WEBVTT - Sharri | 7 August 0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:03.640 Live on Sky News. 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:09.280 This is Sharry Good Evening. 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:12.240 We're just to recap that breaking news out of Paris. 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:16.360 An Australian hockey player, Tom Craig has been arrested by 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:21.439 French police after allegedly buying cocaine at the Olympics. The 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:25.480 Australian Olympic Committee released the statement saying they have confirmed 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:29.440 an Australian hockey team member is in custody after being 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:32.000 arrested in Paris on August sixth. 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:33.960 No charges have been laid. 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:38.360 The AOC is continuing to make inquiries and arranged support 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:42.720 for the team member. So hockey player Tom Craig arrested 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:48.000 in Paris unsuspected charges of cocaine use. Will bring you 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:51.919 live updates as they unfold throughout the hour. Well, it's 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.680 an absolutely jam packed show tonight. We have exclusive Liberal 0:00:55.720 --> 0:01:00.200 Party research that reveals voter attitudes are hardening again. He's 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.640 the Prime Minister over the cost of living crisis. This 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:08.160 as the IBA blames high government spending for stubborn inflation. 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:12.280 Former Treasurer Josh Fridenberg is on the show tonight with 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:16.920 a warning about the need to confront authoritarian regimes. 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:21.840 And right now we're seeing authoritarian regimes on the march 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:25.240 around the world, and the battlefields of Europe obviously Ukraine 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:29.319 and Russia, the Middle East seeing tensions in the South 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:31.959 China Sea, and we see tensions on the Korean Peninsula. 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:36.080 So authoritarian regimes are on the march around the world, 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:38.800 Yet democracies are very divided. 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:43.600 So my exclusive interview with Josh Fridenberger coming up in 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:47.639 the program. Also tonight, the joy of Australia's youngest gold 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:51.160 medal winner, whose parents now have to honor their promise 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:53.600 to buy her a pet duck. 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:57.800 I said, if I did win, could I get a duck? 0:01:57.840 --> 0:01:58.600 And she said yes. 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:04.520 But first tonight I can exclusively reveal secret polling which 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:08.720 shows voters are starting to blame Anthony Albanesi personally for 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:12.680 the state of the economy. The internal research carried out 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:16.280 for the Liberal Party suggests Australians are now holding the 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:21.480 Prime Minister accountable for soaring petrol prices, increasing energy bills, 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:26.120 the high cost of groceries and crippling mortgage repayments. This 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:30.880 is dangerous for Albanezi. He'd been hoping inflation would start 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:34.600 to moderate, a hope crueled by the RBA's reality check 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:38.400 that there's no prospect of a rate cut anytime soon. 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:43.240 Albanzi is already seen as a hypocrite for blaming former 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:47.440 PM Scott Morrison for the first interest rate rise, while 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:52.519 now not accepting responsibility for the thirteen sins, but his 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:56.040 largely escaped blame for the cost of living crisis. 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:58.280 This new research. 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:02.600 I'm reporting tonight shows that vote sentiment is hardening against 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:07.440 alban Easy over his handling of the economic crisis. Given 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.919 he campaigned at the twenty twenty two election more than 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:14.160 two years ago, now on a promise of making life 0:03:14.200 --> 0:03:18.440 more affordable, he can no longer escape responsibility for the 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:23.160 tough times many of you are experiencing. This comes as 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:26.760 his government and many of the States seem intent on 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:31.200 spending money to win over voters, spending that is now 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:36.640 being blamed for keeping inflation and interest rates higher for longer. 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:40.320 It puts alban Easy and the States on a collision 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:44.440 course with the RBA after injecting an extra twenty two 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:49.600 billion dollars into the economy this financial year. It's one 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.520 of the reasons inflation is now not expected to return 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:56.680 to the target banned until twenty twenty six, and why 0:03:56.760 --> 0:03:59.560 the RBA even considered hiking rates. 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:00.360 This week. 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:05.240 Governor Michelle Bullock stung the Albanese government when, in part 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:08.800 she blamed high spending for the need to keep rates 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:10.120 higher for longer. 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:14.560 Make no mistake, inflation is still too high and the 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:17.679 Board does remain concerned about the degree of excess demand 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:20.280 in the economy. In the statement of Monetary policy, we've 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:23.440 revised up our forecast for demand growth and that's due 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:26.000 to stronger forecast public spending. 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:31.680 She also spoke about the impact of low productivity. Other 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:36.320 senior IBA economists fronted are Senate Estimates Inquiry today to 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:41.360 reinforce the message that government spending is partly responsible for 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:43.040 this cost of living crisis. 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:47.039 Public spending is one part of demand that we track. 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.440 We're looking at the latest announcements coming out from the 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:52.760 very state budgets, from the federal budget and what we 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:55.279 actually see coming through the data as well, how projects 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:58.400 are progressing on some of the big infrastructure activity that's 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:00.920 happening here in Sydney, instance, a lot of the work 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:02.920 around the bridge and the tunneling of things. If this 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.400 is big enough that we can see it coming through 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:06.600 in the aggregate data. 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:12.479 And the RBA's statement on monetary policy specifically says that 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:17.400 public demand is forecast to be stronger than previously expected, 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:22.520 reflecting recent public spending announcements by federal and state and 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:27.960 territory governments. We're Treasurer Jim Chalmers rejects the notion spending 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:29.320 is fueling inflation. 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:33.840 Budget spending is not the primary determinant of prices in 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:35.960 the economy, but we can be helpful, and we are 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.839 being helpful with the design of our cost of living 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.440 policies which help us get back to target sooner. 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:47.280 Despite his remarks, economists today seized on the RBA's comments 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:51.040 to urge governments to stop spending so that rates can 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:55.120 begin to fall. Amp Chief economist Shane Oliver told a 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:59.320 Senate committee today that government spending was having a significant 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:00.919 impact on inflation. 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:04.680 When I asked, well, whif of the forecast gone up, 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:08.240 she specifically referred to We've got some numbers on high 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:10.840 government spending. There's other things in there as well, but 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:14.040 I have a feeling that if we had, say, lower 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:16.320 growth than government spending, the Reserve Bank would either be 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:19.440 considering cutting or much closer to cutting. 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.719 Chris Richardson is one of the only economists who's consistently 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:29.160 argued government spending was inflationary. He told me today that 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:33.440 extra state government spending this year amounts to around twelve 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:37.640 billion dollars, so that from state governments, while federal government 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:41.880 decisions have added around ten billion dollars extra into the economy. 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:45.839 Add in the Stage three tax cuts, and Chris Richardson says, 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:49.880 this is an extra forty six billion dollars being poured 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:54.200 into the economy this financial year. And he told me 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:57.279 that this is equivalent to the best part of just 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:01.719 under two percent of national income. He says, that's huge 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:05.160 relative to the amount of money the irba's rate rises 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:08.520 have taken out of the economy. He says, the Reserve 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:11.120 Bank is taking money out of the economy and the 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:15.040 governments are putting money back into the economy. And Chris 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:18.880 Richardson also argues the energy subsidies of seventy five dollars 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:22.800 a quarter were simply delaying the pain and that inflation 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:27.560 would rise once the subsidies end. Now, while they reduce 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:31.880 the energy component of CPI, they are also still inflationary. 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:35.480 And Chris Richardson said, and I quote the basic point 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:39.000 is that families have more ability to spend than they 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:44.040 otherwise would have had. It's a point economist Warren Hogan 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:46.680 made on this program the other night. 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:49.960 If electricity is one hundred and it goes to one 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:51.880 hundred and ten, but the goverment gives you a subsidy 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:53.480 and says it's only going to cost you one hundred 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.560 and five. The electricity generator is still getting one hundred 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:58.520 and ten, but the CPI says it's only going up 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.440 to one hundred and five. The following year they remove 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.840 the subsidy, the consumer pays one hundred and ten, and 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.600 even though the electricity price hasn't changed, the CPI will 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.320 measure it as an increase. So it's just a mask 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.400 in terms of inflation. So if you remove the subsdy, 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:14.440 inflation will go up. 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:20.440 Now for the RBA to even publicly mention government spending, 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:24.240 it's an indicator of the level of frustration at the 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:29.600 Central Bank economics. Economics journalist Tom Jusifik writes that the 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:33.080 scene is now set for an almighty tussle between the 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.880 bank's board and politicians facing voters over the coming year. 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:41.120 He says there will be harsh words, finger pointing, and 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:46.040 no political prisoners. Now, if this new message from the 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:50.200 Central Bank hits home to voters the government spending is 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:55.280 responsible for higher interest rates, then Albanezi will become a 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:59.000 national villain. That new research I revealed at the start 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:03.120 of the program showing voters are turning on Albanzi personally 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:06.440 for his management of the economy, well, this will put 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:09.360 pressure on him to act if he wants any chance 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:13.480 of winning the next election. The path from now to 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:18.000 that election is full of risk for Albanesi. His political 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:26.600 prospects are inextricably linked with our economy. All right, let's 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:29.360 bring in now our Wednesday panel to discuss this and 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:33.440 much more former Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger and 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:35.160 Labor legend Graham Richardson. 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:36.480 Great to see you both. 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.360 Michael, I want to start by asking you about this 0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:44.439 internal Liberal Party research that shows voter attitudes are hardening 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:48.160 against Albanesi. They're starting to blame him personally for the 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:49.400 cost of living crisis. 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.120 Look, they remember that he said he had a plan 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:55.960 to fix Morrison's cost of living crisis, and he kept 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:58.800 using those words cost of living crisis because that's what 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:00.960 the strategists and advertise as the agent he told him 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:04.240 to say, I've seen these things over the years. They said, 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:06.600 repeat that at every opportunity, so he did. He left 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:09.200 people with a very strong impression, Shari, that he could 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:10.680 fix us. And then he said he had a plan 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:13.480 to fix it, and he said he could cut electricity prices, 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:16.280 turn on Sidney five dollars, blah blah blah. He gave everyone, 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:20.040 He gave everyone the impression that this was just Scott 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:23.040 Morrison's lost control of the economy. It's all Scott Morrison's fault, 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:26.360 and he would fix it. Now people realize this was 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:30.359 just political chicanery, it was bulldust, it was cheap advertising, 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:34.080 they were false promises. He never had any idea and 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:35.200 they're blaming him for it. 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:35.480 Now. 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:38.360 They're now saying, Albo, you lie to us and that's 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:41.080 his problem and it'll keep going until he fixes it, 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:41.680 which he can't. 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:45.160 Well, rich O, there's no question the Prime Minister would 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:47.920 have been hoping for some more positive news that inflation 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:52.440 was moderating, but that seems a remote possibility. Now that's 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:56.280 far off, judging by Michelle Bullock's comments yesterday. So where 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:58.199 does this leave Albanezi politically? 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:02.640 I think he'd prefer it wasn't the case. But you 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:05.200 remember it's a long time between now and the next election, 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:09.600 and so I don't think it's time for panic, but 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:15.440 it is certainly time that we stayed alert and you know, 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:19.320 we're making sure that whatever we can do is being 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:21.160 done to try and moderate this. 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.160 Look, it's been a shocking week for the Prime Minister, 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:30.000 not just the news, although the RBA's comments that inflation 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:32.680 isn't going to come down over the next six months, 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:34.400 it's not going to be a rate cut over the 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:38.480 next six months. That is absolutely disastrous. But then also 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:42.120 on the national security front and his weak handling of 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:46.000 these issues have come under scrutiny. Last night I brought 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:50.280 you the exclusive remarks from AZEO Director General Mike Burgess. 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:53.920 He called the comments by the Iranian Ambassador to Australia 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:59.080 disgraceful and deeply unhelpful. But the ambassador hasn't even been 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:02.200 hauled into a minute offers. And then also this week 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:04.439 our terror threat level raised to probable. 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:05.760 This is a worrying sign. 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:10.920 And then Labor is still not stopping millions of dollars 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:14.240 in hard earned taxpayer funds being sent to a United 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:19.240 Nations agency despite its staff having undeniable links with a 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:24.360 terrorist group. I mean, Michael Kroger. Some leaders rise to 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:28.760 meet the crises of the times, but not Albanezi. 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:35.160 Weakness is provocative, and Albanesi has been hopeless, hopeless on 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:38.800 the Middle East, hopeless on Israel. The only person who's 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:40.800 put in a worse performance than him is Penny Wong, 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:44.160 who wouldn't even visit the Nava music festival, side wouldn't 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:48.559 visit the Kible scene in on the on the border 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:51.480 with Gaza when she was there in January. He seems 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:53.520 to agree with the last person that speaks to him, 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:55.280 and so does she. So they go to America. I 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:58.720 es the Americans got to do more with Americans. She 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:02.560 meets the head of the Australian Palestinian Network and gets 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:06.160 photographed with him. People complain about funding to UNRAS, so 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:10.120 she increases the She restores the funding before the final report, 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:14.679 et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, allowing two thousand people 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:19.640 circa from Gaza to come to Australia, and now Tony 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.280 Burke because he's trying to win votes amongst the Muslim 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:25.640 community to give them some kind of residency here. Well, 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:29.040 I'm sorry, How many Hammas supporters are there amongst those 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:31.840 two thousand, because seventy percent of people in Gaza who 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:37.079 have been polled support Hamas. And how many refugees have 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:40.360 been taken by the Jordanians? Look at the Jordanians, I 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:44.120 mean that Jordanians. King has Saying expelled the po in 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:48.360 nineteen seventy one. King Abdullah expelled the Hummas leadership from 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:51.199 Jordan in nineteen ninety nine, right. 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:52.160 Why did they do that? 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:55.199 Because they took the view that the Palestinian leadership of 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.120 Hummas were trying to create a state within a state. 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.080 How familiar is that? And they were built by Jordan. 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:06.360 How many refugees from Gaza have gone to Jordan or 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:10.920 Egypt or Lebanon or Syria? Answer? None, except for those 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:14.160 that have paid across the border into Egypt. None. None. 0:14:14.280 --> 0:14:17.600 Why are we taking these refugees at a time when 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:22.120 there is enough social dislocation in this country largely caused 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:27.880 and fueled by these disgusting anti Jewish demonstrations and universities 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:30.120 in streets and now in retail shops. 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.200 Sherry, It's an excellent point. 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:34.960 And actually the Australians Foreign editor Greg Sheridan was on 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:38.200 with Peter Kredlin. Earlier Michael Krogan, he made a very 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:42.920 similar point. He said, why fly Palestinians all the way 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:50.000 to Australia when Arab nations are surrounding Gaza? Why aren't 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.440 they going to any of the surrounding Arab nations. That's 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:56.080 exact question, the point you made. And you know, fine, 0:14:56.160 --> 0:15:00.120 if there are genuine refugees, our heart goes out to 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:04.920 any families who are in trouble who need help. But 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:08.720 the security checks, as we've shown over and over again, 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:09.760 are not being. 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:13.440 Done, but being done in as little as one hour. 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:16.920 You can't rule out that someone, whether or not someone 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:22.120 has terrorist associations, in as little as one hour. Actually, 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.080 let's have a look at some of the other things 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:25.640 Greg Sheridan had to say tonight. 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.560 I'm a great admirer of Mike Burgess, the head of ASIO, 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:32.760 but I thought he said some ridiculous things this week. 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:37.160 He said Islamophobia is more or less equal to anti Semitism. Well, 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.680 that's just preposterous if he believes that he's taking some 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:45.200 hallucinogenic in his morning coffee. He also was instructing people 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.960 how to speak. I don't think that's the job of 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.920 the Director General of ASIO. That's the government trying to 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:55.360 misuse the institutional authority of ASIO. And he did an 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:57.640 interview with your colleague Laura Jays and he referred to 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:02.680 Christian terrorism, but he wouldn't refer to Islamus terrorism. I 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:08.440 think the government's gone really off the track this week, Richard, 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:09.000 What do you. 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:09.480 Think about that? 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:12.320 Do you think that criticism of Mike Burgess from Greg 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:13.800 Sheridan is fair? 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:15.800 Ah? 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:20.680 Sadly, I think yes. I don't think that Burgess has 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:24.160 had his greatest week. I think some of his remarks 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:30.840 have been out of place, and it doesn't it doesn't 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:36.120 reflect well on him. But I think Albo still knows 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:40.360 he's still got a good political nose. He understands where 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:42.560 he must stand and he will stand. 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:46.760 Let's have a look at the Airiring coul fired power 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:51.200 station now under Matt Kean, the former Treasurer and Energy minister. 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:54.000 There were plans to shut it down in August next year. 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:58.280 The new Labor Premier, Chris Mins, extended its life cycle. 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:02.840 Will we find out today that just how much higher 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:06.040 power prices would have been had it shut down? Fifty 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.119 five dollars lower every megawatt hour. 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:10.000 Michael. 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:13.480 This advice apparently shaped Chris Mins's deal with Origin Energy 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:16.280 to extend the life of aerering, which is obviously a 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:17.520 very sensible decision. 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:24.480 Well, another good decision by Chris Mins, who is becoming 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:30.040 a very sensible premiere in New South Wales, apart from 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.639 the fact that his police force haven't yet prosecuted anyone 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:37.960 for the riots and the anti Jewish riots at the 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:41.240 Opera House, but that's another issue. Look, I think what 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.080 this shows is this that the Australian public, and through 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:47.200 the polling you mentioned before, Sharry, the Australian public are 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:49.840 coming to the view that renewables may not be cheaper 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.840 and may not be as reliable, and they don't want blackouts, 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:56.960 and they understand that you need base load power to 0:17:57.040 --> 0:17:57.760 keep the lights on. 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:00.720 And you know, we know that. 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:06.160 Hospitals need continuous electricity. Okay, they've got generators in case 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:09.320 of blackout, but they're diesel fueled in most cases. And 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:12.920 so this whole Chris Bowen notion that he keeps repeating 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:16.600 this mantra of it's cheaper, it's cheaper cheaper, people are 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:19.439 now thinking that may not be right and it's certainly 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:21.240 not as reliable, and this is one of the great 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:23.679 problems Albo's got. He's been trying to sell this thing 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:27.880 to the public and the public's own right, their own experiences. 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.280 Not only haven't bills gone down to seventy five, they've 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:32.880 gone up twenty and twenty three percent in the last 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:35.600 year in the case of gas and electricity. It's just 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:39.200 not becoming believable and Albow has been caught out again 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:40.520 unfortunately for him. 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:44.159 Final word, rich I mean Matt Kean had failed to 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:46.920 do the deal to extend the eraring life cycle when 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:49.680 he was minister, but he's now the Albaneze government's top 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:51.440 climate change authority guy. 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:58.000 Yeah, Samrony there. Matt Keane's a great survivor and seems 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:03.560 to be able to sell himself to anyone. So I'm 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:07.000 a fan. That's what politics is about. You've got to 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:10.159 have the capacity to move when you need to and 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:10.920 move quickly. 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:14.280 Well, there you go, all right, Graham Richards and Michael Kroger. 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:17.880 Great to see you as always on a Wednesday. Now, 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:18.600 as we've been. 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:21.080 Discussing at the start of the show, inflation is proving 0:19:21.280 --> 0:19:24.679 persistent and sticky. Cost of living pressures are still hurting 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:28.520 families and there's no interest rate relief at least for 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:32.399 the next six months. For some expert analysis, Economics editor 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:34.600 at The Australian, Judith Sloan joins me. 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.399 Now, Judith, great to see you. Look. 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:40.800 I thought these comments by the RBA Governor Michelle Bullock, 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:44.679 where she actually mentioned government spending, I thought that was 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:49.600 extremely rare because usually we've seen the RBA refrain from 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:52.800 giving any sort of commentary that could be critical of 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:55.960 the federal government's decision. So does this indicate a level 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:59.680 of frustration at the Central Bank that spending both the 0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:03.280 states in federal governments is stopping their ability to rain 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:03.960 in inflation. 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:09.600 Yes, I think she's proving to be tougher than I 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:12.520 thought she might have been. Actually, she's a country girl. 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:19.360 She tends to call a spade a spade, and. 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:20.680 In fact, you know this. 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:24.400 Idea of the press conference after the release of the decision, 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:25.520 this is an innovation. 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:27.200 I think the. 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:30.800 Journalists are getting better at asking questions too. But I 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:35.800 think she's fairly forthright. But I would also alert attention 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:42.199 for the audience to the actual release, the release in 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:46.719 words and that was very strong. You know, in the 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:49.080 context of the Olympics. It sort of reminds me of 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:52.600 those races where there are sort of two often men, 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:56.399 often in a long race, or in boxing or something, 0:20:56.600 --> 0:21:01.040 where this is this sort of word competition. So that's 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:04.360 kind of what's happening, you know. I mean Jim Chalmers, 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:06.560 I think really doesn't understand it. 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:08.000 I think he thinks. 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:12.920 That he's got this licked because he's sort of introducing these, 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:17.240 for example, energy subsidies and that will reduce headline inflation. 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:20.200 And then the Reserve Bank, you know, that gets battered 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:22.119 off to them and they say no, no, no, we 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:24.320 don't take any notice of those subsidies. 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:26.200 And you know, bear in mind. 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:30.520 Shari, we're talking about inflation not coming back into target 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:33.960 till the end of next year, and it's actually the 0:21:34.040 --> 0:21:37.000 year after that when within the middle of the target. 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:40.439 So this is a very long time and the longer 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:42.439 it goes on, the more costly it is. 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:48.520 Look, you've absolutely slaughtered the treasurer and your latest to column. 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:52.119 But you know there are some positive points, aren't there, Judith. 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:54.679 I mean, he has delivered two budget surpluses. 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:58.720 He has rained in spending to some extent. 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:02.640 I mean, the level of spending for a labor government 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:05.760 what his colleagues would have wanted to spend on. He 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:09.000 has managed to keep that relatively in check. 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:11.480 So do you give him credit for at least those 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:11.880 two things. 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:14.960 And on the energy subsidies as we've been discussing tonight, Yep, 0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:17.520 they'll rise again when those subsidies come off, but at 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:20.840 least for now, it does make life a bit easier 0:22:20.880 --> 0:22:22.360 for families, doesn't it. 0:22:24.440 --> 0:22:26.479 Well, of course, I mean that's the politics of it, 0:22:26.520 --> 0:22:27.639 and I accept that. 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:29.320 No. 0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:33.720 No, I think as an economic policy maker, he's been terrible. 0:22:34.240 --> 0:22:37.840 And the two surpluses that they've been able to achieve, 0:22:38.440 --> 0:22:41.040 you know, the driver's dog would have achieved those surpluses 0:22:41.080 --> 0:22:44.919 because they were essentially because of the high commodity prices 0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:48.440 and the surgeon company tax revenue, and also the fact 0:22:49.000 --> 0:22:52.280 that income tax payers we're getting hit through bracket creep. 0:22:53.600 --> 0:22:53.800 No. 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:56.760 No, if you look, he kind of did a slightly 0:22:56.840 --> 0:22:59.760 okay job initially, but that was partly because the COVID 0:22:59.720 --> 0:23:03.560 sped was coming off. But if you look at this 0:23:03.720 --> 0:23:05.840 financial year and next financial year. 0:23:05.680 --> 0:23:07.280 They're expecting big deficits. 0:23:07.320 --> 0:23:10.600 I mean, I can't believe that he has the hide 0:23:11.200 --> 0:23:14.320