230 --> 0:23:26.619 the right place. But the right place is not the 0:23:26.710 --> 0:23:30.820 Australian War Memorial. I say hands off the Australian War Memorial. 0:23:31.240 --> 0:23:33.840 And we shouldn't have changed by stealth here. We've had 0:23:33.940 --> 0:23:37.750 too much change by stealth, change to have three flags, 0:23:37.810 --> 0:23:41.530 not one, change to have acknowledgements of country at every 0:23:41.590 --> 0:23:45.790 official event. We've got too much of this change by stealth. 0:23:46.150 --> 0:23:49.080 If any change is ever going to happen at the 0:23:49.140 --> 0:23:54.180 Australian War Memorial, ask the people, ask the people. Don't 0:23:54.240 --> 0:23:59.650