WEBVTT - The Late Debate | 10 February 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:04.960 Late General, welcome the Late Bay. 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:08.559 Well, good evening, thanks for joining us on the Late Debate. 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:11.280 I'm James Macpherson with Liz Staorra and Caleb Bond coming 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:15.280 up tonight. South Australian police arrest a scooter rid for 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:17.480 not wearing a helmet and then discover that's the list 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:18.520 of his crimes. 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:20.200 We'll bring you that story a little later. 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:22.840 Plus, when we look at the papers that our energy 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:27.360 crisis goes from bad to ridiculous, Australian states now importing 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:32.160 gas from overseas in greater quantities, and a new cemetery 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:34.680 opening on the Gold Coast is exactly what you would 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:38.199 expect a Gold Coast cemetery to be. We'll get to 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:40.800 all of that when we look at what's making news tomorrow. 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:45.280 But first, councils right around the country are jacking up rates, 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:49.120 and nowhere more so than right here in Sydney. Northern 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:53.400 Beaches Council recently raised rates by a whopping forty percent. 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:56.320 And if you thought that was bad, they're North Sydney. 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:58.240 Well they raise their rates by can you believe it, 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:00.440 eighty seven percent. 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:02.640 Now, as if that's not bad enough. 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:07.720 While councilors are crying poor as justification for these outrageous 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:11.760 increases in rates. They're wasting huge amounts of money on 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:15.760 overseas junkets for counselors and staff. Let me give you 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:19.240 just four examples. I could give you dozens, but here's four. 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:22.640 The City of Sydney Council they sent a couple of 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:26.760 staff to Canada for a carbon neutral summit. 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:27.960 Tell me how that's going. 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:30.520 To benefit the rate payers in the City of Sydney. 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:36.520 They also sent council members to a cycling conference in Belgium. Well, 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:38.360 I guess the city of city does have a lot 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:41.199 of bike lanes these days. Maybe that's what that was for, 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:45.399 not to be outdone. The Canterbury Bankstown Council, Well, they 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:49.800 sent a delegation to a leadership dialogue event in London. Now, 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:52.400 as part of these junkets, they have to produce a 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:57.200 report to council evaluating what benefit they derived for ratepayers. 0:01:57.560 --> 0:01:58.520 And get this, their. 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:04.360 Reports said, quote unquote the leadership dialogue event provided valuable insights. 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:07.800 That's pretty vague, but this one is my favorite. 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:12.840 The Paramatta Council they sent staff to the Netherlands for 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:16.040 a library conference because there's a lot that we can 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:19.720 learn from those in Holland about how to improve libraries 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:23.639 for the people of Paramatta. Now, altogether, it was about 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:27.040 seven million dollars spent over the last financial year by 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:30.840 Sydney councils on overseas trips, which might not sound like 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:33.640 a lot, but how do they justify that in a 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:37.359 cost of living crisis? And you notice it's for things 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:42.000 like you know, carbon neutrality, libraries, cycling. They never go 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:46.400 overseas for a graffiti removal conference, or for a pothole 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:49.480 maintenance conference, or a for a mowing grass at the 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:53.280 local park conference. At least those sorts of things would 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:56.880 benefit rate payers. Northern Beaches, as I said, put up 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:59.840 their rates by forty percent, which means about six hundred 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:03.799 dollar extra a year for ratepayers. So here's the really 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:07.680 upsetting thing. When rate payers build an extra six hundred 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:09.640 bucks a year, they start looking where do we cut 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:13.480 back expenses in order to afford our rates. But local 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:16.799 councils they're not cutting back at all. They just keep 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:20.240 spending and spending. In fact, Caliburn is eleven of the 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:25.040 Greater Sydney councils. That's fully a third rend deficits last 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:28.360 year if they're going to jack up rates for rate payers. 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:29.800 You'd think they would at least cut. 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:32.360 Back on some things like, oh, I don't know, going 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:34.639 to Belgium for a cycling conference. 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:39.040 No, that's the most important bit. Surely you know that, James. 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:40.360 I've actually had an idea though. 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.320 As you've been talking you mentioned the you know, mowing 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:46.480 the lawn at the local park summits and the fix 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:47.480 the pothole summit. 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:48.280 If no one. 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:50.680 Else is doing it, I'm going to host it right 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:53.080 here in Sydney, and I'm going to get people from 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:56.520 all over the world to come to Sydney for these conferences. 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:58.040 And I'm going to make a mint while they do it, 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:00.119 because why they hell not If they go for bloody 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:02.640 library conference, I'm sure someone will come for a pothole 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:04.880 conference if it means they can go for a junket 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:06.600 on the other side of the world. One of the 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.520 other ones I really liked as well was Blacktown Council, 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:11.880 which is just up the road from you where you 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:15.600 are James. Here, we were well, well, well, come on, 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:17.200 it is a lot closer than I am. 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:20.239 I going to say that in the genteel parts of Sydney, 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:21.000 in the Inner West. 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:25.080 But they spent twenty grand or just over twenty grand, 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:29.120 sending three staff sorry to a sister city in Ireland. 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:31.599 And they also spent thirty grand going to the UK, China, 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:37.000 South Korea for summits and delegations. Now to this, the 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:41.480 Council said, delegations from these cities visited Blacktown in return, 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:46.200 providing economic benefit and raising the profile of our region 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:48.360 among their communities. 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:50.760 Well, I'm really glad to know that. 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:53.719 You know, perhaps the three people who came from Ireland 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:58.240 to visit Blacktown obviously boosted the economy so much while 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:01.200 they were over here. And all the people in Ireland, 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.560 from what I've heard, they're all just raving about Blacktown. 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.039 These people have gone back saying you won't believe this 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:10.599 place when you types for Blacktown. They're all walking around 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:12.279 Ireland talking about it, the UK. 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.200 Where else do they go? South Korea, China. 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:17.200 Brazil, we've left out Brazil, the. 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:19.920 Polical Forum and the only thing they want to talk 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:20.880 about is Blacktown. 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:22.520 I reckon that was money well spent. 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:25.640 If it puts Blacktown on the map, it must have 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.400 been absolutely extraordinary. Taken from someone who used to be 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:35.520 a city councilor myself. There is literally zero justification for 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.800 any of these junk kits. And I'll tell you why, 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:41.960 because this level of government works like every other level 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:45.839 of government, and that is the MPs in this case, 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:49.559 the councilors that you have elected, they don't know much. 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:51.880 Okay, they are your representatives. 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:56.200 But the people who draw up plans, the town planners 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:58.640 per se, they're all back. 0:05:58.400 --> 0:05:59.160 In the wings. 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.280 Much like we constantly complain it's the bureaucrats that run 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:06.240 the country, because, for example, the treasurer in Victoria has 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:10.719 asked her treasury members please stop using economic jargon. I 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:15.880 can't understand what you're sagging. These people aren't the experts. 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:19.200 They are elected representatives. But the people who actually know 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:23.760 what they're doing, we hope, are behind the scenes in 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.719 the bureaucracy working for the Department of this, the Department 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:27.960 of that, the Department. 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:30.040 Of everything else. So particularly with. 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:36.159 Regards to things like, oh, cycling tracks in Bildrum massive conference, 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:40.279 you would never send the councilors anyway, because they don't 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.919 know a flying fig about cycling tracks. How many of 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:45.839 them should there be? How can we do this in 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:49.720 an economic way? But also saving on space, et cetera, 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:50.360 et cetera. 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:50.480 And so on. 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:54.400 You would send the people, the town planners in charge 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.200 of how many cycling tracks you have in your little patch, 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:00.440 You would send them over there if you were actually serious. 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:01.000 And then, of. 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:04.000 Course we all know you can attend anything via zoom 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:06.880 these days, especially since we're all so mad about being 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:13.840 carbon neutroll. There is zero justification for this, and as 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:18.520 a moral quandary during a cost of living crisis, this 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:21.200 is something that wouldn't even trouble a child. Do I 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:26.080 spend tens of thousands of dollars of the rate payers 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:32.920 cash on me having a great time in Brazil or London, Belgium, Canada, 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:36.840 the Netherlands? Or do I stay home and just tune 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:37.560 in online? 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:38.280 Gee? 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:40.040 I wonder what I want. 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:41.800 To know about all of this is, you know, we 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:45.040 have a local government minister here in New South Wales, 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:47.120 as we do in every state. What does a local 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:50.680 government minister actually do? Because Ron Holing is the minister 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:53.000 here in New South Wales, he was asked would he 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:56.920 hold a independent productivity review into how these councils are 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:00.400 spending their money? I mean North Sydney County. So that 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:04.240 jacked up their rates by an inordinate amount. They spent 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:07.880 three point one million dollars on gender neutral facilities at 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:11.800 the North Sydney Oval recently. But the local government minister, 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:15.160 he said, look, ratepayers expect their money to be spent wisely. 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:17.119 That was the extent of his action. 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:20.320 He made a comment, but he declined to implement a 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:22.280 review of how this is happening. I'm just wondering what 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:25.400 does a local government minister actually do well? 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:26.160 He was wrong. 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:29.920 You weren't expected to be spent one I know exactly. 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:34.920 I'll tell you what local government ministers do. 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:36.600 They sit around in fear. 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.280 Of what councils will do to them if they ever 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:39.680 try to take their power away. 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:41.319 I mean, the councils. 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:43.719 Forget, and often we forget that they only exist by 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:48.360 virtue of the state government. That the state constitutions allow 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.720 councils to exist. But all the powers that councils have 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:55.600 sit in the local government at or whatever the equivalent is. 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:56.560 In each state. 0:08:56.880 --> 0:08:59.280 And that is something that the government or the Parliament 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:02.880 can change it any time and take powers away or 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:06.320 give powers to council for them to execute. The state 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:10.520 government tomorrow could completely new to the councils and say no, actually, 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:12.439 we're going to take over the running of parks, and 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:14.400 we're going to take over the running of bins being 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:15.880 emptied and swimming. 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:16.880 Pools and libraries, et cetera. 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:19.679 That is within the powers of the Parliament to do that, 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.040 but they're all too scared to do anything about it 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:24.960 because the councils do actually have a lot of money 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:27.280 behind them, and then they'll launch a campaign against the 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.280 state government and it'll be on for young and old. 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:31.400 They just don't want to rock the boat, which kind 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:33.400 of raises the question, what's the point of having a 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:35.240 local government minister in the first place. 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:37.440 There are a law unto themselves. Just let them be 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:38.040 a law out of here. 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:38.400 If you're in. 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.040 Leadership to lead, if you don't want hard decisions, get 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:43.760 out of leadership and let someone in who'll make the calls. 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:47.319 Speaking of being in leadership to lead, unless you're living 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:49.959 under a rock, you would have heard the President Donald J. 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:55.240 Trump has announcer sweeping twenty five percent tariff on all 0:09:55.640 --> 0:10:00.000 aluminium and steel coming into the United States of America. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:01.960 Here's his rationale. 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:05.200 Any steel coming into the United States is going to 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:09.079 have a twenty five percent tariff. US Steel was one 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:12.480 of our great companies, and through a lot of stupidity 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:15.720 and bad government and also bad management of the company, 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:19.480 it lost that luster. But it's going to gain it back, 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:21.840 and tariffs are going to help. Tariffs are going to 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:23.199 make it very successful again. 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:27.040 Now, of course, is the big deal here in Australia 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:31.320 because we sell hundreds of millions of dollars of both 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:35.920 steel and aluminium to the States every single year. But 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:39.920 don't worry everybody, alban Eese, he's got a call scheduled 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:42.240 with Trump and he's going to get it sorted. 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:50.920 I have a discussion with President Trump scheduled and I 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:58.120 will certainly keep the House and the Australian people informed. 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:00.440 After that discussion. 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:04.679 Compelling and rich. My confidence is shot through the roof. 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:08.760 But really I'm not worried about this because Trump announced 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:13.000 similar during his first term and in twenty eighteen Australia 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.320 was like, yeah, but not us, right, right and fair enough, 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:17.960 we were given an exemption. 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:19.360 We are mates. 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:23.360 So I reckon that this was one of those sweeping 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:26.920 Trumpian announcements that he does like to make, because good lord, 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:29.440 does this man know how to make a headline he's 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.480 there on Air Force One, he's talking to the reporters, 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:35.080 he's putting his foot down, pedal to the metal. The 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:38.719 world collectively gasps and that, of course the details come 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.280 out later, and I don't think we've got anything to. 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:41.800 Worry about it. 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:44.960 I think you underestimate the work Joe Hockey put in 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.480 back in twenty seventeen or whenever it was that Trump 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:51.920 announced these tariffs the first time, because Joe Hockey said, 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:54.640 he did really leverage that idea of where mates and 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.640 you should grant special favors to Australia. The difference this 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.400 time is that the ambassador we have in the United 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:03.840 States hasn't sounded off regularly on Twitter about what a 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:05.400 moro on Trump is. 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:07.240 Albanezi himself is the. 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.839 Prime ministers grudge. 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:13.880 Tho Trump, and I'm not sure they can pull the 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:18.160 makeship card this time. When they're on record saying such 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:21.880 terrible things about Donald Trump, he's disinclined to listen to them. 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:24.240 In addition to that, it's. 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:29.120 Quite unbelievable that America is our most important ally we've 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:32.560 seen justin Trudeau had the good sense to make a 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:35.400 trip to the US to sit down personally with Trump 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:38.960 for Anthony Alberezi, who has had one phone call with 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:42.480 Donald Trump since his election and is not scheduled to 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:46.199 meet personally with him until after the election, which probably 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:50.680 means Albanezer will never meet personally with Donald Trumps dereliction 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:54.199 of national duty. He should have been in the United 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:57.560 States already sitting down with Donald Trump, especially knowing there's 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:00.719 bad blood between himself and Kevin Rudd. 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:01.600 And the U S. President. 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:04.679 He should have been there in person smoothing the water 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:07.200 so this would not be an issue as it now is. 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:11.520 Don't think this comes down to bad blood between. 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:14.559 The like, so I don't disagree with that point that's 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:16.679 in Albaniz. He should should have already been over there 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.600 to him, He should have been at the inauguration. As 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:23.800 far as I'm concerned when it comes to Rudd, I mean, 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:26.200 the rabbit will hit the road here and if for 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.839 whatever reason these tariffs are slapped on us and kept 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:30.440 on us, then. 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:32.120 That will probably be the end of Rudd. 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:34.800 But it's a It's a strange one with Rudd because 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:38.520 he is actually respected by quite a few Republicans for 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:42.280 his knowledge on China. So as much as Trump has 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:46.560 personal beef with him. He is actually in favor with 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:50.079 quite a number of Republicans, including a. Vivik Ramaswami and 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:54.360 Marco Rubio, etcetera, who've publicly talked in support of him 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.559 because of his knowledge on China and the knowledge he's 0:13:56.600 --> 0:13:57.719 been able to supply to them. 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.000 But Trump, every time he's. 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:03.560 Slapped the tariff on someone so far, like last week 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.960 it was Mexico and Canada, he did it because he 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:09.880 wanted something in return, and so they then come to 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:12.040 the table with something in return, and all of a sudden, 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:13.000 the tariff has gone. 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:15.080 So even if it's not just simply. 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:16.960 A matter of we'll wear mates, therefore it won't apply 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:19.280 to us, surely we'll just throw them a bone and 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:21.400 then that the tariff will be gone. I can't see 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:25.320 any circumstance in which you would possibly put these tariffs 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.240 upon your allies and then there wouldn't be some kind 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:30.280 of out to get around. 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.160 It, because that really would be blowing up. 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:34.600 Ties that don't need to be blown up. If it 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:37.040 means we give a concession to the US, then it's 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:39.680 a win that Trump has and that's how we operate. 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:44.560 I mean, he's not using tariffs simply to punish other 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:48.400 countries for the sake of punishing other countries. He's been 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:51.120 using tariffs to get something out of them. So if 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:52.720 it means he gets something out of a whole bunch 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:55.000 of countries, now I say, well, hang on, we don't 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:55.840 want this to happen. 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:57.080 Then he's won. 0:14:57.240 --> 0:15:00.240 He's got something for the United States and all so 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:02.880 continued with the importance into the US. 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:03.760 I don't see what the problem. 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:05.800 May well be a good point, but this is a 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:08.640 big test for Alberanzi. Could you imagine if he's not 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:11.880 successful in removing these wells I could say about his 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:15.480 leadership and his standing with our Oh yeah, And of 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:18.680 course at the Albanze was very quick off the mark 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:23.080 when China started blocking trade with Australia, when Scott Morrison 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:26.360 was the Prime Minister, and Albanzi made that famous quotes 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:29.400 on the front page of Tomorrow's Australian Gee, there should 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:31.480 be someone in the government, the Liberal government at the time, 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.000 that could pick up the phone. But there's nobody. And 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:36.400 you just wonder who in this government has the ability 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:38.160 to pick up the phone and talk to Donald Trump 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:39.440 without having to gropel. 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:42.640 Tell you what if I was done I would have 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:46.800 picked up then done. Can you just make this phone 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:50.440 call an absolute burning dumps the fire of a disaster. 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.680 Then when I get in, we can just pull these. 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:54.560 Tariffs right out. 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:57.800 Like I wouldn't be surprised if this is some sort 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:00.600 of electoral ploy, because Trump knows we got an election 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:05.880 coming up, and he knows should this phone call go well, alban. 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:07.560 Easy will be chess out. 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:12.440 I've saved the day, Australian alimenium and Steele's. 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:13.200 In safe hands, ladies and gentlemen. 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.720 I told Donald Trump where to go, and that will 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:18.120 be a massive win for him. 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:21.320 So should Trump, for. 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:24.120 The sake of the exercise, simply say no, I'm keeping 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.600 them in place for whatever reasons, and then the Dutton 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:30.480 camp be able to say, well, we've saved the day, 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:34.440 We've we've broken this deal, so what you want is 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.240 a coalition government and these tariffs will be bye bye. 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:40.480 Friendly countries do that kind of stuff all the time. 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:45.320 Is it election interference? Absolutely? But they've done it before 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:46.440 and they would do it again. 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:50.080 I just want a recording of the phone call between alban. 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:50.480 Easy and FAM. 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:54.840 Was it Andrew Peacock and Jeff Kennett who had a 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:57.360 phone call in the nineties on like a party line, 0:16:57.400 --> 0:16:59.280 and it was the dumbest thing to do, right, remember 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:02.360 like car phones, and they were on a party line, 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:04.119 so anyone else could pick up the phone and listen 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:06.480 to your conversation because there was only one line. And 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:09.400 it's Kennet and Peacock, who was then leader. I think 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:11.440 of the Liberal Party. We've just been deposed as leader 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:15.000 or something crapping on about John Howard, and someone recorded 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:16.679 the phone call and put it out there and then 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:20.200 that was the end of Peacock in the Liberal Party. Basically, 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.080 let's have a moment like that with Alban Easy, shall we. 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:25.600 We're talking about Alban Easy. Let's come back to Australia 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:29.320 and his Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who's been putting the heavies 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:30.160 on brewers. 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:31.600 Would you believe it? I mean, of all the. 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.000 Things that Jim Charmers should be worried about right now, 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:38.640 you wouldn't think he'd be going after Australian brewing companies. 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:40.800 But here we are in twenty twenty five, steering down 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:43.840 the barrel of an election and we talk about, you know, 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:45.280 taxes on beer. 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:45.440 Et cetera. 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:48.679 Clearly the government is worried about it because at the 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:52.240 start of the month, as happens every six months, the 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:56.080 excise on alcohol went up. Now the excise is applied 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:59.919 differently to spirits, beer and wine. Wine gets off all 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:03.160 lighter than beer and spirits do. You would have seen 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:06.000 the campaign being run at the moment via bunderbererg Rum 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.520 talking about the fact that sixty three percent of the 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.119 cost of a bottle of bunderberg Rum is tax that 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:14.000 goes straight to the federal government. Will when you go 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:15.840 down to the bottle O and you buy a slab 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:18.679 of beer, about twenty bucks of the cost of that 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:22.680 slab of beer is tax that goes directly to the government. 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:25.800 And so the brewers as a collective have been saying, look, 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:29.920 can we please just have a pause on the excise 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:32.760 for a little while because it's becoming ridiculous. 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:33.720 It's too expensive. 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:37.080 People aren't buying beer anymore. They're certainly buying it in 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:39.760 less quantities than they used to because they just can't 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:41.960 afford it. We are in a cost of living crisis. 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:44.560 Please throw us a bone. 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:47.560 So the Treasurer Jim Chalmers has picked up the phone 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:50.640 to the a Triple C and said excuse me, Can 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:53.399 you go off to the brewers and tell them that 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:56.879 they might be in breach of consumer law for tilling 0:18:56.960 --> 0:19:00.439 tax payers exactly how much tax they are paying. 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:01.480 This is a quote out. 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:03.919 Of the paper today that industry groups were shocked to 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:06.520 receive letters from the Age Triple See last week warning 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:10.960 them of their responsibility to not misinform customers about the 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:13.840 impact of the twice yearly tax hike, just days after 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:18.800 mister Charmers had written asking the watchdog to investigate his concerns. 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:20.280 That beer drinkers could be misled. 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.320 Now, mister Charmers, or doctor Chalmers as I should call him, 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:25.800 I'll get letters and complain from his department. Probably if 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:28.639 I don't say that properly. It's been saying, oh, this 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.440 is just one sent on top of your pint of beer. 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:35.119 Who cares about one cent on top of the pint 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:38.080 of beer? Well, Richard Adamson, who's the head brewer at 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:41.159 Young Henry's Brewery, rightly points out that we're getting this 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:43.480 crazy situation where beer is just getting out of the 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:47.000 reach of the average consumer. Since twenty twenty two, the 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:50.399 excise has gone up ten and a half percent. The 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:53.640 disparity now is so great that you see wine products 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:57.399