WEBVTT - Paul Murray Live | 19 May 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:04.840 On the Sky Center. This is Paul Murray Live. 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:08.200 Hello friends, nice to be back in the MANK. Thank 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:11.119 you so much to James McPherson and to Dneta de Giorgio. 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:14.120 One of those days was planned, one of those days 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:16.800 off was not. So if I look slightly sweatier then 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.239 I normally would be, it is because whatever's going on inside, 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:22.079 my internal fighting system is doing its best. But my 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:23.800 belief is as long as you don't make anyone else 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:25.919 cook around, you turn up and do the work. So 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:29.880 that's what we're doing tonight. Now good news tomorrow probably 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.040 for those of us that are trying to pay off 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:34.320 a home loan because we borrow too much because that 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:36.760 house was just so much more beautiful than the one 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.440 that we were already in. Well, this is something that 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.080 about thirty percent of Australians knows something. About thirty percent 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:44.839 of Australia is paying off the house they're living in, 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:48.400 thirty percent is paying off a sorry is renting, and 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:51.800 another thirty percent of already paid off their home. So tomorrow, 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:54.360 the expectation is that when the Reserve Bank meets again, 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:55.920 they're going to cut rates. 0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:01.200 Markets today is still pricing in three interest rate cuts 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:02.400 this year tomorrow. 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:04.160 That's the first I would. 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.600 Say that, you know, all bets are probably on rate 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:07.199 cut tomorrow. 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:09.520 I think the RBA will delive one tomorrow. There Reserve 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:11.959 Bank's Monetary Policy Committee, it meets this week and it 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:13.120 looks like there we are ratecut. 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:15.480 All of the big four banks are expecting the Reserve 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:17.880 Bank to cut the official rate tomorrow. 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:22.080 Now, the reality is that in all of the wreckage 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:24.680 of the federal election, there is one thing that was 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:29.080 absolutely clear that third of Australia that was paying off 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:33.000 its mortgage was under maximum stress. That it had thirteen 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:36.240 interest rates since the start of things back in May 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:40.200 of twenty twenty two. February it ever so slightly dropped, 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:44.679 but the financial pain still remains absolutely huge. You know that, 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:48.000 and I know that. And to give you an illustration 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:51.400 of this being probably the most significant group that made 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.840 its movement and change of mind during the election. Before 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:57.840 the rate cut, the Liberal Party was leading, according to 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:00.600 red Bridge with those whom were paying off their homes 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:05.280 fifty one to forty nine. After the rate cut in February, 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:09.040 it became fifty to fifty after the panic around the 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:12.680 Trump tariffs, which of course resulted in a stock market 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:15.800 fall that has now been completely erased. In fact, the 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:18.480 market is higher than when it started to fall. But 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:22.240 don't tell anyone. By then it was too late because 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:25.360 the Labor Party had taken a lead fifty three forty 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:28.760 seven and eventually fifty five forty five with people who 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:32.359 were paying off their homes and debt. Was a point 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:34.079 that I was trying to make to you last week 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:36.240 when we got interrupted by live events. So I want 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:40.000 to continue on with that point about how debt does 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:43.480 and doesn't play a role in modern Australian politics. Now, 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:45.679 Jim Chalmers, as we know, made a lot of debt 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:48.480 when he was the Shadow Treasurer, a trillion dollars of 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:50.280 liberal debt, a trition dollars of liberal debt. But you 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:54.400 know now that this year Australia racks up a trillion 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:58.600 dollars of debt under the Labor Party. It then becomes 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:02.000 almost one point one one point one, then it becomes 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:05.640 one point two trillion dollars in and around the time 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:10.120 of the next federal election. And for those of us 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:13.840 who know what the consequences of debt is for a country, 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.520 look at countries like Greece, look at a whole bunch 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:19.000 of other ones around the world. We know that eventually 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:22.440 when it comes knocking, there's going to be problems. In fact, 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:25.880 tomorrow will also be an interesting economic document that will 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:29.120 be the Victorian budget. Is so they have operated under 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:34.960 this modern labor idea of modern monetary thinking, which essentially 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:37.080 means that governments can back up as much debt as 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.680 possible because it's good debt. Now, of course, the good 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:43.960 debt would normally be spent on things like infrastructure, but 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:48.920 increasingly the Australian federal budget, in fact, almost forty percent 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:52.720 of the Australian federal budget is paying off welfare. We 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.680 also know that many, if not most, of the major 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.840 promises that were made by the government at the last election, 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.480 we're all going to in increase that amount of debt 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:05.840 in Victoria. They've played this politics for a long time 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:09.320 and it has worked electorally for them for a long time. 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.680 But the results are now going to be the public 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:16.360 servants are going to get the chop tomorrow. There will 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:19.760 probably be a whole series of tax increases and we'll 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:22.679 see how this looks like on the other side. Because 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:25.520 one thing that is absolute about this Labor Party that 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:28.800 has been handsomely re elected in Canberra is that they 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:32.480 are going to follow the triangle of dependence. This is 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:35.560 where you either work for the government, so any suggestion 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.040 on cutting back on public servants is enough to scare 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:42.000 a significant part of the population. You are reliant on 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:45.200 the government for a handout, and therefore any change to 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:48.160 the amount of handouts somehow can be written up as 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:51.120 a threat to your handout. Or if you're in private business, 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:55.000 then the biggest customer to your private business is the government. 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:58.680 Hence why in Victoria we have a scenario where essentially, 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:01.080 if you're in private business, you're in small business. You're 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:05.360 surplus to the needs of the permanent state, that is 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:08.440 dependence on the state that has been created for the 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:12.159 best part of thirty years bar one term, for the 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.600 best part of thirty years in Victoria. We'll see whether 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:17.400 there is a price to be paid or whether people 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:20.520 will continue going down this road where we know where 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:24.839 it's all going to end up. But the reality about 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:27.520 debt and Australian politics is that perhaps it is a 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:30.160 little too much to assume that the average voter is 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:33.440 going to vote on the national finances when they are 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:37.279 all so deeply in debt themselves. Let me show you 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:40.039 this graph here from Macro Business. It shows you here 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:43.240 about the number of Australians and the percentage of the 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:48.919 income in terms of their household debt now in twenty 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:51.880 twenty four, it's the best part of two hundred percent 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:54.599 of the amount of money that's going to come into 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:58.080 the household is how much you have to spend when 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.080 it comes to your debts, be everything from the house 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:03.200 that you live in to the car that you're driving, 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:06.839 perhaps the second property. The same when it comes to 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:12.359 disposable income. That the debt for people there is at 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:14.000 one hundred and twenty percent of the money that is 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:17.000 coming in. And when you have a look at the 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:21.160 percentage of wages that are required to pay off your mortgage. Again, 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:25.520 a group that I had some faith in, but they 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:27.880 ended up having faith in the current government rather than 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:31.760 changing the government. After those thirteen interest rate rises more 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:36.840 than fifty percent. Fifty percent of every paycheck that comes 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:39.400 into a third of the country that is paying off 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:44.440 its mortgage goes on paying the mortgage. Let's compare this 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:46.600 to say, ten years ago when it was about thirty 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:52.400 five percent. It's now half so in many ways, when 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:55.680 the federal government knows that we as individuals borrow as 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:58.800 much as we possibly can to the absolute hilt, and 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.880 then sometimes we borrow against what we are already borrowing 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:05.200 to borrow more to get more stuff, then there's no 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:08.240 expectation that when the federal government is putting together its 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:13.000 own finances, the Australians demand that the federal government is 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:18.280 more well behaved than we are. But make no mistake, 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:21.840 the federal government and the federal budget is in a 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:24.120 world of pain. It is in what we call a 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:27.440 structural deficit because of the decisions that have been made 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:31.240 by this government to increase its spending and despite the 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:35.080 huge increases in population that we will get between now 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:38.320 and when it will be about twenty sixty and it'll 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.240 be forty million people living in the country. This is 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.280 how many budget deficits the treasurer thinks we are going 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:48.960 to produce one every single year for the next forty years. 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:52.440 You add one deficit on top of another, on top 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:54.360 of another, on top of another on top of another. 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:58.600 Before we even go into this red rectangle of debt. 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:03.080 It's one point to trillion dollars that we owe if 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:05.280 all of this becomes true over the next forty years, 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:09.080 that number will end up at two trillion dollars in debt. 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:13.280 This is despite the fact that the tax base will 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:16.120 be growing because they're going to keep adding more people. 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:20.400 Because the Labour Party was able to successfully weaponize any 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:24.640 conversation about migration as being something about every person who 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:29.080 has emigrated to Australia, it's not true. It wasn't true 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:31.360 when the arguments were being made during the election, and 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:33.640 it won't be true when the arguments are being made 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:37.560 between now and the next election. Because despite the fact 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:40.439 that austraight is population according to the Bureau of Statistics, 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:43.840 and they have three models here that show us high immigration, 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.600 where basically the post COVID years keep running and then 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:48.960 we end up with a population that is the best 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:52.400 part of what more than forty five million people, or 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:54.440 maybe it's kind of where they hope it's going to 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:56.000 be in the next little while, and it ends up 0:08:56.000 --> 0:09:00.200 being thirty nine million people, or for some reason they're 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:02.160 able to haver the number of people that are currently 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:06.160 coming in and it ends up being thirty four million people. 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:09.880 By the twenty seventies, the federal government will still be 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:13.720 running a deficit. The population now is at twenty seven 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:17.440 Even if it was at forty five million people, the 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:22.160 government would still be running a budget deficit. This matters. 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:25.480 There will be a reckoning. I don't want there to 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:27.360 be a reckoning. I don't want there to be that 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:31.840 bad day. But modern politicians of the left believe that 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:35.200 they can just keep borrowing because as long as they 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:37.720 have something to announce or something to give away at 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:40.440 an election, we will keep re electing the same people 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:46.160 who are doing fundamental damage to the Australian economy. Voters 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:48.000 sent a very clear message at the election that they 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.040 just don't care. And maybe that is because even the 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:55.880 very people who have paid tens of thousands of dollars 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:59.320 more on their mortgage in the first three years of 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:02.720 the Labor government and they still believed that they were 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:05.440 the best people to run the economy for the next 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:07.360 three years. Well, the reality is that we will get 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:10.160 more of the same. And while interest rates will now 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:12.360 start to trickle down, and I will cheer down every 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:14.720 single one of these As a person who is trying 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:17.679 to pay off a mortgage that yes, is too big, 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:19.800 even when you have a dream job like this, in 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:22.120 a beautiful house that I want to have for my 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.199 wife and kids. The reality is that the story of 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:27.240 Australia will continue to be a lot of pain for 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.160 a lot of people. When that ever turns into a 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:33.079 political problem for politicians is when we will start to 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:36.160 learn our lesson. But till then the lesson is going 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:38.560 to need to be learnt and it's going to hurt 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:44.120 a lot of people. And after the Prime Minister's thumping 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:46.320 win a couple of weeks ago, the people who brought 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:49.839 him fifty percent of the Labor Party, the union movement, well, 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:52.000 it is now starting to show its muscle. It is 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:57.200 now starting to demand in return that everything goes their way. 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.400 The Transport Workers' Union today are threatening to shut down 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:04.200 Australian transport. This would have been nice to know a 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:07.640 couple of weeks before an election, but of course we 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.400 were focused on well anything but the actual future of 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:12.240 the country for the next three years. Instead, we were 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:18.840 having the personality games today. Companies being targeted by the 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.679 union include Quantus, Aldi, Amazon and a bunch of other 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:26.880 logistics companies, as well as lin Fox, Toll, Virgin Australia, Borrel, 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:32.079 some freighters, as well as the garbage collector's cleanway. According 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:34.240 to one of the union bosses in the papers this 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:38.840 morning and online tonight, we are all celebrating labour stunning reelection, 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:42.160 but we must also seize the moment. He claims that 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:46.240 voters had rejected divisive tactics and endorsed a vision of 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:51.040 higher wages, secure jobs and a central, very legitimate role 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:55.760 for unions in the Australian economy. This is why Label 0:11:55.880 --> 0:12:01.800 was rewarded with a decisive mandate. Interestingly, though it's not 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:05.839 quite true. You see Australians when it comes to union membership, 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:09.960 it's not massive. In fact, it is less than ten percent. 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:13.080 In fact, the number is even lower than where it 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:16.599 was ten years ago. There are just seven hundred and 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:20.840 fifty six thousand people who work in Australia who are 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:23.199 a member of a union if they work for a 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:28.120 private company. For those that are in the public sector, surprise, surprise, 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:31.240 that number is a whole lot higher. But put simply well, 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:34.040 thirty three percent of the government and the people who 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:36.320 work for the government are part of a union. Just 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:40.960 seven point nine percent, which is down four point two percent, 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:45.280 are members of a union. So the Transport Workers' Union 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:49.480 is absolutely correct to know that it's masters in the 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:52.560 political party or dare I say the dog and it's 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:55.120 the tail that wags whatever. It's one of the same 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.640 thing that when the Labor Party has an opportunity to regulate, 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:00.480 they will regulate in favor of you U unions. When 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:02.640 Australians have the choice about whether they want to join 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:09.640 one or not. Ninety two percent of people aren't part 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:13.000 of a union, unless, of course, you work for the government. 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:15.240 If you work for the government, then a third of 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:17.360 all people are part of a union. Hence why I 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:21.559 was talking before about that triangle of dependency. That is 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:24.720 the reality of what we face. Good to know that 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:28.559 these unions had a plan to potentially shut down Australia 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:31.640 to get better deals out of these big companies. But 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:33.559 of course they wouldn't dare tell us that during an election, 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:37.560 would they, because then the truth of their demand on 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.760 the government, Well, of course we'd be able to stop it. 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.000 But now the election is clear, the result is absolute, 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:49.640 and now the receipts are due, and the Transport Workers' 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:51.640 Union know that the government will back them to the 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:54.440 Hillton and if they don't, and if the companies don't 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:58.439 give in to their threats. Then they could bring Australia 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:02.920 to its knees. In the meantime, one thing that I 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:05.560 do think unions should be fighting for and maybe even 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:10.120 talking about striking on, is the role of AI in 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:14.120 some of the more menial tasks in our economy. Reality 0:14:14.280 --> 0:14:16.560 is that there are thousands of jobs for people who 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:20.360 are apparently low skilled workers. These could be people who 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:22.880 have plenty of skills from foreign countries but they're not 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:25.800 recognized in Australia, or they could be young people trying 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:28.080 to start out earning a little bit of money while 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:33.520 they are trying to study for their eventual careers. There's 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:36.520 a trial which is taking place right now in Victoria 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:39.520 and it is an extension of what many of us 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:42.680 have in our homes. Although minds on the threats at 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:46.160 the moment, and because of the interest rates, we'll have 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:47.560 to wait for a couple of drops before we can 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:51.760 go and buy one of these new robot cleaners. Well, 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:57.520 robot cleaners are currently being deployed in some supermarkets. This 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:00.720 is a job that a human used to do, just 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:02.640 as a check our check used to be a job 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:04.640 that a human used to do, but now a computer 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:08.400 does it. How many things have you seen when even 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:10.360 a couple of days ago, I was in a car 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:12.480 park and you expect to see somebody who'd be the 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:16.080 car park contendent. No, no, no more, no more humans 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:19.560 involved in that. Would it be interesting to see if 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:21.440 the shop is union turned around and decided, you know what, 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.520 let's go on strike to make sure that the lowest 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:28.160 paid workers, the ones who may be entering the workforce 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:30.680 or just trying to keep food on their table by 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.640 cleaning in a supermarket, will be able to keep their 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:37.240 job and not have it replaced by a robot. I'd 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:40.240 love to know if that was what unions were planning 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:43.040 to do with their new power. But instead it's going 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:46.800 to be more robots in every other industry. But in 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:51.280 the Transport Workers Union of course, no robots replacing workers there, 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:53.720 and rightly so. I don't want to see workers replaced there, 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:56.000 but a chance of shutting down the country for what 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:58.600 one union wants, while another one will turn around and 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:01.680 just simply let automation takeover in the aisles of our 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:07.720 shopping centers a little sign of things to come. I 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:12.200 hate any person who would strike a member of their family. 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:16.720 It's the lowest, most despicable thing that people do. It 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:19.080 is never to be forgiven, it is never to be excused, 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:22.680 It is never okay. And I'm pleased to say that 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.800 over six hundred people were arrested over the weekend. Why 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:27.880 because the news of Olds Police Force decided to go 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:30.240 and swoop and a whole bunch of issues in and 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:33.400 around people who had either been accused or previously been 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:37.920 found guilty of committing domestic violence offenses. More than six 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:41.200 hundred people have been arrested and thirteen hundred plus charges 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:43.120 have now been laid during a four day blitz on 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:47.320 domestic and family violence across New South Wales. In total, 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:49.840 six hundred and twenty seven people were arrested, two hundred 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:53.760 and fifty seven had outstanding warrants. Police ended up laying 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:58.160 thirteen hundred charges and carried out twelve hundred bail compliance checks. 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:02.120 They also conducted twelve nine hundred and twenty six checks 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:07.000 on apprehendied domestic violence orders, identifying five hundred and thirty 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:11.919 five breaches. The Police Minister spoke of this important work 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:13.280 that police have to do. 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:19.520 Too often they are targeting those offenders that they specifically 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:21.879 know are those high risk offenders. 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:26.840 This week, Operation Amarok carried out almost three hundred rads. 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:30.320 Can you imagine the life of a police officer. And 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:33.359 this is why I admire the cops of every state 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:36.920 in every territory while we are pro police on this show, 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:43.200 because they have to go towards people on what would 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:46.560 otherwise be the worst day of somebody's life. And if 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:50.119 you're the victim of this sort of crime, then this 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:54.159 could be what saves your life. Well under the police 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:57.639 who maintain a ferocity on this issue. Well done to 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:00.560 everyone who resources them. And thank you, thank you, thank you, 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:04.320 thank you. On behalf of people who may will not 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:08.480 have the voice to be heard. I repeat, anyone who 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:12.840 does this is a bastard. Meantime, if you need help 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:15.320 in relation to your situation, I want to make sure 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:17.240 that you have a telephone number. Write it down one 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:21.479 hundred seven seven seven three two. This is the domestic 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:24.520 violence hotline. It is twenty four to seven help and 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:27.040 Support line. I understand this is difficult. I understand you 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:29.120 may have to save the number under a different name, 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.200 which in and of itself is terrible. But one hundred, 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.359 respect which is one eight hundred and seven three seven 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:38.760 seven three two. Now, you know that one of the 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:40.439 dumbest things that I do when it comes to my 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:42.920 own health is smoke. It's a dumb and stupid thing 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:46.199 which will probably end up taking my life. I know that. 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:48.880 But there are way too many people who do continue 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:50.720 to do so. But there is one person who is 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:54.200 absolutely committed to making sure that Australia does not stop smoking, 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:57.240 and that is the Federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers. Why because 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:02.360 the federal budget gets seven b seven billion, seven billion 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:07.320 dollars out of tobacco taxes. Now, this number, of course 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:09.879 was increased in the lead up to the last budget 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:12.160 as they were trying to keep themselves out of a deficit, 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:14.480 something that they didn't do. But of course they got 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:18.000 re elected because people didn't care. But the reality is 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:20.800 that tobacco taxes are a big problem in Australia. I 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:22.600 don't say that as a person who wants to pay 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:26.000 less for smoking. I say it because the taxes are 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:28.160 now so high that we know it's creating a whole 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:32.160 new class of crime. The federal government is so addicted 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:35.639 to tobacco taxes that it makes two billion dollars more 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:38.840 than it does out of the fringe benefits tax, six 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:42.360 billion dollars more out of luxury car tax, about four 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:44.639 billion dollars more than out of the taxes on beer. 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:47.320 You can do the sums on spirits, even the major 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:50.320 bank levy. All of those are way less than the 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:54.639 seven billion, seven billion, seven billion dollars that the federal 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:59.960 government makes out of tobacco taxes. But the problem we 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.280 the system that has been created for a whole collection 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:07.000 of reasons, is that while the government keeps jacking up 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:09.480 the tax, the number of people that are smoking is 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:12.399 not going down by the same rate by which the 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:16.240 tax keeps going up. Because people have found a way 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:20.879 around the system. They are smoking illegal tobacco crap from China. 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:25.880 But it's crap that's very freely available and is very 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:33.000 cheap compared to legal product. It is sold in tobacconists 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:35.680 all over the country. And you may well have noticed 0:20:36.160 --> 0:20:38.640 that despite the fact that there's apparently fewer people smoking, 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:41.840 there are more tobacconists than ever before. I'll give you 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:45.239 the tip. It's because they're selling the chop chop and 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:47.119 you don't have to use a special code and a 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:51.120 special whistle and knock three times. It's very easy to get. 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:55.560 I remember when we were in Perth recently, there was 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:59.159 an extraordinary thing when we walked into a convenience store 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:03.199 and there was literally a queue out the door, and 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:05.879 I joked, not knowing this was the case, that Jesus 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:08.520 must be the place where everyone buys their chop chop 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:12.880 or buys their vapes. Because remember this federal government made 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:17.280 a decision not to legalize and tax vaping, which would 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:22.000 have produced millions, potentially billions of dollars for the federal budget. 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:24.239 It would have regulated the market. No, no, no, let's keep 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:27.320 it all in the black market. The que out of 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:29.520 the door was exactly for what I thought it was, 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:35.960 because in between the chewing gum and the cash register 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:39.440 there it was an entire sort of selection panel of 0:21:39.480 --> 0:21:41.640 which particular vape did you want to buy? Or which 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:44.879 version of chop chop did you want. This was happening 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:47.240 in broad daylight. It was happening all day. It was 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:52.080 even happening when they were open on Anzac Day. So 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:53.960 Australians know there is one hell of a way around 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:55.879 the system, and the people who are selling it know 0:21:56.200 --> 0:21:59.840 no one is going to ever check. I don't understand 0:21:59.840 --> 0:22:05.960 why but it seems that the explosion in illegal tobacco, 0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:11.240 which is also being controlled by international criminal gangs, they 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:14.560 know that just like selling drugs or anything else, essentially, Okay, 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:16.160 we might get a little bit caught here, a little 0:22:16.160 --> 0:22:18.320