WEBVTT - Sharri | 24 July 0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:08.160 Live on Sky News. This is Shari. Good on you, James, 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:10.240 thanks for that. Welcome to the shows. Steep Price with 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:13.480 you in for Shari. Plenty to debate tonight, including the 0:00:13.520 --> 0:00:17.960 embarrassing failure of a plan to allow non Australian residents 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:21.040 to join our military during a recruiting crisis. 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:22.759 I have more on that shortly. 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:27.320 Also coming up tonight, Good time to have Nationals Backbencher 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.320 Matt Canavan on with the up first tonight with the 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:33.720 odd decision I think odd to allow American beef into 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:37.760 Australia regardless of where in the Americas it was actually raised, 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:43.440 potentially raising our strict biochemistry regime, and despite there being 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:45.960 no consumer demand for it anyway, So why are we 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:49.519 letting it in? Except to perhaps keep Donald Trump happy. 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:52.239 Also tonight, Peter Jennings will look for answers on why 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:55.400 it's so hard to find those recruits young Australians and 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:57.920 get them into the ADF and why even our key 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:02.200 we friends are reluctant to go into the Australian uniform. Plus, 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:05.520 it's come to this, a local council in Melbourne is 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.800 going to spend a six figure sum hiring private security 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:12.080 in the middle of a crime crisis, Victoria police can't 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:14.520 handle it, so the council is going to hire their 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:18.120 own security. I'll took to the mayor of that council later. 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:22.039 First up, though, tonight, speaking of a youth crime crisis 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:25.080 right around Australia, why is no one talking about a 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:29.880 modern day version of compulsory military service to bolster our 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:34.240 great diminished, greatly diminished ADF. Now, look, I'm not talking 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:38.120 about conscription often that's where this argument goes. That's not 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:42.039 what I'm suggesting, because without a regional war threatening our sovereignty, 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:45.440 I don't believe the either side of politics would be 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:49.920 gain to try it. Australia hasn't forcefully conscripted their own 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:53.600 citizens into uniform and sent them into war since the 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:56.040 Vietnam War. Now, I was lucky enough to miss out 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:58.840 by a couple of years of having my birthday date 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:01.640 marble pulled out of a barrel. Yes, that's how they 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:05.000 did it, as conscription ended when GoF Whitlam came to 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:08.840 power in nineteen seventy two, so I was too young. Today, though, 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:12.160 we have a double problem. The Australian Defense Force, as 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.680 we keep reading, is in a recruiting crisis. And today 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.480 we learn that a federal government plan which was announced 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:22.920 with great fanfare to allow non Australians who are from 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:27.200 our five Eyes intelligence countries that means New Zealand, the US, 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:30.600 the UK plus Canada. Well it's been a complete and 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:35.160 utter dismal failure. Twelve months in a year in how 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:36.840 many people do you think of put their hands up 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:40.000 from any of those five countries, Well just three. 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:41.480 Those three were Kiwis. 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:43.720 They're the only people to put their hands up to 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:46.680 serve the ADF, and none of them from the other 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:50.320 Five Eyes nations. Now, at the same time, we have 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:54.960 the worst youth crime crisis in Australian history. Teenagers, some 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:57.560 of them as young as twelve and thirteen, are stealing 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:01.920 cars every night, playing deadly chicken with police, invading private 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:04.799 homes in the middle of the night and arming themselves 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:09.640 with knives and machetes. Leftist state governments who have appointed 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:14.280 like minded magistrates have no answer to this crisis, just 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:17.560 like the ADF have. It seems, no answers to a 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.320 lack of willingness of young Australians to put up their 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.280 hands to volunteer to serve in the Army, of the. 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:23.240 Navy, of the Air force. 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:27.720 Would any political party, and this is a genuine inquiry 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:30.200 from me, have the courage to go to an election 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:35.080 with a policy of compulsory military service of one two 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:38.880 years for anyone eighteen and over or maybe even seventeen 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:41.600 and over. Now, of course there would have to be 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:45.680 exemptions to be worked out those people studying, say medicine, 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:49.680 or at university at an engineering degree, or perhaps working 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:53.120 already in emergency services like being a police officer or 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:57.600 a paramedic. But sixty countries, sixty countries around the world 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:01.960 still have compulsory time. Doing military training doesn't mean you 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:04.520 go to war. You're just training to be a soldier 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:07.520 or a sailor or in the air force. Now, many 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:11.680 of those nations, think Israeli or Ukraine obviously need numbers 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:15.240 for national security. But what I am talking about, though, 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:19.000 is using the assets we have in our military to 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.919 straighten up young Australians in danger of losing their way. 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:25.840 We've got huge resources that could train these people into 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:26.440 a trade. 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:27.080 For example. 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:30.760 This could be done by training advantages sold to youngsters 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.080 unable to say get an apprenticeship. It could be done 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:37.839 by court order it could be part of our education system. 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:40.640 Even you get enough young men and women into a 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:43.680 scheme like this, and guess what a percentage of them, 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:46.680 Maybe only a few will stick with it, and that 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:49.320 could solve some of our recruiting issues. It will also 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:52.520 get some of the repeat offenders, those who get bailed 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.520 dozens of times, and we've seen examples in Victoria of 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:59.720 people bailed forty or fifty times only to complete go 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:03.520 out again and repeat their offending on the streets. Look, 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:06.400 it's a bold call, and I'm not naive enough to 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:09.279 think it'll happen anytime soon. But why can we not 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:13.120 have a national, sensible, rational debate about this, at least 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:15.920 as an example of how this could work, have a 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:16.480 look at Greece. 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:18.640 Why do I mention Greece. Well, Greece is not at war. 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:23.680 Greece is a sophisticated country with a magnificent tourism industry. 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:26.560 All Greek men, and I had to look this up today, 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.640 I had no idea all Greek men aged between nineteen 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:33.800 and forty five must serve between nine and twelve months 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:36.679 in the military. Greece, as I said, is a modern 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:39.960 nation like Australia, but it's good enough for them, why 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:45.680 wouldn't it be good enough for us? Let's bring in 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.840 our Thursday Night panel please to say West Australian Liberal 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:52.080 leader I'd made of my Basil's semplus and National Senator 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:55.799 Matt Canavan, gentlemen, welcome, great to see you both now. Basil, 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:59.320 I know Perth doesn't have the crime problem that we 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:01.960 have on the ear coast, but what do you think 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:04.680 a bit of time in the military to straighten up 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:08.080 some of the youngsters who are not doing too well. 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:09.800 Certainly not the stupidest idea. 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:13.320 My family, my sister still lives in Greece and has 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.279 adult family, my nephew who's in his forties now, but 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:18.719 he did the nine to twelve months that everyone was 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:21.520 required to do over there, and everyone in Greece I've 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:23.200 just returned actually a short time ago. 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:25.520 Everyone in Greece considers it very beneficial. 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:29.599 It's something that they look forward to, and it is 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:32.039 something that they sign up to willingly and they know 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:33.960 that it will be over inside a year. 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:35.760 So it's a part of a rite of passage. 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.960 I guess here there's full employment or close to full employment. 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:41.200 Once upon a time, you joined the navy or join 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:42.479 the army to go and see the world. 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:44.960 Lots of people are able to travel now because the 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:46.800 costs of traveling have come down. 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:51.000 But I think for that youth area, those kids between 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.760 sixteen and twenty four twenty five, who are struggling to 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:57.239 find their way in life, it might. 0:06:57.320 --> 0:06:59.920 Be hugely beneficial for them. 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.880 And it is not the stupidest idea and is worthy 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:05.160 of sensible and strong consideration. 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:07.520 It wouldn't be forever, but it might. 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:09.720 Be something that will help make a huge difference to 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:10.760 those young kids' lives. 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:11.280 I like it. 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:15.680 Well, let's see what a sensible politician thinks of it. Matt. 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:19.040 I'm probably whistling in the wind. But you know how 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.560 else are we going to bolster the numbers in the ADF. 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:27.520 Well, look, I don't support conscription. I think we proudly 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.560 have largely had a volunteer army in this country, including 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:32.800 during two World Wars. It was a limited form of 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:35.160 conscription world War Two, but only to protect the home front, 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:38.720 and that served us well. I don't want to load 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:41.000 up the military with the problems of society which are 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:44.080 legiand keep in mind in terms of youth crime. Look, 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:47.800 it's a very small number of juveniles that commit the crimes. 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:51.160 Usually the police know them by name. The solution is 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:53.640 right in front of us. It's about locking up those kids, 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:57.400 not trying to encapture the whole of our youth in 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:02.960 a broader scheme. Look in terms of recruitment to the military, well, 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:05.000 I think over there in the US we could take 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:08.600 a leaf out of Pete Hegseth's book. I mean, they've 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:12.760 got recruitment numbers surging because they've reinstilled, reinstalled pride in 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:15.880 the military. They've marked it as a sense of duty, 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:19.160 Whereas when you see our recruitment ads lately in Australia, 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:21.520 it's as if joining the army is sort of a 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:24.440 lifestyle choice where you get to party and meet friends 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:27.280 and network and think about career opportunities. 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:28.760 I think we'll be much. 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:31.000 Better selling it to young people are saying this is 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.600 something you do for your nation, something you sacrifice. It's hard, 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.720 it's tough, it's difficult, but that will attract the right 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:38.840 people and more people to to boot. As we can 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:39.640 see from the US. 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:43.600 Well, you talk about national pride there, but I mean 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:47.520 many of the youngsters in schools are told to not 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:50.600 be proud of Australia. I mean they're told that, you know, 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:54.560 we're a nation that's been invaded and we shouldn't just 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:57.640 fly our flag but have three and I mean the 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.760 pride's gone, Matt, that's the problem. 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:04.880 Well, look, the death's definitely had an impact. But in 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:06.360 terms of how many people do you want us to 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:08.720 want to join the Australian military any one year, we 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:12.120 only have an armed defense course of less than one 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:14.880 hundred thousand people. So there are still plenty of young 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:16.719 Australians with pride in their nation. They just need to 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:18.440 be given the hope that joining the military will allow 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:22.080 them to exercise and show that pride. And keep in 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:24.520 mind too, I do think there's massive issues in their 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:28.000 education system. That's a separate issue of how to deal 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:31.640 with that. But I also have great faith in young Australians. 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:35.360 You can see and you're renewed flourishing occurring in traditional values, 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:38.560 in pride in our nation, partly because guess what, a 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:41.200 lot of young kids tend to do the opposite of 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:43.720 what their teachers tell them. I was one like that, 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:47.320 and I'm proud to be breeding others that have the 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:53.199 appropriate degree of cynicism about authority as any good Australian should, I. 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:57.200 Think just the one other thing worth considering prices, you know, perhaps, 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:00.000 and these young men that cohort, they might not be 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:01.920 joining the regular army per se. 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:04.160 They might be doing a year of national service. 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.680 It wouldn't be the full blown military life for them, 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.200 but what it could be is a gateway. 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:11.680 Some of them would be exposed to it for the 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:12.319 very first time. 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:14.280 I would say, you know what, this is something I 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:15.960 want to do now with the rest of my life, 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:18.480 for at least the next ten or fifteen years. And 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:21.000 so if you consider it a bit of a gap 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:23.720 year after you would finish school, something that lots of 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:26.319 people were able to do or were asked to do. 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:28.960 If you think of it in those terms, it is 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:31.640 not the craziest idea. And as you've said, it works 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:35.000 in other countries and it works fight successfully, so it 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:38.679 is worthy of consideration. But it wouldn't main necessarily a 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.600 full blown military career, and those young people are off 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:45.120 to fight in parts of the world anywhere. I think 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:46.240 that's the differentiation. 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:49.760 Yeah, I think that's a great way to frame it. 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:52.760 Let's talk about beef this decision today, and it's great 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:56.440 to have Matt with US confirmation today that Australia will 0:10:56.440 --> 0:11:03.160 now remove the ban on American beef that originates outside 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:06.040 of the US, so it might be grazed and raised 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.160 in somewhere like Canada and Mexico. We've also always had 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:12.360 a biosecurity issue with that. The government's now just dropped 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:14.959 this quickly. In the media this morning, they say it's 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:17.520 not a sweetener for any tariff talks. Well, I don't 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:21.040 believe that for a second. I would ask Matt who comes. 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:25.040 I often see him at the cattleman's an you're gathering 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:29.080 in Queensland, or he's wolfing down stakes every night. Is 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.160 there any appetite here, Matt for American beef. 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:38.840 Look, we're not going to be inundated with American beef, 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:42.800 primarily because we have enough of it here and it's 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:45.160 already much more expensive in the US. They've had a 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:48.559 terrible draft in the US in recent years, so they've 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:51.920 got a rapacious appetite for imported beef. They're not going 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:54.000 to be exporting large amounts of it. But the concern 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:57.720 that myself and other Nationals colleagues have about this decision 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:00.320 is not an economic one. There's no economic threat here 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:03.800 to liveblihoods of Australian cattle grays is. There is, however, 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:07.920 a safety risk to all Australians, including the farming east industry, 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:09.720 because even if there's not going to be a large 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:12.880 number or amounts of US beef coming in to Australia, 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:15.560 it only takes one box, it only takes one stake 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:18.360 to be contaminated with something like mad cow disease, and 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:20.439 we could see tens of billions of dollars of damage 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:24.600 to Australian farming industry and massive impacts on everyday Australian life. 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:28.920 I think the government's botched this announcement. I look, these 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:32.640 decisions have always and should be based on the science, 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:36.559 on the risks to the Australian people we have. It's 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:38.360 very important to make the point that we have allowed 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:40.959 of US beef and that we've had some misconceptions put 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.319 out there by the US administration. US beef is allowed 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:45.640 in Australia today. It just has to prove that it 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.199 is US beef. There are still there are still mad 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:50.200 cow diseases in Mexico. So I want to know from 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:52.439 the government how they're going to prevent those coming in 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:56.040 next week, I will be reconvening the Senate Rural Affairs Committee. 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:57.680 Was the chair of that committee. I hope to be 0:12:57.720 --> 0:12:58.880 re elected chair next week. 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:03.240 I'll be pushing for us to hear from the actual 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:07.480 departmental experts here that have made this decision, because all 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:09.559 we've heard from is the politicians right now. I want 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:11.959 to see the evidence of the data that should be 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:14.679 given to the strange beef industry. 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:19.800 Let's talk to Basil about Andrew Twiggy Forest. Now, he's 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:22.080 had a big day to day. He's had a few 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:25.840 issues to contend with us that ford Eskew's abandoned I 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:29.000 think now two of its most hype green hydrogen projects 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:32.240 they're in the US. Fordeskew says it it's not given 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:36.280 up on becoming a major force in renewable energy. But 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:38.800 Donald Trump's no fan of the green energy movement, so 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:43.079 he slashed the substitution. Apparently that's why Woodside and Fordeskeuw 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:47.000 walked away. Basil, you know twigging Forest, Well, when you 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:51.600 read what he says about green energy and the fact 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:55.480 that he makes most of his income of exporting iron ore, 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:58.280 how do you put those two things together. 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:01.320 And can be difficult the reconcile that times can't. 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:04.640 He's clearly had an ambitious green agenda and has been 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:07.280 very keen to push that. Yet at the same time, 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:09.280 the bulk of the income and the bulk of his 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:13.079 work has been in the resources industry and certainly centered 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:17.480 around iron ore. I think, partly with Andrew Forrest, it's 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:22.240 about really pushing the envelope, being out there and seeing. 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:23.840 What might be achieved. Aim for the stars. 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:25.720 You never know you might get to the moon, and 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:27.880 it's a simple way I think of looking at his 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:32.440 philosophy in this space. However, there's no doubt the language today, 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:36.680 some of those announcements and just more generally, some of 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:39.200 the projects that he was particularly bullish about over the 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:42.000 last couple of years, even twelve months ago, he is 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:45.400 not anywhere near as bullish about now. And that tells 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:48.080 you a lot of what you need to know about 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:52.160 the push to these types and forms of renewable energy. 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:55.080 The take up and the ability for it to do 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:57.720 what we thought it might be going to do just 0:14:57.840 --> 0:14:58.560 hasn't been there. 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:02.640 There's still a lot of work to be done, Matt. 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:06.600 The cost of renewables continue to stack up. How long 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:09.200 is the Albanize government going to continue to plow down 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:12.880 this road? And we've had offshore wind collapsing, we've had 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:17.560 major projects canceled. It would seem to me that we're 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:21.400 so far down the road. I describe Chris Bowen as 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:24.760 a mad uncle last night. He just won't hear any 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:28.000 criticism of where he's taking us. Where do you think 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:31.360 we're at with this now? I mean net zero obviously 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:33.560 has been a big issue this week. I think a 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:36.440 lot of Australians are starting to query whether we ought 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:37.360 to be going as far. 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:37.760 As we are. 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:40.000 Yeah. 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:43.480 Look, I mean we're in the state right now of 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:46.720 being hungover if you like hungover on the green kool aid. 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:49.080 We've drunk as a nation for the last few years. 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:52.720 And it seems like Chris Bowen and the Government's solution 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:57.040 to being hungover is to keep drinking, just get wasted again, 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.760 just keep going and you'll get ready to hangover because 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:04.240 doubling down all this madness. So there's no indication they've 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:07.280 recognized they're wrong. Keep in mind, when we opened the 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:12.320 parliament three years ago, the Governor General, as the Government 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:15.320 General does, addresses the Parliament and in that speech three 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:17.520 years ago, the Governor General said that a Labor government 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:20.680 would reduce power bills for Australian families and businesses by 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.880 hundreds of dollars. That obviously didn't happen. They went up 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:27.280 by hundreds of dollars instead. And this time this week 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:31.400 when Parliament was opened, mysteriously that commitment had disappeared. There 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:35.080 were no commitment to reduce power bills at all. And 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:36.920 it looks like the have A Party has just then 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:41.120 given up on giving cost of relief to Australian families. 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:43.800 So I think the Australian people are right to ask, 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:47.800 like Ashton k Kucher famously did a few years ago, dude, 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:49.200 where's my cheaper energy? 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:54.440 I was promised the cheaper energy. Where is my cheaper energy? Dude? 0:16:55.600 --> 0:17:01.920 Yeah, it's very interesting that you mentioned well. 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:03.360 I don't know what he looks like. It looks like 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:05.360 a mad uncle to me, Basil. 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:10.439 I don't know if it's start a comedy or not, 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:11.800 but it's not funny. 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:17.000 No, we shouldn't be laughing. Thank you both, appreciate it 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:18.360 very much. I'll see you shortly. 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:20.840 God, he is a mad uncle. 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:23.680 I've got no idea what he's going on with now. 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:25.760 He discussed the recruitment file, which I mentioned at the 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:28.080 beginning of the program. We've had this discussion about whether 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:30.800 we could set up some sort of a youth program 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:33.159 where youngsters who are in trouble might go in for 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:36.879 some sort of military training or national services, Basil put it. 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:41.439 Australian Director of Strategic Analysis is Peter Jennings. Peter, welcome 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.720 to you. Why is it the IDF have such trouble 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:49.040 trying to convince youngsters to sign up to a life 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:50.400 in the military, do you think. 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:55.320 I think there's probably a sense that the government doesn't 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:58.679 have the defense forces back right now. That's one of 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:01.000 the things that's contributing to a lot of people leaving 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:05.879 the ADF. Steve defenses. People have a way of sensing this, 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:11.040 and I think if you're in an environment where military 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:14.760 capabilities are being cut, ships aren't going to see aircraft 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:19.240 aren't using their flying hours, people ask themselves the question 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:22.359 why should I join? It doesn't seem that the government 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:26.160 actually supports us. You know, instead of spending six days 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:29.359 in China Albanez, you could have spent one day less 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:32.879 and come to the Talisman Saber exercise and spend some 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:36.359 time talking to Australian soldiers. He didn't do that. I 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:38.919 think the first Prime minister in a long time not 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:41.960 to have been to that exercise. So people get a 0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:45.240 sense that it's not a government priority and that hardly 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:47.240 encourages individuals to join up. 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:51.720 And that was a massive exercise, I mean, it was 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:55.680 impressive in its scale. And you arrays a really good point. 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:59.119 I mean, given the number of nations involved, given the 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.719 numbers of of military involved, I think it was in 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:05.879 the twenty thirty thousand thirty five, wouldn't the Prime minister 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:08.439 show his face? Yeah, why wouldn't the Prime minister have 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:09.960 shown his face and something like that? 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:14.320 Typically they have And in fact, you if you look back, Steve, 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:17.359 you'll find that the current PM has spent very little 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:21.600 time with Australian soldiers. Occasionally you'll see him with the 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:24.120 top brass, but not the soldiers. And of course that's 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:28.160 not how John Howard operated, it's not how Tony Abbott operated, 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:32.880 or Kevin Runt or Julia Gillard. It's just not Anthony 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:35.520 Alberonisi's priority. 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:39.240 Yeah, most Prime ministers in the past have done, you know, 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.160 drop in visits to when we were involved in places 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:46.240 like Afghanistan and Iraq. I mean it was commonplace for 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:50.000 that to happen, and I think Australians watching that welcomed 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:52.439 the fact that their prime minister was happy and willing 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:54.639 to go and do it. And you mentioned Julia Gillard 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:57.480 cheated it too. I'll get onto some comments by spinger 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:00.359 Scott Morrison in a moment, Peter. But it's reported we've 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:04.000 actually quietly made another eight hundred million dollar down payment 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:07.280 on nuclear submarines. That's one point six billion in two 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:13.359 eight hundred million payments. That shows us that Australia believes 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:17.880 that aucust is still healthy. But the Americans are still 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:20.439 making some disturbing noises about it, aren't they. Do we 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:22.280 get the money back if it doesn't go ahead? 0:20:23.720 --> 0:20:26.239 Yeah, that's a good question. I mean the idea of 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:30.680 this is that we're helping American industry to expand its 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:34.360 ability to build submarines more quickly, and therefore we'll get 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:39.720 the benefit of that. I think the American claim would 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:42.560 be that in other respects, we're not spending what we 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:46.639 need to on UCUS or indeed defense more widely, Steve, 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:51.080 So you know we're not building the required new nuclear 0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:54.880 submarine based on the East Coast. We're not making progress 0:20:54.880 --> 0:21:00.640 on establishing a nuclear storage facility for nuclear waste. Yes, 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:04.399 we're training sailors, but not in anywhere near the numbers 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:07.919 that we need. And they're the practical concerns which I 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:11.359 think the Americans have about is Australia really serious about 0:21:11.400 --> 0:21:15.080 doing this? The problem being that it was always meant 0:21:15.080 --> 0:21:18.520 to be above the two percent of defense spending which 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:23.040 the previous government was allocating, in which this government has kept. 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:27.280