Speaker 1: Live on Sky News.
Speaker 2: This is Sharry.
Speaker 3: Good Evening.
Speaker 4: Tonight our exclusive report that Albanezi has not managed to
Speaker 4: schedule another call with President Trump.
Speaker 3: This despite trey tariff.
Speaker 4: Set to take effect in just eight days and a
Speaker 4: Chinese warship circling Australia. Our scoop coming up an urgent
Speaker 4: planes ahead of Cyclone Alfred, which is set to hit
Speaker 4: Queensland and northern New South Wales on Thursday. We'll get
Speaker 4: the latest from the Bureau of Meteorology and I'll tell
Speaker 4: you how this.
Speaker 3: Could delay the election.
Speaker 4: Also tonight, Moranda Devine tells us who the administration the
Speaker 4: Trump administration has its eye on to replace Zelenski after
Speaker 4: that explosive oval office brawl. Plus Alex Rifchin will join
Speaker 4: me on the show after our letter to the Prime
Speaker 4: Minister asking him to endorse our anti Semitism action plan.
Speaker 4: That's all coming up, but first tonight I can exclusively
Speaker 4: reveal that Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi has not managed to
Speaker 4: schedule another call with President Donald Trump, despite trade tariffs
Speaker 4: due to take effect in just eight days and a
Speaker 4: Chinese warship circling Australia. Three sources tell me that Albanesi
Speaker 4: and his representatives have been desperately contacting Republican networks in
Speaker 4: the US, approaching senior figures to try and appeal to
Speaker 4: President Trump. The lack of communication between the two leaders
Speaker 4: comes at a precarious time for Australia, with Chinese warships
Speaker 4: circling our coastline and even conducting live fire exercises. Trump's
Speaker 4: twenty five percent tariffs on Australian aluminium and steel are
Speaker 4: also scheduled to start in just eight days, and the
Speaker 4: tariffs on Canada and Mexico begin today on Tuesday US time. Well,
Speaker 4: we can see that time is now running out. The
Speaker 4: pair haven't spoken since February the tenth. Australian officials have
Speaker 4: been frantically trying to achieve an exemption on the trade tariffs,
Speaker 4: and they're getting increasingly panicked. I've confirmed there is no
Speaker 4: further call currently set between alban Easy and Trump.
Speaker 3: Sauces tell me.
Speaker 4: Alban Easy has been trying to set up a call
Speaker 4: with Trump, but albin Easy denies this. One source with
Speaker 4: close ties to Trump told me and I quote, the
Speaker 4: ambassador has been kissing my ass works every angle and
Speaker 4: about Trump's attitude towards our prime minister. This source said
Speaker 4: he's as in Trump's ending the Third World War, no
Speaker 4: time for anti Trump left wing globalists. So that's a
Speaker 4: pretty brutal description of Alberizi as an anti Trump, left
Speaker 4: wing globalist. The Trump administration is well aware of both
Speaker 4: Albanisi and Kevin Rud's past comments about the President, and
Speaker 4: I approached Rudd and the Prime Minister for comment. A
Speaker 4: spokeswoman for Albanesi said this is wrong. It's an absolutely
Speaker 4: incorrect insinuation that they have been rebuffed.
Speaker 3: Now, my understanding is that Donald.
Speaker 4: Trump's trade advisor, Peter Navarro is not keen on the
Speaker 4: idea of giving Australia a trade exemption, and Treasurer Jim
Speaker 4: Chalmers downplayed hopes of an exemption when he returned from
Speaker 4: Washington on the weekend.
Speaker 5: Oh, We're under no illusions. It will be hard, I think,
Speaker 5: as Penny Wong has pointed out before, this is a
Speaker 5: big hill to climb. It will be harder this time
Speaker 5: than last time. We had a very productive conversation. We
Speaker 5: were able to make the case. They heard us out,
Speaker 5: and you know, I'm not going to take any outcome
Speaker 5: for granted or try and make predictions or preempt where
Speaker 5: the Americans might land.
Speaker 4: But Trump has said publicly that he understands Australia has
Speaker 4: a trade surplus with America. He's also said he'd give
Speaker 4: great consideration to an exemption.
Speaker 6: We have a surplus with Australia. What are the few
Speaker 6: and the reason is they buy a lot of aeroplanes.
Speaker 6: They are rather far away and they need lots of aeroplanes,
Speaker 6: and we actually have a surplus. It's one of the
Speaker 6: only countries.
Speaker 7: Which we do.
Speaker 4: But Australia is the least of Trump's concerns at the moment,
Speaker 4: as he deals with the fallout of the explosive Zelensky meeting.
Speaker 4: He's also preparing to deliver a major address to Congress
Speaker 4: on Tuesday night. Yet Trump has found the time to
Speaker 4: meet out the White House with the leaders of Israel, Japan, Jordan, India, France,
Speaker 4: the United Kingdom, and of course Ukraine. Our Prime minister
Speaker 4: hasn't made the trip to the White House since Trump's
Speaker 4: election in November. And if alban Easy can't manage proper
Speaker 4: communication with a president of the United States, well that's
Speaker 4: a terrible look for him, particularly on the eve of
Speaker 4: a federal election. It exposes the distance in the relationship
Speaker 4: between Australia and our greatest and most important strategic and
Speaker 4: security ally America. Under the Albanesi government, It's a relationship
Speaker 4: that Peter Dutton believes he could manage more effectively.
Speaker 8: Well, I've worked very closely with the Obama administration, with
Speaker 8: the Trump administration, with the Biden administration, and we have
Speaker 8: good relationships with a number of people in the forty
Speaker 8: seventh presidency in the West Wing, and we can work
Speaker 8: very closely and effectively with them.
Speaker 4: There's a little doubt that alban Easy like the personal skills,
Speaker 4: the charisma, the strength of the political nous to deal
Speaker 4: effectively with Donald Trump and achieve the best outcomes for
Speaker 4: our country. Now, I'm going to come back to that
Speaker 4: story in a moment with Bronwin Bishop and Holly Hughes.
Speaker 4: But first, right now, as we go to air, Queensland
Speaker 4: and northern New South Wales are preparing for a major cyclone.
Speaker 4: It's expected to hit in just two days time. Meteorologists
Speaker 4: say Cyclone Alfred is a once in a fifty year
Speaker 4: weather event and there are serious concerns about the impact
Speaker 4: it'll have. It could reach serious devastation residents could lose
Speaker 4: power and fresh water for days. Four million Queenslanders are
Speaker 4: on high alert now. The cyclone is forecast to hit
Speaker 4: Australian land on Thursday night.
Speaker 3: Or Friday morning.
Speaker 4: The Bureau of Meteorology predicts that its impact would be
Speaker 4: greatest in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Northern Rivers
Speaker 4: basically southern Queensland and northern New South Wales.
Speaker 2: A tropical cyclone watch extends from Sandy Cape in Queensland
Speaker 2: down to areas just north of Grafton in New South Wales.
Speaker 2: Now in those areas we are likely to see gale
Speaker 2: force winds developing in the next twenty four to forty
Speaker 2: eight hours.
Speaker 4: There are also warning that there'll be heavy rainfall and
Speaker 4: life threatening flash fighting for both Thursday and Friday, and
Speaker 4: the wind gusts are predicted to be up to one
Speaker 4: hundred and fifty kilometers an hour. There are also warnings
Speaker 4: that waves could reach nine meters high, creating dangerous conditions
Speaker 4: on the water. Now the Bureau of Meteorologies say this
Speaker 4: will be a Category two most likely when it hits
Speaker 4: Queensland's southeast coast, and families from South Stridebog Island are
Speaker 4: already evacuating.
Speaker 9: Voluntary evacuations are already occurring on South Stridebrack Island as
Speaker 9: a precaution. Our emergency crews are also door knocking the
Speaker 9: at risk areas across sun On Coast, Morton and the
Speaker 9: Brisbane Buy areas today.
Speaker 4: As a result of all of this, there is panic
Speaker 4: buying in Queensland supermarkets, The Courier Mail reporting that water
Speaker 4: has sold out in many suburbs and milk and bread
Speaker 4: are running low. Queensland Premier David Chrisafooley and New Southeales
Speaker 4: Premier Chris Mins are both warning residents to prepare for
Speaker 4: the worst.
Speaker 10: Alfred's obviously a major concern for New South Wales tropical cyclone,
Speaker 10: warning that we haven't had in the state for decades.
Speaker 11: It is serious and it is happening and we want
Speaker 11: Queenslanders to be prepared. We are and we want Queenslanders
Speaker 11: to know we'll get through this if you do the
Speaker 11: preparation now.
Speaker 4: Aside from the devastation of the cyclone, this could also
Speaker 4: impact the timing of the federal election. The Prime Minister
Speaker 4: was poised to call the election on Sunday afternoon for
Speaker 4: April twelve. He was expected to head to Yarra Lamla
Speaker 4: to see the Governor General either on Sunday after the
Speaker 4: WA election on Saturday or on Monday, and he's already
Speaker 4: deployed Labour staff to their campaign a headquarters in Sydney.
Speaker 4: Sam Maiden reports today on news dot com dot Au
Speaker 4: that Labor has canceled their planned economic meetings this week,
Speaker 4: which were meant to prepare for the budget. She writes
Speaker 4: that senior cabinet sources have confirmed they expect the PM
Speaker 4: to visit the Governor General straight after the WA state.
Speaker 3: Election on March eight.
Speaker 4: But if the cyclone devastation is catastrophic, and if there's
Speaker 4: a humanitarian disaster, it would be unseemly for alban Easy
Speaker 4: to press ahead with calling the election. The Prime Minister
Speaker 4: would risk looking heartless and insensitive if he puts his
Speaker 4: political campaign ahead of the cyclone cleanup effort. It's a
Speaker 4: point Our regular on the show Cameron Milner makes in
Speaker 4: The Nightly. He says, now, even for a bloke like Albo,
Speaker 4: tone death and out of touch, calling a national election
Speaker 4: would seem like a particularly callous act. Now the election
Speaker 4: has to be held by May seventeenth, so if Albanze
Speaker 4: doesn't have it on April twelve, He'll then have to
Speaker 4: wait until May the third or May the tenth, because
Speaker 4: in late April there's Easter Anzac Day, the school holidays.
Speaker 4: Now having the election in May means that Albanize would
Speaker 4: have to have a federal budget and he's not inclined
Speaker 4: to do that because he's not going to be able
Speaker 4: to deliver a surplus yet again, not with Labour's level
Speaker 4: of pre election spending. Now, Cameron Milner makes the fascinating
Speaker 4: point that Labour's trying to turn the election campaign into
Speaker 4: a referendum on Peter Dutton.
Speaker 3: It's why you're seeing attacks like this.
Speaker 7: We need leadership with a heart. Peter Dutton represents a
Speaker 7: could mean spirit. It's sometimes just plain nasty response and
Speaker 7: that's not going to help people. Seriously, I'll swap my
Speaker 7: property portfolio with Peters. I'll tell you what weaknesses. Weaknesses
Speaker 7: not having the guts to come to the National Press Club.
Speaker 7: Weakness is just saying no to everything before you even
Speaker 7: see the detail.
Speaker 4: If Labor is successful in framing the election as a
Speaker 4: referendum on Peter Dutton, well they could do better. Then
Speaker 4: the polls are expecting them to do at the moment,
Speaker 4: and this would be a repeat of how Albanesi eviscerated
Speaker 4: Scott Morrison's character. But if the election is a referendum
Speaker 4: on the cost of living, then Labour's done because there's
Speaker 4: no question Albinizi promised to solve the cost of living
Speaker 4: crisis and yet every single aspect of life has become
Speaker 4: more unaffordable under his government. Okay, let's bring in now
Speaker 4: Liberal Senator Holly Hughes and former Speaker of the House
Speaker 4: Ronman Bishop.
Speaker 3: Welcome to you both.
Speaker 4: Now, I want to start with getting your reaction to
Speaker 4: my exclusive story tonight that Albanizi hasn't managed to schedule
Speaker 4: another call with Donald Trump, despite a Chinese warship circling
Speaker 4: our coast and the trade tariffs that kick in on
Speaker 4: March twelve. Holly, so many leaders have visited the White House,
Speaker 4: not Albanzi and it can't even get another call.
Speaker 12: As absolutely disgraceful.
Speaker 13: We are the only country that is a member of
Speaker 13: the Quad that hasn't had a meeting with President Trump
Speaker 13: since his election at leadership level. And it was interesting
Speaker 13: to hear Penny Wong say that when she was at
Speaker 13: the UN she couldn't possibly meet with the Israeli representatives
Speaker 13: because they weren't at her level. Yet, somehow or other,
Speaker 13: we're expected to believe that sending Penny Wong to the
Speaker 13: inauguration of Donald Trump was sending some one at the
Speaker 13: appropriate level. This is a government who is frightened. I
Speaker 13: think of Donald Trump. They know that he very much
Speaker 13: bases things on how people behave, what they've said, and he's.
Speaker 12: Got a very long memory.
Speaker 13: And you know, as we know, back in seventeen eighteen,
Speaker 13: when Joe Hockey was the ambassador, he was able to
Speaker 13: secure an exemption, he was able to get those tariffs
Speaker 13: held off for Australia. Yet Albaneze's hand picked ambassador, Kevin Rudd,
Speaker 13: can't even secure a meeting or a phone call.
Speaker 12: And it just shows how pathetic both of them are.
Speaker 4: What's your reaction to you know, whichever way you look
Speaker 4: at it, clearly there's not a close relationship between the
Speaker 4: two leaders.
Speaker 14: Look, he is a man with a memory, and he
Speaker 14: really does judge people's character on how they respond to
Speaker 14: certain things. So he remembers Kevin Rudd, he remarks about
Speaker 14: him personally, he remembers Albanesi's remarks about him personally, and
Speaker 14: more particularly, he notes that when he's taken a stance
Speaker 14: on Ukraine that our Prime minister came out and said,
Speaker 14: well where all for Ukraine? With the hypocrisy of the man.
Speaker 14: When asked by Selensky for helicopters, which we no longer,
Speaker 14: we just buried them. We promised them tanks. They haven't
Speaker 14: been delivered. So he and that doesn't go unnoticed. So
Speaker 14: he knows that the character of Albanisi is weak.
Speaker 12: He just knows it.
Speaker 14: And when you look at the incidence, as you mentioned,
Speaker 14: with the Chinese ship in our waters, still it's still
Speaker 14: still in our waters. What that ship is showing to
Speaker 14: our Pacific island states is don't rely on Australia, rely
Speaker 14: on us, because they can't even follow us and know
Speaker 14: when we're here. So we're in a really difficult bind
Speaker 14: with this man. And if we were to re elect him,
Speaker 14: then I think our going relationships are in peril because
Speaker 14: at every turn, unfortunately, because this is something where we
Speaker 14: wanted to be bipartisan, where we support our leadership in
Speaker 14: strong action, but there hasn't been any. And as for
Speaker 14: the elections that he's said to call, he's just dithering
Speaker 14: he just did this.
Speaker 3: It's like you can't make up his mind.
Speaker 4: He's so indecisive and I can't decide which day he
Speaker 4: wants to call the election.
Speaker 3: He I mean, it's just in action.
Speaker 13: It's completely frustrating, I think to all Australians at the moment,
Speaker 13: because there's a faux campaign being run. I think Australians
Speaker 13: have a right to know whether or not they're going
Speaker 13: to get a budget in three weeks and this.
Speaker 12: Will they won't they?
Speaker 13: Oh, I'm not going to tell you it's due on
Speaker 13: the seventeenth of May. You look, my husband's got a thought.
Speaker 13: This guy might realize that he's slightly on the nose,
Speaker 13: So he's clinging on to every day at the address
Speaker 13: at the Lodge and Kiribillity, just in case it's not
Speaker 13: his home after the election.
Speaker 4: I actually get this sense that he's overly confident the
Speaker 4: Prime Minister. It's a bit like he was before the
Speaker 4: referendum when he thought the Voice was going to sail through.
Speaker 4: He was so confident and that's how he's feeling at
Speaker 4: the moment.
Speaker 3: Whether there's reason for that or not.
Speaker 4: I mean, the polls indicate he doesn't have reason to
Speaker 4: be confident.
Speaker 14: But the fact that he got a bit of a
Speaker 14: fillip with the lowering of interest rates, whether that gives
Speaker 14: a balance in the polls or not, it's given him abouts. Yes,
Speaker 14: it's given him more confidence to go out. But then
Speaker 14: I watched today's press confidence and seriously, this was a
Speaker 14: man who in the election campaign that he won, whenever
Speaker 14: he give a performance like that, they'd say, oh, he's
Speaker 14: got COVID and he'd be off for a week. Well
Speaker 14: I haven't got COVID anymore. So where are they going
Speaker 14: to send him? What are they going to do with him?
Speaker 14: We are in a campaign now and it's going to
Speaker 14: be long and he doesn't have the resilience for that.
Speaker 12: So whenever, whatever date.
Speaker 14: He calls, and I agree that the cyclone is going
Speaker 14: to have but just unless he feels he can go
Speaker 14: out and be seen as the hero and look at me,
Speaker 14: I'm giving assistance. That didn't do too well for the
Speaker 14: former Premier of Queensland, as I recall.
Speaker 4: But also Dutton's bunker down in Queensland. You know his
Speaker 4: electorates in Queensland and you know it's going to be Look,
Speaker 4: we don't want it to be devastating. I hope the
Speaker 4: weather forecasters the meteorologists have it wrong, as they so
Speaker 4: often do, but at this point it is expected to
Speaker 4: be hitting southern Queensland quite hard. All right, let's have
Speaker 4: a look at this report in the finn Review today.
Speaker 4: It shows that the gender pay gap is still a
Speaker 4: problem in corporate Australia, the AFAR reporting that the best
Speaker 4: paid workers at some of Australia's top companies are still
Speaker 4: overwhelmingly men, earning million dollar salaries. Now there's two issues here, Holly.
Speaker 4: You know, the issue is there's either a gap when
Speaker 4: men and women are doing the same job but they're
Speaker 4: paid different. But I think what we're seeing more and
Speaker 4: more is that it's just that more men have seen
Speaker 4: your roles than women do and thus.
Speaker 3: Earn higher salaries.
Speaker 13: What do you think, well, and I mean the reality
Speaker 13: is most of the time women are the caregivers and
Speaker 13: so it's women who quite often take a step out
Speaker 13: of their career for a period of time. Now, whether
Speaker 13: that's right or wrong, I know that we talk about
Speaker 13: all the time about fathers being given more leave and
Speaker 13: better at work, you know, working conditions for men to
Speaker 13: be more flexible to spend more time with their families
Speaker 13: and it is important that kids have a good relationship
Speaker 13: with their dads, but that hasn't been the trend in
Speaker 13: the past. And you know, hopefully as we go forward
Speaker 13: we will see more women enter into those top echelons
Speaker 13: of management. But I think as far as the gender
Speaker 13: pay gap goes, you know, there is a lot of
Speaker 13: legislation that the Labor Party wants, you know, put in
Speaker 13: that if you're doing the same job, it's same pay.
Speaker 13: Remember they had the big slogan about that. So I
Speaker 13: think we need to understand where it is and where
Speaker 13: it's coming from, and it's sort of a totality of care,
Speaker 13: not people getting paid less for doing the same same job.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, Robin, I'm really interested to hear your insights
Speaker 4: on this because when you came through in politics, there
Speaker 4: weren't many women in politics at all or in senior
Speaker 4: roles in corporate Australia. You know, you really were, You
Speaker 4: are a trailblazer.
Speaker 14: It's perfectly true. There were for twenty years no women
Speaker 14: at all in the Lower House. And when I went
Speaker 14: into the Senate, when you realized that the first woman
Speaker 14: to be elected, and she wasn't elected, she was a
Speaker 14: placement by the Western Australian government for a casual vacancy
Speaker 14: was nineteen forty three, a labor center from Western Australia.
Speaker 14: I went in in nineteen eighty seven and New South
Speaker 14: Wales had never elected popularly a female senator then. But
Speaker 14: the difference is and I was sort of one of
Speaker 14: the original members of Chief Executive Women. So I'm very
Speaker 14: pleased women who have taken strong steps forward and are
Speaker 14: in those sessols.
Speaker 3: Look at the top of the Macquarie.
Speaker 14: Banks, she's very impressive and there are a lot of
Speaker 14: women as a caliber. But it gets used by some
Speaker 14: people to say until we've got even numbers of men
Speaker 14: and women, that there's a pay gap. Well, it doesn't
Speaker 14: work like that. It's still got to be the best
Speaker 14: person for the job. And there's no place for DEI
Speaker 14: in those top jobs.
Speaker 12: You just don't get the leadership.
Speaker 14: You don't get productivity, you don't get good outcome for
Speaker 14: your shareholders.
Speaker 12: But although it's still.
Speaker 14: Tough and you've really got to fight to stay there
Speaker 14: and to get on, the opportunities are there. And I
Speaker 14: think there's one other aspect that I think has been
Speaker 14: important to women stepping up more, and that is the
Speaker 14: way that marriage marriages have tended to end in divorce,
Speaker 14: that a woman has to be prepared very often to
Speaker 14: support a household, so don't lose your skills.
Speaker 3: Good point.
Speaker 4: I just want to say, as a final comment, run
Speaker 4: when I don't think you have been recognized.
Speaker 3: I don't not even nearly enough.
Speaker 4: You haven't been recognized at all by the feminists or
Speaker 4: the feminist groups for the role you've played in bringing
Speaker 4: women into politics. And it's because you're a conservative women women,
Speaker 4: it's because you're from the Liberal Party. All of the
Speaker 4: feminists groups are basically left wing organizations. And you know
Speaker 4: you should be celebrated for the role you've played and
Speaker 4: recognized for that. Absolutely, and you know, maybe we'll have
Speaker 4: to get you one of the t shirts that Caro
Speaker 4: de Russo got a few of us.
Speaker 12: Made during the Me Too movement.
Speaker 13: Wrong kind of woman because conservative women we deserve it.
Speaker 13: The Me Too movement believe all women except conservative women.
Speaker 12: So absolutely.
Speaker 13: And you know, I get compared to you quite often
Speaker 13: and people like to leave me feedback or you're just
Speaker 13: the next Broman Bishop, and I think.
Speaker 3: Well, what a compliment.
Speaker 12: I take it as a compliment.
Speaker 13: I'm not quite sure they mean it that way, I
Speaker 13: can tell you that's how I take it.
Speaker 4: I think it definitely is a confident a compliment. You
Speaker 4: are both very strong women, all right. And on that note,
Speaker 4: thank you so much, Holly Hughes from a bishop.
Speaker 3: Wonderful to see you as always. Actually, I appreciate your time.
Speaker 4: All right, let's return now to this cyclone that we
Speaker 4: are expecting, Cyclone Alfred, which is currently fluctuating between a
Speaker 4: category one and category two tropical cyclone. It's expected to
Speaker 4: hit on late Thursday. The Bureau of Meteorology is Tropical
Speaker 4: cyclone Watch extends all the way from Sandy Cape and
Speaker 4: Queensland to just north of Grafton in New South Wales.
Speaker 4: Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, so families are on
Speaker 4: high alert. I spoke with a Bureau of Meteorologies Senior
Speaker 4: meteorologist Angus Heines a little while ago. Angus Heines, thank
Speaker 4: you so much for your time. When are we expecting
Speaker 4: Cyclone Alfred to make landfall? Good evening.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we've seen Cyclone Alfred take a real shift today.
Speaker 1: It had been moving southeast toward slightly away from the country.
Speaker 1: It's now turned to the west, taking it back towards
Speaker 1: southeastern parts of Queensland. We have just issued the latest
Speaker 1: forecast track for Alfred and that track shows a likely
Speaker 1: arrival time of very late in the day Thursday night,
Speaker 1: perhaps the last hour or two on Thursday, That could
Speaker 1: be the first hour or two of Friday morning. So
Speaker 1: it's around that midnight time period Thursday into Friday where
Speaker 1: we are anticipating Tropical Cyclone Alfred to arrive. And the
Speaker 1: coastal crossing location that hasn't really shifted from the most
Speaker 1: recent tracks. We still expect that to be between Brisbane
Speaker 1: and the Sunshine Coast in southeast Queensland.
Speaker 4: So which areas are most at risk and what's your
Speaker 4: advice to families who are in those areas? Are you
Speaker 4: saying to evacuate or what should people do?
Speaker 1: So there are a number of areas which are at
Speaker 1: risk of seeing some really significant weather impacts from Tropical
Speaker 1: Cyclone Alfred. Heavy rain and flooding will pack large parts
Speaker 1: of eastern Queensland from around about Fraser Island down right
Speaker 1: to the cool and Gata Cool and Gatta on the
Speaker 1: coast with northern New South Wales and in New South Wales,
Speaker 1: heavy rain and flooding is anticipated for the northern Rivers,
Speaker 1: the mid North Coast and parts of the Northern Tablelands,
Speaker 1: damaging it to destructive winds will also be significant for
Speaker 1: many areas. In particular, the winds will be strongest near
Speaker 1: and south of the crossing point. That means places like Brisbane,
Speaker 1: the Gold Coast, tweedheads, cool and gatter as well as
Speaker 1: up into the hinterlands, the tablelands and elevated to rain
Speaker 1: for eastern parts of the country could see those strongest
Speaker 1: winds now. The advice for people in the affected areas
Speaker 1: is a to stay up to date with warnings and
Speaker 1: forecast information for where and when Alfred is likely to arrive.
Speaker 1: But then also it's to turn to your local authorities
Speaker 1: and your local emergency services during the time of severe weather.
Speaker 1: They'll have the best information for how each individual community
Speaker 1: is best equipped to handle the passing of tropical cyclone
Speaker 1: out and that's going to be the best way to
Speaker 1: get information during the severe weather event.
Speaker 4: We're being told that this is once in a fifty
Speaker 4: year weather event. Just how severe is this whining and
Speaker 4: how will it be different from other cyclones we've seen
Speaker 4: in Northern Queensland.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Look, this is a very uncommon. It's an unusual
Speaker 1: weather set up to get a tropical cyclone affecting the
Speaker 1: country this far south. There have been a few in
Speaker 1: recent decades. We had Tropical Cyclone Omer in twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: although that one didn't make landfall, it got quite close
Speaker 1: to southeast Queensland before it went away over the ocean
Speaker 1: back off to the north there. We've had a few
Speaker 1: also over recent decades which have been tropical cyclones and
Speaker 1: then turned into tropical lows, but have still brought some
Speaker 1: very significant weather impacts to this part of the country.
Speaker 1: But it has been many decades since a fully fledged
Speaker 1: tropical cyclone has made landfall. It will be a significant
Speaker 1: weather event. The rainfall numbers we're looking at are very large,
Speaker 1: multiple hundreds of millimeters a day for several days in
Speaker 1: a row. We could see extensive flooding of the river
Speaker 1: network through both southern Queensland and northern New South Wales,
Speaker 1: including the possibility of major flooding in parts of both states.
Speaker 1: And the winds could be gusting up to about one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty kilometers an hour, particularly near the crossing
Speaker 1: point of tropical Cyclone Alfred. That is a destructive wind.
Speaker 1: It can cause significant damage for places that do experience
Speaker 1: those very strong winds. So this is a powerful, significant
Speaker 1: and unusual weather event for that part of the country.
Speaker 4: Yeah, really worrying for us there, Anger Siins.
Speaker 3: We appreciate your time.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Stay safe.
Speaker 4: Still to come as Trump suspends weapons to Ukraine. Marada
Speaker 4: Devine tells us about the general the Trump administration is
Speaker 4: eyeing to replace Zelenski and our letter to the Prime
Speaker 4: Minister demanding he endorsed the outcomes from our antisemitism summit.
Speaker 4: Alex Revchin would join me next. Welcome back well. Our
Speaker 4: antisemitism summit to about twelve days ago now heard from
Speaker 4: the brightest minds in Australia about how to fix this crisis.
Speaker 4: At the end of the summit, Alex Riftrin delivered comprehensive
Speaker 4: outcomes that we believe would make a tangible difference. They
Speaker 4: included declaring a national emergency on antisemitism, setting up a
Speaker 4: joint counter terror task Force, and including antisemitism education in
Speaker 4: the school curriculum. And to talk about this, let's bring
Speaker 4: in now. Executive Council of Australian Juries co Chair Alex Riftchin, Alex,
Speaker 4: thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 12: Interest.
Speaker 10: Thank you.
Speaker 4: So these outcomes you delivered at the end of our
Speaker 4: summit a week and a half ago on Thursday, you've
Speaker 4: now sent them to the Prime Minister and Peter Dutton,
Speaker 4: Is that right?
Speaker 15: That's right. So, you know, at the conclusion of the summit,
Speaker 15: which was a spectacular success, you know, we had the
Speaker 15: brightest minds as you mentioned, across terrorism and policing and education,
Speaker 15: community leaders, political leaders. John Howard was then spoke brilliantly
Speaker 15: as h always does, and you know, kind of to
Speaker 15: coalesce all of the thoughts and ideas and concepts that
Speaker 15: came out of the expert panels and speakers. We produced
Speaker 15: this action plan, a concrete plan of fifteen points to
Speaker 15: comprehensively address anti semptism crisis in this country. And now
Speaker 15: we've put the challenge to the government, the opposition, and
Speaker 15: to independence as well and civil society to actually get
Speaker 15: behind this plan, adopt it and make fighting anti Semitism
Speaker 15: a national priority and a non partisan priority, because there's
Speaker 15: too much at stake and the issue is bigger than politics.
Speaker 4: So your letter asks for the leaders and the independent
Speaker 4: candidates to endorse the fifteen point action plan and if
Speaker 4: there are outcomes that they don't want to commit to
Speaker 4: to explain why they don't support them.
Speaker 15: Yeah, I mean I went through every one of the points,
Speaker 15: you know, at the closing of the summit, to explain
Speaker 15: the merits behind it, the thinking behind it, and why
Speaker 15: will actually correct this horrific state that we found ourselves
Speaker 15: in terms of antisemitism in Australia, and we hope that
Speaker 15: it will be comprehensively adopted. There's nothing overly ambitious there.
Speaker 15: There's are common sense policies to actually improve the lives
Speaker 15: of the strange Jews and restore our society to what
Speaker 15: it's meant to be. But we want to put the
Speaker 15: challenge to the political leaders of our country either adopt
Speaker 15: a plan or let us know why you can't exactly.
Speaker 4: It's such a good point, especially when we just heard
Speaker 4: the Prime Minister on Q and A a week ago
Speaker 4: say he's done everything. The Jewish community asks, well, now
Speaker 4: we've sent this letter just on Friday. He would have
Speaker 4: heard it at the summit, but now we've sent this letter,
Speaker 4: so we'll see what he comes back with. Let's just
Speaker 4: go through some of the outcomes that we're saying, we'll
Speaker 4: make a practical difference to the antisemitism crisis on education.
Speaker 4: It includes tackling antisemitism on university campuses and in the
Speaker 4: school curriculum.
Speaker 15: Yeah, so here we have both. I suppose you call
Speaker 15: it a treatment of the symptoms and the long term cure.
Speaker 15: In terms of what's happening on university campuses, Jewish students,
Speaker 15: staff and academics should not have to endure what they've
Speaker 15: faced over the past academic year. Encampments, support for terrorism,
Speaker 15: the storming of their lectures, being forced to identify themselves
Speaker 15: as as Zionis, and lecture theaters. This is a current behavior,
Speaker 15: it's not on and it degrades our university system. And
Speaker 15: so we're calling for a ban on encampments, a ban
Speaker 15: on the storming of university lectures, and also an inquiry
Speaker 15: into a judicial quarienty semptism on campus to get to
Speaker 15: the bottom of issues like foreign funding, who is funding
Speaker 15: these protests, what outside intervention is taking place on campuses.
Speaker 4: And of course this is something the government has rejected.
Speaker 3: It's inexplicable.
Speaker 4: There's no reason not to have a judicial inquiry into
Speaker 4: antisemitism on university campuses.
Speaker 15: Look, the Jewish community has been calling for it the
Speaker 15: Special Envoy has been calling for it. There's a serious
Speaker 15: crisis and a serious problem that's occurring on every campus
Speaker 15: in the nation, and so our feeling was and it
Speaker 15: remains that we need a judicial to take this outside
Speaker 15: the politics and partisanship at Acrimoni de Parliament give privilege
Speaker 15: and confidence and confidentiality to those who give evidence to
Speaker 15: this inquiry, and we don't see why it can't be adopted.
Speaker 15: The opposition supports this, we understand, and now we're calling
Speaker 15: for the government to do likewise, to again make this
Speaker 15: a unified, bipartisan action.
Speaker 4: And then in the school system, it's incorporating not just
Speaker 4: Holocaust education, but Holocaust education as an example of where
Speaker 4: antisemitism can lead.
Speaker 15: Precise, I mean whole clast education we all know is essential.
Speaker 15: There's a great virtue in teaching it. There are so
Speaker 15: many lessons in the Holocaust about the depths of in humanity,
Speaker 15: the process from dehumanization to destruction. It needs to be taught,
Speaker 15: but it's got to be taught correctly, and it has
Speaker 15: to be positioned within the broader study of anti semitism.
Speaker 15: Otherwise it consigns Holocaust history to ancient history in Europe,
Speaker 15: which seems irrelevant to students today. They need to understand
Speaker 15: anti semitism in the here and now, how it presents
Speaker 15: and what it's doing to our society.
Speaker 4: In terms of immigration, this has been a big issue.
Speaker 4: You know, when we said to Sky News viewers, contact
Speaker 4: us with your ideas.
Speaker 3: A lot of those ideas.
Speaker 4: Were kind of deport the violent criminals who are anti Semitic. Now,
Speaker 4: in many cases they can't be deported because they're Australian citizens.
Speaker 4: But some of the outcomes here are about potentially amending
Speaker 4: the Migration Act to ensure that anti Symitic conduct is
Speaker 4: grounds to both reject a new visa or counsel an
Speaker 4: existing one.
Speaker 3: Take us through that, well.
Speaker 15: Look, there's no reason why someone who exhibits antisemitic behavior, prejudice,
Speaker 15: expresses support for terrorism and the destruction of the Jewish
Speaker 15: people should pass a character test for migration to Australia.
Speaker 15: I mean, anyone that has this mindset is a danger
Speaker 15: to our national security and a danger to our communities.
Speaker 15: And we would effectively be on the one hand trying
Speaker 15: to lessen and ameliorate the problem of anti Semitism, another
Speaker 15: hand deepening it by importing people to this country. That
Speaker 15: for such prejudice. So we want to ensure that the
Speaker 15: migration art is fit for purpose. Either it's enforced properly
Speaker 15: or it's amended as necessary to ensure that we can
Speaker 15: vet and test people for these sorts of views and
Speaker 15: denial councel visas for people who are rapidly anti Submitic
Speaker 15: composed the threat to our society.
Speaker 4: And on the day I interviewed Peter Darton and he
Speaker 4: immediately expressed support for an idea like that. And I
Speaker 4: think that was the problem that many of us had
Speaker 4: with the near three thousand visas that were issued to Gazans.
Speaker 4: It wasn't just that there were necessarily national security concerns
Speaker 4: about every one of them, but had they already been
Speaker 4: indoctrinated to hate Jews? Were we importing more anti Semitism
Speaker 4: into the country. So this seeks to address some of
Speaker 4: those concerns.
Speaker 15: And what was really disappointing at that time when concerns
Speaker 15: were being raised about the levels of vetting. Is it
Speaker 15: possible to vet that many people in such a short
Speaker 15: period of time. The response by some media commentators and
Speaker 15: some in government was to accuse those questioning this process
Speaker 15: of races to effectively politicize the issue, but it had
Speaker 15: nothing to do with race. No one was talking about
Speaker 15: Palestin's in the West Bank, no one was talking about
Speaker 15: Arabs in the UAE or Egypt. We were talking about
Speaker 15: people living for sixteen years under a fascist jihadist regime
Speaker 15: who were reared with anti semitism in the education system.
Speaker 15: And Australians have a right to query who these people are,
Speaker 15: what their prevailing views are, and what threat they may
Speaker 15: post to Australian society. These are perfectly legitimate questions and
Speaker 15: when we start flinging around accusations of racism, it degrades
Speaker 15: the public conversation and it seeks to stifle and silence
Speaker 15: people who have a legitimate viewpoint.
Speaker 4: You know, absolutely, just finally, your views on what needs
Speaker 4: to change in terms of the cultural sector, the arts sector.
Speaker 4: You know, what are you asking because this has been
Speaker 4: such a big issue. We only have about thirty seconds,
Speaker 4: But what's the outcome related to that that you're asking?
Speaker 15: The pole trying to be quick because it's a big issue,
Speaker 15: it said, But I remember I was on your show
Speaker 15: a couple of years ago talking about Adelaide Writers Week,
Speaker 15: where Louise Adler became the curator invited on overt rabid
Speaker 15: anti Semites and supporters of terrorism. So the most vicious
Speaker 15: demagogues we've seen, and they were brought to this country
Speaker 15: with the public expense. Cultural institutions should reflect the breadth
Speaker 15: of austrained culture and contribution, but too often they become
Speaker 15: places where one viewpoint is entrenched and all others are
Speaker 15: pushed out. So we need to correct that balance and
Speaker 15: preserve a strained culture.
Speaker 4: And by the way, you know, it's not just that
Speaker 4: pro Israel Jews Zionists don't feature at writers festivals, but
Speaker 4: you know, neither do news corp journalists often or conservatives.
Speaker 4: It's often just a representation of the left.
Speaker 3: Wing view of the world.
Speaker 15: That's ryan. It's claimed to be about artistic expression, and
Speaker 15: yet only one form of expression is considered legitimate.
Speaker 4: All right, Alex Richtan really appreciate your frivinily hard work
Speaker 4: on this.
Speaker 15: Thank you, so thank you.
Speaker 4: Shan Now coming up after the break a till and
Speaker 4: p says labor has broken their trust. Can Dutton now
Speaker 4: win over the Tills? I'll speak about that a bit
Speaker 4: later with cam Redden, but first Miranda Devine tells us
Speaker 4: which you Ukrainian general, the Trump administration is eying to
Speaker 4: replace Zelenski.
Speaker 3: That's after this quick break.
Speaker 4: Welcome back will in Global News, Donald Trump has ordered
Speaker 4: an indefinite suspension.
Speaker 3: On military aid to Ukraine.
Speaker 4: This of course follows the now infamous Overlaffi Stauche with Zelenski. Now,
Speaker 4: Trump's anger should also, in my view, be directed also
Speaker 4: at jd Vance, since he was clearly the agitator at
Speaker 4: the meeting and jd Vance finally broke his silence on
Speaker 4: Fox News today.
Speaker 16: I really don't care what President Zelenski says about me
Speaker 16: or anybody else, but he showed a clear unwillingness to
Speaker 16: engage in the peace process that President Trump has said
Speaker 16: is the policy of the American people and of their president.
Speaker 4: Now, in saying that, it's important to keep in mind
Speaker 4: that Zelensky has also refused three times now to sign
Speaker 4: the Mineral's agreement that he knows would economically time America
Speaker 4: to Ukraine for years to come.
Speaker 3: But Donald Trump has said that the deal could still
Speaker 3: be revived.
Speaker 17: I think everybody has to get into a room, so
Speaker 17: to speak, and we have to make a deal. And
Speaker 17: the deal could be made very fast. It should not
Speaker 17: be that hard. A deal to make. It could be
Speaker 17: made very fast.
Speaker 4: But can Zelenski reach a deal? And if he can't,
Speaker 4: should he resign?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 4: For more on this, I spoke with Miranda Devine, columnist
Speaker 4: at the New York Post, a little earlier. Miranda Divine,
Speaker 4: great to see you. As always, this White House over
Speaker 4: office dispute between Zelenski, jd Vance and Trump has dominated
Speaker 4: the global agenda over.
Speaker 3: The past few days.
Speaker 4: We're getting this sense from the Trump administration that they're
Speaker 4: saying Zelenski doesn't want piece, that he was offered three
Speaker 4: opportunities to sign the minerals a deal and he still
Speaker 4: hasn't done that. What are you hearing about how frustrated
Speaker 4: the Trump administration is over this.
Speaker 18: Look, I think they've been in incredibly patient And as
Speaker 18: you said, this started when Trump sent his Treasury Secretary
Speaker 18: Scott Bessant to Ukraine, which is difficult. You know, you're
Speaker 18: on a train for eleven hours and you're going into
Speaker 18: a war zone. And Scott besson is probably Trump's most
Speaker 18: significant cabinet member and he was there with the deal,
Speaker 18: and according to him, Zelensky was incredibly rude. He kept
Speaker 18: him waiting, and then when the two of them were
Speaker 18: talking and Scott Besant was trying to explain to him
Speaker 18: how this deal worked and how it was effectively a
Speaker 18: security guarantee for Ukraine but an economic one that was
Speaker 18: the same as boots on the ground, but sort of
Speaker 18: economic corporate boots on the ground, and it was still
Speaker 18: a deterrent for Russia. Zelansky just started shouting, and you know,
Speaker 18: he was also completely unhelpful in Munich when they tried again.
Speaker 18: Keith Kellogg, who's the former general that Trump's brought in
Speaker 18: as his sort of envoy to Ukraine to work out
Speaker 18: these piece deals. He is a very patient and a
Speaker 18: very dignified man, and he finally had had enough when
Speaker 18: he was getting on the train to go home, just
Speaker 18: basically quitting in disgust. And then some of the people
Speaker 18: around Zelensky quickly rushed some documents to the train so
Speaker 18: he could sign them, so they could get to the
Speaker 18: next phase. And it was Zelenski's people who insisted that
Speaker 18: Zelenski come and sign this deal, this minerals deal, rare
Speaker 18: earths deal at the White House, and that was all
Speaker 18: set up. They were supposed to go down the hallway,
Speaker 18: have dinner, six, have lunch. I mean sixteen of them
Speaker 18: and then go into a nearby room and with great flourish,
Speaker 18: in front of the cameras, sign this historic deal, which
Speaker 18: was you know, Trump said it was ninety eight percent
Speaker 18: of the peace deal, and Zelenski, in one of his
Speaker 18: many rude sort of contradictions and interruptions during that almost
Speaker 18: one hour meeting in the.
Speaker 12: Oval Office, said it was a two percent deal.
Speaker 3: So he was obviously he.
Speaker 18: Should never should have gone to Washington if he wasn't
Speaker 18: willing to sign that deal. And I mean, I don't
Speaker 18: really understand it. Some people say that he was put
Speaker 18: up to try to embarrass Trump and disagree with Trump
Speaker 18: in that meeting by Democrats who had met with him beforehand.
Speaker 18: And then you know, there's some talk that he'd been
Speaker 18: talking to the Europeans and that they put him up
Speaker 18: to it to embarrass Trump and to make sure that
Speaker 18: Trump didn't get a win.
Speaker 3: Miranda JD.
Speaker 4: Vance also had a major role in escalating the retoric
Speaker 4: in the Oval Again.
Speaker 6: JD.
Speaker 4: Vans has his own agenda. He's looking forward to a
Speaker 4: future presidential run. Trump's goal for his term currently is
Speaker 4: to end the war in Ukraine and Russia. He wants
Speaker 4: to be the president that solved this war. So how
Speaker 4: do you think this conflict, these tensions might continue to
Speaker 4: play out between Trump's agenda advances.
Speaker 18: No, they're not at odds at all. There's no distance
Speaker 18: between them at all. They are speaking as one. And
Speaker 18: if you watch the entire meeting, the provocation is coming
Speaker 18: entirely from Zelenski for the first forty three minutes. So
Speaker 18: after he snapped at jd Vance, that was when Trump
Speaker 18: decided I've had enough, and you could see it, and
Speaker 18: he was still very controlled. People say he lost his temper.
Speaker 18: That was a man who was not losing his temper,
Speaker 18: but he was being firm and he'd given up any
Speaker 18: pretense of being cordial, and he just told Zelenski the facts,
Speaker 18: which is, you don't have any cards. You know, you
Speaker 18: rely on the United States to continue your military support,
Speaker 18: to continue sending you weapons and ammunition. And in fact,
Speaker 18: this afternoon, the US has just paused the weapons and
Speaker 18: ammunition to Ukraine. So that will be a wake up
Speaker 18: call because Europe does not have the wherewith all the arms,
Speaker 18: the troops to replace America. Keirth Starmer said over the
Speaker 18: weekend that we need America as a backstop. That was
Speaker 18: echoed by other European leaders. Zelenski knows that and America.
Speaker 18: You know, this was a one off opportunity for Zelenski,
Speaker 18: that was a win win for Ukraine and for the
Speaker 18: United States and the rest of the world to end
Speaker 18: the war. And Donald Trump's genuine about his humanitarian purpose
Speaker 18: is to stop the deaths. And Zelensky doesn't seem to
Speaker 18: care about peace.
Speaker 4: Miranda, given this as the state of the relations at
Speaker 4: the moment, do you think there is a push by
Speaker 4: the Trump administration for Zelenski to resign, for there to
Speaker 4: be a change in leadership in Ukraine.
Speaker 18: Yeah, I wouldn't call it a push, but it's certainly
Speaker 18: been a suggestion by a couple of cabinet members. And
Speaker 18: you know, just in interviews they've just said, well, you know,
Speaker 18: if Zelensky is an obstacle to peace, maybe Ukraine needs
Speaker 18: to find someone else. But you know that's up to
Speaker 18: the Ukrainian people, and you know, it'll be up to
Speaker 18: the Ukrainian generals who you know, it's said that they
Speaker 18: are dissatisfied with Zelenski. In fact, when he went to
Speaker 18: London to meet Kis Starmer on the weekend, you might
Speaker 18: have noticed this tall, very imposing man who is the
Speaker 18: Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, who was a very popular
Speaker 18: general in Ukraine, who ran the first couple of years
Speaker 18: of the war when they were doing well, and surprised
Speaker 18: everybody with how strong they were against Russia. He's a,
Speaker 18: you know, a brilliant general.
Speaker 12: But he and.
Speaker 18: Zelensky fell out, and rather than knocking him off, bumping
Speaker 18: him off like he's done to other people who've displeased him,
Speaker 18: this general is so popular that Zelensky sort of exiled
Speaker 18: him to the UK. And he was interviewed just a
Speaker 18: day before that Oval Office meeting and asked about his
Speaker 18: political aspirations, and he said, look, if there are elections
Speaker 18: at some point, then he would consider putting his hat
Speaker 18: in the ring.
Speaker 4: All right, Miranda Devine, we really appreciate your time.
Speaker 12: Thanks so much.
Speaker 4: And that Ukrainian general that Miranda was speaking about there is.
Speaker 4: His name is Valeri Zaluzinni. Valeri Zaluzini. I'm sure I'm
Speaker 4: not pronouncing that correctly, but you can look him up.
Speaker 4: He is a very tall, very big, intimidating looking figure.
Speaker 3: All right, don't go anywhere.
Speaker 4: Albinizi and Peter Darton are open to campaign debates, but
Speaker 4: who will hold them? Sky News Political Report of cam
Speaker 4: Redden would join me for his analysis after this.
Speaker 3: Welcome back.
Speaker 4: Well, we could be just days away from the federal
Speaker 4: election and I'm joined now by sky News Political Report
Speaker 4: of cam Redden. Cam Look, there are reports that both
Speaker 4: Albanezi and Dutton are keen on multiple debates three or
Speaker 4: maybe four ahead of the election. Who do we expect
Speaker 4: is going to host them?
Speaker 10: Well, we could expect them to be shared around, Shry.
Speaker 10: I've got to say these debates are pretty interesting because
Speaker 10: even if you win them, you often don't gain a lot.
Speaker 10: But we saw in the United States if you lose them,
Speaker 10: just how badly things can go wrong. I'm not saying
Speaker 10: we can expect the Joe Biden style moment here, but
Speaker 10: it always is a good insight. I do think though,
Speaker 10: the one difference will be the Sky News People's Forum,
Speaker 10: and I would say that, of course, the reason is
Speaker 10: it's the least scripted most we would but it is
Speaker 10: a reason because it's the most unpredictable. And both sides
Speaker 10: will say that because they're both pretty experienced campaigners at
Speaker 10: this point, Sharry, they can work their way to a
Speaker 10: kneel or drawer a debate and get out relatively unscared.
Speaker 10: But the people's forums are unpredictable. You don't know what
Speaker 10: Joe blogs on the street is going to ask of
Speaker 10: a leader, and that's why that'll be the one. Yes,
Speaker 10: of course I would say that, and I know we would.
Speaker 10: But they're the ones that both sides will be preparing
Speaker 10: the most for and will surely be the best test
Speaker 10: of both leaders because they're pretty hard to prepare for
Speaker 10: when you don't know exactly what questions are going to
Speaker 10: be thrown up.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's a good point.
Speaker 4: They're both very polished performers, and you know on Q
Speaker 4: and A a week ago when the Prime Minister was
Speaker 4: up against the public asking questions, I mean you just
Speaker 4: take Janet, the mother of four who's Jewish from Melbourne.
Speaker 4: I mean she asked the Prime Minister much tougher questions
Speaker 4: than any interview he'd normally agree with. Now I want
Speaker 4: to ask you about the Teals and we're seeing this
Speaker 4: fallout between the Teals and Labor Minister Don Farrell overcapping
Speaker 4: political donations. This is fascinating and Goldstein MP Zoey Daniel
Speaker 4: is one of those who's hit out at this tell
Speaker 4: us what this fight boils down to and whether it
Speaker 4: means that Peter Dutton could win their support in a
Speaker 4: hung parliament.
Speaker 3: It's possible.
Speaker 10: I don't think they'll go running into the coalition's arms
Speaker 10: if that was an option, Sharry, although I do think
Speaker 10: we can expect this issue of campaign donations and spending
Speaker 10: caps and reforms in this area to be a bargaining
Speaker 10: chip in a minority government, because it's not just the Tills,
Speaker 10: although they've been the key leaders in this. We remember
Speaker 10: Zali Stegel just a few weeks ago in an arguing
Speaker 10: match with Don Farrell in the corridors of Parliament here.
Speaker 10: But the entire cross Bench hates these rules. They think
Speaker 10: they're designed to shut them out of politics and to
Speaker 10: shut out independent challenges to the major parties. So this
Speaker 10: could be a key bargaining chip Sharry. If the two
Speaker 10: major parties fall a couple of seats short, no one
Speaker 10: can form a majority. This might be one of those
Speaker 10: tools on the table for somebody to try and find
Speaker 10: a path to a minority.
Speaker 4: We're seeing what's being dubbed a race to define Peter Dutton.
Speaker 4: This effort by Labor to turn the campaign into a
Speaker 4: referendum on Dutton's character.
Speaker 10: I think it's interesting, Shari that both sides in a
Speaker 10: way have leant out of the hard man, the tough
Speaker 10: former Defense and former Home Affairs Minister kind of persided
Speaker 10: because I think anecdotally too, that's what most people have
Speaker 10: in their mind. We've seen Labor focus on his record
Speaker 10: as Health Minister. Keep in mind that was just fifteen
Speaker 10: months in the Abbott government, and Peter Darton points regularly
Speaker 10: to his time as the assistant treasurer to Peter Costello
Speaker 10: that was nearly twenty years ago. So there is an
Speaker 10: attempt to kind of define the rest of his personality.
Speaker 10: We'll see how much of that comes to bear as
Speaker 10: they spend more time on the campaign trail.
Speaker 4: Cam Reddin, great to see you as always. I'll see
Speaker 4: everyone tomorrow. Here's Paul Murray.