Speaker 1: Live on Sky News. This is Shari. Welcome to Shari
Speaker 1: stee Price with you all this week.
Speaker 2: Now, of course, Parliament's back, as we've seen with the
Speaker 2: first question time. I'll deal with how that went shortly.
Speaker 2: Labor are definitely happy with themselves, aren't they, after that
Speaker 2: big may win, as.
Speaker 1: They should be.
Speaker 2: I just hope they realize that the country they're actually
Speaker 2: been put in charge of to run is not in
Speaker 2: great shape. House prices, rents, You've even got rising unemployment now,
Speaker 2: higher energy prices and a rundown defense force. There's a
Speaker 2: hell of a lot of work to do. Labour's got
Speaker 2: the numbers big time, but they've also got a massive
Speaker 2: job to get the country back on track. Now. Coming
Speaker 2: up on Shari Tonight intends to make today around Australia's
Speaker 2: continued signing up to net zero emissions targets, with the
Speaker 2: Nationals Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack calling for that binding
Speaker 2: ambition to be dumped. I'll talk shortly with Barnaby Joyce
Speaker 2: on Labor and the Hubris on Show today Labor veteran
Speaker 2: Graham Richardson. I want to us rich O whether that's controllable.
Speaker 2: Rich O and Michael Kroger up in just one moment
Speaker 2: plus the latest on that South Australian algae bloom disaster.
Speaker 2: I mean, the federal governed had to be dragged, kicking
Speaker 2: and screaming to do anything about it. I'll find out
Speaker 2: whether the rescue package actually is good enough. But first though,
Speaker 2: on the economic health of our country. Let's get serious.
Speaker 2: We have become a nation of leaners, not leaders, and
Speaker 2: I hate to say that we have continued to swamp
Speaker 2: the country with unprecedented numbers of migrants. We have workers
Speaker 2: relying on governments for their pay packets grow, that grows
Speaker 2: alarmingly and a report out today should surprise but not
Speaker 2: shock anyone. The Center for Independent Studies has found that
Speaker 2: more than half of Australian workers rely on one government
Speaker 2: or another federal state, presumably for most of their income.
Speaker 2: I mean this is a combination of direct wages, government
Speaker 2: benefits or direct subsidies. I mean half of people, half
Speaker 2: the nation now. Economist Robert Carling has told Scott Today
Speaker 2: that federal spending alone has now reached twenty seven point
Speaker 2: six percent of GDP. How can that be sustainable? Ten
Speaker 2: years ago it was high enough, it was twenty four
Speaker 2: to twenty five, still way too high. And according to
Speaker 2: that report, spending is driven largely by a small group
Speaker 2: of programs including, surprise surprise, the NDIS, age Care, Medicare
Speaker 2: and defense. NDIS is actually costing taxpayers more than what
Speaker 2: we spend on defense. How crazy is that this year
Speaker 2: alone fifty two billion dollars on the ndis simply not
Speaker 2: sustainable and does anyone in their right mind believe labor
Speaker 2: is seriously going to rain those figures? In defense spending
Speaker 2: is fifty one billion and should be more. Simply put,
Speaker 2: we are spending like a bunch of drunken sailors, and
Speaker 2: there seems no willingness in Canberra or in need in
Speaker 2: the states like Victoria to run it in. Indeed, it seems
Speaker 2: the answer labor has is to not stop spending, but
Speaker 2: surprise surprise, to raise taxes. Now, the Roundtable in August
Speaker 2: hosted by Jim Charmers, will I predict nothing to increase productivity,
Speaker 2: but is more likely to already have a raft of
Speaker 2: tax increases designed by Treasury and ready to be wheeled out. Now,
Speaker 2: think about that a labor government three months in with
Speaker 2: three years and almost certainly six years to go. Given
Speaker 2: their majority, will be sorely tempted to wheel out the
Speaker 2: bad news early on. Government's always do that. I mean,
Speaker 2: when you get elected, get out the bad news before
Speaker 2: you get close to an election. Australians with superinvestments, real
Speaker 2: estate investments and the like, that will be likely the
Speaker 2: targets evenly. Treasury briefings talk about finding quote, additional revenue.
Speaker 2: I mean that's not code. That's a direct and pointed
Speaker 2: suggestion that your taxes must go up.
Speaker 1: At the end of question.
Speaker 2: Time, one labor leader in the House, Tony Burke, wrap
Speaker 2: things up bragging about how labor will spend your money today.
Speaker 3: Because the government is labor. We have started the pathway
Speaker 3: for twenty percent off student debt. We will go on
Speaker 3: with legislation to make sure that penalty rates for workers
Speaker 3: are guaranteed. That will happen because the government is labor.
Speaker 3: We will continue to have tax cuts for every taxpayer
Speaker 3: because the government is labor. There'll be more free GP
Speaker 3: visits because the government is labor. They'll be even cheaper medicines.
Speaker 3: Because the government is labor.
Speaker 2: Doesn't sound much like spending cuts to me, and I
Speaker 2: don't think it would to you either. And of course
Speaker 2: the Minister in Charge of Climate Change, Chris Bowen, well,
Speaker 2: he couldn't resist continuing his crazy Uncle act that we
Speaker 2: saw in the last parliament.
Speaker 4: The new dream Team, the dream couple, the Member of
Speaker 4: New England, Member A Riverina out there this morning backing
Speaker 4: each other in the Memaphi Riverina said on the Kieren
Speaker 4: Gilbert Show, where Virilam, we're out there, he said, a
Speaker 4: Member for New England and a Member of Riverina.
Speaker 1: Now this is not his Tinder profile. This is his
Speaker 1: dream ticket. This is his dream ticket.
Speaker 3: He's not looking to swipe right, He's looking to swipe
Speaker 3: out the Member for.
Speaker 4: Maroanomas as beggars what he's trying to do.
Speaker 1: But they're trying. They're trying to betray the.
Speaker 4: Member for Maranoa. But what they're really doing is betraying people,
Speaker 4: a rule and regional Australia.
Speaker 2: As I said, the crazy Uncle. Now one thing that
Speaker 2: did stand out for me and I'll get rich O
Speaker 2: and Michael's opinion on this in a moment, the number
Speaker 2: of times the Prime Minister in question time addressed his
Speaker 2: own side, looking backwards off Mike rather than eyeballing the opposition,
Speaker 2: giving a signal I believe that he doesn't really rate them.
Speaker 5: Australia participates in exercises in the South China Sea in
Speaker 5: the region in a consistent way, not just Australia, and
Speaker 5: at the same time, of course our Talisman Saber exercises
Speaker 5: were occurring, but we regularly participate, not just as a
Speaker 5: nation state, but we've participated as well with our ally
Speaker 5: in the United States.
Speaker 2: Talking to his own front bench. Now for the opposition,
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what it's going to be a long
Speaker 2: three possibly six years.
Speaker 1: Let's get straight into it.
Speaker 2: Tonight's panel joins me, Joining me former Victorian Liberal Party
Speaker 2: president Michael Kroger and former Labor Senator Graham Richardson. Rich O,
Speaker 2: first to you, how hard is it going to be
Speaker 2: for Anthony Albanezi the PM, to wrangle that huge caucus
Speaker 2: and stomp on any hubris that might emerge.
Speaker 6: Probably not as hard as you think, because he's earned
Speaker 6: that huge majority and that gives him enormous respect. So
Speaker 6: I think, you know, think the corpus will want to
Speaker 6: try and do the right thing, want to try and
Speaker 6: be as unified as possible.
Speaker 2: Michael, what did you make of the opposition's first up
Speaker 2: effort today? I mean, I was very surprised at where
Speaker 2: they took question time concentrating on superannuation. There's so much
Speaker 2: more low hanging fruit that they could have used, I
Speaker 2: think more effectively.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'm not sorry sure about that, Steve. Look, Australia
Speaker 7: has a very serious financial problem, which is that the
Speaker 7: gross federal government debt is going to increase about nine
Speaker 7: hundred billion when Albanesi came to office and by the
Speaker 7: time the next election will be one point two trillion.
Speaker 7: So debt will increase in this country three hundred billion
Speaker 7: dollars over the life of these two parliaments.
Speaker 1: What does that mean.
Speaker 7: Well, he can't cut expenditure, we know that, he can't deregulate,
Speaker 7: we know that, so he's going to have to increase taxes.
Speaker 7: So Susan Lee, concentrating on taxes I thought was the
Speaker 7: appropriate thing to do because you can't sustain these massive
Speaker 7: increase increases in government debt that we're seeing. So the
Speaker 7: next three years is going to be an arguing about
Speaker 7: government's spending and debt and the financial bizaster that this
Speaker 7: mob we're going to leave us with, I mean, cheering
Speaker 7: each other on that they cut student debt today, great
Speaker 7: well it cost sixteen billion. Who's paying for that?
Speaker 1: Well, we are, of course rich. Are you been there?
Speaker 2: I mean, what happens when you get elected as a
Speaker 2: new government and one of a thumping majority like our
Speaker 2: Albaneze has got you wheel out any bad news that
Speaker 2: you might be intending to deliver over the next three
Speaker 2: years as soon as you can, don'd you? And so
Speaker 2: Michael's argument that we're going to get tax increases, do
Speaker 2: you agree that's probably the road we're going to go down.
Speaker 6: I hope it's not, but I can't rule it out.
Speaker 6: You know, tax increases sometimes are very hard for governments
Speaker 6: to resist, and you know, I can imagine that it's
Speaker 6: possible in this environment for that to occur.
Speaker 2: Michael the country's third largest superannuation fund talking about super
Speaker 2: host Plus. They're not happy with Labour, saying there's not
Speaker 2: been adequate consultation for this super tax plan. Host Plus
Speaker 2: says that the unrealized gains tax needs to be reconsidered.
Speaker 2: I've got a weird theory on this year. Think that
Speaker 2: it is possible that someone got into the ear of
Speaker 2: someone on the host plus board and said, when you
Speaker 2: get this back on the agenda and argue about it
Speaker 2: and give us some cover and we might actually start
Speaker 2: thinking about whether we drop this unrealized profits part of
Speaker 2: the tax.
Speaker 7: That might have happened, But they don't show any inclination
Speaker 7: to drop it. See, if they took that policy to
Speaker 7: the election, it was out there for everybody to see.
Speaker 7: And because Jim Chalmers convinced people that it didn't really
Speaker 7: affect anybody in this country apart from, you know, a
Speaker 7: few very wealthy people, they proceeded with it. No one noticed,
Speaker 7: and Labour got a hefty swing to them, so it
Speaker 7: wasn't unpopular in the electorate. What will be unpopular is
Speaker 7: when they expand unrealized capital gains taxes or get rid
Speaker 7: of the capital gains tax discount, et cetera, or bring
Speaker 7: in inheritance taxes, or bringing with the compliance of the
Speaker 7: states that increase in the GST. I mean tax is
Speaker 7: going to have to increase in this country. We're going
Speaker 7: to be an economic basket case. If they don't increase taxes.
Speaker 7: That's the only way. That's the only labor way. They've
Speaker 7: done in Victoria with disastrous consequences. But if you can't
Speaker 7: cut spending and you can't deregulate to increase growth GDP growth.
Speaker 1: You're anger left with one option.
Speaker 7: The other option is you just sit there like a
Speaker 7: vegetable and see debt in this country go to unpalatable
Speaker 7: levels as we're seeing in America. I mean debt in
Speaker 7: America now because of these recent changes, are going from
Speaker 7: thirty six to thirty nine trillion. Kirstarmer just tried to
Speaker 7: cut debt in government expenditure, therefore debt in Britain and
Speaker 7: got a whack over the head. Labor governments can't cut
Speaker 7: a debt conservative governments. If you called from a conservative,
Speaker 7: you're happy to increase debt.
Speaker 8: This is a.
Speaker 7: Worldwide Western society problem that no one seems to be
Speaker 7: able to address. But sooner or later, as we say,
Speaker 7: the economic reality stick will hit these governments with disasters consequences.
Speaker 2: Graham I mentioned NDS and the figure of fifty one billion.
Speaker 2: We're now spending more on the disability insurance scheme than
Speaker 2: we are on defense.
Speaker 1: It's very difficult to.
Speaker 2: Rain that in because you are immediately targeted as someone
Speaker 2: who doesn't care about the disabled. But that's not sustainable,
Speaker 2: is it? Fifty one billion?
Speaker 6: I wouldn't have thought. So something will have to be
Speaker 6: done about that. It's a matter of what goes against
Speaker 6: Labour's grain, and we're not champions at cutting debt. I
Speaker 6: have to concede, but we're at a time we need to.
Speaker 1: That's a polite way to put it.
Speaker 2: Michael, you and I living in Victoria, I can't believe
Speaker 2: this crime crisis. I mean we've talked about it over
Speaker 2: and over and over again. This government has absolutely let
Speaker 2: crime get out of control. We've had a bloke threatened
Speaker 2: with a knife during a violent kidnapping in Melbourne.
Speaker 1: That was last night.
Speaker 2: At the weekend, a bloke in a shopping center had
Speaker 2: his phone stolen and his hand cut off. Nine petrol
Speaker 2: stations and grocery stores were targeted. I went to my
Speaker 2: local liquor land yesterday. The young bloke working in there
Speaker 2: has got the door locked. When he opened it up
Speaker 2: and I went in to buy a bottle of whiskey,
Speaker 2: he said, well, I have to have the door lock
Speaker 2: because we've been robbed thirty times in this week alone.
Speaker 2: I mean, how long are we going to let this
Speaker 2: be out of control?
Speaker 7: Well, let's hope that in Novema next year we can
Speaker 7: pump the airline government. I mean, crimes out of Victoria's
Speaker 7: basically a law of state. To honest, I mean, we
Speaker 7: have synagogue's fire bond here, we have tobacco shops fire
Speaker 7: bond every every week or so. We've got these illegal
Speaker 7: tobacco sales everywhere, and we've got Middle Eastern crime, gangs,
Speaker 7: youth crime, bail problems.
Speaker 1: Victoria is basically laws and it's bankrupt.
Speaker 7: So you know, if you worry about the federal bit,
Speaker 7: the gross dead in Victoria, by the way, in a
Speaker 7: few years time is going to be three hundred billion.
Speaker 7: That's just in Victoria. I mean, just just ciner Allen
Speaker 7: has bankrupted Victoria. What's the consequence of that. Well, sooner
Speaker 7: or later, the labor governments they started to sack public
Speaker 7: servants here because they've got no money in the bankrupt
Speaker 7: Sooner or later they're going to have to cut back
Speaker 7: on schools and hospital funding here because there's no there's
Speaker 7: no other there's no other choice.
Speaker 1: I mean, you.
Speaker 7: Can't, you can't let spending grow out of control to
Speaker 7: the extent that it has, so no, you know, as
Speaker 7: well as Victoria is a total baster case, crime is
Speaker 7: just one of the very serious problems we've got in
Speaker 7: the state. Anti sembinism is out of control in the state,
Speaker 7: et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 2: Graham, As you know, I lived in Sydney for a
Speaker 2: long time. The situation up there doesn't appear to be
Speaker 2: as bad as what it is in Melbourne.
Speaker 1: Is that how you see it?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think that's probably right.
Speaker 6: But of course you know Sydney is a superior city
Speaker 6: and so you'd have to expect that.
Speaker 2: He couldn't resist, couldie Michael Kraigner, Graham Richardson, Thanks a.
Speaker 1: Lot, Thanks, thank you.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's catch up with National's back bench of Barnaby Joyce, who,
Speaker 2: of course today was making headlines with his new bromance
Speaker 2: with fellow former NAT's leader Michael McCormack and this Private
Speaker 2: Members bill wanting a debate. Well more than that, Barnaby
Speaker 2: wants net zero us signing up to it dumped.
Speaker 1: Barnaby.
Speaker 2: Thanks for your time, and it's been a really busy day.
Speaker 2: You called I think net zero the head of the
Speaker 2: net zero serpent. Can you explain to me what you
Speaker 2: meant by that?
Speaker 8: Well, Steve, and good evening listeners.
Speaker 9: What we've got in Australia is you've seen it tonight
Speaker 9: on your stable TCV and the just is this Australia
Speaker 9: people just charging over people's farms twelve thousand dollars fine.
Speaker 9: I think they mentioned if you dare to sort of
Speaker 9: stop someone intruding into your own land. We're seeing people
Speaker 9: pushed out of their houses, they can't afford their power bill,
Speaker 9: living in cars.
Speaker 8: That is actually really happening.
Speaker 9: We're seeing the desecration of the landscape with wind towers
Speaker 9: and solar panels. You'veimistically called farms. They always put that
Speaker 9: weasily nominoclatter in it. They're not farms did amint a
Speaker 9: power precincts, and they're not renewable their future landfill from
Speaker 9: obsolescence that'll just rotten a paddock for most of it.
Speaker 9: And we are what were doing to this nation. Even
Speaker 9: on the ABC the other night they were talking about
Speaker 9: that basically the massive diminution of our manufacturing capacity, the
Speaker 9: de industrialization of Australia. And we've got China breathing down
Speaker 9: our neck and we're trying to do everything in our
Speaker 9: power to make ourselves power less. So where is the
Speaker 9: source of this? And the head of the serpent is
Speaker 9: net zero? A lunatic policy, complete lunacy that somehow in
Speaker 9: that building, there's an action that can be taken at
Speaker 9: the dispatch box which will get rid of droughts and
Speaker 9: cyclones and stop animals going extinct and warm and cool
Speaker 9: the ocean, and you know, it'll do everything, change the
Speaker 9: temperature of the globe, change all that up there, just
Speaker 9: because cris Bone says so, even though China is not
Speaker 9: participating in it, Russia's not participating, in the United States
Speaker 9: not participating in Indonesia's not participating in it.
Speaker 8: You know, Brazil, most.
Speaker 9: Of Southeast Asia, most of Africa, what it is. You'll
Speaker 9: see some participation in it by some in Europe, but
Speaker 9: even there England, if they change government, it won't be
Speaker 9: participating it. Even just across the ditch, New Zeal's not
Speaker 9: participating in it. So it will have no effect. But
Speaker 9: the self immolation of our own nation. What a ridiculous lunacy.
Speaker 9: Let's get the hell out of it.
Speaker 2: So let's go back in time. But you're a senior
Speaker 2: member of a coalition government. You're, in fact rose the
Speaker 2: position of deputy prime minister. Why the hell did the
Speaker 2: coalition during those leaders sign up to this in the
Speaker 2: first place. Take me inside the internal debate that musket
Speaker 2: you must have been heavily involved in about whether to
Speaker 2: sign up on slertly.
Speaker 9: I always voted against it. I've argued against it. I
Speaker 9: thought it was lunacy from the start. But in a position,
Speaker 9: especially within government of executive office, you're bound by cabinet solidarity,
Speaker 9: which I complied with, and even in the National's Party
Speaker 9: room after I'd cut that deal, which got about thirty
Speaker 9: two billion dollars worth of infrastructure Urana Dam, Hellsgate Dam,
Speaker 9: Bowen pipeline, intermodals for Catherine Tenant Kreeg, upgrade of roads,
Speaker 9: Allied Health for Western Victoria, and on and on and on.
Speaker 8: It goes, upgrade of airports, you name it, we got it.
Speaker 9: After I'd cut that deal, I went back to the
Speaker 9: room and I said, look, you'll have to have a vote.
Speaker 9: I voted against it, and which was splendidly put in
Speaker 9: the paper by one of my colleagues. But that was
Speaker 9: good actually, because for the record people know that I've
Speaker 9: never supported it, and even Peter Dutton, how I get
Speaker 9: along with but he ringing up, berating me, threatening to
Speaker 9: sack me if I'm not more foolsome than.
Speaker 8: My support in net zero, which I could never be.
Speaker 9: It's a nutcase policy, and the rest of the world
Speaker 9: has found that we're not doing something unique here, Steve,
Speaker 9: We're just catching up to We're the majority of the
Speaker 9: people on the globe and the majority of the economy
Speaker 9: on the globe have already got to it's crazy.
Speaker 2: I'm going to describe for you in a moment one
Speaker 2: of these so called wind farms that I visited in
Speaker 2: Victoria at the weekend, and I was just horrified and
Speaker 2: I couldn't believe what I was seeing. But here's Michael McCormack,
Speaker 2: who you've now teamed up with, and he was asked
Speaker 2: about what's going to happen with net zero today.
Speaker 9: Hey, listen, do you think the majority of your party
Speaker 9: colleagues agree with Barnaby and you?
Speaker 1: I'd like to think so.
Speaker 8: I'm repealing the to.
Speaker 2: I'd like to think so do they. I mean, how
Speaker 2: many in the National Party. Actually they may not come
Speaker 2: out publicly, they're not as brave perhaps as you and
Speaker 2: McCormack are, But how many around that National Party party
Speaker 2: room actually agree with you? I mean, anyone who lives
Speaker 2: in the bush surely must agree.
Speaker 9: You know, Steve, if I wanted to lose the seat
Speaker 9: of New England. I know exactly how I'd do it.
Speaker 9: I'd go back to the people of New England and
Speaker 9: say I believe in intimnate power and we should have
Speaker 9: more intimindent power rolled out. And I would go from
Speaker 9: on the safest seats in Australia to stacking shelves at
Speaker 9: Bunnings in one fell swoop. It is we have now
Speaker 9: seen at a party level. Remember the National Party of
Speaker 9: New South Wales has as policy from its last conference
Speaker 9: who get rid of net zero. The COLP in the
Speaker 9: Northern Territory has policy to get rid of net zero.
Speaker 9: The Liberal Party in South Australia has a policy at
Speaker 9: the party level the members level to get rid of
Speaker 9: net zero. The Canning branch of the Liberal Party in
Speaker 9: Western Australia has passed the motion to get rid of
Speaker 9: net zero. The White Bay branch of the LMP in
Speaker 9: Queensland has passed the motion to getting in it rid
Speaker 9: of net zero. We are following on this one. We
Speaker 9: are following the members and we are following the street.
Speaker 8: We are not leading.
Speaker 9: And you know I think that for myself, michae LeAnn
Speaker 9: and many others it's not just about it's not for
Speaker 9: God's sake, it's not about me. It is basically catching
Speaker 9: up to where other people want us to be. See
Speaker 9: at the start, Steve, they thought that net zero was
Speaker 9: this innocuous thing and it sounds good and the kids
Speaker 9: like it.
Speaker 8: A do it. And then they've come out of and went,
Speaker 8: what the hell is this? What are you doing to us?
Speaker 9: And they go no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 9: no stop And that's what we've.
Speaker 8: Got to do.
Speaker 2: So David Little Proud, the head of the National Party,
Speaker 2: he says that he's committed to net zero. The coalition
Speaker 2: split earlier this year was the net zero question ever
Speaker 2: part of the negotiations to get back together and could
Speaker 2: have been a deal breaker. I mean, if David littl
Speaker 2: Proud had said to Susan Lee not we're out of
Speaker 2: net zero, would she have walked away from the coalition agreement?
Speaker 9: Do you think it would have been a different scenario.
Speaker 8: But it wasn't about net zero.
Speaker 9: But you know, that always concerns me because if someone said,
Speaker 9: what's the biggest issue around, said, man, that zero, because
Speaker 9: it's you know, that's the one. You can't say I
Speaker 9: believe in that zero. But I don't want the transmission lines.
Speaker 9: I believe in that zero, But I don't want the
Speaker 9: swindle factories, the solar panels and the wind house. I
Speaker 9: believe in that zero. But you know, I'm really worried
Speaker 9: about power prices. You can't do it like if you don't.
Speaker 9: If you want to help the pensioners, you're going to
Speaker 9: go to choice. You can believe in the Powers agreement,
Speaker 9: or you can believe in pensioners and lower of power prices.
Speaker 9: You can't have both. And I'm going to go with
Speaker 9: the pensioners and reduce power prices. And that's not unique
Speaker 9: because that's where the rest of the world's gone, and
Speaker 9: that's where I honestly believe the majority of the people are.
Speaker 9: And even if they're not, I think the job of
Speaker 9: us in this building is to clearly and cogently.
Speaker 8: Provide the facts.
Speaker 9: And enunciate the policy in such a form as you
Speaker 9: take them with them. We did that on the Voice,
Speaker 9: We've done it before the carbon tax, the ETS. It's
Speaker 9: happened multiple times. I've been down this path multiple times,
Speaker 9: and you've got to sit back and look at it
Speaker 9: and go is it right or is it wrong? Is
Speaker 9: it good for our nation is a bad found nation,
Speaker 9: and it's not it's wrong.
Speaker 2: Well, a global warming argument is a cult as we
Speaker 2: know now. I was in regional Victoria at the weekend.
Speaker 2: The anger around wind turbines in the front bar of
Speaker 2: the pubs I was in was palpable. Transmission lines is
Speaker 2: an even bigger argument. So I went to a place
Speaker 2: called Rokewood. Now that's Victoria's biggest win factory. There's one
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty turbines there surrounding a little town of
Speaker 2: two hundred people. And seeing these things up close was
Speaker 2: absolutely frightening. I mean, yes, you've got to see them,
Speaker 2: and I don't think the people are all going, oh,
Speaker 2: these are wonderful things. Have actually ever seen one.
Speaker 8: And they're not beautiful.
Speaker 9: It's changing your whole landscape into an industrial landscape of
Speaker 9: future obsolescence.
Speaker 8: Their statues to obsolescence. These things run out of jews.
Speaker 9: They basically in ten to fifteen years time they have
Speaker 9: to be pulled down. And even the Labor Party, it's
Speaker 9: been a couple of years ago now said that the
Speaker 9: costs of the decommissioning of one with structural imperfections, which
Speaker 9: would have after ten to fifteen years one point six
Speaker 9: million dollars. Now, which cocky round then is going to
Speaker 9: have one point six million dollars per tour?
Speaker 8: Well they won't have. So guess what happens? They fall over?
Speaker 9: Yeah, after a period of time this rust and paddock
Speaker 9: and so they're gonna have land with some neaty value
Speaker 9: and got transmission lize and they're just this, you know,
Speaker 9: this new form of viril and socialism. Like, Steve, I'm
Speaker 9: going to come on to your place if you dare
Speaker 9: stop me. There's an up to twelve thousand dollars. Fine,
Speaker 9: I'm coming with security guards and the police. Watch out, Steve,
Speaker 9: because you stand in my way.
Speaker 8: I'm going to rescue. I know, planes over your place, Steve,
Speaker 8: I'm watching you. This is that?
Speaker 9: Is that Australia? Is that what we've become? You know,
Speaker 9: would you accept that in Mossman? Would you accept that?
Speaker 9: Instant Kilda Cossey wouldn't.
Speaker 8: So why do the people in the regions that what
Speaker 8: you accepted? Do you know what you're doing to us?
Speaker 2: Well they shouldn't have to. They shouldn't have to accept that.
Speaker 2: I mean the other tricky thing is language. I mean
Speaker 2: they call us sing at Rokewood. The Golden planes wind farm.
Speaker 1: Now it's.
Speaker 8: Out.
Speaker 1: I mean serious, foul winble Golden seriously.
Speaker 8: Go way.
Speaker 9: That's that's how, that's how, that's how these swindlers work.
Speaker 8: And if you dare question me to go may.
Speaker 9: I I've been look at this capacity investment scheme. You
Speaker 9: get a return. I got to pay ninety percent of
Speaker 9: your income even.
Speaker 8: If you don't produce powers. I haven't got to rip
Speaker 8: off the taxpayer pay. Is that you know?
Speaker 9: Come on, man, show me the details, show me, show me,
Speaker 9: show me exactly how much again, come on, Chrissy Bowen,
Speaker 9: show us what you're given. A mate, you don't believe
Speaker 9: in climate, You're a denier.
Speaker 8: You're a denier. You're not a blacks.
Speaker 2: When we saw Chris Bowen, saw Chris Boone in parliament
Speaker 2: today he's with his mad uncle impersonation again. What about
Speaker 2: the claim of regional jobs? Just finally, because just send
Speaker 2: her Alan the Premier Victoria when she she ticked off
Speaker 2: on this scene, she said there'd be seven hundred jobs
Speaker 2: in construction and then seventy jobs ongoing. What are the
Speaker 2: jobs ongoing? When these things just stand there and we're around,
Speaker 2: where are the seventy people working? What are they doing well?
Speaker 9: Well, let's let's let's have let's give this one a
Speaker 9: little bit of a run in the park, give a
Speaker 9: bit of a test. There's a town in northern New
Speaker 9: Southalest called glenn anis two billion.
Speaker 8: Dollars worth of swing back around it two billion and
Speaker 8: where the jobs? Wasn't his suburb there there's.
Speaker 9: A couple of people, probably general maintenance, made their flying
Speaker 9: fly out.
Speaker 8: If you talk about the Colin tr took you about.
Speaker 9: Billa Wheeler Gunnada single to and says snook muscle brook,
Speaker 9: Port of Gladston, Port of Newcastle. I can show you
Speaker 9: the jobs, but we told about all these jobs in
Speaker 9: the renewable industry.
Speaker 8: So where's the renewable town. Where's the town with all
Speaker 8: the renewable jobs.
Speaker 9: Look, I can take you to a car park at
Speaker 9: Basewater power Station pack lots of people.
Speaker 8: Make good money.
Speaker 9: But you know I've gone past the swindle factories, the
Speaker 9: swindle fields, and the solar panels and the windows.
Speaker 8: They don't even have a car park.
Speaker 1: Well, but these jobs there was no one when I was.
Speaker 8: Of course, they're not.
Speaker 9: Part of this rubbish, you know, it's all part of this.
Speaker 8: You know, all these renewable jobs. I don't know.
Speaker 9: I live out in the country where they all are,
Speaker 9: and I don't know anybody who's.
Speaker 8: Got one of these renewable jobs.
Speaker 9: I know there's fly and flyout contractors. They turn up
Speaker 9: and live in Donnerville. All the dogs barked out and
Speaker 9: they all live in them and they come in, they
Speaker 9: go out. But there's no permanent jobs made. One to
Speaker 9: a handful, possibly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, mowing the lawn around the base. So finally, what
Speaker 2: happens with the product?
Speaker 8: That's it?
Speaker 5: Now?
Speaker 1: Do you believe?
Speaker 8: Okay, I think we're going to I think.
Speaker 9: The Labor Party will let it be debated. I think,
Speaker 9: you know, I don't what's driving that. I hope it's
Speaker 9: you know, the proper reason, but there's probably some politics
Speaker 9: in there as well. I think certainly the interest you
Speaker 9: saw that today it's gone. It's like you can throw
Speaker 9: matches at logs and nothing ever happens and one day,
Speaker 9: and that's what happens in politics. It's there, and the
Speaker 9: Australian people want this debated. They want it, they want
Speaker 9: it debated, and they want to see.
Speaker 8: Where we are. They want to see where we stand.
Speaker 9: And I think that's that's their right, and I think
Speaker 9: that is going to happen, and it's.
Speaker 8: A debate that we've just got to have.
Speaker 9: And if you're not, you're going to go back to
Speaker 9: those people who you were talking to Steve in Victoria
Speaker 9: and they'll say, what what what did they do.
Speaker 8: In that building?
Speaker 9: Said not much, mate, they just hit it under the carpet,
Speaker 9: went onto the next thing. And that's when people say,
Speaker 9: I'm really over politics and other politicians.
Speaker 8: I'm the party system the way it is. I want an alternative.
Speaker 8: It's not working for me.
Speaker 2: That's what they think. Barnaby joyous, thanks for your time tonight.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it, absolute pleasure. Steve so coming up after
Speaker 2: the break, Labor laughs off. Questions over that super tax
Speaker 2: plan we were talking to Richo and Michael about.
Speaker 1: It's going to be a very long three years.
Speaker 2: Aaron Patrick will have more on that later, but first
Speaker 2: the Senate is cracking down on Mareene for rookie stunt
Speaker 2: as they should yesterday. Liberal MP Julian Lessa will join
Speaker 2: me up next. Welcome back to price In for Shari.
Speaker 2: I'll have another look at that dreadful situation on the
Speaker 2: South Australian coastline around adelaide with that Algie Bloom and
Speaker 2: whether the compensation that the federal government matched by the
Speaker 2: state government has been enough. We'll take you to South Australia.
Speaker 2: Shortly back to care and politics. Now, the Senate has
Speaker 2: as they should have, censured the Greens Deputy Leader Marine
Speaker 2: Ferouki today. Now how she's got a position of authority
Speaker 2: in the Greens is completely beyond me. It shows how
Speaker 2: far that party's just drifted far, far left and they're
Speaker 2: just an activist party.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 2: She pulled a stunt yesterday where she held up a
Speaker 2: sign in protests during the Governor General's speech Sam Austen.
Speaker 2: Now here's what Marine Ferouki had to say about the
Speaker 2: censure motion against her.
Speaker 10: And I will not back down from this call because
Speaker 10: Palestinians are being murdered, starved and displaced by Israel as
Speaker 10: we speak, and all you can do is crack down
Speaker 10: on people who protest, who tell the truth, who hold
Speaker 10: up a mirror to you.
Speaker 2: All joining me now, Shadow General Shadow Attorney General Julian
Speaker 2: Lisa Julian, how's that that woman got a position as
Speaker 2: deputy leader of the Greens or does that say more
Speaker 2: about where the Greens have ended up.
Speaker 11: Well. I do think it says a lot about where
Speaker 11: the Greens have ended up, Steve. I mean, her conduct
Speaker 11: in the Parliament yesterday was just a disgrace. The opening
Speaker 11: of the Parliament is one of the most solemn occasions
Speaker 11: in the parliamentary calendar. We have the Governor General, who's
Speaker 11: the representative of the King, declared the parliament open. This
Speaker 11: occurs in the presence of all the parliamentarians from the
Speaker 11: House and the Senate, as well as judges of the
Speaker 11: High Court and diplomats from around the world. There are
Speaker 11: visitors of plenty in the Parliament. Senator Feriki has the
Speaker 11: right to raise issues and questions in her role as
Speaker 11: a Senate as a senator in the Senate, using its
Speaker 11: normal processes, but to hijack the day and to put
Speaker 11: forward her disgraceful sign was reprehensible and it was right
Speaker 11: that the Senate censured her today, but they could have
Speaker 11: gone further. My colleague Michaelia Cash moved that she actually
Speaker 11: be suspended from the Senate for a period, but Pennywong
Speaker 11: made excuses and the Government wouldn't back this motion. Now
Speaker 11: I think that we will know why that's the case,
Speaker 11: because the Labor Party relies on the Greens preferences at
Speaker 11: election time, and they rely on their votes to get
Speaker 11: the bills passed. So the censer motion was good, but
Speaker 11: it could have gone much further if Pennywong had followed
Speaker 11: the leadership of Michalia Cash.
Speaker 2: What justification did Senator Wong, our Foreign minister, used to
Speaker 2: disagree with Micalia Cash's motion. I mean, surely carrying a
Speaker 2: sign like that, wearing a kefia, making stuff up in
Speaker 2: the Senate deserves some sort of sanction rather than just
Speaker 2: a tap on the sholder, a tap on the hand.
Speaker 11: Well, well, I think that's right, and they had given
Speaker 11: her some sanction as well as stopping her from representing
Speaker 11: the Senate on any committees. But it was a sign
Speaker 11: of the lack of leadership that Pennywong has displayed that
Speaker 11: she didn't back Michaulia Cash's call to suspend her. I
Speaker 11: think a suspension is the right sort of thing, because
Speaker 11: what we see again and again from the Greens is
Speaker 11: a sense that the laws and the conventions of our
Speaker 11: society don't apply to them. And I think it's time
Speaker 11: that law abiding people and people who value the dignity
Speaker 11: of our institutions stood up for our institutions, and we
Speaker 11: just never see enough of that in our country.
Speaker 1: How I mean, this is a difficult question for you.
Speaker 2: But if you rang her or went round and visited
Speaker 2: her office and sat down and said, listen, I'd like
Speaker 2: to have a chat to you about your views on
Speaker 2: what's happening in Palestine, and I'd like to have a
Speaker 2: chat to you about the facts of where the supplies
Speaker 2: of food are and why they're not getting through and
Speaker 2: all of these allegations that Israel is committing genocide and
Speaker 2: trying to starve children to death. Would she be open
Speaker 2: to a discussion or was there just a closed book
Speaker 2: on this.
Speaker 11: I don't know, Steve. I think the Greens on this
Speaker 11: have been completely one sided. We all know what has
Speaker 11: to happen to what's happening in Gaza to an end,
Speaker 11: and that is for Hamas to release the hostages. There've
Speaker 11: been hostages there for nearly two years that they captured
Speaker 11: on October seven, and we want to see a Gaza
Speaker 11: with Hamas playing no role in its future. That has
Speaker 11: been our policy for a long time. That's what needs
Speaker 11: to happen, and that's the best.
Speaker 1: Way to resolve the conflict.
Speaker 11: No one wants to see people starve. People want to
Speaker 11: see the aid get through. But Hamas is the big
Speaker 11: obstacle here and we shouldn't forget that.
Speaker 1: Jollyn.
Speaker 2: Obviously, I was just speaking with Barnaby Joyce talking about
Speaker 2: his stand on net zero. He's on the back bench
Speaker 2: so he's able to put forward a private members Billy
Speaker 2: wants Australia to walk away from net zero. You are
Speaker 2: supportive in my memory of the Australia being connected to
Speaker 2: net zero. You stood on your principles and walked away
Speaker 2: from a front bench job during the Voice campaign. If
Speaker 2: Susan Lead were to change the Liberal Party's support of
Speaker 2: net zero, what would you do.
Speaker 11: Well, We've got a process that's in place because, as
Speaker 11: Susan said many times, our values are not up for review,
Speaker 11: but our policies are. And we've established a special process
Speaker 11: to look at our energy policy and that process is
Speaker 11: being led by the Shadow Minister for Energy Dan teen.
Speaker 11: It involves people from the Liberal Party and the National
Speaker 11: Party and all of us myself included and Barnaby two
Speaker 11: have the chance to make submissions to that committee so
Speaker 11: that we've got a policy that we can take to
Speaker 11: the next election. That will reduce power prices because under
Speaker 11: this government power prices have gone up and up and up,
Speaker 11: improve right reliability and also deal with emissions issues as well.
Speaker 11: So that's the process that we've put forward and that's
Speaker 11: the process that we're all going through at the moment.
Speaker 2: It's a divisive issue. It has caused the coalition trouble
Speaker 2: in the past. Do you how hopeful are you that
Speaker 2: you can come to some agreement with the Nationals and
Speaker 2: move beyond this because labor is just going to make
Speaker 2: a meal of it if you go back to pulling
Speaker 2: each other's arms off over this issue, aren't they.
Speaker 11: Well, the biggest issue, of course, Steve, is getting prices down.
Speaker 11: This is one of those issues that really affects family budgets.
Speaker 11: We all remember before the last election the Prime Minister
Speaker 11: promised he'd cut energy bills by two hundred and seventy
Speaker 11: five dollars. That was one of the biggest lies that's
Speaker 11: ever been told in politics, because all we've seen is
Speaker 11: prices go up and up and up and families are
Speaker 11: struggling to meet their energy bills. We're in the middle
Speaker 11: of winter at the moment. People are having to make
Speaker 11: decisions about whether to put food on the table or
Speaker 11: turn their heating on. We are one of the richest
Speaker 11: countries on the planet. We should be able to do.
Speaker 11: We shouldn't have to put people in that situation, and
Speaker 11: that's why we need a sensible energy policy and I
Speaker 11: have great confidence in Dan teen and the team that
Speaker 11: we will rely a sensible energy policy between now and
Speaker 11: the next election.
Speaker 2: Good on you, Julian, thanks for staying up for us.
Speaker 2: Appreciate it very much. Still to come on, Shari, tonight
Speaker 2: is the Labor govern hoping to brush South Australia's algaie
Speaker 2: crisis under the rug? It sure seems like it. Liberal
Speaker 2: MP Tony Passon will rip in.
Speaker 1: And a little later on.
Speaker 2: Plus, it looks like this second term is going to
Speaker 2: be much of the same if today's question Time was
Speaker 2: anything to go by. So much for second chances. Aaron
Speaker 2: Patrick will discuss their poor performances this afternoon next Welcome
Speaker 2: back to sleep Price in for Shari now. I watched
Speaker 2: most of Question Time today and I didn't think it
Speaker 2: was a particularly sparkling start of the parliamentary year. Labour
Speaker 2: spent most of the time dodging scrutiny and laughing off
Speaker 2: questions about this proposed super tax, accusing the Coalition of
Speaker 2: running another scare campaign. Now, this tax, of course, only
Speaker 2: applies to people with more than three million dollars in superannuation.
Speaker 1: Interestingly, for me, at least.
Speaker 2: Whenever a direct question was asked about the numbers of
Speaker 2: people that this will impact and how it will impact on,
Speaker 2: say a small business or a farm, then we didn't
Speaker 2: get too many answers. The Albertizi government will hike the
Speaker 2: tax rate over three million, from fifteen cents in the
Speaker 2: dollar to thirty on superccounts, as I said, with three
Speaker 2: million dollars joining me now, Chief writer at the Nightly,
Speaker 2: Aaron Patrick. Good to see you again, Aaron. I just
Speaker 2: wonder whether the Coalition picked the right way to start
Speaker 2: the year, given that it is a small number of
Speaker 2: people that this tax would affect, and it is I
Speaker 2: think the unrealized tax on unrealized assets.
Speaker 1: Is the key to it.
Speaker 2: But there's so many other things that the Coalition I
Speaker 2: think could have got into labor about.
Speaker 12: Yes, Steve, you know what, I kind of agree with you.
Speaker 12: I watched question Time pretty closely today, as I know
Speaker 12: you did, and I think those attacks of the super
Speaker 12: tax fell flat, partly because they're not new, you know.
Speaker 12: The Culition ran that argument as hard as they could
Speaker 12: pre election campaign and obviously it had zero impact. So
Speaker 12: I just don't feel it worked today. And clearly the
Speaker 12: government was completely unfazed, you know, and a lot of
Speaker 12: those questions went to the Assistant Minister Daniel Malino, who's
Speaker 12: a really very minor figure in the government. So I
Speaker 12: just don't see how that really played much impact on
Speaker 12: a day that was really important for Susan Lee because
Speaker 12: I was at her first day in question time as
Speaker 12: Opposition leader.
Speaker 2: Well, why wouldn't she have stood up and said, I mean,
Speaker 2: there's a million other questions, but why wouldn't you have said,
Speaker 2: for example, my question is to the Prime Minister leak
Speaker 2: Treasury documents show that they believe you're not going to
Speaker 2: get anywhere near you one point two million. If that's
Speaker 2: the number houses that you are a build, Well, why
Speaker 2: wouldn't you get up and say my question is to
Speaker 2: the Prime minister, are you still having trouble getting a
Speaker 2: meeting with Donald Trump? I mean, there's a thousand things
Speaker 2: at the cost of living is a big issue. People
Speaker 2: who've got more than three million dollars in super good
Speaker 2: luck to them. But average people they don't want the
Speaker 2: government He'll to account for that. They want the Government
Speaker 2: Hill to account for the fact jobless rates going up,
Speaker 2: interest rates didn't come down last month, cost of livings
Speaker 2: out of control, rents, housing prices so much ammunition mate.
Speaker 12: You know for your average Australians the economy is really
Speaker 12: tough at the moment, and I think that's a price number.
Speaker 12: Was it last week that unemployment jumped up would have
Speaker 12: been really great material for them to go after, particularly
Speaker 12: Jim Chambers after look to be fair, mate, they did
Speaker 12: actually raise the housing question Cusaly did ask that, but
Speaker 12: then they kind of left that attack mostly line to
Speaker 12: concentrate on the superannuation charges. And also the Government gave
Speaker 12: the cross bench like four questions and so it sort
Speaker 12: of that meant that sort of crowded out the Coalition
Speaker 12: a bit. So watching it, it really didn't feel like
Speaker 12: it was the Coalition's big performance as you would have
Speaker 12: as they would have hoped for. So this is a
Speaker 12: sign of how tough it's going to be for the
Speaker 12: Coalition to score points when they are so boudly outnumbered
Speaker 12: in the Parliament.
Speaker 2: I had to get a tooth drill just before the
Speaker 2: start of question time. I should have stayed at the dentist.
Speaker 2: I think was less painful than watching question Time as usual.
Speaker 2: Barnaby Joyce so I spoke to about half an hour ago,
Speaker 2: and Michael McCormack. They have stolen the headlines today over
Speaker 2: net zero. David Little Proud, the leader of the NATS,
Speaker 2: he doesn't seem phased about this, but I reckon he
Speaker 2: would be a bit worried.
Speaker 1: Here's what he said today.
Speaker 2: Anything I haven't done is has put my name through
Speaker 2: my leadership ambitions for everym Well, why would I do that?
Speaker 1: But David Little Proud is the leader. I'm pretty relaxed
Speaker 1: about the situation.
Speaker 7: I think what is important in the National Party, in
Speaker 7: the culture of the National Party, is that the party
Speaker 7: reem determines our policy positions.
Speaker 2: Everybody you mak of the Barnaby and Michael bromance that
Speaker 2: suddenly come out of nowhere.
Speaker 12: I think those two big old bulls are having I
Speaker 12: don't think having a fight in the paddock. I think
Speaker 12: they're being a bit more romantic. Look David Little Proud, man,
Speaker 12: that's a guy he is called under pressure. You know
Speaker 12: you've got to sort of you've got to respect that.
Speaker 12: And you've got two former leaders conspiring to basically, you know,
Speaker 12: rip up one of the key policies that the Coalition
Speaker 12: agreed on several years ago and take the Coalition in
Speaker 12: a very very different direction. So David Little Proud is
Speaker 12: under huge pressure and it doesn't really show it. So
Speaker 12: I expect that that in a politician. But this is
Speaker 12: going to be a hell of a contest and the
Speaker 12: Coalition because there's a lot of liberals, like conservative liberals,
Speaker 12: who want to rip up Net zero two.
Speaker 1: Aaron doing great job on the Nightly.
Speaker 2: You've written about Donald Trump and this issue with Barack Obama,
Speaker 2: which most Australians wouldn't understand. But he's going after Obama
Speaker 2: accusing him of treason?
Speaker 1: Is this going to Is this going to go anywhere?
Speaker 12: Look looks? Thanks Thanks Steve. I wrote the story up
Speaker 12: because what really just struck me was is nobody seemed
Speaker 12: to really care. So Donald Trump put out a fake
Speaker 12: video of Obama being arrested in the White House. It
Speaker 12: was really quite something. And then it sort of really
Speaker 12: because the shop value has gone out of what Donald
Speaker 12: Trump says, and he said so many sort of things
Speaker 12: which are just so different to what any president has
Speaker 12: said before. There you can see the video right now,
Speaker 12: and they've got Obama on his knees. You know, isn't
Speaker 12: that amazing for our current president put that out mate.
Speaker 12: I've I've never seen anything like it, and and and
Speaker 12: you know, I presume he was a distraction from from
Speaker 12: the Epstein files. But it just shows how different the
Speaker 12: world is under Trump and how difficult it is for
Speaker 12: all all other countries, including his close allies like Australia,
Speaker 12: to sort of deal with this guy and try and
Speaker 12: manage our relationship with this guy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe Anthony ALBERIZI, he's better off staying away from him.
Speaker 2: Eric Aaron, as I said, doing great job on the Nightly.
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us tonight. Now coming up after the break,
Speaker 2: our final break of the program, we'll talk about the
Speaker 2: South Australia and Algie Broom crisis again because I think
Speaker 2: it's a real worry. It's rigging havoc on marine life.
Speaker 1: There.
Speaker 2: You got dead sharks, skits, stingrays. It's just dreadful. Liberal
Speaker 2: MP Tony Passon joins me up after the break. Welcome
Speaker 2: back to Nika. Coming up for Paul Murray at the
Speaker 2: top of the hour. Now, last week I was in
Speaker 2: Adelaide visiting my ninety one year old mother who lives
Speaker 2: near one of Adelaide's pristine suburban beaches. It's just a
Speaker 2: great part of the world. But I learned about this
Speaker 2: algaie bloom. Now, this has been going on for months
Speaker 2: and months and months. It's devastating agriculture there. Tourism industries
Speaker 2: are also worried about what's going to happen with summer
Speaker 2: just around the corner. Now, the federal government had to
Speaker 2: be dragged kicking and screaming to Adelaide. Murray, what was
Speaker 2: embarrassed on a radio interview that I listened to on Friday,
Speaker 2: and he hopped over there and wrote out a check
Speaker 2: for fourteen million dollars. It's nowhere near enough. Joining me now,
Speaker 2: Liberal Member for Barker, which covers the southeast of South Australia,
Speaker 2: is Tony Passing. Good to see you again, Tony, too little,
Speaker 2: too late?
Speaker 13: Yeah, The question I've got is why so slow? I mean,
Speaker 13: you mentioned in your intro that this has been occurring
Speaker 13: slow ecological train wreck over some months. In fact, surfers
Speaker 13: first identified this bloom on the fifteenth of March March
Speaker 13: of this year, and for your viewers to put that
Speaker 13: in context, that was before the federal election campaign started.
Speaker 13: Since then we've had the federal election campaign, we've had
Speaker 13: that long period after the campaign an hour' in Canberra
Speaker 13: and it's only effectively at the end of last week
Speaker 13: that Murray Watt managed to get to South Australia for
Speaker 13: what has been described as a bush fire.
Speaker 2: In the ocean.
Speaker 13: It's just not good enough. And we hold real fears
Speaker 13: right now for what might happen as we go into summer,
Speaker 13: because we know that cooler oceans keep this.
Speaker 1: Bloom at bay.
Speaker 13: Warmer oceans which you get over summertime, of course, we'll
Speaker 13: see it expand. And one can only think what action
Speaker 13: would have been taken and how quickly had it been
Speaker 13: taken if this had been off the coast at Bondai,
Speaker 13: for example, Well it.
Speaker 1: Would have been very quick.
Speaker 2: I mean it spread quickly too, hasn't it Only because
Speaker 2: I used to surf at those beaches like Whitepinger and
Speaker 2: Parsons Beach that's fifty k away from the beach that
Speaker 2: I was walking on last week. So this sings on
Speaker 2: the move and it should be declared a natural disaster.
Speaker 2: If it was a flood of this magnitude, that's what
Speaker 2: would happen, or a bush fire. And yet Murray Watt
Speaker 2: seems very reluctant to do that. And I guess, given
Speaker 2: he's got a labor government in South Australia with Premier Melanowskus,
Speaker 2: who I have some regard for, Melanowska seems to have
Speaker 2: just gone okay, you give us fourteen, I'll put forteen
Speaker 2: in the industry will tell us Tony that twenty eight
Speaker 2: million dollars ain't going to cut it.
Speaker 13: Well, we've had fishermen who haven't been able to fish
Speaker 13: for months so across the fishery. And you're right, Steve
Speaker 13: about the broad scope of this bloom. I mean there's
Speaker 13: areas that have been identified off the southern basin of
Speaker 13: the Krol all the way across the West coast. I
Speaker 13: mean this isn't a small, isolated and whilst the twenty
Speaker 13: eight million dollars it's been belatedly provided by state and
Speaker 13: federal governments is welcome, I wonder about the detail first off,
Speaker 13: and second of it in terms of industry support. There's
Speaker 13: funding for research and to get an idea of what
Speaker 13: might be happening and what's around the corner. But in
Speaker 13: terms of industry support, it simply isn't there. And fishermen
Speaker 13: are literally ringing officers in tears, and I really worry
Speaker 13: about the mental health impacts. Now, I did tell you
Speaker 13: earlier this is a bushfire in the ocean. I know
Speaker 13: that sounds like a tautology, but that's the sense. It
Speaker 13: destroys everything in its path. Any aquatic animal that breathes
Speaker 13: through its gills is dead meat when it enters the bloom. Now,
Speaker 13: I remember when a prime minister was on holidays during
Speaker 13: a bushfire that raged in Australia. He was completely pillaried.
Speaker 13: And yet right now questions aren't even being put to
Speaker 13: the Prime Minister of Australia. It's like he's been skating
Speaker 13: through this scenario. And I think Murray Watt coming to
Speaker 13: South Australia, whilst welcome, is just not enough. And my
Speaker 13: question is why has it taking this long? March Steve
Speaker 13: March before the federal election campaign even started. I mean,
Speaker 13: it's unacceptable.
Speaker 2: Well Tony, it's just not good enough. Maybe you might
Speaker 2: be able to get a question into question time some
Speaker 2: stage this week to Anthony Albanezi and get him over
Speaker 2: there to go and have a look. Appreciate your time, mate,
Speaker 2: Thank you very much for joining us tonight. Is I
Speaker 2: was in South Australia last week and it was just extraordinary.
Speaker 2: The damage that this is doing is quite remarkable, I
Speaker 2: can tell you. I was told a story that a
Speaker 2: baby dolphin had to be euthanized down at Glenell Beach.
Speaker 2: Janika Giorgio up next sea tomorrow night